Golden Week in Tokyo

I kicked off my Golden Week holiday with a trip to Tokyo with my new friend from volleyball club, Tarynn. 

Here we are looking like 2 backpackers ready to start our adventure!

View of Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen (bullet train). 

I'm still sad that Mom, Dad, and Jess didn't get to see it during their train ride!

First stop: Ueno Zoo. 

It was a mob scene of people and families.  It was nearly 8 rows of people deep to get close to the animal habitats.

Everyone is trying to get close to see the lions.

Cool hanging monorail at the zoo.

Kerri takes a break and rides the scenic monorail.  Still didn't see many animals, though!

I like this cool stork!  I'm not sure I've ever seen one before. 

Maybe because these  birds are usually busy delivering babies to new parents!!

A giant tortoise!

Kerri in the Thai Palace.

After the zoo, we deserved a tasty snack from the Hard Rock Cafe in the Uyeno Station.

At night we went to Harajuku, which was filled with teens in crazy outfits.

Kerri and Tarynn have yummy crepes for dinner :) 

They were the dessert kind, too.  Not those crap ones filled with fruit!!

A crazy rainbow-haired guy (yes, it's a man!) singing for crowds at Shinjuku.

Kerri's new boyfriend!

Tomorrow we go to Kamakura to see the Great Buddha!

Around Nagoya with Jess

My old roommate from college, Jessica, visited Japan this week, and I took some vacation time to show her around.  Between my vacation and the Golden Week holidays, I have 9 glorious days off of work!!

We started our sightseeing at Nagoya Castle, which is beautiful even without the cherry blossoms in bloom.

Close up of the "golden dolphins" on the roof of the castle and are symbols of Nagoya. 

We learned that the way the rocks are formed at the based are designed to withstand earthquakes.  The small gaps in between the foundation will shift and move during an earthquake, but they are flexible and will not crumble like a normal brick wall.

Jess and Kerri in the garden on the castle grounds.

We also made a stop at the zoo, and I was surprised to see that Nagoya's flamingos are more orangish than pink.  Apparently flamingos coloring is related to what they eat, so I truly wonder what the heck the Nagoya zookeepers are feeding them?!

We saw another cute koala taking a snooze and relaxing in a tree.

Here's my favorite animal of the day: the Somali Wild Ass!!  I love his name, and he's quite rare.  He is an ancestor of the African donkey found in a remote area between Somalia and Kenya, and there are fewer than 2,000 of these guys left!  They are sure to be extinct soon...

A view of Nagoya TV tower and Oasis 21 at night.

(I'm thinking my next job may be postcard photographer.)

Kerri and Jess enjoy Central Park.

Kerri and Jess show off their rock-hopping skills!

I think I've gotten Jess addicted to the "peace sign", too! 

Here she is with her apron (bib) on and ready to eat her tantan-men (spicy ramen). 

She actually asked "Do I have to wear this?" regarding the apron, and then promptly dripped her spicy ramen soup all down the front of her... Yes, sometimes Kerri does know best!

KG sports her apron and shows off her chopstick skills once again!! 

This food is one of my favorites, and I will surely miss it when I move back to the States.

We also went on an English speaking tour of a Toyota manufacturing plant in Toyota City.  As it turns out, many of the other tour participants prefered to stand next to me and hear my extra commentary regarding Toyota and TPS.  I give the full-fledged version based on my work experience, not just the rosy basic facts provided by Toyota HR personnel.

Jessica's favorite activity (similar to Mom and Dad's) turned out to be people watching!!  She loved the crazy outfits they wore, was fascinated by the silly things they did, and was truly astounded by the sheer number of people every where.  (It takes way more than a week to get used to the total lack of personal space, but now I think nothing of sitting at the same lunch table as a stranger, being smashed into a train car, or being bumped regularly on the street.)

Stay tuned for our trip to Tokyo...

Higashiyama Zoo

This has been a busy week with my first visitors to Japan!  Mom and Dad arrived on Saturday, and we've been on the go ever since. 

First stop was the Higashiyama Zoo. 

It's a great place for viewing the ever-popular sakura (cherry blossoms).  Many people say the week they are in bloom is the best week in Japan, so Mom and Dad timed their trip perfectly!

Since it was Easter Sunday, I like to think that this was the Easter bunny :)

Fun with the giraffees.

Moving on to a silly turtle exhibit... If the Japanese didn't think Americans were freak shows before, they do now!!

A line up of kangaroos.  We couldn't see any joeys in the pouches :(  But they were still cute.

A koala bear!

View of the Higashiyama Pond from the Sky Tower.  The paddle boats down below were helicopters, swans, and other cool characters!

These are some random riding toys scattered around the zoo.  You hop on, put in 100 yen, and then steer it around it runs out of juice!  LOL.

Moving on to a different part of Nagoya -- Sakae with the floating pond and TV tower.

The whole family at Central Park.

Mom and Dad enjoy the park.

Cherry blossoms!

Mom and Kerri look like they are at one with nature.  Do not be fooled... we are still indoors-type people!

Dad and Kerri in the park.

Yummy Easter Dinner

Their first Japanese restaurant experience: Yamachan for chicken wings and other treats on a stick.

Mom and Dad look really thrilled to be sitting on the floor eating dinner.

At least they enjoyed the Japanese soda ramune.  You have to pop the top and then push a marble in it in order to start pouring.