The guests, so far

The newlyweds arrived on Tuesday.On their first day, we poked around Akihabara, had soba at the place that SYL and I found, they went to Ueno park (while I went to go participate in a focus group about what Americans think about transportation in Japan), and then we all met Mike for Indian food for dinner.

On their second day, we went to see a great photography exhibit by Michael Kenna at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Then, in the pouring rain, we headed over to Ginza. We spent some time at Itoya, an amazing 7-level stationery store, and then ate a very yummy Italian dinner.

The next morning our resident “Italian” arrived. Karen had a good, if long, flight. We jumped right into the Japanese experiences for her, whisking her from the bus station to a Japanese buffet lunch and then some shopping. We ate sushi for dinner, of course!

Saturday was a big day – we all headed in Tokyo—hoping the weather held—to see the Imperial Palace and the East Garden. The garden was beautiful – the irises were finally bloom and it was so pretty! Then, we headed back to Tsukuba in time for The Official Antti and Kate Sayonara Party. The party was great, and after the party we hit the karaoke box. We sang our hearts out for two hours (others stayed on for extra time, too!).Sunday we again went to Tokyo, this time to Harajuku, in hopes of catching sight of some of freaks. Unfortunately, since it was POURING rain, the freaks weren’t out in great numbers. Apparently being a freak is a bit of a fair weather enterprise. However, we still had fun shopping for various whatnot at Daiso and then buying neat socks on Takeshita Street.

Today, that group left for Kyoto. In a few hours, my brother and his friend arrive. I’m hoping to avoid doing the exact same things with them – although I will be going into Tokyo with them some of the time.