-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 4
Expand file tree
/
Copy pathfeed.xml
More file actions
3346 lines (3315 loc) · 243 KB
/
feed.xml
File metadata and controls
3346 lines (3315 loc) · 243 KB
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.4.1">Jekyll</generator><link href="https://ibug.io/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="https://ibug.io/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2026-03-11T07:47:26+00:00</updated><id>https://ibug.io/feed.xml</id><title type="html">iBug</title><subtitle>The little personal site for iBug</subtitle><author><name>iBug</name></author><entry><title type="html">BanD Width! It’s MyBOND!!</title><link href="https://ibug.io/blog/2026/02/bonding-iperf3/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="BanD Width! It’s MyBOND!!" /><published>2026-02-16T00:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2026-02-24T11:27:10+00:00</updated><id>https://ibug.io/blog/2026/02/bonding-iperf3</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://ibug.io/blog/2026/02/bonding-iperf3/"><![CDATA[<p>My workstation in my univerity lab has consistently generated some 600 TiB of annual upload across two PT sites. After an upgrade to the room a few months back, it received the most wanted upgrade for years: A second 1 Gbps line to the campus network. I immediately made the two NICs into one bonded 2 Gbps interface, and it has shined for many times with multiple popular torrents.</p>
<p>Inspired by my friend <a href="https://blog.yfycloud.site/about/">@TheRainstorm</a> who managed to double his upload by load-balancing WireGuard over two lines from the same ISP (China Mobile), I figured I’d leverage this chance and make a better understanding though some more detailed experiments.</p>
<h2 id="setup">Setup</h2>
<h3 id="sender">Sender</h3>
<p>My workstation:</p>
<ul>
<li>Ubuntu 24.04 (Kernel 6.8)</li>
<li>Two Intel I210 NICs, connected to the same switch of campus network</li>
<li>iperf 3.16</li>
</ul>
<p>Controlled variables:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bond mode: Round-robin (<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-rr</code>, 0) vs Transmit Load Balancing (<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-tlb</code>, 5)
<ul>
<li>For <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-tlb</code> mode, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">xmit_hash_policy</code> is set to <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">layer3+4</code>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>TCP congestion control (CC) algorithm: CUBIC vs BBR</li>
<li>Parallelism (the value to <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">-P</code> option of iperf3): 1 vs 4
<ul>
<li>Note that due to the way <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-tlb</code> works, with only one connection, bonding is not going to be different than using only one NIC.
<!–</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Whether another application is constantly generating background upload activity.
<ul>
<li>This is implemented by letting qBittorrent run in the background with upload rate limited to 1 MB/s, and is labeled <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">qB</code> during the experiment.
–></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>These variables combine into 8 different scenarios, which is enough dimensions to look at in isolation.</p>
<h3 id="receivers">Receivers</h3>
<p>I sourced three destination (receiver) hosts with > 2 Gbps download bandwidth, labeled as following:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>A</strong>. One of our usually idle lab servers.</li>
<li><strong>B</strong>. <a href="https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/">USTC Mirrors</a> server.</li>
<li><strong>C</strong>. Friend-sponsored home broadband in Shanghai.</li>
</ul>
<p>Typical traits of these destinations are:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center">Destination</th>
<th style="text-align: center">Download BW</th>
<th style="text-align: center">Latency</th>
<th style="text-align: center">BDP*</th>
<th style="text-align: left">Other notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A</td>
<td style="text-align: center">10 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: center">250 ± 30 us</td>
<td style="text-align: center">500 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: left">Mostly idle</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">10 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: center">300 ± 200 us</td>
<td style="text-align: center">600 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: left">Under constant load</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">~2.2 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: center">28 ± 0.2 ms</td>
<td style="text-align: center">56 MB</td>
<td style="text-align: left">Mostly idle</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>* Because my workstation can only generate upload at a theoretical maximum speed of 2 Gbps, BDP is calculated at this speed.</p>
<h2 id="analyses">Analyses</h2>
<p>iperf3 provides three indicators: Transmission bitrate, number of retransmissions and the congestion window size.</p>
<p>We cannot attach too much importance to the bond mode when testing bonding performance, so let’s get straight to it.</p>
<h3 id="single-stream">Single stream</h3>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center">Dest</th>
<th style="text-align: center">P</th>
<th style="text-align: center">CC</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Bitrate (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Bitrate (TLB)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Retr (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Retr (TLB)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Cwnd (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Cwnd (TLB)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.78 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">940 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">20079</td>
<td style="text-align: right">20</td>
<td style="text-align: right">331 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">233 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.19 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">936 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">7258</td>
<td style="text-align: right">110</td>
<td style="text-align: right">103 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">385 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.62 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">944 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">37018</td>
<td style="text-align: right">51</td>
<td style="text-align: right">343 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">241 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.19 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">941 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">6914</td>
<td style="text-align: right">72</td>
<td style="text-align: right">98 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">338 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.11 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">935 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: right">8.87 MB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">7.67 MB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.16 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">931 Mbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: right">6.44 MB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">4.20 MB</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>We first look at TLB bond mode.
As expected, with one single stream, it runs on only one slave interface (confirmed by watching <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">bmon -p eth0,eth1,bond0</code> during execution).
And with the entire route being able to carry nearly 1.8 Gbps, there’s no surprise that different congestion algorithms don’t affect single-stream performance in all scenarios.</p>
<p>We then note the huge difference between the BBR and CUBIC algorithms in RR bond mode.
Because destinations A and B both have a very low BDP, any fluctuation in latency hits hard on CUBIC in forms of out-of-order packet deliveries, which reflects clearly in the difference of retransmitted packets and the Cwnd size.
In TLB mode, with only one active NIC, retransmission is kept low, but in RR mode it skyrocketed.</p>
<p>For destination C however, that’s an entirely different case (zero retransmission) with its own reason:
There’s enough BDP for the sender to raise Cwnd up to 8 MiB, but the receiver reports a window of only 4 MiB, so the entire transmission is limited by the receiver, not congestion or link load.</p>
<h3 id="parallel-streams">Parallel streams</h3>
<p>During the experiment, I found it very often that all 4 streams gets load-balanced onto one NIC in <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-tlb</code> mode, so I had to re-run the tests multiple times to obtain the result where 4 streams are equally balanced onto both NICs.
