Remember Tama the stationmaster cat?
Well, soon he will have his own train-
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Snowboarding!
My friend and I signed up for a snowboarding trip through the Tokyo Snow Club and joined fifty other people for an adventure to Myoko, Niigata.
The plan was to take a bus from Tokyo at 7am. That required me to get up at around 5am. Smart Rory, with the intention of NOT going out the night before ended up spending ALL night at his local bar and still managing to catch the first train at 5:20am. However, the night took its toll on me while I was on the train and I fell asleep. Luckily, the train ends at the station that I had to get off. Unluckily, no one woke me up and I was still sleeping as I was heading away from Tokyo. My friends phone call woke me up at some station I had never heard of and after making them wait an extra 20 minutes they left without me. "Great," I thought. "There goes $200." But nooo! I was determined! I managed to get a Shinkansen (bullet train) ticket to Nagano and from there I was to take a local train to the ski resort town. From there, I was to take a bus to the ski resort and get back on schedule. Two and half hours later filled with beautiful snow filled scenic views, crappy drinks, waiting in the middle of no where and I was there! Only an extra $80 thanks to my stupidity.
The weekend weather was perfect! Sunny, not too cold, perfect visibility of the other mountains and most importantly, perfect snow. I immediately noticed that 80% of the people there were snowboarders. No, make that 90%. Very strange indeed. Too bad most of them were horrible at it.
The ski lift situation was funky. There were a ton of them scattered all over and they didn't seem well situated. It took three lifts to get to the top! Also, with access to two mountains it was very easy to get lost from your boarder buddies. Luckily, with so many of them it was easy to join up with someone else from the group.
The organizer, George, is a great guy and was extremely helpful and hospitable the whole time. After the included dinner, we went out as a group to purchase alcohol supplies. I didn't think we would have a party but we did. The hotel we stayed at was entirely rented out for our group and was slope side. That means we put on our boards and ride right away from the hotel. Very convenient.
After the hotel party people (me) had the great idea to ride these incredibly dangerous looking skateboard sleds. I wish the pictures came out better but they consist of a mess of drunk foreigners flying down the mountain and crashing in spectacular fashion. From there we headed out to the bars/izakayas. Met some fun people at some place followed by me running away from everyone into the night.
Next day was just as nice filled with snowboarding and onsens. It really is nice to walk around naked with other friends and not give a hoot. Plus, an outside hot spring is wonderful! Even if the neighbors can see.
Ohhh, one of the best parts was getting back to the bus at the bottom of the hill. Most of us opted to take sleds down the mountain to it. Since I didn't take the bus I had underestimated the distance to it. It was far! Haha. It was so much fun as people flew all over the trail picking up more and more speed. At one point I couldn't control the uncontrolable sled and flew into the woods only to get stuck in 3 feet of fresh powder. Back on track and up to speed it was almost time to stop at the bottom before crashing into the buses and people waiting. I chose the best option I could think and rolled off the sled into a mess of snow, extremities, and clothing. I look up to find people coming right at me without taking the option I did and I had to dodge people left and right as they crashed into a building of some sort. Weee.
Bus home, back to work.
Notes - The trails are wide! Way to wide! No challenging runs at all.
Riding in the woods is prohibited. I heard lots of stories of ski patrol catching people but I didn't see one all day. Unfortunately, this is where the best snow and most challenging terrain is. Fortunately, my new friend and I don't care about ski patrol and got to experience it.
My sweet free sunglasses from the hotel -
George, Wojtek, Craig, and I
Some funky merry go round that even I couldn't manage to stay on-
The people from the bar -
Wow, I don't have many pictures and neither does anyone from the trip. ざんねん - unfortunate.
