Reg & Haris' Visit - Part III

The following Sunday, we drove up north about an 1.5 hours to Nikko, one of the great escapes from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. As we expected, there was snow - a lot of it. What a big difference in atmosphere from our last visit in the autumn of 2006, which is the most popular time of year to visit Nikko for the beautiful foliage that encompasses the city.

This time around, the streets were bare, with very little traffic. Most shops appeared to be closed for the season. Other people around seemed to be tourists, like us, catching views of the famous falls in the area. Most people probably would care less to be out in the snowy cold to see the sights, however, we were still very happy to take our guests to the popular spot for some winter views. First we headed to the Ryuzu Falls, which weren't the most appealing of sights. Most of the grounds were frozen, which seemed to slow the rate of the falls. However, our second stop at the Yudaki Falls were amazing! The most picturesque winter sights my eyes have ever seen.

Yudaki Falls

The white scene was most gorgeous everywhere you turned. When we arrived in the area, the parking lot was snowed in. We plowed our stepwagon over mounds of snow to find a parking spot. A few people equipped with snowshoes were hiking the area. We were amazed by the falls running rapidly into the river below. Amidst the bustling of falling water, you can hear the crackling of ice crystals. Simply nature showing off it's beauty!

It's so funny, when I look at these photos, the background appears so unreal...like a backdrop from a portrait studio. The cold didn't seem to bother Markus, he really enjoyed watching the falls.

If you look closely in the center of the picture, you can see Markus and Rodney amidst all the snow.

Stopping for a bowl of hot soup at the local Japanese diner. Markus took over the camera and snapped these two shots.

Toshogu Shrine

The Toshogu Shrine is knowns as the main attraction of Nikko. The Shinto Shrine is dedicated to the kami (spirit) of Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate, a military dynasty that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. This would be my second visit to the shrine; Rodney's third. I find part of the beauty of this shine is it's remote location set deep in the forest of tall cedar trees. There are about a dozen Shinto and Buddhist buildings located within the enclosure of the shrine.


Kaziridaru are sake barrels used as decoration at Shinto shrines.

The statue of Ieyasu

Quite possibly the most lavishly ornate shrines you'll see in all Japan. Even in the gloomiest of days, the spectrum of colours appear radiant.

You could spend hours just admiring the carvings. In fact, the infamous adage "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" originated with the three wise monkey carvings in this very shrine, in the 17th century.

Taking a nature walk and admiring the views of the tall cedar trees

As the sun was setting, Rodney captured this amazing photo of the Shinkyo Bridge (Sacred Bridge). The red lacquer spans beautifully over the Daiyo River. Legend has it that the hermit who settled Nikko was carried across the river here by two serpents. In feudal times, the sacred bridge could be used only by the emperor.

Reg & Haris' Visit - Part II

...sorry for the delay in posting.

Moving right along. On Day 4 of their visit (Friday, February 22), we toured Asakusa, home of the famed Sensoji Temple. Built in the 7th century, it is known as the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. For February, the weather was at its best so we took advantage and did a lot of walking and taking in sites around the town. You'll see many similar images of Asakusa from our previous guests' visits, however with each visit, we seem to learn and see something new. As it states in most tourist guidebooks, this area is a 'must-see' for all who visit Tokyo.

Kaminarimon Gate, entrance to Nakamise Dori

The newly restored Nio gate is the entrance to Sensoji Temple

Haris worshipping with a hug

Omikuji

100 yen will buy you an omikuji (fortune written on a small piece of paper). You place the money in an honor box and shake a small cylinder containing sticks with characters written on them. Shake the cylinder until one of the sticks falls out and pull your fortune from a drawer with the corresponding character. If your fortune is bad, tie the paper onto a nearby string so that the wind can disperse the bad luck. I think I may have mistakenly tied my good fortune on the string...oops!

Markus with his Tito Reg at the purifying station. Every Buddhist temple is equipped with a similar water cleansing station

Nisonbutsu (A Pair of Buddha)

The figure on the right is said to bring mercy to the worshippers. The right is said to bring wisdom.

Reg met some two very colourful personalities while souvenir shopping in Nakamise Dori

Kanpai!

That Friday evening, Reg, Haris and Rodney went to Roppongi to celebrate Travis' birthday. Rodney showed them to common bars we've been to previously such as the Train Bar (which is literally the size of one train car), GasPanic and Wall Street Club. Later, they met up with Travis at Geronimo.

Roppongi is an area in Tokyo synonomous for its nightlife scene, and popular amoung foreigners. If you cavort to Roppongi, expect to stay out all night. Trains stop running shortly after midnight, so you're likely stuck until the trains start up again until 4:30AM, unless of course you want to take an expensive taxi ride back to your home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVIS!

