We Rike Japan

So Jared and I are finally adjusting to the real world after our little summer trip. Things got off to really rough start for us. After having a mixup and going to the wrong terminal, we missed a connecting flight at LAX (even though we had a good 40 min before our plane took off) then they wanted to charge each of us an additional 600 dollars to get to Japan. After talking to stupid Orbitz on the phone forever, Air Canada finally helped us out a little, just charged us a change fee and put us on the next flight to Vancouver. We couldn't get a flight to Tokyo until the next day so we decided to make the most of it and spend some time in downtown Vancouver. It was a cool city and we actually enjoyed ourselves, but we were so ready to get on our way. So we went to the airport the next morning to catch our flight to Tokyo. We finally boarded the plane and everything was going great. Oh wait jk! After being in the air for about 2 hours the pilot got on and said we had to turn around because of a computer problem. We all waited around at the airport for at least another 2 hours to get an update on our flight. Just our luck! It was canceled and postponed until the next day. So we were stuck in Vancouver for another night. Luckily they put us up in a hotel. We spent more time on the phone rearranging out hotel room and travel plans in Japan again for the second time. We decided to extend our stay by 2 days because of all the lost time.

We enjoyed a beautiful Vancouver sunset down by the water.

So finally after 2 days of being completely stressed out at airports and constantly on the phone with an assortment of idiots and unhelpful people we arrived out our destination after a really really long plane ride. But unfortunately we were so exhausted that we crashed and fell asleep at like 8:30 and completely missed our first night in Tokyo. We got up bright and early the next morning and were off to the streets of Tokyo by 6 am. Our first stop was at a temple right next to our hotel. Some munks were holding a service inside so we sat down and watched for awhile. It was really interesting to see and they were really good singers and chanters.
The early morning in Tokyo was so refreshing. The streets were quiet and the weather was cool and crisp. Next we went to the Imperial Palace. The inside was closed, but we walked around the gardens and the outside. After that we headed to Ueno Park. As soon as late morning hit, the streets were overcrowded with people. We attended a shrine, watched a baseball game, listened to some street performers play, and searched frantically for an International ATM because we had no money and we were starving. Jared thought that since in Russia he could use his credit card that it would be the same way in Japan. Wrong! They wanted nothing but yen and because it was Sunday all of the banks were closed. We finally headed back to our hotel and they exchanged some money for us there. We went looking for food and settled on a Wendy's. Shortly after, we found an International ATM at a Seven Eleven, but no slurpees.

The Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

We took out some money and took a nice walk around the Tokyo Tower. By this time we had to get ready to catch our bullet train and head down to Southern Japan. We gathered our luggage, jumped in a shuttle, and headed off for the train station. The bullet train was fabulous. Such a smooth quick ride. A normal bus ride from Tokyo to Kobe is about 10 hours. We got there in under 3 on the bullet train. We enjoyed the scenery on the way, but somehow missed Mt. Fuji. My good buddy Natsuki met up with us at the train station in Kobe and we headed off to her apartment. Natsuki and her boyfriend Kohei had a wedding to attend so they had arranged for us to have dinner with Kohei's family, the Taneda's. So we jumped on a bus and met up with them. They were such a nice family. Only a couple of them spoke a little English so it was definitely interesting. They fed us a wonderful traditional Japanese meal and then we played a Japanese card game and Jared made their little grandson cry when he traded him cards. It was so funny. After a delightful evening, Kohei's father drove us back to Natsuki's apartment.

We loved having a traditional Japanese meal with the Taneda family.

On Monday we headed to Kyoto. It is supposedly the most traditional city in Japan. We went to the Golden Pavillion Temple, Nijio-Jo Castle, and Kiyomizudera Temple and Shrine. I loved them all. They were all so unique, yet equally beautiful. We also went to a fun sushi restaurant for lunch. The sushi comes on little plates that just run on a conveyer belt next to all of the tables. You just take the plates that you want. Jared tried squid, Natsuki had lots of crazy stuff, and I had cucumber rolls, pineapple, and a strawberry parfait. After a long and exhausting day, we jumped on a train back to Kobe. We ate dinner at a little noodle shop by the station. You had to stand up and eat. Luckily we had Natsuki to read the menus to us and help us order. Otherwise, I'm afraid we could have been in big trouble.

The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto was so peaceful and beautiful.

On Tuesday we went to Osaka. Natsuki was busy in the morning so she hired on her friend Eugene to show us around. He was so different than the typical Japanese person. He was big and super loud, but we really liked him. He took us to Osaka-Jo Castle. It was huge! It took us several hours to visit each floor but we learned a lot about the history of the Japanese Shogun. After the castle Eugene was hungry so he made us try octopus balls. They were so slimy and nasty! Then we met up with Natsuki, had lunch and headed off to another shrine to meet up with some family friends of Natsuki's. After visiting the shrine, we went to her family friend's house for dinner. They made us so much food! We had chicken, sticky rice balls, fish paste, fish jerky, miso soup, chimchi, salad, veggies, jello, etc. I really liked the chicken and rice. Not so much a fan of the fish paste and fish jerky, or the Japanese spices. They had a really cute little grandson named Taku. He taught us our favorite Japanese word: AmPongMong. It is a popular Japanese cartoon character which looked exactly like the Japanese symbol for karaoke.

The Osaka-Jo Castle is really really big.

