Impressions of Japan

It's 2:16 AM and I finished up another day of being in Japan. Today was nice, I went to two new districts of Tokyo.

The first district I visited is a place called "Akihabara." In that district, they have a lot of small shops nestled in semi-high narrow buildings. Marc took me to a shop called "Super Potato," which is video gamer's paradise; they have almost every video game you could imagine.

Here's a game in the arcade, where everyone has a station. Each person uses a set of cards, which can be read by the placemat in front of them. I think these guys were playing an interactive soccer game; you'd like this one Brian!

Japan also seems to have a cult surrounding "cuteness." Marc speculates that it results from the rigors of adulthood, where many Japanese men and women are expected to where business attire and work very deligently; maybe it's an escape for them? In any case, here's a girl dressed up as a maid; she might be part of the many "maid cafes" that can be found in Tokyo. At these cafes, many women (I doubt men) will serve you coffee, or other beverages while dressed up in costume; I saw one girl dressed up as some kind of tiger, haha!

I also visited a few more places with some new friends I met the first day I arrived in Japan. These guys - Matt, Victor and Jose -- have been very fun. They're all spending a week in Japan, and come from southern California; I really wouldn't mind keeping in touch with these guys once we part ways. We're all going to go to a massage place tomorrow.

The second district we visited was Shibuya. What can be said about Shibuya... cosmopolitan, Asia's "Time Square," it's very interesting to see at night. All of the advertisings keep the sky lit. It is also here where the one of the world's busiest crosswalks can be seen:

This was an area just outside the train station, where everyone was puffing a smoke. I thought it interesting, especially the many captions they have posted on the cigarette canisters, attempting to prohibit people from smoking. Just look how "hard" Marc appears in this one:

I also spent more time at Sensoji temple. This place has sort of become my "reflection room" (Brian should understand this one, haha). There are steps which lead up to a temple, where I just like to look out and reflect on life. I had two university students come up to me and practice their English. One of the girls said she wanted to study abroad. I asked "where?" Believe it or not Liz, she said "New Zealand."

I also spoke to a very cute Japanese boy. He was wearing a bright yellow cap, with a mini tank top. He looked at me, and mumbled in a very cute way, "Konnichewa," which means "Hi." I then asked him, "Genki desu ka," which means "How are you?" So cute!

There were also a lot of other cute Japanese children. Here, they were using wooden spoons to pour water from a fountain onto their hands. I imagine it's much like our version of "holy water."

They also have an area where you can spread smoke across your body; "holy smoke"?

Here's the lobby of the hostel where I'm staying. I'm sitting here writing this blog write now:

I'm about to do what these girls were doing:

Well, I'm having a lot of fun so far, yet I can't wait to be in China. I already miss Lily so much, and it has only been 2 days! She said that here parents were so happy to see her that they take many pictures before she even had a chance to exit customs ;)

Wo xi huan ta de mama he baba = "I like her mama and papa."

Wo zhang ni, Meng Ying = "I miss you Meng Ying (Lily)."