Grooveday

Although it sounds conflicting, when on a long-term trip it is possible to forget to just groove.

It might seem funny, but traveling for an extended period of time isn't all fun and games.  Sure, you have a lot of fun and even play some games, but some aspects are rigorous. Packing and re-packing every day.  Schlepping over-sized backpacks. Learning new cities just in time to leave them. Working hard to plan a travel day based on several train transfers, just to have a key train canceled. Things like that.

Now, these are all self inflicted rigors to be sure. So we don't complain.  Instead, we recognize that life on the road can sometimes create harried, burned out, flustered, cranky travelers. That's just the way it goes.  In recognition of this fact, Jeff is instituting Grooveday.  Every day is groovy when you are constantly seeing new things, eating new food, experiencing new experiences, and dabbling in foreign cultures.  But it is possible to lose a little groove along the way, and a little extra groove is needed sometimes.  Hence, a twist on Dr. Eng's Sunday Funday is born: Grooveday is a day where you take a moment to recognize all things groovy.  Grooveday is a day you relax a little more than usual, and get back in tune with how fantastic it can be to just be. 

We've been reminding ourselves that there is no hurry.  The best days we've had in Japan so far have been about one quarter cold-chillin'. There is a lot to see and a lot to do.  But no sight, city, town, hike, train, or reservation is important enough to rush through something and miss the delight of soaking up the little things. People watching. Sunsets.  Funny signs.  Weird architecture.   Even though the wary traveler may need Groovedays more frequently, we would like to urge you all to inject a little extra groove wherever and whenever you see the need for a little extra groove. 

Kanazawa

We arrived in Kanazawa last Monday and poked around a little bit.  This city of about 500,000 people is known for rain.  It reminded us both of Seattle in other ways too.  The downtown, which we stayed  in, seemed oddly familiar.  Maybe because the bus stops seemed more popular than in other cities we've seen in Japan.  You would hardly even know there was a subway.  Buses appeared to be the norm for mass transit in Kanazawa. And by choice. Just like Seattle. Wait.... 

Anyway, the big tourist draw for Kanazawa are the Castle and the Kenrokuen Garden.  We stayed right near the garden, in part, because we wanted to get there around opening to get a jump on the crowds we read can make one of Japan's best gardens void of moments of possible peace and tranquility. 

The hotel we stayed at is part of Jeff's new favorite chain (of anything).  The chain is called Toyoko-inn.  We have stayed in four so far, and all have been as advertised: cheap, clean, staffed with friendly folks (almost all ladies), free high-speed internet in all rooms, and conveniently located.  Free breakfast is also standard. And that's the important part.  Free breakfast at all Toyoko-Inn locations starts at 7 am.  The garden opened at 7 am.  Peace and quiet is one thing.  A big, free breakfast is another.  So, after hitting the beloved Toyoko breakfast (rice, miso, and some sort of bread are standard, but after those three all bets are off as far as what one might find) we dashed out to explore the garden.  We never found out why, but the garden ended up being free too!  Maybe because it was Sunday.  Maybe because of the cherry blossom celebrations taking place.  Who knows.  One thing we've learned in our short time here (on earth): Don't question free things.

We have noticed that cherry blossoms and maples are about the only trees blossoming and budding so far.  Most deciduous Japanese trees appear to be a little later, or perhaps their Spring has been that much cooler.  Kenrouken Garden may have been prettier in later spring or early summer when more trees had leaves, but it was still splendid.  It had several fantastic water features, a few view points, orchards, ares that invited solitude, areas that invited sun and chirping birds - it had it all.  And getting there early allowed us to enjoy it with very few other people. Delightful!

We spent 30 or 40 minutes meandering in the garden before checking out a museum on one end of it dedicated to local handicrafts.   Kanazawa is notable for several handicrafts, but most revered for it's gold leaf.  We visited a store the following day that had hired a gold leaf artist to cover an entire room, inside and out, with the stuff.  Ba-ller!  We finished with the museum in about 45 minutes and returned to the garden.  Entrance wass still free, but we felt far less so inside of it.  Our early morning attack on the garden was quickly justified as the garden was swarming with people choking its carefully lain paths, picturesque bridges, and zen-like waterways.  Sometimes you take a risk, like getting up awfully early and braving the Sunday morning crowds at Toyoko's free breakfast in an attempt to miss the gawking masses at one of Japan's top three gardens.  Sometimes you gamble and get lucky.

