Next Stops: Illinois and Maryland

After a few weeks back in Hawaii, we got ourselves ready to go to Illinois and Maryland. Before leaving, I notified our neighbors of our trip and our son-in-law, Ed installed indoor and outdoor cameras around the house so we and my brother could monitor what was going on. We also prepared a lot of food for mom so she didn't have to cook all the time. I wish mom would come along on our trips, but she's adamant about wanting to stay home these days.

I thought it was rather funny that we were all wearing the same fleece sweaters on the airplane. My daughter, Tiffany had bought this for me a while ago and I loved it for travel. Then KC wanted one too so it was funny to see us now all dressed the same.

We arrived in Chicago, repacked our suitcase and headed out the next day for Maryland to visit our son. Ed could not come with us because he needed to get back to work.

Unfortunately, would you believe our two grandsons both ended up sick on the 2nd day we were there? 3 year old JD was vomiting constantly and only able to hold down teaspoons of Pedialyte every 15 minutes or so.  It was scary to see our very active grandson suddenly slumped and lethargic.

It was incredible that I didn't also catch the stomach bug since I was the one who took care of JD for a couple of days. And yes, I did have to occasionally carry him with my bad arm. How could I refuse?

What amazed us was how quickly JD was back to normal after he was taken to Urgent Care and given Zofran. It was like magic! I recently read an article on NPR News about why children vomit so much and how Zofran which is given for nausea to cancer patient works.

Art took care of our 6 month old grandson who would cry unless he was carried all day. He had a sniffling kind of cold and just didn't feel good. Art, unfortunately wasn't able to fight off the germs and was sick for a couple of weeks after we left Maryland.

We hoped that the kids would be in good health the next time we see them but realize that kids do get sick.

We were then on our way back to Illinois.

Day 10: Shinagawa, Return to Honolulu

It was our last day in Japan and the plan was to go to Kura Sushi at:

2-17-1 Kounan | 2F Keio Shinagawa, Minato 108-0075, Tokyo Prefecture

This is something like Genki Sushi in Hawaii where you order things at your table and the food comes to you on a conveyor belt. You can also choose sushi that is sliding past your table on the belt. It said 100 yen, but we couldn't believe that each plate is about $1.00!

For each 5 plates of sushi you buy, you were able to try a video game in order to win a Gashapon prize. After four tries KC still hadn't won anything. (That's 20 little plates of sushi!)

Everybody decided to get another plate. All together, we consumed 25 plates of sushi and KC finally won a prize so we could leave.

Incredibly, the final total cost for all of us was only about $25.00! We could not believe it.

We went back to the hotel, collected our luggage, changed to our travel clothes and waited for our Tokyo Airporter.com van to come and pick us up. At the airport, we had our last meal in Japan before boarding our flight to return home to Hawaii.

What an incredible trip! It was very different from our usual trips, but even more enjoyable since we were able to spend it with our family. We decided to do this again someday and perhaps our son and his family will also join us.

Day 9: Trick Art Museum

This would be a fun day for our 11 year old granddaughter, KC. We were going to a Trick Art Museum. We'd mentioned how we'd gone to a similar museum in South Korea and that intrigued everyone.

Once again, we were back at the Omori train station going up the escalator while carefully standing on the left side.

We stopped in Shinjuku and saw the huge Godzilla at Hotel Gracery.

It always amazes me to see all the different kinds of KitKats that Japan has. They even have wasabi KitKat! No, I've never tried it.

We then traveled to the Tokyo Teleport station to visit the Trick Art Museum.

Unlike South Korea's Trick Art Museum, this one was smaller, but still had enough exhibits for us to enjoy. Here the attendant was demonstrating how to take our photos.

Oh yes! This is just a few of the photos we took.

Sorry to end this post with a toilet, but it's one of the best things about Japan. The toilets are FREE, CLEAN, and wonderful! 

Day 8: Ueno

After spending several days in the hot sun with a forecast of more hot weather that day, it was decided to go to a museum even though it was not on any of our son-in-law and daughter's lists of places to visit.

We boarded the train to go to Ueno Park. There are three main museums there: Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art and National Museum of Nature and Science.

We went to the Tokyo National Museum first and saw a lot of ancient Japanese artifacts and artwork. Art loves Hiroshige and spent a lot of time looking at the famous woodblock prints. The Haniwa period is from the 3rd to 6th AD.

The Japanese armor looked rather heavy and you could see people were smaller back then.

