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Eating sukiyaki with Natsuko, Miyuki, Miki and Gill |
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Illegal pizza partay! |
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Silly hat man keeping the station spotless as usual. |
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rainy trainy day on the way to kyoto, luckily it hasn't rained since. Mary is our good weather charm. |
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Togetsukyo (moon-crossing) bridge at Mt. Arashiyama. super famous (in japan) |
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Mary and Heather on the bridge. |
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Workin' hard for his money |
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Tanuki, the raccoon dog. He's a jolly, but often gullible and absent-minded creature known for his ability to disguise himself and change shapes. (look closely at what he's not disguising) |
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Journey along the Romantic Train on the Oi river. Sugoi! |
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read the sign. |
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Maruyama park cuteness, Kyoto |
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the best and most famous delicacies of Osaka. 1. Okonomiyaki (fried veggie and pork pancake), 2. Tako-yaki, (octopus balls --no, not those balls--). 3. and umm....crepes. |
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indeed, point taken. |
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three dirty monkeys |
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...three clean ones. |
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The Great Hanshin Earthquake (Kobe) memorial at Kobe port. Intense. |
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We had to do it. The infamous capsule hotel. Complete with a tiny pad, tiny tv, tiny pillow, tiny air circulation. Do it once, and never return. |
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From one capsule to another. This one has a much better view up the mountains above Kobe. |
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A class followed us around for a while. They tried English, we tried Japanese, the only thing that translated was 'peace'. |
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The most white people that bowling alley will ever see at one time. |
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Oh yes. Bohemian Rhapsody. I'll be here all week |
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About 3am, still living it up. |
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See ya Neil and Ellen!! Farewell parties are far too often in Japan. |
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5:30 am. Lets hope he made it home. Ha |
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rice paddy under the cool evening sky. |
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Our first day in Kyoto. Nanzenji temple |
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Cherry Blossoms were great along the Path of Philosophy |
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Ginkakuji. Do you ever have the sudden urge to ruin something really nice, or break everything in an antique store? Here I wanted to jump in and make a gravel angel. |
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HI MOM!! |
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That's it. Ginkakuji The silver (but really brown) pavilion. Built in 1484 |
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Does it get its own airport lounge? |
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Kiyomizu dera. Legend states if you jump from the platform and survive the 13 meter drop, then your wish would be granted. To date: 234 jumpers, %85 percent survivors. Good odds. |
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The great cleanse at Otowa no taki. The three channels of water coming from a waterfall behind kiyomizu dera. Taking a drink will ensure health, longevity, and success in studies. (Well, if that isn't Japanese...) |
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Luckily we passed by a wedding. |
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Gion |
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Maiko struttin' their stuff |
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I want one so bad. |
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Mom taking it all in at Heian Jingu |
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Come on! everyone was doing it... |
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sweetums |
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classic |
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Still the most impressive building...ever. Umeda, Osaka |
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death by escalator. |
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My parents, Rex and Marie, in Kyoto near our hotel. It's going to be a beautiful day, but get ready for lots of walking! |
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A cute Japanese girl wearing her kimono for a special occasion. Her parents were taking pictures of her in this garden. This kimono is probably around $1,000 and in case you're interested, her socks have slits between the big and second toe, specifically made for her little sandals. |
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A beautiful garden behind Heian Shrine in Kyoto. |
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One of the first cherry blossom trees to blossom. |
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Romantic and mysterious trees lining a creek on our walk to the temples. |
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A shremple (shrine/temple) with cool Japanese writing around it. |
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Kiyomizudera, very popular and majestic temple we visited early in the morning. |
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Cherry blossoms with the lanterns that are put out in the spring time. |
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A perfect PC background picture: a traditional Japanese restaurant in Kyoto. Definitely cool. |
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Maiko (geisha in training) that were walking in the park in Kyoto. It's so interesting to see the traditional old world mixed with the contemporary. They are decked out for daytime in the park. |
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The maiko's intricate headdress and kimonos. Notice the white makeup with two small points on either side of the neck. |
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Me at the Golden Pavilion on a rainy day in Kyoto. My poor dad was sick on this day, so my mom and I made the 45 minute bus ride to see this famous temple. I have to say though, my dad did great the previous day on my "forced march of Kyoto". |
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In Osaka on the busy street in Namba. This large crab can be found in any city all over Japan. |
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At Osaka castle. The fam as samurai and geisha. (we adopted a little Japanese girl, they're so cute!) |
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On a boat cruise in Osaka. Beautiful day and great company! |
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I just really like this picture. Colorado style |
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A weeping cherry tree in Nara. Don't cry tree, you're so lovely! |
