down on the corner

ok, the end of tokyo...

i said on facebook that shibuya crossing is the busiest crosswalk in the world. just in case you didn't really believe me...here's a picture of ONE corner of the crosswalk! and on a thursday evening is not really the busiest time!
crossing shibuya crossing
shibuya 109...the craziest mall i have ever been too...about 9 stories high...4-6 stores on each floor...wall to wall people...only, there aren't really any walls...the stores wrap around the escalator that runs through the middle
this isn't the busiest we saw krispy kreme...a few times the wait time was at least an hour...that's like waiting to ride a good ride at six flags!
the front desk of our hotel
this was our hotel room from the doorway. you can see one side of the bed. it's a full size bed and it's against the wall on the other side! that table goes all the way across the room and there's a tv on the other end with a small refrigerator and hot tea maker underneath. i had to take my backpack off before i walked in the room or it would scrape against both walls at once!


this is the bathroom. you're not missing anything! the toilet was right up against the wall. when k-dogg stayed here this summer, he was in a single room so there was a window over his bed that looked into the bathroom and the door to the bathroom was see-thru!
you hear about celebrities making commercials and ads in japan for things they'd never do here (ever seen lost in translation or the episode of friends with joey's commercial for men's lipstick?) that's a billboard with tommy lee jones for a beverage company. we also saw beyonce on a bottled water ad and sarah jessica parker on something...i don't remember what it was

on the way to the airport
the Christmas tree at Narita Airport. our flight was at around 1 on friday afternoon. we flew about 11 hours, kyle drove us home from dfw...and when we got to our house it was around 1 on friday afternoon! i saw the sun set and rise within less than 8 hours. got to see it rise over the rocky mountains! and still went shopping on black friday that afternoon!

one

yea, first post of the new year! i decided i better finish up my tokyo pictures before i go back to work tomorrow. (ugh) i wish we were off tomorrow so i could have gone on the girls' winter retreat in dallas. staying in a hotel and shopping at the galleria sounds much better than going to work on a cold monday morning! obviously, i needed to stay home and rest anyway. i got home from church and lunch and took a 3 hour nap! it messes me up when i sleep so long and then wake up and don't know if it's 4:15 am or pm! i finally decided that it was too light outside to be am...so i figured i better get up. k-dogg is watching the cowboys game (ie...snoozing in his chair) so i came in my computer room. my team is out of the playoffs, so they aren't showing that game.
Merry Christmas from Louis Vuitton!
we had 3 starbucks within about 2 blocks of our hotel. kinda weird, the only real difference was the menu and all the japanese customers. otherwise, i could have been in any starbucks in the states.
tokyo from the 47th floor of the municipal government building. when it isn't cloudy, you can see mt fuji. i think it's almost always cloudy though.
subway map...simple enough, right??
Christmas lights

zest cantina...texmex in tokyo. we ate here one night and it was pretty good. the walls were covered with texas license plates, john wayne pictures, and a buffalo and jackalope. the waiters wear jeans, cowboy boots, and western shirts. they just need some help on their portion sizes. a plate of nachos had about 7 chips and you don't get chips and salsa before the meal. we had a good time laughing at the people we saw drinking a bud light that cost $8 a bottle! according to k-dogg, this is THE meeting place in shinjuku...or was it shibuya? i don't remember where we were!
it looks like all these people are out really late at night, but it was probably only 6 or 7pm. the sun set at 4!
yes, it's blurry, but that's how fast you have to walk so those nice polite people in tokyo don't run you over!

blue moon

there's a blue moon tonight. i heard it's the first one in 20 years, but not sure about that! ok, more pictures from tokyo...
k-dogg's favorite place on earth...Akihabara, the electronics and anime district in Tokyo

K-dogg in his version of disneyland...electronic stuff, video games, anime, and other weird stuff as far as the eye could see

I got bored in Akiba...so we walked around, found out that there was an old Shinto shrine nearby and away we went. K-dogg always wished he was a samurai! :)

We went to the aquarium in Sunshine City...I love this picture!

