11 days in Japan- Tokyo, Hakone, Shibu Onsen and Kyoto

Japanese breakfast in Mt. View at Hakone

I always want to travel to Japan! It has a lot to do with a long and popular Japanese TV series that played in China when I grew up and of course, Japanese food and in general Japanese influences in the regions where I grew up.

With the last minute blow-up with FF, an otherwise "passed" travel idea (to Japan) suggested by my friend TMack suddenly appeared to be appealing. We quickly planned everything. We have 11 days in Japan. I came up with an itinerary packed with metropolitan and small mountain towns, historic temples, shrines and onsens (hot springs) and various food plans of course. 7 days before our travel date, Mike found he had shingles on his forehead and he was in the pain. We decided not to cancel the trip just because we were really really determined not to let the vacation-medical issues spell defeat us this time.

We had a wonderful trip. What an amazing experience in 2018! We already talked about returning to Japan some day.

Here is our travel route: Tokyo, Hakone, back to Tokyo, Nagano and Shibu Onsen, Kyoto and back to Tokyo. Throughout the trip we were able to navigate the country effortlessly thanks to the smart google map. We stayed at a hotel, a guesthouse and ryokans (a type of traditional Japanese inn that has existed since the eighth century A.D). We visited temples, shrines, onsens, snow money park, fish market and crazy busy wards in Tokyo. We took local trains, subways, buses, ropeway, cable car and of course shinkansen high-speed trains. We ate Sushi at fish market, Sukiyaki, Japanese grilled skew chicken and veggies, street food, lots of noodle dishes and sweets. We traveled and lived like a local. The only slight agony we had, which reminds us of our traveler status, is the tiny hotel room we had in Tokyo. The wonderful and nurturing Japanese toilet, insisted by Mike, however outweighs any inconvenience caused by the lack of space in Tokyo.   

Tsukiji fish market

Sensoji Temple

For Tokyo, I planned a full 3-day itinerary packed with all the tourist sites and activities. We accomplished half of them.  We visited Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine, Sensoji Temple, Tsukiji fish market, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Akihabara, Metropolitan Office Building and the robot restaurant. The best part in Tokyo is the our walking tour through the city with the aid of Google Map. We really enjoyed the Imperial Palace, Tsukiji fish market, Shinjuku Garden and the metropolitan office building. The extent we enjoy a site is in the reverse relationship to the amount of crowd. The less crowded a site is, the more we enjoy it. We can not talk about touristy Tokyo without talking about the robot show. It's a wild, cheesy, dazzling, loud and non-sense frenzy. It's fun though except Mike was suffering the fatigue from the shingles in the days when we were in Tokyo.

My love and I at Lake Ashi

From Tokyo we took a day trip to Hakone. Haknoe is a lovely mountain town near Tokyo and  Mt. Fuji. It's not the season to climb Mt. Fuji. We planned to view the peak of Mt. Fuji in the distance either on the lake of Ashi or on the ropeway (cable car). The plan fell flat due to the weather although we did enjoy a variety of transportation from train to ropeway to cruise boat and scenic areas around lake Ashi and the ceder forest. Did I mention scenic? The beauty of autumn is displayed well here.

My beloved Shibu

Shibu Onsen is our favorite stop in Japan. It's an ancient and intimate onsen town lined up with many traditional Japanese inns (ryokans). This small town has 9 onsens that beckon visitors to use and evidenced by the stamps on a towel. At Shibu, we took time to stroll through every single narrow cobbled streets and alleys and check out every single cute Japanese shops and ryokans. We stayed at Shibu for only one night. It was drizzling the next morning. I put on my Japanese robe and geta. I walked into the mist and spirit of ancient Japan- the Samurais, the inn keepers, the old and tiny Japanese ladies and their life. The backdrop is the colorful autumn foliage and mountains. It was an empty street. Time stopped and I felt I was part of the past, here at Shibu. Then I saw my love holding an umbrella smiling at me across the street. He brought me back to the present. It's a love story in the end. The love for this town, the love for my best friend and husband. We stayed at Yudanaka Onsen Yamazakiya with Okie and his family. He treated us like his family. Again our stay at Shibu is very loving and lovely. I would like to come back and visit again.

Tourists and girls in Kimono

Kyoto was the capital of Japan hundreds of years ago. Understandably it's one of the top tourist cities in Japan. It turned out to be just that- very touristy. Like most of the tourists, we visited Gion, Yasaka Shrine, Higashiama, Arashiyama/Bamboo Forest, Fushimi Inari Taisha, golden Kinkakuji, Sento Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle. Most of the tourist sites were packed with bus loads of tourists. Young Japanese girls in Kimono is a beautiful scene. Apart from the sightseeing, we had enjoyed our stay at Ben's guesthouse and long walks across the city!

Japan is the easiest foreign country I've ever traveled to. It's friendly and convenient with a well structured system. The scenery is breathtaking. Outside Tokyo, you will experience a low key, natural and authentic Japan. Japanese culture and tradition are ubiquitous. Food is beautiful and presented in such an elaborate way. Things are cute in this country.

I was expecting one or two episodes of the annoyance, agonies or aggravation that usually take place on a foreign trip. None. Nothing. I was awed. 

