Bike Tour #1 Tuna Tuna Tuna Everywhere

Bike Tour #1 Tuna Tuna Tuna Everywhere 

As I woke this morning I had no expectations as to what lie ahead. I knew we would be touring with Tokyo Great Cycling Tour seeing many parts of Tokyo by bicycle. After which we would me meeting a friend from our days of SCUBA diving. 

Coffee and Tea was made and enjoyed along with a a light breakfast in our room. We again started out early to make our way to the office of Tokyo Great Cycling Tour (TGCT). The journey went smoothly and we arrived early. So we wondered about the neighborhood and found a very close by coffee shop where we had coffee and a tuna sandwich. We wanted to get some protein in as we knew the day would be long. 

We then made our way to the TGCT office where we signed our waivers and received helmets and bikes, as well as placed our choice for lunch. The bikes are an 8 speed hybrid style, steel frame, well maintained and in good working order and the tires were at a proper inflation. 

Group members from all over, the UK, Netherlands, Brazil and the US. 

Our guide was Kazu and he had an assistant , sadly I can to recall her name at this time.  From the shop we ride to Sumida river, and pedal along the river. The roads and paths are well maintained and the traffic is light. We make our way to Tsukuda-Jima, an old fisherman's island. One can feel the old village atmosphere. Fishing boat here and there and everywhere, small roadways, more akin to an alleyway. Here we stopped at the Fisherman’s Shrine. A pocket of serenity in the middle of the busy village. This is where the fishermen would come to pray for safety and a good catch. We were offered a small fish that had bee soaked in soy and sugar. Very tasty. 

One should know, in an oversimplified manner, a Shrine is Shinto and a Temple is Buddhist. 

When then pedal to Tsukiji Fish Market. The worlds biggest fish market. We were given time to explore on our own as guide are not permitted to bring groups into the market. What an experience, fish of every shape and size was available in this hyper busy market. Small truck like vehicles whizzed about carrying the various products. Men with hand carts also moving the wares, some of the fish were being processed with either large bandsaws or filet knives. Here our guides found a surprise for us, more on that later.  

Our ride continues to Haruni and we cross a large bridge taking us to Odaiba. At the crest of the bridge we stop for a small ice-cream snack. The guides make sure our water bottles are topped off all teh time. It was as if a water fairy would do magic and keep them filled. 

We make a top at at shopping center where there is a 5 story model of a popular Japanese Transformer. The we make our way to the waterfront where we have a picnic lunch. 

We sit under Japanese Pine trees along the water front and enjoy a very nice bento box for lunch. I chose pork and Lynn had mackerel. The box contained ones choice, sweet peas, a salad and various vegetables. All was excellent. Then came the surprise. While we were running about the fish market our guides purchased some fresh tuna for us. This was simply amazing, the best tuna I have ever experienced. the flavor was mellow and the texture was of melting butter in ones mouth. Yes I had died and gone to heaven. 

From Odaiba we made our way across Tokyo Harbor by ferry, enjoying a cold ginger drink. It was homemade and very akin to ginger beer. Very good. 

We then ride to Zojyo-ji Temple and Tokyo Tower. It is a holiday and there is basically a block party going on. Much akin to a county fair. There was ice carving competition and many booths by local service providers for the locals to visit and learn of their services. We were able to visit a smaller temple. Out side of this temple there were many small statutes of children which were decorated. I asked Kazu about these and learned they were for the children who died in a miscarriage.  We then went to the base of the Tokyo Tower. 

Our next tsp was at the Agato Shrine. There are 85 stairs to the to and then there is a side staircase of 100 stairs to descent. The side staircase was for teh women as the other stairs were too steep for them to ascend wearing a kimono.   According to legend, a young samurai dared to ride his horse up the stairs to deliver plum blossoms to the shogun. It took his horse only one minute to get up, but 45 minutes to get down, and the horse was totally exhausted afterwards. The young samurai was soon promoted. When were were at the top we witnessed a shinto wedding processional. It was beautiful to say the least. I am  impressed that these traditions are still followed. 

