In the Mountains.

 Travel  Comments Off on In the Mountains.
Apr 202015
 

I headed up to Asheville to help out my folks a bit last weekend. I managed to get some good photos of bears and the mountains with my new gear. My major accomplishment was taking a truckload of recycling down to the dump.

Yeah, that rocking Asheville life.

The next weekend, I headed from Chapel Hill out to Hamptonville for my aunt’s 80th birthday party. It was a lot of fun, and Hamptonville is a great place to get away from it all. The only bummer was when I bruised the heck out of my elbow.

One discovery: with some rubbing alcohol, it’s really easy to remove Coppertone sunscreen. I never knew!

Beach Report

 Travel  Comments Off on Beach Report
Jun 222014
 

I just got back from a week at Wrightsville Beach, NC, with my extended family. We’ve been doing it for years, with only one missed summer (when I graduated from high school).

As the years have gone on, the number of participants has grown. I think we’re at around 14 people, and when my dad’s cousin and his family come, it goes up to around 21 people. (Depending on who’s coming, who’s bringing a significant other, etc.)

It can get a little nuts.

Fortunately, my dad’s cousins only visit for the day. If they spent the night, sleeping would become… interesting.

The house we stay in has 6 bedrooms, each with a bath. That makes it manageable for 14. It’s essentially two town houses glued together in the middle, with a giant common area. Each side has its own kitchen. On one side is the living room/den (kids’ side), and the other side is a big dining room (old people side).

What makes the house great is that it’s oceanfront, and that we can rent it, rather than dealing with the hassle of owning it. Owning a beach house is like buying a sick pet. You need to pour in a ton of money and attention to keep it from falling apart, and at some point, it’s going to leave this world anyway.

Why? Hurricanes. They eat beach houses. And if the hurricane is bad enough, and moves the mean high tide line too close, you won’t be able to rebuild.

So we rent, because it’s easier.

Regardless, it’s great that I know for sure I’ll have a chance to spend some time with my extended family every year. That means catching up with my cousins, aunt and uncle, and my little second cousins. (Not so little anymore, though!)

Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study

 Education, Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study
Jun 052014
 

I finally bit the bullet and bought a second Kindle Paperwhite, this time for my Japanese language library. And I don’t regret it one bit. It has become an incredibly powerful tool for improving my Japanese, because I read more books, faster, with the Paperwhite than I have with any other reading platform.

And I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to read Japanese books.

Note that some of these are perfectly fine for English language books, but I’m judging them on their usefulness as Japanese learning tools.

I have tried:

  • Paper Books and an Electronic Dictionary.
    • Disadvantages:
    • Not portable
    • Slow lookups disrupt reading
    • Tiny text kills my eyes.

 

  • Vertical Text Viewer (for Android).
    • Disadvantages:
    • Lookups are easier, but require an external app, which can’t search online dictionaries if I’m on a plane, so EPWING dictionaries have to be added.
    • Only Aozora Bunko formatted e-books work with it. That means I can access a library of out-of-copyright books, but nothing current. (Not legally, anyway.)

 

  • OCR Manga Viewer (for Android). Takes images, OCRs selected text, and offers a list of possible definitions.
    • Disadvantages:
    • Supported file format is scanned images, so no legal way of getting current titles, unless I scan every book I buy page by page.
    • Constant dragging and selecting finicky text selection tool gets annoying after a while.
    • Even if there are scans, if the scan quality isn’t perfect, the OCR software will have issues, so I’m back at the electronic dictionary stage again.

 

  • Amazon Kindle App (for Android). Updside: You can save a lot on shipping, and you can make text bigger. Long press on a word to look it up. (See disadvantages!)
    • Disadvantages:
    • There is only one dictionary. It’s Japanese-Japanese, and you better like it, because you can’t use any others with the simple long press function. The other option is search in another book, which is slow.
    • Most books are text files, but a small portion are scans. If you wind up with a scan of a book you want to read, you will have no way of looking up words inside the program.
    • The dictionary search function does not de-conjugate verbs, which makes the dictionary useless.

 

  • Google Play Books and Magazines App (for Android). Updside: I couldn’t really find one.
    • Disadvantages:
    • No dictionary I could find.
    • Couldn’t find any current popular Japanese books in the Play store. Couldn’t access the Japanese Play store without a VPN, and even then, Google sent me back to the US store.
    • The only books I could find were all scans of out-of-copyright books, or books I’ve never heard of by publishers I’ve never heard of.

 

Why Paperwhite?

So there you have it. Nothing really works the way I want to, well, except for the Kindle Paperwhite. Kind of. The Paperwhite is a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I think it’s the best way to read Japanese books on an electronic device.

The Paperwhite has the long press to look up a word feature that the Kindle app has, which it turns out is incredibly useful, because you can add extra dictionaries to the search. So if I can’t find a word in one dictionary, I can select another and another, as many as I have on the device. And I’m not limited to just Japanese-Japanese, I can get Japanese-English, etc. (I recommend getting one of the EDICT-based Japanese-English dictionaries. They’re cheap and good enough.)

Also, the Paperwhite will de-conjugate any verbs it comes across, making the dictionaries useful again.

The e-ink display is incredibly easy on the eyes, even for long-term viewing, and doesn’t guzzle battery, making it a good choice for long flights. Text can be enlarged, too. It looks really good.

It comes with a 単語帳, which records every word you look up, and lets you go over them as flash cards. Not as versatile as Anki, but a hell of a lot less fussing is involved. And it automatically shows you the sentence you were in when you looked up the word! If it only did SRS, it would be perfect. Oh well.

Using it, I’ve been plowing through books at an alarming rate. Alarming in that I’ve never been able to read Japanese this fast before.  I’m being serious here. I’ve tried a whole bunch of different ways of going about it, but this gives me the most enjoyment with the highest overall comprehension. And I can try books that may be a little too hard for me, because I have the dictionaries to fall back on.

Early on, manga looked bad on it. Really bad. But lately, publishers have gotten on board, and while it’s not as good as holding a real 単行本 in your hands, it’s good enough for travel. You can even zoom in on images with a comic reading mode that isn’t too bad. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s getting a lot better. (I wish Amazon would come out with a bigger Paperwhite that did manga at a bigger size for ease of reading.)

I’m saving the biggest plus for last: what I’m saving on shipping and space taken up by books. It’s incredible. Oh, sure, I’m a bibliophile. I am surrounded by books. But I am not against using an e-ink device to read material like fiction. I just don’t care much about that. (Art and music are different. I like those on paper. Same with manga. Give me paper books… unless I’m traveling. Ugh.)

Now, it does not come without drawbacks. And they may be deal-breakers for some of you.

What it won’t help you with.

For starters, setting up an account with Amazon Japan in order to get access to the books takes some work. Amazon US has Japanese books, but the selection is a mess, and all the titles are in romaji, making it a big useless pile of nonsense words to me. I don’t do romaji, and nobody should have to in order to read Japanese books. Also, Amazon US doesn’t have anything I’d even want to read if I could find it. We’re back at the publisher problem. 20th century business practices in the 21st century. Ugh.

Also, if you already have a Kindle Paperwhite and use it with another Amazon, like Amazon US or UK, then go buy another one. The only way you can use one Paperwhite for both accounts is to constantly wipe it and reset it. Yes, I think that’s dumb, too, but there you go.

And don’t try buy a Paperwhite from Amazon Japan. Even if you use a service like Tenso, they will send you a polite warning never to do that again, or else your account will be closed for good. It’s odd, but they don’t care if you buy anything else and have it shipped to the US by a third party, but if you do it with a Kindle, there’ll be hell to pay.

The device itself tends to get slow over time. Hold down the power button and reboot it if it starts acting sluggish. I usually have to do it once a week or two.

Sometime Amazon Japan will have issues with my credit cards, for no apparent reason I can find.

I can’t find a good way to get at my 単語帳 outside of the Paperwhite. That kind of sucks. I’d love to be able to export it to Anki. So much for that.

There are a lot of books not available as Kindle versions yet. A lot of books I really want to read. And some Kindle versions don’t come out until a month or two after the print version. But with patience comes big savings, and it also keeps me from over-buying. I only buy what I intend to read right now.

Finally, the DRM. It’s annoying. But it’s the trade-off I knew I had to make when going Kindle for Japanese. On the upside, as soon as a book is available in the Kindle store in Japan, I can be reading it if I so desire, at a fraction of what I would usually pay for having the real book shipped.

Summing it up.

So my advice to aspiring learners of Japanese is to get a Paperwhite. But first set up a test account with Amazon Japan and make sure you can buy books from them. Maybe try it on another device first, like an Android or iOS device.

Were I Amazon, I would publicize the heck out of this as a learning tool. The Japanese government is desperate to get new workers into the country, and to help teach people Japanese. This device would be a great tool for that, while also giving overseas fans a legit way to buy into “Cool Japan” without hassle. Everybody wins. Really. Everybody. (Well, except for DHL.)

Snowmageddon 2 Aftermath

 News, Travel  Comments Off on Snowmageddon 2 Aftermath
Jan 292014
 

So after all of that frantic forecasting of dire events happening, and predictions of huge amounts of snow burying us all in our homes…

… we got an inch of snow here. And it’s already melting.

I feel bad for the folks stuck in Atlanta and other places further south, that don’t have as much equipment or experience dealing with this kind of stuff, but here it’s a non-event event. Maybe farther east it’s a bigger deal (they got a little more snow than we did), but it’s hardly the “Snow event of a generation” as a certain weather forecasting cable channel hyped it as. The same channel kept saying we were going to get 3-5 inches, when the snow had already moved out of the area.

For the record, the National Weather Service office in Raleigh nailed the event perfectly. Their estimates weren’t as exciting, though, and wouldn’t pump up ratings, so just about nobody went with their more conservative forecast, which was spot on.

Besides, I already had the “Snow event” of my generation in January, 2000, when we got 20+ inches of snow here. The forecast that night? 3-6 inches. So we were all kind of stunned when it just kept falling and falling, and piling up and piling up. It took more than a week to get back to normal.

This stuff? We’ll be back to 70-80% normal by tomorrow. 100% by Friday.

Hardly the “event of a generation.” At least not here.

But if you’re stuck somewhere, it’s closer to the truth, isn’t it?

I’ve been there, too. On my way back to college one spring, I got stuck in Norfolk for one night, then in Charlotte for 3-4 days as I tried desperately to get back to school at UNC. U wound up having to drive across the state on icy, snowy roads in an old rear-wheel drive car that was itching to careen into a ditch. (It didn’t.)

So those stuck out there in this mess have my sympathies.

Snowmageddon? Not Quite.

 Music, Travel  Comments Off on Snowmageddon? Not Quite.
Jan 222014
 

As I was going to piano class last night, it was snowing like crazy. The local weather forecast wasn’t good. It looked like we were going to get smacked with a lot of snow. So when enough of us had gathered for piano class, we agreed to cancel it for safety’s sake. NC isn’t good at dealing with winter weather.

Of course, by the time I got home, the snow was tapering off, and even though a few stray flakes were falling through midnight, nothing ever accumulated. Oh, well. Better safe than sorry.

Woof Woof. Books.

 Travel  Comments Off on Woof Woof. Books.
Dec 312013
 

I’m sick as a dog. When we got together at Christmas, we not only exchanged presents and shared Christmas cheer, we also swapped viruses around, it seems.

I have a nasty fever and generally feel like the bottom of someone’s shoe.

The worst part of it is that my SO and I aren’t going to be able to go out for New Year’s. I don’t want her to get sick. That would suck. She has a lot of lawyer stuff to do, and being sick would just make it a lot harder to do it.

And no, I haven’t made any progress on the monitor stand. I don’t think inhaling fumes would help any.

Books!

Being sick didn’t stop me from ordering a really cool book. Robert Anselmi runs Reason101.net, and he’s one of the long-time posters on the Propellerhead User Forums. He’s forgotten more about Reason than I know. Anyway, he has put together a huge book on how to get the most out of Reason’s standard instruments, as well as a few of its Rack Extensions. It’s called “Robert Anselmi’s Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack.”

He’s self-publishing it through Lulu. I managed to find a discount code, so I ordered the book. I can’t wait to read it when I’m feeling better.

The best part? You can get spiral binding! If you’re a musician, you know how awesome spiral bindings are. That version also comes with a free ReFill, too. It should get here soon.

Another book I got recently (for Christmas) was Daniel R. Mitchell’s book, “BasicSynth: Creating a Music Synthesizer in Software.” It’s an interesting read so far, but I realize I need to get better at programming before tackling parts of it. Someday, I’d love to make my own synthesizer. That would be so cool. And it would have the shiniest knobs and buttons ever.

In Closing

Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe. I’m just going to go in that corner over there and be sick some more.

Push Off to Asheville

 DIY, Music, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Push Off to Asheville
Dec 192013
 

I’m heading to Asheville to help the folks out for Christmas, so I’m gone for a while. I may or may not update, depending on whether anything interesting happens or not.

The monitor stand isn’t done yet. I’ll finish it when I get back. It needs more wood filler in a couple of places, and I need the weather to cooperate so I can lay down a finish.

Ableton Push

Ableton has a big sale on all of its software going on. I’m really interested in Push, though. I’ve been watching a lot of videos to see how it works, and how well it works, and it looks damn sexy. Of course, Maschine also looks sexy, but Push looks like it’s more up my alley, because it does scales. Lots and lots of scales.

I’ll need to do more research, though. Getting into Push is another $600, and if I decide to move to Ableton as a DAW, that’d be more money out for upgrading to Standard or Suite. We’ll see.

N1, Take Three

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on N1, Take Three
Dec 012013
 

My hotel room is kind of creepy. When I woke up this morning, it was 8 a.m. already, but my room was as dark as midnight, even with all of the curtains open. It feels like I’m in one of those rooms they use for experiments to confuse your sense of time. It’s really hard to know what time it is without looking at a clock.

I did some studying before heading out to Georgetown, and settled any anxiety I had by walking vigorously. A nice workout is a great way to relieve stress.

Today’s N1 was hard. Like last year, I think I simply need more vocabulary, but I feel like I nailed the listening portion. (I may be completely wrong.)

My N1 assault plan was the same as it was the other two times. I do most of the reading section first, because it takes me longer to do it, then go back and do grammar. I do it this way mainly because I don’t want anything that may go wrong in grammar to throw me off for the reading portion. Also, I do it because I want to make absolutely sure I get all of the reading questions done, because they count more than the grammar questions. (Per question, anyway.)

It went okay. I’m not sure if I passed or not. If I did, it’s probably by just a bit. If I didn’t, it’s probably by just a bit. I’m hoping that I pass, because I really don’t want to take this exam anymore, to be honest. It eats up a lot of time and money to prepare for it, and while it’s great to have the certification, it means that I can read and write at about a 12th grade level in Japanese. Not bad, but not “native level.” But still, not bad.

A lot of people I know who have already passed it say that it’s like finally getting in the door on learning Japanese. I suppose I’ll find out when that happens.

I’ve also been thinking about my approach to learning the language as well. Rather than doing lots of grammar drills, I’m going to focus on writing and reading more. Reading-wise, I’m going to focus more on newspapers, literature, and essays, and less on light novels and manga. I enjoy reading light novels, because they’re generally easy to read and light on thinking, but weightier literature, depressing though it may be, is really good at getting deeper into the language.

Writing daily will help a lot, too. I write some in Japanese, but I should write more. (I’m not changing the language of this blog, however tempting it may be.)

After the exam was over, I headed to Five Guys again to get a burger, then went back to the paper shop to get more paper for my sister, just like last year.

I thought about using Uber, but decided against it. I prefer to walk.

Speaking of which, according to Google, I walked 27 miles in November. How did they know? It’s interesting, but also kind of creepy. Welcome to the future, I guess.

I got back, then relaxed in my room. Long day, and I’m a little burned out. I’ll head home first thing tomorrow.

Off to DC

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Off to DC
Nov 302013
 

I headed to DC today. The roads were a mess, because it’s the Thanksgiving weekend.

Actually, a mess is understating it. It was most unpleasant. But I got there.

I’m staying at the same hotel I did last time. It’s a nice hotel, if a little bit pricey, but it’s close enough to Georgetown for me.

I studied some, and I’ll study some more, then go to bed. Then I’ll get up early, study a little more, then head to Georgetown for the test.

Going Home in the Snow

 Travel  Comments Off on Going Home in the Snow
Nov 122013
 

I woke up and looked out the window and sure enough, it was snowing.

Fortunately for me, it wasn’t sticking.

I got all packed up and got out the door by about 9 a.m. with the help of my SO’s parents. They’re wonderful people.

The drive back was pretty uneventful. The snow stopped by the time I got to New Jersey, and it was never really an issue while driving until I got to Durham, NC. It was snowing hard when I went to Costco to pick up some supplies, but it still wasn’t sticking. I got home around 7 p.m.

The N1 is coming up in a little over two weeks, so I don’t have time to breathe. Gotta get on it.

Celebrating Pocky Day in Manhattan

 Food, Japanese Language, Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Celebrating Pocky Day in Manhattan
Nov 112013
 

Happy Pocky Day. (11-11!)

I celebrated by heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The recommended donation now is $25! Ouch! I saw a lot of exhibits at the museum that bring back memories of my childhood, like the Egyptian section and the Temple of Dendur. We used to come to the MMA when we lived in NJ, and I always looked forward to it. It’s one of my favorite museums in the world.

After looking at the Egyptian section, I looked at the American Decorative Arts section, then at the sculpture garden, then another favorite section of mine, Arms and Armor. I’ve always been fascinated at the various inventions humans have created to protect themselves from… other humans. And plate armor just looks cool. I’d hate to wear the real thing, though.

Then I broke for lunch. Lunch was in the basement cafeteria, which is the cheapest place to get lunch.

First I had to find it. It took a little wandering and map-consulting, but I found it.

It was about $25 for lunch, but it was good. I just wish I could have gotten a plain turkey sandwich, instead of something with cranberry mayonnaise on it. I like cranberries, and I like mayonnaise. I would just rather pick the dressing myself.

I swung by the medieval statues I saw on the way to the basement, and snapped a few photos with my phone, then snapped some more of the statue garden on my way to the modern art section.

I wandered around the modern art section, and finally found my favorite painting in the building. It’s a Jackson Pollock painting called “Autumn Rhythm.” I don’t know why I love it. I just do. That’s art.

By then it was about 2:30, and time to head out. I found souvenirs for everyone, headed out the door. I got a few shots of the building on my way out with the Nexus 5.

On to Times Square, and Kinokuniya

I grabbed a train to Times Square, then headed to Kinokuniya to do some more shopping, but really, by now I have all the books I need. This was more of a “make sure” trip. I really wish I had a Kinokuniya or similar book store nearby.

Then I headed back to the apartment to clean up and get changed. I was going to meet up with some friends in Greenwich Village for dinner. I got all cleaned up, and headed out.

Oh, My Battery!

We met up at Oh! Taisho! at around 7 or so, and had a nice conversation at dinner. The food was good. It was yakitori and other bar-style food. We talked forever, then went over to Starbucks and talked some more. It was a lot of fun.

But my battery was almost dead by 9. I had to borrow a portable battery charger from a friend of mine. I wasn’t happy about that. This is after recharging the battery once while I was changing. I’m not sure if it’s a driver thing, or a Kit Kat thing, or a Nexus 5 thing.

By about 10 or so, I had to head back, because I don’t want to be out too late and wake up my SO’s parents, so we said our goodbyes.

Tomorrow I go back home. It’s supposed to snow.

Back in Manhattan.

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Back in Manhattan.
Nov 102013
 

The drive to New York City was uneventful, until I missed the turn for the parking garage and had to drive around for 15 minutes to get lined up again. That’s the one thing I don’t like about Manhattan– it’s really easy to wind unable to get where you want to get to, even if it’s just right there!

I got in and got unloaded safely, and flopped down for 10 minutes. Then I headed to Kinokuniya to stare at their books. There wasn’t really anything I had to have this time. It was just nice to wander around and look at stuff. I wish there was an easier way to find potentially interesting books– at least the fiction books. Non-fiction and other stuff is pretty easy to go through, but it’s hard to tell if a novel is going to be any good without reading it.

I got back the apartment and had dinner with my SO’s mom and stepdad, who are lovely people, and then relaxed for the evening. I haven’t done that in a few days.

Career Forum Day Two, etc. etc.

 Food, Japanese Language, Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Career Forum Day Two, etc. etc.
Nov 092013
 

Day two of the Career Forum, and my last. I’ve seen everything I want to see, and talked to everyone I want to talk to. I talked to a few companies, had a couple of brain cramp moments, but generally feel okay about it.

If something comes through, great! If not, I’ll keep freelancing.

I headed back to the hotel, changed, and had lunch. Then I got my stuff together and headed to the USS Constitution, to get a good look at it before the last tour of the day. I just made it to get on board, but I missed the last guided tour. I did get a chance to take some photos with my NEX and my Leica 21/2.8M ASPH lens, though.

I went back to the hotel, rested for a little while, then headed to the same Japanese restaurant I went to last year, Shiki in Brookline. It’s about a 45 minute trip by the green line. I had 20 minutes to kill before my table was ready. There wasn’t anywhere to wait, so I waited outside.

I had udon. It was good. The service was a bit on the slow side this year.

Tomorrow I head to New York.

Career Forum, Day One.

 Travel  Comments Off on Career Forum, Day One.
Nov 082013
 

Today is the first day of the Career Forum. I set a bunch of alarms on my new Nexus 5, but one didn’t go off. I think the travel charger I use isn’t compatible with it, even though it’s USB. The phone starts freaking out when it’s plugged in, and acts erratically. It charges, though, and that’s all I can ask for.

But it would have been nice to wake up on time.

I hurried to get ready and dashed to the Convention Center.

Not much has changed since last year. I did lots of walking, talking, and listening to companies’ pitches.

I talked to some really nice and interesting people at a number of companies, and we’ll see where it goes. I’m not going to get my expectations too high. Recruiters say a lot of things to a lot of people. Sometimes they come through, and sometimes you don’t hear anything, ever.

When it was time to head out, the wind was screaming, and it was cold. The weather here is nasty, especially the wind. I grabbed some food at a 7-11, then headed to the hotel to collapse. My feet were done for the day.

Lots of Yellow and Red…Made it to Boston Anyway.

 Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Lots of Yellow and Red…Made it to Boston Anyway.
Nov 072013
 

I slept in a bit today, because I figured I would leave around noon and just toodle on up to Boston. I didn’t have to be there at any particular time, so I took it easy this morning and lounged a bit.

Okay, not really. I lounged for about 20 minutes or so, then got cracking.

Google Maps said it would take 5:45 to get to Boston. I laughed. I’ve made this drive before, and no way will it only take 5:45.

The Quest For Gas

I wanted to gas up at the nearest Costco, because in NC, they’re the cheapest places to get gas.

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest Costco?” 10 minutes later I got there… and they didn’t sell gas. Doh.

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest truck stop?” 10 minutes later, a closed onramp and a long detour later, they were out of gas. *Facepalm.*

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest gas station?” 10 minutes later and I finally found an establishment willing to sell me gas!

Yeah, it was that kind of day.

The George Washington Bridge is Never Green

I was listening to a lot of traffic info on the way up the NJ Turnpike, because I know how NY/NJ traffic is–it changes from minute to minute from smooth as butter to clogged up and not moving at all. “The GWB is green, the GWB is green,” I kept hearing that, so I decided to take the GWB across the Hudson… and hit a 30-minute delay right at the toll booth. Yay.

The whole time I’m driving, I’m also fighting the new version of Google Maps. The old version would let me seek alternate routes. The new version does not. I don’t like this improvement at all, but since I have a new phone, I can’t roll it back.

The phone keeps telling me to take weird routes I’m not used to taking, and I can’t tell if I’m actually going to save any time at all. It’s really frustrating and annoying. I don’t want to take the Merrit across Connecticut. It looks like a big red line of non-moving traffic from the map and from behind the wheel.

So I moved back to I-95. It didn’t move much, either, and Maps was still trying to get me to go back the Merrit. Ugh.

Before I left I-95, I pulled off at a service area to get gas and some food.

I finally got off on to I-91 and things were moving again, but this jaunt across Connecticut probably took 3.5 hours, when it should take two, max. The traffic was horrible on all of the east-west roads.

I got to the Mass Pike, and everything was smooth again, but the drivers were all crazy. And just as I’m pulling into Boston, the GPS drops, and stops giving me directions, and I wind up who-knows-where. When I got out from underground, it kicked in again and figured it out, but it was annoying to have to guess what it wanted to do next.

So my 5:45 trip took about 8 hours.

The hotel is nice. Expensive, but nice.

Off to Boston… Again.

 Travel  Comments Off on Off to Boston… Again.
Nov 062013
 

After a lot of running around and getting ready, I left for Boston. The drive up I-85 and 95 was pretty uneventful.

The NC QuickPass transponder worked on the EZ Pass lanes in Maryland and Delaware. That was a relief.

I made it as far as Newark, DE the first night, and stayed at the same Holiday Inn Express I stayed at last time. It’s a nice clean hotel, and this time I was on the first floor, which makes getting out a cinch.

Nexus 5 Arrived

 Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Nexus 5 Arrived
Nov 042013
 

My N5 was waiting for me when I got back from Greensboro today.

First impressions: I love the look of Kit Kat. The phone feels good in my hand, too, although I think it’s going to become a grease magnet. I’m not a huge fan of the sharp edges, though. They’re a little sharper than I like, but they help me keep a grip on the phone.

The OS has a lot of changes under the hood, and some cosmetic ones. Google Now is on the left sweep from the main screen. I’m not sure I like that yet. Also, there are only 2 screens to put icons/folders on. I’m not sure how I feel about that, either. I’m used to 4-5.

Stock Android is my favorite version of Android. Very little “stuff” gets in my way.

Compared to the GNex, there is no comparison. It looks better, works faster, and takes better photos.

There’s an auto HDR mode, but it’s slow. Slooooow.

I had to go by T-Mobile to get a new SIM card for it. It uses the smaller SIM cards. I’m wonder if that’s going to be an obstacle for traveling or not. I’ll still keep my orange cave-phone with me, just in case. The T-Mobile folks were nice about making a quick swap of SIMs.

I need to start packing, so I’ll use it more on the road.

Kindle // Nexus 5

 Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Kindle // Nexus 5
Nov 012013
 

I finally bit the bullet and got a Kindle Paperwhite a few days ago. The first one showed up with a defective screen, and Amazon overnighted a new one out right away.

The display is really easy on the eyes. It’s the sort of thing you can just sit and read for hours. I read a lot on my tablet, but the Kindle makes it so I can read for hours and not feel any appreciable eye strain.

I’m looking forward to taking it with me to Boston and New York.

Oh, a New Nexus!

The Nexus 5 was announced earlier today, and I managed to order a 32GB model before they all disappeared. It was a fluke that I caught the announcement just as it was happening, or else I wouldn’t have gotten an order in on time.

My Galaxy Nexus has been a good phone for the last year and a half, but sadly, it can’t keep up anymore. It won’t be getting any more OS updates, and I’m tired of only hitting the 16GB storage wall. (It’s really less than that with the system overhead.) Some people virtuously declare that they don’t even need 8GB. I’m happy for them. I’m not one of them. I have a lot of music, e-books, and other “stuff” I carry on my phones all the time. I need that extra space, and I wind up using it all.

I hope the N5 arrives before I have to leave for Boston. I want to really put it through its paces on a long road trip.

On the other hand, it would suck if I had to leave it on the front porch for a week while I’m gone…. I better call somebody to have them check my porch in case it doesn’t get here in time.

Music School

 Education, Music, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Music School
Sep 032013
 

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is starting something new this fall, a Community Music School for people like me who live nearby and want to polish our musical skills in a relaxed setting. It sounds really interesting to me, because as I’ve said before, I need to work on my music composition skills. I also need to work on my piano/keyboarding skills, because that’s the fastest way to enter music into my DAW of choice, Reason.

I spoke with the teachers at an event on Sunday, August 25th, and they both seemed like really nice people who were not only passionate about what they do, but highly experienced. So signing up was a no-brainer for me.

Composition starts this Saturday, Group Piano starts next Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it.

Also, I’m starting to go into full gear mode for the N1, which is coming up in less than three months. (OMG!) I’m also looking at getting my A+ certification, because it’s an easy way to show people I know what I’m doing when it comes to computers. I may get Network+ and Security+ later on, but for now A+ will be plenty.

The only thing I’m worried about is cramming for A+ will mess up my N1 prep. But I want to have the A+ certification before I go to Boston again. (Yeah, I’m going again.)

This fall is going to be crazy.

Cash Is Still King.

 Travel  Comments Off on Cash Is Still King.
Aug 022013
 

I went to a local grocery store for lunch today, not expecting it to turn into a Life Lesson, but that’s what happened.

The servers connected to the cash registers were down, making checking out an impossibility for most people, except me, because I always carry some cash. Being in a few hurricanes, and other natural disasters has taught me the value of always having a few greenbacks on me.

I got to the checkout aisle, and asked if cash would make things go faster, and a senior clerk leaned over from the other aisle, and told the clerk in my aisle not to scan anything, that she would handle it.

And she did. She totaled up my food, asked for $30, I gave it to her, and I was on my way, while the other folks trying to use plastic were standing around in frustration.

Always carry some cash. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, one day, you will, and you’ll be glad you did.

Wrightsville Beach

 Food, Travel  Comments Off on Wrightsville Beach
Jun 202013
 

I just got back from the annual family trip to Wrightsville Beach, NC, where every year for the past 30 years or so, my folks and my aunt’s family all get together and take over a beach house for a week.

It’s a great time to catch up with family, play setback, eat, kick back and relax. My dad’s cousin and his kids and grandkids all visited, too. They usually come for dinner one night on the weekend. The house gets crazy crowded, but it’s fun.

I made sure to visit the Trolly Stop (yes, that’s the correct spelling) for the best hot dogs in N.C., and we went to Genki Sushi for lunch. Sugi-san makes some wicked good food.

The only thing we didn’t get to do was go to Britt’s Donuts in Carolina Beach, N.C. It was a little far to drive for donuts, even if they’re some of the best donuts in the country. We’ll have to go next time.

I feel recharged… I also feel like I need to eat nothing but raw vegetables for the next few weeks.

Back Home Again

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Back Home Again
May 292013
 

I’m home. The trip to Asheville was full of photo opportunities, so I took a bunch of pictures.

One night there were fireworks in the valley.

And on the 27th, I went to Mt. Mitchell to try out the auto-bracketing of my Nex.

I also picked up a new small, compact, light-ish aluminum tripod made by MeFoto. It folds up pretty small, and the legs will lock in 3 different positions. It’s nice and light, and compact. I’ll have to give it more of a workout to see how it holds up to more rigorous travel, but so far it looks good. It’s a lot better than my old Slik tripod that cracked and broke, or my 25-lb Manfrotto, which is great for video, but terrible for carrying up a mountain.

Now I’m back home, because I have work tomorrow. Lately I’ve been working for a Japanese company in RTP, helping their legal staff understand the US legal system and US culture. It’s been a win-win of sorts, because they get help on English stuff, and I get to use my Japanese every now and then.

Headed to Asheville

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Headed to Asheville
May 242013
 

I’m headed off to Asheville for the next few days to help my folks out around the house a bit.

The online classes at JOI are going pretty well so far. I like the structure, and the pricing is good. The teachers are doing a great job, and I’m learning a bunch. (Like how much I don’t know!)

If you’re looking for a way to work on your Japanese, and there isn’t a language school nearby, I’d recommend giving them a try. It’s only $9 to try it out.

Snow in the Mountains Again.

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Snow in the Mountains Again.
Dec 272012
 

It snowed last night and this morning in the mountains. I was up here with the whole family for Christmas. It was 2010 when it snowed about a foot up here. This time, it’s just a light dusting, maybe half an inch to an inch, which is really nothing for the mountains.

While I’ve been up here, I have taken a ton of photos of the mountains. Editing them is going to be like cleaning the Augean Stables.

I’ll edit this post once I’m all caught up.

In the Mountains Again

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on In the Mountains Again
Dec 102012
 

I spent the last few days in the mountains, and came back in time for my calligraphy class in Raleigh tonight. I took a lot of photos of the mountains, and some good macro shots of Christmas tree ornaments. I really like the Canon 50/3.5 FD macro + NEX combination. It really needs a tripod to be perfect, but it’s just fun to mess around with.

Another December, Another Try at the N1. (Day Two.)

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Another December, Another Try at the N1. (Day Two.)
Dec 022012
 

I got up early, ate breakfast, tried to study, failed at that, and then just made sure my stomach was in good shape.

I decided to walk to the test site, even though my ankle has been bugging me. It was good to walk off any stress, but it made my ankle hurt a bit, and I wound up sweating like a pig. I forgot that I was wearing cotton, and layers of it. It was cold when I left the hotel, but by the time I got to Georgetown’s campus, I had turned into Sweaty Guy.

I had neglected to take my own repeated advice to wear some wicking layers. Doh.

I got to the ICC on the Georgetown Campus with plenty of time to spare, and took a few minutes to cool down and get comfortable. To me, the most important thing in one of these tests is to be comfortable, with no outside distractions, like being too hot or too cold. So I usually come to these kinds of tests with a bag full of stuff, just in case.

The N1 itself was about as I expected. I need to work on my vocabulary some more. The listening section was surprisingly difficult. Considering how much Japanese I listen to on a daily basis, I was often left with no other choice but to guess. That was frustrating.

I listen to the news in Japanese every day, watch lots of variety shows, listen to podcasts, etc., and I can follow that stuff just fine. But the N1? Forget it. I had a heck of a time following those speakers for some reason. Maybe I was tired, I don’t know. But it’s frustrating nonetheless.

I suppose for next time, I’ll focus on specific N1 listening prep, but I hate having to do that. I feel like it sabotages my ability to deal with the language on a normal basis, because the N1 feels very artificial. Ugh.

I think I did pretty well on the reading section, but I’ll probably have to take it again anyway. Grammar wasn’t too hard, but there were some words I have never seen before.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t pass, so I’ll need to figure out where my deficiencies are so I can get closer to passing next time. I don’t sit down and study Japanese 24/7, because I have work to do. Instead, I try to fit it in where I can. I’ll have to think about this some more.

Walking Around Georgetown

After the test was over, I headed back to the hotel. I was going to flag down a cab, but as I walked back, I just couldn’t seem to catch one. That was weird for a big city like DC.

About 1/3rd of the way back, I stopped at a Five Guys for an early-ish dinner. I lucked out, too, because I managed to dodge a random rain shower that hit while I was eating.

Go me.

As I was heading back along M street through Georgetown, a paper store caught my eye. The had a good selection of Japanese paper with some really nice floral prints that I know my sister will love. I got her some at Ito-ya in Ginza last year for Christmas as well, and I’m sure she’ll like these as well.

Then I went back to the hotel.

Random Stuff

I packed croutons and salad dressing, but I forgot the lettuce! I think I’ll pass on the crouton salad.

Now that the exam is over, I’m all relaxed. And now that I don’t have to study in particular (at least for tonight), I’m really bored. I’ll probably go to bed early so I can get home quickly.

I heard from my friend Michael, and he’s in town for a few days, so I’ll meet up with him tomorrow night. Gotta hit the road first thing in the morning!

DC and the JLPT (Day One)

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on DC and the JLPT (Day One)
Dec 012012
 

I drove up to DC today, and got settled the night before the JLPT tomorrow. I’m going to attempt the N1 exam again, although I’m not going to bet on my chances. I know I need to work on my Japanese some more. My vocabulary just isn’t quite there yet. It’s perfectly fine for everyday stuff, it’s not there for N1 yet.

The drive up was pretty uneventful. I listened to a bunch of podcasts in Japanese in the hopes of improving my listening for the exam. I’m getting better in that regard.

I used not to be able to understand “Tokyo Local” at all, because Manabe-san just talks way too fast for me to keep up, but now I’m finding myself keeping up with about 80% of what’s going on, and that’s not too bad.

“Tokyo Local” was a really interesting podcast, but it got cancelled. The first few seasons were really fun to listen to, then it turned into kind of a cosmetics show and I don’t know why. Also, once it got cancelled, the archive just disappeared.

It’s a good change of pace for me from all the news that I usually listen to.

I’m staying at the Embassy Suites in DuPont Circle here in DC. It’s a nice hotel, but they like the extra charges. $40/day for parking (ouch!), and $12.95/night for internet (oogah!). So I’m going without Intenet this weekend. I can’t go without parking, so I have to cut back somewhere.

(How is this being published then? Magic!)

Books and Hot Pizza

 Travel  Comments Off on Books and Hot Pizza
Oct 232012
 

Yesterday was kind of a blur, but I still remember what I was doing.

I slept in until 8:30, ate breakfast with my SO’s folks, and set out for Book Off at around 10 a.m. I probably spent two hours there, just looking at books. All kinds of books. I was looking for some inexpensive light novels, some books about business etiquette, maybe some manga, anything, really, that was cheap and interesting.

I found four books on business manners, and a textbook that teaches business Japanese through role playing. That last one was a bit pricey, but it looks really interesting. The other books were cheap– $9 or so. Considering I’d usually pay three times as much, it was a bargain.

I carried my backpack with me for carrying any books I bought. I learned that in Japan. Backpacks rule for carrying heavy stuff, just make sure they don’t open up on you. Mine did that in Book Off. That was slightly embarrassing.

The Manhattan Book Off has a pretty good selection, but don’t expect to find that obscure book you’ve been searching for there.

Done with Book Off, I walked over to Kinokuniya again, because I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I wanted to yesterday. I looked at some more business books, and wound up getting a good book on keigo by Kotoba no Oji-san (sorry, that’s I how I know him), a book on Embarrassing Japanese (things people say in Japanese that are just bad Japanese, according to the authors), a book of business e-mail expressions, and a book on how to write proper business letters.

I also found a novel to read for later.

While I was in the basement, I found their stationery store. I love Japanese stationery stores. There’s so much interesting stuff to look at, I could easily lose track of time there. I didn’t. But I did find a good brush roll for my calligraphy brushes. The one I have is getting a little too full of brushes, and I picked up 500 sheets of A4 copy/printer paper, so I can send of A4 stuff if I need to. (I’ve been looking for that!)

A lot of the stuff I went to the trouble to buy in Japan, I could have just bought at Kinokuniya.

That made me want to facepalm a bit.

Okay, a lot.

But at least now I know where to get all of this stuff. I wish they had an online stationery store. That would be great.

HOT!

I headed back to the apartment, because I needed to hit the road soon, but I decided to stop off at Frank’s Pizza on 23rd Street to get a bite. Frank’s has good, fast cheese pizza, New York style, which is my favorite. It’s what I grew up on.

Frank’s pizza is great, but I burned the hell out of my tongue. I should have been more patient and given it a chance to cool, but I felt like I was in a hurry, so I roasted my tongue pretty good.

Pain aside, that was good pizza. But it’s hot.

I also had a genuine New York Experience. A guy walked into the store, which is kind of small to begin with, and started barking and howling like a dog. No idea why. That’s just New York for you.

With a lot of help, I got my car loaded up and I left the apartment building at around 3:30 p.m. If I didn’t stop for anything, I might make it home by 12:30. I got an e-mail from one potential employer who was interested in me, and wanted my English resume as soon as possible, so I didn’t want to spend the night on the road.

The traffic around the Holland Tunnel was heavy, so I didn’t get to the Turnpike until 4:30. I had to skip Mitsuwa. Sorry Sis, I’ll buy it online for you.

Traffic was pretty smooth all the way to Baltimore. I saw another photo speed zone, and saw the camera catch a guy ahead of me, so I made sure I pegged it at 55. I don’t want a ticket.

It’s a long drive to NC from NYC. While I was in Virginia, I noticed that at some point, those three yellow lights on the dashboard finally went out. So whatever it was either fixed itself or fell off of the car.

I got home around 1:30 a.m., and got unpacked by about 3.

I slept like a log after that.

All in all, it was a very good trip, and very productive. I’ll have to wait and see how it pans out with the various companies.

Boston to Manhattan

 Travel  Comments Off on Boston to Manhattan
Oct 212012
 

I made it to Manhattan.

I thought about going a different way to Manhattan, because the traffic on I-95 through Connecticut was so unpleasant last time. The valet at the hotel suggested taking the Mass Pike to 84, and just riding that to 287 into the city, I think. It sounded tempting, but I wasn’t feeling adventurous today. I wanted to get to the city quickly and not get lost along the way, so I went the way I came.

There were only one or two areas where traffic jammed up, and it was only for 10-15 minutes or so. Not bad. I made it safely to Manhattan, and got unpacked. I’m staying at my SO’s mother’s apartment, and she took the extra time to help me figure out how to get to B&H Photo on 9th Avenue. She figured it out for me, and I set out.

If you’ve never been to B&H, you should go once. It’s crazy. It’s packed full of people, and there are conveyor belts carrying green boxes full of gear all over the place. It feels like something out of a movie. I wanted to pick up some film for my mom, who still uses a small Leica point-and-shoot film camera, and I wanted a spare battery for my Nex.

You really have to listen carefully at B&H, and pay attention. Things move fast. I blinked for a second and wound up at the wrong counter to pay, but they quickly sent me to the right person. I’ve bought a lot of gear from them over the years, and they never disappoint. I usually buy online because the 10% NYC tax is rough.

I grabbed the 34M crosstown bus to Herald Square Station, and grabbed a train to Bryant Park. From there, Kinokuniya was easy to find. (Well, I used Maps to find it.)

I spent about an hour in Kinokuniya, and I could probably spend several more there. Unfortunately, I needed to get back to the apartment for dinner at 7, so I cut my visit short and went back.

