Moving, Dinner at Aqua City, and Club Flower

Today my host parents and I helped their son Hirofumi move into his new apartment. It's a Ritz Carlton apartment in Tokyo Midtown. His apartment is on the 5th floor and costs over $5000 a month. The pent house apartment there costs $20,000 a month. I guess it's my American mentality of wanting to own a house but I can't see myself paying that much to rent a apartment no matter how nice it is. His apartment is very cool and the building has a lot of nice facilities. There was a workout room with a sauna and Jacuzzi. They have a parking spot for bikes and cars. A lady gave us a tour of the building and when we walked through the garage we saw a Mercedes McLaren SLR, not my style but at half a million they are too much money not to get a Ferrari.

Around 8:00 we headed out to a an Italian restaurant in Aqua City. It had a very cool atmosphere, almost like a ball room but there was a balcony near windows facing the inside with tables for two. The music was a cool mix of Brazil 66 stuff.

After dinner I headed out to Flower in Roppongi. One of my friends works there so I was able to get in for free. It was a pretty big party that my friend Aki invited me to, there were about 300 people, but I didn't want to stay out all night or pay $60 for a taxi back so I only stayed for a couple hours and caught the last train home.

Japanese Class and meeting Aya

Had class today like usual and met up with Aya around 3:00 It was good to see her again, she is hilarious. We headed to Taito Station in Shinjuku where we headed to the Purikura and took this and some other photos.

For some reason many people in Japan thing that the claw machines or the UFO catcher as they are known here are games that you can actually win at. Aya is one of those people and must have spent $10 trying to get prizes from these machines. The claws are just as weak as the ones in the US but the Game Center Staff opens the machines and places the items near the edge so it looks like it's easy to win.

After that we played Taiko Drum Master and I found out that she is really good at House of the Dead 4 and has made it to the last level of the game.

From there we headed to Rakeru which is a good Omu-raisu place. Omuraisu is basically a omelet with fried rice inside. There are many variations that include chicken, or other things to give it a different flavor.

We headed out to Yodobashi Camera and then to TRADER where she picked up the Japanese English dictionary for her Nintendo DS. Then we headed to the 7th floor of Lumine 2 where they have a comedy club and lots of merchandise based on different comedians in Japan.

Then I headed home had some Natto and that was the day.

School on a Holiday?

Today was a school holiday but I spent a good part of the day there anyhow. Started around 2:00 I had to go for a orientation on the Business major, they gave us a overview of the courses that we need to take and that was about it.

After that I met up with my group for Race Studies where we started working on our presentation. We watched the movie "Go" which is a movie about a Zainichi Korean and the things he goes through living in Japan. One of the students in my group is a 3rd gen Zainichi and she was able to offer insight into the movie that may have otherwise been missed.

One thing I found interesting is that in Japan there are Korean schools where students learn and study in Korean. They are discouraged to speak in Japanese at the school and are sometimes punished for speaking Japanese at the schools. Different speakers would even come to the school and discourage students from joining Japanese schools. Korean people have a very strong sense of National Pride. It is interesting because even people who's parents were born in Japan and they themselves were born in Japan will often go to a Korean school where they learn Korean and about being Korean. I think having this type of school makes it more difficult for the students to assimilate into Japanese society. I also find it interesting that the 2nd and 3rd gen Zainichi can have such a sense of pride about being Korean even though they have never even been to Korea.

School, Natto, and living on a artificial island

Japanese in the morning and Art History after that. After class myself and a couple other students had lunch with the Dean. He is a really interesting guy. He told us how he did terrible in High School and none of the Colleges in Canada would accept him so he backpacked across Europe and Africa. After that he was finally accepted to a College where he acquired 2 masters degrees. He came to Japan during the bubble economy starting out as a English teacher. He then moved on to work at different companies being very successful in business.

He said that he decided to work as a Dean for Temple because of the impact College had on his life.

