Interests:taiko, poker, snowboarding, surfing, electronic gadgets, brazilian jiu-jitsu Expertise:efficient at wasting time since 1979 Occupation:performing artist
FLASHBACK FROM 2006 - TAIKOPROJECT/Mitsubishi Girls in Detroit for the Detroit Auto Show (01.06.06 - 01.09.06) University of Michigan Donate enough money and you will get a building named after you. Most memorable meal ever
Its Sunday morning, 4:43AM, a perfect time for an update! I must apologize for not finishing our Japan adventure. It's all due to a mix of being jetlagged, working, and spending time with people. Well, its probably more due to me being lazy! So without further ado....
TAIKOPROJECT IN JAPAN 07.17.06 - DAY 5 (MONDAY)
We ate breakfast early and departed the lovely city of Matto in Ishikawa-ken for our destination of Tokyo. We only had 2 goals for the day: 1) Check in to our hotel in Tokyo 2) Visit the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka before it closed at 6PM.
We took the train from Matto to the bullet train station. The ride was supposed to be about 1.5 hours but it turned into 3 hours as there was major delays due to large amounts of rainfall. We parted ways with Julia during the train ride, temporarily, as she had something to take care of. We then had about a 3 hour bullet train ride to Tokyo.
Hot TP Boyz sleeling on the shinkansen. Cute...
We took the Yamanote line to Ikebukuro where the hotel was at and checked in. Side note: I really want to get the ringers for the Yamanote line and get them on my cell phone, so if anyone happens to have these, I would kill for it.
Getting to the hotel was not easy as our directions were not quite detailed enough. Bryan, Jenn and I, as the non-Japanese-speaking people, guarded our luggage in the rain whil Maz, Yuri and Yuta fanned out to search for the hotel, the Ikebukuro Hotel Theatre, which Maz was the first to locate.
We then checked in and Maj, Bryan, Yuri, Jenn and I then departed for the Ghibli Museum. Lots of cool stuff there but they don't allow pictures inside, but this site shows some of it. They even have their own cute bus.
Yuri with the Laputa(Castle in the Sky) robot. I think Yuri and Bryan were the most excited.
We celebrated the end of the tour with some food and a Valley of the Wind Beer!
For dinner we went to Kunitachi. After some shopping in the Hyaku-en store ($1 store equivalent but with better stuff), we were joined by 2 of Maj's friends from when he lived in Japan: Bun-san and Miyuki-san? We are lots of Okonomiyaki and Monja. It was a lot of fun cooking the food with Maz and his friends (the entire group had to split due to space availability.
We then returned to our hotel and drank once again.
TAIKOPROJECT IN JAPAN 07.18.06 - DAY 6 (TUESDAY)
Goals for the day: 1) Buy taiko stuff at the Miyamoto Store in Asakusa. 2) Shop.
Everyday starts with a great hotel breakfast.
Off to Asakusa.
We would have just missed this train if not for the assist from this poor guy and his bag delaying the train.
In Asakusa we went to the Miyamoto Store and had lunch with Yoshi.
The newly remodeled Miyamoto Store looks great!
Some sights and shopping in Asakusa:
After buying lots of stuff at the Miyamoto store and in the shopping area around, we returned to Ikebukuro for some shopping on our own. We met up at the Izakaya (basically a place for finger foods and drinking) on the 2nd floor of our hotel and commenced eating and drinking.
Shochu, our drink of choice. You mix it with various things such as cola, calpis, orange juice, tea, etc. We finished 3 bottles.
Yuta, Jenn, Julia, Yuri and I walked into a game center and took pictures in a machine. You basically take like 8-10 poses and then you get 5 minutes to do all kinds of editing to it. Lots of fun! Here we are in the machine:
While buzzed I went shopping at a 24 hour store, and picked up some pretty useful stuff.
TAIKOPROJECT IN JAPAN 07.19.06 - DAY 7 (WEDNESDAY)
The day went like this for me: -Narita Express to Narita Airport -10 hour flight (arrive around 9AM PST) -go straight to work -spend time with someone -rest
Hmmm.. I am way behind and quit jet lagged after our return yesterday. Apparently we partied the nights away a little more than expected and I haven't kept up as much as I would have hoped. I will post Monday and Tuesday ASAP. To keep you satisfied, here is a little nugget:
