This past week was a whirlwind of activity for us, because Tim's parents paid us a visit! Unfortunately Tim had to work for 4 days, but I was more than happy to show them around our area. Our week included trips to the beach, a traditional Japanese garden, some shrines and temples, Tokyo and a visit to DisneySea. We took hundreds of pictures, so I'm going to try and break this into a few posts. Stay tuned...
Day 1:
The Wells finally arrived in Tokyo after a long delay. Their plane was grounded, with everyone on board, for two hours while repairs were done. What was broken??? A jump seat. Yep. Two Hours. For a jump seat. ::sigh:: Thankfully, the flight was manageable and they made it through customs in record time.
We woke up to sirens wailing outside and the news that an earthquake had hit Chile. We were in a Tsunami warning lockdown. Thankfully, our warning was lifted a few hours later and the weather was cold, but not rainy. Tim didn't have to work, so we showed them around Yokosuka and then took them to Kannonzaki Park. They LOVED the roller slide!! We ended up each going 3 times before it got too dark and we had to head home.
Day Three:
Tim was on day shift, so I took our guests to Kamakura for the day. We had been anticipating rain all week, but the day was gorgeous! I had a much more enjoyable time than our last visit.
We decided to explore more of Kamakura, which is littered with shrines and temples. Sometimes the easiest way to figure out an area is to take a picture of the maps in an area and just start walking. We ended up walking over 5 miles!
All of the pictures are shrines and temples located in Kamakura.
We ended up finding the Zeniarai-Benten located in this mountainside. We didn't realize what a hike it would be to get to it! Luckily, it was gorgeous! It featured a lot of waterfalls, caves, and it is a popular place for worshippers, because on certain days they can wash their money in the spring water and it is believed that it will eventually double.
We ended our visit by visiting Komachi-Dori street, or the main shopping avenue by Kamakura station. Patti ended up purchasing a beautiful "Kamakura-bori" wooden platter, an art form specific to the region.
We ended our day by meeting Tim at the base and heading to my favorite restaurant, Pepper Lunch, for dinner. They really liked it! In case I haven't explained this place before, you have to order from a vending machine at the entrance.
Once you've given the waitress your ticket, you sit down at the bar and wait for a very hot plate of food to arrive in front of you, where you cook it yourself! The rest of the group ended up with a plate of rice and beef, but I ALWAYS get the garlic steak! YUMMY! :-)
Day Four:
Again, we were expecting rain, and again, nothing came! We were elated! Patti had requested some garden viewings, so we headed into Yokohama and the Sankeien Garden. This is a traditional Japanese garden, which opened in 1906 to the public, was completely destroyed during WWII and reopened to the public in 1957. It is also famous for the number of reconstructed/restored buildings on the property. I could explain each one, but that would take up an entire page, so if you'd like to know more, email me! You can also visit the garden's website (www.sankeien.co.jp), but it is in Japanese, so you'll have to deal with a translation program.
Here's a spattering of pictures:
The initial view from the main entrance
Buildings located in the Inner Garden, an area originally reserved for the Hara Family.
Kakushokaku - The former residence of the Hara family, who owned Sankeien until 1953.
By this point, we decided to stop at the Sankei Memorial, which also serves as a visitor's center. We were walking through the building and stumbled on a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. Of course, we had to participate and the tea masters, dressed in traditional kimonos, were trying so hard to explain everything to us in english. The ceremony started with some delicious sugar-coated, fig-type cookies made specifically for Sankeien garden. It is required to eat both of the cookies before the tea is served. This should have been our first warning. We finished off our cookies and then we waited for our green tea. It was presented to us and, as we followed all of the appropriate rules of decorum, we took our first sips. I can't even put into words how bad this tea was. Wanting to be respectful, we tried to finish it and Tim even managed to down it in one big gulp, but I couldn't do it. I tried. My body was physically rejecting this tea. It didn't move in the cup and it was thick and frothy. The tea masters were probably laughing for the rest of the day from the expressions on the three of our faces! Thankfully, the tea master who spoke the most english let me leave the rest of the tea in the cup and we presented the bowls back to them and departed. What came of this experience? A new code word for "I can't do this" or "This is disgusting": Green Tea!
We finished our tour of the gardens by climbing the hill to the Pagoda and exploring more of the outer garden, an area that has been open to the public since the garden was originally built.
These are NOT evenly spaced steps...watch yourself!
The oldest pagoda in the Kanto Region, it was built in 1457.
We made it!
Loved this garden!
Again, we were able to meet Tim after work and he even gave his parents a tour of the base following dinner. It was a busy day!
1 comments:
The pictures really capture the visit. It was amazing fun!
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