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If you see some funny characters, it is because I've added some Japanese to the website. To view the Japanese characters, use the options on your browser. For example, for recent versions of Internet Explorer, go to View, then Encoding, then Japanese (Auto-Select).
| April | May | ||||||||||||||||
| Key | S | M | T | W | R | F | S | S | M | T | W | R | F | S | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ... | In the U.S.A. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| ... | Bike trip begins | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| ... | Fly back to U.S.A. | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | ||
| ... | Not yet updated | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | ||
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||||||||
April 8, 2002 - The PlanThis trip has been some time in the thinking (I figured "planning" was too strong a word, since I didn't really plan that much). On April 11th, Jen and I will be taking off from San Francisco's SFO into Narita, Tokyo. From there the plan is to stay at our friend Kyoko's place in Odaiba. We'll also visit and probably stay at other friend's places in the Tokyo area for that first week that we'll be there. In addition to exploring the Tokyo area, we plan to visit Nikko (I booked a place at the Annex Turtle Hotori-an on April 15th) and go to the Studio Ghibli museum on April 18th (you can only buy tickets via Japan's convenience store chain Lawsons - thanks to Kyoko for getting us tickets ahead of time). Around the 19th we'll probably head off to Kyoto and maybe hit some other city (as of yet I haven't figured that part out). Jen leaves on the 24th, so we're back in Tokyo by then. I will stay in Tokyo for Tokyo Critical Mass on the 27th (last Saturday of every month). Soon after I will take the shinkansen, Japan's famous Bullet Train, to Fukuoka in Kyushuu - the southmost of the 4 large islands. Here is a map with a rough plan of what I'm thinking of doing. It is complicated by the fact that Golden Week, a week-long holiday for pretty much everyone in Japan, starts exactly when my trip does. This means that the first week will probably be pretty much camping-only, since most places will likely be booked up by hordes of Japanese tourists. |
Flew on Japan Airlines (JAL) to Narita, Tokyo from San Francisco. Although they have a good reputation for food, I was very disappointed with this flight's fair. Jen sometimes gets motion sickness due to flights and such, but with the help of some medicine the flight went great. I watched The Royal Tenenbaums 1.5 times. Great movie. Great music.
Arrived in Narita Airport, Tokyo. We took the Limousine Bus to the Grand Meridian Hotel in Odaiba, where Kyoko lives. She met us at the hotel, and with a small wheelcart, which helped greatly in carrying my big, heavy bike box.
She lives on the 12th floor of a large dorm, and her dorm room is of a nice size (a comfortable fit for 2 extra people - not quite like the last dorm, eh Howie). Although we were tired on and off for the next few days, Jen and I pretty much went straight into the Japan time zone as far as sleeping schedule.
After hitting a yummy ramen joint in Harajuku, we went to Yoyogi Park with Kyoko and Kei, Kyoko's boyfriend, and some other friends of theirs (Tanaka-san, etc.) so that they could practice Bossanova music for a band they thinking of creating.
Kyoko went to see a musical called Car Man, which is apparently a reworked version of the classic musical Carmen, except with some gender twists. While Kyoko was watching this, Jen and I went with Kei to Kiddieland in Harajuka (Toys-R-Us's Geoffrey's 5-story wet dream), where Jen went crazy since they had so much cute stuff. Welcome to Japan.
We later walked to Shibuya to meet Kyoko, and then went looking for a place to eat, a pretty difficult feat being a Saturday in people-packed Shibuya. We ended up at a basement restaurant which had some really creative dishes. Some were just ok, but a few were outstanding. I specifically remember a dish which was refried rice with egg and shiso (a japanese mint-like leaf), topped with ikura (salmon eggs). Yum!
After eating we headed home. Kei stayed over: slumber party, yay!
Kyoko headed out early, so I put together my bike, and then wrode Jen over to Aqua City Mall, the large mall in Odaiba (next to the Daiba stop of Yurikamome Line). From Kyoko's Dorm it is about a 5 minute ride - although we took the longer 15 minute scenic route.
At Aqua City we mostly just did window shopping, jotting down a bunch of ideas that presented themselves in the merchandise. I will try taking some photos later with Kei's digital camera (which I have been judiciously borrowing), and then post them here.
We ate in one of the restaurants on the top floors (I: unagi, Jen: ramen?), but the memorable part for my tongue was the tea. It was some brand of gen mai cha which is mostly green tea leaves and rice. It was super scrumptious.
We headed back to Kyoko's dorm for a Mexican food party she had planned a while back. From the U.S., we had brought the cans of Rosarita Refried Beans (it's hard to find refried in Japan), and corn tortillas (also hard to find), taco mix, as well as some salsas: Herdez salsa verde and Tapatillo. We made ground beef tacos with all the fixins, with the help of Kyoko's friends who joined us: Ken-kun, Tanaka-san and Kanako-san, as well as Miho, Tomomi, and Kyoko's brother Takuya.
