Japan: Day 16 continued (October 6, 2008 Monday)

Monday continued:

We've taken three bullet trains to get us from Sapporo (the Northern most island of Japan) back to Sendai on Honshu (the main island). One of the train connections was very dicey. We knew we had 4 minutes to make the connection but the person who made our reservations said we had nothing to worry about because the next train would be across the same platform.

Well....
The usually punctual train we were on coming from Hakodate was 2 minutes late and we were at the back of the train with 3 pieces of heavy luggage and 1 computer case. But we did it! We made that connecting train to Hachinohe with only a few seconds to spare with it moving before we even found our seats. If we had missed it, we would have had problems with the arrangements our friend, Osamu san had made for us to send 2 of our bags to Tokyo from our Sendai hotel at 7:00 PM.

And speaking of sending bags around the country... This is the most incredible service. You can hire this country-wide service called Takkyubin to send your parcels and in our case heavy luggage across the country super cheap. Sending two of our heavy suitcases from Sendai to Tokyo cost less than $20.00 a piece!!! (They're also going to store our suitcases for a week until we pick them up at Narita airport!!!) We've consolidated our essentials for the rest of our journey into two remaining suitcases.

Anyway, again things worked out! We made the connecting train and although it was forecasted for 90% rainstorms for Sendai the rain had stopped so we were able to stay dry to walk to our Comfort Hotel easily.


My aunt and cousin, Masako joined us there to walk us to a nearby restaurant and enjoy a fabulous meal. And still it did not rain.

I told my mom that if the weather should go bad for the remainder of the trip, we will have enjoyed two thirds and that is much to be grateful for. I told her that truly, her mom and dad have been watching over us to make sure her journey is safe and wonderful.

Japan: Day 16 (October 6, 2008 Monday)

We just had our two rice balls, pickled veggies and miso soup with hot tea or coffee and are getting ready to walk to the train station to catch the Shinkansen to Sendai. The weather here in Sapporo is great but we've seen that Sendai has a 90% chance of heavy rains.

Before leaving I have a few minutes to show you the toilet which my brother says he would love to take home with him. (Ahem, he and mom do have the larger deluxe hotel room and it's twice the size of ours just like in Utoro. Don't ever let anyone tell you I don't do anything for him... OK... so it's for my mom, too.)

Here's the toilet selections next to the potty. You get to choose where the warm jet stream should hit. To the back to really clean you up, to the front (for women) and also the strength of the spray. It really is great once you get used to it! You use a lot less toilet paper. And...oh yes...the toilet seat is also heated! Imagine how much I would have loved that in Chicago in January!

And look at this... two toilet rolls! You never run out!

Our toilet is very small....(Did I mention my brother and mother's much larger toilet? Ohhhh, I did?) Still, it's amazing what you can fit in there if you are efficient and organize your space creatively. See the hose? It's connected from the sink to the tub. A switch gives you the option to direct the water flow to your sink or to your tub. There's no little packets of soap. It comes out from the dispenser and holds body/face wash, shampoo and rinse (conditioner).
Too, too wonderful... Oh did I say that before, too? They also provide you with nightwear (yukata or night shirt) and room slippers.
Love it! Love it!

Japan: Day 15 (October 5, 2008 Sunday)

I'm redoing my post here. I tried using the Japanese keyboard in the hotel lobby and it was driving me crazy turning my words into Japanese characters that made no sense!

It was the last day for Art to drive on the left side of the road. He says he was feeling pretty comfortable doing it now that we're about ready to leave Hokkaido.

There was a little hitch in our day when the Toyoku Inn Hotel in Sapporo said they didn't have our reservations this afternoon. They must have been confused because we stayed here earlier on the way up north to Shiretoko but somehow didn't have the reservation for our way back. Whatever the case, after a little bit of consternation they did have rooms available that we could have. My mom and Dennis are thrilled because they've got a large deluxe room while Art and I will be sharing what looks like a cubicle. Just kidding. I'm exaggerating but not much. Here are some photos from today:


I've been noticing that all the cities we've visited have these wonderful guides on the sidewalk for the blind. I tried walking on them and I can feel the lines for straightaways and the raised dots for stops. All the crosswalks have chirps to let you know you can cross. My brother's son is blind so he was very interested to see how much the Japanese try to help the handicapped.


We loved seeing food choices made of plastic outside restaurants. They looked so real!


We went to the Sapporo Factory Mall. It was huge! We saw Toys R Us there.


Our final tourist stop was the Sapporo Beer Museum. Since this was Dennis' first time to tour a brewery, my mom tried her best to explain every last detail of how beer is made. :-)

We'll be catching the Bullet Shinkansen train tomorrow for the long ride to Sendai where my aunt and cousin will be meeting us with a luggage piece that they held for us. It was great that they did because another piece of luggage in our car would have been very cramped. We looking forward to seeing them again before we head south of Kyoto and Nara.

