Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). Crazy!
Well my dad keeps asking me what I want to do, but being very go with the flow (& very busy) I hadn't come up with much.
But I spent some time today surfing the web and getting ideas. For one I noticed japan was on the same longitude as our area of California and my coworker, who travels much, said she was in Japan for a long layover and traveled a bit, and found that it was very much like California. I also hear spring is the time of the cherry blossoms and so am wondering what autum will bring in Japan. If it looks just like California (the weather/plants, etc.) well that sounds a little boring. BUT I have just been looking at the most beautiful pictures of Japan in the fall. Exquisite. Looks nothing like California to me - LOL. Well I guess I will just have to see.
Oooooh - getting excited.
We will be spending most of our time with a family there so I think it will be less a touristy trip and more of a cultural trip, if you know what I mean. But we are staying in our own hotel. & doing about 4 days in Tokyo (Shibuya - looks like NYC) and 2 days in Kyoto (more historic). Oooh and riding the bullet train of course.
I also saw there was a monkey park in Kyoto - kind of at the top of my list. 
Lots of temples and shrines and views. OF course my sister wants to shop shop shop, my dad wants to hang out with the locals and see some bands (& eat) and I want to see the temples and see some of the outdoorsy stuff. I just want to get outside. If it was the proper season Mt. Fuji would be at the top of my list....
Oh, but I think Hiroshima would also be fascinating to see. Maybe a bit heavy. Not sure if we will have time.
Also, DisneySea. Had never heard of it, but it is next to Tokyo's "Disneyland." But DisneySea looks really different. Kind of interested, not sure if anyone else is.
So I just sent a list off to my dad and sister for scrutiny. I think if I can make it to the Monkey Park I would be happy. When else will I ever get to see/feed a bunch of "wild" monkeys.
& now I guess I have to brush up on my Japanese. I have traveled to Europe before and though the language barrier can be intimidating (sure everyone speaks english but the locals are much more nicer when you attempt their language). Well, Japanese sounds way more imitimidating than Spanish or Italian. I don't know, I grew up around a bunch of people speaking Cantonese/Indian languages/Japanese. But it is just so diferent from English/European languages. My sister is really into Japanese so she'll have to be my translator/speaker - hehe. So yeah, on one front, being among a sea of Asian people and foreign tourists, I don't think I will feel terribly out of place than a day in San Francisco (or even a day back home). But the language thing will be very different.
On the flip side dh's aunt lived in China for many years and speaks cantonese very fluently. The funny thing is she was in Guatemala for a few years and had a really difficult time with the language. She got so used to the Asian languages I guess. She kept telling us "Spanish was too hard to learn." ??? I guess it is tough to transition between the 2 because the languages are just so different. But english being my only language I am completely in awe of anyone who has mastered a second language. (Much less 3 or 4 languages).
Japan Trip is just a few weeks!?!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:20 am
August 31st, 2007 at 01:12 am 1188522730
As for Cantonese, I swear, I can't understand a single lick of what they're saying. Some words and phrases are phonetically similar to Mandarin, but it still might as well be Martian. I don't know how anybody else does it.
August 31st, 2007 at 01:58 am 1188525482
Tokyo Disney Sea is next to Tokyo Disneyland and both places are fun to spend a day. You need to plan full day for it, though.
Also, going to Hiroshima from Kyoto is a little stretch. You can do it by riding a bullet train, but there's not much in Hiroshima, other than A-bomb dome and Itsukushima-shrine.
For your sister, Shibuya is a perfect place to stay for people love shopping. There are sea of shops for girls. I'm sure she will have a great time.
August 31st, 2007 at 02:39 am 1188527978
Japan's the land of festivals and I'll bet they'll be a lot of fun. A good festival calendar can give you some ideas. I think that the NHK (like the BBC, only Japanese) has an English content website to give you some more ideas.
I made a list of the three things I wanted to see in Paris, then went with the flow the rest of the time. I recommend it.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:02 am 1188554567
Yeah I Was looking at a bad map. My dad did tell me Hiroshima would be a bit of a stretch - but haven't ruled it out yet.
BA - now you got me stumped. Maybe she speaks Mandarin. I will have to ask - I forget. IT all is greek to me.
Oooh, festival sounds fun.