We activated our JR Rail Passes today, which basically gives us free use of the Japan Rail system. This means we can go almost anywhere in the country on those famous "bullet-trains". And today we go to Kyoto.
Kyoto is famous for a few reasons. It used to be the capitol of Japan. It also has a bunch of temples and shrines, and has alot more of a traditional look and feel than Tokyo. It is probably one of the most visited places in Japan, by tourists.
That being said, Jen and I didn't visit one temple while we were there. We kinda walked through one, if that counts. My main purpose for going to Kyoto was to visit my friend Miyoko, who I met 3 years ago while traveling with other friends.
It took us about hour of searching, then shopping at a 100 yen shoppe, then more searching before we found her place. Her husband, Inoue-san, runs an izakaya. Apparently they remodeled it, and so it was impossible for me to recognize it from the outside. [I will add pictures here, once they are developed]
I caught Miyoko by surprise, I think, but regardless - without missing a heartbeat - she allowed us to stay at her place that night. We had a few yaki tori courtesy of the house, and then retired to her room, which is upstairs above the restaurant. There we talked until late at night. Late enough so that Jen fell asleep, while we chatted.
So, just a little background on Miyoko: she's about 65 or so, started travelling around the age of 45, and has seen a good part of the world - more than anyone else I know. She has the energy and flexibility of a 25-year old gymnast. Apparently last year she travelled to Europe. She spent 2 months, went through something like 16 countries, and, including airfare, only spent a few thousand dollars (she's of the cheap traveler ilk - even sews her own travel clothes).
Eventually, after much talk in English and Japanese, I, the weak 27 year old, went to sleep, while she stayed up for a few more hours.
In the morning I had my first opportunity to talk to Inoue-san, in the 3 times I've visited his place. He usually doesn't appear to talkative (probably also due to the fact that he doesn't speak English too much). So, here I got to practice some of my Japanese. Didn't find out too much, but his big hobby is baseball, of which he plays twice on every Sunday. He even has a uniform for the team. Oh yes, and his favorite Japanese team is the Hanshin Tigers.
After a nice breakfast. We went with Miyoko on the train to a really nice pond for a little walk. Of course, being Miyoko, this little walk ends up taking approximately 2 hours, including the climbing of a small mountain called Miyoho. It is one of the 5 spots in the Kyoto area where they light fires in the shape of kanji, during certain times of the year. This wasn't one of those time, but it was nonetheless a beautiful hike.
After our hike, we hit a few shops, then returned to Miyoko's for a little utatane (nap). After the nap, Miyoko took us to visit her grandkids, and then Jen and I had to say good-bye. We couldn't stay at Miyoko's that night because she had to take care of some of her grandkids, so I booked spaces at the Higashiyama Youth Hostel.
We took the local Kyoto subway there, and found out that: 1. they only had dorm style rooms left - meaning Jen and I would be staying with the other boys and girls of the facility. 2. they close the doors and have "lights-out" at 10:30pm promptly - meaning we wouldn't get to visit my friend's bar. Kyoko's brother, Tatsuya, has some friends who own a bar in Kyoto called The Wellers Club (so named after John Weller of The Jam). I've been there once, back in 2000, and I can say they have the dopest vinyl funk collection I've ever seen in Japan, if not ever.
Next door to the youth hostel was a coffee house called Westwood Cafe, where I found out that there is extremely poor service in Japan. After hanging out in the cafe, we decided to stay in for night (not much of a choice, I guess. we checked for alternate ways in to the youth hostel: none).
We found a nice path that went beside a small river. It was also the path to a high school, apparently, since we were surrounded by Japanese high school students on the way. After stopping under the eve of a temple gate, we walked back to the Youth Hostel, got our luggage, and headed to Kyoto Station to catch a train back to Tokyo.
To pass the time we hung out at "The Cube", Kyoto's huge mall right outside the main train station. At The Cube, we ate at a Japanese chain called "Wako Tonkatsu". It is a pretty high end tonkatsu place. We also hit the Kyoto Municipal Post Office, which had a great selection of stamps.
We didn't have the key to Kyoko's dorm when we arrives, so we had to options. We could go to her school, where she was working, and pick it up. OR we could just kick it in Shimbashi area, and wait for her to finish. The train ride from Kyoto to Tokyo takes about 3 hours (not bad considering its about the distance from SF to LA: 350 miles or so). But at that point, we didn't feel taking any more trains, so we opted for hanging out in Shimbashi.
Since the VERITAS office, where I used to work, is only about a 10 minute walk from the station, we went there. It was already past 6:00pm, so not to many people were at the office. My friends who were there were going through some kind of problem with one of the training labs, so were pretty concentrated on their work. Since the office is located in the buildings surrounding "Hibiya City", a small underground mall of mostly restaurants, Jen and I therefore decided to eat at an Italian place that I know has pretty yummy food.
