Pics from Japan

Celebrate your Country's Independence By Blowing Up a Small Part of It

2006-07-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our 4th on our grandma's farm. This is for anyone who still checlks this from time to time (basically, Michaela). I feel kind of bad I havent been able to keep up over the last few weeks, and really, after you (Michaela) get back from Japan, I, in all likelihood, won't ever post anything on these two blogs of mine again. But for now, I will so I can holla at my roomie in Japan.

I start with my favorite picture from the fireworks display. It either looks like we're launching strategic missiles into orbit or space aliens have targeted our farm for their secret space beam. I love it either way.

These are from around the farm.

This is what we usually do on the 4th; burn things. And shoot things. Only YOU can start forest fires.

This is our band of misfits. Yes, we need a wheelbarrow to get everything to the creek on our farm. Casualties were minimal.

Joyama Elemantary School

2006-05-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if so, then these pictures do a far better job of describing our time at elementary school then any written blog. First come the pictures with Michaela, Jeff and I in them, and then you get a taste of how wild it was. Even if it maybe did get a little too crazy, I gotta say, it is pretty cool to have swarms of kids following you like you're the Pied Piper and asking for your autograph. If you want to see some of our teaching skills in action, check out this video Jeff got: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4R8-s2up8c The sound runs a little behind the video, but it's good enough. Okay, I'll shut up and let you look at pictures.

THEY WERE EVERYWHERE!

You would think at lunch they would quit for a bit and eat their food. Wrong.

This is a telephone that is about a five minute walk from Michaela's place. On her map of Saku left by the English teacher who lived in her apartment before she moved in, he labeled this section of the city "disastrous area." So what do Jeff and I think? "Oh man, we need a picture of this. Could this possibly any creepier?

Check that. Could THIS possibly be any creepier? By the way, that's yours truly posing. Are you scared?

These two come from what I have dubbed Mothra Vs. The Americans, Struggle for Survival (I'm open to other titles). The enormous protector of Infant Island created hurricane-force winds with its gigantic wings and employed its bolt and beam rays during combat. Fortunately for us, I was able to subdue the monster with one mighty swing of a paper plate before it could employ its poisonous yellow powder in a last-ditch effort to survive.

It was a fight to the death, and unlike Mothra vs. Godzilla, Mothra's newborn larva did not live to later hatch and destroy us, or for that matter, Godzilla & Mothra: Battle for Earth , because we did not have to worry about MechaGodzilla, thankfully. Let this be a lesson: forget the heavy artillery, a well-timed whap with a paper plate and a shoe are all that is required to bring down the mighty beast. I am officially a nerd.

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Don't Just Stand there, Bust-A-Move

2006-05-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

This might be the biggest pictures post EVER, I think I counted 27 in all. Yeah, I know. BUT, it takes a lot less time to go through pictures than to read a really long post, so hopefully it ain't too bad. First up are some pictures from canyoning, then it goes in reverse order. For example, Sunday comes first, then Saturday, then Friday. Enjoy.

This is Mallet Golf. As Ben said, think cross country mini golf.

These are two shots from up top at the Hanazurainari Shrine looking down on Saku.

The rest of these are also from the Hanazurainari Shrine.

These are from the two temples we went to after church, the Kondaiji Temple and Naritasan Temple.

Hurry up Michaela! Pretend you're ringing the bell and let's get outta here before someone sees!

From Michaela's church. The trick is to act cool, hide the camera under your arm, and snap the shot before anyone notices. Just kidding, this was actually after mass. You wouldn't think I'd be taking pictures during the service, did you?

"Jeff, we leave for church in five minutes" "..."

These are from the strawberry picking on Saturday morning.

Ain't she a beaut?

Oh God, yes, these are karaoke photos. I don't think I need to comment further.

Props to been to Ben to playin' to the camera. Excellent shot. And check out those moves...

Hmmm... I see seven people, but I thought we had eight in all. Who could be missing...?

You know what, I think Leah (right) could really sing some. That's Lisa on the left, trying to blind us with a flash, but we beat her to it.

