FINALLY THE DAY HAS COME!

Last weekend was THE weekend. I had gone out with some students and Miho on Saturday after work and we had enjoyed an evening filled with wine, fine Italian food, and good conversation, and the next day was filled with a new kind of adventure.

I had had a couple of students that wanted me to try Kobe beef. As you probably know, Kobe beef is world famous. It is considered by some to be the best beef in the world due to the marbleization of it's meat. The beef owners are able to achieve this by feeding the cow a diet of Sake and Beer and massaging them often. Needless to say they are very drunk, pampered animals for the short time they live. Some of the luckiest beef cattle in the world.

And for this, Kobe is famous.

"Jen," you might say, "Why is it if you have lived in Kobe for 10 months now that you have had yet to try such a delicious piece of steak? Such a morsel of delicious meat should be enjoyed!"

Well to you I say, "I agree there you very smart friend. I see that your mouth is watering at the prospect of such a delicious steak. However, as tempting as this was, the steaks usually range between 80-110 dollars a pop."

You might have just gasped out loud upon reading this information but if you didn't you might now. Some restaurants, for the highest quality, serve their steaks for over 600 dollars each. Mind you, these steaks are not the size of American steaks either. They are about 170 grams.

As I was saying, my students wanted me to go and I was so lucky that they offered to take me. I met up with my student at 2pm. We went to Kobe where we entered a Japanese Sword shop. The art of Japanese sword making was explained to me and I was informed that this shop was owned by my student's friend. The blades of the swords were beautiful and the stamp of the name of the maker was very unique and interesting. Next, we headed to a china shop. However, the regular collector's items are on the first floor, but my student knew the owners and is a very well known member of the community so he was able to take me upstairs where the shop owner showed us rare pieces that sold for anywhere between 150-100000 dollars while we sipped on macha tea.

We headed even further into Sannomiya where we had coffee at a posh cafe in Marui Department store before heading to a local museum. The Kobe Prefectural Museum of Art houses many special exhibits, and, unfortunately, I missed the exhibit I had been wanting to see with Dali art by only 2 days. Now there was all Japanese art. It was still beautiful, even though it was not what I was hoping to see. There were many screens that were painted with crows and tigers and even Geisha. It was very beautiful.

Next we headed into the final destination. It was a smokey shop. The aroma of charring beef filled the air and the surroundings were all stone and dark wood. We took our seats at a table and looked at the menu, which consisted of two types of steaks and the choice of getting them as a set (with sides) or alone. We chose the sets and a beer and waited while our steaks were being cooked up. Out first came a stew. It was made with beef and potatoes. It was very hearty and I didn't want to get too full, but I couldn't help but eating it all. Next, was a salad with a delicious dressing that I still can't quite place.

Finally, out it came. Sizzling on a skillet, a nice big chunk of Kobe Beef covered in onions with a side of green spinach and some potato wedges. The meat was a perfect medium rare and due to all of the sizzling we had to wear a bib.

When I took my first bite I was in heaven. The meat literally melts in your mouth. It was unlike anything I have ever tasted in my entire life. If you had no teeth, you could survive on a diet of pudding and Kobe beef; that is how tender it was.

I will be forever thankful of this opportunity to try the best steak in the world. I suggest anyone in the Kobe area that has a hundred bucks to spare head to A-1 restaurant to try this amazing delicacy. Come Hungry, Leave on a Cloud.

Shikoku Famous Noodle Adventure: Day 3

Day three of my three day weekend was packed full of events and traveling. After this day I felt if I didn't ride another train or bus for weeks I would be okay with that. We started out at 8 am after a nice breakfast of rice balls, bread, salad, pickled veggies, and pasta salad. Due to the surprise cold front, it was FREEZING. We got to the station to realize we missed the hourly train by only two minutes. At this we decided to waste some time and warm up at a local coffee shop with a nice HOT cup-o-joe.

As the time of our train was approaching, we headed to the station. Our first destination, Naruto whirlpools. These whirlpools have formed due to tides in the Naruto straight between Awaji Island and Shikoku Island, Japan. The tides move large amounts of water twice a day between the inland sea and the Pacific Ocean. The reason the whirlpools form is because the straight is very narrow so the water is rushing through at 13 to 15 kilometers per hour between the times of high and low tides.

