BigMike's Big Japanese Vacation

[79coyotefrg]

   Lookin good Mike,   

[BigMike]

Awww, such a cute couple. This has been one of the best vacations I've ever been on.......... oh wait, I'm not there sure feels like it though

hahaha I keep thinking how it would be so much fun to walk around in a group of my friends, just a bunch of American guy walking the Japanese streets. heh heh heh I can see myself getting into alot of trouble here. hahahaha Especially if we all spoke Japanese fluently. Japanese people seem to be quite gullable and are very loose with their trust hahaha

Here is one of the many carts going around. I didnt ask Misato what they are called so I cant share that with ya

I found some FUGU!!! hahahah I hope they know how to prepare them! hahahah

Then I drank the best Sake I have ever had. 100 yen (about 90 cents) for a small cup of what Misato described as being a Traditional Hot Sweet Sake. MMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN IT WAS SOOOOOOOOO GOOD. Possibly the best beverage I have ever had. And yet you could not either smell nor taste the alcohol. The were serving it from a HUGE pot, so I had figured that the alcohol had all evaporated, but after my 2nd cup, I began to taste it. Man it was so good. I want to know how to make that stuff. Much better than Mountain Dew even!!
The skewered lumps are only what I can describe as tasting like "Dai Fuku", or mashed sweet/flavored rice? I forgot what it was called, but they were very delicious. Made from rice.

Then I found a store that was selling soft air guns!!!! YES!! My buddies Brandon and Remy went to Japan back in 1999, and they both brought back some soft air guns in their suitcases. They are much more powerful than the one I got from Big Five, and they are also more realistic and feel better.

And I saw a couple Indian tourists who were talking in English, and I started talking to them about the guns, and they said that I needed to get some type of special permission in order to bring a soft air gun back with me on the air plane. Even if it is packaged in my suitecase, I still need some kind of permission.

Does anyone know about this? What do I need to do? I guess there are forms at the airport I can use to declare that I have a play-gun in my possesion? I really want to take one (or a couple) of these back home with me...

Hey TURBO, would you like another softair gun?? They are about the same price as at Big Five.. Smaller ones are around $20 and the large fully automatic rifle is $70.

[BigMike]

Here are temples from the Kaminarimon, which can be found right after you exit the "Nakamise"

I don't know how old these are, but they look pretty old of course

[79coyotefrg]

4 bucks for a small can of SPAM 

[BigMike]

And here is the main attraction, the Sensoji Temple. It is the oldest standing temple in Japan. It is dated from 628 AD.

The third picture is just some of the many artworks found on the ceiling.

The forth picture is some shrine or idol located inside. Many people were throwing coins into a pond in front of it and saying small prayers. Me being Christian, of course I cant understand how people can build faith and love with a piece of rock, so I thought it would feel strange being in the presence of an idol, but really, this all has just become one huge tourist trap and there is not much worshiping atmosphere left. Well, not what I could detect anyways. Misato is also not into idols, but she does know about the traditions of Japan of course.

Out front of the temple, there were various drawers with papers inside, and you would deposit 100 yen (about 90 cents) and then you would shake a rectangular metallic container that was full of large wooden picks, or sticks of some kind. At one corner of the rectangular object, there was a small hole just large enough for one of these picks to come out from. After a couple consecutive shakes, I got a pick to come out. There was a number written in Kanji characters that I could read, and it directed me to the same numbered drawer.

I then pushed the pick back into the hole, and left the metallic object there for the next person to shake.

Then I would locate the drawer that had the matching number, and out I pulled a sheet of paper that was written in pure pig latin to me. It was full of very old Kanjis that I had never seen before. Man there are so many Kanjis that I need to learn

This paper is my fortune. Misato translated most of it to me, and apparently I loose things easily and I will not be a good husband. hahahahaha oh man hehehehehe

Fortunes and Horoscopes are all a bunch of :b_s: to me. But it was cool to have gone through the motions that people have done for thousands of years.

Then there was a round firebit that had a bunch of smoke coming from it. Inside there was ash from many days of burning, and Misato said that traditionally, if you let the smoke touch your body, and if you breath it in, then you will not become sick, and if you had any sickness in you, then you would be cleansed from it.

There were lots of people just standing there getting engulfed with the smoke. It made my eyes water, but still I stayed there and tried to maintain my pose.

Apparently I am not sick right now

[BigMike]

4 bucks for a small can of SPAM

Yup, about $4.50. How much is it in the states? I have NEVER seen Spam in my LIFE. Vons, Winco, Safeway, Foodmax, Albertsons, Foods co, etc, I am sure they sell it, but I have NEVER seen a can of Spam before. Only on the internet.