The plan was to take a bus from Tokyo at 7am. That required me to get up at around 5am. Smart Rory, with the intention of NOT going out the night before ended up spending ALL night at his local bar and still managing to catch the first train at 5:20am. However, the night took its toll on me while I was on the train and I fell asleep. Luckily, the train ends at the station that I had to get off. Unluckily, no one woke me up and I was still sleeping as I was heading away from Tokyo. My friends phone call woke me up at some station I had never heard of and after making them wait an extra 20 minutes they left without me. "Great," I thought. "There goes $200." But nooo! I was determined! I managed to get a Shinkansen (bullet train) ticket to Nagano and from there I was to take a local train to the ski resort town. From there, I was to take a bus to the ski resort and get back on schedule. Two and half hours later filled with beautiful snow filled scenic views, crappy drinks, waiting in the middle of no where and I was there! Only an extra $80 thanks to my stupidity.
The weekend weather was perfect! Sunny, not too cold, perfect visibility of the other mountains and most importantly, perfect snow. I immediately noticed that 80% of the people there were snowboarders. No, make that 90%. Very strange indeed. Too bad most of them were horrible at it.
The ski lift situation was funky. There were a ton of them scattered all over and they didn't seem well situated. It took three lifts to get to the top! Also, with access to two mountains it was very easy to get lost from your boarder buddies. Luckily, with so many of them it was easy to join up with someone else from the group.
The organizer, George, is a great guy and was extremely helpful and hospitable the whole time. After the included dinner, we went out as a group to purchase alcohol supplies. I didn't think we would have a party but we did. The hotel we stayed at was entirely rented out for our group and was slope side. That means we put on our boards and ride right away from the hotel. Very convenient.
After the hotel party people (me) had the great idea to ride these incredibly dangerous looking skateboard sleds. I wish the pictures came out better but they consist of a mess of drunk foreigners flying down the mountain and crashing in spectacular fashion. From there we headed out to the bars/izakayas. Met some fun people at some place followed by me running away from everyone into the night.
Next day was just as nice filled with snowboarding and onsens. It really is nice to walk around naked with other friends and not give a hoot. Plus, an outside hot spring is wonderful! Even if the neighbors can see.
Ohhh, one of the best parts was getting back to the bus at the bottom of the hill. Most of us opted to take sleds down the mountain to it. Since I didn't take the bus I had underestimated the distance to it. It was far! Haha. It was so much fun as people flew all over the trail picking up more and more speed. At one point I couldn't control the uncontrolable sled and flew into the woods only to get stuck in 3 feet of fresh powder. Back on track and up to speed it was almost time to stop at the bottom before crashing into the buses and people waiting. I chose the best option I could think and rolled off the sled into a mess of snow, extremities, and clothing. I look up to find people coming right at me without taking the option I did and I had to dodge people left and right as they crashed into a building of some sort. Weee.
Bus home, back to work.
Notes - The trails are wide! Way to wide! No challenging runs at all.
Riding in the woods is prohibited. I heard lots of stories of ski patrol catching people but I didn't see one all day. Unfortunately, this is where the best snow and most challenging terrain is. Fortunately, my new friend and I don't care about ski patrol and got to experience it.
My sweet free sunglasses from the hotel -
George, Wojtek, Craig, and I
Some funky merry go round that even I couldn't manage to stay on-
The people from the bar -
Wow, I don't have many pictures and neither does anyone from the trip. ざんねん - unfortunate.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
My restaurant job
I sure hope Interac doesnt see this. How can they get mad at me for making $7 an hour though really?
Well, yes, I do get paid that little which is an amazing setback since I "can" get paid $25/hr for teaching English privately. But, I am allowed and encouraged to drink as much as I want while I work. I practice Japanese. The music is good. Most importantly, it's a lot of fun.
The Restaurant is named Champuru (Japanese for Chample) which is a type of Okinawan food. In fact, this establishment is an Okinawan restaurant.
The owner, Ukki, is from Okinawa, has dreadlocks, speaks funny English, always has a smile and is a great guy. The only other person who works there worth mentioning is Rio. Awesome guy who speaks decent English and is more than happy to teach me Japanese and help me out there.
Ryo is on the left and Ukki is on the right.
I have only worked three times so far but last Saturday night was the best. For some reason February is a slow month and luckily for me that means more fun. Less time doing dishes and more time doing other stuff. Annnd, this time, it was Ukki, who just cooks and socializes, Rio and me. Annnd, this time Ukki decided to have Rio and I switch positions. That means he does all the dishwashing and deciphering the orders I take in Engrish and I do almost all the taking of the orders, delivery, and making drinks. I tried doing the dishes but Ukki would always stop me and say, "don't worry, easy job." Weeee. Its so nice to have good sports like these to work with.
