Today we were on another Sunrise Tour around Kyoto.  We visited several sites and the day was very rushed!  It was like herding cattle.  Some sites we would stop at were only 30-40 minutes and it took about 5 minutes to get off the bus as we were in the back.  Anyway, on with the day.

The first stop of the day was at Nijo Castle which was once the residence of Shoguns (Shogun was a military rank).  The architectural design and interior decorations were beautiful.  Unfortunately photography inside is not allowed.  The Shogun was the target of many assassination attempts.  As a security measure Nijo Castle was built with nightingale floors.  The floors squeak intentionally to ensure that no intruders will go undetected in the halls.  This floor squeak because the nails securing the floor boards rub against a casing to produce this alarming sound.  Upon departing, we saw a group of people going through tour guide training (Pictured below).  We are easily amused. 

From Njio Castle we went to the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion)which has one of the nicest Japanese gardens we have seen.  As the name states, there is an amazing Golden Pavilion located here.  The current one was rebuilt in 1955 after being burned to the ground by a monk in 1950.  I have seen pictures of the temple grounds in the winter and it looks stunning.  I’d love to come visit time place with snow on the ground.

Our next stop was the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the former residence of the Japanese Emperor (residence was moved 1869 to Tokyo).  Before entering, our entire tour group had to line up 4 to a row and stand still until they would let us in.  It was like the military.  The palace had some great architecture and of course traditional Japanese Gardens.

This concluded the morning portion of the Kyoto tour and we were dropped at a crafts center for a buffet lunch.  It appears that all of the Sunrise tours dropped people off here at the SAME time.  There were a few buses that arrived to eat in tiny place.  It was quite chaotic.  My advice if you ever take this tour is to go look through the shops before getting your lunch to let the line die down.

The Heian Shrine was our first stop on the afternoon journey.  This shrine was dedicated to the first and last emperor to reside in Kyoto (Emperor Kammu and Emperor Komei).  It was Emperor Meiji that moved the capital to Tokyo.  (We visited his shrine, Meiji Shinto Shrine, on our first day in Tokyo.)  Heian Shrine has a very large Torri Gate on the street leading up the temple. 

Many shrines have a place where you can get your fortune.  If you don’t like it you tie the fortune to a tree and the priests will clean them off later (pictured below).  Then you select another one until you get one you like 

Inside, guess what, gardens and grand buildings!  :)  Before walking across the stepping stones, we saw this sign.  It appears something was lost in translation.

Ignoring the warning, we crossed anyway (others did as well).

From the Heian Shrine, we went to the Sanjusangendo.  Orginally built in 1164, this temple holds 1001 Thousand Armed Kannon statues.  All of the figures were carved from cypress.  We were not allowed to take pictures in here, but there are a few pictures on the wikipedia link above.  This was truly a site to see.

Our final stop of the day was at Kiyomizo Temple.  The temple gets its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills.  Kiyomizo means pure water.  Below is a picture of people lined up to have some of the water.

From this temple we also had a great view of Kyoto, even though it was a very hazy day.

Other comments…(and facts for those following along at home)

• Kyoto was the host to the G8 summit in 1997 where the Kyoto Protocol was ratified as a pact to reduce Greenhouse gases.
• Kyoto has about 1.5 million people and is currently the 7th largest city in Japan
• Gion is a section of Kyoto where Geisha girls are.  According to our guide Memoirs of a Geisha was written about this section of Kyoto.  Never read the book nor did I see the movie.  Unfortunately there was not enough time on the trip to see this section.
• We learned to count in Japanese today.  Below are the phonetic spellings:

• 1	Itchy (ichi)	6	Rock
  2	Knee	7	Hitch
  3	Sun	8	Hatch
  4	She	9	Queue
  5	Go	10	Ju (Jew)

  Learning these you can count to 99.  Anything in the teens would be JU followed by another number.  For example 17 would be JU-HITCH. 
  If you want to count from twenty and beyond you state the multiple of 10 that you are counting to get the first number.  Then you would state the second number.  For example 63 would be ROCK-JU-SUN.

