Mia: Ooh, muscle.
Dineen: I did not run, though I again did a TON of walking, and spent one day hiking in a lovely beachside town south of Tokyo
(Kamakura, for anyone curious
). As for stories... man, I could probably go on all day, but lemme just hit the stereotypes:
NO: karaoke bar
(my hosts wouldn't go and I didn't wanna go by myself
), used panty vending machine
(but I did find a NEW panty vending machine, and crotchless at that
), hitting my head on a door frame, indoor beach, kabuki
(host advised me that a lot of times it's simply a regular play with slightly odd costumes
), sumo
(well -- no sumo matches -- but I did get to go to the season-opening sumo festival, and that was a lot of fun
)
YES: hot coffee in a can from a vending machine
(pretty good actually!
), conveyor belt sushi, ramen stand, got kicked out of somewhere for being gaijin, noh
(free outdoor performance at a festival
), love hotel
(just the lobbies! ... and a lot of them actually seem like pretty damn nice hotels
)
Here's five pictures:
In case you're in doubt that Tokyo's a big city... a view from a tall building
(Tokyo's city hall
), city as far as the eye can see.
![city](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/4StringFox/ForBT1.jpg)
Me in Shinjuku
(basically the Lower Manhattan of Tokyo, where all the important government and corporate buildings are, and also lots of shopping and stuff to do
).
![shinjuku](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/4StringFox/ForBT2.jpg)
Just one of the beautiful temples and temple gardens I saw. Temples and shrines are everywhere, you could almost trip over them. This is just the one in my friend's
neighborhood.
![temple](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/4StringFox/ForBT3.jpg)
My friend
(face covered 'cause I didn't ask him before posting this
) meeting his favorite sumo wrestler at the sumo festival. There were several big-name wrestlers just hanging out in the crowd, and this guy, Chiyotaikai, was super nice about saying hi and taking pictures.
(The sign is advertising food made by the wrestlers of Chiyotaikai's sumo school. Younger/newer/lower-ranked wrestlers earn their keep at their schools by doing all the chores, including cooking and cleaning.
)
![chiyo](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/4StringFox/ForBT4.jpg)
Lastly, a turtle standing on another turtle's head. They were frozen in this position for a good half hour. I guess the guy on the bottom was cool with it.
Edited by Silver Bullet 2010-05-13 11:39 PM