EMD trip report: Japan 2006, w/a teenage girl
Apr 29th, 2006, 03:56 AM
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EMD trip report: Japan 2006, w/a teenage girl
Day 1 (and technically Day 2 also due to time change), Fri., 4/7 and Sat. 4/8/06:
We are taxiing on the airstrip at Dulles, on the way to Narita for my 13 yr old daughter’s first trip to Japan. We are on ANA flight NH-1, the only daily nonstop btwn. Dulles and Japan. Last year my son and I both flew on Northwest Air w/free tickets w/Continental OnePass miles. This time, Celine is using FF ticket on United points, and I paid a whopping $1200 for my ticket. I did this because it is worth it to me to have the non-stop on the way back, since we are returning the day before Celine returns to school. I missed out on a short sale period when I could have gotten the ticket for about $900; oh well. The 1st wk. is spring break for her, the 2nd wk was granted by her school as educational leave. I picked this timing as she will only miss the 1st wk of the new quarter and can make that up easily.
Our seats are in the middle of the coach section, aisle and middle. The seats are uncomfortable. Compared to our Northwest seats last yr, they are not good. Less legroom, and the seats are harder. There is an annoying feature- on the armrest there is a remote control for the video screen and it has a depression in it, so when you rest your arm it has an uncomfortable area that has a depression for the remote under it. The section of the seat that goes from under knees to back is too short for me. These seats are made for Japanese-style people, I think. Also, on Northwest, we had the advantage of having those great seats in the back of the plane where there are only 2 seats on the side row instead of 3. So last year we had more storage rm. next to our seat, an extra seat in front of us for under-storage, and no one next to us.
This time the man next to Celine plays the same video game for 12 hrs. straight. After about 8 hrs. we both felt very caged in on this flight. However, the flight attendants are WONDERFUL, service is great. My daughter gets the vegetarian meals I ordered for her without a hitch, we are offered water once an hr., beverage cart goes through once every 90 min., we get two full decent meals (lunch: cold noodles w/a sweet fish sauce, shrimp salad w/organic wasabi lemon dressing, pork cutlet w/fried rice and veggies, milano cookies, and green tea). I also got a sandwich later, and a nice hot breakfast before landing. They have an open box of snacks (including fresh fruit, juices, and H2O) set up in the galleys that you can go for any time you want.
I am wearing support hose for the 1st time in my life. As some of you will recall, last year I had a terrible time w/my ankles and feet swelling beyond belief (to the point where I could not wear any shoes the last few days of the trip). I had never had this problem before and it took a month to dissipate after we got back. Much medical testing revealed no source for the problem. But I was determined to avoid this again and bought 2 prs of knee-high open-toe black support hose online (www.footsmart.com). They feel great, and I ended up wearing them every day on the trip. No swelling at all this time, and they kept my legs warm and give me ankle support too. I highly recommend these.
Unlike NWA, ANA has a video screen on the back of every seat. This helps my daughter, who watches all of the movies (Walk the Line, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc.) except one. I find the screen distracting because when you don’t have it on, it acts like a mirror and reflects your picture back to you- so you can watch yourself go from decent looking at noon to total deadbeat hag by the time you arrive 13 hs. Later. My daughter also reads the DaVinci Code, which has her mesmerized. I spend most of the flight time organizing our trip, picking trains (since I only got the paper JR schedule 2 days before we left), etc. We both stayed awake. Like last year, I took a “No Jet Lag” homeopathic pill every two hours, and we drank copious amts. of water.
Some of you will recall that last year my son and I had a weird experience with two guys on the flight sitting behind us. We had another weird experience this time. As we were in line at the ANA counter at Dulles, I chatted w/a young man, about 20, long hair, going to Japan w/his older brother for 1st time. They were going to visit a 3rd brother in Sendai, and then traveling back to Tokyo, Kyoto, back to Narita. I said, “So you have a JR voucher”, assuming this. He said, “No, my brother says we’ll get one in Japan.”
I tapped the older brother on the shoulder and explained to him that he was mistaken, and that he wouldn’t be able to get a JR pass once he checked in for this flight, that it must be purchased in the US before checking in. He looked like he didn’t believe me, and said his travel agent had not told him that. I said, “Sir, if I was you, I would step out of line, call JTB in NYC right now (and I gave him the number as I had it handy in my backpack) and buy two rail pass vouchers and arrange for them to be delivered in the US to someone who will Fed Ex them to you in Japan.” Then, I let it go. They went forward to the check-in counter and we went after them. But our encounter w/them was not over and will pick up later.
My own check-in process was interesting. A wk. before the flight I reached “Premier Executive” level in the United FF program, which granted me Star Alliance Gold privileges under that program. This gives significant advantages when flying internationally- use of the top airport lounges on the airline of flight and a 3rd baggage allowance free. My repeated calls to United showed that they had me as Gold in their system, but ANA told me I was not Gold in theirs. I got huge run around from United, from supervisors, to customer service, on and on-- some telling me it takes 48 hrs, 72 hrs, 96 hrs to get it in the system, all of them assuring me it would be there by time of the flight. ANA told me to have a letter from United stating I had Gold status. United would not provide a letter.
So in a fit of sanity, at 4 am the morning before my flight, I went on the Milage Plus website and printed my current statement, proof of my Premier Executive status, and took this w/me to the ANA counter. ANA agent was extremely gracious and bowed, and said I was not gold in the system, but that the printout was sufficient, and gave us entry to the Signet lounge at Dulles.
Very nice lounge indeed- spacious, great drinks, and we had some nice pastries and sushi. We sat and talked w/a man who was going to a conference in Yokohama, and of all things it was a Dicom standards conference! I had just worked on something involving this medical technology for the 1st time the wk before the trip! I had never even heard of this word before last wk. and here I am sitting w/a man who is on the world standards committee. This is a process that enables diff. kinds of medical imaging technology to interface w/each other. I was floored by this encounter; he saved me a consultation fee w/an expert! Travel is so interesting for this very reason, you are inclined to talk to people and thrown together w/people you would otherwise just walk past on the street.
One more note about pre-trip. Packing. I was a total mess on this. I’ve been working in CA much of this year, away from home about 2 wks of each month, and did not start packing until 9 p.m. the night before the flight. My daughter had all her stuff in a 21” roller in like 15 min flat. It took me from 9 p.m. til 3 a.m. to pack. I had stuff all over the house, and the later it got the worse my judgment was. I knew I had to have clothes for cool weather, possibly cold, and warmish weather also. I took too much, but by 3 a.m. I just wanted to get it over with. I had a 25” suitcase full to the brim, plus an extra small Totes bag which was packed inside an empty suitcase, which was packed inside another empty suitcase. So we had 3 suitcases, but the 3rd one was basically empty and had another empty suitcase inside. This was smart, and those 2 extra cases brought home everything we bought.
I knew my daughter was getting into the trip when she asked me to save the seal from her vegetarian sandwich. I have it here in my trip diary now.
In the last hr. of the flight, as I was exercising in back of the plane, I ran into the older brother from the ANA counter. He said that as he was checking in at the ANA counter he called JTB on his cell and arranged for two 2 wk JR vouchers to be sent to his Mom who will Fed Ex them to Tokyo (and he was going to stay in Tokyo to get the pass before moving to Sendai, thus rearranging his trip at the last minute). He thanked me, and I told him it came from Fodors and you all too, since everything I ever learned about JR passes came from you all. So he said to thank you too. Little did I know that this was not the last of him on my trip.
We arrived at Narita Terminal 2 at 3:40 p.m on Sat. Since we were at the front of coach section, we were able to deplane quickly, get right on the tram that goes to customs, and go straight through customs w/only about 20 people ahead of us. A very different scenario from last year when it took us over an hour just to GET to the one hr customs line. Once we got through customs we got our luggage off the carousel and went straight to the arrival lobby “Plus” ATM machine. This is in a bad location, right under the escalator, and people are crammed up w/their luggage. We waited 10 min. in line. No problem using the machine, it is in English.
We went from there straight to the JR office, where I exchanged our vouchers for rail passes that will activate the next day, Sunday. This is a different JR office and terminal than last yr, so I guess I went into Term. 1 last time. This one is much more crowded. Celine waited outside JR w/the (free!) luggage cart. Celine spoke to a woman who was a Japanese teacher at a US high school while I was in the JR. She didn’t tell me til later that this woman teaches at Santa Monica High School!! I have been staying in a Sheraton hotel across the st. from Santa Monica High on my CA trips this year, following their sports, and I know that jlaughs on this forum has a son on the Varisty basketball team in that school. Small world!
I wanted to make train reservations for all of our trains for the next 2 wks, but Celine was too tired to wait for this, so we caught the next limo bus at 5:25 to the Westin. On the way out of the airport, Celine marveled at the mini rock garden at the airport exit, saying “where else has a rock garden at the airport?”
We arrived at Westin at 7:30 pm. AH, HEAVEN. I love this hotel as much as last time. They will not let us touch our bags and whisk us and them up to a high floor to the executive club level (on Starwood points, the best use of them I can imagine). We make it to the club at 7:45, too late technically for the 7:30 end of comp. drinks and appetizers but the the front desk clerk had called them and told them to hold this open for us at check-in. So we watched Tokyo Tower and relaxed and ate. And went to sleep at 10 p.m. w/melatonin 3 mg. for each of us, and a Benadryl for Celine and a Unisom OTC sleep-aid for me.
