THE TRIP

I have a nephew that has worked in Tokyo for many years now. At the age of 44 he had never married and we thought maybe he never would. Not that anybody cared but his grandmother, maybe his mother, and probably a little by his father.  You know, the selfish ones that want a grandchild to play with. The rest of us could care less.

Then last year he brought a girlfriend home to North Carolina to meet his extended family. She is beautiful and fun so we were pretty sure this one would disappear like the others.  Especially after she had to spend time with the 1st cousins of Honey Bo Bo, whoever she is. I have never seen the show, just been told that it is a pretty ugly family not only in looks, but every other measure of life also.

So we were very surprised when she came back time and time again. I was starting to have secret doubts about this ladies sanity.  Only crazy people get mixed up in our family.

Then, late last year Chris and Ai announced that they were engaged.  He asked me if anybody would come to his wedding and would Hawaii or Tokyo be a better location.  I figured he would be lucky to get his own father to leave the country much less any more of the family. I assured him, if invited, Vicki and me would definitely show up in Tokyo.

When he announced they would get married in Tokyo on April 6, I was surprised how many rednecks bought tickets to Tokyo.  I am not sure they realize you have to fly there and you can not get there on GreyHound.

So, I think this will be the story of my niece, her daughter, and me sitting on the curb watching as the Clampetts meet the formal Japanese. "Who brought the popcorn"?

It should be fun and as a added bonus the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Come along for the visit.

THE PLANING

As you know I have been traveling the world from the jungles of the Amazon to the back roads of Egypt to alleys of Paris for over 40 years. With a relative living in Tokyo, to who’s wedding I am going to attend, I figured planning a trip to Japan would be easy. I have solicited lots of advice.  Everyone that has been there loves it. Well, except my Japanese friend, who’s email read “DON’T GO UNLESS YOU HAVE TO!!!”.

So, since everyone loves Japan, this should be easy to plan.  Nothing is farther from the truth. If you are going to all the “tourist” places it is challenging but doable.  If you want to get off the beaten track Michi, of Michi travel, says it best,

“However, Japan is not a country that can be explored easily even for experienced travelers or residents, unless you have access to quality information and traveling experience, not to mention a command of Japanese. If you wish to go beyond superficial sightseeing, you will benefit from having a travel concierge who can help you with knowledge and experience inside out.”

When I sent that quote to people that are going to the wedding I got back response’s like, “ain’t that the truth” and “I'm with you. Daunting...”. And the understatement “no shit”.

Another site says, “don’t bother studying your guide book English. No one will understand you anyway."

Everyone says, like everywhere I have been, that the people will try to help you despite the language barrier.

Not helping with the planning is the fact that we are going to be there at the height of the cherry blossom blooms. This only brings another gazillion tourist in the mix.

"Kyoto is a top choice with fellow travelers on your selected dates (92% reserved).Tip: Prices might be higher than normal, so try searching with different dates if possible."  So says the hotel booking sites.

So, I have left the planning of the activities to my brother Charles,the father of the groom. Knowing him, we will playing golf twice a day. When he leaves we are just going to get on a train headed away from the big city and get off and wing it as we have often done in the past. 

Vicki and me are arriving last to Tokyo and I have but in my activity order. Visit as many noodle and raw fish shops as we can in our four days in Tokyo. I do not think that will be difficult.

THE FLIGHT APRIL FOOLS DAY

Well, we are off. Almost all attendee's on my side of the family could have flown “for free”, but traveling on standby is not what it used to be and none of us wanted to be left at the gate looking out the window as the plane pushed away from the gate. So, for a free Japanese meal and wedding we all bought “real” tickets. Most went via Atlanta on Delta, but being an old Asia hand and experienced traveler I wanted a Asian carrier which usually offer a much better service even if the seats are the same. So, we are going via Chicago. The bad part is my finger slipped and hit the wrong flight from RDU to ORD and instead of leaving at the intended time of 9:30 we are leaving at 7:00. That is A.M. Which means the Princess is not happy having to get up long before the sun does. But it does offer more time to shop, eat and tour the Chicago International Airport and add a few more hours to a already long journey of about 20 hours.

