I have to begin this blog by saying WE LOVE HONG KONG. We love it, love, I am using the word love here. We would honestly consider living here for a year or so if the opportunity arose. It is a spectacularly beautiful city with interesting architecture, lush mountains, an incredible night-life and western-friendly people. It really is the definition of East meets West.
We had no idea coming in that we would like Hong Kong so much. We had each heard great things from friends and family but landing in the airport we were really just expecting to see just another city.

Once Ofer and I left the airport we boarded a double decker bus bound for Hong Kong Island. We sat on the second level and watched the city get closer and closer over the next hour. The closer we got the more excited we were. It was so beautiful: a city towering over it’s harbor surrounded by lush mountains and hills. The architecture was incredible. We drove over a bridge that looked just like the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and for a moment Ofer and I could almost imagine that we were home. Our faces were glued to the window, pointing at the intricately designed office buildings, hotels, at the massive amounts of cargo in the shipyard, at the bridge off in the distance. We knew we were in for a treat.

The bus dropped us off at the stop closest to our hotel. Once off the bus we realized that we had no idea where to go from there to find the hotel. Even though we have been traveling for some time now we are seeing that we need to get our act together and look at this stuff BEFORE we leave a place with internet. Ofer asked a few store clerks and one checked his Iphone and sent us in the direction of the right street (it was a start) but he had never heard of the hotel.

With backpacks weighing us down and luggage trailing behind we panted our way down the street. 20 minutes later the terrain changed and we didn’t seem to be in the best area of town. My expectations plummeted from there and I started having visions of moldy carpets and bugs in the bathroom. Then as if out of a mirage we saw our hotel. And it was great. Our room was beautiful, the hotel had a restaurant and bar and there was even a gym and outside pool, we were in heaven!

My cousin’s wife Vicky had grown up in Hong Kong and she and Evan had their wedding there so they were kind enough to forward us a list of things to do while we were in the area.

I have to start off by saying that I love Dim Sum. I could eat it every day, I really could. Meats and sweets stuffed inside doughy or flaky pastries...um ok, yes please. Hong Kong was the beginning of the Dim Sum month on our trip (you will see this theme continue through Aisa I promise). We went to a yummy Dim Sum Restaurant that was recommended to us and even there, on the first day in Hong Kong we talked about how much we were impressed by the city and how we could see that our friends and family who were/had lived here felt the same.

Ofer and I took a car up to The Peak; a lookout spot to see incredible views of the city. There we really got a better sense of how the city was laid out and how diverse the terrain is.

That night we went to a restaurant that Vicky’s Uncle owns called the Yellow Door. Once we sat down and started to order a man came over to us and asked us if we were the ones related to Vicky, it ended up being Vicky’s cousin. He is an amazing chef and photographer, both of which we can attest to. We sat and had a bottle of wine with him as we started our 6 course meal. He was so incredibly kind and asked us if we wanted to join he and his family the next day as they went to an area outside of the city for lunch by the water. We very excitedly agreed. We were eager to see non-touristy areas and to get some good tips from Hong Kong natives. By the way, the meal was sooo tasty. After being in Japan and having two very large pre-fixe meals we were starting to be concerned that our palates were too underdeveloped to enjoy exotic cuisine. But the food at the Yellow Door was delicious. Most of it was very different from anything we had tried before but it was so good that we were eager to see what each course would offer.

The next day we took a car out with him, his family and his parents (Vicky’s uncle). We went to a fishing town about 30 minutes outside the city of Hong Kong. We walked down the pier and saw numerous boats filled to the brim with fresh fish, clams, lobsters, oysters and squid.

They explained to us that the way it works is we look at what is fresh that day in the fishermen’s boats. You buy the seafood directly from them and then bring your sometimes still alive seafood to the restaurants that line the pier. You tell then how you want it cooked, and they cook your food as you wait. What a concept!!! We can easily say that was the freshest seafood we had ever had, and it was delicious. I guess one of the perks of having a chef in the family is that they know what to cook you and they know where to send you for great food.

Ofer’s friend Craig and his girlfriend Jane live in Hong Kong. Craig has been there for 6 years despite his initial plan of being there for a much shorter period of time (and we now understand why). We could definitely see getting addicted to life in Hong Kong.