So thats why I took a picture of it. I was pretty shocked to see it here!!

[BigMike]

Also, at the temple, there were a couple of these wire grids where people would attach fortunes that they got if they were either bad fortunes, or they did not want the fortune to come true.

I guess the bad fortunes are being carried away with the wind?

Then we left there and went west towards the Matsugaya area for dinner. There were more stores, and even some stores were displaying naked (topless) Japanese chicks right on the street. The even had large posters for some lonely men that were right out in the front. They were in no way trying to hide this public display of pornography. I could not believe it because there were plenty of young kids walking around with their parents and also riding bikes. Man, crazy crazy crazy.

I found a nice Yellow Ducati Supersport bike Ducatis seem to be quite popular in Japan

And Misato found these West point hats which was cool because back in Fresno, one of her former roommates' sister is going to west point right now. It made Misato think about her friends back in Cali... I hope she can come back some day....

[Duffil]

hmmm, you forgot to post some pics, methinks.

[BigMike]

For dinner we ate some Suki Yaki, or Fried Meat Dinner.

It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious. I believe I now have a new favorite Japanese meal. This is just a tad better than Zaru Soba (cold buck wheat noodle meal), Tamago Hanba-ga- (Hamburger style meat with Egg), and Ka-ri gohan (Japanese version of Korean Currey with Rice).

It turns out that this is also Misato's favorite Japanese food, and when ever she visits her family, her mother always prepares this meal for her

And, it turns out that this restaurant is almost 200 years old, and it was the original restaurant that invented the style of Suki Yaki!!  

Talk about being in the right place at the right time

The seating style was traditional, where I removed my shoes at the front door, and I put on restaurant slippers to walk with.
Then we were led to a table that couldn't have been more than 2 feet high.
At the center of the table sat a gas burner.
The waiter brought out a bunch of plates and bowls with many differnet vegetables, miso soup (Dashi fish paste soup), and a large plate with raw beef strips.
It was nice. We got to place our food on the burner and let is sizzle :dinner:
They had some sauce that we poured into the hot dish that soaked into all of the meat and vegtables. Later we used the sauce in our rice, and the sauce was especially delicious because it has oils from the meat and the vegtables in it.

Very, very, very delicious. I highly recommend Suki Yaki to anyone who is going out to a Japanese restaurant. You can select the meat, and in our case, we just ate cow beef.

               

And as you can see in the 4th picture, we sat right next to a very old Japanese rock garden. There was a small waterfall there, and you could hear the sound of running water. It was an excellent atmosphere and the food was most excellent. One of the best dinning experiences I have ever had

[mudguts]

You forgot the order of fugu   
Mikey , I'm crushed 

[BigMike]

hmmm, you forgot to post some pics, methinks.

Been to busy having to much fun!! I've got A LOT MORE TO POST!!

Well, this is my last post for now, I am going to be going back out soon..

Here are some last pics of the delicious Suki Yaki.

That yellow goo is a raw egg. I broke the egg and poured it into the dish, and then I batered it with my Hashi (chopsticks) and then I would dip each piece of food into the egg and then eat it. And I am a HUGE sucker for anything with eggs in it. I LOVE the taste of eggs, so that's probably why I love this meal so much.

In Japan though, all of the food is more fresh and only lasts for a couple of days. The eggs here will expire in a couple of days, not weeks like in America. So it is said that the fresh food here is many times more fresh/healthy, and therefore, they can get away with eating many foods raw. Misato said that she cant do this in Fresno because the does not trust eating American eggs raw. She thinks she would get sick. I guess many people talking about this often.. Comparing the freshness of the food in Japan to the long lasting food of America. Interesting comparison..

Oh also, we must had been there for over an hour, and I was able to sit in Indian Position, with my legs crossed like a X, for just over an hour before they were about to fall off. Ever since my knee surgery back in 1995, I couldnt even sit Indian until a good 5 years or so after the surgery. And up until last weekend, my record was holding that position for about 15 mins. So I was pretty happy that I can sit in that position once again without having to stretch my legs every 5 mins. I guess living in Japan I would have to learn how to sit like that real quick like

Cya later (12:40p Wednesday)
BigMike

[rEdnECkwHeE1eR]

