Rain, sun, rain. =) See the pattern?

So yesterday was sunny and today is rainy. Guess the weather for tomorrow? =)

Yesterday, mother and I decided to wander the streets of Shinjuku. We went through a park 「公園」 and saw black mosquitoes. o_o; I was bitten by one and damn, lol. They're ugly. I also saw giant spider webs with giant spiders on them. The one I saw was bright yellow and banded. We also stopped by a shrine in the park. We continued to explore and ended up visiting a second shrine with more people and less bugs =) but more smokers who loitered the pathway. I was slightly worried we were lost so we went underground via the subway system. I figured that once I am down there... I can never get lost. =) And long behold, I was right, lol. Mother and I successfully navigated through the underground labyrinth and returned home. Interesting note: a lot of people who use the washrooms do not wash there hands here. I have used the public washrooms many times and I see a lot of guys who\don't was their hands. Of course, there are some who do but more often than not, they just do their business then run out! I guess they're too busy. =) Mother and I took a little detour into the Tokyo Metropolitan Building 「東京都庁」 and we found this tourist information center. =) Should've came here early but oh well, to late, lol. I went up to the 45th floor and took random pictures with my iPod Touch because my camera ran out of batteries, lol. I did not get to take a picture of Mt Fuji because it was slightly foggy/cloudy in the distance.

View of the recreation area within the park mother and I walked through.

View of the park mother and I walked through

Didn't really do much today either since it rained. I was supposed to go out for a run but it was raining so I felt discouraged. I have not ran in a week and I'm starting to feel it, lol. It was partially my fault because last night, I found this addictive game application for my iPod touch called Zombies vs Plants, lol. I was so engaged into the game. I finished it earlier today. =) I ended up going to bed at 1AM and yea, I had troubles waking up at 8AM, lol. So yea, it was partially my fault. =) Interesting note: I had a dream that someone killed me again. Mother, sister and I were wandering around in this unfamiliar house. The basement looked like our old house by my Junior High but I have no idea about the upper floors. The basement had an underground passageway which I refused to enter because I died there once in another dream. But anyhow, mother and I were trying to find our sister who went missing after we heard a scream. We were trying to make a phone call but the lines were cut. I don't know why we did not leave the house but yea, we wandered the house trying to look for her. In the end, I entered a room and was ambushed by an unfamiliar face. I was stabbed in the upper left chest area before waking up, lol. But anyhow, mother and I got ready and left the hotel room at around 11AM. We wandered through our usual food-buying route. Again, I bought a rice bento box and mother bought something random. We walked back, ate then I started to study again. We left our room at around 6PM to go buy dinner and I noticed that there were a lot of people in the subway. I decided to take a picture of it with my iPod touch.

I shall now talk about random stuff to end today's post. Aside from the humid climate, the cost of living in Japan (Tokyo) is insane, in my opinion. In three days, between mother and I, we spent over $100CAD on transit with in the city. The most expensive fare mother and I bought was roughly ~6CAD/person. Cheapest was ~1.80CAD/person. We spent more money on transit than food. Food itself is expensive if you don't know where to go. =) The supermarket under this mall called Keio sells super expensive fruits. Never have I seen two apples being sold for 5０００￥(5.30CAD). The sale sign was hanging above it too. A whole cantaloupe is roughly 23CAD. a bundle of bananas costed around 4CAD. (Roughly 5 individual bananas. Fatter bananas had less individual bananas. I guess they measure it by weight) Surprisingly, I was informed by a friend via facebook that fruits in Japan can be sold as common good or brand name... o_o; He told me that he can buy an apple for roughly 1CAD but there are some places where you can, for an example, by 2 for ~5CAD because they are brand name. Yea, okay... Brand name or not, I just want to maintain my health, lol. I'm sure a 1CAD apple will give me the same amount of nutrients as a 2.50CAD apple. 1CAD for an apple is still expensive in my opinion, mind you. =(

Random note: I checked weathernetwork.com. Apparently it'll rain when I leave Tokyo for Sapporo. When I arrive in Sapporo, it'll rain... Tokyo will be sunny. -sigh- Rain follows me whenever I go, I guess. =) It's no wonder why Tora called me 雨男. Sapporo is supposed to be sunny before I get there. Anyhow, here are some random pictures I took on my iPod Touch. I never really uploaded them until now. =) Enjoy.

