Family!

We all fit in the elevator!

The den...aka the girls' bedroom.

More family arrives to take advantage of free accommodations in Tokyo (and maybe to see us, too)!  We get to test the limits of our single shower, since we now have seven people in our apartment.  It works out fine, and we don't even have to send Matt and Steve down to the gym to shower.  (I do joke about turning off the hot water if showers last too long, because I can control the hot water from the kitchen.  Maybe that helped...)


We start off with our normal first day activities.  Early in the morning is the Tsukiji Fish Market, where once again, people forget to take photos (at least of something other than fish).  It's raining, and we're able to scrounge up enough umbrellas for everyone.  We're disappointed that their first day is starting off so poorly with regards to the weather, but they actually like it.  They're from southern California, so seeing rain is something of a treat.

Christmas card worthy pic!

Later that morning the rain stops and we're able to go to Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.  Both places involve walking around and being outside, in the (hazy) sun.  I think it helps our visitors adjust to the time change quicker.

Lots of green, even in December!

We explore some of the scenic sights in the garden. I've now visited in every season and it's always beautiful.  

There's almost enough light to see the "full moon" created by the bridge and its reflection.

It's winter, but flowers are blooming.

This could be a model photo shoot!

Interesting viewpoint

Sophie is the photographer of the family, and she takes advantage of the varied landscapes to find her pictures.  I follow her line of sight once, and discover a new view of the vermilion bridge. 

Photographer at work!

Another Christmas card picture contender?

Yes, we visit the garden, too!

Steve and I realize we have been to some of our "old places" in Tokyo many times now, but we haven't been taking pictures of ourselves.  So here's our bridge selfie!

Everything (and everyone) fully dressed!

The next day we visit the Bonsai Museum, but we're not as lucky with the picturesque sights.  I have it in my head that it will look the same as our visit a few months ago...but I forgot a lot of them are deciduous, so it was a little bit of a let down.  Luckily the pines ones still have their needles.

Naked bonsai.

In case you're curious, here's what they look like, naked (the trees, not the people - what were you thinking?!).

Words of wisdom from Uncle Steve!

We finish up the day at our favorite yakitori restaurant.  This is the first time we have to "pre-order" our food.  When reservations are made for a group of seven, they obviously want to make sure they have enough meat and vegetables available.  Steve shows Matt how to drink masu sake, and we all enjoy our dinner.  Steve relishes some quality conversation with our nieces - I think the exchange starts with them asking him what he does at work.  Maybe I should have listened to the answer!  When I'm asked my usual answer is, "He talks on the phone and types on the computer."

Christmas in Tokyo

The Christmas Poinsettia Tree (aka our Christmas tree)

Beautiful!

We're on our own again in Tokyo for Christmas.  But no worries, we have lots of fun stuff planned for the weekend.  

First we have a brilliant sunset, thanks to some low-lying clouds.  This is from my phone camera, and then I ran for the good camera, but by that time the light had changed.  It's still a pretty picture.

Delicious!

Now that we've been here a year, I'm more aware of some of the Japanese traditions (though I'm still learning, as you'll soon find out).  Last year I discovered too late that people will order a decorated cake for Christmas.  This may have developed post-WWII, when sweets were limited and only people with money were able to afford them. The US military would hand out candy, etc during the holidays, and as a Japanese middle class grew over the years, they could afford sugary items and it became accepted as part of the celebration.  Today it's developed into cake, which traditionally is shortbread and strawberries - similar to a strawberry shortcake.  But the bakeries here will do all sorts of fancy ones, and they can cost as much as $300.  I decide to go with a coconut-pineapple concoction (even though I place our order weeks before Christmas, certain ones are already sold out).  

Our chicken dinner - it has a rice stuffing inside.

Our apartment building has it's own restaurant (which I liked better before they did the remodel) but they are having a special this weekend with a rotisserie chicken, side items and a bottle of champagne that can be delivered to your apartment.  We decide it's too good a deal to pass up, so we enjoy a special meal at home.

They should have been playing the Chicken Dance song instead of carols.

On Christmas Eve, we're off to the theater!  Rent, one of our favorite musicals, is in Tokyo during it's world tour.  We get tickets for the matinee performance.  As we walk outside the theater, I see a Christmas tree made up of snowmen...no, wait....it's chickens.  Chickens?!?  I have no idea where that comes from, but I make Steve do the chicken dance beside it so I can take his picture.


The musical is performed by an American cast (or they all spoke with American accents) and it's nice to hear English spoken (or sung) for an extended period of time.  There are electronic screens on either side of the stage displaying the content in Japanese.  It's well done, so it doesn't distract from the performance, but you could read it and still see the action on the stage.  I'm tempted to learn some Japanese curse words (there's lots of "bad" language in the show) but I'm enjoying the production too much to focus on the translation.

