For everyone who has been to engrish.com and for those who haven't... the following link is to my "Top 20 Engrish" discovered during my trip to Japan...

http://tinyurl.com/8ntj2

Ok, finally some more pics! These pics cover the second portion of my trip through Nara, Osaka, Kobe, Beppu and Hiroshima.

http://tinyurl.com/au9tj

I hope to get the rest of my pics from Hiroshima and Tokyo up in a couple days...

Just an FYI - over the course of the entire trip I took about 1700 pictures taking up about 4 GB of disk space (!). So really, this is just a small sampling.

More pics and post-mortem to come... =)

tokyo

Hmmm, wait no...

Tokyo!

Umm, still not there...

Tokyo!!!

Actually, it's more like

TOKYO!

If you can't tell, I'm trying to illustrate just how big and overwhelming this city really is. Yes, the good news is that I've made it home to DC safely & now it's time for me to write a little bit about my adventures in this absolutely huge city!

First, some numbers just to put things into perspective:

• Tokyo is comprised of 23 wards, 26 smaller cities, 7 towns, and 8 villages
• Tokyo covers an area which is 55 miles from east to west and 15 miles from north to south
• The 23 wards alone enclose an area which is 228 square miles and houses 12 million people, which is about 10% of the country's population (and is the county's most populous area)
• Tokyo generates more than 20,000 tons of garbage a day
• More than 3 million people pass through Shinjuku Station every single day

... and, of all places, I booked my hotel in Shinjuku! For three days I was one of the millions of people to pass through Shinjuku Station and I usually did so several times a day. The approximately 2.5 days that I had in Tokyo weren't nearly enough and I wasn't nearly as prepared as I should've been to tackle this sprawling city. I had a lengthy train ride from Hiroshima (5 hrs) in which to read and prepare my thoughts about what to do yet I still found myself struggling because there's just so much to do and so much to see that it is overwhelming.

Friday morning I started out by hitting the Imperial Palace District which is in the central part of the city, starting from Tokyo Station. Unfortunately for me, though, when I finally made it to the entrance on the east side I saw that it was closed as it is on every Monday and Friday. The outer gardens were still open and these were simple gardens which had a variety of maticulously well-groomed trees, plus I could wander around the outside edge and a get a couple pictures of the Palace from the outside. This was the first of many examples in Tokyo where I saw the blending of two worlds - that of the very traditional Japanese culture and architecture with the backdrop of skyscrapers and a very modern Tokyo.

From here I went to the Tsukiji area since it was just to the east where they are known for having the largest fish market in Asia. I'd read several reviews of restaurants here touting the quality of sushi and freshness of the fish as being among the best, if not the best, in Japan. Unfortunately for me the actual auctions for fish are held way early in the morning, but if my Uncle Al was here with me then surely we would've either gotten up early or stayed up late to see it. My purpose here was simple: lunch! I found a small sushi place that had a wait but not too long of a wait and had their chef's selection for lunch for 2100 yen, which is a really good price for what I received (about $18). I can't even dream of getting sushi of this kind of quality for this price in America. With tax and tip, by myself, it's easy for me to spend $20-25 on a sushi meal back at home. And this sushi was incredible - the freshest and tastiest sushi I've ever had! Huge pieces of fish! I'll be sure to include a picture in an upcoming photo gallery.

After Tsukiji I was close to Ginza so I spent some time wandering around that area checking out some of the shops and picking up a few souvenirs. I'm not really into all of the "name-brand" shopping so I wasn't hitting too many places - the main place on my list was the Song Building! Their showroom was really cool - featuring the latest in laptop & desktop computers, MP3 players, digital cameras, plasma TVs and of course all things PSP and PS2 related, among other electronics. Even the Sony building itself seems to resemble a PS2 standing vertically. Very cool stuff.

Friday evening was spent wandering the Shinjuku area by myself - which I soon realized was not such a good thing to do. I found dinner here but I couldn't walk down the streets of Kabuki-cho without being approached by someone speaking English trying to get me into their "club". Um. Yeah. It got annoying after awhile - even though there were restaurants, movie theaters and Pachinko parlors (video game arcades) there as well I just couldn't escape these guys, so I went to a different area of Shinjuku to scope things out. The Golden Gai area was really cool - very small streets just lined with 2-story buildings, all of which contains little bars that usually held no more than 10-15 people. I attempted to check out a couple of these in hopes of meeting some people but didn't have much luck this evening. Shinjuku is a cool area to explore but I'm sure much cooler when you're with someone who knows where they're going, heh.

Saturday was quite the full day - I started out in Akihabara which is what used to be well known for their discount electronics but has since turned into an area where "Otaku", or geeks, tend to frequent. Lots of huge electronics department stores and small electronics vendors. Everything and everything that requires electricity or batteries to run is sold here, from kitchen appliances to the latest computers to electronic translators to electronics parts. Even the toilet "washlets" are sold here! I stumbled across one row of shops where all they sold were small electronics parts at really cheap prices - if only Gyom were here I'm sure he'd be picking through all of these parts putting together his next-gen guitar pedal! Some cool CD and DVD stores here, too.