We did stroll through the garden a bit more, because even when loaded with people it was still magnificent.  Finished with the garden, we went to to see Kanazawa Castle.  It was another clear day, though a bit cold.  The lovely weather combined with the fact that it was a Sunday brought people out to the castle en-mass.  We enjoyed seeing the structure, old ruins, and roaming the castle park, but the highlight was grabbing lunch from street vendors, sitting in a large field surrounded by locals enjoying the day, and watching young families at play.

Young parents in Japan, we have noticed, are hard to place.  A couple will have two kids, who look to be about 8 and 6, for example.  But the parents look way too young to have kids of this age.  They just look too cool.  We have started to speculate (big shout out to papa Osborn) that Japanese parents look too young to be parents partly because they dress awesome.  They look fashionable and put-together.  Another neat thing about some young, fashionable couples we've noticed here - they tend to dress their kids up super awesome and hip too.  Even the little kids look ten times more fashionable than Jeff ever has. It's not just the young couples and their kids either. Older folks we've noticed tend to look quite dapper as well.  Tour groups, consisting mainly of people who look older than 65, are frequently dressed as though they are going to Church or a formal dinner.  Again, Jeff normally dresses like he doesn't know what's going on, but here, and because we are on the road, he looks especially like a bum.

Our second day in Kanazawa was spent leisurely walking around the city. We went to the Samurai district and saw how this upper class lived during their rule here. The walls in this neighborhood used to be significant to social standing within the Samurai class.  The higher the wall, the higher the status. Many of the homes in this area are well-preserved, filled with notable everyday items, and open to the public as small museums.  The homes, items they held, and their histories provided a look into an era and lifestyle we hadn't learned much about yet. Kanazawa grew rich and influential on the back of it's Samurai class and rice production.  The Madea family, which established the Kaga domain from the city, supported a strong culture of the arts in Kanazawa that is still visible.  We haven't been much into the whole museum thing so far in Japan, but Kanazwa has no shortage to be sure.  The city's pride in it's art and handicrafts is still apparent throughout.

This was another glorious day for sun and we enjoyed it by taking things slow, appreciating Kanazawa's charms, sitting by the river, browsing the fish market, and generally keeping our heart rate as low as possible.  So far, we are proud to report that we haven't let any city, sight, or destination get us flustered.  We have taken our time, smelled the cherry blossoms, and moseyed at our own pace.  It hasn't even been three weeks yet, but having time on our side, which is to say, never feeling rushed, has been a blessing.  On a shorter trip, or one confined by time constraints, we might have been at each others throats any number of times.  The surprising lack of hostility, grumpiness, and arguments can be attributed, we think, to not having to do no kinda nothin' we don't feel like doing.  Or, conversely, being able to do whatever the Charles Dickens we feel like.  Cut out a museum? Sure, why not?  Go to lunch early, or late as the case may be?  But, of course!  Dinner here, now at this random place we know nothing about? Absolutely! 

We finished of the second day with more walking, a trot through the old geisha district, and some shopping.  We went back to our headquarters at the Toyoko for a bit of the ol' rest-up for the evening, and headed out later for some much-craved pizza. Although we are in a wonderland of Asian cuisine, other food items still call to us.  For the past few days before this, pizza had been almost as stuck in our heads as "Friday," by Rebecca Black.  We had spotted a promising Italian restaurant earlier in the day.  We were served a very satisfying caeser salad (sans parmesan)  and an unusual, but tasty, four-cheese pizza.  Despite not having any tomato sauce, the pizza hit the spot (Jeff was ecstatic to find blue cheese as one of the four).  The fact that Monday was apparently 1/2 off pizza day didn't hurt any either.  Jeff ordered a celebratory glass of wine and quickly canceled out most of our savings.  But it was a perfect way to cheers Kanazwa, Seattle's Japanese sister city!


Notes

The gold leaf room is one of the ten most ballinest things Jeff has ever seen.  He has decided that the master bathroom in our next home will be gold leafed.  All gold everything!

Wings! The night we got into Kanazawa provided one of our most memorable meals thus far.  There is more on food coming soon, so we'll be brief:  The city of Kanazawa provides an English language paper-thing.  In it are some cute and silly articles, along with restaurant suggestions.  The place we thought looked most try-worth was near our hotel, so we set out to find it.  We located it easily, but were informed there was an hour wait.  No problem!  We came back in an hour, and were treated to a cozy little meal consisting of many small items ordered to make a full meal.  The highlight was, without a doubt, the chicken wings.  They were fried or something and coated in some kind of delicious sauce, possibly from a recipe passed down from a thousand angels to the owner of this small gem of an eatery.  Golly, they were good!  Our first order was of five wings, our second order was of three.  The second order would have been for the maximum of ten if it wasn't for all that other stupid food we ate crowding our stomachs.  Damn it!

