Tokyo and Kyoto-Part 5. (Friday-Sunday)

The next morning, a new adventure was awating us. We were travelling to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan. I bought one of those Shinkansen tours Tokyo-Kyoto that has train tickets and hotel stay all included. The train ride to Kyoto was about 2 hrs 45 minutes—not bad.

Some background info on Kyoto. Kyoto is a huge city. Close to 1.5 million people live there. It became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794 and remained the capital until 1868 when it was transferred to Tokyo. During WWII, Kyoto was spared from firebombing since Americans decided it was too valuable to destroy. I’d say so! Kyoto has 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto Shrines.

In 1995, a very strong earthquake struck Kobe, a city 90 km from Kyoto. That earthquake only lasted 10 seconds, but over 6000 people died in those seconds. Kobe was severely damaged. No one in Kyoto died because the earthquake was very localized. But it shows how dangerous that area, well, Japan, for that matter, is.

Our hotel in Kyoto was a typical simple Japanese hotel. Very clean but minimal décor. Our room was on the 8th floor. The bathroom was incredibly small, but it had everything you need.

Right after the arrival, we walked down the central street of Kyoto, full of modern upscale stores. We found a fun souvenir shopping area perpendicular to that street. It seems that everything is catered to tourists here. In fact, we saw a lot more tourists here in Kyoto that in Tokyo, although their number is very small compared to how many people visit Europe.

We took a bus to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. What is very interesting about this temple is the main hall’s veranda. It was built without nails and it overlooks Kyoto from a beautiful slope. Japanese have an expression “to jump off Kiyomizu’s stage” which is equivalent of “to take the plunge”. For over a 1000 pilgrims have climbed the slope to pray to the temple’s 11-headed Kannon image and drink from its sacred spring.

Just hanging around town, dressed like that:)

From Kiyomizu-dera, we walked down a windy little street downhill. On both side of the street, we found very interesting souvenir and antique shops. It looked a lot like Western Europe, actually. On this picture, I am as always looking at maps. I was my mom's personal guide (very convenient).

The street led us to the Yasuka temple.

And from there to Gion. A district where you can see geishas and maikos. Tourists just hang around that street hoping to see one of the taxis carrying a geisha to her new performance spot. We saw just one inside a taxi, all made up.

In the morning we had a reserved bus tour that took us to three places--Nishi Honganji,Nijo Castle and Golden Pavillion.

Nishi Honganji is a Buddhist temple. We didn't take many pictures, but the story was very interesting about all the symbolism of the temple inside.

Nijo castle was most impressive. Our one hour tour inside was very informative about life of a Shogun. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, just outside, in the garden. Everything in the garden has its own meaning. Rocks are mountains, pond is the ocean, lotus is a special flower that grows in dirty water but nevertheless becomes beautiful.

Entrance to the Nijo Castle.

The way that the floor of this castle was built is a very cool. There are special metal wedges put under the beams that hold the floor in place. The friction between the metal and the beam makes a squeky noise any time someone steps on the floor. That was the way to protect the castle from intruders. Fun to walk on it!

Golden Pavilion was quite a sight! 20,000 golden plates! And it was rebuilt several decades ago because of an arson in 1950s. Sheesh, that's a lot of money....

Fushimi-Inari. Oh, what a wonderful gem this shrine is! A thousand tori shrine.

It takes over two hours to walk through the 4 km of these red tori gates. Beautiful! I think this was one of my favorites.

The temple's special animal is a fox. It is believed that they have the magic power to take possession of human spirits, alternate with torii gates. The fox is however reverred to as the god of harvest (rice) and is often seen carrying a key in his mouth, which is for the rice granary. People can buy these boards in a shape of a fox face and decorate it:)

After Fushimi-Inari, we took a bus to Ginkaku-ji temple, also knowns as the Silver Pavillion. It is a Buddhist Zen temple (Zen is one of the branches of Buddhism with very strict rules for living). We only had 20 minutes before it was closed, so we decided that only I would run in and take pictures, since it costs money. So here are some of the shots.

The temple was originally supposed to be covered with silver plates, just like Golden Pavillion, but that never happened. The garden around the temple was gorgeous!

The sand garden had special designs on it.

We had several hours on Sunday morning before our train departed for Tokyo. We decided to hop on a bus and get to Sanjusangendo temple. It was built in 1164 and is considered Japan's longest wooden building (120 m).

Inside, we were not allowed to take any pictures, unfortunately. This temple is famous for its 1000 life-size Thousand Armed Kannon statues and statues of 28 guardian deities. The statues are made of cypress, then painted with golden paint and have wooden eyes for scarier effect. They have at least a dozen of arms with different objects sticking out of them. It was very interesting to see people actually worship in this temple.

Random. So we figured out that my mom looks kind of Japanese:), what do you think?

Speaking of our looks, lots of people kept coming up to us and asking to take pictures with them! Some of them were fascinated with my mom's hair. And then every time when they'd found out she is my mom and not sister--oooohhhh, they were quite surprised. Yes...we felt special.

