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Ah Japan
First, anyone going to Animazement should sign up for Cosplay chess. I'll be in it as Cain but they are seriously needing some more Video Game Characters (its anime v. video game). So if you are cosplaying a Video game character on Saturday afternoon you should play! heres the link: http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=139947
I just have to remember to recruit a table watcher but I think Pam said her and Cat were free at that time to sit there.
Anyway, so you all wanted to hear about Japan yes? Well guess what. You get the appreviated Tohma conversation version. Basically these are the letters that I sent to my father each day explaining my activities. I'll be honest..I don't remember what stores or streets or crap I went in, nor do i think you really care. So these are the more fun "What was interesting to me" type descriptions of my days. Let me tell you..they can be a bit random and yes..I do discussing peeing and toilets so BE PREPARED XD. Keep in mind I have copied these directly from the emails I sent so they are in present tense. Anyway..here we go!
Fun Japanese Facts learned on Monday:
Did you know there is a KFC on every corner? Yet I have only seen one Starbucks.
There really is NO plain Pepsi...Pepsi twist and Pepsi zero. Hurray for Coke
As complicated as it looks...nagivating the subway alone when you know absolutly zero Japanese really isn't that hard. Hurray for Maps
So today while Dee worked I went out on my own and wandered around a shopping district that would put even the largest of American malls to shame. I managed to survive subway travel on my own (even with a transfer). I have seen two of the major fashion trends of Japan (Lolita and Fruits) in person and got pictures of a river that I crossed over as I was moving from one shopping area to another. Game stores are EVERYWHERE and when I say game..I mean arcades and claw machines. The biggest arcade game that I saw being played in every one I went in: Derby challenger or something like that. YOu actually compete against other people in raising and racing..race horses. It was..interesting. You'd be surprised but business men were even in there playing these arcade games. Oh, and I got very excited to see an Initial D 4 racing game. I resisted playing it and looking like an idiot. Went into a DVD store and saw a sign saying that Sweeny Todd doesn't come out until June here. Oh did I mention Dee has a modified Japanese toilet? Yeah...its a western toilet..yet...not. I took a picture. Its cramped, its hard to use...it will make our bathroom look like a million bucks.
Fun Facts about Japan learned on Tuesday:
There are good deals if you know where to look for them. As long as it isn't clothes its cheaper in Japan!
Remote control cars...don't necessarily need the remote control
Everything closes at North Carolina time. You are out by 8PM OR ELSE
Today was spent shopping in DenDen town. Basically if you need something electronic..this is the place you go. Not to mention if you want anything anime/video game/figure related, this place has not one..not two...not three...but sometimes up to five different places all selling the same type of thing. Not only that but there are four levels to each building, each one housing a different type of product. I'm so tired of stairs and escalators. Took a break halfway down the street to get a drink at McDonalds. Watered down Coke tastes the same no matter what country you are in. Went in one store that focused on models and official racing remote control cars. Talk about some sleek looking vehicles. Real life drifting cars in tiny tiny remote control size. Then there was a track in the back and all these guys did was set these tiny cars on the track and they took off flying. I've never seen tiny cars go as fast as these were going. IT was great when one would go shooting off the track and go flying across the room. We finally found the doll store that Pam wanted a stamp from (Volks). I got the stamp but tell her she is crazy if she thinks I am buying her a $220 headless doll body. I didn't realize that was what I was looking for until I truely started to decipher her handwriting. And that doll store..was 90% for female dolls. There was literally nothing I could see for her dolls and they really didn't sell much. It was more like a big gallery. Anyway, after 7 hours of walking up and down these many many stores we headed towards Namba Park to get some dinner. Now Namba Park...is not a park but rather a big department store...well not really just one store but many stores. So more like a multi leveled mall. The 6th floor is basically all restaurants and we stopped at the Hawaiian Burger Place and ate hamburgers. I'm really living up the japanese lifestyle. Hey, I'm sleeping on the floor and using a "Westernized" Japanese toilet. Isn't that enough? After dinner we basically had to leave because everything was shutting down. It wasn't yet 9PM but apparently that is the evacuation time since the escalators were being shut off. So we headed home and now it is time to sleep and get ready for the next day of adventure.