It's not like I am the foreign worker in the BACK. There is no back. I am there to greet customers with a loud irashaimase!!!! and do what is expected. Except, its ten times funnier when its a foreigner doing it.
Well, yes, I do get paid that little which is an amazing setback since I "can" get paid $25/hr for teaching English privately. But, I am allowed and encouraged to drink as much as I want while I work. I practice Japanese. The music is good. Most importantly, it's a lot of fun.
The Restaurant is named Champuru (Japanese for Chample) which is a type of Okinawan food. In fact, this establishment is an Okinawan restaurant.
The owner, Ukki, is from Okinawa, has dreadlocks, speaks funny English, always has a smile and is a great guy. The only other person who works there worth mentioning is Rio. Awesome guy who speaks decent English and is more than happy to teach me Japanese and help me out there.
Ryo is on the left and Ukki is on the right.I have only worked three times so far but last Saturday night was the best. For some reason February is a slow month and luckily for me that means more fun. Less time doing dishes and more time doing other stuff. Annnd, this time, it was Ukki, who just cooks and socializes, Rio and me. Annnd, this time Ukki decided to have Rio and I switch positions. That means he does all the dishwashing and deciphering the orders I take in Engrish and I do almost all the taking of the orders, delivery, and making drinks. I tried doing the dishes but Ukki would always stop me and say, "don't worry, easy job." Weeee. Its so nice to have good sports like these to work with.
It's not like I am the foreign worker in the BACK. There is no back. I am there to greet customers with a loud irashaimase!!!! and do what is expected. Except, its ten times funnier when its a foreigner doing it.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Crustacean Deathmatches on Japanese TV
On Japanese TV they had a show demonstrating how badass the Mantis Shrimp.
How did you show that? By having deathmatches!
Vs Elbow Crab
Final Round
VS Sunadako Octopus
via Japan probe
How did you show that? By having deathmatches!
Vs Elbow Crab
Final Round
VS Sunadako Octopus
via Japan probe
Valentines Day (almost)
Today is the day before Valentines and I got my first real experience with it.
There seem to by two versions of Valentines Day here. Since I don't have a girlfriend at the moment I only have first hand experience with one version.
First of all, you must realize that Valentines Day is meant for Females to give chocolates to Males.
White Day, March 14th, is the day for Males to give chocolate to Females in return. The chocolate for this holiday is usually much higher priced.
Chocolate companies sure have it good here in Japan.
Anyway, the version I don't get to experience is the high end chocolates available everywhere that look too much for me to handle. Department stores, supermarkets, train stations, everywhere there are beautiful displays of chocolates I would never buy due to them being worth more than a weeks worth of food. Of course there are the cheesy Hello Kitty and Anime chocolates but I have a feeling those will sit there for a while.
The version I do get it experience is the handmade chocolates girls make. I don't know which direction most Japanese girls take but I have a feeling its this one. Girls make chocolate, chocolate snack, cookies and cakes and give those out instead. I love it! It's so nice to think of the time and effort they put into them. So far only my girl students (and one boy student who gave me the majority of opened candy bar) have given me chocolates and 95% of them were hand made and hand packaged. So cute! I imagine all of them slaving for a night in the kitchen making them with their mothers.
I accumulated quite a bounty and it was obvious in the teacher's room who was the most popular teacher. Yayyy. I hope I don't have to give out stuff for White Day since I have hundreds of girl students. Oi.
I had seen countless great photos of Valentines Day on the net this week but can't seem to at the moment.
For now here is a video.
Included in the video are:
* “Reverse Chocolates” that men can give to women (contrary to the Japanese custom of only women giving men gifts on Valentine’s Day). The letters on the labels are printed backwards.
* A t-shirt cleverly disguised as a chocolate bar.
* Chocolate Ramen! The reporter says it tastes good.
* A chocolate facial - it costs 21,000 yen for 80 minutes.
