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Sunday, June 19, 2016

These Sad Times


Is anyone else almost overwhelmed with the sad lately? Do you feel like saying "Wait a minute, God, I need a few days to catch up. Are you paying attention to what's going on here? Please, can't you send a bit more happy...or even just a few more days of numbness?"

It's a weird time. As most of you know I just got back from an an amazing trip to Japan with my zestful, joyful, and "full of life" niece, Maggie.  Most of you also know we left still raw from the devastating death of my great nephew Kaelan. A few of you might know we went right after the chilling loss of my cousin Jason. I missed Jason's memorial service. My family understood and was supportive, but I wanted to be there. I wanted to hug his parents and his brother, and absorb some of their pain. Oh, maybe you can't absorb the pain of others....but you hope in some way being there for them can. I think it helps. And I wanted to be there...because family is there when you go through the best of times, the worst of times, and all days in between. And while my family is large in number, every single one of us matters and counts and is necessary for us to be whole.

There have been other suicides in our community lately.  Not only those that devastated my family, but also some that greatly impacted the lives of others that I love. What is happening to our world? What do we do to soothe the tortured soul? How do we recognize they're drowning and get them to grab onto the life preserver?

Orlando happened....and as if the massacre itself wasn't enough of a blow to our nation, the hate that some put out after hearing the news was stunning. Some said that because this happened in a gay nightclub, that these victims deserved it. I felt such despair at the very condition of mankind when I heard this was happening....and frustrated knowing that this kind of thought bred the hate that led to the massacre in the first place.How can anyone, especially Christians professing to speak in the name of God, smugly look at such carnage and say that people deserved it? Have these people forgotten the one requirement to them being a Christian is to acknowledge their own sin? To realize that their sin alone grieves God? That measuring the sin of others is fruitless, and when we do so we always see a distorted picture? When you are pointing fingers at others you are not looking into the face of God and following him.

We who are Christians should not be messengers of woe, but witnesses of hope. We should not be feared for the retribution we shovel out on others by the bucketload  ....instead, we should be a haven from the evil of the world, a beacon in darkness, salve to damaged and hurting souls, compassion for those who go astray. Our message should be "I am here for you, God is here, too. We will stand in harm's way for you and protect you. Even from yourself." That should even be our message to hate-filled Christians. Often that is where I am most challenged.

We all mourn differently. I am not the sackcloth and ashes type. I find it pointless. I want to find purpose in the pain. I want lives we have lost to matter....for others to know about them...and for their life to be more significant than their death. I am still learning how to make this happen, but that is my goal.

In church today we studied Mark 1, where Jesus told Simon and his brother Andrew to follow him and learn how to be "fishers of men". What stood out to me was what they would have seen next. Jesus heals a lot of people. He identified needs and met them. It doesn't mention once him taking his disciples on a sin identification field trip. It doesn't appear that was what Jesus thought was most important for them to learn.

I'm a bit impatient with wall builders at the moment....people who cut people off in this world. People who are different than them, people who exercise their freedom in ways they don't like, people who bruise their sensibilities, people who hurt their feelings...they try to build their world so they don't ever encounter them. 

If this is you, get over it. Get out and mingle. Use your words and talk it out. When others don't agree with your opinions, remember that they don't have to. Talk to them, calmly and rationally. Mostly listen. Actively. You may learn something. They may learn something. Maybe in this world of paradox, you are both right. People are imperfect and insensitive and often just brats....but don't let it stop you. Love them where they are. Don't enable their behavior, but don't condemn and isolate. Does hate, slamming doors in the faces of the world, really help? I can't see that it ever has.

When in Japan we visited Hiroshima. It was thought-provoking. I was reminded that from carnage, hope and peace can grow. Good things can happen. You can choose to treasure grudges, build walls, shut out every one of those who brought you pain, and retaliate against them...or you can use the circumstance to make you stop and acknowledge the senselessness of such gestures and instead build something good.

I've asked God "Why?" a lot lately. I've looked at my own life and tried to dissect how I can better love in a way that plants goodness and breeds love. How I can open my eyes to those who are hurting and instead of instinctively running in the other direction (as I would prefer), stand my ground and open my arms?

I was not created for hate. I was created for love. I was not created to isolate. I was created to live in a world full of diverse people and be at peace with them. I was not created for despair. I was created for hope. 