Temple was originally started by a Baptist church which is where it gets it's name. It's funny cause when I tell Japanese people that I go to Temple they sometimes ask if I'm Buddhist or if I really like Temples. Temple is a very unique University in that about 50% of the student body is international students. The Dean told us a lot of interesting things about Temple and I'm really glad that I choose this University to study at.

When I got back to my home station I headed to the 99yen shop near my house and picked up a 4 pack of Natto. Recently it's become one of my favorite foods and I ate three packs of it! I guess once you get used to it, it tastes great.

In the evening I took a walk around Odaiba and found a area that has some cannon mounts and it reminded me about Odaiba's history. Odaiba is a series of 6 man made islands constructed in 1853 by the Tokugawa Shogun. They were there to protect Tokyo from attack with the primary threat being Commodore Perry's Black Ships. Daiba in Japanese actually refers to the cannon batteries placed on the islands.

Turning in a paper, getting a test back, and starting the next project

Today I got my mid-term back from Intellectual Heritage and I got a B+ on it! I'm really happy with that. That class is pretty crazy so anything above a C I feel amazed. Turned in my second Essay paper and that was the class.

In race studies we broke up into groups for the class presentations that we need to do. My group is doing our presentation on Zainichi Koreans, which are Koreans who were born and raised in Japan. Like any other country Japan has prejudice but since the country is 99% Japanese the prejudice can seem stronger. I don't know too much about the prejudice that Japanese have for Koreans but I know there is some there. I guess this project will shed light on that for me.

After I headed home had dinner and watched TV. I think Japan has some of the best shows which are complemented by great commercials making the entire TV watching experience enjoyable. Today I watched one of my favorite shows "Oniyomi Dairy". I found out that channel 5 is a channel dedicated entirely to Minato-ku, a prefecture of Tokyo that I am currently living in. They had a couple people showing different parks or places in Minato-ku. I really enjoy the shows that they do that in because you are able to get familiar with the area that you live in and discover different restaurants or places that you might not otherwise find.

One thing that is kinda strange is that in the past two days I have really been starting to like Natto. I guess it's a aquired taste and I've aquired it. It's really good!

Waking up too early, school, and TV at home

I took my Japanese midterm early last week on Wednesday so I would be able to sleep in today. Unfortunately I forgot that I was able to sleep in and went to school early like usual. After I had art class and went to the career center to take a job assessment test. This is a test to tell a person what jobs they would be best suited for. My result was rare because I was strong in the business and art part which are two things that don't usually go together, kinda interesting.

After I got home I worked on my report for Intellectual Heritage and watched some TV. One of my favorite Japanese TV shows is called "Hey Hey Hey" There are two hosts in the show and they interview various music talents in Japan and worldwide. The one interviewer makes fun of some of the performers and it's hilarious!

Meeting friends

I met up with a girl from school in Roppongi Hills. She is pretty funny and seems to believe anything that she has read or heard. We went to a Tofu place where they have all kinds of Tofu based foods. It was pretty good.

After that I headed to Kamata where I met up with Miho. She made dinner and checked my homework for me, after that we watched a movie and I headed home.

Yokosuka, BBQ party, Back home

Today I met up with two of my friends at Shinagawa and headed Yokosuka. That's where the Navy base is and this time the clothing store was also open. Pretty cool to know that if I need new shoes or a suit I'll be ok. Picked up some things there and grabbed some tacos from Taco Bell before heading to Konandai.

At Konandai we had to take a taxi because the party was at a house that was a little far from the station. It was pretty cool, there were about 7 people from school and a lot of other people there. One of the guys there worked for Nissan but most people were people that my friend Charles knew from the Navy. They had a grill outside where burgers, ribs, and grilled chicken.

After that we headed home and I took a couple pictures between stations.

Day off, Kinda

Today was a holiday from school but I went there anyhow because I made a appointment with my Intellectual Heritage teacher to go over my first draft for the next paper due Tuesday. It was pretty positive and I think it was time well spent. He gave a lot of tips and ideas that will help me improve my paper. Around 7:30 I headed back home, had dinner, and played around online for a bit before I went to bed. Pretty uneventful holiday but tomorrow should be fun cause I'm going to Yokosuka to get some US goods and following it with a party with people from school.