Toasting to Travis at Geronimo Bar

Oh dear...some high fashion statements, found only in Roppongi

That evening, the guys ended up taking a taxi back to our home in Kamiitabashi. The ride costed a steep 7,000 yen (US$70). Perhaps these guys are getting too old to pull an all-nighter (ha, ha). They arrived home just before sunrise and managed to catch a few hours of z's before we headed out to Harajuku-Yoyogi Park-Omotesando area, early afternoon on Saturday.

A typical dog-walking site is Yoyogi Park. We counted about 16 dachshunds strolling along with this man. It's hard to tell, but he was also carrying 3 dogs in the pouch around his neck. Some dogs weren't even leashed, they were just obediently tagging along with the bunch. Very cute indeed!

You're guaranteed to get a glimpse of some very peculiar looking people around Harajuku Station. Many foreigners like to visit this area to people-watch. Some of the costumes are indescribeable and you can't help but wonder what these people think of while they dress in the morning. To say the least, people express themselves in so many ways! As we moved through the crowds, Rodney first saw "Hawk", a famous dancer from the Fox TV hit show "So You Think You Can Dance", which was aired in the US/Canada last year. Since we don't acquire many of the American channels on our satelite, I had no clue who he was. Reg and Haris, on the other hand, are fans and were rather excited to meet the celebrity in person. At the time, Hok Konishi, known as "Hawk" was in Harajuku filming a documentary. He had a television crew following him as he interviewed some people in the area. Reg managed to get close enough to request a quick demonstration of his moves, which he humbly agreed. Right there on the middle of the cold pavement, he gave us a quick show of his cool breakdancing skills. He seemed like a pretty easy-going guy.

What a coincidence that over breakfast, Rodney happen to see a photo and read an article about Hok Konishi that same morning in the Metropolis magazine. Otherwise, he would've overlooked the signature hairsytle and skinny braids.

Reg with the "Hawk"

Taking a stroll down Omotesando Street. Here, you can find just about every top designer brand boutique from Ralph Lauren and D&G to Bvlgari and Chanel.

Markus admiring the mist from the humidifier that helps preserve the wooden furniture and artifacts at the Oriental Bazaar souvenir shop

Our next stop was Shibuya - about a 10-minute walk from Harajuku Station. Shibuya is a very populated shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo. You can find several high-rise department stores such as Seibu, Parco, Marui and Tokyu.

One of Reg's most anticipated places to see was the famous Shibuya crossing at the Hachiko Exit of Shibuya Station. It is known to be the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. Every three minutes, when the light turns green, the masses cross the street becoming one incredible sea of people. The backdrop of neon lights illuminates the sky. It fascinates me every time.

After a long day of site-seeing and sauntering the streets of Tokyo, we headed back toward Ikebukuro to Gyubei, one of our favourite yakiniku (Korean BBQ) restaurants. Reg and Haris enjoyed the interactive experience of the "do-it-yourself" Japanese dinners.

...to be continued.

Reg & Haris' Visit - Part 1

We were thrilled to welcome my oldest brother Reg and our great friend, Haris to Tokyo on February 19. Probably two of the most hardest working people I know, finally took some vacation time...and to no better place than Japan. Markus anticpated their arrival and couldn't be any happier to play host to Reg and Haris. Having two more older boys to play around with was more than the child could ask for. Of course, upon their arrival, Markus was showered, or shall I say spoiled with more birthday gifts from family and friends from our hometown. He received several books, DVDs, clothes, jigsaw puzzles, learning toys and his favourite cereal, Cherrios (which is not sold in Japan). Many thanks to all of you for the thoughtful gifts!!

Since our guests arrived late in the afternoon on the 19th, we decided to head home and have them settle in. Though first, we stopped by the Supa and picked up their first authentic Japanese meal, which consisted of ready-made sashimi, sushi rolls, tempura and egg rolls. For the next 9 days of their stay, we had planned a busy agenda site-seeing most hot spots in Tokyo.

The next day we started off in the district of Shinjuku to meet with Keiko for lunch at Zonbun - one of my favourite lunch spots to go with Keiko each time we have visitors. Zonbun is hidden in a quiet nook of Shinjuku Station, difficult to find if you're not very familiar with the massive station. I always order the same dish which is gyudon, or beef bowl with a twist. It's served with rice and side dishes of pickled vegetables and miso soup. Everyone opted for the same - even Keiko who usually orders the fish. As always, our meal was ouishii!

Famous spider sculpture outside of Mori Tower, Roppongi

TOKYO!

