Shiba Park and Odaiba

This morning I met up with Mom and Dad and we headed to Shiba Park. One of the main reasons for their visit during this time of year is to see the cherry blossoms. It's been a little colder recently so the flowers haven't fully bloomed yet, but some of the trees already have. Some people had blue tarps set up and were doing "hanami" which is flower viewing. This is a tradition in Japan in which people go and sit under the cherry blossoms and eat and drink while enjoying the view of the flowers.

We stopped over at the Ferrari dealer and looked at the car I'm thinking about buying and then headed to Daiba. For lunch we went to Caress which is a cool restaurant there that has a really cool atmosphere and good food. Following one of my friends recommendation we got the 4 cheese pizza with honey and my Mom loved it! We walked all around Decks, Aqua City, and Venus Fort. All the big shopping places in Daiba and also walked around the Toyota Mega Web where we saw the G Sports concepts and the Trumpet playing robot. The first two pictures below are in a pet shop in Venus Fort. It's crazy. It looks like a high end department store and has clothes, jewelry, and bags all designed for dogs. This is what I think is the main cause of the decreasing population in Japan. At night we met with my old host family and went to the Oedo Onsen. Always relaxing.

Ginza, Asakusa, and Shin-Okubo

This morning it was finally clear and sunny and wasn't raining so we headed to Ginza and checked out many of the shops there and then went to Shyabusen for lunch where we had "Shabu Shabu" which is where you get pieces of thinly sliced pieces of meat which you cook in boiling water. It's a lot of fun. I checked out the Abercrombie flag ship store in Ginza. It's crazy. It's maybe 7 stories and dimly lit with music playing and staff dancing. It's more of a club than a store but the inside is very cool.

From there we headed to Asakusa where we saw the new Sky Tree which is still under construction and should be one of the tallest buildings in the world when it's complete. After getting some souvenirs and stuff we headed back to the hotel. I stopped at the station and renewed my train pass and then we headed to Korea Town in Shin-Okubo. We went to Donkihote there and then went to Gamuzakoru which is a good Korean restaurant with a very unique building with potatoes stuck on the side of it.

Ebisu and work

Headed to the hotel in the morning and met up with Mom and Dad. It was still raining so our motivation to go out and do stuff was a little lower than normal so we watched this weeks episode of "Chuck" which is a show we all enjoy. After that we headed out to Ebisu to check out the Beer Museum which was closed for an event last time we were there. It's a lot bigger than I had thought and hand an exhaustive explanation of the history of Ebisu beer. There was also a tasting station and a guided tour which included a short class teaching you the proper way to enjoy a beer.

From there I headed home to change and they headed to the hotel.

Tokyo and Edo Tokyo Museum

Today it was raining so we tried to stick to inside activities. We started off in Tokyo at the Shin Maru Building and then then Maru Building for lunch at Kua'aina for lunch and checked out some the shops in the building and a little bit of the area.
After lunch we headed to Ryogoku to visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It's one of the best history related museums in Tokyo and gives you a clear insight to what life was like in Tokyo starting in the Edo era up till the 60's. They usually have volunteer guides to take you through the exhibits and tell you a lot about Tokyo and answer any questions you might have. The building itself is very cool and features a full scale bridge dividing the museum into Edo and Meiji periods. They have a lot of miniature models of the cities and famous buildings as well. In the third picture you can see that the TriForce from Zelda was around in the Edo era.

Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and work

Today we headed to Ikebukuro and the Sunshine International Aquarium in Sunshine City. It's pretty cool, cause of course they have the Aquarium there but also a bunch of other animals as well so it's more than just an Aquarium. We got there around 12 and the seal show started around 1 so we had enough time to walk around and check everything out before the show started. The third picture is a Manbo or Ocean Sunfish. It's pretty much the dumbest fish ever and they have it in a special tank with a clean bag covering the walls. Very similar to how you would put a crazy person in a padded cell. It's just in there by itself swimming around with it's mouth open waiting for food to float in. So dumb. I guess any natural preditors just laugh at the fish and are no longer hungry when they see it too casue they are known to grow up to 4 meters and weight over 2000 lbs. What the heck?


The show they had mostly featured sea lions doing different tricks but they brought out a penguin in a red bow tie at one point which was awesome.

After that stopped at Uniqlo where Mom and Dad got some wind breakers and then headed to Shinjuku for lunch. We went to the NS building where we had Tonkatsu. Some of the Sakura trees in the nearby park were in bloom so we walked through the park and then headed to my place. Then we all headed to Tamachi, stopped at Cozy Corner to get some of the awesome cream puffs they have and the really good chocolate. I went to work and they went back to the Hotel.

All over Tokyo and Good food

Met up with Mom and Dad around 10 and then we headed to Ebisu. We walked around Garden Place where they had some kind of Alice and Wonderland thing they were building. We went to the beer museum but there was a special event there so it was closed to people without tickets. After that we went to Blacows which is the best burger place in Tokyo. It was about 12:30 when we got there but there was still a line out the door and the place was packed. They made everything there and it was really good. The meat was really really good and the bacon was thicker than what most places use so it was really good too. It was awesome.

