Friday, December 9, 2011
Made it back home to Boston
I got to Boston without delay or incident after about 14 hours of travel. I'm staying with Kerry, et. al., for a couple of days and will be back in Wellfleet in Monday. Too tired and jet lagged to write more now. It was an amazing 6 weeks and I'll have to digest it all and reflect later.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Final day in Japan
So we`re down to the wire here. We`re headed out to the fish market with our luggage to store in a locker in Tokyo Station before we go to the early market. We won`t make the 4 a.m. tuna auction but the trains don`t run that early anyway. But we`ll have a sushi breakfast there. Should be interesting! Hope we don`t get splashed or we`ll smell like fish all the way to US! Our seatmates won`t like that!
We had a lovely visit in Kamakura, except for the rain! Slogging around in that wasn`t too great! But we saw the big Buddha, climbed inside him to see how he was formed of huge sheets of bronze! He survived the earthquake, bombing, whatever, but the wooden shelter built around him didn`t. So now he sits there serenly out in the elements and doesn`t seem to mind. Pretty impressive! 800+ tons!
There was also a temple to Kannon (in China she`s called Guanyin) goddess of Mercy. apparently two statues alike were carved and one is in Nara. This other one was thrown into the sea to be compassionate to the rest of the world, and floated ashore near K. Love these stories that go with the temples!
We stayed in an IYH and I inadvertently had sent my card home with Joyce in my other suitcase. She was able to scan it at the library and they accepted it which saved me Y1000. Yea, Joyce!! Thanks!
The hostel is run by Japanese grandparents who had lots of their 4 (soon to be 5) grandchildren from their 4 sons who live scattered around Japan. He was very helpful with maps of Kamakura and umbrellas to keep us somewhat dry! We were able to leave our bags there (checkin wasn`t until 4 p.m.) and walk around with a lighter load.
It`s a very neat town, on the beach and lots of Hawaiian shops - go figure! I remember so many Japanese tourists, especially golfers, in Hawaii! I heard they go there for the golf as golf courses here are hard to get a tee time! We rode this funky train/looks like a tram from Kamakura to Kamakure Hase 3 short stops away. It had wooden floors and moved very slowly!
Our room when we got to it was unusual - the top bunk was SOOOO high! I wouldn`t even attempt it so I took all the blankets and futons I could gather and slept on the floor, ala the temple in Takayama! Didn`t have a great night`s sleep but didn`t fall out either! I could hear people talking loudly downstairs through the floor so got up and went into the room with the kotastu (that heated table with big quilt! and read for awhile!) Finished The Thousand Mountains of Jacob de Loet - great Japanese story! and picked up another paperback for the plane.
After a great Japanese breakfast prepared by Grandpa and Grandma, we headed ;off to Kamakura and KiteKamakura for some more temples.
Betty`s ready to go so I`ll have to finish this later.
Sayonara from Japan!
Kerry and all, can`t wait to hug you guys later today (actually tomorrow!)
We had a lovely visit in Kamakura, except for the rain! Slogging around in that wasn`t too great! But we saw the big Buddha, climbed inside him to see how he was formed of huge sheets of bronze! He survived the earthquake, bombing, whatever, but the wooden shelter built around him didn`t. So now he sits there serenly out in the elements and doesn`t seem to mind. Pretty impressive! 800+ tons!
There was also a temple to Kannon (in China she`s called Guanyin) goddess of Mercy. apparently two statues alike were carved and one is in Nara. This other one was thrown into the sea to be compassionate to the rest of the world, and floated ashore near K. Love these stories that go with the temples!
We stayed in an IYH and I inadvertently had sent my card home with Joyce in my other suitcase. She was able to scan it at the library and they accepted it which saved me Y1000. Yea, Joyce!! Thanks!
The hostel is run by Japanese grandparents who had lots of their 4 (soon to be 5) grandchildren from their 4 sons who live scattered around Japan. He was very helpful with maps of Kamakura and umbrellas to keep us somewhat dry! We were able to leave our bags there (checkin wasn`t until 4 p.m.) and walk around with a lighter load.
It`s a very neat town, on the beach and lots of Hawaiian shops - go figure! I remember so many Japanese tourists, especially golfers, in Hawaii! I heard they go there for the golf as golf courses here are hard to get a tee time! We rode this funky train/looks like a tram from Kamakura to Kamakure Hase 3 short stops away. It had wooden floors and moved very slowly!
