(no subject)
I am back from Japan.
Where to start really? I have so much to say. Basically the plane ride to Tokyo was about 14 hours and I sat by my pal Ryan and a quite friendly Vietnamese woman. The Vietnamese woman had lived in Houston for 20 years and was going to visit her family and grandchildren in Vietname for the first time in those 20 years. She was super cool and we shared things. I gave her my sushi; she gave me her bread roll. pals for life, yo'.
Anyway. We land in Tokyo and meet our tour guides, Miyo and Junco (not sure if Junco is spelled correctly, she didn't wear a name tag). They were super cool. Miyo was the guide for my bus, but unfortunately she was only with us for half of the tour because she had already resigned and her last day was during our tour. We drove around Tokyo a bit, saw the city and she informed us that Tokyo consists of 24 prefectors, each with a population of about 8 million each. I can't even fathom that amount of people packed into such an area.
So, we checked into our hotel, Tokyo Prince Park Tower, which was extremely modern and swank. Word on the street was that our rooms went for the yen equivalent of 500 dollars a night, but of course, we got a much better deal as a group. Everyone made such a spectacle over the toilets because they were high-tech and had seat warmers, and built in bidet and a 'spray' function. The rooms overlooked Tokyo Tower (which looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower) and really nice gardens within the city. That night some percussion pals and myself took the subway to Roppongi for dinner, however, this didn't work out so well because our pal Steve thought it would be super cool to dine at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant which featured a Japanese only menu.
The staff spoke little English and so we used what little Japanese we knew, only to find out that the restaurant featured Italian food. My party wanted to eat only the most vile, craziest of seafood dishes so we had drinks and a seafood appetizer and got back on the metro, this time to Shibuya district.
Shibuya is the Tokyo version of Times Square, but...much larger and better. Just to clarify, everything in Japan is better. The city is ridiculously clean and the metro is void of garbage. This is interesting because it is difficult to find waste receptacles throughout the city, and they are non-existent in the metro. This is because the officials were concerned that bombs would be placed in the garbage bins. Thus....they are removed. And yet still, the city of Tokyo is nearly spotless.
Moving on... We settled on dinner at a place called Niju Maru (again, spelling may be a little off), and shoes were removed before dining. Someone ordered a strange meat sampler (the menu was in Japanese) so we had to just point at an item and guess its contents. The meat sampler contained something very strange that was like chicken kneebones on a stick. I wasn't brave enough to try them, but they were making a very crunchy digusting noise by everyone who was eating them. Very gross.
We saw many interesting shops, including a very strange sex toy shop that contained things that probably don't exist in the states. Um....moving on.
The next day consisted of rehearsals at a Tokyo high school (where we removed our shoes upon entry which was nice) and later that night back to Shibuya district and then drinks at the Skytower bar. 2600 yen for my Mai Tai. (approx. 26 US dollars). But the view of the city and the atmosphere were definitely worth it.
The next day I woke at 4:30 to visit a local fish market/fish auction with Miyo, our guide. People were bidding millions of yen on giant tuna that were placed on the concrete and sliced in select places for connosieurs to examine. Miyo planned on getting a giant tuna, but didn't bid on one this particular morning. Some of these fish cost the equivalent of 100,000 US dollars. These people are very serious about their seafood. The fish market was probably my favourite place to visit, though it wasn't a required group trip. Miyo planned on attending the auction by herself but invited anyone else who wanted to go along.
We later went to a Buddhist temple, performed a cleansing ritual, watched some monks chant prayers and also passed by an elementary school. The students were about 5-6 years of age and were practicing marching band. It was quite insane. Their lines were straight and they were very focused on their practice.
Later, we went to a mall along Tokyo bay and some of us rode the world's largest Ferris wheel. The views of the city were amazing to say the least. Later, another rehearsal and then relaxation.
A bit about Japanese society...
Extremely nice, and a very formal society. Everyone in Tokyo was dressed very well, and people could be seen in business suits at 11 o'clock at night. Very clean and not wasteful at all. Japan basically makes America look like shit. Tokyo is extremely modern and they have improved upon everything that America has. People are very healthy there and there are no fat people. There is an occasionally a chubby person, but no one is obese. Since I am short and fairly small, I fit in very well there, and didn't feel the need to obsess over weight at all. Food has little preservatives, so even 'unhealthy' food really isn't that bad. Everyone on the trip lost weight, and I felt really good being one of the few non-fat Americans on the trip. That and the fact that because of my hair, eyes, body type and clothing type, I fit in really well. Anyway, later on in the week, I was hit on by 3 Japanese business men at a bar in one night and so I had really good self-esteem on the trip.
The trip was great and I would love to live there for a few years. I will write tomorrow about visiting the Yamaha factory, the music convention and other things... Part II to come.
