After Kitakata, I had one day by myself, then on to one or two more days of couch surfing. Seems reasonable enough, except for one small fact: I'm in a town of 50,000, and I have absolutely no idea where I'm sleeping tonight. That's a very scary situation in which to be.
So, 30-pound backpack in tow, I struck off for the local train station. While waiting for a train, a complete stranger ("Yoshi", I found out his name eventually) came up to me and started talking. Apparently I don't look Japanese, and so people seem to think I speak English. Well they're right, so Yoshi and I struck up a [very broken] conversation: Where I was from (San Diego? Padres!), where I was planning on going, what I thought of Japan, what he was doing, and so on. It was a pleasant way to spend the time waiting for the train.
So I took the train to Wakamatsu, then took the slightly bigger train to Sendai. Great, I'm now in Sendai, and I don't know where I'm going to sleep. I want to stay in a place that's reasonably priced, yet can fit me in today. Fortunately my guide has a map! No hotels listed, but it lists an Internet Cafe. I set about navigating the city to find this cafe.
Matching up the map to the city wasn't that difficult, but once I got to where it should have been, I discovered I could not find the building. After much walking around, I determined that I was actually looking for a hostel, which I now suspect had closed down a few years ago. Instead, I found the Hotel That I Got From A Vending Machine.
It looked from the outside as though it had been pieced together component-wise: A square array of windows, all looking the same, meeting at right angles. The scenario went something like this: Put money into the machine (I put in JPY 10000), get change back (I got 4005 back), and get a receipt. There are two important numbers on this receipt: (1) Your room number, and (2) a code to get into the room, and to get into the building after-hours. That's it. No staff to hassle, no keys to get, no checkin, no checkout. All very business-like. Which explains why the overwhelming majority of those at breakfast the next morning were Japanese dressed in business suits. The sleep itself was fairly good, and I'd definitely stay in another one of that chain's hotels.
As for Kamoaosa: It was lovely. I got there by taking the shinkansen from Sendai to Akita, then taking the (gas-powered!) local train to Oga, then taking a bus to Monzen, at which point they picked me up in their car and drove me to Kamoaosa. That's remote.
The town is a fishing village so small it doesn't have a Wikipedia page, and as of publishing this entry, has 94 entries. I'm sure it has a few more now. My hosts there were absolutely wonderful: They have a spare guesthouse they let me stay in, they fed me dinner, and they loaned me bedding.
On the first day, they let me go out and claim a rock for myself, upon which I sat for a good long while decompressing from the stress of the past few days. On the second day, they loaned me shorts, a shirt, gloves, socks, shoes, a bag, a floatey, a screwdriver, a mask, and a snorkel, and they took me diving for shellfish. The water was warm, and the shellfish were pretty. We saw baby fugu, but didn't do anything with them. Also, from a distance, urchin look just like soot sprites.
I ended up staying for two nights, as one night just wasn't enough. It was definitely worth it. My two couchsurfing hosts definitely made this visit one of the high points of the trip.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Kitakata, and my first Couch Surfing experience
After getting over my initial shock of "Huh. I'm in a country where I don't understand the language, and now I'm all alone," I got down to the business of travelling.
Tired, I took the long way home from the airport. The very long way home. The parting happened at 5, so I waited in the station until the train arrived at 6. Then I stayed on the train until it reached Chiba (around 7), then waited for a train to Akihabara, where I arrived at around 8:10. I very quickly found Super Potato (it's 5 storeys, has 6-foot-tall Pac Man and Mario sprites on the front, and emits NES music,) which closed at 8. Oh well, now I knew where to go for the next time I'm in Tokyo.
The next day I struck out early for Kitakata. I took a train from Ueno station to Sendai, then a smaller train to Wakamatsu (which is oh so much fun to say!) My Couch Surfing contact said he'd meet me at 5. It was now noon. Huh. I had time to kill.
So I stashed my backpack and wandered the town. I found a fort that had been destroyed in the 1800s and rebuilt in the 1960s. I found an open wireless access point. I found a retro videogame shop. I found a very uninteresting used clothing store. And I found lunch.
In case I haven't mentioned it before: Japanese have a thing for plastic food. It's a brilliant idea: put plastic representations of the menu in front of the store to entice people to know what they're ordering in advance. As I was hungry (and still somewhat culture-shocked,) I didn't want to bother with the trans-lingual ordering. So I pulled out my camera, took a picture of the plastic representation, went in, pointed to the screen, and pointed. Lo and behold, a real version of the dish appeared on my table! Tasty.