Our room when we got to it was unusual - the top bunk was SOOOO high! I wouldn`t even attempt it so I took all the blankets and futons I could gather and slept on the floor, ala the temple in Takayama! Didn`t have a great night`s sleep but didn`t fall out either! I could hear people talking loudly downstairs through the floor so got up and went into the room with the kotastu (that heated table with big quilt! and read for awhile!) Finished The Thousand Mountains of Jacob de Loet - great Japanese story! and picked up another paperback for the plane.
After a great Japanese breakfast prepared by Grandpa and Grandma, we headed ;off to Kamakura and KiteKamakura for some more temples.
Betty`s ready to go so I`ll have to finish this later.
Sayonara from Japan!
Kerry and all, can`t wait to hug you guys later today (actually tomorrow!)
Monday, December 5, 2011
Relaxing day at Lake Kamaguchi!
Yesterday was one of our most laid back days. It was beautiful and sunny, if a bit chilly (It IS December!). We cooked a wonderful omelet with lots of veggies, cheese, etc. for breakfast in this huge kitchen and then headed off on bikes around the lake. It looks like a big boating area, although we only saw a couple of swan peddle boats and a couple of jet skiers actually out yesterday (it was a Monday - I think this is a weekend place and people went back to work). There were lots of boats still in the water and we passed a couple of water sports equipment stores around the lake. The map says the circular route is over 20 km. It was very deceptive on the map and we kept thinking we were further along than we were. But it was a very nice ride, with many spots where there was an off-road trail right down by the water. In one place it was a conservation area where banks of various flowers and herbs were planted - fields of lavendar, of course, not in bloom now! But I bet it's gorgeous when it is.
One stop we did make was at Kawaguchi Sengen Jinja Shrine - a very old Shinto shrine (of course we did the cleansing ritual and then the two bows, two claps, make a wish and one final bow!) We had a bit of trouble finding it but stopped and ask this woman farmer working. She babbled in Japanese and pointed and Betty seemed to understand her. Sure enough, we found it following her pointing!
The two neatest things there was, first, no one else was there. A couple was just leaving so we had this ancient place to ourselves to look around. Also I had read the gigantic cypress trees lining the entrance were over 1,000 years old.
They were pretty amazing (I've never seen the redwoods in Ca). I thought this was the shrine where in ancient times the pilgrimages to the top of Mt. Fuji would begin. We followed what seemed like a trail for awhile but then it kind of ended, and there was a main road crossing so we weren't sure and turned back. I had read that pilgrims went to this shrine, climbed this smaller mountain for a view of Fuji and then continued along a ridge to finish the actual Mt. Fuji climb. Turns out when we studied the map, there are actually a couple of other places marked "Sengen Jingo Shrine" so not sure where it started. Now I think pilgrims just drive or ride up to the 5th Station where we'd been the day before with the Izumis and start from there. Last year Betty read over 300,000 people climbed Mt. Fuji!! Pretty impressive. Turns out we were lucky as people here at the hostel who just arrived wanted to take the local tour bus up and our day was the last day until March. So they weren't able to go up that far. We got some great pictures from up there.
We also got MANY various views as we circled the lake of Mt. Fuji from all angles.
We finally ended back at the hostel to relax for the afternoon. We actually watched a movie - Letter from Iwo Jima, which I'd never seen. It would have been fun to see the American side - Flags of our Fathers - movie back to back but it wasn't here. Then, since we couldn't agree on what food to eat for dinner, we went to the grocery store and each got our own thing to bring back and eat here. We sat around the kotatsu, a low table with a quilt under it that you plug in, put your feet under the table and it's toasty warm. Apparently this is what some Japanese have in their home in the winter. We had seen many hostelers sitting around it while we've been here but last night was our turn. I finished my book I'd been reading about Nagasaki, the Dutch traders there on Nijima island, around 1800 when they were the only foreigners allowed to trade with the Japanese. Really good story! Gotta find another book for the long plane ride home. I can leave one and take one from the shelf here. Love those hostels!!
The young woman at the desk here was able to change our bus tickets for today so we can leave earlier to spend more time at Kamakura, since we have only one night there. We go back to Shinjuku station in Tokyo and then hop a commuter line south through Yokohama to K. which is on the water. I had inadvertently send home with Joyce in my suitcase from China my youth hostel card - which they require at the next hostel - haven't needed it at all in Japan. But it's an extra 1000 yen if I don't have it. She was able to scan it at the library and e-mail it to me. It came in really clear. Hopefully they will accept it. It's worth printing it out here and showing it to them. It has my name and expiration date very clearly printed.
Off we go for our almost last new spot in Japan before heading home. Only the fish market and the shrine near our hostel, plus shop for final souvenirs (don't know where we are going to put them!) before our flight on Thursday.
Sayonara!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Mt. Fuji is out!