On Wednesday we went to Nara and we absolutely loved it there! It was a little bit of a smaller town with a countryish feel. The coolest thing about Nara were the deer. They were everywhere. Deer are found walking freely throughout the city. We enjoyed feeding them and getting chased by them wherever we went. In Nara we went to Todaoji Temple, which is famous for the Big Buddha which resides inside of it. It is so overwhelmingly enormous. I have a hard time comprehending how they ever built it. After that we went to a temple and shrine that has 3,000 lanterns. The walk there was so cool. It looked like we were in an enchanted forest and of course there were deer to accompany us. Natsuki's friend Utoe is from Nara and he took us through the city. He was such a cute little guy. Nara was definitely one of our favorite places in Japan.

The deer were so friendly.


Big Buddha was gigantic.


Jared and I loved Todaoji Temple.

Later that evening we headed back to Kobe, met up with Natsuki's friend and went to Chinatown. We ate a big meal at a Chinese restaurant and it was really good. Then we went to sing karaoke. Apparently it is really big in Japan. Jared and I weren't the best singers, but I think we had the most fun. We sang Queen, Tom Petty, The Bangles, and John Mellencamp. We also came up with our own words for some of the Japanese songs.

We were all tuckered out after a long night of karaoke.

On Thursday Jared and I headed off alone for a "choose your own adventure" experience. We had planned on going to Hiroshima, but the bullet train was full so we went to Himeji first. We rented out bikes and rode them around the city. Everyone in Japan rides bikes. We had these sweet bikes with baskets and for once I think we really fit in. Ha! We went to the Himeji Castle. It is a world heritage site and probably the most famous castle in all of Japan. Jared couldn't get enough of it. Everything about it was really old and authentic looking. It even had all of these cool little turrets that they used to attack their enemies with by shooting arrows and throwing stones through them. The stairs were so narrow and steep. We were so tired after examining each and every floor. We took one final spin on our bikes, grudgingly gave them back, and jumped on the next train to Hiroshima. We took a long train ride and then a ferry to Miyajima to see the floating Torri Gate. In actuality it wasn't really floating at all. The tide was low so the water wasn't even touching it. Afterwards, we wanted to go to Peace Memorial Park. Unfortunately it was too late and the park was closed for the evening. So after a wonderful day together, we decided we had better head back to Kobe.

Look at the dorky tourists on the bikes!


The Himeji Temple was super old and cool.


we enjoyed the ferry ride to Miyajima.

We made it back to Kobe and hung out with Kohei and Natsuki for the night. First we went to Harborland. It was so cool! There is this cute little carnival right next to the harbor. Next we went to dinner at Kohei's work, Korean BBQ. You sit at a table with a big fire pit in the middle. They bring you big plates of meat and you cook it yourself. The food was super good. I even tried cow tongue and suprisingly it wasn't that bad.

Harborland in Kobe was delightful.

On Friday it was time for us to head back to Tokyo. We said our goodbyes and jumped back on our good friend, the bullet train. We made sure to not miss Mt. Fuji this time and it was pretty sweet. We made it safely back to Tokyo Station aka "the busiest place in the world" found our train to the airport and got ready for another super long plane ride. Jared slept almost the entire plane ride and I didn't sleep at all. So that was fun. I watched like 4 movies, none of them very good. After a short layover in Vancouver, which has the nicest airport by the way, we boarded another plane to LA. Obviously we couldn't get the same flight back to SLC because we were now coming home 2 days later. After paying all of our extra money, we were disappointed to find out we couldn't get on a flight until the next morning. We got another hotel room and spent the night in LA. It was late so we got some food and headed to bed. This time, Jared didn't sleep at all. We were both fighting Jetlag so bad and I think after 5 days I am finally back to normal. Anyway, we got on our flight Saturday morning and made it back safely to good old SLC. We both missed our puppy terribly and couldn't wait to see him. I don't even know how many times on our trip Jared or I said I wish Griffy was here. He would love this place. Japan had more dogs than I have ever seen. Rachelle picked us up, we came home and Jared immediately went to sleep. Being the crazy person that I am, I had to unpack the luggage and get the laundry started first and then I joined him for some sleepy time. About 3 hours later we were reunited with our little pride and joy, Griffy Jay. Griffy stayed with my parents and of course they spoiled him rotten. He ate spaghetti, ice cream, and whatever else his little heart desired. As my parents went to leave our house poor little Griffy chased after them and looked as sad as ever when they didn't take him.

The bullet trains were a great way to travel in Japan.

All in all our trip was a "huge success" minus the whole worst luck ever, stuck in the airport for hours and hours, oh lets spend a ton more money to even get to Japan thing. Japan was a beautiful safe country and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Things I will miss most about Japan: Calpis water and all the yummy drinks, Pucca candy, the drink machines on every corner, no one talks on their cell phones in public, everyone is quiet, respectful, and polite, the cute little smiling school children in their matching uniforms saying "herro", the friendly deer, the railway system, the bullet train, the beautiful landscapes, castles, temples, and shrines, the hospitality, and of course, AmPongMong. Things I won't really miss about Japan: everything is super small: the hotels, the houses, the food and drinks, the people, etc. paying for tp at public restrooms, the toilets on the floor, not knowing what I am eating and then biting into something like fish eggs, all the weird food, not being able to read anything I see or understand what anyone is saying, looking completely different and out of place and the humidity. I would like to say one final origato or odigato to Japan and the wonderful experiences that we had there.

I sure do miss seeing the cute little kids of Japan. They were so friendly.