Berry's SEAJ trip Day 67: Black sand beaches and one big Buddha (8/11/15)

Had an early breakfast and then headed down the coast to Enoshima to explore that island a bit. I walked all around it (all the way to the cave on the other side) however I realized after that it would have been a better idea to get the day pass which not only gives you access to a few escalators going up the hill, but more importantly, it gives you access to the attractions on the island (cave, overlook, etc.).

Berry is riding a giant sea turtle. Because why not?

Berry and his stone dragon friend, Mushu.

Even the walkways are pretty amazing. I want dragons escorting me everywhere I go.

Shrine island we are going to explore. Lets do this!

Now we walk through the street on our way to the shrine entrance.

We finally made it to the shrine Berry!

Pretty massive/awesome entrance.

Berry and his shrine entrance.

View from the walk we just did. Let the shrine exploration begin.

Ill call this the protector of the island.

View down from the mountain. Looks like fun. We should check this out on our way back.

Zelda is a thing in Japan. Proof.

Berry happy to find a cool lil bridge to cross.

A painted map of the temple of Enoshima that Berry and I are exploring.

Berry sitting in front of the circle of trust. Not sure what it is for but Berry wanted to pose in front of it.

Berry enjoying the huge fountain. 

Trash can design is on point says Berry.

Can someone please explain what this is supposed to mean?

Berry wondering why his hands were different. Not a conversation I expected to ever have.

The imperial red and gold is a great color combo.

Berry about to get his hands cleaned by his dragon friend.

As you get down the walkway, you come to a place where the water runs over the rocks right by you. I feel as though walking out there would be dangerous, sorry Berry.

Cool circular walk along the coast to get over to the cave below.

Entrance to a cave at the end of the walk. Berry wants to go in, but seemed small and had to pay extra.

Just doing a lil birding

Cool fountain we came across by the shore.

Berry watching the surfers not surfing.

Cool beach a short walk from the rail. Not bad.

Berry taking a dip in the black sand beaches of Enoshima.

Have some cool temples on the island and when I am done exploring, I head back to the rail, checking out the beach on the way. The beaches are nice and the sand is black and the water isn't too cold (used to the pacific in USA being cold but here its tolerable). As such there are people everywhere on the shore and in the water swimming/surfing/playing games, etc. Enjoyed the water and then got some lunch on way to the trolley to head over to Kamakura to check out the big Buddha and the Hasedura temple.

Can we say scary? There is a reason this dude is behind bars.

Berry found Buddha first.

That is a big Buddha eh Berry?

Profile view.

You can pay a little bit more and go up the Buddha. We did not but that is why there is a whole in his back.

Big peaceful Buddha.

Berry wants to climb the tree to get in there. We will go in the front entrance.

Berry getting some sun at the temple. No big deal.

Cool statue on the temple grounds.

Berry looking out from the top of the brief walk at the back of the temple.

Berry at the Hasedura temple. Beautiful building.

Little blurry but this lil cave within the temple had 100s of these little statues placed in here.

Berry hanging out with statue dude.

Quintessential Japanese garden picture.

The Buddha is literally a giant Buddha sitting outside (the temple around it kept burning down or something like that so they took it as a sign that Buddha wanted to be outside so they didn't rebuild it.  It was interesting but not sure if it is worth it if you have seen some temples and big Buddhas before. I then headed down to Hasedura where they have a big gold Buddha to check out as well as a nature walk on top of the hill and a cave at the bottom of it (neither of which are really worth your time). After the temple I went back to the house to meet up with the gang; on the way I finally tried a Calpis soda (I had been wanting to try one because the name is funny) which tasted like a fresca or something like that. We decided to have a night in which consisted of taco dinner then me and Dave sitting on the patio to have some scotches and good ole fashioned male bonding as Tammy had a meeting for work. After trying some of the various scotches we turned in for the night.

Yeah finally tried this thing. Not bad, just tasted like a soda. 

