Home again, home again!  AJ and I celebrated each step of our journey, from getting on the first flight out of Redding to landing back in Redding.  We celebrated visiting each site on my "must see" list, as well as those that I didn't know I needed to see.  We had minimal issues on the trip - even my lack of Japanese was not as bad as I thought it would be.  (Everyone was very kind to the white lady that just smiled and nodded....)  It's easier to post on my home computer, so I will start posting more photos from the trip.  I have waaaay too many photos!

I had a lot of guidance on the trip, from AJ with his experience living there and his minimal Japanese, to his host family helping us with trip planning.  On our last full day in Tokyo, his host mom Wakana and her sister Miwa took us shopping, and by us, I mean me - AJ was just along for the ride and to carry packages.  After shopping the souvenir district, they surprised us with a traditional tea ceremony, which included us making our own macha tea and our own dessert out of mochi.  Full disclaimer - I'm not a sculptor - I use fabric and yarn for a reason!

Here is what I started with - a pre-made hedgehog to copy and the materials to make my own.

Wakana is on the left, and Miwa on the right - they, along with AJ, made the more complicated autumn leaf.

Part way done - the easy part, lol.  See those chopsticks?  They were a critical part of making the hedgehog, and my chopstick skills are sorely lacking.  

 

The finished project, compared to the sample.

 

 

AJ concentrating hard.  He had a bit of an issue - the first instructions were to squish the mochi in your hand and to work it around to start the process.  He got a little over zealous and squished it way too hard, and had just orange mush on his hands.  I'm surprised he was able to keep enough to make the finished project.  (Needless to say, I declined a bite of his...)

We had fun, and theirs all turned out very well.  Mine had issues, but....I did it!  (and just FYI, I am not a mochi fan....even washing it down with macha tea, it was very hard to eat.)

Yesterday was our last full day in Tokyo, and we met up with Wakana and her sister to take me shopping. We started in the Souvenir District for anything I wanted to take home. 

Talk about busy!  Several streets full of souvenirs and people.  I found a few things there and we stopped at a temple.  

First we did a purification.   Quite often dragon are used in these fountains.  

There was also an area for burning incense - supposedly the smoke will kill disease.  I certainly got smoked out so I should be good for a while.  You can see some of the smoke in this picture.

The inside of the temple is beautiful!  Most of the temples were destroyed in the war, so most have been rebuilt in the last 80 years.  

The view from our balcony in Hakone.  The ship is a pirate ship used for sightseeing around the lake. 

While things are going smoothly on our trip, Cindy has had a few problems at home, poor thing.  First, Luna got more hot spots and needed to go to the vet.  She had to sweet talk the vet office into letting her have Luna treated, including using her credit card to pay for it. I will need to take Luna back out when I’m back, it’s possible the hot spots/infection may be related to her cancer. She’s also peeing on the floor, even though she’s going outside frequently. 

Then, the garage door was opened by itself  -  very odd and a bit disconcerting. It made Cindy a bit unnerved. We did determine that the pest control company had left it open though.

Then, the freezer in the garage started beeping.  Cindy reset it, but it turns out that the rats got to it and destroyed the electrical in the freezer.  Cindy dumped what she couldn’t fit in the other freezer in the trash, and it’s time to buy a new freezer when I get home, bummer.  

The dogs are getting a bit weird on her too. Ripley jumped on Alli’s bed and wouldn’t stay off while Cindy tried to make it up. I think having both AJ gone for so long has her being especially neurotic  I think.

Last night, AJ took me to his favorite temple, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.  The origins of the shrine are over 1,300 years old, but the shrine itself was destroyed in 1468 and rebuilt in 1499.  I didn’t see much of the temple last night but we are going later today to see it in the light  (it is raining at the moment).  Last night was beautiful!  The trail up to the top of the mountain is a three mile loop, meaning a 1 1/2 mile up….lots of stairs.  And I mean a LOT of stairs….and over 1,000 torii gates.

We also saw a wild boar right off the trail.  The last trip AJ did there, he saw a momma boar and babies, and the trip before that he saw some foxes (the guardians of the shrines)  Honestly, it isn’t the best picture, just a boar butt, but I wasn’t going to tap it and ask for a good photo opportunity.

Saturday we took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto.  The seats had way more room than I thought they would, and it was a nice two hour ride. The route goes along the coast for a bit and then inland. I did get to see Mt Fuji, but not able to get a picture, we were on the wrong side of the train.

Kyoto feels older, at least in the area by the station.  Not so many skyscrapers and the vibe feels slower. 

Yesterday we met up with Roger, one of AJ’s friends from school when went to Waseda and did a semi-tour of the school.  Turns out we are here on a three-day weekend, and the school was closed.  

We then headed Euno Park for a “festival”, but the it was starting to rain….Not much happening at the festival.  So, we went to the zoo.

After the zoo, we met up with another of AJ’s friends from school, Ernesto, for dinner.  Mexican food in Shibuya….I don’t recommend it.  We were in Shibuya hoping to see some Halloween costumes but the city had shut down the festivities.  Shibuya used to be a wild place evidently for Halloween, but not this year. It was pouring rain and police were everywhere with whistles…. Very loud and wet. We went soaked to the skin, and I was the only one with boots on.  Due to a miscommunication, instead of going somewhere else to watch the Halloween fun, we tromped a mile or so in the rain. We end up at the station instead of the park, so we called it a night.  Walking the streets of Shibuya in the rain with umbrellas everywhere was an experience 

And “the boys”:

A little over 30,000 steps yesterday, and off to Kyoto today.

Yesterday was Gotokuji Temple and Meiji shrine in the morning, then to sunshine city for lunch and shopping.

Gotokuji Temple was a wonderful place to wander around, feeling the antiquity of the area. The  beckoning cat is a sign of prosperity and good fortune, especially if you keep the figure in your bedroom or Work/study area.  And yes, one followed me home.

Yesterday we did Team Lab -Planet, which was way cool!!  It’s an interactive, art museum, where you get to play with the exhibits. 

The first exhibit, was walking up the hallway with water, running down it, waiting ankle deep in the water. The walls were black with lighting at the bottom, super cool.!

You also got to wade in the water that had Koi swimming around you, the Koi were projections of light.  The water was deep up close to your knees.

My phone app wasn’t working, but if you could get the app to work, you could help direct would be exhibit was doing. My favorite was the crystals which was a room of lights on strings and rooms full of mirrors with a coordinated light display. Pictures don’t do it justice!  

Another favorite exhibit had Extinctanimals shown on the wall, moving around, and, once again if your app is working, you could capture the animal and then the flood would display information about the animal, and then you could release it

There was also a room that had orchids and other flowers being raised and lowered that you could wander around in between.

Some more random pictures from my first full day in Tokyo.  After we went to the imperial palace gardens, we went back to the hotel for a bit. Our room was being cleaned, so we went to the relaxation room of the hotel, which is on the third floor. It was definitely relaxing.

After relaxing, we went to Alex‘s host families place, met with them, and then went out to dinner with the family. Here’s one of the streets we walked down.