We woke up Sunday to an absolutely gorgeous sunny sky in Tokyo as we headed off for Mt. Fuji. We rode the long distance bus after getting some breakfast to go at our trusty 7-11. Who knew that store would be such a blessing here in Japan?
As we traveled through the suburbs of Tokyo on the elevated highway, all of us sudden Mt. Fuji appeared out our window in the distance! It is amazing as you don't see other mountains around it - it just appears by itself, with the top part already covered in snow and ice. We arrived almost an hour earlier than we had thought, after a very comfortable ride. Now the mountain seemed to be right there to reach out and touch. K's Hostel here in Kamaguchi has a pick-up service so we phoned them for a ride and they came in about 10 minutes.
We haven't yet learned his name but the driver/host at the hostel has excellent English and has been enormously helpful. Another passenger being picked up was a young man from Bangkok on his first trip to Japan. He was only going to spend one night so he spent the afternoon on a bus around the Lake seeing some of the Lake Kamaguchi sights.
I had been e-mailing since arriving here friends of Sr. Trai Nghiem, one of Doug's monastic friends, whose name is Akemi. Shortly after our arrive at the hostel, they (Keisuke and Toshito arrived to meet us. It turns out they are like second parents to Akemi. She was born in Texas and then moved to Japan for about 12 years.The friends, Keisuke and Toshiko Izumi, are a delightful couple who live between Yokohama and Kamakura (where we are headed tomorrow for a day) but also have a little apartment in the Hakone area near Mt. Fuji. It's still about a couple of hours ride from here so they were so sweet to come all this was to spend the afternoon with us.
It turns out they had never been in this area before so hope they enjoyed seeing a different part of the Mt. Fuji area as well.
Anyhow, it turns out their daughter, a couple of years older than
Akemi, played the violin as well as A. and they became friends. Now the daughter lives I think in Yokohama and is married and works as a translater. She had studied in London and also in Beijing so speaks Mandarin and English. When I talked about my friend's son who writes for Lonely Planet and leads tours here in Japan, Toshiko mentioned that her daughter had translated some for Lonely Planet, I guess from Chinese into Japanese. So they have known A. since she was five. Kazemi lived in Japan until she and her mother moved to Seattle for a better education. When her parents split up, she stayed with her mother and went on to study in Europe. She played as a concert violinist at a very prestigious orchestra in Berlin, I think, and they mentioned something about a Mahler Chamber Orchestra. I know K. had said she was playing concert tours until about five years ago when she joined Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village and became a nun. I met her for the first time at my house in October when Doug and 15 others stayed with me for 4 days when they were on the US Tour. She had given me the names of some friends to contact when I was here.
So we spent a lovely afternoon with these generous people. It turns out they had lived 5 years in Netherlands near the Hague and 5 years also in New Jersey when he was working for some electronics company. Their English was really good.
Our guide at the hostel was very helpful in suggesting things to Keisuke for us to do that afternoon, since they had never been in this area. First they took us for lunch at a very Japanese restaurant nearby. Long low tables were filled with tourists eating lunch so we had a few minutes wait. They ordered the local specialty, a miso based soup filled with all kinds of vegetables and the local thicker noodles. It was delicious! Betty and I shared a large bowl and Keisuke and Toshito shared one. We took many pictures and had a delightful conversation.
Next we headed up, up, up the highway to the 5th Station on the side of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately we followed all the way up a diesel tour bus that choked us with fumes but we shut the windows. With pine trees dense on both sides you didn't get the sense of being up high until once in awhile there would be a glimpse of the valley in the distance. But when we arrived at the station, there it was! We were right on the slope! I never thought we'd be able to get that close. Snow and chunks of ice were all around and I was glad I had gone back into the storage area to grab my extra windbreaker as it was COLD! This is where now the pilgrims start their hike to the top of Mt. Fuji. It used to be near the bottom at a particular shrine. They've been doing this pilgrimage for 1000 years or so! Mt. Fuji is the highest and I believe considered the most sacred mountain in Japan. K and T said they had never been up here. There was a statue inside one of the buildings of a guy who when he was 105 had climbed up and down 13 times in succession!! We got to talking then about Keisuke's parents - his father is 100 and his mother 95 and still living on their own in a different prefecture east of Tokyo. He is the oldest of 4 sons. He thought the average life expectancy for Japanese men is now 78 or so and women over 80. Must be all the fish, vegetables, healthy living, hot spring soaks, etc. We have seen so many elderly Japanese out walking around all the tourist places we've visited. The retirement age is 60 so they have a LONG life after retirement.
