Odaiba

During Golden week we also visited Odaiba.
Odaiba is a man made Island in the Tokyo Bay across the Rainbow Bridge.

There are few different ways you can cross the bay over to the Island, you can walk the bridge, take a train, or boat. We chose to take the train. We were lucky enough to stand right in the front where you could see the views of the city as we traveled across.
Once over the bridge we went for a walk down by the water to see views of the bridge.


There is also a small replica of the Statue of Liberty.

There is much to do on the Island. We will defiantly be going back since we did not have time to really experience everything.

We started of with the walk down by the water and then went to Lunch. There was this delicious hawaiin buger restaurant where we had burgers with grilled Pineapple and a stack of onion rings!

After lunch we headed over to the Science Museum. On the way to the museum we passed by some kind of event. We couldn't get close enough to see what was going on as well as I only snapped a couple quick photos before we were told by a guard that we couldn't take photos.

When we got over to the Museum there was about a 45min wait to get in. National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
This well done, highly interactive and bilingual science museum includes exhibits about environmental issues, robots (starring Asimo among others), information technology, biology and space exploration.
Some of the things we saw inside besides asimo was scientists teaching lessons, and dispays of things like the how the bullet trains work. Bullet trains actual run on magnetics not wheels and tracks. . There was also displays on DNA , science, life and innovation. One other thing that we saw was an animal robot they are using in retirement homes and hospitals for companionship. . All of the displays had where you could read english, but most of the seminars where all in Japanese. However they did have experts who would come up to you and explain and teach you things in English. .

After the museum we walked around to see some of the attractions before heading home. It had started to rain so we really didn't do much. This is the elecom Center
The Telecom Center is a major hub on the information highway with several large satellite antennas on its observation deck. The observation deck also offers nice view of the bay area and as far as Mount Fuji on clear days.

This is the Fuji TV Building
The headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan's private, nationwide TV stations. You can see some exhibitions on popular programs, buy Fuji TV goods at the souvenir shop and access the futuristic looking building's observatory deck.

This is the Ferris Wheel
Part of Palette Town, this 115 meter tall ferris wheel is one of the world's largest and offers nice views of the bay area.

This is Venus Fort
Part of Palette Town, Venus Fort is a shopping mall in the style of a 18th century South European town. It features more than one hundred boutiques, shops, cafes and restaurants, targeting a mainly female audience.

We also went to Decks
Decks is a shopping mall featuring various stores, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, the food theme park "Daiba Little Hong Kong" and "Tokyo Joypolis", three floors packed with the newest arcade games and more.

There are many other things to do on the Island, but it was just really busy and not enough time. We were also extremely worn out from climbing Mt. Takao the day before. We ended the night sitting by the beach under our umbrella looking at the bridge and venise like boats that were on the water.

Japan is amazing place, on Sunday we climed a mountain 1/2 hour outside Tokyo, where we saw ancient shrines and temples and the next we are in one of the worlds most advanced/futuristic cities in the world. And its amazing that they are 1/2 hour apart. There is much for us to see and do here. And we are excited to do more during the summer. No plans as of now but we will keep you posted on our day to day!

Earthquake

So Thursday 1:30am Japan time we experienced our first earthquake. Actually one tremor around 1am and then the actual earthquake at 1:30. Since then possibly a couple of very minor aftershocks.

We were up late since it was Steve's first day back to work and we were just hanging out watching TV getting ready to go to bed soon. Steve was actually already half asleep on the couch. I was uploading some pictures online and felt a shake, at first I thought I just got dizzy and then laid back when I laid back I felt more of the shake.
I asked Steve if he felt it, he said no. But today admitted that he did feel it. But didn't want to scare me. I was a little freaked so I moved over to the couch with him. As soon as I started to calm down a bit the 6.7 quake hit a few 100kilometers away. So luckily we did not get the most of it. We tried watching the news, of course it was in Japanese. But we were able to figure it out. The earthquake was near Tokyo. It was 6.7mag. They do there scales different here. The Japanese "shindo" scale for measuring earthquakes is more commonly used in Japan than the Richter scale. Shindo refers to the intensity of an earthquake at a given location, i.e. what people actually feel at a given location, while the Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake, i.e. the energy an earthquake releases at the epicenter.

