CAW, CAW!

Friday, Aug. 31, 2018       Breakfast this morning was unusual.  It was served to our group in a set-off area of the hotel dining room, and all the places were preset, not just with crockery and silverware, but the food, too!  Eggs, toast, salad (?), fruit, sausages, breads (excellent, perhaps from the super bakery?) and coffee.  While it was all quite pretty, the eggs were barely warm.  It went down just fine, and we enjoyed the ambiance.

Something new, but old, is back.  I found a Wayback source for downloading the last available version of Picasa for the new computer I’m now using.  The pictures starting with this post will have been formatted using Picasa instead of the MS program I’ve been using (and not liking).  Hopefully, this might solve the right-side cutoff issues.  We’ll see after I complete and publish this post.  I still fear it’s a Blogger issue. At any rate, I already can see that the collages are easier to compile and don’t have that stupid watermark.

Close by the hotel, via a forest path along the lake, lies the Hakone Shrine.  When we were on the boat we saw the iconic Tori gate in the water for this shrine, but didn’t realize what it was.  [Credit for this photo to the Japan Travel Mate blog.]

We followed Yoshiko along the winding path through a gentle mist.  The lake is off to the right.

Hakone Shrine is famed for its massive-cedars-lined 90-step flight up from the lake, with the first of its Tori gates sitting in the water. This is the “floating” Peace gate.  Doesn’t look quite as impressive in my shot below, looking down over the people. But, if you’re a good photographer with better equipment and editing skills, this shot [credit: Japan Travel Mate blog] does the “floating” Tori Peace gate justice.

Hakone is a favorite destination for getaways from Tokyo, which is about two hours away.  Consequently, we had plenty of company, but it was still pretty neat.  The steps go up from the water to the shrine via a series of landings and Tori’s.

At the top of the stairs is the entrance to the Shrine, which also houses, of course, a gift shop.

Loni used another of the purification basins, but on the east side of the courtyard is an unique,  and very cool, chōzuya. This is the water purification basin for the sub-shrine of Kuzuryū-jinja, the 9-Headed-Dragon, and appropriately has 9 dragon heads with funnels coming out of the their mouths.

The courtyard (and gift shop), and adjacent shrines.  There also is a wall of twisted papers.  In both  shrines and temples one can buy o-mikuji for ¥100. These are small pieces of paper that reveal the fortunes (or misfortunes) that await you in all aspects of your life, from love, health, friendship, career, education, and so on. There are twelves levels of fortune (from “Great blessing” to “Great curse”). But if fate is not on your side, fear not! The decree of the gods can be annulled by twisting the o-mikuji around a tree or fence located nearby. That guy’s looking at a lot of bad luck!

Back to the hotel and we load into the bus for our trip to Matsumoto Castle, known as the “Crow Castle” for its black exterior.  Yoshiko is hopeful we’ll see a glimpse of Fuji, but it’s still pretty overcast.  The ride down the hill was again twisty, but there were some breaks in the clouds that gave us tantalizing peeks at what might be Fuji, or maybe not.  Lots of shutters clicking in anticipation.  To ease the frustration, Yoshiko put on a video documentary of Fuji.  Finally, things started clearing and we drove into better viewing areas, as this progression shows.

Doesn’t look quite the same without the signature snow cap, but what the heck. Here’s one of our photo op stops.

The ride to Matsumoto, not on freeways, took about 4 1/2 hours, but at least it was in clear weather.  We did more round-the-bus get-to-know-you’s with a portable mic.  I have to say, the sound system in this bus is the best I’ve experienced.  Excellent volume and clarity.  At Matsumoto, we were hungry and the first stop was for lunch.  Nothing fancy, rice beef bowl and a bowl of soba noodles.  Filling, but bland.  Afterwards, we walked next door to the Castle, the Crow, called that for both its color and also the way the swooping roofs look like wings.  It was very impressive.

Matsumoto Castle is one of five castles designated as ‘National Treasures of Japan’ and the oldest castle donjon remaining in Japan. Construction began in 1592.  Inside the castle are 6 floors accessed by steep (!)stairs and low ceilings leading past a few displays of armor and weapons from the Sengoku Period (Warring States Period) when the castle was built. The narrow wooden windows were used by archers and gunmen, and by the less skilled who simply dropped stones onto attackers.  It was never used for a residence, only as a military keep.  The stairs reminded me of the between-decks ladders we used on the Connie and Kitty Hawk, and they were a challenge for a lot of the visitors.  One flight had a 65 degree incline.  I have to say, the interior wasn’t all that interesting.  We also had to remove our shoes upon entering and walk around the place in our socks.  Good thing they didn’t polish all those wood floors and stairs.