Next on my list was to head to Ginza where I was to meet my friend Shuko for lunch. Shuko and I met in Washington, DC with several other people at a JAS-DC event (Japan-American Society of Washington, DC). Lucky for me, Shuko had just moved from NYC back to Tokyo just weeks prior to my arrival. She graciously took me out to what was easily one of the best meals I've had during my entire stay in Japan where the chef prepared half of what we ate right in front of our eyes - I even had a video of the guy driving a nail through the head of a fish and preparing it.. oh, yeah, and my reaction to it too! Haha! Louise & Al, you would've loved it for sure!! Shuko even took me around Ginza and Roppongi Hills after lunch to help me do some souvenir shopping. It had been quite some time since we'd seen each other and I'm so glad we were able to meet up!

Next I headed to Harajuku which is a bit closer to where I was staying in Shinjuku to meet with Yuka for dinner. My co-worker Laura introduced me to her roommate Jessica who spent part of a summer with Yuka when Yuka came to the states for an exchange program about 8 years ago. Jessica put me in touch with Yuka and she met me for dinner tonight at a way cool conveyor belt sushi restaurant! The cool thing about these places (besides the obvious, like the conveyor belt and the sushi) is that some of what they serve is a bit more odd than you'd find at other sushi restaurants. In general, we Americans have kinda messed with sushi to make it more "American-ized". You don't see half of the silly rolls in Japan like you do in the states. But this place had a few wacky ones but not nearly as wacky as the one I went to in Kyoto where they had 'duck' tho. After dinner we walked to the Shibuya area and got drinks at Starbucks and luckily had seats with a great view of the famous Shibuya intersection crossing and the craziness going on there (words cannot do this justice, you'll have to see a pic). It was awesome having Yuka to show me around Harajuku and Shibuya and she even offered to meet up with me on Sunday...

Which takes me to my last day in Tokyo - where I started out once again in Harajuku to do some souvenir shopping, then met Yuka at Asakusa which is again a very traditional area of Japan which stands out in contrast to the very modern Japan of other areas. Asakusa has the traditional architecture as well as the Asakusa-Jinja shrine and streets lined with covered shopping (key on a day like today where it was raining off and on) and vendors selling okashi (sweets), osembae (rice crackers) and omiyage (souvenirs). Unfortunately I didn't have a whole lot of time there as the Tokyo subway system had proved to be quite the challange in getting from one place to another (over long distances, at least, determining where to change and how to get from one line to another which is not always connected or run by the same company). Off to my next meeting - I met my friend Aya and her sister Kaori for a cup of hot chocolate and slice of cake in the basement area of this quaint-looking french cafe on the much quieter side of Shibuya. They were taking a short break from their work day as they both own a small art and music cafe close by. We had a great time chatting about travel and different cultures and they wanted to go back to work at the cafe about as much as I wanted to return home to America... =)

After that I didn't have too much time but I stopped to pick up a few last souvenirs in Shibuya before I was to head out - and wouldn't you know it just browsing in a store I happened to meet a local there who was more than interested in chatting with me. I wish I had met Naomi sooner - she was probably the singlemost person who made the best effort to communicate with me in Japanese as she spoke slow enough for me to understand what she was saying, and when I didn't understand she attempted to say it in a different way or use other words that I might know. It meant so much to me to have this person making such an effort in communicating with me - giving me a chance to think through and forumulate my response as well. I found a similar thing happen in Hiroshima as well, though. I met Rie just before catching my train to Tokyo and had a fantastic conversation with her, though mostly in English. Hopefully I can keep in touch with some of these people I've met for my next trip... =)

So for now it's back to the real world - but I do have the intention of following up here with more pictures from the rest of my trip as well as a "post-mortem" of things I think I did right and things I think I did wrong and could do better next time in hopes that for everyone reading this, should you decide to make a trip overseas (to Japan or whatever) you can learn from some of my experiences.

Pictures to follow!

Unfortunately my time in Japan is coming to a quick close... I don't have much time here in Nagoya so I'm going to go and enjoy what time I have left. I'll post about my Tokyo experiences as well as some additional pictures upon my return. Now I just have a long return trip home as well as a desire to stay here longer, haha!

More to come...

Just a quickie to let everyone know that I'm in Tokyo! From Hiroshima it took about 5 hours by Shinkansen and I had about a 1/2 hour 'layover' in Shin-Osaka where I had to change trains. I'm really impressed with the transportation systems in Japan overall. The Shinkansen is fun to ride and it moves *really* fast. I found it amusing to see on the electronic scrolling message board in the front of the train something along the lines of: "We are now moving at 265 km/hour". Which if my calculations are correct, is over 160 mph. Pretty cool. My only complaint is the pressure on the train is almost worse for my ears than flying is - it's just non-stop the entire time instead of just take-offs and landings.

