BBQ!

 This past Sunday we had a BBQ party by the riverside in Futako-Tamagawa. It was a bit crowded, since it was a Sunday and the weather was nice but it was a nice chance for us to meet and mingle with the new 'buddies' from Meiji Gakuin.

Before we were allowed into the 'BBQ area' we had to pay the park fee, and also listen to a staff member read off the rules of what was allowed - No swimming in the river, and everyone must pick up their own trash, etc. 

Typical BBQ food (for Japan, anyways) - slices of pumpkin, pork, and squid. The pumpkin was pretty darn tasty!

Solar Eclipse!

For the first time in 179 years, Japan was able to see a solar eclipse! Provided you had the special safety glasses... I didn't. But I did watch it on TV.  It was a bit cloudy and overcast but somehow they were able to capture it! 

Mt. Takao 高尾山

Mt. Takao is the closest mountain to Tokyo - about an hour away by train, it's in Hachioji, Tokyo. This past Sunday one of our buddies organized a day hike for us at Mt. Takao. It's not a massive mountain (599m/1,965ft) but it's definitely a popular hiking spot for people in Tokyo. 

There was quite a large group of us but we managed to all meander up the mountain alright! It might be because I've been living in Tokyo for so long now, but I will admit to struggling with what to wear/bring on this hike. I wasn't sure what to expect, since going for a hike means athletic style clothing for me... but as you can tell in this picture most people just wore regular casual clothes. 

We ended up taking the most difficult route up the mountain... made lots of stops and it took about an hour to make it up to the top.

The views were very pretty even though we were only an hour away from the heart of the city

Mt. Takao was not really what I expected.. it was more of a nice walk in the park than a treacherous hike. It seemed like every few feet there was a place for you to get a beer, ice cream, or dango (Japanese dumpling made from rice flour snack) 

There is a monkey park on top of Mt. Takao

Taking a rest at the monkey park!

The day started out nice and sunny but just as we sat down to eat our lunches at the top it started storming. Not even light rain, it was a torrential downpour with lightning bolts and thunder right above us. The group split up because some people decided to take a cable car down half the mountain but a few of us who were to cheap to pay for that decided to hoof it down. We took an easy path, which was also the quickest and steepest, and ended up running down the mountain in about 20 minutes. We were soaked to the bone but and sore the next day but it was a nice break from the city!

Love Hotel

For those of you who don't know, a love hotel is.... exactly what it sounds like. Basically it is a specific type of hotel where you can stay for a 'rest' (30minutes to 3 hours) or for the entire evening to enjoy some privacy with that special someone. It does sound sketchy (and it is!) but it also kind of makes sense in Japan. Hard to find time for some privacy when the whole extended family is all living under the same roof! Anyways, I'd heard about these 'couples hotels' before so naturally I had to check it out... though my experience was slightly different. Well, alright, it was very different. We went into a section of Tokyo called Uguisudani, it is up by Ueno and there isn't too much there apart from Love Hotels. 

One rainy day Emelie and I decided to go in search of a themed love hotel to hang out in. I realize that sounds sketchy but some of the themes available sound so cool - space ships, caves, ocean, subway cars, etc. Unfortunately we were unable to find a themed hotel plus, as I said, it is incredibly sketchy so we just chose a hotel by looking at prices and pictures of the rooms posted outside. There were traditional styled rooms made to resemble Japanese hot springs resorts but we were lured into a cheap, 3 hour room offering a jacuzzi, karaoke, and free wireless internet. As spur of the moment as this might sound we did our research and came prepared with bathing suits, crossword puzzles, string to make friendship bracelets, and  my kindle. 

We weren't sure what to expect but we read up on the internet that a big seller for Love Hotels is how discreet they are. Some don't have receptionists, just machines that take your money and give you a key. Ours had a receptionist - I guess the discreet bit was that she didn't give us (two gaijin/foreigner girls) any weird looks. Once we got to our room we poked our noses into just about everything trying to figure out if there was any shampoos and toothbrushes we could pocket. Our room wasn't that big but I guess it was big enough to get the job done. 

They made it a bit difficult to take snacks from the mini fridge - it was basically a vending machine. In order to get to any of the snacks you had to pay first. 

The bathroom was spacious! In Japan, it's custom to shower before getting into the tub and enjoying your bath. This bath had mood lights and a tv built into the wall.. so we made a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub, got into our swimsuits, and watched the first half of one of the Harry Potter movies. 

The hotel provides you with some chef jackets/bath robes 

After our little dip in the tub we got out of our swimsuits and into our robes and watched the rest of the Harry Potter movie while playing scrabble on my kindle. All in all it was a nice experience- it was really just a mini spa day. There's not really an easy way to explain and describe this excursion to Uguisidani with Emelie to search out love hotels... but I did my best. At least now I can say I've been to a love hotel. 

子供の日 Children's Day

The last big holiday during Golden Week is Children's Day on May 5th. This year's Children's Day holiday fell on a beautiful sunny Saturday - it rained most of this week so that was a welcome change! We went to a festival in Yoyogi Park to enjoy the sunshine and do some people watching.

Koinobori are traditionally hung up in homes of families with boys. They are Carp flags that look like they are swimming when they flap in the wind.. 

I thought this was a giant trampoline of sorts until we got a bit closer...

turns out it was a bubble/maze thing full of children! 

Children learning about solar energy! 

Ramen Burger... it's basically a soupy ramen flavored 'burger' except the bread bit is just fried noodles.

I swear some of the dog's in this city are more fashionable that I am - this dog's in jeans!

Hammocks for sale and for lounging... not sure where people go to hang up hammocks in Tokyo though.

This edgey looking man was screen printing some really cool designs onto t-shirts.

 

Never thought I'd see a horse while in Tokyo but there were even pony rides in the park on Children's Day! 

The rest of the park had a cluster of rummage sales! There was a lot of interesting things... shoes, clothes, books, suitcases, pottery, you name it!

My friend Caitlin has a Polaroid camera - she took a snapshot of the Koinobori. 

At the base of Tokyo Tower there were 333 carp flags hanging for the past month to pay homage to tsunami  disaster victims in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture. It costs an arm and a leg to get out to Tokyo Tower but we figured it was worth a look and it was actually really nice so I'm glad we went! 

All of us in front of the tower/under the carp

Emelie, Sophie, and I ended up going home before it got dark but the rest of the gang stuck around for the night view of the carp near Tokyo Tower.

びっくり祭り Bikkuri Festival

This week is Golden Week! Which is basically a week at the end of April and beginning of May each year that has about 4 different public holidays. There is Showa Day (April 29), Constitutional Memorial Day (May 3), Greenery Day (May 4), and Children's Day (May 6th). Although many people travel overseas or farther away from the city this week there are also tons of festivities for the rest of Tokyo's population. 

One of these festivities was a 'Bikkuri Matsuri' which roughly translates into a Surprise Festival. It was in Koenji, which is about 40 minutes away from where I live. It was a fun festival! There was face painting and street performers, two things rarely seen in Tokyo. 

We got our faces painted with some flowers! Fun for the festive atmosphere, definitely got more stares than usual on the train ride back home though. 

A ribbon dancing acrobat! 

Chalk art! Betcha can't guess what this dude was drawing!