Around 5:30 my CS host shows up. He's had a long day, and it's raining, and the restaurant he wanted to go to is closed. So we decide to get sushi (which was fairly tasty), then go to an onsen (which was a good experience). Afterwards, we headed back to his house, and were promptly wrangled by some of his Japanese friends to go work on a float for an upcoming festival.
The float was, in actuality, a car covered in cardboard. Our task was to cover the cardboard with double-stick tape, then put futon foam on the tape, making it look like a cloud. Their unofficial task was to (1) help with the tape and futon material, (2) chat, (3) smoke, and (4) provide and drink sake. Neither of us Americans (myself or my CS host from Las Vegas) smoked, but we did do all of the rest. Oh boy did we. Eventually we all finished the bottle of sake, at which point they took out "Chuo" (I believe it's called), which is made from [unfermented] potatoes. That was tasty. Then they took out "The hundredth best sake in Japan," (apparently is a common moniker), which we also drank. It, too, was tasty.
At around midnight, we decided that it was just about time to head home, and we bid my newfound friends "Sayonara" and stumbled home. That was a good nights' sleep.
Next time: The hotel room I got from a vending machine, and my visit to a very small town.
Tired, I took the long way home from the airport. The very long way home. The parting happened at 5, so I waited in the station until the train arrived at 6. Then I stayed on the train until it reached Chiba (around 7), then waited for a train to Akihabara, where I arrived at around 8:10. I very quickly found Super Potato (it's 5 storeys, has 6-foot-tall Pac Man and Mario sprites on the front, and emits NES music,) which closed at 8. Oh well, now I knew where to go for the next time I'm in Tokyo.
The next day I struck out early for Kitakata. I took a train from Ueno station to Sendai, then a smaller train to Wakamatsu (which is oh so much fun to say!) My Couch Surfing contact said he'd meet me at 5. It was now noon. Huh. I had time to kill.
So I stashed my backpack and wandered the town. I found a fort that had been destroyed in the 1800s and rebuilt in the 1960s. I found an open wireless access point. I found a retro videogame shop. I found a very uninteresting used clothing store. And I found lunch.
In case I haven't mentioned it before: Japanese have a thing for plastic food. It's a brilliant idea: put plastic representations of the menu in front of the store to entice people to know what they're ordering in advance. As I was hungry (and still somewhat culture-shocked,) I didn't want to bother with the trans-lingual ordering. So I pulled out my camera, took a picture of the plastic representation, went in, pointed to the screen, and pointed. Lo and behold, a real version of the dish appeared on my table! Tasty.
Around 5:30 my CS host shows up. He's had a long day, and it's raining, and the restaurant he wanted to go to is closed. So we decide to get sushi (which was fairly tasty), then go to an onsen (which was a good experience). Afterwards, we headed back to his house, and were promptly wrangled by some of his Japanese friends to go work on a float for an upcoming festival.
The float was, in actuality, a car covered in cardboard. Our task was to cover the cardboard with double-stick tape, then put futon foam on the tape, making it look like a cloud. Their unofficial task was to (1) help with the tape and futon material, (2) chat, (3) smoke, and (4) provide and drink sake. Neither of us Americans (myself or my CS host from Las Vegas) smoked, but we did do all of the rest. Oh boy did we. Eventually we all finished the bottle of sake, at which point they took out "Chuo" (I believe it's called), which is made from [unfermented] potatoes. That was tasty. Then they took out "The hundredth best sake in Japan," (apparently is a common moniker), which we also drank. It, too, was tasty.
At around midnight, we decided that it was just about time to head home, and we bid my newfound friends "Sayonara" and stumbled home. That was a good nights' sleep.
Next time: The hotel room I got from a vending machine, and my visit to a very small town.
Monday, September 24, 2007
No more (detailed) posts from the past
Aside from the fact that I was getting very far behind, the memory card on which my diaries were stored has stopped working. It may be software, in that the disk format is not right, but I suspect it may be hardware. In any case, I do not currently possess the necessary tools to repair it.
Therefore, I shall present the Cliffs Notes version of my trip, thus far:
Kyoto was not very fun. I blame this on not enough sleep, tremendous heat, too much walking, and not enough information on what to do there.
Hiroshima was wonderful. The memorial was very well done, and was worth the trip. We had okonomiyaki, which was very very tasty. Again, the Japanese train system is wonderful.