Vancouver, I think. I'd be lying if I said I was not excruciating sad leaving Calgary. I'll miss a lot of people.

First few things I saw in English after arriving in Japan.

Waiting for our "tour limousine."

Come ooooooonnnn time.

Random hotel sign

First picture I took when I met Jessi, Yasu and Yumi. Again, Jessi closed her eyes

Rainy, rainy day. 雨の日

It's been raining the past few days again. But anyhow, it's time to update the blog. =) Warning: There's going to be a lot of text in this one.

I met up with Jessi, Yasu and Yumi on Sunday 26th (Japan time). We went for some Korean food at some obscure Korean Village-like area in some random district. If it's not already obvious; I am an oblivious person. Not only did I almost fall of the chair, I also smacked my knee against the wooden leg because the tables and chairs were so low, lol. Like always, I ordered Yuk Ge Jang because it's my favourite. I must admit... The Yuk Ge Jang I had was really good. It wasn't too salty. =) Just perfect.

There's nothing to say... Absolutely nothing.

Yumi and her Tofu. You can somewhat see Yasu's JapChae dish to the left. Sorry for cutting it out, Yasu. =(

Jessi ordered Bibimbap, lol. We completely overlooked the big metal basin on the menu so when her food arrived... We all laughed because it looked like she was eating out of a wash basin. Yumi ordered a spicy tofu thingy. Yasu ordered Japchae with rice. =) I completely forgot to take a picture of Yasu and his food. =( -sigh-

... LOL!!! Jessi in all her glory. Screw the little bowl, Jessi's got bigger fish to fry.

After eating, we walked through the streets and apparently walked past a Love Hotel. I somehow was sucked into a sick joke amongst Jessi, Yumi and Yasu and I had no idea what they were talking about. No one was willing to explain so I was at a complete lost. (Even now, lol.) We bumped into something cool after weaving through several streets. We followed these people to some random spot around the corner. Even though I knew that Yumi would take advantage of my request, I made the mistake of wondering if it's possible to touch the apparatus. She dragged me to one of the people carrying the apparatus and then Yasu asked if it was okay to touch. Of course, I was panicking at this point because the guy was flapping out Japanese I did not understand. I tried to follow him to the best of my ability, lol. In the end, I finally touched the apparatus and damn it was heavy. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience. =) Thanks for that, lol.

Afterward, we went and saw the famous castle at Otemachi (?) I think that's right. We walked through a nice little park before we arrived at the Castle. Unfortunately, we could not go in, lol. we walked around the giant castle and saw some building which was under construction.

Yasu and Yumi wandering through the park.

If only we had parks like this o_o

I'd run through this park every day if I had the chance

Lol, a Hello Kitty Bus.

I hope its obvious by now that I like this park.

Approaching the castle!

Closer...

As close as we could get

Yasu and the gate leading into the castle grounds in the back

Lol @ Yumi's floating hair

An open gate with tons of people jogging through it

Building under construction.

Before we ended the day at Tokyo Tower, we wandered through a little festival where we took pictures with masked men.

Once again, Jessi closed her eyes.

Yumi and I.

It started to rain after we left the subway station so we bought sets of umbrellas. Jessi decided to be adventurous and bought a raincoat. =) I should have taken a picture but I complete forgot, lol. -sigh- I always forget to take pictures... Yet I take a lot of them. Anyhow, enjoy the following photos. We rushed back to the station because Yasu needed to catch his train to go back home. It takes him 3 hours via JR line and it was the last one he could catch, lol. I keep asking him where his university is and he keeps telling me but I keep forgetting! Argh. I think it's Gunma though... I think, LOL. -sigh- I just can't remember it for some reason. Thanks Yumi and Tora, for being awesome tour guides, lol.