-Allen

When we woke up this morning, we had an amazing view of Mount Fuji from the roof top balcony of our hotel.  It was a clear morning so we managed to get a few decent pictures.

Today we left Hakone for Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train).  Since we left the early for the train station, we had time for a short stop at the Odawara Castle.  There were dozens of cherry blossoms in full bloom here.  Hakone is quaint a resort town so the drive to the station was relaxing.  This is definitely a location we would love to visit again.  There were several trails in the area for great hiking.  Perhaps the next time we come out we will climb Mount Fuji and stay in Hakone.

The Shinkansen is amazingly fast, quiet, comfortable, and doesn’t shake like the Amtrak Acela.  On the trip to Kyoto, we got another great view of Mount Fuji.

Upon our arrival in Kyoto we were met and brought to the New Miyako Hotel, our home base for the next 3 nights. 

Our afternoon tour was to the ancient capital of Nara.  Nara was modeled after Xi’an in China (which we visited earlier on our trip).  The first stop in Nara was the Todaiji Temple which houses the Great Buddha.  It was crowded, once again due to the Cherry Blossoms being in bloom.

Todaiji Temple passes through Deer Park were we encountered bowing deer.  This is a park where deer roam free and will eat food from people’s hands.  The deer will bow before eating the food.  Amazing, even the deer are polite in Japan!  Our tour guide shows us the bowing deer in the video below.

Our final stop was at Kasuga Shrine.  This shrine has over 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns.  This was a very cool sight.  Unfortunately we were there during the day, so they were not lit up.

After a 1.5 hour bus ride back to the hotel, Susan and I went to Kyoto Station to catch the sushi train.  :)  This place was the best deal on the trip!  Every plate was 137 yen and it was FRESH!  Needless to say we had quite a bit to eat.  All sushi stays on the conveyor for about 30 minutes before it goes into the garbage disposal, although I don’t think anything lasts that long before somebody grabs it.

Tomorrow we have an all day tour of Kyoto.

Other comments…(and facts for those following along at home)

• We saw several people wearing face masks.  In Japan, most people wear these when they are sick to prevent spreading germs.  However, in the Hakone region there are a lot of cedar trees which produce massive amounts of pollen.  These were planted by the government since they grow very fast.  Many people wear masks in this area to combat the pollen.
• Japan has 120 million people (about half of the US population).
• The land mass of Japan is equal to that of California.
• The new Shinkansen will travel about 500km/hour, about 300MPH!
• A round of golf is around $300 on the weekend.
• There are a few things that are opposite of the US (noted thus far):

1. Baseball they count strikes than balls (opposite of the US with Balls and Strikes).  Therefore a full count is 2-3.
2. The emergency number is 119 (opposite of the US 911 line)
3. Horse racing runs clockwise (opposite of the US which runs counter-clockwise)

-Allen

This morning we left the Sheraton and set out for Mount Fuji.  Tonight we will be staying in Hakone at the Palace Hotel.  Hakone is known for their hot springs and sulfur pools.

There are 5 stations that buses can go to on Mount Fuji, 1-5 (5 being the highest in elevation) depending on the weather and time of year.  Currently the road is only open up to station 2 for buses.  When we arrived at the 2nd station, it was snowing and the fog was so thick we couldn’t see any of the mountain.  This was a major disappointment, but we have no control over the weather.

After lunch we took a short boat cruise on a pirate ship replica across the Lake Ashi.  This lake is from spring water and does not freeze over.  In this lake there were a few torii gates to Shinto shrines.

There was also a cool pedal boat that was the shape of a swan.  I’ve never seen this in the US.  Perhaps I lead a sheltered life. 

