BigMike's Big Japanese Vacation

[BigMike]

As I mentioned earlier, I found my first Mountain Dew Vending Machine!!

The first time I went to Tokyo, back in 2001, I was a complete Mtn Dew Addict. I could go through a whole 2 liter of that "Beverage for the gods" in a single sitting. So logically, I was searching and searching, and it took me two weeks to find a vending machine that had it!! I was so excited and I bought like 10 cans of it...........

.........and I saved one can and took it home. It has been a special souvenir from Japan, that I have displayed on my computer desk for the past 5 years. In fact, I have already moved it over to the new house and it is on my computer desk again

So, keeping with tradition, I knew that I would be tasked with searching for that rare vending machine that stocks this Sweet Elixir of Youth, as I would estimate that 1 out of 300 vending machines dispense Mountain Dew. And today I found not one, but two machines that have it!!! I was so surprised I stopped immediately and pulled out 120 yen and immediately bought one.

And to my suprise, it's a Sweet Rare Collectors Edition, "King Of The Street" 500 ml can!! apprx. 17 ounces. AWESOME!! Now I hope it doesn't explode in my suitecase on the way back home!!

I also came across this really old house. A Diamond in the rough

And I bought a Delicious Egg Sandwich, of which, I am pleasantly surprised to know that the Sandwiches of Japan are very Confident. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA    That's the first "Engrish" I have come across so far!! Nice

[reklund5]

Atta Boy on the Supra sighting Mike!  Looks like a great time!   Keep the pics coming and have fun.

Ryan

[6.72:1]

Wow, looks like you are having a good time Mike!

[Marlin]

Thanks for the pics and the updates

Happy to see you are keeping busy on your vacation.

Tell Misato hello and give her a big hug and kiss from us.
We both miss her also [only Misato, not you you bum]

The shop has been very busy, and your mom and I have been unpacking boxes.

Glad you finally made it over the ocean.

Keep us all posted.

You make us all jealous.

I will check at WINCO and find out if they are planning to build any markets in Japan anytime soon.

Love you  Mom and Dad

[BigMike]

Thanks for the tour Mike this is cool. I'm jealous though I want some authentic Sushi & Udon

Thanks birddog, I'll have to get some Udon and Sushi next time I am out and take some pictures for ya

Atta Boy on the Supra sighting Mike! Looks like a great time! Keep the pics coming and have fun.

You know it! I saw a Twin Turbo R34 Skyline yesterday, but I didnt have the camera!! DOH

Wow, looks like you are having a good time Mike!

Well, I am having a good time right now because its just the 2nd day here.. But you know Misato is working during the day and I feel so bad that I am on vacation and she is slaving away. Its not like I could just go to her work and help out, the working system here is really strict, and it is tied in to their way of life also....

.......One thing that is interesting about working here, is that it is easier for a single woman to get a job. Why you ask? Well, traditionally, the wife stays home while the husband goes to work. So, if an employer hires a woman who is in a relationship, then there is a chance that she could be married, and then she would no longer need to work. So in Misato's case, in fact, its nearly vital that her work does not know that we are dating... Really, I know its crazy. When I walk with her to work we are holding hands, singing songs, and dancing all the way to the last intersection. Then it's like we don't even know each other.

The first day, yesterday, I just walked to the last block and then we said good bye, and I turned around and went back to the apartment. Today, I walked with her to the last block, and then I stayed a couple of steps behind her, and eventually I crossed the street and watched her enter her place of work from afar.

In fact, when a single woman writes her resume and goes in for a job interview, it is actually a powerful selling point to be single. They will make sure the employer knows that she is single and has no intent of getting married. So logically, Misato said that she was single during her interview, which is only natural I feel, anyways I am like 1 million miles away from her anyhow, so our relationship is on the big DL, or Down Low for the lay folk, when ever we are near her work.

It doesnt bother me at all, but it does bother me that I can not help out.. Man, in America, if I was working at and Misato was bored, we would be more than happy to have he come in and help with cleaning parts or cleaning the kitchen, or anything. But noooo not in Japan. Completely different here......

