Giraffes (0)
11:09 PM by , under Internship at Major League Baseball in Tokyo, Japan, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Tokyo Dome
On March 25th my mom and eldest sister arrived in Tokyo as I was wrapping up my internship at MLB. It meant a lot to me that they dedicated a lot of their time and money to coming and seeing me. Japan has become a major part of my life since first coming here as a high school exchange student in 2002. I was proud to show them around and be their guide and translator.
I was so busy the day they came that I didn't even have time to pick them up at the airport. I gave them instructions on how to get to the city (some 40 miles from the Tokyo) by way of a bus. Somehow they were able to get to their hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, but before they had any time to even settle down after a very long journey I was calling them from my office telling them to take a taxi to the Tokyo Dome because I had some free seats for them. They came and we met up on the street by the dome. It was very nice to see them because I hadn't seen my sister since September, and my mom since August. It was surreal seeing them there because I had never had people ever make the jump from my California life to my Japan life. Seeing them come out of the taxi at the dome was like being on a walk in a redwood forest and bumping into two giraffes. In that way it was sort of dream-like, and surreal.
Pictures taken in front of Tokyo Dome
We had a little time to watch the game together and have some food. They were already in shock as to how big Tokyo is. After the game I helped them buy commuter passes and got them on the right train back to their hotel.
In stadiums in Japan, pretty girls walk around, dressed in neon, wearing kegs of beer on their backs. They thought this was great!
Sometimes (even in the Tokyo Dome) you open the door in a bathroom stall to this:
(a "squatter")
Understand the train system yet?
Super toilet (in the hotel)
Much needed rest in their western style hotel
The next day they had to themselves. I really like the pictures they took as nothing here seems very unique to me anymore. Their perspective of this city made me appreciate it slightly more. That night I gave them, Miho, and her parents tickets to the final Boston versus Oakland game.
These were all taken in the Shinjuku district
Right before the second game
Finally, the following day around 3PM I finished my work and was able to commit my time to being with my visiting family. Rhea and I went to Ueno Park and the busy shopping areas in that part of town. Her camera died and so we didn't get any good photos of the awesome cherry blossoms that lined the walkways of the park. We went back to Shinjuku to check on our resting mother and to meet up with Miho for dinner. We went out for pizza in a shopping center below ground in one of the busiest parts of Shinjuku.
Brick oven pizza
Rhea was impressed with the beer in the vending machine
Fun art in their hotel's lobby
To be continued.
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