So my hotel in Tokyo is in the Shinjuku area, which is like the equivalent of Times Square in NYC. Just grabbed some dinner at a little noodle/rice place where you actually order your meal from a vending machine which spits out a ticket that you hand to the cook who whips up your food in minutes. And there's an Internet Cafe just down the street from me, too. Well I say Internet Cafe, but it's really a little more like a giant cubefarm. It's amusing actually. I'll need to take some pictures, heh. Oh and my glasses broke this morning so the next few days in Tokyo should be interesting... maybe I can find some way cool bizarre-o looking frames here in Japan, ha!

Lastly, the onsen bathing was not in mixed company. My understanding is that those are the exception, not the rule. For those interesting in some basic information on this topic, courtesy of Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen

And if I can vent for all of 30 seconds, I just want to say that I paid the $2 or whatever it was to make a phone call to my condo's office to ask if my drumset had been delivered... and they said no. Won't this drama ever end?! Sheesh. And no, he hasn't returned any of my e-mails yet. Sigh. Looks like I might need some friends to take a road trip with me to Tennessee when I get back. Let me know if any of you are interested... =)

Sorry it's been awhile... long time, no Internet in little 'ol Beppu and I really didn't have enough time in Kobe as it was to see the sights, nevermind finding an Internet cafe... but I found one here in Hiroshima and wanted to post a little bit since an awful lot has happened the past few days. Now if I can only remember it...

In Nara the big draw there is two-fold: Nara Koen (Nara Park), where a thousand tame deer roam the area freely, and then the great giant Buddha statue (which I included pics of earlier). The deer are really incredible and seeing them interact with the kids (and adults) is priceless. They're all really just hanging out! It's quite a scene that I doubt we'd ever see anywhere in America. The giant Buddha is interesting because it is enclosed by what I've read is the largest wooden structure in the world. Not only that, but it is apparently one of the three largest (enclosed?) statues in the world - the Lincoln Memorial in DC being another (not so sure about the third). On my first day I saw both of these with my two Aussie friends, and then the following day I visited the Kasuga Taisha shrine which is lined with over 2,000 stone lanterns (very cool, and somewhat spooky at the same time). Most amusing was the small group of 13-year-olds that thought it'd be funny to chat me up on my walk out of the area. They were there on a field trip from Osaka.

On this same day I traveled to Osaka - which I have to say I had a *really* good time there. The day I arrived I was overwhelmed with everything there - I can only imagine how I will react to Tokyo. I guess in the way that I planned my trip maybe it's better that I experience the cities from smallest to biggest, haha. My time in Osaka was so great only because of the people I met. If there's anything I've learned on this trip it's that it may be fun to travel on your own, but in all honesty the best times I've had are the ones which I've shared time with other people. The first night I was in Osaka [last Friday] I really just wandered around the city around the district where my hotel was [Shinsai-bashi, America Mura, Nanba area]. After dinner I decided to try and wander back, armed only with my compass. But I'd gotten myself pretty turned around since I walked for who-knows-how-long and finally got to an area where I recognized some of the streets and shops and stopped to look around to determine what the best direction to go would be. Then some guy called out to me, asked if I was lost, gave me directions, and then offered for me to join him for a beer. Shane was a bit older than me, originally from New Zealand and had been living in Osaka now for about 12 years. He played guitar and was a lead singer and had been in and out of a few bands and just happened to not be with a band right now, but was doing some promoting for some.

Well to make a long story short (oops, already made it long, doh), we hung out for the rest of the night hitting about 4 different bars with him and his friends (both Japanese and foreigners) until after 3 o'clock in the morning. Then the next day I did a little sightseeing during the day and took him up on his invitiation to go to dinner (again with both Japanese and foreigners) and then to a rock show afterwards. It was all absolutely fantastic - I got to meet some really great people and it felt good just to have a little companionship in this giant city. I don't know where the cool places are to hit, but he sure did. Rock shows in Japan aren't all that different than they are in America - but there are a couple key things worth noting. They start *really* early. Like, we're talking 6pm. And they end early too - like 9:30. Apparently it's a big deal for everyone to get to the show early, stay for the entire show and then all of the bands go out for dinner and drinks afterwards with some of the fans/friends too. We missed the first band as we got there at 6:30 or so, and there were four bands after them. Every band played about 20-25 minutes, and I guess that's standard over there. Also, there were NO slackers on the bill at all, and all of the bands were pretty much local to the Japan scene. Shane explained that most bands in Japan hole themselves up in their rehearsal space for a couple years perfecting their songs and show before going out to perform, and it showed. I was really impressed!

