I'm in Japan

Kampai!

So, I just got back into my room and I could hardly take off my shirt. It was drenched… in sweat. Awesome, I know.

Today was pretty eventful! I woke up, took a shower, and went and had some f*cking toast with jam! Sweet!

I finished up and went back into my room to figure out what today’s events would consist of. Opened up my handy dandy Lonely Planet Japan book, (I’ve noticed a lot of tourists have this book).
I decided today that I would go to a city called Shinjuku.
As I was passing through the Tobu Mall that connects to the local subway, I stopped at a small Wallgreens type store and bought some sunscreen. (They confiscated the bottle I had at MSP Airport because it was a 4oz bottle, and their limit is 3.4oz. Assholes. They just wanted me to burn. I hope THEY burn in heck!

Shinjuku is a bustling city with packed streets and LOTS of shops.
I even somehow ended up inside a mall; so, I wandered around in there for half an hour or so.

Afterwards I did more walking. I found a Pachinko casino. Where they play Pachinko… I have no idea how the game works. But I see that it involves little metal balls that tumble down little pegs. Kinda like Plachinko on The Price is Right (wonder where they got the name…)

Right across from the Pachinko place I saw a McDonalds. It was a small shop, but it had like 3 floors to it for eating. Now, I’m going to be honost, I haven’t had any McDonalds for a month or two (trying to stay away from it), but I was curious as to how their food compared with ours.
I went in and ordered one ‘hanbaagaa’ (think that’s how its pronounced). I went up to the second floor and ate it. Needless to say, it tasted almost exactly the same as the US version. I guess the only difference is that the shop was cooler/cleaner. Oh, and I noticed they had “hottudoggu’s” on the menu (take a guess as to what that is). I even saw a Subway as I was walking around. I didn’t get anything, though.

I took loads of pictures while I was in Shinjuku. I walked around the city for a good 3 hours. I probably walked 5 miles or so. I should’ve brought a step counter with me or something. I’ve been walking A LOT. Good exercise. And carrying around my heavy backpack works out my back muscles quite a bit.
And if I want to be modeling in a swimsuit in December when I go to Miami, I have to look super HAWT!

Anyway, after walking around Shinjuku I found a subway and got on a train. I’ve figured out that if you get lost, keep walking, eventually you’ll find some stairs that lead to a subway station. They’re everywhere.
I decided to take the train back to Tokyo, the same place where I was yesterday. It’s Saturday and I was intent on seeing the Imperial Palace Eastern Garden. And let me tell you, it was BEAUTIFUL GIRL, THAT’S WHY IT’LL NEVER WORK, YOU HAD ME SUICIDAL… sorry, got carried away. But yeah, it was gorgeous. The admission is free so that’s good news. There’s paths that go through trees, stone paths, stone stairs, and amazing scenery. Perfect tourist attraction.

I got done walking around there and at this point, I was sweatin’ balls. Across the street from the gardens there is a small park and they had a small rest shop with ICE CREAM! Needless to say, I gulped that thing down in 5 minutes.

It was running on 4:30 and I decided it was about time to start heading back, but I had to make one.more.stop.
At LaQua Tokyo Dome City: a small theme park with lots to offer. I went on the giant ferris wheel first. 800Yen for that thing (about $8), It gives an AWESOME view of the cities around. I took plenty of pictures. Too bad it was enclosed so I got pictures of glares on the glass as well as the city scape. I even got a bunch of video while I was on it. I’ll put it on Youtube when I get home and have it edited.

After the giant ferris wheel adventures, I knew that I had to try out that water slide. It was the closest thing I had to swimming. And I needed it! I got a cart all to myself. Damn, didn’t have any cute girls to hang onto for support. Oh well =\

I spent about 45 minutes at the park. I saw a KFC as I was leaving, didn’t stop, though.

I left the park and came back here. All sweaty, gross and smelly. I think I need a shower, or a nice, hot, relaxing bath.

My canker sore is gone. Yippee!!! Feels so much better without it. That thing was a bitch! It was like Ann Coulter on speed. Ugh. I’m glad that’s over

Well, that’s all I have for tonight. I think I might go find a café to get some munchies.

Sayoonara!