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes..."

We have tickets for the matinee so we can go out for a nice dinner afterwards.  About a week before Christmas Eve I start calling for reservations, and I find out every place is booked.  This is how I learn about another Japanese custom - going out for a romantic dinner on Christmas Eve, similar to what we do in the US on Valentine's Day.  So all our favorite restaurants have special meals planned, but they're already full (unless we want to eat at 5:00pm or 10:00pm and neither time is appealing).  After calling ten restaurants, I finally try one of our favorites, W Cellar, which is normally fully booked on Saturdays anyway - but they have availability for 7:00pm.  Yes!  

The line goes on, and on, and on...

So after watching Rent we're on our way to the restaurant when we walk by a KFC.  I have to stop and take a picture of the line.  I had always heard that Japanese eat KFC at Christmas, but it's when I see the huge wait that I believe it.  I've heard two stories explaining this - one is there was a marketing campaign that advertised KFC for Christmas, and the other is when expats stayed in Tokyo over the holidays, the closest item they could get to turkey was chicken, and Japanese people ended up adopting it as part of their culture.

We finally make our way to W Cellar, and the different tapas items cooked over the charcoal grill....and the wine, of course!  We can't own a grill because of the apartment building rules, so finding a restaurant that barbecues lots of seafood and vegetables helps to make up for it.  We also love sitting at the bar and watching the chef work - Steve's picked up a few ideas to try out when we go home.

Our wine being decanted

Cooking on the grill!

Plenty of leg room!

On Christmas day we follow one of my family's traditions - going to see a movie!  I think this originally started with my father taking my sister and me, so we would be out of my mother's hair so she could take care of holiday preparations.  It persisted after we grew up, and it's something we still do.  We decide to see Rogue One, and Steve savors sitting in his favorite seats.  I have to give a shout out to Japanese engineering - these chairs are perfectly positioned so the screen completely fills your view, without your neck getting stiff.  You feel completely immersed in the movie.

Christmas selfie - a little blurry due to the dim lights

Our Christmas dinner is at our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant, another part of my family's heritage, courtesy of my Italian grandmother.  While dining, I see Santa out making some late Christmas evening deliveries...

Still distributing presents to good kids!

Santa made an appearance at our table, too!

Steve helps Tie-Dye open his gifts.

Back at home, we open presents with Tie-Dye.  He's been doing okay since we lost Tahoe, but we can tell it affects him a bit.  He still loves to go for runs and he's eating, but he's not playing with toys as much.  He also hates being left alone...he always had his "big sister" to keep him company.  He's not destructive, but we can see that he's stressed by it.

He still delights in opening gifts!  After his turn, he decides to help us open our own presents.  He picks one out, slides it over with his paw, and starts tearing away.  Must be something good inside!

Tie-Dye thinks this one smells great!

After a wonderful holiday weekend, we're off to rest and recover...because we have family arriving the next day!

Tokyo Christmas Markets

Our second time attending this event!

After returning to Tokyo after our trip, I end up getting sick again (the same thing happened after we returned from Bali).  My body doesn't appreciate the 50+ degree temperature change - in Tokyo winter has definitely settled in.  Then we have Tahoe's cancer and death to deal with, so the first half of December is rough for us.

Each "cottage" has different decorations on its roof.

The start of the Christmas season helps to distract us and gets us out of the apartment, where Tahoe's absence leaves a hole in our hearts.  We're able to attend the German Christmas Market, our first repeat event in Tokyo.  

Taking a selfie while waiting in line for food and beer.

It's similar to last year - it's in Hibiya Park and there are mostly food and drink stalls.  They do have more shopping booths this year, about seven.  It's not quite the same as the Christmas markets in Germany!  However, it's still fun and we enjoy the German beer and sausages along with the beautiful weather.

Almost 50 feet high!

There's wooden a German Christmas "pyramid" as the centerpiece of the festival.  It's custom-made and stands almost 50 feet high.  There's a policeman standing guard next to it. 

Photo fun!

Being Tokyo, you always find something unusual...like a guy walking his pet bunny.  But I think it's the same rabbit I've seen at other festivals over the past year...

I think I've seen him before...

                                             There are pretty sewer covers at the park.

Nice design

Christmas tree of lights and gifts

We also visit the Roppongi Hills Christmas market.  This one lasts longer than the one at Hibiya Park (the one at the park runs about ten days, and the one at Roppongi Hills is open for most of December).  It's smaller though, with only about ten vendors. 

The rooftop displays are more ornate at Roppongi Hills.

Obviously, a German tradition.