We were then off to the Imperial Palace, home of the emperor. Lovely grounds are found in the are where the palace is surrounded by a moat with the impressive walls of a fortress. 

Next stop was the TGCT office. Cold drinks were served and we said our good byes to our guides. As a thank you to our guides I presented them with a pen I had made. They were o so thankful. They did an outstanding job. We will be cycling with them tomorrow. 

Seventeen (17) years ago Lynn and I were SCUBA diving in Honduras on the Island of Roatan. Here we met a lady from Japan who lived in Tokyo named Kazuko. Over the years we have maintained communication with here. Kuzuko would always ask when we would be coming to visit Tokyo Japan. Well today was the day. After our bike tour we me Kazuko. What a pleasure it was to see her after all these years. She suggested we visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum, so off we went. 

The Edo - Tokyo Museum is extremely well done and give a great account of early life in Edo and it’s  development into modern Tokyo. The scale models are meticulous, there are replicas of everyday houses, so one got a very good feel for the craftsmen and daily life. I strongly recommend a visit to this museum. 

After the museum we found a local restaurant where we enjoy great Japanese food. We had Takoyaki - octopus, Chanko-nabe - a hot pot soup, Yakatori - meat skewers, Norimaki - a tuna roll, and Satunaage - a fried fish. All was excellent. During dinner there was a short performance by four gentlemen who got into the Sumo ring and sang various songs, I understood this to be some what of a pre Sumo match ceremony. I could be very wrong.  

There was a family next to us and the soon endeared themselves to us. They were excited to see how much we enjoyed the food. Soon the gentleman of the table brought us a glass of Mugi shochu a wheat whiskey. I found it very mild with a simple taste and it was only 23% alcohol. The gentleman convinced me to get into the sumo ring where we did a little wrestling. Rather fun to be so welcomed. 

We then made our way back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly. 

More cycling tomorrow. 

A day at Mt Fuji and the Five Lakes area.

MT FUJI Day !!!!

Up and at um nice and early had coffee and tea in the room and started our Journey to the Hamamatsucho station where we will connect with a bus. The bus will take us to Mt. Fuji, Lake Ashi, Mt Komagatake, and Hakone. This should be a very full day and we hope to be back at the hotel about 2100. Weather looks great for today and the approaching Typhoon should not fully arrive until after we head home.

The local trains were easy to navigate and we made the trip to the bus station without any problem. I expected the trains to be crowded but this was not the case. 

We found a cafe in the station that had a non smoking section. Lynn was able to get a foo-foo coffee with a ham and egg sandwich. I had regular coffee and a spicy sausage sandwich. Both were good. The little food shop offerings all look great. I think we will be enjoying those quite a bit. 

We are finding the people to be very friendly and very willing to help with directions. For us it was nice to confirm our direction of travel. 

Here on escalators and other moving platforms one stands to the left and walks to the right. 

We arrived at the Mt Fuji Visitors center where we had 20min to use the bathroom and take a few quick pictures. The fall colors are just starting and I can only imagine how nice they will look later in the Fall. From the Visitors center we made our way to Station 5 at about 7200 feet. Here we visited a Shinto Shrine, and got some Mt Fuji photos. Sadly the location was not great as the sun was over the Mountain. We found an item to use as a Christmas ornament on our Travel Christmas Tree. 

On the road to Station 5 there is a section of road which plays the Mt Fuji song. It is what is called a Melody Road or Singing Highway. rumble stops are designed to give off a certain pitch as a vehicle drives over them. 



We then made our way to Lake Kawaguchi. We found a convenience store and bought lunch for a picnic. We had steam buns with BBQ pork, a potato mix that was fried in panko crumbs. A beer for me and Lynn had a Milk Tea. For dessert we had cookies  shaped like little Christmas trees dipped in chocolate. We enjoyed our picnic lakeside.

We were lucky as we got to see Mt Fuji before the clouds stated to roll in. After our lunch we bussed to Hakone and Lake Ashi. Here we spent some time on the docks and hung out with the cats on the dock. From there we made a short cruise to the resort area of Hakone-en. Here we took the Mt. Komagatake Ropeway (cable car). Sadly we only had 10 min on the summit station. But the light was nice and I was able to get a few pictures. 