Things learned about Japan on Wednesday:
Just because you request a take-out box..doesn't mean you'll get to keep your leftovers
Gremlins are back and this time the toys have the ability to reproduce small balls of fur with ears
Peeing in a hole is not fun
Japanese women do not want others to hear them pee
Today involved more shopping and a whole lot of walking...much much walking. We visited Mandarake (an anime store) and after wandering around there for a few hours (again, a multi level building) we headed towards Hap 5, a large shopping mall type center to pick up Dee's pants from The Gap. FIrst we headed up to the 6th floor where apparently the only western toilet existed in the whole building. Unfortunetly for us it seemed that it was occupied...permanently. We waited...and waited...and waited...and finally Dee gave up and went to pee in a hole. I convinced myself I did not have to go to the bathroom but after stopping for a Coke at a shop a few feet away, decided there was no avoiding it. And went back to the bathroom with the hopes of finding the stall finally free...but alas. Someone was apparently living in there. So I had to pee in a hole. In fear of perhaps wetting myself accidently I completely removed all clothing below the waist...I can see no other way of doing this procedure. After a little while in this mall we headed over to the Loft (another multi story mall) for more shopping. On the way we stopped at a large toy store where there was a Gizmo toy that actually popped little gremlin hair balls out its back. I was amused. Anyway, we headed to the next mall. The excellent thing about this mall. All the toilets were western. And heated seats which are like heaven for your butt. And little remote control buttons that could either give you butt a soothing splash of water, release a lovely scent to cover any nasty oder you may produce, and the best part...create a flushing noise so that the people in the stalls around you can not hear you pee. After the bathroom of the future we wandered around the mall and then headed on the longest walk i have ever taken in my life. I have crossed half of Japan..and all for the sake of the Outback Steakhouse. The dinner was excellent and all the servers were actually speaking in english, but when Dee asked for a box for her meal, the plate was taken...and never came back. When questioned the waitress appologized and ran away to talk to the manager. Apparently take out box=trash can. And instead of just taking off something from the bill (She really had only eaten about a 1/3 of her steak) they completely cooked her a new meal. So with meal finally in hand we headed home to call it a day.
So today was basically about toilets and I have obtained some excellent stickers that also fit into that category.
Things learned about Japan on Thursday:
Wearing masks makes you look cool
Everyone carries an umbrella in preparation of a freak rainstorm
Everyone has an ipod
You bag your own food at the grocery store
The reason no one is fat in Japan is because you walk everywhere
Today we went to a shrine in Kyoto. The name is long and complicated and since Dee is in the shower I can't ask her what it was or how to spell it. We got lunch at an Italian Restaurant at the station (you thought NC had thin crust..holy cow. I couldn't even pick this pizza up). Anyway, first we took the subway, then we got on the train for a 40 minute ride, and then we took a bus to get to the actual shrine. Kyoto is not as close to Osaka as one might think. Anyway, we went up to the shrine and took pictures and walked around. We managed to avoid all the school children who showed up (apparently it was field trip day). We drank water from the shrine that falls down in three seperate streams from the roof of the shrine. Each stream means something different. Luck in love, friendship, or wealth I believe it was. But Dee couldn't remember which one was which so we just drank from one. We now have luck in...something. We wandered around the shrine and then down the main street with all the shops. I managed to find the most touristy shirt ever for my boss at Cracker Barrel. And it is even in a 4L. Once we got back down to the bottom of the hill and to where the buses were, we took the bus back to Kyoto station. This was a station that had 11 floors of..you guessed it..shopping. Apparently that is just what you do when you go to Japan. We wandered around the mall for several hours and ate dinner at this place that cooked the meat right in front of you. It was pretty good but not filling at all. It had a really pretty view of the Kyoto Tower outside the window though and it was all lighted up. We then got back on the train and the subway and headed home. Walking these train stations is probably the most exhausting and confusing part. You go up stairs and then you go down stairs and then you travel down a huge hallway only to to downstairs again. And then if you have to transfer to a new train, you do it all again. And we transfered twice from Kyoto. Stairs are not my friend. On the way back to Dee's house we stopped at Life (a grocery store) to get ice cream and I learned that you bag your own groceries at a table just past the cashier's stand after you have paid. That is apparently how they keep the lines moving fast. Once we were bagged and ready we headed back to Dee's place and now I'm getting ready to collapse into bed
Facts learned about japan on Friday:
The Japanese don't listen to their own music (every store plays American singers). I think the most bizarre example of this was when we were in one of the shops at the shrine and they were playing Britney Spears.
