I had a thought today and I think I actually followed it through to the conclusion.
If everyone rides bikes here so much why aren't their calves ridiculous?
So I used a little reasoning and add a pinch of personal experience with my bike I got here and came up with what I think is the answer: Gear ratios.
Gear ratios here are crazy low. So you're basically just spinning continuously. It makes sense that they use such low gearing for a lot of reasons. Most bikes are used to transport all sorts of stuff. There are all kinds of child seats, baskets, bags, etc and when you're carrying all that extra weight, you want a lower gearing so that you can actually pedal.
A corollary of this low gearing is less resistance while pedaling. This is what keeps you from developing Jan Ulrich legs. It's also better for your knees to pedal at higher RPMs and lower resistance.
I saw some fixed gears in a store this weekend and man were they expensive. The store also sold all the parts you would need for a conversion. All you would need to do is find a bike with horizontal drop outs and you'd be set. If I had been coming for a longer time, I most definitely would have brought at least one of my bikes with me. Probably just one, because I would probably want to keep it in my room and not leave it outside all the time.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Passion
While wearing my black Passion shirt yesterday, my friend Laura and I were stopped by some Christian "missionaries" here in Tokyo. We had seen some American girls earlier in the day, who had asked us if we wanted to practice our English. We told them our English was fine and continued walking. They had been nice enough and had been holding signs that said, in Japanese, free English practice.
I figured that it was probably a decent enough way to meet people and learn some Japanese as well and that's why these girls were holding these signs.
Fast forward an hour or so and we walk past another group of kids holding these same signs. We walk past them completely and then one of them calls out "Are you Christians?". So then we're sort of reeled into a conversation with these kids. I reply automatically that "Yes we are," because it saves you so much time and effort talking with people like that to just agree with whatever they say.
She had guessed we were Christian because she saw my Passion shirt and once she read the back "This is our salvation" she was sure we were.
She then proceeded to ask if I had heard of the Passion movement, to which I just said I had to speed things along. Laura didn't realize to just agree with everything, and said no. So we got to hear about this big organization of Christians in the US, etc.
We then learned that this girl had been in Japan for a year helping with the Christian churches in Tokyo. She described her work as "Hanging out, talking to people about Jesus." She was maybe 18 or so. There were two other kids with her that must have just been on some type of missionary trip, because they were staying in hostels and looked like they were about 13.
We finally snaked our way out of the conversation without too much effort and walked away. It was only afterwards that I remembered the best way to get out of talking to Christians is to tell them you're Catholic.
I had tried to explain to the girl that Passion was a band I was friends with. But didn't want to try to explain to her that the name Passion and the line "This is our salvation" didn't have anything to do with Jesus.
In the process of all of this, we got distracted and walked the wrong way and nearly had to walk past them again to get to the subway, but were able to find an alternate route.
I figured that it was probably a decent enough way to meet people and learn some Japanese as well and that's why these girls were holding these signs.
Fast forward an hour or so and we walk past another group of kids holding these same signs. We walk past them completely and then one of them calls out "Are you Christians?". So then we're sort of reeled into a conversation with these kids. I reply automatically that "Yes we are," because it saves you so much time and effort talking with people like that to just agree with whatever they say.
She had guessed we were Christian because she saw my Passion shirt and once she read the back "This is our salvation" she was sure we were.
She then proceeded to ask if I had heard of the Passion movement, to which I just said I had to speed things along. Laura didn't realize to just agree with everything, and said no. So we got to hear about this big organization of Christians in the US, etc.
We then learned that this girl had been in Japan for a year helping with the Christian churches in Tokyo. She described her work as "Hanging out, talking to people about Jesus." She was maybe 18 or so. There were two other kids with her that must have just been on some type of missionary trip, because they were staying in hostels and looked like they were about 13.
We finally snaked our way out of the conversation without too much effort and walked away. It was only afterwards that I remembered the best way to get out of talking to Christians is to tell them you're Catholic.
I had tried to explain to the girl that Passion was a band I was friends with. But didn't want to try to explain to her that the name Passion and the line "This is our salvation" didn't have anything to do with Jesus.
In the process of all of this, we got distracted and walked the wrong way and nearly had to walk past them again to get to the subway, but were able to find an alternate route.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Adachi Fireworks
After work today, I went to Adachi with Laura, the American grad student I'm working with this summer. She had seen online that there was supposed to be a fireworks festival from 7:15 - 8:45pm. Not having any clue what to expect, we figured we'd go and see, since there is going to be another big festival on Saturday. This was our practice run.
The place wasn't far, only a few stops on the train and then a few more on the subway. Tokyo is really easy to navigate on the public transportation if you have a decent idea of where you're headed. While waiting for Laura to meet me at the subway stop, I started noticing ton of people, male and female, in kimonos. It made me think of Oktoberfest where a lot of people, including many of the younger generation, wore traditional Bavarian clothing, lederhosen and dirndls everywhere. I'll also say that those lederhosen were expensive, the Germans wear darker color leather, that's partially how you can tell them from the tourists.
Anyway, I was watching all this kids, mostly girls, walking around in kimonos and traditional wooden sandals and it struck me that it was akin to people in the US dressing up like colonists for the 4th of July. It sort of stinks that we don't have any traditions like that, but at the same time, it's not such a big deal.
Back to the story. When Laura arrived we also sort of realized that everyone was heading to Adachi for these fireworks. This lead to my first experience of being packed in the subway like a sardine. Luckily for us, our car wasn't so full, but the train that left before ours had to have the transit workers help push the people in for the doors to close. Adachi was only 2 stops from Nishi-Nippori so we weren't crushed in for long. Once we got out of the subway, people had sort of fanned out so you weren't as overwhelmed by the numbers. We just followed the crowds and then eventually the sound of fireworks.
Now, when I said the festival went for an hour and a half, I mean there were fireworks in the air exploding for an hour and a half. This year was apparently special too, because it was the 30th anniversary of this festival or something like that. They had about 15,000 fireworks. Now, I might be exaggerating a little when I say there were always fireworks in the air, but I'm not when I say it went on for a long time. There were a few lulls in the action, but for the most part it was ridiculous. I saw at least 4-5 displays that were equivalent to a finale in the US. Some of the fireworks I saw I had never seen before, some were just regular but there were so many of them the entire sky was brightened. They had shot so many up and had them exploding simultaneously that it was really impressive.
I had been warned by WayWay in the lab, that somehow Japanese people tend to overreact to fireworks. Tonight I saw what she meant. Every time there was something mildly impressive, a great "Aaaaahhhhhh" went up all over the area where we were watching. We didn't even get that close to the fireworks because we had gotten there a bit late and there were so many people.
I'll just say that if Adachi could put on such a show on a Thursday night, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Asakusa comes up with on Saturday.
The place wasn't far, only a few stops on the train and then a few more on the subway. Tokyo is really easy to navigate on the public transportation if you have a decent idea of where you're headed. While waiting for Laura to meet me at the subway stop, I started noticing ton of people, male and female, in kimonos. It made me think of Oktoberfest where a lot of people, including many of the younger generation, wore traditional Bavarian clothing, lederhosen and dirndls everywhere. I'll also say that those lederhosen were expensive, the Germans wear darker color leather, that's partially how you can tell them from the tourists.
Anyway, I was watching all this kids, mostly girls, walking around in kimonos and traditional wooden sandals and it struck me that it was akin to people in the US dressing up like colonists for the 4th of July. It sort of stinks that we don't have any traditions like that, but at the same time, it's not such a big deal.
Back to the story. When Laura arrived we also sort of realized that everyone was heading to Adachi for these fireworks. This lead to my first experience of being packed in the subway like a sardine. Luckily for us, our car wasn't so full, but the train that left before ours had to have the transit workers help push the people in for the doors to close. Adachi was only 2 stops from Nishi-Nippori so we weren't crushed in for long. Once we got out of the subway, people had sort of fanned out so you weren't as overwhelmed by the numbers. We just followed the crowds and then eventually the sound of fireworks.
Now, when I said the festival went for an hour and a half, I mean there were fireworks in the air exploding for an hour and a half. This year was apparently special too, because it was the 30th anniversary of this festival or something like that. They had about 15,000 fireworks. Now, I might be exaggerating a little when I say there were always fireworks in the air, but I'm not when I say it went on for a long time. There were a few lulls in the action, but for the most part it was ridiculous. I saw at least 4-5 displays that were equivalent to a finale in the US. Some of the fireworks I saw I had never seen before, some were just regular but there were so many of them the entire sky was brightened. They had shot so many up and had them exploding simultaneously that it was really impressive.
I had been warned by WayWay in the lab, that somehow Japanese people tend to overreact to fireworks. Tonight I saw what she meant. Every time there was something mildly impressive, a great "Aaaaahhhhhh" went up all over the area where we were watching. We didn't even get that close to the fireworks because we had gotten there a bit late and there were so many people.
