July 5, 2010

Today, like pretty much every other day, was super awesome! Randi, Julie, and I got up at like eight and went to some other parts of Tokyo to explore and stuff. I am so incredibly beat. I did so so much walkin today . First we went to the Tsukiji Market, which is like this massive fish market that is the biggest one in Japan where they bring in fresh fish everyday and stuff. So there are a bunch of little shops that sell fish carving or whatever they call it tools, and they have tons of restaurants where people can buy the freshest sushi. Our group did not do that however because 1, we didn't want to spend money on food so we packed lunches, and 2, two out of the three of us didn't like raw fish. Those two being Randi and I. Julie loves that kind of stuff. Lol. But it was pretty awesome to see all that stuff, although we weren't there early enough to see them like throwing fish around and stuff. After that we went to Akihabara, which is a district of Tokyo that is called the electric city. It has some of the newest and cheapest electronic products all tax free all along this strip of street. And they also had tons of anime shops and like video game arcades and stuff. Braden would have been in heaven if he was there. I probably would have had to drag him out screaming from every store. So that was pretty awesome. We also looked for the Don Quiote discount store that was supposed to have great stuff, but we couldn't find it. Then we went to Shinjuku, which probably had the most stuff. We first went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, and went up to an observatory and got to see some amazing views of Tokyo. Sadly, just like when I went to Tokyo Tower though it was kind of cloudy so we couldn't see a view of Mt. Fugi. Guess I'll just have to wait two weeks until I get to go to the real thing! We stopped on the bottom floor of that building to ask for directions to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery and Concert Hall. Thank goodness for tourist info centers. The Tokyo Opera City thing was amazing. I wish that I would have been able to go inside, because the pictures of the concert hall were incredible. But hopefully I'll be able to find and opera or something playing there that I can go to. But in one of the windows there was this display of three string instruments, like violin and cello, and they were completely covered in roses of different colors. It was amazing to see. After that we walked to find the Times Square called Takashimaya Times Square and see everything. We found the Takashimaya store, which was incredibly huge, but I'm not sure if that was it or if we missed something, because Randi said there were more in the pictures she looked at before we left. So I don't know if the huge crossing in the middle of the store was everything, but we had to leave before we could find out because we had to be back in time for our meetings about the coming week. Oh yeah, I bought probably the biggest backpack ever in Akihabara. It was only 1050 yen and I needed one anyways for hiking up fugi. But this thing is massive. Standing up it comes about to the middle of my thigh, which is the size of some of my kids. I joked with Julie that if they start misbehaving we can just throw them in there for a little while and carry them around. Totally joking, but an amusing thought. Also forgot to say that yesterday who did I see in line for food during the 4th celebration but my little Nikolas with his younger brother and parents. He looked adorable and was sitting in a little red wagon with his brother. Guess what he was doing. Surprise, he was whining to his parents. Ha ha. Glad they had to deal with it for a couple more days before I get him back. Although I saw a crying kid in the train station and it really really made me miss my kids. This coming week should be fun. You know you're in camp adventure when a crying kid in a train station makes you love what you're doing even more. Night .