BigMike's Big Japanese Vacation

[rEdnECkwHeE1eR]

Any cool suzuki stuff?

[BigMike]

Actually red, I have not forgot about you, and I have seen two Suzuki Samis and I was quick to take some pics of em. I really want to get caught up with my updates, so tomorrow moring I am gonna do my best to put up a garbage-load of pictures

[LCOwner]

I beg you Mike, Please bring me back one of those Land Cruiser toys.  Seriously!

[furies]

It sounds pretty cold down there Mike, when you get back to Fresno you would be sweating in the 60 degree weather. 
Too bad school starts next week... sound like your having a load of fun there.

[toybuilt]

sounds like fun times over there

[CLC]

Mick --

Not sure if Chrystal can go to the airport with me or not -- she generally has to work on Mondays. It all depends on whether or not her boss will let her off. Hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Mom

[BigMike]

Mick --

Not sure if Chrystal can go to the airport with me or not -- she generally has to work on Mondays. It all depends on whether or not her boss will let her off.

Well, if she is working then tell her to not worry about it, and I can just mail the thing to Francisco when I get back home.

Updates!!

I've got some time for a couple updates now, and then more later after lunch (It's 10:30am Tues here)

So continuing with Reply #226, Monday Dec. 26th, the next day after we went to Odiba, we ate lunch together on Misato's lunch break. I have been doing a lot of running around here. It must look strange. First off, I get the gaijin-stare (foreigner) and then to draw more attention to me, I am the only one running around The air feels so clean here and I am cooped up in the apa-to (apartment) most of the day, so why not... And so I was running towards the Kanda Sta-ba- (Starbucks) when I saw something that made me nearly fall down. Across the street a small little car washing company was hand towel drying a brandnew Ferrari 360 Modena?? Man it was SWEET! Just sitting there amongst the busy city was this sweet bit of engineering bliss. I stopped, caught what was left of my breath, and snapped a couple pics. Unfortunately this is the only useable picture as the other two were blurrey. Between running and being excited, I could barely keep the camera still.

Then, not half a block later, I saw this Land Rover

And here are some Japanese Business Men waiting with me to cross the street.

[sloyota]

Hey Big Mike,been really enjoying the photo's.My girlfriend is half japanese half irish and she said after seenin your photos she wants to go.if you got time i got a photo that i want to know the meaning of.they say its here name(well as close as they can get it) in japanese.if you could find out for me that would be cool.and her name is KYLA..thanks Big Mike.   Wes

[BigMike]

Little did I know what was in store for me this day  

[BigMike]

That is Okonomi-yaki, and as of Dec. 25th, Okonomi-yaki has replaced Suki-Yaki (from the 24th) as my #1 All-Time Favorite Japanese Food! MMmMmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn it is sooooooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eggs, Soba (Japanese noodles), Vegetables, and your choice of meat and toppings. What else could a hungry tummy need?

[6.72:1]

Eggs, Soba (Japanese noodles), Vegetables, and your choice of meat and toppings.

That sounds great. I want some. How does the lettuce fit in with everything else? It looks awesome.

[79coyotefrg]

you'll eat  that      Mike  that looks  really    it looks like a brocolli mexican pizza thing

so if MooGu ghai pan  isnt japanese,  is it chinese???  hmmm i guess thats why its in a chinese restaurant     but i cant find a recipe anywhere

[6.72:1]

I eat a lot of things.

[toybuilt]

I eat a lot of things.

me 2 

[blackdiamond]

I think it is a Ferrari 575M, but I know it isn't a 360 (last picture).

Notice the wheels and vents behind the front wheels.

[blackdiamond]

A better image...

[toybuilt]

thats cool

[BigMike]

Yup, there ya go, a Ferrari 575M. I kept thinking it was a 540, but theres no such thing I guess. I looked at pictures of a 360 Modena and the rear bumper looked different. No matter what it was, I want it!! hahahaha

[BigMike]

So after lunch, I went back into Akihabara to look at some things at a store, and so out came the camera.

Here are some more pics of the city there, ANOTHER Ducati Bike (Man they are all over the place!!!), and some Green Cruiser bike

[BigMike]

Then I came across this dropped bike. hahaha I was really lol

Then I saw the most incredible Motorcycle I have ever seen in real life. A Monster SR2. This is the F1 of street legal bikes. I'll let the pictures do the talking. WOW

Then we stayed home and we cooked a delicious meal together

[BigMike]

Then on Tuesday, December 27th, went went back to Odaiba to see if we could get back on the famous feriswheel (remember the 3 hr wait on Christmas?)

So out we went. I remember it being pretty windy that day, so it was pretty cold. When we went to Odiba back on Sunday the 25th, Misato saw a burger shack that she recommened we try, but of course we did the All You Can Eat Sushi Feast instead.
So knowing about that place, we decided to go there that night. Now I have never heard about Kua'Aina before, but mmaann they have the best burgers I have ever eaten. I mean I loved their food, and I am not much of a burger guy at all. Their french fries were so fresh and crispy, they made french fries back at home look like weet soggy noodles. I ordered a Turkey Avocado Pinapple Sandwich on Whole Wheet Bread. Wow, that was some very good food, I was pretty impressed. But my wallet wasn't, $30 for two sandwiches/burgers
And of course a small cup of Ice Tea was the usual $4 with No Refils.

