Hakone, Japan

We woke up early and hit the road around 7:30am.  The description said that on a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji.  Well not a cloud in the sky and we saw Fuji from so many angles.  I don't care how many times you see it, it never get old or unimpressive.  It took use a little less than two hours to get there.  First stop, parking at the waters edge and the Hakone Checkpoint and the view is beyond words.  We walked through a little town made to look like it did back in the day and then headed down the old Tokaido road, which was lined with huge cedar trees.  It was a short walk to the next town with restaurants and shops.  You could take a boat ride around the lake but decided to just walk around.  We made our way up to the Hakone shrine and then walked around the park which had lots of hiking trails and the Hakone Detached Palace which was the summer palace for the Imperial Family and now open to the public.  I was a perfect day.  I think Jeff, Julia and I were the only ones not wearing winter coats.  Sorry but 65 and sunny is perfect for us.

Mt Fuji on the way to Hakone.

 View from across the lake.  We walked around to the orange arc and the Shrine.

 Julia taking a rest at the top of the hill.

 Ready to start our trip.

 Hakone Checkpoint

 The first of many steps we climbed that day.

 Me and daddy.

 I am so cool, chilling in the Hakone forest.

 Oh yes, that is Mt. Fuji in the background.

 Old Tokaido road.

 Entrance to Hakone shrine.  I think it is the boat launch for the monks.

 Yes, another view of Fuji

 Julia and Jeff and oh yes, Fuji.

 Can you believe this view

 Next time I am taking a ride on the pirate ship.

 This monk is very serious.

 Walking the trial in the park.

 A nice lunch of sobo noodles and shrimp and veggie tempura.

 My family portrait

 These stairs almost blew out my knee.  But a beautiful scene.

 Detached palace.

 We are seeing more and more Christmas decorations.

Another great trip.  I think we might go back next weekend a do some more hiking if the weather is nice.  December is Japan is very nice so far!

Thanksgiving in Japan

Well this was the first Thanksgiving I have ever been away from my family and to be honest it was pretty bummed out but we tried to make the best of it.  Julia and I started the day at swimming class and then Jeff came home early and we found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner.  They don't really have turkey here and I don't have an oven either so we did the next best thing....Italian of course!  I had meet a guy at the gym and he and his wife and there two kids are living here in Kakegawa while she teaches at the local school.  They invited us to a party on Sunday with a mixture of Americans, Japanese and one New Zealander.  On the menu - traditional turkey dinner.  I am in!  We dressed Julia up and head out.  The people - One American married to a Japanese woman and their two children hosted the party.  We had two turkeys, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac n cheese, sweet potatoes, bean cassarole, rolls, pumpkin pie, salad and other stuff.  There were lots of kids and two teenagers to keep them busy so Julia had a blast.  Thanks to Tom and his wife for having us.

Our Thanksgiving party in Japan

 Julia and her new friend

 Julia and her other new friend and a potential Babysitter.

Shizuoka City

This weekend we went to check out Shizuoka city.  It was about an hour drive or you can take the train.  We drove and on the way saw a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji with snow at the peak. It is also orange season so we saw lots of orange trees up the side of the mountains.  How do they get that fruit?  I tried to take a picture but of course messed it up.  No matter how many times I see it while we are here it is still so cool.   We found a shopping center of many streets. There are restaurants, shops and a big Department store.  At the bottom floor of the department store is a bunch of markets selling bread, salads, fruit and all kinds of good stuff.  The top floor has restaurants.  We had lunch at a Chinese food place - very good.  We happened upon a little kid fest and Julia got some little gifts.

 If you look close you can see tons of oranges growing on trees up the sides of the mountain.

 Archway into the shopping center.

 Julia and Daddy eating some popcorn at the kids fest.

 Christmas decorations in front of the department store.  I love it!

Sunday we went to the local park where the stadium is located.  We walked around enjoying the great weather.  There was a huge line of younger girls to get into the stadium.  Turns out one of the boy type bands was playing a concert that night and they were already trying to get in.  Not sure who they were but there were a lot of girls there.

A little preying mantis

 I really need to rest Mommy.

 This is a cool grasshopper we found.  He kept hoping away from me.  Then he jumped on my hand and didn't want to leave.  We named him Tony.

Sticky/Sweet Rice Festivial

11/3 Culture Day (Bunka-no-hi) 

This national holiday was established in 1948. It commemorates the November 3, 1946 announcement of the Constitution. It is recognized as a day to celebrate peace and freedom and promote culture. (Note: Although prior to the establishment of this holiday in 1948, November 3 was also a national holiday called Meiji-setsu (明治節) commemorating the birthday of Emperor Meiji, the two holidays are ostensibly unrelated.)


We decided to go with out Japanese friend the the sticky/sweet rice festival.  It was in Kakegawa about 10 minutes from the house.  You climb up a narrow road to the shrine which has different levels and beautiful trees.  The narrow road is lined with restaurants, shops and people selling there local produce.  The day was slightly warm and overcast.  There were games for kids but I am not sure what they were.  Also, live music.  We heard a one man trumpet player who Julia loved.  There was many kinds of sticky/sweet rice but we bought the traditional kind. After walking around we had free green tea while we enjoyed our sticky/sweet rice.  What is sticky/sweet rice you may ask?  It is rice on a stick (or in a ball) with the sweet bean paste that the Japanese put on or in a lot of things. Not real flavorful but I liked it. It is chewy and sticky but there is nothing in America that is comparable.  You will just have to try it yourself when you come to visit me:)


The road to the shrine and festival.

 Yes, the Japanese love french fries. What is not to like, right?

A map of the shrine

 One of the trees.  Very impressive and beautiful.

 I would pray to this guy too, very scary.

 And up the stairs we go..  There is more and more around corner at the top.

 In front of the temple.

Julia doing a little dance to the Jazz music.

 Our sticky/sweet rice.

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!