Jeff in Japan

No Time Left!

2007-07-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a post because I've been busy experiencing Japan while I still can! I was going to blog about my time here when my family visited, but I dont' have enough time to go through the hundred of photos that we took.

A short picture-less recap. We went to a Seibu Lions Baseball game, ate lots of good food, and traveled to Takayama. Takayama is a more traditional place and we stayed in a ryokan there. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel. It was fun, and I hope to eventually be able to post about it, but I'm realized I only have 12 more days in Japan, and I don't have the time to post about it yet.

In fact, the next two weeks, especially the last week, I will be exploring Japan until late at night. The last traveling week, I'm not sure if I'll even have access to the internet, as I'll be jumping from city to city in Japan.

However, even if I come back to the states, I'll make sure to blog about my experiences. Although I know I have some faithful readers that want to be updated on my excursions, but understand I can't experience life here if I'm blogging about it :).

I will try and at least write about my experiences while I'm here, and then add pictures later, or include separate blogs with pictures. Keep checking in!

Chicken Gizzard and Liver

2007-07-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

I wrote an article for Japanesepod101.com! You can check it out on their blog.

----------------------------------
One month ago, I stepped off the plane at Narita Airport armed with 2 semesters of Japanese language instruction, a handful of Japanese guidebooks/dictionaries, and a naïve confidence of my communication abilities. Although I realized that I was far from fluent, I was sure that I could easily get in a cab, check into my apartment, and get dinner, at the very least. I was wrong.

The Taxi Ride
Nearly sideswiped by the automatic doors of the taxi, I hopped into the taxi with a map, pointed and stated “Tokyo Weekly Mansions Onegaishimasu.” He then stared at the map blankly, obviously not understanding where to go. After he said a string of incredibly fast Japanese (much faster than the audio recordings played for me in my college classroom), I gave up understanding and repeatedly jabbed at my map saying “Koko! Koko!” It took an hour for him to find my apartment complex, which I later discovered to be a 5-minute walk from where I called the cab.

The Apartment
After running into the automatic sliding doors (a rough way to figure out that they open up slower than the ones in America), I reached the lobby of the apartment complex and tried to check in. Emphasis on tried. I thought the payment had been worked out before I came. I was staying for 2 months and my college was taking care of all the major finances. There was an obvious miscommunication when they asked for a 5-figure deposit when I had little else but a few coins with holes in it. (It took me a week to figure out that they were 5 yen). I was never taught the vocabulary necessary to communicate the fact that the rent was supposed to have been taken care of before I arrived, and that I didn’t have enough money on me yet. Eventually after 5-6 phone calls to various people, the situation worked itself out.

The Dinner
At this point, I was starving and craving notoriously delicious Japanese cuisine. I walked around Akasaka overwhelmed by the numerous restaurant choices. Eventually I settled on a decent looking place that ended up being a Yakitori restaurant. I strolled in, was greeted by a loud “Irrashaimase!”, and took a seat at the counter. Ready to put into practice a phrase I knew I’d use countless times, I asked,

“Eigo no menyu ga arimasuka?”
“…Iie.”

Oops. My plan backfired. The menu was in all Japanese, with no pictures, I really had no idea what to order. Luckily the chef saw my confusion and pointed to his recommendation.

Unfortunately for me, I was soon served up several skewers of chicken gizzard and liver. I promised myself I would try new foods to completely immerse myself into Japanese culture, but was hoping it would be more of a transition. While I chewed on my stick of chicken gizzard, I contemplated the difficulties of my journey thus far.

Many of the grammar, vocabulary, and culture points I learned in the classroom proved useless when I arrived. What is taught in a classroom in a year, let alone in many years of studies can only demonstrate a very small aspect of Japanese language and the culture that is so interconnected with the language. I’ve been here for one month already and feel I still have so much to learn. I’m starting to understand that only by coming to this fantastic country can one really understand the intricacies and eccentricities of Japan.

Vacation!