Things that stuck out for me were as follows: 

The countryside is amazingly lush, a combination of deciduous and cedar trees. This provided a very dense forest canopy. 

The ruggedness of the countryside , very steep with narrow ridges. 

The small agricultural plots were people were growing rice. 

The overall politeness of the people and willingness to help visitors.  

We are returning to Tokyo via the Shinkansen (High Speed Train) traveling at 300km per hour is making for a short trip back. At the Tokyo Station we will transfer to the JR Keiyo line to get back to Tokyo Disneyland Resort. Back in the room at 2000. 

It was a long day but well worth it. 

Tomorrow we ride bikes as we tour Tokyo.

WELCOME TO TOKYO!!!!

WELCOME TO TOKYO!!!!!

Our flight route took us over Sitka, Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula, could not help but think of the pups. 

Arrived and cleared immigration and customs, pretty fast and painless. Lines proceeded quickly. For an unknown reason we did not get the customs and immigration forms on the plane, so had to fill them out in the terminal.  

The terminal was easy to navigate and we quickly found the Airport Limousine Service. This is a bus service which operates to many places in Tokyo. We will get a bus to our hotel. One should note there is also a bus to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, this service does not stop at any of the resorts so one would have to haul baggage. One slight downside is we have to wait about one hour for the resort bus.  But this gives us a chance to catch up on various communications. 

Red Bean Kit Kats are pretty darn good. Cost 162 yen.

The Airport Limousine Service is a comfortable tour style bus, equipped with a lavatory. When you check in your bags are marked for your destination and placed in the luggage bays. The bus driver takes your tickets and welcomes you aboard. The drive time for us was about 50 minutes. The cost for this ride was 4,900 Yen. What Surprised me was our bus left at 1710 and the traffic was free flowing, maybe we were lucky. We will be using this service to return to Narita. 

We are using our DVC points for our stay while in Tokyo. Our hotel is The Ambassador  at Tokyo Disneyland Resort. We had attempted to stay at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel but were unable to get a reservation there even when we called at the first available booking date for Disney Vacation Club (DVC). Information from friends informs us the location is convenient for train travel into the city.

After checking in we found our room. First impressions of this property are very positive. The best way I can describe it is Art Deco, with many nice Disney touches. We dropped our luggage and headed out to find the Maihama JR train station.  This was an easy 8 minute walk from The Ambassador, and very easy to find.  We were able to purchase our train tickets for tomorrow which should save us some time in the morning. 

We walked back to the Hotel through the Ikspiari shopping area. Think Down Town Disney. Lots of shops and eateries. We found a bakery selling a sausage roll. Very good, much like the Sausage Pups at Leonard’s Bakery in Honolulu. We did walk through the Disney Store at the Ikspiari. No Duffy Bears or Gelatoni (Duffy’s cat buddy), maybe in the parks later this week.  

We are finding the people most polite and very helpful. Yes a bit of a language barrier but a smile and a thank you go a very long way

Got back to the room and unpacked and my eyes are starting to close. Lynn says we have been up about 25 hour

Tomorrow off to see Mt. Fuji. Hoping the weather is clear. Posting this at 0200 local time and the skies are clear. 

Just Like Mr. Twain

Flying on the 787 Dreamliner for 12 hours, yep a mighty long airplane ride. 

Having a Bloody Mary in the UAL Club room awaiting our flight. As I mentioned we are on the United Dreamliner 787 for 12 hours nonstop from DEN to NRT. Yep a mighty long airplane ride. 

We are lucky and received an upgrade to Business Class. The advantage on the long hauls is the seating and service. 

The seating is 2-2-2 and each seat will lay flat and has many adjustments for various positions. Individual entertainment  screen with many on demand options. Yet even with the seating options we make sure we stay hydrated, wear compression stockings, do isometrics, and get up and walkabout. 

