Obon Vacation - Saturday.

On Saturday, after sleeping in, we went to Asakusa for a few hours. When I was in Japan in 2005, me and the other girls went to Asakusa three or four times because we loved it so much. I've been itching to go back since I came to Japan and was so happy to see it again on Saturday. Asakusa is a historical part of Tokyo with great shopping and lots of interesting alleys and restaurants. It so crowded and hot but still really fun.

the big temple was apparently under construction, but I saw it when I came before, so it was no big deal

a place that only sells and serves whale meat

we had to drink some ramune, which is a drink I found long ago with friends in Philadephia

the Asahi building with its beer foam that kind of looks like a carrot

Then back to Shinjuku to meet up with Hiromi. It was so great to hang out with her again! We had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, hit some arcades, and ended up on a great rooftop hangout with lots of little bars and restaurants. I loved it.

How cool is this rooftop place? The roof was open with a terrance over it and lots of great lamps, decorations, drinks and food.

Saturday was a great day with plenty of good food, beautiful sights, and fun with friends. I think the rooftop is one of the best things I've seen in Tokyo yet.

Obon Vacation - Friday.

Friday was the start of the traveling part of my vacation. We took the bus to Tokyo, dropped our stuff off in Asakusa, then headed to Shinjuku to meet another teacher and his friend from the States. We first went to the Nikon Salon, which has a display of the latest and greatest Nikon cameras and also a gallery of different images. It was really interesting and awesome to be surrounded by all that great photographic equipment. There was also a great view of the city.

We had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and then headed to Harajuku, which is one of the fashion capitals of Japan:

Then to Shibuya:

a sign in front of a love hotel

Friday night wandering around some of Tokyo's most famous spots was incredibly fun. We didn't have a specific purpose - we just enjoyed the sights.

More on the earthquake...

There wasn't much info on the internet about this morning's earthquake when I updated right after it happened, but I just found this video tonight:




And the picture in this article is a wall in Shizuoka that I photographed Hiromi in front of.

Apparently, in Shizuoka, there is the Tokai Earthquake theory, which says basically that about every 100-150 years, a huge earthquake hits Shizuoka. The last Tokai Earthquake was in 1854, which means the next one is expected any day now.
This is an online copy of a booklet I have here in my apartment.
Eek.

It's 6 am and I'm awake.

I was jolted awake at about 5:07 am by the biggest eathquake I've felt in Japan yet.
It was a 6.4 on the Richter Scale and about 20 miles from Shizuoka (I live about 20 minutes from Shizuoka).
A bunch of things fell of my shelves and my big mirror fell over (nothing was broken, though).
And now we're still getting aftershocks.

For a girl that grew up in the Midwest, earthquakes are hard to get used to!

And so begins my (short) summer vacation.

I just got home from work and I have the next nine days off.
Yep, they just don't make summer vacations here like they do in the States.

(of course, I don't work at an actual school, more of a business/school...so nine days is actually not so bad.)


What I'll Do During My Summer Vacation:
-go to the beach every day if the weather is good...well, every day except for Thursday, when I'll
-go to Izu, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday, when I'll
-go to Tokyo, specifically Asakusa and Odaiba (and anywhere else that seems interesting)
-read the Harry Potter books I bought at the secondhand store near my apartment
-sleep in

Yeah, that's about it.

The time has finally come...

Remember the umeshu I made a few months ago?
Well, it's been sitting and fermenting on my fridge all summer and I've been waiting patiently to try it, since my Japanese teacher told me to wait a few months before cracking it open.
Finally this morning I got an e-mail from her saying that her umeshu looked really good, so I could probably try mine! I wasted no time after I got home and poured myself a glass. I'm happy to say that it's dang good!

Umeshu in June.

Umeshu now.

The first glass of sweet plum goodness.

And a very happy me. Cheers!

A weekend of summer fun.

Last weekend I went to a barbecue in Shimizu that was hosted by another school. The weather was really rainy but it was still a lot of fun and the food was awesome.
After the BBQ, there were fireworks over Shimizu Port. It was my first time to see fireworks in Japan - fireworks festivals are usually on Saturday nights, and since I work on Saturdays, it's difficult for me to catch them. I was so happy to see the ones in Shimizu!

Walking back to the station after the fireworks, we unfortunately got stuck behind a family with a toddler sporting the latest (highly annoying) Japanese trend: squeaky toy shoes:

Yikes.

On Monday, I went to the beach with Aya. It was a gloriously sunny day and apparently the official end of rainy season.

Welcome to the beach in Japan, where women are deathly afraid of getting even a bit of sun on their skin. Why they come to the beach of all places, I have no idea.