Awesome, thanks pal!
Is there some promo to visit Scotland these days?
I just realised I’ve seen three vlogs and a skate video there in the last month.
Any heads here that can point to good boozers, food spots (awkward vegano man here) and cool tings to see in Newcastle? I’m not on a skate trip, but off to the Cardiacs tribute-thingy tomorrow night.
Me and the old man got some spare time in the day to have a nose about, like. So keen to go to a museum or two and get tidy scran.
Safe.
1 Like
Will probably be your best bet for Newcastle tips. I mainly still just hangout at the Hospital there these days, haha.
4 Likes
@Bish fix this man a sarnie!
5 Likes
Don’t know as much as I used to as don’t get back home as much, but Baltic gallery is great, just walking along the quayside is gorgeous around the area it’s in, overlooking the Tyne.
The Ship Inn is a pub that does amazing vegan scran, it’s in Ouseburn which is well worth a mooch about, if you get to there for lunch walk to the quayside from there, it’s a beautiful route in a very unique area. The Tyne Bar is a class pub on the way between here and the Baltic.
Chinatown is great also, and you can pop into Native whilst you’re there. Slugtown and Workplace are both galleries worth checking out but they’re not always open, just if they have a show on, so peep their socials before you visit.
Will post ya if I think of anything else!
2 Likes
Safe! Nice one! We’re actually only a 10 walk away from The Ship Inn and will peep it once we get in now in a min.
1 Like
So…
Food places that are good that have good vegan options.
Kiln - Which has some great vegan options and is also in the Ouseburn! Also randomly has a pottery place in the back with the big window so you can watch while you eat.
Northern Rye bakery - Just down from Kiln and it’s got great pastries/bread.
Cook House - Right over the road from the Ship, it’s a bit more pricey but it’s very very very good!
Cake Stories - In a sort of mini industrial estate (But with offices and food places) just up from Ouseburn. Has lots of vegan options for cakes and brownies.
Miso - Which is kind of next to Kiln in an Asian ramen place that has some great dishes.
Thali Tray - One in town and one in Sandyford in a nice fusion Indian place. Great Breakie options!
Aidan’s Kitchen - In a place between Ouseburn and Town does what I consider one of the best breakies in the toon.
Scream for Pizza - Next to Aidan’s and is an awesome pizza place, usually has good vegan options!
Lobo Rojo - Next to Scream, pretty good mexican but limited vegan options.
Dosa Kitchen - In Jesmond, unreal and loads of vegan options! On Sunday’s they do Sunday Saapad which is where you kind of get unlimited refills on your curries. I’d say it’s the most authentic south Indian place I’ve been to in the NE.
Grainger Market - Covered market in town centre, loads of good food options of every variety! I’d recommend the dim sum place and also the Greek place.
There’s more but don’t wanna over complicate it with too many places!
Bars
Zerox - Right on the quayside. Great place that turns into a club later on, super welcoming place that plays good music! Also open late.
Tyne Bar - On Ouseburn and like Blinky said it’s a great place! Nice to drink outside!
Free Trade - Top of Ouseburn over the road from Kiln. Has literally the best view of Newcastle from the beer garden. Nice little bar as well, deffo check out if dry.
There’s more but about to have me dinner! Will report back later!
5 Likes
Safe as fook, cheers!
1 Like
@Bish which bar was the one you took us to on that Shiner trip where there was a little tucked away corner with… stains… on the seats? Haha!
1 Like
Not gonna lie that could be a few! I think it was either Gotham or Maddisons!
1 Like
I’m going to Japan with the family for a couple of weeks in April. Thinking of a few days in Tokyo, then going to another city, maybe the deer park in Nara? I wanted to do Universal Studios Mario World but it looks a bit hellish. Any experiences/advice appreciated! I have a couple of friends over there who I’ll hit up but interested to hear from anyone who’s done touristy stuff over there.
3 Likes
I went in 2023 expecting to love it but I loved it so much that I went back in 2024 and want to go back in 2025 if I can!
My wife has made a massive 20 page excel doc with everything we did; food, places of interest, travel tips etc for our friends when they went if you’d like all the tourist info?
In short though.
Tokyo - Mint!
Osaka - Cool and nice a bit more of an edge than Tokyo
Kyoto - So much amazing history but very busy!
Nara - So fun and kinda halfway between Osaka and Kyoto so can go from either if one is your base.
Hiroshima - If you have time you should definitely try and get across as it was a really powerful place to visit.
Japan was super safe and super clean. I’ve actually never been somewhere I’ve felt so safe.
I wish I could live there!
Hakone - Cool day trip from Tokyo.
5 Likes
Went to Japan on my honeymoon in 2018, taking the kids their for our joint 40th in a few years if the world hasn’t blown itself up by then.
