We've been in Tokyo for a few days now, and have seen some cool stuff, but by far the coolest experience has been this mock fire drill for volunteer fire fighters we saw yesterday. It was sweet. The pictures hardly do it justice, but you'll just have to be happy knowing I experienced it all.

The gas pumps hang from the top of the gas station.

We visited some temples and Japanese graves which are awesome..those pics will be posted later. The people are in this picture because I had a special request asking for a pic with some people. For all you who have forgotten what Asians look like...this is what they look like...only in JAPAN!

For supplemental pictures peep Dan's website. Mad photos son!

Danvai.com/japan.html

coming soon:

MORE VIDEOS 

Views of Tokyo

video is cool

word up

See what I see . .

ADEK is a writer whose tag keeps catching my eye..Haven't seen consistent ups from anyone else yet

So, I've been posting a lot of pictures but I thought I would write a little to let you paint your own picture of what my experience has been like so far. As Dan took a nap I went downstairs at around 4 o'clock to do a little cardio. I packed a jump rope and a resistance chord. You would be surprised at how many muscles you can work with that thing. Anyway, after about 15 minutes of jump rope I brought it back upstairs. I was feeling really good. I went back outside and thought a good run through the neighborhood would do me well. I had all this pent up energy and wanted to see the sights and sounds a little more on my own. I found a really great park not too far from where we are staying. There must be a school close by because there were a ton of children out with their parents, and most of them were in uniforms. I found a good little routine to run with some killer hills. You'd like it dad, although some of the corners are really steep and it's a little tough to see if there are cars coming. There is a slight space for pedestrians to walk so you just have to hope the cars aren't speeding downhill. Tokyo is interesting that way. There are main intersections which are really busy. Tons of people and cars and huge walkways and crosswalks, but then you travel away from the main roads and it all turns into what feels like little villages. The cars and people share the same road, there are no electronic lights flashing green or red, no walk or don't walk signs. Take for example where we are living. When you walk out of the apt there is a really busy 8 lane road with a highway over it ( think blade runner ) but if you walk in the opposite direction, around the back of our apt. there is unusually calm tranquility. I really like that....

Hope these thoughts find you well - Nate

So, before the run, early in the day, Dan and I went to Shinjuku, which is a pretty cool place. There is lots of shopping and lots of sights to take in. These are only five of the many pics that I took today, but you get the idea. buildings buildings people people people...

Ok. So while in Akhihabara we stopped in this spot that had crazy dolls. I mean nightmare dolls. These are all the dolls that you dream about finding in the attic that then come kill you  with flaming torches. I have about 30 pics of these dolls but I didn't want you not to sleep anymore, so I only put up one...Mind you the first two pictures here are of naked doll bodies and naked baby doll heads that you then put together to create your own monster doll. AWESOME! Anyway, there are MAAAD people in Tokyo man, I mean damn! The city has a great energy though. Much more aggressive than I thought it would be which I'm liking. The one thing that I thought would really make me miss NYC is it's attitude, (which Tokyo doesn't have) but it does have its own vibe going on which I'm liking.

I'm still an American so I'm going to catch this debate on CNN....