Snowy day on Fuji!

One more picture from Japan! :) Like I posted earlier, I met up with my friend Sarah and a friend of hers last Saturday near Fuji. It was so fun, but snowy (luckily, Audry brought lots of cold weather wear--like the Arizona State shirt and NYPD hat I am wearing)! It was the most snow I have seen this year! I just wanted to post this last Japan picture--good memories, great day! :)

I heart TOkyO!

Sunday, I ventured out into the city on my own for the first time! I went to the observatory at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. After being zipped up to the 45 floor at an ear-popping pace, I stepped out of the elevator to a 360 degree view of the city! On a clear day, visitors can see Mt. Fuji, but I didn't see anything but the tops of a bunch of buildings.

This is a picture of the inside of the subway station. I had to figure out where I was going in Japanese, purchase the correct ticket, then begin the daunting task of finding the correct platform! Luckily, I didn't get on the wrong train (I have become quite the navigator in the past years)! I headed to Harajuku to see the costume-play (and the girls from Gwen Steffani's song). Local teens dress up like Bo-peep, Frankenstein's bride, and other characters, and hang out on the bridge near the train station for the tourists. This girl posed for pictures as well as any celebrity I've ever seen!

These funky teens got a band together and played a few tunes in the park. I was so distracted by their appearance that I can't tell you how they sounded!

And, finally, I stumbled into a park in the middle of the city. Across from the park entrance, there was a Thai festival going on. I managed to make my way to the food stalls for a large portion of Pad Thai for 300 Yen! It was too crowded to do much else, so I went back to the station.


The rest of the evening was spent wandering through this neon jungle of a city, seeing the last few sights I hadn't had the chance to get to yet, dinner with friends from the hostel and prep for my trip back to Seoul in the morning! All in all, I had a great time in Japan! I would really like to go back again some day, although, I am going to bring a lot more money next time (it was REALLY expensive)! I recommend Tokyo for anyone looking to try something polar opposite of all things familiar. It is a vibrant, energetic city--I will be back Tokyo! Arigato and sayonara (I learned that from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)!

Day trip to Fuji~

This Star Wars-esque train was my ticket out of Tokyo for a fun day on Mt. Fuji! The bullet train is famous around the world, so I didn't want to miss the chance to ride on one while in Japan! This thing got me to Shin-Fuji in just 72 minutes! (I have no idea how long it would take a regular train, but it would be over 3 hours for sure!)

I met with a friend of mine, Sarah, and one of her friends for a conveyor belt sushi lunch! Each plate was 100 Yen (about $1.18USD) and I even ordered dessert through the intercom box at our table (Some choco cakey please! Arrigato!)! We finished 22 plates between the three of us!


This is the 5th station at Mt. Fuji...believe it or not, there are stairs below all that snow which lead hikers to the trail up the mountain. I guess we came at the wrong time of the year!


If you know me, you know that I LOVE ice cream! In fact, I could eat it every day and not get sick of it, but this flavor turned me off a little. Horseradish? It is also known as wasabi flavored ice cream. I didn't try that one, but did order a cone of neon purple sweet potato ice cream! Not bad...not bad.


Here is a waterfall that we went to after we realized that hiking was out of the question for the day. It looked Hawaiian to me, but was still really cold! After being outdoors for quite awhile, Sarah and I headed to an Onsen (public bathhouse) to soak the chill out of our bones! The public bathhouse is really popular in Japan and Korea and promotes 'oneness' and is viewed as a social leveler. Young and old come together (in gender separate rooms) to scrub down, soak and steam out toxins while spending time with friends and family.

All things Japanese...

Tokyo is a busy, crowded place! There are 12 million people and they all seemed to be in Shinjuku on Friday! The picture above shows one of those crazy crosswalks that have diagonal options as well (the only other place I have ever seen these is in New Zealand). The fashion is really interesting--in the picture below, the person on the right is a guy! He is wearing a crushed velvet, leopard print tank top, clips in his hair, and is carrying three purses/murses! I think one was his girlfriend's, but the others were his (it is common for guys to carry their girlfriend's bags in Korea, so maybe it is the same in Japan)!

I spent the day with a couple of British guys from my dorm. They invited me to spend the day walking around and seeing the city with them. They were great companions throughout the day and tried to cure me of my "terrible American accent" by teaching me funny sounding British phrases! It didn't stick--I'm American through and through and proud of it! :) During the day, we stepped into an arcade and played a few games. I tried the drums below and, I have to say, was pretty good at it!

Here is what I always pictured Tokyo to look like--I didn't see this at night, but I can only imagine what it would be like! There was always something moving, flashing, flying, beeping and buzzing--a little too much stimulation for this small town girl at times!

We finished off the night with some good, old fashioned Japanese karaoke! This was really fun for us--10 of us in a small room with two microphones and a phone book sized selection of old and new songs for our singing pleasure! I sang a duet with each of the three people in the picture: Fergie's "Glamorous" with the guy in purple (his request), Rihanna's "Umbrella" with the guy in stripes (his request), and Michael Jackson's "Beat it" with the girl sitting next to me. A great way to finish off a busy day!

First things in Tokyo...

I returned from Tokyo yesterday exhausted, dirty and feeling very content and happy! I had a really awesome time trekking around the city, meeting new people and exploring a new culture! I arrived on Thursday morning and left on Monday morning with three and a half days of Tokyo in between! I stayed at a youth hostel which was near the buildings above (and met a lot of really great people from all over the world). The hostel was located in a really traditional part of town, and I passed through this Buddhist temple on my way to the subway each day.


Japan is really fascinating in a lot of ways. I really liked the clash between the old, traditional icons and the new, modern hipsters who are changing the face of the culture. It is a strange contrast. My first afternoon in Japan was spent settling into my dorm room and exploring the surrounding area on foot. I randomly bumped into a guy who helped me find the right train at a transfer station 30 minutes from the hostel--it was strange to turn around and see him again (and no, I don't think he was following me). Thursday night was spent sitting in the common area at the hostel and talking with other backpackers! This is a little dangerous for me because I hear of all these great places I haven't been yet and start making plans to try to figure out ways to go! We all decided to get up really early and see the giant tunas being auctioned at the Tsukiji Fish Market. We had to leave really early (4:30AM) to see them before they were whisked away by buyers. This was a really fun excursion--there were mountains of octopus, rows of giant tuna and tons of other sea creatures lurking in tanks throughout the building! I read that about $15.5 million dollars of fish are sold here daily!

We followed traditional advice and treated ourselves to a VERY fresh sushimi breakfast! The meat was so delicious--the absolute best sushimi/sushi I have ever eaten, although it was a little weird to be eating it so early, and right after seeing them all piled up at the market!


I am in the left hand corner of this picture, and the rest of the people are from the hostel. Canadians, Brits, New Zealanders and a Dutch girl! It was a fun morning and we were all back in bed by 9AM for a nap! :)