Day 10 - Adventure through Japan "Nikko"

Part I - Travel:  We get up early with the plan set to just check out of the Sunroute hotel in Odaiba and head to Nikko as early as possible.  By this time I had come to the realization I was sick and there was no way we could do half of the activities I originally had planned in Nikko.  With the activites for the day drastically reduced from 3 temples and some Nature hiking (I really wanted to see the Kegon Waterfall) cut down to just one major temple, we set off to meet to meet everyone in the lobby and depart.  With some of us late, we end up leaving a little later then planned and finally depart at 8:15 with just the one needed bag for our overnight stay.  The rest of the luggage would be left at the hotel so we wouldn't be dragging it all around Nikko just for just one night there.  More on this decision to follow in Day 11.

Train train train! Got to northern Tokyo, transferred to the Shinkansen. Got off Shinkansen, transferred to the JR line going to Nikko. There was confusion on how to buy the tickets and what train we were supposed to get on exactly.  Up to this point we had just been taking Shinkansen by using our JR passes, so it was a bit of a confusing mess that I had no patience for with a cold.  Finally we got to the Nikko station at about 11:00.  It was a much longer commute then I had mapped out, for reasons I have yet to figure out.  Most estimates I saw/see online say Nikko is about 1 hour North of Tokyo, so even coming from Odaiba I cannot figure out how it took 3 hours total.

Part II - Getting lost:  Already frustrated by the transfers and length of time the initial travel took, we arrive at Nikko Station only to be completely lost.  Information and maps were not readily available online for Nikko, so I was working off of the two tourist maps I was able to locate, which were little to no help.  After discussing our route with both the workers at the station and police inside a nearby koban, we decide to hop on a bus heading in the generally correct direction.

While waiting for the bus to arrive (which was a good 30 minutes), we take in some scenery around us.  Luckily it wasn't nearly as cold as we had been preparing for and there was no longer a thick coat of snow on the ground.  Instead we were greeted by 40-45F weather and partly cloudy skies.  It was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise bad day so far. Once finally on the bus we learned, unfortunately, it would not take us to our destination.  After another discussion with someone who was taking the bus who spoke English, it turns out the bus had the final destination in the opposite direction of where we needed to be, so we needed to get off.  It was a good mile from our Ryokan, but we got off at the next stop and began the walk, which was mainly uphill.  At this point I was so glad we only had one bag each, but was also exhuasted and not feeling good, so I don't remember much other then being frustrated by the day so far.

Part III - Ryokan: Somehow we managed to locate the Ryokan, which was off of a side street.  I was nervous as when we first arrived, there was a building on our right that had the name "Nikko Green Hotel" on it and was nothing more then someones house, or so it looked.  After knocking and waiting a few minutes, I decided to take a walk around and actually discover that there is a hotel-sized building across the street from the place we were waiting at.  Once inside, we learn it is "only" 1pm (far cry from the 11am-noon I was planning on originally) and check-in was not until 3pm.  We leave our bags however and head off to see what would end up being the only site of the day.

Part IV - Toshugu Shrine:  Other then Kegon Waterfall, which I had realized would not be possible, this was where I really wanted to go in Nikko.  This Shrine houses the 3 National Treasure carvings, including the original "hear/see/speak no evil" monkies, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb.

We stop at a noodle shop quickly for some lunch, off of the main street we had to take to get to all of the Shrines.  It was pretty good food, but very confusing for again, the lack of English.  Kind of salty too, instead of flavorful, but I didn't feel much like eating so it might have had something to do with it.   The walk to Toshogu ended up being pretty long, but we also stopped a few time to take in the very nice scenery.  Along the way we stopped at Taisha shrine, which was a little moss-covered stone tori (gate) and shrine/alter.  It was a very peaceful area.  Some time around 3pm we finally arrive at Toshugu Shrine, I was afraid we were lost by this point because the length of the walk.

We buy our tickets and get inside.  I was finally happy after getting here, as right near the entrance they had the monkey carvings.  It was so cool to see the "original" hear/say/see no evil carvings and what they were originally a part of.  Got a lot of pictures here.  The informational boards were actually in English too, so it was very cool.  I finally felt we accomplished something for the day.

After reading through the map/brochure for the place, we continue further inside.  They pretty much had the walkway set up like a tour, so you couldn't really miss anything.  The remaining carvings and tomb were really awesome to see, on top of that there were cute little stone turtles on the side of the pathways.  The walk up to the Tomb was very taxing, but worth it just to feel the atmosphere of the place, it was unlike any other site we visited in Japan, very heavy air about it.  We stay up here for awhile and get some very cool pictures.  The trees and landscape surrounding the area were gorgeous.

Inside the Shrine itself, they were doing restoration, however it was still open.  The walkway was covered in informational boards regarding the process, what had been done and what was still being done.  This was also very unique as the only site we saw that was still able to be observed during the restoration period.

Part V - Walk back and Dinner:  I was still feeling pretty bad from the cold and was very exhausted after the hike to the tomb, so come 4:30pm or so when we were nearing the end of the Shrine, it was time to head back to the Ryokan.  Matt split off from the rest of the group and walked back alone, where he snapped a few nice pictures of the area.  Myself and the rest of the group went the way of the main road and stopped at a few local shops to grab a couple of O-Miyage before heading back to the Ryokan where dinner would be ready shortly.

Upon my arrival back in our room, I'm greeted with the great view from our window, which was just next door to Brandon and Donnie's room.  It was a nice view and I was enjoying it until the news came our toilet was broken.  So, to top off how badly my day had gone so far, we were swiftly relocated to a room on the clear opposite side of the building (a good 5 minute walk from this original room) and put in a room with a horrible view of the road and traffic.  It was very displeasing, but with inn keepers that didn't speak English (or at least not well), there wasn't much I could do.  All because of a stupid broken toilet, it didn't make sense to me at all.

Dinner was being served downstairs at 6pm.  It was a full-course Japanese meal and was a very authentic experience.  We struggled with what half of the food was and the proper way to eat it all, but that was half of the fun and the only other part of the day that I actually enjoyed.  After a very full experience of cooking shabu-shabu and eating nearly everything laid out before us, it was time to head back to our respective rooms for a few moments before going down to the Onsen. 

Part VI - Fail:  When we first arrived, we reserved our private spots in the Onsen for 8pm.  This gave me about 15 minutes to go back to our room, change into the yukata and go meet Donnie at her room to go downstairs to the Onsen together.  As far as I knew, that wouldn't be an issue.  However, once I arrive at Donnie's room, there is nobody there.  I wait around for a few minutes and finally figure she went downstairs without me for whatever reason.  However, again, with the lack of English I am guided to the wrong Onsen and end up unable to find anyone.  Completely done with the day I return to our room, take a crappy short shower and turn in for the night.  Later I find out the clock on her room's wall was about 10 minutes fast, so she went down to the Onsen without me so not to be late, little did I know where that even was.  I was guided to only the "public" bath and not the reserved one when I went down to find her, so my day ended with another misunderstanding.

Don't get me wrong though, Nikko was gorgeous.  I would just never recommend it as a day or one night trip.  I would say you need at least three to experience anything they have to offer there.  With myself having a cold and travel times being much higher then expected, my day simply turned out this way instead of what it should have been.