 

After climbing around the Castle and grounds, we passed a huge lily pond that had mostly bloomed and gone, but I did find one blossom amongst the remnants.  We sat for a while eating ice cream from an adjacent store, then the rest of the afternoon was spent traveling in a steady rain to Takayama via a winding mountain & valley road, following a river that had a lot of tributaries and waterfalls.  This area is known as the Japanese Alps.  The road also sported a host of l-o-o-o-n-g tunnels, multi-miles in length.  I think we spent as much time in the dark as we did outside.  At Takayama, we settled into the courtyard of a 200-year-old sake brewery to taste the wares.  I was a little dubious as to partaking, as my only memories of sake were of the cheap firewater style that was all we could afford when I was on shore leave in Sasebo and Yokosuka 50 years ago.  That, plus the fact that I’ve not had virtually any hard liquor since my throat cancer ten years ago, which left me with a spot that seems to get inflamed if it contacts high-proof booze.  I’m glad I decided to risk it. Turns out the wine is only about 15%, and it was very, very smooth.  Yoshiko had to translate for the brewmaster as he was explaining the wines, and she got rather expressive.  We drank our samples out of these little wooden cups.  I think everyone was impressed.

Dinner was at an adjacent restaurant and was a cook-your-own Wagu beef dinner.  Everyone’s heard of Kobi beef, and this is just a regional variant.  Beautifully marbled, and melted in your mouth like butter.  We cooked the beef on our individual hibachi grills to our liking.  Again, kudos to Colette for a first-rate included dinner.  We were definitely happier than the dull faces in this picture.  Long day.

At the hotel, before we checked in, we got a demonstration of how to wear a kimono.  Seems that’s the thing here.  Guests dress up in them and parade around to the baths, and whatever.  Hmm.  We’ll see.  At the room, I couldn’t get the key (regular key, not card) to unlock the door.  After multiple attempts I went down and got a clerk to come up.  She was very gracious.  She also unlocked the door with no problem.  Seems their locks rotate the opposite of what we’re used to, and I was trying to force it in the other direction.  Very long day indeed.

UPDATE:  Just viewed this post online and am majorly ticked off.  If anything, the picture cutoff is worse and now the pictures look like they’ve been degraded to low-res.  Everything looks great in the draft on my computer, but is awful in the online version.  Augh!!

UPDATE 2:  After monkeying around, I’ve resized the pics to restore the right side cutoffs.

FROM HELL TO EDEN

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018      Today we leave the crush of Tokyo and end up in an incredibly serene spot.  Bags are to be outside the room by 7:30 for our 9:00 departure.  Time enough for our last go at the excellent breakfast buffet at the Prince Hotel.    I forgot to turn off my phone and, at 5:15, got a robocall from the U.S.  If I could get my hands on . . .  Couldn’t fall back to sleep, so we got up for early breakfast.  We eat like there’s no tomorrow.  Omelets, sausage, fruit, yoghurt, curried rice (!), danishes, OJ, and cafe americano.  We’re going to miss this place, methinks.  On the bus for an hour or so and we stopped at a highway rest for a bathroom break.  Japan gets lots of tourists from all over Asia, and many from the more rural areas of Japan as well.  I guess that some folk aren’t quite familiar with modern facilities, as we saw signs like these not only here, but all over, including in fancy hotels. We like the ones showing how NOT to squat.  Like most everything in Japan, even roadside bathrooms are immaculate.  While traveling this morning, we did a go-around on the bus where everyone introduced him/herself.  It helped pass the time to get a mini-bio of where folks were from.  On our other Colette tours, this was done at the first night welcome dinner, but this was a good alternative.  We learned from Yoshiko that Japan is 80% mountains and only 10% flat enough for agriculture (rice) and industry.  Guess the rest is residential.

Our morning stop today was at Owakudani crater, located in an active volcanic zone, created 3,000 years ago when Mt. Hakone erupted.  We are to ride the Hakone Ropeway, an aerial tram up to the rim of the crater, passing over a desolate swath that vents sulphur gas for your olfactory pleasure.  As I can smell nothing, I was the only one breathing easy in our car.   On a clear day, one allegedly can see Mt. Fuji from here, but it was cloudy today.

