Our 40th Anniversary Trip

4 Continents in 21 Days

Part 1: Los Angeles to Tokyo

Like the famous musical, "Around The World In 80 Days," we celebrated our 40th anniversary with a 21-day trip around the Pacific Ocean, with stops in Los Angeles (to visit two of Margy's cousins), Tokyo Japan (to visit friends we had not seen in 13 years), Sydney Australia and nearby Minnamurra (to visit two friends and a niece of Artie's), Santiago Chile (to visit our friends there), then the Boston area to attend the wedding of Artie's oldest brother Larry, and back to Fernandina Beach, Florida to complete the circuit. What a great trip! We took over 4,000 photos but managed to select a small percentage to share. This is only the first page, the first two stops on our trip, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Our first stop, on June 8th, was in Los Angeles to visit Margy's cousin Bill. He's a big ham radio fan, and that's his antenna behind his house. We enjoyed an evening at his house and then headed to breakfast the next morning at his favorite hang-out, Mandy's Restaurant.

Several of the "regulars" were there, as well as cousin Keith who we called to join us. We had not seen Bill and Keith for decades.

Bill, Keith and Margy

Keith in his sports car as we all departed.

What fun to see these cousins again after so many years. Some of you may know them indirectly, as the jokesters who often send us Internet email items, which we forward from time to time. Now you have faces to go with the names.

Next stop: Japan.

Do we look a bit younger? Well, actually this is a photo from 13 years ago, in 1996, when we traveled to Japan for a two-week vacation. Our anniversary trip would be our first return there since this last visit (Artie had returned several times more for business, but not Margy).

We flew business class, on Frequent Flyer Miles (thanks to Artie's years of traveling around the globe for work). So for the long flights we had leg room and could stretch out for sleep as we crossed a dozen time zones (Florida to Japan time difference is 13 hours, and to Australia it's 14!).

We enjoyed seeing the curious in-flight notices with katakana or kanji, the Japanese symbols for writing.

The unique airport welcome sign, and then seeing bus signs on the way to our hotel offering English classes, were a special start to our Tokyo arrival.

Our friend Ken recommended this beautiful hotel, located in the center of the city, next to the Tokyo Dome, the world famous baseball stadium. We were up on the 35th floor, and had a great view of the city, except that most of the time it was raining.

We were only in Japan one night, June 10th (crossing the International Dateline en route), and did a little bit of sightseeing near the hotel. Beautiful walkways adjoined our location. Our friend Ken hosted us to a dinner in a nearby restaurant.

Ken enjoyed viewing Margy's photos from 13 years ago while we waited for the meal to arrive. One of them, top right, was in Margy's digital camera shown above. Margy also marveled at the system to self-lock your umbrella while dining (photo right).

2009 at left, 1996 above.

After dinner we did a bit of late-night browsing at a "Seven-Eleven" (a popular quick-stop in the USA). The offerings were a bit different however, including the "Pocky" chocolate covered sticks that we enjoyed over a decade ago.

From our hotel window and from ground level we observed hundreds of people with umbrellas, some even on bikes!

We were invited to lunch across town, and saw this beautiful Japanese scene in a local park on the way to our friends.

We were hosted for lunch at the executive dining room atop one of Tokyo's large skyscrapers in the Izumi Garden complex

2009 at left, and 1996 above.

We met Hiro and his wife Miko in the building lobby. They were gracious hosts years ago, and we were so happy to see them for lunch. Miko had taken Margy around Tokyo and nearby cities in 1996, and it was great to see them both again.

The Sumitomo building entrance to the private dining area was spectacular, with incredible views of the city below, including the Tokyo Tower at the left (resembling the Eiffel Tower in Paris).

From above, we could see the range of architecture from grand modern office buildings to pagoda style structures from centuries ago.

Hiro had unique socks!

We all were required to remove our shoes before entering the dining room.

Margy chats with Shun, who worked in Singapore and now is retired in Tokyo.

We had this entire room to ourselves to share a beautifully prepared lunch, with excellent service and friendly conversation.

Throughout the elegant lunch, we were served by two lovely geisha girls, dressed in formal attire.

At one point, Ken brought out a Sumitomo Bakelite Company Journal, with photos from our successful Joint Venture negotiations in 1995, which led to a new plant constructed in Canada and a new business for our companies.

The lunch had about a dozen courses, and each was exquisitely presented like a work of art, with flowers, colors, and beautiful arrangements. Some of the food was quite different from North American fare, such as the whole fish, eaten from head to tail.