From there we headed to Shibuya and walked around there for a bit. We stopped at Loft where Mom got some stationary and then got some coffee at Excelisor Caffe before heading to Aoyama to check out the CR-Z at the Honda headquarters. We checked out the Japanese Odyssey, which is pretty much the coolest van ever and then went inside to check out the rest of the stuff they had there. Asimo was out and doing his thing and I got my picture taken with him. He's pretty chill and has a good sense of humor. From there we headed to Omotesando to check out some shops like Oriential Bazaar and Kiddy Land to get some souvenirs. We stoped at Uniqlo to see if they had any cool shirts but they no longer have the digital shirt catalog there in the store so I didn't find anything I really wanted.

From there we headed to Roppongi, we were gonna hit up the Mozzarella Bar but they only have their specials on weekdays and since today was some kind of holiday they didn't have them. Instead we went to Ippudo for some good Ramen. Since we were near Midtown we walked around there and saw a huge cake there for no reason and then checked out the displays at Fujifilm headquarters. They had the 3D cameras and pictures on display and they are really cool but I think the technology still needs to develop further before it becomes mainstream.
From there we headed to Roppongi Hills and checked out the Tokyo City view and the Mori Art museum. The exhibit there now is kinda weird but they still had some interesting stuff. It worked out really well too cause the weather was pretty good so we were able to go on the roof of the building for the best view of Tokyo. Fun times.

Mom and Dad in Japan

Today I had my two private students in the morning and then headed home and did some laundry. My parents flight was supposed to arrive at 2 but was delayed till 4 so I headed to Shinagawa around 5 which was a little too early but wound up meeting them around 5:30. From there we headed to Mita and the Villa Fontaine Hotel there where they are staying. It's a pretty cool building that is open and has some cool lights in the middle. Their room is facing Tokyo Tower so the view from their room is pretty good. They were pretty tired after that 14 hour flight and for some reason it was kinda cold and windy so we just went to a resturaunt near the Hotel. We wound up going to "To the Herbs" making their first meal in Japan Italian food. After that we headed back to the Hotel and I got Dad to start playing Plants vs. Zombies before heading back to my place.

Work

Worked like usual and then home.

Day off

Did some laundry, cleaned my room, and studied Japanese.

Work

Worked like usual and then home.

Wednesday words

Today's word is (めんどくさい) said "men doe ku sai" directly translated means troublesome. Of course in English no one really says something is troublesome so it could also be translated as a pain or a pain in the butt. This is a word that I often use anytime I have to go to the bank or change my visa status.
And of course today worked like usual and then home.

Work

Work like usual and then home.

Work

Headed to work like usual and then home.

Work

Cleaned my room and did some laundry today. In the afternoon I worked in Ebisu.

Work and out at night

Work like usual. The California burger is out at McDonald's now so I had that today for lunch. It was pretty good but the New York burger was better. They are planning on bringing the Texas burger back so I guess it was popular enough. In the evening I headed out to Roppongi to a place called Cafe Eight for a friends birthday. It's a chinese place and we had the peking duck which was pretty good.

Day off

Friday, the day off. Took it easy during the day and cleaned my room.

Work

Headed to work like usual and then home.

Work and words

Work like usual and then home. The word for today is (花粉症) said "ka foon show" meaning Hay Fever. Many Japanese suffer from it and it's mostly caused by the cedar trees growing in Japan which were planted in the past because of the higher value of the trees. Japan is slowly working to try and replace all the cedar forests with different trees to cut down on people suffering from hay fever and in turn cut down on the money spent on health care to fight the symptoms. Some people believe that masks help to block the pollen in the air, there are some other interesting products like the stuff you put in your nose in this commercial here.

Work

Work like usual and then home.

Taxes and work

Headed to the tax office today to file my taxes. I'm not sure why but it took me three hours to get the whole process done. It only took 30 min. for some of the guys at work to get mine done, but either they were busier than usual or for whatever reason it took me longer.
In the evening I had work like usual and then home.

Work

Super cold today. Headed to Shinjuku for work and then home in the evening.

Work and Relaxin'

Headed to work like usual and then home. I was gonna go out but I was still kinda tired from last night so I just relaxed at home and played some Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing which is awesome.

Fire Safty and Party

I guess March is Fire Safety month in Japan cause recently there have been a lot of advertisements for fire alarms in the trains and on TV. I had one installed in my room and the fire station has a giant one on the building to help promote it. Pretty funny.
Headed out to Mita today and to Cortese to get some new shirts for work. In the evening I headed out to Friday's and met up with my friends Jon and Ian to do some networking. After Friday's Ian had to leave to catch his train him and Jon and I headed to OakDoor bar where we met some cool people and then checked out a couple other places before heading home. Good times.

Work

Work like usual and then home.

Trainin' and Sakura Frapachino

Headed to Yoyogi today for training at headquarters. On my way I stopped at Starbucks and got the Sakura Frapachino. It's a new drink themed after the flowers that bloom every spring in Japan. Today the training focused on dealing with advanced clients. In the evening I got a Bento from Origin Bento and relaxed.

Work and out with co-workers

Had work like usual and after some people from work and I headed to Koya, a Hong Kong style restraunt which had various noodle dishes and dumplings. It was pretty good and the soup I got actually had cashwes in it. Pretty good. After that we went to 82 Ale for a bit and then headed home.

Smoke alarm and new train manners

This morning I cleaned my room and then in the afternoon some old guy came to my place to install a smoke alarm. It took about 2 minutes but I had to be there for it, so now I have a smoke alarm. Awesome! Also it is March so now there is a new train manner poster.