A Rainy Day.

Sunday morning we woke up early enough and Joanne made us a Sunday feast breakfast: tofu scramble, toast, hash browns, fruit, coffee and juice. We were trying to decide what to do with our day when the heavens opened up. The rain that came down was torrential. There was lightening and crazy loud thunder—the lights even dimmed a couple of times! Needless to say, we thought perhaps something indoors would be best. A movie was almost the activity, but really, we can do that at home. Following Koki’s advice we set out to Ueno Park, which is host to several of Tokyo’s museums including the National Museum our final destination. It was great. The “special” exhibition was The Path of Buddha, which traced the spread of Buddhism through its statuary from India through China into Korea and finally Japan. Upstairs in the Japanese galleries we saw ancient pottery, very old paintings on silk, calligraphy, samurai weaponry, woodblock prints, kimonos and all things Japanese. It was especially interesting as Koki was able to answer our questions (most of the signage was Japanese only, save for the titles). Joanne was telling us that she visited the museum in June and many of the cases contained items that she didn’t see. They change the exhibits often, and she pointed out that many of the pieces were summer themed—she thinks when she was there it was mostly spring.

From the museum we went through Ueno Park and stumbled on some taiko drummers performing in front of an amazing temple. A vast field of lotus flowers surrounded the whole area—it was quite a sight. We met up with Karen and her mom and ended the evening with a dinner at the Bamboo Garden. Another great day in Japan.


Drumming--check out the kimono!


Lotus blossom--hopefully we return to see the flower open

This temple was very beautiful.

Umbrellas and Kimonos

Friday, July 27

After our much-needed day off Chantal, Joanne and I left Jennifer at the Arms and headed out to meet Mac—Jo’s friend (see Shibuya post). He is a mad sports fan and offered to take us to a baseball game. So off we went to catch the Tokyo Yakult Swallows play the Chunichi Dragons at Jingu Stadium. I must say, Jen stayed behind because she is not a big fan of baseball, but really it is a completely different experience from the North American game. First of all, we do not have Dudes leading well-orchestrated chants complete with trumpets and umbrellas! Yes, umbrellas. When we arrived Mac suggested we get some noisemakers; I got bats, Chantal a ball and glove clapper device and Joanne bought an umbrella—its function was not revealed to us until the first homerun. our seats were in the outfield, which was cool…Jingu is a small stadium and we could see just fine. The Dragons were up first and the other side of the park was going mad with noise. Mac informed us that those were the wankers cheering for Chunichi, and that our side, which was being extremely quiet and polite, would have the chance to make some noise. Finally the Swallows got up to bat and the well organized cheering was on! My bats got a work out and Mac’s loud English obscenities were amazing if only for the fact nobody knew what he was saying! Oh right, and the umbrellas…Everytime there is a homerun the whole crowd pulls out umbrellas and perform a song and umbrella chant! It is surreal. It is not clear why this is done, although it may have to do with the Giants now playing in an indoor stadium or that the retiring pitcher will shower using an umbrella!? In the end the underdog Swallows beat the Dragons 7-4, and Mac even came away with an autographed ball (even if it is from one of his most hated players!) The night was a blast—where else can you go to a baseball game and much on edamame and yakatori??? Also, I must thank our outrageously fun host Mac. Thanks Mac.




















Saturday, July 28

We got to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning, which was great considering the night we had. After breakfast and showers we all got ready for another crazy day in Tokyo. Saturday was Hanabi Day. Hanabi literally means fire flower. Any guesses? Fireworks. 22, 000 fireworks. I’m not joking. At noon Jen, Chanti, myself, Joanne, her friends Karen and Koki, Karen’s mom Anne, hopped on a train and hooked up with another one of Joanne’s friends Keiko to grab some prime seating along the Sumida river. We left at noon, but the fireworks did not start until 7pm. The reason for this is that zillions of people go and claim primo spots quite early. Anyhoo…it was stinking hot and we arrived along with the hordes (many of whom are dressed in traditional garb) to try to find some space. It was crazy! People were everywhere—and where there were no people, there were tarps and tape marking off the spots that were claimed by those who were probably now at work! Imagine in Canada going down to the lakeshore, taping off you spot, going to work and then going back fifteen minutes before the show and sitting on your tarp. I told Koki that in Toronto our spot would not be saved—he looked confused. To pass the time Keiko taught us how to make origami cranes, Koki taught us a Japanese card game and we ate, drank and laughed. Finally, as darkness fell the show began. I don’t know if it was because we were so close to the launching site, but they were the biggest fireworks I have ever seen. And it went on for 90 minutes! Just when you thought it couldn’t go on, it did. I took way too much video and Jen took tons of shots—but it won’t do it justice. Tokyo is awesome. And then to cap it off, when you think millions of people trying to get home would cause chaos, mayhem, rioting and such—everybody got up, picked up their garbage, and departed in a orderly, quiet and almost eerie fashion.

Welcome to Here!

