We made our own sushi!

We're very proud of our new found ability to make delicious sushi! We call this Tammy Tuna Tataki! I made a spicy tuna mixture. Steve made delicious sushi rice and perfected the rolling of the sushi and we all perfected the eating! It was great! Soya move over!

Star Festival in Hiratsuka

They sold gold fish by the spoon full! Wow! We let the girls get some at another stand...they were gold fish of a plastic kind! My kind of low maintenance pet!
Kimonos mixed in with modern...
Lots of people!

Streamers galore! The streets were decorated with hundreds of streamers!

Fish on a stick!

This man is making eel on a stick. Steve got some and it was wrapped up beautifully! It tasted okay. Steve really liked it!

We joined an estimated 300,000 people to celebrate the Star Festival. Romantic folklore says that once there were two lovers who only paid attention to one another and ignored their work. As punishment, the Emperor of the galaxy separated them and placed them on opposite sides of the Milky Way. The Star Festival celebrates the only day of the year that the "love stars" come together. We arrived at the festival midday to see streets lined with food stores galore. There was meat on a stick, potato on a stick, cucumber...on a stick, hot dogs on a stick....you name it...it came on a stick! We tried as much as we could! We finally, ended up in a lovely cafe (as much to get out of the heat and crowd as anything) and had a delicious sampling of fruit tarts and pie! Yum! It is a good thing we did a lot of walking!

Disney Sea

We had a great trip to Disney Sea! It reminded us a lot of Busch Gardens because of its Old World themes. There were many great rides and except for the Tower of Terror, we all went on them all! We enjoyed journeying to the center of the earth, helping Indiana Jones out on his wild adventure and even seeing Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid's Blue lagoon!

Steve and our friend Terry wanted to wet their whistle! What's new?! hahahahaha. Madeline and Gracie enjoyed posing for the camera.

Love those Minnie Mouse ears!

This volcano really erupted! Cool!

Inside the Little Mermaid's Lagoon.

We rode a cool subway with Micky Mouse shaped handles! It was a great day! We really enjoyed it! We even think we like it better than Disney Tokyo!

Shinjuku

The park was a melting pot for all kinds of performers. We enjoyed many of the small bands that played anything from reggae, jazz, Japanese Pop, to 50's swing!
Gracie and Madeline pose for the camera.

See what we mean by "wicked style?"


This guy really enjoyed the hugs!

Elvis rockers? We're not sure, but they use A LOT of hair spray!

Sometimes we just have to take pictures of the signs. Lost in translation...

Can you spot the Americans?

Way up high!

Gwen Stefani really meant what she said when she sang about the Harajuku Girls on her last album. They do have some "wicked style" to say the least. We went to the Shinjuku Shopping District today and walked the famous Harajuku street. We visited Yoyogi Park much like New York City's Central Park. Needless to say...it was quite an experience as the pictures will show. Tokyo is a densely populated city. At times, I shuffled my feet an inch at a time because that was all the room I had to move in the sea of people. The park was an awesome blend of cultures, smells, sights, and sounds. We went into one of the buildings, Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, and from the 45th floor we had a view of the city and park from above. What an awesome sight. Madeline was a little put off by the height. You just can't believe how many buildings, streets, and houses there are. The park is like an oasis of green against all the steel and concrete. We found many photo opportunities! What an experience.