Day 2: Bicycles and bullet trains

Hello family, friends, and internet stalkers. I have been to the future. And, no I am not talking about the 11 hour ahead time difference. I'm talking about Tokyo!

This morning, Catherine and I went to see her fathers friend, Alex around noon. His secretary gave us perfect directions from our address including timetables to meet him at Ebizu Gardens. He took us to a gorgeous restaurant on top of the Westin Hotel with an amazing view. We had `real` Hibatchi. Basically you choose 1 of 3 kinds of Japanese beef- I had tenderloin, Catherine had sirloin, Alex had one of 10 hamburgers they make a day- and they cook that and vegetables in front of you. It was amazing.



Alex explained so much about Japanese culture, gave us amazing travel tips, showed us his office, and even gave us tickets to a baseball game in Tokyo for Sunday!



Then, we went to the fashionable Harajuku, for a little shopping and sight seeing. We bought fake eyelashes and tried on wigs (so Harajuku!).



We also took pictures of fashionable people in the street. They must be used to it, because everyone posed for us.





Then, we went to meet a couchsurfer named Ken for dinner near the Shinjuku station. It seriously looks like a space station. The architecture, the fashion, and the neon signs is enough to make your head spin. Catherine accurately noted that was what happened when you put a 1/4 of the US population in one city.



I am so amazed by how safe this place feels. People leave their bikes unlocked in busy areas. But, they will jack your umbrella, so make sure you put it in an umbrella lock.



Over whiskey and sake, we discussed everything from Korean- Japanese relations to 9/11 conspiracies (gulp). He made the mistake of asking Catherine if she wanted to be like Condelizza Rice (BIG mistake).



Then, we came back to Fujisawa back to Keis house where he had more food waiting for us (he is so thoughtful!).

At around 1 am, Catherine mentioned something about Karaoke, and Kei jumped and told us we had to go. So off we went.




I drove his extra scooter, and we sang Japanese and English songs for 3 hours. He found our English stacking on his Japanese songs and our Bohemian Rhapsody particularly hilarious.




On our way home, we saw the sunset over the cabbage fields.


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love kara and catherine