There was a post office up top so I wrote out a post card to Jackson and Sarah to be stamped and mailed from there. Of course, there was also a small Shinto shrine with a terrace overlook the other side down to Lake Kamaguchi and in the distance the Hakone area. They suggested we might want to go to Kamakura via Hakone area but it's a lot of bus rides and train changes and I don't know how much we'd really get to see in one day with all that traveling and still get to our reservation in Kamakura tomorrow night. We also didn't think we'd be able to refund our bus ticket back to Shinjuku station in Tokyo that we already paid for. So I think we'll just stick with our plan and keep Hakone area for another visit! I feel content that we really got to see a lot of variety in this country and didn't just stick to the Tokyo area as many tourists do. But you always leave things to come back and see and there are plenty of them here.
After K and T dropped us back at K's hostel at nearly dark - they still had a couple of hours drive back home, Betty and I walked to a local grocery store to pick up some dinner and eggs and veggies, etc. for our breakfasts for a couple of days. After dinner, we walked with the guys from Bangkok (another one was also staying here so he joined the first one) over to the local onsen for a great soak! They had some outside tubs so we spent most of the time looking at the moon and stars while the cool air kept us from boiling in the hot water! It's a lovely way to end the day!
Our roommate last night was a young art teacher from Wales, Sharon Flint, who is 4 months into an 8 month trip (and I'm feeling tired after 6 weeks!) around Asia. She just arrived from Tokyo and is kind of doing our tour in reverse. She previously was in China as well, and then Vietnam, Cambodia and I think India. Betty talked with her before I came in the room so I didn't hear all of it. But we compared notes on travel in China. She is also doing a blog so she gave me her URL (www.flintythenomad.blogspot.com - for those travel bugs like me who will read about ANYONE's trips) that I'll check out later. She said she doesn't mind wearing the same 3 outfits but she said she felt grungy in Tokyo with all the beautiful girls there. So she went out and spent 10 pounds on a "Tokyo dress." She felt much better!
She also told me how to get on directly to add my entries as I constantly had to e-mail to Michelle to have her upload it. Now this morning with her directions (go to the blog FIRST and THEN sign in and that seemed to work), I'm able to type the entry directly into the blog. Yea!!! She also told me how easy it is to add pictures but I don't have my gadget that I put my stick into to upload pictures. I'll work on adding them when I get home.
I forgot to mention Sharon (the woman from Wales) mentioned she went by bus up to 5th Station and met a German guy who was also going to try to hike a bit. The two of them hiked up to the 6th station. She said she was glad he was along as it was very treacherous (the hiking season ends in September but I guess no one stops you!). She fell and also scraped her leg on something. So I'm glad we never even gave it a thought!!
So off today on bikes, after cooking our breakfast in this HUGE kitchen, to see Lake Kamaguchi and more peeks at Mt. Fuji!
As we traveled through the suburbs of Tokyo on the elevated highway, all of us sudden Mt. Fuji appeared out our window in the distance! It is amazing as you don't see other mountains around it - it just appears by itself, with the top part already covered in snow and ice. We arrived almost an hour earlier than we had thought, after a very comfortable ride. Now the mountain seemed to be right there to reach out and touch. K's Hostel here in Kamaguchi has a pick-up service so we phoned them for a ride and they came in about 10 minutes.
We haven't yet learned his name but the driver/host at the hostel has excellent English and has been enormously helpful. Another passenger being picked up was a young man from Bangkok on his first trip to Japan. He was only going to spend one night so he spent the afternoon on a bus around the Lake seeing some of the Lake Kamaguchi sights.
I had been e-mailing since arriving here friends of Sr. Trai Nghiem, one of Doug's monastic friends, whose name is Akemi. Shortly after our arrive at the hostel, they (Keisuke and Toshito arrived to meet us. It turns out they are like second parents to Akemi. She was born in Texas and then moved to Japan for about 12 years.The friends, Keisuke and Toshiko Izumi, are a delightful couple who live between Yokohama and Kamakura (where we are headed tomorrow for a day) but also have a little apartment in the Hakone area near Mt. Fuji. It's still about a couple of hours ride from here so they were so sweet to come all this was to spend the afternoon with us.
It turns out they had never been in this area before so hope they enjoyed seeing a different part of the Mt. Fuji area as well.
