Odawara and Tokyo

(Sunday, March 15)

There are days when you pack in too much stuff to do and this was that day. We left Kevin and his family to head back to Tokyo eventually, but we decided to check out the Odawara Castle. On our way to the Odawara Castle we met George Ono who was telling us to stay on the left side when crossing the cross walk. We talked with him for a little while and then another Japanese man came up to us and starting talking. He had worked for 45 years prior to retiring and had spent the last 6 years of retirement learning English from scratch. He was very talkative and provided us with some facts about the US that we did not even know or had forgotten. Prior to leaving us he sang the National Anthem and got almost all of the words right. We were very impressed.



We kept walking with George since he was interested in our company. George was from Odawara, but has worked in Canada and Germany. We exchanged e-mails, took pictures, and he left prior to us going inside the castle. The castle grounds had an old elephant that was given to the city from India. There was also a monkey which was very strange to me. The Odawara castle was very similar to the Nagoya castle, but there was some additional interesting items in the museum portion of the castle. The views from the top were pretty amazing. You could see all of Odawara and even the Miura Peninsula where Yokosuka is.



After checking out Odawara Castle we started taking the trains to Tokyo. We got to Tokyo around 4 pm and decided to check in at the New Sanno Hotel first, so we could drop off our bags. After checking in we checked out the Japanese gift shop inside the hotel and bought some good souvenirs. We had grander plans on what to check out in Tokyo, but with it getting late, we decided to check out the Toyota show room in Asakusa part of Tokyo.



We got on the subway and headed to Asakusa. Asakusa was a lot more busy than I thought it would be and the station was jam packed with people. We made it to the show room with 20 minutes left to check out floors 2-4 prior to them closing. The show room had a lot of Japanese models of Toyota cars that you could sit in and check out. It also had a hybrid section that showed the different hybrid engines and how they work. They even had a little simulator game that allowed you to control the car between the gasoline side and the electric side. The show room was interesting, but it was not worth missing dinner over.

After leaving the show room we went to check out a crazy everything type store called Tokyu Hands which had games, kitchen stuff, toys, cat rooms to hang out with cats, etc. Finally, after leaving there around 8:30 pm we went to grab a bite to eat. We made it back to the New Sanno to shower up and go to sleep. We had an early morning rise planned.

(Monday, March 16)

We got up at 4:10 am this morning, so that we could check out the Tsukiji Fish Market. 80% of the worlds fish goes through Tokyo and most of it goes through Tsukiji. They have tuna auctions in the morning that tourists are allowed to see from 5:30 am until 6:15 am. We caught the 5:05 am subway from nearby the New Sanno Hotel and got to the market around 5:30 am after finding some fellow Americans to follow. We followed them to the live tuna auction which was interesting to watch for about 1 minute prior to workers shoeing us away. We were only allowed to watch the frozen tuna auction which was one building over.
We headed to the frozen tuna auction and checked it out for 30 minutes or so. The people buying the tuna check out the tuna by shining their flashlight at tail area of the fish where a small piece of meat is shown. They use a crow bar to pry at the meat to see how it flakes off. We did not see them lick the fish, but maybe they do that with the fresh tuna auction. There were some huge frozen tunas and just a lot of tunas in that warehouse that were being auctioned.On the way to and from the market there is a ton of other workers in the area moving around on little carts with their fish in the back. It is crazy how fast they are moving around that area. You really had to watch yourself because I don’t think they would have cared if they hit you. It was more industrialized than the shipyard. We left there to take the trains back to Yokosuka, so that I could get to work in the morning. I was only a couple hours late.

Yunessun

(Saturday, March 14)

We made a last minute decision to go back to the Hakone area with my coworker Kevin, his wife Hiromi, and their daughter Mia to go to the Yunnesun. The Yunnesun is a hot springs resort that is family friendly, so most of the resort requires a bathing suit. We took the trains back to the Odawara and then took a bus to the Yunnesun. We did not get there until around 1:30 pm or so, but we first checked into our lodging for the night at the nearby B&B, so we could drop off our bags.

The Yunnesun is really cool and included three different areas. There were two co-ed areas that required bathing suits, and then a separated male and female area that did not (traditional onsen). The first area had a bunch of themed hot spring pools like coffee, green tea, sake, red wine, and charcoal, and a few regular hot spring pools. The coffee pool was my favorite, but the green tea pool was a close second. The coffee pool smelled just like fresh roasted coffee and was brown in color. We stayed in it for the fresh coffee dumping that had been brewing for an hour or so. It was quite refreshing and woke you right up. The green tea pool was nice because it has a pleasant smell with the green tea constantly being pumped into the pool. Green tea is supposedly good for your skin. The sake pool was interesting since they had a barrel that was dripping real sake into the water flowing into the pool. The red wine pool left a lot up to the imagination. It did not really smell like red wine and was disappointing.