Prices:

• ¥3,500 - Each Shinkansen ticket
• ¥1,600 - Lunch for two.
• ¥3,000 - Toshugu Shrine, full tickets (two).
• ¥3,000 - Misc. O-miyage

Lesson's learned:

• Travel to Nikko from Odaiba is extremely long with a lot of transfers.
• Ryokans are interesting, but I wouldn't really recommend this one, for the crappy room we ended up with compared to the one I booked alone.
• Toshugu Shrine is totally worth the visit and hiking.
• Ryokan dinners are facinating, but not really that delicious (shabu-shabu was good though).
• Ryokans are very noisy at night, lots of drunk people.
• Onsen reservations are confusing when nobody speaks English.
• Don't go to Nikko for any less then a three day period.

Day 9 - Adventure through Japan "Tokyo Disneyland and Roppongi"

Part I - Beginning out:  Just as planned, we begin the day around 7:30 a.m. at the breakfast/cafe place.  The morning was very uneventful.  Unfortunately, it also began with my throat being sore, so I was unsure if it was due to the dry air in the hotel or me getting sick.  Shrugging it off and moving on with the day, I settle for eating just some miso soup for breakfast and pass most of my bread and actual meal off to Matt.  It was another rainy and pretty chilly day, but we were off to Tokyo Disneyland anyway (hadn't stopped us yet), hoping that the crowds would be thin because of the bad weather and it being a Monday morning (non-holiday).  It worked for Himeji, so it should work pretty well here.

Part II - Tokyo Disneyland:  We arrive around 9 a.m., it is just me, Matt and Jason today as Donnie and Brandon split from the group to go see Cirque du Soleil before heading into the park.  There was a short walk over a bridge on the way into the park, not far from the subway station at all, so that was nice.  The bridge was lined with Disney characters down each side, they were about 2 feet tall and very detailed, they looked pretty cool.  We notice the usual Disney fare like themed buses and trains, along with a few stores, even outside the park.  Once we got to the entrance, everything seemed "normal", the lines were no longer then ones we face when going to Busch Garden back home.  5 or 6 people long, with a path 20-30 people wide, so after just a couple of minutes we fork over the money and get inside.  I had never been to a Disney park, I know, a crime, right?  So I had originally planned to come here as a two birds with one stone thing.  I knew it wouldn't be as awesome as Disneyland in California or Disneyworld in Florida, but I still heard good things about Disneyland Japan.  It is the only Disney park not operated by Disney corporation themselves, which was very interesting to me.  The admission price was, of course, a little steep, but again "two birds with one stone". 

Once through the gates, you're greeted with, what I expect from pictures, to be a normal Disney open field with flowers arranged as Mickey, shops and other cool things.  Straight ahead you could see Cinderella's castle, the open marketplace was between you at the entrance and the rest of the park with the castle in the center at this point.  Venturing into the open market, this is where things begin to look a little crowded, but after being in Japan for over a week, crowded was the normal and I had yet to notice just how bad it was going to be.  Being guided by Jason, who lived in Florida and had been to Disneyworld at least a few times, we proceed to try and find rides and attractions to be entertained by.  The first stop was Tomorrowland to try and ride Space Mountain, once inside the first themed portion of the park, we see the first wait line.  Uh, was that a wait line for Buzz Lightyear Shooters?  Because it looked kind of long... shrugging it off and pushing forward we make it to Space Mountain.  Or at least to the end of the 230 minute long line for Space Mountain.  Being educated on Disney and how things work in Florida, Jason expects that we can get a pass to return "later", which is like 2 hours max in the States, to wait in a line no longer the 20 minutes.  However, once we see the sign for even getting the pass, the realization hits us that this is going to suck.  The pass wait time was over an hour and the return time was 9 p.m.!  It was not even 9:30 a.m. at this point and the park had only been open for an hour and a half!  Absolutely insane lines to be waiting in, by this time we start to look around and realize the line to get popcorn from a vending stand must have been over an hour!  We're surprised and a little puzzled on how all of these people can look so happy to be here.  Mind you, I don't recall seeing even one American... maybe this is just "normal" here, but not for us!  To make a long story short, we walk the entire park only to find much of the same thing.  The only attraction we were able to attend was the Stitch Tiki Luau show, which had a wait time of around 20 minutes since they could cram a lot of people into the show.  It was in Japanese, but luckily aimed at kids, so I could understand most of what was going on. 

Somewhere in between walking around the park to see what we could find, I think it was around 10:30 a.m., we met back up with Brandon and Donnie for awhile.  It turned out their show didn't start until noon, instead of in the morning as we had seen advertised beforehand.  We get a little bit of shopping and picture taking done with them, I purchased an adorable Stitch/Angel plush pair that have the magnets inside to keep them together, they have disney ears on and everything and was happy about that.  Splitting up again, we decide to head over to a restuarant inside the park with Jason to eat lunch, the lines for eating were long, but not crazy.  I believe it took about 30 minutes in line before we ended up getting curry to eat, the hard part was finding a table since it was "seat yourself" once inside.  A stupid policy if you ask me, but luckily it only took an additional 10 minutes of pacing before we were able to nab one.  By this point I am slowly coming to the realization that I'm getting sick.  My stomach starts hurting half-way through eating and my throat is steadingly getting worse.  On top of the crappy day we've had pacing around Disneyland amass a huge crowd, I was not enjoying myself one bit and was really disappointed by the experience.

After eating, we hit up the penny arcade and try and wait around for Donnie and Brandon to get out of their show before heading back.  I believe we ended up giving up around 2 p.m. when they still weren't finished and head off to Roppongi with Jason.  Snapping a few pictures on the way out and picking up one last piece of merchandise, a Lilo and Stitch card holder for my PASMO subway card.  Oh, how this turned out to be worth it. With next to no real shopping accomplished up to this point (which surprised me), we head off to Roppongi where the nearest Don Quixote was located.

Part III - Roppongi:  After the subway ride and everything, we're now somewhere around 3:30 p.m., I don't remember exactly since I was feeling a bit out of it by this time.  The main goal was to get to Don Quixote, which we were told was like a huge department store, think Wal-Mart in the States.  All we needed was some warm clothing for Nikko the next day, which to our knowledge it had just snowed again there over the weekend.  We needed winter hats and gloves, along with any type of warm sweater or long sleeved shirt to fit under our coats.  However, we end up having yet another confusing map for this place.  Once we turn around in the subway station and figure out which one of the 10+ exits we should be taking, outside the station, the mapped prove not one bit more useful.  Tired and frustrated, I end up attempting to ask a nice lady standing outside a drug store which was to go and we're finally pointed in the correct direction (opposite of what the map seemed to have).  It was actually a little bit of a walk, I'd say five blocks or so.  We quickly become aware that Roppongi is indeed more modern and foreigner friendly then we read about before coming to Tokyo.  There are a lot of English restuarants here such as Outback Steakhouse and even a T.G.I. Fridays, I was surprised.  Still separated from Donnie and Brandon, the three of us walk into the Don Quixote, which seemed to be set up like a Japanese style department store from the outside, much the likes of the Bic Camera we went into while in Kyoto, but a lot more cramped with various merchandise.

There were 6 floors of shopping above head along with the ground floor and basement, which seemed to have only food.  There were a lot of different things inside, from designer luggage to alarm clocks, anime and adult merchandise.  A little bit of everything, but nothing particularly interesting.  More importantly, it was nothing like a Wal-Mart in selection and the prices were overall pretty high.  Matt was able to find a hat though, for a reasonable ¥1,000 or so, which made it worthwhile.  We exit with nothing more then that hat purchased.  Even more irritated by this time, I just wanted to eat dinner somewhere (I had pretty much skipped lunch) and rest.  We orignally talked about getting a Japanese style pizza, since we had heard they put some crazy things on them, so I attempted to find some place to eat such a thing while Jason and Matt waited for Donnie and Brandon at the subway exit.

