Week full of fun!

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Had a busy week last week! Went to Shinjuku, a Japanese Festival at a Shrine, Akiabahra, the Imperial Palace, and a Baseball Game. It was fun!

On Tuesday Cassie, Amy T. and I went to Shinjuku to see if we could get tickets for Kyoto for this weekend but they were all sold out except for the shin tickets (bullet train) and we want to take a bus there and a shin back to save money, so we couldn't go this weekend - we're going to go back next week and try to get tickets for the weekend before we leave. But while we were there we found the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and another building that was in my Japan Guide book. We went up to the 45th floor of the government building and there are huge windows so we able to see all of Tokyo. Was really cool because I could see the Tokyo Tower and was a lot different view than the one at the tower. There wasn't as many skyscrappers around the building so you could see that Tokyo goes on forever! There was a big gift shop there and a restraunt/bar . It was pretty neat.

Wednesday Aimee, Amy T., Amy C., Chelsea, Haley, Tyler, and I all went to a Japanese festival at the Yasukuni Shrine (which I wanted to see!). A lot of people were in kimonos and the guys were in another japanese outfit without pants! It was really different. When we got there we all got split up into smaller groups by the crowds. Haley, Amy T., Cassie and I walked around together. There was a row of food vendors that was probably 4 blocks straight of food - all different sorts. We walked and looked at all of the food then went and saw the shrine. It was a shrine that honors the soldiers and there were little lanterns that I think have the soldiers' names on them. After looking at that we went to a little museum (we were just in the main hall that was free though) and I think it was for WWII. It had a plane, train, and cannons in there and a gift shop. Kind of neat. We then went and got some food. I got a chicken meatball yakitori stick (my favorite!) and another japanese food (I dont know the name) but it was alright. I then had a crepe - yum! Around 6:30 - 7 a parade went through with these guys carrying this thing. People surrounded them and it got so crowded! When they got to a certain part they stopped and then there was japanese dancing and the crowd got into it to.. It was pretty neat - especially to see little kids doing the dance. After that we went home. I got a candy apple on the way back thinking it was a japanese food because I hadn't seen one before but then Haley said they had them in the states. 😊 Oh well, it was good. I saved it and just ate it now.

Thursday Haley and I went to Akihabara which is the electronic district. We went to this one building that was 8 floors and was filled with electronics. It was suppose to be cheap but not compared to American prices. Maybe it was It was neat because one floor was like an Office Depot and another was like Best Buy and another was like a Menards. Kind of neat. We went and got some food on the 8th floor then headed home.

Friday was a lazy night, we just went to the bar and hung out for a few hours and I did my laundry.

Saturday I went to the Imperial Palace. Everyone else was doing things I'd already done and Haley went hiking so I just went by myself. I was a little disappointed because I thought I'd be able to see the actual palace but you can't. All I saw was the famous bridge and gateway. And then a stone wall that the palace was behind. I just read my book however and I guess I did see the palace! I didn't walk through any of the gardens - it was really hot and I got sidetracked. When looking at the gateway I saw a building I recognized from my book and walked to it. It was the diet building were the japanese legislative is, I just looked at the outside because it was only opened during the week. I walked through another little park however I dont know what the name of it was. After that I went to the Tokyo International Forum, which was this big glass building and was really cool. Went to go see the art floors but of course they were closed. Oh well I had to get going anyways. I met up with Chelsea and Amy C. at the compound to go to an appriciation BBQ but we got there at 12:30 and no one was there. There were a few tents set up but no people. We went and checked the time again and it said it started at 12 but I guess it wasn't happening. So we went to Pepper Lunch which Chelsea loves and goes there a lot. You buy your ticket from a vending machine and then give it to the people. They bring out your food raw on a super hot skillet and you flip the meat and cook it yourself and then the skillet cools down and you eat it. It was really good, I loved the sauces too. I'm going to have to buy the different sauces and bring some home. After we ate we went back to the hotel and rested and took a shower.

Saturday night we all went to the baseball game (everyone but Gbenga, because he's here for the 3rd summer and has already seen one). On the way there we were rushing to get onto the subway. I got onto a different car and walked to everyone else, while I was walking this little kid was opening and shutting the door. I thought they saw me and opened it but right when I was in the middle of it they shut it on my head! We caught up with everyone else thought and continued on with our journey to the game. It was a Swallows vs. Carps game. It was really neat. I didn't really watch the game, I had fun watching the people and how they react to the game. They had these plastic bats that they banged together to make noise and all did it in the same beat too. There was a guy blowing a whistle to let them know what beat to do. They would all do chants too. I bought a set of the bats and had fun banging them along with the crowd. It was really cool because when they would score they'd all get out these little umbrellas and raise them up and down and sing a song. Kind of neat how everyone did everything together. The Carps fans did tons of chears! More than the swallows and at one time they all released balloons. The food there was so different, not baseball food like in the states. They had noodles, and sushi! I just got an ice cream, because it was cheap and hot outside. At the beginning of the game they had a little girl pitch the first pitch, it was cute because she got it maybe half way to the catcher. Half way through the game they had a small fireworks show, I guess there was one after the game too but oh well (we'll see fireworks tonight in Yokohama - 6000 fireworks!). We left the beginning of the 9th inning to beat the crowd and had to walk really fast so that we got onto a subway that wasn't packed full. It was really cool to see this!

