Tokyo

Ok, so these aren't all of the photos, obviously, but its a few, and I don't have time for more now, gomen!!!!! (sorry). Tokyo was awesome amounts of fun, however... I like Osaka better. Tokyo had an attitude I wasn't too fond of. Also, despite how big Osaka is, Tokyo is bigger, and that was a tad too overwhelming. My darling tomodachi (friend) Caitlin and I took a night bus to Tokyo on Thursday night, so we got to Tokyo on Friday morning cramped and sleepy. We stayed in a hostel in Shinjuku all three nights we were there. It was really nice actually, the beds were wonderful, but I forgot to take a photo of them, bugger. Anyway, photos: Giant Kitty-chan in Shinjuku. The first 6 photos are from Shinjuku. Shinjuku includes the gay club area (Shinjuku 2-chome) and the host/hostess club area (Kabukicho). Lots of big buildings. The man standing in a sea of movement is a host. The women in the sign with a 24 were very very drunk young ladies being highly amusing in the street. This was Friday night. On Saturday we went to Akihabara, the otaku area, so anime, manga, video games, and electronics galore. The next 7 photos are of that area. The funny billboard is supposed to be an animated version of the prime minister. Everything was big, colorful, and involved anime characters. There was an awesome area that was like a maze, it was under a building and each little corridor was lined with booths selling every tiny piece of an electronic you could imagine. You could have bought everything to make a computer from scratch, for cheap too. I found it all incredible, sadly I don't know enough about electronics to fully appreciate it. The next 15 photos are of Harajuku!!!!!! Yes I freaked out while I was there, as you all were expecting. It was impossible to take photos because the crowds were so big and the street was so small, I couldn't find anywhere good to just stand/sit and snap shots. Oh well. Takeshita street was the best area... rows and rows of street fashion stores etc. The square bridge area is the famous Harajuku bridge! And the Nice boy with the Free Hugs sign was standing on said bridge, so I gave him a hug... to which he said "arigato gozaimasu"... erm I was confused by this because it is a rather polite for of thank you very much, and I have no idea why I needed to be thanked. Whatever. Street fashion is awesome, ne? Next 6 are from that night. We had dinner with another girl that goes to our school and goes to Caitlin's home school, plus a Japanese boy who graduated from their home school. We ate shark cartilage in plum sauce, surprisingly tasty, but very odd consistency. His name is Yoshi Suzuki, and after dinner he took us to a locals club/lounge in Roppongi (foreigner area). That was all around hilarious and wonderful. There was a bed in the middle of the club, which in fact is where we hung out. The Japanese kids were doing a famous dance from the 90's which involves standing on a stage/box and waving a fan back an forth. Hilarious. Also, I now have the business card of a piercer in Tokyo and a picture of my face is now probably in some piercing parlor. Of course, famous Tokyo Tower. The next morning, Monday, we went to Ueno, the historic/museum area. We went to the zooooooo! Oh, and had green tea lattes. So, more temple type structures, lots of cute animals, including a capibara which I am obsessed with (long story), and very nice kouyou (fall colors) in front of one of the museums. There were really cool street markets there too, but it was pouring rain at that point, so no pictures. Last but not least, to avoid the rain we went to karaoke! This place was crazy fancy, there were black lights, lasers, shiny things, and the pictures on the walls all lit up when you sang. Then another night bus home, which but us in Kyoto at 6am, then we went straight to school... you can bet I was passed out in the lounge between classes. This weekend is a J-rock concert, Kyoto, and maybe Osaka-jo.