"You liked Rashomon." "That's not how I remember it."
I was going to use "Folks, we're experiencing some moderate Godzilla-related turbulence at this time, so I'm going to ask you to put your seatbelts back on", but in googling the episode to see if I could find anything funnier, the above bit sent me into giggle fits.
Still trying to recover from the hike yesterday and plan for the Tokyo leg of the journey. M&B had a bunch of things to do as well. So, today was fairly leisurely:
- Kobe Beef lunch (about $100 per person) at Misono in downtown Kobe - the restaurant that originated Teppanyaki. I think I'm ruined for Kobe Beef back in the States. Also had an amazingly smooth local sake. I've got step-by-step pics of the meal as they made it for us (as I do with the okonomiyaki adventures as well).
- Picked up a TON of bizarre socks for L's family for XMas (see one of the previous entries for why this is so funny to me)
- Karaoke! Upscale, large, and touchpad-enabled, but quite similar to the booths in CA. The videos are about as strange as back home (D&M will be happy to hear that I "sang" Eminem's "Just Lose It": M stuck to hair band music, B and I sang the Weird Al version of Piano Man, plus a few karaoke favorites [California Dreamin', Don't You Want Me, Don't You Forget About Me, Sweet Dreams as Made of This, Ring of Fire, Just a Gigolo]). Quite an extensive food menu as well - we all got some desserts (mmm, milk products - great for singing!)
I've finally reserved the hotel for Wed and Thurs night in Tokyo, but of course it was stupid to wait so long for Disney Hotels - the minimum left is about $1000, so I've changed plans a bit. The hotel I've already booked is a Disney partner, so they have a shuttle to and from the parks. Therefore, I'll spend Wed and part of Thurs in Disney, then spend the rest of Thurs, Fri, and Sat elsewhere in Tokyo [Tokyo Tower, Akihabara, the Studio Ghibli Musum, Tsukigi Fish Market first thing on Sat - since the Fish Auction is 5:30 - 6:30 AM]. I've seen some serviceable hotels nearby the fish market/Ginza available for Fri night, and they're also convenient to the train for getting to Narita (the flight is 4PM, so I need to be there by 1...and maybe allow extra time for returning the rented phone and potential snafus).
Was tempted to cancel the Mon-Tues Ryokan down south to leave more time for Tokyo, but it's the one from Spirited Away, dammit, and there's a castle where I can try on samurai armor! (it's 8 hrs from there to Tokyo, so I'm not sure I'd want to blow an entire day travelling on Tues, hence I'll come back to M&B's on Tues, then head out for Tokyo first time on Wed).
I realize I'm giving Tokyo extremely short shrift, but actually, I was more interested in traveling the countryside anyway. Some of the things I'd like to do aren't available this time of year (e.g. watch a Sumo match), so clearly I'll have to come back :) (you know, right after I visit Italy, Germany, Ireland, Australia, England, The Netherlands, Denmark, back to France and Senegal, Kenya, The Galapagos, Macchu Pichu, etc)
Still trying to recover from the hike yesterday and plan for the Tokyo leg of the journey. M&B had a bunch of things to do as well. So, today was fairly leisurely:
- Kobe Beef lunch (about $100 per person) at Misono in downtown Kobe - the restaurant that originated Teppanyaki. I think I'm ruined for Kobe Beef back in the States. Also had an amazingly smooth local sake. I've got step-by-step pics of the meal as they made it for us (as I do with the okonomiyaki adventures as well).
- Picked up a TON of bizarre socks for L's family for XMas (see one of the previous entries for why this is so funny to me)
- Karaoke! Upscale, large, and touchpad-enabled, but quite similar to the booths in CA. The videos are about as strange as back home (D&M will be happy to hear that I "sang" Eminem's "Just Lose It": M stuck to hair band music, B and I sang the Weird Al version of Piano Man, plus a few karaoke favorites [California Dreamin', Don't You Want Me, Don't You Forget About Me, Sweet Dreams as Made of This, Ring of Fire, Just a Gigolo]). Quite an extensive food menu as well - we all got some desserts (mmm, milk products - great for singing!)
I've finally reserved the hotel for Wed and Thurs night in Tokyo, but of course it was stupid to wait so long for Disney Hotels - the minimum left is about $1000, so I've changed plans a bit. The hotel I've already booked is a Disney partner, so they have a shuttle to and from the parks. Therefore, I'll spend Wed and part of Thurs in Disney, then spend the rest of Thurs, Fri, and Sat elsewhere in Tokyo [Tokyo Tower, Akihabara, the Studio Ghibli Musum, Tsukigi Fish Market first thing on Sat - since the Fish Auction is 5:30 - 6:30 AM]. I've seen some serviceable hotels nearby the fish market/Ginza available for Fri night, and they're also convenient to the train for getting to Narita (the flight is 4PM, so I need to be there by 1...and maybe allow extra time for returning the rented phone and potential snafus).
Was tempted to cancel the Mon-Tues Ryokan down south to leave more time for Tokyo, but it's the one from Spirited Away, dammit, and there's a castle where I can try on samurai armor! (it's 8 hrs from there to Tokyo, so I'm not sure I'd want to blow an entire day travelling on Tues, hence I'll come back to M&B's on Tues, then head out for Tokyo first time on Wed).
I realize I'm giving Tokyo extremely short shrift, but actually, I was more interested in traveling the countryside anyway. Some of the things I'd like to do aren't available this time of year (e.g. watch a Sumo match), so clearly I'll have to come back :) (you know, right after I visit Italy, Germany, Ireland, Australia, England, The Netherlands, Denmark, back to France and Senegal, Kenya, The Galapagos, Macchu Pichu, etc)