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Again, old with the new |
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The largest wooden building in the world and my wonderful sightseeing parents. Inside the building... |
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..You'll find a very large Buddah! |
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The majestic Buddah guard. I wouldn't fool with this guy, personally. |
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A Daliesque photo at Yoro Park in Gifu. It took my parents and I about 2 plus hours to get here, but it was well worth it. |
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An above view of the uniquely interesting Yoro Park. The architect named this place the Park of Reversible Destiny and it's very Alice in Wonderlandish. |
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Another view with the mountains and some cherry blossom trees. (The building on the right looks not unlike D.I.A) |
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This is the back of the park where the wall looked like grafitti. There were household appliances and furniture scattered all over the park. We didn't have as nice of furniture in our apartment, no fair! |
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My mom and I with our windblown look. |
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The strange gourds that were all over Yoro. This is the coolest train station I've yet to make a stop at. |
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The famous cherry blossoms. There is word in Japanese specifically meaning, "cherry blossom viewing" (Hanami). I don't blame them, they're amazing. |
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A festival next to the river and cherry blossoms. We picnicked on that grass. |
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What a great surprise for my Birthday! A trip to Tokyo Disneyland! Yippee!! Thanks Jake! |
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6:30am in the Disneyland parking lot...a small fraction of the night buses from all over Japan. |
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Knock! Knock! |
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Mmmm! Early morning Mickey Mouse waffles. Quite possibly the only waffles in all of Japan. |
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Japanese girls on the jungle cruise, looking very cute with minnie mouse ears, pink coats, and high heels and representing 75% of the Tokyo Disney visitors |
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From the Swiss Family Robinson tree house...we're moving in! |
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On second thought, we'll take this place! |
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Toon town featuring Roger Rabbit. If you look closely you can see people of all ages adorned with the Disney ears |
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Waiting for the parade next to one of the first bloomed cherry blossom tree |
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"Everyone can be a princess" (Disclaimer: Only true at Disneyland) |
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Flashbacks from Thailand? No, Adventure Land at Disneyland! |
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Just like home aboard the Mark Twain. |
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Splash Mountain a.k.a. Splashee Mountain |
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Look ma, injuns! |
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The beloved Mickey and Minnie. The line to get a photo with them was longer than Splashee Mountain's. |
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Sitting behind the wheel for the first time in Japan. |
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Freaking out on the other side of the road |
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Dizzy on the teacups |
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The claw chooses who will stay and who will go. He is the chosen one. |
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Across the road from our hotel, the first morning in Phuket, Thailand |
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early-morning local life |
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purdy |
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in the hotel garden, this was a quick appetizer before breakfast |
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riding in the tuk-tuk |
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trying to play it cool, while holding on for dear life!! |
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Street scene close to Patong beach, phuket |
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amazing (not the large German women) the Thai kid that holds on to the ropes during the entire para-sail ride with no harness |
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Just one of the many colorful sights scattered across the island |
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a wild scramble by some very hungry fish |
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before the FantaSea show, on their disney-like grounds. |
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sweet, the palace of elephants at the FantaSea theme show. An amazing show with acrobatics, pyrotechnics, magic, music, dance, and of course, elephants. |
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sorry to spoil the picture with the truth, it's a glorified buffet restaurant. cool nonetheless |
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hard to put words with this one, it's just awesome. |
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It's HOT. Very Much!(check out the boy's shirt). This was a bumpy speedboat ride which took us island hopping around to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Apparently the woman in all black was not into getting a tan. (Also among us was an Estonian woman who preferred to swim topless near her 5 year-old son; a Japanese family, a French family, a Russian family a Brazilian couple and a hilariously flamboyant Thai tour guide, giving us a very "LOST-cast like" feeling) |
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At Phi Phi Lay Island having a mermaid moment |
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taking a jungle hike, proudly wearing the goofy hat that was bartered from $11 to $3. |
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The snack hut and tourists from the eye of a tiger (rising up to the challenge of our rival) |
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Our favorite pic from the trip...so Phuket |
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Maya Bay on Phi Phi Lay, setting of Leo's flick 'The Beach' |
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"Welcome to here my friends". So eloquently spoken by our flamboyant tour guide |
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From our lunch table on Phi Phi Don |
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Near the boat in the distance we had an awesome time snorkeling in a beautiful reef, "with many colorful fishes that you can see" |
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If you like Pina Coladas.... |
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The pool at our hotel, equipped with a bar that served us many 80 cent beers |
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Tuk-Tuk at night. Lit like a club and bumping tunes |