The other co-ed area was mostly indoors except for the three waterslides and wading pool with waterfalls outside. The indoor area had a huge Mediterranean themed pool that was fun to play around in. There was a dead sea pool that was very salty and was hard to sink in. You just floated on top without any effort. There was a honey pool which was a lot of fun and smelled very sweet. There was a strawberry pool which was okay, but did not really smell like strawberries. We even got the chance to have our dead skin eaten off by fish in a small little pool. It was intense and ticklish at the same time with the 40 or so small fish that would be munching on your foot. The waterslides on the outside were awesome, but by the time we got out there it was dark and cold outside. You walked up those steps to the slide very fast prior to getting into the warm water and going down the slide.


With only 45 minutes left prior to the last shuttle bus to take us back to the B&B we went into the traditional onsen portion of the Yunnesun. I went in to the boys side with Kevin while Denise, Mia, and Hiromi went in the girls side. Most of the hot spring pools were outdoors. We tried out most of them with the ones further away from the building being the hottest. We sat in bucket ones which was kinda fun. I really enjoyed the one with the waterfall. I just hung out there for about 15 minutes letting all my worries go away.

We ended up missing the last shuttle bus, but it was a quick and easy walk back to the B&B. We got a good deal on the B&B and now I know why. It is more of a glorified hostel with individual twin bed rooms. Denise and I had separate rooms right next to each other. The room I was staying in had been used by someone rather large before me because the springs were broken in the middle. I tried to sleep on the outer edges of the bed, but it was difficult. Eventually early in the morning, I joined Denise in her twin bed and I was able to get a few hours of good sleep next to my lovely wife.

Nagoya

(Friday, March 6)

We headed down to Nagoya this weekend to visit Denise’s friend from college, Misako and her family. Nagoya is located about halfway between Yokohama and Kyoto. We took the bullet train from Yokohama to Nagoya. We were on the slow bullet train, so it took us 2.5 hours to get there. The slow bullet train still goes fast, but it makes more stops along the way.

Misako and her husband David found us at the Nagoya train station. Unfortunately, Misako injured her ankle going down the steps to get to the train station, so she was limping. We took a taxi cab to get some of the famous Nagoya chicken wings called Tebasaki. They are salty and spicy chicken wings that are very tasty and some of the best chicken wings I have ever had. We went to a place called Yamachan which is a chain restaurant. The one we went to was about 5 buildings down from another one and about 3 blocks down from another one, but it was still busy. We had our chicken wings, beer, and chu-hi. Yummy…yummy…yummy. I had a Japanese wheat beer which was almost as good as home.

We stayed at Misako and David’s house in Kasugai which is a suburb north of Nagoya. Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan, so it is quite spread out. Their house was a four bedroom traditional Japanese house. We stayed in the tatami room on the first floor sleeping on some futons under lots of blankets to keep warm. You have to be tough to live in a Japanese house because they don’t have central heating and their houses are not well insulated.

(Saturday, March 7)

This morning we got up and had breakfast and then headed over to Misako’s parents house. Their two daughters were staying with the grandparents the night before, but we were all going to head out to do some strawberry picking. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It took about 1 hour to drive out to the strawberry picking area going through multiple toll roads. It costs us about 1500 yen ($15) to drive out to the strawberry picking area. In Japan their roads are maintained through tolls, so those that don’t drive don’t have to pay to maintain the roads. I think it is much easier to take public transit than drive.

The strawberry picking area was a huge indoor greenhouse with rows upon rows of strawberry plants. The strawberry plants were raised up about 4 feet and the strawberries were hanging down from there. They gave us a row to pick and eat as many strawberries as we wanted. They gave us some condensed milk to dip the strawberries in, but I thought it tasted better just plain. Misako’s dad is a botanist, so he was trying to show and tell us how to pick the best strawberry. It was a lot of fun with the kids and we ate a lot of strawberries.

After picking strawberries we headed to the beach near Tokoname on the Chita Peninsula. The beach was beautiful and overlooked upon the Ise Bay. We watched a wind surfer play around for a little while in the water. Across from the beach was a sake museum that we checked out. The museum was dedicated to Akio Morita who was the founder of Sony. His family was big into the sake business since the 1600s, but he went on to found Sony. We tried a few different sakes, but I am still not much of a fan.

