A Safe Return

Some people have more artistic skills than others...

Our wandering visitors made it back safely!  After one successful trip out of town, we decide to go with them to another city we haven't been to before - Yokohama.  I feel like we must go to the Cup Noodles Museum, because I love them.  While there we even get to make up our own soup.  We start by decorating the cups, then picking out the ingredients to go inside.  It was worth going just to see how they package the cup so it won't get damaged while you wander around the rest of the day.  I forgot to take a picture of that!

Can I just get one of everything??

The finishing touches on my tom yum soup!

Later we eat a snack in the Noodles Bazaar, which is (kind of, sort of) set up like an Asian market.  The different soups are available at different booths, and you have to use a vending machine to get your ticket to pay & place your order.  It's kind of like the Disney version of an Asian market.  The noodles dishes are really good, though!  They're the fresh versions of the Cup Noodle soups.  So instead of freeze dried mushrooms and shrimp, you get real, fresh mushrooms, large shrimp and fresh cilantro.  I'm excited to see they have the fresh version of my current favorite, tom yum.  I have to eat two bowls, it's so good. 

One of several beautiful gates in Chinatown, along with some beautiful women!

Yokohama is known for having the largest Chinatown in Asia.  I think they're referring to the number of shops/restaurants, because it's only about 300 square meters, and doesn't actually have a lot of Chinese people living there currently.  You definitely won't go hungry - there are hundreds of Chinese restaurants here.  They don't even try to differentiate themselves; sometimes they're showing the same menu out front.  It's still fun to browse the shops and people watch for a couple of hours.

Just like in New Zealand, Japan has some decorative sewer grates, too!

Do we do this in the US?

Hey - is this all you can drink?

We finish the day at the Kirin brewery museum.  When we arrive I get the impression we're supposed to have reservations (in the US you just go in!) but they are able to take everyone but me - I'm starting to feel a little sick, so I just rest.  At the end they enjoy their free samples, and I'm able to drink some of the non-alcoholic sodas they produce.  We even get take home gifts - cans of alcohol free beer.  (Okay, I must be truthful - they are still sitting in our refrigerator, unopened.)   

The cheerleaders are in the background.

We are getting tired of having our picture taken.

Shirley ends up getting sick too, so we slow down a bit, but still find things to do.  Steve takes them on some walking tours, and we go out for a baseball game.  It's our first one.  We have good seats - but missed out on being in the middle of all the action. Right field is the place to be! The fans put our tomahawk chop to shame - chanting, singing, clapping, giant flag waving - there's even a band out there. My favorite part is after the Swallows score - everyone (except us, the uneducated) raises little umbrellas and waves them around to the beat of their song. They even have cheerleaders! And they don't have just beer - there's a guy carrying a tray to make mixed drinks at your seat. The only thing they're missing is peanuts. But the Tokyo Swallows beat the evil Tokyo Giants! (kind of like the Mets taking on the big, bad Yankees) And it's only a 15 minute walk from our apartment.

They so need to do this at US baseball games!

I must get a little umbrella!!

Yakitori (and sake?) on the tour!

We also send them out on the Sunamachi Walking Food Tour from Tokyo Foodrink.  We did the tour a year ago, and really enjoyed it.  You get a nice overview of different types of Japanese food, and the guides speak English well, so it's a great chance to ask questions.  It looks like they're with a good group of people and due to a holiday, they end up returning home more than an hour later than expected (and yes, we did call the company to find out where they were - it's like having kids!!). 

During the tour the women got to try on yukatas (summer cotton kimonos).  Lots of fun!  

We have one last big meal - a kaiseki dinner, which is a multi-course Japanese feast (well, feast in Japanese terms, so lots of small courses).  These are supposed to be the best meals you ever eat...but I'm not quite falling for that line.  Yes, everything is very seasonable and fresh, and all aspects are supposed to be considered in relation to the meal - from the serving dishes (the material they are made out of, the color, the design), the decorations, the scents and the presentation of the food, etc, etc.  And it's nice...but so far they haven't been the best meals ever.  It's probably because the food is "different" - combinations that are unusual for western taste buds, strange textures...  However, everything is cooked well, it's very fresh, and interesting to see.  It's something to experience if visiting Japan!

