Erika's Adventures Abroad: March 2014

I've put together some of my favorite pictures to share with everyone at home my adventures in Japan.

Here it begins:

The sunset over the airplane with heading towards Tokyo. Flying towards the sun meant we had a looooong night before the sun came back up.

My very first impression of Japan. Look at that toilet! There are buttons everywhere! What do they MEAN?

Maneuvering the Tokyo subway/metro system the first night, sleep deprived and in the biggest city in the world.

Day 1, Tokyo

First stop, Sensoji Shrine

A view of Asakusa

Me with my favorite Nintendo character, Yoshi. Anyone who grew up with me is well aware of this obsession.

Checking out the food in the department store basement, and came across these rare white strawberries. 8400 yen is about $84... that's almost $6 PER STRAWBERRY.

Dinner the first night. We we looking at a picture menu outside when the lady that was running the place came outside and explained the menu to us, helped us order, then served up this delicious meal! It has seaweed, bamboo, green onions, and pork, all in a bowl of udon and broth. Yummmmmm.

Day 2, Tokyo

Breakfast at Tsukiji Fish Market. We are in love. Sushi for breakfast? Amen!

Tsukiji Fish Market

After the market, we headed to Ginza, an area filled with streets and streets of shopping stores like this one. There were more designer stores than I even can list. Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Cartier, Tori Burch... the list goes on and on!

Ginza

Lunch somewhere between Ginza and Tsukiji Fish Market. Again, we were looking at the picture menu outside when an old man that was finishing his lunch came outside, assured us that the food was "oyshii" (delicious) before meandering away. He was right. It was oyshii. I had tempura prawns over rice and a bowl of ramen.

Hama-rikyu Gardens

A really awesome 300 year old black pine tree. I was smitten.

Almost all the trees in Hama-rikyu Teien were shaped in poms like this. I would later find out that almost all trees in Japan were shaped like this. Very cool.

Another sweet tree. Loving this natural pine look.

Plum blossoms in Hama-rikyu Teien.

Dinner from a convenience store. A steamed bun, juice, and macadamia ice cream. We were out of steam for anything else.

Day 3

The gates to the Meiji Shrine. Each piece of wood was taken from a hinoki cypress that was 1,500 years old. Did you get that? 1,500 years old!!!

Sake barrels donated to the shrine

An adorable little girl dressed up like a geisha and taking pictures with visitors. Her face didn't change the whole time people took pictures with her.

Checking out some of the crazy shopping in Harajuku. This shoe was a size 18.

Pendleton Nike shoes, on display in Nike ID

A store in Harajuku. It was filled with overly girly items, and I realized it was named "Rady" as in "Lady". (Hint, say "lady" with an asian accent)

"SAVE LIVES"

Yep, that's me, Barbie, and Ken.

Aubrey, this one is for you.

I guess the question is, what can't you find in Harajuku?

Cute store employee at a store in Harajuku

Food earrings

Cherry blossoms in Yoyogi Park

Our guide book said that when the blossoms come out, so does everyone else.

Yoyogi Park

This the Shibuya Crossing, the largest crosswalk in the world. There are more crosswalks than I was able to capture in the photos. This picture is just as the walk signal turns green.

People spill out onto the street...

And go every which way...

And then start clearing out...

And continue clearing out...

And traffic starts again.

Brittany and I went to sing karaoke this night. Here in Japan, they rent out rooms to sing karaoke with friends. They play random videos behind the lyrics, and this one just cracked us up. Not only did they have a video of a man lifting weights behind the lyrics, but they botched the lyrics to "God Bless America" (yes, we sang "God Bless America"... on the tops of our lungs... Celine Dion version...) to say "wide with hope" instead of "white with foam". Just too good!

Day 4, Tokyo

Day four was rainy, so we went to Ichibukuro and went to Sunshine City, a large indoor mall with a planetarium, aquarium, and more than one indoor theme park. This is a picture of Dumbo in their Disney store. Japanese Dumbo.

What up!

Matcha green tea flavored Kit Kats. Surprisingly pleasant.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Japanese style.

We spent some time in NamjaTown, one of the indoor theme parks. We had no idea what was going on in there, but we did go on a ride where we rode a pig and shot at oversized mosquitoes.

Some adorable Japanese children posing with the NamjaTown mascot.

On our way home from Sunshine City, we stopped at a game arcade. These are pods where you sit in them to play video games. The screen does a 180 around you, there is a headset, and you are essentially in your game.

The "girl's floor" in the arcade. Filled with glamorous photo booths. The girls were obsessed.

An employee at the arcade center, so freakin cute that I had to get a picture with her.

Thank you, Grandma Carol, for the umbrellas! They were appreciated on our rainy day in Tokyo!

Cat cafe. This guy was still a kitten, and he had a ton of energy to play with us.

The rest of the cats weren't quite so energetic.

Tempura for dinner. Set with miso and tea.

Some familiar brands.

Day 5, Tokyo to Kanazawa

We had to say goodbye to the employees at our first hostel - Khaosan Tokyo Ninja.

Countryside! Agriculture! Tokyo was so large, I'd forgotten it was out there! Also, this was our first experience on the shinkansen, or bullet train. It was incredibly fast, smooth, and efficient.