MegaBus?

       A busy weekend with no posting in between days has come to mean a megapost, a post so big I would compare it to a Megabus, not only just a Megabus, but a megabus with wifi on it, epic in proportion, and full of content like a delicious falafel sandwich. I thought about splitting this off and giving y'all a bathroom break, but I decided that requires too much time from me when I have other adventures (new bus routes) to travel to, thus this Driver needs no sleeping breaks, and you'll just have to pee in a cup if you have to go. (I also am going to warn you now that I thought about this Megabus analogy and contemplated writing it through the whole post, but I decided since I've never actually ridden on Megabus, I might first, do Megabus a dishonor, and secondly, I decided I really can't be that lame, though the latter is questionable. So I'm prewarning you that occasionally a little bus joke might stow it's way on to the bus in a suitcase or something) Haha.  Anyways, on to the epicness, the epicness that I'm getting nervous just writing about how big it is, the pressure is intense, especially the pressure I've built about how cool it is, when it's probably not that exciting. But, that's besides the point, can I get a drumrollll please?

     So to start things off with a bang, after Saturday classes (the kickback of the gun), I decided to head out with a few friends to a festival that I heard about. This was my first Japanese festival, as I'm sure you know, or I would have written about it, but it was quite the site. Although it cost a pretty penny to get out there on the train (1:15 in time, 700 Yen in price for one way), it was well worth it. As soon as the sea of people poured out of the train, we were attacked with the smells of delicious foods from stalls and awesome colors of stands and people walking around in their beautiful kimonos. 

The sheer amount of food stalls and deliciousness going around was ridiculous. I probably saw about 50 banana stalls in the 3 or 4 hours that I was there. 

These fish were just chilling cooking whole. I tried to convince my friends to eat one just because it was an experience, but sadly, I have no pictures of anyone biting the head off a whole fish.

Colors colors colors! Food stalls food stalls food stalls! 

So I'm not exactly sure, and I apologize if more informed people out there know I'm wrong, but these floats that you'll see, represent different characters, and they travel around the streets of the city playing out a story. Occasionally the floats will meet and they'll act out a scene. It was pretty crazy to watch! 

Lots and lots of people. All the streets were closed down, basically throughout the whole town. Each street was filled with food stalls, games, and people selling things! 

There were also occasional stage type things with people acting things out. This girl was doing a fan dance!

Here is another character coming. Somehow we got stuck at this intersection, and we literally couldn't move. It was like 8 am sardine train, but on a giant street. Basically all the floats/characters kind of ended up at the same intersection? I mean, it must have been part of the story, but they all were trying to come at the same time, and then the main Shinto shrine wanted to pass through, and since they were most important, all the other floats had to let them through..

Here are two of the floats/characters meeting. See the Lion? He was trying to bite the other guy. 

This guy was making Caramel cookies...

Games!

I was shocked by the fake gun stands. Lots of little kids were buying them....concerned? 

Catching fish with paper nets, a very classic Japanese festival thing. Though I don't really support it, since these little fish will most likely not be taken care of properly, the little kids were really cute when they would finally get one. 

After wandering around for a good while, and after eating delicious foods including sweet potato fries (yum!), our feet were tired, and it was time to head home for the night. After getting home, my Mom, sister and I, had a potluck to attend for Hippo, the language learning group! So we headed over to that where I proceeded to eat even more delicious food. Yumyumyum! 

Sunday came very quickly, and next thing I knew, it was time for the VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL! I'm so excited that I found out about this. Last week when I was at the English bookstore buying a hiking book, I saw this Vegan's in Japan book, so I proceeded to do the very Japanese stand and read, and wrote down a few websites that had info on a few yummy looking restaurants and all that business. After checking them out a bit, I saw that this very weekend there was to be a VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL in Yoyogi Park, a big beautiful park in Harajuku. I haven't really been having a hard time being a vegetarian here, but sometimes it just gets tiring being the odd man out. I haven't met a single other vegetarian the whole time I've been here, so I really wanted to go out and not have to worry about the food I was ordering and kind of just immerse myself in other crazies, and boy did it feel and taste good. 

It wasn't huge, but there were lots of people and lots of delicious foods. I really appreciated all the samples. hahah.

I was actually really surprised the whole time about the sheer amount of Organic producers and fair trade things there was! I haven't really seen the super enviro-friendly Japan at all, so to see people who were really in to it, was a beautiful thing. It honestly put a smile on my face. 

Organic hemp hats and knitwear! 

Organic fruits and veggies, grown locally!

VEGAN TAIYAKI. 

Taiyaki as seen above and below, is a delicious fish shaped pancake batter type thing filled with sweet red bean paste. This was my first one ever to eat, and it was vegan! I was so happy. 