I can be sad for all that has been lost, but I should not allow myself to remain overwhelmed. God is here. In the midst of it all are seeds of joy. Let's plant these seeds in the name of hope. Let's bring healing and beauty to our sad world.


Monday, June 13, 2016

Heading Home


While we loved our time in Japan, Maggie and I agreed that we were not upset about going home. When you like your life, it makes it easier to accept the trip is almost over....and we are tired!

We left our hotel in rainy Tokyo around 10:30 a.m. on Monday (which was Sunday at 9:30 p.m. in Statesville). We'll arrive in Charlotte on Tuesday morning around 10:30 a.m. Yeah....pretty grueling!



Besides the time factor, add into it things like carrying your luggage, all of your luggage, on two subways and then a train to get to the airport, and then you have to find the right spot to check in at that airport and dump the checked luggage. I'm used to these things, but they are very foreign to Maggie so there are times she hasn't liked me very much as we have done them. Layovers are a pain....having to wait all day in the Vancouver airport to catch a flight at 11;30 tonight? Not fun. Then to have to travel to Toronto, have a short layover, and then go to Charlotte, where we will go through customs yet again? Like I said, grueling. We checked out the day rates for the airport hotel in Vancouver..$342 for a 6-hour stay. Yep, really. That's "only" about $267 U.S....but still. $45 an hour. No. But I hear it is very nice! 

Narita Airport in Tokyo is huge. We found entertainment as we left the area where we deposited our luggage. I'm not quite sure what it was....but it was loud. And it got the attention of this cute kimono-clad little girl.


We got interviewed by a Japanese TV crew as we were finding our way to the gates. It was fun. They would ask us questions in Japanese, then in English. They wanted to know where we had been and why we had been there. Then they wanted to see our favorite vacation picture. I showed them the one with the sumo wrestlers. They seemed a bit surprised to see it. I guess what our Japanese friends told us is true...not many people get their pictures taken with sumo wrestlers. 

Maggie showed them one of her selfies with the deer at  Miyajima on the day we had gone to Hiroshima. She told them that was the closest she had been to deer when they hadn't been stuffed and on a wall! That photo was an especially funny memory for me. Maggie saw the crowd of deer and started taking selfies. She didn't notice the guy whose lunch bag they had attacked...and him and his friends trying to rescue it. 



There was even unintentional entertainment at the airport. Things like this bathroom sign cracked us up. I guess they don't want you to get confused with the squat and regular toilets. They had both.



The airline upgraded us to the emergency row, so we got a bit of extra legroom. That's nice on a long flight. The flight itself was uneventful. The food was awful. I'm not a fan of airplane meals. Luckily I don't want much food when I travel. Flight time was 9-10 hours, but the time passed quickly. I slept 4-5 hours on the plane. Maggie only slept one. She was busy watching movies. We were both surprised when we saw our flight was almost over.

We could do a tour in Vancouver or go to their outlet mall if we had the energy. We don't. Maggie curled up between two seats (more like a couch, really) when we got in and slept for a few hours. She's awake now, watching a movie and charging her phone. I expect she will sleep some more. We do have wifi, which works well. I wish all airports had it! But there aren't enough outlets in these comfy areas so you can keep your devices charged. I am sharing with a guy who grabbed the one I had been stalking before I could get to it. Maggie has gone to one of the cafes.

If you have to hang out in an airport, the scenery around this one is pretty spectacular. The airport is also well equipped and has some decent food options. It could definitely be worse.


But we just want to be home. We will be two happy women midday tomorrow. It has been a great trip, though, and we have great memories for a lifetime. But home is a good place to be....until the next adventure.




Saturday, June 11, 2016

The Apathetic Search for Mount Fuji


The day didn't begin well. At some really crazy early time my phone's alarm went off. It plays a song from my iPhone... I have no clue how it got there or what the name of it is. I figure it came from a niece or nephew downloading on my iTunes account years ago (before they had their own credit cards). Since it is not too obnoxious, I never bothered to take it off. Anyway, Maggie got up and turned the alarm off (I am sleeping next to the wall, so she was closer.) She went right back to sleep. I dozed a bit, but never fully went back to sleep. (So thanks to those who were Facebooking who provided entertainment.)

