Weekend Activities

It's just after midnight as I start this entry and I'm exhausted. I can't say that my weekend was a whirlwind of activity, but I guess it was enough that it tired me out and makes me want to sleep before 2 am. I'm also half looking at the glittering skyline of the city simultaneously; even at midnight there are still lights on across Tokyo. It's nice to know I'm not the only one up still on this Sunday evening/Monday morning.

Friday began like any other day. I arrived at work around 10:55 and started translating around 11 am. At 1:00, my boss and the other intern there at the time decided to eat lunch, and so the following conversation ended up taking through to 2:30 (to my delight actually -- these conversations definitely do make the day go much faster). Anyway, we went back to work, and then around 5:45 the other interns started arriving. I forgot to mention that last week on Monday, my boss had decided we needed to have a workplace bonding event take place on the 9th after work. This meant we would all go to an izakaya together. For those who don't know, an izakaya is a Japanese style bar where you can get both food and drinks for not too expensive prices. They generally accommodate larger parties; the Stanford students frequented many of these during the quarter so I was not a newbie to the izakaya. Anyway, I was a little nervous at the prospect of going to an izakaya with my coworkers...well mainly my boss considering my coworkers are all also college students.

However, despite my initial discomfort with the idea of going out with my boss, the evening ended up being very fun! Granted, I still don't know everyone's name (even though we went around the table and introduced ourselves once again...yes I am a fail...Japanese names are so complicated and they say them so fast!!!) but I was able to keep up with the conversation fro 75% of the time. And despite my lack of knowledge in the name department, I did learn a lot about my fellow interns. Most of them are fourth years at college, with the exception of one guy who is a grad student and then the only other girl intern who was present (I know that there is one other girl intern but I don't know where she was...), who is a second year. And by the end of the evening, the other interns were suggesting we go on a trip together during their school summer break (which is apparently in August) with the purpose of showing me more of Japan. I am of course unopposed to that idea; my feelings are entirely opposite. I think it would be really fun and cool to take a trip to another part of Japan. It would be like...Golden Week Part 2, except with Japanese people instead of two Gaijin trying to figure out their way around.

Saturday morning I got up at 7 am (I don't even get up that early for work!) to meet Ben in Shinjuku to watch Toy Story 3 at 9am. Of course Ben was late, but everything worked out fine, and the movie was really good. I was surprised at how well done the film was actually considering there is something like...10 to 12 years between this final installment and the second toy story movie. While I wasn't really a fan of the first movie and I thought the second movie was alright, I absolutely LOVED the third movie. Pixar created a masterpiece once again, though The Incredibles will always be my favorite Pixar film.

After, Ben suggested we go walk around Shinjuku Koen (literally translates to Shinkjuku Park). When the park was first constructed, it was a favorite pleasure garden of the royal family's. Now it is opened to the public for an admission price of 200 yen. The park itself was beautiful and one of those gems of nature that is so well maintained and preserved within the metropolis of Tokyo, that at some points, you do forget you're in the middle of a city instead of in the countryside.

Following my adventure in the park, I left Ben and boarded the train once again for Tokyo Station as Matt was coming in for the day to visit (he lives about an hour and a half outside the city and so has to plan certain days to visit). He wanted to scout out places to visit with his girlfriend when she comes to visit in August, and I was only happy to oblige touring with him as he had picked out places I hadn't visited yet. Anyway, I arrived a little bit earlier than he did, so I meandered around the station and outside, and realized I wanted to come back to the Tokyo Station area as it is where most of the government buildings are located. It might be nice to just walk around and see where the National government functions.

When Matt got in, we decided we needed to get lunch immediately because neither of us had eaten all day (by this time it was around 1:00 pm). As usual, I opted for ramen (I would like to maintain a disclaimer that I hadn't eaten ramen all week so I was craving it to a different degree...perhaps something akin to withdrawl; I don't know what I'm going to do when I go back to the states and not have authentic ramen readily available to consume). Anyway, we wandered a bit around the underground mall in the Station and finally found a ramen restaurant cheap enough for our budgets but simultaneously looked delicious. And we were right! It was so wonderfully good that I may make another trip back to that same restaurant. They also served us this tea that tasted like watered down honey tea or something...it was also delicious.

Our first stop was Roppongi Hills. The district is up and coming still but has already become quickly popular. It's mostly famous for its nightlife, both bars and clubs, but it also has some extravagant city views apparently. Anyway, the district itself is gorgeous in terms of its architecture. It has a lot of higher end shopping, but it was fun to walk around and see the huge skyscrapers and later stop at Starbucks, and just stop and exchange stories about our internships and marvel at the fact that we are now seniors. While there was much more to do in Roppongi, Matt wanted to move on after he found out about the restaurants and city viewpoints because his bus was leaving at a certain time and he still wanted to check out Shinjuku. However, I will be making a trip back to Roppongi sometime, as there are a few gardens and other shopping places I'd like to check out.

Matt then wanted to go to Shinjuku and find some restaurants for future reference as well. AS I hadn't seen much of the district that same morning, I had no problems with returning to my original point of origin in the day. Shinjuku is known as the Skyscraper district, so just walking around the many streets meant tons of photo opportunities. Japanese architecture in this part of the city is definitely way more creative and fun to look at. Also, Shinjuku's station is the busiest train/transportation station in the city (though Shibuya is the district where at least one million people pass through the intersection modeled after New York Times Square...). Anyway, we walked around the district, I felt a little more comfortable with the lay of the land, and we found lots of cheap ramen restaurants, meaning I must return here. Apparently, this is also a shopping heavy district...as I didn't see much of this where we went, I must return and further investigate this opportunity. It couldn't hurt my wardrobe!

Matt then headed back to Tokyo Station, and I took the train to Ikebukuro and from there walked home, though a different way from how I normally go. It was too nice a day and too warm not to take advantage of the walk home. Nonetheless, I was definitely outdone by the heat by the end of the journey. Exhausted by the time I got back to the apartment, I decided to shower, make curry, and settle in for the evening.

Today, having neglected doing any translation work all of yesterday, I decided to stay in for the majority of the day and work. However, cabin fever struck around four o'clock, and I went grocery shopping, trying to buy different types of things and vary my diet. I came back, put all my groceries away, and then decided to go on a run, as I was in need of exercise. Yes, a run. Now, it was raining outside, but considering the climate of Japan (tropical), it wasn't cold and it wasn't hot. So, I changed quickly into cut off leggings, shorts and my red zone shirt (Stanford represent!) and headed down the street. I decided to go in the direction that I wasn't really familiar with so I could see more of the district. It wasn't very interesting and it didn't really help me make more of a mental map, but it was worth seeing. I did see a hot pink car and wished I had my camera with me. I returned in about an hour, exhausted once again. I opted for a shower, then I made soup and watched Mulan in Japanese before returning to my translation.

And that's where I am now. I can't wait to sleep.