"Where in the world are the Hergs?" and flashback to TOKYO

First, where in the world are the Hergs? The short answer is Montgomery, Alabama. The long answer would take me hours to write. Our "in a nutshell" answer is that we will be living in Montgomery for about 8 weeks due to Eric being selected for a course. This means that baby Bean will be joining our family in Alabama instead of Misawa. "The plan" is complicated and ever-changing, but we are thankful to be stateside because it means our families have the opportunity to be more a part of this exciting (and challenging) time in our lives! Planning for and adjusting to the changing circumstances of our situation kept me from blogging about our trip...until now...good thing I kept a paper journal during our travels! I've re-read it to help me conjure up the memories in enough detail to share them with you here.

We jumped off the overnight bus we took from Misawa to Tokyo a little before 7 am on November 11th and were met by a representative from our travel agency who escorted us to our hotel. We were unable to check in to our room until 3 pm so we dropped off our bags in the lobby and headed out for our first day in the city. I expected to be immediately overwhelmed by people and tall buildings, but it was a Sunday morning and the streets, subways, etc. were fairly quiet. Our hotel was really close to one of Tokyo's newest attractions, the Tokyo Skytree, so we walked over to check it out. The Skytree is the new "talk of the town" and a major tourist attraction for people from Tokyo, other places in Japan, and international tourists alike. In addition to being the tallest tower in the world, the Skytree is a broadcasting tower with restaurants, shops, and an observation deck. We did not visit the observation deck on this trip, but revisited the area several times during our stay in Tokyo. We enjoyed admiring the building from up close and afar, during the day and at night. Each night the tower was illuminated with different colored lights and the area around it was beautifully decorated for Christmas while we were there.

We were on our own for our first full day in Tokyo so we rolled up our sleeves and dug into the subway map selecting a few stops we knew we wanted to make. Our first destination after the Skytree was the Tokyo National Museum. The museum has a large collection of art and archaeological objects to include paintings, ceramics, calligraphy, sculptures, costumes, arms, and armor. The museum sits on a beautifully landscaped campus with a lake and Japanese gardens. Nestled within the gardens were replicas of old Japanese tea houses that you could walk through and explore. In the picture below, I am standing next to one of them and the small door to my left was a standard sized entrance of the times. We were told the purpose of the small doors was to prevent Samurai from being able to enter the tea house with the large sword on their belt. In order to enter, their large swords would have to be removed; thus, within the tea house, all were equal.

We spent a lot of time exploring the gardens and enjoying the nice day. We then stopped for a snack and a rest by the lake where we made the decision to head to Shibuya station for our next stop of the day.

Shibuya is a ward or neighborhood in Tokyo known for trendy shopping and night life. Shibuya felt every bit like we imagined Tokyo would feel: hustle & bustle, tall buildings, crowds, sounds, bright lights, and best of all, the people watching is incredible! Right outside of Shibuya Station is Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world.

At Shibuya Crossing, traffic is stopped in all directions and pedestrians are able to cross in all directions simultaneously. The best way to describe what takes place is organized chaos. Somehow, a billion people (I exaggerate a little) cross the intersection without bumping into one another or getting jammed up.  Eric and I crossed the intersection several times ourselves and observed the crossing from a window in a Starbucks that sits above the intersection. We took our own video, but I feel too lazy to mess with uploading it, so click here to see someone else's!

The view as we geared up to cross at Shibuya Crossing.

Just as we were starting to get hungry for lunch, we stumbled upon Tokyo Food Show, which was a "must see" on Eric's list. TFS is part gourmet grocery store, part restaurant, part food theater. Food is displayed like accessories in a retail store or cosmetics in a department store. It is an assault to the senses and an incredible place for any foodie to visit. It is not a place for the indecisive. We circled and stared, calculated and evaluated for what felt like forever before finally selecting various snacks from a Chinese and Vietnamese food stand. We found a random table in the middle of the crowd where we could stand and sample our treats. The food was delicious, but we really could have spent an entire day eating our way through the TFS.