Stumbling across an Italian place I figured we weren't going to do any better on short notice.  They had an English/picture menu and at least some sort of pizza, so it would just have to be good enough.  Once Donnie and Brandon arrived it was nearing 5 p.m. and all everyone wanted to do was eat and head back to Odaiba.  The "Italian" proved interesting, I think I had some sort of shrimp pasta dish, still having a sore throat and not feeling much like anything I didn't eat a lot of it.  The pizza they had was rather disappointing looking, I think Jason ordered one, but it was nothing memorable.  The most entertaining part was Brandon ordering the steak.  It was pretty funny as they trusted Jason with a pizza cutter for his pizza, but didn't trust Brandon with a knife for his steak.  Gotta make do with what you have, right?

Part IV - Aqua City/Shopping:  Still without warm clothes for Nikko the following day, we make one more effort to find some.  On the way back to the hotel, in Odaiba, there was a large outlet mall called Aqua City... surely they'll have something.  I had ulterior motives too, as the previous night we walked through here to get to Joypolis and I saw some merchandise at the Disney Store I wanted, but didn't want to buy before going to Disneyland.  Completely disappointed in the day and not really spending much money on merchandise thus far, we headed to the mall.  Matt decided to go back to the hotel to pack for the coming day and to get some extra r&r while the rest of us attempted to buy some clothing, at the very least.

Odaiba looked very cool at night, we had an even better view then the previous evening.  With the cold air and sickness upon me though, we rushed into the mall.  Unfortunately after much walking around and looking I ended up with no clothing, only some Disney merchandise (that was on sale really cheap) and a purse-sized umbrella.  Disappointed with the entire day and feeling like crap, we all head back to the hotel rather early (around 8 p.m.) to call it a night.  Heating up some more miso soup in the room via the coffee/tea pot, I swallow that down in hopes of it helping my throat and crash for the night after taking some of Donnie's special cold medicine that was bought in Kyoto (it had codeine in it)... I don't really remember anything after that.

Prices:

• ¥1,800 - Breakfast (for two).
• ¥5,800 - Disneyland tickets (each). 
• ¥5,000 - Misc. Disney merchandise in the park.
• ¥2,000 - Curry lunch, in the park.
• ¥1,000 - Hat from Don Quixote.
• ¥2,000 - "Italian" dinner (for two).
• ¥2,300 - Disney merchandise from Outlet store (got a lot too).

Lesson's learned:

• No sleep + cold rainy weather = sick.  I was testing myself!
• Tokyo Disneyland's lines suck.  They aren't reasonable in the least, don't go.
• Don Quixote is not like a Wal-Mart, they mainly have a bunch of misc. high priced items.
• Roppongi is nothing like I thought it would be from reading articles online and I would like to try and go back there again on our next visit (this was our only trip there).
• Japanese Pizza is not that easy to find.
• Disney outlet stores are as awesome in Japan as they are in the States.
• It is not easy to find warm clothes to buy in Japan in April.
• Codeine does in fact knock me out.

Day 8 - Adventure through Japan "Odaiba and Harajuku"

Without knowing what Anime Fair would consist of, our original schedule had us attending again this day.  However, with us pretty much covering the place the day before, we decided not to go back and instead use this day to check out a few things around Odaiba and to try catch the Cosplay/Harajuku crowd that can only be seen on Sundays.  We start out around 8 a.m. again, this time trying the breakfast buffet on the 2nd floor of the hotel.  It really wasn't very good for the high price tag, but at least we ate something.

Part I - Walking/Pallette Town:  Without my consent, we end up walking to the Museum of Emerging Sciences from our hotel.  I had no idea where this place even was, so I just followed.  It was an interesting walk, but waaaay to long to begin the day with.  We did get to walk through Pallette Town, Pokemon is what it made me think of.  A small town inside a small man-made island, yes, interesting.  We also walked past a Yamaha show and a park that was oddly located inside the concrete city.  After an hour or so of walking, we arrive at the museum.

Part II - Museum of Emerging Sciences:  We arrive just as it opened at 10 a.m. so there was a line to get through.  After weighing our ticket options and what we have planned for the day, we decide there's enough time to get the "full ticket", which included the "Science of Scare" or something like that, more on this later.  We get inside after just a few minutes, again demonstrating on how efficient things run compared to the States, it was at least 30 minutes shorter then it would have been back home.  After reviewing the program and our timing we formulate a plan to catch the ASIMO demonstration at 11:15 a.m. toward the end of our tour, heading over to the environment exhibit first and also to take a look at some applied sciences.  The first part of the environment exhibit was this huge globe you could see from outside the building, it cycles through current cloud cover (as seen above), temperatures and heat patterns. It was one huge digital display and pretty awesome all by itself.  After staring at the globe for awhile, we head into the rest of the exhibits.  I don't remember exactly what they were named, but I know we got to see demonstrations of aircrafts, space exploration, weather forcasting, cells and other cool things before heading back downstairs to the robot section and where ASIMO was going to be demonstrated.

The demonstration was actually rather long, around 20 minutes.  There were no seats, just a bunch of people standing in a circle with kids sitting down toward the front.  We were introduced to ASIMO and got to see what it/he was capable of; such as running, kicking a ball, waving to the crowd and responding to some conversation.  There was a lot of explanation being done by the announcer/sidekick person, but only in Japanese so we didn't get too much from that portion.  Even though you can see video of what ASIMO can do online, it was rather neat to see it in real life.  I was surprised by just how athletic it/he can be.  It was getting even more crowded near the end, so we walked away a few minutes early to finish looking at the robotics exhibit.  Most hands-on exhibits were geared towards children and a lot of explanation boards were in Japanese only, so that hindered us a bit.  There was a rather awesome working exhibit involving balls and a conveyer system that was actually a working replica of the internet and how packets move across the web, one of the most interesting things I saw (except for the globe, which was my top pick). 

With it starting to get late, we headed to the cafe to grab a quick bite to eat and head down to the main level to enter the special "Science of Scare" exhibit.  The line was the longest yet and actually took 30 minutes or so to get through.  Once inside, it was basically a small haunted house with like 6 rooms, however what you didn't know was at the end everything you saw inside was being controlled by people watching you from the end of the house.  They had a set of 6 buttons people could press at the right moment (the entire house was displayed on TV screens, one specificly for each button), so you could see peoples reactions.  It was a rather fun time playing with people going through the house after walking through it yourself, so we stuck around for awhile there.   After that we stopped at our first (and turned out to be only) photo-sticker booth on our way out to get a spoooky photo sticker, which turned out awesome, but I'm not sure where it is right now so no picture for you!

