We're halfway there, whoa living on a prayer

Our trip is now half way over and the family keeps on coming...

Japan is GREAT; the people, the systems, everything except the price is fabulous. We met Katie at the airport and had no prblems taking the train right to our hotel. Katie had booked a nice hotel for our 1st night in Japan and we all enjoyed tea and biscotti (Thanks BAM) in our robes while discussing what we wanted to see in Tokyo and finding a place for dinner.

Our first dinner was a short walk from our hotel in a "noodle" restaurant. Nate and Katie tried sake and we learned A) There is a difference in good and bad sake B) Even good sake is bad.
We went to bed early so we could get to the Tsukiji (Fish) Market. It was unbelievable the massive amount (size and number) of fish we saw. The place was hopping with push carts, motorized carts, shoppers and tourists. We also saw the Imperial Palace Gardens; played at the Sony Bldg (Nate got to play Playstation 3 before it was released to the public!); ate at Mitsukosui (a dept. store) where food is art and everything is delicious. It is worth visiting for the free samples on the basement levels!

In the afternoon, we took the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto (525 km in 2.5 hrs). We arrived in their modern train station that has a theatre, wonderful restaurants, rooftop garden and everything else you would think a train station would have. Another short walk to the hostel (Tour Club) and we discovered what real Japanese accomadations look like. Our room had enough space for 3 single mats on the floor and the bathroom was about 4X4. We were exhausted so we walked to Lawsons (a mini mart) to purchase noodles for dinner. This is also when we discovered tasty cocktails in the flavors of apple, lemon, grapefruit & grape.

The following day our #1 mission was to find Geisha. We were walking around Gion for about 10 minutes when we saw a crowd and knew we had stumpled upon them. The crowd was very silent execpt for the click, click of cameras. We saw two younger Geisha with viberant Komomos, white skin, adorable sandles and ornate hair decorations. Later the same day we saw two older Geisha crossing the street and at night we saw a few going to work. They are so delicant and fun to watch.

Kyoto is known for temples, gardens and Japanese history, since it was one of a few places not destroyed in WWII. We visited the Nijo Castle, Ryoan-ji Temple (Famous for its Zen Garden), Nanzen-ji Temple, Eikan-do Temple and a Shrine. All very different and beautiful in there own way. The weather in Kyoto was wonderful with sun and temps in the 70's. We could have spent much more than the two days seeing more of Kyoto and the surrounding cities. Katie spent an overnight at a Buddest Temple called Rengoin about two hours from Kyoto.

From Kyoto we went to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, it rained and we could not see anything. We did get to experience a natural bath house. Interesting but glad to not have to use it everyday.

Back in Tokyo for our last day and a half. We went window shopping, to Senso-ji temple, out for a nice lunch before we left from the airport. Nate and Kristy on to Bangkok and Katie to Denver.

Japan has been wonderful! It is the top country that we have visited for friendly people and effecient systems. Many people have come up to us when we are looking at a map and ask if they may help, an older man gave us his photos of Geisha because he "gets to see them all the time", a women walked four blocks in the rain out of her way yesterday to show us where our hostel was and the list goes on and on! Systems rule here. There is a proper way to exit the metro, walk on the street (if you do not have the green man no one walks even if there are no cars coming.), throw out trash (different containers for everything), board a train (arrows show which way the line should form). Brilliant!!!! The people are so curious and pleasant! Japan receives two thumbs up from Kristy, Katie and Nate!