Now graduated, Jeff is entering the real world. Completely financially cut off by his parents, living on his own, follow Jeff as he enters a whole new chapter of his life.
This is Jeff v2.0
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Saturday, June 30, 2007
Bear with me, my family came in yesterday, so I'm hanging otu with them this weekend, and I don't have much time to blog yet. But don't worry, I have a lot of exciting updates including my trip to Ueno Zoo, a vending machine challenge, and various other random blogs. I'll try and update before Monday.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
WHY OH WHY DON'T WE HAVE THIS SYSTEM IN THE STATES!
The Tokyo Metro is so convenient...I can get to anywhere in Tokyo in 30 minutes or less. The trains come exactly on time and usually every 5-7 minutes.
When I first arrived it was a little difficult to navigate because different lines will take you to different places. But eventually I got the hang of it with this book:
If you're traveling to Japan, you need this book! It has a list of lines and destinations and everything. I use this book every day to figure out where I'm going. Coupled with an Atlas you can get anywhere you want.
I'm told that the Metro in Paris is as efficient as this system, and I hope someday LA could have something like this.
Monday, June 25, 2007
I had some problems, but my videos finally work!
Here's a video of my flight into Tokyo!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
After a long day's work, many people in Japan go out and drink to blow off some steam. Bars and Clubs on Friday night are often packed full of people.
Before Brad and I traveled to Japan, our cultural session indicated that we may encounter a big drinking culture with the people we work with. It's not uncommon for bosses to take out interns, and buy them as many drinks as possible. In general, the Japanese believe that their guest should not have an empty glass, so they'll order more beer, more sake, until you very clearly say you've had enough. Brad and I work in a predominantly American Corporate Culture so we don't really encounter it as much, but for our neighbor, he gets taken out quite often by his co-workers or superiors.
This is where my adventure begins.
On June 15th, Patricia in the Tokyo Office set up a little after-work get together with Brad and I and our bosses. In total it was Me, Brad, Patricia, Peter (my boss), Jon (USC Alumni and marketing director for japanesepod), and Yukiko (President of Japan Times). We go to a trendy upscale bamboo bar in Roppongi called Xen.
Jon and I come a little late because of work, and found Yukiko, Patricia, and Brad to already have a beer in front of them. As soon as I sat down I found a beer in front of me. I hadn't eaten dinner and knew that having any alcohol would probably be a bad idea, so I just slowly sipped until we ordered some appetizers, so that I could get some food in my stomach.
When the food came, I tried to down as much as possible without taking too much more than my share as I whispered to Brad
"Dude...I might need to sneak you drinks tonight."
He said sure as I finished my first beer. Patricia asked me if I wanted another drink...and while waiting for me to respond called to the waiter to order a round of beers for everyone.
Okay, I thought to myself, two beers is not a problem...but I can already feel my face turning a little red, so i better drink this one really slow.
So I start sipping on this beer, as we order more food, and then Peter arrives. Peter comes in and since Peter is from New York and Brad is from New Jersey, they immediately hit it off. Like long-lost brothers they bantered and talked it up the entire night. Probably 30 or so minutes later, Peter pulls a waiter aside and mumbles something
"Bacardi...kdsjflkj...Amaretto..sdflkj"
And I think, oh, he must need something a little stronger. As I was finishing my beer, Peter shows 3 new beers and 3 double shot glasses filled with a reddish liquor. Inside the double shot glass was half Bacardi 151 and half Amaretto. Peter was about to introduce us to a "Flaming Dr. Pepper"
For a flaming Dr. Pepper, you have a shot glass full of Bacardi 151 and Amaretto, and you light it on fire. After you light the shot on fire, you drop it into a beer and down the whole thing. And it tastes like Dr. Pepper.
Staring at the glass, I felt like I was about to climb Mt. Fuji. I knew taking this Flaming Dr. Pepper would be a bad idea, and that I would probably be crawling home. Still, Brad and Peter were armed and ready and just waiting for me. I sucked it up and dropped my flaming shot glass into the beer and chugged. Brad and Peter downed it in a matter of seconds, while I got about 3/4ths down until I had to stop.
Suddenly Patricia got a call about another party that we could check out. By the time I left Xen, I was feeling it pretty good and knew that I was pretty much done for the night. Still, I hopped into the cab to go to a new location. When we got to the next place, it turns out the party had moved once again. So we hopped into another cab to go to this bar called "Propaganda."
Propaganda is a shot bar that a lot of foreigners hang out. We get in, and immediately Peter orders a round of beers for everyone. I take the beer, and take really small sips for the next hour. I'm still feeling pretty drunk, but totally in control, so I knew I wouldn't finish this beer, or even make a dent into it. I figured, as long as I have a drink in my hand that's full, they wouldn't order any more.
I also ordered a water so I could stay hydrated. Eventually I really had to pee and went into the bathroom. When I got back out, I look at the bar and Peter was holding shot glasses full of Tequila with a big smile on his face. I look at him and say..."No I really can't...I'll really be crawling home if I take that."
