Nephew Heading off to High School

My nephew came by and stayed with us for two nights on his way to moving into the dorm at his boarding school. We went for dessert after dinner and he opted for a triple-decker Baskin Robbins. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy his treat : ). I hope he's doing well at the high school...

Kyoto with three of the "N" family members.

For about 6 months, I used to live with the "N" family in Salt Lake City. I was totally stressed out with all sorts of stuff at the time and so the "N" family welcomed me into their home.












The kids were much younger when I used to live with them, but when I met up with them in Kyoto a few months ago, they were SO big! Kids sure do grow fast.












First, we went to Nijo-jo Castle. The floor was so freezing cold! I wonder how people kept warm back in the days.

Then we went to the Eigamura. Sort of like a Japanese version of Universal Studios, except, no rides and just sets they use for Jidaigeki movies.

It was so nice to see them!

Why would you want to....?!

Sometimes(actually, more like MANY times), you stop and scratch your head over what in the world people were thinking when they gave their businesses a certain name in English.

This one...a store called "Starvations". Now, what do you suppose they sell?

They're actually a brand of kids clothes!! It really doesn't make any sense. WHHHHY did whoever started up the business think that "starvation" would be a great name for a children's clothing line??? Apparently, it's a hip brand and parents don't think anything of it, but if I were a parent, I wouldn't be interested in a line of clothes that advertised starving. But then again, I guess in Japan, like in so many situations, the message sent out in English doesn't have to make any sense. It's just considered "hip" to have the English alphabet written, regardless of what the content is. Weird.

Strange thing about sports clubs.

You know, I noticed something very very peculiar about sports clubs here. Everyone works out in silence. No one seems to talk to each other and if you happen to talk too loudly with a friend, then the club staff come and ask you to keep your voice down. Very strange.

Why is this? In the States, if there's a person standing near you, whether you know that person or not, conversations just pop right up. Why don't Japanese people have conversations with strangers? Is it considered rude?

Just for you!

I have a friend who's in love with the Doraemon character and used to collect anything that was Doraemon. Although I realize that by now, since she's finishing up grad school and about to start med school, her interest in it must've waned, but I still find myself quickly wondering if I should get the Doramon stuff for her or not whenever I spot them in the store.

After seeing this Doraemon thing at the drugstore, I commented that I ought to get it for my friend since she would probably like it. But then the friend I was with said "You're going to send her shampoo??" and it dawned on me that maybe sending a bottle of Doraemon shampoo all the way to the States didn't make much sense. But I still thought it was cute so took a picture of it instead for her to enjoy.

Japanese Strawberries!!! Mmmmm

Strawberries in Japan are to die for! They're not tart and "crunchy" like the ones in the States. Here, they basically just melt in your mouth the moment you take a bite. They're really soft and have a sweet smell that just immediately draws you to them. Since they're so delicate, you won't find them in those green baskets like you do in the States. They come neatly arranged in rows and in plastic containers. The downside is, they're quite expensive like everything else in Japan, but once in a while, it's nice to splurge :).

Museum somewhere in Kobe

I think this is the first time I went to a museum in Japan. Actually, that's not quite true, I'm sure I must have gone on field trips to museums while I attended school in Japan, but that period of my life I consider a black hole and I don't remember much from it.

Anyways, I love museums. Back in my P.U.C. art major days, we'd sometimes go over to San Fransisco and spend the whole day gallery hopping or visiting museums. It was great. I love reading autobioghraphies and biographies since you get to experience what unfolds in the book...I think looking at art is a similar experience. It's like you get to slip back or forward in time and have a conversation with the artists.

Whenever I see artwork, I love to get up really close and see the brushstrokes. When I do that, I feel like I can sense the artist's presence right there.

One of my favorite museums is the Paul Ghetty Center in Southern California. I really fell in love with the architecture. I think I could spend the whole entire day there just walking around and gazing at the architecture. Oh, I wish I could do that! I want to visit more museums here in Japan, but getting to the museum and paying for the entrance fee all adds up so it's a bit difficult. That's one thing I like about the States. You can enjoy culture without having to pay a fortune. Wish it were like that here too.

Tons of cookies

I haven't done much cooking lately, but last x-mas, I suddenly decided that it'd be fun to make cookies for all the students at the school I'm working at.

