January 19th - THE HILLS

I bet you're all curious about what I did today, at least I hope you are. Today, I visited the Hama palace garden in North Tokyo (Station Shiodome - Oêdo Line). The entrance was, of course, not free. I don't mind paying for something, but it needs to be worth paying for. You know? So when I started walking in the park, I was disappointed. The purpose of a bridge is to take you to the other side of water, without getting wet. Well, there were a lot of bridges, but no water. It all looked so cheap, not as beautiful as the other park I visited last week.

The park got better once I walked further. I sat down on a bench to get some rest because I am really tired lately of all that walking. I am so lucky: the weather has been beautiful here, everyday sunshine with a cloudless sky. It gets cold in the evenings, though. On the street, I saw the cutest collection of mini-monks-statues! They were all dressed up as Snowwhite with a mini-flower-kite!! So cute!!

After visiting the park, I went to the Tokyo Tower: the Japanese Eiffel tower. The design is exactly the same, only this one is orange and looks more modern. Also, this one is higher: that's why the Tokyo Tower is in the Guinness Book of Records, not the Eiffel tower. But, I will always choose the Eiffel tower over the Tokyo tower because it is European and it's the minute. Everyone has to pay 820 yen to access the Main Observatory, you can also buy an extra ticket for the Special Observatory if you desire. I don't see the point of going to such a height that you can barely see a building: you just see a blur of everything. The Main observatory was perfect for me: it was overwhelming. Although everything looked the same to me, it was pretty to see. I would like to see Tokyo by night, so I will probably return in the coming 3 months.

I also had to study today, so I went to Roppongi. I had never been there, but it known for it's western vibe and many tourists. That was exactly what it was, so I didn't really like it. The only thing I liked were the "Roppongi Hills", only because it sounds like Beverly Hills. Japanese people adore America, really. They want to be like them, but not really. They try hard to be western like the Americans, but still want to be traditional Japanese: twisted. Roppongi was really modern, but it looked nice. I ate at a place near the station. I always feel so dumb eating all by myself, I would love to have someone to talk to. But whatever, everyone here in Japan is lonely.

There are a lot of pet shops here in Tokyo, where the cutest puppies and kittens are locked up. It's totally normal here, but I feel só bad for those animals. They all look so sad and when they saw me, they all look at me like: PLEASE, SAVE ME.. In that shop, I fell down the stairs.. Too embarrassing, but I blame the cruel people: I was in shock, haha.

When I went home by the metro, everyone was looking at me.. I am used to people looking, but not like this.. I was listening to my music on my Ipod and was busy with my Gameboy playing Mario.. In the break of two tracks on my Ipod, I certainly heard a familiar sound, really loud playing music. That's strange in the subway because everyone has to be quiet. But then it occurred to me: it was my Blackberry! It was playing my songs, and I did't even know it. I felt SO ashamed and I turned red like a tomato. They probably thought I was some lame tourist, but really, I didn't do it on purpose!!

Well, not a very special day, but it was nice. Tomorrow I will have practice for the tea ceremony and I will call some agencies and Disney (today the line was busy). So we will see how that works out.

By the way, I'm gonna go out on Friday with Anna, a friend of Tatiana's. I called her today, she sounded really Russian, but she actually is so she is forgiven. I'm looking forward to that: every new friend is more than welcome!

Now I'm gonna go to bed, I am so tired!

xx Steven