Drunk people are weird yet coherent
Apparently bread comes after the meal
Today it actually didn't rain although we expected it to. It was incredibly windy though. We had chinese for lunch and then we went to a huge anime store in Osaka that had 4 levels. On the 4th level was the cosplay area and the "Maid Cafe". This Cafe was called "Mother Cafe" and all the waitresses are dressed up as Maids and there is a Butler there as well taking care of the shop. The maids were dressed in either a bright green or orange maid outfit. There was no photography allowed because apparently some people like to take pictures and try and make porn out of it. The purpose of a Maid Cafe is basically to (as Dee puts it) "Make otaku guys feel better about themselves." The maids were all really nice and Several came over and talked about anime and stuff with Dee. Then they got onto cosplay and Dee told them I did that and they wanted pictures but all I had was video of one of the skits we had done. so I showed them that and they got very excited and carried the camera around showing all the maids. After we were done eating our cake we headed over to the covered shopping center that I had visited on Monday. Dee bought some shoes and a shirt and then we went into one of the game stores and got pictures taken in one of the photo booths that are in there. We headed across the street where we ate at a garlic restaurant. Basically all the food is prepared in, covered in garlic. We head steak and that was really good. And the garlic bread had about an inch of garlic and butter on it but it was also really good (even though it didn't come until we were done with our steak). Luckily they give you mint gum to chew when you are done. As we were waiting for the subway a drunk old man came by and said my hair was pretty and then proceeded to talk to Dee about various things. then he followed us and loomed over us as we sat on the subway. Then he sat next to me and continued his conversation with Dee which she said involved something about how the closer you are the equator or the sun, the lighter your skin and hair color are. He finally staggered off at one stop..then got back on the train..only to stagger off again. The doors shut and he couldn't come on a second time though which we thought was good. Dee was worried he would follow us home. And that was our day.
Oh and the restaurant we ate at yesterday was called "Cock-a-doodle-do" only in Japanese.
Things learned in Japan on Saturday
Even if you think you have enough money, you never do (i blame all the traveling)
Pepsi does exist in Japan...but it is locked away in a place you cannot get to
Today we headed to Kyoubashi..I think thats what it is called and Abenobashi station to wander around and..of course..go shopping. We woke up late and were both pretty tired so we didn't have much of an idea of what to do today. So we decided to just head back to some places we had already been. Abenobashi was new but we didn't stay very long because there wasn't much to do. We did eat lunch and then head to a cafe where once again people were dressed as Maids, but dee said it wasn't that type of cafe...that they were dressed like maids for some reason. I had vanilla ice cream but Dee had some strange raspberry cake. Eventually we headed back to Namba Parks and actually climbed our way up to the park part of this mall. Its a really nice place to sit and eat or just relax. Lots of different levels of trees and flowers and benches to sit on. there was even a helicopter pad for when famous people come to the mall. We sat around up there enjoying the weather for awhile before heading downstairs since there was some things that Dee needed to get. Then we headed up to the arcade where we took more fun pictures of ourselves being rediculous. After that we went to a chicken restaurant but sadly they were out of the chicken that Dee wanted us to get so we each got something different. Mine was grilled chicken with a honey mustard type sauce on it. It was pretty good. It was almost ten by then so we figured we had better try and head home since the trains stop around ten.
I found a Pepsi machine but alas..it is behind a curtain and guarded by security cameras. It is sad.
Things learned in Japan on Sunday:
Butts are fun and should be on Mahjoung tiles
Take scissors to a t-shirt and you can create high end fashion
Subway stations are what B movie horror flicks are made of. Ones even Ed Wood would be proud of.