Well, our wonderful adventure came to an end. Sunday night we came back to Tokyo, my mom repacked, and early in the morning we left for Narita Intl. Airport.

I had a fantastic time with my mom, exploring Japan. Hope she did too. I am sure she has only good things to say about Japanese people and their culture:) Well, just not about their highly automated toilets. By the way, toilets at Outback Steakhouse in Tokyo have automated lids.

So, who is coming to visit us next? I am taking reservations!!!!

Tokyo and Kyoto-Part 4 (Thursday)

All right, I’ll never finish if I keep describing in detail everything we did… Nevertheless, I think blogging about this trip is the best way for me to remember it, together with all the pictures we took. By Thursday, we became pros at getting around Tokyo. It was a breeze. Even mom knew exactly where to stick the ticket and when to get it out and when just walk through the gate.

Our first stop: Imperial Palace. Well, mostly the outside gardens and the bridge. You see, the Imperial Palace in Tokyo is not that impressive after all. It is the one in Kyoto that is definitely a gem. Therefore, we just took some pictures by the famous double-arched stone bridge Nijubashi, some towers and walked around the East Garden.

Hmmm-mmmm, yep. Ineed a new pose for my pictures. Haha.

From there we headed to Harajuku. Oooohhhhh, you have to go to Harajuku if you are ever in Tokyo. The strangest area of all! It is the district where you can find some of the more expensive stores, as well as stores like Gap and a ton of shops that sell clothes for around $500. Japanese fashion is very unique and is impossible to be described in one word. But in Harajuku, it is even more prominent. Short babydoll dresses with leggings or shorts, small French-looking hats and lots of jewelry. The strangest thing we have noticed is that most women wear their shoes at least half a size bigger than their foot, You can clearly see that when they walk. Hmmm.

My mom at the entrance to that crazy street

At Harajuku we also tried these yummy crepes with ice-cream/whip cream/fruits in them. There were about thirty different kinds to choose from. Some with salty filling like raw fish (gross!) and others with cheesecake kind of filling. Definitely a must to try next time we are there with kids.

As our day was coming to an end, we decided to walk over to the Meiji Temple, located right there in Harajuku area. The walk from the entrance tori to the temple itself is beautiful, woody and green at this time of year. I must say, it was much more impressive this time than the time we visited this place in January.

Doma Doma was where we went for dinner. It took us a while to find this REAL Japanese place since it was on a third floor of a building in a tiny street. Hotel concierge told us about it, so we were excited to try it. It is amazing what a little English/Japanese and lots of hand motions can do We got our orders and were fully satisfied. We THINK the waiter told us we could eat shrimps whole, with heads and eyes, since they were fried. So that’s what we did. Yum!

Can you read English in very small letters? Precisely at 7:32 am, only women are allowed to get into this car:) This is a sign at one of the metro stations.

To be continued......

Tokyo and Kyoto. Part 3 (Wednesday)

Next day we got up bright and early. Our first destination was Asakusa area, 40 minutes by metro. A famous Sensoji Kannon temple (Buddhist) is located there. What makes this temple so special is that it was finished in year 645, making it the oldest temple in Tokyo.

I got to wash my hands in this special blessed water for health and fortune.

To get to the temple itself, we had to walk through the Kaminarimon gate which leads to a long street with vendors of various souvenirs.

This beautiful five-story pagoda is right next to the temple. As you can see, the rain continued on and off throughout the morning.

From there we headed to the water bus station. If you are ever in Tokyo, go on this Sumida River cruise. It’s about 40 minutes or as long as you want it to be if you keep going further to different places along the bay. We passed twelve bridges, each one interesting in its own way.

We got off at the first stop by the Hamarikyu Garden. Now, THAT was beautiful. Truly an oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city. We walked along the paths through the old Shogun’s garden.

Stopping by the tea house was the highlight of this place for my mom. She got to drink green tea in a real Japanese teahouse. Barefeet. Sitting on the floor.

The funny and embarrassing thing is that I forgot how women are supposed to sit on the floor. When we came in, there were two Japanese men and a European lady sitting drinking tea in a “criss-cross apple sauce” position. Well, I got confused and decided that we were supposed to sit the same way as well. Those two men laughed and talked between each other, then laughed more, pointing at their camera and at us. I asked them to take our picture with MY camera but not with theirs. Still couldn’t figure out why they were laughing. Only after my mom finished tea and we went outside, we saw how other Japanese women were sitting. The were kneeling down and then sitting down. Duh! Now I will forever remember how women are supposed to sit.

I am reading instructions on how to properly drink green tea and eat a small confection:)

We also saw this very old tree that survived three hundred years

From the garden we took a metro to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.

It is one of the skyscrapers in a busy area of Shinjuku. We got to go up to the 45th store and enjoy the view of Tokyo from up there. What a huge busy city it is!

Finally we were hungry—3 pm. We got so stuffed from our breakfast buffet at the New Sanno that we didn’t want anything before then. I took mama to a fun little noodle shop in the basement of the Government Building. It was mama’s first time to try gyoza and ramen noodles. I love gyoza—a Japanese version of Chinese potstickers.

