Our 2 Weeks in Hamamatsu Japan

*Please read footnotes at bottom of blog for comments from Jon that correct and add to this blog I wrote:

The flight over was not as hard as I expected. We met others on the flight that were going to Japan to visit their kids. Once we got to Tokyo we had to change planes to go to Nagoya where Jon picked us up and drove us 2 hours to their home in Hamamatsu. We checked into our hotel and crashed. Luckily it was night time there so the adjustment to the change in time did not seem so bad. The first day Jon and Hiromi showed us around and Hiromi made us a wonderful dinner. She is a great cook.

We walked a lot the first few days there. Seems most people there walk or ride bikes. It was very hard on me with my sciatica pain and it was not long before Jon became aware that I was not able to do a lot and I felt bad about holding everyone up but they were very kind to me about it and I appreciated it. However there was still a lot of walking. We went to a festival that was like the taste of Chicago but it was taste of foods from all over the world. The hottest of our days there. I tried different foods and enjoyed it all in spite of the heat. We met some of Jon and Hiromi's friends, one was a mother and her son. They were from Israel and his mom had come and spent a few months there. Lovely people and we met up with them often while there. We then walked to a temple where we could see a view of the city.

On Sunday, Jon and Hiromi took us for a ride out to a place where they had pizza. We enjoyed the place and the pizza and the company very much. This was Golden week in Japan and their were many festivals going on. We enjoyed looking around. I really loved the way the houses and roads were laid out. Not much land so the Housed were all tall and slender and the roads like alleys going through the neighborhoods. Even tho there were no yards, they all decorated with flowers in flower boxes all over the city. It was quite beautiful.

My favorite night was Karaoke night with Hirmomi's family. It was the most fun I have had that I can remember. They treated us to a private room with a table full of food and beer. Yes! I drank beer for the first time since high school. After 3 I even sang My Way with Jerry. Mr. and Mrs Suzuki, their son Akihiro and wife Kimiko and their boys Kengo and Wataru were so much fun. We enjoyed their singing and the boys were adorable. I wish I had a tape recorder to record it all. It was a wonderful evening and afterwards we (of course) walked back to our hotel with Jon and Hiromi and on the way stopped at one of their favorite bars and had another beer. This bar was like home as you were greeted by the owner as you came in and walked to the door as you left.. The kindness, politeness and patience of the people there was the most wonderful thing I remember.

Tuesday it rained all day and Jerry and I had come to getting up in the morning and walking to get a newspaper and then to Starbucks and having coffee and a apple fritter and sitting outside watching the people. Well!! No one let the rain stop them. Everyone had umbrellas and we had one that Hiromi gave us and so we did our morning routine in the rain. I thought all the umbrellas were so adorable and wish I had got a photo of that.. Everyone carried an umbrella for the rain or the sun. Including me.

We stayed in a hotel right downtown, the center of everything. There was a place in the center called The Station. That was where the trains and buses were and it was also a mall with shops and many places to eat. I loved the book store on an upper floor where you could just read a book have coffee and look out over the city..You could also buy the books or just read them like a library. We loved sitting outside and eating, it is something you can't do in Albany Georgia.. We went to Jon and Hiromi's and hung out there the rest of the day and Hiromi made us a great meal again. She made a pumpkin base and put all sorts of veggies and meat in it. Served in her lovely bowls. You can see them in some of my photos.

Wednesday it was still raining and Jon picked us up for breakfast at Denny's. Yup they have Denny's there.. Lots of American places there.. We then went for a sightseeing ride, to a mall and yup we went to a Sushi Bar.. It was all computerized. Hiromi ordered different things for us to try.. you could have cooked items too. All menus in Japan are picture to make it easy for foreigners to order. We enjoyed trying different things there.. The food came out on conveyor belt right to your table.
We then went for ice cream..Ice Cream is the same everywhere. :)

Thursday was the guys day out. Jerry, Jon, and 2 guys from Canada named Rob and Mark took the Bullet train to Nagoya and saw a baseball game and went out to eat. Hiromi and I went shopping. Hirmomi had some things to do so I told her to go and I would be fine by myself. I did some shopping for our families and stopped for a really good ham and cheese sandwich. One of the waitresses there named Amy could speak English and was so happy to practice her English with me that she talked with me while I ate. Each day when I walked by her place, I would wave and she would run out and hug me. She was adorable.. I am sorry I did not get a chance to say goodbye to her.

After I left her I had an experience that I love to tell about. I got lost in the underground tunnels that are there for you to cross the street. I went up the wrong stairs ( I now Know) and found myself where I could not recognize the surroundings. Come to find out I went to the wrong side of the street. Well it made me disorientated (like dyslectic) I was completely turned around. I went up to a Japanese lady and said my hotel name and she actually walked me there.. Can you believe that? I was so taken back by this kindness that I am overwhelmed as I write this. We had other angels help us along the way but the overwhelming kindness, friendliness and politeness was amazing to me.