As we made our way back to our hotel for a much deserved rest (especially since we were still trying to recover from our overnight bus trip), we talked about our first impressions of Tokyo. We both agreed that we were already surprisingly enamored with this gigantic city. We felt that it was huge, but amazingly accessible and easy to navigate. We were constantly surrounded by crowds, but never felt panicked or overwhelmed by them. We celebrated our handle of the metro/subway system and the fact that we had already successfully recharged our farecards without help!

The drink on the left is the famous "Denki Bran."

For dinner on the first night, we went to Kamiya Bar, which was the first Western style bar in Tokyo. It is located in Asakusa (another ward- our hotel was also in this ward), an area that, for most of the twentieth century, was considered the major entertainment district of Tokyo. Kamiya Bar is known for a signature drink called, "Denki Bran." It is made from a mix of gin, brandy, and wine. Eric loved it, which came as no surprise, but I tried a sip and really liked it as well. It was very different. After dinner, we took in Asakusa at night and stumbled upon Sensō-ji, which is an ancient (and famous) Buddhist temple. We tried to avoid looking at it too much because we knew it was a stop on our guided tour the next day, but it was simply stunning at night! We hit the hay and slept like rocks in our twin beds (which we learned are typical of Japanese hotels). 

The next morning, before meeting our tour guide for the day, we had our first experience with breakfast in a Japanese hotel...man, was it awful!! I hate to complain, but (generally speaking from an ethnocentric perspective) if there is one thing Japan does not do well, it is breakfast...at least what we consider breakfast. I am sure the Japanese are very happy with their breakfasts. On the other hand, maybe they don't love their breakfasts so much...it could explain the absolute abundance of Denny's restaurants or the fact that people wait for HOURS in long lines to eat at two separate pancake houses...but I digress.

After breakfast, we met our private tour guide in the lobby of our hotel. She was incredible! She was warm yet professional, extremely knowledgeable, and had endless energy (which we learned we were going to need for the long day she had planned for us). Eric asked me to write in the journal that she even asked us to verify her credentials. He thought that was amazing and a perfect example of Japanese professionalism.

Our first stop of the day was the Meiji Jingu Shrine. The shrine was built to commemorate Emperor Meiji who was the highly regarded Emperor of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and Empress Shoken, who was also well-loved and considered to be a model modern Japanese woman. The shrine was originally completed in 1920, but was lost in the fire bombings of WWII and was reconstructed in 1958. We learned that most shrines, palaces, and buildings in Japan are reconstructions. There are very few original structures to be visited in Japan. Our guide explained that tourists are often disappointed by this fact, but that the Japanese consider rebuilding structures with the care and respect to building techniques of the different times to be a way to honor the past.

While at the shrine, our guide taught us how to pay our respects and make offerings. We saw displays of Sake offerings from Sake breweries and French wine from the French government as well as Chrysanthemum offerings. We were lucky enough to see a wedding procession during our visit and before leaving we purchased a token of good luck for a happy and healthy birth for our baby Bean.

Left: wedding procession; Right: "smooth delivery" good luck charm...that is unfortunately still in Japan...

After the shrine, we went to Harajuku, a shopping district popular among pre-teens and teenagers. Harajuku can best be described as an explosion of pop culture! Crowded along an avenue were stores upon stores upon stores selling accessories, clothes, music, candy, and popular snacks. It seemed like THE hot spot for anyone under the age of 17 and looked like a haven for Katy Perry and Lady Gaga fans. It was truly a fascinating place. After walking through Harajuku, we strolled onto Omotesando, which was originally created to be the frontal approach to the Meiji Shrine and is today an avenue of upscale shops. It is known as Tokyo's Champs-Élysées. We walked through a number of malls and shopping centers and visited a beautiful rooftop garden deck, which had comfortable swings, chairs, tables and benches and boasted amazing views of the surrounding city. When we got hungry, we had a traditional Western Japanese lunch (what that means exactly, we are still trying to figure out), but it was delicious! I had a Japanese take on spaghetti and Eric had a rice omelette topped with shredded beef.

