Kate’s Quests

Well…we’ve seen a bunch since the last update. First, I have to say that taking the train is very convenient and that this picture says a lot. The trains are VERY quiet. The Japanese are very concerned about not disturbing the other passengers. So, most people are either on their phones playing quiet games or sleeping. If this really was an accurate depiction of Japanese train behavior, there would be someone passed out next to these boys. DJ has asked me how they are so good at waking up in time to get off at the right stop and well…they’re not. Many Japanese wake up several stops past theirs or better…at the end of the line. Shara and I were asked to get off a train once. We weren’t asleep, but rather, foreigners who didn’t know any better. It was pretty amusing. It was the last stop and she was already on the train. I got on and we sat down and started talking. Soon, a couple of train engineers came over and asked us to get off. It was the last stop for that train and it wasn’t going anywhere. Oops.

Anyway, DJ and I went to Yokohama, twice. We spent about twelve or so hours walking around both times. We came across a mall that blows bubbles at people as you walk in. Cute for the kids. It was pretty massive inside. The food court was huge and has a wide variety of worldly cuisines. Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese (of course) and a bunch of others. We wandered around that mall for awhile. We looked for a wine rack, but everything was waaaayyy too expensive. We also found a wine shop (yah!!) that wasn’t too expensive. Lucky for us, we drink a little bit of wine. Then as you exit the mall you can ride the ferris wheel or roller coaster. Pretty neat. But it was very cold, so we didn’t. We did, however, continue to walk around the place and found many different Starbucks. They are everywhere. It’s so crazy. Starbucks and Tully’s. Who would’ve thought? Not me! At least the coffee drinks there are listed in English. It’s hard to ask for a Mocha when no one knows what that is. We found that out the hard way at DouTour, a Japanese coffee shop. They’re everywhere too.

Then later in the week we decided to go back. We ate lunch at some restaurant above the train station. It’s in a mall of some sort. Don’t ask me the name of the place, but we had Yakiniku. They bring you plates of raw beef and you cook it on a grill that’s built into the table. I LOVE this stuff. I took DJ to a place in Yokosuka that the Americans all call Twelve Frogs, because no one really knows the name of the restaurant and there are twelve frogs smack dab in front of the entrance. I nabbed a picture of the stuff from Wikipedia. It’s so yummy. Probably not the best cuts of meat, but it’s good anyway. With it you get soup, salad, kimchi, some sort of bean sprout stuff and rice. Afterwards we stopped for tarts. The kind you eat. I know what you were thinking. They looked so good, DJ just had to get a picture. And I just have to show it to you. Yes, to make you jealous and drool. I had the mixed berry and DJ got chocolate something. They were divine. They tasted exactly like how you would imagine they would. They were also very expensive. Trips like this will eventually get us broke and me very fat. I can only hope that walking to and from the train will counteract some of this. A girl can hope, right?
Ok, so now Tokyo. Shara, DJ and I went up for a weekend. We left Friday and ended up coming back early on Saturday because DJ was a little hungover, but it was his birthday too. We stayed at a hostel in Asakusa. Pronounced “a-sock-sa.” The hostel was supposed to have sent me a map to find the place, but didn’t. I had directions from one stop, but the site said that another stop was closer so I got us off the train at the other stop. Of course then I had no idea how to get to the hotel so I stopped an old woman walking down the street. She didn’t know how to get there, but asked around. She called the hostel with my phone and when couldn’t get good directions, took us there herself. She stopped about every block or so and confirmed that she was going in the right direction. It was really sweet and she spoke a little bit of English, so on our way there she kept pointing out good places to check out, like the Sensoji (the oldest temple in Japan). We checked it out at night and then came back the next morning to see it in the daytime. The way to the temple is lined with shops called the Nakamise and on the way we stumbled across some Geisha. In the middle of the Nakamise an older gentleman came up to us and asked if he could walk around with us and practice his English. We had no problem with that and asked him all about the temple. DJ was so engrossed in conversation with the guy, that he never even noticed the Geisha. They were plugging some kind of doll. I think they were probably the models for the dolls. We walked all around Roppongi (clubbing town) later that night. We found a hooka bar that was fun and a couple of dance clubs and finally an English pub. DJ really would have been fine Saturday morning except for the smoking. Confession time? I have to admit that when I “smoke” that I’m not actually inhaling. Haha. I’ve made that mistake before. I get ultra sick the next day too. So I like the taste of the Apple, Grape or whatever kind of tobacco we have, but to inhale is too much for me. I can inhale when it’s not very strong…like at the beginning and at the end of the coal, but otherwise it just burns my throat and I cough and cough and look very stupid. So I am very lame, but whatever.

Then for Christmas Eve, DJ and I decided that our Christmas gift to each other would be the day in Tokyo again. We saw Akihabara, which is the electronic area of Tokyo. It was fun, but doesn’t excite me too much. DJ liked it a lot though. So, good for him. After that we headed to Ginza. Now Ginza was cool. It’s an amazingly large shopping district with an amazing amount of people with amazingly large bank accounts. Never have I seen so many Tiffany & Co.’s, Chanel stores, Armani, Gucci, and other places. While we were wandering around we saw about 300+ people dressed as Santa on Mopeds and Motercycle’s. It was pretty funny.
So that’s it so far. I keep updating Flickr. So there are more photos there that I didn’t post. Check them out too.