5.29.2010

Unintended Breaks

Let me start by saying, I never intended a 2.5 week break from blogging.  I actually have some photos of our journey home from Japan...but alas, the camera cords are at the hotel.  


What?!  Hotel??  


Did I forget to mention that's where we've been living for the last week? :-) I actually figured out that we're going to spend more time away from our house than at it this year...
Our journey home from Japan went relatively smoothly.  We ended up with 5 checked bags and 4 carry-ons.  It was more heavy and difficult to maneuver as you can imagine.  Thankfully, the taxi driver was prepared for such a load and was gracious enough to get out 3 different times to check the trunk and make sure nothing had been "left behind."  Also, I would like to put in a petition to the U.S. airports about making the luggage carts available free of charge.  


Japan = Free      America = $4


We were also able to upgrade our seats to "Economy Plus," giving both of us 5 extra inches of leg room.  We decided to gamble big and go for two middle aisle seats (in a row of 5) instead of the typical window/aisle combo.  Our gamble PAID OFF!  We ended up with the entire row, enabling us to trade of, lay down completely and actually sleep for part of the flight.  The flight went smoothly and lasted just over 8 hours.  We love having a tailwind!


Thankfully customs also went smoothly, we grabbed our bags in the world's fastest time and were ready to go before my parents even got to the airport!  


In addition to all of our baggage, we had also shipped 4 packages home through the base.  Our experience in having things shipped to Japan were less-than-stellar, so we insured everything to the max and reinforced all the boxes.  Upon our arrival at home, one was already waiting and the next three arrived within a week.  We. Were. Shocked.  Oh, and they were all completely intact.  Amazing.


It took us both about a week to readjust to Pacific Standard Time and despite this, Tim was back at work the very next day.  I did end up forcing him to take the next day off, due to his slight exhaustion.  


Since we've been home we've been running around seeing friends and family...and moving into a hotel.  Unfortunately, Tim was reassigned to a new project and that has meant about 4 weeks away from home.  We're making the best of things and constantly look forward to the weekend when we get to sleep in our bed again.  (Which has become REMARKABLY more comfortable since our return from the rock in Japan!)  


I promise pictures will be posted soon! And hopefully there won't be anymore 2.5 week breaks in posting.  


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5.11.2010

Aaaannnnd we're OUT!

On the taxi ride home today, I was in awe that only a short time ago, Tim picked me up from the airport, threw me in a taxi by myself and went to work.  I had no idea where this taxi driver was taking me, he was driving the most narrow and insane road I had EVER been on (and I've done Lombard street AND the road to Hana), and I technically didn't even know what room we were staying in.  Now, I feel confident that, if dropped off at a random station in Tokyo (maybe beyond), I could get myself home.  For me, that is a huge accomplishment! 

On the eve of our departure, Tim and I have finished cleaning up our apartment, stuffed our bags full and now we're relaxing by watching Top Gear and reflecting on our stay.  Ok, maybe I'm doing more of the reflecting and Tim's doing more of the watching...

Anyway, I wanted to write down some of my thoughts.  I'd like to think that this list is a work in progress.  I'll probably try to revisit it in a month when I'm feeling less homesick and more nostalgic about these last 4 1/2 months. 

On to the lists...


Things We WILL Miss
·      The food (Pepper Lunch, Nirvana, Ramen, CoCo Curry, Korean BBQ, Mister Donut…)
·      Reliable public transportation
·      Having remnants of ancient civilization at our fingertips

·      Having glimpses of the future at our fingertips
·      Video chats NOT at 5:30 am (we got used to being 16-17 hours ahead)
·      Respectful people
·      Vending machines every 30 feet
·      Proximity to a Disney Park J
·      Feeling like money is for play, because who really uses money in terms of hundreds and thousands on a daily basis?!



Things we WON’T miss
·      Being the minorities, i.e. having people move away from us on the train and the staring
·      The stairs…so many stairs!
·      An overwhelming amount of people around you at all times
·      The food (sushi and other odd raw, whole fish things)
·      The language barrier (few people speak English and those that do, won’t use it out of fear of embarrassment)
·      Our rock…I mean, our bed
·      Paying to watch our favorite TV shows online
·      Confusion over our base privilages
·      The rain and Tim will NOT miss all the umbrellas at his eye level

What we will take home with us from this trip
·      About 300 pounds of luggage!
·      That’s not a joke.
·      Seriously.

