Family Trip 2026

This is my 5th visit to Japan. (So far I've been abroad 6 times. I live in Taiwan :3) This one really impressed me. I tasted some sai kou (最高) foods. I got myself a used tamagotchi to add a bit of fun to my free time. And I brought a super cute plushie home!

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We took a red-eye flight to Centrair Airport this time, and we were curious about the Nagoya-style morning service, so our first stop was Komeda's Coffee at the airport. You get free toast/bread by ordering any drink before 11 am there. I'd looked up some information about this cafe before the trip, and I decided to try one of the 「コメダ裏技」(Komeda's hacks). I ordered ジェリコ (Jelyco) which has whipped cream on top and chose buttered toast with sweet red bean paste. Then I spread the red bean paste and the cream on the buttered toast... Oh my, the toast just tasted amazing, and so did the drink! I highly recommend it! The only thing you need to keep in mind for your first visit to Komeda is to make sure your stomach is empty and not order too much food. You'll understand. :3

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Our lodging in Nagoya was located at Osu (大須) Shopping District. I knew that there was a Suruga-ya (駿河屋), where you can find second-hand hobby merch, just a 5-minute walk away. So I planned to buy a used toy there on a smaller budget to add more fun to my trip. I guessed that because Osu Shopping District is one of the three iconic electric towns in Japan, I would have more choices at this branch. I finally picked up a tamagotchi gen1 with a Tama Cafe shell. I'd already checked what's in stock at this Suruga-ya branch on its website, so I just went there to find that specific item, have the staff check if it works well for me, and then get it. Very convenient. The price of the cafe tamagotchi gen1 was higher than what I saw on the website. According to the date on the price sticker, I thought the one I got was a new arrival which hadn't been updated online. But I was happy about that, because it looked very new and I could fully enjoy the beautiful shell. (☌ᴗ☌)

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The Tama Cafe shell is my favorite design. It seemed out of stock in Taiwan. God bless that I could get it in Japan so easily.

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I finally successfully bred a tamagotchi into a tamatchi after I got back home.
Here're some notes from my experience for potential new tamagotchi owners to check:

If you want to mute the tamagotchi (the beep is crazy loud...), press A till you also press C. Make sure you do this on the main screen. (pressing B switches between the main screen and the time screen) And try to press A to check if you can still hear the beep. If not, you've successfully muted it. But keep in mind that missing a beep for 15 min will be recorded as a mistake.
Turning off the light can both save a bit of battery and let your pet get proper rest.
I personally keep the sound on all the time except when quiet is needed, but mute it before playing a game with the tamagotchi — the sound is BLASTING. (same when disciplining)

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My first tamatchi grew into a ginjirotchi! It's cute! Maybe I like ginjirotchi more than mametchi. :3

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Compared to castles and temples, I appreciate Japan's anime culture more. Luckily we visited Nagoya this time, so we could spend a day visiting Ghibli Park, which is also in Aichi. For fear that we couldn't freely schedule when to visit, I booked tickets two months before our trip. I booked them on the first day the tickets became available even though we chose O-Sanpo Day Pass Standard, which wouldn't sell out that fast.

I'm not a photo person, so taking beautiful pictures didn't really satisfy me, but I still enjoyed the scenery in Ghibli Park. The real buildings, items whose prototypes you've seen in the films... They're just so beautiful. However, the newly opened Panorama Box Exhibition was truly what amazed me. Photography was prohibited there, but I'd say you can only witness the wonder of these masterpieces by standing there and peering into the boxes to explore them. By the way, I also really liked the short film screened at the Cinema Orion inside the Grand Warehouse. What was screened that day was also a film newly released this past July, A Night in the Valley of Witches (魔女の谷の夜). If you're interested in this film, I'd still highly recommend watching/reviewing as many of Studio Ghibli's films as possible before your visit, because the film is just about this Ghibli Park. And you can get the most out of it by having some background knowledge.

