Spring Break Part 10: Sakura in Shinjuku and Ueno

  Sunday the 30th was Lauren's last full day in Japan. Earlier in the trip it looked like Lauren would leave before many sakura (cherry blossoms) would be blooming. The best days for viewing in Tokyo were supposed to be the 4th to the 6th or somewhere around there (though later I think they were moved to like the 2nd or 3rd or something). So we planned on seeing sakura on her last day here so that we would be more likely to see more. However,...

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Spring Break Part 9: Harajuku and Matsujun

On Saturday the 29th Lauren I went back to Harajuku. But first we stopped at Subway in Oimachi for lunch....

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Spring Break Part 8: Odaiba

  On Friday the 28th Lauren and I went to Odaiba. I've been there several times, but it was Lauren's first time. First we went to Decks. There were weird signs leading to the bathroo...

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Spring Break Part 7: Nikko

On the 27th Lauren and I went to Nikko, which is famous for the elaborate Toshogu Shrine. Unfortunately the Yomeimon gate is under renovations and covered up. That gate is usually what is shown in pictures of Toshogu Shine so I didn't know if it was really worth going or not. But it's under construction until 2019, I've wanted to go to Nikko for a while, and we hadn't gone to Kyoto or any other culturally touristy place yet, so we went. Lauren found...

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Spring Break Part 6: Akihabara

  On Wednesday the 26th we returned to Tokyo. We had stayed up late the night before so we didn't leave my apartment until almost noon. We took the red train line from my apartment to Hamamatsu Station. It was rainy and gross out, but Lauren took a few pictures of the view from the trai...

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Spring Break Part 5: Sakura and Color Changing Dolphins

  On Tuesday the 25th Lauren and I went to downtown Hamamatsu. I had eaten a late breakfast or something so I wasn't very hungry, but Lauren got potato butter corn ramen for lunch. I just had some gyoz...

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Spring Break Part 4: Sushi, Shopping, and Spocha

   We spent the 22nd through the 25th in Iwata and Hamamatsu. I had to move to my new apartment on the 23rd and then take care of paperwork stuff on the 24th. The above picture is what I had for breakfast on the 22nd. It was sakura peach tea and corn bread. It obviously wasn't cornbread like in America. It was bread with whole pieces of corn it it. The tea wasn't great but I enjoyed the brea...

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Spring Break Part 3: Haneda Airport, Ginza, and the Edo-Tokyo Museum

  Friday the 21st was our last day in Tokyo for a few days (I had to go back to Iwata to move apartments). Lauren wanted to go to the Edo-Tokyo Museum so that's what we did that day. First though, Lauren had to exchange some more travelers checks. We probably could have found a closer place to take care of them, but we just went back to Haneda airport....

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Spring Break Part 2: A Lolita Fashion Makeover and Starry Parfaits

  Our second full day in Tokyo was spent doing lolita shopping. Lolita fashion (NOT the book) is a super cute style of fashion in Japan. The Wikipedia article about it is pretty good: "Lolita fashion (ロリータ・ファッション Rorīta fasshon?) is a fashion subculture originating in Japan that is based on Victorian-era clothing, but the style has expanded greatly beyond Japan. The Lolita look began primarily as one of modesty with a focus on quality in...

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Spring Break Part 1: Tokyo Skytree, a Maid Cafe, and Bigbang Karaoke

  On March 18th, my best friend Lauren came to visit me in Japan again! :)  She arrived in the evening, so I spent the beginning of the day in Iwata packing and cleaning my apartment. I left in the middle of the afternoon. It was raining when I was about to leave and my umbrella had been stolen at school (probably accidentally, it's a very common umbrella). So I drove to Family Mart to buy a new umbrella. Though of course by the time I...

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