Traveling Anodos

Today I was ambitious. I decided I wanted to see three things: the Atomic Bomb Museum, the Clover Garden, and the Oura Catholic Church. Then I looked at the prices for all of them and decided that maybe visiting some of the locations would be good enough. And they were!

But, before I started that tour, I was walking to China Town to try a place for breakfast that we recommended to me. While walking, I came across the Spectacles Bridge, which was built in 1634 (yes, I walked across that older-than-the-USA bridge) but a Buddhist monk. It’s name was taken from the fact that when you look at the bridge, when the river is calm, it looks almost like a pair of spectacles.

The place I was going to, in China Town, was called “Tia”. The cost was a little higher than I expected, but I did get what I paid for.  They had a breakfast that was eggs, fruit, fruit juice, THICK toast (with preserves that are pretty much jellied pieces of apple), and a salad that I’ve never had before but I won’t hesitate to have again.

From there, I continued walking in the same direction (I have no idea what direction, streets don’t always (maybe never?) follow the cardinal directions) to find the Clover Garden, since they were close to each other. But, looking at the cost (500yen, about $5.50) and considering I’m fairly low on funds, I decided I’d pass on that one and head to Oura Catholic Church.

As I’ve come to expect now, I got lost trying to find the Church; eventually, I DID find it. As I was attempting to read a posted sign, my eye caught the sight of a restaurant. Usually that’s normal, but this was a little different: the restaurant was under a church! I don’t know what type of church, but there it was, a restaurant underneath. Those who live in Denver (or know of the place) know there’s a nightclub built inside of an old church. Strange how some ideas pop up, eh?

Oura Catholic Church is the oldest surviving church in Japan, having been built by French missionaries in 1864 and after it was built, “secret Christians” who had kept their faith during the ban on Christianity that lasted from 1614 until foreign interaction was allowed again in 1858 (though missionaries weren’t allowed back in until 1873).

Walking down the hill from where I saw the two churches, making my way to the Atomic Bomb Museum, I came across the former Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Nagasaki Branch building, which was one of the first stone buildings with Western architecture in Japan. After seeing the old bank building, and while walking across a footbridge across a busy street, I noticed the Nagasaki Harbor and the many buildings on the mountainsides, so I snapped a few pictures (please see the gallery link below to see the picture of the bank and of Nagasaki Harbor).

Further up the major road I was following, I noticed a busy intersection near where I realized was Dejima. I snapped a few pics to show that even in a relatively small down (about 500,000) the town is still big and dense. And since I was close to Dejima (which was the specially built island where the Dutch maintained their trading port between Japan and pretty much the world.), I figured I’d walk around it to get a feel as to what it was like.  According to what I have heard, the city had grown around the artificial island and recently, they started (or did they just finished?) creating a small moat around it to make it an island again.

From there, I continued to head up to the Atomic Bomb Musuem, but I will talk about that in my next post.

To see all photos from Nagasaki, please see Japan – Nagasaki .

In the capsule hotel, I set my alarm for 6:30am and then, I woke up at 6.am. (Love the jetlag!) I left before Lochman was awake (the Parisian I met at Tokyo Hostel), though we gave our goodbyes and good lucks the night before.

I walked to the subway station and made my way back to Ueno. I wanted to get there by 7:15-ish, to reserve my tickets to Nagasaki. I wasn’t sure it was going to be open, since I’m used to how it is in the States with offices usually opening at 8am. But, it was open and busy! Through some broken English, Japanese, and pantomime, I got my tickets: train leaving Tokyo Station at 8:33.

Since I was at Ueno, and not Tokyo Station, I went and got on the JR train to Tokyo Station, via the Yamanote line. As I was getting in line for the train, I noticed there were more people than I had noticed before. It began to dawn on me that I was hitting the beginning of rush hour. “Oh shit,” I thought. If I got packed into the train, there was no way I was getting out. Thankfully, I wasn’t packed into the train and was able to get out just fine.

I waited in the waiting area, near the entrance to the shinkansen lines (shinkansen are the fast trains here), until I saw that my train had appeared on the “soon to depart” board.  I got up there and went to a food kiosk that was open on the platform, bought a sandwich and a bottle of Georgia coffee.