Nice little warning sign, eh?  Well, this was at the TOP of the ride, and nowhere to be found at the bottom where we boarded.  I have both asthma and respiratory disease!  I think I was in more danger of a panic attack when I read the signs at the top.  Fortunately, it was really windy at the top, and it was blowing all of the gases away from us.  I think on a calm day I’d have been in trouble.  Below, check out the wind blowing the girl’s hair next to Loni.  It was strong.  We had a bite to eat in the reception area, and bought our one and only souvenir, an inlaid wood depiction of a man smoking his pipe while gazing at Mt. Fuji.  Looks less kitschy than it sounds.  The map I’m standing behind pictures this area and our next destination for tonight, Lake Ashi and the resort town of Hakone.

Our driver had brought the bus up the winding road to the top, so we didn’t ride the cable down.  We descended a lot of switchbacks and went on to Lake Ashi.  We were dropped off at a ferry building (Chuck wanders in front) where we waited 30 minutes for our boat to arrive.  While we were sitting around outside, what should sail into sight but a pirate galleon (!).  Say, what?  That wasn’t our ride, but a competing excursion service.  There’s a couple of them on the lake.  According to Yoshiko, the tour used to use the pirate ship, but guests complained it was too fake.  I have to say, I agree.  Not the Japanese experience.  Loni’s posing by some of the more unusual watercraft.  Didn’t see any of them out today.  Yoshiko is pointing out our destination of Hakone-Kona on the map.  At the time, we’re located at the red dot on the left of the lake.

We had a more prosaic boat, a large ferry catamaran which I suspect was more comfortable than the pirate ship.  The lake is deceptively large, as it bends around so that you can’t see from one end to the other.  We passed our lodge as we motored down, the Odakyu Hotel de Yama, and it looked pretty nice from the water.  It was even better when we got there.

The cruise down the lake, surrounded by low mountains, reminded me of Scotland, of all places.  Maybe it was the low clouds.  We had a couple of stops before we disembarked on the dock at Moto-Hakone, the only village of any size on the lake.  We had a short while to wait for our bus to make its way to us from the ferry stop over the back roads.  Fortunately, we spied what looked like a bakery.  Boy, was it ever.  Named straightforwardly “Bakery Table #1,” it had a wide selection of breads, scones, pastries, you name it.  All excellent.  You could plunk this place down in Paris and it would do fine.

Yes, we were happy campers.  Utterly amazing to find this quality of bakestuffs in Japan.  This isn’t a regular part of their culinary culture.  Loni’s eating a sourdough bread filled with cream cheese and orange peel and honey, still warm from the oven.  I’ve got a scone packed with orange, cranberries and nuts, no butter needed. Not sure about Alice and Chuck, but no complaints.  Yoshiko says the place is famous, and I can believe it.  Amply tanked up, we boarded the bus for the short drive over to the Hotel de Yama.  I don’t hesitate to say this was my favorite stay of the entire trip.  I’m only sorry we couldn’t have had two nights and saved it for the end.  This was one of the most serene and calming places I’ve ever been in.  The room was nice, but not extraordinary, except for the view outside the window.

Oh, yeah.  The view.

This was the sculptured shrubs walking garden (note path) with the lake being visible just beyond.  Absolutely quiet.  No motors, no traffic, nothing but the occasional bird call.  Utterly peaceful.  I could have sat here for hours.  This, not Tokyo, is what I wanted to experience in Japan.  Thank you, Colette!  We left our sliding door open all night to savor the air.  The panoramic view distorts things, but shows the scope:

There were natural hot springs baths available, and kimonos in the closet to get us there, but it was au naturel only so we passed.  Nothing to see here, folks, move along.  We loafed about until it was time for dinner at the hotel.  I thought we’d be downstairs in the dining room, but we were escorted out the door, down the drive, and into a separate building nearer the lake.  Very nice setting.  The interior, which seemed to be undergoing a mild facelift, was set with tables for 7.  Turns out this is Colette’s 100th anniversary, and the 70th for the hotel.  We got a meal fit for both.  Sorta made up for the previous chicken disaster.

From Loni’s notes, I’ll reconstruct what we had in the hotel’s take on a “formal classic French cuisine” meal.  An appetizer pastry square with cheese and peppers, pumpkin soup, sea bream mousse on bread, roast “sheep leg” (lamb) with potatoes & green beans, roasted tomato, dessert plate of berry sorbet, cheese cake, fruit, and a white chocolate square. 

Everything was delicious.  Kudos, and happy anniversaries to Colette and Hotel de Yama!

NOW we’re touring!

