leaving..

Tokyo daisuki!!!

today started early . 4.30am . with a a trip to

tsukiji fish market

this market is one of the largest fish and seafood markets in the world. it is located in central tokyo and opens around 3.00am with the arrival of fresh fish.


after a midmorning rest. sahori and lavinia arrive:


we spent the day at the national art center tokyo and roppongi

sahori is a gifted potter who was kind enough to take me around tokyo
she showed us world class architecture
and took us to the best organic lunch spot
and for sweets & tea

http://yufuku.exblog.jp/i9/

thanks sahori!
next time i am in japan i will be visiting lavina in yokohoma!
lavina is another gifted artist you will meet her later

tokyo

today, i explored tokyo with Masa


Masa is my good friend's (lolo - howbourgoise) friend. currently, he lives in tokyo, although, he does miss michigan. Masa took me around for a crazy day.


we started out in Asakusa, known for its temples. at the sensoji i picked my fortune and of course it was the unlucky one. after laughing it off, i tied it to a string to rid myself of it. Masa explained i was actually very lucky since it is very hard to pick that fortune.

yeah sure - masa.

next we went on to search for the otaku, people who obsessively love anime, often watching it with no sleep. at "tech town" -- success! there we found many otaku and experienced our first maid cafe! here girls dressed like anime maids and greet you with "welcome home, master" or "mo-eh"

http://www.cafe-athome.com/

after an interesting cup of coffee we moved on to lunch.

okonomi-yaki
flour batter+egg+cabbage+meat and griddle cooked with special sauce = delicious!

the afternoon was spent shopping, visiting more temples and drinking more coffee in Harajuku & Aoyama. this district reminded me of paris with its tree lined boulevard. the streets were filled with young japanese ready to spend money. here we wandered into the central park of tokyo and discovered the most beautiful and peaceful meiji shrine.




next dinner.

nothing beats beer and yakitori
ok i lied the the hamachi kama did!

dinner was awesome!!

- salmon sashimi - some kind of fish - hamachi kama - pork with tomatoes- yakitori -

yakitori, grilled bird, made from several bite-sized pieces of chicken meat skewered on a bamboo skewer and barbecued, usually over charcoal. often japanese eat this with beer.

the yakitori we ate:
nankotsu..chicken cartilage (the best)
kawa..chicken skin, grilled until crispy
tebasaki..chicken wing

other..all parts of the chicken mixed together



i got lost in translation

in the end it was a great day - thanks Masa!

i heart tokyo!

a friend in tokyo.

lauren, guess who?

ok hint: MSU

update

i am only a day into my travels but it has been a bumpy start. we arrive at dwt with time to spare. in typical fashion, checking the baggage was a huge ordeal. they lost our bag right at the counter! after taking a few seconds, we asked to the clerk to go to search the baggage area. he was reluctant but mentioning our volunteer work did the trick. with the four bags found we headed for security check for our 5.30 flight - no probs. at the gate we found out that the scheduled 1pm flight had just returned to the gate. next announcement 3pm flight to o'hare canceled. o'hare was fogged in with 16th of a mile visibility - hundreds of flights canceled:

http://www.nbc5.com/news/15212586/detail.html

lucky for us we had the right plane with the right pilot - an advanced navigational system and an experienced pilot.

stuck....

i am sitting in the smith terminal blogging cause o'hare is fogged in.



amber this one is for you ....namaste....

1 day...

as i watch the superbowl, i am reminded of what lies ahead....