We are taxiing on the airstrip at Dulles, on the way to Narita for my 13 yr old daughter’s first trip to Japan. We are on ANA flight NH-1, the only daily nonstop btwn. Dulles and Japan. Last year my son and I both flew on Northwest Air w/free tickets w/Continental OnePass miles. This time, Celine is using FF ticket on United points, and I paid a whopping $1200 for my ticket. I did this because it is worth it to me to have the non-stop on the way back, since we are returning the day before Celine returns to school. I missed out on a short sale period when I could have gotten the ticket for about $900; oh well. The 1st wk. is spring break for her, the 2nd wk was granted by her school as educational leave. I picked this timing as she will only miss the 1st wk of the new quarter and can make that up easily.
Our seats are in the middle of the coach section, aisle and middle. The seats are uncomfortable. Compared to our Northwest seats last yr, they are not good. Less legroom, and the seats are harder. There is an annoying feature- on the armrest there is a remote control for the video screen and it has a depression in it, so when you rest your arm it has an uncomfortable area that has a depression for the remote under it. The section of the seat that goes from under knees to back is too short for me. These seats are made for Japanese-style people, I think. Also, on Northwest, we had the advantage of having those great seats in the back of the plane where there are only 2 seats on the side row instead of 3. So last year we had more storage rm. next to our seat, an extra seat in front of us for under-storage, and no one next to us.
This time the man next to Celine plays the same video game for 12 hrs. straight. After about 8 hrs. we both felt very caged in on this flight. However, the flight attendants are WONDERFUL, service is great. My daughter gets the vegetarian meals I ordered for her without a hitch, we are offered water once an hr., beverage cart goes through once every 90 min., we get two full decent meals (lunch: cold noodles w/a sweet fish sauce, shrimp salad w/organic wasabi lemon dressing, pork cutlet w/fried rice and veggies, milano cookies, and green tea). I also got a sandwich later, and a nice hot breakfast before landing. They have an open box of snacks (including fresh fruit, juices, and H2O) set up in the galleys that you can go for any time you want.
I am wearing support hose for the 1st time in my life. As some of you will recall, last year I had a terrible time w/my ankles and feet swelling beyond belief (to the point where I could not wear any shoes the last few days of the trip). I had never had this problem before and it took a month to dissipate after we got back. Much medical testing revealed no source for the problem. But I was determined to avoid this again and bought 2 prs of knee-high open-toe black support hose online (www.footsmart.com). They feel great, and I ended up wearing them every day on the trip. No swelling at all this time, and they kept my legs warm and give me ankle support too. I highly recommend these.
Unlike NWA, ANA has a video screen on the back of every seat. This helps my daughter, who watches all of the movies (Walk the Line, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc.) except one. I find the screen distracting because when you don’t have it on, it acts like a mirror and reflects your picture back to you- so you can watch yourself go from decent looking at noon to total deadbeat hag by the time you arrive 13 hs. Later. My daughter also reads the DaVinci Code, which has her mesmerized. I spend most of the flight time organizing our trip, picking trains (since I only got the paper JR schedule 2 days before we left), etc. We both stayed awake. Like last year, I took a “No Jet Lag” homeopathic pill every two hours, and we drank copious amts. of water.
Some of you will recall that last year my son and I had a weird experience with two guys on the flight sitting behind us. We had another weird experience this time. As we were in line at the ANA counter at Dulles, I chatted w/a young man, about 20, long hair, going to Japan w/his older brother for 1st time. They were going to visit a 3rd brother in Sendai, and then traveling back to Tokyo, Kyoto, back to Narita. I said, “So you have a JR voucher”, assuming this. He said, “No, my brother says we’ll get one in Japan.”
I tapped the older brother on the shoulder and explained to him that he was mistaken, and that he wouldn’t be able to get a JR pass once he checked in for this flight, that it must be purchased in the US before checking in. He looked like he didn’t believe me, and said his travel agent had not told him that. I said, “Sir, if I was you, I would step out of line, call JTB in NYC right now (and I gave him the number as I had it handy in my backpack) and buy two rail pass vouchers and arrange for them to be delivered in the US to someone who will Fed Ex them to you in Japan.” Then, I let it go. They went forward to the check-in counter and we went after them. But our encounter w/them was not over and will pick up later.
My own check-in process was interesting. A wk. before the flight I reached “Premier Executive” level in the United FF program, which granted me Star Alliance Gold privileges under that program. This gives significant advantages when flying internationally- use of the top airport lounges on the airline of flight and a 3rd baggage allowance free. My repeated calls to United showed that they had me as Gold in their system, but ANA told me I was not Gold in theirs. I got huge run around from United, from supervisors, to customer service, on and on-- some telling me it takes 48 hrs, 72 hrs, 96 hrs to get it in the system, all of them assuring me it would be there by time of the flight. ANA told me to have a letter from United stating I had Gold status. United would not provide a letter.
So in a fit of sanity, at 4 am the morning before my flight, I went on the Milage Plus website and printed my current statement, proof of my Premier Executive status, and took this w/me to the ANA counter. ANA agent was extremely gracious and bowed, and said I was not gold in the system, but that the printout was sufficient, and gave us entry to the Signet lounge at Dulles.
Very nice lounge indeed- spacious, great drinks, and we had some nice pastries and sushi. We sat and talked w/a man who was going to a conference in Yokohama, and of all things it was a Dicom standards conference! I had just worked on something involving this medical technology for the 1st time the wk before the trip! I had never even heard of this word before last wk. and here I am sitting w/a man who is on the world standards committee. This is a process that enables diff. kinds of medical imaging technology to interface w/each other. I was floored by this encounter; he saved me a consultation fee w/an expert! Travel is so interesting for this very reason, you are inclined to talk to people and thrown together w/people you would otherwise just walk past on the street.
One more note about pre-trip. Packing. I was a total mess on this. I’ve been working in CA much of this year, away from home about 2 wks of each month, and did not start packing until 9 p.m. the night before the flight. My daughter had all her stuff in a 21” roller in like 15 min flat. It took me from 9 p.m. til 3 a.m. to pack. I had stuff all over the house, and the later it got the worse my judgment was. I knew I had to have clothes for cool weather, possibly cold, and warmish weather also. I took too much, but by 3 a.m. I just wanted to get it over with. I had a 25” suitcase full to the brim, plus an extra small Totes bag which was packed inside an empty suitcase, which was packed inside another empty suitcase. So we had 3 suitcases, but the 3rd one was basically empty and had another empty suitcase inside. This was smart, and those 2 extra cases brought home everything we bought.
I knew my daughter was getting into the trip when she asked me to save the seal from her vegetarian sandwich. I have it here in my trip diary now.
In the last hr. of the flight, as I was exercising in back of the plane, I ran into the older brother from the ANA counter. He said that as he was checking in at the ANA counter he called JTB on his cell and arranged for two 2 wk JR vouchers to be sent to his Mom who will Fed Ex them to Tokyo (and he was going to stay in Tokyo to get the pass before moving to Sendai, thus rearranging his trip at the last minute). He thanked me, and I told him it came from Fodors and you all too, since everything I ever learned about JR passes came from you all. So he said to thank you too. Little did I know that this was not the last of him on my trip.
We arrived at Narita Terminal 2 at 3:40 p.m on Sat. Since we were at the front of coach section, we were able to deplane quickly, get right on the tram that goes to customs, and go straight through customs w/only about 20 people ahead of us. A very different scenario from last year when it took us over an hour just to GET to the one hr customs line. Once we got through customs we got our luggage off the carousel and went straight to the arrival lobby “Plus” ATM machine. This is in a bad location, right under the escalator, and people are crammed up w/their luggage. We waited 10 min. in line. No problem using the machine, it is in English.
We went from there straight to the JR office, where I exchanged our vouchers for rail passes that will activate the next day, Sunday. This is a different JR office and terminal than last yr, so I guess I went into Term. 1 last time. This one is much more crowded. Celine waited outside JR w/the (free!) luggage cart. Celine spoke to a woman who was a Japanese teacher at a US high school while I was in the JR. She didn’t tell me til later that this woman teaches at Santa Monica High School!! I have been staying in a Sheraton hotel across the st. from Santa Monica High on my CA trips this year, following their sports, and I know that jlaughs on this forum has a son on the Varisty basketball team in that school. Small world!
I wanted to make train reservations for all of our trains for the next 2 wks, but Celine was too tired to wait for this, so we caught the next limo bus at 5:25 to the Westin. On the way out of the airport, Celine marveled at the mini rock garden at the airport exit, saying “where else has a rock garden at the airport?”
We arrived at Westin at 7:30 pm. AH, HEAVEN. I love this hotel as much as last time. They will not let us touch our bags and whisk us and them up to a high floor to the executive club level (on Starwood points, the best use of them I can imagine). We make it to the club at 7:45, too late technically for the 7:30 end of comp. drinks and appetizers but the the front desk clerk had called them and told them to hold this open for us at check-in. So we watched Tokyo Tower and relaxed and ate. And went to sleep at 10 p.m. w/melatonin 3 mg. for each of us, and a Benadryl for Celine and a Unisom OTC sleep-aid for me.
Apr 29th, 2006, 05:52 AM
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Excellent, thanks! I'm traveling to Japan for the first time in a few months, so I'm looking forward to your report. Also, as the parent of a 13 year-old daughter with whom we travel a lot, I always enjoy reading about others' trips with kids of similar age (although my trip to Japan will be with my mother; DD decided she'd rather go to camp in Canada).