The food was great. The appetizer was a California roll, Smoked Salmon wrapped in nori, then a fresh green salad. The main entree we chose was a beef tenderloin with asparagus and gnocchi. I was amazed at the high quality of the beef. Then there was a cheese  plate with grapes served with a nice port. Then the final course was a ice cream sunday, choice of carmel ( Lynn’s favorite)- strawberry- or chocolate topping, nuts and whipped cream all topped with a cherry. 

The movie choices were many, Lynn watched Maleficent and has drifted off to sleep. I slept a couple of hours and am typing while listening to a 60’s audio mix. The 60’s had some very good music in my opinion. STONES!!!! CREAM!!!! CLAPTON!!!!! SMOKEY ROBINSON!!!!! CCR!!!!!! MONKEYS!!!!!! BEATLES!!!!! SUPREMES!!!!!, TROGS!!!! THE BAND!!!!!  (The Weight)  SAM COOK!!!! BOOKER T and the MGs’ !!!!!! BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD!!!!! yep I am the old dude ROCKING OUT!!!!!!!!  Life is too short not to let the music make you feel good. 

The one feature of the 787 which many are unaware of are the cabin pressurization. The cabin  pressure of most commercial aircraft is to about 9000 feet. My understanding is the cabin is pressurized to a lower altitude and the cabin air is humidified. One thing I really like is the windows. I am a window seat person, so these are great windows. Slightly bigger and there are no window shades. The windows are gas filled shades, there are five (5) different levels of tint. The lowest level blocks the daylight  making the cabin dark, yet one can see out the window.

Mark Twain or Samuel Clemens once said “ Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth in one’s lifetime.” 

Lynn and I have been lucky to have traveled a good bit. One thing that really sticks out on each and every trip is the people. I am so looking forward to meeting and getting to know the people of Japan. Yes there are many sights to see, but for me it is the people that really make the journey worth the effort. Coca Cola did an amazing commercial with “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”  this is encapsulates a portion of  what traveling is for me. 

I hope you are enjoying tagging along, but most of all I hope I have sparked a bit of wanderlust. 

To the Land of The Rising Sun

To The Land of The Rising Sun -

We are off on a new adventure, this time to Japan. Our plans for this trip are to visit Mt. Fuji by rail, Tokyo by bicycle and a few days at Tokyo Disneyland. Looking forward to the culture, the sights, the food, and the people. I feel one must meet the people in order to understand the country. There is always something to learn and I always find myself in wonderment with the ingenuity and creativity of people world wide. 

My expectations for Japan and Tokyo are two fold. I expect the hustle and bustle of a mega city. I think it will be more busy and more filled with people akin to Beijing. In contrast to this I also expect to find pockets of tranquility and peacefulness. Looking forward to finding some great street food. Again another way to get to know the people is via their street food. We really enjoy eating where the locals eat. 

This trip started with sending the kids (Kenai and Sitka, our new puppies) off to Puppy Camp. I kinda feel bad for them as we will be traveling a good deal this fall. They were a bit hesitant going into the kennel but once the door to their run was opened they were right in there checking things out. They will be missed, and already I can not wait to see them upon our return. 

We usually drive to Denver the day before we fly out and stay at a hotel near the airport.  We feel we can get a good sleep before travel, especially on these long trips. This is  also important during the winter months given road conditions and weather. On this trip down we stopped at REI and got each other early birthday presents. We got Garmin Vivofits, we have the Fitbits, these devices are fun to see how much activity one experiences when traveling. In London we typically was 18,000 to 24,000 steps a day. The advantage of the Vivofit for me is it is a wristband and I can just leave it on 24/7. The Fitbit goes in my pocket and I oft simply forget it. 

Our favorite place to eat the evening before is the Moonlight Diner. Located nice and close to the airport hotels and offers classic diner food. Portions are plentiful and we usually split an entrée and walk away very very full. Their happy hour is also great 241 craft beers. 

This flight is not early, about noon, but it will be a nonstop 12 hour plus flight. Flying on a 787 Dreamliner, as a passenger this is a great airplane. Pressurized to a lower altitude allows for a less draining flight. I am thankful we were upgraded to first/business class with lay down seats. 

