This is the first free moment I've had to do any posts! The whole last week has been filled with fun so please bear with me, the next two posts will most likely be longggg! =D
Sara H, Daryn, and I went to Kamakura and Tokyo last weekend! I had a really good time and can't wait to go back again!! We didn't even begin to scratch the surface of all the amazing things you can see there!!
*This poster was in a subway car on the way to Kamakura and I just couldn't resist capturing the moment!*
I must say it was shocking at first to see soooo many foreigners (English speakers) in one place, haha! I found myself staring at many Americans as if they were complete aliens... it was a very surreal weekend, haha!
To start at the beginning, Ai and I went to karaoke for three hours on Saturday night and then decided to hang out, which is how our weekends usually go! However, we completely lost track of time and I realized I was supposed to be awake and walking to the train in TWO HOURS (which is more about having to wake up at 4am than going to bed too late)! I couldn't decide if I should just stay awake (as I felt completely awake but was worried I would crash soon) and Ai thought two hours of sleep would be better than nothing, like taking a power nap. So we opted for the sleep.
Cut to four hours later. I kick myself awake and immediately notice the sun shining through the window and yelp "I'm LATE!!! Why didn't me alarm go off???" So I looked for the alarm clock and it was nowhere to be found! I ripped my nightstand and the area surrounding it up and still nothing! So I destroy the bed and low and behold: I had actually TURNED THE ALARM OFF (which takes a lot of effort due to the hard to move, small slider control) and put it UNDER MY PILLOW!!
Now, I've never moved much in my sleep, and I've *really* never been able to make entire conscious movements (i.e. turning off an alarm clock) and then fall right back to sleep with no recollection of it! It still perplexes me!
So I call everyone and make my apologies, I will now be two hours late!
The rest of the story is pointless I suppose (and perhaps the beginning is, too, but it gave me a laugh) but I'll give you a short version: I remember seeing another, faster route available on hyperdia.com so I decide to wing it and find my way myself after taking the Shinkansen train. It would have been okay (I'm cool asking for directions and everyone was extremely willing to help me) but then one of the trains didn't go as far as it was supposed to, LOL, which was against what the train map AND the conductor said! (Weird........) but long story short, I got into Kamakura, holler!
Welcome to Kamakura!! Daryn met me by the train and we walked around a bit before parking on a bench to talk while we waited for Sara to come in. I remember grabbing my banana out of my bag and Daryn and I were shocked to see it had turned BROWN within HOURS!! Weird....
I think this was a hotel. It was huge and beautiful, with a fountain out front and two guardian statues. None of the pictures came out very good but I really appreciated all the building's sharp angles. I wanted to keep the startling beauty of the place alive in my mind's eye... too bad I can't take pictures of *that* because that would be cool! =D
Sara posing with her boyfriend! It turns out Tommy Lee Jones does quite a lot of Japanese commercials! He's HUGE in Japan!!
The picture says "Real Women LOVE Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream!" I couldn't resize my picture bigger (so that the three would look more even) without it becoming really pixelated but I thought this was good enough! That ice cream (home made and alllllll natural!) was the MOST delicious thing! I love that everyone in Japan loves sweet potatoes (especially tempura ones, YUM!!) because it makes every meal feel like dessert! =D
On top of the ice cream we ordered, the man (who was so kind!) gave us a little taste of another flavor of our choice. Daryn chose green tea and I chose chocolate... I can't remember Sara H's but I think it was fruit?? I remember it was delicious!! =D Here's Daryn giving me a bite of hers (and no, she's not insanely tall, haha, we were standing on stairs and I may have been crouching down!) =D
First order of business in Kamakura (umm.. second order, after the ice cream!) was visiting the Daibutsu (Great Buddha)! Apparently there are other Daibustu in the country that you can climb or go inside of, that's what my students told me. You couldn't do either here but this is the second largest Buddha in Japan! There was so many visiters, even though it was getting dark and was chilly, and I noted with interest that a lot of the visiters were Japanese people! I would have thought they would consider visiting Kamakura "old hat" if you will, but it is still a very popular destination!
Thanks to Daryn for the angling tips on this photo! I really like how it turned out!! =D
A huge tablet that was off to the side of the Daibutsu.