This weekend is Christmas, and Misato will get Friday off, so we will have a 3-day weekend together, so I am really looking forward to that.

Right now it's 3pm on Wednesday, so she only has one more day of work and then we can relax together. So far, I have been on my own, but its cool because I know enough Japanese to read simple road maps, street names, purchase goods from stores, and ask for directions.

This of course is a way kick-back time for me, but I have learned how to operate Japanese washing machines, stoves, microwaves, exchange money, navigate around, and order food from menus by myself in Japanese. I am learning ALOT thus far, and its just the 2nd day.

The more I walk around, the more new experiences I am encountering

[TURBO]

so....in jappan, they lock up the bikes, and not the motercycles?    i knew they were on the other side of the world, but i didn't know everything was upside down.... lol

actualy i'm surprized to see so many locks and flip up parking ....  things .... on the ground i thought jappan had practically no theft over there.....

thanks for the tour.... seems easy to get lost there... 90% looks all the same

[TURBO]

i'm eating sliced cheese for dinner and then i will play some AOE II ..... just one game

[BigMike]

Thanks for the pics and the updates

Happy to see you are keeping busy on your vacation.

Thanks for checking out my updates dad!! I'm glad the shop is doing well! Did you ever get the new TV to work any better? And did Brandon come by to get his computer and check out the TV?
Tell mom I said hi, and ask her to get a scratching pad for Max like the one Chrystal has, minus the ball. Tell her to keep the receipt so I can pay her back! It's sure much cheaper than getting him declawed!
Love ya both!!

actualy i'm surprized to see so many locks and flip up parking .... things .... on the ground i thought jappan had practically no theft over there.....

It does seem though, that there is no crime over here. I have seen 4 or 5 vehicles left idling in the street with the driver no where to be found. It wouldnt be that hard for me to just jump in there and take it away..

thanks for the tour.... seems easy to get lost there... 90% looks all the same

haha actually this morning, after I had walked all around this place, I wanted to go back home. So I was walking and walking, and actually I realized that I was going the wrong direction, by about 3 or 4 blocks. So I turned around, and then I realized that I had walked RIGHT PAST THE APARTMENT, but on the other side of the street, and I didnt even realize it!!

Misato was really worried that I would get lost yesterday when I went out walking around on my own for the first time. But its not so bad. The only confusing thing is that there are countless streets and alleys here, some connect, some dead end, and I have learned that the smaller streets do not have names.

I asked some guy who was loading his truck what the name is of this smaller back road we were on, and from what I could understand, the street did not have a name. I was confused, but I could not explain myself any better than I had, so I told him "domo arigatou gozaimasu" or "Thankyou Very Much" and we bowed and I walked off. Later I asked Misato about it, and she thinks the smaller roads are not identified by names, only the larger roads are..

So far I have not figured out exactly how packages are delivered if they have no street names.

Something to point out which I HIGHLY RESPECT here is that when you go to any counter to buy something, the clerk will speak out loud exactly how much each item costs, and then when you give him the money, instead of putting it directly into the cash register, there is a money tray with a clip that they attach the bills to or lay the coins in, and then he makes change from the register. Its not until you actually get the change back and begin to walk away that the clerk will deposit your money into the register.
This way, there can be no confusion about how much you gave him. If he gives back the wrong amount of change, then you can easily dispute it because your money that you gave him is sitting there in the little money tray.

They seem to be really pasionate about handling money here. Every single bill and coin I have seen look like they have been dipped in Ajax for 20 hours. The bills are very clean and crisp and the coins have no discolorization to them.

Also, despite being so populated, the streets are very clean. I have barely counted maybe 5 cig butts that I have seen on the ground, and people smoke here much more then they do back in Cali. The gutters are completely clean, and even where trees drop leaves, they have been raked into a pile awaiting pickup, or they have been neatly bagged for trash pickup.

Also, there are many cars here, yet the air is possibly TWICE as clean as it is back in Fresno, a much smaller city. I am not even talking about LA or SF, Tokyo's air quality seems to make LA's look like Hell during a sand storm.

