Asia Is For Lovers: So Much To Tell

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

So Much To Tell

I can't believe we only have 3 more days here, and I haven't even started to write about Japan! I promise I'll get it all documented before we leave though.

My first week here was probably the busiest. Our friend Ali, who had been working in Osaka, and our friend Hunter, from high school, were both visiting Tokyo, so while John went to work I ran around with Ali and Hunter all day. It was kind of perfect though, because when I arrived I was exhausted and hadn't made any plans yet, but Ali had a perfect itinerary to see the highlights, and by the time she left, I had some places of my own that I wanted to see that Hunter helped me find.

Ali is a huge Disney fan, so course we had to visit Disney Sea, a special Disney Park next to Tokyo Disney. I had never been to any Disney Park before, but it was great to go with a professional. Ali knew all the important places to see, rides to go on, and how to skip the lines. By riding as single riders we got through a 90 minute wait in less than 10 minutes! The next day we went to an art/history of Japan museum. I have to admit, I don't remember the name of it though. We also walked through the Imperial Palace Gardens after having lunch in the Tokyo train station.

Lily Pond in the Palace Gardens

A Lantern in the Palace Gardens

That evening John and I went to watch a performance by The Young Americans, which is a performance group John's cousin Lindsay is in. She's currently on a tour around Japan, so it was awesome that we got to see her!

The Young Americans (Lindsay is straight above the director's head)

Lindsay on the Runway

After the show, we went to do karaoke with Lindsay, Hunter, and all our friends from Duke. I thought it was going to be awful, but it's actually really fun. I'm definitely not a great singer, but with everyone doing it together it's not bad.

Then for the weekend we went down to Kyoto and Nara, which John has already written about. But now some of his pictures are ready, so I'm going to post them. He might come back through and edit my captions though.