Japan 2018: Visiting Atsugi

Today, our last full day in Japan for this trip, we visited Momo, Hiroshi, and the kids at their home in Atsugi-shi, which is a 50 minute ride (on the express train) from Shinjuku Station.

We began the day with pastries from the conbini and tea in our hotel room. I had castella cake, which is a sweet sponge cake that is a favourite here.

Momo had messaged me with the times of the express trains to Honatsugi Station in the morning from Shinjuku Station, so we planned to be on the train at 9:30 am. This is a holiday weekend here, so the train south to Atsugi was pretty crowded. Atsugi is near Ooyama, a popular mountain to visit on holiday, and there are lots of hot spring resorts there as well. Momo met us at the station and, knowing that Charlie likes to stock up on baked goods for long flying trips, took us to two bakeries! One was in the station and the other, which was also a craft beer bar, a few blocks away. We chose a bunch of yummy pastries for breakfast tomorrow and the flight back home.

Then we took a taxi from the station to Momo & Hiroshi's house. They had lived in an apartment complex owned by Hiroshi's employer for at least seven years and then, about a year and a half ago, decided to have a home built in town. Their house was built on the site of a parking lot in a lovely neighbourhood (with lots of kids for the girls to play with). It took about 8 months to build the house, and they moved in last December. The kids came out on the front deck to greet us when we arrived.

It's a beautiful home, light and airy and spacious. It has an open floor plan and lots of room to play :) Momo made tea and a delicious appetizer of roasted kabocha (Japanese pumpkin). She ordered lunch from a family restaurant, which was delivered by a young woman on a motor bike, and also made kinpira as a side dish (gobo root with carrot and sesame seeds- one of my favourites!). Everything was wonderful & we had fun chatting and playing with the kids. We FaceTimed with Brendan so everyone could say hi to him. I made some origami cranes with Aoi-chan, the kind whose wings can be flapped by pulling the tail. She showed me an outfit she'd made from paper for the Rillakuma amigurumi I'd made her- so cute! She and Mai-chan swung in the cool swing on their front deck, with Momo's help.

We stayed until mid-afternoon, then Momo walked with us to the bus stop and took it back to Honatsugi Station with us, so we wouldn't get lost. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone! I know we'll skype with Momo & Mai-chan soon, but I don't know when I'll be coming back to Japan to see them. :(

We caught the train very quickly back to Shinjuku, and at this hour it wasn't nearly as crowded. Charlie and I went back to the hotel to rest, then went back out again for a lovely tenpura dinner on the 13th floor of Takashimaya, where all the restaurants are.

On the Southern Plaza, opposite Takashimaya Times Square, there was a food truck... selling Maine Lobster. Go figure...

We did a bit of last-minute shopping and now we're back to our hotel room, repacking the luggage and preparing, as much as you can, to get up at 5 am tomorrow to catch an early train from Shinjuku to Narita Airport and fly back home to Rochester. Wish us luck!!!

Japan 2018: Chikorita Day in Tokyo!

Today we spent the day with our friend Marian, who has been a schoolteacher in Tokyo for over 20 years. Her dad is our next door neighbour. We met her in Japan on one of our earliest trips here, and she's been a friend ever since. Last year, when she was visiting Rochester during the summer, Brendan & I got her into Pokemon Go. We had a lot of fun playing Pokemon Go with her during her visit this past summer too, and we were able to arrange to meet during our visit to Japan on a Pokemon Go community event day. On community days, they release a particular Pokemon during a 3 hour time period, which kind of marches around the world from time zone to time zone, and there's the possibility of catching "shiny" versions and also evolving them with special moves during the event. Today's Community Day featured Chikorita, which you can see in the photo at the top. The number of Pokemon that actually pop up in an area depends on the number of people playing in that area, so the prospect of playing in highly populated Tokyo was pretty exciting!

To prepare for a day of walking & catching (& catching up on what's been happing since we last saw each other) Charlie & I had a breakfast of conbini pastries, purchased last evening, in our hotel room. Marian came over to our hotel around 10:00 am, giving us time to chat, go to Shinjuku Station so Charlie & I could buy our train tickets to Narita Airport Monday morning, and then catch a train to Harajuku, where Marian had found a ramen restaurant that serves vegan ramen!

Ramen is almost always served in a pork broth with slices of pork & veggies (or other toppings), so the prospect of vegan ramen (since I can't eat meat, the usual ramen broth would make me sick) was very exciting. This is another holiday weekend in Japan, so the train to Harajuku was pretty busy. Getting to the restaurant a little early was a very good idea!

The main shopping street in Harajuku 

It was very small & only had counter seating, but we were able to get seats. You actually order the ramen from a machine by the entrance by putting money in the machine, pushing a button, then getting a ticket & your change. You hand the ticket to the person behind the counter, & in a few minutes your ramen arrives. There are pitchers of ice water on the counter & you can order beer from the machine, too.