Upon checking the tide flow charts we were very confused. I had been given lots of information from students about times to go and where you should view from. They told me that if you go at the wrong time the whirlpools are basically non-existent. We learned that the best time to view was actually NOT at hight tide or low tide, but when the tides were changing, so before and after those times. Luckily, the train time that we had chosen was the perfect time.

We arrived at our stopover station where we were to change trains. Mind you, we were out in the middle of nowhere on and island riding on a train that had only one car. We asked the driver if it was the train at the station, he said yes so we hopped on only to discover either he didn't understand our Japanese, or he didn't like foreigners; it was probably our Japanese, but I'm still not sure. The next driver suggested we get off at the next stop and wait for the next train, which was about forty minutes later.

We walked around and took some photos near the station. Our fear of missing the next train was real and tangible due to the fact that if we missed the train, not only would we limit our day because we would have to wait another hour, but we would miss the changing of the tides and our chance at seeing the whirlpools.

The train was approaching as I purchased a glass bottle with Kit-Kat bars inside from a vending machine and we were off! Down to Naruto. We arrived at the Naruto station and talked to the attendant at the ticket window. Due to the infrequency of trains we decided that it was necessary to plan what train we wanted to take in order to ensure we would have enough time to see what we wanted at our next destination. We hopped on a bus to the straight, along with our new friend Oscar from Mexico, who was on a three week holiday from his work in Seattle.

We couldn't decide it we would rather view the whirlpools up-close-and-personal on a boat or under the bridge on a walkway. We opted for the bridge in order to try to save some cash and because the weather was not calling for a boat ride. Despite the sun, it was a very windy 13 degrees C and with only a light sweater and scarf I was in no condition to bear those circumstances.

However, to my dismay, under the bridge was actually freezing as it was open air and the winds at such a height were VERY strong. Despite the cold we were able to catch a glimpse at the whirlpools and snap a few photos before heading back down to catch our bus back the train station.

By the time we got to the station we were starving and had only about 13 minutes until the train came. There was no fast food in the area so we opted for a Family Mart convenience store on the corner. Now, convenience stores in Japan are very similar to those in America; they have both hot food and cold food along with ice cream, and a variety of snacks and drinks. But I think they are much more fun, probably because I can't read the packaging. Also, because of what we bought for lunch. Please let me introduce you to the AMERICAN DOG.

Meredith and I have been eating these for quite some time now, but I have come to realize that I have never blogged about this scrumptious snack bearing the name of my homeland. The American Dog is....a corn dog. I hope that didn't kill your suspense too much. But here is the exciting part about the American Dog in Japan. It is all in the condiments. When you buy one you get this ketchup and mustard packet (Japanese mustard is sooo spicy). Please check out the photo to see why it is so amazing. You squeeze it and it comes out in perfect lines with no mess. They also use this kind of packaging for salad dressing and many other liquids on the go. It is fantastic.

We hopped on our next train with our destination in mind; Takamatsu. We were off on a voyage to see what we could before the sun set and we had to take our bus back to Kobe. We only had a few hours so we settled and changed our plans to only include a very large Japanese Garden and the ultimate goal; UDON. Udon is a noodle soup with thick noodles. My mom was not fond of this upon her visit to Japan due to the sticky and chewy texture of the noodles, but I love them and I heard that in Takamastu not only were they famous, but they were even stickier and chewier than elsewhere in Japan!

We approached the station around 2:15 pm and decided to rent bicycles at the station for a mere 100 yen. I had recently re-taught Meredith how to ride a bike because she hadn't since she was very small, but in Japan you have be to be able to ride a bike sometimes, especially after you realize how much easier your life will become.

We rode down to the garden passing designer shops and a Domino's pizza restaurant, all of them proving to be little reminders of the mass amount of western influence that is in this country. But finally, we approached the traditional Japan that we craved, a giant Japanese Garden. It's name is Ritsurin Koen. It is built as a promenade style garden and was constructed in the 1600's during the Edo Period for the Matsudaira Family that ruled during this time. It was beautiful and the amount of Coy and Tea Houses were simply amazing.