For camera gear on this trip I am going light, one camera body and one lens. Will be using the Canon 60D with an 18-135mm lens. Future trips will be photo gear intensive, so I better enjoy this while I can. I am sure there will be times I wish I had a few other lenses with me but I will make this do. 

I got up early to see the lunar eclipse, this is where I wish I had a longer lens and tripod.   

Will have breakfast here at the hotel and I do like the waffles and I did bring some brown sauce (HP Sauce)  for a bacon sandwich. After breakfast we will get things together and head to the airport. 

More later as this trip progresses, Thanks for following along. 

Journey to Get The Lost Boys

It was a very sad time for us as  in May of this year we lost Kali our 12 year old Malamute to cancer. She put up a valiant fight and with the help of Colorado State University Vet School, we had six fantastic months with her. She was such a sweet soul. 

In July Kali's daughter Taiya tore a ligament and she underwent surgery. One night she passed away in her sleep. This was probably due to a blood clot. She was 10 years old and a very intelligent Malamute, so much so her personality was amazingly goofy in a special way. 

We sorely miss those two and not having a pup makes for an empty life for us. Yes they become part of our family and are spoiled to the max. We like the Malamute breed for many reasons, their Noble looks, their size, their personality, independence, and unrelenting love. Yes they can be a challenge and are not for everyone. They force us to take many walks in all sorts of weather conditions, as they are rarely bothered by the cold. Yes our house , clothes, cars, etc etc etc are covered in fine Malamute fur. 

To fill this void in our family we started our quest to find a couple of pups. The plan had been  to get a pup in February as we had a good deal of travel planned for late 2014. I started by searching the Internet for various kennels with available Malamute puppies. Some were rather pricey and proud of their pups, when I came upon a kennel in Mississippi. This kennels web site impressed me with their knowledge of the breed and the great pictures of their available pups. The were two litters born in late March and there were some of those pups available. As puppies get old the cuteness factor wears off and kennels sometimes have a hard time finding forever homes for these older pups. These two litters had males that were in that category. While not litter mates, They were born a day apart, and have been kennel buddies since birth and are reported to get along well together. The kennel offered these to us at a very good price and knowing they needed a good forever home who was to say no. The kennel was also gracious enough to keep them for us till we could travel to get them at the end of September. Now these little balls of fur have grown to about 45-50 pounds, thus making the cost to ship them in the $1200 range. Personally I am not a fan of shipping pups. I found a one way airfare of $98 and a reasonable one way car rental on an SUV. So plans were made for the flight and drive home. 

The kennel names for these two are Roano and Bear. Roano we understand is the leader and Bear is the follower. I quickly started calling them The Lost Boys, just seemed fitting. We have a list of names based on geographic locations and features in Alaska. We will see what fits them and the change their names accordingly.

We started to put together a large duffel bag with the items we thought we would need for this adventure.  New collars with "I belong to" information tags, bowls for food and water, a few toys, a water jug, a plastic tarp, news papers, bedding, paper towels, resolve, air freshener, leashes, pinch collars for walking, puppy poop bags, and other stuff I must be forgetting. Our plan is to pick them up on October 1st and drive straight through to Denver where we will drop the rental car and transfer them to the Jeep. 

We got up early and made good time to DEN for our flight to New Orleans. Our destination for this night is a hotel in Hattiesburg, MS. The flight is progressing well at this time. 

We arrived to a very warm New Orleans, well warm to us. Proceeded directly to Avis and checked the Preferred board and we were directed to Space H12. Found a Kia SUV, I did not remember what was reserved, so loaded our stuff and started to drive out of the lot. The nice lady at the control booth looked at our contract and car and said “you have the wrong vehicle, you should have a bigger car.  Turned around and went back to the office. It was one of those oops moments for them. They found us a Ford Explorer, go to it and start loading our stuff and setting up the back for the Lost Boys. While doing this a gentleman comes by and says the car is his rental. I show him my paperwork and he shows me his and sure enough we both were assigned the same car. We both laugh and I relate our earlier story. Off we both go to the office. He was offered a larger vehicle as he had lots of stuff to haul, we kept this one and all was well. 

