Japan

Last stop of our adventure - Japan - before our destination. We flew into Tokyo and stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. It might have been the tiniest room I have ever stayed in - a twin room in the north tower. I mean, I have stayed in some small rooms in Europe but we are now 4 people. The twin beds are really twin-size beds (some hotels have slightly larger ones). It was clean enough though, and we were only staying a couple nights. The hotel complex was quite large, with multiple towers, an aquarium, cinemas, etc, and near the train station and a McDonald's (our dinner the first night - I know, I know, but we were tired). We did partake of the hotel breakfast - huge spread but nothing to eat. Ok, I'm a fan of rice but not for breakfast. And there was a big selection of pastries which were piled onto everyone's plates - how do these people stay thin?
I confess to being fascinated with Japan. The culture, old and new, the food, the goods. In 2007, we stopped over in Nagoya on a visit to Singapore. Nagoya was a nice intro to Japan, and we also took a train to Kyoto. I have very fond memories of Kyoto - it was pretty and I took some great pictures. Unfortunately our camera was stolen in Singapore. So I've always wanted to go back and recapture some of those shots. I finally got my wish. I was a little nervous about fallout from the nuclear incident earlier in the year, but we decided it was safe enough for a short trip.
The only place we checked out in Tokyo was Shinjuku, as we planned to spend most of our visit in Kyoto. We walked around, then found a nice park - the Shinjuku Gyoen. It was chrysanthemum season and they were everywhere.

Shinjuku

Shinjuku Gyoen - artists at work (play?)

We took the shinkansen - cool even the second time around (sticker shock from the ticket price though) - to Kyoto. Stayed at Hotel Sunroute Kyoto. The hotel was a bit difficult to find, but a very nice tour guide at the train station gave us instructions to the bus. Our room was much nicer than the one in Tokyo (bigger twin beds) and the hotel was within walking distance to a shopping area and Gion. The breakfast was a pretty good deal too.

Gion

Kodaiji? Near Maruyama Park

We visited the Nijo castle, which was neat. The palace had nightingale floors where visitors had to take off their shoes for the tour. Again there were chrysanthemums everywhere. We could not recognize many of the fish for sale at the Nishiki market but it was fun to check out the various foods on offer. And we went back to the Path of Philosophy. It felt different this time around, somehow. Not as tranquil (probably because I had one more kid to chase around). It was still pretty though, a nice walk and stopping at different temples.

Chrysanthemum display at the Nijo castle

Ninomaru palace

On the Path of Philosophy

It can be challenging to travel in Japan without knowing Japanese. Sometimes you have to look hard for the English signs (for hotels and restaurants, for example). We had trouble finding Shiruko, a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. It had no English sign - some nice locals finally called the restaurant and directed us. We were designated to a private room (foreigners with two rowdy children, I guess) which had a nice view into a little garden. The rikyu bento was indeed a work of art (and yummy).
And menus - it can be tiring to decipher menu after menu for something to eat. The food models in many restaurants do help. I know Chinese so can recognize the Kanji characters, but there was one restaurant where I thought we were getting beef, and the specialty turned out to be beef tongue. Thank goodness they had pork and chicken (not tongue) too. By the end of the trip, I had tired of rice and tofu, foods I normally enjoy. 

Rikyu bento at Shiruko

Garden by the Shiruko private room

One of the funny English signs we spied

Maui

Stop number three was Maui - Hubby's favorite on the itinerary. To be honest, it wasn't a good first impression for me. The airport was serviceable and we rented a minivan from the car rental counter. We chose to stay at the Aston Kaanapali Shores and even got a little sea view beyond the garden view (there was birdsong every morning and evening), but the condo hotel was pretty dated. It was nice to have washer, dryer, and a little kitchen though. We ate some of our meals in the room - there was a grocery store across the street - to cut down on costs (HI was expensive). I was expecting someone to welcome me with a lei - isn't that what they do in the movies? With condos and hotels everywhere, it didn't feel much different from Florida... 

Beach at hotel

View from the front of hotel, after the rain

Hubby likes nothing more than to hang out at a warm beach for his holidays. He and Boy went on a snorkeling trip, and saw the humuhumunukunukuāpua'a (reef triggerfish - the HI state fish) and a turtle, among other things. There was snorkeling near the shore at various beaches, which was nice. We found a beach with light waves (could be the Baby Beach) where Girl loved playing in the water. And I really liked Napili Beach. Otherwise, we spent quite a bit of time at the pool. Things were looking up a little.