I left Osaka on Sunday morning and traveled to Kobe which ended up being an easy trip as there's a train line that ran straight to Kobe from Osaka. But finding my hotel was another matter - neither maps nor people could help me and it took awhile. My idea of using the coin lockers at the train stations for my spare luggage did not end up working out too well as the lockers only allow you to store your belongings in there for 24 hours, so I've had to carry a bit more around with me than would be ideal. But I found my hotel, got all checked in and headed out to see Kobe...

Now it was Sunday, and it's important to note that this weekend was a Japanese holiday (they had Monday off). So traveling was pretty crazy (lots of people) and Kobe was packed with people. Kobe was an interesting city and it definitely reminded me of San Francisco. I checked out their area of Chinatown, sampled their bubble tea (which was literally about 1/3 the size of the bubble tea we usually get in the states), had some Italian food for dinner & it was my first time eating Italian food in Japan - good stuff! They put edamame in their pasta. Sounds weird, but I'll probably start doing that at home too cuz it tasted good! I also found the 'Oriental City' and behind it, the ropeway that went up the mountain and offered an impecable view of the city. I took the ropeway at night so it was incredible seeing the entire city all lighted up! Sure, I was practically the only person there who was in a cable car by himself (mostly couples, big date spot ya know) but it was still a cool experience.

The next morning I spent some more time wandering around Kobe, but it was more trying to find an American bank where I could actually use the ATM than it was for sightseeing (doh). American banks have not been easy for me to find, that's for sure. Then it was off to Beppu! Figured it'd be a good place to relax as it's known for it's hot springs (onsen) and is a resort town. However, I ended up having quite a busy schedule there.

The first evening I was served dinner in my room at the Ryokan I was staying at and although it was good, it was not as good as the dinner I had at the previous ryokan I stayed at. This Ryokan though was run by a sweet older couple and their daughter, Mutsuko, who was close to my age, took care of things in the evening while her parents worked during the day. All three of them were incredibly hospitable I couldn't have been more appreciative. Their daughter was studying English so not only did she take out an English map of the area but she also wrote out bus information in English for me to help me get around, gave me brochures in English and was interesting in chatting. The first evening I just took a bath in the onsen that was inside the ryokan, and then the following day I was a little more touristy...

And in Beppu I didn't expect to run into many other foreigners, but I think I ran into more foreigners there than anywhere else. I was touring the hot spring 'hells' in Beppu (there are 8) when I met Jennifer, a woman originally from Tennessee (I think) who had lived in Korea for 7 years and had been in Japan for a few months (teaching English). We had lunch and then she went to catch her boat back to Shikoku as she was in Beppu on holiday. Then later I met another girl who was in the area teaching English and she was with a guy who she met who was from Britan, so we chatted for awhile. Then while I was waiting for the bus to come these people stopped and offered me a ride - it was a woman and her mother, and it was her mother who wanted to stop and chat with me. So they picked me up, brought me to her sister's coffee shop where they chatted with me (almost all in Japanese mind you) and then took me back to the ryokan I was staying at. Then I got to experience a sand bath and an onsen (hot spring) that was close to the ryokan, which was very relaxing, but the coolest part was the man who was working at the ryokan (Mutsuko's father) walked me there himself and spoke to the woman at the front desk to take care of me. Most of you probably don't care to hear the details of onsen bathing, but if you're really interested you can ask me later... =P

That evening I took the bus downtown (the ryokan was pretty far outside from the main area of town), had a fantastic dinner at a place Mutsuko recommended to me (and found out later that she actually called the place and told them I was going there and to take care of me, which they really did). At dinner I met a Japanese guy named Takuya and after dinner we both chatted (again, mostly in Japanese) on our way to another bar for a couple drinks and then to a cafe where his friend was working. There have been times when I really feel as though my Japanese is lacking, and there have been times when I really think that I must be doing OK to be getting around and meeting people and being able to chat as much as I have been! Granted there's still a LOT to learn but I at least (sometimes) feel like I'm getting somewhere. And when I returned last night Mutsuko was up and so we chatted for awhile before I retired. Like I've already done with several foreigners and Japanese people, I gave her one of the old DTT CDs in an attempt to generate some interest in the band (I can't go anywhere without promoting, haha!). I brought something like 20 of the old CDs with me and a bunch of stickers and have given out most everything except for a few I saved for Tokyo. Mutsuko, like everyone who I've given a CD to, really appreciated it. Planting seeds for a Japan tour?! You bet!! I even know a damn cool venue in Osaka I'd like to put on that list, heh.

So that brings me to today! I left Beppu this morning and traveled to Hiroshima. The big thing on my list was honestly to see the memorial museum and learn more about the history of Hiroshima. Words cannot even describe what it is like to be moved by such an event. It is truly remarkable to see the city as it is now in all of it's glory - it really is a gorgeous city. All I can say is that I was truly moved by what I saw today and I admit I did not hold a strong stance on nuclear weaponry before based on my lack of knowledge on the subject (as I will attest I don't tend to have strong political views in general) - but now after having seen what happened in Hiroshima with the atomic bomb... I hope that we never see the likes of anything like that ever again, and I have to really encourage anyone who doesn't hold a stance on the topic should do a little research or maybe make the trip to Hiroshima yourselves.

