September 17, 2008

JAPAN!

Well I've been in Japan for about 5 days now. Wow, to say it wasn't what I expected is a little bit of and understatment.

1. Tokyo is HUGE. I expected a large city, but Tokyo is amazingly massive. For instance, cities usually have one downtown, or an area of extreme high rises that you would consider downtown. Tokyo has like 15 of these mini downtowns. With each area of the city kind of having it's own business center. In between these major districts are the standard urban sprawl.

2. Smog is crazy here. I was expecting something a little cleaner, but it's thick and really sucks, cause most day's you can't see further than a few miles, so there's no real city scape to enjoy.

3. The neighborhoods are so cool. When you leave the main gate, it's one of the main highways through Tokyo, though we're on the West side and nearing the end of the city, the traffic is non-stop. But since the buildings and so close to each other and connecting roads so narrow, the incredible noise from that is almost non-exhistant a block or 2 into the communities. We went walking last night and got lost, and at 7 o'clock the streets were almost deserted, and it was so quiet you'd think it was 4 am or something. So even though it seemed the city at large was dirty, these small communitees were very quiet and reserved and clean. Refreshing.

Here's a few photos I took around...

I thought I got away from this joker over here.... :(



Here's our sweet ride to run about the base in! 0-60 in 10.4....minutes!


Tokyo...or Mexico City? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference!

Well that's all for now, we went and ate at some noodle shop last night. They're everywhere, but I forgot my camera with the pictures back at my room....no in room internet in GOV'T billeting....are we the most advanced country in the world or what? So I'll post some more, or try to post some more tomorrow. I had to do a little jiggying with stuff to get to post here at all. Anynhow, take care, love you all and talk to you soon.

Aaron

3 comments:

Melissa said...

Sweet! I miss you babe! Sorry I keep fallng asleep before you have a chance to chat with me. You know how I turn into a pumpkin after 10 p.m. I think I am extra tired from spending so much time with the kids. Oh and Peachies new bed arrives today along with the matress!

Anonymous said...

I think Tokyo would be a place I'd like to visit.

Anyhoo, Melissa, about the bird fear. Remember the Duck Pond car wash?? And the nasty, actual duck pond behind it? When we first moved to Eagle River I thought it would be GREAT to take the kids there. Amber was 6 months and Austin wasn't quite 3.

Every diseased, moulting, mangy bird was there. We were the only humans so they saw us and came runnin'. I lost it. I think I even screamed. I yelled at Austin to get in the car, we were leaving. I got goose bumps just thinking about it for years. I never went back there. My dad felt sorry for the kids so he'd take them.


Once we went to the Imaginarium to see baby chicks. Austin wanted to pick one up. WHAT? The thought of actually having to touch one never crossed my mind. I told the lady sitting next to me of my "problem" so she picked one up and put it in Austin's hands.

Okay, I need to go have some chammomile tea now. Have a great day - hopefully my stories haven't freaked you out too badly.

a Tonggu Momma said...

Melissa ~ I'm so glad you stopped by and left a comment so that I could find you. Can you believe I used to live in Iwakuni? That photo of me with the burned hands, perched on my daddy's shoulders, was taken in Japan.