Today Lily had a great idea to get up early to beat the heat and crowds. We ate 7-Eleven that we got the night before and were out the door at 6am going to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shinto shrine. It is the shrine with well over 1000 tori gates on Continue Reading
Japan Day 9- Arts and Culture Day (Gion Matsuri Festival)
Today started like many of the others. Matt went for a run and we got 7-Eleven for breakfast. Then we went to see two parades, the religious Shinto Flower & Shrine parade and the secular Gion Matsuri Float parade. We strategically stationed ourselves at a street corner to see both. Continue Reading
Japan Day 8 – Bike, NES and Conveyor Sushi
Today we woke up earlier than usual to get to our bike tour in Arashiyama, a town West of Kyoto. We left at 7:15a for the 8am tour. We got to the Arashiyama station and our guide Don was there waiting. We got our bikes and headed straight to the bamboo Continue Reading
Japan Day 7 – Sumo
In Kyoto we continued our typical morning approach. Matt went on a run and we got 7-Eleven for breakfast. Matt’s run was along the Kamo River, which was very popular with bikers, runners and people doing tai-chi. It had concrete blocks in various shapes (like turtles and boats) that you Continue Reading
Japan Day 6- Team Hakone
Belinda and Charles has a relaxing morning of eating at the free breakfast buffet at the hotel and then catching a bus to Lake Ashi to catch the first sailing of the day on the iconic Hakone pirate ship. We were excited to get to Kyoto, the suite and to Continue Reading
Japan Day 6 – Team Fuji – To The Top
We woke up at 2:45am to get ready and we were hiking by 3:10am. We passed old gate 7 and new gate 8 in the dark and saw sunrise at 4:45am. The clouds were layered and we actually got a second sunrise at 5:08am. After some beautiful sunrises, we continued Continue Reading
Japan Day 5- Team Hakone
Charles and Belinda had very little interest in joining the mountain climbers on the trek up on Mt Fuji and opted for two days as tourists in the lovely resort town of Hakone at the base of Mt Fuji. We left the Tokyo hotel about 8:15 took one subway to Continue Reading
Japan Day 5- Team Fuji
Matt Lily, Melanie, Moody and Jo woke up and were out the door at around 6am to start their Mt. Fuji hike. They had their bags delivered to Kyoto by the hotel and then traveled by subway to the bus terminal. Two busses later they arrived at Gate 5 of Continue Reading
Japan Day 4- Asakusa “We Are Samarai”
This morning started like the others with a stop at 7-Eleven for breakfast before heading out. We got all sorts of breakfast treats. Then to the subway to Asakusa to see visit the Samurai museum, see the Senso-ji Buddhist Temple and finally arts and crafts. Starting at the samurai experience, Continue Reading
Japan Day 3- Shibuya and Tokyo Dome
Matt got up early to run a very popular 5K loop that circles the Imperial Palace moat. The plan was to take the subway to skip about third of the loop and jog back to the hotel, which was another 2 miles. Unfortunately, Matt was in the flow and absorbed Continue Reading