MAY

The first week of May was our first vacation, Golden Week, although most people only get three days off we had five off. So we went to Yudanaka in Nagano prefecture to see the monkey park, Jigokudani, which was amazing - we are planning to go back in the winter to see the monkeys soaking in the hot spring with snow all around them! We stayed in the best Japanese ryokan there as well, it was run by this cute old couple and we decided to have the meals, which is true Japanese style. The room was okay but the meal was the best meal we had eaten in Japan, it was never ending and we each got our own little hot plates to cook our meat (and in my case, fish) and there was miso soup and rice and tempura and sushi and dessert it was amazing! We also went to Nagano and sought everlasting salvation by walking through this underground tunnel inside a temple which was extremely interesting as the tunnel was long and pitch black and FULL of people, but we touched the key on the wall that brings salvation :) We then planned on going to Matsumoto and spending the night, we booked a hostel at the tourist information booth and then went to see the castle in Matsumoto, which also was really cool, you could go in the castle and climb all the way up to the sixth floor, everything was bilingual so we understood, and there were lots of old weapons and armour, it was a beautiful day so we got to take some postcard pictures. After the castle, we tried to find an outdoor museum, but got completely lost on the way and ending up driving up and down a huge mountain and were far away from Matsumoto when we figured out where we were so we just drove home.

The next day we packed up and took the train into Tokyo while everyone else was trying to escape Tokyo. We visited the Imperial Palace, although the closet you can get is the gate, although you can see the tip and take some good pictures. We also went to the imperial palace gardens, which were beautiful. We went to Mori Tower and took 360 degree pictures of Tokyo and also got to see an art exhibit about Berlin and Tokyo it was really cool. The next day we went to see the baseball game which super cool, it was so much fun and they had great food. We walked around after but Denis got really sick so we went home early. I particpated in a traditional tea ceremony at our ryokan while Denis rested, it was very interesting, everyone there (6 people) got to taste tea made by the tea master and then try to make the tea, which is much harder than it seems, specifically because it is very detailed and very right hand oriented...The next day we were both feeling better and went to Tsukiji fish market, but a little to late, we got to see big heads of fish but not the bodies...but they must have been huge. We went to Ginza and walked around the couture stores, Cartier, Channel, Louis Vouton, etc and then went home.
The rest of May we spent in Ashikaga with our friends, we had a couple of birthdays including mine which was ridiculous we walked home after the sun had come up, I was very drunk and spent the entire next day in bed, but I recovered and took it much easier the next weekend. On Sunday, we made it to the ocean for the first time, we headed east to the Pacific Ocean (it feels strange to write that the Pacific Ocean is east...) and it was very nice except for all the dead birds. Yes, some strange phenomenon happened and there were hundreds of dead birds lining the shore and dying birds being washed up, it was really sad, but we were assured that that is NOT normal, maybe the result of a typhoon...The waves were really crashing on the huge cement tetra-pods, giant cement things to break the waves, and were tried to get some pictures and just as I turned my back to leave a huge wave came and soaked me...it was a lot of fun. That was May.