Day 3 - Kamakura & Yokohama

Holy crap I'm tired. We woke up at 4am (Tania) and 5am (Craig) because we had fallen asleep the night before around 7:30pm. Jet lag is a funny thing, and it's having some fun with the two of us.

Well we headed down to Kamakura on the southern coast for a nice day trip to get away from the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Tokyo. That's exactly what we got. An hour at the Hase-dera temple provided some much needed serenity amongst beautiful temples, golden Buddhas, heavenly incense, and darkened caves. A quick walk to the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) was an impressive 10 year project to be seen. And getting lost along the Daibutsu hiking course was a fun off-the-beaten path jaunt for the two of us. Yet the hike left us exhausted, especially since Tania is catching the throat cold I had at the start of the trip.

Yet, instead of giving in and heading back to the room at 4pm, Tania suggested that we check out Yokohama on the way back, which ended up being a great idea. We focused on Yokohama's Chinatown, which was much larger than we expected. Filled with a crazy amount of Chinese restaurants, a ton of gadget stores, and enough squishy (aka pork bao) (hello Dood!) shops to fill a conference room full of dim sum fans. It's a wonder how many places stay open with so much competition within a 5 block radius, but they do, and it made for a fun stroll on a Monday night for some Americans.

Now we're back in the room and we made it all the way to 10pm. I'm already apologizing to our hotel neighbor because I know the two of us are going to be in deep comas until well into tomorrow, and one of us might (will) be snoring to the heavens. I'll let you guess who.

Some more thoughts about this beautiful country...

- People will sleep wherever and whenever possible, especially the trains
- You can pay a taxi fare with your cell phone. I wish the US would catch up with this technology
- Chinese musicians' facial expressions never change, as noticed during a surprise performance during our dinner in Yokohama's Chinatown
- We are now masters of the Tokyo crowds and subway system (if you knew how crazy these are, you'd be proud of us, too)
- This is truly a community. People bump into each other and think nothing of it, where people would give each other a hard time in the US. People don't think of littering or defacing public areas. People respect each other in every fashion. I love this.
- Japanese people love canned coffee drinks, not energy drinks like in the US. A different type of sweet pick me up, I guess

Heading to bed now. Cool to think that tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down. I remember watching it happen, and admiring people who came home with pieces of it. A great moment for Democracy. Let's hope for more around the world in the next 20 years.

Day 2 Tokyo - Harajuku, Meiji, and Park Hyatt

Okay, quick update today since we need to get ready and head to the Shinjuku station to catch a train down to Kamakura.

Yesterday we mellowed out in the room during the morning, catching up on the incredible amount of pictures from the wedding on Facebook. It's unreal how many are out there, and how well our friends captured the whole week. Thank you everyone for doing that!

We then grabbed ramen and gyoza at Komen in Shinjuku. Let me tell you this ain't your 3 for 99 cents ramen. Dear Lord it's good! We already have plans to go back before we leave for Kyoto.

Down to Harajuku to see the Meiji temple which was beautiful, but it had nothing on the people watching. Several weddings were happening on the grounds so we could see the impeccably well made up brides and the samurai-styled grooms. There were also a ton of little girls dressed as geisha that supported my theory that Japanese children can't be real because they're too damn adorable.



Hopped over the tracks past anti-war demonstrators (assuming that they were preparing for Obama's visit this week) and into the mass crowds roaming the Harajuku streets. It's like Rodeo Drive x20 on a long and wide street. We got sick of the crowds, even though the goth girls were entertaining to look at, so we cut into the side streets which was much more our speed. Tiny walking streets full of boutiques (yes Trace, I got a picture of the Stussy store, which was above an Undefeated) and well dressed youth made for a nice afternoon stroll.

