Ok, so I got to Japan, had some Japanese food, and this is the very NICE Narita Hilton we stayed in:
Our bus. Nice and bright red. Unmistakably unmissable. Those two standing near the door are our tour guides, Kevin and Amy:
Our first stop was the imperial palace. And this is the imperial guard/police... hut?
The closest we get to seeing the imperial palace-- the imperial GATE! W00t. What EXCITEMENT.... T__T;;
Me and another view of a bridge further along the moat around the castle:
The Japanese are clean like NO other. I'm serious. no trash cans, and yet, NO LITTER. IT IS CRAZY. SO CRAZY I TELL YOU. EVEN THE BATHROOMS ARE CLEAN AND SMELL NICE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH JAPANESE PEOPLE!?!?!?! ... hehe, I like it though.
Erica and me, in front of the Imperial Gate. She and I roomed together. She came with her parents; I was on my own. It was nice though. She's a few years younger than I am-- A year younger than Jon, actually.
Tokyo Tower! All of you who read those manga with scenes from it, well.. here it is!
"Keep out," eh, Mike and Amy?? Just kidding. Only at night. It's rare for Japan to have large patches of green around, so people (non-homeless) will come and sleep during the day under (and over) newspapers. They look homeless, but apparently... they're not.
Ah, our first group shot. From left to right: Erica, Michael, me, Ming, Gordon, and Amy. Hooray. We're cool:
I'm too much of a dork to be able to pass this one up. AMINO VALUE. COME ON. SOOOOO DORKY!!!!
Ahh... school children! Aren't they cute?
I forget the name of the shrine we went to. Asakusa, maybe? I don't remember. It was enormous though, and had a LOONG road filled with shops (and LOTS of yummy looking food... O_O)
Hey, don't these guys look a bit... familiar? Wait, didn't we DRESS JUST LIKE THEM? O_O AUGH. So the Japanese dancing from last year really WAS authentic.... Sort of..
I WANT THIS WIG:
Just about the cutest schoolhouse ever. Complete with bell clock tower. Adorable, I say.
Japan is a place where eeny weeny things are a NECESSITY. Including trucks, apparently.
And cars.
And taxis. I'm serious, folks.
Ah... Here we are... the most expensive place in the world, where a bill of Japan's largest denomination would not be able to afford the piece of ground it landed on if it were wadded into a small little ball. No joke. Welcome to GINZA....These little buggers bob like crazy. Fueled by light, they'll never stop... I ended up buying three in Taiwan for me and my brothers to stare at... (yes, in Taiwan, because everything there is dirt cheap... heh)
GINZA!!
Only in Japan will you see Monks on the street asking for donations....
Ah, this was near Harajuku area... The Meiji Shrine. Apparently people bring barrels of sake to appease the spirits. Yes. For those of you who like your drink.. well... enjoy staring...
Kevin, our main tour guide (more on him later) kept point out these things out to us. I'm not sure what they're called. They're pretty, but... they're EVERYWHERE. Literally.
Ok, so this is Kevin. He says he's not gay and that he's married, but he's just about the gayest man I have ever met in my life. Ming even said that Kevin grabbed at his butt. Not the most hetero thing to do, but... Eh. Some basic information about Kevin: He's 27, has been in the tourguide business for ten years, and has been married for seven. His wife is Japanese, but he is only half-- Half Jap and half Taiwanese. He knows how to speak Taiwanese, Japanese, and Mandarin. Very gay. Walks with a slight sway, and has the most flexible and loose wrists in the world.
We have to wash our hands before entering another shrine. Left hand is washed first, I think.
Pretty designs in the door!
A real life miko. Awesome.
Ah, we finally made it to our hotel! This is in Shinjuku-- the Keio Plaza Hotel. It's gorgeous. And humongous too.
Amy and me in the lobby. We were waiting for everyone to come back downstairs.
Ah, wandering around in Shinjuku, and Amy and I found this little statuette. It was cute. And we took a picture! Whee! Do I look like him...? her....?
Mmm... Shinjuku night life. We went to the Sakuraka(?) because apparently they have "cheap" electronics. Apparently, American prices must be cheap, because they were approximately at the price of stuff here. Oh well. It was cool looking around at new stuff though...
AH. RAMEN FOR DINNER. IT WAS SO YUMMY. OMG. I CAN'T GET OVER HOW GOOD IT WAS. NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY NARUTO LOVES IT SO MUCH. AAAHHH.... (lucky for us, Amy's mom spoke Japanese, and helped us around.. ^_^)
Starbucks wannabe? I think so.
Our hotel. One of the nicest ones around.
Hehe. That's it for the second day! We were all exhausted in the end. When I took this picture, I could barely walk around, my feet hurt SO much. It was PAINFUL. But FUN.
^_^ I hope you enjoyed this flood. More to come... tomorrow. Hopefully.
1 comment:
Pictures are cool...
if only it didn't have the ppl in some of them to screw up the scenery :-P
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