Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Taking a Quick Breather
Sorry I haven't updated the blog of our last 2 days in Tokyo, but rest assured there is good stuff coming shortly! I need to take a quick breather; because well, I'm pretty tired. Be right back.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Lost in Translation
Much like the Bill Murray movie, being in Japan and not speaking a lick of the language is very frustrating. Unlike Europe where I can get away with trying some French or Italian to the locals because I'm obviously an Asian tourist, being an Asian tourist here works quite the opposite. Everytime someone speaks to me in Japanese and expects a response, I can only give a good deer-in-the-headlight look and nudge Les to bail me out, and maybe a bow to acknowledge my uncoolness. Not exactly smooth.
Back to the trip, though, yesterday and today really was about shopping in Tokyo. Before that, though, as I mentioned earlier, we made the trip to Kamakusa on the outskirts of Tokyo to see another part of Japan that didn't involve shopping bags or video games. Out there, it was really much the small town feel, with the old train station right out of Memoirs of a Geisha. We had an interesting lunch called Okonomiyaki, which is a pancake that you make yourself on the flat grill at your table. If you've had Korean BBQ, then it's pretty much the same. After lunch, we check out a temple and giant Buddha statue, all while trying to stay somewhat dry in the non-stop rain.
Heading back to Tokyo, we essentially spend the next day and a half waltzing through Shinjuku, Akihabara, and Shibuya to experience the shopping and eats. Here are a few random observations:
- Retail workers take a lot of pride in their jobs. As you walk into a store, all the workers shout a greeting; kinda like you're Norm as you walk into Cheers. Everyone bows as you walk by, or greets you again. If you buy something, they will sometimes follow you out the door and bow again. Now that is customer service.
- The subway trains all have seat warmers, which is a nice touch.
- Blowfish is ok, but not as good as I thought it would be. The Simpsons lied to me. Tasty fish, tasty fish...
- Tower Records is alive and well in Japan. Did you know the first Tower Records started in Sacramento?
- Krispy Kreme donuts actually are very good here. I'm surprised since I had it once a few years ago and I thought they were way too sweet.
- Karaoke here is very high-tech. Unlike the states where they have to update their music books every few months, they have a computer system that adds songs automatically as they come out, and you just request them from a touchscreen pad in the room. Not that I sing or anything. btw, Les LOVES Madonna if you didn't know already.
- I think Shibuya's intersection outside the station is the busiest in Japan, maybe even the world. It's a multi-directional crosswalk that goes from 0-to-insane in 3 sec or less. I took some video of it. Also of note: the Starbucks at the corner is the busiest in the world.
- The bidet is actually kinda cool. Ask me how I know.
One last story to close off today: I had to get a back support thingy because my lower back has been killing me the past few days from all the walking and carrying a backpack. We finally get me the Phiten back support system that you wrap around your ab area which helps provide support, which works remarkably well. Now this is where I'm deciding what's more sad: having to wear what essentially is a girdle, or shopping for the same item as the 90-yr old women next to me.
Anyways, tonight is our last night in our hotel room, as we are heading to Hakone tomorrow morning for a 2-day excursion to the countryside for the hot springs. I'm not sure if there will be internet out there, so if the blog stays old for a little while, you'll know why.
Time to pack the girdle...
Back to the trip, though, yesterday and today really was about shopping in Tokyo. Before that, though, as I mentioned earlier, we made the trip to Kamakusa on the outskirts of Tokyo to see another part of Japan that didn't involve shopping bags or video games. Out there, it was really much the small town feel, with the old train station right out of Memoirs of a Geisha. We had an interesting lunch called Okonomiyaki, which is a pancake that you make yourself on the flat grill at your table. If you've had Korean BBQ, then it's pretty much the same. After lunch, we check out a temple and giant Buddha statue, all while trying to stay somewhat dry in the non-stop rain.