Back in Tokyo, we went to the Ghibli Museum, which is also very well done. Anyone who is under the age of eight, or is interested in animation at all, or likes Studio Ghibli movies, needs to go to this museum. It's a very nice way to spend a couple of hours. And the environs are pretty, too.
On Sunday I got a tip from a friend: I needed to go to Super Potato. Unfortunately for us, I thought he meant Super Potato, which has a .jp domain, shows up first if you do a Google search, and is also located in Tokyo. It's an interior design firm, though, not a retro-video-game heaven.
Sunday afternoon my dad and I went to the train station to catch a train to Narita, so he could catch his plane. Unfortunately again, once we got to Narita, we discovered that it would be a while before the train from Narita to Narita Airport arrived. Oops. He ended up getting to the airport with 45 minutes to spare, which on an international flight is not good. Apparently he made it home just fine, though.
I think that's where I'll stop it for now. Next time I'll finish up Japan, and begin writing about my time in Sydney, so far.
Therefore, I shall present the Cliffs Notes version of my trip, thus far:
Kyoto was not very fun. I blame this on not enough sleep, tremendous heat, too much walking, and not enough information on what to do there.
Hiroshima was wonderful. The memorial was very well done, and was worth the trip. We had okonomiyaki, which was very very tasty. Again, the Japanese train system is wonderful.
Back in Tokyo, we went to the Ghibli Museum, which is also very well done. Anyone who is under the age of eight, or is interested in animation at all, or likes Studio Ghibli movies, needs to go to this museum. It's a very nice way to spend a couple of hours. And the environs are pretty, too.
On Sunday I got a tip from a friend: I needed to go to Super Potato. Unfortunately for us, I thought he meant Super Potato, which has a .jp domain, shows up first if you do a Google search, and is also located in Tokyo. It's an interior design firm, though, not a retro-video-game heaven.
Sunday afternoon my dad and I went to the train station to catch a train to Narita, so he could catch his plane. Unfortunately again, once we got to Narita, we discovered that it would be a while before the train from Narita to Narita Airport arrived. Oops. He ended up getting to the airport with 45 minutes to spare, which on an international flight is not good. Apparently he made it home just fine, though.
I think that's where I'll stop it for now. Next time I'll finish up Japan, and begin writing about my time in Sydney, so far.
Friday, September 21, 2007
2007/09/04 at 21:48
Guess I was tired. I just woke up from a nap. Good morning.
The hot water will be turned on for ten more minutes at the hostel, so I think I'll try to wake up enough to take a shower, then go see what I can rustle up in terms of dinner.
The hot water will be turned on for ten more minutes at the hostel, so I think I'll try to wake up enough to take a shower, then go see what I can rustle up in terms of dinner.
2007/09/04 at 17:26
Well, last night's meeting went well. I met with someone from Qualcomm Tokyo, who happens to be Australian, and who happens to know people there who could help me get a job. Fantastic. The one in the Canon R&D department sounds particularly interesting. Woo.
The food was also particularly tasty. I had a specific kind of Japanese beer, whose name I forget, and a drink which has been called Japanese vodka, because it's made from [sweet-]potatoes, though it's not distilled. I also had something that my Tokyo-dwelling Australian friend had never heard of, which turned out to be soupy tofu with an urchin in it. Which wasn't bad.
I got back to the hotel relatively late, around 9pm, which means I got to bed later than I have been lately, which probably aided in my sleeping-in this morning until 5am. Almost acclimated.
This morning, however, was quite an adventure. The initial plan was to get up, "Activate" our JR passes (which involves taking them to the station and saying "One /n/-week pass, please! Here's my voucher!") then going to Hiroshima, tourtourtour, come to Kyoto, check in, go to sleep, explore Kyoto tomorrow.
At least, that was the plan, up until we got to Ueno station, and noticed the JR pass shop doesn't open until 10:30.
So we decided to try for Tokyo Station, as it's bigger, and therefore maybe it opens sooner. Well, yes, sort of. It opens at 10. But, thanks to the time it took to get there, we had to wait only two hours, rather than three. The plan now was to get into Kyoto, hang out there today, and go to Hiroshima tomorrow.
So breakfast was bought, and I putzed about a bit. I found an open access point that allowed http connections, so I could check mail but not IM.
