Our Last 24 Hours in Japan (not what we expected)

We're not playing hide and seek in my robe. No, you stay where you are.

I cannot believe we paid to do this.

Action.

Good morning from Tokyo station. We have 24 hours left in Japan and we have a ton to squeeze in. We're going to start by riding two and a half hours on one of, if not the best train in all of Japan.

We got kicked out.

That train is going to take us south to see the famous Japanese cherry blossoms. Oh, I lost my hat. It's in a cherry blossom. And then tonight, we are staying at what I believe is Japan's only, and possibly the world's only cat hotel. Cara. I left for two seconds. Also, if I sound a little hoarse this morning or if I look a little tired, it's because our friends Craig and Amy got to Tokyo last night and Kara talked us into all going out and singing karaoke.

I did it.

My throat hurts so bad. Okay, let's go get on this tr.

So, a couple weeks ago, we rode Japan's most luxurious bullet train. And while this train is not a bullet train, the seats on this train are even nicer. And I'm actually glad it's not a bullet train because the journey would be too short.

I feel like, you know, when a train is a big deal in Tokyo and everybody's lining up to take a picture with the main logo. Enichiwa.

Safir, Oto Rico. I read that safir comes from the word sapphire and French. That's about all I know about that, and I have no idea what this means. Stick with us for more facts.

So JR operates the majority of trains around Japan, and this train right here, the one that we're about to get on, this is the nicest train that they run on any of the tracks.

So from here to here is one private room. You could have all this space to yourself. Oh, man, this is so nice. We thought this is what we were going to take today, but it was fully booked. It's what we get for banking last minute.

So it is a bummer that we missed out on the private rooms, but these seats are still going to be really nice.

Wow. This door looks very organic. This is awesome. Oh, my goodness. These were seats. I'll see home for the next 2 and 12 hours. We're leaving right on time, as usual. I would expect nothing less. This is shaping up to be one of my favorite train rides in Japan. Because this train has so many windows, I can see out of both sides. Plus, they have these roof windows and I can see out the Front. Like, I can see the conductor from row seven.

Wow.

We're going the same spot.

Maybe they can't see me. This seat is awesome. There's actually one feature in this chair that I've never had on another train. We'll save that for last. First of all, it just looks really nice. And it's actually a better seat than our first class bullet train that we took because those were three seats across and this is only two, which also makes it feel a lot more private. Like, I can't see anyone right now. And because each chair is its own little pod, you can recline as much as you want and not bother the person behind you. This is as far back as my chair goes. There are lots of buttons and controls, and everything's just so shiny and the carpet is blue. And we're in a tunnel now, and I feel like I'm telling a ghost story.

We have an itty bitty cup holder right here. And of course, our bag storage in the seat in front of us. It's tight fit. We didn't bring our big suitcases, thankfully, but if we had them, there's a place in the bag for bigger bags. And now for my favorite feature of the whole seat. There is a lever behind my headrest, and when I pull it.

Nothing happens. This thing rotates. How cool is this?

Sorry. It also locks into place. So if I want to go enjoy the views over here and get some privacy. I can't do that. Let's see how far I can turn this way. Oh, oh, oh. You just have to go to.

Never mind.

So there is a passenger behind me.

Me.

I'm probably not going to do that anymore. Maybe Nate can turn that way.

If I don't want to talk to Cara, I can just turn my chair like this. So this does allow me to enjoy the views out the window, But I also lose a lot of privacy to the passenger that's sitting right behind me. And there's also no leg room when you turn this way.

I think the biggest difference between this train and the fancy bullet train we rode a few weeks ago is the food. On the bullet train, food is included and the drinks were unlimited. And on this train, you have to pay extra for food and drinks. So a flight attendant. So a giant attendant came by earlier. We ordered ourselves some welcome snacks and a little bottle of champagne to celebrate our last day in Japan. Plus, there is a restaurant car that we're going to check out later.

Kai.

Kai. Looks like we got some udon, fried noodles.

Japanese Cheetos.

If you are a train enthusiast. Sitting in one of the front two seats of this train should be the top of your bucket list, because it basically feels like you're driving the train.

I have very high expectations for this bathroom door. Why do they put windows on the men's restroom door? That is so strange.

