A FMTY to Japan as a Travel Companion: Trip Diary

This trip diary has been shared with my lover’s not only approval but encouragement. I never write or publish any travel blog without my travel partner’s explicit encouragement, and when I do, I always publish these travel diaries with at least a six‑month delay from the date of the trip, for safety and discretion purposes. Generally, my lovers absolutely love having this kind of blog to look back on and re‑live the trip. I also do not write about many trips I go on due to lack of time or at the request of my travel partner not to. If we have a trip planned together, feel free to let me know in advance if you don’t want me to write about it.

I had only been to Japan once before - and to Tokyo only, to be exact - and since then I’ve been fantasising about going back on average once a week.
And then that text from a favourite, on a rainy weekend morning while I was sipping my matcha at home and listening to Frank Sinatra: “Let’s go to Japan?”
I almost choked on my matcha, and no, it wasn’t because it wasn’t made properly: my skills with the matcha whisk are outstanding.
Fast forward a week, flights and hotels were locked in, and I was being killed by the anticipation while I browsed online Japanese spas, temples, and capybara cafés.

To start off the trip on a high, the first stop was Kyoto. We opted for a wellness-focused hotel about half an hour from the city centre, and I’m so glad we did! Half an hour in a taxi is nothing for me coming from London, and we got to experience unparalleled peace nestled in the mountains, uninterrupted quiet, and an authentic insight into the day-to-day life of the locals in a non-tourist area.

Breakfast came with foreigner-friendly instructions “how to rice with egg”, and we were encouraged to go to breakfast in kimono and slippers.

My favourite part of the hotel was the garden, while my travel partner loved the bar.

We tried several different private spas on this trip.

The first was the collagen stimulation spa. We left the session feeling very stimulated indeed.

Day 2:

Eat like a monk, sin like a …
Have you ever eaten at a Buddhist temple?
Shojin ryori is a vegetarian cuisine in the Buddhist monastic tradition. It is a part of Buddhist ascetic practice, said to cleanse the soul, suppress worldly desires, and promote spiritual growth. Shojin ryori is a quest not for physical results but for an inner spiritual calm. A guide on the path of life.

Standing on the grounds of Tenryuji Temple, a World Heritage site, Shigetsu presents the vegetarian diet that is part of Buddhist training. Arranging cuisine on vermilion lacquered plates reflects Zen convention. Every dish is nourishing, from sesame tofu and deep-fried tofu mixed with vegetable slices to dressed vegetables. To live is to eat, to give thanks to life, to cherish the moment.
The Zen spirit of harmony with nature breathes within these walls.

Post-temple-visit walk around the popular Gion area:

And of course we stopped at a super cute tea house for matcha:

Dinner that night was at Gion Senryu. Being shown the dinner before it was cooked was entertaining, but it felt a lil cruel to me:

Service consisted of tempura and sashimi, with our favoured tempura items added as desired - the relaxation of leaving the menu to the chef combined with the joy of choosing. Everything was so delicious. The tempura wasn’t oily at all, as it often is in the “West”. It was actually quite a light meal. The texture was crunchy, but it melted in the mouth at the same time.

Aaaand, I’m a sucker for traditional Japanese architecture and gardens!

Fast forward to the next morning, it’s a new day: did you know that strip tu-mi-ki-a-so-bi is far superior to strip poker?

After a few very spicy strip tu-mi-ki-a-so-bi games, we needed another spa session! One of Japan’s finest private spas: the cypress-infused steam from the sacred trees of Mt. Hiei, celebrated in both Buddhism and Shinto. With a low ceiling, the heat enveloped us intensely while the cypress wood maintained a perfect balance of humidity. As a spa connoisseur, I loved the exceptional harmony of temperature and moisture!

Next up: carbonara, but make it Japanese! This was a fun meal, but the best carbonara I’ve ever had is still in Rome!

Then back to the hotel for some afternoon cuddles.

One thing about me is that I put so much care and love into everything I do. I can definitely relate to the saying “do it well, or don’t do it at all”. Considering how many people do things superficially and averagely these days - mainly due to laziness, which drives me crazy - meals in Japan have been kind of a cathartic experience!
Pictured below is our dinner at Tenjaku (one Michelin star).

