Christmas Lights

After work I met up with Momoko in Roppongi. We got dinner at Cabana Cafe and then checked out the lights at Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills.

Tokyo Cruise

Today is the official Anniversary for Momoko and I. So I surprised her with a boat cruise around Tokyo Bay. It was really cool. I think cause it was a Sunday there weren't that many people on the ship and the whole cruise lasted about 2 and a half hours. It was cool but not too cold so after we had some food we went on the deck, explored the ship, and took some pictures. It's hard to get really good pictures since the boat is in constant motion, but the view from the ship was pretty awesome. The meal plan we had was buffet style and they have a ton of really good food. After we walked around the ship we went back to our seats and had some more food till the ship started heading back towards Tokyo.

As you can see from the pictures below Momoko wasn't a very good captain so I had to take over, fight the seas, and get us safely back on course.

Then we took a picture near a Christmas Tree.

Christmas shopping

Met up with Momoko today in Shinjuku for some Christmas shopping. Shinjuku has the usual blue lights on the trees near the east exit and one of the department stores had these giant things at the entrance.

Japanese Train

Egg Nog

Headed to the Base in Yokosuka today. Picked up some Taco Bell and then went to the base store to get some US only goods. Picked up some Deodorant, socks that fit me, and a lot of snacks that aren't really available in Japan or are just available in much larger quantity at a lower price.

Honey Toast

Today I met up with Momoko and her sister in Shinjuku and for lunch we went to Pasela Resorts which is a primarily a party center but people also go just to eat, play darts, or sing karaoke. We went to try the Honey Toast. I've walked by this place many times before and always wanted to try it so we went. The menu was pretty standard and there were about 16 different kinds of Honey Toast to choose from which are all more or less the same just with different toppings. It's basically a big thing of warm sweet bread with ice cream or fruit on top. It's pretty good, but that one serving was more than enough for 3 people.

Yakiniku!

Met up with Momoko and her Sister in Shinjuku for dinner. We went to a Yakiniku chain called Gyu Kaku. It's all over Japan and Asia. There are even some Gyu Kakus in America. Yakiniku is Korean food and they give you a tray of meat and then you grill it using the grill on your table. There are a couple sauces you can use for the meat and a wide variety of meats to choose from.

Hakone trip!

Woke up early and met up with Momo in Shinjuku. We bought tickets to Hakone and got on the hour and a half train ride to Hakone. There is a pretty good travel deal where for 5,000 yen you can get to and from Hakone for two days and it also covers all transportation in Hakone. Hakone is partially famous for Onsens so when we got there we took the cable car up a steep hill went to an Onsen and had lunch. From there we got on the rope way car which is like the Sky ride at Cedar Point but better. The view of the mountain was really cool but later in the day the fog blocked the view of anything but the cables holding the car. We stopped at some of the tourist centers on the top of the mountains there where they are selling black eggs which are just hard boiled eggs that turn black because they are cooked in the hot spring water.

After we got done there we headed down to a big lake in Hakone and rode the pirate ship to the other side in the fog. From there we took a bus to one of the major stations there and took the train back to Shinjuku.

Harrison Ford Uncharted 3 ad

Harrison Ford is helping to advertise one of the few good PS3 games. Walking through Shibuya station and other stations around Tokyo you'll be able to see these ads and they are pretty awesome solely because it's Harrison Ford.

Train Manners

A new train manners poster with the same request of not using the phone on the train.

Zoo

Momoko and I went to the Zoo today. From Ueno Station there is a shuttle bus that looks like a panda which takes you to the numerous museums and the zoo in Ueno. We took the bus cause it was there but it would have been quicker to just walk to the zoo from the station. The Pandas now are the big attraction at the zoo so there was a long line you had to get in to see them but they were surprisingly active. Most of the time when I've been to zoos the animals just sit there but here they all seemed much more active.

Taiwanese Food!

Momoko and I had walked by the place before and thought it looked good, so we finally decided to go here. It's a Taiwanese restaurant on the west side of Shinjuku. The restaurant was small but the food was good and they had some good things on the menu that you can't get at most chinese restaurants.

Infrequent updates

Lot's of stuff has been happening since my last entry. One of the reasons I stopped posting is because Google changed their blogger system so if I position pictures on an entry they are no longer viewable in full size.

I'm still in Japan and plan on posting some updates from next month.