Tokyo

Alrighty, finally time for the rest of the report on my trip to Tokyo. Tiffany and I were part of a tour through MCCS (the travel agent on Marine bases). Our fee included airfare, hotel, transport to Mt. Fuji, and a guide who was there for any questions we came up with. We stayed at the New Sanno (a Navy run hotel) and since I didn't take any pictures of it let me just say that it was fantastic! The lobby is huge and opulent. The rooms are a little small, but nicely decorated and very clean. The best part though was the staff. We asked the concierge a number of questions and for recommendations and they always came up with an answer for us, gave us some maps, or called and made us reservations. We also loved the staff in the hotel's Emporium restaurant. They went out of their way to make sure we got everything we needed.

Once we landed and checked in our room, the first order of business was some lunch.

Luckily for us there was a great bakery around the corner from the hotel. I got a shrimp and avocado sandwich on the best bread I've had in a long time, a yogurt with raspberry topping, and that little ball is a pumpkin pie pastry. It was delicious! It didn't really taste like pumpkin, more like sweet potato, but the pastry was flaky and the whole thing melted in my mouth. I don't know why there is so much French influence, but Tokyo definitely rivals Paris for the number of French bakeries. They were everywhere and the ones we sampled were all incredible.

After lunch and a quick rundown on the Tokyo subway from our guide we were off to explore. Our first order of business was to buy Cirque de Soleil tickets. We had tried in Okinawa and had struck out. We asked the concierge and she said we could go to Family Mart or Lawsons (convenience stores) and buy them there. The first Lawsons tried finding them in the computer with no luck, the second Lawsons tried but said they were sold out, and we thought our luck was up. Then we stumbled on a Family Mart and the heavens smiled down upon us.

This was the employee who got us our tickets. I think he thought us a little strange wanting his picture, but after failing 5 times to get the tickets we were pretty giddy.

To top it off, in the same plaza as the Family Mart there was a Coldstone Creamery! Woohoo!

It was delicious and I would have gone back every day if we had the time.

After the tickets and the ice cream we started a long walk in search of the Meiji Shrine. After looking at many maps and asking many people we eventually made it. It's in the heart of the city, but is a huge oasis that gets you away from it all. Each tree that was planted was formally blessed in honor of the Emperor.

After hiking around all day we were hungry and went to a Mexican restaurant near the hotel that had been recommended to us, La Jolla. It was excellent.

We made it an early evening and slept in the next day. Tiffany and I regularly get up around 4:30 for swim practice or bootcamp circuit so sleeping in until 6:00 was a real luxury. To start the day off right we had a great run at a neighborhood park.

Even though it was early there were tons of people at the park - lots of walkers, dog owners, a group of adults doing double dutch, and a man playing a wooden recorder. It was a great run and very peaceful.

After asking the concierge for a recommendation we rushed off to participate in a traditional formal tea ceremony. The ceremony was located in a small house that was over 100 years old and Tiffany and I were the only participants.

You start off with sweets because the tea that will follow is not sweetened at all.

Both sweets were good, but the yellow one on the right was pure sugar and just melted in your mouth.

After the sweets our host, Takako, prepared the tea.

There are many rules to drinking the tea. The bowl you are given will have a special pattern painted on one side of the bowl. You are to drink from the opposite side of the pattern. After you take the first sip, you turn the bowl 90 degrees and then take 3 sips. The last drink you take from the bowl should make a sound (you need to slurp).

I would like to go on record as saying that matcha (green tea) is absolutely gross! The tea is thick and frothy (not what I was expecting from tea) and is extremely bitter. It almost has an oceany - maybe seaweed or fish- flavor to it. I thought I was done when I drank the three sips, but then Takako said how when we reached the bottom we had to make sound. At that point I just focused on choking it down without appearing too impolite.

Here's the matcha powder:

When sweetened, let's say in an ice cream, matcha is quite nice, but without the sugar I'm going to have to pass.
The tea house was in a beautiful garden, another secluded get away in a very busy city.

The bamboo was huge!

After the tea ceremony and looking around the garden we took the subway out to Tokyo Disney to catch the Cirque de Soleil show.

That's not a performer, just an usher, but I loved the costume. You're not allowed to take pictures in the theater so this is all I've got. However, if you haven't see Cirque, you've got to go! It's magical. There's music and singing, but very few words, but somehow it doesn't need it. There are men with lassos, women falling from the sky on ribbons, tight rope walkers, trapeze artists, people jumping out of the floor, amazing costumes, fantastic props, and incredible lighting. It makes for an unforgettable two hours. We were seated very close and some of the people on the high wire and on the ribbons made me extremely nervous. The ladies came down right over our heads - absolutely incredible!

After the show we went to an incredible garlic restaurant and shared some fantastic dishes.

This is the spicy avocado and tomato salad, the eggplant (both of our favorites), and we also ate a garlic pasta. We were happy we both ate there otherwise we'd be stinking each other out!

The next day we got up early and headed to the fish market. Please excuse the blurriness of the pictures - no flashes were allowed.

There was a tuna auction. The tuna are literally 4-5 feet long and we were told they weigh over 200 pounds. It was pretty incredible. At 5:30 the fish market is a happening place.

After the fish markets we relaxed, ate breakfast, and then headed out to Asakusa. It is an area with a temple, pagodas, and a huge outdoor shopping area.

At the market we watched a man make ningyo yaki. It's a sweet that has the ube (purple sweet potato) in the middle and is made in cast iron molds.

The one on the left is shaped like a giant lantern while the one on the right is shaped like a pagoda located next to the temple. They were delicious - sweet, but not too sweet.

The Asakusa area is very touristy and we saw lots of rickshaws:

There were also lots of people all over Tokyo, not just in Asakusa, wearing kimonos. It was very cool to see the mix of traditional and modern.

