Todoroki Gorge (tokyo, japan)

My friends have told me about the gorge in Todoroki, so I have been wanting to go for some time.  Its a beautiful place pretty close to Tokyo.  My friend's friend planned the event, so I decided to join.  The weather was perfect and it was a great day to go to the gorge.   After the gorge we walked to a beer garden and tried some unique beer, beet beer and kale beer.  I had the kale beer.  For me, once was enough (I'm not much of a beer drinker). Then we went into the park and relaxed.  For some reason the first two people I took photos of didnt show up on my memory card......they were from Japan and Switzerland.  This is the first time this has ever happened.  Sorry guys, I'll have to get your photos at the next event!  The next day I walked around Asakusa and then went to a park near my apartment to check out the fireflies.  My friend and I went after hours so I was able to take a photo of one of the last fireflies of the season!

entering the gorge

nice reflections

really wanted the butterfly to spread its wings, but it didnt

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Australia

Germany

co-workers

everyone on the "hike"

explaining how to cleanse yourself before entering the shrine

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green, green, green

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Singapore

Japan

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green, green, green

starting to bloom

in full bloom

had to get a photo

beet and kale beer

chilling at the park

in a japanese garden

nice bridge

bamboo area

nice little stream in Asakusa

cute older couple

koi

one of the last fireflies of the season

Week of Covering

Last week I spent the whole week teaching at one university.  The campus was really nice.  The building I was in was the museum building.  The floor below where I was teaching had a lot of animals on display.  The floor above me had a lot of butterflies on display and had a clear beehive so you could see all the action.  The food at the university was pretty good and affordable.  I had a nice week teaching there.  Now back to my normal schedule.

baby deer have spots

bone display of a giraffe

apparently the giant seal lived at a nearby aquarium and when we passed away the aquarium donated it to the university

nice roses

the university had a beautiful rose garden

white tiger

it was fascinating watching the bees work

delicious meal

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Australia

really good steak lunch

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi (professional sumo wrestler)

*Awesome Story* 
So last night i went to a club in Tokyo for a salsa night with some friends. Then i notice that a Eastern European sumo wrestler walks into the place and takes the table next to where I am sitting. I recognize the sumo wrestler....I know I have seen this guy before, so obviously he's famous. He lights up a cigarette and the staff of the club goes to his table and tells him to stop smoking. His manager tries to send them away and let the sumo wrestler smoke. The staff wasn't having it and told them they could go outside to smoke. Then I see that the sumo wrestler and his managers leave the place. I have my kitty glasses and I want him to wear them for my blog so I go out of the club to see where they went. I see the sumo wrestler and I ask him if he can speak English or Japanese. He says Japanese. So then I tell him about my blog and ask if I can get him photo wearing my glasses. He says no and tells me that if I want a photo with him that will be ok, but he wont wear the glasses. I tell him that I have people from all over the world wearing my glasses and I have over 8,000 people wearing the glasses. He still says no and again says if i want a photo with him then that will be ok. Defeated, I still want a photo with him. HOWEVER, i ask him where he is from......AND he says GEORGIA!!!!! I tell him გაუმარჯოს which means cheers and i ask him "how are you" in Georgian. A smile finally comes to his face and he asks how in the world i know Georgian. I tell him that I lived in a village near Telavi and he takes my glasses out of my hands and puts them on for me. I GOT THE PICTURE!!!!!!! Then I ask his manager to take a photo of him and I. His managers ask how the hell I know Georgian. I tell them that I'm an English teacher and I tell them the name of the village i was living in, Karajala. They told me that they have never been to the village I was in. Never in a million years did I think I would EVER mix Georgian and Japanese!!!!! I am def gonna go to the sumo tournament in September and cheer for him in Georgian! ANND looking back at my photos from 7 years ago when I first went to a sumo tournament, what do you know, I took a picture of him from far away!!!!!!! His name is Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi (you can click on the link to find out about him).

too bad this pic is blurry because he's really smiling here!

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yay!!!

one of his friends or manager photo bombed on accident

picture I took of him 7 years ago!!!

back when i took this picture I hadn't been to Georgia yet, so I didnt know the flag

Monster Cafe and Ueno pond

I didn't have any plans after work on Thursday so I decided to open the couchsurfing app and see if anyone wanted to hang out.  I met up with some travelers in Harajuku and I thought they might enjoy going to the Monster Cafe, so I took them there.  To my surprise there wasn't a line to go into the place like the last time I went.  We were able to just walk in because it was a weekday night.  It was nice to see the difference between going to the cafe during the day on a weekend and in the evening on a weekday.  I was even able to get one of the workers to wear my glasses as well.

the center piece of the cafe

one of the workers

the other one

them dancing on the main center piece

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Japan

first lotus flower of the season

nice close up

second lotus flower

another close up

lots of carp and a turtle at the pond in Ueno

getting some sun

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