Osaka

Osaka – a city famous for, well, I'm not quite sure what. It is home of Universal studios (we didn’t go) and Osaka castle (nope). It does have both shopping and a night life – two things the girls were very interested in. Stores were easy to find and the girls enjoyed roaming around and checking out what they could find. Janice had located a great bar hopping tour that took you around to various pubs and bars, providing you with drinks and food – well, at least one drink in each place and some food. And well…to be honest…Jeff and I went to a couple of places and enjoyed everyone’s company (and Jeff enjoyed 2 free drinks at each place) and then we took off and headed for the hotel. The girls enjoyed the night life until the wee hours of the morning. We did let them sleep in the next day – don’t think we’d have gotten them up even had we tried.

Osaka Aquarium

When they groggily emerged from the room, we headed for the aquarium. It’s build in the “round” (rather squared off in this case). You take an escalator to the top to view animal life on the surface of the sea. As you walk down, you get to view the various oceans and the animals you would normally found. They have a large “aqua gate” that allows you to walk through the ocean with the various fish swimming over and around you. From here you enter into different “oceans” around the world – the Kelp forest, Great Barrier Reef, the Seto Inland Sea, and even the Ecuador Rain Forest. Very interesting with enough English to help us identify areas and major fish.
Right out in front of the aquarium there was a juggling team putting on a performance – and were they ever good. They had everything down pat. Absolutely fantastic showmen – they had the crowds in their hands. A pretty good trick on a cold, blustery, rainy day – we stood in the drizzle to watch them. Their juggling was superb. They even did fire juggling, tossing the burning brands to each other – mounted on a unicycle and a balance board!!

Himeji Castle

The next morning we headed for Himeji Castle. This castle is considered to be Japan’s most spectacular castle (it’s that number one thing again) this time because it is the only castle that has survived intact – it has never been destroyed in a war, fire, or earthquake so it’s still pretty much in its original form. It does have to be the most gorgeous and interesting castle we have been to (kinda like missions in California – they vary greatly). The grounds are fabulous (almost had the sakura blooms but just not quite). They have winding paths – designed to confuse the enemy – small enclosures – dead ends, of course – and spectacular views (the heating bill must have been horrendous). The princess of the castle had her own entire wing where no men were allowed. They had armed guards at the doors that entered into the women’s area (with a small crawl in size service door built within the larger door – hmmmm…..wonder what that was used for???)

Himeji Gardens

There is also a spectacular garden, Himeji koko-en. The sprawling gardens travel through various garden types, bamboo, sakura, water features, tea garden, just to name a few. There’s always a garden “in bloom” because they’re made to show off best at certain times of the year. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow us a leisurely walk through the place – just enough to let us know we’d like to go back again.

Shiraishijima

Back to the Shinkansen; this time heading for Okayama. Now Okayama by itself is just a small sleepy town but it is the closest point for getting to the ferry to head out to the island if Shiraishijima. We’ve been here before but it’s just a nice, tranquil place to relax and enjoy and evening in a very typical Japanese village. We walked about the island, watched the sunset, played in the waves (well, a bit, it was cold), drank sake, played cards and … relaxed. The girls got to stay in the Japanese style room with the tatami mats, futons and a kotatsu (that the table with a heater under it. You put a blanket over it, then you can sit and keep your legs toasty warm.) They are inventive to get around not having central heating in Japan.

Shinkansen rides

These long travels on the train can be relaxing. The Japanese people have the ability to fall asleep on any moving vehicle… AND wake up instantly at the right moment to get off the train. Jeff and the girls figured out the sleeping part – and they do it very well. The waking up part needs some work.

Asuke

We took off to Asuke the next day. It’s the small Japanese farm village nestled in a very pretty canyon not far from where we live (we’ve been here before too). They got to view all of the artisans at work from bamboo and rice paper umbrellas to hand-made paper and hand crafted knives. It really is a great place to see a small snapshot of life in the “good old days” (they have them here too). We enjoyed eating at the tofu restaurant again. It was Japanese surprise but at least we knew there would be no meat.

Disneyland!