Part III - Harajuku:  Now somewhere around 1 p.m., we're already running late for the day, but the museum was worth it. The plan is to meet back up at MegaWeb around 4 p.m. (in Odaiba). With Brandon and Jason not very interested in Harajuku, it is now down to Matt, myself and Donnie again (against my warning, Matt came).  We were going with shopping (for clothing, duh) in mind and also to observe the cosplay/fashion of Takeshita-dōri and Yoyogi Park.  Once we got there, I realized that the maps I had were completely useless and had no idea which way to go.  We do wander into a few cool shops and eventually make our way to Takeshita-dōri, just an hour later then planned.  It was PACKED, as I had imagined it would be.  Matt would lag behind as we went in and out of various clothing shops that lined the street, looking bored to death.  Apparently many shop owners frowned upon taking pictures of or even near their shops, not to mention stopping in front of them if you weren't buying something.  So, while he would get yelled at waiting for us in front of a shop, we attempted to find some cool clothing, unaware that the bridge of cosplayers was pretty far down the road and that it was getting so late.  I think we both came out with a skirt or two and a jacket, but there was still less here in my style that I had hoped there would be.  Everything was semi-reasonably prices though, for what it was (between ¥2,000 and ¥7,000 for high fashion items) and most everything in size large would fit, which was even more surprising.  Once we were nearing, what I felt like was, the end of the street I was getting desperate for a bathroom.  Learning quickly that Harajuku on a Sunday doesn't have a female bathroom line shorter then 35 people and with it now 4:00 p.m., we were forced to give up on the venture to find cosplayers for the day and to instead head back to Odaiba.  With Matt irritated and just about ready to leave us, we get through the crowd and back on the train for Odaiba, shopping bags in hand with the few prizes we could find in the mess that was the afternoon.

Part IV - Sega Joypolis:  Skipping over the unpleasant part of dropping bags off at the hotel, losing Matt and not making it to MegaWeb per the original plan, it was now 6 p.m. or so (I don't remember the exact time) and we decide that meeting up with the rest of the group at Sega Joypolis would be best.  After researching this place for some time before deciding to go, I was really looking forward to finally getting to see it.  I love arcades and love Sega, so what better then 3 stories of Sega amusements?  It was so very cool, where do I start....  First off, right from the beginning, when you walk in, there is basically an entire floor of Sega UFO catchers.  But, before I could even make it to them, in the corner was the Initial D simulator.  Now, when we were in Phoenix a year prior to this there was a "simulator" for Initial D in a large arcade there.  It was a car you could get into, but was about the size for one person to sit and still looked like a game.  It moved and was simulated driving and all that, so this is what I thought would be here after seeing the attraction online.  But no, this is Sega and we're in Japan.  For ¥600 a play (with free passanger or all included in unlimited pass ticket) you get to drive Initial D with simulated movements in a REAL CAR.  These suckers were real down to the seat belts inside, the only difference was instead of having wheels and running they were hooked up to the arcade games (which was stage 5, btw, not even out in the States yet) and on hydrolics.  We only waited in line for about 15 minutes and then is was go time.  With Matt in the drivers seat, I got to hop in the passanger seat and have the ride of my life.  It was so much fun!  He got a real thrill out of it too and finally the stress of the afternoon was gone.  Now it was my turn, off to the UFO catchers!

I immediately change in a ¥2,000 bill for a bunch of ¥100 coins, as most machines cost just that for a play or ¥500 for six plays.  After pacing the floor for a bit and trying a machine here and there I quickly assess what sort of goods can be won.  Amonst them are about five different variation of Stitch plushies, a bunch of different Disney prizes, but sadly no real Sega merchandise.  I knew Sega was famous for having Disney prizes in their machines, but was hoping for at least one Sega themed UFO catcher at Joypolis!  I settle down on one machine and concentrate on winning a few furry Stitch plushies. 

After "wasting" ¥3,000 total (I was having fun playing them, I don't care what people say), I concentrated on one machine long enough to win both a Stitch and Angel (from the T.V. series).  They were cute, furry and made a great pair.  Once they were both in my grasp an employee showed up asking if I won them and if I wanted something... I couldn't understand what she was saying between the noise of the area, soft speaking and barely knowing the language so I was lost.  Following her anyway, over to a counter where she took both of them and put them in a balloon!  With a little heart balloon! KAWAII!

After the happiness of the 1st floor of Sega Joypolis we were ready to explore the rest of the place.  There were "rides" such as a spinning roller coaster, snow-boarding interactive ride and interactive 3-D shooters, but wait lines for all of them were kind of long at 20-30 minutes each, so we instead opt for playing some arcade and token games.  I usually have more fun playing things like that anyway.  We trade in ¥2,000 for a bunch of tokens and start playing meaningless token games.  Somehow, it was a lot of fun, even after we realized there was no way we could figure out how to trade the tokens in for prizes and such since all of the machines were in Japanese.  Even funnier is that we kept winning!  Once out of the ¥2,000 worth, I spot Slot/Pachinko machines and decide to play a really cool looking Slot machine.  Slot/Pachinko machines in Japan look awesome by the way, though I still find Pachinko incredibly boring.  After putting just ¥100 into the Slot machine, I come out with more tokens then we bought with ¥2,000, haha.  We probably stayed up here doing not much of anything for way too long, but the important part was that it was really fun for some unexplained reason.  We finally finish off the rest of our tokens and finish looking around at the arcade machines.  I just had to play the huge Tetris machine that had a joystick so large you had to control it with both hands, about 4 feet tall with little buttons on the sides to play the game with, it was awesome.  Even more awesome was the two Typing of the Dead games, both the original and Lupin style!  Had a blast playing those, you even got to play 2 player mode for ¥100!  After making it through all of the games, we became exhausted and decided to head out, with the time now nearing 10:00 p.m.

Part V - Odaiba at night:  At this point, we still had not eaten anything.  There were a few crepe places and a curry dinner place in Joypolis, but we didn't really feel like eating either of those things.  Being from the States, restaurants/food places don't close until 11 p.m. or later, so eating past 10 p.m. shouldn't be an issue, right?  Wrong, not in Japan.  We ended up pacing the walkway leading from Joypolis to the subway station, through two malls, and couldn't find a single thing to eat.  Regretting a bit about not eating inside Joypolis we decide to just return to the hotel, where the kombini located inside was thankfully open.  Getting nothing more then some Onigiri and Miso soup to eat in the room, the night was about over.  Another plan is formulated for the following morning, this time to meet up at the cheaper breakfast/cafe place in the hotel downstairs at 7:30 a.m. and to head to Disneyland after eating, hoping to get there by 8:30-9 a.m. or so, since they open at 8 a.m., that should be plenty early enough, right?

Prices:

• ¥2,400 - Breakfast (for two)
• ¥1,100 - Museum of Emerging Sciences tickets, each for full (reg + special exhibits)
• ¥9,000 - Misc. clothing
• ¥600    - Tickets into Joypolis (each, without unlimited rides)
• ¥7,500 - Stuff at Joypolis (we "wasted" a lot)
• ¥1,000 - Kombini dinners

Lesson's learned:

• Not to follow someone on a walk if you don't know how far it is. (again!!)
• Working model of the internet = awesome.
• Realtime globe = even more awesome.
• Don't take any males to Harajuku, especially on Sunday.
• Don't take pictures of shops in Harajuku (as I witnessed one guy get scolded harshly by a shopkeeper for doing so, it was funny, for me)
• Have a good map for Harajuku, it's not as simple as it looks on Google to navigate.
• If female, go to the bathroom before going to Harajuku, you will not get another chance.
• UFO catchers are awesome, Sega is even more awesome.
• Even food places, in a place like Odaiba, are not open past 10 p.m.
• Odaiba at night is very pretty, but very windy and very cold in April

Day 7 - Adventure through Japan "Odaiba and Anime Fair"

Ah, we were finally able to sleep a little.  After a week of being on Japan time and finally being in a real bed, we're able to sleep until 7 a.m. or so.  The day seemed to bring more pleasant weather, with partly cloudy skies instead of rain.  Temperatures were still hovering around 40F though, now with the added see breeze from being on the bay.

