I was in Japan for two weeks. I came back just this Monday and started my job on Wednesday. Now it's the weekend. It couldn't have come sooner. Anyway, here is a log of my trip in Japan.

Day 1
Got in midafternoon. Long train ride from the airport to Kawagoe. Had curry udon at Kyle favorite restaraunt. >_< I forgot the name of the place..starts with an H. Wandered through Corea Mall for while before returning to the apartment. Stayed up till 11 pm, which was really 4am for me, so that I can get over jet lag. It was Kyle's doing.

Day 2
Went with Kyle to language exchange at Wakaba. Spoke with Meiyako mostly in English. Did use some of my limited Japanese to converse, but very little. Had ishiyakibibinpa for lunch. It was really good. Wandered around Wakaba Walk for few hours and bought groceries to make dinner before taking the train back to Kawagoe.

Day 3
Walked to the big shrine/park place in Kawagoe. It was kind of nice. Nearly lost my sense of direction when I exited the park. Tried to find the museum but was unsuccessful. Ended up just wandering down a street of shops, none of which I went into, before heading back. Made dinner, and took a nice leisurely walk after dinner. Kawagoe is a peaceful place, at least the area Kyle lives in.

Day 4
Took a train to Ryugoku. Met up with Koji and spent 3 hours at the Edo/Tokyo Museum. Could have gone through the museum faster really, but I thought I was following Koji's pace but he was following me so we ended up going through it really slow. It was a history museum, btw. I found out later from his conversation with Kyle that he would have gone through it in 10 mins if he were by himself. It was interesting though and there were lots to see. Took a train to Shiodome. Went to the Hama-Rikyu Garden that is there amidst the buildings. Had lunch at a ramen shop before going to the garden. Koji likened the garden to Central Park in New York City. It was pretty there. I liked the pond/bridge setup. We were going to go to some famous temple place, but it was getting late and I wanted to make it back to Kawagoe before it got dark incase I got lost. So we parted. It was nice to see Koji again.

Day 5
Went shopping down Corea Mall for omiyage to bring home. I was pathetic though and could decide on anything to buy. All I bought was a bag of oranges. I hate shopping. Tried to find Old Kawagoe, but couldn't. Turns out, I was on the right street but didn't venture down it far enough. After so much walking (5 hrs!) I gave up and went back to the apartment.

Day 6
Went to the Kawagoe Museum and then walked over to Old Kawagoe. Was able to find places, now that I have a better feel for the area. Also went through Candy Alley. Wasn't too impressive. Maybe my expectations were too high. Still interesting, though. Kyle finished work earlier today so we went out for okonomiyaki. We ordered way too much food. Tried to walk it off for a little bit before heading back.

Day 7
Kyle's vacation started today. We went to Ueno, the district of many museums. Unfortunately, they were all closed. We went to Asakusa. It is the location of a famous lightning gate. There were many shops along the streets of Asakusa. I finally was able to find some gifts to bring home there after my two unsuccessful shopping endeavors the two days prior. It was just some mochi and green tea though. We took a waterbus to Odaiba. It was such a pretty place. The Fuji Building is there as well as this humungus ferris wheel that was overpriced and so we didn't ride. We went into some car dealership place. It was very different from any of the cardealership places here. Sort of looked more like a car show. They had some interactive things as well as a track, for test driving I think. Anyway, it was interesting to see. We then headed back to Kawagoe and had dinner at a restaurant near the station.

Day 8
We went back to Ueno. It was more crowded today as the museums were open today. We found a place to eat first, though like yesterday, that took maybe an hour. Not that eating places were scarce, but Kyle just takes long deciding on a place to eat. =D We then went through the Tokyo Art Museum. We took 3 hours going through the museum. Sadly Kyle was pretty bored. We then went to Shinjuku, which is where Koji goes to school. He was pretty busy so we didn't meet up with him. We went though this department store that had 14 floors, or was it 7. I think it was 14, but in any case, very many floors for a single store. My feet were sore from all the walking and also wearing slippers so we stopped at a bakery to sit for a while and had melon bread. The melon bread was good. It started to rain. We went to Kougakuin, which is the University Koji goes to and also the University that sends students over to Mudd for 3 weeks to participate in clinic. We saw a poster that had a picture of students in one of the clinic rooms at Mudd. We had dinner at their cafeteria. We then went store hopping to try to get to the train station without getting too soaked from the rain. We took the train to Shiki and went to some bar for a goodbye party for a Nova AT (assistant trainer). Nova is the company Kyle works for. They have schools in every district it seems like and advertisements in every train. Anyways, the party was pretty boring until I got talking to some of Kyle's coworkers. Socializing makes a party not as painful, but I'm not good at it. Anyway, it turned out to be not so bad. We got back at almost 1 am.