Apr 29th, 2006, 05:54 AM
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Wonderful start, emd! Can't wait for more! I took NoJetLag this time also - do you think it makes a difference? I took Ambien the first two nights I was there to help me sleep. Plus like you I also wear support stockings on the plane. I had phlebitis many years ago and got nervous when I started to read stuff about DVT in cattle class....I remember your problem from last year's trip - glad it did not recur.
Apr 29th, 2006, 06:10 AM
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Mara, I don't know if the No Jet Lag makes a diff. But I do FDA-related work and know that homeopathics have so little of the ingredients in them, just miniscule amts., that they are highly unlikely to have side effects or interact w/other medications, so I figure what the heck. And on both trips, using No Jet Lag on the plane and melatonin for 3 nights I have had no jet lag at all. However, I messed w/that formula on the way home this time (took No Jet Lag but only took melatonin 1st night back) and paid heavily for it w/intense jet lag this week. I won't do that again.
ms, you will see as the trip goes on that trvel w/my daughter is very different than w/my son, not nearly as easy. I plan to be very honest about that in the report.
I am working on day 3 now...
ms, you will see as the trip goes on that trvel w/my daughter is very different than w/my son, not nearly as easy. I plan to be very honest about that in the report.
I am working on day 3 now...
Apr 29th, 2006, 07:24 AM
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Day 3, Sun., 4/9/06
I am awake at 6:30 a.m., a good 8 hrs. of sleep. Once again, I am thankful for the heavy sunblocking drapes at the Westin, and for the good design of the rm, which makes it possible for me to make coffee and have time alone in the huge marble bathroom and not wake Celine up.
About that java. I can’t believe it, but I am having trouble w/the coffee thing again this yr. Last yr. I couldn’t find any coffee in the rm. the first morning (and ended up drinking 6 cups of green tea instead), and later found coffee in a drawer. This time I know where the coffee is, but I can’t remember or figure out how to plug the freaking hot water pot. I take the whole thing in the bathrm. and it takes me a half hr. to figure out that the plug goes in the wall, but then the part of the plug that attaches to the pot is magnetic and also has to be connected. Either I am really stupid or I am disoriented.
Our rentql phones were at the front desk when we checked in, supplied by Rentafone, who delivered them. I went through a lot of decision-making re what co. to use, as I had a bad experience getting a phone once I was in Tokyo last yr. I almost used PuPuRu this time, but the phone I wanted had no online application and I had to do it all by email- that part was ok, but then they wanted me to call Japan w/my credit card # and that was not ok, it was an expense for me before even getting the phone. I also looked at the “free” phone offered by ANA to their customers flying into Japan on ANA, but when I added up all of the costs, it was more expensive than renting. With Rentafone they deliver the phone to the hotel and it comes w/an easy pg. of instructions. SO I sit in the bathrm. and get used to the phones.
Celine woke at 7:30 and we went to the breakfast buffet (included in our free exec. level rm. w/points) in the Café in the lobby. It was very good, but not as good as last yr. They have removed the table w/the Japanese breakfast and the omelet station. They make it clear that you can order those items and not pay any more, but you have to order it. And this is not as easy as just going up to a table and trying it. We ate off of the buffet- 15 or so hot dishes, a salad and fruit table (love those lychee nuts), a cereal and juice area, a pastry and bread table. Many choices for Celine’s vegetarian diet. The buffet is 3390 yen adult and 2190 kids if you are paying. There is a baby at the next table and Celine is entranced. She really came to enjoy the Jpanese babies and kids on the trip.
It was breezy and cool so we wore our shell Columbia jackets over our long sleeved shirts and pants. Celine was impressed as we walked through Ebisu Garden Place (a large office, shoping, and museum area btwn the Westin and the JR station). We saw our first wedding party of the day there, a lovely Japanese bride in Western wedding dress having formal pics taken w/her fiancé and family. And Celine loved the indoor moving walkways that run for 5 min. btwn there and the JR station.
We took the JR train just 2 stops up to Harajuku. I missed doing a Sun. there last yr. as we weren’t in Tokyo on a Sun. We got off at Harajuku at 10 a.m., early and not really crowded yet. We got our bearings w/the map and walked right out of the JR station and turned onto the short bridge into Yoyogi park. There were already a few cosplay kids dressed up and sitting on the bridge. We went into Yoyogi park and started the long walk to Meiji shrine. Lovely trees overhanging the wide stone walkway. Celine spied a Japanese man who was literally bent over w/a hand-held natural whisk broom, sweeping leaves on the rock path into a dustpan. We were amazed at this, as it looked like it as soon as he would finish the walkway, which would take forever, he’d have to start all over again. He was very meticulous about what he was doing, in no hurry.
Meiji has a large dark wooden tori at the start of the path, a 2nd one half way down, and a third one just in front of the shrine. As we passed under the 3rd tori, we looked left and saw a wedding party come out of the hall. This was amazing, as they were in traditional dress. The couple was preceeded 2 priests, and was followed by a priest who held a huge red paper umbrella over the couple. The bride’s headdress and kimono was stunning. The couple was followed by the 2 mothers, then the 2 fathers (interesting that the parents do not go as couples, and the mothers go first), then a young woman w/a 6-7 yr old child (sibling w/their child?) and then rest of the wedding party. A drum was being beat in a slow one beat rhythm. The all disappeared to the left of the shrine.
Celine and I walked up into the shrine area. She was afraid to do this, and I had to explain to her several times that it was ok. She watched the throwing of coins into the offering box, the bow, the double and loud clap, and then went over and read the brochure about what it all meant. As we exited the shrine to the right, there are a group of bldgs. and we saw another wedding party inside a room (a reception?) and yet another bride having her pics taken outside, in an even more elaborate wedding outfit w/hair doen similar to a makio or geisha. An older woman was having her picture taken in a simple white flowing gown w/a hood over her head; we assumed this was the bride’s mother. It was all overwhelmingly lovely.
By now Celine had had enough weddings and shrine, so we headed out of the park, retracing our steps. The man was still sweeping leaves. Instead of heading back over the bridge, we spurred off to the right and went into Yoyogi Park from a diff. entrance. There were food stalls set up and lots of action. We walked into the park for about ¼ mile and watched people doing martial arts or some sort w/long sticks, saw many very cute dressed up little dogs, and then Celine announced she had to use the restroom. Interesting, in a public park in Japan, her first time. We foud the restroom, and in she went, refusing to listen to my advice and refusing the little “Urinell” paper cup devices that I had bought from TravelSmith that help a woman w/her “aim” into a Japanese squat toilet. She comes out in 5 min. and says she can’t do it. Luckily, there was a handicapped toilet on the other side of these restrms. and she ran in there.
A few min. later, an alarm goes off, a loud piercing alarm, and it is coming from Celine’s bathrm. stall. She emerges, red faced, and says she meant to open the door but pulled the alarm by accident. We waited to see what would happen. Celine wants to run away (one of her commandments in life is “do not draw attn. to oneself”) but I won’t let her, and I tell her that if someone doesn’t come to turn it off we will need to go find someone at a concession stand and try to talk to them about it. Luckily a man w/a cane came to use it, and he shut the alarm off.
We went outside the park on the street just adjacent, and saw some bands play. One was very good, a jazz band. Some were not as good, like the band that played Carpenters songs (“Close to You” in Japanese, what a classic). There were some informal personal flea markets set up on this street. And a group of kids dressed in rockabilly, but they unfortunately never played while we were there.
Then we went back to the bridge where we had started. By now it was almost 1 pm. The bridge had many more kids in cosplay clothes. Little Bo Peep, several w/a lot of dramatic face paint, Little Red Riding hood in plaid, it was all pretty fun. They posed w/Celine, although she was adamant that I was NOT to pose w/them as she would have to DIE of embarrassment.
We walked down Ometasando and it was thronging w/people. We ducked into a few shops and then went to find Good Honest Grub, a natural foods café that had vegetarian items on their online menu. It was easy to find w/the directions from the website—go past the LaCoste store on the right of Ometasando, turn right in the next alley, and it is down on the right, on the 2nd floor of a bldg. The menu revealed that it was more expensive than I thought. $5 for a coke. Veggie burger (which turned out to have no pattie of any kind, just grilled veggies and a choice of spreads on a bun) and fries for $15. We told the waitress Celine was vegetarian (and waitress spoke perfect English) and explained we wanted cheese only in the quesadillas, but it arrived w/chicken. But it was a good place to relax our feet and people watch, as we could see all sorts of people walking in the wide alley below us. And a man came over and did free magic card tricks for us. It was mostly gaijin in this place. I wouldn’t recommend it; it is overpriced.
We went to Kiddyland and Celine shopped a bit for her friends but it was too croded for me so I sat outside a people watched. Then we headed to the steps of the Gap. When we sat down and looked at the crowds on all 4 corners from this vantage point, it rivaled NYC corners at Christmas-time. We headed down to the right to Takeshita-dori and took a left there to go back towards the train station. The kids on Takeshita-dori were just amazingly dressed, pop to the max. I loved it. Celine shopped in some stores but got frustrated because she is not Japanese size (she is normal sized and also broad shouldered, as she is a competitive swimmer).
