It's that time of year again.... Where to go for spring break? This time we had a hard time deciding where to go. We were still a little frustrated with China, so that was out. We've been to most of the countries in SE Asia. Laos and Burma could be fun, but we'd like a longer break for that. Now, we're down to Japan and South Korea. The winner is.... Japan!
When people ask about our trip, one thing stands out above all else...it was cold. I think we've been in Taiwan too long. I've adjusted too much to the weather. It was around 10-12 C, but it sure felt worse than that. Towards the end of the trip, Zach and I both longed to get warm, but everywhere we went was cold. Starbucks quickly became a new friend. Who knew they had cinnamon rolls in Asia?
We started our trip in Tokyo. We decided to couchsurf the entire trip, and it was awesome. We met some really friendly, very hospitable people. I feel like I have a better understanding of the Japanese culture.
Well, the first day was mostly filled with attending a festival. We took quite a few pictures, but none of them are appropriate to post. However, if you want to see what type of festival we went to, go ahead and google Kanamari Matsuri. Yep, you googled it right. We went there. :)
It was awesome traveling with Zach in Japan. I always love traveling with Zach, but usually I am the one who does the most research about a place. I have a stronger passion for traveling, so I usually take on this task. However, since Zach had already been in Japan, I let him do all the planning. He'd ask me where I wanted to go, and I'd just say, "Where ev's." For once it was nice not going going going on a trip. This was much more relaxed. I always find it amazing how much Zach can learn and remember about a culture. He went to Japan 3 years ago, but he still remembers the names of every place he went. Not only names, but he also remembers how to say things. I learned how to say the simple form of "thank you," and I said it often. But whenever people said "thank you" formally, I always thought they were saying "Merry Christmas." My thank-yous soon turned into wishing people a Merry Christmas.
My favorite day was meeting up with a former student and his mother. They were so helpful and generous. They took us to Tokyo Tower and to a restaurant where we ate Kaiseki, which is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. It was a ton of fun!
When people ask about our trip, one thing stands out above all else...it was cold. I think we've been in Taiwan too long. I've adjusted too much to the weather. It was around 10-12 C, but it sure felt worse than that. Towards the end of the trip, Zach and I both longed to get warm, but everywhere we went was cold. Starbucks quickly became a new friend. Who knew they had cinnamon rolls in Asia?
We started our trip in Tokyo. We decided to couchsurf the entire trip, and it was awesome. We met some really friendly, very hospitable people. I feel like I have a better understanding of the Japanese culture.
Well, the first day was mostly filled with attending a festival. We took quite a few pictures, but none of them are appropriate to post. However, if you want to see what type of festival we went to, go ahead and google Kanamari Matsuri. Yep, you googled it right. We went there. :)
It was awesome traveling with Zach in Japan. I always love traveling with Zach, but usually I am the one who does the most research about a place. I have a stronger passion for traveling, so I usually take on this task. However, since Zach had already been in Japan, I let him do all the planning. He'd ask me where I wanted to go, and I'd just say, "Where ev's." For once it was nice not going going going on a trip. This was much more relaxed. I always find it amazing how much Zach can learn and remember about a culture. He went to Japan 3 years ago, but he still remembers the names of every place he went. Not only names, but he also remembers how to say things. I learned how to say the simple form of "thank you," and I said it often. But whenever people said "thank you" formally, I always thought they were saying "Merry Christmas." My thank-yous soon turned into wishing people a Merry Christmas.
My favorite day was meeting up with a former student and his mother. They were so helpful and generous. They took us to Tokyo Tower and to a restaurant where we ate Kaiseki, which is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. It was a ton of fun!
This was the first course of Kaiseki.
My student and his mother.
We also went to Skinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihibara, and Ikebukuro. These are all places in Tokyo. I really enjoyed going to Ueno park, b/c for once we weren't surrounded by hoards of people. 
Akihibara
Ueno Park
Of course, eventually we did find plenty of people in Ueno park.
For the second part of our trip, we took an overnight bus to Kyoto. This city used to be the imperial capital for Japan and has tons of ancient shrines and some palaces as well. Yet again, Zach had already been here. So, instead of taking a whirlwind tour of the city, we ended up taking our time. The sun even happened to come out for 20 minutes and we happily plopped ourselves on the grass in a park.
My favorite place in Kyoto was someplace that Zach hadn't gone to, Fushimi Inari Shrine. It had tons of torii gates, and I love them! A perfect place to hang out and take tons of photos. Yet again, this was a place with less people, so of course I loved it!
Of course, my favorite thing to do was to find women in kimonos or geishas. I don't know why, but I just love looking at their beautiful outfits. I always made Zach take a picture of them.
Secretly taking pictures of Kimonos.
I finally found a painted geisha.
We even went to a geisha performance!
If you look closely, you can see lots of women in Kimonos. This is a historic street in Kyoto.
Ever since I came to Taiwan, one of my goals was to go to a Japanese sushi restaurant. The kind where the food is on a conveyor belt, and you take what you want. Finally, at the end of our trip, we found a place like this. (I also wanted to buy a banana out of a vending machine, but we never found that).
Finally found a warm place with food that was simple and cheap!
Udon Noodles. Yum!
Even though it was "cold," I loved going to Japan in the springtime. Everyone said it was colder than normal (similar to Taiwan's weather this year), but thankfully, the cherry blossoms still came out. In Japan they call this Sakura. It was beautiful! Everywhere you'd walk, there were cherry blossoms. Even though it was hard to really capture the beauty of Sakura, the experience was delightful. It's one of those things where pictures doesn't do it justice, just your memory.
One thing that is really popular during this week of Sakura is hanami parties. People grab blankets (usually bright, blue tarps), bring picnic food (sushi, bento boxes, or grills- yeah, some people were grilling), and some form of alcohol. Well, minus the alcohol, and I love this idea! Just hanging out under the cherry blossoms. It reminds me of everyone in the Dakotas coming out to enjoy the first warm spring day.
More hanami parties
Our trip was great! We were both super excited, however, to come home and eat something other than McDonalds or Cup Noodle. I'm definitely ready to head to Greece next and experience yummy Greek food!