Results from imbalanced stream distributions are discarded during retry.</p>
<p>For 4 parallel streams, the result looks much better:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center">Dest</th>
<th style="text-align: center">P</th>
<th style="text-align: center">CC</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Bitrate (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Bitrate (TLB)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Retr (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Retr (TLB)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Cwnd (RR)</th>
<th style="text-align: right">Cwnd (TLB)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.79 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.77 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">41357</td>
<td style="text-align: right">18</td>
<td style="text-align: right">222 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">178 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.80 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.77 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">13254</td>
<td style="text-align: right">82</td>
<td style="text-align: right">48 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">306 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.79 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.72 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">61810</td>
<td style="text-align: right">9368</td>
<td style="text-align: right">237 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">236 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.77 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.74 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">15549</td>
<td style="text-align: right">4243</td>
<td style="text-align: right">31 KB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">174 KB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">BBR</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.70 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.82 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">185</td>
<td style="text-align: right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: right">4.04 MB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">3.84 MB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">CUBIC</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.74 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">1.82 Gbps</td>
<td style="text-align: right">20</td>
<td style="text-align: right">17</td>
<td style="text-align: right">2.91 MB</td>
<td style="text-align: right">2.89 MB</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The gap between RR and TLB no longer exists, and differences in retransmissions and Cwnd size can be attributed entirely to the CC algorithms themselves.
In particular, due to Cwnd falling under 4 MiB, or possibly just random network fluctuation, retransmission to destination C is observed for the first time.
It’s also interesting to note that the difference in Cwnd size between BBR and CUBIC increased to 5x, compared to some 3 ~ 3.5x in single-stream case.</p>
<p>However, the numbers of retransmissions are lower by magnitudes in TLB bond mode than in RR mode.
I believe this is because the latencies to destinations A and B have very high variation compared to their means (averages), which will result in high number of reordered packets when packets from the same stream are distributed through two underlying interfaces.</p>
<h2 id="bottom-line">Bottom line</h2>
<p>I did a set of rudimentary experiments in this article, and TCP upload is only a very generic use case.
For example, @TheRainstorm is running Sunshine streaming inside load-balanced WireGuard tunnel, and turning up forward error correction (FEC) level is one way to offset fluctuation and packet loss.
I’ve been running qBittorrent uploads under <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-tlb</code> mode for months, and it’s been very stable because qBittorrent uploads torrent content over many connections.</p>
<p>If anyone wants a more reliable multi-NIC bonding setup, I’d definitely recommend getting a capable switch and doing bonding in <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">802.3ad</code> (LACP) mode.
But for a small homelab, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">balance-rr</code> + BBR would probably suffice for optimizing single-stream transmission speed, at the cost of some overhead on bandwidth.</p>
]]></content><author><name>iBug</name></author><category term="linux" /><category term="networking" /><summary type="html"><![CDATA[My workstation in my univerity lab has consistently generated some 600 TiB of annual upload across two PT sites. After an upgrade to the room a few months back, it received the most wanted upgrade for years: A second 1 Gbps line to the campus network. I immediately made the two NICs into one bonded 2 Gbps interface, and it has shined for many times with multiple popular torrents.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Manually resize Guild Chest in Palworld 0.6</title><link href="https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/palworld-0.6-resize-guild-chest/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Manually resize Guild Chest in Palworld 0.6" /><published>2025-07-28T00:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-07-28T14:02:46+00:00</updated><id>https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/palworld-0.6-resize-guild-chest</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/palworld-0.6-resize-guild-chest/"><![CDATA[<p>The Guild Chest, first introduced in Feybreak Update, easily became the best way to move items between bases.
However, it only has 54 slots and is nowhere near enough for all the items you want to store.
For those who want to increase the size of the Guild Chest, especially in single player worlds, there’s a tutorial on how to do it manually:
<a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/palworld/mods/2419">Guild chest resizer after solo play started (Manual)</a>.</p>
<p>A few months back, I followed this tutorial and successfully resized my Guild Chest to 270 slots.
But this time on my friend’s save, the script no longer worked.</p>
<div class="language-console highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code><span class="gp">PS D:\Downloads\GuildChestResizer></span><span class="w"> </span>python sav-to-gvas.py D:<span class="se">\D</span>ownloads<span class="se">\G</span>uildChestResizer<span class="se">\L</span>evel.sav
<span class="go">Traceback (most recent call last):
</span><span class="gp"> File "D:\Downloads\GuildChestResizer\sav-to-gvas.py", line 30, in <module></span><span class="w">
</span><span class="go"> main()
File "D:\Downloads\GuildChestResizer\sav-to-gvas.py", line 18, in main
uncompressed_data = zlib.decompress(data[12:])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
zlib.error: Error -3 while decompressing data: incorrect header check
</span><span class="gp">PS D:\Downloads\GuildChestResizer></span><span class="w">
</span></code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>Fortunately, I had my own save file where I performed the steps, so I could investigate the issue.</p>
<h2 id="investigation">Investigation</h2>
<p>Notice how the script tries to decompress the data using zlib, with the first 12 bytes skipped.
So the first thing to check is to compare the header of the save files.</p>
<p>My save file (that worked):</p>
<div class="language-text highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code>00000000 7d d3 67 01 c8 51 23 00 50 6c 5a 32 78 9c 64 7a |}.g..Q#.PlZ2x.dz|
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>My friend’s that no longer works:</p>
<div class="language-text highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code>00000000 09 c2 8b 01 a7 f1 20 00 50 6c 4d 31 8c 0a 00 36 |...... .PlM1...6|
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>According to <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/q/9050260/5958455">Stack Overflow</a>, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">78 9c</code> indicates default compression for zlib, while <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">8c 0a</code> is not a valid zlib header.
After playing around with the save file, I concluded that the save file was not compressed with zlib at all, so time to look for other clues.</p>
<p>By examining the Python script, particularly the “convert back” one (<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">gvas-to-sav.py</code>), I figured out the header for the <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.sav</code> file:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bytes 0-4: Size of uncompressed data (4 bytes, little-endian)</li>
<li>Bytes 4-8: Size of compressed data (4 bytes, little-endian)</li>
<li>Bytes 8-11: Magic number (3 bytes, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">PlZ</code>)</li>
<li>Bytes 12: Possibly type information, as the script checks for <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">0x32</code></li>
</ul>
<p>It’s easy to notice the discrepancies between the failing save file and the above structure:</p>
<ul>
<li>The magic number is <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">PlM</code> instead of <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">PlZ</code>.</li>
<li>The potential type information is <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">0x31</code> instead of <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">0x32</code>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The uncompressed size and compressed size fields are correct for that file itself, so most likely the new save file employs a different compression algorithm.
