S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, hey!

Okay, so Friday night I was exhausted. I blogged and went to bed early so that I could get up and be ready to go at 6:30 Saturday morning (I'm writing this on Sunday). I actually woke up at 5:15...I had asked for a wake-up call the night before, and I did something rude. It was an accident. You know how most hotel wake-up calls are now automatic? I assumed this one was as well...turns out that it was a live person. I hung up on her thinking it was a recording, so they called back. What's more, they apologized for disturbing me, but I had asked for a wake-up call and they wanted to make sure that I was up, if that was okay. I love Japan.

I ate breakfast...this time at another resturant that served both Western and Japanese breakfast. It was bizarre to have omelets, miso soup, and corn at the same breakfast (yes, I said corn), but I made it. A group of us met up at 7:20 to go to Kamakura. Kamakura was an ancient capital of Japan, is located on the coast, and is known for the giant statue of Buddha (the Daibutsu). It was kind of touristy in places, but overall it was a really nice trip. I was a little bummed at times because I was on a tour, and that didn't allow for a lot of flexibility. But, you win some, you lose some. The views were stunning, the temples and shrines were amazing, and I felt that it was nice to be out in the countryside. I am going to post a group of pictures here for you to see what I was up to. I like to include them in as I write, but I am tired and want to make sure that I get in as much as possible!


First tea ceremony...it was informal, but was still pretty cool. They gave us cookies in the shapes of pigeons to eat before we drank the tea to offset the bitterness. Wasn't bad, wasn't bad... I look pretty terrible here. There seriously isn't a good one of me from this day. I essentially look drugged, but really it is the fact that I was EXHAUSTED. I am sleeping around 5-6 hours per night, which isn't enough.



This little girl and boy were celebrating their third and fifth birthdays at a temple in Kamakura. Girls celebrate their third and seventh birthdays, and boys their fifth and seventh. There were MANY kids dressed in traditional Japanese clothing at the temple. Very cute. The little girl looks unhappy, but understand that there were about a thousand American teachers pointing cameras at her. She's flashing the peace sign, so all is well. The little boy was completely unimpressed with us.



The group at the Daibutsu.


That's right...I finally had a bottle of the infamous Pocari Sweat. It was really quite good despite its unfortunate name. It kind of tasted like it had a grapefruit flavor.


On the Shinkansen (bullet train) with Tammy and Cindy. This sucker was fast! We made it from Shin-Yokohama to Tokyo in about 18 minutes.

More about Kamakura and Saturday:
1. Lunch was huge. I can't begin to identify all that we ate, but let's just say it was a lot, and since I walked over 7 miles on Saturday, I don't feel so guilty about it. Salads (two types), soba noodles (extremely good...I could have sat there all day and ate them), pizza, edumame (steamed soybeans), breaded chicken cutlets stuffed with some kind of fish eggs (MUCH tastier than it sounds)...seriously, it was disgusting how much food we all packed away, and it only cost us around $15. I also bypassed a fork in lieu of using chopsticks. Go me.
2. I saw a cat at the Hasedera Temple that made me miss George and Oscar. I stuck around to pet him for a while. Cute cat, pretty fat, and became quite popular after people started to notice that he was there. That cat knew what he was doing.
3. After making it back to the hotel around 6 or so, I finished packing the suitcase that I was leaving in Tokyo. Seems that packing is becoming a serious issue. I'm pulling a Scarlett O'Hara on this one and will think about how I am going to get everything home tomorrow.
4. Finally went to a conveyor belt sushi place. It wasn't that good. Surprising? Not really...sushi is prepared and stuck on plates, and then it rotates on a belt throughout the restaurant. You take what you want, and you pay according to the color of your plates that you have when you are finished. I spent around $5. Not bad!