 Part I - The morning:  The plan was to meet at one of the two places inside hotel for breakfast around 8 a.m. before heading over to Anime Fair at 11 a.m.  With some sleep in us, we head downstairs shortly before 8 and sit down in the cafe styled place for breakfast.  The menu was in partial English with a few pictures, so we all ordered a little blindly.  Once it came out, breakfast was once again a bit lacking (breakfast not being a common meal there as far as we can figure) with a few pieces of bread, biscuit and small amount of eggs.  Fortunately there was unlimited drinks (mainly coffee and water, since the orange juice was more like Tang) and Miso soup.  Miso soup actually makes for a really good breakfast.

We headed outside to take a look around for a little bit and to waste some time before 11 a.m. I was curious and wanted to take a look at the crowd waiting in line, so I walked over to check it out, snapping a few pictures of what I found.  The rest of the group walked around the area closer to the hotel, getting some pictures outside before heading into the Panasonic Building that was next door, not knowing what was inside.

Part II - Panasonic building:  This was unexpected.  Located right next to our hotel, we passed by it the day before and wondered what it could be.  Things like Nintendo advertisements and big screen TV's lined the outside walls, so of course we were curious.  Everyone got inside before I did, since I was walking back from across the way from taking pictures, so I didn't get to see as much.  It turned out to be a very interesting place, though pictures inside were not allowed, which was kind of unusual for places we visited so far.  There were three levels open to the public.  The first had Nintendo products on one half, many of which were up for demo, with a lot of little kids playing with the different DS and Wii devices and the other half mainly being filled with 3-D T.V. models and other hands-on displays.  Much to my surprise just about everything in the building was demo products for things actually on sale in Japan, they are so far ahead of us!  With limited time, we only made it to the second level, which was filled with "green" items for everyday living.  There were a lot of interesting heating and cooling elements, all with hands-on displays and models.  One of the coolest things I remember was a dishwasher, quarter the size of ones in the States, that could wash almost as many dishes AND it recycled the water/soap so it used about a tenth of the resources!  A lot of things up there were very cool.  Unfortunately with our time spent, we did not make it to the third floor, I'm not even sure what was up there.  It was nearing 11 a.m. and time to meet Sirena in the hotel lobby in order to head over to the International Anime Fair.

Part III - International Anime Fair: Not sure what to expect (information online is scarce) we arrive inside the Tokyo Big Site shortly after 11 a.m.  The crowd by this time was starting to thin, but there were still enough people that we were hearded like cattle into the convention area.  The walk took about 20 minutes total, at a slow but steady pace, once inside we realize the entire event was being held in one large open room with concrete floors.  It's sort of set up like a large Dealer's Room you would see at a U.S. convention with multiple "booths" from various companies to visit.  They were sort of organized. Animation schools and studios, trying to recruit new blood, were in the beginning,  TV studios airings all sorts of programs were in the back (from all different countries), big name animation studios were in the middle and your market was at the end.  A lot of the booths had free information being given away, some in the form of merchandise, demo's and a few of the animation studio booths were also selling some merchandise.  The 3-D T.V.'s on display here were even more impressive then the ones seen earlier in the day at the Panasonic building, you still had to wear the specially designed glasses, but they were very impressive and screening things like CG animation and even video games.

We basically walked the entire area criss-crossing our path so not to miss anything.  The multiple screens airing anime in the back was the only place we avoided.  There were a lot of premieres and choice things going on there (including autographs, which we couldn't figure out), so it was packed to the point you could barely move.  Although near it was the "artist alley" of sorts, where we were able to pick up a couple of really cool things, all of which the artist would volunteer to sign.  There were some "hot anime chicks" cosplaying for certain booths, most of which were too frail looking for my tasts (and breastless), but eh.  There were some very cool anime statues and balloons, all of them life-size or larger scattered around, which were entertaining and good picture opportunities.  After what must have been 3 or 4 hours of collecting flyers and information, we near the end of the room and hit the marketplace.  The unfortunate part was that they had food places (which included drinks) only on the two far sides of the building, which had us dehydrated by the end of our walk.  Tired and about ready to leave, we managed to pick up some water before heading into the small marketplace.  I was surprised by the size of it, with there only being 5 or 6 full booths total and a few open and very small shops also lining a square of sorts.  We did find a few cool things that would be about impossible to locate in the States, I was also surprised to see the amount of older series merchandise being sold.  The prices were all very reasonable, so I left happy.

Yeah!  The Bakuman anime is coming (in October), can't wait!

Part IV -  Dinner and Ginza:  We were finished come 3 p.m. or so, earlier then I had expected.  After losing both Sirena and Brandon/Jason in the crowd we decided to head back to the hotel.  Luckily we still had the walkie-talkies and were able to pick up Brandon and Jason, informing them to head back over to the mall we had been in the night before.  This time we had our eye on, what appeared to be, a Japanese tempura restuarant that was located down one of the hallways.  Once inside it turned out they served all types of breaded food, like Tonkatsu, but other then the plastic food bowls out front did not have any English or much to go by, so we ordered blind once again.  I think I ended up with some sort of breaded fish or pork, along with an order of french fries (at least we knew what those were!), it was actually really tasty.

After dinner, we went to Ginza in order to get some shopping done that I had marked in my book and to look around.  Though I marked a few places with "discount" clothing and the like, it was too difficult to locate all but one of them, which turned out to not have much in it at all.  Our shopping trips were really not turning out well so far.  We end up walking most of Ginza though, it was really nice to take in all the city, and it felt warmer because we didn't have Odaiba's sea breeze (what wind there was was being broken up by the buildings).

Part V - Shibuya:  With our hopes of shopping dashed once again, we head to Shibuya.  The night before I had remembered seeing a Starbucks and a few nice stores, since it was still early, I hoped we could make it to a few before closing time.  The Starbucks was in the center of the crossing, right in front of the station, so it was easy to locate.  Once loaded with caffeinated drinks, we head into the thick of the crowd to see what was around.  Stopping by a few small clothing stores (and about killing the guys of boredom), we end up at the same "Book-Off" I was at the night before with Jason and Sirena.  However, I notice this time around that this branch actually does have used clothing in the basement, which I didn't go in the night before.  We pick up a few things here again, all of which were very reasonably priced, but other then that, not a lot of shopping was successfully done.  A few more shops and arcades later, we're tired and decide to head back to the hotel early to do laundry and finally get some sleep.

Prices:

• ¥1,600 - Breakfast (for two).
• ¥800 - Anime Fair admission (advance price, each).
• ¥400 - Two waters (at Anime Fair).
• ¥3,000 - Misc. anime goods.
• ¥3,500 - Dinner (for two).
• ¥1,000 - Skirt from Ginza.
• ¥900 - Two Starbucks drinks.
• ¥3,500 - Books/clothing from Shibuya.
• ¥500 - Laundry (self-service), wash/dry in hotel.

Lesson's learned:

• The Panasonic Building is actually really interesting.
• Though interesting, there's not much to do at anime fair unless you are a professional.
• If it looks like Tempura, that doesn't mean it's Tempura.
• Small dryers (like those in a hotel) take FOREVER to dry, like 3 hours.

Day 6 - Adventure through Japan "Kyoto, Odaiba and Shibuya"

It was our last day in Kyoto, so we were trying to make the best of it.  Our Shinkansen back to Tokyo was reserved for 10:30 a.m., giving us a little more touring time before departure.  This morning we purposely began early and were out the door by 7 a.m. for our first destination.  It was the only day (half day...) of pretty weather we would see in Kyoto with temperatures rising near 50F and partly cloudy to sunny skies, it was a welcomed break.