After walking around here we headed to a noodle shop to have a bite to eat. I chose the udon with soy sauce with a side of tempura octopus and shrimp. It was so delicious and at only 450 yen it was such a steal. I wish we had these in Kobe!

We returned our bikes, bought our bus tickets, grabbed a bus-beer and a doughnut and we were on our way back home, thinking of the Wednesday workday that was in store for us the next day.

Oh what an adventure!

Next installment; Jen FINALLY tries the World Renowned Kobe Beef!

Shikoku Weekend: Day 2 Oboke and Iya

WOW. The next day was a complete surprise. We had heard that Shikoku could pose some travel problems if you were without a car, but we had no idea how infrequent and rural it could be. However, this made our trip even more of an adventure and we were happy to go somewhere that felt nothing like a concrete jungle... this was a real jungle.

We headed out on a train with two cars then transfered to a train with one car to reach our first stop; Oboke. Here we had heard that there were beautiful gorges and a river that you could raft down. Due to time, and the small side-note that it was FRRREEEZING, we decided to pass up the rafts. We got off the train in what appeared to be a small town. To our right was a shop that sold beer, and straight ahead was a small market selling less than, probably, 150 items. That was it. There wasn't even a man taking our tickets when we got off the train. We decided that first we would head over to the Oboke/Koboke Gorges because it was within walking distance and we realized that since it was not a holiday, or a weekend, that the buses would not be running to Iya for another hour and a half.

We crossed a beautiful bridge over the Kino River that proved to be a fantastic viewing spot for the mountains. The river wrapped around the base of each mountain in a way that I have seen before in Upstate New York. It was simply breathtaking. The leaves had only just started to changed colors, but just imagining how beautiful this place would be in a few weeks gave me chills.

We walked our two km down to the gorges where we saw some of the greenest water with white rocks that I have seen. There were not many people there but the few of them were on boat tours of the gorges as well as snapping photos like us. We took in the beauty of the gorges and hiked down a small trail where we sat and rested for a while.

After this, we headed back up to the road. We were quite weary of missing the bus since they came only once every 1 1/2 hours and we didn't have endless amounts of time to wait, not to mention daylight hours (there is no daylight savings in Japan so it gets dark in winter about 4:00- 4:30). At the bus stop, which had a table made of a giant tree slab, was a very old Japanese woman. She had few teeth but her smile brightened us up. I was freezing and she laughed at me. When I told her in Japanese it was cold, she agreed, then, assuming that we spoke fluent Japanese went off to tell us about other things. We were able to understand that she was saying Meredith was nuts for only wearing a short sleeved shirt and that she had three layers on herself. She walked off and didn't catch the bus with us.

When our bus arrived we headed down a mountain to the bottom where a small sign with an arrow indicated we would be able to discover our prize. We had traveled all this way to see the Iya Kazurabashi. This is the name of a famous bridge that is made of a plant called Shirakuchigasura. It was built with this vine because it would be easier for them to cut the bridge behind them if they were trying to get away. Under the bridge runs a river, and quite a fall. The bridge is over 800 years old and is rebuilt/checked every three (because they let tourists walk over it for a mere fee of 500 yen). You can hear about this bridge, if you understand Japanese, in the folk song "Iya no Kohiki Bushi".

We decided we were hungry and we would need our strength before trying to brave this bridge, so we stopped in on a local vendor stand to have a specialty of the area. I opted for the salted trout on a stick caught in this river. It was the entire fish, and I guess you were supposed to eat the whole thing... that wasn't going to happen. Meredith went for the other local delicacy which was some sort of concoction consisting of a potato, a special hard tofu from the region, and konjak all dipped in miso and roasted like the fish. We both agreed that they were interesting snacks and we were satisfied for the time being.

We went and paid our 500 yen (which is used to maintain the bridge) and started our walk. Now, this bridge is very deceptive. It looks much safer than it actually is. The slats are farther apart than most foreigner's feet, which is funny because Japanese feet tend to be much smaller. This means that your leg could easily slip through it you are not careful. Also, when the wind decides it wants to gust, it makes the whole bridge sway. This was definitely something out of Indiana Jones, and we felt like true adventurers crossing it. Holding onto your cameras while snapping photos was the worst thing we had to brave, for dropping it was a real danger.

