Ameyayokocho

Yesterday, I decided to go back to Ueno to see some of the sights I missed the first time. I was super tired on the subway ride there, so I didn't stay as long as I had originally planned. I definitely saw some interesting things though! My first (and only) stop was the famous Ameyayokocho street market. I don't even know how to describe all of the bizarre things I found there. It had anything and everything you could possibly need or want. Alleys were filled with designer handbags, clothes, shoes, trinkets, fish, swimsuits, vending machines, and hundreds of people. It was very overwhelming. I walked pass one of those arcade games with the claw that you use to pick things up. Normally those games are pretty fun, but this one was filled with fake fish keychains. The entire machine had ugly fish about six inches long in keychain form. Who would want to win that?! I forgot to take a picture, so maybe I'll stop by again next time to take a snapshot. However, I did take a pic of the opening gates and some of the people and stalls.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this bag! It was literally calling my name. Oaky, this one is especially for you.

One of the reasons I was so overwhelmed was I felt like everyone was staring at me. It was probably a legitimate feeling considering I was about a head taller than almost everyone in the market. Many stall owners were yelling to the crowd in order to advertise their wares. When they saw me they would start yelling in broken English about how I would love their products. Many of the men cat called me and tried to get me to notice them with words like "baby" "honey" and "beautiful." It would have been flattering if I didn't feel so profiled and foreign.  It was so frustrating and annoying to be accosted like that. Mostly I ignored them by pretending to speak Spanish or Norwegian.

 I left the market after a fairly thorough look around. I didn't end up buying anything, but I'm glad I saw the spectacle. I relaxed after I left the most crowded section so I took a couple pictures of the subway running through the market as well as a pretty fantastic noodle bowl. The chopsticks moved up and down like magic. I'm sure it was a just a trick, but it looked pretty sweet to me. 

Here's a picture of my happy face because I was going back home away from the explosion of people.

When I got back, the sun was setting outside of the apartment. It was so beautiful!

 Liz brought home a care package sent from Jen, so we gorged on candy and she finally got to enjoy her Frank's Red Hot. Thanks so much for the Valentine candy and the water bottles and filter! It was a wonderful care package and the card was adorable, too. Here's how Liz felt after finding the Frank's...

Tomorrow, I'm going to explore one of the many art museums of Tokyo. Good bye for now!