Done with that area, we headed back past our hotel in Shinjuku and up into the Park Hyatt hotel. It comprises the 41-52 floors of the Tokyo Tower Building, and all I can say is wow. Mathew Horner recommended we have a drink up there (amongst other recos, all of which were spot on), but since the New York Bar on the 52nd floor didn't open until 5, we had tea and dessert on the 41st floor in the lobby bar. The view of the city was astonishing, especially since the sun was setting over the western portion of the city, and was glowing orange through the haze of the city skyline. Spectacular. After tea (and a dessert I can't pronouce, something like Mille-liuffe), we had drinks at the NY Bar which provided an even better view, delicious french fries fried in duck fat with homemade ketchup, and immaculate drinks. Tania had a very smooth plum wine concoction that was easy on her sore throat, and I had a vodka drink with ground apples and ginger syrup. The ice was flawless as the Japanese like to do so that it doesn't melt too quickly (it makes a difference, I swear), and the presentation was perfect. Even though I ate a slice of ginger thinking it was a slice of apple, we loved it all. And we got out of there before the cover charge came into effect. Gotta love budget traveling at the Park Hyatt!

Okay, so maybe that wasn't too short, probably because I can't say enough good things about this city. I can't wait to check out some of the outlying towns to see what else the region provides. Sean Nichols gave us some recos for Kamakura, so we'll see if Salon de la Grande actually has the world's best hot chocolate.

Cardinals kicked the Bears' asses today, and my fantasy team is killing it! Man it doesn't get much better than this!

Day 1 under wraps!

After a great night's sleep, we've been lounging around our closet of a hotel room organizing our clothes on the floor (Tania) and spending a little time on the interweb (me). Not having an actual closet or room to store our bags was at first a pain, but it's helping us realize that we brought too much stuff. Too many clothes. Too many chochkies (sp?). Just too much stuff, so we may be mailing some items back to my parents' place in AZ. It's our assignment before we leave Tokyo on Friday (it's now Sunday here, still Saturday in the US) to rid ourselves of a good chunk of stuff. I normally hate the word "stuff" since it's so broad and general and nondescript, but it's perfect for these things we really don't need on this trip.

Last night we had the best time with Tania's business school friends Kojiro and Keseuke. We met at Keseuke's restaurant Scene for a drink before dinner. Scene is right around the corner from the US embassy, which is hosting President Obama in a few days. Security is already starting to clamp down on the area, which is nice to know he'll be safe, but this is one country where that won't be a problem. So clean, so not threatening.

Anyway, back to our night. After a drink at Scene, we headed over to a restaurant called Ninja. Yes, Ninja. Once through the front door, a ninja pops through a hidden door to surprise you, and escort you through a ninja training course on your way to your table. The training course included magic draw bridge doors, maneuvering through cave-like dwellings, and finding more secret doors. A bit kitschy, but so fun to experience. Then we sat down for an incredible meal of sushi, steak tartar, escargot, and so much more. Incredible! And it was topped-off with a frog-shaped cheesecake on a chocolate cookie for dessert, and to celebrate our wedding. We even got private magic shows during our meal. All in all, it was such a classy and delicious meal. These guys really know how to do it. Thank you Kojiro and Keseuke, it was too much, but such a wonderful night.

Now we're about to get ready and head down to the Meiji shrine in Yoyogi, then down to Hirajuku to spend the afternoon people watching and walking around.

Sorry that ND lost today, guys, but at least there were bigger upsets today to bury the story. And wow, CU beat A&M. 3 wins on the year! Atta boys!!!

Talk soon!

Initial Impressions of Japan

1. I want to move here because if I did, I'd be in the 99th percentile in height. Today in the subway back from our tour, I was able to see over all but one person in our car. AWESOME!!!
2. Everyone has huge flip phones. Apparently, this is the home of electronics, but they can't make a cell phone for crap.
3. Japanese kids aren't real. Nothing real can be that cute.
4. The food may be healthy, but I'm still not going to lose any weight because the deserts are so good, and everywhere.
5. I'm tired. We've been up since 3:30am and have been on the go all day. Luckily, we're meeting up with Tania's friends in two hours so we can go out all night. Thank God I just got over being sick.
6. My sarcasm still translates on this blog even though nobody around here has any idea what I'm saying.