Today was a bit of a slow day as we tried to relax before getting up really early tomorrow. We headed up to Namba parks again and got some dessert before hitting up a couple stores. there was some things that Dee needed to get there and at DenDen town which is the next street over. So we got what she needed, played with the capsule ball machines which included one with Mahjoung Butts. Then as we were heading back through Namba parks to get to the subway there was a designer from San Fransisco doing a show. He had the model out on the end of the runway and using scissors he cut away at the back of the t-shirt she was wearing to make something completely new and "trendy". Then the next model came up and he repeated the process of turning an ordinary t-shirt into something he can charge $100 for. Now Dee is cooking pork roast and vegetables and rice and we are going to have dinner soon. It was just a nice easy day. I have to go organize my two suitcases and see how we do on weight. but that is all from Japan!
And on Monday I flew out (thankfully my suitcases were not heavy enough to cause issues). The flight from Japan to Detroit was long but I managed to sleep through most of it. I was by the window so it was easier for me to get comfortable then it was on the flight up. Though the guy in front of me was really irritating with his seat, I wanted to smack him on the head. Once in Detroit I made it through customs and got my backs rechecked without any issues. It took about an hour to do everything since there were lines. As I was heading up to the terminal I noticed there was a 2PM flight to Greensboro and I was really irritated that I would have to wait for a 7PM flight when one was leaving in just a few minutes. But I headed upstairs and dozed in the terminal on some comfy chairs and read some manga to kill my 7 hour layover. It actually wasn't that bad. My flight back was short but I almost had a heart attack when I went to baggage claim. All the bags came out..the turnstyle belt thingy stopped moving and my two suitcases were no where to be found. I nearly died right on the spot. I scurried over to a corner where some were sitting and happened to look inside a little room that a guy was working in and lo and behold right in from of his desk were my babies! I rushed into the room and practically hugged the suitcases. Apparently they had arrived earlier in the day (THEY probably got to ride on the 2 o'clock flight..lucky bastards..) But once my bags were collected I happilly dragged them upstairs where my parents picked me up and took me home.
ANd that ladies and gentlemen was Japan.
I just have to remember to recruit a table watcher but I think Pam said her and Cat were free at that time to sit there.
Anyway, so you all wanted to hear about Japan yes? Well guess what. You get the appreviated Tohma conversation version. Basically these are the letters that I sent to my father each day explaining my activities. I'll be honest..I don't remember what stores or streets or crap I went in, nor do i think you really care. So these are the more fun "What was interesting to me" type descriptions of my days. Let me tell you..they can be a bit random and yes..I do discussing peeing and toilets so BE PREPARED XD. Keep in mind I have copied these directly from the emails I sent so they are in present tense. Anyway..here we go!
Fun Japanese Facts learned on Monday:
Did you know there is a KFC on every corner? Yet I have only seen one Starbucks.
There really is NO plain Pepsi...Pepsi twist and Pepsi zero. Hurray for Coke
As complicated as it looks...nagivating the subway alone when you know absolutly zero Japanese really isn't that hard. Hurray for Maps
So today while Dee worked I went out on my own and wandered around a shopping district that would put even the largest of American malls to shame. I managed to survive subway travel on my own (even with a transfer). I have seen two of the major fashion trends of Japan (Lolita and Fruits) in person and got pictures of a river that I crossed over as I was moving from one shopping area to another. Game stores are EVERYWHERE and when I say game..I mean arcades and claw machines. The biggest arcade game that I saw being played in every one I went in: Derby challenger or something like that. YOu actually compete against other people in raising and racing..race horses. It was..interesting. You'd be surprised but business men were even in there playing these arcade games. Oh, and I got very excited to see an Initial D 4 racing game. I resisted playing it and looking like an idiot. Went into a DVD store and saw a sign saying that Sweeny Todd doesn't come out until June here. Oh did I mention Dee has a modified Japanese toilet? Yeah...its a western toilet..yet...not. I took a picture. Its cramped, its hard to use...it will make our bathroom look like a million bucks.
Fun Facts about Japan learned on Tuesday:
There are good deals if you know where to look for them. As long as it isn't clothes its cheaper in Japan!