I saw that in santa rosa and the car was from japan

Oh and sorry but quality airsoft guns are not japan only we have had them here for a while, though allot of them do some from Japan

http://airsoftextreme.com/store.html

I have a very modified one of these



stock specs

Manufacturer:    Type:       Battery Type:     Motor:         Fire Modes: 
Tokyo Marui      Electric       Stick                EG700      Semi and Full Auto 
Average Feet Per Second       Average Rounds Per Minute    Accurate Range 
275 - 285 FPS                        700 - 800 RPM                     40 - 60 Feet 
Dimensions 
Length:  Weight:     Barrel Length:     Capacity:      Hi-Capacity: 
629mm  1.98kg            141mm        28 rounds     240 rounds
 
Other Specifications 
Metal Parts 
Barrel, Front and Rear Sights, Charging Handle, Trigger, Select Fire Switch, Magazine Release and Sling Swivels
Optional Accessories(These are not included with this gun) 
Hi-Cap Magazine, Claw Scope Mount, Dual Magazine Clip, Foregrip w/ Light, Front Sight Laser mount. 
Description 
An Accurate little gun that can hold it's own with it's bigger brothers but has superior CQB usability. 

It would cost about $600 to duplicate my gun

[BigMike]

wow, thats pretty sweet, then maybe I will hold off then on the airplane gun transportation issue

EDIT: ummmmm I just checked out that website. holy cow. those are a bit to extreme for my "play" budget

[BUBBA]

Sweet trip Mike,I think spam is more of a southern thang.Me personally I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole,but there's alot of people who make meals outta that stuff,I think around here it's about a .50 to 1.00 a can depending on the store.

[79coyotefrg]

$1.98  for the large can    spam and mac and cheese make a decent meal


hey mike i sent you a PM 

[FIREBALL]

Awesome Mikey!!!
I told you sake was the shnizle. Next time you come up, we'll go to our regular hangout and try some differant types. Rhonda and I always have an open bottle there too.
Great pics! The temples are beautiful. Amazing architecture.

kee oh TSKEH-teh

[79coyotefrg]

hey Mike,  so  if you and Misato  get hitched and get a place if fresno,  i'll send you some chicken     10  should keep you in fresh eggs  i like the brown eggs my   give up 

uh  have you checked your PM's yet

[rEdnECkwHeE1eR]

Yeah those are a bit much If you are just skrewing around try here they has spring guns
http://redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/

But just wait soon enough you'll want a gas or electric, check out the gas pistols and SMGs under products then go to KSC and look for the G18C that hing is pretty sweet, full auto, gas blowback(slide goes back each time it shoots like a real gun), and shoots like 1100 rpms

Oh I also have one of these, cheak the site under Products>accesories>shells, It takes the big ones

[BigMike]

Awesome Mikey!!!
I told you sake was the shnizle. Next time you come up, we'll go to our regular hangout and try some differant types. Rhonda and I always have an open bottle there too.
Great pics! The temples are beautiful. Amazing architecture.

kee oh TSKEH-teh

Right awn Jason, yeah, I need to come up and hang out at your Sushi resturant there. Now I know what to order I'm no longer a newbie at sushi ahhahah

You are saying "Becareful" or "Take care", and the correct spelling is "ki o tsukette"
Pretty cool mang

Yeah those are a bit much If you are just skrewing around try here they has spring guns
http://redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/

THERE YA GO!! Ahhh N i c e. I'm all for the Tokyo Marui Spring USP (High Grade). I am sure that thing is better then the ones I saw here.. Thanks dude

So finishing up with Saturday evening, after we ate Suki Yaki, we made our way back to the Asakusa station, and then one the way back home (to Kodenmachoo), we stopped somewhere to check out another depa-to (Department store). I believe it was in Ueno, but I am not sure. I'll have to ask Misato where we were...

We went there because Misato knew of a cheap store inside that she wanted to check out while we were in the area, so inside of another multi-story department store we went. Somewhere on the 9th floor we found this place...

Lots of mixed brands and cheap prices. It felt like a Japanese version of a ROSS, if you have one of those, but only if you can imagine seeing a ROSS inside of a JC Pennys or Gotschalks (are these westcoast department stores I wonder? ).

Here is a picture from Asakusa Subway Station.

Of course I found some more ENGRISH!!!!!!!!
Check those two bad boys out! "The Waiting Seems Eternity Feel Just Fine"
and "Very In The Zone Important Brave New Girl People Everytime" hahaha what in the world?!!!

Also check out these 300 en Mens Jackets. I kid you not, that is about $2.75 US for one jacket. Man, if you can buy a 7 layer buritto at Taco Bell, then you could have one of these Jackets. Wow. Child Labor at its finest!

