4-23-05 Tokyo Scavenger Hunt Part 2

This is one of the kanji for the town Ginza, as performed by your local "A Team."

I pity da foo' who messes with the A Team!

My spidey sense tells me that we're going to win this time!

Would suck to be a teenager...

Mind you people, this is NOT a permanent gathering place. Only temporary. You have been warned.

That kissy face signifies that we did indeed win 3rd place. MWAH!

Kevin and I all dressed up with clubbing to go. I mostly just wanted to show off my nifty bindi.

The Shinjuku DoCoMo clock tower that looks to me like a mix between the Empire State Building and Big Ben.

How cool is this guy...

08-10-04 Fuji-san

We all made it to the top! Barely... L to R: Kevin, Jacqueline, Shivim, Me, Carsten (Peace Sign), and Sebastian.

I have Photoshopped out the bags from under our eyes. We look far more triumphant that way.

All of a sudden, all you hear is... :::snap snap snap::: as the hundreds of people surrounding you take pictures. Peaceful. =\

And before you know it, the clouds roll in and the sun is *poof* gone.

Despite the romantic illusions, Fuji is just, in fact, a big pile of volcanic rock.

Oh sure, they LOOK pretty from up here, but just wait until you're walking THROUGH them.

One of the first and only moments of true beauty before beginning the trudge back down.

8-1-04 One Year Anniversary

I spent my special day with Mayu!

I am celebrating my curly hair look in Franc Franc.

4-12-04 Annual Company Ceremony

This is me in my pretty red kimono.

Can you imagine 3 Japanese women asking the caucasian poser geisha to take a picture with them? Yeah, me neither. And yet... I mean criminy, look how tall I am!

Okay, this was how my face REALLY looked. I swear I'm not as white as the other pictures make me look. Fricking lighting.

Tokyo Scavenger Hunt 5-15-04

An eternal memory...

Ladies and gentlemen, the human pyramid in the middle of Shibuya crossing!

Taking a beer break in the middle of the arduous hunt.

The sign speaks for itself. =)

3-30-2004 Helen's and My Day In Tokyo

This is the monstrocity known as Tokyo Tower. It's 30 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower. Like Japan's very own "fuck you" to France. And it might have worked if it weren't ORANGE.

Helen and I at Zojoji Temple. We're sitting on the same place where the cast of LOTR had their ROTK premiere! I'm such a geek... I know.

Depsite it's orangeness, the Tower makes for a pimp backdrop to Zojoji Temple.

PRI took the occasion to have a hanami, a traditional sakura viewing party. The falling petals are said to bring good luck, but make sure they fall and aren't picked!

Helen found her long lost redhead companions, but if you look carefully, they all have a different eye color!

A lane of sakura...

and yet more sakura...

I finally broke and got "the Japanese haircut." It was cute all flat ironed out for two days until I had to wash it. Oh well.

Yuko's Goodbye Party 4-24-04

This is PRI in its entirety, a rare event indeed (unless of course it's a Monday...). Goodbye Yuko... =*(

Mike and I drinking our wine straight from the bottles. A couple a' winos.

PRI

3 Americans, 2 Aussies, and a Canadian at an Australian themed American restaurant chain. Nothing bad can come of this.

Eigo Sensei Game Night

Poker, games, and alcohol = good times

Che Emma!

Late Night Yakiniku 3-14-04

A gathering of jukuchous I work for and fellow juku teachers all out for a bit of late night MEAT. Yeeah.

Mayu, me, and Akiko. I love how I stand out...like...like...like a white girl with blonde hair wearing green amongst a bunch of Japanese people wearing black. Or something.

Goodbye Marc =(

Marc's Goodbye Party in Hashimoto. It was a very decent turnout, and a very good reception to the chopsticks in my hair.

A Shinjuku street at night... look at the amazing array of color... a different kind of beauty.

Asakusa

The Aussies are invading Asakusa! The symbols of the year of the monkey are hanging overhead.