This is a Good Set of Photos, Ch-Ch-Check It Out

2006-05-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

There's a bit of variety in these pictures. Most of the good stuff, like the canyoning and rafting, I don't have pictures to (it's best not to bring your camera with you for such activities, unles you want to be buying a new camera). BUT, I'll give a couple links to the Canyons website again where you can find pictures of the same stuff we did, and even some videos. I'll try to make this as easy as I can. Here's a good one for pictures of canyoning:

Canyoning photos :We canyoned in the Fox Canyon

Rafting photos :Rafting shots from other groups. The guides said the rapids we did were about level 3 rapids because of all the rain the night before. Good for beginners, decent overall.

Canyoning and Rafting videos :Most of our stuff is in the soft canyoning, but there is some in the hard canyoning, like some of the drops. The one thing we didn't do was headfirst stuff, most anything else we either did or did something similar.

The pictures you see here are from before and after our wild day.

This was where our day began and ended, the Canyons basecamp, or whatever you want to call it.

This was from just outside the basecamp. This is more or less what the scenery looked like the whole day. Gorgeous.

These next two are just photos from one of the train stations. It's on the second floor, so the view isn't too bad. Kind of another overcast day, those have become more common in the last couple weeks.

These next couple photos are from our sushi bar experience. What you do is sit at a table, and when you see something you think looks good, you snatch it. Each plate is about 100 yen ($1). Some of it was really pretty good. This is Jeff inspecting the various dishes.

If you can figure out what this is, congrats to ya. We thought of couple games we could play (I think I brought up the topic; sometimes I need to know when to shut my mouth). One was that every other plate we have is picked by someone else in the group. For example, I eat something I like, then Jeff or Michaela picks my next plate, something that looks gross. Another one we thought of was bringing a deck of cards, and whatever number you draw, say a 4, you MUST have the fourth plate to pass the midpoint of the table. Basically, you dig your own grave. Sounds fun, huh?

I just had to get a picture of this, it's from the 100 yen store (Dollar Store). Corn Frakes? Corn Frakes? What in the world are Corn Frakes? It sounds like something from the Simpsons or some other cartoon or movie. Corn Frakes. Just too funny to pass up. Maybe I'll buy a bag to bring home and just keep for souvenir-sake. Corn Frakes. Classic.

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Give the People What They Want

2006-05-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

http://jeffdespics.blogspot.comI had a request for some more pictures of the grocery store we frequently frequent, so here they are. The Bakery stuff is pretty good. Overall. it really isn't too different from a store back home.

This is from our sushi night, photo courtesy of Michaela.

Jeff at the arcade, also from the Mick.

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Zenkoji

2006-05-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

I only put up the photos I took that are horizontal. I have a number of good vertical photos, but in order to look at them on the blog, you'd have to turn your head sideways, so I'll save you the trouble.

This is my recon photo from inside the temple where pictures are forbidden. It's a little blurry, but hey, who else has a photo like this? If they paid attention to the sign, then no one.

This is from inside the church at Karuizawa.

Ah, the Hokka Hokka Tei. These were our two meals. Mine is the one on the right.

Guess what those last two pictures are of

2006-05-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Shots from Saku.

The most devastating Sumo technique: the Atomic Wedgie.

Can you guess what these are of? Courtesy of Jeff.

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Pictures of our Haul

2006-05-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

I forgot to put these on the other day. This is what happens when you send two American college kids to the grocery store in Japan.

Gettin' crunk, Japanese-style. Yeeeaayuuhh! ...Yeah, I'm so white.

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Pictures of the City

2006-05-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

These are different pictures from around Saku. It was beautiful yesterday, a good day to snap some shots.

Pictures from the first few days

2006-05-09T03:33:00.000-07:00

Our trip to the grocery store. Feel like squid?
How about octopus?
From our walk to the grocery store. Wish I could tell you what mountain this is, but I have no idea.
Tokyo after the baseball game Sunday night.
The Japanese have invented the Keg Pack for the girl vendors to lug around to serve beer out of. Quite the invention.
This was the cheering section behind us at the game. I'm tellin' you, they get into it BIG TIME.

Jeff, Michaela, and me outside the Tokyo Dome...but I guess you could figure that out.

These are all from Tokyo during the day while we were out walking around. The place is enormous.

Our deserts at The BubbleOver. Didn't take us long to go back to American food, did it?
The church we went to mass at. Cool little place.

Hideo and Yoko, the Japanese couple we stayed with.
Okonomi-yaki and takomi-yaki. Good stuff.
Driving on the right side of the car? Left side of the road?

Here's a link to the written version. Enjoy.

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