Fujiya Hotel--Hakone

The next morning, Tuesday, we slept in a bit (we had been up the last few days around fivish--the sun already bright and shining), and started getting ready to catch the shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train).  The shinkansen can go up to 320 km/h.  We went from Kyto to Odawara, where we were meeting more of our Japanese cousins.

 As Emily and I got ready for the day, she started to get antsy.  I thought she said we need to leave by 7:45.  I was taking my time getting ready, and we left by 7:30--15 minutes before I thought she wanted to leave, so I didn't understand why she was so agitated.  Apparently, I misunderstood, and she had wanted to be there by 7:45 (the train leaves right on time, and if you know Emily, you know that she likes to be half an hour early to everything--that is considered on-time for her).  In an effort to get to the train station faster, we took a "shortcut" which ended up taking more time than if we had just gone our usual way (doesn't that always seem to be the case?).
We had all our luggage and as we practically ran through the streets of Kyoto, we got pretty hot and sweaty--so much for getting ready for the day.  Emily's big bag kept knocking against her leg, increasing her frustration.  Our train was to leave at 8:33, and we made it, with about 5-10 minutes to spare before the train arrived.  It ended up being much closer in timing than either of us cared for. 

It was fun to see the world zip by as we shot across the Japanese countryside.  I tried to take a few pictures but we were going so fast that they all came out blurry.  The train ride was nice and it gave us a chance to relax before meeting up with our cousins, whom we would be spending the night with before continuing on our way to Fuji-Q the next day.

Masao-San and Mitsuko-San picked us up at the train station.  Masao-San is Kiyoshi-San's older brother.  Masao-San and Mitsuko-San are Tomoko-San's parents.  They have two other daughters, Hiroko-San and Junko-San which we would meet later at their house.  Kiyoshi-San had warned us that Masao-San didn't speak any English (and wouldn't even try), but he surprised us and did know a little and attempted to communicate in English when he could.  Mitsuko-San also spoke a little English, and with Emily doing the translating when they didn't know the words, we were able to understand one another.  They were so warm and friendly, and excited to show us everything they could.  It was as though we had been separated for years and finally reunited, instead of meeting for the first time (well, Emily had spent time with them previously--but you get what I mean).  

Our first stop was at the Fujiya Hotel, where we took a hotel tour and had tea.  Fujiya hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Japan, built in 1878, and has had many famous visitors from around the world, including (but not limited to): Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, John Lennon, Prince Albert (later George VI) of the UK, the Swedish Crown Prince, the Emperor Showa, and the current Emperor and Empress.

It was very impressive, and there is a whole section just devoted to all the famous people who had visited.  A small museum in the hotel.  I didn't take any pictures on our tour, and I didn't ask.  It just didn't feel right.

Hanging our wishes on the bamboo tree for Tanabata, the Japanese star festival. This holiday celebrates the legend of Vega and Altair, two stars who are madly in love but separated by the vast Milky Way. Legend has it that these two lovers are only given one day throughout the year to be together, that day being the Tanabata,or "evening of the seventh." Consequently, Tanabata is celebrated on July 7th--the seventh day of the seventh month (some regions August 7th due to the old lunar calendar). We all hung a wish on the tree.

Our tea and anko--a red bean paste sweet

Koi pond in one of the gardens

Such beautiful landscape

Parfaits and Karaoke

 Early in the day we set off to find a parfait shop.  I was absolutely flabbergasted by the wall of parfaits that greeted us when we entered the shop.  We had some yummy parfaits.  I had cookies and cream cheese parfait--it was delicious.

 This is just a sample of the menu.  If you look towards the bottom, you see some of the more "unique" choices of parfaits.  Fried chicken parfait just sounds oh-so-yummy.  (Eeek!)

