For the first time in a while I managed to get up fairly early today. The plan was to take Shiela to the Kinokunya bookstore in Shinjuku, so she could get an English-Japanese dictionary. This bookstore is AMAZING! It really makes me wish I could read Japanese. Luckily, at least one of the eight floors that make up this monolithic Barnes & Noble dwarfer is dedicated to foriegn language books. Most English language books are pretty pricey, making it generally a better deal to buy them on Amazon and have them shipped (even express international shipping is cheaper). But, if you just want to pick up something that's not very expensive to begin with (e.g. dictionary), then Kinokunya is the place to go.
The plan was to follow that up with a local English language yoga class, that I found through an ad on Facebook (apparently I'm the first to respond to that ad that displayed a month ago). As it turned out, the bookstore didn't open until 10am, and the yoga class started at 11am, so we decided to save the bookstore for another day. I still got up at 8:30am, despite getting to sleep at 5am.
The yoga class was ok. I think I had much higher expectations because this guru spent five years studying with BKS Iyengar, whose books on the subject of yoga are some of the most highly regarded. I'm used to doing a broader selection of poses than we did today. The interesting thing is that I enjoy doing the most challenging poses, because the discomfort helps me to mentally detach, and spiritually focus. On the other hand, we only practiced very rudimentary poses today, but I discovered that I still stand to improve greatly on those. This discovery created a kind of discomfort of the ego, which ultimately had a very similar effect. In any case, I'm sure I'll try it again next week.
Afterward, Hampton and I found a neat little cafe that provided Japanese style seating. It's sort of sitting on the floor, except the 'floor' is actually an elevated platform. Shoes are left on the real floor, and you sit however suits your comfort, in front of what is essentially a coffee table. As always, the food was great.
Aside from all that, I've been working on a 'flash card' web application to help me accelerate my Japanese language study. I already built the basic functionality when I first got here. Now I have an enormous list of words that I want to be able to upload into the database via a CSV file. As always, it's just one cryptic error message after another. I'm thinking about dropping Rails and going to PHP. Probably won't though.
Anywho, I think this all might be a bit mundane for a blog entry, but sometimes even Arian's Adventures are mundane.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Getting in the Raivu Hausu
When The Kap’n was here visiting, we pushed it pretty hard. I mean, this city is so dense that by the end of my three month trip I’ll have barely covered the shops, bars, restaurants, cafes, museums, parks, etc., that reside within a five block radius of my apartment. So to try to squeeze in a comprehensive set of experiences in just a week is impossible, but we tried anyway. Combining that with pulling a few all-nighters for work, and a few all-nighters in the local bars, left me with a nagging cold that has persisted since he left. This hasn’t really slowed down the adventures (or stopped me from hanging out in bars), but it has caused me to sleep a lot more.
Aside from sleeping more, there are a few other noteworthy developments that have taken place over the last several days. First, we got a new roommate. She’s an Australian girl that is here for a month as a consultant for a new waxing salon. Going forward, if she comes up, we’ll call her ‘Sheila’ (since I don’t typically use real names - I don’t know why… I just don’t). Sheila is replacing our former roommate - a Taiwanese girl, studying graphic design here in Tokyo. We’ll call her ‘Queenie’, if she comes up (but she probably won’t, since she moved out).
Secondly, I noticed some advancement in my rock climbing skills. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this activity. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s pretty good exercise. Unfortunately, it seems to mostly work the muscles in the hands and forearms, which makes playing guitar very difficult.