Tenjaku was first opened by the current chef’s grandfather, and the cooking techniques have been passed down through generations while incorporating new touches.

The next day (and our last day in Kyoto) was spent wandering around with no plans, just walking where we felt drawn to (which is a wonderful way to spend a day, or a whole lifetime, perhaps!).
Especially if you end up walking into the cutest little café with a garden of dreams, these water bubbles with flowers inside (hey, I’m just a girl!) and a matcha a bit too bitter for my westernised taste.

I also got to try the viral egg sandwich from a convenience store (and I can confidently say that it did live up to the hype!).

I wonder if this is the Japanese version of “a house in the suburbs & a Range Rover”?

We then “randomly stumbled” upon this restaurant that was actually incredible! And we were lucky that it was just 5 o’clock, so they kindly squeezed us in before their bookings for the evening arrived!
“Randomly stumbled” because, as I just said, we decided that we wanted to keep the last day in Kyoto “spontaneous”, so we didn’t make plans/bookings. But, being the planners we both are, we had about 50 places each saved on Google Maps, and we saw this one was a five-minute walk from the shop where we ended up for emergency thermal clothes shopping!
The aproned staff greeted us as if welcoming friends into their home, and the nostalgic interior of this old Japanese-style house oozed serenity. The concept is fare that complements sake and wine. The chef, not binding himself to any genre, serves up an imaginative medley of Japanese, Chinese, Western, and ethnic influences.

After the red light collagen stimulation private spa and the cypress wood private spa, this is the third (and perhaps my favourite) private spa Mr. Spa (he said he likes this nickname) and I visited in the Kyoto area: the charcoal spa.
This spa utilises charcoal not just in the sauna room but also in the bath and wall paint. In addition to the purification and deodorising effects of charcoal, minerals dissolve to create a soothing sensation in the water and steam.
The sauna experience also blends the "Sado”, or tea ceremony, with sauna practice: the entrance is designed to resemble the low entrance of a tea room. The staff told us “by quietly bending down to enter, you will find your mind calming, marking the beginning of a unique sauna experience”. My lover surely enjoyed me bending over naked to get into this tiny low door, which looked like it was built for garden gnomes.

Our next stop was Kanazawa. To be honest, it wasn’t my favourite. We still had a good time though:

Luckily we only spent two nights there, and then we were off to a town that, on the other hand, I enjoyed very much: Takayama.

P.S.: if you travel around Japan, ask your hotels to coordinate with each other for luggage shipping. We had a lot of suitcases between the two of us, and I was glad we didn’t have to carry them all on the bullet trains with us.

In Takayama, our rooms weren’t ready yet, and we decided to be spontaneous and join a group bicycle tour in the countryside, actually about 30 minutes outside of Takayama, and I’m so glad we did; it was such a fun experience with a cool guide and group too. We got to see the real and authentic Japan.

Some pics below, fewer than I would have liked to snap, but I’m not the smoothest operator of a bicycle, so I had to really focus and I couldn’t take my phone out much.

Later that day, I discovered what my love language truly is: private rooftop onsens.

Takayama is quite a walkable town and we had fun exploring.

Another incredible experience was Hida no Sato Folk Village Museum: an open-air museum featuring Edo-period farmhouses, known for their thatched roofs and wood construction. I felt like a kid again in a fairyland!

We had to take our shoes off every time we walked into one of the houses, and of course slippers were provided. Ah, I just love Japan!

Next and last stop was Tokyo, where no trip is complete without some handbag shopping in Ginza, and too much sushi.

We timed our Tokyo stay around the cherry blossoms, so pretty!

I wasn’t gonna leave Japan without trying the new talk of town: an “enzyme spa”. My lover refused to join me, fair enough haha. Yes, it was weird af.

This is the spa link for your perusal: Enzyme Spa Ginza

Aman Tokyo was the best base we could have ever asked for in Tokyo. An oasis of peace right in the middle of Tokyo. And with a much more normal (actually, gorgeous) spa:

Good night, world.

Time to fly back home! So sad that this trip is over, but we’re already planning our next adventure, while buying the last Japanese snacks at the airport.

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