Tokyo, Japan - March 11

Tokyo, Japan – March 11

5 degrees, overcast, rain/snow

Today we say Sayonara to Japan and all of Asia. This vacation has been mind-blowing to say the least. We have been gone for what seems like and is a very long time. I have nothing but wonderful memories. I saw some of the world’s most under developed and poverty stricken communities to some of the world’s highly developed and wealthy.

I have no favourite part. Things we did and saw and

airport soba

experienced were so totally different from each other. One thing that surprised me was how easy it would be for us to travel in some of these places without an organised tour and how difficult it would be to get to others. I’d be happy to visit many of the places we just tasted for longer someday.

I’m happy to be going home. It’s just a 9.5 hour DIRECT flight From Tokyo to Calgary. I say just because Asia seems so far from North America to me – not anymore. We are scheduled to arrive in Calgary before we leave Japan, I guess that’s where the lost day went when we came here so many weeks ago.

I did a bit of last minute shopping in the airport...10 different flavours of KitKats!!

Thanks so much for those of you who read this blog. It’s a lot of fun for me to write, but more to know someone else is reading.

Tokyo, Japan - March 10

shopping

5 degrees, overcast

As we were the on our own today we decided to sleep in a bit, eat a late breakfast and head out around 11.

beer headquarters, Tokyo Sky Tree

Our goal for the morning and afternoon was to get me a Japanese chef’s knife and to visit Ashai Beer Headquarters. This meant taking the subway or metro, we’re still not quite sure what the difference is. I know there is a difference, just don’t know what that is. The Japanese metro has a bunch of different lines (13 I think.) The station for the line we wanted was less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel and we were able to stay on just one line the whole way. We got a day’s pass (10.00) which turned out to be a great decision. The Tokyo subway/metro has different fares depending on how far you go, having a day pass simplified things immensely.

We first found the knife shops. I knew there was an area with kitchen wares of all kinds and that there were a bunch of knife stores there. We found one with that had a guy who spoke English and bought a knife.

not a bad view

Next we were off to the Ashai Beer Headquarters. This isn’t a brewery or a tour of any kind. It’s basically an observation deck at the top of a building where you can have a beer.

After a bit of a rest back at the hotel we headed back out to do a bit of shopping and check out Tokyo’s red light district. Mission accomplished for both. The red light district didn’t seem to be as hopping as I think it could be, probably a bit due to the cold (it was toque weather.)

By the time we got near to the hotel we were beat, but ravenous. A pizza and wine was dinner and then bed.

Tokyo, Japan - March 9

shrine's second gate

10 degrees, overcast, rain

purification

Every day that passes, increases the civility of the tours since we we got off of the ship. Today's bus had 13 people on it - jackpot. 

Meiji Shrine was our first stop today - it was gorgeous. This spot was like a shrine complex within a park. The trees were huge. Just as we boarded the bus at the end of our visit the rain started. I learned to purify myself - get water, wash left hand, wash right hand, rinse (don't swallow) mouth from water poured into left hand, rinse ladle. 

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower is a slightly larger copy of the Eiffel Tower - this was our second stop today. It is a tower for TV and radio. Basically our visit there was for the observation deck. There's also shopping on the first floor, but that's it. 

Tokyo skyline

That officially was the end of the organized part of our vacation. 

sake barrels donated for the emperor

It was still raining when we got back to the hotel, so we didn't want to venture too far for lunch. We considered lunch at the hotel, but after checking prices and especially wine prices decided against it. We found pizza, wine and salad close to the hotel - the hotel was NOT offering glasses of wine for 6.00!. What we had was delicious and didn't break the bank.

We also found a grocery on the way back and picked up some green tea mini KitKats, what look like prawn/cilantro/lime/ chili chips and an orange bell pepper. The chips tasted not at all like prawns, but like lime and chili – I’d have them again.

We decided to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We had a couple of drinks and some snacks at the hotel bar – 20.00 drinks again…luckily these were 2 for one. The view was pretty spectacular, would have been even better had it not been for the clouds.

Toyko, Japan - March 8

21 degrees, sunny and glorious

Last night we hooked up with a few people we have met along the the trip and decided to try to get on the same bus today. Wow, did a bus full of happy, polite people make all the difference to the day. Of course the sun probably made a bit of a difference.

