Off to Japan... FINALLY (for 5 days)

[Bobtheduck]

Gotta keep this short. I've wanted to go to Japan for years and years and years, and tried to get an English teaching job there after I was done with school. Well, my job offers came from Korea, so I ended up here instead, but I flew clear AROUND Japan on the way here (The flight actually took us over galznerking Alaska from LAX, can you believe it?) and still haven't been there.

I'm finally going, albeit for a rather short amount of time. I'm going to visit some friends there during the Lunar New Year time, and I go to the Airport tonight, though the plane isn't until tomorrow morning. I'll be staying at the Airport overnight because there's no way I can get to Incheon on time in the morning tomorrow. Then 5 days (well, 4 nights in any case) in Japan! Then back to Korea to finish up my contract and figure out what to do once it's over.

Roughly 1 day and 2 hours before I set foot in Japan... FINALLY. I will take pictures and video. I'll be going to Amagasaki in Hyogo, which is closer to Osaka and Kyoto than to Tokyo.

[Lynna]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! so lucky!! Have fun! post a few picture ne?

[Tsukuyomi]

That's great to hear, Bob ^__^ I know you've been waiting for this for a long time ^^

I hope you have a safe great and safe time (and trip) there ^__^ Have lots of fun ^^

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

That's pretty cool. I hope you have fun!

[Mithrandir]

Have a blast, man!

[Bobtheduck]

At the airport now. Free wifi, but with horrendous ping and, of course, everyone with a computer at the airport is using it. 12 hours to go until I board the plane.

[Ante Bellum]

Kyoto and Osaka are nice cities. Have fun!

[AnimeGirl]

You get to go to Nihon! That is SO awesome! I hope you know enough Nihongo to be able to get around. I hope I can go there someday, it's my mission. Tell us how it is over there! And may God be with you, keeping you safe your whole entire stay! ^_^

[Bobtheduck]

So my time so far:

Got stuck on the runway at Incheon for over 3 hours due to ice and snow. I watched 2 movies on the plane during that time (it was Asiana again, so i got my own private screen and got to choose what I wanted to watch... they started them up while we waited) I saw Where the Wild Things Are and Astroboy. Astroboy was good but hideously cheesy in parts. I suppose that makes 2 adaptations of anime for American theaters that I've liked. I also like the Speed Racer movie.

In any case, because I was so late, I wasn't able to meet up with my friend. That started operation find free wifi. While you never have to go far in korea (at least Anseong) to find free wifi, the same can not be said of Amagasaki. My network list filled up with locked connections. I went to McDonalds to see if someone there could help me connect, if I needed to pay for it. The guy said i should enter my key... I had no idea what he meant by that, but I tried a made up key to see if it just took ANY key, but that didn't happen.

Then started my adventure with the payphone, trying to call my friend. It was raining pretty heavily, and it was pretty windy, so I (along with my suitcase and backpack) was getting pretty wet. I had to buy something in order to get change. I got some 600 yen cocoa (that's really expensive, in case you couldn't guess... For less money than that at BK in Seoul, I can get a chicken sandwhich set... Even the fries at the McDonald's here were approaching 3 dollars worth)

I tried to cram myself, my backpack, and my suitcase into the phonebooth to call my friend. The floor of the phonebooth is flooded, meaning my suitcase is sitting in water. I end up spending around 300 yen (possibly more) on trying to call my friend over and over, once every 20 minutes or so, but no one is at home.

I finally decide just to go to the hotel. On the way there on the bus, I basically passed by it and could have just gotten off there to begin with, but I was trying to meet my friend... I was going to take a train back to that station, which wouldn't have cost much money at all, but lo and behold, the train maps were almost entirely in Kanji, except for a few key locations (Kansai Airport, Kobe, etc) There was no machine with an English button to help me with the train. The train system in Japan is much less foreigner friendly than the one in Korea.

I know around 900 words in Japanese, and a couple hundred phrases. Apparently, I only know them when I'm talking to myself, because I forgot some basic things like phone... I eventually got to where I was using Japanese to the best of my ability, but in some cases I wasn't able to get my point across.

