A walk around Rokubancho (with a contest!!)

(Safty First!)

Today the weather was frickin awesome (warm and sunny) so Elspeth and I decided to take a walk around my neighbourhood while we waited for our hair appointments. We started by walking down to Hibino subway station where we tried to figure out what kind of overpass/off-ramp/bridge to nowhere they are building down the main street.

(A rooftop shrine)

We turned right and decided to go an adventure down a street we'd never noticed before. It turns out we hit the jackpot. Not only did we find a video store (where Elz picked up another taiko drum for her PS2) but we also found an electronics store, a UNIQLO (where we both found some clothes for Thailand) and a chicken/fish (??) restaurant.

We turned at main intersection and wandered over a bridge. We found the garden I had visited on my first day in Japan (Shirotori Garden). I never knew it was so close to my apartment. We chilled under some sakura trees, watched some tourist boats go by on the river/canal and Elspeth spotted the sign for a crab restaurant. We went to investigate and found an awesome place for lunch. So delicious!

(Yummy!)

After lunch we walked back across the bridge and spotted a frightening sight - a kid sliding down a slide...but not any slide....a slide that went from the roof of a building to the floor below! We found the entrance and discovered a weird rooftop park, complete with Astroturf, men playing mah jong, strange vents and the slide of death. Of course we had to try it and video it.

(The butt-hurting slide and the strange astro-turfed park)

Here's video of Elspeth going down the slide



Next I went and Elspeth was supposed to video it. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to use the video function on my camera and only caught me as I was getting off the slide (it killed my tailbone!).

* CONTEST TIME * We will send candy to the first person who posts how many times Elspeth says 'THE' and to the first person who posts what colour 'croc bling' she has (crocs = shoes with holes)(bling = decorative extra doo-da). Leave your answers in the comments section. HINT: pausing and watching multiple times may be helpful...muuhuuhhaaahaaa.



I had to go down the slide again so that Elz could tape more than me standing up. In this video I'm chanting 'this hurts' under my breath the whole time. Ouch.



We walked back to get our haircuts, ate Chinese food, watched movies (We liked 'Man of the Year') and planned some of our next adventures! Who knew my neighbourhood was so cool?!

Remember - post those answers in the comments section and you may find some Japanese candy heading your way!