Thirdly, we discovered a new favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant. When I worked at LMB, they catered our lunch everyday. On days which we had Chinese food, it was so bad - imho - that it literally ruined Chinese for me forever. I simply couldn’t imagine eating it anymore - good or otherwise. In Tokyo, it’s the opposite, but the same problematic outcome. The Chinese food is so good that it has ruined Chinese food for me forever. I can’t describe it. It’s the same familiar dishes, but with flavor and texture so extraordinary, that to this point I never believed something so delicious was even possible. Of course, extraordinarily delicious food is the standard here. Interestingly, it seems that some restaurants have an elegant theme, and some have a casual theme, but this doesn’t affect the price or quality. Quality is always as good as possible. Price is always pretty normal for a casual restaurant in LA - $12 - $18/plate. Mind you, there’s no tipping in Japan. So, it really evens out, even in cases where the price is a little higher than the US.
Lastly, we found a favorite (tied for like top five favorite) neighborhood bar. It’s called Daze, and I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the Harajuku area of Tokyo. Although seriously, good luck finding it. Everything in this area is obscure. It’s just a vast, endless, network of tiny, one lane streets, that combine every kind of shop and residence, like the organized chaos of a Zen garden. I even know of a custom clothing shop that is upstairs from a small bar, and can only be accessed by entering that bar and going up the stairs in the back. However, that bar can only be entered by first entering another bar and passing through to the hidden entrance in back. That street facing bar, is on the corner of two tiny, one lane streets/alley ways, and all together there are no signs for any of these businesses. For that matter, these streets - like most streets in Japan - don’t have names.
Let me add that I usually don’t enjoy going out to bars very much. Here it is quite different, though. The bars are very small, usually only accommodating between six (small bar) and fifteen (large bar) people. And, I mean - that’s it! It’s like hanging out in a big closet with a bar in it. The benefit is that everyone in the establishment tends to socialize. Everybody ‘cheers’ together, and engages in one large group conversation, etc. The only downside is that there are no smoking bans in place here (except outside, for some reason), and everybody in Japan smokes.
Anyway, I digress. We found this place called Daze, which is tucked away on the third floor of a building that sits on a small alley between two parallel allies. It holds about 12 people comfortably, and has an upscale vibe to it. As is often the case, the bartender is also the owner. But, he’s also a part time sound/recording engineer. He supports many bands in “live houses” (what they call live music venues) around Tokyo. After mentioning that I play and teach guitar, he asked (maybe in a somewhat challenging way) if I’d like to play a guitar that they already have set up with the house PA system. Being just drunk enough, I accepted. He seemed to like my playing, and on a subsequent visit, has offered to get me gigs here the next time I visit (as long as I play his place first). Sweet! That is exactly the kind of connection I was hoping to find.
Those are the adventures for today! Peace, yo!
Aside from sleeping more, there are a few other noteworthy developments that have taken place over the last several days. First, we got a new roommate. She’s an Australian girl that is here for a month as a consultant for a new waxing salon. Going forward, if she comes up, we’ll call her ‘Sheila’ (since I don’t typically use real names - I don’t know why… I just don’t). Sheila is replacing our former roommate - a Taiwanese girl, studying graphic design here in Tokyo. We’ll call her ‘Queenie’, if she comes up (but she probably won’t, since she moved out).
Secondly, I noticed some advancement in my rock climbing skills. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this activity. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s pretty good exercise. Unfortunately, it seems to mostly work the muscles in the hands and forearms, which makes playing guitar very difficult.
Thirdly, we discovered a new favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant. When I worked at LMB, they catered our lunch everyday. On days which we had Chinese food, it was so bad - imho - that it literally ruined Chinese for me forever. I simply couldn’t imagine eating it anymore - good or otherwise. In Tokyo, it’s the opposite, but the same problematic outcome. The Chinese food is so good that it has ruined Chinese food for me forever. I can’t describe it. It’s the same familiar dishes, but with flavor and texture so extraordinary, that to this point I never believed something so delicious was even possible. Of course, extraordinarily delicious food is the standard here. Interestingly, it seems that some restaurants have an elegant theme, and some have a casual theme, but this doesn’t affect the price or quality. Quality is always as good as possible. Price is always pretty normal for a casual restaurant in LA - $12 - $18/plate. Mind you, there’s no tipping in Japan. So, it really evens out, even in cases where the price is a little higher than the US.
