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Live From Japan
Live From Japan
Akari here, reporting live on my trip to Asia! For the most part, I'm gonna be staying in Japan. I'll stop by Hong Kong very briefly though. ^-^ I've only been to Japan once in my life, and that was when I was in 2nd grade. (Memory too foggy to recall clearly) And, Hong Kong? China? Never been there at all. I don't believe a whole lot of people have gone to either of these places, so I consider myself lucky. Heh. Fortunately for you folks at home, you can hear what's goin' on over there in the east, through me. It's almost guaranteed to be interesting and worth a read. I'll send pictures, postcards, and heck, maybe a couple of phone calls to a selected few*ooh...special* peeps. So hang on tight, cuz this is gonna be some wild adventure. Yee-HAW! ~lol 













6/1/01


    Well, I’m in the middle of the aisle...er....seating arrangement of the airplane. I’ve taken up all three chairs for myself. haha. My nose is driving me insane. I neglected to pack my suitcase earlier, so I was forced to pull an all-nighter. I feel like shit. Know what’s funny? At around 4:30 in the morning, I went to go and ask my dad about bringing film for my camera, and for some odd reason, I ended up saying, “can you bring food, cuz I’m gonna be hungry.” WHAT THE HELL??? Heh. I must’ve been on something. I don’t know where the heck that came from.Well, anyway, right now, I’m listening to “Nobody Wants to be Lonely” by Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin, on my MP3 player that can only hold six songs....or, 30 MB (how sad); wearing Nacho’s hat [*hint* it has the kanji ‘ai’ on the front...hehe...YES, I am using it. YES, I am bringing it with me on this trip...and NO, I am not rejecting it. :-)  ], and just finished downing my third Crystal Geyser. Damn, I’m tired and in extreme pain. I hate airplanes. I hate them. I hate them. BAH! 




6/2/01


    Ok. I’m OK. The plane has landed! Yatta Ne! I’ve checked into the Ginza Tobu Hotel, in Tokyo, Japan.  It’s pretty here. Pretty, and small. The room looks like the size of a motel, but it’s furnished like the Ritz Carlton or something. Two single beds per room. (I get to share a room with my brother, lucky me.) One bathroom, two chairs, one table, one window, one T.V, and one mega Sony radio system. Heh. Not too shabby. The television gets about 6 different channels (you can get more, but you have to pay), and the radio has 440 stations. Yeah. You heard me. Four-hundred-and-forty. There was a chart. It’s funny. They even get broadcasts from New York, and KSSK from Hawaii. Heh. Feels just like home. :) They have channels that specialize in Enka, J-Pop, Anime, Karaoke, and a whole ton of foreign stuff. It’s scary. Yep. Well, I didn’t really feel well, so I just went to sleep. *sniffle* I hate airplanes. They make me sick. I hate them. I hate them. BAH!




6/3/01


    Feeling better. Just a little under the weather. Today,  I walked around the Ginza area, and got to visit the Fuji Terebi (Fuji Television) Station. Where there was this super-high-tech-architecture that involved this gigantic metal ball...it was just as big (maybe even bigger) than the one at Epcot, Disneyland. I’ll show you guys pictures when I get back. It was cool. AND, I got to hang out inside Sony’s adventure park. (LOTS OF VIDEO GAMES....I mean, LOTS. You get to test out their newest releases...the most interesting thing there was--in my p.o.v---was this booth where you fork over 1,000 Yen, and get to record your own songs onto a CD....yeah, you have to sing. I didn’t do it myself, but it looked like fun.) 

