Time Flies

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since Nancy left. We had a fabulous time while she was here. After she arrived last Thursday and dropped her bags at my apartment, we headed out to Tokyo Tower. A Eiffel Tower look-a-like only taller and painted orange and white (regulation for all towers in Japan), Tokyo Tower lets one look out over an urbanized landscape as far as the eye can see.

View from Tokyo Tower

After riding back down the tower in the elevator, we stopped for a pumpkin-flavored-cream-filled cream puff. It didn’t taste as good as it sounded, but the machine used to fill the puffs filled mine so full it burst and I had to lick a lot of cream out of the wrapper.

Filling the Cream Puffs

Our main stop for the evening was the Tokyo Film Festival. Nancy really wanted to see the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, Shut Up & Sing. To tell the truth, I hadn’t given much thought to their “controversial” comments about President Bush (at a concert in London the singer flippantly said to the audience that she was embarrassed Bush was a Texan). The movie chronicled the aftermath of that moment and how it ended up freeing them artistically. I am ever glad that we went, though, because the Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills do a fabulous half-and-half popcorn bucket…half butter-flavored and half caramel-flavored popcorn. We removed the divider from the bucket and let the two mix. Even though we had eaten dinner AND gone to another place for great cake, that popcorn didn’t stand a chance.

Happy Halloween!

Friday was a big day. Friday was the reason for Nancy’s visit. Friday was Tokyo Disney Sea day. Located right next to Tokyo Disneyland, Disney Sea is one of those places I would never visit on my own. It’s a good thing she came and we went because I had a terrific time.

Last year when she visited, Nancy and I spent a day at Disneyland. Although we had a great day together, I wasn’t too impressed with the rides. I wanted higher drops and sharper turns and zippier zips. The rides at Disneyland had none of that. However, Disney Sea is geared more towards adults and, hence, the drops are higher, the turns sharper, and the zips zippier. Even the food was decent. I enjoyed myself so much I even bought myself ears!

Inside the Disneyland monorail

Will you look at peanut butter in the same way again?

During the rest of her stay, we ate (and ate, and ate!) and hung out. It was nice having someone else to wander around with and to talk to. After I dropped her at the bus stop on Monday and went home, my apartment seemed empty and silent. On the positive side, her visit was the perfect excuse to take a trip to the laundromat to wash and dry sheets and towels.