joe's arrival

Knowing I would miss Angela, my friend Joe was kind enough to come to Tokyo to keep me occupied. There is a remote chance he also came to see new places, meet new people, and experience a new culture, but it is doubtful. Joe arrived the day I was taking an exam, so he was kind and brave enough to make the first leg of the trip to my apartment from the airport on his own. He arrived at Shinagawa station (one of the five major stations in Tokyo, and the one closest to my apartment) with no problem. Angela (it was the day before she left) and I picked Joe up and brought him to my lovely (but tiny) Gotanda apartment.

Joe’s first day of sightseeing was in Ueno. I like to take people to Ueno first, because it’s got all the major parts of Tokyo in a nice little package. Also there is a national museum, so it gives people a sense of where they are. Ueno, unlike when Ang and I were there, was quite beautiful and the cherry and plum blossoms were being to bloom. After Ueno, I took Joe to Akihabara and the nearby electric city. This part of the day (which was the night) was incredible. In addition to all the other neat things I’d seen before at the mega electronics store, I also saw new TVs audio receivers, pianos, and binoculars. Also, I got a picture with the 103” LCD TV (made by Panasonic), which sells for a mere US$ 50,000.

Also here are some random flower pics from the week joe’s been here. Angela taught me how to take “depth of field” (yay I finally learned how to say it) shots, and I’ve been on a rampage ever since.