Senso-ji

I visited Sensoji, or Asakusa Kannon with my Japanese class last Tuesday.

My Japanese teacher says this is the second biggest Pagoda in Japan.

Preparing to enter the sacred place.  You dip the cup in the water, rinse your mouth, your hands and then the handle of the dipping thing.

Owakudani

We went to Owakudani yesterday.

I took this picture from up where they sell the black eggs. Those are two Ropeway cars you can see in the air.
If you do visit, it is well worth it to take a ride on the Hakone Ropeway. The car takes you over the mountains and volcano. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji. We couldn't see it yesterday it was too cloudy.
Can you see that little yellow shack up there? That is where you hike to to buy the eggs.

You can supposedly extend your life by 7 years for each black egg you eat at Owakudani. It costs 500-yen for a bag of 5 eggs. They also throw some salt packets in the bag.
This man was tending to the eggs. He had just put them in in this photo.

Hakone Shrine

We visited several places in Hakone today.  Our last stop was the Shrine in Hakone.  



So, as you can see.  I don't have a lot of information about it yet, just some mediocre pictures.  

Cuckoo Clock at Shimbashi

I have been to the Shimbashi Station no fewer than 15 times, yet I have never been there at a time when the giant Cuckoo Clock was going off.  Finally, yesterday I caught it!  I knew one of the times it went off was at 15:00, so we made the special trip just to see it!

I have trouble uploading video, so I only did 40 seconds worth.

There is a guy with a white shirt standing in front of it to kind of give you an idea of the size.

Even more Kit Kats!

This is a Nescafe/Kit Kat promotion pack came out this week.  The Kit Kat flavor in here is Passion Fruit and Raspberry.  I walked into the store, asked for them, and when the saleslady showed them to me, I started jumping up and down clapping.  She thought I was funny.  She gave me that little timer for free.

Mmmm Fried Chicken Doritos.

New product Monday!

The newest Kit Kat flavor is out... Cookies Plus!

I'm not a coffee drinker, but my husband is.  I bought him one of the pour-through coffee things.  You just pour 120 cc's of hot water through the grounds.  He said it was pretty good.

Yokosuka Seaside Marathon

I competed in the Yokosuka Seaside Marathon this morning.  It wasn't really a marathon, but that won't stop me from wearing the shirt proudly around and talking about my greatness!  There were three distances:  Half-Marathon, 10k and 5k.  There was also a kids' run for children 6 and older.

The run offered picturesque views of Mt. Fuji from Rt. 16.  I went back and took this photo later, but if I had had my camera while on the run, I would have been able to line up Mt. Fuji between two palm trees.  I think that shot can only be accomplished from the middle of the road.
According to the number cards at the start, there were at least 6,700 people competing in the 10k alone!  I'm not sure how many were competing in the other races.  The starting line was crowded.  No personal space whatsoever.    
Taiko drummers beating out our cadence.
See?  I ran a marathon today!
I don't really understand why they do this, but they tape up their legs in an elaborate fashion for the shortest of runs.

Jimmu Temple

Just when you thought you were "templed out"...

The Jimmu Temple is a short walk from the Jinmuji Station on the Keikyu Line.  Basically you walk out the station, make a left at the light a the station.  Follow that road keeping the tracks on your left.  At the second light you will see a drawing of a little man hiking.  Make a right there and follow that road along the sports fields and behind an elder center.  The trail is pretty wide and obvious. 

At one point you come to a spot with signs in kanji.  Take the trail to the right.  Once at the top of the hill, take a left.  You'll see the temple there.
According to a book I have, the Jimmu Temple's history can be traced to 1590.  Samurai fleeing from Hikeyoshi's siege of Odawara Castle took refuge here.

The Park at the Kanazawa Zoo

We didn't even go into the zoo, we just spent a couple of hours at the park.  The changing foliage was an added bonus.

Rollerslides galore!  

Mikan picking!

We went mikan picking down in the Miura area.  Mmmm Mikans.  Is there anything better?

This beautiful farmland is within two hours of Tokyo!

Happy Christmas!

This what you see if you visit the Daiei Mall in Yokosuka!

Shichi-go-san

Shichigosan, in English, 3-5-7 day.  That's a day when 3 and 7 year old girls and 5 year old boys travel to a Shinto Shrine for a special blessing.

Stuff that just may be tasty.

Wandered around Yokohama and Zushi today.  Here are some of my finds:

Honey Roast Chicken flavored Pringles.

Oshiruko flavored Kit Kats.  They are actually pretty good!
The red box is "Camembert and Pepper" flavor and the yellow box is "Cheddar and Gorgonzola" flavor.
The below photo was taken in Zushi.  It's the fish market outside JR Zushi Eki at night.

Back to Yokohama... I didn't purchase this, but it looked like you put the cardboard coffee filter on top of your coffee mug and poured hot water to make a single cup.