And to answer the question about Hello Kitty merchandise... I can hardly escape it, actually. It's *everywhere*. The funniest part about it is the fact that in every place I've visited there has been a unique site or landmark or theme, and there's always Hello Kitty merchandise there to support it as well. I've seen Hello Kitty in a deer outfit in Nara and a picture of Hello Kitty being held by the giant Buddha. I'm convinced that there's no shortage of Hello Kitty merchandise in any part of Japan... and it's not just the younger girls that like Hello Kitty. It's young girls, young guys, and frankly all women. I've seen little old ladies with cell phones that have more Hello Kitty bling on them than 2-PAC ever had. Totally serious!

Lastly, apparently I've confused people with my red hair. Apparently, Jannelle, your memory is not so good... didn't we hang out in DC for that wedding in August? =P Well I first colored my hair red before the TT Reynold's gig we (dtt) had back in July (9th, to be exact), and then I did it again before our next show at TT's two months later (mid-September). Have to say at first it was a bit much but now I kinda like it. =)

I know this has been a long one but there are still so many details left missing! But that's all for now kids... I'm sure I'll have more from Tokyo!!

Ok, so instead of a lengthy blog entry (which I admit I am overdue for one), I've finally been able to upload and title pictures from the first several days of my trip. There are about 60 pictures here and I've shared them through Kodak's sharing service. You don't have to log in if you don't want to - there's a link towards the bottom of the sign in screen that reads "View photos without signing in". Those of you with a Kodak EasyShare account can log in and save them, however

It should be noted that I've taken over 800 pictures in the past week of being here in Japan, so really this is just a small sampling. These took *forever* to upload. I might have to reduce the size of some of the others and upload them, but I figured everyone didn't want to look through 800+ photos. =)

After Kobe, I'll be in Beppu and I don't expect to have an internet connection there... so you might not hear from me until I reach Hiroshima, and then Tokyo...

Lastly, I've just realized that I think the time is off for my posts... right now it's almost 9am here on Sunday Oct 9, even though it's only like 8pm on Saturday night for most of you. Out partying it up I hope!! I know a few people celebrating birthday's today, heh (happy b-day Mike! And of course, Michele, Pat, and Grace too.. wow, lots of bdays today).

Well I'm off to Kobe in a few hours... hopefully I'll have a chance to post again soon! For now, enjoy the pics! =)

Pictures are here --> http://tinyurl.com/davmz

A lengthy stay in Kyoto... my first evening here was spent wandering around just to check out some different parts of the city as I wrote about earlier. Then yesterday was a rather uneventful day as I only hit two "tourist-y" places: first, the Imperial Palace (taking their 10am English tour) and then next Nijo-jo castle, where early afternoon rains kind of put a damper on that (and really, most anything else I'd want to do outside. So I made my way to Kyoto Station to check out some of the things they had there (and really, it paled in comparisson to Nagoya's Sakae Station), and then decided to head back to my hotel to rest for a bit before going out for the evening for dinner and such (after a failed attempt at trying to connect to a wireless hotspot in the McDonald's just down the street from my hotel). So since that didn't work... sorry, still no pictures. =( Unfortunately I never made it out last night. My body apparently still hasn't adjusted and I fell asleep somewhere around 8pm yesterday evening and could not for the life of me do anything. Which has made today a long day given that I was up at like 5am and it's about 2am now (doing laundry before I depart Kyoto tomorrow).

Today was an excellent day, however! I finally broke down and bought an umbrella and headed out for the day around 9:30am this morning. So far on my trip I really hadn't met anyone, but about a week before I left I had a conversation with my Uncle who backpacked through Europe somewhat similar to what I'm doing in Japan now. And he told me all sorts of great stories of the hospitality of people he met and some of the incredible experiences he had with people and meeting other travelers. Well today I met some fellow travelers and we ended up spending the day together!

So at the bus stop this morning I noticed a couple who I'd seen earlier in the hotel, and while we were on the bus the guy asked me where I was going and it turns out we were going to the same place. Their names were Justin and Michele, and they're both from western Australia. Over the course of the day we got to know each other pretty well and we really hit it off. =) So we got off the bus and saw this temple together which was cool (still raining all this morning and most of this afternoon), and then we walked "The Path of Philosophy" which was a small canal that ran south from the area of the temple and had small restuarants and shops lining both sides. From there we made our way to the Museum of Modern Art (which, if I'm going to go to a museum those are the kind that I prefer), and then from there we found an excellent Indian restaurant to eat at (yes, Howie, you'll be glad to know that I've been taking pictures of not only every meal I've eaten, but also every odd drink that I've bought from the vending machines here). After lunch we made our way to the covered shops, had a drink at a small bar & enjoyed a crepe (they hadn't had a crepe since they'd come to Japan like 3 weeks ago and already I've had... hmm... I seem to've lost count, doh!).