Today was all about Fuji-san - or Mount

Fuji. 

reading my fortune

The drive to Mount Fuji was about 2 hours from the hotel along a very good and not too busy highway. We made a pit stop part way there. This was more like a small shopping mall than a gas station-I don't even remember seeing gas. The washrooms themselves were an attraction as there were so many of them that here was an 'availability' board for which stall was available - not really necessary, but interesting. 

tying my fortune

There was a Starbucks, but out guide told us about high-tech vending machines that we decided to get coffees from. This machine talked to us (in Japanese) and showed a video of what was going on while a timer counted down to completion. Then a door opened and ta-da...coffee that tasted great.

A few moments later down the highway a bit I caught my first glimpse of Fuji-san. It was quite something. We were in the midst of a lot of smallish bare mountains, but then all of a sudden there it was...clearly the biggest and snow covered. The road suddenly became a whole lot more interesting...very much reminded me of the drive to the Rocky Mountains. In fact, when we got off of the bus for the pit stop the air smelled just like it would getting out of a car in the Rockies. We got up as far as about 2100 metres

It was amazing that the day was as clear as it was considering how awful it was yesterday. Today we were about to see the whole of the mountain through crystal clear air.

Japanese toilet instructions

We rode a cable car to a lookout point where I bought a fortune. Apparently I'm 'moderately' lucky. After you read your fortune you tied to a wire.

Lunch was a Japanese buffet - every single thing I ate was delicious!!

Finally we took a short cruise down a lake which paled in comparison to the rest of the day.

selfie

On the way back to Tokyo we made another pit stop. This one was about 4 times the size of where we stopped in the morning, but we had half the time. I think our bus beer days are over...doesn't seem to be a Japanese thing.   

magic

music class

Our guides today were fantastic. We had 3 – seemed because people don’t follow instructions (not me of course!!) and get on a bus other than the one they were assigned…Therefore, there was a packed bus (ours) and an empty one. So the guide from the empty bus joined ours – why they didn’t spread people out is beyond me. In the end they made the trip for us. At one point one guide taught us the Mount Fuji song that we all sung) and at another the other guide did magic tricks. We learned numbers and some Japanese symbols. Seem that in Japan some guides like to fill empty time. Most of the time they are giving info, but during some down times they tell jokes, sing or do magic!

Karen - you are right...being in Asia for New Year was pretty special!

Tokyo, Japan – March 7

Imperial Palace

10 degrees and rain...a lot of rain

lunch

We were off of the ship by 8:15 and onto yet another bus for a day of sightseeing in Tokyo. I was not looking too forward to it as it was pouring. We pulled out our umbrellas (we bought one actually as we inadvertently packed one) and carried on.

lunch garden

We started with a driving tour of some important spots which I was thankful for because of the rain. I noticed Japanese people weren't afraid of the rain. At least half of the umbrellas I saw were clear.

Once we had to get brave the rain it was at the Imperial Palace - home of Japan's royal family. We walked through a beautiful park to get to a bridge that overlooked the palace. Although it was pouring, the mistiness gave the photo a nice mood.

Next was a visit to Tokyo's she-she shopping street. It was described by our guide as like New York's Fifth Avenue, but I thought his was on a much larger scale. I remember New York's shops as on the small side and here they were large.

We decided to check out the basement of Mitsukoshi department store. This is where there are food stalls. Stalls isn't exactly he right way to describe them. They are all very beautiful and orderly, each with beautiful looking food, most of which I could identify and would have happily eaten. This place was to take out only. In fact there were tables that looked like they were for eating, but had signs on them saying 'please don't eat or sit'.

I am noticing how Japan likes order and rules. The department store had rules for the escalator. #1 - stand in 2 rows, #2 - stand only, don't walk and #3 - I can't remember. They also have smoking areas in random parts of the sidewalk and many no smoking signs, even signs that say "don't walk and smoke".

temple where there was 'nothing' to see

Next was lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant. We had to take our shoes off and they were kept in individual wooden lockers, each with its own key-very civilized. Not like the random shoe piles outside temples we experienced at the beginning of this trip - I was always amazed at how no shoes ever seemed to go missing...I'm sure they do. Anyway... I had my first sake to wash down. Lot of food I recognized and a lot I didn't. I liked/ate most of it. Here like at he palace, was a beautiful garden with a small temple that would have been nice to spend some time in.

After lunch it was off to the Asakusa Kannon Temple. By now, thankfully the rain had stopped. This again was what if describe as a temple complex. This place was big in comparison. There was also a traditional shopping area next to the temple which we strolled through.

lunch garden

no need for the umbrella anymore!!

