Considering how many posts I had of photos for America/Canada I didn't want to bombard everyone with my Japan photos too quickly, but maybe I went a little bit too far in the other direction. Whoops.
This one is actually going to be pretty short* because I was mostly plodding through my uni work and missing any real photo opportunities but I did manage to have two spectacular days in particular**. I got to head back to Disneyland and this time check out DisneySea (which is exclusive to Japan) which was brilliant fun, of course. I didn't get there early enough to get the fast-passes so I spent much of my day in lines (the worst) but it was a beautiful day, the rides were exhilarating (and cold!) the food was scrumptious and I couldn't resist a souvenir or two.
Even more awesomely I got to meet Yurie, who has been my pen-pal for the past 15 years! We were matched up when I was in year 4 in Adelaide and taking Japanese for the first time. We wrote to each other (in English, which is probably why her English is flawless and my Japanese sucks) for years until high school got in the way and our letters dropped off. I used to lovegetting letters from Yurie, other than her being a super awesome chickadee with similar hobbies, she also had the best stationary and her presents at my birthday were brilliantly different from what I was used to (I've had a love for Japanese whimsy for years thanks to Yurie). Anyway, late in high school we got back in touch via email and then lost touch again, rekindled the friendship on facebook but were unable to organise a meeting on my first Japanese trip and finally, finally, got to meet this time around. It was a really great day and a half. We got to visit the gorgeous Studio Ghibli museum (if you don't watch Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki films then STEP ON IT), went shopping for anime and movie toys and merchandise, had a 7 course traditional Japanese meal and wandered around the Asakusa shopping streets and Sensoji temple. A massive, amazing wonderful couple of full-on days!
My lone DisneySea picture (the rest I lost, see below)
I can't actually remember what this building was for, but it had an art showcase down to the left.
Studio Ghibli, sadly you coupldn't take photos inside but trust me, it was pure magic
Studio Ghibli
Sensoji temple, Asakusa
Sensoji temple, Asakusa
Ueno Park shrine
*Partly for the reason I give above and partly because I just bought a new phone and when I moved all my photos off my old phone I apparently missed a whole chunk of pictures...pictures of the Japanese holiday variety. Womp womp. **That I can share with you. They were all pretty spectacular compared with regular life for me!
*20 books that are almost impossible to adapt - except that a bunch of them have been adapted and adapted successfully, but whatevs (Via Buzzfeed)
*David Sedaris wrote this essay about his younger sister's suicide and it's a really great aching read. (Via The New Yorker)
*Just in time for Halloween, here are 20 awesome horror flicks you can stream online for free. Definitely watch The Orphanage, such an amazing film, but if you're after silly B-grade horror you can't go past Sleepaway Camp, you have to see it to believe it. (Via Flavorwire)
*We all agree that Twin Peaks is amazing right? Well Mental Floss have a great article about how it transformed the soap opera into high art. (Via Mental Floss)
*I love when people re-imagine Disney princesses as something else, so I especially love this adaptation which imagines them as pop culture heroines! Aerial as Black Wids might be the greatest thing I've seen. (Via Buzzfeed)
*^^If you're cool (and I know you guys are) then you watch Parks and Recreation. If you're up to date you would have seen Patton Oswalt's Star Wars filibuster and I'm sure you appreciated the genius of it. Well, now you can appreciate it EVEN MORE by watching this animated version.
*Because it isn't a Monday Links without Disney, here are some famous Disney characters reimagined as college students (Via Buzzfeed)
*Don't like Disney? Well if you prefer The Joker and other pop-culture characters, then here are some fantastic illustrations of these guys and gals chillin' out. (Via Uproxx)
*I love, love, love sneak peaks at how authors write or edit their books. Here are a bunch of handwritten outlines to some of our favourite books. The details in some of them are phenomenal (incidentally I now realise why my stories never work!). (via Flavorwire)
*The English language is bonkers. If you've ever wondered why there are Ks at the start of knight and knife, or why other words seemingly make no sense or go back on other spelling rules there here are some of the answers. (Via Mental Floss)
*So Amazon is going to publish fan-fiction....John Birmingham discusses the issues and complexities that this latest project entails. Plus side though, HP FAN-FICTION FOR EVERYONE! (Via Cheeseburger Gothic)
*Moomins are awesome, there is no denying that, but did you know that they are also instrumental in helping us understand the complexities of life? Well here are 50 ways they do just that. (Via Buzzfeed)
*And in honour of the new episodes of Arrested Development (which I also get to use because I was told a sneaky trick to make Netflix think I'm in America!!), here's a supremo mash up of Arrested Development and The Godfather. It's perfect.