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 66: Pokemon Extravaganza (8/10/15)

Slept in a little bit before having lunch at the house with Tammy and then heading out to Yokohama where the mall there is having a Pikachu week; there are Pikachus of all different sizes everywhere, they even are giving out visors of Pikachu for people to wear (unfortunately they are built for kids so my head will have none of that so I just rest the visor atop it).

Berry and I posing with a wall of pikachus

We have found the pokemon area. Berry is in there somewhere.

Pokemon is also putting on various shows with Pikachu mascots dancing throughout the mall at different stages. We stop and watch a show with 2 people narrating the dance moves trying to get the audience into the spirit while 4 Pikachus dressed in male and female clothes shimmy around and try to do the dance to their best ability. After getting our fill there, we head up to the Pokemon store to try and brave the crowds so I can get a gift for the girl who gave me Berry to travel with (she is the reason I have traveled to this Pokemon extravaganza in the first place). I get to the store and people are everywhere and the line snakes around the store multiple times so I find one gift for the girl and Tammy takes it and stands in line while I try and find another. I search high and low and this Pokemon I am looking for (Umbreon) is not very popular as I only find that one doll. I join her in line and I pay for the items and we get out of there. After having some gelato we head over to the red brick building where there is supposed to be another show and to check that area out as well as it is on the water. After watching the show, which was not as good as the first one, we head inside to grab a drink and chill out of the sun for a little bit. The place we settle on has Macallan 12y for cheaper than a beer, I do not understand that pricing but I don't need to understand it to enjoy it.

Berry is ready for the show to begin. 

People are lining up all on the stairs (cant be safe) Glad we got here early and got some good spots.

The pikachu stage dance we came to see

Pikachu stage dance 2

Arched escalators. Berry has seen everything now. Also, Tammy posing with her visor. 

Alright lets get this pokemon and move on.

Holy capitalism batman! I wonder how crowded this store is normally cause this is ridiculous.

Leaving the mall and we see this. That is one HUGE pikachu!

Berry is liking all the pikachus over there.

That is another really big Pikachu. These people do not take this pikachu event lightly.

They built this huge circular elevated walkway to get people to the different sides to avoid collisions with cars.

Walking to the next place to take in more pikachus.

Cool bridge in the distance.

Red Brick warehouse where the next dance will be held. I believe these used to be a textile factory during the war. Now there are different shops in there (this is where we will grab the drink in a lil bit).

Berry wants a car with his likeness on it. 

Berry enjoying the view of the sky and the city area we just walked from.

That boat or whatever it is, has a giant hole in the middle of it. 

Berry watching (and enjoying) the Pika-dance.

Just a couple pikachus dancing in the street

3 Pikamigos posing after their dance.

Posing with my visor as we sip on some Macallan.

We then head to the rail to get into Tokyo to do some touristy stuff. First we check out the giant crosswalk which constantly has hordes of people crossing in each direction (Shibuya crossing). Hang there for a little bit and watch a round or 2 from up in the Starbucks before walking around a bit and stumbling upon a frozen beer bar where we stop for a drink and an appetizer. After finishing our meal we get on the rail and go check out the cos-play neighborhood where people dress up in various outfits and walk around. I blended in as I had my Pikachu visor on. All the lights and people made me think that this was a larger NYC, which is impressive to think as when you are in New York it seems massive. We stop for dinner at a ramen place and I get an egg ramen which was delicious (pretty much it is hard to find food that doesn't taste really good :) ). We ran into the cat cafe but they had a cover charge and a minimal order per person and I figured if I wanted to pet a cat while having some coffee, I could do that at home so we scratched that idea. We then headed home after the long day of being a tourist.

Why does this feel like NYC? 

Berry wanted a pic in the middle of the crossing. I just didnt want to get ran over.

Berry making his way across the street

Berry watching the masses cross the street from up on our perch.

Berry found a beer garden so we decide to go in and take a break.

We are about to walk inside the ice cream dollop. This has to go good.

Berry enjoying his samples at the frozen beer popup. 

Berry was upset when we had to tell him we werent going to see the cats.