Japan: Day 14, (October 4, 2008 Saturday)

We traveled from Utoro which is in northern Hokkaido to Asahikawa which is the 2nd largest town in Hokkaido after Sapporo.

Although the day began with a torrential downpour, it seemed as though my mother's mom and dad were looking out for us from up above.

Here's the staff saying goodbye to us.


This time we decided to try lavender soft serve! Wonderful!


The Milky Way Falls outside of Sounkyu was truly beautiful. We were in awe of the striking fall colors everywhere.



Well, I've caught up to today and I'm sorry I have to do this in a rush. There's no Internet in our room so I have to do this at the front desk. Not easy but I was determined to catch up. We'll be headed to Sapporo tomorrow and will return our rental car. We'll then catch a bullet train back to Sendai. Wish us luck!

Japan: Day#13 (October 3, 2008 Friday) Shiretoko

Happy Birthday to our daughter! We’re rather out of touch over here. My cousin, Masako actually had to send a FAX to our hotel in order to get a hold of us. I'm missing my Internet connection!

The morning was calm today so we are able to take the boat ride to see the coast line of the Utoro area.


Sunrise over Utoro was serene and beautiful.


We enjoyed watching this seagull walking along the beach.


We couldn't take very many photos on the hour long boat ride because the waves were choppy and we were hanging on at the front of the boat.


Although I was nervous about being pitched overboard, it was exciting to see the shoreline from the boat.


We noticed this plant in the parking lot and learned that it's called the Hamanasu plant. The fruit is used for jam and soft serve.


The flower of the hamanasu (sweet briar)fruit is even more beautiful.

Rausu dake is 1660 meters high.


We were enchanted with this dragon fly.


We could see across the sea to RUSSIA!


This fire station reminded us of our son, Jon.


Art could not resist buying a half dozen persimmons which we've been enjoying.


We waited a good half hour for this geyser to blow.


And when it did... it wasn't quite an Old Faithful but cute anyway.


We're really going to gain weight!

Japan: Day #12 (October 2, 2008 Thursday)

We are in Utoro at the Iruka (Dolphin) Hotel. We get a breakfast and dinner for each of the three days that we are here and they are incredible works of art for the most discerning of palates. People must think we’re out of our minds to be taking photos of each of our meals.

We took a two hour hike through the Shiretoko National Park which is a World Natural Heritage Site. My mother did very well on the hike passing by five of the most gorgeous lakes you’d ever be lucky enough to see.

Art loved sleeping on the futon beds. He's hinted that sleeping on the floor might be better than getting King sized beds.


Breakfast was another work of art!


Here we are at the beginning of the Shiretoko National Park 5 lake trail. Each lake was more breathtaking than the last.


We met this lady on the trail dragging two pieces of luggage along with her. We could hardly believe it! She was going in the opposite direction from us so we couldn't help her.


Gorgeous lake!


We took a million photos!


And here's another!


We were staring out looking for deers when we turned around to see this huge buck crossing right in front of us.


He was as curious about us as we were of him.


Art and Dennis decided to climb up Mr. Oronko. Mom and I took a nap!


We were once again surprised to see a meal completely different from the night before and just as amazing. We discovered later that the crab alone (a whole one) costs $30.00!

Japan: Day #11 (October 1, 2008 Wednesday)

We left Kushiro for Utoro in Hokkaido. Sorry to say we were not able to access the Internet connection that we requested.

Here are photos from Wednesday. One of our most memorable events of that day was the foot soak at Lake Kushiro’s hot springs and Lake Mashuko in Akan National Park. This crater lake is considered by many to be the most beautiful lake in Japan. The island in the middle of the lake is called “Island of the Gods” by the Ainu who are the indigenous people of Hokkaido.



It was a foggy morning in Kushiro when we started out and we were worried that the driving would be tricky. However once we started out, it cleared up!

Learning to fill gas was a bit of a trick.


What you can't see is me in the back pushing my mom up the stairs to get a better view of the Kushiro marshland.

The view was a spectacular view. Unfortunately there weren't any of the rare cranes.

The marshland was beautiful.


We had a great time soaking our feet in the hot springs. Although the water was very hot, we got used to it and when we left, our feet felt remarkably, tingly wonderful.


Art tried the hot sand treatment and declared it too HOT!


Lunch was ramen. We're eating a lot of ramen!


Our favorite thing is the soft serve. This time we tried the melon flavor....... Mmmmmmmmm!

Our next stop was to see Lake Masshu which was considered by the indigenous Ainu as the "Island of the Gods."


This is our room at the Dolphin Hotel in Utoro, Hokkaido.


Here's the Dolphin hotel from the outside.


And here's the big surprise! We thought our rooms were expensive until we saw our dinner and the breakfasts to come! Unbelievable epicurean delights!