I had originally planned to go to Yamanashi this weekend to visit a friend and see a festival, but there was a mix up with dates at my school. I had said I would go on a day trip to Tokyo with the old lady school union (past students). They had already paid for me and reserved things so I had to get a refund for my tickets. On Wednesday I went to Costco, so we were able to stop in Takasaki on the way back to refund them at the station. It was my first time at Costco. Quite impressive! I spent so much money, but was very happy to even get an orange pumpkin! Got a sausage with relish and sauerkraut afterward too, yum yum. I was driven there by A who also had a Costco card.

My morning began with lots of bowing and good mornings and comments about my height. We had two large buses that were leaving at 7:30 am. On the bus, we were given a bottle of green tea and two mandarins. Kyocho-sensei, Kyoto-sensei, two other teachers, and Ichigo-sensei accompanied me. It took a little over two hours to get to our first stop, TenQ, a space museum in Tokyo Dome City. It was right next to Tokyo Dome (baseball stadium) in an entertainment complex. The drive was quite interesting. The hostess on the bus was a hilarious announcer and served tea and coffee, and performed songs. The whole bus had a self introduction time, and sang old school songs together. We stopped once at a rest area and Ichigo-sensei bought some apple tart. She gave me some too! It was very yummy, and made me strongly miss my papa’s apple pie.

Driving around in Tokyo was much different than what I was expecting. The streets were relatively clear and easy to maneuver around in. Completely the opposite of Paris or NYC! So many traffic jams there. I actually feel like I could drive in Tokyo. While on the bus, we passed the Imperial Palace (so many tourists!), the governor’s house, and the British Embassy.

Outside of TenQ we took a group photo. It was drizzling at this time, but luckily the rain stopped! The first part of the museum was two videos. We entered a room that had 3D walls with squares jutting out of the wall. It was a really cool presentation with light effects. Covered from the beginning of time through Egypt, ancient Asia, Galileo, and the astronomical clock in Prague! The second video was my favorite. Even made me cry, the weepy sap I am. We stood around a large circular railing overlooking a huge screen on the floor. The video was called “another point of view” and it took you from the footprints on the moon further and further out into the universe. Absolutely stunning to see throughout the galaxies and different space phenomenon. Reminded me a lot of all the Star Trek I’ve been binge watching. Space is amazing. The rest of the museum had an exhibit about some shuttle explorations on Titan and Mars, very current information, a section with games for kids, and a photo spot!

Afterward, we headed to Shinagawa Prince Hotel for a spectacular lunch buffet. At first we were two chairs short for our reservation, but apparently two random ladies sat down amongst our group so we had to kick them out for Ichigo-sensei’s and my seat. There was so much food! The desserts looked spectacular so I knew I had to save a lot of room. I started with the salad bar and Nepalese food section. Grabbed some stuff from the Japanese section including crab legs! This was my first time trying crab legs. They were very mild and much easier to break apart than lobster. I barely needed the fancy scissors they provided. There even were drink stations where you could get smoothies! You only had to pay extra for alcohol. My next plate was in another line that offered bread (croissants, baguette, tomato, nut, and honey breads), roast beef, spaghetti (why??), some rice pilaf, beef stew, and so much more. Finally I got two plate fulls of dessert, 11 portions of: chocolate cake, pistachio cake, chestnut cake, pumpkin pudding, raspberry mousse, pear cake, orange mascarpone, tiramisu, and glazed sweet potato. The raspberry mousse was heavenly and so was the pumpkin pudding which actually tasted like pumpkin instead of spices. I felt like I was going to explode, but it was so worth it. I think I really impressed Ichigo-sensei, haha.

Next stop was a traditional Japanese garden, Rikugien Gardens. Had we come a little bit later, the fall colors would have been stunning. But I still enjoyed our digestive walk. Very peaceful for being in the middle of the city. Then we were off to the Harajuku for old people, the part of Tokyo that had shops catering to the older generation with canes and rolling grocery bags, Sugamo. In the old days, women would wear red shawls for good luck with their kimonos, but now this district is known for selling red underwear for good luck instead. I got to wash the Togenuki Jizo statue. By pouring water on certain parts, it can relieve ailments or improve things. For example, the head will make you smarter. The same goes for incense so we waved some incense over ourselves. I couldn’t even look at food by this point, but some of the teachers bought famous mochi items. There were selling apples at a stall and the lady said they were Jonagolds, my favorite! I was ready to buy some, but one of my teachers had just bought ten and gave me half. So kind! I was trying to take less, but he insisted. (I tried one that evening and was indeed heavenly.)

On the way back, we ran into K’s school, the all boys school, at a rest stop. They had had a school trip. Ichigo-sensei needed to buy omiyage for her daughter - Tokyo Banana, which is a custard filled, banana shaped pastry. The bus trip home had more singing at the end. When we arrived back at the school, there was a lot more bowing and good jobs and thank yous.