Lastly, we found a favorite (tied for like top five favorite) neighborhood bar. It’s called Daze, and I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the Harajuku area of Tokyo. Although seriously, good luck finding it. Everything in this area is obscure. It’s just a vast, endless, network of tiny, one lane streets, that combine every kind of shop and residence, like the organized chaos of a Zen garden. I even know of a custom clothing shop that is upstairs from a small bar, and can only be accessed by entering that bar and going up the stairs in the back. However, that bar can only be entered by first entering another bar and passing through to the hidden entrance in back. That street facing bar, is on the corner of two tiny, one lane streets/alley ways, and all together there are no signs for any of these businesses. For that matter, these streets - like most streets in Japan - don’t have names.
Let me add that I usually don’t enjoy going out to bars very much. Here it is quite different, though. The bars are very small, usually only accommodating between six (small bar) and fifteen (large bar) people. And, I mean - that’s it! It’s like hanging out in a big closet with a bar in it. The benefit is that everyone in the establishment tends to socialize. Everybody ‘cheers’ together, and engages in one large group conversation, etc. The only downside is that there are no smoking bans in place here (except outside, for some reason), and everybody in Japan smokes.
Anyway, I digress. We found this place called Daze, which is tucked away on the third floor of a building that sits on a small alley between two parallel allies. It holds about 12 people comfortably, and has an upscale vibe to it. As is often the case, the bartender is also the owner. But, he’s also a part time sound/recording engineer. He supports many bands in “live houses” (what they call live music venues) around Tokyo. After mentioning that I play and teach guitar, he asked (maybe in a somewhat challenging way) if I’d like to play a guitar that they already have set up with the house PA system. Being just drunk enough, I accepted. He seemed to like my playing, and on a subsequent visit, has offered to get me gigs here the next time I visit (as long as I play his place first). Sweet! That is exactly the kind of connection I was hoping to find.
Those are the adventures for today! Peace, yo!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Battle of Roppongi Hills
Wow, so much has gone down since my last entry that I don’t even know where to begin! I guess I’ll begin with where I left off in my last entry!
So, The Kap’n came out to Tokyo for a visit. This really represented a turning point in my experience here, because showing him around was my first experience with trying to be really self reliant in this country. I pulled it off quite well indeed, if I do say so myself. My ability to speak Japanese is still no where near conversational, but it does seem to be adequate for survival. I can order food (not so easy, being vegetarian in this country), get directions, shop, ride the subway (also quite complex), etc.
What did we do with my amazing travel guide skills? Mostly we hung out in bars every night until the sun came up. Good times! We did also manage to squeeze in a visit to Meiji Jingu, which is a fabulous Shinto shrine dedicated to the 19th century emperor Meiji, who is considered the father of the modern era of Japan (and unfairly villainized in the movie The Last Samurai). We also strolled the grounds of the Imperial Palace (where the current emperor lives), which I must admit was more than a little underwhelming. It seems that the best - and presumably only interesting - part is closed off this time of year. We tried to go to the top of the Tokyo Government Building, which has an observation deck with a supposedly spectacular view. I asked how we could get to the top and I was told that it’s not possible. Huh? Oh, closed. When is it possible? Huh? What’s that word? Suiyobi… that sounds familiar… hmm. 10 minutes later - oh … WEDNESDAY! They’re closed on Wednesdays… of course! Sheesh. Anyway, no matter, because we also went to a museum in Roppongi, followed by a trip to the top of Roppongi Hill (see picture), which is another incredibly tall building with an observation deck and a stunning view. We were also pleased to discover a great modern art museum and a really swank bar at the top. More good times! We finished up by hitting the main strip in Roppongi. Let me just say that if you ever visit Tokyo, don’t go to see the nightlife in Roppongi. Holy geez, what a jarringly unpleasant experience compared to the rest of the city. FYI, it’s considered a ’gaijin’ district. That is, it is filled with foreigners, hence being the only part of town filled with rude, pushy, obnoxious, dirt bags, and signs that say “beware of pickpockets”!