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Hardest hit by the 2004 Tsunami, Patong beach is back in business along with the rest of the island |
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shiny |
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Getting used to this and dreading the return to winter in Japan. |
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diva. |
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It's serenade time! |
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Along Heather's walk to work |
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Christina and Holden's going away party. see you in Arizona...someday! |
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Raj and Michelle's going away. See you in Australia...someday! |
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Trivia night in Edobashi. Team 'Black beards genki delight' |
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Having a Zissou moment. The Fuji exploration ship/museum, from Japan's first Antarctic voyage |
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You can't lose a kid that's wearing a magenta cardigan and a lime green hat. |
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3, 2, 1 splash. Side note, that killer whale was almost as big as that ginormous tv above the pool |
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the photo would have been perfect if his mouth would have been open. |
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amazing back flips. once I figure out how to post videos on this site you will be amazed as well, trust me... |
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how about that? Nagoya port has a Venice too |
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Villagio Italiano at night |
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Heather on our first trip to Venice! |
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What are the chances that, while going 180 mph, we would snap a photo "welcoming" us to Mount Fuji? Anyways, welcome to our pics of Tokyo! |
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The Shinkansen/Bullet Train - the moment we've been waiting for! |
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Our first steps in Tokyo: can't get away from Nova(our company) and Cameron Diaz up on the giant screen. |
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Shinjuku. This city is already overwhelming! |
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Shibuya crossing- the busiest intersection in the world - appearing in Lost in Translation, Tokyo Drift, and any other movie set in Japan. |
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A must-read: there's always an explanation for any given restrictions. Our simple, "Clean up your shit" would just not fly here. |
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man in face mask. girl in killer boots and short shorts. lotsa people shoppin'. |
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Surrounded by 5 Japanese lolitas, this kid is living any adolescent boy's dream. Heather was like the Paparazzi trying to get a good shot of them. |
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Harujuku, craziness. |
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Tokyo Night Life |
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The tokyo subway system - resembling a plate of spaghetti. |
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Tokyo is massive #1 |
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Tokyo is massive #2 |
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Tokyo is massive #3 |
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the fortune cat |
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The pressure's on when the video games are on the street |
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A group of us hit the town on New Year's Eve at a Thai restaurant. |
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BIG smile contest. |
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Happy New Year!!! |
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What a few beers and a kiss from me will do for ya |
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Jazz Hands! |
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2 AM in Shibuya. And the mayhem begins. |
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The Hachiko Statue: In the 1920's, a professor had a small dog that would come to the Shibuya station everyday to await his master's return. After his master's death, the dog continued to show up at the station for 11 years until his own death. The poor dog's faithfullness was not waisted on the Japanese, and there the statue stands. |
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There just aren't enough words... |
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O.U.T. OUT! |
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We survived |
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On New Year's Day, the Japanese make their way to a shrine to pray. We bolted before we had a chance to pray or see the shrine for that matter. I guess their patience outweighs ours. Yikes |
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One more Shibuya shot, from Starbucks no less |
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Modeling the pyjamas so kindly provided by our hotel |
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Let's Ride! |
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Having a cold one with Dave on his last night out in yokkaichi. |
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vicious |
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once again...rearranged. |
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first, we had to travel to the four corners of the world, so our maps would stay up. |
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jake, eita, krysta, michelle, nami, raj, kaz out for Eita's dinner club (Ehhhh, Eita!! broza from anoza muzza). i'm forgetting the name of the guy in the back, but for now I shall name him 'P', or maybe 'Denny' |
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I spy something that has claws and lays eggs. |
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in japanese: 'you're welcome' is 'doitashimashte'. However, we prefer saying, "don't touch my moustache!!!" |
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Natsuko, Miki and Heather(that's me!) bein' "sexy" on girls' night |
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Minori and I have something resembling cats growing on our faces...I'm obviously a little more concerned. |
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Singing their little hearts out: Suzanne, Christina, Gill and Michelle really belting it out! |
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In Japanese katakana this karaoke would read: "Oru u needo izu rau", explaining why it takes me 20 minutes to read a menu. |
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Singing, "but my heart is saying NO!" in true Japanese style with arms crossed, no. |
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About the closest to beach front as you can get here...it really could be beautiful with the mountains and ocean...but used for industry instead. |
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PS3s and Wiis on their way!!!! |
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As you can see, a very very windy day. |
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I don't care if these pictures are getting old, I love this roller coaster. |
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a new italian joint we found...