Upon crossing we decided to go off the trail and climb down by the river to get some other photos of the bridge. We apprehensively jumped from rock to rock hoping not to fall into the icy river (mind you, I was wearing my only sweater and scarf that I had on this trip). We climbed up some rocks and followed the path of streaming water to discover Biwa waterfall. It was small, but the way that is poured down the rocks into a pool of water and then down into the river was something out of a tourist magazine. Pure perfection. I can imagine that it would be the perfect place to shoot photos in swimsuits.

After all of this wind, water, and adventure we were quite famished and decided to indulge in the local Soba noodles with a view of the river. They were soft and tasty, but not unlike other soba I had eaten in the past. However, the noodles were much thicker than normal, almost like Udon.

After this we realized that the next bus was not going to be for another hour, so we were able to negotiate with a cabbie to take us back to the train station for just 2000 yen. The bus would of cost us 1400 yen, so we felt very accomplished to not have to sit in the cold for an hour with no coats.

After arriving at Oboke station we read through a guest book filled with notes from people from all over the world. Some of them were lost, some of them were disappointed by Oboke, and some of them wrote blog and e-mail addresses. We half-thought it would be funny to e-mail all of them, then decided that our Creeper @ work series didn't teach us how to go about doing that.

We headed back to the hotel and then out for dinner to plan our next day of travel then it was off to bed early for a bright and early start in the AM.

This three-part series is To Be Continued....

Shikoku Weekend: Day 1 Tokushima

My friend Meredith and I decided that we needed to get away and we saw the perfect opportunity arise as a three day weekend was fast approaching. We decided to go somewhere 'off the beaten path' that we hadn't been before. I have decided that I really can't come home until I visit the five main islands of Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido, and Okinawa). So far, I have managed to get myself to only two of those; Kyushu and Honshu ((where I live)). Upon this realization, we looked into going to Shikoku and seeing some of the beautiful natural things we had heard about.

We headed off early in the morning (well about 10 am due to the fact that the previous night was Halloween night). We caught the bus from Maiko station and took the Awaji bridge over across Awaji Island to Shikoku. On the bridge over the Naruto straight we were able to catch a quick glimpse of the famous Naruto whirlpools. Upon this, we decided that we would have to return to this location to get a closer look.

We arrived at Tokushima around 12pm and decided it would be best if we tried to find our hotel first so we could at least check in and have them hold our bags for us. After trying to check into the wrong hotel once (there are two hotels of the same chain within 1 km of each other) we finally found our new temporary place of residence very close to the ropeway. We left our bags and headed out to find something to eat. While we were walking, we noticed a bunch of street stalls selling food set up along the river. There were many children with balloons and raccoon hats, so we decided that this would be a perfect place for us. What is a better combination than funny hats, toys, and food?!

We still haven't quite figured out what this was, but we are thinking it was something to do with the environment. It was a festival complete with a stage where Power Ranger-esq super heros were battling it out on stage with an incredibly annoying woman with a high-pitched voice continuously yelling the equivalent of "fight fight..." wow. It was beyond annoying and the cringing on our faces carried over to the faces of all of the Japanese people around us. It was nice to know we were not alone.

We decided that we were going to try many different kinds of food, so first we headed to a local favorite, Pizza Hut. Haha. They had a stand set up and as a snack, mere and I decided that Pizza Hut would surely be the most delicious choice. There were no choices in toppings...and upon opening the box in hopes of having cheesy meaty deliciousness we were in complete shock-and-awe to see that our toppings were none other than potato, ham, corn, mayonnaise, and cheese. WHAT!? We managed to force this slice down and then hastily set off in search of something more gourmet. :(

After we got our raccoon hats, took some photos, got some balloons, and were given a giant bag of miso that the man insisted was "VERY EASY" to make, we headed to a local shopping center to get something warm to wear. You see, I had packed without checking the weather and I didn't realized that a cold front was going to be coming through. It was definitely one of those moments where you remember, just before walking out the door, you thought "hmm... should I bring my sweatshirt or a scarf? Nah...". I was kicking myself as I shelled out a few thousand yen for a new scarf and sweater. BOOOO. But the next day would prove to be much colder, so it was unavoidable.