We planned to walk off our lunches in the Hama-rikyu Gardens and had to travel through the business district to get there. We quickly transitioned from a high fashion crowd to a men-in-business suits crowd. It was so interesting how throughout Tokyo the look and feel of the crowds varied noticeably depending on the ward or district. The Hama-rikyu is a typical example of the famous gardens of the Edo period (1603-1867). Within the garden, there were two duck hunting sites, a duck grave that housed the spirits of the killed ducks, a 300 year old black pine tree, bridges, seasonal gardens, and a tea house first built in 1707, which was a relaxation spot for Shoguns and other elites of the imperial court.

300 year old black pine (on left)

Tea house (upper right)

Today the tea house is still a great spot to rest, enjoy the views of the garden, and enjoy a cup of tea and a sweet treat. We visited the tea house and participated in a traditional tea ceremony. We learned how to consume the sweets and the proper etiquette to drink the tea from the cup. We tried Matcha, which is powdered green tea. It is a high quality tea and the preferred blend by Japanese tea masters. It is a little bitter (not sure if this is the right word...), but when paired and served with a sweet, it is perfection. 

After the tea ceremony, we made our way down to a dock where we boarded a boat for a 45 minute tour of the Tokyo Bay and Sumida River. The tide was extremely high during the tour and as we crossed under the numerous bridges, everyone aboard worried the boat would not clear the height of the bridges. There was one in particular that I am pretty sure the boat kissed as it passed beneath. After coming out the other side there was a collective "woohoo!" from the passengers on board. The sites of the boat cruise were really cool. Our guide pointed out places we should consider visiting in the future to include a museum dedicated to the Edo period and a famous sumo wrestling house. 

As the boat neared the end of its journey, we made our way back into Asakusa and the Asahi Beer Headquarters came into view. In the picture above, the Asahi Beer Hall is on the top right. It is famous for the "Asahi Flame," which is said to represent the "burning heart of Asahi Beer" as well as a frothy head. The flame was built to compliment the large golden structure to its left, which is supposed to resemble a beer mug. We were told by our tour guide that reactions to the Asahi Flame upon completion of construction were mixed...at best.  

We jumped off the boat in Asakusa and made our way toward Sensō-ji (the Buddhist temple we'd seen the night before). On our way, we stumbled across a visitors center for Asakusa that had an observation deck on the 8th floor. The sun was just beginning to set so we thought it would be a good time for a detour to take in a bird's eye view. From the observation deck, we could see the Skytree and Asahi Flame as well as the Sensō-ji. In the picture on the right, the approach to Sensō-ji is visible from Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate" (in the foreground) to the actual temple (in the background). Shops and food stands, housed under the green roofs, lined the approach to the temple. Our tour guide told us that the famous lantern that sits under Kaminarimon would not be there because it had been damaged in the recent Typhoon and had been sent away for repairs. 

When we arrived at Kaminarimon, we realized (much to our surprise and delight) that the lantern had returned home sometime within the last day. We felt very fortunate to be able to see it. 

By this point, Eric and I were sure that our time with our tour guide had come to an end; however, she had other things in mind! She suggested a walk through the old Geisha district of Asakusa, which would lead us to Kappa-Bashi, which is the restaurant wholesale area of Tokyo. It was a long walk and our feet were killing us, but she was determined to show us the store that sells wax food displays. Wax food models are used by many restaurants throughout Japan to advertise the dishes on their menus. It is a pretty unique aspect of Japanese restaurant culture. 

After parting ways with our guide, we limped back to our hotel to rest up before heading back out to find dinner. It took all of our power to put our shoes back on for our walk to dinner, but we will do pretty much anything for pizza and we had spotted a pizza place we wanted to try in Asakusa. The Pizzeria San Gusto was an amazing brick oven style pizza joint. We had almost the entire restaurant to ourselves, which came as a complete surprise to us being that the food was soooo delicious! 