At this point, I have to share a really unusual phenomenon. Japanese people are generally very courteous and polite and mild mannered. Apparently there is a need for pushy con-artists that cannot be fulfilled by their culture. Thus, African migrant workers to the rescue! In any of the areas of ultra-heavy foot traffic there are African immigrants posted at various corners and doorways that randomly engage passersby and try to solicit them. The solicitation varies depending on the neighborhood, but generally ranges from going to some particular strip club, to getting a “massage”, to “hey, come with me if you like to have a good time” (I don’t know if this is for prostitutes for drugs, or just to go get robbed in an alley). My understanding is that these migrant workers are actually more like indentured servants, employed either by more successful African or Russian “businessmen”. They are annoying, but generally tolerable in most of the places I’ve been. But, in Roppongi it was a nightmare. We were literally accosted by about six different guys in the span of about ½ block. And, each one of them was determined not to take “no” for an answer (even though they seemed equally determined to make the question totally unclear).
Anyway, the bulk of our adventures took place in the wide selection of small bars that populate my neighborhood. But, I’ll save that for my next installment!
In the mean time, I had a special request to discuss any experiences I may have had with “eastern style” toilets. Okay, so for those of you that don’t know, these are basically a hole in the floor. They are a minority, but not totally uncommon in public restrooms. I really don’t understand the concept at all. They essentially require the user to squat down, but they don’t provide any hand rails or anything. In theory they are supposed to be more sanitary, because the user doesn’t actually make contact with the commode. But that theory fails in practice because a.) there are aim issues that make the surrounding floor less sanitary; and b.) the hover technique has been providing a no contact solution in the western world for thousands of years (that’s an estimate). Anyway, I personally have not had any experience with these, aside from seeing them in some public restrooms. While I’m on the subject, however, I’ll add that the western style toilets here are actually more clever than those in America. First, the handle flushes both directions - one way is “big”, and the other is “small”, thus enabling water economy where possible. The second difference is that when flushed, the water that fills the tank actually pours first from a faucet, into a small sink, and then into the tank via the drain in the sink. The value of this is that the user can wash their hands with the water that is used to fill the tank. Unfortunately, this too fails in practice, because it has never occurred to the Japanese to place a soap dispenser/dish or towel rack anywhere near this little sink. Instead those things are placed next to the “real” sink, which is usually just outside the room that the toilet is in (the toilet has its own room, as opposed to the multi-purpose “bathrooms” we’re used to).
I hope that answers your question Ambular.
Anyway, I have a LOT more to write about, and only three weeks left in my trip. So, I’m quite sure I’ll be a much busier blogger over the next few weeks. I hope I still have a few readers left to look forward to the next exciting installment, when I wrap up the details of my week long fiesta with The Kap’n.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Guilt
Ok, so I was feeling a little guilty that I haven't posted anything recently. I've been working around the clock - literally! I had a few days there where I got back to sleeping from 12am - 8am. It was great. But then I worked from 10am - 10am, and I was all messed up again.
I've really settled into a routine here. But, things are about to be shaken up! My buddy The Kap'n is coming out to visit for a week. The adventure will begin in a few hours, with me trying to make my way to the airport. The timing is perfect, as I've just finished the bulk of the work for a huge project, and the rest of this week should be fairly mellow as far as work is concerned.
Anywho, I need to get what little sleep I can. I just wanted to throw something out there for you - mostly because of the guilt I mentioned above.
I've really settled into a routine here. But, things are about to be shaken up! My buddy The Kap'n is coming out to visit for a week. The adventure will begin in a few hours, with me trying to make my way to the airport. The timing is perfect, as I've just finished the bulk of the work for a huge project, and the rest of this week should be fairly mellow as far as work is concerned.