Finally the office opened. The process was relatively painless. The "fun" began just after we got our train tickets to Kyoto. The ticket is entirely in Japanese, save for a few numbers. Unfortunately, none of these numbers seemed to indicate the platform number, so we had to run around the station showing our cards to various attendants trying to find the track number. On top of that, it turns out our tickets don't actually work in the ticket machines, we need to show them to an attendant, then effectively hop over the turnstiles. Fun. Did I mention I'm carrying my backpack, with all of my worldly possessions? Heavy.
So, eventually we find the train. Once we got on, I take out Sparky, only to find the battery pack has died. I could read my comic book, but I'm saving that for the trip to Australia. So I decided to just look at the scenery as it whizzed by.
Unfortunately, while we did get a no-smoking car, smoke wafted in from the adjoining car, making the entire trip a smoke-filled adventure. Plus, I have a headache from the tension. Ow.
Once in Kyoto, we notice it's hot. Hotter than Tokyo, and more humid. We ended up eating at an overpriced, not-very-good Italian restaurant, then walk the twenty minutes it took to get to the hotel.
At this point, I'm tired, have a headache, and am starting to miss hearing people speaking English. I'm sure a nap will do me good, but for now I'm just cranky. And tired, for some reason. Oh well, I'll try to sleep now. Goodnight.
The food was also particularly tasty. I had a specific kind of Japanese beer, whose name I forget, and a drink which has been called Japanese vodka, because it's made from [sweet-]potatoes, though it's not distilled. I also had something that my Tokyo-dwelling Australian friend had never heard of, which turned out to be soupy tofu with an urchin in it. Which wasn't bad.
I got back to the hotel relatively late, around 9pm, which means I got to bed later than I have been lately, which probably aided in my sleeping-in this morning until 5am. Almost acclimated.
This morning, however, was quite an adventure. The initial plan was to get up, "Activate" our JR passes (which involves taking them to the station and saying "One /n/-week pass, please! Here's my voucher!") then going to Hiroshima, tourtourtour, come to Kyoto, check in, go to sleep, explore Kyoto tomorrow.
At least, that was the plan, up until we got to Ueno station, and noticed the JR pass shop doesn't open until 10:30.
So we decided to try for Tokyo Station, as it's bigger, and therefore maybe it opens sooner. Well, yes, sort of. It opens at 10. But, thanks to the time it took to get there, we had to wait only two hours, rather than three. The plan now was to get into Kyoto, hang out there today, and go to Hiroshima tomorrow.
So breakfast was bought, and I putzed about a bit. I found an open access point that allowed http connections, so I could check mail but not IM.
Finally the office opened. The process was relatively painless. The "fun" began just after we got our train tickets to Kyoto. The ticket is entirely in Japanese, save for a few numbers. Unfortunately, none of these numbers seemed to indicate the platform number, so we had to run around the station showing our cards to various attendants trying to find the track number. On top of that, it turns out our tickets don't actually work in the ticket machines, we need to show them to an attendant, then effectively hop over the turnstiles. Fun. Did I mention I'm carrying my backpack, with all of my worldly possessions? Heavy.
So, eventually we find the train. Once we got on, I take out Sparky, only to find the battery pack has died. I could read my comic book, but I'm saving that for the trip to Australia. So I decided to just look at the scenery as it whizzed by.
Unfortunately, while we did get a no-smoking car, smoke wafted in from the adjoining car, making the entire trip a smoke-filled adventure. Plus, I have a headache from the tension. Ow.
Once in Kyoto, we notice it's hot. Hotter than Tokyo, and more humid. We ended up eating at an overpriced, not-very-good Italian restaurant, then walk the twenty minutes it took to get to the hotel.
At this point, I'm tired, have a headache, and am starting to miss hearing people speaking English. I'm sure a nap will do me good, but for now I'm just cranky. And tired, for some reason. Oh well, I'll try to sleep now. Goodnight.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
2007/09/03 at 12:50
So far, so good. The morning went much as yesterday's did, in that calls home were made, e-mail was answered somewhat, and breakfast was purchased from a mini-mart and consumed in Ueno park. It really is a pretty park. There are feral kitties there, who like to hunt the feral pigeons. Ah, the circle of life.