Time to identify it.</p>
<h2 id="finding-the-compression-algorithm">Finding the compression algorithm</h2>
<p>So here comes the trick: I know about this other tool called <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/palworld/mods/104">PalEdit</a>, which is also written in Python and is <a href="https://github.com/EternalWraith/PalEdit">open-source on GitHub</a>, so it’s easy to read the code for clues and insights.</p>
<p>There’s a <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">SaveConverter.py</code> file that catches my attention, which refers:</p>
<div class="language-python highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code><span class="kn">from</span> <span class="n">palworld_save_tools.palsav</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">compress_gvas_to_sav</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">decompress_sav_to_gvas</span>
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>… except there’s no <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">palworld_save_tools</code> directory anywhere in the repository.
Though interestingly, there <em>is</em> a <a href="https://github.com/EternalWraith/PalEdit/blob/main/palworld_save_tools.zip"><code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">palworld_save_tools.zip</code> file</a> in the root of the repository.</p>
<p>Recalling how Python can <a href="https://docs.python.org/3/using/cmdline.html#interface-options">execute</a> a directory or a zip file if it contains a <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">__main__.py</code> script, it sure can <em>import</em> it as well if it contains a <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">__init__.py</code>, so time to unpack that ZIP archive and inspect the contents.
Within a few steps you’ll land at <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">compressor/__init__.py</code> which looks like this at its beginning:</p>
<div class="language-python highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code><span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">SaveType</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">CNK</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mh">0x30</span> <span class="c1"># Zlib compressed on xbox
</span> <span class="n">PLM</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mh">0x31</span> <span class="c1"># Oodle compressed
</span> <span class="n">PLZ</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mh">0x32</span> <span class="c1"># Zlib compressed
</span>
<span class="c1"># [code omitted]...
</span>
<span class="k">class</span> <span class="nc">MagicBytes</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">CNK</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="sa">b</span><span class="sh">"</span><span class="s">CNK</span><span class="sh">"</span> <span class="c1"># Zlib magic on xbox
</span> <span class="n">PLZ</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="sa">b</span><span class="sh">"</span><span class="s">PlZ</span><span class="sh">"</span> <span class="c1"># Zlib magic
</span> <span class="n">PLM</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="sa">b</span><span class="sh">"</span><span class="s">PlM</span><span class="sh">"</span> <span class="c1"># Oodle magic
</span></code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>Now the details become clear:
The new save file contains <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">PlM</code> as its magic bytes and a matching <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">0x31</code> type information, so mystery solved and the next step is to figure out how to decompress it.</p>
<h2 id="patching-the-scripts">Patching the scripts</h2>
<p>Searching for <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Oodle compression</code> on Google produces multiple results from Epic Games and Unreal Engine, guess that’s their latest feature maybe?
So I turned my focus back to PalEdit, where there’s the <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">compressor/oozlib.py</code> file with this:</p>
<div class="language-python highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code><span class="k">try</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">ooz</span>
<span class="k">except</span> <span class="nb">ImportError</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="k">raise</span> <span class="nc">ImportError</span><span class="p">(</span>
<span class="sa">f</span><span class="sh">"</span><span class="s">Failed to import </span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">ooz</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s"> module. Make sure the Ooz library exists in </span><span class="si">{</span><span class="n">local_ooz_path</span><span class="si">}</span><span class="s"> or latest pyooz is installed in your Python environment. Install using </span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">pip install git+https://github.com/MRHRTZ/pyooz.git</span><span class="sh">'"</span>
<span class="p">)</span>
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>Problem solved, but I’m on Windows without a C toolchain (I no longer do Windows development), so I moved all relevant files onto my Linux server.
Then it’s just a matter of <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">pip install</code> command to get the requirements ready.</p>
<p>I also patched the decompressor script:</p>
<div class="language-python highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code><span class="c1">#!/usr/bin/env python3
</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">subprocess</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">sys</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">glob</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">zlib</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">ooz</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">main</span><span class="p">():</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="nf">len</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">sys</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">argv</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o"><</span> <span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="nf">exit</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">sav_file</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">sys</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="n">argv</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="nf">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">sav_file</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">rb</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">data</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">read</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">uncompressed_len</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">from_bytes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">byteorder</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">little</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">compressed_len</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">from_bytes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">4</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">byteorder</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">little</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">magic_bytes</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">magic_bytes</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="sa">b</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">PlM</span><span class="sh">'</span>
<span class="n">save_type</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="k">assert</span> <span class="n">save_type</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="mh">0x31</span>
<span class="n">uncompressed_data</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">ooz</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">decompress</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">:],</span> <span class="n">uncompressed_len</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">uncompressed_len</span> <span class="o">!=</span> <span class="nf">len</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">uncompressed_data</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">return</span>
<span class="n">gvas_file</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">sav_file</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">replace</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">.sav</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">.sav.gvas</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="nf">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">gvas_file</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="sh">'</span><span class="s">wb</span><span class="sh">'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">f</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nf">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nf">bytes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">uncompressed_data</span><span class="p">))</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">__name__</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="sh">"</span><span class="s">__main__</span><span class="sh">"</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="nf">main</span><span class="p">()</span>
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>Now it correctly decompresses my friend’s <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Level.sav</code> into <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Level.sav.gvas</code> where I can follow the rest of <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/palworld/mods/2419">the instructions</a> manually.