 I know they probably have these somewhere here in the states, but I have never seen it before, so I am including it in this post.  The clear button is to summon your waiter/waitress when you are ready.  Quite handy.  In Japan, you don't tip at restaurants, which was a hard thing for me not to do.  I always felt guilty leaving without tipping.  Emily told me they will chase you down and return your money to you if you try to tip.
 

We spent some time in the arcade playing games.  We played air hockey twice, and I won both times.  Unfortunately, each time I took a picture, one of our scores didn't show up, so you can't tell that I beat her (other than the look on her face).  She got a huge kick out of the fact that it happened.  In the background is a purikura booth.

We spent quite a bit of money trying to get one of the Sailor Moon dolls out of the claw.  There were a couple kids hovering around us, waiting for us to leave so they could get reap on what we started.  We never did get the doll, and I am sure they swooped right in and got it when we left.

Emily really wanted to show me Japanese karaoke, which is so different than American karaoke.  We arrived half an hour before free time, where you can sing as long as you want for a flat rate.  Normally you pay by the hour (or half hour).  Since they were pretty slow, the guy was nice to us and let us have the free time rate early.  We were there for four hours!  We would have stayed longer, but the tablet which we picked our songs from died for the third time and we decided to call it quits at that point.

We were given a room to ourselves.  Part of the deal we got is that we had to order one food item each.  I got the chocolate covered sticks, and Emily chose fries.  We munched those down pretty quickly and decided to try something a little more adventurous.  There is a phone on the wall in which we ordered our next item--takoyaki--which is fried octopus in a fried batter ball.  It was actually very yummy.

We were also given free run of the soda machine.  They had some fun flavors, so I tried a bunch of different types.  After singing for so long, a liquid is definitely needed!

We sang everything from Disney, Les Miserables, Roxette, Nickleback, Bon Jovi, to even some Japanese (that would be Emily), and everything in between.  It was a blast.  The speakers are set really loud in the tiny room, so my first thought was oh no, but they had a fun reverb to them which helped disguise the fact that I was completely off-key.  I can totally see why Emily and her friends spent so much time at karaoke.

Purikura

In Japan there is a sticker photobooth thing that is really popular with the teens and young adults.  It is called purikura, and they take it very seriously.  They even have vanity stations where you can get yourself all dolled up, and it isn't just the girls who do.  The guys get just as into it.  Emily and I had fun with purikura and did not bother to make ourselves "pretty," but it was a hoot to watch the teens preen.  I think they were aghast at how silly we were and that we really didn't care how we looked (either that or they were just staring at the Americans in their midst).

After you take the pictures, you go to another section where you can decorate your photos with all sorts of fun enhancements.  On busy days you have to be quick because it is all timed, but luckily, we had plenty of time.  The photos themselves are all on one sheet that is just slightly longer than my hand, so it is all pretty small.  

We did purikura with our cousins that first day:

 We also had some fun with it in Tokyo:

The rest were done our last day in Kyoto:

Goo Shrine

As we were walking the city, we happened upon the Goo Shrine.  It was really impressive for being a small shrine.  I really enjoyed the smaller shrines.  Partly because they weren't as crowded, and consequently, they seemed more reverent.  There was a smaller shrine which we had come upon in which no one was around.  We looked around and we were standing at the base of some steps looking up when a middle-aged Japanese man approached us.  He could speak a little English and invited us up onto the shrine to look under the eaves.  We slipped off our shoes and put on the slippers provided.  Inside was a magnificent carving of a couple of dragons circling the ceiling.  It was beautiful, and we were so thankful that he took the time to show us.  We stayed until a large group of school kids entered the shrine.

 The Goo Shrine was bigger than that shrine with the dragon ceiling (I wish I had gotten the name of it), but it was still a smaller shrine compared to many we had visited.

 Here are some pictures from another smaller shrine and some stuff as we went in search of a good parfait shop!

 A wedding dress shop, from traditional to western.

Hello Kitty toilet paper

These images of "currency" were hung along the fence just like the other pictures.  These were along the fence outside the Goo Shrine.