JAPAN!
on the bus to our hotel from Narita
walking around in the district our hotel was in (Tokyo Prince, right in front of Tokyo Tower. it was a lovely area)
they were all so cute!
a park in the area
woo
Leanne and Eric
on a map - "shelter for people who cannot go back home". so sweet
park by the palace
imperial guards on beaaautiful horses
palace corner + moat
badass statue
lots of cats
i sat down here and tried really hard to make a very lasting memory. it's still quite vivid. it's a pretty area.
temple next door to our hotel
on the temple grounds
same place
here too
lots of colours!
STUDIO GHIBLI MUSEUM!
the ticket (which were film reels, btw: I got Howl on mine, one of my favourite characters! Marc got boring rocks, which is hilarious as he's a passionate geologist)
admission came with a small film in the (gorgeous) theatre - on rotation when we went was the story of a cute little water spider who falls in love with a lady surface-bug and they have a tumultuous romance. I want to go back and see them alllll
TOTORO GATE!
wall of the museum
Laputa robot!
from the top
another wall
Princess Mononoke stained glass. there was a lot of beautiful stained glass all over the building, but pictures weren't permitted indoors
from Laputa, on the roof
SHINJUKU! I went to Marui and spent all my money, haha. the salesgirls were adorable!
lots of light!
Marui 0101 :D
close to the hotel
Tokyo Tower
same place, so ghostly. reminds me of Zelda for some reason
same place
here too. there was a temple at the base of the tower
sooo tired
Tokyo Tower again
around the hotel
Japanese fast food - teriyaki chicken. I got a "GAIJIN!" outside the restaurant, hahaha
Japanese tv in a nutshell. it (the 5 or 6 channels in our hotel room) basically cycled through hilarious dancey commercials, news, crazy game shows, adorable animated small animals, and ..this. and hockey, once. hahaha
yep...
fog. it was ~20oC the entire time we were in Tokyo, which was nice
temple gate
beautiful
Rodeo Clowns. (there was also a fancy-looking club called "the Rounge".. hahaha)
Tokyooo. it's worth mentioning that I didn't see a single piece of litter the entire time I was there. so clean.
the clandestine careers of western celebrities in Japanese media. Tommy Lee Jones sells Boss rainbow coffee (it's good, too)! oh, and vending machines were AMAZING. EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS. and there were hot drinks, too! makes sense. I miss them.
SHIBUYA!
woo Shibuya crossing
sisters sitting by hachiko
on the Shinkansen
woo beer. tasty beer.
magnificent
yay! the Kyoto subway music wasn't the happy bubbly Tokyo music but rather a pretty little tune that reminded me of geishas and cherry blossoms, hahaha. also this is where several small schoolboys stopped, stared, and waved at Eric because he is the gaijinest of us all.
delicious
Nijo castle. I suggest you google "nightingale floor", very pretty/interesting
enormous flowers
impressive detailing
see?
everything is so gorgeous, really
kind of want to live here
the grounds are huge
as are the gardens
it was slightly overcast
the colours were just starting to change
and were SO beautiful. luminescent, vivid, almost neon shades of bluey greens and pinky-orange reds
I miss it.
little walkway
part of a free art exhibit
roar.
BUNNY CAKE! hahaha. we got lunch from a grocery store and it was so delicious. tempura-like things and delicious calpis, my new favourite
Golden Pavilion!
colours. this doesn't do them justice, they were practically glowing
vibrance
little waterfall
the Pavilion
Kyotoooo
lol triforce
Kyoto was very cute.
sailor fuku! they were in masks, too
ok thank you
maneki nekoooo
canal
so pretty
temple
:')
they like to pose.
Kyoto residential street
basically every psa or anything of the sort was posed in cute little animal/chibi shapes/designs. that is a garbage bag cooperating with the earth.
hedgehog cake!
this got squashed, but omg most delicious thing ever. it was supposed to resemble a melon - green doughy exterior and amazing melony meringue-y stuff inside. i can still taste it.. ha
on the train home we finally caught some sights of rural japan. it was insane, from the entire stretch from Tokyo to Kyoto there wasn't a single section uninhabited
houses
cute
she thought this would be cheese and it turned out to be stinky fish sausage. :(
lol wat
Leanne and Kelly
here is what I saw when I got off the train at Narita:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I wish I'd taken better pictures of the text so I could figure out what it says :( ha
I flew home first class in a sleeper pod cause there wasn't any room left in economy - I looked it up and those flights go for upwards of $7000. Holy shit. hah!
and so concludes our lovely sibling & co. adventure.
TIL WE MEET AGAIN.