For compressing the edited file back, I just used the provided <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">gvas-to-sav.py</code> file in the belief that the previous zlib-based compression method is still supported by the game.</p>
<p>After sending the edited <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Level.sav</code> file back to the game, we’re glad to see our Guild Chest containing 270 slots, which we probably would never use up.</p>
<h2 id="postface">Postface</h2>
<p>If you’re on Windows or don’t have a C/C++ compiler for installing <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">pyooz</code> yourself, the same <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">palworld_save_tools.zip</code> provides these files that you may find useful:</p>
<div class="language-text highlighter-rouge">
<div class="highlight">
<pre class="highlight"><code>lib/linux_arm64/ooz.so
lib/linux_x86_64/ooz.so
lib/windows/ooz.pyd
</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<p>Of course, how to utilize these files is left as an exercise for the readers.</p>
]]></content><author><name>iBug</name></author><category term="games" /><category term="palworld" /><summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Guild Chest, first introduced in Feybreak Update, easily became the best way to move items between bases. However, it only has 54 slots and is nowhere near enough for all the items you want to store. For those who want to increase the size of the Guild Chest, especially in single player worlds, there’s a tutorial on how to do it manually: Guild chest resizer after solo play started (Manual).]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">A trip to Japan</title><link href="https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/japan-june-2025/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="A trip to Japan" /><published>2025-07-23T00:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-07-23T00:59:25+00:00</updated><id>https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/japan-june-2025</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://ibug.io/blog/2025/07/japan-june-2025/"><![CDATA[<p>As a more meaningful way to celebrate our graduation as Master students and spend this last truly free time in a long while, I joined my friends on a trip to Japan.</p>
<h2 id="preparations">Preparations</h2>
<p>Kudos to my friends for planning the itinerary and discussing the details.
We planned to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a day trip to Nara.</p>
<p>Other than planning, these are many important things to prepare before the trip:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Visa</strong>: Japan has an embassy and many consulates in China, and each is responsible for a specific region.
In particular, the Japan Embassy requires individuals to apply for a visa through a designated travel agency.
This is not particularly complex, as you can just pick an agency in your region and follow their instructions, or head over to TaoBao and purchase a visa application service.
Prepare the required documents, deliver them to the agency, and wait for your passport to be returned with the visa.</p>
<p>One thing to note is that Japan no longer issues physical single-entry visas that are stamped in your passport, but instead issues a digital visa that can be opened and displayed on your phone.
This will be useful later.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Flights</strong>: My friends handled the flight bookings. For departure, we flew from Shanghai (PVG) to Tokyo (NRT), and returned from Osaka (KIX) to Shanghai (PVG).
The flights were direct and took about 3 hours each way.
To save some money, we booked the flights in advance and chose a budget airline (Spring Airlines), which later caused some issues.
I personally wanted to return home directly after the trip, so I booked a separate flight from Osaka to Shenzhen (SZX) on the same day, skipping Shanghai.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Accommodation</strong>: We booked hotels in Kyoto for our stay there, but opted for Airbnb in Tokyo and Osaka, as hotel prices in these cities were orbitantly high (partially accounting for Expo 2025).
For homestays, we chose places close to the city center and had good reviews, to ensure convenience and comfort.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Transportation</strong>: Japan’s metro system is very convenient and efficient, so why not?
We inspected the IC card system and decided that a Suica card would be sufficient for most of our needs.
Since we were going to land at Narita International Airport, we purchased a Skyliner + 3-day Tokyo Subway pass combo online, which allowed us to take the Skyliner train from Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo and convenient subway rides during our stay there.</p>
<p>For iPhone users, the Suica card can be added to Apple Wallet and recharged through Apple Pay, which is even more convenient than physical cards.
I unfortunately am an Android user, so I had to buy a physical card at NRT, priced at JP¥ 500 for the card itself.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Connectivity</strong>: From our friends’ recommendations, we purchased <a href="https://global.cmlink.com/en/plan-detail?PlanID=D2206291737376685419">data SIM cards from CMLink</a> for our phones.
There’s one advantage of CMLink over local Japanese SIM cards: Data traffic exits through Hong Kong, which means good connectivity to both mainland China and the rest of the world.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Money & Payments</strong>: Japan is a very well-developed country, so cashless payments are prevalent.
However, some cash is still required occasionally, so we exchanged some cash at our local bank before the trip.
Three of us brought JP¥ 30,000 (≈ US$ 208) each, and I brought a bit less at JP¥ 20,000 (≈ US$ 140).
We also brought our bank cards for convenience, as VISA and Mastercard are widely accepted in Japan.</p>
<p>My primary credit card is a UnionPay and VISA dual-branded card, which due to regulatory reasons, is a magnetic stripe card with no IC chip. So I additionally brought my <a href="https://www.bochk.com/dam/more/bocdebitcard/card/en.html">Bank of China (Hong Kong) Mastercard debit card</a>, which is an IC-and-NFC card and should cover the cases where the mag-stripe card is unusable.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Other items</strong>: Mobile phone, power banks, chargers, and a suitable backpack because you will need to carry your stuff around including your passport.</p>
<p>Unlike many other countries, Japan uses a different standard for power delivery, at 100V and 50/60 Hz, so you will need to double check your power adapter to ensure it’s compatible.</p>
<p>Also, one of us brought a roll of garbage bags, as Japan has a very strict garbage sorting system and doesn’t install garbage bins in public places.
This means we had to carry our garbage around until we found a suitable bin, so these bags would prevent our backpacks from getting dirty.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="before-the-trip">Before the trip</h3>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/">Visit Japan Web</a> system that allows you to register your trip beforehand.
It combines visa verification and customs declaration into one, and streamlines the disembarkation process.</p>
<h3 id="day-0">Day 0: Shanghai</h3>
<p>Because our flight was in the morning, we decided to stay overnight at a hotel near PVG.
This also brings us a chance to meet up with our friends who were working or studying in Shanghai, and we had a nice dinner together.
To save some stamina, we headed to the hotel right after dinner and rested for the night, so that we could get up early the next day without feeling too tired.</p>
<p>I was surprised to find that Shanghai metro uses 3 languages for the on-train radio announcements: Mandarin Chinese, English, and <strong>Shanghai dialect</strong>, at least on Line 16.</p>
<h2 id="day-1">Day 1: Arrival in Tokyo</h2>
<p>Waking up at 6 AM, we rode the hotel shuttle bus to PVG, and it was an ordinary flight to NRT.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606130555.webp" class="image-popup" title="Shortly before landing in Narita International Airport
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606130555.webp" alt="Shortly before landing in Narita International Airport" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Shortly before landing in Narita International Airport
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We landed at Terminal 3 and went through the immigration and customs checks smoothly.
Because we prepared our Visit Japan Web registration, all we had to do was to show the QR code to the self-service kiosk and then present our passports to the immigration officer.</p>
<p>The first thing we interacted with after disembarkation and getting out of T3 was a vending machine.
Interestingly, it supported both cash and card payments, and we used our NFC-enabled bank cards to buy a bottle of water.