I actually do kinda know someone in Tokyo. Cayce's family goes to our church and her husband was transferred to Tokyo a few months ago. We met up with them and they took us to eat at the restaurant that inspired the restaurant scenes in Kill Bill. We were sitting on the second floor right above the grill and all the stores and restuarants in Tokyo are hot anyway...I was about to pass out from the heat. That was the best green tea I have ever had! Someone really needs to introduce Tokyo to the idea of sweetened tea though!


Ueno train station...we were on our way to Kitchen Town and another temple Cayce had told us about. This was the only time we really had no idea where we were or how to get there!
But we found it! This was one of my favorite places in Tokyo. I got a lot of good pictures and there was a lot less English. We went to a shopping market kinda like the place we went in Piedras Negras near the border in Mexico. They had all the regular touristy souveniers you'd expect in Japan...but we were really the only non-Japanese people I saw for most of the day!

back in the saddle

yes, i know, i've been neglecting my blog...sorry. i don't even know where to start back up. i guess i'll back it up to thanksgiving week when we skipped thanksgiving with our families and went to tokyo. yes, we went to tokyo the week of thanksgiving. and before anyone else asks; no, it wasn't for business; no, we don't really know anyone over there; yes, k-dogg just went there this summer; sorry, it really isn't any of your business how much it cost; no, i didn't miss a traditional thanksgiving meal; and yes, i'd go again! we had been talking about going on vacation that week. we both get the whole week off and between k-dogg's trip this summer and my trip to mission arlington, we didn't get much time off together this summer. we were originally going to go to missouri to see his uncle. then k-dogg got an email from expedia with prices for a flight to tokyo. he asked if i wanted to go and i said yes. so, the saturday before thanksgiving, we flew to tokyo. i kinda like flying. it's not really scary to me like it is for some people i know. however, 13 hours on a plane is too long! it's probably a lot easier to just post some pictures and fill in the blanks for you. i already put all my pictures on facebook...but some narration has been requested...


This is Yoyogi Park...with an authentic Japanese Red Maple! Tokyo has some really pretty sections...it isn't all just shrines and skyscrapers.
This is K-dogg at the first shrine we went to. A really nice older man told us that they were having a big festival that day. I'm not really sure what the festival was for, but they had displays of food everywhere. This ship reminded me of the floats in the Rose Parade...only with vegetables instead of flowers.

This is the first picture I took in Tokyo on our way to the shrine in Harajuku. While I was taking this picture, I caught an old man taking my picture. He tried to play it off when I saw him, but as soon as he thought I had turned around, he started snapping away again. All the girls and women in Tokyo wear dresses and skirts with patterned tights and really high heels, so I guess to see a white girl with short hair, wearing jeans, a sweater, and tennis shoes was picture-worthy for him. Not a lot of Americans go to Tokyo on vacation. The non-Japanese people we saw were mostly from other countries. We were asked if we were French, and I overheard some French, Italian, German, and some other languages I couldn't identify. The English I did hear definitely was not American!
This is the train. We rode it everywhere. Definitely not recommended if you are clausterphobic or don't like being up close with a lot of strangers, but it was pretty easy to figure out and a lot of fun.This is Hachiko. Hachiko was an Akita that belonged to a professor. The story is that Hachiko would go to the train station everyday to meet his owner after work. The professor had a stroke at work one day and died. Hachiko continued to go to the station and wait for his owner for 10 years until he died. It's a pretty popular story that you can google and read about. This statue is a well known meeting place at Shibuya Station. Ok, so, now that I started blogging Tokyo, I promise I will finish...

we wish you a merry Christmas

Bean will be here in a few hours!

Rockin around the Christmas tree

So, second time I have typed this...woke up late because I set the clock backwards when the electricity went out. Was trying to load 11 gifts in my car and dropped the big ceramic one on the garage floor. Got to work late and then discovered tha one of our little angels stole both of the gift cards my teaching partner and I got as gifts yesterday. Fa la la la la la la la la. But, tonight is the church Christmas party. I get to see the four cutest little girls in the world. We get out of work Friday, and Bean will be here Saturday! Joy to the World!

Christmas is Coming

my sister will be here in about 8 days!