seagulls, seagulls, seagulls.

.....did I mention seagulls? on this boat, they were everywhere. people were tossing them ebi-snacks (sorry, I can't spell), and a massive flock/swarm just flew up, trying to eat the food. if you have seen Finding Nemo, imagine the seagull scene, but 10 times worse! one tried to eat my hair, our tour guides got seagulls in their hair, their hands, their fingers..........and Mom and Justin both got pooped on. I'm not kidding. there was poop everywhere! well, now I know why they call it the poop deck! I had to run inside the boat because I am a chicken (haha, I'm also a bit freaked out by chickens), and I was screaming. (If you have ever heard me scream, I bet you are just dying of laughter, imagining this scene.)

yesterday, we went to Sendai, where the big earthquake and tsunami were last year. it is a very beautiful place now. my dad was giving a chemistry lecture at the University, so a few of the researchers/grad students took the other 4 Castles on a tour of Sendai for the day! (note how I said for the day. we were there literally all day.) it was.......... must I even explain? long. exhausting. exciting. slow. nice. beautiful. I know, I know, I'm not making very much sense. but, it's pretty true. we woke up at 6 to get ready. we had to take the subway to Tokyo Station (more like "the human zoo with trains in there too" or "easiest place to get lost in"), and from there, we had to get on the Shinkansen, which we were on for about an hour and 40 min, and right after we got off, our wonderful tour guides drove us down to the bay, which took.......forever. I get extreme motion sickness without actually ever throwing up (which is almost as bad), and I left my Dramamine at home, thinking I'd be okay on the subway and the Shinkansen), and I was not ready to get on the boat. Well, thank goodness, we missed our boat! Must I even explain the relief? wait.........no. they decided to eat lunch while we waited. 1, it was only 11 AM (I don't usually eat until around 1ish), and 2, I was feeling extremely crappy. but it would be one of the only chances to eat, so I ordered something I didn't even recognize on the menu, but it looked like tempera (asparagus fried in breadcrums with shrimp). from what I ate, it was pretty good. not until this morning did Mom tell me that the stuff that looked like breaded halibut was actually eel.

the boat......I already explained. we were supposed to be looking at breathtaking views of the ocean and the islands, but SEAGULLS.

next, we drove for what seemed like eternity to a building where you could look out on the city. my stomach was disagreeing with the eel (I ate freaking EEL. I still can't believe it), and time was passing by so slooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwly.... okay, we'll skip all the slow, boring driving parts, and listening to Justin belt out One Direction in the car (which I admit entertains me everytime, and he could sound like them if he practices a ton more), and get on to the part where we went to one of the Shinto temples. Wesley was cold, so he stole Yuki, the girl grad student's scarf. the boys (child and adult) found some bamboo sticks and played Star Wars. it was quite hilarious.
we also drove up into the mountains (freaking killing me), went into this little craft shop and painted traditional Japanese dolls. Let's just say, I'm the abstract/creative/Asian/French/Mexican one.....

finally, it was dinner time. a breath of fresh air. Dad met us at a shabu-shabu place. he is always talking about how shabu-shabu is his favorite food in the world (he went to Okinawa, Japan on his LDS mission), but I've never actually tried it. it is actually really good. what you do is you boil Kobe Bryant in this nice sauce (oops, I meant kobe beef. in case you didn't already know, I am a Jazz girl!) along with vegetables. once the Kobe Bryant and the veggies are rescued from the boiling stuff, you dip it into sesame sauce, and dig in. for dessert, there was frozen yogurt. I haven't had that in ages! the researchers all wanted a picture.

and just like that, we were back on the Shinkansen to Tokyo! but first, Mom and I did some window-shopping (note how I said window. everything in Japan is just so freaking expensive!). it was a good experience, but it feels so good to be back!