He says okay, and Brad and him down the shot, then divide the contents of my shot glasses into 3 portions. Now I'm only taking not even 1/3rd of a shot of tequila. I decide to be a good sport and take it. I down the shot, and when the liquid reaches my belly I immediately think "Uh Oh."
That tequila was the last straw...and I excuse myself as I rush back into the bathroom, get on my knees and pray to the porcelain god. I clean out the contents of my stomach, and immediately start to feel better. I come back out as they were just asking each other where I went. I order another water and immediately start to feel really sleepy. They tried handing me another beer but I said no. I hang out for another 30 minutes but am getting really tired so decide to take a cab home. By the way, it's only 11:30 pm.
I hop into the cab and get back to my apartment where I immediately start feeling sick again. I again do the toss my cookies. I feel a lot better after this and continue to drink water until I fall alseep.
In the morning, I feel fine, and Brad made it home alright.
When he woke up I asked him about his night.
Turns out after Propaganda, Jon and Brad went to an outside bar called Legends and had a little more to drink. In total he had about 15 shots at various times at night. By the time Brad got to Legends, he was way drunk. He had another beer, then Jon asked him if he needed something in his stomach. He said yes and they got a pita and Brad started to feel a little better. But then Brad said he had to go home so Jon called a taxi.
Brad and Jon got into the taxi and started to head home. All of a sudden Brad got really quiet and Jon heard the unzipping of his backpack, as Brad did the technicolor yawn all in his backpack.
When later he asked why he didnt' stop the cab or roll down the window, he just said
"I really didn't want to get the taxi dirty."
Eventually Brad got home and he dropped his backpack on the floor, then passed out in his bed.
So that's the story about how our bosses got us plastered. Needless to say, I'm not planning to do that ever again.
Friday, June 22, 2007
It's 4:56 a.m. and I'm about to go to Tsukiji Fish Market where I can witness their fish auction and all that. I'm about to have the freshest sushi of my life.
It better be freaking awesome. I need my beauty sleep.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Metropolis is Japan's #1 English magazine. It's a free publication distributed...every week I believe. They update you with news and things that are happening in Tokyo, but the best part of the magazine is the Classifieds, where anyone can write a short blurb for free.
Here's a sample:
No sex please I'm British. Quiet,
intelligent British guy seeks friend
to enjoy free time with. West part of
Tokyo, I'm a nonsmoker and enjoy
peaceful calm places and nature. No
nightlife, thank you.
Black or Latin female? Young
JM, in Tokyo seeks Latin or black
female. I want to get to knwo you,
make friends, or more. I'd like to have
hot times. Any age, any nationality.
Tasty Watermelon. Mature and loyal
Caucasian man, 40s, seeks friendly
Japanese woman for a meaningful
realtionship.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
There are two temperatures in my office.
Sweltering hot, and freezing cold.
Yesterday we moved our desks to fit another desk into our growing office. Today we were told by the boss of the building that we have to rearrange because it's not feng shui. There should not be desks facing away from the shrine.
We take off our shoes before working.
We share one floor, and the office is divided by a line of giant potted plants. I work in an office-jungle.
There's a woman in our office that speaks like an Anime Character.
Monday, June 18, 2007
About a week ago, we were asked by the USC Tokyo Office to come in and speak to incoming USC students about USC Campus. Since we're on USC's ticket, of course we're going to try and help them out. We thought that it would also give us an opportunity to network and meet new people.
We left work and headed over and finally saw the Cardinal and Gold displayed in the windows of a building.
We went inside and people filtered in. Although our expectations were of a lot of undergraduate students, 85% of them were graduate students.
When everyone sat down, they asked us to come up and then talk about what things they will need to know about USC.
...
That's a lot of things. That's a lot of information and we didnt' even know where to start. Eventually Brad drew this diagram demonstrating how awesome USC is.
That's USC in the middle. To the West is the Beach, To the East is Hollywood. To the North is Mountains (with a little guy skiing). We plugged Conquest Housing even though it sucks...but it's probably the easiest housing for them to find.
Also there was pizza. On one of the pizza there were little fishies with eyes.
Although it was delicious, I prefer my pizza to not be watching me while I eat it.
Roppongi is foreigner party central with hundreds of bars, gentleman's clubs, and restaurants that line the streets. The streets are usually packed, especially Friday, Saturday night.
Our first night we went to Roppongi was the first Sunday we were in Tokyo. We just decided to wander around to try and find a bar or a club to see what they were like. As we were wandering suddenly a guy stopped us trying to get us to go into his club. In somewhere like LA, you'd just give this guy the brush off and he'd go away but they are PERSISTENT.
