Shake and Spurt

We woke us up this morning with a little jolt – a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.  The epicenter was in our area.  Other than a little shaking, there was no damage where we were.

Our plan today was to explore the area around Hakone, the site of an active volcano.  Since May the warning level around the volcano has been at Level 2 which bans people from going near the crater.  This meant that the Rope Car (gondola) across the crater was closed.  But, we still had access to the various buses, trains, cable car and a boat ride in the area.

Our first stop of the day was at the Amazake-chaya Tea House.  It is an ancient rest stop for travelers that used the Tokaido Trail through the mountain passes.  We enjoyed some regular hot tea and a sweet miso-like beverage called Amazake.

  

Once energized by our refreshments, we set out for a 2km hike along the Tokaido Trail.  The path was laid with moss covered rocks that, in ancient times, was edged with bamboo.  The enormous trees of the surrounding forest provided a cool canopy as we ascended the hill.

We stopped for lunch and some legendary black eggs by Lake Ashi.  These black eggs undergo a laborious boiling process involving extremely hot temperatures and sulfur, which give them their black colour and odorous smell.  However, it’s worth it because it’s said that eating one will add 7 years to your life. (And they tasted pretty good)

Next we took a voyage across Lake Ashi, a fresh water lake formed when the volcano erupted 800 years ago.  Views of Mt. Fuji once again eluded us due to the low lying clouds, but the views of the forests surrounding the lake were beautiful.

After our boat cruise we were going to take a bus around the crater to the cable car (since we couldn’t take the rope car), but were directed to a different bus.  Along this route we had a quick glimpse of the volcano.  There was a LOT of steam coming from it.  When we arrived at the entrance to the cable car, we were told it was closed.  We were also told the boat cruise was closed.  It wasn’t until later that we found out that our cruise was the last one before they closed it due to an upgrade of the volcano warning to Level 3.  What we’d seen from the bus, was the volcano actually having a small eruption!

For our last evening together with The Cousins, the kids went swimming at the hotel pool and ate dinner together in the room, while the adults went to a local restaurant for Japanese BBQ with Kobe beef.  We enjoyed the food and company and laughed about our escapades from the past few days.

Tokyo to Hakone

Today we took our first Maglev train, Shinkansen, from Tokyo to Hakone.  It was “Super Express”.  The ride was super smooth and super fast. 

I was hoping to get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from the train, but could not – not because we were going too fast, because the peak was shrouded in clouds.  Hopefully the weather will be clearer tomorrow and we’ll get another chance.

From the train station, we took the hotel shuttle.  Lukas got to be co-pilot.

Our hotel is high on the mountainside overlooking the ocean.  The view from our room is spectacular.

We had a slight reprieve from sight-seeing today and spent a little time relaxing.  The kids bowled in the hotel’s bowling alley,

while we opted for shiatsu massages and then a soak in the onsen – Japanese style(!) (definitely no photos from here... no where to put the camera). 

It was very restorative. 

Day Trip to Kamakura

Our destination today was a small town south of Tokyo, Kamakura, about an hour train ride away. 

We climbed the many steps to the Kamakura temple to make our wishes for the day.  There were many different varieties of bright, colourful flower lanterns decorating temple.  These were one of my favourite things today.  Even though it was quite warm, there was a slight breeze coming off the ocean -just enough to stir the tails of the lanterns into a gentle dance and give us a some relief from the heat.

We found other ways to combat the heat as well.

(I had The Best green tea ice cream I’ve ever tasted…EVER!)

This small town is popular, as attested today by the crowded buses and even more crowded trains, because it is home to a very Big guy, Diabutsu, or the Great Buddha.  And we’re talking Great – this statue, cast in bronze in 1252, is 13.35m tall.  Let’s just say he leaves some pretty big shoes to fill.

After such a Big day, we headed back to enjoy our last evening near our apartment – tomorrow is a travel day – hard to believe we’ve already been here a week!

Shopping Day

We started our day by making wishes at the Meiji Jingu shrine.  We learned how to properly bow and clap our hands to ensure our wish was sent.  Alia also wrote down our family wishes on a wooden plaque and hung it with others from around the world. 

