Tokyo

As we woke this morning at 6am the skies were clear and from the 29th floor it looked beautiful. Vongfong played nice with us, moving over during the overnight hours impacting us only a little yesterday and leaving today a bit windy, but nice. Our fears of a totally rainy day we not realized. 

We hopped aboard a bus for our day tour of the city. We first went to the Meiji Shrine which is a Shinto shrine. It was fascinating to learn about the Shinto and Buddhist religions. The shrine was really neat. Everyone is supposed to wash their hands, and mouth before entering. They had a location where everyone could do this, it was neat. 

We learned the difference between the two religions in Japan, Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is connected with nature and they believe that the gods are in the mountains, large natural things. They believe in their ancestors, eat. There are over 8 million deities. When you want to get their attention to listen to your wish you throw a coin in to get their attention, bow twice then clap twice. Then say your wish and clap one last time. Buddhism gives an understanding for life after death. Shinto only deals with current lives. At a Buddhist temple you also throw a coin, but then you bow and say a phrase then your wish and bow. I think I recalled that right. I may be incorrect in some sections, but it's close. Then the guide said they are all instant Christians at Christmas. Most japanese people are both Shinto and Buddhist. 

Next we went to the imperial place bridge. The imperial palace is where the Emperor lives and the bridge is where they cross to exit to the city. 

Later we went to Asakusa a Buddhist temple. It was very neat a but more ornate than the Shinto shrine. We got our fortunes. The available fortunes come in good, medium and bad fortunes. You give some money and shake a container until a stick with a symbol comes out. You then match up the symbol to get your fortune. I got a medium fortune, Travis got a bad fortune. You leave your bad fortunes in the temple for the spirits to take away, so Travis did that. 

There is a lot of shopping near Asakusa, but we mainly looked. Next we went to lunch and then to a man made island of reclaimed land, Diaba. Diaba is a higher tech area, but we mainly just walked around. 

We finished our day at the Ginza a higher end shopping area. We went into a department store that had a huge food market on the basement floors and then two floors of restaurants on the top floor. 

It was a full day in Tokyo and we enjoyed ourselves. 

The Meiji shrine

The imperial bridge

Asakusa 

Panoramic on Diaba island

Arrived safe and sound in Japan

After a delay in Dallas we arrived only an hour late and all was fine. Vongfong was kind and slowed down a little and won't impact Tokyo until this evening and in to the day Tuesday. Just for your knowledge we are 14 hours ahead of central time making it 9 pm Monday night.

Typhoon Vongfong is expected to impact Tokyo later tonight through tomorrow (Tuesday) according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It's tropical storm strength. It has been raining since we arrived, but it's really picked up in the past couple of hours. But so far the winds have been light. Tonight and tomorrow could be interesting. 

We have a tour scheduled for Tuesday and we are pretty sure it'll be rainy through much of it. Oh and we forgot our umbrella...so that was our first purchase in Tokyo. We are set for tomorrow. 

We walked to a nearby shopping center and got some dinner at a Ramen shop. It was good, different than Raman in the states. We also had some yummy garlic dumplings. And for dessert we grabbed a McFlurry from McDonalds, a special Halloween one. Fun.

Every place was closing down early at 8pm, and our guess was for the Typhoon. Interesting. It'll be interesting to see how tomorrow is with the natives. Nothing new to them. 

I expected this, but I've found it interesting and difficult and at times isolating to not be able to read the language or understand it. Now this is not new to me in my travels, but this is the first time that I can't match the characters to make out a word. But I love learning it and am enjoying my time. Travis knows some words and phrases in Japanese, so we have a start, thankfully!  

Well with rain hitting the windows on the 29th floor of our hotel and it being nearly 36 hours since I've had a little bit of sleep in a bed...I'm going to say lights out for hopefully a great nights sleep! 

Much love!

And we're off!

We are headed on an Asian cruise adventure. First stop Tokyo!

We have boarded our flight for Japan and Typhoon Vongfong allowing us to land they say. Our flight is 13.5 hours and we hope for some sleep.

See ya on the other side of the Pacific.

