Bicycle Riding

As I have said before, public transportation is really big here. But also, riding bikes is very common. You see people on their bikes all the time on the streets and sidewalks.

My mom told me a few weeks ago that they have now made it a law that you can't ride your bike on the sidewalk because it is too overpopulated. I really agree because before that law, I was trying to ride my bike on the sidewalk to the mall- big mistake. I almost fell into a bush because there were so many people.

On the back of big bikes they have this thing that looks just like a car seat. They put their little kids in them and buckle them up. Also, on some bikes there is a car seat- like thing in the front on the handle bars. So three people can ride one bike. It's really cool.

Unlike in America, if you have a bike here and you live in an apartment or a condo you have to pay to park your bike. In front of our apartment complex there is a big parking lot for cars, and a long pavilion to put bikes under. You have to pay for a parking permit. The owner of the apartment complex gives you a sticker, which guarantees you a place to park your bike. This is because there are a lot of bikes, and not many places to park them.

There are people who's jobs are to patrol the bicycles. If you are parked in a public area too long, don't be surprised if you come out to find a ticket on your bicycle.

Tokyo Disney

Last Saturday my parents wanted to surprise my brother and I by taking us to Tokyo Disneyland. They said that it was going to be one of our last weekends together in Japan and they wanted to do something special. I had no idea how close we were to Disney. We took the subway and it was only like a 20 minute ride. Of course it wasn't the crowded hour so there weren't many people at the stations. Just like the Disney in Florida once you got to the Disney station you go on this train that takes you around the park to where you want to go. Well we decided to go to Tokyo Disney Sea which is different than Disneyland and they don't have the Sea in Florida. Once we got there we saw this huge globe of Earth that had water coming down it, like a fountain and Tokyo Disney Sea logo in front. It was really pretty. We went on a lot of rides like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Indiana Jones. They were all really fun. The cool thing about Disney Sea is that it's set up like the Mediterranean village. The center piece of the park was this huge volcano, which was the Journey To The Center Of The Earth ride. It's this huge roller coaster. So. much. fun. It was hard finding a restaurant because all of them were Japanese style food. But for lunch we ate at a New York Style Deli. My mom was born in New York and I asked her if this was what one of the delis there was like and she said that that is the best a New York Style Deli in Japan at Disneyland can be. And than for dinner we ate at Subashton's. Pretty much everything was in Japanese and sometimes with English in very small letters under it. So we didn't get much out of the rides that are suppose to teach you something and talk a lot. They also had gondola rides which was really cool. After half way on the gondola trip our gondolier starts singing at the top of his lungs something in Latin which has the Japanese accent to it. At about 5 o'clock my parents were tired and wanted to go home. So they left and my brother and I stayed at the park until it closed at 10. At 8 they had a firework show which was amazing. It was right over the "Mediterranean" river. My brother and I took advantage of the fact that everyone was watching the show and that the lines were so short, so we went on a lot of rides in that time. At 10 o'clock the park closed and my brother and I went home. By the time we actually entered our house it was 11:30. And that is our trip at Tokyo Disneyland Sea.