Happy Returns
We're back!
Actually, we were back last week, but I haven't gotten around to sitting down and writing a post. Getting back to work was interesting. My new workplace at the expanded Google Cambridge office is pretty great.
Our return trip wasn't so bad, jet-lag-wise, though the long day of travel Sunday was pretty hard (5 hours of sleep, wake up at 4AM, then 28.5 hours awake with only intermittent naps on plane and train before bed at 8:30PM).
And the trip was awesome! We stayed in a little inn (Tama Ryokan in Shinjuku) and took in many of the sights of the city. We viewed the night skyline and several fireworks shows from the top of Tokyo Skytree. We saw the start of the summer festival in Chiba City, and the giant shrine at Narita. We had the chance to visit my host-mom and see some of my old haunts from study away (though the university was apparently closed at the time). We ate lots of great street food, amazing pastry and coffee at cute cafes, elaborate desserts, fancy sushi (near Tokyo's famous fish market) and convenient sushi (at Genki Sushi, where orders are placed on a touch-screen display and whisked to your seat via trays on a magnetic rail), and delicious grilled eel.
We took a day-trip to Hakone, visiting the teahouse at Amazake Chaya and taking sightseeing ferry across Lake Ashi, but unfortunately arriving at Owakudani a bit too late to do anything aside from take a quick look at the view and immediately catch the last ropeway car out. But still had an amazing evening at the Hakone Yuryo hot springs (arriving just in time to stay out of a dramatic thunderstorm), with its beautiful baths and a restaurant with charcoal hearths set into the center of the tables and the most delicious roasted fish I've ever had.
We ventured out to Itabashi to seek out the izakaya of a famous Iranian-Japanese portrait artist, only to find the shop closed, the owner out of town for a television appearance. But we found a lovely izakaya around the corner, Izakaya Hanami, an exceptionally clean (hard to find non-smoking izakayas), pretty, and welcoming shop that was clearly a labor of love for the proprietors, Mr. and Mrs. Tadashi. The shop was decorated with model trains and train photographs taken by Mr. Tadashi, a train enthusiast and former railroad engineer. The proprietors and all the regulars were very kind to us wayward tourists and were very patient with my limited Japanese.
The only downsides to the trip were the weather (unusually hot and humid, not cooling down until close to the end of the trip) and that I came down with a throat infection in the middle of it (requiring a trip to the doctor, made me glad that Google provides really top-of-the-line trip insurance for its employees). Nothing that could really mar a great vacation.
It was wonderful for us to be able to take some time together without any worries about chores or work (for the most part, Julie managed to call in to at least one meeting).
Since getting back, I've set up at my new office, started in on post-wedding chores, and done a bit of cooking (our vegetable deliveries resumed on Friday, and earlier in the week I made madeleines).
Actually, we were back last week, but I haven't gotten around to sitting down and writing a post. Getting back to work was interesting. My new workplace at the expanded Google Cambridge office is pretty great.
Our return trip wasn't so bad, jet-lag-wise, though the long day of travel Sunday was pretty hard (5 hours of sleep, wake up at 4AM, then 28.5 hours awake with only intermittent naps on plane and train before bed at 8:30PM).
And the trip was awesome! We stayed in a little inn (Tama Ryokan in Shinjuku) and took in many of the sights of the city. We viewed the night skyline and several fireworks shows from the top of Tokyo Skytree. We saw the start of the summer festival in Chiba City, and the giant shrine at Narita. We had the chance to visit my host-mom and see some of my old haunts from study away (though the university was apparently closed at the time). We ate lots of great street food, amazing pastry and coffee at cute cafes, elaborate desserts, fancy sushi (near Tokyo's famous fish market) and convenient sushi (at Genki Sushi, where orders are placed on a touch-screen display and whisked to your seat via trays on a magnetic rail), and delicious grilled eel.
We took a day-trip to Hakone, visiting the teahouse at Amazake Chaya and taking sightseeing ferry across Lake Ashi, but unfortunately arriving at Owakudani a bit too late to do anything aside from take a quick look at the view and immediately catch the last ropeway car out. But still had an amazing evening at the Hakone Yuryo hot springs (arriving just in time to stay out of a dramatic thunderstorm), with its beautiful baths and a restaurant with charcoal hearths set into the center of the tables and the most delicious roasted fish I've ever had.
We ventured out to Itabashi to seek out the izakaya of a famous Iranian-Japanese portrait artist, only to find the shop closed, the owner out of town for a television appearance. But we found a lovely izakaya around the corner, Izakaya Hanami, an exceptionally clean (hard to find non-smoking izakayas), pretty, and welcoming shop that was clearly a labor of love for the proprietors, Mr. and Mrs. Tadashi. The shop was decorated with model trains and train photographs taken by Mr. Tadashi, a train enthusiast and former railroad engineer. The proprietors and all the regulars were very kind to us wayward tourists and were very patient with my limited Japanese.
The only downsides to the trip were the weather (unusually hot and humid, not cooling down until close to the end of the trip) and that I came down with a throat infection in the middle of it (requiring a trip to the doctor, made me glad that Google provides really top-of-the-line trip insurance for its employees). Nothing that could really mar a great vacation.
It was wonderful for us to be able to take some time together without any worries about chores or work (for the most part, Julie managed to call in to at least one meeting).
Since getting back, I've set up at my new office, started in on post-wedding chores, and done a bit of cooking (our vegetable deliveries resumed on Friday, and earlier in the week I made madeleines).