We later walked through Hibiya Park, just next door, and then through Ginza, Tokyo's high-class, high-price shopping district. After meeting Kyoko at Shimbashi, we headed home for a nice sleep in anticipation of the next days fun.
Ah, Ghibli Museum. What is it? Ghibli Museum is a museum created primarily to house and display art from Studio Ghibli. That being said, it is more of a dream, wonderland, than a museum. I have written my experiences there in a seperate Tomer's Ghibli Museum page, with pictures.
Hanging out in the Ghibli Museum is the bulk of what we did this day. If there is anything else, it's private between me and Jen! ha!
Being in a Studio Ghibli type of mood, and finding out that Kyoko, due to her pure punkrockness, still hasn't seen Spirited Away - the new Studio Ghibli movie - Jen and I went with her to see the movie. In Japan, the movie is called "Sen to Chihiro no Kami Kakushi", and has broken all previous box-office records. I saw it the last time I was here in September of 2001, but being Japan, they don't subtitle in English, which means there was alot that I missed.
We headed to Ginza and watched the movie. It made more sense since Kyoko was there to explain some crucial pieces of information.
Afterwords all 3 of us went our seperate ways: Kyoko to her lab at school, Jen to Kyoko's place to chill and write, and me to Nakano station on the Chuo line, to shop at my favorite, down-home mall.
The Nakano shopping mall is filled with cheap stores, as well as stores with antique anime crap, and a CD shop that always has bins full of CDs on sale for 300 yen (that's a bit less than $3 a piece). I found a couple of good things, including albums by Frank Black, Money Mark, and SDP (Shar Dara Par - old-school Japanese hip-hop ala Beastie Boys and De La Soul), as well as a few experimental CDs.
After returning home, Jen and I later met up with a previous co-worker and friend, Ukechan, and her husband. We got some drinks at Pronto in Shimbashi, and then took the train to Teresa and Christers place over in Oimachi. From there we walked to a monja restaurant near their house. Monja is especially fun, because its one of those types of food where they give you the ingredients and the grill, and you make it yourself. The tastiest one is probably the cheese and mochi monja, but they have tons of different types to choose from.
Another friend, Brooke, met us there, and after dinner we headed out to Arun's Reggae Bar, for, well, more dinner! We order some scrumptious deep fried goodies from the menu, as well as some interesting well drinks.
Nothing left to do after that except go to Teresa's place and watch 4 episodes of "Friends". Well, even if there was something else to do, that's what we did. Around episode 2, Ukechan's husband passed out, and eventually they stayed over as well, so we had a big slumber party.
April 20, 2002 - To Yokohama / Miyuki and Kazu / KamakuraApril 21, 2002 - Back to Tokyo / Shizuka and SatokoApril 22, 2002 - To NikkoApril 23, 2002 - Return to Tokyo / Shopping / Packing |
Jen's flight was at 5:20p.m. Around 1p.m. we headed over to the Grand Meridien Hotel, about a 10 minute walk, to catch a Limousine Bus to the Airport. The next bus running was at 2:30p.m., taking an hour to get to Narita Airport, so we took the time to go to Aqua City Mall (another 5 minute walk), and finally, eat at McDonalds. Currently they have a McRib burger on the menu, and not usually eating McDonalds at all, I've never tried it - yum. Jen had the hamburger, with the beef patty, the bun, and please hold everything else thank you very much.
A word or two about fast food chains in Japan. McDonalds is strong here. Burger King is non-existant. But if you do eat fast-food in Japan, you must try Mos Burger. Along with Lotto, and Number 1 First Kitchen, Mos Burger is a strictly Japanese fast-food chain. As far as I'm concerned, they rock the fast-food burger market here.
After getting to the airport, we had to say our goodbyes real quick. Although we got there over 2 hours early, there was a line from hell coming out of immigration, so no time to hang out and get lovey dovey. So we said our goodbyes, and now I am a sad, lonely boy.
I headed back to the city with the Narita Express subway (for free, since I have a JR Pass), and then went to Shinjuku to do some shopping at Kinokunia bookstore: 6 stories tall, with a full floor dedicated to foreign languages - any traveler's dream. I got a Japan map for my travels, and then hit the Tokyu Hands mega-department superplex for some more shopping action.
This day was pretty tame. Kyoko and I headed off to her school after the morning. We went to her lab, and spent the greater part of the day just working on websites. She was working on the one for her lab, and I was working on mine. We ended up leaving pretty late, and is usually the case, we start to hunger for "oishii mono" (i.e. yummy stuff).