Craig and Jane were incredibly hospitable. They took us to the most delicious Nepalese restaurant, to a Karaoke establishment, to his amazing apartment on something like the 20th floor, and they recommended bars, restaurants and day trips for us. It was so nice to be with a couple that really loved their lives; they both enjoy their work and really make the best of their time away from the office. They were both so fun easy to talk to that it all the more supported our idea of maybe someday taking 6 months to a year in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has a great nightlife. There is an area called SOHO that is covered in tasty little restaurants with almost every kind of international cuisine (except Mexican I think). When walking one night Ofer and I discovered one area that looked like it had a rave going in the street. There must have been at least 10 bars/clubs on this one street. Music blasted from each place and people didn’t even try to fit inside, instead they just stood in the streets with their friends and enjoyed a drink there.

As I mentioned before Hong Kong Island is covered with some pretty good sized hills. In order to make the area more user friendly someone brilliant came up with the idea of putting in an escalator scaling the hill and letting you off on each street with different restaurants, coffee shops, clubs and galleries. Whomever this guy was is what I call a ‘Neverlander’. Only a kid, or someone who is still a kid at heart and believes anything is possible would have presented to a board the idea of putting an escalator on the streets like that. Brilliant I tell you. Now if only someone will create a house with a spring boarded floor and padded walls with a slide leading down to the pool, then we will be on our way to thinking outside the box (my girlfriends know what I’m talking about).

One of the last things we did in Hong Kong was to take the gondola to Lantau to see the Giant Buddha. The gondola ride was about 30 minutes long and was so beautiful. I am working on my whole fear of heights thing so Ofer and I decided to get the glass bottomed gondola just to push me to the brink. I did pretty well with the glass bottom but there was no way for Ofer to get me to stand for a picture. This was even before we were told by Craig that at one time before the gondola had opened that a few had fallen. Information I am always happy to get after I have done it!

Once in Lantau we walked the 268 steps to see the Buddha. They were not kidding around, he is huge (112 feet tall to be exact). I really loved the statues surrounding the Buddha, they appeared so serene and loving. After chilling with the Buddha we visited the Monastery. There were locals and visitors lighting incense and saying prayers outside the doors. It really was quite a site.

Earlier that day when we had arrived at Lantau we went to see a video that they had about Buddha’s life. It really was beautifully done. I think both Ofer and I knew most of the things that the video was teaching but it was a good way to get us into the peaceful mood of the area. The most striking thing about the video was the exit. Sounds weird, but as you are leaving the walls are inscribed with quotes from Buddhist texts.

We spent about 30 minutes in that area reading each inscription. It is such a pure way to see the world. It is all about me, how I react, how I behave, how I choose to be in this world. Whenever Ofer and I spend some time reading some of these famous texts we always comment that we want to learn more. Hopefully when we are in Australia and have some down time we can take some Buddhist or Vedantic courses. This is another reason why I am so impressed with Ofer. He is so eager to keep learning, to expose himself to different cultures, traditions, teachings and to see what fits for him and how to incorporate different ways of thought and action into his daily experience. Growing up with parents who were very liberal in terms of learning and thought this has always been something that has intrigued and driven me. I am a lucky girl to have found a man who loves to do the same.

We ate in their restaurants, we drank in their bars (even broke a bottle in one), we swam in their pools, played squash on their courts, flew in gondolas in their skies and visited their ‘must see’ spots. But Ofer and I both felt like it wasn’t enough. This was the first place we had traveled to that when we left we wished we could have been there for at least another week. That is one of the greatest things about this trip. We are getting a sense of what areas we love, where we want to visit again and other places that we can just check off our list. As we were taking off in the airplane bound for Shanghai, China we looked to each other and fantasized for a minute wondering when we will be back to Hong Kong and where in our lives together will we be. We are excited to see!

The beginning of the trip was admittedly tough for me. I think I was homesick a week before we even left. Just knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing my friends and family, that I would be living out of a suitcase, that I wouldn’t have private time at home to decompress really did make me nervous. When I told most people about the trip they couldn’t contain their excitement about all of the positives, “You aren’t going to work for over a year!”, “You get to travel with fiance around the world!”. But the more I heard their excitement the more obvious it was to me how uneasy and scared I was.