Big old list the homie Stu 12thy sent prior to going there in 2018, very music heavy and some may no longer be relevant by the way! I would highly recommend bar nightingale and bar plastic model in golden gai myself. Also if you can decipher Emerson Kitamura’s website he regularly plays in Tokyo and is incredible, saw him in a small basement bar in Shimokitazawa and it was tiptop. Kyoto is lovely and Nara was also great, definitely take a trip on the bullet train also.
Huge post sorry but have straight copied this from an email I’ve got saved -
-Chopstick cafe Shibuya (friend from Tokyo brought us here, definitely order the mackerel dish)
-Bar Nightingale - noise and experimental bar in Shinjuku
if your there with wife/girlfriend Flamingo in Shimokitazawa really nice for vintage clothes (theres three of them very near to each other, but only one is particularly good. Im not sure how to describe which is which.. but wont take long to go to all
-JBS (jazz blues soul) in Shibuya was worth visiting for a beer , though quite touristy now. Talk quietly and generally be respectful in here as its more a listening bar than a boozers.
ForestLimit was my favourite club. pretty underground, and closes at midnight . Can’t guarantee the music every night , so check what is on.
Bar Bonobo was a favourite of my friends
-Best local dj’s I heard were ‘1_Drink ‘ and ‘Lil Mofo’ . I heard they are on instagram (will try get you the details)
Tip #1 - If you’re flying into Narita I recommend getting the Narita express. It’s a mission getting into town from that airport and pretty confusing if it’s your first time in Japan - especially after a long flight. Haneda is much easier
Tip #2 - Buy an IC card (like an Oyster card) - there are two types which are basically the same: Suica and Pasmo. Do this straight away to avoid faffing with paper tickets. You can use these in all major cities
Tip #3 - Hire a mobile wifi router at the airport so you can use 3G everywhere you go. This will make finding your way around 100 times easier as Google maps is a god send in Japan and international roaming is usually expensive here. Drop it off at the same place when you fly home
Tip #4 - Ensure you get a JR tourist pass for the train journeys. You need to buy this outside Japan before you leave (if flying from London - the place is in Holborn) and activate it in a JR train station once you’re in Japan. Only do this when you actually need it - ie. not when in Tokyo
Tokyo:
-
Spend some time in the areas where cool Japanese kids hang out like Shimokitazawa (good for record shopping, clothes & food) & Nakameguro (boutique clothes shopping, good food/drinking & a famous sakura spot during Hanami)
-
Daikanyama is a great area for clothes shopping and has one of the best bookshops in the world - Tsutaya Books
-
Other great shopping areas are Koenji (famous for vintage shopping & has a few good record shops) and Omotesando (for the high-end brand stuff & C.E store)
-
Loads of great small clubs/DJ bars with good atmos and up for it crowds that go on late: Koara (in Shibuya), Bar Bonobo (near Harajuku), Aoyama Tunnel/Hachi/Oath (all in same building complex), Grassroots (in Koenji) and Forestlimit in Hatagay
-
A firm favourite bar for tourists to Tokyo is JBS Bar in Shibuya - worth having a couple of beers in there but the owner is pretty grumpy these days
-
Lion Cafe in Shibuya - an old church with a vintage soundsystem which only plays classical music and you’re not allowed to speak - highly recommended
-
Nakano Broadway - a super quirky shopping centre full of relics of anime and Japanese popular culture. Not one most tourists know about and the surrounding town area of Nakano is really great too. Loads of good eating/drinking spots
-
This is a great site for finding out about art exhibitions across the city: http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/
Kamakura:
- Really beautiful small city on the coast just outside Tokyo. A former capital of Japan
Hakone:
- The ‘onsen’ (natural hot springs) capital of Japan up in the mountains. Bit fiddly to get to but well worth it. There’s a great ‘loop’ of the sites you can do there which covers several cable cars and boats. I recommend staying at Hakone Tent - it’s a great (but a bit pricey) hostel which has an onsen in the basement.
Kawaguchiko:
- The best place I’ve been to for a view of Fuji-san - breathtaking! I recommend a couple of days here and staying at a hostel called Kagelow. Hire bikes from the hostel and cycle around the massive lake
Koyasan:
- An beautiful ancient town up in the mountains - the original home of Japanese Buddhism when it came over from China. Stay in either a temple with monks, or at Koyasan Kokuu hostel. See the sights and 100% get to a meditation class
Kyoto:
-
Hire a bike - it’s super easy to get around and the whole city is on a grid system
-
Climb to the top of the mountain at Fushimi Inari - it’s super well known but one of the most incredible sites in Japan
-
Wander around the Nishiki Foodmarket
Miyajima:
- Really cute island just off the coast of Hiroshima with a famous torii gate in the ocean. Make sure you stop in Hiroshima on the way and visit the memorial museum, it’s deeply moving and important to understand the devastating impact of the a-bomb
Osaka:
- 100% worth visiting if you’re down south and only 15/20 mins from Kyoto on the Shinkansen. There isn’t a huge amount of cultural stuff to see, but it’s a really fun place to party and people are much more relaxed - kind of like the Bristol to Tokyo’s London. The food is amazing there - super different from how most would expect Japanese food to be. Also has two of the best record shops in Japan too: Revelation Time & Rare Groove
Hi mate,
Below is a bunch of places my flatmate - who grew up in Tokyo until she was 20 - sent me before I left. I’ve emboldened / commented on the places I checked out.