Jeff's favorite cheap-o snack are these horrible little pancake things.  Two come in a package and they cost about a dollar.  Each treat is made up of two little, impossibly light and fluffy pancakes with 'butter' and 'maple syrup' holding them together.  Their expiration date is too far off for them to have any nutritional value, so it is probably good that we can't read the list of ingredients.  We have seen them and purchased them twice.  Jeff has declared that if we find them again, he is planning to buy as many as he can carry into South Korea.  

Kanazawa will forever be known as the city of Jeff's first adult pony tail!

 

Party Animals

Two of our latest experiences that have stuck out as share-worthy have had something to do with animals.

The first involved monkeys.  Lots of monkeys.  On our third day in Kyoto, after another morning of temple viewing, we spent the afternoon in the Northwest area of the city, known as Arashiyama. One thing Arashiyama is known for is its monkey park. This area is less known for it's marvelous hills (blooming beautiful with cherry blossoms), meandering park paths, and towering view of Kyoto from one of it's easily hike-able peaks.

One of our Japan guidebooks mentions Arashiyama as a day trip from Kyoto because of it's temple, famous bamboo pathway, and, of course, the monkey park.  It casually notes that there is a view from the top of the monkey park, but it negatively references the hike.  We found the hike refreshing (pretty steep, but only about 20 minutes) and the views spectacular.  Had their been no critters, the hike and view would have been worth the time and energy.  About 7 minutes from the top however, we had our first monkey sighting.  Once at the top we found hordes of Japanese macaques.  Great hike, extraordinary views, and monkeys!?! Sign us up!

We had initially planned meeting up with some macaques outside of Nagano. We changed our trip because of a U.S. State Department warning concerning areas near the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, as previously mentioned.  We had been excited to convene with these famous monkeys, and knew we would miss them as we traveled the rest of Japan.  On our train ride from Koyasan to Osaka, en-route to Kyoto, we met a new, and very helpful friend.  We'll call him Buddhist Joe, since he just introduced himself as Joe (sorry, no picture) and he is studying to become a Buddhist monk.  He had been living in Kyoto for over a year and was eager to share some of his favorite sights in and around town.  Buddhist Joe's recommendations, unsurprisingly, centered around temples.  We went to most of the places on his list and he did indeed include some great suggestions.  One of his starred day trips was Arashiyama, though we think the temple was his number one reason for proffering it.  His number two reason was the monkey park.  We saw this as our opportunity to keep our meeting with the macaques of Japan, although a different faction.

Don't tell Joe, but we skipped the temple.  We arrived in Arashiyama around 12:30 to massive crowds after a two-temple morning.  The town has an outstanding location on the bank of a waterway.  Gorgeous hills, couples in boats, temples, shrines, and a large hill-side park all made this a very pretty destination for the second half of our day.  It is possible (and extremely likely) to get templed-out in Kyoto.  Although we knew this place to be home to a particularly popular specimen, we were there for a nice walk, bamboo, and monkeys.  At the end of the day, we got all three!

We walked around the park looking for an area known to have monkeys who sometimes wander down from the hills.  Seeing no monkeys down below, we crossed the water, found the monkey park, and began our ascent.  We wooshed past some funny signs warning us not to "feed monkeys outside" or "stare at monkeys."  Again, the hike was not bad for scenery and the steep slope good for the ol' tickers.  We rejoiced upon seeing our first monkey.  It was a monkey in a tree.  Soon, we saw a monkey on the ground.  He led us up a stretch of path, stopping to pick bugs from under rocks and menace at us, baring his teeth and hissing a bit when we got too close.  We neared the top and started seeing monkeys right and left.  "Look, this big one is chasing that little one!"  "Oh, now that little one is chasing this other big one!"  They were everywhere, and we were thrilled!

The view at the top, however, was also thrilling.  All of Kyoto stretched out before us and we could pick out Kyoto Tower and the big Buddha statue we could also see from our hostel window.  We watched monkeys groom one another and scamper about.  And watched the interactions between a mother and her very newly born monkey offspring (SO cute!). We spent the better part of an hour watching the monkeys and taking in the breathtaking view before finally hiking back downhill and bidding the monkeys (and two days later Kyoto) adieu.