As per usual in Japan, the toilet seat is heated, and we have an advanced bidet system including multiple different spray options, water pressure adjustment, and my personal, personal favorite, a privacy button that plays noises so that you and everyone else don't have to listen to. You know, you can even change the volume. That's pretty loud, man. I'm gonna miss this country. Other than that, there is a rack to put your things, a hook to hang your jacket, a seat to hold your baby. Zero complaints.

Okay. I will say every Japanese train that we've taken does have a very nice sink with a very nice mirror with really good lighting, so water. But every single one, the hand dryer has been, like, deactivated. And there's a yellow sticker on all of them that I assume says, this doesn't work because I haven't been able to dry my hands on any train.

Wow. The kitchen is just right here. As far as a park public train goes, this is by far the nicest restaurant car experience we've ever had. Gnocchi. Arigato Gaze. Real dishes with beautiful presentation, real glasses of wine. This is awesome. Okay, now let's see if it tastes as good as it looks.

It's incredible. Honestly, I was not a huge fan of the food on Bullet Train, so even though we're paying extra for this, it's totally worth it.

Probably the best spaghetti I've ever had outside of Italy. So the reason that this is food is so incredible is because it is curated by a Japanese chef who was trained in France and Italy. It's also why they serve Italian food on this train. But he has 13 Michelin stars. Look at these views.

This is our best train experience in Japan.

So probably the craziest thing about that entire lunch experience is that both the gnocchi and the pasta cost less than $10, and it came with bread and water, and it was inspired by a Michelin star chef.

This suite is empty.

This is epic. Wow. This is the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in.

This is huge.

Okay, so four people could sit in here. We have this gigantic table. Looks like you can call for service. We don't have that in our seat. And over here, there's some photography, some seashells. Oh, you just have this whole thing to yourself.

Oh, hi. Oh, we need to leave, so we need to go. Okay. Sorry. I got to. That was awkward.

Japanese J Blast. Literally just walked off the train and I can already see 100 Japanese cherry blossoms lining the street. This was so unexpected for this trip. I cannot believe my eyes. The fact that I'm not wearing boots and a coat right now too. I'm just so happy.

We have just arrived in Kawazu, which is one of the first places in all of Japan. Oh, I lost my hat. It's in a chair.

Hello.

It's fine. All right, Gato. Thankfully, this is Japan and no one would ever take this. As I was saying, this is one of the first places in the whole country where the cherry blossoms start to bloom. And when we originally planned this trip, I didn't think there was any way that we were going to be able to see them. But somehow we have managed to squeeze both winter and spring into the same three week trip. This is pretty incredible. Will they both fit? What a steal. Storing our bags at the train station for less than $5. Can't believe they give people keys to take. Definitely going to lose.

I'm in love with this place.

Free chocolate covered strawberries. It's because Kara's so nice.

It's because the people here are so nice. I was looking at the green tea, so I wanted to buy a green tea to take home and I was asking him about where the tea came from and he was telling me about his family's farm and he gave me a free sample. So I picked the bag that I liked the most. And then Nate came over and he was like, oh, it's be going to some chocolate covered strawberries. And he just gave them to us for free. Wouldn't let me pay.

I believe we accidentally timed this trip perfectly. Last week there was a big cherry blossom festival here in the city, but all the vendors are still set up. So we're getting to experience the cherry blossoms in peak season with the vendors without the massive horde of tourists. I mean, there's still a lot of people here, but it's not like festival crowded.

The only reason we're here is because last week when we were up in the freezing mountains with the snow monkeys, we met a couple who had just come from here and they told us that it was spring and they saw Japanese cherry blossoms and I literally didn't believe them.

If I'm being honest, I never really understood the Japanese cherry blossom hype because spring happens everywhere. Trees bloom everywhere. But now that we're here, I kind of get it.

I just love this country, and I cannot think of a better way to end our time here.

This is the original cherry blossom tree. It's like the great, great, great, great, great grandfather of all the other cherry blossom trees in this town.

She's cute.

I had heard that these still existed in Japan, but I hadn't seen one yet. This is a cigarette vending machine. I think this actually verifies your age somehow. Does it? I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, and I don't intend to. I just find it interesting that you could buy them out of a vending machine if you wanted to.

Time to go.

All right, while we wait. Oh, that is not straight.

