Saitama Stadium, Home of the Reds

So I finally got to see a real soccer stadium! It was my first time that I could feel like I was a professional player, even though I didn't even step on the pitch. I have been inside Memorial Stadium several times to watch the Huskers, and even played a soccer game on the field. However, I have never been shocked at seeing such a great stadium which football's(the real football) greatest players have stepped foot in. This stadium is now home of the Urawa Red Diamonds, but a few years back was one of the main fields used for the World Cup. As an unashamed David Beckham fan I even took a nice photo of his enlarged autograph. Then Rie and I did our best Becks and Posh impressions...notice the sweet shades. They are so sweet that the lens sometimes falls out.

Be careful of the cab drivers around Urawa station though. Our cabbie got lost and still continued to charge us. On the plus side, there is a station right by the stadium. When I say right by I mean, 1.2 km away. It's not JR lines however and you have to wait a bit longer for your train to leave, but the walk to or from the stadium is nice. This summer I hope to catch a game or two at the stadium, and if I'm lucky maybe even a Nippon National game.

More Asakusa

If you find this sake tasting booth, don't be fooled like I was. I was later informed that the more expensive white sake was non-alcoholic! What a sham! Oh well, it was mid-afternoon so I really didn't need to drink. As for the pigeon, he kept staring at me like I was supposed to give him something. So I hope he's happy that I gave him immortality on my website, which is viewed by about 3 people. You're welcome!

Tokyo, Take 2

Well I made it back to Tokyo for my winter holidays. I spent about 8 days down in Saitama, and travelled to Tokyo quite a bit. This is the first of my trips...I think. It has been about 3 weeks since I got back but I don't have a lot of time between work and snowboarding.  I even forgot to put out my plastic(PET) bottles this week, that means 2 more weeks of sitting in my apartment entrance.

Back to the trip. This first set of pictures  is from our trip to Asakusa. It is a wonderful area of Tokyo that lacks Japanese people. Actually, that's not exactly true, but there might be more foreigners than Japanese. There are so many shops with Japanese ornaments and dolls and such that it feels like the entrance to Disneyland. As we made our way closer to the temple I participated in putting smoke over my head and body and washing my hands in a public fountain. The temple was beautiful and the experience would have been more exciting on the 1st or 2nd of January. This is one of those places that you should visit if you are a tourist in Japan. If you come, look out for the giant poop on the Asahi building as you ride the train. Thanks to Kevin I got to see it. However, we actually took the wrong train, so I had to see it on our drive home from Roppongi a few days later. I think it's supposed to be foam from a beer, but everyone seems to recognize it as poop.