After visiting the market and temple we decided to take a river cruise back towards the hotel.

We were told that the cruise was in both English and Japanese. That was a lie. We didn't understand a single word, but it was a cool, relaxing way to head back. Plus, the end point was a beautiful park.

We didn't spend a lot of time in the park though because we were both hungry and headed to the first restaurant we came across. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that with all that good Japanese food around we ate at a T.G.I.Fridays. But really it was a must. I was starting to break out my cranky pants because I was so hungry and I'm not ready for Tiffany to see that side of me. Plus, these onion rings we split were amazing!

We again had an early night since we were meeting in the lobby at 2:45 to head out for Mt. Fuji. The morning after Mt. Fuji, before we headed to the airport, we both got massages from a blind Japanese man. Sorry I don't have pictures of that, but it was a great massage. I think that about wraps it up, but at some point I might do another post of cool/weird/funny signs, people, and things we saw on our trip.

Mt. Fuji

Last week my running partner, Tiffany, and I went to Tokyo with the goals of having some fun and climbing Mt. Fuji. I'm happy to report that both goals were achieved. I'll write more about the rest of the Tokyo trip later, but here's a little break down of the Mt. Fuji portion.

On Sunday we left our hotel at 2:45 am and started the 2 hour drive to Mt. Fuji. Most of us caught a little more sleep and we arrived at Station 5 of Mt. Fuji on the Subaru Line at 5:00am. After a quick bathroom break in Japan's dirtiest bathrooms (most public bathrooms here are super clean) and purchasing our Fuji sticks we were off.

Station 5 is at 2399 meters (7868 feet) and we were looking to get to the summit at 3776 meters (12, 385 feet). The day was gorgeous and the cooler weather was a welcome relief from sticky Okinawa. As you can see in the pictures there was some fog/clouds that limited our view a little, but it was better than the rainy reports we had heard from friends that had recently hiked.

Climbing Mt. Fuji is not an easy hike, but is definitely doable. Going up there are areas where you have to use your hands to scramble over the rocks, but there is no technical climbing involved. At no point did Tiffany or I think we weren't going to make it. We would both get in the zone and during the hard parts I would either have a four count going in my head matching my steps or I would have Dori in my head telling me to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." I know, I know she should have changed it to "just keep climbing", but Dori was tired.

Along with the satisfaction of making it to the top, a major incentive to keep going was to get your Fuji stick stamped. At every station there was at least one, usually more, stamps to collect. At station 5 we bought a plain hiking stick and at every station we would get a different stamp. These stamps were branded into the wood. Each stamp was different with some having the elevation you had reached, one a sunrise, and another a cow (it's the year of the bull here). The final stamp you get is still done with a metal brand, but it is painted red and then pounded into your stick. It was very satisfying to get all the stamps and very expensive too! The stick costs about 1000 yen and each stamp costs 200 yen, except the one at the summit. That one costs 300 yen. I haven't counted all the stamps, but it probably cost a total of 4000-4500 yen ($40-45). It is completely worth it though for a once in a lifetime souvenir.

Somehow, the person who gets sick on a backyard swing was not affected by the altitude. I never felt short of breath or nauseous and thought going up wasn't really that bad. It took us just under 5 hours of hiking at a comfortably quick pace to reach the summit. We stayed up top about an hour and were planning on hiking the perimeter of the crater (Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano), but the wind was so strong we couldn't stand up straight. So we decided to head back down.

Although I enjoyed going up, going down was a whole other story! Going down there were endless switchbacks made up of scree. Basically it was loose gravel all the way down. You really had to focus on not falling; it was kind of a controlled slide. My achilles and knees were pretty mad at me after 30 minutes and it took us just under 3 hours to get down!

I know a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some pictures and video to sum up our experience:

This is all the stuff that it was recommended we bring. Everything is in individual baggies in case of rain. That way if one bag leaks you still have dry items:

This is near the beginning of the hike and I'm still looking pretty clean.

Here's the start of our hike. It's about 5:30am.

Going up:

This is on the way up the mountain. Sorry for the wind.

Going strong and feeling better than this guy: Not that I am judging him. I mean sometimes you just need a nap.

Still climbing:

Here's some nice shots for you:

When you are almost to the top of Mt. Fuji you enter through some Torii gates that are guarded by Shisa dogs. Makes you wonder who carried those huge statues up that mountain:

Queens of the mountain (please note the dirty face):

Mt. Fuji is a volcano. Here is the crater that is left from the last eruption:

At the top there was another Torii gate and a place where people tied their bells (some Fuji sticks had bells, but I thought that would be annoying so I just got one with a flag). I'm not sure the exact reason that people stick coins in the Torii gates, but we figured it was like a well and made a wish when we stuck in our yen. I wish I could have taken video here because the bells sounded quite beautiful, but the wind was strong enough that we couldn't stand up so I figured you wouldn't get to hear the bells at all:

What goes up must come down (I wasn't aiming the camera quite as down as I thought):

On the way down the controlled sliding of the feet kicked up a lot of very fine dust. We were very thankful that our friend Astrid had recommended we bring handkerchiefs. The air was thick.

On the way down we saw a group of Japanese in costume. There were about 8 Santa Clauses, 1 Rudolph, a Christmas tree, and a skeleton. We're not sure how the skeleton fit in.

On the way down we took a short break to enjoy the view and gives our knees a chance to rest.

Video wrap up:

At the bottom. Tired, but happy.

After all that hard work I treated myself to a Fuji cake. It was delicious. It was more of a sweet bread and was still warm. I don't know if it was just because I was hungry, but it was heavenly.

Stay tuned for the rest of our Tokyo adventures!