Heading back to Tokyo, we essentially spend the next day and a half waltzing through Shinjuku, Akihabara, and Shibuya to experience the shopping and eats. Here are a few random observations:
- Retail workers take a lot of pride in their jobs. As you walk into a store, all the workers shout a greeting; kinda like you're Norm as you walk into Cheers. Everyone bows as you walk by, or greets you again. If you buy something, they will sometimes follow you out the door and bow again. Now that is customer service.
- The subway trains all have seat warmers, which is a nice touch.
- Blowfish is ok, but not as good as I thought it would be. The Simpsons lied to me. Tasty fish, tasty fish...
- Tower Records is alive and well in Japan. Did you know the first Tower Records started in Sacramento?
- Krispy Kreme donuts actually are very good here. I'm surprised since I had it once a few years ago and I thought they were way too sweet.
- Karaoke here is very high-tech. Unlike the states where they have to update their music books every few months, they have a computer system that adds songs automatically as they come out, and you just request them from a touchscreen pad in the room. Not that I sing or anything. btw, Les LOVES Madonna if you didn't know already.
- I think Shibuya's intersection outside the station is the busiest in Japan, maybe even the world. It's a multi-directional crosswalk that goes from 0-to-insane in 3 sec or less. I took some video of it. Also of note: the Starbucks at the corner is the busiest in the world.
- The bidet is actually kinda cool. Ask me how I know.
One last story to close off today: I had to get a back support thingy because my lower back has been killing me the past few days from all the walking and carrying a backpack. We finally get me the Phiten back support system that you wrap around your ab area which helps provide support, which works remarkably well. Now this is where I'm deciding what's more sad: having to wear what essentially is a girdle, or shopping for the same item as the 90-yr old women next to me.
Anyways, tonight is our last night in our hotel room, as we are heading to Hakone tomorrow morning for a 2-day excursion to the countryside for the hot springs. I'm not sure if there will be internet out there, so if the blog stays old for a little while, you'll know why.
Time to pack the girdle...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Early to Bed, Early to Rise
Makes a person heathly, wealthy, and wise; and usually also pretty cranky and irritable. Waking up at 4:30am is not my idea of a relaxing vacation, but we are intent on seeing the famous fish auctions at Tsukiji (skee-gee) market. 1 hr later, we arrive at the fish market and it is booming and bustling with a barrage of fisherman, auctioneers, wholesalers, restauranteurs, and tourists.
Walking through an alley of fishmongers and trucks/carts with a strong stench of fish permeating the air, we arrive at our destination: the auction warehouse. Lined with hundreds of tourists, also carrying the Lonely Planet: Tokyo guide that brings them here, the auction area has restaurants, wholesalers, distributors all vying for the best cut of tuna and other seafood catch that day. There are literally hundreds of frozen tuna fish about the size of a park bench laid out in rows on the ground, and each one auctioned off to the highest bidder who takes careful approach to testing quality by observing, touching, and tasting the frozen fish. It's amazing how much of a different world that fish market is, and of course, at 5am in the morning.
The really exciting part of that trip though, is actually trying to get out of that auction area. Trolleys fly by at break neck speed, so like a football player, you need to keep your head on a swivel. Walk through an intersection without looking thrice, and you'll need to explain to your boss why you're in the hospital having been run over by frozen tuna.
We ended the morning by having fresh sushi in the area, where people line up for an hour at 7am already. I don't think you'd be able to find fresher fish, and the toro, or fatty tuna, was nothing short of awesome. If you don't like sushi, just imagine a pad of butter with fins, and you have toro.
After the fish market, we head over to Odaiba, the man-made island off the coast of Tokyo built about 10 yrs ago to draw shopping, entertainment, business, etc., but apparently 9am is too early for visiting. We head back to the hotel and get some much-needed shuteye before heading out again.
We eventually make our way back out to Odaiba again, and spend some time at the huge indoor mall and the Sega Joypolis center, a huge playground for kids and adults alike. Les and I play this game called Typing of the Dead, which is essentially a shooting game, but instead of guns, you have keyboards. To kill a zombie, you have to type the key sequences as they show up before they hit you. Les ends up beating my score, but I think I it was because all the words were in Japanese.