While waiting, after getting food and drink, I saw a battalion of older women dressed in pink uniforms appear near the gates of the train that had just pulled in. After all the passengers disembarked, they all almost-ran in and starting cleaning. I have never seen cleaners move that fast before: sweeping, cleaning, emptying ashtrays, quick vacuum here and there, and cleaning the windows. When the train arrived, there was about 15 minutes until departure. When they were done, there were 5 minutes to spare for boarding, which was plenty of time for all of the passengers to board. Besides myself, I saw two other gaijin (non-Japanese, foreigner) waiting for the train.

We pulled from the platform on time, the train moving gingerly, and gradually coming up to about half-speed. First stop was not too far. The part I heard about Tokyo and didn’t understand is that the urban sprawl is HUGE. For about an hour (maybe longer), there was no break in “city”. Municipalities changed, I’m sure, but there was just city.  After that, the density was less and I started seeing fields. Soon after seeing fields, we passed by the life-sized replica of a Gundum! It was about five stories tall and seeing it, I could imagine many of those walking through an urban area or in fields. Sadly (thankfully?), the whole thing was made out of plastic and wasn’t operational.

The train pulled into Osaka about 11:39 and everyone got off (since it was end of the line).  I went to the shinkansen platform to head to Hakata, got a bento lunch, and we pulled away from the platform on time at 11:59. A stop or two down, a new passenger boarded and sat next to me, clutching a porn magazine. At the next stop, he moved across the aisle and I’m not sure why. The next stop after that, he had to move back because the ticket holder of the next seat showed up. Two stops after that, the passenger next to me got off and so did the ticket holder of the seat he moved to.

The train arrived at Hakata on time, at 2:39pm(yes, trains are always on time here) and I walked to the next train. The next train was not a shinkansen, but it was fairly nice: wooden floors, black leather seats, it was like a modified version of Californian fusion Japanese design, where the lines were more elegant than experimental (not that experimental design is bad). The train pulled away, on time, at 3:01.

While we were moving from the platform, I found out one reason why there was no shinkansen traversing the islands: the tracks are stable, but not smooth enough for high-speed travel. The other reason, I think, is that the train moves up and over mountains, so I guess the older slower trains have better torque.

Halfway through the trip, the tracks ran very near the coast and wow the Sea of Japan (sorry everyone from S. Korea!) is beautiful! Even though it was raining.

We pulled into the station at 4:55 and I hadn’t realized it, because while the shinkansen had some messages in English, the slow train didn’t and I was doing my best to follow and understand it and missed the last message. So when I saw everyone getting off I asked an attendant if we were at Nagasaki (“Nagasaki desuka?”) and we were. Whoops!

When I had walked through the station gate, out into Nagasaki, I realized my phone was gone. I was gone maybe 5 minutes and when I got to the “Lost and Found” they already had my phone! I really like the efficiency of JR Rail!

I had gotten turned around and didn’t know where to go (getting lost in this country is VERY easy for me, it happens DAILY), so I went to the information booth and found a nice woman who spoke enough English to help me and she told me to take the tram to a certain stop then walk a couple of minutes to get to the hostel. Funny part: when the stop came I think I pissed off the driver because I didn’t have my money ready and held up the train for a couple of minutes. When the machine gave me change when it shouldn’t have, he just firmly waved me out (I didn’t even pick up the change). I’m sure it won’t be the last time something like that happens!

After getting drenched walking for a bit, even though I was using an umbrella, I made it to the hostel, got checked in, and unpacked and started settling for the night.

Compared to the day before, this day was easy. Yeah, I had to travel, but at least I didn’t have a hang over.

I didn’t post yesterday due to the events below.

Monday night, I ended up drinking with Jamie (hey man!), from the UK, until 4am. I was going to wake up at 9:30 that morning, so I could check out at 11am. Well, I woke up at 8 instead with an awesome hangover. I managed to get out of bed and check out at 11. But, I was still majorly hungover.

Around noon, another gal I met, Ali, from the UK, and I went to a tonkatsu shop (friend pork), which was really good. Halfway through the meal, my stomach was telling me “I’m gonna be sick!” so I slowed down for a few seconds, then it decided to flip-flop and say “just kidding! This stuff is good!”

After lunch, Jamie helped me get my JR Exchange Order turned into a JR Rail Pass and we tried finding an ATM that would work with my card.  I tried at two 7-11’s before I saw the sign that said that MasterCard was no longer supported. FUCK! So, decided to try Japan Post, as they have ATM’s.  Ends up that Japan Post is my best friend, at least with being able to let me pull money from my account! Hehe.

