Sunday, July 19, 2009
We leave SFO for Narita Airport in Japan. We get through the security checkpoint and stop to order some garlic fries. The plane taxis and liftoff is at 1:58 p.m. This is the beginning of the "two days and one night" flight.
SFO on July 19.
Flight 27 to Narita.Monday, July 20, 2009 (Japan)
Touch down at Narita Airport around 5:00 p.m. Japan Time on July 20th--the 40th anniversary of man's landing on the moon. Our inflight movie selection was "Gran Torino" and "12 Rounds." There were other movie selection, but we decided to watch these movies in synchronicity. We watched the same movies on our mini-screens.
We make it through customs without any problems. We had difficulty locating our luggage since we couldn't find our flight number. However, someone graciously placed our luggage together off the conveyor.
Nobuyo and my mother meet us at the airport. We were able to cram our 3 pieces of luggage into Nobuyo's small car.
We have dinner at my mother's place.
First night with Mom's homemade sushi.
Mom's favorites: Peanut butter and garlic. Not necessarily together however.
Mom's laundry area.
The shower and bath area. You have a choice: Either a bath in the tub or a shower on the floor.
The shower mirror.
The futons in mom's guest room.Tuesday, July 21, 2009 (Japan)
Shopping in Chiba. We ride the bus to downtown Chiba, go to the bank to exchange U.S. Dollars for Japanese Yen, then we grab a Starbucks. We shop in the Sogo and Mitsukoshi department stores. We also shop in Japan's version of a dollar store.
Starbucks in Chiba.
The menu.
Food market in the basement of Sogo Department Store.
Meat market. Sogo. Some of the beef in this photo is the infamous Kobe beef, where the cows are massaged by hand from birth. The thin-sliced meats you see to the right literally melt in your mouth once you bite into a slice. The marbling is remarkable. The Yen amounts are for 100 grams of meat (3.52 oz). So for one pound of meat (16 oz.), multiply the cost times 4.54 and that is the cost per pound. Very expensive. Spot the butcher's hands in the upper left. That slab of sirloin steak costs 3,000 yen (about $30.00) per 100 grams. $30.00 times 4.54 is approximately 13,620 yen or approximately $136.20 per POUND. Currency exchange rate may vary. The Japanese are not much of beefeaters. I wonder why? Click on the photo to enlarge to see the various prices for the choices of meat.
Japan's version of REI. This place sold a lot of North Face apparel.Wednesday, July 22, 2009 (Japan)
We drive from Chiba to Hakone and Lake Ashino.
No Godzilla sighting. This is the Tokyo Tower--the most destroyed structure in all of the old Godzilla movies.We visit the Hakone Sekisho. If you say "Sekisho" fast, it sounds like "sex show."
Hakone Sekisho was settled in 1619. The Tokugawa Shogunate settled 53 checkpoints throughout Japan. This place is considered to have been the biggest and most important of them all. The primary purpose of checkpoints was to control arms entering Edo (now Tokyo) and women attempting to leave Edo. Hakone Sekisho, known for its strictness, was primarily responsible for keeping women from escaping from Edo.
Lookout (tamibansho)
On a clear day, you can see Fuji-san from this vantage point.
Hakone Sekisho from the Lookout.
Sorry, no can translate.
Lake Ashino.
At Lake Ashino.
Walking to the Hakone Sekisho.
It is a long walk up...
And a long walk down.
Special room (kaminoma).
Edo side gate (edoguchigomon)
Arresting implements. These tools were used to catch criminals. From right to left: sasumata, tsukubo and sodegarami.
The arsenal.
The jail. There are no windows.We check into our hotel. We get room 505. Tatami mats. Twin beds.
We set off to take our first Japanese hot bath. My wife was very reluctant at first, but yielded to my urgency to give it a try at least this once. She was not disappointed. Yes, the baths are segregrated. The best part of the bath was that there was an outdoor bath! Secluded by the surrounding trees, no one could see you were soaking in a hot tub.
Group shot at Lake Ashino.
In the ropeway tramcar.
