My First Official Temple

We went to our first official temple located outside of the zoo.  We have seen a few other temples or shrines in our adventures but this was the first we were allowed to go into. It was gorgeous! Just the outside appearance made me want to sit and just look at it for hours.  Outside the entrance there was a place to light incense and pray.  then you walked up the stairs to the doors.  One inside you were able to hit the gong, pray, and then walk around before heading out.

 

 

There were also a few other temples located throughout and around the zoo

Ueno Zoo!

We ventured to the zoo this past weekend.  It took only three trains but the sun was shining and Marley was ready to see some animals!  The zoo was definitely more of a success than the aquarium.  Marley was excited to see the animals and didn't complain about wanting to leave until near the end.  It was so much fun seeing all the animals and especially animals that I haven't seen before with the zoos at home.  The zoo was gorgeous too!  Trees, plants, and flowers everywhere along with temple like buildings and scenery.

There was a monorail that you could take to get from the East Garden of the zoo across to the West Garden side.  Of course as soon as Marley heard there was a train that is all he wanted to do.  He is obsessed with trains like many little boys.  The line for the monorail took us about 20 minutes.  That is longer than we have waited for any train this whole time here! It felt like forever waiting in line, especially for Marley.  And then when it was finally our turn we enjoyed the 3 minute ride of the monorail...

We saw giant pandas, lions, tigers, elephants, kangaroos, a giant anteater, giraffes, seals, a polar bear, lizards, crocodiles, pygmy hippos, rhinoceros, peacocks, zebras, sheep, a gila monster, an anaconda, a Galapagos tortoise, vultures, a baby gorilla, and more!  Here are some of my favorite pictures!

 

Halfway point

I have reached and passed the halfway point of my time here in Japan! I can't believe I have been here over 40 days already and will be leaving in just another 40 days!  It feels like I just got to Kodaira a few weeks ago!  Going home will be a whole new adventure about adventuring and getting accustomed to life here!  The idea of driving a car and eating with a fork feel so foreign!

New Restaurant

Kelly and I noticed a new restaurant a last week when we first took Marley to his new school.  It is near the station and only about 15 minutes away walking.  We have wanted to try it but it never seemed to work out when we wanted to.  Yesterday we went swimming at the pool and then decided to try the new restaurant for lunch.  Oh are we glad we did!

We haven't found a noddle place we liked in town yet.  All the ones near us either only have ramen (which Seth doesn't like) or they are always full of smokers.  So when we went to this new place we saw they had udon and soba from the pictures in the window and were excited.  The place was completely empty except for the lady at the register.  She looks at us and nods. She then walks over with two mugs of hot green tea and two plastic cups of water.  She hands the teas to Kelly and Seth and then the waters to Marley and me.  It was clear she thought I was not only their child but not old enough to have a cup of hot tea.  We waited until she walked back into the kitchen before we all started laughing.  Kelly kept asking if she really looked old enough to be my mother, shes only 36.  The whole meal we all made funny comments about it.  Seth made a comment on improving my grades and stop partying while Kelly told me the soup was going to be hot and I should wait until she cooled it for me haha

Besides being treated like a preteen the meal was excellent! There was no actual menu with pictures or words even, just a list of Kanji characters.  So when she came over we just said 2 udon and 1 soba hoping we'd get something good.  It was!  I definitely like udon much better than soba.  Udon are thicker noodles while soba noodles are thinner and resemble spaghetti noodles.  The soup came with a tempura prawn and some sort of white and pink seafood-ish thing.  We have seen this pink and white piece of food on several dishes and in menu pictures.  We have even seen it the pink and white formed into a pig's face.  So I Googled "pink and white Japanese food in noodle dish" tonight.  I wish I hadn't haha

It is called Kamaboko, a Japanese fish cake.  It is processed white fish pureed and combined with additives such as MSG.  It is formed into two loafs, one pink and one white.  It is then artfully combined to form shapes, spirals, and other creations.  In the early years Kamaboko was made with minced catfish.  Kelly and I both agree it tastes a little like processed ham.

But we liked the restaurant and will definitely be returning soon!

Adventures within the night

Last night's adventures included a typhoon that was passing by Japan's East Coast causing intense wind and rain, an earthquake at 2 am, and thunder soon after the earthquake.

