Meiji Shrine and Shibuya

Today started with the small miracle of Ren sleeping until almost 8! We’re officially on Tokyo time, and I think we’re all a little shocked that it has happened so quickly.

Ren continued on her quest of consuming the cutest pastries possible for breakfast by mauling a teddy bear bun for breakfast, and we headed out to Meiji Shrine.

Meiji Shrine is next to Harajuku Station, and is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji (first emperor of modern Japan) and his consort Empress Shoken.The original shrine was destroyed by the Allies during WWII, but it was rebuilt shortly thereafter. It’s on the grounds of Yoyogi Park (home of the 1964 Olympics), and is a little shocking to be only steps away from the busy shopping district we visited yesterday, but to be in a relatively peaceful forested area.

Our intention was to give Ren some space to roam, and this fit the bill perfectly. She was not at all impressed by the massive torii gates, but was quite taken with the muddy puddles. She did warm up to some of the etiquette – particularly the ritual for visiting the main shrine buildings: drop coins in the offering box, bow twice, clap twice, and bow once more. She would have done it over and over again if we’d let her!

We purchased an Ema (wooden tablet onto which you write your wishes), and talked with Ren about what we should write down, and she hung it carefully on a hook under the camphor tree. Being the weekend, it was a popular time for weddings at the shrine, and we saw three different brides and grooms posing for pictures and processing through the courtyard. We felt really lucky to see them.

We also visited the Meiji Jingu Gyoen (Imperial Garden), and Ren loved watching the fish at what was the Empress’ favorite fishing spot.

We intended to have a laid back lunch, but managed to stumble into one of the more tense meals we’ve had. We had heard that there were restaurants with views in the tower across from our hotel, and we decided to check out the menus and see if anything looked kid friendly. After spying high chairs through the doorway (our first sighting in Japan!), and seeing noodles on the menu, we walked confidently into a restaurant….only to realize once we had been seated that it was a teppanyaki restaurant, and that unlike in the US where diners sit around a central grill at a fairly safe distance, here we were sitting at a normal sized table for four, with a hot griddle taking up most of the middle of the table. Grant won the honor of sitting next to Ren, and did an admirable job of restraining her. The food was fine, but I don’t think we’ll be repeating the experience voluntarily.

Post nap, we had thought we would head to Asakusa in Northern Tokyo (visit a Buddhist temple and do a little souvenir shopping while strolling through a more traditional neighborhood). After gauging Ren’s energy level, we decided that a long train ride wasn’t in the cards today, and we headed to Shibuya. 

Shibuya is where the famous “scramble crossing” is, and we watched from an elevated walkway in the train station as people flooded the streets when the lights changed. We all enjoyed watching the ebb and flow, and Ren was in rare form when we finally got down into the streets ourselves, dancing and pointing at all the neon lights from atop our shoulders.

Shibuya is a different animal from Harajuku, all flashing lights and giant video screens. We walked around for a little just checking out the scene, and decided to stop for dinner at a ramen place, thinking that noodles would be perfect. Dinner was good, although Ren’s favorite parts were the broth from my bowl and the grape lollipop that the waitress treated her to. The atmosphere was kind of strange, with music from rap to country playing, but I think I have a new mission: to find my favorite bowl of ramen.

Detouring through Mitsukoshi on our way home, Ren found the toy department and a little indoor playspace, and we found the nicest “babyroom” we could ever have imagined with multiple changing stations, kid friendly vending machines, a formula preparation area, and a separate nursing room. Why can’t we have spaces like this at home?

Tomorrow Grant is off to work, so Ren and I will be on our own for adventuring through Tokyo. Wish us luck!

Konnichiwa!

That’s right, we are in Japan!

We’ve done a little travel since Ren was born: Vancouver, most of the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina in several trips back east, and Hawaii. Hawaii was like a dream, and we spent a week on Maui in November 2014, so when the opportunity arose to join Grant on a business trip to Tokyo, we jumped at it. Literally, since we bought our tickets just over a week ago, and now here we are! We are loving Japan, and Japan loves…Ren.