Anywho, I need to get what little sleep I can. I just wanted to throw something out there for you - mostly because of the guilt I mentioned above.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Between Beginning and End
The current ongoing adventure is uncontrollable, erratic sleep patterns. But, since that in and of itself is not particularly interesting, let me instead paint a picture of my daily life in Tokyo.
I wake up sometime between 9:30am and 4pm. This literally changes dramatically from day to day. I then spend a few minutes checking all my online conduits to the free world (several email accounts, Facebook, and maybe Linked In), and a few more minutes chatting with various people (you know who you are) for both personal and professional reasons.
After 30 - 60 minutes of sitting on my floor mat (where I sleep) with computer in hand, I have a 30 - 45 minute yoga session. I cannot over express what an excellent way this is to start the day. It rids all the aches, pains, stiffness, sleepy cobwebs, etc., and gets the breath steady. It also recalibrates physical, mental, and spiritual attentiveness for all that awaits in the new day. This is followed by cooking a hearty breakfast - cereal, fruit, potatoes, tofu "scramble", toast, V8, and coffee.
The rest of my "day" is a mosaic of various activities. I am spending many hours working, which currently consists primarily of building web pages, but also includes a bit of establishing marketing relationships for clients. I work from home and in different cafes throughout my general area in Tokyo. On one hand, I prefer to be out integrating with the culture of the city around me. On the other hand, the only cafe that does not permit smoking is Starbucks, and they don't have wifi. Without wifi I can't work. So, I work in other cafes as long as I can stand the smoking, and then I work from home. By the way, if you are a smoker - please quit.
Besides work, of course there are the usual household chores: grocery shopping (which I do frequently because we have a tiny refrigerator), mailing letters, I don't know... whatever chores you do around town, I'm doing them too. Of course, I use a bicycle to get around when I'm doing them. And for that matter - you should too.
In the evening, I've also been going to a rock climbing gym a couple days a week. But, when I'm not doing that (which is most of the time), I usually just cook some Asian themed dinner (some combination of noodles, beans, mushrooms, and seaweed - just add sesame seeds!) and then either work more, go out drinking, or study (yoga, web programming, zen Buddhism, Japanese language are the main topics currently).
I was feeling a little guilty that I haven't been doing more shopping or sightseeing. I will do those things (and have done some already), but that's not the kind of experience I came here for. I really wanted to know what it's like to live here - not be a tourist. It's basically a lot like my life in America, except filled with new insights and a lot of asthetically pleasing details.
At the end of it all I manage to hit the sack sometime between 4am and 8am.
I wake up sometime between 9:30am and 4pm. This literally changes dramatically from day to day. I then spend a few minutes checking all my online conduits to the free world (several email accounts, Facebook, and maybe Linked In), and a few more minutes chatting with various people (you know who you are) for both personal and professional reasons.
After 30 - 60 minutes of sitting on my floor mat (where I sleep) with computer in hand, I have a 30 - 45 minute yoga session. I cannot over express what an excellent way this is to start the day. It rids all the aches, pains, stiffness, sleepy cobwebs, etc., and gets the breath steady. It also recalibrates physical, mental, and spiritual attentiveness for all that awaits in the new day. This is followed by cooking a hearty breakfast - cereal, fruit, potatoes, tofu "scramble", toast, V8, and coffee.
The rest of my "day" is a mosaic of various activities. I am spending many hours working, which currently consists primarily of building web pages, but also includes a bit of establishing marketing relationships for clients. I work from home and in different cafes throughout my general area in Tokyo. On one hand, I prefer to be out integrating with the culture of the city around me. On the other hand, the only cafe that does not permit smoking is Starbucks, and they don't have wifi. Without wifi I can't work. So, I work in other cafes as long as I can stand the smoking, and then I work from home. By the way, if you are a smoker - please quit.