Speaking of that, even though I know far less Korean than Japanese, my Korean keeps trying to come to the surface. I want to say "Kenchanna'aeo" (however you spell it) instead of "Kekkou desu" and "Kamsa Hapnida" instead of "Arigatou Gozaimashita", among other things. Also, since nearly everyone I've met in Korea says "Excuse me" instead of the native Korean phrase for it, I found myself saying that instead of "Sumimasen"

One thing that sets this apart from Korea is the lack of Neon red crosses peppering the skyline. Korea's Christian population is similar, percentage wise, to the US and it's sort of like the Bible Belt of Asia. Japan, on the other hand, has possibly the lowest percentage of Christians in all of Asia (yes, even China... though N. Korea may have fewer than Japan)

Another thing that sets it apart is the fashion. Korean fashion is far more... sensible than Japanese. Japanese fashion is all about random, and mixed and matched, including fabrics in clothing. You're just not cool if your pants don't have holes in them and 3 different types of fabric. Then there's school uniforms. Boys uniforms are AWESOME. A group of uniformed boys came out of the train when I was wandering the station. It's like I walked into an anime. The girls... are also like something I associate with anime. Their skirts are... hideously short. It's not just anime creators getting their kicks off short skirted heroines. That's they way they are... Oh, and the percentage of people with bleached and dyed hair is much greater than Korea...

Another thing was cars. Lots of xB type cars... Small boxy things. Besides that, though, I saw some souped up sports cars, which I don't think I've seen even once in Korea. Again, more sensible in Korea (the vehicles themselves, if not the drivers) Oh... Speaking of that parenthetical statement... The bus driver I had from the airport is more sane than the ones I have in Korea, but normal drivers are just as crazy, only they actually get angry and yell, which doesn't usually happen in Korea.

I finally found the Ryokan, and I checked in and paid my dues and now I'm ready for bed... I've had a stressful, painful, annoying day and I'm ready to put it behind me. I did grab dinner, and... I'm not going to a restaurant again without a native with me... I didn't know that the meat I got was going to be about 80% fat. I miss Korean food already.

[EricTheFred]

Wow. Must have been some bad traffic. One thing I never saw in Japan was angry yelling drivers. The bus drivers are superhuman though. We had one in the limo bus from Narita to the airport who timed all the barrier bars at toll booths so perfectly he knew exactly how little he could slow down and still have the thing just barely whip out of the way in time.

The food is expensive. That's just part of life there. But 600 yen for cocoa is outrageous, unless you're getting some grande-size ultra-fancied up Starbucks thing. You can get a decent basic bowl of ramen for 600. I did pay 500 yen for coffee at a very posh Kissaten once.

By the way, phone cards are the only way to go with payphones. If you use coin, they don't give change, so if you drop a hundred yen for a thirty second call, you pay 100 yen for that call.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Bobtheduck]

Wow. Must have been some bad traffic. One thing I never saw in Japan was angry yelling drivers.

It all seemed to be focused around one corner. The corner where the restaurant I ate at was. Every time someone passed through that intersection, there would be a lot of honking and someone would yell, really angry sounding. It was a bit scary, actually. There were also a couple near accidents while I was there...

The bus drivers are superhuman though. We had one in the limo bus from Narita to the airport who timed all the barrier bars at toll booths so perfectly he knew exactly how little he could slow down and still have the thing just barely whip out of the way in time.

The ones in Korea can time things like that, too, but they're a bit more aggressive than what I like, weaving in and out of traffic... Everyone on the road in Korea is aggressive. They just don't yell.

The food is expensive. That's just part of life there. But 600 yen for cocoa is outrageous, unless you're getting some grande-size ultra-fancied up Starbucks thing. You can get a decent basic bowl of ramen for 600. I did pay 500 yen for coffee at a very posh Kissaten once.

I don't know why it cost so much, but was a pretty nice place. They gave me a blanket to use and had really nice dishes.

By the way, phone cards are the only way to go with payphones. If you use coin, they don't give change, so if you drop a hundred yen for a thirty second call, you pay 100 yen for that call.

Yup... That was my problem at first... I actually found some change in the machine, though, so I started using the 10 yen coins afterward.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Thanks!

Got up about an hour and a half ago. I suffered last night due to Japan's anti-drug laws... By that, I mean pseudephedrine is illegal here (it's a stimulant and a precursor for meth) so I had a really hard time breathing. It's legal in Korea (doesn't even require ID or a signature like it does in CA) and it's pretty cheap, so I just get that when I start having sinus problems... I don't know what I'd do about my sinuses if I lived in Japan. The other major decongestant (the one that's not controlled in the US and is actually legal in Japan) doesn't work on me... not even remotely.

Oh... I also discovered that I prefer peaches to grapefruit... And I hate peaches. I also prefer kimchi to grapefruit. Who'd have thought?

