all things end.

well. i think a “going home” post is not quite what you’re going to get since i’m staying a week after everyone leaves, but i think a little summary of everything i did instead will be a bit more interesting.

first thing i did was go to ghibli park with my parents and while it was definitely tailored for little children it was well worth seeing as an adult. it’s worth mentioning that i also only saw the “warehouse” park since tickets to the other 2 sections literally cannot be purchased outside of japan. i think those are a bit less of a playground than the warehouse was but alas. i will take what i can get. i loved the park’s focus on immersion over typical Theme Parkiness that i normally have to get past in order to enjoy myself. across the park’s many exhibits i felt like i could truly just Be with thoughts about these movies that i love so much; i didn’t feel like the park was trying to sell an image of The Ghibli Brand (TM) to me because it knew it didn’t have to. my favorite exhibit was probably a series of rooms that detailed how food is animated and colored in the films, it was so specific but exactly the type of detail i was happy to see explained. it’s worth mentioning that i also went to The Milk Stand. yes. there is a critically acclaimed stand that sells milk and little red bean paste sandwiches and that shit was delightful. truly the weirdest milk i have ever tried. it was like creamy in taste without actually being creamy in consistency. and a bit sweet. really was excellent with the red bean paste sandwich though. it was a typical paste between two pieces of pound cake. i miss red bean paste so much. if i found out a way to get red bean buns in america right now i would cry in real life.

[the greater park that surrounds the ghibli park is a sight on its own. i loved walking in the very well maintained trails after the park. saw a stickbug, caught this view, good stuff.]

next we went to nara park, which if you didn’t already know is the famous place where the wild deer walk around. this was very neat in theory but what it ends up meaning in practice is that a bunch of unpredictable large wild animals are comfortable coming up to you and doing whatever they want. this was a bit stressful but the surrounding shrine and woods were truly amazing and it was cool to see it basically function as a deer city.

[there was also, if it needs saying. shit everywhere. i would not go to this place for the deer. go for the hike.]

the last place we went before leaving was the ghibli museum, which you weren’t allowed to take pictures of. that was a shame because this was hands down my favorite place and an architectural masterpiece. the stained glass windows were probably my favorites, all depicting characters from the films, and the railings that lined the floors with the occasional glass sphere. i really liked the exhibit that was all about the concept art and storyboarding of the films, they had original works just covering the walls of a intricately decorated “apartment”, tacked up with thumbtacks like they are in the studio. it felt authentic, it felt approachable. it quite literally was approachable, with no protection or divider between museum guests and the works. the design of the space implicitly has faith that you will respect the work and not try to vandalize or touch it, which seemingly has worked thus far. i also saw a movie here that i was really looking forward to. they don’t play the shorts that screen at the museum and the park anywhere else in the world, and they rotate them out so you don’t really know what you’re gonna get. the one i saw was a short continuation of my neighbor totoro which was as good as i could have asked for honestly (if you made me pick totoro’s probably my favorite. yes. i am basic.) the film displayed a whole underground catbus society with a soundtrack that was just lovely. i wish i could see it again but i suppose they want to make the films precious in this way for a reason.

[you were allowed to take pictures of the outside. looked crazy, went hard, i feel like there’s only so many ways i can generally point at something and say “I LIKE THAT” before it gets redundant.]

and. well. time to talk about the dawn of the final day. the true ending, if you will.

the ending of my time with everyone was uneventful. i like it that way. i think my reaction to permanent endings is best kept in private. i hugged jasmine the night before, encountered some people when i was checking out and gave a very awkward “bye.” nothing too serious, no real acknowledgement of the connection that was made over these two weeks. i think that is how it has to be sometimes. some relationships are special enough to feel like they could never be replicated but not close enough for emotional vulnerability to be comfortable. i think we all knew how this would go, and it went how it had to.

when i decided to take this class and go on this trip i fully expected to be spending as much time as possible by myself. i knew nearly everyone on the trip would be younger than me, i knew that the only person i knew ahead of time was going to be spending their time with someone else, and i hadn’t made any connections during the class. i had fully set myself up to be alone, i made that bed and was prepared to lie in it. i’m not sure what exactly happened but somehow i ended up doing the opposite the whole trip. i feel like due to the setting and the overall lack of pre-established close relationships between us, everyone was able to move very freely within the group. i felt comfortable hanging out with everyone and going with any person who made an open offer. it was a real Group in every sense of the word, everyone on the same level as each other and regarding other members equally, and that is seriously such a rare dynamic in this world. if people could bottle that feeling they would.

