Sunday, January 20, 2008
Soaking in the culture
Aside from getting the flu for about 5 days, I've still managed to do a few things since my last post. Sensoji Temple was a day well spent. We were not the group that decided to visit this temple. The streets were packed with people headed to make a prayer or to buy some of the shopkeepers' wares. Here's some pictures from that trip. The guy with the golden hat stood still until I got a couple photos that I liked; what a nice guy!
Finally, a picture with me in it. I think this is the first picture that actually places me in Tokyo. I suppose I could have been faking my whole trip through google images. Here's a few shots from the day that I picked up my new bike. We went to Roppongi to get bikes at the store called Don Quixote. On the way I saw the strange 3-d armor building and at the entrance to the store was a 
fish tank with this giant fish.
Yesterday, we went to a Sumo Tournament in Ryokogu. This was pretty amazing. Sumo is a great example of Japanese tradition. The tournament didn't have any fancy announcers or jumbotrons to display the matches. Instead, we were in a big stadium where the wrestlers simply had a shoving match until one of the wrestlers touched the ground with something other than his feet or went out of bounds. There's a great deal ritual that goes into a sumo match: high leg kicks, salt throwing, stretching for the judges, and the like. We watched for about 4 hours and got to see the final bout, which turned out to be the best one - it lasted about 18 seconds.
During one of the matches a wrestler's wrap was coming undone so the ref stopped the match. But the wrestlers had to remain in position while the ref retied the wrestlers wrap. there is a picture here of that here. I even managed to pose as a Sumo wrestler in the cut-out (not really good lighting, but funny none the less).
During one of the matches a wrestler's wrap was coming undone so the ref stopped the match. But the wrestlers had to remain in position while the ref retied the wrestlers wrap. there is a picture here of that here. I even managed to pose as a Sumo wrestler in the cut-out (not really good lighting, but funny none the less).
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Still getting our bearings (thank you GPS)
The train shot here taken on our way to Shibuya does not depict a very busy time of day...this is normal mid-day traffic on the trains. I'll have to head back to Shibuya soon, so I can get some pictures of the crossing. I have to time it out 
right to get maximum chaos. But we (my friend Nick and I) went to Shibuya yesterday to try and get phones. On Saturdays, Tanaka-San (Mr. Tanaka) works at AU, the phone dealership. He's the only one who speaks English. Trust me, getting a phone would be near impossible without some help in the language department. Tanaka-San set us up right. I got a sweet Casio Exilim phone. It has a 5.1 mega pixel camera with movie capability. My package is a bit different than one would find in the states. I only get 25min of talk time, but I get unlimited text on a scaled pricing system. My bill can be as little as $30 a month and at most $65. It has GPS loaded to it, which only costs 200 yen (less than $2) per month. The beauty here is that 
now my friends and I can bike everywhere and anywhere in Tokyo and never get lost (the train stations that we loaded encompass the city, and my home is loaded too). One catch, the GPS system and menus are all in Kanji (Japanese character set). So, Tanaka-San was kind enough to pre-load all the places we want to be able to get to in Tokyo and also taught us to use the GPS - he will definitely be getting a customary thank you gift. We memorized about 20 steps and we're in business. The GPS even does 3-D (above), and I can watch my digital self walk down the streets. After getting phones it was time to get some good eats...so we found a restaurant, chose from life-like 
samples, matched up the letters, and got our grub on for about 500 yen (less than $5). On the way to lunch we saw one of Tokyo's most famous faces - he is nearly everywhere: Tommy Lee Jones. That's right, he's selling a coffee drink. I'm not sure Tommy Lee could sell anything in the U.S.
No picture for this story, but it's pretty interesting nonetheless. It poured rain all day yesterday - just like in Seattle (Tokyo's weather is about the same as Seattle). Being a good Seatte-ite, I ignored the complimentary bumber in my house and wore my gore-tex coat. Once getting outside, I noticed that everyone in Tokyo is carrying an umbrella. And when we arrived in Shibuya and went to a store, we felt a little embarrassed. Everyone else was putting their umbrella into this "auto-plastic wrapping" device: (1) insert umbrella; (2) twist; (3) pull out, and voila your umbrella will not drip in the store. Notably, no one gave us dirty looks about our dripping coat. On the contrary, they smiled, said good day, and asked if they could help us with anything -very accommodating people and extraordinarily kind. Next point of business is to get a bike. Everyone in Minato-ku, where I live, has a bike (the bicycle picture here is a pretty common scene on the street.