Earlier in the day, a little before lunch, a Canadian named Chase introduced me to a Parisian name Lochman. He had no place to stay that night and I was just told, by Ali, about a capsule hotel that was pretty cheap (2200yen, about $25), so I offered him to join me and he agreed. At about 6:30pm, we headed to Ueno, to find the capsule hotel. Well, I misread my own damn directions and only stayed in Ueno, when we needed to head to Asakusa. HAHA!

We ended up finding the place, checked in, and we each experienced a communal bath for the first time.  Took a shower, in front of a showerhead that was along a wall with other showers. The shower took place sitting down, which was new for me (but I heard about it before). After the shower, we got into the bath nearby (like a small pool) that was heated pretty well (I’d say about 103 degrees Fahrenheit) and any aches and pains that I had before, were gone! I think I need to do that again!

We got dinner at a MOS Burger (good place, by the way!) that had a good interpretation of the American hamburger (but not identical). After food was had, we headed back to the capsule hotel and hung out in the communal room where there were people eating, or checking email or Facebook, or just sitting watching TV.

Everything worked out, but I was half-braindead the whole day and thanks to Jamie, Ali, and Lochman, I was able to get everything I needed done, done. And, while the day was stressful, it was great!

More about my day, today, traveling to Nagasaki!

I didn’t explore Roppongi too much, the same day I visited Akiba. But, when I was there, I did take photos of a busy intersection in the “Foreigner District”.

Honestly, this is a short post, just to show photos.

To see all photos from Roppongi, please see Japan – Roppongi, Tokyo .

Being a techie, there was a place I HAD to visit: Akihabara.

I’ve heard of this place since high school and I’ve always wondered what it’s like. It’s different than what it was, back in the 1990’s, but it’s still amazing. There are less electronic shops, but the ones that are there are still strong, including the Yodobashi-Akiba building!

I’m not sure if it’s one company that owns the building or if it’s a building that houses multiple shops, but it’s still impressive!  They sell any and probably ALL consumer electronics. They also have a Tower Records, a golf store, multiple restaurants (they all smelled really good!), toy store, and anime EVERYTHING (DVD’s, models, collectors items, etc.). Also, on a sub-level, they have a Japan Post office.

I tried to figure out a way of taking pictures of different floors and of the merchandise sold, but there was way too much to photograph! While walking through, you are hearing sales men loudly announcing their sales, some extolling the features of the products being sold, etc. There were many sounds: computer game demo’, anime being played on numerous widescreen TVs, music being played… it was close-to-overwhelming! This much I have to say: the best way to know about it is to really experience it!

Next to the Yodobashi-Akiba building, was a location of Big Echo, a karaoke chain. Next to that was a business that I think sold pornographic DVD’s or had video strip sessions; I wasn’t sure because I looked in and noticed a lot of Japanese salarymen buying drinks, from the vending machines, in the lobby, and I think waiting for services. I’m starting to understand that there is an interesting sex trade going on here, without a sex trade going on. Possibly more on that later.

Overall, Akiba was what I hoped it was: an electronic geek’s dream (random: as I type this, there’s a guy riding a Harley that drove by- the low rumble of that engine is unmistakable). The prices were a bit higher than equivalent goods in the USA, but there is a higher duty on electronics here, if my understanding is correct.

Seriously, if you’re a tech head or an electronic geek, this place is almost the equivalent of a Mecca.

To see all photos from Akihabara (Akiba), please see Japan – Akihabara (Akiba), Tokyo .

After sleeping two and a half hours, I’m awake and can’t get back to sleep. Ahh, the joys of jet lag!

I’m used to the address system in the USA: some cities are grids, addresses follow a similar pattern (more or less), and that streets have names. In Tokyo, not all streets have names, as their address system is different (please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system for a MUCH better explanation than I can give right now). Because of this difference (and that I never printed a map), and me being jet lagged, and probably because of other-stuff-which-I-cannot-think-of, that is I how I got lost earlier tonight.

Something I didn’t see in the above Wikipedia article (and I’m too tired (lazy?) to look it up), was that the current city of Tokyo was the amalgamation of many smaller villages that grew together over the centuries. The roads followed the organic creation of paths and streets. If you take a look at a map of Tokyo, you will see it. Check out Google Maps or Google Earth or any other map software (or an actual paper map) to get an idea.

