Jenn next to the big Buddah in Kamikura, Japan
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Ethan and Jenn Tour Japan
Well, I did most of the touring and Ethan did most of the hanging around. This was a chance at a trip of a lifetime for me and paid for by IBM since it was for business. I was nervous about the flying time and being so far away but have been healthy and with the doc's okay, I just couldn't pass it up. So Ken and I ended up travelling to Japan for a skills transfer and we were there for 9 days.
Once we learned how to get money, the rest was easy. At the airport, we tried to use every single credit card and ATM card we brought to no avail. Finally, we found one bus service that would take credit cards to pay for the bus tickets and managed to get to the hotel after a 90 minute bus ride. A frustrating hour spent at the airport finding our luggage and another while dealing with money. I think Ken was planning to barter off the pregnant woman in a scene from the amazing race reality TV show and I was ready to knock him out and sell his luggage. :-) Nah...we handled it in style and I figured worse case, I could call Am Ex and get some wired to the hotel. Anyway, the whole deal was the exchange rate. Ken said it was 10,000 to 1 so we were asking for 100,000 yen which turned out to be 1000 dollars and far exceeds what you can take out of an ATM. Once we tried this at a few machines, we had locked ourselves out for 24 hours. :-) We of course figured it out after we bought the bus tickets with my Am ex since it ever so nicely prints the exchange rate on the receipt. Doh!
The rest of the trip was much easier. We managed to master the subway system, travel to Kamikura and back, check out the view from the tower in downtown Tokyo, shop at Ginza, eat a 7 course meal all of soy products, walk the Imperial Gardens and more. Our hotel was amazing. I am not sure I have ever walked that much and Ken was an easy travel companion and patient with a 5 month pregnant woman! Ethan didn't seem bothered by any of the food and I had the opportunity to see the big Buddah and to touch the Pacific ocean from the other end.
Once we learned how to get money, the rest was easy. At the airport, we tried to use every single credit card and ATM card we brought to no avail. Finally, we found one bus service that would take credit cards to pay for the bus tickets and managed to get to the hotel after a 90 minute bus ride. A frustrating hour spent at the airport finding our luggage and another while dealing with money. I think Ken was planning to barter off the pregnant woman in a scene from the amazing race reality TV show and I was ready to knock him out and sell his luggage. :-) Nah...we handled it in style and I figured worse case, I could call Am Ex and get some wired to the hotel. Anyway, the whole deal was the exchange rate. Ken said it was 10,000 to 1 so we were asking for 100,000 yen which turned out to be 1000 dollars and far exceeds what you can take out of an ATM. Once we tried this at a few machines, we had locked ourselves out for 24 hours. :-) We of course figured it out after we bought the bus tickets with my Am ex since it ever so nicely prints the exchange rate on the receipt. Doh!
The rest of the trip was much easier. We managed to master the subway system, travel to Kamikura and back, check out the view from the tower in downtown Tokyo, shop at Ginza, eat a 7 course meal all of soy products, walk the Imperial Gardens and more. Our hotel was amazing. I am not sure I have ever walked that much and Ken was an easy travel companion and patient with a 5 month pregnant woman! Ethan didn't seem bothered by any of the food and I had the opportunity to see the big Buddah and to touch the Pacific ocean from the other end.
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