The shindo scale ranges from shindo one, a slight earthquake felt only by people who are not moving, to shindo seven, a severe earthquake. Shindo two to four are still minor earthquakes that do not cause damage, while objects start to fall at shindo five, and heavier damage occurs at shindo six and seven.

According to the map that we saw on TV we THINK that we were a 4 on the scale. Tokyo area was a 5. It was a pretty intense feeling. Our apartment is built to move with the earthquake so it probably helped but for a min. or 2 after the earthquake the building continued to sway back and forth. I was immediately relieved that we were on level 7 and not 22 where he other apartment was that we could have lived in.

I was so thankful that Steve was home. I am sure I would have been much worse if he wasn't there.

Here is the actual online report of the earthquake I got online today.
Strong earthquake rocks Tokyo region
6 hours ago
TOKYO (AFP) — A series of strong earthquakes including one with a magnitude of 6.7 hit the Tokyo area early Thursday, cutting off power to more than 2,000 homes and causing light injuries, officials and reports said.

Japan's meteorological agency warned that more moderate aftershocks could strike, although there were no fears of a tsunami.

The strongest earthquake hit at 1:45 am (1645 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean off Ibaraki prefecture, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

Public broadcaster NHK said that two people were lightly injured, including an 18-year-old boy who was hit by his falling stereo speaker.

Power was cut off to 2,100 households, the network said, quoting local officials.

The impact was strongest in Ibaraki and adjacent Tochigi prefecture where the earthquake measured lower-five on the seven-point Japanese scale -- strong enough to crack holes in weak buildings.

"We felt a strong jolt, but there are no reports as of now of any major damage," an Ibaraki police spokesman said.

Highway operators said they had lowered the speed limit as a precaution, although they had not detected any damage to the roads from the quake, which struck at a depth of 40 kilometres (25 miles).

The earthquake followed a series of tremors off the Pacific coast early Thursday, including one measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale.

The quakes rattled buildings in the heart of Tokyo, where Chinese President Hu Jintao was staying on a rare visit to Japan.

Japan experiences 20 percent of the world's major earthquakes and has developed an infrastructure meant to withstand violent tremors.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked central Japan in July last year, killing 11 people and shutting down the world's largest nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its nuclear power plants were not damaged by the latest earthquakes, according to NHK.

Japan lies at the crossing of four tectonic plates and is constantly bracing for the dreaded "Big One" feared to inflict major damage.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake in Tokyo could kill 4,700 people, damage 440,000 buildings and leave thousands of others trapped in elevators, according to a study published by the government in 2006.

The last major tremor in Tokyo was the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 which left 142,807 people dead or unaccounted for. Japan marks the September 1 anniversary each year with nationwide disaster preparation drills.

Adventures with Wii

A couple of weeks ago a few guys from the Farmington office were here in town.
We had them over for dinner and some wii fun!



We have been playing alot of Wii and just ordered a couple new games. We have ordered American idol, mario cart and mario olympics! I know we are in Japan you would think we could find something better to do then spend our afternoons in front of a video game, BUT its so fun!!
Going "pro" in boxing

Hey Freddie and Makenna check this out!!

Golden Week

Golden Week- Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days. In combination with well placed weekends, the Golden Week becomes one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons, besides New Year and the Obon week.

Trains, airports and sightseeing spots get very crowded during Golden Week, and accommodation in tourist areas can get booked out well in advance.

The national holidays making up the Golden Week are:

* April 29
Showa Day (Showa no hi):
April 29 is the birthday of former Emperor Showa, who died in the year 1989. Until 2006, Greenery Day (see May 4) used to be celebrated on this day.

* May 3
Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi):
On this day in 1947, the new post war constitution was put into effect.

* May 4
Greenery Day (Midori no hi):
Until 2006, Greenery Day used to be celebrated on April 29, the birthday of former Emperor Showa. The day is dedicated to the environment and nature, because the emperor loved plants and nature. Before being declared Greenery Day, May 4 used to be a national holiday due to a law, which declares a day, that falls between two national holidays, a national holiday.

* May 5
Children's Day (Kodomo no hi):
The Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku) is celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power and success in life. The Girl's Festival, by the way, is celebrated on March 3.

