Japan, day 2!
May. 5th, 2010 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaitouSorry, I have been kept jumping the past few days and haven't gotten the chance to type up my journal notes. But here you go,
What a fantastic day! I feel very guilty because I was treated beautifully by Junko and Etsuko without being able to reciprocate at all. Must think of something nice I can send back later.
I woke up with the sun, at about 5:30, and made my way down to breakfast when it opened. My hair was awful, but between sleeping on it and the bad hairdryer, there's nothing that could be done. The breakfast buffet was good, with a mix of Japanese and Western food. So good to have Japanese bread again! It really does make the best toast.
When I finished it was still ridiculously early, so I walked around Tachikawa for an hour and got the lay of the land. I stopped at a Lawsons and got a canned coffee. It was gorgeous outside, trees blooming, blue sky, and a pleasure to just BE.
Back at the hotel I met up with Junko, my coworker's sister, and her friend Etsuko. I gave Junko a pretty blue scarf that I bought, and some pictures and newspaper clippings from my coworker's family. And then we were off! Junko and Etsuko were amazingly nice and funny and fun to talk to. And! My Japanese didn't fail me ALL DAY! I could participate in every conversation. It was a HUGE ego boost. I hardly ever get to use my Japanese at work, and I always feel like my language skills are fading. But I didn't have any problems at all during the day. What a relief!
We went to Shinjuku, but I didn't end up seeing the scramble or Hachiko or any other WEWY landmarks. The Tokyu Hands is built directly into a department store that in turn connects directly to the train station. So we started there. On the way through the mall we saw 'sandal boots,' boots cut open like sandals. Apparently the Japanese nickname for these are 'busan' for boot sandal. But that seems a little too close to Busu to me!
Tokyu Hands is a great store, kitchen goods, crafts, sporting goods, interior decorating...you name it, they've got it. I must have bought over $100 in kitchen stuff, and a little bit of stationary too. I got lots of bento things, and a couple of these any lock bag clips...totally ossim. They had a hello kitty sushi making set, but I'm not that masochistic.
The craft floor had rows and rows of awful gag candy, with flavors like clam and eel, and bottles of kimchi ramune. Why didn't I buy some for work!?! There was also a man doing elegant mother's day calligraphy with his fingers. He'd use the ball of his finger for parts, or the nail for detail. There wa also a tiny tiny jar of an aquarium/biosphere, with tiny, tiny TINY shrimp. I mean, like, millimeter big shrimp.
After thoroughly exploring Tokyu Hands we took a cab to another hotel with a buffet for lunch. There was paella and crab legs, tempura, pizza, beef so rare that even my dad would approve, and and a peach vinegar that not even I cared for. (blegh! who thinks of these things. I thought I read the sign wrong, but it really was a vinegar based drink) I tried to be good and pass on dessert, but there was a chocolate fountain and I gave in. Etsuko suggested skipping the fruit and going straight for the chocolate, I said that a coffee cup might work even better.
We were so full at that point that we needed to do a lot of walking to burn off those calories. So of course we went to the bottom of a department store with the most beautiful and expensive sweets you ever did see. Caramel lolipops that were 210 yen a...pop, (sorry) There was a kind of German cake covered in chocolate, natsu mikan jelly, gold dusted chocolates... amazing stuff. I bought a small bar of honey yokan, about the size of a tube of lipstick that was very good.
Then we went to Uniqlo to get t-shirts for my coworker's daughter and Etsuko's nieces and nephews. They were having a big sale on logo shirts, but logos of things like beer brands, and VW, and the Calbee shrimp.
At a bookstore they helped me find Temari and Embroidery books for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
exgentlemen and twigcollins. I wanted to look at books for me, but we were cutting it close to go catch our movie back in Tachikawa.
Yes, I went to go see the new Conan movie, The Lost Ship in the Sky, which was better than I expected. I hate to say it, but I think the movies jumped the shark a long time ago, but there were a few moments in this one that were pure Rule of Cool. And the ending was pretty surprising, (well, until the after-the credits bit).ickaimp has a really good writeup of it on her Kid site.
After the movie we wandered through Lumine, a department store attached to Tachikawa station. I found a new manga series with pretty art 'the Duke and the Fairy' but the story seems pretty lackluster. I picked up my missing Conan volumes, and the Maru book. I also found the latest Sambomaster CD, but no luck finding Rip Slyme or iTunes gift cards.
Dinner was at Chibo, my favorite Okonomiyaki chain. Yay Okonomiyaki! I love it so.
Then it was back to the hotel, where I got the staff to take our picture. Etsuko surprised me with a present, and Junko gave me a box of the decadent German cake. I wish I had bought things for them!! I really will have to knit something.
I read a bit more Heyer, and watched some TV. Apparently the slogan for McDonald's coffee in Japan is "Full of Beans."
Oh oh! I forgot, walking around Shinjuku we saw Burton!Alice cosplay. Alice and the Mad Hatter. I wonder if they were on their way to an event.