Study, Tests, and a Date?

Woke up and studied nonstop for the Intellectual Heritage test and Race Studies test. Headed to school and took both tests one after another and I know have a small blister on my finger from holding the pen. 4 hours of nonstop essay tests is never good.

After the race study class I headed to Shinbashi where I met up with Miku. I haven't seen her since 2005 so it was cool to see her again. From there we took the Yurikamome to Daiba and headed to a restaurant in Venus Fort called Mangorove. This is a pretty cool restaurant featuring Asian food and a tropical environment. After that we headed to Starbucks and got some drinks. She had received a couple E-mails on her phone when we were hanging out and it turned out to be her boyfriend. So we skipped the Ferris Wheel and arcade and headed to the beach for a short walk and walked her to the station and sent her home.

Class, Frantic study, and Test

Japanese and Art History like usual. Tomorrow there are two Essay based tests in two different classes so after Art History I met up with different people from both classes to study and prepare for the tests tomorrow. After that I had my Japanese test which wasn't bad cause it was just a oral test where I gave a speech and she asked me a few questions on the speech so it was good. After that I headed to Shinjuku for a hair cut and back home where I continued study for the tests tomorrow.

School, Home, and Dinner?

Squid, I ate all of it.

School, Home, and Sunset in Daiba

Monday headed to School for Japanese class and Art History. Got my midterm back in Art that I got a B+ on and decided on my term paper topic which had to be one of the topics that we have covered so far so I'm doing my paper on the Parthenon.

From class I headed right home to work on Intellectual Heritage stuff, I think that class has more homework then all my other classes combined. Reading and analyzing Plato to try and find any kind of meaning behind it besides a way to employ philosophy teachers. It's such a waste, I really don't understand how this applies to anything going on today or what anyone can get out of reading it.

There was a beautiful sunset today and a ton of boats in the harbor that are mostly used for company parties. There is a building that I can see out my side window that they have been building since I got here and it looks like they are finally finishing the outside of the building. Had a great dinner as usual and continued working on homework.

Natto, School, and a AE-86 Corolla

It's been described by some to be "an assault to all five senses" A popular food called Natto. Natto is fermented soy beans. Typically Natto comes in small Styrofoam containers packed with spicy mustard and soy sauce. When you open the container a strong smell hits you full force, it does not smell good. The Natto is sticky and has spiderweb-like strings that get all over and make it difficult to eat. Some people don't like it but it is a popular food in Japan for it's health benefits. Natto is a food that should only be eaten at night because if you eat it in the morning your breath will wreak of it for the rest of the day.

Today I continued to read and despise Plato. Finished up my Japanese homework and walked around at night where I saw a cool AE-86 Corolla Hatch back. It looked a lot like the one from Initial D other then the rear rim was a different style.

Homework, Buffet, and Onsen

Saturday, the day I had waited for all week. Unfortunately I was loaded up with homework so I won't have much of a weekend.

I have a ton of stuff going on in Intellectual Heritage this week one thing being a report on Plato. If you ever have trouble falling asleep the best thing I can recommend is reading Plato, it's a series of mindless questions and dribble that adds up to a waste of time and paper. I'll never fully understand why he became famous or why we still study it today. So lame.

In the evening our Host family took us out to eat at a "American style" buffet. It was really good and they had a wide variety of food from tacos, to waffles.

Around 10 one of my friends and I went to the Onsen. Last time we were there we met a guy who works that and he introduced us to some other staff members so we were able to get some free food and play some of the games they have for free. As always the visit to the Onsen was followed with a Ozeki One Cup which puts me to sleep almost as fast as reading Plato.

School, Art, and Tokyo

Friday started with Japanese class and was
followed up by a trip to The Tokyo National Museum near Ueno Park. The Museum consists of 5 huge buildings with different exhibits in each.

After that I walked around Ueno with a friend from class and we went to a cool restaurant that had some good Steak Don, which is a rice bowl with steak and some other stuff on top. It was awesome.

