Konnichiwa Japan!

Last minute packing and moved our house sitters in. Then the alert email came in from the US Embassy: Alert typhoon headed toward Japan!

Great.

But even with that news, our flight wasn’t delayed and we both usually reside on the optimistic side of it all. After a decent 10 hour flight (Shayne was very impressed with the free movie selection) we made it to Narita, Japan.

Since Hilton is sponsoring the trip, we checked into the Hilton Narita and were greeted by our fantastic Hilton Ambassador Chikoto, the general manager, Mr. Olson and the head secretary (whose name escapes me but she had a great smile). I wanted to give Chikoto a greeting hug right away but then I caught myself (Genein…you’re in a new country with new customs….don’t go hugging everyone you meet. You’re not Olaf from Frozen).

Chikoto scheduled us to visit the Naritason Temple at 5:30am in the morning. Yes, you read that right. 5:30am! But since we’re still jet lagged, it was only noon to us.  We watched their Buddhist ceremony and I finally got to see them play the HUGE Japanese drums that I have seen in education videos. The time at the temple was amazing and the rain even ceased for us to walk the beautiful grounds.

After a tour through Narita and seeing young students walk to school in cute little yellow hats (for safety reasons), we had breakfast at a little cafe. When you are ready to order, you hit a button that sounds like a doorbell and then the waitress appears out of nowhere! Magic!

Even though there are American type meals on the menu, Shayne are I are purposely choosing authentic Japanese cuisine. I had the Japanese ‘Fried Chicken’ which then commenced a conversation on funny food stereotypes in America. 🙂 Good times…good times!

We are now headed to Tokyo! My hair isn’t acting right with this humidity but it’s all good. I might have to rock an afro!