The earthquake was off the shores of Japan in the ocean but it registered s a 7.3 magnitude.  This is the largest since we arrived.  It woke me in the middle of the night, at precisely 2:10 am.  Not only was it the largest we have felt but it also lasted the longest.  It was close to double in length of the other two quakes.  There was a tsunami warning affected at the coast of Japan and a tsunami of about 39 centimeters was reported. When I read this I just pictured a person standing on the coast and stomping on the wave when it came haha

The thunder was fun to listen to.  It occurred just a little while after the earthquake and only last a few minutes before it was over.  With the trees around us and the fact that I was laying in bed with the shades and rice paper blinds closed I wasn't able to see any lightening.

Hopefully tonight is less eventful...

well... umm goodbye

We aren't sure where Marley picked up saying "umm" but he has.  Its adorable when he says it though.  He'll come in the living room in the morning after returning with Seth and I'll ask him where he went.  He looks at me and says "umm kokubunji" or "umm to get a pastry".  It sounds so cute coming from a tiny curly red haired boy!

My favorite is when he is talking to Kelly or Seth on the phone.  They will say goodbye and he responds with "well, umm goodbye" and then hangs up.  Its such a confident goodbye that it sounds so funny coming from him.

Typhoon # 2

Typhoon season is in full swing in Japan.  We are about to experience our second typhoon since we arrived.  This one is not projected to actually hit Japan just near enough to cause extra caution.  The rain and wind has begun but only very minimal compared to last typhoon.  The typhoon should hit/pass by early tomorrow morning causing mainly rain (and lots of it) tonight and most of tomorrow.  Looks like another inside rainy day.

We went to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants at Kokubunji today.  We ordered a new dish that we thought was going to be udon noodle soup.  Or at least we thought.  Turns out the picture we thought had udon was actually the stems of mushrooms.  So instead of soup we got a bowl of mushrooms, potatoes, and giant chinks of parsnip all in a weird slimy goop.  It was not that appealing. It turns out this was a combo dish as well.  It also came with a wooden box dish with a lid. Kelly and I looked at each other knowing that anything could be under that lid.  We took the top off cautiously.  I was relieved when we took the lid off while Kelly felt grossed out haha

In the dish was a bed of rice with some type of meat (or animal) on top.  To me they looked like clams and I was good to go.  The gooeyness and chewy look made Kelly not so sure.  I tried one and it tasted mostly like a clam.  I thought it was pretty good actually.  Kelly was finally ready to try one and when she picked it up with her chopsticks we noticed hers had an orange thing inside it.  It looked like an orange kidney shaped thing.

She tried it and said it was better than she thought but still wasn't overly excited for it.  Seth tried one but said the same.  I ended up eating the rest! The rest of the meal was great though! We got the chicken dish we love and then we also got a tofu and spicy sauce dish.  It hard to explain what exactly it is but its a sauce with tofu on top.  You scope some of the sauce on to your rice and enjoy.  It is definitely spicy though so I have to be careful how much I add to my rice! 

A picture of the sauce and tofu 

Neighbor

We will be getting our first house guest on Saturday.  She will be living in the downstairs apartment for about 3 weeks we think.  This is older, in her 60's, and is here to do a series of talks as she moves throughout the country giving speeches.  Hopefully she doesn't mind our early morning routines and Marley ringing the doorbell anytime we get home to let the house know we are back!

Kelly, Marley, and I went swimming today.  When we first got to Japan he was scared to put his face in the water and wouldn't try anything without holding on tightly to one of us.  Today he was like a machine! He would leap from me to Kelly with his head fully in the water and going close to 5-6 feet, at least 1-2 feet all by himself!  He kept saying he was a seahorse!  Such a success! At least it was until we were leaving and he got his finger closed in the hinge of the door.  Opps! Instantly there was a huge indent and it was turning black.  Thankfully it wasn't broken and there was no blood.  He cried until we put a band-aid on.  Thank goodness for magic healing powers of a band-aid!

Cute grandma and grandson on a walk

Yummy... bean paste animals!

Smoking

I have never seen so many active and healthy elderly people out and about.  Every morning and many afternoons there are groups of elderly people doing exercises and stretches all while singing/groaning.  Women and men well over the age of 70 pass us on their bicycles everyday.  For being such a healthy and health conscious country it amazes me that they have no regard for the idea of second hand smoke.

There are designated areas in largely populated public areas for smoking.  This is usually a giant glass box with a few benches and ashtrays inside.  With everyone smoking inside and very little ventilation it looks like a hot box from the outside.