I was at that point where you are between sleep and awake, and the bed started rocking. In my drowsy state, I was startled and thought Maggie was having a seizure. No, Maggie has never had a seizure....there is no reason to think she would have a seizure...but yes, that was my first thought. And it would have been a bad one! When I saw she was OK, and I was a tad more awake, it occurred to me that we just may have experienced an earthquake, i waited a while and then I Googled....and yes, there had been one nearby. It was a 5.0 and hit the region of Ibaraki-ken Nambu, which is about 62 miles away from Tokyo. Reports for Tokyo were a 1 or 2....I couldn't tell exactly where we were based on the names provided. But it was certainly an interesting start to our last full day in Tokyo.

Maggie was still sleeping, and I felt the need for coffee. I threw on clothes and ran down to the coffee shop next door. Ordering things like coffee can be a challenge here. You never totally know what you will get. I ended up with cream and brown sugar in mine. I usually don't use sugar, but coffee here is often closer to expresso, so that seemed like the best option. Plus there wasn't a "cream only" option for some reason and I wasn't up for charades. It was a bit sweet for me, but really good. And caffeine.....glorious caffeine. But this was a large coffee.....a big issue with these folks. 


When Maggie woke up, we decided we had better get going. It was the last day of our Japan Rail Pass and we wanted to use it. We decided we would go somewhere where we could get pictures of Mount Fuji, since that was really the last thing on our list to see. We headed to the town Hakone, because my guidebook said that would be a good choice (as did Sachi.)

It's the end of the trip. We're tired. Maggie wasn't feeling well. We didn't have a well developed plan. It was hot and humid. Still, we figured we would have lunch, take our pictures, and go,

We didn't see a visitor's information center at the train station, so started walking around aimlessly. We first started to try to find some sort of sign or visitor's info center that would tell us where to go. We never saw one, so head for higher vistas from which to see Mt, Fuji. Maggie got overheated and sat on the side of a bridge (much safer than it sounds!) as I explored  I found a couple of options for next steps, but a guy comes home near where Maggie was sitting and we think he told her we wouldn't see it from there. (Maggie asks for directions immediately if she doesn't know where she is going. I don't.)

We head to look for a place to have lunch. We see an Italian cafe (they love Italian here), and the menu sounds good. We go in. The host/cashier was checking out a customer. Afterwards he tells us to wait a minute, goes into the kitchen that is right in front of us, and says about two sentences to the other guy in there. The guy responds. Guy comes back and tells is there is no room.  We saw open tables and a bar area with no one seated there. It was in the midst of lunch time. A Japanese couple that went in before us sat at a patio table outside, There were other tables out there. But OK....we know when we are not wanted. We left. 

By that time I wasn't feeling well either. We bought cold drinks at 7/11 (they love us there), and decided to just go back to the station and go "home". First, though, Maggie stopped by Starbucks (yes, they had a Starbucks!) for the Baked Cheesecake Frappucino she had been seeing advertised around town. (She recommends it.) She perked up a bit with that....and the girl who made it drew a cute design in the cup. (So we're stretching for pictures today!)



I get tickets for the train back and ask the guy to give us seats on the Mt. Fuji side. Did we see Mt. Fuji? Let's say we did. There were mountains....and fog...and the train goes fast and puts obstacles in your view. And we were probably so overcome with the beauty we didn't get "the" picture. But here are some kinda bad mountain pics taken on the train.





(By the way...as we went to find the gate to go back to Tokyo we find the visitor's information center ion the floor above where we had been. By that time we were over it, so just passed it by. Yes....I am sure we missed out on a great experience. We really didn't care. Next trip!)

We love riding the Shinkansen (bullet train), so didn't mind that being the bulk of our tine away for the day,  It is very relaxing and you do get to see some interesting scenery. Even the small towns seem large. I had struggled over whether to buy the JR Rail Passes (they are for tourists only and you have to buy the voucher for them before you leave home and redeem when you get to the country...and they are expensive). I bought the 7-day passes and they were perfect, We got our money's worth out of them. Transportation is expensive in Japan. My estimate with train tickets and subway fares and the few taxis we took, it will have cost at least $800 before it is all over. And we did things as cheaply as possible. But we did move around a lot!

When we got back into our area of town, it was well past lunch time and we hadn't eaten much breakfast, so we were ready for food, OK....we confess. We ate at Burger King. Yeah, so I have broken my food rules often this trip, but we ate mostly Japanese food throughout and Maggie tried everything.I think we compromised well. At Burger King we avoided the more economical pork sandwiches that were offered and just got hamburgers. Burger King was far more pricey than McDonald's, in case you're wondering. That was our main meal for the day. Sad, but it happens.