We drove back and had dinner at a Korean BBQ joint where we ate intestines, cow tongue, and other random meats. The cow tongue was okay, but the intestines were too chewy. The Korean BBQ place has a grill at your table that you cook your own food on. It is a lot of fun.

After dinner we stopped by Ichiro’s parent’s house and their adjoining museum. It was not open since it was dark, but it was really cool to see where Ichiro grew up. Of course, his parent’s house has probably been remodeled since he lived there, but it was still neat. Ichiro is from the same town that Misako and David live in. Misako had a cousin or cousin’s friend that went to high school with Ichiro. We use Ichiro’s name whenever Japanese people ask us where we are from since they recognize him and the Seattle Mariners.

(Sunday, March 8)

We started out this morning by going to have a famous Nagoya breakfast set at a Bali themed restaurant. You pay the price of a drink and get a breakfast set that included a mini sandwich, salad, and potato salad. It was very tasty and only costs 400 yen ($4) which was the price of the Mango juice I got. The restaurant was really cool because it was spread out in an open dining room setting with a waterfall outside. Afterwards, we headed to the Bali themed store that had souvenirs from Bali, but we held out since we plan on getting a lot of souvenirs in Thailand.

After breakfast Misako, David and the kids dropped us off at a train station near their house, so we could head back to Nagoya. We took the train to Nagoya to check out the Nagoya castle. The Nagoya castle was a neat castle, but its biggest draw was the museum artifacts inside like swords, golden dolphins, armor, etc. The castle burned down during WWII, but has since been rebuilt using concrete. A lot of Japanese castles have been rebuilt using concrete due to the overwhelming problem of wood burning. The castle grounds were neat. We rushed to catch a subway back to the train station and then catch our bullet train ride home.

We were hoping to check out the Toyota show room in Nagoya, but we ran out of time. The Toyota factory and headquarters are in the Nagoya area. The Toyota factory requires you to make a reservation up to 2 weeks in advance, but we did not realize this until a few days before our trip. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Misako, David, Hana, and Maya over the weekend.

Kyoto

(Saturday, February 28)

For Denise’s birthday we headed to Kyoto. Kyoto is about a 3 hour train ride southwest of Yokosuka. We took the bullet train from Yokohama to Kyoto. This was Denise’s first experience on the bullet train and she really enjoyed it. The train cars are spacious, comfortable, and give you plenty of leg room. The train is more comfortable than an airplane and I think it takes less overall time than flying. The train is very fast. The one we rode can get up to 165 mph, but it is the middle of the line for bullet trains.

Kyoto was the capital of Japan from around 800 until 1860 when the capital was moved to Tokyo. Kyoto has a lot of historical influence with lots of famous monuments and Geisha. Denise is obsessed with Geisha. We were chasing after quite a few to get their photographs. I would compare visiting Kyoto with visiting Washington DC. We saw lots of Japanese tourists checking out the same sites as us.



We arrived in Kyoto around 10:00 am on Saturday morning and went to the tourist information center to figure out how to get around the city. We got a day bus pass for 500 yen that made it easy to get to all the sites. The Pasmo card that we use for trains in Yokosuka, Yokohama, and Tokyo area do not work in Kyoto. Kyoto is a big city and the temples, shrines, and other sites are far apart from each other, so the bus made sense. We boarded the bus at Kyoto station and headed to Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion).


We had great weather in Kyoto. It was sunny and warm and just felt wonderful. The Golden Pavilion got its name because it is a three story building that is totally covered in gold leaf. On top of the temple is a bronze phoenix. The temple is surrounded by a pond, wooded hills, gardens, and great walking paths. The temple grounds were very majestic and provided a great start to our wonderful weekend in Kyoto. It was very peaceful walking along the paths and taking pictures.


After the Golden Pavilion we headed to Ryoanji Temple (Rock Garden). This was about a 20 minute walk down from the Golden Pavilion. This temple had a large pond with a small island near the other side that we eventually made it to. We strolled along the side of the pond to get to the temple. We walked around the pond clockwise, but quickly determined that everyone was coming towards us. It did not matter since the temple was on the other side of the pond. We eventually made it to the temple with the famed rock garden or Zen garden. The rock garden was about 60 feet long and 20 feet wide with seven rocks and carefully combed rocks. We sat there for about 15 minutes, but our Zen must not have been there because I did not get what all the fuss was about. We would not recommend this temple to tourists because there are other Zen gardens at other temples that are better laid out.


