Sunday 12/27/09
I left Bangkok around 8:30am and arrived at Narita airport around 4pm on Sunday. Erin’s flight was scheduled to come in around 4:30pm and I was going to meet her at her baggage claim. I went through customs and got my bags and exchanged the rest of my baht back into yen. I ended up meeting her at arrivals on the opposite side of the terminal. We gave each other big hugs and it was so nice to see a familiar face from home! We caught the Narita rapid train and arrived at our hotel near Tokyo station in about an hour in a half. Walked around our hotel and ate udon at a vending machine restaurant nearby. Started to rain, so we went back to the hotel and rested up for our big day in Tokyo.
Monday 12/28/09
Started our day in Tokyo early and bought day passes for the trains. First stop, breakfast at the famous Tsukiji Market in Ginza. Erin and I smelled the market before we saw it. We weaved our way through the narrow aisles, surrounded by all kinds of fish and seafood and the shouts from vendors beckoning to potential customers. We stumbled upon a kaiten zushi restaurant in the middle of the chaos, just what we were looking for! We were ushered inside and greeted with a loud irrashaimase (welcome)! The staff were very genki (friendly), especially for 8am in the morning! We sat at the counter and chose our sushi from the conveyor belt as it went around. The sushi was delicious and so fresh! After eating our fill we said goodbye and were ushered out with loud arigato gozaimasu!
Next stop, Shinjuku to see Tokyo from the observatory of the government building. It was a little foggy, but still able to see a great view of the city from above. After the observatory we walked around a nearby park and then headed to Shibuya. Visited the famous Hachiko statue outside the station and crossed the four way crossing to do some shopping. Shopped in Shibuya for a few hours and ate some Italian and caramel and almond taiyaki (a waffle shaped fish with filling inside).
After Shibuya we hopped on the subway to Harajuku. Harajuku is a popular hangout for Japanese teens wanting to find the latest or craziest fashion. Walked down a busy street filled with tourists and Japanese teeny boppers. Erin and I were pretty tired at this point, so we didn’t stay in Harajuku very long. We did find a shop called Chicago on our way back to the train station. It had some strange clothes and interesting palm tree décor on the outside, but we had to take a picture! Final stop before dinner was Tokyo Tower to see Tokyo all lit up at night. Went up to the main observatory and what a contrast to seeing Tokyo in the day. It was interesting seeing Tokyo in the day and at night, but the night view was definitely cooler. Took a picture with the pink Tokyo Tower banana mascot and went to find some dinner.
Decided to eat in Roppongi Hills for dinner. Roppongi Hills is a huge shopping and restaurant complex, definitely more on the high end. But, since we really hadn’t eaten lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a nice sit down meal. Ate at a Chinese Restaurant with a view of Tokyo Tower! After dinner went back to our hotel to crash and ended our whirlwind of a day in Tokyo.
Tuesday 12/29/09
Woke up early again and decided to walk to the Imperial Palace to make our Tokyo tour complete. It was a short walk from our hotel and was able to see it from the outside only. Saw a lot of runners around the Palace and Erin and I regretted not putting on our running gear that morning! Grabbed some quick breakfast and bought tickets for shinkansen to Kyoto. All the reserved tickets were sold out so we bought unreserved and waited for the next train. We were able to get on the next one and were on our way to Kyoto. The trip took a little less than two and half hours and bought two day passes for the subway and bus at Kyoto station. Dropped off our luggage at our hostel and headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine to see the famous torii gates. We got a little lost trying to find it, but eventually ran into some other tourists who were able to point the way. The Shrine was bigger than we were both expecting, with a lot of paths and hiking trails to explore. We hiked up one of the trails through a beautiful bamboo forest. There was a lot more we could have explored, but we were tired and it was getting late.