Tomorrow I’ll go back to Kinokuniya, visit Book Off, and we’ll see about anything else. I’m planning on going to Mitsuwa in New Jersey to pick up some stuff for my sister, but I don’t know if I’ll have time.

Career Forum, Constitution, Shiki

 Food, Travel  Comments Off on Career Forum, Constitution, Shiki
Oct 202012
 

While I’m freelancing, I’m always keeping an eye out for opportunities to do something interesting. I like freelancing, but it’s not the most secure kind of work in the world. I’d also like to be able to focus more on the work part of work than all of the other stuff that has to be done around freelancing, like accounting, etc.

So I headed back to the Career Forum today. Getting there was a lot easier for two reasons:
1. It wasn’t raining like crazy.
2. I have gotten somewhat used to the transit system here.

I sat in on some more presentations, handed out more resumes, and talked to a lot of different people. There were a few very promising leads here, and we’ll see how they pan out. I’m not going to get too high or too low over what happens at a job fair.

Seeing the Constitution and Bunker Hill

I got back to my hotel room, changed, flopped down for a bit, then realized that if I wanted to see the USS Constitution, I had better get a move on.

I started walking along the waterfront, taking lots of new pictures with my Sony Nex 5N, and eventually got to the Constitution. When I got to the admission gate I found out I was 15 minutes late. The last tour is at 4 p.m., not 5.

Oh well, I can still take pictures. And I took plenty of them.

Then I went into the USS Constitution Museum, and looked around at the exhibits. It was very interesting, and also very educational at the same time. When I was done looking around, I went down to the gift shop and picked up some souvenirs.

From there, I started walking towards Bunker Hill, because the sun was starting to set, and I thought I could get some good pictures from there.

Turns out I was right.

It was a little tricky to find it, because I saw two signs pointing in the general direction, and then saw absolutely nothing. But I had Google Maps with me, and Google Maps is a mighty weapon, so long as I have a signal!

I took a lot of pictures, and then started to get hungry. I walked back to the hotel, but wound up at the Constitution again, so I took more pictures of it in the sunset, and wandered back along the harbor walk to the hotel.

I asked one of the people at the front desk for a good restaurant that does seafood here, and I got a recommendation. I went upstairs to my room, and checked it out on the web.

Yikes.

Take the Green Line to Brookline

I decided to find someplace else to eat. I thought I would try Google’s Zagat ratings, and set it to seafood, 24 or higher, and it came back with Shiki, which is in Brookline, MA. I wasn’t intending to eat Japanese food tonight, but it had high scores and lots of good comments on the food, and the food is what matters.

It took 45 minutes to get there. The Green Line is a subway/tram line, and it branches out in 5 different directions. So when I got to the main Green Line station, I had to wait 15 minutes for a tram going to Brookline.

I eventually got to the restaurant, and they were packed. Fortunately, I was alone, so I could get a seat at the bar. I have gotten into a lot of packed restaurants that way. I prefer eating at the bar, because then I don’t have to watch other people eating, and I can talk to the bartender sometimes. It depends on my mood and the mood of the place.

I spent about 20 minutes worrying over the menu– they just had so many delicious looking things on it, that I couldn’t make up my mind. I settled on zaru soba, which is one of my favorites, and gyutan, which is grilled sliced cow’s tongue. Alas, there was no cow’s tongue left, so I tried to get kushiage, which is a bit of everything, deep fried. No luck. I got hirekatsu instead, which is like a tonkatsu, only in smaller chunks. The waitress apologized for not having what I wanted, but they were slammed, so I understand.

Shiki has great food. If you’re in the Boston area, it’s worth the trip.

When I got done eating, I went back to the Harbor, but stopped off to get some ice cream along the way at Emack & Bolio’s Ice Cream, because it’s near my hotel and on the way back from the subway station. The Chocolate Moose is pretty good.

I need to start packing, because I want to get to Manhattan in time to do some shopping before everything closes.

Boston Career Forum, Day One

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Boston Career Forum, Day One
Oct 192012
 

My first big Japanese job fair was a little intimidating at first, but once I got settled into it, it was interesting.

I wasn’t so much here to do the job interview stuff as I was to do some reconnaissance work first.

Getting to the Convention Center from my hotel was a bit of work. I wound up getting off one stop too late, because I didn’t know that there was a line that served the center directly. It’s not on Google Maps. Well, it is, and it isn’t. Google Maps has it marked as a bus stop, but it’s not just any bus stop, it’s the Silver Line, which was apparently supposed to be a subway line, but wound up being an underground electric bus line.

That’s a first for me.

I got to the center, checked my bag, then picked up a bag full of information from the CareerForum.net folks. I took a few minutes and looked at the map and the list of companies, and thought about making a plan, then ditched it all and just started walking and talking to people, like I usually do.

I met a lot of interesting people doing interesting things.

I sat through a lot of presentations, too. Some of these companies look pretty interesting.

The main problem for me is that most of them want new college grads, and not experienced people. I just have to keep looking until I find a company that’s the right fit for me. I’m not going to get discouraged that easily.

I say that, but on the way home, the rain was beastly, and the wind was absolutely howling. I got soaked. Good thing I have 2 suits with me.

Made It To Boston

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Made It To Boston
Oct 182012
 

Before I left this morning, I had a 30 minute Skype session with my business Japanese tutor. We worked on greetings and self-introductions, because those are always important. A bad first impression can take a long time to fix, so I need to learn how to do it right.

The connection quality was good. No surprises from the hotel’s network. I’m pleased.

Then I packed up the car, left the hotel, and started to make my way up to Boston.

The New Jersey Turnpike was congested. Lots of construction slowed everything down, so we couldn’t zoom like we usually do. Lots of 45 mph zones. Let’s see, I think it was $13.35 to get there on the Turnpike.

Another $7 and I crossed the George Washington Bridge and steeled myself for the drive on the Cross-Bronx Expressway, which is a sort of like the old game “Moon Patrol.”

Everyone around me is flying, and road is in horrible condition. Every 20-30 seconds, SLAM, the road drops out from beneath me, or I hit a crater-like pothole. My three yellow lights are still on, and I have a tight grip on the wheel. Randomly, lanes peel off to various directions, but thanks to Google Maps, I didn’t get lost.

I think I paid more money somewhere else, and then I was in Connecticut, where the traffic had somehow managed to get worse. Google said it was green before I got there, then it turned bright red.

Shoot.

I pulled off to check my maps and freshen up (the service area was closed), and figured out a way around the congestion. I drove on the city streets for a bit, then pulled back on to I-95.

Right into a traffic jam.

It was slow going the whole way to the I-91 split. After that things smoothed out a bit. I got on I-84 when I hit Hartford, then eventually got on the Mass Pike to Boston. Nothing really eventful happened. I payed out another $6.50 or so in tolls, I guess. I’ve lost track of how much it costs to drive all the way up here.

The hotel is nice. My room wasn’t quite ready, so they comped me a night of valet parking, and gave me a room with an incredible view of the harbor. If I look out the window, I can see the Garden. It’s pretty cool.

Tomorrow, the job fair starts.

Off to Boston.

 Travel  Comments Off on Off to Boston.
Oct 172012
 

I’m setting off for Boston, for the Boston Career Forum sponsored by CareerForum.net. I’ve decided to check it out and see what the job market for native English speakers who can speak Japanese is like. Granted, most of the 190 companies there are large-scale companies, and it’s probably more realistic to talk to smaller companies first, but it’s an opportunity.

Tonight I’m in Newark, Delaware, halfway to Boston on I-95. Today was challenging in its own way.

The day before yesterday, I dropped my car off at the dealership for an oil change and rotation, and asked them to take a look to make sure everything was running okay. It’s a long drive to Boston, so I don’t want anything falling off or breaking on the way.

I figured that everything would be fine.

I got packed up and hit the road today. By the time I was about 20 miles into Virginia on I-85, 3 yellow lights came on. The first two were about the VSC system, and the third was the Check Engine light.

Great.

So I pulled over at a truck stop and spent 15 minutes checking the owner’s manual to see what was up. Apparently, the skid control in the car isn’t working, and it stored a code in the computer. The car still ran fine, so I decided to try to ignore it as best I can.

When I got to Maryland, I decided to pull off at the welcome center on I-95 just north of the Beltway to figure out where I was going to stay tonight. The Welcome Center has free WiFi, so I tried surfing to hotels.com to see what the customers there thought of the hotels in Delaware. I found a good hotel, and then called them instead of messing with an open WiFi network. Not only are open networks not secure, this network was painfully slow.

Maryland has started doing something really tacky, IMO. They’re putting photo speed detectors in work zones. Now I’m not against speed enforcement, but I want to know who’s watching me. Also, I really dislike how the fines don’t change even if the zone is empty of people. If the fines are supposed to be a deterrent that saves the lives of workers, why are you trying to catch people at 9 p.m. in an empty zone? It’s not about safety, it’s a cash grab.

I like the approach they tried in Texas about 10 years ago. A group in Dallas wanted to sell speeding coupons for $5 each, and if you got caught by the police, you could just hand it over. That way, you’ve already paid your speed tax, and they get their ticket quotas. Sadly, the state legislature went nuts, even though most people in Dallas would have loved that kind of system, because they all drive like lunatics in Texas. (Well, to be honest, just about everywhere you go these days, everyone is driving like a lunatic, but in Texas it always seemed like everyone drove crazy fast.)

I think it’s more efficient to tax that sort of behavior up front, rather than playing cat-and-mouse with everyone. Everyone speeds, or if they don’t speed, they probably break some other traffic rules. For example, the left-lane vigilantes who drive slow in the left lane are breaking the traffic laws as well. Keep Right Except to Pass or Slower Traffic Keep Right are frequently seen on black-and-white rule signs, which makes them just as much of a scofflaw as the guy doing 70 in a 55 zone.

Anyway.

I wound up staying at the Holiday Inn Express just off of Exit 3B on the Delware Turnpike. It’s a great hotel. The rooms are a little pricey, but they’re clean, and it’s easy on/off the interstate.

One thing that has me slightly miffed– the cost of the drive so far in tolls. Just getting here has cost around $16, and I know it’s only going to get more expensive tomorrow.

Asheville Again

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Asheville Again
May 272012
 

I went back up to Asheville for Memorial Day, to help the folks out and to take a bunch of photos. I’m still a bit behind on the editing, so I’ll post them when they’re ready.

Bargaiiiiins…

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Bargaiiiiins…
Feb 142012
 

I joined the Costco Zombie Army a few days ago. I realized that I could save a lot of money just by buying gasoline there.

But I have to be careful when I go shopping there– it’s easy to wind up with more crap than I know what to do with.

Heading off to Asheville to help the folks out for a few days.

Some of my packages are coming back from Japan already. They’re all in surprisingly good shape, and nothing got broken or lost. The nice part is that I can kind of relive my trip as I go through the tons of crap I sent home.

The Scariest Drive. Ever.

 Travel  Comments Off on The Scariest Drive. Ever.
Dec 232011
 

I made it safely to Asheville.

Ah, a little rewinding first. I had to have AAA come and jump-start the car, and get a new battery for it first. Yay.

Then I packed and left for Asheville later in the afternoon.

Let me just say that that was the scariest drive ever. I was doing okay until I got hit with a sudden intense urge to sleep, like a sleep hammer hit me in the face. Repeatedly. I had to blast the radio, guzzle caffeine, open the windows, and turn on the air conditioner, just to stay awake. (And it was 40F/5C outside!)

I stopped every 30 minutes and did exercises, too.

I made it Asheville, though. Now I will have a Merry Christmas and sleep for a week or so.

That means fewer posts for a while, but this blog is only really active when I’m traveling, anyway.

This adventure is over. Stay tuned for the next one.

Sayonara, Japan. Back in the US again.

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Sayonara, Japan. Back in the US again.
Dec 222011
 

Today was my last day in Japan for a while.

I rolled out of bed, had the hotel buffet, and got back to packing.

I wanted to go by Sekaidou one more time, because I want to get my dad one of the pens that I got at Itoya, but they only had the regular version in black. I think he’ll like it anyway. Pilot makes great pens. I also loaded up on refills, because I have no idea how that’s going to work in the US.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by the ticket machine at JR Shinjuku and bought a green car ticket to Narita on the N’EX. Yes, it’s pricey, at 4400 yen, but the green car on the N’EX is worth every penny, and I wanted a little luxury before I got crammed into coach. (Ugh.)

When I got to the airport, I had to do a lot of security dancing just to get in.

I went to the counter to do the automated check-in, and the machine presented me with an interesting proposition. “Would you like to upgrade to Business Class for 50,000 yen?”

Hell yes I would!

Okay, I know it’s a lot of money in today’s economy, but what a coincidence– I had 50,000 yen I didn’t spend on a Vita.

I flew over in business class, and landed feeling almost human. You bet I’m going to take advantage of it on the way back!

I stopped in the Admiral’s Club and spent a few hours chilling out, mentally preparing myself for the long flight back. I understand that it’s perfectly safe, it’s just that when I’m traveling, I like to stop the car and get out every now and then and stretch. You can’t do that on a plane. Even if you do, they always send you back to your seat. Boo.

Honestly, I would prefer it if airplanes had gyms in them. That would help me take my mind off of a lot of things, and leave me refreshed when the flight was over.

The flight back to Dallas was uneventful. I made it through customs okay, and then went to the Admiral’s Club to de-stress and wait for my 8:00 flight back to RDU.

Another uneventful flight, and I was back in RDU at around 11. I didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m., and my internal clock is totally out of whack now. Tomorrow (today?) I have to drive to Asheville for Christmas!

Harajuku, Akihabara, and a View I Won’t Forget

 Food, Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Harajuku, Akihabara, and a View I Won’t Forget
Dec 212011
 

Today was my last full day in Tokyo, and there was a lot of stuff I had to get done, so more so than a touristy day, it was more of a shopping/shipping day.

For starters, I’ve been battling this nasty sore throat for two days now. It hasn’t really gotten worse, but it hasn’t really gotten better. What makes it worse is going outside, or going into really dry, overheated environments. What makes it better is hot soup, cold drinks, hot showers, Ricola, and steam.

I’m glad I bought those Ricolas in Nagoya!

I wasn’t all that hungry when I woke up, so I just had some yogurt and some Emergen’C… and now I know I’ve been thoroughly trained to wash my trash by living in Japan, because without even thinking about it, I washed not only the yogurt cup and plastic spoon before I threw them away, I also washed the tear-off foil lid, too.

But the hotel doesn’t do recycling like that here, so it was a wasted effort.

It took me a while to get started today, just because I generally felt so awful. It’s probably because I’m all run-down from the last few weeks of running around like crazy without taking time to rest. My body is screaming at me to take a break. I know this.

But I’m only in Tokyo for a day and half more, and I have no idea when I’ll be back. So I kicked it into gear and got going.

The first order of business was to get the last two boxes shipped. Another reason to love the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, as if I didn’t have plenty, is that there’s a post office right across the street. Awesome. The only downside is that they don’t do insurance on surface mail packages. Oh well. It wasn’t valuable stuff.

After a brief break, I was off to Harajuku again, to find one of the very last souvenirs, for one of my godchildren. He’s into ninjutsu, which makes it very difficult to find a good present. I don’t want to get anything that’ll get him injured, so I went to Kiddy Land again, and found him a Samurai Kirby.

Then I stopped at Shakey’s for an interesting pizza buffet lunch of grilled onion, then pepperoni (still normal), then shrimp, anchovy, pineapple and bacon, pineapple/chicken/bbq sauce, and “Mexican,” whatever that means. I skipped “corn and mayonnaise,” because it looked gross and offended my American sensibilities.

I like corn. I like mayo. But on a pizza?? No way, no how. I’m used to the seafood stuff by now. It’s actually not bad, if it’s well-made.

All the pieces were really teeny tiny. That’s why I could eat so many.

Then I went back to Shinjuku for a brief break, then off to Akihabara, finally. The place is a zoo, now, even more so than before. Between Gundam and AKB48 cafes, I’m just waiting for the inevitable Disneyfication of Akiba.

The Vita has only been out a few days, and I already saw 3 used units for sale… all of them 3G units, if that says anything. I tried to find some used games, but the deals on the pricing just weren’t that good. Book Off has better deals.

I picked up some manga, but that was it.

I can’t believe that’s all I’m going to buy in Akihabara. I’m sure in a few months I will most surely regret this, but there’s not much I can do. I haven’t figured out a way to manufacture extra time or extend my temporary visitor status. If I stay too long, I’ll get tossed out for good, and that would be bad.

I stopped off at Oasis, my favorite pay potty in the world. Such an experience for 100 yen. I recommend it to everyone. It’s across the street from Yodobashi Camera, near JR Akihabara. You can just tap your Suica and go. (Pun intended.)

Then I headed to Yodobashi Camera to gawk a bit. It’s 9 floors of electronics. Same as it was last time I was there 4 years ago. Not much to add. Lines were huge for the Vita now. Weird. Honestly, I don’t know what to think about it.

I played with one of the demo units for a while, and I really like the graphics and play, but the price is just keeping me from buying it. Curse you, weak dollar!

Then it was time to head to Maruzen to spend the rest of my points on a few books. Marunouchi is a nice area this time of year. Starting tomorrow night they’re going to have a light display every night for a week. Too bad I’ll miss it.

One of those Special Traveling Memories

After that, I headed back to Shinjuku for dinner, at the soba shop I went to night before last, Sou Hon Kei. This was another attempt to fix my throat. Roasted duck bits and soba in soup. It was absolutely awesome. It helped soothe my throat and my spirit. The view was splendid again as well. This time I sat in the Japanese style section, so it took a bit of getting used to.

But eating duck soba and watching the trains and people come and go in Shinjuku, and staring at the beautiful skyline? That’s one of my priceless moments from this trip. It was just incredible.

I very reluctantly pried myself away from the table and the view and headed back towards the hotel. A brief stop at the local Family Mart for a few snacks for later, and that was that.

I stopped by the front desk and paid the extra fee to check out late, because my flight leaves at 7, and I want the extra time to chill out in my room before I leave. I did it four years ago, too, and it worked for me.

Right now, it looks like I’m going to be flying coach back. I can’t say I’m excited about that. I’ve been trying to see if I can get some kind of upgrade to business class, because as soon as I get home, I have a four hour 250-mile drive waiting for me the next day. I need all the rest I can get!

Now it’s just frantic packing time, and I’ll be physically, if not emotionally, ready to head home tomorrow.

Toughing it out

 Food, Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Toughing it out
Dec 202011
 

Ugh.

I felt like crap today, so I had a late start.

It’s the season for it, and when I push myself too hard over a long period of time, I can’t say I’m surprised. I woke up, and my throat was sore. I had a nice little red patch on the back of my throat from the heater blowing right on me, and maybe an incipient cold? Oh, I hope not. The last thing I want on the flight back is a cold. That would be the worst.

So I really took it slow today.

First I went to Bic Camera in Shinjuku around 1 or so. I gazed longingly at the PS Vitas (Vitae?). The WiFi models were back in stock. Nobody was buying the 3g Models… and nobody was really buying the WiFis, either.

I think that the days of the handheld gaming machine are numbered to be honest. Smartphones are killing them.

I searched in vain for something for my youngest godson. He’s tough to shop for, but I don’t think Bic will have anything for him. (They do have a decent toy section, though.)

Sekaido

I hiked a bit in Shinjuku to try to find Sekaido, where I shopped 4 years ago for office and art supplies. It’s a good store, with lots of good discounts. It has just as nice a selection in some respects as Itoya, only with much lower prices. (Like 20% off the top just for starters.)

I found it, and did some shopping there. I saw two girls get in a screaming match. That was awkward. Especially because they kept moving it around where I wanted to be.

Can’t we all just get along?

I found some good bokujuu, which is ink that’s already been ground into a liquid form for 書道. Purists don’t like it for many reasons, chief among them is a firm belief that you should grind your own ink stick and make your own ink.

That’s great if you’re getting paid for it, or if you have lots of time to grind ink. It’s not so great if you’re just an amateur like me who likes to practice, and has scant free time. Grinding ink takes 20-30 minutes. And when you use it up, it takes another 20-30 minutes to grind some more.

I found a bunch of different kinds of ink to play with when I get home. Of course that’s all going in a box by sea mail, because I don’t want an inksplosion in my suitcase.

I got some bubble wrap and a few fun cool unique Japanese souvenirs for people back home, and headed to the Post Office.

Whirlwind of Packing

The Post Office in Okazaki is more together, to be honest. I never could find the forms I needed to fill out to actually send my packages. But I did get to buy the boxes. I think this will make 6? 7? Jeez.

I went back to my room and started filling them up… after I did some suitcase triage. The room looked like a tornado hit it. A very very messy tornado, full of stuff mostly for other people.

Don’t ask me how this story ends, because even I don’t know.

I got one big box filled, but the little box full of ink isn’t full yet. There’s still room for something. I’ll have to find something to put in it later.

I Will Follow You For Chicken On a Stick!

Around 7-ish I was feeling peckish, so I headed out to Roppongi Hills again for dinner.

I went to a restaurant called Momotarou for oyakodon and various bits of yakitori. The chicken breast was ninja’d with wasabi. At first I thought they sprayed lighter fluid all over it… no, that was wasabi. Wooo! Good stuff, though.

The oyakodon was really good. Just next time, please don’t serve me with a spoon… I know how to use chopsticks already. We even have them in the US. Honest.

A quick stop at Cold Stone… OMG expensive. 510 yen for a scoop and a half of ice cream. That’s $7! For ice cream! I could get a paint bucket full of ice cream for that much in the US.

I stopped again at Aoyama Book Center, which is a neat little book store, to get my brother in law another present, a cool book that should be useful for some random movie he’ll have to work on in the future. (Or not. You never know.)

Then home, on an jam-packed train.

I still feel kinda crappy, but I don’t think I’m getting worse. (I hope, anyway.)

Great Luck, Good Food, Plastic Food

 Food, Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Great Luck, Good Food, Plastic Food
Dec 192011
 

I got a late start on the day, probably because the fatigue is catching up to me. When I look at all I’ve done in the last few months, it’s a little mind-boggling.

Today I went to Asakusa, and to Senso-ji for the Battledore Festival.

The raimon again:
Raimon Again.

Flyer for the Battledore Festival, called Toshi no Ichi in Japanese:
Asakusa Toshi-no-Ichi Poster

It sounded great from the flyers, but I didn’t see anything really special going on there. There were some extra stalls open, and some of the usual festival stalls selling the usual festival food. I used the chance to buy souvenirs for people, and took a few photos.

I went to the omikuji stand and this time I pulled a daikichi! 大吉, which means “big luck,” or “best luck.”

There are two ways to look at this.

1. Yay, I’m gonna be reaaally lucky! (A typical Western view, and somewhat typical in Japan, too.)

2. I better work hard to work off the inevitable bad karma that will come with “great luck.” (You hear this in Japan sometimes.)

I got a talisman for general safety, in case 2 comes true.

On the way back to the station, I found a taiyaki vendor. I love taiyaki, so I looked at the menu, and made a great discovery– chocolate taiyaki! Someone finally listened!

It was awesome.

Yeah, I know. They made it especially for us non-Japanese tourists who aren’t fond of sweet bean paste. And for that consideration, I thank them!

I don’t mind sweet bean paste, but give me a choice, and I’ll take chocolate just about every time.

Do Not Eat

After the good food, I decided to go to Kappabashi to get some plastic food.

There are some really neat stores there, selling all kinds of cool kitchen stuff. I could easily drop 10 bills there on knives alone, but I didn’t.

I bought some platic food instead at Satou Samples. I liked the donut “covered in glass powder.” Looks like sugar, tastes like broken glass. Yeah, don’t eat it!

I wandered around a bit, then found a station nearby.

Here are a few photos from Kappabashi.

The Tokyo Sky Tree looms over everything now:
Sky Tree from Kappabashi

A sign for a salon/beauty parlor:
Kappbashi.

A love hotel with an interesting name:
Kappbashi.

Covering Sounds You Didn’t Even Know You Wanted to Cover

Nature called. Who am I to ignore the call of nature?

I had an encounter with the oddest toilet so far. They’re right there on the platform at this station, which is kind of handy. You can hear the trains come and go as you do your business.

And I found a rarity for me in a Tokyo train station– an actual Western-style sit-down toilet.

I haven’t gotten to the odd part yet. Now I will get right to it.

When I went into the stall and started taking off my backpack and jacket, it started agressively playing this “rushing water” noise to cover up whatever wretched noises I making… taking off my jacket, I guess?

Then when I finally sat down to get around to making some wretched noises, it was already done, and fell silent, which apparently made the machine feel kind of awkward after about 5-10 seconds.

So it started back up again.

Booktown!

I headed back to the hotel, grabbed a sandwich at a station on the way, and took a one-hour break.

Recharged, I headed out to Jinbocho, and looked at a bunch of used books in a bunch of different stores, but didn’t see anything I liked. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, though! Jinbocho has a lot of great used book stores if you’re looking for used Japanese-language books.

On the way to the station, I found a neat stationery store called Bunboudou, that was selling some really useful 書道 stuff, like a booklet on how to carve seals. That will come in really handy.

I also found some nice book covers for my mom, who likes to use book covers when she’s reading in public, and sometimes in private, too.

And of course plenty of postcards. Really nice ones.

I was starting to feel a little crummy, so I headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit.

Recharged again, I headed across the tracks to Tokyu Hands in Takashimaya Times Square for more souvenir shopping.

Takashimaya Times Square.

I bought more Nanoblocks as souvenirs for some of my friends (and myself!), and some Rirakuma stuff for my goddaughter. (M-Sensei at Yamasa is a huge Rirakuma fan.)

They had an amazing collection of Stuff I Can Adhere to My Cell Phone to Make It Look AWESOME. I was sorely tempted for a few minutes, I have to admit, but I decided in the end not to. I like my Nexus One clean after all. Maybe next time!

Then I headed up to the 11th/12th/13th floors in search of dinner. They have a lot of restaurants on those floors of Takashimaya Times Square in Shinjuku. I recommend it if you’re looking for a good restaurant.

I found a really nice soba shop with an awesome view of the various Shinjuku stations called Sou Hon Kei (I’m sure I butchered it), and they had a cute Christmas dinner special for 2000 yen.

I love fresh soba. Their soba was delicious, and the view was fabulous. I was revived!

I went back to the hotel after all of that and crashed for the night.

All Over Tokyo on a Sunday

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on All Over Tokyo on a Sunday
Dec 182011
 

My main plan today was to go to Harajuku to see some cool outfits, go to Ginza to see the pedestrian mall and maybe shop a little, and do other stuff as it came up. I also needed to go to Ikebukuro to get some presents at the traditional arts center there.

A shot outside of JR Shinjuku– another beautiful day! (Nothing to do about the pole, though.)
Heading to JR Shinjuku, South Side

I started off in Harajuku. I headed down the main street, turned right, and headed to Kiddy Land, which had great souvenirs/toys last time.
Harajuku Kiddy Land

This time, it wasn’t as exciting. For starters, they moved the store to a new location with less room in it, and a lot of the funkier stuff has been replaced by theme goods, like Hello Kitty, Peanuts, etc. That’s all stuff I can get in the US for my nephew and my godkids.

I liked the old store better. It had more “funky” stuff and a cooler vibe.

Meiji Jingu Shrine

Then I headed towards Meiji Jingu shrine, and took some photos on the way.

Streets near Kiddy Land:
Harajuku Back Streets

The MoMA (NY) Design Store in Harajuku?
MoMA, Harajuku

Looking back at the main street of Harajuku as I head towards the station and the shrine/park:
Harajuku Main Street

I only saw one bunch of people really dressed up, and they were on their way out. Too slow to get a photo.

I guess I missed it? I dunno.

I got to the shrine, and walked and walked and walked. It was difficult to take good pictures, because the lighting was bad.

Here’s the entry with the IXY, which really struggled with the conditions:
Meiji Jinguu Shrine, Entrance.

My giant 60D did a little better, but not much, to be honest:
Meiji Jinguu Entrance.

A lantern I saw on the path:
Meiji Jinguu Lamp.

The shrine grounds are really pretty, but lots of shade means it’s hard on photographers:
Meiji Jinguu Gardens.

I thought this sign was interesting. The English takeaway? No smoking. But in Japanese, it also says no eating and drinking while walking:
Meiji Jinguu. No Smoking Sign.

This area was a collection of donated Japanese and French wines to dedicate the shrine with:
Meiji Jinguu, Consecrated Wines of France and Japan.

Sake:
Meiji Jinguu, Sake Barrels.

Meiji Jinguu, Sake Barrels.

Barrels of wine:
IMG_1915

Moving on to the inner garden grounds:
Meiji Jinguu Gardens.

See the red umbrella? That’s a wedding party:
Meiji Jinguu Shrine, Entrance to Naien

Meiji Jinguu Shrine, Entrance to Naien

I saw a couple of Americans in Santa suits. WHYYYY? Of course they kept getting in the way of my photos. No, I’m not showing them. They weren’t that good, anyway.

While I was snapping away, a wedding procession came through, then came back. That was pretty cool. I tried to take a video of it with my 60D, but it kept not wanting to shoot video. It was very grumpy about the whole thing. I was probably pressing the wrong button or something.

Meiji Jinguu Shrine Naien.

A few shots of the inner garden and the honden:
Meiji Jinguu Shrine Naien. Detail.

Meiji Jinguu Shrine Naien. Honden.

Meiji Jinguu Shrine Naien. Door.

After that, a group of girls and a group of guys asked me to take their pictures. I guess they figured that I knew what I was doing.

Then I headed out.

One last shot of Harajuku, near JR Harajuku:
Heading to JR Harajuku.

I went back to the room to recharge for a bit and have lunch.

Road Closed

Refreshed, I went to Ginza. Since it was Sunday, the main road was closed to traffic, and the main street turned a giant pedestrian plaza. It was like a giant outdoor shopping mall.

The buildings looked great as sun was setting.

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Stores

I headed to Itoya, one of my favorite stores on the planet.

Itoya-- My Favorite Stationery Store

People were jammed in tight there. I shopped a bit, and as I was heading out, I stopped by the pens. I found a beauty. Pilot made a special edition pen for earthquake relief for Tohoku. There was one red one left, and I bought it. It’s a gorgeous pen, and hopefully someone will benefit from my impulse buy.

I also bought some decorative paper for my sister, who loves the stuff.

Then I headed back out, and took a few photos.

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

Ginza Pedestrian Sunday

At 5 there was an announcement, “We’re going to open the road to traffic now. Move it.”

Pedestrian heaven quickly became pedestrian hell, as everyone jammed back on to the sidewalks.

One last shot of a random Ginza Christmas tree:
Ginza Pedestrian Sunday-- Christmas Tree

I made my way to the subway, then headed to the hotel to drop off my Itoya purchases, and then turned around and went to Ikebukuro.

The Best of Japan in One Place

The reason for my trip to Ikebukuro was to pick up some souvenirs at the Japan Traditional Crafts Center. Some of the best craft work in Japan is for sale there, all in one store in Ikebukuro.

Finding it was slightly tricky, but I found it. They had a really good selection. If, like me, you want to buy a good handmade calligraphy brush, they have them from all over Japan.

The downside is that you won’t forge a relationship with the people who made it, like I did in Anjo and in Toyohashi. You also won’t get a discount for being nice and speaking Japanese. This is Tokyo, not Aichi Prefecture.

But you can find all kinds of stuff here. I found some nice brushes, one for my calligraphy teacher back home, one for a classmate of mine, one for me, and a nice print for my girlfriend back home.

On the way to the station, I found another Krispy Kreme.

Of course I bought a few doughnuts! I need the carbs… for energy! I still have way too many Krispy Kreme coupons. Every time I use one, they give me two back. I will never be able to get rid of them, and have fallen squarely into their trap!

I headed back to the hotel again to drop off my souvenirs, and decided to go to Roppongi for dinner.

Christmas in Roppongi

I went to Roppongi Hills, because the food there is good. There was also a Christmas tree-like decoration in front:

Christmas Tree at Roppongi Hills

Christmas Tree at Roppongi Hills

Christmas Tree at Roppongi Hills

I found a good sounding teppanyaki place, until I checked their menu. The prices were way too high for my budget.

So I went to the noodle shop across the hall, called Masudaya, and got great chicken soba for a third of the price.

I still kind of suck at slurping my noodles like a local, but who cares? It’s delicious!

I wanted to go to Cold Stone, because I was craving something cold and sweet after all those hot noodles, but it was closed by 9. Boo.

On the way back to the station, I stopped by Aoyama Book Center for a book for my brother in law. I may have found something there, but I’ll have to double-check with my sis to make sure it’s in his strike zone.

I saw this neat Roppongi sign made out of lights. Kind of looks like the signs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans:
Roppongi Sign

One last gratuitous photo of a subway poster while waiting for a train, full of things you shouldn’t do on the platform:
Subway Warning Poster

After all of that, I headed back to Shinjuku and passed out.

Towering Over Tokyo

 Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Towering Over Tokyo
Dec 172011
 

The first full day of my fourth trip to Tokyo was hectic.

I started off with breakfast at the hotel. 1200 yen for the buffet. It’s pretty good. Some of it is a little unexpected, but that’s breakfast in Japan. The bacon was a bit bland to me, but I’m used to hickory-smoked bacon. On the upside, you can try out a Japanese-style breakfast, or chicken out and have your Western-style breakfast if fish is too much for early in the morning.

Anyway.

After breakfast, I went over to Bic Camera to check out the PS Vita. The crowds were crazy. Everyone wanted to look at it and try it out. The WiFi version was almost sold out, and I was tempted, but I had a hard time justifying the price, which would exceed 50,000 yen if I bought everything I wanted. That’s around $700 these days. No way. That’s more than my phone cost, and my phone can do a lot more without the geographic restrictions.

Here are a few gratuitous shots of Shinjuku on the way to JR Shinjuku. The skies were amazingly clear, so the skyline looked good:
Shinjuku

Shinjuku

I headed over to Tokyo station to go to the Travel Information Center there. It took me a while to find it. It’s not in the station proper– it’s outside, in a random, unmarked building. It needs better signage for us clueless tourists, because I walked past it a few times.

I got there and spent some time talking to the ladies behind the desk there. They had a lot of good ideas for things to do, and I grabbed a bunch of pamphlets. I’ll have to sort it all out later and figure out what I want to get done in this one week I have here. (Less than a week, really. 5-6 days, tops.)

What to do next… I know. I’ve wanted to go to the Tokyo Tower forever, but I have never been able to make it happen.

Towering Ambitions

So I hopped on a few trains, and got to the Tower after a bit of a walk. I had my camera, so I took a lot of pictures.

Waiting for my train in Otemachi subway station:
Otemachi Station

On the way out of the station near the Tower, I saw a map. I’m still not sure if it’s for the Tokyo Prince Hotel, or for the Tower:
Map at Subway Station

Getting close to the Tower:
Approaching Tokyo Tower

I took a few shots from outside before going in:
Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

Detail shot:
Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

There was a bit of a wait to get to the main observation deck, but I got there okay. It was crowded. Today you could see Mt. Fuji, so that view was exceptionally popular. It was popular with me, too!

I had my new circular polarizer, so I tried using it… and it failed utterly. The windows are coated with something that makes the polarizer do weird things.

See for yourself:
Tokyo Tower Windows Cause Photography Problems

Yeah, even with a polarizer, sometimes I just got those weird ugly rainbows in my photos, so those went into the recycle bin. I had to use the lens bare, and deal with the reflections as I could. I did okay.

The views were beautiful. I stayed well after sunset.

Here are some of the shots I took:

You can see the new Tokyo Sky Tree under construction in the back:
Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba and the Bay from Tokyo Tower

I tried to make a panorama:
Tokyo Bay/Rainbow Bridge Panorama

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

I really liked this shot in particular, even though there’s a reflection in one corner, and little artifacts. It’s just pretty to me:
Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

And then there’s Mt. Fuji, which everyone was eager to get a picture of. I had my big heavy zoom lens on me, so getting shots of it was easier, but getting non-shaky in-focus shots was still hard, because the light was going, and I had to shoot around the crowds inside the observation deck. (And some photos had weird reflections in them, no matter what I tried.)

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Some non-Mt. Fuji sights:
Rainbow Bridge at Sunset

Tokyo Sky Tree at Sunset

Atago Green Hills from the Tokyo Tower Observation Deck

The sun is really going down now, so Mt. Fuji looks great!

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Mt. Fuji at Sunset from Tokyo Tower.

The streets are in full light:
Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

I really like this one:
Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

I started to get tired and hungry, so I a snack at the cafe there. It was a little overpriced, but tasty. Then back to shooting photos!

It’s night now:
Rainbow Bridge at Night

You can barely make out the Sky Tree in the background:
If you squint, you can see the Sky Tree

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Mt. Fuji at Dusk.

Tokyo Skyline at Sunset from Tokyo Tower

Here are a few shots I took with the IXY. I have no idea exactly when I took them, because the IXY clock is off. Still, this one is pretty:
Mt. Fuji and the Tokyo Skyline, IXY Version.

Then I went downstairs to the museum/gift shop area and looked around. They had a special “Always” exhibit, about the movie. That was pretty cool. They even had a big scale model of the neighborhood in the movie.

Always Set.

Always Set.

While I was down there, I saw a flier for fireworks tonight by the Rainbow Bridge at 7:00. It was 6:20-ish. Maybe I could make it if I hurry.

Chasing Fireworks

I stopped outside the Tower to take a few more photos, and headed to the Oedo Line at Akabanebashi, then rode to Shiodome to grab the monorail.

A few last shots of the Tower and the surrounding Christmas lights:
Tokyo Tower at Night

Christmas Light at Tokyo Tower

I thought the “I heart Tower” sign was cute:
Christmas Light at Tokyo Tower

Christmas Light at Tokyo Tower

Even dentists do Christmas lights here:
Christmas Light at Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower at Night

On my way to try to catch the fireworks, I got a little lost transferring from the Oedo line to the Monorail, so I lost some precious minutes.

As I was riding the monorail (which is pretty cool, by the way), I saw the flashes in the background between the buildings, and missed the fireworks. I got to the Rainbow Bridge area by 7:15, and they were already long over.

Boo.

So I hopped back on the monorail, took it to the Oedo line, and headed back to Shinjuku for dinner.

Skewered.

I’ve seen Memory Lane on some TV travel shows. It’s an area in Shinjuku that’s supposed to give you a feel of Showa-era Tokyo dining. Narrow alleys, lots of small restaurants all bumping into each other. I thought, “Hey that might be fun.”

So I wandered around, and settled on a small place selling yakitori. I sat down and ordered some yakitori, and found out that there was a 300 yen “seat charge.”

Seriously?

I was hungry, and I hoped that maybe the food would be worth the 300 yen extra.

It wasn’t.

It was overcooked, chewy, and generally not very good. I’ve eaten a lot of yakitori. I know good and bad. That was bad, with an extra 300 yen thrown in to boot.

I left and grabbed something else at a conbini to make up for it, then wandered around a bit more. I stopped by Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku to see if the Vitas were selling (the WiFi was), and then to Labi to see what they were doing. More of the same. I enjoy wandering through Japanese electronics stores, because they seem to be much more exciting than the products they’re selling. It’s not just a row of vacuum cleaners, it’s an exciting row of vacuum cleaners! Something like that.

By then it was late, so I went back to the hotel, and called it a night.

Sayonara, Yamasa, Sayonara, Okazaki. Tadaima, Tokyo.

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Dec 162011
 

Today was a whirlwind of emotions. I started out with about 3 hours’ sleep, getting up at 5:30 in the morning so I could finish packing up 2 boxes to send home. I grabbed a shower, then ran the washing machine so it would finish before I had to leave, then stripped the bed, packed the bedding into Space Bags, and stuffed all of that into a box.

By then it was 6:30. More packing, more preparations, more running around. By 8:15, the washer finished, so I hung everything up to dry, pointed the heater at the laundry, and got ready to head out the door for the last time for class. (Note: there will be a lot of “last times” in this article.)

Heading out the door for class, one last look at the apartment area:
Yamasa Villa IV and III

A shot of the 248 intersection on the way to class:
My Yamasa Daily Commute -- 248

When I got to class at around 8:55, I was the only person there. It was kind of sad, because usually it’s pretty lively at that time.
Class Dismissed!

By 9:00, it was just me, M-sensei, and K-san. That was pretty much it for the start of class. People started to trickle in, but nobody was really in the mood to race to class today, probably because exams were over, and today was just a day to goof around before the end of the semester ceremony and all of the goodbyes.

We watched a video where a guy with a camera stalks a girl who stalks a pizza delivery guy who stalks another girl who winds up murdering the camera guy because he was stalking the first girl instead of her, so she became jealous. It was actually pretty well done. The actress who played the girl who stalks the pizza guy was very good. Her clumsiness came through really well, and she just flat out made me laugh with her physical comedy.

Anyway.

By the end of the video, we had seven people out of eleven. Not bad. Then we moved on to making 年賀状 (ねんがじょう) nengajou, or end of the year post cards everyone sends out to each other to thank them for everything they did last year, and hope that they treat them well again next year. So we made one each.

Usually, you pick a theme based on next year’s Chinese zodiac sign. Next year is the year of the dragon, so dragons in general are pretty big these days. Mine wasn’t the most complex, to be honest. I wish I had thought to bring my brush pen. Doh.

We got our grade reports. I did okay. I got a B overall. I’m pleased, considering all the work I had to put in. (And all of the traveling I did on the side!)

Class Dismissed!