After that I headed back to school. The quickest way to Ueno from the school is by a JR line. This station gets me to the secondary building of Temple. When walking from that building to the Main campus there is a garage that I pass that is sometimes open and filled with awesome cars. Today It had all of the cars parked inside, a F50, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Bently, and some crappy Benz.

After that I met up with my guidance counselor and she told me what classes I should be taking next semester, Math and Accounting being 2 of them.

When I was leaving the school I saw two hotties getting out of a taxi and then I saw another US student in front of the school who also noticed the girls. He turned back and said "what's up" and I just responded with "this is a great country" and he just smiled and nodded because we both knew what was meant by that statement.

Headed home for dinner and tonight on the news they covered the story of the Chinese making pirate copies of Tomas the Train toys that they were selling in Japan. China also recently made a total copy of a Yamaha motorcycle that Yamaha was able to sue them over.

School, Bank Account, and Rain

Before school today I went to Mitsubishi UFJ and opened a bank account. They made a ATM card for me instantly but the card unfortunately is ATM only so I can't use it like a credit or Debit card. I received a check from Temple for my school loan with my name on it but with the Address of Temple school. For some reason they cut me a check and then I need to deposit it and transfer the funds to the school. It's really dumb. So I wanted to deposit this check in my Japanese account so I could transfer the funds easily but like most things in Japan there is a strict set of rules that must be followed. Because the address on the check is different from where I'm living I was unable to deposit the check and even if I were able to deposit it, the check would take 4 weeks to clear since it's a US check. Again I don't know why Temple does it this way instead of just transferring the funds to the Japan campus but whatever. So now I have to withdraw the needed funds from my US account via ATM and deposit it into my Japanese account so I can have the money transferred to TUJ. Pain in the butt.


After that I had Intellectual Heritage and Race Studies like usual and headed home for dinner. It was raining tonight so I walked along the beach to the other side to take this pic of "the Decks" which is a shopping plaza and you can see Fuji TV in the back which is supposed to be 100% earthquake proof.

School, Odaiba, and Cones

School like usual. After class I had a meeting I had to go to about homestay where the school staff finds out about how things are going in your homestay and they gave us free lunch. Everything is going great at my homestay so it was kind of a waste for me but the Homestay coordinator girl is pretty cute so I guess it wasn't a total waste.

The picture here is a continuation from yesterday. This is an example of the excessive amounts of cones that are used for construction purposes. I guess if it prevents someone tripping over something it's worth it.

The picture below is another view from my apartment and yet another picture of the famous Rainbow Bridge.

School, Construction, and Sleep

School like usual and headed home.

While generally Japan is known for efficiency there are many examples where they are far from efficient. The best example of this is the Road system in Japan. Every year they get a certain amount of money from taxes and typically it is more then they need and will proceed to repave roads that do not need repaving.

Right now in front of my apartment they are repaving the main walkway. This is pavement that did not need replacing, the only cars that drive on it are the occasional moving van or the garbage truck.

One job that is common in construction is the job of the guy in the first picture. His job is to stand around and when people walk by he motions to walk where they were headed in the first place. I guess by doing this it prevents a complete idiot from walking into the paving equipment. Sometimes with road construction you'll see a life size painted cartoon character with a moving arm to do the same job that real people are hired for.

The second picture here is a of a guy sweeping the ground down pavement with a broom that looks like it's made from straw or something. Often in Tokyo you'll see a city worker with a similar broom sweeping up fallen leaves or bits of trash.

Train Pass, Ice Skating, and Plato‎

My pass for the Yurikamome line expired today so I had to go to
Shimbashi to get a new pass this time with the huge student discount.
It was actually a lot easier then I thought, I just showed the guy my
ID and the it cost about 1/3 what it normally would.

From there I headed over to Takadanobaba and met up with Miho and we went Ice
Skating at the Citizen's center. This was a pretty normal ice rink but
they didn't run the Zamboni enough so the Ice was a little rough. The
amazing thing about this rink is that there were many kids and teens
that were expert skaters. There was one guy who had a person with a
radio playing a song for him to pratice to.