2007-07-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

For the next 2 and a half days I'll be in Nagoya and Takayama where I won't have any internet! I'm on vacation with my family, but I'll be back Sunday to put up a post!

Ueno Zoo

2007-07-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

I arrived at Ueno Zoo a little early, so I waited around and ate at the only place open. PIZZA.

At 9:30, the zoo opened, and it was perfect because they were feeding all the animals. All of them were active and moving around.
The most famous animal in the zoo is the Giant Panda. The picture is blurry cuz they wouldn't allow flash.

Red Pandas

Lion eating a piece of meat chained to the ground. Reminded me of Jurassic Park with the goat and the T-Rex.

The monkey was copying the kid.

Tiger!

Gorilla!

Penguins

A bunch of other animals.

Soft-shelled turtle

The park had some really beautiful areas.

Tsukiji Fish Market

2007-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

On 6/23 the guys and I decided to go to Tsukiji Market. Tsukiji Market is Japan's famous fish market. Unfortunately the auction starts before 5:00 AM so you have to wake up to catch the very first train in order to catch any of the auction.

Brad, Spils, my fraternity brothers, and Julian, the German neighbor, decided it was a good idea to party all night and just go straight to Tsukiji Market. They actually had a blast, but were completely exhausted when they arrived. I decided not to go because I was planning to be out all day because it was one of my last shopping weekends in Tokyo.

I woke up at 4:45 to catch the first train. The only people who are up at this hour are ambitious joggers, or drunk people who missed the last train...

I arrived at Tsukiji Market and soon enough spotted these drunkards.

After a bit of searching, we finally found the fish market!

The Auction.

After that we headed straight to a sushi restaurant where we had the freshest sushi in the world.
Except the guys were a little tired.

Delicious!

Afterwards the guys went home to sleep, and I went to Ueno Zoo.

Yokohama

2007-07-02T06:29:00.001-07:00

I'm so behind on my posts! This post deals with my travels to Yokohama. I went on June 16th or something like that. I don't even remember.

It was a really fun trip! USC Alumni and fellow co-worker Jonathan Fan was the one to invite Brad and I to meet some of his friends. Yokohama was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Famous Landmark Tower. Tallest building in Japan...I think.

This is a ferry station. It had a large grass field on top of it!

One of the many date parks in Yokohama.

Yokohama is also famous for having the biggest Chinatown in Japan.

Haha! They had these things all over. Little baby pandas chained to a bottle or a rock or something. It was so sad!

Yokohama is a beautiful trip, and if you're living in Tokyo, it's definitely worth the time and money to get to Yokohama. One place I didnt' get to go to and I really wanted to was Hakkejima Sea Paradise. It's basically an aquarium theme park. They have a huge theme park and rides and everything. Maybe another time...

Visitors!

2007-06-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Tokyo Metro

2007-06-27T04:27:00.000-07:00

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.

YouTube!

2007-06-25T06:31:00.002-07:00

I had some problems, but my videos finally work!

Here's a video of my flight into Tokyo!

How My Boss Got Me Drunk

2007-06-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Cranky

2007-06-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Metropolis

2007-06-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

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.

Office Quirks

2007-06-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

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.

USC in Japan

2007-06-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

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 Nightlife

2007-06-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

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.

Jeffleste in Japan P.2

2007-06-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

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!

Jeffleste in Japan

2007-06-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

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!

Pepsi Cucumber

2007-06-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Pepsi Cucumber hits store shelves

The Associated Press

Consumers can stay cool as a cucumber this summer with Pepsi Ice Cucumber, a new soda based on the crisp green gourd.

The soft drink, which hit stores Tuesday, doesn't actually have any cucumber in it. Instead, artificial flavoring mimics "the refreshing taste of a fresh cucumber," said Aya Takemoto, spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor, Suntory Ltd.

"We wanted a flavor that makes people think of keeping cool in the summer heat," Takemoto said. "We thought the cucumber was just perfect."

The mint-colored soda is on sale just for the summer and only in Japan, Takemoto said. She said initial sales were brisk, and Suntory aims to sell 200,000 cases over the next three months.