Panoramic view of Tokyo from Xkm's

They have glass floor in Tokyo Tower too... But just like the Calgary Tower... I refuse to step on it.

Toy model of some city in some movie.

Yesterday on Monday 27th (Japan time), I met up with Tora for dinner. Mother and I didn't really do much because it was raining. I successfully managed to navigate through the busy subway station in Shinjuku and found Tora at the East exit of Shinjuku Station. I was worried I'd get lost because I never really ventured past the central part of the station. The East and West exits were insanely crowded even though it was 7PM. According to Tora, the East and West exits of Shinjuku Station is the busiest because those two exits are closest to restaurants and night life activities.
Tora and I decided to go to an Izakaya (居酒屋) in Kabukichou. Tora didn't tell me much about the area so I was surprised to see well dressed men wearing loosely button dress shirts loitering street junctions. At first I thought they were just standing there waiting for people but I was suspicious after we passed another group. It turns out they were Male Hosts trying to persuade girls to go to their little coupe for some fun time, lol. I was damn surprised, LOL! But anyhow, we finally arrived at our Izakaya. It was a narrow, two story building with steep stairs. Going up was fine but going down was a bit scary because a) I was tipsy and b) the railings were too low to hold on comfortably. But anyhow, about how I became tipsy...

From alcoholic drinks to food, everything you ordered in this Izakaya was 270￥. The first thing I noticed once I stepped in was how dense and obnoxious the smoke was. Everyone was smoking. The guy sitting beside us smoked 7 sticks before we left... (omg) It was a gigantic mess of smoke and second hand smoking. Upon feeling acquainted with their drink menu, I decided to order a White Peach cocktail, lol. Out of three possible alcoholic intensity, double shot being the strongest, single being normal and weak being... weak, I chose weak. LOL. We also ordered a bunch of food and once again, I forgot to take pictures! (Sorry!) But anyhow, my favorite was probably the shredded cabbage omelet. It was refreshing. But yea, I felt tipsy after finishing my drink. I got up and wobbled a bit, lol. My friend told me my face was bright red. (I could feel it, lol.) A lot of people were staring at me while I was wandering to the washroom. I guess it wasn't apparently because I was sitting down but after getting up, I felt noxious because of how much smoke I was inhaling. (Damn cigarettes) After I sat down, Tora and I ordered another hand full of food. We left shortly after because I was feeling miserable, lol. (Minus the fullness. I don't mind feeling full =)!) The bill summed up to 4400￥, so roughly 47CAD. I guess we ate a lot, lol.

After we left the Izakaya, we wandered the streets some more looking for the exit to Kabukichou. Tora History Lesson 101: Kabukichou = night life and red light district. It was my first time strolling through a red light district. We walked past a group of hosts and bumped into this old lady with heavy white makeup who approached us because I accidentally made eye contact. I sort of gave her the "omg-must-dodge-her" expression. I ended up successfully avoiding her but Tora fell victim to her request. According to Tora, the old lady apparently asked him something along the lines of, "Did you decide on who you will be staying with tonight?" (AKA Fun time) I just LOL'd because a) the old lady was super creepy and b) my first red light district experience is nothing like what I'd imagine. The rest of the way was a-okay. Again, we saw a bunch of hosts loitering the streets and a lot of people trying to persuade us to go to their Izakaya, etc.
After we left Kabukichou, I asked Tora if he knew where I could buy an iPod docking cable because I left mine in Calgary. I was worried it would cost over $20 (equivalence), but it was surprisingly only $10CAD at this random discount store that has 6 or so stories of random goods ranging from semi-formal and kinky wear to random electronics. Not only was the docking cable cheap, it was also longer! O.O! I was satisfied, lol. I also bought 2 triple-prong adapters for $6CAD and a mic/headphone set for $7CAD. I also managed to buy a nail clipper for $1CAD equivalence and coat hangers at a 100￥ shop. (It was actually 105, but that's okay) We then went for some starbucks and sat around and chatted for a wee bit.