Then it was time for the end of term ceremony, which was held in Aoi Hall, where I usually ate lunch when I would just grab something at Domy. It was the home to my favorite vending machine. It was the kind that would squirt your selected drink, be it hot or cold, into a paper cup. I’ve always had a soft spot for those machines.

Anyway, on to the ceremony. The deal is that a student who is leaving gets a certificate showing all of his/her hard work, and then that student has to give a speech to the assembled crowd.

Yes, a speech. I found out about this on Wednesday. Some people prepared theirs, I didn’t. Why? Simple. I had no time!

So we started with the 101 class, and slowly worked our way to 201B.

Thank You!

Then it was my turn. Fortunately, V-san recorded it for me, because now I don’t have a very good recollection of what the heck it was that I said. I do remember thanking the staff, my teachers, S-Sensei and K-Sensei. I also thanked all of the JBPP people as well.

I wanted to thank everyone who helped to make me so much better at Japanese than I was when I showed up here with my language skills in total disarray. My skills are still a bit of a mess, but now I can hold down a conversation without fear, and that’s a huge deal for me. I have a feeling that I know where to start.

Thanks to Yamasa and the people that make it a great school. You are all incredible people who do something wonderful for us who come from thousands of miles away to ask you stupid questions, and you answer them patiently and graciously.

As I stared out at all of the people I had gotten to know over such a long, yet short period of time, it all felt a little bit surreal, and my mind kind of wandered. I looked over and saw Z-san, and the first thing that I thought about was all of the fun we had in JBPP, and the class we just had on talking about nothing. So I talked about it briefly. That class was a lot of fun in particular. The JBPP gang was great. I’m going to miss them.

I don’t remember how exactly I wrapped it up, but I’m sure I used proper keigo. Lord, they’ve been trying to drill it into my head for the last three months, so I hope it has stuck a bit by now.

Then we all got together for a few group shots, and talked a bit.

The After-Party

By then, the rest of the class had decided to show up, and we all headed in the general direction of Olive Tree, which is an all-you-can-stand-to-eat Italian restaurant at the corner of highways 248 and 483.

Olive Tree Restaurant, Okazaki, Japan

The deal there is simple– you put a little sign on your table, and a lady brings you a slice of pizza until you can’t stand it, then you turn the sign around. You can also get a spaghetti dish, salad, drink and dessert. So we did.

Unfortunately for P-san, most of the pizzas were tuna, tuna and corn, and other seafood varieties. (She hates seafood.) Then again, I’m not fond of it on my pizza either, but I was starving, so I ate it anyway.

Corn Pizza with Tuna:
Corn Pizza at Olive Tree Restaurant, Okazaki, Japan

So we ate, and ate, and ate, and generally horsed around until about 2:30, then the farewells started. Ugh. That round was harsh.

Everyone was getting all misty-eyed.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, because I don’t know if/when I’ll see them again. Hopefully we can get together online. That would be awesome.

Leaving Yamasa, Leaving Okazaki.

I had to go to Kurita for one last bundle of tape, so I did that, then decided to stop by campus to say goodbye. I dropped in and said goodbye to the CS staff and the teachers, M-sensei in particular, who was so very patient with me. I took some photos of the Yamasa campus.

Yamasa II, where we had class, and where all of the offices are:
Yamasa II Building

Aoi Hall and the building on the left, where I had JBPP classes:
Aoi Hall, Yamasa, Okazaki, Japan.

Another shot of Aoi Hall. FM Okazaki in the front:
Aoi Hall, Yamasa, Okazaki, Japan.

It’s not a pretty building on the outside, but it’s nice inside:
Aoi Hall, Yamasa, Okazaki, Japan.

Kitsutsuki, the cafe/restaurant where I had a lot of lunches. Get the A set. Can’t go wrong!
Kitsutsuki Cafe, Yamasa Campus, Okazaki, Japan.

ZigZag, a warm, friendly little bar with the cheapest Guinness Stout in Japan:
ZigZag, Yamasa Campus, Okazaki, Japan.

Then I made the lonely walk back to the apartment to finish packing and get out.

One last look at Yamasa II as I head back to the apartment:
Sayonara, Yamasa.

On the way back:
Backstreets of Okazaki near Yamasa

The rice field I saw every day:
Backstreets of Okazaki near Yamasa. Rice Field.

I loved the way this shed looked:
Backstreets of Okazaki near Yamasa. Rice Field. Shed.

The snapping turtle restaurant I mentioned before. I never did eat there:
Snapping Turtle Restaurant.

The Daiso: land of 100 yen cheap things:
The Daiso.

Heading back to my apartment:
Heading back to the apartment.

I had to climb this hill every day by bicycle. It was never that much fun:
Climbing the Brutal Hill Home.

Almost there:
Climbing the Brutal Hill Home.

And the apartments are just up ahead on the left:
Apartment in sight!

Frantically Fleeing

I got the last packages ready at around 6 pm, then called a cab to come take me to the post office. That’s five packages going by boat to home, total. Yikes.

When I got back, I made a quick video of the apartment before I left, then I called another cab to take me to the station.

This time, I got my tickets to Tokyo at the JR Okazaki station office. I did it all in Japanese, and it saved me a bunch of time.

I went to the platform with my insanely heavy luggage, and had a brainfart. I saw a train getting ready to leave and instinctively jumped on it. It looked a little different than the usual limited express, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I was flustered and full of emotions from the day, and that doesn’t always lead to good outcomes.

The train lumbered out of the station, and the next station was a station I’ve never gone to before.

Uh-oh, it seems that I had gotten on the local.

Arrrgh!

I rode it a few stops to Anjo, and grabbed the usual limited express to Nagoya. I had to hurry, because I didn’t want to miss my shinkansen to Tokyo! It was going to leave soon, and I was stressing a bit.

Back in Tokyo.

I got to Nagoya safely, and didn’t really have time to do much more than get to the Shinkansen platform and buy a bento for the ride to Tokyo.

I got on the train, and there wasn’t any good place to put my luggage. Fortunately, I was in the front row by myself, so I sat there with my luggage the whole way to Tokyo.

FYI, sitting with your giant suitcases is not fun. Please, pack light!

I was moving, so packing light wasn’t really an option for me.

I got to JR Shinagawa at around 10:30 or so, and I knew I needed to hustle to get to Shinjuku before the trains stopped running. So I lugged all of my heavy crap with me through the station to the Yamanote Line platform. It was Friday night, and it was packed.

That was an unpleasant ride where I got some unhappy looks. I know that backpacks are generally frowned upon on the trains here, but I didn’t have much of a choice. So I beared with it.

I got to Shinjuku, and made it to my usual hotel, the Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku. I love this hotel. They have saved my bacon a few times.

I stopped by a conbini for dinner, then passed out.

Fushigi na Tokoro

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Dec 152011
 

We got our results back from our tests. I passed the grammar/writing test. It was a little tight on the listening test, but I figured it would be tight.

Today was the last JBPP class. We had the Okazaki version of donuts. I forget what they’re called now, but they were good. S-Sensei brought us all kinds of donuts, and beverages as well.

It was a little sad to see everyone for the last time. I had a blast in JBPP, and learned a ton. And I realize there’s a ton more I need to learn still! Good luck to my fellow students, N-san, Z-san, and K-san! Thank you for your patience and understanding!

I made another trip to Kurita for more packing materials, and the Daiso for some more.

I got home, and there was lots of frantic throwing things in boxes, mummifying said boxes in clear tape, and a trip to the Okazaki Main Post Office to send two of them back to the US by boat.

I took a taxi. There was no other sane way to get there!

They laughed when I told them I’d be back tomorrow, but I’m serious. I will be.

Kitto Katta!

After that, I went to ZigZag for the Christmas Party. They don’t call it a Holiday Party here, because Christmas means having a hot date in Japan, or some KFC and cake and some pretty lights… no deeper meanings, so nobody takes offense.

Most Japanese, who are raised in Shinto and Buddhism, have no problems with celebrating Christmas. Considering that the Shinto religion has millions of gods, what’s wrong with celebrating one more?

I gave D-san my store of “edible stuff that I can’t take with me, because I shipped it here like an idiot,” and he graciously accepted it. I hope he can use it. I was really glad he took it off my hands, and I feel like a dork for bringing it all.

D-san hosted the Bingo game and everyone won something… like massage oil, Q-tips, salted Pocky, you name it.

I won KitKats, which made me happy. I love winning something useful and delicious. (I was fine with not winning massage oil.)

I hung out with P-san, T-kun, and some of the guys who have been working locally. It was fun. I probably stayed later than I should have, and I’ll probably pay for it in the morning. Such is life.

I wanted to be with a lot of people tonight, and I wanted to see everyone having a good time while I can, because tomorrow it’s time to leave Okazaki, and that’s a bummer.

I had a blast here, and everyone was great.

Fushigi na Tokoro/The Crossroads of Language Learning on the Tokaido

Yamasa is a strange, ephemeral kind of place. All kinds of interesting people come from all over the world to desperately learn Japanese in a very rigorous setting, and they all work crazy hard to do it, and then suddenly– VOOM– they’re gone.

Mission accomplished, or maybe not, but for whatever reason, they’ve done all they can either afford to or are allowed to by their government or the Japanese government through visas, and that’s it.

So everyone works hard, plays hard, and racks up the best memories they can. Students range from fresh-faced 18 and 19-year olds, to 60+ year olds who are looking for new challenges in life.

It’s a fun mix of people, from a wide range of different cultures, but we all have one thing in common.

We can all speak Japanese!

Stupid FOREX People

In my case, my study was limited by the strong yen/weak dollar. Those guys working the Yen FOREX trade essentially did me in, because everything here is just ungodly expensive for me. It makes me cringe just to think about it.

When I came here four years ago, the rate was 110 yen to the dollar. Now, it hovers around 77-78 yen to the dollar, and it has done so the whole time I’ve been here. I know, because I watch the exchange rate like a hawk. As soon as it hits 78, WHAM, it gets pounded down to the low 77s again. That’s how I know that someone, somewhere, is making a killing off of this.

It’s a shame, because it’s hurting businesses here and keeping tourists away.

Overall Results: Success!

We got our 実力 (aptitude/achievement) test results back today, and I’m pleased with the results. There wasn’t a really big change in my grammar/vocabulary abilities, but I wasn’t too concerned about those. What I was pleased with was the big jump in speaking and writing ability. That was the main reason I came here.

Since I was in a N2-level class, we covered a lot of material I already sort of knew, so there wasn’t a whole lot of new vocab to learn, nor was there a whole lot of grammar to learn. BUT there was a lot of learning “shades of meaning” that I didn’t even consider before. So I got to know the grammar I learned a lot better than I used to know it.

And while my passive vocab didn’t increase a whole lot, my active vocabulary shot through the roof. That’s due to all of the talking and writing in Japanese that I did.

All of my excursions were daily 実力 tests to see how I could handle all kinds of things in a 99% Japanese environment. Things like getting tickets, buying food, finding stores, ordering things, dealing with the post office, dealing with all kinds of people on an everyday basis– all of that was a series of daily exams.

I’m very pleased with my results.

Tomorrow is the closing ceremony, party, and then I head out. *Sniff!*

Last Trip to Anjo

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Dec 142011
 

Today was the last big test day, with the big listening and grammar test that covered, well, everything.

As usual, listening was hard, because it was all JLPT-style listening. Grammar wasn’t so bad, because the teachers have been working hard to get us ready for this. We’ve done all kinds of review drills and games to try to get the grammar firmly seated in our heads.

The day didn’t get off to a good start. I got up at 5:30 to finish up my resume and 職務経歴書 (shokumu keirekisho) and send it all to M-sensei, but I forgot to attach the file.

So at lunch, I had to race home and send it, then race back.

Our Conversation Made the Earth Move

We met with local people after lunch to practice our conversational skills. It was a lot of fun. The wild part was when about halfway through, when there was an earthquake that felt like someone had just lifted up the building about 6 inches or so and dropped it with a loud “BAM!” and then it was silent while everyone checked to make sure nobody was hurt.

After everyone confirmed that they were okay, there was a little nervous laughter, and we all went back to talking.

I guess you just get used to this sort of stuff after a while.

All of the local folks were impressed with our conversational skills, and we got to practice our modesty. (Oh, no, I’m not that good at all!)

After that, it was time for JBPP, and time to say goodbye to M-sensei. She taught us a ton of useful stuff. Thanks, M-sensei!

Then I remembered I still had to go to Anjo to buy some 書道 supplies for one of my friends back home. First I stopped by the office supply store to get some packing materials.

I wasn’t thinking, and I bought too much! See, that’s what happens when my brain is hard-wired to just toss everything in my car like giant shopping cart.

So at JR Okazaki, I lucked out and discovered something I had always overlooked: the coin lockers at JR Okazaki! They exist! All five of them!

To get to the coin lockers, go to the BellMart outside the wicket, and look to your left. They’re right there. One stack of them.

I dropped my bags off there, and headed out to Anjo. As I waited for the Aichi Loop Line to come, I took a few snapshots with my IXY. (I love this little camera!)

The info board (which is a monitor) with real time updates on where each train is:
Aichi Loop Line info board

The light was good, so I took a few shots of the platform:
Aichi Loop Line Platform at JR Okazaki
Aichi Loop Line Platform at JR Okazaki
Aichi Loop Line Platform at JR Okazaki

As a freight train went past, I tried to get a shot of it:
Aikan sign, Freight train.

This is probably a better shot:
Aikan sign, Freight train.

The 愛環出 sign is marking the Aikan (short for Aichi Loop Line in Japanese) track.

My train showed up, and I took the Aichi Loop Line to Naka-Okazaki, (Okazaki Koen-Mae for the Meitetsu) then switched over to the Meitetsu line that heads towards Anjo. I got off at Shin-Anjo, and hiked over to the calligraphy store, ready to buy a few things before I left, and to say goodbye.

I got to the store… and it was dark.

Uh-oh.

I checked the hours, and they should be open, but the lights were out. So I mustered up a little courage, knocked, opened the door and asked in Japanese if they were still open.

I got lucky, because the lady there remembered me and turned the lights on for me. Woot. See? That’s that whole “knowing the language and interacting with people” skill paying dividends!

I bought more paper and brushes, and got the 30% discount for knowing the people who run the store. They also gave me an extra brush as a freebie. Thanks! You were all great!

I still need ink, I think. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that. I may buy it in Tokyo instead. I don’t have time now.

We talked a little bit, then I had to go back home and frantically pack some more.

On the way back to the apartment, I stopped at the Daiso and binged on packing materials and cool things like B3-sized clear files, which will be great for carrying calligraphy paper. I found some resume forms, some sakubun paper, some rubber stamps for my sister (she’s getting her teaching certificate, and maybe she can use these). I got some plastic B3-sized paper cases, too. 100 yen stores are awesome. (But why do I not like dollar stores?)

I packed until 2 a.m., and listened to FM Okazaki while I packed. Then I passed out.

Two days to go, then I have to leave.

A Master of Saying Nothing

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Dec 132011
 

We have our main class (AIJP) final tomorrow, for chapters 5-12. We’ve all been studying like crazy, too! Most of our classes have been review, and I’ve been reviewing whenever I can, including on the train.

Today I was awesome in JBPP.

I have fully mastered the art of saying nothing.

It’s important to know how and when to use filler words. Even in formal situations, there are times when they’re necessary.

I really have come a long way!

But I still have a lot of things to do before I can leave town.

Last Excursion to Nagoya, For a While, Anyway

After class, I went to the post office to pay some bills, get some cash, and then I headed to Nagoya for (probably?) the last time until I leave for Tokyo.

While I was waiting for the train at JR Okazaki, I snapped a couple of photos:
JR Okazaki on the way out to Nagoya

JR Okazaki on the way out to Nagoya vertical

When I got to Nagoya, I stopped by Maruzen, and found some good 書道 books, then went to the 書道 supply store in Sakae to get things like stones for carving seals, knives for carving, etc.

While I was in Sakae, I took a few pictures. First, the area near one of the supply stores:
Nagoya, Sakae, Looking for Supplies.

Then I headed to the park, and saw this weird little sign way off in the distance:
Park and Sign - 1

Aww, it’s kind of cute!
Park and Sign - 2

Okay, maybe creepy-cute?
Park and Sign - 4

I also grabbed an obligatory shot of the Nagoya broadcast tower:
Nagoya Tower from the Park 2

And I tried a little too hard to be artsy about it:
Nagoya Tower from the Park 3

For dinner, I made my last trip to Mokumoku. That food is great, especially the beef stew. I’m going to miss it!

Then I went down a few floors to Tokyu Hands to get a few more 書道 supplies for me, and some souvenirs for family members.

Going Home

By then it was getting on 9 pm, so I grabbed a train back to Okazaki. I wanted to say “home,” because really, by now Okazaki feels like home to me, but in a few days I will be leaving home to go to Tokyo, then back to my other home in the US.

Sigh.

This is all kind of bittersweet for me. I have had an incredible experience here, and a wonderful time, but it’s a little sad, too.

It’s also incredible motivation for me to get back here as soon as I can. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but I will come back to live here for a while. (More than three months, I can assure you!)

Jackson Pollock and The Tallest Toilet in Nagoya

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Dec 112011
 

Today I went to Nagoya again. (Again?) Yes, again. There was a Jackson Pollock 100th birthday commemorative exhibition going on at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, so you’re darn right I was going. It was a collection of a lot of his major pieces, even pieces from Iran, which I would never be able to see in the US. So of course I was going.

Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite artists. There’s no way I wasn’t going.

I stopped at the post office on the way out of town, only to have my ATM card declined. Twice. Apparently I hit the limit when I was in Toyohashi, and it’s not US midnight yet. Doh.

I still had plenty of money, but I’m always paranoid about not having enough cash on me here. In a pinch, I can usually use a credit card, but there’s always a chance that my card will be randomly declined. Either it’s security or just incompatible networks, it’s embarrassing and annoying. I wish there was a way to tell them, “Hey, it’s me! Let it go through!” Sadly, not yet.

Also, a lot of stores here will only take cash, so that’s also something to keep in mind.

It’s Not All Paint Splatters!

I got to JR Nagoya around 1, then made my way to Sakae, where the exhibition was.

On the way, a gratuitous shot of Oasis21 with my IXY, which I keep in my pocket now pretty much all the time.

Oasis 21 Nagoya, Japan

The museum was close by. They had an amazing number of Pollock’s paintings. As I said before, some came from places the US doesn’t have good relations with (like Iran), so I got to see things up close and personal that I probably would never be able to see in the US.

I also got to see a lot of Pollock’s early period work, and his really late work, both of which were surprisingly different from what I’m most familiar with, but were both impressive in different ways.

They even had a mock-up of his studio that you could walk around in, and a photo of his paint-splattered floor you could walk on. It was pretty cool.
Jackson Pollock Exhbit, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art -1

They also had paint cans and brushes and other tools he used to create his paintings with.
Jackson Pollock Exhbit, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art -3

After a couple of hours of geeking out, I headed to the gift shop and bought some post cards and a clear file. The clear file is awesome. It’s clear, but has a band from one of his paintings on it. Way cool.

Walkin’ In The Sky

I headed back to JR Nagoya, and decided that it was time to check out the Midland Square building, which is pretty darn cool. I had been meaning to go there for a while, but with all of the rain, it was impossible. Why? Because the observation deck is all outside! It’s 47 stories up, and the observation deck is 5 stories high, and all outdoors. According to their website, it’s the tallest outdoor observation deck in Japan.

It’s cool.

Well, it’s also cold, because it’s mid-December.

But I was willing to tough it out. I got some really nice shots, and even shot a little video of the walk around the periphery.

So here are some of the nicer shots of the Nagoya Skyline from my little Canon IXY:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

JR Nagoya:
JR Nagoya

The spiky sculpture in front of JR Nagoya, from 47 stories up. Scarier than it looks!
JR Nagoya

You can see people boarding a Shinkansen!
JR Nagoya

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Castle in the lower left corner:
Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Tower

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Looking down from the top:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

I really like this angle and this shot in general:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

The light in general was strong as the sun was setting, so there was a lot of dramatic lighting:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

I felt the call of nature, and headed to the restroom there. That is one fancy and technologically advanced restroom. It’s almost as cool as the one at Oasis in Akihabara. Almost. But pretty close. There’s a hand dryer built into the sink, so as soon as you’re done washing, you can dry your hands without getting other peoples’ restroom cooties on your hands. And unlike a lot of air dryers in the US, it only stops when your hands are dry.

Of course I took a picture. It was cool!
The Coolest Sink in Nagoya.

I went back out and took some more photos. I only had my IXY with me, and just as I was getting into it, the battery started to die.

Boo.

I got a few more shots of Nagoya Castle, with more dramatic light as the sun was getting on with setting at a much quicker pace than I expected:
Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

I managed to squeeze out a couple more photos, and then it quit completely.

This shot is one of my favorites:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Last look at the Nagoya Skyline.

And after the Christmas tree photo here, the camera called it quits for a while:
Christmas on the 47th floor, Nagoya, Japan.

Well, I did manage to get this shot of JR Nagoya:
JR Nagoya

Not bad for a “cheap” little point-and-shoot camera, huh? It’s really not about the gear, it’s where you point it!

Supplies!

Satisfied with my trip to Midland Square, I decided to go look for some office supplies to take back home. I found Shimojima (シモジマ) using Google Maps, and hopped on the Sakura-dori subway line to Marunouchi. I got off there, and started walking. It’s a few blocks away.

Shimojima is 4-5 stories full of office supplies. They had stuff I didn’t even know I needed. So I stocked up!

I bought stuff like A3-sized clear folders, which are 20-page binders with 20 clear plastic pages. I can stick my good calligraphy pieces in there and keep them protected. I learned this from S-buchou.

I also stocked up on Frixion refills. Yeah, they erase in high heat, but for just jotting stuff down, they’re pretty neat pens. And the US version doesn’t take refills.

I also got some erasers, and a couple of cardboard tubes for putting paper, posters, and calendars in for safe transport. (Going back to Tokyo is going to be difficult!)

Then I headed to Sakae and Maruzen, and picked up some calendars. They make great gifts for the folks back home. They’re one-page calendars with traditional Japanese-style prints on them, printed on good quality paper. (And they’re only 1000 yen a piece. Not bad!) It’s a suitably Japanese-enough present, but not tacky. And after a year, they can toss them or whatever.

It’s almost as good as food.

I stopped off at a drug store in the Sakae Underground shopping mall to get some pain relief patches for my increasingly sore muscles. All of this moving around and carrying stuff is making me sore.

Then I headed to Hisayaodori to get some more books.

Then a trip to JR Nagoya, to go to the Tokyo Hands there, to get some Nanoblock puzzles for my neighbor’s kids.

After that, I needed dinner. Badly.

I’ve been at Mokumoku a lot, because it’s a good restaurant, but I needed to try something else. So I went Breizh Cafe Creperie. Crepes are BIG in Japan, but they’re not necessarily cheap. I got a salad, a bacon and tomato crepe, a chocolate crepe (as big as my head), and a ginger ale for 4,000 yen.

Yikes.

But they were some really fine crepes.

I finished up around 9:30 or so, then grabbed a train to Okazaki. I got home around 10:30 or so.

It was a very successful day!

N is for Nagoya and N is for N1

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on N is for Nagoya and N is for N1
Dec 042011
 

The N1 test was today, at the Aichi Gakuin University, Nisshin Campus. I checked with Hyperdia, and it was going to take 80 minutes just to get to Fujigaoka station, which was still 15-20 minutes away from the campus.

I left around 10 a.m., and caught the 10:30 train to Nagoya. I got to the station, then changed over to the Higashiyama subway line at 11:05 and caught the train to Fujigaoka.

When I got to the station, I started looking for the buses to the university, but I couldn’t find them. All I could find were buses to a place called “Fruits Park.”

I have no idea what a “Fruits Park” is. Maybe someday I’ll go visit all of the fruits there.

I flagged a cab. And as soon as we started moving, we were stuck behind… yes, a bus headed to the university.

D’oh.

2,000 yen later, we got there. The traffic was awful.

I got to the campus, and started hiking. It has a lot of open space. I got to the first building I could find that looked right, but it was the wrong building. The next building was the right guess. (Also, there were signs at that point.)

The construction of these buildings is just weird. All of the halls are exposed to the elements, like a motel or an apartment building. So the lecture halls were all like apartments for people with really bad taste in furniture. (Or who had lecture hall mania?)

The room we were in started off being really hot, and then got to be really cold.

The exam itself was a bear, but that’s what I was expecting. And like a bear, it tore me to bits.

Honestly, it felt like I had walked in on some other language’s test. I don’t know what that was supposed to be, but it wasn’t like any Japanese I knew. It was almost, but not quite Japanese.

I saw one of my N1 grammar classmates there, and we waved to each other, the same way fellow prisoners wave to each other, I think.

JBPP came in really handy. I nailed the business questions. At least there were a few of those.

Listening was more hide-the-football, only harder. No surprises there.

Well, there’s next year.

The worst part was the seats. They were built about 40-50 years ago for people who were, on average, a full foot shorter than me. My knees were screaming by the halfway point. Some kind soul had added a shelf below the desk, further upping the pain level.

I couldn’t wait for the test to end, and because it’s the JLPT, we can’t leave early for any reason.

After the exam was over, all 5,000 of us piled out of the buildings and raced to the bus stop. This is where the organizers did a great job of planning. There was a fleet of municipal buses, waiting to whisk us away to the station.

I exercised my long, sore, tired legs to get ahead of the main body of the crowd, and got in the second bus. Why? Simple. If 5,000 people are all going to the same station, what do you think that’s going to be like? Yeah, I think so, too.

I got to the station, hopped on the Higashiyama line, and got off at Sakae to go get some books at Maruzen, which is quickly becoming my favorite book store. Since I’m still in Japan, I decided to stock up on books for the next N1 I take, so I can have the materials ready! I also got some books to keep polishing my business Japanese.

I also splurged on the latest issue of “Science for Adults” magazine, which always comes with some neat thing or another to put together. This month it comes with an electronics kit you can put together to build basic circuits. Fun.

After all of that testing and shopping, I headed back to JR Nagoya, went to Mokumoku again, then went home. I got back around 10 p.m. or so.

And it doesn’t let up after this, either. We have tests just about every day this week at Yamasa.

Kinkakuji, Gion, LL Bean, and Going Home (Sunday, part 2)

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Kinkakuji, Gion, LL Bean, and Going Home (Sunday, part 2)
Nov 272011
 

It was an interesting bus ride to Kinkakuji, since I had to stand the whole trip. It was kind of like surfing on a whale in choppy seas. A very crowded whale.

I saw a group of American guys on bicycles doing some kind of tour of Kyoto while I was waiting for the bus. It looked like something that would be fun in the off-peak season, whenever that is.

By the time I got to Kinkakuji by bus, I stopped off at a place full of benches outside of the temple to take a short rest break, because I had been on my feet for most of the day so far, and I saw the guys on bicycles come riding in. So the bus was faster this time, but I’m sure bicycling in Kyoto has its own charms.

Right outside of the temple grounds, there’s a good view of one of the big characters they light on fire on the top of one of the nearby mountains.
Dai Character

It’s Still Made of Gold, and Tourists!

Visiting Kinkakuji is always a bit of a stuggle. It’s a struggle to get there, and when I get there, it’s a struggle for a good spot with a good view for a good shot. Sometimes it feels like too much work.

Coming in, even though the sky was gray, the leaves added some nice color. And there were some big crowds there, too!
Entering Kinkakuji

Getting closer to the entrance:
Entering Kinkakuji 2

The map of the temple grounds:
Kinkakuji Grounds Map

Entering the main gate:
Entering Kinkakuji 3

For 200 yen, you can ring the bell!
Ring the Bell

I got there, and it was gold, pretty, and full of pretty red leaves. So naturally the crowds were amazingly packed in. (I think it was also in one of those popular magazines, but it’s Kinkakuji anyway. It’s one of the most famous buildings in Japan.)

But it was beautiful, in the only way a golden building sitting in the middle of lake can be.

Don’t believe me? Have a look!
Golden Pavillion

I like this shot with extra Japanese Maple leaves in it:
Golden Pavillion 3

Detail of the phoenix on the roof:
Bronze Phoenix Ornament

A close-up shot of the side of the pavilion.
Golden Pavillion 4

And everyone is lined up to take a 記念写真 (きねんしゃしん kinenshashin) or souvenir photograph.
Tourists lining up for the souvenir snapshot.

On the way out, I got an omikuji, which is a slip of paper with a fortune on it you can buy at temples and shrines in Japan. I got a 吉 きち kichi, which means “good luck” fortune. This was a good omen.

Kyoto is sometimes a mess, and it’s often a battle with frustration, but it can be an incredible experience if you’re willing to put up with the little annoyances. Just understand that that’s the nature of the city. It’s the traditional cultural center of Japan, so you’re not just going up against foreign tourists, who were pretty thin on the ground here this time, but you’re really going up against large crowds of mostly Japanese tourists.

I Don’t Think We’re in Freeport Anymore

Done with Kinkakuji, I grabbed a cab to Kita Oji station, figuring that a cab all the way to Kiyomizu temple would be insanely expensive.

I got to the station (cost: 1,050 yen for ~ 1 mile), and what do I see?

An L.L. Bean store! YES! Score! Thanks 吉! I owe you one!

Why am I excited about seeing an L.L. Bean store when I could instead be looking at some more temples and shrines and getting more cultured?

I’ll tell you.

I’ve been freezing my tail off for the last 4 weeks or so, mainly because I can’t find clothes that fit me. I wear an XL in US sizes. An XL in Japanese sizes is closer to a skinny L or a fat M in US sizes. A US XL is more like a fat XXL or a skinny XXXL. Good luck with finding that at 99% of clothing stores here. I can’t find any clothes that fit me in the Japanese stores around Okazaki. Even the North Face store in Nagoya was a bust.

And it’s not like I’m particularly big for an American guy. I’m pretty average, but I have a big chest and big shoulders, so I’m kind of screwed.

I decided to check out the L.L. Bean store, and they still had about half of their men’s clothes in US sizes. (Oh, thank GOD!)

Sadly, they were converting a lot of their wardrobe to Japanese sizes. Don’t even bother to try to buy shoes there if your shoe size is over 10 (US) — you’re out of luck. Not that I needed shoes, but it’s a useful thing to know.

I found a plaid polartec button-down shirt, a sweatshirt, and a polartec hat. Woot! But now I had another problem. I had a bag full of bulky clothes to carry around with me, and that simply would not do.

Omiage Means “Thinking of You, and How to Fulfill My Societal Obligations to You”

I headed back to Kyoto Station, in search of another locker.

When I got there, I remembered something important: I needed to buy お土産 おみやげ omiyage (souvenirs) for my fellow classmates and teachers. It’s just what you do here, and the students at Yamasa, even though they are from all over the world, have all picked up on this tradition.

So what should I buy for classmates and teachers? Well, it turns out that there are whole shops in the train stations devoted to providing the best omiyage to meet every conceivable social obligation.

I went to the store near the escalators and found some lovely rice crackers with a fall leaf design painted on them with some kind of edible frosting, I think. So I bought a box of 20 individually wrapped rice crackers for about 2,000 yen, and I was done.

Yep, I was done. I’ll give everyone a cracker on Monday, and they’ll be pleased. It’s not the present, it’s the fact that you went to the trouble to get people a little something. Of course, with other kinds of gift-giving, you have to put a lot more thought into it, because gift-giving here can be a minefield. But that’s not an issue today.

Food makes the best omiyage, because people can eat it and not worry about it taking up space. Space here comes at a premium.

Then I dumped everything in a locker, and checked the Shinkansen departures board for trains to Nagoya. They were starting to fill up fast. I got in line at the ticket office, and got a ticket on the 8:52 pm Hikari bound for Nagoya (and Tokyo, but I don’t care about Tokyo now.)

My only mistake was getting a window seat. Otherwise, it was brilliant to get my ticket now.

Goin’ to Gion

I used Wikitravel on my Nexus One to find a place to eat. I found a yakitori chain popular in Kyoto, and went to their Gion branch. It took a while to find it, because it wasn’t at street level– it was on the 5th floor of a nondescript building. Dinner on a stick was great. I had yakitori, yakiniku, a salad, and onion rings all for 1400 yen. Not bad. That was really my first full meal of the day, because I had been running around so much before.

After that, I headed to Gion to do some sightseeing. Gion is famous for expensive restaurants and geisha, among other things. It’s also famous for tourists and the shops that cater to them. It’s a lively and fun area. I stopped at a few shops here and there.

As soon as I crossed the bridge, I spotted the Minami-za Kabuki Theater, so of course I took some photos:
Minami-za Kabuki Theater

A few closeups:
Minami-za Kabuki Theater Close-up 1
Minami-za Kabuki Theater Close-up 2
Minami-za Kabuki Theater Close-up 3

The main road (Shijo Dori) through Gion goes for about half a kilometer or so, then ends at a shrine, Yasaka Jinja. Here’s a shot of the road from the front steps of the shrine.
Wandering around Shijo Dori

When I got to the shrine, all of the lanterns were lit up for the evening, so it looked really pretty. I took some photos, of course.

Entering the main gate:
Yasaka Jinja Main Gate

Heading to the stage:
Yasaka Jinja

One of the many lanterns at the shrine:
Yasaka Jinja Lanterns

Artsy shot as I get closer to the stage:
Yasaka Jinja Approaching the Stage

A few shots of the lanterns surrounding the stage:
Yasaka Jinja Stage 1
Yasaka Jinja Stage 3
Yasaka Jinja Stage 4

I really like this shot:
Yasaka Jinja Stage 5

The south gate of the shrine:
Yasaka Jinja Southern Gate

At this point, my Canon 60D’s battery crapped out, and I switched to the tiny little Canon IXY I kept in my pocket.

Another couple of shots of the stage, this time with the IXY:
Yasaka Jinja Stage 6
Yasaka Jinja Stage 7

A lantern with some tied up fortune slips (omikuji) to remove the bad luck from bad draws.
Yasaka Jinja Lanterns 3

Cool looking vending machine area:
Yasaka Jinja Vending Machines

Heading out and back to JR Kyoto Station:
Leaving Yasuka Jinja

It got to around 7:30, so I decided it was time to head back to the station so I don’t miss my train. It took 45 minutes or so just to get to the station, with all of the changing trains.

At one point, the subway car I was in just stopped at Shiyakushoumae (the station in front of the Kyoto city hall), and said, “That’s it. End of the line.” I needed to go one more stop. Vexing.

But I did get a good shot of the calorie-counting stairs!
Calorie-Counting Stairs at Shiyakushomae Subway Station, Kyoto.

I got back to JR Kyoto at 8:20, and headed to the restroom to freshen up. When I was done, I was in for a rather nasty surprise– there was no TP in the stall! I had to go back to the front of the restroom and buy toilet paper for 100 yen.

The joy of travel. I learn all kinds of new things every time.

I picked up my luggage from the various lockers I had stuffed it in, and made my way to the Shinkansen platform. I had time to kill, so I got an ekiben, which is short of 駅弁当 えきべんとう eki bentou, which winds up as えきべん or ekiben. A bentou is a meal served in a box. Sometimes it’s in a flashy, expensive box, and sometimes it’s just in a plastic box you recycle when you’re done. Ekibens are specialty bentous only sold at certain train stations. Every station has its own specialty.

I got mine, and waited for the train. It showed up, we got on, and then we had to wait 10 minutes for something to get cleared up, because someone somewhere hit an emergency button.

We all got lectured on how we should never do that.

The window seat was a terrible idea. The person in the aisle seat had built a fortress of luggage and crap that made it impossible for me to get to my seat without her having to move it all.

So when we were getting close to Nagoya, I almost killed myself falling over her crap trying to get to mine and get off of the train on time. My jacket got caught on something and everything just tumbled all over the car.

I’m never ever getting a window seat again.

I usually get aisle seats, no matter how long the trip is. I like being able to get out of my seat without too much fuss.

I managed to get off the train in Nagoya without any further incidents, took a moment to get sorted out, headed to platform 2 to catch my train to Okazaki… and promptly missed it by 30 seconds.

I had already used up that 吉 at L.L. Bean, it seems.

Or did I?

I managed to get a good waiting spot (I could lean on a post), and when the train came in, I was first in line, so I got a seat all the way back to Okazaki. Yay.

Don’t put your shinkansen ticket in the local train wicket. When I got to Okazaki, I had to go to the ticket office to get my tickets all sorted out because I did that. Oops.

I grabbed a cab home, and had a nice chat with the cabbie about the four seasons. In Japan, they are firmly convinced that they invented the concept of four distinct seasons, each with its own unique flavor.

Well, it’s interesting to point out that we have four very distinct seasons in the US, even more so depending on where you live, because there’s so much climatological variation here. How we celebrate the various seasons really does depend on where one lives.

In North Carolina, for instance, we have our own leaf-peeper season in fall, too. Just try to get a hotel room in Asheville in mid-October. I dare you. Summer is crazy hot here, spring is wonderful, and winter… well, winter can vary a bit, but it’s generally cold. Not much snow, but we get it. (In 2000, we got over two feet of it where I live.)

I got home, started up the washing machine, and crashed. It was a successful trip in all sorts of ways.

I want to go back to Kyoto and spend some serious time there drinking it all in.

But next time, I think I’ll do it in spring.

Nijo Castle (Sunday, Part 1)

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Nijo Castle (Sunday, Part 1)
Nov 272011
 

Wow. If yesterday was busy, today might just have been busier. It’s a tough call.

I got up at 6:30, took my time getting ready, and then got stuck thinking about where I wanted to go to first, so I didn’t check out until 9:00 a.m.

When I got on the train to Kyoto at Shin-Osaka, it was jammed, so I had to stand all the way to Kyoto.

This was the start of a trend.

I got to Kyoto, and had to find a locker. This was a problem. Yesterday, I got to the station nice and early, around 8:30, so there were plenty of lockers to choose from.

But today, I only got in at around 9:45, and by then, about all of the lockers were gone. It was a fight to find something to cram my bags into. I really recommend getting to the station as early as possible if you want to use the lockers on the weekends. They fill up fast, especially the big ones Americans like me like to use.

I managed to find a locker eventually. B1F of Kyoto Station is your friend, locker-seeking people.

No Leaves? No Worries!

After that, I decided to go to Nijo Castle. My logic went like this: it’s historic, a World Heritage Site, and should be relatively devoid of leaf gawkers. Nijo Castle was the Kyoto residence of the Shoguns for over 200 years, so it’s a good place to visit in Kyoto if you want to see some history, and you’ve already had your fill of shrines and temples.

It was perfect for what I wanted. The grounds were great. Very attractive, but not full of fall colors to attract huge crowds. Well, there were some trees to look at, but since it wasn’t in any of the magazines, there wasn’t a huge crush of people.

Entering the main east gate:
Entering Nijo Castle

There was one guy who created a small stir around him– he was taking pictures of some kind of action figure around the castle. As long as it’s fun, keep on keepin’ on.
Photographing a Toy at Nijo Castle

The main castle was interesting. The main attraction for me were the “Nightingale Floors,” which squeaked like crazy so that nobody could sneak up on you.

Coming to the Kara-mon, which is the entry to the Ninomaru Palace (where the “Nightingale Floors” are.):
Kara-mon
Entering the Kara-mon:
Kara-mon
The old Carriage Receiving Area in front of the Ninomaru Palace:
Ninomaru Palace Carriage Approach

After my tour of the interior of the Ninomaru Palace (no photography allowed), I saw these two bells outside of the entry/exit:
Bells

I turned down a path that led into the Ninomaru Palace Garden, and turned back to look at the palace building:
Ninomaru Palace

Looking down at the Kuroshoin:
Kuroshoin

The main pond at the Ninomaru Palace Gardens:
Ninomaru Garden

After that, I headed to the Honmaru portion of Nijo Castle. Here’s the bridge over the inner moat, leading to the main gate to the Honmaru:
Bridge to Honmaru

Right after passing through the gate:
Entry to the Honmaru

The Honmaru is actually a building from the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It replaces an older castle building here that burned down:
Honmaru
Another shot of the Honmaru, as I’m walking by:
Honmaru

After that, I climbed up the remains of the old donjon, where there’s a neat viewing platform, and took this photo of the Honmaru area:
View of the Honmaru from the old Donjon

Here’s a shot of the western gate leading out of the Honmaru, over the inner moat, from the top of the old Donjon:
Western Bridge out of the Honmaru

When I finished up the main route through the castle and grounds, I wound up at the far corner of things, about 1 Km away from the entrance, so I had to hike all the way back to the entrance. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

On the way to the exit, I found the Koun-Tei. (I think it’s a place to have tea?):
Koun-Tei
It looked beautiful reflected in the pond:
Koun-Tei Reflected in Pond

The landscaping was nice. The ginkgo trees were especially pretty, because their leaves were a brilliant shade of yellow:
Gingko Tree
Some gnarled-looking trees:
More Gnarled Trees

After all of that, I headed to the bus stop outside of the Castle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next until I saw a bus go by that said “Kinkakuji” on it, and figured, “What the heck. I haven’t been there in a few years.” Then I looked inside the bus, and it was jammed all the way to the entrance doors. There was no way to even get on the bus, unless you just pushed your way on.

The people ahead of me in line were apparently not familiar with the concept of just cramming yourself in the bus, which is as applicable as it is on subways. It’s not like the next bus is going to be any LESS crowded, so you’re going to have to suck it up eventually if you want to get anywhere. There is no magically empty bus waiting for you, my dear princes and princesses. This is the height of tourist season, and everyone is on that bus, and everyone else is going to be on the next bus.

I met a nice guy from India while standing in line for the bus who went to the University of Michigan, so we chatted while waiting for the next bus to show up. Then we gritted our teeth and shoved our way on.