The first month or so of the trip I wrestled with these feelings. The end of Hawaii and Israel were the toughest. I missed my friends and family, I felt so far away from anything familiar and comfortable and I kept reminding myself that I would feel this way for many many months to come.

Plus I couldn’t help but notice that absolutely everything in my life had turned on a dime. I had no job, no home, no loved ones (except Ofer of course) close by, no car, no private time. Not to mention that the first day of the trip was the day that Ofer and I got engaged. I was suddenly going to be someone’s wife, we are really going to get married, live together, commit ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives and someday in the not so distant future I was going to be someone’s mother! I had never in my life even lived with a boyfriend and now not only were we living together we were with each other 24 hours a day. No going to work and then sharing about our day when we got home. Nope. He knew all of the happenings throughout my day not to mention all the unmentionable ones.

Now if I step back, I promise I am more happy and excited than anyone about all of this. I am marring the man of my dreams, we are traveling the world together, we are planning a wedding and we are getting to know each other more than I ever could have imagined before we do so. However the people close to me know that nothing in my life is done without a lot of thought, a lot of talk and a lot of analysis ( as if you couldn’t tell from reading my blogs). If I were home and newly engaged I would be lunching with my girlfriends talking about what a huge step marriage is. About who I want to be in this marriage, about my dreams my excitement and also about my fears. We would process all of this. I like processing things. It made me feel like I have taken the time to try to understand each facet of what was happening so that I wouldn’t have a moment in my life when I would wake up and look around and think to myself, “when did all of this happen?”.

But somewhere in the world, maybe it was Nepal or maybe India, things changed. Ofer and I hit a travel groove. Suddenly things started to gel. I started to notice I could pack my suitcase in half the time. Ofer and I seemed to work out what items and tasks were whose responsibility. If we didn’t know exactly how to get to the hotel I would chill with the baggage until we figured it out. I brought tissues and earplugs for the flight and Ofer arranged the ride to the airport. Neither of a needed to control everything and both of us understood that we each needed to contribute in our own way to feel effective.

And what’s more, I really started to enjoy the process. Now, I like not knowing what the room is going to look like that we are going to sleep in next week. I am even OK with the fact that it well very may be a total disaster. No water from the shower or electricity, no problem...I have learned to take baths in the sink with candle light. No seat belts in the taxi, no problem...flying around in the back seat honestly doesn’t even phase me anymore. Pringles and Fanta for dinner....sound great it covers two of the most important food group: starch and radioactive orange.

This may seem easy to some of you. But to me it is very new. I am used to being in control. I love control (have I mentioned that). I like having notes in my bag of every detail for the trip so nothing goes wrong. I have the flight details, the hotel number and even a map showing the route there. And as much as I like that part of myself...my ability to organize, I have to admit it is liberating to learn to let it go. It feels like I have lifted a weight of responsibility that I was putting on myself; to be perfect, to make the world predictable, to live life through worrying.

Because for me at least, that is really what it is. It is smart to have certain details understood, especially when you are traveling in a foreign place but I obsessed over every little thing going smoothly and as predicted. But the thing that only I had access to, in my body, in my head was how exhausting that was. Constantly worrying, constantly playing the ‘Worst Case Scenario’ game in my head. But I started to notice that no matter if these self induced stresses went through my head or not things always seemed to work out. So in fact, the only person that the worrying was hurting was me. It was like I was living the trip in my own suffocating bubble. I could see and experience what was going on in my own way but I wasn’t allowing myself to access the richness and color, to allow things to be new and different and sometimes hard without making it a painful experience.

Isn’t that the most difficult task in life. To be in control of your own thoughts. To not let your environment determine how you experience the world. Whether in the best of times or the worst of times, I am the only one who creates my experience of them. I truly believe that the quality of our own life that we perceive is ONLY determined by our thoughts. Two people who go through the same traumatic event can see it through completely different lenses. The person who lets the trauma no matter how small be in control of them, in my opinion, ultimately is the one creating the trauma.

These are things that I hope to work on throughout my life. I am in control of my experience. Period. I am the only one that is living the world the way I have chosen to experience it. Period. My happiness, fear, success or failure is determined alone by the way I choose to experience the world.