Japan is a beautiful country in and out despite its disgraceful history. We love to go back and check out other regions.

Puerto Vallarta - beach getaway

Puerto Vallarta is indeed a spontaneous beach getaway.  They say you live life once. When my travel buddy Rae brought this up, I felt I need a getaway. A getaway from my work. A getaway from routine of life. Also I'd never say no to a trip to Mexico. A week later, we found ourselves in Puerto Vallarta!

We stayed at Sheraton beach resort in the north of the hotel zone. The first night was filled up with a long and sweaty walk to Malecon and Isla Cuale along the board walk and a delicious meal of grill mixto en route. It's hot, humid and lively. Scores of locals and tourists walked around and hung out at the bars and restaurants around Malecon. There were performers spinning around a coconut tree in the air and of course the clowns at the center of the plaza. We ended that evening swimming in the hotel pool.

On day 2 we took a trip to a couple of nearby beach towns. A bus took us to a lovely and low key beach town called Boca de Tomatlan.  From there we took a water taxi to a more remote cove called Yelapa. The day was featured with relaxing swimming, gazing into the sea and a little adventure of bus and water taxi rides and ended up with a delicious seafood feast at Cafe of Olive.

Food is always big part of traveling. Pueto Vallarta is famous for its seafood. With the 18:1 exchange rate, every thing seems ridiculously cheap.

Day 3 was another beach day at Sayulita. Sayulita is a very charming beach town dotted with colorful art shops, casual bars and coffee shops and an interesting mix of tourists, artists, surfers, hippies and locals.  It's a true highlight of this trip. At Sayulita, I had my last Margarita on this trip. I realized the limit of my alcohol tolerance is something like one Margarita a month. The local made Margarita gave me a generous amount of tequila as well as headache.

We decided to relax at hotel on day 4. I did some reading on the beach. We took another walk and had dinner at the same restaurant " Cafe of Olive".

Sheraton had an extravagant brunch Sunday morning which includes from Sushi to street tacos, from Thanksgiving turkey to local ceviche. It's insane. I told Rae there's no a better way to get sick on the airplane back home. As much as I fought the urge of over eating, I did eat way too much. As I was convinced that you are supposed to get an upset stomach when you travel to Mexico,  the episode incurred to me aftermath.

I always enjoy traveling to Mexico. This trip is no exception. The only problem I have is traveling in Mexico is too easy and a bit lack of challenges. Wait.... don't say that.... let's keep it this way.

On any given day, I'd hop on the airplane and head to Mexico within a heart beat as long as it's not a territory of  drug lords and cartels. Life is too good for that type of risks. Mexico is a great country and the people are wonderful. I always feel a strong sense of gratitude when I travel there.

Wedding Day

On December 21, 2016, I married the love of my life. We had an intimate wedding on Laguna Beach. I had traveled alone for 40 years before I met Mike. It had been a lonely journey. Over these many years, I"d traveled to so many beautiful places , met so many interesting people and had so much profound experience. But I always ended up coming home alone. The most profound moments in my first 40 years of life have come from my solo traveling, which started 18 years ago when I moved to the States alone.

From this day onward, I will have a travel partner whom I will share many many more exciting and profound moments with in this life.

A great new chapter of  a new journey is here!

Ithaca again!

This is my fourth trip to Ithaca, or fifth.. This time I brought Mike to Ithaca. I got to spend my birthday with family again. Waterfalls is always part of my visit. No exception this time! A wonderful family time!

Wauwatosa!

Wauwatosa has an interesting name. I still struggle with the pronunciation of the name. The first time I looked up this town on wikipedia, I was nervous and excited. It's a town where Mike grew up and his family is. Wauwatosa is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Mike emailed the link for this town's Wikipedia's page 2 weeks after we met when he himself was visiting Wauwatosa. It seemed so strange and bleak from the Wikipedia's picture at that time.

4th of July, a year later, I'm visiting this town and Mike's family and friends! Wauwatosa pretty and leafy with lots of fireflies flashing in the dark. Mike's family is low key and peaceful. The 4th of July parade is the local tradition.

A wonderful and peaceful family time!

China!

My family all went back to China in April. It's the first trip for Mike to travel to China. It was a great trip! We landed in Da Lian. We stayed in Da Lian for only one day. We visited family friends and my father's cemetery. We traveled back to Shen Yang. After spending a few days in Shen Yang, my sister's family, Mike and I traveled to San Ya, a southern beach town. We stayed at a beach resort for a few days. From there Mike and I flew to Li Jiang, a lovely historic southern town. In Li Jiang, we enjoyed strolls through the historic towns and a few touristy side trips. Our last stop is Bei Jing. In Bei Jing we visited Tai An square and Great Wall. Mike flew back to US from Bei Jing. I went back to Shen Yang and spent the last week with my mom.

It's an eye opening experience for Mike. It's a meaningful trip because it's the first time that Mike met with my family and directly experienced China. I love the warm and fuzzy feeling a family vacation gives me. Up to this point, most of travel experience is solo, many of them are very intense and challenging.

SF- a hot and romantic getaway

I was supposed to travel to SF for work. The trip was cancelled in the last minute. Mike and I decided to go anyway for a romantic getaway. It's our first out of town trip. We had a wonderful time except that I got a terrible food positioning in the last couple days.