Sailor Moon and Pokemon Galore

Our last full day in Japan certainly had the feel of "this vacation is wearing me out" syndrome. Of course, this is in the nicest sense of the word because we've had so much to do everyday. Today, for our final trip out, it was going to be no different.

We head back out to Odaiba to check out the Anime Festival (anime is another term for Japanese cartoons...think Pokemon, Robotech, Gundam, etc). I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm pretty sure that it'll involve excessive costumes. On the train heading out to the venue, we pass by a packed event with race cars, so we make an impromptu jump off and check it out. Turns out, a (surprise!) drifting event is underway and the top drifters are in attendance.

Now I've alluded to drifting a few times in this blog, so for those who don't know what it is, it is basically driving super-fast cars that slide around corners and make a lot of smoke. It probably doesn't sound too exciting, but there are 2 things I like about it: it makes for really nice-looking rice rocket cars, and really cool stunts. For instance, one event that we saw had 2 cars sliding into a small cramped space marked off by orange cones (like a parallel parking spot). The trick was to see who could slide into place without hitting any cones, and I would have to say it was very very impressive.

We then head over to the Event Center, which is ridiculously HUGE. I mean, it's probably the size of two SFO airports tied together. (It took us about 20 minutes to walk from the front door all the way through to the actual event on the other side) I mean, the whole event was enormous and extravagant: giant booths, actors dressed like characters, giant inflatable characters, huge screens, music, popstars all over the place. I'm guessing it would have been cooler too if we actually watched anime.

Getting late, I suggest to Les that we make one more pit stop to Akihabara (nerd's paradise) so I can do some last minute shopping. I swear, I really could spend all day in that area just perusing at all the toys, games, and electronics. Girls like to window shop for clothes; and guys like to window shop for toys. It's just that way; there's no reason to question it.

We then head to Tokyo Hands one last time to shop for knick-knacks; and if you didn't know, Japanese folk make some of the coolest stationary. We end up buying these neat mechanical pencils that spin the lead so that the tip always stays sharp and pointed in the middle, and pens that have erasers! I mean, the US may have muscle cars and tall basketball players, but we ain't got high-tech pens like the Japanese.

Back at the hotel, it's our last job to get all of our goodies stuffed into our luggage for the ride home. I even manage to pack a MickeyD fried apple pie so I can enjoy it back home in front of my jealous friends. Good thing we pack an extra bag for the haul...not bad for a week's worth of shopping. I must admit, as we pack up, I'm already feeling a little sad, but I know that if I do get nostalgic back home I can always turn on G4 and watch Ninja Warrior.