i didn’t spend as much time doing my typical introspective focus-on-the-culture travel activities because i was honestly just having so much damn fun hanging out with people. that was a first for me, having a solid group like that. i don’t regret spending as much time as i could with them even though it did come at the expense of a few of my plans.

i’m making a drawing of everyone, it’ll get done eventually and i’ll post it in the discord. turns out drawing 20 people kind of takes a while. lol.

anyway i hope you liked reading my posts. i skipped the free days and the last friday because. honestly. i didn’t take any pictures and in a few cases i literally didn’t do anything other than follow other people on their shopping trips and eat. i didn’t have a lot of inherent reasons to go where i was going i just liked being included. i like to think that what i did write makes up for it. quality over quantity if you will. or maybe you won’t. i was never good at persuasive writing because while i have a lot of strong beliefs i’m largely not interested in telling people what to think. you can take points off for that i don’t mind. alright. well. this has gone on long enough, but if i stop typing and post the document it’s over for real. no you hang up. no. no you do it. fine i’m hanging up. alright bye.

[i had a window seat on the way back. ain’t that neat :2]

losing my goddamn mind in the world’s most normal mall

today we awoke with two essential missions in mind: see the future museum and the teamlabs exhibition. but first, a side quest: see the big gundam.

the big gundam was the least interesting thing i have seen in my life but it was nice to see fabian excited. what came next though, was the mall behind the statue. me and megan split off due to a disinterest in getting real food and ended up trying mister donut due to liam’s glowing endorsement (mid btw). afterwards we encountered a donguri republic and as always i was legally obligated to make a purchase.

[he eats my coins.]

throughout this mall journey we mainly noticed how similar it was to malls from america. save for a few shops, the lineup was identical and the interior design was ripped straight from my mall at home. with the exception. of this one store called “wego.”

wego is, to put it conservatively, a clothing store that presents a surreal parody of american culture and the english language that is marketed unironically to japanese customers. it has 2 sectors, one “resells” “used” american college merch, (i do not believe for one second they are doing the digging to acquire that stuff, it’s most likely unsold stock, but it was labeled as “used” nonetheless) and the other makes original designs. and oh boy. as weird as it was to see a real demand for college t shirts that the buying demographic has never attended, those originals were something from a wormhole. reading these things was legitimately disorienting, each and every one of them spoke to an interest in projecting an experience that was neither authentic to its culture of origin or the experiences of the people it was supposed to be marketing to.

i want to clarify that i do not care in the slightest about “the sanctity of the english language” or “appropriating ‘american culture,'” it’s just that seeing it portrayed as aspirational in conjunction with a reverence for the worst parts of american consumerism was… weird. tshirts for t shirt’s sake i suppose. also reading so much of my first language written in a way that almost completely disregarded actual meaning was legitimately off-putting after some time, while i knew what the words meant the way they were being assembled was basically a foreign language. it was a land where any effort to make sense of my surroundings only further disoriented me. we came in for laughs, and they were had, but leaving that store was a bit of a relief.

[a microcosm of the greater horror. imagine a whole store with nothing but this. whatever you are thinking of right now, it was worse.]

after that we went to the Future Museum which sure had a lot to show. in an effort to avoid being a public hater as much as possible i will instead show my favorite part which was this note wall that was filled with book titles and quotes from children in a bunch of different languages.

[i love little note walls like this. you can tell when kids were told to write an answer to some bullshit “big question” and they just write anything to get it over with. or maybe i’m projecting. idk. i feel like when i was a kid i could tell when no one really cared about the questions being asked but if we didn’t take it 100% seriously we were doing something wrong.]

last part of the day was the teamlab planets exhibit. i mostly thought this was pretty cool. in the words of david (kcg guy of the day (long story)) it was whelmed. not over or under, pretty much just exactly what you would expect. i think for a place that is trying to provoke a feeling of immersion the lines could have been handled better, the whole “corral as many people as possible in a dark room” strategy doesn’t exactly inspire connection with art. it was mostly a few pretty rooms that looked cool in pictures that didn’t contain much to do or think about.

