BigMike's Big Japanese Vacation

[BigMike]

Ok guys, I AM OUTTA HERE!!

I woke up early this morning so that I could get caught up with my updates, but instead I found my self doing many other things online here, so I didn't get caught up...

Which is bad because I am going to Kyoto today with Misato, we will be gone for Three days, so I will have sooooooo many pictures and stories to share when I get back, and that plus my updates that I am behind on.... oh boy

Our train leaves at 4pm today, and it is almost 12p now. So we've gotta get packed!!

I'll be back Tuesday night my time, Early Tuesday morning PST time, so I probably won't do any more posts until Wednesday Morning (your Tuesday afternoon).

So see ya then!!

Kyoto, HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






Cya
BigMike

[79coyotefrg]

 

[Rocksurfer]

I think I'm an hr. or 2 late but Happy New Year BigMike.

[kneedownnate]

Hey Mike, I had to go into work at the resort today, and while working I saw a flash in the distance, looked and it was a bunch of japanese tourists taking pictures!  Kinda had to chuckle a little cause it made me think of you.

[79coyotefrg]

   thats funny Nate,   my Mom saw the pic of the train station, and said "whats that"  i said " its Mike 's pictures of Japan"
she was

[kneedownnate]

We get a lot of japanese and russians at work.  The japanese are very happy and polite, always taking pictures.  The russians.......uhhhh, the russians.  Some are nice.  Some...

[79coyotefrg]

[FATB0Y]

what he said

[BigMike]

Updates to come in about 10 hours from now

[Shoyrtt]

But get this, About the cost of living here, it seems that some things are MUCH cheaper, and then other things are MUCH more expensive. For instance, we needed some water last night so I went to AMPM to buy some. In my opinion, the tap water here is great, but Misato doesn't want to drink it. Well, I bought 2 gallons of water and 8 AA Panasonic Batteries for my camera. The cost? Try $18. !!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY. A half gallon of fresh bottled water is about $2. The batteries were $8 for 8 AA batteries. $8 + $2(4) = $16 + tax it was almost $17 I guess... But still, I MEAN COME AWN I can get ONE GALLON of water from Wally world for 49 CENTS!!!! So bottled water in large quanities here is about 8 times the price of water back home. Single bottles of water is about the same, like I have seen some Crystal Geyzers which were about $1, so thats about the same as back home..

Not having a car is GREAT. No gas bills, no Insurance bills, no loan bills. Using the Subway to travel accross town, like from going from Northridge to Loma Linda in LA, its only about $3 per person one way. Really reasonable. The subway and train systems here connect and intertwine all over the place, and each station has about 10 different exits that are either street exits or other connecting subway/train lines. Especially not being able to read everything, I would be lost if I was not with Misato. It would take me a couple of times to get it right Im sure...

This will certainly date me but i first visted Japan (Tokyo and the tourist areas) back in 1980 when I was 12. I remember paying $5 for one Washington State apple. On the other hand, you could buy yakitori (chicken on a stick)  for 75 cents.   I visited Okinawa in 1989 (I was stationed in Korea in the USAF) and had a craving for KFC. A seven piece bucket of chicken that sold for $8 in the US was $25 on the rock. That being said, I would love to take my family back. The country as I remember it was incredibly clean and well maintained. The people of Japan were also very friendly and accommodating. 

Mike, when you get back to a faster computer, how about posting a little slide show of your trip.

[FATB0Y]

Updates to come in about 10 hours from now

Keep us posted

[furies]

I hope you had fun in Kyoto Mike. Karen and I would love to vaction there someday.
Enjoy the rest of  your trip.

[Marlin]

Michael must be having too much fun. He should have been posting at approximately 4pm his time. Hey Mick -- are you out there?

[BigMike]

Sorry guys, I had a LOT to do today and I found myself to busy all day. It coming up on 4pm here and I just now have time to start working on the forum, so I am going to do that and do my updating either tomorrow or sometime this weekend.

