Robot Restaurant

This one hour show definitely deserves its own blog post. I first heard about Robot Restaurant on Anthony Bourdain's show Parts Unknown. Sarah also read about it on TripAdvisor. Everything about it looked crazy, but we figured that it would be unlike anything we'd seen before (or will ever see again). We were right.

If you are ever in Tokyo and have a free night, you should check this out. Yes, it's campy and overdone (and will probably give you a headache) but it's worth it. I'll give you the play-by-play here but the pictures can hardly do the live show justice.

We took a quick subway ride up to the theater (scratch that, basement is a more appropriate description) where the show is put on several times a day. I paused to snap a quick picture on the way in.

Once we picked up our tickets we were escorted into a waiting room to have a drink before the show started. I was overwhelmed just by this room itself...I mean where else do you sit in gold seashell bucket chairs with glowing tiger walls??? Answer: nowhere.

As we got a few minutes closer to show time, a herd of 20 or so businessmen showed up (maybe they've been before?) and a band came out to entertain us. These costumes were just a glimpse of what was about to come...

After a few songs from these guys we were escorted down a bizarre staircase to the main stage. We walked down about four flights of stairs and I think everyone was disoriented by the time we arrived.

Once we took our seats it was time for the show to begin. First we saw a "traditional" Japanese drum show. So far so good.

Then they added a dragon. Still pretty normal.

Quick costume change, then we heard Lady Gaga songs sung from a rhinestone-encrusted horse with a lazer show in the background. This is the type of stuff that we were expecting.

After this, things started to get a little weird. Did a panda ride a cow across the stage? Yes. Did a monkey hang onto a wasp with fire wings? Yes. How about a dragon - did a girl come out riding a dragon...? (Yes, obviously.)

Just when I thought we were done with these animal props, this happened:

The shark attack was the finale of this part of the show. The crew cleaned up the stage for a few minutes, then the "real" robots took center stage. It felt a little like we were on the set of the next Transformers movie.

Once these robots had done a few laps of the stage it was time for the grand finale: four giant lady-robots with three actual ladies on them! I have no idea who thought this up!

All in all it was a fun, weird, contemporary Japanese experience. We were going to head to a karaoke bar but decided to come here instead and we definitely think we made the right choice. You can watch people sing Journey songs badly everywhere but you can't see anything like this anywhere else. Come when you're here and brace yourself!

Konnichiwa Japan

The next leg of our journey has officially begun! Sarah and I were pretty restless with excitement so waking up early on Wednesday was not much of a challenge. My dad dropped us off at the airport and, after a quick pre-departure picture, we were off on our first flight to LA.

Be back in eight months!

Had some pretty cool views of the Rockies as we flew across the country.

This first flight is not part of our Round the World Fare. If we started the global ticket in Japan it was a lot cheaper, so we figured we'd fly the cheapest way possible from NY to Tokyo, then pick up the ticket there. We found a great price on Priceline, but it meant flying two different airlines: Virgin America to LA then Singapore Airlines to Tokyo. We were a little nervous about losing our bags during the transfer, but the gate agents at LAX were able to track them for us to let us know they'd made it onto the second plane.

Speaking of the second plane, I didn't realize we'd be flying on one of Singapore's A380s - the new, double-decker plane. I'd seen these from a distance before at other airports, but never up close. It's hard to imagine how something SO BIG can fly! (Cue Sarah's eye-roll and ohmygodit'sjustaplane! commentary)

There were four jetways used to board the plane. Four!

Though no one should ever be excited about an 11+ hour flight in an economy seat, we were both a little giddy given the airline's reputation. We were not disappointed. Easily the most luxurious economy experience we've ever had. Though the legroom is still a bit cramped for me, the plane is so big I could walk around and stretch out enough to keep myself limber.

We arrived in Tokyo at 7pm local time, which is about 5am NY time. We stayed awake, for the most part, the entire time so we'd have an easier time getting to sleep when we got here. Well it worked - we were both exhausted! The bus to downtown Tokyo worked out great though and we didn't have any trouble finding the apartment we rented on AirBNB...though it is a little smaller than I was expecting!

At least it's not one of the capsule hotels!

After sleeping / lounging for as long as we could (I was proud of myself for making it until 5am!), Sarah and I spent a few hours this morning planning out the next month of the trip then got ready for a day of exploring Tokyo. Our first stop: coffee. We went to Sunday Coffee, right around the corner from our apartment, then walked up to Yoyogi Park.