I went back to our room and did some laundry and watched Sex and the City in Japanese haha.. We found out later that we could watch tv in English. Duh!! Anyway all of a sudden I heard a band and music and the parade festival had begun and I walked down into the street and watched the parade of floats go by. It was so exciting and colorful. Again I have photos of this. I got a phone call from Hirmomi and she was going to walk down and meet me there and we went to another festival eating area and had some food while sitting a a table there watching the fun. That is the night I ate octopus. It really did not have much of a taste and I thought a bit tough.

It was not long and the guys called and were on their way back so we went to the train station and met them and we walked back to our hotel telling each other about our day...

Yesterday, Thursday and Friday and Saturday are the Festival days. Always on May 1,2, and 3.. Each town dresses in their special coats and decorate their floats and march in the parades each day. So fun to watch and the city is so clean. Everyone picks up after themselves.. The vendors keep their area immaculate.

Friday we met John Wells at the train station. John is from kenosha, our home town and we met on line and became friends cuz he was starved for hometown news. I met him one time for lunch when he came back to Kenosha. Little did I ever know that one day I would go to Japan and meet him there.. He came from Yokohama Japan to spend the day with us and we all went to the Kite Festival..

The Kite Festival was Awesome. It was one thing I had looked forward to. We took a bus there and walked way back into the woods near the ocean to see it. There were people all over in their special coats with the markings of their town. Food all over and it took 20 guys to get the kites up into the sky. The kites are huge and when they are way up in the sky, they look so tiny. They have fire on the string and they try to burn each others kite string to bring each other down. When they come down it is dangerous cuz they are so huge and they come diving down into the crowds sometimes but mostly into the woods. It was kind of sad to see them fall. However it was so exciting to see. We sat on the grass and ate different kinds of food. I thought we ate a lot there and believe all the walking is why we both lost 10 lbs.

After the Kite Festival we walked back to where you catch the bus and it was so crowded we had to wait in line an hour and half for the bus.. It was amazing to Jerry and me that the lines of people were so patient. No violence, no complaining, no impatience. Just standing there waiting. I was glad it was a cool and breezy day or I might have fainted. Once we got back to the center of town we joined the festivities there. We went to Jon's favorite bar called. No Name Bar... It had turned cold and we were in sweatshirts that night drinking coffee instead of beer.. Well I was anyway. So many friends of Jon and Hirmomi's were there and we met people from all over and it was a fun night. John Wells left us and went off to take many photos of the parade which are also included in my photos..

Saturday we went for the best Hamburger I ever ate at a really neat place and then went to see the most beautiful temple. We spent some time there and took many pictures.

The next day, Sunday, we went to Act City in the center of town also and went to the 45th floor to look out over the city. There you could see all of Hamamatsu. We went to a great pizza place after that and then back to Act City to eat some snacks and drink beer on the 35th floor over looking the city...

Monday we drove to a place where they have an amusement park and we took a cable car over to a temple where we could look out over the city from the other direction, in fact we could see Act City from there. We spent the rest of the day packing to leave as we were going to leave on Tuesday morning by bus to Nagoya to catch our flight early Wed. morning....

We also loved Jon and Hiromi's school. It is adorable and they make tea for the parents who want to stay and wait. They live upstairs and have the cutest apt. By the way many hang their laundry to dry out the windows. Reminded me of the old days in New York.. I remember a tv show where people hung laundry and talked to each other out the windows... Just trying to paint a picture of how quaint it is.

I loved it there and would not mind living there at all.

At this point I know I missed some things to say and tell about. I don't know if anyone will read all this. I really tried to shorten things. haha.. Hard to do with such an amazing trip. Never would I have dreamed that I would have had this wonderful opportunity. I am truly bless in my old age.

I am going to end for now and save this. I may make additions or corrections later as I get some input or I remember something of see a mistake..

Below is a link to some photos in the form of a slide show.
however if you are my facebook friend you can see many photos and comments there.. Enjoy!!!

http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh102/jtestard/Hamamatsu%20Japan/?albumview=slideshow

P.S. Some of you know this but Jerry and I got a sinus and lung infection over in Japan and we have been real sick. At this writing it has been 3 weeks since we have not been well. We are just starting to feel good and we still have good and bad days.
As I read my blog I can see that the enthusiasm that I felt in Japan is not coming through in my blog. I would have rather have written this when I first got back for memory and enthusiasm sake. However this does seem to capture the idea of it all.
Whatever, we both have wonderful memories..


*Comments Below are from Jon Bauer, Jerry's son whow lives in Japan: I am grateful for his help. It was hard for me to remember all this. There was so much to take in.

1) May 3,4,5 is the Kite Festival
2) No fires set on the strings. The strings rub together and friction breaks them
3) Plenty of yards in Japan. We live downtown, though, so yards are small or non-existent in our neighborhood (land is really, really expensive the closer you get to the train station, which is the heart of the city). Outside of the city though, you get some nice space. People aren't into grassy lawns here, though.....they'd rather use the space for gardening or patio-like areas
4) Sidenote about laundry! The US might be the only country in the world where driers are the norm. The sun dries laundry quickly and for free.....outside the US (even in countries with a high living standard) driers are seen as very, very wasteful.*

( Thanks John for helping me with this. I do want to say that I Love the smell of clothes that hang out on the clothes line. In Wisconsin in the winter, the clothes would freeze in 5 minutes. lol!!)