Pepsi trails industry leader Coca Cola (Japan) Co., with about 15 percent of the cola market, and faces stiff competition from nonfizzy bottled drinks like green tea and coffee.

Suntory said it sold 20.5 million cases of Pepsi-brand drinks in 2006, including its popular Pepsi NEX zero-calorie soda.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070614a6.html

One of the things Brad has to do at The Japan Times is read a ton of newspapers from cover to cover, so he's all updated on the current events in Japan. We haven't found it yet, but you can be sure we'll give you a breakdown about exactly how "refereshing" this cucumber beverage is.

Homesickness

2007-06-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

There's of course varying amounts of excitement when one goes to a different country. The weeks before you go, you can't wait to leave, anticipating all the things you will do and the things you will see. The day of the flight you're almost peeing in your pants, your legs are bouncing and you just can't wait to get there. Then you arrived and you're blown away. It may be everything you expected or less than what you expected. For me, it was a strange mix. I was still quite excited to be there.

During the next week I was still in love with everything. Although it was harder to get around than I expected, it was still so exciting to see everything. There was so much to see. Life in Japan was so fast-paced that I often was concentrating so hard on keeping up that I couldn't concentrate on anything else. When my girlfriend, Celeste came to visit, and her presence made me remember that there were a lot of things I was missing about home. There are so many little things, having open space, being able to communicate clearly, certain foods, certain people, that just dont' exist in Japan. Taking her to the airport reminded me that it would be a long time until I got back to those things, and that made me a little homesick.

Japan is great, don't get me wrong, and this experience is invaluable. When I had the cultural training program that was required before I came here, they told us that homesickness might occur, and ways to deal with it. I brushed it off and didn't think it would happen to me, but I think it happens to everyone a little. When you're off in a foreign place there are inevitably some things and conveniences that you will miss.

After a hard night's sleep I felt better in the morning. 2 months isn't that long, and sooner than I think I'm going to be heading back home, and missing Japan.

Average Day at Work

2007-06-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. My girlfriend came to visit me in Tokyo, and I was busy exploring and showing her around. Work has also been extremely busy for me, but I'm back and ready to give you daily updates.

I think it's time to tell you a little more about my weekdays.

Monday-Friday I'm starting to get into a bit of a routine.

7:00 - Wake up. Temporarily forget where I am.
7:05 - Sit myself down in front of the computer to blog/check e-mail/tv-links
8:15 - Glance around the room to see the growing pile of Brad and my mess.
8:30 - A little exercise to get the blood flowing
9:00 - Shower. The faucet to turn on our sink is the same to turn on the shower. I can literally brush my teeth and shower at the same time because the sink is almost IN the shower.
9:45 - Head to work, usually pass by people like this chick.
A lot of people put up umbrellas because its too hot, or they don't want to get dark. The day I took the picture it was cloudy and not rainy, so I'm not sure why she had it up.

9:55 - Get to work, say hello to my building
9:56 - Get something from our awesome vending machine that is 20 yen cheaper than any other one.
10:00 Arrive at my desk
Usually I'm the first one at 10:00 sharp but people trickle in the next 15 minutes.
10:00-1:00 Start working! We're doing tons of marketing initiatives at JapanesePod101 and I'm always busy. Even though I'm an intern I'm doing a lot of work which includes developing a press kit, creating a marketing plan for the upcoming JET conference orientation, advertisement for the Anaheim Expo, and lots of other little things.

1:00-2:00 Lunch with the co-workers. We go to a different place each time, like this place:
If this place was any indication of the Indian food in Japan, I'd have to say Japanese Indian food is awesome.
2:00-7:00 Back to work!
7:00 - Walk Home. It's usually dark by this time, and everyone else is getting off of work. People who work at restaurants beckon different people to come inside with special deals. So far I grab something to eat at a convenience store. Convenience store food is delicious. They'll give you fresh rice along with your food. Although it's not the healthiest thing, it's cheap and quick, perfect after an exhausting day.
7:00-10:00 - Watch Japanese TV which is hilarious, even though I don't understand any of it. I also go on the internet, surf the web, blog, and clean up the room a little.
10:00 - Go to bed! I haven't really yet, but I'll go out occasionally, but I'm usually so exhausted after work. I just want something quick to eat and then crash to prepare myself for another fast paced day.

