The rest of our week with my parents!

Well, we ended our week with my parents with a TON of excitement.  Mike took Thursday off, and we headed to the financial district.  We looked at the currency museum, which was actually more interesting than it sounds.  Then we headed to the Bank of Japan, but found out that you had to have a reservation to tour it, and the tours weren't in English...so we just looked around the outside of the building (it was designed by the same guy who designed Tokyo Station).  Then we stopped at an Indian restaurant and had lunch, and followed that up with a trip to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.  Their website and BOTH of my books said that they had free English tours at 1:30, so we got there at 1.  We found out that the tour was not in English, and that it was completely full.  Bummer, but we walked around anyways.  It was so quiet it was funny.  Everything is done via computers, so theres no need for the shouting and crazy hand signals that come with the NYSE.

 Then we headed to Tokyo Dome City, where we had tickets for a Tokyo Giants game.  We heard that the dome was modeled after the metrodome, which is kind of funny for you Twins fans, right?  It ended up being smaller, but still pretty similar in design.  That was the only similarity though, everything else about Japanese baseball is different!

 For starters, you can bring in your own food and beer!

This made Mike really happy!

 Then, the game started, and so did the cheering! There were bands (like pep bands) for each side, and every time their team was up to plate, the corresponding band (and fans) would cheer and sing the ENTIRE inning.  It was crazy! They seriously never stopped singing!

 Then, there were girls with kegs strapped to their backs running up and down the stands, selling beer.  Can you believe that?? I have never seen anything like it! We must have had 15 girls assigned to our section alone, so they were everywhere! Mike thought this was a better idea than a sweaty fat guy yelling at you...what do you think?

Dad was trying to photobomb my pictures:

This girl was my favorite, she was just so cheery!!

Then me and mom got some dome-shaped ice cream sandwiches...you know what they say, "when in Dome"...

 We left during the 7th inning to beat the crowds, and were rewarded with these parting shots of the dome:

Plus the entire amusement park that surrounds it (complete with a theater, mall, bowling alley, rollerskating rink, spa, and restaurants):

The next day, Mike headed to work and I took my parents to the Imperial Palace.  It was the hottest it has ever been, and the air was SO THICK it was unbelievable!!! But, we are tough, and we made it through! The lotus moat was filled with beautiful lotus flowers and lily pads:




Then we headed towards Ikebukuro to check out the Toyota Showroom and Tokyu Hands. We all bought some souvenirs, and then we headed home early to spend some quality time in the air conditioning with some beer.  It was delightful.  Then, Mike got home, and mentioned that there was some kind of street fair happening on our street.  We checked it out, and found that all of the restaurants  on our street had set up stands with food and drink specials...it was fantastic!
After sampling everything, we walked down the street and eventually stumbled across the reason for the festival, which was WWE style wresting, right there in a parking lot!!! It was crazy, and so fake, it was hilarious!


We watched the match until it was over, and then kept walking towards the end of the festival, where we came across all of these cute little kids in their yukata (summer kimonos).  They were so precious, and in this picture, they were using nets to scoop up goldfish to take home:

Then, on the way back home, we walked past a group of teenagers in their Yukatas (they seemed to still be at the age where they were nice to other people, and not angsty...yet), so I asked them if they would take a picture with me.  After I told them how pretty they were, they finally agreed! Woo hoo!  Here's me and my new friends:


After all was said and done, we headed to bed, and woke up the next morning to have breakfast with mom and dad before they had to get on the train for the airport.  Saying goodbye wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, because two days ago, we found out that we are coming home NEXT WEEK!!! That's right, America, get ready! We leave here on Monday, August 6th.  Woo hoo! I'm so excited to head home and work on planning the wedding!
Many people were worried about me after my previous post about being homesick, but let me just clarify that I think I have a love/hate relationship with Japan.  Sometimes, I do want to run away screaming. Other times, however, I'm completely amazed at how beautiful the scenery is, how polite the people are, and how well thought out some of their customs are.  So it's a mixed bag for me I suppose!
Having my parents here was one of my favorite weeks in Japan.  I loved being able to share the highlights of Japan with them, and, as they repeatedly said, they loved having a knowledgable tour guide to show them around...so it was a win-win situation!  Also, we got an e-mail from them saying that they made it home safely, so all is well.
Well, now we're just watching the Olympics and planning out the rest of our week in Japan.  Mike has tomorrow off.  We were going to go to DisneyLand originally, but when Mike found out that it was all rides (which he hates), we decided against it.  I'm not sure what he thought it was...but I'm fine with not going.  We might finally head to an onsen (public bath) tomorrow, so I'll of course keep you posted!
Have a great rest of your weekend!