[oh my god i felt so bad for these flowers. many of them did not look well and they were getting run into and torn by attendants. i know plants can’t feel like we can but i wish people just had a bit more respect.]

the day ended with a group trip to a conveyor sushi restaurant. i was sitting with liam and skyler and we just had a ball. hot takes were had. liam would not stop going off about how the conveyor isn’t the same since the sushi licking incident of 85. we all had melon sorbet that was decidedly mid and i stole the container it came in. i loved going to restaurants with liam specifically during this trip because watching him navigate conversations with staff and reading menus was genuinely awe inspiring. watching the countless hours that had gone into learning the language get put to use never stopped being fascinating to watch. also i think i probably would have starved to death without him giving me the confidence to order food in multiple scenarios. owe that man my life fr.

[see the sushi came to us directly via the upper deck, and not the conveyor belt below where in theory anyone could take it. this was apparently a blight on the pure reputation of conveyor belt sushi.)

this was coming up on my last day with everyone and feeling bad about that was inevitable i think. but i don’t think now is the time to talk about that. i had a good day. i used as much time as i had to hang out with as many people as i could and while i feel like i would have liked more time i know i used all of the time i had to the fullest. alright. last one’s next and it’s gonna be the Big Sad. prepare yourselves >:2

a day in gardens

yesterday was a real ball. we saw some stuff and i took pictures. ain’t that neat.

first place we went was the imperial palace gardens, which were a bit manicured for my taste but they were far-reaching and there was an attention to detail that was worth appreciating. i think my favorite part was a waterfall i found at the end of a crude stone path, just tucked away enough to feel private in a crowded space. in the middle of a shallow pond was a solid black cube that overflowed with water at the top, framed by a trickling stream that came from a small rocky hill. it was strange to find a modern looking structure in the middle of this more classical garden, it looked like a save point in a video game.

[took a lot of pictures for a change here. although i don’t think fountain is done justice. oh well. it is just a block.]

second place was the meiji shrine, which i swore i had been to before, because i had! the shrine was quite large, the gates were as tall as the trees and the complex was vast and spacious. it was sunny, but a the shade from the trees provided a cool temperature. when i went with my parents 11 years ago it was a light rain, midday, and there was a wedding taking place on the complex. as i was walking i remembered how at peace i felt the first time and how i wished something so ancient existed near my home. i thought about the destruction of north american old growth forests, and how the world was robbed of bigger trees. i thought about how i am old enough to have 11 year old memories, and what had changed between that time and now.

every time i talk about the destruction of america’s old growth forest i feel like i’m making it up due to the extent of the damage and the lack of public knowledge on the matter. like, we just cut 90% of the oldest trees on a continent and no one gets taught about it in schools! most people have no idea how big a tree can get because we chopped down all of the biggest ones and they used to be EVERYWHERE. that sounds SO MADE UP because if it was real EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW AND BE AS MAD AS I AM ABOUT IT. anyway. being surrounded by Big Tree is such a valuable and rare experience in this world and i hope that some day i might be lucky enough to see them more regularly. probably not though. due to the fact that they’re all gone. haha.

[i could hear crows calling deep into the forest and when they came close enough to see they were huge. as big as my arm.]

i’m not sure what happened after this honestly. i know we went home and i must have eaten somewhere, it probably wasn’t that interesting anyway. while i had fun today and i loved the places we went, my head wasn’t in the best place. it’s probably best for the both of us to move on i think :2

the akihabara descent

i’m writing the mandatory travel blog post. i’m doing it. i’m gonna stop staring at my screen and i’m gonna write the mandatory travel blog post. we’ll get through this. it’ll be fine.

i spent most of that morning packing, dropped down to the breakfast room to get a few rolls to sustain me, not much happened until it was train time.

the first crisis of the day was that i very quickly discovered that i had lost yet another train ticket. not the pass, just the ticket this time but that did mean that i didn’t know where i was sitting and that stressed me out for the whole trip. it was a nice view though, as always.

