Three days of shenanigans

So on Thursday we were given a day off. A fine day to go out and do some photography. I was planning to go out early. Didn’t work. But whatever, I eventually got out to the Imperial Palace and it’s surrounding gardens.

BEAUTIFUL.





I walked around for a good hour and shot some photographs of the palace and of the shrine that was closeby. Then I was tempted to sample some of the food that was going on at this fair thing around the shrine. I had a fruit on a stick. Strawberries dipped in melted/carmelized sugar and then placed on a stick. TASTY. I also had a frank on a stick and some corn on a stick. I was gonna get some beer as well. That didn’t come on a stick though.

I met up with some friends and we headed to Ueno park, in this other part of town. The cherry blossoms here looked amazing too and they had red paper lanterns that would light up when it was dark. Being the beer connoisseurs that we are, we bought some beer and hung out on the tarps they put out at these parks. Some other people came around and we went to the Ueno fair and had some chocolate covered bananas. Good food if you ask me.



We wandered around Ueno for a little bit, through shopping parts. Saw some good deals. I hope to get a job soon so that I can start shopping :p

On the way home I got onto the train, and it looked relatively empty. On one of the stops, three people came on, and with all the space on the train, they stand close to me. I was fine with that. But when the lady stands so close to me that her back presses up against me that becomes too much. Crazy Japanese.


On Friday we had another day trip, this time to Kamakura, by the ocean. I wanted to get up early and go shoot some Sakura before getting to school. That didn’t happen. I was almost late for the trip too. So much for that.

The train ride was about 2 hours, but once we got there the shrines were quite amazing. And the amount of vodka these people drink is even more amazing. Those are all Vodka barrels, people.




The gardens around the shrine were a lot more zen than the other ones. It was a little more quiet because there was less people. There were, nevertheless, quite a few people there.





After grabbing lunch at a small (and cheap for a tourist town) curry house, we took a small rickety train to the famous Daibutsu Buddha statue a few miles down the road. The statue was pretty amazing as well. Huge if you ask me.

Cheap Lunch


Big Buddha


We then walked to another shrine where there was a legend behind the golden Buddha statue. Apparently, in the 6th century it was washed up to the shore, and the people brought it up the mountain and made a shrine for it. It was quite amazing and looked like it was made of pure gold. And we could finally see the sea. Pacific Ocean was sweet. It was sexy.

A group of friends decided that we wanted to go to the beach by a place called Enoshima. it was by the beach and apparently it had great sunsets. They weren’t wrong.

Ruben, Sarah, Kendra, Francesca, Patrick and I decided to stay for the sunset. We were not disappointed. With a view from an island onto the sun setting behind Mt. Fuji, we ate pizza that we ordered to be delivered to the pier.




Beautiful.

Moments I will never forget with greatest new friends.

Cheska the champ orders pizza.





After the sunset we decided to go to Shibuya and get some food, maybe grab some drinks. Wandering around the great little town we ran across a great little restaurant. TGI Friday’s. And yes, we stopped and went inside.

On the way home I ran across a funny old man. He was listening to his iPod and reading sheet music. Not only that, he was strumming it out as well. Crazy Japanese.


Saturday I finally did my laundry. Yes. Now I had some clothes. It was a good day because it was relatively sunny as well.

Saturday was officially “Fruit on a Stick Day”, so I met up with Francesca at the Yasukuni Shrine to eat fruits on a stick. We had apples, strawberries, bananas, corn on a stick. Well, corn isn’t a fruit but it was good anyway. Walked around the cherry blossoms a little and then I made my way to Shibuya to find Ruben and some others. In other words, Fruit on a Stick Day was successful. And Monday’s the encore because the fair might be over next week.

At Yasukuni I ran into another guy who was using a Leica. I've seen so many of them here in Japan. I'm in my element let me tell you this. But what surprised me more is that I could hold a conversation with this guy, about cameras. I was surprised with the level of Japanese I could use, but hey, that's why I'm here. And I also found out where the Leica store in Tokyo is. Hmmmm... Might start this job sooner than I thought :D


At Shibuya we met up with a bunch of other cats. Had dinner at a budget Japanese place. It’s awesome because there’s a vending machine at the front where you essentially order your meal. You get a ticket and then they take it from you.

We decided that a great way to finish off the day was Karaoke. So we found a relatively decent place with Nomihoudai, all you can drink, karaoke. A few other people joined us.

Starting out with “All The Small Things” my singing talents really came out with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It was a great time and it will be repeated again soon.

We left the karaoke place and almost missed our trains. I had about 2 more after mine so I was safe.

On the train, everybody was passed out. it was late and I guess everyone was tired. As it neared my station, one guy got up and stood at the door talking to himself. Crazy Japanese.

I leave you with some more images of this Sakura that everyone's been raving about.