    
Everything is so modern, and not to mention clean. It’s amazing. I want to live here!!! I wish you guys were here to see it. Especially you, Erin. Why couldn’t you come with me? You could’ve hidden in my suitcase! Haha. You would love it here. Finally, you can put your Japanese Language skills to the test. Heheh...and finally, you could see for yourself how incompetent we are. You’ll wish you learned more kanji. *sigh* I need someone to talk to in Japanese....my family doesn’t know anything past ‘arigatou’ and ‘irashaimase’....(actually, I taught my bro the directions, ‘up, down, left, right’.....but it’s the same thing if you ask me.) It’s a terrible feeling, you know? You can understand the majority of what they are saying, but are unable to sufficiently answer them. It’s terrible. I hate feeling like a tourist. Yup.

    
I finally saw Inu Yasha on T.V. !!!! HAHAHA. Nacho, I saw it live! Bah. Take that. :) *sigh* ....but I only saw about 5 minutes of it. Grr. Oh well. It looks really nice. Oh. And this morning, I watched this Power-Ranger type show called ‘Gao Soldiers’ or something. It was actually pretty cool. I tell you, Americans skrew up the original version of Power Rangers to make it into a corny kiddy show. Japanese version is much MUCH better. My dad was making fun of it at first, but then sat down and watched about 2 mins of it, and could not leave. LoL. 

      
Erin: I walked into a Conbini! A real one! (A conbini is a Japanese convenient store) They sold everything that 711 sells at home, plus Playstation games, cell phones, and CDs.Oh, and for the rest of you: Mac Donald’s is everywhere. Hamburgers don’t cost 580 Yen. They cost about 250. It’s not that bad. But everything is smaller. A Large soda, looks like a regular sized American one. However, they have items that stores back at home don’t.  Such as this real, frozen blue-berry yogurt thing. (Yumma!) And, this potato-bacon-cheese breakfast pocket. 

    

    
6/4/01
    

      Damn. I walked EVERYWHERE today. Sheesh. It was crazy. First, I went  to visit this temple in the famous Ueno Park (I forget what it was called) oh, my mom says it was the Toshogu Shrine....which was boring as hell (to me--but my parents loved it). And then, walked around and looked at some shops along the Ameya-Yokocho, Kappabashi-dori and Nakamise-dori.  It’s like walking around at the flea market over there. You cannot tell if the stuff they sell is authentic or not. Japanese are obsessed with crepes. I have no idea why, but they are. More so than ice cream. Didn’t have the privilege of eating one yet. :( *sigh* But the electronic stores are a sight worth seeing. 5-6 floors of nothing but CDs, TVs, Boom Boxes, MP3 players....heh. I wish I had more money...and more space inside of my suitcase. I’m soooo tired! My feet feel like they are going to fall off!

    

    
6/5/01
    

      Went to Harajuku and Shibuya today. Those two places are supposedly THE hangout spot for teenagers. Heh. I can see why. Practically everyone has brown-dyed hair, in wispy cuts...or dreads...and they are wearing either hip-hop fashion, or like, stuff you would picture on a model in Paris. It’s funny. There’s this one square where everyone just hangs out...talks on their cell-phones, or with their friends. The cell-phones that they have in Japan (currently) have an e-mail system, a color screen, infrared messaging to a friend across the hall....games that can hook up to your Playstation...and God knows what else. Damn. I want a cell-phone.

      
I finally found the Mandrake store in Shibuya. Heh-heh. I’m in heaven! Bwhahaha! There’s like, I don’t know....40 aisles worth of anime and manga merchandise. They sold books, telephone cards, models, hand-painted cells, cds, dvds, stuffed animals, stickers, games...hehe....ultra cool. I could have stayed in that shop forever (actually, in reality, I probably could only stay in there for about a couple of hours or so, cuz I’d get hungry...but you get the message). I’m sure all of you guys who are out there would feel the same way if you saw it. The workers there dress up in cosplay, and some provide live performances. I was walking around, bouncing up and down to the music, and after 30 mins or so, did I realize that there was a real person standing right next to me, singing. Heh. That was freaky, and cool at the same damn time. I bought so much...*sigh*

    

    
6/6/01
    

      It was pouring buckets today! I had to buy me an umbrella. Wah! More shit to carry....*sigh* You know what I realized? The subways in Japan are so much cleaner than American ones, yet...in America, you see a garbage can every five feet in every direction; and in Japan....you don’t see a garbage can for a mile. I’m serious about that one. I just finished eating a strawberry Pocky, and I wanted to throw away the wrapper....but I couldn’t find a single garbage can till I got out of the station and walked a block or so. I don’t know how they do it...What the heck is wrong with us Americans???

