Japan 2015

Not a whole lot has been going on this year.  While last year was a bit of a blur with my focus on BJJ, it did not continue into the year.  I did start January off with training, but by end of the month, my hands were getting torn up from playing too much spider.  I tried to play top, but with most people heavier and better than me, I seem to end up on bottom a lot :(  Well, that led to a break to rest my hands, which led to an even longer break for other reasons (snow day, etc.), which led me to stop training altogether since work got crazy in February.  On February 23rd we were switching to AWIPS II at work.  That required a lot of preparation which has been on-going for years, and the weeks that followed were just a nightmare from having to deal with everything that broke as a result of it.  I was hating life in February and March.  By the time April came around, I was more than ready for a vacation.

Tokyo isn't exactly my idea of a "vacation" since it is more of an obligatory trip to see Mom and family.  It's been five years since my last trip to Japan. Plus, I have a lot of friends there I would like to see and knew I'd spend most of my time running around seeing people.  I only had six full days there though, so I made a point to contact only a few friends.  Also made sure I had a few hours of down time here and there.  The week turned out really well.  I had lots of fun seeing people, and also felt rested and de-stressed by end of it.  Here's how the trip went:

Day 1 - SIM Card Search and Arriving at Roppongi

It was a bright and early start with a 0530 flight to Dallas and a few hour layover, followed by a 14 hour flight.  Flight was uneventful, and I slept most of the way and caught couple of movies, including The Imitation Game, which I liked.  I got into Narita about 2ish and was greeted by my mom.  It wasn't necessary for her to come, but she wanted to I guess.  Once there I tried to sort out my phone situation.  I had a Nexus 5 so I should have been able to swap it out for a SIM card in Japan.  They run about 4,500YEN for 1GB data good for 30 days.  You cannot place calls with this card tho.  One place (SoftBank?) offered something similar that lets you also make calls for about 5,600YEN.  The unfortunate situation was that the pin hole to eject the SIM card on Nexus 5 was so tiny the standard pins don't fit in it.  So I could not get the card out.  I had the ejector at home but it didn't do me much good there.  I decided I would gamble that I would manage without it, and bought a 1,000YEN phone card just in case I needed calls.  In the end, I had enough free WiFi access to manage.

After wasting time on SIM card search, I withdrew money from Citibank ATM.  From past experiences there were only two places you can withdrawal money with a foreign ATM card - Citibank ATMs and post office ATM.  Then we booked a limousine bus ride (3,000YEN) to Roppongi's Grand Hyatt where Otoe met me.  Mom's house is too small and in an inconvenient location so I never stay with her when I go to Tokyo.  Plus, she'd drive me nuts if spent that much time with her :P  Mom, my friend, and I ate dinner at a near by place.  It was a yakitori place.  First of many yummy dining experiences to come.  Then back to my friend's, a shower, some chatting, and then bed.  It was a very long day.

Day 2 - Shibazakura at Hitsujiyama Koen

I knew I was going to miss cherry blossoms in Tokyo, but it was Spring time and I knew there had to be flowers.  After some searching for ideas, I decided I wanted to see this: http://www.sainokuni-kanko.jp/eng/sightseeingspot/023.html.  My friends, Otoe and Chiho, were going to join me on this day trip.  We almost didn't go because weather was iffy, but we went in the end and had a good time. We saw the Chichibu Jinja, ate soba noodles for lunch, and had a nice walk around the park.  The shibazakura wasn't quite peak, but still beautiful.  There were also lots of cherry blossoms everywhere.  I was glad we went.  By end of the day though, I was dying.  I think I woke up around 5:30 due to jet lag.  I went back to Otoe's place for the night.

Day 3 - Crab meal with family

I have a lot of family on my mom's side and made plans to meet with the ones I'd known since I was a kid.  It was Mom, my uncle, 3 cousins, and their families.  We went to a crab place in Ginza for lunch.  The women ordered a set course (~3,500YEN) that brought out all sorts of crab dishes - crab gratan, crab meat, crab sushi, crab this, that and so on.  It was all very good.  I went easy on breakfast thinking I was going to feast, but the portions were really tiny so I wouldn't say I was very full after the meal.  The men ordered a la carte and drank lots of beer.  It was a good time.  Afterward, I hung out a bit longer with mom and one of my cousins.

Tonight I was switching to a hotel so I stopped to see Otoe once more, grabbed my things, and headed to Richmod Hotel Premiere in Musashikosugi.  I could've stayed with various cousins here and there, but I didn't really want to lug my luggage all around Tokyo every couple days.  I also didn't want to stay at any one place too long so as to not impose on anybody.  Japan housings are small, and surely guests are not convenient.  The hotel turned out to be very nice.  They had every amenity you may need.  Even a charger with different adapters.  Location was also very convenient.  Despite it being in Kanagawa Prefecture, there were couple different lines going to the station, and the express trains stopped there.

Day 4 - Kabuki and Komparu

Forecast called for rain today so I decided to do some indoor things.  The morning was spent sleeping in and relaxing.  I needed those few hours alone to chill after a busy few days.  Around noon Mom joined me and we headed to Kabukiza for lunch and to catch 1 act of a Kabuki show.  I did not think it would be my thing, but my mom had been big into it lately and suggested I go.  The tickets for 1 act go on sale at the last minute, about hour and half before, and is unreserved seating in the nose bleeds.  Actually, they were not bad seats at all.  You could see very well even from the 4th floor. Mom recommended the audio guide since even the Japanese people can hardly understand the Edo period dialect that is spoken in Kabuki.  It was a good call.  I really liked the story line, and do not think I would have enjoyed it as much if I didn't understand it.  What was annoying though, was that in the English guide they will speak over the actors.  Mom said that in the Japanese version they do the explanation between scenes so that you can hear the actors.  Next time I will get the Japanese audio guide.

After the Kabuki, we went to meet Otoe at a dance show - Komparu. I had no idea what it was, but apparently my mom passes it all the time on way to work and was wondering what it was about... so we went.  It turned out most of the dancers were drags or trannies.  Interesting.  Not my first drag or tranny show, but it has been a while.  Amazing how these men can often look prettier than the women.  The show was lots of fun.  There were three who played the role of men (they were men, but one was... um, trying not to be?)  and while they did not seem like much during meet and greet before the show, it's amazing how hot they can look while dancing.  One was really really cute :)

Day 5 - More friends and Tsukiji Fish Market

Today I met up with couple of friends I met while in high school.  They came to Virginia as an exchange student for the summer and one of the teachers asked me to befriend them.  We hung out then, and continued to remain friends all these years.  The three of us typically get together whenever I visit Japan.  Their unique personalities makes the dynamic quite interesting, so I always enjoy my time with them.  We started the day off in Omotesando's Kiddyland.  One friend is an otaku and is currently really into Rirakkuma.  I'll admit they are cute.  From there we migrated to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market.  Hard to believe none of us have ever been there.  I actually heard they are moving the fish market elsewhere (outside Tokyo?) so seemed like now or never.  Once there, we found a kaiten-zushi place for lunch.  There were lots of places to choose from, and I'm not sure this was the best place.  Felt like I was filling up on rice.  But oh well.  Was still good.  We didn't see any of the fish auction, just shops.

After Tsukiji, we went to a cafe for tea and cake.  A very fancy place in the Shiseido building in Ginza.  Apparently it's the chic thing to do... and we went in jeans and sneakers.  After another hour or two of chatting, one friend had to go to pick up her son from day care.  I called it quits for the day too since I knew next couple days would be busy.

Day 6 - Takato Sakura

Today Mom and I departed on a two day tour from Yokohama.  The first day was mostly spent riding towards the alps, with a short stop to see the Takato Sakura.  Cherry blossoms in Tokyo were no more, but I saw tons from the bus.  We were a bit unfortunate though, as it started raining just as we got to Takato.  Apparently this is one of the more famous places to go for cherry blossom viewing.  Today though, there were tons of tourists toting umbrella through muddy trails to see them.  Had the weather been better, the crowd would have been a bit more dispersed and stationary under the trees.  It was still nice in the rain since they were peak or nearly peak, but not the most ideal viewing conditions.  It was even more annoying that it stopped raining just as we were boarding the bus again.
Day 7 - Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Mom booked this trip because I wanted to see the alps.  This day began early, and were at the bottom of the mountain by 0730.  This place is somewhat interesting, in that you take various kinds of transport to get to the top.  After the bus ride, we took a trolley bus, cable car, and a rope way, and another trolley bus to get to a place called Murodo.  Along the way we saw the Kurobe Dam and nice views of the alps.  Today's weather made up for yesterday.  The weather is often bad on the mountains, so were really lucky to have clear skies.  At Murodo, we had a short (~10 min) walk to see the great snow wall.  It was impressive, but pretty much like you see in the pictures.  The highest point was 19m.  Mom really seemed to enjoy the trip up this mountain.  She kept saying how wonderful it was, and that this will be first and last time to see such magnificence. She's 69 this year, so she's not that old.  Hopefully she'll have many more nice experiences in her lifetime.