Weekend In Tokyo

I had four things that I wanted to do in Tokyo over the 4 days I was going to be there:
1) Go to Secret Base
2) Go to my favorite coffee shop/place in the world
3) See my friend's graduation ceremony
4) Eat breakfast with my aunt and uncle who were visiting from Hawai'i.

That's it. 4 days to do maybe...5 hours worth of stuff. A nice, relaxing trip.

It started with a painfully long nite bus trip, on a smoke filled bus in tiny seats. We arrived in Tokyo at 5 am, instead of the planned 7 am. I was glad to get off the bus, but nowhere was open at 5 am. So I walked. A lot.

I went to the coffee shop once it finally opened at 10, then made it to Secret Base at around noon. 1/2 of my list is already done! Then, things became really busy.

I called a friend in Tokyo who was letting me sleep in her friend's mother's company's office. So we went to the office, which was actually an incredibly nice apartment in one of the most expensive areas in Tokyo. So I'm given a key to the apartment, and told to do what I want with it, just don't smoke in the apartment. I'm then taken to the Kabuki Theater in Tokyo where we catch an act, then to the fish market for dinner.

I missed my concert, but ended up getting to try some really good fish. The rest of the weekend was horribly busy; my friend's graduation ceremony, which was only going to last an hour or so, turned into another trip to Secret Base with her sister, lunch and dinner with her family, then me going to a bar. My Saturday, which was going to be spent leisurely visiting Kamakura turned into leaving the station at 7 am, riding the train for 2 hours, seeing every temple/tourist site there is to see in the region with my friend's family leading the way, then dinner at a hotel in Yokohama.

Luckily, I was able to meet with my aunt and uncle for a few hours on Sunday, before my bus left. I also didn't even feel the earthquake, but was probably asleep on the bus at the time. The bus ride back was in a much nicer bus, and I slept for most of the way home. In a fit of boredom, I made the mistake of asking a friend what she was doing later that night. That's what happens when you are bored, and always have access to email. My intention was one of those "I'm just wasting time right now, so I'm making conversation" emails, because I had absolutely no energy to do anything but shower, wash clothes, and sleep.

But that's not what happened.

A rushed shower, flurry of laundry being put in/taken out of the washing machine, and far too many emails later, I'm sitting in a restaurant drinking milk tea with some sort of alcohol in it. The drinking made our sleepiness even worse, and we fell asleep on the train.

At work, though, I was able to sleep for the first 2 hours during some meeting, which was great. I then got to sleep in the car as we ran around all of Aichi meeting with clients. Tomorrow I get to go to Shizuoka, a 2 hour drive, which means another extended nap! Being paid to sleep and go on car trips is awesome. Plus, whenever we meet with clients, I'm fawned over as the token American, I get taken to lunch, then back to the car to nap some more. I can only hope that this continues.

Bman Skullbrain, as well as an impulse bought single Obake Dog. I couldn't justify $100 for the Obake Dog set, though.

The Zen temples I visited in Kamakura and Enoshima all had a familiar symbol displayed in the architecture. That's right, the Triforce. At the top of this mountain on the island (well, the mountain was the entire island) were a series of temples, as well as charm-selling vendors. Naturally, I couldn't miss a chance to own a Triforce charm, let alone a green one.