Adventures with Aika

And so, the New Year!

I'm sorry I wasn't able to post right on New Year day. Mother left me on the 31st and Aika came to visit me the day after and stayed in my room for a week!

So, it may be late, but happy new year! 2012! Year of the Dragon!

New Years is a very important time for the Japanese. They have special decorations, that bring good luck and prosperity for the new year like "daruma" (a wooden doll that is based on the Buddhist Dharma. One eye is drawn to make a wish, and when the wish comes true, the other eye is drawn in) and "kadomatsu" (a traditional ornament left by the entrance way of a house with bamboo and flower arrangement). They have special food that they eat such as "osechi ryouri" (a huge meal that served in several large wooden bento boxes that is supposed to prevent the wife of the family from having to cook for three days), "otoshikoshi soba" (the long noodles of soba represent longevity so you have to slurp them up whole without biting them off), "ozouni" (a miso soup with a variety of ingredients and mochi balls), and "mochi" (sweet rice cake).

People go to the temple for the first temple visit of the year "Hatsumode" and the temples are PACKED. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to be New Year spirited, but I took Aika to Harujuku on January 3rd, and the temple near there, Meiji Jingu, was STILL crazy crowded with people. Too many people everywhere during the first few days of January. Shibuya was more crowded than usual too.

But, anyways, here are a few pictures that I took with my new camera (Xmas present from mother!) during Aika's visit.

One day, Aika treated me to ramen. We found a place near my dorm that I'd never been to. It was probably the best ramen that I've tasted since I've been in Japan. I'll definitely have to go again.

Another day, I showed her my campus, and we went to Tokyo Tower. This time, I actually went up it. Aika had never been, so it was the first time for both of us. It's kind of expensive to go up: about 800yen. And you take this elevator that goes up so smoothly and fast. It's like an elevator version of the Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train). And then once you get up, THERE'S NOTHING. Well, it's not nothing...but it's not worth 800yen...Well, I don't regret it, since it was for the experience if anything else, but still...

This is the first thing you see when you get up: a miniature version of a decked out cute cute Tokyo Tower:

Oh, I forgot to mention that technically, we didn't go ALL the way up to the top. We were like half way up in the box-like middle observatory. It costs around 1,000yen to go all the way to the top most observatory...no thanks. So, it didn't seem like we were up super super high, but it was still a lovely view.

Here, you can see the shadow of Tokyo Tower on Tokyo!

Here you can see Rainbow Bridge(?) and I think Odaiba is around that area, too. Odaiba is kind of like an amusement park island just off Tokyo Bay. It's famous for it's ferris wheel and it's Edo period style bath house. Perhaps I will visit it someday.

A shrine seen from Tokyo Tower.

Mount Fuji is in this direction. You can't see it very well, though because of the fog.

A floor view. Ahh scary...

Then, one day, I introduced Aika to Stephanie and Stephanie took us to Tokyo's Chinatown. It's so China-y! So much more authentic than the Chinatown in Washington D.C. Just check out the buildings!

On the streets, there were vendors selling Chinese foods and the shop owners are almost all Chinese--which was actually kind of scary. Chinese people aren't as kind as Japanese people, they aren't as welcoming when we ate at one of the restaurants, and they are extremely and uncomfortably pushy. It was like I wasn't in Japan anymore...
This is the view on the Yokohama bay. There's a ferris wheel and theme park nearby and there's a brick road which is really nice for walking. The whole place has a really nice feel to it. Perfect date spot, too. (haha)

And thus was our time in Tokyo Chinatown. It was really nice and Stephanie, Aika, and I spoke Japanese the whole time and I felt like I spoke a lot. Aika and I spoke Japanese together the whole time she was here, too. On the last night she was here, we went for drinks at a Japanese bar (izakaya) and talked about life in Japanese. Intense, right? She was really nice and treated me to a lot of things. Right now, she should be at her grandparents' house in Hiroshima. She visited her mom's side first, and then her dad's side. I want to go, too! lol

But thanks for visiting, Aika! It was lots of fun!楽しかった♪