Tomoko and I went to Tokyo to get her visa. The preperation for the visa processing was incredibly stressful, difficult, time consuming and just all around complete pain in the ass. However the actual processing was incredibly painless, none-the-less it is inexplainably expensive. We flew to Tokyo on Thursday night, went and did a mandatory medical exam and then stayed with our friends near Shinagawa. The medical exam took all of 10 minutes, didn't really check anything and cost 500$, classic U.S. healthcare bullshit, I suppose I better get used to it. All in all I think the only thing they actually checked was that Tomoko was in fact a human being and she was in fact still breathing, ie. not a corpse. After that incredibly simple process we spent the weekend playing in the city with her friends and others. Then on monday we turned in our paperwork to the embassy, paid a whole bunch more money, and got her visa in less than half an hour.
I guess we should be happy things went so smoothly rather than in a worse case scenario but my question is, why the hell did all this bullshit cost about $1,500? It was literally no more than an hour's worth of work for all the parties involved. Anyway, glad it is over and I hope I never have to go through it agian.
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One of the main streets near Akihabara station. Akihabara is like Nerd central in Japan. You'll never find a more nerdy group of dorks. In Japanese the word Otaku means dork.
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Hajime, one of the guys from my lab, and I went to Akihabara.
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Police in Akihabara are fucking gorgeous and the outfits are nice too. I'm pretty sure they only dress like that here, and in strip clubs.
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A banana seat....are you serious?
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Randomly I ran into two friends from UNCC in Yoyogi park in Harajuku. I haven't seen either Eri or Mari in over 4 years. At the end of the day we were walking home through yoyogi park and Eri saw me. They were both exchange students at UNCC. With 30 million people living in/around Tokyo are what the odds that you would run into someone you know. Let alone after four years!?!
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A fish at Shingawa Prince Hotel Aquariam.
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The crowds at Ueno park during Hanami.
8- Fuji-san from the airplane.
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Me at Ueno Park during Hanami.
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My favorite cafe at Hiroshima Univeristy, in the early morning, my last day at Hirodai.
11- Mayo playing guitar at Little Wing Coffee in a kimono.
12,13 - Yokohama Landmark tower, in Yokohama.
14- Master jamming out on guitar.
15- Yasahara-san with the bass.
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Shinagawa prince hotel aquarium. They have one of those fish tunnels where all the fish are swimming above you. I really like how the light is coming in at an angle behind me and lights the image so perfectly.
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Fuck man, if I don't look like my brother in this photo, eh?
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My wife is Otaku! Yeah! In 3 days she read 19 manga about wine. Here she is reading number 9. Reading manga isn't complete for her though, unless it includes a back massage.
19- Sakura in Yokohama.
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There is always room for one more building in Tokyo.
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Love the wheel cover...
22- Italian restuarant in Tokyo, I liked the vespa.
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Was in Tokyo for the weekend to pick up Tomoko's visa, stayed with some friends. Our friends said it was a cute photo.
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