On our last day in Aruba back in August of 2009, We talked about wanting to travel more. We decided we would make an effort to plan a vacation once a year but travel out of the country every other year. Cody asked Chelsea where she would like to travel abroad next time and without even having to think about it she said "JAPAN!". So, that night on the beautiful Aruban beach, we decided to plan a trip to visit Mari in Japan in 2011. For those of you who do not know who Mari is, Chelsea has known her since she was 2 years old. Mari stayed with Chelsea's family as a Japanese exchange student and instantly became part of the family. She comes back to the U.S to visit the Stuebing's ever 4 years or so. She even came back to be a bridesmaid in Cody and Chelsea's Wedding! Months later, we came to find out that our good friends Brandon and Ashley would be in Japan for work from January 2011-May 2011. So, over drinks one night in Eugene, we discussed planning our vacation during their stay in Japan and staying with them for a couple days before heading south to Mari's.
In January 2011, with much excitement, we bought our plane tickets to Japan. Knowing Japan is located in one of the most seismic active zones in the world, we joked about experiencing an earthquake or Chelsea's greatest fear, a tsunami, while on vacation. We all remember Cody, Chelsea and the Draper's experience with Hurricane Hanna while visiting the Young's in North Carolina in 2008...we somehow tend to attract natural disasters!
Well, our bags were packed and we were ready to go when March 10th rolled around. Our first hiccup at the PDX Airport was Cody's check in bag was 17 lbs overweight! From Portland, we flew down to San Francisco first and then boarded a Japan Airline Flight to Tokyo, Japan! On the long flight, we ate dinner, watched 2 movies, read, did crossword puzzles, ate breakfast and then got the news 20 minutes before landing. First in Japanese, then in broken English, the pilot announced there was an earthquake in Japan and public transportation was not running. At this point we weren't too worried because not a single person on the flight reacted to the announcement. Chelsea flagged down a flight attendant that spoke pretty good English and the flight attendent told us that there was a MAJOR earthquake at 2pm (Japan time), the largest Japan had ever had before, and that the airport was shut down for several hours but is up and running now. Then she told us that the trains were not operating and traffic was "not so good" so cabs are not available. Once we made it through customs and into the main airport at 10pm, we realized how bad things were. We saw thousands of people sitting, laying down, sleeping, etc all over the airport. At that point we realized we weren't going anywhere but just didn't know how long we would be stranded.
The pictures below were taken at 3:30 am. People were laying on newspapers, cardboard boxes, blankets, anything they could find. There was no carpet in the airport, just cold tile floors:
This is where we "set up shop" for the night in Haneda Airport in Tokyo:
With nothing translated into English, the phone lines all jammed up, we didn't really know what was going on. We saw images of the tsunami but didn't know when/where it was and felt several aftershocks (and continued to for the following days in Tokyo). So, along with eveyone else, we just patiently waited. The next morning, trains were up and running again! Originally, Brandon was going to meet us at the airport but since the trains were not running he was not able to meet up with us. So, we hopped on the first train we could squeeze our way on and headed towards his apartment. Long story short: We got off at the wrong stop, got lost and our phone was not working, all while Brandon was waiting patiently for us at the correct train stop! A 45 min commute ended up taking 3.5 hours but we finally made it to The Draper's apartment by cab.
We spent 3 days in Tokyo and Yokosuka (Yokosuka is just south of Yokohama if you are referring to the map above). Brandon and Ashley were so nice to show us around. Unfortunately, a lot of things were closed due to the earthquake (ie: the big buddha, the imperial gardens, the observatory, and the Sumo Wrestling Museum were sadly all closed). We did get to eat some great food, visit well known shopping areas, temples, shrines, parks and the fish market, stay one night at the Navy Hotel and of course spend time with our wonderful friends.
Visiting our first Temple:
One large tuna at the Fish Market:
Ashley and Chelsea's breakfast at the fish market....eel, miso soup and egg sushi rolls:
Brandon and Cody's breakfast...lots of sushi:
Even though the earthquake and tsunami in Sendai (North of Tokyo) didn't really effect the Tokyo are, the crash of the nuclear power plant did. The rolling blackouts and the trains not running were our biggest challenge. We almost didn't make it out of Tokyo on Monday evening. By chance, we caught the last train running south but it stopped running 10 miles north of Yokosuka. So, we started walking, the boys carrying our overnight luggage. After a 6 mile walk, traffic started to lighten up, so a desperate Ashley flagged down a cab who drove us the rest of the way. I think Ashley was pretty happy to get home to Andrew and Ava! The next morning we needed to catch the train back to Tokyo for our flight to Fukuoka. The only problem was, we didn't know when or if the trains would be running. Since nothing regarding the blackouts and the trains were translated to English, we had to email Mari for help. Not sure what we would have done without her! The next morning, we had no power and the trains in Yokosuka were not operating. So, we took an expensive cab ride to the nearest operating train and made it back to the airport! We were so happy to be getting out of Tokyo and far away from all the problems.
