2022 Japan
Traveling to Japan with David and Cory
NOV 10: Seattle to Vancouver to Japan - At least SEATAC was organized chaos 😜 TSA Agent was entertaining - if you have Twitter, follow the TSA account - it’s a scream 😂 next stop: Vancouver! I love traveling with David … he had snacks for my hangry self after getting through security…macarons … always a favorite 😋
NOV 11: Arrival in Tokyo One quarter of all Japanese live in Tokyo or the near vicinity. With a population of over 12 million, Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world. Major jet lag, but trying to get on “schedule” with dinner at 8pm and bedtime at 9pm.
NOV 12: Slept well last night - awake at 4:30 am, but able to go back to sleep until 630am. Delicious breakfast and a short stroll around the hotel to acclimate. Short term observation - this is the cleanest city I have ever seen!
Today, we visit teamLab Planets newest Tokyo exhibit based on the man-made island of Toyosu. First experience using the trains! Cory is in charge, so I’m not too worried 😎.
Amazing first full day. This is one of the cleanest cities I have ever been in. The teamLabs exhibit was an incredible sensory experience - the pictures do not do it justice. Ended the day with a massage (darn sciatica) and light dinner. Feeling a little more acclimated to time change.
NOV 13: Slept through the night - so this should be a good day! Full day touring Tokyo with local professional guide via public transport and taxi.
Still struggling a bit with sciatica, so touring today was done mostly via taxis… we visited the Imperial Palace and Gardens, the Farmers Market, Shibuya Crossing and had a delicious lunch … not 💯 what it was, but it was good! 😋
NOV 14: Visit to Kamakura - which rose to fame as the capital of Japan's first military government in the late 12th century. Once again, we will be traveling with a local professional guide, seeing the Great Buddha (beautiful temple and gardens) tours inside were not available because of covid, Hasedera Temple, the Hachimangu Shrine. We attended a tea ceremony at Jomyo-ji temple, which was definitely an “experience” for George. 😂. We had a delightful lunch with our guide and then a delicious dinner at Haney Steakhouse where the steak literally melted in your mouth. We have been eating all meals, with the exception of breakfast, with chopsticks…and felt we were getting fairly proficient, but George was given “chopstick” helper at this restaurant…. 😂
NOV 15: Rain today, which meant the cycling tour was canceled. To George’s delight (🤭), we went to a hedgehog cafe, where we were able to hold and play with hedgehogs 🦔. What adorable little creatures - they also had a meerkat! After that, we stopped for cookies and milkshakes. Dinner was Peruvian, which included several interesting dishes, which I didn’t get picture of, because I was partly in shock and partly concerned about what George would eat (he doesn’t eat much seafood!) At least they had Pisca Saurs, which we haven’t had since we were in Argentina, so all was not lost. An adventure and lots of laughs.
NOV 16: Old Town Tokyo Food Tour. Yanaka District What a fun day! Our guide was native Mexican and much easier to understand her English than our Japanese guides! We stopped at several “snack type” food places then for lunch in the back of a little store. 😋 Following lunch we attended a tea ceremony, where we drank Macha from extremely old pottery. Following this, we returned to the train station, through a large cemetery. All people in Japan are cremated and families are interred together.
NOV 17: Arrived in Okinawa around 430pm and are on the way to our resort - Busena Terrace - probably not much other than dinner tonight 🙃
NOV 18: Today, our guide showed us a few select sites in Naha City. We were able to tour the site of the Shuri Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is in the process of being rebuilt, following a fire in 2018, due to faulty electrical wiring.
We toured pottery stores and then went to the Peace Memorial, located at the southern most part of the island. As with all war memorials, it is sobering to see the names of those who lost their lives.
NOV 19: Free Day
NOV 20: Fun day touring on our own - visited the Nago Pineapple Park 😊and then to Cape Hedo - the most northern most point in Okinawa, so we have traversed the island, north to south!
NOV 21: Nagasaki
NOV 22: Touring Nagasaki - we visited the hypocenter of the h bomb that was dropped on August 8, 1945. The museum and pictures told of the destruction and lives lost. The damage could have been much worse, were Nagasaki not surrounded my mountains, which contained most of the blast.
NOV 23: Food and culture tour - Began with a visit to Glover Gardens. Built in the late 1800’s by a Scotsman who came to the island in his 20’s and fell in love with the area. Built on a mountain side, it escaped destruction by the bomb, other than some structural damage. After that, we were treated to an eclectic lunch, sampling foods of the area.
NOV 24: Bullet train to Okayama
NOV 26: Cycling Touring
NOV 28: Kyoto, Afternoon Tea with a Maiko, Gion Maruume Teahouse
NOV 29:
NOV 30
DEC 1/2: Arrive Newark - home
New pics should be added each day ... hopeful that this works!
ReplyDeleteExcited to"travel"woth you! Love you 😘
DeleteI'm so excited to follow along!
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