After I got back from Korea, I spent a few days recuperating and watching TV. Then on the 3rd I went to Tokyo to meet up with my friend Lee, who spent the break with some friends in Yokohama. It took longer than I had anticipated to get to Tokyo, and by the time I arrived on Saturday it was already dark. I couldn't find the hostel, so I had to take a cab (it turned out to be right around the corner, but it still cost me 8 dollars. In Seoul, the 20 minute cab ride from the city center to Lana's aunt's apartment cost less than that. Go figure.) I hung out for the evening with an Italian guy I met at the hostel who's name I think was Adriano. I remember when he said his name, I had a sense of a body of water, presumably the Adriatic, but then later I forgot his name, and I kept thinking of the Baltic Sea. But I think it was Adriano, because that makes more sense than Balto.
On Sunday I spent the morning in Ueno park. I went to the art museum and a small shrine. Lee got into town around 1, and I went and met up with him near the hostel. We went to the Imperial Palace (you can't go inside, because it's actually the Emperor's residence, right there in the heart of Tokyo. Two days a year they open it to the public: Dec. 23, the Emperor's Birthday, and January 2nd. I missed it by one day.) After dark we went to Tokyo Tower, because the view of the city is supposed to be better at night. It was pretty impressive. After that, we went to Shinjuku, which is a cool area of the city, and tried to find a movie theater, but failed, so we went to an Irish pub (I know, very Japanese).
Monday we went to Tokyo Disneyland! I'm on a quest to visit all four Disney parks. I've now been to three: Disney World in Florida, EuroDisney in Paris, and Tokyo Disney. Someday I'll make it to California. Tokyo Disney was a lot smaller than I had expected, but it was a lot of fun. I flagrantly disregarded the warnings about people with bad backs and motion sickness riding the roller coasters and went on Space Mountain and the Star Wars ride where it's like you're riding in a runaway spaceship. We did Pirates of the Caribbean (they've added the Johnny Depp character to the ride since the movies came out) and the Haunted Mansion, all the Disney staples. The weather was great considering it was January. It only got cold at night.
Lee left to go back to Yokohama on Monday night, and I stayed intending to do a little more sightseeing on Tuesday morning before heading back home. But by the time I had checked out of the hostel and gotten to Tokyo station where I was going to check my bags while I went sightseeing, I was to hot and tired from lugging my stuff all over the subway system, that I just decided to got on a train and go home. Plus, I was re-reading the last Harry Potter book, and I put it down at the worst possible moment the night before, and I really wanted to finish it. I'll be back in Tokyo, probably more than once, so it's alright.
Tuesday night after I got back, we had a New Year's party with some people from out Calligraphy class (me, Lana, Lee, our teacher Fusako, and Yukako from the car dealer and her mother, Mrs. Miyawaki). We went to this restaurant called Maiwai, right around the corner from my house, which Fusako's son owns. It's also right under the calligraphy studio and in front of Fusako's house. I love living in a small town :) We had some great food, we played bingo, we chatted, it was a lot of fun. After dinner I drove Lee home, because he had just gotten back on the bus from Yokohama and his car was at his house in Ichinomiya. As I left his house, backed out of the space and made a U-turn to get back on the road. It was about 11 pm and there are never any cars in Ichinomya, so it took me a moment to realize I was driving on the wrong side of the road! That's the first time I've done that since I started driving here. There are times when I get a little confused, but I've never actually turned into the wrong lane before. Luckily it was in Ichinomiya and there was no one around.
No comments:
Post a Comment