Turning Japanese Part II

This is another photo of the Shrine ("Tokiwa Jinja" in Mito). The plum trees were in bloom and it seemed like the whole city was out to see them. They're not quite as big a deal as the cherry blossoms, which are a major event every year, but still very pretty. Unfortunately my camera was having some issues.

We left the next day, March 28th, which we got to live twice, thanks to crossing the international date line.

Andrew and I got some beer and some sushi from the grocery store to have on the bus ride to Narita airport. Since we weren't hungover this time or in as much of a rush, we had time to peruse the gift shops in Narita and blow the last of our Yen on Pocari Sweat and some truly tacky crap.

Pocari Sweat is basically the Gatorade of Japan. I was told that it's produced from the fear sweat of the tiny Pocari, who are taunted mercilessly to produce it. Apparently some people will believe this. In addition to the name, Pocari sweat is an opaque white and tastes sort of like a canteloupe. With all those barriers, I don't know how it caught on, but I luuuuurve it.