"Hey you guys gotta come in here"
"Just check it out, i'll cover you for drinks for 2 hours, you just check it out"
"If you don't like it you can leave right away"
"Sunday night is not big like Friday and Saturday, but if you come into my place it's nice"
"Come on, this is one of the nicest spots"
Brad kept telling him no, that we just wanted to walk around and we'd find something else, but finally Brad decided that we should just check it out to see how it was.
We go up this tiny elevator up to the 8th floor of some random building...Brad and I exchanged nervous glances. The doors open and the guy opens another door to show us the inside, where we were met by 10 different girls in an empty place just staring at us. The place was EMPTY and the girls were just staring at us. We said "No thanks," then went downstairs and left...
...Only to be met with the next guy telling us how great his place was.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The next day was another full day for us.
First we headed over to Ginza, one of the major shopping centers in Japan. I had never gone before so I was excited to go, and Celeste was especially excited to go to The Sony Store. The Sony Store has the latest Sony gadgets
At this point, we met up with Brad and headed over to Akihabara, the technology district. We walked around, went into stores, were overwhelmed by how much stuff there was. You could build an army of robots with the stuff they have in Akihabara. ike Transformer robots. With Lasers. We also ate crepes and drank melon soda.
And played video games.
Then we went over to Ebisu to get sushi. At this point I had been to Japan for a week already, and hadn't had any sushi yet. I can't believe there are people out there that think that Japanese food only consists of sushi. There's so much good food here, maybe the best in the world, and sushi only comprises a small component of the plethora of options.
After that it was late into the night and we decided to rest up for tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------
Sunday!
Sunday mostly consisted of going to Ikebukero, Sunshine City - A HUGE shopping mall with a million shops and a billion people. I've never seen so many people in my entire life packed into a building. There was a Gyoza stadium and Ice Cream place so I definitely wanted to check it out.
There are probably like 10 little Gyoza shops packed into a small place. You can get different kinds from 3-4 shops and it was really delicious. Cheese Gyoza, Regular Gyoza, Leek Gyoza, any kind of gyoza.
After Gyoza we went to the ice cream selection! Ever want Indian Curry Ice cream? You can get virtually any flavor you want here.
Would you like some "glape" ice cream?
They just have so much of everything you could want. On our way out we passed by a shoe place that had a million different pairs of shoes.
After Ikebukero we headed to Omote-Sando where they have a ton of shopping places. By then it was a little late but there were still lots of things to see. Wandering around we found lots of random places.
Purse Chandelier.
La Grotta Celeste
Whatever this is
This beautiful cathedral
By the time we were done looking around, we heade back to Akasaka for a late dinner. I forgot to take pictures, but we ate what basically is an Octopus pancake. It was gross.
In the morning I took Celeste back to Narita airport where she was headed back to the Philippines!
It was a crazy, busy weekend, and you only got a condensed version of it. There's so much to see in Tokyo that its pretty much impossible to pack it all in one weekend.
Anyway, now that the picture problem is solved, make sure you come back, as I have a lot of adventures I need to post!
Friday, June 15, 2007
My girlfriend, Celeste, came to visit me the night of June 7th until the morning of June 11th. She was in the Philippines visiting family, and her parents were kind enough to let her come to Japan to see Tokyo and visit me. I left work a little early on the 7th to go pick her up at Narita airport.
Narita is about an hour outside of Tokyo and it's a little bit of an endeavor to get there. You have to go on a subway and take the Narita Express line, which is at least a 55 minute ride.
The train station at Tokyo is PACKED. And it was a Thursday. I'd hate to see what it's like on a weekend.
The trains to Nartia are pretty nice. Although it's about 2700 yen, (About $22), you get a nice seat, and they push a little cart with bentos with food. I guess each train station offers a different lunch, and some people actually go around to places specifically for a chance to eat the special food that the train offers. It's called an "ekiben." Eki - Train Station, Ben - Short for "Bento" which is like a pre-made lunch.
Anyway, I finally made it to the effort and waiting for Celeste, and finally, after a little bit of wait, she made it! We hopped on a bus to get back to Celeste's hotel.
Her hotel was so nice! I guess the Hotel New Otani opened at the same time as the Olympics. It has a a 400 year garden and an art musuem. Over 1000 different rooms with 37 restaurants in the hotel. 
We didn't arrive until around 9:30 so we decided to get a quick bite to eat at a convenience store and rest up until tomorrow.
The next day we went to Asakusa. Celeste loved the little shops and was a little overwhelmed. She didn't know what to get; there were so many trinkets she wanted to take home for family. Eventually she didn't get anything.
Like I did last time I went, we washed our hands at the fountain, purified ourselves with the smoke, and got our fortune told.
I got a good fortune and Celeste got a Regular fortune.
Afterwards I wanted to take her to Takeshita-dori to go through the cool alley-way with the sub-culture fashion...except i got lost. Instead we just wandered around Shinjuku until night time. We found an arcade, and Celeste was amazed.
We also stopped at a product store, and again, Celeste was amazed.
Then we went back to Roppongi for dinner.
Exhausting day...
Stay tuned for Part 2!
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