Japanese Vacation, Part 1

I took a couple days off from work, figuring it might be my only chance to do so until December. So, armed with only a book, a 160-gigabyte iPod and an extra pair of socks, I took off for nowhere in particular. I started off in southern Tokyo, in a neighborhood called Shiodome. There's a park there called Hama Rikyu Garden. I'm sure there's parks all over Tokyo, but I was surprised how big and green this place was, right in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. It's no Central Park, and Tokyo may have its own version, but this place was pretty cool. Fields, flowers, creeks and bridges right in the shadow of all these skyscrapers of glass and steel.

From the park I took a $5 boat ride up the Sumida River, through Tokyo to the neighborhood of Asakusa. Seeing the city from the water was a different perspective. I got crapped on by a seagull, but it didn't ruin my day.

I got off the boat in northeast Tokyo in Asakusa, known as one of the more traditional, older parts of the city. This week happens to be right in the middle of the cherry blossom season, so when I got off the boat (it was about 5 p.m. on a Friday) there was already a party going on. Food, beer and hundreds of people relaxing by the river under the cherry blossoms. That was fun, and I'll write more on hanami and sakura later. So after drinking a beer, I walked a couple blocks inland to Kaminarimon Gate.

This is the gate. It's a pretty prominent part of the town, and it's easy to find. Kind of hard to miss. The lantern there in the center weighs 220 pounds. The gate leads into what's called Nakamise Dori, or "inside shops." There's a walkway there, with a bunch of little stores, and leads to the Sensoji Temple, maybe a quarter-mile inside.

 

Sensoji is Tokyo's oldest temple (founded in the 7th century) and is dedicated to Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The temple was under restoration and covered, but that didn't stop hundreds of people from visiting. This photo is a five-story pagoda adjacent to the temple. 

That's when it started to get dark, so I don't have any more pictures of Tokyo. But that was just the beginning of my 3-day vacation. Next, I'll tell you about Nikko.

Remember when the Steelers won the Super Bowl?

That was awesome.

 

I had to throw a photo on here of my buddies and me enjoying the game. It was interesting. Drinking beer at 8 a.m. always is.

So my buddy Ted is from Western Pennsylvania also, just west on 80 an hour or so. He'd never been a Steeler fan though. Evidently his dad was quite the rebel, and grew up an Oakland Raiders fan. So is he wasn't born into it, and just never got into watching the Steelers. 

Some of these kids today, I tell you what. We've quickly converted him, though, and he was pretty into it.

So he managed to get his local butcher shop to send us a whole bunch of sausages... and he's trying to work our Super Bowl party into an ad campaign for Livingstons' Meats. I was going to throw the photo up here, but something tells me they won't be able to use it.

Hey, can Dave blog too?

Thanks so much. Domo arigato gozaimasu. Happy to be here.

Well, I hardly know where to start. Mike says start at the beginning. Can't really do that, though. I have been here nearly three months now, and while I'm getting used to things and enjoying every minute of the experience, I still feel like a lost little kid about 86% of the time. Here's one of the reasons why:

 

And that's just one of the train companies. Getting to work or a buddy's house is easy, it's when I try to branch out, to Tokyo or one of the other cities, that things get complicated. Always an adventure for this guy.

 It's about 6 p.m. Saturday. Did a little cleaning earlier, so I'll post a photo or two. Mom, this is about as clean as it gets.

That's all for now. I'll post this before I mess up again. I can't copy and paste, and when I upload a photo, it goes straight to the top of the post... I'll learn.