Herro! from Japan

Ueno Zoo: The Dirty Truth (Part I)

Ueno Zoo: The Dirty Truth (Part II)

Pt. II cont.-

After the zoo, we wandered around Ueno and checked out a few temples and shrines.

Came upon the Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was originated from a flame caused by the atomic bomb found in the ruins of a victim’s home in Hiroshima. This flame was combined with another flame lit by the friction of broken roofing tiles of Nagasaki, and has been kept burning as a monument to strengthen the worldwide movement to abolish nuclear weapons and achieve peace. 

Afterward, we went to Ameyayokocho, a huge outdoor marketplace with seemingly endless rows of stalls. Many vendors would take a break from yelling out their selection of wares to cough because they were so hoarse. There was a store full of skill-crane games featuring not just your typical stuffed animals, but hair straighteners, electric keyboards, and, strangest of all, LIVE FISH. Yeah, we saw people going after those and kept thinking the poor fish would be brain damaged and die after being sloshed around that much. Ooh, we also saw a Santa Cruz Skateboards shirt (woot, 831 represent!)

Japan has some cool shit (lightsaber chopsticks!).

End Transmission pt. II.II

061510- We went to Ueno. Saw a man in ridiculous short-shorts…if nothing else made this adventure to Japan worthwhile, this would have. Checked out Ueno Zoo. Won’t lie, some of the enclosures were depressing (large birds of prey in particular) but some of them didn’t seem to enclose the animals at all. There was Monkey Mountain, with Japanese Macaques and a ringtailed lemur exhibit that were pretty open…it seemed as if they could jump right on our faces if they were motivated enough.

Saw gorillas bumping uglies. Oh, we have video (saving that for a separate post).

Couldn’t understand the docents very well, but I could understand this: “baby”. We went at a good time, because there were a lot of baby animals there. 

And leave it to the Japanese to have a poop exhibit. 

End Transmission pt. II

Captain’s Blog: June 17, 2010 08:53am Tokyo Time (Stephanie)

We have only been here 6 days, but it feels longer. It’s amazing how many things you can do here. Sure, some are pricey-ish, but there is so much to see, the simple act of walking around or sitting and people watching is just as fulfilling. It will be difficult to narrow the past few days to a few highlights. Here it goes:

061410- First real rainy day. Got lost in Shinjuku Station (it’s fucking daunting and gigantic). The Japanese even have adorable lockers in their stations. Found an Engrish poster. Ikebana exhibit (Japanese flower arrangements). Walked through Ni-chome (gay district) and saw some fun stores. Um, burly Popeye decked in camo in front of an American flag anyone? Yeah, that’s right. Later in the evening, Amy and Jessica (who donned their Japan World Cup jerseys proudly…and received confused looks from locals) ran into another group of fans (drunken fans) and had an awesome photo op.

End transmission pt. I 

Captain’s Blog: June 13, 2010 12:15pm Tokyo Time

What an eventful day for us! After taking care of business at Softbank (prepaid phone), we met up with Amy’s friend, Jessica, and headed to Sweets Paradise, a tabehodai (all you can eat) of cake! They serve some real food as well, but as you can imagine, it’s all about the cake. It’s amazing to see how much those chibi Japanese girls can down!

Then we experienced karaoke. Nuff said. 

After walking around Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Kabukicho (redlight district…we must have walked at least 5 miles without even realizing it), we decided to have dinner at Gut’s Soul, yet another tabehodai…but this was different. This was also a nomihodai (all you can drink). So we scarfed vast quantities of yakiniku (meat) and embibed many a spirited beverage (some were super mild…we had an oolong beverage that tasted like iced tea, but was apparently pretty alcoholic…dangerous). 

We both were stuffed and buzzed, and things got a little ugly for Adam (food poisoning? We’re still not sure) so he paid a visit to their men’s room.

Even though the end of the first day got a little hairy, it was super awesome-tastic. Bring it on, Japan!