[Ante Bellum]

We got a giant bowl of ramen for 700 yen at this one place in Kyoto (And it was the "mini" bowl!), and it was...amazing.
Also, Aquarius (an energy drink) tastes like grapefruit, at least to me. That's the only thing I could associate it with.

[steenajack]

I hope things will go well for you in Japan Bob. May God bless you on your journey. X3! I'll be praying for a safe trip for you. !

[Falx]

urrghh... I'm so far behind on my Japanese lessons... I've already forgotten most of the Hiragana I taught myself

[Bobtheduck]

SO, today. First I had a continental breakfast at the Ryokan. I assumed they'd have a traditional Japanese restaurant, but it was pretty much an American breakfast. Cereal, toast, milk, orange juice, and a grapefruit half.

I took a shower some time around 10 or 11, and went back to my room when the maid came in... Turns out, I'm supposed to be out of my room every day at 9am, and not be back until after 5.

I was supposed to be waiting for my friend, but he was a bit late, so I tried to find the train station again... I got good and lost, but stumbled onto my friend after a little while, so we took a train to Osaka first, and had okonomiyaki, which I guess Osaka is famous for. It was pretty good. Osaka looked like it had a fair bit going on, but we didn't spend too much time there (I'm going back tomorrow) instead going onto Kyoto.

Kyoto was really beautiful, though it was a bittersweet thing, what was behind the beauty, spiritually. We walked along Kamogawa (duck river), which I thought was interesting. Along the way, there was a cage in the water with ducks in it... I guess they were being trapped, because duck meat is popular there.

I got some Korokke along the way somewhere, and grabbed a lemon beer at a konbini because... Well, because the idea of drinking on the sidewalk legally is foreign to me, since I've lived in California most of my life, so I just got something small to say I did it.

I saw a bunch of shrines and some Pagodas and this beautiful forest and a graveyard. There were also some Geisha, who i tried to take a picture of, but the battery chose that moment to go dead. They figured I had just taken the picture and walked away. That area of Kyoto was full of steep hills. My friend had recently taken up smoking again after giving it up in the states, so... Well, he was having a rough time with the hike. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the old style architecture, and not just the shrines, but... I'll have to come back here next time I'm in Japan, whenever that is.

I think I even saw the shrine that was on Lucky Star, where Otaku leave messages that weird out the owners of the shrine, saying things like "Konata is my wife!" I'm not completely sure, but I think that was it. It was a shrine for lovers, but I guess it doesn't have to be the only lovers' shrine in Kyoto. It is apparently a famous one, though. I was hoping to see some of those messages in English, but there were only Japanese and Korean (and possibly Chinese) that I could see.

When it started to get dark, we headed back to Amagasaki (though my friend had to take a train back to Osaka, and then back to Amagasaki again, because the station I'm close to is really far from his house, and he needed to take another line) and had some "Japanized Chinese food" as he put it. At his suggestions, I had a mixed set of gyozu, fried rice in some sort of thick sauce, miso soup, small pieces of chicken, and a dipping juice. It was really good, but it was a LOT of food... 780 yen, so it was comparable to eating at Denny's back in the US.

My friend knows I'm kind of an Otaku, so he kept telling me i needed to go to a Maid Kissaten, but... I don't think he realizes I'm not quite that kind of Otaku. Of course, a cosplay cafe may be more my style than a maid place, if they're cosplaying a show I like, but I'm not gonna waste my limited travel money on that.

As far as minor things I noticed, I saw some different uniforms than I saw last night. Not all of the girls' uniforms have super short skirts. I actually saw some really long ones, longer than the ones I see in Korea. But all the guy uniforms seem to be the same, and they're awesome as I said.

I just finished watching the debut of (apparently) the last Lupin special ever, "The last job" Now I should get to sleep because I have to be out of the room by 9 tomorrow morning. I wish I'd realized that, and gotten a place closer to my friend's house and one that let me sleep in when I wanted...

I'm thinking I'll update my website tomorrow night with the pictures I've taken, so if I do, I'll post a link here.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Bob,

Hello! (Konichiwa!) We haven't met on the boards yet, but I am following your reports with great interest. It's very cool to hear about Japan from a perspective similar to what mine would be if I went (someday!). Continue to have a safe, fun journey, sir. Can't wait for the pictures.

[Bobtheduck]

Today wasn't quite as fun as yesterday, because my friend's Grandma is moving back to Japan from the US, so he had to wait for her to get here and then help her move in.

