Tokyo Week 2
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 12 items
(92 items total)
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Tsukiji Fish Market
The largest fish market in the world, supplying 90% of Tokyo's fish.
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 12 items
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Even though we arrived fairly late, the place was absolutely bustling with activity. We were nearly mowed down by motorized carts almost a dozen times.
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Crabs fighting for supremacy.
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Tuna
Sold at auction starting at 5am, and sometimes fetching astronomical prices. Undoubtedly, because we arrived at 8am rather than 5am, these were the unwanted fish.
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Incredible pile of styrofoam outside, being pushed around by a forklift.
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Tsukiji Temple
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 3 items
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Tsukiji Temple
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Jelly liked the little marble cows
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Inside the temple
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Ueno Park
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 3 items
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Mommy, look! Scary white man!
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Temple in Ueno Park
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Jelly de la fuente
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National Museum
Visting the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park.
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 9 items
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From the room devoted to Buddhism. I didn't photograph the signs for any of these, so I'm going to do a crappy job of explaining these.
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Vase with bamboo and birds
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Their garden is closed in the winter, but probably beautiful in the summer.
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The figures on the right are supposed to be a dancing couple. We thought this was hilarious, and replicated the pose often for the next few weeks.
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"Big Pants Guy", as Ellie called him
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Ellie got to try on a replica of this in Osaka-jo.
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Incense Holder
The smoke comes out of his mouth, which must just be creepy.
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Ueno Zoo
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 15 items
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Monkeys
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Finally, peace between the ellies and the Ellie
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Eager penguins
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Penguins watching reflection. Their heads follow the light perfectly in sync: up-down-up-down, left-right-left-right. Video, 9 MB.
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Hippo
Unfortunately, we had to settle for a pygmy hippo, because their larger cousins were all submerged.
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Superman Mouse
Mouse stretched between a branch and the glass enclosure, utterly stuck.
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Meerkat
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Bizarre pig-nosed turtle
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Jelly with panda earmuffs
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Catch!
Getting ready to catch a porcupine, in case it falls from the tree--although I don't think it would be good for either of us.
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Polar Bear
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Jelly loves gorillas
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Penguins: adult and teenage
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Fireman Day
Going to see the Fireman Parade with Pat. As you might expect, Ellie was very excited.
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 12 items
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Para-military firemen. They marched in formation, wore dress uniforms, and had screaming drill sergeants.
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Parading the fire trucks reminded me of the footage of missile parades in the USSR.
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Happy Jelly
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More traditional firemen performed acrobatics on ladder tops.
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Then they demonstrated fighting fires. Surreal.
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Then they extended their ladders, fired off confetti, and blasted water from the boats behind.
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Fire truck bumpers are a lot more comfortable than you might think.
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Joy riding a fire truck. Shortly afterwards, we jumped out and ghost rode the whip.
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Get drunk Cody home from the bar
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H.B. Grill
We stopped in for lunch because we thought it might be funny. The decor and menu selection was actually quite like restaurants in downtown Huntington Beach.
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Imperial Palace East Gardens
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 5 items
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Ninomaru garden and pond
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We assumed the emperor was inside, although it proved empty.
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Jimbo-cho
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 3 items
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The bookstores of Jimbo-cho had a remarkable selection, particularly of antique books. Never before have I walked into a bookstore and pulled a 200-year old book of the shelf.
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Book piled floor to ceiling
We went to a few stores that were seven stories tall.
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Ellie peruses the pornography secction
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Booze in Akihibara
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 3 items
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Waiting for our booze
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The touch screen wasn't incredibly helpful. Fortunately the booth also includes a button you can use to summon the waiter.
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Restaurant decor
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Ninja Bar
Pat took us to a ninja-themed restaurant, complete with flaming foot, magic, and creeping through dark hallways.
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Date: 2008.01.27
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 6 items
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Creeping through dark hallways, in search of... a table!
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Our Waitress
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Magician
This guy was great. The deck of cards sitting in my hands turned into a rectangular piece of plastic while my hands were closed.
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Flaming muscle dish.
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Katsutaro Ryokan
Our first stay in a Japanese style hotel.
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Date: 2008.01.28
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 3 items
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The door of our room in the ryokan.
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The bedroom: a futon on the floor.
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Jelly and a happy apple
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Meiji Shrine
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Date: 2008.01.28
Owner: Cody Smith
Size: 6 items
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The hinges were bit, really big.
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Wooden ornaments with wishes for the New Year.
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The hit the drum at 2pm on the dot.
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