Travel Tales, Part 1 - Tokyo

Hi Mom, I'm back!

After a month of travel and general hecticness (including a wicked cold and finding out we had a diabetic dog - what a mind spin) I finally feel like I'm starting to get my bearings back and process all that has been going on. Somehow along the way the month of May just slipped right by and I cannot believe that it is already almost-the-end of June. Where did it all go? Oh yes, onto airplanes and into doctor's offices. At least I have some photos to share of some of the highlights of the past 4 weeks...

I can't believe it was just over a month ago that I found myself so improbably on a plane to Tokyo hoping that once I landed I'd be able to find my way to Dana's house and not end up lost in translation in the middle of Japan. Once I landed, though, all my fears evaporated - Japan (and later Hong Kong) were both so easy to navigate that I was soon able to relax and just revel in the strange twisted almost-familiarity of it all (how is it that both Dana in Tokyo and Rachael in Hong Kong live closer to both a McDonald's and a 7-Eleven than I do here in California?)

I have to start off, though, with what might just be the best photo of all - Dana's three kiddos, having fun. (L to R: Cian, Kate & Sophie - hopefully Dana will let me know if I've got that wrong!)

While most of my time was spent relaxing with Dana and the babies in Komaba, we did manage to get out and see some sights. Of course we couldn't pass up a visit to Shibuya crossing (including my first ever izikaya experience) to view the crowds from the vantage made famous in part by Lost in Translation:

(Really, it's from the window of a Starbucks - and the lights are so bright I didn't even need a flash)

We also spent a day exploring the high-end shops of Omotesando (thanks to Sophie's appointment at the nearby Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic), including a wonderful lunch with Dana's husband Olivier followed by a relaxing walk through the grounds of the Meiji temple.

Sophie & I by the outer gates.

Sake offerings to the temple.

Raking the pathway; temple doors & lanterns.

And the highlight of our time at Meiji - preparing prayers to be burnt in offering by the priests:

It was a great visit, but much too short! I am already making plans to go back. In case you couldn't tell, Dana is expecting again, a second set of twins due in September. And Nathan generally has meetings in Japan in the fall....