We walked around a bit more and went back to the hotel to try to make plans for the next day. We were going to head out to the countryside and the middle of Shikoku Island. We knew we would have to get up early so we got all the information we would need, had sushi at a rotating sushi joint, and headed back to get our beauty sleep....

To be continued....

Wow...

So I realized, thanks to my mom's mention, that I haven't blogged in far too long. I am going to give you all a brief rundown of what I have been up to recently first, and then I will proceed in my blog tonight with some more specific things. Possibly tales of Dragons, Lions, and Castles. You know, the normal things.

Recently I have been really busy. It feels like my weekends fly by and I don't really accomplish much but to spend more money. The weather has been changing very rapidly and it is now sweater weather, soon to be warm coat weather. All of the Japanese people switched their wardrobe over a few weeks ago.

They literally spend a weekend pulling out boxes of winter clothes and packaging up their summer things. This means on the random warm days around here we still see many women in sweaters with jeans and boots. The must be so hot. Also, I went to the movies two weeks ago and saw the newest installment of The Fast and the Furious series. It was not bad, about the best movie we have in the theatres here right now anyway.

Soon we will get Where the Wild Things Are and FINALLY Inglorious Basterds. I have been waiting quite a long time and I refrained from downloading the aforementioned movie because I felt it was something that I should only enjoy with a full theatre, surround sound, and movie snack experience.

Also, I will have a three day weekend this week (WHOOOO HOOOO) which I will spend backpacking around the island of Shikoku with my friend meredith. The place looks amazing and there are even bridges made of vines from 800 years ago that you can walk over between mountains. I can't wait. The weekend couldn't come soon enough.

My contract is ending on January 22nd, and from there I am not quite decided on what I want to do. I do know that I have reservations for the Snow Festival in Sapporro in Feb. so I will be here at least until then. My friend Dave, who is teaching in Korea, wants me to hop over there and teach for a bit, but I don't know how long I want to take to get back to the states. I am really craving some TACO BELL as strange as that sounds. Sometimes I fear that I won't like the food when I get back. Japanese food tends to be very mild and bland at times and with all of the flavors back in the states with all of the international foods I am worried how my taste buds (and my stomach) will react. I guess there is only one way to find out.

Well, for now it is off to work. Today I will be dressed up as a ballerina for school. Halloween for kids classes. Tomorrow is the real thing. Such a shame no one here really likes or celebrates it. These kids would look so cute as Power Rangers... (haha)

New Post Tonight.

Adventure Weekend: Day 1 Osaka

Last weekend I finally caved in and realized that it was just about time for a haircut. I was apprehensive about getting my haircut in a foreign country due to the language barrier and the fact that I have never had my hair shorter than shoulder length. My friend Lamika had found a small salon in Osaka with a hairdresser that had lived in New York for many years and had been a regular stylist for Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as working at a salon on Madison.

I got an appointment at 4pm, so I decided to wake up really early and go to Osaka to try to find

English mass at a church. I woke up at 6 am and left my apartment by 7 for the long train ride into Osaka. It was a great morning and the sun was shining just enough to have the perfect light. I followed my directions to find this church, which to me is still a mystery. I got to the location at about 8am and searched for the church until 930 before giving up. I then decided that I needed to head out and explore something new in Osaka. In the distance I saw the Umeda Sky Building. I had never been to the top and I had also heard good things about the basement, where there was apparently a mock Edo Era street with food shops and such.

I started my walk in the direction of the building. The air felt fresh and because it was morning nothing was crowded and the only people on the streets were police, construction workers, and a few morning walkers. A policeman said good morning to me in English which made me smile, and him as well. The smallest things can make a person's day.

Then I reached the building. It was just as grand up close and personal as it was from the JR and from far away. I noticed that on the second and third floor there were two movie theatres that were just about to open so I headed up the stairs to check them out. I decided that I haven't done enough research on any movie that is out in Japan right now to warrant buying an 1800 yen ticket to a movie, so I headed to the basement floor to check out the Edo street.