I'll just say that if Adachi could put on such a show on a Thursday night, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Asakusa comes up with on Saturday.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
My Friend
I went to Asakusa today just to check it out. When I got there I read in my guidebook that Asahi has a bar (as it turns out, it's not just a bar, you can get other food there) at the top of a building just across the Sumida River from the subway station. Having been to the Guinness factory with it's bar at the top, I figured this place probably offered a great view.
Now, you have to order something to be able to get in to see the view. There were also a few other restaurants on the same floor. It was the 22nd floor and for most of Tokyo that's pretty high, high enough that you can see quick a bit, except that today was hazy.
Basically, the view has nothing to do with this story anyway. I sit down in an empty seat in the corner and get settled in to enjoy the view. I get my drink, everything is going fine. I'm taking some pictures. So I'm about half way done my drink when a guy sits down next to me. This isn't odd, it was an empty seat and this is Tokyo. Their definition of personal space is worlds away from our definition in America. There are just too many people around for anyone to bother caring how close they are to you. It's pretty normal to get bumped into in line at the store by the person behind you.
Back to me sitting there and this guy sitting there. I don't know how it all started. I think I was taking some pictures, when this guy decides to start talking to me. I'm a friendly person, I don't mind a random conversation with a stranger. Of course, when the two people involved in the conversation don't speak the same language things get a bit hairy. I know a tiny bit of Japanese and I think I used all of it today with this guy.
From what I gathered from my broken Japanese and his broken English. He was from southern Japan and had flown into Haneda airport that day. He seemed to be sightseeing as well, which I think is what made him decide to talk to me since I had a camera. So he rambled on for quite a while, some of which I followed, most of which I had no idea but I nodded politely. He asked me if I had been to the big temple they have in Asakusa and I in my confusion said that I had been there, despite the fact that I hadn't. We continued on for quite some time. He asked where I was from and I said America. His first reaction to that was "Red Sox". It took a bit of work, but I finally told him I was from south of New York, though he may think I'm from south New York. I had a phrasebook with me, but I could only get the word for south.
The phrasebook became quite a conversation piece though because as soon as I pulled it out. I had wanted to a to ask him if I could take his picture. I was hoping the phrase book would provide the words I needed. Instead, it became English practice time. He looked through the book and read the English to me, sort of showing off that he could read English. We went through how to rent a car, some desserts, and a few other parts of the book, before I regained possession of it and put it away. We then talked about what time it was and how to say it both in English and Japanese. We went through the months. It is in fact July, the 7th month. The 20th day of that month and so on. It was interesting, but my patience was wearing. Then he pulled out his A game. He began talking about movies, which really only consisted of him saying John Wayne's name and pretending to have two pistols in his hands. He then repeated the same motion after saying Steve McQueen. Then we moved on to a brief talk about Tokyo being the capital (I think, because he mentioned the emperor.) This led us to Washington and to President Johnson, then Kennedy, then Clinton, then Bush. Nothing really being said here that I understood other than their names. He also could have been talking about Bill or Hillary, I have no idea. We got in some topical conversation when he brought up Obama (again, I have no idea what, if anything, was said besides the name).
At this point, my patience had run out. I didn't want to be rude to him, but I didn't want to stay there any longer. I gathered my things and said I had to go. He then said, "Good bye" and "have a nice day" which served as final flourishes to our meeting. I returned my best "Sayonara" and left as quickly as possible so as to avoid further conversation.
I decided to head to the bathroom before I left since the building was rather nice and I figured had a nice bathroom. I was not disappointed. On my way out however, I noticed that my friend was about to leave as well, so I decided to take another tour of the bathroom. I'm glad I did because not only did it save me from talking with him more, but it also lead me to the most advanced toilet I've seen yet. Not only did this have a bidet with 3 settings (I've since deciphered that one is really only for women) but it also had a blow dryer option. Yes, that's right, you can have a nice warm stream of air blown directly across your bottom to dry it off after you use the bidet. Oh Japan, how I marvel at your technology.
Now, you have to order something to be able to get in to see the view. There were also a few other restaurants on the same floor. It was the 22nd floor and for most of Tokyo that's pretty high, high enough that you can see quick a bit, except that today was hazy.
Basically, the view has nothing to do with this story anyway. I sit down in an empty seat in the corner and get settled in to enjoy the view. I get my drink, everything is going fine. I'm taking some pictures. So I'm about half way done my drink when a guy sits down next to me. This isn't odd, it was an empty seat and this is Tokyo. Their definition of personal space is worlds away from our definition in America. There are just too many people around for anyone to bother caring how close they are to you. It's pretty normal to get bumped into in line at the store by the person behind you.
Back to me sitting there and this guy sitting there. I don't know how it all started. I think I was taking some pictures, when this guy decides to start talking to me. I'm a friendly person, I don't mind a random conversation with a stranger. Of course, when the two people involved in the conversation don't speak the same language things get a bit hairy. I know a tiny bit of Japanese and I think I used all of it today with this guy.
From what I gathered from my broken Japanese and his broken English. He was from southern Japan and had flown into Haneda airport that day. He seemed to be sightseeing as well, which I think is what made him decide to talk to me since I had a camera. So he rambled on for quite a while, some of which I followed, most of which I had no idea but I nodded politely. He asked me if I had been to the big temple they have in Asakusa and I in my confusion said that I had been there, despite the fact that I hadn't. We continued on for quite some time. He asked where I was from and I said America. His first reaction to that was "Red Sox". It took a bit of work, but I finally told him I was from south of New York, though he may think I'm from south New York. I had a phrasebook with me, but I could only get the word for south.
The phrasebook became quite a conversation piece though because as soon as I pulled it out. I had wanted to a to ask him if I could take his picture. I was hoping the phrase book would provide the words I needed. Instead, it became English practice time. He looked through the book and read the English to me, sort of showing off that he could read English. We went through how to rent a car, some desserts, and a few other parts of the book, before I regained possession of it and put it away. We then talked about what time it was and how to say it both in English and Japanese. We went through the months. It is in fact July, the 7th month. The 20th day of that month and so on. It was interesting, but my patience was wearing. Then he pulled out his A game. He began talking about movies, which really only consisted of him saying John Wayne's name and pretending to have two pistols in his hands. He then repeated the same motion after saying Steve McQueen. Then we moved on to a brief talk about Tokyo being the capital (I think, because he mentioned the emperor.) This led us to Washington and to President Johnson, then Kennedy, then Clinton, then Bush. Nothing really being said here that I understood other than their names. He also could have been talking about Bill or Hillary, I have no idea. We got in some topical conversation when he brought up Obama (again, I have no idea what, if anything, was said besides the name).
At this point, my patience had run out. I didn't want to be rude to him, but I didn't want to stay there any longer. I gathered my things and said I had to go. He then said, "Good bye" and "have a nice day" which served as final flourishes to our meeting. I returned my best "Sayonara" and left as quickly as possible so as to avoid further conversation.
I decided to head to the bathroom before I left since the building was rather nice and I figured had a nice bathroom. I was not disappointed. On my way out however, I noticed that my friend was about to leave as well, so I decided to take another tour of the bathroom. I'm glad I did because not only did it save me from talking with him more, but it also lead me to the most advanced toilet I've seen yet. Not only did this have a bidet with 3 settings (I've since deciphered that one is really only for women) but it also had a blow dryer option. Yes, that's right, you can have a nice warm stream of air blown directly across your bottom to dry it off after you use the bidet. Oh Japan, how I marvel at your technology.
Kyu-Furukawa Garden
I finally went to one of the gardens by my apartment yesterday. I'm usually at work while they're open, but since it was Saturday and I had some time to kill before my friend Matt arrived I spent the morning at the Kyu-Furukawa Garden. It's literally up the street from my house, not half a mile.
I'll put the pictures I took in my albums. I've also been working on understanding the setting on the digital camera I have with me. It's nice to be able to take some time to play with the manual modes for scenery, but also good to be able to just take quick shots in the auto mode.
Anyway, the garden was sort of centered around this "Western style residence". It was basically a big house. These gardens had been created for the house, while it was still a residence and now they're both open to the public. As with Shinjuku Gyoen, there were a bunch of fish and turtles in the pond at the garden. I've been getting attacked by a lot of mosquitoes and been thinking that maybe I should have gotten that vaccination against Japanese encephalitis.
I sat in a corner of the garden reading for a while. At one point, I felt like I was moving. I didn't quite understand how, since I was sitting still. It continued for a while and then stopped. I kept reading, thinking that maybe the heat had gotten to me or that a big truck had gone by or that I was sitting over a subway tunnel. I thought little of it and kept reading.
