a visit from mr. ed

A few weeks ago, my friend Eddie came to Japan for work, and he gave me a ridiculously thorough tour of Tokyo and the surrounding area including Tsukiji, Nokogiriyama, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Jyugauoka, Ebisu, and probably some other places I'm forgetting. I feel enlightened to say the least. Below are some pictures, and you can see more pictures here, as I can't seem to fit enough pictures on the blog to do the tour justice.

Tsukiji Fish Market - We got there around 6am, and I felt really in the way of everyone who was trying to do their job (carry fish, cut fish, sell fish, etc.). The market was way bigger than I expected, and I left smelling very fishy and not really wanting to eat sushi for breakfast. So we had McDonalds instead.

This actually looks no more appetizing now than it did at 6am. However, I have tried tako-yaki (the grilled octopus balls I mentioned in my first or second post) again, and I have decided that it is edible and possibly even good if eaten in the right place and time. Never thought I'd be able to say that. The Emperor's Palace. We couldn't see it up close, but it looked pretty impressive even from far away.

Ed + cow bread on the ferry

The big sitting Daibutsu (Buddha) on the mountain at Nokogiriyama. It was a nice little hike up after both a ferry ride across the bay and a ropeway ride up the mountain. I've been on more ropeways up mountains in Japan than ever before.This hawk was sitting right in the middle of the cup in Buddha's hands. Then, he left and circled our heads. Slightly scary. A pretty sunset on the ferry ride back. This is a cool place to visit if you get a chance.

hiroshima

I flew to Hiroshima with my friend Christina a couple weeks ago. Wednesday was a holiday so I took a couple other days off, and I was able to spend some time exploring the city and some beautiful surrounding cities. Christina was a really good travel buddy. She was amazingly helpful with her Japanese skills, and she booked the flight and took care of all the accommodation details. I had a really good time! Above is the famous torii gate in Miyajima. We were also able to see this and actually walk up to it during low tide.  

Miyajima. There are lots of little shops and booths, and the city is famous for momiji manju (little leaf-shaped cakes filled with different flavored fillings). 

Kintaikyo Bridge in Iwakuni. Apparently, it's one of the 3 famous bridges in Japan, and it is quite impressive looking. It reminds me a little of the Texas Giant at Six Flags. 

A-Bomb Dome. The bomb was dropped basically right above this dome so somehow most of it was preserved while almost everything else in the city was completely destroyed. They decided to leave the dome the way it was as a reminder of what happened and also as a reminder of the need for peace. After the devastation in Hiroshima, the city became a symbol of peace. The Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Park are really worth visiting too. To me, the city is a really sad place but also a place of a lot of hope.

Hiroshima castle. It was rebuilt in the 1950s I believe, and there's basically a whole museum inside with lots of military equipment from when the city used to be a big military city. 

We also had all the famous Hiroshima food (Okonomiyaki, eel and oysters, Iwakuni zushi, and lots of yummy sweets), went to an art museum with a Japanese garden that had plum blossoms, rode the street cars (kind of like trolleys) to get from place to place, and stayed in some really nice (and nicely priced) hotels. I'm so glad I could take this trip. It's definitely a place you should visit if you have the opportunity.

More Pictures from Hiroshima

a thousand dreams in oven

This little bit of Engrish was on the bag that held another bag that held my cup of coffee last week in Tokyo. When you order coffee to go, it comes in a bag. All the cafes (including Starbucks) do a really good job packaging things to make them extremely bike basket-friendly and even more eco-unfriendly. I'm just saying packaging materials are used in abundance here...unlike in alden times.

This big piece of bread is proof that you can put a smiley face on any object, usually one with small dot eyes and a tiny mouth, and it will automatically become the cutest thing ever. Many things are appointed a smiley face. On the back of my pancake mix, the frying pan, the measuring cup of milk, and the egg all have cute faces on the directions. I might have already mentioned this a few times because I think it's rather fascinating.

This was the sumo tournament I went to last weekend in Ryogoku.  It was amazing! I sat in a box on the floor with three other people and watched the matches, one after another. We went on opening day so it was sold out. I was so lucky to be able to see this and to have Japanese friends who explained some things to me so I wasn't completely clueless. Afterwards, I had a really good dinner with these kind souls to the upper right. Sumo is a really big deal in Japan, and the wrestlers are really well known by most people here. The matches are very short, and the majority of the match time is spent with the players trying to intimidate each other by throwing sand in the air and lifting their legs up to the side (as seen in the picture above). It's so much more interesting watching this in person than on TV. I'd definitely recommend going sometime if you can!

two thousand and NINE?

It really is the year 2009. 

These are some of my New Years Resolutions:

-to be cleaner and more organized (since it's become quite apparent that I am a complete slob in this tiny place)

-to learn Japanese - enough to at least have something that resembles an actual conversation with someone

-to learn to love those I don't love completely

-to start jogging and maybe run a half marathon

-to read more

-to complain less

These are just a few obvious ones. 

Above is a picture of my new favorite place in Tsuchiura. Near Kasumigaura Lake is this huge windmill and a park that surrounds it. This is a beautiful place; I was amazed. When I went the other day just to sit and people watch (and draw, which I actually have no skills for but attempted anyway), I saw people flying kites and playing different sports. There were two kids in particular who I was watching play with their dad for over an hour without any arguing whatsoever. They were laughing and smiling the whole time and being loud and cute. I was impressed. At one point, their tennis ball flew over to my feet, and I was afraid the dad would see the picture I had so stalkerishly drawn of them. But he didn't. Safe!

However, I also discovered this week that not 100% of Japanese people are as peaceful and kind as I assumed they all were after my creepy stare fest. Here is a morsel of proof. Last night, I was reprimanded in English by a Japanese woman who thought I was trying to get a discount by ordering chicken curry at her Indian restaurant. Chicken curry, my friends, is clearly only offered in the afternoon, and please please don't make the mistake of ordering it at night time or you too will be scolded. I also learned not to try to make small talk with someone after they reprimand you. I almost want to add "become a vegetarian" to my New Year's Resolutions after that. 

To the right is a New Year's decoration that's commonly seen on peoples' front doors in Japan. I forget what they're called. New Years is a pretty big deal here, and it's celebrated on January 1st as it is in America. People 

make omochi and go to shrines, and while I didn't get to do either of those things, I thought this decoration was pretty enough to buy.

 I really enjoyed my one week of winter vacation. It was the first chance I had gotten to take as many day trips as I wanted and run all the necessary and unnecessary errands I'd been wanting to run since I got here. Now I feel like I am officially a resident of the Ibaraki prefecture. The only thing that reminds me that I'm not fully Japanese is the (humongous) language barrier. 

The next picture is of my newly IKEA'd out room. I was able to get myself there to buy all the lovely things (including 3 baby cacti!) that make a house a home. Or a room an apartment. Or something. And I posted more pictures on Facebook of everything if you're interested in looking at them at some point. I'm sorry I can't stick to one website when posting pictures. 

Also, before I forget, I really need to post about the Fish Doctor. A few weeks ago, my coworker Susan and I went to the sento (public bath) and saw these fish in the main area (where there is also a restaurant I might add). The fish are in a tank, and their purpose in life (because we all have one) is to eat all the dead skin off your feet. It sounds gross, I know, but we decided to be brave and try it. I cannot describe how disgusting this was or how weird it

 felt, but I can post a picture that will probably disgust yo

u. Actually, this picture is the only one I could find on google images that doesn't make me want to throw up, but if you want to see what it's really like, please search google on your own, but remember that I warned you. All this to say that I enjoy trying new things, but some things I can promise you I'll only do once in my life! Xoxo.