Friday Night Lights...

On Friday night I spent the evening at Shibuya, one of Tokyo's minor 'downtown' areas.The streets were amazing - a miniature Vegas with flashing lights, large lit up signs, and infinite shops and stores!

When Keith was done work, I met him and Thomas at Shibuya station. I got a picture at Shibuya's famous intersection (a scene from Lost In Translation was filmed here), and we explored the area. We found an 'Outback Steakhouse', and Keith was craving steak, so after some exploring we decided to have dinner there.

I have to admit - I was skeptical. Everything in Japan is so small, especially food portions! I figured that any dish we ordered would be miniature as well! Fortunately, I was wrong! Kenga & Rosabel, two other coop students were going to meet us for dinner, so once we got our seat we ordered a Typhoon Bloom - an onion ring appetizer. It was nice to hang out with some other students from Canada and have some English conversation. We also got to compare notes on what's different here and getting used to the different lifestyle and culture. Our Typhoon Bloom was delicious! It was not Japan-sized, and it was delicious - just like back home! I was starving and throughly enjoyed both it's size and how good it was! Once Kenga and Rosa arrived, we ordered our meals. I got a pasta dish, and again was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't Japan-sized!

After some awesome food and good conversation, we went our seperate ways for the evening. Unfortunately, Kenga and Rosa and I missed the last train to his place (where Rosa and I were staying for the weekend). We got on the subway and thought we could get close enough, then found out we had gotten on the wrong one! We got as close as we could and planned to take a taxi the rest of the way. There was a long lineup at the taxi stand, so I suggested we start walking and at least be on our way. We walked for fifteen minutes or so then jumped in a taxi. It was still quite a long drive, so Rosa and I were glad we hadn't decided to walk the whole way!

Kenga has a small Japanese-style apartment. It has two rooms with a sliding divider between them and a tatami mat floor in his bedroom. There's a small toilet stall and a 'dungeon with a hose' (the shower). Once Rosa and I made up some beds, we crashed - it was late!

The next day was awesome - my favorite day of the weekend! But I'm tired and still have stuff to do tonight, so I'll write about it tomorrow evening! I'll post pictures with these, too, once I get them uploaded and emailed from Keith!