Tokyo Edo Museum

Twelve hours after I got back from America, I went on a field trip.

Was it a good idea? Could I stay awake the whole time? Where was the nearest vat of coffee? These were the questions I asked myself on the way to here---

Ryogoku Station, which is known mostly for its proximity to sumo. This neighborhood wrecks the BMI average of the entire country. We saw a couple of sumo wrestlers while walking around, which was pretty cool.

We were a group of ten or so, and luckily, eight of us were Japanese and knew what was going on. The other two of us were the former (her) and current (me) teachers of the class trip's students. They go on a field trip once a year and it was a great chance for turnover.

First, lunch at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Ryogoku. It had a great Viking (which is what the Japanese call a buffet). It also had a perfect view of Tokyo Skytree.

Lunch was a great time to eat and chat. Plus, someone made paper cranes for each place setting, and I ended up with all the cranes at my table, so I have a whole family.

The cranes were just a perk, though. The main event was really the Tokyo Edo Museum. I did not give this museum nearly enough time or attention due to jet lag and interest in the first floor gift shop. I'll return at a later date because the museum is beautiful, and really interactive. I mean, look at all the things you can do!

You can sit in a palanquin:

You can pick up a matsui like an old timey Japanese firefighter:

These were used like guidons, basically it's held aloft so a group can identify its rally point. The guidons at Blake's college were a lot more flag-like and less weird-wooden-triangle-thing. And let me tell you, at the Tokyo-Edo Museum, they really let you experience the weight of history. Literally. This stuff is heavy.

I went over to these buckets expecting a lesson in balance. Instead, I got 50 pounds of rocks on my shoulder. This picture shows the highest I was able to lift the buckets due to the weight and my height. I would have made a terrible water schlepper.

Anyone want more examples of manual labor disguised as a museum exhibit?

Rachel was my lucky passenger. It wasn't much a ride, though, since it was bolted to the floor.

See that stone wall behind us? That's inside the museum. In fact, there's a whole bridge inside the museum. It's a replica of Nihonbashi, which was built during the Edo Period. A new version is still in use today in the Nihonbashi district in Tokyo.

My favorite part, however, was definitely the models.

There were huge tables of beautifully detailed models. Little people so life-like that I'm pretty sure they come alive after the museum closes. I mean, if someone built a whole tiny, little city, it can't be purely decorative, right?

Next time I go back, I'll bring these photos along for comparison. I'm pretty sure the people will have moved. Prepare yourselves for scientific breakthrough.

It was a long day, but I'm glad I fought back my jet lag long enough to visit. Between the food, sumo and history, Ryogoku is definitely worth a second look. It's an area of Tokyo I'd never heard of, and can't wait to visit again.

Back when Blake had a life

Earlier this month, Blake and I had a vacation. For five days we got to roam around Hong Kong. Since it was our second visit, we didn't feel any pressure to go sightseeing or visit special landmarks. Instead, we just relaxed, ate as much good food as we could, and enjoyed the sauna that is Hong Kong in the summertime.

Obviously we ate more crispy, Peking duck. I mean, you all know me.

The view from the south of Hong Kong island. It's much more low-key than the Hong Kong you always see in movies. It's beautifully green and cool, the ocean is beautiful. A great place to spend a day.

Also down there? Stanley Market.

This is my favorite market. It's full of the cheap, knock-off merchandise you have to see at some point when you visit, but unlike most of the markets, it's not over crowded and the stall vendors aren't aggressive. They'll definitely haggle, though, and if they see you make a move to leave, they drop their prices pretty fast. It's a good place for trinkets and souvenirs.

Here is the view of our cab ride back to the hotel. Hong Kong taxis may not be the very worst, but they've got to be on the shortlist. Seat belts are a must as it feels like they armor-all the seats and then take your through the streets like a Starfighter through the Death Star (it was the only example my brain could think of and if you don't get it, I don't think we can be friends).

As an aside, I flew into Hong Kong solo (okay, no more Star Wars references, I promise). I took the MTR (Hong Kong's subway system) from the airport to Hong Kong Station and then a taxi to the hotel. Can I give you some advice? Don't take a Hong Kong taxi alone because when you die in some taxi-race you didn't know you were a part of, careening through the streets, it's just going to be you and the guy who killed you.

Seriously though, for as fast as they go and as aggressively as they merge, it's amazing how good they are at their jobs. I've never seen a taxi fender-bender and in fact, I don't remember any bended fenders at all on the taxis we rode in.

Before someone who's been there hops all over me, yes, the MTR is a very cheap, easy way to get around the entire island as well as the Kowloon side. It doesn't just go to the airport and back. Last summer Blake and I used it to visit lots of things.

This time, however, we just cabbed it. Hong Kong is one of the rare places where the American dollar is worth more than a dollar. We lived it up.