We send off our guests, full, tired and with their heads spinning from all they've seen and done while in Japan.  We loved having them here, and the apartment feels a little empty after they're gone.  (Echoes still remain - Steve and I continue to give each other 5 minute warnings before we leave the apartment.)  Though there's a big sigh of relief from Steve and me - it's almost as stressful as having the young nieces and nephews come stay with us!  I can't imagine if we had to explain to Steve's brother that we lost/maimed/accidentally killed his mother.  Thankfully, everyone returns home safely.  We decide to go down to Bubbles to have a drink to celebrate our successful first visit!

Tokyo Touring

We continue to show our guests around Tokyo by stopping at another fun site - the Shibuya crossing.  I think this was in Lost in Translation, along with just about any other movie that takes place in Tokyo.  No one actually pays attention to the five crosswalks; it's more like a deluge of people taking over the street.  The Starbucks on the 2nd floor gives a nice viewpoint.

One of the other famous sites in Tokyo is Meiji Shrine.  I love the trees here.  I realize it's one of the few places in Tokyo that might actually be considered a forest.  There are lots of trees around the city, but not en masse.

"Yes, we drank all these cases of sake!  That's why we're smiling so big."

As part of the visit, Steve instructs Shirley and Ann on the proper etiquette to see the shrine.

Rinse left hand, rinse right hand...

Naturally, they have to try sushi!  We go to our favorite conveyor belt place.  This way everyone gets to pick exactly what they want (from an English menu) and they have a fun delivery system.

"I can't believe they're making me try this."

 






This is also when we discover Shirley doesn't really want to eat raw fish...luckily there are some cooked options!

Another night we have dinner in Ginza, so they can see the bright lights and big stores!

Jetsetters!

Shirley & Steve got the memo - wear pink!

We also take a dinner cruise on a traditional Japanese yakatabune boat.  These low-slung “pleasure boats” have been operating since the Edo period when feudal lords and wealthy merchants would host parties, cherry blossom viewings or poetry gatherings on them.  They're still popular today - ours was one of five heading out at this location.  We saw some cherry blossoms, but mostly we're socializing and enjoying our dinner.

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to wash all these dishes!

It's a typical Japanese dinner - lots and lots of plates!  This is just the first course.











I did finally get a nice view of the Tokyo Skytree during the boat ride.  It's currently the tallest man-made structure in Japan, bypassing the Tokyo Tower (which I prefer) when it was built in 2010.  I think it's currently the second tallest structure in the world.

Pretty...but not the Tokyo Tower.

The next morning we send them off to Hiroshima for an overnight trip....on their own.  Will we ever see them again?

We Have Guests!

Our first guests arrive to spend a couple of weeks with us.  Steve's mother and one of her friends from college (friends for over 50 years!) brave the long flight over.  We run them ragged give them a "highlights" tour of Tokyo over the next week.  Hmm, maybe Steve and I have gotten used to all the walking we do....we'll have to make adjustments when people come visit.  

My most important advice - wear shoes that are comfortable for walking.  This is not the same thing as shoes that are comfortable while standing still!  And test them out before arriving in Tokyo.  Walk at least 20 minutes (nonstop) to see how they feel.  Don't worry - you won't wear them out before you get here, but it might make a big difference in how much you enjoy your visit.  (No worries for our guests - we have a great massage place that does a fantastic foot massage - no pain here!)  Don't worry about style - you won't blend in, so everyone will assume you're a tourist, anyway.

We're a little nervous about having four adults living in our apartment.  Though it's big by Tokyo standards, it's small for us.  However, they end up being the perfect guests.  They're willing to try everything, they remain in good spirits even when we make them do "one more thing," and they even brought/made their own breakfast (since I'm not particularly a morning person, this is a huge plus for me).  Even sharing our one shower isn't a problem. 

When arriving from the US people tend to wake very early as they adjust to the time zone difference.  We take advantage of that by going to the Tsukiji Fish Market the first morning.  You want to be there by about 8:00am (unlike the museums, etc that don't open until 9:30am) so it's a perfect site to see at the beginning of the trip. This gives you enough time to wander the outer market and try some food samples before the inner market opens to the public at 9:00am.  If you're really ambitious you can arrive around 3:30am so you can try to get tickets to the tuna auction, but so far we haven't had a big desire to see it.  Apparently it's so early we forgot to take pictures, though.