So that's the breakdown of what I do on a day-to-day basis during the week. Most likely I'm not going to have many adventures during the week, but will compensate with other types of posts. Weekend posts will be reserved for following my adventures, whereas weekday posts will most likely consist of blogs with a central theme.

If you would like to see me do something, or for me to blog about something, let me know in the chatterbox! This blog can be as interactive as you want it to be.

Well that's it for now! Be ready for a post tomorrow!

Where are all the public trashcans?

2007-06-07T01:12:00.000-07:00

I do not know.

Work

2007-06-05T00:04:00.001-07:00

One of the stereotypes about Japan is that it's completely a work-based country. The hard-working Asians. In a typical Japanese company, the work week is a little different than what you would see in America. It's not uncommon for employees to work Mon-Sat from 8am-7pm, but if you think about it, professions such as Real Estate, investment banking, and medicine often have the same hours. The typical work day here is from 10:00-7:00 Mon-Fri. It's interesting that it starts later in the day, but also quite nice. Everyone still takes their lunch break from 12:00-1:00 and it's a rush of people outside once lunch hits.

Like I've mentioned before, I work at JapanesePod101. It's a small company whose primary objective is to bring Japanese lessons in interesting, relevant ways. I'm working in the marketing department, and I'm amazed at how fast this company moves. I work almost non-stop throughout the day on various marketing projects. It's only my second day, but my first was exhausting. You could probably tell from my lack of pictures, because I just simply didn't have time. On my way home I got some convenience store food and just crashed. Part of it could be because I'm still a bit jet lagged.

Anyway, check out JapanesePod101 when you get a chance!

The Metro

2007-06-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Again, I woke up jetlagged, but it's getting better. I woke up at 6:50 am yesterday. Since it was Sunday and we had work tomorrow, Brad and I decided to try and find our way to our respective work places. Luckily for me, mine is walking distance away, so we decided to try and find my work first. Across the street we saw the Hie-jinja shrine and decided to check it out.

I found my work place, which indeed was a 7 minute walk. Then we decided to brave the Tokyo metro to find Brad's place of work, which involved making a few transfers, so we were a little anxious. We found Akasaka station and went underground when we were confronted by 5 ticket machines with random prices. Brad and I had no idea what price ticket we needed but eventually figured it out because we're geniuses.
On all the metros they have this sign. From left to right, those that have priority seating: 1. People with monkies. 2. People with tumors. 3. People with a peg leg. 4. People wearing uggs.

One thing I noticed is that a lot of people sleep on the Metro. They just fall asleep. At least 1/3rd of the people on the train are knocked out.

Eventually we got to our destination in Shibaura and found his work, The Japan Times, an English language newspaper in Japan.

After that, we decided to go to Akihabara, because I wanted to buy a wireless network for our apartment. I was really surprised at how crowded Akihabara was. There were a ton of people. The rest of Tokyo was fairly empty as was expected on Sunday.

When Brad saw this he said "They spelled Asian wrong"
Afterwards we decided to go to Asakusa to go to Sensou-ji temple. Here's a giant carrot.

At Sensou-ji temple, you put a 100 yen coin, shake a little metal box until a stick of wood comes out with a number. Then the number corresponds to a box with your fortune.

Needless to say, the both of us weren't happy with our fortunes that indicated we would have very bad luck. Good thing we actually didn't do it right. You're supposed to tip over the box and shake it until a stick comes out on its own, but we kind of forced them out.
We tried again, the right way. Brad got an average fortune and I got an extremely good one.

The smoke here is supposed to cleanse your spirit.You throw yen in front of this temple for good luck.

