Better than Cactus Club's...
Yes, I have finally found toilets that are cooler than Cactus Club's by a cool level of at least 5! I went to a high rise building this evening with Stephanie and her fellow engineer buddies (who are not as geeky as she is, but almost :P) and I went to washroom.. and I was sooooo shocked to sit down on a warm seat!!!! IT WAS THE BEST.. because I was really cold at that time. On top of that, the washroom made relaxing ocean like sounds... which I initially thought were to help me with my bowel movement, but I asked steph and she told me it was to cover up any "rude" noises that people make in the washroom... hehe... but get this! On top of that, some of washrooms are fully equipped with cool gadgets like "sprays" that will clean your private parts after you do u know what. I'm just so amazed! I think one of the reasons for these types of innovations are because the Japanese people are very very very polite. I have never met so many polite people in my life. Even when they're drunk, they are polite. They don't talk loud, they say please and thank you, they all have friendly smiles... and most importantly, it seems all so genuine. It is just sooo strange to me!
Today was sort of a write off, because Steph and I woke up late. But when we did get out of the apartment, we went to Odaiba, which is part of Tokyo. We met up with about 10 others to celebrate Christmas together. Christmas here is not really a family occasion, it's more of a couple thing. So there are a lot of couples on the streets... yes, PDA in every direction.. eck!
We celebrated Christmas by going to the Venus Fort, which is a huge mall that looks like the Ceasars Palace! It sports high class women's fashion and kiddy toys. There was a lot happening at the mall though, for example, there was concert in the middle of the mall. The concert was really entertaining because it was in English. But since many of the japanese didn't know English, it was difficult for them to follow along w/ what the performers were saying. For example, the performers asked "are you enjoying yourself? Say yes if you are" .. and no one said yes, except for my crowd :)
For dinner, we went to all you can eat chinese food .. the food wasn't all that great but I ate a lot of lychees, and oranges! :) YUM. Following, we looked at Christmas lights, and a few more street performances.
I'm beginning to miss a certain few from home :( but I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday break!!!
Things You Might Have Known...
- Fruit here is expensive, it costs $2 bucks for an ORANGE!!
- Soba can be eaten while standing
- Technology here is super advanced!! they will have version 10 compared to version 6 in vancouver
- Everything is CLEAN!!! i.e. the streets :)
Thanks to Globalization...
... I can eat a cheese burger wannabe at McDonalds
... I can drink a latte with whip cream at Starbucks
... I can buy haagen daz ice cream at 7 - 11
...and most importantly I can go to DISNEY LAND!!!
But don't worry, I didn't come all the way here to eat at mickey D's, or drink coffee at starbucks, or go to 7 - 11. Instead, I've been eating at fast food japanese restaurants. It's been pretty good so far!!! And guess what, many of the restaurants here do not carry sushi, or even california rolls!!! But they have more varieties of sobas and other noodles, which has been an adventure for my tastebuds.
However, I did go to disney land... and it ROCKED!! Everything was soooo cute! The funny thing was that everything, and everyone spoke japanese, including Buzz Light Year! Once I figure out how to post pictures, I'll post a few.
Observations for today...
- Transportation is expensive, for example a ride from Broadway Stn. to Metrotown would probably cost 350 yen.. which is close to $4 CAD. But this doesn't include a transfer.
- The men here are really cool!! hahah .. well only because they're willing to wear disney stuffed animal hats!! It was so interesting.. and they carry man purses etc. :)
- I look like a bum here! But that's because the girls in japan typically do not walk around in sweats, and running shoes.. not only that, but they are soooo vain. For example, I saw some girl curling her hair in the public washroom, and a few other girls curling their eyelashes on the skytrain..
- Even abroad, american's are not respected ... There's a navy base where I am staying, and there are a lot of americans in the area. THey are known to cause a lot of ruckus... :(
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!! me and steph opened our presents already, and we'll be on the look out for santa :)
Japan - the land of the rising sun
Well I didn't manage to catch any rising sun.. but I did catch a street performance in Yokohama. It was brilliant! Even though the performers only spoke japanese, I really enjoyed it. The juggling fire was the most enjoyable to watch. I'm not sure what it is about juggling fire that is so amusing. I must have seen similar shows a million times now, but every time I am always so amazed.
The plane ride here wasn't too bad, it was only 9.5 hours. I felt like a chicken in a pen though... because I wasn't able to move, and the flight attendants kept on feeding me. It was a constant stream of japanese snacks, dinners, and drinks. As a result of the constant interruptions, I didn't get to sleep much on the plane. The dude next to me, however, got a lot of sleep. He snored REALLY LOUDLY!! I was so tempted to poke him on several occasions.
So far, the people here seem to be very kind. For example, the other dude that was sitting next to me on the plane helped me get my YCAT ticket to Yokohama. He even made up an english name, "ted" because I couldn't pronounce his Japanese one :) hehe...
ODD THOUGHTS FROM YESTERDAY
- "wow, they are crazy" (referring to the women who wear floaty skirts and knee high boots in ridiculous nunavut like weather - but yes, they were hot!)
- "what the hell is he saying to me?????... just smile and nod"..(referring to the skytrain guy who was telling me to go to the other kiosk)
- "weirdness" (referring to the building that looks like a slice of orange in Yokohama)
- "Why isn't it this efficient in Vancouver?" (referring to the LONG LONG skytrain that travels oh so fast!).
Unreliable airlines - what else is new?
My trip didn't start off too hot as my connecting to flight to Seattle was cancelled due to heavy fog in seattle. The good news is that I'm on a direct flight to Narita on Air Canada - which means better food! The bad news is that I have had to wait all by my lonesome for the past 4 hours for my flight to leave. I did manage to meet a Native Japanese fellow, who will be going to some obscure province in Japan. He has an awesome name like Tako Yamahoshi... or something like that :) Sounds like something I ate last night at all-you-can eat sushi.
it was weird that I had to go through canadian and american customs in the same morning.
BYE!
My first Blog
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TEST :)