I'm not much for planning ahead for these things, so I quickly looked for a cookie recipe online, jotted down the ingredients, randomly decided that doubling the recipe would be enough and went out to buy the ingredients.

I went to the store and started putting whatever was needed into my shopping basket, and reached the last item on the list...butter. I didn't know that butter cost so much, and with my limited budget, I was tempted to substitute it with margarine, but after making a call to my mom to see if it would taste different, I decided I had to go with the real stuff.

Once I mixed all the ingredients and made the cookie dough, I was surprised at how much was sitting before me. I realized I'd need help cutting out all the cookies and baking them, so I asked a friend from work for help and we ended up making cookies for most of the following day! The cookies turned out great and the kids were quite happy with them, so it was well worth it. But I probably won't attempt the same thing again...

Two tomatoes for sale!

Whoa! They wrap tomatoes and put them on styrofoam trays over here! I know this shouldn't surprise me since I've already been shocked that they individually wrap and protect apples, pears, and other fruits here so that they can even withstand earthquakes or whatever natural disaster that might come their way. Food is really important in the Japanese culture...

So much attention to details...

I ate a small cup of instant udon noodles the other day and was surprised to find small fish cakes(?) in the shape of flowers in the soup! I think eating must be an art form here in Japan. This mini-cup-of-udon was something like a hundred yen, but yet they still paid attention the presentation of the udon. Amazing, don't you think? In the States, you buy 10 packs of ramen for a dollar and there's absolutely no concern over how the noodles will look to the eye(or taste, for that matter...).

Christmas cake...

Cakes in Japan are SO fancy and cute. They're so delicately made that I almost think they're meant to look at and not for eating. This was a christmas cake my friend ordered for her family.

In Japan, the purpose of christmas seems to be to eat these really really cute cakes made especially for christmas. People pre-order the cake of their choosing and get in long lines to pick them up on x-mas day. Interesting.

This cake on the right, it was a surprise birthday cake my friend's family ordered for me 2 years ago(maybe it was last year)...but I have this vague memory that I didn't get to eat a single bite of it because I was really sick on my birthday and I couldn't eat anything. So I took a picture of it instead.

Interesting drinks in Japan

I haven't updated my blog in such a long time! My digital camera is having a fit these days, so I need to take it apart and try to fix it again. To my big surprise, I took it apart this one time when it wasn't working, then managed to put it together again fairly sure that it wouldn't make a difference...but to my surprise my camera came to life afterwards!!

Well, that's not what I wanted to write about today. I wanted to say that I finally figured out how to transfer pictures I took on my cell phone to my computer, so now I can write stuff again :).

Anyhow, I have a backlog of pictures I've been taking on my cell phone to write about.

The first one is this "BEER" for kids I found in the grocery store!! They actually have bottles that look like beer, it even SAYS "BEER for good kids!" Can you imagine?! Of course, it's not alcohol. It's apple cider or some sort of juice, but still, why would you want to imitate beer and sell it to kids? Personally, I think it's a bad idea they're trying to sell something that looks like beer to kids. Sends the wrong message...

Another interesting drink I found while grocery shopping was a tiny can of Coke! It fits in the palm of your hand, so if you take like 3 gulps (maybe 5), then you've finished the drink. Cute, huh?

Mystery of Slippers

Slippers. If you ever visit a home in Japan, they always offer them to you the moment you enter their home. I get this sense that people actually feel ashamed if they don't offer slippers to you...as if their homes were not clean or something??? (I don't know why offering slippers is a MUST here.)

Anyways, at the school I work at, they also have slippers for students who want to wear them. Most kids don't seem to even register the slippers existence, so they just step on them and go up to the classrooms.

To me, the whole wearing of slippers custom is a mystery. First of all, people ALWAYS take their shoes off at the front door, so no one ever walks into the house with shoes....so the house is clean, in terms of having dirt from shoes get all over the house.

The house is clean, but people wear slippers. In the winter, this makes sense since it gets pretty cold (due to no central heating in most homes in Japan) and any extra warmth is much appreciated.

What I don't understand is...these slippers are meant for indoors, so my logic follows that we ought to be able to walk anywhere in the house.

But in reality this isn't so. There's usually a "Washitu" or a Japanese style room in most homes here...early on I found out that we were NOT supposed to wear our slippers into these rooms! Me, not ever having been accustomed to wearing slippers in the first place, felt no hesitence at all walking into the washitsu with slippers on (after all, it's all indoors, right?!).