We ended up stopping in Shimbashi, and going to a kaiten zushi place. The lady who was running the joint was pretty friendly. I overheard her say "maido" once, which probably means she's from the kansai area of japan, which could possibly explain her boisterousness. Besides the friendly service, the sushi was super yummy and fresh, and at 150 yen (about $1.20) per plate, Kyoko and I had ourselves a little fiest.
I started the day with some internet updating and such nonsense. I was supposed to meet my old co-workers for lunch, so I headed out before noon to Shimbashi (salary man central).
My coworker and friend Ukechan setup a lunch at an Indonesian place she likes called Indonesia Araya. Dave, an instructor and engineer from the U.K. was visiting, so we got a small group and had, in my humble opinion, a scrumptious meal. Here is some pictures of the boys (Taniguchi-san, Oishi-san, Dave, and yours truly) and the girls (Ukechan, Takano-san, and Satoko).
Afterwards I hung out at the office, and was informed that there would be 2 parties that night. One was for new hires in the Customer Support department. The second was for an employee that was leaving the Sales department. Needless to say, I went to both, and as usual with this group, I probably ate and drank a little bit too much. Here is a nice group photo.
After this episode, I was to stay again at Oimachi, with my friends Teresa and Christer. Teresa herself was still out drinking with a Japanese friend, so when I go there at 12:30 at night, Christer was on his own. I would've gotten there later myself, but I couldn't find Arun's Reggae Bar. I wasn't looking for it because of the drinks, though. I really wanted to try some more Japanese conversation with the rasta-d out bartender. Oh well, next time.
The big plan for today was to: 1. buy some gas for my "mini-condo", which is Japanese for "small camping stove", and 2. go to Tokyo's Critical Mass.
I woke up early and left Teresa's place. Stopped by some stores and finally hit the one in Odaiba to get the gas. By the time I got to Kyoko's place, and chilled for a little while, I was already running late to get to Critical Mass. Meanwhile, Kyoko's plans for the day where to one of the parks in Odaiba and have a BBQ with some old high school friends. She and Kei prepared some things, and headed over there, with me trailing a few minutes later, on my bike.
Well, my plan was to say "what's up" to the friends, then take the Yurikamome line, with my bike, over the waters to Shimbashi, and from there ride over to Yoyogi park, which is where the CM people meets. I was halfway through buying my ticket, when a gentleman there stopped me and asked about my bike. Instead of feigning "stupid foreigner", I actually tried, in Japanese, to explain to him what I was doing. I tried the Catch 22 method:
You see, in Japan you can't take your bike on the train, unless it is a folding bike, or you have a bike bag for it. A bike bag is basically a bag that you can fit the bike in after you take off some pieces, like the wheels. Unfortunately, they cost about $80. So this guy was trying to ask me if I have a bike bag, and so I told him that I don't, but I'm on my way to Shimbashi to buy one. Odaiba doesn't have any bike shops, so since I can't buy one here, I have to take my bike on the train to get one. Atleast that's the story I told him.
Unfortuantely it just didn't work out, he didn't let me on. Because the only other ways off of Odaiba are either by taking the slow ferry, or by using a bridge on the other side of the island, either way I figured I'd be too late to join my fellow cyclists.
Fortunately, today was still super fun, because missing CM meant I got to go to Kyoko's BBQ. Although everyone there was mostly speaking Japanese, it was still very fun. In fact, I enjoyed it because I got to practice my language skills (or lack thereof) so much. We even tossed a frisbee around for a bit, and the food definately rocked. I have to say that as far as food goes, American BBQ's have nothing on Japanese ones.
Afterwards, Kyoko and her friends went back to her place, where we chilled for a while. The friends left, and later in the evening Kyoko and I went to meet 2 more old friends of hers. We went to 2 bars, and just hung out and talked. Since I had originally postponed the bike trip for a few days, specifically to so I could go to Tokyo Critical Mass, I got a bit depressed earlier in the day. However, by the end of the evening I was feeling pretty good with my Japanese, so now I eagerly look forward to the trip.
April 28, 2002 - The Trip Begins: Taking the Train to KyushuuI'd like to say "I woke up early", but really, I never fell asleep. I got home at 1 a.m., using a taxi, since the train was closed by the time I left my new friends of last night. After that I spent all night packing my bike, packing by stuff, updating this silly page, and making my Bike Trip Business Cards. You may be laughing, but business cards here in Japan are of utmost importance, and besides, it'll be a convenient way for me to give others my information (aka cell phone number) in case I meet cool folks to hang out with. The train leaves Tokyo station at 12:39, and I arrive in Hakata, in the far south, around 6 hours later. Around 7 p.m. I will catch the next train from Hakata to Nagasaki, and will arrive in Nagasaki around 11 p.m. Of course this means I'll be staying in the tent later tonight, since it usually isn't too easy to find a place to stay at 11 at night. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this page. So, until then... sayonara! |