Lounging in Mori Tower

Our next stop was Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills to see the panoramic views of all of Tokyo. I've concluded that as far as aerial views are concerned, this is my favourite spot for viewing. Over the course of our stay in Tokyo, I've been to several locations to view the city from high atop and the 56th floor of the Mori Tower is the best, in my opinion. For one, it's situated close enough to central Tokyo to have magnificent views of the Tokyo Tower, the Shinjuku Skyscraper district, The Rainbow Bridge in the Odaiba District, Imperial Palace, Mount Fuji and many more. After spending about an hour relaxing and lounging it out in Mori Tower, we headed to Korakuen to Tokyo Dome City for some amusement. Actually, we went for Reg. The rollar-coaster-addict wished to ride Thunder Dolphin. The single standing mega coaster rides high over the park and passes through the top of Spa LaQua building, over 262ft above the ground. Markus is terrified of the thundering sound it makes when it zips over the crowd. When he hears it coming, he walks with knees bent, crouched down, with his arms over his head. While Reg waited in line for the front cart to brave the ride, Haris, Markus and I kept warm and enjoyed a Chai Latte at Starbucks. He managed to video tape his ride, which was pretty neat to watch.

Tokyo Dome City

Fugu Shabu Shabu Restaurant

KANPAI!!!

Soon after, we headed back toward Ikebukuro to meet with Rodney for shabu-shabu, one of my all-time favourite types of Japanese dinners. We met at Fugu Shabu Shabu restaurant. I'm happy to say Reg and Haris really enjoyed the meal too!

Checking out the latest technology at Bic Camera, a popular electronics chain store.

Haris is holding a cellphone equipped with a flip-widescreen for TV viewing.

In Ikebukuro Station heading home from Reg & Haris' busy second official day in Tokyo. By this time, they could really feel the jet-lag setting in!

HAKONE & MOUNT FUJI

For all of Day 3, we took a trip to Hakone. Rodney took the day off to join us for our excursion. The day started on quite an adventure. We decided to take the Romancecar train, a reservations-only Limited Express train from Shinjuku. The day before we picked our tickets while in Shinjuku. I thought leaving our home at 7:00 A.M., giving us about 1.25 hours was plenty of time to make our scheduled train for 8:30am. I calculated about 10 minutes walk to Kamiitabashi Stn., then about 25 minutes commute to Shinjuku, then about another 15 minutes to the Odakyu platform to catch our train. Well, the Tokyo rush-hour completely slipped my mind...hey, it's been a while and we try to avoid it ALL costs. We arrived in Ikebukuro fine, however when we got up to the Saikyo train platform, we were immediately bombarded by a mad rush of hundreds of commuters heading our same direction. Experiencing the Tokyo rush hour is a rush in itself. We stood at the front of the line watching train-workers literally shove people in the trains. No such thing as a fire hazard or capacity on these trains. We ended up waiting since we were told by a worker, "Da-meh-da-yo", which basically translates as "Don't think for a second you'll get on this train!" He directed us away from what he called the "panic zone", toward the end cars. Thank goodness for the efficient transportation system, trains come every three-minutes or so during rush hours. We finally got on after two full trains passed. By this time, we were running short on time. We raced through the very busy Shinjuku station to get to the Odakyu platform, like it was a movie. To our demise, we missed our train to Hakone by two minutes. Luckily, the attendant at the desk was kind enough to do an exchange since there were available seats on the next train. Nevertheless, we made it to Hakone!

To summarize, our full day tour in Hakone consisted of a bus ride to Moto-Hakone in Old Tokaido, a walk through Cedar Avenue to Hakone Checkpoint, a pirate ship cruise on Lake Ashi, the Hakone Ropeway ride to Owakudani volcanic valley, followed by another Ropeway to Gora, then back toward Hakone Yumoto to catch a train home to Tokyo.

Moto-Hakone, by the Shinto Gate at the edge of Lake Ashi

Lake Ashi Pirate Ship cruise

A view of the beautiful snow peaked Mt. Fuji and the red torii gate of Hakone Shrine

Cedar Avenue

Owakudani Volcanic Valley

We arrived by to Owakudani by the Hakone Ropeway. The crater area was created by the volcanic eruption of Mount Hakone about 3000 years ago. The views were incredible with the sulfuric fumes seeping from the ground. It's hard to believe that it was over a year and a half ago since we first visited this site during mom & dad Frijas' visit to Japan.

We all ate the black eggs, which were boiled in the hot springs, with hopes that we will live prolonged healthy lives.

Markus holding on to his black egg

Here, the man is removing the finished eggs from the hotsprings.

After peeling off the black egg shell, it tasted just like a regular boiled egg...a good protein fix for our trek back down the mountain.

After Owakudani, we headed back to Hakone station via another ropeway, then transferred to a cable car. Thank goodness the skies were clear which gave way to beautiful sites of Mt. Fuji everywhere we toured.