Voyage Junkie

Several years ago we had the opportunity to take some good friends of ours, Bo and Liz, to Japan. I'm going to focus on the new things we did and then link to previous blog posts for reference to the things we repeated from our time living in Japan. The trip started out awesome and then kind of fell into a bad place for me and Matt, unfortunately. I chalk it up to our inability to tell Bo and Liz when we wanted to do something different from what they wanted to do, and Matt's desire to be a good guide in the country as he was the only fluent Japanese speaker. He felt a lot of responsibility and then got really tired and very stressed out, which in turn made me very stressed out. I say this not as a rebuke of our friends, who had no way to know how we were feeling since we didn't communicate, but as a gentle suggestion to anyone who travels with friends. Say how you feel and don't be passive aggressive about it. Own up to your limitations and ask for what you need. Your ...

Night life in Shinjuku. We just got back from Tokyo on Sunday, and boy was it fun!  It was our second journey to the magical city since living in Japan.  This time we stayed with our friend Preston (from our CO days) and his girlfriend Junko.  They are both really fun people and they showed us a lot of night life along with cool museums and one of the most famous shrines in Japan. We bought really cheap nori-hodai (all you can ride) tickets from the main train company and made a nearly 12,000-yen trip (or 7,000 yen, if you can get Economy tickets) in 2,300 yen.  It took us 7 hours by local and rapid trains, but we got to stop in the city of Shizuoka for lunch where we met a Japanese man who trained in Thai cooking in Thailand.  So cool!  When we arrived at Tokyo Station we had a few hours to fill before meeting Preston after work, so we walked through some haute couture shopping districts until we found ourselves in Shinbashi, at dozens of restaurant...

We met Nik's girlfriend, Megumi, for an amazing lunch on the way to Roppongi Hills, where we met up with her friend Misa. Roppongi Hills is an incredibly upscale shopping district in Tokyo, even more upscale than the Ginza. I couldn't afford to look at the stores. We passed by a German-influenced illumination display, honoring 150 years of German-Japanese friendship. It was really beautiful and seemed traditional (I'm going to run it by my German friend to test its authenticity).  In the first two pictures you can see Japanese people chowing down on dark lager and brats, as well as a lovely carved statue with figurines and candles that constantly turned on a podium. Misa was hungry so we got her a lunch snack, and when Matt saw a bagel place he succumbed to his Jewishness. Pictured is his bagel with cream cheese and lox, which he ate in the face of Christmas with Nik. Roppongi Hills also has many beautiful sculptures, including a giant spider of which I didn'...

Today we went to the big city! It was truly amazing and awe-inspiring, for both historical sights and incredible numbers of people. First up: Asakusa, where we visited the Senso-ji . Also known as the Asakusa Kannon Temple, it was completed in 645, making it seriously old. To the right is the main gate. There are two statues in built into the sides of the gate, if you look closely. One is a Thunder God, named Raijin , and one is a Wind God, named Fuujin . Those have been rebuilt time and again since the gate was first created, due to fires and other such disasters. I liked the bright color palette of this temple: everything is red, gold, and black. Matt and I decided to be super-touristy, since everyone was doing it. Why not? So we buckled in for a Buddhist experience. First, the purification process: 1. Dip water with the ladle (you can see me doing that in the first picture) 2. Pour water over the left hand, then the right, pour out the extra water and turn th...