Quinn-tessentials: Japan

Flash back Friday!

Welcome to.... Japan: April 2016.

First leg of the trip was to take the boys to Utah, where they could hang out with out with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Quinn.

Then it was off to Land of the Rising Sun with Esther.

We arrived late Saturday night

Lauren and Nate were such fun hosts. Sunday we walked to church, and afterwards came back to Quinn central for a dinner of Shabu Shabu. It's a social meal consisting of a pot of broth and bowls of raw veggies and meat you add to the pot and let cook while visiting. The tasty sauces on the side also make the meal.

Our Shabu Shabu chefs: Anthony, Yuki and Nate. The Quinns had a couple of their good friends over, one of which, Kyomi is currently doing anthropological research regarding Mormonism in Japan. It was a blast.

Esther with Tagg

Hazel and Esther

Evening bike ride and walk enjoying Tokyo during Sakura. Sakura is when the cherry tree blossoms are in full bloom, and we were incredibly blessed to be there for the very short peak. It was a bit overcast, but I love the pink with grey skies. I just couldn't capture it adequately in photo.

Aoyama Cemetary

Here's the view of the street we were walking down, from a sky scraper. It's the fluffy row of blossomed trees.

Monday Lauren took us to a beautiful park called Shinjuku Gyoen.

One of my favorite parts of the trip, was getting to know Lauren better, and getting better acquainted with our ridiculously cute niece and nephew. Also...Sakura flavored ice cream.

Next Meiji Shrine

It was fascinating to see similarities between Japanese Temples and LDS Temples.

For Lunch, Takeshita Street

This is in the Harajuku district, known for it's youth pop culture. Unfortunately, my pics all got deleated form the first couple days, including the ones of the fun fashion trends (think hello kitty, unicorn levels of cuteness explosion). So you'll just have to google Harajuku.

Conveyor Belt Sushi, Sushi Go Round, Sushi Go...Whatever you want to call it. It's brilliant. Sit down, order what you want on a little screen, then your sushi comes zooming out on a tiny conveyer belt shortly after.

This is where 9 month old Esther discovered her love for sushi.

Anthony and I ventured out solo Tuesday and started out in the Asakusa District.

Tokyo Tower

View from Mori Tower

In big crowds, Esther got lots of attention. People would just start laughing and taking pictures of her. Unfortunately some of them probably looked like this.

Sensoji Shrine

Written Prayers

Sakura means kimono photo op week

Tokyo Sky Tree

Can't resist posing with a mural

Reminds me of the original "Shall We Dance." Probably one on of my first Japanese Films.

Feeding my cemetary fetish.

Ramon for lunch. So good.

Ueno Park

We had just been to a Museum where we saw paintings of Sakura from centuries back. Looks pretty much the same today. Everyone out picnicking under the trees with friends.

Tuesday night was Japanese Baseball. I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but it turned out to be a really fun, interesting night. The problem of the slow pace of the game is solved in Japan with really lively fan interactions. Lots of singing and chanting.

And of course the food was novel.

This was dessert, which tasted kind of like flavorless icecream wrapped in a styrofoam hockey puck.

Wednesday, Anthony, Esther and I ventured out again.

Not exactly sure what this building is, but hey, great architecture.

Went to the fish market. Everything was fresh and smelled just as you'd imagine.

Cherry blossoms for cooking purposes.

The Imperial Palace. This is as close as we could get.

Zojoji Temple

In the evening we took the train down town to go on a Sakura stroll. The blossoms were illuminated by lanterns.

Can you tell which one is Lauren? She was good at blending in with the locals, with her kahki jacket and long black hair. At one point she looked like quadruplets.