Urban Hotel Sanko Chiba

... lots of blacklight and other simple effects. When Tokyo Disneyland decided to build one, they gave the Imagineers at Disney a blank check and said “make us something cool.” The result is a child’s ride, but unlike any theme park ride you’ve ever been on. The attraction is essentially one big building with little GPS like grids laid into the floor. Once you board your vehicle, the computer takes over and drives you wherever it ...

... of a market teaching children about the dangers of the world centuries ago. I couldn't follow much of his story, but it was fun to guess which parts were... shall we say, enhanced a bit? Eventually he went away, and Obasan explained that she hadn't seen him in years (he was surprised to see Kaoru and Kiku too) but having him in the house was like having a typhoon come in! The family chatted on, Obasan brought out pictures, telling ...

... I've also learned something new this morning that is very disappointing -- the Kodak digital camera that I have is incompatible with my mini laptop. The laptop runs on a Linux operating system and no Kodak cameras run on Linux thus I can't transfer the photos that we are taking. I'll update the travel blog with photos once I get to Toyama and have access to a Windows computer. Pitty... Now -- time to go out to Ginza and do some shopping!

... run out of bubbles to pop), animal spray bottle covers, and the fuk fuk chair! (probably not intended for how it sounds... probably) The best attraction of all was yet to come however. In space-starved Tokyo it's really hard to keep a pet, there's not a lot of space and this super-metropolis doesn't really lend itself to happy animal ...

... the first smart thing to do would be to find the location *so we'd know For Sure* where the bus was leaving from when we would ride back to Osaka that Tuesday night. So, we walked under the streets through the subway tunnels ( I had never seen a part of Japan that had litter--actual litter, obviously on the street in plain view!--and homeless men until I came to Tokyo. It was very.. unnerving. Tokyo is much more like an international city.) So, we surfaced in the Business district ...

... small world!). When we stepped out of the bar it was raining again, oops! Fish and Tea before we Leave On our last day we were blessed with some sun, yeah! We decided to see the largest fish market in Japan and explore a park before returning to Korea. As usual, we showed up entirely too late for the fish market. Tsukiji market is a crazy place at 5 a.m., selling massive tuna by auction, and any other ...

... hall seems barbaric to you. - You are no longer fazed by the fact that street addresses mean nothing to anyone except possibly post office employees and delivery services - you just want to know which is the closest train or subway station and have the route mapped out from there. - You automatically separate your trash: recyclable, burnable and non-burnable. - You no longer think "Japanese people speak like anime characters!" Instead ...

Konbanwa! =] I've arrived safely in Japan, which is a wonderful feeling! My air travel was really smooth, gentle flights and no hang-ups in the airports or customs. I met some other Japan Study students on my flight from Chicago to Narita, which was nice. I even sat next to another student on the plane. We all met in the airport at Narita, where we spent a long time changing money and exploring, but mostly sitting around while we waited for other flights to ...

... I was disappointed again (but also slightly relieved) in that I never got to use my little Japanese at check-in as they knew who I was straight away before I could even get out a konnichiwa never mind a con-neeh-e-wa in my less than perfect Japanese pronunciation. A Ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn so you have to remove your shoes at the door and put on the slippers provided while inside shuffling around like Grandpa ...

... good band, with both a male and female singer. The male, was very David Byrne, Talking Heads sounding and the woman was very Siouxsie Sioux. Good band. We bided our time drinking and watching another band, pronounced Mew but I don't think that was the spelling. Anyways, finally the first band I wanted to see came on; The Tears. Now I love Suede and The Tears aren't that bad. They've just started so I'll give them some time. However Brett Anderson just looked amazing ...