July 2, 2009
We made it!
Hi All,
Jess and I are with Jamie and his friend Matt (who is taking over his teaching classes) in his kitchen while Jamie prepares Yaki Soba for our dinner. It is hard to believe that we are really here! We very nearly missed our flight from Toyko to Nagoya. The Tokyo plane was late arriving and we were told by three different JAL ground agents the wrong gate. Luckily Jessie had a bad feeling about it, and she took the boarding pass up to check. While she was in line to check, I asked little man beside me if he was going to Nagoya, but he had a ticket to Bali, so I figured we were in trouble. We had 15 minutes before the plane left and we had to take a monorail to get to our gate, but we made it. Jamie and Matt were waiting for us at the airport. They had borrowed the boss' car and drove to the airport- about a 45 minute drive.
And so our excellent adventure begins. We go to Mt. Fuji and wander around Toyko tomorrow. We will take the Bullet Train. I will keep you posted.
Nina San
July 6, 2009
Japan
Hello All,
We landed in Beijing today at around noon. I'll catch you up on the rest of Japan. We took the bullet train to Mt Fuji, but it was too foggy to see the mountain. Reminded us of the trip we all took to Mt. Rushmore! But, we got a free picture of the mountain signed by the mayor and then we took a cab to a beautiful park with a gorgeous temple and then we proceeded to climb to the park above-way above-lots of steep rock steps. Well I decided that it probably wasn't worth my wearing myself out on the first day, so half way up, at a beautiful look out, I waited while the young ones continued to the top. Fuji was still not to be seen.
We then got the train to Tokyo. What an amazing city! Masses of people always on the move. The people watching was great. In Nagoya the ladies mostly all dress in cute outfits with high heels. I do not know how they can wear those heels all the time up and down subway stairs and lots of walking! They are very pretty and girly looking for the most part. The men all wear white shirts and dark suits. In Toyko, the women are dressed m uch more sophisticated or very punky strange.Outfits which cannot be described. We saw another beautiful temple right in the middle of downtown Tokyo. We went up the Tokyo tower which provided us with amazing views. Jamie was an excellent tour guide, weaving us in an out of the subway like a pro. We took the last train back to Nagoya and so eded our first full day. The next day we explored Koyto, seeing the Shogun's palace which was enormous with beautifully detailed screens and paintings. The floor was built to squeak so enemies could not sneak in. Samarui warriors would be hidden in various rooms to protect the Shogun. Jess and I were trying our few Japanese phrases with good effect. Kyoto has 17 world heritage sites. It was spared the bombing in WW11, so many temples and palaces were still standing. We saw four of these including the Golden Palace-yes covered in gold leaf, then headed back to Nagoya. Jamie was meeting friends for a punk band concert. One of his Japanese friends had written a song about him and she was perfoming it that night. Jessie and I passed on attending so we followed his directions and got ourselves back to the apartment.
The next day, Noriko picked us up early and took us to Sumo wrestlers training.Her dad thought we
enjoy seeing them. That was amazing! I will show you many pictures of these guys. It truly was a sight that not many foreigners get to see.She then took us to Nagoya castle and around Nagoya. We went for dinner that evening with Jamie's boss, Noriko, Matt and us. we went to a typical Japanese restaurant. Kose ordered and paid our bill. Sweet!
So we headed for the airport early this morning, Kose picked us up and took us inside so we knew where to go. Good flight to Beijing! Our hotel is great! Wireless internet and Jamie has his laptop!
We meet up with our Gap tour group and have dinner together tonight. Tomorrow we go to the Great Wall.
Nina