after we arrived at the hotel everyone very quickly realized the… choices that were made with the room’s design and tv content. since i’m the only person in this room i didn’t really notice and was mostly pleased with the place. just wish the desk had a better chair :’)

[mine as i found it.]

events transpired on this day. we went to two stores that everyone was really excited about but to be honest it didn’t appeal to me and in a few cases was pretty uncomfortable. i went to a restaurant and there’s a funny anecdote there that on another day i might have written about but due to my mental state just made me sad. it was a relief to get back to the room.

i like the view from my window. seeing the train platform enlightened as it slices the otherwise typical city. it’s very loud and crowded here which contributed to the day being overwhelming, but seeing it at a distance made it seem a lot more manageable. we’ll see.

[i think it looks like cake here. train cake.]

i went straight to bed after this. gnight y’all :2

the game jam post

alright today we’re doing a two in one. because the event lasted two days and it’s kind of like one chunk of memory. you get it.

i’m afraid i don’t have any pictures from this time since i was busy working, but i will attempt to go into the most interesting parts. hopefully you have matured past only reading books with pictures, i know it’s a lot but we can get through this. you and me brother we can read like adults.

my group’s concept was made by kiri, one of the kcg students, and i largely just made the assets he requested. this did mean however that i had a pretty loose understanding of what game we were making. this gave me trouble coming up with a clear visual identity, which is usually what gets me the most interested in a project. i got through the first day having made one walkcycle and a background for a puzzle layout i did not fully understand since it seemed like no one could decide on the mechanics. the other group members also made do with what they could considering my lack of focus on their areas kind of left them in the dirt for an extended period of time. it was cool talking to the japanese students but between how tired they were, how tired we were, and the lack of direction and time on all sides, i don’t think we walked away with a decent game. i certainly didn’t make any good art, which led to more of a crisis than i would like to admit.

i remember at the end of the first day a few of the kcg students joined us on the bus and i struck up a bit of a conversation with the person next to me through the translate app. i explained to them what the american students were talking about, we talked about how japanese cities are different from american ones, he asked about my favorite snacks from when i last visited. it was really dark and i never got their name before they left, so unfortunately i never got to talk to them again.

this was by far the most enjoyable interaction i had throughout the game jam and i will remember it in the most detail. just. what a time we live in. i remember when i was younger translation apps barely worked for the most basic of sentences and now i can have a full blown conversation with someone whose language i do not speak. throughout the whole game jam the japanese students in particular seemed hesitant to use the translators, but i think once people stopped feeling ashamed about not speaking the same language it got easier.

being monolingual is, in terms of communicating on a global scale, a massive barrier to connecting with other people and it can make being in foreign spaces an extra layer of frustrating. if your country’s education system doesn’t set you up with the tools to learn a second language young, acquiring one later on is an extremely difficult and long-term commitment that most everyday people don’t have time for. english as a first language is a massive privilege in this time in history and i’ve been fortunate in my ability to lean on it in virtually every country i’ve been to. the kcg students likely haven’t had that experience, and i wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve had a negative experience with a frustrated english speaker, all of these factors can contribute to the hesitancy i saw on that first day.

personally, i am frustrated that i was unable to acquire a higher proficiency with my foreign language classes at the moment. not that being fluent in french would help me here, but in general it was my best shot at breaking the english box. whether i acquired it or not was largely outside of my control as a child, but in the classes i did take i really tried. the structure just didn’t speak to me, the workload of my other classes was too large, there was always a reason. donc, je pense je ferai un effort pour comprendre mieux aprés cette voyage, parce que j’ai fini avec l’école et j’aurai plus de temps. my dad taught himself to fluency in 2 languages after college. i have to believe it must be possible.

alright. this wasn’t really about the game jam but what can i say it’s not where my heart was. i was thinking about other stuff. hope it was interesting enough. ok seeya :2

that was a lot.

hey folks. i had a bad day. i’d rather not write about it but i don’t want to get in trouble or something.

i will first go over my thoughts on the hiroshima museum. i was already pretty well-educated on this event but of course it was a lot to take in. seeing the mundane, everyday possessions of people and then reading the graphic way their family members found them never got easier. war is probably one of my biggest fears and while i believe the existence of the museum is a necessity, this did make it hard to get out of my head for the rest of the day.

the next thing i remember doing was going to another shrine, but i was so dead tired from all of the walking over the past few days that i didn’t see much. i’m sure it was a lovely place but all i really remember was the koi in the moat.