There are many times that ‘Anxiety Shayna’ shows up. Sometimes she is at the airport rolling her eyes when Ofer forgets the flight number. Other times she is standing on the street dodging rickshaws and missing her old couch and remote control. This trip has been a test in so many ways. A test of how I choose to see my world and how I choose to respond. Even as I write this I struggle with with situations and worries. But more often that not, definitely more than ever in my life, ‘Chilled Out Shayna’ is stepping in. Laughing at the mistakes that we make and excited to see what comes next.

So much of this is a testament to Ofer. That man lives life as a Yogi (except without all the postures). He is able to be still. Challenges arise and he just notices them and moves ahead toward what he believes is right. He even admits that sometimes his own thoughts create the challenges and instead of reacting to them he just watches them like passing clouds without putting judgement on them.

And he is incredibly consistent; consistently loving, thoughtful, creative, positive and patient. Patient with himself and impressively patient with me. I think we are all so complex. Some of us let our complexities run like news tickers in our minds and other feed the lines straight out our mouths. I am the latter. I put it all out there with him. He knows everything; the good, the bad and sometimes the really really bad. But he is rarely shaken. Even as I continue to toss pebbles and throw stones in this waters he always returns to stillness. And this stillness is catching. The more I am around him, the more I truly want to learn from him how to be this way.

The way I felt on the first day of this trip is so far away from the way I feel now. Sitting in the airport, surrounded by a language that is not my own, with a 5 day old head cold, not knowing what is coming up for us next...I am better than good, I am great.

(Rates 0-5. 0 being it didn’t existed and 5 that it greatly exceeded our expectations)

Food: 3 Very fishy (it wasn’t for us...we ate a lot of McDonalds)
Accommodations: 4 We stayed in very nice hotels with restaurants, gyms and pools inside
Cleanliness of Streets: 5 Incredibly clean streets like Disney World
Courtesy of Service Staff: 5 Very kind, will bow and back away from you when done talking
Condition of Roads: 5 Very well taken care of, very few potholes.
Drivers: 5 Seemed honest and used a meter, there were seat belts and they obeyed traffic laws
Prices: 5 Taxis, food and hotels cost even more than they do in NY
Kindness of Locals: 4 Very nice if you engage with them but most keep to their own business
TV: 2 No English channels in most places if they even had a TV

Our Favorite City: Tokyo (busier and more modern than Kyoto which is what we like)
What to check when you first enter your hotel room: The toilet, cause it could be awesome!! If you were given two beds instead of 1 since we didn’t have the same last name.




No garbage on the streets

Tasty pastries (but some had fish so watch-out!)

Bullet train (Shinkasen), expensive but damn quick and comfortable

Bean paste pancake like desserts not for me but Ofer liked them

Watching TED on TV cause no channels in English

Very creative mens/women’s clothing and hairstyles in the downtown areas

Real Japanese Koi fish in the ponds

Poor English spelling everywhere (sanatarized, confort, Itarian)

Festival for ghosts where they burn a Japanese character into 4 mountains in Kyoto

Any local taking pictures always does a peace sign

Vertical advertisements on buildings instead of horizontal

Exoskeleton of bugs on the ground gave a nice surprise crunch when you’re walking

Walked through the Sony building and saw very futuristic looking cars

Traditional high-class food was next to inedible

You could buy ‘good-luck bracelets’ for just about anything; happy marriage, health, to do well on a test

It was painfully hot outside we felt like we were baking in an oven

Incredibly beautiful drive up the mountain to Hakone, it made me realize why people were so inspired to paint and looked just like a painting

Anime Museum was packed with kids and adults sitting around reading (cool concept)

Store owners washing the street outside their business every morning

No eating/drinking on the street

Wipe-out like TV shows with very excited and self destructive people

Taking a natural springs bath with naked locals in Hakone and following strict instructions on how to do so

Some women walking around in traditional clothing with wooden shoes and white faces

Fancy marble karaoke buildings

Little boys staring at us on the subway then yelling “Baseball!” to us as they left the train

People never jay-walk

The pagodas and temples were all incredibly well kept and respected by the locals and tourists

Almost every woman wore fake eyelashes

Most dishes tasted like fish (even potato chips)

Museum where you could watch artists make different pieces (porcelain, baskets, jewelry)

