Odaiba again

Can you tell it's my favorite place? Oh yes, we went today to celebrate my fellow American's last day in the country, which means no more whiteys for me. So sad. We made the usual rounds, eating at my favorite restaurant called Gigi, though I could be wrong as their card has 3 different tames on it. They have the best carbonara in the world. Really. So we saw the Ferris Wheel, the Toyota show room, the Statue of Liberty and of course (because it's me), FujiTV where I dropped too much cash on merchandise for two comedy troupes I currently love called Hannya and Shizuru. I also went up for the very first time into the giant ball that's the landmark trait of the Fuji TV building, and let me tell you, it wasn't worth the $5 I paid for it. Tokyo Tower, heck, even the Ferris Wheel, have pretty much the same view, and there was nothing else really up there. We also made a pitstop in the game center (aka Arcade), for today's Word of the Day: Purikura. Purikura is a photobooth (you might already be familiar with), where you go in with your friends, take wacky pictures for too much money ($4-$5), then afterwards add hearts, backgrounds and words to personalize it. Another great thing about them is, they make you look better than you really do (though I don't know how). Purikura machines, like vending machines, are truly all over the freaking place in this country, but the arcade under the Ferris Wheel just happens to be a hub for them, having easily 12, if not more, all unique. If I might slightly digress now...

When I came to Japan, I was expecting a technological space age country where your cell phone could set you up on a blind date, make you reservations, charter you a helicopter and then fly it for you, all with the click of a button. I at least expected DVR and Blu-Ray, high definition TVs and a society thriving on digital downloads. I mean, if a country can produce a robot that can tell you when it feels pain in the dentist office (which I can, I saw a special on it), I was expecting to be wowed, to feel shock-and-awe at how behind America really is. And I was sorely disappointed. I'm not very confident that DVRs actually exist in this country. From what I've seen from my family and my teachers, if someone wants to tape something, they do it on a VCR tape. Yes. Their cell phones are only infinitisimally (?) better than ours, and only if you buy the $600 one (their phones are also about 3-5 times more expensive, excluding phone plans). People use their cell phones a lot, more often than not to play solitary, cross words, or watch TV programs. The PSP and Nintendo DS are popular on-the-train time wasters. So, in other words, when you come to Japan, don't expect lofty, super technology. It's pretty much the same as ours, only different brands. What led me to this digression, however, is the purikura machine. Different machines all pretty much do the same thing (they're photobooths), but they have their own style to try to lure you to one particular machine over the other (one's punky, ones traditional, one looks fancy, with prom dresses on the pictures, etc). That being said, we did run across one today that, unfortunately, we did not use, but which still amazed me. Said purikura machine actually changes your physical features. You go in, take the pictures, then during the part after, when you usually draw hearts and stars on your pic, instead you draw makeup on yourself. This machine also literally enlarges your eyes to be almost surreal looking, and if I understand correctly, will change your hair color too. If I ever go back there, I'm definitely going to have to try that one.

Besides the purikura, that arcade is massive, with vending machines, ping pong games, pachinko and more. They even have these animals, about the size of a go cart (giraffe, bear, etc.), which you put a coin in and get on and it will actually walk you around the entire place. I have a picture of me on an inanimate one, if you are interested in seeing it, though I never rode the thing for real. Anywho, I suppose that's really all for now. Tomorrow I'll post about yet another headache involving coming and going between countries and whatnot. Things here are never easy. Also, I forgot about ever posting about the day I dressed in a full kimono (took 45 min. for someone to dress me), I sat through my host mother (the tea master's) tea ceremony, and went out with everyone in our class for a very expensive course menu with 14 courses (literally), all made of tofu. Anyways, here's a pic of me in the kimono. I added a few more on my photobucket. したらね！

Odaiba and Sumo

So, I'm sorry for not posting in a few days, but I've been busy, as I'm sure you've guessed. I got to meet the one other exchange student that's going to my college, and the day before yesterday, we went to Odaiba, which is the man-made island out in the bay southeast of here. She was so much fun to be with and I'm glad I found a fellow adventurous soul to hang out with here in one of the most amazing cities in the world. For reference, how to get to Odaiba: Get on the JR Yamanote line bound for Tokyo station and get off at the Shimbashi Station. From there, exit like you're going to the Ginza line, and you'll see signs for the Yurikamome monorail, which will take you over the bay and out to Odaiba (the trains don't run out there). Then, get off at the Odaiba Kaihenkoen exit, and to your right are the malls, amusement parks and Fuji TV, and to the left is the Ferris Wheel (105 km) and the Toyota showroom, which has cars that drive themselves on a track. We went to the dock and saw a magnificent view of Rainbow Bridge, then we took some pictures of the Statue of Liberty that they have there (the same as ours only smaller, and the back of her hair is done like a Geisha's), and then, my favorite part of the trip, we went to the Fuji TV building. You can use the magical escalator (it is steps, then straightens itself out, then goes back to steps without you having to move) to the main entrance at the top. If you pay a small fee, you can go up into the ball thing, where I believe there is a store, though I'm chep, so we didn't. They do have a store on the main level though, too, with merchandise for their various anime, variety shows and dramas (though usually just the current dramas airing), which got me all excited 'cause I'm such a drama nerd. After a purchase there, we exited on different escalators to our right, which take you down to another level, and inside are like halls of information and memorabilia about their various shows, sets for taking fan photos, and even windows where you can overlook sound stages, when they're shooting. That place was really fun, and we spent a lot of time there, and afterwards we wandered over to the left side of the Island where there is the Ferris Wheel (Hello Kitty talks to you in English), the Toyota showroom (worth a breeze through, even if you don't like cars), the Zepp Tokyo concert hall (for all your Jrock concert needs), and a freaking awesome arcade that has absolutely everything. To get back, we took a ferry ($4.60), and got to see the city by night on the top deck of the ferry. It was absolutely breathtaking, but unfortunately, my camera battery had died earlier on, so I didn't get any pics of that. The boat drops you a ways from the station, but if you follow the masses of people, you'll be alright, and you get onto the JR line to get back.

Also, yesterday I went with my host parents to a sumo match, which was quite lucky, because every year they switch where the matches take place, and they only do it for a few months every year, so I was in the right place at the right time. Just a few interesting facts: most Sumo wrestlers nowadays are Mongolian, the stage is made entirely of sand and the Shinto god supposedly resides there, so women are not allowed on stage, also because of this, the sumo wrestlers throw salt out to purify the ring every time before they enter it. Before the matches between very famous wrestlers, boys with banners will come on stage and walk around with their banners, which are actually the names of sponsors who are putting up money (usually $100 I think) for whoever wins the match, and after the match is over, the wrestlers wait in their corners for the next wrestler, and give him water to drink that supposedly passes his power onto the new guy. Anyways, you probably know what sumo looks like, so I won't go into detail, but it was actually quite fun to watch. And afterwards, I got to witness what a real busy train is like. There were so many people that there were no more handles, and you were literally standing upright thanks to everyone around you, so when you lurched because the train starts moving, you can't fall because there are so many people, there's no where to go. I'm not looking forward to ever do that again. Anyways, so that's the news of the last two days, and I'll catch up with everyone again soon. More pics uploaded on my photobucket.