The rest of the day we didn't do much. We're laughing a lot. Everything seems funny. A conversation with Maggie and her dad, my brother Scott, had us in hysterics. The connection kept getting dropped (when Maggie was in the middle of a story and when reconnected Maggie would stump him with "So what did you hear last?" (There is not the best wifi in Japan, which surprised me. Well, it may be a slight upgrade from U.S. hotels and far better than most airports.....but I had anticipated awesome.) Maggie has persisted and kept in touch with her parents by calling online, even with lots of dropped calls. 

We're at that lethargic "end of the trip" time when the energy is drained so we just want to get it done. We are mostly dreading the trip tomorrow from the hotel to the airport with all of our luggage. I say you must carry everything you bring, one of my travel rules, but we are paying for our choices. It is tough. Up and down millions of subway steps, going from one subway line to the next (there are four companies in Tokyo alone.). But we can do it. Once we check our big bags at the airport we will be good. We will leave in 12-13 hours to start the trek to the airport (3 subway rides, one a very long one) and will go through Vancouver and Toronto and be home on Tuesday morning. We gain time going home, so that part is good. But still, I expect two very tired women to hit Charlotte Tuesday around 10:30.




Saturday With Sachi


We began our Saturday eating
 these incredible chocolate cream filled doughnuts that Yuka sent home with us on Friday night. Oh my word, they were delicious! I broke out the tea maker and had a cup of green tea with it. I hate having to go out for coffee (I miss the Nexpresso maker!) Maggie should go and get her elderly aunt coffee in the morning, shouldn't she?



We met Maggie's friend Sachi at the Subway (sandwich shop) at the subway station near our hotel and headed out to lunch. Sachi and Maggie met in the International Friends group that Maggie was involved in at UNC during her junior year (the same group that Maggie met Yuka in). Maggie has loved Japanese people since meeting Shino in 4th grade, so she always chose Japanese partners (they would meet for the international students to practice their English and learn about American culture). Sachi now works for IBM here in Tokyo.

We had no idea where we were headed, but she told us we were eating Italian. It turns out she chose the place because there was a direct view of the Tokyo Tower. It was my view throughout. One of those times you sit and think "Wow....,this is my real life!"


And the food was great at the restaurant! Maggie loved the bread. I was excited to get a great salad and some great risotto (I'd never had it with avocado.) There also was seafood pasta with red sauce. Yep....not typical Japanese....but fantastic food and an incredible view we can't get in Statesville!


After lunch we went to an area called Shibuya to a forest where we saw the 
Meiji Shrine. It was pretty wild....you're walking around a busy shopping district and cross the street and there is a lush forest. Lots more people than I would prefer (tons and tons), but still it is a nice place. This was evidently the day for weddings there.....we saw two groups taking pictures after weddings and saw a processional of another. Sachi said that these are the most traditional weddings in the temples....more modern girls have them in churches. It was definitely interesting to see. I do love weddings!


Then we headed back to Odaiba, where we had been the day before to see the Rainbow Bridge. We wanted to see it at night, so decided that would be the area where we would have dinner. In the subway we had a snack, though. A cream puff from a place called Beard Papa's. Evidently it is tacky to watch on the subway, but we tried to be discreet. So OK....we were tacky NorthCarolina girls and brought Sachi down to our level.

 
The next adventure was to visit the Tokyo Trick Art Museum. This is a mixture of pictures or scenes that are optical illusions and setups for some very funny photos. Just when you want your camera to work well, but both of mine had issues. My battery was dying in my phone and then the SD card in my camera was full. I was prepared with an extra one in my purse. Unfortunately there was an issue and it wouldn't work. So very frustrating and occupied my mind for the rest of our time at this funny place. When we were leaving the girl working in the gift shop you pass through to exit said "Did you drop some yen?" I looked down and saw a 1,000 yen note there. For once I didn't feel I had dropped anything, but reached down to hand it to her....it was another illusion. Painted on the floor. Made us laugh. She was deadpan.


We watched sunset over the Rainbow Bridge, before going to dinner. We ate the oko
nomiyaki (or savory pancake) I had wanted to try. They cook these at your table on a small griddle that is in the center (some restaurants have you cook your own Sachi said.). We shared one of these (with cabbage and shrimp), a pork noodle dish, and an egg dish cooked with rice cakes and enjoyed all of them. Yep, even Maggie! I had a little sake with mine....it seemed time.