After a short retreat back to the hotel to freshen up, we rode the subway a stop to the place where they ate dinner last night (I have the business card but forget the name at the moment). They served us an "Omakase", or chef's tasting, similar to what I've enjoyed at places like Morimoto's (Philly) and Makoto (DC). The food was fantastic, there weren't a whole lot of other people there, and the service was great! We also met another guy here who was in Japan for both business and pleasure from London and he joined us for part of our meal. After dinner we walked over to Gion, the area in Kyoto where Geisha's can sometimes be spotted (but it's not as easy as just looking for "The Geisha House", although I had my camera ready in case I saw it), but we were lucky to see one Geisha departing from a meeting with a client, so that was cool.

Then we wandered around the area looking for a bar that might be accepting of foreigners and finally found one called "5". The place was small and quaint, music wasn't too loud and there was just a group of 10-12 people in the back side and a straggler or two at the bar. The drinks were reasonably priced (700 yen) and the bartenders were way cool and really only spoke a couple words of English. I somehow managed to hold a conversation with one of the bartenders for quite some time and learned a little bit about him and the bar. The bar had been open for about 3 years, and he lives in Kyoto but grew up in Osaka. He called the bar "5" because it was his jersey number when he played for the Kyoto baseball team. Now we all know how big baseball is in Japan - he played center field and was last on the team 5 years ago. When I asked if he was famous, in typical Japanese fashion, he downplayed himself. I just thought it was cool I was able to hold a conversation with this guy! Definitely a lot more fun when you can communicate. Oh, and I also taught him how to make a Toasted Almond. Been awhile since I've had one of those...

Ok, time to get laundy done and get to bed! Traveling to Nara tomorrow and probably won't have internet access until I make it to Osaka the day after...

Big thanks to everyone who's been reading and supporting me on my trip! I love reading your comments and feeling everyone's emotional support behind me! You guys are the best!! =)

I know I just recently posted, but I have to add this real quick since I have access to a computer...

I'm sure all of you (or most of you) have at some point had a good laugh over "Engrish" (Jannelle you're going to love this), and I have to say that so far on my trip a day hasn't gone by where I don't see any... because it's ALL over the place! I've been trying to take pictures of it whenever I see something (as long as it's not too conspicuous) because it just totally cracks me up.

So I'd like to share with you the favorite piece of Engrish that I found tonight while wandering around Kyoto (after eating at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant where they sat me at the bar next to a cool guy named Jonathan who was from San Francisco and moved to Japan). I passed by a Haagan Daaz ice-cream shop (and you know I can't turn down ice cream, heh!) and they had a convenient bench to just sit down and eat your ice cream, which I did to give my back a rest. While doing so, I noticed on the counter next to the cash register a sign in Japanese and then translated into Engrish that read: "Sorry, we don't accept any exchange."

All I can say is the green tea ice cream I had was fantastic & I wouldn't even think of exchanging it... =P

Hey kids! Ok so here goes... I have a novel typed up on my laptop but it doesn't look like I'll be able to upload that anytime soon. The good news is that I just arrived in Kyoto and my hotel has two computers with an internet connection here available for public use so I'll at least be able to check e-mail and such while I'm here (and I'll be here for the next three days or so). (Warning, this hasn't been spell-checked since these computers here have a 30-minute time limit on them, heh).

I just read my last post and I apparently made it sound like something wasn't good, but that's hardly the case! The most challanging parts of my trip so far have been finding my hotel initially in Nagoya and then getting around Ise. Not challanging in a bad way, though. Challanging in a very GOOD way because most (not all) people didn't speak English. Especially in Ise - they had no choice to speak to me in anything other than Japanese since that's all they spoke. Those who do speak a little English answer me in English even when I speak to them in Japanese. Well, mostly...

I've found so far that even though in the majority of situations when I need to communicate with people I'm prepared to ask the question but not necessarily prepared to comprehend the answer they're going to give me. I tend to understand a few words here and there, but the problem is that I know enough Japanese to be considered dangerous. I give them the impression that I speak well, but my vocabulary and knowledge of gramattical structures is limited. This puts me in quite the predicament. However, I've done well so far so I can't be doing all that bad.