Every time my boss spotted me freely walking in and out of the washitu with my slippers on, she would look at me funny...but not say anything. I didn't know what that was about, but I think it finally irked her so much that she said "You're not supposed to wear slippers on the tatami (straw mat flooring). " After many similar reminders, I'm happy to say, I've finally grown into the habit of remembering to take off my slippers when entering the washitsu =).

Another place in the house where we're supposed not only take OFF our slippers but also CHANGE them, is the bathroom. This unspoken rule (of which there are many many MANY in Japan it feels like), doesn't seem as strict. I've noticed that some people change their slippers, and some don't.

Again, I have a hard time comprehending by what sort of rules these taking off/changing of slippers gets decided. It must not be a simple indoor/outdoor thing, because if it were, we'd be able to walk anywhere in the house. I haven't yet grown into the habit of changing my slippers when using the bathroom (except in public bathrooms that have these plastic sandals that OBVIOUSLY are meant to be used) since it's not as strictly enforced.

Maybe one of these days the mystery of slippers in Japanese homes will become a little more clear to me. Until then, I will probably continue to wear the wrong slippers into the wrong rooms. Actually, I still often FORGET to wear slippers, and if I do happen to remember, I forget them in some room or under a desk and have to go about in search of them.

How do they measure tsunamis?

Today, it said on the news that a tsunami would hit the pacific ocean side of Japan due to a 8.1 magnitute somewhere. Then later on, it was making announcements that a 10cm, 40cm, 50cm, and 1 meter tsunamis either "hit" this city or that.

Whenever they make tsunami announcements, I often see these really low "tsunamis". I thought a tsunami was a huge wave...so I have a hard time comprehending why they make warning announcements for a "10cm tsunami". If a boat passes by, that alone would cause more than a 10cm wave, right?

Any ideas on why they call a 10cm wave a "tsunami"?

Shower Bathroom?!

I went into a high-end department store the other day to use the bathroom and saw a sign that said "shower bathroom." I felt anxious poking my head into the stall not knowing what to expect! I mean, what exactly is a "shower bathroom"? Why would they combine a shower and a toilet? Why would anyone take a shower at a department store?

....I cautiously opened the door and found...a regular bathroom! Well, you wouldn't call it "regular" in the States 'cause it's one of those fancy wash-and-blow-dry type of toilets, but I was still relieved that there were no surprises.

The surprises with bathrooms are never-ending over here. What will they think of next?!

Finding my way around in Tokyo

Why don't they have street signs in Japan? I look to my left, my right and I see...skyscrapers, skyscrapers, and MORE skyscrapers. BUT no street signs.

I think people over here find their way around by remembering landmarks....my friend Santi once said the same thing to me. He was amazed that people gave directions like the following "When you see the McDonald's next to the Mitsubishi Bank, then turn left, keep going until you see Kinokuniya, then turn right into a narrow path once you pass the Starbuck's Coffee...etc. etc." Uhh...confusing?

For those accustomed to this method of finding their way around, it probably works fine...but I seem to still look for addresses, which isn't a smart way to find your way around in Tokyo. After many many episodes of getting lost, I've figured out that they have little metal plates with the zipcode-like information on the electric poles....so now whenever I get lost, I walk around looking for power poles and inch my way closer to the vicinity of where I'm heading. It works pretty well =).

Another sudden hike.

My classmate from Jr. High was suddenly in town, so we decided to go hiking. It was my second time at this place, my friend's first, and neither of us had any idea where the trail lead or how long it would take, but we went anyways .After walking through several tunnels, we came across a bridge that said "Bridge closed-Do not enter"...but luckily there was a narrow walkway to the side so we walked across.

We were pretty high up and there was a river down below....I could see it through the cracks on the walkway so I was a bit scared.

It was an overcast day, so it felt a bit gloomy, but being surrounded by nature felt good.
We kept walking and walking not knowing how far the trail would lead, but eventually we reached a town. I found this traditional Japanese house, so I had to take a picture of it! I always feel like I've slipped back in time when I come across these traditional homes.
We didn't want to walk another 2 hours to get back to where we started from, so we took the train back and went on another short trail that lead to a hot spring. The hot spring wasn't that great, but it still felt good. It might have been anywhere from 5-10 years since my friend and I last bumped into each other...can you believe the first thing he did when we met up was laugh and say "You haven't changed one bit!"? But what can I say, I really haven't changed one bit, probably someone who last saw me when I was 3 years old will still recognize me in an instant after 27 years. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know.