All right, while we wait on our train to pick us up, it's going to take us to the Cat Hotel. We're going to try our first mochi in Japan. Hey, Siri, what is mochi? Japanese rice cake made of short grain gluttonous rice.

They're super cute.

Cheers. Our last day in Japan.

Whoa. There's a lot going on in there. I kind of love it. Your powdered sugar is blowing into my eyeballs.

Most romantic moment we've had. Japan.

I love it. So mochi.

Well, this is going to be a lot less glamorous than our train ride here.

Where are we going right now? Okay, the train station's somewhere back there. We're walking into residential neighborhood.

This is the most excited I've been all day.

Thank you.

See what home looks like for the night. Double doors.

All right.

Home, sweetheart. Honestly, I was really excited about this, but we just went back and forth on Google translate for, like, 30 minutes about how to take care of the cats, and I'm not sure what we've gotten ourselves into.

They don't exactly paint a romantic picture like I had in mind.

We literally were going back and forth on Google Translate over hard and liquid cat poop and what to do if that happens. Google Translate was so funny. And I think we understand what's happening, but at one point. Point, there was something about getting in the bath after you're dead. So, like, definitely we did not get 100% proper translation. So they're going to let us into the cat Cafe for 10 minutes to mingle with the cats and choose our roommates for the night.

Or will our roommates choose us?

Or maybe we just won't choose roommates.

Oh, my gosh.

Hi.

I'm just going to sit down and see if anyone come to me. Do you want to meet those Friends, look at this one's ears.

Okay.

Hello. No. Okay.

This one kind of looks like it's going to kill me.

These are very difficult. That one's really pretty. Wow. Look at them all over there. These two. Brother. Brother. They are okay? Yeah, they're okay.

If you don't process the poop right away, you'll really get home okay.

Very danger. Because long hair.

They made this little book with each cat and which cat is their best friend that they get along with. If you can't decide, you just pick one and then find his best friend. But the best part, some of them don't have any friends they get along with. Okay, bye, everyone. I'm sorry. Don't take it personally. I love all of you the same.

Okay, good night. Good night.

Kitty, kitty, kitty. Please.

Should we go ahead and eat now before we let the cats out of the cage?

It's a matter of poop.

Okay. All right, Dante. Thank you. Have a nice time. Thank you.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

We have been here for an hour and I promise we spent 45 minutes talking about poop. I don't even know where to start. I don't know if I'm inside it or terrified. The cats are just hanging out in their cage back there. We haven't had a chance to eat dinner, so we bought some ramen because we had heard there is ramen at 7:11. That was made by Michelin star chef. Oh, we're hurrying.

Oh.

We should have just skipped dinner. I hate this.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

This is actually the best looking instant ramen I've ever had.

If you put this in a nice bowl and told me it was from a local Japanese restaurant, I would have no idea. It's time.

Please don't be mad at us for making you wait.

Come on out.

It's time to play.

Hey. Oh, good stretch.

Yeah.

These are such beautiful cats.

They are.

Okay, see you later.

Do you remember either of their names?

No.

Me either.

They also both look the same to me.

Since we forgot their Japanese names, we gave them our own instead. Meet Ramen and Sushi. Ramen is definitely the more handsome brother with his long legs and beautiful fur coat. But looks aren't everything. Ramen is always looking for trouble. Sushi, on the other hand, even though he's the shorter, fatter brother who walks a little funny, he has a great personality and is a total sweetheart. I'm pretty sure parents aren't supposed to have favorites, but, well, you'll see.

They like the fridge. Wow.

Okay, we're gonna become bass friends.

I love this. We should have bought more trees.

One of the upgrades that you could pay for was a treat for each cat, which I'm very glad that we did, because this is the first time I feel loved.

We definitely didn't have to buy these, but the owner was like, and here are the treats. Let's have them split one.

No. We're like the fun aunt and uncle. We're not the parents. Honestly, like, I know everybody has cats, but there are so many rules with these cats that I've become a bit scared. Ooh. Ooh.

Oh, my gosh.

Wow. It's very good at standing on two legs. Don't scratch me.

Hey, I think mine's a little more gentle than yours.

Yeah, this one's crazy.

Wait, be patient, be patient, be patient.