After a while, I head back to my apartment to drop my stuff off and to go meet my friend Matt at the train station. When we got back to my apartment I discovered that a kid from Penn has been living in my building, but is heading home next week. I guess it's the end of the term here so everyone is leaving. He was wearing a Wharton shirt, so I basically had to stop him and talk to him. He asked me if I had felt the earthquake that morning.
So I experienced my first ever earthquake and didn't even recognize it as one. However that did help take care of one of my hopes for my trip here. I wanted to feel an earthquake. I was ok with this one, it was probably a good beginner earthquake. I don't know if I'd care for a bigger one, but since I have no control over the matter I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I'll put the pictures I took in my albums. I've also been working on understanding the setting on the digital camera I have with me. It's nice to be able to take some time to play with the manual modes for scenery, but also good to be able to just take quick shots in the auto mode.
Anyway, the garden was sort of centered around this "Western style residence". It was basically a big house. These gardens had been created for the house, while it was still a residence and now they're both open to the public. As with Shinjuku Gyoen, there were a bunch of fish and turtles in the pond at the garden. I've been getting attacked by a lot of mosquitoes and been thinking that maybe I should have gotten that vaccination against Japanese encephalitis.
I sat in a corner of the garden reading for a while. At one point, I felt like I was moving. I didn't quite understand how, since I was sitting still. It continued for a while and then stopped. I kept reading, thinking that maybe the heat had gotten to me or that a big truck had gone by or that I was sitting over a subway tunnel. I thought little of it and kept reading.
After a while, I head back to my apartment to drop my stuff off and to go meet my friend Matt at the train station. When we got back to my apartment I discovered that a kid from Penn has been living in my building, but is heading home next week. I guess it's the end of the term here so everyone is leaving. He was wearing a Wharton shirt, so I basically had to stop him and talk to him. He asked me if I had felt the earthquake that morning.
So I experienced my first ever earthquake and didn't even recognize it as one. However that did help take care of one of my hopes for my trip here. I wanted to feel an earthquake. I was ok with this one, it was probably a good beginner earthquake. I don't know if I'd care for a bigger one, but since I have no control over the matter I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Keep Left
As everyone knows, in Japan they drive on the other side of the road from the US and many other places. For some reason this works well on islands, I don't quite follow why it's worth it for the auto industry to continue allowing this trend, but I guess they can't change it now.
What might be less obvious to observers, is that staying on the left pervades all aspects of life here. Things we don't even think about, like which side of the escalator to stand on, are reversed here. So while, you may get harassed in Washington D.C. for standing on the left side of the escalator, (This side is for the super important people who need to walk up the escalator. If they were really in a hurry they should just take the stairs.) in Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk up the right side.
This foreign (literally) concept also applies to sidewalks, though with less success. Technically, bikes are supposed to stay in the bike lane, but realistically they go where ever they want. Bikes in the bike lane should then keep left and pass right always. Generally this rule is followed, but what throws me off, is when I try to get out of someone's way by going right, but they go left and then we almost hit each other. It's completely ingrained in my head, that to get out of the way in traffic, go right. It's situations like this that lead me to just ride in the street where possible, because there's more room and fewer obstacles.
What might be less obvious to observers, is that staying on the left pervades all aspects of life here. Things we don't even think about, like which side of the escalator to stand on, are reversed here. So while, you may get harassed in Washington D.C. for standing on the left side of the escalator, (This side is for the super important people who need to walk up the escalator. If they were really in a hurry they should just take the stairs.) in Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk up the right side.
This foreign (literally) concept also applies to sidewalks, though with less success. Technically, bikes are supposed to stay in the bike lane, but realistically they go where ever they want. Bikes in the bike lane should then keep left and pass right always. Generally this rule is followed, but what throws me off, is when I try to get out of someone's way by going right, but they go left and then we almost hit each other. It's completely ingrained in my head, that to get out of the way in traffic, go right. It's situations like this that lead me to just ride in the street where possible, because there's more room and fewer obstacles.
School Kids
Everyone knows about the stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl uniform. It's been in movies, cartoons, etc. Well I just want to add that those girls are everywhere. There are multiple versions of these uniforms depending on which school you go to and apparently they never take them off. They are like an entirely different subset of kids over here. I see plenty of kids with normal clothes on walking around and then there are the uniformed kids. Maybe it's a private school thing. I don't know. I was in McDonalds around 8 pm tonight and there were girls there still in uniform (there was also kid who couldn't have been more than 12 working the register). There are also uniforms for guys (not as revealing, but equally distinctive).
What may not be as well known are the hats that younger Japanese children wear to school. These also come in many varieties. I also discovered that when school has ended there are tons of these little kids basically roaming the streets going home. Unattended like 5, 6, 7 year olds just walking home. At first I thought that there must have been adults nearby that I wasn't seeing, but no. These kids are like cattle coming home from pasture at the end of the day. They just wander around with their backpacks and their little hats held on by the elastic bands under their chins.
What may not be as well known are the hats that younger Japanese children wear to school. These also come in many varieties. I also discovered that when school has ended there are tons of these little kids basically roaming the streets going home. Unattended like 5, 6, 7 year olds just walking home. At first I thought that there must have been adults nearby that I wasn't seeing, but no. These kids are like cattle coming home from pasture at the end of the day. They just wander around with their backpacks and their little hats held on by the elastic bands under their chins.
Laundry
I did my first load of laundry tonight. I discovered two things.
1. I overpacked. There were clothes I didn't wear yet and most likely didn't need to bring. I had an idea that I was bringing more than I needed when I was packing, but I added a few things because I psychologically thought I needed more. I only brought about 10 T-shirts, but that was about 4 too many apparently. Knowing that I could do laundry, I should have brought less. I only brought two bags with me as it is, but I still feel like I brought way more stuff than I'll need.
This discovery also made me realize, I have too many clothes in general. If I can get by for 2 months in another country with so little, I should be able to get by at home with not much more. Ignoring my need for work clothes, I definitely have too many casual clothes.
2. My laundry area is probably the dirtiest place I have seen in Japan yet. It doesn't help that it's connected to a Chinese food restaurant. The washers have a little overflow area that they sit in and it seems like the water lines just drain into this area. Then there is a small, barely functioning drain that drains the overflow area. Needless to say I was less than thrilled to clean my clothes in this tiny place (about the size of my bathroom at home). So I must always be on guard against dropping anything into the moat that surrounds the washing machines. The dryers were ok and rather new it seemed. The part that is a pain, is that they only take 100 yen coins and there is no change machine.
1. I overpacked. There were clothes I didn't wear yet and most likely didn't need to bring. I had an idea that I was bringing more than I needed when I was packing, but I added a few things because I psychologically thought I needed more. I only brought about 10 T-shirts, but that was about 4 too many apparently. Knowing that I could do laundry, I should have brought less. I only brought two bags with me as it is, but I still feel like I brought way more stuff than I'll need.
This discovery also made me realize, I have too many clothes in general. If I can get by for 2 months in another country with so little, I should be able to get by at home with not much more. Ignoring my need for work clothes, I definitely have too many casual clothes.
2. My laundry area is probably the dirtiest place I have seen in Japan yet. It doesn't help that it's connected to a Chinese food restaurant. The washers have a little overflow area that they sit in and it seems like the water lines just drain into this area. Then there is a small, barely functioning drain that drains the overflow area. Needless to say I was less than thrilled to clean my clothes in this tiny place (about the size of my bathroom at home). So I must always be on guard against dropping anything into the moat that surrounds the washing machines. The dryers were ok and rather new it seemed. The part that is a pain, is that they only take 100 yen coins and there is no change machine.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bicycles
Since one of my hobbies at home is riding and fixing bikes, I was pretty interested to see what the bike situation over here was. It seems like most people just ride cruisers or beaters to get from Point A to Point B. There are all sort of baskets, bags, fenders and kid's seats. For the most part people seem to ride step through frames that we in the US generally associate with women's bikes.
I guess in a culture where everyone has a bike it's not worth caring about whether a frame is intended for women or not. I have seen regular men's frames. I've seen some higher end road bikes and a few mountain bikes. I've been keeping my eye out for fixed gears or Keirin bikes as they're called here, but I only saw one on my first day here (and yes it had deep Vs). There are some hills here, but I really expected to see more of them. I even scanned the bike racks at the University, expecting that they would be more popular with younger kids as they tend to be in Philadelphia.
I can't say I'm disappointed by what I've found, but I do have some thoughts.
Why in a culture where everyone rides bikes are all the bikes so nondescript? (Ignore the fact that I'm in Japan and everyone here is almost required to be modest). You would think that in a sea of hundreds of parked bikes, you would try to make yours look a little different. You would maybe want it to stand out so it could be more easily found. I haven't noticed anything of the sort. You can walk down a row of bikes and see 10 of basically the same bike.
I'll also add that bike theft does not appear to be prevalent here. Most bikes have only integrated rear wheel locks. I haven't seen one U-lock. So given this added aspect, why not make your bike a little flashy. It's unlikely that your bike will be stolen for looking a little different.