We ended our evening looking at the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower at night over the water. Incredibly beautiful. We tried to soak it all in. Then we had to take the subway "home". It was so sad to say bye to Sashi. It was after 9 when we left her, and she still had work to do when she got home (she had started at  seven this morning....Saturday, remember!) And I thought I worked long hours! More sacrifices these sweethearts of people are making for us.

Tomorrow we're on our own and think we may try to get extra value out of those rail passes and visit Mt. Fuji. Not to do the seven hour climb...our swollen feet can't take it. We're thinking about taking a picture or two from a nearby town. Since it is 12:30 now and we have been early to bed girls and still have had issues getting going in the morning, we'll see how we do! The great thing is there is no pressure and no schedule. So many other alternatives for our last full day in Tokyo. 




Friday, June 10, 2016

Friday With Tosh....And Yuka and Yasu



We've got an issue with our hotel room, Remember real estate in Tokyo is expensive, so budget hotel rooms are tiny. That in itself is OK, but we spoiled American princesses like our air conditioning! It's not that we don't have air conditioning in our room....we have it set as low as it will go, and the fan (separate) set as high as possible. But the bed is against the wall and while the person in the edge of the bed us comfortable, the one against the wall gets no air. 


About 12:30 I woke up miserable. I tried to turn the air down more, difficult when controls are in Japanese and you can't see them in the dark and you are trying not to wake up your roommate. Maggie heard me roaming and asked what the problem was. When I told her, she graciously traded places with me. I fell right to sleep, but unfortunately my niece experienced my prior fate. She said she slept, but sweat all night.

About 7ish I needed coffee. Not being in the princess hotel anymore, only green tea was available....which would do in a pinch, but there is a coffee shop attached to our hotel, so I decided to go there. Maggie decided she would go with me to check out the breakfast options. We weren't very excited about anything that was at the cafe, so Maggie had the idea of going to.....McDonald's. (Surprise!) We walked down the street, stopping along the way to see if any other options moved us. Maggie got pancakes and a hash brown, I got an Egg McMuffin (removing the Canadian bacon, though it actually looked thinner than what we have at home) and coffee. I also decided to try a Japanese doughnut from the 7/11 we had checked out. We brought it all back to our room and ate on the bed, picnic style. The doughnut....well, it was OK, but seemed to have been made with a lot of shortening. The little bit of chocolate that part of it had been dipped in was good. Still.... not good enough to require a repeat performance.


We met Maggie's friend Tosh around noon. He's another friend she met in Chapel Hill....she and a friend went up to him in the student union when they saw him sitting alone and started talking to him. He's finishing up at his university here in Tokyo and will graduate as a business major next March. He's contemplating some exciting options. He skipped class for us that day....I think we were worth it!



Tosh sent us several ideas of things to do the night before and I will admit I got unreasonably excited about one of them...a visit to Ryugoku.....sumo town! I don't know when and why I got interested in sumo wrestling, but I do remember watching it on TV when I was visiting the Bradys when they lived in Okinawa. We traveled by subway and got out on the street. One of the first places we came to was the sumo museum. We walked around and looked at the pictures and the trophies of past (and current, I guess?) champions. It was fun to talk to people around there.,..they knew all about all of them and would tell us a bit of their story. I found out later that most of Japan knows these guys. They are the Michael Jordans or Dale Juniors of their world. I think perhaps their wrestling uniforms could be re-designed to better enhance their bodies (Think bikini bottoms with extra garters.  Sara, a project for you?)  But their robes are magnificent and what they wore around "the neighborhood."

We asked about seeing them practice (several training facilities are in the area.) I, of course, had read up on it a bit (Google!) and found that you sometimes could watch by filling out an application the day prior and having a Japanese speaker with you. We had Tosh, so he asked around to see if there was any possibility of us seeing them. We found out practice is over by 8 a.m. Ummmmm.....won't be happening on this trip. 

But walking down the road we saw a couple of sumo guys and Tosh asked if they would pose with us. Maggie and I laughed later because being the Southern women we are we are used to people squeezing in close for the shot. Not these guys. I think perhaps they thought we were crazy American women. They are quite serious and kept their distance. But we got our picture. Day made. We hear it is a rare occurrence that many Japanese would like to have.