After that I headed to school to pick up the Plato book. Plato is the biggest waste of paper, book, and time. Just because he was the first guy to ask a lot of dumb
questions they got written down and now it's part of school for no
reason at all considering it is something that you'll never use in life
unless you teach a philosophy or Intelectual Herritage class. So Dumb.

Ebisu, Meguro, and Shinjuku

This morning on youtube I saw a video with Utada Hikaru where she said that she liked hanging out on the streets on Ebisu. Based on that and I've heard good things about Ebisu Krosu and I went out exploring the streets. Unfourtinatly we weren't able to meet Utada but we did see many very cool looking restraunts. From Eibsu we walked to Meguro where we ran into two of the counsolors from Temple.

We Grabbed a quick lunch in Meguro before heading to Shinjuku. From the station we headed to Taito Station which is a large multi story arcade across from the Kabuki chou area. There they had 4 "Half-Life 2" arcade machines. It was pretty cool cause you sit down and you have foot peddles for jumping or crouching and one control on each arm rest for movement and using weapons. After that we headed to Club Sega on the west side of the station where we played "Taiko Drum Master 9". There was a group of 5 or 6 Japanese guys gathered around a awesome Sega game called "2 Spicy". While the name is pretty lame the game is really good. I challenged one of the guys to a match and beat him in 3 rounds. He then told me in English "you are strong!" and they all left.

WHen we were heading back to the station we passed Yodibashi Camera which is like a Bust Buy on crack and they have PS3's and Xbox360's out front to play. They had Forza 2 on the 360 and Ninja Gaiden on the PS3.

Got home for dinner and had some Tonkatsu and it was off to the Onsen. At the Onsen we made friends with a guy that works there so hopefully he'll be able to hook it up for free next time we go. We headed home and stopped at Yoshinoya for a nice bowl of Buta-Don which is a bowl of Pork and onions over rice and it's really good.

Samba Festival, Bowling, and Shimbashi

Today was pretty fun. Started with a trip to Hibiya Park where they had a Samba Festival. This was crazy. There were about 20 people on stage dancing however they wanted and there were people on and around the stage playing drums and other percussion instruments while other people roatated on the mic and singing. One of the girls that was dancing my friend and I agreed that she was the best and I got a picture with her.

After that we headed to Shibuya the place in "Lost in Translation" where there was the dinosaur on the screen and we went bowling. The bowling allies are pretty cool in that they show a camera of the bowler when they are bowling and switch to another camera that shows how the ball knocks the pins down at the end of the lane. Another thing that is interesting is for getting shoes there is almost like a shoe vending machine that supplies the shoes unless you are a larger size like myself where you need to ask at the counter.

I bowled a pretty bad game, I guess because I was distracted by all the lights and cute OL's in the lane next to us. Anyhow, headed back home for some Unagi Don which is Eel over rice and of course the usual accompaniment of Miso Soup, Rice, and vegatables.

When we finished dinner we had Ice Cream for desert and watched the movie Gattaca which is a great movie.

In the evening we headed to Shimbashi where we met up with my friend Michael from the KCP language school that I studied at and checked out a pretty cool bar before heading back for sleep.

School, Yokosuka, and a Fairlady Z?

Another end of a busy week. The day started off with a Japanese test and finished with a presentation in Art History. I headed home and had some fried rice for lunch.

Around 4:00 I got a call from my buddy Charles who used to be in the military and we headed to Yokosuka which is where a military base is located. At the base they basically have anything you could ever want from the United States all priced like it is in the US. Things like Dove Soap or Listerine which can be pretty expensive in Tokyo can be bought at regular US prices. It was great. As long as I have a friend that is in or was in the military I'll be able to get whatever I need at affordable prices.

After that we headed back on one line that goes from Yokosuka to Yokohama and only makes one or two other stops before you're back in Tokyo. That is the beauty of the Express trains.

When I got back I saw a Red Fairlady Z that was done up nice so I took a picture of it.