After Kyoto, we spent two days in the smaller town of Nara, the one-time capital of Japan (for a whopping75 years).  Believed to be messengers of the Gods in pre-Buddhist times, 1,200 deer are allowed to roam free throughout the town and its many parks.  And, man, the deer are EVERYWHERE.

There are little stations to buy treats for the deer all over Nara's main (and large) park.  Outside the Todaiji Temple (the world's largest wooden structure and home to the Great Buddha, a 40-meter tall bronze statue), we finally broke down and bought 'deer biscuits,' for the swarming deer-masses.  This proved to be a mistake.  The deer here were obviously used to getting fed here.  They weren't shy about making sure one of your 6 'biscuits' went to them.  They bit your clothes. They rammed your back and lower parts with their heads.  Terrified, we threw the treats at them one by one, hoping the pushing and nipping would stop.  Wrong.  It's like kids.  You give in once and they know they've got you.  The deer didn't stop harassing whichever of us had the treats until all was consumed.  

Frazzled, and with slobber marks on our shirts, we stumbled out of the fray.  We were unharmed but harried and bewildered. It was a little like stepping out of a mosh-pit at a Clay Aiken concert.  What the heck just happened?  We fed pigeons in Venice a few years ago.  They swarmed and even perched on you to get fed.  But they weren't mean.  As noted above, we fed semi-tame monkeys a few days before these deer.  They were mean to each other, fighting and chasing one another for prime snacks. But they too were almost polite when taking food offered by people.  Deer, who we usually think of as easily-spooked, gentle creatures, turned out to be the biggest bullies.  Who would have guessed?

As we stood back and laughed about the butting, biting deer (two of the four moves signs in the park warn the deer might use, pictured at left), we noticed a lady from a tour group buying a fresh pack of 'deer biscuits.'  This lady was maybe in her mid 60s.  The deer cared not.  They bit, shoved, and butted as they did these young whipper snappers.  Good.  At least they are equal opportunity.  Our guess was that another area of the park, one less crowded because of the temple, may have produced friendlier deer.  Then again, what would be the fun in a nervous deer calmly nibbling food from your hand?  Nara has some beautiful sights, indeed. It still retains much of it's 'old-world' charm, and it's many temples and strong sense of culture made it a worthwhile destination on our Japan itinerary.  As great as the rest of the city was, the cute, spoiled, revered, sometimes down-right mean deer will hold a special place in our hearts. 

Damn, those deer can party! 

Japanese Bathrooms: A Microcosm of Japanese Manners

A lot is made of Japanese manners and efficiency. Even with only one week in Japan under my belt, I feel confident in saying that, in my experience at least, the extent and impeccable nature of both are not exaggerated. Bathrooms are one of the best examples of manners and efficiency coming together here like nowhere else I've been. More than one of the places we've stayed with shared bathrooms have been equipped with toilets from the future equipped with one or more of the following features: heated seats with built-in front and rear bidets, a button controlling optional artificial flushing noises to mask embarrassing natural ones, and a faucet on top of the tank that runs when you flush so you can wash your hands as the tank fills.

In many public restrooms western toilets are absent altogether.  No robo-seat, instead only a famous Asian squat-toilet.  Even the holes, when you think about it, could easily be a product of Japanese culture and its unique combination of manners and efficiency: A hole has no seat to clean and no chance for the embarrassment that might be caused should ones butt-germs travel from the seat of a barbaric western throne to the arse of a stranger.

I have been to only two or three bathrooms so far with paper towels or a hand-drying method of any kind. One or two have had the energy efficient super-sweet new blowers (the fast-blowing kind you stick your hands in), but most have nothing. Instead, Japanese carry their own small towels for the sole purpose of drying ones hands after using the restroom. It seems to me that dedication to efficiency and respect (or manners) can often automatically result in conservation and other elegant benefits.

Japan has an ancient and distinct culture built on pillars of  honor, tradition, and respect. These age-old values actually lend themselves better than one might expect to modern Japan. Most of the famed Japanese cultural features seem alive in well, even in younger Japanese. However, concern over an elderly majority here are evident.  Older Japanese outnumber younger Japanese by a margin of nearly two to one. The Japanese birthrate is declining and population growth has been stunted as a result.

