月曜日, 5月 15, 2006
So, this is the street where I live. Ok, actually my street is right off this street. so, you walk for thirty seconds and turn right, that's what you see. the tall building at the end, that's what you can sorta see in the very right corner of the picture of my porch. yeah. it's tokyo.
so, yesterday, sunday, was orientation day. around 10am we met downstairs in the lobby of my dorm to go and orient ourselves with the sorrounding area. basically we were led by 4 people who attend TUJ around different parts of akasaka, shibuya, and then around the meiji temple. At the time, i was pretty lost, but afterwards, when another girl, Stef,and I tried to find a cell phone store we found we knew where we were going more than we thought we did. so, i guess it was a successful orientation.
so... here's the sorrounding area:
at the end of my street, when you turn left, and walk about 50 yards, you hit this tori, which marks an entrance to the hie shrine.
more of the shrine...
as you continue down sotobori street, you see this gigantic karioke box. so, maybe one day i'll make a fool out of myself with some other temple kids and we'll karioke all night long... yeah....
ok, this is the sickest thing i've ever heard of. basically, it's a resturant that lets you fish for your dinner. They do have pre-caught fish, but for a fee, they let you have the honor of catching your own food, and then they cook it up in front of you. gross.
ok, so after we made a loop of the surrounding area, we went back to akasaka station. this #6 on the chiyoda line (the green one, if you're ever looking at a tokyo subway map). it's got a convienence store next to it (which does not carry knives or forks btw, but it's got socks... )and it has resturants underneath this plaza thing and it also has, of course, a starbucks.
so, after we went on the subway, we got off at the shinjuku station. this put us in shibuya. There are two main meeting spots outside of the station. one is this giant stone head, the moyai statue. the other one is much more rockin' but it's blurry because i'm an awesome photographer.
yay! it's the hachiko statue. It's a puppy! this is the dog for which hachiko square got it's name. Here's the sad hachiko story.
There's this salary-man (business man, for you americans). and everyday he goes to work by subway. In the morning, he goes to the station and his dog, who is very well trained, goes with him. and when the man goes into the station, the dog heads home. At the same time everyday, the man returns home from work and his dog, hachiko, is always there to meet him. Together, they walk home. One day, the salary man goes to work and has a heart attack and dies. So, naturally, he's not there to meet hachiko after work. But, hachiko doesn't know, so everyday, the dog goes to the station to meet his owner. but the owner never comes.
it's sad, but yay, that's the hachiko story.
and across from shibuya station, in hachiko square is.. you guessed it... a starbucks. this place really reminds me of times square. on all the buildings in the area, there are video screens and such with advartisments and stuff. also, there are sooo many american stores. well.. not necessarily american but western. like all those crazy european fancy schmancy designers like Dior, and um.. versacchi, and um.. well i can't think of them because i don't really care, but they were there and pricey. also, there was a gap. and a claire's. but it wasn't targetted for little kids, like the american ones are. it was totally for like 20-something's. but, it was without a doubt the same style of crapola they sell in the states.
oh, and on the corner of hachiko square was shibuya 109. basically it's this tower and an entire blocks's worth of women's clothing. yeah.
The subway stops running around 12ish. so, what if you get stuck in shibuya? go hang out in the mambu all night manga store. you can buy an all night pass for like $10 and then chill in a room and lock the door and sleep until the subway opens up in the morning. yatta.
if you ever need anything in japan and you can't find it anywhere else, go to tokyo hands. it's 5 levels of craziness. you want a hard hat, go to tokyo hands. you want a designer purse? go to tokyo hands. you want a muffin tin, go to tokyo hands. but, if you can find it anywhere else, then don't go to tokyo hands because it'll be cheaper somewhere else.
this was the office supply floor. FLOOR! they had awesome door signs. look how cute they are!
we ate lunch at this place called shakey's. apparently they also have a lot of them in california. i dunno. it's tabehoudai.. or all you can eat... for $10. but a drink, no refils, is qround $2. blah.
and, after lunch we were walking to the meiji temple and we learned that tomagotchi still exist. crazy.
also, there was this store called condomania. they have an interesting sign on the roof- two very happy condoms... yeah.... well, at leat the japanese have safe sex....
oh, and remember those ugly boxy vans i was talking about... this one is called: cube.
look at all the traffic....
and all the people...
ok. this sign is awesome. it says... roughly:
drug abuse is "bad. very much so."
look at all the random architecture in japan. it looks like they just kept putting buildings in peacemeal. (which they probably have been doing) but yeah...randomness!