There's a German Christmas pyramid here, too, but it's only about four feet high.  No guards, either - just a screen to prevent anyone from touching it.

Steve has fun with the mascot display - we don't know what it's advertising, because it's all in Japanese.

A Rudolph mascot?

We enjoy another Christmas tradition here, though - the pop up whiskey bar. We stop in for some snacks and to try some whiskey flights.  I find one (Bowmore Small Batch) that I like a little bit (meaning I don't make my normal choking sound when I swallow the whiskey)...maybe my taste buds are starting to adjust.

Whiskey cocktail

Lots of whiskey to sample!

Our last stop is at Tokyo Midtown.  Its market is even smaller, but they have a fun event every Christmas season - a big wine tasting!  It's fun to try, but....we don't find any wines we really like.  Still, it's nice to have a chance to sit for a bit after walking around.  There's Christmas decorations, and even children singing Christmas carols, so it's very festive.

Steve, I think we've seen this pose before.

I like the Santa Claus hats!

Our sommelier, trying to find us a wine we like!

Last Day

cotton candy colored clouds (say that four times fast)

We start off our final day by waking up early to go to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise.  From where we're situated the sun is rising to the right of the temple, but the clouds help to give some pretty color reflections.  It's very crowded, but once again our guide, Kimthet, does a good job finding us good locations for pictures.

We're super tall!

We go into the temple grounds for a few more pictures, and have a nice shot with the sun behind the main towers and the reflection in the pond.

almost postcard worthy!

At least he's not snoring!

When we leave we observe what the drivers do while they're waiting for the tourists to come back out.  Now I see the water hyacinth hammocks in action!

It's still early in the morning, so we return to the hotel so we can shower, eat breakfast and pack.  Steve also does his magic so we can watch the Tennessee football game...but it turns out to be a miserable experience.  Unfortunately, our football season did not live up to its expectations.  Hope springs eternal for next year (we've only been saying that for about 15+ years now...).

Kimthet and our driver pick us up, but with a long flight this evening (and no chance to take another shower) we're trying to stay relatively cool and dry today, so no climbing around temples for us.  We go to the National Museum.  Everyone has to pay to enter, though foreigners pay more.  We can't take pictures, but it's fascinating to see the antiques up close and some are in excellent condition.  There's no glass separating you from them, so you can easily examine all the details.  I'm disappointed because in the gift shop there are no postcards for sale with images of the antiques.  

I was determined this clock was a clue -
but it wasn't.  Just a distraction!

I discover there is an Escape Room game in Siem Reap (The Great Escape), so we schedule time to play a round there.  We've never gone to this company before and it's organized a little differently than the one we're used to in Tokyo - lots of red herrings.  Our streak ends and we don't come close to solving all the puzzles in our allotted time.  With the employee's help we do figure it out at the end.  Next time I try a new Escape Room business I'm going to see if I can book two hours in a row so we have more time to work on the mystery.  I think it's a lot easier once you understand how a company sets up the parameters of their game.  The Great Escape lets us take a couple of pictures with the props, and sends us a few minutes of the video.  I thought the video would be interesting, but it's incredibly boring - you just view people picking up items and looking at them.  It's much more fun being in the moment!

Planting

For our final activity Kimthet takes us to his home village and his brother's house for us to watch the sunset.  He picks up some beers and mangoes, and his niece makes a salty pepper dip for the sliced mango.  It's a nice blend!  She also cooks up an omelet for us.  We enjoy talking to some of the people through Kimthet.  Since it's the end of the day we witness the cows being herded home and the dogs greeting their owner's return.  

working in the lotus fields

It's refreshing to finish the evening and our trip in the quiet countryside.  Since living in Tokyo we've gotten used to the constant background noise of a city, but our ears are more accustomed to the muted sounds of nature. 

heading home

harvesting the lotus blooms

our final Cambodian sunset

During our drive to the airport, our car (along with all the others in both directions) is diverted to a side road so the main way is clear.  We see a sedan go by, then everyone is allowed back to the major street.  We ask Kimthet about it, and he says it's probably a member of the parliament.  No sitting in traffic for him!

The BEST way to eat a cheeseburger!

We fly back to Saigon to connect to our flight to Tokyo.  While roaming around the airport I see a Burger King.  I decide to take a chance - can I order my cheeseburger the way I want?  You might assume, "Of course!"  However, in Japan you get it the way they give it to you, without picking the condiments or toppings.  I even checked the online ordering, in English - nope, no options, no places for comments.  But I'm in luck!  My first fast food cheeseburger in over a year with mayonnaise and onions!  When I return to the lounge and show Steve my picture, he has to go out and get one for himself before our flight.  



We arrive home safely and we're happy to be back in the land of heated toilet seats!