A typical Emma pose... ;-)

A pagoda in Asakusa, fairly famous in tourist brochures.

I thought this picture was lovely, a perfect example of autumn in Japan.

The Hub

My friends Humi(yaki) and Mayu at our regular hangout, The Hub.

We are dart champions! And I ended up losing this game as I recall. Booo.

Takayuki IS James Dean baybee.

Sagamihara Block Christmas Party

Mayu and Akiko in their teensy wonder.

Santa and his reindeer... hehehehe!

Nabe Madness

I am cutting what I think is a daicon. Maybe. Mostly I was just doing what Rina told me to do. Maybe it was a green onion...

Rina's much better at the whole "cooking" thing than I am.

Thanksgiving 2003

Marc poises to stab the demon turkey and cut it into submission.

It's a PRI Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

Even in Japan the men sit on their arses as the women do all the dishes. Typical. There wasn't even football to use as an excuse, so they cued up Jackass instead.

Rina and Yutaka with Rina's ballerina costumes on. I might possibly be excommunicated for posting these, but luckily I don't think they check my website. =)

The Fountain Garden across the street from the Imperial Palace. I made Bryan wait on the phone as I took this picture.

The rather understated entrance to the Palace. It was, however, over a MOAT!

Emma and I in the Imperial Gardens, which were, unfortunately as understated as the entrance. Oh well. It was a good time for girl talk.

This was a well trained monkey that a man had on a leash outside the Ginza subway station. I felt bad for the monkey, but like a bad car accident, you can't turn away...

Especially when the money climbs up and walks around on his own pair of stilts! It's cruel, but so damn clever.

Don't I look pro? No? Well who asked you anyway.

We want YOU. (That's Mike by the way. He's from Canada. Try not to give him a hard time about it.)

Halloween 2003

Hello Kitty never looked this good...

My friend Mayu used her outfit from her American Halloween the previous year. I called this picture "Kitty-chan plays with the devil" or "Kawaii and Kowai" (the cute and the scary). =) Guess which one is which.

Takeshita street in Harajuku on a Sunday. Sundays are apparently when the freaks (fake Goths Japanese style) come out and play, but alas, we beheld very few weirdos. =(

The sign posted in front of "Volks," a family restaurant. As Bryan says, "Fricken' b.s. man."

Look! It's a samurai fireman! Seriously, such a throwback to the old samurai uniforms.

9-15-03 Sanrio Puroland

Rina-chan!! This girl has been so nice to me since I came, and quickly become one of my favorites. Not to mention, she takes me to Costco in her sportin' convertible. =) What's not to like?

The piece de resistence - Mary and Kitty-chan! Whoever was in that suit got completely harrassed by the drunk Japanese (and foreign) staff.

A typical classroom... this particular one is at Kamimizo, my Thursday juku.

A Sagamihara vanilla sky right before...

it catches on fire.

Yokohama (8-24-03)

Bryan and I with a group of Yokohama Festival go-ers. They were very genki (happy), and in the case of the old men, very drunk.

Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan. I actually liked it a lot. It lacked cultural importance but had a nice feel to it. In the background you will see the enormous ferris wheel that I will die before riding.

The Yokohama skyline from the eki (station). It was such a beautiful vanilla sky...

Landmark Tower is the tallest building in Japan. There was an observation deck, so...

I paid 1000 yen and got this view. That shiny thing is Yokohama Stadium. The observation deck was on the 69th floor. No joke.

The Sakuragicho JR train station, where a street artist was selling his work (on the left), and I consequently bought a picture for 150 yen.

Random Photos

Karl, myself, Aley, and Bryan at the Keio Asahi Beer Garden in Shinjuku. It's on the roof of a building and has an amazing view.

A sea of umbrellas and an eye injury waiting to happen.

This is me at Tachikawa station before Helen's party... Tom has adorned me with umbrellas.

The magical short hairdo!

8-12-03 Kamakura

The Great Buddha, or "Daibutsu"

LOL, "Snow Corn." My first funny "English gone wrong" sign.

I thought this was kinda cool...