I’ll continue this in a “part 2” post, too, because it’s getting long.

Arashiyama (Saturday, Part 2)

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Arashiyama (Saturday, Part 2)
Nov 262011
 

I was in Kyoto Station. I headed over to the platform to grab a train to Arashiyama, but first I grabbed some sandwiches at the shop there, and gobbled them down on the platform to save money on cafes. I almost missed my train.

I made it to Arashiyama, and headed out of the station there. The crowds were massive. As I headed out of the station, I saw a bicycle rental shop right there. I wasn’t interested this time (because it’s impossible to bike in these crowds), but it’s something to keep in mind for next time.

I headed towards the main street in Arashiyama, and it was jam-packed with people. That was almost more interesting than the shops and the few street performers I saw.

Arashiyama Main Street

Arashiyama’s main street is full of restaurants and souvenir shops that are designed to separate you from your cash. If you like browsing and eating, it’s definintely worth a trip.

I decided to head on over towards the giant bamboo forest I saw in one of the brochures for Arashiyama, because it looked interesting. In reality, it looked okay, but didn’t quite match up to the level of the magazines and brochures. (Of course.)

Sagano Bamboo Forest

I lowered my camera a bit, and you can see the crowds!
Sagano Bamboo Forest

One amazing thing: I spotted trash cans in Arashiyama! I could toss out my sandwich box from Kyoto Station there. Awesome. (No I did not take a picture. I probably should have.)

In the middle of the bamboo forest, I walked past a beautiful Shinto shrine, Nonomiya Jinja. It had great fall colors around its front gates, so there was a huge crowd trying to take pictures.
Nonomiya Jinja

Getting around was kind of difficult at times, because there was a rickshaw service whose rickshaws were pretty big, and they would force the pedestrians out of the way so one or two people could get by. One guy would run in front of the rickshaw to clear the mob of people out of the way so the rickshaw could go through (although usually it was 2 or 3 rickshaws), and then another guy would bring up the rear.

It was really annoying.

Train Spotting

After that, I came upon the main JR line, and had to wait for some trains to pass, so I took some train photos as they went by. I wasn’t the only person doing that. Trains are a bit of an obsession for some people here. It stands to reason: there’s a huge variety of models, and some of them look kind of cool. And there are enough varieties of trains and railway lines that fans can probably argue for days on end about which is the coolest.

I love this woman’s body language as the train approaches:
Train Crossing.

Yup, it’s a train all right!
Train Crossing.

Back into the bamboo forest for a bit more.
Sagano Bamboo Forest

My walking had an objective, and that was Nision-in temple. But I saw a lot of pretty sights along the way, like this cottage:
Cottage

And this really big field:
Open Field near Nison-in Temple.
Open Field near Nison-in Temple.

Looking back at the way I came (same really big field!):
Open Field near Nison-in Temple.

Nision-In Temple

I did some more walking, and then I finally wound up at Nision-in temple, on the side of a mountain. The views were great, and the foliage was pretty, too. I climbed the steep stone stairs up the side of the mountain for some great views of Arashiyama and Kyoto in the distance.

Entering the temple grounds:
Nison-in Grounds
Nison-in Grounds

Going through the gate (I like this photo a lot):
Nison-in Gate

Inside the temple grounds:
Nison-in

The Honden, if I remember correctly:
Nison-in

A big bell you could ring:
Nison-in Bell

Then I climbed a bunch of stairs into the cemetery on the top of the hill, and saw this beautiful view of Arashiyama and Kyoto:
View from the Cemetary
View from the Cemetary
View from the Cemetary

To give you an idea of how steep the stairs were– going down was a little scary:
Going Down is Scarier than Going Up

All in all, it’s a beautiful temple, and the walk there from the main street was also gorgeous as well. There were lots of fall colors and great scenery along the way. Another nice part about it: it wasn’t as crowded as the main street, and it definitely wasn’t as crowded as Kyoto.

Then I headed back towards the main street in Arashiyama again (still busy!):
Arashiyama Main Street

I took a short break on a bench by some vending machines. That was a lifesaver. I had a Coke. It was in one of those oil can style aluminum bottles I only see in Japan:
Have a Coke and a ...

Revived, I headed down the main street, all the way towards the Togetsukyou bridge, another famous Arashiyama landmark.
Heading Towards Togetsukyo Bridge.

The sun was starting to set, so the scenery around there was especially pretty. The sun goes behind the mountains pretty early in that part of Arashiyama.
Togetsukyo and the Oi River
Shops along the Oi River.
Shops along the Oi River.

After all of that, I decided to head back to Kyoto Station. I had some fun trying to find new ways to get to the JR station in Arashiyama, but I eventually got there.

Dinner Time

In Kyoto, I decided to have dinner at Kyoto Station, on the 11th floor in a place called The Cube, where you can find a bunch of different restaurants. Tonight I decided on an Italian restaurant that I had eaten at 4 years ago. The food was good then, and it was still good now.

500 yen got me 3 pieces of cheese, 3 slices of tomato, and some basil. Yikes. But I got a decent pizza for 1200 yen. I ordered a slice of cake for dessert that was only slightly more challenging than a Rubik’s Cube to open. It was bound in some kind of plastic that was apparently also used to seal away demons, but the cake was delicious.

Generally, food in Japan is expensive. Add to that the crappy dollar-yen conversion rate, and it’s even more expensive.

OMG Osaka!

Sated, I headed down to the lockers to get my bags out, and headed to Osaka for the night.

The train ride from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka only took about 23 minutes, then a 10 minute wander through the maze that is Shin-Osaka station to the subway, and 1 stop to Nishi-something-or-other to the hotel.

That’s an interesting neighborhood. I got a weird vibe as soon as I left the station, but I shrugged it off. I got to the hotel, settled in, cleaned up, and headed out to get some food: breakfast for tomorrow and a late evening snack.

As I was looking for the 7-11, I was propositioned by not 1, but 2 very eager “massage therapists.” Yeah, it turns out it was that kind of neighborhood. They were aggressive, too. But I just kept on walking, got my food, headed back (alone!), and passed out.

Long day, but lots of stuff done.

Tofukuji (Saturday, Part 1)

 Japan, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Tofukuji (Saturday, Part 1)
Nov 262011
 

Today was a very busy day.

Before I headed out for sightseeing, I tried begging at the APA Hotel for another night. No luck.

So I grabbed my stuff, and raced to Kyoto Station and managed to grab one of the last lockers in the basement area. They were pretty much full by 8:30 a.m.

Soft-sided luggage is a godsend, because I can squish it into a smaller locker. The softer, the better. The less of it, the better, too.

Then I grabbed a local train to Tofukuji to see the temple there.

On the way to Tofukuji, I saw my first pretty red leaves:

Fall Colors on the way to Tofukuji

As I was walking, I saw a place called Rikkyou-An, and it had a lovely garden inside.

Rikkyoku-An Gate/Garden

Rikkyoku-An Garden, Last Shot

The sign says, “Do not enter to take photos:”
Rikkyoku-An Garden and Gate

In Japan, people tend to follow the rules:
Shutter Chance! (Rikkyoku-An)

Then I arrived at the entrance to Tofukuji. It was packed, and the line was huge.

Outside of Tofukuji, Stading in Line.

Tofukuji

It seems as if all of Japan has descended on Kyoto to stare at red leaves. I started my day by going to Tofukuji Temple, which a number of magazines recommended as a top place to see the fall colors.

That was my first mistake: relying on popular Japanese travel magazines. Japan is a group-oriented society, and everyone reads the same things, including the same travel magazines, so everyone was at the same place.

It was insane. Scores of people cornering some random trees with red leaves, shooting photo after photo.

Yes, they’re pretty, but are they that pretty?

We’re surrounded by 1,400 years of culture, countless UNESCO World Heritage sites, and nobody cares. It’s all about the leaves.

It’s somewhat mystifying.

That said, I managed to get caught up in the leaf frenzy too. I found myself taking lots of pictures of red trees and their red, red, leaves.

Have a look:

This is the Tsutenkyo Bridge, from the entry to the temple:

Tsutenkyo Bridge, Tofukuji Temple

A little closer in:
Tsutenkyo Bridge, Tofukuji Temple

I finally got into the temple complex proper, and it was busy:
Tofukuji Temple, Main Buildings

We had to line up for all sorts of things:
Tofukuji Temple, Main Buildings

The crowd was crushingly heavy. Folks were pushing, elbows, shoulders, bodies, all straining to get the same perfect shot that everyone else has of the same red leaves.
Wandering around the temple grounds, Tofukuji
Tofukuji Grounds from Tsutenkyo Bridge
Tofukuji Temple, Fall Colors, and CROWDS

Looking back at the entryway I came across from my vantage point on the Tsutenkyo Bridge:
Entryway to Tofukuji

I wandered over to the Kaisando Hall:
Kaisando Hall
The Kaisando has a Wet Side:
Kaisando Hall-- The Water Side
And a Dry Side:
Kaisando Hall-- The Sandy Side

Then I started to head back. I saw this lovely gate. I forget which one it is, though:
Gate.

One last trip across the Tsutenkyo Bridge, fighting the crowds:
Tsutenkyo Bridge

And after an hour of that, I left. Tofukuji is a very nice place to visit just about any other time of the year. The do leaves make it really pretty. It’s just the crowds that make it unbearable. Pick a weekday or come some other time of year.

I ran into a couple from the U.S., and we engaged in that usual activity of foreigners in Japan, which is a bit of head-shaking at the things we don’t quite understand. I’m sure everyone does it a bit when they travel somewhere.

Goodbye Welcome Inn

I headed back to the station. It was 11 a.m., so I stopped by the Welcome Inn Reservation Center for the last time. They are closing it permanently after the 30th. Shoot. Anyway, I tried to see if I could scrounge up a western-style hotel room, in a 40-mile radius, but didn’t have any luck. The lady suggested that I try the travel agencies in the station.

I decided to give Nippon Travel a shot, and waited a bit to see an agent. He managed to find the last hotel room in Osaka, at the Business Hotel Consort. I took it for 5,000 yen. What the heck. It’s not the most exciting name for a hotel, but beggars can’t be choosers tonight. My only other option is sacking out at an internet cafe, and while I’d like to try that sometime, I’m fine with being in a regular hotel, too.

After reserving a room for the night, I went to the Kyoto City info center for ideas, because after dealing with the morning’s crowds, I was stumped for what to do next. I didn’t want to go to another temple or shrine that was as crowded as Tofukuji and fight leaf peepers all day.

I asked one of the consultants there if there was a way to avoid the crowds and still soak in some of the Kyoto atmosphere.

He laughed.

Then he recommended Arashiyama. It was actually a pretty good idea, because Arashiyama has enough room to spread out.

Sort of. Anyway, Arashiyama is pretty.

This post is already long because of the photos, so let’s continue it in part two.

First Night in Kyoto

 Food, Japan, Japanese Language, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on First Night in Kyoto
Nov 252011
 

Man, I’m tired. I raced back to the apartment after JBPP, frantically packed, tossed out anything I didn’t need, repacked, still had too much, but left anyway. Yuck. Too heavy. I tried to take the bike to the station, but realized instantly that that was a horrible idea. The walk to the station wasn’t much better.

I really want to be one of those dudes who can just travel with a toothbrush and a spare pair of underpants. Seriously, how do they do that?

I managed to get a seat on the train to Nagoya, then grabbed a Nozomi to Kyoto.

PINning Down My Tickets

Here’s a tip: if you want to use a credit card, and you don’t have or remember your PIN number, buy your shinkansen tickets at a smaller station and talk to a human, if you can speak Japanese.

If you can’t, then go to the bigger stations, like Nagoya or Tokyo, and stand in line. The people working the counters there speak excellent English, or can find someone who does. (I learned this in 2007.)

If I had gotten my ticket at Okazaki instead of Nagoya, I would have saved 20-30 minutes of standing in line.

If you have/know your PIN, just use the machines. It’s a LOT faster. But if you’re trying to do something complex, humans are more helpful.

Hello Kyoto

I got to Kyoto at around 6:30, then headed straight to the APA Hotel, which was right outside of JR Kyoto. Fortunately, I had my confirmation number with me, because nobody in either Japan or the US can spell my name to save their lives.

The room was okay, but pricey: 10,000 yen.

I checked in, crashed for a few minutes, then headed over to Bic Camera to finally get a circular polarizer. I’ve been putting off buying one for too long. I looked around a bit, and found one.

Then I headed up to the restaurants on the 11th floor of Isetan, because it was starting to get late.

The Christmas decorations are already up:

Xmas Decorations, Kyoto Station

I found a good okonomiyaki shop, and had a good modern yaki with bacon. That’s good stuff!

After that, I headed down to the second floor of the station, and went to Cafe du Monde for a beignet… only to find out that the Cafe du Monde in Kyoto Station does not serve beignets. What the hell?? It’s Cafe freakin’ du Monde! They do sell hot dogs and coffee. But no beignets? There was a Mister Donut next to it, so I waited for 10 minutes and ordered some donut-looking things from them.

It Has a Hole in the Middle

As I headed out of the station, I took a couple of photos of the Kyoto Tower Hotel, which was very purple tonight:

Kyoto Tower

Kyoto Tower

Then I went to the Lawson outside of the station, and it was jammed full of people. It was a madhouse. I decided to go ahead and get breakfast as well as beverages, because I wanted to save a trip here in the morning. (Seriously, it was nuts.)

I headed back to the room.

My room if full of amenities. See?

The Hotel's Amenities!

Then I ate my donuts. The MisDo (as they call Mister Donut here) donuts were really mediocre, like not very good grocery store donuts that had all of the flavor chased out of them by the bland police. Frankly, Harris-Teeter’s chocolate donuts taste better, and they’re average at best.

Now I understand why the lines at Krispy Kreme are so long here; these people haven’t been eating proper doughnuts! (There’s a difference between donuts and doughnuts, but I don’t want to get into it right now.)

The MisDo chocolate donut just tasted like it was… brown flavored.

I called home to let them know I was still alive, then I sacked out early. Gotta get up early, too. Tomorrow will probably be chaotic on a level I haven’t seen yet.

My Manly Hat

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on My Manly Hat
Nov 242011
 

Two of my classmates, N-san and the other N-san, mocked my 1000 yen gloves. They told me that I should have bought them at the Daiso, the local 100 yen shop. Of course, they pride themselves on getting the absolute best bargains, no matter what.

But I’m a little leery of buying 100 yen clothes, because I’m afraid I’m going to get some kind of awful rash or something. “It’s 100 yen for a reason,” is how I see it.

That said, tonight was extra cold, so on my way to ZigZag, when I stopped off at the Daiso to look for light bulbs (mine have been dying off at an alarming rate), I found a great 100 yen 男前 otokomae, or “manly” hat.

I couldn’t find any decent light bulbs, though.

The hat itches like hell, and looks like a 100 yen hat. But it keeps my head warm.

No rash, either. Not yet, anyway.

It’s black, so it makes me look like a burglar in one of those Hollywood “heist” movies.

In other news, D who runs ZigZag says he’ll take my excess supplies. That’s good news. It would be awful if I was forced to throw them away when I leave in a few weeks. I’m sure he can make something delicious out of them.

I managed to find a hotel for Kyoto… for Friday night. No luck at all for Saturday night. The whole town is booked solid. I’ll probably just stay at an Internet cafe. It’ll be an adventure!

Feeling the Heat, and the Cold

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Feeling the Heat, and the Cold
Nov 232011
 

Today was the real deal interview test in JBPP. That was pressure I could feel.

The interviewers were a couple of our teachers, but it was still stressful, because they were asking hard questions, and I not only had to answer in Japanese, I had to answer in the proper degree of polite Japanese.

That’s enough to make my brain melt a little.

I also had to remember to knock, open the door, bow, stand, sit, etc. all in the proper fashion.

It’s a lot to remember, but I think I did okay.

Family Mart Rocks

After class, I went to Domy to get some groceries, and got some good deals on the various stuff on sale, like bananas.

It’s been really cold these past few days, and I’ve been miserable. I really underpacked for the weather, and the lack of American-sized clothes here is killing me. I can’t find anywhere around here that sells anything larger than a medium.

Japan’s XL is America’s M. Well, slightly larger than M, but effectively M, because it’s smaller than L even. Japan’s XXL is just about an L. I’m an XL guy, so it’s been an exercise in futility trying to find anything that would fit me.

Even if I drop 20-30 pounds, it won’t change the fact that I have big lungs, big shoulders, and a large rib cage.

But on my way out of the Family Mart tonight, I got a reprieve. I saw that they were selling Thinsulate gloves for 1000 yen. That will help a lot. They even offered to cut the tags off for me at the register.

That was pretty awesome.

Brief Update

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Brief Update
Nov 212011
 

I got my sakubun test results back: I did pretty well, so I’m pleased.

Today in JBPP, we practiced asking for favors. It appears that doing so requires a great deal of the proper cushioning.

This week looks like it’s going to be pretty quiet, so I’m going to try to go to Kyoto from Friday – Sunday if I can find a room.

That’s going to be hard, because the leaves are peaking, and all of Japan wants to go there.

Okazaki-jo and Anjo

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Okazaki-jo and Anjo
Nov 202011
 

I decided to go to Okazaki Castle today, to continue my Tokugawa-themed weekend. The weather started out really nice today, so I just wore a T-shirt and my black windbreaker, because it was a little windy.

There are two options to get to the Castle from where I live. Option one: walk/bike there. It’s about 3 miles away, so it’ll take about 30 minutes or so. I would also have to walk/bike back. Option two: take the train. Sounds much faster, but it isn’t. Upside is that at least by taking the train, I don’t use up too much energy to do so. (Other than the energy it takes to get to JR Okazaki.)

On the way to the station, I took a few photos:

The bike shop that moved out a few weeks ago has already been turned into a flat lot. That was fast.

Asahi Bicycles' Old Store is GONE

I pass by this rice field every day on the way to school. It’s a little strange having a rice field in the middle of a sprawling suburban city like Okazaki, but it’s also kind of cool.

Rice Field on the Way to Yamasa

I like the dog’s expression in this sign:

Don't Let Your Dog Poo in the Rice Field!

To get to the castle, I needed to take the Aichi Line, and one thing to keep in mind is that the Aichi Line isn’t run by JR. It’s a different company, so I needed a different ticket, which I could buy outside of the wicket.

Like a doofus, I used my SUICA card, and caused all sorts of problems when I got to the station near Okazaki Castle. I’m sure they see that all the time, though. A few hundred yen and a ticket later, everything was solved.

The Matsudairas’ Place

I got to Okazaki Castle Park, and made my way to the castle.

Here’s a map so we don’t get lost:

The Map to Okazaki Park

First, the park. This bridge leads to a shrine I didn’t go to, but it’s very photogenic:

Sacred Bridge and Fountain

Sacred Bridge-- yet another Perspective

The park was very pretty, and I bet it would be even more so in Spring.

The castle itself is five stories high, and hiding behind a couple of pine trees.

Okazaki Castle-- Main Building (Horizontal)

There were two tickets available. For 200 yen, you can just go up the castle, or for 500 yen, you can go up the castle and to the Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum next door. I paid 500 yen, because it sounded like a good deal to me.

As I climbed up the donjon, I took a look at the various exhibits about Okazaki’s various feudal lords, and some of the stuff they found on the site. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but interesting if you live in Okazaki, and can read/speak Japanese.

One fact of note: it’s not the original castle. Most of the castles you see in Japan aren’t original. Many were torn down after the Meiji Restoration, or were destroyed in World War II. Most were rebuilt in the 1950s to spur on tourism, and/or preserve history, depending on your point of view. How accurate they are is a good question.

I made it to the 5th floor observation deck, and the wind was just howling. It must have been around 30-40 MPH, and it was cold. I was starting to regret my wardrobe choice. I really need more warm clothes. It’s getting chilly here!

There was a chain link fence up all around the balcony, so I couldn’t use my Canon EOS to take pictures.

This is what happens with a regular SLR:

Okazaki from the Castle Roof. Fence in the way.

Instead, I snuck the lens of my IXY through the gaps in the grid to get some decent shots of the Okazaki skyline. About as decent as you’ll get for a 13,000 yen camera, anyway.

I knitted some of the shots into a panorama or two. The first one is a wee bit wobbly if you zoom in on it at Flickr.

Okazaki Panorama

Okazaki Panorama #3

I headed down and took some photos of the park and the exterior of the castle and the museum, and went inside.

A statute of Motoyasu Matsudaira (who I’m pretty sure became Tokugawa Ieyasu):

Statue of Motoyasu Matsudaira

A really cool clock made out of flowers:

Flower Clock

Another interesting clock closer to the museum:

Mechanical Clock Tower

Finally, the Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum:

The Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum

The museum is all about the Tokugawas and the battle of Sekigahara. Pretty interesting stuff, if you know your Japanese history. (I’m a little shaky.) They had the famous spear Tonbogiri as well. Well, the spearhead, anyway. One of Ieyasu’s generals wielded that one.

They had a neat exhibit where you could try lifting some mock weapons to see how heavy the real things were, and they had some armor you could try on to see how “comfortable” it was. Not bad for 300 yen.

If you have kids, that might be pretty fun if you’re in or near Okazaki for the day. Not fun enough to bring them across Japan to see it, unless they’re really big history buffs, but fun if you’re close by.

Yeah, I Like Shodo, So Sumi!

After that, I headed off to Anjo to pick up some calligraphy brushes for a friend of mine back in the US. I found a promising-looking shop by doing lots of searching online in Google Maps. The tricky bit is knowing what search terms to use. That took a bit of work, actually.

Leaving the park and heading back to the station to go to Anjo:

Iga RIver and Tatsuki Bridge

I took the Meitetsu line to Shin-Anjo and walked about half a kilometer to the shop. The lady there helped me a lot. She showed me some of their brushes, and let me try one out with water and one of those sheets that you can write with water on. You write with water on it, and it gets dark, then as it dries, it goes back to being all the same color again. It’s good for practicing calligraphy, or just for trying out brushes, but keep in mind that water does not flow like real ink does.

I found a good brush for my friend for around 3,000 yen (which is a good price for a practice brush), and then started searching for good practice-grade paper. I learned a lot about paper that day from the shop owner.

I have so much to learn about calligraphy, that I could probably spend the rest of my life on that alone and not even get close to mastering it. But I did find some good practice paper. I got 1,000 sheets for myself, and I’ll come back before I leave to pick up 1,000 more for my friend.

We chatted a bit in Japanese. I keep saying it, but it’s true: knowing some Japanese is the key to having everything go smoothly here.

Why? Because she gave me some freebies and a discount, too!

I think seeing a foreigner who could speak Japanese and write with a brush come to her shop to buy calligraphy supplies made her day. It was a great experience for me, too.

By the time I finished up with my purchases, it was already dark, and time to head home. As I opened the shop door to leave, the first thing that I noticed was that it was freezing outside.

Note to self: next time, check the weather forecast before you go out!

Also, buy some warmer gear!

I’m Only Happy When It Rains

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Nov 192011
 

It was pouring rain, but I decided to go to Nagoya anyway. Since my plans to go to Kyoto this weekend were ruined, I refused to sit in my apartment all day. I was itching to go out and do something.

My pants got soaked twice by the time I rode my bike to the station. I stopped off on the way to the station at the school, and hung out in Aoi Hall for a few minutes while I tried to dry off. Then when I headed back out again, I got soaked almost immediately.

I have a pair of North Face hiking pants that are supposed to dry quickly, and they do, but they also get wet quickly in a downpour, umbrella or no umbrella. Oh well.

Nothing Is More Refreshing Than the Rain

Meanwhile, at the station, JR Tokai was having its “Sawayaka Walking Tour,” or “Refreshing Walking Tour” of Okazaki event going on today. They are holding the event all over the Tokai region on various days.

I suppose it’s refreshing today, in the same way a cold shower while being fully clothed is refreshing.

I grabbed a train to Nagoya, and headed to the Mermaid Cafe for a quick bite because I skipped breakfast. Then I went to the information booth at the station to find the fastest way to get to the Tokugawa Art Museum. I started asking in Japanese, but she forced me into English.

I didn’t think my Japanese was that bad. Maybe her desire to use English was just stronger than my desire to use Japanese.

She showed me the city bus lines and the tourist bus lines. I decided on the city line, because it was cheaper, and because I thought it would be faster.

Back out in the soaking rain, the bus shows up at 2:35 instead of 2:20, and doesn’t get to the stop I want until 3:10.

Maybe the tourist buses would have been faster.

Also, every time the bus stopped, the engine cut off. Every time it got ready to move, the engine started up, and the driver announced that he’s going to move the bus.

That’s one major difference between Japan and the US.

The Tokugawa Art Museum

I got off at my stop and started trying to find the museum, and it was still pouring rain. I got soaked for the fourth time by now, I think. I found it eventually.

Here it is!

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya 2

The museum had some really neat exhibits. There were swords from the 12th century on display, and a special exhibition of a lot of material from the Tale of Genji— manuscripts, etc., and they had a lot of tea ceremony stuff and incense burners on display, too. Actually, they had quite a lot of those on display.

If you like cultural stuff, then I’d recommend it.

The gardens are supposed to be really nice, but since it was late Fall and pouring rain, I can’t say one way or another.

You be the judge:

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya 3

More Book Shopping!

At 4:30, I headed out and grabbed a cab to go to Ozone station. The driver was a nice guy. We had a nice talk about politics, in Japanese, of course.

Once again, I must reiterate the importance of speaking the language, wherever you go. You don’t have to be great at it, but people will generally appreciate it if you try to speak their language. I find I get a whole lot more out of living here by speaking Japanese. I can’t imagine living here longer than a few weeks without speaking it.

Also, talking to everyone in Japanese is great practice. And fun, too! I learn a whole lot more about Japan by talking to people than by reading books or watching TV. Maybe it’s my reporter background kicking in.

From Ozone, I took a JR line train to Chi-something, then grabbed the subway to Sakae to look at a couple of calligraphy supply shops. The first one was pretty good. It’s in one of the municipal buildings, and has a really good selection.

The second shop one was more of an art supply shop, and didn’t have what I was looking for, but it still had some nice stuff if you’re into brush painting more so than calligraphy.

After that, I headed to Osu again. I found a couple of used games, and did a little shopping at a book store where the music was so loud, I thought my ears were going to bleed. I stopped by Mandarake, because they have used games as well as interesting old toys, too. (Like old Godzillas and stuff like that. All ungodly expensive, but it sure takes me back!)

Then I went back to JR Nagoya, to check out Sanseido on the 11th floor. They have a nice collection of books for Japanese language learners, but it took me a few minutes to find it.

After that, I picked up some more doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, then stopped at Mokumoku for dinner.

I got home around 10:30 pm, by which time the rain had stopped, so my bike ride home wasn’t so bad. I got a full day in in spite of the rain.

I win!

I Regret Nothing… Except Maybe Not Buying a Decent Binder.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on I Regret Nothing… Except Maybe Not Buying a Decent Binder.
Nov 152011
 

Had to skip first period today because I wasn’t feeling too well. I’m still feeling crummy tonight, but I soldiered on and went to class anyway.

We have a conversation and composition exam on Thursday, and I need to get ready for that. I have to finish my “regrettable episode” essay for that, and I’m racking my brain to think of something suitably regrettable. I’ll look over some of my previous posts for fodder.

I spent all evening trying to organize my in-class handouts, only to realize that it’s impossible with the tools that I have. We get these giant handouts that are the size of giant place mats, and they’re really difficult to wrangle.

I have tried to cut them in two and stuff them into these “clear file” binder things, but while it works well for the JBPP handouts, it’s not really cutting it for the giant class handouts. The JBPP handouts are A4-sized, so it’s easier to fit them in.

I took a look at what some of my classmates do for the general class stuff, and what I think what really need are binders and a hole punch. Trying to fit these giant printouts in a clear file is just not going to work unless I cut the handouts to ribbons.

Oh, those cool erasable pens everyone’s using? Yeah, turns out the ink will vanish when exposed to high temperatures. Better not leave my notes on the car dashboard or anything like that. Yikes.

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone!

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone!
Nov 132011
 

Started off the day by going to Book-Off in Okazaki on 248 to check on a few things. For starters, don’t even bother trying to find Japanese textbooks at Book-Off, because they don’t seem to carry them. I did find some other cheap books there, though.

I headed back to the apartment to drop off my used books, then headed to JR Okazaki to head off to Nagoya again. It was a late start, so I didn’t get to Nagoya until 3:30, and I finally got to Maruzen in Sakae around 4:30 or so. I spent a lot of time looking at book covers. Maruzen has a lot of book covers there, and in a lot of sizes, but unfortunately, they don’t have any big enough to deal with the ultra-thick books I’ve been buying lately.

I went back to the 3rd floor to look at the Japanese language education books again. They have a really good selection. I picked up some good practice books, because for some reason, I suck at particles. I really want to fix the stuff I keep getting wrong.

I Discovered Oatmeal!

Then I went to the grocery store next door, it’s in the Meiji-ya Sakae building. (Look for 明治屋栄.)

The store had a lot of neat “foreign” foods, and a nice selection. It even had Odlum’s Steel Cut Oats, which are sold in the U.S. as McCann’s. Of course, now I feel like a fool for shipping so much oatmeal over in the first place, but I had no idea they would have oatmeal, let alone proper steel cut oatmeal, in Japan. It’s really smashing stuff for breakfast.

Book-Off was having a 105 yen sale, so I grabbed a few books (yeah, I just bought some in Okazaki, now I’m buying more in Sakae).

After that, I headed over to Osu to see if I could find the Kenkyuusha dictionary for my electronic dictionary at the big electronics store there. No luck. I went to one of the used video game stores there, and found Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP for 1200 yen.

This Time, Try Asking Someone

I decided to go back to JR Nagoya and check Bic Camera again to see if I could get my hands on that Kenkyuusha dictionary. This time I decided to ask around a bit. After some asking around and explaining, the salesperson found a copy of the dictionary I wanted. It’s the Kenkyuusha 5th edition 和英 dictionary for the Casio electronic dictionaries. Score!

I used all of the points I had saved up for now to reduce the cost of the dictionary by about 2500 yen. See, this is where point cards are really handy. A 12,000 yen dictionary only cost me about 9,500 yen. Still expensive, but much cheaper than the paper version, which runs around 20,000 yen, and it fits in my pocket. (Sort of.)

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone

I looked around to see if I could find a privacy guard for my Nexus One. I couldn’t find one that would fit, but I did see a lot of crap I can glue on my cell phone.

They had all kinds of fake crystals and candy and cupcakes and such… I think I’ll pass for now. I don’t want to cut my hands to shreds on platic candy. (Or see plastic candy all the time and get hungry.)

All of this running around made me hungry, so I headed to Mokumoku again to store up on more vegetables and that great beef stew. I really needed those veggies, even if they cost 2500 yen. (Hey, it’s all you can eat.) Dinner was once again delicious, even if my wallet took a hit. I’ll make up for it during the week by eating cheaply.

I know, I could buy local vegetables and make them more cheaply, but I don’t have the time for it right now.

I made it back to JR Okazaki at 10 pm, and got home at about 10:15 or so. I stopped at Family Mart to get some sandwiches, because I eat Spartan during the week. (If Spartans ate pre-made convenience store ham sandwiches, anyway.)

Installing the Dictionary

I spent about an hour installing the dictionary. I had to run it in Vista emulation mode to get it to run in Win 7-64, then I had to load a piece of software from the Casio website just to get the laptop to recognize the electronic dictionary. Pain in the butt, but it works.

If you have trouble installing dictionaries or getting your Casio recognized by Windows 7, I would head to the Casio Japanese website and look for the bonus software for the Ex-Word series. Installing it will install the correct USB drivers for detecting the Ex-Word series of electronic dictionaries. Now you can run the install software on the dictionary disc.

The good news is that you only have to do it once.

The Student’s New Clothes

Now I need to find some big & tall sports clothes. My North Face shirts are rapidly disintegrating, and it’s getting colder these days. Apparently, the velcro on my pants is chewing up the special knit fabric on the North Face shirts, so the net effect is that my shirts are rapidly getting torn up.

Argh.

The main problem is that Japanese men’s clothing sizes don’t go much beyond the US M size. That’s right, their XL is just a bit baggier than our M.

Nagoya and the Port Area.

 Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Nagoya and the Port Area.
Nov 122011
 

It’s Saturday, and the sun was out. Amazing. Not one cloud in the sky.

I felt that I must go on an excursion in this lovely weather!

Carrier!

While I planned out the day’s activities, I watched a college basketball game between UNC (my alma mater) and Michigan State on an aircraft carrier in California via the Slingbox, which has decided to work again.

It’s weird when you think about it. From Japan, I watched a team from North Carolina play a team from Michigan on the deck of a ship in California, then the signal went to my house in NC, where it was then sent to me in Japan.

That kind of makes my head hurt.

After the game ended, I headed out to the station, and off to Nagoya. I noticed two things on the train ride over. First, the engineer was a woman. She’s the first woman engineer I’ve noticed so far. Cool. The second was not so cool. There was this really odd guy who was talking to himself, gesturing wildly, and going through incredible mood swings as trains came and went. I was just hoping he wouldn’t decide to suddenly heed the voice telling him to kill the big guy with the red hair 5 seats back.

There was also a guy in capri pants. No I don’t know why.

I got off at Kaneyama, so i could go to Atsuta Jinja, which is a pretty nice Shinto shrine in Nagoya with lots of history behind it. It’s where I saw an Iaido demo four years ago. It’s very park-like, but not very remarkable otherwise. It’s a nice place for a stroll, though. I was kind of hoping for something photo-worthy, but didn’t take any. Nothing really worth digging the camera out for. That said, it’s worth a trip if you’re in the area. It’s a nice place with a lot of history.

I did see a sakura tree blooming in the wrong season. So I can check that off the list. After the Nagoya Castle trip, I was kind of surprised to run into one there.

I probably should have taken a picture, but it wasn’t all that impressive, since all of the leaves were gone.

Port Call

After that, I headed to the subway station and took the train to the Port area. Getting to the Port area can be tricky if you don’t know your way around Nagoya’s subway. The purple line goes around Nagoya in a big circle, and then there’s a tail or spur of it that goes on to the Port area. You have to figure out which train you need to ride to get there. I managed to figure it out and headed down to the Port area, which took about 10-15 minutes. It’s at the end of the line.

I got out and wandered around a little bit. The first thing I noticed was a big orange boat.

Icebreaker "Fuji" at Nagoya Port -- Closeup

The second thing I noticed was a Red Lobster.

Red Lobster.

Why there was a Red Lobster in Japan is one of those unanswerable questions for me. By the Port, no less. In a land that specializes in fresh seafood.

WHYYYY???

The area has a charm to it. I like the Port Bridge:

Fuji and Port Bridge

Speaking of fresh seafood, right next to the Red Lobster was the Nagoya Aquarium, which was chock full of aquatic species.

Port Bridge and Aquarium
Since it was one of my objectives for the day, I headed on over. First off was the dolphin tank. They were very cute, but the water was kind of dirty.

Then I headed up to have a look at the dolphin show. It was included in the price of the ticket, so I might as well have a look. The dolphins were impressive, but I always have mixed feelings about performing dolphins. On the one hand, I’d rather they were free to do whatever they wanted to. But on the other, dolphins quite often get the short end of the stick in the wild, no thanks to us. And they did some impressive stuff.

After that, I headed to the aquarium proper, to do some staring at fish. There are lots of fish to stare at. I dunno… I’m not a huge fan of fish-staring. I tend to walk quickly through aquariums, unless they have something distinctive to hook me.

Fish sufficiently stared at, I left, and headed over to the Port Bridge, which is an interestingly designed footbridge that lets you cross one over from one side of the Port area to the other. (Well, I say Port area, but this is really just one little harbor. The whole Port area is much bigger.)

Port Bridge Sign

Crossing the Port Bridge

Some of the views from the bridge:

First the former icebreaker-turned-museum “Fuji”:

Retired Icebreaker Fuji

Another shot of the Aquarium:

Port of Nagoya Aquarium

And a shot of a passenger boat coming into port:

Ship pulling into dock.

After that, I headed to the oddly-shaped Port Building, which has a really neat observation deck about 50 meters or so above the ground. There are some great views from there. I had to hustle to get there before everything closed, of course. Downside was that because I still haven’t bought a circular polarizer, I had a lot of reflections in the shots I took. Ugh. But I managed to get a few keepers. The views were spectacular as the sun set over the bay.

Sorry about the reflections!

View from the Port Building

Some shots of the port area:

Aquarium, Bridge, Fuji, etc.

A zoom-in of the amusement park:

Ferris Wheel at Sunset

A shot of the dolphin show stadium at the aquarium:

Port of Nagoya Aquarium

I like this angled shot:

Aquarium, Bridge, Fuji, etc.

The Triton bridge, off in the distance:

Nagoya Port, Triton Bridge

One last shot of the port area:

One last shot of the Port Area

Finally, a shot looking towards downtown Nagoya:

Midtown in the Distance

This Really Is Turning Into A Shopping Blog, Isn’t It?

After that, I headed to Sakae and Book-Off, and had no luck finding books on Japanese Language study generally, and Minna no Nihongo, specifically. Naturally, tons of books in Japanese, but none of the books I wanted on Japanese, like textbooks and such. Well, I did find one. And I did find some light novels, too. I headed to Hisayaodori afterwards to pick up some new light novels as well.

I hopped a train to JR Nagoya and first stopped off at Krispy Kreme to get some doughnuts for snacking later this week, then dropped everything in a locker because it was getting heavy.

I headed to Bic Camera after that to see what was going on with the PS Vita pre-sales. They had finally managed to sell-out their pre-orders. I also took a look to see if they had any extra dictionaries for my Casio, but no luck. I’m trying to find the Kenkyuusha Japanese-English Dictionary for my new electronic dictionary.

I went to Mokumoku for dinner again. 食べ放題 (たべほうだい tabehoudai– all you can eat) is a scary thing. Mokumoku has some great food, especially the beef stew. It’s also good to get some vegetables in my system. I really can’t recommend Mokumoku enough if you just want to pound down some really fine organic food in Nagoya. It’s a little pricey, but then again, everything is pricey here.

I got home at 10:45 p.m. Long day, but fun.

Puttering Around in the Rain

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Puttering Around in the Rain
Nov 062011
 

Today was another crappy weather Sunday in Okazaki. No plans to do much of anything, to be honest, except maybe shop for some groceries.

There were supposed to be fireworks tonight, but in this weather, I can’t imagine shooting anything off. Kind of a bummer, because I wanted to see some Japanese fireworks to see how they compare to the fireworks we get in the US.

Well, I needed to go by the bank, get some air in my bike tires, and take care of a little this-n-that.

If I’m honest with myself, a large part of my motivation is getting out of the house.

I stopped by the gas station (ガソリンスタンド gasorin sutando) on the way to Aeon Mall, and the guys there were kind enough to put some air in my bicycle for me. It’s like having a brand new bike. It went up those nasty hills like a dream.

My tires must have been flat or something.

Paying Cash is Painful, and Other Obvious Things

Then off to the post office by the mall for more money. Japan is expensive, especially with the high yen.

Cash economies are painful, but it makes me monitor my spending. If Japan wants to get out of its economic problems, just require every store to take credit cards, and require every citizen to have at least one, or five or six. That would fix that spending problem in a hurry.

Paying cash always hurts a little more than just handing over the card. (Maybe it’s because you get card back.)

Lost in the Mall Again

With plump tires, I headed over to Aeon mall. I stopped by the book store there for a couple of things: first, Kyoto/Nara travel guides. I want to find some prime leaf viewing areas. Next, I was looking for some good Japanese language study books. Not so much textbooks as reference books. I’m always looking for those. No luck. Finally, I’m always on the hunt for a decent book cover. No dice.

After that, I headed to Aeon, to pick up a couple of extra erasable pens and a couple of extra notebooks, because I tend to go through both quickly. I’m going to send any extras home, because I like the Japanese notebooks a lot.

Then I got lost in Aeon on the 1st floor again. There’s stuff and random shops everywhere inside the store, and I can never seem to get my bearings. Ugh. And it’s Sunday, so it’s jam-packed. I spent 15 minutes trying to find an exit. Scary.

When I finally found the exit to the mall, I headed to Subway. Yes, Subway. They have one right in Aeon Mall. And I was proud of myself, because I ordered a sub without any problems at all. A sub has a lot of parts to it, and I didn’t have any trouble rattling it all off in Japanese.

So if nothing else, spending all of this money on this trip will have taught me how to order food.

As I left, it started raining, so I punched out on the rest of my trip. Anything else I need, I’ll pick up after school tomorrow at Domy. I don’t like getting wet, and Japan is full of wet these days.

Shopping in Nagoya. In the Rain. Again.

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Shopping in Nagoya. In the Rain. Again.
Nov 052011
 

It’s never a good idea to go to Nagoya without a plan. At least it’s not a good idea for me. But I went anyway, because the idea of sitting around all day on a weekend just gnawed at me. And yes, once again, this weekend it’s raining. Argh!

Every week I’ve been in Okazaki, it seems like the weather pattern has been the same. It’s sunny and beautiful all week when I’m in class, it turns cloudy on Friday, and then it rains all day Saturday and Sunday. Expletive expletive weather. This has been going on for about 5 weeks now, and everybody is sick of it.

By everybody I mean me. Although I’m sure I’m not the only person who hates this pattern.

