Shibuya, meeting Takako! Day 5

Friday, July 13th:

This morning, we left the Regina no Mori, and said goodbye to the staff, adn the giant bunny. Which, by the way, I found out is actually called a みみる(Mimiru).

All of the staff were sooo friendly. I miss them already! :(

Me and one of the kind waiters! ♥

Big Mimiru, me, and my stuffed Mimiru. :)

And again :)

The manager of the hotel! He was awesome.

Giving a goodbye/thank you speech to the staff.

A little gift that each of us received from the people of Fukushima.

It's supposed to keep away bad spirits.

We took a bus to the station, and took the Bullet Train back to Tokyo station. I bought a Japanese fashion magazine at the Fukushima station! I've become interested in their fashion in the last several months, so it made me happy. :)

While on the train, my friend Adam and a few other people he was sitting by did something really funny. He got out his Ipad, and typed, "If you understand Japanese, raise your hand," in Japanese. Whenever we pulled into a stop, he held it up to the window and tried to get people to see and raise their hand! It was tooooo funny.

Hahahahaha.

Once we were in Tokyo, we attended a debriefing lecture at the Olympic center. First we had lunch, consisting of a rice and shrimp bowl from a college cafeteria. For school food, it was amazing.

The debriefing lecture included a survey about our experience in the Tohoku region, and a group discussion, followed by a simple report from each group. Me and 2 others from CR got up and shared our notes to everyone.

We also went to an auditorium, and heard a couple speeches, then finally heard a song performed by a Japanese singer, who is friends with Sensei. She wrote the song about the disaster!

The auditorium

Singing her tribute!

Then we checked back into the Keio Plaza. On the way, I reminded Sensei about meeting up with Takako, and he made the plans!

After putting our stuff in our rooms, I went to the post office to withdraw more money. Then we went to supper, which was a western style restaurant. There was delicious bread, and a yummy main dish, with the best chicken I've ever tasted.

Yumyumyum chicken!

Everyone at dinner!

After dinner, we decided we'd walk around Tokyo, specifically the Shibuya area.

Honestly, I was looking forward to this part the most. Shibuya is an area referred to by the name of the nearby train station. It is filled with clothes shops, pedestrian streets, and along with Harajuku, is one of the main hot spots for street fashion in Tokyo.

We planned on taking the train from Shinjuku to Shibuya, and Takako would meet us at the Shinjuku station. To be honest, I was really nervous. I hadn't seen Takako for about a year and a half, and I missed her a lot.

Shinjuku train station!

We were standing and waiting for our train, and I was sort of spacing off, when Takako ran up from behind and hugged me! We became pretty close while she was in America, and she loved giving hugs.

She screamed, and I screamed and started crying. That moment is actually kind of a blur, haha. She turned and said, "Why are you crying?" I felt silly and embarrassed, but I was too happy to care. :)

Walking out into Shibuya was pretty breath-taking, because it was a complete picturesque view of our idea of Japan before the trip. Huge lit up signs, billboards, shopping marts, and LOTS of people!

A view of Shibuya. :D

More Shibuya!

A sign for a show we had seen on TV!

We went shopping around with Takako, Lauren, Adam, and Tara. It was so fun and cool. Takako and I talked about K-POP, and caught up. :)

Reunited!♥

I bought a bunch of accessories in Shibuya, and saw some awesomely dressed people! I saw one girl with a super cute outfit, walking with a guy. I got the courage to compliment her (which I had been trying to do the whole trip), and said, "かわいいふくですね～” which is basically saying, cute clothes! She and her friend giggled, and said thanks. Haha, it felt cool complimenting a stranger in Japan.

I also had my first taste of real Japanese ramen while shopping! We went to a little store, and ordered some. It was REALLY good!

RAMEN♥

After that, we were all pooped. We said goodbye to Takako, but she is going to meet with us tomorrow too! :D