Breakfast on our second morning in Tokyo was a little better than the first in part because there were different options and in part because we were mentally prepared for it. After breakfast, we got on the subway and made our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This fish market is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world in addition to being one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. Each morning at 5am, the largest fish auction in the world is held at Tsukiji. We, of course, were not there early enough to witness the fish auction, but there was still plenty to look at by the time we arrived. After exploring the market place, we got in line at a sushi restaurant and waited about an hour for a spot at the sushi bar. It was cheat day and sushi time for mama and baby Bean, but I was careful about the selections I made. We had eel, salmon, and shrimp sushi with miso soup. Eric enjoyed a plethora of random sea creatures that literally had come straight out of the ocean....like, right next to us. It was all delicious and ridiculously fresh. Eating sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market: check (sort of...we will have to revisit when I can be a bit more adventurous). 

With bellies full of sushi, we went on to Akihabara, a district known for electronics, manga, video games, and anime. Eric and I were really hoping to see some cosplay folks. We wanted a glimpse of the anime subculture and spent a good amount of time walking around aimlessly looking for landmarks or areas where people into cosplay congregated. We were generally unsuccessful in this mission, but found Akihabara to be interesting nonetheless. It was loud and bustling. Our ears were flooded by electronic music; our eyes blinded by blinky lights, and there were a few people in costume...maybe they come out at night? Google says they come out on Sundays...

By this time, our feet were again screaming at us. In three days in Tokyo, we had walked what felt like 100 miles...and we were both (at this point) still holding onto this crazy idea that we didn't want to look too touristy in our tennis shoes...as if we looked like we belonged otherwise! It seemed like the perfect time to pop into Mister Donut for an afternoon snack and to give our feet a chance to rest. We munched on a munchkin sampler and sipped cafe au laits while we conjured the strength to get back to our hotel for an afternoon nap. 

We debated how to spend our last night in Tokyo and were torn between hopping back on the subway to visit a place with a more active night life or to find something cool to do close to our hotel. We eventually decided to listen to our tired and aching bodies and stick close to "home" for the night. We told ourselves that we would be in Tokyo again one day and that we would probably stay in an entirely different ward, which would give us the opportunity to explore many new areas.

For dinner, we went back to the Skytree area and spent a lot of time looking at the different shops, specialty stores, and restaurants. The entire shopping area is visually stunning, pristine, and amazing. There were a lot of dinner options, but we finally chose to check out this really touristy spot called, The World Beer Museum. The concept was a beer tour around the world with stops at pubs in the Czech Republic, England, Germany, and America. There was a bar decorated in the style of each country and food and beer pairings from each country as well. Since it was getting close to Christmas time, Christmas music from each country took turns being played. When it was America's turn, the soundtrack of choice was American heavy metal Christmas music. It was awesome to watch the Japanese men in business suits sipping beer and talking shop with Iron Maiden screaming "We wish you a merry Christmas" in the background.

We went to bed that night completely exhausted from our whirlwind tour and feeling like there is still so much to explore in Tokyo. We are excited to plan another trip in the future...maybe with some visitors from America?? 

So that was the Tokyo leg of our journey! Holy moly! Blogging about this trip is going to keep me busy for a while...hopefully nothing new, exciting, or noteworthy happens any time soon to distract me from this project...like having a baby, for example...all the more incentive to type quickly! 

Next stop: Kiso Valley the "Japanese Alps"

Trip of a Lifetime!

On November 16, 2013, Eric and I left Misawa to make our way to Tokyo for the first stop on our 13 day/12 night adventure around Japan. We traveled to Tokyo by overnight bus, which ended up being about a 12 hour trip. Bus drivers are required by law to stop 15 minutes for every two hours of driving so the trip was a bit tedious. Besides being tedious (we thought we could deal with tedium because it was half the cost of a train or plane ticket to Tokyo), it was comfortable with the exception of one MAJOR problem...the heat had to have been cranked up to about 80 degrees!! We were so uncomfortably hot for the first four or so hours. We did not want to complain because all of the other people on the bus appeared to be comfortable; even having blankets pulled up to their chins! But I had literally started to sweat through my shirt and could only be comfortable by pressing myself up against the glass window. Eric was trying to be a trooper (I think to help prevent me from having a heat-induced meltdown complicated by pregnancy). We left Misawa at 8pm and at around midnight someone else must have finally said something because it started to feel like it was cooling off. The remaining 8 hours were just fine and we arrived safely (and promptly) in Tokyo at 7am on Novermber 17th.