Appearance is very important here. Until recently, facial hair was usually only seen on Yakuza. Tattoos are still fairly taboo. Almost everyone dresses well. There are hoards of young girls who can be seen with fake tans and bleached blond hair (I haven't seen many, but I hear they're out there). To these girls, the western image is important it would seem. There are all sorts of youth trends in lifestyle and fashion. So I would expect that these groups would be more likely to customize their bikes to mirror their own styles. Still, I haven't seen this type of behavior. I will keep an eye out for it, but I have a suspicion I won't find it.
I would bet that the only people in Tokyo who customize their bikes for appearance in addition to function are the fixed gear riders. This assumption comes from what I know of young fixed riders in the States and from some video I have seen of Japanese fixed riders.
I'll leave you with this weird belt driven bike I saw.
I guess in a culture where everyone has a bike it's not worth caring about whether a frame is intended for women or not. I have seen regular men's frames. I've seen some higher end road bikes and a few mountain bikes. I've been keeping my eye out for fixed gears or Keirin bikes as they're called here, but I only saw one on my first day here (and yes it had deep Vs). There are some hills here, but I really expected to see more of them. I even scanned the bike racks at the University, expecting that they would be more popular with younger kids as they tend to be in Philadelphia.
I can't say I'm disappointed by what I've found, but I do have some thoughts.
Why in a culture where everyone rides bikes are all the bikes so nondescript? (Ignore the fact that I'm in Japan and everyone here is almost required to be modest). You would think that in a sea of hundreds of parked bikes, you would try to make yours look a little different. You would maybe want it to stand out so it could be more easily found. I haven't noticed anything of the sort. You can walk down a row of bikes and see 10 of basically the same bike.
I'll also add that bike theft does not appear to be prevalent here. Most bikes have only integrated rear wheel locks. I haven't seen one U-lock. So given this added aspect, why not make your bike a little flashy. It's unlikely that your bike will be stolen for looking a little different.
Appearance is very important here. Until recently, facial hair was usually only seen on Yakuza. Tattoos are still fairly taboo. Almost everyone dresses well. There are hoards of young girls who can be seen with fake tans and bleached blond hair (I haven't seen many, but I hear they're out there). To these girls, the western image is important it would seem. There are all sorts of youth trends in lifestyle and fashion. So I would expect that these groups would be more likely to customize their bikes to mirror their own styles. Still, I haven't seen this type of behavior. I will keep an eye out for it, but I have a suspicion I won't find it.
I would bet that the only people in Tokyo who customize their bikes for appearance in addition to function are the fixed gear riders. This assumption comes from what I know of young fixed riders in the States and from some video I have seen of Japanese fixed riders.
I'll leave you with this weird belt driven bike I saw.
University of Tokyo
I had my first day on campus yesterday. I met Prof. Towhata and the grad students in the geotech lab. I also got a desk to sit at. So far in the lab, there is an Asian girl named Wayway, who is from the UK. A guy named Ivan, I'm not sure where he's from. Carlos, from Columbia (the country not the University or the district). There are also Japanese students, but I'm not sure of all their names yet.
I'm going to need to start wearing my Reefs to the lab though, because I have to take off my shoes at the entranceway and my Starburys were annoying to take off yesterday. The campus is pretty nice, though the buildings are a bit old. I was at the other campus with Todd the other day and that was really new and modern.
In addition to being my first day on campus, I also took my first ride on the Tokyo Metro. I had to take the Namboku line a whopping two stops from Komagome to Todaimae. It was croweded, but I didn't need to get pushed on or anything. Now is also as good a time as any to talk about the door closing jingle they play. Every station has it's own little music that they play to let you know that the doors will be closing very soon. I didn't quite know what was going on until I Googled it and found some videos on Youtube. On the JR line there are no signs explaining it. However on the subway I found some signs like this one:
There was also this sign:
There really is a lot of wind generated. They have a second set of doors in the station that keep you from the track area. I had thought that these doors were to prevent people from being buffeted with wind as the trains come, but now I can see that it also probably lowers the amount of track maintenance from things (or people) falling on the tracks.
It turns out that the university is on Hongo-dori, which is also the street that I live on. Yesterday evening, I just walked home from the lab. It was only about a 40 minute walk. I passed a few random temples or shrines on my way home.
I'm going to need to start wearing my Reefs to the lab though, because I have to take off my shoes at the entranceway and my Starburys were annoying to take off yesterday. The campus is pretty nice, though the buildings are a bit old. I was at the other campus with Todd the other day and that was really new and modern.
In addition to being my first day on campus, I also took my first ride on the Tokyo Metro. I had to take the Namboku line a whopping two stops from Komagome to Todaimae. It was croweded, but I didn't need to get pushed on or anything. Now is also as good a time as any to talk about the door closing jingle they play. Every station has it's own little music that they play to let you know that the doors will be closing very soon. I didn't quite know what was going on until I Googled it and found some videos on Youtube. On the JR line there are no signs explaining it. However on the subway I found some signs like this one:
There was also this sign:
There really is a lot of wind generated. They have a second set of doors in the station that keep you from the track area. I had thought that these doors were to prevent people from being buffeted with wind as the trains come, but now I can see that it also probably lowers the amount of track maintenance from things (or people) falling on the tracks. It turns out that the university is on Hongo-dori, which is also the street that I live on. Yesterday evening, I just walked home from the lab. It was only about a 40 minute walk. I passed a few random temples or shrines on my way home.
Sliced bread
Continuing on my food theme, I figured I'd take some time to explain how bread is sold here. This description really just applies to white bread that I've seen. Basically, you have your choice of 4, 6, or 8 slices. Six and eight seem to be more common. The thing is, you always get the same amount of bread. They just slice it thinner or thicker depending. Coming from America, where if bread came in 4 slice loaves, you'd have to go buy bread every day, this system is weird to me. I thought of all this while eating some Skippy on white bread and watching the MLB home run derby on my computer.
I would bet though, that the 4 or 6 slice loaves would be great for french toast.
The other day at 7-11 I got a pre-made sandwich. It was something like ham with cucumber slices. It wasn't bad. It was on thin bread, but the weird part about it, was that I got 3 halves. There were 3 triangular wedges of sandwich in the package. I guess that just takes one more slice, but it was still a bit random.
I would bet though, that the 4 or 6 slice loaves would be great for french toast.
The other day at 7-11 I got a pre-made sandwich. It was something like ham with cucumber slices. It wasn't bad. It was on thin bread, but the weird part about it, was that I got 3 halves. There were 3 triangular wedges of sandwich in the package. I guess that just takes one more slice, but it was still a bit random.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Cup Noodle
I bought some Cup Noodle the other day and only just now realized how great it is. I not only know the basic color scheme they use to show what flavor it is, but I also have the cooking instructions memorized.
You can't microwave the cup because it's styrofoam and will melt.
Boil some water.
Peel back the lid a little.
Pour in the water up to the line at the top.
Fold the lid back over.
Let it sit for about 2 minutes.
Enjoy.
Hopefully the other ramen I bought will follow this process. I did find the international food store near me though. I got some pasta and granola. I can get Cherry Coke and Pepperidge Farm cookies a mere 5 minute walk from my apartment. What more could I ask for?
You can't microwave the cup because it's styrofoam and will melt.
Boil some water.
Peel back the lid a little.
Pour in the water up to the line at the top.
Fold the lid back over.
Let it sit for about 2 minutes.
Enjoy.
Hopefully the other ramen I bought will follow this process. I did find the international food store near me though. I got some pasta and granola. I can get Cherry Coke and Pepperidge Farm cookies a mere 5 minute walk from my apartment. What more could I ask for?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Fashion
I didn't mention this in my Shibuya post, but Karl had been wearing Manpris and I had a discussion with Cidi about them. I said I saw no reason for them and that people should just wear pants or shorts. His thought was that they offered a more formal appearance than short, without being too formal. I told him that while that might be true, it is the easiest way in the US to spot a foreigner. No man in the US wears that particular cut of pants. While there are some that wear shorts/ pants that are a similar length, none are cut quite that way. I said it was fine for women to wear them, but men in the US would not wear them.
I have subsequently seen a lot of Japanese wearing Manpris. I had thought it was a European fashion, but I suppose things like that will catch on in other places.
There is another fashion here that I don't quite follow. Some guys will wear a big leather pouch on their belt. It's sort of like a wallet I guess. It's sort of like a holster, since it hangs from the belt, but its purpose is more like a purse. I'll have to ask Cidi about them some time.
While I'm on this subject, I would also like to say that in my opinion, blond hair is not making any Japanese people look any better. The women I have seen with blond hair can't pull it off and it looks pretty unnatural. I also have seen a bunch of women with the same nose as Gogo from Kill Bill Vol. 1. It's weird, it's sort of too big for their faces (again, in my opinion). I mean, it was one thing for her to have one, but I didn't realize it was a common thing.