Sit, sit. Also, we've taken a major risk with these cats. There were two that they were like, these are super easy. They've been here forever. And I was like, oh, what about this one? I like the way this one looks. And he was like, they're nine months old, so they have a lot of energy and they have long hair, which means. Means you're probably gonna have to clean their butt when they poop. Don't. Don't go that way. Be patient.

I love you.

Haha.

Trick check. Excuse me, woman, you've already eaten. Your brother needs a turn. You can't be a bully your whole life.

I told you, it's aggressive.

Watch him both lick it at the same time. Oh, look, Sushi's cleaning his eyebrow.

Yeah. Weren't cats supposed to clean themselves?

Yeah, we got the. Yes. Parenting is easy.

All right, we got some toys. Okay, who wants to play with toys?

Sushi. Sushi, look. Wait, he doesn't care. What about this one?

It's a mouse.

What are we doing wrong here?

What did you just do in there? I hope that was a number one yes.

Hype. Sushi's attention.

That came out of nowhere.

He bounces, but then he doesn't care. Oh, good.

Wow, the replies are so fast.

Oh, you got it. Oh, that was good. Oh. Oh, no. Okay. Did I just hear little purr? No. Okay. Uh. Oh, Should I get him?

No, let it play out. Feel like we're learning our parenting self.

I'm going to attempt to pick up one of the cats.

Yeah, that's it. Oh, we just took our relationship to the next level. I'm so happy. I love him. Sushi's such a sweetie. No, stay. Why don't. Ow. Excuse me.

Sir. I'll be like my singing boys.

I Did think sushi was sneaking up on something this whole time, but I think that's just the way it looks.

Oh, just look at this fluffy boy.

Hi.

I love you.

I knew they were gonna love it. So far, their favorite toy of the night is the wind muff. That goes on our microphone on the camera, which is ironically called a dead cat.

Robin, you know what you've done? Sushi. Sushi.

No.

So there was one thing. Well, there were actually a multitude of things, but one of the things they told us not to do is let the cats get in here with the bedding. I'm coming in.

Such good parents.

I have hair all over me. Just a little tip. Don't wear black if you come here.

The kids have worn us out. It's time for bed.

But it didn't work, did it? We should do it again. Ready? One, two, three.

That's better.

Two. She.

Oh, okay. Mom and dad are tired. Wow.

Being a parent is exhausting. We were a lot of work. Go for a little ride.

I mean, it's clearly where they leave.

You'll be back under there in two seconds. Wee unfazed.

Stay back, boys.

Okay, this is the first video of our Japan series that you've seen. These are our beds. And it's not because we are at a cat hotel. This is just a traditional Japanese hotel. You sleep on futons on the floor.

Robin, you think this is your bed? He does.

So basically the setup is you have like an inch of padding with this one and then another inch of padding with this one. They said if you like a soft bed, use both melamin.

Oh, he loves it. Oh, look at his tail. He's ready to attack it. He's so funny. Oh, gosh.

No, no, no, no.

He was waiting for us to let down our guards. Hey, there you go. Hey.

Another bean pillow. It's like a beanbag ramen.

That's my spot. You think this one's yours and we're gonna sleep over here together.

Ramen.

He said the cats would both go to the bathroom between 7 and 9am I'll set my alarm for 7 o' clock because apparently you have to be ready for that. I don't know. Honestly, I thought cats just used a litter box. And they were great because you didn't have to worry about them. At least Google Translate made it seem like it was very important that I clean up the poop very quickly. And something about because they're brothers, they both go to the bathroom at the same time. This is like the first Living things that we've ever tried to take care of together.

So growing up at my parents house, my entire life we've had animals living in our house. And I just love pets. And ever since we got married and now that we're traveling, obviously, obviously, we just don't get to be around pets that often. And anytime we are, it's extra special.

Kara's family treats pets like family. Like family members. They are. You know those people.

We're those people.

Okay, good night, whichever one you are. No, I can only tell when they're walking. All right, see you in the morning. Let you know how the night goes. Maybe we'll see in the middle of the night if things get interesting.

Yeah, hopefully not. Wish us luck.

That was one of my worst nights as well sleep ever. It's freezing in here.

This remote is all in Japanese and I can't make it warmer. And one of the cats slept at my feet. And it felt too bad kicking it out of the bed, but I couldn't really get my whole body under the covers anymore because it was using half of my bed.