Today, Jen, Arron and myself were off on our own for the first time. We were a bit nervous but we got around just fine, thank god for English on the train and subway stations. We took the subway also for the first time, we have been taking the train so far. The train and subway system will blow your mind! Toronto and Montreal are absolutely tiny in comparison. You also have to be careful because some are rapid or local trains, it can be a bit confusing. So were off early to the famous Tsukiji Outdoor Fish Market which is the largest in the world. We got there too late to see the auctioning but we walked among the business of the merchants packing, cutting and gutting all the fish. This is not for everyone’s stomach, I saw the largest tuna fish head ever!!! I think it was half my size! We also saw tons of fish I have never seen before or this like oysters but have never seem anything that size!!! It was quite impressive and I got some interesting photos… you did have to be careful where you walked and Arron was unlucky to almost get a full bucket of ‘water’ on his foot. yuck. We then walked around the Tsukigi Fish Market that is partially covered, it has tons of restaurants and merchants selling all kinds of fish and produce and dried goods. I loved this place. We then had sushi and again thank god for an English menu. It was ++ yummy and I had a lobster roll that was very good but a lot of mayonnaise, Japanese love lots of mayo! We then set off a main dori (street) to the Imperial Palace. There is still an emporer living there but you are not aloud on the grounds, only a glimpse from the outside. What we saw was impressive and there are beautiful parks all around it. We then set off to Akihabara station that has an electronic neighbouhood and it was crazy. I have never seen so many electronic stores but it had a bit of a flea market feel and we weren’t really impressed. So we found a Yodabashi, which is the crazy electronic department store, only 6 floors and I wanted to buy an external hard drive for all my photos but they tell me it is only compatible for Japanese computers so I opted for a 4gb usb drive and it works fine.

July 24 was this first day we saw a blue sky, it was beautiful. We were up at 5:30 am to take the train to Matsumoto, a gorgeous city in the Japanese Alps. I was really excited to come here as I have decided no to go to Mt Fuji as I won’t have time, so this was a really nice compensation. However, I do think I saw Mt Fuji from the train. Despite it being much less humid for a change up in Matsumoto, it was still ++ hot, the sun was grilling us but we had a beautiful blue sky. We ate lunch at our arrival at Vie de France which is a chain that has everything you can think of in a bun. These bun type meals are really popular in Japan . I tried one with chicken and leeks, spinach and cheese and even one with edimome beans, which I love those beans! We then set off to the Matsumoto Castle and got a tour from Mr. Imamura who was a great tour guide, he has been doing it for 10 years and this castle is quite impressive. How cool is it to be in a building were hundreds of years ago samurais were battling… It is a beautiful castle and from the top of the main tower, you have impressive views of the Japanese Alps that surround. We then walked around the town and then ate at a local restaurant where I ate katsudon which is a bowl of rice with onions, a breaded pork cutlet and an egg cooked on top. It is quite tasty and a popular dish here in Japan. Once again thank god for Joanne’s Japanese and the fact that outside every restaurant, they have fake plastic food of all their dishes so if worse comes to worse, we just point at what we want to eat. We then went to our first hotel room, Ryokan-sifu-so hotel. We had two beautiful rooms Japanese style which means a tutami floor and thin futons set on the floor. They were beautiful rooms and well comfy.

We then went to a local ounsen spa. This is a real Japanese experience that we really looked forward too and so did our bodies from the amount of walking we have done. An ounsen is a bathhouse of sorts. You put your clothes in a locker, get naked , you go into a large room and sit on a stool and wash with a small towel. Then you dip into a hot and I’m talking hot huge bath, many can sit in it, inside or they even have one outside. Most then rinse with cold water and then you wash yourself again. I loved this experience because it is rare that you can be in an establishment where women are together and naked and its ok. its also a place where class is unknown as we are all naked and we are all there with our bodies of different shapes and sizes. I saw a grandmother washing her granddaughter and it was really sweet to see. Anyway we felt great and slept soundly…and at 9:30pm.

Our second day in the Japanese Alps, we took a bus to Kamikochi which is a small town up in the Alps. On the way there, there is numerous tunnels we have to take and we went threw probably the longest I have ever been in in my life and it was on an 11% incline…crazy. Again, beautiful scenery on the way there. At Kamikochi, it was much cooler and misty which was much appreciated. We took a 3 hour walk around the area that had many ponds and lakes and rivers. It was ++ beautiful and peaceful. This was truly a great escape from Tokyo. Again another beautiful day. We headed back down to Matsumoto and ate at an Italian restaurant for a change, however, it still had a Japanese twist. I ate a prawn and mushroom (some kind of Japanese mushroom) spaghetti with a salad (its hard to eat raw vegetables here, almost all are cooked), it was really good. We then went to see the ‘Okterberfest’ near the castle but it wasn’t that exciting – beer and food so we didn’t stick around. We were so tired from our day that we didn’t have the energy to walk to the ounsen so we opted for the smaller version at the hotel which was still nice and we again went to bed early and slept so well.

