Wish You Were Here: Japanese adventures in Kyoto, Tokyo

A Union City couple reports back on their Japanese adventures, from sea urchin tastings to a towering bamboo forest.

Our adventurous readers have circled the globe over the last year, frolicked in Austria’s capital, hiked glaciers in Alaska and explored Old Montreal. And they’ve shared their adventures and travel tips along the way.

The latest “Wish You Were Here” installment comes from a Union City couple just back from Japan. Find even more reader travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.

Wish You Were Here

JAPAN: Union city residents Pat and Ralph Gonzales’ recent trip to Japan came 54 years after Ralph’s first glimpse of the country, when he landed in Japan on his way to Vietnam — and saw caskets of U.S. soldiers being loaded on the tarmac. This trip — his first time back — was a “WOW!” he says. “We spent 11 days exploring Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. In Tokyo, we visited the famous Shibuya crossing” — the downtown “scramble” where 1,000 to 2,500 people cross from every direction every two minutes — “teamLab and Tokyo Disney. Almost every day, we ate at 7/11 stores — very different from here. They make fresh food daily. Tokyo’s Nishiki Market is half a mile of street food and souvenirs. I tried sea urchin and stingray for the first time — and last time.

“Kyoto was our favorite of the prefectures as it has remnants of older Japan. The Gion district has older temples and shrines. On the last day, we visited the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It was incredible.”

TRAVEL TIPS: “Bring extra portable phone chargers, credit cards and exchange $500 or more for Japanese currency.” The Gonzalezes got around by train — including a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto — as well as Uber, taxis and “good old fashioned walking.”

Join the fun! Send a photo of yourself on your latest adventures — local, domestic or international — to jburrell@bayareanewsgroup.com. Tell us where you are, who everyone is and where they’re from, and share a travel tip or two to help fellow readers go there, too.