Friday, July 18, 2008

Hello! Here I am, standing in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.


View from top of building


Makiko and Seiko


Kumade, a type of broom with lots of different items attached to it. It is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity.

Explanation of kumade

Hello Kitty gumball machine!

Lots of Hello Kitty bling-bling!

Hello! It's been a while since I last wrote. I am doing pretty good over here, trying to survive the hot and humid weather. I learned a new Japanese word yesterday for this kind of weather---"mushiatsui." I am such a wimp, I know.

I have some new pictures to share with you of a trip I took to Shinjuku on Tuesday with my friends Seiko and Makiko. We took the train to this very busy section of Tokyo to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and to do some shopping at another large craft store called Okadaya. I got some pretty good views of the city from the government building but was happy when we were on the ground again. In the entrance, they had these large decorated brooms called "kumade." I took a picture of the explanation so you can read about them.

After the government building, we headed to Okadaya to do some shopping! Like Yuzawaya, it has several floors (seven!) and oodles of craft supplies. I think Yuzawaya is my favorite so far, but I enjoyed Okadaya too. They had a great costume section and a very nice selection of craft books. After our shopping, we ate lunch at this wonderful restaurant that Makiko recommended. It was probably the fanciest restaurant I've ever eaten at, and the food was delicious. And the price wasn't bad either. I hate to think what it would cost for dinner though. I wanted to take a picture of my dessert, but it just didn't feel like the best time or place to haul out my camera.

On our way back to the train, we walked by a store loaded with sparkling Hello Kitty treasures. This time I wasn't shy about bringing out my camera and taking some snapshots. Enjoy!