I'd also like to add to this ramble that I'm pretty sure if you printed anything, I mean anything at all in English on a shirt, you could sell it here for a profit. I've seen a few shirts that made no sense at all. So if I ever get some extra cash, I'm starting a T-shirt business, maybe I can just go to American companies, buy their misprinted merchandise, bring it to Japan, mark it up and sell it.
I have subsequently seen a lot of Japanese wearing Manpris. I had thought it was a European fashion, but I suppose things like that will catch on in other places.
There is another fashion here that I don't quite follow. Some guys will wear a big leather pouch on their belt. It's sort of like a wallet I guess. It's sort of like a holster, since it hangs from the belt, but its purpose is more like a purse. I'll have to ask Cidi about them some time.
While I'm on this subject, I would also like to say that in my opinion, blond hair is not making any Japanese people look any better. The women I have seen with blond hair can't pull it off and it looks pretty unnatural. I also have seen a bunch of women with the same nose as Gogo from Kill Bill Vol. 1. It's weird, it's sort of too big for their faces (again, in my opinion). I mean, it was one thing for her to have one, but I didn't realize it was a common thing.
I'd also like to add to this ramble that I'm pretty sure if you printed anything, I mean anything at all in English on a shirt, you could sell it here for a profit. I've seen a few shirts that made no sense at all. So if I ever get some extra cash, I'm starting a T-shirt business, maybe I can just go to American companies, buy their misprinted merchandise, bring it to Japan, mark it up and sell it.
Shinjuku
After nearly ruining my sleeping pattern by sleeping from 6pm to 3 am last night (which can't even be explained by jet lag because that would have been 5 am - 2 pm at home), I decided to head to Shinjuku. I wanted to stop by my landlord's office to ask about the guest policy and pay the guest fee for my friend Matt's upcoming visit. So I hopped on the Yamanote line and headed to Shinjuku. I had only been Sakura house's office once before, but I managed to find it easily and take care of my business.
I left the office and decided to check out the Sunkus to see what they offer that might be different from 7-11. It turns out they have a few things that are different. I found Pepsi Blue Hawaii, which tastes like pineapple and lemon. Not the best combination in my opinion, but I promised my brother I would be on the lookout for things like it and try them.
I wandered around near the Sakura house office for a while, saw a VW dealer and found a few record shops, but saw that they didn't open until the afternoon. So I figured I'd wander around some more to kill time until they opened. I headed back towards the train station. I made a few turns and ended up in another outdoor shopping area. I was most surprised to find a sewing machine store. I didn't realize dedicated stores for sewing machines still existed, but I guess they do. I also came across, what might be one of my favorite parts of being in Tokyo, an all way crossing. All the traffic lights for cars turn red and pedestrians can just go where ever they want in the intersection, across, diagonal, you name it.
I found a bunch of movie theaters and restaurants. I even found some "soaplands". Then I stumbled upon what looked to be an ice carving competition. I stood around for a while to see what was going on, but nothing was too clear. There were tables set up all around this raised platform area. There were also people wearing numbers milling about. I saw a cute blond girl also wandering around taking pictures of the tables, so I asked her if she spoke English. It turns out she was Canadian, on her way back to school in Australia. She was killing time on a long lay over. She figured it looked like an ice sculpting competition. We chatted a bit about exchanging money and I told her what I could. In retrospect I should have talked to her longer or offered to take her to lunch if she was short on cash, but I didn't.
I decided that since I had nothing at all better to do, I would stick around and see what happened with the competition. I found a spot in the shade and waited. Workers began unloading blocks of ice from a truck. I watched this proceed for a bit and then realized that there were at least 100 competitors and it was going to take a while. I walked around a bit more. I went to a 7-11 to check to see if my debit card would work at the ATM there.
After learning that I would be able to get money out for the next two months, I headed back to the competition, which was now much closer to beginning. I'd like to take this time to comment about McDonalds in Tokyo. If people think there are too many Starbucks too close together in the US, they should check out McDonalds here. Within half a block of each other there are 24/7 McDonalds. I mean they're everywhere. I also found a Burger King and a Wendy's today. I had already seen several KFCs. Now if only I could find a Taco Bell...
The competition began with a whistle. Only half the competitors started (the half whose ice was in the sun). I watched them work and took a ton of pictures. I only stayed until the first set of carvers were done. They had worked for about an hour or so and by that time the record stores had opened.
I stopped at Mos Burger to see what they served and ended up with a Teriyaki burger. It was decent, but I'll probably try something else next time. This pickle guy seems to be their mascot. In the store, there were ads with this guy putting himself onto sandwiches, which seems a little odd really, but he is a pickle.
I checked out the record shops looking for any Naiad I could find. I didn't find any, but I did find some pretty cool record shops. Disk Union was probably the best, but the Tower was actually pretty good as well. Disk Union took up 8 floors and Tower was about 4 floors. But the floors that Tower was on were a lot bigger. It's deceiving here when you see a multiple floor store because you don't really know how big those floors are. I've also had to get used to going to a store on a random floor in a building. You have to pay attention to the signs outside, otherwise you'd never know a store existed.
I walked through Shinjuku some more. I passed a lot of high end stores and some really nice areas. I found an area map on the street and figured from it that I wasn't too far from Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. I headed over and paid my 200 yen admission fee and went in.
I had been trying to go to the gardens closer to my apartment, but they were always closed by the time I got there, so I was glad for the opportunity to check out these gardens. I have a lot of pictures of the gardens, but it was very similar to some parks I had been to in Germany. In Potsdam and Munich there are public parks right in the city where people head to lay out or have some open space to play sports. I love Fairmount park and all, but I don't think we have many comparable places in Philadelphia, maybe Lemon Hill or somewhere near the Mann, maybe.
I hung around the park for an hour or so taking photos and enjoying the sights. I did notice one thing that has been bothering me a bit about Tokyo so far. While there are crows, or ravens (I don't know) I haven't seen any type of ground animals. I guess I haven't seen any rodents of any type, but the lack of squirrels just seems weird to me.
Back in Komagome, I decided to check out a few shops I had seen but not gone into. I went into the international food store. I found Skippy peanut butter and a few friends from home (Hershey's bars, Snyder's of Hanover snacks, and Campbell's soup). There were a few other things, like I now know where to buy taco mix and cherry Coke. Of course the items in this store were a bit more expensive than a regular store, so I only got a few things. Then I went to the regular store. I also passed the bike shop and saw that I could get a single speed for somewhere between $200-300. I don't think I can drop that much on a bike here, so hopefully I can get some help finding a used bike from people in the lab.
I left the office and decided to check out the Sunkus to see what they offer that might be different from 7-11. It turns out they have a few things that are different. I found Pepsi Blue Hawaii, which tastes like pineapple and lemon. Not the best combination in my opinion, but I promised my brother I would be on the lookout for things like it and try them.
I wandered around near the Sakura house office for a while, saw a VW dealer and found a few record shops, but saw that they didn't open until the afternoon. So I figured I'd wander around some more to kill time until they opened. I headed back towards the train station. I made a few turns and ended up in another outdoor shopping area. I was most surprised to find a sewing machine store. I didn't realize dedicated stores for sewing machines still existed, but I guess they do. I also came across, what might be one of my favorite parts of being in Tokyo, an all way crossing. All the traffic lights for cars turn red and pedestrians can just go where ever they want in the intersection, across, diagonal, you name it.
I found a bunch of movie theaters and restaurants. I even found some "soaplands". Then I stumbled upon what looked to be an ice carving competition. I stood around for a while to see what was going on, but nothing was too clear. There were tables set up all around this raised platform area. There were also people wearing numbers milling about. I saw a cute blond girl also wandering around taking pictures of the tables, so I asked her if she spoke English. It turns out she was Canadian, on her way back to school in Australia. She was killing time on a long lay over. She figured it looked like an ice sculpting competition. We chatted a bit about exchanging money and I told her what I could. In retrospect I should have talked to her longer or offered to take her to lunch if she was short on cash, but I didn't.
I decided that since I had nothing at all better to do, I would stick around and see what happened with the competition. I found a spot in the shade and waited. Workers began unloading blocks of ice from a truck. I watched this proceed for a bit and then realized that there were at least 100 competitors and it was going to take a while. I walked around a bit more. I went to a 7-11 to check to see if my debit card would work at the ATM there.
After learning that I would be able to get money out for the next two months, I headed back to the competition, which was now much closer to beginning. I'd like to take this time to comment about McDonalds in Tokyo. If people think there are too many Starbucks too close together in the US, they should check out McDonalds here. Within half a block of each other there are 24/7 McDonalds. I mean they're everywhere. I also found a Burger King and a Wendy's today. I had already seen several KFCs. Now if only I could find a Taco Bell...