Groceries, School, and the Cool Biz style

One of the ways to save money on food in Japan is to place a order and have it shipped and delivered to you. Today I was the only person home when the Groceries arrived. There was a guy that had a cart full of styrofoam coolers and he handed me bag after bag of food.

After that I headed to school and had class like usual and headed back home.

The picture of the Ferris Wheel says "Cool Biz" on the side in the lights. "Cool Biz" is a thing implemented by the Japanese government in 2005 to save energy. Origianally just for government jobs it spread to more companies. The Cool Biz encourages companies not to require a tie or suit coat all the time. With the workers dressing cooler, the companies were able to run their air conditioners at lower levels and reduce the amount of CO2 sent into the air and cut down on energy costs.

School, Class, and a late night Onsen Run.

Today started out with class like usual, Japanese followed by Art History. Our Midterm for Japanese class will be all oral which will probably be good. The Midterm for Art History will be 2 essay questions which won't be a problem.

After I got home I worked on different school stuff till Dinner. When it hit about 11:00 I wanted to go out so I suggested the Onsen to my Homestay Brother and we were off. It is about 3 stops away from where we live on the Yurikamome line. The Picture at the top is the entrance to the onsen. When we got there I asked if they had a student discount but they didn't. They guy working there told me that he had a friend at Temple.

Since it was late the outside area and most of the restaurants and games were closed for the night but I took a picture of the inside area anyhow so you can get a idea. From there we headed into the onsen were we wound up talking with 2 French guys, one of whom was in the wine business fulfilling the stereo type completely. The French guys were with a Korean/Japanese guy who we spoke with in English and Japanese.

When we left it was about 1:30 or so and the trains had stopped so we had to take a taxi home but split between two people and the short distance it wasn't bad at all. The distance is walkable but after a hour or more at the Onsen the last thing you want to do is walk for 15 minutes.

Japanese taxis are always very clean and the driver opens the door for you via a switch in the front of the car. Toyota makes a model of car that I believe is only for Taxi use because I've never seen it being driven in non-Taxi form. The Taxi's in Japan vary on the type of vehicle. I have seen Prius Taxis', the Toyota Hybrid and also larger taxi's that use what are Japanese Luxury vehicles in the US such as the Lexus GS300 (Toyota Aristo) or the Infiniti M45 (Nissan Fuga)

Inaka, Food, Cell Phone TV

Headed to the Ontakesan Dorm which is out in a somewhat type inaka area. Inaka in Japanese means country or countryside. It's amazing in Tokyo how a short train ride can put you in a completely different environment. Compared to Minato-Ku where I live and where school is, Ontakesan is a very quiet area with many people walking or riding bikes in the street and people driving is more rare in comparison.

The Party was put on by the school and they had a ton of food! When i first got there I had a large plate of Yakisoba which is a fried noodle dish that I love, some curry rice, and Temakisushi which is similar to a maki roll but rolled into a cone shape. After that they started grilling burgers, and hot dogs outside and I had one of both. Then I just sat next to where the sushi was being made and ate way too much sushi. One of my friends Ken was making it and he made over 100 of them.

Around 6:00 I headed home with a full stomach for Dinner. My host mom made Yakitori which is like a Shishkabob and the usual complement of Rice, Miso soup and some vegetables.

On TV tonight they had a show talking about the many uses that the Cell phones have. They showed how you can watch TV and some even have a screen that turns sideways for a nice widescreen display. It also showed how you can listen to music,the radio, use the phone as a personal GPS system, buy pop from a vending machine or go through the gates for the train, the video phone cabability that some have and of course the camera which on some models are on par with highend digital cameras. After that I watched one of my favorite shows on channel 8 Oniyomi Dairies which is a funny show about a Husband and Wife in where the husband always finds himself in trouble with his wife.

School, Driving, and Politics

School in the morning like usual, Japanese and Art History. Turned in my paper for Intellectual Heritage and headed home where I had left over Curry Rice for lunch. After lunch I headed out for a walk and took the picture of the Fuji TV building and the Captain Santa thing, which I have no idea what it is but it's funny.

