Japanese Halloween

I was very excited to find out that some Japanese celebrate Halloween.  They sell candy, decorations and costumes in the stores.  Our is split into sections and each one decides if they are going to do trick or treats.  Ours did not but the one right down the street was and with the help of my friend Mika, we got an invite.  I provide candy for the kids and we could participate.  The weather was perfect...68, clear and slight breeze with the crescent moon in the sky.  Most of the decorations consisted of a pumpkin or two.  It started around 4:30 with people putting out baskets of treats.  The kids do not go up to the door but take the candy from the baskets.  There are signs that tell you how many you can take and it looks like most kids follow those rules.  There were quite a few kids and the costumes are mostly capes and masks.  A few fairy princesses.  Julia had a blast running around with the older kids trying to keep up and looking at all the dogs dressed up too.

One costume idea....

 Our Japanese candy..  I stuff with what I could read.

 My small Halloween decoration.

 Nicely decorated house.

 Julia trick or treating

 Her treats...candy, cookies, little cakes.

Around Kakegawa

My sister-in-law, Julia and I spent an afternoon around Kakegawa.  Just an FYI, if you decide to have lunch around 1:00 most of the restaurants around town are closed until dinner, except the chains of course.  So we went to the castle and the surrounding area.  There was also a tea room but with Julia in toe, I didn't think a tea ceremony was wise.  It was a nice day and then we went for what I thought was a snow cone.  But of so much better.  Shaved ice with the flavoring and topped with a scoop of soft serve vanilla.  Delicious and refreshing on a hot day.  The only surprise of the day - as I was turning the corner, I noticed a what looked like a white hose.  At second glance and with my sister-in-law grabbing my arm, a white albino snake.  I did not get close enough but she said it had red eyes.  Now the Japanese have a lot of myths so I knew it had to mean something.  Sure enough it means I will be lucky in life.  I will take that and hopefully never see it again.

Kakegawa Castle

Grounds around Kakegawa Castle

Yes, that is a snake and it is crawling up the stairs  Confirming my fear of snakes even more.

Ya, I was not getting this close.

Tokyo - One Day Trip

Tokyo is always fun for a weekend.  We took the Shinkansen up and that takes about an hour.  We had a hotel close to the palace.  We took a half day bus tour which took us to a shrine, temple, on a boat tour and finally ending at this shopping mad house.  You could spend half a day walking around the Palace grounds on a nice day.  We also found a park near the hotel and kids from the University were lined up outside a stadium for a concert.  There is also a street with high end stores if you like to shop.  Later that night my sister-in-law and I found a cute little sushi place right down the street from our hotel.  We walked around and end up at the hotel bar on the top of our hotel.  It seemed like a neighborhood place.  Everyone seemed to know each other.  The chef was really nice and we had a great time.  

View of Tokyo from Sky Tower

Model of an old boat at the pier.

 This building had a huge chili on the top of it.

 I lost Jeff and Julia in minutes, it was so crowded.

 A Buddha at the end of the shopping

 Jeff and Julia resting after making it through this crowd.

 My sushi:  salmon, white fish, shrimp, eel.  I am not sure what the orange eggs on the sushi was but it was tasty.

 Washing some sushi down with sake

 If you are in Tokyo, this is a great sushi place.  Oh wait.... I can't even read the name.

 Subway menu...  Turkey, tuna and ham only.

 End the night with cocktails... Then we headed home.  Tokyo is fun!