Tora and I

At around 9:30PM, we decided to go back to Shinjuku Station where we parted ways. Returning home from the East Exit was actually much more difficult than trying to find it, lol. Shinjuku Station is well labeled yet not well labeled at the same time... If that made any sense. =) Anyhow, tonight was eventful. Thanks Tora for showing me around. =)

Didn't really do much today =) 何もしませんでした。

Didn't really do much today. Walked around Shinjuku looking for the post office and shopped in Shibuya. Though, I do have one picture which I hope will entertain some people. It was the first time I saw this message on the TV. Behold...! Relish in the picture below:

Lolisms. What's a naked flame?

I love how that sentence is lost in translation. Even now, I am still not quite sure what that message is trying to convey. I bet Japanese people probably have lots of fun trying to read and understand English to Japanese translations. Funny world, eh?

Maybe I'll upload more pictures later today. That's all I have for now though, lol.

疲れていた。。。

So yea, I was too tired to post anything yesterday, lol. I went back to the hotel and then passed out immediately. I couldn't find a triple prong anywhere but fortunately... I found a triple prong after examining the outlets under the table. =) happy, happy! I can reap the hotels electricity. =) The TV is currently on and I think I know why it's so windy, lol. There's a typhoon brushing past the coast of Japan. Jessi, it looks like I bought some nasty weather with me, lol. Not just the rain.

So, this post will be filled with pictures. I will show pictures that I took yesterday and today. On September 23rd (Japan), I met Yumi and Jessi at around 12 and then we went for some awesome ramen. It was my first time buying ramen via ticket system. You basically decide on what you want, insert money then push a button. You get a ticket which you give to the servers after sitting down. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures because I was sooooo hungry, lol. It was too good to stop and take a picture. After that, we went to a 100￥Shop and wow... You can buy a lot of things for 100yen... 3 floors full of stuff. Mom and I bought 2 umbrellas for roughly $2 CAD equivalence. =) From there, we wandered the streets of Shibuya in the pouring rain. We all went to random places around Tokyo but I do not remember the names of the places. I was too distracted by the many wandering people. However, I did end up taking a nice panoramic view of some city. And note to self: taking the train in Tokyo is mighty expensive. Train fare is more expensive than food expenses.

The above three pictures are from some crazy shopping area. The top floor is mini Hong Kong. =) The two floors below mini Hong Kong is Muscle Park, where "big little" Japanese men test their strength and have fun, etc. =)

I have no idea where we were but a lot of people were taking pictures in front of it so I decided to take a picture with it as well... In the rain, of course.

Jessi and I found this shop entertaining. It's actually a clothing store. I have no idea why it's called a museum, lol. It was cool and funny. It reminded me of Mario with a very big beard.

As requested by Jessi. I can send you a larger file if you wish. =) Just text me or smack me the next time we meet, lol.

A panoramic view from some random district in Tokyo, lol. I don't remember where we were. It's in the same area as the Santa Museum, lol.

Today, Jessi my mom and I went to Sensouji Temple (浅草寺) then to Roppongi for a short while. But before I begin, I must apologize to Jessi for being such a dead weight, lol. I was mighty lost and I think I was asking way too many questions. I guess I was too reliant on Yumi yesterday to guide us through the streets of Tokyo so I did not pay much attention to how the subway system works. But at the end of the day, I think I learned how to somewhat navigate through the subway system in Tokyo. =) Thanks Jessi! It was a nice trip around Taito and Roppongi. =) (I think it's called Taito, at least --- And I was given a heads up by Jessi. The area was actually called Asakusa, lol!!)