Today I experienced rudeness and ignorance and boorish behavior on a whole new level. This appalling behavior wasn't directed at me, but I was in the middle of it due to proximity. A few people on our bus decided their needs were of greater importance than anyone else's and decided to tell the guide we should skip the last stop of he temple and shopping area because they had been there yesterday. The guide said that would be fine if everyone agreed. Not everyone did. Then they tried to get the time spent there reduced from an hour to 15 minutes. They said there was nothing to do - of course there was. This would have not been that bad except for the yelling, hollering and basic boorish behavior. Chris told them we didn't want to alter the itinerary because we didn't see this. We continued to tell him we chose a tour for yesterday (there are typically a bunch to choose from) that specifically went somewhere different – what an ignoramus. In the end we had 45 minutes (was supposed to be an hour) at a very cool temple/shopping street.

Then...this didn't end...some of the boors left in a taxi some stayed. Those who stayed thought the driver was lost and decided to blare directions from their GPS to the driver - this lasted for at least half an hour. I was mortified and shocked, seriously shocked at how completely awful some of these people were being.

I think dinner was the highlight of the day. It at a traditional Japanese BBQ restaurant. There was a circular grill in the middle of a table for 4, and we all cooked our own meat. It was very much like communal fondue style. I think the beef was better than I have ever eaten, it was so tender and flavourful. It had obviously been marinated as it had a flavour other than just beef. It was very thin but extremely tender (and VERY marbled)  so tender you could tear with chop sticks.

Another thing I found interesting today were umbrella 'bags'. These were at the entrances to some shops...long thin clear plastic bags that you put your umbrella into so it didn't drip in the store. The plastic bags were in some kind of a contraption so that you just put your umbrella in and there was a bag waiting for the umbrella. You pulled the umbrella out and voila...bagged umbrella. 

Tokyo, Japan – March 6

imagine all these cherry trees in bloom

18 degrees, overcast

Today is the last full day of the cruise. The morning was spent packing and trying to spend the last of our ship-board credit – mission accomplished! I think my suitcases are less full than when I arrived.

The last day of any vacation no matter how long is always a bit sad, I find once I get on with packing that feeling goes away and I’m focused on getting on with getting home, or in this case getting to the next part of the trip. We are off the boat tomorrow and are in Tokyo for four days after that. 3 of the four days are with a tour and the last we are on our own – we decided to extend our stay by one day to be able to fly direct from Tokyo home to Calgary.

In the PM we head out on a tour first to the Tokyo National Museum. Not surprising here is the world’s largest collection of Japanese art. I know zero about Japanese art, so this was quite an education. We didn’t have as long as I’d have liked, but it was a great experience. 

We saw Kimonos, 12^th century swords, jade carvings and of course Buddha statues.

Then we walked through a large beautiful urban park lined with cherry trees, unfortunately we are about 2 weeks too early for the cherry blossoms – there were a few ‘early-bloomers’. This will really be something, the place is lined with huge cherry trees. 

Our destination at the end of the park was the Ameyoko Market. This is a pedestrian only street lined with tons of shops - clothing, cosmetics, electronics and lots of food. There were also a ton of golf shops. We bought some golf balls with Japanese writing and an orange golf glove for me – I haven’t ever seen an orange golf glove.

Osaka and Kobe, Japan – March 5

17 degrees, sunny and glorious

The ship stayed overnight last night in Kobe so we didn’t have to worry about arriving late. Today started off a million times better than yesterday. In fact, it seemed that yesterday’s gong show turned some people off and many bailed on the morning’s excursion. The last 3 groups (ours being one of them) were combined into one with only 14 people and 2 guides – jackpot!!

Our tour today was in Osaka which apparently is Japan’s third largest city. Osaka is closer to Kobe than Kyoto was yesterday and the traffic seemed light – we travelled from the port about an hour before reaching Japan's oldest Buddhist temple in Shitennoji-Temple. The grounds of this temple were founded in the sixth century but the buildings have been repeatedly reconstructed because of earth quakes and other disasters. We arrived just as a monk was performing a memorial ceremony – very interesting.

Each temple we visit in every different countries (and we’ve visited a lot) seems to have something slightly different from the others. This one had 4 wheels under the west gate of the temple that could be turned/spun. Spinning one of these wheels was considered as being worth reading a section of the holy text – interesting.

Next we visited Osaka Castle. The castle is set on a large area of land with various buildings. The main attraction was the central castle building. This is an 8 story building the top being an observation deck. Most of the inside of the castle has been turned into a museum.