As I came down the stairs to the first basement level I was surprised at the dark lighting, almost like night, and the narrow streets. It was not very large, only about 3 or 4 streets, but was very interesting and quiet due to the fact that nothing was open yet. I walked through it all and couldn't help but smile because I felt that I had found something special (even though I know many people know this exists).

After this, I saw a shop outside that had something in the window I wanted to buy for my mom, but the shop didn't open until 11am, so I needed to waste another forty minutes. (I still haven't given it to her, so I will refrain from talking about it because she reads this blog). I decided I wanted to go to the top.

At first, I didn't see any sign postings that were telling me how I could reach the top. I headed up the nearest elevator and ended up on the 39th floor of a 40 floor building. From here I noticed many restaurants and a sky bar. The bar had these amazingly large circular, space age type windows. The morning sun was shining in at just the right angle to snap a few photos. I finally figured out how to reach the top observatory and headed up for 700 yen.

It wasn't really worth the 700 yen, but the view was nice and a man insisted to take my photo for me with my camera. It is funny how much some people want you to remember the things you see in Japan and have nice photos of yourself here. They really go out of the way sometimes to insist you have a photo with you in it.

The roof is apparently a good place for romantic couples. You can get a lock engraved with you and your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife 's name on it and you lock it to a rope that goes around the top of the building. After this, you should sit together on a couch that has two place to touch, one for each member of the couple, and when you both touch the special light up floor says LOVE. It looks like a cute place for photos.

I got a message from Meredith that said we should meet at 1pm at Osaka station to go to the hair salon. I agreed to meet up with them and headed down from the building to get some more exploring in. I bought my gift and had an interesting conversation with the nice man in the shop. He told me that he likes to study English but it is difficult, and I said the same about Japanese. I have been studying a lot recently, and have gotten much better... although, still dreadful in all honesty. He wrapped the gift extra special for me, which was very sweet.

From here I walked to the station and saw a bunch of hiking stores in a row. I went in to check out some gear and some camping equipment as well. Next to this store was another shop with some smaller things, you know, just odds and ends that you don't really need but like to look at and consider what you would do with it. Novelty items really. But here, I found the best thing that I have been looking for for a long time. It was a small flat tin that, inside, had 20 small containers with clear lids. I was seeking something like this because I have decided to collect small soil/sand/dirt samples from the places around the world that I go. I kept some Fuji dirt (ash) and that is my first container. I am so excited to see it full someday soon. 20 countries. :)

After this I met up with the girls. We went to the salon where we met a very interesting Salon Owner. He was flamboyant and wonderful. He pulled out his portfolio, which consisted of magazine clippings and professional photos, a lot of celebrities and some interesting photos in the Meat Packing District of New York. He went on to tell me I have lovely long hair and how he wouldn't cut it short because it was so amazing. haha. It was quite entertaining. When my turn came I got a nice shampoo and head massage (standard in Japan) for about 30 minutes by a very attractive 18 year old shampoo man. The Owner kept making jokes about how he is cute and would be good for me but I would have to change his diapers. I don't know where all that came from, when I told the owner he was being harsh he said, oh it's okay he doesn't understand what I am saying (mind you, they are both Japanese). He cut my hair, quite short compared to how he was talking, but the most entertaining part is that he was cutting out my knots. If he met a knot while combing my hair he just cut it out...which made my hair very short very quickly. AHH!

We paid only 3,300 yen...which is super cheap for a salon here. Then we headed to Namba to shop and explore some more. After that we hit up the cheap 280 yen Izakaya we like we headed back to home to rest up for Day 2 of our adventure, Kyoto, Blog to Follow....

OO we also saw a giant cannibal octopus eating a takoyaki, which is made with octopus...

We're going to the Zoo...

Hello everyone! Long time no type. Sorry...yet again, for my utter lack of commitment towards this blog. I need to stop being so lazy and actually write more. I am on my computer enough... I should just type.

So, I went to Tokyo, yet again, because it was my friend Meredith's birthday recently and as a present, Miho and I told her we were going to take her to Disney Sea. It was a girls trip with only three of us going. We decided it would be a good time to go to Tokyo during what they are calling "silver week" this year because a couple of National holidays fall on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I already have Mondays off, but two extra days gave me a nice 4 day weekend.

