Hokkaido Adventures

On Dec. 6th we headed north to the island of Hokkaido with my mom and Aunt Patsy. We enjoyed yummy crab for dinner!

Our first full day was quite snowy! We explored the Hokkaido Historical Village, home to many old buildings and a glimpse at life in the 1800's.

We also visited the Hokkaido Museum to learn about the ancient Ainu people. There was even a woolly mammoth!

That night we toured Odori Park in downtown Sapporo and went to the top of the TV Tower. For some reason TV towers are very popular here, every city has one.

Sapporo also had the White Illumination and the German Christmas Market while we were in town. Great way to get in the spirit!

On Monday we visited the Sapporo Clock Tower, which is featured on all the tourist brochures.

Then we hopped on the train to Otaru, a beautiful city on the Sea of Japan.

Otaru is famous within Japan for orgels (music boxes), glass blowing, and it's romantic canal.

That night we went to the Sapporo Bier Garten for delicious beer and Jingis Khan, a dish of grilled lamb and veggies.

They put plastic wrap on your coat and purse, and it's a good thing I wore my bib!

For our last day in Sapporo, we went to the Olympic Sports Museum and Park. It was very entertaining! They had simulators for the ski jump, bobsleigh, spinning like figure skating, and a ski lift. My mom and Patsy were troopers about the ski lift too!

Thanksgiving in Japan

For our first major holiday in Japan, we special ordered a delicious Butterball turkey and invited some fellow Americans over for dinner. Aaron had to work on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night. Everything turned out beautifully in our little tiny oven! We had friends from MI, KY, and us from AZ, so a total of 7 for dinner. We enjoyed a traditional dinner and time with friends! And, everyone was sure to enjoy some drinks.

Kelso also thoroughly enjoyed himself, as everyone petted him and he loves having guests. Here is our family Turkey Day shot!

Halloween in Japan

On November 1, we hosted a wonderful, if slightly belated, Halloween party at our townhouse. It was a great time, and we crammed a lot of people from all over the world into our little living room!

The highlight of the evening was the homemade Hello Kitty pinata! Our friend Lisa was the chief architect on this project, and I have to say, we're waiting to get back to the USA and just ordering a pinata for any future parties!



We were impressed with the wide array of costumes that made an appearance and creative displays such as the photo opp we call Pouring the Beer. Thanks to Lisa and Trisha for the photos!

The Aunties trip to Nihon!

On October 22, my aunts, Mary Lou and Joani, arrived for a 10 day visit! We had a fantastic time and it felt great to get hugs from family. Their first full day in Japan, we visited the city of Seto for pottery shopping and a Japanese curry lunch.

Then we began our tourist fun on Thursday.

We visited Nagoya-jo, which is a reconstructed castle with a museum inside.

Also home to the golden dolphins that are the symbol of the Aichi prefecture (Nagoya and Toyota City are part of the prefecture).

Friday we headed to Kyoto, which was our first shinkansen (bullet train) trip. Our first stop was the Heian Shrine, which is the most famous Shinto shrine in Kyoto.

Saturday morning we had breakfast and then started shopping on Shinkyogoku, a shopping arcade full of every kind of store.

Aaron arrived and we all headed to Nijo-jo, a beautiful castle, to see how the shoguns lived.

The views and gardens here were beautiful too, and the Ninomaru Palace was a great glimpse at life during the shogun era.

Saturday night we headed out to Ponto cho, a cobbled tiny street home to lots of restaurants, bars, etc. and backing to the river.

We enjoyed a teppanyaki dinner. The chefs here don't throw the food around like they do at Benihana at home though!

Sunday we visited Kiyomizu-dera, a famous temple. It was raining, but it was still beautiful.

Then we visited my favorite place of the whole trip, Sanjusangendo Hall. Inside are 1001 wooden statues of the thousand-handed Kannon. Ok, they really have 40 arms, but it was stunning. No photos allowed though!

Monday we headed towards Hakone, which is a very beautiful and scenic area of Japan. We stayed at the Fujiya Hotel, the first western hotel here, dined in their beautiful dining room, and tested out the onsen.

Tuesday morning we began the trek through the Hakone area, which is the draw for all the tourists. The first stop on the railway was the Hakone Open Air Museum, featuring outdoor exhibits, a Picasso exhibit, and a foot onsen to enjoy.

In Hakone we traveled via railway, switchback railway, cablecar, ropeway, and boat. Here we are in the ropeway, praying no doors come open!

The views here were breathtaking and it was a beautiful day. Hard to believe you're in Japan, home to so many people, when there is all this open space to enjoy!

Then we headed to Tokyo. Our first full day in Tokyo we headed to Asakusa. Outside a temple, there is Nakamise Dori, home to shopping since the 17th century and a great place for souvenirs.

Lively Nakamise Dori leads up to the beautiful temple, Senso-ji.

Then we took a Sumida River Cruise, checking out 12 bridges along the way, skyscrapers, and other fun.

The cruise dropped us off at the Hama Rikyu Garden, a 300 year old former falconry and duck hunting area for the shogun. It was beautiful and interesting to see the old garden surrounded by new skyscrapers.

Then for our final dinner, we headed out for yakiniku (Korean BBQ that is very popular here) in Toyota City!

Thanks for a wonderful time Joani & ML! We loved seeing you and it was a blast!

Trip to Okinawa

Aaron and I flew to Okinawa this past Saturday, for our postponed anniversary trip. We landed amidst quite a storm, after we circled for an extra half hour (during which I could have used a tranquilizer). We finally arrived at the Marriott Okinawa Resort & Spa, and were in heaven with this view from our room. We were treated like royalty at the resort, customer service here is amazing!

Our first night in Okinawa, we went to the Howdy BBQ restaurant and enjoyed local Okinawan pork and listened to live music. Most of the songs were in English, so we had a great time.

I was looking forward to this trip very much, as my grandpa had told me that Okinawa was a beautiful place so I wanted to see where he had been.

Aaron and I were great tourists and explored the Memorial Peace Park and Museum:

Himeyuri Monument, and downtown Nago on our first day. After all this, we enjoyed happy hour in the lounge and then had a delicious Chinese dinner. Yes, I know we're in Japan, but I love Chinese. And, we tried the local drink of awamori, but 1 sip was all I could do. Aaron said it best "I think we flew here on this fuel".

Then on Monday, I think Grandpa Al intervened so that we could have a beautiful, sunny day on the beach instead of the forecast rain! We spent the morning at Kariyushi beach, with Aaron working on his tan and me napping under the umbrella. Then we headed off for more tourist fun. I was insistent on going to the Nago Pineapple Park, which was a huge tourist trap, but I just wanted to buy some pineapple wine!

We also visited some interesting subtropical gardens, and apparently we were the first visitors in quite some time!

To wrap up the tourist circuit, we visited Manzamo,a beautiful place made from fossilized coral that looks out over the East China Sea.

For our last night in Okinawa, we ventured out for some local food and tried a local dish made from goya (bitter melon), spam, and eggs. Spam is incredibly popular in Okinawa! Then we went to the spa and enjoyed very hot hot tubs, a cold plunge pool, and the sauna. We wish vacations lasted forever!