We decided to rest by Sensouji after exploring most of the temples and shrines around the area. I ran off a bit to take random pictures. A few minutes later, I realized that Jessi was flocked by 3 old Japanese men. 1 of them was very drunk... the drunk one was hitting on her. LOL. I returned to where we were resting and pretended to not know Jessi for a bit because it was entertaining. (LOL Sorry Jessi. Karma will get me back, don't worry. Besides, you two were having such a wonderful conversation. It would've been rude of me to interrupt. =)) I was suddenly pulled into the conversation and I was at a complete lost of what the old drunk man was trying to say. I just said... "Yes.. Yes.. I am Canadian." I laughed because they were surprised after I said I was Canadian. I guess they expected that I was Chinese. In the end, the old man took a picture with Jessi and off they went~ How eventful.

Afterward, we decided to wander through the streets of Asakusa and found many interesting streets most tourists miss. We ended up going into a sketchy restaurant where the menu was plastered on the walls. I ended up getting Curry Rice and Jessi ordered Potato Salad and Korokke (Croquette). It was fairly tasty. We wandered around the corner and found the "popular" eating area within the district. We were slightly disappointed but the food we ate was still good so we didn't mind much.   

ASAKUSA 「浅草寺」

The classical picture everyone takes when visiting this temple. =)

The tourist street after walking a bit past the red lantern. It's insane how many people flock through this area of the city. Items ranged from various souvenirs to finger food. A lot of the shops repeat themselves though. ie, there were more than 1 fan shop, etc. We were distracted by this deep fried thing which tasted amazing. It looked like a big version of a mochi that was deep fried. I ate the sesame flavored one. Jessi ate the Pink Apricot and my mom ate the green tea. Mother and I also had green tea dango. I still like soy sauce the most. =)

This tree caught my attention because it was, for the most part, hollowed out yet still alive! I was amazed...

Picture of the 5 story pangoda beside 浅草寺.

A garden close to the Pangoda.

The above three pictures are panoramic views of the temple from various locations. In the last photo, look for the big yellow sandal hanging on the wall. =)

Traditional, untourist-tainted streets of Asakusa. (Well, I guess we tainted it, lol.)

A citrus bearing fruit tree we saw while browsing the streets of Asakusa.

The above two pictures were taken in a some random garden we passed by while heading to one of the shrines. We saw this strange fruit bearing plant in the garden so we decided to take a picture of it.

A tunnel full of charms at a health and fortune shrine located far from Sensouji Temple. I wanted to buy a blue lucky charm but they ran out. =( It was a mighty awesome shrine, mind you. there were a lot of "Fortune" cats.

I finally found the flower that I wanted to see! This was taken in a park along the river in Asakusa. A white version of the Hurricane Lily 「彼岸花」I was thoroughly satisfied. Jessi can verify, lol.

This little resting spot was so cool. again, in the same garden, there is a single dinky tree growing and then branching at the top to create a shade area for people to seek refuge from the blazing sun. =) I thought it was cool.

We were walking through a park along the river and we found the little urn-like structure in the distance. Apparently it's the symbol for some beer company in Japan, lol. Still in Asakusa.

ROPPONGI

Everything about that structure is disgusting... But knowing me, I have a strange attraction to disgusting things. (Sarah Saad would agree with me.) To me, this was pretty much a giant, man eating spider which was amputated. At the butt end, you can see little white balls which, I think, are supposed to be eggs. Gross but cool at the same time.

I didn't get to take many pictures in Roppongi because it was getting cold and dark outside. Our feet were hurting and we wanted to go home, lol. According to Jessi, Roppongi is famous for its bars and architecture. Upon arrival, we ran into a cafe and rested for a wee bit. I think we were hoping the weather would improve but it only got worse as time passed, lol. After the cafe, we wanted to take the train back to Shinjuku but we were slightly lost so we wandered the streets of Roppongi for a bit. It had a nice atmosphere. =) Very modern.

Sorry Eva, I will take pictures of my food next time, lol. I don't usually take pictures of my food. =) I shall take pictures of food for my next post!