The rest of the story (Japan)!!!!!!!!!

I am not exactly sure where I left off, as I can’t view my website right now so I am just going to start off with after I got back from the hotel on the first night in Tokyo.

Late night November 20, 2005

I ended up meeting up with AJ and Ammo at the TGI Fridays where they were having dinner. We ended up making our way up and down the street peaking in at all the different bars and discos seeing if there was one that we liked. It is really funny because the only people that we have seen in Japan is the Japanese locals, a few European/American business men, as well as the one that we found most off on this street area called LaPonga (the times square type area) which were tones of African guys dressed in suits trying to talk you into going into their bar or club. We talked to a couple of different ones they were from all different countries from Nigeria to Kenya etc. We finally stopped in to an up scale club on the street called Lux I believe. It was funny because this was when we ran into Jimmy and a couple other guys who were with the group of the girl who actually lives in Tokyo. It was a really loud dance club and they said that the rest of the group was across the street and the English pub right next to McDonalds (yes still more McDonalds in Tokyo).
It was funny because there were about 20 or so SAS students there with her that had taken over the club. Most everyone was really dressed up because the girl had told them that, that is what the Japanese do when they go out at night (which later we found out the Japanese dress up no matter where they go). Anyways we decide that we will go to this dance club/lounge called Vanilla with them. They had some coupons that were for admission and 2 drinks for 1,000 yen for foreigners (again we see preferences to the foreigners where usually it is Americans but either way). The club is cool with really two different areas the first that you come to is a hip hop music area and the second which is more trance dance music. It is interesting because looking into the second of the two are different lounge/VIP areas with very European furniture ( I must say a really cool club all together). There is also a room full of lockers for you to be able to put all of your warm coats (that we didn’t have because most of what I brought on the trip were shorts and t shirts). We ended up having a great time this night. Living it up with all of our friends with everyone knowing that it will be one of our last opportunities before we make the long stretch from Japan to San Diego.