ok, in harajuku on sundays... the girls(mostly girls at least) do crazy things...
they dress up in a nutsy manner because they want to express themselves. which they can't do m-s because that's when they're at work/school. and they want to be who they truely are inside on the outside too. and i think that's the part that worries me most.
um.... yeah...
so then we went to meiji temple.
yep, that's meiji temple
and here's me there. i exist. nuts!
on the way to the temple, there was a wall o' sake.
look at all the trees. on the way into the temple, there was almost complete shade with these trees covering us the whole time. apparently they stay green all year. so when everything is barren and cold and gross, you can come to the meiji temple in the winter and still see some lovely green.
this is another tori at the temple
look at the wonderful trees
the place where you pray...
...where there were marriages all throughout the spring adn summer... today we saw at least 4 in not even 4 hours. they let you take pics because they're all dolled up for pretty much the only time ever....
the temple's door were even super-awesome.
this is the plaza, where the wedding processions take place. The pic is of the entrance, behind me is the place where you pray.
awww... look how cute the little kid is.
a wedding procession... the two guys in front, the next two girls, and the guy holding the parasol are all people who work at the temple, it would totally suck to be the umbrella guy. all day, every day, all you do is umbrella people. i bet his arms are really buff.
ok, i just thought that was an awesome picture. I hope the colors came out ok, because all the colors are really vibrant. The parasol is *really* red, the trees are *really*green and the sky... well that's *really* grey... but that just makes everything else stand out more, especially against the stone.
more of the procession before they took family pictures. oh, and TBS people, you have no idea what kind of craziness ensues in taking family pictures until you've seen old angry women in kimonos try to line up and take pictures.... wait.... no....the other thing: dejavu.
these posters are all over the subway. sorry it's blurry... but you'll be seeing alot of that. it basically talks about if everybody's happy, you'll be happy... but it also says "wan" at the last line of the speech bubble. (wan is the sound dogs make...like wan wan, as opposed to woof woof, or bark)
i just don't understand. do they need to remind us that clifford was a dog. just because he's telling you not to throw yourself into the subway doesn't mean that he's no longer a dog.
i mean, smokey the bear doesn't say things like "only you can prevent forest fires...GRRRRR" because that's craziness.
so... just remember. don't be suicidal and throw yourself in front of metro, woof.
[fin.]
so, yesterday, sunday, was orientation day. around 10am we met downstairs in the lobby of my dorm to go and orient ourselves with the sorrounding area. basically we were led by 4 people who attend TUJ around different parts of akasaka, shibuya, and then around the meiji temple. At the time, i was pretty lost, but afterwards, when another girl, Stef,and I tried to find a cell phone store we found we knew where we were going more than we thought we did. so, i guess it was a successful orientation.
so... here's the sorrounding area:
at the end of my street, when you turn left, and walk about 50 yards, you hit this tori, which marks an entrance to the hie shrine.
more of the shrine...
as you continue down sotobori street, you see this gigantic karioke box. so, maybe one day i'll make a fool out of myself with some other temple kids and we'll karioke all night long... yeah....
ok, this is the sickest thing i've ever heard of. basically, it's a resturant that lets you fish for your dinner. They do have pre-caught fish, but for a fee, they let you have the honor of catching your own food, and then they cook it up in front of you. gross.
ok, so after we made a loop of the surrounding area, we went back to akasaka station. this #6 on the chiyoda line (the green one, if you're ever looking at a tokyo subway map). it's got a convienence store next to it (which does not carry knives or forks btw, but it's got socks... )and it has resturants underneath this plaza thing and it also has, of course, a starbucks.
so, after we went on the subway, we got off at the shinjuku station. this put us in shibuya. There are two main meeting spots outside of the station. one is this giant stone head, the moyai statue. the other one is much more rockin' but it's blurry because i'm an awesome photographer.
yay! it's the hachiko statue. It's a puppy! this is the dog for which hachiko square got it's name. Here's the sad hachiko story.