When we reached the other side of the lake, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain for a better view of the lake.  The weather was getting a lot better than earlier in the day.  Little did we know that once we reached the peak that we were continuing on to another mountain after that.  As we went over the peak, the clouds thinned out and there was a magnificent view of Mount Fuji.  The 12 people in our gondola were ecstatic and moved to one side of the car to take pictures.  It felt like we were going to top over. 

There was a great spot for viewing once we got off of the cable car.  Seeing Mount Fuji rounded out the day on a high note and lifted our spirits from the disappointing morning.

A taxi dropped us off at the Palace Hotel where the day ended.

Other comments…(and facts for those following along at home)

• Tokyo businesses promote flex hours as the traffic is quite heavy. 
• There are professional pushers at the train stops that stuff people into the train cars during rush hour.  There was an issue with people groping women, so during rush hour there is a car at the front and back of the train that is designated WOMEN only.
• Tokyo has a lot of raised/elevated roads.  These were built for the 1964 Olympic Games to handle congestion.
• There are still a lot of smokers here.  All restaurants and all public sections of the hotels we stayed at were smoking.
• I wanted to attend a sumo match but it appears that it is not the right season, so we will have to come back.  Sumo wrestlers only eat 2 meals a day to bulk up which consists of meat and rice.
• After WWII, Japan ratified their constitution to renounce war.  Their military is for self defense only.  There are still several active US military bases in Japan.
• 10% of the world’s volcanoes are located in Japan.
• Our tour guide lived in Cliffside Park, NJ for 5 years. 

-Allen

This morning we took a 3 hour bus ride out to the city of Nikko (means sunshine) to see Nikko Toshogu (a Shinto Shrine.  There is a Buddhist temple located on the same grounds) and the Kegon Falls.  On the ride we must have seen about 100 baseball games taking places and fields lining a river.  The games seemed to go on for miles.

Finally reaching Nikko, we were lucky enough to be there at noon to catch the bell ringing.  Check out the video below.

The next stop was at Lake Chuzenji at the foot of Mount Nantai, both part of Nikko National Park.  This lake is 163 meters at its deepest point.

Our final stop of the day was Kegon Falls at Nikko National Park.  This was a beautiful waterfall that had multiple streams coming down the mountain.  This waterfall comes from our previous stop, Lake Chuzenji.  We only had enough time to take pictures from the top as the tour bus allotted 30 minutes for this location.  The elevator to the bottom takes about 20 minutes roundtrip and there was a line.  I was still able to get a few decent shots.

The tour bus dropped us off near Shinjuku Station so we could take the train back to Meguro.  Right next to the station there was a sushi train restaurant, so we grabbed a quick bite.  For those who have never been to a sushi train restaurant, you sit down at a table or counter (depending on the layout of the restaurant) and there is a conveyor belt that passes by you with varying types of sushi.  You just grab the plate that interests you and eat.  The price is determined based on the type of plate you grab (usually distinguished by color or pattern).  This place also had self service hot water at the counter so you could serve yourself green tea.  Check out the video below.

Other comments…(and facts for those following along at home)

Gas prices are outrageous!  149 yen/liter which works out to $5.72 per gallon USD…and I thought we had it bad in the US.

Public restrooms have toilets with built in bidets and often times seat warmers.  We have one of these at our hotel too and it has a remote control!

-Allen

Our tour bus picked us up at 7:50AM and we discovered that it was actually just a transfer bus.  One other important fact that we learned was that this tour did NOT drop us back at our hotel like we were told.  The tour operators informed us that we would be taking a taxi or train back at our own expense.  A taxi would be around $50 and the train would be around $3.  Pretty safe to assume we chose the train.  More on that later.