The competition began with a whistle. Only half the competitors started (the half whose ice was in the sun). I watched them work and took a ton of pictures. I only stayed until the first set of carvers were done. They had worked for about an hour or so and by that time the record stores had opened.
I stopped at Mos Burger to see what they served and ended up with a Teriyaki burger. It was decent, but I'll probably try something else next time. This pickle guy seems to be their mascot. In the store, there were ads with this guy putting himself onto sandwiches, which seems a little odd really, but he is a pickle.I checked out the record shops looking for any Naiad I could find. I didn't find any, but I did find some pretty cool record shops. Disk Union was probably the best, but the Tower was actually pretty good as well. Disk Union took up 8 floors and Tower was about 4 floors. But the floors that Tower was on were a lot bigger. It's deceiving here when you see a multiple floor store because you don't really know how big those floors are. I've also had to get used to going to a store on a random floor in a building. You have to pay attention to the signs outside, otherwise you'd never know a store existed.
I walked through Shinjuku some more. I passed a lot of high end stores and some really nice areas. I found an area map on the street and figured from it that I wasn't too far from Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. I headed over and paid my 200 yen admission fee and went in.
I had been trying to go to the gardens closer to my apartment, but they were always closed by the time I got there, so I was glad for the opportunity to check out these gardens. I have a lot of pictures of the gardens, but it was very similar to some parks I had been to in Germany. In Potsdam and Munich there are public parks right in the city where people head to lay out or have some open space to play sports. I love Fairmount park and all, but I don't think we have many comparable places in Philadelphia, maybe Lemon Hill or somewhere near the Mann, maybe.
I hung around the park for an hour or so taking photos and enjoying the sights. I did notice one thing that has been bothering me a bit about Tokyo so far. While there are crows, or ravens (I don't know) I haven't seen any type of ground animals. I guess I haven't seen any rodents of any type, but the lack of squirrels just seems weird to me.
Back in Komagome, I decided to check out a few shops I had seen but not gone into. I went into the international food store. I found Skippy peanut butter and a few friends from home (Hershey's bars, Snyder's of Hanover snacks, and Campbell's soup). There were a few other things, like I now know where to buy taco mix and cherry Coke. Of course the items in this store were a bit more expensive than a regular store, so I only got a few things. Then I went to the regular store. I also passed the bike shop and saw that I could get a single speed for somewhere between $200-300. I don't think I can drop that much on a bike here, so hopefully I can get some help finding a used bike from people in the lab.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Shibuya
Last night, after getting lost in Komagome for an hour or so and doing a lot of walking, I went out in Shibuya with this kid Todd I met in the States. He's studying at the University of Tokyo also, but is working on a different campus than I am. We met up at Shibuya station and then went to meet some of his colleagues from the lab and his professor from the University of Washington.
The restaurant was in the lower level of a building right in Shibuya. I got to walk through the big intersection called Shibuya crossing that they drift through in Tokyo Drift.
So at the restaurant, we had to remove our shoes of course and sat at this table that at first I though you sort of crouched at, but then realized that there was a space under table to put your feet down into. I sat next to a Turkish guy named Cidi (not sure how to spell it but it sounds like chid eye). He was a PhD student and spoke completely fluent Japanese. There were also a few other students there, two of whom had to leave to go home since they were only in Tokyo for the day. The others were Daisuke and Christoph. Daisuke was great. We talked a bit about baseball and a lot of other things. Christoph, who is half Japanese, is also French or lived in France. So when he spoke English it was with a fairly heavy French accent. It was sort of funny to listen to, but not unlike my friend Nico, who is Bavarian but speaks English with an Irish accent.
So we sat there for 3 hours or so and ate and drank. Cidi kept ordering more food and then making Todd and I try it. I passed on the plate of chicken parts, which included heart and livers. I did eat a bunch of fish and some other stuff. At one point, I ate some form of tentacle and a ring of some sort, it seemed like cartilage. I also ate some chicken skin later. Todd and I both got complimented on our chop stick usage, which apparently was pretty proficient.
The waiter was pretty funny. He kept using an exaggerated English accent in such a way that it was hard to tell if he was making fun of himself or the terrible Engrish that many Japanese speak.
I also encountered my first run in with bathrooms marked only in Japanese. As it turns out, I picked the women's room. It wasn't a big deal, at least it wasn't to me, because it was just a single toilet and sink with a lockable door. There was a woman waiting to use it after me when I went out though. I also hadn't bothered to put my shoes on to go to the bathroom, because I wasn't quite sure where they had ended up. I realize now that not putting my shoes on completely defeated the purpose of taking them off, namely, to keep the area by the table clean from debris. On my next trip to the bathroom, I fared much better, both using shoes and going to the men's room.
We were more or less kicked out of our table as soon as our reservation was up, because in Japan when you reserve a table for a certain period of time, you have that table for just that amount of time. There may have been people waiting to get in and sit there, but we didn't really see any.
So we left, with Cidi leading the way. He took us straight in to this fancy looking building that seemed more like a hotel than what it really was, a karaoke place. Cidi gets us our spot, which as it turns out is on the 9th floor of the building. In Japan karaoke isn't like in the US, you get your own room and waiter. You get to sing in private and can pick up a phone to call the waiter or to ask for more time, which Daisuke kept doing despite the fact that we were all hoarse from singing. We were there for about 2 hours, during which time, I'm trying to mind the time, since trains back to Komagome stop running around 12:30 or so.
We sang a ton of cliche American hits. As soon as I walked into the room, I was forced to sing Bon Jovi's "It's My Life". Many more followed and since Todd and I were American and knew the words to most of the songs, we were tasked with most of the singing. We were also given two tambourines and some maracas to keep the beat with. Todd's professor, Karl, is from Germany, so I looked through the book and found 99 Luftballoons by Nena. So we put that on and sang that in German. He later put on a Scorpions song, but I think he was the only one who knew the words.
The night continued on in basically the same way. Songs kept coming on that I knew the words and melody to so I kept singing. I learned that whoever programs karaoke has most likely never heard the actual songs, because they scroll the words with really odd cadences. Christoph's girlfriend joined us later in the night. And with her there, more songs were sung in Japanese. Poupee de Cir, Poupee de Son came on at Christoph's request and despite my complete ignorance of French, I sang that too because I had heard it many times performed by Wizo as a cover.
Our time ran out and we finally left around 1 am or so. Having missed my train, I was now stranded in Shibuya and would not get to spend my first night in my apartment, actually in my apartment. I was having such a good time at the point that it didn't matter. Todd was going to head back and sleep on campus in a "rest" room anyway and as long as no one else was there taking up the second bed, I was welcome to go sleep there as well. So with my sleeping arrangement taken care of, we got back to our Friday night in Shibuya.
Cidi decided it was time for some burgers and took us to McDonalds. I ordered a double cheeseburger and much to my chagrin it was not on the 100 yen menu. I didn't worry about it, but didn't make the same mistake again when Todd and I decided to go for seconds. We both stuck to the 100 yen menu and got ourselves a couple McPork sandwiches, which tasted like sausage patties from breakfast sandwiches.
Having sated our hunger, we then headed out to get one last beer for the night. This whole time Cidi is trying to convince Todd and I that it's not that late and that if we head to Roppongi we could just stay out all night and get the train when it started running again at 5 am. (Since I'll hopefully get to Roppongi eventually, I'll cover that later, suffice to say it's an area of Tokyo, not just one place). We decide that it's too much trouble to go all the way over there and stay with Cidi, Karl, Daisuke, Christoph and his girlfriend.
Cidi takes us to this random bar that he used to frequent and is greeted by a friend of his at the bar. On the way to the bar we passed by a few "love" hotels, where you can pay to stay for a "rest" or pay to stay. A "rest" is generally a few hours and apparently these hotels will basically given you any amenity you ask for and have rooms with jacuzzi tubs.
The only other patrons in the bar are two couples, who from our estimation were Australian (which they were). The Australian women decide they want to dance and manage to get Todd and Daisuke to dance as well. Their partners just sort of dance for a while as well, but eventually stop and end up talking to Karl and I. Karl and I had been discussing Germany. He is from a small town near Baden Baden, which is where my great-great grandfather was from.
Around 3 am, we head out from this bar to head back to campus. Karl's housing is near there, Cidi had left his bike there, Daisuke was going to sleep in his lab and Todd and I were hoping to find the "rest" room empty. On the walk there, Cidi points out where I'll have to head to get the train in the morning.
Todd and I get to campus and head to where he thinks the room is. It wasn't there. We found a meeting room, the female rest room and walked around in the dark for a while, before finally finding the empty rest room. It's not almost 4 am and the trains will begin again in an hour. We both just lay down and pass out, without much concern for when we'll be waking up.