Wed. Aug 29, 2018    No more shopping malls, today we get to see the real tourist sites.  We weren’t leaving until 9:00, but we woke early so decided to get down to breakfast before the crowds.  6:30 was a good call as we had the place and the fresh goodies to ourselves.  Rain is gone, but it’s overcast and humid.  Yoshiko-san continues to entertain with her almost caricature English.  She substitutes L’s for R’s and mangles things in hilarious ways.  She thanked everyone for their copulation (cooperation) in getting on the bus on time, and of course we would have lice for lunch.  She is, however, an absolute sweetheart and is tireless in catering to us. When she was married, she lived with (and deferred to) her mother-in-law who, apparently, took full advantage of the situation.  Yoshiko decided to learn English as a means of escape.  Now, she says, when she goes to the cemetery, she thanks her MIL for motivating her to learn as she now gets to travel the world.

Our first stop today is to go right around the corner to the Tokyo Tower that has loomed over us since we arrived.  Opened in 1958, at 333 meters it is the second tallest structure in Japan.  We didn’t go to the expensive top, but the lower observation deck, which was plenty tall to see the city (see pic in previous post).

It’s hard to appreciate how tangled and tortured is the layout of Tokyo which, like Topsy, “just grew.”  Even the rebuilding after the WWII firebombings didn’t do much to lay things out in a more orderly fashion.

We got back on the bus and motored across town to the exterior grounds of the Imperial Palace, the Kokyo Gaien National Gardens.  The inner grounds of the palace are generally not open to the public. Only on January 2 (New Year's Greeting) and December 23 (Emperor's Birthday), are visitors able to enter the inner palace grounds and see the members of the Imperial Family, who make several public appearances on a balcony.  Nonetheless, the Gardens grounds are impressive, beautiful, and oddly serene in the geographic center of Tokyo.  The Nijubashi are two bridges that form an entrance to the inner palace grounds. The stone bridge in front is called Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge). The bridge hidden in the back was formerly a wooden bridge with two levels, from which the name Nijubashi (Double Bridge) derives.  People on the bridge give some scale.

The group doing its thing on the grounds.  Loni’s red hat is easy to spot!

Much of the grounds was like a full-size bonsai garden, with the trees carefully pruned.

And, of course, made a perfect backdrop for the happy tourists.  These grounds originally were the site of Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. In 1868, the shogunate was overthrown, and the country's capital and Imperial Residence were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. In 1888 construction of a new Imperial Palace was completed. It was destroyed during World War Two, and rebuilt in the same style, afterwards.  The stone bridge and the walls, however, are the originals.

Next up was a visit to the big Tsukiji fish market, allegedly the world’s largest.  The portion we would see is only a fraction of the huge place.  Most of the action is the wholesale part, which takes place at night and early dawn;  during the day it’s the much smaller section for retail sales to consumers, lunch-goers, etc.  Below, we are on our way into the market area, Chuck (blue shirt, tan hat) leading the way, Alice and Loni bringing up the rear.  There were lots of vendors selling cooked product, but since we had lunch in the offing we mostly looked.  I did try some squid jerky, which was salty, very chewy, but good.  These were the more open areas.  Sometimes the way narrowed down to where you could hardly move in any direction.  But, there was never any shoving.  Everyone did a polite shuffle to make their way through.

After seeing all this food it was time to walk to the Tama Sushi restaurant a couple of blocks away.  We were supposed to meet Yoshiko at a predetermined intersection, which got more than a few folks confused.  We had left the market early to see a nearby temple, which looked more like a stone train station, and met up with one of the more elderly members of our group who was traveling alone.  He was hopelessly lost, and I’m very glad we were there to guide him back.  Otherwise, it would have been hours of delay for the group while he was hunted down.  In areas that are known to be high tourist spots, like the fish market, the signs are bilingual, but this is not the norm throughout the city.  Everyone eventually made it to the meeting spot and we herded along to the restaurant.  Not the fanciest of buildings, but it was quite nice inside and we got our first real sushi experience.  Unfortunately, due to comments from prior tours, they had “dumbed down” the menu to very ordinary fish, and eliminated the more exotic fare.  Phooey.  I’d have preferred a little adventure.  What we got, though, was very good.  Tuna, salmon, shrimp, and eel.  Allergic Loni got two salmon for the nixed shrimp.  Things were rounded out by sushi rolls, fresh ginger, miso soup, salad, vegetable tempura, green tea, and a savory egg custard.  We couldn’t believe it, but some of our less-open tour mates “ewed” the eel and the custard, and faint murmers of “what, no dessert?” were heard. Sigh.  Guess that’s why the menu got reduced to its current state.