Afterwards I got some delicious green gelato. Green tea ice cream here is AMAZING. but more on that later. I'm going to devote a whole post to it. I also decided to try this coffee shop: Tully's Coffee. It's everywhere, more prevalent than Starbucks.
We finished the day by going to Roppongi Hills and eating at The Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant which has famous Steamed soup buns that burned my tongue. They were delicious, but also expensive. We got 4 plates each around 800 yen.
Afterwards we went to Roppongi to explore nightlife, but that's a story for another blog.

Stay tuned!

Roppongi

2007-06-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

Brad and I decided to go to Roppongi today. It was a little bit of a walk away, but we woke up fairly early and decided to make the trip. On the way we passed by this awesome place:

I can't way to try Mexican food in Japan. On our walk we found a little temple.

Some Japanese fashion: Wearing baggy pants big enough to fit both legs through one side of your pants.
On the way we found a bakery called Pompoudor. It had different kinds of bread, and it was pretty cheap. Awesome breakfast.
The City:

We finally showed up to Roppongi Hills, a big shopping mall. It's a little high fashion, with a couple dozen expensive restaurants. They all looked DELICIOUS. It has a movie theater, an art gallery, and several shopping places. This building is called the Mori Building. I don't know what's inside.
I stayed far away from this public art.
Famous TV Asashi Building
The great thing about Japan is that you'll find all these little parks everywhere within the city. This little garden was right next to the mall, a little paradise in the midst of the steel and concrete.
Then we decided to go to Tokyo Tower, kind of like the Eiffel tower of Japan. On the way we found Don Quijote, a discount amusement store. They had pretty much anything you could ever want.
Tokyo Tower is sort of a big tourist attraction with weird exhibits inside like a wax museum, which we went through, an optical illusion exhibit, an aquarium, and an observatory.
Brad with Mao Zedong
Me and Mother Teresa
Jesus!
I got hungry so I had some Katsudon. So good. If you've ever had Katsudon in the states, you know it's delicious, but the Katsudon here is the best. We were in and out of this restaurtant in probably 25 minutes, and probably could have been out in 15. The food came out so fast.
We finished up and decided to go back to the apartment. Except...where was that again? We wandered around for a solid hour trying to get back to our apartment and we couldn't find it. Eventually we saw the tall Mori Building and got right back on track. We weren't lost, we just took the long way. When we got back to the apartment we both passed out...and it was about 5:00. We were both tired and still jetlagged. Although we had plans to go clubbing in Roppongi, we were both still too tired. We went and looked around for places to eat at dinner, but most restaurants were closed by 10:00. We ended up just going to a grocery store and getting some gyoza and rice.

A long day!

Airplane and First Day

2007-06-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an extremely long day of travel.
I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get to the airport by 5:30 to leave on my 6:50. I hadn't been to the Sacramento airport in a while. The flight was only an hour and 20 minutes. I passed the time listening to japanese lessons on my ipod and eating my siopow.P.S. Don't sit in front of the fire exit because your seat is non-reclining.
I came into LAX, and I haven't been there in a while. LA was overcast.
I had a ton of luggage to carry so it was kind of a hassle to get from one place or another. 4 bag s in total. One big suitcase, a medium sized one, a carry-on and a backpack.
I arrived at Tom Bradley International Airport in LA at around 8:00. Here's the international terminal. I decide to check in early, since I have nothing else to do...

Except check-in didn't open until 10:00. So I stayed in line for 2 hours.

My favorite way to pass the time:
I was a little jealous, because Executive and First Class get carpet in front of their check-in counters. Economy has a barren and cold floor.
When I finished checking in, it was about 10:15. I still had some time to kill and Brad hadn't come yet, so I got some breakfast. Notice the 3 creams and sugars. I'm too used to the sweet coffee of Starbucks. I got a #3! My greasy favorite. I was sitting in the terminal listening to music and sipping my coffee as I people watched and it was fun.

Brad finally got in at about 10:15. His phone broke right before he came, and he had just moved out of his apartment and packed the night before so he pulled an all-nighter.
By now the line was really long. It took us an hour to check in, 35 for baggage, 25 for security, and wended up at the gate at 12:42 with boarding beginning at 12:50. Perfect. When we got on the plane Brad immediately fell asleep.