Remote control cars...don't necessarily need the remote control
Everything closes at North Carolina time. You are out by 8PM OR ELSE
Today was spent shopping in DenDen town. Basically if you need something electronic..this is the place you go. Not to mention if you want anything anime/video game/figure related, this place has not one..not two...not three...but sometimes up to five different places all selling the same type of thing. Not only that but there are four levels to each building, each one housing a different type of product. I'm so tired of stairs and escalators. Took a break halfway down the street to get a drink at McDonalds. Watered down Coke tastes the same no matter what country you are in. Went in one store that focused on models and official racing remote control cars. Talk about some sleek looking vehicles. Real life drifting cars in tiny tiny remote control size. Then there was a track in the back and all these guys did was set these tiny cars on the track and they took off flying. I've never seen tiny cars go as fast as these were going. IT was great when one would go shooting off the track and go flying across the room. We finally found the doll store that Pam wanted a stamp from (Volks). I got the stamp but tell her she is crazy if she thinks I am buying her a $220 headless doll body. I didn't realize that was what I was looking for until I truely started to decipher her handwriting. And that doll store..was 90% for female dolls. There was literally nothing I could see for her dolls and they really didn't sell much. It was more like a big gallery. Anyway, after 7 hours of walking up and down these many many stores we headed towards Namba Park to get some dinner. Now Namba Park...is not a park but rather a big department store...well not really just one store but many stores. So more like a multi leveled mall. The 6th floor is basically all restaurants and we stopped at the Hawaiian Burger Place and ate hamburgers. I'm really living up the japanese lifestyle. Hey, I'm sleeping on the floor and using a "Westernized" Japanese toilet. Isn't that enough? After dinner we basically had to leave because everything was shutting down. It wasn't yet 9PM but apparently that is the evacuation time since the escalators were being shut off. So we headed home and now it is time to sleep and get ready for the next day of adventure.
Things learned about Japan on Wednesday:
Just because you request a take-out box..doesn't mean you'll get to keep your leftovers
Gremlins are back and this time the toys have the ability to reproduce small balls of fur with ears
Peeing in a hole is not fun
Japanese women do not want others to hear them pee
Today involved more shopping and a whole lot of walking...much much walking. We visited Mandarake (an anime store) and after wandering around there for a few hours (again, a multi level building) we headed towards Hap 5, a large shopping mall type center to pick up Dee's pants from The Gap. FIrst we headed up to the 6th floor where apparently the only western toilet existed in the whole building. Unfortunetly for us it seemed that it was occupied...permanently. We waited...and waited...and waited...and finally Dee gave up and went to pee in a hole. I convinced myself I did not have to go to the bathroom but after stopping for a Coke at a shop a few feet away, decided there was no avoiding it. And went back to the bathroom with the hopes of finding the stall finally free...but alas. Someone was apparently living in there. So I had to pee in a hole. In fear of perhaps wetting myself accidently I completely removed all clothing below the waist...I can see no other way of doing this procedure. After a little while in this mall we headed over to the Loft (another multi story mall) for more shopping. On the way we stopped at a large toy store where there was a Gizmo toy that actually popped little gremlin hair balls out its back. I was amused. Anyway, we headed to the next mall. The excellent thing about this mall. All the toilets were western. And heated seats which are like heaven for your butt. And little remote control buttons that could either give you butt a soothing splash of water, release a lovely scent to cover any nasty oder you may produce, and the best part...create a flushing noise so that the people in the stalls around you can not hear you pee. After the bathroom of the future we wandered around the mall and then headed on the longest walk i have ever taken in my life. I have crossed half of Japan..and all for the sake of the Outback Steakhouse. The dinner was excellent and all the servers were actually speaking in english, but when Dee asked for a box for her meal, the plate was taken...and never came back. When questioned the waitress appologized and ran away to talk to the manager. Apparently take out box=trash can. And instead of just taking off something from the bill (She really had only eaten about a 1/3 of her steak) they completely cooked her a new meal. So with meal finally in hand we headed home to call it a day.
So today was basically about toilets and I have obtained some excellent stickers that also fit into that category.
