More Worldly Travelers!

The Bizuks and Cynarc have landed! (AKA the “Brangelina” version of Cynthia and Marc) And we have been so busy sightseeing and enjoying Karleen and Cam’s company that we haven’t had a chance to blog. Tonight while drying out from an extremely wet and rainy day seemed to be the perfect time so here it is.

First of all our arrival wasn’t as smooth as we had hoped. Despite Cynthia’s heroic efforts running from one end of the San Francisco airport to the other –twice-- the lost coat was found but the plane was missed. Luckily the next flight was only minutes later and they arrived safe and sound only a few hours after the Bizuk clan.

Fast forward the first few jet-lagged (and for Kim, Bill and Cynth – head colds) days and we actually began to enjoy Japan on Saturday the 10th.

Day 1 (Saturday) Touring Osaka

We had two major stops today. The first was Osaka castle for the Plum Festival and the second was the Osaka Children’s Museum. The Plum Festival is the time when the plum trees begin to flower which signifies that Spring has arrived. We enjoyed looking at the plum trees but seeing the wild cats climbing the castle walls was a bigger hit. We ate takoyami for the first time and were entertained by a street performer (we found the language of jugglers to be international…)The castle was more of a museum and the highlight was when Jackson and Uncle CJ got to dress up like samurai warriors!

The Osaka Children’s Museum was Jackson’s favourite part of the day. And truth be told it might have secretly been everyone’s. (ssshhh…!) There were three floors of hands-on Japanese fun. The giant bubble area was a huge hit and the screen showing you how hot different areas of our bodies were, was almost addictive. There was lots of dressing up and trying new things and we stayed until it closed.

Day 2 -Touring Kyoto

Another great day of sightseeing! First we dragged the men to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. This was a place where they teach mini classes (of one or more) on how to make different Japanese arts and crafts. Karleen and CJ tried ‘Wood Block Printing’, Cynthia did ‘Gold Powder Drawing’, Jackson and Kim made a Japanese Spinning Top and then Jackson and Bill learned how to mix Japanese spices (and try them in noodle soup – yum!) Marc stayed in production and took pictures of all of us…

Then we grabbed a cab to the Jones’ favourite sushi place, “Cuppa”. Then a quick hop on the subway got us back to the Gion Corner for a great show. The show was an hour long and had a ‘snippet’ of various Japanese entertainment styles. There was a Tea ceremony, Bunraku (puppet show), Geisha dance, court music (with a dancer), Japanese harp music, flower arranging and a comic play. Very interesting!

Day 3- Doin’ our own thing...

The Jones duo were back to work today and Cam had to work a day shift instead of evening. So Cynth and Marc headed off to explore on their own. (Found their way to Himeji to see a famous castle and some beautiful Japanese gardens) and the Bizuks and Karleen hung out around home – yay! for going to the Japanese version of the dollar store!

Day 4 – Universal Studios

Jackson became a bit of a celebrity today. All through the trip we have been handing out little Canadian flags with a penny or a nickel attached. Usually Jackson has been giving them to other children but occasionally to adults. After being a bit shy with this at first, now he seeks out people to give them to! Today he gave them out to rave reviews! He was even given gifts in return including pins, a business card holder, a charm and an ice cream dessert. At the park he was the hit amongst the teen-aged girl set and was asked to pose with them in pictures a bunch of times. At our Hard Rock Café dinner when he approached a young man (who was celebrating a birthday) the table fairly erupted with the girls all jumping up and taking pictures! Oh and the park was a blast too… The 3D Spiderman Ride was the unanimous favourite!

Day 5 – Nara

We had originally planned a trip to Hiroshima but our funds are dwindling so we canned it. Instead we spent the day sightseeing in the rain. Yup the rain that was threatening all week but never fell came down in buckets today. Our plan was to walk around the Nara park that had pagodas, temples, the largest Budha in the world, shrines and tame deer. However, after a rough start of walking through a residential area in the rain and finding out we were a bus and a train ride away from where we wanted to be, we ended up having an awesome (albeit wet) one.

The reason it was so great was due to a young man named, “Tomo”. Tomo was a student guide that we were offered for no charge today. He took us around Nara, shared extremely interesting trivia facts all day (like Budha’s right hand symbolizes “Do not worry” and the left is “I will help”) and when the rain came down in sheets he helped us revamp our plan. We tried 6 kinds of Sake – “Kompai!”, saw a restored old house, and ate Okonomiyake (Japanese pizza) for dinner. Jackson claims it was his most favourite meal (first thing to beat out sushi) and he ate more than Cynthia and Kim!

We still have plans to check out Tokyo this weekend, more of Kyoto tomorrow and who knows what else we will fit in… Jackson has been a trouper. He loves Japanese food- especially the dessert- and is basking in all the attention of 6 adults all the time!