Sunday Haley and I went to Ueno Park. Chelsea rode with us there and went to the Ameyoko Market that I went to last weekend, but didn't go to the park with us. We walked around the park for a few minutes when these guys came up to us and asked if they could take a picture with us. We said sure and found out they were from Indonesia. After the pictures we went on our seperate ways. Haley and I walked to a shrine and then to the pond. There was a lilly pad pond - so full with lily pads it was crazy! On a little further was another shrine then an actual pond. We decided to ride a boat on it.... a swan boat! It was so fun. It was a pink swan cycle boat. So we peddled around the pond for a little while and just relax and looked around, it wasn't very big but it was fun. We were laughing because the only other people with the swan were parents and children😊. After the boat we looked at another shrine and saw some street performers. There was this guy that was dressed as an astrounaut and blew a balloon over his head to look like a helmet! It popped before I got a picture but it was crazy. He was so funny I got a video of some of the other funny things he did. When we were looking at a sculpture, I was taking a picture and I turned around and Haley was talking to some guy. I guess he came up to her and was telling her that the back of my shirt said Tokyo (it was written in japanese - a camp shirt). He didn't speak much english at all but kept talking to us. So tiring! We tried to leave but he followed us around and kept talking, I think he wanted to hear english and try to speak it but I could tell he was getting frustrated too. He was really nice though. I think he was offering to take us to dinner and buy drinks - he kept looking at his money. Then we walked to the Tokyo National Museum and were thinking about going in when he just went up and bought us all tickets. Nice of him, not sure if he wanted us to pay him back or not but we didn't tell him to buy them he just did. So we all went in the museum and there were buddhas and ceramics and swords and paintings. Really cool. The lighting on the buddhas was amazing because it was a dark room and just spot lights shining on them. The shadows ended up being really cool. We got to also use stamps and got a paper showing what different symbols mean. That was so much fun. After the museum we left and wanted him to get a picture with our Noppons but since we had boyfriends he was afraid to and kept hiding his face, but we talked him into looking. We walked to the subway after that and told him thank you and he left. Whew was that tiring, but it was fun to meet someone japanese and talk to them. Haley went home and I went one subway stop to the Inaricho District and Kappabashidori where there is a lot of religous goods stores and a kitchenware area. Most of the stores were closed (I'm thinking they were the small shop religious stores but you couldn't see what they were) I only went to a few religious stores and they were kind of pricey and didnt have what I was looking for, I just want the good luck charms for cheap - the shrines are $5 -10 each. I went to an antique shop and the shop where they sell the wax food that is in front of all the restraunts (1 keychain was 3600 yen! - thats about $36! I guess they really value their wax). It was really cool. I didn't stay long in this area, didn't feel too good, I think it was the heat. Slept the whole subway home then went home for about 10 mins.

After my 10 min. rest we were off to Yokohama for fireworks! It was about an hour to get there and man was there a lot of people. We got there and it was packed! Bought some food from vendors on the streets - all the gas stations and restraunts set up stands outside with food - they did this on the road to the baseball stadium too. We tried to find Chris but there were too many people and no cell phone reception. We found a spot on the ground to watch, man was that hard! People lay out tarps and bring all sorts of food - like noodles and things on a stick. They all take off their shoes before they get on the tarps too. The fireworks were amazing! 6.000 of them, they had all sorts of different shapes- heart, smiley, spiral, alien, glasses, funny face, hello kitty ( they're really into that here ). It was so cool. They took about a 2 min break every so often to let the planes pass through - i guess planes have to fly around in circles during fireworks even in the states, never knew that. After the fireworks were over we looked for Chris again and didnt find him then headed home. It took forever to get to the subway, so many people. They had it blocked off on one side and the other had poles around so you could only go in one way to make it more organized and had the escalators set so that they both go down. Kind of crazy. The subway home wasn't too bad, not as bad as the way to Yokota. We found a different way home so it was a little easier only had to transfer 1x instead of 3.

Last Friday was a lot of the kids' last day... Hana, George, Cameron, and some that were only there for a week. So sad. George kept saying "its my last day". and he had to leave at 12 too. The note was so cute that they wrote about having to pick him up I saved it😊. Saturday was the japanese kids' last day of school so today we had a lot more japanese. The gate was so crazy - its a japanese holiday today so we didn't have any traffic control and all the parents were there. I had to tell parents to move because they stood right in front of cars just watching their kids. They were just everywhere! This one little kid was adorable and was playing with me and talking in japanese to me and I knew he was going to be my favorite but then Pam came in and said that he was only 2 and wasn't suppose to be in our room he was suppose to be in the toddler play group 😞 I was so sad. This other little kid we couldn't figure out her name and kept asking everyone and later figured out that it was leo. Later we realized it was a he... not a she (so hard to tell because his hair was pulled into a pony tail and was half up, really looked like a little girl). When we went to the pool everyone was looking at him funny wondering why he was wearing swim trunks not a girls suit and I had to keep saying its a boy don't worry. It was fun trying to figure out what the kids were saying, nice having other kids who can speak both languages to translate. One kid I thought could only speak japanese until later in the day when he was speaking english to me - i think they are just really shy at first. Taking the kids to the gate after work wasn't too bad but I guess the traffic was pretty bad further down the line, but we can only get the kids to walk so fast we did the best we could to get it going faster. Sakunoske's mom gave us some treats, he used to be in my class and then went to the older one. It was this little waffle and was soooo yummy. Really nice when the parents bring things. Was a pretty good day, went a lot smoother than I thought it would.

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Photos

The mystery japanese food
Don't know the name but it was still good

I haven't seen a laptop like this before
The keyboard was only half the size of the monitor

Capsule Station
The little machines you put money in and get a cheap little toy

Pepper Lunch
The food when it first came out