Bow When You Say That

Greetings from Tokyo. I’ve been having a wonderful time. SD was here on business, so I joined him at the end of his week and we are spending a week vacationing here. SD has been to Japan many times over the years and has made a lot of friends. Since he’ll be retiring at the end of the year, this will be his last reason to travel to Japan for business purposes. So this is a bittersweet trip for him.

This is the second time I’ve been to Japan—I spent two weeks here 5 years ago and it was one of my favorite vacations. SD was here on business then, too, and we were treated like royalty! On this trip, we are only staying in Tokyo, but we took a side trip to the Hokone National Park, We were there for two nights, and stayed at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. I’ll tell you more about that later; I’ll start with the beginning of my trip.

I arrived on Friday night, and went straight to dinner with SDs business associates. I was kind of proud of myself, as I got to the hotel from the airport without any mishap. I don’t do well in strange situations. In reality, it was very easy and SD gave me very good instructions. We stayed at a very nice hotel, and I slept comfortably for about 5 hours. I woke up about 3 a.m. and stayed awake. That’s been the pattern ever since, but I’m able to stay awake longer during the day.

Imperial Running
“You never let rain keep you from running before,” SD pointed out when I whined about getting out of bed for this, referring to the threatening sky. I hate it when he does that. So I bucked up and laced up my running shoes. The weather in Tokyo had been extremely warm and humid, so I packed accordingly—running skirts and tank tops. Unfortunately for me, the weather changed and it was drizzling when I headed out. I had on a windbreaker and figured that would have to do. We are staying in the Ginza district, and I headed to the Imperial Palace, where there is a 5K path.

There were a few other runners out, and I wasn’t the only gai jin; nor was I the only woman. I was however, the only woman gai jin. So I felt self-conscious. But the running felt great! The path around the Imperial Palace runs alongside a moat; I’m sure that is the first time I ran along a moat before! The grounds were beautiful and I was able to pick up the pace on some of the long, straight stretches. There was supposed to be a path inside the grounds as well, but I didn’t see it. Besides, the light drizzle at the start of my run turned into rain. I wished I had packed my running cap to keep the water off my face.

After the Imperial Palace run, I crossed the street to Hibiya Park, a beautiful park in the style of European parks. It may have been the first one in that style. I ran around there until I reached 5 miles, then headed to the Segafreddo where I met SD for our morning latte and croissant.

Culture Shock
Tokyo is quite modern and cosmopolitan, especially in the Ginza. The rain never let up all day, and since it was Monday, the museums were closed. So we went to the movies, something we never do in a foreign country. Our concierge was very helpful and found a English-speaking movie for us to attend. Movies here are expensive--$17 per ticket! And the seats are reserved, like in a theatre. We saw Ironman, which we missed at home. It was a good movie, in case you haven’t seen it. It had Japanese sub-titles, so there were a lot of Japanese people there. No one made a sound through the entire movie—the Japanese raise politeness to an art form!

Seaweed. It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
On Tuesday, we took the train to Hakone, the mountain range west of Tokyo. We stayed at a Ryokan there, a traditional Japanese inn. We sat on the tatami to eat our meals and slept on the tatami at night. It wasn't the nicest ryokan, but the food was excellent. We were there for two nights and were served traditional Japanese dishes for breakfast and dinner. Lots of fish and pickled vegetables. In truth, I didn't know much about what I was eating, but it was all good. The only thing I disliked was some smelly condiment they seem to be quite fond of.

One of my favorite things about Japan is the baths. They are communal, but segregated by sex. You sit at a shower area and wash from head to toe, then climb into the hot tubs. It's kind of like a small swimming pool, but filled with mineral water from the nearby hot springs. There are several different pools, with hot, hot water that comes up to your chin. It feels so wonderful! They also had an outdoors pool, which was within a garden. I like the outdoor ones the most because of this.

When you have all the heat you can stand, you climb into a cold tub. I think the Japanese must have created the ice bath. :-) The first time I climbed in, I could only go as far as my knees, but after climbing back into the hot tub, I was able to immerse myself in the cold water on the second try. It's a strange sensation to sit in such cold water. You get a little lightheaded and it feels like you're breathing in menthol. I made myself get out before I fainted or something.

On Wednesday, we did the tourist thing in the Hakone area, which was fun but the rain followed us there. At one point, we were on a ropeway, kind of like the sky ride at Disneyland, and hovering up into the mountains. It was a little unnerving, but the clouds obscured the emptiness below. The sun was shining the next morning, so we went back up and were rewarded with a birds-eye view of Mt. Fuji! It was great.

Sushi for Breakfast
Back to Tokyo on Thursday and we stayed at a fabulous hotel called the Conrad. It is not the kind of place we usually stay (too expensive), but SD cashed in his Hilton points so we didn't have to cough up any money. I figured that was my reward for all the years of shoveling snow while he was off on his business trips. This hotel had a beautiful spa and workout room on the 28th floor and an infinity swimming pool with walls of glass. It was just the thing to loosen up after a day of traveling.

On Friday I wanted to go out for a ten mile run. The web site that I found mentioned a river that was a good place for a long run, because it had bike paths. Unfortunately, that was too far away, so I went back to the Imperial Palace. I ran through Hibiya Park and then once around the palace. There were a lot of runners there this time. Then I reversed direction for another loop around the palace, only I found another park and ran through there for a bit before finishing the loop. I managed to go 8 miles and I had it. I like a change of scenery when I run, and this wasn't any fun. Plus, I had no one to talk to, so I went back to Segafreddo for a latte.

Back at the hotel, I got ready for lunch. We had reservations at a beautiful Japanese restaurant where SD had dinner last week. We sat on tatami and were served course after course of delicious food by a kimono-clad waitress. Don't ask me what I had, but it was all good. We had a private room which looked out to the gardens. Lunch lasted three hours! We skipped dinner and just wandered around the Ginza that night.

This morning, Saturday, we went to the Tsujiki fish market, where the majority of fish comes in for the country. Wandering around there is like walking through an old Humphrey Bogart movie. It's old and foreign and just wonderful! In addition to the fishmongers, there are peddlers selling other things. SD wanted to buy a knife, so we found a good place for one.

My plane is boarding now, so I have to run! I'll post pictures when I get home. Sayonara, Tokyo. Arrigato gazaimas!