Japan!

Wow - what an amazing trip! The shock of the fact that I was going to Japan was barely setting in as I got on the plane after taking the kids to Wenatchee. Brian's parents were wonderful about watching the boys to make the trip possible! Although Brian travels to Asia quite often (17th time to Japan), he is rarely just in the city for the weekend, but his schedule worked out so I could come Friday and we'd both leave Tuesday (me back home and he went on to Taiwan).

I was very proud of timing my sleeping just right! I got about 4 hours of sleep on the way over, so that when I got there at 5:00 p.m. (midnight our time) I was able to go out to dinner and to ride on the giant Ferris wheel (like the London Eye) and get an awesome view of the city! It was quite the relief to get from the airport to the hotel (an hour away) without any issues - I don't love traveling alone, much less in a completely foreign country where I don't speak the language! Brian was kind and took me for Chinese food the first night - something I kind of recognized. He made me try a dumpling however, which burst grease all over me! We also went to the Toyota museum that night, which was fun to see.

Saturday was a really fun day! I was proud of myself for sleeping until 7:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. our time)! That morning we took a long walk (stopping for hot chocolate and a scone at Tulley's coffee) to the Tokyo Tower. The walk was so fun because it gave me my first look at the people and their ways. I was SO impressed with the Japanese people! They are so clean - there is no liter on the streets, yet no garbage cans. Why? Because they don't eat while they walk or do anything else to create garbage while in motion - not even smoking (which they do a lot)! They have these smoking stations along the street and people stand around them to smoke and put their cigarettes in a little container thing. This was one of my favorite signs -
The Tokyo Tower was pretty cool - it's a little taller then the Eiffel tower and looks very similar. We went up to the middle platform to look over the city and it was amazing to see just how big Tokyo is. Brian said it is about 15 times the size of Seattle!

From there we to the train/metro to the Imperial Palace. You can't see much of the palace or get too close, but it was pretty and the grounds were huge! Brian's favorite part of our trip happened just outside the Tokyo tower where there was a street performer with a monkey. I think I watched Brian more than the monkey - he just thought it was hilarious! From there we took a train to where we were meeting Brian's friend from work and stopped for a snack at Starbucks (cinnamon roll). Noticing something? Sorry, but food was a major issue for me with this trip. I am NOT one to try new things even at Applebees, much less in Japan! I was SO nervous about the food in Japan, so I am including everything I ate - the good and the bad! Now I know there are some people out there that claim to love the food there. Really? Have you been there? Almost everything I saw was either raw, had an egg cracked over it, had seaweed on or around it, was still moving, or have some kind of creature from the sea that I've only seen at aquariums! Nevertheless, I did not go without trying some things, which I will document in detail!

We then went to the Meiji Shrine with a friend of Brians from work (American) that showed us around. The shrine was cool, but my favorite part was the 2 bridal processions that we saw! I love things that are traditional and cultural so I loved this!

There we also went to the National Treasure Museum, which was cook too. It's amazing how well they preserve things that are important to them. After that we went to the streets - some pretty amazing shopping! It was super fun and I was glad Brian had his friend to talk to while I hit the shops! This friend (Ed) took us to a tempura place, which I actually kind of liked! The shrimp (which I have only ever tried a few times and I don't love) and asparagus were great, but there was another part that had some squid parts that I didn't eat too much of. The noodles were okay too, but super slimy. I LOVED the rice with soy sauce! :)

After some more shopping and some crepes for dessert Brian took me to Akihabara - the Electric city. It is an area of Tokyo covered in electronic shops and it is so bright with all of the flashing lights and screens - Brian heaven!

Sunday morning we went to church on the metro (trail mix on the walk there since we were late). We went to the English ward and it was fun to talk to Americans about what to see and do. Memories of living in a foreign country came flooding back and it made me so grateful that we did it to Scotland where I could understand the language and some of the food! They had a really nice ward and apparently there is an English Stake in Tokyo! The church was right next to the Temple, which was basically crammed onto the block in between other buildings - there were literally no temple grounds! After church we walked quite a bit (and got a cinnamon roll from Starbucks, well Brian got a Veggie sandwich, but it had tofu on it so I passed) and then took a train to Ueno park, which is a really big park in the city.

On our way to the park we walked through an enormous shopping area! It seemed mostly like a place where the locals would shop for clothes, food, etc. That was where a shrimp jumped off of it's tray where it was for sell and tried to get me! I immediately took what Brian refers to as my standing fetal position and stayed farther away from all the scary fresh seafood for sale! It was also there that we saw people eating this food that was moving while they were eating it - seriously!!! Makes me quiver just thinking about it! We got to the park and Brian got to see another street performer! He loved it! It was a pretty park and it had a pretty temple too. There is a little smoke area right outside of the temple and the people try to get the smoke all over them before going up to the temple or shrine. When they go up the stairs they ring a gong and put some money in and say a prayer. It's neat to see their customs and I wish I understood it more!
That night we went to a really nice Tepanaki dinner. It had an amazing view of the city and it was where they cook the food right in front of you. They brought out about 8 different dishes with very little amounts of food on each. The first was a little potato cake thing, which was safe, but then came the shrimp - large and cooked (boiled), of which I did eat a little bit. Next came the white asparagus wrapped in raw ham - very hard to bite through, but it was okay kind of. Next came some kind of something with shredded seaweed that neither of us liked much. The next was the yummy part - the steak and cooked veggies! That with the sauces was just awesome! Then the 'soup' and rice and sour plum (which Brian said was incredibly sour). Dessert was really yummy too - some ice cream and some kind of custard. It was a very fun dinner and incredibly memorable - so glad we did it!

