わ たし は 魔女 Kristina です

Rachel was good enough to get us free tickets to Joypolis, a pretty cool Sega indoor amusement park in Odaiba, man made islands that have been turned into a strip of malls, arcades, futuristic onsen, amusement parks, and a huge ferris wheel.

We went the day after our last exam, which unfortunately, was in the middle of Golden Week, so it was packed, but we rode a sideways rollercoaster called Speed Boarder which was a lot of fun, kicked butt at air hockey per usual, played with fish, went into an attraction based on the movie Zathura, and watched this freakish 3D movie about a witch named Kristina. 魔女 (Majyo) Kristina took over this chapel and played with these demons before ultimately capturing the heart of the priest. She was hot. Can't wait for Halloween. I'll just mix anime babe with witch, and I can be 魔女 Kristina.

Oh, have to mention that while we were waiting to see 魔女 Kristina, we saw this restaurant that happened to have this huge inflatable cockroach-type thing next to the menu. The restaurant was all pretty and pink and kawaii and... *BAM* a cockroach! See for yourself.

Wish we could have done more, but the lines became too oppressive later in the day, and the push of the crowds and the roar of the megaphones got a little too much for me; we went to Decks, a mall next to Joypolis that's supposed to look like a beach boardwalk. My favorite part of Decks was a food amusement park called Daiba Hong Kong (Rachel and I went to one in Ikebukuro called Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City awhile back) that resembled the food markets of Hong Kong. As such, they had delicious buns filled with baked ham, which really hit the spot! Overall, a very fun and futuristic day!

[Photo of Joypolis by James Wong found here.]

Golden Week starts at DisneySea

This week is Golden Week, when four national holidays fall in one week, so all of Japan takes off and goes on vacation. April 29 is Greenery Day, May 3 is Constitution Day (fitting that I have my Japanese Law final that day, no?), May 4 is a "Between day," since by Japanese law a holiday falling in between two holidays will also be considered a holiday (nice call!) and May 5 is Children's Day or the Boy's Festival where families hang up carp streamers to pray for the success of their sons. I'm hoping that Golden Week means that Tokyo will be much more quiet and I can enjoy my last few days in Japan (before taking off for Beijing and then home!) in more relative peacefulness.

I started my Golden week with a trip to Tokyo DisneySea, a sea-themed off-shoot of Tokyo Disneyland, which is right next door. Those who know me realize that I have a love-hate relationship with Disney: I love most of their animated features (Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast being my favorites) and the music but I hate the rampant commercialism and the Disney Store and how kids are apparently brainwashed by the whole conglomerate. Yes, yes, before you call me Scrooge McDuck though, I decided to go to DisneySea (instead of Disneyland because we figured it'd be less crowded and we were worried about that because of Golden Week) because I was exhausted after a hectic week of finals. I went with Joe, Rachel, Jerry, Joe's friend Tomoko, and Rachel's friend Mutsuko.

The verdict? Don't waste your money. DisneySea has a few policies regarding some of their rides that I take issue with but will save the details for my complaints to management. I found most of it pretty boring and it's kind of sad that the highlight was a live show featuring a suspended Ariel from the Little Mermaid. But to prove I'm not a total killjoy, I will post photos of our escapades.