Ate dinner at a yakitori restaurant after waiting for it to open at 5pm. I have eaten yakitori twice in Japan, but both times was accompanied by Japanese native speakers who ordered for me. So it was up to Erin and I to order and figure out what we were ordering. After studying the pictures and trying to make sense of the katakana we ordered what we thought were chicken and pork yakitori. Soon after we ordered Erin saw a poster behind the counter and I looked to see what she was staring at. Sure enough it was a picture of a chicken, with all the different parts labeled to correspond with the pictures on the menu. We both looked at each other and cried, “uh oh!” We quickly grabbed the menu again and looked to see what parts of the chicken we had just ordered, praying they were nothing too strange. Everything looked okay, except we did order the gut, which we did not eat. Ordered some peppers and mushroom/abalone skewer which was interesting. We were still a little hungry and ordered a baked rice ball which was similar to a toasted mocha except rice. Needless to say it was an interesting yakitori experience and one neither of us will forget!
After dinner went back to hostel and checked in. Erin and I decided to go for a night run since there was a good path near our hostel. It was a little chilly, but clear night and we were able to see the outlines of the mountains as we ran. It was nice to have a running buddy again!
We stayed in a dorm room with bunk beds, at first with one other Japanese woman. Later on more Japanese women came into the room, but there were still a few open beds. The Japanese woman that was in the room at first asked if I was a student in Japanese and I told her I was an English teacher from America. I asked her how many times she had been to Kyoto and she told me it was about her seventh time and that she usually comes every New Years. I asked if she had any recommendations on what to see, but she said we had a good list of temples and shrines already.
Wednesday 12/30/09
Ate breakfast at the hostel- toast, soup, hard boiled egg and Japanese version of hot dog. Talked to Japanese man from Hiroshima at breakfast who had been to Kyoto 10 times and was back again for New Years. We had planned to visit about five temples, but weren’t sure if we would make it to all of them. Started with Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). The second and third floors of the temple were covered in gold leaf on Japanese lacquer. It was very beautiful and could see its reflection in mirror lake. Hopped on city bus to see Ryoanji Zen Rock Garden. Supposedly, the longer you gaze at the Zen Garden the more varied your imagination becomes. Erin and I tried to be zen, however our imaginations did not increase while staring at the garden! The Rock Garden was very simple with 15 rocks and not much design, but that’s how it was meant to be. While the actual Zen Garden did not really impress, the scenery and pond leading to the garden were very pretty. Third stop was Ginkakuji Temple- a World Heritage site and Zen temple. Unfortunately, the temple was under construction because of restoration, so it wasn’t much to look at. We were able to walk along a path and see a good view of Kyoto. Decided to take a break from the temples and go to Nishiki Market to see if we could find lunch. We were expecting something somewhat similar to Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, but was not the case. Nishiki Market was one long, narrow and crowded street. There were vendors selling fish, seafood and other foods and sweets on either side, but it was not a pleasant experience. Way too crowded and Erin and I did not enjoy getting shoved and pushed by elderly Japanese women! They may look innocent and harmless at first, but they are on a mission when they want something! We tried to leave the market as quickly as possible and were unsuccessful at finding lunch.
We decided to knock out the two other temples and find dinner later. Many of my Japanese friends had recommended Sanjusan Temple. The big wow factor at this temple was the 1001 statues of Buddha. There were 1000 standing statues and one giant statue. The statues all looked pretty similar, but there were slight differences in the eyes and mouths. Last temple of the day was Kiyomizudera. To reach this temple Erin and I walked uphill through a quaint, but crowded little town. We did see some Geisha with their white make-up and kimono dresses as we walked up the hill! Since Kiyomizudera Temple sits at the top of a hill we got another nice view of Kyoto. At this point Erin and I were both really exhausted and hungry.
We made our way down the hill and went to find a gyoza restaurant my Japan book had recommended. Much to our dismay it was closed, so we walked through Gion looking for another place to eat. We found a Japanese restaurant and I had tempura don and Erin tried soba for the first time. During our dinner a Caucasian man came up to us and said, “I know this is strange, but it was so nice to hear other people speaking in English!” He had been in Japan for a week and had not heard English spoken up to this point. I knew how he felt and that’s why I enjoy getting together with other ALTs during the week. It’s nice to hear English and speak English at a normal speed after being around Japanese speakers! After dinner we walked back to our hostel for our last night in Kyoto.
