When I got out of work a few days ago, it actually wasn't raining, so I walked the few blocks to Sketchy/Awesome Shinjuku to do some exploring.

After a short while, Shinjuku became more sketchy than awesome, as I got tired of having flyers shoved in my face and hearing "Harro! Baybee!!" So I went to catch the next train home, but not before I got a couple pictures in:


I also have noticed that because of space constraints, stores in Tokyo often have stuff overflowing into the street, which occasionally means that you will see things like shelves of fireworks on the street with no one supervising them.
Oh, Japan.

Fast-forward to today. After recovering from yesterday's "celebration" of the end of training (Kirin Ichiban is wonderful), I decided to do a little more exploring around my neighborhood. Well, my apartment's location is even better than I thought, because a 20-minute walk can get me to the awesome monstrosity that is the Saitama Super Arena. Aside from the Super Arena itself, there's an underground mall in there, with bizarre sloped floors and little carnival rides, an outdoor courtyard with a stage area for concerts and food and souvenir stands, and The John Lennon Museum. I'll be sure to hit that up when I have some more free time.

I hopped on a train to go back to Omiya, hit up some conveyor-belt sushi for lunch, and walked to the Hikawa Shrine, which is a TEN minute walk from my apartment. It's not really a shrine, it's more like a huge park with shrines scattered around. I'm getting tired of writing, so here are some pictures:





The turtles owned the place. I was watching a crowd of them (and probably talking to them like a dork), when a Japanese guy and his friend asked to take pictures with me. I posed with one, then the other.
I'm famous.

It also might have had something to do with the fact that on my three-hour epic walking tour, I saw ZERO other non-Japanese people. This isn't to say that there are no foreigners around, but they all seem to be in the well-known commercial areas of Tokyo. When you're in the outskirts, especially in the residential areas, a foreigner strolling around is a little more weird, and I get the vibe that people don't quite know what to make of me. It's kinda cool to be so special, but what this also means is that I can't do so much as eat a meal without feeling like I'm being watched.

Alright, it's getting late. Tomorrow's my first day of work, in which I'll have some sort of "sub duty" until the official departure of the person I'm supposed to replace. Wish me luck.

Goodnight.