…you go to a Home Depot-type store and while you’re there, buy a custom-made name plaque (20% off, even!) that mounts on the outside of your house, which takes a week for them to make… And then it needs to be shipped to the US, because you’re not there anymore to receive it…

Top line reads “karishakku”, which is pretty much how Kalisiak is supposed to be pronounced in Polish, except for the “u” at the end.

Then it’s “kurisu”, “hezaa”, “sutivan” (the “u” is silent, so that’s fine, but the “a” probably should have been an “e”; not sure what happened there, but it’s not a big deal), and last but not least, “taria”.

Oh, wait, or is that “You know you’re otaku when…”

Yeah, that must be it, because we also bought an audio CD in one of the larger department stores called Tokyu Hands… “JR East, The Yamanote Line”… It’s a compilation of the musical tunes that JR East uses at the train stations, typically to indicate that the doors are about to close. Here’s one of the tunes that we remember hearing many times while taking the trains: Shinagawa door closing tune.

Here’s the last couple of days worth of journal from the trip… Saturday the 12th through Monday the 14th.

This is Wednesday the 9th through Friday the 11th…

Well, unfortunately, I didn’t really have as much access to the internet as I originally figured on, so I wasn’t able to keep the blog updated. However, I did write out 30+ pages in the trip notebook that I carried pretty much everywhere we went, and now it’s time to start catching up… This is Saturday the 5th through Tuesday the 8th.

So, usually, when one visits a Shinto shrine in Japan, there is a ritual that is performed in front of the main shrine. A 5 yen coin is thrown into the offering pit - the gods like those because they have holes in them - and then you bow twice, clap twice to call the gods to you, pray, bow, and you’re done.

However, if you’re a gaijin (foreigner) who had a bit too much shochu the night before, and made bets that you really shouldn’t have in the first place, and you decide to throw in a 50 yen coin (which also has a hole in it), you might decide to get a little fancy.

(It’s a really big file, so I apologize, especially if you have a slower connection.)

(This really isn’t a good idea. Don’t try this if you ever go to a shrine in Japan. They will look at you funny. Really.)

I have been keeping a written journal of the trip, and since I woke up at like 4:30 this morning (Japan time) and couldn’t get back to sleep, I figured I’d put the idle time to good use.

This is going to be a very long post, but each day will be behind its own link.

Today we check out of the hostel (can’t say I will miss it, as the rooms are unbearbly hot and stuffy, with NO airflow at all) and then we’re off to Harajuku for the day, despite the forecast for rain.

Ended up in Shibuya last night, thanks to Ian, Chris’ friend from Nekochan.

Expect a huge upload of video and photos once we get to Mishima tonight. I will be glad to be able to use my laptop and the English-mapped keyboard instead of the one here at the hostel. I’m just glad I learned how to type correctly all those years ago.

Arrived yesterday afternoon inNarita and met up with Liz with no problems. In fact, the only problems we’re having is connecting the laptops to the Internet here at the hostel - which Chris just fixed by unplugging the cable from one of the broken computers here.

Pictures will be uploaded eventually - I have a wonderful video from O’Hare that proves that I still have a facination with toilets, LOL!

Got to the airport only a few minutes behind “schedule”, and were checked in quickly - and just in time, too, because when we turned around, there was a huuuuuuge line of people behind us.

The flight was happily uneventful. I was able to see UB’s campus when we took off, but I couldn’t find our house. :^(

So now we are at O’Hare, and willl be until our flight leaves. At 1 pm. Meh.

I even broke down and bought something at Starschmucks - but only a green tea latte. Their coffee is so horrible, even now I refuse to drink it.

I just couldn’t resist adding this cute Manaphy. ^_^

3:30 AM and the airport opens in an hour. Time to turn off the laptop and finish packing up. I can’t wait to get to sleep, but I doubt that will be any time soon. *sob*

Our flight numbers are United 641 from Buffalo to Chicago, and 880 from Chicago to Narita.