Younger generations here do seem to be bucking some of the more mundane traditional mannar-related stigmas, such as eating while walking. Oddly, others, like not blowing ones nose in public, have persisted. Happily, the practices of bowing (complete with it's own complicated etiquette and hierarchy) and taking ones shoes off before coming inside are still alive and well.

Thus far, our trip has predominantly taken us to cities - Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara (we did spend one night in Koyasan, a tranquil town at the top of small Mt. Koya) - all in the Kansai region of Japan.  The next leg of our Japan trip will take us to a few new regions and several smaller towns.  After our full three weeks here I may redact most of these musings.  Or, perhaps, Japan is as others have said it is - a unified country, confident and firm in its traditions, culture, and national identity. Time will tell!

Hanami

The Japanese love their cherry blossoms so much that they have a word for the act of looking at them. They call it "Hanami," which  means blossom viewing, and there is a whole lot of that going on right now. 

We didn't necessarily time our visit to Japan to see Japan's famed mega cherry blossoms, but man, did we get lucky!  We hit Kyoto at exactly the right time for the blossoms, and they have not disappointed. By all accounts Kyoto is a city of immense history, beauty, and character.  We're not sure what it looks like normally, but hundreds (if not thousands) of cherry trees blossoming all over the city really bring it to life.

We were told in Osaka that a chilly beginning to spring  pushed the blossoms back a bit and that we were just in time to see them open and reach their full glory. This certainly appeared to be true as the Osaka blossoms were just getting going when we were there. While pretty, they weren't all like "POW!" just yet. Just a few days later we found ourselves in Kyoto and blossoms "POWING!" all over the place.

Certain Kyoto sights are lit up in the evening as a special event and  to provide another way of looking at the blossoms. We spent 20 or 30 minutes Sunday evening at Kiyomizu-dera (a particularly stunning temple hanging over a cliff above Kyoto) standing with hundreds of people all crowded in anticipation of something.  We waited as the sun went down for some thing to happen - an announcement, fireworks, or perhaps a light show.  It got dark and nothing happened.  Well, not nothing.  Just not quite the something we expected.  The sun went down, it got dark out, and lights illuminated the surrounding trees. Cameras went off everywhere.  The hundreds of people had been waiting for the blossoms to get lit up as the first priority, the temple as the second.

Yesterday we took the Philosopher's Pathway and happily partook in more hanami. They should have a word in Kyoto for "temple viewing," too because there are so many to see.  Old temples, gold temples, shogun retirement villas, shrines, less-old temples, small temples, large temples, enormous temples, restored temples, and every type of temple or cool shogun-related structure in-between hide around every bend here.  We walked north to south on a wonderful route that took us by all manner of temples, shrines, gardens, neighborhoods, museums (though we went in only one - the fabulous, and free, Kyoto Handicrafts Museum) and cherry blossoms.  It was a wonderful walk, punctuated by a delicious and relaxing lunch of yudofu (a traditional Buddhist meal of tofu served in a boiling pot of water).

A few days in and Kyoto is living up to all expectations, in part because the cherry blossoms have showed up in full force and helped teach us why hanami is such an important part of the Japanese experience.
 

Osaka Aquarium

Our second day in Osaka was spent at the Osaka Aquarium,.  We initially had reservations about visiting an aquarium in Japan.  I mean, you can see fish in Seattle, right?  Wrong.  The aquarium was easily the best aquarium we've ever been to.  Along with the prerequisite fish (and there were many, from all over the globe), we saw seals, sea lions, otters (the Japanese river otter looks like the progeny of our North American otter and a ferret), dolphins, penguins, turtles, and the giant Japanese spider crab.  But the major draw is the 5,400 cubic meter tank in the center of the aquarium whose star attractions are two manta rays(!) and a whale shark (!!).  We spent over an hour just watching the whale shark do laps around the tank and the manta rays doing loop-dee-loops while hammerheads and sting rays swam along with them.  Our pictures won't do the place justice, but we tried!

Osaka Observations, Day One

Yesterday, we sat on airplanes for 13 total hours.  Despite some funny business at Sea-Tac involving Asiana airlines insisting we hold some sort of ticket out of Japan, 30 minutes of frantic phone calls and web-browsing for tickets, a visit to the back office, and some considerable delay, we enjoyed the flight to Seoul and the flight from Seoul as much as could be expected. As far as airlines go, Asiana got a lot right (a vast selection of free movies including Oscar 2010 contenders, decent food, great service, and surprisingly clean and equipped bathrooms).  We would fly with them again.