I really do not fly much any more as I hate it. I prefer to travel via Vespa, train, car, horse cart, boat, garbage truck and somewhere down the line is airplane. But, all in all, this is not to bad. First, we have the trusted traveler cards so we do not get stripped searched any more and security is a lot less painless.

Then on the RDU-ORD we got some cheap upgrades to first class. Last year when we flew first class on Delta that meant a little bigger seat and the offer of a half full snack basket. So, when American served a healthy breakfast on real dishes with a smile I was quite impressed. Before landing they came to each passenger, in first class, and told us our next gate. I was impressed with my new airline.

Next is Japan Airlines. Now this is a little different. For people that are very tech oriented I am told, the airline is not. Long story of all the “old” ways they still do things but I will give a example that sums it up. In a day when you can swipe a credit card on a cellphone and do a transaction, they call the office, the office comes to the gate with a full 8 by 11 piece of paper for you to sign and gives us one of the same.

Let me say the time and trouble was worth the effort to upgrade to “Premium” economy. The seat was a lot more than I was expecting and well worth the few hundred dollars. I was expecting just a little more leg room and the same seat as economy. To my surprise it was a much bigger seat with leg rests and special reading lights, a divider between seats and I think more amenities, like blinders, toothbrush, full over ear head phones and all the booze or wine you wanted. I do not know if the meal was different but ours was interesting. More so than a U.S. Airline probably just because it is different. Those on U.S. carriers reported the "Premium" economy was just a few inches more of leg room.

The Asian culture was everywhere. When the flight crew comes to the gate to board the airplane they each turn and bow to the customers. This respect continues through the enter flight. They genuinely wanted to serve you. Unlike my last two flights, one on Egypt Air and one on USAir were all they wanted to do was fling a meal in your face and then disappear for the rest of the flight.

And for mystery buffs, we are also are on Malaysian flight 9795 and when we see MH370 we are not going to tell you where it is.

TOKYO

We arrived in Tokyo one hour earlier than scheduled at 3:30 p.m.. Well, “arrived in Tokyo” is a little misleading. The Tokyo airport is somewhere around Australia or seems like that when you leave it to go to town. It is almost two hours from the airport into to town by bus or train. We chose the bus route as it dropped us at our hotel front door and we did not have to do the bag drag between trains.

View Larger Map

http://goo.gl/maps/iIL2U

The family was awaiting our arrival and headed out to order dinner as we checked in to the Celestine Hotel and followed later. We were stunned to find out the restaurant was out of rice. But a few beers and lots of food and we were done and back to the room to crash after the loooong journey.

Day two we were up and at the morning briefing. Poor Charles had to work it all out of where to go and how to get there for 10 people. But first we marched off to breakfast. They had found a place that served eggs and pancakes called Jonathon’s. Fortunately for me they also had a oriental dish of eggs, rice and mushrooms in a soup like mixture.

On to the subway we go. This all went like clock work. Every thing is in English and pretty straight forward. Then we got off the subway and went downhill from there. It started to rain and then pour. Fighting our way through the Sensoji Temple with all the rest of the tourist, all with umbrellas, was sort of like a reality TV survival show. After we a couple of hours we retreated to a restaurant for some beer and more re-planning. We cut the group in half, one going one way and one the other. Vicki1, Wanda and Sara and I went back to the river to see the cherry blossoms. It was sort of like snow as the rain beat down on the trees sending the flower pedals dancing to the ground. We threw in the towel, or wished we had a towel to dry with and headed for the subway. Along the way we found a little restaurant and ducked in for lunch and a rain break. The staff wanted to be sure we knew they did not have a english menu but we explained it did not matter. We told them, in sign language, we would just point and shot as most menu's have pictures of the dishes. Vicki1 and me had noodle soups, Sara had a rice dish, and Wanda had a cold noodle dish with a cold gravy that was excellent. The ironic thing is Wanda said if she had been able to read the menu she probably would not have ordered cold noodles and would have missed out on the best meal at the table. Oh yea, and Sara eat all my dumplings and I had to order another round. We hopped on the subway, following young Sara, and sloshed our way back home.