We decided to return to Odiaba, where I had reached my limit yesterday. As it was 9:30 at this point, we ended up having to do a bit of walking first. We walked to the National Museum of Emerging Technology, which basically turned out to be a science center. No surprise there, but before we saw the exhibits, we were treated to what can only be described as the most surreal planetarium show I have ever seen; while we were given translators, the content of the show was mostly a star machine showing us what I'd imagine was the night sky at various points, while at the same time a show about how the planets formed was playing on top of it. At one point a double-pendulum appeared on the screen, only to swing for about five minutes, multiply, fade out, fade in, and freeze, all while interpretive percussion was playing in the background, consisting of what I imagine were found instruments.
After that, we went on to see the exhibits. As far as science museums go, it was pleasant. And at JPY500 (with technicolor planetarium show thrown in,) it was certainly priced competitively. In the "Technology" section, there was a 3D racing game going on, with many different types of controllers. One was a steering wheel, one was a joystick, one was a pair of ropes used to control your horse avatar, one was a musical keyboard, and one was an oversized mug that you tilted to move. I don't think you could win, but that didn't matter.
They also had The Internet set up, or at least a subset thereof. It consisted of a series of ramps, where you put in black or white marbles in one place, designated a destination, then watched them get routed through the series of ramps. Ted Stevens would be proud, if a bit bewildered at the reference.
Afterwards, we went to Venus Fort. I think it's supposed to be a shopping mall directed at women, complete with a Women-Only day. They have shops with lots of shiny things, clothes, and fancy restaurants. The architecture is taken directly from Caesar's Palace in Vegas, complete with marble statues in a fountain, located at the middle. And the sky changes from day to night, by clever use of lighting.
And now, time for lunch.
We decided to return to Odiaba, where I had reached my limit yesterday. As it was 9:30 at this point, we ended up having to do a bit of walking first. We walked to the National Museum of Emerging Technology, which basically turned out to be a science center. No surprise there, but before we saw the exhibits, we were treated to what can only be described as the most surreal planetarium show I have ever seen; while we were given translators, the content of the show was mostly a star machine showing us what I'd imagine was the night sky at various points, while at the same time a show about how the planets formed was playing on top of it. At one point a double-pendulum appeared on the screen, only to swing for about five minutes, multiply, fade out, fade in, and freeze, all while interpretive percussion was playing in the background, consisting of what I imagine were found instruments.
After that, we went on to see the exhibits. As far as science museums go, it was pleasant. And at JPY500 (with technicolor planetarium show thrown in,) it was certainly priced competitively. In the "Technology" section, there was a 3D racing game going on, with many different types of controllers. One was a steering wheel, one was a joystick, one was a pair of ropes used to control your horse avatar, one was a musical keyboard, and one was an oversized mug that you tilted to move. I don't think you could win, but that didn't matter.
They also had The Internet set up, or at least a subset thereof. It consisted of a series of ramps, where you put in black or white marbles in one place, designated a destination, then watched them get routed through the series of ramps. Ted Stevens would be proud, if a bit bewildered at the reference.
Afterwards, we went to Venus Fort. I think it's supposed to be a shopping mall directed at women, complete with a Women-Only day. They have shops with lots of shiny things, clothes, and fancy restaurants. The architecture is taken directly from Caesar's Palace in Vegas, complete with marble statues in a fountain, located at the middle. And the sky changes from day to night, by clever use of lighting.
And now, time for lunch.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
2007/09/03 at 04:32
Getting better at this whole sleeping thing. I'll be completely adjusted within a couple more days. Hooray! Just in time for the typhoon.
Current plans for today: Find stuff to do, then at 4, go to Qualcomm to have a beer with someone who may be able to get me a job in Sydney. No pressure, right? Right. I can do this.
He's a member of the security department, so I think I'm going to wear my "sudo make me a sandwich" shirt, because really, who doesn't love UNIX references on clothing?
Aside from that, I may try and find a manga reading room, or possibly even just a McDonalds. Somewhere I can obtain wireless Internet, so I can finally do a blog-dump. I'm sure people at home are dying to read about the exciting trials and tribulations of my time abroad. Anything that doesn't involve walking another 15 miles. It'd be a bit much to do three days in a row.
Current plans for today: Find stuff to do, then at 4, go to Qualcomm to have a beer with someone who may be able to get me a job in Sydney. No pressure, right? Right. I can do this.
He's a member of the security department, so I think I'm going to wear my "sudo make me a sandwich" shirt, because really, who doesn't love UNIX references on clothing?
