March 26 Osaka to Kobe

I wasn’t feeling that great yet, so I stayed in the hotel room.

Tom wanted to see more of Osaka than just our hotel room. He visited The Osaka Castle (pic 1), just look at the stairs he climbed (pic 2). Picture 3 is a close up of a dolphin that decorates the castle with Osaka in the background.

Picture 4 is out our hotel window is a park/shopping center. Land is at a minimum so they use it however they can.

Then it was time to head to Kobe, we took a couple trains to get to the ship terminal.

Japan is amazing with their rail system, we were able to get all the way to the ship without taking a cab.

Here's a few observation about Tokyo:

When people walk, they just walk. No smoking, eating or drinking, just walking. I found a place that had black tea and because it was "to go" they put tape over the mouth opening. There are special smoking areas on the street corners, unfortunately, usually by the maps.

There are very few public seating areas. We didn't see anyone eating outside.

March 25th Toyko

We visited the Imperial Palace. Everyone was anticipating the cherry blossoms; it was a nice day but the day before was the pouring rain. Had there been 2 nice days I bet we would have seen more blossoms, but also we only saw a few.

We toured the East Garden which is a lot of open space, gardens (obviously), a tea house and old landmarks. The Palace is surrounded by a wall with a mote on the outside. The wall is so big there are gardens and trees planned on the top. The Imperial family still lives in part of the Imperial Palace.

We took the bullet train to Osaka. Truth be told, I was running a temperature all day and did not feel good. All I could do was get to our hotel room and wrap up in a blanket. Tom went to eat and did a little exploring, and picked me up a sandwich.

March 24th Toyko

It was another busy day. We woke up in the nick of time to make it to the Tsujiki Fish Market (pic 1). We got there about 6:00 am and it was in full swing. This is where sea life that's been caught is sold to the highest bidder. You can't believe the giant frozen fish these guys move around, it sometimes takes 5 of them to lift one. Notice the giant knife they use to cut up the fish, pic 2.

Today it rained. In the morning it was misting but by mid-morning full blown rain. We walked to the Hama Rikyu Gardens, not far from our hotel & fish market. You could see the cherry trees were trying to open, but just too cold and being pelted w/ rain. We caught a boat to take us north on the Sumida River to Asakusa. This gave us some time to dry off - hardly, we were soaked.

Asakusa was very cool (pic 3); looking & temperature. We visited Nakamise Dori, an area filled with all kinds of shops. We bought little pastries Tom thought were fill w/ choco. I told him I didn't think it was choc... sweet (soy)bean paste. They're good, mainly I like the pastry part. At the end of the street was the Sensoji Temple (pic 4) & surrounding area. Beautiful temple complete with monks, incense and prayers.

We visited the Ginza area which is a swanky (expensive) shopping area. We went into Mitsukoshi, a large department store. It had a floor of confections, a floor of various foods and another 8 floor of clothes, accessories etc.

Our legs are a little achy from so much walking. It's a mazing walking around Tokyo, because there's the street level then several floors of walkways to get around. In many cases the subway station connects to other subway stations and is full of shops, restaurants and office bldgs.

March 23rd Tokyo

Tokyo Tower link




Happy Easter
It 3:43 am, Tom's had a shower and I'm blogging - crazy.
We both feel pretty good (right now). Because of the jet lag, we're going to the fish market that gets rolling around 4 or 5 am.
The fish market (pic 2) is closed on Sundays, so we took a quick nappy but were up & at it by 7am but then had to rush to make it to church on time - we made it. We didn’t pay enough subway fare, so the gates closed on us. Tom did squeeze thru (step over?) the gate but I did not. The gate attendant called me over and made us pay more.

After church we visited the area where the church is located, called Roppongi, which is newly developed. We walked to Tokyo Tower (pic 4) which kind of looks like the Eiffel Tower. It was a Sunday and I think half the families in Tokyo and surrounding area came too. We got some nice views of the city although a little overcast. The mascots of Tokyo Tower crack me up, if you want to see them click the link at the top of the page.

Walked back to pick up a pin at the Hard Rock and along the way watched the police stop a van w/ a loud speaker drive past the Russian Consulate (pic 3). It was interesting with the police stationed in lookout spots & others running to close the portable barrier.

We visited another area of Tokyo, Shinjuku, where Electric Street (has lots of electronic shops) is and we visit City Hall. City Hall has 2 towers that have observation decks on the 42^nd floor of each tower, so we got yet another aerial view of Tokyo. Then to a park (the name escapes me right now). Magnolia trees were in bloom & a few cherry trees. I image it will be spectacular in a few days. Lots of people were at the park.

I just want to mention this game called Pachinko (pic 1) that is in Japan. It is like a pinball game & slot machine combined. We walked into a Pachinko hall – it was loud and smoky! Think of rows of slots machines but they’re full of steel balls. We just had to see it.

More walking to Harajuku; the teen fashion hub. There’s one “side street” that is packed and I mean packed with people. Imagine being at a concert and everyone is leaving at the same time, that’s this street. We had to walk in the throngs of it just to experience it!

Harajuku lead to Osotesando Ave, an exclusive shopping area with Coach, Tiffany etc. We had dinner and caught the subway home. We got back to the hotel at 7 and our dogs were barking. It feels great to sit down and relax with some Japanese TV – ha.

March 22nd Narita to Tokyo

It was a blur. We crossed the Intl Date line, so the 21st ran right into the 22nd. We arrived at Narita Intl Airport at 3:30 pm. Then we had to go through Immigration (about 1 hr), pick up our luggage then clear Customs. The airport was very easy to navigate. We found the bus to Tokyo, bathrooms & an ATM. Then a 2 hr ride to our hotel. Very nice finding our way around.

March 21st Seattle to Tokyo

The airport shuttle (my mom & dad) picked us up & dropped us at the airport. No issues.
I'll tell you, if want your food first on the flight, order something special & you get your food before everyone else. We ordered vegetarian, because it was Good Friday.

Start of Japan/China trip

=============
Scroll down to see National Parks vac of Sept 2007