The meal ended with this beautiful dessert of fresh fruits, yet another work of art and refreshing finish to a memorable gathering.

Ken, Shun, his wife Kyoko, Artie, Margy, Hiro and and his wife Miko

We saw many fields of rice in farmlands alongside the bus to the airport as we headed out of Tokyo. Though our stay was brief, only one evening and the following day's lunch, we were honored to have seen our good friends and rekindle these long-time relationships. We appreciated their time, and hope for more.

The Narita airport outside of Tokyo is big, bright, clean and efficient. It provided a memorable first and last impression.

Barely beginning to adjust to the 13 hour body-time-difference between Florida and Japan, we began our check-in process to shift yet another hour west. This friendly Japan Airways agent got us set for the next leg, to Sydney Australia.

Continue on to Australia

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		Our first stop, on June 8th, was in Los Angeles to visit Margy's cousin Bill. He's a big ham radio fan, and that's his antenna behind his house. We enjoyed an evening at his house and then headed to breakfast the next morning at his favorite hang-out, Mandy's Restaurant.


Several of the "regulars" were there, as well as cousin Keith who we called to join us. We had not seen Bill and Keith for decades.


Bill, Keith and Margy		Keith in his sports car as we all departed.
What fun to see these cousins again after so many years. Some of you may know them indirectly, as the jokesters who often send us Internet email items, which we forward from time to time. Now you have faces to go with the names.


		We flew business class, on Frequent Flyer Miles (thanks to Artie's years of traveling around the globe for work). So for the long flights we had leg room and could stretch out for sleep as we crossed a dozen time zones (Florida to Japan time difference is 13 hours, and to Australia it's 14!).


We enjoyed seeing the curious in-flight notices with katakana or kanji, the Japanese symbols for writing.


		The unique airport welcome sign, and then seeing bus signs on the way to our hotel offering English classes, were a special start to our Tokyo arrival.


Our friend Ken recommended this beautiful hotel, located in the center of the city, next to the Tokyo Dome, the world famous baseball stadium. We were up on the 35th floor, and had a great view of the city, except that most of the time it was raining.


We were only in Japan one night, June 10th (crossing the International Dateline en route), and did a little bit of sightseeing near the hotel. Beautiful walkways adjoined our location. Our friend Ken hosted us to a dinner in a nearby restaurant.


After dinner we did a bit of late-night browsing at a "Seven-Eleven" (a popular quick-stop in the USA). The offerings were a bit different however, including the "Pocky" chocolate covered sticks that we enjoyed over a decade ago.


From our hotel window and from ground level we observed hundreds of people with umbrellas, some even on bikes!

We were invited to lunch across town, and saw this beautiful Japanese scene in a local park on the way to our friends.


We were hosted for lunch at the executive dining room atop one of Tokyo's large skyscrapers in the Izumi Garden complex


		2009 at left, and 1996 above.
We met Hiro and his wife Miko in the building lobby. They were gracious hosts years ago, and we were so happy to see them for lunch. Miko had taken Margy around Tokyo and nearby cities in 1996, and it was great to see them both again.


		The Sumitomo building entrance to the private dining area was spectacular, with incredible views of the city below, including the Tokyo Tower at the left (resembling the Eiffel Tower in Paris).

From above, we could see the range of architecture from grand modern office buildings to pagoda style structures from centuries ago.


Hiro had unique socks!
We all were required to remove our shoes before entering the dining room.


		Margy chats with Shun, who worked in Singapore and now is retired in Tokyo.
We had this entire room to ourselves to share a beautifully prepared lunch, with excellent service and friendly conversation.


Throughout the elegant lunch, we were served by two lovely geisha girls, dressed in formal attire.


		At one point, Ken brought out a Sumitomo Bakelite Company Journal, with photos from our successful Joint Venture negotiations in 1995, which led to a new plant constructed in Canada and a new business for our companies.


Ken, Shun, his wife Kyoko, Artie, Margy, Hiro and and his wife Miko


We saw many fields of rice in farmlands alongside the bus to the airport as we headed out of Tokyo. Though our stay was brief, only one evening and the following day's lunch, we were honored to have seen our good friends and rekindle these long-time relationships. We appreciated their time, and hope for more.


The Narita airport outside of Tokyo is big, bright, clean and efficient. It provided a memorable first and last impression.