We were watching a Japanese Taiga drama called Segodan in Hawaii about a very famous historical figure named Saigo Takamori. Now we were able to see his famous statue in Ueno Park.

Wikipedia:

Saigō Takamori (Takanaga), January 23, 1828 – September 24, 1877) was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration.  Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he has been dubbed the last true samurai.

Tiffany had heard about a place called Niki no Kashi on YouTube and wanted to see it. It had every conceivable kind of snack food from Japan and around the world. Oh yes, we bought quite a few things to bring home for gifts.

The funny part was when we decided to combine our purchases in order to reach the necessary 54,000 yen for the approximately 8% tax exemption. We hit it right on the money!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Ito Yokado department/grocery store where we saw those leather backpacks that elementary school students carry. 

They cost about $680.00! We saw others that were about $1,000 or more at other stores! I guess this was a bargain.

Absolutely boggled our minds. No way, I would have had my kids walking about with such costly, bulky backpacks.

As we walked back to the hotel, I wondered how we were going to bring back all those things they had bought on this trip. 

I wondered if we'd have to buy another suitcase.

No problem.

We purchased a very sturdy cardboard box from the front desk of the hotel for just such an emergency.

You could buy a small or large box. Yup. We bought the large one since we knew the kids were not done with their shopping yet.

Day 7: Harajuku

We've passed through the Harajuku area before but it was many years ago and the experience was nothing like what we would see on this hot June day. Harajuku is usually a place for a younger crowd.

Going up an escalator in Japan is really amazing. Everybody...everybody is respectful about leaving the right side open for anyone wanting to walk up faster. There's a certain mindfulness about respecting the rights and comforts of others. When we arrived at Harajuku we were stunned to see the place packed with people.

Art was now wearing the new shorts he'd bought the day before after suffering through the heat for several days.

He was a LOT more comfortable.

Tif and Ed had talked to friends and researched all the best places to sample fun foods to taste. Cafe Solare had these fluffy pancakes that were truly delectable.

I kept looking for some shady or air conditioned place to wait while everyone else shopped and explored. 

Can you believe the size of this cotton candy at the Totti Candy Factory?

They say it has only 160 kilocalories. What the heck is a kilocalorie?

This cotton candy was so huge, five of us shared it.

Art says what impressed him most was that the cotton candy was not sticky.

Next up was Calbee Harajuku where there was an incredible assortment of flavored potato sticks. They were very good and perfect omiyage (gifts).

The potato sticks were potato chips in French fry shape.

We then visited an Owl Forest. I had no idea what to expect. We were all made to sanitize our hands and told that we could only gently pet the birds with the backs of our hands. The room was not very big and made to look like a forest of flowering trees with birds on each tree.

The owls seemed OK with letting humans touch them. 

Granted, there was one owl who definitely let you know that he'd prefer you kept your distance, but most seemed to like being petted.

Dinner that night was pork tonkatsu again. It was tasty and tender though we found some pieces to be quite fatty.

Art and I were definitely experiencing a different kind of diet from our usual.

It was fun for us to leave all the planning and decisions to the kids. 

We wondered what to expect the following day.

Day 6: Shizuoka

We'd bought tickets for the shikansen (high speed bullet train) from Shinagawa to Shizuoka.

Considering the fact that so many people pass through the stations, it is immaculate.

Son-in-law, Ed wanted to go to Shizuoka because you could board a boat to see Mt. Fuji and because Shimizu Port is known to have the largest haul of maguro (tuna) in all of Japan. Ed was still on the hunt for the best of the best maguro sashimi.

Ed wanted KC to see Mt. Fuji from the port since it is the tallest mountain in Japan and a symbol of the country as well.

He also wanted them to experience the shinkasen bullet train.

It is very fast and very comfortable. Unfortunately, although it didn't rain as forcasted, it was overcast. Mt. Fuji was still hiding from us.

There was another Tanabata display where KC could make a wish to add to the bamboo stalks.













At Shizuoka, we transferred to a local train to take us to the Port of Shimizu.

Seeing the tsunami evacuation sign was a little disconcerting. We walked about 15 minutes to get to a building where there was a seafood market on the first floor and restaurants on the second, but there were too many to choose from.

I saw President Obama there in the center. I didn't see Trump.

And did Ed find the best of the best?  I think so. His dish is at the bottom. He says the maguro was melt in your mouth goodness. I had that top chirashi dish which is a mixture of different seafood over sushi rice. It was awesome! KC had the tempura.

We took a ride on the the S-Pulse Dream ferry, but it was cloudy so we couldn't see Mt. Fuji and had to settle for the photo of what we could have seen on a sunny day.