We had beautiful weather today so we wanted to take advantage of it. Here's an odd shaped sundial in the park.

Perfect morning for a stroll.

After a nice walk through the fall foliage, we headed over to the Meiji Shrine which is practically connected to the park. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji who is credited with helping start Japan's industrial revolution. The shrine itself is only one small part of the site - there are many other areas to visit nestled within a forest of tall trees.

Entrance to the Meiji Shrine.

Each year, sake brewers throughout Japan donate barrels to the Meiji Shrine. The sake itself is used in ceremonies but the barrels are bound together to commemorate the offerings.

The Meiji Shrine.

A temiuzya right outside the shrine.

We also saw a couple doing a wedding photo shoot. Not exactly the same kind of attire you'd see in NYC!

We were both getting pretty hungry at this point so we decided to walk a little further north to Shinjuku for lunch. We found this small sushi place called Numazuko and were treated to conveyer-belt-style sushi! I knew I wanted to try a place like this while we were here, but I didn't expect to get it as our first meal in Tokyo!

The chef makes plates of sushi then just puts them on the conveyer-belt for you to take. At the end of the meal, the waitress counts how many plates you had to tally up your bill. Very fun experience (and delicious sushi too)!

Full of sushi and green tea, we walked over to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden to see another of Tokyo's great outdoor spaces. The grounds were meticulously maintained and the flowers were beautifully colorful - definitely worth a stop if you're ever in Tokyo.

A sculpture on an island in the middle of a koi pond.

Flowers were displayed under covers like these...

...and in the fields like these ones here.

Another of the (many) ponds.

A beautiful row of trees in another corner of the garden. How are we the only ones here??

We wanted to wrap up our sightseeing extravaganza by walking over to Tokyo Tower. We saw the tower fully illuminated as we drove into the city last night so we figured it would be worth seeing up close. Not really. There isn't much of a park to go with it (the base of the tower is basically surrounded by a parking lot) and it looks less like the Eifel Tower when you really get close. It was still nice to see more of Tokyo on our walk over there though and if we hadn't gone then Sarah would've missed out on this great photo op:

Not really sure what those things are but I have to assume they're Christmas-affiliated given the display behind them?

Tokyo Tower (with some trees blocking the parking lot!).

We concluded our whirlwind day in Japan with a trip to the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt. This is the bar made famous by Lost in Translation, though the views are enough to make this a famous spot without Bill Murray! We sipped Japanese whiskey and took in the views before heading home to bed. Overall we had a great first day in Japan!

What a view!

The full moon even came out from behind the clouds later in the evening. Definitely grab a drink here if you come to Tokyo!

Party in the USA

Miles: 10,443

We made it! And, importantly, the Avalon did too!

The last two months have flown by for us: we drove more than 10,000 miles across the country and back, celebrated four weddings with family and friends, saw some amazing sights (and took some incredible pictures), ate some great food, drank delicious drinks, and even made it to Sarah's first SEC football game!

We always wanted to allocate some time in our year-long journey to seeing the US and we are so glad we did. There are so many beautiful places across the country and we'd highly encourage you to check out our favorite spots (in no particular order): Jackson Hole, WY; Grand Teton National Park; Sedona, AZ; Grand Canyon National Park; Monument Valley, AZ; and White Sands National Monument. Not only were these places magical to visit, we walked away with some of our best pictures of the trip so far! You can check out our USA gallery here.

Thank you very much to all our hosts along our journey. Half the fun of seeing the US has been catching up with you along the way and we'll miss you while we're abroad!

Tomorrow we fly to Japan to begin the next eight months of our journey! It's a six-hour flight to LA then another 11 hours to Tokyo - good thing we each have about five books to choose from to keep us occupied! See you in June, USA!

New York, New York

Sarah and I spent Wednesday and Thursday in cold-recovery mode. We have a lot to do before we leave, but we took advantage of my mom's delicious home cooking, slept through our alarms and tried to knock off the least strenuous activities from our to-do list.

By Thursday (my birthday, by the way!), we were both feeling well enough to take a long walk through the woods of Madison. The weather was perfect for a fall day in New Jersey - and the mild exercise was probably good for our colds too!

Strolling through the woods.