Aside from that, I may try and find a manga reading room, or possibly even just a McDonalds. Somewhere I can obtain wireless Internet, so I can finally do a blog-dump. I'm sure people at home are dying to read about the exciting trials and tribulations of my time abroad. Anything that doesn't involve walking another 15 miles. It'd be a bit much to do three days in a row.
Friday, September 14, 2007
2007/09/02 at 19:23
There are three computers downstairs that are free to use. Two run as Administrator, one runs with reduced privileges. Guess which computers have the most spyware? Coincidentally, guess which computer I'm unable to connect Sparky to, as I can't install the USB device driver?
Oh well, I can wait.
After idly surfing for a while, answering journal posts, figuring out if I was, in fact, in the area where Shenmue took place (quite possibly yes,) calling my Qualcomm contact), I came upstairs, watched some news about the current fires in Greece, got bored, then went to lunch.
It was the same shop as I sent to the first day. They don't seem to have noodles, only rice. The first day I'd gotten that tasty cheese dish. This time I got a dish that had some sort of meat on it, topped with something white, somewhat creamy, and full of granular material of some sort. I had to fight not to think of it as cold phlegm. I much preferred the cheese.
I also had an Asahi beer. I didn't intend to order a large bottle for myself, but then again, I didn't actually /ask/ for anything, I merely pointed. It was a lot of beer. More than I'd ever drunk at once. Needless to say, I was a bit tipsy shortly afterwards. It was only mild, so I got over it fairly quickly. I returned to the hostel, checked mail again, read journals, and came up here.
I did discover, though, that there is a typhoon headed towards Japan, It will be hitting in three days. Television doesn't seem to say anything about it, and if it weren't for a friend's inquiry, coupled with a Google search and data from NASA, I wouldn't know anything about it. It might become a Category 3 by the time it hits. I'll be in Kyoto, and it ought to prove interesting, at the very least!
For now, sleep.
Oh well, I can wait.
After idly surfing for a while, answering journal posts, figuring out if I was, in fact, in the area where Shenmue took place (quite possibly yes,) calling my Qualcomm contact), I came upstairs, watched some news about the current fires in Greece, got bored, then went to lunch.
It was the same shop as I sent to the first day. They don't seem to have noodles, only rice. The first day I'd gotten that tasty cheese dish. This time I got a dish that had some sort of meat on it, topped with something white, somewhat creamy, and full of granular material of some sort. I had to fight not to think of it as cold phlegm. I much preferred the cheese.
I also had an Asahi beer. I didn't intend to order a large bottle for myself, but then again, I didn't actually /ask/ for anything, I merely pointed. It was a lot of beer. More than I'd ever drunk at once. Needless to say, I was a bit tipsy shortly afterwards. It was only mild, so I got over it fairly quickly. I returned to the hostel, checked mail again, read journals, and came up here.
I did discover, though, that there is a typhoon headed towards Japan, It will be hitting in three days. Television doesn't seem to say anything about it, and if it weren't for a friend's inquiry, coupled with a Google search and data from NASA, I wouldn't know anything about it. It might become a Category 3 by the time it hits. I'll be in Kyoto, and it ought to prove interesting, at the very least!
For now, sleep.
2007/09/02 at 16:01
My feet hurt less, though this is mostly due to the fact that I am back at the hostel, sitting on my bed.
I decided to head home early to (a) recuperate, and (b) call some people and generally decompress. Beginning-of-trip stress finally got to me, so I decided to forego any further interactions, and instead struck out alone for the hostel. My dad is still out in Tokyo somewhere, shopping for presents. I'm to wait at the hostel until he comes back. This I can do.
Along the way, I decided I'd try to be clever and divine Japanese pronunciation. To do this, I got a copy of the Tokyo Metro map in both English and Japanese. I'm actually somewhat proud of this feat, actually, because I couldn't find a map in English, so I asked the security guard (?) "Sumimasen. Aigo-ka?", while holding up the Japanese version of the map. While it is almost certainly not a valid sentence, it got the point across. Whee!
So far, I know the following characters: Yama, Tokyo (To-kyo?), Me, Te, Ro, and no. I may also have Naka, but research is still pending. Hey, it's something to do on the train :)
I'm very glad the hostel has Internet, as Internet cafés seem extremely difficult to locate in Japan. Open wireless access points even more so. More research might have to be done in this area.
For now, I think I'll go downstairs and try to make those phone calls, and if I can, upload the journal entries thus far. And get something from a vending machine. There are always vending machines from which goods must be purchased.