Last night Misato and I went into Roppongi, which is like the "gaijin" (foreigner) headquarters. I couldn't even get out of the subway station before walking past 8 gaijin. We did some shopping, ate dinner, and then walked the streets a bit. We walked into a drug store about the size of my parents new master bedroom's walk-in closet, and then followed the stairs up to the 2nd floor which was nothing but cosmetic stuff. I told Misato that I was going to wait outside the store because I was really interested in what the gaijin look like here. This whole time I have been here, I have seen less than 20 Americans, and I have only attempted to speak English to one guy in Akihabara. Other than that, my communication in English has been limited to speaking with Misato in half English half broken Japanese.

So I made my way out of the cracker box store and stood outside with my beanie and gloves on. I would say it was in the upper 30s with no wind. I could sometimes see my breath from my nose if I exhaled hard enough. No more then 5 mins had passed, and two gaijin with some luggage walked straight up to me and asked where the "Roppongi Plaza Hotel" was. I told them that I am just a tourist and it was my first time in Roppongi, so I quickly stopped a Japanese guy (late 50s ?) and asked him for the directions in Japanese. He told me to go down the street, make a right, and then make a left. I told him "suimasen, arigatou gozaimasu" ("Thank You and sorry to have bothered you") and we both bowed. The two gaijin were grateful to me. One guy was Hispanic from MN and the other guy was African-American from Quebec Canada with a thick Canadian accent. He was in a hurry as he was only staying for one night and he had to catch his plane very early the next morning.
Man, I felt so cool after that, I'll tell you what... I believe I used about 85% correct Japanese when I was talking to that Japanese guy, and I could understand 100% of what he told me. I guess that was the first time that I really needed to speak Japanese to get through a situation here.

Misato came out from the store, and we walked all the way to the Tokyo Tower. Since I am such a country boy, I saw the Tower and just immediately wanted to go there. It seemed like it was just down the street, but it ended up being a good 2-3 miles to get there, some uphill and some downhill. Hahaha Man, I felt bad for Misato as she was very cold and was wearing her nice high-heel boots. We paid about $7 per person, and took an elevator jam packed with about 30 Japanese and one gaijin (me), and went up 150 meters (almost 500') to the lower-level observatory. It was AWESOME. Tokyo is much larger than I had previously expected. Yet, at the same time, it seems that it is not so spread out as L.A... Strange..

I want to go back to Tokyo Tower, as they have a 2nd level observatory which is 250 meters up, about 820'. That would be pretty cool.

Tonight we want to just take it easy and spend some time together, as we only have about 10 more days together so I have downloaded a couple divx movies to entertain us: "The Notebook" and "Crash". I've seen them both, but Misato has not. I was also looking for "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Snatch", but no one seems to be sharing them Isn't Sleepless in Seattle like the #1 romantic movie?? Man, I can't believe that its not on Shareaza.
The only DVD player here is on this computer, and the drive stopped reading CDs about 2 years ago hahahahaha so that's why I have downloaded a couple movies. Two nights ago, we watched "Super Size Me". WOW That is one seriously crazy movie!!! I hope all of the residents of Texas got to watch it!!!!

Anyways, I am going to clean up the apartment a bit, then I am going to run some testing with a new forum version on a secret "test / beta" forum that you guys don't know about, and hopefully by tomorrow I will be ready to update the software here

Take it easy and catch ya later,
Mike

Here are a couple pictures of Gaijin in Roppongi. I took some other pictures of people walking, but since they were moving, the pictures are blurry. Probably not so nice to just be taking pictures of people anyways

[FIREBALL]

Blurry eh.....probably too much sake.
I've got Snatch on vhs, wish I could send it to you. I love that movie.

Glad you're still havin a good time Mikey. I drank lots of sake in your honor the other night. Then I called you some bad names the next morning.

I might need your help again in a couple of months. I've going to pick up my new project. 4AGZE powered sand rail. "i feel the need, the need for speed"

[BUDDERS]

Sand rail with a supercharged Mr2 motor.  Hmmm.... sound like fun.  I just saw a Hyabusa motor in a small 2 seater rail out at Glamis and that thing was scary fast. 

[CLC]

I wonder if Mikey will ever answer my e-mails? I guess Mom doesn't count anymore. Oh well, try to keep in touch.

Love,

Mom

[FIREBALL]

Hi mom......i'll talk to you. You know i'm the good son anyway.

