Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween (Osaka) - Japan  2016

Halloween Toenails - San Francisco  2018

Trick or treat! Alas, our street has hardly any trick or treaters.

Top: Osaka, October 2016.

Next: Hanna's Halloween toenails, October 2018.

Below: Unique Halloween tableau in Brooklyn, also October 2018:

Halloween Tableau (Brooklyn) - New York  2018

Farewell to the East

Akihabara Morning (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Party House - Japan  2016

Last day's entry from my journal: 

Hali and Mike take the train to Akihabara for breakfast at Vie de France. Not as many pastry choices as in the past (looks like they're getting into more savory lunch items) but what we had was good.

We check out, store luggage at the hotel, then walk over to visit the Koishikawa garden with Dan. Nice. Afterwards a stroll among the streets surrounding Suidobashi station. Lots of restaurants! Alas, we won't be able to try any of them. We need a longer stay!

Taxi to Tokyo Station. Lunch at a beef tongue restaurant (very good!), catch the Narita Express (last taken-from-train photos of the trip), then the seemingly unending escalators and lines at the airport. Some shopping. Flight home. Leave Japan 5:00 PM Saturday, arrive SFO 10:00 AM Saturday. 

Japan Culinary Adventure (34): Beef Tongue Restaurant

Beef Tongue Restaurant (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Menu (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Much searching in the basement-level floors of Tokyo Station for our final lunch. At last, we found it! Good!

Actually, Hali and I had eaten this cuisine before, so we were old hands.

Chuo Line

Chuo Line Departing (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Exotic Dining (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

The Chuo Line cuts through the middle of Tokyo, so it turned out that our hotel (Hotel Niwa), which Hali had picked almost at random, was quite convenient being just a few blocks away from Suidobashi Station.

Speaking of Suidobashi Station, we really didn't have time to do enough exploring in the vicinity. Otherwise we might have had an Exotic Dining experience. ("World's Best Kebab.") Next time.

Tokyo Sightems

Musical Instrument (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Baseball Team (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

I'm thinking that that's a cello on top.

We saw the baseball team while walking around near our hotel.

Japan Culinary Adventure (33): Lunch at Mansei

Corn Soup (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Mansei Restaurant Floors (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

We had arranged to meet the Sasakis at Mansei Restaurant in the Akihabara District for lunch. Multiple floors! We dithered a bit trying to decide, but we finally ended up on floor number . . . , floor number . . . Huh. To be honest, I don't recall which floor. Food was good, but of all the items, I liked the corn soup the best.

Afterwards we posed for a photo by Dan of the four of us by Manseibashi (Mansei Bridge).

Mundys, Sasakis (Tokyo) - Japan  2016 (Photo by D Sugars)

Monday Heron Blogging

Heron (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Last day of our 2016 Japan trip. Bird seen at the Koishikawa Garden near our hotel, "one of the oldest and best preserved parks in Tokyo." (Wikipedia.)

Nagoya Train Station / Tokyo Rain

Waiting in Line (Nagoya) - Japan  2016

Umbrella, Rain (Tokyo) - Japan  2008

One from last year's trip (top) and one I recently discovered from 2008. Not half bad!

Tokyo Nighttime Food Tour - 4

Alley (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Rooster (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

"Skewers, monjayaki and Ginza lights." That's all that I wrote in my notes. Oh, and "Lots of pix."

Fun!

Tokyo Nighttime Food Tour - 3

Underpass (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Drinking Party (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Our tour guide (alas, forgotten her name) took us on a circuitous course through the main streets of Ginza as well as various alleyways where Dan and I were hard put to keep up with the group.

Especially Dan.

Tokyo Nighttime Food Tour - 2 / Japan Culinary Adventure (32): Skewers

Skewer Chef (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Skewers (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Very tasty, indeed. Wouldn't mind going back there, but unlikely that I'd be able to find it.

Tokyo Nighttime Food Tour - 1

Ginza Lights (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

Bowl (Tokyo) - Japan  2016

On our first night in Tokyo, a food tour starting at 6:00 PM, outside the Yurakucho Station. Luckily we had been in Japan for some days already: there were a few people in the group that were completely jet-lagged.

Going to Tokyo

Nagoya - Japan  2016

Kids - Japan  2016

Top photo: outskirts of Nagoya in the rain, with empty playground, motorcyclist and smoke stacks.

Next: cute kids in one of the many train stations we visited, can't remember exactly which one.

Monday Angry Cat Blogging

Cat (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Cat Under Car (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Angry, or just put out? Or sulking? You never can tell.

Another disaffected feline below.

Cat (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Japan Culinary Adventure (31): Meals at Yoshimatsu

Citrus Gel with Berries (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Kumiko Setting Out Breakfast Dishes (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Breakfast photos shown above. One of our dinner dishes below. As expected, I filled up pretty quickly. Hali and I tried out some chairs designed to be used with the low table, but for me dining in that position was still uncomfortably awkward.

It seems that it's more painful for me to sit cross-legged now than it was in 1966. Don't know why.

Soup, Mushrooms (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Yoshimatsu Ryokan (Video)

Yoshimatsu Ryokan, October, 2016 from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.

Think I used a Canon G5X and an iPhone.

There's a view of our private hot tub towards the end.

Ryokan Features

View from Room (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Scroll, Flower Arrangement (Hakone) - Japan  2016

The rainy weather provided some nice cloud cover, making for nice even lighting.

Not only did our room lend itself to exquisitely artistic compositions, but there was also an outside onsen (hot tub)! Whoa, nice! (We called it an onsen, but probably it didn't meet the strict technical definition of one.)

Outdoor Patio, Onsen (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Japan Culinary Adventure (30): Chestnuts

Hali Buying Chestnuts (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Chestnut Vendor - Japan  2016

Just as hobbits love mushrooms, Hali loves chestnuts, so that she was in luck during our Fall trip to Japan: chestnut season!

Top photo: Hali buying chestnuts from a street vendor (doing his own roasting) in Hakone.

Bottom photo: chestnut vendor in the Odawara train station. Don't think that that's a religious symbol at the upper right.

Mount Fuji

Lake Ashinoko (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Painters (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Walking around Hakone (pronounced hah koh nay): alas, Mount Fuji remained hidden when we visited the Mount Fuji viewpoint (see top photo).

But that didn't stop the artists painting the scene from putting Mount Fuji right in where it belongs (see bottom photo).

I was able to get a photo during our 2014 trip, though.

Monday Dachshund Blogging

Dachsund (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Dachsund Being Photographed (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Little dog seen at a Lake Ashinoko overlook. Dogs like attention!