There's this salary-man (business man, for you americans). and everyday he goes to work by subway. In the morning, he goes to the station and his dog, who is very well trained, goes with him. and when the man goes into the station, the dog heads home. At the same time everyday, the man returns home from work and his dog, hachiko, is always there to meet him. Together, they walk home. One day, the salary man goes to work and has a heart attack and dies. So, naturally, he's not there to meet hachiko after work. But, hachiko doesn't know, so everyday, the dog goes to the station to meet his owner. but the owner never comes.
it's sad, but yay, that's the hachiko story.
and across from shibuya station, in hachiko square is.. you guessed it... a starbucks. this place really reminds me of times square. on all the buildings in the area, there are video screens and such with advartisments and stuff. also, there are sooo many american stores. well.. not necessarily american but western. like all those crazy european fancy schmancy designers like Dior, and um.. versacchi, and um.. well i can't think of them because i don't really care, but they were there and pricey. also, there was a gap. and a claire's. but it wasn't targetted for little kids, like the american ones are. it was totally for like 20-something's. but, it was without a doubt the same style of crapola they sell in the states.
oh, and on the corner of hachiko square was shibuya 109. basically it's this tower and an entire blocks's worth of women's clothing. yeah.
The subway stops running around 12ish. so, what if you get stuck in shibuya? go hang out in the mambu all night manga store. you can buy an all night pass for like $10 and then chill in a room and lock the door and sleep until the subway opens up in the morning. yatta.
if you ever need anything in japan and you can't find it anywhere else, go to tokyo hands. it's 5 levels of craziness. you want a hard hat, go to tokyo hands. you want a designer purse? go to tokyo hands. you want a muffin tin, go to tokyo hands. but, if you can find it anywhere else, then don't go to tokyo hands because it'll be cheaper somewhere else.
this was the office supply floor. FLOOR! they had awesome door signs. look how cute they are!
we ate lunch at this place called shakey's. apparently they also have a lot of them in california. i dunno. it's tabehoudai.. or all you can eat... for $10. but a drink, no refils, is qround $2. blah.
and, after lunch we were walking to the meiji temple and we learned that tomagotchi still exist. crazy.
also, there was this store called condomania. they have an interesting sign on the roof- two very happy condoms... yeah.... well, at leat the japanese have safe sex....
oh, and remember those ugly boxy vans i was talking about... this one is called: cube.
look at all the traffic....
and all the people...
ok. this sign is awesome. it says... roughly:
drug abuse is "bad. very much so."
look at all the random architecture in japan. it looks like they just kept putting buildings in peacemeal. (which they probably have been doing) but yeah...randomness!
ok, in harajuku on sundays... the girls(mostly girls at least) do crazy things...
they dress up in a nutsy manner because they want to express themselves. which they can't do m-s because that's when they're at work/school. and they want to be who they truely are inside on the outside too. and i think that's the part that worries me most.
um.... yeah...
so then we went to meiji temple.
yep, that's meiji temple
and here's me there. i exist. nuts!
on the way to the temple, there was a wall o' sake.
look at all the trees. on the way into the temple, there was almost complete shade with these trees covering us the whole time. apparently they stay green all year. so when everything is barren and cold and gross, you can come to the meiji temple in the winter and still see some lovely green.
this is another tori at the temple
look at the wonderful trees
the place where you pray...
...where there were marriages all throughout the spring adn summer... today we saw at least 4 in not even 4 hours. they let you take pics because they're all dolled up for pretty much the only time ever....
the temple's door were even super-awesome.
this is the plaza, where the wedding processions take place. The pic is of the entrance, behind me is the place where you pray.
awww... look how cute the little kid is.
a wedding procession... the two guys in front, the next two girls, and the guy holding the parasol are all people who work at the temple, it would totally suck to be the umbrella guy. all day, every day, all you do is umbrella people. i bet his arms are really buff.
ok, i just thought that was an awesome picture. I hope the colors came out ok, because all the colors are really vibrant. The parasol is *really* red, the trees are *really*green and the sky... well that's *really* grey... but that just makes everything else stand out more, especially against the stone.
more of the procession before they took family pictures. oh, and TBS people, you have no idea what kind of craziness ensues in taking family pictures until you've seen old angry women in kimonos try to line up and take pictures.... wait.... no....the other thing: dejavu.
these posters are all over the subway. sorry it's blurry... but you'll be seeing alot of that. it basically talks about if everybody's happy, you'll be happy... but it also says "wan" at the last line of the speech bubble. (wan is the sound dogs make...like wan wan, as opposed to woof woof, or bark)
i just don't understand. do they need to remind us that clifford was a dog. just because he's telling you not to throw yourself into the subway doesn't mean that he's no longer a dog.
i mean, smokey the bear doesn't say things like "only you can prevent forest fires...GRRRRR" because that's craziness.
so... just remember. don't be suicidal and throw yourself in front of metro, woof.
[fin.]