Our last day in the area, we took an again beautiful bus ride up to the top of the Japanese Alps to Utsukushigaharakogen that has a famous pasture land and cows! Coming from Canada, cows isn’t a big deal but in Japan it is. It was a beautiful area of lush green that reminded me of farmland in Ireland. It also had an Irish feel as it was very misty and foggy up there that we could barely see at times 20 feet in front of us. It was very quiet and peaceful up there. We then took a very windy road back down to Matsumoto and we had dinner at a local restaurant and I had probably the equivalent of Japanese fried chicken, it was probably however the best quality white chicken I have had but also 3 large pieces, I think I’ve had enough for the week. Last night we headed back to Tokyo.

So this morning I write to you from Joanne’s on our day off. It is well needed as we haven’t stopped since we arrived. So we are e-mailing and doing laundry for the third time already. All the clothes we have worn are unwearable for a second day as it is so humid and hot. Did I mention it is humid, so humid here. Thank you for sleeping in air conditioning. Anyway I best be off as this is a very long e-mail, are you still with me? and the gang is making fun of the fact that I am still writing to you all. We are off to a baseball game tonight which is one of the most popular sports here so it should be real fun.

Take care and hope all of you are well and not too tired from reading this e-mail.

Sayonara,

Chantal
xo

Dam Water!

Today(July 22nd) we took the train to a slightly different part of Tokyo. Although you see misty mountains the signs assure we have not left the Metropolitan areo of Tokyo. You'd never know it. The train dropped us off in a sleepy little town and we took a bus to Ogouchi--a man-made lake that provides Tokyo with 20% of its drinking water. We took a bus up into the mountains and did some hiking. It was absolutely stunning. I have never seen such a variety of greenery. Fir trees mixed with bamboo and palm trees. And we spotted the most beautiful lily any of us have ever seen.


On the way to Ogouchi Dam

I think I drank some of that today!

This I flushed.

Here we are at the most dangerous bus stop ever! Look how pleased we are!

aRRon.

Little Dogs and Lotsa Walking

Dog Salon on the way to the Open Air Architectural Musuem


Open Air Museum


Open Air Museum


Local Festival we passed on the way home.

Serenity Now!

Yesterday we ate lunch at a rotating sushi place--that was fun. It was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. To pay, the server scans your plates; they contain chips. $40 fed the four of us, and it was delicious--the best I've had. On the way down into this place we all saw this cute small dog and made a small fuss--the owner loved this and got the dog to watch us descend the stairs, all the while waving at us!

After lunch we took the train to Harajuku and visited the uber-serene Meiji Jingu Temple. The grounds are beautiful--it's a huge forest (100 000 trees!) with massive gates made of Japanese cypress. The temple itself is made of the same wood and it smells fantastic.

From there we made our way into the bustling streets of Harajuku. Tons of people and lots of shops. We went to a place where I noticed a sign reading 'Tokyo Champs d'Elysee'--fancy shops like Dior and Burberry. We toured a bit looking for a vegetarian option for Joanne (harder than you think). Energy levels dropping. So we stopped on this main drag for coffee and food. I was very tired and then Jo and Chanti stuck me with like $25 in change--this somehow pushed me over the edge and I got really grumpy. It's all good.



We then hit a park near the temple to kill time before meeting Jo's friend Mac. People were singing, playing guitar and there was a guy tap dancing who was very good. With time in hand we were off on the train to Shibuya to meet Mac. Dude-Shibuya is crazy. Lost in Translation anybody? I have never seen so many people before in my life. For real. According to Mac, every 3 minutes 10-20 000 people cross the intersection. I have video proof. It makes Times Square look quaint!!! We rendez-vous'd at the statue of Hachiko the dog and Mac took us on a short tour of the area around Shibuya station. It was insanely busy with a varied mix of people. We then made our way to a Nepalese restaurant for some delicious food.

Then it was back into Shibuya station (one of the busiest in the world) to get home. It was after eleven and extremely busy. The train we got on was packed. Like sardine style packed. And as the doors were about to close a uniformed official wearing white gloves gave a polite but firm shove to squeeze everybody in. It was awesome. What a place--serene temple within walking distance of complete absurdity. If ever you can you must come to Tokyo.

Nomikai Fun Time Party!

So it is proving a little more difficult to keep up with this than anticipated due to the amount of things we have been doing!

When we first arrived Joanne took us to her University to participate in her english classes. It was a lot of fun--we played games and quiz shows, and answered questions the students had for us. Two nights ago one of the more advanced classes was getting together (as school is winding down) and we were invited. It is called a nomikai--drink meeting--and lasts two hours. There were about 20 of us in a private room, seated on the floor around a huge table. Food and drink is delivered for the duration of the party, and once everyone has a bite to eat the karaoke starts! And everyone (save myself) is an amazing singer. They wanted us to sing, and somehow I managed to duck out to the bathroom and returned to witness Jen, Jo and Chanti singing the Beatles.

After the party we hit an arcade to take a group photo in the biggest photo booth I have ever seen! Like all of us. Seriously. We also played claw grabber games and I shot bugs from a Jeep.

At the end of the night all the students were sharing photos and chatting. Jen and I were hugging and I gave her a peck on the cheek only to realize that we were being photographed paparzzi style by like six people! The three of us must be in a thousand photos.

I will fill you in on yesterday and today later.