We arrived at a transfer station and were shuffled to another bus for the Panoramic Tokyo tour from Sunrise Tours.  Our first stop on the tour was the Meiji Shinto Shine.  Shinto and Buddhism are the primary religions in Japan.  According to our tour guide, breaking down the word Shinto helps us to get a better meaning:  Shin means “God” and to means “the way”, God’s way or the way of God.  However in Shintoism, there are many gods.  The Shinto religion has shrines where Buddhism has temples.  A way to distinguish a temple from the shrine, is to look for the presence of gates (pictured below).  Shinto shines have gates and Buddhist temples do not.  The second picture is a of spring water which is used to cleanse yourself at the shrine.

While we were at the temple we saw a few weddings take place and the different clothing they wear for the Shinto wedding ceremony.

Upon leaving the Meiji Shinto Shrine, we drove by the Tokyo Tower but unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of this. The tower, designed after the Eiffel Tower, stands 333 meters tall and is primarily used for TV transmission.

Our next stop was the Imperial Palace East Garden.  The gardens are open to the public but the palace is not.   It is only open twice a year on January 2nd to celebrate the New Year and December 23rd for the Emperor’s birthday.

The cherry blossoms (sakura in Japanese) are in full bloom here and it is a HUGE deal!  People packed the streets of Tokyo to hang out, party, and drink under the cherry blossoms.  This also caused the Imperial Palace East Garden to be quite crowded.  We only took a few pictures of the cherry blossoms because there were so many people crowding around all of them.

On the drive through town we noticed several people with blue tarps.  The government gives the homeless blue tarps to keep warm and attempt to create a shelter.  We didn’t get much more information on this, but I would be interested to see what other programs were offered and how they compare to programs in the US.

The Asakusa Kannon Temple, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, was our next stop.  This is quite a popular place as well and had dozens of cherry blossom trees.  See the picture below for the market surrounding the temple.  It was pretty busy and the cherry blossoms are visible on the right.

Unlike the Chinese Buddha images, the Japanese images lacked the swastika on the Buddha’s chest.  There where however several on other items on the temple grounds which displayed the symbol.  In Japanese culture this symbol represents harmony and was in use long before the Nazi party adopted it.

The afternoon featured a short boat cruise through Tokyo Bay passing under Rainbow Bridge and a visit to Odaiba where there is a replica of the Statue of Liberty.  France had loaned the statue to Japan to display and the Japanese loved it so much that France made a replica for them.  From Odaiba you can view the Statue of Liberty with Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower, and other buildings in the Tokyo skyline in the background.  I think I have seen the Statue of Liberty more times on this trip than I have when I am back in NJ. 

This concluded our trip and the tour made our way back to the bus terminal.  From here we had to take a train back to Meguro Station.  Our original itinerary stated that we were supposed to be dropped back at our hotel, but since it is far out of the way we do not get that service.  We thought that it was going to be difficult to find our way, but there is a rail system that runs around central Tokyo and it quite simple and nice.  There are video monitors in the trains that have maps depicting each stop in both English and Japanese.  The train was immaculate, no dirt, trash, or graffiti.  Nothing like the US.  At Meguro Station, there is a shuttle bus that runs back to the Sheraton.  From there, we called it a night.  

Other comments…(and facts for those following along at home)

We have become spoiled by our private tour guides (Pat and Kay from Thailand and Ricky and Corona in China).  There is really nothing like being on a tour with your OWN tour guide where you can stop and take as much time to absorb the scenery.  In Thailand and China, these were more economical, but in Japan we would have paid upwards of $1,500 per day!

Tokyo fashion is quite interesting as there appears to be a wide array of styles.  There were a lot of people that were wearing clothes that did not appear to match.  Susan commented that it looked like they took clothes from all different time periods and put them on in layers.  I never really paid attention to anything like this in the US, so it may be exactly the same. 

We wanted to see a performance at the Kabuki theatre, but theatre is off the last week in March for rehearsal.

Saturday is a popular day for weddings here too.  We saw a total of 6 throughout the day and 4 on the boat cruise alone!

Drivers in Japan drive on the left side of the road and the right side of the car.  (Like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.)