Anyhow, it turns out their daughter, a couple of years older than
Akemi, played the violin as well as A. and they became friends. Now the daughter lives I think in Yokohama and is married and works as a translater. She had studied in London and also in Beijing so speaks Mandarin and English. When I talked about my friend's son who writes for Lonely Planet and leads tours here in Japan, Toshiko mentioned that her daughter had translated some for Lonely Planet, I guess from Chinese into Japanese. So they have known A. since she was five. Kazemi lived in Japan until she and her mother moved to Seattle for a better education. When her parents split up, she stayed with her mother and went on to study in Europe. She played as a concert violinist at a very prestigious orchestra in Berlin, I think, and they mentioned something about a Mahler Chamber Orchestra. I know K. had said she was playing concert tours until about five years ago when she joined Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village and became a nun. I met her for the first time at my house in October when Doug and 15 others stayed with me for 4 days when they were on the US Tour. She had given me the names of some friends to contact when I was here.
So we spent a lovely afternoon with these generous people. It turns out they had lived 5 years in Netherlands near the Hague and 5 years also in New Jersey when he was working for some electronics company. Their English was really good.
Our guide at the hostel was very helpful in suggesting things to Keisuke for us to do that afternoon, since they had never been in this area. First they took us for lunch at a very Japanese restaurant nearby. Long low tables were filled with tourists eating lunch so we had a few minutes wait. They ordered the local specialty, a miso based soup filled with all kinds of vegetables and the local thicker noodles. It was delicious! Betty and I shared a large bowl and Keisuke and Toshito shared one. We took many pictures and had a delightful conversation.
Next we headed up, up, up the highway to the 5th Station on the side of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately we followed all the way up a diesel tour bus that choked us with fumes but we shut the windows. With pine trees dense on both sides you didn't get the sense of being up high until once in awhile there would be a glimpse of the valley in the distance. But when we arrived at the station, there it was! We were right on the slope! I never thought we'd be able to get that close. Snow and chunks of ice were all around and I was glad I had gone back into the storage area to grab my extra windbreaker as it was COLD! This is where now the pilgrims start their hike to the top of Mt. Fuji. It used to be near the bottom at a particular shrine. They've been doing this pilgrimage for 1000 years or so! Mt. Fuji is the highest and I believe considered the most sacred mountain in Japan. K and T said they had never been up here. There was a statue inside one of the buildings of a guy who when he was 105 had climbed up and down 13 times in succession!! We got to talking then about Keisuke's parents - his father is 100 and his mother 95 and still living on their own in a different prefecture east of Tokyo. He is the oldest of 4 sons. He thought the average life expectancy for Japanese men is now 78 or so and women over 80. Must be all the fish, vegetables, healthy living, hot spring soaks, etc. We have seen so many elderly Japanese out walking around all the tourist places we've visited. The retirement age is 60 so they have a LONG life after retirement.
There was a post office up top so I wrote out a post card to Jackson and Sarah to be stamped and mailed from there. Of course, there was also a small Shinto shrine with a terrace overlook the other side down to Lake Kamaguchi and in the distance the Hakone area. They suggested we might want to go to Kamakura via Hakone area but it's a lot of bus rides and train changes and I don't know how much we'd really get to see in one day with all that traveling and still get to our reservation in Kamakura tomorrow night. We also didn't think we'd be able to refund our bus ticket back to Shinjuku station in Tokyo that we already paid for. So I think we'll just stick with our plan and keep Hakone area for another visit! I feel content that we really got to see a lot of variety in this country and didn't just stick to the Tokyo area as many tourists do. But you always leave things to come back and see and there are plenty of them here.
After K and T dropped us back at K's hostel at nearly dark - they still had a couple of hours drive back home, Betty and I walked to a local grocery store to pick up some dinner and eggs and veggies, etc. for our breakfasts for a couple of days. After dinner, we walked with the guys from Bangkok (another one was also staying here so he joined the first one) over to the local onsen for a great soak! They had some outside tubs so we spent most of the time looking at the moon and stars while the cool air kept us from boiling in the hot water! It's a lovely way to end the day!
Our roommate last night was a young art teacher from Wales, Sharon Flint, who is 4 months into an 8 month trip (and I'm feeling tired after 6 weeks!) around Asia. She just arrived from Tokyo and is kind of doing our tour in reverse. She previously was in China as well, and then Vietnam, Cambodia and I think India. Betty talked with her before I came in the room so I didn't hear all of it. But we compared notes on travel in China. She is also doing a blog so she gave me her URL (www.flintythenomad.blogspot.com - for those travel bugs like me who will read about ANYONE's trips) that I'll check out later. She said she doesn't mind wearing the same 3 outfits but she said she felt grungy in Tokyo with all the beautiful girls there. So she went out and spent 10 pounds on a "Tokyo dress." She felt much better!
She also told me how to get on directly to add my entries as I constantly had to e-mail to Michelle to have her upload it. Now this morning with her directions (go to the blog FIRST and THEN sign in and that seemed to work), I'm able to type the entry directly into the blog. Yea!!! She also told me how easy it is to add pictures but I don't have my gadget that I put my stick into to upload pictures. I'll work on adding them when I get home.