Don't what it says. The orange says "rope way."
Ropeway.
Ropeway.
At the thermal pools.
At the thermal pools. Overcast, rainy and windy.
Oh what fun.We feast on black eggs in the wind and the drizzle.
Black eggs. They say if you eat one, you can add seven years to your life. I ate three.
Black egg. They boil the eggs in the thermal eggs. The mineral laden water blackens the eggshells but not the inside.
At Lake Kawaguchi later in the day before checking into the hotel for the night.
Our hotel for the night. Our room is on the far left just slightly below the first balcony and above the restaurant.
Fuji-san seen from our hotel room.
Dinner at the hotel with Fuji-san beckoning us. That is not a painting.
The evening's meal menu.The evening's meal consisted of the following (we tried to translate the best we could):
Tofu with seaweed inside
Salmon with curry and vinegar
Eel in fish gel
Boiled small sea clams
Sliced lotus and bamboo in vinegar
Sashimi
Baked whole shrimp
Ginger in a gel
Clam with sake
Noodles with plum sauce and soup
Vegetables and pork cooked in hitachi
Red snapper
Rice bowl with diced fish
Cucumber and radish
Cucumber and seaweed
Strawberry shortcake with dinner jelly
Each meal was cooked separately and brought to you separately.
Thursday, July 23, 2009 (Japan)
Summit day. Six hours up and 3.5 hours down. Start from the 5th station on the Kawaguchiko Route. Started at 4:15 a.m. Finished at 2:30 p.m.
Sure wish we had stayed at that hotel for one more night. That hot bath would have felt really good.
The trailhead.
4:15 a.m. Japan Time (12:15 p.m. Pacific Time).About 15 minutes into our hike, it starts to rain. As we make our way up the trail, you hear this roar from above. It is the rain hitting the flora. Then came the downpour on us. We had to stop and put on our shells.
Station 7. It was here we noticed a group of hikers doing various stretching exercises. We were wondering why would anyone go to this extreme for a hike. Little did we know what awaited us.
This was the reason for the activity at Station 7.
Imagine climbing the stairs at your place of employment. Check that, stairs at your work that are over 100 yards long. Throw in some lava formations. The wet trail was treacherous along certain points along the way. One misplaced step could mean falling on the sharp lava or falling over backwards onto the lava rocks and other hikers.
Looking down at one of the stations.
Up and up we go. This group of teenagers were going up at a real good pace for us to follow them without altitude problems. The clouds would break giving us an opportunity to see farther up. But we wanted the clouds to keep the sun from beating down on us as we made our way up.
The low cloud cover proved to be a benefit by obscuring what was above and ahead for us.
3,100 meters down. 676 meters to go...literally straight up.
One of some of the torii gates we saw on Fuji-san.
When you see this you know you are almost there.
We made it.
At the summit station.
At the summit station with the community paper.
Japan's highest vending machines at the summit station.
Some of the flora on the descent.There is something about the mountain that brings out the best in all of us. Every hiker we encountered going down said, "Konnichiwa." It could mean "good afternoon" or "good day." We encountered young and old. One couple, both 75 years old, were going up as we were coming down. They were all smiles and bowed as they said "konnichiwa."
Our souvenir sticks. I presented the green one to my mother. "What you and Dad couldn't do, I finished."We were just ecstatic to be at the top. It was a major error on our part. Oh, well. But a summit is a summit in my book and it gives us an excuse to do it again! Hence, the popular Japanese saying, "He who climbs Fuji-san once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool." We want to be "dual fools."
The map we used. If only I could read Japanese. The last three Japanese katakana characters are "ga ee do" -- "guide."As we were making our descent, something didn't look right, but didn't think anything of it. I was more concerned with my thigh muscles twitching with each step as I plunged my feet into the lose cinders. Occasisionally, I had to stop and regain myself, while my wife did good in front of me. One gentleman's legs were hurting so bad, he was coming down backwards. There was a woman as well who was hurting so bad she started walking pigeon-toed.
I called my mom with her cell phone to give her the progress of our hike and that we should be done around 2:30 p.m.