Waiting for our bus at Misawa Train Station

The trip was absolutely incredible! To plan it we went through a tour company called Backyard Travel and we couldn't have been happier with their services. When we arrived in Tokyo at 7am, a representative met us at the bus station and escorted us to our hotel. Once we arrived and checked in, she sat down with us and provided a packet of train tickets and hotel information, which had all been reserved in advance. She also provided maps and suggestions of how to spend our time in each city as well as alternative day trip options based on our locations. For some cities, the company provided public transportation passes ahead of time and for others they provided information about how the local transportation system operated. They also scheduled a personal tour guide for one of our days in Tokyo and for a half day in Kyoto. Aside from our set arrival and departure times to and from each city and our 1.5 days of tour guides, the rest of the time was ours to use as we pleased. For us, it was the perfect stress-free way to travel. Here is what our final itinerary looked like:

Tokyo: 3 days/3 nights
Kiso Valley considered the "Japanese Alps": 2 days/1 night- arrived in Tsumago and hiked to Magome with an overnight stop at a traditional Japanese Ryokan in between.
Takayama: 2.5 days/2 nights
Kanazawa: 1.5 days/1 night
Kyoto: 2.5 days/3 nights
Hiroshima 1.5 days/2 nights

Backyard Travel even thought of the little things like making sure to reserve us seats in either the very front or very back of each train car so we would have extra room. They were amazing and their efforts resulted in the most amazing trip ever! I am going to blog about each stop separately because otherwise it would be the longest blog entry in the history of blogging (and I already have a track record for long entries...)!

Stay tuned!

Feasting and Festive Festivaling!

Japan- land of the festival. Since our arrival, there has been no shortage of festivals to attend. Something is always being celebrated. What an excellent way to live! At any given festival you can expect to find food, families, vendors selling handicrafts or homemade/homegrown food, and some type of entertainment be it singing, drumming, drawings for prizes, or some type of competition. We have been to a number of festivals at this point, but two stand out as the most memorable: the Beef and Garlic Festival in Takko Town and the Rokkasho Salmon Festival.

Celeb sighting!

The Beef and Garlic festival takes place in Takko Town, which grows more garlic than any other area in Japan. Naturally, the purpose of the festival is to celebrate garlic! And what goes better with garlic than beef? The people of the town invite people from all over to join them in a giant outdoor BBQ extravaganza! At the festival, each person is given a food kit that contains a significant amount of beef, garlic, veggies, and sauce. After you've retrieved your kit, you make your way to the grilling area and look for a spot to set up shop. There are about 50-100 outdoor grills set up and you can probably fit between 8-12 people around each grill. This type of set up gives people the opportunity to mingle with strangers while preparing their feasts. Eric and I wondered around the grill field trying to determine how one chooses a spot. 

We got brave and tried to stake out a space, but were then given the universal "no no" sign by one of the guys maintaining the grills. He indicated that another family had dibs (even though we had arrived first...VIPs maybe?). We continued to wander and search when all of the sudden a very jolly man waved us over to join his party. He was with a group of about 8 other people who all gave us a very warm welcome to their fire pit. They shared their food with us (even though we had plenty of our own) and challenged us to eat whole cloves of grilled garlic. We chatted with them throughout the meal- they spoke Japanese and we spoke English, and this did not seem to matter to anyone. The food was abundant and delicious and of course outdoor cooking is always a good time. After a substantial lunch, Eric and I thanked the man and his friends for their hospitality. We then took our lawn chairs and went off to find a spot to enjoy the entertainment. 

There were singers, drummers, dancers, and large plushy creatures. What more could you want? At one point, I scanned the crowd and my eyes met our jolly friend's eyes. He got excited and waved Eric and I back over to their group. We walked over and when we got there, they all jumped out of their chairs, inviting us to sit down and join them again. Eric and I ran back to retrieve our own chairs, and they moved theirs apart so we could sit right in the middle of their group. They kept calling Eric James Dean, which was pretty awesome. We didn't have the heart to tell them James Dean was dead. 