Towards late afternoon the crowds died down and we started to find some shops she could find clothes in on a side street. We had dessert crepes from a stand, a typical Harajuku food, and they were great, filled w/ice cream, sauces, fruit, etc. We found a Rock N Roll museum w/a big statue of Elvis outside. Celine liked the “set price” stores, like the 390 yen shop, the 490 yen shop, etc. and she bought belts and other accessories in those. She found out that in some stores she had to take off her shoes before going into the dressing room. She got some very cute and trendy clothes. This is MUCH better teen girl shopping than anything we have found in NYC or LA.
In Harajuku there are also photo booths where you can have your pics taken and pic out all kinds of borders and also “paint” on the pictures before getting them developed and having them come out the machine. A new twist on the old balck and white $1 photo machines we had when I was a kid. We tried a few of those.
At 8 p.m. we ate at Wolfgang Puck Express right across from the station. Celine was really hungry since she could not eat her lunch w/the chicken in it, and this place had spaghetti we knew she could eat. We each had a good salad, and I had a pizza, and drinks and 1 dessert. Total = 2882 yen. Back to the Westin and lights out at 11 pm. A full and fun first day.
I am awake at 6:30 a.m., a good 8 hrs. of sleep. Once again, I am thankful for the heavy sunblocking drapes at the Westin, and for the good design of the rm, which makes it possible for me to make coffee and have time alone in the huge marble bathroom and not wake Celine up.
About that java. I can’t believe it, but I am having trouble w/the coffee thing again this yr. Last yr. I couldn’t find any coffee in the rm. the first morning (and ended up drinking 6 cups of green tea instead), and later found coffee in a drawer. This time I know where the coffee is, but I can’t remember or figure out how to plug the freaking hot water pot. I take the whole thing in the bathrm. and it takes me a half hr. to figure out that the plug goes in the wall, but then the part of the plug that attaches to the pot is magnetic and also has to be connected. Either I am really stupid or I am disoriented.
Our rentql phones were at the front desk when we checked in, supplied by Rentafone, who delivered them. I went through a lot of decision-making re what co. to use, as I had a bad experience getting a phone once I was in Tokyo last yr. I almost used PuPuRu this time, but the phone I wanted had no online application and I had to do it all by email- that part was ok, but then they wanted me to call Japan w/my credit card # and that was not ok, it was an expense for me before even getting the phone. I also looked at the “free” phone offered by ANA to their customers flying into Japan on ANA, but when I added up all of the costs, it was more expensive than renting. With Rentafone they deliver the phone to the hotel and it comes w/an easy pg. of instructions. SO I sit in the bathrm. and get used to the phones.
Celine woke at 7:30 and we went to the breakfast buffet (included in our free exec. level rm. w/points) in the Café in the lobby. It was very good, but not as good as last yr. They have removed the table w/the Japanese breakfast and the omelet station. They make it clear that you can order those items and not pay any more, but you have to order it. And this is not as easy as just going up to a table and trying it. We ate off of the buffet- 15 or so hot dishes, a salad and fruit table (love those lychee nuts), a cereal and juice area, a pastry and bread table. Many choices for Celine’s vegetarian diet. The buffet is 3390 yen adult and 2190 kids if you are paying. There is a baby at the next table and Celine is entranced. She really came to enjoy the Jpanese babies and kids on the trip.
It was breezy and cool so we wore our shell Columbia jackets over our long sleeved shirts and pants. Celine was impressed as we walked through Ebisu Garden Place (a large office, shoping, and museum area btwn the Westin and the JR station). We saw our first wedding party of the day there, a lovely Japanese bride in Western wedding dress having formal pics taken w/her fiancé and family. And Celine loved the indoor moving walkways that run for 5 min. btwn there and the JR station.
We took the JR train just 2 stops up to Harajuku. I missed doing a Sun. there last yr. as we weren’t in Tokyo on a Sun. We got off at Harajuku at 10 a.m., early and not really crowded yet. We got our bearings w/the map and walked right out of the JR station and turned onto the short bridge into Yoyogi park. There were already a few cosplay kids dressed up and sitting on the bridge. We went into Yoyogi park and started the long walk to Meiji shrine. Lovely trees overhanging the wide stone walkway. Celine spied a Japanese man who was literally bent over w/a hand-held natural whisk broom, sweeping leaves on the rock path into a dustpan. We were amazed at this, as it looked like it as soon as he would finish the walkway, which would take forever, he’d have to start all over again. He was very meticulous about what he was doing, in no hurry.
Meiji has a large dark wooden tori at the start of the path, a 2nd one half way down, and a third one just in front of the shrine. As we passed under the 3rd tori, we looked left and saw a wedding party come out of the hall. This was amazing, as they were in traditional dress. The couple was preceeded 2 priests, and was followed by a priest who held a huge red paper umbrella over the couple. The bride’s headdress and kimono was stunning. The couple was followed by the 2 mothers, then the 2 fathers (interesting that the parents do not go as couples, and the mothers go first), then a young woman w/a 6-7 yr old child (sibling w/their child?) and then rest of the wedding party. A drum was being beat in a slow one beat rhythm. The all disappeared to the left of the shrine.
Celine and I walked up into the shrine area. She was afraid to do this, and I had to explain to her several times that it was ok. She watched the throwing of coins into the offering box, the bow, the double and loud clap, and then went over and read the brochure about what it all meant. As we exited the shrine to the right, there are a group of bldgs. and we saw another wedding party inside a room (a reception?) and yet another bride having her pics taken outside, in an even more elaborate wedding outfit w/hair doen similar to a makio or geisha. An older woman was having her picture taken in a simple white flowing gown w/a hood over her head; we assumed this was the bride’s mother. It was all overwhelmingly lovely.
By now Celine had had enough weddings and shrine, so we headed out of the park, retracing our steps. The man was still sweeping leaves. Instead of heading back over the bridge, we spurred off to the right and went into Yoyogi Park from a diff. entrance. There were food stalls set up and lots of action. We walked into the park for about ¼ mile and watched people doing martial arts or some sort w/long sticks, saw many very cute dressed up little dogs, and then Celine announced she had to use the restroom. Interesting, in a public park in Japan, her first time. We foud the restroom, and in she went, refusing to listen to my advice and refusing the little “Urinell” paper cup devices that I had bought from TravelSmith that help a woman w/her “aim” into a Japanese squat toilet. She comes out in 5 min. and says she can’t do it. Luckily, there was a handicapped toilet on the other side of these restrms. and she ran in there.
A few min. later, an alarm goes off, a loud piercing alarm, and it is coming from Celine’s bathrm. stall. She emerges, red faced, and says she meant to open the door but pulled the alarm by accident. We waited to see what would happen. Celine wants to run away (one of her commandments in life is “do not draw attn. to oneself”) but I won’t let her, and I tell her that if someone doesn’t come to turn it off we will need to go find someone at a concession stand and try to talk to them about it. Luckily a man w/a cane came to use it, and he shut the alarm off.
We went outside the park on the street just adjacent, and saw some bands play. One was very good, a jazz band. Some were not as good, like the band that played Carpenters songs (“Close to You” in Japanese, what a classic). There were some informal personal flea markets set up on this street. And a group of kids dressed in rockabilly, but they unfortunately never played while we were there.
Then we went back to the bridge where we had started. By now it was almost 1 pm. The bridge had many more kids in cosplay clothes. Little Bo Peep, several w/a lot of dramatic face paint, Little Red Riding hood in plaid, it was all pretty fun. They posed w/Celine, although she was adamant that I was NOT to pose w/them as she would have to DIE of embarrassment.
We walked down Ometasando and it was thronging w/people. We ducked into a few shops and then went to find Good Honest Grub, a natural foods café that had vegetarian items on their online menu. It was easy to find w/the directions from the website—go past the LaCoste store on the right of Ometasando, turn right in the next alley, and it is down on the right, on the 2nd floor of a bldg. The menu revealed that it was more expensive than I thought. $5 for a coke. Veggie burger (which turned out to have no pattie of any kind, just grilled veggies and a choice of spreads on a bun) and fries for $15. We told the waitress Celine was vegetarian (and waitress spoke perfect English) and explained we wanted cheese only in the quesadillas, but it arrived w/chicken. But it was a good place to relax our feet and people watch, as we could see all sorts of people walking in the wide alley below us. And a man came over and did free magic card tricks for us. It was mostly gaijin in this place. I wouldn’t recommend it; it is overpriced.
We went to Kiddyland and Celine shopped a bit for her friends but it was too croded for me so I sat outside a people watched. Then we headed to the steps of the Gap. When we sat down and looked at the crowds on all 4 corners from this vantage point, it rivaled NYC corners at Christmas-time. We headed down to the right to Takeshita-dori and took a left there to go back towards the train station. The kids on Takeshita-dori were just amazingly dressed, pop to the max. I loved it. Celine shopped in some stores but got frustrated because she is not Japanese size (she is normal sized and also broad shouldered, as she is a competitive swimmer).
Towards late afternoon the crowds died down and we started to find some shops she could find clothes in on a side street. We had dessert crepes from a stand, a typical Harajuku food, and they were great, filled w/ice cream, sauces, fruit, etc. We found a Rock N Roll museum w/a big statue of Elvis outside. Celine liked the “set price” stores, like the 390 yen shop, the 490 yen shop, etc. and she bought belts and other accessories in those. She found out that in some stores she had to take off her shoes before going into the dressing room. She got some very cute and trendy clothes. This is MUCH better teen girl shopping than anything we have found in NYC or LA.