It must come to an end.

My time in England is nearing the end. I head to the airport tomorrow and I'll be back in America in a few days.

The last few days have been great. I ended my time in Reading with a great evening with Claire and Chris. We BBQ'd and just chatted out on the deck on a beautiful evening.

On Saturday I headed back to Birmingham and spent the day with Duick. We headed to the pub to help a friend celebrate her birthday. We just sat out in the beer garden out back for a long time on a beautiful warm summers day. And by warm summer day I mean highs in the mid to upper 70s. Who would have thought I needed to go to England to get a tan.

On Sunday Duick and I headed out to Hanbury House a National Trust site. The National Trust keeps historical places restored and people can visit them. This house was built in the late 1600s in the William and Mary style. It was very pretty. We went on a self guided tour which was very easy to follow and had done fun facts to learn. We then walked around the gardens of the home a beautiful estate. Then we watched the Closing Ceremonies, I think I liked them even more than the Opening Ceremonies.

Today I began to get everything packed back up and then spent the afternoon with Duick. I helped him at a field site and the we went down to the city center. Tonight is a calm night before heading off tomorrow. I have everything packed back up and am all ready to go.

It is so hard to believe my time has come to an end and I'll be home in a few days. Although like any trip I will enjoy getting back home, into my own bed and not living out of a suitcase. I've been able to see some friends I haven't seen in ages and that right there is worth the trip. Outside of the Olympic events, some of my favorite times were getting to go to Elin's hometown and Duick's hometown. The real life, not the tourist life...that's what is most fun.

Love

The pictures: one is of a package of hamburger buns...they call them giant baps. I thought it was funny!!! The other is a picture of the stadium from the closing ceremonies. I did not take that picture it was from the official London 2012 Facebook page.

Days 13 and 14

Day 13 - Tuesday August 7th
Today was my final Olympic event and it was the Men's 3m Springboard Diving Finals. The exciting things about this was 1. It was a medals round and 2. It was in the evening so I didn't have to be up at the butt crack of dawn to get there. Because Monday had been so tiring, I allowed myself to sleep in, which was very nice. I got ready and around 2:30 I headed into the Reading Train Station to get back to London.

I decided to take a detour to the Olympic Park stopping at Hyde Park. I didn't have much of a plan, just decided to walk around some as I'd only seen Horse Guard Parade and the Olympic Park in London and wanted to see a bit more. Eventually I headed into the Olympic Park via the Stratford Gate which was the busier gate. I didn't leave myself as much time since I knew how well the previous day had gone. Thankfully I was right, and Security and everything was very quick. I got to the Aquatics center and into my seat with about 30 min before the event. This time in the arena I was sitting my more Americans than I had at any other event...so there were a few more cheers in my area for Troy Dumais the USA Diver in the Finals. My seats were pretty high up, but I was on the side of the arena of the diving and the side of the springboards vs. the platforms. I've had good luck with my "cheap" seats.

The Diving event was good. I didn't totally know how it went, but I had a good idea. It's 6 rounds of dives with each one getting judged by 7 judges. The top 2 and bottom 2 scores are dropped and the middle 3 are added together and then multiplied by the degree of difficulty. There were 12 Divers representing 11 Nations. China had two divers and they were favored some. The event took a little over an hour and by the end there were about 3 divers that it was really between...the scores were divided such that it was easy to see who had a chance. Troy, the USA diver did well, ending the first round in 1st, but eventually finished 5th. It came down to the Russian and the Chinese Divers. They were all very good, but the Russian was very good and at the end, squeaked out a victory. The Chinese guy who was favored was crushed.

Next came the Medal's Ceremony. I really enjoyed this, despite there not being an American on the stand. It was really neat to see each person be awarded their Gold/Silver/Bronze Medal. Then watching them as they rose the flags and sang the Russian National Anthem. Just really neat thing to experience and I'm glad I was able to see it!

Day 14 - Wednesday August 8th
Well today has little of excitement in it, but I greatly enjoyed it. I finally took, after 2 weeks a down day. I just slept in and relaxed. Claire, Chris and I went out for dinner and had a good time chatting. Tomorrow I'm heading back into London to see some friends, should be a busy afternoon/evening.