We waddled back to the bus and took off for the outskirts of Tokyo to a lush forest that held the Meiji shrine, dedicated to the Meiji emperor.  Shrines are Shinto religion, temples are Buddhist.  Shinto, explained Yoshiko, predates the 7th century and is based on the spiritual forces in nature:  trees, mountains, water, etc.  As we walked through the forest to the shrine, we passed through several huge Tori gates which are believed to have the power to block evil forces.  We found these throughout our trip, large and small, sitting on land or in water.  Don’t know about the alleged powers, but they are impressive to look at.  Chuck, left, Yoshiko and Loni lead the way.

The shrine itself, while quite elaborate in its exterior architecture, is austere on the inside.  Simple, straight lines of natural wood without any adornment or icons.  You’re supposed to get a sort of inner peace from the simplicity, I guess.  There is a hand washing ritual that visitors are supposed to observe, although no one cares if you do not.  To purify yourself, you pour water from the dipper to the left hand, then the right, then back to the left.  You’re then supposed to rinse your mouth out, but I didn’t observe anyone taking that step, not even the locals.  Sorta like kissing the Blarney Stone.  Yuck.  At the shrine, you stay behind the railings and bow 2 times, clap hands twice, then bow again.  Once done, you can toss a small coin inside and say a prayer.  There was an adjacent structure where, I kid you not, you could drive your new car in for a blessing!  Outside the shrine area, there were these sake which are donated annually by their makers. The array stretched about 60 or 70 yards, so this is just a small section. Sipping a cup of sake is a prayerful act of symbolic unification with the gods. Shinto shrines and sake manufacturers maintain a symbiotic relationship, in which the shrines conduct rites to ask the gods for the prosperity of the brewers, and — this is where the barrels come in — the brewers donate the grog that shrines need for ceremonies and festivals. Apparently, the barrels on display are empty, and the brewers donate in bottles what the shrines need for ceremonies.  Too bad.  If they were full, it would be quite a Shinto shindig at the end of the year.  Opposite this display is a similar one containing wine barrels.  Equal opportunity booze!

Tori gate entry to the shrine, elaborate doors with woman performing the bowing ritual, map of park, the facade.

Back to the hotel for a non-A beer and kick back before the group dinner.  Tonite was to be a tapas dinner, but what we got was really strange.  We got a salad, rice bowl, egg roll, then southern fried chicken with egg sauce, accompanied by BBQ chicken, overbaked rolls and ice cream.  Tapas?  Apparently fried chicken is popular here, especially at Christmas time when it is the custom to have KFC.  Yes, that KFC.  Dates back to some promotion back in the 70’s that was wildly successful.  Anyway, it was mostly tasteless and really disappointing. This place, I am sure, was the subject of many comments on our end-of-tour ratings.  It made my list!  And, poor Alice, who can’t eat chicken.  No substitutes available.  No photos of this disaster.  Too bad a good day ended on a sour note.

NO SHOPPING, PLEASE!

Day Two: 8/28/2016  Finally got a good night’s sleep and down to breakfast at the excellent buffet, made even better by it being on Colette’s dime this time.  The pastries continue to be excellent. Someone over here knows what they are doing.  We again sampled the strange bacon, which seems to be steamed instead of fried.  It looks virtually raw, is quite limp, but fully cooked.  This proved to be the case everywhere we ate breakfast in Japan.  Chalk it up to a cultural quirk.  Still, it tasted ok, sort of like eating a slice of baked ham.  The omelets were these little egg torpedoes with nothing inside them.  All extras were added externally.  This plate was my first go-through; they had dozens of options, including full Japanese courses of noodles, etc.  We stuck for the most part with the Western fare, at least for breakfast.

Our first stop of the day was Asakusa, Tokyo’s oldest Geisha District, and a tea ceremony that supposedly dates back to the 1400’s.  We were ushered into the premises by a non-geisha and our guide, Yoshiko, and listened and watched a demonstration of the proper etiquette.

I won’t go through all the rigmarole, but there’s a lot of steps involving washing the cup, rotating it just so, eating some bean paste to lessen the astringency of the tea, and so on.  On the wall behind her is a scroll bearing the four cardinal tenets of the tea ceremony: harmony, respect, purity, tranquility. A few intrepid group members got to go up and kneel alongside and try to mimic what she was doing.  Below, we hopefully are  properly holding the cup in an appropriately reverential manner. Hold on left hand, cradle with right.  Sigh.  We look like alms supplicants.  Just gimme a cuppa, mate.

