Tokyo

Fish, fashion, food, and gardens, then sayonara Japan

Posted by Jason on April 2, 2013 - 11:57pm in Our Travels.
When: 
March 15, 2013 to March 16, 2013

As we fly back to Seattle, it is time to catch up on my journal and describe the last days of our Japan trip. Yesterday (Friday, March 15th), we started our day at the Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo's primary fresh fish wholesaling site. We were too lazy to try to watch the tuna auction, which requires getting there by 4:30am and being one of the first 120 people there. Instead, we opted for the more reasonable time of 9am, when the wholesalers' processing and distribution area opens to the public.

Sightseeing in Tokyo from the river to the sky

Posted by Jason on March 31, 2013 - 6:24pm in Our Travels.
When: 
March 14, 2013

Today was our first full day in Tokyo, and like all our days, it was busy. We slept in a bit thanks to some incredibly effective blackout curtains. We grabbed breakfast at a Japanese/French bakery (yummy), then took the subway to our first stop, the Tokyo National Museum. It was the end of rush hour, so the subway was packed when we got on but pretty manageable with just my backpack and no luggage. After a few stops, most of the passengers got off, so we had seats for most of the ride.

Bullet train and our first Tokyo adventure

Posted by Jason on March 31, 2013 - 5:43pm in Our Travels.
When: 
March 13, 2013

We took the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. We had a 9:30am train, so we picked up breakfast and lunch in the station to eat on the train. Our train was relatively full, despite the fact that the trains leave almost every 10 minutes. As before, the train was fast, quiet, and comfortable. We spent the time going through the photos we had taken and trimming out the bad ones. We arrived at our stop on the outskirts of Tokyo after 2.25 hours. Then the real adventure began.

Japan - March 2013

Posted by Jason on March 22, 2013 - 11:37pm in Our Travels.
When: 
March 7, 2013 to March 16, 2013

Katie and I recently got back from our trip to Japan. We decided to have Penelope stay at home while we traveled, rather than bringing her with us, and this was the first time we had both been away from her at the same time for more than a single night. It was hard for us to be away, and a little hard on Penelope too, but it really worked out for the best. We were able to do the things that we wanted to do that would have been too boring for Penelope, without having to worry about naps and strange potties (she would have loved the food, though).