Love

Days 6 through 12

My last week:

I had hoped to post more, but writing long posts on an iPod is not my idea of a great use of time. I've also been plenty busy, and enjoying every minute of it. I will try to do a brief summary of my last week, but I warn you, this post may be long...read at your own risk.


Day 6: Tuesday July 31st

I started my day in Iceland, and was heading out to England in the afternoon. The highlight of my time with Elin was seeing her home town! Her home town was on the way to the airport, and so we left early and headed out toward there. It was small, only 900 people she said when she was growing up, but said it's now about 1400 people. The main industry was fishing, and we were right on the Atlantic Ocean! It was so fantastic!!! I loved every minute of it! It was so green and beautiful and we went out on to the point and took pictures, which I'll have to share at a later time, but trust me it is absolutely Amazing!!!! I got to meet Elin's father and step-mother and step-brother and Elin's two boys stayed with the family and played while she drove me the 10 minutes to the airport. There we had a bite to eat...I had a rhubarb cheesecake which was wonderful!!!! I'd never really eaten rhubarb, so that was new (despite the fact that my parents have grown it ever since I could remember, lol).

I headed out on the plane and landed in England in the evening where Duick picked me up at the airport. We then drove back to Birmingham and off to bed.


Day 7 and 8: Wednesday August 1st and Thursday August 2nd

Duick and I traveled around looking for a phone for me and then on into the University of Birmingham for lunch. I got to see where he worked and all of the sensors that he's deploying around Birmingham for Urban Climate study. Then I headed into Birmingham downtown area where I continued to look for a phone before I caught the train into London. I did find a cheap £10 phone to use for text and calling purposes. I headed into London and met up with Tom, whom I met this spring when he and Duick came to storm chase. I was very grateful for his hospitality in letting me stay in London. We went to the pub and ate dinner and watched the Olympics, a great night.

On Thursday I headed in, bright and early (6am) to central London. I got in with plenty and grabbed a bite to eat and used some free wifi to post some things and keep up with people. I was very excited to be going into the Olympic arena and seeing my first Olympic sport. I was smiling ear to ear entering Horse Guard Parade. I was also VERY impressed with the speed of everything with security and check-in. London 2012 has done a fantastic job!!! Lines (queue's) were very short, and if there were any, you waited maybe 2 minutes. I was very impressed!!!

So this brings me to my first Olympic Event - Beach Volleyball. A couple of things I noticed, not really relative to the Beach Volleyball itself. 1. While the games do reside in England, I did not expect 80% of the crowd to be British, I thought there would be more of an international community at each event. Just my own ignorance. 2. The area did fill up, but people didn't show up for the first game or two (I got to see 4). I just thought it was strange to pay the money and not show up until well into the start of the event. 3. When looking at the maps, you are not near as far away as it seems from the track/court etc. I felt very close to the beach volleyball court and I was quite high up in the stands.

The Beach Volleyball was very neat and I was able to see 4 matches, 2 men and 2 women. Game 1: Netherlands vs. Latvia, Game 2: Italy vs. Brazil (#1 seed), Game 3: Netherlands vs. Argentina, and Game 4: Italy vs. Canada. While there wasn't any USA teams, it was fun cheering for everyone. I quietly had a preference, but cheered loudly for each team. I was not so quietly cheering for Canada over Italy though just cause they are neighbors. It was a great time! The event ended around 1pm and I eventually headed back to Birmingham, it was long journey due to me not getting on the right train, but it all worked out in the end.


Days 9-11: Friday August 3rd - Sunday August 5th

I've had this weekend planned for nearly a year when my Olympic events had been chosen and I know when I'd likely be coming over. Duick invited me up to see his family's area in Harrogate. This was a fantastic weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. It started Friday with a drive up through the Peak District. The Peak District is very pretty and has lots of hills and valleys. We stopped in Buxton for lunch at a pub before walking around the downtown area. Buxton use to be a spa city and I got to see where they use to use the waters for spas...like in Bath. After that we headed on up to Harrogate. The biggest issue and what made me feel terrible, is that I was insanely tired and fought sleep the whole drive. I didn't win the fight most of the way and thus why I felt bad, but my body had lost 2 nights and had long hard days, and it was telling me I had to stop.

