Japan

Our last day in Japan.....
It's sunny and we're taking a leisurely morning. We had one more errand to run and we checked out the situation with the train to the airport. We have one more day on our JR rail pass so we're using it to get to the airport. I'm having mixed feelings about returning. I've had a great vacation full of memorable moments and experiences that I'll never forget. I've learned about Japan and japanese culture, but I feel that I've only scratched the surface. One thing that I'm not looking forward to is the trip home. Off to the airport!

Letzter Tag bevor unser Flug um 18.55Uhr startet. Durch Oaska schlendern und die lettzten Yen unter die Leute bringen und die Zugfahrt zum Flughafen vorbereiten. Unser Zugpass ist gueltig bis heute,hat uns super durchs Land gebracht. Zurueck in Land der grossen Autos und der fetten Menschen.

3Stunden von Tokyo nach Osaka mit dem ICE der hier"Shinkansen" heist.Heute habe ich den Fuji gesehen. 3754m hoch. Wir haben ein paar Bilder von der Landschaft, aus dem Zug gemacht. Wir sind wieder in unserem "Ankomm-Hotel-Raddison" abgestiegen. Bester Kompfor. Sind dann ins Osaka Aquarium gefahren. Riesig , mit Haien,Robben,Delphienen,otters,Pinguienen,Riesenkrabben und ohne Ende anderen Fich und Getier.Leckeres Abendbrot, genau vor deiner Nase fuer dich gekocht,und ne Sake im 56.Stock unseres Hotel mit guter Sicht endete dann unseren Urlaub.

Another shinkansen trip back to Osaka from Tokyo. Once again we had overcast skies and the view of Mt. Fuji was obscured. Bernd shot a series of photos from the train as he was waiting for it to appear from behind the clouds. By the time we reached the Kansai region the sun had come out. We checked back into our hotel in Osaka (where we stayed on our first night). Our room was huge compared to the others over the past 12 days. We headed out to the Osaka Aquarium as our final tourist stop. It was a beautiful aquarium. The whale shark, giant king crabs and playful otters were the highlights for me. Tonight for dinner we had Yakisoba and these pancake type things that were prepared on a flat grill right in front of us. The meal was fantastic and a perfect way to end our Japanese food experience.

Regen Tag. Wir machen un auf den Weg zur Berlin/Tokyo Ausstellung im Mori Art Museum. Guter Tip von unsere Freundin Fie aus Daenemark. Die Ausstellung war auf der 52.Etage im Mori Turm. Leider hatten wir keine Aussicht wegen der tiefen Wolken. Doch die Ausstellung war ein Kracher. Danach haben wir uns auf den Weg ins Biermueum gemacht. "Ebisu"-herb und krisp,schmeckt gut. Die haben auch gleich nen schoenen Gastsaal,danach sahen wir die welt mit anderen Augen. Haben uns doch danach auf den Weg in eine Japanische Badeanstalt gemacht. Spa LaAqua. Endspannung pur,sauna,salz baeder,Restaurants Massagen,manikueren, alles da. Alles war eigendlich in einem riesigen Familien Spass Park. Manchmal sind die Japies unglaublich und die lieben Riesenraeder. Morgen gehts zurueck nach Oaka.

Today it is drizzling and cloudy. We started the day at the Roponggi Hills complex. Fie, my UCLA friend from Denmark, gave me a great tip that there was a Berlin/Tokyo exhibit at the Mori Art Museum. We wanted to go to Roponggi anyway, so we decided to check it out. The exhibit was brilliant. The art museum is on the 52nd floor of the Mori tower, but because of the rain we couldn't see anything from the observation deck. From there we headed to Ebisu and the Ebisu Beer Museum. Unfortunatley the museum was mostly in Japanese, but it was free and they had a tasting room. We sampled a few brews and had some lunch. We decided to wrap up the day by checking out an Onsen, Japanese natural spring bath. It was rainy, cold, and we were on vacatiton so a visit to Spa LaAcqua seemed to be the right choice. The onsen spa had that now familar Tokyo theme park quality, but it was great. It was a mega complex with tons of different saunas, baths, etc. Then they had one floor of cafes, shops, and relaxation rooms. You got these funny PJ's when you checked that you wore on thata floor because it was mixed company. After two hours we were prunes and headed home. Tomorrow we head back to Osaka....

