Godzilla in Flower Country

Over the weekend I went to a place called "Kurihama Hana no Kuni" or "Kurihama Flower Country." I did not, however, go to see any lame flowers...no way...I went to see the GIANT (probably close to life-size) Godzilla statue...whose tail, by the way is a slide. Yeah...don't really need to make any more coments on this one...just check out the pics for yourself.


We were actually standing on a very narrow, high wall here...yes, facing any danger for a cool picture...your welcome.

There were signs that said, "Don't climb on Godzilla, it's dangerous, signed Godzilla" but of course...us foreigners can't read Japanese, so we didn't know...

The train on the way back was so deserted we got a car to ourselves...which means Sarah can climb onto the luggage rack!

Edelstein Cafe

Last Sunday, two friends and I went to Edelstein Cafe--a German all-boys bording school themed cafe. Yes, you read that right, although you may want to read it again to let it sink in. You may have heard of Japan's "maid cafes," where girls dressed in maid outfits serve costumers tea and coffee and play games with them (for an extra fee of course), which are aimed primarily at male "otaku" or "nerds." This cafe is for the female otaku, who enjoys "boys love" comics, where the characters are good-looking young men who fall in love with each-other. You can see how a place such as an all boys bording school with all male teachers would be the perfect setting for such romance. The staff at Edelstein are all attractive men who play the part of either a student or teacher at the school. The customers play the part of the school's patrons (who are for the most part female...although men are deffinately welcome to visit as well).

I had to make a reservation a week in advance because the small 20 seat cafe fills up fast. There is also a time-limit of an hour and 15 minutes before you have to leave to make room for the next reserved customer. Though there is, surprisingly, no cover or extra charge outside of the price you pay for what you eat and drink, so it is not outrageously expensive.

Now, let me walk you through my Edelstein experience:

We arrived promptly at our reserved time (being a top-notch bording school, they have very strict rules about timeliness). Upon entering, we were greated by the principal, and then handed over to a man in a white lab coat (who we later discovered was the science teacher), who explained the rules of the school and had us fill out our "visitor passes"/stamp cards (like at subway). The passes must be worn around the neck while visiting the cafe, to ensure no one unrelated to the school disrupts the peaceful atmosphere.

We were then led to our table by a student, summoned by the ring of a bell, who presented us with the menu and another copy of the rules (no photography, 1 1/2 hr. time limit, etc.). He then left us to consider our options. When he came back to take our order, I made sure to ask him, "what type of weiners are included on the 'weiner plate,'" to which he answered, "sausage and chorizo," without missing a beat. (wow, either he gets that joke a lot, or it just doesn't translate into Japanese...) We eventually ordered our drinks and a cheeseplate to share.

Since one friend and I ordered beer, it had to be brought to the table by the science teacher and the principal, since the students are under-age. The science teacher also brought our cheese, but was stumped when I asked for an explanation of the types of cheese. He had to go back to the kitchen to ask, before telling us it was, blue cheese, cheese with pepper, and "smoked cheese"--wow...didn't know you could just have cheese "smoked" (I always thought it had to be a certain type, like gouda, or cheddar...) Well, he was the science teacher, not the lunch lady afterall, so can't hold it against him.

Meanwhile, when not waiting on customers, the students, who wore adorable blue plaid uniforms, would sit broodingly in the corner, reading a book. Gotta study for the big quiz on Monday I guess. Meanwhile...the whole time we were there, the three of us just barely managed to keep from bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter...it was really hard because everyone, both the customers--I mean visitors to the school, and staff--I mean the students and teachers at the school, were so serious. Does no one in Japan realize the ridiculousness? Well, I suppose if they did, places like Edelstein Cafe wouldn't exist, so I am truly greatful that "ridiculous" is not in the Japanese vocabulary.

Before we even got to harrass (good-naturedly of course) the students and teachers as much as we would have liked, our hour and 15 mins. were up, so we had to pay the bill before being escorted out by the principal. On the way out, though, he did point out that they had a wide selection of books and games that could be used freely. So, next time, we will deffinately have to try to get some of the boys to play chess with us or something. Oh, yeah, there will most deffinately be a next time. Especially since we received birthday tickets that can be redeemed during ones birthday month and entitle one to a special birthday dessert, a happy birthday serenade by the students and teachers (oh, Sweet Jesus I hope it is in Engrish!!!), AND a special memorial photo! Since photos are usually prohibited, I am especially excited about this. Looks like I will be going back next month for a birthday extravaganza, hahahahahahaha!