Mari picked us up at the Fukuoka Airport on Tuesday. We were so happy to see her!!!! The first night in Fukuoka, we met Mari's family (her father, mother, sister, niece and nephew) and her Mother made a wonderful dinner!
Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed to Kumamoto where we visited a famous castle. Mari hired a guide that spoke English to show us around. The 400 year old Castle was very impressive!
Then we headed to what may have been our favorite part of our vacation...A Japanese Hot Spring Resort! At Kiyashiki Onsen, we changed into our yukata, ate a traditional Japanese dinner, took 2 baths in the Hot Spring and relaxed for the evening. The following morning, they fed us a traditional breakfast, we took a morning bath and headed off to Mt. Aso.
In our room before changing into our yukata's:
Wearing our traditional japanese yukatas. We wore the yukata's the whole time we were at the onsen...to dinner, breakfast, to the baths, and even to bed:
Enjoying Dinner:
After a quick, cold and windy visit to Mt. Aso(an active volcano), we made the 3 hour drive back to Fukuoka. Mt Aso sure was quite a view though!
On Friday, we attended Mari's niece, Moe's graduation. She graduated from 6th grade and will be entering Jr. High School next year. This was on of those experience we felt very lucky to be apart of.
Mari, Mari's sister Yoshko, Moe, and Moe's best friend, Ryoko:
Later that day, we visited the largest reclining buddha in the world and went to dinner with the whole family to celebrate Moe's graduation and her 12th birthday!
We even took Nanna to the big buddha! Nanna's Best Biscotti is Chelsea's co-worker's company that she started in November 2010. For some of the BEST BISCOTTI out there, and for only $6/bag, contact Joanne at nbbiscotti@aol.com. Nanna has traveled all over the world and Cody and Chelsea were happy to take her to Japan:
We had a busy day on Saturday! It included riding the bullet train, going to a Fukuoka Hawks baseball game, shopping (including an underground shopping center) and dinner at a food stall downtown!
The bullet train:
At the Fukuoka Dome for the baseball game:
Dinner at the Food Stalls downtown:
On Sunday after breakfast, Mrs. Katagami decided to play dress up with Chelsea and dress her in a kimono. It was so beautiful and we had lots of fun with it!
We later, visited a nearby Shrine with Mari and Moe, had lunch and did a little souvenir shopping. They happened to be having some kind of festival for Men turning 40 years old. So, there were many drunk men passing out mochi (pounded rice cakes) and sake. We took home lots of mochi and Cody had a cup of sake. This was the first day it rained on our whole vacation, but we had a great time despite the wet weather.
Cody drinking Sake:
For our last dinner in Japan, Mari and her family took us to a Sushi Train restaurant. We ate many new things, including raw horse meat!!! We also got to meet Mari's cousin, Chika at dinner as well.
Chika, Chelsea and Cody at dinner:
Chelsea, Cody and Mari:
We tried different sushi from squid, octopus, tuna, eel, and many more but the most wild one we tried was the horse meat:
Like any sushi train restaurant, you choose your sushi off the train, but special orders came via bullet train to your table:
After dinner, we went to karaoke. Cody was really excited to go out to karaoke. Instead of sigining infront of the whole bar, you rent a room and sing just for your group. You order your drinks from your room phone and they bring them up to you. Kids are allowed too. After Karaoke, we went back to the house. Mari put on a home video Chelsea's parents sent her back in 1990 while Chika, a nail technician, did Chelsea's nails. Cody really enjoyed the home video. It was the first one he had ever seen of Chelsea growing up.
Cody taking a break from singing to have a drink:
Mari, Moe, Yoshko, and Mrs. Katagami:
Chelsea's nails:
Monday morning brough tears to our eyes when it was time to leave. We had such an amazing experience in Japan and are so thankful for everyone who helped make it such a great vacation. Thank you to Brandon and Ashley Draper for the great memories and showing us around Tokyo and Thank you to Mari and her family for welcoming us into their home and being so kind to us.
Our Japanese Family:
One last good-bye at the airport:
