we have internet.
But none of ya'll fools are awake yet! it's 7:11 your time.
That reminds me... I've seen more 7/11s in JApan than I've ever seen in the US. you won't believe this.. but I haven't seen a SINGLE Indian in them.
Anyway, I'm in out 2nd Tokyo hotel. Today was completely fun! I will proceed with an explanation:
First, we left Sendai with two very nice people that I'd never met before. They bought me a present! It was a fan, postcards, and something to hang on the wall... how do you call... a wind chime? yes, i fink so. I guess I shouldnt hang that on the wall, but rather- on the wind. ANYway, so, they helped us get where we needed to be to catch the train from Sendai Station to Tokyo Station, where Takefumi found us :-). i love this man! So, he got us, and took us to Harajuku, again! But this time, i would have plenty of time to shop! I bought clothes.. but didnt have much money left. I spent a total of $120 on this trip. cept... dad helped a lot. but yeah, Kalynn and Dani- U and i WILL go to Japan in the future together with a butt-load of money to spend. Comprende? The style in Harajuku, as well as the rest of Japan, is completely and utterly amazing. I straight up stood in front of people to photograph them. Lunch- Ramen. Shop more. ugh, so fun. THEN- the TOY STORE. what could be so great about a toy store? why does this particular toy store deserve to be in all caps? Well, I can tell you why.
This exact toy store was invaded by Michael Jackson. He bought everything in it. He had a bunch of kids with Him, who He let choose everything they wanted. Of course, now- it's restocked. But the important thing was- His (His pronouns should be capitalized, like God's) feet were where my feet were today. This wasnt a normal toy store, like Toys R Us though. It was more of like, a collectibles store. Action figure shop, really. Statue Palace. heck, i dunno- but it was neat. There was a model of The Enterprise for more than $1000. Tons of famous action figures. anyway, it was cool. and Michael was there. in spirit.
Then, Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo. Yummy, chicken fingers.
Now, I'm in the hotel waiting for you fools to wake up to talk to me. Also, I'm watching Asains freak out over the eclipse on the television. they are crying over it. They are screaming.
We leave Japan tomorrow. 7 pm. We'll go to the Emperor's Palace first. Prolly eat one more Japanese meal... i dunno. Then, I'm off to Miami :-).
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
byes
I'm heading back to tokyo. I mean, If we make it on the train.
Dad just locked the key in the room... haha.
But yeah, i heard from momma... she's very sick. and it has me worried to death. Ya'll call her or something. tell her i love her.
Hopefully Tokyo hotel place will have internet.
I miss ya'll.
lol, ya'll. I'm a southern hick.
Dad just locked the key in the room... haha.
But yeah, i heard from momma... she's very sick. and it has me worried to death. Ya'll call her or something. tell her i love her.
Hopefully Tokyo hotel place will have internet.
I miss ya'll.
lol, ya'll. I'm a southern hick.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Ramen is my new best friend.
I am finally in Sendai... though i thought i've been here :-P.
I'm in a hotel lobby online for the first time in like, 3 days. I hope you were worried.
Dad's talking about mice, and I'm resting. We've been GO,GO,GO since we arrived in Japan. My legs are sore from climbing mountains, the one downfall. My tummy is full off of fried rice and "Confections" (how Neshimori called them). The pastry shop we went to today reminded me of Charlotte, NC (shout out to Amy and fam!), in it was very sophisticated, yet simple, and cheery. So delightful. I love Charlotte so much.
We've just been traveling today, nothin too much. Cept I'm in Japan.
We woke up, took a walk on the beach, travel, ramen shop, pastry shop,travel, Sendai, hotel lobby. Domination.
The funniest thing about this trip is trying to communicate with everyone. We have to speak in broken English to get crap done... so often, dad and i find ourselves talking to eachother that way. Dad asked me "You like?" when we bought some candy. It is so funny... but sometimes frustrating... I find myself THINKING in broken english a lot of the time.
Oh, another thing that is funny.
Every SINGLE store we walk into sounds like Moe's, you know- "Welcome to Moooooooes!"... well here it's "Arigato, Gozaimaaaaaaaaaaas!" I laugh so hard. Everyone screams is, as well as other things that i can't spell. But it's over, and over, and over. Neshimori laughs with us.
-sigh- funny.
I am finally in Sendai... though i thought i've been here :-P.
I'm in a hotel lobby online for the first time in like, 3 days. I hope you were worried.
Dad's talking about mice, and I'm resting. We've been GO,GO,GO since we arrived in Japan. My legs are sore from climbing mountains, the one downfall. My tummy is full off of fried rice and "Confections" (how Neshimori called them). The pastry shop we went to today reminded me of Charlotte, NC (shout out to Amy and fam!), in it was very sophisticated, yet simple, and cheery. So delightful. I love Charlotte so much.
We've just been traveling today, nothin too much. Cept I'm in Japan.
We woke up, took a walk on the beach, travel, ramen shop, pastry shop,travel, Sendai, hotel lobby. Domination.
The funniest thing about this trip is trying to communicate with everyone. We have to speak in broken English to get crap done... so often, dad and i find ourselves talking to eachother that way. Dad asked me "You like?" when we bought some candy. It is so funny... but sometimes frustrating... I find myself THINKING in broken english a lot of the time.
Oh, another thing that is funny.
Every SINGLE store we walk into sounds like Moe's, you know- "Welcome to Moooooooes!"... well here it's "Arigato, Gozaimaaaaaaaaaaas!" I laugh so hard. Everyone screams is, as well as other things that i can't spell. But it's over, and over, and over. Neshimori laughs with us.
-sigh- funny.
Beach front
So, we’re at the beach. I’ve never been so close to China in my life (obviously). Right across the water, china is hangin out… scaring the stew outta me…
I gotta tell you how we got here, first. Drive, drive, drive, stop- look at where people bungee jump off a bridge lol It’s closed now because 4 years ago, someone died jumping off!!, walked on bridge (If kalynn would do it with me, I’d jump). Drive, drive, drive, TEMPLE! This sacred land was much different from the earlier one. It was more modern. The last one was 600 years (or more) old. This one, though the worship objects were old, the surrounding crap wasn’t. We were in the middle of the mountains, in a crevice between like, 5 mountains. We didn’t have to walk, so we paid 5 bucks to ride the dang bus. Then, it was worship time! This place was incredible… monks everywhere- all in white, people chanting, volcanic rocks all around… then BAM!- the hot spring. It looked like a mini-volcano. We didn’t get to see it for free, of course. That was another 5 bucks (sounds like home). We took our shoes off to walk into the sacred area. Everyone was freaking out over this thing. It was pretty sweet though… hot. No pictures were allowed… but I took a few. I didn’t want the gods running after me, so I… was sneaky with it. We soaks our feet in the ho spring, found snakes, CLIMBED the hot spring, then sat and watched the people. At the base of the spring (like most worship objects) was a bundle of offerings. This bundle was much larger than the previous bundles I saw during the day. It reminded me of Helga’s shrine of Arnold in “Hey, Arnold!”, remember? Anyway, Saki, eggs, coins, paper money, trinkets, statues, flowers, everything. Then the group of people were chanting together, with a man in a white hat and clothing leading them. I didn’t pray to the hot spring, needless to say… but these people are dead set on this stuff. I’m incredibly interested in Buddhism… but there is only so much I can take- besides, this is a more ancient form of Buddhism, mixed with Shinto, if I’m not mistaken. They may pray to a rock, but Jonah survived being swallowed by a whale… :-P. Anyway… I regret not being MORE sneaky than I was (then later wash my hands of the sin)… cuz that was unlike anything I’ve seen before, and beyond my ability to write about. Back in car… drive drive drive… BEACH! This hotel is traditional, but MUCH cleaner than the last two, and bigger, and not so freakin hot! We quickly put our junk down in order to go walk on the beach. I was so eager to see Japanese beach culture. I’ll just say- I felt like I was back in the USA! First, the people were young, with bathing suits and supplies just like ours, then- BIG trucks were driving aound with fools hollering out the windows and hanging off the sides, THEN- the shore was littered with plastic and crap all labeled “Made in China”… so that made it official- I WAS back home. Literally… the shore is completely covered in trash from china that swam across the water. It was kinda sad… and I had to watch where I walked, but still- the water and sky were beautiful. It was very peaceful.
It’s like, 8 or something, and we just got done eating supper (I try so hard to enjoy the food). Dad’s asleep, and I’m writing my blog to the wide audience that tune in. W-I-D-E audience.
I’m prolly gonna sleep now. … Ugh, I’m disappointed in my ability to explain what I’ve experienced here.
So, we’re at the beach. I’ve never been so close to China in my life (obviously). Right across the water, china is hangin out… scaring the stew outta me…
I gotta tell you how we got here, first. Drive, drive, drive, stop- look at where people bungee jump off a bridge lol It’s closed now because 4 years ago, someone died jumping off!!, walked on bridge (If kalynn would do it with me, I’d jump). Drive, drive, drive, TEMPLE! This sacred land was much different from the earlier one. It was more modern. The last one was 600 years (or more) old. This one, though the worship objects were old, the surrounding crap wasn’t. We were in the middle of the mountains, in a crevice between like, 5 mountains. We didn’t have to walk, so we paid 5 bucks to ride the dang bus. Then, it was worship time! This place was incredible… monks everywhere- all in white, people chanting, volcanic rocks all around… then BAM!- the hot spring. It looked like a mini-volcano. We didn’t get to see it for free, of course. That was another 5 bucks (sounds like home). We took our shoes off to walk into the sacred area. Everyone was freaking out over this thing. It was pretty sweet though… hot. No pictures were allowed… but I took a few. I didn’t want the gods running after me, so I… was sneaky with it. We soaks our feet in the ho spring, found snakes, CLIMBED the hot spring, then sat and watched the people. At the base of the spring (like most worship objects) was a bundle of offerings. This bundle was much larger than the previous bundles I saw during the day. It reminded me of Helga’s shrine of Arnold in “Hey, Arnold!”, remember? Anyway, Saki, eggs, coins, paper money, trinkets, statues, flowers, everything. Then the group of people were chanting together, with a man in a white hat and clothing leading them. I didn’t pray to the hot spring, needless to say… but these people are dead set on this stuff. I’m incredibly interested in Buddhism… but there is only so much I can take- besides, this is a more ancient form of Buddhism, mixed with Shinto, if I’m not mistaken. They may pray to a rock, but Jonah survived being swallowed by a whale… :-P. Anyway… I regret not being MORE sneaky than I was (then later wash my hands of the sin)… cuz that was unlike anything I’ve seen before, and beyond my ability to write about. Back in car… drive drive drive… BEACH! This hotel is traditional, but MUCH cleaner than the last two, and bigger, and not so freakin hot! We quickly put our junk down in order to go walk on the beach. I was so eager to see Japanese beach culture. I’ll just say- I felt like I was back in the USA! First, the people were young, with bathing suits and supplies just like ours, then- BIG trucks were driving aound with fools hollering out the windows and hanging off the sides, THEN- the shore was littered with plastic and crap all labeled “Made in China”… so that made it official- I WAS back home. Literally… the shore is completely covered in trash from china that swam across the water. It was kinda sad… and I had to watch where I walked, but still- the water and sky were beautiful. It was very peaceful.
It’s like, 8 or something, and we just got done eating supper (I try so hard to enjoy the food). Dad’s asleep, and I’m writing my blog to the wide audience that tune in. W-I-D-E audience.
I’m prolly gonna sleep now. … Ugh, I’m disappointed in my ability to explain what I’ve experienced here.
My dawg, Buddha.
I can’t remember what I last wrote. The jet pack car on the mountains, I think. So yeah, that mountain was a volcano. Whoa, right? Well, we made it to our hotel. It was another very traditional hotel, so no beds or nothing. But, we’re used to that now. Every single room almost has different shoes for you to put on, it’s a hassle. But yeah, we got settled, then went to the in-hotel meal place. I was crossing my fingers for chicken… but all I got was a big ole fish! I ate plenty of rice, then we went to sleep.
We woke up, and I’m gonna tell you a secret- I didn’t shower… I didn’t feel like being around a bunch of naked older women. BUT, haha, I’ll shower at the next hotel definitely, cuz this morning we had a journey.
We drove to the base of a mountain, believed to be a god to the people. I was extremely excited to see the temples and what-not… so I started the trek up the mountain with a big grin… 2,420 steps later… not too much of a grin was left on my face… :-/ I was exhausted! All I had to breakfast was rice and water, so I had no energy. BUT- I was still excited, even through all my complaining. The trek was incredibly long, and I thought I would die- but the scenery was intense! Journeying through the mountains of Japan in the early morning mist… pretty cool. I prayed to two shrines: The peace and calm shrine, and the shrine that helps you find your soul mate *bow, bow, clap clap, bow, pray*. Maybe my prayers will come true! Then, we reached the top of the mountain, and the monks were all around, and the temples were too, and the old people were praying, chanting, and bowing. –sigh- so cool. Everything was SO different from Christianity, so it was a breath of fresh air. Anyway, I bought presents, and started the trip back down. Holy Jesus, I had to pee. The whole trip was 4 hours. After all that stuff, we stopped at a Raamen shop. and I am FULL! I ate more than I have eaten the whole trip! Presently, I am riding in the car on the way to another mountain, that we’re going to drive up… cuz otherwise… I dunno, I’ll pass out or something X-(, hahaa. Hopefully soon I’ll have internet. I hope you’re all worried to death about me :-P. Actually, you freakin oughta be worried… this man’s driving…
I can’t remember what I last wrote. The jet pack car on the mountains, I think. So yeah, that mountain was a volcano. Whoa, right? Well, we made it to our hotel. It was another very traditional hotel, so no beds or nothing. But, we’re used to that now. Every single room almost has different shoes for you to put on, it’s a hassle. But yeah, we got settled, then went to the in-hotel meal place. I was crossing my fingers for chicken… but all I got was a big ole fish! I ate plenty of rice, then we went to sleep.
We woke up, and I’m gonna tell you a secret- I didn’t shower… I didn’t feel like being around a bunch of naked older women. BUT, haha, I’ll shower at the next hotel definitely, cuz this morning we had a journey.
We drove to the base of a mountain, believed to be a god to the people. I was extremely excited to see the temples and what-not… so I started the trek up the mountain with a big grin… 2,420 steps later… not too much of a grin was left on my face… :-/ I was exhausted! All I had to breakfast was rice and water, so I had no energy. BUT- I was still excited, even through all my complaining. The trek was incredibly long, and I thought I would die- but the scenery was intense! Journeying through the mountains of Japan in the early morning mist… pretty cool. I prayed to two shrines: The peace and calm shrine, and the shrine that helps you find your soul mate *bow, bow, clap clap, bow, pray*. Maybe my prayers will come true! Then, we reached the top of the mountain, and the monks were all around, and the temples were too, and the old people were praying, chanting, and bowing. –sigh- so cool. Everything was SO different from Christianity, so it was a breath of fresh air. Anyway, I bought presents, and started the trip back down. Holy Jesus, I had to pee. The whole trip was 4 hours. After all that stuff, we stopped at a Raamen shop. and I am FULL! I ate more than I have eaten the whole trip! Presently, I am riding in the car on the way to another mountain, that we’re going to drive up… cuz otherwise… I dunno, I’ll pass out or something X-(, hahaa. Hopefully soon I’ll have internet. I hope you’re all worried to death about me :-P. Actually, you freakin oughta be worried… this man’s driving…
Long drive to Somewhere
So, I totally lied in my last post. It’s hard to know exactly where you are if you can read or understand Shiite… lol, so I wasn’t in Sendai. I was in a tiny town in the mountains. It started with an “M”, haha but I cant remember. I’m in the back seat of a Subaru driving to a town outside of Sendai, lol, but you cant really trust me on that. I prolly won’t have internet- so I’m going to make a sad face right here on this here part of my blog, right here > .
We are driving through little towns, turning and whirling around. I’m listening to Asher Roth, he’s a tool. It’s partly cloudy, with a chance of meatballs. We actually just got done eating icecream at a famous restaurant… It was weird icecream, as in- it tasted different, but it was good!
Mom, I’m scared for my life right now. This man is a insane driver!! Though, he is “Very much accustomed to driving such a way”. We’re flurring and shwirling around, flipping upside down. I’m not lying. We’re rolling down huge hills. Trust me, I’m not lying. Every once in a while, Neshimori (our tour guide, and Dad’s collaborator for 10 years or more) will flip on a switch and the jet pack will shoot out the bottom of the car, and we’ll actually jump over the mountains. I’m not kidding .
Anyway, I really am scared. It reminds me of Costa Rica… just smoother roads. *sings* “I’m bad! I’m bad, you know it!” So yeah, I’m not worried that this man is driving like this while he’s fixing crap on his GPS. No, not at all. HAHA!... you should see the twisted roads on the GPS screen. Anyway, you prolly don’t care about that.
Ouch, my ears just popped… we are going up a mountain. *looks out window* holy GOD! We are on a mountain! HUGE green walls of hills… and a gorgeous waterfall! … my icecream is feeling real good in my tummy, right about now… … eww. I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you (the imaginary people I try to entertain) later.
So, I totally lied in my last post. It’s hard to know exactly where you are if you can read or understand Shiite… lol, so I wasn’t in Sendai. I was in a tiny town in the mountains. It started with an “M”, haha but I cant remember. I’m in the back seat of a Subaru driving to a town outside of Sendai, lol, but you cant really trust me on that. I prolly won’t have internet- so I’m going to make a sad face right here on this here part of my blog, right here > .
We are driving through little towns, turning and whirling around. I’m listening to Asher Roth, he’s a tool. It’s partly cloudy, with a chance of meatballs. We actually just got done eating icecream at a famous restaurant… It was weird icecream, as in- it tasted different, but it was good!
Mom, I’m scared for my life right now. This man is a insane driver!! Though, he is “Very much accustomed to driving such a way”. We’re flurring and shwirling around, flipping upside down. I’m not lying. We’re rolling down huge hills. Trust me, I’m not lying. Every once in a while, Neshimori (our tour guide, and Dad’s collaborator for 10 years or more) will flip on a switch and the jet pack will shoot out the bottom of the car, and we’ll actually jump over the mountains. I’m not kidding .
Anyway, I really am scared. It reminds me of Costa Rica… just smoother roads. *sings* “I’m bad! I’m bad, you know it!” So yeah, I’m not worried that this man is driving like this while he’s fixing crap on his GPS. No, not at all. HAHA!... you should see the twisted roads on the GPS screen. Anyway, you prolly don’t care about that.
