Weekend away...

Sorry mom, I should've told you, but I didn't want you worrying _that_ much...


So, this weekend was the last 3-day weekend, so I was off in Tokyo for a while.

Saturday:
Get there, I am completely lost. I walk around the train station looking for a station map, and finally find something. I spend the next 10 minutes trying to match what I'm seeing to the station map in Lonely Planet and getting nowhere. I finally find a solution when I turn the Lonely Planet upside down and realize that the station map isn't any of the stations I'm seeing. (one company's map in the guide, one on the station map) After promptly figuring that out and getting my bearings, it was pretty straightforward figuring out the rest of what I needed.

I got there around 5, and my first priority was finding the place that I was sleeping, which was a capsule hotel (I have pics that I'll put up eventually) nearby Akihabara. After finding there, I spent the rest of the evening around Akihabara. Basic description of the place: if you are a fan of anime and you like technology, it is Mecca. I didn't buy anything special or expensive, but I do know some future plans :) (especially because I could look at and fool around with the new Macbooks)

This, however, is the crux of _all_ of Japan: these stores close way too early. I exited from a huge store at 8:10 to find most of the district closed or closing. From there, I pretty much headed back and fooled around in the capsule hotel for a while. Around 11, there was some breaking news story about some homicide. (or hit-and-run) It was interesting watching it, mostly because it was so different than something like CNN, but also because I had a good chance sitting alone to decipher Japanese through TV.

I still haven't found an unprotected wireless connection in Japan. This includes Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.


Sunday:
I honestly started the day thinking about going and seeing if I could head back a bit early. (I set up the trip here for both ways through the Shinkansen while in Osaka; I found someone who spoke English at the ticket station then) I ended up taking a loop line the long way back to the Shinkansen station, stopping at a few places, such as the Imperial Palace, Ueno Park, Shinjuku, and Shibuya. I'll have some pics from the places, but here's the reason I went to Shibuya. Ueno has a pretty good-sized park and had some good sights, and both Ueno and Shinjuku had some interesting bazaar-style business streets. (I could swear at one point I entered the alley of an alley of an alley and found a store)

There's more, but it's kind-of a mixture of tiredness and soreness here...