Steve had about 7 business days off work this past week so we were able to get a few things accomplished. We found the Costco, while they didn't have to much American food we were able to get quite a bit of stuff. Since we live about 45mins away by train and 10min walk from and too the train station, we had everything delivered. The first day we went to Costco, we had to sign up for the card and all that, but we had not realized they only accept Amex and cash. So we ended up just walking through to get an idea and then headed home. The next day we went and did all of our shopping and headed over to the delivery area, we just missed the time for delivery the following day and found out we had to wait 2 days to get our food. We each packed up a box about 25pounds to carry that we needed right away. 25 pounds doesn't seem like much but by the time we got home our arms were about to fall off. Also before going into the Costco, its located near Tokyo Bay so we took a walk down there. People were fishing, boating and having lunch! So Costco literally took up 3 days of our vacation. We also went to Ikea to do more apartment shopping still not done. They were out of the chair we wanted to get. We went for about a 2-3 hour walk along the water near our apartment, we were supposed to go for a run, so I didn't take my camera. We also went hiking up Mt takao and a man made island called Odiaba which is part of the Tokyo area as well as we went to Akiabara which is the electric town where we got all of our appliances! We also played alot of Wii! (Don't forget to visit smugmug)

Mt. Takao 5-03-08

Mt Takao

So this week was Golden Week. Steve had 7 work days off so we were out an about trying to see new things. On Sunday we went hiking up Mt. Takao.

Mount Takao (高尾山 takaosan) is a mountain in the city of Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan.

Standing 599 m tall and located within an hour of downtown Tokyo, it is a popular hiking spot, with eight hiking courses and more than 2.5 million annual visitors. The Tama Forest Science Garden is also located at the mountain's base.

Mount Takao is closely associated with tengu, minor kami from Japanese folklore, and a Buddhist temple, Takaosan Yakuōin Yūkiji, is located on the mountain. There is also a local superstition, especially amongst young adults, where couples who climb Mount Takao will separate shortly thereafter.

This is the Wikipedia description of the mountain. The last line is really funny to me since for part of the walk it seemed like we were bickering quite often. Weird. Luckily we made it out without separating though! We plan to back since we arrived at 11am and made it up and down by 6pm. So we missed some of the sites like the Monkey zoo and some other things in the area. It was really busy, since it was a weekend. As we went up the mountain since there are 8 different trails and everyone goes at their own pace people started to spread out more. Just over half way up our trail there was such a narrow spot that only one person could pass at a time so there was a line about 45 mins long that we had to wait in to pass that small area. Litterally it was about 4 feet long. But VERY dangerous since it was on the edge. It was funny because at the beginning of our hike we were both pretty disappointed by the number of people there, and that the trail was paved and about 15 feet wide. Not much of a hike. Here we are with food and snacks our back packs on and water bottles on what seemed like we were walking around a metro park. SOON after that the trails started to change to what we originally expected! The top of the mountain was beautiful, but it was a tad on the cloudy side so we couldn't see out as far as we hoped. Also the top of the mountain was packed with people so it was also hard to move around. Next time we go will need to be on a week day and not during a holiday.

We were extremely tired and sore after the hike and unfourtunatly had to stand most of the 1 1/2 hour train ride home which was not fun. We definatly learned that we will need to get into better shape and wear better shoes before hiking up Mt. Fuji. Since if you just hike up Mt Takao no stopping it will take 1 1/2 hrs. Mt Fuji it can take anywere from 4-10hrs. Just to get up depending on the trail you take. So its a 2 day event forsure! You can really only climb Mt. Fuji in July and August. So we may not make it this year. We will have to see.

One the way down the mountain the trail we took was more for tourists, elderly and kids. The trail was all paved. although it was VERY steep. We had to keep stopping to give our legs a break. Also on this trail there was several temples, shrines and Statues.



So thats really it about climbing the mountain. First time I have ever done it! It was fun but VERY tiring. Don't forget to check out more pictures at smugmug!

Where to find more pictures

Hi!!



So there were some problems with the slide shows. For one they took forever to create. And some blog visitors were having an issue viewing the shows. So now you can see all the photos and more at www.dumouchellesinjapan.smugmug.com

Also on this website if you would like to order any photos you can do that as well!! Thank you to everyone who has taken an interest to come to the site to check up on us! Feel free to leave comments! Also a note to parents if you leave comments be sure to add last name so we know which mom or dad is writing :)!

We love and miss everyone!
Amanda & Steve