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... =)
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... =)
posted by derek.lee at 09:54
6 Comments:
Oh Tokyo...I've been looking forward to this set of posts since before you left! I hope you meet lots of people and see lots of cool stuff. WOO HOO!! :)
I'm with you D! Let's round us up a posse and get what's yours...while we're at it, we'll stop up in Indiana and get back that green kit too...
~jason
Hey Brother,
Just found out yesterday you were overseas and your postcard just got here today.
Glad you are making this trip. Of the places I visited in the Navy, we missed Japan and the Philippines.
Aarilyn is 19 months old and doing great. Krista is too.
Keep your funmeter pegged at ludicrouspeed!
So my question is, Which is better, the "Big Muff" or the "Double Muff"???? My money's on the Double.
*****So I found this giant music store in Kyoto that actually also sold musical instruments in the basement floor. I wailed on one of their electronic drum kits for awhile (because I obviously haven't touched a drum in over a week now) and then wandered through the music store. I thought Gyom, Tim and Jason would appreciate this picture of a Big Muff (selling for 18,480 yen, or about $160). =P The drums and cymbals I looked at seemed to be much higher priced in Japan compared to the states...*****
WHAT A GREAT TRIP THIS HAS BEEN!!
MUST IT END? I SUSPECT THAT NOW YOU HAVE HAD A TASTE----YOU WILL NEED TO RETURN :)
Just wanted to chime in on the drum-set thing and offer some moral support. Hopefully it'll work out in the end and the waiting will be worth it! (hmmmm, elec drums. crazy-ass lex won't leave me alone anytime he hears me start beating on the drums so maybe headphones and an elec kit would be the solution).
In case you're not near a computer again soon (which I doubt!) - HEB! (Happy Early Birthday).
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