When we got to a station, I asked the proprietor where we were at on the map. He pointed at Gotemba. We needed to be at Kawaguchiko. We ended up at the southeast side. We needed to be at the north side.
Uh oh.
That meant we had to go back up the way we came down. Right now, both of us are tired and there was no way we could make it back up to get to the point where we wanted to be.
Now, what do we do?
Called my mom and spoke to my cousin Kumiko. I told her where we are at and she said to continue to the Gotemba 5th station and catch the bus to Gotemba and they will meet us at the Gotemba train station.
Kumiko told us the bus leaves at 3:00 p.m. It was 2:30 and we still had another 3 kilometers to go.
We made it with plenty of time to spare. The bus ride cost $15.00 per person (3,000 yen). It was a slow ride down, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Picking us up at Gotemba was a good call since we had to go home this way anyways.
We were very lucky I asked my mom for her cellphone the night before after our dinner.
Post-hike report:
We did not reach the "true" summit, Tsurugi-ga-mine. We realized this when we got back home in the U.S. Next time, we will get it right and do it right. We will try to stay at the same hotel, only next time we will stay an "extra" night and soak it all in -- Fuji-san, the hot baths, the meal, the breakfast (which we didn't have), and a good night's rest.
Before our trip to Japan, I made these "summit sticks" made from wooden popsicle sticks you can buy at the arts and crafts store. I took a woodburning tool and burned our names on one side and the date of our hike on the other side. I found an inconspicuous place and buried them in the cinders. Hopefully, when we do return we will be able to retrieve them and take them to the summmit "again."
Friday, July 24, 2009 (Japan)
Recovery day. Go shopping at the Mitsukoshi Department Store. Our legs are still very sore from the hike.
Saturday, July 25, 2009 (Japan)
We visit my Aunt Teluyo. We get on the train.
Our first train ride to see Aunt Teluyo.We eat and drink at a popular hole in the wall.
The eatery where we had this huge lunch.
Lunch near Aunt Teluyo's business in Narita.
Mom and Aunt Teluyo, the youngest sibling of the family.We visit Japan's #2 shrine -- Naritasan Shinshoji.
The shrine.
More of the shrine we visited.
Turtles in the pond.
The Shrine.
The Pagoda. The building...not me.
Stones.
Another pagoda.
Remarkable design and craftmanship.
In the shrine compound.
Quite a place.
The Main Hall where we attended a Buddhist chant.
Pagoda.
Main Hall.The highlight to the visit to the shrine was being able to sit in on a Buddhist chant. Pretty awesome.
Later that evening, we attend a community festival dressed in our kimonos.
The Saturday night festivities.
My wife really looked good in her kimono. We were complimented at the festivities for our regalia.
Taiko drum player.Sunday, July 26, 2009 (Japan)
A beach, BBQ and a burn. We go to the beach along Tokyo Bay. The beach is covered in jellyfish. The BBQ consisted of beef so marbled, that it literally melts in your mouth. Being in the sun for only 20 minutes, we got a burn. Not a bad one.
The beach barbecue.
At the beach at Tokyo Bay. You can see the jellyfish in the water. The sands were covered with beached jellyfish.Monday, July 27, 2009 (Japan)
We visit my Aunt Sachiko and Uncle Sadao. We walk to a shrine, but it was closed on Monday of all days. We have lunch and return home. Later that day a tornado touched down just a few miles away. I heard the warning siren and asked my mother what that was. She said it was the ambulance, and I said it didn't sound like no ambulance. Just then a news flash on the television shows a funnel cloud touching down. There was also plenty of lightning and thunder as well.
Lunch at Aunt Sachiko's.
Uncle Sadao and Aunt Sachiko, the second oldest sibling of the family.
This sign was posted at a nearby park near the shrine.Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Yakyu! Japanese baseball. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters versus the Chiba Lotte Marines. My wife, mom and my uncle Takao catch a train and a bus to the stadium. Our seats are on the first base side near the foul pole.
Hey, we are on national television.
Hanabi: Japanese for fireworks at the game.
