Adorable Husband and I are back from Japan. We had an amazing time!! Still a litle jet lagged but it works out well, we go to bed at 10pm and wake up around 7am.
There is a lot to tell about our trip but I will only highlight 'some' points from our 10 days.
1. Met Mrs. Shibata (Naoko's mom) who is a very sweet woman. She took care of us for the first two days. She prepared wonderful Japanese food. We got our first taste of a typical Japanese lunch and dinner and slept on tatami mats.
Words in Japaneses you must know :
Hajimemashite - How do you do/Nice to meet you
I ta da ki mas - Bon Appetit
I tteki mas - Bye (leaving home)
Ta da ima - I'm home!
2. I felt a small earthquake. Woke me up from my sleep. Thought it was a ghost.
3. Tokyo's metro is an experience. Try it at rush hour. I have never been pushed, squashed and NOT being scared of getting pickpocketed. No crime in Japan. You see people putting on make up (eyeliner!), reading and sleep standing on the metro too. You don't have to hold on to anything because there are other people holding you up. In other words you are sardin in a tin can.
4. Shinkansen (bullet train).
The Japanese pay a lot to ride these trains. Always reserve a seat when traveling long distances. For tourist visiting Japan, get the Japan Rail Pass if you planning to travel to more than one city. It is worth it!
We saw Mt. Fuji from the train.
Mt Fuji
5. No joke that the Japanese love Hello Kitty and other characters! It is everywhere. I even saw cool cute things from the movie Sprited Away.
Hello Kitty Bus
6. In Himeji, Kansai, (Ayumi's home town) we tried Chicken Sashimi. Yup raw chicken. It was interesting! We also got to try different kinds of sake and shochu. Yoshi, Ayumi's brother was a great host! JAPAN OKAYYYY!
7. Marc Karaoked for the first time!
Staying ALLLLLLIIIIVVEEEEEEEEE!!
Marc
8. Met Ayumi's cute doggie. Crul...
Words in Japanese you must know when speaking to a doggie.
Maté - Wait
Yooo shhh - Eat
9. Himeji. We saw the beautiful Himeji castle where the last Samurai was partly filmed and 007's You only lived twice. After we went to the Himeji Gardens and the tea ceremony house and experienced a very traditional tea ceremony.
Tea Ceremony
10. Kyoto. A very beautiful city. The Golden Pavilion, Rokouon-ji Temple.
Kyoto
We also visited the Ryoanji Temple known for the famous Zen Rock Garden. We were a little disappointed at first because we were expected a quiet mediation area, however we found loud Chinese tourist and school children. After they left we managed to Zen out a bit.
11. Gion, Kyoto. We didn't manage to see any Geishas. All were hiding probably, but we did see 'host men' waiting to be picked up by girls. They were dressed in nice clean cut suits with big, dyed hair. Alot of men and women dye their hair lighter we noticed. In Gion, we ate dinner at a cool resturant called Tori Dori (Golden Chicken), an inspiration for my future resturant.
12. Hiroshima. I think everybody should visit Hiroshima, then everybody should realize there is no need for nuclear arms in the world! At the Peace Memorial Museum we saw the damages done by the heat rays of the A-bomb, a human shadow etched in a stone steps, black fingernails, a wooden sandel with a black foot print. It was really emotionally draining to see and go through the museum. However there were plenty of Japanese students there, so it was ok. A touching moment though was at the Children's Peace Monument. Classes of school children was there giving multicoloured garlands of origami cranes folded by them, a tradition started by a radiation victim Sasaki Sadako who had leukaemia in 1955. She started folding in hope that she would be cured. She passed away before she completed folding 1000 cranes.
13. Kobe. Didn't try Kobe beef. But we did see the Inland Sea, shopped at at 100yen shop for cute Japanese stuff, and went to the mountains to see Kobe by night! It has been 10 years since the big earthquake, Kobe is a modern city.
14. Ayumi's car had a neat GPS machine. You are never lost and you can recieve Japanese soap operas show on it too.
15. Karuizawa, Central Honshu. A cute little resort town, where Yoko and John Lennon visited a lot. We manged to see some Sakura trees since it is colder up North, much colder.
16. The Hotel Bleston Court in Karuizawa, is a popular wedding place. Met up with Hiro for the first time. Great Guy. In our rooms we dress in Yukatas (Japanese PJs)for the night.
Ayumi, Marc, me and Haruna.
Next day, Nango-chan and Hiro got married in a very beautiful chapel.
The wedding was amazing and the bride and groom looked amazing. The reception was absolutely fabulous, delicious food and Naoko gave a touching speech to her parents in Japanese, everybody was crying, including me and I had no clue what was being said! Naoko's family was wearing beautiful Kimonos too. Congrats Mr and Mrs Fujisawa. We had a wonderful time at your wedding!
17. North Karuizawa. Saw Volcano Asama-yama.
Stayed at cool little youth hostel, Blueberry Pension after the wedding. Oh I have a new favorite drink, Oolong tea mixed with Shochu. YUM!
18. The same night we went to a cute resturant-bar for the 3rd post wedding party. I forgot the name of the town. This bar was Naoko's usual hangout when she lived there. The owner was very entertaining and it was loads of fun. Thanks to the people who paid for us that night.
19. Karuizawa.
Onsen. (HOT SPRING) Temperture of water was 41.5C! Bath naked with other Japanese women. Sitting in the bath indoors and outdoors, was so relaxing since it was slightly cold out. Adorable Husband was in the men bathing area.
20. Shinjuku, Tokyo. Saturday night - Loads of bars, Karaoke and Pachinko(pinball game of limited skills and lots of noise of steel balls.)
21. Roppongi, Tokyo. A popular area, where we saw non-Japanese working. Kebab, loud bars and a view of the Tokyo Tower by night.
22. Finally, we LOVED Japan. Great People, great FOOD (enough wasabi, seafood, miso soup, tofu,japanese radish, green tea ice cream (haagen daz) to last the whole year!) But, without help from Naoko, Ayumi it would have been very hard to get around with limited Japanese. DOMO ARIGATO Girls. We couldn't thank you enough for showing us your beautiful country. Thanks for getting up really early after only 30 minutes of sleep to send us off back home. We didn't fly business class in the end. Sniff.
Overall, Adorable Husband and I managed to pick up some Japanese words, I know how to count in Japanese and Adorable Husband has improved his chopstick and singing skills!
Photos credits : M and N Pellaud.