   Oh the ironies of a vegan pastry that is fish shaped. I couldn't not take a picture. Doesn't he look kind of sad to be eaten!?

Vegan PAELLA! Yum! I spoke with this man for a bit in Spanish, he's from Barcelona! 

I also had lots of samples, and I had a vegan Samosa not pictured. Delicioso! I was planning on stocking up on some vegan baked goods to eat later on, but the vegan baked goods were actually really expensive. I guess that's to be expected. Overall, the veggie festival was awesome, and it led me in the direction of the next unplanned adventure. 

So right where the Vegetarian festival was, there was a Sunday market type flea market that I think is always there? There were other (non-vegetarian) food stands, and lots of people selling things. I don't know if this is always there, but above is an earthquake simulator! The fire department was there, and were putting on a small event to raise awareness and preparedness for disasters.

I didn't do the earthquake simulator since it was on a lunch break, but I did do the fire smokey room one that is pictured above! It was done with a fog machine, so not real smoke, but it was crazy. You really can't see anything and it's kind of stressful. Plus, the guy zippered me in, and then the guy on the other side didn't know I was coming, so he didn't unzip the exit for me, and I actually thought I was stuck for  a few minutes. It was scary, I can't imagine a real fire. 

In this little area, there was also a band playing, and I don't think they are normally there, but there were stands for NGO's trying to raise money and awareness for their causes. I stopped by the Rescue Dog one and gave some money and played with the dogs for a bit. It was really cool to see the activist side of Japan. I really loved it. 

I know it keeps going and going, but stick with me. Sleeping on the bus is not allowed! (I tried to hold off, I made it pretty far....but everyone needs car games, right? hhahahah)

These kids^ were basically dancing with basketballs. They would challenge each other (seen above) and try and outdo one another. You could tell they just really loved to be out there enjoying themselves. I actually walked back this way after another 3 hours or so, and they were still there doing their thing. 

I definitely held up to my blogname on Sunday and somehow followed people down this path which I didn't realize at the time, but was the entrance to probably the most famous Shrine in Japan, the Meiji Shrine. I don't really have any pictures since I didn't realize it was the most famous Shrine in Japan, but I'm sure I'll go back. I did happen to be wandering at just the right time and came across a wedding ceremony in the shrine. I'm sure that to use this Shrine for a location is supppper expensive. I mean, you can't really tell here, but her dress was absolutely gorgeous. The procession was intense. 

I also wandered down to one of the famous little Harajuku alleyways full of tiny little shops full of cheap clothes in crazy styles. It was really fun to just wander along. 

Even outside of the Vegetarian area, Harajuku seemed to be really in to the whole environmental thing, and that's why it's probably my favorite neighborhood area in Tokyo I've visited so far. The picture above is of a random booth on one of the main streets in Harajuku explaining the benefits of organic cotton and fair trade. It was awesome. There were also tons of second hand shops that were promoting the environment and lots of signs and posts talking about being environmentally conscious and things like that. 

The other reason I love Harajuku is that people are really just there to be themselves and do what they like to do no matter what other people think. Just like the guys playing basketball for hours, I saw people dressed in fashions they liked, young skaters rocking punk vibes, goths, and further down, even people who were so in to the fifties, it literally looked like they toaster travelled (boy meets world?) to the 50s.

Phewwww. We've made it. We've reached the final destination, and I'm proud if you've stuck to the end with bad jokes and all.

Overall, this weekend was full of wandering, eating and awesome sights. I found myself exploring back allies, eating VEGAN food, and having smiles almost constantly arriving on my face because I was just so happy to be experiencing all of these things.

 That's all for now folks. 

Thank you for riding Megabus, we know you have a lot of choices when you blog-read, so all of us here at "the wanderer lucy" give a big thanks, and hope to see you next time.

I'm a registered alien!

First things first, I am officially a REGISTERED ALIEN. What up E.T.? On Wednesday morning I made my way to the Setagaya-fu Ward Office and picked up my alien registration card, I'm legal. After successfully navigating there, I decided to head in towards the Yamanote (the main train line). After buying some books at an English serving bookstore, I decided to head on over to Ueno Park to wander around for the rest of the afternoon. 

Very Kamakura-ish pond. 

It was so cute! You could rent out boats, and if you look at the boats in the back, they are swans! My other photos died because I was taking them while walking, so now they are blurry and were tossed, I'll try and be better about that in the future, but I really hate being super touristy...Anyways, the rest of the park is huge, with broad tree-lined streets, big pavilions, lots of Shinto shrines, a zoo, fountains, and huge museums. I didn't really do much of the above, I just took in the atmosphere of the park and the energy of the people in it. 