In Harajuku there are also photo booths where you can have your pics taken and pic out all kinds of borders and also “paint” on the pictures before getting them developed and having them come out the machine. A new twist on the old balck and white $1 photo machines we had when I was a kid. We tried a few of those.
At 8 p.m. we ate at Wolfgang Puck Express right across from the station. Celine was really hungry since she could not eat her lunch w/the chicken in it, and this place had spaghetti we knew she could eat. We each had a good salad, and I had a pizza, and drinks and 1 dessert. Total = 2882 yen. Back to the Westin and lights out at 11 pm. A full and fun first day.
Apr 29th, 2006, 08:46 AM
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Oh, by the way, if you are traveling w/a teen, I highly recommend the cell phones. Total cost for two phones for 15 days and numnerous calls to the USA and btwn us in Japan (incoming calls from USA are free) was 17274 yen.
Breakdown:
1) One week rental charge(Yen 3900 x 2)= 7800 yen
2) Extra days ( 8 @ Yen 300 x2)= 4800 yen
3) Call charges: 4674 yen (calculation provided)
Total = 17,274 yen
MUCH better than direct from Vodaphone last year- that was $70 apiece for the phones, and we spent about $40 each on phone cards, w/about same amt. of calling. And MUCH more convenient to have delivery.
This allowed us to split up our very first day- Celine went in one shop, I went to another, we'd call each other on our cells, and meet back up. I felt very comfortable w/this and we did it the entire trip, even inside of stores. We were never far apart but it allowed us some space.
Breakdown:
1) One week rental charge(Yen 3900 x 2)= 7800 yen
2) Extra days ( 8 @ Yen 300 x2)= 4800 yen
3) Call charges: 4674 yen (calculation provided)
Total = 17,274 yen
MUCH better than direct from Vodaphone last year- that was $70 apiece for the phones, and we spent about $40 each on phone cards, w/about same amt. of calling. And MUCH more convenient to have delivery.
This allowed us to split up our very first day- Celine went in one shop, I went to another, we'd call each other on our cells, and meet back up. I felt very comfortable w/this and we did it the entire trip, even inside of stores. We were never far apart but it allowed us some space.
Apr 29th, 2006, 09:15 AM
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emd, I have been anxiously awaiting your trip report. Great so far! I can’t wait to hear more about the guys from the airport. I’m going to print out your report when you’re all done because there are already several things I want to take note.
Traveling with a daughter can be trying at times. Traveling with my daughter for 18 days (24/7) in Thailand wasn’t always joyous, but now two years later she has nothing but good memories and wants to travel with mom again.
Wow! I can’t believe that your daughter spoke with the teacher from Samohi. I wonder if she also spoke with the woman traveling with the instructor. That woman is one of mom’s best friends. What a small world!
Traveling with a daughter can be trying at times. Traveling with my daughter for 18 days (24/7) in Thailand wasn’t always joyous, but now two years later she has nothing but good memories and wants to travel with mom again.
Wow! I can’t believe that your daughter spoke with the teacher from Samohi. I wonder if she also spoke with the woman traveling with the instructor. That woman is one of mom’s best friends. What a small world!
Apr 29th, 2006, 01:38 PM
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Day 4, Mon., 4/10/06
I was up at 6:30 a.m. I sat in “my office” (the bathrm.) and read a funny book of cartoons compiled by Japan Times on “Crazy Things Gaijin Do” or something like that. Very funny. A lot on the shoes thing (“They wear their shoes to the toilet!”) and there is even a cartoon about a woman earing her shoes into the dressing room, like my daughter did yesterday.
Celine was up at 8 and we decided to have bfast in the cluib lounge on our floor instead of the main café. It was just as good as the cafe, and closer, w/better views of the area west of Ebisu, because it is 17 floors up.
I had gotten tickets for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka for today (from JTB in NYC). I loved this small colorful museum w/my son, and thought my daughter would like it also, and I wanted to go back and see the amazing xenotropes. We got to Mitaka station at 10:30 and caught the bus to the museum. It was starting to rain. We had to wait a the Ghibli for a half hr. to get in w/the next batch of people; it is small and they do this for crowd control, and it works. Celine did not seem to enjoy the museum much, she rushed through it and was done in an hr. Then I realized she was not feeling so great. We watched the movie (very engaging, about a girl who embarks on a trip through the forest and takes 5 apples to appease the evil spirits she encounters) and left at noon.
It was really raining and we decided to stop at Nakano Mall since it is close by, on a JR train stop, and has covered shopping streets. We found a soup place for lunch. Celine and I split up and went into different stores close to each other, and some we did together. I spent a lot of time at my favorite beaded jewelry store; I had been there last yr. and was impressed w/the quality of the work there, from many different jewelry artists. I bought a lot of very unique beaded jewelry, most of it made w/Swarovski, which is a favorite of mine.
By 5 p.m. it was still pouring and we ventured under the umbrella to some side streets off the covered mall area. Celine found a restaurant that intrigued her- it looked like there was a fire pit in the middle and it was a few steps down off the st. We went in and 5 men in white outfits and headbands who were gathered around the fire pit yelled “HAI!” at us really loud. That was interesting enough, but then one of them started juggling huge knives. We decided to stay but asked for the menu, hoping Celine could get something vegetarian. Of course it was in Japanese. But one of the men spoke broken English and said they had a few items without fish or meat, so we stayed.
They brought Celine a bowl of miso soup (she agreed to eat fish broth for the trip) and a HUGE rice ball covered in seaweed, the size of a cannonball. She loves rice balls, but this one was hard to maneuver into her mouth. I had warm sake and a grilled white fish. Then I realized what the fire pit was for. They stuck a long wooden spear through the fish and stuck it in the sand around the fire pit and roasted the fish after rubbing fresh herbs and salt on it. It was really tasty. I don’t recall how much the check was but I was happy when we left. We got back to the Westin early at 8 p.m. and went to bed by 10, because we were tired and were supposed to get up early and go to Nikko tomorrow on the new train that leaves from Shinjuku (the one that uses JR tracks for half the way).
I was up at 6:30 a.m. I sat in “my office” (the bathrm.) and read a funny book of cartoons compiled by Japan Times on “Crazy Things Gaijin Do” or something like that. Very funny. A lot on the shoes thing (“They wear their shoes to the toilet!”) and there is even a cartoon about a woman earing her shoes into the dressing room, like my daughter did yesterday.
Celine was up at 8 and we decided to have bfast in the cluib lounge on our floor instead of the main café. It was just as good as the cafe, and closer, w/better views of the area west of Ebisu, because it is 17 floors up.
I had gotten tickets for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka for today (from JTB in NYC). I loved this small colorful museum w/my son, and thought my daughter would like it also, and I wanted to go back and see the amazing xenotropes. We got to Mitaka station at 10:30 and caught the bus to the museum. It was starting to rain. We had to wait a the Ghibli for a half hr. to get in w/the next batch of people; it is small and they do this for crowd control, and it works. Celine did not seem to enjoy the museum much, she rushed through it and was done in an hr. Then I realized she was not feeling so great. We watched the movie (very engaging, about a girl who embarks on a trip through the forest and takes 5 apples to appease the evil spirits she encounters) and left at noon.
It was really raining and we decided to stop at Nakano Mall since it is close by, on a JR train stop, and has covered shopping streets. We found a soup place for lunch. Celine and I split up and went into different stores close to each other, and some we did together. I spent a lot of time at my favorite beaded jewelry store; I had been there last yr. and was impressed w/the quality of the work there, from many different jewelry artists. I bought a lot of very unique beaded jewelry, most of it made w/Swarovski, which is a favorite of mine.
By 5 p.m. it was still pouring and we ventured under the umbrella to some side streets off the covered mall area. Celine found a restaurant that intrigued her- it looked like there was a fire pit in the middle and it was a few steps down off the st. We went in and 5 men in white outfits and headbands who were gathered around the fire pit yelled “HAI!” at us really loud. That was interesting enough, but then one of them started juggling huge knives. We decided to stay but asked for the menu, hoping Celine could get something vegetarian. Of course it was in Japanese. But one of the men spoke broken English and said they had a few items without fish or meat, so we stayed.
They brought Celine a bowl of miso soup (she agreed to eat fish broth for the trip) and a HUGE rice ball covered in seaweed, the size of a cannonball. She loves rice balls, but this one was hard to maneuver into her mouth. I had warm sake and a grilled white fish. Then I realized what the fire pit was for. They stuck a long wooden spear through the fish and stuck it in the sand around the fire pit and roasted the fish after rubbing fresh herbs and salt on it. It was really tasty. I don’t recall how much the check was but I was happy when we left. We got back to the Westin early at 8 p.m. and went to bed by 10, because we were tired and were supposed to get up early and go to Nikko tomorrow on the new train that leaves from Shinjuku (the one that uses JR tracks for half the way).
Apr 29th, 2006, 03:15 PM
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Day 5, Tues., 4/11/06
We had planned to go to Nikko today but it was POURING When we woke up. Everything in Nikko is outdoors and involves walking through the rain, and it is very chilly and windy too. So we gave up on Nikko and went to Asakusa instead, because 4 hrs RT on the train to get soaked didn’t sound good, and I knew that in Askakusa we could duck into places to get out of the rain. We went to Namikase-dori and Senjosi. Celine loved this and I enjoyed it as much this time as last time, maybe even more because she liked it so much. We sampled all kinds of treats and bought a lot of large bags of different flavored rice crackers (from the man’s shop I went to last yr. where he bakes the rice crackers a few at a time over an open fire, off a side st.) and all kinds of sweets to take to my son’s high school Japanese class when we get back..