The ramen was delicious & the restaurant filled-up quickly, so we ate and then headed for Yoyogi Park, which is right next to the Meiji Jingu, a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the Meiji Emperor and his wife. The Chikorita began popping up at noon, and we were in the park & ready to catch them. Since Charlie doesn't play Pokemon Go, we decided to go to the Meiji Jingu so he could look around while we played. The place was very busy with visitors, and we got the chance to see our first traditional wedding in Japan!

Bride & groom & friends

The wedding procession, with priests in front, followed by miko (priestesses) and then the bride & groom

Charlie bought an ema ("ay-mah") to write a prayer on and hang on a rack to be prayed over by the priests so that it might be answered.

After walking for 1 1/2 hours of the 3 hour event, we decided to take the train back to Shinjuku (closer to our hotel) and find a place for resting & refreshment, while still catching Chikorita. I found a poster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Harajuku Station.

The poster shows the mascots for both the Olympics and the Paralympics

We hoped to get a seat at Starbucks, but it was mobbed, as were the streets. Everyone was playing Pokemon Go!! There were sooooo many Chikorita popping up!!

We tried to do a raid at a gym, but there were so many people there it overwhelmed the cellular signal. By 3:00 we were ready to buy cold drinks at the conbini and relax in our hotel room for a while. Then, right after the community day time was over, strange Pokemon flooded the area. It was very strange- a never before seen Pokemon! When we caught them, they turned into the Pokemon called Ditto, which usually shows up as regular Pokemon & then transforms after you catch them. We still have no idea what this was about, but I caught a load of Dittos for that half hour. Bonus?

After resting, we decided we'd like to have dinner at an izakaya, which is a particular kind of restaurant where you can sit and order a bunch of small courses of all kinds of foods and drinks. The main problem for me with izakaya is that they're usually full of cigarette smoke, which is a major asthma trigger. We asked at the front desk of our hotel about local izakaya that might have private rooms, which would minimise smoke exposure. They said there was a good one right next door, so we gave it a try. It was only 5:30 pm, so they had a room free for us without a reservation- woo hoo! They started us out with some dishes steamed in a nabe pot right at the table, to enjoy while we ordered.

We didn't have to order a lot of food to fill up quickly. It was delicious!

Aburage (fried tofu) stuffed with miso

The last piece of delicious tamago yaki

Then there was a very short walk back to the hotel and saying goodbye to Marian. That's the hardest part!!! But we had a wonderful day together. Tomorrow we take the train about 1 hour south of Tokyo to see Momo, Hiroshi, & the kids again, in their new house!

Japan 2018: Kyoto to Tokyo

Well, we've had so much fun in Kyoto it's hard to leave (even though it's still raining :)! But we have people to see and places to be in Tokyo, so we're off on the shinkansen back to Tokyo today.

We decided to have breakfast a bit farther away, at a chain shop called San Mark Cafe that has the best chocolate croissants. Charlie discovered this all on his own on a previous trip to Japan when Brendan & I refused to accompany him on a visit to the parasite museum (yes, this is a thing, and, can you blame us?) in the Meguro section of Tokyo. He came back raving about the cafe where he'd had chocolate croissant (he liked the museum, too :) but it took us a while to find another one. I had a soy latte with my croissant and Charlie had cocoa (chocolate overload!!!).

On the way back to our hotel we wandered through the Teramachidori (translates as "temple town street") one last time. In the morning, they allow cars and trucks in, so the shops can resupply, and the shops are mostly closed. But it was fun to take in the atmosphere and some of the interesting sights.

No idea what they sell here...

Charlie's comment on this poster: "This is Lisa in Kyoto" :)

A little side corridor leading to...?

Then back to the hotel to close our bags and wait for the taxi to Kyoto Station. Our taxi driver heard us speaking English in the car and told us (in Japanese) that he's been studying English conversation, so we said "let's practice!" He was such a lovely guy & we had a great time chatting with him in both languages (when the conversation stretched beyond any of our linguistic capabilities). Charlie gave him a postcard from Rochester, which he carries with him for just such occasions (they happen fairly frequently). Then into the station to look for ekiben (lunch!) and some omiyage yummies for friends in Tokyo, and some yummies for us, too.

The shinkansen arrived around 1:00 pm and we boarded with no trouble, and soon we had our lunches out & ready. Charlie went for a sandwich and tuna salad rice ball (which, apparently, he had already eaten in the photo :).

This is the part of the trip where I get really snoozy, so I dozed most of the 2 1/2 hours to Tokyo. I did get a few photos of the rainy countryside, though. I love seeing the rice fields surrounding the towns, the foggy mountains on rainy days, and even the occasional solar farm as well (more are springing up since the 2011 earthquake).

