Tokyo: Day Two

We lugged ourselves out of bed for day two of Tokyo--tired, but excited--and headed straight to Asakusa. We decided to wait for breakfast, but by the time we arrived in Asakusa it was nearly lunch time. There was a nice restaurant where Chad ate omuraisu, which is similar to how is sounds: an omelet with rice inside. I had a lovely obentou.

Next, we headed down the crowded streets to Asakusa Temple, one of the oldest temples in Tokyo.

Seeing the temple was well worth having to wade through the crowd. Pictures below include the gate to the shrine, Chad wafting away evil spirits with incense smoke, a pagoda, and some of the decorative work found inside the temple.

This was painted on the ceiling in the temple:

The gate to the shrine is called the "Thunder Gate," and it is guarded by the god of wind on the right, and the god of thunder on the left.

Before leaving Asakusa, we made two very important stops. First:

Taiyaki glory.

And second:

Afternoon Sangrias.

From Asakusa, we decided to leave Tokyo and go to Yokohama, Japan's second largest city. When we arrived, Chad was taken over by excitement and suddenly became part of Dragon Ball Z.

Then he got to use a big boy rocking chair!

Yokohama is famous for being one of the first ports in Japan to be opened to foreign trade, but it's also famous for its China town. You can bet that as soon as Chad recovered from his fireball throwing and rocking chair fun we headed toward the luring streets of Japan's largest China town.

Discovering Yokohama China Town

After an expensive dinner in the China Town (yeah, what? I thought Chinese food was cheap!), we went back to Shinjuku. Night had fallen, but we weren't finished yet!

Above you can see what happens when you enter a SMAP izakaya, and below you can see Shinjuku's awesome night lights and the side of a Tokyo cab.

Almost time for bed, but not without one final question:

Day Three coming soon!

Day Trip to Osaka

Last Friday we headed out to Osaka for the day so Chad could finally get a chance to see Hirakata and my old university, Kansai Gaidai.

Osaka feels quite different from Mie. Whereas Osaka is one of Japan's biggest, most well-known prefectures, even many Japanese aren't sure where Mie is! (Not to mention Osaka has a larger population and a louder personality and style.) Something we noticed quite quickly was how the Keihan trains looked in comparison to those of the Kintetsu line. Aren't the colors cool? Below are some other highlights from our day.

• An obentou (Japanese lunchbox) shop near my old dormitory
• Realistic plastic food models to help customers choose what to order.
• Chad's lunch: mayo noodle salad, Japanese pickled vegetables, tonkatsu (pork cutlets), and rice with sesame seeds
• Caitlyn's lunch: mayo noodle salad, Japanese pickled vegetables, steak and veggies, rice with sesame seeds

Time for a Picnic!

The above picture was taken in the park at which we had our picnic. It's actually right around the corner from the dorm I lived in for a semester. (How convenient! A liquor store and a park right near a college dorm!)

After our picnic, we headed to Namba to do some shopping. One famous landmark in Namba is the Glico man, a mascot of the confectionary company that makes famous products like Pocky.

One of the shopping streets:

• Osaka is famous for Takoyaki! Yum, octopus balls!
• Of course, when Chad sees dango it's a necessary stop. This shop also had Ichigo Daifuku, which is mochi with a cold strawberry inside. So delicious!
  

Nothing cooler than a bike with two kegs on it ;-)

Lastly, Chad posing as Mario:

Happy 25th Birthday to Chad!

The Friday before Chad's birthday, some of his friends threw a surprise party for him. The party was held at a "Western" style bar in Tsu, and we had a lot of fun.

Don't know how much can really be said about that sign...

Takahiro is holding one of my favorite Japanese foods: takoyaki (octopus balls). This particular tray of takoyaki has a special surprise: one ball has a very strong spicy and not-so-good flavor. None of us aside from Takahiro knew about it, so Chad and I felt lucky not to be the ones in for the surprise (our friend Yasu got it!).


Chad ate this sucker, head and all.

Some kind of salad with chow mien noodles.

The restaurant gives all parties a one dollar bill that everyone is supposed to sign. Usually the bar keeps the bill and hangs it on the wall, but Chad got to keep ours.

Chad's complimentary birthday dessert....

and ours:

Emiko held the dessert near her head to give a sense of the sheer size and glory of it.

Present time!

On Chad's actual birthday, we slept in and then had blueberry pancakes (blueberries are a rare treat here as they're very expensive). Can't say how great the blueberries ended up tasting, but it's the thought, right? At the very least, we had some delicious Eno Maple Syrup to eat on them ;-)

After some deliberation, we decided to go to Toba aquarium. We hopped on a train and enjoyed beautiful scenery on the way:

When we got there, we enjoyed our obentou, or Japanese lunch boxes. This was my first attempt at making obentou, and they turned out pretty delicious (albeit a little smushed!).

The view from where we ate lunch.

After lunch we headed to the aquarium and saw some really amazing creatures. We had a really nice time.

Biggest. Crab. Ever.

It's lookin' at YOU!

Apparently one shouldn't get too close to the pelicans or storks.

I had never seen a seahorse before. The seahorses in Toba Aquarium were the length of my forearm! So cool!

Deep thoughts...

Craziest thing ever: a petting zoo for octopus! They are surprisingly soft, but the moment you touch them their tentacles move all of the place. One of the suctions on the tentacles caught hold of my finger and sucked! Ahh! Overall it was pretty cool, but I decided the octopuses must have stressful lives being exposed to curious people touching them all day.

After the aquarium, we decided to have a couple of local beers while we waited for the train. We went back to the ocean side and swung our legs over the side of a big wall. Chad said, "Be careful not to lose your sandal down there." After saying okay in a way like, "Oh, if you say so...." I swung my legs over and then...my flip-flop fell into the water. The wall was so high, there was no way Chad could jump in and get it--he wouldn't be able to get back up. On top of that, there were tons of jelly fish floating around. To say the least, I got even more looks than usual when riding the train home. ("Wow! There's a foreigner! Wow! She's not wearing any shoes!)


Our beers.

My sandal floating down the river.

When we got back to Yokkaichi, we had yakiniku, or Korean-style barbeque, for dinner. More on yakiniku later, but pictures are below:

The grill in the middle of our table.

After our fill of dinner, we headed home for Chad's birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, handsome!

I hope Chad had a nice day. He mostly went on and on about what and old man he is now ;-) We miss you all very much and wish you could have been here to celebrate with us.

Next post: Mount Fuji!