Things learned about Japan on Thursday:
Wearing masks makes you look cool
Everyone carries an umbrella in preparation of a freak rainstorm
Everyone has an ipod
You bag your own food at the grocery store
The reason no one is fat in Japan is because you walk everywhere
Today we went to a shrine in Kyoto. The name is long and complicated and since Dee is in the shower I can't ask her what it was or how to spell it. We got lunch at an Italian Restaurant at the station (you thought NC had thin crust..holy cow. I couldn't even pick this pizza up). Anyway, first we took the subway, then we got on the train for a 40 minute ride, and then we took a bus to get to the actual shrine. Kyoto is not as close to Osaka as one might think. Anyway, we went up to the shrine and took pictures and walked around. We managed to avoid all the school children who showed up (apparently it was field trip day). We drank water from the shrine that falls down in three seperate streams from the roof of the shrine. Each stream means something different. Luck in love, friendship, or wealth I believe it was. But Dee couldn't remember which one was which so we just drank from one. We now have luck in...something. We wandered around the shrine and then down the main street with all the shops. I managed to find the most touristy shirt ever for my boss at Cracker Barrel. And it is even in a 4L. Once we got back down to the bottom of the hill and to where the buses were, we took the bus back to Kyoto station. This was a station that had 11 floors of..you guessed it..shopping. Apparently that is just what you do when you go to Japan. We wandered around the mall for several hours and ate dinner at this place that cooked the meat right in front of you. It was pretty good but not filling at all. It had a really pretty view of the Kyoto Tower outside the window though and it was all lighted up. We then got back on the train and the subway and headed home. Walking these train stations is probably the most exhausting and confusing part. You go up stairs and then you go down stairs and then you travel down a huge hallway only to to downstairs again. And then if you have to transfer to a new train, you do it all again. And we transfered twice from Kyoto. Stairs are not my friend. On the way back to Dee's house we stopped at Life (a grocery store) to get ice cream and I learned that you bag your own groceries at a table just past the cashier's stand after you have paid. That is apparently how they keep the lines moving fast. Once we were bagged and ready we headed back to Dee's place and now I'm getting ready to collapse into bed
Facts learned about japan on Friday:
The Japanese don't listen to their own music (every store plays American singers). I think the most bizarre example of this was when we were in one of the shops at the shrine and they were playing Britney Spears.
Drunk people are weird yet coherent
Apparently bread comes after the meal
Today it actually didn't rain although we expected it to. It was incredibly windy though. We had chinese for lunch and then we went to a huge anime store in Osaka that had 4 levels. On the 4th level was the cosplay area and the "Maid Cafe". This Cafe was called "Mother Cafe" and all the waitresses are dressed up as Maids and there is a Butler there as well taking care of the shop. The maids were dressed in either a bright green or orange maid outfit. There was no photography allowed because apparently some people like to take pictures and try and make porn out of it. The purpose of a Maid Cafe is basically to (as Dee puts it) "Make otaku guys feel better about themselves." The maids were all really nice and Several came over and talked about anime and stuff with Dee. Then they got onto cosplay and Dee told them I did that and they wanted pictures but all I had was video of one of the skits we had done. so I showed them that and they got very excited and carried the camera around showing all the maids. After we were done eating our cake we headed over to the covered shopping center that I had visited on Monday. Dee bought some shoes and a shirt and then we went into one of the game stores and got pictures taken in one of the photo booths that are in there. We headed across the street where we ate at a garlic restaurant. Basically all the food is prepared in, covered in garlic. We head steak and that was really good. And the garlic bread had about an inch of garlic and butter on it but it was also really good (even though it didn't come until we were done with our steak). Luckily they give you mint gum to chew when you are done. As we were waiting for the subway a drunk old man came by and said my hair was pretty and then proceeded to talk to Dee about various things. then he followed us and loomed over us as we sat on the subway. Then he sat next to me and continued his conversation with Dee which she said involved something about how the closer you are the equator or the sun, the lighter your skin and hair color are. He finally staggered off at one stop..then got back on the train..only to stagger off again. The doors shut and he couldn't come on a second time though which we thought was good. Dee was worried he would follow us home. And that was our day.
Oh and the restaurant we ate at yesterday was called "Cock-a-doodle-do" only in Japanese.