We grabbed lunch after that......ramen! So very good. We had the basic stuff, with pork and seaweed for me and Tosh, Maggie opted for no seaweed and they complied. But she ate it and loved it.....yea! We finally found a Japanese main dish that Maggie loves! Second score for the day. Plus she's getting better with chopsticks! 



We the went to Odaiba....where we saw the Rainbow Bridge, the '"Statue of Liberty", and the big Ferris Wheel from a distance (so pretty....didn't look like it was in motion yet). We walked through the shops and other attractions there. This is a man-made island that has had its issues in its history, but seems to be thriving now. 






We decided we needed ice cream, and instead of the fancy crepe place we saw, we opted for "31 Flavors", as Tosh called it. Yep, Baskin Robbins! Some similar flavors to home, but several unique. Maggie and I are usually fans of chocolate of some variety, but the guy working there gave us an unsolicited sample of something called Candy Box and Tosh and I chose that. It was a combination of a lot of things, but fruity (mango? lemon? orange?) and refreshing. Maggie chose ice cream with gummy bears. We sat outside and enjoyed these a breeze as we ate.



Tosh had plans for the evening, but Yuka had contacted us all and she was available for dinner. We travel about 50 minutes away by various trains to meet her. Tosh came with us the whole way and delivered us right to her (they know each other from being in Chapel Hill at the same time.) we got to experience rush hour on the metro. The crowd itself was OK to me, but at one stop I am standing with my back to the door where people are entering, holding onto my strap, when I feel a tackle from behind. This tiny Japanese woman had evidently wanted to make sure there was room for her. I think maybe we should recruit her for the Panthers.

Yuka gives us the good news that her husband Yasu will be joining us for dinner. She gives us two options. The first are those savory pancakes I have been wanting to try, the second a sandwich shop that is more American and Maggie's style. We choose the pancakes (thanks Maggie) and head over, but it is very busy. Being a small place, it was not a good option. 

We head to the second place she mentioned. It's actually a very cool sandwich shop, bakery, and pizzeria. There is a wait there, too, but not a long one (it is Friday night.) We sip drinks....I was drinking water, but try a sip of Yuka's rhubarb soda, which is delicious. We are seated and Maggie and I decide to share a small cheese pizza. The waitress delivers it with a jar of honey she recommends. We try it, doubting her, and it is fantastic! Who would have thought? Yuka and Yasu order several salads for our table. I had been eying them when we waited. They were delicious....my favorites being a carrot salad that was served with several other salads (white beans, roasted veggies), and the other was what they called a cucumber salad....more like our regular tossed salad.





After dinner we walked through the streets talking with our friends and they took us almost the whole way back to the hotel on the subway. We're getting quite efficient on the subways, but it is so nice to have to think! Yasu and I were talking and Maggie and Yuka. Yasu told me how me how grateful they were for Maggie becoming friends with Yuka in this English conversation group. He said Yuka's English had improved considerably since meeting her. It must be difficult to live in a place where you only have a limited comprehension of the language....it truly is a nice gift. College students and those who live near college towns, consider doing this. (I was also involved with such a program when in Chaoel Hill, but only for one semester.) Yuka and Yasu plan a trip back to the U.S. next year and want to visit NC during that time. Chapel Hill of course, but they have said they would love to visit Statesville. We can't wait for them to be our guests! 

Yasu told me that before the went to the US for grad school he had never driven, but they rented a car and toured around the country for 30 days, going as far as California. He said it was hard, especially since cars in Japan travel on the other side of the road! But it helped them see a lot of the country.

Oh, and some creepy older guy tried to pick Maggie up when we were getting back to our hotel. He started by chitchatting in English, then asked if she would spend some time with him. I stared him down with a very loud and firm "No!" He got the message and left. (His friend watched from a distance and laughed!)  Maggie could have handled him on her own....but I wanted him to get the "You are a creep" message.

Today we meet Maggie's friend Sachi. I have no clue what is in store, but we are excited to find out!





Thursday, June 9, 2016

The Road Back to Tokyo


Our time in Kyoto just wasn't long enough! We hated to say goodbye to the beautiful Hotel Nikko Princess, whose staff treated us like we were royalty. We relaxed as long as we could this morning, until I (who had been up since 5 a.m),, decided it was time for Sleeping Beauty to awake. I let a little outdoor light in from the room darkening curtains. Maggie finally rolled over and said "I'm hungry but I don't want to leave this comfy bed."