Here's my tiny screen where I watched Blood Diamond, Music and Lyrics, and The Prestige.
Airplane food was Curry Rice and some pasta with shrimp. I didn't take a picture because it's too graphic to be shown in public. The flight was 11 hrs. and 22 minutes. Even though I only slept for 4 hours the night before, I only slept an hour or two on the plane.

The view landing in Narita.

The first thing I immediately noticed was how GREEN everything was. It's the time of year where everything is vibrant and all nature. We got off the plane and had to go through customs where we encountered forms in which we didn't know how to fill. Then we got on a bus to Tokyo. Brad was so excited by the view.

On the outskirts of Tokyo
In the heart of Tokyo

Finally through Taxi, we arrive at our hotel, the Weekly Mansions.
There were some complications checking in, but it finally worked out. We got into our room and we were both a little overwhelmed and how small it was. I don't know what we expected, but it was a lot smaller than we thought. It's pretty much like a hotel room, with an airplane bathroom with a shower. There will be pictures of the apartment later. After we put all our luggage down, we decided to explore and get dinnner.

One of Tokyo's many vending machines

We walked around until we finally settled on a place. Of course there was no English menu so we just got what the chef suggested. It was a yakiniku restaurant, which basically is meat on a stick. All different kinds, from chicken with wasabi, chicken gizzard, chicken liver, pork, veggies. It was quite good, but a little expensive and ended up being around 5600 yen. (Something like 56 dollars).

Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and I just crashed. It was already 10:00pm and that's like 6:00 in the morning for my body. I got a fairly decent night of sleep considering the beds are a little harder than I'm used to.

All in all it was quite an adventerous first day. Today is mostly going to consist of unpacking and hopefully the USC office will call us to help us get a little more acclimated.

Thanks for reading!

Culture Shock

2007-06-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

I'm in Japan! It was a long time getting here, but I'm finally in my teeeeeeeny-tiny apartment (think a hotel room with a bathroom the size of an airplane bathroom). It's a little tough getting around and what not, but I'm here! It's like 5:47 in the morning right now so I'm on-line, but my roommate, Brad, is still sleeping so I'm going to give an update a little later. But just wanted to say hi!

Cuz I'm Leavin', On a Jet Plane

2007-05-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much all packed up. Well stocked with everything that I need, which looks like a lot less than I thought. Here are some pictures of the packing process.

I leave tomorrow from Sac to LAX, with my flight leaving at 6:50 and arriving at 8:00. Then my flight from Japan is at 1:20, and I arrive in Tokyo on June 1st, 4:30 pm local time. I'm flying on Japan Airlines, and I've taken the flight before. A solid 16 hours. Luckily there are video games on the plane.

So this is my last post in the states. I'll be sure to post a blog when I get into Tokyo.

Wish me a safe flight!

Tying Loose Ends

2007-05-28T11:26:00.001-07:00

I'm leaving on Thursday and I'm really starting to feel the pressure of having to get all my loose ends tied up. I've been packing non-stop trying to make sure I don't forget anything, while at the same time making sure I don't overpacking.

I'm also eating as much meat as possible, seeing as though it will be a lot harder to eat meat in Japan.

In addition I'm trying to finish up as much things for the fall as possible so I'm prepared. I dont' know how much down time I will have in Japan, but if I end up being extremely busy and unable to work on things concerning my extracurriculars on campus, then at least I will have finished some stuff before I went.

I'm also brushing up on my Japanese through the podcasts at www.japanesepod101.com. The company ended up being the perfect match for my skill sets, and what I'm trying to do. I can learn Japanese while at the same time working for a start up company creating content and doing marketing while also exploring Japan. This internship turned out to be perfect for me.

Just a quick update, since I'm still getting things all together.

Mate ne.