Our jolly friend :)

We sat with our new friends and continued our "conversation." While we sat, chatted, and laughed, we were treated to a garlic spitting contest. I don't think I need too elaborate on this. It was exactly what it sounds like and every bit as entertaining as you are imagining. Overall it was an amazing (and filling) day! We are already looking forward to going back next year. 

At the Rokkasho Salmon Festival, guests are invited to try to catch salmon with their bare hands out of giant wading pools stocked with huge salmon. There are three "catching times" during which about 100 people line up for a three minute chance to catch their fish....the first five people to catch a fish run over to another area where their salmon race each other across sandbags. While waiting in line, Eric was of course befriended by another very friendly Japanese man who made sure (through  hand gestures and sign language) that Eric got a prime spot by the pool and that we understood I could accompany Eric into the pool area to take pictures.

The contestants gather around the pool. They are all different ages from young children to elderly men and women. There are people in waders and people in gym shorts. There is much conversation and thought about strategy. 

Hands go up into the air and the countdown begins...10, 9, 8...it is done in both Japanese and English. Then, the clock starts, contestants jump into the pool, and three minutes of mayhem ensues. People and fish are flopping all over the place. The fish are jumping and splashing. Everyone is laughing, cheering, and smiling. The mayhem is punctuated by what can only be described as circus music. It is completely amazing. 

About a minute and half into the three minutes, Eric had caught his fish. He was completely soaked, but very happy about his victory. He said the experience was intense. He said the fish were super slippery, fast and strong. His advice to future salmon catching enthusiasts, "grab a hold, hold on, hug it and love it."

After the three minutes was up, everyone lines up again to have their fish cleaned and packed on ice. Eric decided to take ALL the parts home...and use everything.

One of the things I love and admire about Eric is that he completely throws himself into all experiences. When he decides to do something, he is 100% dedicated to it. When we got home with our fish, he got right to cleaning it up and preparing it for various meals. He saved parts for soup stock, prepared filets for grilling and freezing, and cleaned and brined the roe. That night for dinner we had fresh salmon on the grill. It was amazing! 

The next night we had salmon head soup...I was very leery of this idea, but by the time the soup made it to my bowl, there was no salmon head floating in there, just pieces of tender and delicious salmon cheek. YUM. Plus, who can complain about being cooked for two nights in a roe? Hahaha, get it?

Okay, I'm done :)

Labor Day Weekend: Rained Out Edition

We had grand plans to go camping over Labor Day weekend. We even got as far as having the car packed, but when we stopped by Outdoor Rec to rent some equipment, the guy working there said, "just be really careful with the typhoon coming..." All of the sudden, the slightly overcast sky seemed a lot more ominous. Eric and I pushed "pause" on our plans and took time to re-evaluate. We were supposed to meet some new friends who had gone to the campsite a day earlier. They had called around the same time we received the typhoon warning to finalize directions and also to let us know they understood if we were re-thinking our plans in light of the dark sky. They reported that they had already spent one really rainy night under the stars...

Eric and I decided then and there to save camping for another weekend. Suddenly we were looking at a four day weekend with no plans, which almost threw us into a panic as we do not want to waste any time off of work that he has. We were dealing with other things too...mainly, the overwhelming shock of losing my cousin, Michael. We were feeling an intense combination of devastation and desire to live life to its fullest because...you never know. We needed a place to regroup and we still had some sun so we decided to head to the base lake and rent a kayak for some time on the water. We spent an hour or so out on the lake and discussed various ways we could spend the rest of our weekend together.

A couple of Eric road snack selections...

He always chooses the funky-est stuff he can find.

The weekend ended up being a good combination of trying new things and quiet time together. Not the weekend we imagined, but definitely the weekend we needed. Eric suggested that on Saturday we try to jump on, last minute, a tour run by the base of a place called Osorezan. He called and asked the tour office if there was any room left on the bus. They responded that there were in fact two empty seats, but that they were not together. Deciding that we could handle sitting separately for a couple of hours, Eric and I joined the tour.

