Weekend in Tokyo!

After work this past Saturday I hopped on the shinkansen and headed to Tokyo to meet some friends. I stayed with my ex-roomie, Valerie, at her place in Omori, and had a crazy all nighter in Tokyo with some other AEON teachers that I trained with. Local trains stop running around 12:30, and start again around 6am, so that means if you go out, you can't go home until it's light outside. We had a lot of fun going to different bars, dancing at The Womb, and finished off the night with breakfast at Denny's. The next afternoon we headed to Yokohama for lunch in Chinatown. I really loved Yokohama, I think because it reminded me a lot of San Francisco. There is a huge Chinatown, a beautiful bay, and one of the most gorgeous skylines I've ever seen. I think Yokohama might be my favorite city in Japan so far. Later that night we went to Roppongi Hills, a place famous for it's high end shops and chic bars. The next day we did a little shopping in Harajuku, but time passed too quickly and I had to catch the shinkansen back home. I had a fantastic time in Tokyo, and sometimes I feel that I'm really missing out here in Fukushima. Look at the pictures, and you be the judge.

The gate to Chinatown in Yokohama 

Valerie and Alec wearing really big hats. They're funny because they're big. 

Another gate and tons of people enjoying the beautiful day in Chinatown. 

A huge temple in Yokohama 

Val and me having fun in the Chinese History Museum. It was a crazy place with food, entertainment, and all kinds of random stuff. 

Alec, Matt and Valerie pose in the flower garden near the bay. 

The Water Guardian, given to Yokohama by the fine people of San Diego, CA. 

We happened to come upon the finals of a dragon boat race after wondering around the flower garden by the bay. The winners we so excited they fell into the water. 

The Yokohama skyline 

Landmark Tower in the distance 

An old port where tons of trading used to go on back in the day. I guess this was the only area foreigners were allowed in Japan at one point. 

Underneath the Landmark Tower in Yokohama. There are cafes and shops in the walls. 

Tokyo Tower as seen from beautiful Roppongi Hills 

The 5 Different Colored Lakes!!!

Today I went to Goshikinuma at Bandai-Asahi National Park in Urabandai with Michelle and some of her Japanese co-workers at Amity. The lakes in this area are famous for being different colors, like teal, green and red. I guess the local volcano, Mt. Bandai, errupted a long time ago and left certain sediments and minerals that caused the lakes to appear different colors. I actually only saw two different colors, teal and green, but apparently the season and lighting causes a change in color as well. It was great to get out of the city though and hike around for a bit. Going for a short road trip with a small group was a lot of fun too. Everyone brought a little something to eat (e.g. onigiri, cookies, fruit, etc) so we had a nice lunch.

Later we stopped by an herb garden where one of Michelle's co-worker's sister worked. There was a beautiful field of yellow flowers, so I put of picture of that in the mix as well. Enjoy the pictures, I'll write more later!

The first lake of Goshikinuma, Bishamon pond. We rented some boats to paddle around.

Michelle rowing our boat on Bishamon pond 

Bishamon pond, it's really big and you can see the color better from this view. 

Aka pond, I thought it would have been red . . . 

Midoro pond, tri-colored! Okay, the reddish-brown is just algae, but it looks really cool. 

Benten pond 

Benten pond, kind of teal colored 

A little tree in the middle of Haha pond 

A blooming tree by Haha pond 

A field of flowers looking out at Inawashiro from Hotel Listel. 

Golden Week!!!

I'm back from my Golden Week vacation and had an amazing time! I went with my two co-workers Ayako, the manager (she used to be the assistant manager), and Ayuko, the head teacher. First we went to Tottori where we climbed up a mountain side to see an unusual and inspiring little temple. That night we stayed at a ryokan (Japanese inn) where we were served traditional meals and got to soak in an onsen (hot spring). You have to be naked in the onsen, and I was a little worried about that at first, but when in Rome . . . It turned out to be a lot of fun though, and really relaxing. Later that night we had massages, but it wasn't like any other massage I've had before. There was a lot of short, quick poking. Sometimes it really tickled, and other times it really hurt. In the end I think I was more tense after the massage than before. The next day we went to see the sand dunes, but the weather was really bad so it wasn't too exciting.

After that we went to Hiroshima. I'm probably a little biased because my family was from Hiroshima, but I thought it was one of the most amazing cities I've ever been to. There are seven rivers in the city (I think) so there are bridges everywhere. Plus, there are tons of green mountains surrounding the city so the skyline is amazing. Peace Park is absolutely beautiful, and kind of reminded me of Washington, D.C. There are also street cars all over that reminded me of San Francisco. We visited the A-bomb dome, and the Memorial Museum. The whole museum was incredible, but two things touched me the most. The first was these two models of Hiroshima before and after the bomb. It literally took my breath away when I saw the absolute devestation of the city. The second was this photograph taken right after the bomb by the journalist Yoshio Matsushige. The picture was of injured people staggering for help after as the city burned around them. Along side the photo was a quote that went something like this:
"It took me 30 minutes before I could force myself to take a picture. When I did, I suddenly felt calm. I tried to take a second but my viewfinder was clouded with tears." In the end, he was only able to take five photos, and those are the only pictures ever taken directly after the bomb.

The next day we met up with Ayako's friend, Kaori. She and her boyfriend drove us to Yamaguchi prefecture where we saw a castle and a really awesome bridge. Later we went to Miyashima where we saw the great Toriya gate and Itsukushima Shrine. When we got there it was low tide so you could walk out and touch Toriya, but when the tide is high it is surrounded by water. I think Miyashima was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

It's getting late, and I have to go to work tomorrow (boooo) so I'm going to end this here. I took a lot more pictures than this, so let me know if you are interested and I'll send them your way. Enjoy!

Inside the new Nagoya airport. I thought it was really cool how they designed the shopping area to look like a real town. The other side of the airport had shops in a Japanese style town. 

Me and Ayako at the start of our hike up a temple on the mountain side in Tottori. We look happy now . . . no really, it was a great climb.