The flight yesterday went really well, and she charmed everyone on the plane and in the airport yesterday with her clownfish backpack. She was consistently greeted with “Nemo…kawaii!” She was in great spirits. Today she’s been making friends with her Hello Kitty hat on. I think Japan was made for adorable two year olds.

The hardest part of yesterday was the final 1.5 hours on the bus from Narita to Tokyo, Ren started strong but about 40 minutes into the ride (perhaps not coincidentally as the sun was setting) she started to crash hard. Can’t blame her as it was around 1 AM Seattle time and she had a normal nap on the plane around 4 PM Seattle time, so she was zonked. We were all very relieved to reach the hotel and get Ren into her crib, where she crashed around 7PM local time/2AM Seattle time. The grown ups stuck it out until around 8:30.

This morning we were up bright and early (around 4:15AM)! We decided to strike while the iron was hot (while the kid was energetic), and head to Tsujiki Fish Market. It’s a 10-15 minute walk to the actual subway station (Ebisu) closest to us, but luckily it was a straight shot on that line to the market. Ren dozed off on the subway, even though she had been really excited to take the “choo-choo”. We had her in the Beco carrier, which she was delighted to ride in again (it has been a few months since we’ve used it at home). 

Strolled around in a drizzle, dodging carts and trucks (it is a very busy area, and clearly a hard working market!), and spent most of our time in the Outside Market, which is stall after stall of fish, vegetables, restaurant supply stores, and tiny restaurants serving the freshest sushi. Had to take advantage of that, so once Ren woke up, we headed back to the one that had seemed the friendliest. The ground floor was packed, but the man outside waved us in, shouting orders to the people inside. They whisked us up a flight of stairs, to a tiny room with four tables. Very friendly people, colorful picture menu, and we both ordered miso soup and a chirashi bowl (rice with sashimi on top). Grant stuck to tamago, tuna, salmon, and minced fatty tuna (which Ren declared yummy), and I got a bit more adventurous with salmon,albacore, tuna, shrimp, sea cucumber?, and salmon roe (ikura). The biggest surprise and hit of the day for Ren was ikura, aka bubbles. She ate almost all of them (probably 3-4 healthy spoonfuls), along with a nice amount of the fatty tuna and two-thirds of my salmon. The restaurant loved her, and brought her a little teddy on a stick, and several people stopped by to say hi to her. She must feel like a rock star.

A little more wandering around, and we headed back to the hotel by 10, with a stop on the way for bunny bread – a little roll shaped like a bunny with chocolate chip eyes and chocolate pudding inside. That may become a regular treat!

 We’re certainly getting our exercise, walking around and carrying Ren in turns in the Beco! We’re working on our Japanese, and are saying Ohio (good morning), Arigato (thank you), and Sayonara (good bye), and trying to get Ren to say it too. The funniest thing she’s doing is responding to our requests for her to say Ohio with Ni hao! I guess the Mandarin stuck! It’s an extremely consistent response.

Post nap, we headed to Harajuku to visit KiddyLand, a huge toy store. Something for us in the morning, something for her in the afternoon! We strolled down Omotesando, a broad avenue apparently sometimes referred to as Tokyo’s Champs-Élysées, and dodged the crowds until we found the store. We worked our way from the top floor down, since the top floor was Hello Kitty central, and Ren has a close, personal relationship with Ms. Kitty. Sure enough, we now own a Hello Kitty doll in a kimono, and a plate, washcloth, and toothbrush adorned with the cat. And, we have a very happy little girl currently snuggled up to the doll in her crib.

We were aiming for gyoza for a mid-afternoon meal (Dinner? My stomach has no idea where it is.), but at 2:15 PM there was quite a line at the restaurant that had been recommended, so we wandered the small side streets and made our way back to the JR station and on to Ebisu figuring that our quieter neighborhood might have some good choices around here. In Yebisu Garden Place, there were plenty of options, and Ren’s request was “bubbles”! Ok, more chirashi, and she ate almost all of my tuna, avocado, ikura bowl. 