The ceremony was interesting, but not a gripper.  Our next stop, however, simply reinforced that shopping is antithetical to a good travel experience.  We traveled across Tokyo to the shadow of the newer Tokyo Skytree broadcasting tower (not in this pic), built in 2012 and nearly twice as tall as the original back by our hotel.  We didn’t visit the Skytree, although we might have made it over and back if we were in running shape.  Instead, we “toured” the Nakamise Shopping Arcade, which was packed with humanity and lack of bargains.  This is THE Toyo tourist trap but, this being our first day of touring, it was a form of cultural experience.  Heck, nearly all the tourists were Japanese, so maybe it’s a real thing.  The gauntlet of shops are under the long parallel roofs in light green.  You enter through the large roofed gate in the foreground, and inch your way along the street to the a large temple, the Sanjorji (or something), at the far end.  But it was closed, so all you could do was tour the courtyards or peek through a screen to the inside.

Note the billboard for Asahi “Dry” beer.  They also make this in a non-alcohol version and it is remarkably good.  I had it nearly everywhere we went.  When we returned home, I searched for it in vain.  Seems it’s not imported into the U.S. at all.  Too bad, it’s hands down the best Non-A I’ve tried, and that includes all the German versions. 

Below, Yoshiko-san gives Loni some shopping tips, the mass of humanity in this mall, and the Skytree Tower.

As this was late August in Tokyo, it was hot and humid.  We purchased ice cream “burgers” to cool off a bit, but Chuck found just what he’d been looking for.  Actually, they were making peach shakes, so I couldn’t resist either.  But, honest, this was the only US fast-food detour of the whole trip.

A typical mid-scale restaurant window displaying the wares:

We all met back at the main gate to follow Yoshiko’s flag back to the bus for our next stop . . . a neighborhood shopping street that is more typical of the non-tourist areas.  Colette really needs to trim these stops from the tour.  We had an hour to kill in a totally uninteresting venue.  This is about the last carping I will do about the tour, as the rest was pretty darn good.

We motored back to the hotel and collapsed for a couple hours of shuteye before dinner on our own tonight.  The culinary adventure begins! We first thought we’d wimp out and just try the beer garden on the hotel premises, but they were setting up for a private function so we set out in the vague direction Yoshiko had recommended as the nearest collection of restaurants.  We cruised up and down small streets and alleys looking for something with understandable pictures of their dishes and reasonable prices.  We also had to ensure to avoid shellfish plates for Loni.  Some places we couldn’t figure out what was in the pictured dishes, others were already full with folks waiting, and yet others were Indian food with touts out front trying to lure us in.  Well, we didn’t come to Japan to eat Indian food no matter what.  A fruitless half hour later, we were in a dark alley, stopped at a possible spot, and promptly were joined by our Aussie friends who were similarly in the dark.  The pictures looked like stuff we could eat, $10-13 a plate.  Deal!Once in and seated, I used Google Translate on my phone to alert the waiter to Loni’s allergies.  He seemed to understand and said, I think, “no shrimpa.”  Whatever.  The whole evening was like playing charades in a foreign language, but it turned out good for all of us.  Loni and I each had a pork plate with rice, noodles, veggies and miso soup. Not exactly haute cuisine, but filling and tasty and no surprises.  Flushed with our international urbanity, we strolled back to the hotel in the balmy night air.  It wasn’t hard to find our way, as the adjacent Tokyo Tower was lit up like a Christmas tree.  As we went, it looked like the natives were just getting started on the evening.  Indeed, as we walked past the beer garden it was in full swing with live music.  Bed, for us!

