Tokyo!

I went to Tokyo for 4 days and just got back! I stayed at a youth hostel called Sakura Hostel In Asakusa Tokyo. (These aren't my pictures, just found them online. Mine aren't transferred yet.)

Asakusa was great. There were tons of people everywhere. Most were tourists, from all over too, even from other parts of Japan. The hostel was really clean and the staff was very friendly. They liked us a lot because we spoke to them in Japanese (they all spoke English as well). We tried to do as much traveling around Tokyo as possible. The city is massive. There are various districts that each offer something different. We met my friend Masako in Harajuku. We went on Sunday and that is when all the high school kids go out and dress up in the most insane fashion ever.

We then went to a Kaiten Sushi place, conveyor belt sushi, and ate so much food. It was really great though. Afterwords we walked around Shinjuku. I have never seen so many people in my life. I used to think that Chicago during the Taste was crowded, but its nothing in comparison to Shinjuku. The next day we went to Akihabara, which is a district that has electronics. It has electronics everywhere. There are stores for anything you could want. The coolest part is that are used electronic stores so you can get everything really cheap. I was with a group of almost 16 people, so i couldn't look around at my leisure. The even better part of Akihabara was while we were randomly walking in the street, we got stopped by some Japanese people with a video camera. They were from a tv show and interviewed my friends and I in Japanese. They just asked us why were were there, and what the best parts of Tokyo were. It was so insane!

All of the food I have eaten so far as been the greatest ever. Although at the Kaiten Sushi place, Mike (the guy standing next to me in that picture) wanted to try a new sushi that looked like a brain. We asked Masako what it was and she didn't know. She thought it was uterus or something. Mike ate it and almost vomited at first. But he said it was ok. We later found out that it was fish sperm. Its apparently a rare delicacy... gross. We also ate at Wendy's. I had a Tonkatsu curry sandwich! It was a fried porkcutlet sandwich with curry, and it was amazing. After that we went to the bakery where i bought a giant Hokaido Milk bread. it was the best thing ive ever eaten.

There was alot of fun times. We were only there for 4 days, so we missed alot of stuff. On the last day we ate in Odaibo, it was great. That area is right on the ocean and very pretty.

Yes, thats a small verison of the statue of Liberty in the Background. It was pretty funny. We took the bus home at around 11:30 pm and got to Nagoya at around 6:30 the next day. The bus sucked, but it was the first time I ever saw Yamanba fashion. Heres an example:Yamanba comes from the words Yama Uba, which means mountain hag. In Japanese folklore there she is a crazy old woman that lives in mountains and forests that preys on travelers. When she gains the travelers trust, she eats them. There were 3 girls dressed just like the one in the left of this picture on the bus. Apparently its an everyday thing. They were pretty interesting.

So I will have pictures that I took up as soon as I can. Ill write again when i have more interesting things to say. Bye! Also, its lie 50 degrees here. Stay safe and warm in the blizzardy weather!