Tsukiji Fish Market

Just got back from the Tsukiji fish market, and all I can say is wow. We got up at 3:30am and after getting a bit lost in the subway (not train) station, we made our way over there. We waited in line to watch the auction of gigantic tunas for about 20 minutes, only to get in to hear the voice of the auctioneer rattling off bids, which sounded more like him singing a nice a capella tune. We then wandered through the infinite rows of salesmen which offered every type of fish imaginable, and then some. When we were done spectating and dodging back-loading carts whizzing every way around us, we made our way to the front of the market to a little sushi joint named Daiwa. The line was loooong, but so worth it once we made our way in. Toro, sea urchin, hamachi, and so much more is now jumping up and down in our stomachs with joy, even though it's not feeling so good since there's such a large party down there.

Now back in Shinjuku at our hotel checking out bus tours of the city. We want to see it all before we start to explore the individual districts. After getting semi lost this morning when the streets were dead, we need our bearings for when the streets are fully alive.

Hope all's well in the states!

First Dance, the Second Time

Here's a picture of the first dance, after I started it over because the song was 30 seconds ahead of where we needed to be. Thanks Karen and Lorena!!!

Here we come, Tokyo!

Whew! We just made it into the international terminal at LAX after an 8am flight from Phoenix. We had exactly 34 hours, including what should have been two nights of sleep, to unpack from Puerto Vallarta, prep for the trip, and pack for the next 5 months of our lives in varying weather, anywhere from cold as hell in China to hot as hell in Vietnam. But now that we're sitting here able to catch our breath and start looking ahead to the details of our trip, we're also able to reflect back on the last week that was.

I can't say anywhere close to enough about our wedding week. The words perfect, incredible, ideal, and mind-blowing don't even come close to our wedding festivities in Mexico. Here's a quick recap...

- Arrive in PV and greeted with fresh margaritas at Casa La Villita with Tania's family
- Preview the wedding villa and realize that everything is set to host the perfect party
- Dinner with the families, who actually liked each other
- Surprise visit from friends after a quick yet torrential rain storm
- A zip line trip that exceeded all expectations, and even included an encounter with the Predator
- The welcome cocktail party at the hotel where Night of the Iguana was filmed, full of exuberant hugs and toasts, watching people realize that they have one hell of a weekend ahead of them
- Fishing with my boys (and Rose) and actually catching two mahi mahi, and only two people getting sea sick (sorry Dad and Dave)
- Rehearsal dinner at La Bodeguita del Medio, filled with incredible food, drink, sunset, and speeches (The Owl and the Pussycat, anyone? An emotional Italian anyone?)
- Getting ready for the wedding with my groomsmen, along with many of our other friends, poolside with fresh margs and an incredible view over the infinity pool
- Sweating my ass off at the church, not because I was nervous, but because I wore an oven, I mean Irish linen shirt with no undershirt on the hottest and most humid day on record
- Getting a sneak peak at Tania in her wedding dress as she stood in the doorway of the church, and crying like a baby before she even came down the isle
- Not getting to kiss her in the church, but making up for it twice later in the night
- Walking down the Malecon after taking pictures, being greeted by a boisterous roar from our friends who were wasting no drinking time across the street before getting on the bus to the reception
- The blood orange margaritas
- The beautiful flowered entrance to the beach cocktail party
- My parents' table name tag catching on fire (thanks Justin!)
- Starting the first dance over, and nailing it!
- The music, the music, the music
- The dancing, the dancing, the dancing
- And finally, the impromptu pool dance party culminated with a fireworks-like splashfest to close out the night

The next few days were perfect as we got to sit by the hotel pool and relax with family and friends as we unwound from a crazy week. Wait, no, we went big that night for Matt's birthday and continued to fill ourselves with tequila and good times. I'm pissed at you Trace for making us sing Like A Prayer since we haven't been able to talk ever since, but not too pissed since it was such a great time.

Okay Okay, now that I've used the word "perfect" over and over, I'll admit that it's the exact word we need to use to describe last week. Thank you to everyone for sharing it with us, and for making us feel so special on this special occasion. We'll remember it the rest of our lives, and will be indebted to you for just as long.

So we're off to Tokyo. Hopefully the plane ride goes by quickly, and we can find our damn hotel once we get there.

Wish us luck, take care of yourselves, and we'll chat soon.

All our love!
Craig and Tania Palumbo