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...complete with Scissor (caeser) salada, Cupplese, and Penne Golgonzonla |
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And they're off! |
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Team Waldo, hogging these two games all day long. |
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wow! for a city that maybe gets one 'dusting' a year of snow, this was a suprise to wake up to. |
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King of Higashiyama zoo, close enough to smell his breath. Sugoi. (cool) |
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He's planning his big break-out |
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I want a house overlooking the penguins at the zoo. |
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Throw some Yen into these guys and they will roll around and play elevator music. (side note: things other that cartoons that have anime faces in Japan: stuffed animals, clothing mannequins, some small children). |
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She threw a little tantrum when I said we needed move on to see the live animals... |
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she wasn't so bad, what's with all the 'Asian-woman driving' jokes? |
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so kawaii (cute) (side note: being 'different looking' in Japan creates the greatest moments from confused, and slightly frightened toddlers). |
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I tried to move in for the kiss, apparently he wasn't quite ready for 1st base. |
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At the petting zoo, this was a first. There was a bucket full of these little guys with no sign nor staff to be seen. Just grab one and play. |
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botanical gardens |
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Sky tower |
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downtown Nagoya from the Sky tower |
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Sugoi |
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Clihstmas wights on the JR towers. |
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Supporting the big cube in front of Toyota's HQ in Nagoya. Though I don't think they need the help, they just surpassed GM in sales. Come on U.S. of A, let's pick it up. |
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Eating Indian food at Kumar in Yokkizzle. peace. |
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some favorite students |
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more students, and a good idea of how the Voice room is set up. peace. |
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Nova staffu, Nao, Ayaka and Akie. peace |
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Welcome to Kyoto! |
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Toji temple...originally a 9th century 5-story pagoda, but it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground 4 times. (the current pagoda was built in 1644). |
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Maruyama Park |
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Sweet, monks. The monks were much easier to spot than geisha. |
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neato...they look like little tomatoes. I want to make a little salad for these tomatoes |
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more Maruyama park |
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this woman jeez....The rickshaw driver probably weighs about a buck-ten, pulling her up this steep hill while she pulls her phone out of her Coach handbag and yaps away. Sorry for the hostile remark, I guess I was jealous at this point since my feet were starting to hurt from the miles of walking. |
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sipping on some holy water |
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how sweet |
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in front of Higashi Otani |
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modern and traditional... |
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Some white guy serenading school girls...giggity! |
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getting my zen on |
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Shoren-in Temple |
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perfection...quite possibly the most beautiful tree in Japan |
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garden outside Shoren-In |
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Guy to my right: sleeping. Guy behind me: about to be sleeping. Me: wide awake! |
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The Colonel and I want to wish everyone a Melly Chlistmas! He follows me everywhere! |
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A famous street in Gion, Kyoto. This street is your best chance to see Geisha. We were lucky enough to see two Geisha walking here in the daytime, and one riding in a car at night. |
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for the double self-photo montage |
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This was such an amazing neighborhood in Gion. These homes were so fancy, in a traditional Japanese way. If you can see only one neighborhood in Japan, this has to be it. |
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once again, Heather says, "Let's got this way",
then turn the corner, and what do we see...it was gigantic. We couldn't figure out how to get closer though. |
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The entrance to Kiyomizudera |
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Kiyomizu temple: one of the major symbols of Japan. On the ballot to become one of the 'new seven wonders of the world' |
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from the forest |
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wow, overlooking Kyoto |
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the holiest of holy water |
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Nanzenji temple |
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Fanning incense across the body for healing purposes. |
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Jake standing in front of the aqueduct at Nanzenji |
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hiking atop the aqueduct |
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Heather being insane-crazy. |
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Things are decked out for Xmas. |
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Kyoto Train Station; it's huge! |
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A foggy train station on the way to Kyoto. |
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We liked this anti-smoking ad inside a train station. Our ads show what your lungs will look like, but theirs show the inconsiderate side of smoking. All very good points. |
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I look extremely happy...someone must be making me laugh |
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"We come from a land down under...where woman glow and men plunder. Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover!" |
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The train I ride everyday to work. Jake looking very cute. ;) |
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Gill pointing out all the sleepers on the train |
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More manly singing |
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And here's the girls... |
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Happy Bday Gill!!! from me and Suz! |
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Here's a typical vegetable and flower garden behind a home in Japan. Beautiful day. |
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The roads are so zig-zagged and crooked that you need these mirrors at almost every corner. I personally don't trust them on my bike. We both have a fear of being sideswipped by a van. |
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The market below Kintetsu Station in Yokkaichi....sooo many people in the middle of the week! Check out this guys hair to the right, very stylish. |
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This bento Christmas gift box that reads 47,250 Yen is about $400. Awfully nice Christmas gift, but I'd prefer a roundtrip ticket to Thailand please. |
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This is the view across from Apita with the cool fountain and right now the fall colors. The little kids in Japan are so cute! |
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Apita, the city center of Yokkaichi and where Jake works. His Nova is behind the glass just south of the "Apita" sign. I park my bike in front of here everyday and head for the train. |
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There are usually lots of families hanging out in this area. |
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hiking by Mt. Goziasho |
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