After wandering around for a bit, I decided to head over to Tokyo Daigaku, the most famous University in Japan. I had read that their campus wasn't that special, but I thought it was beautiful. They had a gorgeous pond in the middle (that picture didn't come out either...oopps) big tree lined streets, it was lovely. 

Here is another big building of their's. 

After that, I decided to walk towards a different train station to save just a tad bit of money and get some exercise in, on the way there, I stopped at a famous cemetery and wandered around there for a bit too. Cemeteries are such interesting concepts, I get why people like to be buried in them, a place for remembrance, for their legacy, and of course a place for their loved ones to mourn in a tangible location, but I still don't see the point. Cemeteries are beautiful, and I love visiting them, but I definitely don't want to be buried in one. 

Another Kamakura-ish thing, DAIBUTSU. as my host mom might say one day in the future, "sup?". 

byebyegaijin.

I've been a bit of a lazy butt when it comes to posting this past week. My bad. Though I've kind of found this week to be a bit like that for my few other fellow bloggers out there so I don't feel too bad. It happens.

My classes are now officially set and thus it's time to settle in. This semester I will be taking Japanese, Japanese Public Choice Theory and Politics, The Constitution of Japan, Social and International Relations of Japan, The Intellectual and Cultural History of Japan (so excited!), and two Japanese electives (one is an extra grammar elective and the other is for conversation practice). All in all, I think I'm taking a few more credits than most people, but I think it will be fine, especially when I compare the work loads with what I am normally used to.  Classes here are definitely different. They have a slower paced vibe, and there is way way way less focus on readings, I don't think I've done a single reading yet and we're at least two weeks in to classes. The school system I would even go as far as to call it adorable. It's so high school-esque that it's just cute, they have class periods, and even have one for lunch! Sadly there are no bells, but it's still really fun.

Let's see, on my weekly Wednesday adventure, I headed out to the end of the Keio line to Mt. Takao to do some hiking! I paid 360 Yen a way, which is about...$4, so a total of $8 or so for an hour each way on the line isn't actually that bad, especially when you compare it to BART.

The mountain itself isn't that big, and there are about 6 different trails winding through the mountain to get you to the top, most take around an hour and a half to reach the top. For the way up, I decided to take the most popular trail, Trail 1. Although it was beautiful (see above!) it was all paved the whole way up. I didn't actually intend to stay on the paved trail the entire way, since that's not really my style, but my second intended trail was closed for trail renovations. This mountain itself was so interesting...I don't know how I should explain it. First off, it's kind of a spiritual mountain, so not only does it have a HUGE shrine in the middle, but a lot of people come here, thus making it a bit of a tourist destination instead of a hiking park, it has the paved trail, and even a Tram that can take you to the top. Also, the whole way up the path, there were vending machines. At about the halfway point, which had a special lookout, there were tons of shops and restaurants, it was like a mini tourist spot halfway up the mountain, it was so strange. 

Here is the start of the second half of the trail after the touristy section. 

Here's the top! It took me probably an hour or so instead of the 90 suggested, but I think it's because I was in serious hiker mode, and most Japanese were using the paved trail as more of a strolling path. At the top, you can see in the back, restaurants and shops for people to chill at. I swear, so weird. 

Here's one of the views I could see. I think Mt. Fuji is in the back of this one..maybe...It was kind of hazy and hard to see. 

After chilling at the top for 10 minutes or so, I decided to head back down the mountain via Route 6 which was such such such a better way. I wasn't feeling the relaxed feeling of nature that I wanted after hiking up the mountain (the reason why I went), so I was glad to get off the main trail and venture down through this awesome canyon following this river. I was also glad I wore my water shoes (KELLY!) because I just walked right in the water when the few other intense hikers were jumping from rock to rock. 

This was a minishrine in this crevice. Although I'm generally not a fan of seeing man made things in my little nature reserves, this one was actually cool. It was obviously built to work with the land around it, and made use of the beautiful waterfall as a part of the shrine. It was definitely different from the big main shrine that was on the other trail. 

After wandering down that trail, I saw the Japan that was so Miyazaki, the winding little rivers and random trails that could lead off in to a weird and exciting Totoro filled land. Venturing out into the wilderness surrounding Japan was really relaxing, and I definitely plan to head out there to the surrounding mountains in the future! 

Let's see, what else have I done? I kind of took it a bit easy on Saturday for the first time, and just chilled at home after Saturday classes. On Sunday, I tried to go out and venture in to the wide world, but when I got to the train station around noon, I was faced with a late train, when it finally came 15 minutes later, I got on, and stood in the crowded train for another 15 at the same stop, after the train announcers finally informed us of an accident, we tried to transfer to the other line, but that one was then informed that we have another 40 minute wait for the accident to be cleared up, so I decided to head out and just walk around my train station for a bit and head home. 