We drove about two hours to Hattiesburg, MS, and find our hotel. Here we do the final set up of the car. A blue tarp duck taped in place is the first layer, next are some blankets from a whelping pen, the a couple layers of news paper. Leashes, leads, treats and toys are placed in strategic locations. We have a water jug to fill with Ice in the Morn. A quick trip to the Piggly Wiggly for some fresh food for us and then we crash at 2100. 

I am awake at 0300 and decided to go to the Waffle House for the Biscuits and Gravy with a side of smothered hash brown, and dark roast coffee. Folks at the Waffle House could not believe we came all that way for a couple of pups. I also got Lynn and Egg and Cheese Biscuit. She was very happy with my choice for her. 

We got on the road about 0500ish and made our way to the Kennel. We were met by the owner and two Malamute Pups. Roano and Bear were a bit skittish but started to warm up to us. This would be their first time on a lead and first car ride. We got a briefing, medical records, chip info etc and were soon on our way with a couple of apprehensive Malamute Pups. time was a bit after 0600.

The pups quickly found a spot and went to sleep. We started stopping about every two hours and forced them out for a walk. Roano was a bit more comfortable in getting out for a walk, while Bear had to be pretty much pulled and lifted out. Bear seems to be the shyer of the two. 

As our time with them progresses we decide on the names of Sitka for Roano and Kenai for Bear. Sitka is the larger and darker of the two while Kenai is smaller and has the forehead blaze and a snow nose. A snow nose is a partially non pigmented nose, they sometimes grow out of these.  Their shyness and apprehension is also melting away.

Our route took us from the Mississippi Delta’s cotton fields into Louisiana. Passed through Duck Dynasty’s Monroe, and noted it was a much bigger town than one would think. The we started the never ending trip across Texas. Texas is a very diverse place with some pretty country. Our route took us through Dallas and I got to show Lynn Dealey   Plaza. we made our way to Amarillo and headed north through Oklahoma, pftt!!! not so much wind whistling down the plains, they need to visit Cheyenne. Made it into Colorado and it was about  0200, Pulled into a parking area and got two hours sleep. Lynn crawled into the back with the pups and they cuddled with her and tried to steal her blanket. 

After a two hour nap we were on the road again. Sitka starts getting restless and there was no place to pull over, oh well one mess for how far we had gone, not bad at all. Clean it up and get going then Kenai get restless and yep another mess. The interior of the rental car received nary a drop. Felt bad for them it was just bad timing. 

We finally made it to the Parking Spot to get the Jeep. We transferred our bags and pups and freshened up the rental car with Fabreeze. Dropped the rental car and headed home. 

The first thing we did at home was give Sitka and Kenai a tour of the back yard. They immediately started playing with some old toys. While in the back yard a rabbit ran out from under a spruce tree. They did not see it so Bunnies are kinda safe if they stay out of the back yard. Then a tour of the house where they learned than putting ones paws on the kitchen counter was a no no. Then came a tour of the house locations for water and food were demonstrated.  

We are really surprised that these guys like toys, they chase and play with them, but as true to Malamute form they do not bring the toy to you. Sitka has decided to collect them all in one area between the plum and apple tree. Kenai likes to run in and grab one and run about. They have been doing some tug of war.

We gave them a bit of food and will start a feeding routine. These guys are not food driven (yet) like Kali and Taiya were. 

Sitting in the back yard with them, Lynn went to the big city, so when she gets home it will be time for their first formal walk. Will see how that goes. Kenai is the instigator for play/roughhousing  and Sitka plays along as needed. Yes they are ignoring the nice dog houses they have.  

The first walk: 

We fitted them with walking collars and opened the garage door. A garage door opening  is a new experience and they are a pinch put off. Sitka was first out and Kenai followed. They stayed pretty darn  and close to us and were checking out the sights of the neighborhood.  Survey flags were items of great interest at a new construction site, they did not want to walk in the area to the side of the road, other dogs barking were different for them. All was new and strange to them, time will change this I am sure. Sitka did see a rabbit and started to chase, but soon learned about the end of the 25’ leash. 

Monday will be the first vet visit.