Today marks the end of three months living here in Japan. I am shocked at how fast the time has gone, yet I can't wait to go home and see my friends and family again. The end of my last month can't seem to come fast enough, but I have really been enjoying my time here. It's a strange, bittersweet feeling.
Today also marks the end of a very long silence on my blog. The last couple weeks have been brutal. On top of regular homework and quizzes, I had an economy presentation to prepare, a 10 page essay to write, a test to study for, and a difficult professor to deal with. Somehow, I managed to fit a few interesting things among the chaos of schoolwork, but it left little time to post any of the pictures I took...because while it takes a normal person about 10 minutes to post pictures, it takes me at least 2 hours...cuz I am crazy. Now that I have a short break (tomorrow I have to write a new sakubun [essay] for Japanese class...they couldn't even give us one day off...not even after a test...-_-), I can finally get caught up on this blog. So much for daily posts. :/
I've decided to make a mass posting to get caught up, so I've divided them up into parts.
Part 1: Christmas in Disneyland
Sometime during the last two weeks, Hannah invited all the Meikai girls (me, Malia, and Lindsey) to join her in Tokyo Disneyland. I was the only one that had gone already, so at first I was hesitant. Then she mentioned free Disney tickets won from a costume contest. How could I refuse that? I was able to give them opinions about each ride, and knew which ones to recommend. Additionally, we got to ride some rides I never got a chance to last time.
So we went. And it was awesome, again. I will try not to post pictures of things I took before, though there are some repeats where they came out sooooo much better than what that little point and shoot could ever do.
Found under that large red arch leading to the entrance of the park.
The ceiling of the arch.
The day was mostly overcast, but it didn't rain this time!
Christmastime in Disneyland!
No rain meant the characters were all out to greet us this time. Most of them had some pretty long lines (Mickey's looked like an hour wait!) so I just took pictures like a stalker in the distance.
Thumper.
Lindsey wore the new hat she bought at Disneysea.
The other side of the castle.
Modeling our 3D glasses before the Philharmagic show. We're hot.
A miniature Pooh making honey popcorn.
Space Mountain
Of course I had to see the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion ride again. Still awesome the second time, and also awesome that it works for Halloween and Christmas at the same time.
Because of the point and shoot camera's limitations, I couldn't "leave" the camera on record during my favorite rides. But this time I could. So here's Nightmare Before Christmas, with all the boring, too-dark-to-see-parts edited out.
It's a Small World was closed for the day, but that didn't stop them from decorating for Christmas.
Hannah remembered loving the US version of this ride, and the wait was short, so we decided to go. It was really cute.
Yay for the new Christmas hat!
Pinocchio fountain.
Roger Rabbit fountain.
A fun ride...but a little odd. Did take me back to my childhood days watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit with my brother and sister.
Malia and Hannah riding in the cab behind us.
Being in Japan doesn't change the Disney characters' nationalities it seems.
Not hard to get the Red Queen's picture. Not a lot of kids lined up to meet her.
Finally, our time came to use the fast pass to Space Mountain. Riding the escalator through the fast pass tunnel.
A view from the balcony of Space Mountain before entering.
Lindsey's chicken sandwich, made from real Mickey gloves!
My chicken, eggs, and rice lunch.
Malia's anko dessert.
Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse. We'll come back to climb this later.
Of course I had to see Pirates again.
It was another ride where I "left" the camera on, but it was so dark that nothing came out clear enough except for the very beginning and end. But you get to see robot Captain Jack, who very convincingly looks and sounds like Johnny Depp.
Anyone recognize what this is?
A pretty flower in the garden.
The food looks real, but it's not. Just very convincing plastic versions.
The top of the tree gave us a great view of the Tokyo skyline hiding in the mist.
Jungle safari ride.
Taking a short break for mango soft serve ice cream.
Yeah, that's right...I went again.
I also took a video of this, but the camera's focus was not set correctly so most of it is blurry. :/
And of course, we had to ride Splash Mountain.
Lindsey's after-dinner dessert.
Looking badass in our fedoras.
Goodbye again Disneyland!
All I have to say is that Disneyland is JUST as fun the second time around. I can't wait to come here with Skylar.
Part 2: Edo Choujin
For our second cultural activity, we went back to Asakusa (where we started our Tokyo Tour back in early October) to learn Edo Chouchin, which is the art of painting lanterns. I arrived a bit early (as usual) and took advantage of the extra time to wonder around the area and take a few pictures.
This was a model of Tokyo inside the tourist center. The Japanese sure love their detail. Looks like they went through the trouble of putting in every existing building.
Lots of temples in the area.
History museum...not sure why it had a bow. Christmas decorations are up?
The same entrance we saw last time by the tourist center. Only, in HD this time.
I had to try to take this picture from a variety of different angles to avoid having a street lamp blocking the view of the Tokyo Sky Tree. This was the best I could do without the telephoto lens, but I hope to still go see it, so maybe I'll get a chance at a better shot later.
Arrival at the lantern shop. Here are little baby lanterns with different family crests painted on them. See one that looks familiar?
Here's a closer shot. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
The simple tools of the trade. A pencil, eraser, paintbrush, and ink.
Justin, Mika, Jessie, and half of Elisabeth.