seatbelts even in the rigshaw

fighting our way to the temple

the incense bowl

kind of rainy

Day two was more casual. A slow morning start with coffee in the briefing room, a few phone calls, some map reading and we were off. My group, still Vicki1, Wanda, Sara and I headed for the famous Tokyo fish market. The fish auction goes on in the wee hours of the morning and very few tourist ever get to see it now days. But just roaming freely about this massive place was enough without the auction.

they were expecting me

eyeball anyone

he scraping the meat from between the bone

these electric carts were everywhere. it was like a dance and only a video will show the choreography

tea time

We walked from there over to the imperial palace in clearing and sunny skies. Unfortunately thousands of other people were taking bus's to the Palace to see the “flowers” whatever that meant. What it meant for us was we where not getting into the gardens today. So we watched the changing of the guards, a fine concert in the park, some artist setting up the twigs and sticks, tennis players and some pretty flowers and started the long walk back to the hotel.

tourist helicopter would hover downtown for about 5 minutes each. then it would leave and another would come. they did this all day long.

the crowd at the palace was so large I could not capture it in a good picture

the queens at the palace

snowing cherry blossoms

the secret tennis pro

After interviewing many restaurants, we chose this one for lunch.

Tonight the wedding events begin.

THE WEDDING

the rehearsal dinner cruise April 5, 6 P.M.

There are not normally pre-wedding events in a Japanese wedding, but since people had traveled from around the world for this event Chris and Ai decided to have a rehearsal dinner cruise. They and Charles chartered a dinner cruise boat and invited all of the out of town guests and Ai's family. This was 60 people. We arrived early to the dock and met a lot of Chris's friends from as far back as high school. There were about a dozen Japanese sitting separately from us and Georgia thought they must be Ai's family. So, being a good southern girl, she went and sat with them trying to be inclusive and friendly as she normally is. You also get like that when you work for Chick-Fil-A marketing. When we left the dock they were still sitting there. They were part of a different group, but hopefully Georgia furthered international relations.

the boat staff

vicki and ai the bride

We set sail down the river into Tokyo bay and the food and booze started flowing. It was an open bar. In the old days I would have been all over that, but I just had a few glasses of beer and a wine. The food was endless. First there were small appetizer dishes, then a sushi boat, and then tempura.

yuck, we only eat fried fish in the south

We stopped in the harbor, along with all the other many boats, for a photo op of the Tokyo tower. This is a big thing this tower. It looks like a mini-Eiffel tower. Not that impressive to me, but seeing all the lighted boats on the river was.

Then back inside for the Karaoke and more booze. This was a blast. Sadly I have a new camera and when I thought I was videoing.....I was wrong! So, I missed capturing Charles and Sara rocking the whole boat with their rendition of Sweet Home Alabama and other people's renditions or killing of some great tunes.

the bride and her parents come to pour drinks as is the tradition

The whole thing was over by 9, so we old people headed back to the hotel, while those young people, a crowd of 40 to 50, carried on I am sure way into the night. Bill Vaughn told me that he had left Chris's early around 11pm. I was to learn later that there was more to this story.

It was a good thing that I'd had this free dinner, as my wonderful niece stiffed me on the taxi ride back to the hotel. I had bought lunch and in return, she was going to pay for the taxi. But, by some mysterious quirk of fate, she ended up in one of the other three taxis so I had to pay to carry her teenage brat around. (I think I am supposed to add a “LOL” here to indicate humor).

the wedding April 6 12 P.M.

At 11am we all loaded up and headed for Gonpachi 権八西麻布店 restaurant the scene of the big event. In the entry there was a wall of fame with the owner and pictures of many celebrities, Stallone, Depp, Richy, GaGa just to mention a few. The “event” was upstairs in a small open courtyard. There were more paparazzi around the bride than for Spears or Lohan exiting a limo. It is easy to understand why. Ai is an extremely beautiful lady in body and spirit. She radiates kindness.

parents an brother of the bride

 

While the paparazzi were snapping photos I was, as usual, off sticking my head in places no one goes. I roamed the kitchen and dining area taking pictures and visiting staff. A few of the Japanese spoke english and they were quick to welcome me and tell me what they were doing. A lot of that I did not get to be honest. The ones that intrigued me were the black staff. I had a short conversation with them as they were very busy setting up for the meal. They were from West Africa and had been in Japan from 5 to 10 years. The one that had the most time to visit with me had been there for 10 years and was ready to go home. He said that everything you hear is correct. They work all the time. He sees very little of his family because of the long hours and living in Tokyo takes all the money he makes to support his Japanese wife and 3 kids.

