Fun Day!

So, yesterday was a really great day. The weather was really great (kind of windy, but good none the less). The cherry blossoms were blooming all over Tokyo and I was on a date with a really nice guy. :-) We went to the opening of a newly renovated section of Tokyo... it has very posh shopping and posh restaurants. It also has a new building designed by Ando Tadao, a world-famous Japanese architect. After going there, we went to Roppongi Hills and went to the Mori Art Museum... on the same floor is an amazing viewing area. You can see all of Tokyo! It's great! I have some fuzzy pics (I forgot my camera!) taken with my cell phone. What's the killer is that Mt. Fuji was out and looking awesome, but because I didn't have my camera you can't see it. :-( Oh, well... another time.
This was just a few minutes before the sun really went down... we got an awesome show while we sat there... every few minutes the horizon would change. It was really cool.
Tokyo Tower... very fuzzy... but you can make it out!!





Night sakura (cherry blossoms)... I actually took this two nights ago after kendo. Really pretty, eh?? The whole city is in bloom!!













This is Tsumabuki Satoshi. He's one of my and Lauren's favorite Japanese actors and is the new face of Pepsi Next! The new billboards are all over Tokyo. Heehee... they are REALLY amusing. :-)


Yesterday, in addition to just having a great day. I saw tons of little kids out and about. They are SO cute!! I want one... my date kept insisting that white kids are cuter, but I totally disagree!! Japanese kids are SO adorable... you just want to take out home. :-) Anyway... hope everyone likes the pics...

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A Japanese Wedding!

I had the great experience of being able to go to my friend Peter's wedding yesterday. It was amazing! Very Japanese, but with the addition of several Americans it had a touch of "American-ness." If you'll allow me a word creation. Even in America, the bride should really be the most beautiful woman at the wedding. Well, in a traditional Japanese wedding, the bride wears the most beautiful and elaborate kimono... which means that she really is the most beautiful person present... hands down!!
The reception was amazing... the food was good, the drink flowed freely and everyone seemed to have a great time. I can't wait to go to my next Japanese wedding... in June! Yay!!

Here are a few pictures....















After the ceremony (l to r): Me, Peter, Sam and Junko















Peter and Junko. Junko has changed into her colored kimono.















You can only kind of see the men onstage... we had a great drum and flute/shamisen (3-stringed Japanese instrument!) duo for entertainment. Really great!!

Lethal combination...

St. Patrick's Day was quite the occasion!! I made Shivani a shirt that read "100% Irish" and we headed out to hit up the best little Irish pub in Shinjuku. Ahhh... it was a glorious night... until right near the end. We ended up having 3 pints of Guinness and 2 Irish carbombs. I'm blaming the massive hang over I had the next day on the carbombs! :-) BUT... we had a great time. Who can argue with 500yen (roughly $5) a pint Guinness?? Not me! Hope everyone else had a great St. Pat's too! Here's to the Irish!!

Alaska Pictures!!! and a Massive Update!

So, I just returned from 3 weeks in Fairbanks, Alaska... my old stomping grounds! Hahaha...
The first weekend I was back, I went to see the formerly UAF Nanooks (now, Alaska Nanooks!?!) play a bit of hockey. Unfortunately they handed the hometown crowd a couple of disappointing losses. Booo... but the following weekend, on the road... won in the first round of the play-offs. Go figure!?!

This next picture was taken from a moving car. I think I saw Denali more times when I was home this time, than I saw it over the summer when I was home for 3 months. Hmmm... very odd. Anyway, this would have been a great picture if I'd only managed to not be in a moving car. Oh, well... Still, it's a pretty picture.





I wanted to ski a lot when I got home, but unfortunately I only managed to go a few times. -20F or colder is no longer a temperature that I function at. Nope... don't like it!! BUT... the skiing was really fun. It's such a good workout. It's just a shame that I couldn't do more of it.
I also got a really cool picture of the full moon while I was home. It was cloudy, snowy... and the moon's pictured through the trees... but I still think the picture works. :-) What do you think?


The last thing I did while I was at home was went to the ice park. Every year Fairbanks holds the world ice art championships. It's amazing... the sculpture at the left is Mt. Iditarod. It has the faces of former Iditarod champions Susan Butcher, and 3 others (can't remember all of them) in the ice. It was pretty cool. There was also a Susan Butcher tribute ice carving as well. That one was AWESOME!
Overall my trip home was good. It had one startling consequence though... I really don't think I could ever live full time in Alaska again. As much as it pains me to say that... I just don't think it's possible now. I like normal seasons... summer, winter, fall, spring... not WINTER, spring, summer, fall, WINTER... sorry folks. NORMAL is ok when it comes to the weather. ;-) There's more to it than that, but that's a major factor for me. Anyway... hope all's well with everyone out there. I'm having a great day... the weather's killer today!! :-)

Back in Alaska...

So... I've been in Alaska for the past week. It's been VERY relaxing... in otherwords there's not much to do. hahahaha... but I have been sleeping in, watching Scrubs and just generally enjoying being in a relaxing environment. It's pretty nice actually...
However, I am missing kendo in Japan. And that I am dying over... oh, well... every day I'm doing a bit of suburi (basic movement) practice. And if all goes well... my left arm will be much stronger than it used to be and I will have managed to make some real improvement in that area before I return to Japan. Yup, I'm a kendo-baka (someone who only thinks about kendo) alright. Heehee...

As soon as I have some good pics... I'll post them!! ;-)