Next, we head over to the Toyota center, which is a huge warehouse that showcases their cars, prototypes, and even lets you test-drive cars! You can choose which model (I think 40 to choose from), and they'll bring the car down in their conveyor system, and you get to drive it around the bldg in an obstacle course. I would love to have done it, but it requires an international license, sadly. I was going to ask if the test drive included free unrequested acceleration, but I think the sarcasm would have been lost.
By this time, the weather goes south and rain forces us to head home. To cap off an exciting day, the usually reliable train system has a horrible convergence of technical difficulties, so service gets backed up for almost 30 min. Mind you, this is about 10pm, but the trains are still busy as ever. We get packed into our trains, shoulder-to-head, and I can barely find any sort of breathing room. It's tight enough that most people don't even bother holding to the handles anymore as the moshpit pretty much keeps you locked in position. By the time we reach our stop, I summon all my strength and lower my shoulder to force my way out; only to realize that I'm getting completely pushed from the back with more power and force that I could ever muster. I turn around only to see a sub-5' girl, weighing no more than 98 lbs, who was giving the business. Now that's good effort.
Fun day, tomorrow is a trip to Kamakura on the outskirts of Tokyo to see another side of Japan. Calves and lower back are calling for Icy Hot.
Interesting note of the day: if you ever want to look 20 yrs younger, go take those pictures from those picture booths for kiddies. They do some amazing stuff to your picture, and it makes us look like we're in middle school again.
Walking through an alley of fishmongers and trucks/carts with a strong stench of fish permeating the air, we arrive at our destination: the auction warehouse. Lined with hundreds of tourists, also carrying the Lonely Planet: Tokyo guide that brings them here, the auction area has restaurants, wholesalers, distributors all vying for the best cut of tuna and other seafood catch that day. There are literally hundreds of frozen tuna fish about the size of a park bench laid out in rows on the ground, and each one auctioned off to the highest bidder who takes careful approach to testing quality by observing, touching, and tasting the frozen fish. It's amazing how much of a different world that fish market is, and of course, at 5am in the morning.
The really exciting part of that trip though, is actually trying to get out of that auction area. Trolleys fly by at break neck speed, so like a football player, you need to keep your head on a swivel. Walk through an intersection without looking thrice, and you'll need to explain to your boss why you're in the hospital having been run over by frozen tuna.
We ended the morning by having fresh sushi in the area, where people line up for an hour at 7am already. I don't think you'd be able to find fresher fish, and the toro, or fatty tuna, was nothing short of awesome. If you don't like sushi, just imagine a pad of butter with fins, and you have toro.
After the fish market, we head over to Odaiba, the man-made island off the coast of Tokyo built about 10 yrs ago to draw shopping, entertainment, business, etc., but apparently 9am is too early for visiting. We head back to the hotel and get some much-needed shuteye before heading out again.
We eventually make our way back out to Odaiba again, and spend some time at the huge indoor mall and the Sega Joypolis center, a huge playground for kids and adults alike. Les and I play this game called Typing of the Dead, which is essentially a shooting game, but instead of guns, you have keyboards. To kill a zombie, you have to type the key sequences as they show up before they hit you. Les ends up beating my score, but I think I it was because all the words were in Japanese.
Next, we head over to the Toyota center, which is a huge warehouse that showcases their cars, prototypes, and even lets you test-drive cars! You can choose which model (I think 40 to choose from), and they'll bring the car down in their conveyor system, and you get to drive it around the bldg in an obstacle course. I would love to have done it, but it requires an international license, sadly. I was going to ask if the test drive included free unrequested acceleration, but I think the sarcasm would have been lost.