[BigMike]

Another one of my sandwich. A $15 dollar meal. The drinks in the above pictures look bigger then they really were. Believe me, Maybe only 16 ounces or so.

Then we took a long walk across two major highways. This pedestrian walkway was a good 3 stories above the ground and had a really unique cable support design that I had never seen. It may had been purely architectural, I didn't get any pictures of it, but I could imagine TURBO going crazy here as these cables just came right down in front of us where we were walking. There were no fences or signs saying to keep off, just people's sanity. If it wasn't so cold I would have started climbing them myself. If I was with TURBO, I am sure we would have gone to jail that night. hahaha it was a pretty cool bridge, lets just say that

Here is a shot of the Ferris Wheel on the other side of the bridge, and here's Misato's reaction to how huge it is once we got there!

[BigMike]

Here are some pictures from inside the Ferris Wheel Ride. It was hard to get a good shot as we were moving and I didn't learn how to use this new camera in dark situations until last week when we went to Tokyo Tower (I'll get to those pictures )

Misato is afraid of heights, not so bad, but she doesn't like roller coasters. I've never taken her to Magic Mountain yet, and I know that once we go there, I'm gonna get her on some rides rather she likes it or not. I'll teach her to get over that phobia hahahaha Well, this little bubble we were sitting in was moving around quite a bit, with the winds from that day, and also, as you would shift around to look out the windows it would rock. It didn't bother me at all and I didn't even realize it until she was telling me to please stop moving. 

[jimbo74]

no wonder the site is soooooo slow.... theres more attachments uploaded to this thread then on the whole board!

[BigMike]

And that was about it from Tuesday.

When we headed back home, I thought the Subway was rather crowded, but Misato said this was pretty much standard. For those like me who have never been on a subway for the first 1/4 of their life, the subs don't run 24 hrs a day, so near 11pm at each station you can get the opportunity of riding the last sub of the day. I think it was around 10:30pm when we headed back home, so people were already trying to catch the sub home. If you miss it, then you would have to take a Taxi home, which is great for the Taxi Economy here, but that's gotta be a pretty penny. When I asked Misato about Taxis, actually it is pretty common to take one, especially between 11pm - 7am. People are out all night partying and boozen it up that they get wasted and can't even find the subway stations. So  a Taxi is the only alternative, so the Taxis get some great business at all hours of the night.

Drinking Sake and Beer here seems to be more socialably accepted. Not only are business men getting their drink on, just like in the states, but mothers, grandparents, and even under aged teens are having some good ol times too, as they do not card youngsters. If they look really young then they might not serve them, but typically that is not a question and they are just served. Minimarts do not lock up the drink section after a certain hour, and I've even seen public intoxication too...

[BigMike]

no wonder the site is soooooo slow.... theres more attachments uploaded to this thread then on the whole board!

hahahaha I've only started

I don't remember what happened on Wednesday before New Years, I stayed home all-day-long. This forum has been draining me!! But in a good way 

On Thursday, Dec. 29th, we went to a Korean Resturant for Lunch.

On the way there I spoted a Suzuki "Jimmy" (Samurai) (Hey Redneckwheeler, check out that factory hood scoop!) and a brand-new Subaru WRX STi Type-C. Then I saw a Toyota Crown I believe, that had a Kompressor badge on the back. What? I thought that was a Mercedes-specific tuner, like TRD for Toyota or NISMO for Nissan? And since then, I have actually seen 2 or 3 more newer Toyota cars with the Kompressor badge on them. Interesting.

Here is the meal we ate that day. Of course the only good food that comes from Korea is the Bibimbap (mixed rice). I get it all the time.

[BigMike]

After lunch all I wanted to do was walk back to the apartment and I still ran into more things to take pictures of Things just seem more cool over here I guess

Here is the only 3rd gen Hilux that I have seen this whole month here. Its of course a 2WD and has some fugly aero bar on the bed.

Then I came across a KTM 640 Adventure. Bevin is a huge KTM fan as I am sure many other Dirt advocates are so I figured it  deserved an honorable mention. It has dual sport street tires on as do many of the other dirt bike "commuters" I have seen.

[jimbo74]

as far as the toyota kompressor goes, some idiot kid probably put it on......

its called riceritis... they do it all the time here.... i see toyotas and nissans with DOHC VTEC stickers on them all the time here.....

[BigMike]

as far as the toyota kompressor goes, some idiot kid probably put it on......

its called riceritis... they do it all the time here.... i see toyotas and nissans with DOHC VTEC stickers on them all the time here.....

Nope, It's gotta be legitimate. Living in Fresno (2nd highest Hmong population in the United States) I know all to well about Rice Rockets. These badges have only been on newer models in the same place. I have only seen 2 or 3 Riced-out vehicles here, people seem to have much more respect for automobiles. These cars were owned by old grandparents and business men, so I am pretty sure it is a factory option.

[BigMike]

Here are the last pictures from Thursday.

I found another WRX STi (pretty popular here), then I found a Jeep Cherokee and this V8 Landcruiser right out side our apa-to-