Things learned in Japan on Saturday
Even if you think you have enough money, you never do (i blame all the traveling)
Pepsi does exist in Japan...but it is locked away in a place you cannot get to
Today we headed to Kyoubashi..I think thats what it is called and Abenobashi station to wander around and..of course..go shopping. We woke up late and were both pretty tired so we didn't have much of an idea of what to do today. So we decided to just head back to some places we had already been. Abenobashi was new but we didn't stay very long because there wasn't much to do. We did eat lunch and then head to a cafe where once again people were dressed as Maids, but dee said it wasn't that type of cafe...that they were dressed like maids for some reason. I had vanilla ice cream but Dee had some strange raspberry cake. Eventually we headed back to Namba Parks and actually climbed our way up to the park part of this mall. Its a really nice place to sit and eat or just relax. Lots of different levels of trees and flowers and benches to sit on. there was even a helicopter pad for when famous people come to the mall. We sat around up there enjoying the weather for awhile before heading downstairs since there was some things that Dee needed to get. Then we headed up to the arcade where we took more fun pictures of ourselves being rediculous. After that we went to a chicken restaurant but sadly they were out of the chicken that Dee wanted us to get so we each got something different. Mine was grilled chicken with a honey mustard type sauce on it. It was pretty good. It was almost ten by then so we figured we had better try and head home since the trains stop around ten.
I found a Pepsi machine but alas..it is behind a curtain and guarded by security cameras. It is sad.
Things learned in Japan on Sunday:
Butts are fun and should be on Mahjoung tiles
Take scissors to a t-shirt and you can create high end fashion
Subway stations are what B movie horror flicks are made of. Ones even Ed Wood would be proud of.
Today was a bit of a slow day as we tried to relax before getting up really early tomorrow. We headed up to Namba parks again and got some dessert before hitting up a couple stores. there was some things that Dee needed to get there and at DenDen town which is the next street over. So we got what she needed, played with the capsule ball machines which included one with Mahjoung Butts. Then as we were heading back through Namba parks to get to the subway there was a designer from San Fransisco doing a show. He had the model out on the end of the runway and using scissors he cut away at the back of the t-shirt she was wearing to make something completely new and "trendy". Then the next model came up and he repeated the process of turning an ordinary t-shirt into something he can charge $100 for. Now Dee is cooking pork roast and vegetables and rice and we are going to have dinner soon. It was just a nice easy day. I have to go organize my two suitcases and see how we do on weight. but that is all from Japan!
And on Monday I flew out (thankfully my suitcases were not heavy enough to cause issues). The flight from Japan to Detroit was long but I managed to sleep through most of it. I was by the window so it was easier for me to get comfortable then it was on the flight up. Though the guy in front of me was really irritating with his seat, I wanted to smack him on the head. Once in Detroit I made it through customs and got my backs rechecked without any issues. It took about an hour to do everything since there were lines. As I was heading up to the terminal I noticed there was a 2PM flight to Greensboro and I was really irritated that I would have to wait for a 7PM flight when one was leaving in just a few minutes. But I headed upstairs and dozed in the terminal on some comfy chairs and read some manga to kill my 7 hour layover. It actually wasn't that bad. My flight back was short but I almost had a heart attack when I went to baggage claim. All the bags came out..the turnstyle belt thingy stopped moving and my two suitcases were no where to be found. I nearly died right on the spot. I scurried over to a corner where some were sitting and happened to look inside a little room that a guy was working in and lo and behold right in from of his desk were my babies! I rushed into the room and practically hugged the suitcases. Apparently they had arrived earlier in the day (THEY probably got to ride on the 2 o'clock flight..lucky bastards..) But once my bags were collected I happilly dragged them upstairs where my parents picked me up and took me home.
ANd that ladies and gentlemen was Japan.
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i fear the toilets for when we visit japan >_<
and it amuses me that there really is a place called abenobashi. that was a good anime XD
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torturous!
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also, am I dreaming or have you been to Japan before? I really thought you had so I was surprised you found the toilets new and stuff.
Awesome
I don't know if Dee took you to the 298 "chicken king" izakaya for any of your meals, but that's the first place I would want to eat on a return trip. ^_^
Hey, at least we got a Western-style toilet seat for the house. We could have left it as a hole in the ground. XD You didn't happen to see our infamous, crazy foreigner-hating neighbor, did you? (Though I'm sure you saw her fortress next to the house.)