[these fish were so cool. we threw ants from the wall surrounding the pond and they actually ate them.]

everyone went to the main building but i hung back to sit down for a bit. i looked up at the trees. had some empty thoughts.

[this is your sign to listen to entomongaku by chypho.]

everyone seemed to be in a tough spot so we pretty much went straight to dinner at the special okonomiyaki place. mine was very good but i wish i didn’t ask for pork, it didn’t add much. this wasn’t my first time eating this and every time i just kind of fail to understand the hype. like, this is a food. it’s fine. it’s not like it tastes bad, but it’s never an experience that inspires a repeat from me. i’m never thinking “man i would love an okonomiyaki right now.” but that’s ok. i think it’s good to have some foods that are only meant to be tried once.

[this tasted a lot like the okonomiyaki at my favorite japanese restaurant back at home. i’ve actually been learning how authentic that food is through this trip, it’s one-to-one with all of my favorites.]

anyway after that i lost my actual irreplaceable train pass and had a really sudden panic attack. steve handled it well but i hate that everyone knows what i look like when i cry now! really makes you just want to go in a room and never come out! haha. anyway bye :2

don’t uh. don’t read this one maybe? it’s so long i’m really sorry.

big day. big day big post. let’s get into it.

first thing on the agenda was the meditation and it happened.

[i present this image of the beautiful scenery with no comment.]

the next thing that was meaningful to me was the tea ceremony. while in the back of my mind i am aware that the existence of complicated dining customs are unnecessarily esoteric and exist to other people who are outside of an ingroup, there is no denying that watching a master demonstrate an expertly studied skill has its allure no matter what. at the end we had a candy that is traditionally eaten with ceremonial tea, which FOR THE LIFE OF ME i cannot recall the name of but i simply must have more. we also made our own tea at the end, which. you know i really thought i liked matcha but now i’m not so sure!

[i still like matcha. but maybe in a form where it is so diluted it is basically a neat aftertaste.]

my favorite shrine was the yasaka shrine! we were given a full 5 minutes to walk around and in that time i feel like i got a decent lay of the land, it had a bunch of smaller shrines around and i really wish i could have read the signs. the layout was overall really pleasing and it seemed like a great place to just pass some time.

[selfie? i’m gonna bring silhouettes back.]

for lunch the tour guide turned us loose in the nishiki market which had the best color scheme i’ve ever seen in an covered market. we were packed in there which made walking (and eating) very awkward, and i had a full meal of two (2) green tea ice cream cones. the environment was very unique and managed to be bright and colorful without feeling sickly, which, especially with green lighting is a major accomplishment. i appreciate everyone for letting me hang around, it was fun moving and planning as a group, even if it was complicated. after bowling we walked down this road again and it was such a vibe shift i needed to mention it.

[there’s a horror game concept in here somewhere.]

so. bowling. once upon a time i could have done this but my hands can barely draw and type let alone hurl multiple heavy objects accurately across multiple feet. i got through two rounds i think? but i was in a lot of pain and had to stop (still am? uh oh). not before getting a strike completely by accident though! neat. the bowling descended into an abstract art piece from here on where one of my teammates was determined to get a zero on every roll, and later put as many bowling balls in the gutter as humanly possible without knocking them in. it was an experiment in how much bowling can you not do while still participating in “bowling.” liam was doing well though, dude expertly outplayed a child and a cripple while desperately trying to get the worst menu in the world to feed us something 🙂 (dude deserves a medal. thanks liam.)

about the kid. i’m sure a few people noticed that i seemingly adopted a child during bowling who i was talking to more than my peers. kris knew a lot about fish, liked mudskippers, and wanted to be a marine biologist, but didn’t know you needed math to be a scientist. upon being placed in my team they asked me in the following order; my pronouns, if i liked googly eyes, and if i liked minecraft. when it was time to go, they ran up to me and liam with a giant meat-shaped plushie they won in a claw game in the arcade, and his dad asked us if we were okay taking a photo with him. their dad gave us a look like we were being nice and doing him a favor, which was kind but didn’t feel quite right.

i don’t know if you could tell from the everything about me but i don’t have the best relationship with my family. i never had younger sibling and cousins, and even if i could in the future it is unlikely that i will ever meet them. i am at a time in my life where i am uncomfortable with how little i can picture my own future, and what kinds of people i will be able to safely maintain relationships with. today made me so happy i could not describe it in a word.