right to get maximum chaos. But we (my friend Nick and I) went to Shibuya yesterday to try and get phones. On Saturdays, Tanaka-San (Mr. Tanaka) works at AU, the phone dealership. He's the only one who speaks English. Trust me, getting a phone would be near impossible without some help in the language department. Tanaka-San set us up right. I got a sweet Casio Exilim phone. It has a 5.1 mega pixel camera with movie capability. My package is a bit different than one would find in the states. I only get 25min of talk time, but I get unlimited text on a scaled pricing system. My bill can be as little as $30 a month and at most $65. It has GPS loaded to it, which only costs 200 yen (less than $2) per month. The beauty here is that 
now my friends and I can bike everywhere and anywhere in Tokyo and never get lost (the train stations that we loaded encompass the city, and my home is loaded too). One catch, the GPS system and menus are all in Kanji (Japanese character set). So, Tanaka-San was kind enough to pre-load all the places we want to be able to get to in Tokyo and also taught us to use the GPS - he will definitely be getting a customary thank you gift. We memorized about 20 steps and we're in business. The GPS even does 3-D (above), and I can watch my digital self walk down the streets. After getting phones it was time to get some good eats...so we found a restaurant, chose from life-like 
samples, matched up the letters, and got our grub on for about 500 yen (less than $5). On the way to lunch we saw one of Tokyo's most famous faces - he is nearly everywhere: Tommy Lee Jones. That's right, he's selling a coffee drink. I'm not sure Tommy Lee could sell anything in the U.S.
No picture for this story, but it's pretty interesting nonetheless. It poured rain all day yesterday - just like in Seattle (Tokyo's weather is about the same as Seattle). Being a good Seatte-ite, I ignored the complimentary bumber in my house and wore my gore-tex coat. Once getting outside, I noticed that everyone in Tokyo is carrying an umbrella. And when we arrived in Shibuya and went to a store, we felt a little embarrassed. Everyone else was putting their umbrella into this "auto-plastic wrapping" device: (1) insert umbrella; (2) twist; (3) pull out, and voila your umbrella will not drip in the store. Notably, no one gave us dirty looks about our dripping coat. On the contrary, they smiled, said good day, and asked if they could help us with anything -very accommodating people and extraordinarily kind. Next point of business is to get a bike. Everyone in Minato-ku, where I live, has a bike (the bicycle picture here is a pretty common scene on the street.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tokyo - First Impressions
Last night we went to Karaoke (sorry, no pictures) where I reinforced the cold hard truth that I cannot sing. But I did find out I'm some what skilled on the Tambourine. Unlike the states where we sing Karaoke at a bar in front of complete strangers, here people rent a private room. Other than that it's about the same: a bunch of people having a great time butchering songs from the eighties and nineties.
Today, we went to the local state building to register as aliens and get health insurance. In Tokyo each area is considered a "Ward." All foreigners are required to apply for an alien registration card. All citizens and registered aliens are also required to get health insurance. Basically, I will pay a monthly premium (student discount available) and may then visit any doctor for non "luxurious" services at a cost of 30% of the total fee. One thing I noted at the state building is that it provides a really nice crib for parents to lay their infants in while they take care of business - always thinking the Japanese (more on that in "notable items," below).
On our way to the state building, we passed by a temple during services (left). From the sidewalk where I snapped this photo, we could hear the gong(s) and smell the incense. Aside from a few locations, it is free to visit the temples and anyone may take part in services. I'm looking forward to that (blog foreshadowing).
Slot Machine Lunches: As you can see, none of the machine's buttons have any English. for lunch we put our money in the machine to the left and hoped for the best. This vending machine spits out a ticket that one gives to the waitress. Two minutes later a fresh surprise was served. I ended up with a rice bowl, some
crispy fried bits, and a bowl of soup that had udon noodles and some meat and veggies. The dish was actually very tasty and quite large, 550 yen (around $5). Although I'm probably going to end up with many culinary surprises, this system ironically cuts down on the language barriers of ordering food.
Notable items: (a) the toilet seats in office buildings are heated (with control devices to adjust settings - no English); (b) whenever one is sick, it is polite to walk around town with a dust mask; and (c) cabs have automatic hands-free doors that open for you.
Today, we went to the local state building to register as aliens and get health insurance. In Tokyo each area is considered a "Ward." All foreigners are required to apply for an alien registration card. All citizens and registered aliens are also required to get health insurance. Basically, I will pay a monthly premium (student discount available) and may then visit any doctor for non "luxurious" services at a cost of 30% of the total fee. One thing I noted at the state building is that it provides a really nice crib for parents to lay their infants in while they take care of business - always thinking the Japanese (more on that in "notable items," below).
On our way to the state building, we passed by a temple during services (left). From the sidewalk where I snapped this photo, we could hear the gong(s) and smell the incense. Aside from a few locations, it is free to visit the temples and anyone may take part in services. I'm looking forward to that (blog foreshadowing).
Slot Machine Lunches: As you can see, none of the machine's buttons have any English. for lunch we put our money in the machine to the left and hoped for the best. This vending machine spits out a ticket that one gives to the waitress. Two minutes later a fresh surprise was served. I ended up with a rice bowl, some
crispy fried bits, and a bowl of soup that had udon noodles and some meat and veggies. The dish was actually very tasty and quite large, 550 yen (around $5). Although I'm probably going to end up with many culinary surprises, this system ironically cuts down on the language barriers of ordering food.Notable items: (a) the toilet seats in office buildings are heated (with control devices to adjust settings - no English); (b) whenever one is sick, it is polite to walk around town with a dust mask; and (c) cabs have automatic hands-free doors that open for you.
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