After three weeks, we are thoroughly exhausted and all Japan-ed out! And we ended our last night on an apropos note: our final ride on the famous Tokyo subway at Rush Hour and we got the "mass shove" experience! As the doors were about to close on our more-than-full-car, another ten bodies crashed the car at full-speed and we all moved a good 6-ft back instantly...and no one seemed to mind, or even notice - and Maddy squealed with delight as it was like her first mosh pit!
Today we crammed: Hop On, Hop Off Sightseeing Bus to see the Tokyo SkyTree, then the Tokyo Imperial Palace (sort of like Boston Common dropped in the middle of Central Park) and the famous hipster fashion-area, Harajuku! Phew.
So; three weeks, two apartments, three hotels, four roller coasters, two bullet trains, 30+ subway rides, 20+ malls, and exactly only one sushi night-out and we are off to Greece tomorrow (via Moscow on Aeroflot Airlines, so if war breaks out tomorrow in the Ukraine, we won't be back for a while).
Japan is an amazing country and we loved every minute of our time here, even in Tokyo which we were worried it was going to be crazy crowded, but with the excellent layout of the city, the well-planned parks and plaza's, and ultra-wide streets, it felt very open and you would not know you were in a city of 13 MILLION!
If you are a "big city" tourists and like the New York, London, Paris and Rome-type destinations, put Tokyo on your list. It was a blast.
Oh, and it was really nice of our President, the esteemed Mr. Obama, to coordinate his visit while we were here. I wished we could have heard him speak in public, but it was all behind closed doors. We did wait for his motorcade to pass one night, but it was taking forever so we hopped back on the subway. The Japanese were very excited that he was here and gave us many compliments on our President!
Sayonara!
- Mike
P.S. Japan is the Anglicized version of the country's native name - Nippon, which means "Origin of the Sun" or "Land of the Rising Sun". It was translated through Chinese as Zippong, which was pronounced Jappon by the English, and then eventually Japan.
*******************************************************************************
No, it doesn't make much sense traveling Around The Globe just to get to Japan and turn around. I know. But we have already done Hawaii and San Francisco and we really, really want to be in Europe in the springtime. Moscow, here we come. No wait, Athens!!! Santorini!!
I love Japan for all of it's wackiness and fun cartoon characters. I can see now why the Hello Kitty craze has transcended generations of Japanese women as I saw many a middle-aged lady with a cute little kitten phone case, bag, purse or other accessories. Oh, the accessories!! My goodness do these people like to shop. Even I was tired by the end of three weeks. I'll post pictures of our loot next time but Mike is very lucky that we have to pack 'lite' or else the girls and I would have needed an extra suitcase.
And a HUGE thank you to Tracey Lissner Hadley for making me feel so at home in Tokyo. I got to spend an entire afternoon hanging with a friend for lunch and an excellent foot rub. Much better than a US-style pedicure. I also love that our girls got to meet and spend some time together. Marin, Tracey's daughter is about the same age that Tracey was when we met. They may never be best friends but now they have an international connection. Hope to see you this summer, Trace!
Goodbye Tokyo!! Hope to see you again sometime.
-Suzanne
Today we crammed: Hop On, Hop Off Sightseeing Bus to see the Tokyo SkyTree, then the Tokyo Imperial Palace (sort of like Boston Common dropped in the middle of Central Park) and the famous hipster fashion-area, Harajuku! Phew.
So; three weeks, two apartments, three hotels, four roller coasters, two bullet trains, 30+ subway rides, 20+ malls, and exactly only one sushi night-out and we are off to Greece tomorrow (via Moscow on Aeroflot Airlines, so if war breaks out tomorrow in the Ukraine, we won't be back for a while).
Japan is an amazing country and we loved every minute of our time here, even in Tokyo which we were worried it was going to be crazy crowded, but with the excellent layout of the city, the well-planned parks and plaza's, and ultra-wide streets, it felt very open and you would not know you were in a city of 13 MILLION!
If you are a "big city" tourists and like the New York, London, Paris and Rome-type destinations, put Tokyo on your list. It was a blast.
Oh, and it was really nice of our President, the esteemed Mr. Obama, to coordinate his visit while we were here. I wished we could have heard him speak in public, but it was all behind closed doors. We did wait for his motorcade to pass one night, but it was taking forever so we hopped back on the subway. The Japanese were very excited that he was here and gave us many compliments on our President!
Sayonara!
- Mike
P.S. Japan is the Anglicized version of the country's native name - Nippon, which means "Origin of the Sun" or "Land of the Rising Sun". It was translated through Chinese as Zippong, which was pronounced Jappon by the English, and then eventually Japan.
*******************************************************************************
No, it doesn't make much sense traveling Around The Globe just to get to Japan and turn around. I know. But we have already done Hawaii and San Francisco and we really, really want to be in Europe in the springtime. Moscow, here we come. No wait, Athens!!! Santorini!!
I love Japan for all of it's wackiness and fun cartoon characters. I can see now why the Hello Kitty craze has transcended generations of Japanese women as I saw many a middle-aged lady with a cute little kitten phone case, bag, purse or other accessories. Oh, the accessories!! My goodness do these people like to shop. Even I was tired by the end of three weeks. I'll post pictures of our loot next time but Mike is very lucky that we have to pack 'lite' or else the girls and I would have needed an extra suitcase.
And a HUGE thank you to Tracey Lissner Hadley for making me feel so at home in Tokyo. I got to spend an entire afternoon hanging with a friend for lunch and an excellent foot rub. Much better than a US-style pedicure. I also love that our girls got to meet and spend some time together. Marin, Tracey's daughter is about the same age that Tracey was when we met. They may never be best friends but now they have an international connection. Hope to see you this summer, Trace!
Goodbye Tokyo!! Hope to see you again sometime.
-Suzanne
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