We're in Japan! The flight lands 3:15 PM Japan time but it takes us until 5:45 PM to catch the Narita Express train to Tokyo. We reach our hotel in the Ryogoku neighborhood at 7 PM. The hotel is across the street from the station. Check-in is easy. The room is compact but has all the amenities we need including bathroom with toiletries, internet, tv, even a fridge. We call our friend ,Yoshi, and make arrangements to see him and his girlfriend, Mutsumi, tomorrow. We go for a walk around the neighborhood and find a soba/udon shop and have tempura udon for dinner. We return and go to bed by 11. A great start to the trip!
Saturday 0/18/2010
We wake up 5:00. Go down to the hotel restaurant for Japanese breakfast buffet (1000 Y). Very good with rice, miso soup, natto, tsukemono, eggs, meatballs, breads, salmon, seaweed, fruit, potato salad, green salad, juice, coffee, tea. Lots of businessmen. After breakfast, we take a short walk and see people lining up to buy sumo tournament tickets. Also see lots of uniformed students walking to school (on Saturday)(Yoshi said later maybe they were doing school sports). We meet Yoshi and his girlfriend at 9:00. They have driven a car from Saitama, about 1.5 hrs away. We decide to go to Tsukiji fish market then ride the ferry to Asakusa. They know the subway system so we follow them. Arrive at Tsukiji around 10. The fish market is outstanding and amazing to browse and look. Many vendors with many different types of seafood, some that I have never seen before. It’s busy with small vehicles zipping all around. Very busy and look for a sushi restaurant, but too crowded to wait with lines around the buildings. We’ll get lunch at Asakusa. We leave and take the subway to Hinode Pier where we plan to catch the Sumida River ferry upstream to Asakusa. Catch the ferry and sit downstairs with air conditioning and windows. Pass under 12 different bridges, some colorful, others highly modern. It's a wonderful boat ride to our next destination. Reach Asakusa and walk through business district. See the famous red lantern (Thunder Gate) We want to have lunch so go to a highly recommended donburi restaurant. Delicious. Afterwards we walk down Nakamise (street with many vendors.) Tempted to buy many things. Then to Sensoji, a famous Buddhist temple. Thers's a big incense burner to ward off your aches and pains. Inside the temple, there are priests chanting and many observers. We get our fortunes. Walk to Kappabashi. Lots of cooking ware stores. Look for an egg cutter but no luck. A highlight is a store that sells plastic food models. Very realistic, but also very, very expensive. A small sushi model costs over $50. Finally, we make our way back to Ryogoku to pick up a few things for staying overnight at Yoshi’s parent’s place in Konousu. We’re going north to Nikko in the morning so plan to stay there over night. Yoshi has an apartment, but his parent’s home has more room. It takes almost 2 hours to get there by car. Greeted warmly by Yoshis father and mother, Hide and Naoko Funato. They do not speak English very well, but have an electronic dictionary we use to communicate (plus Yoshi as interpreter). Relax and then have dinner of sukiyaki. What a treat. Make plans for the next day - going to Nikko by car. Asleep by 11 PM. Sleep on traditional futon beds on tatami mat bedroom.
Sunday, 9/19
Wake up 5 AM. Breakfast prepared by Naoko. Traditonal meal of rice, miso soup, tsukemono, okra, ume, and juice. Tea instead of coffee. Today we are going to Nikko where Tokugawa Ieyasu’s mausoleum is located. It’s a long drive that would have taken a long time by train. We drive through Nikko town. It’s pretty crowded. We find a parking spot and walk over to the site. There is an admission fee. The buildings are very impressive, worthy resting place for one of Japan’s greatest shoguns. See 3 monkeys, sleeping cat, and other sights. Afterwards, we rest and have some snacks of baked shoyu flavored rice balls, melon flavored kakigori (shave ice), mochi. Return to the car then decide to drive to Kegon Falls. Park then go to a restaurant to have bento lunch of Yuba (a local specialty), soba, tempura. Hide and Yoshi offer to take us on another day trip tomorrow so we plan on spending the night again at the funato house that night. After lunch we walk to Kegon Falls. Beuatiful falls that remind me of Snoqualmie Falls. There’s an elevator that takes us close to the base. Afterwards, walk back to the car via the main street where there are numerous stores selling food, and souveniers. I buy a small wooden plaque that I have a craftsman carve my last name in kanji (600 Y). We take a long way back to avoid the crush of traffic. It’s very scenic passing numerous lakes, forests, and small towns. See farms growing rice, buckwheat, apples, pumpkins, corn, etc. The drive back takes about 3 hours. Before we get home to Konosu, we stop and have dinner of tonkotsu ramen and gyoza. Delicious. Get back 9 PM. Have cool green tea and dango balls (like soysauce mochi on a stick). Try to hook up the netbook to Funato’s internet, but can’t. We decide that tomorrow we’re taking the train to Kamakura.
Monday 9/20
Went to Kamakura today. It's now after 10 PM and we're back in Pearl Ryogoku hotel. It was a good day but now we're tired and will continue the blog tomorrow!
Yay for a blog post! Even though I knew most of this.
ReplyDeleteI can tell your dad wrote this, which is fun. Maybe one day we can read something you wrote, Tanner.
Glad you are having such a great time. What a nice relationship your family and Yoshi's family have.
Love! Callista