Tokyo

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

We stopped at the Imperial Palace Plaza.  A huge oasis of greenery in the center of Tokyo surrounded by huge stone walls and a moat. The Palace is not open to the public unless arranged through the imperial family.  The inner palace grounds are also closed off to the public except on  2 days of the year, Jan 2 for the New Year and the Emperor’s birthday.  The East Garden is open to the public but we did not stop there.

To the south, where we parked,  is a bronze statue of Kusunoki Masashige, a 14^th century samurai who was very loyal to the emperor. A cool statue. I am going to have to play with this picture when I get home so I can see it better. It really is a cool statue.

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Me

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

We headed out to our Sushi Making Experience where we learned how to make sushi.  Complete with Sushi Uniforms and hats we learned how the rice was prepared and how to shape the rice to make Sushi.  I had taken a Sushi class before at a Sur La Table and knew going into this that Sushi making is not easy.   You don’t take anyone off the street and train them for a day and have them start making sushi.

This class reconfirmed what I had learned in the last one.  The rice is poured into a wooden bowl, rice vinegar is added and then the rice is worked.  If it is not stirred the correct way the flavor isn’t right.  Sushi Chefs spend years working on perfecting the rice before they can move on to making sushi.

The biggest challenge of the class is working with the rice.  If your hands aren’t wet, or if you handle the rice too long, it begins to stick. Sticky rice is called sticky for a reason and it sticks to everything and can be challenging to get off.  I thought I did a pretty good job with what I made but it was nowhere near as nice as what I would find at my local grocery store.

After we finished our lessons and made our Sushi,  we ate our lunch.  It turns out that Malaka (our host) is not an adventurous eater.  She let someone else have her sushi. After eating one bite he face turned red and he commented on her liberal use of Wasabi.  It was a funny moment.

At the end of the meal, we were all presented with our certificates and a gift bag with a mug and a few other items.  It was a nice touch to a really nice event.  Although I am now certified, Sushi is something that I will leave to the pros! Continue reading →

Thursday, July 21st 2016

Today starts the Authentiscapes portion of the trip by Admiral Travel.  I haven’t been on one of their tours, I am anxious to see how it turns out.  It is a custom tour as opposed to a generic tour resold by an agency.  I found out about this through an email.  I assume that I received it because I have attended the Hawaiia Food and Wine Festival.  The host is Chef Roy Yamaguchi.  His wife Denise runs the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival.  I have wanted to see Japan for a long time.  What a better way to see a country than through a group tour focuses on food!

Sophon and I had met the group the evening before at a reception.  The first meet and greet is always feels a bit awkward.   This group seemed especially nice and I found myself feeling at ease with them right away.   There are a few people who are friends with Roy who are from Hawaii.  A few people who are friends with the Agency’s owners, Ryan and Malaka Hilton that are from Florida and there are people who have traveled with the agency before.  It is a nice mix of people.

I checked the weather forecast and this wasn’t going to be a good weather day.  Being from southern California, we don’t see much rain.  I guess my umbrella was going to finally get some use.  It wouldn’t make for the best pictures but the rain was a nice change from the warmer temperatures.

The day started by meeting the group at 9:00 AM.  It was a busy day starting with a stop at the Tsukjiji outer Market.  The Tsukiji market is Japan’s largest wholesale fish market.  The Outer Market has over 400 shops selling a variety of food with a focus on fish.  As I walked around I wish that I had skipped breakfast, there were so many things that looked good.  I tried minced fish on a stick wrapped with bacon and it was delicious.

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Wednesday July 20, 2016

The final stop of the day was at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine followed by a walk through a shopping area of Kamakura.  The shrine dates back to 1063 and although the guide gave a lot of history involving shoguns and empresses, I knew I wasn’t going to retain it.  This was my second shrine and I was beginning to notice a couple of activities that go on at shrines.  One of them is to pick a stick out of a metal box after shaking it.  On the stick would be a number that corresponded to a drawer that contained a fortune.  Not all fortunes were good.  Not sure if you tied the good fortunes, bad fortunes or both but after receiving the fortune you would tie it to a wire to either make it come true or to prevent a bad one from becoming true.

Another item is to buy a plaque where you can write your wish.  You can hang that wish in a designated to pot to come true.  I had seen similar kinds of activities in other countries.  They help raise money for the shrine or temple while providing a fun activity along with hope to the people who engage in them.