      
Went to Akihabara today. That’s the place chock full of electronic goods. It was cool at first, and then boring and repetitive. My dad was happy as hell tho. He bought stuff for his camera. The highlight of my day, was when I went to visit the record store. I really want to buy the new Dragon Ash CD....and maybe, Ken Hirai’s album....Wah! I need more money. I’m gonna be broke. I didn’t buy any of them, but I looked around in the store for about 2 hours. Heh. I’m a window-shopper! I look, but I don’t buy. Hahaha. (so pathetic I laugh at my own jokes) I need to buy me some socks. 

    

    
6/7/01
    

      Now, it’s time to head for Osaka! Bye-bye Ginza! :)...I get to ride the Shinkansen (speeding-bullet-train). Fast. Very fast. Heh. But unlike the regular subway, I have a Lazy-Boy chair all to myself. Hehe....I don’t have to give up my seat to old ladies as a common courtesy. Yatta-ze!! *three hours later, on the Shinkansen* ...Whoa! They have Dragon Ash on the radio! Kewl. Very cool. *one and a half hours later* I eat at a udon/soba stand-up restaurant in the station! Yumma. Fast and cheap. Yumma. *half an hour later* Where is that damn hotel?*fifteen minutes later* My parents tell me that they signed up for a room for only three people cuz it was cheaper...so one of us have to hide in the closet. Heh. I smile at my brother and say, ‘get lost’...which he does. It was funny.When the maid came to give us extra towels, he had to hide underneath the bed....but he was laughing so hard, that my Dad had to turn up the volume on the t.v. to drown out the noise. Haha. The view is very pretty---especially at night. Everywhere you look, are buildings. No mountains, no ocean. Just that. *fourty-five minutes later* I shop underground. I find a music store. My dad talks me into buying some CDs. I buy BOTH Dragon Ash (Lilly of da Valley) and Hirai Ken (The Changing Same). Wahhh! I spent so much...I think I’m gonna cry. Japanese CDs are not cheap you know....they’re twice the price of American ones....about 30 dollars each. And they never ever go on sale. (unless they’re used..or extremely old....and when I say ‘extremely’, I’m talking at least three years) I bought three of them! Bah! (Utada Hikaru’s “Distance” was the one that I bought earlier) But, then again, Japanese songs are longer than American....with an average of about 5:30 minutes. So, I guess you get what you pay for. *sigh* I just wish they were cheaper. I think that if I lived in Japan, I would be broke. Heh. Back that up a second. I am in Japan. I am almost broke. *pause---momentary silence* WAH~! *Sobbing uncontrollably on the floor* What am I going to do??? Somebody stop me before it’s too late.

    

    
6/8/01
    

      I think I’m getting sick of bentos. That’s all I’ve been eating these past few days. I mean, Japanese food is tasty, sure....but there’s no variety in flavor. Everything just seems to blend together into this giant ball of mush in my mouth. I mean, there’s different variations of the SAME thing. For example, there’s sushi, udon, soba, miso soup, sukiyaki, okonomiyaki, tako balls, yakisoba, tempura, katsu, and teriyaki-ed meat. That’s it. Grr. I want steak. I need substance. Something different. God,  I could kill for gravy and mashed potatoes. When I get back at home, that’s the first thing I’m gonna cook for myself. Yup. Well, so far, my Japanese skills are only used for reading, and ordering stuff off of the menu. That’s so unbelievably sad. Grr. My bellman was Arabic, and he was fluent. *sigh* Someday....hopefully not that far from now....my language skills will extend that far. 