We wanted to fly to Tokyo, to be more convenient, but the flight times were making it so we would lose a whole day just in flying. We decided that due to cost, we were going to take the overnight bus one way, and take the Shinkansen back. It is such a wonderfully convenient train, but way too expensive, so we could only afford it one way. While we were waiting for the bus on Saturday night after work, there were two very cute children that we were playing with for over an hour, or so it seemed. Their young parents didn't seem to really care, but the mother did look a little annoyed with us. They got on a bus about thirty minutes before us, and we waved goodbye.

We got to Tokyo Sunday morning on the overnight bus into Shinjuku. Here we got coffee at a Starbucks, where, ironically enough, there the family was from the night before. The shocked looks on their faces followed by huge grins matched ours perfectly, and even their father started to laugh. We got our coffee (short size...which we don't have in America...its SUUUPER SMALL) and sat in Starbucks to waste some time because nothing in Tokyo is open at 720 in the morning. McDonald's is, unfortunately, the only place you can get eggs and such (Western Breakfast) in Japan, so off we headed for Egg McMuffins.

Next, we headed to our hotel. Here was the next dilemma. We couldn't find a room in Tokyo. All of the hostels were full, all of the hotels with easy access were full. I found a place near Haneda Airport, but they said they would only take two people in a double room and we had three. We decided that we were just going to have to sneak three people into the room, because it was the only way. I went to check us in with Meredith and we left our bags with the counter. Now we were free to roam the city streets as it was nearing 10 am and things were starting to open!

We took our train, then connected to the Yamanote line to head to Harajuku. Here we wanted to go shopping since they put in an H&M and a Forever 21. It was just like it always is, full of people. Forever 21 had a line waiting outside to get in, so we decided to skip it and upon attempting to go into H&M, I was so overwhelmed that I gave up after just looking at accessories. We walked around the rest of the area and took some photos then we found a mexican restaurant. Now, let me give you some more information on Mexican food in Japan. Most of my students, unless they have lived abroad, don't know what Mexican food is. They sometimes say, "Oh, you mean Tacos?", and I respond with "Sort of". However, they don't know what a tortilla is (which is ironically humorous because they use them for pizza crusts here, another one of the many food flaws I HATE). We found a "real", or next best thing to real, mexican restaurant in Harajuku! I had a chicken taco and nachos, Meredith chose two different kinds of tacos, and Miho got Taco Rice, a Japanese variation on taco salad, but with white rice. It was not bad, but to Japan standards it was a delicacy. We took some pictures of crazy Harajuku fashionistas, then headed back to our hotel to get into the room, take a nap, and head back out for the night.

We successfully snuck Miho into the room, which I felt bad about after the manager gave us a discount for signing up for a members card after arriving back at the hotel. We saved a lot of money. We took a nap and got up, just like Zombies, to head to Shibuya to see the lights, walk the crosswalk (busiest in the world), and meet up with Anthony for a Hot Krispee Kreme doughnut. While looking for a place to grab dinner in Shibuya, we came across one of my favorites, the rotating sushi bar. MMM. Delicious. At only 105 yen a plate we were pumped and dove inside for a quick bite.

Upon our descent from the Sushi bar, we saw another H&M! This one had barely any people inside so we went in. There we met Anthony and tried on ridiculous new 70's and 80's throwback fashions. We aren't just talking any fashion either, we are talking Madonna and Michael Jackson music video fashion...alongside pink fur jackets... I am quite confused. We grabbed some doughnuts (I refused to eat them because they were not Hot..and everyone knows Krispee Kreme doughnuts that are not hot are just not worth eating) and then we headed back for the night.

Near our hotel we stopped at a convenience store to try to buy our Disney tickets for the next day. However, it was sold out. SOLD OUT? I thought... is that possible? I have never heard that it was possible for Disney to sell out. So we went back to the room and I looked it up on my computer. Sure enough, Disney and DisneySea in Japan sell out. So we pushed our Disney day back to Tuesday and were looking for something exciting and different to do in Tokyo on Monday. Now, I have been to Tokyo many many times, I wanted to do something new. I looked up the information on the Tsukiji Fish market. However, they were closed on the holidays. Next, I remembered when I was roaming around Tokyo with a student before picking my mom up at the airport, I saw that during this time there was going to be a big SUMO tournament.