November 21, 2005
We wake up after sleeping in and decide that we want to try and find some true Japanese food. We talk to the hotel concierge and she recommends a couple of places that were in the high rise building right next door. It was a lot of fun at looking at all of the exotic cars right outside of the hotel from Bentleys to BMWs that aren’t even out in the States. We finally find the restaurants next door and go in, the lady speaks no English as well as none of the menus are in English. So we take her outside to point at a few of the pictures in the window and there is even more misunderstanding of what we want plus we can’t find really anything that is vegetarian that Ammo can eat. So we decided that we would make Ammo eat the Japanese Indian food that was right next door. They had several different options for us to chose from again I had to take the waitress outside and try to point to what I wanted and while doing such I realized that she did speak a little English. Which was kind of funny, after our table realized this. Also it was my first understanding that there are different types of curry. Some are sweeter or hotter than others, I don’t know which ones are which so I generally just order one and hope for the best. The food is excelent I got a piece of chicken that has a recognizable spice that I had, had in India. As well as the curry bowl which is a brown soup substance with chicken breast pieces in it. As well as Nan (which is an amazing bread that is oven baked) and yogurt.
We decided that we wanted to go back to the hotel and ask for recommendations of different sites that we could see around the city of Tokyo until it got dark that happens before 5 pm. We made our way to the subway which is fairly close to the hotel and to a stop that was about twenty or so minutes away. We then made our way to the entrance of this old palace temple area (Meiji Jingu Shrine) It was a long walk to the first building on a large road with huge trees covering the road. It was amazing to think that there was this much unused land in the middle of Tokyo, I mean NYC has central park but this place dwarfed that. When we finally made our way to the main building temple complex at the entrance there were several interesting things. Such as huge potted flowers that I have seen in the states but these were probably five times the size that had apparently been donated to the monks. As well as tons of bonzi trees that were really cool. The ones that I have seen in pictures and in real life have all been little stubby looking trees and these were the same way but with small rose like flowers all over them which made them really cool. And finally different shaped boats all at least 7 feet tall and wide that were made out of huge vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, lettuce we really couldn’t figure this whole thing out weather it was thanking the gods for a productive harvest or what. After walking another 20 or so minutes to the entrance of the palace in the same complex we see a sign that said that it was closed on Mondays just our luck.
Once we got back out of the complex we made our way down the Takeshita Street and surrounding area (which is where Madonna say it is her favorite place in the world to go shopping). We soon learned why although there were a variety of different stores, restaurants etc. there the main clothing items that were being sold were either punk rock or freak outfits which is very typical of the under 30 crowd in Japan. The street is absolutely packed with people and the first restaurant that we came to was surprisingly a chilies type of Wolfgang Puck restaurant. He is a very famous chef for those of you who don’t recognize the name. We put on a couple of the funny outfits and planned a couple of the different arcade games. It is funny because the games have every single prize that you can try to pick up with the hands such as little junk toys to LV purses etc. That all sat right next to the tons of vending machines which sale a variety of items from soda, water, tea, beer, etc. etc. Even food and daily niceties.
Our favorite stop though at the end of the street was the …. Design studios. Which is a show room for all different kinds of products that the company makes but mostly the latest and greatest cell phones that Asians in general are infatuated with. The coolest phone that we saw was one that had a metal robot that went with it for a little over two thousand US. By pressing different numbers on the phone you could make it walk dance roll around it was soo cool. And on the top floor of the building we made our way up to a coffee shop where I was able to make my last post on Japan. It had a really cool view of the city and tried a Saki that tasted pretty terrible like a scotch or something. It started to get really cold outside so we made our way back towards the hotel. We wanted to go see the view of the building next to ours that was a Japanese steak house with dinner starting at 75 US so we just decided to hang out at the bar. The view was great it looked out over the bay towards the opposite side of our hotel room window. There was a really cool bridge that resembled that of the one in San Francisco. It was funny because when we asked for our check they brought us a hand written piece of paper with a number that was almost more than double what it should have been. So I politely asked to see an itemized copy. Well there were all kinds of interesting charges such as a per person table fee of more than 5US a person a tax of ten % and a service fee of 10% which is kind of funny because it is very strict that there is no tipping in Japan it is just not their culture. Anyways it was in a way just frustrating with a common feeling that we have had on multiple occasions in different countries as if you were getting ripped off. I mean there is nothing wrong with all of those charges if it is in writing or told up front it is just frustrating when they are not told to you – something that defiantly wouldn’t fly in America for that matter.
We ended up going back to the hotel thinking that we would go get in the hot tub or swim before we went to dinner. But to our surprise in this extremely nice 5 star hotel there was neither. I mean it had everything under the sun like a nice wedding chapel 5 or so restaurants and bars but no pool. So ended up deciding that we would just go to dinner. Since we had seen several Italian food restaurants on the Madonna Street we asked the Concierge if he would recommend one. It was funny because seemingly every time we would go to the front desk to ask a question they would say no problem and then go in the back room for 5 or so minutes and then come back with an answer. Anyways he gives me a flyer for one that is supposed to be close by that has the name address and even a map. So we get in a taxi (who most of them speak no English) and try to show him where we want to go, then finally the valet comes and talks to him for five minutes or so, then he tells us he knows where it is. We drive around for like 20 minutes stopping and asking people half where there I ask him to turn off the meter because it was obvious he had no clue where he was going. I mean this is something that I don’t understand and it has happened across the world. Taxi drivers that pick you up and tell you that they know where they are going and then they end up having no clue. Finally we stop at a place where the driver goes around the corner for like 5 minutes and we finally decide that we are just going to get out and try to find some place by foot.
Well a couple of blocks away we stop at a cool looking restaurant that is a certain type of Japanese food (Ammo knows the name I will have to ask him) that is where they have a row of hot coals and then they put the meat or veggies that you order on wooden skewers then season it and cook it. It was interesting because we didn’t have any clue how much to order and it was kind of expensive (as every restaurant in the country is I don’t think that you can eat anywhere for less that 30 US). It ended up being really good I had the chicken breast and AJ had the wings and obviously Ammo had different Veggies. Although when we walked out of there we all said that we felt as if we had just eaten the lightest appetizer possible. So we decided to get the taxi driver to stop at the Wendy’s on the way home from the restaurant for some good burgers and fries and chili.
We went out late this night and found the great art form of Kareoake. Which is a Japanese art form in the same LaPonga street area. It is very reasonable considering you get your own private room, Bose stereo, wireless microphone, and TV and all you can drink for ½ hour for about 6 US. It was so much fun, singing all different kinds of songs from country to bob Marley and everything in between. We end up running into the same group of friends at the Kareoake club as well as later at a different disco that night. A couple of things that I forgot to tell you about were the Eiffel Tower that is about half the size of Paris that is lit up at night with a restaurant half way up that you can see from most parts of the city. Also the view from our hotel window of all of the high rises that have the blinking red lights all over the corners and edge of the buildings. If you have ever seen lost in translation it is exactly like that very interesting. Also we are on the Tokyo Bay so we can see all of the dinner cruises and different boats dock right outside.