Thursday 12/31/09 NYE
Said goodbye to Kyoto and left for Osaka. The train ride took about 40 minutes and bought a day pass for the subway trains at the station. Stopped at Starbucks on the way to our next hotel. Dropped our luggage off and went to Shinsaibashi shopping arcade for some more kaiten zushi. At first walked into the wrong restaurant and when we tried to ask about sushi, our waiter said that the kaiten zushi restaurant was next door, whoops! The hostess took us next door himself and we thanked him for his kindness. This restaurant was not as good as the one in Tokyo, but hit the spot.
After lunch went to Spa World for the ultimate onsen (hot spring) experience! I had checked the website and was expecting to pay around \3000 for a full day at the Spa. Much to our surprise there was a special going on for New Years and a full day only cost \1000, what a deal! Spa World is a huge place with European and Asian onsens, gym, family pool area and massage services. It switches off each month and this month women had access to Asian onsens and men European. Erin and I went to workout at the gym first and then explored each of the different onsens. There were six onsens in all- each from a different country and different décor. The Japanese onsens were outside and there was also a Persian, Bali and Islam onsen. There was even a salt sauna that Erin and I tried. This was my second onsen experience and Erin's first, but we both loved Spa World! After spending the afternoon at Spa World we went back to the hotel.
Rested a little and headed out again for dinner in Dotombori. Went to Chibo, a restaurant famous for its okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). We had to wait in line, but it was worth it! We were seated around a long table with a chef in the middle who cooked the okonomiyaki right in front of you. Erin and I both got okonomiyaki with spinach, asparagus, mocha and pork. I’m not really a mochi person, but got it since it was NYE. It was really good and I liked the mochi in my pancake! We explored the nightlife around Dotonbori and got crepes at Crepe Ojisan for dessert.
Back at the hotel we had looked up events going on in Osaka for NYE. There was a party at the Westin Hotel at the Floating Garden Observatory in Umeda. We made it to the Umeda station, but got lost trying to find the hotel. It was really cold, so we hopped in a taxi to get to the hotel. Went up to the 35th floor and was able to see the city of Osaka at night. We were joined by a lot of Japanese couples waiting to bring in the New Year. We got to the Westin around 9:30pm and Erin and I had trouble keeping ourselves awake! We were use to going to bed around 10:30 every night because of our full days. At 11pm an all boy acapella group called Permanent Fish performed until almost midnight. Erin and I toasted and about 5 till everyone started heading up to the rooftop. We followed the crowd and it was freezing, but the view was awesome! As it got closer to midnight we heard, “san, ni, ichi...ake-mashite omedatou gozaimasu!” Happy New Year! We went back downstairs and saw hundreds of people outside the hotel celebrating. Happy 2010!Friday 1/1/10 New Years Day
Slept in a little on New Years Day and took the train to Nara. It was about a 30 minute trip and the plan was to visit the park and Todai-ji Temple. Erin and I decided to keep the trip short because after Kyoto we had had our share of temples! Nara is famous for its deer and we were not disappointed. As soon as we got to the park area we were greeted by many hungry and tame deer! We bought some deer sembei to feed them and they were very excited to be fed. Passed many food vendors and deer wandering everywhere, had to be careful where you stepped! Made it to Todai-ji Temple, the world’s largest wooden structure. It was pretty impressive and worth the visit to Nara.
Took the train back to Osaka to visit the harbor area to the west. It had a similar feel to Navy Pier, so we didn’t stay very long. A good place for families, but not much else to see. Still wanted to find some good gyoza, so headed to Namba and got really good gyoza at a popular place called Horai 551. Packed up our stuff and prepared to leave for Narita on Saturday.
Saturday 1/2/10
Took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and took another train from Tokyo station to Narita airport. Went through a blizzard south of Nagoya while on the shinkansen. It was the first time I had seen a lot of snow in Japan and reminded me of winters in Chicago. As we headed North the snow stopped and it got sunny. Saw a clear view of snow covered Mt. Fuji too. When we arrived in Tokyo it was sunny and blue skies. Said goodbye to Erin and parted ways at the airport. It was a busy, but exciting week and especially nice having Erin visit me. I liked that even though we were in major cities, each city had its own feel to it. I liked Kyoto the best because it was really beautiful there and easy to get around. I’d like to go back sometime during the cherry blossom or fall season. But, another time and another adventure! I enjoyed my two weeks of traveling, but am glad to be back in Takahagi.
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