KON’NICHIWA

Day One: 8/25-26-27/2018 (Int’l Dateline)   It’s been a looong time since I’ve made any substantive post.  Lots of reasons, but mainly poor health and massive sloth.  The health thing turned around after a rather extensive 5 1/2 hour operation back in February, and with feeling better came the urge to get cracking on travel.  Once I was confident the improvements were here to stay for the foreseeable future, we started looking for places to go.  Japan has always been on our list, so we took a look at the latest Colette Tours brochure for their offerings.  We’ve done three with them (Australia-NZ, Spain, and Portugal), all documented on the Blog, and had good luck each time.  Sure enough, they had space on one departing in late August for two weeks.  Hmmm.  August in Tokyo?  Heat and humidity for sure, but we couldn’t go any later in the year due to other commitments, so decided to pull the trigger.  Just before doing so, we called Chuck and Alice (see the Scotland-Ireland posts) to see if they were interested and, wahooo, they were.  Just like that.  We made reservations with Colette for 4 and set about sourcing flights.  Unfortunately, the best option had only three seats available.  We snagged those, along with Alice, and Chuck heroically took alternate flights (first, to Dallas, then from there to Tokyo; somehow, American sold that routing far cheaper than a seat on our flight; go figure, I sure can’t) hopefully to arrive within an hour or so of us.  Unfortunately, Chuck’s flight was at 6-something, so I had to get up at 4am to run him to the airport.  At least no LA traffic at that hour, and I was back home and in bed by 5:00.  Our flight, leaving just after noon, was on American, long on my avoid-at-all-costs list for unending consumer-unfriendly policies, but all turned out well.  We had a direct flight from LAX to Narita, the only international airport for Tokyo, or so we thought.  Turns out you can also fly nonstop to Haneda, a much closer-in one, but that option didn’t show up in our searches.  Must have been more expensive.  Narita is about an hour and a half or so from Tokyo proper, requiring ground transportation arrangements as well.  Back to LAX.  After hassling with a balky check-in kiosk, our TSA precheck got us through in a flash and we were at the gate only an hour and 15 minutes after leaving home.  For LAX, with allegedly full remote parking (we drove around the cones and got the absolute last available spot, our first good omen), and the terminal shuttle, and the drive from home, that was pretty remarkable.  Our flight left at noon, and we flew with the sun all across the Pacific.  But our plane was a 787, and it sported those nifty windows where the glass can be darkened to almost total opacity, allowing the lights to be turned off for sleeping even during daylight.  While neither Loni nor I slept at all, it was nice for watching movies and giving the sense of a night passing.  As we got close to Japan, the windows were slowly cleared and it felt like we were starting the day.  Whatever, neither of us had much problem with jet lag.  The flight was smooth and long (just under 12 hours) and we got there at 3:30 in the afternoon the next day (crossing the Date Line).  Food was pretty good (those pastas were better than they looked), as we opted for the economy Plus status, which was almost worth the extra $.  Almost, because despite the welcome leg room, the seats had zero lumbar support.  Who designs these things for long flights?  I used my inflatable back support, and it was tolerable.  We got to sit up front in the “Economy Plus” section with only 21 seats, with easy access to 2 bathrooms and dibs on first service amongst the hoi polloi.  The extra legroom was much appreciated.  I watched four movies (Molly’s Game good, Book club bleah), read some, tried to sleep but failed, and generally just tried to Zen my way along.  I’ll credit American with friendly staff, adequate bathrooms, plenty of food and drink, and an excellent selection of movies and tv stuff.  If only they would apply the same care to domestic flights.

At Narita, we had a very long hike to the baggage claim from the most remote terminal possible, where ours were virtually the first off.  Our second good omen!  We had a quick and easy passage through customs and security and exited to the lobby to find the bus shuttle.  I had researched this before leaving, and had a map of the terminal so it was an easy find.  The friendly staff spoke just enough English, and we bought our tickets for a bus leaving in an hour, and sat down to hope that Chuck would get there in time to join us.  Alas, he got there just minutes after we left.  While there, I tried out an ATM to make sure my card worked.  No sweat, with easy English instructions on the screen.  Unfortunately, I got a 10,000 yen note, about the equivalent of a C-note in USD.  As we were to find later, that’s not a problem even for the smallest vendors.  They happily take it and empty their till to give you change.

The bus ride in was not scenic.  It travels almost entirely through an industrial/commercial byway, with almost nothing of interest to see.  Lots of sound walls abutting the highway, so we couldn’t see anything much of the time.  Not until we got into downtown Tokyo did things start to get interesting, mostly nifty buildings, a giant Ferris Wheel ala the London Eye, the Tokyo Tower and such.  Ours was about the sixth stop the bus made at various hotels, so we got an idea what the hotel competition looked like.  Having done so, we can say “Kudos!” to Collette, as the Tokyo Prince was far and away the best situated of any of them.  Its vaguely Soviet architecture was unremarkable on the outside (inside was quite nice), but the winning element was its setting within the largest swath of greenery we were to encounter within Tokyo proper.  And, it was literally in the shadow of the iconic Tokyo Tower, which we were to visit in a couple of days.  To show you what I mean by its splendid location, here’s a shot I took from the tower (through less than clear windows) looking down on our hotel (white buildings in foreground).  Check out the rest of the city and look in vain for anything green. It also