We treated ourselves to an elaborate breakfast in the hotel dining room. We missed the buffet, just barely, and chose what they call an "American breakfast." So here's what they brought us to eat...our choice of juice (orange for Maggie and mango for me), a bowl of yogurt with a pitcher of honey (so great), a gorgeous fruit plate (which included all kinds of fruits like oranges, blueberries, dragonfruit, pineapple, kiwi,etc.) our choice of three breads each (they haven't heard of gluten-free, obviously, which was good with us!), scrambled eggs, bacon (Maggie nailed it when she said it tasted like hot dogs), fried potato wedges, assorted cooked veggies (for breakfast?), and then coffee (or tea) to finish it off. We knew we had the train ride ahead of us, so we ate plenty! It was beautifully presented. One last princess perk.


After that we returned to our room to pack up and headed to the lobby to check out. They have all kinds of staff around the lobby.....I am not sure of the purpose of them all, but I do know that they seemed to anticipate and meet our every need. We decided to invest in the taxi to the airport (about $10....compared to $4.40 and a lot of steps for the subway.) Our sweet taxi driver turned around at a stop light and gave us each a piece of candy. Like everyone we have met, so very kind. He dropped us at the perfect place and told us to have a good day. He looked like he meant it, too!


With our rail passes, we can either reserve seats or just jump on certain rail cars on the train and grab a seat if one is available. We keep opting for the reserved seats. In a minute we had two seats to Tokyo on a train leaving in 15 minutes. Have I mentioned I love public transportation.....and our awesome rail passes? I want to find ways to use them again before they run out on Sunday. You know how I love a bargain, and each time we use them they are a better value! Next trip to Japan I think will be very little luggage, a train pass, and seeing how much "value" I can get from it.


Our seat mate on the train most of the way was a quiet and proper Japanese businessman. While getting settled I found my Fitbit,,,,,still on U.S. time, so it was right at midnight (or in other words, the start of the next day,) Without thinking I clip it to my bra. Yes, sitting in my train seat. It was one of those things that you do and then wonder "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have done that?!" But I was discreet.....really. (OK.,..I am sure I was less discreet than I think and he is now telling his friends about it.) By the way,  it was only about 2200 steps from the train to our hotel....but most of that was stairs, while weight lifting. I think instead of the Amazing Race, we are on Survivor.

This is a picture of some guys on the next train to ours. Is it creepy that I took it? (I thought it was less creepy than taking pictures of people on our train....right?) I thought you may want to see.


So we arrive at Tokyo Station....now to get to our hotel for the next four nights. We knew our hotel was very close to a subway station.....but of course, not on a line that is located at Tokyo station. I was tempted to get a cab, but have to live by what I told Maggie....you bring what you carry and you need to use public transportation as much as possible. Budget travel, remember? So we die carrying our luggage and practically fall into the lobby. The lady at the desk said "You look tired." No kidding. She checked us in within a minute, and we found our room. Well, after we got the elevator ("the lift") to work. You hold your room key to a black box, then push your floor. Quickly.

So it's no Nikko Princess, but a typical Tokyo budget hotel room. Very small. Really hot until you figure out how to get the air conditioner and the fan working (yes, you need both!)  A double bed, desk, not a lot of floor room and a small but well equipped bathroom. They do bathrooms well in Japan. And in the interest of letting you know the important things, this bathroom has a remote, where you can adjust things like the temperature of the heated toilet seats. They also give you instructions with the remote in case you can't figure out how to work it.



But we are in a great location. We'll be able to get around well from here. Tonight we walked around the neighborhood. Not only is there a McDonald's a block away, but also a Burger King. If I don't feed Maggie well, she has options. She chose our place tonight, though it was French instead of Japanese. We had steak frites (steak and fries.) The Japanese are known for their steak, right? It really was good....and I had Japanese beer. 

We got more yen tonight....hopefully enough for the rest of the trip, but I suspect not. Funnily enough the 7/11s are where you can usually find the ATMs that accept international debut cards(which I prefer to exchanging cash). 7/11s are everywhere, almost on every block, which makes it very convenient.

We are seeing a friend of Maggie's tomorrow and another one on Saturday. We have no idea what Tosh has planned for us yet, but I am sure it will be fun. I love having our own special tour guides. I'm so glad Maggie has been drawn to Japanese friends even before this trip. They are all giving us such precious memories and making us love this country and its people even more.