We ate our dinner on the bullet train back to Tokyo. It had been a fun, delicious day.

Day 5: Ghibli Museum

This was one day that had to be scheduled way in advance. Our daughter, Tiffany and family wanted to go to the Ghibli Museum.

Wikipedia:

The Ghibli Museum (Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan, Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum) is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city of Tokyo, Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine arts museum, and is dedicated to the art and technique of animation.

We haven't watched a lot of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films and didn't even know about this place. Interestingly, all our younger friends and relatives are familiar with Ghibli and know how difficult it is to get tickets. Tiffany asked us to get tickets for all of us many months in advance at JTB (Japan Tourist Bureau) in Ala Moana because it was known to sell out.

We took a train to get to Tokyo Station and transferred to Mitaka Station. Once there, we boarded a Ghibli bus to go to the museum.

We were able to walk right in. Seeing the building, we knew it would be a very whimsical place. No photos were allowed inside the museum.

When we looked down later from the top of the building, we could see a long line of local people waiting to get in.

On the rooftop was a Robot soldier.

Wikipedia:

On the museum's roof is a garden with a life-size, five meter (16.4042 feet) tall statue of a robot from the final episode of Lupin III and Castle in the Sky. The Robot Soldier was made by the artist Kunio Shachimaru. The statue is formed from hammered copper plate and took 2 years to create. 

The soldier was quite impressive. KC and Ed had fun trying the water pump.

We loved people-watching on trains. Young girls had the most interesting clothes and we were absolutely amazed to see very young elementary school children all by themselves (carrying these leather backpacks) going to school and returning home.

Can you tell which were the Americans?

We knew that most adult Japanese men do not wear shorts.

My nephew's Japanese wife did tell us it would be OK for Ed to wear them but Art did not want to bring any.

Art did break down and buy a pair to wear once we experienced how very hot and humid it was in Tokyo during the summer.

We are always amazed at the cost of special fruit in Japan. Three mangos for about $63.00?!?

Grapes and an apple for about $43.00?

No, we didn't buy any fruit while in Japan.

Dinner that evening was at one of Ed, Tif and Kalani's favorite restaurants, Din Tai Fung.

We were surprised to see it in Japan. We did have several baskets of the soup dumplings.

They didn't have the green beans that I like so much though.

By the time we headed home, it was rush hour crunch time. We were squashed like sardines in the train cars and I worried how I could push through to get out. Not to worry, they let me out. I didn't even have to hold on to the straps because everybody else held me up. Incredible!

Day 4: Asakusa

Asakusa is one of the most famous tourists spots in Tokyo. It was our destination for this hot June day. Actually, it was hot every day of our stay in Tokyo.

I suffered from an upset tummy almost the entire length of this trip so I tried to find the mildest food I could find at the breakfast buffet. I figured miso soup and okayu (rice gruel) would help. I stopped eating salad after a while.

One of the places between our hotel and Omori train station is Ito Yokado which is a department/grocery store. We would end up making it a daily stop during our trip.

When we returned home, mom told us it's a very famous store in Japan. You could definitely find anything there.

We stopped in and saw every kind of sushi and Japanese entrees imaginable.

We met up with Mari who Tif hadn't seen in over 20 years since they were in middle school together. I was amazed that Mari remembered so much about us. Tif says it's probably because I understood some Japanese at a time when Mari was still perfecting English. Incredibly, Mari's English has remained absolutely perfect! She also treated us all to a soba lunch.

Our next stop was Asakusa.

Wikipedia:

Asakusa is a district in Taito, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals.

Yes, this is a temple site but the real reason I believe they wanted to come was also for the shopping.

OK, it's not like Art and I didn't buy a couple of things also. This is actually the path to the Sensoji temple.

Leaving Asakusa, KC wanted to find Gashapon machines. Art and I had never heard of Gashapon.

Wikipedia:

The terms gashapon or gachapon refer to a variety of vending machine-dispensed capsule toys popular in Japan and elsewhere. "Gashapon" is onomatopoeic from the two Japanese sounds: "gasha" (or "gacha") for the hand-cranking action of a toy-vending machine, and "pon" for the toy capsule landing in the collection tray. Gashapon is used for both the machines themselves and the toys obtained from them.

Incredibly, this is not just for kids. Adults also appeared to be fascinated with acquiring their collections.

We spent quite a bit of time watching and waiting for KC to make her highly deliberated decision.

This is what the Gashapon looks like. I wonder if this will catch on in Hawaii too.