The prices were substantially higher than in Shanghai, at JP¥ 160 for a 500ml bottle, 2x as much as that in Shanghai, but the difference was certainly negligible for such a one-off case.</p>
<p>We then took another shuttle bus to Terminal 2, where we redeemed our Skyliner and the Tokyo Subway pass tickets and purchased our Suica cards.
Worth commending is that the labels and signs throughout Japan are highly accessible, with everything written in 4 languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified), and Korean.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606141629.webp" class="image-popup" title="First sight in Narita International Airport Terminal 2
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606141629.webp" alt="First sight in Narita International Airport Terminal 2" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
First sight in Narita International Airport Terminal 2
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Skyliner is a all-reserved train service that connects Narita International Airport to downtown Tokyo, and we took it to the other end of the line, Keisei-Ueno Station.
Its high frequency means that we didn’t have to wait long and the seats were rarely full.
Needless to say, the train was very clean and comfortable, with spacious seats and large windows compared to High-Speed Rail trains in China.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606150720.webp" class="image-popup" title="Scenic view from the Skyliner train on the way
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606150720.webp" alt="Scenic view from the Skyliner train on the way" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Scenic view from the Skyliner train on the way
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At Keisei-Ueno Station, we transferred to the Tokyo Metro and took the Hibiya Line to our Airbnb in Minowa.
How nice it is that every station is numbered, so that those who are not familiar with the station names can just call out the station number.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606155502.webp" class="image-popup" title="A subway station guideboard for Hibiya Line at Ueno Station
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606155502.webp" alt="A subway station guideboard for Hibiya Line at Ueno Station" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A subway station guideboard for Hibiya Line at Ueno Station
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this way, we can name this ride “from H-18 to H-20”.</p>
<p>The next sensation was the narrowness of exit stairways in the subway stations in Tokyo.
Subway stations in China are generally spacious, with wide stairways and escalators, and very well-lit.
Taking this station as example, the exit stairway is very narrow with no escalator installed, though there are elevators for those in need.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606175247.webp" class="image-popup" title="A narrow exit stairway in a Tokyo subway station
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606175247.webp" alt="A narrow exit stairway in a Tokyo subway station" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A narrow exit stairway in a Tokyo subway station
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My first impression of Japanese streets are cleanliness and orderliness.
As anticipated, despite having no trash cans on the streets, it’s still very clean and tidy.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161011.webp" class="image-popup" title="A street view in Minowa, Tokyo
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161011.webp" alt="A street view in Minowa, Tokyo" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A street view in Minowa, Tokyo
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161137.webp" title="Shortly before landing in Narita International Airport">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161137.webp" alt="Shortly before landing in Narita International Airport" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161422.webp" title="An alleyway view">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606161422.webp" alt="An alley in Minowa, Tokyo" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606162634.webp" title="View from the roof of our stay">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606162634.webp" alt="Minowa street view" loading="lazy" />
</a>
</figure>
<p>After a short break, we went out to explore the neighborhood and had dinner.
It didn’t take long to notice the abundance of vending machines in Japan, which all sell an assortment of drinks, with around half of them being coffee.
How the Japanese love coffee!
Also the prices are very inconsistent, and it’s often the case that the same bottle of drink becomes as much as JP¥ 30 cheaper or pricier in a few meters.
These vending machines also appear to be operated by different companies, as the design and payment options vary a lot.
Some machines are cash-only, while others accept cash, card, and even QR code payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay.
These vending machines made up our water supply throughout our entire journey in Japan.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606175114.webp" class="image-popup" title="A Kirin vending machine in the back of some sort of garage
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606175114.webp" alt="A Kirin vending machine" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A Kirin vending machine in the back of some sort of garage
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We headed back to the metro station and rode to Asakusa, making a transfer at Ueno Station.
Here came the next surprise: the Tokyo Metro doesn’t have cross-platform transfers, so we had to exit the turnstiles for Hibiya Line and enter those for Ginza Line.
We entered Asakusa ROX and found our way through the crowded shopping mall, only to find that the renowned Kura Sushi was fully booked for the night.
After some wandering, we decided to try a random restaurant, and noticed the nice-looking tonkatsu outside Tokiwa Restaurant.
To be honest, it <em>was</em> delicious, and its quality was well reflected in the price, at JP¥ 1,980, rather typical of Asakusa (indeed).</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606185709.webp" class="image-popup" title="My JP¥ 1,980 dinner at Asakusa
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606185709.webp" alt="A tonkatsu set meal at Asakusa" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
My JP¥ 1,980 dinner at Asakusa
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s even more typical is the pathetic supply of rice, which isn’t even half of a bowl.
A refill is sold separately at JP¥ 100.
Well, what can I say, this is Tokyo after all!</p>
<p>On our free roam at the perimeter, we noticed the in-car subway map looking like spaghetti.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606193028.webp" class="image-popup" title="Spaghetti subway map in a car of Asakusa Line
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606193028.webp" alt="A subway map in a Tokyo subway car" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Spaghetti subway map in a car of Asakusa Line
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We made a brief visit to the Tokyo Skytree and the Tokyo Tower, before returning to our stay.
On our way back shopping for supplies at a 7-Eleven nearby, I noticed a peculiar pricing of bottled water:</p>
<ul>
<li>JP¥ 118 for a 500 mL package</li>
<li>JP¥ 131 for a 2 L package</li>
</ul>
<p>I guess the prices all went to the bottle instead of the water.
No wonder why the Japanese are so keen on recycling plastic bottles, that’s some good revenue!</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606202642.webp" class="image-popup" title="Water prices in 7-Eleven in Tokyo
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250606202642.webp" alt="Bottled water on a store shelf" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Water prices in 7-Eleven in Tokyo
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="day-2">Day 2: Kyu-Furukawa Gardens & Sunshine Aquarium</h2>
<p>Day 2 was arranged for anime pilgrimage by my friends (for <em>BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!</em> in particular), so they sure provided a joyful itinerary for the day despite my innocence in anime.</p>
<p>First stop was Kyu-Furukawa Gardens, a tranquil garden in the Kita ward of Tokyo.
Educated by the experience of the previous day, I was for sure surprised by the humble price of the entrance ticket, at JP¥ 150.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607105909.webp" class="image-popup" title="Kyu-Furukawa Gardens ticket
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607105909.webp" alt="Kyu-Furukawa Gardens ticket" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Kyu-Furukawa Gardens ticket
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The garden is very well maintained, along with a beautiful Western-style mansion.