In the Evening I watched TV and they had a show about "paper drivers". This term refers to people that have their drivers license but don't actually have a car or drive. Driving school in Japan is very expensive and the driving test is very difficult to pass. In the Driving test everything must be done in a specific order like a tea ceremony. Most people have to take the test more then once in order to pass and get their licence. The show was hilarious because they had female drivers ages 20 to 60 and had them do a series of driving related tests. When I flipped the TV on there was a older lady trying to back into a parking spot next to another car where she hit the car that she was parking next to and the barrier on the other side, completely fulfilling the stereotype that Asian people can't drive. After that segment they brought a professional driver on the show who went around a couple different courses with the Paper Drivers. They had a narrow tunnel made of cardboard boxes that they had to drive through at high speed in which many of the girls knocked the tunnel down or at least hit the cardboard wall.

After Dinner I watched some more TV while I ate the Green Tea Flavored Ice Cream bar. Right now the Prime Minster Abe is at a record low of 30% getting close to George Bush. Abe's rating fell because of some shoddy pension records and political money scandals that have happened recently.

Also some people took a small motor boat from North Korea to Japan, crazy Commi's

Church, BBQ, and Curry for Dinner.

I met up with my friend that I met and studied with at KCP language school this morning in Shibuya and went to Tokyo Baptist Church, after the service I saw a guy I know from Temple University there. After that we headed out to a BBQ that one of my friends Aki, a girl I knew from high school invited me to. It was at a park, they had a couple grills set up and they were making Burgers, Hotdogs, Yakisoba, and some other things. There were about 80 people there and there were tarps put down on the ground to sit on. They had a wide selection of drinks and they had music playing. I met a lot of interesting people and ate a lot of food.

From after that I headed home and had some Curry Rice for dinner with a salad and cheesecake, watched some TV, and finished my report.

Toyota Showcase, New Homestay person, and Onsen

Today started with a trip to the Toyota showcase in Odaiba. There is a cluster of three Toyota related buildings. The Showcase, History Hall, and Innovation room or something like that. In the showcase they have a track that runs in a outside of the building where you can drive a hybrid car. There are two levels to the building with one containing all the Cars, vans, and Lexus models, and the other has the SUV's and some more vans along with some driving games and different Toyota tech showcases. There is an entire section devoted to Hybrid technology, how it works, and why it's good.

In The Toyota History Hall they have exhibits that they rotate through, the one now is for the MR-2. So they talk about the history of the MR-2 and have all the production versions of the car on display along with a Race spec MR-2. There are other rooms with Old cars including a Delorean, Mustang, Corvette, and 2000GT. There is a hall filled with car related merchandise from Magazines to models and clocks they have it all. There is a cafeteria and a place outside where they have what looks like a renaissance painting with a Toyota in the middle and different Toyota related saying inscribed around the area.

I headed back after that and worked more on my paper for Intellectual Heritage.

My Host Parents have taken in another student, he's from Switzerland and he is studying Kendo which is Japanese stick fighting or training for using a sword and is the top student in his class. He is here for 3 months studying Kendo and Japanese.

Tonight was awesome for a couple reasons, mainly Onsen! My host Parents took me and the Swiss kid to Oedo Onsen Monogatari which is one of the most famous Onsens in Tokyo. It was totally sweet! http://www.ooedo-global.jp/english/index.html

First we get there and put our shoes in a locker. From there we picked out the Yukata that we were going to wear for the day. Yukata is like a Japanese robe and they are super comfortable. They had a 12 different Yukatas to choose from with designs of Samurai or just more plain style. After you pick out your Yukata you tell the guy what number you chose and he gives you a Yukata in your size and you choose a belt of whatever color you like.

After that we went to another room with a locker for our clothes and walked around in our Yukatas.

Outside they have a cool old school Japan set up with a J-style bridge and landscape and inside they have a J-style city area. It's really sweet cause everyone is walking around in Yukatas and it feels like you've gone back in time.

