Wild Kingdom Sanda: Part 2

Today Rin and Rosie and I went to play in the park. We were sitting in the grass and soaking up the sun when what should we see but a lady with a lizard on a leash. (Try saying that 5 times fast). Of course I had to investigate, so I went up and said hello, and got the dirt on the lizard. It's name is Memeta, its sex is unknown, and apparently it's some type of monitor. How do you like that?

Osaka: Of Lolitas and Macarons

Last Monday Rin and I went in to Osaka to do some textbook shopping and we saw a pink Goth-Loli at the station. The picture's a little blurry 'cause I took it from kinda far away but I hope you like it.


We also went in search of macarons and found paradise on earth. A few weeks ago my friends Shiho and Naoko gave me a box of the most delicious macarons ever and said they were from the Hankyu Department Store. I went there but they didn't have the same ones, but fortunately they had even MORE delicious ones (if that's even possible). I had a cassis-violet, a yuzu (a type of citron) and a raspberry chocolate macaron. Perfection!

Tokyo Love Story

Shoichi and I went to Tokyo for Golden Week and we had a great time! Here are some pictures.



We went by Shinkansen and passed Mt. Fuji, but unfortunately it was very cloudy, so you can't really tell. I promise you, that really is Mt. Fuji though, cross my heart and hope to die.



Once we arrived in Tokyo we met up with my friend Shin-chan from Morioka and his wife Chiemi, who had recently moved to the city. We also met my friend Sachiko (who my family may remember from when she came to stay for Christams once) and her new husband Kenji, but alas I neglected to take their photos.



We went out for dinner and then to Karaoke. Shin-chan always sings very passionately.



The next day we went to Harajuku, which is home to Goth and Goth-Loli teens, but there weren't as many as I'd hoped. I did get this one picture, and the girl was very amused by my Doraemon.



After Harajuku we went to Akihabara, also known as Akiba: Nerd-central of Japan. The first thing we saw was this cat, who was kind of a mini-celebrity.



Harajuku is famous for its maid-cafes where girls dressed as maids pour coffee for you. Maids really do come in all shapes and sizes...



There are also lots of general weirdos and cosplayers, such as this young gentelman.



I think he ate the original Pikachu...



On the last day we went to Asakusa which is famous for Soba noodles and Monjayaki. I thought this tadpole building was too cute to pass up.



This is the famous Kaminarimon or Thunder-gate of Sensouji temple in Asakusa. Since it was Golden Week it was packed!



And here's Sho-chan in front of the gate as well.



We had a great time in Tokyo and hopefully we'll get another chance to go again soon.



Goog Afternooner!

Yamamba sighting in Umeda

Last weekend Sho-chan and I went to Osaka for the day and we saw a real live Yamamba in front of Hep-5 in Umeda! I was pretty psyched and I managed to get a decent pic as well, so enjoy.


We planned to visit the aquarium in Tempozan, but we ended up watching a street performance instead and then going to the IMAX theatre at the Suntory Museum. They were both really cool, altough Sho-chan fell asleep in the middle of the IMAX movie. (It was about life in the coral reefs and it was pretty sweet with giant jelly-fish that looked like they were coming right at you when you out on your 3-D glasses.)

We saw this guy at Tempozan too.


He's an 'ame-zaiku' or candy-art maker and he makes all kinds of candies in the shape of different animals or cartoon characters. The ones we saw were Cinamaroll and the Kao-nashi guy from 'Sen to Chihiro' (That's 'Spirited Away' to you folks at home). And he took requests as well, so I got a frog (of course) but I forgot to take a picture of it and when I took it out of my bag after a few hours the fingers and eyes had broken off...

Here is Sho-chan eating the remnants anyway, though.


Also the ame-zaiku guy gave me a ball of the candy stuff so I could try to make my own at home, but I only ended up burning my thumb on it after putting it in the microwave too long....

Oh well....Goog afternooner everyone!
And in case you care:

What is a Yamamba?

What is ame-zaiku?