Our desire to see a Buddhist ceremony was not to be. This was entirely Christian and though Reverend Dave is a kind person and I really enjoy being around him and his wife, and the ceremony was beautiful, there was a little more preachy stuff than I care to be around. But, it was not my ceremony and I mention it only for descriptive purposes.

The ceremony was over in about 30 minutes and we moved on to the entertainment and dining part in the restaurant.

The dinner ceremony was more to my liking. People stood up and gave testimonials about being friends with Chris or Ai. Some stories brought tears to many, but when Ai's best friend spoke of their adventures from a very young age and of their adventures through life together, not only was she and Ai weeping, but most of the people in the audience shed a tear if you looked close with some opening weeping (that's you Karen). Even Charles, Chris's dad, tried to choke his way through his speech and when Ai's father and mother gave their speech they too shed tears and even though through the translator and with a time delay they too had us shedding a tear. Most of us men were very fond of Ai's Dad's speech when he said “it is Ai's place to have neat, clean and happy home for her pilot Chris...and to keep cold beer.”

"..and have cold beer "

karen sheds a few tears

A tradition is that the bride and groom crack open a barrel of saki which they did with great fan fare. Then the saki is served to their guests. I can attest to the fine quality of the saki that was served to us in our on square wooden saki cups with our names on them.

The meal consisted of appetizers and then thin slices of kobe beef that melted in you mouth as did the sushi. Without a doubt the finest of both I have had in a long, long time. Or should I say, during this century.

The ceremony continued with a fantastic slide show of the lives of Ai and Chris. Stop back here some time as when I get a copy I will but it here. I was very impressed but probably more so than the general reader as I know the main actors.

By 5 o,clock it was all over and we headed home.

A post wedding briefing was held in the lounge over Domino's pizza, but I was flat on my face asleep. Too much saki. I did make round two in the bar at 8, but I ducked out of that one early and left Vicki1 and Wanda continuing over glasses of wine.

It was a great day and a great event and I would not have missed it for the world.

THE FIRE EVENT

At 4am the hotel fire alarm sounded and very shortly Wanda and Sara were standing at my door. As I had doubts and thought about, they took off to get out of the building. The alarm continued as a voice on the system spoke loudly and continuously, but only in Japanese. This was not a recorded voice. As he continued to talk and I saw people streaming orderly out of their rooms we decided to follow suit. We followed the signs with the arrows to the exit but where the exit was indicated the sign in english said “private do not enter” so we continued on around the bank of elevators to the other sign that indicated the exit with the same “private do not enter”. Ignoring the firm warning we opened the door and found the stairs and started to trek down 14 flights. The stairwell was packed but moving in a very orderly fashion. Once outside we were directed into the hotel lobby, but I went to take pictures of the event with streets lined with fire trucks.

The fireman were not running around or actively busy though hoses were hooked up and the water turned on but not spraying. Crossing the street I bumped into two of the wedding attendees that were still in their same attire form the wedding. They were apparently totally sober but just returning at 5 am from the previous day outing.

I made my way back into the lobby and told Hal of my encounter Karen and the other guy. Hal told me many of them had never been to bed the night before. I told him that Bill Vaughn had said they had left Chris's at 11pm on Friday night, leading me to believe they had a early evening. Hal said “you know why the left Chris's at 11 don't you? Because the Police told them too!” Guess the younger crowd was partying harder than the senior citizens.

dude, what's up?

fire refugees

At check the hotel had compt'ed the night for the inconvenience of the fire alarm and the lack of proper announcements in English. They explained that it was a minor electrical fire in the kitchen. We were very impressed. Any savings in this country is very important.

On to Kyoto .....and yes Bundles your are the "Japanese friend" and, no, I have not gieger countered myself......yet.