Ouch, my ears just popped… we are going up a mountain. *looks out window* holy GOD! We are on a mountain! HUGE green walls of hills… and a gorgeous waterfall! … my icecream is feeling real good in my tummy, right about now… … eww. I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you (the imaginary people I try to entertain) later.
Travel to Sendai
This morning, for some reason I woke up in a bad mood. I don’t know why. It might have been because I awoke at 6:30… yeah, that might be it. Anyway, so we woke up, I ate my normal breakfast… but I tried only to eat things that were yellow ( I don’t know if that was worth mentioning… lol) so I had pineapple, eggs, apple juice (made from actually squashing apples, so it was yellow), and a pastry. J yummy. Soon after, we packed up all our things to travel up to the country side. The four people who help us get to where we were going were kinda in love with daddy for his science work… so it was pretty annoying. Although!, they insisted on doing EVERYTHING for us J so that made me happy. I put my iPod in for the three hour travels. The first train was the normal subway we had experience on. We hopped off at a much larger station… one for the magnet train!! It was double-decker, and I got window seat. For the first hour, I listened to Michael Jackson, the second hour I listened to Nelly Furtado J a great trip. The train was ridiculously fast! It was hard to focus my eyes to some things. Anyway, we eventually had to get off the train. I started thinking about where we were going… :-/ and I suddenly got very worried about the toilet situation… would the country side hotel have robot toilets? Or caveman?? As I was walking through the station to get on another train… I also noticed that not only was my cell phone signal absent in Japan… but also my Gay-dar signal was gone! I haven’t heard my gay-dar ringing in my ears since I’ve been here! I don’t understand why not… maybe because the high majority of young men have incredible fashion sense… and wear V-neck shirts, tight pants, and jewelry. The next train ride was about… 45 minutes long, so I used this time to ponder on the subject. Also, I realized that I’ve been deprived of human contact. I haven’t gotten a hug, since I left home :-/ kinda sad. I think people only hug robots here anyway. J I cant wait to hug my friends, LOL.
Anyways… back to the journey: So, we’re on the train thing, and our escorts pull out a bag of food! Each person on our journey gets one box of food, so I grad the chicken one, open it up, and dig in (I’ve mastered chop sticks)! One of the dudes had a special box… I dunno if we have something in America like this, but if we do, I haven’t seen it- He pulled a string at the bottom of his box… and it started heating up his food! It was hot to the touch, and steming when we opened it up! Why don’t we have that? Or at least, why is it not common?? DUH, god- everything here is so obvious! So, we get off the train… after passing HUGE green mountains, rolling country hills, and luscious green rice fields (lol)… that was when I strted getting REAL worried about the toilet situation, but also- the internet situation. The reason we’re in the first place is because dad was invited to a conference. Everyone is Japanese though. Anyway, we walk into the hotel, and immediately enter the conference hall (we had to take our shoes off of course. Boring boring boring, talk talk, time to go to our room. Traditional Japanese hotel= NOT robotic. No internet, no beds, no nothing. I didn’t have to squat to pee though J!!!! We get settled in, I make my bed from pillows and a pallet, then I go to sleep while dad talks to the Japanese peeps. Afterwards, at around 6 pm, time for Japanese BBQ. Walk to campsite, no chairs, sit on tarp, brought us food. It was good!!! Beef and chicken J! So I ate like a maniac, while dad talked to all the eager people. He never remembers anyone’s names, so it’s always extremely awkward and funny :-P. All of them talked to me too, which I enjoy always. They all tell me how excited they are to meet daddy, and other things like how he’s amazing so that I’ll tell Dad they said so (but I never do, haha!). They also ask about me, of course. My favorite question is “What do you want to study at school?”.. that way I can say “Not science!”, then they laugh real hard. One young boy actually came up to me and said I was very beautiful. Then he moon walked for me! Lol, so that was cool. Then, I talked to the first man who took us on a tour of the city, Takefumi. Ugh, I love him. He’s so nice! He actually introduced the moonwalk boy to me, then sent him away. He and I planned to do some things after we return to Tokyo, so I’m excited.
Anway, finally the dinner ended (my legs hurt from standing the whole time, I didn’t wanna sit down on the tarp), and we left for the room. I listened to music, then fell asleep.
We woke up, ate a huge breakfast (I only ate rice, two bowls), travelled to the new conference place.. so that’s where I am now. I STILL have no internet though… so I’m typing this in Word. The Asians and daddy are all in the conference hall, and I’m layin down on a bench in the hallway next to a window and a power outlet J so I’m good. I actually just walked past the doors to the conference place to see what was going on… and daddy had his eyes closed like he was sleeping! HAHA, I thought it was funny.
Today though, we move to a new hotel, and hopefully we’ll get to see some crap around the town.
But for now… I’m gonna listen to my iPod, and gaze out the window.Friday, July 17, 2009
Shoot!
I forgot the dang toilet.
dude, i walked into the potty room, about to pee in my freakin pants- and the toilet is a god-forsaken hole in the floor.
so, my observations are: You either have Robot Toilet, or Caveman Toilet.
Needless to say, i held it till i got to the next train station.
I aint got time to squat and aim.
dude, i walked into the potty room, about to pee in my freakin pants- and the toilet is a god-forsaken hole in the floor.
so, my observations are: You either have Robot Toilet, or Caveman Toilet.
Needless to say, i held it till i got to the next train station.
I aint got time to squat and aim.
3rd full day...? 4th? ha
Before i begin, let me explain 2 things.
First- I am no longer a child. I eat spinach. I eat vegetables. I can walk around Tokyo by myself. I am a grown woman.
Second- The reason I do not eat seafood is NOT because my childish mind rejects the idea, nor because I haven't tried fish (i have), NOR that i just don't appreciate good food. The REASON i do not eat seafood is simple. If I do- I risk the chance of throwing up on the waitress, or throwing up on someone else's food. How rude would it be if i ate fish to be 'all grown up' (disregarding my fish triggered gag-reflex), then puked up the entire dish!? very rude. I believe I'm doing everyone i dine with a favor by choosing chicken.
I simply do not like fish. :-( and I'm sorry that I don't. I'm sorry Japan. I"m sorry dad. I'm sorry Captain D.