By this time, the weather goes south and rain forces us to head home. To cap off an exciting day, the usually reliable train system has a horrible convergence of technical difficulties, so service gets backed up for almost 30 min. Mind you, this is about 10pm, but the trains are still busy as ever. We get packed into our trains, shoulder-to-head, and I can barely find any sort of breathing room. It's tight enough that most people don't even bother holding to the handles anymore as the moshpit pretty much keeps you locked in position. By the time we reach our stop, I summon all my strength and lower my shoulder to force my way out; only to realize that I'm getting completely pushed from the back with more power and force that I could ever muster. I turn around only to see a sub-5' girl, weighing no more than 98 lbs, who was giving the business. Now that's good effort.
Fun day, tomorrow is a trip to Kamakura on the outskirts of Tokyo to see another side of Japan. Calves and lower back are calling for Icy Hot.
Interesting note of the day: if you ever want to look 20 yrs younger, go take those pictures from those picture booths for kiddies. They do some amazing stuff to your picture, and it makes us look like we're in middle school again.
Black is the New Black
So with Monday being our first full day in Japan, Les and I decided to really soak in the town and get right into the Tokyoian culture with a morning trip to Harajuku (you know, Gwen Stefani's song talks all about the place). Now Tokyo is the fashion capital of Asia, and I fully expected to see the outlandish and downright eccentricity of the place with costume play and peace-signing girls. And yes, it was exactly as I imagined it. Every single person was dressed like they randomly chose clothing pieces that had no rhyme or reason, but somehow it just worked. I'm by no means a fashionista myself, but after about 3 minutes in the neighborhood, I actually looked like the oddball out. Although I think I draw the line with the guys playing baseball in the alley with a tophat on. Now that was weird.
Nevertheless, Harajuku is a very fashionable shopping district with the likes of Prada, Coach, LV, and all of the other trendy boutiques you can find in NYC or Paris. Oddly enough, I saw a Shakey's Pizza on the main drag, which I thought was impressive since the last one I've been to was in Sacramento when I was 10 yrs old and had a birthday party there. I was, of course, drawn to the Nike store just to see what they have (it took us about 30 min to find the darn store since Google maps gave us the old location a few blocks away), but I was surprised that the new style is really the old '80s style...you know, with the flourescent green/pink tracksuits. Had I known that, I would've kept my old ensembles...who knew I was way ahead of the fashion curve?
Now, what is interesting is that even though Tokyo is very fashionable and "out there", there's a very distinct dichotomy with clothing. On one hand, you have the youthful crowd with the rainbow stockings, tall boots, tutu's, and tophats; then on the other, the daily workers with black suits, white shirts, and ties. I mean, no suits of any other color...just black. White shirts. Red or blue tie. On a subway, there's really a yin-yang thing going on, and it'll be interesting to see where that bridge meets.
Up next, Ueno Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. Hmm, I guess we are a bit early because there was only 1 tree in the whole lot that bloomed, and people were clamoring over each other to get a glimpse. It's sorta like Groundhog Day, and everyone is waiting to see when the trees bloom, otherwise it's another 6 wks of winter.
Ueno, much like every other city (or prefecture, as officially it is known), has a huge shopping area. A lot of shops, lights, arcades, and food. What I thought was cool was that they have shops setup right underneath the train bridge, so when you're walking inside the shop, the train completely shakes the place and merchandise. I kinda feel like I'm in a Mad Max movie or something. We eat at an Izakuya (a Japanese-style Tapas restaurant), and for kicks, I try out some dish that turns out to be (gasp) horse meat! Now before you get sick, it's actually not too bad, but nothing like chicken. More like chewy cow.
After a stop in Akihabara (electronics area), we head back to the hotel to get ready for an early morning venture to Tsukiji Fish Market. We'll see how that turns out after 7+ miles of walking today and horse meat in the system.
One thing I saw today: anime body pillows...they are long pillow covers with a anime girl printed on the front and usually in some provacative pose. These suckers cost up to $100 each, and I saw on the news that one guy married his pillow the other day. Maybe I can start importing them into the states...now that's a business idea!
