Sutorenjaa In Japan

Tokyo-A-Go-Go (Bring on the Rain!!!)

(same note as the last post)

Continuing from where I left off last time… I was just arriving in my hotel. It was pretty nice. The name of the hotel was Keio Plaza Hotel and I later found out that it’s a 5-star hotel in Tokyo (one of the best!!) so, JET really takes care of you! 
It was in a pretty nice area, only a short sub ride away from some of the more trendy areas like Shibuya, Ginza and Harajuku. I didn’t do much the first night as I was kind of tired (yay not sleeping on the plane!) and I wanted to get over and jet lag fast. So my roommate and I got a bite to eat, walked around a bit and then just went back to go to sleep. Woo Hoo! How adventurous, eh? This is one of the little streets that was in the area. 
 Mmmmmm… some kind of fast food at the AM/PM (yes, that have 7-11 too… convenience stores are everywhere here too). “So Delicious! So Happy!”
Saw this along the way too at a clothing store… they are so cool and clever having English on shirts! I love that the L and the R are switched! Perhaps a certain governator would feel more at home with this? 
A bin full of teddy bears. Cuddly? Cute? Creepy? You be the judge.
I was so busy for the next three days! Workshop and speeches galore. I have never been more bored. Okok. I really appreciate all the info they gave us but it was a lot at one time. The other small drawback was that for everything they taught us, they had to add the caveat that “every situation is different” so this may or may not apply to you. Great. It was nice meeting people from different countries (there were English, Canadian, Scottish, South Africans, Aussies, New Zealanders, Jamaicans!) and people that were going to different parts of Japan. It was one giant social fest. I think a lot of people went pretty crazy and just tried to live it up when they were there. I went Kareoke-ing on the 2nd night I was there. It was interesting. Pretty much like the ones that I have been to in K-Town, LA but I think the others were really surprised about having separated karaoke rooms. Now everyone that knows me knows that I am not really into karaoke BUT don’t think that I have found a new love in it, I just did it to be social. I still find it a bit weird an unsettling (especially in front of people I just met!) but I figured that while I was here I’d try to be game for new things. It was fun.
The next day was an adventure and a half. The weather was really crappy because a typhoon was on its way to hit Tokyo so there was rain and wind gusts all over. However I had to venture out because I had bought what I thought would be a power adapter at an electronics store but turns out it didn’t work so I had to return it. Also I had to go to the bank to get moo-lah… so me and a friend braved through the rain and gusts to find the place and return the plug and buy another one at a different store. Man, there was so much rain. And it came down in sheets! In the process of walking, BOTH of my umbrellas broke and my shoes got soaked. It took about 2 hours just to find the other adapter because they had us going up and down the same 3 floors about 3 different times. Apparently there is not a lot of communication even between the different areas of electronics (yes, there were 3 floors of JUST electronics!). By the way, I have to mention that they have a dazzling array of digital cameras, cds and mp3 players! Also, they have a huge selection of phones, but the phones are HUGE!!! I found out later that they’re huge because they have TONS of functions… e.g. they have camera phones that are 2.5 mega pixels! But I’m still not sure if I’m going to get a cell of not. The plans are terrible and VERY expensive (e.g. $40 gets you only 66 free minutes but features like voicemail, email and call waiting cost extra!). I’ll try to get internet instead… so everyone get a headset and Skype! Anyway, the typhoon was pretty weak so it was more of a nuisance than a danger. ( picts are from Shibuya)
The last night in Tokyo I met up with Shuji (friend from UCLA) and we went to dinner at traditional Japanese food restaurant. It was so good! We had a salad (lettuce, seaweed, white radish and some other things), chicken sticks, and an egg dish with mushrooms. After eating we went to meet with my prefecture people at a bar/ café in Shibuya but they had changed locations (due to the impending typhoon) so instead of meeting we just walked around the area and then went to a sake bar for some beer. It was good times and really fun to see all the trendy people in Tokyo. Crazy styles.
However, the crowning glory (besides meeting with Shuji!), was finding a square watermelon!!!! Get a load of that thing! IT really si square and it IS a real watermelon. AND look at the price of it! It was 12,000Ұ! That’s a little less than $120.00 for a watermelon! Believe it or not though, I found one that was even more expensive. Fruit is definitely NOT cheap in this country. Actually, after living here for the first week, I have come to the realization that there isn’t a lot here that is cheap. At least the humid and thick air is. Haha! But so far it has been a blast and I can’t wait to see more. Next installment… promises to Fukui! Ooh-wee!

posted by KidBach @ 1:42 PM