Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Too much....
We have done sooooo much here, I can't even begin to try to describe it all. We're out for 14 hours at a time so I haven't had time to blog every day or upload pics now that we found a camera cord. We just came home from a river boat ride into Tokyo center and the HamaRikyu Gardens, went to a tea house there for a tea ceremony, bumped into Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and then went to Ueno park for shrines etc till after dark, adn subway home. Now Tim's b-day dinner. Headed to the airport around 2pm tomorrow. I'll sleep the whole way home!
Friday, January 28, 2011
pooped
Visited Kamakura today. We were out for ten hours then came back to the hotel. Out for another Three hours having dinner and exploring Asukasa. The ocean air makes you sleepy. Details tomorrow and lots more to do ;o
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Karaoke, underground mall, and Meiji Shrine
Last night we went with five other people to the same karaoke place Tim and I went to the other night. Much more fun this time. Our Japanese friends were great singers and a lot of fun. One of them is a Guns and Roses fan so we had a blast with those songs. Being in our own room allowed us all to sing several songs so it was a good idea after all. I think Providence and Boston need one of those, hmmmmm.
I'll upload pics when I get home.
Yesterday I decided I needed to do some (more) shopping. I had read about a store near Tokyo station that had no-brand items at reasonable prices so I thought I'd check it out. I exited the station, took one look around and realized I would not find it on my own...how lost did I want to get?! So I stopped at a shoe store and asked directions using the few Japanese words that I know. By the way, please and thank you will get you far. The person there happened to have a map and tried to tell me it was around the corner. I asked if it was across the street and he said no, it was downstairs. So I went outside and found some stairs for the subway and went down. And what to my wondering eyes did appear? The biggest mall I have ever seen! Take the Emerald Square Mall, put it all on one level, and multiply it by three! Did I get lost trying to find this store? Oh yes I did! I stopped at least five times to ask directions, and after an hour, the last person I asked actually brought me to the front of it. Of course!! It was the only store in the place that didn't have a phonetic spelling of the name. It was in Japanese kanji so I couldn't read it. Bought a couple of things and spent another hour or so exploring the rest of the mall. I would say that this was serentripitous because I would never have known this massive place was undergound or existed at all if I wasn't trying to save money and find the cheap store. By the way, when I was down there, there was a 6.9 earthquake in Japan. I didn't feel anything but Tim felt it on the ninth floor of an office building. Scary.
Today I went to the Meiji shrine for a couple of hours. It's a Shinto shrine and I really liked visiting this place because the values of the Shinto religion embody harmony with nature and a sincere heart. It was created in honor of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken to commemorate their virtues. It's mostly forest and is an actual working shrine, not just a tourist attraction. There is a ritual to wash your hands and mouth before entering the shrine in order to be more 'Pure' before praying. Of course I gave it a whirl...just in case I should be pointed out as the not pure one. There was a place where you could write down yours prayers on a piece of paper, place it in an envelope with a small offering and submit it to be placed on the altar by the priests and they would pray over them. Did that too, covering the bases. The coolest thing for me was coming to a place where a guard collected the ticket that I was given at the entrance (I wondered what it was for). I then proceeded to stand in a single file line though I had no idea what for. But when in Rome and all that. The line went down a small hill so I couldn't see what was going on there. I came upon a sign that talked about a well that flowed constantly with the purest water. So once I got down to the well, the guard was allowing people to stand on stone slabs around the well, the top of which was level with the ground so you looked down at it. People were praying and then taking pictures with their phones. So thats what I did and now the well picture is my phone wallpaper :) The treasure museum on the grounds was closed so I sauntered back to the subway station. There were a couple of stores across the street that I decided to check out. I walked dwown the block and around the corner and found the most crowded, crazy shopping area ever! It seemed like the punk rock area and there were the most colorful and imaginitive clothes in the stores...and on the people. If I lived here this is where you would have found me back in the day. I can tell you this, the style for Tokyo this season is small flower prints and long flowing tops, and the nautical look. But here, as far as fashion, anything goes...and I mean that.
Two more observations:
Cleanest city I have ever seen.
Most polite and helpful people.
I'll upload pics when I get home.
Yesterday I decided I needed to do some (more) shopping. I had read about a store near Tokyo station that had no-brand items at reasonable prices so I thought I'd check it out. I exited the station, took one look around and realized I would not find it on my own...how lost did I want to get?! So I stopped at a shoe store and asked directions using the few Japanese words that I know. By the way, please and thank you will get you far. The person there happened to have a map and tried to tell me it was around the corner. I asked if it was across the street and he said no, it was downstairs. So I went outside and found some stairs for the subway and went down. And what to my wondering eyes did appear? The biggest mall I have ever seen! Take the Emerald Square Mall, put it all on one level, and multiply it by three! Did I get lost trying to find this store? Oh yes I did! I stopped at least five times to ask directions, and after an hour, the last person I asked actually brought me to the front of it. Of course!! It was the only store in the place that didn't have a phonetic spelling of the name. It was in Japanese kanji so I couldn't read it. Bought a couple of things and spent another hour or so exploring the rest of the mall. I would say that this was serentripitous because I would never have known this massive place was undergound or existed at all if I wasn't trying to save money and find the cheap store. By the way, when I was down there, there was a 6.9 earthquake in Japan. I didn't feel anything but Tim felt it on the ninth floor of an office building. Scary.
