remember...no picking of the tree branches or flowers, no matter how much linda wants a few for the hotel room or lots for the hotel lobby...

m/m ht,

Youkoso !!! Welcome back. Glad you finally made it & are getting by with CA brands.

We saved a lot of trees & blooms just for you. This is what I have been doing while waiting for you both.

http://web.mac.com/taylorjapan/iWeb/...20Ohanami.html


http://web.mac.com/taylorjapan/iWeb/...20Ohanami.html

Let us know what you're up to. Maybe I can drop by & say hello if I'm in the neighborhood to personally welcome you

Have a great time? Happy Travels!

How are you folks weathering this rain? Stay dry. You can pick up Y100 umbrellas from the Y100 store.

Have a good trip HT!! I remember your trip report from last year and am STILL jealous from that one, so now you will make me doubly envious. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh so fabulous.

bmt,

We are leaving for Kagoshima in the morning......maybe we can catch up with you when we are back in Tokyo on 5/1 if you want?

The Hyatt that we are staying in supplies free umbrellas which is a good thing because Linda and I both returned broken ones to them today as they were both broken and bent by the windy conditions today. We did shop at the huge 100 yen store in Harajuku today.......

Aloha!

Too bad. I'll be off to Manila end of April & won't be back till May 5th. Sorry to miss you.
Glad you made it to the last days of Tokyo bloom days. Those trees in the photos are now gone except for a couple of double bloomers we will be expecting any day soon.
Will you be flying back soon after the 1st?

Where ever you are........ try to enjoy the strawberries. THe prices have dropped significantly but the sweetness factor has increased. Have been buying them daily for the past week & 100% sweet.
Enjoy !!!

hawaii, I've been away traveling for work (hardship duty in Santa Fe and Santa Monica) for a week. I missed your bon voyage. But as I was in Santa Fe at the wonderful Japanese spa, Ten Thousand Waves, one week ago tonight, in one of their private outdoor onsen baths with rocks and waterfall and a private sauna next to it, under all those wonderful stars-- I suddenly wondered if you had left and if you were having hanami.

Now I am wondering if you had the okonomiyaki at the little stand yet.

BTW, if you or anyone else ever gets to Santa Fe, don't miss Ten Thousand Waves (see the website) in the hills leading to the mountains just outside the old area of town. One of the most "places that remind me of Japan" that I've been to in the U.S. Wonderful outdoor baths, communal, separate sex, and private. Just a lovely and peaceful place.

As you would say,

aloha!

emd,

We will be in Hiroshima in three days and I will definitely try your oko place upon arrival. We are in Fukuoka now and were on Sakurajima last night at Furusato Kanko Ryokan. Fabulous place and they upgraded us on arrival to a room with a private hot spring bath on our balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean.........FABULOUS!!!!!!!!

Aloha!

Wow, you got in there- it's hard to get a reservation. I have read that it is fabulous, esp. those rooms w/the ocean facing baths. How was the kamameshi made w/the hot spring water at breakfast?

This is sounding really good...your planning is paying off.

wow emd I am impressed! The kamameshi was outstanding at breakfast. It was served with of course the rice, shrimp, scallops. clams. squid. fish,and various tsukemono, in a bamboo steamer that was already flaming and on fire when we sat down to breakfast. They use( as you must know) the hot spring water to make the rice so it already has the sodium taste of the onsen......soooooooo goooooooooood. Take your DH there for a day or two......guaranteed to relax and release you both all inhibitions

Aloha!

Hope you're having a good time! Looking forward to reading more of your report

hawaii, I thought of you again today, as I took my son down to the Sakura Matsuri in D.C. What a great day!! The koto players were incredible, as were the drummers from Takamatsu University (is that the performing arts university? I have to look it up on the performance schedule and will correct if I am wrong) and the ones from Okinawa, and the geisha dancers. And there was a "J-Pop" stage w/great pop music, in particular a very cute Japanese girl group, and a lot of people in cosplay. It was a bit like being in Harajuku at that end of the festival.

The festival was SO much more crowded than the year I met mrwunrfl at the same festival. I think that was 3 yrs ago, when he still lived in this area, right after I got back from my 1st trip to Japan w/my son.

What a rush of memories. We were able to get sticky buns w/pork inside (mrwunrfl, those were provided by Tachibana, which had a booth) and sakura mochi (I brought extra home). There was even okonomiyaki this yr, but the lines for it were so long I skipped it.

I want to go back to Japan now. I'm ready. I want to stay at Furusato Kanku!

I apologize, as the amazing drummers (and the dancers who also performed w/them) were the Tamagawa University Dance and Taiko Group.

They were STUNNING!! The drummers were akin to a choreographed group- very athletic and passionate, and the dancers were just lovely. Apparently they are a favorite group every year at the D.C. festival, although I did not see them the two years I have gone previously.

Man, I am really thinking I need to go back to Japan. The performances today reminded me a bit of the wonderful night I had in Kyoto three springs ago, when my son and I experienced the Hana Touro. Just magic.

emd,

Glad you had a great time at the Matsuri as it is cold, wet & dreary here again in Tokyo. Weather can't make up its mind whether its spring or winter still. Quite a feat trying to get dressed every morning as my winter clothes are already up in the attic.

e - glad to hear that the festival was a big hit this year

ht - did you have cinammon rolls at Hakata station? across from that stand (or nearby) is a shop that sells Hakata dolls.

HT- I sent you an email asking for a favor. Let me know if you don't find it!

hope you and Mrs Ht and having a blast!

Lucy

Back to civilization for a few days. We are now in Kobe, really nice place.

In answer to some questions.

mrw, no I forgot about it and we were kind of rushed anyway when we were leaving Hakata stn as we took an earlier shinkansen than I originally had planned....next time

emd, here is an excerpt from my ongoing trip report on my computer:

We had planned to have okonomyaki at emd’s recommended spot but we looked and looked and could not find it. I followed her instructions but it looks like the place described has changed ownership as in the spot where the oko shop was to be was a brand new hamburg shop. That is not a spelling error folks that is how the Japanese and spell and pronounce hamburger.

Sorry for the bad news emd but the good thing is that they have a new oko shop upstairs in the station that I passed on the last morning we were there. It wasn’t open yet (open 11 to 11) but the menu looked divine.

lcuy,
I emailed you

Aloha!

It can't be! If you were standing in the door of the grocery store in the lower level of the station, looking out of the grocery store as if you were exiting, this stand would be to your left, just outside the door of the grocery store, on the right side of that small hallway. Is that where you were?

If that is now a hamburg place, it's a crying shame.