Daytrip to Nikkō!!!

On Sunday, I met up with Karen and Shing, and we went to Nikkō!

^The Tobu 100 series (SPACIA) for the trainspotters

The first stop was Tōshō-gū. It had rained earlier in the morning, and everything was lush.


The stable for the shrine's sacred horses was decorated with carvings of the three wise monkeys


Guess who's not a student on a field trip?!

^excellent coordination of colors!

More relief carvings... they decorated nearly every structure.


Carvings above the Karamon.


Hundreds of stone steps lead us through a cryptomeria forest...


...to the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu


Photography was forbidden is most areas... but we were able to participate in a ceremony at the main shrine, and we were able to catch an info session about Nakiryu (the crying dragon) at Yakushi-doh Hall.

So for photos... here's Kami-jinko, one of the three sacred warehouses at the complex.


View of the entrance area...


We then went to Futarasan jinja


Sukibe at Futarasan jinja


A building for Mikoshi


Taro-maru, a 2.62-meter long sword located in Daikokuden

^how much does a 2.62m long sword weigh? 7.62 kilograms!

and of course, there were momiji everywhere!



Things started to close around 4-5pm, so we went back to the city center, snacked, shopped for export quality souvenirs, and caught a train back to Asakusa. After some yakiniku, we all headed home   :-(


Anywho, here's a teaser for my next trip... I'll be flying on my first project!

Tokyo - Tourist Mode

During the same weekend, I visited Asakusa and Sensō-ji for the first time!

^the snazzy Asakusa visitor center

So the place was packed. Multiple tour buses were dropping folks off.

^Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its shops

Some folks even looked bored, but check out those gloves and shades, yo.

^and the hat.
^^AND THE COUPLE'S MATCHING SHIRTS!!!

A side street away from the mess... the market was overwhelming...


Hōzōmon


It appears I didn't get a photo of Hondō (the main hall)... so this unidentified cluster of things will have to do!


Looking up in the Tsukubai


The street behind the shops was a much better way to get back to the station!



I then went back to Meiji Jingū




Ema


Why don't breweries dress up their kegs?


The lovely Kakuuntei Teahouse

Back to Tokyo!

I was back in Tokyo earlier this month. As usual, we stayed in Shinjuku

^jetlag induced sunrise viewing...



I took some co-workers to another baseball game, and discovered they had corn dogs! (they called them American Dogs)...


After my meetings, I visited Yoyogi kōen

^this duo was walking around like robots, in duct tape outfits.

Met up with some friends in Shibuya

^I recommend this place... get the taco rice, and China blue.


Then I ventured around to various museums. This was the first time I noticed the signage in the Metro stations. They were pretty great:



^if you can't read Japanese... good luck.

The SUICA card ads were extra kawaiiiiii



The first stop was the National Museum of Modern Art







The next stop was the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, where photography wasn't allowed...

^they had some large prints at a nearby office building...


Lastly, some street art


These two were part of a series of pieces under the JR East Tracks by the North end of Shinjuku Station

^ridin' the JR Yamonote Line!


^save the bees!!!

The Best Coast and the lovely Star Alliance!

One of the nice things about United Airlines is that they allow you to make same day flight changes. When using this perk, the change fee is either reduced to $75, or completely free.

Thus, on my recent trip to Tokyo, I was able to take advantage of this feature and change my outbound flight for no cost.

But first! here's SEA to SFO!


We climbed into a nice cloud sandwich with views of Rainier:

I napped for a bit and woke up for our descent into the Bay Area:


SF!



Now, if you ever get the chance to change from UA to one of their partner airlines on an international flight, do it. United is part of the Star Alliance, and their partner airlines are all better than them.That is... unless you like projector screens and movies loaded via VCR's.

^UA853

The flight I changed to used this fresh new equipment! (NH007)

^the actual plane I took was JA735A, and it's 8-yrs old.

What's so good about ANA and their 777-300ER?

^larger windows

Better service:




A prettier wing


and a self serve bar unit!



They also have better seats than UA. As for the movie selection, they have less, but they still have new releases. I watched:

Robocop - Blah blah blah, drones are bad. CEO's are bad. Human robots though? mostly OK.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - Kevin Costner is alive?!

3 Days to Kill - ANOTHER KEVIN COSTNER MOVIE?! And it's really bad!!! Did Kevin go broke or something? Also, ANA's description was the best:

...Not only is the movie directed by McG (Terminator Salvation), and suggested and scripted by Luc Besson, the film also features a plethora of powerful scenes, including car chases, gun fights, and arm-to-arm combat. Costner also gives full scope to his masculine charm to round off this great piece of entertainment.

They had me masculine charm...


Lastly, the door 2 galley was missing the aft panel kick strip (see bottom corner next to the seat monitor unit).

^tsk tsk!