Easter 2016

  We had a pretty low key Easter.  The Easter bunny came by and dropped off baskets full of yummy chocolates, and Daryl and I hid some eggs for the kids.  Luke didn't really get into the egg hunt, but the girls were excited.  They were all happy.  We had a nice dinner and tried our best to put everyone to bed early.  

Luke enjoying some M&M's.

Luke hunting eggs with Daryl and his dinosaur blanket.  

Harper busy hunting eggs.

Avery and Harper were pretty good about leaving eggs for Emery to get.

Avery enjoying her chocolate carrot.

Emery hunting eggs with pigtails.

Emery and Harper counting eggs to make sure we found everything.

Avery with her Easter basket.

Emery and Daryl watching Chip and Dale cartoons.  Daryl might have been sleeping.

Heading Home

  Today was our last day in Tokyo.  We decided to have breakfast at a Ramen place that Suzuki san's husband told us about.  You order your ramen first at a vending machine that gives you a ticket then you go sit in these little individual booths and hand the waitress your ticket.  You don't even see the waitress's face.  In our case we did because she was confused when we didn't understand her.  It was great stuff though.  

  We didn't really have time to do much before we needed to get to the airport which is about two hours away from Tokyo.  Daryl is ready to be home after almost two weeks away.  Everyone was really nice in Japan.  Despite not speaking the language we got around just fine with the help of Google Maps and Japan's massive train and subway system.  We stayed in the Shinjuku area, and the station there was massive.  It was crazy, and the station was intertwined with several department stores.  Tokyo was also very crowded as you can guess, so it will be nice to be back home where it is much less crowded.  It was a great trip, and it was so nice to see my Temple Square sisters!

This was the ramen place.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera's flash.  In the left hand corner the spigot is a water tap.  There was a little button up top to call your waitress.

Here's the delicious ramen.

The taller building in the back is called the Cocoon.  Since it was very distinctive and near our hotel we often looked for it when a little lost.  As long as we headed for the Cocoon we were good.

They love vending machines in Japan.  We once saw eight vending machines in a row, and then more around the corner.  There were vending machines on practically every block.  I've never seen so many in my life.

We got McDonald's at the airport.  This is the Mega Big Mac.

This is the teriyaki burger.

We were always getting so many coins.  I was thankful I carry a coin purse. They don't have one dollar and five dollar bills just coins.  We had to try really hard to spend all our coins.  

Nikko

  Daryl and I wanted to get outside of Tokyo at least once, so we decided that we head up two hours north to Nikko where there is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Toshogu shrine.  Actually there are a lot of shrines and gates from the 17th century to honor the founding shogun.  His tomb is in there too.  There's just a lot of beautiful architecture and artwork.  There were also a lot of stairs, but it was well worth the trip.  It was nice to get out of Tokyo one day and see more of Japan. I also got to ride the bullet train on the way back to Tokyo.

Some of the stairs at Toshogu.

Daryl and I on the train.

We saw grass and trees on the ride out!

This is the front entrance to Toshogu.

I could have taken so many more pictures than I did.

Gate at the top of the stairs.

The monkeys here are very famous.  It is hear no evil, say no evil, and see no evil.

Besides the monkeys, the sleeping cat is also very famous.  She is sleeping above a gate and wards off evil.

On Our Own

   Daryl had already visited the Sky Tree with his class, but we decided to go back because he hadn't gone all the way to the top.  It is a massive tower.  Usually you have to wait at least 45 minutes to get up to the top, but they had a special line for international visitors.  We went right up to the main observation deck.  From there we purchased additional tickets the last bit up.  That elevator is a glass one, so you can watch the world go by as you go up.  Going up there really gives you a good idea about just how big the city is.  It is massive.  The skyscrapers just keep on going forever it seem.  They also had window washers out when we were up, but I wondered if they made sure that happened for the visitors benefit.

  After the Sky Tree we went down to the fish market.  On our way there we stopped by a Buddhist temple that happened to have some monks singing and playing instruments.  We weren't sure if it was a performance or a service.  It was beautiful though, and I was glad we stopped in.  It was afternoon by the time we got to the fish marker, so we were lucky that we found one last sushi place open.  We snuck in right before they closed had the freshest sushi we've ever I had think.  The last thing we did that day was visit a cat cafe, which seemed very popular with international travelers.  Unfortunately the cats would only really pay attention to you if you bought some treats for them.  I think they were to used to treats to act more normally around you, but the were a lot of cats there.  At least fifteen. 

Sky Tree from the bottom.

I have no idea what the golden bean thing is.

Look it's green stuff.

This is the view of our hotel in the cluster of buildings in the back of the picture.

The window washers.

Yeah that's not on my bucket list.

The little cartoon girl in the background tells you that we are at the highest point you can get to on the Sky Tree.

Here's the glass bottom you can stand on.

The Buddhist temple by the fish market where we heard some music.

A little shrine that was on the way to the fish market where they would pray for safe travels.

This is where we got sushi at.  

The cat cafe.

A Little Temple Square Reunion

   I cannot thank Aya enough for arranging a little reunion with my companion Sister Suzuki and Sister Okamura.  I was so pleased to see everyone.  Who would have thought I would end up going to Japan twelve years after seeing them.  I was able to meet Sister Suzuki's husband Yo and their sweet baby girl Lina (I have most likely spelled her name wrong).  They showed us around the city a bit and we had lunch together.  Sister Suzuki and her family left after that since a six month old baby isn't quite up to a day of sight seeing.

  Aya and Okamura san took Daryl and I out to Kamakura.  There we saw a shrine where they happened to be performing a wedding that day, so we got to see a very traditional Japanese wedding take place.  Then we saw a giant Buddha at the Kotokuin Temple.  It was a great day trip out of the city and we are so grateful to Aya and Okamura san taking us around.  We are so fortunate to have such thoughtful friends.

Hikari and Lina

Okamura, Suzuki, Layman, and Marunaka

Suzuki and Layman again

Daryl trying to learn how to bring good luck just like the cat.

Me hanging out a guarding statue.

This is the red gate at the front of the shrine where we saw the wedding.

This one cherry blossom tree was already blooming and as you can see it was quite popular.

The shrine from the beginning of the walk.  As you walk up you are supposed to purify your soul.

Washing your hands and mouth out with water completes the spiritual purification, but I think I botched it.

Aya tried to help salvage my soul.  

This is the wedding we saw taking place.

A picture of the shrine up close.

Daryl and I

Layman, Marunaka, and Okamura

I often take pictures of the signs of where I have been to help me remember the names.

Here's the big Buddha.  It was about 44 feet tall with the base and constructed in the 13th century.

Marunaka, Layman, and Okamura with big Buddha

Okamura and myself