I forgot to mention Sharon (the woman from Wales) mentioned she went by bus up to 5th Station and met a German guy who was also going to try to hike a bit. The two of them hiked up to the 6th station. She said she was glad he was along as it was very treacherous (the hiking season ends in September but I guess no one stops you!). She fell and also scraped her leg on something. So I'm glad we never even gave it a thought!!
So off today on bikes, after cooking our breakfast in this HUGE kitchen, to see Lake Kamaguchi and more peeks at Mt. Fuji!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Day 2 in Tokyo
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Friday, December 2, 2011
Day one in Tokyo
We headed off in the cold and damp yesterday for our first full day in Tokyo. First we headed to the National Museum. There was a special exhibit of Buddhist artifacts from temples in Kamakura, a town south of here that was the capital for awhile and a big Buddhist center. We will go there on Tuesday. The crowds of Japanese looking at these things was daunting. Fortunately, we were a bit taller and could look over shoulders. The art work was amazing - vivid colors from scrolls that were painted 800 years ago. Would love to know what kind of materials they used that lasted so long. There were two monks that recorded many of these scrolls and don`t know if they or others did the art work. There wasn`t a lot of English explanation and no guide in English. There were many wooden statues as well. So it was worth the look. Then we wandered through the rest of the museum with some red pottery, etc. Next we hopped a train (our JR pass is amazing but mostly doesn`t work on train lines here in Tokyo) for a walking tour that was mentioned in the Lonely Planet Tokyo book we borrowed from the hostel (another great feature of hostels - they always have books to use). It was an old neighborhood reminiscent of the Edo period - the old name of Tokyo until the late 19th century when the capital was moved here from Kyoto and renamed Tokyo. There was a neat Buddhist temple, then walking through an old cemetery. Later a guy told us there were 70 cats that lived in that cemetery and were fed by volunteers. We didn`t see a single one. But high on Betty`s to do today is a shrine nearby to cats! We found a store along the way that had all kinds of cat socks, bibs, posters, etc. An entire store! That was the guy who told us about the cats in the cemetery. We found the temple to Kannon, the Japanese version of Guanyin - the female Buddha from China. But the temple itself was closed, although wandered through a small cemetery outside the temple. Then the interesting small museum of sculpture on the walking tour was ALSO closed this month for renovations. Then the Swiss restaurant that had fondue I was looking forward to we never did find!! So the tour was kind of a bust but it was an interesting neighborhood. I think Tokyo is like New York and Boston - filled with all kinds of interesting small neighborhoods. You just have to know where to look for them. Hopped another train to go to this Toyota Salon, it`s called, where I had hoped to find maybe a gift shop to bring my son-in-law a hat or t-shirt. It was an interesting 5 level car showroom that had all kinds of info on cars. There was a driving simulator that made me nauseous and I had to stop. All kinds of Toyota models that I`d never heard of - you could sit in. Never saw the Highlander but lots of Camrys. It was definitely a very different showroom for cars! We stopped for dinner at a Shakey`s Pizza - it was delicious!!! There was another stop we made at this area where these cosplay they call it - teen-age girls who dress up in crazy costumes with goth makeup, etc. pose for tourists. It mentioned Sunday afternoon and last night we didn`t see any so maybe it`s something we`ll miss. I didn`t care at this point. So we headed back to the hostel by train. This time we were in the RUSH HOUR crowd! We literally were pushed onto the train and as I was packed between about 4 people, they could feel me laughing and one Japanese girl could understand me as I said to Betty - what happened to my personal space? Japanese people are SO courteous and considerate, etc., and it all goes away on the crowded trains! It reminded me of the time in Shanghai when I was literally lifted off my feet onto a subway by the crowd. Back at the hostel I was too tired to go down the street to soak in the public bath - although I`m sure I would have enjoyed it. I had gotten up at 6 a.m. yesterday to try and talk with Kerry and my grandkids on Skype. We finally were able to - I could see and hear them but they couldn`t hear me until one of the guys from the office fixed the headphones. I got up today to talk to my sister, getting the headphones last night from the desk, and they wouldn`t work. Apparently she could hear me but I couldn`t see or hear her. Bummer! I`ll try again tomorrow! This hostel is very nice - in a great location for the train, next to a great souvenir shopping area, and out the direction towards Narita airport. Unfortunately, when we go to the plane, we have to head back to downtown and then take the JR train out to the airport. The hostel has just 4 beds ensuite - with our own toilet (still love those Japanese toilets with heated seats! showers from underneath with warm water! ) and our own sink and shower for just the 4 of us. An elevator (we`re on the 3rd floor) with a sign that says we should walk up and down if we don`t have luggage, to save the electricity for the victims of the tsunami/earthquake. A couple of places we have stayed said part of their fee goes to the victims. They are all still well aware of how much people suffered and continue to suffer. I mentioned the 9 people Mr. Uno took in for a few months after the tragedy . So it`s time to wake Betty and get moving for today. Hopefully the weather will be better. Off tomorrow for Mt. Fuji area where I will meet a couple who are friends with Sr. Trai Nghiem, one of the sisters traveling with Doug on the Wakeup Tour. They are going to be weekending in the Fuji area and we will meet up tomorrow for a visit. She said she has known them since she was 5. She was born in Dallas, TX, but lived in Japan for 12 years growing up. Both her parents were Japanese but have both passed away. She was a concert violinist インEurope until about 5 years ago when she joined Doug`s community in France. I had never met her before. She gave us a wonderful concert of a Mozart piece after the dinner they all cooked, when they were staying with me. She had contacted her friends here so we could meet up. Sayonara! from Khaosan Hostel in Tokyo! |
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Hikone ~ Part 2
We are now settled at the hostel in Tokyo and went out shopping already! Internet is free here so I may have time to finish this entry. I left off after the castle in Hikone.