Nevertheless, Harajuku is a very fashionable shopping district with the likes of Prada, Coach, LV, and all of the other trendy boutiques you can find in NYC or Paris. Oddly enough, I saw a Shakey's Pizza on the main drag, which I thought was impressive since the last one I've been to was in Sacramento when I was 10 yrs old and had a birthday party there. I was, of course, drawn to the Nike store just to see what they have (it took us about 30 min to find the darn store since Google maps gave us the old location a few blocks away), but I was surprised that the new style is really the old '80s style...you know, with the flourescent green/pink tracksuits. Had I known that, I would've kept my old ensembles...who knew I was way ahead of the fashion curve?
Now, what is interesting is that even though Tokyo is very fashionable and "out there", there's a very distinct dichotomy with clothing. On one hand, you have the youthful crowd with the rainbow stockings, tall boots, tutu's, and tophats; then on the other, the daily workers with black suits, white shirts, and ties. I mean, no suits of any other color...just black. White shirts. Red or blue tie. On a subway, there's really a yin-yang thing going on, and it'll be interesting to see where that bridge meets.
Up next, Ueno Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. Hmm, I guess we are a bit early because there was only 1 tree in the whole lot that bloomed, and people were clamoring over each other to get a glimpse. It's sorta like Groundhog Day, and everyone is waiting to see when the trees bloom, otherwise it's another 6 wks of winter.
Ueno, much like every other city (or prefecture, as officially it is known), has a huge shopping area. A lot of shops, lights, arcades, and food. What I thought was cool was that they have shops setup right underneath the train bridge, so when you're walking inside the shop, the train completely shakes the place and merchandise. I kinda feel like I'm in a Mad Max movie or something. We eat at an Izakuya (a Japanese-style Tapas restaurant), and for kicks, I try out some dish that turns out to be (gasp) horse meat! Now before you get sick, it's actually not too bad, but nothing like chicken. More like chewy cow.
After a stop in Akihabara (electronics area), we head back to the hotel to get ready for an early morning venture to Tsukiji Fish Market. We'll see how that turns out after 7+ miles of walking today and horse meat in the system.
One thing I saw today: anime body pillows...they are long pillow covers with a anime girl printed on the front and usually in some provacative pose. These suckers cost up to $100 each, and I saw on the news that one guy married his pillow the other day. Maybe I can start importing them into the states...now that's a business idea!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Right Angles and Video Games
Les and I walk around the Shinjuku area tonight to get a feel for the town, and it is just like what you see in Tokyo Drift: pure awesome. New York + Paris all in one. Lights galore, and food up the wazoo. Octopus fried balls are good.
If there is anything I notice right away being in Tokyo for about 3 hours so far, is that Japanese folk are very, very precise and attentive to detail. Why do I say this? Well, I ordered a small pork curry sandwich for a snack, and I have never seen a sandwich cut with such intense accuracy with the edges, shape, and size. They are serious with the Ginsu knives. When I ordered my fried apple pie from Mickey D's (which was awesome, btw), the cashier took an extra 10 sec to fold my bag perfectly, even though I was visibly drooling to get my hands on the goodie.
A lot of things I notice are also very box-shaped, and modular-like. Houses, cars, buildings, streets, etc. are somewhat all built to fit with each other, like Tetris. It's weird, but I'll try to post some pictures to show. Streets are very, very clean (no litter, and they have guys with brooms posted every block).
Video games are also serious business here. 6 floors of games at one arcade, and there is something for everyone. You have the traditional ones, like Street Fighter/Tekken fighting games, but then there's also Mahjong, picture booths, a giant Construx/ball-rolling machine, Soccer/Horse Racing, Magic (the card game, but somehow virtual now), and of course, DDR...Dance Dance Revolution. And when I say precise, after 30 min of watching these kids do 150-beat songs with MC Hammer-like moves on the pad, I didn't see 1 missed note. One interesting game here that is popular is the scooper/push coins over the edge machine (D&B has this with tokens), but replace coins with candy bars. Yes, Kit-Kats, Snickers, etc. I guess candy bars are hard to get here.