Problem was, it was already summer, well past the blooming season of most flowers, so the garden was not as colorful as it could be.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110213.webp" title="Main garden of Kyu-Furukawa Gardens">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110213.webp" alt="Main garden of Kyu-Furukawa Gardens" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110744.webp" title="The western-style mansion in Kyu-Furukawa Gardens">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110744.webp" alt="The western-style mansion in Kyu-Furukawa Gardens" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110644.webp" title="Path towards the tranquil center of Kyu-Furukawa Gardens">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607110644.webp" alt="Path towards the tranquil center of Kyu-Furukawa Gardens" loading="lazy" />
</a>
</figure>
<p>Somehow, the roads in Kita really reminded me of <em>Doraemon</em>.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607112325.webp" class="image-popup" title="An ordinary road in Kita, Tokyo
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607112325.webp" alt="An ordinary road in Kita, Tokyo" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
An ordinary road in Kita, Tokyo
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We then rode the city bus to Asukayama Park nearby for more pilgrimage.
The bus felt good, but again except for the fare, which was JP¥ 180 for a 10-minute ride.
In contrast, bus rides in Shanghai only cost a few Chinese yuans (≤ JP¥ 100).</p>
<p>The sun made the visit to the park very enjoyable, with a steam locomotive on display and a nice playground, and the kids having fun brought an energetic vibe to the atmosphere.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607113736.webp" title="The D51 853 steam locomotive on display at Asukayama Park">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607113736.webp" alt="The D51 853 steam locomotive on display at Asukayama Park" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607114356.webp" title="Kids in a water play area at Asukayama Park">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607114356.webp" alt="Kids in a water play area at Asukayama Park" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607114749.webp" title="A lovely bird in Asukayama Park, not afraid of humans">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607114749.webp" alt="A lovely bird in Asukayama Park" loading="lazy" />
</a>
</figure>
<p>Following another ride on the Tokyo Sakura Tram, we arrived at Chitose Bridge, where we had lunch at a nearby restaurant after takings a few photos over the roads.
For the first time in Japan, I made a payment using my magnetic stripe credit card.
I was delighted to know that the card remained functional after years of cold storage in my drawer.
It was a nice beef don, except that the ragú was extremely salty.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607132038.webp" class="image-popup" title="My lunch for today
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607132038.webp" alt="A beef don set meal" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
My lunch for today
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The assortment of seasonings on the table was definitely remarkable.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607132627.webp" class="image-popup" title="Seasonings on the table
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607132627.webp" alt="Seasonings on the table" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Seasonings on the table
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the afternoon, we visited the Sunshine City in Ikebukuro.
It’s a large shopping mall, though most of the stores were not of our interest.
We briefly browsed through an anime merchandise store, and then headed towards the Sunshine Aquarium on the top floor.</p>
<p>As famous as it is, the first thing to notice is the <em>Detective Conan</em> (a.k.a. <em>Case Closed</em>) wall at the entrance of the aquarium.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143116.webp" class="image-popup" title="Detective Conan decorations at the entrance of Sunshine Aquarium
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143116.webp" alt="Detective Conan decorations at the entrance of Sunshine Aquarium" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Detective Conan decorations at the entrance of Sunshine Aquarium
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And a horror-looking vending machine for edible insects.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143239.webp" class="image-popup" title="A vending machine for edible insects
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143239.webp" alt="A vending machine for edible insects" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A vending machine for edible insects
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Inside the aquarium are hundreds of tanks at display, with a wide variety of marine life.
I’m no expert in marine biology, so here are just some photos of the exhibits.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607150201.webp" title="Jellyfish lit up in blue">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607150201.webp" alt="Jellyfish lit up in blue" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143920.webp" title="Coral reefs and tropical fish">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607143920.webp" alt="Coral reefs and tropical fish" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607145754.webp" title="A swarm of fish above coral reefs">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607145754.webp" alt="A swarm of fish above coral reefs" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607150921.webp" title="An overhead jellyfish tank">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607150921.webp" alt="An overhead jellyfish tank" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607154041.webp" title="Translucent fish around fallen logs">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607154041.webp" alt="Translucent fish around fallen logs" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607154621.webp" title="Axolotl">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607154621.webp" alt="Axolotl" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607155207.webp" title="Blue tang, like *Dory* from *Finding Nemo*">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607155207.webp" alt="Blue tang, like *Dory* from *Finding Nemo*" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607155249.webp" title="Clownfish, like *Nemo* from *Finding Nemo*">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607155249.webp" alt="Clownfish, like *Nemo* from *Finding Nemo*" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607162258.webp" title="Penguins in Tokyo">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250607162258.webp" alt="Penguins in Tokyo" loading="lazy" />
</a>
</figure>
<p>Coming out of the aquarium, we met with friends studying and working in Tokyo and headed to an arcade around Ueno, where we tried out some Japan-native arcade games like <em>maimai DX</em>.
With 8 people together, we had our yakiniku dinner at a restaurant in Ueno, which was a great way to end the day.</p>
<h2 id="day-3">Day 3: Shibuya & Shimokitazawa</h2>
<p>Day 3 continues as anime pilgrimage in another direction.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608141602.webp" class="image-popup" title="A busy crossroad in Shibuya
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608141602.webp" alt="A busy crossroad in Shibuya" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A busy crossroad in Shibuya
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During our exploration of Shibuya, we encountered the Pride March of Tokyo, where multiple groups of people marched through the streets, decorated with rainbow flags and banners.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608143118.webp" class="image-popup" title="A truck leading a group of marchers
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608143118.webp" alt="A truck leading a group of marchers" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A truck leading a group of marchers
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The march added to the crowd in Shibuya, which was already bustling with people.
Strangely, streets in Shibuya were barely equipped with vending machines, and the crowd added to the scarcity of water supply.
We squeezed our way through the crowd and through a park, only to find a group of vending machines that already had queues built up long before them.
