Heading up the Fuji TV building at Tokyo's Odaiba island
A last second decision to go to Tokyo's Odaiba (an artificial island) on a rainy day ended up paying off very well with a beautiful rainbow. It just so happened that we had just gone around six stories up a building to an observation area to get a panoramic view when we realized the rainbow was there.
Tourist
Tour guide
Sami then gave a video update of her time in Japan
Japan's stretch of consecutive national holidays in May, known as "Golden Week," is probably the most popular time for people here to go on vacation. Flights and hotels are extremely expensive (over 10 times more to go to Guam during Golden Week according to my research), but as I have found out, the freeways become less expensive (only ten dollars to go as long as you please).
Hiking to the falls
As for Sami and I, we were taken to Nikko to go hiking with Miho's family for a day. The sky was threatening to rain all day, but we ended up having a dry day, and perfect temperatures for hiking around. I highly suggest this place as a fun day out of the city, and it can even be reached by train. Nikko is around 2.5 hours from Tokyo by car.
Last weekend Miho's family hosted Sami and I, as well as some of their friends, for a day at a park for Canon employees. We started the day setting up our shade structure, table, and chairs, and then headed to the tennis courts.
Trying to teach the forehand stroke. "Get your hand out of your pocket!"
I began by trying to teach Sami how to hit the ball. She did well, and was able to rally with the rest of us by midday. We all played games and rallied for a few hours. At one point I got to be on Miho's team but, as you'll see on this video, she was treating me like an enemy!
Miho and I after losing
The sun was shining, and Sami and I both got a little sunburned. Sometimes while Sami was taking a break she would chat with Miho's friends who were having fun practicing their English on her. From a distance it looked as if they were conversing back and forth steadily, but from up-close you could hear, and see the language barrier making things a challenge.
Time for food and drink
The barbecue was a great way to wind down after a good workout. Sami got exposed to a lot of exotic foods and was good about trying all of them.
On the first, my younger sister flew in to visit for a few weeks. We have been doing tons of stuff, but unfortunately we don't have access yet to some of the awesome pictures we took checking the scene in Harajuku, cruising the streets of Shibuya, hiking to waterfalls in Nikko, and so much more. In fact, the only pictures I have of us were taken by the photo-booth we were at today with Miho... Enjoy!
A very big thanks to Ryan for leaving his air mattress for Sami to use. When he was staying here he didn't have a pump and had to blow up the mattress with his mouth. Needless to say, it never got very firm.
A "Carpenters" advertisement found all over Tokyo these days
Probably the most eye-catching thing about this billboard isn't the obscure fact that there is a large advertising campaign going on for the Carpenters. No, regardless of who they are this picture is downright creepy, and seems like the type of portrait you would see in a haunted house! Anyway, another astonishing thing about this is how much they try to sell CDs for here in Japan. This two disc set is "on sale" for $34.00, and below it advertises a box-set for $400.00! Here in Japan music stores somehow get away with selling CDs for over $30.00 in many cases which I really find hard to believe compared to prices in the USA being usually less than $15.00 and the incredibly vast and efficient music piracy phenomena.
A strongly advertised BonJovipachinko machine
Advertisements can be seen all over Tokyo for this new pachinko machine featuring BonJovi. To begin, pachinko is a type of gaming/gambling here in Japan using a machine like the one pictured above to play a game that resembles a mixture of pinball and slot machines. There is absolutely no skill involved, as everything is computerized, and the parlors that people play pachinko at are close to what I imagine hell being like. They are noisy beyond belief, and stink of cigarette smoke, cheap alcohol, despair, and debt. People become addicted to these machines with hopes of winning prizes such as electronics or cartons of cigarettes. There is a loophole where you can sell your jackpot earnings, little metal balls, and technically profit off of this game. Congratulations BonJovi for being a part of ruining lives and essentially adding to one of the worst things about Japan.
All blogs found on this site written before 2009 have been imported from MySpace. Some may not look too pretty, and some of the pictures won't enlarge, but it is a small price to pay to not have to deal with MySpace's primitive blog setup anymore!
I recently graduated San Francisco State University. I majored in Japanese and minored in International Relations, and spent a year studying at Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University. I grew up in a very rural area of Humboldt County California. That remote setting built up a lot of ambition in me to get out and chase my dreams. Thanks for reading!
A last second decision to go to Tokyo's Odaiba (an artificial island) on a rainy day ended up paying off very well with a beautiful rainbow. It just so happened that we had just gone around six stories up a building to an observation area to get a panoramic view when we realized the rainbow was there.