Everyone carried handkerchiefs to keep their faces dry

The zoo in Tokyo was amazing, we spent hours there

Had to stand in one place to eat even your ice cream cone on the street

We ate McDonalds 4 times

Cars drive on the opposite side of the road, drivers are in the passenger seat, side view mirrors are on the hood of the car

Stations on TV with very child-like dating shows with hearts all over the screen

Lots of women carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, really pretty

Burning up at Universal Studios outside of Osaka but we loved the indoor roller coaster

Vending machines on every street with take out food, drinks and cigarettes

No cars honking

Very thin buildings in between larger ones

Advanced toilets with heater, sprays and sound effects

Markets with fruit, nuts, spices, dried and fresh fish

Very loud bugs in the trees that sounded like rain sticks

No trash cans on the streets

Knock-off branded wallets, watches, shoes, clothes etc

Fishy sushi, ew

After our time in Tokyo, Ofer and I packed our bags and headed to the bullet train to take us to Kyoto, Japan. Once we found the right train (I’m embarrassed to admit how long that took) we took our assigned seats and prepared for the trip. The bullet train is more like a ground bound airplane. You have assigned seats, tray tables and stewardesses with tasty little treats walking up and down the center aisle.

What struck us once we started moving was that we hadn’t noticed a bell or any announcement to notify passengers of the train’s departure. But right on time the doors quietly closed and the train started down the tracks.

For the next 2.5 hours we watched the Japanese landscape whiz by. It was like Japanese Cliffs notes: we saw a hint of different terrains in short bursts complete with city streets, factories, distant mountains covered in bamboo forests and rice patties peppered with hats bobbing up and down tending the field. Every 20 minutes or so we would pass another bullet train going in the opposite direction. Without fail, every single time this would happen my heart would kick into double time. There was no way to see the train coming and when it did it shook our train with a powerful thud. Or at least that is my experience. Ofer got a kick out of the fact that it scared me EVERY SINGLE TIME.


Once situated in our Kyoto Hotel Ofer and I made dinner plans to go to a restaurant recommended by my Godfather John. It was in an area called Gion Corner. We took the subway there. Just like in Tokyo it was easily the cleanest subway Ofer and I have ever been in, instead of gum stuck to the floor and trash blowing by announcing the arrival of the next train it was like walking through the corridor of an expensive hotel that we can’t afford. We noticed and recalled from Tokyo that each time a train arrived or departed it played it’s own little tune. For the New Yorkers reading: an Uptown bound F train would have a different melody than a Downtown bound F train and an all together different melody than the E line so that commuters coming down stairs and escalators would know if it was in fact their train departing or arriving. It was all very adorable, it reminded me of the music-box melodies that would play whenever I would sneak into my sister’s room and try on her earrings (sorry Deb).

After getting lost in the Gion Corner area for about 20 minutes we finally found the restaurant that my Godfather John had recommended (we can’t take credit for finding it, the chef was kind enough to come downstairs to look for us). What followed for the next 2 hours was the most intricately planned meal we had in Japan. We sat down at the bar with our legs hanging traditionally down below and watched the two chefs as they prepared the meals. That night we had a mixture of traditional dishes and contemporary spins on old world Japanese cuisine. The meal included aged fish, sea urchin, tofu skin, the most delicious eggplant I have ever had, marinated egg yolk, and enough sake to drown us both. All together our guess was it had to have been at least 12 courses. If you are looking for a modern twist on traditional Japanese fare we absolutely recommend KAPPO Sakamoto Restaurant.

Ater the meal Ofer and I slowly waddled home. Our stomaches were so distended it looked as if we had swallowed his and her beach balls. There is no way to suck that in, ladies.

We walked around the streets admiring the old fashioned feel of the town intertwined with the modern Japanese world. We passed street performers and women dressed in the old fashioned garb complete with full white make-up and wooden shoes.

One street performing group impressed Ofer and I so much that we took a seat on the ground at the entrance to the subway to listen to 5 or 6 of their songs. The band was made up of the main singer and his guitar accompanist who backed him up with harmonies. It must have been the first time that I realized that I really didn’t need to understand the language in order to truly enjoy a performance. I had often complained to Ofer that I need to know the words to a song to really enjoy it including songs in other languages which explained why I had the most fun at the Billy Joel concerts rather than concerts of artists I had never heard about.

