OSAKA TALENT > TOKYO TALENT

on new year's day i woke up at 3 in the afternoon. tin made 'breakfast'. probably the best breakfast i've had in months. they have denny's out here but they don't serve breakfast all the time and the menu is completely different... why even call it denny's?! after 'breakfast' tin, tin's roommate chris and i biked past a mile long wall designated by the city for graffiti then to chinatown. yokohama's chinatown is pretty big and while it still has the a 'disney chinatown' feel it's definitely more legit than the one in kobe. strolled around chinatown for a bit had some siopao and gyoza then headed back to tin's place. tin's japanese friend who went to highschool in san diego (torrey pines hs) joined us for a couple beers and to watch the muscular athlete challenge a tv special where athletes from different sports compete against each other in american gladiators style events. later we met up for a drink w/ nicole, desiree and paige at TGI's , yet again.

tin texting in chinatown. tin makes mean french toast and is a fixed-gear bicycle enthusiast.

a temple in chinatown

the next day we (nicole, desiree, paige and i) headed to the imperial palace to get a glimpse at the emperor. the emperor of japan. it reminded me of the times i saw the popes. all of them are rock stars with adoring flag waving fans. on january 2nd the emperor comes out once an hour to wave and say a little something to throngs, THRONGS of people.

"his job is waving at people" -one of my students when i asked what the emperor is responsible for these days.

THRONGS

afterwards we treked to the tokyo tower. it's a tower. it's pretty tall. it has a nice view. it's a bite of the eiffel but painted safety orange and white. yup.

i don't know... you tell me what they are... 'only in japan' mascots for the tokyo tower.

similar to the cn tower in t-dot they have a glass floor. but like everything else in japan, it's smaller

after the tower we headed to asakusa shrine. in japan tons of people got to shrines for hatsumode—prayer for the coming year—on or immediately following new years. asakusa is the oldest and busiest in tokyo. it was absolute madness. the crowd was stifling. i was getting shoved by little old ladies so they could throw their coin into the 'wishing well' and say their prayer. total insanity. it was good to experience but i probably wouldn't do it again.

just a nice peaceful visit to the shrine.

the last day of the trip was spent shopping in shibuya, harajuku and shinjuku. which was more madness. think the day after thanksgiving (or boxing day for you canadians out there) times 10 and lasting a week. the first department store/shopping mall/whatever we went too was 68 floors of women's clothing. needless to say i didn't do much shopping myself so i threw on the locs, blasted the ipod to drown out the incessant high pitched yelling and did some talent scouting. which in itself was good fun. i also have come to the conclusion that, on the whole, the talent in osaka is better than the talent in tokyo. which is surprising. i don't remember that from the previous trips.

in harajuku i was able to do a bit of shopping. nothing bank breaking or enhancing tho. checked out smokestack lightning, good shop (peace to mr. owerka-moore, RIP tabo kagaya; i met you only once but much respect). couldn't find FIL or the new burton shop tho... not enough time and no prior research. checked out shinjuku then headed back to yokohama and almost missed the night bus back. back in osaka. home sweet orient happiness.

obligatory tokyo neon picture.

you stay class san diego.

i'm vince santos?