Dasi had planned to have an "interesting conversation" from 7 to 9 with some other people who want to speak with foreigners last night. We left our suitcase in a locker in Hikone and trained one stop to where she lived in South Hikone. We then walked about 45 minutes stopping at a grocery store along the way to pick up dinner. By this time I was ready to bag this whole encounter as I was SOOOO tired and my feet and knees hurt. But we plodded on. She said her friend Mr. Uno would cook miso soup and rice but we should pick up stuff to finish the meal. We then walked MORE and finally arrived at his lovely home. He was delightful, very energetic and we spread out the food to supplement his rice and soup. His English is sparse but we managed with Dasi to translate. She had told us, and he later told us, that he was an elementary teacher, 5th grade, and when he was 25 he got a disease in his eyes and is now blind. He has now become Christian (he left later that evening for church which he attends on Sunday and Weds. ) He also has learned to play the saxophone and played 3 beautiful numbers for us, Amazing Grace, White Christmas and Silent Night - beautiful! after dinner. He also has learned massage and acupuncture and promised to massage our weary legs after he returned from Church. We should shower and then soak in his deep tub and then he would massage us.
3 women arrived for conversation - one a friend of Dasis who lives on a farm, about 90 minutes away - she drove - with her parents and one of her children still in high school (two are at university - she is a widow, going to start a Farm Visit business for tourists. ) She spoke a little English and was charming. then two young girls, in their 20s, I think, arrived. Dasi had found them on some listserv, I think. They also drove even further to attend this conversation! We felt a bit intimidated. But they were all delightful and we asked and answered questions about Japan and America, the environment, politics, marriage, courting, divorce in both places, lawsuits, etc. We all hugged (American) and bowed (Japanese) and exchanging e-mail addresses at 9+30 when Mr. Uno returned.
Mr. Uno showed us where to bring down the futons and blankets from upstairs to set up for the 3 of us (Dasi was staying the night as well after she bicycled home to feed the rabbit) to help with translating.
Betty quickly showered and soaked and then she had a wonderful pressure point massage. Then I did the same! Wonderful!!!! His house in the living room and dining room is usual in that it has radiant heat in the flooring. So we were toasty and comfortable all night.
Mr. Uno prepared a wonderful breakfast of stir fried veggies, leftover rice and chicken and the miso soup before he headed off to work (he teaches at a blind school). He set us up on the internet in his bedroom (where I was writing before ) before he left. We told Dasi he would make a charming co-host of a small inn like she wants to set up and they could help each other.
BTW, Japan has all over the sidewalks and in buildings like rail stations, etc., these yellow strips with bumps and dots. I thought they were for dividing the walkers, bikers, whatever. No, they are for blind people!! They can follow them with their canes! It reminded me of the Freedom Trail in Boston except these are painted yellow rather than the red in Boston. Talk about consideration for a minority group of people!!
