TOKYOOOO...Ohisashiburi!!!

Alas, spring has come and we are finally out of hibernation! After months of staying in Fukushima on our free days, it is finally warm enough to start travelling again, and we have celebrated that fact by travelling into Tokyo the past three weekends! Three weeks ago the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's were in town to kick off their season in Tokyo :) Before their big game they played a couple of games against some pro-Japanese teams as part of spring training. A bunch of us headed down on Sunday to catch the Red Sox vs. Tokyo Giants game. It was a pretty good game...Giants were leading 2-0 up until the 6th inning then they decided to change pitchers. Red Sox had a grand slam in the 6th and then added a few more in the last innings. The score ended up being like 7-2 or something like that, which looks bad, but the Giants were actually owning up until that point. In the beginning I didn't really have a favorite to win, but after the Giants started to slip, I realized how much I didn't want Boston to win...I feel like i'm going through nationality confusion haha. Am I more Japanese or American? I can't tell anymore.


Allie and Tyler are big A's fans as you can tell...They went to both the A's vs. Hanshin Tigers game, and the Giants vs. Red Sox game in one day!

















It's an umbrella vending machine...The first I've seen!

Naho eating oden on the train platform...classic.

Us being loud on the Yamanote...

Running into people in Shibuya

Wow...that's one big cone

Karaoke...of course.

I don't know why I took a picture of our waiter


We could be sisters...at Gas Panic Shibuya

The following day Lana and I had to catch an early bus to Koriyama because we had hair appointments. I just had mine cut, but Lana had been wanting to try an "air perm" for a while now, almost every Japanese native girl has it! It's really cute, but took 4 hours!



The "after" pictures...at our favorite Indian restaurant Taj Mahal

My friend Laura from Aiea just recently took a position with a different company up here in Japan. She was supposed to be in Tokyo for a week training, but her company decided last minute to send her to her area to train which is near Hiroshima! We had already made the plans to meet in Tokyo, so Kim, Lana, and I ended up in Tokyo with absolutely nothing to do since Laura couldn't meet us haha. The weather was absolute crap, so we ended up doing nothing. I was so bummed that I couldn't see Laura! Oh well, I guess I just have to make a trip to Hiroshima ;)


Kim was happy because no plans meant that we finally had the time to wait in front of Krispy Kreme


Only 45 minutes! Usually the wait is 1-2 hours!

Welcome to the most exclusive club in Tokyo...hahaha Krispy Kreme!

Checking out the menus

We didn't buy anything...we just waited in line for the free doughnut :)

Karaoke...again.



Freezing in the rain!

Ooooh look it's the hot boy from SMAP (Japanese boyband equivalent to NSYNC)!

We ran into some Hawaii JET's in a Shibuya bar...The guy on the far left is from Waimanalo, and the guy on the far right is from Waimea, Big Island...

Back to karaoke to sleep, not sing.


Brushing our teeth in the Akihabara train station bathroom...
We were sooooo tired from the night before, but there was a rumor that the Tsukiji Fish Market guys were going to get stricter with tourists coming into the fish market, so we decided to make a visit before the new rules were enforced, but from what I hear nothing has really changed...but we went anyway :)


That's one big knife!




Lana had never been to Sushi Dai, but when we checked the line it was WAY too long...We were tired and COLD, so we decided to eat soba from a street vendor...It was the best soba EVER, it really hit the spot, but I still can't believe we went to Tsukiji and didn't eat sushi.



This past weekend we went to a "special" festival in Kawasaki. We saw a lot of "interesting" people...and yeah. The pictures will help explain.

Man


Also man

Pretty man

Not so pretty men

Drummers in Yoyogi Park


Sakura and cherry cocktails just in time for hanami!

A very very drunk man who jumped into the fountain in Yoyogi park...it was REALLY cold that night!



Allie jumping in!

Then Carlos!

Those drums are dangerous!!


Another night in Shibuya...for the third week in a row

On the stairs in front of McDonalds

Jackie...another Amity teacher...she's uhhh...different.

This weekend we're going into Yokohama for the Jack Johnson concert! I'm super stoked about it, I just hope it's good weather because I think it's all outdoors...More pictures to come!