Halloween Party from last month

Thursday's Halloween Party.













Friday's Halloween Party.

We had our annual halloween party again this year. We always start off with self-introductions since some of the kids don't know each other. Some of the kids bring along their little brother or sister to the party and it's really cute watching all the kids squirming in their seats as they wait their turn to say "My name is xxx and my favorite desert is xxx."

Once we get through that, we sing a halloween song that they've been practicing every week. Then come the treats! For the staff, this is where all the chaos starts. All that sugar.

After pouring drinks, we start with the english-related educational games. Bingo, memory, pin-the-pumpkin's-nose, twister, etc. Once we tally all the points they've scored for the games, they take turns choosing their prizes. It's funny how the big brothers or sisters "order" their little brother or sister to take certain prizes. Cute, cute.

Now, to get through the Christmas party at the end of December!

Had to rub my eyes and do a double-take.

I saw the strangest thing today. I was about to drive out of the condo's parking lot, but I saw an old couple with a carriage walking past in my back mirror, so I waited for them to pass by. Then, when I backed up enough to see WHAT was in the carriage...I just couldn't comprehend what I was seeing!! A long-haired chihuahua!!

I've seen dog's with sweaters, hats, paw-shoes, and even a raincoat for rainy days...but this was the first time a saw a dog being taken on a walk in a CARRIAGE. My mind couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. I thought the purpose of taking a dog for a walk was so that the dog could actually GO FOR A WALK. What is the dog supposed to do sitting in a in a carriage??

While waiting for the light to turn green, I kept looking at the couple through my rearview mirror, and finally at some point they let the dog down so it could do its own walking....but I still just had to scratch my head and wonder about the logic behind the whole thing.

"Analyze Me"

Watched another movie last night. It's pretty old, but I was craving comedy, so went out and checked another DeNiro comedy out. I watched "Meet the Parents 2 " recently, and DeNiro was hilarious in that one, so I went with another one last night.

The intensity of how DeNiro plays his characters makes the movie all the more funny, because generally DeNiro seems to play hardcore tough guy movies, so the gap in character generates more laughs I think.

I also love Robin Williams movies...he generally plays off-the-wall hilarious characters, so when he plays serious roles, he makes that much more impact and those serious drama type of movies shine out. For example, "Patch Adams," "Dead Poet's Society," "Awakenings," and "Good Will Hunting" were all great movies.

"Touching the Void"

Whenever I find a movie or documentary about climbing, my hand automatically reaches out for it and I have to watch it. So tonight, I watched a movie called "Touching the Void."

It was about two men climbing this mountain in Peru (I think it was) and how they had an accident that forced them to make life and death decisions. It was an inspiring story.

I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to these mountaineering topics. I've seen quite a few of these types of movies, all of which seem to tell near-death stories. I think I've been drawn to them ever since I saw Mt. Everest when I went to Nepal before.

For 2 weeks, every day we carried bricks and laid them for the clinic we helped build, we had full view of Mt. Everest and it was amazing. There's something majestic and moving when you see such grand nature.

Some day, I wish I can climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest. I wonder if that dream will ever come true =).

No Refills

I went to Subway the other day. It was the first time in Japan where they just gave me the cup and I could fill the cup with what I wanted. I thought to myself "oh, what a surprise, never been to a fast-food restaurant where the drinks are self-serve with free refills!"

But...I was wrong. They asked me what drink I wanted...I don't know why, since all they do is give me an empty cup so I can fill it myself.

Then, they added "Please remember that you can fill the cup only ONCE...no refills." And they had stickers saying "NO REFILLS" on all the drink machines.

So much for the free refills...I don't understand why they do it like this. Strange.

Sushi Trains

Sushi is very popular over here. They have what are called "kaiten zushi" restaurants over here...the ultimate fast-food sushi restaurant basically. What happens is, a never-ending round of different sushi comes around on small plates on a conveyor belt that goes around and around the whole restaurant. Typcially, each plate is priced 105 Yen, so you can keep track of your bill.