Part I - Heian Jingu:  After a short discussion, we decided taxi's for the morning commute would be the quickest method to get where we wanted to before our departure time.  The taxi ride to Heian Jingu was rather short (maybe 10 minutes?), so we were off to a good start. We were dropped of by the taxi straight in front of the entrance, driving right under the main gate.  The reasons for going here were the large Torii (gate) at the entrance, one of the largest in Japan, and because of the great reviews for the gardens inside. 

The entire place was constructed on the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heiankyō (the old name of Kyoto), so even though it was old and historical, it seemed much newer then places we had been to in previous days.  Unfortunately, once inside we learned that the gardens were actually not open until 9 a.m., so we wouldn't be able to get inside before having to leave.  After walking a bit obtaining another medallion we head back out to the main gate to get a good look.  After, we stop at the Taxi Noriba to hop a ride over to our next destination.

Part II - Kiyomizu Dera:  Once again, the taxi was much quicker then a train, however this time instead of taking us straight to the entrance, we're dropped off at the end of the street where the entrance is located.  It turns out to be another 10 to 15 minute walk (uphill) in order to reach the stairs that would eventually lead up to the entrance of the Temple.  Once at the top of the stairs, we all realize there is no way there will be enough time to make it inside and tour around, now nearing 8:30 a.m.  Instead we opt to just walk around the area before the admission gate, as there was still some sites to see, the most important being the long overlook of Kyoto.  It was much prettier then the overlooks we had been to previously, for both the cherry blossoms were almost in full bloom and that it was actually a nice rain-free morning. 

On our way out, we run into a large group of school kids that were entering the Temple.  They were all thrilled to see American's, most of them smiling and waving saying "Good Morning" and other small English words they could remember.  It was entertaining to see such a large group and, unlike the adults, they were all so thrilled to see us and speak English.  We had pretty good timing, getting there in the early morning hours, as most of the tourists (including a lot of foreigners, ugh) were on their way uphill as we were decending.

Instead of hopping a taxi back to the apartment, with a little time to spare, we decide to just walk back.  It wasn't that long of a walk, about 20 to 25 minutes, but it was mainly downhill.  You would think downhill to be a good thing, right?  Well, not when you blister your feet the day before by decending a mountain for 20+ minutes.  A little sore and ready to leave, I was glad to make it back to the apartment for our luggage and hop in a taxi to arrive at Kyoto Station, well before our 10:30 shinkansen reservation.

Part III - Shinkansen:  Once at the station, I realize that my reservation ticket had gotten away from me somewhere.  Luckily we were there around 9:45 a.m., well before the line for non-reserved cars started to form.  Brandon, myself and Jason all wait in line for a non-reserved car, since they were only able to reserve smoking seats the night before. Matt and Donnie easily hop into their reserved seats for the ride back, since they had the pair from when I also reserved my seat in a non-smoking car.  We were able to get seats without an issue and it turned out to be another smooth ride. I was able to catch up on some journal writing, postcard writing and finally have a window seat to carefully observe the scenery flying by.  Sitting with Matt, I never get a window seat, so I was happy to just sit there and stare out for awhile. 

Shortly before our arrival, after the 2 hour ride back to Tokyo, we start to gather our luggage as done on the trips before.  Being in the car behind the reserved seats Matt and Donnie were in, we decide to start the walk to the front of the car, about 15 rows back instead of the back, about 5 rows, in order to get off at the same location on the platform.  Little did Brandon and myself realize that a few people had bags sitting in middle of the aisle.  After some maneuvering to get around everybody's stuff in our path, we make it to the doors to exit... or so we thought.  Jason had made it off the train in front of us, as he did not have a rolling bag, however we made it JUST as the door shuts in Brandon's face.  With the rest of the group off the Shinkansen at the stop prior to Tokyo Station (our original plan) we were on our way to Tokyo Station itself, against our will.  Apparently my face was priceless as I realized we were stuck on the train with no way to re-open the doors, being separated from the group.  Luckily I had all the maps on me, so the situation became funnier once we realized it did not matter so much.  Brandon and myself just figured they would have to make do, we all knew what hotel and the general location it was in, so hopefully we'd meet somewhere along the way.

Once off safely at Tokyo Station, we are able to navigate to the proper train without too much hasle.  On the platform at the tranfer station to Odaiba, we are trying to figure out our fare amount before purchasing a ticket, and there they come down the escalator.  Everyone else met us right there, without more then 15 minutes of time passing.  Apparently 5 minutes of their travel time was spent on Matt and Donnie rolfing at the prior station, though Jason kept a serious and horrified look on his face.  It was pretty funny and I thought so too once the realization hit me that they would be fine, as I was never worried about getting lost myself.  We purchase tickets and proceed to talk about the experience on the short train ride to Odaiba from there.

Part IV - Odaiba:  We arrive in Odaiba somewhere around 1:30 p.m., after leaving our bags in the hotel (check-in was not until 3 p.m.) we head across the street to a large complex that resembled a business structure here.  Luckily this was Odaiba and this business structure also had a 3 story mall, of sorts, located under it complete with food courts.  On this short walk, we come to the sudden realization that we are cursed with bad weather as the winds on the bay were blustery and clouds were starting to form overhead. 

Once inside the buliding, we end up at a Japanese fast food place for lunch, which turned out to serve the best Katsudon I had ever had.  It was fast food!  Or at least what they considered fast food, so for ¥600, I am treated to the best, which is sad being that I've paid up to $20 in the States and never had pork that melted in my mouth like that, it was memorable.  After that we walked the mall for a bit to kill time, hitting up our first ¥100 store and a Kasuri-ya to buy something to help heal the blisters that had developed on my feet from the prior day.  The ¥100 store was very surprising as they had a lot of useful everyday items like winter gloves, umbrellas, T-shirts and socks, all seemingly good quality.  We purchased a few things and went back to the hotel in order to check-in and relax for a bit before going back out for the night.

Part V - Aobadai: With a little bit of relaxing done in the hotel room, we decide to venture back out for the night. With some spare time, our first place in Tokyo to visit would be Aobadai to stop by a book store I read about in my travel guide called Cow Books.  Luckily we had perfect timing to catch the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom on the basin, it was gorgeous!  This actually turned out to be our best catch of Cherry Blossoms the entire visit, so I was very glad we came.  Unfortunatly Cow Books turned out to be a very very small store that had absolutely nothing of interest in it, the atmosphere of the city was great though.  On our way back to the Subway we stop the first Book-Off we had time to go into.  Book-Off is a chain of used book stores that also deals in CD's, DVD's, Video Games and, in some of the larger stores, clothes.  Everything here, especially the books are at really great bargain prices and normally still in very good condition for being used.  We pick up a few things here (Matt finally got his Initial D video game) and then move on to the next destination.

Part VI - Shibuya:  With just a little shopping accomplished, we decide to head to Shibuya, I just had to see the famous Hachikō!  After seeing Hachi, I was once again smacked with the reality of where we were and what I was doing.  The experience of crossing the street in front of Shibuya station on a Friday night with hundreds (thousands?) of people was amazing.  With the glaring lights, huge television screens and advertisements blaring, we attempted to find dinner somewhere.  After some pacing around, we end up in a 2nd story Japanese tavern, of sorts.  We struggle with the menu, mainly to find something vegetarian for Donnie, for awhile (even with our translator) and finally end up with a good meal and plum wine (which was rather tasty).  The only down part was the smoke, which is apparently a larger issue in Tokyo then Kyoto, as I had yet to see the "smoking problem" I was warned of before our trip until this point.

