Megan & I took a very odd trip to Japan. We went during our break for Lunar New Year (Jan 23-27). We flew in to Osaka, didn't really see much there though. We spent our first day in Kyoto which ended up being awesome! We totally loved Kyoto. We read that you may be able to see geishas there but didn't know if we actually would. We were just strolling down random streets and found this one where many people were standing around with video cameras, etc. We asked some foreigners what they were waiting for & they didn't know either.
So we decided to stay & check it out. Glad we did because we saw several geisha walking to their 'appointments.' It was kinda sad though because it was so crowded with paparatzi type people. (wonder if that's due to Memoirs of a Geisha)? Anyway, we had time to kill because we were taking the midnight bus from Osaka to Tokyo. So we arrived in Tokyo early the next morning, totally exhausted. I had started getting sick right before leaving for Japan & it started to settle in. I started feeling really bad, had zero energy. We checked in to our hostel & headed to Odaiba.
It was a beautiful way to see the Tokyo looking over the harbour by going on the Rainbow Bridge. 
Then we went to our hostel, took a nap, woke up & went to Roppongi that night. We ended up meeting this guy on the subway that tried to take us to the final day of the National Sumo Wrestling Competition, but the tickets were sold out. 
But we did end up taking a picture next to a sumo dude. We were utterly exhausted by that time so we went back to our hostel & took a nap. We woke up & went to Roppongi & saw the Tokyo Tower. 
We woke up super early the next day to go to the world's largest fish market. It was crazy! They just reopened it to foreigners b/c it had been closed due to people getting in the way, etc.
There were some crazy fish, etc there! Still alive & moving around & fish I had NEVER seen before! We went to a temple that was in our area, close to our hostel. We got did this fortune thing & Megan got the worst fortune ever! Seriously, it was kinda freaky. Little did we know it was a forshadow of what was to come. 
After that we wanted to see some Japanese Fashion! So we went to Shibuya & other surrounding areas. Lots of people out & about.
Fun to people watch! There was defintely some crazy fashion, but I don't think quite as much as I was expecting. They had some weird hairdos. Oh yeah, we ate sushi like 4 times that day. SO GOOD!!! We stopped by Yoyogi park but wasn't much going on. It's suppose to be really interesting on the on the weekend but it was a Monday. It ususally has alot of outdoor activities like people playing in their bands, music instructions, dancing, sports, parading gothic fashion etc. So here's were things get 'interesting.' We went back to our hostel to get our things to head to the train station where we were suppose to catch the 'midnight' bus back to Osaka where we were flying out of.
Well, we went to the train station, went to check out where we were supppose to catch the bus (just to see where it was), then went back inside to get changed for the night, etc. We were just killing time. Well, the 'midnight' bus left at 11:20pm!!!!!!!!!! We MISSED IT! And there were no other buses or trains leaving for Osaka that night! SO we would have to buy an expensive bullet train ticket the following morning. A pain to spend that money, but that was the least of our problems. Everything around the train station was CLOSED!!! The station was closing & didn't open back up till 4:30am. We thought about getting a taxi back to our hostel but it would have been incredibly expensive. So, we decided to go back to the restroom we changed in & sleep for a couple of hours where it was warm. Well, we got kicked out of there. We were left homeless for the night. So we started walking around, trying to find any place that was open. It was COLD out! Nothing, abosultely nothing. So, we started getting desperate & were going to settle for sitting on some steps going underground, etc. But everytime we tried a place it was 'taken' by homeless people. 
We didn't understand how the most densely populated city in the world could totally close down! Seoul has 24 hour places all over. Afer walking for hours in the freezing cold, we sat down next to a building & huddled together to keep warm. We couldn't take it anymore & finally found a Kinko's that was open. So we had to pay to use their internet, at least we were warm! It was finally time to head back to the station. We bought bullet train tickets & headed to Osaka. It was a relief to get on the plane! We made it!The trip was exhausting both mentally & physically! But we both agreed we had a really good time & loved Japan! The food was awesome! THe people were friendly. It was incredible clean there! The subway system was horrible, so confusing! I was greatful to return to Seoul's easy subway system! I want to return to Japan & go to Hiroshima. We liked Tokyo but wasn't our favorite. Megan & I traveling together....I don't know what happens, but something inevitably goes wrong. Even in Seoul, it's weird. We either miss our stop, go the wrong way, miss our bus, etc. I guess it keeps things interesting though. She's awesome & I hope we can take another trip together somewhere!!