I'm vegetarian (sort of), so you probably wonder why I'd go to a sushi bar, when most of it is raw fish, right? Well, when I go to a sushi bar, my pickings always consists of: natto, egg, corn, shrimp-avocado (I pull the shrimp out!), and whatever else is edible, which doesn't consist of something that used to be alive. You probably think what the point of going to a kaiten zushi is if I'm not going to eat actual sushi, right?

Well, you see, I think kaiten zushi is entertainment in a way. Where in the States can you find a place where sushi just keeps coming and coming and you have to keep your eye out for whatever is heading your way, while you have your mouth full, and also remember to grab the next plate as it passes by you? It's really funny. It feels like a race in a way...at least I only have to keep my eyes out for about 4 different types of sushi, but for those of you who can eat real sushi, then it's a busy experience.

I went to a kaiten-zushi restaurant recently where for every 5 plates of sushi you send down the shoot, the electronic order screen starts beeping and a slot machine type of game automatically starts...if you win a little toy comes rolling down! It's entertainment, right?

Such a cool group of people!!

So, like I said, the conference is over. These, and a few others are the core members of the organizing committee that did the nitty gritty work of putting the details together. There were art therapists (hurray!), music therapists, clinical psychologists, dance therapists, drama therapists, and one guy that had superb organizational skills that saved us all from falling apart and quitting midway, since we had some internal problems.

It was hard work, but these people made it all worth it. It's so awesome, when complete strangers can come together, set their heart on accomplishing something, and a year later something great comes out of it. I've definitely gained more friends for life through this experience.

You know, I was reflecting on how this experience meant a lot to me and realized that throughout most of my adult life, people I've met through volunteer experiences have greatly influenced the decisions I've made in my life.

For instance, I went to Ebeye for a year of volunteer work...met the Loeaks, and a few years later they decided to move to the States, so I moved down from Sacramento to Loma Linda, where I'd have a wider support network of people to help them adjust to a new life.

Then, they decided to move to Washington, so I picked Oregon over California, to get my art therapy degree, since it'd be closer to Washington and I could go visit more often. I don't have family in the States, so basically, wherever I decide to call home, is home. In the end, my family from the Marshall Islands decided to stay in CA and I still chose to go to Oregon since I had always wanted to live there at some point.

Then in Japan, I met my current boss when I volunteered at some International Education Conference, and before I knew it, I was working with her.

And now, I met a group of really cool people who all happen to live up in Tokyo...I'm thinking maybe I'll give Tokyo a shot and see where that leads after April...I've never regretted the decisions I've made in terms of where I put my heart....don't know yet though. We'll see where things lead.

I'm off to bed now. Night!

Moving the gods

One day I heard a lot of people shouting outside, so I looked through the window and saw these group of people saying "washoi washoi!" What are they doing you ask? I wondered the same thing.

I asked my friend and she explained to me that they were moving the gods from one shrine to another all through town. It was raining pretty hard this day, so they have the thing carrying the god covered with plastic, and the monks (?) are also holding umbrellas.

I wonder if they are moving ONE god from one shrine, so it can visit all the shrines throughout town, or if they are moving many different gods from one shrine to another, like changing roommates or something.

It's amazing. You live in a modern world in Japan one moment, then out of nowhere, centries old traditions just pop right into your life like it's absolutely normal. The past and present coexist peacefully. It's pretty cool.

Policeman on a motorbike

In Japan, they seem to have many ranks of police. This guy on his motor-bicyle, I think he's probably the lowest, which is the guy at the ko-ban. They carry guns, but I've never heard of police in Japan actually using their guns, which is a good thing. I think these guys are considered somewhat at the same level of of postal delivery person...they seem to just sit around all day and run paperwork back and forth between who knows where.

Police in Japan are non-threatening, and they don't seem to carry much authority. Most of them are very helpful if you ask them for directions. I've only seen this type of police officer so far.

Visit to my grandma's back in August

My grandma! She usually lives with my aunt, but when I went to visit her, she was at the day-care center so I went to surprise her there. She had a stroke several years ago, so she can't move the right-side of her body now. She was so happy to see me she immediately started to cry. She immediately recalled my name and that almost made me cry. I love you grandma!!