The video also includes the results of a survey about chocolate purchases for this year’s Valentine’s Day. Some 30% of women plan on buying chocolates for their husband/boyfriend, 14% for their father, and 12% for co-workers. 20% of the women surveyed plan on buying chocolates for just themselves (a practice known by the term “my choco” in Japanese). - Japan Probe
There seem to by two versions of Valentines Day here. Since I don't have a girlfriend at the moment I only have first hand experience with one version.
First of all, you must realize that Valentines Day is meant for Females to give chocolates to Males.
White Day, March 14th, is the day for Males to give chocolate to Females in return. The chocolate for this holiday is usually much higher priced.
Chocolate companies sure have it good here in Japan.
Anyway, the version I don't get to experience is the high end chocolates available everywhere that look too much for me to handle. Department stores, supermarkets, train stations, everywhere there are beautiful displays of chocolates I would never buy due to them being worth more than a weeks worth of food. Of course there are the cheesy Hello Kitty and Anime chocolates but I have a feeling those will sit there for a while.
The version I do get it experience is the handmade chocolates girls make. I don't know which direction most Japanese girls take but I have a feeling its this one. Girls make chocolate, chocolate snack, cookies and cakes and give those out instead. I love it! It's so nice to think of the time and effort they put into them. So far only my girl students (and one boy student who gave me the majority of opened candy bar) have given me chocolates and 95% of them were hand made and hand packaged. So cute! I imagine all of them slaving for a night in the kitchen making them with their mothers.
I accumulated quite a bounty and it was obvious in the teacher's room who was the most popular teacher. Yayyy. I hope I don't have to give out stuff for White Day since I have hundreds of girl students. Oi.
I had seen countless great photos of Valentines Day on the net this week but can't seem to at the moment.
For now here is a video.
Included in the video are:
* “Reverse Chocolates” that men can give to women (contrary to the Japanese custom of only women giving men gifts on Valentine’s Day). The letters on the labels are printed backwards.
* A t-shirt cleverly disguised as a chocolate bar.
* Chocolate Ramen! The reporter says it tastes good.
* A chocolate facial - it costs 21,000 yen for 80 minutes.
The video also includes the results of a survey about chocolate purchases for this year’s Valentine’s Day. Some 30% of women plan on buying chocolates for their husband/boyfriend, 14% for their father, and 12% for co-workers. 20% of the women surveyed plan on buying chocolates for just themselves (a practice known by the term “my choco” in Japanese). - Japan Probe
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tokyo Time
Want to know what time it is in Tokyo right now? In a more fun way than looking at a clock?
Click here.
Click here.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Random
We all know what beans represent in the States. In Japan, pumpkin (I believe its pumpkin. It tastes like sweet potato) is believed to have the same "effect."
The Correctional Exhibition 2009 is coming up soon. I sure won't go but it's cute to think of inmates making arts and crafts for people to buy.
However, the Amusement Expo 2009 is also this month and I may check it out. After all, its host to the National Crane Game Competition. It's weird its called that because in Japan it's more commanly known as "UFO catcher." As seen below -
edit: the video below is of a "professional" UFO catcher lady. And, oh my! She is amazing! I have played these games before and it's impossible to win anything but a keychain.
The Correctional Exhibition 2009 is coming up soon. I sure won't go but it's cute to think of inmates making arts and crafts for people to buy.
However, the Amusement Expo 2009 is also this month and I may check it out. After all, its host to the National Crane Game Competition. It's weird its called that because in Japan it's more commanly known as "UFO catcher." As seen below -
edit: the video below is of a "professional" UFO catcher lady. And, oh my! She is amazing! I have played these games before and it's impossible to win anything but a keychain.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Photo update
I just added a couple hundred photos of my winter travels to my flickr.
Ugh, I still have another months worth of photos to upload.
The most recent photo set I have is from a hikoshi, house warming party.
A sample -
Ugh, I still have another months worth of photos to upload.
The most recent photo set I have is from a hikoshi, house warming party.
A sample -
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Map of my winter travels
Here is a map I made of my travels during winter vaca. Click on it to make larger.
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