I have a few more pictures of my trip up on my flickr page here. More to follow, I was a much better photographer on Sunday.
What a fantastic day! I feel very guilty because I was treated beautifully by Junko and Etsuko without being able to reciprocate at all. Must think of something nice I can send back later.
I woke up with the sun, at about 5:30, and made my way down to breakfast when it opened. My hair was awful, but between sleeping on it and the bad hairdryer, there's nothing that could be done. The breakfast buffet was good, with a mix of Japanese and Western food. So good to have Japanese bread again! It really does make the best toast.
When I finished it was still ridiculously early, so I walked around Tachikawa for an hour and got the lay of the land. I stopped at a Lawsons and got a canned coffee. It was gorgeous outside, trees blooming, blue sky, and a pleasure to just BE.
Back at the hotel I met up with Junko, my coworker's sister, and her friend Etsuko. I gave Junko a pretty blue scarf that I bought, and some pictures and newspaper clippings from my coworker's family. And then we were off! Junko and Etsuko were amazingly nice and funny and fun to talk to. And! My Japanese didn't fail me ALL DAY! I could participate in every conversation. It was a HUGE ego boost. I hardly ever get to use my Japanese at work, and I always feel like my language skills are fading. But I didn't have any problems at all during the day. What a relief!
We went to Shinjuku, but I didn't end up seeing the scramble or Hachiko or any other WEWY landmarks. The Tokyu Hands is built directly into a department store that in turn connects directly to the train station. So we started there. On the way through the mall we saw 'sandal boots,' boots cut open like sandals. Apparently the Japanese nickname for these are 'busan' for boot sandal. But that seems a little too close to Busu to me!
Tokyu Hands is a great store, kitchen goods, crafts, sporting goods, interior decorating...you name it, they've got it. I must have bought over $100 in kitchen stuff, and a little bit of stationary too. I got lots of bento things, and a couple of these any lock bag clips...totally ossim. They had a hello kitty sushi making set, but I'm not that masochistic.
The craft floor had rows and rows of awful gag candy, with flavors like clam and eel, and bottles of kimchi ramune. Why didn't I buy some for work!?! There was also a man doing elegant mother's day calligraphy with his fingers. He'd use the ball of his finger for parts, or the nail for detail. There wa also a tiny tiny jar of an aquarium/biosphere, with tiny, tiny TINY shrimp. I mean, like, millimeter big shrimp.
After thoroughly exploring Tokyu Hands we took a cab to another hotel with a buffet for lunch. There was paella and crab legs, tempura, pizza, beef so rare that even my dad would approve, and and a peach vinegar that not even I cared for. (blegh! who thinks of these things. I thought I read the sign wrong, but it really was a vinegar based drink) I tried to be good and pass on dessert, but there was a chocolate fountain and I gave in. Etsuko suggested skipping the fruit and going straight for the chocolate, I said that a coffee cup might work even better.
We were so full at that point that we needed to do a lot of walking to burn off those calories. So of course we went to the bottom of a department store with the most beautiful and expensive sweets you ever did see. Caramel lolipops that were 210 yen a...pop, (sorry) There was a kind of German cake covered in chocolate, natsu mikan jelly, gold dusted chocolates... amazing stuff. I bought a small bar of honey yokan, about the size of a tube of lipstick that was very good.
Then we went to Uniqlo to get t-shirts for my coworker's daughter and Etsuko's nieces and nephews. They were having a big sale on logo shirts, but logos of things like beer brands, and VW, and the Calbee shrimp.
At a bookstore they helped me find Temari and Embroidery books for
exgentlemen and twigcollins. I wanted to look at books for me, but we were cutting it close to go catch our movie back in Tachikawa. Yes, I went to go see the new Conan movie, The Lost Ship in the Sky, which was better than I expected. I hate to say it, but I think the movies jumped the shark a long time ago, but there were a few moments in this one that were pure Rule of Cool. And the ending was pretty surprising, (well, until the after-the credits bit).
ickaimp has a really good writeup of it on her Kid site. After the movie we wandered through Lumine, a department store attached to Tachikawa station. I found a new manga series with pretty art 'the Duke and the Fairy' but the story seems pretty lackluster. I picked up my missing Conan volumes, and the Maru book. I also found the latest Sambomaster CD, but no luck finding Rip Slyme or iTunes gift cards.
Dinner was at Chibo, my favorite Okonomiyaki chain. Yay Okonomiyaki! I love it so.
Then it was back to the hotel, where I got the staff to take our picture. Etsuko surprised me with a present, and Junko gave me a box of the decadent German cake. I wish I had bought things for them!! I really will have to knit something.
I read a bit more Heyer, and watched some TV. Apparently the slogan for McDonald's coffee in Japan is "Full of Beans."
Oh oh! I forgot, walking around Shinjuku we saw Burton!Alice cosplay. Alice and the Mad Hatter. I wonder if they were on their way to an event.
I have a few more pictures of my trip up on my flickr page here. More to follow, I was a much better photographer on Sunday.