Here's the view from a restaurant we ate at one night, Aqua. It's on the Kowloon side and is AMAZING. You can see the entire Hong Kong waterfront and the light show that the buildings put on every night. You're definitely paying for the view along with the food and drinks, but it's worth it.

The trip was less of a port call and more of a last hurrah. As some of you know, Blake is neck deep in the HAC process (helicopter aircraft commander). So, he doesn't get weekends. He doesn't get free time. He barely gets an hour for dinner.

Hong Kong was the perfect place for our quick vacation and recharge. August is our do-nothing month because of HAC and also because we're both gearing up to be back stateside soon!

Lock-up Restaurant- aka: a meal in jail

When Blake asked if I'd like to go to a jail-themed restaurant, I did not picture something like this:

We went with a friend from the squadron and his Japanese girlfriend. Shinjuku is a crazy busy part of Tokyo and I am positive that unless you speak Japanese, your chances of locating this place are zero. It's on the 6th and 7th floor, above a drugstore.

We stepped off the elevator and it was dark. Like, someone forgot to pay the jail's electricity bill or something. Izumi and I looked at each other. The looks of two people who do not like to be scared, and have learned to be paranoid. This place was majorly creepy.

The hostess won't let you in until you put your hand in a little guillotine. Don't worry, they don't take off your hand! I know, you were worried there for a second, huh?

The hostess was dressed as a policewoman. And by policewoman, I mean "who is the groom and where should I set my boombox?" kind of policewoman.

The above vampire gave us our first sign that the jail-themed restaurant was more of a jail-ish theme. Blake got handcuffed to the stripper hostess and she led us down a poorly lit set of stairs to our table. Blake told me later that all he could think about was what would happen to the girl if he gave the chain one good, solid yank. Such a gentleman.

Now, I'm going to be honest here, it's pretty hokey. For example, the walls were basic black that someone had taken a sponge treatment to with a color that was very reminiscent of a number two. Blake and I sat under a velvet painting of the guy straight out of the Goosebumps TV show (remember that one? I don't, because I was waaay to chicken to watch it). The jail bars that keep you in your booth, however, are rusty, metal and very heavy. The waitress doesn't actually lock the doors, but the sliding sound of the metal bars is very distinctly "jail," or at least, that's what it sounds like in the movies.

They serve tasty drinks in beakers, with syringes, sometimes with eyedroppers, pop rocks and dry ice. Like I said, it was dark in there so these pictures are less than HQ.

Oreo and Kahlua

Pop Rock laced cotton candy with passion fruit and mango

So dinner is going along well. We ordered a "Russian Roulette" plate. Five potato croquettes, one of which has a habanero pepper inside of it. Sheer dumb luck that Izumi got it, who is the only one of us who doesn't care for spicy things. The food was good. The spicy chicken was really excellent.

And then, there was a jailbreak. Finally, we all saw why people go out of their way to come here. The lights went out and strobe lights started going crazy. We started hearing the cell doors opening and shutting in other parts of the restaurant. There were announcements in Japanese, but Izumi was too busy keeping guard to translate them for us.

I was sitting on the outside of the booth. A choice I immediately regretted. The wait staff donned scary masks and went around rattling doors, sticking their heads inside booths and generally trying to scare the bejesus out of people. It wouldn't normally be scary, but the strobe lights and bass-heavy music made it a little more high-energy. Then they played ABBA's "Dancing Queen," which was actually very much like a horror movie and made the whole thing much, much eerier.

The mayhem went on for what felt like forever. I sat at the door they opened the most, which was a blessing and a curse. Obviously, I had to keep watch like a hawk because they would come around the corner with no prior warning. It was a blessing because they stuck their heads in and basically past me so I didn't have to really look at any of them. One guy dressed in black did manage to catch me off guard though and yes, I screamed like a girl.

The scariest part? There was a lull in the escaped madmen and someone squeezed my shoulder. I screamed, jumped, and it turned out to be Blake. That man really knows how to take advantage of a weakness. You all may remember how he has scared me several times with a Mr. Bean mask his sister sent him for Christmas. Listen, when I don't have my glasses on, everyone looks like a stranger.

When it was over, I had headache that was as much from tension as it was from the metal bars clanging. I was tense the entire rest of the meal. Logically, they weren't going to do another "floor show" so soon after the last one, and they can't go around scaring people who might choke on their food. Still, my body would not abandon its vigil and I was glad to get out of there.

It's the kind of thing that adults can appreciate, but it will scare the crap out of a six-year-old. I'm more of a six-year-old than an adult when it comes to this kind of thing, but I am very glad we went. Octopus sashimi, test tubes of alcohol, characters in masks, and jail bars with Dracula are, surprisingly, a very Japanese experience.