Not satiated, we detoured through Mitsukoshi, a big department store with food halls in the basement, on a quest for more bubbles. We found them, along with cherry blossom shaped rice crackers and an assortment of other kid approved treats including a teddy bear shaped bun. They were showing a film made in the plaza that we were walking through, and Ren watched a little and ran around to get her wiggles out before we headed back to the hotel by 5. She made it to 6:45 tonight, and has really been a trooper. She’s already looking forward to another choo-choo ride tomorrow. 

It’s so much fun to see the world through her eyes. The silence in a Japanese subway car isn’t oppressive or intimidating to her, but a great opportunity to make funny noises and tell everyone that the train is going fast!

 

Bikes and beaches in Bali

After a couple of days back in KL, Krista and I took off for six days in Bali. We had a pretty loose plan going into this, but we knew we wanted to start in Ubud (and had hotel reservations for the first two nights), do a bike tour through some rice paddies, and spend some time relaxing on a beach with great snorkeling. I’ll admit, my preconceived notions of Bali were mostly gleaned from Eat Pray Love, and I didn’t spend the time researching that I normally do. Did it matter? Not one bit.

Ubud is known as the cultural heart of Bali, and I thought I’d fall in love with it and want to spend lots of time there. I liked using it as our base for exploring, but the town was more developed than I had naively expected and a couple days was just about right. Perfect base for a bike tour, and you can do as much or as little as you like. Temples and shopping galore, and a healthy dose of culture.

We jumped into the local cultural fare, and went to a shadow puppet performance. The plot was based on the Hindu epic of the Ramayana, which I had a little familiarity with from our trip to Cambodia and the murals we saw in Phnom Penh’s Silver Pagoda. Oh, and it’s probably important to note here that while Islam is the primary religion in Indonesia (practiced by about 88% of the population), about 83% of the population of Bali practices Hinduism. Well, the performance we saw wasn’t particularly reverent. They provided notes with which to follow the plot, and translated parts into English. The humor was pretty infantile, and it felt like they were assuming that tourists wouldn’t want to see a more traditional show, and the number of fart jokes they included finally drove us off. The imagery was really impressive though!

We chose Banyan Tree Bike Tours the next day for our bicycle adventure, and loved every minute of it. They picked us up at the hotel, and took us to a restaurant for breakfast (pineapple and banana pancakes – yum!) that had beautiful views of farms and rice paddies edging up mountain slopes.

The next stop was a coffee and spice farm, where we tasted a dozen different types of tea and coffee including the (in)famous kopi luwak. Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is highly prized by some for a flavor improved by a “fermentation” process…in the digestive system of a civet. We were brave enough to try it, and it did have a smoother, less acidic taste. It is mostly produced in Indonesia, and is ridiculously expensive. We bought a small sample pack for Grant, which we served to him before he heard this story. Safe to say, none of us really need to seek it out again, and we can check that off the bucket list.

Next, they set us up on mountain bikes and our small group (just us and a family of three) set off on a very relaxed ride. Our route kept us on small back roads, cruising by houses, temples, and fields. We visited a Hindu temple preparing for a ceremony, pedaled along a narrow dirt track through rice paddies, and stopped for a perfectly refreshing hunk of watermelon by the side of the road. It was as idyllic as it sounds, and exactly what we had hoped for.

Just as the heat had us beat, we arrived at the end of our ride, and mopped our brows with cool damp towels as they took us onward to lunch. Lunch was at Bagi the owner’s home, and it was a family affair. Delicious food – probably the best we had in Bali, but then home-cooked meals always are. I said they should add cooking classes to their offerings, I would have signed right up! In the casual conversation over lunch, we said we were looking to head to the coast and asked for recommendations.

Everyone has an opinion on what you should see, and everyone is an entrepreneur in the making. No surprise, Bagi could help us out with this one. He agreed with us that our initial thought to head to the northeastern coast was a good plan for snorkeling, and he had a friend who worked at a hotel in Amed. Bagi himself was free to take us on a scenic drive around Mount Agung, and along the coast to Amed. We had taken a sweltering taxi ride from the airport to Ubud, so we confirmed and reconfirmed that his car had air conditioning, and booked ourselves on a private tour.