What we accomplished
·      Living in a completely foreign country, by ourselves, for 4 ½ months
·      Mastering of the train system
·      Learned key phrases in Japanese (Maybe we can improve on this in the future!)
·      Saw many temples and shrines and can tell the difference between the two
·      Ventured outside of our comfort zones to explore new cities
·      Didn’t allow the weather interfere with our plans
·      Better understand how our styles of travel differ and where we are similar and managed to make it all work!


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5.08.2010

One Hand

That's how many fingers you need to count down the rest of our stay.  5 days.  It's hard to believe that the time went by so quickly and yet, Tim and I definitely feel like it's time to leave.

We've encountered a bit of a problem though.  We have to pack everything.

Three days ago, our dining room looked like this:
Today it looks like this:
 
Definitely a work in progress.  

We've actually already shipped two boxes (weighing about 50 lb. total), with one more going out on Monday.  Plus 2 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and 3 large duffel bags.  Tim has gotten a bit of grief at work over one of those duffel bags...
It's 34 pounds of shoe amazingness.  :-)


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5.05.2010

Tasting our way through the Rosen

In case you don't remember my photo tour of our neighborhood, the Rosen is our local grocery store.  We find ourselves wandering that way to buy ice cream a lot.  For some reason, Japanese ice cream is amazing.  And we've found some very unique forms, like this bar:
Half chocolate & almond bar, half shortbread cookie.  Amazing. 

And since Tim tried the Catnip drink, I decided to try a "meal."  I've seen them in a few vending machines and it was Mango flavored, so I had no doubt it would be good.
And then I opened the top and this came out...
And fell on the floor.
But I forged ahead and tried it anyway...
I can't say that it's very good. 
It's a weird Jelly/juice/nectar/bubble tea-like thing.  And I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a substitute for an entire meal.  Maybe that's how the Japanese stay so tiny...

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5.03.2010

5.02.2010

Japanese Gold Rush

I think Japan can tell that our time is coming to end shortly.  It's been pulling out all of the stops, it terms of weather.  Yesterday was in the low-70s and it's supposed to continue to get better!  Well, even though Tim was working, I couldn't just sit at home and not enjoy that!  So I hopped on the bus/train(s) and made my way to  Kamakura. You might be thinking, "she's been there, like, 4 times...why does she keep going back?!"  Because there is so much to see!

Unfortunately, this is what the train looked like when I got on at our home stop:
Why is this bad?  Because this is what Kamakura looked like when I got off:
Here's a comparison shot from our last trip, taken at the same temple:
The pictures don't do it justice.  It was the worst crowd situation I have been in this whole trip, with the exception of Tokyo Rush Hour train.  Why was it so crowded?  It's Golden Week!  A whole week of national holidays in Japan.  People come out by the droves!  

After getting stuck in this crowd, I veered off to a side street and ran into this:
After having a bit of a laugh over that, I kept elbowing my way through the crowd to find another empty road.  I managed to find a sign pointing me towards the Jufukuji Temple and I set off.  Thankfully this road was much, much less crowded and took me through a part of Kamakura I had yet to see.  One of the interesting things about Japan are the number of railroad crossings.  I ended up having to wait for one of the JR trains to pass...
I'm glad that I tried to find this temple, it was gorgeous! 


It is the oldest zen temple and the third highest ranking out of the five principle zen temples in Kamakura.  At the entrance I read a sign that said that in the hillside behind the temple are some "Yagura" or medieval tunnel graves.  They shelter five tiered pagodas, said to be the final resting place of a former Shogun and his mother.  There are also some other famous Japanese people buried here. 

I decided to wander back to the main shopping street, but the crowds were overwhelming, so I got some blueberry fro-yo and headed towards the train station.  Even the train platform was crowded!
Fortunately, almost 90% of these people were headed in the Tokyo direction and by the time my train came, the crowds had thinned out considerably.  

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