SpoCha

 Several weekends ago, Millinophile went to SpoCha with some work buddies. SpoCha is basically several floors of games that you can play (at this SpoCha, you paid for a time, like 9 hours). This picture has a foam ball game where you shoot at the other team.

 They had a bouncy house full of giant balloons.

 A fishing pond stocked with real fish.

 A mechanical bull.

 Ping pong tables, and so much more. Millinophile particularly enjoyed the tiny motorcycle racing track, where you could ride tiny motorcycles around.

 A mechanical horse racing track. These seem to be really popular at casinos.

And, if you want to play for your ice cream instead of just buying it from a vending machine, you can!

Millinophile said the only downside was that lunch was expensive and tiny (like 5 chicken nuggets for $5). Also, it was raining the day he went, so the outdoor sports (archery, batting cages, etc.) were closed.

Daruma Doll

This Daruma Doll was a gift from Millinophile's boss, who is leaving Japan. Daruma Dolls are good luck symbols crafted from paper mache. They're supposed to resemble Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. You're supposed to make a wish or set a goal and color in one of the eyeballs. Once you've been granted your wish or achieved your goal, you fill in the other eyeball.

Transportation Festival

This past weekend, Millinophile and Chickadee headed over to the annual Yokosuka Transportation Festival.

 The first stop: cotton candy for Millinophile (note how it's been spun onto chopsticks).

 There were all kinds of vehicles there. People were standing in line so that their child could dress up as the operator of the vehicle (e.g. bus driver, firefighter, animal control person, motorcycle rider, etc.).

 This was the most popular attraction. The kids (with a parent) could operate a real digger. They were scooping things out of the pool and placing them on the mat. The pool was filled with little plastic balls and toys. The kids got to keep any of the toys they scooped out.

A cool phone booth Millinophile saw on the way to the park.

Kurihama Flower Park

Millinophile and Chickadee went to Kurihama Flower Park for their Spring Festival, but it was raining, so the Festival was canceled. On the plus side, the park was basically deserted. 

 So many bicycles. And part of Millinophile's finger.

 A shrine we passed on the way to the park.

 A giant field of poppies. You can come and pick the poppies in October, apparently.

 The other end of the poppy field.

 The poppy field from above. You can also see part of the city of Kurihama in the mist.

 At the top of the park is Adventureland, which boasts this large statue of Godzilla.

 "Endress Summer" Hydrangeas.

 Caterpillar!

 These water fountains are really hard to drink out of.

 The ocean.

 These smelled terrible.

 The greenhouse had all sorts of interesting succulents.

 This is a mutant daisy, with two flower heads on one stem.

 A chrysalis.

Fuzzy caterpillar.

 A beatle.

Some scary stairs we climbed down.

Adventures in Tokyo

Last Sunday we decided to go to Tokyo.

The church there (Nikolaido). The people were exceptionally friendly.

Since the church is near the Akihabara district, we headed there next. Akihabara is the electronics and anime district (it used to be strictly electronics, but the internet devastated the electronics components trade in Akihabara, and a bunch of anime merchandise shops moved into the area).

 

 A funny house we saw on the way. The sharp angle reminded Millinophile of a pop-up book.

 One of the stores that we visited in Akihabara had several stories of high-end action models/statues. The top floor had these figures, painted by expert artists.

Each one cost several thousand dollars.