:-) I had a great day.
Shall i begin? (yes, cuz I"m in charge :-P)
Wake up, facebook, breakfast (lol, btw- I've had the same breakfast everyday= apple juice, eggs, cantalope, and bacon), Tour man (Kowasaki) picks us up. Now; 6 o'clock. We're on a mission. The mission is easy= See large stinky fish get sold for thousands of dollars in the worlds largest fish market. I was excited about it! and, I'm not being sarcastic- fish is good if It's not in my mouth. So, we scurry off. train. meet up with 3 of the man's students. We push our way into a sushi place RIGHT by the market. People wait in line to each there every morning a 2, it opens at 5. like Harry Potter book release everyday. anyway, the place was TINY, to the point u could barely breathe. I said 'no, thankyou' prolly 7000 times, but I ate a cold egg thing. the cooks were right infront of us, and they were hilarious. yum, yum, eat eat. Fish time!
This place was ridiculously large. I need to post pictures, huh? shoot. Ok, i'll figure it out. anyway, it was huge. gross looking things all over. men RUNNING all over the place, driving carts like crackhead maniacs on LSD who slipped some X in their morning coffee. I feared for my life, and got honked at more times than i can remember. That was the busiest place i've ever been at. worse than rush hour trains in Shinjuku XD. the fish were humongous, the crabs were crabby, the clams were clammy, and the smell was overwhelming. :-) but my gosh, I"m glad i went.
Next was dad's talk at Tokyo University. fun fun.Oxytocin, dopamine, chicken salad, straw factory, forrest gump. K, talk over, applause, applause :-) lunch time. Italian. Did u know Japanese peeps love Italian? me neither, but they do. and i do. and I ate the crap outta it.
Next was a long walk through parks and a market area. I bought a lot of things for various people, including myself. Godzilla metal figure, and such things. The market was extremely cool, many people and styles of clothing. Everything was pretty cheap. Some man was trying to guess where i was from. Italy, Portugal, France, "OHH I know! Swiss!!", lol. I'm glad i dont seem like an American. I also tried to explain to a student what "Peace up, A-Town down" meant... no comprehende.
Soon, we were walking toward the main Buddhist temple... can u imagine my excitement? walk walk, stores were lining the way. BOOM, shrine. Different deities were guarding the entrance (thank goodness). I did all the little prayer rituals, pulled my fortune (it was kinda good, kinda bad), washed my hands for good luck, and took a picture with Buddha.
then more shops. We spent prolly 3 hours out and about among these shops and Buddha stuffs. Train.
Museum time. It was okay... REAL old stuff. 4000 year old stuff, so it was cool. All the way to wwII stuff, then to more recent things, like 70's and such.
Then supper, right next to the Big Main Sumo wrestling arena of Tokyo.
"Sakana Nigate"... but people still like to make me guess what's fish and what's not. I know my chicken, so i didnt fall for anything.
We got done eating. Train to hotel. small walk, and we stopped by a dude singing in a plaza square- if u care a conk, here's his website: http://watanabe-takuya.com lol, if it's in japanese, you're screwed.
Anyway, It's 9 pm now. I'm tired.
Tomorrow... I'm leaving this hotel... I dont know If I'll be able to write tomorrow.... but you'll freakin survive, i mean geez. calm the conk down! :-) xoxo
First- I am no longer a child. I eat spinach. I eat vegetables. I can walk around Tokyo by myself. I am a grown woman.
Second- The reason I do not eat seafood is NOT because my childish mind rejects the idea, nor because I haven't tried fish (i have), NOR that i just don't appreciate good food. The REASON i do not eat seafood is simple. If I do- I risk the chance of throwing up on the waitress, or throwing up on someone else's food. How rude would it be if i ate fish to be 'all grown up' (disregarding my fish triggered gag-reflex), then puked up the entire dish!? very rude. I believe I'm doing everyone i dine with a favor by choosing chicken.
I simply do not like fish. :-( and I'm sorry that I don't. I'm sorry Japan. I"m sorry dad. I'm sorry Captain D.
:-) I had a great day.
Shall i begin? (yes, cuz I"m in charge :-P)
Wake up, facebook, breakfast (lol, btw- I've had the same breakfast everyday= apple juice, eggs, cantalope, and bacon), Tour man (Kowasaki) picks us up. Now; 6 o'clock. We're on a mission. The mission is easy= See large stinky fish get sold for thousands of dollars in the worlds largest fish market. I was excited about it! and, I'm not being sarcastic- fish is good if It's not in my mouth. So, we scurry off. train. meet up with 3 of the man's students. We push our way into a sushi place RIGHT by the market. People wait in line to each there every morning a 2, it opens at 5. like Harry Potter book release everyday. anyway, the place was TINY, to the point u could barely breathe. I said 'no, thankyou' prolly 7000 times, but I ate a cold egg thing. the cooks were right infront of us, and they were hilarious. yum, yum, eat eat. Fish time!
This place was ridiculously large. I need to post pictures, huh? shoot. Ok, i'll figure it out. anyway, it was huge. gross looking things all over. men RUNNING all over the place, driving carts like crackhead maniacs on LSD who slipped some X in their morning coffee. I feared for my life, and got honked at more times than i can remember. That was the busiest place i've ever been at. worse than rush hour trains in Shinjuku XD. the fish were humongous, the crabs were crabby, the clams were clammy, and the smell was overwhelming. :-) but my gosh, I"m glad i went.
Next was dad's talk at Tokyo University. fun fun.Oxytocin, dopamine, chicken salad, straw factory, forrest gump. K, talk over, applause, applause :-) lunch time. Italian. Did u know Japanese peeps love Italian? me neither, but they do. and i do. and I ate the crap outta it.
Next was a long walk through parks and a market area. I bought a lot of things for various people, including myself. Godzilla metal figure, and such things. The market was extremely cool, many people and styles of clothing. Everything was pretty cheap. Some man was trying to guess where i was from. Italy, Portugal, France, "OHH I know! Swiss!!", lol. I'm glad i dont seem like an American. I also tried to explain to a student what "Peace up, A-Town down" meant... no comprehende.