San Francisco

2007-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today I went to San Francisco to go shopping for the things I still needed for Japan. I needed to find a pair of good jeans, a pair of board shirts, and some polo shirts. I love SF and it's been a while since I've been there so I was excited to go.
Excuse the splotchy marks. My car is dirty.

I did pretty much all my shopping at the shopping mall at 5th and Mission. I forget what it's called. First we went to eat.

While Mr. Hana looked tasty, I'm going to be having Japanese food for 2 weeks, so instead, I opted for this:Bistro Burgers. Yum.

Then we hit the usual SF spots...Walked past the cable cars and Blondie's...

Finally finished shopping around 6:00.
I ended up getting 2 pairs of Jeans, 3 Polo Shirts, Dress pants, board shorts, a belt, a tie, and a rain coat. Seems like a lot, but I haven't gone shopping in like 6 months.

After that we went to get dinner at
Only to find out that Goldilocks (A Filipino restaurant) was replaced with a Tofu House!

Instead we went to

Yum. I'm going to miss Filipino food.

Packing List

2007-05-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

I ALWAYS overpack. The people in charge of the program said that it's essential not to overpack. I'm planning to buy a lot of gifts abroad, so I need to keep a lot of space to bring things back. I found this and this resource, but eventually decided to just make my own packing list. If some of the numbers seem completely random, well, that's because they are.

-------------------------------------

Important Documents
- Passport
- Rail Pass
- ISIC card
- Drivers License and photocopy
- Money Belt
- Cash, travelers checks, credit cards and photocopies
- USC Global handbook

Clothes
- Formal shoes, walking shoes, jogging shoes, flip flops
- 7 white socks, 5 black socks
- 3 pair shorts
- 3 jeans
- 10 Dress Shirts, 20 Long and short sleeve shirts
- 1 Sweatshirt
- 10 Ties
- 3 belts
- Suit
- 2 dress pants
- Bathing suit
- 2 light jackets
- 1 Rain Jacket
- 3 Hats

Miscellaneous
- Watch
- 2 Sony Handicams
- 1 Sony Mini DV
- 2 laptops w/ extra battery and all accessories
- Sony DVDirect
- Flashlight
- Books/Guides
- Day pack
- Plastic storage bags
- Blog kit
o Notebook
o Pencils/Pens
o Mediasticks
o DV tapes
- Alarm Clock
- Letter writing
- Sleeping mask
- Cards
- Batteries
- Ipod
- Towel
- Photographs
- Sunglasses
- Airplane cushion
Medicine and Toiletries
- Toothbrush/Toothpaste
- Soap/Shampoo
- Allergy
- Meds so you don’t have to go to the doctor

Things to get
Bathing Suit
Rain Jacket
Notebooks
Mediasticks

___________________________

I obsessively make lists. Get used to it.

New Toys

2007-05-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I've been doing some shopping to help me get by in Japan. I needed some new gear to help me with my blogging, along with some tools to help me crack the language barrier and navigate through the metro.

One of my new toys is this:
I don't have a name for her yet. Isn't she pretty? Too bad she's taken.
I think they make a cute couple.

In addition, I will be wielding a pair of Sony Cybershots (not pictured), a Sony Handycam, a subway guide, a city atlas, Frommer's Japan, map of Japan, and conversational Japanese handbooks. I also have my Sony DVDirect to upload my videos and my trusty man-purse to carry all my junk.

So excited.

New Beginnings

2007-05-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Today marks the creation of this blog that will document my journey in Japan. I will be staying in Japan from May 31st until July 28th, where I will be working in Tokyo at this company. I will be staying in Akasaka in an apartment with my fraternity brother Brad. We are interning in Tokyo through a USC program called the USC Global Fellowship, which sends USC students to Asia and Mexico to experience working in other parts of the world. Brad and I were lucky enough to get selected for this program.

This blog will document my travels from the day I begin packing until at least when I finish unpacking. I'll try to update at least daily with pictures, video blogs, and written blogs to document my journey. Hopefully I will take you, my reader, with me on my journeys and adventures so you will be able to experience Japan as I will.

Hope you enjoy!