Here is the football field by my house for the school. I don't know how well you can see, but I had to share. It's all mud and the players were so gross. It's super intense. 

While walking around during the week, some little elementary school kid looked at me, and said: "Bye Bye Gaijin" It was absolutely hilarious. 

I'll try and post again soon, especially because I have some exciting plans in the future. =]

A Three Hour Tour

So I'm a few days behind, so we're gonna time travel to start back to Saturday. After Saturday class (Booooo.) We headed out to Akiba, the electronics/maid cafe/otaku part of town. There were anime characters every where, maids in little costumes calling out in sickeningly sweet voices, and tons of manga shops and game stores. While there,  we bought Denshi Jishos (the TI-84 of the Japanese language world) for hella cheap in this back outlet mall (when I mean cheap, I mean like a 100 Yen off the normal price of 33000 Yen (about 350 US dollars) So I paid about 220 or so for mine, which although expensive, was quite the steal!) Basically it's awesome and way worth it. You can write any kanji on this little kanji entry screen, and it will look up the definition for you and tell you what it means and how to pronounce it! It's epic. 

On Sunday, I decided to utilize the good luck in weather (it was supposed to rain but I woke up to blue skies), and I headed out to the Imperial Palace off of Tokyo Station. 

I read in my little travel book about free bicycling on Sundays around the palace, so of course I had to hit up this HIDDEN GEM (Kelly, I hardcore expect some kind of comment about awesome hidden gems). After wandering around forever trying to find the bike place, I finally got there, filled out my forms and next thing I knew, I was riding around on the closed down road on this course that ran along the outside of the palace grounds, it was beautiful! It was also really awesome to be back on a bike, I miss riding around on my bike, Huckleberry. 

It was so awesome, there were tons of people out running, hardcore bikers, and cute little kids. If you ever come to Tokyo, go ride the bikes at the Palace on Sundays!! =]

Here I am at the famous Nijubashi Bridge. 

Swan! Oh and the entrance to the East Imperial Gardens, the only inner part that is open to the public..

It was absolutely gorgeous. After wandering around there for a few hours, I realized it was the first Sunday of the month, and what does that mean, free museum admissions! So I headed over to the Museum of Contemporary Art that was right next to the palace. After that, I was so tired that I had to head home. 

I don't know exactly how, (there were many questions this past weekend of confusion), but somehow I got over my tiredness by the time I got home (it was an hour and a half travel time), but anyways, I decided I would go on a short run. So I headed out in a new direction from my house, I ran 20 minutes in one direction, and I decided it was probably time to head back, so I turned around and started running. After running for about another 20 minutes, I looked around and realized I was no where close to home, I didn't recognize anything. So I relied on my inner direction, and kept running for another 10 minutes, until I was sure I was lost. I stopped and asked these guys where my station was (since I live kinda close to it...) 

The guy's exclamation, "Oh that's difficult....Well are you going by bus or by train?"

I responded, "Well...running..."

"What?? Running? That's far!!"

My inner thoughts: "I'm not too worried, I mean, running is running...it does take you far away...I'll be home in no time"

Well let me first tell you, my inner thoughts were definitely wrong. It would be another 40 minutes or so until I finally got home. 

After running another 10 minutes, I was still super confused. I still felt so lost, so mixed up, and no idea where I was. Normally I at least have a general idea of where I am, so this kind of feeling was really messing with me. So after another 5 minutes, I stopped in this little store and talked to this old little lady. 

Our conversation:

Me: "Uhm...I'm sorry, but, do you think you could help me, I'm a little lost...where's.....etc"

Cute old lady: "Are you running there?? That's so far!!"

My inner thoughts: "I'm still far away!? WTF?"

COL: "Well, you should probably take the train, but let me draw you a map"

My inner thoughts: "I should take the train!? WTF. Where am I?!!?"

I proceeded to learn that I was still at least two train stops away from my train stop, and then another 5 minute run from there to my house. What started out as a simple end of the day 35 planned minute run, somehow turned into an hour and a half run of exploration, confusion, and an experience that involved being the most lost that I have ever been. Somehow, I started running west, and ended up way east of my house. To this very moment, thinking about the direction I returned and where I left from, I still have absolutely no idea what I did or where I was. 

After I finally got home, my family thought I was a super running BAMF. Their reactions were hilarious about my bamfness until I finally gave in and told them I had gotten lost and had to stop and ask for directions...