Soon, we were walking toward the main Buddhist temple... can u imagine my excitement? walk walk, stores were lining the way. BOOM, shrine. Different deities were guarding the entrance (thank goodness). I did all the little prayer rituals, pulled my fortune (it was kinda good, kinda bad), washed my hands for good luck, and took a picture with Buddha.
then more shops. We spent prolly 3 hours out and about among these shops and Buddha stuffs. Train.
Museum time. It was okay... REAL old stuff. 4000 year old stuff, so it was cool. All the way to wwII stuff, then to more recent things, like 70's and such.
Then supper, right next to the Big Main Sumo wrestling arena of Tokyo.
"Sakana Nigate"... but people still like to make me guess what's fish and what's not. I know my chicken, so i didnt fall for anything.
We got done eating. Train to hotel. small walk, and we stopped by a dude singing in a plaza square- if u care a conk, here's his website: http://watanabe-takuya.com lol, if it's in japanese, you're screwed.
Anyway, It's 9 pm now. I'm tired.
Tomorrow... I'm leaving this hotel... I dont know If I'll be able to write tomorrow.... but you'll freakin survive, i mean geez. calm the conk down! :-) xoxo
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My search for Zen
Today, daddy gave one of his talks... oxytocin, dopamine, vasopressin, blah blah :-)... so I left him. I met up with two of his students, Zoe and Mira. Tokyo Subway+ Rush hour = life threatening. I literally was the last person in the train car, i had to physically PUSH people with my back into the car more so i could fit before the door closed!! I was squashed into the window of the door for the majority of the trip, till we pulled into the Shinjuku station - the busiest train station in the world, not just Tokyo. It was over-whelming. I was scared to get separated from Zoe and Mira, but obviously I made it out alive... otherwise I'd still be in the underground tunnels trying to decipher the map. Anyway- Shinjuku. 'Twas a neat part of town, governmental. Big buildings, small people- just like the rest of this place :-P. BUT, we found a park to wonder in before the Tokyo Tourist Information Center opened. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, and from my observation- Hobo City. The garden was magnificent... with small Buddhist shrines (i participated) and strange choking birds. But my god... the Hobos were the highlight for me. I cannot understand how even the HOBOs are more advanced than ours! they had a whole town, constructed with tarps and sticks and trash. Very complex, much like the forts I made as a kid (I'm now a woman :-P)... I got pictures, hope they didnt mind! Meanwhile, the tourist center opened... so we left Hobo Hotel and walked to the Elevator. 45 floors, ears pop, Big windows, bigger city. We could see everything from the top of the building. blah blah... time to go. I'm searching for Zen, remember?
I was very excited to get inspired...
We decide to walk to the town, rather than get on the tran... we were still disoriented from the last ride. We walk through a HUGE park, were we see even bigger shrines. And temples. and offering. I took lots of pictures, but left my cord at home. I'll post were i return. walk walk walk, bow, walk....
Inspiration Town :-) ah.
Harajuku - the birth of Gwen Stafani's major selling album. She'd found Zen here, I shall too. and, I did. I have only ONE thing to say about Harajuku= the shit IS bananas.
(i had to sing the song to spell 'bananas'. and just did again)
Apparently, today was the opening day of Summer Sale... holy crap, I thought the subway was bad! I thought the Jonas Brothers had set up a kissing booth or something at first, but NO- even better!! = everything was 1000 YEN (about 10 bucks)!!! lol, I got a fan that made me very happy. I took pictures of people, billboards, Condomania, and other suck things. I'm going back, I'm not fulfilled. I need more time to study, and devote myself, i think. I wonder how long Gwen stayed.
We had to leave, so we took the train, got off, Got to the hotel, said bye. I was alone. Dad was still yapping about voles, so I wandered around Tokyo for an hour or two. Soccer shop, FC Barcelona gear woot! Found the hotel again... NAP TIME.
:'-( time for geeky scientist dinner meeting (no offense Anne XD).
9 course meal... completely horrible and disgusting... I did, however eat watermelon. I tried to make my food look like I'd eaten. I took bites, dont get me wrong- I gave everything a chance... but Lord above, how can you create things like that? :-P it was just me though, I dont like seafood, or seaweed, or seascum, somehow i dont like seaboogers either. Very expensive meal, $200 dolloras per person, I'm sure. We stopped by a gas station afterwards for my supper (twinkie type deal), which I'm eating now, and am wearing on my face :-/. I bit into it... and was so frightened, a gushy thing was in the middle!! :-) but, i realized it was only a banana... and it is the shit! XD
Tomorrow, we see the fish market EARLY in the morning. It should be interesting.
I miss english.
I was very excited to get inspired...
We decide to walk to the town, rather than get on the tran... we were still disoriented from the last ride. We walk through a HUGE park, were we see even bigger shrines. And temples. and offering. I took lots of pictures, but left my cord at home. I'll post were i return. walk walk walk, bow, walk....
Inspiration Town :-) ah.
Harajuku - the birth of Gwen Stafani's major selling album. She'd found Zen here, I shall too. and, I did. I have only ONE thing to say about Harajuku= the shit IS bananas.
(i had to sing the song to spell 'bananas'. and just did again)
Apparently, today was the opening day of Summer Sale... holy crap, I thought the subway was bad! I thought the Jonas Brothers had set up a kissing booth or something at first, but NO- even better!! = everything was 1000 YEN (about 10 bucks)!!! lol, I got a fan that made me very happy. I took pictures of people, billboards, Condomania, and other suck things. I'm going back, I'm not fulfilled. I need more time to study, and devote myself, i think. I wonder how long Gwen stayed.
We had to leave, so we took the train, got off, Got to the hotel, said bye. I was alone. Dad was still yapping about voles, so I wandered around Tokyo for an hour or two. Soccer shop, FC Barcelona gear woot! Found the hotel again... NAP TIME.
:'-( time for geeky scientist dinner meeting (no offense Anne XD).
9 course meal... completely horrible and disgusting... I did, however eat watermelon. I tried to make my food look like I'd eaten. I took bites, dont get me wrong- I gave everything a chance... but Lord above, how can you create things like that? :-P it was just me though, I dont like seafood, or seaweed, or seascum, somehow i dont like seaboogers either. Very expensive meal, $200 dolloras per person, I'm sure. We stopped by a gas station afterwards for my supper (twinkie type deal), which I'm eating now, and am wearing on my face :-/. I bit into it... and was so frightened, a gushy thing was in the middle!! :-) but, i realized it was only a banana... and it is the shit! XD
Tomorrow, we see the fish market EARLY in the morning. It should be interesting.
