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.