More Fun Pics of Tokyo Today...

When in Tokyo....

Day 2 in Tokyo was fortunately with more good weather (no rain!). I headed out to the well known and trendy neighborhood of Shibuya by train. The area is alive with young people and sort of like the Times Square of Tokyo. Right out of the station is a very very popular meeting sport where THE STATUE OF HACHIKO the dog sits. The statue is there in honor of Hachiko's faithfulness and loyalty to his master. The dog continued going to the station over a decade after his master passed. Its also apparently in some Richard Gere movie??!!!

Anyway, some big stars like Madonna and Mariah Carey are also known to have made music videos in this hub of an area that's filled with flashing billboards, shops and well...you get the idea!

I made my way to the next suburb over to meet a dear friend that I met last Christmas at HPA who was leading a student group from Japan which I was teaching English too. This area was made famous by the now popular label "HARIJUKU". Again, this is a funky neighborhood with one particular Takeshita Street that is closed off to cars and is chock full of people checking out the boutique stores and fun dressed people (see photos including a shop for dog kimonos!!!). The area is also home to a massive green park that is filled with cherry blossoms early in April. My friend tells me that an apartment in this area costs around $US 6000/month!!!! The park was nice and busy with families and all age groups due to the golden week holiday. In this green area is also the home of one of the most visited shrines in Japan called the Meiji Jingu-we were really lucky to see a traditional wedding take place too (which Rina says is most wanted by many people in Japan but very very expensive!).

We got the train a couple of stops down to SHINJUKU station...this folks--is the busiest train station in the world and I read that it passes about 3 million people through the place per day!!!! We walked to the Tokyo Metro Government Building to check out the free public 45th floor sky view but unfortunately missed the cut off time by 3 minutes (the building has shorter hours since the earthquakes). Not to worry as I went on google and found a picture of what the view would have been liked:)

http://www.google.co.jp/imglanding?q=tokyo+metro+governmnt+buildilng+sky+view&um=1&hl=ja&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=4TAdDpOlVJE6CM:&imgrefurl=http://www.trtube.com/y/%2525E6%25259D%2525B1%2525E4%2525BA%2525AC%2525E9%252583%2525BD%2525E5%2525BA%252581/&imgurl=http://img.youtube.com/vi/wFy6_hamXI0/0.jpg&w=480&h=360&ei=FvS7TfiEB4yougOj9eWDBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&biw=1040&bih=606

Shinjuku station was hugeeeee and made even more confusing to navigate since there is underground shopping too! We walked around the area which was great in itself to see all the different shapes, sizes and designs of the work buildings. Rina then took me to Japan's Red Light District area called KABUKICHO. There is some illegal things that get run here if you could imagine and even as we walked through the streets at around 5pm, there were a number of guys standing on corners waiting to recruit women to work. We sadly said our goodbyes and hope to reunite again on another trip!

I'm slowly getting the hang of the Tokyo train and subway system...the biggest in Japan of course but there are a couple of main lines that I take. I am very lucky to be staying in such a great location....40% chance of rain tomorrow.....!

Kore Wa Tokyo!

This is Tokyo!!!!

This morning I finally got to take advantage of Japan's extra thick (normal size to them) bread and make some french toast with Sho for breakfast. After a sad goodbye to the Mehrings and Nagoya city, I headed for my last journey (sadly) on the shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo City - my last stop on this Australiasian Adventure!

The train station was busy but not as busy as I thought it was going to be for the golden week celebrations...perhaps the current situation and recent tragedies have lowered the numbers of people traveling this year??? Anyway, I still didn't see Mt. Fuji on the train ride and I was awake looking for it....the thing is, the country is very mountainous indeed so makes for a lovely scenic ride with mountains on the west and ocean on the east.

I found the apartment I am so fortunate to be staying at in Tokyo and decided to take advantage of my last day of the JR pass and great weather out too! I headed into the main Tokyo Station and thoroughly enjoyed my walk around the Imperial Palace gardens, Hibya Park and Ginza town area.

Big skyscrapers brushed the horizon everywhere with more construction going on too...but it was the first time I have also actually seen so many people running and exercising in the big city. On top of that, like Hibya park which is a great green park in the middle of the city, there are many others around it too..Fantastic!!!!! Ginza area is full of expensive brand stores and plenty of nice eateries. I got the train back to the apartment and am retiring for the night ready to meet a friend tomorrow to explore more of this big city!

In the meantime, I am awaiting for the first ground shaking experiences from up north...more soon!

Fun Pics from Japan

Hope you like them....

Yokohama Daze and the start of Golden Week

I left the house with Sho this morning (him on his way to school) to head out on the Shinkansen bullet train for a day's adventure in Yokohama. I Loveeee riding the Shinkansen and my 7 day purchased pass (about $350) has gotten its worth for sure!!!! It took about 90 minutes to ride to Yokohama and on a clear day you can apparently see Mt. Fuji when you got past the area. It was a gorrrrrgeous day out but I may have either slept past the sighting or it was not clear enough....since I didn't see it (Luckily, I'll have another chance to try and spot it on the way to Tokyo tomorrow!).