When we arrived in Harrogate, I got to meet Duick's parents and sister. We watched some Olympics and his father cooked me a traditional English (Yorkshire) dinner. We had roast and Yorkshire pudding. I'd never had Yorkshire pudding and was quite hesitant, but I'm willing to try things and I did. It wasn't bad, not at all what I expected. People kept telling me it was like a pancake, but that didn't make sense to me. Anywho, it wasn't bad.

Saturday, Duick took me to Whitby which is a seaside town along the north sea. Again, like Iceland and Boston, it's just so different to see water everywhere, especially growing up and living in the plains much of your life. Whitby was a nice seaside town. We had "proper" fish and chips and then walked around and chatted along the water and piers. Then we walked up the 199 steps to the Abbey. This Abbey was like first built in the 400-500 A.C if I remember correctly, and after being added onto, it was destroyed in Henry the 8th's dissolution of monasteries (if I'm remembering correctly, and I could be messing some stuff up). Then it was bombed by the German's in the first and second world wars. So amazing. I also saw a church that was built ages ago as well. Amazing!! Then it was starting to rain, so we popped into a pub for a drink and to wait out the rain. Afterward we walked back to the car, via a candy shop and some ice cream. On the journey back to Harrogate we stopped by Duick's Aunt's home and then on to a dinner with his family.

Sunday, Duick's father made a traditional English breakfast/brunch. I even tried black pudding...not my thing. Then we headed into town as Harrogate use to be a spa town as well. They also had some great toffee that I had to buy!!! We then left for Birmingham and after repacking I headed to Reading to meet with Claire who I will be staying with for the next week.

It was great seeing Clarie and her husband Chris again. I even delivered their VERY overdue wedding gift (3 years)! Lol! We had some dinner and she helped me plan out things for my journey on Monday into the Olympic Park.


Day 12 - Monday August 6th

Today was my second event and my first event in Olympic Park. I did get up very early...about 445am and got on a 622am train for London. I got to Olympic park around 8am for my 10am event. Again I was ever so impressed with their security and speed of getting through everything. I did go to the far entrance, which was a 25 min walk, just to the security, then another 10+ min walk into the park. Olympic park is huge, which is what I expected, but it's so different in person!

You can't take liquids into the park, so the queue's for the water was long...about 20 min. I headed into the Olympic Stadium and figured I'd have terrible seats, boy was I wrong!!! I had fantastic seats!!! I was high, yes and far away, but I was near the finish line for everything and on my other side was the Olympic Torch (flame). It was absolutely amazing!!! I'm so glad I got those tickets. I didn't see any semi-finals or finals, but I got to see a lot of heats which was nice. I got to see the women's 100m Hurdles, 800m Men's, 1500m Women's, and then Men's qualifying Discus and Women's qualifying Shot put. A great day in the Olympic Stadium. It was even very very full, being a morning event with no finals...85 thousand people is amazing!! I sat next to British and a man and his daughter from South Africa and America. A great time!!!!

I then just walked around and tried to avoid running into people, there are tons and tons of people there. Then after a couple hours, I stopped off at the official London 2012 store and headed out. I got back to Reading about 6pm and I'd been gone for over 12 hours and I was completely exhausted!!! I napped and then had a great relaxing evening with Chris and Claire, and have caught up on internet stuff.

A couple of pictures are from Beach Volleyball, and another couple are from today's Track & Field and then a picture of the beautiful flowers all around Olympic Park.

Well that's it for now, sorry for the length, but it does catch me up to current times. Thanks for sticking with it.

Love

Enjoying England

I do have a lot to share, but I haven't had access more than my iPod wifi to post and typing is easier on the computer. I hope for access tonight. If not I'll see what I can post via this iPod soon.
Until then a picture. Me awaiting the beach volleyball event.

Love