Here are some highlights from the past few days:

Arriving In Nagoya (Friday evening): First, I had to find the bus to take me from the airport to Nagoya Station. Finding it wasn't too bad, but when I was the only person on the bus I wondered if it was really going where the bus driver told me it was going. Well, it did bring me to Nagoya Station and from there I just had to figure out the subway system which only took a little while. Used the subway to go a couple stops and arrived at my stop: Sakae Station. The directions to my hotel said to take Exit #1 - no big deal, right? Well let's put this in perspective. There are *16* exits from this subway station alone. And those were the only directions I had. Luckily, after wandering around for a little while I finally broke down and asked someone for help - a cool looking Japanese kid who must've been in his late teens or early twenties. Not only did he call the hotel to get directions on his cell phone, but then he walked me there. How about that!? So of course I had to give him a gift for doing that... very cool.

Saturday in Nagoya - Spent the day seeing various places in Nagoya. Found out the hard way that the American Center in the International Building was closed on the weekends, but luckily there was an information desk in the same building that was open where I checked e-mail, made the previous post and got some help for getting around in Japan. Went up in the Panarama House to get a view of Nagoya city from 245 meters up, and then went to the Atsuta shrine before wandering around the underground mall near my hotel and then meeting up with friends for dinner. I really need to give some thanks to my previous employer, Donald Tyler, who put me in touch with his Japanese business contact in Nagoya. Toshihiro and his wife Kumi met me at my hotel and took me out to dinner at this Japanese place called Yama-chan (written in Kanji and using one of the 2 dozen characters I recognize; Ayako-sensei & So-sensei would be so proud of me!). We had a great meal and a great conversation, half in Japanese and half in English since both Kumi and Toshi spoke English very well. Easily the highlight of my trip so far - we had a great time! And after dinner we hit one of the video arcade places where we tried one of the high-tech photo booths and I got to play the Taiko drum game (yes, I'll have pictures soon enough).

Sunday, Nagoya & Ise - So I checked out of my hotel and took the subway back to Nagoya Station and then rode the JR train to Ise and took the easy way out and grabbed a taxi to my hotel. Ise is a smaller, much more rural area than Nagoya (which is the 4th largest city in Japan). Checked into the Ryokan (Japanese Inn) I was staying at and there was no chance of anyone speaking any English here, heh. So for my language skills, that was excellent. However when it came time for me to get around, my only option was to use the bus. And that.. was not so easy. However with some help from everyone and what little language skills I have, I successfully made it to the Geku shrine, then to the shops in Naiku (very cool). Bussed back to my ryokan (I even had to transfer busses... that was not easy). Had a little time before dinner and then was served an authentic Japanese meal which included some of the tenderest beef and freshest sashimi I've ever eaten. Fantastic! The sake with dinner knocked me out though...

Monday, Traveling to Kyoto - Which brings me to today... traveling to Kyoto and getting to my hotel here was cake. Took the bus in Ise back to Ise-shi Station, rode the train back to Nagoya, and then took the Shinkansen to Kyoto (45 minutes - this wasn't even the fastest of the Shinkansen trains and it was still moving). Took the subway to where my hotel was and easily found my hotel, which is pretty much where I am now. Already though I've seen more foreigners here in Kyoto in the first 5 minutes I was at Kyoto Station than I did for the past few days. It hasn't bothered me in the least though because I'm making an effort to speak the language and most people have been very kind and helpful. I'm glad that I'll be here in Kyoto for a few days, though. It's definitely tiring with all of the traveling from place to place. But I'm seeing a lot and I'm learning even more - just how to get around as well as language and cultural things.

All I can say is that it feels great to be here and be having this experience... =)

I have a long post typed up on my laptop but I'm on a public computer (with a very very odd keyboard) so I'll have to post it later... but this is just to let everyone know I'm doing OK and getting around! It's cool but definitely intimidating.

More to follow... =)

Why I'm keeping a blog
Some of you know that I've been studying the Japanese language for about two years now, and some of you probably know that soon I will be embarking on my first trip to Japan in the near future... so the purpose of this blog is to keep my friends and family informed of where I am on my trip, how I'm doing and to assure everyone that I am alive and well. Granted I don't know how easy or difficult it will be to get access to the internet while I'm there, but I do know that Japan is not exactly a third world country so I don't think it will be difficult in most of the places I am visiting.

Why Japan?
Some background is probably in order to start out with. It was quite some time ago when I got the interest to start studying Japanese. Fall of 2001 to be exact was when I'd enrolled in my first Japanese class through Fairfax County Adult Education. If I recall correctly, the inspiration came from several places - having recently gone through a rough break up with the girl I'd been seeing for almost 3 years and wanting to just keep myself active, the interest I had in video games at the time after a co-worker of mine burned me a copy of the Japanese version of Final Fantasy IX before it was released in the states (thanks Rey!), plus the idea that I just felt a bit uncultured - as Americans we primarily learn to speak a single language our whole lives and then expect everyone else to learn our language to communicate with us. What's up with that?! I have so much respect for people who speak two, three, or even more languages. Language and culture are so closely tied together that I just feel it makes one more aware of other people and have a better understanding of how to relate with people in general.

