Goodbye Osaka- Departure

The last day of the Japan trip. I wanted to cry, but there was shopping to be done! Our tour guide took us to a 100 Yen store (dollar store) where I bought a bag of carmamel popcorn for my mom. Not many pictures were taken, but I blew all of my money on useless knick- knacks that I CANNOT get in America, so they were all very good buys. I tried my first Crepe and it was off the chain! We also saw some holographic sales person, which was awesome too. We got on the bus at around 1 and got to Osaka airport at about 2. The airport was the most laid back and empty airport I have every been to. I liked it. This is a note to all of those who have not yet experienced the San Francisco airport: It sucks!! They make you exit the airport then reenter when changing flights, then they shake you down like a criminal, and then argue like little kids over who gets to shake you down! It's ridiculous, go there only if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. Otherwise, I advise people to avoid it. Overall the Japan trip was AWESOME! I would love to do a study abroad there and I can't wait to go again sometime!

Look at all this! It's overwhelming!

Stairs... I hate stairs. Even the pretty ones.

They actually dress like this!

Inside Osaka Airport

Dawn on the Plane

Japan- Day 6

We stayed in Kyoto for a little while and we walked for MILES! I hate walking and I hate stairs! But we walked to a mall in Kyoto and I swear I died maybe twice. Dakota tried a squid on a stick which was horrible to watch. Then we ate super sugary waffles for lunch. Sugary, but delicious! The bus ride to Osaka was completely silent. EVERYONE was asleep. I got a good nap myself actually. When we woke up, we were in Osaka and had stopped at Osaka castle. I bought the most souvenirs here because they were shiny. I love shiny things. We also got to try on some super amazing samurai armor. It was intense. Afterwards we went to our hotel where we each got our own rooms and then went shopping again. I forgot my money (typical) but there was nothing really to buy anyways. We did see a couple of prostitutes and their pimps and a member of our group made the dumbest purchase ever: a $200 model of a Gundam fighter that he could have got in America for a fraction of that price! That tops my Los Angeles sweatshirt by far! In fact, everyone was buying stuff you could get in North America. It was pretty sad to watch.

Japan- Day 5

Finally in Kyoto! Everything was super old fashioned, but very antique and pretty. WE got a guest tour guide who was very charismatic and had the strangest voice and umbrella. She took us to the Golden Pavillion first.  Outside were Buddha's 5 Commandments: Don't kill, don't steal, don't lie, don't commit adultery, and don't drink too much! Our tour guide doesn't like the last one. We took a bunch of pictures with some random little kids and I sat in the "Precious Seat". Next we saw a kimono fashion show and I spent quite a lot of money on kimonos for my parents. But money is meant to be spent so I didn't mind the prices. Then we got to my favorite part of the whole tour: The Shogun's Palace. I don't know why I liked it so much there, but it was my favorite place. The floors squeaked so the Shogun's bodyguards could hear intruders! So awesome! Took pictures of the outside, it wasn't allowed on the inside. Then we visited the place with a thousand torii gates. There were quite a lot and there was a trail that would take about 2 hours to hike all completely covered in torii gates. We headed back to the city where Jackson and I took a picture under the label of the store Konoban by 2. B. Black. 

Shogun's Palace

The Precious Seat

Buddha's 5 Commandments

Got that picture at just the right time! LUCKY!

2 B BLACK!

Japan- Day 4

First day in... wherever we are, and I'm pretty excited! First thing we do is take a nice long bus ride up the mountains to a  huge lake where we get on a nice boat. I hate boats, but this time I sucked it up and got on. Dakota and got on the top of the boat despite the freezing wind and was able to see some pretty cool torii gates and a pirate ship looking.... ship... Anyways, After we got off we headed up the mountain to a mountain that was leaking sulfuric gas. Apparently, they boiled eggs in the water that was full of sulfur and the shell turned black. Pretty awesome, but not worth buying them. I was starved and I tried this awesome rice cake on a stick. (Lots of things in Japan are on sticks) I swear it was like dying and going to heaven. I should have bought more. WE took some sort of a gondola thing up the mountain overlooking the lake we took the boat on. It was possibly 20 degrees below freezing so we took a couple of pictures and got the heck out of there! Our next stop was a very large castle (I forgot the name) and I got a few pictures with random people. After that, we saw the bullet trains. They aren't called bullet trains for nothing. They are FAST as all crap!!We took the bullet train to Kyoto where I got another hot spring bath and a kimono that was too small.

Japan- Day 3

This day, we ride for Kyoto! We hauled all of our carcasses onto the tour bus and drove... maybe an hour to some city or other. Before traveling to our hotel, we stopped at another shrine to get a few pictures in. It rained a whole lot, but it was fun regardless. Dakota and I wandered off and found a place to feed pigeons. We got swarmed and pretty much jacked for our stuff before we decided to catch up with the rest of the group who had gone on ahead of us. Jackson wasn't happy. (I don't see the big deal. It's not like we died or anything!) Moving on. After a little shopping and a lot of walking, we got back on the bus to head to our sea side resort hotel.  This was the first time I ever saw or used a public host spring, but it was pretty awesome. The water was clean and hot and life was good! I wore a kimono robe thing that never really covered me up (I'm way too curvy) and we ate a very peculiar dinner of a whole bunch of food that I can't say I liked very much. I don't like my food to have a face.

Stairs... I hate stairs.

Fly my friend, FLY!

Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha Rockin' Everywhere!

Japan- Day 2

It was a free day today, and we spent all of that free day in Shibuya. We took a train to the beginnings of a Cherry Blossom festival and saw a couple of dudes dressed like Hatsune Miku and some anime character with pink hair. Besides the blossoms, I got an amazing crystal thing that I love to death! (I'm a rock person), and we saw squid and octopus on a stick for sale. Completely disgusting, but interesting to look at. We also came across another temple where they were purifying their heads with smoke. After that nice stroll, we took a train to the anime center of Shibuya. The anime nerds we were with freaked out, but in reality, all of that weird anime stuff can give people who have sense a good headache. There were quite a few cosplayers (naturally) and a maid cafe. We also got to see the famous Shibuya Scramble and I was impressed that people didn't run into each other while crossing in every direction. I also took my time crossing the street, but no one was going so I assumed that I had plenty of time to cross. Jackson thought otherwise, but I still say I wasn't holding up traffic.

What the Fudge!?

I can't believe people eat this stuff!

Japan- Day 1

I hate waking up. Always have, and I most likely always will. But despite my hate of being woken up, my friend woke me up at around 6 30 in the morning. Breakfast consisted of weirdly under-cooked eggs, fish, rice, orange juice, and a bunch of other weird Japanese dishes. The first stop of the day was a huge observation tower to see all of Tokyo. It is a very compact place and I'm amazed that so many people can live there. Pictures were taken and I got the awesomest souvenir of a sword and shield key chain. Next, we hit a Shinto shrine and got our purification on! The temple was beautiful and everything, but I'm pretty sure most of the stuff there would creep my mother out. There was a wedding procession that was a lot like a funeral- the people were dead silent. It was a little on the creepy side. Then it was ice cream time! Black Sesame and Cherry Blossom. Both were terrible. Finally it was time to go shopping. While there, we started a game that required us to take pictures with random people. That was pretty fun, but the worst part was when the random Africans there tried to pull me and my friend over and kept saying they wanted to sell us stuff and that they liked my accent! Weirdos.

Purification!

Air view of Tokyo