Japan, as briefly as possible

In three words: WE LOVE JAPAN!

Japan was amazing.  Originally, we had only budgeted 2 weeks in Japan. HA! We ended up staying for about a month.  It was just incredible.  And too much to post about right now, so some highlights are:

Sakura Matsuri.  <3  The cherry trees were in full bloom and EVERYWHERE! And at night, they light them up in pretty colors, which makes them even more beautiful.  Ueno Park was gorgeous, and I loved every second of it.

Cuteness.  Japan <3s cute. We <3 cute.  It was great.  We discovered meow-pires (a little kitty vampire), visited the Ghibli Museum (even more amazing than it sounds), laughed at every commercial - every product had a cute cartoon icon - toothpaste, denture cream, ramen noodles, you name it.  Even the police stations each had a little cartoon icon!  Harajuku girls are amazing, and we determined we will wear frilly dresses and dress outrageously whenever we want when we get home.

Disney.  To make myself feel better about not getting into grad school, we went to Disney.  Both Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea (described as "Disney for Adults", but not in a naughty way, more of in a roller-coaster kinda way).  Favorites include: crazy popcorn flavors, crazy pizza flavors (seriously, NO plain cheese???), food in general, its a small world in Japanese, ok, well, every ride in Japanese, and Bunny hop-hop-hopping at the Easter parade.
My favorite story: "Its gonna be just like Splash Mountain, I know it!!"
-So we get on the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Sea after going on some kind of roller coaster ride.  Everything is in Japanese, so there are no ride descriptions or anything.  But there are lots of warning signs about people with bad backs or pregnancies.  And there's a place where you get your photo taken during the ride.  I become convinced that this is a Splash Mountain kinda ride (which I HATE) and start getting really nervous. I want to get out of line, but dont want to be embarrassed and have Megan hate me forever/tease me mercilessly.  So I suck it up and get on.  Its a pretty standard Disney ride, a few fast jerks and spins and turns and such, and I'm sweating like crazy the whole time because I just KNOW the big drop is coming.  And sure enough, we start climbing and we're going down this dark tunnel, and its the scene where the big rock is rolling after Indiana Jones and the cart your in is heading right for the rock.  I know that we are going to go under the rock in a straight dive down, so I scrunch really low in my seat and close my eyes and hold my breath and put my arm around the back of the seat to hold on better.  And a lightbulb flashes and we do a little "woosh" turn thing and its over.  No drop. Though I dont let me guard down until we are pulling into the station and the the guardrail comes up.  Best part - having to walk by the pictures at the end, and see tons of people laughing at my terrified, scrunched-up expression.  Shame-faced.

Sushi. I discovered a love for sushi in Tokyo.  Conveyor-belt sushi is amazing, especially when you have a super-awesome friend to explain everything to you (ohhhhh the plates are color-coded so you know how much each dish costs!).  Thanks Akane!

Temples.  serene.  magical.  Japan is magic.  A war was started: who would have more pictures - Steffany and the cherry blossoms, or Megan and the red gates.  close-ups of flowers was thrown into the mix. temples + cherry blossoms = mind blowing.  Helping school children with their homework, and having them help us with the many temple traditions, including a love shrine walk. 

Space issues that reminded us of home (or not).  capsule hotels.  car garage ferris wheels.  24 manga cafes where you can watch dvds, read comic books, surf the web, or sleep. with free food and drinks!!! and soft serve!!

Soft serve ice cream.  it gets its own category.  Megan was in heaven.

Geisha dance. Bamboo forest. monkey sanctuary. Scary Ferris wheel. Aquarium. bath houses. 

love. love. love.