One cool thing was that we ventured over to that little “hut” that is just off to the right just before you get to the charm places in front of the temple (for those of you who have been there, this is the hut where they have a lot of artifical cherry tree branches outside, and it is set back about 30 ft. off the main dori). It was manned by some elderly volunteers for the “Yokusu” (Welcome) Japan campaign that the govt. has had going for over a yr. to spur tourism. They taught us how to make paper cranes (not as easy as it seems it might be!) and Celine got it better than I did. The elderly man took one look at my folding and called over the woman, who smiled, sighed, and proceeded to patiently refold almost every fold I made for the next half hr.
We wanted to go to the drum museum that Florence talks about on here, but the concierge had told us it was closed on Tuesdays. However , I know exactly where it is now, because we walked right by it to go to a fantastic lunch. I had read about this place called, Sometaro, where you can make your own okonomiyaki at a griddle built into your Japanese style table. To get there, go right at the street as you exit the temple, walk down 4-5 blocks til you get to the big street w/the stop lights, cross that street and you will be on the corner of a street that has a police station on the left corner and the drum museum on the right corner. Go down that street, and Sometaro is on the right on the 1st block. It looks like something out of the Hobbit on the outside, as there are vines that look like grapevines all over the roof and creeping down to the door level.
Inside, we remove our shoes and see that we are the only gaijin there, and there are about 10 low tables w/griddles on them. The waitress brought us English menus and we had an easy time picking items for the oko. that Celine could eat (eggs, cabbage, herbs, sprouts, edible flowers). We got the lunch special that included 3 oko. pancakes, and we made 2 of them vegetarian and one w/meat. We were brought 3 bowls of batter and several bowls of ingredients and she showed us how to mix up the stuff. This is different than the oko. I have had in Hirshima where the stuff is on top of the pancake; this one has the ingredients “built-in”. We poured the batter w/the stuff in it onto the griddle and waited 4 min. to turn it over. It was VERY good on a cold, wet day, and we lingered here. We also got a serving of a sort of “chow mein” noodle dish and drinks (and I had a beer), all for only $15 USD. A great bargain and fun too. My legs were really sore from sitting on the tatami for over an hr.; I hate it when I have a hard time getting up from this position!
After this we went to Ginza nearby, and it was still pouring and really cold. It was so windy our umbrellas were turning inside out. I wanted to take Celine to the “Celine” (French designer) boutique. We had a map from the book New Japan Solo that showed this store on it. We followed the map, but when we got to the place where the store should have been, it was nowhere to be found. I used my cell to call the hotel concierge, who called us back and walked us through how to get there. The New Japan Solo map was really wrong, and it was several blocks further down than the map showed. By the time we got to this exquisite sotre, we looked like the Beverly Hilbillies, or soaking wet dogs. But in we went, and they treated us nicely, even when Celine gagged at the price of the $260 key fob w/her name on it. This was the first of several “Celine moments” on the trip.
We returned to the hotel and had light appetizers in the club that night. We were really wet and chilled to the bone after that day and I just hoped neither of us would get sick.
We had planned to go to Nikko today but it was POURING When we woke up. Everything in Nikko is outdoors and involves walking through the rain, and it is very chilly and windy too. So we gave up on Nikko and went to Asakusa instead, because 4 hrs RT on the train to get soaked didn’t sound good, and I knew that in Askakusa we could duck into places to get out of the rain. We went to Namikase-dori and Senjosi. Celine loved this and I enjoyed it as much this time as last time, maybe even more because she liked it so much. We sampled all kinds of treats and bought a lot of large bags of different flavored rice crackers (from the man’s shop I went to last yr. where he bakes the rice crackers a few at a time over an open fire, off a side st.) and all kinds of sweets to take to my son’s high school Japanese class when we get back..
One cool thing was that we ventured over to that little “hut” that is just off to the right just before you get to the charm places in front of the temple (for those of you who have been there, this is the hut where they have a lot of artifical cherry tree branches outside, and it is set back about 30 ft. off the main dori). It was manned by some elderly volunteers for the “Yokusu” (Welcome) Japan campaign that the govt. has had going for over a yr. to spur tourism. They taught us how to make paper cranes (not as easy as it seems it might be!) and Celine got it better than I did. The elderly man took one look at my folding and called over the woman, who smiled, sighed, and proceeded to patiently refold almost every fold I made for the next half hr.
We wanted to go to the drum museum that Florence talks about on here, but the concierge had told us it was closed on Tuesdays. However , I know exactly where it is now, because we walked right by it to go to a fantastic lunch. I had read about this place called, Sometaro, where you can make your own okonomiyaki at a griddle built into your Japanese style table. To get there, go right at the street as you exit the temple, walk down 4-5 blocks til you get to the big street w/the stop lights, cross that street and you will be on the corner of a street that has a police station on the left corner and the drum museum on the right corner. Go down that street, and Sometaro is on the right on the 1st block. It looks like something out of the Hobbit on the outside, as there are vines that look like grapevines all over the roof and creeping down to the door level.
Inside, we remove our shoes and see that we are the only gaijin there, and there are about 10 low tables w/griddles on them. The waitress brought us English menus and we had an easy time picking items for the oko. that Celine could eat (eggs, cabbage, herbs, sprouts, edible flowers). We got the lunch special that included 3 oko. pancakes, and we made 2 of them vegetarian and one w/meat. We were brought 3 bowls of batter and several bowls of ingredients and she showed us how to mix up the stuff. This is different than the oko. I have had in Hirshima where the stuff is on top of the pancake; this one has the ingredients “built-in”. We poured the batter w/the stuff in it onto the griddle and waited 4 min. to turn it over. It was VERY good on a cold, wet day, and we lingered here. We also got a serving of a sort of “chow mein” noodle dish and drinks (and I had a beer), all for only $15 USD. A great bargain and fun too. My legs were really sore from sitting on the tatami for over an hr.; I hate it when I have a hard time getting up from this position!
After this we went to Ginza nearby, and it was still pouring and really cold. It was so windy our umbrellas were turning inside out. I wanted to take Celine to the “Celine” (French designer) boutique. We had a map from the book New Japan Solo that showed this store on it. We followed the map, but when we got to the place where the store should have been, it was nowhere to be found. I used my cell to call the hotel concierge, who called us back and walked us through how to get there. The New Japan Solo map was really wrong, and it was several blocks further down than the map showed. By the time we got to this exquisite sotre, we looked like the Beverly Hilbillies, or soaking wet dogs. But in we went, and they treated us nicely, even when Celine gagged at the price of the $260 key fob w/her name on it. This was the first of several “Celine moments” on the trip.
We returned to the hotel and had light appetizers in the club that night. We were really wet and chilled to the bone after that day and I just hoped neither of us would get sick.
Apr 29th, 2006, 04:19 PM
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I've been really lucky with my two trips - it rained part of one day when I was in Tokyo two years ago and one and a half days this trip to Kyoto - it is nice if you can switch your plans around a bit....I had okonomiyaki in Osaka but the waitperson cooked it for me....
Apr 30th, 2006, 04:15 AM
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Day 6, Wed., 4/12/06
Bad weather again, raining when we got up, although not pouring like yesterday, but the forecast is for more rain. We were too skiddish after getting so soaked yesterday to venture to Nikko and take the chance on that again. Plus it is now Wed. and tomorrow we are moving hotels as it is and also sending luggage to Kyoto. So we opt to stay in town.
I had 6 or 7 options for plans for the day that we could pursue. I relayed the 3 I thought would be most interesting for Celine, and she chose which one to do.
We took the JR train back to Harakjuku to the Ota Memorial Museum. I was THRILLED that Celine wanted to do this as although she is quite a good artist and loves art, museums are not her thing. But this one is small and wonderful. I had see the sign for it in Harajuku on Sun. and looked it up in the Fodor’s book I had w/me. Some of you know how crazy I am about authentic woodblock prints. This is a small woodblock museum. I think it was like $10 for me and $6 for Celine; it is a private collection and they rotate the exhibits every month.
We made our way there through an alley street btwn. Ometesando and Takeshita-dori, about a ½ block down Ometasando from the JR station on the left side (you will see a sign advertising it there on the corner of the alley). We saw an excellent exhibit of prints and paintings by Yamamoto Shoun. There are two small floors to the museum, but we took our time and talked about the pictures. They were so lovely, esp. the ones of children playing and ones w/snowfall and women. I like small exhibits like this where you can remember clearly some of what you see, instead of seeing so much that it becomes a blur.
We then shopped for a few more hrs. and Celine really worked on me to get her a LaCoste shirt. I refused. She worked some more. I kept up my resolve. You can get LaCoste anywhere and I wouldn’t buy her a LaCoste shirt at home so why buy one here. I tell this story because it comes up again later in the trip.
We then headed to Odaiba on the other side of Tokyo at about 3 pm. We had explored all the different ways to get there and opted not for the boat (both of us really don’t like travel over water much) but instead wanted to use the automated train w/no driver. We took the JR from Harajuku to Shimbashi and switched to the Yananoke automated line and knew to sit in the very front seats of the train. This was way cool for both of us, as it goes on elevated tracks and goes pretty fast. I bought us one day passes ($8 me, $4 Celine) as we would be getting on and off the line a few times and this was a bargain. There are attendants who will come over and help you w/the ticket machine.