[Ed. note: Blogger is being incredibly annoying, and completely ignoring the fact that I'm asking for pages in English, and is instead producing pages in Japanese. This, compounded by the fact that I can't display Japanese characters, makes this a very challenging activity.]
I decided to head home early to (a) recuperate, and (b) call some people and generally decompress. Beginning-of-trip stress finally got to me, so I decided to forego any further interactions, and instead struck out alone for the hostel. My dad is still out in Tokyo somewhere, shopping for presents. I'm to wait at the hostel until he comes back. This I can do.
Along the way, I decided I'd try to be clever and divine Japanese pronunciation. To do this, I got a copy of the Tokyo Metro map in both English and Japanese. I'm actually somewhat proud of this feat, actually, because I couldn't find a map in English, so I asked the security guard (?) "Sumimasen. Aigo-ka?", while holding up the Japanese version of the map. While it is almost certainly not a valid sentence, it got the point across. Whee!
So far, I know the following characters: Yama, Tokyo (To-kyo?), Me, Te, Ro, and no. I may also have Naka, but research is still pending. Hey, it's something to do on the train :)
I'm very glad the hostel has Internet, as Internet cafés seem extremely difficult to locate in Japan. Open wireless access points even more so. More research might have to be done in this area.
For now, I think I'll go downstairs and try to make those phone calls, and if I can, upload the journal entries thus far. And get something from a vending machine. There are always vending machines from which goods must be purchased.
[Ed. note: Blogger is being incredibly annoying, and completely ignoring the fact that I'm asking for pages in English, and is instead producing pages in Japanese. This, compounded by the fact that I can't display Japanese characters, makes this a very challenging activity.]
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Radio stuff - 2007/09/02 at 05:00
Last night, I decided to take out my shortwave radio, to hear what I could hear. This is what I discovered:
- There are more shortwave stations in this part of this world
- My amplified antenna really makes a difference
- There are still evangelical stations in English
- Like home, there's nothing on longwave here
- There are only a couple of stations on FM
- Mediumwave ("AM" in the US) is unheard of here
Mediumwave was the biggest surprise. I found two stations before I got tired of scanning. The first was, I believe, in Portuguese. It was certainly some Roman language, close to Spanish, but pronounced with an accent much different than any I've heard before.
The second, as far as I can tell, is AFRTS, which I've only heard before on shortwave. I can't imagine any other station talking (in an American accent) about how, depending on where you've been stationed, it may be impossible to donate blood.
I'm still trying to figure out when to see RTI. I hope it's possible. If not, well, no big deal, I'll catch it when I go to Australia and New Zealand.
Friday, September 7, 2007
In which we accidentally find a pagoda - 2007/09/02 at 04:26
Woke up at 4am today. This is an improvement over yesterday's 3am, but obviously I have a few more days to go yet.
Lots happened yesterday. After resting our feet for a while, we decided to head out for some dinner. Our hotel is in Ueno, nearish to Asakusa. In fact, it's located in Asakusa-dori, so we should have known that keeping to the street would take us there eventually.
However, we were very surprised when, completely by accident, we stumbled across a massive arcade filled with shops of all kinds. Vendors selling everything from parasols to postcards, people crowded around televisions outside watching races, smoky and loud pachinko parlours, and even, at one point, a complete amusement park with an impressive assortment of rides, considering it was located in the middle of a city.
Eventually we picked a restaurant, based mostly on the appeal of the plastic food located outside, and ate dinner. The beer was tasty, and the noodles good -- my first noodles of this Japan trip -- and we paid and left.
On our way back to the hotel, we decided that, you know what? we should see a pachinko parlour. So we headed back into the fray once more.
Then, like a ferret, we changed our minds and decided to have a look at the amusement park rides. We found the entrance to the park, noted that it required admission, then turned away.
...and noticed the five-tiered pagoda.
We had accidentally come to the Senso Temple, Dembo Temple, and Asakusa Shrine. This massive temple has many buildings, huge lanterns, and people everywhere. We took many pictures. Then we walked through the Nakamise shopping district, got a parfait at AMPM, then headed back to the hotel to collapse.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
20070901-1428
I just walked around Tokyo, and boy are my feet tired!
Hmm... the joke doesn't really work that way, but in this case, it's actually true. I've been walking almost continuously since about 4:30. The day started out with a walk to the Ueno station, as the local metro stop was closed. Granted, none of the metro stations open until close to 5, but we didn't know that, so we decided to head to Ueno. Faced with a closed station, we wandered for about 10 minutes, waiting for it to open.