So out of desperation, we quickly found our way to the next available subway station and continued to Shimokitazawa.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608161232.webp" class="image-popup" title="Honda Theater at Shimokitazawa
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608161232.webp" alt="Honda Theater at Shimokitazawa" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Honda Theater at Shimokitazawa
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My friends purchased some merchandise at Honda Theater, and then we managed to locate three prominent scenes from <em>Bocchi the Rock!</em> in the neighborhood.</p>
<figure class="half ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608163653.webp" title="A group of three vending machines under a stairway">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608163653.webp" alt="A group of three vending machines under a stairway" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608164455.webp" title="The side of a house painted with a colorful tree">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608164455.webp" alt="The side of a house painted with a colorful tree" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Famous scenes from <em>Bocchi the Rock!</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For dinner, we went to the Uobei Sushi in Shibuya, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
I was certainly shocked by the prices, as an average salmon sushi plate is priced at JP¥ 160, even less than half of that in Shanghai.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608174755.webp" class="image-popup" title="Dishes at Uobei Sushi
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608174755.webp" alt="Dishes at Uobei Sushi" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Dishes at Uobei Sushi
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Adding to the superior quality and tasty flavor, this is definitely the <em>best</em> sushi I have ever had.</p>
<p>Following dinner, we went to Shibuya PARCO, a large shopping mall nearby, and enjoyed ourselves with various brand stores and a Pokémon Center.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608184514.webp" title="Equipments at display in Nintendo Tokyo store">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608184514.webp" alt="Equipments at display in Nintendo Tokyo store" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608185421.webp" title="A trial play of *Mario Kart World* in Nintendo Tokyo store">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608185421.webp" alt="A trial play of *Mario Kart World* in Nintendo Tokyo store" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608190958.webp" title="Stuffed toys for sale in Pokémon Center">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250608190958.webp" alt="Stuffed toys for sale in Pokémon Center" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Shibuya PARCO
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="day-4">Day 4: Tokyo Skytree & Akihabara</h2>
<p>Our last day in Tokyo encompassed a visit to the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structure in Japan.</p>
<p>We arrived by metro at Oshiage Station, and was then met with a complex of escalators leading up into the shopping mall beneath the Skytree.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609111635.webp" class="image-popup" title="The escalator complex leading to the Tokyo Skytree
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609111635.webp" alt="The escalator complex leading to the Tokyo Skytree" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
The escalator complex leading to the Tokyo Skytree
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After traversing through the shopping mall and queuing up for admission, the first sight to behold was the well-decorated elevator leading up to the observation deck.
The decoration is said to be seasonal, with four variants throughout the year.
Presumably, this is the summer variant, judging by our time of visit.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609113326.webp" class="image-popup" title="Decorations in the elevator going up Tokyo Skytree
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609113326.webp" alt="Decorations in the elevator going up Tokyo Skytree" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Decorations in the elevator going up Tokyo Skytree
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the main observation deck at 350 m above ground, we had a panoramic view of Tokyo.
Very typical of Japan, the streets are very well organized, with a grid-like layout but narrow roads.
Also the buildings are generally not very tall unlike in Shanghai, presumably due to the earthquake risk as Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609113522.webp" title="A view towards the city from the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609113522.webp" alt="A view towards the city from the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609114109.webp" title="The wish stand for tying wish strips at Tokyo Skytree">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609114109.webp" alt="The wish stand for tying wish strips at Tokyo Skytree" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609115324.webp" title="A *Detective Conan* display stand at the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609115324.webp" alt="A *Detective Conan* display stand at the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Views from the main observation deck
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the 340 m level, there is a glass floor that allows you to see straight down to the ground, similar to the one in the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai.
However, the glass floor here is too small to provide any excitement, and the view is nowhere near as impressive as that in the Oriental Pearl Tower.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609122312.webp" class="image-popup" title="The glass floor at 340m featuring a straight view down
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609122312.webp" alt="The glass floor at 340m featuring a straight view down" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
The glass floor at 340m featuring a straight view down
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Coming out of Tokyo Skytree, we returned to the metro station and headed towards Ningyocho for another renowned ramen restaurant.
In the metro station, there was a vending machine for ice creams that caught our attention.
We bought an ice cream each, and I was surprised at its decent taste under a reasonable price.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609132842.webp" class="image-popup" title="An ice cream vending machine in a Tokyo subway station
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609132842.webp" alt="An ice cream vending machine in a Tokyo subway station" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
An ice cream vending machine in a Tokyo subway station
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Arriving at the destined restaurant, we were delighted to find readily available seats (as it was 2 PM already).
Unlike other ramen noodles, this one is served with the soup and toppings in a separate bowl, which is quite unique.
You are supposed to add the noodle to the soup bowl in batches before enjoying it.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609141018.webp" class="image-popup" title="A bowl of ramen with soup and toppings in a separate bowl
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609141018.webp" alt="A bowl of ramen with soup and toppings in a separate bowl" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A bowl of ramen with soup and toppings in a separate bowl
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Akihabara, the anime and electronics district of Tokyo.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609144851.webp" title="A street view of Akihabara">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609144851.webp" alt="A street view of Akihabara" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609145641.webp" title="Figures on display in a store">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609145641.webp" alt="Figures on display in a store" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609152930.webp" title="Books in an underground bookstore">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609152930.webp" alt="Books in an underground bookstore" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Akihabara sightseeing
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first few stores were not of my interest, as they were mostly anime merchandise stores.
But when it comes to the Sofmap, the wide variety of electronics and gadgets definitely warrants a visit.</p>
<p>The first floor (ground floor in British English) is for second-handed Apple mobile devices, mostly iPhones and iPads.
The upper floors are for various computer components, peripherals, and gaming devices.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609155824.webp" title="2F, AIO coolers and motherboards">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609155824.webp" alt="2F, AIO coolers and motherboards" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160051.webp" title="2F, high-end gaming routers">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160051.webp" alt="2F, high-end gaming routers" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160242.webp" title="3F, second-handed laptops">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160242.webp" alt="3F, second-handed laptops" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160735.webp" title="5F, a beautifully built gaming PC">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609160735.webp" alt="5F, a beautifully built gaming PC" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609162545.webp" title="7F, various shortcut devices and peripherals">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609162545.webp" alt="7F, various shortcut devices and peripherals" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609163306.webp" title="7F, mouse pads and gaming mice">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609163306.webp" alt="7F, mouse pads and gaming mice" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Akihabara Sofmap
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following Sofmap, we visited a few more stores in Akihabara, including Surugaya, Mandarake and AmiAmi, before giving the longest stop of the day at K-Books, a large store for anime merchandise.</p>
<p>The merchandise was well beyond my understanding, so here are just some photos of the offerings.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609172336.webp" title="Badges">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609172336.webp" alt="Badges" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609172941.webp" title="Acrylic stands and posters">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609172941.webp" alt="Acrylic stands and posters" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609173548.webp" title="Holographic cards">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609173548.webp" alt="Holographic cards" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Akihabara K-Books
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the last dinner in Tokyo, we booked a table at <em>Niku no Kirikata</em> (肉の切り方) in Nihombashi, a restaurant specializing in grilled meat.
Despite the pricing at JP¥ 7,200 per person, the quality and the experience were unparalleled.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609195115.webp" class="image-popup" title="An assortment of meat, with 5 copies of each type
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250609195115.webp" alt="An assortment of meat, with 5 copies of each type" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
An assortment of meat, with 5 copies of each type
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And this concludes our stay in Tokyo.</p>
<h2 id="day-5">Day 5: Shinkansen to Kyoto</h2>
<p>After getting up and packing up our luggages, we took the metro to Tokyo Station and proceeded with our plan of Kyoto.
Since Shinkansen from Tokyo to western Japan has a frequent headway of every 5 minutes, we didn’t have to worry about ticket and seat availability, so tickets were purchased on the spot.</p>
<p>Unseen elsewhere, purchasing the Shinkansen tickets required us to produce our metro tickets or Suica cards, presumably because the ticket office is located inside before the metro turnstiles.
We purchased tickets for Nozomi 35, one the fastest Shinkansen lines with the least stops, and the tickets were priced at JP¥ 13,970 per person.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610120236.webp" class="image-popup" title="A set of Shinkansen tickets
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610120236.webp" alt="A set of Shinkansen tickets" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A set of Shinkansen tickets
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given its high headway frequency, it’s not surprising that the platform looks similar to a metro platform.</p>
<figure class="half ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610123518.webp" title="Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610123518.webp" alt="Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610123524.webp" title="Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610123524.webp" alt="Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The other thing that caught our attention was a Shinkansen Coffee machine.
It offered a variety of coffee drinks, and what’s more intriguing is that the beverage is brewed on the spot, with a small cup of coffee beans ground and brewed into a cup of coffee.
There’s even a screen showing the internals of the machine, which is quite fascinating.</p>
<figure class="half ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610124224.webp" title="Various offerings from the Shinkansen Coffee machine">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610124224.webp" alt="Various offerings from the Shinkansen Coffee machine" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610124035.webp" title="Screen showing the brewing coffee">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610124035.webp" alt="Screen showing the brewing coffee" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Shinkansen Coffee machine
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our journey on the Shinkansen was very comfortable and we enjoyed the rural scenery along the way.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610132229.webp" title="A street view in Shinagawa">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610132229.webp" alt="A street view in Shinagawa" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610134031.webp" title="Irrigation fields, with thick clouds in the distance">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610134031.webp" alt="Irrigation fields, with thick clouds in the distance" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610142512.webp" title="A solar farm">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610142512.webp" alt="A solar farm" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Scenery from the Shinkansen
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After a 2-hour ride, we arrived at Kyoto Station, a modern yet tremendous and complex station.
We checked in at our hotel before heading out to explore the city.
We took our lunch-and-dinner for the day at yet another random ramen restaurant, which featured a unique taste.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610171021.webp" class="image-popup" title="Our first meal in Kyoto. There can never be too much ramen.
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610171021.webp" alt="A bowl of ramen" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Our first meal in Kyoto. There can never be too much ramen.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My first impression of Kyoto is its simplistic and even primitive metro system, with nonexistent platform doors, making it look very dated.</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610165712.webp" class="image-popup" title="A Kyoto metro station platform
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610165712.webp" alt="A Kyoto metro station platform" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
A Kyoto metro station platform
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We then took a stroll around the Shijo Bridge, a bridge over the Kamo River, and enjoyed the view of the river and the city.
It was drizzling at the time, but previous showers had boosted the current of the Kamo River, making it look more lively.</p>
<figure class="third ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610173149.webp" title="The stone plaque for Shijo Bridge">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610173149.webp" alt="The stone plaque for Shijo Bridge" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610173558.webp" title="View of the Kamo River from the west bank">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610173558.webp" alt="View of the Kamo River from the west bank" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610174112.webp" title="Dense vegetation alongside the Kamo River over a plain area">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610174112.webp" alt="Dense vegetation alongside the Kamo River over a plain area" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Kamo River views
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We returned to our hotel for a break and fortunately stayed over another downpour.
Late in the evening, we went hungry and headed for a nearby kebab restaurant.
What a nice way to call it a day!</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610221153.webp" class="image-popup" title="Our nighttime snack in Kyoto
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250610221153.webp" alt="Kebab at a restaurant" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Our nighttime snack in Kyoto
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="day-6">Day 6: Nara and Fushimi Inari Taisha</h2>
<p>The next day in Kyoto was arranged for a short trip to Nara.
Slightly to my surprise, several common tourist target cities are closely located, including Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka.
The transportation to Nara is only a 40-minute ride on the Kintetsu Nara Line, costing JP¥ 1,440.
Also, I was happy that Kintetsu stations support tap-to-ride with NFC bank cards, so I could save some Suica balance and consequently cash<sup id="fnref:suica-recharge"><a href="#fn:suica-recharge" class="footnote" rel="footnote" role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Except that Kintetsu station platforms are the narrowest I have ever seen…</p>
<figure class=""><a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611111246.webp" class="image-popup" title="Extremely narrow Kintetsu station platform
"><img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611111246.webp" alt="Extremely narrow Kintetsu station platform" loading="lazy" /></a>
<figcaption>
Extremely narrow Kintetsu station platform
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was another drizzling day in Nara, though fortunately the rain was not prohibitive to our visit.
Shortly after coming out of Kintetsu Nara Station, we noticed the first deer and became excited to take photos of it.
Not many steps did we take before we crossed paths with a herd of deer, which were roaming freely in the streets and parks.</p>
<figure class="half ">
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611112508.webp" title="A horned deer in Nara">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611112508.webp" alt="A horned deer in Nara" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<a href="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611112649.webp" title="A fawn in Nara">
<img src="https://image.ibugone.com/jp-2025/IMG20250611112649.webp" alt="A fawn in Nara" loading="lazy" />
</a>
<figcaption>Nara deers
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, as we approached the Nara Park, the situation quickly turned chaotic.