I slept in a bit this morning, and lazed around a little bit while trying to form a plan. What to do in the rain… what to do…

At around 2 p.m., I decided to just go out and do something in Nagoya, so I grabbed the 2:30 train out of Okazaki, and got to Nagoya around 3 p.m. Part of the plan was to get some of the money I spent on my new electronic dictionary back from Bic Camera, because the day I bought it, I found it for 10,000 yen cheaper, and it turns out that Bic slashed the price by 10,000 yen as well. So I decided to follow V-san’s advice and get that 10,000 yen back!

Flick My Bic

I headed over, and sure enough, after a bit of waiting and some shuffling of papers, I got my 10,000 yen back. They had to “sell” me a new one, and I “returned” my old one, and I lost a few points in the process, but I don’t really care. Cash is cash, and with the yen as hideously expensive as it is these days, I’ll take cash any day over points. 10,000 yen is about $120 these days!

Thanks, V-san! You saved me a ton of money!

And Bic, that was awesome.

In Japan, Skippy is in the Imported Food Store, Next to the Caviar

I did some strolling, and found a 5-story drugstore nearby… it looked impressive on the outside, but it was really cramped on the inside. I kind of got wrapped up in a quest to find Pepto Bismol, just in case… yeah, that was a total failure. Not gonna find that outside of Tokyo, I think. Maybe not at all.

Then I wandered around some more, and went to the back of the station, back around, and found a neat International grocery store, called Seijoishii. It’s kind of wedged in back behind the station, behind the Marriott. If you’re craving some goodies from home (i.e. not Japan), they may have what you want. I picked up some Ricola lemon-mint cough drops, because my throat has been killing me on-and-off since I had that cold a month ago.

This is Now a Blog About Me Buying Books… Or Trying to, Anyway.

Then I headed off to see if I could find Sanseido. It shows up in Google Maps, but after walking around the target building and not seeing anything, I gave up and went to Junkudou instead. I found some nice manly-looking cloth book covers there. I’ve been looking for some of those. When you buy books here, they always offer you the paper book covers, but I don’t like them. I wanted the cloth ones for a long time. Sort of like cloth vs. paper grocery bags.

After that, it was off to Sakae, to look around at the Book-Off there, because it’s big. Book-Off sells not just books, but all kinds of second-hand stuff, like jewelry, clothes, sporting goods, electronics… but mostly used books.

I found a bunch of used books on sale for cheap, so I nabbed them.

Then I headed up a stop to Hisayaodori to pick up a few more books. There’s this sci-fi novel series I want to read, and all of the books are about as big a phone books, density-wise. The nice thing about buying them at the store there is that I get freebies for buying them there, but they weigh a freakin’ ton.

Bagging It

I crossed the street to the Tokyu Hands in Hisayaodori to get a cloth shopping bag. I’ve been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks, anyway. The 25 pounds of books that are making my hands go numb have absolutely nothing to do with it.

Okay, it has everything to do with it.

I went up about 5 flights to the floor marked “bags.” No luck. Wrong bags. Up 2 more flights, to “kitchenwares.” All I see are bags that are very much not for me. Then I saw a Trader Joe’s bag.”Well, at least it’s a brand I know…” Then I look over and saw a Whole Foods Market bag, and just laughed, because I shop there in the US. The Whole Foods in Chapel Hill is one of the oldest stores in the chain. It’s been there forever, and before that, it was an independent store called Wellspring, and it was pretty popular even then.

The laugh was on me, though. 1200 yen for a $4 bag. Yeah, I felt like an idiot, but the Trader Joe’s bag was 1600 yen. And all of the other bags had stuff written on it in French, and were too small. No thanks. Give me that American size bag that I can stuff a car or a whole cow into!

It’s Even Carolina Blue!

I’m hungry. On my way to the bookstore in Hisayaodori, I had spotted a nice little restaurant called The Sun Room, in the underground passageway called Cenrtal Park at the Hisayaodori subway station. They serve a lot of organic food there, and some vegetables, I think. Turns out it’s a chain, but it’s fine by me. The spaghetti with mozzarella and asparagus in pesto was good, and cheap.

One thing about restaurants here that’s different from restaurants in the US, and that’s ordering. In Japan, you order everything through dessert up front, then your server never comes back. In the US, the server keeps coming back to make sure you don’t want to order another cow, or another giant tub of ice cream, or whatever. (Now I’m getting hungry again.) It’s something small that I need to remember to adjust to every now and then.

Now it’s 7:30, and I had to rush to Takashimaya at Nagoya Station in a hurry, before it closed, to buy a decent blanket. It’s getting cold, and I can’t run the heater at night without wrecking my throat. So I caught the subway, got to the station, hustled up 9 flights of escalators, and made it to bedding by 7:50. (Hey, I was impressed.) The store clerks helped me find a blanket on sale that would fit my bed that I could wash and hang up to dry without having to wait a month. (Woot.) It’s even Carolina Blue.

And it’s warm and fluffy.

And I did it all in Japanese. Pardon me while I hurt myself patting myself on the back.

Ow.

After that, the store started closing, so the “Get Out!” music started gently playing, to gently tell us to “Get the hell out so we can clean up after you, then get a beer and go home before the trains stop running!”

But in a gentle way.

My Fellow Americans Make Me Want to Facepalm Sometimes. Okay, Frequently.

I decided to go get some Krispy Kremes on the way out. Hey, I had seen them in Sakae already, and I know there’s a Krispy Kreme at Takashimaya here in the station. Sure enough, there it is, and there’s the line. And there was an obnoxious American guy behind me, convinced that this line was just for Japanese people, and didn’t apply to him. He even got out of the line, walked to the counter, and tried to order.

Please dear God, when you go to Japan, don’t be that guy. The lines apply to you, too. You are not special because you’re an American. Get in line with everyone else and have some manners. I really wanted to give him a dope slap with my menu, not that it would make a difference. This is the same kind of guy who goes to a restaurant, orders off the menu, then gives them a bad review online when they can’t get it the way he wants it.

I hate that kind of guy.

Of course, by the time I got to the front of the line, they were out of the good doughnuts, so I got 2 chocolate crullers. I’ll take what I can get.

Then I went back to the international grocery to pick up the last few things. By now, I resemble a pack mule, carrying tons and tons of crap. But I managed to get some peanut butter (Skippy: sadly no JIF available), some more Ricolas, and some chocolate… the good stuff.

I just managed to make the 8:26 train back to Okazaki. The train ride was uneventful, but the bike ride home was… interesting. Juggling all that stuff was not an exercise I wish to repeat. The blanket was very big.

I have to keep unlearning shopping habits learned behind the wheel. If I want it, that means I have to schlep it home; there’s no trunk except my backpack.

Oh well. I have a big bag to carry it all in now!

Gettin’ Busy.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Gettin’ Busy.
Nov 022011
 

Classes are heating up. Things are getting more intense and busier, with full weeks of regular class, JBPP, and electives. We don’t get any holidays this quarter, either.

And I have my first big exam on Friday, which covers 3 chapters of the book. I’m already making a grammar outline. We’ve got a listening/dictation test as well. Fun.

I Found a Better Price, Now What?

So I found the same electronic dictionary I bought this past weekend for 10,000 yen less elsewhere, but I really don’t want to go through the hassle of returning it, then buying another one on the other side of Nagoya. Is there something I can do about it?

The answer is yes!

I got some really useful advice from V-san, one of my classmates. She said to take the electronic dictionary back to Bic, and tell them that I found it cheaper. She said they’re really good about matching competitors’ prices. I’ll have to give it a try this weekend.

We had phone practice in JBPP today. How to answer the phone, hold basic conversations, etc. It’s one thing to do it in everyday Japanese, but entirely something different to do it in business Japanese, with the emphasis on proper use of 尊敬語 (そんけいご, sonkeigo) and 謙譲語 (けんじょうご, kenjogo.) There are lots of complex phrases to remember, which are essentially really polite versions of the same thing. But which degree of politeness you need to use is important to know.

ごろごろ and 電子辞書 (Gorogoro and Denshi Jisho)

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photography, Photos, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on ごろごろ and 電子辞書 (Gorogoro and Denshi Jisho)
Oct 292011
 

It’s Saturday, and for once it’s not raining. It’s not really sunny, but it’s not raining. I’ll take what I can get. My electronic dictionary is dying, so I’m off to Nagoya to buy a new one, among other things.

I got a bit of a late start, because I felt like lying around a little bit and just generally loafing around the apartment. There’s a good Japanese verb for this: ごろごろする (gorogorosuru). It just means to loaf around. Yep. I did that until about 2 pm or so, then headed to the station and grabbed a train.

Off to Nagoya Again

First stop was the Mermaid Cafe, to grab lunch. I wanted something simple, because for the past few weeks my stomach hasn’t been in top form. The Mermaid just does simple sandwiches and some basic pastries, and none of it is very greasy. I love their iced cocoa.

Finding a New Electronic Dictionary

Then it was off to Bic Camera, to stare at row upon row of electronic dictionaries. They have changed a lot in the 4 years since I bought my last one. Lots of color screens now, and lots of extra features, most of which I do not need. It was frustrating trying to find one dictionary that had all of the features I want, without a bunch of stuff I don’t.

The features I want are no longer available, and the dictionaries I want, I have to pay extra for. I wound up forking over 38,000 yen for the Casio Ex-Word business model. Handing over that kind of money is painful, but it has a lot of the stuff I want in it, and to be honest, I’m going to use it for at least the next four years. So I’ll pay extra to get that later.

If I think of it as a stack of 10 really useful dictionaries, and another 20 or so useful-ish dictionaries, in a form factor that’s searchable across all of them with relative ease, it’s totally worth it.

One thing it has that I really want is a working NHK accent dictionary that pronounces words through the little speaker. It’s awesome. Now I can get the pitch accent right if I’m inclined to worry about it.

I’ll review the Casio later, when I’ve had time to play with it more.

I spent a good hour or so staring, reading, poking, and buying.

When I think back to using paper dictionaries when I first started learning Japanese, there’s just no comparison. Electronic is the way to go. Even a cheap electronic dictionary is faster and easier than the best paper dictionaries.

Osu!

Done with buying at Bic, I headed back to JR Nagoya, and it was really pretty in the afternoon light:

JR Nagoya Late Afternoon Fall

After that, it was off to Osu (大須, おおす), a big shopping district with a giant covered shopping arcade and a famous temple. It’s a lot like Osaka’s Dotonbori area, or Tokyo’s Ameyokocho, with some Akihabara mixed in.

Banshouji Doori Entrance Osu

I spent a few hours wandering around in there, just looking at shops. I stumbled across the Osu Kanon Temple at some point. It’s  pretty famous in the area. I snapped a couple of photos.

Osu Kannon Temple

Osu Kannon Temple 2

As I was leaving the temple, I lucked out. It was just turning 5 p.m., so the giant clock was striking, and a little exhibition or play of sorts was starting.

Mechanical Clock Performance--Osu

The reflections in the window were pretty bad. The IXY just couldn’t handle them.

Mechanical Clock Performance--Osu 4

Mechanical Clock Performance--Osu 5

Mechanical Clock Performance--Osu 6

Sort of like mechanical dolls, set to music. They did their dance, and everyone enjoyed it.

And then it went back to being a clock again.

Mechanical Clock Performance--Osu 7

I went back to strolling. I found a pretty big electronics store that was pretty cool. It had all kinds of stuff, most of which was cheaper than Bic. Including the electronic dictionary that I just bought. (Ouch.) Same color and everything. (OUCH!) About 10,000 yen cheaper. (Ouch, OUCH!)

On the first floor, there was a sort of a community market of electronics and random stuff, where people just set up stalls. One guy had a bunch of great old shortwave radios. Oh how I lusted after his radios, but they were hideously expensive. He knew he had good merchandise, and it was priced accordingly. There were also guys selling old vacuum tubes– you name it. It was a lot like a mini-Akihabara.

If you wander to the street just north of the covered street markets, you’ll find a few used video game stores and some manga stores and the like, if that’s your kind of thing. There are some games I want to buy, but I’ll probably wait until I’m in Tokyo to buy them, because I can probably get them cheaper there. (I will probably learn to regret this.)

There’s also a Mandarake if you like toys and other collectibles. (Who doesn’t like toys?)

After that, it was off to Hisayaodori for some book shopping.

On the way, a couple of snaps of the Nagoya TV Tower. Yes, this shot is blurry, but I LIKE it:

Nagoya Tower at Night

Less blurry but not as cool version:

Nagoya Tower at Night

I picked up a few things to read, then went back to the station.

Couchin is Japanese for “This Chicken is DELICIOUS!”

I was hungry, and it was getting late, so I decided to head back to the area around Nagoya Station. I went back to the 12th and 13th floors of Takeshimaya, because there are a ton of good restaurants there. This time, I went to a place called Torigoten, because it specializes in Nagoya Couchin, which is a special kind of chicken that’s supposed to be super delicious.

I was feeling kind of run-down anyway, so chicken anything was on my radar. All of the restaurants had huge waits. This restaurant had a relatively short wait. So I sat for only 25 minutes until I got a seat at the bar. That’s not too bad for Nagoya Station on a Saturday night.

I ordered a Couchin set meal that consisted of a really good Oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl, with some chicken broth), and some kishimen (a flat noodle that’s a specialty of the Nagoya region) in a chicken broth served with cooked chicken.

Just what I needed, because I was still feeling crummy from my cold that I had a few weeks back. Still feels like there’s a frog in my throat.

After that, I missed the 8:42 train juuuust barely, but it was okay, because that meant I could get a seat on the 8:58 train home. I got back to Okazaki at about 9:30 or so, then got home at about 9:45 or so.

Long day, but fun.

Plates, Pens, and Tonkatsu. Must Be Aeon Mall!

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Plates, Pens, and Tonkatsu. Must Be Aeon Mall!
Oct 232011
 

It’s Sunday, and it’s time for more shopping. (Is this a shopping blog or something?)

Well, I went back to Aeon Mall to get some supplies and dinner as well.

First I went to Aeon, which, by the way, is a confusing store at first. When I enter the first level, it always take me a few minutes to figure out my bearings, because the first floor is part grocery store, part drug store, part department store, and Mr. Donut (which the kids call “MisuDo.”)

See what I mean? It’s confusing!

I grabbed the escalator, and made it to the second floor, then the third, where the kitchen stuff is. I needed a few bowls and plates, because I decided it would be slightly nicer than eating off of plastic wrappers and plastic trays.

Plates are civilized.

I bought some cheap ones, then headed over to get some ink for my Frixion pens, and some extra paper.

I like the Frixion pens, because they erase really easily. Everyone in class uses them, and swears by them. When you heat up the ink with the silicone eraser, the ink turns invisible. I guess the heat switches the dye off? Better not leave my notes on the dashboard of a car!

I’ll take my chances for now.

After that, I wandered around the mall a bit, and headed to the book store, Miraiyashoten. This time, I bought some Kyoto travel guides. I want to go when the leaves are nice and red! These magazines will hopefully show me the good sites.

I did a lot of browsing there. I could drop a large amount of money in a Japanese bookstore.

But I restrained myself this time.

I went down to the food court and started looking for a restaurant, since it was close to dinnertime. I found Saboten, which specializes in Tonkatsu, one of my favorite dishes. So I had a Tonkatsu set and a Coke, and chowed down. That was good stuff.

After dinner, I wobbled on home on my bike. I stopped off at the big main post office to get some money. Nice that’s it’s still open at 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday. In the US, this is not a big deal. Here, it’s really nice. It’s so hard to tell if I’m going to be able to get money when I go to the post office. I suppose I should write the hours down somewhere, but that sounds too much like work. I’ve got plenty of that to do for class!

It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Raining. Also, Wingtown.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Raining. Also, Wingtown.
Oct 222011
 

It’s Saturday, so that means it’s raining.

Like hell.

I wanted to go to Nagoya today, but I don’t want to drown on the way there. So instead I decided to wait out a break in the rain and bike to the other mall in Okazaki, which is south of where I live. It’s called Wingtown. It’s a couple of stories, but it’s a bit smaller than Aeon.

What it does have, though, is Imagine. And Imagine is a big book store and stationery/music/video/game store as well.

My kind of store!

Imagine is pretty handy if you’re a student at Yamasa, because it has a bunch of different stores all bunched into one.

One of my problems right now is dealing with the massive influx of printouts I get every day at Yamasa. The pages aren’t just A4 sized, they’re more like A3 or B2-sized. Imagine something you’d use as a paper place mat for a really messy kid. Now make it just a tad bigger.

Now what do you do with a pile of 50 of these that you need to keep organized so you can study?!?

For now, I’m going to try the “clear file” solution, which entails getting some A4-sized book-like things that have 20-40 clear pockets in them, and stuffing the sheets in the pockets, folded over. We’ll see how it works.

I also bought a new memory card for my PSP, so I can keep my JP and EN gaming separate. And of course I bought some books to read.

I’ve said it before, I know, but I’ll say it again, anyway. I love Japanese book stores.

When I was ready to head back, a frog-strangler of a thunderstorm popped out of nowhere. Real lightning and thunder, even! It was my first thunderstorm in Japan. With it raining so hard, it was impossible to go back home, so I hung out and waited for it to pass. It took a while, but eventually it cleared up enough so I could go home.

Now I’m going to do some reading!

Running to Nagoya Castle

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Running to Nagoya Castle
Oct 212011
 

Before I get to the Nagoya Castle trip, an update about classes at Yamasa. My elective classes started a few days ago, and I think they’ll be useful in getting ready for the JLPT N1. I couldn’t get into the writing class, which was a bit of a letdown, but having two extra grammar classes will be a lot of work, anyway.

So, on to the topic at hand. Cherry trees, their blossoms, and why I wanted to go to Nagoya today.

Sakura, Sakura, Do I Know You?

I have never seen a Cherry tree in bloom up close and personal. That’s mostly because I have never been to Washington, D.C. in Spring, nor have I ever been to Japan in Spring.

I suppose I could find them around North Carolina, but to me, most flowering trees look the same. Having grown up in the South, I know of two important spring flowering trees/shrubs: Dogwoods and Azaleas. Really, that’s it. Wisteria, I suppose I can recognize, too, but not much more than that.

So please excuse me if I can’t tell the difference between a cherry and a pear tree in bloom. It hasn’t been in my cultural wheelhouse.

There are times when cherry trees get confused, and bloom out of season. Sometimes when it happens, it makes the news. (Well, it does in Japan.) I’ve seen it twice on the NHK News. Once when some trees in Tohoku bloomed in September, and everyone took it as a sign of hope after the Tsunami, and I saw it again on Monday, when they ran a story about a cherry tree blooming near Nagoya Castle in the park on the grounds.

Since I have never seen such a thing in person, I wanted to go and see it up close.

A Tree Blooms In Nagoya… Right?

Class ended early on Friday, and afterwards, I immediately high-tailed it back to the apartment, grabbed the big, heavy camera (the 60D), and raced to the train station. The castle closes at 5 p.m., but they stop letting people in at about 4 p.m. or so. I got on the 3:00 train, which meant I was really under the gun to get there in time. I got to JR Nagoya at 3:30, then had to run to the subway, change trains, then run to the castle. I got there right at 3:50.

Lucky.

I did the castle tour, because I might as well. The Google reviews on Nagoya Castle are mixed, and for good reason. It’s kind of… plain, to be honest.

Going in:

Nagoya Castle Entry

An outbuilding near the main gate:

Nagoya Castle Outer Building

I saw some deer and crows chillin’ in the dry moat as I crossed to the main gate:

Deer and Crows

And here’s the castle, with attendant souvenir shop. (The building that says おみやげ on it.)

Nagoya Castle Main Building

The good thing about Osaka Castle is that when you get to the top, there’s an outdoor viewing area.

No such luck in Nagoya.

The top floor is enclosed, the windows are tiny, and they were very, very dirty. To top it off, the scenery wasn’t much to look at, either. It was kind of a disappointment.

Instead of crying over getting lemons, I decided to try to make lemonade. So I used the vantage point of the top of the castle to try to find the out-of-season cherry tree, but I didn’t have any luck.

There is a very large park with a lot of trees on the grounds of Nagoya Castle, and I suppose that that area is really pretty in Sping and Summer, so that’s probably worth checking out. It’s fall now, but there are no fall colors yet, so it’s kind of plain.

As I wandered around, I kept looking for the tree.

Here’s the back of the castle from outside the walls:

Nagoya Castle from Behind

And this canal looked kind of cool. Lightroom helped pick out some details:

Canal

Another shot of the castle from behind:

Nagoya Castle from Behind

One More:

Nagoya Castle from Behind

A few shots from the top of the castle walls, overlooking the lake:

View from the Castle Walls

View from the Castle Walls

The Name of this Song is “Please Leave. Now.”

I walked all over the castle grounds, and just didn’t have any luck. Finally, I started to hear music, which could only mean one thing in Japan: “Get out.”

I asked a security guard or two if they had seen a blooming tree, and they told me to come back in March. Translation: “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

On the way out, I stopped and took a look at some of the Chrysanthemums being prepared for the big exhibition tomorrow. They looked nice, but I didn’t feel like taking any pictures.

Right by the exit, I saw the mascot character. Of course I took a picture:

Ebisubeth... the Nagoya Castle Mascot

After that, I was starving, so I set out to get some food.

The first order of business was to find a post office ATM. Thanks to Google Maps, I found one about a kilometer away. Then it was back to the subway, and off to Nagoya Station.

OMG Noodles

I finally got back to the station, and headed up to the 11th floor, where there were a ton of people (because it’s Friday), and a ton of restaurants to choose from. Picking just one restaurant was difficult, because each one had so many delicious things to try.

I wandered around for about 15-20 minutes before settling on a soba shop. I had one of my favorite dishes, zaru soba, which is chilled soba noodles with a dipping sauce. You get a little pot of hot water to pour over the noodles to get them to unstick from each other, but I made the mistake of pouring too much hot water over it and made a mess. That’s one of the joys of travel: learning new ways to embarass yourself and generally make a mess of things.

But it was all good. The noodles went great with a beer.

Revived, I headed back to Okazaki.

The Flowers of Yamasa

 Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on The Flowers of Yamasa
Oct 212011
 

Okay, I’m done with the sky.

For the last couple of days, I’ve been taking pictures of flowers, to see how the macro function works on the IXY. It’s pretty good. Not stunningly great, but better than a cell phone camera, and that’s all I can hope for.

So behold, the shy, dainty flowers of Yamasa. (Okay, some of them are weeds, but the still looked interesting to me, and it was something to do in-between classes!)

Flowers at Yamasa

 

I like the detail on the left flower. The right flower is out of focus. A weak point of the IXY’s macro mode.

Flowers at Yamasa 2

 

It’s a little head-on and bulls’-eyed, but I liked this flower. The IXY did a decent job, considering I was hand-holding the camera.

Flowers at Yamasa 3

Flowers at Yamasa 4

 

The IXY did a good job with this weed/plant, too.

Flowers at Yamasa 5

Flowers at Yamasa 6

 

And finally, a shot of the South Okazaki Hospital sign/top floor, with lots of power lines in the way:

South Okazaki Hospital Sign From Yamasa

Next up is a story about my trip to Nagoya Castle. Good times.

The Skies of Okazaki

 Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on The Skies of Okazaki
Oct 192011
 

In-between classes, I started messing around with my new Canon IXY. Mostly, I took pictures of the sky, because I saw some interesting stuff in it. Yesterday, I saw some neat looking contrails from jets going wherever they’re going. Today, I saw some beautiful shimmery clouds.

Oh, and I also took a photo of a goldenrod weed near the school. Just because.

The 10-minute breaks are welcome, but sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what I want to do for 10 minutes. It’s just enough time to realize it’s not enough.

And now, the photos:

The contrails looked cool, and had a kind of lonely feel to them:

Contrails 1

Contrails 2

Sideways shot!

Contrails 3

Power lines interfere with a lot of my photography in Japan.

Power Lines

It’s annoying.

Power Lines 2

I liked the blue wall and yellow/green plant combination here. Just a weed near Yamasa.

Goldenrod, I think.

I really like this shot. The sky was kind of shimmery, and Aoi Hall was its usual corrugated self. Makes an interesting shot. Thanks, Lightroom!

Shiny Sky 1

Now just the sky without Aoi Hall:

Shiny Sky 2

One more:

Shiny Sky 3

If you look at it the right way, doesn’t this look like a dragon’s head? Just a bit?

Dragon!

Nagoya Matsuri

 Japan, Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Nagoya Matsuri
Oct 162011
 

I took a bunch of photos for the parade, but there were so many that editing them will be a real chore. I’ll post them later. If you really want to see what the parade looks like, check out my 2007 Nagoya Matsuri Parade posts.

Since it rained like hell yesterday, all of the big parades for the Saturday portion of the Nagoya Matsuri were cancelled, and squashed into today.

The weather was perfect, too. So naturally, that meant that everyone was going to be crammed into the “best spots” for taking pictures and the like.

I tried to get there somewhat early, but my idea of early isn’t quite up to snuff when it comes to the idea of early here. (This is the “Land of the Rising Sun,” and I think some of the folks here take it to heart when it comes to these sorts of things.) My casual approach and my unfortunate height meant that I was in for it today.

As in 2007, the Kagura floats were fun to watch, but hard to take pictures of, because of my mortal enemy, the big floppy hats and prominent bald heads of the older segment of the population here. They had a knack for popping up at inopportune moments, but that’s just how it is here.

I’m tall, so people felt like they had some sort of mysterious privilege to just cut in front of me because they were short. What they didn’t realize is that they weren’t all that short, and wound up blocking my view, or screwing up my pictures.

More annoying than that were the security guards. Their job was to get in every other picture and screw it up. And when they weren’t doing that, they would just hassle people randomly for the sake of looking like they were doing their job, which is important when your job isn’t really all that necessary. It’s a parade in Japan, one of the safest countries in the world. It’s not like people are going to suddenly start acting up or anything. But they have to poke people and tell them not to stand there, or to move over, and so on and so forth. Because otherwise it doesn’t look like they’re doing their jobs, I guess.

Ugh.

But you just have to shrug it all off, or else you’ll go crazy and wind up getting arrested by the cop standing next to the security guard.

It’s just part of living here. Living here vs. other places is about making a set of trade-offs. If you want to live somewhere else, you have to make another set of trade-offs. You’re not going to find a tailored fit in an off-the-rack world. That goes for people and places.

Just like four years ago, I took way too many pictures. I’m pretty sure that editing them will be painful. (Note: It is. I’ve got it down from 500 to 98 photos.)

There were a few marching bands in the Flower Car Parade which followed, and one even had bagpipes. There were a few staged battles in the streets, and of course, Tokugawa Ieyasu ended things. The guy playing him was good, and said some funny things.

The Most Amazing Bus Station Ever

After the parade, I headed down to Oasis 21, which is a really fancy bus terminal, but it also has some open areas that were turned into an event stage and an area full of info booths from cities and prefectures from all over Central Japan.

First, I went to the rooftop area, a few floors above Oasis 21, which is a giant glass oval with a big fountain and pond in the center. It’s really interesting architecturally, and of course the views of the Sakae area of Nagoya are excellent.

Then I went down to the event area and looked around the booths, and talked to some people down there. That was a lot of fun. I got some information from the Aichi Prefecture people about some possible side trips, and some info from the Okazaki booth as well. There are so many cool places I’d love to go visit, but there’s only so much free time in my schedule, and frankly, only so much money in my budget.

Not to mention that some of these places are only reachable by car.

Travel in Japan can get expensive if you’re converting everything from dollars, and the exchange rate is only around 77 yen to the dollar. (And that’s on a good day.) It’s pretty painful.

After all of that, I grabbed my bag of pamphlets and headed back home. (Free clear file! And it has a strange local mascot character on it! Score!)

Mall-ed on a Saturday

 Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Mall-ed on a Saturday
Oct 152011
 

I was going to go to Nagoya today for the big festival, but it was cancelled due to rain. They’ll just do everything tomorrow, when the weather is better.

I eventually started going stir crazy, so I went to the mall today for the first time since I came back to Okazaki.

I decided to walk, since it was raining off and on, and I didn’t want to mess with the bicycle.

On the way out, I was greeted by a somewhat unsettlingly large mass of birds near the apartments.

The Birds! (Wide shot)

The Birds!

Then I headed to Aeon Mall. It takes a while to get there on foot.

When I got to the mall, I went by Aeon to buy some ink, paper, erasers, notebooks, and stuff like that. Then I wandered around a bit and checked out the bookstore. It’s big, but I couldn’t find what I wanted. (I’m always on the lookout for grammar or JLPT books.)

The mall has a huge selection of restaurants on the bottom floor. I’ll have to check some of those out when I have time… hey! A Subway! Okay, that’s pretty American of me to notice the Subway, but it’s been 2 weeks now since I’ve had anthing from my home country. Maybe next time I pass through here, I’ll pick up a sub.

I headed over to the bookstore on the way to the mall. It’s along the main highway. It’s small, but it has a pretty good manga section, and I was running out, so I reloaded on some new tankoubons to read.

Then back home to dry off.

On the way back, I saw this church:

Church at Night

Okay, it’s blurry, but it was kind of cool how the cross lit up the night.

Tomorrow it’s the Nagoya parades, weather permitting.

The Daily AIJP/JBPP Life

 Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on The Daily AIJP/JBPP Life
Oct 132011
 

The way classes are taught here is interesting. It reminds me a bit of high school, but it’s much more thorough.

We have 3 50-minute periods of class in the mornings, from 9-9:50, 10-10:50, and 11-11:50. Then from 11:50-12:40, we have lunch. After that, from 12:40-1:30 we have the last AIJP class of the day. That’s followed by a 1:40-2:30 and 2:40-3:30 block each day for electives.

Oh yeah, we have to pick electives NOW. It’s more of a big deal for me because I missed a few days.

I’m probably going to go with only two, although I can do up to four. JBPP will fill in that last 2:40-3:30 block every day… except when it doesn’t. Sometimes we’re going to have long classes that go from 5th through 6th period, and sometimes we’ll have class during 5th period only, but that’s usually on Fridays.

It’s a little confusing.

Anyway, picking electives isn’t too hard. Because of JBPP I only have a few choices. There’s a writing class I want to try, as well as the N1 and N2 grammar classes. N2 will be good review of stuff I should already know, and N1 will hopefully cover stuff I desperately need to know. The main downside is that they only meet once a week up until the JLPT, then they end.

We’ll see where I wind up!

The way classes are done here in general is intense. We start off just about every class with a quiz, except JBPP. The first class in the day is usually taught by my homeroom teacher, M-sensei (different from the M-sensei in JBPP), who is amazingly nice. She teaches two blocks or so, which is grammar and vocabulary, then in the third block (usually, not always, the schedule changes every week, or so I’m told), another teacher will come in to teach stuff like speaking or reading or writing. Then after lunch, it’s either M-sensei or another mystery block of somethingoranother.

The class is impressively diverse. America, Germany, Greece, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Brazil, and India are all represented. I’m probably forgetting someone. I apologize.

But Japanese is our common language. It’s easier that way.

The cold is almost gone. I still feel a bit lousy, but it’s not nearly as bad.

JBPP: Can I Has Meishi Koukan PLZKTHX!

One of the most important things in Japanese business is 名刺交換 (めいしこうかん, meishi koukan, or business card exchanging). It’s so important that it’s one of the first things we’re learning here. There’s an order to who offers their card first, and to whom, how it’s held out, how it’s received, what you say, and most importantly, where you put it.

The trick to understanding the whole thing from the Japanese side is understanding that business card = person. Once you understand that, many of the rules that seem kind of exacting make sense.

Also, understand that while visitors are treated as socially superior in a non-business setting, they’re not necessarily so in a business sense. If you’re coming to another company to ask for something, you need to show some humility, I guess. This is different from going into a store as a customer, because customers = gods in Japan. (Who else is going to spend money in their stores?)

Also, there’s the senior/junior dynamic as well. Seniority rules. Even if the boss isn’t going to do anything, if the boss is there, then the boss has to lead the ceremonies because s/he’s the boss.

The Basics

Ok, so the basics of meishi koukan are:

First, the order of who offers cards. (For this example, we’ll use a group of people visiting a company.)

  1. Visiting company goes first. (You’re introducing yourselves, after all!)
  2. Seniors first– company seniors, that is. So the most-senior visitor goes first, followed down the ranks to the most junior.
  3. “Home” company goes last.
  4. Again, the highest-level manager goes first.

Okay, that’s not too hard to remember.

So how do you do it?

  1. Offer your card out with both hands, facing upside down to you. (So the other party can read it!) Don’t forget to bow as you’re holding it out.
  2. Introduce yourself as you’re holding out your card, saying what company you’re from, who you are + douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, or the proper polite variant.
  3. The receiving person receives the card with both hands while bowing as well.
  4. The receiving person takes the card and says arigatou gozaimasu or whatever variant is required due to politeness level required.
  5. Receiving person has to look at the card and study it for a few seconds. Really, take the chance to learn the other person’s name, or ask them about the kanji in their name, etc. Great icebreaker.

Wait, there’s more! Remember, I said that a business card is considered the same as the person you’re dealing with, so a few “don’t”s are in order:

  • Don’t put it in your pocket! (Especially your back pocket!)
  • Don’t use it as a tool! (Especially to pick your teeth!)
  • Don’t write on it!

So we have these precious business cards… uh… what do we do with them?

Okay, now what? Where do we put the cards? The answer depends.

If it’s just meeting on the street, or at a convention, and there’s no meeting afterwards, then put them in a business card case. (You can get one for cheap at an office supply store if you need one.) You’re showing the other party how you value their card, and them at the same time.

If you don’t have your case on you, put it in your wallet. Don’t just shove it in a pocket.

It there’s a meeting afterwards, then lay them out on the table in front of you, like a little seating chart. It’s really useful that way, so you can keep everyone’s names straight. It also shows that you’re trying to learn their names. It’s very courteous to do it that way.

Anyway, you get the drift.

In the US, we use business cards like disposable ads. They’re tossed all over the place, and are only used to keep track of contact info. We write on them, pick our teeth with them, sit on them, you name it. We only see it as a piece of paper that’s handy to have every now and then… but not much more than that. (Hence the numerous goldfish bowls used to hold business cards for raffles.)

We spent a lot of time in class practicing business card exchanges, with a variety of scenarios. It was challenging at first, but I got used to it.

Still, there’s a lot of cultural stuff for me to learn just surrounding business, and we’re only at the point of exchanging business cards. I can see that I have my work cut out for me!

And So It Begins…

 Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on And So It Begins…
Oct 122011
 

Finally! My real first day of class!

I still feel like hell, but my fever is gone, so I didn’t really have an excuse to stay home and lounge around. Besides, we’re on the fast track here at Yamasa. Every day I miss is like missing 3-4 days of Japanese at a univeristy. Keeping up is hard work.

I got a giant pile of printouts to work on from when I was sick and missed three days of class. I have no idea what to do with them.

I got my textbooks, too. They have zero useful information in them. I have better info in my Japanese grammar books. I think we’re using them for the readings? I don’t know. There’s a ton of information in the printouts, though.

It was a bit overwhelming for me, coming in sick and clueless. But everyone is kind and helpful, for which I am grateful.

Unmasked.

I tried to use a mask, but my classmates told me to give up on it. They didn’t care if I used it or not. So I bagged it. It was miserable, anyway. My glasses were completely fogged up, and it was difficult to breathe.

I had lunch at Domy (the nearby grocery store). At noon, everyone runs down the street there to buy something to eat. I headed to the bakery and got a sandwich and dessert. I went back to Aoi Hall on campus and bought a drink there, so I could quietly eat and feel miserable.

Then we had more classes.

The main part that sucks is that I missed those first few days to get to know my classmates. Of course, they all seem to know each other pretty well, because most of them have already been here for a while, so I’ll have to deal with that as well.

I already missed the first two days of the JBPP class due to my cold, so I have some catching up to do here as well. There are only four of us in the class, but it’ll be exciting. One of my classmates is in my main class. She’s from Singapore, and really nice.

The other two people are another American, and a guy from Malaysia, who speaks Japanese really well.

The class is team-taught by two teachers, I-sensei and M-sensei, who teach on alternate days. Today we had M-sensei, and we plunged right into introductions and keigo review.

I need lots of keigo review.

After class, I got some money out at the post office and got some food at the conbini. I’m too tired to cook. I’ve been buying a lot of conbini sandwiches. I’m not really getting the most out of my Japanese cuisine experience, am I? Oh well. Food is food, and the sandwiches are pretty cheap.

But I have a lot of scrambling to do to catch up in class.

Stupid cold.

Hospital, Part Deux.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Hospital, Part Deux.
Oct 112011
 

No post for the last few days, because I’ve been too busy trying to keep my head from exploding.

It’s hard work.

I felt a bit like death warmed up this morning, only not quite so chipper. So I called in sick again, and decided to go to the hospital next to the school because I was getting a lot of rather strong suggestions to “go get it checked out.”

I thought it was just a cliche that Japanese people went to the doctor for minor colds. Nope. They actively encourage everyone to go, even for a cold. I’m not sure where this comes from. It’s a cold. I know it’s a cold. It’s a lousy cold, but it’s just a cold. There isn’t anything that the doctor can do for me. I know that, he knows that.

But I’m still going, because there’s this strong pressure I’m feeling from all of my teachers.

Also, if I miss more than two days of class, I need some kind of doctor’s note for the absences to be officially excused, in case I want to ever get a student visa. (Not that I do, I just don’t want to close any doors inadvertently.)

So I got on my bicycle, and headed down to the hospital.

Really, I thought this was a bad idea the whole time. Bicycling, in fall, with a cold. Sounds like a lovely recipe for pneumonia.

The Okazaki Hospital Shuffle

Since I’ve already done the whole Japanese hospital thing once before, I figured I would have some advantage, and I did, kind of. The hospital here, however, doesn’t really have as much in the way of English language help, so I was really on my own. Fortunately I’ve been using a lot of Japanese lately, and I had my electronic dictionary with me, so I didn’t have too much trouble getting through the forms.

One thing that saved me was having my address written in Japanese with me. I keep that on me at all times.

Really, the most difficult part was the waiting.

And understanding what everyone was saying.

And understanding what I was supposed to do.

When they told me to go into the exam area, I thought I was supposed to go into a room, so I accidentally walked in on someone. Oops. I didn’t know I was supposed to go from sitting on bench #2 to sitting on bench #3, like I did at Westminster.

Well, I know that now.

I finally got to meet the doctor, and in a mix of so-so English and Japanese, I communicated the problem, and he communicated that I had a cold…. which I already knew.

OMG PILLS!

Then he pulled out a folder full of pictures of pills, rapidly pointed to five or six of them, summarily told me what they were, and what they would do, and sent me on my merry way in under 5 minutes.

The exam was basically taking my temperature (they do it under the arm– eww), and looking at my throat (yep, it’s a throat). That was it. Oh, and the pill pointing. Then it was just a shove out the door to wait for the real pills.

Why did I even bother? I can be sick at home and just rest and not bother with bicycling down here and sitting around more sick people.

I did get one useful thing out of this trip. I learned how to use my digital TV remote.

Huh?

Remocon!

While I was waiting to see the doctor, they had a really useful show on the TV at the hospital. It was some of the most useful TV I’ve seen in a while.

It was a show all about how to use the new digital remote controls for Japanese TV.

In Japan, there’s not only HDTV, there’s enhanced HDTV with data.

Say I’m watching NHK-G, for example. (That’s the local over-the-air NHK channel.) I want to know what the weather’s going to be like, but I can’t be bothered to walk 5 feet to my computer, I’d have to lean over to grab my cell phone, and don’t even ask me to open a window or a door.

That’s no good.

If I press the “d” button on my remote, up pops a digital TV menu surrounding the current program. (The TV program shrinks into a little box. I can still watch! Yes!)

Now, using those mystery red, green, yellow, and blue buttons you see on a lot of remotes these days, I can navigate through the menus to find the weather report, or latest earthquake news, or whatever.

If I know the Japanese for it all. Hey, that learnin’ is coming in handy!

If I hook the TV up to the Internet, I can get even more info, but that involves buying more Ethernet cables. No thanks.

I was glad to at least get this info. This will save a lot of time, and it solves the mystery of the red, green, yellow, and blue buttons I keep seeing all over the place on remotes, even in the U.S.

Bag O’Pills

Anyway, I got my sack of mystery pills, and headed home to look them up. I wanted to see what he saddled me with.

For starters, there was an antibiotic that failed to get approval in the EU, and was withdrawn from the US. Fun. Then an antihistamine and something that vaguely resembles ibuprofen, but isn’t. Then something like Axid and another stomach medicine, because all of the pills will apparently kill my stomach. And, of course, and iodine gargle.

I didn’t take any of them.

Well, I took one of the antibiotics… but stopped. It just didn’t feel right.

I don’t get the whole idea of going to the doctor when you’ve got a cold. Just stay home, rest, push fluids, push vitamin C, get some chicken soup and other hot comfort foods, gargle ice water if your throat hurts and take plenty of anti-inflammatories. That’s the advice I got from my M.D. years ago, and I can’t find anything that works any better. Eating chilled oranges works pretty well, too. Cold meds if you need them.

Antibiotics are only good if you have a real infection going on. Not a viral one, a bacterial one that’s trying to eat part of your insides. A cold is just a virus. There’s nothing you can do about it. Just take some meds to relieve the symptoms, and watch whatever goes for “The Price Is Right” here.

On the way back home, I stopped by Domy (the grocery store) to pick up a few things, most importantly, some masks, so i don’t spread my disease to my classmates tomorrow.

Orientation and Okonomiyaki in Okazaki

 Food, Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Orientation and Okonomiyaki in Okazaki
Oct 052011
 

Orientation at Yamasa started today.