For more info on Edelstien cafe (in Japanese): http://www.cafe-edelstein.com/top.html

We couldn't take photos inside, but that didn't stop us from taking them outside!

Punk Spring

Sunday the 6th was Punk Spring--an annual punk music festival. I went, and it was AWESOME!! There were a ton of bands, most of them ones I didn't really know, so I will just give a break down of the bands that I really enjoyed, in order of appearance:

1. Bowling For Soup
I am not really a fan of this band, but in their live show, they were hilarious! They would play 2/3 of a song, then stop, and say stuff like, "wow, we are doing an AWESOME job...yeah, we are so great!" and/or taking a drinking break. Then, after about a minute of random chatting, they would finish the song. The best part was that most of the primarily Japanese audience had no idea what was going on, because they don't understand English. So, to them it was probably like, "oh, the song is over?...oh, next song?...huh?WTF?" But for me...I was basically rolling on the floor the whole time.

2. Flogging Molly
YES!! Finally, I got to see Flogging Molly live! And they did not let me down! They played a ton of my fav songs, including "What's Left of the Flag," and everyone was super into it, so it was really really fun!

3. The Buzzcocks
Wow! They are so old now! But still rocking super hard! Impressive!

4. Maximum the Hormone
The only Japanese band on the roster, and one that I am a big fan of. They are hardcore punk, but still manage fun and interesting melodies. Plus, they have a really cool female drummer. The mosh pit for this band was SUPER fun too!

5. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
First of all, I love punk covers, so I am a big fan and have all of their albums. I was a little disapointed by their set because the majority of songs they played were from their newest album, "Love Their Country," which actually makes some country songs listenable, but is not their best album, in my opinion. I would have liked a little more variety for their live show. That being say, they were also hilarious in their on-stage antics...starting almost every song by saying, "So, this next one is a cover." They prefaced "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with, "If you dance to this song, yes, you are gay." (which of course no one understood, so all the Japanese guys were deffinately dancing...haha) And, before they played "Stairway to Heaven," they told people to get their lighters out, saying, "Come on, all you guys that came here to see Rancid, I know you smoke." Which leads me to the headliners....

6. Rancid!!!!!!
One of my favorite bands, ever! I still cannot believe I actually got to see them live! The mosh pit was so full, you couldn't even mosh...it was more like everybody was pushed first one direction, then the opposite, like on a packed train. But, I got up to the 3rd row, and they played all of my favorite songs! Also, surprisingly, most of the Japanese people around me actually knew the lyrics so everyone was singing along. Even in middle-age, Rancid is cool as hell-- in both looks and musicianship.

All in all, I had a great time, and was (and still am) completely covered in bruises by the end. (but don't worry...I deffinately gave as good as I got, hahahahah)

Cherry Blossoms

So the cherry blossoms, or "sakura," were blooming over the last couple weeks. It is really pretty with all the pink and white flowers...but Japan goes absolutely nuts over them. Along with the normal weather report on TV they have a sakura report that tells the prospective dates of blooming around the country. People flock to parks where there are cherry trees blooming for "hanami" or "flower viewing parties." Of course, like most celebrations in Japan, it is just another excuse to get drunk!

I went for hanami with a friend for the first time ever last Friday in Yoyogi Park. Some highlights were:

-- Watching all the people that were already super drunk when we first got there...and saying "haro" to the drunk, off-duty hosts every time they went past us to and from the bathroom (which was about once every 5 mins...)

-- Convincing a guy who was selling wine by the bottle for 1,500yen, to give us one for free and drink it with us.

-- Meeting some hosts (not the drunk bathroom hosts) and getting some free host action, before they had to go to work.

-- Joining a party of "artists" wearing shirts that said "Go For Future" and singing karaoke on their portable machine, greatly impressing them with our ability to sing Japanese songs (they all took out their cellphones to take pictures).

All in all, I'd say my first hanami was a massive success. But, I'm also glad it only comes once a year...don't know if I could handle more than that.

The falling petals look like snow!

EVERTHING was covered in petals!


My friend and I got some Shibuya girls sitting nearby to take our picture.