:2

speedrun

hello. welcome to my first late post. it was bound to happen eventually but this was a hell of a day.

i woke up at a crisp 4:53 and had breakfast listening to the french tourists behind me talk about the museum they were going to. i really like the funny looking garden space in our hotel it’s unique and fun to look at.

[i wouldn’t call myself a competent french speaker especially since i’ve completely stopped studying it for 4 years now but it is genuinely very exciting to practice my comprehension with the tourists here. i truly wish i had more time for language learning but alas i kind of need to spend all of my learning energy on things that will get me a job at the moment…]

after breakfast it was full on off to the races. i’m gonna be honest everything was so fast and i got so tired that i don’t particularly remember a lot of the details, but i will talk about a few of my favorites.

the bamboo forest at tenryu-ji went hard. that was really an experience i couldn’t have gotten anywhere else. you don’t get trees that tall in most other forests, the feeling of being covered by something that tall was new. the bamboo didn’t grow like trees, with even spacing between them and their neat, even shape throughout provided a clearer view of the forest floor than usual. The thinness of the bamboo also meant that they bent more in the wind, with the small leaves above behaving in a fabric-like manner. i’m considering going too another bamboo forest on a free day. i don’t feel like i had as much time to process this as i would have liked.

[this area, like all of them, was very crowded. it was hard to get a good picture because we couldn’t stop, that’s gonna be a theme throughout the day.]

i don’t have any pictures of this but midday me, fabian, liam, and pavel went to a ramen place that was very small but inexpensive. this tonkatsu ramen was my first proper ramen in japan (i wasn’t into soup last time i was here…). the taste was good, although not too different from ramen i’ve had from home. it came with an extra korokke which was taken away before its time which i am legitimately still bothered by… (i think the server assumed i wasn’t gonna eat it because i didn’t put it in the ramen but ah… the disappointment…)

alright. last anecdote. this place is probably in everyone’s accounts due to its scale, but the kiyomizu-dera temple was unreal. like all of the places we visited, i really wish i could have had the chance to give this place the time it deserved. especially when it comes to these elaborate shrine and temple constructs, that were made to be contemplated and appreciated slowly, intentionally, it feels wrong to breeze through. to move so quickly that a steady, well positioned photo is barely achievable, let alone any reflection or deeper connection. i am aware that this is the nature of a tour, i suppose i just prefer to see a few things very well than many things all at once.

[you could spend days in this complex and the surrounding town. the scale was inspiring.]

this is more or less where my day ended for me. i was very physically strained and was struggling to stand up, so quickly after the movie at KCG i went to the hotel, ate a day old rice ball, and passed out. it’s been real. g’night y’all :2

12 am dot blog

i’m joining the league of cheaters who started early although i come to you today bearing little fruit. a few days ago i hatched a little man named patch and i have neglected him ever since. to be upfront, i’m not a fan of virtual pet games to begin with and i’ve been having a lot of real world to explore recently so this really fell by the wayside.

i think the premise of peridot is pretty dependent on taking the game outside but due to this app’s drain on my phone’s battery (that i need for gps and translation), patch is 6 days old and has yet to see the sun for the first time. not to mention when i’m walking around i’m focusing on getting to a train on time, or carrying the world’s heaviest luggage, or looking forward to the thing i’m going to see. pretty much the last thing i want to do is pull out my phone and complete a to-do list.

it could also be because my phone is a bit of an older model, but whether i’m on wifi or data i can’t play this game without a serious amount of lag. i’ll throw him a ball, the game will freeze, and then he’s brought it back already. this happens for virtually every interaction for me, it’s a nice surprise when it doesn’t. i suppose i’m having a hard time feeling organically engaged with this game but that might change if everyone on the trip suddenly starts going all in on peridot. i will say i genuinely feel bad for how little attention i’m giving patch, the guilt feeling is why i avoid these kinds of games to begin with, because the natural conclusion of all of them is that you move on and never come back. genuinely, i wish i had better news.