We learned lots of things that don’t apply to me, because I’m on a short-term visa, and will be gone in 3 months. It’s kind of a bummer, but there you go. But there was a lot of really useful information, too, like what to do with my trash.

I’ve been hoarding trash for the last week or so, because frankly, I don’t know what to do with it.

Welcome to Japan! You Fail at Trash!

When I got first got into my apartment, I was checking all of the drawers, and in the file cabinet there was this thick brochure, and in it was this whole dissertation on how to sort trash about 800 different ways.

So I figured that’s what I had to do. I went to the nearest conbini, bought a bunch of trash bags, and went at it.

There are trash bags for all kinds of trash here. It’s mind-boggling. Each type of trash gets its own special bag. We only have the one sort of trash bag in the US, and we pick based on brand loyalty, size, application, and how much trash can it hold before exploding.

In Okazaki (I’ve been told it’s different in other places), ordinary people have to sort their trash into bags of burnable trash, paper, plastic, non-burnable trash, and PET (plastic) bottles.

But wait, you’re not done yet. That milk carton is made of paper, so you think it goes into the “paper” bag, right? Wrong! It gets cut open and flattened (after you wash it out and dry it, of course), then stacked and bundled with twine, and disposed of at the proper place. (Wherever that is.) Same goes for newspapers, glass bottles, cans, and a long list of other things you probably didn’t realize.

You think you can just hide it in the trash bag? HA! You fool! You have to write your address on all of your trash bags, and one of your neighbors (the Trash Shogun) will be checking your trash for “improper items,” and that person has the right to reject your trash.

Yes, in Japan your trash can fail to be proper trash.

And you can’t hope that they won’t see it, because the trash bags are clear. Fun, huh? Makes you think twice before throwing out a lot of stuff, doesn’t it?

So rather than try to actually throw out the trash, I panicked and just stuffed it under the sink in a lame attempt to sort it until I got orders on what to actually do with it.

After orientation, I learned something very important.

I don’t need all of those bags.

Luckily, our apartment complex just has two blue dumpsters, one marked “burnable trash,” and the other marked “nonburnable trash.” At orientation, I learned that I just have to keep two little trash bags, and I can just use any old bags I want.

I don’t even have to write my address on them.

Thank God.

Recycling Back Home

Still, I miss the way we do it Back Home. How do we do it there? Simple: most recyclables go in the blue box everyone gets. Put the blue box outside on your designated day, and a truck comes and picks it up. Usually. When they feel like it.

Vegetables and other kitchen waste can be ground up in the garbage disposal and handled as raw sewage, or you can compost it, or just toss it in the trash. Bulky stuff, like electronics and the like, needs to go to a recycling center run by the county. Hazardous stuff goes to a special center. Not a big deal.

I learned a lot of other useful stuff, too. There’s a grocery store just down the street from the school. Woot. My lunch problem is solved!

I also got a ZigZag coupon. Yay. I hope I can get some beer with it!

After orientation, I went with a group of fellow students to a local restaurant that sells okonmiyaki. It used to be the kaiten-zushi shop, I went to four years ago, I think.

It was pouring rain, so when we got there, we were soaked.

The United Nations of Japanese Language Education

Yamasa does a really good job of mixing up the student body. It’s not just a bunch of Chinese or Korean students with the odd American. There are folks from all over the world here, not just Asia.

The group that went to the restaurant was a good mix. There was a guy from Switzerland, and a woman from Israel. And of course a couple of Americans, and some folks from other places, too. I can’t remember them all, but it was a good mix of people.

Then I went home, dried off, watched some TV and went to bed. Gotta get up early for class.

Nagoya Again!

 Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Nagoya Again!
Oct 042011
 

I decided to head to Nagoya one more time today, to pick up some odds and ends.

Before leaving town, I stopped by the Post Office to take out some money. The postal ATMs are a great deal. There are no fees, other than whatever your bank charges, and there’s English support if you need it. I don’t usually need the English help, but it’s nice to have for those “not-so-proficient” days.

When I parked my bike at the massive bicycle parking lot at the station, I had a brilliant idea:
Remembering where I parked it.

I would photograph where I parked it, so I wouldn’t forget!
D3. Yep. It's in D3.

Ok, that’s kind of sad.

Anyway, I headed to the platform, and waited. While I was waiting for the train at JR Okazaki, I took a few photos:
Nagoya-Bound Platform at JR Okazaki

Nagoya-Bound Platform at JR Okazaki

Yes, I like train-related stuff. I’m not obsessive about it, but I like it. I think I like the industrial charm of it.

Around here is where you wait if you want to get in the first car.

I’m in the Front Row!

Lately, I’ve been riding in the front of the train, because I can look out through the front window. The downside is that I can’t sit down, but I do enough sitting as it is.

This time, I took some photos from the front of the train:
Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

It’s a little loud when trains pass each other. It’s also startling when I’m just dozing off in a seat like everyone else. When I see them coming, it’s not quite as surprising, but it’s still impressive, when you start thinking about the sheer mass of these things.

Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

Train ride to Nagoya from Okazaki

Aichi Prefecture, from the special limited express to Nagoya!

Wait, You Can Read This Stuff?

When I got to JR Nagoya, I decided to go to Junkudo, a book store chain a few blocks away.

But on my way out the station, I took a little detour  and wandered a bit, and found this building:

Mode Hal Isen Building in Nagoya

It had this really cool vent thing:

Mode Hal Isen Building in Nagoya-- Vent

Then I headed back towards the station:

JR Nagoya. Still Big.

And saw this:

Prada sign

Which almost made me dizzy, then I went back towards Junkudo.

I spent a good hour or so in there, looking for JLPT books, but didn’t have much luck. They have some grammar books, but nothing really overwhelming.

While I was prowling, a woman asked me in halting English, “You can read these books? They’re all in Japanese, you know.” I explained that I knew that, and could read them just fine. (Okay, I can read them just fine as long as I have a dictionary with me for the odd word. Still, I don’t see the problem  here. )

I tried very hard to be distant, but polite.

But really, if I pulled that on you in the US, you’d probably sue me. And with good reason. The question implies: 1) I’m too stupid to know where I am, 2) I’m too stupid to know the difference between Japanese and English, and 3) I’m too stupid to read Japanese.

Any way you slice it, I come out looking stupid in that woman’s eyes, and I hate that sort of thing.

After being insulted based on ill-informed stereotypes, I went back to shopping.

I bought a couple of Nagoya city guides and an Aichi Prefecture guide, so I can maybe find some fun places to go in my spare time.

It depends on how much of that I’m going to have, though.

And since they’re filled with pretty pictures, I won’t need to decipher the strange symbols plastered all over them in some mysterious language. (Here’s where I roll my eyes.)

That XL Isn’t As X Or L As You Think

I headed back to JR Nagoya, by way of the underground mall that stretches out all over the place. It’s pretty neat. I found the North Face store there, which was one of my targets for the day.

I have discovered that I’m short on shirts. I packed too little, and probably too lightly. For now, I can alternate between short and long sleeves, but the nights are already getting cooler. I want something with long sleeves now, so I don’t suffer later.

Also I just need another T-shirt, because I’m doing laundry all the time.

The guy at the store was really nice, and explained to me that unfortunately, Japan’s XL isn’t close to America’s XL. But I decided to take a chance on it anyway, because I really need an extra shirt.

What I really needed was a Japanese XXL or something like that, I guess. It’s a bit tight in the chest. I suppose I have a goal, huh?

What Do You Call a Coin Purse In Japanese?

My last objective for the day was to find a coin purse. Most red-blooded American Men would not be caught dead with such a thing. We just let coins accumulate in our pockets, then dump them in the cupholders in our cars. Generally, we don’t carry change, because it slows up the line. All that counting and counting… and then the clerk has to recount it. Agh! Just hand the clerk a twenty and be done with it!

I digress.

Unfortunately for my manly American self-image, I need a coin purse, because 100 yen and 500 yen coins exist. I can’t really shove them in my wallet, and I hate having a pound of change just floating loose in my pocket.

Most importantly, I don’t have a car, let alone a cupholder to dump it all in.

So I need a coin purse.

I started looking around Takashimaya… okay, that was a mistake. The cheapest ones were 4000 yen. That’s a lot of money for something to hold my change with. And I didn’t even like the way they felt.

So I went to Tokyu Hands.

It took me a while to find them, but I found them. I picked one in a nasty orange-yellow color, so I can find it easily, and it won’t be mistaken as someone else’s. 777 yen. Much better.

I suppose I could have used a Ziploc bag, but even for me, that would be a bit much. Also, Ziploc bags eventually tear. I wouldn’t want that to happen to my bag o’change.

One last shopping trip to the kitchen section, to purchase something to make coffee with, and a mug with the Japanese names of vegetables on it. I wanted the one with the fish kanji, but I couldn’t find it. Oh well.

Then it was back home to Okazaki for some conbini dinner before going to bed.

We have orientation tomorrow, so maybe I’ll learn how to do trash?

Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.
Oct 022011
 

It’s Sunday, a day for laundry, and for going to Nagoya again.

So, laundry.

I have this really long metal pole that hangs horizontally in the middle of my apartment, over the TV. It’s suspended from the ceiling by two other big metal poles.

Apparently this is my clothes dryer.

I come from a country renowned for its household appliances. We have machines that wash dishes, machines that dry clothes, and ovens so big you can stick a dinosaur-sized bird called a “turkey” into it.

Alas, you will find none of these mythical machines in my apartment. They’re generally scarce in this country.

Well, I have an oven, but I don’t even think I could fit a chicken in it, let alone a turkey.

If I want to see a dishwasher, I can just look down. I have two of them sprouting off of my arms.

And while my washing machine had some misleading text that implied it could also dry clothes (wouldn’t THAT be awesome?), sadly, I am left with metal pole for my drying needs.

But I bought clothes that all dry really fast, so I just let metal pole do it’s stuff while I head to Nagoya.

This time, I need some JLPT prep books for N1, and for some accessories for my Canon IXY. And, it’s a good reason to get out of the house and do some exploring!

Before I headed out, I tried to find the Kinokunia I went to four years ago near JR Nagoya. I couldn’t find it anywhere on Google Maps. I did find Maruzen.

Before I left, I took a few test photos with the IXY. Here’s my apartment’s front door, and here’s my bright green bike that I’m renting from Yamasa.

My front door (Villa 5)

The side of my apartment (Villa 5)

Isn’t this a lovely shade of green?

My green chariot

The price on the bike isn’t bad. It’s 9,000 yen for 3 months’ use. That’s around 750 yen/week, if my math is correct. Yes, I could buy a bike for that much, but what would I do with it when I was done? I would have to sell it, and that would be a royal pain in the butt.

I headed to JR Okazaki (again), and along the way, I took this photo of the rusty clock/sign thing near South Okazaki Hospital. I’m a sucker for a rusty sign.

Rusty Hospital Clock/Sign

Rusty Hospital Clock/Sign -- 2

I got on the train to Nagoya, and saw some interesting looking ads. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do while I’m here, and whenever I see stuff like this, I want to be able to record it. What better way than with the IXY? They came out a little blurry, but I wanted you to get the idea:

Train ad for Ogaki Festival

Train ad for "Refreshing Walking" tours.

Buying Camera-Related Stuff at a Camera Store, What a Surprise!

When I got to town, I headed to Bic again to buy some stuff for my camera. Mainly I was looking for a strap set of some kind. Something I can use to hang it around my neck, or maybe a wrist strap. I also wanted a nice case for it, too.

I found a strap set after some digging around, but I never really found a case I liked. I managed to find a clear plastic cover for the LCD display. I used up a bunch of points to knock the price down, then went back to the station to find out what happened to Kinokunia.

I asked at the info booth, and apparently, that location closed. Bummer. Well, there’s Maruzen. Google Maps said it’s near the Fushimi station on the Higashiyama Line.

The Nagoya subway system uses a card similar to the Suica card I use in Tokyo and here to go back and forth between Okazaki and Nagoya. Both cards work the same way– you fill them with money, then tap them at the wicket to get in/out, and it automatically deducts the proper fare.

Sadly, the Suica card won’t work on the Nagoya subway, so I had to buy a card for myself. It took a few extra minutes, because I had to give the nosy machine all kinds of info so my card could be returned to me in case I lost it. It’s kind of a pain, but it’s worth it to know I can get it back.

Google Maps Is Great, Except When It Isn’t.

Card in hand, I hopped on the Higashiyama line, got off at Fushimi, and wandered around for about 15-20 minutes before I realized that Google Maps was dead wrong. There was no Maruzen there of any kind. There were many things that weren’t Maruzen, but Maruzen was not among them.

So I went back to JR Nagoya, asked at the info booth, and they told me it was in Sakae, one stop over. Sure enough, as I walked past the Maruei department store, I could see the sign for Maruzen.

On the way, I saw this:
Sunshine Sakae Ferris Wheel

That’s pretty cool.

Google Maps was a bit of a disappointment, because I have had generally good luck with it. But that mistake cost me about an hour of wandering around and asking questions.

Maruzen

Maruzen is a nice bookseller, with solid inventory. It took me a few minutes to figure out where all of the JLPT prep books were. Oddly enough, they were in the Foreign Language section. I guess because foreigners need it more than Japanese people do? Dunno.

I picked up the new Kanzen Master N1 series. All of them. I’ll need them for the upcoming N1. Looks like it’s a bit different from the old Kanzen Master books.

I spent a lot of time just wandering around the store as well, looking for more books, just in case. But I decided to keep it to just the JLPT books for now.

Then I headed back to JR Nagoya, and back home to Okazaki.

It was an exciting afternoon, in that I had an adventure! Those are always fun.

Oh, and when I got back, my clothes were dry!

It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Nagoya.

 Food, Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Nagoya.
Oct 012011
 

It’s Saturday. No classes, and it’s beautiful outside. So I went to Nagoya to do some shopping for some much-needed necessities.

No photos on this trip, because I didn’t take my SLR with me. It was too heavy to carry around while I went shopping.

I needed to buy sheets, a wireless router, and after lugging my big digital SLR camera around Tokyo, I decided to find something small and cheap to take pictures with. My Nexus One is a good smartphone, but it’s a terrible camera.

I hopped on my bike and headed to JR Okazaki, and grabbed a train to Nagoya. That’s about 680 yen each way. Ouch. So I’ll be down ~$18 just on train fare each time I want to go to Nagoya. I wish the yen wasn’t so strong these days.

It’s Saturday, so everything was crowded.

JR Nagoya is one of my favorite places, because it’s full of all kinds of neat stores, and there are a ton of restaurants here, mostly on the 11th and 12th floors.

But I didn’t come here to eat, I came to get a router, sheets, and some kitchen supplies.

Sensory Overload

First, I got my bearings. For some reason, I always get turned around at JR Nagoya. After I figured out where I was, and where I wanted to go, I went out through the West Exit, crossed the street, and went into Bic Camera, one of my favorite electronic chain stores. (I’ve mentioned this before.)

The thing about Bic Camera is that for someone not used to it, you can experience sensory overload. There’s a crush of people trying to get in and out at the same time, there’s a guy yelling indecipherable stuff into a megaphone trying to sell you something you don’t need, there’s music playing the store’s jingle at repeated intervals, and of course, there’s electronics piled high and in your face with strange writing all over them. (Well, the level of strangeness is proportionate to how much you study, I guess.)

I love it.

Bic Camera is one of my favorite places to shop for electronics. I don’t always buy there, but I love to shop there.

The first trip is always a bit stunning, in the “hit in a head with a heavy blunt object” kind of way, but once I got over the initial shock, I was okay.

First off, I looked for a router. The salesperson steered me to the cheapest one, since I’m only going to need it for 3 months. I also grabbed a power strip, because I have so many electronics vying for limited outlet space that I thought I’ll need it.

Then I headed down into the basement, where there are row up on row of cameras to try out.

If it’s currently made in Japan and takes pictures, you’ll find it in Bic Camera’s basement. I spent a good hour or so checking them all out and agonizing over each one. I got some help (in Japanese) from the sales staff, but in the end, it was my decision.

I wound up with a cheap but not dirt-cheap Canon IXY, which is the same as the ELPH in the US. It cost around 13,000 yen. I wanted to spend a little less, but I think the IXY was a good trade-off for price/performance.

I need something I can stuff in my pocket and pull out for those “Oh, that’s unexpected. I want a shot of that!” moments, and I don’t want to have to worry about having a giant SLR to deal with for those kinds of things. The IXY isn’t the smallest or thinnest, but it’s cheap and takes pretty good pictures, and that’s all I need.

I headed back to JR Nagoya for part two of my excursion.

Oh Sheet

Now it was time to get some housewares, and the best place for that is… huh. I don’t know. So I went to Takeshimaya, a big department store chain in Japan, which has a store in JR Nagoya, and I started looking around for sheets and blankets.

I went up about eight or nine floors on the escalator to the linens department.

Yeah, it’s a big store.

Unfortunately, I found out that although I’d measured my bed, the measurements didn’t mean anything, because the numbers I kept repeating to her just didn’t seem to match anything she had in stock. She said I probably had a single, but she wasn’t sure. (Of course, I didn’t use the best measuring stick in the world. I used a sheet of paper and a calculator.)

Frankly, the other problem I was having with Takashimaya was the price. I just wanted the Japanese equivalent of a $10 Wal-Mart/Target bottom sheet, and she was pulling out some fancy stuff. I don’t mind getting it wrong on a $10 sheet, but I mind if it’s a $50 sheet. Yikes.

Knives and Forks and Spoons, Oh My!

Having failed at bedding, I took a look at the kitchen section at Takashimaya, and it was nice, but a bit ritzy for my taste as well. Since Tokyu Hands was sharing floor space with part of Takashimaya, I started nosing around there a bit.

They had the kitchen knife I wanted, but I couldn’t get any help. It was in a case, and nobody was coming by. Not even close.

I decided to come back and went up to look for sheets– oh, hey, stationery and calligraphy supplies! No, must go look for sheets.

After a bit of digging, I found a sheet that was cheap and “good enough,” then went back to the kitchen section to try again. This time, I got someone to help with a nice ceramic santoku for all-purpose cutting, and a pair of kitchen shears. When all else fails, kitchen shears can probably handle it. A true multi-tasker.

I also grabbed some stuff like a small cutting board (with happy vegetables on it), a decent pan, some chopsticks, one setting of cheap silverware– you know, the stuff you don’t really know you need until you don’t have it handy.

After all of that, I headed back home, because I was carrying a ton of stuff.

Getting it back on the train wasn’t too great, but once I got to my bike, the last bit wasn’t so bad.

Now I’m going to enjoy some Japanese TV with my conbini dinner.

Getting Used to Apartment Life

 Food, Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Getting Used to Apartment Life
Sep 302011
 

More classes today. I have a lot of gaps to fill in in my Japanese. Today I have my private lessons, then I’ll probably go to Nagoya to do some shopping. I need to get a wireless router and some kitchen supplies, as well as some sheets ASAP. Those are all top priorities.

I’m getting used to the apartment. I like it a lot. It has some nice features, which I’ll go into some other time.

Shopping List

My B-Mobile data-only SIM card ate about 100 MB of data since I got it in Tokyo, and that’s too much, too fast. I want this to last the whole time I’m here, so I need to pick up a WiFi router to slow down the data drain.

My tablet is also kind of useless without a wireless internet connection. It’s not completely useless, but it’s about half as useful. So I better get a router.

My kitchen comes with a rice cooker (but it’s tiny), a few pots and pans (the “non-stick” pan isn’t very much of one), a toaster oven, a microwave that doubles as a tiny oven, a fridge, and that’s about it for the kitchen. The rest is pretty much up to me.

So I need to go buy a few things to make my life easier for the next few months. I suppose I can just live out of the conbini… but I’d rather make an attempt at not doing that.

Pillow Talk

Something else I found out is that Japanese beds don’t have the same sizes as US beds do, so the sheets I brought don’t fit. It’s like a fat twin or a skinny double, so my US twin-size sheets are too narrow to fit this bed.

That’s something else to buy.

I brought my own pillow with me. I know I sound like an 8-year-old, but I have a favorite foam pillow. It collapses nicely and fits into a Space Bag. I also brought a blanket, so I can just “camp out” on top of the bed for now. Not a huge deal, but I kind of want a bottom sheet at the very least.

That’s it for now. Gotta jet.

Back in Okazaki!

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Back in Okazaki!
Sep 292011
 

Today I made it back to Okazaki and Yamasa again.

I got up early, and grabbed a shinkansen, the Nozomi from Tokyo to Nagoya.

I could have grabbed it in Shinagawa, which would have made more sense, but I know the way to Tokyo Station better, and I didn’t want to get lost and miss my train.

For those of you who don’t know, there are 3 kinds of shinkansen (what we Americans call “bullet trains”) that run on the Tokaido Line from Tokyo to Nagoya, and on to Osaka and points further West.

First, there’s the Kodama. It stops just about everywhere. It’s fast in that it’s faster than an ordinary train, but it’s slow, because it stops a lot. It’s handy if you live in a biggish small town, but it’s not the way to get anywhere really big in a hurry.

Next there’s the Hikari, which stops at fewer places, and is a lot faster. (And more expensive.) This is the train you take if you’re using a JR pass, or if you’re on a budget.

Then there’s the Nozomi, which is just a rocket on rails. It barely stops for anything, and I think it goes around 270-300 Km/h or so. I know that I got from Tokyo to Nagoya in about a little less than 2 hours. The downside is that it’s not cheap.

Another downside: you can’t use it for free if you’re on a JR pass.

Arriving in Nagoya, With Just Enough Time to Change Trains

I grabbed a Nozomi to Nagoya, and got there in a jiffy, then grabbed a variant of a limited express to Okazaki. That bit took about 30 minutes or so.

I was feeling adventurous, so I rode in the front of the train and watched out the front of the car. I don’t know why, but I like to do that.

It’s interesting to watch all of the hand gestures that the engineers, conductors, and construction workers use. I saw something about that on TV a while back. Apparently, it improves safety if you force your employees to confirm each action they’re supposed to take with a specific hand gesture. As long as I get there safely, I’m all for it. It doesn’t look silly if it saves lives.

I got to Okazaki at around 11:50, and got picked up with my 2 monstrous suitcases and was whisked over to the school. It’s a pretty short walk from the station if you’re not carrying 100 lbs of luggage, but add the luggage, and the distance suddenly seems much bigger.

Since everyone was at lunch, I had to wait a while. Bad timing on my part. Fortunately, there were a few people hanging around in the Customer Service department who could take care of me and get me processed. We got my room sorted out (Villa 5, yay!), and then I got a ride to my new digs.

I Get to Stay Here? Really?

As far as temporary apartments go, this one is very nice. It’s a studio-style apartment that’s been very recently built. It’s Japanese-style, but with a bed. (Thank God.) I love Japan, but I can’t handle futons. Last time I was here, I had excruciating futon-induced back spasms. Thankfully, there are some apartments here with western-style beds.

It was also built to take a magnitude 8.5 earthquake. That’s reassuring.

After a few minutes to unload and freshen up, it was back to campus for my first private lesson at 1:40, followed by a CALL seminar at 2:40. It was challenging and a fun to get back in the saddle, as it were.

By then, I was pretty much starving. I staggered over to the Mini Stop to get some food, then spent the rest of the day figuring out the apartment.

Eye Yai Yai

 Food, Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Eye Yai Yai
Sep 282011
 

I had the hotel’s breakfast again, then went straight to the front desk to take care of two things:

  1. my eyes, which now hurt like hell
  2. and finding someone who can do something about the stink in the bathroom. Seriously, what is that? It’s not me. It was like that when I got there.

A nice young woman at the desk told me to go to the JR Hospital down the street a block from the hotel, and she helped me write a short paragraph in Japanese, explaining just what the heck is wrong with my eyes.

Yeah, I know, I’m lame. But I haven’t studied medical Japanese at all. I did learn the word 眼科 がんか ganka, which means ophthalmology.

Anyway, I had to hustle, because they stopped seeing patients at 11 a.m., and it was already 10. So I rushed over there, and started working my way through the Japanese Health Care Delivery System. And it IS a system.

A Hospital Is Approaching, Please Stand Behind the Yellow Line

First things first– it is the JR Hosptial. Yes, that JR, as in Japan Rail. Well, I’ve seen stranger things, I guess. But I can’t complain. The treatment I got was first-rate, just like pretty much everything Japan Rail does. (Except maybe some of the train station bathrooms… some of those can be kind of on the icky side.)

First I had to ask around to find the non-emergency clinics. Clinics found, I got handed around by a bunch of nice women, some of whom spoke English, some of whom did not. Eventually, they found a medical translator, and she helped me get through most of the forms, and helped me get my hospital card… which had my name spelled wrong in both English *and* in Japanese. Quite a feat, but not surprising. My last name isn’t easy for native English speakers, either. They always screw it up. Can’t say I was surprised.

The translator led me to the ophthalmology clinic, then I got a number, and got down to some serious waiting. And waiting. About 40 minutes of waiting.

I finally saw an ophthalmologist who spoke near perfect English, and she told me that my eyes were inflamed. (Which I kind of knew.) She gave me some prescriptions for some medication, answered my questions, and sent me on my merry way.

Then it was off to the cashier to pay, and then to the pharmacy department to pick up my meds. And I was done.

From “I’m coming to your hospital with my sick eyes,” to “Here are your eye drops, now get out,” it took about 2 hours, and cost about 11,000 yen.

That’s pretty good, considering that it usually takes me anywhere from 7-10 days to see my eye doctor in the US. By then, my eyeballs are trying to explode in my head. Maybe they can fit me in that day, maybe they can see me next week, or the week after. It’s not a sure thing.

To be honest, I like the Japanese system of coming in early, taking a number, and seeing the doctor that way, but I don’t think it would work in the US. It would be a mess. The doctors would just get totally swamped.

Oh wait, we already have that sort of thing, it’s called the Emergency Room. But it’s ridiculously expensive.

From the Eyes to the Nose

After I got my eyes fixed, I went back to the hotel to see what was up with my room. They were cleaning it.

So I goofed off in the lobby for a while.

I went back to check, and they couldn’t fix the bathroom, so they offered another room.

Hmm. I’m leaving in the morning. Is it really worth it to move all of my crap?

Yes. Yes, it is. The bathroom smells funky. It’s as if someone has peed on the ceiling, walls, and places I don’t even know about, with a musky kind of pee that is just awful.

Yes, I will take your new room!

So I moved to a room on the 6th floor, 639, away from room 1326. (I didn’t like being on the 13th floor anyway.)

Senso-ji, I Have Returned!

After a short break, it was time to head to Asakusa, to Senso-ji, for a little photography break, and to see the Kakminarimon again, among other things.

If you want more information or to see the photos from the first trip, they’re here.

The Kaminarimon is always interesting:

Senso-ji Kaminarimon

Nakamise Dori is still busy:

Nakamise Dori

No lanterns at the Houzoumon this time:

Houzoumon

Back side of the Houzoumon:

Houzoumon

The Chouchin is still impressive, although the paint is starting to crack:

Houzoumon -- Chouchin

Chouchin supporters!

Houzoumon -- Chouchin

The Tokyo Sky Tree dominates the scenery:

Tokyo Sky Tree

Tokyo Sky Tree

Houzoumon and Sky Tree, Combine!

Houzoumon and Sky Tree

The Honden is still busy:

Senso-ji Honden

Senso-ji Honden

Heading out–Nakimise Dori:

Nakamise Dori -- On the Way Out

Kaminarimon on the way out:

Kaminarimon -- Nakamise Dori side

I like Asakusa a lot. It’s a neat neighborhood, and I really like the temple there. Granted, it’s usually choked with tourists, but it’s still fun.

I wandered around there for about an hour or so, and took all sorts of pictures. I thought about heading to the new Tokyo Sky Tree under construction, but it was too close to closing time and… to be honest, it was too much of a pain to get there.

Ameyoko

So I headed to Ueno, with no particular destination in mind, and wound up in Ameyoko-cho. (I think that’s right… could be wrong about that.)

Ameyoko-cho is in all of the guide books as someplace to see “great street life” or whatever. It’s interesting, and kind of useful, if you want to buy fish or $10 watches, or maybe a T-Shirt with some weird English on it, or maybe a random piece of luggage.

See, it’s really hard to pin down what you’d want there. It’s just stuff that people would buy if they live in Tokyo, not necessarily if they’re tourists.

“Hey, Mr. Tourist, I have a really big smelly fish for you! It just fell off of a truck! $5 okay?”

No, that just doesn’t work if you’re staying in a hotel as a tourist, you see?

Now, if you’re local, things change. “Oooo, just *how* smelly is it? Is it ‘peel the paint off the walls’ smelly, or ‘send me to the hosptial again’ smelly? Because I’m thinking sashimi if the worms aren’t too big!”

I wandered. I didn’t buy the fish, nor did buy the watches that were amazingly reduced from 10,000 yen to 1,000 yen for the next 10 minutes ONLY! What a coincidence!

Then it was back to the hotel for some dinner. But first, it was time to hit Takashimaya Times Square’s basement for dinner. Half-price basement food. Yum. Then back to the room to scarf it down.

After that, it was time for a trip to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, to check out some nighttime scenery.

Tokyo Metropolitan Building On the Way Out

The scenery is very pretty, but I forgot my circular polarizer again… doh.

The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building

I tried pressing the camera closer, but it still didn’t work:

The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building

One decent shot from pressing the lens right up against the glass, but I didn’t want to risk damaging anything (and you can still see reflections in the shot, even with the lens up against the glass!):

The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building

Then it was back to the hotel room.

Streets of Shinjuku

Tomorrow it’s off to Okazaki. I hope they have a bed for me instead of a futon plank. I never heard anything either way.

Tonkatsu, Point Cards, and Burning Eyes

 Food, Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Tonkatsu, Point Cards, and Burning Eyes
Sep 272011
 

This was my first full day in Tokyo. I started with the hotel buffet for breakfast. 1,200 yen for all you can eat, either Western or Japanese style.

Some of the Western stuff is a little odd, but it’s good enough for me. Plenty of yogurt, and a decent strawberry sauce. Other stuff was available, of course: poached eggs, “baking bread,” whatever that is, Japanese-style bacon and sausages that don’t taste like either bacon or sausages, and some good croissants and OJ.

The most important points here are that: I didn’t have to make it, and it was right there in the hotel, so I didn’t have to find a place to eat breakfast.

It’s the most important meal of the day, you know.

Point Cards

Belly filled, I headed off to Kinokuniya in Shinjuku to get my JLPT application. It wasn’t too difficult. Just ask at one of the desks and you can get an application.

I also picked up a Kinokuniya point card.

That’s one thing you should definitely do while in Japan– pick up point cards whenever you get a chance. They’re very handy. You get points for every purchase, and then you can cash them in like money. A lot of times, though, they expire at the end of the month, so be careful. Better to use them as soon as you can, especially if you’re just on a short-term visit.

You may need an address and phone number for the point card. If you decide to specify one, well, I leave that up to you.

Ginza

Application in hand, I headed off to Ginza to do some shopping. First I stopped off at Itoya, which is my favorite stationery store. It’s 8-9 stories full of interesting stuff to buy.

If they don’t have it, you don’t need it.

I was looking for the a calendar similar to the kind I picked up 4 years ago, which is a standard yearly calendar on nice paper with a traditional Japanese woodblock print on it. But after combing through the store and the annex, I had no luck. I spent an hour wandering around, because Itoya is a great place to just wander around and look.

I managed to find double-sided sticky tape. I’ll need that for my JLPT application. (To attach the photo.)

It was soon time for lunch.

Rengatei

In the US, I usually watch a show called “Tokyo Eye” that comes on TV-Japan on Saturdays, and they did a show on a Ginza eatery called Rengatei, which is famous for being either one of the first, or the first place to serve tonkatsu in Japan. (Sorry, I can’t remember which.) It’s been in business since the 1890s, if I remember correctly. I’ve been dying to try their tonkatsu, and thanks to remembering to star the place on Google Maps, today was my chance.

Their tonkatsu comes with a pile of thinly sliced cabbage, and I ordered some rice and lemonade to go with it. The sauce they have is a bit thinner than the usual tonkatsu sauce. I poured it on the side, and dipped the katsu in it, as well as the cabbage.

It was a great tonkatsu. I’ve never had anything that light and crispy. The regular is 1,300 yen, and the large is 2,000 yen.

And it’s worth it.

Kyukyodo

After that, I went to Kyukyodo, because I still hadn’t managed to find those calendars. Kyukyodo is a very nice stationery store, but it can get pretty expensive. The 3rd floor still has a nice gallery full of calligraphic art. This time there was a display of calligraphy carved into wood. There were some really interesting pieces there. I spent some time talking to the dotients in my broken Japanese.

On the second floor, they had some nice seal carving knives, and some great-looking calligraphy books, but nobody was interested in helping me, and I wasn’t interested in carrying them all over Japan, so I decided it was probably for the best.

I’ll get that stuff in Nagoya.

Marunouchi & Maruzen

I got on the subway and rode to Tokyo Station to go to Maruzen. Maruzen’s always a pain in the butt for me to find. I spent a good 10-15 minutes lost around there looking for it. I did the same thing four years ago, too.

Google Maps wasn’t much help, because once I was underground, there was no GPS signal, and one building is a lot like another. I did find it eventually. I didn’t buy anything, though. Again, the issue was the whole “Carrying books all over Japan” thing.

I inquired about the BJT, or Business Japanese Test, because I was thinking about taking it as a backup to the JLPT, but nobody there had ever heard of it, and didn’t know where to get the forms.

I suppose I can ask at Yamasa when I get there.

After that, I headed back, since my eyes were starting to hurt, and it was getting late.

As the evening went on, my eyes were really starting to hurt. I stopped by the drug store kiosk in JR Shinjuku and bought some Visine, and tried it when I got home.

Eyes On Fire

Using Visine was a big mistake. It made my eyes burn even worse.

My eyes have been hurting ever since I got off the plane, and they’ve only been getting worse. So I decided to use Skype to call my insurance company’s overseas “OMGHELP” number. They were very helpful. They told me to go to any doctor I wanted to, and they would pay the claim when I got back, so long as I filed the right paperwork, and I had a year to file the claim.

Awesome.

They even told me the papers to get from the doctor, and not to worry if the papers were all in Japanese.

If you’re ever in that kind of a bind, make sure you get the paperwork taken care of.

I spent a couple of hours trying to find one of the “recommended doctors” on their website, but it was kind of a pain in the butt. I never found any of them in Google Maps. I’ll probably just ask at the front desk in the morning.

Off to Japan! (Wait, Didn’t I Use This One Before?)

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Off to Japan! (Wait, Didn’t I Use This One Before?)
Sep 262011
 

It’s 3:30 a.m. Saturday, September 24th Sunday, September 25th. The driver is going to be here in an hour and fifteen minutes, and I’m trying to close my humongous Samsonite 29″ suitcase.

My plan was to have a giant suitcase big enough to stuff Jimmy Hoffa into, but slim enough to fit nicely behind the last row of seats on the shinkansen.

I have rolled my clothes into Space Bags, and everything looks like it should fit.

But it doesn’t.

One Bag Is the Rule, Except When Money Is Involved.

Well, everything does sort of fit, but the scale says that this bag is off the charts, and that’s bad for my wallet. (Weigh your stuff before you leave home!)

The stuff in the suitcase has the density of a neutron star. But while the suitcase itself is light, it doesn’t really handle very well. The saleslady warned me. I should have listened, but I wanted to save $80.

Cheaper is cheaper, but it’s not necessarily better.

So, change of plans.

I had to dig out my Old Reliable 26″ Samsonite, which I took to Japan the last time, tossed some Space Bags into it, and evened out the loads… and before going out the door, I have already violated my Prime Directive of Traveling: One Bag.

ONE. BAG.

It can’t be helped. I’m going to be gone for almost 3 months, and I pared the clothes down to the bare minimum.

Fall is a troublesome season. You need short- and long-sleeve shirts, and one or two really warm things, for when it finally decides to get cold.

Also, going with two bags will help avoid the overage fees for heavy luggage.

With the Dollar-Yen exchange rate at a crazy high rate of 75 yen to the dollar, I need to save every penny on this trip.

Getting Out of Town

At 4:45 a.m., my driver showed up. A nice guy from Elite Coach came by in a Town Car to whisk me away to RDU International Airport. It’s not my usual way to travel, but in this case, I think it was a good call. It put me in the right mood for the trip for the most part.

I got to RDU, and sure enough, the Jimmy Hoffa bag was over by 2 pounds, so I shifted some stuff to the other bag. Overage fixed. Hooray!

So in this case, two bags wasn’t too terrible.

The TSA check was a lot smoother than this summer. It only took about 10-15 minutes, and there was nobody swabbing my backpack to check for explosive residues this time. (Did I mention that about the London trip? They really did swab out my carry-on bag for explosive residues. Ah, Security Theater.)

I got patted down, but that was because I left a lens-cleaning cloth in one of my pockets. They were professional about it, and I was out of there quickly. There were also no hysterics about the amount of electronic equipment I was carrying, which was nice to see.

We live in the information age, so some of us carry a lot of electronics. I’m a nerd, so you can double the amount I carry compared to others. The hum of a computer is soothing to me.

Off to the lounge to wait for the American Airlines staff to show up so I could start begging. Lots of waiting. And waiting.

Finally, the guy showed up about 45 minutes before the flight, and I just about jumped him, the poor guy. But he was great about it. He got me into business class for the flight from DFW to Narita, which is all I cared about. I just wanted to be spared that 13 hours and 30 minutes of coach pain.

Right about here I started doing the “Upgrade Dance.”

Whatever You Do, Stay In Group 5.

It was time to cram into the S-80 to Dallas/Ft. Worth. The flight was full, in every meaning of the word.

Here’s an important note for folks wishing to fly American: whatever you do, don’t check in online, because then you’ll get to be in group 2.

I would hate to have more people in group 2 competing with me for space in the overhead bins, so please don’t check in online. Check in at the airport so you wind up in group 5 or 6. That’s much better.

In group 5 or 6, you’ll get on last, and have nowhere to put your luggage, while I’ll still be in group 2, and have my pick of anywhere I want to put my giant bags.

That was a public service announcement for all potential American Airlines passengers.

Joking aside, check in online before you go out the door. You’ll save yourself a headache.

I had been worried about what I was going to do on the flight from RDU to DFW, but it turns out the lady next to me had a lot to talk about, so we talked for most of the flight over. I don’t mind on a short flight like that, because I didn’t have anything I needed to do, and it took my mind off of things to just chat with someone.

Good luck to you, ma’am.

Back In Dallas, Briefly.

I got in to DFW a little early, so I had plenty of time to head to Terminal D and relax in the Admiral’s Club. (Huzzah! Free Admiral’s Club passes with every business class upgrade!) I called the folks back home, and then got myself mentally ready for the flight to Japan.

It’s a long flight.

I know that there are longer flights, but it’s still a long amount of time to be stuck in a metal tube, no matter how cozy the seats are. I lucked out– nobody sat next to me, and I had an aisle seat. So I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to. The guy on the other side of the center row was a Navy guy who had flown business before, and he showed me what I needed to know.

In a Metal Tube, Over the Water, at 540MPH

I’m in the club now!

Business class on American is nice. It’s very comfortable. I’m not just spoiled, I’m ruined.

I chose to sleep for most of the flight. I wound up listening to a marathon of “Says You!” episodes that I had bought from their website and stuffed onto my phone. It helped to pass the time.

But thirteen and a half hours is still a long time.

Business class made a HUGE difference in how I felt when I got off of the plane. Had I been in coach, I probably would have been a mess. I was in much better shape thanks to business class. Ah, if every seat in every plane was like that, I think everyone would enjoy flying again. Maybe they would even look forward to it.

Ralph Welcomes You to Japan. Over. And Over.

I arrived at Narita right around 4:30 p.m. Japan Time, and made my way to the bathroom. (Because you should go when you can.)

What music awaited me, but the sound of some poor guy in the stall next to me calling Ralph on the porcelain phone. Ralph wasn’t picking up, so he kept calling.

And calling.

日本へようこそう。

Indeed.

The great thing about Japanese public bathrooms is that the stall walls go all the way to the floor, so there’s no danger of “the hand” coming up from the stall next to you, or worse, “spillage” from the next stall over.

But still, “Ralph” next door made me uneasy. I just hoped I didn’t catch anything that would give me the urge to call Ralph as well. So I boiled my hands on the way out.

I noticed that my eyes were itchy, too. (Foreshadowing?)

Dealing With Paperwork

Here’s a tip for arriving passengers to Japan: fill out your arrival form in INK. They will make you do it over if you do it in pencil.

I learned this lesson The Hard Way.

I also learned that speaking Japanese at this point makes everything go more smoothly.

Seriously. Even my sorry Japanese helped me.

I headed to baggage claim, and I waited for about 30 minutes, while I stared at other people’s luggage. Not mine. So I went to the desk to ask where my bags were, and there they were. Well, I’ll take whatever I can get. So I loaded them up on the shopping cart thing and took them to customs. It was time to do the yakkan shoumei dance. Last time was such a pain.

I asked the customs guy what do I do with my yakkan shoumei, and he got all excited, because apparently nobody ever bothers to get one. He led me to a counter, and showed it to four or five other customs inspectors, who had probably never seen one, too, and they consulted a few binders, then said I was good to go.

I guess I’m the sort of endangered species that bothers to get the paperwork taken care of.

SIM City

I needed to go to the Softbank booth, to get a rental SIM card. The Softbank rental SIM is one of those, “It’s great so long as you never actually use it” sort of things.

It’s great for other people to call you, because incoming calls are free, but outgoing calls get expensive fast. And don’t even think about data. (Just thinking about using the data incurs a separate charge!)