Where to start really? I have so much to say. Basically the plane ride to Tokyo was about 14 hours and I sat by my pal Ryan and a quite friendly Vietnamese woman. The Vietnamese woman had lived in Houston for 20 years and was going to visit her family and grandchildren in Vietname for the first time in those 20 years. She was super cool and we shared things. I gave her my sushi; she gave me her bread roll. pals for life, yo'.
Anyway. We land in Tokyo and meet our tour guides, Miyo and Junco (not sure if Junco is spelled correctly, she didn't wear a name tag). They were super cool. Miyo was the guide for my bus, but unfortunately she was only with us for half of the tour because she had already resigned and her last day was during our tour. We drove around Tokyo a bit, saw the city and she informed us that Tokyo consists of 24 prefectors, each with a population of about 8 million each. I can't even fathom that amount of people packed into such an area.
So, we checked into our hotel, Tokyo Prince Park Tower, which was extremely modern and swank. Word on the street was that our rooms went for the yen equivalent of 500 dollars a night, but of course, we got a much better deal as a group. Everyone made such a spectacle over the toilets because they were high-tech and had seat warmers, and built in bidet and a 'spray' function. The rooms overlooked Tokyo Tower (which looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower) and really nice gardens within the city. That night some percussion pals and myself took the subway to Roppongi for dinner, however, this didn't work out so well because our pal Steve thought it would be super cool to dine at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant which featured a Japanese only menu.
The staff spoke little English and so we used what little Japanese we knew, only to find out that the restaurant featured Italian food. My party wanted to eat only the most vile, craziest of seafood dishes so we had drinks and a seafood appetizer and got back on the metro, this time to Shibuya district.
Shibuya is the Tokyo version of Times Square, but...much larger and better. Just to clarify, everything in Japan is better. The city is ridiculously clean and the metro is void of garbage. This is interesting because it is difficult to find waste receptacles throughout the city, and they are non-existent in the metro. This is because the officials were concerned that bombs would be placed in the garbage bins. Thus....they are removed. And yet still, the city of Tokyo is nearly spotless.
Moving on... We settled on dinner at a place called Niju Maru (again, spelling may be a little off), and shoes were removed before dining. Someone ordered a strange meat sampler (the menu was in Japanese) so we had to just point at an item and guess its contents. The meat sampler contained something very strange that was like chicken kneebones on a stick. I wasn't brave enough to try them, but they were making a very crunchy digusting noise by everyone who was eating them. Very gross.
We saw many interesting shops, including a very strange sex toy shop that contained things that probably don't exist in the states. Um....moving on.
The next day consisted of rehearsals at a Tokyo high school (where we removed our shoes upon entry which was nice) and later that night back to Shibuya district and then drinks at the Skytower bar. 2600 yen for my Mai Tai. (approx. 26 US dollars). But the view of the city and the atmosphere were definitely worth it.
The next day I woke at 4:30 to visit a local fish market/fish auction with Miyo, our guide. People were bidding millions of yen on giant tuna that were placed on the concrete and sliced in select places for connosieurs to examine. Miyo planned on getting a giant tuna, but didn't bid on one this particular morning. Some of these fish cost the equivalent of 100,000 US dollars. These people are very serious about their seafood. The fish market was probably my favourite place to visit, though it wasn't a required group trip. Miyo planned on attending the auction by herself but invited anyone else who wanted to go along.
We later went to a Buddhist temple, performed a cleansing ritual, watched some monks chant prayers and also passed by an elementary school. The students were about 5-6 years of age and were practicing marching band. It was quite insane. Their lines were straight and they were very focused on their practice.
Later, we went to a mall along Tokyo bay and some of us rode the world's largest Ferris wheel. The views of the city were amazing to say the least. Later, another rehearsal and then relaxation.
A bit about Japanese society...
Extremely nice, and a very formal society. Everyone in Tokyo was dressed very well, and people could be seen in business suits at 11 o'clock at night. Very clean and not wasteful at all. Japan basically makes America look like shit. Tokyo is extremely modern and they have improved upon everything that America has. People are very healthy there and there are no fat people. There is an occasionally a chubby person, but no one is obese. Since I am short and fairly small, I fit in very well there, and didn't feel the need to obsess over weight at all. Food has little preservatives, so even 'unhealthy' food really isn't that bad. Everyone on the trip lost weight, and I felt really good being one of the few non-fat Americans on the trip. That and the fact that because of my hair, eyes, body type and clothing type, I fit in really well. Anyway, later on in the week, I was hit on by 3 Japanese business men at a bar in one night and so I had really good self-esteem on the trip.
The trip was great and I would love to live there for a few years. I will write tomorrow about visiting the Yamaha factory, the music convention and other things... Part II to come.