Fun in Tokyo

Random picture of the cute garbage trucks they have here.

Well, first we had to find a coin laundry to do some wash, which we found successfully using an old map from Google - thanks people who draw maps of stuff like that!

Next, we met a relative for lunch, and she gave me some tips on fabric shopping, which will happen this afternoon in Kamata. But I did find Marunan, which is widely known by bloggers and is very close to our hotel in Shibuya. The stuff I really liked was about $50 a meter (100 yen is about a dollar, so you just throw a decimal in there and it's like dollars), so I found some cheaper stuff that I might make a skirt or sleeveless top from. It was $5.80 to $7.80 per meter, and is the typical Japanese print in cotton. I'm not really big into cutesy prints, though...

Next we went to the Tokyo Dome, where I saw my old friend, Ultraman. Siblings, you remember watching this when we were little? Apparently made of metal, but strangely flexible (as if really made of silver foam) when bending his arms and shooting lasers from his hands!

And since the giant Ferris Wheel with no center support was closed, we bowled before the baseball game. Ours were the only names in Roman letters - funny. I believe that the inventor of bowling must've taken it around the world, because the lanes are exactly the same, but apparently Japan wants no funny business, so the beer in the vending machine is alcohol free, and there's no food.

Dean throws some Geijin technique at the Nihonjin. The teenagers near us bowled about like we did, but the older couple behind us carefully wiped the ball down before EACH turn, and were very meditative...it was their personal rock garden.

Then the big event - Tokyo Giants vs Hokkaido Fighters (I think)! And what do you eat at a Japanese baseball game? Well, you can have a burger outside the stadium...uh, I think that's a burger joint. Can you make heads or tails from the sign?

I had edamame with my beer...those are soybeans.

And the hawkers here are all cute girls in pastel outfits who just wave their hands and smile - no yelling. And they like their bowling alcohol free, but you can get sake or whiskey at the baseball game.

These businessmen had a bento box for their dinner. Lots of men came to the game in their suits with their briefcases...very interesting.

I tried to get all the different beer girl outfits because they were so cute.

And here's a sample of a Japanese baseball crowd...the men and women take turns chanting - those aren't kids' voices!

Last of Kyoto...

We also went to the Golden Temple (I forgot how to spell Kinkakkuji), which is made out of real gold.

(Note the shrug is being worn as a sun screen - Japanese women wear fingerless mittens up past their elbows here in the summer as a guard against the sun, I found out.

This is the original pine tree from when this place was built, and it's been pulled into the shape of a ship on the sea. Do you see the flat part in front of the tall part?

Now, random things seen from the cab. First, 2 boys being pulled in a rickshaw. No idea where their parents were. Japanese kids are totally self-sufficient here. They ride the trains to school with no supervision...not usually the rickshaws, though...

Two "miako," which is probably misspelled and means Geisha-in-training, or "fake Geisha," as the guide called them.


And two things to notice here. Everybody seems to have a bike, and I wouldn't drive here because they just pull into traffic and don't wear helmets. Also, note the fancy white doilies in the cab, and the driver's white gloves. Very nice. The doors also open and close by themselves so you don't have to get germy.

This is Roan-ji (I totally am not spelling anything right tonight), which is the most famous rock garden. Thirteen rocks in a sea of gravel, which is very carefully raked, and they look like islands in a sea...(but not islands in the stream, which is what Dolly and Kenny are.)

Beautiful garden with carefully manicured moss...no leaves. We had the boys take notes for implementation at home...

How the heck did these turtles get on top of this rock?

One aspires to greatness on the right. We watched him for 5 minutes S-T-R-E-T-C-H his back legs and push himself up to the top. We kept hoping he'd topple the whole pile into the water - would've made a great video...

This is the bamboo forest. Not enough room to pitch a tent between these trees...

And leaving the majesty and tranquility of Japanese temples and gardens behind, Lucas and I set off in search of arcane arcades....where he scored 2 prizes within 15 minutes. This kid is going to be a pathological gambler. (And don't you love the slogan on the top of the machine?)

And of course we had to pose with the Colonel in the food court. He's at least wearing something of Japanese origin.

Videos Galore!

This is the escalator up to the Skyway at Kyoto Station. We already took about 7 escalators to get to this point. Tracey, let me know if it makes you nervous!



This was coming down from the restaurant floor to go back to our room, and here's this middle school band playing a concert to hundreds of people - neat!



This is in the Shibuya part of Tokyo, and if I had an aerial view you'd recognize this as famous Shibuya Crossing. I think this is the busiest pedestrian intersection in Tokyo, but I could be wrong. I was standing up under a tree to get a better shot, but you probably miss a few hundred people. Also, there are elections going on, and that's some political candidate campaigning...it's not really Big Brother...I don't think.



And lastly, this was the lounge called Southern Comfort in the Kyoto hotel where we stayed. When we walked in we had to keep from laughing, because it was JUST LIKE the bar from Lost in Translation, down to the music selection the guy was singing. (Thank you....we're Sausalito!) Yeah, you have to see the movie to get it...

Kyoto Day 2

So yesterday we toured Nijo Castle, where the Emperor lived until 1867, when he moved to Tokyo and made that the capital....I could be confused on that, though. Did you know that Tokyo really was To-kyoto, which means east of Kyoto, and they just shortened it. That explains the name similarity...you're welcome.

Yeah, so Dean has better pictures on his phone....this is all I have from the outside, and you can't take pictures inside. But check out these crazy trees. They cut off the trunk a little ways up and let the limbs grow, but make them very straight. Very Dr. Seussery....

Beautiful azalea bushes around a solitary rock...

