I departed from Munich airport at 11:35am flew to London (about 2hours 10min) and got a connecting flight to Japan at 2:35pm which took about 11 hours 30 minutes. I arrived in Tokyo around 11:05am on Sunday, as I exited immigration and customs, Naoki's (my former flatmate) brother and parents were there waiting for me. They recognized me right away:
They live in the city of Machida which is about 2 hours drive from the airport. On the way from the airport to Machida we stopped for lunch at Skiji a popular fish market in Tokyo where you can get the best sushi. I made a real effort to try sushi, but I couldn't get used to the idea of eating raw fish, so I opted for a hot soup made from fish head which I enjoyed immensely considering the alternative:
After lunch we walked around and viewed some of the sights in Tokyo. We visited the famous Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), Akakusa temple and walked along Nakamise (an open air shoipping mall):
We left Tokyo around 5:oopm and head for Machida. On the way to Machida, we made a brief stop in Yokohama just to take some photo of the city:
When we arrived in Machida, we picked up Sawa (young pioneer sister) and went to a restaurant for dinner:
We reached home at 11:00pm Sunday and I finally got to bed around 1:30pm.
Monday morning I was up bright and early (8:30am) and at 10:00pm had breakfast with Naoki's family [Masako - Father; Yoshiki - Mother & Tomoko - Brother]. Masako had taken a few days off from work to take me along with his family sight seeing. We picked up Kanji (a pioneer brother) who joined us in sight seeing. We travelled along the Toumei Highway to Gotenba Interchange and stopped at the famous Fujaya Hotel (1879) for lunch:
After lunch we headed for a location about an hour away to catch a view of Mt. Fuji. We made haste because it would be dark soon and the visibility was getting poor. We took a cable car up to an elevation where Mt. Fuji was visible. Upon seeing the mountain, in less than a minute some dark clouds suddenly engulfed the mountain, as if to say no pictures allowed. I quickly snapped a few photos from my position in the cable car, but I was not quick enought to get any good photos of the mountain, that mean cloud obscured the view:
Since we were no longer able to see Mt. Fuji we decided to take the cable car to its final destination where there were lots of gerthermal activities and at this elevation is was very cold:
It was dark and cold, so we headed for a Japanese spa on the way home. I had come prepared with my swim trunks as I didn't believe I could go to the spa in the Japanese fashion. But I was in for a big surprise! No one else had swim trunks on, so I would certainly be the odd one out, so I joined in (when you go to Rome, just do what the Romans do!!). And I must say it feels quite liberating to go to the spa the way Japanese do. By the way, the women's spa was isolated from the men's! And sorry, no photos available for this activity! :-)
After the Spa, we went accross the street to a traditional Japanese restaurant (Gayhingkan) where we had a spread of delicious Japanese cuisines:
Tuesday morning I slept in and later did some work on my blog. Masako worked in the morning and in the afternoon took me the local shoping centre in Machida where I picked up a few things. Tomoko had to work in the afternoon. In the morning Kayko, Naoki's and tomoko's sister came over to visit with her daughters Hannah and Jemimah. Her husband Takahisa was at work, so I didn't get a chance to meet him. Jemimah is only 4 months old, and hardly goes to anyone except her family, but she was quite comfortable with me:
In Japan, if your kitchen cupboard is high up, don't worry, they will invent a way to reach it:
Tuesday night was the School and Service meeting for the Fujitas and because their Congregation shared a double Kingdom Hall, another meeting was happening concurrently, and that Cong. was having their Circuit Overseer's visit. Masako had the Bible highlight on the school. At the meeting I gave a comment in English during the Bible Highlights and it was translated into Japanese by Tomoko:
After the meeting there was much animated greetings and conversations. There was much warmth and love among the Japanese brothers and sisters:
At this time the meetings of the other congregation had also ended, but I was curious about who the circuit overseer and his wife were, so I went accross to have a peep and in the process met many new friends. There I met Kangi again (he came on the tour with up on Monday) and his brother Mitsumasa:
After the meetings Kanji and Mitsumasa came over at the Fujita's place for a late supper and to play FEW games of cards with us. I taught them the game Billionaire which they liked very much. After several games Masako (dad) and Yoshiki (mum) said good night and left for bed. After Tomoko's parents left for bed, WE decided to switch from Billionaire to Briscola. We didn't finish playing until around 2:00am (Friday, the day I was leaving). Since my flight was leaving around 2:30pm (so I thought), it didn't matter what time I went to bed. Well, you can guess what happened next. In the morning around 9:30 am I decided to check my itinerary to see what time I would be arriving in Hong Kong and received a shock! My flight from Tokyo was not leaving at 2:30pm as I had believed, the actual departure time was 10:50am. So, since the travel from Machida to Tokyo was over 2 hours, there was now way I was going to catch the 10:50am flight. So I decided to catch the next flight which was at 6:20pm. That meant I would be reaching Hong Kong about 11:00 pm. This meant also that I had to contact Lindsay in Hong Kong to let him know I would be coming later than planned. Furthermore, since I didn't know exactly how to get to Lindsey's place in Hong Kong, it would be much more challenging at night. What a price to pay for an adiction to Briscola card game! Didn't I promise to change my attitude regarding card playing. Well, I did, but this was only a relapse! I won't let it happen again!!
TIME TO SAY GOOD BYE!!
Masako, Yoshiki and Tomoko kindly offered again to travell over 2 hours to take me to the airport in Tokyo. Departing the Fujita's residence:
Before we left for the airport, we went by Kayko's place to say good by to her the girls. We missed Hannah since she had already left for school:
After saying good bye to Kayko and Jemimah, we up met Kanji and Mitsumasa just before we got out of the city of Machida. We bid farewell and then set off to the airport. I had a marvelous time in Japan and met some wonderful people. I am most thankful to the Fujita's for their wonderful hospitality.
Well, my next stop is Hong Kong, see you there!
