Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 228

Just wanted to send off a quick blog to mainly share some photos from my birthday. Words can't describe how wonderful my birthday here in Japan was. I had to work, which wasn't really that bad as it was a quiet day due to the 17th being a public holiday in Japan - Marine Day, apparantly. Afterwards a big group of workmates and friends went out for dinner at our favourite restaurant - The Chopstick Cafe. It's always hard when you are away from friends and family back home, especially on special occasions, and I was quite overwhelmed at the number of special friends we have here in Japan who went to the effort of making my birthday such a special time. The wonderful staff at the Chopstick Cafe (who now know us by name and ... read more

Kinichiwa!!! It has pretty much been raining since we got here and probably will for the rest of our time here. Our Mt. Fuji climb is not looking so great. We really wanted to do it but met some people at our hostels that had horrible experiences. Rain the whole way up, freezing cold, strong winds, someone was almost blown off the mountain. One guy described it as the worst experience of his life. When he reached the top, it was so cloudy that he couldnt even see the sunrise. I'm really dissapointed but I think it would be best not to climb, Ben still wants to do it though :( Any suggestions?? Anyway, despite the bad weather the past couple of days have been great!! So far, it is not at all as I expected. ... read more

We are here finally. The 13 hour plane ride actually wasn't that bad. We had to take an hour and half train and subway ride to our hostel and when got off the subway we had no idea where we were going and were lost for a while. The streets don't have names and no one really spoke English and we really didnt know how to ask anyway. Finally we decided to just take a cab, that was interesting. By the time we got settled it was already 8ish. It's my first time staying in a hostel so I really didnt know what to expect. We have this teeny room with bunk beds and a common area to share with everyone else here. The shower only stays on for like 30 seconds at a time so ... read more

Today was our day at Tokyo Disneyland, located just outside of the city. Rusty and I met up with Eve and Jason downtown and made our way over to Disney. We purchsed our tickets in advance because we were told that Disenyland often reaches it's capacity in the morning so it was best to buy tickets in advance so not to be disappointed. The minute we stepped inside the gates it became a bit surreal: it is EXACTLY the same as DisneyWorld in Florida....except everyone is speaking Japanese and people are wearing yukatas and kimonos. It was a little weird at first as we walked through the Crystal Palace to the New Orleans-area where Pirates of the Caribbean is located. That's where we got our first surprise of the day- the wait fo rthe ride was ... read more

Hi all! On this particular evening in July, Larry, myself and a few other friends decided to dress up in Japanese yukata's and spend a few hours on a Yukata Tokyo Bay Cruise. Not everyone wore yukatas, but most people did....esp. the "gaijin" (foreigners!) Unfortunately though, we weren't very good at putting them on. I had to get some help at the Ito Yokato (a department store that sells everything from groceries to yukata's) from a lady who couldn't speak a word of English. She took a long time "wrapping me up," but she did do a beautiful job! Larry's yukata wasn't as nicely done.....I did it while we were riding the train! Because we wore yukata's on the cruise, we all got a discounted fare, as well as all-you-could-drink soda, beer and chu-hi! Besides drinking, ... read more