On the way to Mount Agung the next day, we stopped at Gunung Kawi, an 11th century Hindu temple complex with shrines carved into rock walls. Set amid rice paddies and dipping down to a small creek, it was very peaceful with hardly any tourists. The 300 some steps to descend to get to it, and then to ascend to get back to the car might be a small deterrent for some, but we felt it was really worth it. It is important to be properly respectful to those who still worship here, so we borrowed sarongs to cover our legs and Bagi dripped holy water on our heads before we entered. Although the steps were lined with souvenir stands, once you entered the temple complex the atmosphere changed. The rocks and carvings were coated in moss, and the lush greenery added to the hushed worshipful feeling. I liked the juxtaposition of the huge scale of the carved shrines and the small offerings left throughout the complex.

After our climb out of the temple complex, we drove even higher. Mount Agung is the highest point in Bali, and we’d gotten a few peeks at it as we drove along. It is popular to do a sunrise climb here, but after our Kinabalu climb we thought we deserved some relaxation. We stopped for lunch at a pretty nondescript restaurant, but it served up one impressive view! We lingered over pretty terrible food, just to soak it all in.

This was quite literally a high point for us, and the trip down the other side of the mountain on dirt roads was pretty exciting as well. We were thankful for both the AC and the four wheel drive of the SUV. After a long day in the car we arrived in Amed, and checked into the hotel that Bagi had recommended. It was a lovely place right across the road from the beach, and I think we were the only guests there. Just us and the geckos, that is.

We spent our days either on the beach or in the water, and were so happy we had bypassed the more popular and crowded beaches on the south coast. Amed attracts families and those looking for peace and quiet, which is about all you’ll find here. The local beach boys were very friendly and funny (favorite joke: How many sons do you have? I have two, sunrise and sunset!), and they invited us to join them in the evenings, but it was exhausting doing nothing and we enjoyed catching up on our sleep.

We snorkeled right off the beach, with equipment rented from the beach boys, but one day we took a trip by outrigger boat out to a “Japanese” wreck for a change of pace. The water was a bit polluted with floating trash, but it was neat to see the wreck (which probably isn’t actually a Japanese boat), and you could dive down towards it for a closer view. We saw tons of fish, including barracuda, and some really neat coral here.

All in all, the relaxed pace of life in Bali was a perfect way to wind down Krista’s trip.

 

Where have you been?

I‘m actually just back from a two and a half week adventure, that was my most nerve-wracking trip yet: traveling across the United States with a five month old baby. Happily, the trip was fantastic, and little Ren was a pro. It’s clear that she has inherited our love of travel, although it probably shouldn’t have been surprising since we trained her from the womb!

So, yes, I’m back. Why, after so long? When inspiration calls, you must answer. Okay, that’s the short, flip answer. Here’s the long, heartfelt one. Now, more than ever, I find myself intent on preserving memories. These days, they are mostly focused on my thirteen pound ball of fire, but I want her to know more about us as well, and I think we did some pretty neat things before she came along. I’ve enjoyed hearing more stories lately from my own parents and grandmother, triggered by the firsts we’re going through with Ren. This urge for documentation would probably have passed unrealized (babies take up much more time and space than you would think, relative to their size!), but then I got the best birthday present ever. It’s not actually my birthday yet, not until mid June, but Dad was gracious and excited enough to share his May birthday with me. 

Some years it’s tough to figure out what to give him for his birthday, but this year we had three slam dunks: Mom gave him a small kinetic sculpture made with a 3D printer, that is really quite clever; Grant and I gave him a heart rate monitor that connects via Bluetooth to his tracking app for bike riding; and Ren gave him a cereal bowl with her handprint on it, so she can wave hello to him each morning. The fourth present on the table was a mystery to me…because it turned out to be for me!

Dad has some unique hobbies, and one that has developed over the past few years is publishing. Castle Knob Publishing has produced five, soon to be six, books. The sixth is a printed copy of this blog, complete with pictures. It’s not unusual for me to receive a book as a gift, but as you can imagine, unwrapping a proof copy of my own work really blew me away. 

With the double motivation of wanting to record my memories, and having a physical solution that is halfway there, I’m picking up my pen (computer, iPad, whatever is within arms reach as Ren naps), and we’ll resume the stories of our adventures! 