With our wishes dispersed, we made our way to the narrow market street to see if any were granted. 

The bustling, modern, commercial alley was quite the contrast from the immense, tranquil gardens of the shrine across the way.

Our visit to the market was indeed successful.  We found some fabulous treasures and souvenirs to bring home. 

Plus we got to sample some crepes (I think I might know whose wish that was…).  And, Yes, I said crepes. The Japanese have taken The Crepe to a whole new level.   I can’t even describe it; it must be experienced.

When we returned to the apartment for a rest in the afternoon, we came across a live monkey show in an open area by the shrine.  It was very cute.  We sat and watched for a while.

For dinner we stopped at various street vendors and sampled their wares.

I had beef on a stick, which consisted of sticky rice wrapped in thinly slice beef (think bacon, only beef) with a salt sauce.  Yum.

This evening, those of us that were not too tired, headed out to see Shibuya after dark.  It was quite the spectacle.

(You’ll have to go to ‘Photos’ to see what I mean).

Museum Day

This morning it was overcast when we left the apartment.  We walked along the river and crossed over the green bridge into Sumo territory. 

We spent the morning at the Edo-Tokyo Museum.

It is a massive museum that traces the timeline of Tokyo from its early days as Edo to the present.  The city has a very long fluctuating history of growth and destruction.  So many times it has been destroyed by fire, flood, or fighting, but has emerged to rebuild a bigger, better base.

The museum housed full-sized reconstructions of buildings as well as detailed dioramas that chronicled the life styles of the past and evolution of development.  There were many opportunities to get a hands-on feel for the way things were.

After a quick lunch we headed to the Shitamachi Museum.  

This too chronicled the evolution of Tokyo, with a deeper focus on the local area, showing the lifestyle of its inhabitants, the crafts and trades people.   

There was a table full of wooden toys and puzzles for more hands-on experience.  The kids spent an hour playing with the various artifacts!  As we were leaving one of the docents gave the kids origami spinning tops that she had made (more hours of fun!)

This museum is situated on the edge of the Ueno Park and just outside the entrance, the lake was dense (to say the least) with Lotus plants.  These giant lilies were awesome.

We would’ve spent more time here looking at the magnificent view and strolling through the park, but it was raining lightly. So, we headed to the bakery for pastries and then back to the apartment.  We got in just before the downpour!

Japanese Icons

Today we visited the locations of three Japanese Icons.

First, we visited an antiquity, the Imperial Palace, which dates back to the early 1600’s, when it was known as the Edo Castle.  This ancient property, surrounded by moats in the heart of Tokyo, is the residence of the current Emperor and his family.  The well preserved ancient gardens and structures within are a great contrast to the modern city which encircle them.

From there we went to the home of the city’s most notorious and newest citizens.

Godzilla!!!

He was a little busy, so we didn’t stick around.

The location of our last stop is also well-known for its immensity.  The modern backdrop of Hachiko Square is a bustling, commercial intersection of sights and sounds.  One of the remarkable impacts that Tokyo has made in the few days we’ve been here, is the quietness.   For a city so vast, with millions of people carrying on the activities of their daily lives, the level of volume is an audible murmur.  Hachiko Square, however, is like being at an Extreme Dance Party.  It’s as if all the sound for the entire city (and maybe all of Japan) is channeled to this spot.

Our iconic day ended with a return to the quiet confines of our apartment for dinner.

Disney’s Sea

This morning we met The Cousins at a predetermined location on the subway line and then made our way to Disney’s Sea amusement park.

It is a recently added park (2001) adjacent to Tokyo Disney.  This Disney park is unique to the Disney family.  It is located on a small island off Tokyo on the Japanese coast in the Pacific.  The entire theme of the park is based on various water settings like the Mermaid Lagoon, Mediterranean Harbor, and the Arabian Coast.  There are some familiar Disney rides, like Indiana Jones (except Indy speaks Japanese), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the Tower of Terror. But much of the park is unique with rides such as the Raging Spirits roller coaster, Aquatopia (a takeoff of Autotopia), and Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage.

The weather was perfect.  The sun was shining and there was a breeze off the ocean. The park was also not that busy – another bonus.