[FIREBALL]

Ya, those Hyabusa powered short sand cars are sick!!!! Hopefully the ZE will be fun. I think it will get more use in the rail than in the MR2 that's sitting half done in my yard.

[CLC]

Hi "son". I sent Mick an e-mail to see if he could pick something up for me there so I wouldn't have to spend extra money for the shop, but since he hasn't answered, I'll have to go out and spend some money!!!! How are you two doing up there? Hope you didn't get rained out!

Love,

"Mom"

[CLC]

I'll be back -- I have to look something up for Marlin.

See ya!!

Love,

"Mom"

[CLC]

I'm back for a little while. Hope all is well with everyone.

CLC

[kneedownnate]

I might need your help again in a couple of months. I've going to pick up my new project. 4AGZE powered sand rail. "i feel the need, the need for speed"

He he he he, that'd be a wicked engine in a light rail. 

[FIREBALL]

Hey mom, if I were there, i'd pick it up for you.

We're doing good. Almost had to move into the boat...... Actually we did real well. The creek did come over the road a little, but no big deal. We had 7" in one 24hr period.
Is the new place still above sea level?
Rhonda says hi and sends her love.

[freds40]

Hey Mike, if you're up for it, my B-Day tradition is some true American Japaneese food @ Yoshino's. We're going on the 17th.

[BigMike]

Rhonda says hi and sends her love.

Man, you sure run a loose ship over there Jason. Your woman has been sending her love all over the place.

Well, let's see, where are we now...

• Thursday I went deep into Akihabara, as previously posted, and that night we went into the amazing city of Ginza!
• Friday evening we went into Shinjuku, which is possibly the core of the Tokyo Metropolis. I went there back in 2001, so it was interesting going there again
• On Saturday, we went to Asakusa, which is a traditional style city that dates back to the Edo period. In fact, we visited the Sensoji Temple, which is the oldest standing temple in Japan, and is said to have been built in AD 628. We thought it would be a good idea to go there, because in Japan, Chsitamas Eve seems to be more important than Christmas Day, so we figured a more traditional city would be less crowded.
• On Sunday, Christmas Day, we went over to Odiba, which is known as the "Aqua City." It is a complete city that was built atop a man man island by landfill. It was a very impressive place, and I think we are going to go back there tonight.
• Yesterday, Monday, Misato went back to work, and I checked out some more shops in the Akihabara area.

Sunday December 25th, 2005:
Odiba is a small city located on a island made from land fill. There is a connecting bridge to the island, and I would say it is only about a 1/2 mile from the nearest Tokyo coast line.

I don't know to much about this place, except for the fact that there is a large building for many of the TV broadcasting companies where many of their "News" and "Talk shows" and "Soaps" are recorded at. In fact, when we were there, there was a live recording going on with some people on a stage for some show... Misato said she had never seen those actors before, so I didn't think it was to important.

But Odaiba is the first place this trip that has got me thinking about Halo. Yes, Halo, the XBox game, as many of you know, is a large planet with its own eco system that lives on a constructed "halo". TURBO and I always ponder what it would take to actually create such a place. Aside from the climate and atmosphere system that it seems to have, we basically just talk about all of the steel that would be required to build such a place. We both argue that Earth does not have enough resources to build such a place, and that we would have to develop some kind of inter galetic planetary mining operations where we would be taking resources from multiple planets in order to build a Halo. The time stage for Halo anyways, is one where space travel is do-able, so it seems that we could travel most of space looking for planets that are plentiful with resources.

Anyways, thats really just a load of crock that you just read, but what else are we gonna be thinking about after playing that game for 4 hours straight and its 3am in the morning? hahahaha

Well, regarding Japan, since I have not really ever been exposed to a city of such a large scale, such as Tokyo, it seems even a daring attempt to just build a space station the size of, oh say Japan. Let alone a whole planet like Halo. But after being here and after seeing just how much construction and man house has gone into this place, wow. It seems every where I look there are millions of tons of concrete and steel used extensively. I wonder where they got it all. Complete freeway systems that go on for miles and miles all fully "bridged" ABOVE another road. Subway systems of tracks that in some places are 7+ STORIES UNDERGROUND. And of course large skyscraping buildings that must weigh billions of tons of material.