Day 9
We took a train to Nikko and spent the night there at a youth hostel. We got a late start as a result of the late night the previous night. By the time we got to Nikko, it was already evening. That was partly a result of getting into the wrong car of a train that splits off. But Kyle's amazing train navigating skills got us to Nikko before it got dark. We ate ramen for dinner and went looking for the hostel. We checked in, took showers, and spent the rest of the evening playing cards. Kyle thought my card games were pretty lame, but he like frustration because he couldn't beat me in the game, even when he resorted to cheating. =D We went to bed early, so that we could get an early start. There was only one other girl in the room I stayed in, and she didn't go to bed too much later than I did, so I had no problem going to sleep.

Day 10
We left the youth hostel at 7am. We found a breadshop and bought some food for breakfast. We then toured the shrines there. There was one particular temple that we went to that sold these little placard pieces that you just end up putting into a box. Maybe it's suppose to bring you luck or something. Anyway, Kyle pointed out to me a sign above the box that said "Do not bring the peace with you to outside." I thought the traslation was quite unfortunate but it sure was funny. I wish I could have taken a picture. This place is the home of the monkeys from which came the famous saying, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." The roaring dragon is also here. We went through the shrines pretty quickly. The last one was the best I thought. The surrounding area was really pretty. Nikko is a popular tourist spot because of the famous shrines but also because of its beautiful greenery. We thought about going to this lake/waterfall area, but decided not to since it was quite cold and we were well dressed for the weather. We ended up just going back to Kawagoe. Nikko definitely could have been a one day trip, but it was still a neat experience to stay at the youth hostel. Back at Kawagoe, we went to a karaoke place. I'm not a big fan of karaoke.

Day 11
We went shopping for omiyage for me to bring home. We went through Corea Mall and Old Kawagoe, and Kyle got to see Candy Alley for the first time. I was much much more successful today. We also took sticker pictures. I never did that before, despite them being pretty popular in Hawaii for a time. They are still quite popular in Japan. And they started in Japan, I think. Anyway, on the way back to the apartment, I took a picture of a pink car.

Day 12
We went to central Tokyo to see the Imperial Palace Garden. Again, more like a park amidst many buildings. It sure was pretty there, though. We then went to the Sony building in Ginza. Many electronics..the robotic dog seemed to be their main attraction. There was also a floor of video games. We left and went to Ikebukuro for dinner. I got to ride on the said to be longest escalator in the world, though Kyle doubts it's the longest. I timed it, it took about 1 min 27 sec to bottom/top to top/bottom. It was pretty long anyway, if not the longest. Again, we wandered around for an hour before settling on a place to eat. It was okay though. I enjoy Kyle's company. =) We finally settled on a place that sold omurisu, wich is an rice filled omlet. I had that with curry, while Kyle had a steak and fried rice thing. We then headed back to Kawagoe.

Day 13
We went to service at an international church run by OMF. The sermon was on prayer. I met some new people. One person I met actually has ties to Hawaii. Small world. The service was nice. We then went to the Saitama Super Stadium. There was some kind of thing going on outside of the stadium, though I don't know what. We walked through Cocoon Mall and had lunch at the food court. Ishiyakibibinpa, again. It was not as good as the first time, I thought. We then took the train back. We shopped for groceries to cook dinner.

Day 14
Last day in Japan. It was raining. We went through Corea Mall one last time. I got a few last minute gifts and we had lunch at that udon place again where I had dinner the first night. We then took the train to Narita Airport. Such a long ride. I said goodbye to Kyle at the airport.

So that was my trip to Japan. My second time leaving the country. The first time was to China when I was 3 or 4. Vivid memories from that trip despite the young age. I will have vivid memories from this trip as well. Japan is nice. I like it there. Kyle is nice. I like Kyle. =) Thanks to Kyle for having me and thanks to his apartmentmate, too.