Also, Pachinko (the little steel balls slot machine/pin ball game) is not as fun as I thought. You get 100 tiny pellets for 100 yen (like $11), and you just watch them fall down random pegs for 3 min. Not as fun or exciting as DDR. But apparently the good players camp at the good setup machines and collect bins of steel pellets all day (which they can exchange for household goods, or money if you go to the Yakuza-owned establishments).
Ok, now that it is 11pm here, it's about 7am back home, so time to put the all-nighter to bed. Tomorrow, some aimless walking about town and maybe another fried apple pie.
FYI, Krispy Kreme donuts is a hit here. The line was out the door all night. I guess they need the sugar fix for the all-night DDR sessions.
If there is anything I notice right away being in Tokyo for about 3 hours so far, is that Japanese folk are very, very precise and attentive to detail. Why do I say this? Well, I ordered a small pork curry sandwich for a snack, and I have never seen a sandwich cut with such intense accuracy with the edges, shape, and size. They are serious with the Ginsu knives. When I ordered my fried apple pie from Mickey D's (which was awesome, btw), the cashier took an extra 10 sec to fold my bag perfectly, even though I was visibly drooling to get my hands on the goodie.
A lot of things I notice are also very box-shaped, and modular-like. Houses, cars, buildings, streets, etc. are somewhat all built to fit with each other, like Tetris. It's weird, but I'll try to post some pictures to show. Streets are very, very clean (no litter, and they have guys with brooms posted every block).
Video games are also serious business here. 6 floors of games at one arcade, and there is something for everyone. You have the traditional ones, like Street Fighter/Tekken fighting games, but then there's also Mahjong, picture booths, a giant Construx/ball-rolling machine, Soccer/Horse Racing, Magic (the card game, but somehow virtual now), and of course, DDR...Dance Dance Revolution. And when I say precise, after 30 min of watching these kids do 150-beat songs with MC Hammer-like moves on the pad, I didn't see 1 missed note. One interesting game here that is popular is the scooper/push coins over the edge machine (D&B has this with tokens), but replace coins with candy bars. Yes, Kit-Kats, Snickers, etc. I guess candy bars are hard to get here.
Also, Pachinko (the little steel balls slot machine/pin ball game) is not as fun as I thought. You get 100 tiny pellets for 100 yen (like $11), and you just watch them fall down random pegs for 3 min. Not as fun or exciting as DDR. But apparently the good players camp at the good setup machines and collect bins of steel pellets all day (which they can exchange for household goods, or money if you go to the Yakuza-owned establishments).
Ok, now that it is 11pm here, it's about 7am back home, so time to put the all-nighter to bed. Tomorrow, some aimless walking about town and maybe another fried apple pie.
FYI, Krispy Kreme donuts is a hit here. The line was out the door all night. I guess they need the sugar fix for the all-night DDR sessions.
13 Hours Later...
We finally arrive in Japan! It's about 4pm on Sunday evening as we land, but with the time zone difference, it's really about midnight back home. Not too bad yet, but Les and I decide to stay up as long as we can so we can adapt better. They say going westward for travel is easier than vice versa, but it doesn't mention anything about zombie red eyes or random bouts of narcolepsy.
We check into Century Southern Hotel in Shinjuku (the train station is the 2nd busiest in the world), and we have a pretty good view of Mt Fuji from our top floor room. (Yes, I wrangled some freebies because we are newlyweds and celebrating our honeymoon). Room is nice, and includes the highest-tech toilet seat ever devised. It has a seat warmer, a bidet, and some sort of spray thingy. I think it also has an ejection seat built-in so I'm afraid to pull any levers.
30 mins to relax before we hit the city tonight and get some food to eat. In the meantime, here are some random notes: -
- Public Enemies movie with Johnny Depp - good movie if you also enjoy watching water boil
- District 9 - weird, yet strangly interesting
- The Informant (Matt Damon) - Mix "The Insider" with Ocean's Eleven and stir. Result is a sweet cocktail with a bitter aftertaste.