I wake up and fumble for my glasses and my phone to discover that it's 6 am. I figure that I'd rather be sleeping in my better ventilated apartment, where I can shower and get some breakfast. I collect my things, tell Todd I'd see him later and head for the train. Getting to the train in the daylight was much easier than finding the rest room in the dark. On the way to the train I buy a bottle of water, since I wasn't quite recovered from last night's events. If I had known then how I'd feel on the train, I'd have gotten two bottles.
At the station, I have little trouble buying my ticket and getting on the right train (the Japanese public transportation system thus far as been great and easy to use). I take the train 2 stops to Shibuya, where I need to transfer to the Yamanote line to get back to Komagome. I buy my JR rail ticket and get on the train home. Now last night, I had estimated that the ride from Komagome to Shibuya would be about 20 minutes and it had been. The ride this morning was also only about 20 minutes, but it might as well have been an hour. It felt like it took forever. Midway through the trip, probably just after Shinjukyu, I ran out of water. At that point, getting home was the only thing on my mind. I just wanted to be home and feel the AC and lay down.
Since I'm here writing this entry, I suppose you can tell I made it home OK. I did discover that I'm fairly sure, that if I sleep on this mattress for the next 2 months, I'll come home a cripple. So far it seems worse than a pull out couch mattress.
As for going out in Shibuya, Todd and I at some point intend to make a full night of it and just stay out until the trains start running. If we head out later than 7 pm or so, it shouldn't be difficult to manage.
Now that I've lazed away the afternoon, I think it's about time to go get lost in Tokyo again. I may try to find the campus I'll be working at, but I'm not 100% sure I know which way to head.
If I get any pictures from last night, I'll be sure to post them.
The restaurant was in the lower level of a building right in Shibuya. I got to walk through the big intersection called Shibuya crossing that they drift through in Tokyo Drift.
So at the restaurant, we had to remove our shoes of course and sat at this table that at first I though you sort of crouched at, but then realized that there was a space under table to put your feet down into. I sat next to a Turkish guy named Cidi (not sure how to spell it but it sounds like chid eye). He was a PhD student and spoke completely fluent Japanese. There were also a few other students there, two of whom had to leave to go home since they were only in Tokyo for the day. The others were Daisuke and Christoph. Daisuke was great. We talked a bit about baseball and a lot of other things. Christoph, who is half Japanese, is also French or lived in France. So when he spoke English it was with a fairly heavy French accent. It was sort of funny to listen to, but not unlike my friend Nico, who is Bavarian but speaks English with an Irish accent.
So we sat there for 3 hours or so and ate and drank. Cidi kept ordering more food and then making Todd and I try it. I passed on the plate of chicken parts, which included heart and livers. I did eat a bunch of fish and some other stuff. At one point, I ate some form of tentacle and a ring of some sort, it seemed like cartilage. I also ate some chicken skin later. Todd and I both got complimented on our chop stick usage, which apparently was pretty proficient.
The waiter was pretty funny. He kept using an exaggerated English accent in such a way that it was hard to tell if he was making fun of himself or the terrible Engrish that many Japanese speak.
I also encountered my first run in with bathrooms marked only in Japanese. As it turns out, I picked the women's room. It wasn't a big deal, at least it wasn't to me, because it was just a single toilet and sink with a lockable door. There was a woman waiting to use it after me when I went out though. I also hadn't bothered to put my shoes on to go to the bathroom, because I wasn't quite sure where they had ended up. I realize now that not putting my shoes on completely defeated the purpose of taking them off, namely, to keep the area by the table clean from debris. On my next trip to the bathroom, I fared much better, both using shoes and going to the men's room.
We were more or less kicked out of our table as soon as our reservation was up, because in Japan when you reserve a table for a certain period of time, you have that table for just that amount of time. There may have been people waiting to get in and sit there, but we didn't really see any.
So we left, with Cidi leading the way. He took us straight in to this fancy looking building that seemed more like a hotel than what it really was, a karaoke place. Cidi gets us our spot, which as it turns out is on the 9th floor of the building. In Japan karaoke isn't like in the US, you get your own room and waiter. You get to sing in private and can pick up a phone to call the waiter or to ask for more time, which Daisuke kept doing despite the fact that we were all hoarse from singing. We were there for about 2 hours, during which time, I'm trying to mind the time, since trains back to Komagome stop running around 12:30 or so.
We sang a ton of cliche American hits. As soon as I walked into the room, I was forced to sing Bon Jovi's "It's My Life". Many more followed and since Todd and I were American and knew the words to most of the songs, we were tasked with most of the singing. We were also given two tambourines and some maracas to keep the beat with. Todd's professor, Karl, is from Germany, so I looked through the book and found 99 Luftballoons by Nena. So we put that on and sang that in German. He later put on a Scorpions song, but I think he was the only one who knew the words.
The night continued on in basically the same way. Songs kept coming on that I knew the words and melody to so I kept singing. I learned that whoever programs karaoke has most likely never heard the actual songs, because they scroll the words with really odd cadences. Christoph's girlfriend joined us later in the night. And with her there, more songs were sung in Japanese. Poupee de Cir, Poupee de Son came on at Christoph's request and despite my complete ignorance of French, I sang that too because I had heard it many times performed by Wizo as a cover.
Our time ran out and we finally left around 1 am or so. Having missed my train, I was now stranded in Shibuya and would not get to spend my first night in my apartment, actually in my apartment. I was having such a good time at the point that it didn't matter. Todd was going to head back and sleep on campus in a "rest" room anyway and as long as no one else was there taking up the second bed, I was welcome to go sleep there as well. So with my sleeping arrangement taken care of, we got back to our Friday night in Shibuya.
Cidi decided it was time for some burgers and took us to McDonalds. I ordered a double cheeseburger and much to my chagrin it was not on the 100 yen menu. I didn't worry about it, but didn't make the same mistake again when Todd and I decided to go for seconds. We both stuck to the 100 yen menu and got ourselves a couple McPork sandwiches, which tasted like sausage patties from breakfast sandwiches.
Having sated our hunger, we then headed out to get one last beer for the night. This whole time Cidi is trying to convince Todd and I that it's not that late and that if we head to Roppongi we could just stay out all night and get the train when it started running again at 5 am. (Since I'll hopefully get to Roppongi eventually, I'll cover that later, suffice to say it's an area of Tokyo, not just one place). We decide that it's too much trouble to go all the way over there and stay with Cidi, Karl, Daisuke, Christoph and his girlfriend.
Cidi takes us to this random bar that he used to frequent and is greeted by a friend of his at the bar. On the way to the bar we passed by a few "love" hotels, where you can pay to stay for a "rest" or pay to stay. A "rest" is generally a few hours and apparently these hotels will basically given you any amenity you ask for and have rooms with jacuzzi tubs.
The only other patrons in the bar are two couples, who from our estimation were Australian (which they were). The Australian women decide they want to dance and manage to get Todd and Daisuke to dance as well. Their partners just sort of dance for a while as well, but eventually stop and end up talking to Karl and I. Karl and I had been discussing Germany. He is from a small town near Baden Baden, which is where my great-great grandfather was from.
Around 3 am, we head out from this bar to head back to campus. Karl's housing is near there, Cidi had left his bike there, Daisuke was going to sleep in his lab and Todd and I were hoping to find the "rest" room empty. On the walk there, Cidi points out where I'll have to head to get the train in the morning.
Todd and I get to campus and head to where he thinks the room is. It wasn't there. We found a meeting room, the female rest room and walked around in the dark for a while, before finally finding the empty rest room. It's not almost 4 am and the trains will begin again in an hour. We both just lay down and pass out, without much concern for when we'll be waking up.
I wake up and fumble for my glasses and my phone to discover that it's 6 am. I figure that I'd rather be sleeping in my better ventilated apartment, where I can shower and get some breakfast. I collect my things, tell Todd I'd see him later and head for the train. Getting to the train in the daylight was much easier than finding the rest room in the dark. On the way to the train I buy a bottle of water, since I wasn't quite recovered from last night's events. If I had known then how I'd feel on the train, I'd have gotten two bottles.
At the station, I have little trouble buying my ticket and getting on the right train (the Japanese public transportation system thus far as been great and easy to use). I take the train 2 stops to Shibuya, where I need to transfer to the Yamanote line to get back to Komagome. I buy my JR rail ticket and get on the train home. Now last night, I had estimated that the ride from Komagome to Shibuya would be about 20 minutes and it had been. The ride this morning was also only about 20 minutes, but it might as well have been an hour. It felt like it took forever. Midway through the trip, probably just after Shinjukyu, I ran out of water. At that point, getting home was the only thing on my mind. I just wanted to be home and feel the AC and lay down.
Since I'm here writing this entry, I suppose you can tell I made it home OK. I did discover that I'm fairly sure, that if I sleep on this mattress for the next 2 months, I'll come home a cripple. So far it seems worse than a pull out couch mattress.
