Yet another weekend

Well this actually all started on Thursday, for a (introduction to Japan) class field trip. We were taken a few stations away from the base then were told to go and explore. The group I was with and myself decided on Odawara Castle. Lots of awesome history behind it. The coolest things for me were that I found the Triforce!!!! Apparently it was a emblem for the warriors and what not. Lots of artifacts displayed inside the castle bore the awesomeness that is the Triforce. If you see my pics you'll see some of the stuff in and around the castle. The elephant I snapped pics of actually bowed to me when I took a pic of it, which makes elephants the most awesome creatures ever (as if they already weren't.) On Friday I decided to go barhopping in Yokohama. Instead of heading in the direction of the shopping centers, we headed the oppisite direction of the station. First we came across this really ritzy Itallian joint, and the prices of drinks were just as ritzy. After that we saw a sign for a "European Pub" and decided to check it out. It was a story underground, a very small bar with a wooded decor. My friend and I were sitting beside each other in a small 3 ft cutout, very cramped to say the least. We had a drink there and peaced out. Right outside the bar I was smoking, and decided to interact with a older local man. Putting my Japanese skills to the test I think I came out pretty well. We exchanged names, where we were from, the weather, and how nice it was to drink in cool little places like the one we were at. Before I get further into the story, I only spoke Japanese to the bartenders/servers and locals this night. It was a good experience for me. Well after that we found ourselves in a small, classy, stylish bar. They played sports on mini lcd tvs on the wall by the tables, and projected it on a film over the window outside. Everything had a sleek, skiek look to it. The strangest thing is when we sat down, they served us cheese! I was thinking to myself "this has to be the best bar in Japan!" We discussed, drank, ate cheese, and I really enjoyed that bar. The drinks were reasonably priced, like $5-7 a drink converted from Yen. After that we went to a sit in resturant, where the drinks were even cheaper. But it was time for us to go back to base so we ate a small chicken finger basket thingy gulped our drinks and left. Now Saturday was the most interesting trip, to Akihabara. This place is known as the electronics district and they Otaku capital of the world. Every store was small like a mall store except for one thing, that's only one level of it. Some stores were a couple levels, and others were up to seven levels! If it was anime, a game, or a movie, you'd find it there. We went to a Cosplay Cafe (yes they are real!) and I hit the hardest language barrier since I arrived in Japan. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to say something that they could figure out. All the waitresses were dressed in sexy French Maid outfits, and spoke with cute little voices. The rituals behind getting food was a little strange though. You had to do some sorta Bishojo (pretty girl in Japanese) magical girl song and dance. Sorta like on lost in translation where Bill Murry was on the talk show and he had to make some sorta heart sign to the camera. Imagine something like that, but much more intricate. Well we walked out as "Level 1 Masters [My Master]" and a point card. On the menu it showed that there's mulitple levels of "Masters" and a card that corisponded with each level. A very cool experience. I'll be going back next time to shop for memerobilia and electronics. If there's anything you wanna know about Japan or anything you'd like me to explain more, just ask. Well I look forward to your responses and I can't wait to tell you about my next experience. Have fun