The dearth of posts lately has been due to global travel compounded with my cold (which sapped any available cycles I might have had.) I stayed in Japan until Thursday. My cold got a little better so I was able to see a bit more. Koichi took me to Yohokama station, and the next day we went to Odawara Castle. The day after that we saw more of Tokyo and then on the next we went to Disneyland. The Lonely Planet says, "Despite the crowds and queues, no-one is ever disappointed. Ever." High praise indeed, but it was fun. It was also strange. Everyone there, EVERYONE, was Japanese (or maybe also Chinese or Korean). Despite this being a most American of destination, there were really no Americans there at all. (I actually didn't see many Americans anywhere in Japan during my trip, but what few were there had clearly not been lured here...) There were long queues, however. Really long, even for things like popcorn. Disneyland had this racket going where you could get these souvenir buckets filled with popcorn, and then get them refilled at various stations around the park. Each station offered a particular flavor: carmel (my favorite); salt; honey (yuck); curry(!); etc. Anyway, way too much effort was being expended on popcorn acquisition, but at least for the carmel one I thought it was nominally worth it.
Thursday was my last day, so after a quick jaunt to the Akihabara neighborhood ("Electric Town," where there are tons and tons of electronics stores selling everything from home appliances to individual transistors) and a lunch of ramen, we went to the airport for my afternoon flight. To California. Because what would a school vacation be without a Huey Lewis and the News concert? They were playing out in the desert past Palm Springs, another part of the world I'd never visited. After landing at LAX I rented a car and drove out there (with all the rain SoCal has had the desert was extremely lush and verdant). I am fairly sure that I'm the first person who has visited both Tokyo and Indio in the same day, although if I'm mistaken I'd be interested to know who else might have done this, and why...
Edit 3/15/05: Well this is sad. A tour bus going to the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio (where I was, and where I had a very nice time) crashed and at least one person died. It's such a random place where I was, and yet here it is, mentioned on CNN.com just a few days later... Very sobering.