FJ460002
Originally uploaded by silverlantern

After months of thinking and weeks of searching the internet, I finally found a good deal and booked a trip to Japan.

Japan, or as I had named it, the land of endless temples was one of the first countries I visited as a kid. I remember thinking that it was funny how everyone had to back their cars into tight spaces in the parking lots and flip their side mirrors inward. The gas station attendants were really polite and stopped traffic on the streets as you turn out. There was a plethora of vending machines offering everything from cameras, to batteries, to women’s hose. My auntie bought sashimi for us but I wasn’t allowed to eat it because my mom thought it was unsanitary. We went to the Tokyo tower and I secretly scoffed at the view from the viewing platform as I had just returned from New York with my middle school classmates and had been on top of the Empire State Building and seen the twin towers. We slept on tatami laid out in my uncle’s living room that converts at night to a bedroom. At restaurants, the expensive bento boxes were big and three inches thick, but upon sticking a chopstick into the rice we discovered the false bottom and that the true depth was an inch. Aside from the brain numbing strolls through countless temples, I had fun.

This time we’re on our own. No uncle to guide us, no parents to pay for us. Jae and I along with two friends will be attempting to sample the best of Japan on our own. Taking the bullet train, eating ramen, exploring Akihabra, strolling through Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and possibly even climb Mt Fuji in the middle of the night.

Can’t wait.