I looked it up online and there it said that Sumo was going on, and it was sold out, but there are tickets available every morning for the highest up seats for only 2100 yen! We decided we would get up early and head to the Sumo stadium to get in.

Somehow, we got up early and managed to make it to the stadium by 740 am. We got our tickets! Then we headed inside to find prime seats. After examining our schedule, we saw that the main, famous wrestlers wouldn't be starting until around 2pm. We decided to head to the strange area of Akihabara (famous for creepy men interested in girls straight out of Manga, as well as girls, dressed up like characters from Manga ((or little girls or maids)) oh... and electronics too.) We walked around, took photos, and since it was game day in America, (NY GIANTS were playing the Dallas Cowboys!!! ) we had to have a beer to start the morning off right. 10 am...so early for a beer, but our lucky sumo tickets, and the Giants winning at the Half made my day.

We got some convenience store food and headed back to the stadium to watch the sumo. At the stadium, I sat next to a family and a small boy who was about 9 years old. He was very interested in Sumo and would yell things at the players. His mom spoke very good English and also was fluent in French and the grandmother was actually a teacher of Japanese for foreigners. Pretty interesting and very welcoming family. I had the lucky seat because the boy told me about all of the wrestlers. He knew their records and which country they came from. As most people know, Sumo has changed a lot over time. The Japanese no longer dominate this sport, as the Mongolians have taken a massive number of the top spots. The boy told me his favorite wrestler and when we went to buy souvenirs I made sure to get him a small gift with the his favorite player. He was very excited, which made me feel very satisfied.

After this we headed to the Tokyo Tower where we met Anthony before his trip to Korea. We went up in the tower, which took hours, but the view was quite nice at night. By the time we finished at the tower we were STARVING. We ordered a Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza from the train on the way back and it arrived at the hotel at the same time as us. Now, I know there are Pizza Huts in Japan, but I hadnt gotten it yet...so it had literally been about 9 months since I had anything like real pizza. It was cheesy celebratory heaven (Giants won their game! :)). We went to sleep to have sugar plum dreams of Mickey Mouse.

The next day we got up and went to Disney Sea. I was looking forward to seeing my high school friend Elizabeth as Ariel, and to see what new things Disney in Japan had to offer. When we finally got to the gate there were so many people in a line that wrapped forever, just to get into the park. We finally got in, and there we were. Halloween decorations, and a Giant globe fountain... strange...much like Universal. Hmmm....

Then we headed through the park. It is set up much like Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios Florida. There are many different areas with different themes separated by water. There is an America area that had Cape Cod (where we got 600 yen Budweiser DRAFT! haha) and Tower of Terror, there is a 20,000 Leagues, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, there is also an Indiana Jones area, and an Under the Sea area (little mermaid).

We had a great day wearing our Minnie ears everywhere, taking tons of photos and waiting in line to see Ariel, who was actually not my friend. Elizabeth, consequently, got the flu, so we missed out on that opportunity. However, this other girl was quite cute. She told us when we took the photo to clasp our hands then hold them over your heart. She said that is the princess pose and even let us touch her fin... which made me wonder what she does when men come to see her... does everyone get to touch her fin... or just the girls?

Also, we met Pocahontas, who, when we asked her where she was from, stayed completely in character and said "Im from the Forest". for some reason we expected her to tell us "Cleveland" or something. Haha. I dont know why

I just want to say that the best part of Disney, hands down, was the Indiana Jones RIDE. It was amazing and the animatronics on Indie all three times you saw him were soo good it looked like Harrison Ford. I was blown away. I literally shed a tear and the end of the ride. We didn't want to wait forever so we went single rider and I was last to finish. I was expecting the girls to be as pumped as I was about this adventure, but they said it was just OK. WHAT??!

After a long Disney day it was back to the hotel then sleep. The last day we went to Asakusa where I managed to get the best fortune out of 40 something odd fortunes at the shrine. I was very happy to be that lucky. Then we ate and headed to the Shinkansen.

What a nice vacation.

Crazy Tokyo, you never cease to amaze me.