We all had a wonderful time and are fully exhausted. 

On our way back to the apartment we bought food for breakfast and stopped at a traditional Japanese restaurant for dinner.  We sat on pillows at a table set over a big space in the floor for our legs.  For dinner we ate sashimi and hot pots. It was very satisfying after our strenuous day.

Exploring Home Base

This morning we set out to explore the area around our apartment.

We went back to the Sensoji Temple.  It was not the deserted grounds from the evening before, but bustling with locals and tourists alike, saying prayers and taking photos. 

We purchased our fortunes at the temple.  In order to get them, some of us went through the ritual of shaking a container filled with numbered sticks, then tipping the container so that one stick protruded.  This stick had a number that corresponded to a drawer which held our “chosen” future on a slip of paper.  We have the option to tie our fortunes to small stands or burn them, while making a wish or prayer. 

Around the temple were various shrines and a garden with waterfalls and Kio ponds.   It was a quaint patch of nature surrounded by the old city.

The main alleys leading to the temple were lined with markets. We wandered through, ate ice cream burgers, and saw umbrellas with pretty patterns that only appeared when they were wet.  Our mouths watered at fake meals on display outside restaurants, and not-so-much at some not-so-fake eels swimming in an aquarium.

After lunch we wandered along the Sumidagawa River.  It was a little cooler and a change of scenery.  We came across this very cool garden with some interesting foliage. 

Fascinating – some rare buds in there!

The rest of the day was quite uneventful, except for Lukas and Ben’s altercation with a local celebrity on the street.

By evening, we were all pretty exhausted from walking all day and still adjusting to the time change.  We had a nice dinner and headed back to the apartment for an early night.

The New Adventure Begins

Our long travel day didn’t start as we’d planned.  In fact, it started prematurely at 3 AM when the airline called to say the flight had been canceled due to weather. The original flight consisted of a stop-over in Chicago. 

Don’t worry, they had rebooked us.  However, they had split us up - one group on a direct flight arriving around the same time as the original, but leaving from a different airport; and the second group arriving 24 hours later than scheduled, with a stop-over in London, England.  Needless to say, we immediately got on the phone to try to put everyone back on a flight together.  Fortunately, we were able to get everyone on the direct flight. The problem now was that our seats were not confirmed and we were departing from a different airport, an hour further away (without traffic, construction and poor weather…).  Worrisome.

We had arranged for a car service to take us to the airport and he was thankfully able to accommodate our change of plans on the very short notice.  Amazingly, everything was too our advantage – the weather had abated, the traffic was light, and because of the rain, the construction was on hold.  Our driver was shocked at how quickly and effortlessly we made it to the airport - the likes he’d not seen in at least 6 years of shuttling people to this airport!  

We were able to get to the airport with plenty of time to secure our seats. Phew!

This sudden change had thwarted our arrangements to fly out together with Henry and his family. They too had been booked on separate flights.   Yuriko and kids managed to get out on a direct flight earlier this morning and Henry was on stand-by for ours. In the end, he made it on to our flight. 

Once we were all settled on the plane, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. And the bonus was that we now had a direct flight instead of a stop-over!

After a 14 hour flight and a 13 hour time change we arrived in Tokyo.

Henry helped us sort out the rest of our route to our apartment in Asakusa by train. And we were off again. 

The train from the airport into Tokyo was an hour, but uneventful.  Everyone, including the locals, took naps, lulled by the sway of the train.

We wheeled our luggage through the streets and narrow alleys of Asakusa to find our apartment. Our host was waiting to welcome us and show us how to work all the gadgets that make our tiny apartment convenient and practical.

Our apartment is right next to the Sansoji Temple. The oldest temple in Tokyo said to have originally been built in 628 (yes, just 3 digits), but rebuilt due to fire as a result of World War II.  It is famous for its giant lantern hanging at the main gate.

We wandered through temple grounds on our way to find a restaurant for dinner.

Our first meal was ordered by pointing to photos, since nothing was in English. It sounds daunting and we were a little uncertain about the quantity we had ordered, but it was delicious and the perfect amount.

Afterwards, we headed back to  apartment to get some sleep for the weary travelers.