The taxi wait & ride to our hotel in Shinjuku took nearly as long as the train ride to Tokyo! Note to selves- get to Tokyo earlier in the day!! It was raining in Tokyo too, which added to the "fun". But, we checked-in and got settled, rested a bit, then went out to find dinner in a nearby department store. Thanks to my snooziness, there are no photos of the delicious dinner, because it was half eaten before I remembered! I will leave off with a photo of the yummy Kyoto treats we had back in our hotel room (along with tea, of course). Tomorrow, we see our dear friend Marian & play Pokemon go together on Chikorita Day!!

Japan 2018: A Rainy Day in Kyoto

We woke up to a rainy day in Kyoto today. It was cooler, though, which was nice. The original plan had been to visit a shop specialising in tea ceremony sweets that we had visited 5 years ago & liked very much. Then we were going to visit the Nishijin Textile Center, which has a small museum,  exhibits about traditional textile crafts in Kyoto, & shops, which we've also visited before and wanted to see again. Then we'd take a taxi to a bamboo forest in a different part of Kyoto,and try to have a vegetarian lunch near a Buddhist temple, then visit an old traditional home that is open to the public. (Since many Buddhists are vegetarian, the most reliable place to find veggie food is on or near the grounds of Buddhist temples.) However, the rain made strolling through a bamboo forest a very damp prospect, so we decided to visit the sweets shop and Nishijin, then look for lunch in the subway station on the way home.

I started the day by doing a small load of laundry, and while it was in the dryer we went for breakfast at the subway station cafe that we ate at on Tuesday. I had a melon-pan-like pastry called "Maple Sunrise" which had a delicious lightly maple flavoured filling along with a milk tea. Charlie had a cranberry roll that was also really yummy.

On the way home we encountered a sign that I just had to get a photo of. This sort of creative English is absolutely everywhere, and always makes us giggle :)

After folding laundry, we went back out in the rain to catch a taxi to the sweets shop. Charlie showed the driver the address, written in Japanese in the guidebook, and the driver admitted that he probably could find it :) He did. The shop is called Shioyoshiken, has been in business since 1882, and is still owned and run by the family that started it. We visited the shop on a visit to Kyoto 5 years ago and it looks exactly the same as it did then.

There's a moderate selection of sweets available, but they are all amazingly delicious, and most are packaged in gorgeous boxes. We are bringing an assortment home with us :)

After burying our purchases deep in Charlie's backpack (the thought of delicate sweets encountering rain... shudder!) we put up the umbrella and walked down some narrow, narrow streets to the main street where the Nishijin Textile center is located.

Charlie had read online that they were having kimono fashion shows beginning at 10:00 am, so we got there in time for the 10 o'clock show. The kimono were amazing. Here are only three of the seven they showed:

After the show we did a bit of gift shopping in the shops, then went out with the umbrella ready, for a very damp walk to the subway station. Along the way we saw a tiny street shrine tucked between modern buildings. Once we got to the subway platform it was just 3 stops, on 2 different lines, to get back to the subway station near our hotel. There is an underground shopping "mall" there so we wandered around looking for lunch & decided to go to a soba noodle place.  I had cold soba noodles with dipping broth & tenpura & Charlie had hot soba noodles with rice and veggies. So good...

Then we got soggy again on the way back to the hotel. We had a very quiet afternoon, relaxing at the hotel and drinking tea occasionally thanks to the hotel's hot pot, teacups, & teabags, which were refreshed every day when they made up the room.

The rain just kept coming down, so we decided our best bet for dinner was the top floor of the Takashimaya department store (where the Pokemon Center is located). We could walk there through the covered Teramachidori to stay dry most of the way. It's a little over 1 km each way, so good exercise too :) As usual with Japanese department stores, the top floor is dedicated to restaurants and food courts. We looked around a bit and decided on a family restaurant with a varied menu. Lunch had been a lot of food for me (as you may recall, our lunches have been thin on the ground these past few days) so I was happy to have a Kitsune Udon soup set (Kitsune udon is thick wheat noodles in broth, with a big slab of aburage- sweetened & fried tofu) that included 2 little inari sushi (which is rice that's wrapped in aburage to look like foxes' ears). Charlie had beef stew. It was all delicious!

This evening we repacked our luggage to incorporate the omiyage gifts that we've bought in Kyoto to bring home. Tomorrow we take the shinkansen back to Tokyo at noonish. I'm looking forward to more station bento! And thankfully, we have fun things to look forward to this weekend, otherwise, leaving Kyoto would be nearly unbearable. We've had just the best time, and I've been promising myself we'll come back again.