[ Touristing

When I made my last entry in Feburary there was snow on the ground. Since then
the cherry blossoms have come and gone and spring is here in Tokyo. With Golden
Week coming up (last week of April, first week of May) summer is just around
the corner.

My SO and I have been entertaining guests from overseas, so we've been tourists
ourselves here and there. Aside from the crowds in places, I cannot really say
a bad thing about the experience. Only that the Japanese really cannot speak
English, but I guess travellers get around the language barrier by talking into
their phones and using google translate?

We went to see the cherry blossoms in local areas, where only the locals go,
rather than Ueno Park or the Imperial Palace where all the tourists flock.

We took a boat trip up and down the Sumida River, and I managed to get us a
seat (no easy task.) It's a nice trip and not at all expensive, but the boats
were full. I was dismayed that Asakusa was very, *VERY* crowded.

We took a trip to Hakone, which is up in the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture,
west of Odawara city. I've been there a few times and it's always nice to have
a change of scenery. The first two times my SO and I went, the place we stayed
was fantastic, but since then it's become so expensive that we cannot afford it
anymore. Such is the weak Yen! Hakone is a nice place to go and get lost, far
away from the cities, and other people.

I already have some plans for Golden Week in the works, along with this summer
and autumn. Time to stock up on color film and sunblock!