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Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)

a travel blog by SarahRunningStar

An experiment in culture shock!

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Landing at Narita!

Chiba, Japan

Landed safely after a LONG day(?) of traveling. I was of course super excited to see Yukiko and to be in Japan! I had built up my energy getting off of the plane in expectation of seeing her... two hours later we finally got to have that moment. Haha, she had thought the +1 next to my flight time was +1 hour, not +1 day (in relation to travel times). After the excitement of meeting cooled down we bought our train tickets and caught the train heading towards Tokyo (another couple of hours traveling). :-P The train was crowded off and on but nothing like I was worried about. There really are as many vending machines as I expected here! LOL

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 28, 2011 from Chiba, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Home #1

Zushi, Japan

Oka san picked us up at the train station and once Oto san joined us we went to dinner, at what Yukiko pointed out was a 'very Japanese' looking restaurant. Haha, Oka san ordered so many small dishes before we even got our soba that we were too full to eat the noodles! After dinner we went home and I met Yukiko's grandparents and the six dogs! And then promptly passed out for the night. Kudos to me for actually switching time zones perfectly! LOL

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 28, 2011 from Zushi, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Zushi!

Zushi, Japan

This morning was a bit of a surprise... we had breakfast at Denny's! It FAR exceeded my expectations. I had a breakfast of sake, rice, nori, and sticky beans. The sake was really good, the sticky beans... not so much. Ate one bite and gave up. It was kind of gross. Haha, good thing Oka san and Yukiko also don't like it so I didn't feel as bad. The restaurant was on the water (beautiful!) and in the distance (through the smog) was the outline of Mt Fuji!!! I can't believe I saw it on my first real day in Japan. :-D

We spent a good amount of the day driving around town. We passed by the Emperor's summer home (police officer guarding the front looking VERY bored) and went to the local temple.

Tomorrow we head out to Takayama!

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 29, 2011 from Zushi, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Yokohama

Yokohama, Japan

I packed very light with the idea that I could get a couple of items here (but aware how expensive things were in Japan, at least I thought I was aware) so we decided to go to Yokohama to do some shopping, exploring, and meet up with Oka san's best friend who lives in town. Yukiko and I took some time to explore a fundraising festival in town (fundraising for the Northern area) and we got to try a bunch of samples. Afterwards we realized that since the food was from the North we probably shouldn't have eaten it... we've been as picky as possible when it comes to getting food from the North.

We had lunch at a little Italian place in the city near the festival. My new favorite thing at restaurants? Hot towels at the table for you to wash your face and hands! Sooo nice. Oka san's best friend met us there for lunch and then we went to the mall.

Yukiko and I immediately found nearest bubble tea shack which was decent enough. Had some flavors I hadn't tried but, like everything else, was expensive.

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 29, 2011 from Yokohama, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

Took the bus to catch the train to Tokyo... so we could catch another bus. While waiting for the bus we wandered around looking for one of Yukiko's old lunch spots. She actually used to work at the bus station we got our tickets at so she was feeling a bit nostalgic. Again, a LOT fewer people than I expected! Thank goodness.

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 30, 2011 from Tokyo, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Home #2

Takayama, Japan

We arrived at Takayama which will be home #2 (and my favorite one so far)! Oka san had been telling us not to expect much since the House was old, etc... When we pulled up I immediately noticed the yard! Wonderful stone and landscaping and the House looked huge! Awesome 'Japanese' looking home... and inside was even better! Gorgeous stone entry (with the typical place to take off your shoes), beautiful wood accents everywhere, and tons of sliding paper walls! LOL, Yukiko and I were both very excited (which made me feel less like a stereotyping tourist for liking the House). Tomorrow Oka san is having some ladies come clean before we get to explore the upstairs as well. :-)

As I was falling asleep on the floor, very much ready to go to bed, Yukiko walks in and asks if I am interested in the hot springs. Of course I said yes! I just didn't realize at first that she meant going that night! It's so cool living in a town where the hot springs are less than a mile away. I'm used to traveling a distance to get to them! This was my first time bathing in front of lots of people here but the experience was great. The pools outside were beautiful and the water clean. My favorite part? Dumping cold water over my head in between pools. I really do prefer to be cold! ^^

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 30, 2011 from Takayama, Japan
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The Ultimate Massage Chair

Takayama, Japan

Today was a day of rest. We ran errands to get the House ready to live in including buying internet so I can continue to telecommute. Bonus for the day was a hidden Surprise. We were told the internet hardware would take an hour to be ready so we started to wander around the store to kill time. I never would have guessed that we would find THE ULTIMATE MASSAGE CHAIRS! They were truly full body massage chairs with a remote that had more buttons than I could keep up with. Since I couldn't read the buttons anyway Yukiko choose the settings for me. Feet, legs, arms, you name it and it got massaged. I totally zoned out with her in the chair next to me. Before we knew it Oka san was telling us it was time to go! I was barely able to peel myself out of the chair... maybe we will go back to do more 'shopping' at that store later.

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on October 31, 2011 from Takayama, Japan
from the travel blog: Heading to the East (but didn't I go West?)
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Shirakawa-go

Ogimachi, Japan

I was sooo confused about this side trip because everytime Oka san or Yukiko said Shirakawa-go it sounded like Chicago but that doesn't matter because it was awesome! Shirakawa-go is a World Heritage site (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5951.html) and it is beautiful. We walked around with the dogs exploring the town. (Insert cool pictures later) :-)

permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on November 2, 2011 from Ogimachi, Japan
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Takayama, Japan



permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on November 3, 2011 from Takayama, Japan
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Kyoto, Japan



permalink written by  SarahRunningStar on November 10, 2011 from Kyoto, Japan
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