I'm Still Here Too! Back to Tokyo (finally!) (2/22/13)

Hi Everybody,

Since David is late on his blog posts, I can be too.

Here is a better and way less otaku-y version of our Tokyo trip.

Ready to Go!

Starting off we took the Shinkansen again, but this time I couldn’t sleep. David and his friends were being very noisy. They were playing some sort of I-spy game that didn’t make any sense, but they found it hilarious. I mostly found it grating on the ears (which is saying something considering my ears are fluffy).

Ghibli!

So once we arrived we headed to the Ghibli Museum. Ok – I like anime but Ghibli anime in particular. It’s not weird anime – it’s pretty and cute. Have you ever seen My Neighbor Totoro? The front had a big, fluffy Totoro! And then there was a neko basu – cat bus – that you could play in! There was a large section about how the animation is created – it’s hand drawn! They start with some concept sketches, then paint the characters on one screen and the backgrounds on another. They can animate the characters and the backgrounds separately giving life to the scenery. But of course the characters is what really sells the movies. Have you ever noticed how compelling the characters are? We saw this one film short that featured a spider but a likeable spider. I don’t like spiders but this one was cute and funny. Ghibli is magical ne?

No! Stop it! GRRRRR!!!!

Hello Totoro!

Then we had dinner at Shibuya. Shibuya was ok – night life and crowed streets aren’t really my thing. Therewas a cute puppy statue by the station, but it’s kinda sad. His name is Hachiko and he used to wait by Shibuya station for his master every night. One night the master never showed up, but the dog kept staying there until…ya…so sad…

Hello Hachiko!

Then we went to Akihabara…I have commented already and this needs no further explanation.

Harajuku was also interesting…the fashion there is…odd…

Ummm...Harajuku girls?

David, being the fashion expert he is, promptly got bored and started playing loud games with his friends on the streets. They played ninja…ninja in Japan…irony/bad jokes aside, it’s a game where you try to hit your friends…one of them almost hit a passerby – gaijin smash attack!

Yes...gaijin smash... sigh

Tokyo Marathon?

Then we ate tonkotsu – fried port cutlet!

We also ate pork gyoza and pork shabu shabu. I do like pork.

Tonkotsu time!

The last day was kind of a blur – I mostly slept – there was a train and then another train and then a shinkansen and then another train and then dinner and then David left me to go to an onsen…hmmm…not the greatest note to end on, but it was a fun trip nonetheless.

Stay tuned as we try to catch you up on our adventures!

See you!

Mane-neko - money kitty!

-Sumi