Concere Utsunomiya

... obstacles from Ninja Warrior (Sasuke as known in Japan). Larry and I have seen some of the shows so we thought it was be really cool to try some of the challenges. At Muscle Park they had the hand bike (you pedal across this horizontal area using your hands), cliffhanger (you have to maneuver though these ledges that are as thick as your finger tips), salmon ladder (a pull up bar where you have to kind of pull up and at the same ...

... a little air dryer for your backside). There's an internal fan that comes on to avoid any unpleasant odors. There's probably a button to cause wheels to appear so you can drive the thing down the street... Anyway, suffice it to say that the Japanese have advanced the technology of toilets.

Now, could somebody explain to them to adopt toilet paper with a little more heft than single ply?

...oder wir zu ihm.

Tja, jeder, der eines Tages vor hat, Japan zu erkunden, der kann getrost einen grossen Bogen um Nikko machen, ausser man steht auf Pensionistenstadt und absolut totes Nachtleben. Eins muss man dem kleinen Oertchen lassen, es gibt echt schoene, gruene Waelder, Berge und einen sehr netten Fluss. Dort haben wir auch ein schoenes Plaetzchen zum Zeit totschlagen gefunden, weil`s ja sonst nichts gibt.

Wir haben uns ...

... and scallop), beef, tempura and some unknowns that tasted great. Washed down with a big, cold Asahi beer!

Then, bath time. Wow. First time in a Japanese bath. Private, not a sento, but hot enough to peel paint and just the thing for sore muscles. The whole Japanese process where you shower/rinse first, then get in the tub to soak.

Nun, gestern haben wir schweren Herzens mein geliebtes Tokyo hinter uns gelassen und haben unsere erste Shinkansenfahrt gen Nikko angetreten.
Es gab ein paar Zeitprobleme, allerdings fahren diese Zuege so ca. alle 20 min, darum war das dann auch nicht wirklich ein Problem. Allerdings kamen wir genau wie vorhergesagt, jedoch nicht wie geplant irgendwann nach 6, also dann, als schon finster war, in der menschenleeren Kleinstadt... naja, im Vergleich zu ...

Today I went on my first outing on my lonesomen (without the aid of my guide Toshimi). I decided to go Nikko, a town north of Tokyo which features an interesting temple, a beautiful lake, and a fresh mountain air experience. After a little confusion at the train station I finally got on the right train which would take me north of Tokyo and toward my destination. Half of the fun of using the train as transportation is you get to see a ...

As the proverb goes, Don't say, "fine" until you visit Nikko." Was it so fine? That was the question bringing me to Nikko. Nikko is far from Tokyo and it takes more than 2 hours to get there. I took a long distance night bus from Nagoya, arriving at Tokyo at 6 in the morning and it was enogh to make it to the Tobu train from Asakusa at 7:10, arriving at Nikko 9:20 by rapid-transit train ...

... we got a combined ticket for 1000Y otherwise most temples would have cost 1300Y each. The area has been designated a World Heritage Site. The most important and famous is the Toshogu Shrine, inside the gate is a horse stable with the three wise monkeys carved, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. All the temples were very nice and not very crowded and they were surrounded by moss covered stone walls and fences.

... las dos calles principales, unas exposiciones con estatuas de cera representando la vida de los samurais y los metodos de tortura de sus prisiones y, por supuesto, tiendas de souvenirs. Tenian mascota y todo, Nyan-mage, pero era un poco cutre: un gato blanco con pelo de samurai.


Lo primero que vimos fue un espectaculo de ninjas, en forma de teatro. Te contaban una historia de un ninja al que su maestro manda en una mision Aparecen unos ninjas malos, que matan a su ...

... glass. I didn't realize what had happened until just then... I hadn't returned the gesture of the pouring of beer after it had been poured for me... and I guess since I was looking around, it appeared as if I wasn't intending to pour the drink for her in return! Ahhh! Social faux pas much? Again, embarassment + blushing + vigourous apologies + dying a little more. The doctor just laughed and assured me that she didn't care about those kinds of cultural gestures. yikes...

So ...