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The end of long and arduous journey upward, and it was worth it to take in the amazing views. Check out this skyline!

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Images along the journey of climbing Mt. Fuji

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Pre-Fuji Climb tour. Visited a wind cave and a really old Ice cave that is below freezing when inside, so it was used for storage.

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Ice Latte with blue/pink cotton candy on top. A side of milk. Watch what happens!

“Don’t be conceited!”

Depicting the crater where the shrine is located in the center. Mitsuha and Taki meet on the rim during twilight. Made of multiple layers: Green Tea powder>whip cream> Macha Ice Cream > Vanilla Ice Cream > thick gelatin and red bean paste (guessing to represent the earth)> corn flakes at the bottom> Cheesecake at the center. Overall, very very sweet and delicious, but couldn't have been done without my Latte I also purchased.

I went to a Your Name Cafe with Ben and Neon today. It was an awesome experience with some amazing items offered!

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Shinjuku life

I spent the afternoon looking around the Tokyo from atop the Tokyo Metro building, and then explored the night life a bit.

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This is by far one of my favorite pictures taken from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku. Unfortunately it’s through a window, so there is some reflection.

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Ueno Park, boat ride pictures, and the “black market” supposedly nearby! It was really just 2 long streets of stalls that sold foreign goods for cheaper prices. 

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When a group of 4 tries to win all the Kit-Kats, spends 25$, instead gets small boxes of bad candy.

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3/24/17 Misc. Pictures.

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A Semi-Brief Summary of the First Few Days

No. Please don’t look away. I know I’m late...believe me I know. This week’s post is catch up time, but a 2-parter! (I don’t have time to sit down and recall 19 days unfortunately. Also don’t think everyone wants to read that much at once.)

ANYWAYS!

I arrived at Narita International Airport on March 23rd at 1:30ish pm. 

Coming in hot!

Uhhhh... Okay that’s not what I meant.  

What I meant was, I walked off the plane with a headcold and forehead hot! Thanks Singapore! (No not really their fault. The staff was really nice and gave me chocolate and ice cream :D. Also economy class fish that was questionable...<.< ....>.> )

So yea, big welcoming to Japan. I came off the plane with as much toilet paper as I could steal the airline could provide from the plane’s bathroom; much of it hanging out of my SDSU hoodie’s center pocket.

After getting through a surprisingly simple customs check, We were officially into Japan. YAAAASS

Post-Arrival Picture (Smiling when feeling miserable is awesome!) 

Shortly after entering the general terminal, Hy, Colin, and I were interviewed by some Japanese television show! They asked a series of questions regarding why we were in Japan that day. I have no idea if it aired ‘[0_0]/.

If you don’t know me that well, I breathe Spongebob references ^^

Post-airport: 2-hour bus ride to Tokyo ( Which I of course KO’d on), a train, and then another bus. All in the rain! We finally crashed at the guest room we were staying. I proceeded to shower and immediately fall unconscious into the bed at around 6pm. But wait! I must have missed something very important in the bathroom!?

That’s right, this:

BREAKFAST. This about sums it up:

Colin, not me. But I had the exact same feeling! One of the best breakfasts ever. You can read about the food on the food page.

NEXT

GEEK/OTAKU TOWN! I mean... Akihabara the Electric City!

It was everything I could have dreamt of in a place! The lights, the electronics, the cafes, the pretty maid girls advertising, the most tourists in a condensed area, the anime/manga, the pretty maid girls ^-^...all great...except

We ended up spending a majority of our time in this place:

Something like 9 Costco sized floors consisting of anything running on that sweet electric juice. And of those 9 floors, a good 1.5-2 hours was spent on the stereo/headphone floor. I was debating on a Bluetooth speaker while Colin and Hy spent too much time trying out headphones. In the end we all walked away from that floor empty handed, because like Amazon price comparison, y’know?

MEIJI SHRINE

First shrine visit of the trip, and a pretty neat one at that. (Credit to Taka who was taking this photo. You da’ man!)

I wrote an Ema (basically a wish to be granted), AND the more money I put in the envelope = more likely to be granted!

ME:

ALSO ME:

As we are exiting the shrine, our shadows were growing taller as the sun set behind us. You know what that means? Time to search for food!

SHIBUYA

What better place to grab dinner than the busy area of Shibuya, Tokyo! - everyone in Shibuya, 2017

And so, I experienced my first izakaya with all my pals! This of course after wandering for awhile, and our local friend convinced to go to another izakaya by an “employee” that was of different name, but equal quality. This guy was dressed in a straight up brown trench coat and a walkie at his side, sketchy as @&%$, but alright bud...sure. Our friend instead lead us to another location of same name and equal quality!

A wonderful way to end the night. The following morning we packed up and went our separate ways to move into our different dorms. I will save the rest for next week. 

So thanks for letting me get my shit together a little bit. Apologies for being so behind.

#rick&morty

Sneak Peek:

Let me guess, you’re ready for part 2 now, aren’t ya?!

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Before The Journey Began

1. A picture before I leave on my journey. Left is the cat (Riku),mom, Bryanna(my basically adopted into the family, slightly younger sister), and ME.

2. The great photo when I realize that setting the camera to triple shot with flash on, meant 3 consecutive flashes! Sums me up perfectly in one picture I think.

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Weekly Updates!

EDIT: So this one is taking a lot longer than expected to write up. I’m gonna aim for Tuesday 12pm instead this week.

So to add some structure to my blog, I will be setting the updates to post new material every.......Monday @12pm PST~ So in a couple hours I will have something new to share! じゃね！

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Just want to throw a shout out to my “Mate” Ben, who’s documenting his 1 year japan experience on his new youtube channel! Check it out :D (Got some good editing, and I’m also in his 2nd vid for 1.5 seconds lol)

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How about some white ones as well. Contrasted with the Red pedals?!

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Ueno Park 2nd visit: Full Bloom! These are all the spectacular photos of cherry blossoms I’ve taken. Enjoy!

You’re welcome to use any of the photos, just credit. And if you want the high quality, just message me and I’ll send it.

Aprit 1, 2017

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CHERRY BLOSSOMS (Before)

Ueno Park, March 25th (1 week before Full bloom). There were 2 trees at the time which were partially/mostly bloomed.

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A before/after post of the central walkway at Ueno Park, Tokyo