The Newbys are on the Road Again!

It's been a couple of years since our Asia trip, so we decided it was time to visit a new continent -- Europe!

The trip began with a drive to Washington, D.C. to take Iceland Air to Reykjavik.  In true Newby fashion, we left about an hour later than we intended to.  That didn't seem to matter until we hit Quantico, where of course, we ran into traffic.  L.D. and I realized that we'd lost our D.C./northern Virginia traffic smarts as we searched for the radio station that provides "news and traffic on the 8's".  Fortunately, a friend from Red Hat came to the rescue by texting us the WTOP station location so that we could find out what was happening. 


Here's a taste of what it was like on the drive up!









At the end of the day, neither Washington traffic nor both Amanda and L.D. misreading the flight departure time (it was 8:35 p.m. instead of 10:35 p.m. as we thought -- the check-in reminder that the last time for dropping off bags was 7:20 p.m. saved us!), we made it to Dulles to catch our flight.  The nice thing about the flight is that we were upgraded to first class which was lovely.  Even Wesley was impressed.  However, when you have a relatively short flight (@5 hours) and you are flying east, you don't get much sleep, regardless of how comfortable your seat is.  We all could have used a few more hours by the time the plane touched down at Keflavik Airport about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  Take a look at Wesley's face if you don't believe me!

Last dinner in Tokyo

I'm For our last dinner in Tolyo we went to Ninja where we had excellent Shabu Shabu, stone soup and a magic show that left Wesley gaping.  It was a great way to end our visit and now we're on our way back to the US.  Here are a few photos from that last meal. 

The ninja removing the stones from the stone soup.

Frog dessert

Tree dessert

Wesley's card with his name in it from the ninja magic show.

Only in Japan

We've had some unique experiences in Japan that we don't expect to see turning up in the U.S. anytime soon.

The CupNoodles Museum -- an experience celebrating instant Ramen noodles that includes:

The Noodle Bazaar -- very yummy we have Italian, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese noodles represented at our table 

Noodle Park -- sorry for kids only

Make your own noodles beginning with designing your own noodle cup (You can also make your own Chicken Ramen noodles)

Filling your cup with noodles

Choosing your seasoning (Chicken, Seafood, Curry and Tomato Chili) and toppings ( you must get four -- no more and no less!)

Shrink wrapping your noodle cup

Walking around for the rest of the day with your noodle cup in a vacuum sealed baggy

LD enjoying his cup noodles in Raleigh!

The inventor of instant ramen noodles, Momfuku Ando, was a big proponent of creative, out-of-the box thinking.  The exhibit above is designed to help you look at objects in different ways.

I have no idea what this exhibit is supposed to teach you, but it looks funny!

More food innovations -- here you pay 100 to 200 yen for the chance to hook your dessert using one of those movable cranes.  We managed to hook a chocolate bunny and a creme brulee, probably spending about U.S.$10  with our various attempts at these desserts plus the ones that got away!

The pedal-power roller coaster at Cosmo World.  We all had to be careful that we didn't pedal too fast and get reprimanded!

Bathroom accessories, including a tub that talks to you and reheats your bath water!

Pokemon in Tokyo

You walk around with a sheets with Pokemon and a poke-ball and used machines to try to figure out what the kind of Pokemon was inside of it. It was fun because some activities made you move.

Wesley selecting his pokeball.

On Saturday, we made it to one of the several Pokemon Centers in Tokyo.  And yes, it is basically just a few stores, but according to Wesley it looks just like a center where you'd take your Pokemon to restore their health.  They did however have a Pokemon tournament that you could play, plus they give away free Pikachu hats with every purchaseQ!

At the Miraikon (the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation -- where the Pokemon Lab was), we also saw Asimo, a robot designed and built by Honda (below he is singing a song with hand gestures)

Wesley also tried out a therapeutic robot used to provide interaction for people who can't have live pets.

Hakone

Hakone is an area about a 90 minute train ride outside of Tokyo renowned for its natural beauty, including hot springs fed by the volcanic activity in the area.  Like much of Japan, it isn't really set up for tourists, but we managed to find our way around without getting into too much trouble!

On the Romance car to Hakone.

Visiting the Chirijii falls.

That's Mt. Fuji in the background.

Cruising on Lake Ashi

Smoke from the side of the volcano in Hakone

Riding the Hakone-Tonzun Railway

At the Hakone Open-Air Museum