View from my grandma and Aunt's apartment. The elementary school that my dad used to go to is straight ahead. I once went there for 2 months during summer vacation when I was visiting my relatives in Japan...had a TERRIBLE time there.

Another narrow path that my grandma used to always walk through to reach her office. My grandma has lived her whole life in this city of Sasebo.

The road that my grandma always walked on when she was able to go grocery shopping.

The liquor shop my grandpa and grandma used to own. There's a sad story behind it and why it didn't stay in the family, so I won't mention it here.

I'm not sure, it might be bad luck to take pictures of "obutudan," but I thought it looked really cool, so I snuck a picture. This is a little alter to pay tribute to my grandpa. My aunt places tea and rice in front of it ever morning. I'm not buddhist so I don't necessarily believe that my grandpa's spirit rests here, but I do feel "something" when I'm standing in front of it.

Just Three Stems!

I took this picture in the grocery store several weeks ago because it just struck me so funny that they would actually sell just THREE stems of asparagus. They were really tiny too.

How do you cook just three stems of asparagus?

Funny, funny.

The Conference is over at last!!

Hey guys, the International Creative Arts Therapy Conference that I've been working SOOO hard on for the past few months is finally over and it was a great success. Yesterday was the final day. The presenters from overseas commented on what a great exeperience it has been for them, how it's meant so much to them, and how well it was organized, so I was very happy. The general participants were asking if this will be held again next year, that they really enjoyed the conference, and that it meant a lot to them, so all the effort our team put into this for months and months and months, paid off.

NOW, I can have somewhat of a normal life back =). I'll actually be able to SLEEP! Hurray!

Today, I was so exhausted I didn't wake up when the train reached it's last stop, and if I hadn't woken up in the nick of time, I would have gone back to where I had gotten on again. I almost dozed off while standing in the train, but I caught the pole in time so I managed not to go down head first =). Then on my next stretch, I fell asleep again and woke up in a panic, thought I reached my destination, so I exited the ticket gate and had to buy another ticket again. After getting on again, I once again didn't wake up at the final stop and woke up before the train was about to head back to where it had come from. When I finally reached my brother's place, I just instantly fell asleep on the tatami and didn't wake up for several long hours.

Well, more updates later. I'm gonna go to bed now.

Robyn

Been lazy with the blog lately

As you can tell, I haven't uploaded my blog lately. I started making a Ebeye blog page to put all my Ebeye trip pictures up, but I took so many pictures that I got overwhelmed and got stuck on organzing the pictures. Iwill try to get to it soon though...

In the meantime, I added a link for My and Jer...nice to see close friends building their new families up. Oh I wish I could see my Ebeye SM buddies!

Tokyo and Yokohama

During the Golden Week Holidays (first week of May where there are several consecutive national holidays), I went up to Tokyo again for meetings. I only had a day of meetings, so the other two days, I kinda kicked it with my nephews or was out and about trying to find my way to one place or another.

Tokyo, boy oh boy, every time I go up there, I think that I could never survive there. TOO MANY PEOPLE.

I don't remember if this picture with a bunch of people crossing the crosswalk was in Shibuya or Shinjiku...I just remember it started with a "Shi". I think it's a famous place, because I often see it on TV.

I met up with a friend in Yokohama and we went to this placed called "Yumeland" or something like that...there was something about a "dream" in the name of the place, but I don't remember what exactly it was called. He explained that the Tower Skyscraper was the highest in Japan. I don't know how many floors it had, but it was definitely high! I don't think I'd feel comfortable working in such a high-rise.

After stopping by the bookstore where they had lots of English books (hurray!), we went over too Chinatown since it was famous. This Chinatown was definitely different from the one in S.F. or L.A. Just about every single store was FOOD FOOD FOOD. In the States, the Chinatowns aren't all filled with Chinese food, but here, that seemed to be the main thing.

I thought Chinese food would be the same everywhere, but NO. Chinese food in Japan was not what I was accustomed to in the States. The food here seemed very exotic(i.e. I couldn't eat the stuff!). I was imagining fried rice, fried eggplant, egg-drop soup, etc....

Chinese food in the States is usually pretty cheap, but here, it's quite expensive. The price, in combination with me not being able find anything that seemed edible, didn't work out, so we went back to the city and ended up eating at El Toritos! It was good!

I've got more pictures to post from my trip up to Tokyo, but I'll post those next time.