Friday we got up VERY early – like 4am – to catch the bus, train and the shinkansen to head up for Disneyland! Books in hand we braved the crowds to enjoy the ambiance, the aura, the magic of Disneyland. I never tire of the place and it seems that I’ve passed this on to the girls. Believe it or not, while we were enjoying ourselves in Tokyo Disney, Twyla was enjoying herself in California Disney. The lines were LONG – longer than anything I’ve seen in California but our trusty books and a bit of storytelling carried us through. We all were disappointed not to be going back the next day…I don’t know that I’d want to endure 3 days, but 2 days would have been great.
Tokyo Disney is a great place to visit…”the happiest place on earth”…only in competition with the other Disney’s around the world but hey.... There are some definite differences though…the menus are all fish biased, though ice cream is easy to find. They only have one restaurant with a true “vegetarian” option (and it was quite good). Can’t say that’s much different from California Disney…don’t remember there being a lot of options there – though probably more salads at times other than breakfast.

Disneyland...continued

Cinderella’s castle is more like the one found in Florida (so we are told) with more of a surrounding wall and it seems a bit larger. We came through the entry arches (more rain here so the World Bazaar (our Main Street) is covered) and had the view of castle in front of us. It took walking until we were quite close to realize that the castle is being worked on. They had taken the scaffolding and painted on the castle. From a distance, you had no idea that the castle was actually covered up.
Another interesting item…they, of course, have the Haunted House here and it's set in the same gothic style house as in California. However, it is placed in Fantasyland because the Japanese believe ghosts only exist in fairy tales. There’s also no train that runs around the entire complex, though there is a monorail that will transport people outside the complex to Disney Sea as well as various resorts in the area.
We weathered it through, marveled at the crowds and the sea of umbrellas that burst out in the rain – certainly adds a lot of color to the landscape. Fortunately the rain was infrequent, the visiting and reading enjoyable and the day just delightful. We had a spectacular time, whizzing around on the fast rides, enjoying the shows and just relaxing. After the fast pace, this was a nice, slow day.

Asakusa Shrine - and Shopping

We headed out for Asakusa the next day, ready for some typical shopping in Japan for the girls. The shrine is flanked by streets of vendors in small stalls, all ready and willing to sell their wares to the tourists – and there and thousands of tourists filing by on this tiny street. The sakura was out, making it a festive occasion for both Japanese and gaijin. The shrine is approached through the Kaminarimon gate. This gate is guarded by two Kami – great carved gods with hideous faces designed to scare the intruders. The long walkway up to the temple’s second gate is where the many shops are located. They do have a wonderful collection of inexpensive souvenirs as well as some pretty nice quality Japanese arts, pottery, metal work and such. If not for the crowds, I could happily spend quite a while checking out some of the fabulous crafts.
Didn't get pictures of the shops but did find great shots of sakura. If you click on the title of this entry, it will take you to a website with pictures of some shops...and more information.
The vendor was interesting. He was selling some kind of food. He would pick up the "stand" and carry it around. When someone asked for food, he'd stop, set it down and sell to the person. When the sales dropped in that area, he'd pick it up again and move on.

Shinjuku and Mexican food

Most of our time was centered around Shinjuku. Our hotel was fairly close to the station – with an underground path making it convenient in the rain. We went searching for the Metropolitan Building because the girls had found a reference for tourist information. In the process of searching for it, we stumbled upon an opportunity to go up to the top of the building for a fantastic view of the city.
This is also the location of one of the El Torito restaurants - a definite must whenever we visit Tokyo. I do miss mexican food here.

Yokohama Bay with Kaz and Kazumi

We met Kaz and Kazumi in Yokohama the next day for a delightful, if a bit wet, cruise around Yokohama Bay. The cruise line is offers a number of trips around the bay, including luncheons, dinner, tea as well as just the roughly two hour tour. Being the brave and hearty souls that we are (and too late to register for the lunch or tea – and SPENDY) we took just the cruise. Now that’s fine…on a sunny day. We got what I would consider to be the best view – outside, looking over the Bay, great visibility – except for the rain, and the wind and the tiny blankets. Ah well…we were enjoying nature. We did have a lovely time visiting with Kaz and Kazumi, enjoying the scene – it is a nice bay and the suspension bridges are very pretty. It will have to be something to try again on a warm, balmy, summer day.
While the girls spent the next day shopping (did I mention they like to shop?) in Shubuya, Jeff and I were back at work. It was really sad that their two weeks were over.