Hanami Hope

This morning, we did another family rendezvous! My cousin’s son coincidentally was in Tokyo with a friend and had reached out a week ago to let us know. His name is Jinhyung (진형) and is actually closer to me in age than his mother / my cousin. His grandmother is my mom’s sister and he had spent considerable time crashing on my couch when he studied abroad in the US in 2014. He had taken my mom to dinner on Friday when Justin met a friend, and we all met for breakfast in Tokyo station before his flight back to Seoul.

Below is our sushi breakfast and a quick photo before he headed to the airport. He reminded us that the jacket he was wearing was given to him by my father…another timely coincidence…





I had hoped to go to the Kusama museum as it was sold out the last time I was here. But unfortunately, it’s between exhibits and closed. I also realized other museums were closed this week and suspect they use this popular time for folks to enjoy the outdoors for exhibition transitions, renovations, and etc.

We walked over to the Imperial Palace and walked around the gardens and Chidorigafuchi Moat. Although I had planned this trip 9 months ago, I was hoping we would overlap with the peak bloom of cherry blossoms. Last week it was projected to be today, but due to a cold snap, it’ll be in the next few days. Here you can see it starting to bloom and although we saw some bright trees, it is not yet full bloom.





However, the palace grounds and parks were packed with families, foreigners, and picnickers. They were all hoping for Hanami which literally translates to "flower watching" where folks gather around and enjoy the cherry blossom trees. I had originally projected that the post title would be “Hanami Time”, but we enjoyed intermittent trees as we will have to wait for full bloom. On the plus side, this does give us hope we will not be past full bloom when we head south on Tuesday.

Also today it was over 80 degrees - felt more like summer than spring! We rocked our shades in front of these castle ruins on the Imperial Palace grounds:



We also walked by this event center where mega fans of this cartoon character were dressed and getting merchandise:





We then took the subway to Harajuku and enjoyed iced coffees and rested on couches in the 2nd floor coffee shop of the train terminal. We needed the respite before heading to the Meiji Shrine. Again it was packed, but the Japanese are very orderly as they generally walk on the left side of the paths and are mindful. Here, we enjoyed the torii gate and paid our respect to the entrance of the sacred area by bowing:





On the path, we walked by the Meiji Sake barrels:



And washed our hands and rinsed our mouths to purify ourselves:



We entered the shrine area where we couldn’t take photos as we made wishes and threw coins:



We did however see several weddings like I had seen back in 2017. These Shinto wedding ceremonies are apparently decreasing in number as less people are getting married, but the Meiji Shrine is still the most popular place to wed. Here are two different processions led by Shinto priests and attendants followed by close family and friends:





Afterwards, they took family and group photos around the plazas:



We walked back down the path and hopped into a café where we enjoyed matcha and chocolate gelato yogurt:



After resting here, we were headed to Gyukatsu Motomura. We passed all the big consumer brands on Omotesando street in search of the restaurant. My brother saw a Gyukatsu sign and the restaurant was on the basement floor. After the meal upon receiving the sticker, I realized we ended up at Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu instead! Two different gyukatsu chains on the basement floor 1 block away from each other! 

The restaurant was busy with high turnover and folks queuing up for tables. Although it was not our planned gyukatsu restaurant, it was destiny as we loved their beef katsu. We enjoyed different cuts such as sirloin and tenderloin, sampled the various dipping sauces, and even ordered an extra wagyu set to share. A collage below including the little hot plate where you cook your beef to your liking:



After dinner we walked through Takeshita Street which was filled with shops, food fads such as strawberries on a stick and corn dogs, and pet cafés for those who like dogs, cats, and piglets!



We then to took the train 2 stops to the massive Shinjuku train station as we were headed to the Metropolitan Government Building. Starting in February, they started a nightly light show that apparently has the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest in the world. We sat on fake grass where we followed others and took off our shoes and were moderately entertained by “Tokyo Concerto” for 15 minutes:





We hailed a taxi back to our hotel and paid with Pasmo credit. We had walked over 17,500 steps and wanted to get some rest before heading early to the fish market tomorrow. What a sunny and spring way to spend Easter in Japan! Happy Easter everyone!

Japan Rendezvous

My flight was uneventful and the 14 hour or so flight time went by pretty quickly as I binged the first season of Billions. After so many years of traveling to Asia, I realize that my endurance is high for these long hauls. For the meal, I had the Japanese-style pork made in America as described by the flight attendant.

When we landed, I was definitely coming from Atlanta instead of New York as getting off the airport and walking through the terminal had a southern pace. I whipped by the other passengers, went through immigration, and zipped through customs with my Visit Japan QR code that I had setup online.

