家族が大好き

I don't think I say this nearly enough in life, or heck, daily, but yeah, I LOVE my family. I have one of the most amazing, supportive, incredible families ever and I feel incredibly blessed every day, knowing what I know about them and their unbelievable love for me. I love my mother who always worries about me but knows that I'll always be fine in the end, even if I'm not sure myself. I love my father who has always been my silent cheerleader, doing everything he can in the background so that I can forge ahead proudly with all my dreams and aspirations. I love my older brother who always has something to say to me and makes sure that I know how insignificant my problems really are when I need reminding. I love my little brother who encourages me to be me and damn the consequences. *grins* I am just one lucky ducky and trust me, I know it.

This post is going to be ridiculously long because I have hundreds of pictures and even a few videos. *HIGH FIVE* Since I've last blogged, I did a lot more walking. Yesterday, Saturday, I walked from Akebonobashi to Ginza, which may not sound like much to you, but if you were me and kept getting lost in the damn gardens around the Imperial Palace, you too would realize how much exercise I really got. I even passed by Sophia University on my way there, and in fact, my hostel is wicked close to my campus, which is AMAZINGLY good for when my cousins get here because it's literally 10-15 minute walk away. I love it. I have so many things I want to show them now. They'll have to bring loads of money, especially for food, but every yen is worth it.

After spending the majority of my day yesterday checking out loads more of the city, I finally met up with the Ninja-3 and we took some purikura. *laughs* We made a boo boo and messed up one of our shots by picking the wrong frame, but overall, it was good times.

Today, I went to Harajuku and Shibuya and did loads more walking because I kept trying to find the cosplay/gothic lolita people. I did eventually find loads of them, but by that time, they were so tired of being photographed that they were quite incooperative so I got very little pictures of them. I kept getting lost in Yoyogi Park, so I eventually ended up in Shibuya. From Shibuya, I somehow managed to walk my way back to Harajuku and ambled in Takeshita Street, which is INSANITY INCARNATE. OMG... It was so packed that I had to take loads of sideroads to beat the crowds going in and out of it. I'm pretty sure Rosanna is going to love it. I had tons of fun just looking around at all the people.

Weirdest of weird coincidences is that I actually bumped into Jen and Dan on my way out of Harajuku towards Shinjuku. *The train station was freakin' packed like no other so a detour was the only way I was getting out of there alive.* We separated once we hit Shinjuku and I bought myself some crepes at Lumine's Kitchen floor and then hopped on the train back to my hostel which is where I've been ever since.

And now, will follows the crazy long string of pictures. I actually had to get an account at BOXSTr to get all these up here. Seriously, appreciate my efforts. AND ON WE ROLL...

- UPDATE 08.03.31 -

Uhmm... yeah, that plan has been freaking Xed because I have over 190 pictures and they take freaking forever to load on BOXSTr. I'll post the link to the pictures here, and upload only the ones that are most significant to my journey through Tokyo.

This process still takes me loads and loads of time, but I have all the time in the world today to study up on my Japanese, watch movies, and blog. It's getting grossly rainy today, so I'm staying in at my hostel to catch up. I actually found a heated toilet at my hostel! SCORE!

My breakfast this morning was from Matsuya. I mixed a freakin' raw egg into a bowl of rice and ates it. YUMMMMMMMM~

LINK TO ALL THE FANTASTIC PICTURES

On my way across the city, I decided to walk in the direction opposite of where I went yesterday. This is how I found out that my hostel is even closer to Sophia University that I originally thought.

There's this gorgeous bridge that crosses the train tracks and links to Sophia.

There's this gorgeous path along the side of Sophia University that is lined with cherry blossoms. Everybody was doing hanami. It was a bit insane, also it was crazily cold with a brisk wind blowing extremely strongly.

SOPHIA UNIVERSITY!!! YAY!!!

Random little statue of a boy in a yukata. I just found him unbelievably fascinating.

This bit of artwork was found in the lobby of a building I was walking past. I just loved the mirrored facets of it and thought it was super pretty.

This is the end of the road which led into the gardens surrounding the Imperial Palace. There were loads more people doing hanami here and just walking around.

YES! I made it to Uchibori-dori, one of the major roads that crisscross Tokyo.

A lovely view into the craziness of blossoms that drew huge crowds of Japanese.

There's this gorgeous moat that practically surrounds the gardens. Very nice. The water didn't look too wonderful though. No fish.

Lovely sign in Chiyoda Kouen. My favorite one is the graffitti warning.

Stone sign in the park.

Statues of naked men standing in a circle in the middle of a manmade pond. I think they don't live up to David's standard.

LMFAO. This guy was completely passed out and was reserving an area for hanami later on in the day. I saw a number of people doing this all over.

PRETTY!!! I think this was a museum of some sort. I didn't stop to look in.

The love the juxtaposition of old and new as seen from this view. Old temples naturally incorporated with the new edginess of the evolving times surrounding Tokyo. Gotta digg it.

CHEEEEEESE! I got somebody to take this pic for me. See the crazy wind? It was really blowing the day before yesterday.

This art in the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art was so simple that I got angered by it. I was like, "Seriously? Even I could have drawn it.

I loved the melty colors in this one.

JOHNNY!!! I FOUND YOU IN JAPAN!!!

Haha, I found you again! Silly boy.

One of my favorites out of all that I saw. I just love the beauty of it.

This painting was on the 3rd floor or so and was one of the pieces done during the time when Japan was at war, as seen from the violence and death shown in this work.

Another of my favorites, it seemed very poignant and insightful to me. A woman's body is never truly wholly hers, she is split into pieces and parts by the world and society.

I think this was hands down the most INSANE bit of artwork in the entire damn museum. Seriously. The thing in the middle is a phallus stuck all over with needles and embedded at its base was a glass bottle of something that looked very medicinal/technical. It was just... jaw dropping.

Again, another one of the artworks that just made me scratch my head in its simplicity.

I took a like 1-2 hour stroll through here. It actually took that much time just because I got lost over and over again.

The little plastic pass they gave me so that I could wander all I wanted. For free.

More and MORE crowds of people, namely families, doing hanami.

Okay, I think that's it for pictures being that I am extremely tired of uploading them twice and I don't feel too poppin' right now. I had some awesome strawberry daifuku though. OOOH! Yesterday I had a strawberry crepe and a banana chocolate crepe. Even though they were filled with mostly whip cream (which I hate), they were still uber yummy! YES! I WILL GETTO BACK MY LOST 5 POUNDS!!!

I'm super tired now, so I might just hit the showers super early. I'll be moving into my homestay tomorrow. I'll report back about how my family is like and all. I'll give major details to all who want to know.

- T