After the Ryoanji Temple we headed to Ninna-ji Temple. We walked for about 10-15 minutes before we found this Temple. This temple was part of an old imperial palace, so it had some expansive grounds with a five-story pagoda, cherry blossom trees, palace, huge Zen garden, and lots of walking paths. The palace was cool with some thatched roofs and painted wall panels. The palace grounds were wonderful, but they would have been remarkable when the cherry blossoms come out. The cherry blossoms start coming out the end of March, so we were there too early.

After the Ninna-ji Temple we got back on the bus and headed to the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace was just a large park with the emperors palace in the middle and the retired emperors palace on the bottom part of the grounds. The palace is not open to visitors on weekends and can only be seen with a reservation on weekdays. We just walked around the palace grounds for awhile before heading out. It took us awhile to find out hotel, but once we did we found that it was a very nice hotel. The room was quite large with two twin beds.

(Sunday, March 1)

We tried to get going early this morning, but most of the sites don’t open up until around 9 am. We had breakfast at Starbucks which was quite delicious and helped us get through our morning. We had a deadline to get back to Kyoto Station by 2 pm to catch our bullet train ride back to Yokohama. We found out at the station and verified the next day that we could have taken a later train, we would have just had a non-reserved seat. It made Sunday a quick day to see the sites.

We started out the day by going to Sanjusangendo Temple. This was a remarkable temple that my friend Patrick Kern recommended to us. It is the longest wooden structure in the world. They use the outside gravel pit as an archery competition for women to shoot from one end of the temple to the other end. Inside the temple is 1000 Kannons (goddess of mercy) that are about 6 feet tall and just lined up one after another. It was quite a site to see, but unfortunately you were not supposed to take pictures. In the middle was a large Kannon where some monks were having a service. It was interesting to watch them chanting, praying, bowing, etc. We had no idea what was going on, but it was interesting to watch anyways.

After Sanjusangendo Temple we headed to Kiyomizu-dera Temple which is probably the most famous temple in Kyoto that you can easily recognize in pictures. The temple is built along the hillside with a huge wooden structure underneath holding it up. We walked along some old streets of Kyoto to get to the Temple since we got off on the wrong bus stop. Along the way we found some Geisha that were willing to pose for Denise. There was a lot to see in the temple grounds with a three story Pagoda, the temple, views of the city, the love shrine, and the people. It is a very picturesque area with a lot to see. The love shrine was funny because you are supposed to walk with your eyes closed from one love stone to another love stone about 30 feet away and we watched this young Japanese guy walking. He never made it to the other stone, but he did make it to a girl’s hand, so I don’t know if that was his intension or not.



We made it back to the train station with enough time to catch our 2 pm bullet train ride back. There was still a lot to see and do in Kyoto, but we knew that we would be back again when the family got here. We returned to the rain, which was a bummer after the beautiful weather we had in Kyoto.

Hakone

(Sunday, February 22)

Today, we headed to the Hakone region which is very outdoorsy with views of Mt. Fuji, mountains, lakes, hot springs, etc. It is located about 2 hour train ride southwest of Yokosuka. The train ride down there was nice since the weather was nice. Once you get to Odawara, you switch trains, then you switch trains again at Hakone-Yumoto. The train ride from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora is a winding train ride that goes up the sides of the mountains. The cool part was that the train actually switch-backed along the way at a couple locations. It would be going right to left, then switch and start going left to right up the mountain side.

Once we got to Gora, we got onto a cable car that goes straight up the side of the mountain to Sounzan. The train was angled with steps to move throughout the train car. Onboard the train we met some nice Japanese ladies that we shared our pictures of Disneyland and Denise’s kimono class. They were laughing and having a good time. One of the ladies ended up giving Denise a collar pin of a hat after we got off the train.

Once we got to Sounzan we realized that the weather was starting to change for the worse. It was windy at Sounzan, so the gondola that goes to Owakudani at the top of the mountain was not running. We got in a long line to wait to take a bus. We finally got on the bus and headed to Owakudani. At Owakudani, they had some steaming sulfur pits and great views of Mt. Fuji. The problem was it was extremely windy and cold at the top that we only stayed the minimum amount of time to catch the bus to go to the other side of the mountain. Mt. Fuji was starting to get covered in clouds, so the view was nice, but not as amazing as it could have been. Owakudani is famous for the black eggs you can get which are eggs that are hard boiled in hot sulfur water.

We took the bus down the other side of the mountain to Lake Ashi. From Lake Ashi, you can take a boat ride to Hakone Machi on the other side of the lake. Along the way you are supposed to get great views of Mt. Fuji, but it was clouded in by this point. There was a ferry you can take across the lake or a pirate ship. We made the mistake of taking the ferry because we did not realize where the pirate ships took off from until after we were on the ferry boat. The funny part was there were only 6 people on a ferry that held 750 people.