Once we got over to Odaiba, which is a man-made island across Tokyo Bay, we got off at the 1st stop to go to Decks to eat, as we knew that Decks has a lot of restaurants and diff. cuisines. Decks is a HUGE bldg. w/all sorts of entertainment (including Sony Joyopolis, where you pay one price and get to play all the games, some in black light, and I think something like lazer tag also) and some shopping.
We found an Italian restaurant w/good views of Tokyo Bay and the skyline across from it. Again, we looked at all of the Japanese places and it did not seem that we could order much of substance without fish or meat for Celine. This vegetarian hunt was a bit worse in Tokyo than I thought it would be. The food was ok but relatively expensive. I was just glad to have something she could eat.
We were out of there at 5:30 and took that train to the stop where Venus Fort is. This is a BIG indoor shopping area that is themed like Italy. It was really cool, from the sky above to the streets below your feet. The theming is great, similar to but better than Bellagio in Vegas IMO (although no canals to baot on), and certainly much bigger and more extensive. There is a replica of a town square in Italy complete w/huge fountain and statues and we had a picture of both of us taken there. We walked all the little walkways.
Then we headed over a few more stops to the HUGE ferris wheel. You can see this monster from Tokyo, anywhere you can go to an observation deck you can see it, as it has very cool constantly changing neon on it. I am not crazy about ferris wheels and this one was the biggest in the world at one point. But Celine really wants to go on it,so I pay the $9 apiece and we go. It is HUGE. Luckily it is smooth, goes slow, and the cars are all enclosed. But it appears that it goes over the water! I am petrified and keep my eyes closed as we get high, and I am relieved when we are going down. I think it took about 20 min. to do the whole loop. There is a big indoor game complex next to this and Celine won a stuffed animal.
There are many other attractions in Odaiba, like Toyota MegaWeb (which we walked through to get to the train at some point) where Toyota has their new prototype and cool cars (and you can drive one on a test track if you have an international license), a very cool science museum that includes a life sized talking robot, a maritime museum, an indoor onsen theme park themed like the Edo period, observation decks where you can see Tokyo, etc. I think this is a good, although not inexpensive, half day to a day for a family w/kids or teens. But it was now 8:30 and we were tired and had to get back across Tokyo and pack our bags…
We could have gone to Nikko today, because as it turned out the rain did not intensify, but it was just as well since tomorrow is a big day and we are both looking forward to it immensely. Nikko is still on my list though.
Bad weather again, raining when we got up, although not pouring like yesterday, but the forecast is for more rain. We were too skiddish after getting so soaked yesterday to venture to Nikko and take the chance on that again. Plus it is now Wed. and tomorrow we are moving hotels as it is and also sending luggage to Kyoto. So we opt to stay in town.
I had 6 or 7 options for plans for the day that we could pursue. I relayed the 3 I thought would be most interesting for Celine, and she chose which one to do.
We took the JR train back to Harakjuku to the Ota Memorial Museum. I was THRILLED that Celine wanted to do this as although she is quite a good artist and loves art, museums are not her thing. But this one is small and wonderful. I had see the sign for it in Harajuku on Sun. and looked it up in the Fodor’s book I had w/me. Some of you know how crazy I am about authentic woodblock prints. This is a small woodblock museum. I think it was like $10 for me and $6 for Celine; it is a private collection and they rotate the exhibits every month.
We made our way there through an alley street btwn. Ometesando and Takeshita-dori, about a ½ block down Ometasando from the JR station on the left side (you will see a sign advertising it there on the corner of the alley). We saw an excellent exhibit of prints and paintings by Yamamoto Shoun. There are two small floors to the museum, but we took our time and talked about the pictures. They were so lovely, esp. the ones of children playing and ones w/snowfall and women. I like small exhibits like this where you can remember clearly some of what you see, instead of seeing so much that it becomes a blur.
We then shopped for a few more hrs. and Celine really worked on me to get her a LaCoste shirt. I refused. She worked some more. I kept up my resolve. You can get LaCoste anywhere and I wouldn’t buy her a LaCoste shirt at home so why buy one here. I tell this story because it comes up again later in the trip.
We then headed to Odaiba on the other side of Tokyo at about 3 pm. We had explored all the different ways to get there and opted not for the boat (both of us really don’t like travel over water much) but instead wanted to use the automated train w/no driver. We took the JR from Harajuku to Shimbashi and switched to the Yananoke automated line and knew to sit in the very front seats of the train. This was way cool for both of us, as it goes on elevated tracks and goes pretty fast. I bought us one day passes ($8 me, $4 Celine) as we would be getting on and off the line a few times and this was a bargain. There are attendants who will come over and help you w/the ticket machine.
Once we got over to Odaiba, which is a man-made island across Tokyo Bay, we got off at the 1st stop to go to Decks to eat, as we knew that Decks has a lot of restaurants and diff. cuisines. Decks is a HUGE bldg. w/all sorts of entertainment (including Sony Joyopolis, where you pay one price and get to play all the games, some in black light, and I think something like lazer tag also) and some shopping.
We found an Italian restaurant w/good views of Tokyo Bay and the skyline across from it. Again, we looked at all of the Japanese places and it did not seem that we could order much of substance without fish or meat for Celine. This vegetarian hunt was a bit worse in Tokyo than I thought it would be. The food was ok but relatively expensive. I was just glad to have something she could eat.
We were out of there at 5:30 and took that train to the stop where Venus Fort is. This is a BIG indoor shopping area that is themed like Italy. It was really cool, from the sky above to the streets below your feet. The theming is great, similar to but better than Bellagio in Vegas IMO (although no canals to baot on), and certainly much bigger and more extensive. There is a replica of a town square in Italy complete w/huge fountain and statues and we had a picture of both of us taken there. We walked all the little walkways.
Then we headed over a few more stops to the HUGE ferris wheel. You can see this monster from Tokyo, anywhere you can go to an observation deck you can see it, as it has very cool constantly changing neon on it. I am not crazy about ferris wheels and this one was the biggest in the world at one point. But Celine really wants to go on it,so I pay the $9 apiece and we go. It is HUGE. Luckily it is smooth, goes slow, and the cars are all enclosed. But it appears that it goes over the water! I am petrified and keep my eyes closed as we get high, and I am relieved when we are going down. I think it took about 20 min. to do the whole loop. There is a big indoor game complex next to this and Celine won a stuffed animal.
There are many other attractions in Odaiba, like Toyota MegaWeb (which we walked through to get to the train at some point) where Toyota has their new prototype and cool cars (and you can drive one on a test track if you have an international license), a very cool science museum that includes a life sized talking robot, a maritime museum, an indoor onsen theme park themed like the Edo period, observation decks where you can see Tokyo, etc. I think this is a good, although not inexpensive, half day to a day for a family w/kids or teens. But it was now 8:30 and we were tired and had to get back across Tokyo and pack our bags…
We could have gone to Nikko today, because as it turned out the rain did not intensify, but it was just as well since tomorrow is a big day and we are both looking forward to it immensely. Nikko is still on my list though.
Apr 30th, 2006, 05:19 AM
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OOPs, the automated train from Shimbashi to Odaiba is the YURIKAMOME !! I read this for the above report from my trip diary and I must have been really tired when I wrote that name so incorrectly (and truth be told, mrwunrfl can attest that my Japanese pronounciation aint so great). I am usually prety carfeul because I know I have followed people's directions and info on this board and I don't want to mess anyone up...
Apr 30th, 2006, 10:55 AM
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mrw, I'm glad you didn't tell me that before the trip, due to my phobia about traveling over water...
Day 7, Thurs., 4/13/06
YEAH, it is not raining, just very overcast, cloudy, and cold!!! Breakfast in the club lounge where we talked extensively w/a British woman and her two teens who are here w/ husband who is on business. They live in Singapore so we hear all about what life is like for a teen there. They went to the Science museum in Odaiba yesterday and liked it and the robot. We moan together about the weather, but both agree that Tokyo is a good city to be in in bad weather as there is still so much to do inside or places to get out of the rain.
We packed last night and finished this morning. We send our 2 biggest suitcases (both 25”) and a small 21” to Kyoto this morning; the concierge arranges this and it costs $45, charged to our rm. We take the 4th suitcase, a 24” very lightweight duffel on wheels which is half empty, and our daypacks with us for the next 3 days/nights.
About the concierge. I asked her to make train reservations for us, which she clearly said she could do and that it is not unusual for her to do this through a travel agent they use. So I had handed her (on day 2) a list of all of the trains I needed reservations for. Getting a list was unusual for her, she was used to having to help people w/every train, times, what was available, etc. and it seemed to me that she doubted my train info was correct as she wanted me to wait while she double checked them all. But I was confident, as I had used the brand new JR paper schedule for this quarter, and I gave her the list and waved goodbye. The train reservation/tickets showed up the next day (all of them) without a hitch. This saved me from spending a lot of time and potential language problems if I had had to go to Tokyo Station to make those reservations. I gave the concierge a tin of Williamsburg peanuts and some Cape Cod chocolate cranberry clusters that I had brought as gifts.