Here’s some others..
Internet
If you haven’t already, make sure you rent a portable wifi router for the trip - and probably stock up on portable chargers as well as you’ll need to use Google maps quite a lot.
The portable wifi can be rented and returned at the airport. Think it’s something like £40 for unlimited wifi for 2 weeks. Although there are free wifi options in the street, it’s so densely populated that it rarely works - especially when there’s can be about 5 places per address. We had one router between us and split up for the day and so I discovered the hard way how difficult it was without it.
Tokyo
It sounds like you’ll have more time than me - I could have done with another week to be honest. Here’s a few things that stand out -
Shops
Tokyu-hands
- mad department store near Shibuya
Disk Union
- there’s a bunch of them and apparently the one at is the best for electronic is
Shimokitazawa. I missed that but picked up loads of cheapo Japanese records at the one near Shinjuku (there’s also a Jazz one next door)
There will definitely be more headsy shops I missed due to lack of time. I suspect they might already be on your radar.
Incidentally, Shimokitazawa was worthwhile visiting. Kinda it’s own place with music piped through the streets and decent vintage clothes shops
Park Hyatt
- the hotel from Lost in Translation is probably the most touristy thing I done in Tokyo, but didn’t feel like it and was well worth it as the views are unreal.
Food
See below for exact spots. It helped to have a Japanese connection, but would def recommend trying the following - Google the closest as they’ll be one close by..
Okonomiyaki - I prefer the Hiroshima style, but Osaka is also decent
Shabu Shabu
Ramen - had lots of different variety’s. Ichiran at Shibuya was fun for the experience
Kaikaya by the Sea
If there’s one place I’d say you HAVE to eat, it’s here. 10 course tasting menu for £30. I’m still salivating thinking about it. Probably most fun to experience if there’s a group of you or keep as a special experience for the two of you..
Tofu place -
http://www.foodgate.net/shop_sora_shibuya.html
I’m not mad for Tofu to be honest and was pretty resistant to going here, but I absolutely loved it.
Golden Gai is pretty fun place to wander around. Make sure you find Bar Nightinggale - they were banging out the new Errorsmith album when I was there.
I didn’t do any of the soundbars unfortunately, but there’s an RA article which seems to cover all bases there.
Club-wise, I guess it depends who’s playing but I gather Contact and Vent are where it’s at.
Kyoto
We stayed in a capsule hotel when we were there - which was fun and I’d recommend doing for a night. Cheap too -
https://ninehours.co.jp/en/kyoto/
It was pretty ancient and touristy, for lack of time, we missed the temples, but they seemed spectacular and there’s a great walking route called the Philosophers Walk - which was pretty bonny likesay.
On that note, if you do have time to visit Nara - which is about an hour away, I’d recommend doing that and feeding the deer in the park.
8 Likes
My ten year old son wants to go on ‘a boy’s weekend to Tokyo’ after his mum took his sisters to York for the night. Saving this info just in case.
4 Likes
That was it!! Ha!
1 Like
Nice one thanks everyone. Some good stuff, still working things out. Probably gonna do a stint in Tokyo and then Osaka or Kyoto with day trips out. Would love to visit Hiroshima but wife is less keen and it’s a long way to go.
1 Like
Trying to get my wife, 2 kids and mother in law on a ski trip to Europe for as cheap as possible but in the school holidays (mid Feb or early April). Anyone got any tips for resorts, modes of transport etc to keep it cheap as possible?
1 Like
I’d say avoid Switzerland and try to find something close to an airport easyJet will take you to in the French, Italian or Austrian Alps.
I haven’t been on the slopes in over 20 years despite living really close to them and therefore don’t know much about that world but I can ask some mates who will probably know much more than I do.
5 Likes
Bansko is worth a look. Easy to ski, not that big, some good inclusive hotels, and there should be good snow in Feb. April you’re going to want to go higher, I’ve been to Tignes twice and apart from the long transfer from the airport it’s really hassle free and there’s a massive ski area and a glacier for late season snow.
1 Like