Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Light at the End of the Tunnel is a Vending Machine: Beginnings

So I've been here a few days now, and it is extremely difficult to find time to update this thing. I haven't even started school yet! I've been running around filling out bank forms, discovering where the grocery stores are, registering my computer, and finding out how to walk to school. Here are a few highlights so far:

The Vending Machines: They are everywhere. I will put up pictures tomorrow, but there are vending machines randomly in residential areas. They also hold a variety of things too, such as soup, beer, and hot juice boxes. A hot chocolate in a juice box; it was very good too :) I expect to see more fun vending machines.

リンゴスカッシュ:I may be remembering it wrong, but the pronunciation of this is 'Apple Squash' in English. However, I'm pretty sure the restaurant who was serving said drink meant 'Apple Scotch.' When I ordered said drink, no one could figure out what it said besides apple. The waiter asked me something and no one knew what it was; later we realized it must say scotch on the menu. We assume he was trying to card me, which never happens in Japan. I need to go back to the restaurant and figure out what is up with this (delicious) drink.

The Taiko game: A taiko drum is a big Japanese drum. There is a Japanese game similar to DDR where you hit the drum in time to the music. It is so much fun, and I am already addicted to it ;P

プリクラ:This translates to 'purikura,' which I can only describe as a hard core photo booth. The photo booth is large enough for 6ish people, and the backgrounds of the photos are of various designs. Then once you have taken the pictures, you can decorate them with stickers and icons before they are printed. It is really fun!

I also have a few Engrish pictures to put up!

~Rosie

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Toilet Has a Remote Control: Welcome to Japan

"If this is what heaven is like then I don't want to go there." ~Lindsey on her first ever flight


We're finally here! What a ride. We rode a podunk puddle jumper to JFK before boarding, China Airlines, equipped with New Year decorations. We also received complimentary toothbrush, sleep mask, and slippers. 3 movies, countless anime (some of which I accidentally downloaded subtitled in Portuguese), and 13 hours later, we stumble through customs to the airport hotel!

The reception lady walked us up to our fancy room, complete with matching pajamas. Have I slept in 24 hours? Of course not. But for now, there isn't much time for details; its time to explore!

~Rosie

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

And so it Begins...

Hello everyone!

Tomorrow we finally make an epic journey across the country. Let's see what adventures tomorrow brings, ne?

~Rosie

P.S. The wonderful blog title is brought to you by my sister and one of my top four uncles :p