This concierge also tried HARD (calling brokers, etc.) to get tickets for us for the 4/23 game at Tokyo Dome w/Tigers against the Giants (our last night in Japan). The entire Dome was sold out. She said I could go that night and get scalped tickets but she had no idea what I would pay. She said no one gets in trouble for this, no police around, etc. and she is not even sure if it is illegal to do it. I was fine w/that, but my concern was that this meant going from Kyoto to Tokyo on the afternoon before an early a.m. departure, going to the Dome to get scalped seats for a 6 pm game, and then having to get to Narita hotel by decent time to get up early to be at airport by 9 am, claim luggage sent ahead, etc. If I would have been able to get tickets ahead I would have done this, but I didn’t feel good about having to do the scalping thing not knowing what we would pay. I really just wanted fan section seats for $10.
So off we go on Thurs. a.m. We had no trouble getting our rollerbag to Ebisu JR station, and then to Mahaima station. We used the elevators at the stations, they are available in almost all (and maybe all) train stations if you look for them. We went straight from the Mahaima station to (guess where we are?)….the Welcome Center at Disney. We are so excited as we have splurged on a room at Hotel Mira Costa right inside of Tokyo DiseySea. At the Welcome Center leave our bags at noon as they will transport them to the hotel, get our two day tickets ($96 for me, less for Celine) and get on the monorail straight to DisneySea (DS).
We arrived at DS about 12:45 after a quick lunch at Ikspari, the nice shopping and food court area right by the station and Welcome Center. Celine and I are both big fans of any kind of good visual theming, be it a period piece movie, a theme park, wax museum, etc. Walking through the gate of DS I was completely blown away. The park is themed on nautical, exploration, and adventure, with several great seas and coastal areas of the world represented, both real and mythical. The Mediterraean area looks like the coast of Italy, w/pastel washings on the exteriors of the bldgs., huge attn. to architectural details and relief facades, etc.
We went on several of the big rides very quickly, as there were no crowds and no lines for ANY rides at all. We walked right up and went on every ride that day and night. The Jules Verne island area (with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Mt. Promethius huge volcano with Journey to the Center of the Earth) is amazing for theming. We made it through that area, Lost River Delta (how funny it is to see an animatroic Indiana Jones speaking Japanese on that ride), and Port Discovery (we rode Aquatopia 8 times in a row). The rides were much better than I thought they’d be.
We ended our evening at the American Waterfront. I thought the NYC harbor theming was very good in that area. We had drinks at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on the USS Columbia ship. That was a cool, w/huge carved bears holding up the huge elaborate bar, and pictures of Roosevelt and his hunting all over the lounge. We watched a very good show, Encore, which recreates great Broadway show sets, dance numbers, and music, and had about half American/European performers and half Japanese. We walked in at the last minute and got 4th row seats, that is how slow the park was. We walked out humming “Mame” and “I’ve Got My Girl, Who Could Ask for Anything More”.
We had a difficult time finding dinner for Celine and ended up at an Italian place again (they were willing to make her a cheese pizza although only meat pizza was on the menu, and we could get salad there), and were able to watch one of the nighttime shows, Porto Paradiso, on the waterfront from there.
We had fortunately gone into our hotel at 4 pm to check in. This was no big deal as the hotel is inside the park, just inside the front gate. So we were able to just go straight to our rm. at 10 pm after the park closed. Our luggage was there, and I had asked at check-in for a 90 min. in rm. massage (9800 yen) at 10:15 pm. The little older woman showed up right on time, and I got the best shiatsu massage (clothed in my yukata) I have ever had. Shiatsu uses a lot of thumb pressure on the spine and at muscle insertion points but she was not too rough and it was great.
Everything went very smoothly today. This is the nice part about a Disney break after Tokyo and the ordeals of dealing w/travel in a big city. I thought a few days here, where we didn’t have to navigate except from ride to ride to meals and then straight up to the rm., would be rejuvenating before we hit the road again. I was right.
Day 7, Thurs., 4/13/06
YEAH, it is not raining, just very overcast, cloudy, and cold!!! Breakfast in the club lounge where we talked extensively w/a British woman and her two teens who are here w/ husband who is on business. They live in Singapore so we hear all about what life is like for a teen there. They went to the Science museum in Odaiba yesterday and liked it and the robot. We moan together about the weather, but both agree that Tokyo is a good city to be in in bad weather as there is still so much to do inside or places to get out of the rain.
We packed last night and finished this morning. We send our 2 biggest suitcases (both 25”) and a small 21” to Kyoto this morning; the concierge arranges this and it costs $45, charged to our rm. We take the 4th suitcase, a 24” very lightweight duffel on wheels which is half empty, and our daypacks with us for the next 3 days/nights.
About the concierge. I asked her to make train reservations for us, which she clearly said she could do and that it is not unusual for her to do this through a travel agent they use. So I had handed her (on day 2) a list of all of the trains I needed reservations for. Getting a list was unusual for her, she was used to having to help people w/every train, times, what was available, etc. and it seemed to me that she doubted my train info was correct as she wanted me to wait while she double checked them all. But I was confident, as I had used the brand new JR paper schedule for this quarter, and I gave her the list and waved goodbye. The train reservation/tickets showed up the next day (all of them) without a hitch. This saved me from spending a lot of time and potential language problems if I had had to go to Tokyo Station to make those reservations. I gave the concierge a tin of Williamsburg peanuts and some Cape Cod chocolate cranberry clusters that I had brought as gifts.
This concierge also tried HARD (calling brokers, etc.) to get tickets for us for the 4/23 game at Tokyo Dome w/Tigers against the Giants (our last night in Japan). The entire Dome was sold out. She said I could go that night and get scalped tickets but she had no idea what I would pay. She said no one gets in trouble for this, no police around, etc. and she is not even sure if it is illegal to do it. I was fine w/that, but my concern was that this meant going from Kyoto to Tokyo on the afternoon before an early a.m. departure, going to the Dome to get scalped seats for a 6 pm game, and then having to get to Narita hotel by decent time to get up early to be at airport by 9 am, claim luggage sent ahead, etc. If I would have been able to get tickets ahead I would have done this, but I didn’t feel good about having to do the scalping thing not knowing what we would pay. I really just wanted fan section seats for $10.
So off we go on Thurs. a.m. We had no trouble getting our rollerbag to Ebisu JR station, and then to Mahaima station. We used the elevators at the stations, they are available in almost all (and maybe all) train stations if you look for them. We went straight from the Mahaima station to (guess where we are?)….the Welcome Center at Disney. We are so excited as we have splurged on a room at Hotel Mira Costa right inside of Tokyo DiseySea. At the Welcome Center leave our bags at noon as they will transport them to the hotel, get our two day tickets ($96 for me, less for Celine) and get on the monorail straight to DisneySea (DS).
We arrived at DS about 12:45 after a quick lunch at Ikspari, the nice shopping and food court area right by the station and Welcome Center. Celine and I are both big fans of any kind of good visual theming, be it a period piece movie, a theme park, wax museum, etc. Walking through the gate of DS I was completely blown away. The park is themed on nautical, exploration, and adventure, with several great seas and coastal areas of the world represented, both real and mythical. The Mediterraean area looks like the coast of Italy, w/pastel washings on the exteriors of the bldgs., huge attn. to architectural details and relief facades, etc.
We went on several of the big rides very quickly, as there were no crowds and no lines for ANY rides at all. We walked right up and went on every ride that day and night. The Jules Verne island area (with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Mt. Promethius huge volcano with Journey to the Center of the Earth) is amazing for theming. We made it through that area, Lost River Delta (how funny it is to see an animatroic Indiana Jones speaking Japanese on that ride), and Port Discovery (we rode Aquatopia 8 times in a row). The rides were much better than I thought they’d be.
We ended our evening at the American Waterfront. I thought the NYC harbor theming was very good in that area. We had drinks at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on the USS Columbia ship. That was a cool, w/huge carved bears holding up the huge elaborate bar, and pictures of Roosevelt and his hunting all over the lounge. We watched a very good show, Encore, which recreates great Broadway show sets, dance numbers, and music, and had about half American/European performers and half Japanese. We walked in at the last minute and got 4th row seats, that is how slow the park was. We walked out humming “Mame” and “I’ve Got My Girl, Who Could Ask for Anything More”.
We had a difficult time finding dinner for Celine and ended up at an Italian place again (they were willing to make her a cheese pizza although only meat pizza was on the menu, and we could get salad there), and were able to watch one of the nighttime shows, Porto Paradiso, on the waterfront from there.
We had fortunately gone into our hotel at 4 pm to check in. This was no big deal as the hotel is inside the park, just inside the front gate. So we were able to just go straight to our rm. at 10 pm after the park closed. Our luggage was there, and I had asked at check-in for a 90 min. in rm. massage (9800 yen) at 10:15 pm. The little older woman showed up right on time, and I got the best shiatsu massage (clothed in my yukata) I have ever had. Shiatsu uses a lot of thumb pressure on the spine and at muscle insertion points but she was not too rough and it was great.
Everything went very smoothly today. This is the nice part about a Disney break after Tokyo and the ordeals of dealing w/travel in a big city. I thought a few days here, where we didn’t have to navigate except from ride to ride to meals and then straight up to the rm., would be rejuvenating before we hit the road again. I was right.
Apr 30th, 2006, 11:15 AM
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Enjoying your report, emd. I will tell a colleague of mine at work about you and your daughter visiting Celine shop in Tokyo. She is of Italian origine (Valeria) and her 10 y.o. daugher's name is Celine with a French accent above "e". A very cute child.