Having a zen-like moment.... though I suspect true zen-like moments don't involve such Disney smiles!
I really liked this hint of color in the trees! Most of the trees are bare now and they can't compare to the leaves at home, but it still stirs something in me to see the splash of color!
A lot of Japanese people were enthralled by this squirrel (which are apparently very rare here)! I thought he was super cute, too, though! He wasn't scared of people either because a man kept walking up and feeding him seeds(?), trying to get him to cooperate for the cameras, lol!
And now for a scary story: To get from one temple to the next you can talk the usual town streets OR you can hike up trails which at times can be pretty steep or narrow (and at least once it was both)! Even though it was already dark and we had no flashlights, adventure was in the air and we decided to see how far we could get! It was really fun though, especially when we decided to start taking random pictures of trees and things!Side note: I decided to be a smartie a few times and would take pictures of the girls while we walked (though I still maintain that I was *NOT* trying to blind them with the flash, I just enjoy candids!) but after a quick, violent wrestle for the camera, I was forced to swear not to put any of them online! ;-)
(I have a feeling I'll pay for that) =D
Back to the scary story: So after Daryn takes a couple of shots she suddenly exclaims, "what IS that??? Up ahead?? A beach ball???" The tone of surprise in her voice was enough to make me jump out of my skin, but add it to the fact that I can't see anything and I'm starting to get *very* scared! When Daryn shows me the photo (hooray for LCD screens!) we can see a strange circle of LIGHT in the photo!!!! Now, there is absolutely not a SINGLE light source in these woods NOR is there ANYTHING that would reflect the flash back to us!! This has now graduated to EXTREMELY fun!! At least we figured it was a friendly ghost because we really did feel perfectly safe! And since we got through the woods completely without incident (which is highly against the odds considering it was three people walking through pitch black woods for two hours!) I'd say we were right! Thank you, Forest Spirit!!
When I could detect any signs on the trees I would take pictures. Granted I couldn't read them, but it was still fun!
We make it to the second temple! All along one side are several scenes with miniatures set up. Since we didn't take a Japanese person with us I don't know any of the specifics of "why" but I'm going to show the pictures to Ai next week and I'll report any answers we come up with!
I read a few of these little prayer signs which were from Children's Day and one that particularly entertained me was written by someone named something like Karen Rainbow? (or Treelove or something?? Does anyone remember?) It was nice though, it totally reminded me of Northampton and home!
Every temple has a system like this towards the front and the girls taught me how to use it. You use the cups to put water into your left hand and then bring the water from the left hand to the right hand. Use it to wash your hands and then use the cup again to rinse your mouth out, too. Gotta clean the dirty stuff before heading in! =D
Coming down the stairs from the second temple.
It was too hard to get a good shot of these banners, but they lined the entire pathway/staircase out of the temple. There was definitely over a hundred! And you'll notice the dog guardian statues are all wearing capes/bibs. That's another thing I want to find out about!
We had to walk up a bastard of a hill and then down through a cave to get to the third temple. I decided to stop taking pictures, opting to steal Daryn's once she puts them up because they're all so amazing!! Talk about art!! =D This temple was home of the famous "money washing" ceremony! As I understand it, you pay 100 yen (roughly $1) for a bowl. Put however much cash you have in it and it will get washed in special, blessed water which will dry naturally and is supposed to double your money!! How great does that sound? One of my students said he participated once and it did double his money! =D We were there too late otherwise it would have been fun to try!
Dozens, if not hundreds, of CHAINS of paper cranes were hanging from the cave ceiling! I really want to find out why they were there, it seemed unusual. Perhaps they were souvenirs for the people who participated in the money washing ceremony? I wonder... Every single tiny color is a different paper crane. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to make these! Can you imagine if that was your only source of income? I'd probably go crazy! "Can I make a dinosaur or something? I'm sick of these cranes!"
Another night time shot at the third temple. It's always way too tempting for me to want to ring the bell!
I can't remember WHAT was said on the way home, but Daryn decided to stay on the ground and laugh for a while! Gooood times!!! Notice the Starbucks bag?? Yep, Starbucks are everywhere here! I miss my cheap and delicious Dunkin Donuts though!! Drool....
