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Published: March 30th 2009
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We had our first visitors arrive last Sunday. My sister Susan and my brother-in-law Todd (aka Toad) made the long journey over to see what kind of life we've been living here in Japan. Here is the low down on the incredible week we had together.
We started off Monday morning bright and early (left the apartment at 5:30 am) going to Tsukiji (pronounced ski-jee) Fishmarket. It's a classic old world fish market where we watched the traditional tuna auction. The auctioneers scream out things in japanese, while people are poking at and evaluating huge frozen tuna (so big some of us at first thought they were seals). This is one of the most confusing things you can possibly imagine. We call it "cracking the code". Whenever we just can't understand something, we attribute it to our inability to "Crack the Code". Anytime we do "crack the code", it's an enormous achievement worthy of several Kirins.
We came all the way to Japan to see celebraties. In this case, it was Lacey from the old tv show "Cagney and Lacey" - Tyne Daly. She was in the crowd watching the auction with us. After the auction, we walked the market
viewing everything from the sea in all its hideousness, mostly still crawling. We finished it off in a sushi restaurant at 7:00 a.m. Thrown right into the wolf's dens, we were off and running and no one shied away.
We really need to praise Todd here. The guy is up for any and everything. On three hours of sleep, he's pounding down sushi or pounding out karaoke. He's responsible for most of the photos in this blog and has a 14 hour video of everything we did---sans the karaoke. Well done, Toad. We're proud of you.
We then went to a traditional tea ceremony. There are lots of formalities and rules to follow - not to mention edibles and tea that are pretty hard to swallow (especially if you have a sensitive gag reflex) - but it was a good opportunity to appreciate some of the beauty and history of the Japanese culture. What we gleaned from this---old Japanese women are painfully slow and dutifully ceremonial...oh and their tea and crumpets taste like dirt.
The third part of the day was spent walking around Ginza - the famous ultra expensive shopping area. It puts Michigan Avenue to
shame. (And Susan didn't buy anything!)
The first day ended with an excellent taco salad made for us by Chef Maureen Thomas. Perfect way to say adios to our visitor's first day in Tokyo.
On the second day, Maureen and Susan went to a traditional Yoga workout done in all Japanese. We then all met Stephen to go to a Japanese baseball game (pre-season). There are mini-skirted-girls walking around with kegs strapped to their backs serving beers. Todd thought he had died and gone to heaven. It was definitely a little chilly at the game - but we were true fans of the Yakult Swallows (or Todd just wanted to keep swallowing his keg girl's beers) so we stayed until the end of the game. On the way home we stopped at Shibuya station - outside this station is the largest, busiest cross walk in the world. Over 4 million people cross there each day. It was pretty amazing to see. We also saw the statue of "Hachiku" - a dog the Japanese believe to be the most loyal dog ever. An Akita, he waited for his owner at the station at 2:50 p.m. every day for 10
years after his owner's death .
We ended the day (and started the next day) with Maureen and Stephen's friend Campbell O'Shea. She hosted an early birthday celebration for Maureen - a wine and cheese tasting up on their apartment rooftop terrace area. The view was amazing. After some wine, and cheese, and some more wine - we thought it was a good idea to go to traditional Japanese Karaoke. This is where you get a small, private room, two microphones, lots of beers and the choice of more songs than you can imagine. What we thought would just be one hour turned unto four hours of karaoke. Anyone who knows Susan knows she is heaven with a microphone and Celine Dion. By the time we arrived home it was 4:15 am - not good for the jet lag management (and a few other things - like getting to work by 8am).
Wednesday was cold and rainy - perfect for a day after 4:30 am karaoke. Stephen ventured out to work and we ventured out to Maureen and Stephen's favorite burger place - Zest. A cheeseburger and fries never tasted so good. Wednesday night was a little more
low key - dinner in and early to bed.
Thursday was Maureen's 31st birthday. It was a jam packed, fun filled day. We started in Kappabashi. A more traditional part of Tokyo where there are more pottery shops (and restaurant supply shops) than you can imagine. We had lunch at Maureen's favorite lunch "set" spot - the Waffle Cafe. (They seem to love their waffles and their sets here). We then went to Asakusa where we were packed into a flea market that led to the Kiyomiza Kannon-do Temple. We had our first ice cream cone (they love their ice cream - actually all sweets), washed ourselves with incense, received our fortune from the fortune sticks and did a little shopping. Our next stop was Inakaya, an amazing restaurant frequented by movie stars, that has the most entertaining waiters that scream and yell, and amazing, fresh Teppanyaki. We ended our night at the Fish Bar, a circular bar with a fish tank inside the bar that runs around the entire place...very cool. Todd really enjoyed feeding pretzels to the fish.
We got a late jump on Friday. To cleanse ourselves, we had a holy day at the shrines
and temples in Kamakura (which is about a hour outside of Tokyo). We basked in smoke and bathed in water. The country has beautiful gardens in a city so old. Their religious values are evident in every part of their lives; from work, to architecture, to food, history and religion are powerful influences.
On Saturday, after a visit to the Imperial Palace, we headed north to Mt. Takao about an hour outside of Tokyo by train. We took a chair-lift to the top of the mountain. There are monkeys there, but we didn't see any. From there, we hiked down to a waterfall. There were shrines and cemeteries the entire hour long hike down the mountain. At the bottom, we caught a shuttle to a beautiful traditional, "country" dinner. Set in a wooded area with individual cabins, we had an 8 course meal of fresh vegetables, cooked meats, and Kirin beer. We got back into Tokyo a bit later than we wanted, but that didn't stop us from hitting Mo's favorite bar, The Mermaid for more Kirins (and maybe a little Mcdonald's).
On Sunday, we walked to Roppongi Hills to celebrate the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Festival where we
had a picnic of noodles, sandwiches, hot dogs, and crepes. From there, we went back to Ginza, where this time, Susan did buy something. We actually ran into a friend from Chicago in the train underground on our way to Tokyo Midtown. What are the chances!
Our first guests were a joy to have here, and we're sorry to see them go. It also made us realize that there are endless adventures to be had in this huge city. We all had a wonderful time together and enjoyed exploring this wonderful city.
Next up: Ginna and Gene...Karaoke anyone?
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