[79coyotefrg]

so im thinking a yen is roughly 1 cent

483 yen for the spam was about $4.50

[BigMike]

Here is what a crazy American tourist looks like while taking pictures of train tracks with nothing around. What a goof ball.

After we left the depa-to, they were cleaverly selling "kurisumasu ichigo okashi" (Christmas Strawberry Cake) right outside the main exit.

And beings that it was nearly Christmas day, we decided to endulge ourselves.

Here Misato is buying the cake...

Then lighting the candles...

Then we have our little Christmas party, including breaking the cherry on my one Mountain Dew Collectors can. It's ok, I bought another one

And that was it for Christmas Eve

[BigMike]

so im thinking a yen is roughly 1 cent

483 yen for the spam was about $4.50

Yeah, I am not sure what the current exchange rate is, but its usually around 115% one way or 90% the other way or so.

Hang on.............

Ok, according to Google, $1US dollar = 117 Yen, and 100 Yen = 85 Cents.

Hmmmmm......... That's worse than I thought (better for me!!! ) it was. I thought the US dollar became weaker than that since 9-11. That is what it used to be like 5 years ago. Maybe the Japanese economy took a dive recently or something..

Anyways, I've gotta get going, I'll be back in a couple of hours to finish up my updates that I am behind on

Tomorrow (Friday) Misato starts her New Years vacation, which will go through 12/30 - 1/4. So we will have 6 straight days together, and we will be leaving on the 31st (Sat) to go to Kyoto, a very beautiful and traditional city that I have never been to. I have not really been outside of Tokyo really. I did go into the mountains somewhere near Tokyo the last time I was here, but I dont think it was so far away.

On Sat, we are going to travel the distance of about Sacramento to the Grape Vine, I think? .... ?

Cya later
Mike

[79coyotefrg]

looks like a diabetic fit 

[LCOwner]

Mike,

Sorry for being nosey but are you doing any shop business while you're there?

[BigMike]

You know, I really want to, but I dont know what to do? I also dont know any details about how to do a tax write off, so I just figured screw it and just have fun.

I mean, couldn't I just go talk to some exporting company, and they would be like "whats wrong with you, go away" but then I could say that I was doing research for my fathers company, and then I could do a tax write off on my airplane tickets or something? I paied like $160 for tax on those puppies, I would love to get that back!!!

[RHG]

Hey mike just curious, whats the cost for living over there? Obviously different parts will be more but its not like Cali where you got to have both spouses working full time to be doing decent is it? Looks like Misato is doing fine by herself. I bet it makes it a lil easier not "needing" your own transportation. When do you come back? You should bring me back a fine young japanese girl. Misato have any sisters?

[79coyotefrg]

RHG  see the GBG thread,   i hadnt really been into oreintal chics,  but that chic in the blue dress, 

[FIREBALL]

Ya, I wouldn't mind adopting a nice 18 year old Japanese girl.

[BigMike]

Hey mike just curious, whats the cost for living over there? Obviously different parts will be more but its not like Cali where you got to have both spouses working full time to be doing decent is it? Looks like Misato is doing fine by herself. I bet it makes it a lil easier not "needing" your own transportation. When do you come back? You should bring me back a fine young japanese girl. Misato have any sisters?

Well, the funny thing is that Misato is making about $18 US an hour!! And she is averaging like 46 hours a week too. I don't know what a full working week is, if it is regulary 40 hours here like it is in the states, and I don't know how overtime pay works, or if there is such a thing as "over time pay," but I'll tell you what, she is putting the money away man. She doesn't do anything except work her butt off and then come home tired and just relax and go to sleep. Her only bills are a cheap $600 apartment (shared with like 9 other girls in a 5-story "female only" complex) and her cell phone bill. They do a lot of cooking together at the house, so that keeps the food costs wwaayy down. But, on the down side, she has a very boring life here. All of her friends are in a different city about 350 miles south of here, but she does go shopping with some new friends she has her, but I think its mainly window shopping.

Right now we are staying in a cheap apartment that is on the 4th floor of a rather old building, I have pictures of this place too, but I am just so far behind with my updates its taking me too much time to resize pictures and set them up on this slow laptop (800 Mhz + 256mb RAM + WinXP = VERY SLOW, SERIOUSLY). I dont even have Adobe PS on here, so I just downloaded some crappy resizing program that takes almost 30secs to resize a picture I am used to my AMD 3200+ with 1 Gig RAM, its like racing a Toyota MR2 with a Honda S2000, you know, no chance for the S2000

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...

[LCOwner]

I paied like $160 for tax on those puppies, I would love to get that back!!!

That's a question for Marlin Crawler's accountant.