Zweiter Tag in Tokio. Berufsverkehr mit der U-Bahn um 9.30Uhr. Geht hier wirklich sehr gesittet zu. Striche auf dem Boden der Station verhindern grosses Durcheinander. Alle stellen sich schoen an und fuer die aussteigenden ist genug Platz. Besser als Deutsche Ordnung. Strassen und alles sehr sauber in Japan. Ansonsten ,in der U-Bahn schlafen die Japaner oder schreiben SMS(auch wenn sie laufen,essen einfach ueberall).Keiner Quatscht in der Bahn,schoen ruhig.
Tokyo National Museum gab uns einen schnellen Eindruck ueber mehrere Jahrtausend japanischer Kunst. Wir machten uns dann auf den Weg ins Bonsai Museum. Ich hatte mich sehr drauf gefreut,doch war die Kuchenbude geschlossen. "Bonsai's need a rest" Seid wann muessen sich Baeume ausruhen? Dann ging auf den Kudamm Tokios. Die Strase war voll mit Menschen,jeder Designer hattte seinen Laden dort,neuste Architektur-abgefahren. Auch die Leute in dem Teil der Stadt alle jung und total gesteilt. Haben dort auch ein paar Andenken fuer uns gekauft. Dann gabs Sushi am Band. Restaurant,alle sitzen um den Tresen, im grosen nicht wirklichen Kreis.und vor uns lauft ein Band in Augenhoehe mit leckerem Sushi. Du ist was du willst und siehst es vorher. Sehr beeindruckend und guenstig. Bis morgen

Tokyo Day 2 began with a subway adventure at rush hour. Controlled choas is the best description for Tokyo. The subway is a perfect example. There are neat lines and arrows on the platform that everyone lines up behind. The train pulls up directly in front of the lines and people outside of the train wait for those inside to exit (following their own set of arrows on the platform) before entering the train. Everyone moves into the train and you're armpit to armpit with people. The majority of the people are either sleeping (both standing and sitting) or typing away on their cell phone keypads. Rarely are people talking.

Anyway, we went to the Tokyo National Museum for a quick tour through several centuries of Japanese art. We then took another train to the Bonsai museum. Unfortunately, we discovered that the museum had been closed since November because the Bonsai "needed a rest". Bernd was upset. We then went to the Harajuku neighborhood famous for its shopping, architecture, and people. We walked the entire afternoon and saw some amazing buildings. Basically every designer you've ever heard of has a store in Harajuku. THe streets were packed with people - more people on the streets, than in the stores. We stopped at the Oriental Bazzar and picked up a handful of items that we've been waiting to buy all trip. It was a great urban experience to pound the pavement and a great afternoon. We wrapped up the day at a conveyor belt sushi joint. Bernd was adventurous and the meal was good and cheap. More tomorrow....

Guten Morgen! Auf zum Tokio Fischmarkt. Tausende von Leuten mit Handwaagen,E-Karren meist auch mit Dieselmotor,Fahrraedern und Fisch. Lebend,tot,gefroren,gross,klein,bunt,noch nie gesehen. Es war ein Schauspiel wie noch nie gesehen. Allerdings wuerde die Hygeneinspetion total durchdrehen. Wir hattten riesen Spass.
Was kommt nach Fischmarkt? Toyota Town(Stadt). Mit einer fuehrerlosen Elektrobahn ueber Tokio hinweg auf eine Insel. Hier wird ich nur amuesiert in neuster Technik und bizarrer modernster Architektur. Toyota hat hier eine Austellung,nett zu sehen. Kein MB am Salzufer aber einige gute Similatoren die ich testete. Auf dem Rueckweg stopten wir am Sony Center und haben uns die neuste Elektronik angeschaut (8Etagen Ausstellung). Abendbrot essen gabs heute mal aus dem Automaten. Das war ein Nudelrestaurant und du mustest vorher Esenmarken am Automaten kaufen,die dem Koch geben und dann bekamst du dein Essen. War lecker. Aber mal wieder alles auf Japanesisch geschrieben.

This morning we got up early and headed out to the Tsukji fish market - the world's largest! Over $30 million worth of fish and seafood go through this market each day. We arrived at 8:30am which was basically the end of the day for the market (it starts at 3am). It was still pretty busy and there were plenty of fish. I was amazed. The quantity and diversity of seafood was incredible. Many things were still alive and twitching - either in water or on ice. There were many people doing their business and we had to be careful that we weren't mowed down by electric carts and bikes balancing their cargo. After that experience we took a monorail out to Odaiba island in Tokyo bay and visited Toyota town. The island is man-made and supposed to be a residential and office complex. The market apparently didn't bite and instead there are a few skyscrappers and some typical examples of Tokyo's bizzare entertainment complexes. Toyota town was OK. We took a mini-electric car ride and a Formula 1 racing car simulator ride. Overall it was a huge contrast to the organic experience from the morning. Later on we wandered through the Ginza district and stopped in to see the latest gadgets at the Sony building. The highlight of the day was ordering our dinner from a vending machine. We spotted this noodle shop on the corner near our hotel and decided to try it for dinner. We walked in and sat at the counter, but the server pointed us to the vending machine. Confused we went over and saw that all of our choices were in Japanese. Luckily the guy came over and after I pointed to various words for tofu and chicken in the dictionary we made our choice. It was totally yummy - udon with chicken, scallion, and mushrooms.