Kyoto

Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868. It has many historic shrines and temples that still stand today. We took a trip from Tokyo on a bullet train and stayed one night in Kyoto.

The bullet trains travel almost 200 miles an hour. We reached Kyoto in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Outside a Shinto Shrine.

Hazel in her cute giraffe outfit. I love the matching shoes. Hazel spent a lot of time in her stroller on the trip, but she loved it.

Behind us is the Golden Pavilion.

More people admiring Hazel.


This priest came up to admire Hazel.


We walked through a bamboo forest.


A rickshaw going through the bamboo forest.

We climbed a steep mountain to get to a monkey park and we were hot and tired after , but it had a great view of the city and was worth the climb..

Walking around near the outskirts of Kyoto.

Kamakura

A town located on the sea and favored by writers and artists, Kamakura is about an hour from Tokyo by car. It was Japan's capital from 1185 until 1333. It has several Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples throughout the town.


We rented bicycles to go around town.

Brendan wore the Bjorn while biking. I was a little worried at first, but it worked out fine.


Big Buddha.


This is a Buddhist temple.

Tokyo

Brendan's aunt and uncle live in Tokyo, so it was nice to have people help us get around and recommend places to go.

This is a picture of the Ginza district at night. It is like the Times Square of Tokyo. Tokyo doesn't have one main downtown area. It is divided up into several districts.


This was outside a temple downtown on our walk to Tokyo Tower.

On our previous trips Brendan and I were just regular tourists, but now that we have Hazel we have become celebrities. I guess Hazel was more the celebrity. You'd think they had never seen a white baby. Everywhere we went people would say "Kawaii" meaning cute. We were at a place in Kamakura where they have a big Buddha statue and there were honestly more tourists gathered around and taking pictures of Hazel than the statue. In this picture Brendan wanted a picture with the baby and the girls in their school uniforms and they all got excited and each one pulled out their camera.

This is Brendan's cousin Joshua. He loved holding Hazel and pushing her in the stroller. He is the youngest of two kids, so he doesn't get to hold babies very often. This was on the top of a huge mall near their house. I think it was around 14 stories high with a park on top.

We would pass by this bike parking lot for the daycare around the corner from where we were staying. Everyone walks and rides bicycles in the city. I love the mom bikes with a kid seat on the back and the front handlebars.

We had some really good Japanese and Chinese food at this restaurant with the relatives. I was even adventurous and tried some shark fin. They were sliced very thin and tasted like noodles.

We went to the Tokyo temple, but didn't do a session. We walked around the grounds and went inside the entrance.

Behind Hazel and I is the famous landmark bridge, Nijubshi. It is a double arched stone bridge, east of the Imperial palace.


This district is called Harajuku. It is known as a center of fashion, both high end and bargain shops. It is also an area where you can see lots of Japanese youth dressed in crazy costumes/outfits.

Fall Break

With a population of over 34 million people, Tokyo is the world's largest city. Having traveled to several other large cities, Tokyo stood out as the cleanest. In the mornings people would sweep the leaves off the patio before their shops opened up and pick up trash in the alleys. The subways and it's stations were nice and clean everywhere that we went. In fact, once after Hazel spit up on the subway, Brendan was worried about the mess it made and wanted to wipe it up with her blanket. The people were also very well groomed and clean. Usually on subways I feel kind of gross because there are so many people that are close to you, but we never had this experience on the Tokyo subway. The only time we saw people who looked homeless, was in the Imperial Palace Garden park.

In Japan, crime is also very low. In one travel book I read, it said that if you needed help finding a place to ask the police. They usually aren't fighting crime. One day Brendan left his backpack on the subway with our passports and laptop in it. Luckily we were in Tokyo, and he was able to get it back with everything in it.

The Japanese people are so kind and respectful. They bow when they greet you and are always smiling. Getting on the subway, everyone lines up to get on in an orderly manner.

We flew to Tokyo on Singapore Airlines, which was recently rated as the best airline in the world, and I would have to say it was my best flying experience. Even though we were in the economy section, we were treated like Kings and Queens. It was definitely a different experience than our flight on a Russian airline. We flew on a 747. It is a double decker plane with some nice suites on the top level with beds ($15,000.00 round trip). Hazel had her own little suite on the plane. She had a bassinet that she slept in. I was wondering how she would do on the flight because it was so long, but she was great. On the way back from Tokyo she slept from take off to about 30 minutes before landing.



We liked the uniforms they wore on the airline. The flight attendant gave us a piggy bank and a coloring book and crayons for Hazel. She said they were for Hazel if she wanted to color. I know Hazel looks big, but she definitely isn't into coloring yet.

4 Month Stats

Hazel went to her first BYU game two weeks ago. It was really cold, so she couldn't wear her cheerleader outfit. We bundled her up in her little Puma jumpsuit and some boots.

Hazel is getting big. She had her 4 month appointment and these are her stats:

Height: 26 3/4 inches 90th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz 90th percentile
Head: 40 1/2 inches 50th percentile

She is starting to get up on her knees, but she can't push off or scoot, although she does manage to get across the room sometimes.