Hotel New Otani Makuhari Chiba

... get the general idea.)

The main entrance to the park (here called “World Bizarre”) had a giant bamboo tree right in the center for the occasion, so Elizabeth and I took the opportunity to write our own wishes and hang them with the others. (When in Rome...) Later in the day, Mickey and the gang held a special Tanabata parade through the park wearing their kimonos. Pretty cool.

Several attractions were open early for resort ...

... through Kaoru). Then went on to lift what I thought was a table cloth, but turned out to be a lap blanket that was attached to the table. Everyone started explaining that I should put my legs under, and I was delighted to find a sunken area below the table that was also HEATED! I think if I had a table like this for MN winters, no one would EVER leave my dinner table. They had ordered in a gorgeous spread, with sushi and soups ...

Y me quede solita en Tokyo... al principio me dedique a no hacer nada. Descansar, asistir a alguna sesion de meditacion y leer. En cuanto estuve de nuevo con energia volvi a la carga a hacer cosas que todavia tenia pendientes, como fotos en el parque de Ueno, el museo de fotografia en Ebisu y pasar un dia por mi barrio, Asakusa, que tiene un templo precioso y mucha vida. Todavia me acuerdo de una tarde, despues de ir al parque, meterme en un Onsen en el barrio y ...

I didn't expect my travels to Japan to be so easy. I flew NW from Austin to Detroit and Detroit to Japan. No delays, no bad weather... just a great flight. When I got to NRT airport, I was astounded by the politeness and efficiency of the staff. There was literally no line for customs, and I need to die of shock for a second time; both of my bags came off the carousel TOGETHER! I picked up my bags, exchanged some money and bought ...

... time, she was fine with me but she is a little quiet. We played a card game trump and then a Japanese card game called Karuta in which Kuruta cards has Japanese characters written on them. A person will read a proverb written on a seperate card which features the sound of a Japanese character. The 2 players have to scan the cards and then grab the card featuring that character. It was me vs. the 4 year old girl, Manaka and I lost. I ...

... he had many neat things to say and answ**ed all of our questions. Taka had actually lived in Arkansas for a time and will shortly be traveling to Arkansas again to meet the new gov**nor, Mike Beebe. I felt sorry because I think we ran him late for a lat** meeting. Aft** thanking Taka, Stephen, Aaron, Cailtin, and I went to a restaurant named Samnatra to eat Indian food. A fan of Indian cuisine, I indulged in a meal of lamb vindaloo ...

... screens as well. On entering the building you choose the room from a selection on the wall. Then pay for it with a card. There is generally no human interaction as its all automated. The lift then drops you off at the right floor and lights (think airplane aisle lights) guide you to your room. Once inside you can't leave. But there is a vending machine. In the maching you can ...

... tables at a restaurant at the Iowa State Fair and spent all of my hard-earned $300.00 on phone calls to him. But our sadness permeates this trip and the joy and excitement I had hoped for has been replaced with breaking hearts and pain. Our theme of ill-fate almost got the best of us on our initial air flight. While we left Portland at 8:00 am to drive to Seattle and make our 2:45 flight, a wrong ...

... translate! The "pet store" section of the department store was rather bizarre. Well, at least to ME it was. Instead of cute dogs, cats and pocket pets...they were selling BEETLES. Smelly, gigantic scarab beetles. YUM. Although...I did briefly consider buying a quartet and naming them Paul, John, George and Ringo. *Snicker*. One of the things that is really popular in Japan is fake food displays. Most ...

... and have their pictures taken with them (or maybe they do it for fun - who knows). SO we did our duty and answered "where are you from?", "what is your name?", and "what is your favorite sport?" (Kristy said "Yoga" and they said "Basketball!") Then on to a shrine with a giant Buddha. There seems to be a real ******* match in Asia about who has the biggest Buddha, or who has the oldest Buddha, or who's Buddha has the most divine expression, etc. Sort of like ...