Day 1, Monday 3/16:
I got up bright and early today in order to make the 8:15am train from Nagoya Station. The tickets we got are meant for poor college students like us- they were extremely cheap but we had to make 5 transfers and stand for portions of the trip. That was fine with me- might as well do it while I still can! We arrived at Tokyo station at about 3pm and made our way to the hotel to drop off all of our stuff. Since we were taking the train we all packed with just backpacks and messenger bags, but it's still a lot to carry around. Luckily the train to our hotel was fairly easy to find and we arrived with no problems. Our hotel was very close to Tokyo Dome, so since we were all tired from a long day of travel we walked there to see the dome, surrounding area, and eat dinner.
It would have been neat to see the dome a couple weeks ago when the first round of the World Baseball Classic was being played there! Anyway, we ended up eating dinner at a little diner-ish place called Jonathan's. It was supposed to be kind of American style like a Denny's, but it was of course Japanese-ified, which I prefer!After dinner we headed back to the hotel to relax and watch tv. We ended up finding a Chinese movie that was the basis for The Departed. It was in Cantonese with Japanese subtitles, but between my friend who could pick up some because she speaks Mandarin, reading the subtitles, and prior knowledge of The Departed we were able to pick it up pretty well. Even when I watch something in Japanese I pick up a lot more when there are subtitles too-it's a good way to practice reading!
Day 2, Tuesday 3/17:
Today we got up and were out the door of the hotel by 7:30am! Why would we do this you ask? Because Tokyo DisneyLand opened at 8am, of course! 
It was a really fun day, but extremely tiring. We waited in line for Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion for about an hour and a half each, but none of the other rides were more than an hour. I think the most fun we had was on the teacups! We didn't leave the park until about 9:30pm so naturally we were all exhausted when we got back to the hotel. My feet (and everyone else's) were really sore by the time we got back and continued to be sore for the rest of the trip because we walked a lot every day. Can't let that slow you down though.
It was a really fun day, but extremely tiring. We waited in line for Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion for about an hour and a half each, but none of the other rides were more than an hour. I think the most fun we had was on the teacups! We didn't leave the park until about 9:30pm so naturally we were all exhausted when we got back to the hotel. My feet (and everyone else's) were really sore by the time we got back and continued to be sore for the rest of the trip because we walked a lot every day. Can't let that slow you down though.
Electric Light Parade! This was the Peter Pan floatDay 3, Wednesday 3/18:
Today was the first day that we really started to see what Tokyo is actually like- which is extremely crowded, everywhere, all the time. Also, the trains are EXTREMELY complicated. There are so many different lines that stop in the same location in the station but don't go the same places, and it's really hard to figure out where to go. Tokyo Station is enormous- when we made our transfer to get to DisneyLand on Tuesday we walked for about 10 minutes to get from one part of the station to the other. Of course at 7:30am on a Tuesday it was completely full of business people on their way to work.
Our first stop of the day was Akihabara- an area famous throughout all of Japan for its electronics shops and manga/anime stores. I have been needing a new pair of headphones, so I found some good ones here. For lunch we found a delicious TenDon place that was surprisingly cheap! Our next stop was Ginza- an area with lots of businesses and high class stores. We explored the area a bit and saw a Kabuki Theatre with a line of people waiting outside. After Ginza we headed off to Harajuku- a hot spot for young people's fashion and some interesting counter-cultures. I really wanted to spend some time shopping here so I wandered around and found some interesting stores that were pretty inexpensive. Next to Harajuku was a big Shinto Shrine that we admired for a little bit. By this time we were getting pretty tired of walking around and were ready to make our last stop, get some dinner, and head home. Our last stop of the day was Shibuya- and extremely popular area and probably one of the most crowded in Tokyo. It is home to a famous 5-way intersection where as part of the light cycle at one point all of the cars stop and the people get to cross over the entire area.
It was absolute madness! Pictures and descriptions can't even begin to do it justice. In Shibuya we wandered just far enough to find a neat little restaurant that was completely underground. Shibuya is supposed to be a big night-life place so it's a shame we were too tired to explore more, but that's what happens when you're on your feet allll day. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go back!That's all for now I think- I'll finish up the last day and the trip home tomorrow.
Meg
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