Yet no one in this country seems to have anything against smoking in restaurants.  Many of the restaurants we have wanted to try had several people smoking and so we would move on to the next.  But it ruins your meal when you are sitting down to eat and someone lights up a cigarette at the table next to you.  Especially because the space is so small that there is little room to escape.

We went to our favorite Indian restaurant last night.  And this time Seth joined us because he didn't have class in Tokyo.  He isn't the biggest fan of Indian food but we were very happy when he said he really liked the food! He said its one of the best meals we've had so far!

Anyways, we had just gotten our food when the older couple next to us light their cigarettes.  We were disappointed because we had finally found a place we loved! And even more frustrated when we realized they weren't even smoking the cigarettes! they were having a conversation while just holding them! Gahh

Tokyo Station

Its always interesting when we get closer to Tokyo how things change.  The amount of people at the Tokyo train station (which isn't even the busiest train station) is insane.  There is barely any room to see signs on the walls or stop to breathe because people are walking in every direction.   And this was a Sunday afternoon, I can't even imagine how busy it gets during weekday rush hour.  But also the amount of white and English speaking people increases greatly!  We no longer feel like we are the only ones in Japan after visiting downtown Tokyo.

Seth and Kelly have been reading the Lonely Plant Japan to get ideas for while they are here.  Under dangers there are only two listed.  One is the obvious, earthquakes, they have their own section.  But the second danger isn't pick pocketing or disease but rather a warning to avoid the train stations at rush hour haha  And we do!

Here's a picture of Marley at one of the Tokyo Station signs

Tokyo Sea Life Park

Yesterday was the Kodaira City festival.  It was supposed to have vendors, food, mascots, and games for the kids.  We first heard about it a few weeks ago and have been excited to explore.  Unfortunately yesterday we woke up to a complete downpour of rain.  We were hoping the rain was going to lighten up so we could still try it but by mid morning the rain was only getting worse.  We decided to ditch the idea of going to an outside festival and go to an aquarium instead.  We decided to go to the Tokyo Sea Life Park.  We all bundled up in rain gear and gloves and headed to the bus station.  One bus, two trains, and two hours later we arrived at the station near the aquarium.  After two hours in the train we forgot how badly it was raining.  When we got near the doors we realized the rain had almost doubled in amount and intensity as when we left our house.  We couldn't see anything around us because the rain/clouds were so thick.

It was a ten minute walk from the station to the aquarium and in that time we all got drenched!  The umbrella I was using was broken on one peg.  Apparently while walking the material on that peg inched up and water was just dripping straight down my back.  By the time we got undercover the back of my coat and butt were completely soaked! Jeans don't dry very fast.

The entrance to the aquarium was a giant glass dome (this is a picture offline because it was too rainy and we were too wet to try and take a picture while walking!)

So you enter the dome and here everyone took off their rain gear and dried their umbrella and then headed down the escalator to see the animals.

The idea of an aquarium seemed great for a rainy day, however we forgot to keep in mind MArley's attention span.  Within literally 2 minutes he was saying hes ready to go.  Thankfully we were able to keep him occupied and interested in the fish to keep moving but we had to do so fast.

Here are some of the pictures I took!

This is a lump fish

I think he's my favorite! A leafy Seahorse!

Big bellied Seahorse and a Leafy Seahorse!

This fish buries into the sand to attack its prey

He is huge!

A giant spider crab

Hard to see but its the only octopus that was semi out.  Can you see him?

Baby Penguins!

Another hiding octopus.
Maybe they know I had some for dinner the other night and they were plotting revenge

Overall the aquarium was a lot of fun and we got to see some interesting sea animals.  And by the end it was time to go I was finally dry! Just in time to go back out in the rain and head back to the train station haha

Of course any day isn't complete without getting lost along the way.  We took the train from Tokyo station to Shimbashi were we stayed the first 4 days to visit a toy store.  From there it was supposed to be two trains and we'd be home by 5.  Transferring from the first train to the second was a fail.  We went out the wrong gates and couldn't get to the JR line from where we ended up.  We had to go outside and re-enter at a different spot.  It was now 5 o'clock, dark, ad raining.  We walked around aimlessly for a good 10 minutes before we found a map and a new entrance.  However, this station did not have a JR connection so we had to take yet another train in the opposite direction to Shinjuku to then catch the JR Chou. In turn it took us 5 trains and way longer than it should have but we made it home!