 

Getting back to nature in Sabah

Borneo is the third largest island in the world, and it’s divided between three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and itty-bitty Brunei. Two of the thirteen states of Malaysia are found on Borneo: Sabah and Sarawak. Mount Kinabalu is in the state of Sabah, so with Krista we continued our adventures there.

After climbing Kinabalu, we hobbled around Kota Kinabalu (the nearest city) for a couple of days. Krista spent one day scuba diving, and Grant and I took a speedboat out to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. We weren’t up for much more than sitting on the beach, and luckily that was about all there was to do there. The park is made up of five small islands, that are largely populated by tourists and monitor lizards.

It was really easy to get here, as the Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal in Kota Kinabalu has a dozen different speedboat operator stands with hourly departures. It was a nice treat to be able to enjoy the beach without any planning.

Grant left us in Kota Kinabalu to go back to work, and Krista and I continued to make our way around KK, going blocks out of our way to avoid having to step up or down high curbs. On the whole, I didn’t feel that there is much to recommend for Kota Kinabalu itself, other than proximity to the natural wonders like Mount Kinabalu. We were happy to move on to the second part of our trip near Sandakan, and surprised to see our old friend Lowe’s Peak out of the window on our flight!

We landed at Sandakan, and went straight to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. There are two places in Borneo where you can see the wild orangutans being fed, one in Sarawak and this one in Sabah. At this point I’ve visited both, and I think Sepilok has a more serious approach to it. At Sepilok, we had to lock up all of our belongings, and could only keep our cameras with us so that there was no chance of a forgotten granola bar or water bottle distracting the orangutans while they fed. The experience began with a brief presentation from a ranger and a short video talking about the work being done at the center, which helped to set the stage for what we were about to see.

Sepilok was established in 1964, and there are about 60-80 orangutans living on the 43 sq. kilometers of land that make up their reserve. We had heard reports from people we’d met that during their visit they’d only seen two orangutans, and had been underwhelmed by the experience. It might have helped that we tried to keep our expectations low but we were really excited and impressed by it! The feeding platform is out along a boardwalk, and we were lucky enough to be standing right in the front. There are lots of ropes and smaller platforms for the orangutans to approach/feed on, and it took a little while for them to show up, but in the end we saw seven or eight of them plus dozens of long tail macaques. I probably took seven or eight hundred photos too, but I’m trying to show some restraint here.

After the orangutans had eaten their fill (pretty bland food, bananas and milk, to encourage them to go forage for more interesting things to eat), we were on to our next stop: the Kinabatangan Nature Lodge. Just getting there was quite the experience, as it really is in the middle of nowhere, but after a long and bumpy minivan ride followed by a short boat ride we had arrived. They offer very basic accommodations on the banks of the Kinabatangan River, but the point of staying here isn’t to stay inside, it is to get out! They go on evening and morning boat trips up the river searching for wildlife, and out of the many animals commonly seen we were really hoping to spot some proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants. Luck was with us! On that evening’s cruise, we saw orangutans in the wild and lots of monkeys, including both harem and bachelor groups of proboscis monkeys – who really do have some of the funniest looking faces.

As we were just giving up on seeing the pygmy elephants that evening, the muffled cry went up from another boat, and our captain swung around to check it out. Success! Three of them appeared in the foliage on the far bank, coming down to the river for a drink. This was the first time I’ve seen elephants in the wild, and it was pretty exciting. I can’t imagine exactly what they thought of the two boats full of tourists jockeying to take their picture as they came down to the river for their nightcap, but we certainly were grateful that they had made an appearance!

Still tired from our climb, we crashed early that night, but we were up for the 6 am river cruise to keep looking for more animals. The morning was foggy, and we saw more birds than anything else, but it was a nice relaxing way to end our wildlife quest.

All in all, we definitely enjoyed our time in Sabah, and if you’re looking for immersion in nature with a healthy dose of wildlife sightings, this is a great destination. The cities that we visited weren’t very impressive, but you hopefully are not going to spend much of your time in them while in Sabah anyway!