Why do I think I want kids? No, you peed on the cushion. Now it smells like cat pee. No, don't walk on my bed. Get. Get off.

It smells terrible. How does pee smell so bad? And the litter box was right there. No, don't. Don't you do it. Quit. See this? Bad cat.

Do you find this interesting? I'm wearing this glove because I'm cleaning up your pee.

No, it wasn't sushi.

How do you know that wasn't Robin?

Cause he's a brat.

I spent 45 minutes covering poop last night, but I don't even think we talked about pee. I mean, there's really only so much I can do about this. It's definitely.

This is some kind of weird torture. We're not playing hide and seek in my robe. No, you stay where you are.

My alarm is going off. But I've been up forever. This is when you were supposed to poop, not before.

Kara, I left for two seconds.

I didn't know I was standing there.

I have literally been watching the cats all morning while Kara's been laying in bed. And I left for two seconds to go get more paper towels.

I got this.

Don't worry.

Need to stop feeding y' all the snacks. Oh, my gosh.

Oh, I can't do it.

You were crazy.

What a disaster.

I don't like pets anymore.

I thought this was gonna be a sad moment, but come on.

Let'S go home. Wow. Eager. Get in there. Good.

Stay at the cat hotel they say.

I think Nate's gonna be a great dad. That is not what I intended to get out of this experience, but that's my takeaway.

Well, I think we have discovered why there's only one cat hotel in the world.

I have not had enough coffee for this.

What a memorable ending to Japan.

Real quick, before we show you the bloopers and trust me, you don't want to miss those, I did want to let you know that there won't be a new video here on the Karen Nate channel next week. But if you want more content from us, you can head over to Daily Drop's new YouTube channel because we just posted a new video over there. It's our journey flying home from Japan in one of the top three business class seats in the world. It's basically a normal Karen day travel video, just with a little bit more focus on miles and points and how we booked it. So I'll leave a link in the description for any of you who are interested in watching that and we would really appreciate it if you did. Also, I just wanted to take a minute to fill you in on the thinking behind this new channel that we've launched. The plan is to post our more miles and focus content over there. So it's going to be like normal Karen Nate travel videos, just with more emphasis and hopefully more helpful instruction on how you can reach recreate these trips using miles and points. So everything that we post over there you'll be able to recreate using miles and points. Also, from time to time, I may film a sit down video if there's a really good deal and I need to explain to you all the details and how to take advantage of it. Kind of like the Southwest companion pass video that I filmed a few weeks ago. But yeah, that's the type of content that you can expect to see on that channel. And the goal again is just to film more helpful travel content that you can recreate and hopefully for a lot less money using miles and points. Also, I did just want to say that the goal is to never let Daily Drop take away from publishing a new video on Kara and Nate. I know you're probably super skeptical because we're not posting that week, but I promise that has nothing to do with this new Daily Drop video. There's just a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. So our promise to you is that we're going to work extra hard to create amazing content for both channels. We are super excited about the Daily Drop channel that we just launched. So it would mean the world to us if you went over and watch the new video. And if you enjoy it, please subscribe. I have made it my personal goal to get a silver play button for the channel by the end of the year. And every click of the subscribe button is going to get us one step closer. There are probably a million people watching this video. So if 10% of you went and subscribed to the Daily Drop, we hit our goal immediately, which would be absolutely amazing. So I'm asking you, please, if Balls and Points content is interesting to you, go over and subscribe to the channel. Just to do me a favor. If we reach 100,000 subscribers by the end of the month, like, if we just blew this goal out of the water, I will find something very special to do for you. Okay, that video was pretty much just one big blooper. But we've got a few more to share with you.

We really need to figure out their names.

Cat 1 and Cat 2.

Oh, never mind.

Isn't that a Dr. Seuss book?

I think it's Thing 1 and Thing 2. Ramen's cherry on the tripod.

Ramen killing me.

I literally watched it like I was staring at it. I just didn't know it was happening.

What'd you think is happening when its back was going?

It wasn't. It wasn't. It was just standing there like it always does.

Better not vomit up a fur ball.

Are they both boys?

I think they're boys. I think they're brothers.

Tushy, tushy.

Okay, camera in the. A boy.

So she's like, ow, you just walked into my face.