3/29 part 2: please to not whiz with fear

[Transcribed from trip journal. Mouse over the pictures for descriptions and/or comments. Ph33r my l33t skillz!]

After Kiyomizu-dera, we took a bus to the Toei Uzumasu Eigamura Kyoto Studio, which was basically Japan's version of Universal Studios. We had a group picture taken, but I didn't buy one because I was caught mid-yawn. Lovely! I just hope some of the rowdier guys in the group don't draw a penis aiming towards my mouth, like boys used to do to unsuspecting souls in my high school yearbook. When we were leaving the picture area, Isaac was accosted by a group of adorable schoolkids who were drawn to his bright red dreadlocks. He engaged them in a game of janken pon and they screamed in delight. When we started walking away, they stood there and waved and called out "Bye bye!" I wanted to steal them, but was deterred by Japan's strict laws on kidnapping.





I went through the haunted house with two other tour participants, and it was suitably creepy, with blood-spattered shoji screens and mutilated mannequins. I walked past a Sadako clone, with long black hair hanging down into her eyes, and I bumped into her. She didn't move an inch, so I thought she was a mannequin...until I got about two feet past her and she began sobbing and moaning. She grabbed my shoulders and wailed "Doushite...doushite?" I screamed so loud I think I burst a vein in my throat. The guys howled with laughter, and I sheepishly slunk outside into the daylight.









After watching a samurai play and strolling through a Power Rangers exhibit, we took the bus back to the hotel. I dropped my stuff off in the room and set out to explore the huge underground shopping area by our hotel. I wasn't too worried about getting lost:





I bought several manga magazines and then I stopped in a convenience store and got a chicken and rice obento [boxed meal], a caramel pudding cup, and a Coke for my dinner, since I didn't really trust the hot food vending machine in the hotel:





Sorry, but I don't trust any meal that includes the instructions "Pull a string and eat it".

I sat in my room and ate while watching "Yakitate! Japan", an anime series about making bread, on TV. Now I'm going to take a hot shower and then pass out. Osaka tomorrow!

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GLOSSARY


Janken pon: Basically the "rock, paper, scissors" game.
Sadako: The name of the drowned girl in The Ring, aka Samara in the American remake.
Doushite?: Why?