[patch in the dark void of a hotel room, the only home he’s ever known.]

it is well past my bedtime

alright people today we are blogging tired this is gonna be a weak one. a real iceberg salad of an assignment. no way around it unfortunately, i’m an early sleeper and this schedule is trying my patience.

so. today i woke up at five even to the sun streaming through the floor-length window in my room. i like it that way. it’s the most gradual and natural way to wake up, and evades the angry feeling an alarm instigates.

[the window as i left it. sorry i have no morning pics, i was busy being awake or something.]

i wanted to take a morning walk like i have been doing but i was worried it might not be pleasant due to a sharp pain that i noticed in my ankle yesterday, probably due to dragging luggage through the city and standing on the train to tokyo. the walk didn’t last long because my ankle was in fact, doing the thing again. it was more like a short limp to the nearest konbini to scavenge and hurry back to the room before anything got worse.

today’s breakfast mission was to discover the difference between melonpans. every time i go to the bread section of a konbini i always see a lot of stuff labeled “melonpan” but the appearance seems to be seriously lacking in melon. (i think now that maybe this name refers more to the shape/cut of the bread than the ingredients?) i got a green one with cream and a round one with a checkered pattern. indeed, only the green one had anything to do with melon, and the checked one was straight bread with a sweet coating on top i couldn’t quite place the origin of. both were good for their own reasons, but they both had a moist, squishy texture i’ve noticed in a lot of japanese breads. that’s my favorite kind of bread. beats the straight rocks that the french eat every time.

after sitting in the room for a bit and diffusing a breakdown over the leg i met up with everyone in the lobby. as much as i didn’t want to do more walking i did really want to see the aquarium so i joined the group that was heading there. fish are just free serotonin, i got no other way to put it.

this aquarium was pretty weird. the first thing we saw after buying tickets was a pirate boat amusement park ride and a small fish tank with a projection of sunny leaves overlapping it and the surrounding wall and floor area. it appears t0 have an association with maxell, a variety technology company, that likely had something to do with the exhibits’ liberal use of projectors. let’s just say i hope fish can’t see color or get headaches.

there’s a lot of stuff i could go into here but i think i will talk about the jelly room. my favorite thing about aquariums in my old age is always a good jelly room. no matter what aquarium you’re in you know when you’re walking in jelly because the whole vibe shifts from bright blue and green to a calm, meditative, black with tiny windows of color and a lofi playlist to sleep or study to (with rain noise). if they made an aquarium for jellys only i would go every week. anyway.

this jelly room was small in comparison to some other ones i’ve seen but it was really artfully done. there were mirrors on all sides, even the ceiling, with color-changing blown glass spheres dangling from the top that bounced light all around. the jellies were in their own color changing tubes and man i could watch these things go until the sun blows up. tickles the part of my ape brain that wants the dvd logo to hit the corner of the tv. the soundtrack was calm but melodic, and the sound played in my mind well after leaving. at the center of the room was a big circle tank that you could look through. i wish i got a closer look but it was a really good setup for a photo, i can’t blame people for going up to it but it did mean there wasn’t really a good time to get close.

[the aforementioned jelly room and my best jelly pic. i don’t really think green was this room’s color but hopefully you get the idea.]

the last Day Highlight is the really nice dinner that the KCG people treated us to. the restaurant was absolutely beautiful and the moment i walked in i knew this was gonna be a good time. if there’s anything you gotta know about me in the context of this trip it’s that i am a tempura fiend and after a stressful, painful day getting to sit down for an extended period of time and eat one of my favorite foods was really uplifting for me.

[i’m not much of a food picture guy but i figured this would come up. shout out to the people who gave me extra shrimp, really made my day.]

anyway. this hotel we’re staying in now is really nice and i’ll probably write about that tomorrow. it is 12 am though and i would like to sleep in it. onto the next blog. haha. i need to wake up by 5 tomorrow. hope the post was worth it folks maybe i can get to the next one earlier byeeee :2