We had a great time visiting Tokyo over the Christmas break. Here are a few of the highlights. . .
You can see Tokyo in the far, far background. The picture is taken from an overlook while hiking up Mt. Takao, which is a small mountain about 45 miles southwest of Tokyo. We hiked it on New Year's day and had quite the experience. There's a big shrine at the top so there were literally thousands of Japanese hiking with us. Upon seeing MANY older couples climbing, we foolishly thought, "Surely we can easily climb it, instead of waiting 45-60 min. for a cable car or chair lift. We may even beat those in line to top." At the taking of this picture, we were only about 45 minutes into our THREE HOUR hike UP the mountain. And I do mean UP - at least 1/2 , if not more, of the hike was at a 45 degree angle. The hike was scenic, and very beautiful, but FREEZING cold!! Having come from Okinawa, we didn't have the proper clothing to keep us warm. Thank goodness for 100 Yen stores where we could at least buy hats, scarves, and gloves. We rode the chair lift down, and the view of the city lights at night was incredible, but we definitely had to thaw out once we reached the bottom. While waiting to go down the mountain, Tanner and Rachel and I (Sloan) huddled around the hibachi of a woman trying to sell cooked mochi. I'm not sure how happy she was (although several Japanese joined us). Fortunately we couldn't understand what the people around us were saying - I only knew that it brought some warmth to our frigid bodies.
"The Emperor of Japan and Imperial Family. If you look close you can tell he's waving directly at me. We're tight." quote from Chad
Chad and Jessica enjoying BBQ squid. Mmmmm!!
You have to love Japlish!
You can see Tokyo in the far, far background. The picture is taken from an overlook while hiking up Mt. Takao, which is a small mountain about 45 miles southwest of Tokyo. We hiked it on New Year's day and had quite the experience. There's a big shrine at the top so there were literally thousands of Japanese hiking with us. Upon seeing MANY older couples climbing, we foolishly thought, "Surely we can easily climb it, instead of waiting 45-60 min. for a cable car or chair lift. We may even beat those in line to top." At the taking of this picture, we were only about 45 minutes into our THREE HOUR hike UP the mountain. And I do mean UP - at least 1/2 , if not more, of the hike was at a 45 degree angle. The hike was scenic, and very beautiful, but FREEZING cold!! Having come from Okinawa, we didn't have the proper clothing to keep us warm. Thank goodness for 100 Yen stores where we could at least buy hats, scarves, and gloves. We rode the chair lift down, and the view of the city lights at night was incredible, but we definitely had to thaw out once we reached the bottom. While waiting to go down the mountain, Tanner and Rachel and I (Sloan) huddled around the hibachi of a woman trying to sell cooked mochi. I'm not sure how happy she was (although several Japanese joined us). Fortunately we couldn't understand what the people around us were saying - I only knew that it brought some warmth to our frigid bodies.
"The Emperor of Japan and Imperial Family. If you look close you can tell he's waving directly at me. We're tight." quote from Chad
Chad and Jessica enjoying BBQ squid. Mmmmm!!
You have to love Japlish!
1 comment:
Only Jessica can still look beautiful with chewed squid hanging out of her mouth! :-)
Looks like a fun trip! Say HI to the emperor for me next time you see him.
~Brooke
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