But this night was different. We heard their music as we were entering the subway I made him come back out to the street surface so we could continue to listen. I, of course, didn’t know the singer or the song but I was entranced. The singer’s commitment and passion to what he was singing was so refreshing. After years of living in NY and seeing broadway shows and feeling like the soundtrack fit by the emotion coming from the actors didn’t it was so nice to see a performer who was so in love with what he does.


During our week or so in Kyoto we saw as many pagodas, temples and open air markets as we could. We were getting better at ignoring the heat as best we could as we hiked deeper and deeper into ‘i have no idea where the subway is’ land. We managed to get caught in a few rain storms, attend a Japanese culture show, sat on some of the coolest toilets we had ever seen, went to the most decked out Karaoke establishment we had ever seen and even went on a few rides at Osaka’s Universal Studios.

By this point we were starting to feel comfortable with the fact that we could pretty much see above everyone’s heads, that it would take us three times as long to understand what someone is trying to say to us, and that McDonalds, something we never eat at home, would be our treat to remind us that America isn’t too far away.

I hate to break it to you America, but Japan really has this whole ‘how to run a community’ down to an art-form. Tokyo has incredibly clean streets, respectful, well groomed citizens and customer service like I have never experienced before. Ofer and I felt like we stepped into the life-sized version of Disneyland (which would explain all of the stuffed animals and why every commercial seems like it is aimed toward 6 year olds).
We noticed pretty quickly that some things were very different in Tokyo than the cities we were used to. At one point I stopped Ofer and pointed out that I had not yet, even once, heard a car honk. No one is sticking fingers out of windows and shouting obscenities at each other. No one is weaving through the streets as if they were in their own one-man car chase. This certainly isn’t San Francisco.

Also when the crosswalk says not to walk...PEOPLE DON’T WALK. Even when there is absolutely no possibility of a car coming, literally hundreds of people stand and wait for the light to change to green. This certainly isn’t New York. I love it. This is due to the fact that I love rules. I love them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t love being told what to do (ask my parents or Ofer). But I love when rules make sense. Ofer, on the other hand, thinks rules stay rules due to a lack of creativity on the followers part. I feel very much encouraged in my outright rule loving by the Japanese culture. No one walks when the light is red, people are curtious to each other and waiters genuinely seem to care about serving you as if you were a guest in their home (even at McDonalds). Because of this we see, what is in my opinion, a much calmer, happier community of people who look out for the general good instead of putting their personal desires ahead of the rest of the group.


I will now do a triple sow-cow dismount off of my soap box.

I found our hotel on priceline.com just about a week before we left for Japan. We got a great deal on a 3 star hotel in the heart of the Ginza district. I had no idea where that was before we got there but the area was perfect. Ginza has it’s own 5th avenue just two streets away from where we were staying. Once we got to the hotel we took some time to walk our new neighborhood. The air was warm and the city was gorgeous. It was a great feeling to feel so comfortable in a place that was so far away from home.

On our first day in Tokyo we walked to the Imperial Palace which was just about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. Unfortunately we went on a day when it was closed, oops. But we got a great view of the city from there. As we walked in we passed a park that was full of very tall, thick, leafy trees. Coming from the trees was an incredibly loud shaking sound. To me it sounded like those gourd instruments with the beads strung around them that sound when you shake them. It really was almost deafening. Ofer told me that the sound was from a kind of insect that lived in the trees, I had never heard anything like that before in my life.


After the Imperial Palace we took the subway to Ueno Park. We had been told by multiple friends and relatives that it was something not to miss. They were right. Ueno Park was massive, complete with museums, temples, gardens, lakes and even a zoo. There was a huge pagoda that we saw in the distance and as we walked toward it we saw that the only way to get access to it was through the zoo. Very tricky of them. Since it was only 6 dollars to enter the zoo, we decided to do it. We then spent the next 3 hours in sheer child-like awe of the animals. We saw zebras, elephants, monkeys, gorillas, penguins, flamingos, red pandas and so much more.

I must have spent a good 30 minutes mesmerized by a cage full of monkeys. They had small faces, long limbs and a tail as long as the length of their bodies. They were fascinating to watch. The used their tail as a 5th appendage. But they didn’t just use them to move around the expanse of their cage, they really seemed to enjoy having a tail. I saw one hang just by his tail and swing himself back and forth before flinging himself to the next bar to try out his next trick. After watching these guys, I now have an answer to the childhood question of, “If you could be any animal, what kind of animal would you be?”

For some reason it seemed that whenever we would pass a cage the animals they would start attacking each other. Maybe Ofer and I just bring bad energy. We saw monkeys fighting, the gorillas fight, bats fight and even flamingos fight. I never imagined flamingos going AWOL on each other. It was like watching an episode of “When Stuffed Animals Go Bad”.

All over Tokyo there are streets packed with street vendors. It reminds me of the small alley in Jerusalem to get to the Wailing Wall. Except in Israel they don’t sell fried octopus on a stick. The vendors were selling dried fruit and fish, stationary, clothing, watches, Japanese fans, fried ice cream and fresh seafood. Any time we were in any of these streets they were completely packed, even at 10:00am on a Tuesday. Tourists and locals alike were there to stock up on some of the freshest and most interesting treats and gifts.

Ofer and I tried our first taste of authentic Japanese sushi in a restaurant called Midori Sushi in Ginza. It was recommended to us as one of the best sushi restaurants in all of Tokyo. And even at 11:00 am when we arrived there was already a line out the door. We were led to our seats and promptly ordered two Asahi Beers....we are on vacation you know. Luckily the menu had pictures and we ordered one of the assorted plates and their special house roll. The restaurant was loud. Even though it was a good sized place anytime someone made an order or picked up an order the waitresses would yell the order to the sushi chefs and the sushi chefs would repeat what they heard. It was like the Starbucks of the Japanese world. But the yelling was always done in this very high pitched, almost childlike voice. Which I have had a very fun time of trying on myself.

When the food came Ofer and I were floored. The special house roll must have been 20 times the size of a normal roll. I felt like Alice in Wonderland and the beer had made me shrink to a quarter of my size as I tried to somehow manipulate the monstrous roll into my mouth. No success there. Instead Ofer and I put all of our decency aside and picked out the fish from the roll and created our own sushi.

Look, here comes the honesty part of the blog. We didn’t like the sushi. It must have been the freshest fish right? I mean we were in Japan. And it must have been great sushi right? We had been told that this was the best place to go, and there was a line outside! But we agreed that, at least at this restaurant, the sushi just wasn’t to our liking. Maybe it was more ‘fishy’ than we are used to. But we know that we will need to have a few more attempts at Japanese sushi while we are here to really get a solid opinion.
commercial seems like it is aimed toward 6 year olds).

Don’t be shocked, but while we are in Japan we saw TEMPLES AND SHRINES. Man, they are everywhere. Sometimes Ofer and I had to pinch ourselves and say, we are actually in Japan looking at REAL temples. They were more breathtaking in person than I would have imagined. They are beautiful now and I can only picture them in the spring with the flowers in bloom and during the snows. Incredible.

One night in Tokyo we decided to walk around Shibyu a mini-Times Square if you will. We ducked into a restaurant and had some amazing food. They had one of my favorite dishes in the whole world - SOUP DUMPLINGS. I think Ofer is getting sick of them, but don’t think I could ever get enough.

We decided to order rice wine, just to try. When it arrived I smelled it and decided that I didn’t even want to take a sip. But I took one just to be a sport. And that was it, I was done. Ofer had the same reaction I did. As we continued to eat our meal Ofer started challenging himself to take shots of the rice wine. This turned into him drinking the entire bottle. OY.

After leaving the restaurant Ofer got the brilliantly intoxication notion that he wanted to get a haircut. He decided that since we were on vacation he was going to pay to have the top stylist at the salon. An adorable little lady came over to serve us, we didn’t speak her language and she didn’t speak a word of ours. Ofer proceeded to instruct her with hand gestures that whatever she wanted to do to his hair, that was exactly what he wanted done. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

I think it goes without saying that Ofer learned his lesson. But I learned one too. Although I want to be a sweet, supportive wife, I ultimately will have to be the one looking at him the most. Next time I will exercise my veto power!!!