That was yesterday. Today, we shook out the crooks and kinks as we walked 3.5 miles from our hotel in Namba to Osaka's glorious Osaka-Jo (Osaka castle).  It felt good to stretch the legs, get the heart pumping, and see the city.  The walk was fantastic, and the destination even better than expected. The castle has spectacular grounds, a fascinating history, and a fine museum.We'll let the photos of the castle speak for themselves!

As interesting as the castle was, the surrounding park and people-watching was today's highlight.  We have really enjoyed observing the differences in culture and behavior.  The people we've interacted with have been so kind and outgoing.  Surprisingly, we've found a lot of English speakers.  Annette even got a gift from one of the volunteers dispensing tourist information at Osaka castle.  The very friendly lady spent around five minutes speaking with us in broken, enthusiastic English and presented us with gifts as our conversation ended.  First, she reached in her bag and pulled out a postcard from the castle.  Then, after some more rustling and mumbling, she presented Annette with a stunning little origami doll.  Too sweet!

Everyone was out today to enjoy the sun and the late-blooming, though still beautiful, cherry blossoms. It was interesting and quite relaxing to sit back watching families, Japanese tour groups, and school-aged children enjoy the wonderful weather and awesome backdrop of the ancient castle and grounds.  For all of the cultural differences between the two cities, today felt a lot like a Spring day in Seattle.  Warming sun, a light breeze, and smiles on nearly every face, happy to be outside soaking up the energy of the city and some rays.

We probably provided plenty of entertainment for local people-watchers too as we bumbled about, stumbled over the few Japanese words we know, and oggled slack-jawed and wide-eyed at every little thing about Osaka that seemed "different."

Following some much needed R&R back at our hotel, we ventured out again in the evening in search of good food.  After being misdirected by Lonely Planet as to the whereabouts of our restaurant choice, we stumbled upon the actual location by accident.  We slurped our udon noodles as loudly as possible in our attempt to fit in.  On our walk back to the hotel, we ventured through the Dotombori, a futuristic Blade Runner-esque shopping and dining arcarde.  All the hip kids were out and about in their outrageous and out-there fashions.  Short skirts and big hair for the girls; big hair and leather jackets for the guys.  The people watching was, again, the highlight.

All in all, a great first day in Japan!

Notes

The free breakfast at our hotel had a noodle salad resembling our pasta salads, or the macaroni salad that comes with Hawaiian plate lunches.  And, surprise, it was delightful with breakfast!

As advertised, there have been lots of fantastic mini-goofs on English-translated signs.  Here's our favorite (with photo): "On this shop you'll be given safety and pleasure never before experienced."  Honorable mention goes the description of a "hot battle" at the Osaka castle museum.

A giant dragon lives behind our hotel!

To Japan, With Love

After serious thought, we decided to keep our plans to travel in Japan.  We had been planning to fly into Tokyo on April 4th since the end of February.  Instead, we flew into Osaka late last night.

The decision to come to Japan was a difficult one to make, partially because the news coming from the affected regions, particularly concerning the badly damaged Fukushima-Diiachi nuclear power plant, was so varried and consistantly evolving.

We considered a few points of view:

On one hand, Japan is still very much a country reeling and recovering from the 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sendai on March 11, 2011 and the ensuing tsunami, and the distruction they both brought. It seems inconsiderate and selfish in some ways to visit a country just after such a severe catastrophe. 

On the other hand, Japan could probably use a little love right now.  It is a small show of support, sure, but keeping our plans to visit Japan would inject a few tourist dollars into a weakened, uncertain economy just as many tourists are crossing Japan from their itineraries. 

We ended up deciding to visit Japan, but with an altered schedule. We changed our flight from Tokyo to Osaka, and we swapped destinations in order to visit southern Japan first and keep an eye on the situation in the north as we do.

The hotels and inns we are staying with, and those we hope to visit later in April that we canceled our initial reservations with, have expressed their gratitude for our still coming to Japan. 

We hope the situation at the power plant stabilizes soon and that the people affected by the unbelievable destruction caused by the natural disasters of early March have a much better April. 

Our thoughts and hearts are with Japan, even as we travel through it in person.

Only the Essentials

Well, this is our next 8 months!

Two backpacks. Two small bags. And a Mariners hat.

Since Jeff is going to miss the entire 2011 campaign (minus 2 games and Spring training), he's bringing the M's with him. Of course!

More to come soon from Osaka...