This is the final chapter of the Japan trip, that my sister Megi took my son Chad and me on, and these are just some miscellaneous things that I just thought was cool, interesting, or just plain different, to the point that for me, it’s remarkable.
In case you’ve missed the other episodes, here is my list of the blog series, just so you know, I’m not always a nut about what kinds of pictures I take, and the commentary I give to each picture.
5th blog - http://likaslaments.blogspot.com/2016/07/our-japan-trip-5.html
The above picture was taken from the Canadian airport in Toronto. On our way there, to Japan, we flew from Chicago to Toronto, and had a 4 hour and 45 minute layover at that airport, and we took some interesting pictures while we were there, and through many different places we stopped at or walked through. Some may not be of much interest to other people, but, I just found it interesting.
Here are the things I thought were remarkable from Toronto.
Ketchp flavored potato chips. I understand BBQ, but, ketchup? Hmm.
Malt Vinegar? Different. All Dressed Assaisonnees - WTH is that?
Crunchy Cheetos, I know. But these are Croquants? ???
Couldn't catch the flavor name, but obviously, it's not original flavor, and they are small rounds.
The Kit Kat is the same, but, the packaging looks like an American throwback. Next to it, interesting to see it is called Links, instead of jerky.
Because it's such a pain to go back through security, rather than being able to exchange your Canadian money, it goes on an account.
Other odd things we came across, while on our trip, but didn’t get to buy or get a picture of, is the fact that we saw Seaweed flavor Pringles. Yes. The flavor was seaweed. Now I wish I would have bought some. Another odd thing... One vending machine had orange flavored coke. I’m sure it was in line with Pepsi with lemon, or Coke with lime. But seriously. There was a can of orange coke.
Maybe I’m just a little too easily amused, I don’t know. But, I just thought it was really neat. Okay, so here are some things in Japan, that I thought were neat, and just to show what a commuter society that they are, especially in Tokyo, check these couple of things out.
Bicycle parking underneath a train station.
Bike ramps for people to walk their bikes up or down, and a couple of them take their bikes on the train, to ride the rest of the way to where ever they are going.
An area map, so we wouldn't get lost during travel. I don't think this would help me much, but it did help my sister.
A usual side street in Tokyo. The white lines are painted for walkers and bicycles. The writing tells them which way to drive, and the only sidewalks are on major streets, not neighborhood streets.
While there are some alley ways to drive in, not all of the pavement is for driving down the alley.
This alley way is strictly for walking, to make it a walking path, as opposed to an alley. These are quite common.
Here is a different type of street, and you see the different store fronts and how closed businesses have graffiti.
So, please allow me to back up a little bit, to show you the little apartment that we stayed in while in Tokyo. It was a cute little place, and was cozy, to say the least.
Entrance into the apartment. The room Chad and I lived in to the left, kitchen going straight forward. A closet was located across the little hall from our room.
The panel up and to the left of the sink is the water thermostat. Medicine cabinet above that. The area in front of the sink is where you're supposed to shower, because the bath that gets drawn is to be shared, to save on water. The toilet is in a different room, so, when in Japan, if you ask for the bathroom, you will be shown the tub & shower. To ask for the restroom, just ask for the toilet.
We bought yakisoba at the grocery store, and it has vent holes to drain extra water out, w/o worrying about spilling our noodles.
The stores we went past weren’t all the typical type of Japanese stores or market. Sure, there were some places that were more like supermarkets, but, these really are not your standard store. You will recognize them, I’m sure, but, I just thought that it was interesting.
Okay, so maybe McDonald's is a bit obvious. Of course McDonald's is everywhere. But, the katakana alphabet spells out mick-ooh-do-na-rue-do. Their sylables all end in a vowel, except for the soft n, the last letter.
Here is a 7-11 store. See the bike coming? On the same strip, it's bike on one side, walk on the other. Yes, the sidewalk is shared.
A Century 21 office, that had just opened it's doors for the day. A welcome mat was put out later to go down the two short steps.
Yes, a full Mobil station with a car wash bay and a bay or two for fixing your car. Gas is about equivalent to $1.14/gallon for the regular.
Well, so other places where I thought we saw interesting places are more like restaurants and such we went for breakfast the first morning. Others are from grocery stores and what not. These are things you just don’t see around here, where I am.
Automated waitress, where you place your order and pay here, and a ticket spits out. You hand your ticket inside (the door is to the right) to the cook, and sit down. When your food is done, the cook brings it to you.
Fortunately, there are window menus that will help you order, and many are in both English and Japanese. Others are more like a regular menu.
This was common, where there are soy sauces, Sriracha sauce, and pickles and such. This one also had the flavored water.
I did take a lot of scenery shots on the road, when our uncle picked us up from the train station, and there are a lot of nice shots, and some of that was interesting to know, also. So, just to show you the variety, here are some shots of our travels from subways, trains, and drives. Some subways have lower levels from L1-L5 (L = Lower, not level).
Train station lookout.
Another view from the train station looking out in Tokyo.
Being the rainy season, even if it is not raining, this is a normal cloud cover during the monsoon season. The steam on the upper right side of the mountain is steam, coming up from the forest on the mountain, not coming down from the sky.
This is in the country side of Japan, and it's interesting to me, anyway, being a Wisconsinite, how housese are literally built into the mountain side.
Many of these woodsy areas are starting to get bamboo trees overtaking the areas where they grow, because fewer things are being made with bamboo, due to plastic and other materials used to make other containers.
Yes, I took some pictures while we were riding in the car. But these are other interesting sights, that you don’t just see anywhere. And yes, sometimes I take weird pictures.
This is one of those toilets that is built into the floor. Yes, you can do both #1 & #2 here. Disabled people have "Western style toilets" that look just like ours.
Believe it or not, this is a urinal that was found in the women's restroom. I am not sure how that is supposed to work. No, I have no clue as to how.
Of course, our trip wouldn’t be complete without more pictures of the hike we took. So, here are other random pictures we took of our surroundings while exploring the area on foot.
Chad took a picture of this monarch type butterfly. Cool, isn't it?
A selfie we took of ourselves, in front of one of the rivers.
Atomic carrots, at a grocery store. I wonder if it was near Monster Island? But, I doubt if it's related to Godzilla.
This is amazing. You know when you go to the grocery store, and want to get a convenient lunch? And they're very expensive? And mostly not very healthy for you? Well, these are healthy, lots of lean protein, plain rice, veggies, etc. Just under $4.00, and will fill you up for the rest of the afternoon.
Of course, we can’t forget about the trip home... And the treat we got.
That, is a bottle with powdered tea in there, that you shake into your tea cup. It is related to the type used in the Tea Ceremony.
So after you shake a bunch into your tea cup, you put the cup under that spout, and get hot water to mix your tea. Right where you sit.
To go with that tea, look at that... Sushi on a conveyor belt... The people who ring you up know what to charge, because different sushi comes on different plates. It would be easy to go overboard, but, we didn't really have time, so we kept ourselves in check to make the flight.
We got to go past a couple of the Embassies located there in Tokyo.
As we were coming home, we left Tokyo on June 21, 2016 @ 5:40pm. On our home flight, this is the sunrise coming as we approach the US, and arrive in Chicago, at 3pm on June 21, 2016. What a time warp.
Thank you again, for obliging me, as you’re getting enough of my travel babble. But, it was too much to put into just one blog. It was fun to go, nice to come back, and now, chill out at my computer because all of my friends are in here... Happy 4th!
No comments:
Post a Comment