Snorkeling trip

Baby beach

We ate at the hotel restaurant often, simply for convenience - the food was not so good (what you do when you travel with kids). No expensive luau for us (kids wouldn't sit through that) - just watched the free hotel hula show, which was cute. We did check out Whalers Village and had lunch at Cane & Taro - nice view and yummy sushi. Found a couple other good restaurants - our favorite was Star Noodle. There was this big communal table where you could see what others were eating, and the desserts were so good. Another fond memory is Aloha Mixed Plate - tasty and filling.  We splurged at Mala on seared tuna and Kobe beef burger.
We took a pass on the Hana Highway as reviews said that the hair-pin turns did not make a pleasant drive with young kids. We did drive north from Kaanapaali to Mokuleia Beach, where Hubby snorkeled and Boy found crabs in the little cove. The development thinned out a bit as we headed north, but probably won't be that way for long. This was more the HI I imagined.

Honolua Bay

Mokuleia Beach

Seattle

Stop two on our adventure was Seattle. We were meeting some friends from Vancouver over a long weekend. We stayed at the downtown Hyatt Place, which was decent and within walking distance to the Space Needle and museum complex. We used the free shuttle service to nearby attractions when it was rainy. There was also a monorail from the museum complex to downtown shopping and food - Boy is a fan of trains.
We bought the Citypass to see the main attractions. The Space Needle was nicely done, except for the giant gift shop on the way out. There were these stations where you could take a picture and have the Space Needle as the background - nice souvenir. The Pacific Science Center was nice for Boy - it had a moving dinosaur exhibit. Both kids liked the planetarium show. Of course, there was a gift shop (curses for parents). The EMP was very neat, sort of a fun museum of pop culture for grown-ups. There was a giant tv screen at the entrance which showed music and movie stuff. The Woodland Park Zoo was also nicely done - I liked the park-like setting. We didn't have enough time for the other attractions.

From the Space Needle observation deck

Pacific Science Center

EMP

Wolf exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo

Of course, we also checked out Pike Place and the Starbucks. Curiosity took us to the gum wall, which I immediately regretted - it was gross.

Pike Place

We had a couple nice dinners. One at Long Provincial (fancy Vietnamese), and the other at Blueacre - where we got a nice private section.
All in all a great weekend!

San Francisco

I fell in love with San Francisco again. It was the first stop in our move to Singapore from Florida, and my second visit. The first time was in 1998 when I visited two good friends who were out there for their internships. They ended up staying, and we got together again, this time with our families. I hadn't seen them since that first visit, but it was nice to just catch up on life.

We found a nice place to stay in Fairfax via airbnb for the week. It was Susan and Carl's downstairs apartment and they were great hosts. They helped with little details and had wine and pasta ingredients for us. The kids got a separate bedroom (with books and toys!) so the adults had some privacy. There were plenty of services (shopping, restaurants - we especially liked Sol Food in San Rafael) nearby - also in the nearby towns. It was a lovely place from which to hit San Francisco and wine country sights.

Sausalito is so pretty. We had a second breakfast at Poggio - food was ok but it had that nice European sidewalk cafe feel. We were there mid-week morning, so no crowds. Tiburon was really nice too - we had dinner there one evening, waterside (although we had to fight seagulls).

Of course, we had to hit Pier 39 for the kids to see sea lions. And Ghiradelli Square for sundae. We also treated Boy to the Letterman Digital Arts Center which houses the Lucasfilm screening room. He was fascinated with the Star Wars stuff. I was fascinated by the Painted Ladies.

Pier 39

Letterman Digital Arts Center

We checked out Muir Beach (too cold for swimming in October) and Muir Woods. The redwoods are inspiring. Another day saw us visit the Point Reyes lighthouse. It was a little hike, but worth the view.
Berkeley is cool - we spent an afternoon with friends checking out the eclectic and artistic shops. Chocolates at Chocolatier Blue - yummy art, almost too pretty to eat!

Muir Beach

 

Muir Woods

 

Point Reyes lighthouse

We did manage to visit Russian River Valley and Napa Valley, with kids in tow. At Russian River, we checked out J (nice terrace) and Armida (great views). At Napa, we had lunch at Angele and checked out Frog's Leap - Hubby really liked the 2008 Rutherford. What nice grounds - grapes, other fruit trees, chickens, like a farm, really (so fun for the kids). A friend recommended macaroons at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, but we missed out because it was closed due to fire damage. Next time!

 

J Vineyards

 

Armida Winery

I could live there. When we bade goodbye the last morning, Susan was just finishing her morning in the meditation garden. I could so live there.