As I mentioned in my last post, I traveled after my internship in Singapore. Since the internship began before the end of my spring quarter classes, the 10 weeks were over by mid-August. Our fall classes didn't start until the end of September, however, so I had lots of free time! I have no idea when (or if) I will get another six weeks off, so I had to take advantage and travel.
Another classmate and good friend of mine was interning in Tokyo over the summer, so before I used my free flight back to the US (provided by my company) I made a six-day stop in Japan. My buddy was living outside central Tokyo, in an area called Warabi. Central Tokyo-ites think of Warabi as the countryside, but it's far from green pastures. My friend's apartment was within walking distance of the train station, convenience stores, and dozens of restaurants. The metro is a straight shot to the central station in just over 30 minutes.
I arrived on a Saturday evening and stayed through Thursday, sleeping on my friend's floor and mostly exploring the area around Tokyo by day. I've seen most of the touristy things in the city, so I wanted to get out to the surrounding areas. I toured Tsukuba University and the nearby mountain with him and another guy who both studied abroad there while in undergrad. Another day I also met up with colleagues from the Tokyo branch of the company where I interned; I had worked with them on one of my projects, so it was great to finally meet them in person.
Since these posts are nearly half a year behind, I'm keeping them short on description and heavy on the pictures. I also am starting up winter quarter classes today and want to try and finish the summer posts soon. I'll wait to post this and the next ones to spread them out, so stay tuned for Colombia! Here are some photos from Japan:
These first two are actually from my initial trip to Singapore in June, when I had a long layover and transferred from Narita to Haneda. On the way I stopped in Ueno for some quick sightseeing.
The rest are from my 6 days in August:
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Old bell tower in Kawagoe, about an hour
outside Tokyo |
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| Street in Kawagoe with traditional candy shops |
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| Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine |
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| Temple in Kitain Park |
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| Love to see the bball hoop! |
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Mile plus long walkway to another Hikawa
Shrine, this one in Omiya, Saitama |
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| Front entrance of the shrine |
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Another day I hiked to Mt Takao, which is only an
hour by train west of Shinjuku Station |
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More from Takao; its a quick getaway if you want
to escape Tokyo for a hike |
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| More hikers on the way back from Takao |
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View from the office where I visited some of the Tokyo branch employees;
the office is in Roppongi, and that's the Tokyo Tower strait ahead |
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I went with my friend and another of his buddies to the
Yebisu beer museum in Ebisu (not sure why they spell it differently) |
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| The temple at the the base of Mt Tsukuba |
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Starting our hike; it was nearly 90 degrees (32
Celsius), although still cooler than the week
prior, when temperatures topped 100 in Tokyo! |
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| View from Mt Tsukuba |
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| Tsukuba University, where my friends studied abroad 10 years ago |
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