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This cool puppy just walked into my life. (ˊᗜˋ*)

Thanks to the Internet. I accidentally saw this bag online while I was searching for info on Ghibli Park. Then I finally confirmed the price of this merch via a Japanese video. (¥4400) And I've now also confirmed its name on the price tag, ヒンのジヨルダーポーチ (heen's shoulder pouch). I think I'm a rather frugal person. I don't shop impulsively unless I really, really like something. And I tend not to spend too much money on luxuries. (a plushie is already a kind of luxury by my definition) But I believe I should buy it. (I'm proud that I did!) I'd say it could be the best plushie design I've ever seen. The high-quality fabric, the magical eyes that show different facial expressions in different angles, perfect chibi size... If you loosen the cord lock around its neck, you can fit a mini umbrella in its stomach. (or feed it snacks? :>) So I really enjoy "walking the heen" whenever I go outside. It works for me — I walk for it too. And it's so cute!

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I still feel healed whenever I see my teddy (even just looking at photos of it!). Taking the heen everywhere during my trip made me feel siawase (幸せ) too.

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I was chilling, sipping my sugar-free matcha au lait on the rooftop that morning in Fuji.

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We went to Atami together. While we were waiting for the fireworks, my first tamagotchi died. x.x
(I took the photo with my iPhone, so the fireworks didn't look crisp. I simply edited it to make heen clearer.)

We also visited Mt. Omuro, but I didn't risk my phone, so no heen_taking_chairlift.webp, no heen_climbing_mt_omuro.webp. It was really sunny and super windy on the mountain! A place to test your umbrella! :)

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If you're not vegetarian and you're planning to visit Shizuoka, please schedule a meal at Sawayaka. Their beef hamburger steak is the best food I've ever had in Japan. It might become your favorite too, so I don't want you to miss it. It's only served in Shizuoka. If you don't have a car to take you there, taking a bus also works.

This time we went to Sawayaka Fujinishiki (富士錦) Store from the bus stop at Fuji Station. I don't know when the construction around the original stop will finish, but Google Maps won't inform you about the alternate stop — you need to find the indicator to figure it out. You could see the alternate stop across the road on the right side after you walk out of the north exit of Fuji Station as I remembered(?) And you just wait at 2番, take Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus (富士急靜岡バス) which will stop at Aoshima-cho (青島町), and walk from Aoshima-cho stop for about 10 min to arrive at the restaurant. Don't forget to use Sawayaka's ticketing system on the Line MINI app, or you'll spend extra time waiting in line.

We visited for dinner, and Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus had already stopped running by the time we left the restaurant. So we switched to take Gakunan Electric Train (岳南電車), and then transferred to JR. I guess the Jatco-Mae Station (ジヤトコ前駅) is a small station — we didn't see any other people get on the train with us. But we did successfully get to Yoshiwara (吉原) Station, so don't worry. You may need to wait a bit. (We took the train between 8 and 9)

I hope the notes for getting to Sawayaka from Fuji Station have no mistakes. I really want to try that oishii (美味しい) hamburger steak again, so this note is also for myself. :p

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What I would like to visit again in Shizuoka are Sawayaka and the very cozy guesthouse I stayed at in Fuji. (I will order おにぎりハンバーグ again!) As for Aichi, I think I would love to visit Ghibli Park in a few years. I wish Studio Ghibli could present more beautiful things to blow our minds again! ☆★

It's my first time writing travel notes. I took notes on transportation methods and food before the trip, and I also recorded my feelings after the trip. (My older brother plans and leads our family trip every time! He fully displays the bearing of the firstborn, in almost all aspects.) And I finally realized that these are also a vital part of a complete trip. Because I think. Thinking fills me with a sense of fulfillment. I used to think going out was a boring activity. People just go to places they've already seen in photos. But now I've started to feel the fun of exploring uncertainty. When leaving for somewhere you're not familiar with, you not only need to search for info online, but also need to verify it once you're actually there. That's a chance to refresh and stimulate our minds, away from the media that's always at our fingertips. I do need those chances.

And maybe I can try to learn Japanese when I have time. It should make my trip to Japan way more interesting! However, I think it's a good idea to improve my English first... (ーー;)

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New mobile cover of my cat n dog
がんばってね〜 ♥

P.S. My mom accused me of putting kittykaki and heen on the cover instead of my teddy.
I told her matter-of-factly that my teddy wasn't photogenic, just like me. ◖⚆ᴥ⚆◗ However my very own teddy looks perfect in my pixel digital room! And she is who she is, forever irreplaceable!