Today I went to the Meiji shrine for a couple of hours. It's a Shinto shrine and I really liked visiting this place because the values of the Shinto religion embody harmony with nature and a sincere heart. It was created in honor of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken to commemorate their virtues. It's mostly forest and is an actual working shrine, not just a tourist attraction. There is a ritual to wash your hands and mouth before entering the shrine in order to be more 'Pure' before praying. Of course I gave it a whirl...just in case I should be pointed out as the not pure one. There was a place where you could write down yours prayers on a piece of paper, place it in an envelope with a small offering and submit it to be placed on the altar by the priests and they would pray over them. Did that too, covering the bases. The coolest thing for me was coming to a place where a guard collected the ticket that I was given at the entrance (I wondered what it was for). I then proceeded to stand in a single file line though I had no idea what for. But when in Rome and all that. The line went down a small hill so I couldn't see what was going on there. I came upon a sign that talked about a well that flowed constantly with the purest water. So once I got down to the well, the guard was allowing people to stand on stone slabs around the well, the top of which was level with the ground so you looked down at it. People were praying and then taking pictures with their phones. So thats what I did and now the well picture is my phone wallpaper :) The treasure museum on the grounds was closed so I sauntered back to the subway station. There were a couple of stores across the street that I decided to check out. I walked dwown the block and around the corner and found the most crowded, crazy shopping area ever! It seemed like the punk rock area and there were the most colorful and imaginitive clothes in the stores...and on the people. If I lived here this is where you would have found me back in the day. I can tell you this, the style for Tokyo this season is small flower prints and long flowing tops, and the nautical look. But here, as far as fashion, anything goes...and I mean that.
Two more observations:
Cleanest city I have ever seen.
Most polite and helpful people.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Observations on Tokyo
- You never hear cell phones ring in public places. I realized it today when my phone rang and I suddenly felt very obnoxious because I have not been annoyed by unpleasant ringtones since I got here. I like it.
- I was the only person in Tokyo wearing flare leg jeans today. And a leather coat...except for that older guy coming out of the train station. Other than that - only one.
- All babies cry in the same language.
- Tokyo has the most kickass shoes in the world. Even the guys, and the old people. Of course they all cost hundreds of dollars, which brings me to my next observation...
- Tokyo is extremely expensive! If any of you are expecting souveniers, you'll get chopsticks and like it!
- No tipping. This is a great custom as it takes the burden off the customer and onto the employer to pay the employee a good wage. They do this because they feel they are already getting paid to perform a service, and do it well and happily. Nice philosophy.
- Many folks here still wear traditional clothing, like kimonos. It's very cool and I think we should do this in the US and walk around in pilgrim outfits if we want to.
- Chilled sake is better than heated sake :)
Re: last night's karaoke. Only Tim and I went to this place down the street just to do reconaisance (kids - how do you spell reconaisance?) for everyone else. They stuck us in this small room with our own machine and closed the door. I took it rather personally haha. I don't think it's nearly as much fun if you can't embarass yourself in front of a crowd of people. We will try to find another place tonight.
Tomorrow's blog will be about my serentripitous day today and my trip to Shibuya yesterday (that part of Japan that you always see on tv). Haven't figured out the picture thing yet...
- I was the only person in Tokyo wearing flare leg jeans today. And a leather coat...except for that older guy coming out of the train station. Other than that - only one.
- All babies cry in the same language.
- Tokyo has the most kickass shoes in the world. Even the guys, and the old people. Of course they all cost hundreds of dollars, which brings me to my next observation...
- Tokyo is extremely expensive! If any of you are expecting souveniers, you'll get chopsticks and like it!
- No tipping. This is a great custom as it takes the burden off the customer and onto the employer to pay the employee a good wage. They do this because they feel they are already getting paid to perform a service, and do it well and happily. Nice philosophy.
- Many folks here still wear traditional clothing, like kimonos. It's very cool and I think we should do this in the US and walk around in pilgrim outfits if we want to.
- Chilled sake is better than heated sake :)
Re: last night's karaoke. Only Tim and I went to this place down the street just to do reconaisance (kids - how do you spell reconaisance?) for everyone else. They stuck us in this small room with our own machine and closed the door. I took it rather personally haha. I don't think it's nearly as much fun if you can't embarass yourself in front of a crowd of people. We will try to find another place tonight.
Tomorrow's blog will be about my serentripitous day today and my trip to Shibuya yesterday (that part of Japan that you always see on tv). Haven't figured out the picture thing yet...
Sunday, January 23, 2011
finally online in Japan
I have got one thing to say about Tokyo....heated toilet seats! The trip has been worth it for that alone. I have all but forgotten the three hour delay in Toronto because of a security breech, and I've stopped complaining about the woman sitting next to me who laughed out loud for 12 hours watching comedies on that little screen she was staring at... oh haha...HAHAHAAAAAA ahhhhhh ha heeeeeeennnnaaa Ha! Haaaaaaa.....eeeeeeee (wait for it) HAHAHA! I have forgotten all that. Heated toilet seats...and subway train seats too. I have been hopping on the subway every day having myself adventures. Yesterday I went to the grounds of the Imperial Palace. It's a huge park where the palace was, surrounded by moats, guardhouses and gorgeous gardens...pretty even in winter,
lots of greenery, even some flowering bushes. Of course I got lost on the way back to the subway station. But the good part about that is that I was able to find my way back at all! That's key. Lots more tomorrow, my battery is dying and I have to get ready for karaoke tonight. I'll have stories tomorrow!
lots of greenery, even some flowering bushes. Of course I got lost on the way back to the subway station. But the good part about that is that I was able to find my way back at all! That's key. Lots more tomorrow, my battery is dying and I have to get ready for karaoke tonight. I'll have stories tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Loire Velley
The famous Loire Valley story has been pre-empted as we are traveling in the morning to Tokyo, from where I hope to be live blogging. Check back for updates.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)