HOW WE GOT THERE: For anyone who so happens to come across this blog in search of actual, useful in formation about Japan (and Tsukuba in particular), I will chronicle our adventure starting from Ichinoya Dormitory. If you're coming to Tsukuba from Purdue, you will most likely be staying in this dorm. If when you first get here you think to yourself, "My goodness! It's so small and seems pretty old," stop yourself. There is no other dorm on campus better to live in than Ichinoya.
I rode my bike from Ichinoya to Hirasuna Friday night and stayed at Kira's. Hirasuna is much closer to the Tsukuba station, so it was strategically a better idea to stay over night at Kira's, and we wanted to watch South Park together. On Saturday we rode our bikes to Tsukuba station. It is imperative that you park in the designated areas. If you're going to be gone over night, find the parking areas near that station that you have to pay to keep your bike and leave it there. It's worth it because if you leave your bike in an area that you're not supposed to park in over night you'll get a citation or they may even take your bike. The only way to get your bike back if they take it is to go all the way to the Sakura Branch Office (where you will need to go to get your Alien Registration Card when you first get here) and talk to the people there about it, I think. There's some kind of office in that general area that handles bikes.
So, you want to ride the Tsukuba Express to Akihabara? If it's on a weekend, the cheapest and best way to do so is to go to the basement of Dayz Town and buy the weekend tickets from one of the machines for 800 something Yen one way. Remember: when you take the tickets, leave the package they come in. There's a repository for them. DO NOT TAKE THE ENVELOPE/PLASTIC BOX. What would you do with such a tiny envelope anyway? If it's a weekday, you may as well just suck it up and pay the 1100 Yen for a one-way ticket. It's very expensive, so planning trips to Tokyo for the weekend is a better idea. It's also important to remember that the machine in Dayz Town is only open when Dayz Town itself is open, so plan ahead.
Kira and I took the Tsukuba Express to Akihabara, then we took the Yamanote Sen to Ueno. To buy tickets for the Yamanote Sen (Line), you have exit the Tsukuba Express via 4 escalators then make a left. Above the ticket machines is a giant map of the Tokyo lines. Some of these maps have no English, so it might be a good idea to either write the Kanji for where ever you're going down or bring your Keitai (cell phone) and look it up by writing a text message in Kanji. By that I mean, you act like you're texting someone and the Kanji may come up. You don't actually have to text message someone. There are several different lines in the station. The Yamanote Sen is the easiest way because you don't have to transfer, but that's not always faster. If you're in a hurry, you may want to see if transfering would be quicker.
THE ZOO: Hooray! Ueno Zoo! The entrance fee is only 600 Yen. I love zoos, so it was worth going at least once. This is just for posterity, but on our way to the entrance Kira got crapped on by a bird. This is when Josh decided that she was the designated target of birds. They wouldn't poop on us because Kira was a far better target. This came in handy later when we were chilling next to some llamas and they began to have a spit fight. Spit fight doesn't really cover the amount of saliva that was being exchanged though. I don't know if you've ever seen llamas have a spit fight, but if you've ever played with the water hose outside during the hot summer you've simulated it. You put your thumb over the spout of the house while the water is flowing full force and it just sprays all over your friends or the lawn. That was what this spit fight was like. Josh and I went behind Kira to keep from getting hit, but we all managed to escape unscathed. It was at this point that Josh designated Kira the bodily fluid shield. She was to protect us from all animal excrement. She never agreed to it, but that was her title.
The llamas just before they spat EVERYWHERE!
There were two other zoo battles that we bore witness to. One battle was a flamingo face-slapping spat and the other was a kangaroo kicking contest. The flaming fight was really weird because they were all doing some kind of synchronized call and dance with their heads. Then they just suddenly stopped and started headbutting eachother. The kangaroo fight was entertaining because a tiny kangaroo was attacking a much, much larger kangaroo. I'd never seen kangaroos fight, but they use their tails. It's pretty cool. Josh is the commentator in the background of the kangaroo video.
So, that's all for now. I'll post more later! (Seriously)
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