clumsygirl: art + craft + tomfoolery

We are back from Japan! I'll be posting some more extensive descriptions of our trip, along with photos soon... but I thought I'd let everyone (all five readers) know that I'm putting up all my photos, plus some of mrpants' and my sister's photos on flickr shortly.

Things I was surprised by:
How easy it was to get by with no Japanese.
Cicadas; they are loud and crazy making.
How much I was capable of sweating - I had no idea.
How quiet people are on mass transport.
That rush hour on the subway still wasn't as crazy as I expected.
That the suburbs in Narita could easily be mistaken for Beaverton, if you ignore the signage/language differences.
That EVERY young woman was wearing at least 4" heels, up and down stairs and escalators and through rain-slicked cobblestone streets.

Things I knew about, but still amazed me:
The humidity was intense. Hot weather, fine... humidity, wow!
There really are vending machines everywhere!
Tokyo is gigantic.
So much politeness.
The amount of crazy signage in Tokyo.

Things I loved:
Cold water in vending machines.
How beautiful everything was.
How clean everything was.
The cuteness of deer.
kareoke.
Hanging out with my sis for two weeks.
Nikola & Philippe, they should come to Portland to visit.
The Ghibli museum.
The cute! It was everywhere!

Things I didn't love:
pickled plum.
weird custard/gelatinous soup thing.
the amount of mayonnaise in things.
The strange lack of quality at some art museums.
typhoons and earthquakes.
Bug bites, for serious, I hate them. My legs are a mess.
Also, tripping over suitcases in the night.
Catching a cold.