Japan Retrospective 3

TOKYO

May 25th, Mondo & I took a train into Tokyo. Something like the one pictured here. It took about 45 minutes to get from Misaki to Oeno station.

We found a 6-story Toy store with nearly a whole floor of Pokemon and another of Gundam (robot-anime-type creatures). It's really interesting how there are so many specialty shops that are HUGE. The toy stores seemed to have a very extensive variety of particular toys both new and retro. Here I am with Pikachu...

Later, we walked through a marketplace... I thought the eels were particularly interesting. I also found out that shad roe (fish eggs) are a delicacy in Japan. Apparently, they are good inside of onigiri (rice balls w/salt).

Mondo mentioned that this place was like a "Times Square" of Tokyo. There were 3 of them in the city. This one was a "newer" one. Lots of umbrellas today since it was raining. It was interesting, though. Even if it was lightly sprinkling, people would bust out their umbrellas. Clear umbrellas were also clearly en vogue.

Then, before heading to the sumo arena, Mondo & I played a couple rounds of Taiko drumming. We did SO well (or, perhaps got lucky on the match) that we won a free game. It was a fun game.

Finally, it was time for the big sumo matches (as opposed to the little sumos...). It was really an intense brawl each time between some pretty big guys. Basically, they grab, slap, push, & swing their opponent either out of the ring or onto the ground. I captured a video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgqsrNc8-28

After the sumo matches, we decided to grab a bite to eat at a quick sukiyaki place called Yoshinoya. Not really like home-made, but it was pretty yummy for fast food.

Then, to round the night off, we travelled to New York City...

OK... so it's actually Tokyo still, but they have a Statue of Liberty replica in front of the Rainbow Bridge. The red tower behind the bridge is the Tokyo Tower.

All in all, it was an excellent first trip to Japan. Off to China for me the next day, so we actually got quite a lot in for my short stay. Mondo was quite a good chauffeur, tour guide, hotel manager, & interpretter. It was very gracious of his parents to let me stay at their house too. They were wonderful hosts. I can't wait to come back to Japan with the family sometime.

Above (left to right): Mondo's neighbor & dog, Masami, Kazuko, Bryan, Mondo

Japan Retrospective 2

NIKKO
The 3rd day, we went to a bank to try to get cash for me. Even a BANK wasn't able to get me money! But, they said that the Post Office ATM should work... confusing, but we tried it and it WORKED! Yay!!! Go Post Office!

After Rob's morning class and a lot of twisting of Mondo's arm, Mondo drove us up to a beautiful mountain town called Nikko. There was a nice lake, temple, and beautiful waterfalls up there. The road to get there was extremely curvy. There's a hiragana (I think 48 total?) character for each curve. Rob knew almost all of them... impressive!

The large waterfall we saw was Kegon.

The double waterfall was Ryuzu (dragon's head). Very nice.

When we got back to Utsunomiya, we had dinner with Rob & Eriya before heading back to Funabashi. On the way home, late at night, it only took 2 hours. Much better.

Japan Retrospective 1

Well, I'm a slacker. Here's an update continuing my trip to Japan & China... more to come.

UTSUNOMIYA

My 2nd day in Japan, Mondo drove us up to Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo about 100km (about 3 hours - yes, that only averages out to 33.3km/h or 20mph). It was long, but worth it. Along the way, there were many trucks on the road & stoplights. There also were rice patties almost everyplace where road or buildings weren't.

When we arrived, Rob was just finishing up his last class for the afternoon. They were playing one of Rob's favorite card games, Frank's Zoo... nice "work", huh? Just kiddin' Rob! We met a few more people from the church, including Eriya, Rob's roommate & Shinya, a guy who lived in Portland for 6 years before returning. Both knew very good English.

After Rob was done, we got a tour of the church & walked around the neighborhood to a few stores. NOBODY takes credit or debit cards from the US, INCLUDING most ATM's. At every chance, we tried ATM's around the city and I couldn't get money out from any of them. This was very odd, yet frustrating. Below is a picture of a temple very near the school.

One of my tasks was to get a "Gundam" robot for Jack. We stopped at a toy store. It was huge and there was about 10,000 Gundam robots in it of many shapes & sizes. On one hand, it's good because you can buy almost any kind you want. On the other hand, it might take you an hour to find it. We also went to a wonderful "dollar" store called Daiso. I bought many gifts from there.

Later, we went to sushi for dinner. I tried many things, most of which I had before. Then Mondo made me eat natto... it was yucky from both a texture and taste point of view. I had to wash it down with green tea just to not gag... then I ran out of tea. DOH!

We rounded out the night with a 2-hour round of Karaoke... Listening to Mondo & Rob sing "Last Christmas" by George Michael was classic. Note the tamborines played during this song... don't quite remember that from the original...

Bryan's trip to Japan (first day)

accidentally posted to the wrong "old" blog... anyhoo... enjoy! Please go to - http://betsynbryan6.blogspot.com to see this post.

Mondo returning to Japan

Mondo is a friend of ours from Japan who has been living in the US (with our friend Rob) for a while. He had been trying to get a job with the Nike Headquarters, but has not been able to. Now he has to return to Japan temporarily until he can hopefully get transferred back to Oregon. Mondo has blessed our family & friends with his generosity, kind nature, and genuine love for kids... oh, and of course, his sushi!!!! Yokatta (that was good!) :P

Bryan has been blessed with the opportunity to visit him soon in Japan as part of a business trip. He also plans to visit Rob (who is now teaching English in Japan for a year) while there.

Pictured to the left are many of the families who have been touched by Mondo's love. Mondo prepared a WONDERFUL sushi meal served at our house for all of these people and some who weren't pictured. It was delicious (Oishii!).

Sayonara and we hope to see you again soon, Mondo! We all love you and will miss you.