We signed up for something called a Sand Bath and got some food at one of the many cool restaurants they have there. We went to a restaurant and had something similar to Shabu Shabu but there were two sauces over a heater to cook the plate of meat, vegetables, gyoza, and fish. You are also provided with 2 dipping sauces that correspond with each sauce that you cook your food in. Needless to say, it was really good!

From there we headed to the Sandbath. This was sweet! You remove your underwear and change into a different Yukata. Then you go in a room which is big enough for 8 people at a time. There is a walkway in the middle and sand on both sides that is heated from underneath by a large boiler. There were 2 guys working that came and buried you up to your neck in the warm sand and you lay there and relax for 15 minutes. During those 15 minutes they 2 guys come to check on you 2 times to make sure you are not too hot or if you need more sand anywhere.

After that we headed back to a shower room where we cleaned off the sand, put our underwear and Yukatas back on and headed out to the grounds outside.

Outside was interesting because they had small streams of hot spring water that you would walk through which had rocks on the ground and when you walked on them it kinda hurt more than anything but it's supposed to be good for you.

They also had a thing called the Fish Doctor where you can put your feet or hands in water with a bunch of fish that eat of dead skin or whatever from your feet or hands, we didn't try that.

Finally we headed to the Onsen! Went to another room where we took off all our clothes and ran around naked. The first one was filled with a kind of mineral water that was yellow in color and had a soapy feeling and a salty taste. Next we went in one that had awesome bubble jets. From there we went outside into one of the ones outside After that we went into another one outside that was about 40 degrees Ce (104F) We headed back inside to the Sauna, it was really really hot! 80 degrees Ce (176F) That's really hot but I think I sweated out of every pour. After the about 20-30 minutes in the sauna we went into another pool that was only 20 degrees Ce (68F) and it felt like it was freezing cold after being in the sauna.

Finally we finished it off by going to the shower area where you have your own little shower area with Soap, Shampoo, Conditioner, and Shaving Cream in case you want to shave. Back in the Room where we disrobed they have sinks with mirrors, hair dryers, Q-tips, Gel, Hair Wax, pretty much anything you would need including tooth brushes. We put our clothes back on and headed out to the cafeteria where we enjoyed Ice Cream and headed back home.

I can't wait to go again, this is definitely a place I recommend to anyone visiting or living in Japan.

Train Pass, Ice Skating, and Plato

My pass for the Yurikamome line expired today so I had to go to Shimbashi to get a new pass this time with the huge student discount. It was actually a lot easier then I thought, I just showed the guy my ID and the it cost about 1/3 what it normally would.

From there I headed over to Takadanobaba and met up with Miho and we went Ice Skating at the Citizen's center. This was a pretty normal ice rink but they didn't run the Zamboni enough so the Ice was a little rough. The amazing thing about this rink is that there were many kids and teens that were expert skaters. There was one guy who had a person with a radio playing a song for him to pratice to.

After that I headed to school to pick up the Plato book. Plato is the biggest waste of paper, book, and time. Just because he was the first guy to ask a lot of dumb questions they got written down and now it's part of school for no reason at all considering it is something that you'll never use in life unless you teach a philosophy or Intelectual Herritage class. So Dumb.

School, Skylines, and School Clubs

School in the morning like usual. Got my Japanese test back which I got a 83% on. After that headed to Art History and chilled in the cafeteria after.

In the cafeteria the different school clubs told about what they did so we could join if we wanted. They had a martial arts club with 5 students that studied at other schools teaching and leading the class, a Boxing club that had a famous boxer as the coach, Archery, and Anime club. I don't think I'll join any this semester but next semester I might join the Martial Arts one.

After that I saw a Skyline R33 and 34 parked near each other so I took pictures of them cause they are really sweet!

When I got home I got a call from Aya saying that she can't hang out tonight cause she is sick and then she apologized about 10 times for being sick and not being able to meet. Being sick is not something I feel requires a apology but it sure is funny when people do apologize for it.

I worked on a paper for Intellectual Heritage and went to bed.