Relief pitcher arriving by car from the bullpen. Talk about being pampered.
The banner says it all.
Outside the stadium before the game.
The Japanese love their baseball. It is like going to a big college football game.
Sixth inning festivities. These are balloons they handed out to be blown up and released.
Hey, someone has to pick up the balloons.I purchase a Chiba Lotte Marines baseball jersey.
The arm patch.
The arm patch on the other arm.
Corporate sponsor.The Marines lost 5-1.
The box score from the game.Wednesday, July 29, 2009 (Japan)
My mother's half brother, Toshihiko, stops by for a visit before heading to work.
My uncle Toshihiko.I have not seen him in over 42 years. There is another half-brother, but his whereabouts are unknown, but the family knows he is alive.
More shopping for family and friends. We took a few familiar shots of eating establishments common in both America and Japan...
McDonald's. I can smell the fries!
KFC.Also, we watched a woman make the traditional Japanese sandals in the Sogo Department Store.
Making Japanese sandals
Yes, a square watermelon. These are grown in wooden boxes. And they are not cheap. It costs 4,800 yen or $48.00 USD.Aunt Kimiko and my cousin Kumiko pick us up from Mitsukoshi and take us to lunch.
The conveyor belt of sushi. The yellow plates have wasabi, the white plates are for sensitive palates.
A sample of the sushi we ate.
Jou. Pronounced like "Joe." The "devil" of one of the twins. He is really NOT the eating machine as depicted in this picture. That title goes to...
Miyuko (mee-you-koh), the "angel" of the twins. You put any food out in front of her and she will eat it. Quite the ravenous appetite.
Stuffed.Thursday, July 30, 2009 (Japan)
Final day of shopping. A feast for our last night.
Our last dinner on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Gochisosama (it was a feast).
A sample of some of the food for our last evening's meal.
Eating dinner.
Family clowns. Naoki and his wife Akiko.Friday, July 31, 2009 (Japan and U.S.)
A day of two nights.
The last breakfast.
At Narita Airport getting ready for our departing flight.We leave Japan at 4:20 p.m. Japan Time. Our inflight movie selections were "Defiance," "Last Chance Harvey," and part of "New in Town."
We arrive at SFO a little after 10:00 a.m. It took us one and a half hours to get through customs.
We check into our room at the Hilton Hotel on Fisherman's Wharf. We grab a bite to eat at Joe's Crab Shack and decided it was best to take a nap to shake off the effects of the flight.
Before heading to bed, a knock on our door and there stands a man with chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of chilled champagne in honor of our anniversary.
Our complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries at the Hilton on Fisherman's Wharf.We were out for 4 hours. We wake up and hit Tiernan's down the street from the hotel and then retire again for the evening.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
We have breakfast at a Pergaminos across from Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf. We drive across the Bay Bridge to Pittsburg before heading south. We stop at Gilroy to purchase fresh garlic, spicy garlic-stuffed green olives and regular garlic-stuffed green olives and pickled garlic. We were offered free samples of the olives. First the plain, then the spicy. Yeow! The spicy was thanks to habanero peppers.
We stop in Los Banos to look at travel trailers to stretch our legs still sore from our hike.
Then we stop at Whole Foods and Claim Jumper in Fresno before concluding our trip. We unpack our bags, sort the laundry, take our showers, eat our Claim Jumper, and passed out for the night.
Recollections and Afterthoughts:
All Japanese bank employees wear uniforms.
There are no paper towel dispensers in all Japanese public bathrooms.
Some of those bathrooms still have the European style commode, but a majority of the new commodes have bidets.
There is also 7-11, AM/PM, Denny's.
When you enter a store that just opened, the employees are there to welcome you as they bow.
Any Japanese store owner honors your business.
July is the rainy season and it can get very humid.
Do not display signs of affection or hold hands in public. Do it in private.
Be sure to tell your bank and credit card company you will be traveling overseas.
Buy a book to learn some Japanese.
There are cars small enough to fit into the back of a large bed pickup.
Bring an appetite.
Wherever we may roam...