It has been years since I felt panic at being lost. Though it wasn’t drining-myself-stupid-with-friends fun, it was a surprising nice change, because I forgot what it felt like to be disoriented and have close-to-no external means of gaining my bearing. Hell, I actually tried using the moon as a navigation point (until it was covered by clouds and it started raining! HAHA!). But, I have a base of operations. Well, a base for one more night after this, then I need to find another night of lodging until I can get a train to Nagasaki on (what day is it?) Wednesday.

While being lost (or while I was creatively exploring), I did manage to get a feel of this area. Where I’m located is an area called Asakusa, in Taito, Tokyo. I am still IN Tokyo, but I’m still trying to figure out how this city is organized. I think Taito is a Ward, and that Asakusa is a neighborhood in the Ward. I also passed by a “Koban”, a police box, and asked the officer on duty where to find a landmark that I remembered (from what I looked up directions earlier last week). The instructions he gave were accurate, though I didn’t have the confidence to fully explore them. (Sorry for my lack of faith, Keisatsukan-sama!) Before passing the Koban, I walked past the same police station twice. I didn’t realize that an officer is posted guard in front of a police station. The people around here are fairly nice. McDonald’s (yes, I went in one) has VERY good customer service. And the location I went to (across from where I excited the Minowa station) there was someone who knew just enough English to answer. Whew!

Time to try to get more sleep (and my battery is running low and I don’t know where the outlet is in my room). Until next post!

I’m sitting in my hotel room (actually, “hostel room”) in the Tokyo Hostel. I got back from doing some planned short-exploring and I’m very thankful there’s a HUGE AC unit in my room, due to the heat and humidity (it was in the upper 80’s when I landed and the humidity was above 70%).

My trip here was not boring. After getting to the airport and checked in, I went at sat at the loading gate for my first leg flight to San Francisco. While waiting for my flight, the guy I was sitting next to, Rob, and I started a conversation. Come to find out that while I was heading to Tokyo, he was headed back home to Shanghai (my understanding is his home is in Shanghai, though he was from the USA). We talked about IT, law, a smattering of another topic that escapes this jet-lagged brain. The boarding started and our conversation ended; I hope he made it to Shanghai alright (hey Rob!).

While on the flight to San Francisco, I sat next to Andreas (I have a picture that I’ll post later, as my eyes are dropping while I type this) who I come to find out lives in New Jersey and he grew up in Germany. I also come to find out that he’s getting studying to get his instrument rating for his pilot’s license. We ended up talking about aviation and other random topics that came to mind. Andreas was heading to San Francisco to attend a wedding for a good friend. I hope he made it to the wedding and back home (hey Andreas!).

The flight from San Francisco to Tokyo was not as eventful, but I did get three seats to myself. And on a Trans-Pacific flight, I’m glad that happened. Though the flight itself was uneventful, I realized an hour into the flight that I had forgotten to print out the details of this hostel, when I was given immigration forms and I didn’t have an address to put in the required fields! I eventually let it go and figured I’d brainstorm something up when the time came.

After watching “The Book of Eli” and “Tokyo Tower – Mom & Me, and Sometimes Dad”, reading from “Idoru”, the time went by. I wish it went by quickly, but almost 10 hours of daylight beyond a “normal day”, after not sleeping much the night before made it go a little slow. As we were nearing Tokyo, we flew over some oil storage/refinement facilities. That normally wouldn’t matter, but since I was only used to facilities from the USA, I experienced both a “familiar” click and a “what the eff?” when looking at them.

After landing and asking one of the officials, I found out that I didn’t need to have an address or phone number. That little bit of stress evaporated, I grabbed my bag, proceeded to immigration inspection (very boring that was) and then the next trick to find a train to take to Ueno. After talking with a customer, I got on the Skyliner (bullet train or “shinkansen”) from Narita Airport. I was amazed at how smooth the ride was- (close to no shimmy) and that the train going through certain stations, it never slowed down! ZOOM! Right on through!

After getting off the Skyliner, I hopped onto a Tokyo Metro train. I made it form Ueno to Minowa station. I exited and realized I had no idea where I was going. After 30 minutes I still didn’t know where I was going. After an hour I didn’t know where I was going. I was walking around in circles trying to find this hostel. Around the one hour 30 minute mark, I stopped back into the Metro entrance, looked at a map (I missed the map a couple of time before… did I mention I haven’t had much sleep?) and found the route to get here. I’m thankful the hostel was listed ON the Tokyo Metro map, otherwise I probably would have had to join the homeless sleeping under bridges, that I saw while on the train to Ueno.

It’s almost 10pm local time and I think I need to try to get some sleep. More tomorrow!