This is the perfect SIM card for an old GSM dumb-phone that can’t do data, like my Motorola Razr V3X. It works like a charm, and doesn’t use data. (Rather, it can’t.)

Off to Shinjuku!

After that, I went to the station to catch the Narita Express (N’EX) to Shinjuku. I thought about taking the Keisei Skyliner, but I didn’t want to carry the bags all over Ueno Station and change trains.

A lot of people talk about taking the airport buses, and yes, they are cheaper, but they’re buses. You won’t get the amenities you get on a train (well, you may, but you may not), and more importantly, there’s traffic to reckon with.

Trains just go. If they’re not running, you have bigger problems to worry about than getting to Tokyo from Narita. Every now and then they’ll run a little late. By a little, I mean 10-20 seconds. More rarely, there will be an accident, and the train won’t come for a while. In that case, grab another train line.

But trains aren’t perfect. They come with drawbacks, especially for someone traveling with a large number of bulky bags.

There are few things more awkward than carrying huge American bags on a local train in Japan. You will get ugly looks from everyone around you.

The ugly stares will double if you commit the unpardonable sin of carrying a backpack on your back, instead of down on the floor, which is impossible with 2 suitcases, because you need both hands to hold on to them.

The N’EX goes straight to Shinjuku, and is designed for me and my American bags.

I had to wait until 6:52 for my train, so I had time to refill my Suica card, which STILL WORKED AFTER FOUR YEARS. It even had a balance of 653 yen on it.

That’s awesome.

Green Green Green

This time, I splurged and went Green Car. The difference is around 1,900 yen or so, but the seats are bigger, and I was bushed.

A woman brought a cart through the car, selling food and drinks, and I bought an onigiri and a bottle of water. I was hungry, but I only wanted to knock the edge off of my hunger. I was going to eat better when I got to Shinjuku. That was the plan, anyway.

What I did not grasp is where the trash bins are located. Call it jet-lag-induced stupidity or whatever, but they’re shown right there on the info card in the seat back. Even so, I still managed to get it wrong.

One nice bit about the N’EX is that there’s ample room for luggage storage in the front of the cars. There’s WiFi too, but I couldn’t get it to work in time… and I wasn’t that desperate.

Shinjuku!

I got to JR Shinjuku, and checked in at my hotel, the Sunroute Shinjuku, which is a really good hotel for the price. The rates run around 9,000 yen or so for a basic room, but the basic room is good enough. You get a good bed, fridge, and a decent TV channel selection. It’s not as good as some top-tier hotels, but everything is solid.

Well it usually is.

The bathroom in my room had some funky stink in it. As in bad funky.

I stopped long enough to change clothes and freshen up, then ran to the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera, right before it closed.

Second SIM

I bought a B-Mobile Fair SIM card at Yodobashi Camera, because this one gets me 1GB of data on my Nexus One for up to 4 months for ~9,000 yen or so.

The other option is a 1GB for 1 month option for 3,000 yen, but once I’m set up with WiFi, I don’t think I’ll use that much data. And if I don’t, I’ll lose whatever is left over at the end of the month, and that’s no good, either.

Both options use DoCoMo’s network, and give you fast speeds, so long as you don’t break a 300MB soft cap. Then you’ll get throttled. Or so I hear.

No matter how much data I use, when the first GB runs out, I can buy an extra 1GB for 3,000 yen, which will last for 1 month, or I can do the Fair for 4 months again for 9,000 yen. The pricing isn’t great, but I don’t need to have a visa to get it, and it’s a lot better than the rates I’d get charged if I use the Softbank rental SIM for data.

Dinner was conbini yakisoba and whatever I could find in the conbini. No time to find a restaurant tonight.

Oyasumi nasai.

I’m beat.

Through the Trip Prep Looking Glass

 Japan, Photography, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Through the Trip Prep Looking Glass
Sep 202011
 

Note: This is about stuff I did before the trip, but I’m actually writing it about 10 days into the trip, but I’m going to put this chronologically before it anyway, so that it makes sense.

Because It’s There.

Before this 3-month trip to Japan, I decided to do what I did before I came to Japan four years ago– go to Mt. Mitchell. Mt. Mitchell is about 6,700 feet high, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River in the Continental U.S.

The sign says so:
Mt. Mitchell--Sign

I don’t know why I feel this compulsion to go there, but it’s probably because I went there four years ago at just about the same time and the resulting trip was just amazing.

So before I go to Japan I went there to sort of psych myself up and put my brain into Travel 7,000 Miles Mode.

I went there sometime in mid-August.

I loved the scenery, and the mosquitoes loved me.

Have a look:

Going up to the observation platform:
Mt. Mitchell-- Woods

Another view along the way:
Mt. Mitchell-- View on the way to the observation deck

Even on cloudy days, the view here is great:
Mt. Mitchell--Views From the Observation Deck

Mt. Mitchell--Views From the Observation Deck

Mt. Mitchell--Views From the Observation Deck

This time I didn’t fall or hurt myself, so I took that as a good omen.

Getting ready for the trip was a bit hectic, since I’m going to be in Japan for around 87 days. The longest a U.S. Citizen can stay on a landing permit is 90 days, so I’m going to be cutting it kind of close. I’m writing part of this from Okazaki now, so looking back, I’d say that some things I did were smart, and others were just boneheaded.

Flying is Annoying, and Other Obvious Things

The most frustrating bit of travel preparation was getting my flight squared away. I was once again forced to deal with American Airlines.

I had agreed to finally pay the ransom for my kidnapped frequent flier miles, only to find out that I had to wait until I had been “ticketed” before I could upgrade. Then, by the time I was “ticketed,” (because apparently them charging me $2,000 isn’t enough, they had to make me wait a week) it was too late to upgrade, because all of the upgradable business seats had already been given away.

So now I have to wait until the day of my flight to go and beg and whimper for the upgrade I already have the miles for… which they already took from me once.

If You Take Medicine, You May Need This. It’s Annoying, Too.

Another thing I had to get before going to Japan was a yakkan shoumei, which is a piece of paper to show the folks at customs if you have more than 30 days’ worth of medicines to bring into Japan.

It’s a real pain in the butt to prepare this, but if you contact your local Japanese embassy, they’ll e-mail you the forms to fill out. I wound up sending about 20-30 pages worth of stuff in the end. It takes a solid 2 weeks to get one, and that’s if you FedEx your paperwork to them, and fax your application. I’ve gone over this before in my 2007 Japan trip posts.

Shipping Ahead Only Works If You’re Smart

I spent a few days getting supplies together and shipping them ahead to Yamasa. I’m grateful that they’ll let me send stuff ahead, because it’s less junk to carry. The downside is that I wound up shipping future me way too much crap.

I’m planning on taking the N1 or N2, depending on my grade on the summer N2, so I sent a bunch of JLPT prep books ahead. I also sent a bunch of general grammar books ahead, too.

I wish I hadn’t sent so many books to future me. They’re heavy and expensive, and I probably won’t use them all.

And I wound up shipping things I just don’t need, like coffee. I like coffee. I drink it. But they have perfectly good coffee here. Why did I pack 2 bricks of coffee? And cocoa? Why did I pack it? I forgot why. But I did.

Oatmeal. Okay, I love steel-cut oatmeal. When I’m in the US, I eat it every morning. I cook it in my rice cooker using the porridge setting overnight, and it comes out great. I figured that there’s no way in hell that I would find steel-cut oats in Japan, so I sent 4 pounds of it over.

Dumb. Dumbdumbdumb.

Turns out that there’s a grocery store in Nagoya that stocks Odlum’s steel-cut oats. It’s in Sakae, right next to Maruzen. Actually, it’s cheaper than shipping from the US.

Much cheaper.

Experience Is Sometimes a Good Teacher, and Sometimes Isn’t.

I thought I would need an inflatable doughnut to sit on, based on my prior experience.

Nope. Didn’t need it.

The jury is still out on the protein bars. I sent a few ahead, just in case. I’ll probably go through them, just to avoid sending them home. They were really handy last time, so I sent some ahead this time.

But generally, I shipped too much stuff ahead, and most of it was stuff I did not need, or could have easily done without. Priority Mail to Japan is cheaper than Royal Mail (what isn’t?), but it’s still expensive, and Priority Mail is the only option you have for shipping from the US to Japan. There isn’t a significantly cheaper option, unless you grab an extra suitcase.

Upsell or Really Good Advice?

Speaking of suitcases, I went on a bit of shopping trip before I left. I bought a monstrously large Samsonite suitcase, a 29-inch model that’s light as a feather, and big enough to stuff Jimmy Hoffa in (allegedly). The sales lady tried to upsell me on a model that was $80 more.

I thought she was just trying to get a good commission, but my skepticism was my downfall, because I really should have listened to her.

The more expensive model was 4 lbs. heavier, though, and I was being slightly nuts about weight and cost, so I went cheap on the suitcase.

Big mistake.

The cloth handle just couldn’t take the weight of the filled suitcase very well, and the wheels had a hard time keeping up with me.

Get a suitcase with double wheels and sturdy handles. This suitcase didn’t have double wheels, it only had single wheels, and crappy ones at that.

I went big and light because I tried to go one suitcase with it– more on that in another post.

Do I Win at Umbrella Yet?

I found a collapsible umbrella that’s big enough for me– it doesn’t suck, but it’s slightly annoying, in that you have to “reload” it to “fire” it open again. Annoying, but it’s around 55″ big (sort of golf-lite), so I stay dry enough. If you search long enough on Amazon, you can find anything.

I also picked up a tiny external Western Digital 1TB 2.5″ HDD for storing photos, movies, etc. on.

As usual, I tore through The Container Store, and bought lots of little stuff, none of which I can remember off the top of my head. I’m sure I’m using some of it, I’m just unable to remember any of it.

I bought a $6 strap handle from Staples for carrying boxes around. I’m going to have to lug boxes around at some point, so I’m going to see if it’s a solution. Not like I can fit a cart in the suitcase.

Camera!

I swapped out my EOS Rebel XSi for an EOS 60D body. All-in-all it’s a nice upgrade. I really like the 60D.

But there’s one problem with any SLR, and that is that it’s an SLR, and about as unobtrusive as a tank at a 3-year-old’s birthday party. I use it for the tourist spots, and places where I’m okay with dragging it around, but it’s a bit of a dilemma for daily use.

Denser Than a Neutron Star!

Space Bags. I bought a lot of the Travel Size. The size that’s one size smaller is really useless. Space Bags are somewhat useful, but they pose a problem– if you reduce the density of all of your clothes down to that of a neutron star, then your bags become ultra-heavy. Also, you lose all of the cushioning you get from air-filled clothes.

Useful…ish?

Other Stuff I Love to Take on the Road

Motorola Xoom Android Tablet: I loaded this up with my eBooks to the extent that I could, as well as games and other stuff. I’m so glad I have this. The battery life is still around 8-9 hours, too, so it’s generally good to have around.

Motorola Razr V3X GSM phone, unlocked. This is my workhorse travel phone for “Oh crap!” moments. This is what I use for communication when I want to make sure that I don’t accidentally get dinged for data charges, because it’s a dumb phone.

Downside: it doesn’t do Japanese texting. Just pop in the SIM and go. No software to get in the way of calling.

Nexus One: my aging smartphone buddy. Unlocked, of course. (Am I the only person who still insists on buying unlocked phones?) I packed it full of music, because the app memory is crippled at only 1 GB.

There aren’t many apps that I can port to the SD card, and I hate that. But it’s GSM and unlocked, which makes it mighty. Mainly it’s mighty for 4 apps: Google Maps (most important), GMail, Chrome, and Music.

Aging Sony VAIO laptop: 3 pounds, but still felt heavy. It’s probably the extra battery.

Adapters: I’m still looking for the ideal power adapter solution for travel. The fewer I need to carry, the better. Motorola sucks in this department. The Xoom and the V3X still have 12V plugs. I’m using my old 2007-vintage iGo laptop power adapter for my laptop, so it would work with the 2-prong power outlets in Japan. For some reason it won’t work as a USB charger anymore, though. Bummer.

Traveling is an ongoing experiment for me. I’m always tweaking some variables to see how it improves my experience.

I just wish I could get away with less crap.

Going Back to Okazaki.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Going Back to Okazaki.
Aug 162011
 

I mentioned earlier that I was dissatisfied with the way my Japanese was progressing when I took the JLPT N2 last month. After talking to Michele, I realized that I have completely neglected my spoken/written Japanese in order to prepare for the N2, which tests neither skill.

I considered my options seriously, and realized that if I want to work in Japan, just having N2 (if I pass it) isn’t enough.

I need better Japanese communication skills.

When I went to Yamasa in 2007, I got a huge boost to my language ability in just 2 weeks’ time. I’m hoping that 3 months can make for a massive turnaround. So I’ll be back in Okazaki in a few weeks’ time, soaking up as much knowledge as is humanly possible.

And trying not to use English.

I’m just a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. I want to get better!

London School of Economics (Lessons Learned from London)

 Great Britain, Photography, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on London School of Economics (Lessons Learned from London)
Jul 202011
 

Whenever I travel, I learn some new lessons about what works, and what doesn’t. Here’s my list for the London trip.

Now watch me totally over-analyze everything I packed.

The Best Camera Bag That Isn’t a Camera Bag

Camera Non-Bag: The Mountainsmith Kit Cube is very clever, and very useful. But, it comes with a couple of caveats. First, you must pad the bottom of the cube with something.

My backpack fell on the stone floor at Parliament when I was going through security, and it messed up my Zoom lens because the bottom just doesn’t have enough padding. It’s also not very rigid, which is both a blessing and curse. Rigidity would give it some more strength, but it would also lose its flexibility, which is its strong point.

So while it’s a great carrying alternative, keep in mind that it needs extra padding. I’ll probably go get some 1-inch upholstery foam or something.

There’s also an annoying leather bit that covers the adjustable cord that I immediately cut off. I have no idea why it’s there, as all it does is make it difficult to adjust the cinch for the cover.

With those caveats, the Kit Cube is awesome, because it’s compact and stealthy. It is the anti-camera bag, everything I’ve ever wanted. It fits into whatever bag you want to stuff it into, and it does so quickly and efficiently.

If you do any kind of photography, I highly recommend it… with those caveats.

Storing and Moving Money

The Eagle Creek Silk Neck Travel Pouch is really comfortable, but for the love of all that’s good, hand wash it in a sink, or put it in a mesh bag if you’re going to put it in a washing machine.

I just dumped mine in the washer, set it on hand wash, and the cord wrapped around the agitator and got ripped out. So I had to buy another one, because it happened the day before I left.

Doh.

After all of that, I only used the Neck Pouch when I was flying.

It’s too much of a pain to use for everyday stuff. It is small enough that I’ll probably use it again when I go overseas, because it was great for use on the plane.

Money Belt: Left it at home again. It’s a pain to rub my belly every time I want to buy something. Maybe I’ll get rid of it one of these days.

I used a chain wallet instead that I bought for my big Japan trip 4 years ago. It works really easily. Just loop the chain around a belt loop, and stop worrying so much. It’s big enough to handle even the most ridiculous currencies. It also looks kind of cool.

One huge mistake that I made was carrying traveler’s checks. I got ripped off on the exchange rate, and generally they’re an anachronism.

My credit union now has a special debit card that you can put a fixed amount of money on just for travel. The idea is that if it gets lost, someone can’t clear out your entire account. Sounds like an interesting idea, but I don’t know how practical it really is.

The best deal I got on currency exchange was from my credit union before I left.

The next best deal was using my debit card at an ATM. There are a ton of FOREX shops all over the place, but keep in mind that you are the source of their profits.

Protecting Electronics

I love the sleeves for laptops from Waterfield Designs. I have one for my Vaio laptop, and I picked one up for my Xoom tablet as well. I use a leather case from KeviKev.com for my Xoom, and I used the measurements from that to get a custom sleeve to fit the Xoom from Waterfield Designs.

It’s a bit on the overkill side to use a case and a sleeve for the Xoom, but I don’t want to break it.

Another great pickup from Waterfield was the sleeve case for my aging Nexus One. It has an extra pouch on the back, where I stuck an extra battery when I was flying, and my Oyster Card when I was in London. Very handy.

Dealing With Liquids

GoToobs from Humangear are awesome. They come in 3 oz (88ml) and 1.25 oz (37ml) sizes, which run for ~$8 and $5 each, or come in 3-packs.

They are a little expensive, but they are silicone, so they can take a lot of abuse, and they don’t leak. The tops have a good strong lock, too, and you can remove the tops to reveal a wide mouth that makes them easy to fill with whatever liquids you need to fill them with.

The opening they squirt through is covered by a thin layer of silicone with a + shape cut in it, to minimize leaking even further. Seriously, these guys thought this stuff through. I found them at a local luggage store, and at the Container Store.

I have used the cheaper containers before, and there’s just no comparison. You get what you pay for. Really.

The Container Store also carries legal and letter sized reinforced plastic pouches for ~$4 each that are an absolute steal. They’re waterproof enough and will hold a lot of clothes, or in my case, books, and are a heck of a lot cheaper than the Eagle Creek packing cubes.

They’re in the office supplies section of the Container Store.

I wanted those bags because I wanted to protect my books, etc. from anything that happened to rupture in my suitcase, but I can easily see using them for clothing. They won’t hold quite as much as the Eagle Creek pouches, but they’re cheap.

The Container Store also has some heavy plastic carrying bags for carrying liquids, which I used to transport my liquids, like energy drinks, GoToobs, Woolite, soaps, sunscreens, hair gels, and the like. I wanted to make sure that stuff didn’t leak out of the plastic bags they were in and get all over my books, which were in the legal sized reinforced plastic pouches.

Sounds anal? Well, yeah. But none of my stuff leaked.

Power Converters, Travel Adapters, and Charging Electronics

This was a major headache for me, because I stressed out about it a lot before I left. I really wanted to reduce the amount of crap I was carrying. I loathe carrying a bunch of adapters for my electronics.  Also, since I was going to the UK, which has funky power plugs, I needed a solution for that as well.

Brookstone makes a very good universal travel adapter that comes with two USB ports. It’s almost perfect for traveling anywhere.

I say almost, because it has this hinged cover over the US input side, and my laptop wouldn’t plug in, because the blades hit the hinged cover right at the hinge. Bad design on that part. Everything else I own plugged in just fine, but everything else I own is 2-pronged, so I have no idea if it supports 3-pronged cords. The glowing bit from the USB ports was kind of annoying at night, but I got used to it.

For my laptop, I got a plug adapter at Radio Shack. Worked just fine, but cost $20.

I bought and returned a power converter. I didn’t need 120 volt power, and the weight on those things is just nuts. Even the good ones break constantly.

Look at your electronics. If they can’t take 240 volts, just leave them at home. Most decent electronics can handle 240V, but read the label.

A $15 CyberPower retractable USB cable set from Wal-Mart was a great buy. It came with adapters that would fit micro-USB 5-pin, 8-pin, 5-pin mini B USB, and USB B– the square USB end that connects to printers and scanners. The cord got a little bit twisted over two weeks of heavy use, but it was $15. It still retracts enough for my needs, and it still works as a recharging cable.

With the USB cable, I could recharge my Nexus One without carrying the power plug for it. The plug that was Motorola-sized, however, would not charge my Motorola Razr (my backup emergency phone), because that requires 12 Volts.

Motorola is the bane of my travel existence.

My Xoom also won’t recharge over USB. It will only charge over a skinny pin plug that uses 12 volts as well. So that was 2 chargers I had to carry, plus one for my GeekPod as well. Someday I shall overcome this by replacing this stuff with stuff that uses USB to charge.

For $8, I found a USB cable with a plug on the end that allows you to plug in all kinds of phone and USB connectors to charge all kinds of phones. It doesn’t have a brand name. I got it at Intrex Computers, a local chain. I didn’t use this much, but what was great was that this gave me the microUSB plug I needed to fit into my old BatteryGeek GeekPod cable, so now I can charge my Nexus One with my GeekPod, if I need to. I can also use the Nintendo DS tip I have from the GeekPod to plug it into the USB cable so I can charge the DS with my laptop, so there you go.

All of that fits in a tiny bag, doesn’t weigh much at all, and that’s what matters the most.

Clothes, or OMG Cotton is SO Evil!

I learned some valuable clothing lessons from my long Japan trip in 2007, the most important of which is: COTTON IS EVIL. I love the feel of cotton, but it is the Devil’s work to have in my travel bag.

If I wash it in the sink and hang it up, it will not dry in one day. It may not even dry in two or three.

It does not breathe.

And Cotton shows sweat. It really shows sweat, so it makes me look gross when I’m exerting myself.

Cotton’s only saving grace is that it feels really good. Until I start hiking, carrying a load of any kind, and start sweating, of course.

And that’s what I do when I’m in travel and tourist modes.

So that’s not good enough.

For this trip, I vowed to make all of my clothing lightweight, synthetic stuff that breathes, dries quickly, doesn’t show sweat, and washes easily.

Socks: Balega. A joint North Carolina/South African operation. The socks are made of Coolmax, so they breathe, are easy to wash, and dry fast.

Boxers: Ex Officio. Best boxers ever. I bought 5 pair, because I don’t want to wash underwear every night. I washed 2 pair at a time. 1 packet of Woolite would do 2 boxers, and they dried overnight fabulously. I wear these even when I don’t travel. They’re really comfortable.

Shirts: I went with a variety from The North Face and Scott E-Vest. All were some kind of breathable nylon/Coolmax material. Some were long-sleeved for sun protection, some were short-sleeved for knocking around the room. Golf shirts from Scott E-Vest were great for looking dapper. All washed up fast, and dried overnight.

Pants: I used to use the Scott E-Vest travel cargo pants, which were linen, but they don’t make those anymore. It’s just as well, because linen pants don’t hold up to my kind of travel abuse.

I replaced them with The North Face Paramount Peak pants in 3 colors: a light khaki color, a mustard-brown color, and a dark green. All have zip-off legs for conversion into shorts, all have built-in nylon belts, so they don’t set off security scanners, and all come with one zippered side pocket, for storing those small things that like to fall out of pockets.

They also have a pair of Velcro cargo pockets, which are useful as well. The top pockets are a little too shallow for my taste, so things can fall out of them. But I’ve only ever lost one thing from them, and I found it rather quickly. I like the older version better. It has much deeper pockets.

All in all, they’re great pants. They shed stains, but not rain. If you’re caught in the rain, they will protect you for about a minute or so, then they’ll get soaked. But they dry in a hurry, so it’s not a big deal.

Jackets: I didn’t need my Polartec vest. I used my old L.L. Bean Gore-Tex jacket the most, but it’s showing its age. Newer rain jackets really are rubbish. They all feel like I’m wearing a trash bag, and for $100, that’s a rip-off. You don’t even get Gore-Tex for that. I wore my Scott E-Vest micro-suede jacket on the flight to keep warm and to carry extra stuff, but it’s not really rain gear.

I bought a $5 poncho at Dick’s Sporting Goods just in case. I never used it. It was just wasted space. I’m sure it’s useful for something, but I don’t know what.

I’ve already documented my problems in finding a decent umbrella that will also cover me properly. The drugstore umbrella is always a bad idea, although I suppose it beats being rained on, but not by much. The £15 Marks & Spencer’s umbrella was better, but it was bulky, unwieldy, and a royal pain in the butt to carry around.

I want to find a small umbrella that unfolds to a huge size. Surely someone makes such a thing.

Misc. Clothes Stuff: I wholeheartedly endorse clothespins with hanger hooks. They’re easier to carry than clothes hangers. I carry ~8 of them. Makes hanging wet clothes a breeze.

Also, it’s a lot cheaper/easier to just pour Woolite into some GoToobs than to carry around the little pouches.

Tech

Cameras: I dithered at first about taking my Canon Rebel with me, but I’m glad I did. It took great pictures.

The main lens I use is a 17-55 F2.8 EF-S lens by Canon, which is perfect for shooting with an APS-sized sensor digital Canon SLR. The Rebel has a field of view cutoff that leads to a magnification factor of about 1.6, so that gives me a 24-80mm equivalent lens. It’s not one of Canon’s L lenses, so it has a plastic body instead of a metal body, but if you take care of your gear, it shouldn’t be an issue.

The 80-200 F2.8L is monstrously heavy, and turns into a 120-320mm lens. It’s marginally useful, especially if you drop it. It weighs 5 pounds, which doesn’t sound like much until you have to carry it all over the place.

Next time I would make sure to bring a lens brush, to remove all of the glass bits right away. Would I take the big zoom again? Depends on where I’m going, and for how long.

Computers: Lighter laptops are always better. My Sony Vaio Z is old, but it weighs less than 3 pounds, which is great for carrying. Of course, buying a spare battery kind of ruins the whole purpose of getting a lighter computer, but since there weren’t any power ports on the flight, I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Just finding a Sony battery for a computer that old was a pain.

The Motorola Xoom got used a lot, because of free hotel WiFi. Irritatingly enough, even though I have accounts with my Kindle and Google Books, I could access neither from the UK. So even if I wanted something new to read, I was out of luck.

Seriously, what’s the point of having these services for travelers if they don’t follow us where we go? It’s bad engineering from where I’m sitting. I suppose we should blame the lawyers for making deals that hurt consumers.

Getting a SIM card for the Nexus One was relatively simple, and I never used up all of my data. Vodafone was cheap. Much less hassle than trying to do it in Japan.

Bose Noise-Canceling Headphones: Bought these 4 years ago. Best $300 I ever spent. Wish they were smaller.

Google Maps. Don’t Leave Home Without It.

Having Google Maps on my phone was a real lifesaver. That’s something that I’d highly recommend for any future travel– a smartphone with a good data plan and Google Maps. Android over iPhone, because the iPhone version of Google Maps pales in comparison.

I would star the places I wanted to see in the morning on my Xoom, then find them on my Nexus One as I wandered about during the day. I used the navigation feature to figure out how to get there by train.

It’s really easy.

Amazingly, stupidly easy.

I could get a walking route, a driving route, or a mass transit route to wherever I wanted to go. The mass transit routes sometimes had good timetable info, too.

Odds and Ends

Oyster Card: Order yours six weeks before you leave for London, because the mail there is slow. It’s highly useful, and will save you a bunch of money.

Heathrow Express: It’s a lot faster and easier than using the Piccadilly Line to go to Heathrow. It costs £18 if you buy the ticket at Paddington/Heathrow, but if you buy online, it’s only £16. It’s £23 if you buy a ticket on the train. (So at least buy it at the station if you can!)

It’s a nice ride, and on top of that it’s an express, so you don’t have to stop at a bazillion stations along the way. You also have a place to put your bags, and you get a seat to sit in, plus WiFi. Those are all things you don’t usually get on the Piccadilly Line.

Food is Expensive in London. Everything is Expensive in London.

London is ungodly expensive. Pounds aren’t dollars, so if you’re not careful, you can get lulled into thinking, “Oh, it’s only £10 for dinner.” That’s $17.50, buddy. Those “cheap” £10 meals can drain your wallet in a hurry. That’s why I liked Base2Stay, because I could buy grocery store food and cheap food and stick it in the fridge. I saved a few dollars that way.

Marks and Spencer’s, the Cooperative, Gregg’s, Pret-a-Manger: all have lots of sandwiches and other food for cheaper than you’ll pay in restaurants. The Cooperative has better deals than M&S, and often has deals on soft drinks. I saved 20p on Fanta Lemon Ice there, and by eating some sandwiches instead of eating at restaurants all the time, I saved some money.

I loved the porridge in a cup from Gregg’s and M&S. Just add boiling water, stir and eat. I preferred the Golden Syrup flavor. £1 per cup. Not cheap, when you consider that I can get 4 weeks’ worth of oatmeal for $6 in the US, but that was my morning luxury.

I Still Hate Audio Guides

I began to loathe audio guides in London. All they did was get in my way and gum up my gear– especially my camera. The worst offender for entangling my gear was the multimedia guide at the British Museum, which had a little plastic pen that swayed around and clattered into things constantly. I really wanted to pitch it.

The most obnoxious use of audio guides was at Westminster Abbey, where if you didn’t get one, you didn’t learn a thing. Even the map had information removed so that you had to use the audio guide. I refused to rent one out of anger. At that point, I had had it.

More Miscellany

Clear expandable file: It’s really handy for those receipts.

Mead 5-Star collapsible 3-ring notebook: It was really handy. I removed the reinforced college-ruled paper, and replaced it with plain 3-hole copier paper. It took up very little space. The rings are on the outside of the notebook to keep the form factor small, and since you can use whatever paper you want, and however much you want, it’s very flexible. I used a lot of it for JLPT studying.

Inflatable Neck Pillow: I didn’t use it. I probably should have. My neck hurt like a sore tooth on the flight back.

Royal Mail: OMGEXPENSIVE. Even postcards are outrageous to send back. I’m never using that again, and I don’t recommend it. It’s cheaper to just buy another suitcase and deal with the airlines. No, really, I’m serious. I had to send some books back, and while the people at the Royal Mail are very nice, the prices are outright robbery.

In the end, I wound up carrying more stuff than I’d like, but it wasn’t as bad as the 2007 Japan trip. Still, I had a full pack on my back, and a full bag, but a lot of it was books for studying for the JLPT.

One day, I want to be able to carry one little bag as I travel, but since I love my technology and photography, I think that day is still far off.

Good Line Karma

 Food, Great Britain, Travel  Comments Off on Good Line Karma
Jul 122011
 

Well, I’m finally back home. Long day today. I got up at 5:15 a.m. after a 2 hour nap, got the last bits of packing done, had breakfast, and got out the door at 7 a.m. Base2Stay was a lovely hotel, and I thoroughly recommend it. Check-out was a breeze.

Off to Earl’s Court, then to Paddington, and grabbed the Heathrow Express to Heathrow.

Everything was going smoothly.

That is, until I got to the American Airlines terminal.

There were two people doing security checks, and a line was starting to build. The line kept building and building, and we were all waiting and waiting… and one of the security people just up and left. The other person stared at her as she walked off, and everyone in line sighed in the way that air travelers sigh when they realize that something simple has just become something difficult. Fortunately, someone else eventually stepped up and got things moving, but by then the line was ridiculously long.

I was glad I had gotten there early and made it to the front of the line. I had good line karma today. Even so, 30 minutes’ wait just to check my passport? Can’t the people at the desk do that when they take my bags?

I was also somewhat fortunate that my bag was under 50 pounds in weight, so no extra charges.

Then it was off to the security screening, which was a lot friendlier than the TSA. There was a person there in front offering plastic baggies for people with liquids. That’s a brilliant idea. And there was a place to dispose of things that would not be allowed in security. Also nice.

There was no silly shoe dance. I got to keep my shoes on, and there was no loss of dignity, either. Just a simple bag search.

I think the TSA could learn a lot from our British friends on how to conduct a search. All of the incidents and complaints swirling around the TSA come from some crazy policies that center on a basic fallacy– that humans, who are fallible creatures, can create a perfectly secure environment. It’s just not possible. Might as well do the best we can, and put more air marshals on the planes, instead of making flying a harrowing experience. It’s bad for business.

I headed to the Admiral’s Club and relaxed for a bit, then at what I thought was the right time, headed to the gate. Unfortunately, they hadn’t fueled the plane yet, so we had to wait 20 minutes to board the plane. Argh! I could’ve stayed in the club and enjoyed its calming atmosphere, but no such luck for me.

Even after I got on the plane, we had to wait to take off. Naturally.

The flight was long, and tedious. I listened to podcasts and dozed and stared at my watch.

Getting into RDU was interesting. I got off the plane quickly, and had good line karma at the US border, so I didn’t have to wait too long, and customs was just a matter of handing in my card. I guess they don’t search your bags anymore, huh?

So that was pretty much it for my London trip. Lots of fun on the whole. I saw a lot of former US presidents, oddly enough. The JLPT didn’t go as well as I planned, but I came away with some knowledge that I hope will propel my Japanese studies forward.

London is deceptively expensive, and can lull you into spending a hell of a lot of money. Those pounds can just fly out of your wallet if you’re not careful.

As a cultural center, it’s definitely worth a visit, although some places are more interesting than others. I suppose that’s a matter of personal preference. Going in summer is a bit of a mixed bag, because you have to deal with thousands of other tourists, but the days are really long, and the weather is generally good. (Low 70s, with a little rain here and there, but nothing too bad.)

Contrary to American stereotypes (which are usually wrong anyway), the food in London is excellent. Use a service like Google Maps to check out restaurants before going to avoid bad restaurants, and be ready to just try stuff out.

Hotels are expensive in London. I think of it as opportunity cost. If I have a decent hotel that costs a few pounds more, and has an excellent location, then I can save money/time in other areas.

I’ll put my London wrap-up in another post.

You Don’t Know Where That Stick Has Been

 Food, Great Britain, Travel  Comments Off on You Don’t Know Where That Stick Has Been
Jul 112011
 

Today I managed to fit in Westminster Abbey, a visit to Grosvenor Square, a trip to Foyle’s, and dinner at Nando’s one last time.

My throat was still sort of sore. I think it’s all the air conditioning when I really don’t need it. Who needs air conditioning when it’s 70F?

The other major annoying thing today– tourists. If I had a major city, I would never let tourists in. They can be the most rude and obnoxious people sometimes.

Case in point number one. I’m standing in line at Westminster Abbey. I look up for 2 seconds, the line moves 2 feet, and 4 people cut in front of me. I’m tired at the time, so I decide not to make a scene. I mean, really, if it looks like there’s a line, and people are standing in it, even if there’s a bit of a break in it, don’t you usually ask, “Hey, are you standing in line here?” just to make sure you’re not cutting? Because cutting is just one of the lowest forms of line behavior I can think of.

But that’s not the bit that really annoyed me. What really bugged me was when nine people walked up to one of the cutters and start babbling in Dutch about how glad they were he saved them a spot in line.

Seriously? Is it me, or is that rude? I think it’s beyond rude. If you want to stand in line, then get in the back like everyone else. Don’t make your kid hold a place for you.

In this case, a father made his son stand in line for him, then brought the rest of the extended family along later, while they brought food with them. Must be nice.

Jerks.

Westminster Abbey. No Matter What I Say, You’re Still Going to Go There, Aren’t You?

Welcome to Westminster Abbey, where you can see all of the famous dead people in England, all piled in one place, and walk on top of their tombs.

It’s kind of a creepy place. I suppose it’s because the whole idea of walking over other peoples’ graves doesn’t sit well with me. The architecture is beautiful, but I can only see so many dead people before my eyes start to glaze over.

Poet’s Corner was kind of nice, in that it was a Norton Anthology of English Literature, all dead and piled in one corner. (Or I suppose the Dead Poets’ Society is more apropos?)

What I did not like was the abusive use of audio guides. If you didn’t give them £5, you weren’t going to find out anything about anything, unless you were up for some exhaustive tomb-reading.

The map’s sole purpose was to show you what buttons to press on your audio guide, and provided scant information otherwise. They already shook me down for £18 just to get in the building, so the least they could do is cough up some info about the place. It was the same feeling I got visiting any other major tourist trap.

It was a pretty building, and it was somewhat impressive, but I did not like the shakedown game.

Oh, and forget about taking any photos there.

One cool thing: they have the practice crown jewels in the museum. They look just like the real things, so you can avoid the huge line at the Tower of London and just look at the fakes. Unless you’re a jeweler, you’re not going to be able to tell the difference.

OMG. Where Is He Putting That Stick???

Here’s my gross Westminster Abbey story (skip it if you’re about to eat lunch): Before you can go into the admission office to cough up your £18, a security guard has to search your bag. He was using some sort of a drumstick or something to poke through everyone’s bags.

At the security point, there’s also a place where you’re supposed to throw out your gum. Well, security guy sees that disgusting tourists have been being disgusting tourists, and using the gum trap to throw away half-eaten sandwiches. So what does he do? He uses the stick to wad up a bunch of gum and half-eaten sandwiches and tosses them out in another trash can.

Yikes. Then he goes back to poking that same stick in everyone else’s backpacks. Double yikes. Fortunately, he had already gone through mine, but God only knows where that stick had already been.

If I can, I’m going to boil my backpack.

Westminster Abbey in a nutshell: pretty building. Lots of famous dead people, lots of obnoxious tourists, and a place that will try to shake every pound off of you.

But you’ll probably go anyway, because every guidebook says you have to, and it’s part of the “London Experience,” whatever that is.

Just tell the guy not to put that nasty stick in your bag.

Presidents!

After that, it was off to Grosvenor Square to see the new statue of Ronald Reagan, because I promised a childhood friend who is a huge Reagan fan that I’d snap a few photos for him. To find Ronnie, I got off the Tube at Bond Street, which has a neat shopping center attached to it.

From there, I went to Grosvenor Square Park, where I found a statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a monument dedicated to 9/11, but no Ronnie. I headed across the street to the US Embassy, and found Dwight Eisenhower in his General’s uniform on one corner of the embassy, and when I went to the other corner, I found president number 40, 10 feet tall and bronze.

I took my photos and headed back to the station and did a little cold-prevention shopping, just in case. Then it was off to Tottenham Court Road and Foyle’s.

Boooooks!

I’ve been wanting to go to Foyle’s for a very long time. It’s one of the great bookstores in the world. They have a huge selection of books. I spent some time just wandering around, looking at books. It was a lot of fun.

I went to their Japanese section, and to my surprise, I found books in Japanese. I wound up buying a copy of “The Little Prince” in Japanese, as well as a book on Japanese Linguistics. I headed downstairs, and bought some postcards and a couple of Whitelines notebooks.

I’m keen to give the Whitelines products a try, because I usually just use copy paper, but copy paper can make for messy work. What would be ideal would be Whitelines products made for Japanese, or at least just graph paper pages with bigger boxes.

Then it was time to head back to Earls Court. I stopped by Gregg’s one last time for tomorrow morning’s porridge, cleaned up, then headed out to Nando’s for a last dinner on the high street. I’m going to miss that delicious chicken.

On the way to Nando’s I stopped by an internet cafe and printed up my boarding pass.

Group 2. Yatta!

Greenwich Down Time

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Jul 102011
 

I woke up today feeling like the bottom of someone’s shoe. My throat was sore (probably from a combination of snoring and the A/C in the room), I had a raging headache, and my right ankle was sore, too.

So Greenwich was out.

As I get older, I realize more and more that I have to listen to my body, and when it says, “Going to Greenwich is a stupid idea today,” then I will listen to it.

So today I shut things down, slept in a bit, and rested up some. I needed to have a nice, relaxed “slow day,” where I goofed around a bit and didn’t do anything too demanding, because there’s just no way I was up for anything demanding.

My main fear is that this sore throat is a precursor to a cold. I really don’t want to fly home with a cold.

Dinner was an excellent katsudon again at Tokyo Spicy. The service is good, except when it comes to getting the check. They won’t bring it unless you ask for it. Part of me wonders if they want it to look like there are more people in there, so it attracts more customers.

Really, the food there is excellent. Don’t be turned off by the empty tables. That katsudon revived me in ways I had no idea a katsudon could.

Towering Over London

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Jul 092011
 

Today was a really busy day. I saw the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, then went to Piccadilly Circus yet again to pick up some tea at Fortnum and Mason.

After that, I had some noodles and karaage, and picked up some Japanese confections at Minamoto Kitchoan. On the way I came across the Whittard shop, but didn’t buy, and found out that Uniqlo moved.

After all that, I went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and set off for the Tate Modern, saw the Miro exhibit, saw a bunch of other cool stuff there, then walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Underground and went home.

I’m totally exhausted, but I love traveling.

See the Jewels and Kiss Your Day Goodbye

I dragged myself out of bed reasonably early to get to the Tower of London today. Going there on a Saturday is a really bad idea, by the way. It’s totally jammed with tourists, and there’s no way to get out of there in under three hours unless you just want to stand in the middle of it, look around, and just leave.

If you want to see the crown jewels, you can kiss the whole afternoon goodbye. The line was monstrously long. I skipped it.

I took Rick Steves’ advice, and bought my ticket from a gift shop outside of the tube station called Traders’ Gate.

As you leave the station, go down the stairs, and it’ll be on your right. They’ll give you a piece of paper with a pink/yellow/white copy, and you take that to the main entry gate. It works exactly like a ticket, and you avoid the huge lines for tickets. Brilliant.

Well, they still get you for £18, but at least you don’t have to line up for it.

So That’s Why My Ancestors Left

I walked in just as one of the Beefeaters’ tours was starting, so I joined it right away. The tours last 55 minutes, and are entertaining, if a bit grisly. We saw the Bloody Tower, Traitor’s Gate, the White Tower, the courtyard, and the chapel.

Then I headed for a bench and took a break. My trusty hiking shoes have been breaking down, and my feet are paying for it. The shoes themselves are fine, it’s just that the soles are no good anymore, and there’s no amount of insert trickery I can use to avoid that. So when I walk for more than a couple of hours, my feet hurt like hell. Pacing becomes vital.

I wandered around the courtyard a bit and took some pictures, then wandered to the walls, and wound up in the tower that houses the old crowns, minus the jewels. That was somewhat interesting, if a bit sad-looking to see crowns without jewels (not even fake ones) in them.

I got some good photos of downtown London (also known as The City) from the walls, headed back to the courtyard, and on to the White Tower, which is full of armor, including the Rude Armor of Henry VIII.

I love a nice armor collection, so I enjoyed the White Tower a lot. My favorite weapon was a combination mace/gun. If you run out of bullets, just bludgeon your enemies, I guess. It looked painful either way.

There was also a dragon made out of bits of armor. It was very cool.