While I was trying to get a hold of my friend, I walked from the station next to me to the next station on the Hanshin line, listening to Adventures in Odyssey on the way. That was interesting on its own, but when I got to the Hanshin Amagasaki station, I didn't know what to do next. Again, I was faced by unhelpful ticket machines, and I tried to ask the Information guy for a day pass ticket, but... Yeah... Even though I know a lot more Japanese than Korean, Japan is just... harder to navigate, and the amount I know is really nothing. I'm going to have to take my studies a LOT more seriously. I'm sure it didn't help that most of what I'd have been learning is Tokyo-ben, and I'm in the Kansai region, but I doubt I'd find it any easier to navigate Tokyo...

I had fun walking through a covered shopping street. I'd seen a picture of one once, but I haven't seen anything like it in person before (not saying they don't exist in Korea or the US, I've just never seen one) I had KFC there, because I HAD to try. It was REALLY REALLY hot... Temperature wise, I mean, not spicy... It burned my mouth, and I think I may have swallowed some of it and it burned my throat too. Once it cooled down, I tried it and it is WAY better than KFC in Korea. Korea's KFC is disgusting.

I eventually got a hold of my friend after trying over and over (and listening to a bunch of AiO eps... It's my current obsession) and he told me what to say to the the day pass. Turns out, I had to specify which lines I wanted the pass for. The Hanshin and Hankyu lines (the line from Amagasaki to Osaka, and Osaka to Kyoto...) So I went to Osaka, waiting for him to be done picking up his Grandma.

I wandered around Osaka by myself today, after spending a lot of money to call my friend (was using 10 yet coins, but they go FAST and got tired of it, and started using 100 yen coins because it was a pain to keep putting 10 yen ones in.)

I did visit the Osaka equivalent of Akihabara, which was fun. There is also a similar place in Seoul called Yongsan, but Yongsan is more electronics focused and less GEEK focused, so this was the proper experience I had expected when I went to Yongsan. In addition to the copious electronics and games and movies, there is also a floor full of models. Train models, car models, a section larger than 2 of the average store in Japan full of nothing but Gundam models, a section for NON-Gundam mecha models, Toka models, and pretty girl models and figures.

One floor was nothing but appliances, but... I looked hard for a dryer, and couldn't find one... I'd kill for a dryer in Korea... I HATE hang drying clothes.

After my time there, I just wandered. I went down every side street and into one of those covered shopping streets. I called my friend a couple more times, and eventually he told me that he wasn't going to be able to meet up with me, because he had to help his Grandma move in.

So I came back to Amagasaki a bit early... I haven't had dinner yet, and I've had almost no water on this trip, so I'm gonna go out and get some stuff.

[Bobtheduck]

http://www.bobtheduck.org/jp0210.html

There are my Japan pictures. Yays.

My last day (sunday) not counting the day of my flight back to Korea was spent receiving the Otaku tour of Osaka... Went to Nipponbashi, ate some takoyaki that burned my mouth (again), wandered into a DnDable store by accident, went to the Maid Kissaten like I had mentioned my friend wanted to take me, saw about 5 shops in a row selling R4s, and saw some of the best train sets and boat models I'd ever seen.

I had a longer description of my day, but I closed firefox before sending it... That was like 4 days ago, so...

Oh, and I know that 300 something dollar picture is from Kanon, I just had a brain fart while I was putting descriptions on all those vids.

[Lynna]

koooooooooooool~!!!!

I wannna go to Japan now T.T

[AnimeGirl]

I have a question; how does the "yen" system work? 'Cause from what I understand it, 300 yen, though a big number, isn't that much. How much would it be in dollars?

[Roy Mustang]

I see that in Japan, that N scale model railroading is bigger then the US. I take it that its the scale fits better for people over there and why one of biggest N scale model railroad company is Kato, which is a company in Japan that makes a lot of US stuff in N and HO scale.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]
Col. Roy Mustang[/color]
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[Bobtheduck]

[quote="AnimeGirl (post: 1375396)"]I have a question]

The old estimate was 1 yen equals 1 cent, but now the yen is stronger, so it's harder to use that to make estimations.

300 yen is over 3 dollars (vs the 25 cents that those machines usually cost in the US, but with better prizes)

[AnimeGirl]

The old estimate was 1 yen equals 1 cent, but now the yen is stronger, so it's harder to use that to make estimations.

300 yen is over 3 dollars (vs the 25 cents that those machines usually cost in the US, but with better prizes)

Okay, thank you.