Once we were done in the castle we wandered the grounds a bit which were hopping with activity. There were buskers and tons of food stalls. I got a squid on a stick and a beer. The squid was deep fried, but not breaded, very delicious and although sprinkled with salt was slightly sweet.

squid - minus a couple of bites

Our tour ended with about an hour before we were scheduled to sail to Tokyo so we took the opportunity to use the cruise terminal wifi. I’ve said throughout the cruise how good the ship’s wifi is – it’s all what you’re used to…the terminal wifi was lightning fast!

Our sail away was another wonderful farewell by the locals. There was a band and a bunch of people on the outside of the terminal to send us off – they were waving and like mad (so were we) and some had giant hands they were waving.

very proud of myself

We have been very successful this trip acquiring small trinket souvenirs that we will use for Christmas tree ornaments and today was no different. What was different today was something else that was for sale…ear picks…I thought the only thing that was supposed to go in your ear was your elbow – kind of gross and probably not too good for your ear. One of those will NOT be coming home with me for the tree!!

One of the 2 guides today liked to tell jokes, here’s one…What’s the difference between a snow-man and a snow-woman? Snowballs – haha! When he told the punchline, I completely didn’t get it until I realized he said snowBALLS and not snowBOARDS – it was a bit of an ESL moment. There were a couple of others, but one is a bit too offside to write down.

The Japanese washrooms continue to fascinate me…the one I used at the Castle had all the bells and whistles that I’ve come to expect from a Japanese toilet…’shower’ as our guide called it, warm blowing air, scent and sound. What was new was a baby ‘holder’. This was a gizmo attached to the wall next to the toilet that a baby could sit in, it kind of looked like a small high chair without the table and legs – seemed brilliant to me.

Kyoto and Kobe, Japan – March 4

12 degrees, sunny

A gong show doesn’t remotely come close to describing the beginning of today. Originally our tour today was scheduled to leave at 8:00. It was rescheduled to 10:30 a couple of weeks ago – an 8 hour tour departing at 10:30 isn’t ideal in my opinion, but I didn’t care too much. 10:30 was changed to 11:05 when the boat arrived a bit late…still no big deal…the gong show occurred with Japanese immigration. We needed to do another face-to-face passport check…again no big deal, the big deal was that we waited for about 90 minutes to get through the passport line – and we thought the face-to-face in Beijing was a gong show. 

lunch

So…by the time we got going it was well past 1:30. Somehow we didn’t get back to the ship super late, but were too late to take shuttle into to Kyoto for dinner or a drink or a wander around.

Nijo-jo Castle gate

Lunch was a bento box on the bus, which was planned and wasn’t due to the gong show. It was quite cool – the only thing I didn’t touch was the dessert. I’ve discovered I’m not the biggest fan of Asian desserts so I didn’t even try.

Nijo-jo Castle gate detail

Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka are all part of one big metropolitan area and it’s difficult to know when you are leaving one and entering another. The 2 sites we visited today are in Kyoto which is about 90 minutes from Kobe where the port is. We knew Kyoto was about 75Km from Kobe, so we wondered how it could take so long, but when little of the drive was on a freeway no one goes anywhere fast.

Golden Pavilion

The first stop we made today was at Nijo-jo Castle – about 500 years old. This place is like no castle I’ve ever visited before. It is all on one floor and although, there are some raised platforms to distinguish people of different statuses there was little to no furniture. There were murals on the walls of each room. One thing I learned about Japanese art was that while many of the paintings have what appear to be blank spaces they are there to suggest possibility and for viewers to use their imaginations.

garden beauty

The coolest part of this castle was what are described as ‘nightingale floors’. These floors make a sound when walked on that sound like chirping bird when walked on to alert the guards of intruders. Depending on the number of people walking on the floor they were quite loud – I was very surprised.

Another thing I learned was that Japanese homes are measured (‘m not sure if this is how they are accurately measured) not in square foot or metre, but by how many tatami mats would fit on the floor.

The second and last stop today was to Kyoto’s Kinkakuji Temple or Golden Pavilion – this name is very fitting as the entire structure is covered in gold leaf (built in 1397.) This visit was entirely outside through the gardens surrounding the Golden Pavilion. It was quite nice to wander around the beautiful, but simple gardens climb up some small hills and take in the scenery. Although this place was quite busy it never became frantic or annoying.

One thing I’ve noticed while being in Asia is how tall I am. Every so often I find myself in a crowd or group or line of only Asian people and realize that I’m the tallest one. I was in a washroom line with a few young Asian women and I was at least a head taller than all of them. Another thing that was remarkable about that group of young Japanese women was that they let me use the toilet before any of them.