Besides work, of course there are the usual household chores: grocery shopping (which I do frequently because we have a tiny refrigerator), mailing letters, I don't know... whatever chores you do around town, I'm doing them too. Of course, I use a bicycle to get around when I'm doing them. And for that matter - you should too.
In the evening, I've also been going to a rock climbing gym a couple days a week. But, when I'm not doing that (which is most of the time), I usually just cook some Asian themed dinner (some combination of noodles, beans, mushrooms, and seaweed - just add sesame seeds!) and then either work more, go out drinking, or study (yoga, web programming, zen Buddhism, Japanese language are the main topics currently).
I was feeling a little guilty that I haven't been doing more shopping or sightseeing. I will do those things (and have done some already), but that's not the kind of experience I came here for. I really wanted to know what it's like to live here - not be a tourist. It's basically a lot like my life in America, except filled with new insights and a lot of asthetically pleasing details.
At the end of it all I manage to hit the sack sometime between 4am and 8am.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Japanese Vegetarian Bike Cops
I had a bit of an adventure today. I’ve been in Japan for less than three weeks, and I’ve already had a run in with the law. We parked our bicycles where we weren’t supposed to, and they were impounded. This is a little trickier than it sounds. There aren’t really very many places where locking a bicycle is allowed. However, bicycles are in heavy use in Tokyo, and they are parked everywhere! There are even other bicycles parked where ours were parked, but I guess we were made an example.
Anyway, the police left a note for us, but this was hard to decipher, as we don’t read kanji. We figured that our locks had been cut, so we returned to the bike store where we bought them, and while there we got an employee to read the note for us. From there it wasn’t a very big deal. Just a two mile walk to the impound, and 2,000 yen each to get them back (about $20 USD).
Next to the impound we found the Japanese counterpart to the Asian grocers found in America - a ‘western’ grocer, so to speak. This was pretty exciting, because they had a few things that are hard to find anywhere else - particularly tortilla chips. So now I can buy an $8 avocado and make the most expensive guacamole of my life.
From there we discovered yet another awesome restaurant/bar. It was quiet, dimly lit, well stocked (Hoegaarden on tap), and easily made me feel underdressed in jeans. The food was fantastic, as usual, and they had some great jazz playing on the radio. Now as I write this, we’re listening to more great jazz, and hanging out in our favorite haunt - a little café called The Brown Sheep.
This leads me to a few more of the many observations I have to make about Tokyo. First, there is jazz EVERYWHERE! I mean, not just every restaurant, every bar, every café, but even 7-11, book stores, wherever. If they have music, it’s jazz. This has reinvigorated my love of this music in a way that I haven’t felt for a long time. And, I don’t mean smooth ‘jazz’, or fusion, or some other pseudo jazz. I mean, Bird, Coltrane, Joe Pass, … Wynton Kelly at this very moment.
On the subject of going out, I should discuss two other topics: getting around, and being vegetarian.
Getting around is pretty easy, in the sense that everything you need is easy walking distance from wherever you are, Tokyo is bicycle friendly, and there’s great public transportation. It’s difficult in that it’s hard to get and keep your bearings. All the roads are very windy, and most of them don’t have names. Plus, many of the signs for stores are written in kanji, so it’s hard to create any landmarks. Also, I find riding (my bike) on the left side of the road to be very unfamiliar to the point of being confusing. Making a right turn is still hard for me to wrap my head around. Also, when crossing the street, there’s a tendency to look the wrong way for oncoming traffic!
Being vegetarian in Tokyo isn’t as hard as I feared, but it’s not without a bit of challenge. I’d heard from many people, and read online, that it’s impossible to be vegetarian in Japan, because no Japanese food is vegetarian. This is half true. Very little Japanese food is vegetarian. However, there’s way more to Tokyo than just Japanese food. It’s a huge city, and they have everything - Thai, Chinese, Indian, etc. They have many familiar restaurant chains - Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, McDonald’s, etc. There’s even Shakey’s Pizza! Of course, I don’t want to come all the way to Tokyo and just eat American fast food. So, much of what I’m eating is unfamiliar. In those cases, it’s difficult to communicate my vegetarian preference, as it’s a rather foreign concept to the Japanese.