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Wednesday July 20, 2016

After lunch, we went to a Bamboo forest in Kamakura at the Hokokuji temple.  There is something very soothing and relaxing about a bamboo grove, this one even had a Zen Garden.  I couldn’t help but think of “Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon” as I walked through.

When we arrived in Kamakura in the morning, I noticed that there are a lot of young people walking around town in traditional clothing.   While at the Bamboo forest, there were several groups of young girls in traditional clothing posing for pictures.  I noticed that some of them were even wearing the traditional wooden sandals.  They were having a hard time walking.  One couple had stopped and were band-aids on their feet.  I bet they will rethink the footwear on future outings.

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Wednesday July 20, 2016

 Today was another Viator (JTB) tour.  This time it was to Kamakura and Tokyo Bay. When we boarded the tour bus, I was surprised to see that the Spanish speaking couple and their young son that sat in front of us the day before were once again sitting in front of us.  What were the odds of that?  Thankfully, the bus was half full and I was able to move away from them, the kid was well-behaved but wasn’t interested in the tour and continually talked over the guide.  I didn’t want to listen to it again.

As with the previous day, we again left Tokyo and were taken to the countryside.  We would spend the day around Kamakura, a resort area close to the beach.  The first stop was the Kamakura Giant Buddha, a bronze statue over 45 feet high.  The statue was cast in 1252 and was housed inside a large temple which has since been destroyed many times and is therefore standing in open air.

Besides the Buddha, there was not a whole lot else to see at this first stop.  Lunch was the next stop!

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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

After lunch, our tour headed to see Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Waterfall.  Lake Chujenzi is a natural lake with Kegon Waterfall the only exit for the waters of the lake.  To get to the lake, the bus took a one way road twisty road up the mountain that had 20 curves.  The road down had 28.  Although the views of the forest were beautiful, it was an unsettling ride.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Woke up early and had breakfast and headed out on a tour of Nikko National Park that I booked through viator.com.  We were picked up to the hotel, taken to a Bus depot where we checked in for the tour .  As we waited, I noticed that we were given pre-assigned seats on the bus. I told Sophon that I thought this was a very good idea – every time I board a tour bus, it reminds me as a kid on how I fought with my siblings over who got the front and window seats.

We boarded the bus and sure enough there were a couple of older woman who were not happy that they did not get the front seat.  Other people wanted window seats or an empty seat next to them but the bus was full and seats were preassigned. There was a lot of fuss and Sophon simply said, “You were just telling me about this! You called that one right!”

I told him that there was more fun to come, the problem with tours is that for the most part, people are good and they follow the rules.  Then you have a small percentage of people who think they are the only one on the tour.  Someone will talk over the guide, making it impossible to hear the guide.  Someone will announce they need to use the restroom stop when we made a restroom stop 10 minutes before.  My favorites top two things that happen on tours are people coming back late to the bus without even offering an apology.  At the top of the list is the person who pulls out the camera and starts taking pictures even though the guide has made it clear that photos aren’t allowed and there are signs hanging everywhere.  I was sure he would see it all during the next couple of days and sure enough we did.

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Monday, July 18th, 2016

Arrived in Tokyo after a 12 hour flight, was met at the airport by a guide and taken to the Ritz Carlton Tokyo.  Yes, I am living it up on this trip.  First time I have stayed in a Ritz Carlton.  Overall a good trip.  Everything went as planned, which is what I want.

Unfortunately, as I left Los Angeles, my friend Cindy who was joining me on the trip, was having issues with her flights.  I felt horrible that she was stuck in Dallas.  There was little that I could do and knew that I would have limited if any internet access.  When I landed, the news hadn’t gotten any better due to flight cancellations and delayed.  I could not imagine anything worst than starting a vacation with flight problems.

As I left Narita airport, I realized that although I have flown through Narita a dozen times, this was the first time I was looking at it from the outside.  Finally, I was going to see Tokyo. I was excited.  I would have a couple of days “free days” and then I was going to join a Group from Admiral Travel with Chef Roy Yamaguchi and his wife as the hosts.  It was a culinary tour.  I was combing my love of food with my love for travel.  A trip made in heaven. Continue reading →