The path through the White Tower leads you to the basement, which used to be a torture chamber, and is now a gift shop. So I guess it’s a modern-day equivalent: you squeeze into a room with a hundred tourists, all shuffling around trying to find tchochkes to commemorate their visit to the Tower. I shuffled for a few minutes, about went crazy from it all, and got the hell out. There’s not much worth buying there that you can’t buy at the main gift shop, and the main gift shop has less of an apres-torture chamber feel to it.

After that, it was on to the Bloody Tower, to see where Sir Walter Raleigh and his wife were cooped up for 13 years, and where the two princes were murdered. Such a cheerful building.

But you don’t go to the Tower of London for warm fuzzies, you go to get a good dose of history. And history here is full of people doing really nasty things to other people.

Back in the courtyard I caught the changing of the guard, and then I was pretty much done with the Tower as a whole.

Escaping from the Tower

I headed out towards the Tower Bridge, took some photos, bought some stuff at the gift shop, and headed to Piccadilly Circus for some shopping and a late lunch.

First it was off to Fortnum and Mason, famous purveyor of teas, jellies, and other things. Tea and shopping bag purchased, my mission there was over. That shopping bag will surely spark envy in the U.S. Mom will love it.

After that, I went across the road to a wagashiya, which is a place that sells Japanese confectioneries, called Minamoto Kitchoan. It was a neat place, with all kinds of authentic Japanese confectioneries, with authentic Japanese prices. I picked up an anmitsu bun (which is a bun filled with red bean paste), and some youkan, which is a kind of sweet red bean paste in a block. It goes well with green tea.

I also bought a small jellied peach-like thing. I forget what it was called, but it was delicious.

Lunch was at a place called Wasabi, which had a deal where you can get 2 items for around £5. I got karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and yakisoba (noodles in sauce that are sauteed). I wish I could have gotten more than two pieces of karaage, but that was the combo deal. The food was very good, but the floor was a bit dirty, so I wasn’t too thrilled about putting my bags down.

Then it was back on the streets, wandering around Picadilly Circus and sightseeing. I was going to stop by the UniQlo in Piccadilly, but it was closed until later this year, and I didn’t feel like going to SoHo, because it’s a pain to go to Tottenham Court Road from just about anywhere.

I decided to head home for a shower and break.

Follow the Orange Poles to the Tate… Uh, Where’d They Go?

After cleaning up, it was off to Southwark to the Tate Modern, to look at the Joan Miro exhibition, as well as some other great pieces of modern art. When you exit from Southwark Tube station, just follow the orange street lights to the Tate… well, until you run out of orange street lights, which I did at one point.

Fortunately, I had my Nexus One and Google Maps, and could figure it out. But there weren’t any signs or anything after the quaint orange light poles ran out, which is really very annoying.

The Miro exhibition was fascinating. Modern art changes so much, and to watch a modern artist change so much over his lifetime was something I haven’t had the chance to see. It was a really well-curated exhibit.

I also got a chance to look at some of the other galleries there as well. Rodin’s “The Kiss” was impressive, and I did see a couple of works by Jackson Pollock— he’s one of my favorite artists. I also saw a lot of photo montages by John Heartfield, which were fascinating. And of course a few Dalis. Dali is always fun.

There was also a photography exhibit on Afghanistan then and now, with images from the 19th century British expedition and from 2010-2011. I would not call it photojournalism, but it is an artistic expression. I don’t know. It felt forced. I’m not going to get into the politics of Afghanistan. The images were vivid, but it’s the photographer’s statement about what he feels about Afghanistan, not necessarily a reflection of reality. That’s how photography is.

I don’t know that photography ever really accurately represents reality. It just represents our perceptions of reality, since the person behind the camera frames the image, and chooses what to put in the frame, and what to leave out of the frame. So as an art exhibition, it was interesting, and I’ll just leave it at that, because I can’t judge it as a representation of reality. I’m not on the ground there, so I can’t make any statements either way.

After all of that, I headed out of the Tate, since they closed the gift shop before I could buy anything, and headed to the Millennium Bridge to cross the Thames. It was around 10 p.m., so the sun was just starting to go down.

London in summer is pretty interesting, with sunset so late in the day. I would imagine that winter is brutal, though. Sunset at 4 p.m. or so, I would guess.

I got some lovely shots of the bridge, the river, the skyline, and St. Paul’s, then it was back to the hotel to call it a night.

That was a great day, but I’m exhausted.

Jul 082011
 

I had an ambitious plan today, and got whooped by the National Gallery. That’s one tough museum to get through, even on roller skates.

I started out early enough, but made my first error when I headed out the door and down the street, having forgotten to brush my teeth.

I hate it when I do that. I doubled back, lost 15 minutes, and restarted.

On to Charing Cross, and Trafalgar Square. I took about 40 minutes to take a bunch of photos of Nelson’s Column and the other various Things to See there.

None of the photos are unique in any way, shape or form, but it’s the sort of thing I felt compelled to do anyway. After 9/11, and more recently the disasters of 3/11, I have learned to take lots of pictures of every place I visit, because you just never know.

Saying “It will always be there” is foolish. It’s obviously not true.

It’s really difficult to get a decent shot off in Trafalgar Square, because to get a decent angle, you have to move across the street, and that means waiting for the pink plumbing van to move from the stopped traffic in front of that nice looking church, or the giant double-decker bus with an ad that says “GET STUFFED!” to unblock your view (and to classy-up the photo a bit with its removal.)

I suppose if I had a tripod and a stack of neutral density filters, I could do a 10-20 minute long exposure, and make it look like everyone had disappeared, or something similarly creepy.

Then there were the times when I was trying to take a picture of something like the Olympic countdown clock, and I was patiently waiting my turn, and people just kept rudely jumping in front of me to photograph each other standing in front of it.

Honestly, I have no idea why they’d want to pose in front of it, but nevertheless it was still annoying that they kept jumping in front of me.

Photography is sometimes fraught with peril, and sometimes it’s just flat out irritating.

Art, Inconveniently Housed.

On to the National Gallery, which is full of family pictures of Jesus.

It’s a pretty building, but the layout of the place is kind of annoying. I lost 20 minutes just trying to put my bag away.

I went up the giant steps on the Trafalgar Square side, then went down 2 flights of steps to one cloakroom, only to be told there was no more room. So I had to go back up 2 flights, across the whole building, then down 2 more flights to another cloakroom to drop off my bags. Then back up 2 flights, halfway across the museum again to the Central Hall, just so I could start the tour I wanted to do in the proper order.

Sigh.

I picked up one of those audio guides again… am I the only person who gets grossed out when he thinks about using the same headphones that thousands of other people have used? It makes me shudder to even consider it.

So I yanked them out and put my own ear buds in, listened to a few descriptions, then promptly stopped using it. It just bogged me down. I really need to stop using those things.

Paintings by the Numbers

The collection at the National Gallery is really good. It’s not top three, but it’s definitely top ten. Only one Hieronymus Bosch, though. (“Christ Mocked,” if you want to know which painting.)

One of these days, I want to see a bunch of Bosch’s paintings. For someone who painted in the 15th century, his work has a great surrealistic feel to it. It reminds me of Dali’s work. Or maybe Dali reminds me of Bosch?

Note to self: Go to Madrid one of these days to see “The Garden of Earthly Delights” in the Prado.

Van Eyck’s “The Arnolfini Portrait” is a classic medieval painting at the National Gallery. It was great to see a major painting like that up close.

I also got to see Botticelli’s “Venus and Mars,” which I think is an excellent painting. I love the pensive (or maybe bemused?) look on Venus’ face.

I enjoyed the El Grecos that they had there as well. I think he could have painted a children’s birthday party and it would still have had a haunting quality to it.

That Ain’t Lemonade.

About halfway through my gallery run, I decided to have lunch. Once again, I was at the mercy of the floor plan of this building. I was in the Sainsbury Wing, which is where all of the 13th-15th century paintings are. On the 1st floor, there’s a dining hall, so I went down there to eat. I looked at the menu, and it was a sit-down, fancy food kind of place. (Oysters, meat dishes and pies sort of thing.) Definitely something that would consume many pounds and much more time than I could afford.

My only other choice was to go up a flight of stairs, go all the way across the museum, then go back down two flights of stairs to the Getty Entrance and eat at the cafe there. It was a sandwich shop kind of place. The drinks were a miss, though. The “Victorian Lemonade” was gross.

Important lesson learned: ALWAYS read labels before you buy things here. Just because it says “Lemonade” doesn’t mean it’s going to TASTE like lemonade. It was some sort of lemons mixed with ginger and sugar and “aromatic herbs,” all carbonated, served lukewarm.

Gross.

The BLT was okay, although it was a bit weird, and the chocolate chip/hazelnut cookie wasn’t bad. The important thing was that I had calories to keep going.

Art, Part Two

Back to the art grind. My feet were killing me towards the end. It’s probably time to get new shoes.

I really liked Boilly’s “A Girl at a Window.” I think it’s a print of a lost original, but I love the expression on her face and the composition. I also liked the “Portrait of Susanna Lunden” by Rubens. And of course the “Self Portrait at the Age of 64” by Rembrandt was great. I love his expression in that painting.

I loved Renoir’s “The Umbrellas,” and saw a bunch of Van Goghs, including “Sunflowers,” which is fine, but I’m not too keen on the dark yellows. I like Van Gogh’s other stuff just fine, though. Of all on display, I like his “Wheatfield with Cypress” the most.

I was really more into the 19th and 20th century paintings, but alas, that was when I had realized that I had already spent FOUR HOURS there. All of the medieval and renaissance stuff just bogged me down.

The Monets, Manets, and Seurats were all good. It’s easy to remember that Seurat was into pointilism– “Seurat knew a lot about dots.”

There was a special exhibit on Italian altarpieces, which was interesting, but looking at religious artwork is like visiting shrines in Japan. I can only see so much of it before my eyes glaze over. Since I had already seen all of the 13th-15th century paintings, the altarpieces just kind of blended into the rest of them.

Sadly, I am that shallow at times.

You can get a “60 minute tour” list of what the museum considers to be the most important pieces if you just want to hit the highlights. You can use the audio guide with it… but I wonder if you can actually do it all in 60 minutes.

Anyway, it’s useful as a reference for what the curators think is important, because there are a lot of pieces by artists most people have never heard of that clutter up the place. Not that their work isn’t important, or isn’t worth preserving, it’s just that there’s an awful lot of it, and while it’s good art, it’s not great art.

There are a few pieces on the “greats” list that I didn’t agree with. I didn’t particularly care for Constable’s, “The Hay Wain,” to be honest. It’s a pretty piece, but it didn’t particularly move me. I’ve already mentioned a few others above, like “Sunflowers.”

At 4 p.m., it was time for a mad dash to the gift shop, where I bought a bunch of very tasteful blank cards and postcards. Now I can send people cards and impose my aesthetic sense on them at the same time.

How convenient!

Back to SoHo

Then it was time to leave the National Gallery and head to SoHo to pick up my zoom lens, which was almost destroyed at Westminster the other day. I can still see the bits of glass dust trapped in there, so it’s going to have to be stripped down when I get home, but it’s good enough for now.

Tottenham Court Road station is a royal pain to get to these days, because it’s not served by the Northern Line. You can only get to it via the Central line, and that means lots of transfers. Ugh.

Anyway, after I got the lens back, I stopped by a crepe shop called Crepeaffaire and had a delicious dark Belgian chocolate crepe with whipped cream on the side. But it wasn’t cheap– that plus a cup of milk was almost £7.

Yikes. In dollars, that’s a whole meal plus dessert.

He Never Used a Meerschaum Pipe!

Then it was off to Baker Street, to see a certain Consulting Detective, or rather a certain Consulting Detective’s Gift Shop. There was no way I was going to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum, because every tour guide says that it’s a ripoff, and I refuse to pay for another ripoff museum.

But I wanted to get some Sherlockiana, because it makes for great souvenirs.

The annoying bit? Even I, who is just a casual Holmes fan, got annoyed by the constant use of a Meerschaum pipe in all of the Holmes shadow portraits. He never used a Meerschaum pipe… yet there he is in every trinket, Meerschaum in hand, or hanging out of his mouth.

So annoying.

I bought some less-annoying trinkets for the people back home, and then I finally staggered back to Earls Court. That was it for me today.

London Loves the BL.

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Jul 072011
 

It’s Thursday, and I had to move out of my double room today.

Before I did that, I started to check over my camera from my trip to Westminster yesterday, and what do I find, but the UV filter on my 80-200mm lens is smashed to bits, and it’s bent into place.

I forced out the broken glass with a pencil, and tried to shake out the bits, but only so much would come out.

I knew I had to get it to a camera repair shop stat.

Note to self: don’t forget the lens brush next time, dummy. Also, add a layer of padding to the drop-in camera case.

Getting Fixed

So it was off to Calumet in SoHo in a frog-strangler of a downpour with my crappy umbrella. They pointed me down the alley to Sangean, who told me they could fix it by tomorrow for £76.

That includes a new UV filter. While I was at Sangean, I asked them where to get a decent umbrella, because the one I got at Boots was just junk.

Here’s a tip: if you need an umbrella, NEVER buy one at a chemist’s/drugstore. It will always be a disappointment. The ones in コンビニ (conbini, Japanese for convenience store) aren’t much good, either.

The advice I got lined up with common sense: buy one at a department store at the very least.

I stopped by Calumet again and got a UV filter for the other lens. I realized that I could use one for the main lens, because I’ve been shooting with nothing on it. (I left the UV filter at home. D’oh.)

England, Land of the Umbrella

After that, it was off to Marks & Spencer’s for a decent umbrella, because it was still raining like rain Armageddon, if there was such an event. (It would make a great Hollywood movie.)

Ignoring the Hare Krishna who was trying to give me some sort of book, I headed into the store and made a beeline for the men’s department. I found a good umbrella, but it’s annoyingly big.

It’s not a cane style umbrella, but it’s at least a foot and a half long. Maybe longer. It keeps me dry, but it doesn’t really fit in my backpack. So it’s maybe 2 feet long? When I get back to the States, I’ll have to hunt down a good, compact umbrella that also expands to something BIG.

All of that fiddling around aside, I needed to do something. What to do, what to do, I’m in London, time’s a-wasting. It’s raining like hell, so it had better be indoor stuff. I know, let’s go look at the document that started it all, the Magna Carta!

“My First BL Experience”

So it was off to the British Library, up by King’s Cross. (What did you think I meant?)

It’s a neat place, but it’s a bit of a pain. I had to put everything in a locker, and to use the locker, I needed a £1 coin handy. I would get the coin back when I’m done, but troublesome things are still troublesome.

I didn’t have a coin handy, and the smallest bill on me was a £20, so I had to withdraw £10 from the ATM, then bust that into 10 £1 coins, just to use the locker.

15 minutes lost.

Bring a £1 coin with you if you’re going to the British Library!

Then it was off to look at some historical books and documents. I saw some quartos by Shakespeare, and notes from other famous authors like Milton, as well as compositions by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, and the original score for Handel’s Messiah. It was all very cool. There were also famous religious texts, including the Lindisfarne Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, and the King James Bible.

And, of course, a few copies of the Magna Carta.

What? You didn’t know? There isn’t just one copy of it. In fact, as many as 35 copies of it were made, and nobody knows which is the “original,” or if there ever really was an original, but if you go to the British Library, you can see two of them.

It’s pretty cool, if you’re into that sort of thing. You can also see the Papal bull that invalidates the original Magna Carta soon afterwards, because kings are chosen by God, and a bunch of scruffy nobles cannot put limits on God’s chosen kings.

A somewhat-watered-down version was put back in force later on.

There was also an interesting exhibit on science fiction, and even a version of the TARDIS to look at, as well as an exhibit of Mervyn Peake‘s works.

The gift shop was… a gift shop. I don’t remember buying anything there.

I Said Lunch, Not Launch!

After that, it was back to Piccadilly Circus, and the Japan Centre for lunch. It was time for pork ramen and some fried chicken, Japanese-style.

Good food, although the ambiance left a bit to be desired. There are only a couple of big picnic-table-style benches in the store, and a couple of tables outside. I probably should have eaten outside, but I didn’t have sunscreen on. (The sun was back by then, and I have two settings– pasty white and sunburned. I think someone forgot to give me some melanin when I was born.)

The ramen was served in a plastic bowl with a plastic Chinese-style spoon. Eating out of a plastic bowl only does so much for me. But like I said, the food was good, and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

Another thing– when you order noodles there, you get a LOT of choices, down to 4-5 kinds of soup to put them in.

The Museum of Vague Dissatisfaction

Then it was off to Covent Garden, and the London Transport Museum, because by this point, I am completely fresh out of ideas, and I like transportation stuff.

I’m not a full-on train nerd, but I like interesting public transport in interesting places. It’s probably because the public transport where I live is dull, and because I’ve traveled a lot, so I’ve had a chance to see all the different ways people have approached the same problem. It’s interesting.

The Underground has an antique feel to it… New York’s Subway is pretty old, too, but the Underground has that crazy architecture that flaunts its age. I really get that feeling when I pull into Earls Court, with its big glass roof. It feels like someone with muttonchops and a top hat will accost me at any moment with a “Sirrah!”

I won’t say I’m a railroad/transportation nerd… I just have an appreciation for it, and I enjoy a nice train ride… and subways fascinate me as part of the underside of cities.

Okay, I’m a bit of a nerd in that regard.

So with that in mind, it looked like the London Transport Museum would hit my strike zone.

The London Transportation Museum has a really good gift shop. You can get all kinds of cool Underground-branded stuff there.

Oh, the museum? Well, my £13 got me in to see some exhibits on… err… okay, there are some cool things there, but not £13 worth. You can look at a few 19th-century mockups of Underground carriages which were interesting, and there are a few double-decker buses through the ages that you can sit in, and even the front end of one you can pretend to drive, and all of this is probably great fun.

If you’re 11 years old, that is.

There’s also a bit of London Underground memorabilia… which was somewhat interesting. I was hoping for more, really, but they only had a few cases’ worth.

And that was pretty much it.

The main problem was that there just wasn’t a whole lot there, past the vehicles. It was okay, but not worth the outlay of funds. £13 is more than $20. Yikes.

The gift shop was pretty good. I bought lots of souvenirs for friends and family.

Would I recommend it? If you have kids and money to burn, yeah, maybe? Or if you can get free admission on one of those museum deal cards. Only on those conditions. Otherwise, skip it. (But the Underground logo ice cube tray will make an awesome gift for one of my friends…)

Covent Garden itself is a really nice part of town, with street performers and food vendors all over the place, and lots of shopping, if you’re into that sort of thing. Frankly, I wish I had spent more time wandering around Covent Garden, and skipped the museum.

There’s a lot you can learn from museums, but there’s also a lot you can learn from interacting with people.

After the museum, I had pretty much hit the wall, so I limped back to the hotel, ate some sandwiches, and called it a night.

The new room is 302. It’s a single, and much bigger than 114. (It’s hard for any room not to be bigger than 114.) The bed isn’t as good as 114, but I like having enough room for my bags. Also, the TV has a kind of weird red cast to it, but since I don’t watch much TV, it’s not a big deal.

The showers still don’t do hot water properly. I haven’t had a room yet that does hot water properly. It usually goes from too hot to too cold to lukewarm, to generally unpleasant.

I haven’t had a really good shower the whole time I’ve been here.

But I didn’t really come here for the bathing.

Pounded

 Food, Great Britain, Travel  Comments Off on Pounded
Jul 062011
 

It’s Wednesday, and I’ve crested the hill of my trip to London. Today I had to move out of room 114, a nice little room, so I spent some time throwing everything into bags.

I had also decided to send two boxes full of unneeded books home.

Using the mail turned out to be a dumb idea.

In fact, it turned out to be an expensive, horrible idea.

You would think that sending things home by mail would save a lot of money. You might even think that sending books would entitle you to a book rate.

You would be very, very wrong.

The difference between sending 9 kilos of books home by surface mail (which takes 8 weeks), and by air mail (which takes 5 days) is £80 vs £100.

Either way sucks. I need the books sooner than 8 weeks from now, and I really didn’t have the luggage room to spare anymore, so I had to take the full £100 hit. That’s $160 for the folks back home.

Thanks for nothing, Royal Mail. I heart you too.

To be fair, the lady at the Post Office was very nice, and found a way to save me a few pounds. Still, using US Mail, this would have cost about $58… okay, maybe $58 per package. I might still have gotten screwed on the deal, but I’d have money left over for a meal or two.

Traveler’s Checks Are Great, If You’re Traveling to 1986.

After that,  I learned another important lesson: traveler’s checks aren’t worth the trouble.

I went to cash in my checks at Lloyd’s TSB Bank, and took an absolute beating on the exchange rate. Sure, the current rate is in the $1.60 range, but when I got my money, I discovered that the rate I got was $1.75 per pound. And that was from one of the only banks that would take the stupid things.

The fees were hidden in the exchange rate.

I’m never doing that again. I’ll carry an ATM card and cash. I’ll use plastic. I’ll even sell some plasma.

But I will never carry traveler’s checks again.

When I used the ATM, I got hit with a 1% fee and a fixed $0.75 fee, but I got the market exchange rate. So $5.75 on $500, vs. $26.79 from the crap exchange rates using traveler’s checks.

Lesson learned.

Note to self: USE A FREAKIN’ CALCULATOR! THERE’S EVEN ONE IN YOUR PHONE!

Speaking of credit cards, good luck using them in England. I pretty much gave up on them, outside of hotels.

Of course, both of my credit cards will smack me in the head with a 3% foreign transaction fee anyway, but it’s cheaper than the $26.79 I lost on the traveler’s checks. ($15 on a theoretical $500 purchase.)

And that’s why nobody uses traveler’s checks anymore.

After handing over large sums of cash to people behind bullet-proof glass (now I know why it was bullet-proof, even at the post office), it was time to head over to another place where people generally take large sums of money from people and spend it unwisely.

Yes, Parliament.

Dropping in on Parliament

I arrived at Westminster, and joined the crush of tourists wobbling around the Palace of Westminster, looking for the visitors’ entrance. I asked a guard how to get in to see Parliament. He told me to come back in 2 hours, and I could see a session.

So I went over to the Churchill War Rooms at the Imperial War Museum, and the Winston Churchill Museum, both of which were very interesting.

There was a lot of shuffling around in the dark and listening to Winston Churchill.

I learned a lot. He liked painting, whiskey, and gambling. He was a liberal, then a conservative, a POW who escaped from South Africa, and the second honorary US Citizen since Lafayette. I even saw his US passport. He was also grouchy.

I highly recommend visiting it if you have any kind of interest in World War II, or Winston Churchill. The latter obviously helps. It’s very interesting to see how they lived while trying to run a war under constant threat of German bombing raids. It’s also interesting to get a peek into the mind of Churchill, who was a fascinating man.

Bench Press

After that, I headed back to Westminster Palace, where I began an complex ritual that consisted of varied intervals of standing in line and sitting on benches. First, I stood in line to go through security. They take your picture, print it on a paper badge, and that’s your pass. Then they scan your bags, and let you in. Then you can wander around a bit. (Just a bit, mind you.)

Of course, I also managed to drop my camera bag, when one of the straps of my backpack came undone. That was brilliant. There’s nothing like the sound of an SLR hitting flagstones. But everything looked okay. (By everything, I mean the camera body and the 17-55mm lens attached to it.)

Silly badge around my neck, I went off to Westminster Hall, which is big. Very big.

It’s also very old.

It was completed in 1099, and survived a fire in 1834. The woodwork in the ceiling is gorgeous, and well, it’s just impressive.

Enough looking around, it’s time to go stand in line to go up to the public gallery for the House of Commons!

As the line moved ever so slowly, I eventually made it to a big wooden bench, where we sat for about 15 minutes, then got whisked off upstairs to St. Stephen’s Hall, where we sat on another bench.

While we sat on the benches there, we could look at big frescoes of scenes of Famous English People doing Famous Important Things. And we repeated the process of moving from one bench to another and then another. Four benches in St. Stephen’s Hall, and then we could finally go up to the Central Lobby.

At least we got to sit, rather than standing in line.

The Central Lobby is the place where people can, well, lobby their MPs.

Yes, that’s where the term comes from.

From there, we went up the stairs to another security room, where we had to drop off our bags and cell phones.

Then it was off to the gallery, where I got to watch the emergency debate over the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Very historic, or so I’ve been told by every BBC commentator on TV in the past 48 hours.

It was interesting to see the debates… although you can’t really call it a debate when politicians all get up and say that criminal activities are bad. When journalists or anyone for that matter engages in hacking that destroys evidence, well, that’s wrong.

The sun is also hot, ice is also cold, and Jerome Bettis is still from Detroit.

On the way out, I realized that I had lost my Oyster card, with £25 still on it.

D’oh.

So I ran back up to the security station at the public gallery, and sure enough, they had already found it for me. That was awesome.

Back to Earls Court

Then it was time to buy a few souvenirs, shuffle back to the hotel, and check out the new room, number 117. It’s nice, although the mattress isn’t as nice as the one in old room. It’s a bit thin and kind of worn-out, as though it has seen a few too many chunky Americans who have worn the stuffing out of it.

But I can deal with it for one night.

On the upside, the room is nice and big, and otherwise comfortable, although, oddly enough, the smaller room had a nicer bathroom with a bigger shower and a bit nicer view. The window over the bathroom sink is a bit weird, but I’m good at adapting.

Dinner was the local Wagamama on the high street around Earls Court. Wagamama is a chain of Japanese restaurants in London. Everything on the menu comes with chicken of some sort, it seems. No pork in sight. Kind of a bummer there.

The yakisoba was good: lots of vegetables in it, plus shrimp and, of course, chicken in it, as well as some delicious crunchy fried onion bits. It was nice to sit at right in front of the second-floor window and just stare at the crowds walking by the high street.

I can understand why it’s not popular with Japanese people. Wagamama means “selfish” in Japanese, not a trait that any culture is particularly fond of. Also, the lack of pork didn’t do a lot for me, either. I like my Japanese food with some pig in it. Not a lot, but just enough to make things taste good.

After that, a trip to the Sainsbury’s for a few supplies, and back to the hotel.

I took the chance to do some laundry in the sink, and used the heated towel rack to speed up the drying.

My “No Cotton” rule has saved my bacon on this trip. It makes washing shirts, underwear, and socks in the sink a breeze. They all dry out relatively quickly, too.

Wandering Around Piccadilly Circus

 Food, Great Britain, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Wandering Around Piccadilly Circus
Jul 052011
 

My first stop today was Piccadilly Circus, where there’s a neat used Japanese book store called Adanami. It’s in an old dry cleaner’s, and when I got there, I could still see the old dry cleaner’s sign.

I got there just a little too early, because they were still closed. They open at noon, and it was still 11:45.

So I headed down the street to kill some time, and found the Vintage Magazine Store, and looked around in there. I checked out their vintage magazines in the basement. They have a nice collection, but it’s all on the expensive side. I was scouting it out for my brother-in-law, who often uses old magazines as references for his graphic design work.

Upstairs, they had an interesting selection of post cards and birthday cards, as well as movie-related novelties. I got some funny birthday cards, so it was a success.

Then I went back to Adanami to search for used Japanese books. The prices there were pretty good for the most part, but I didn’t have a whole lot of luck finding the books that I wanted. I was interested in finding some books on 国語 (sort of like Language Arts for Japanese), but didn’t find anything that struck my fancy. I did find a copy of Harry Potter. It was a bit pricey for a used copy, but it’s getting harder to find it in Japanese.

FYI– no credit card accepted there. Bring cash. They also have a karaoke box in the back, if that’s your thing.

Bulgogiiii

After that, I headed to a Korean restaurant in the neighborhood called Soju, and had a really good bulgogi lunch set meal. Bulgogi is a Korean dish of marinated beef that’s been grilled. I got some kimchi along with it, as well as some pickled mung bean sprouts and rice.

Considering how paranoid everyone is about bean sprouts and other salad ingredients in Europe these days, I ate them without really considering it. Oops.

The only downside was that the chopsticks were metal and kind of thin, so it was hard getting them to work. I’m much better at using wooden chopsticks than plastic or metal. A spoon came with the chopsticks, but there was no way I was going to wimp out and use the spoon.

Mitsukoshi and Japan Centre… Again!

After lunch, I headed back towards the station, and then towards Mitsukoshi‘s basement, where the books are. I wanted to have a good look over them before I headed out, because I can’t look over them at home. They have a really good selection on Japanese learning, even though they’re all pretty expensive. If nothing else, you can check them out and then buy online from someplace like BK1 Honto. I found a really good book on business Japanese that I haven’t seen anywhere else, so I decided to take the hit and buy it. ( £36. Ouch!)

Then it was over to Japan Centre again to look at their books and to see if they had anything else interesting, but nothing really jumped out at me.

They didn’t even have Men’s Pocky.

I headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit and to pack my books to send home tomorrow. Box wrestling, commence!

Showers? More Like a Fire Hose!

Packages packed, this evening was my first encounter with the rain in England. And rain it did, violently hard.

My Gore-Tex jacket was barely able to keep me dry, and my nylon hiking pants were getting soaked fast. So I dashed into Boots‘, and stared at umbrellas for about 15 minutes. I figured that it wouldn’t really matter which one I picked, because they would all kind of suck, so I got the most compact one for 10 pounds, and sure enough, it sucked. It barely covered my head and made sure I got completely soaked.

Then it was off to Tokyo Spicy, for a katsudon. They make an awesome katsudon.

Caution: 175 Steps.

 Great Britain, Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Caution: 175 Steps.
Jul 042011
 

The test’s over. My brain still resembles Jell-O, but it’s time to be a tourist.

So let’s start off big. How about the British Museum? Is that big enough for you?

It’s big enough for me.

I headed off to the Russell Square tube station, and encountered a sort of tube station that I haven’t encountered before. There are no escalators, just 3 giant elevators, and a spiral staircase with 175 steps and a warning that was no joke.

When my train pulled in, the access to the lifts elevators was jam-packed. It looked like it would take a while, so like a dummy, I thought, “Well, it’s only 175 steps. How bad can it be?”

Bad.

Very bad.

Remember how I said I’ve seen people make luggage mistakes before? I saw someone make a luggage mistake that looked like it could very well have been fatal– she was trying to lug a giant suitcase up these stairs.

That’s nuts.

I was having a hard time just trying to get my chunky American frame up the stairs. 175 steps… that has to be what? 12 stories? I stopped more and more frequently as I got near the top, because I was starting to see bright lights and hear the voices of what could be long-dead ancestors beckoning.

Turns out it was just the main station.

The downside of my stupid escapade on the stairs was that it took a lot out of me. That was energy and strength that I would need for my assault on the British Museum, which is no less of a monster than the stairs at Russell Square Station.

Getting There is Half the Fun

To get to the museum from the station, I cut straight across Russell Square Park, which is a lovely green area, then dodged the crazy traffic in the circle, walked down a street, turned a corner, and bam! There it was.

It’s huge.

The British Museum is not to be trifled with.

It’s free to get in (you ought to make a donation), but things like maps, guides, and audio guides all cost money. If you want an audio guide, be prepared to leave some sort of photo ID, like a driver’s license or a passport behind.

The museum is camera-friendly. Take pictures of whatever you want. Seriously, go for it. They don’t care one bit. I had fun, because most American and Japanese museums would wig out at that idea.

Here’s the rub– if you take the audio guide and you carry a camera around your neck, you are in for some suffering. I had both, and both annoyed the hell out of me. I wound up never using the guide, anyway, as everything in the museum is well-labeled.

Skip the audio guide, unless you can’t read.

The Treasures of the World–Now the Treasures of Great Britain!

First off I took a look at the treasures of Ancient Greece. They had lots of neat stuff, none of which I can remember the names of. I am a terrible and uncultured person. But it was all very impressive, and I took lots of pictures.

The bits they took from the Acropolis were very moving, as were the sculptures of the heads of the four major philosophers, and the sculpture of Alexander the Great.

Then it was off to Egypt. I was more interested in the sculptures than the mummies, to be honest. I always thought that the obsession with the display of old dead bodies to be kind of gruesome, yet that was the part of the museum that was the most jam-packed. Figures.

I think there should be a rule that any archaeologist that displays a body in a museum also has to be displayed in a museum when they die so hordes of sweaty future tourists can gawk at them.

It’s only fair.

After those two sections, my legs were starting to die off, because this museum is HUGE, and my hiking shoes are 4 years old, and on their way out. I knew I only had one more section left in me, and then I’d have to turn tail and run back.

I decided to head to the Japan section. (Hey, that’s my main interest.) It was a nice display that carries you from the Joumon period all the way to modern Japan.

By then I was totally beat, so it was time to shuffle back to Earls Court.

I went to the office supply store on the high street on the way back to the hotel to buy boxes, packing tape, and a magic marker, because I need to get rid of these books I don’t need. I don’t want to have to carry them back with me on the plane, and I want to have more room for souvenirs.

At least that’s the logic.

Not sure about dinner tonight. Nando’s again? Or maybe just more sandwiches?

JLPTeed Off

 Great Britain, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on JLPTeed Off
Jul 032011
 

Well, today was the big test. The one I traveled 3,940 miles and paid a few thousand dollars for. I honestly don’t think I did any better than I did when I took it in December.

So very frustrating.

I know my Japanese is better. I know I can speak better, and listen better, and even read better. But that test is like a game show designed to prove to contestants that “You don’t know Jack about Japanese.”

At least that’s what it felt like.

Oh, but before that, there was needless lining up outside, and waiting while each person’s ID was checked before we could even enter the building.

Then we were sent on to the appropriate testing room.

Why not just open up the building and check IDs in the rooms? I thought Americans were paranoid. They have nothing on our British cousins.

So of course the test started late. The line outside the building was huge, and moved really slowly, and as a result, people were panicked when they finally got to the room, through no fault of their own.

As for the test itself, it was awful.

The JLPT is a bad test to begin with, and now they’ve just gone and made it worse.

The grammar and reading section is horrible. You get 105 minutes, which is never enough, to do 55 grammar problems which start from easy and rapidly go to “Huh?”

Then with whatever time is left, you have to finish 20 reading questions, which is almost always impossible, unless you are the Japanese Evelyn Wood, in which case, why are you even bothering with this test? You don’t need this.

I spent a lot of time before the test working on my reading, and I never could get to the speed they want for this thing. I just can’t do it. My reading speed isn’t terrible, it’s just not at the level where I can read an editorial in 3 minutes, then answer 4 questions in another minute.

My Plan to Nail the Reading Section… or at Least Finish It in Time

My strategy was to jump straight to the reading section, and use whatever time was left on the grammar section… sort of. I skipped all of the single-question reading problems, and went straight to the one passage, 3-question problems, to maximize my chances of passing the section.

But I don’t know if it worked.

While I could understand the passages, for some reason, the words just bounced off of my brain and would not compute. And the questions just didn’t not make any sense at all. It was bad. I managed to limp through the section and finish it, but I’m not excited.

I breezed through the grammar section. It didn’t seem as bad as last time, except for the ★ problems, which this time seemed to be particularly nasty. The compound grammar problems were mean as usual. It’s hard to prepare for them, because nobody can put out a good book full of practice problems for some reason.

The compound grammar problems have answers that combine two grammar points in each answer like A&B, A&C, D&B and D&C. Pick one. Go on, hurry up. Time’s a-wastin’!

I’ve spent countless hours in my car and in my house, listening to all kinds of stuff in Japanese, and when it came to the listening section of the exam, they had managed to find two fast-talkers to play the game of “Hide the Football.”

Here’s how it works. Get the guy who always reads the fine print at the end of a radio commercial, then get the lady who also does it. Now get them to have a conversation about what they’re going to do about something. Something really vague. Now have them dither about what they’re going to do first. Are they going to walk the dog? Water the plants? Feed the bird? Or set the house on fire? Hmm… what should we do… Hey, let’s go eat pasta, then feed the bird to the dog, and set the house plants on fire! Wait, that’s not an answer, dammit!

Now give us, the test taker, about 15 seconds to figure out what one of them is going to do next. Hurry up! No, you can’t hear it again, even if in reality, when you can’t catch what someone just said, you simply ask them to repeat it, but not in JLPT-land. Nope.

Words may only be uttered once in JLPT-land! You may not ask someone to repeat what they just said, even if it’s common sense to do so, and happens a number of times every day!

For the most part, the listening section was easy… or so I think. But the way the test is designed, I’m almost positive that I didn’t score as highly as I think I did. There are 5 “problems,” each with a number of questions attached.

The hide the football questions make up one problem. Another problem is the “rapid response” section, where in 11 questions, you’ll hear someone say something, then you get 3 choices. Quick, pick the best one! You only hear them once, so hurry up!

The last problem is usually a massively long question, and it usually turns on something you hear briefly in the very beginning, and if you miss it, you are royally screwed, because it all hinges on that first bit. Might as well just fill in 4 random dots.

There’s a set up of some sort of system, like “The pet shop has 4 dogs for sale: one is big and hairy, one smells, one is little and shakes, and one sleeps all day.” Then two people will talk about how much they love coffee, and hey, if you got a dog, which one would you get? “I want a pink one.” “Really? I want an orange one.” Now, which of the 4 dogs for sale would person A buy? Which would person B buy?

Something like that.

The added sucky bit is that we don’t get results until mid-September, which is really too late to do anything about the December test, unless I take it somewhere not in the U.S., because of the time it will take for the results to get to me from the UK…

I’ll think of something. Who knows? Maybe I passed… yeah, I’m not going to go there.

I have to seriously think about my study approach. My environment is only carrying me so far, it seems, regardless of the stupidity of the test, if I was better at the language, I wouldn’t be kvetching about it.

OMG Muffins @_@

 Food, Great Britain, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on OMG Muffins @_@
Jul 022011
 

I finally discovered Gregg’s, which has awesome sandwiches, and these evil chocolate chip muffins, filled with PUDDING. Or maybe it’s some sort of chocolate pastry creme?

Either way, good God y’all, if you sold these in America, my fellow countrymen would start randomly exploding.

The sandwiches at Gregg’s remind me a bit of some of the sandwiches in Japan. They have that big, giant fluffy sweet bread you get at the Japanese bakeries. It’s good stuff. It’s not the most healthy stuff in the world, but it’s good. Add in a lemon ice Fanta (my latest obsession, which reminds me of my misspent youth in Germany), and one of those muffins, and I’m good to go.

Other than gorging myself on sandwiches, Fanta, and muffins, I pretty much stayed in the room all day and studied.

Test is tomorrow. Blech.

Crossed Up at King’s Cross

 Food, Great Britain, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Crossed Up at King’s Cross
Jul 012011
 

I met up with Michele (pronounced the men’s way, not the women’s way) from Italy today. He’s someone who also posts on the RTK forums, and is really good at Japanese. He’s in town to take the JLPT N1. We had a bit of a mess at first trying to meet up.

We agreed to meet at Kings Cross/Saint Pancras, since that’s the neighborhood where the test is going to take place on Sunday. What neither one of us realized was that there are two national railway stations there: one is called King’s Cross, and one is called Saint Pancras. (Hence the “/” in the name.)

So when I asked him where he was, he said he was in front of the Starbuck’s in the station. That’s odd, I didn’t see a Starbuck’s. But I did see a Burger King. Well, he didn’t see a Burger King at all. So I moved to the wicket in front of platform 2, and he agreed to move in that general direction, thinking that maybe we were just on different floors. We even tried waving. After 10 minutes or so, we finally broke down and started asking around for ideas. Then we found out why we couldn’t see each other.

No, we weren’t in parallel universes, although that would have been far more interesting.

He was in Saint Pancras railway station, and I was in King’s Cross railway station. One is right next to the other.

See? Parallel universes would have been more interesting!

Mitsukoshi and Japan Centre

After finally meeting up, we headed over to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) campus of the University of London at Vernon Rise, where Sunday’s test will be. It wasn’t too hard to find.

Then it was off to Piccadilly Circus and Mitsukoshi for lunch. Yes, that’s the same Mitsukoshi that’s a famous department store chain in Japan.

Mitsukoshi has a nice restaurant. The food presentation is very attractive, and very standard Japanese. I get the feeling that the intention is to make Japanese tourists feel like they’re “home,” more than it is to bring a taste of Japan to London.

I had the steamed vegetable and sashimi set meal for £14, and that was one of the cheaper ones. It was very good, but not cheap.

After lunch, we did some browsing around Mitsukoshi’s book shop. What’s interesting about Mitsukoshi is that they don’t really sell a lot of “Japanese stuff,” instead they sell a ton of English souvenirs to Japanese tourists.

Again, it’s the whole, “Hey, if you’re Japanese, then this is a store that caters to you” vibe. It was kind of disappointing, really. They had a good book store, but the prices were hideous. It was yet another case of, “Don’t you mean dollars instead of pounds?” A lot of cheap books, 1800 yen books, were going for £35.

Yikes.

After being scared away by the expensive books, we headed over to the Japan Centre, to look at their smaller selection of books. Japan Centre is neat, because they actually have Japanese products.

The downside, again, are some crazy high prices. Also, their book selection is much smaller than Mitsukoshi’s, and the prices aren’t much better.

The upside of Japan Centre is that it has a lot of Japanese products, like food and other things. It also has a restaurant that I’ll have to try later.

We looked around a bit more, and then headed back to the Piccadilly Circus tube station, and called it a day.

I headed back to the room, crashed for a bit, studied some, then headed off to Nando’s, a Portugese-style chicken chain. That’s some good chicken. The store is a little chaotic, but the chicken is tasty. It’s in some kind of sauce, but it’s delicious. The downside is that it’s not too cheap. £9 ($14?) for a meal.

Welcome to London. Empty your wallets, please.

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