Conclusion
Enjoy!

A Gaijin in Tokyo

Saturday, May 4, 2002, 11:32 a.m. :||: my life from here on in
The next time someone asks me what I'll be doing in the future, I will tell them this: I'm marrying an okashiya-san, be friends with a mangaka, have a short affair with an okonomiyaki chef, have a daughter who plays the taiko, and last but not least, have a mad passionate affair with a kabuki onnagata that will end in double love suicide.

I'm so happy to finally have my life planned out.

Monday, April 1, 2002, 07:56 a.m. :||: onigiri
Unwrapping convinient-store onigiri is an art.

Sunday, March 17, 2002, 01:48 p.m. :||: traveling tips
Even before coming to Japan, I was a bit bewildred why traveling guides felt the need to point out that Japanese pubilc bathrooms don't usually provide towels (or any other means of drying your hands). Oooh, big deal, it'll take another couple of minutes for your hands to dry. I did, however, appreciate the advice to carry tissues, because occasionally the toilets don't have toilet paper.

But now being here, I'm superbly bewildred at the fact the guides leave out-- the fact that bathrooms, even fancy and householde ones, don't have soap. To me, germ fearing as I am, this is a crime in my book.

In other words, when traveling around here, carry tissue, and carry soap.

Thursday, March 14, 2002, 08:15 a.m. :||:
Okay, I'm going to gloat for a bit.

Going! To Nikko! And then! Next week! Is Kyoooto! And, and, and! And! Nagoya! To visit good friend who will lead me around many a city! I look forward, forward.

Thursday, March 14, 2002, 08:09 a.m. :||: abstract
Talking everyday to Yuzu leads you into the abstract.

One of her favorite games to play with me-- since it's easy, I understand the rules, and it's something I can play in Japanese, despite the fact that I really suck at it-- is, "what's this?" I thought art could be abstract, but they've got nothing on Yuzu.

For example.

A spoon, bagged up and down, is a snake.

A blue ribbon, laid out straight, is a rose.

The same blue ribbon, moved to resemble a weird heart form, is a rabbit.

Two fingers on the back of the head, to make two horns, is a giraffe (which had me so confused. In Japanese, "kirin" means giraffe, but it also means "unicorn"-- which was the only definition I knew. So I spent a good five minutes arguing that it should be only one horn).

And she wonders why I have such a hard time getting the right answer.

Thursday, March 14, 2002, 07:41 a.m. :||: Yokohama
To get the boring information out of the way, Yokohama is Japan's third largest city (with Tokyo taking first place, and Osaka second), though some people think of it as just one big conglomerate with Tokyo. It certainly is hard to separate the two just by looking. It's about an hour away from Shibuya, and half an hour away from where I live.

Anyway.

Minato Mirai! Woohoo! Fun! Amusement Park! My passport tells me I'm 20, but that place tickled me pink, from the Doraemon you could walk into, to the ride that tells you your fortune (now if I could understand my fortune...).

Slow down, slow down.

Minato means port, right? And Mirai is future. So, port to the future! That's the theme of the place-- a futuristic place next to the sea. It used to boast to having the largest Ferris Wheel in the world, the Cosmo Clock (so called because there's a watch in the middle of the thing. And I'm told that at night something lights up and there are fireworks. But I was exhausted when I heard this and couldn't make sense of what was being said), but now it's only second-largest. Or something.

The sad thing is, it sounds a lot more impressive than it is, but that doesn't stop it from being far too much fun.

So after running around for a couple of hours, enjoying the rides far more than we should have, Giuri and I walked over to Chinatown. Which, to my disapointment, was just like the Boston one, only with more Japanese.

One last thing I'd like to mention is that Yokohama is hosting the final game of the 2002 World Soccer Cup! I would consider going, if, 1) it weren't impossible to get tickets, 2) if Brazil had any chances of making it to the finals (Brazil, why does our team suck? Corruption is evil), 3) Large crowds of fanatical soccer fans weren't scary, and, 4) if I liked soccer.

Thursday, March 14, 2002, 07:37 a.m. :||: reasons
Reasons 538409 Why Japan Is Cool [yes, of course I'm keeping track]: Take the kanji for kaisha (work). "Kai" is the kanji for "meeting," and "sha" is a kanji composed of two things I don't understand (though I think it was the radical for "holy"). If you invert these kanji into shakai, you get the word for "sociology." Weee!

Reason 839515 Why Japan is Cool: take the word "sawaru." While flipping through my dictionary, it defined as "to touch." Something I already knew. What I didn know, is that the pronounciation of "sawaru" has another kanji, with another meaning-- to hurt.

Tuesday, March 12, 2002, 01:30 p.m. :||: trees, trees, trees
There are a handful of trees in Tokyo (some places are more densely "forrested" than others, though. People tell me that there's a forest in Harajuku. Considering that Harajuki is five minutes by train from Shinjuku, I doubt this. I will have to go verify this statement someday).

Perhaps it's to make up for that lack that they stick pictures of trees in the train stations. Really! In an advertisement slot that should be hosting some picture trying to sell beer or camera products, they have a picture of trees.

Or maybe they're trying to sell trees? Sell a forest? Hypnotize us Tokyo-ians into thinking that Tokyo isn't a pavement jungle?

Monday, March 11, 2002, 02:36 p.m. :||: archive
Oh, and I archived. For those of you who aren't entirely familiar with the blogging phenomenon, you can go read past entries here.

Monday, March 11, 2002, 02:16 p.m. :||: robot kingdom
Reflecting on the Doraemon move that just started playing in theaters (Robbot Kingdom, it's called), I have to wonder, why are there robbots running around medieval Europe? Nice, strange contrast.