There are over 4,000 islands that make up Japan.

People of Tokyo are called Tokyoites.

-Allen

This is a rather useless post about our arrival in Japan, so please feel free to skip this. 

After landing at Narita International Airport, it took only about 45 minutes to clear customs and claim our bags.  Like the US, Japan is fingerprinting and taking pictures of all foreign visitors.  The only thing the counter was missing was a live rating system of the custom’s agent’s customer service skills.  We first saw this in China.  I think the US should implement this system. 

We boarded a shuttle bus for an 1.5 hour ride to our hotel, the Sheraton Miyako.  This bus was very clean.  I mean super clean!  It was just as our new friend John had described.  Not a speck of dust on the floor, seats were neat with doilies on the headrests, and the windows were crystal clear and streak free. 

When we arrived at our hotel the restaurants were closed so we walked to the nearest convenience store, which happened to be a 7-11.  The streets were immaculate!  Not a piece of trash, a cigarette butt..nothing!  One the walk there were several vending machines selling a wide range of beverages.  Certainly different than my walk around NYC.

The Sheraton Miyako Hotel Tokyo will be our place of residence for the next few nights.  Once again, this hotel was booked with points.  Thank you MSFT!  :)  The gym in the hotel is NOT free for guests, but is only $7 for access to all of the equipment, a pool, and a sauna.  Internet access on the other hand is free in all rooms.  I guess you have to pick and choose your battles.  Breakfast on the other hand is quite expensive.  Normally hotels are more costly but this is over the top.  We were looking thought the menu at it was ~$18 for a bagel and cream cheese!

Tomorrow morning the tour starts at 7:50AM.  More to come.

-Allen

Well we have left Guam and arrived in Japan.  Guam was a nice place that would visit again if I was given the chance.  It was interesting to stay in the Marriott as the Executive lounge was mostly mainlanders. 

Everything in the Marriott closes early.  They take away the beach chairs at 5pm, the pool closes at 6pm and it is roped off.  The pool could use some work too as all of the pavement around it is coming loose.  The rocks hurt to walk on.  If you want to play ping pong, you have to rent the paddles and a ball for $10/hour!!!  All of this while the hotel next door, Pacific Island Club is rockin’ and having fun until all hours of the night.  They have 7 pools!  The Marriott could use some updating, but who am I to complain as the building protected us in the earthquakes. 

Here are a few random shots to close out the Guam experience.

Make sure you don’t take an octopus!

I thought this was hilarious.  A block over from our hotel there are a series of adult entertainment businesses.  Underneath one of the gentlemen’s clubs (Club G Spot) was a bar and pool hall by the name of Backscratchers!  What a great name for the location. 

-Allen

This morning we had another earthquake.  This time it was only 5.0, but it was still felt on the island.  I could see the water in my bottle rocking!

Check out the story from a local news station

We are leaving the island today and I will be posting the details of our trip when we get to Japan.

-Allen

This morning (Thursday, March 27, 2008), I woke up around 6am and the entire hotel was shaking.  Needless to say, I was scared sh!tl3ss and woke Susan up to shelter in the doorframe.  This was the first earthquake that I have experienced.  It measured a 5.4 on the Richter Scale.  We were about 15km from the epicenter.  There is no notable damage around here as the buildings are meant to withstand these tremors.  Being part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Guamanians are used to these, but it was scary!

Allegedly, there was an earthquake on Monday that was around a 3.2, but I didn’t feel that one.

Here is the story from a local news station:
http://www.kuam.com/news/27086.aspx

From the USGS site:
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/last_event/world_guam.html
This shows the LAST earthquake to hit Guam so if you visit this later, you will not see the same quake.

-Allen

Just a lazy day at the beach after the earthquake.  We didn’t go too far out as the water was pretty rough.  Here are a few fun shots with my old Canon S200 and the underwater enclosure.  I guess this is what we look like through a fish’s eyes

-Allen