Daryn dancing M.C. Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit" and showing off our AWESOME bunk beds at the first night's hostel! I loved this place!! And it felt just like camp! Daryn and I got the giggles so bad that we couldn't fall asleep for a longggg time! Then suddenly we heard a door open and immediately were quiet! I whispered "uh-oh, BUSTED! Dad's home!" and after a quick laugh we were able to doze off to Slumber Land!
Day Two: Right next to the hostel was another temple. I took a picture from the outside but didn't venture too far in.
I really like the bridge and all the red fences (popular at the temples)! This one was at the entrance to a huge temple in the center of Kamakura, next to the Museum of Modern Art actually! That's somewhere I'd like to go next time!
Did I mention Kamakura is on the water? It was very windy and chilly that day but people were still windsurfing!! These people are die-hards! can you see the guy on the right of the photo out on his board??
Close-up the same guy, though there were at least three people on the water that day!
There's a bird on the beach that looks like a chicken, haha!
I thought this old woman was making rope so I hid behind a shed to take a picture! I watched her measuring out thick rope with her hands but she was actually hammering something, so I'm not sure what she was up to!
Postcard material??
The building across the water reminded me of the prison in the Shawshank Redemption, LOL, I'm not sure why! (There was two buildings, I'm referring to the one on the right!) Can you see the three windsurfers??
This was our station stop for the hostel.
The green train is called the Enoden line. It's a trademark of Kamakura and you can buy many souvenirs with famous Japanese characters (Hello Kitty, etc.) riding them! I thought Dad might want to see the trains! =D
Dad-- I got close to the controls to take pictures for you! I thought you may be interested in the way they work! I couldn't believe how many buttons and controls there were! I thought you just went straight ahead, LOL. Interesting!!
Back in the center of Kamakura, I was trying to capture allll the banners around this shrine!
Off to Tokyo!! This giant panda looked so soft and beautiful!
This is an ACTUAL subway sign, warning people not to drink and take public transport! Do it at home, LOL!Funny how in American if you drink at home all the time you're considered an alcoholic... hmmmm.... Actually, the idea of alcoholism doens't exist in Japan!
While we were bouncing around Tokyo we decided to go to Harajuku, home of the famous Harajuku girls (young women who dress in pretty eccentric fashions, regardless of the weather which still amazes me!)! Here are a few of the fashions available in some stores!
Ahh, the crinoline skirt is essential to work any of these Harajuku outfits!
Whispering secrets to a pimped out Mickey Mouse at La Chance Outlet (where everything is only 300yen!)
Sara and I enjoyed some AMAZING crepes! Mine had cheesecake, caramel sauce, and a scoop of ice cream, YUM!!
This massive, multi-story Christmas ad for the GAP features Rainn Wilson (of TV's The Office) and I couldn't resist taking a picture for Lydia!! =D ENJOY!
Daryn and I are posing with *actual* Gangsta baby dolls! They were outfitted with Bling, and askew baseball caps or do-rags! Ahh, Kodak moments!
Day Three: This absolutely SLAYED me! This place is called UNO. It's an entertainment plaza, which means there's gambling there (and I'm sure other pasttimes) but just the fact that soooo many people were queuing to get inside to gamble struck me as extremely funny!! Did I mention this wa 11am??? Sweet!
The last new thing we did was go off to Nakano Broadway! This multi-story "mall" is famous for collectible memorabilia from American and Japan! It's considered a mecca for Anime collectors and features tons of stores with comic books, cosplay costumes, and other collectibles! We only made it through three floors but that was enough, haha! That place was HUGE!!I had a really great time! I especially loved Harajuku! I think on my next trip (in a warmer climate!) I'll bring my Alice in Wonderland costume! And I want to take lots of pictures with the other girls! It was rainy or cold most of the time when we were there so we didn't get any great pictures, but I'll find some online to give you an idea of the Harajuku awesomeness!!
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots but if I think of anything noteworthy I will totally post a follow-up!!
My next post will be all about Christmas (which was always amazing!)! It's been such a great couple of weeks!
I hope you're all doing well and had very Happy Holidays!! New Years is coming, I hope yours is safe, happy, and prosperous!!
All my Love,
Sarah
