This is the most memorable day of the entire trip for me. I don't think that I have ever had more fun in my life than I did on this day. First Charles, Chad, and I met Miyuki and Sami at the metro station at Yoyogi-koen. Our adventures began with a trip to "Little Edo." The area is named "little Edo" because the buildings are still fashioned in the same manner as those in the Edo era. Some of the buildings are still there from that time as well. We toured a local home that was made into a museum to see how the people of this time lived. 
The house we went through was really amazing, but the one thing that suprised me more than anything was the staircase. They were so small and very steep. I kid you not, each step was about 1/3rd the size of my foot and I have small feet. Everything was so small compared to even me. The ceiling was low and the beds were small. I guess it goes to show how the Japanese people have changed over the years. Even the girls that were showing us around were bigger than the people of the Edo Era it would seem. So even a small American like myself was enormous inside of these little houses. 
The next place we visited was a museum which displayed the winning parade floats for the "Little Edo" yearly festival. These floats take about 8 years to complete and are shown during the parades. The floats are huge (about 20 - 25 feet tall). They were exquitely crafted though. Every detail is taken into account down to the hand carvings on the sides of the float. After we left this museum, we went to a local candy shop. As it turns out, the Japanese seem to like their sweets. The Japanese sweets are a little different from ours, but not much. The names and flavors are really the only differences in the candies in America and Japan. One thing I cannot recall seeing anywhere though, is a candy bar. I don't think I saw one the entire trip. I guess that is a purely American thing. Chad and Charles tried the Yam flavored ice cream, but I just didn't have it in me to have any sweets this day. A littl elater we went to a local food vendor and had Udon for lunch. It was so good. While we were eating our lunch the girls and I engaged in some origami. I think it suprised them that I could actually do it. It was a lot of fun. I still can't make the crane to save my life, but they could. After lunch, we went to visit one of the local temples. It was really beautiful and well ke
pt.
The next place we visited was a museum which displayed the winning parade floats for the "Little Edo" yearly festival. These floats take about 8 years to complete and are shown during the parades. The floats are huge (about 20 - 25 feet tall). They were exquitely crafted though. Every detail is taken into account down to the hand carvings on the sides of the float. After we left this museum, we went to a local candy shop. As it turns out, the Japanese seem to like their sweets. The Japanese sweets are a little different from ours, but not much. The names and flavors are really the only differences in the candies in America and Japan. One thing I cannot recall seeing anywhere though, is a candy bar. I don't think I saw one the entire trip. I guess that is a purely American thing. Chad and Charles tried the Yam flavored ice cream, but I just didn't have it in me to have any sweets this day. A littl elater we went to a local food vendor and had Udon for lunch. It was so good. While we were eating our lunch the girls and I engaged in some origami. I think it suprised them that I could actually do it. It was a lot of fun. I still can't make the crane to save my life, but they could. After lunch, we went to visit one of the local temples. It was really beautiful and well ke
pt.
After a short visit to the shrine we left "little Edo" and went to a Karaoke place. As it turns out, those girls can really sing. I mean they sing amazingly well. After about an hour of Karaoke, we went to a local place and had Okunomiyaki. The girls made reservations to take us, because apparently it is a very popular place to eat. Needless to say it was very tasty. 
One of the more interesting things about this resteraunt is that yo cook your own okunomiyaki. They bring you the ingredients and directions of how to make it. Needless to say I had to try to do it. I got to cook one and they said I did very well. It was so much fun. Ohh and for those of you wondering, this is okunomiyaki.
One of the more interesting things about this resteraunt is that yo cook your own okunomiyaki. They bring you the ingredients and directions of how to make it. Needless to say I had to try to do it. I got to cook one and they said I did very well. It was so much fun. Ohh and for those of you wondering, this is okunomiyaki.
After we finished eating we went back for more Karaoke. It was so much fun. In Taiwan I never sang Karaoke. I would never sing it in America, but here I did. 
And just to give you an idea of how well these girls could sing, a short video clip.
The funny part is that we had the most fun on the only rainy day of the whole trip. You know you had the best day of your life when you are walking home in rain so heavy your socks are wet from the rain on the sidewalk after you umbrella explodes and you are still smiling and laughing about it. And yes, my umbrella really did explode, but I don't want to waste blog space telling you about it. Tomorrow morning we leave. I really do not want to go back :-(
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