So I started to learn Japanese and really enjoyed my first class. When it was over, however, I got shipped off to Madison, Wisconsin for work - which while it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything, it did force me to lose whatever groundwork I made in taking that first class. Upon returning from Madison early summer 2003, I retook the Japanese I course that fall of 2003 that I'd already taken before as a review, and I've continued with it since. I studied with Ayako Prystup taking her classes through FCAE and also in some private lessons. This fall I've recently switched to a different class at GMU studying with Sufumi So-sensei to change things up a bit & motivate myself to do a little more studying on my own. So-sensei was understanding of my trip and asked me to give a presentation to the class when I returned, which I happily accepted. Ah, the feeling of being back in college again... it's all starting to come back! Hard to believe it's been 6 years since I graduated from Purdue. I'd better not think about that too much, makes me feel old <laughs>...

With all this studying, I figured there's no better reason for motivation than to go to Japan and experience it for myself. For several years I've attempted to plan a trip - and now I finally have! While I'm sure I will partake in some of the touristy things that the country has to offer, I really just want to go there and experience the culture and people of Japan. I unfortunately do not have a traveling companion for this adventure as I was originally hoping. Maybe for my next trip, but I have a feeling that traveling by myself will be an eye-opening, life changing experience.

My Itinerary
Here is my itinerary in text form with each destination numbered. You can match these numbers up with the map image of Japan below, as that is what I used to plan out my trip.

Thurs Sept 29 – Depart Washington Dulles
Fri Sept 30 – Arrive Nagoya, Japan (4:30pm Nagoya time) – Keep in mind Japan is at the moment 13 hours ahead of EST, and I think 12 hours when we’re not in daylight savings time.
Sat Oct 1 – Nagoya (#1)
Sun Oct 2 – Depart Nagoya, travel to Ise (#2)
Mon Oct 3 – Depart Ise, travel to Kyoto (#3)
Tues Oct 4 – Kyoto
Wed Oct 5 – Kyoto
Thurs Oct 6 – Depart Kyoto, travel to Nara (#4)
Fri Oct 7 – Depart Nara, travel to Osaka (#5)
Sat Oct 8 – Osaka
Sun Oct 9 – Depart Osaka, travel to Kobe (#6)
Mon Oct 10 – Depart Kobe, travel to Beppu (#7)
Tues Oct 11 – Beppu
Wed Oct 12 – Depart Beppu, travel to Hiroshima (#8)
Thurs Oct 13 – Depart Hiroshima, travel to Tokyo (#9)
Fri Oct 14 – Tokyo
Sat Oct 15 – Tokyo
Sun Oct 16 – Depart Tokyo, travel to Nagoya (#10)
Mon Oct 17 – Depart Nagoya and return to Washington Dulles, arrive about 9pm

( click the image to see it full size )

How my trip was planned
I wish I had more time to do research on the country, but there’s a lot to Japan even given it’s smaller size compaed to America. Thanks to my friend Ryan who gave me a gift card for Border’s <hugs>, I picked up Fodor's guide to Japan (revised for 2005). I went through it and read all about the different areas they covered, found the places that I thought would be most interesting and then determined what the best way to get from place to place might be based on where the cities were located. I’d also been reading Japan Made Easy, a book which covers the basics of getting around in Japan as well as recommended places/cities to visit and see.

Preperations I've done
My plane ticket was booked on United using miles (thanks to all the travel I did for AMS!) and most of my hotels were booked through Japan Hotel online. I considered using hostels but the booking process, not being completely online, was a bit too difficult for me to seriously consider taking the chance. Besides the business hotels, I also booked a few nights through Japanese Guest Houses to stay at a Ryokan, which is a more traditional Japanese experience. I’ll actually be served a traditional home cooked dinner and breakfast while I am there. When it’s time for bed, they’ll pull the futon out from the closet for me to sleep on. Little more expensive, but should be well worth the experience.

I’ll also be getting from city to city using Japan’s extensive railway system using a Japan Rail Pass. This is very similar to that of what Europe offers in that I can ride most trains, buses and subways with this pass (all except for the fastest bullet trains, so I might have to book a ticket on one just to say I rode it).

Lastly, through Bank of America I was able to order some Yen directly from their website. Besides the Ryokans which only accept cash, I figure I’ll need some when I arrive. It was as simple as filling out a form on their website, telling them how much I wanted and my bank account number. Within a couple days I received the Yen I’d ordered. My passport was renewed back in July of 2003 – when I was first trying to plan a trip to Japan. Only took me over 2 years to do it, but I’m almost there!

So what’s next?
I leave on Thursday Sept 29th, so my hope is that every day or every other day when I'm in Japan I’ll be able to log in, write up a blurb or two about what I’ve done and where I am and maybe post a picture or two for everyone to see. Feel free to leave some comments about my posts if anyone out there is actually reading them… and I hope you enjoy reading about my travel adventures!