      
Osaka is much more hectic than Ginza. Maybe that’s just because I’m staying in a business hotel? I don’t know. I feel under-dressed. All the men wear suits and ties, and the women wear slick black dresses with 2 inch pumps. And then, there’s me, with my turquoise blue Old Navy shirt, khakis, army print socks (oh yeah, I forgot to mention I finally bought those at a sock store), arm brace (yeah. I hafta wear that thing still, cuz it didn’t heal all the way), once-clear-now-yellow Baby G watch, and Sketchers with faded black shoelaces featuring red communist stars from Hot Topic. Heh. YES, I am a tourist. 

      
Well, today I went to the Kaiyukan Aquarium and the Osaka Castle. Oh, and I rode one of the (supposedly) largest ferris wheels in existence. It was a 20 min long ride. :) I never knew my brother was afraid of heights...until then. Haha. I had been to the Kaiyukan Aquarium once...that one time that I went to Japan...when I was about....let’s say, in 2nd grade. I remembered everything about that place. It’s scary. And, well, here I am again! It’s a really large building with rainbow tiles depicting sea creatures. In fact, the Kaiyukan Aquarium is one of the most famous aquariums in the world. It holds alaskan king crabs, dolphins, arctic penguins, sea otters, and....*drum roll*....a whale-shark! I think it’s the only place that has those. Heh. Do you know what I am talking about? Whale-sharks? Yes, they do exist. Go look them up on the internet. *evil laughter* Aren’t I mean? Well, it’s true! That’s the best way to prove it. They’re 2x (i think) larger than a Great White Shark. They are more whale than shark, in the sense that they are passive..not predators. They’re cute! But the sea otters were the most cute. Yup. Oh. And there was this one seal that would follow my brother’s hand all across the glass. He got it to do flips, spins, twirls, darting motions.....everything. It was hilarious. Especially when my bro had to leave, and some other Japanese peeps tried to do it....and failed. I think that my bro must look seriously like the trainer or something. Haha. Osaka Castle was closed when I went to go visit.  I walked so damn far...took the sub and everything....*bah* Oh well. That’s ok. One less castle to visit. :)

    

    
6/9/01
    

      Today, I woke up to CNN....where they were discussing the Timothy Mc Veigh (the Uni-bomber guy responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing) issue, and the death penalty. Interesting. Also, was the story of the nepalese prince who killed..no, murdered all of the royal family and then attempted to commit suicide. And, there was the story of the mentally-ill man  who jumped in from a balcony, and stabbed 8 second graders, and injured many others....somewhere in a Japanese School. Pleasant thing to wake up to, no? Anyway, I got to see a different castle today--the Himeji Castle! Damn, that place is huge. I had to wear these gay slippers around in the inside part of the palace. They pissed me off. Grr. Six floors! Wah~! But it was so kewl! Hey, Yori! Cherie!---SUP PUN MO AI! hahaha. Remember the story I wrote? The one with Jin and Master Tsunayoshi? It had a hallway that looked just like the one I had imagined. It even had a weapon-rack on the wall....where you could just go and grab swords and stuff....haha...you guys would’ve cracked up. Too bad couldn’t get a picture to show you. LoL. Oh, and Yori? I saw a character from this anime called ‘air’ that reminded me of Fuyu. I looked for Angelic Layer at all the bookstores...but they sold out. Seems to be really popular. I’ll try and look some more. :) *SIGH* I didn’t get to eat lunch today....too busy. Heh. But I had two ice creams from a vending machine. :) Yumma! Japanese vending machines are really super. They sell all sorts of things. I wish we had some of those back home. That would be something. The neatest drink that I found was a Fanta Melon. It’s green. Hehe. Yumma! Damn, it’s cold in here.  I think I think too much. Oh well, we shall see.