Pimped Van Sighting

From Random Things in Japan

Tokyo/Thanksgiving Celebration

Hi everyone! Friday, Michael and I had to go to Tokyo to get some things notarized at the US Embassy, but we decided to make a day in the city. We started off at the Embassy and completed everything by 9am, so we ventured off to Shibuya, a famous shopping area and the intersection with the Starbucks that we see in so many movies . He showed me a few shopping malls, but of course, I am trying to refrain from buying things until I scope out every scene. It is very tempting to buy everything, from clothes to plates. We had breakfast/lunch at a little ramen shop, but they served up big, big bowls of ramen. Delicious. After more walking around Shibuya some more, we took a break at the starbucks and watched the people from the window. It's amazing the variety of people in one intersection. There were business men and women, young kids, grandma and grandpas, early 20's, it was endless. What amazes me is even though there were so many people, it was rare that they bumped into each other. It's as if there is a certain respect for individual space. From Shibuya we went to Shinagawa because there was a temple that Michael said was big and famous. After getting to Shinagawa station, we were searching the phone for the location and the police stopped us and checked our IDs. Good thing I had my passport on me! They were undercover cops and I was now wondering why there were undercover cops in Shinagawa station. He was nice and saw that we were trying to figure out where to go on our phone and then assisted us. The weird thing was when we asked him about this temple, he didn't even know where it was. Can people really know each little area in Tokyo, I think not, so it should be common that people are trying to figure out where they are going, especially in a train station? Now I wonder why he pinpointed us to check ID?!?! Anyways, the temple was further away than originally anticipated, so I was afraid we were going to get lost, then we stayed in Shinagawa and ended up at the Epson Aqua Stadium. The Aqua Stadium was much smaller than anything in the US, but they focused heavily on a sealion show and a dolphin show. The sealion show was cute, but a little awkward since it was in Japanese and I didn't get the humor. The dolphin show was out of this world. The tricks were beyond anything I have seen in the US. The trainers would be in the water with the dolphins and incorporated themselves into the tricks. The best was when 3 dolphins simultaneously threw their trainers in the air. I've never seen anything like that before. We spent about 2 hours at the Aqua Stadium and then decided to go to Ueno to get a snack. Right outside Ueno station there were tons of streets filled with small shops. It reminded me somewhat of NYCs chinatown, but much bigger. There were lots of vendors selling fresh fish and then random food vendors that had prepared food. Michael had a gyro but I opted for takoyaki and yakitori. It was delicious! I forgot to take pictures this time around, but next time I shall! We called it a night around 5pm, because we were out of the apartment around 6:15am, needless to say we were tired.

Saturday brought another adventure. We started off the day at Nitori, which is similar to a bed, bath and beyond with ikea mixed. We still needed a few things for the apartment. I love these home stores. I don't know if it's the sense of feeling like I have something from home or the fact that I love home stuff. I don't know, but it's definitely awesome to have. We got a nice super soft rug and a few big pillows and I now have a pillow pit in our living room. It's so comfy. I just want to nap in it all day. Next we went to the Thanksgiving/JJ's birthday celebration that the Riggsby's organized. The found this tatami room, I still haven't figured out what the location was , nonetheless it was nice. It was a potluck style except for the Riggsby's provided the lovely 8 lb turkey and some sides. We brought some cake from Ueno because we are still not completely settled. There were 50+ people there and everyone was so nice. I finally had the chance to meet most of the OAP spouses and reconnect with the ones that I spent time with in San Francisco. Looks like everyone is getting settled and doing well. I look forward to getting to know everyone more! We ate lots of food, I think I have sushi, gyoza, turkey, green bean casserole, corn, chips, cheeseballs, cake, etc. Wow, I ate quite a bit looking back at it. I'm so glad that we were invited because I am used to spending Thanksgiving with my family which is big, so to be in a big group setting was fulfilling. In the evening, we gathered at Annie's. She has a very nice place, I really like how she has set it up, very cozy. We hung out there for Dan's birthday and later they went to Iceman. I opted out because I could feel my throat getting worse and I didn't want to push it.

Sunday, we went back to Nitori to get a few things, but then watch football the rest of the evening. OSU vs Michigan and OU vs Texas Tech

**Pic from Thanksgiving, go to our photos link for more pictures of our trip to Tokyo and Thanksgiving*

Random additions

Life in Utsunomiya.

Wow, is this really happening! Michael has been in Utsunomiya since 11/01 and I (Kwan) arrived 11/15. The apartment we have is very nice and we've managed to open our first shipment of boxes. Things are still trying to find it's place, but it's coming along. Michael started work the Monday after he got here and he was staying at the Richmond Hotel for 2 weeks. So far so good...The first weekend he went down to Tokyo to hang out with his old college roomie, Shu. There are pics posted on our pictures link of them at a golf simulator. Pretty cool. I landed Saturday at Narita and immediately the sight of vending machines caught my eye! They are everywhere, it's like Starbucks in NYC. Today I saw my first beer vending machine! I have a grocery store named Otani close by and I probably go there daily. They have sushi with 15 pieces of nigiri for less than $10. It's amazing, not just salmon, tuna, etc...but uni and ikura (the expensive stuff). I must say that cheap and fresh sushi is going to be my vice, good thing it's healthy! There is also this cool dollar store called Daiso that I have grown fond of. It's about 15 minutes away by foot and I probably go there daily too. So far every day is a new adventure for me and I am liking it a lot.

*Pic from our balcony, go to our photos link for more pictures of our apartment*