Lots of colorful leaves, though most had fallen off the trees at this point!

After our walk we were treated to a delicious home cooked meal to celebrate my birthday. My brother, Nick, and his girlfriend, Michelle, made the trek out from the city to join us and my Aunt Jill and Uncle Dave drove up from southern Jersey as well. It was great to catch up with the family, especially because this is the only time along our whole year-long journey that we'll get to see Nick, Michelle, Jill and Dave!

Family shot before dinner.

And we even had a proper birthday cake.

Feeling rested (and almost over our colds) we drove into New York City on Friday to tackle some of our remaining to-dos. I bought a coat and boat shoes; Sarah got some pants and make-up (among other things). After running around the city all day, we split up for dinner: Sarah met up with our friend Dana and I got together with another friend Brendan. It's always great to catch up after being gone for so long!

On Saturday we had brunch with our friends Ally and Hayden at Sweet Chick, which turned out to be amazing. Sarah always says there's not much high quality southern food in the city - but Sweet Chick definitely filled that void for her!

Our afternoon / evening on Saturday revolved around our last wedding of the year - my good friend Dan and his fiancée Ali got married in The Green Building in Brooklyn. The venue was very cool - and very appropriate for Dan and Ali! - plus it wasn't a far drive from our hosts' apartment in Williamsburg (thanks again Sam and Nicole!).

Pre-wedding photo at Sam and Nicole's place.

The happy couple's first kiss! (Also, Dan puts my beard to SHAME.)

Doing our best imitation of the bride and groom in their photobooth.

Today we headed over to our friends' Ali and Caleb's place to watch the NYC Marathon. Fortunately we had an extra hour to sleep due to Daylight Savings Time (especially after the late night on Saturday!). We had a great time watching the runners go by Ali and Caleb's living room window, but not long after the race was over it was time to say goodbye to all our friends.

It's been a great weekend here in NYC but we need to head back to NJ to finalize our preparations for the longest leg of our trip. We're very excited to see Japan on Wednesday but sad to be away from our friends and family for eight months!

Sick Days

Miles: 1,030

Route: Nashville, TN - Charlotte, NC - Madison, NJ

We arrived in Charlotte after dark on Monday night and had just enough time for a nice dinner and quick driving tour of the city with our hosts, Steve and Jenny.

Having never spent much time in Charlotte, other than a couple of brief work stopovers at the airport, we both enjoyed checking out the downtown area (which looked pretty nice, even at night). Steve gave us the hard sell on a city where A. we could both reasonably obtain finance jobs, B. the weather was nicer, and C. we might actually be able to afford buying a house in the next 10 years (unlike Manhattan!). We don't know where we'll end up after our adventure, but it's possible we've added Charlotte into the consideration pile!

Alex woke up Tuesday morning with a bad cold so I went for a solo run and got to check out a bit of the residential area near Myers Park. The neighborhood is very picturesque, with huge canopy-like trees, tons of green space and many older, beautiful homes. There is actually a widely known path through the area that locals have taken to calling the "Booty Loop" due to the number of young women who jog along the streets.

Paused to snap a picture of Freedom Park on my morning run.

Queens Road was covered in a canopy of big, old trees.

After my run Alex and I got cleaned up and started the drive north to Washington, DC. We stopped in South Hill, VA for a quick lunch and realized we have done a great job of avoiding fast food in the US (which is good not only for health-related concerns, but also because I prefer Wendy's and Alex has die-hard loyalty to McDonald's).

"Southern" Greek salad with fried green tomatoes. Doesn't this look better than a greasy fast-food meal?

After lunch I took over driving because Alex 's cold had resulted in violent coughing fits every few minutes. We hoped he would start to feel better after a few hours but instead his conditioned worsened and - no surprise since we were sharing a small space together - I started to feel sick too. As we headed into Washington, DC we made the sad decision to bypass our two days there and head directly home to Madison, NJ for some rest. We had been looking forward to spending some quality time with our hosts there, Bill and Emily, and checking out Alex's favorite college stomping grounds but knew that we needed to get healthy before embarking on our 8 month journey, which begins next week already!

We just got to Madison and will spend the next few days resting and sleeping so we can gear up for one last weekend (and wedding!) in New York before getting organized and prepared to spend 8 months outside of the US. Fingers crossed we can kick these colds before then!