November 22, 2005

Again today we decide that we just want to explore a couple of the other places in Tokyo so we get off at the central subway station. Which is right next to the water gardens which has all kinds of different fountains as well as a restaurant that didn’t have much vegetarian cuisine so we didn’t stay there. It was really cool because the trees in this area were all turning yellow and it was really beautiful.
Down the street we stop at another palace fort area that is also huge, it probably takes up close to 4 square miles of space with a huge moat around it all. It is also surrounded by trees and a huge lawn area in the middle where people were having pick nicks and such. After exiting we looked around that area which were mainly business towers. One thing that we couldn’t understand is where everyone in the offices ate, because there truly weren’t any restaurants around maybe everyone brings there lunch I don’t know. One of the hotels I walked into I saw a girl in her twenties that looked like she may speak English. She ended up being from Germany and she had just been in Tokyo for two days and was by herself. She said that you go to school in Germany until the age of 20 and when she just graduated she decided that she wanted to move to Japan and learn the language. She was going to live with a Japanese family in two weeks for several months and attend classes in a language school.
So the four of us looked around the area for a good restaurant. We passed several that were pretty interesting that had vending machines either inside or sometimes out that had about 60 or so buttons that had pictures of food. So you would buy a ticket from the machine and go inside and they would cook it for you. Finally we decide that we aren’t going to find any vegetarian food for Ammo and he goes to the place next door to the last restaurant on the street where we decided that we wanted to eat at. He ended up getting chocolate filled croissants. I was able in a way to fulfill my want for Italian food by ordering a beef patty that was covered in white cheese and marinara. It had a small salad and a broth soup. Everyone at the table ordered something that they thought was excellent and we made our way down the street.
Much of Tokyo is in districts so there is the books area, and the DVD, work out clothing etc etc etc. We ended up in an area called the Tokyo Dome, which is an amusent complex with all kinds of different roller coasters and rides and a hotel next door that we went to the 43 floor of called the Tokyo Dome Hotel ( you might be able to google it). It was an amazing view that gave you a real good picture of how big the city truly is. We could see probably as far as 5 miles and there were buildings as far as we could see. The interesting thing though because of earth quakes most of them are around 20 stories and very few as tall as the one we were in, compared to that of Hong Kong with some stretching as high as 88 stories.
We ended up leaving the hotel and seeing signs for a sports complex building next door that had bowling in it. We ended up playing two games and I definitely needed the practice compared to last semester when I took bowling and played every other day. We explored the different floors of the building that had different things such as basketball, tennis, a cool ping pong machine for one player that shot the balls out really fast. AJ played a cool fighting game where it can feel your movements and shows up a score on the screen.
Later, I was finally able to try the shrimp sandwich that I had been seeing advertisements for at McDonalds around the city. It was very tasty looking in the photos but didn’t have the flavor once you taste it. AJ said that he didn’t think that they could McDonald shrimp but they did.
On the street AJ was able to get an Octopus ball that he said tasted pretty squishy. And I was able to go into one of the Pinko (slot machine places that was on the street). Apparently gambling is illegal and I didn’t win anything so I wasn’t able to see how you collected your winnings. Surprisingly enough I was able to get a doctor pepper out of one of the coke machines with Japanese writing all over the side of it. Which is really weird considering you can’t even get it generally in Mexico. On the way back to the hotel we ended up looking a little lost in the subway and a man who spoke English with a string Japanese accent who was Japanese. He tried to help give us directions and after a while he said don’t you know me? We said no. And he said “I am famous, when children see me they always ask for my autograph.” He explained that we was the producer and creator of Poke man a children’s TV character that is all over the world and has even had some video games and stuff made. It was funny he gave us his business card which said CEO on it. I guess we looked as if we didn’t believe him because he said next time we got on the internet to Google him.
That night when we went out we ended up bargaining for a reasonable massage, as usual you are always surprised at the different varieties. This time the woman found the need to walk on my back it felt ok she was pretty light. We spent most of the rest of the night singing Karaoke and hanging out with friends. We went to a couple of other places on the LaPonga street and had a great time.


November 23, 2005

We ended up sleeping in because some of the group didn’t make it in till really late. And woke up to the front desk politely asking us what time we were planning on checking out. We ended up making our way back to the Indian restaurant next door, which was open. Most weren’t though because it was the Japanese Holiday which is similar to “Labor day in the states”. We ended up getting on the Super Express Train back to Kobe. Passing through Kyoto again and still not being able to see exactly what everyone keeps saying what is soo great about it. From our opinion it looked like we thought that Detroit would look like.
We arrived in Kobe around 5pm it was already dark and we had just about 3 hours until we had to be back on the ship. We made our way to the high-rise hotel right next door to where the subway let us out. We went to the top floor (around 45 I think) where there was a restaurant prices for dinner started out at over 150 US so it must have been good.
After going outside the hotel we made our way towards the ship stopping in a café that was in a pastry culinary school where we had excellent cheap crème Brule. And after stopping by Wendy’s one more time for some good fried food before we had to make our way back to the ship.


A couple of final thoughts on Japan that striked me as interesting. The color of the buildings all being a plan drab grey color. The people being so formal in dress you would never see a man over 30 in anything less than a suit. The lack of Japanese steak houses (American style) with the grill in front of you. It is all sit down plain table restaurants. The realization in our final foreign port that indeed American music has infiltrated every country in the world. Which helps us better understand in just one way how the older generations of the societies we visit are scared and disliking of the continuous western culture influence on their own cultures that are often times held so closely to their hearts. AS of writing this there are only two weeks left with a one day stop in Hawaii that I am looking forward very much so to. It has been amazingly enough almost 10 years since I have last visited the Hawaiian Islands. I am expecting even more modernization and commercialization but we will see what we find. When we make our last port of call and welcome our feet once again touching US soul since it has been over three months now.

I have several requests for photos, and they will come hopefully shortly after I return home a get settled in Texas (the place that I am proud to call home)!!!! This definitely will not be the past post. As I am sure I will have stories to tell about our arrival in Hawaii as well as San Diego and our one night in Vegas. Also my thought of becoming a member and accustom to American society again with all of its quirks that I am sure will be much more noticeable. All for now.