I was out taking pictures one day and happened upon this rather large festival. Its called the Asakusa Sanja Festival. I don't know much about it but apparently the main event is a parade where up to a hundred portable shrines are carried atop peoples shoulders. Most of them being men, wearing traditional cloth thongs! They seemed to be rather enthusiastic as well, singing songs and shouting different grunts. Heres a few photos that I snapped.

Golden Vacation

At the begging of May, Japan has what is called Golden week. Basically there are a bunch of holidays in a row so most companies give there workers the whole week off. Because of this, everywhere you go is super crowded. I even heard that Seatle, San Francisco and New York feel the impact during that week of Japanese tourists.
Still, I wanted to get away for a few days. A co-worker off mine sent me a link about this place called Aizu-Wakamatsu. On this link it said how its a great place to visit but for what ever reason, its not a popular Golden Week destination. Perfect!
So Naoko and I went there for three days and two nights. We stayed at a modern Japanese Inn(pictured above) with a natural Hot springs or Onsen as it is called here. It was great. The stay at the hotel included breakfast and dinner each day, and they were able to make vegan meals for me. And those meals where huge! We ate like kings and then soak are tired bodies in the Onsen. Because of my tattoos, we decided to reserve private sessions at night in the Onsen. (They don't usually allow people with tattoos in!)
During the days, we explored the town and its many historical sights including a huge castle, a museum, a crazy spiraling temple, and more. We even toured some sake breweries. Its also the birth place of Hideyo Noguchi, a famous bacteriologist who is also pictured on the 1000 yen bill. Overall it was a wonderful trip and great to escape the business of Tokyo for a few days. I highly recommend this place, especially during Golden Week.

Disney Land Madness

Naoko and I went to Tokyo Disney Land recently, making it my third time to visit there. And it looks like I'll be going again soon, I won two free tickets from an arcade amusement game! Here is a few pics of me looking like an idiot. ha ha.

Sakura

Although I have a better camera now, I didn't get too many shots of the Sakura(Cherry Blossums) this year. There's a place near the Imperial Palace that is pretty famous for it Sakura viewing. You can take a nice long stroll underneath a plethora of Sakura trees. And at night they light the trees up with different colored lights. Pretty cool.

Jitensha

I finally got a bike! In case you can't tell from the picture, its very small. Thats why the seat is so high up. haha. But it works great for cruising around town on the weekends. On the downside, I've had the bike for about a week and I've already gotten a puncture in the back tire and a parking ticket. Hopefully I won't have too many other problems.

View from above

Went to an art gallery in Roppongi last weekend. Its located on the 5oth something floor of a building called Mori tower. Its kind of a trendy place with lots of shops and restaurants and stuff. Took a few photos of the view. Although the weather wasn't the greatest that day.

Life is a beach

A few weeks ago, I went to a place called Chigasaki. My girlfriend lives there. Its about an hour south of Tokyo by train. Its a nice place, it doesn't have that crowded feel that Tokyo does. And best of all, it has a beach! It is still too cold to really enjoy it but it was nice to check it out. The town reminded me a bit of North Carolina.

While there, we just happened to see this motorcycle gang passing by. They are called the Bosozoku. One of Japan's many subcultures. One of the modifications they do to their bikes is to remove the muffler. You can hear them coming from a long way away, and when they pass you, your clothes practically vibrate. Quite an experience.

Photography...

Apa-to

My new apartment. If you can believe it, my kitchen and my bathroom are even smaller than the last one. But I think my living space is a bit bigger. I have a loft which is totally cool. Here are a few pics. Keep in mind its hard to take pictures in such a small space. ha ha.

The Return

Well it looks like I just couldn't stay away. I returned to Tokyo on January 22nd. I've signed a one year contract with the same company as before. It feels great to be back. Everything has such a familiar feel to it.

Things have been a bit hectic since I've got here. Renewing my visa, finding an apartment, finding furniture to put in the apartment. But I'm starting to get settle in now. On top of all of that, work has been steady as usual. I am working with many of the same people as I did before. There are also a lot of new faces as well. Seems like it will be a great group of people and a fun time once again.

One thing was definitely different from the last time I was here. Its snowing in Tokyo! It was a bit surprising to see Tokyo covered in snow fall. But not surprising was the fact that the people here were more prepared for it than most Coloradans are. Almost every car had chains on the tires and many people wore stylish rubber boots.
So my Japanese adventure continues...

Well, Mom and Dad made the big trip out to Japan. We started our trip by getting on a bullet train and heading to Kyoto. Kyoto is know for its temples, having somewhere around 1800 in total. We decided to just see the best 6 or 7.

After spending a few days in Kyoto, we headed to a town called Takayama. It is a nice little mountain town with some historic sights. Here we stayed at a traditional Japanese inn. The whole room was Tatami mats, so you have to sleep on Japanese futons and the dinning chairs are just flat on the ground with no legs.

Our next stop was Hakone. Its in the mountains and is famous for its hot springs. It was a beautiful place. Usually you can get a nice view of Mt. Fuji from here but it was pretty cloudy while we were there. Our hotel was very nice. A mix of tatami mat and regular floor and of course a big flat screen t.v. Our stay here was short but nice. My only complaint was that I couldn't go into the hot springs because I have tattoos!

After about a week of traveling we came back to Tokyo. We had a few days left so I tried to show them my favorites spots in Tokyo. We took a half day bus tour one day. On the tour we visited Asakasa, an older part of Tokyo with lots of shops and some temples. We also saw the Imperial Palace and got to take a short boat ride up the river. We did some shopping and a lot of eating. I took them to some of my favorite restaurants as well as some new ones. I also gave them a brief tour of where I work and my apartment.

All in all, it was a great trip and it was really good to see them. Japan is a really beautiful country to see and I hope more of you will get the chance to see it.

Shark Attack!

Went to an Aquarium on Sunday. It was rather small but it was nice. They had cool walk through tank as well as a dolphin, penguin and sea lion show. It was pretty cool.

Ueno Park

Spent some time at Ueno Park over the weekend. Its a nice little area. There are some museums, temples, and even a zoo there. They don't however have any grass. I was hoping to lay down and fall asleep reading a book but its all pretty much cement. A recurring theme in Tokyo. The scenery was nice though. There is a pond where you can rent paddle boats.

I ended up going to the zoo. However I couldn't help but feel saddened by seeing these unhappy animals in there cages. I used to enjoy going to the zoo, but now I just feel that what we are doing to these animals is wrong. Anyone else feel this way? I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of the pacing tiger, or the depressed looking Silverback Gorilla, but I snapped a few photos at the end. Including some shots of my favorite animal, the Llama!

Tokyo Disney Land

"Earl, you just finished animating on your first 3D job ever, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to Disneyland!"

Tokyo Disneyland that is. What better way to relax after wrapping up on a project than a day at the greatest place on earth. I went on Wednesday with about 15 other co-workers. We spent the whole day there and went on almost every ride. Even went on Thunder mountain twice. As much as I can remember, Tokyo Disneyland looks pretty much just the same as its U.S. counterpart. Even the signs are all in English. I've been told its a bit smaller though. And it hasn't changed much over the years. They've added a few new attractions but have kept everyones favorites. Mine is the tea-cups. We ended up with four people in our cup. I couldn't believe how fast we were going.

They also have Disney Sea here. I guess its geared more towards adults. They serve alcohol and the rides are a bit more intense. I'll have to check that one out next.

Cooking!

Well, I've been trying to cook a lot more these days. Here are a few of my creations. Mostly just experimenting with different ingredients in stir-fries. Bon apitete!