Once finished with dinner, Matt, Donnie and Brandon were feeling worn down and decided to head back to Odaiba.  However, I was much too hyped to finally be in Shibuya to just turn around and go back, so myself, Jason and Sirena decide to stay out for a bit longer.  We walk the streets for awhile, which was amazing enough to entertain me, ducking into just a few shops and arcades along the way.  By this point, we were starting to get rained on again, but I didn't really care.  We stopped by another Book-Off here, at which point I had the great idea to look for art books.  I found a little bit of gold (a few that were ¥300, that go for $100+ on eBay) and was happy with my shopping experience for the day.  I was surprised at how many shops were closing up come 9 p.m., though the arcades were open until 1 a.m. or later.  It was great fun going to my first arcades of Tokyo, playing a few UFO catchers (not winning anything yet, more on this in later days) and playing games like Taiko Drum Master with nobody around (the few chances I've had in the States, there has always been a huge line).  Once tired enough and unable to find a lot of shops open, we head back to Odaiba to rest for the rest of the night.

Prices:

• ¥1,300 - 1st taxi ride.
• ¥300 - Medallion at Heian Jingu.
• ¥2,100 - 2nd taxi ride.
• ¥1,000 - Misc. subway fares.
• ¥1,600 - Lunch (for two w/ drinks)
• ¥1,200 - Misc. goods from ¥100 store.
• ¥2,000 - Bandages and antibiotic cream for blisters (pretty expensive!)
• ¥20,000 - Pasmo cards to cover remaining subway fares (for both of us).
• ¥6,000 - Video game and books from Book-Off.
• ¥3,000 - Dinner (for two w/ wine)
• ¥1,000 - Misc. arcade money.

Lessons Learned:

• Heian Jingu's gardens don't open until 9 a.m., though the rest opens at 6 a.m.
• The bad weather follows us.
• Shinkansen doors close quickly and have no mercy.
• Hotels will generally give you a non-smoking room, even though most reservation sites don't have the option.
• Shibuya is great, one of my favorite places.

Day 5 - Adventure through Japan "Arashiyama and Kyoto"

Ah, an early day once more, beginning somewhere around 6 a.m.  With Brandon and Jason out late the night before (they were in Osaka) it was just myself, Matt and Donnie off to Arashiyama.  The main goal for the day was the Monkey Park, but more on that later.  Another rainy day, with temperatures hovering around 40F, not really good "monkey weather" so it concerned us a bit, but we decided to press on anyway.

Part I - The Bamboo Forest:  We arrived in Arashiyama fairly early, I believe somewhere around 7:45 a.m., after grabbing a quick bite to eat at Starbucks (they didn't open until 7 a.m.).  With our walking maps in hand, we quickly navigated the winding streets that were filled with residential housing and just a few shops, to find our way into the Bamboo Forest.  Along our path we did come across some interesting decor at a few houses, one of which a cute kitty ornament hanging in someones potted plant, just had to get a picture of it.

After a 15 minute or so walk from the train station, we were inside the Bamboo Forest.  As promised from the online research done, it was an amazing 30 minute walk through a forest of bamboo (as the name might suggest?).  It was still considered early morning for Japan, so the only people to "disturb" our quiet walk were workers that were either harvesting bamboo or tending to graves that were located off of the walking path.  Like many area's in Japan, there were still vehicles driving down paths that would be deemed only for walking in the States. 

Getting used to vehicles in narrow places by this point, they didn't really bother us, much more captivating was the sound of the bamboo, as they clanged against each other in the morning wind.  With the thick coverage of bamboo overhead, it sheltered us from most of the rain, so it actually turned out to be a much more pleasant walk then expected.  Most of the bamboo grew to an amazing height, the width around was also much larger then bamboo I have seen in the States, two hands put together would still not fully wrap around one stalk.  In middle of the forest, we also came across what turned out to be a famous shrine,  mentioned and filmed in stories such as The Tale of Genji and The Romance of the Twelve Kingdoms, it was another nice surprise.

                                

After exploring the Shrine and taking some very nice photo's of the area, we continued our walk.  It wasn't long before we reached the end of the forest.  Once out, we started coming across signs occasionally pointing us in the direction we wished to go, towards the Togetsukyo Bridge. With some exploring we end up walking down some steep and loose rock stairs in order to walk along the river path paralleling Arashiyama Mountain and up to the bridge.  Passing by the fishing docks and tourist boats (they were just waiting for customers), if the weather had been nicer, I would have loved to take one.  The casual stroll probably took another hour on top of the walk through the Bamboo Forest.  The bridge was not nearly as cool looking as I had expected, kind of average actually, but the dam running under it and the scenery surrounding us was some of the best of the trip.  As you can see in this picture, more of the cherry blossom trees were starting to bloom.  Once across the bridge, we're nearing 10am and with all of the walking done the previous days, I was about spent and not planning on joining Donnie on the trek up the mountain in order to get to the Monkey Park.

Part II - Monkey Park:  After stopping in a few shops briefly (mainly to warm up, there was a stiff breeze crossing the bridge) we follow the signs leading us a short ways up to the monkey park entrance.  On the sign located at the base of three flight of stairs, it stated they were closed due to the bad weather.  Disappointed, Donnie still wanted to go up the stairs and see as much as we could.  Once up there (I figured I could do at least that much) there was yet another little shrine, a cool well with a dragon ornament and of course the admission gate to the monkey park.  Donnie ended up asking the lady there about the monkey's, of which she replied feeding time was at 10:30 a.m., so it seemed they were actually open!  Once again the excitement rushed over her face, quickly purchasing a ticket and attempting to drag us along.  Before I knew it, we were all climbing the mountain to get to the Monkey Park...

You literally have to climb up a mountain to reach the observatory on the peak.  It took about 20 minutes for us to make it along the mainly dirt paths leading upwards.  Along the way you had warnings such as "don't stare them in the eye", "don't stop", "don't take pictures" and "don't bend over", the last one seemed much scarier to me then the other warnings.  About half-way through the climb, we start seeing some monkey's.  Just hanging out on the sides of the trail, they blended in well so you actually wouldn't notice them unless you were looking carefully, there were others in the trees off in the distance as well.  After the difficult journey, again I was still tired from the previous days, we made it to the top.  There were many more there, as you could imagine.  We head inside the "cage" (also known as the observatory) in order to feed them a bit before the time when the keepers did the larger feeding.  During this time we became aquainted with the one being called "Chibi-chan" since we was the smallest around, along with the other monkey's waiting for food to be handed to them.  Distracting the other monkey's first, we were able to feed Chibi-chan.  Out of the things we were able to buy to feed them, he would only take the apples.  Just so cute... and I don't even like monkey's.

10:30 a.m. rolled around pretty quickly and it was feeding time.  It was hilarious watching most of the monkey's around (they hand 100 or so) come in for food.  The days weather wasn't the greatest as they were wet and cold instead of fluffy and energentic, but once again, this made for a much quieter time for us.  There were only two other people in the observatory (besides the three workers) and they both seemed like the more serious observers and not your average tourist, so that was nice.  After snapping a few more pictures and sort of taking a look at the view, it wasn't nearly as great as it should have been because of the weather, we start the climb back down.  Overall the monkey park was a surprising experience.  I don't like monkey's and thought I would hate it, but even after the hike, I look back and think it was one of the most fun times we had in Japan.  Of course, this was also because Donnie was squealing like a 6 year-old the entire time, it was pretty entertaining.

