Japan Blog day 4
Today was a fun and not scary day! Horray!
I woke up around 8 and went online before getting ready for the day (this seems to be my routine so if you can get on AIM or Facebook chat!). I left and went to the Freshness Burger down the road to read for a few hours before Kyle came to pick me up. Today I ordered a maccha latte which is basically a green tea latte, actually I'm not sure if they are in anyway different... it was really good though, but I've always liked maccha. The same nice guy (with a mohawk) was behind the counter and I heard his coworker saying that maybe I liked him, since I had been there for the past couple days (but only because it was convient to meet Kyle there lol). When Kyle arrived we decided to eat there again (seriously the food is sooo good) and this time I ordered a tofu burger, which wasn't as good as the mushroom burger, but still enjoyable. The only problem with japanese food is it's small protion size but high price. The burgers at freshness burger, though delicious, are the size of a children's hamburger in America, but for twice the price! (my tofu burger was 420￥ while Kyle's hamburger was 520￥）. I mean I guess smaller sizes are better, but damn, I wanna get my moneys worth! (Not to mention a soda is over a dollar and they fill it below the rim and there are no refills! talk about a rip off!)
After eating are freshness Kyle and I hopped aboard the subway and went to Ueno to visit the park and the zoo there. The trip proved to be a great idea! We walked to the zoo amist shrines and paper lamps and a few cherry blossom trees here and there (though not fully bloomed). We went in the zoo and stayed there for several hours looking at all the animals from the japanese birds, to the polar bears, it was nice to wander around looking at adorable animals <3. I couldn't resist buying a little fork with the zoo's logo and a smiling elephant on it, as well as a cute folder and pen (it was also reasonably priced! I liked the stuffed animals but they were soooo expensive,and didn't have the zoo's name on it). We eventually left and I took the train home, this time making sure I knew my stop ( I swear Tawaramachi is burned into my brain!) I got off the train and headed to the am/pm for some more cheap onigiri and treated myself to a beer (only 140￥!! :D)
The beer wasn't half bad actually, a wheat beer called Suntory malt in a can, and I enjoyed my indulgence which was appreciated after a long day of walking... (I'm in good shape and all, but all the walking is starting to hurt the arch of my foot >.<)
I'm happy to say that I'm getting much more into the Tokyo groove! Hopefully, if I ever decide to come back I'll know more Japanese and will remember all that I am learning so that I can adjust quickly. As promised though there are a few interesting things I've noticed about japan...
1) everyone smokes, and they are allowed to do it pretty much everywhere, ick. As I type in the hotel lobby I am surrounded by a cloud of smoke from the several men and women smoking around me
2) Money isn't given to the cashiers, it's put in a dish for them, not terrible or anything but it seems a bit weird to me...
3) Everyone rides bikes, and they don't seem to watch out for pedestrians, I always try to stay far out of the way as I walk but I seriously almost always seem to get almost run over.
4) Fruit is ridicliously expensive! What I wouldn't give for a piece of fruit!
I had a few more but at the moment my mind is completly blank! I don't know what happened to all of my information! Maybe the beer is hitting me more than I thought? (due to my lack of drinking?) Oh well, I had way more to say but I'll just cut it short today.
Love you guys!
Amanda
I woke up around 8 and went online before getting ready for the day (this seems to be my routine so if you can get on AIM or Facebook chat!). I left and went to the Freshness Burger down the road to read for a few hours before Kyle came to pick me up. Today I ordered a maccha latte which is basically a green tea latte, actually I'm not sure if they are in anyway different... it was really good though, but I've always liked maccha. The same nice guy (with a mohawk) was behind the counter and I heard his coworker saying that maybe I liked him, since I had been there for the past couple days (but only because it was convient to meet Kyle there lol). When Kyle arrived we decided to eat there again (seriously the food is sooo good) and this time I ordered a tofu burger, which wasn't as good as the mushroom burger, but still enjoyable. The only problem with japanese food is it's small protion size but high price. The burgers at freshness burger, though delicious, are the size of a children's hamburger in America, but for twice the price! (my tofu burger was 420￥ while Kyle's hamburger was 520￥）. I mean I guess smaller sizes are better, but damn, I wanna get my moneys worth! (Not to mention a soda is over a dollar and they fill it below the rim and there are no refills! talk about a rip off!)
After eating are freshness Kyle and I hopped aboard the subway and went to Ueno to visit the park and the zoo there. The trip proved to be a great idea! We walked to the zoo amist shrines and paper lamps and a few cherry blossom trees here and there (though not fully bloomed). We went in the zoo and stayed there for several hours looking at all the animals from the japanese birds, to the polar bears, it was nice to wander around looking at adorable animals <3. I couldn't resist buying a little fork with the zoo's logo and a smiling elephant on it, as well as a cute folder and pen (it was also reasonably priced! I liked the stuffed animals but they were soooo expensive,and didn't have the zoo's name on it). We eventually left and I took the train home, this time making sure I knew my stop ( I swear Tawaramachi is burned into my brain!) I got off the train and headed to the am/pm for some more cheap onigiri and treated myself to a beer (only 140￥!! :D)
The beer wasn't half bad actually, a wheat beer called Suntory malt in a can, and I enjoyed my indulgence which was appreciated after a long day of walking... (I'm in good shape and all, but all the walking is starting to hurt the arch of my foot >.<)
I'm happy to say that I'm getting much more into the Tokyo groove! Hopefully, if I ever decide to come back I'll know more Japanese and will remember all that I am learning so that I can adjust quickly. As promised though there are a few interesting things I've noticed about japan...
1) everyone smokes, and they are allowed to do it pretty much everywhere, ick. As I type in the hotel lobby I am surrounded by a cloud of smoke from the several men and women smoking around me
2) Money isn't given to the cashiers, it's put in a dish for them, not terrible or anything but it seems a bit weird to me...
3) Everyone rides bikes, and they don't seem to watch out for pedestrians, I always try to stay far out of the way as I walk but I seriously almost always seem to get almost run over.
4) Fruit is ridicliously expensive! What I wouldn't give for a piece of fruit!
I had a few more but at the moment my mind is completly blank! I don't know what happened to all of my information! Maybe the beer is hitting me more than I thought? (due to my lack of drinking?) Oh well, I had way more to say but I'll just cut it short today.
Love you guys!
Amanda