was a great walking area, with lots of restaurants over towards the blue square at upper right. When we first checked in, our room was fourth floor from the top, at the far right of the wing facing this way.  The room was fine, and had a terrific view of the Tower (from where I’m taking this photo).  However, about 5 minutes after we got in to it, I started hearing these faint drum sounds.  As there is a big park at the lower right of this photo, I thought sure that they were setting up for a rock concert or some festival for the evening, somewhere back in the trees.  Having been up for 27 hours or more, that was going to drive me nuts.  I went down to the desk and began a completely unfathomable and otherwise comical conversation with the severely English-challenged desk crew, trying to explain about the drum noise and asking to be moved.  It took forever, but a lot of bowing later I was told to go back and wait.  About 15 minutes later, we were led up two floors to our new room, right above our former room, with . . . (drumroll, literally and figuratively) the faint drum poundings still permeating.  We gave up, accepted the room and settled in.  About an hour later, the drum sounds faded away.  Oh, bliss.  We would be moved the next day anyway, as this night was on our own, not Collette, since we had arrived a day early, ahead of the tour, just to be safe.  The TV had only two channels we could understand:  Angels baseball (they have a Japanese pitcher, so this channel was on everywhere we went, endlessly replaying the games) and a channel showing cat videos.  The rest were incomprehensible game shows with people dressed weirdly.  Neither of us slept well, despite exhaustion. Some time that evening Chuck arrived, having survived his solo travels, but we didn’t connect until morning.

The next morning, we got up early at 6:45 local, and tried to call C&A at the room number Loni thought she heard Alice tell her the night before.  I got some guy who said nothing, but sighed heavily repeatedly.  Oops, sorry fella.  Loni’s hearing loss strikes again. She heard 1016, and it was 1060. We finally connected down in the lobby and had the $28 /person breakfast buffet.  I have to say, it was pretty good (even the danish were tasty), although no breakfast is worth that price.  Today marks the official first day of the Colette tour, so we will have to re-check in to the block of rooms they have reserved.  Too early for that, so we decided to explore the nifty looking building to the right of the hotel in the photo above from the Tower.  This turned out to be the Zojoji Buddhist Temple, a major one in Tokyo, and right next door.  It was hot and humid already, so we went inside to sit down and cool off.  There were only a few people inside.  After a couple of minutes of silence, four monks entered from behind a screen and took positions around the altar.  They began to chant.  Way coool!  This went on for a while, acapella, and then they started adding . . . (wait for it) . . . DRUMS!  That’s what we had been hearing the previous evening.  Why couldn’t the desk staff have figured that out and told us?  Didn’t understand the word “drums,” I suppose.  They also had gongs, chimes, and beat on wood items.  Anyway, it was a nifty experience.

Chuck visited the temple late afternoon that same day and caught another ceremony, but this time involving a couple dozen novitiates (he surmised).  Even more impressive with more bodies moving about and chanting.  Outside the temple, to the right as you face it, is an extensive array of figurines, thousands.

The sign explains all.  It was quite sobering and touching.  The above lineup stretched out to the left for hundreds of feet.  The heat rising, we strolled back to the hotel where we flaked out in the lobby waiting for the room assignment.  After an hour or so, they called us over and we were taken to out new digs.  We now are on the front side of the hotel, still up high, overlooking the pool area and the beer garden.  Both were just fine, but I preferred the serenity of the pool area.

Dinner tonite was to be on Colette as it is their custom to host a welcome dinner the first night for all the group.  There were several restaurants in the hotel and we ate in the Simizu.  It was kaiseki style, with lots of little dishes on a tray.  It was quite nice, although Alice, who doesn’t eat chicken, suffered thru a couple of dishes with a tofu substitute, which she likes even less.  No round of introductions tonight, which I missed.  Found out later that our guide was saving that for another day.  We seem to be mostly U.S. folk, with a handful of Aussies including Bruce and Liz, from Melbourne, who sat opposite us.  Nice people.  Our guide, Yoshiko, seems to be a very sweet lady with a very strong accent to her English.  I’m thinking this is going to be a challenge.  I pegged her at about 35 years old, but we later found out she’s an amazingly young 55.  We were glad we stayed at the hotel for dinner, as we were treated to a tremendous thunder and lightning storm which we viewed through the giant plate-glass windows in the restaurant.  Leisurely start tomorrow (9:30) so we’ll have plenty of time for breakfast.  A good first day!