水族館

it's time for ANOTHER late update! this one's also a week old and i really am sorry, but it was finals week. i passed all my tests, though my big test i didn't do terribly well. i'll be studying my butt off whenever i'm resting from all my upcoming adventures this vacation. these are some of the upcoming entries i'll have up:

my x-mas here at the dorms
MOCHI MAKING WITH MY HOST FAMILY (so excited)
TOKYO
COMIKET
TOKYO
new years
TOKYO
and last but not least, TOKYO DISNEYLAND!

but that last one will come in january. once january starts, i'll be back in school for three weeks and then i'm off for three months! i'm REALLY excited!

anyways! on to my post here. the title says "aquarium" in japanese and that's exactly where me and my friends went. one of my friends had NEVER been to the ocean OR an aquarium so she was VERY excited and i was spazzing for her sake, getting her very pumped up talking about my times with friends back home at our amazing aquarium.

so we get to the place around 2 and have lunch and get all excited to see the ocean. it was so beautiful. and the port we were at was all decked out in holiday stuff. it was exciting! it was sweet because i didn't know we got a discount for something, but my friend did and told me to come back. the lady realized i was with my friend and gave me my money back as well as give us all discounts. it was really nice :)

once inside, we walk right into the dolphin area. there was a show getting ready to start and we were under it. it looked like there were a lot of people upstairs, so we stayed downstairs to watch the show on the t.v. and see the dolphins splash back down into the water. i was all giddy to see dolphins, but to see my friend look like a little kid on x-mas morning. it was so funny and i poked fun with her for it the rest of the day. it was great!

we then moved and saw a baluga whale and switched buildings to walk into the GIANT tank section where there were tropical fish, sting rays, sharks, tuna, and TURTLES! the best part was, at EVERY single section, i kid you not, every japanese person was saying (in japanese) "IT LOOKS SO GOOD!" or "I WANT TO EAT IT!" and certain displays actually showed what that fish looked like when turned into sushi or what not. it was HYSTERICAL! my friends and i laughed about it the entire time.

we then stumbled upon the fish of the past section and the section of "protect our environment". it was cool because the fish of the past part had HOLOGRAMS! and most everything was in japanese and english, so it was easy to understand. we found another section of turtles and right above was a food court where they sold turtle soup. my friends laughed, but i was sad. it just wasn't right...

the next section was a GREAT part of australia with the UGLIEST looking turtles ever. like, oh my god...pig snouts and long necks and just, ugh! so gross. we laughed until the aquarium said it was closing. we moved to the last part which was the penguin part. my friend, AGAIN, freaked out because she had never seen penguins. it was great and we named them for her enjoyment. we called the big tall one russia and the fat loud one america. those two were constantly trying to be the center of attention. then one of them, we named after a guy we don't like here at the dorm, and said it was funny because all the other penguins picked on him, including america, so we laughed and said, "THAT'S RIGHT! TAKE THAT! FEEL THE WRATH OF AMERICAAAA!!!!" so many japanese moved away, haha! that's ok, front row to the penguin exhibit. haha!

once we bought souvenirs, we headed outside to see the entire port COVERED in lights. it was beautiful. and there was a ferris wheel nearby (japan is OBSESSED with ferris wheels....it's the big date "thing" as well as the perfect thing to light up the night with) that just covered the area in these really pretty lights. it was so wonderful and we even went around the port area to look at the x-mas lights on some of the buildings and houses. (just for you dad, i said, "oh der's one")

in any case, here are some photos. all are on facebook.

PIG SNOUTED AUSSIE TURTLE! so weird...

it snowed today and i kind of got a white x-mas, but by 9 am (when i woke up) it was already all melted. i was REALLY sad...but hopefully it'll snow again.

either way, stay warm everyone!

~星子☆