Yokohoma is only another 20 minutes on the bullet train to Tokyo but I was only doing a day's trip. I didn't realize the city is located right along the water. It is a huge port for economy, business and also an international ferry terminal (mainly for Korea). It is home of the world's largest ferris wheel and also the biggest Chinatown in Japan and all of Asia. I had a great time walking around and it is very easy to get around on foot. There is a big amusement park right along the water in the city (Cosmo World) and this is the home of the giant ferris wheel.

Chinatown has 10 main entry gates and was filled with people of all ages. There are literally hundreds of Chinese restaurants to eat in and side street vendors selling the popular Chinese steamed buns and treats. I got home around 5pm.

Today also marks the start of "Golden Week" in Japan. It is named this because of a string of marked special holidays on the Japanese calendar including the Emperor's Birthday (April 29), Constitutional Memorial Day (May 3), "Greenery Day"(May 4) and "Children's Day" (May 5). Sho has a whole week off school and this is the case for all schools. It is the busiest traveling time in the year with families celebrating in various places around the country.

I know it will be a different experience going to Tokyo at this time of tragedy for the country. I hear that things are slowly getting back to "normal" with the blackouts reduced and train lines getting back on schedule. I am still excited however to experience this well known city with lots to do. One last stop on this Australasian Adventure for me......

Noritake Nagoya...!

After an early 5:45am start with Professor Mehring yesterday, I retired early to bed last night and got to sleep in with no schedule today. Since Jeff's wife Tamiyo had the day off, we got to enjoy the day together. We headed out to Nagoya city and planned to have the well known "morning set" from Nagoya. This is a coffee or tea drink with a piece of toast and egg on top. Now it sounds simple and all (and it is!) but its the thing to do before 12 noon and lunchtime. Coffee shops are so competitive now that they have a little flashing siren (no sound) in front of their shop that they turn on and light up to indicate that they are open. Also, I should note that the bread loaves in Japan and pretty much all white bread...and they are super super thick sliced. We are talking 5 slices in one loaf! Thick and fluffy and the perfect type of slice to make french bread.

After our morning set we walked to the NORITAKE MUSEUM which is the well known famous brand of china porcelain. Tamiyo said the outlet prices there were fantastic compared to the department store prices. We then headed back on the train to meet Sho (8th grade) at the Nagoya International School. He had an early release today and I got to quickly tour the campus before he got out. The school is very small with only about 15 kids in his 8th grade class. The school is kind of in the country but the facilities were terrific and the school is set on a bit of a hill so has a fantastic view. It was really fun picking out the many "hapa" kids at school including him!

We got the public bus back home and this was a really cool experience because at a point on the journey, the bus driver lets everyone know that the bus is about to go on "autopilot". Basically, two arms come out of the bus that are rollers and get on the track. The driver does not need to steer and only has to control the speed...It's genius....this track is on its own lane and causeway. Jeff said that Honolulu was looking at this or getting the train and they chose the train.

By the time we walked home, it started pelting down with rain. We ate at the local Taiwanese restaurant around the corner which was delicious and then had fun running back home in the rain. I will head out of the house with Sho tomorrow morning at 7:30am for the train to get on the shinkansen bullet train to Yokohama. I am excited to visit the biggest Chinatown in Japan and all of Asia!!!!! I hope the rain stops!!!

PS. Japanese tv is thoroughly amusing me. Right now, I am watching a show that is following a 2 year 9 month old going to a supermarket who has to try and remember certain things to buy....seriously I am cracking up and I wish you all could see this!!! :)

Just another day in Japan...!

I made myself go to sleep before 10am last night because I was setting my alarm for 5:45am to be out the door with Jeff by 6:20am for the 6:30am train (Jeff's daily routine!). It wasn't as cold as I thought it was outside and I guess since the summer is coming, there was a good amount of light out...I was thinking it was going to be pitch black!

At that early hour, there are still people on the train to work but Jeff does avoid the crazy rush hour with school students and work folks. The all girls private university Jeff works at has about 3000 girls attending. It is about 1 hour for him to work and once you get on campus its a beautiful serene setting with many cherry blossom trees that flower during the season. Students start showing up around 8:30am for the 9:00am first period class.

I really enjoyed sitting in on Jeff's first period class which was a listening class. The classes are 90 minutes long and after that he gave me a little tour of the small campus. The area is actually quite historical in terms of battles that were fought in Nagoya. We had lunch in the dining room which was really good...miso soup, fish, vegetables, and rice! After lunch, I was introduced to a big class of his students and more personally introduced again to a group of his students which I had skyped with last year to talk about their upcoming school trip to Australia. It was so great to know that they remembered our conversation on the computer!

I left the university after that and walked the town admiring the adorable traditional Japanese homes and stopping at cute little Japanese stores that are known in the area for their special tie dying prints. Rain was threatening to come all day but held off fortunately and hopefully will continue to do so during the rest of my stay in Japan.