I miss english.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
First Full day in Japan.
Jet lag woke me up at 4:00 am. At 6, we went down in the lobby for breakfast.
We left the hotel with 2 japanese men, and one woman (who I call Velma). They were our tour guides for the day. Here's our journey in order:
GINZA
We took the (extremely complex, confusing, and JAPANESE) subway to Ginza. It was about a 30 min ride. This is the ritzy part of Tokyo. It reminded me of New York (not that I've been there or anything, but i saw Bride Wars). Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany, Bvlgari, tall buildings, business suits, expensive cars, money growing from the ground, everything. We went to a gift shop with multiple floors. It was very expensive. Afterwards, our guides walked us to a toy shop. NOT like toys r Us... much bigger... much more expensive. Pokemon, Power Rangers, Dragonball Z, Hello Kitty, Gundom, Tamegotchi, and SOOOO much more. It was a blast! I bought a few presents from there, then left for food. The next place we went was disgusting, but a Japanese hotspot: The Fish Market. yuck, sakana nigate!! It was very different, and Dad was drooling the whole time. It smelt gross, and reminded me of Kitty's Flea Market... just MUCH cleaner. You coulda licked the floor, I dunno why you'd do that though. Anyway, I was holding my breakfast down the whole time. Of course, I'm glad i saw it, it was a rush of Japanese culture. We went into a restaurant for lunch. It was an average Japanese dinner, take off your shoes, bow, eat, drink soup, pay. :-) very fun. Then, back on the subway.
AKIHABARA (geek town)
This place was insane! The first store we went in was the largest electronic store in the world. Literally, Dad and I travelled into the future when we got here-- and this store proved it. The technology here is out of this world!!!! Everything is so advanced- the cel phones, the GPS, the toys, the house hold appliances... people have gps on their bikes, the toilets have more buttons than my car does, the refrigerators look like cloning devices, everything is robotic. the store was 10 stories high, and we went through most of them. After the store, we walked onto the main street... Anime town, basically. HUGE billboards, posters, and TV screens all over. We walked through the original Akihabara store, a much smaller hobby store, with tiny little tech parts that i dont know the names of that kids and teens use to make their own robots. This is why Japan is so advanced- because the kids enjoy making stuff. Anyway... then our guides took us to the strangest place I've ever been... @ Home Cafe. Japan doesn't have strip clubs, or hooters... but they have this place. there are MANY in japan. we went to the original one. Ok, description. All the waitresses here Brooke Daily x 4billion. French maid outfits, my age, bows, cupcakes, ribbon, makes up, glitter. ridiculously funny! as you walk in, ALL the waitresses yell "Welcome my master!"... in japanese, of course. they sit you down, sing to you, and give you the stupid cute menu and more songs. I laughed the whole time... and prolly hurt her feelings. Only boys were in there. geeks. boys who would NEVER have the chance to talk to these girls in real life... but, you can pay extra to play games with them, talk to them, and even take a picture with them (duh, i did!)... Japanese hooters!!! haha, no touching- it says in big letters on the wall. All i could think the whole time was Brooke Daily though, lol. We were served coffe and icecream. one by one the boys put down there Nintendo DS's to get there picture taken with the girls on stage. Conversation pre-picture was included in the price :-). I got my two pictures and dies laughing. The boys were so shy... and was cute. As we left, we were handed Offical Master Cards, signifying our control over the girls... come back and receive stamps in order to upgrade to gold and platinum cards, lol. what an experience.
AKASAKA- Roppongi
After we paid the little girls for there services (XD), we started on our LONG walk to the Imperial Palace in Akasaka. That's where the Emperor lives! lol, when we got there, it was closed! but, it's cool, we at least SAW it. Soon, we were off to the Diner restaurant for supper. WOW. Ninja Restaurant. Walk in and be greeted by a ninja hostest (def the hostess with the mostest). Then, we went through Ninja training on our way to the table... including jumping, ducking, and shouting. Take shoes off, sit on floor, order a coke, wait for food. Yummy food, use chopsticks, drop food, wide face... ninja magician?? lol, incredible entertainment after supper... impossible!! he kept saying, "I nanja master!" lol. ridiculous. ... get ready to leave. everytime i use the restroom, I'm scared I'm gonna get shocked by the electricity!!
catch taxi, ride home. fall asleep FAST.
what a day.
We left the hotel with 2 japanese men, and one woman (who I call Velma). They were our tour guides for the day. Here's our journey in order:
GINZA
We took the (extremely complex, confusing, and JAPANESE) subway to Ginza. It was about a 30 min ride. This is the ritzy part of Tokyo. It reminded me of New York (not that I've been there or anything, but i saw Bride Wars). Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany, Bvlgari, tall buildings, business suits, expensive cars, money growing from the ground, everything. We went to a gift shop with multiple floors. It was very expensive. Afterwards, our guides walked us to a toy shop. NOT like toys r Us... much bigger... much more expensive. Pokemon, Power Rangers, Dragonball Z, Hello Kitty, Gundom, Tamegotchi, and SOOOO much more. It was a blast! I bought a few presents from there, then left for food. The next place we went was disgusting, but a Japanese hotspot: The Fish Market. yuck, sakana nigate!! It was very different, and Dad was drooling the whole time. It smelt gross, and reminded me of Kitty's Flea Market... just MUCH cleaner. You coulda licked the floor, I dunno why you'd do that though. Anyway, I was holding my breakfast down the whole time. Of course, I'm glad i saw it, it was a rush of Japanese culture. We went into a restaurant for lunch. It was an average Japanese dinner, take off your shoes, bow, eat, drink soup, pay. :-) very fun. Then, back on the subway.