We definitely choice the wrong day to go to Hakone. We should have gone on Saturday, but we were both tired and wanted to sleep in. We did make it back in time to have dinner with my coworkers. It was a birthday party dinner for my friend Trevor. We had some tasty chili which took the days chills right out.

Long Long Time

We are on the last stretch of our trip in Japan and we have been busy being tourist and learning Japanese which is why the blog has been slacking. Here is a short update with more to come.

(Wednesday, February 18)

(Japanese Bar - Chi Cha Ra?)

This evening we spent with some of Sean’s co-workers. Trevor, Patrick, Sean and I had Indian food of all things. Yes, I know we are in Japan of all places and having Indian food. It was really good just like one of my favorite place back at home, Taste of India. We had two types of curry, nan (Indian bread), Simonas, rice, and a mango yogurt type dessert. After dessert we went to listen to music at a local bar. The Japanese man that was performing was excellent. He placed guitar, trumpet, and several other small trumpet-like horns. One of his favorite singers is Neil Young, so he did several Neil Young cover songs. It was a lot of fun. We were some of the first people at the bar. The Japanese don’t tend to start going out until later and it was around 8:00 pm. We left around 10:00 pm when more people started coming into the little bar. We definitely miss the smoke-free restaurants and bars back at home.

(Kimono Class)

The Navy base offers several different classes. I thought it would be fun to take the Kimono class. I took the class with two other ladies that were here visiting their husbands. These were the ladies on the same flight from Seattle. The class was a lot of fun and it was only Ann, Carol, and me. The women teaching was a Japanese woman who had about ten different Kimonos to choose from. It was amazing the amount of time it took to get all wrapped up in the Kimono. It definitely is an art form and I can’t imagine someone getting themselves ready without help. The Kimono with long sleeves is meant for single women and short sleeves for married women. The lady teaching the class joked that it was different because the married women have work to do so they have to have short sleeves. After you put on the Kimono, you wrap a belt around you called an obie which is tied in a bow or in other fun ways. The bow is tied in a box shape if you are married, but our teacher tied our obie’s in different fun ways.

(Thursday, February 19)

Sean and I started to take Japanese class through a program called Kumon on the Navy base. We have class twice a week either with Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday. Class goes from 2:30pm to 6:30pm. We usually go on Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00pm to 6;30pm. At our first class I arrived first because Sean was still at work. I wondered if I was in the right place because there were lots of kids. Then I saw a few adults and then spoke with one of the lead teachers. The program Kumon offers help to kids and adults who need help with Math, English, and Japanese. There are very few adults there but it is fun to watch the kids and remember the days of being so little and care free. We are learning the Hiragana characters. We are given 4 to 5 lessons to work on. You are supposed to have those done by the next class, so Sean and I get to do homework!!! Once the lessons are done we go over them individually with one of the Komun teachers. Each lesson has about 3 Hiragana characters to learn using associated words. Sean and I are proud to tell you we can now say deer (shika), cow (ushi), moon (tsuki), crane (tsuru), chopsticks (hashi), legs (ashi), and shoes (kutsu). Shoes is good to know when shopping. The only problem is that for me wearing a size 8 is a little big by Japanese standards.

(Friday, February 20)

Today, was a very rainy day. My friends Ann and Carol and I walked to the Navy base for a class on Japanese tea ceremony. I know that I should be used to the rain being from Seattle, but normally I’m in my car driving instead of walking several miles in the rain. By the time we arrived at our class we were soaked. My shoes, socks, and pants were all wet. The only dry part of me was under my jacket since it is waterproof.

We had a fun time at the tea ceremony class, but it sure is hard. You are supposed to fold the napkin in a particular way and it was hard to understand what exactly we were supposed to do. Everything in the tea ceremony has it’s particular place. If we were graded, I would not have passed. The tea we had was green tea and it was made from a fine green powder. We first rinsed the cups we were using with hot water and dipped the bamboo whisk in the hot water. Then we poured out the water. Then we scooped the tea with this very small wooden spoon and put it in the cups. Then you pour in the hot water and start whisking the tea. I wasn’t doing the best job, so the teacher came over and whisked my green tea until it was nice and foamy and frothy. Then we got to enjoy the tea and it was good. Afterwards we cleaned the cup with the cloth napkin. The class was a great learning experience, but I don’t think I will be holding a tea ceremony on my own any time soon.