Hmm.

I've been thinking about blogging about the rest of my Japan trip for a while. While browsing through my photos, I spotted this interesting trio of shots. I'm not really sure what I captured here, but I could make a guess:

You're gonna talk, seeeeee. You're gonna tell me everything I need to know, seeee.

Please, sir! I don't know anything.. I swear!

You wanna play this the hard way, huh?

Dun dun DUUUUNNN.

Kabuki and Karaoke.

We visited Kabukiza Theater in Ginza (still Tokyo), where we watched one act. It was just beautiful. The quick costume changes -- that take place in a fraction of a second -- were especially spectacular. I wish we were allowed to take photos inside the theater.



We also had our first karaoke night to say goodbye to Mitsuro.

I sang "Livin' On A Prayer." Of course.

My second time around, I sang "Stairway to Heaven." Two minutes into the song, I realized that this genius of a song is probably not preferred for karaoke, considering it is nine minutes long. Oh well.

Katie brought out her inner Britney Spears:


Javier featuring Lisa as a back-up dancer.


Even Sensei boogied. And got a little tipsy.


Thank you, Mitsuro!


(And also, thanks to Sho for these photos of karaoke, which are so much better than mine.)

Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.

Ghibli Museum features the anime works of Hayao Miyazaki, creator of anime films Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl's Moving Castle.



I've only seen Spirited Away out of those three, but the museum was interesting nonetheless. If I had kids that were fans of these films, I'd definitely take them here. It was like walking in an interactive fairytale world that showcased how Miyazaki's beautiful animated works are born. We weren't allowed to take photos of the inside, unfortunately.

Akihabara and Shibuya.

I walked around Akihabara and all I could think was, "My father, uncle, and boyfriend would really enjoy this." There are so many gadgets and computer things and newfangled machines. No wonder they call it "Electric Town."


Yodabashi Camera is a 6-floor department store that has everything under the sun. Including these capsule toy dispensers.


Cha, this one's for you!


Yeah, I could probably spend a full day in this store alone.




We also visited Shibuya, where there exists an iconic crossing.

We're about to participate:


It kind of looks like we're about to run into a huge mob of Japanese people.

The statue of Hachiko, the legendary Akita dog who came to Shibuya station everyday to greet his master, even after he passed away.

Tokyo bus tour.

The half-day bus tour was on one of the rainiest days of the trip thus far. Our tour guide was a endearing older man with a dry sense of humor. He talked about how KFC's Colonel Sanders has become somewhat of an iconic character in Japan, more so than Ronald McDonald (and I believe it -- I think I saw a comedy show where one of the characters dressed up like Colonel Sanders). Then he said he wished he had maybe "10 percent" of Colonol Sanders' success, but "when you're older, it's not so easy." And then he laughed to himself. It was awkward.


We stopped at Tokyo Tower, built in the 1950s as a TV broadcast tower supporting a giant antenna. Sorry I don't have better photos of the actual tower.


Views of Tokyo from inside the observatory.




On clear days, you can apparently see Mt. Fuji in the distance. Since it was so cloudy, I still have no pictures of Mt. Fuji.

There are look-down windows that were creepy because I am afraid of heights.


On the way out, I took a picture with this guy. And I hugged him. I have no idea what he was.


The next stop was Tokyo Imperial Palace Plaza. It started pouring and I was not dressed properly. But I was able to borrow an umbrella.



The statue of General Masashige Kusunoki.


Next we visited Sensoji/Asakusa Kannon Temple. There was a marketplace with lots of shops that I didn't get a chance to explore because I was really cold by that time.




Afterwards I changed into pants.

Harajuku.

We're in Tokyo now. This morning we visited the Harajuku district before our bus tour.




It was pretty early in the morning, so I didn't have many opportunities to take pictures of the locals. Although they probably get a lot requests for photos from foreigners..

Ikebukuro to Kyoto.

Only my second post in Japan and I'm behind on this blog.

We moved from Ikebukuro in Tokyo to Kyoto on the second day. I had not anticipated dragging around 40 pounds of luggage up and down flights of stairs, otherwise, I might have tried to pack lighter. Sensei would probably say, "I told you so."

It was all for this shiny little "JR Pass" that was needed to get on the Shinkansen -- the "bullet train" that took us from Tokyo to Kyoto.



Once I got on the train I was so exhausted I slept the entire way to Kyoto and apparently missed Mt. Fuji.

*Insert non-existent picture of Mt. Fuji.*

Boo.

More to come soon. I left my plug converter at the hotel in Ikebukuro and need to find some way to plug in to charge my laptop.

P.S. I stopped by a couple local bakeries at Tokyo Station. See them here.