Well, our day was not over. We headed to the Tokyo Tower area. Walked around the tower and the Zojoji temple nearby. It is a Shinto shrine, very different from a Buddhist one. It is also open 24 hours a day.

We saw these interesting sculptures with red hats. They look like children. From what I understand,rows of little statues with bonnets and windmills are statues of jizobosatusu, the protector of the souls of stillborn children and the Buddhist equivalent of an angel. Mothers who have lost an unborn child may dedicate an image of the deity and decorate it with baby clothes and toys.

Since we are both from Europe (hehehehe), we walked a lot. We walked from Tokyo Tower all the way to Roppongi. In Roppongi, you can find dozens of international restaurants. I really like that are. It is the are where many embassies are situated, therefore, you can find a lot of people from different countries. We decided to eat at Outback Steakhouse, and, as in every American restaurant, we had lots of leftovers. Big portions!

If you are ever shopping in one of the underground malls in Tokyo, don't forget to visit this friendly store:)

Tokyo and Kyoto. Part 2 (Tuesday)

So, as many as you know, my mom arrived from Lviv on April 27th. She stayed with us in Misawa for two weeks, and then on May 11th, she and I headed down to Tokyo—all by ourselves.

Our Shinkansen took us to Tokyo in a little over three hours. My mom was amazed at how comfortable and clean the train was, how quiet it was in the car, and how polite the train attendant was. Compare that to trains in Ukraine….

We got to the New Sanno and happily received our “black catted” luggage (it is rather reasonable to mail suitcases from Misawa to Tokyo so that you don’t have to bother with them on the train). After that we spend the whole afternoon and evening in Shibuya. Shibuya is a shopping district. A casual one. That means you can find places like Zara and H&M. Still, that doesn’t mean I could buy anything because prices were not in my “sale” range. My mom on the other hand, was able to find a swimsuit! Now she can tell everyone she bought her swimsuit in Tokyo.

Shibuya is also famous for its “busiest intersection in the world”. It was very rainy that night, but it didn’t stop us from exploring around.

And this is just for fun. I saw this walking down one of the smaller streets by Ebisu. Construction workers took off their shoes before entering the store they were working at. I like that:)

Tokyo and Kyoto. Part 1.

Yay! I am home! Kids are alive and the house is rather clean. Although all three kids and Robert looked three pounds havier from all that pizza (sort of homemade) and pasta:) They even planted some vegetables and a lilac bush in our yard.

Soooooo, I could write you a long post about my trip, and I probably will in a few days. But for now I have to share this.

Some things I have learned from my trip around Tokyo and Kyoto:


• Japan is definitely a country of contrasts—superior technology and deeply rooted traditions.


• People dress here in the most unimaginable ways—if it doesn’t go together, you put it on.


• Using a Japanese style toilet is not that difficult after all. A lot easier than finding “flush” button among at least a dozen of other buttons. Just ask my mama.

• Sometimes it is best NOT to know what you are eating.

• There are twice as many people in Japan than I thought there were.

• It is not a myth that Japanese trains follow the schedule with exactness—departure at 15:03 and arrival at 18:41 means just that.

We had a blast. It was a fun and fast-paced trip. We walked miles and miles each day, thank goodness NOT in high heels. Ate lots of Japanese food and became pros at taking the subway in both Tokyo and Kyoto.

Stay tuned for more.

Cherry Blossoms 2010

Did you know that cherry blossoms last only about a week? Sakura is what Japanese call their cherry trees. There many different kinds of cherry blossoms, each beautiful in its own way. Usually, sakura blooms in the beginning of April in Tokyo area, but in Misawa, we only see the blossoms in the very end of April/beginning of May. This year, it was the first week of May that we truly saw what everyone oohs and aahs about.

So, on May 8th (the date is still in American time on all of the pictures), we decided to go to Hirosaki where they hold an annual Cherry Blossom Festival:) If you remember, we went to Hirosaki last fall for the Fall Festival. This time everything looked quite different! As usual there were a lot of Japanese selling traditional festival food--chocolate covered bananas, fish on a stick, kind of like American state fair foods. During cherry blossom season, Japanese come to parks where trees are blooming and set up a full blown picnic. The more food the better--and they spend a lot of time like that, "picnicing" with their family.

Although we missed most of the cherry blossoms because Hirosaki trees bloomed earlier than Misawa trees, we still got to see some wheeping cherry trees. We'll know better next time.

Any guesses on what this yummy brick is made of?

I would tell you except I still don't know myself. Gotta ask one of the other dentist's wife who is Japanese. All I can say is that it looked almost like a chocolate jello, or at least something sweet. I took one bite.... and then I had to walk around with it in my hand for half an hour before I found a trash can (For some reasons there were very few trash cans near the festival food stalls). It tasted gross, rubbery and fishy. I felt as if all the people passing me by where watching me to see how I like that ...."brick" of black fish jello.

Oh, we had lots of fun! My mama couldn't stop laughing:)

By the way, Hirosaki is also famous for its Summer Festival. So you might get to read about that too this August:)