Winter Holiday

I haven't written in so long, I guess I have to really make this one count.
So I went to some different places in Japan during my vacation from work. I went to Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara with my friends Kerri and Mia who came to visit from America.
Kerri and I met Mia in Tokyo on the 28th and went to Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills that day.
This is a picture of Tokyo from the 53rd floor of Mori Tower.

This city is freaking humongous. From the observation area all we could really see were buildings all the way to the horizon in every direction.
The next day we went to Tsukiji Fish Market, and the Shibuya neighborhood. The intersection in this photo is in front of Shibuya station, and is supposedly the busiest intersection in the world.

The next day we went to Yokohama which is another huge city next to Tokyo. The China-town there was really really cool. We had lots of good food and saw some neat temples. This was one of my favorite things we did on the trip.

The next night was New Year's Eve. We went to Zojoji Temple near Harajuku for the countdown. There were tons and tons of people there, all crammed into the walkway in front of the temple. Here's a picture of this.

I guess it's also traditional at a Buddhist Temple to bang on a huge bell 108 times before midnight on New Year's Eve. I heard that Buddhists believe there to be 108 earthly desires in humans, so they bang on the bell this many times before midnight to get rid of your earthly desires before the new year. Here's a really awful photo of the bell.

Most people were given balloons at the temple. They were supposed to write their wish for the new year down on paper, and then tie the paper to their balloon. At midnight everyone let go of their balloons.

Then, the second after midnight, everyone ran inside the temple and started throwing their money at these monks who were in the middle of the room praying. My pictures from this part of the night at the temple are so crappy they're not even worth posting.
On the walk from Zojoji temple, back to the station, we saw that Tokyo Tower (which is 3 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower) had been lit up for 2007.

Here's a picture of me and Kerri waiting for the subway to go to Roppongi after we left Zojoji. Believe it or not, we didn't even have a drop to drink that night.

I can't write anymore, I'll finish writing about my trip in the next post.