You think I missed Drew in the picture, but I was going for the 2 gardeners high in the pine tree cutting the needles short. Can you spot them?

I mean gardening is a fine art around here. Today at the rock garden (pics to follow), there were people just sweeping the moss to get every last leaf up. I go to sleep now.

Full Day One - Kyoto

This is Kyoto Station, where the hotel is...along with 2 malls, a million restaurants, couple of grocery stores, etc. So if you look across the station, you'll see about 50 escalators disappearing into the sun...

and at night they turn one section into changing pictures with lasers (see that purple section)...crazy.

And of course you wanted to see the bathroom, right? So you still have your little stool and bowl, along with a fancy-schmancy shower head with 15 sprayers, then you have your tub for the hot soak after washing. Very nice!

This is the view of Kyoto Tower from the Skywalk of the station. I nearly had a panic attack on the OUTSIDE escalator getting here...Tracey, you would no-likey!

So today we did 2 things - Toei Movie Studio (think Universal Studios with Ninjas), where they film all the big Samurai movies in Japan, and the Monkey Park. Today's Sunday, and lots of people were in kimonos, plus I caught this monk...hope that wasn't illegal to take his picture.

This is the monkey park where you hike uphill for about 25 minutes...wait, did I say uphill? I meant up-MOUNTAIN. Nobody had a heat stroke, but I have a funny picture about that to show you tomorrow.

I also have a video of the kids feeding the monkeys (from inside a wire-enclosed building, Mother, no worries), but that involves Youtubing, which isn't working at the moment for some reason.

We actually got my MIL to do a silly Ninja picture at the movie studio!

And lastly, one of the highlights of the day for me was when a group of students came up to us at the movie park and introduced themselves. They pulled out notebooks and asked if they could ask us some questions, then asked where we came from, what our favorite Japanese food, and if they could take a picture with us. Their chaperone took it, then they were off. Cool school project, but wait...why was a class of students at a movie park on a Sunday?

Some Japanese videos

This is Dean's uncle, Fumiyuki, cutting the soba noodles. I should've gotten a video of the whole thing, but it took about 30 minutes to do all the mixing of the dough, then the very careful rolling of it using 4 different rollers (think thick long dowels), then folding it to get this thick piece of dough. Very precise.



And here's the coolest thing ever - the Nozomi bullet train that goes up to 190 mph. The video doesn't do justice to the rush you get when it comes through the station.

Backwards from Day 4....

Well, this is a little difficult, but I have Drew's computer to work with, so we'll give it a go. The pictures are all in reverse order, sadly. So this is our arrival in Kyoto, where there is apparently a cake store at the train station...and why not? There are 2 malls attached to the station, and our hotel. Tomorrow I'll get you some pictures of the amazing size of this thing.

And this is the "conveyor belt sushi" joint where we ate dinner tonight - in the basement of the train station.

These are 2 great-nieces of our host in Hongo, who's married to Dean's aunt. These girls are 2 and 4 years old and just amazed at Lucas, who had them both in stitches with some dance moves. You don't have to speak Japanese to make a friend.

This is the coolest moment so far, for me. I wore the shrug I knitted to breakfast at the hot springs hotel where we stayed last night, and Kiku, Dean's aunt, apparently took a liking to it and asked me to teach her how to make one. She does some intricate needlework herself, and had given me an umbrella that she embellished with stitching, so when Dean's mom said I should make another one and mail it back to her, I just offered her this one. She gave me a very deep bow and wore it yesterday and today! I'd say there's no higher compliment.

This is what you wear at the ryokan when it's time to go to the onsen (hot springs). Once you get to the "locker room," you put all this in a basket, get naked, bathe yourself while sitting on a little stool, then get in scalding hot tubs of water with your peeps....or your MIL and her sister. After the initial minute of embarrassment, you realize that everybody looks pretty much the same, other than height, and it's all good....and hot. Lucas even made it through his usual modesty to participate with the big boys.

This is our dinner before the springs. That's Kiku and her husband, Fumiyuki. Everybody flash your peace signs! (You can't take a picture of a Japanese person without a peace sign, apparently. It's equivalent to a smile in the States.)

And this is Kiku's house, where we stayed the previous 2 nights. The Japanese bathroom is a very different thing, so they had to explain that you slide open one door, change your slippers as noted below, then slide open either the urinal door or the toilet door, which is a high-tech Toto with heated seat, bidet, and various streams of water, etc. It even flushes automatically when you stand up!

Fumiyuki is a certified, licensed soba noodle chef. You actually study how to make these, and have to pass a test to get certified! I have a video I'll post later, but it was like watching a live cooking show to see him make these things.

This is Miyajima with the famous Torii. They have a bit of a deer infestation, which you can see down next to that little river.

There's the Torii out in the water - very famous.

And here's Drew making friends with an inhabitant of the island, who was disappointed that he had no food. (I love the look on the deer's face. "Where the hell's the food?")

This is Kiku's beautiful garden in front of her house.

This is the main room where we slept. Living room by day, bedroom by night. They pulled out futons, pillows, and duvets for us each night. Very Last Samurai...

And here's the first thing we did when we arrived in Hongo - go to an arcade. These people know how to make children happy! Lucas nearly died of joy when he saw all the cranes in this place (he has a little problem), and we were all amazed that he scored on his second try.

Okay, I've stayed up till 11:13 PM, which is my best yet, so hopefully I won't wake up at 4 AM. Dean and I had a nightcap at the hotel bar, which was the spitting image of the one in Lost in Translation. We even re-enacted a little scene to show you later. Oyasumi nasai!