Blue Wave Inn Asakusa Taito

... except for a nasty mosquito bite I didn’t take anything with me.

We hopped on the Metro and headed towards the National Diet. I knew it! There had to be a reason everyone is so skinny here! Wait, what? Oh, apparently the Diet is the capital building. Elizabeth’s gnome made an appearance, so we chatted with him for a minute and got a picture before he had to run off again.

While we were in that part of town, we stopped at ...

... which made us both feel a little uncomfortable (and myself rather sick, especially as we'd yet to have any breakfast to settle the stomach) was a table of white flat fish with their necks slit, tails chopped off who were still wriggling around. Was a little too much to handle before 9 in the morning so shortly after that we made a quick exit! Taking the subway again to Rappongi Hills which is a huge centre in which there are shops, restaurants ...

... the lovely lady who was clearly marvelling again at the size of our bags, and thought us slightly mad heading out into the snow. Had a few scary moments of icy roads, thinking, 'oh god, I do not want to fall over with this humungo bag on!' It was a holiday weekend (apparently akin to thanksgiving we later found out from the Kato's) so the train was packed and we couldn't get seats ...

... sits on the 2nd floor of a large mall. We wander round the exhibition showing a history of Japanese decorative wares, from ancient pottery to lacquerware and Kabuki costumes. The variety is striking, and a cabinet full of ornately decorated snuff boxes, combs and other items shows off the rich history. 'Galleried out', we head to a coffee shop and enjoy the early evening in the park outside. On Sunday, I head to Akihibara searching for an electronic dictionary. On leaving the ...

... hat he had just purchased on the monorail and at through DisneySea, which garnered some interesting looks. I guess you could say we were now in our element - me in my Pluto ears, Steve in his Mickey pirate hat running around in the now familiar park, riding the best rides, eating at the coolest places and generally mucking around.



A break was had in the early afternoon to check in to the Ambassador Hotel, earning us a room number. Sure enough our bags had made it from ...

... bit of a rip. At least the bread was perfect squares. And I got jam. Unlimited jam, actually. It was pretty sweet. First stop was Ueno, a major part of Tokyo. I got out of the station looking for Ameyoko - a former black market that formed after WW2 with all the American soldiers in town. In recent years it was cleaned up but continues to be a popular destination for bargain hunters on the weekends. Ameyoko was supposed to be right ...

... Mongolian, Thai, Korean, Himalayan at "Australia House" of all places, Chinese, Mexican, Danish & we had a little Japanese in there somewhere. Simon was happy once we had a plate of sushi in front us... but no one was brave enough to eat the fish head, despite the urging of some colourful locals that had just polished one off - eyeballs and all!

... gennemfoert. Der var endda saadan en gammel amerikansk bil med surfboards ovenpaa. Der var ogsaa surfboards i loftet, retro amr. cola og tank skilte og hoej amerikansk musik bestaende af Copacabana, Beach Boys og andet. Generelt er det meget amerikansk musik fra 60'erne der bliver spillet rundt i butikker og restauranter. Beatles osv. Det er ligesom om de ikke er kommet videre, tror det er saadan vestlig musik lyder. Det er altid sjovt og total modsaetningsfuldt naar man er i ...

... that we'll try to upload shortly. The park is also home to the Meiji Shrine, the most famous Shinto shrine in Tokyo and actually the location for Emi and Hissa's wedding. The 15 minute walk into the shrine was especially beautiful today with snow covering the massive trees that line the walkway. Again, pictures to come. After exiting the park and taking anoher round of photos of the "freaks" out front, we checked out Harajuku's 2 ...

... I wanted Takahito and Katsuya.. I gave Takahito level up 2 and Katsuya level up 1.. my going away present to them... The lesson I gave Katsuya the level up for was Takahito's last level 6 lesson and Katsuya said to me.. "I'm not worried.. I'll see him soon." and I thought yeah you will.. and gave him level up that lesson.. To go up a level they need a level up 1 from one teacher and the next teacher either denies or agrees and then they either never know ...