Showing us how they're lit.
Our empty canvases.
I decided to paint my name in Japanese. Many people may recognize this kanji. It stands for love, which is also what my name means in Vietnamese. I just wish I could avoid making it so long and stretched out. Kanji should fit in a square shape, but I always make the kanji for love long like that. Sigh.
Ray showing off his family name while Fa-chan works on his.
Lee-san joins in on the painting, and hers turned out great! The kanji looked just like the style that the pros use.
Justin was daring enough to use the compass to paint a Pokeball on his. Because you paint the circle directly onto the lantern with the compass, once you mess up, you're screwed.
Mika and Justin set theirs up on displays while waiting for others to finish.
Ray adding green to his.
Top left to right: Ray, me, Justin, Mika, Elisabeth
Bottom left to right: Fa-chan, Jessie, Sherry, and Shawn
Part 3: Akihabara...again?
After finishing the cultural activity, we were let go to do what we wanted with the rest of the day. I had made plans to have lunch with Lindsey and we ended up in Akihabara again. No surprise there. We did want to come back to finish checking a few things out anyway. But it rained like crazy all day, and it was, of course, a day that I forgot my umbrella.
I am sorry, Thuy. I checked an anime shop for what you asked for, but they didn't have any. Unfortunately, they all seem to be rather expensive too. I'll do some research and see if I can find you a good website to purchase one from.
Lunch on the 8th floor of Yodobashi Camera. It's common for these big, multi-level stores to have one floor just for restaurants. A great way to keep your customers close even when they get hungry. This was called pepper rice with chicken. It was served hot and sizzling on this hot, cast iron plate. Stir and enjoy. It's the closest to fried rice I have ever had here in Japan.
After lunch and more shopping (where we found a store that Lindsey dubbed the "Knick Knack Store" because it was just full of display cabinets of different types of...well...knick knacks. Mostly anime related. But not always. Like one shelf had an entire collection of plastic animals. There were also some uncomfortably naked anime figurines. And the most awesome Wolf Link and Midna statue I had ever laid eyes on. So big it got its own shelf, but it was also a few hundred dollars over my price range, so all I could do is drool at it and walk away sadly.
Then, we went to the maid cafe we intended to go to last time, called Maidreamin. Maid cafes are known to be for guys, as cutesy anime-like Japanese girls dress up in maid outfits and talk to you like you're their favorite person in the world and serve you overpriced food. But, Maidreamin is a family-oriented one, and we encountered not just guys, but couples, double dates, and groups of girls and guys enjoying themselves.
Admittedly, even I was a bit smitten with their overly cute ways, and they were shocked at our ability to speak Japanese. We knew to expect a pricey visit, as you pay by the hour for your stay alone on top of food and drinks, but in the end I felt it was worth the experience. Whether I want to bring Skylar on our honeymoon is a different matter. I am not sure if I want to...or if he wants to anyway.
So we ordered a "set" which included a parfait dessert, a drink, a souvenir, and a picture with one of the maids.
The parfait came in four different flavors, and each are made into a different animal. Lindsey and I both ordered chocolate, of course, so we got the bear.
Our matching souvenirs.
Going old school taking a Polaroid with the maid.
Encountered this awesome life-size Evangelion character display as we were heading back to the train station.
The evening ended up wet and cold, but I least I got out of it with a fun second date with Lindsey, and a great experience with Japanese culture.
Part 4: Avex
My economy class went to Harajuku for a field study trip to Avex Artist Academy. Avex is an entertainment company in Japan, one of the largest if not the largest in Asia that handles production of music, shows, and other types of performances. They are like a record company, but seem to cover a lot more than a record company does. And they have locations in other parts of Asia too.
The very famous Takeshita Street in Harajuku.
After getting an introduction into the company, we were given the opportunity to record two songs. They were picked from a list that we had given them at the beginning of the semester. I think I must have disappointed my fellow classmates for not joining them in the recording. I do feel bad for not getting involved in the fun, but... One, I am not a performer. Two, I can't sing worth crap. Three, the songs that were chosen were not songs that I knew well or at all. The first was Katy Perry's Firework. I am not a fan of Katy Perry. Nothing against her. Just not my style of music. Additionally, this is how completely sheltered I am from the contemporary music industry: I only heard of Katy Perry when her movie came out. And my reaction was, "Katy who?" It's not to say I don't like any contemporary music, but I am more of a Beatles, Queen, Journey...mixed in with some Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie, and Muse kinda girl. If we don't include classical music also, which I would then add Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Mozart...to name a few... Does that make me old? I think I must be old now. "You kids and your music!" *shakes fist*
Admittedly, I did find the Firework tune quite catchy.
Garrett, Janel, and Shawn
The karaoke video as they sang in the recording room.
Garrett looks so intense and focused.
A short video of their first try, before the second, which was the actual recording.
The second song was for the guys to sing. Wonderwall by Oasis. Also another song and band I am not familiar with. Granted, I recognized the song once I heard it, but only the basic melody and main verse.
Getting ready for the song to start. LoLo puts on a candid pose.
And finally, a short video of them doing Wonderwall.
They all went out to have dinner but I still had a poem to write and an essay to re-write for Japanese class. These are the times when I wish I was already done with school.