One such structure I saw in Odaiba seemed to represent a large scale human object that could easily be floating around in space with a living community inside of it.

I'll get to that soon, here are some pictures from the main train station that connects all the way across town to the man-made Island.

I should have taken more pictures from the actual train ride, but oh well. Also, here is a picture from the Island looking back on Tokyo. That Mini Statue of Liberty makes me wonder about this society.. It seems to me that the Japanese people have got to be sick and tired of American influences. Especially in Okinawa, where I believe 40% of their useable land is occupied by American military installments. Not to even mention what Present Carter did to two cities here. You've also got a large amount of English translation that seems to be everywhere you go, not only in the larger more populated areas. Now I understand that English is a standardised language throughout the world, but you know, back at home, since I live near the Mexico border (within 350 miles, sure doesn't seem close to me ) even I am getting SICK AND TIRED of all the Mexican translations, and on the phones, "Press one for English, Press two for Spanish." Look, I have nothing against Hispanics or anyone who can only speak Spanish, but what I FIRMLY believe is that if you are going to live in a country, then you better damn well know how to speak THEIR language. If I only spoke Polish and moved to America, then how could I live here without using English? Obviously I would have to learn English in order to live here. And I think that should apply to every language, to every culture, to every country. In Japan at some restaurants they even ask me if I want a Japanese menu or an English menu. Look, I know that is nice of them to offer an English menu, but come on, why do they have to change their way of life just to tailor to me. I am not even a Japanese citizen!! So I better just learn how to speak Japanese or get the hell out of this country.

I dont know, this is such a huge deal with me and it makes me sick. Maybe it is because of the fact that from where I come from, America, we have NO history. What is our history? Dates back less then 500 years. And really the only part of that that applies to anyone alive today is only from the past 200 years. Oh yeah, that's rich. My first weekend I was here in Japan I walked into a building that has been there for 1400 years. So I always have a feeling that we should preserve our history and our way of life, and when I see things changing just for the benefit of outsiders, man, thats how cultures are lost. It seems to me that I would be soooo sick of seeing American things in Japan if I were a Japanese citizen. And then I travel around and I find this Statue of Liberty. It seems that we (Americans) have invaded Japan just a bit to much if you ask me.

:bull crap:

[BigMike]

Here are some pictures of the building and archetic from the Island

And here is a picture of a green Lotus Esprit I saw, but also notice the road system above the road. A double decker road. The roads are like this all over the place, and in many times, I didn't even realize that there was a whole world of cars and trucks beneath my feet. You walk around on the upper level and it looks like its the ground floor, and then after walking into adjecent buildings and going downstairs into what you think is the basement, then you come out and there are different roads with more traffic jams. Its amazing the amount of concret that I have seen on this vacation. And its not just for cars. Train rails also go above automobile roads because there is a lack of space to run them side by side. I have even seen a freeway system that was at least 4 or 5 stories off of the ground. Seriously, there was a road above our heads that were a good 60-70 feet up. And when you go up in adjacent buildings and you look out the windows, its amazing to see cars driving around up there. Its like scenes from Back to the Future II. That was near the Tokyo Tower, and we plan on going back there, so I will take some pictures of that for sure!!

[BigMike]

Hard to believe that 80 years ago this was just a part of the ocean

[BigMike]

Shopping in stores inside their "Island Mall" was quite an experience.

Right when we walked in the first door, we saw this fully animated robot who was speaking in Japanese. Misato said that he was telling everyone that the area is clean and safe, and that if anything happens, then he can take care of it. It was pretty cool and many people were stopping to take pictures of if, like me, but atleast I'm a tourist! hahaha I think it was also a floor sweeper/cleaner too. Pretty nifty. It had sensors and would stop when you walked in front it it.

Here's a barge I saw looking out the window. It looked cool so I took a picture of it.

Here is the first Mexican food I have seen in two weeks.

And here is proof that the Japanese culture is at least 10 years behind America's hahahahaha oh man. I think we wore those shoes when I was in the 2nd grade

[BigMike]

Then of course we got hungry, so time for some ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI FOR JUST $31 bucks!!!!