Ironbound in India

Ok, today was probably one of the craziest days of my life. So you know that volcano that erupted in Iceland? Well as I was on my way home from Japan, sick and tired of Japanese food, and suddenly the pilot makes an announcement that we will be crash landing in Mumbai because of some ash getting stuck in the engine (oh joy!) so we landed, and I got out of the airport confused, and with no place to stay. I walked around the crowded streets for a while, then realized that I was really hungry. Luckily I saw a street vendor nearby, and I ran to him. He had all kinds of food at his stand. He had naan, and tandoori chicken, which looked pretty good, but what looked the best was the Punjabi Aloo Amritsari. Punjabi Aloo Amritsari is a potato type soup dish, and since it was the least expensive item on the menu, it was also my dinner. I paid the man, thanked him, and sat down on the sidewalk to enjoy my meal. I gotta say, that was some pretty darn good stuff! It had a savory, and spicy flavor that I just couldn't get enough of. I was sad when I licked the last drop out of the paper bowl, but it was getting dark anyway. I went back to the airport in hopes of finding a flight back to america, or at least a place where people speak english. Luckily, I learned that the smoke had cleared a bit and it was safe to fly. I booked a flight, and got on my plane and fell asleep before we even took off.

Jamazing Japan!!!!!!!!! Department Store!!!!

I decided it was about time I visited a Japanese department store today. I woke up at six o'clock in the morning, put on some clothes, which I later discovered were on inside out, and got a cab to downtown Tokyo. As I got out of my cab, a lady walked up to me and asked me if I had any Yen. I gave her some, and we started to talk. Her name was Lilli and she was a student in America who came to Japan a couple of weeks ago to practice her Japanese speaking. We both wanted to go to a Japanese department store, so we decided to go together. We walked around for a bit, and then saw this huge building that said Takasimaya. Lilli translated all of the words on the building and told me that it was just what we were looking for. A department store. We entered the building and the whole first floor was FILLED with food. We went straight for the candy(of course) and I picked the rice candy with the edible wrappers, and the candy that looked like sushi(but don't worry, it wasn't sushi)

We then proceeded to the next floor where I found a cool green and pink shirt that had animals and words that looked cool, so I bought it. Lilli found a sweatshirt that said, in English, The Rabbit is Past the Bear. I laughed and we continued on to the third floor which consisted of underwear and toys. We avoided the underwear, and played with the toys like third graders.I had sushi(duhh)back on the first floor, which was really good. We then decided to leave, because the store was closing, and went our seperate ways.

Jamazing Japan!!!!!!!! Fuji Q Highlands!!!!!!!

Today I went to the Fuji Q Highlands. The Fuji Q Highlands is a theme park with a bunch of roller coasters, so considering I absolutely love roller coasters, I was in heaven when I got there. I took a bullet train (YES!) to get to Fuji Q. Apparently EVERYONE wanted to go to Fuji Q today because it was so crowded in that train I could barley breath in there. When I was on the train, the waitress/train-person( I don't know what they're called!!) offered me an edible thing(ummmm....) and so I tried it, and it was disgusting! It was like some liquid that I was appearantly supposed to drink, but it didn't taste like you were supposed to drink it, it tasted like you were supposed to wash your hands with it. Once I was off the death train I really started to have some fun. When I got there, the park was practically deserted!! I went on everything! The rollercoasters, the water rides, even the little kid rides( I know I am so cool). I stayed at the park until 10:00(yawn...) and decided I was way to wiped out to take a bullet train home, so I took a cab to my new hotel, with an improved amount of space by about 25%.

Jamazing Japan!!!!!!!! Capsule Hotel!!!

Ahhh, I finally arrive in Japan. It was a relief to be on the ground after those long, torturous hours of being offered "sushi" (or whatever that stuff was) on a cramped plane with nothing to do. Once I got to Japan, I noticed an immediate difference between the Japanese people and American people. You see, the average height of a Japanese woman is about 5 feet 3 inches. Since I am almost 5 feet 5 inches, and am sometimes considered short, for once in my life, I was tallish. Anyway, for once, I wasn't tired, and was ready to start my day. The only problem with that was it was two in the morning. I guessed the only thing to do was check into a hotel. And what better hotel than a pod hotel! Warning: Claustrophobics should NOT stay in a capsule hotel. If you didn't already know, capsule hotels(or pod hotels) are these little capsules, about the size of any normal person in a comfortable sleeping position, with a bed a t.v. and some drawers to put your clothes in. The showers are in a shower room/bathroom. I got a cab driver who, thankfully, spoke English, and knew of many good capsule hotels around Tokyo. Right away he found one and I checked in, found a pod, and started to watch tv. It wasnt very interesting, so I decided to end my first day curled up in a ball, listening to japanese people arguing with eachother on my tv.

Jamazing Japan!!!!!!!!! Travel!!!!

total price	$880

Sun, Apr 11:	Depart 10:24AM Arrive 04:30PM Next day	Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA (SBA) Tokyo Narita Airport, (NRT)	United - 1 Stop Flight 6354 / 891 Operated by: UNITED EXPRESS/SKYWEST AIRLINES
Sun, Apr 18:	Depart 05:40PM Arrive 11:56PM	Tokyo Narita Airport, (NRT) Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, CA (SBA)	United - 1 Stop Flight 852 / 6848 Operated by: UNITED EXPRESS/SKYWEST AIRLINES

Jamazing Japan!!!!!!!!! words and phrases!

Hello: こんにちは

Help!:ヘルプ!

I don't speak Japanese!:私は日本語を話さない!

Ma'am:夫人:

My name is_____: 私の一流の______:

Good morning:おはよう

Good Afternoon:こんにちは

Good Night:おやすみなさい

Goodbye:さようなら