Shinjuku is the heart of Tokyo. It's probably the first place people think of for nightlife, shopping, and dining, really without leaving the station proper, but make sure you walk around. Take the Kabukicho exit out of the station and walk around the that area.

Advise.

If you live in Tokyo for more than a month, you have probably learned the shuffle/waddle you use to navigate the crowds. It's amazing how this wears me out. If you come to Akihabara, and want to enjoy the atmosphere, by all means come here on a weekend and waddle around. If you want to shop for video games, manga, computer parts, anything electronic basically, I was here on a Monday at about 11:00 am and it was cheez-whiz.

I got back the end of the semester test and I did really well, 6th in the class! It's probably the best I have done on a test this semester. Today was the Kanji test, I think I did ok, but it was hard. I stayed up till 2 last night studying, and got up at 6 this morning to study more. Still I hope I break 80. Not too sure...

Lately I ask my girlfriend to read to me. When I listen to her read, it helps me with my pronunciation and flow. Also it reminds me of how pretty Japanese sounds coming from a native speaker, as opposed to the oral butchering it receives from me:)

The Foreign words always stick out to me. My teacher says that they sound cool to Japanese. I can do without them.

I hate proofreading. Anything I write, I never want to read again, I am immediately embarrassed by it. I wonder what that means, I've been like that my whole life. Lately, I have forced myself to confront this phobia, but this blog is a rather large step for me.

I went to see an exhibit on Buddhist statues at The Tokyo National Museum this weekend. Yes, I am a putz for not having been to Ueno before now. The museum itself is sprawling with (I think) 3 buildings, a Japanese garden, a park built around it. It's like the Met in NYC, you will give up before you see eveything.

Afterwards, we went to a little shochu bar in Ueno. There is a big market where you can buy clothes, souvenirs, and food. They will bargain with you and the whole atmosphere is loud and lively. It really should be on everyone's list if they come here.

Once I was talking to my girlfriend about how much I love my little neigborhood, as we were walking through it. She kind of shrugged and commented on the ordinary-ness of it. Japan to me is full of places like this, nothing outstanding, until you get comfortable in them, like an old pair of jeans.

It's a straight shot west of Shinjuku, and amongst the typical shopping, you can find little tiny alleys with 2 table restaurants and lots of unique shops. If you are sick of shopping, there is a great park that has random vendors in a flea market type atmosphere on weekends. There's a lot to see here, but not the same sensory overload as Shibuya, for example.

My friend from Hong Kong lives here. It's pretty far out there, from the city proper. But it's also pretty cheap to live, and there is a decidedly "spread out" feel to it. If you mainly spend your time in Tokyo, you may not have any idea what I'm talking about. It reminds me a little of South Carolina, the sky is a little bigger this far from the metropolis.

I walked here, because I thought it might be closer to my house then the station I usually use (it wasn't). It's a local stop, small and quaint, but with a health club, large sound absorbing wall near the station, and some upscale shops being opened. I walked around, saw a cool looking restaurant that I might want to go to (HananoMae, I think). It was pretty early, so I wanted to get coffee, and the only place around was Mister Donuts.