I’m so happy! 7-11 has started another Snoopy related promotion, so I plan on getting some nice Snoopy dishes for my apartment.

Yes, you read that right. Snoopy dishes. See, here in Japan, everything is a promotional item. I have gotten skiing Hello Kitty from a cola bottle, a Paddington Bear cell phone charm, waving cats for good luck, World Cup poker chip keychains, and much much more. It’s actually nice - I don’t have to buy extra presents just in case - “Oh, of course I got you something, here…a stained-glass Goofy!”

I mentioned last week that I went to Nikko with Roommate Andy (file photo) and Liz. Nikko is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and my understanding of why is because it has really S H I N Y shrines and temples. And a bridge. And some mountains. And a lot of hot springs, which all come from the top of a mountain (and are very sulfur-y smelling).

Bonus Picture: We are some SEXY bitches.

Liz and Andy stayed for a week. I had to work some of the days, but I did get another trip to the Ramen Museum in and we went to various Tokyo places. Liz did a lot of shopping, which I hear is a popular activity in Tokyo, where there are only a billion stores.

I ended up purchasing a Nintendo DS after they left - Andy and I tried to find one, but apparently they’re squirreled away by rabid shoppers as soon as they’re available. I finally got one, in “ice white” or whatever color white is these days. I bought New Super Mario Brothers, Children of Mana (even though I won’t be able to read much of it), Super Mario Kart DS, and Mario v. Donkey Kong (for the GBA, but the DS plays both). I wanna try racing in Mario Kart DS online, so I just gotta figure out how it works.

In a couple of weeks I’m hitting the tracks to a weeklong trip out of Tokyo. I am hoping to get to Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Shikoku (to see my friend Nina), possibly stay at a temple at Mount Koya, and then…well, I’m not sure after that. Then a few days in Osaka and Kyoto with Mariko, and then back home to Philadelphia. So much to do, so little time!

PS: Bonus Quote: “In retrospect, the real victims of Fox News weren’t the liberals it attacked but the conservatives who believed it.”

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!


This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 4th, 2006 at 9:58 pm and is filed under General, Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.