Part III - Kyoto Gosho:  Being rushed out of Arashiyama all too soon, we were only able to get in a minor amount of shopping before heading back to Kyoto.  We had an English tour through the Imperial Palace scheduled for 2 p.m. with everyone and by this time is was nearing 12 p.m., with the travel time included we were able to get through about three shops in 30 minutes before moving on to get back to Kyoto in time.  The shops in Arashiyama were very interesting and had some of the most "typical" Japanese items that we would see on the trip, all for fair prices for the most part too.  I wish we could have spent more time there.

Once back in Kyoto we were able to grab a quick bite while running through the station, thanks to the Onigiri and Bento being sold in little shops on the side that you can grab and go.  We make it to the gate indicated on our tour print-out and proceed to try and locate Brandon and Jason.  After some pacing around and waiting (turns out they went around the opposite way?) we join up and head inside to the designated start of the tour.  After a short while, we're ushered into a small building with about 100 other tourists, most of them European, and are shown a video (in English) of what we were about to get a tour of.  I still don't really know the reason for that, seemed kind of pointless.  Still raining, us and 100 others follow the tour-guide outside.  She was the polar opposite of what we had seen so far, a Japanese lady speaking through a microphone, which was muffled by the surgical mask on her face.  It seemed as though the surgical mask was to keep away all of the foreign cooties we had circling the group.  With the muffled English, we could understand less from her then the Japanese signs posted at most of the monuments in the tour, yes, it was that bad.  You see, I originally scheduled the tour since it was advertised as the only way to get into the Imperial Palace, which sounded cool.  However, you never get "inside" any building, instead you are walked around the inner palace grounds in a herd of very rude foreigners for an hour, not being able to understand what any of it is for because the tour guide is muffled while trying to keep cooties out.  That is was I got from the tour. 

After wasting an hour and totally regretting leaving Arashiyama for it, we do manage a few cool pictures. It was an art form itself trying to get a camera lens around a huge group of some of the rudest people I've ever seen.  To anyone thinking about going, I would not recommend it at all.  I do recommend going to the public part of the gardens, we were there the day prior and it was gorgeous, not to mention quiet and foreigner free in the early morning hours.  I have a better understanding of why a lot of Japanese people do not like foreigners if this is how most of them act there.  After trying to sell us some more merchandise (tourist trap anyone?) we're let free.  I would have left earlier, but the group "had to" stay together so there really wasn't an option.  She would even stop every 5 minutes or so to yell at anyone wandering off, it was lovely.

Part IV - Kinkaju-ji:  It was nearing 3:30 p.m. once we made it back to the train station.  So, in favor of time we hop in a taxi and have it take us to the temple.  This time we're determined to make it there before the normal closing time of 4:30 p.m.  I think we made it through the admission gate around 4:10 p.m., so there was a little time left to spare.  Once inside I was glad to see the grounds were not very large, starting to drag from the busy day, I was about done.  Upon entering the gate you can see the Golden Temple across the lake, with some opportune pictures snapped, we begin the short walk around the grounds. 

The temple itself was not open to tourists, so it's just for the long-range view basically.  There was some cool scenery around it and the grounds were very well maintained with little shrines and places to obtain fortunes and good luck scattered about. In the back of the temple near the edge of the lake, we were able to spot some Koi fish, something very cool was the rare blue one peaking his head up looking for food.  Armed with the luck of seeing a blue Koi fish and good fortunes (they were actually in English) from the vending machines near the exit, we decide to try and locate the kaiten-zushi, spotted the night before, for dinner.  After some fun with a Ramen vending machine at the exit of the temple, all while being laughed at and called Gaijin by some local woman watching us (we were mainly doing it for their amusement), we hop in taxi's bound for Kyoto Station.

Part V - Kyoto Station and kaiten-zushi:  Without a train station near Kinkaju-ji, we head back to Kyoto Station by taxi.  For the first time we get a taxi driver that can speak English!  Or at least English well enough to carry on a conversation with us...  He talked about the sumo tournament taking place (complete with TV broadcasting it in his taxi), the top tourist spots of Kyoto (#1 being Kinkaku-ji), number of foreign tourist (#1 Chinese, #2 Korean and #3 American) and even writes us out a postcard saying "we love America" in English.  Pointing out some places of interest as we passed by them, I only wished we had a driver like that earlier, as one thing of major interest was a huge shopping street, one road over from where we were staying!  Oh, if only we knew the day before.  It turned out to be a great break from the quiet taxi drivers we had encountered so far, instead of loathing us (or so they seemed), he actually liked us!  It was a fun ride to the station.

Once there, we head inside.  By this time we had been there so much we should have been able to get around, right?  No, not right.  The previous day we simply followed signs from the subway that say xx mall this way, with an arrow, but there was no such sign from the main entrance of the station.  We head in what we thought was the right direction, a mall called "The Cube".  After 30 minutes of walking through "The Cube" we end right back up where we started!  Tired and hungry we all start to lose our minds, lost in "The Cube" and not sure what to do.  Maps were of no use since they were all completely in Japanese, we finally wander up a set of stairs near where we started.  Wouldn't you know it?  There is was... the mall we were looking for all along!  It was one huge maze, but we eventually navigated to the kaiten-zushi.  Once inside, there appeared to be a wait, but fortunately they were very efficient so it didn't take more then 10 minutes before we were sat and eating.  After some deciphering, we're able to figure out most plates are ¥138, with a few choice plates being somewhat a bit higher, but still under ¥200 each.  We eat to our hearts content and walk out with a ¥2,500 bill, even after ordering Cokes!  I couldn't complain.  Though the unagi was a lot thinner and not as tasty as it is here, all of the sushi was fresh and still tasted good, which was more then enough for me.  I snap some video outside of the restuarant, it had a mini kaiten-zushi on display, I couldn't help it!  Before walking to the other end of the mall to show Brandon and Jason the cool waterfall on display.

The night wrapped up after the long day without much of a fight.  We were hoping to get to the Gion district or to stroll along the streets of Kyoto for the nightlife.  Maybe even to see a Geisha or two walking around, but it just wasn't meant to be.  With all of our energy spent and the thought of re-packing everything and heading out by 10 a.m. the next day, it was over.  Don't worry though, there was still a little left of Kyoto before our 10 a.m. departure the following morning.

Prices:

• ¥1,000 - misc. subway fares (that were not JR).
• ¥1,600 - breakfast and coffee from Starbucks.
• ¥100 - fortune inside first shrine.
• ¥520 - admission to monkey park (per person).
• ¥100 - per bag of monkey food.
• ¥1,500 - misc. things at monkey park, like snacks and postcards.
• ¥1,500 - necklace bought at Arashiyama shop.
• ¥2,500 - a few misc. gifts from Arashiyama.
• ¥1,200 - Two bento boxes at station (lunch)
• ¥5,000 - Taxi's to and from Kinkaju-ji.
• ¥500 - admission to Kinkaju-ji (per person).
• ¥2,000 - misc. things from Kinkaju-ji, like throwing ¥5 coins at a bowl for good luck, fortunes (in English!) and a few charms from the shops.
• ¥2,500 - dinner for two from the kaiten-zushi.

Lessons learned:

• The Monkey Park is actually fun.
• Arashiyama has some really good shops.
• English tours (especially those booked in advance) will probably suck.
• A lot of the temples, you can't actually tour the inside of.
• How to use a ramen vending machine!
• Some taxi drivers actually like Americans.
• Ask a taxi driver (if you get a nice one) about things nearby, like shopping arcades.
• No matter how many times you're in one, malls are very confusing and hard to navigate.
• Kaiten-zushi really isn't expensive (like most food in Japan)
• The waterfall actually runs different programs depending on the day.