Monday morning was SO cool - we went to the fish market! I'm not one to normally like the fish market type of place, but you just had to appreciate it! It was gigantic - several city blocks - and there was every creature that you could imagine coming out of the sea! There were large octopus, baby octopus, all sizes of squid, shrimp, fish, eel, crab, lobster, and all sorts of other things I'm glad I couldn't identify! Nothing jumped out at me, but I was in my standing fetal position the entire time just the same. I was mostly afraid of being run over by the guys on the motorized transporters! The tuna auction was really cool too! They are SO big and the man auctioning them off was hilarious - not that I could understand him!

Sunday afternoon I had begun getting a little panicked about Monday - Brian was working all day and I was to be on my own (after the fish market)! I was fine with that originally, but after being there for a bit and seeing how big the city it I started getting really nervous! They subway, monorail, and train system (of which you have to know which you are taking) and the gigantic stations and such was feeling overwhelming and it was supposed to rain so I didn't know where to go! Here's a map of the metro system -

Monday morning after Brian left I sat down and planned it out detail by detail and prayed I wouldn't get lost! Since Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the world, that thankfully wasn't a concern. I took my train to the right station and someone showed me to the right exit. Side note - the Japanese people are so amazing when it comes to helping people - they feel obligated to do anything they can to help you even if they don't understand a word you're saying. A man saw me looking at the map and my notes and asked if I was going to the shrine and showed me the right exit (of five possibilities) from the station and told me where to go from there. So nice when I had been so nervous! I found the awesome shopping area I wanted and made my way (slowly) to the Asakusa Temple and Shrine. It was pretty cool, but I began to understand why Brian said they all start to look alike a bit. Still neat to see, though.

I went from there on a 'water bus' down the river and that was cool to see all the different parts of the city and some beautiful gardens. From the port I got on a train to the mall (mostly cause it was pouring and I had run out of money and needed an ATM). I actually wanted to eat a Japanese lunch just since I was trying to get the most out of the experience. However, they have everything displayed in a case (pic below - everything is in wax) in the front and I just couldn't do it!

It just looked so... so I ended up with a Filet-o-fish from McD's - sorry to all of you Japanese food lovers! I did some fun shopping and found my earrings (I like to get jewelry wherever I go) that were made in Japan. I went back to the hotel, had a nice long hot bath, and got ready to go out to dinner with Brian's Japanese colleagues from work!

Shabu Shabu - what an experience! This was my most adventurous Japanese cuisine, mainly because there was all the pressure of eating it with Brian's colleagues there! So, of course, the first thing they bring out is a plate with three baby squid staring at me! Brian kindly ate two of mine, but the pressure was on! I pictured myself in Survivor where they have to eat all the scary stuff and just did it - put it in, chewed, and concentrated really really really hard on not letting it come back up! That night was filled with interesting stuff - the next was the raw tuna and raw swordfish, which I also tried and kept down. There was also a very brown crab 'soup' and a salad type dish with fried bottom fish (which I actually liked). The Shabu Shabu is the boiling water on the table in which you put strips (like bacon) of raw meat and other things (lettuce, onions, seaweed, tofu, and leeks) and take out what you want and dip it in your bowl of broth to eat. It was okay, although I mostly ate the lettuce and onions. After getting back to the hotel I ordered ice cream for room service to reward myself for my eating adventures!

For anyone who knows me - eating this baby squid was shocking - I still can't believe it!


Tuesday morning I was on my own again, so after saying goodbye to Brian I headed to Ueno park and the National Museum. That was pretty amazing to see all the history and culture - I just wish I could have stayed longer. I caught the bus to the airport and must admit that I was incredibly relieved to have made it there for my flight without any problems being on my own!

I really didn't mean for this to be a book, but I really wanted to remember every little bit of the trip and if you're still reading by this point you should get an award! I also wanted to list some of the general things about the culture and the people -

*The masks!!! About 10-20% of the people you see are wearing surgical masks - all the time! Brian's theories are that they are either sick and don't want to spread it, don't like the dry air, have allergies, or are nervous about getting sick.

*Rarely do you see anyone talking on a cell phone - it is considered very rude! There are even signs in the stations reminding you not to talk on your phone in the train with the grandma crying next to the man talking - hilarious!

*Nodding or bowing to everyone - I loved that!

*They will come and talk to you and try to help you even though they know you can't understand them.

*Space is everything - parking garages have little car elevators to save room, among many other space saving techniques.

*Toilets are awesome - they have a little control panel by the side where you can turn the seat warmer on, make a 'flushing sound' so that others can't hear you, a sprayer (with water pressure controls), and several other things I didn't understand. The funny part was that it could be very confusing to know how to actually flush it!

*When paying for things you put your money on a little tray and they return it to you on the tray.

*Again, the people are just amazing! They are very clean cut, well groomed, they all seem so kind and helpful, and seem to have a very strong sense of citizenship.

It was such a great trip and so fun to spend so much time with Brian! He is simply amazing and I loved having time to just chat and talk about anything and everything!