It rained the entire day of the tour, but we made every effort to make the most of it. Our first stop was at Yagan Valley, a very remote wooded area with a river and hiking paths, which I believe eventually lead to the west coast. We were given time to hike or to enjoy the onsen (natural hot bath) there. Eric and I opted to hike in the rain. In the picture on the left, I am posing with a statue of the famous Kappa. Remember? The colonoscopy fish?

We came back from our hike chilly and wet, but quickly warmed up with huge bowls of ramen at the noodle shop in the valley. The noodles in Eric's ramen were made of squid ink, hence the black color. Remember what I said about funky? After lunch, we rolled up our pants and soaked our feet in a natural hot spring until it was time to get back on the bus. We had to resist the urge to submerge our whole bodies and stay for the rest of the day...perhaps the onsen would have been the better choice...

Back on the bus, we made our way to Osorezan. By the time we arrived, the rain was really falling hard. We walked around taking in the sites and smells. There is a strong smell of sulfur in the air at Osorezan. We stopped as often as we could to take pictures of the remarkable landscape. It reminded me of other wondrous places I've visited (Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Persepolis)...you have to see it to believe it. It almost felt like we'd left our planet and landed on another...maybe this is what Mars feels like?

Osorezan is considered one of the three holiest sites of Japan and was founded in the ninth century by Japanese Buddhist priest, En'nin. Following a dream, he was sent by a holy monk from China to Japan to search for a sacred mountain. The mountain that he found after extensive traveling and many hardships was Osorezan. Osorezan is also referred to as, "The Gates of Hell." This is due to both the landscape (the area is covered by boiling, sulfurous lakes) and the fact that it is the place of worship of the bodhisattva Jizo. Jizo  "vows to suffer hell himself to alleviate the pain of those condemned to hell, to free human beings from the illusions of life and death in this world, and to lead even heavenly beings of the purer world into eternal salvation." (from Osorezan literature). It is said that people in the region believe that all people will go to Osorezan after death. For over a thousand years, people have visited Osorezan bringing prayers and wishes for loved ones. It seemed an appropriate destination for Eric and myself that weekend.

While at Osorezan, Eric and I searched for a spot where we could take a moment to honor Michael. People who visit Osorezan to offer prayers and wishes for loved ones recently departed build little towers of rocks, which serve as bridges or paths to ease their loved ones' journey into the afterlife. We knew that our family was gradually congregating in Arkansas to celebrate Mike's life and mourn our loss. To build little bridges of their own. To hug each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other, and comfort each other. We could not be there, but together we took the time to perform a ritual of our own. To hug, cry, laugh, and comfort each other. We picked a place to build Michael's bridge that we knew he would like: high up on a hill, overlooking a beautiful lake.

We made our way back to the bus absolutely drenched and vowing to return to Osorezan again so we could have more time to take it all in.

The rest of the weekend was restful, quiet, and perfect. The only other "reportable" event that took place was our visit to the Misawa McDonald's. If ever we stop at a foreign McDonald's, we order two #1s and attempt to rate how they stack up to others we've tried. We have a veeeery short list of competitors at this point. We have our work cut out for us...though it is hard to stop at McDonald's when you are traveling in new areas and are determined to try as much of the local cuisine as possible. Anyway, here are the current rankings in our Big Mac Challenge: France > Misawa > USA. France wins because beers came with the value meal for the same price as soda or water. Japan should win because the craftsmanship of the sandwich was far superior to any of its competitors. And the USA would win if more people took pride in craftsmanship....and if beer was a beverage option. As you can see...our standards are quite rigorous and the rankings are very firm.

Micky D's: Paris version

Misawa McDonald's

It took me a lot of time and tears to get through writing this entry...and it seems funny that it ended up concluding with my memories about our Big Mac Challenge that weekend. I suppose if I look for some kind of deeper meaning I could say that it is symbolic of life. Life is not always fair and sometimes it is downright painful, but it does go on, doesn't it? One Big Mac at a time.