He says: We're on our way to Hakone this morning by train. It's a mountain town an hour and a half away from Tokyo. We're planning on checking out the open air museum, a waterpark that you can swim in green tea, and a cable car ride. Yesterday was an awesome day. Despite still feeling the effects of a 14 hour flight and a 13 hour time difference, we set off on an adventure. Our tour guide was a friend of Shauna's from back in the day who currently lives in Tokyo, Stef Parent. We were really lucky to have him take us around the city.
Our first stop was the Tokyo Municipal Government Building observatory, located on the 45th floor. The lookout provides a free panoramic view of the city and really gives you a great sense of just how big Tokyo is. While we were looking out at the Park Hyatt hotel, famous because it provided the backdrop for the Bill Murray classic Lost in Translation, I felt the building sway. At first I thought I was just dizzy from my lack of sleep, but Stef looked pretty concerned and said, "that's an earthquake." A few seconds later he had a message on his phone alerting him of the quake, which registered 5.7 on the Andy Richter scale. The elevator shut down for a few moments. We all felt a little uneasy being up so high, but it wasn't long before everything returned to normal. It was our official welcome to Japan quake.
The rest of the day was a lot less dramatic. Our wonderful guide then took us the Imperial Palace and out for lunch in a twelve story shopping mall. I had my first Japanese meal of the trip - two types of cold noodles and some tempura veggies/shrimp. My chopstick skills need some work, but overall it was a successful meal.
-Matt
She says: I'm too freaking big for Japan. I just went to the bathroom in the train and when I was washing my hands, the train jolted and I rammed my head into a metal shelf. You know when you can basically feel your skull caving in? Yeah, that just happened. At least I haven't petted any monkeys. Yet. Stay tuned.
-Shauna