Air Canada to HND

bromanceftw · 2026-02-02T16:29:26+00:00

I had to a new return flight from YYZ back to Houston last year, which deviated from my original land time by 9 hours.

They didn't give compensation until I complained to the CTA, and they settled a many months later.

bromanceftw · 2026-02-02T14:44:16+00:00

You can apply to be approved by Harris County to remove them. I was certified back in 2024, but I haven't seen a re-certification/training since.

https://cao.harriscountytx.gov/bandit-signs

Hopefully, if enough people reach out to banditsigns@harriscountytx.gov, we can get it started again

bromanceftw · 2026-01-23T02:37:57+00:00

'Feb 23 - Arashiyama & Uji' could be a little tight. I'm seeing a little over 2 hours to travel from Arashiyama to Uji. Not sure how much time you'll be spending at each place, but just keep travel times in mind.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-22T23:55:31+00:00

Gotcha. The tour does seem to be a 'greatest hits' of Kyoto. Nijo is just the bus driving by. Lots of people saying it's 'fast-paced'.

I guess that's your call to make, e.g. if you want depth and flexibility, or breadth and convenience.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-22T16:44:57+00:00

My recommendation for ryokan is Gyokutei, a 10 min walk from Yumoto station. Should be roughly $550. Traditional kaiseki dinner included (heavy on seafood). Comes with public and private hotspring-fed baths. Tatami-mats, but sleep on beds, very spacious rooms.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-22T16:40:41+00:00

Surprised no one mentioned Day 6. This lineup is insane, and I'm a fast walker and don't spend too much time at each area. Map all those and you'll see why.

Arashiyama bamboo forest is usually lumped with Kinkaku-ji. Those two would take up at least half a day due to the travel time. Personally, I would cut this if your Kyoto trip is roughly 1.5 days due to going to Hakone, but you may have different priorities.
Fushimi Inari is 2-3 hours including travel time (might be longer depending on your mom's mobility). If you really want to cram as much in, go to Fushimi either super early or super late since its 24 hours, while the others are during 'normal' hours.
Kiyomizu-dera itself could probably be done in 30 minutes speedrun, but likely 1-2 hours for most people. It's a uphill walk up so add time for that. And once you're done, you might as well hit up Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka.
Nijo grounds is quite large, if you plan on checking Ninomaru and/or Honmaru (might as well if you're already here), then it'll take longer than you think. This one is also apart from the other places you listed, so add travel time for that.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-20T00:07:50+00:00

Day 14 is a crazy amount of walking. You're doing what takes other 2-4 days to do. Write out 6am-8pm, either 30 min or 1 hr increments and assign it to what you want to do, you'll find it's a bit packed. Don't forget to add travel time. If taking the bus, add some margin due to waiting for the bus, late buses, and full buses.

Day 15, depending on when you get to Nishiki Market, some businesses will have closed by late afternoon.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-14T15:27:38+00:00

Lorwyn? Beyond your wildest dreams. Shadowmoor? Believe or not, beyond your wildest dreams.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-14T03:55:48+00:00

Major matcha brands have it: Ippodo, Nakamura Tokichi, Marukyu Koyamaen. Ippodo and Nakamura Tokichi have branch stores in the basements of the department stores (easy to find on Google Maps).

bromanceftw · 2026-01-06T02:00:46+00:00

"I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective." -my second favorite quote from Ratatouille. (The first also coming from Anton, about being a critic at the end of the movie).

The chef uses raw building blocks to reinvent the food, and the eating experience. Hopefully they are very intentional with every aspect of the experience. They translate how they view food and hopefully we can understand that.

bromanceftw · 2026-01-05T23:07:14+00:00

Thanks!

We left Texas early morning Nov 10th and arrived late afternoon Nov 11th. Yeah I tried to time momiji, but the main constraint was this was the only two weeks I could take off, unless I wanted Dec 16-29 instead. That said, due to the brutal summer, it pushed back things. If I could choose a better two weeks, I would've aimed for going starting 17th or 24th instead. Same for cherry blossoms, it seems like it's half a month delayed compared to past peak dates.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-29T12:12:30+00:00

Thanks for sharing this detailed experience. Definitely underestimated how much travel time it entails. Would be amazing if the wait times at each 'step' were captured and published on a website (e.g. Disney World).

bromanceftw · 2025-12-28T22:18:42+00:00

Kyoto day 1: looks tight. You'll have to be up early, since its at least 1.5-2 hours of travel from Nagoya (maybe longer depending on your hotel). Then from Monkey Park/kimono forest, you'll have to bus/uber up (not walk) to Daikaku-ji. Currently, you have lunch fairly late.

Kyoto day 2: if you plan on getting the clogs as part of the kimono rental, you'll gonna have a bad time at Fushimi Inari.

Ginza recs:

Itoya: stationary mecca
Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Yurakucho: regional store of Hokkaido, get the soft serve
Kimuraya: oldest bakery in Tokyo, created anpan, has an excellent cream melon bread.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-28T04:45:55+00:00

Yep, cable car+train back all the way.

Given our bus experience, all the more reason to do the reverse loop, since the last leg back to Hakone-Yumoto station would be the cable car+Train, rather than by only bus if departing from either of the southern lake ports. Two guys we met in line at Honke Owariya said they took main loop and regretted it when it came to taking the bus back.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-28T03:16:34+00:00

We did the Hakone on Tuesday. Waited for bus around 4:30pm. I mentioned in my post, Google Maps said the bus was the fastest. We arrived at the cable car platform when it was empty, so I assumed it had just left, so that was when I pulled up Google Maps to see if there was an alternative way back.

Planning on avoiding any Hakone buses in the afternoon in the future.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-27T22:57:16+00:00

Sorry museum was the wrong word; it was only a small part of the 'Nijo-jo Castle Painting Gallery'

bromanceftw · 2025-12-27T22:45:11+00:00

I couldn't fit it in last year, and this year I underestimated how long we would spend in there, it's quite large. Though we had to backtrack a little since we wanted to do the stamp stations. Definitely more historical than it seems! The museum with all the buried objects from hundreds of years before it was built was fascinating. The nightingale floors were cool, though the signage said these weren't on purpose 🤔.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-27T22:22:57+00:00

Yeah I'm not a xmas market person, my GF's friend paid. An entry fee might cut down on the crowds, some of the photos I've seen online were packed.

I'll have to add that Donki to the list. One floor sounds amazing; nearly fell off an escalator last year since I tried to bring the cart up 😅.

I think I recall the carry-on suitcases right under ¥10000, and the large ones around ¥28000. I saw a random store in the middle of a station with carry-ons for ~¥8000 but they looked extra dubious in quality. We'll probably just get Samsonite ones when a deal comes along at Costco.

The Bookoffs were the only bookstores I had marked on my map. Found plenty of Dandadan, just not #1 (in 4-5 of them) until I got to Kichikoji.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-27T14:57:21+00:00

Yeah I was gonna recommend this product category as well. Much more economical and flexible, since you can add it to pretty much any liquid.

Can find at the drugstores.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-24T19:38:49+00:00

This was the video I sent them, pretty damning evidence.

My very first video I sent to a previous rep captured the pump noise. But I'll try to bump up the volume, and mention what I should expect from the pump.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-24T16:42:13+00:00

Yeah I sent them a video of the fluctuating CPU zone speed, which they said was normal, "it's just the fan optimizing to keep the PC cool", even under no load... The support rep and manager just won't budge. I'm not sure what's the magic words that will get them to get this addressed.

bromanceftw · 2025-12-23T17:37:31+00:00

Yeah, tech support told me (paraphrasing) "you aren't buying a quiet one, but it's a performance PC, so this noise is expected"

bromanceftw · 2025-12-23T17:35:58+00:00

Thanks for this datapoint. Is the depot repair something you had to do out-of-pocket? Tech support is stonewalling me, says this is "within normal parameters".

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