We check into Century Southern Hotel in Shinjuku (the train station is the 2nd busiest in the world), and we have a pretty good view of Mt Fuji from our top floor room. (Yes, I wrangled some freebies because we are newlyweds and celebrating our honeymoon). Room is nice, and includes the highest-tech toilet seat ever devised. It has a seat warmer, a bidet, and some sort of spray thingy. I think it also has an ejection seat built-in so I'm afraid to pull any levers.
30 mins to relax before we hit the city tonight and get some food to eat. In the meantime, here are some random notes: -
- Public Enemies movie with Johnny Depp - good movie if you also enjoy watching water boil
- District 9 - weird, yet strangly interesting
- The Informant (Matt Damon) - Mix "The Insider" with Ocean's Eleven and stir. Result is a sweet cocktail with a bitter aftertaste.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Back to Japan after 9 years
I am so excited to go back to Japan after having lived there for 3 years. It has been 9 years since I have been back so I am sure lots has changed. I will be acting as a tour guide for David since this is his first trip to Japan. I am hoping I can put a check mark next to all of the things on our to do list:
Cherry Blossoms at Ueno Koen
Harajuku/Yoyogi Koen
Tsukiji Fish market
Kamakura (all day trip)
Akihabara
Asakusa
Shibuya
Karaoke
Ramen/udon
Convenience store – eat musubi, wakame soup, corn soup, and monoka ice cream
Vending machine (sodas)
Department stores – shopping
Uniqlo
Izakaya
Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake)
Taiyaki (fish shaped dessert)
Anime festival at Odaiba
Hakone (overnight trip)
Hope David is up for it! :)
Cherry Blossoms at Ueno Koen
Harajuku/Yoyogi Koen
Tsukiji Fish market
Kamakura (all day trip)
Akihabara
Asakusa
Shibuya
Karaoke
Ramen/udon
Convenience store – eat musubi, wakame soup, corn soup, and monoka ice cream
Vending machine (sodas)
Department stores – shopping
Uniqlo
Izakaya
Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake)
Taiyaki (fish shaped dessert)
Anime festival at Odaiba
Hakone (overnight trip)
Hope David is up for it! :)
Japan in T-minus 2 days!
It has been about 6 months since we left off with our homecoming from our honeymoon in Europe, so to keep this blog fresh, Les and I are going to take a 8-day trip to her home country of Japan! We'll be in Tokyo for most of the week, from March 20-29. And, of course, we'll be tugging along the netbook so we (I) can make daily updates of our trip, and maybe with pictures this time!
Traveling should be much easier this time since we're only making 1 stop this time, so 2 backpacks and a rolling suitcase ought to be enough. I'm not sure how Les is going to bring her clothes, but she's a smart girl. She is making all the arrangements (hotels, activities, etc) so all I really need to do is wake up, dress, and bring money. Not a bad deal for a vacation. I only have a few requests though: go to an arcade, check out a car show, eat sushi, play golf near Mt Fuji, and get cast into a Fast and Furious movie.
Next blog update will probably be in Tokyo when we arrive (assuming we get connection). For now, I need to study for finals for tomorrow, then I can start packing. But maybe not until after I play a few rounds of Battlefield with Allen and the gang.
btw, I fully expect to see Godzilla roaming the streets of Tokyo at some point during the trip.
Traveling should be much easier this time since we're only making 1 stop this time, so 2 backpacks and a rolling suitcase ought to be enough. I'm not sure how Les is going to bring her clothes, but she's a smart girl. She is making all the arrangements (hotels, activities, etc) so all I really need to do is wake up, dress, and bring money. Not a bad deal for a vacation. I only have a few requests though: go to an arcade, check out a car show, eat sushi, play golf near Mt Fuji, and get cast into a Fast and Furious movie.
Next blog update will probably be in Tokyo when we arrive (assuming we get connection). For now, I need to study for finals for tomorrow, then I can start packing. But maybe not until after I play a few rounds of Battlefield with Allen and the gang.
btw, I fully expect to see Godzilla roaming the streets of Tokyo at some point during the trip.
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