I quickly found the Keikyū airport train which brings you straight into the city and I got off at Shimbashi train station. After about an 8 minute walk, I arrived at the Ibis Styles Ginza, an Accor hotel, where I met my mom and brother. I was at the hotel in under 40 minutes unlike my mom and brother who apparently hit a lot of traffic coming from Narita on the airport bus yesterday. It’s one of the busiest times of the year and why the hotels are like double the price. Nonetheless, the Ibis Styles was clean with slippers and pajamas, and of course a fancy Japanese toilet. Justin was off to see an old high school friend, and I napped after a shower.

Around 7 pm, we motivated and walked to the Uniqlo Flagship Store. Ginza is known as a shopping and high-end sushi neighborhood. The Uniqlo flagship had come up in my Instagram algorithms and there were a lot of foreigners designing customized shirts. My mom and I tried on a few pairs of pants in the dressing room stalls where you take off your shoes and they swiffer the floor between each patron. Gotta love Japan for their cleanliness and etiquette!

As many know I pin lots of restaurants and create travel maps, so we walked over to one of my ramen pins nearby. We saw a long line in front of this place and stood in line:



But then I realized that wasn’t the place I had pinned, so we switched to an even longer line next door:



It’s called Tokyo Abura Soba which means oil noodle and is a soupless ramen. Apparently, it has 30% less calories and 50% less sodium than traditional ramen. We order and pay in advance and we’re given these bibs for the potential oil splatter:





After our soupless ramen, we walked to a 7 Eleven where I was looking for the Crême Brûlée ice cream that also came up in my Instagram. I showed my mom the instant smoothies and other clever snacks - convenience stores here are quite resourceful. I also was able to collect cash from the ATM after having failed at the Mizuho ATM while in the ramen line. Apparently 7 Eleven ATMs are very foreign bank card friendly. We enjoyed the ice cream as it cleansed the palate after our dinner:



I was pretty proud to have navigated the self-checkout and we used my mom’s transit card in her phone to cover both dinner and dessert. I had loaded on all our iPhones the Japanese transit card in Apple Wallet. I added Pasmo as that’s what I had used in 2017 but had returned the original card to retrieve my card deposit; but for whatever reason, my mom and my brother could only add Suica. Either way, Pasmo and Suica are interchangeable and apparently there’s a chip shortage so they are encouraging the e-cards. I had used it seamlessly on the airport train and my family used theirs when visiting Sensoji temple in Asakusa today. Here’s the screenshot of how to add the card:



I’m pretty proud that I managed to get up from my nap and in an effort to kick the imminent jet lag. Back in 2017, I slept through dinner when I landed in Tokyo. Here are my posts from my trip back then for fun:
http://leadingalifeofcyn.blogspot.com/search/label/Tokyo

What a long day, but it’s wonderful to be back here and appreciating the cleanliness and etiquette of Japan, and being with the family!

Without Dad

As many of you know, my mom, brother, and I have done a lot of trips together in the last year - Savannah / Hilton Head, Alaska, Albuquerque / Santa Fe with the three of us and other relatives. I also took my mom with Mary Ann and her mom and sister on a Marian Trip visiting Fatima, Lourdes, and Montserrat and New Orleans with my aunt and cousin. And then my mom went also to Italy and Vail with her friends.

2023 was a year full of travel - my mom said that she hadn’t been on a plane so much in one year and she averaged once a month!

So when Justin said, "I want to go somewhere, I want to go" and I asked “Where?” Unsurprisingly, he responded with "Japan".

Justin has been 4 times, and he always wanted to take our dad. So as I thought about it, I decided we had to go in early April to see the Cherry Blossoms. Justin's response was, "so you want to go the most expensive time of the year?" Having felt I had just gone in 2017 with fresh memories, I responded "Yes - it’ll feel different". So for Justin's 5th, my 2nd, and my mom's 1st, we are off to Japan for about 10 days.

My brother flew yesterday and transferred in Seoul where he met my mom who has been in an AirBnB for the last 10 days seeing friends. And I fly today via Atlanta landing in Tokyo tomorrow.

I'm excited for this trip and of course, wish my dad could be here. He had not been to Japan either, but I'm glad we're going somewhere Justin really wanted to go and as he always wanted to take my parents.

Before the pandemic, we all went to Chicago for Mother’s Day weekend and before I had a conference. I know my dad enjoyed it because he brought up Chicago a few times when he was in the hospital. And although he can’t be in Japan with us, we know he’ll be with us in spirit as we approach the 3 year anniversary.

A few fun selfies from May 2019 in Chicago…





My brother and mom rendezvoused in Seoul and I tracked my mom on her way to the airport….so proud of her independence and technology capabilities!



We are boarding now and in 15 hours, I’ll be back in Asia with the family!