No one managed to slip and fall on the rocks (sigh of relief!).

After a break we head out to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens.  It's one of my favorite Japanese gardens here, though it's done in a Chinese style.  It's fun to wander around the grounds and meander up and down the paths.  During certain times of the year different flowers are blooming, and we're lucky enough to see cherry blossoms.

 





We visit Hotel New Otani to watch a tea ceremony.  We're served a sweet with the tea, and shown the proper way to eat the sweet.  You may think that would be obvious, but you're not given a regular fork - more like a little spear.  But you use the spear (I'm sure it has a proper name) to cut the sweet into halves or quarters, then stab it into the piece to bring it to your mouth.  The ceremony is nice, but I wish there was more of an explanation to accompany it - I'd like to know why you're supposed to rotate the cup two times, etc.  But it's a lovey 20 minutes and we're sitting the whole time, so it's a good break for tired feet!

And this is just the entrance...wait until you see the temple!

Naturally we see Sensoji Temple, along with the mobs of people in town for the cherry blossoms. (Actually it's always incredibly crowded there.  It's one of the few places in Tokyo that I worry about my wallet.)  We have our fortunes told, but Shirley has a bad one, so she ties it to the wire to keep it away from her. 





On the weekend Steve is able to join us for some excursions, so we go to Shinjuku Gyoen to see the sakura.

Is this the type of tree George Washington cut down?

Of course, after a few days of touring around, you have to refresh yourself at the neighborhood bar!

Refreshing!  We're ready to do more exploring!

Hanami

You might have thought we were so busy playing in New Zealand that we missed out on the cherry blossom season in Tokyo...but you'd be wrong!  We made it back in time to enjoy the full season...and to get ready for our first guests (more on that another time).

This is supposed to be the busiest tourist time in Tokyo, but I didn't really see a difference in the number of visitors here.  There are more people at the parks and gardens, but they aren't overly crowded.  We had beautiful weather as the blooms started coming out.  

The season lasted for just under two weeks.  It ran over two weekends this year, which made it nice for those who work! 





I started out at the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.  This is right beside the Tokyo Dome, but once you're inside you would never realize it (well, except for the roller coaster in the background).  I love the skyscrapers framing the gardens - the juxtaposition of the modern with the ancient.  

You can see the flowers are just starting to peek out here.

A few days later we're over at Senso-ji Temple, and the sakura are popping out there, too.  The shops even have sprays of cherry blossoms decorating their roof lines.

So pretty!

The next weekend we decide to check out Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.  It's our first time there.  It seems more like a park versus a Japanese garden (though there is one small section of J.G.).  There is a small fee to enter and dogs and alcohol are not allowed.  That didn't hold anyone back from having a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party!

Can we join your party?

 
The weather this weekend (and for the peak of flower viewing) is overcast.  No rain or strong winds, so lots of blossoms on the trees, but not the picture perfect type of day that makes you just happy to be outdoors.  The scenery is gorgeous though - I can see why sakura viewing becomes a national event.

We don't hold back from getting our picture with the blooms... 

Who are all these people in my picture?

Steve had to shove people aside to be by himself. (Not really - they are actually very polite and wait for you to finish before moving in to take their own photo).

One common aspect of Japanese gardens is a branch (or more) hanging over a water feature. 

Can you even take a bad picture in a Japanese garden?

From our trip I realized there are several colors of flowers.  I'll have to look up the different types of trees!

almost white

pale pink

true pink

They are planted in groves, not just individually.

Hey, why don't the trees have any leaves?

We even managed to take a group selfie!

We are actually surrounded by hundreds of people while taking this picture.  Good editing!

We also had to check out Aoyama Cemetary.  Apparently they used to have hanami parties here and then the government said maybe they shouldn't be having parties with lots of alcohol while sitting on the graves. 

I had to pose with the trees again!

And at our own little local park, we have this tree - I have no idea what it's actually called, but I named it pom pom blooms.  The dark pink sakura are all clustered together to form a ball.  These are the final types of trees to bloom.

Is it against the law to pick the flowers?

Once the petals fall, it looks like a watercolor picture..

But don't worry about the cherry blossoms going away - the tulips are coming out next!

I also learned it's okay to have hanami parties at night, too!

Looking forward to seeing them again next year!