As for going out in Shibuya, Todd and I at some point intend to make a full night of it and just stay out until the trains start running. If we head out later than 7 pm or so, it shouldn't be difficult to manage.
Now that I've lazed away the afternoon, I think it's about time to go get lost in Tokyo again. I may try to find the campus I'll be working at, but I'm not 100% sure I know which way to head.
If I get any pictures from last night, I'll be sure to post them.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Apartment
I am the newest resident of 1-53-13 Hongo Ave. Komagome 205. I officially moved into the apartment today after spending the morning filling out paper work. Some of the more interesting points:
1.) I am required by my lease to take my shoes off inside my apartment
2.) I have to sort my trash into combustible and noncombustible items, which are picked up on different days. I guess the lack of available landfill space has lead to the Japanese burning their trash still.
* On a side note here plastic bottles and bags are included in the combustible items.
3.) My apartment building has a "Refuge hatch". I have yet to determine what this is, but it's either a misspelling for Refuse or somewhere I should go during an earthquake.
I'll post pictures of the apartment later, or I'll just put them up on Flickr.
I'm lucky enough to have a grocery store across the street and managed to buy groceries without much trouble. I bought a few things based solely on their packaging. Such as this:
As the flames indicate, this was indeed a spicy snack. It was rings like the ones shown and they tasted like really hot Pringles. I tried to find Wasabi peas, but couldn't find them. I also bought something with Pokemon on the package, thinking it was some form of kid's snack. While it may be a snack, it looks more like it's some form of meal with rice. I was hoping for Pokemon fruit snacks or fruit roll ups.
One of the women working in the store sounded like the fake cartoon character voice you'd expect to hear in Japan. She was saying "Sumimasen (Excuse me)" when she was no where near you or anyone.
I've also realized that I need to start remembering to not speak English the random people on the street. I keep saying "Thank you" to people who hold doors and then realize I should be thanking them in Japanese. I sort of wish I had taken more Japanese and understood more, but I was able to buy food today so I guess I'll be OK. I did decide that Japanese seems a lot easier than Chinese to learn and understand. Chinese just seems completely overwhelming to me. Maybe it's because I haven't had any Chinese lessons, but it just seems so much more complicated. I will say that I'm glad I took Japanese, only because now I can much more easily distinguish between spoken Japanese and Chinese. While my understanding of Japanese is pretty limited right now, I don't feel like it would be impossible to pick up a lot more. I was thinking of trying to watch Japanese children's TV to see what I can learn.
Now that everyone over there is asleep, I can make my way outside to wander around Ikebukuro and get to know my new neighborhood.
1.) I am required by my lease to take my shoes off inside my apartment
2.) I have to sort my trash into combustible and noncombustible items, which are picked up on different days. I guess the lack of available landfill space has lead to the Japanese burning their trash still.
* On a side note here plastic bottles and bags are included in the combustible items.
3.) My apartment building has a "Refuge hatch". I have yet to determine what this is, but it's either a misspelling for Refuse or somewhere I should go during an earthquake.
I'll post pictures of the apartment later, or I'll just put them up on Flickr.
I'm lucky enough to have a grocery store across the street and managed to buy groceries without much trouble. I bought a few things based solely on their packaging. Such as this:
As the flames indicate, this was indeed a spicy snack. It was rings like the ones shown and they tasted like really hot Pringles. I tried to find Wasabi peas, but couldn't find them. I also bought something with Pokemon on the package, thinking it was some form of kid's snack. While it may be a snack, it looks more like it's some form of meal with rice. I was hoping for Pokemon fruit snacks or fruit roll ups.One of the women working in the store sounded like the fake cartoon character voice you'd expect to hear in Japan. She was saying "Sumimasen (Excuse me)" when she was no where near you or anyone.
I've also realized that I need to start remembering to not speak English the random people on the street. I keep saying "Thank you" to people who hold doors and then realize I should be thanking them in Japanese. I sort of wish I had taken more Japanese and understood more, but I was able to buy food today so I guess I'll be OK. I did decide that Japanese seems a lot easier than Chinese to learn and understand. Chinese just seems completely overwhelming to me. Maybe it's because I haven't had any Chinese lessons, but it just seems so much more complicated. I will say that I'm glad I took Japanese, only because now I can much more easily distinguish between spoken Japanese and Chinese. While my understanding of Japanese is pretty limited right now, I don't feel like it would be impossible to pick up a lot more. I was thinking of trying to watch Japanese children's TV to see what I can learn.
Now that everyone over there is asleep, I can make my way outside to wander around Ikebukuro and get to know my new neighborhood.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Japanese Toilets
I've already seen my first squat toilet. I wasn't daring enough to try it, because it was in the airport and I had all my bags with me. So seeking to avoid a mishap, I opted for a stall. I was glad to see it had been manufactured by Toto, the leading Japanese toilet maker.
In my hotel tonight, I've got a one piece toilet with a built in bidet. There's an option that says "shower" but I'm not sure how that works. I'll report back on that when I know more.
UPDATE: I did indeed use the bidet and the shower settings. The shower is a higher pressure version of the bidet. Both are quite enjoyable. I only wish we had things like this in the US. Sadly my apartment's toilet is not this advance, however I was at the University of Tokyo earlier and it looks like they may have the bidet/shower toilets. I will be living it up and using these as much as possible in the next two months.
UPDATE 2: I've discovered that the toilet near my lab is even fancier than I've yet encountered. There are 3 spray options on the bidet. It also has a heated seat, which until I realized it was heat, sort of weirded me out. Usually I don't like a warm seat, because it lets me know that some has just been there. I'm still not completely used to or comfortable with this heated seat, but I don't think I can turn it off so I'll have to deal.
All toilet seats should need a grounding wire.
In my hotel tonight, I've got a one piece toilet with a built in bidet. There's an option that says "shower" but I'm not sure how that works. I'll report back on that when I know more.
UPDATE: I did indeed use the bidet and the shower settings. The shower is a higher pressure version of the bidet. Both are quite enjoyable. I only wish we had things like this in the US. Sadly my apartment's toilet is not this advance, however I was at the University of Tokyo earlier and it looks like they may have the bidet/shower toilets. I will be living it up and using these as much as possible in the next two months.
UPDATE 2: I've discovered that the toilet near my lab is even fancier than I've yet encountered. There are 3 spray options on the bidet. It also has a heated seat, which until I realized it was heat, sort of weirded me out. Usually I don't like a warm seat, because it lets me know that some has just been there. I'm still not completely used to or comfortable with this heated seat, but I don't think I can turn it off so I'll have to deal.
All toilet seats should need a grounding wire.
First day in Japan
So after leaving home at 10:00 am EST yesterday morning, I've arrived in Tokyo and have finally sat down in the hotel at 8:30 pm JST Thursday. I lost about 13 hours, since it's only 7:30 am for everyone else.
The flights were pretty good. No one sat next to me on my flight to Detroit. I discovered that the Detroit airport has an indoor monorail, as you can see here.
My flight to Tokyo went pretty well. It felt like it took forever. I was fortunate enough to get to see Fool's Gold and Run, Fatboy, Run. So I only had to entertain myself for 9 hours instead of 11 or so. The flight actually got in an hour early which was nice.
In Narita airport while waiting for the bus to our hotel, I had my first sampling of Japanese vending machine offerings. I had a drink called Pocari Sweat, which I only bought because of the name. This could very well have been the sweat of sumo wrestlers and I wouldn't have known. If it was, then sumo wrestlers drink a lot of Gatorade, because that's basically all the drink was. My first bottle actually came in an aluminum container.
The flights were pretty good. No one sat next to me on my flight to Detroit. I discovered that the Detroit airport has an indoor monorail, as you can see here.
My flight to Tokyo went pretty well. It felt like it took forever. I was fortunate enough to get to see Fool's Gold and Run, Fatboy, Run. So I only had to entertain myself for 9 hours instead of 11 or so. The flight actually got in an hour early which was nice.
In Narita airport while waiting for the bus to our hotel, I had my first sampling of Japanese vending machine offerings. I had a drink called Pocari Sweat, which I only bought because of the name. This could very well have been the sweat of sumo wrestlers and I wouldn't have known. If it was, then sumo wrestlers drink a lot of Gatorade, because that's basically all the drink was. My first bottle actually came in an aluminum container.Once on the bus, I ended up sitting next to some Japanese dude with an iPod. It turns out he was listening to The Roots. So 10,000 miles from Philadelphia, I sit next to a kid listening to The Roots. So I put on some Loved Ones and enjoyed the view and the irony.
My hotel also apparently has a Kneipe (that's the German word for pub) that sells wurst and German beer. So needless to say, the rest of my night will involve me drinking beer and wasting more time on the Internet.
My hotel also apparently has a Kneipe (that's the German word for pub) that sells wurst and German beer. So needless to say, the rest of my night will involve me drinking beer and wasting more time on the Internet.
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