Mr. Uno is now 47, he told us. He maneuvers and manages in his house, and the world, I suspect, just fine. He was telling Betty-san and Susan-san that he couldn't really tell our voices apart but he could tell I was taller as my voice was coming from a higher place! He was just so friendly and charming! and Dasi was so incredibly helpful to us. She walked with us back to the station where we hopped the train for Hikone, grabbed our suitcases and got an earlier train to Maibara and then the Bullet train to Tokyo. We made one mistake when we got here and took a metro the WRONG direction. When we tried to put the ticket in on exiting, the railway guys called us over and told us the right way to go and reimbursed our ticket back the right way. The hostel is in a great location, not too far from Narita airport where we will stay our last, Weds. night before flying out. We will be here over the weekend, then train or bus to Mt. Fuji area for 2 nights and possibly meet up with Sr. Trai Nghiem's friends (she is in Doug's Buddhist community and she stayed in Wellfleet for the 4 days when Doug was there in October). Then we will spend one day in Kamakura, another former capital, and big Buddhist site before returning to Tokyo for a final night. I'll be really glad to see home!! But it's been amazing!
Dasi had planned to have an "interesting conversation" from 7 to 9 with some other people who want to speak with foreigners last night. We left our suitcase in a locker in Hikone and trained one stop to where she lived in South Hikone. We then walked about 45 minutes stopping at a grocery store along the way to pick up dinner. By this time I was ready to bag this whole encounter as I was SOOOO tired and my feet and knees hurt. But we plodded on. She said her friend Mr. Uno would cook miso soup and rice but we should pick up stuff to finish the meal. We then walked MORE and finally arrived at his lovely home. He was delightful, very energetic and we spread out the food to supplement his rice and soup. His English is sparse but we managed with Dasi to translate. She had told us, and he later told us, that he was an elementary teacher, 5th grade, and when he was 25 he got a disease in his eyes and is now blind. He has now become Christian (he left later that evening for church which he attends on Sunday and Weds. ) He also has learned to play the saxophone and played 3 beautiful numbers for us, Amazing Grace, White Christmas and Silent Night - beautiful! after dinner. He also has learned massage and acupuncture and promised to massage our weary legs after he returned from Church. We should shower and then soak in his deep tub and then he would massage us.
3 women arrived for conversation - one a friend of Dasis who lives on a farm, about 90 minutes away - she drove - with her parents and one of her children still in high school (two are at university - she is a widow, going to start a Farm Visit business for tourists. ) She spoke a little English and was charming. then two young girls, in their 20s, I think, arrived. Dasi had found them on some listserv, I think. They also drove even further to attend this conversation! We felt a bit intimidated. But they were all delightful and we asked and answered questions about Japan and America, the environment, politics, marriage, courting, divorce in both places, lawsuits, etc. We all hugged (American) and bowed (Japanese) and exchanging e-mail addresses at 9+30 when Mr. Uno returned.
Mr. Uno showed us where to bring down the futons and blankets from upstairs to set up for the 3 of us (Dasi was staying the night as well after she bicycled home to feed the rabbit) to help with translating.
Betty quickly showered and soaked and then she had a wonderful pressure point massage. Then I did the same! Wonderful!!!! His house in the living room and dining room is usual in that it has radiant heat in the flooring. So we were toasty and comfortable all night.
Mr. Uno prepared a wonderful breakfast of stir fried veggies, leftover rice and chicken and the miso soup before he headed off to work (he teaches at a blind school). He set us up on the internet in his bedroom (where I was writing before ) before he left. We told Dasi he would make a charming co-host of a small inn like she wants to set up and they could help each other.
BTW, Japan has all over the sidewalks and in buildings like rail stations, etc., these yellow strips with bumps and dots. I thought they were for dividing the walkers, bikers, whatever. No, they are for blind people!! They can follow them with their canes! It reminded me of the Freedom Trail in Boston except these are painted yellow rather than the red in Boston. Talk about consideration for a minority group of people!!
Mr. Uno is now 47, he told us. He maneuvers and manages in his house, and the world, I suspect, just fine. He was telling Betty-san and Susan-san that he couldn't really tell our voices apart but he could tell I was taller as my voice was coming from a higher place! He was just so friendly and charming! and Dasi was so incredibly helpful to us. She walked with us back to the station where we hopped the train for Hikone, grabbed our suitcases and got an earlier train to Maibara and then the Bullet train to Tokyo. We made one mistake when we got here and took a metro the WRONG direction. When we tried to put the ticket in on exiting, the railway guys called us over and told us the right way to go and reimbursed our ticket back the right way. The hostel is in a great location, not too far from Narita airport where we will stay our last, Weds. night before flying out. We will be here over the weekend, then train or bus to Mt. Fuji area for 2 nights and possibly meet up with Sr. Trai Nghiem's friends (she is in Doug's Buddhist community and she stayed in Wellfleet for the 4 days when Doug was there in October). Then we will spend one day in Kamakura, another former capital, and big Buddhist site before returning to Tokyo for a final night. I'll be really glad to see home!! But it's been amazing!
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