During these wanderings, we had our first adventure with vending machines. I put in JPY120, and was rewarded with a beverage called "300", which was sweet, and rather tasty. My dad put in JPY120, and was rewarded with "Sweat". It's basically lemon water. Goody, together we have a movie.
Eventually, we hopped on the train to Tsujika (SP?), the fish market. It's almost but not quite entirely unlike Pike's market, which is what I had expected. For starters, there is a lot more seafood. A lot. I have pictures of the tuna auction area, where they will auction off huge fish. Everyone there drives these interesting carts, which remind me a bit of bumper boats, in that it's basically an engine on a shaft, with the entire apparatus being rotateable, so it's like a very manoeuvrable shopping cart. These things were everywhere! I'm sure if they switched to electric power rather than petrol, people would die, because they wouldn't hear them coming.
Afterwards, more wandering occurred. Eventually we ended up in Ginza, which, while impressive, is not really what I came to see. So, very shortly, we hopped on a metro and came back for the umbrellas, to perhaps mitigate the nagging sprinkling rain. On our way back we ate breakfast at a Yoshinoya, which went satisfactorily.
Armed with protection from the elements, we headed off for Tokyo Station, and ultimately to the Imperial Palace Gardens.
The Metro station near Tokyo Station is massive, and happens to be the sub-sub basement of a block of buildings. Very confusing. It took some amount of guessing to figure out how to get out. Once out, we noticed Tokyo Station, which is a large brick building. I'm sure I'll have more interactions with it soon, but for now I just saw it from afar.
The Imperial Palace Gardens are impressive, partly because they're nice and green -- quite a departure from the brown of San Diego -- but also because they are a large, calming park located in the middle of a major metropolis. It's easy to forget the surroundings in this place. By this point in our journey, we were making liberal use of park benches, having walked a large distance already.
Upon having taken our fill of greenery, we decided to for the polar opposite, and head to Akihabara. I'm not sure I can properly articulate the splendors that lie within, and I'm fairly certain it warrants a second look, owing mostly to our exhaustion during our tour. I did meet some nice people from Taiwan, though, who suggested I try a Pineapple Taiwanese Biscuit from this one shop, rather than the Cherry one.
So, for now, my feet hurt. I very much suspect the hostel computers are spyware-ridden, and I need to change my passwords. I haven't been able to find wireless Internet that is (a) free, and (b) in a location where I can sit -- i.e. an Internet cafﾃｩ of some sort. Perhaps soon I'll discover such a beast.
First morning in Tokyo - 2007/09/01 at 03:45
Woke up early, at 3am, after going to bed at 10pm.
The plane trip yesterday was not bad. From SAN to SFO I sat next to my dad, and we mostly chatted along the way. From SFO to NRT, I sat next to someone who was on their way to Hong Kong, who was sitting next to their acquaintance who was also travelling to Hong Kong, so I didn't talk to them much. I suspect my neighbour couldn't speak very good English, which was fine, because he seemed to understand the notions of my wanting to get up and walk around, which is really the important part.
10 hours is a long time in a plane.
It's also very strange that I took off on Thursday, landed on Friday, and never saw the sun set.
Customs was blissfully simple. I told them I'd be in the country for three weeks, and they stapled something into my passport. I got my bag, told them I wasn't carrying anything illegal, and they let me through. The tourist office was also very helpful, and was nice enough to even correct my pronounciation of "Ueno" ("Ue-no", not "U-eno". Oh well.) The train to Ueno was JPY1000, which was not bad at all. The drawback was that it took an hour and ten minutes, during which I got the chance to notice that my dad and I were the only gaijin using the train. I have a feeling this will be happening a lot in the days to come.
Once we got to the station, we had to find our hotel. This wasn't too difficult, especially since we had a map, and a reasonable idea of where the streets were located. After check-in, we went to a noodle shop down the road. Fortunately (and probably not coincidentally), the shop had a menu with pictures, allowing us to point to the dish we wanted to order it. That worked well, and I ended up with a cheesy beef dish on rice, and a bottle of green iced tea. Score!
Japanese TV is as silly as I've been led to believe. Though I'm sure it's bolstered by the fact that I don't understand what's going on. I didn't see much, as I was rather tired at the time. More writing to come later, after I've had a chance to explore the city.
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