So what's up? They are using 100+ octane here, and have less strict smog checks than in CA. Can agriculture cause that much pollution? I'm sure thats the case for the Central Valley where I come from, but I think that because everything seems to be within walking distance, people are not driving as much as they are on the US.
Back home, I have to drive a good 2 miles to get some Milk. When you have half a million people driving 2 miles for some milk, that a lot of pollution for no reason. Here people are walking and riding bicycles, and yet being so crowded, there are much more trees and greenery within the city, even inside of the busy downtown of Akihabara.
But still, the streets are very crowed with cars, there are plenty of traffic jams here, and it even takes time to wait for the crossing light to give you the Blue "Walk" sign. This place certainly is not short on auto traffic, yet the air feels so clean and you can look right down a long street without seeing much haze at all. I could even argue that they have many tall building, so its difficult for any wind to clear out the crappy air, and yet the air is still clean.

In fact, I have seen Freeway overpasses that have Trees planted in the middle of them. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!! Trees planted on bridges, what a concept

[kneedownnate]

And since I saw that Corvette last night, I wasn't quite as surprised when I found this C5 this morning

This blue rig is a city dump truck believe it or not

And I came across a FedEx / Kinkos 8)

I've actually seen a number of left-hand drive American autos over here. The majority seems to be Cadillacs, as I have seen a couple cars and a fixed up gangsta Escalade, must be some Japanese Yakuzu

This probably won't come up with the pics, it never does for me!  Anyway, you spotted the other ae86 parked, but take a look at the shot of the rear of the c5, out in traffic it looks like the ass end of another ae86 going by.  I'm also kinda surprised to see the late 80s town ace van, it's the one in traffic across from the c5 in the side shot. 

And thanks for the bike pics Mike!  Those things are pretty cool.  I love the fact that two of them have supertrapps on em, and that orange one looks like about 5 different bikes cobbed together.  I see yamaha tw200 wheels and what looks like a small bore honda xr engine.  Cool stuff man, thanks!

I dig the surfs and prados too, those are pretty cool.  Have you noticed if any of them are diesels or not?

[BigMike]

then i will play some AOE II ..... just one game

One Game? That is impossible. No body can play just one game of AOE II.


ps. TURBO, Get your darn firewall fixed and we could play AOE II OVER SEAS!!　

[trekker]

keep those pictures coming looks your having a great time

[TURBO]

yeah i won't play tonight i'm disabled...


i'll just watch S.W.A.T.


caught it in the mill useing an one inch end mill

[BigMike]

This probably won't come up with the pics, it never does for me! Anyway, you spotted the other ae86 parked, but take a look at the shot of the rear of the c5, out in traffic it looks like the ass end of another ae86 going by. I'm also kinda surprised to see the late 80s town ace van, it's the one in traffic across from the c5 in the side shot.

And thanks for the bike pics Mike! Those things are pretty cool. I love the fact that two of them have supertrapps on em, and that orange one looks like about 5 different bikes cobbed together. I see yamaha tw200 wheels and what looks like a small bore honda xr engine. Cool stuff man, thanks!

I dig the surfs and prados too, those are pretty cool. Have you noticed if any of them are diesels or not?

Wow, I didn't even notice that Corolla nor those supertrapps!

I'll have to check if they are diesel next time I spy one. Town Ace vans are all over the place, but I've only seen a couple of the older versions, known as Hmong Ships back in Fresno...

Actually, some of the smaller mini-vans here look really cool. I don't know why they are not being offered in the states. I think they would be a good seller

[kneedownnate]

We don't get a lot of that stuff cause of all the safety regs we have, plus they wanna be pretty sure it would sell in big numbers, and what's useful to them and cool to us isn't necessarily what joe public wants to buy.  I've also heard that the line we're fed about them having to change their engines every 30k miles isn't necessarily true, it can really vary.  My friend that told me about the 400cc limit was in Okenawa (sp?), so maybe it's just there, or maybe it's been abolished since he was there in the early 90s.  Keep takin pics man, this is really cool.

[wa4x4]

Makes me feel like your being a tourist and not just staying in the apartment.....  

