Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Japan: Photo roundup #1


Here is the first roundup of our Japan trip from a couple of weeks ago. We visited Sapporo, Otaru, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo. Although the trip was busy and we ran into a few stumbling blocks, Japan is and will always be one of my favorite places on earth and we did have a lot of fun.





1) Hot NUTS! It was my first time on business class and, being the dorky type, I was almost as excited for the flight as I was for the vacation in Japan. When the United flight attendant served me a bowl of fresh, warm nuts the minute my butt hit the seat, I was pretty much on my way to a great flight. I'm sure those of you who fly business all the time are yawning at this little tidbit, but I was as giddy as a kid in a candy store. Crunchy, salty and toasty nuts in five different varieties, plus a glass of champagne? At that moment I wished the 11 hour flight was 18 hours. *sigh*










2) Fresh fruit and yogurt. "Is this a post about JAPAN or United business class?" you're probably wondering. I promise, last photo (at least in this post) of airplane food but C'MON!!!Doesn't the deep color of those blueberries make you want to chomp your monitor right now? Again, dorkface me was utterly impressed. Woo hoo!











3) Yosakoi Soran Festival. J and I were wandering the streets of Sapporo when we thought we heard takio drums in the distance. As we walked toward the sound, we started noticing more and more people and then we pretty much ran smack into this festival which is the fusion of the Yosakoi Festival of Kochi and traditional soran folk music of Hokkaido. Tons of people danced and clapped to taiko-like beats, and we could tell that there were numerous teams, each sporting their own colorful uniforms. We found out that we were there on the second of three days, and a taxi driver informed me that on the third and final day, a winning team is announced and the whole thing is "crazy."



4) Crab at Nijo Market in Sapporo, Hokkaido. I know I had some photos of live ones in my last post, but are they not impressive?



5) Ahhh, Engrish. This is one of the best examples I've ever seen. Although it's funny at first look, it's actually quite deep if you think about it. I mean, who wants to be treated like that? I'd surely be crying if it was me.



6) Hip girl in shotengai (shopping street) in Sapporo. Fashion in Japan never fails to amaze me. You can wear pretty much whatever you like and no one even blinks an eye.....it's just a form of personal expression and the majority of Japanese seem to completely accept that, which I think is fantastic!

More to come...........

7 comments:

marirob said...

ahh... reminds me of my japan trip from last year. keep the posts coming! i even love the plane photos (I've never been on business class so I am so curious what it's like!)

A said...
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A said...

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I hope to hear from you!
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Andrew DiPalma

Allison said...

i would have been just as excited for the business class seat! i remember eating the most delicious yogurt of my life on a british airways flight (coach seat) in high school. course now flying is a pain in the ass no matter what seat you get.

Clare said...

Hot nuts please!

Food, she thought. said...

wow...spammed in your commments section. LOL. I never tire of all the perks of business class. On my last trip to Tokyo, I was upgraded to business free of charge by the movely woman at the ticket counter. Twas awesome. Also, I love looking at and watching the fashions of young Japanese women. And while I agree you can wear almost anything, I will counter that with the exception they can wear almost anything as long as it is not revealing in any way. We were there last year in August/September, and my California sundresses met with many uncomfortable glances. I promptly went out and bought a couple much more modest dresses.

Marie said...

i've never been to japan (except a layover at narita, which clearly doesn't count), but desperately want to go. i look forward to living vicariously through your next roundup of photos!