AKIHABARA (geek town)
This place was insane! The first store we went in was the largest electronic store in the world. Literally, Dad and I travelled into the future when we got here-- and this store proved it. The technology here is out of this world!!!! Everything is so advanced- the cel phones, the GPS, the toys, the house hold appliances... people have gps on their bikes, the toilets have more buttons than my car does, the refrigerators look like cloning devices, everything is robotic. the store was 10 stories high, and we went through most of them. After the store, we walked onto the main street... Anime town, basically. HUGE billboards, posters, and TV screens all over. We walked through the original Akihabara store, a much smaller hobby store, with tiny little tech parts that i dont know the names of that kids and teens use to make their own robots. This is why Japan is so advanced- because the kids enjoy making stuff. Anyway... then our guides took us to the strangest place I've ever been... @ Home Cafe. Japan doesn't have strip clubs, or hooters... but they have this place. there are MANY in japan. we went to the original one. Ok, description. All the waitresses here Brooke Daily x 4billion. French maid outfits, my age, bows, cupcakes, ribbon, makes up, glitter. ridiculously funny! as you walk in, ALL the waitresses yell "Welcome my master!"... in japanese, of course. they sit you down, sing to you, and give you the stupid cute menu and more songs. I laughed the whole time... and prolly hurt her feelings. Only boys were in there. geeks. boys who would NEVER have the chance to talk to these girls in real life... but, you can pay extra to play games with them, talk to them, and even take a picture with them (duh, i did!)... Japanese hooters!!! haha, no touching- it says in big letters on the wall. All i could think the whole time was Brooke Daily though, lol. We were served coffe and icecream. one by one the boys put down there Nintendo DS's to get there picture taken with the girls on stage. Conversation pre-picture was included in the price :-). I got my two pictures and dies laughing. The boys were so shy... and was cute. As we left, we were handed Offical Master Cards, signifying our control over the girls... come back and receive stamps in order to upgrade to gold and platinum cards, lol. what an experience.
AKASAKA- Roppongi
After we paid the little girls for there services (XD), we started on our LONG walk to the Imperial Palace in Akasaka. That's where the Emperor lives! lol, when we got there, it was closed! but, it's cool, we at least SAW it. Soon, we were off to the Diner restaurant for supper. WOW. Ninja Restaurant. Walk in and be greeted by a ninja hostest (def the hostess with the mostest). Then, we went through Ninja training on our way to the table... including jumping, ducking, and shouting. Take shoes off, sit on floor, order a coke, wait for food. Yummy food, use chopsticks, drop food, wide face... ninja magician?? lol, incredible entertainment after supper... impossible!! he kept saying, "I nanja master!" lol. ridiculous. ... get ready to leave. everytime i use the restroom, I'm scared I'm gonna get shocked by the electricity!!
catch taxi, ride home. fall asleep FAST.
what a day.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Good morning, West.
It's 5:30 am... and I've BEEN up. Jet lag.
But that's fine, cuz I"l be able to write before the city wakes up and sucks me in. It's SO interesting.
I'm going to write every night that I can. So, I guess I'll start off.
Security was easy. :-) I guess my huge bright sunglasses didnt look suspicious after all.
The plane flight was where it got interesting. Daddy and I sat next to a man, who had window seat. So, i scooted in next to him so I'd be able to catch glimpses of the Rocky Mountains and such. I sat down. "Hallo," said the dude. I replied with a whole sentence in English... and he couldnt respond. For the next 18 hours I was having Japanese lessons with a Brazilian man, speaking to me in Portuguese, as i was responding in Spanish. If you thought having Mr. Altouvas was complicated... pfft. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. I learned a lot.... about Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. Literally, we talked for about 14 hours of my trip.
SO, we land. I exchange email addresses with the Aoki (the dude), so that we can show me the fireworks in Yakahama at some point during my stay. The Japanese airport was a totally different world. lol, people were scared of swine flu, so they had on the masks. It looked scary. We catch a bus... and travel for 80 mins, or so. On the left side of the road, of course. ALL the cars are tiny (even the semitrucks) and hybrid with HUGE gps systems, which have a television system installed so the passengers can be entertained... but I saw drivers watching as well. WE drove on a highway that had ZERO litter on the sides, and had huge sound blocking walls in each side when we drove through residential areas. The highway was stacked on top pf eachother, double-decker. The buildings of Tokyo went on for and hour! The city is CRAZY big!!! The drive was a great welcome to the city, we got to see everything from far away- the lights, the signs, the 5 story high advertisements. it was a LOT to take in.
We made it to the hotel. Got to our cute little room. Dad was hungry- we left in search of food. The only place dad wanted to go was a little tiny shack restaurant... with the Hunchback of Notre Dame as the hostess and waiter... matty, greasy hair... nasty beard... sweaty pits... let's just say- I didnt eat.
Soon after- we were sleeping.
It's 5:30 am... and I've BEEN up. Jet lag.
But that's fine, cuz I"l be able to write before the city wakes up and sucks me in. It's SO interesting.
I'm going to write every night that I can. So, I guess I'll start off.
Security was easy. :-) I guess my huge bright sunglasses didnt look suspicious after all.
The plane flight was where it got interesting. Daddy and I sat next to a man, who had window seat. So, i scooted in next to him so I'd be able to catch glimpses of the Rocky Mountains and such. I sat down. "Hallo," said the dude. I replied with a whole sentence in English... and he couldnt respond. For the next 18 hours I was having Japanese lessons with a Brazilian man, speaking to me in Portuguese, as i was responding in Spanish. If you thought having Mr. Altouvas was complicated... pfft. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. I learned a lot.... about Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. Literally, we talked for about 14 hours of my trip.
SO, we land. I exchange email addresses with the Aoki (the dude), so that we can show me the fireworks in Yakahama at some point during my stay. The Japanese airport was a totally different world. lol, people were scared of swine flu, so they had on the masks. It looked scary. We catch a bus... and travel for 80 mins, or so. On the left side of the road, of course. ALL the cars are tiny (even the semitrucks) and hybrid with HUGE gps systems, which have a television system installed so the passengers can be entertained... but I saw drivers watching as well. WE drove on a highway that had ZERO litter on the sides, and had huge sound blocking walls in each side when we drove through residential areas. The highway was stacked on top pf eachother, double-decker. The buildings of Tokyo went on for and hour! The city is CRAZY big!!! The drive was a great welcome to the city, we got to see everything from far away- the lights, the signs, the 5 story high advertisements. it was a LOT to take in.
We made it to the hotel. Got to our cute little room. Dad was hungry- we left in search of food. The only place dad wanted to go was a little tiny shack restaurant... with the Hunchback of Notre Dame as the hostess and waiter... matty, greasy hair... nasty beard... sweaty pits... let's just say- I didnt eat.
Soon after- we were sleeping.
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