• Red faced snow monkey in a hot spring

    Hanging out with the Snow Monkeys

    Since we have a little down time between our adventures to London and Big Sur, we thought we’d go back and share a little more about our time in Japan. This week, let’s talk about our stay at a traditional hot spring hotel and hanging out with the snow monkeys in Yudanaka. Faster than a Speeding Bullet? Turns out that a bullet train is NOT faster than a speeding bullet. (Actually I just looked it up and they only go about a tenth of the speed.) BUT taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano was rather posh and the views of Fuji-san couldn’t be beat. The Onsen Ryokan (Hot…

  • Polar bear walking toward the camera

    Adventure to the Ueno Zoo

    After a good night’s sleep, we were once again up at an unreasonable hour. I think we were awake by 3am and by 7am, we were STARVING. The weather took a breezy turn, making the high for the day barely above 40 degrees. Our original plan included a trip to teamLab Planets, a walk through art installation, that includes ankle deep water and walking bare foot. Not feeling this was still the best plan, we opted for plan B. Here is the story of our second day in Japan – the adventure to the Ueno Zoo. The Fun Before Getting There The Breakfast Buffet As soon as the buffet opened…