Toyoko Inn Chiba Ekimae

... her mental capacities, so she was worried. Kaoru and her mom brought sweets, I forgot the bead that Chuck had given me to give to her (Kaoru says she will get it to her, don't worry Chuck!) so we trundled off on the 40 minute commute. It was raining (again!) so Kiku's brother picked us up at the station. It was quite rural... not like Branch, MN rural, but we were definitely not in Tokyo anymore. Her uncle is a principal at an ...

... the 'hold doors open' button - I know that one and press it all the time along with the 'close doors' button which btw looks exactly like a person trying to open doors, so I often mistakenly mix those up as well). Nothing happened except the lights kept flashing and the doors stayed open. I was frightened by what I had done so I ran off the elevator and hid in the kitchen, hoping the elevator would eventually close its doors and work again. I was actually scared that I ...

... and gotten married to a Canadian -- a Canadian Japanese that is. He told us that he would never allow his daughter to marry a non-Japanese! Despite that, it was an interesting co-incidence that this fellow had a connection to Canada. The okonomiaki at this restaurant were excellent, despite the first pancake basically looking like a pile of very fresh vomit! This particular pancake was actually a special dish that is ...

... woman, who happen to be togeth**, and started talking to them (names w**e Nuri and Muri I believe)...they told us they had just come from watching Stomp, (the broadway show), and then I got the bright idea, with much help from my friend, Sake, to tell them that Ravneet is a big Indian movie star, and how in India people go mad aft** h** in the public but how in Japan things are so much more silent. HA HA HA. And of course, they believed us. It was amazing. They even took photos of ...

... the first thing you see is Ueno Park. Ueno Park is home of the National Museum that displays Japanese art dating all the way to the 3rd century. I'm not a big fan of art museums, but I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did! So much beautiful art, from so many time periods, are really breath taking. If your ever in Tokyo, you have got to see ...

... graves of 47 Samurai. It was an interesting place with an interesting story behind it, there was also a little museum showing various artefacts from the period, telling the story along the way. When I was done there I headed back to the Subway and made for the Yebisu Garden Palace which, amongst other things, is home to the Yebisu Beer Museum. Unfortunately for me, it appears a great deal of museums are closed on Mondays! I wasn't too bothered though...was ...

... in Kiriyu." A: "Oh?? When??" M: "Oh, within the last 5 years." A: *frowning* "Not.... Stuart?" M: *JAW DROPS* *Starts laughing* How cool is that? How random is that? LOL Cracked me up as well. It was nice to pull an all nighter again, I always have fun when I do that in Japan. Was great to see Mike again. He's one of the few I've actually kept in regular contact with.. and makes me actually want to pull my socks up in keeping touch with other people.

... the museum of the shrine. I took a lot of notes here from various quotes that were written at the exhibits. Although the vast majority of the museum was in Japanese, there were many smaller English explanations beneath pictures and maps and other exhibits. I tried very hard to ignore any knowledge I had of the controversy surrounding this shrine and focus instead on just experiencing this part of history from this ...

... this small little pool. Frances, Karina, and I were eating food in the rest area where these guys started talking to us. We danced with them for a bit. But Japanese guys are really passive. It is weird. We left the club at like 4ish. There were big greyhound buses that take people back to Shibuya.

... for about $100,000 per square meter. The tall buildings were adorned with huge movie screens and strips of neon signs. An interesting place to see, but nobody bought anything. A cup of coffee there can cost more than $10, and the food prices made me shudder. Night fell, and last on the whirlwind tour was Ikebukuro, another shopping district and home of "Sunshine City," a giant mall complex that really is like its own small city. Here we split. The girls ...