Better Now: Japan, so much more than we expected

View from our hotel room

What a delightful place! It is so clean you could eat off the street--literally. We're starting with the bathrooms, perhaps an odd way to start but so amazing. The bathrooms in the subway are immaculate. Can you imagine using a bathroom on the Chicago El? I have used one at Union Station and it was clean but not like these. You can use any bathroom anywhere and you'll have paper and the room will be clean and bright and I'm talking even the corners--no build up of crude.

Call for help, paper, Amazing!

The bathroom in our hotel room has a heated seat (how we will miss that in the middle of the night in Indiana) and two types of bidet spray.

We love technology!!

This has got to be the bathroom you'll find in heaven. Of course in heaven you may not have to worry about bodily functions but that's another story. You can drink the water, the beds are comfortable the WiFi works, etc.

Welcome to Tokyo! We've been here for four days now and Tokyo is pretty overwhelming. The population is around 13 million but swells to 39 million with the arrival of those who work here. Most stores don't open until 10:00 AM and trains and subways shut down at midnight so you'd better be home by then or find a place to stay in town.

Mt. Fuji

Our first adventure was Sunday when we had a scheduled tour of Mt. Fuji and the bullet train. We actually got a glimpse of the famous mountain but once close up, she wrapped up in her clouds and refused to come out, very rude and the only rudeness we've encountered.

She is a beauty

Want a snowball fight?

Taking the bullet train back our guide left us in Tokyo station and told us how to get to the Metro Subway station and the station we needed to exit at.

Bullet Train

Up the stairs, easy...

We got up out of the train station and were completely baffled about how to find the Metro. We asked a couple for directions. Not many people here speak English and they didn't except for a few words. They knew what we wanted and turned around and took us there! It was in the complete opposite direction of where they were going, totally out of their way. They could have pretended not to understand instead they showed us exactly where we needed to go.

Very organized subway system

We got off the subway and exited but once on the street had no clue where to go next. We found a large street map and figured out the general direction to go. We found a restaurant, Anchor Point a beer brewery and restaurant which we had seen the night before. Once there I knew where we were. We went in and had a beer and a glass of wine. Someone, (won't say who) was complaining about the cost, were we really going to spend $7.00 for a beer and $9.00 for a glass of wine? The total bill was $43.00 for two glasses of wine, a beer, and a charcuterie plate. This ain't Cambodia! This is New York! However, everything was delicious and the manager or owner came over to talk to us. Takashi Nagaki is wonderful and we'll go back one more time before we leave, even if it's only for a drink. He was really fun to talk too. He had also been to Angkor Wat several times and had never been able to see the sunrise.

Our next adventure took us to a lunch which included a Sumo demonstration. Loved it! Two retired wrestlers (both in their 30's) explained the sport to us through a translator.

Tea, really.

There were about 36 people in attendance. The Sumo did a warm-up demo and a 3 bout match.

Grrr

Not much left to the imagination

Then they opened it up to the audience for challenges. Even with all my cajoling and sweet talk, I couldn't get Cindy to enter the ring. I sincerely thought she'd enjoy, as well as offer some good American competition. (CM says--actually this was the reverse. Can you believe he didn't go for it?) The smaller wrestler weighed about 275 pounds and the larger around 350 pounds. I agreed to forego the challenge so that I could film her cuz that's just the selfless kind of guy I am.

so much fun

Feeling petite

Some of the group did challenge them, including two young girls. It was hilarious. These guys had great senses of humor and were so good-natured. The demonstration was followed by a traditional Japanese Chanko meal which the Sumo traditionally eat.