Trip to Japan

These pictures didn't get loaded in the right order.  So the story is a bit disjointed.  Here is the first part of our adventure

.Our Son in Law works for American Airlines, we could fly standby on the family plan, Emily decided it was time for us to take the trip that Andy had been looking forward to  for 45 years.  So off we went.

Andy and I decided to go to LA the night before so we wouldn’t be late, or caught in the night before traffic. So we packed our bags……bag, and off we went to the Holiday Inn to Stay, Fly and Park. (One bag, because we could not check luggage, we were traveling standby.)  We would ride the shuttle into the Airport the next day, and leave my car at the Hotel.  Win win for everyone.

The initial quote was $200 for the night and we thought, it included  parking...   But it was worth it.   We ate dinner at the hotel, neither of us are very adventurous in a big city where we don’t know where we are going….so Japan will be an interesting experience for us. 

Got up the next day, had a Mc Donald’s Egg Mac Muffin Breakfast and off we went to meet Emily at terminal 4.  The plane was late, it needed a fix, and the part wasn’t around. The plane was last minute filling up, and we were talking about where else to go if the worst happened.  Emily and Chris were called, Andy and I got the last 2 seats on the plane, Emily and Chris were in business class, and we were the last seats in the last row next to the galley and bathroom in coach.  We were 2 ½ hrs late leaving LAX, 10 more minutes late and they would have cancelled our flight, and we would never have been able to get on another flight as standby customers.

Business class is rather amazing, there was a video to help us learn how to use our seats that reclined into sleepers.  The Food was delicious and a lot of it. I loved the blanket, I was glad to have my turtle neck sweater, as it got cold. Once we got to the airport we had business to take care of.  Rental of the Wi-Fi thing (which I never understood how that worked, only that we had to have it.) We needed to get our JR rail passes and the tickets to Hiroshima and Kyoto.  That accomplished it was off to find the train to the Tokyo station get to the temple annex in the 2 hour window that they checked people in. The woman at the JR ticket window, after looking at us said.  Take a Taxi to the temple from the train station, that was great advice.

We went to Kyoto, and went to a Dye House and did a fun Japanese craft.  We painted a design with hot wax and the fabric was then dyed blue. Andy spoke Japanese to the older lady that helped us, and she giggled like a school girl, and Andy and I got lots of extra help. We rode the Shinkansen train, and purchased Bento Boxes to eat.  I didn’t think I would like cold rice, but it was delicious.

 We arrived at the Temple, found the Annex and a nice man that would translate for us, so we could get our room.  When we unlocked the door, it was six bunkbeds and a sink.  I knew that this would be the accommodations, but I guess I didn’t communicate that very well to the rest of our party. LThe women showers and toilets were in one direction, and then men’s in another.  This floor was also the primary chapel and class rooms.  There was a kitchen and some vending machines for food.  We didn’t run into many other people.  We got there to late to attend a temple session, we showered and made our beds and went to sleep.  Andy put one head in the corner, and his feet out the other corner, the bed was about 6 inches to short for him, we were afraid this would be a problem the entire trip.

We got up the next day early to get to the train station to start our trip to Hiroshima, we were starving by the time we got there.  We saw a McDonalds, thinking there would be food court that is the direction we headed.  No food court, so that is where we ate.  As we were finishing, Andy went and dropped off the trash and when he sat down on the stool he slipped off and hit his head and wrenched his neck hard on a wall.  He kept insisting that he was fine, until a few minutes later he didn’t know where he was, or where his Rail pass was, or what had happened in the last ½ hr.  Chris and Emily asked him a lot of questions, I went into a “mess”, and our medic son in law determined that we needed to get him checked out at a hospital.  We got a taxi, had a hard time communicating the word hospital. But the cab driver finally understood us, and took us to ST Lukes, an international hospital, where we found help, and people that spoke English, and discovered the rented Wi-Fi did not work. They gave him a thermometer and told him to take his own blood pressure behind the next curtain.  It was high for Andy, within 15 minutes we saw Dr.,  she wanted a CAT scan, so down the hall we went, we probably only waited another 15 minutes, and then one more 15 minute wait to see the Dr. again.  She said that there was no fracture, but he need to watch for signs of a concussion, and to stay near the hospital.  At first both Andy and I thought she wanted him to spend the day in the hospital, we panicked, but that wasn’t the case.  Andy charmed her with his Japanese and $560 later we were free. In the meantime, back in the Lobby, Emily was trying to get the WIFI to work, and finally went to the Starbucks in the Hospital, she needed to cancel the Air BnB that we had reserved for that night, and the one in Kyoto, and book something in Tokyo.  The place we were going to stay at the end of the week was not available, but she found a great place for us to spend the next 2 nights.  It was only a 5-minute walk from our next place.

We caught a taxi, and I discovered as we barreled through residential areas that there are no stop signs just very big mirrors at each intersection.  If no one was coming you just kept going.  I was concerned because the last 10 minutes of the ride there were no shops, no stores, just lots of closely packed houses and apartments.  His GPS took us right to the front door. The place was cute.  2 bedrooms.  The bath room had a western style toilet, that had a sink on the back that came on when you flushed the toilet, so you could rinse your hands.  No soap could be used in that sink.  Just a short walk, maybe a block was a main street with shops restaurants and FOOD. The smells from a Raman Shop enticed us in.  The owner chatted with us for a few minutes and then brought us food.  I am not sure what we ordered, but we all got the same thing.  I managed with the chopsticks, thank goodness, we could “slurp” the rest!

 Between the trip, hospital and food, I was not feeling well so Emily, Chris and Andy went to Nikko without me. Andy love this place, it was one of his favorites while serving a mission.  He was disappointed when most of it was covered in scaffolding and the grandeur could not be experienced.  You could still see some of it as you walked through. This is the place that has the Monkeys, hear, see and speak no evil, every one took a picture of that. The spectacular gate was covered, but we will find a picture of it (45 years ago,) to put in the book. There were lots of steep steps, the 19-year-old Andy of 45 years ago, could take them a lot faster. The buildings were very beautiful and ornate, lots of carvings. The leaves were starting to turn, which added to the beauty.

 The famous carving of the 3 monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. Very famous and popular place to visit in Koyto.

 The train rides really worked out well. We were able to get to where we were going, and very seldom had to stand up.  Of course, the JRL was the best, those passes were a good investment.

 These were our amazing guides, they were able to navigate the internet, and the train system. Maybe because they had both lived in New York at one time.

 These are the Bento Boxes we bought to eat on the train.

This was the golden Pavilion in Koyto.  Wow is an understatement

 Andy was taller than the over hang, he had to walk bent over while we were in this house.

 We went to Kamakura and saw the “Big Buddha”.  We got off the train, and checked the map and directions and it was a mile walk.  NO problem…..up hill, and had to be at least 5 miles, or I am much more out of shape than I thought.  We ate at a fun little restaurant, we loved the food. We were surprised to find a picture of President Obama on the counter. We walked back to the main road and found a taxi back to the train.

We had an amazing adventure. We saw a lot of beautiful buildings, and ate a lot of interesting food. Andy got to relive a little bit of "45 years ago, when I was a missionary....."