[TURBO]

hey mike kneedownnate is right, this is really cool, i enjoy the pictures and look forward for more





by the way i pm'ed you

[BigMike]

Hey guys, I just got the good news from momma that she is getting off work around 7:10p, so I am OUTTA HERE!!

!!!

Also, here is the company that she works for, check it out, pretty amazing stuff: http://www.avl.com

[CTENG in KS]

So ah, Mike...where are all the Chevys?   

[wa4x4]

Japan realized they all suck except the corvettes and even then....

[Rocksurfer]

I wondering if you were going to find your way home, all those buildings look the same. Sounds like you're having an excellent vacation.

[MiniSimp]

 

[wa4x4]

Good work MiniSimp. How is the GF liking having you over in Japan and how bad is the culture shock, even though you have studied it somewhat?

[88runner]

It would really suck if you had to leave and someone was parked below your vehicle. You would have to hunt them down and have them pull out.. 

I don't know in japan but in europe people will leave their car on neutral so the car next to it can push it to get out of his place.
Seen it done many times, you let you car in one spot and when you return it's like 5 car away.  

[6.72:1]

I don't know in japan but in europe people will leave their car on neutral so the car next to it can push it to get out of his place.
Seen it done many times, you let you car in one spot and when you return it's like 5 car away.

I thought I got lost trying to find my truck!

[TrackVino]

Good to here your doing good. Keep safe 

[4THEWKN]

MIKE CHECK YOUR PM ASAP!!!!!!! Dean

[CrawlerChick]

Well, well, well, my little brother made it. You better be taking awesome care of Misato!!! HI MISATO!!!!      I MISS YOU!!!!!!    I hope we can get you back in the states soon!!!    

For the record, we would have gone back and picked you up from LAX but the *%$@* traffic sucks!!!   

The pictures are awesome mikey!!!!     We need more pics of Misato!! 

We are over at Francisco and Diana's house right now.    They say hi!     We are all checking out your pics since they have wireless!    Francisco wants you to bring him a Subaru magazine! 

Anyway, keep it up!! Hi again Misato!!!!!   

Love ya!   

PS: Hi Dad   and Mom 

[wa4x4]

" I walk the streets of Japan until I get lost because it doesnt remind me of anything" Just a little Audioslave, reminded me of you, so I had to share.

[kneedownnate]

You know, I heard that song at work today and totally thought of mike, was gonna post up the same thing but didn't come straight home so I forgot.

[BigMike]

Good work MiniSimp. How is the GF liking having you over in Japan and how bad is the culture shock, even though you have studied it somewhat?

MiniSimp? Did I miss something? Misato and I have both been wait for this for 174 days, so we are both really excited--
As for the culture, so many things are different here (mostly in a good way) its amazing.

I walked all around Akihabara city today and got to learn where everything is at. And for the first time I found some "baka gaijin" or Silly Foreigners, like myself. After today the number of black people I have seen is up to a whopping 3. And I saw about 5 Americans who were speaking English, but I choose not to engage and I tried to look as much of a regular as possible. I am sure their Japanese is limited to what they have learned from watching Dragon Ball Z

I have a bunch of new pictures and not much time right now, so I will see what I can get up. Misato will soon be off work, so I'll be leaving soon....

Here are some pictures of last night (Wednesday) after I picked Misato up from work.

Here work is actually right between Kanda station and Akihabara Sta, so we went to Kanda for dinner.

There I found the first "Sta-ba" as the natives here call Starbucks.

Here's a picture looking down towards the heart of the Kanda Station area.

I found this interesting Sheep Dog Bar.

And this is what we ate. I decided I wanted to go out again, so we went to a Japanese "fast-food" resturant. At the front door, there is a vending machine that you put some $$ into, and then you select which dish you would like. Then a ticket pops out, and you make your way to a table. There, a waitress collects your tickets, and in less then 2 mins flat, you have your complete meal. No joke.

In my opinion, this food seems to taste just as good as any other Japanese food I have eaten state-side. Misato says the taste is not so good, but I cant tell a difference. I have yet to eat some "real quality" japanese food as she put it