Another foreign concept here, is the idea of being flexible with the menu. If it ain’t on the menu, you ain’t getting it. At a curry restaurant I saw one curry meal that came with rice and salad. There was another that just came with salad, which is what I wanted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t order the curry flavor I wanted without the rice, because it wasn’t on the menu that way! All that said, I’m so far managing just fine, and in fact, having some of the best food of my life. Also, I’m able to get most of the groceries that I need to cook great meals at home.
That’s all for now!
P.S. Comment your questions if you got ‘em!
Anyway, the police left a note for us, but this was hard to decipher, as we don’t read kanji. We figured that our locks had been cut, so we returned to the bike store where we bought them, and while there we got an employee to read the note for us. From there it wasn’t a very big deal. Just a two mile walk to the impound, and 2,000 yen each to get them back (about $20 USD).
Next to the impound we found the Japanese counterpart to the Asian grocers found in America - a ‘western’ grocer, so to speak. This was pretty exciting, because they had a few things that are hard to find anywhere else - particularly tortilla chips. So now I can buy an $8 avocado and make the most expensive guacamole of my life.
From there we discovered yet another awesome restaurant/bar. It was quiet, dimly lit, well stocked (Hoegaarden on tap), and easily made me feel underdressed in jeans. The food was fantastic, as usual, and they had some great jazz playing on the radio. Now as I write this, we’re listening to more great jazz, and hanging out in our favorite haunt - a little café called The Brown Sheep.
This leads me to a few more of the many observations I have to make about Tokyo. First, there is jazz EVERYWHERE! I mean, not just every restaurant, every bar, every café, but even 7-11, book stores, wherever. If they have music, it’s jazz. This has reinvigorated my love of this music in a way that I haven’t felt for a long time. And, I don’t mean smooth ‘jazz’, or fusion, or some other pseudo jazz. I mean, Bird, Coltrane, Joe Pass, … Wynton Kelly at this very moment.
On the subject of going out, I should discuss two other topics: getting around, and being vegetarian.
Getting around is pretty easy, in the sense that everything you need is easy walking distance from wherever you are, Tokyo is bicycle friendly, and there’s great public transportation. It’s difficult in that it’s hard to get and keep your bearings. All the roads are very windy, and most of them don’t have names. Plus, many of the signs for stores are written in kanji, so it’s hard to create any landmarks. Also, I find riding (my bike) on the left side of the road to be very unfamiliar to the point of being confusing. Making a right turn is still hard for me to wrap my head around. Also, when crossing the street, there’s a tendency to look the wrong way for oncoming traffic!
Being vegetarian in Tokyo isn’t as hard as I feared, but it’s not without a bit of challenge. I’d heard from many people, and read online, that it’s impossible to be vegetarian in Japan, because no Japanese food is vegetarian. This is half true. Very little Japanese food is vegetarian. However, there’s way more to Tokyo than just Japanese food. It’s a huge city, and they have everything - Thai, Chinese, Indian, etc. They have many familiar restaurant chains - Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, McDonald’s, etc. There’s even Shakey’s Pizza! Of course, I don’t want to come all the way to Tokyo and just eat American fast food. So, much of what I’m eating is unfamiliar. In those cases, it’s difficult to communicate my vegetarian preference, as it’s a rather foreign concept to the Japanese.
Another foreign concept here, is the idea of being flexible with the menu. If it ain’t on the menu, you ain’t getting it. At a curry restaurant I saw one curry meal that came with rice and salad. There was another that just came with salad, which is what I wanted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t order the curry flavor I wanted without the rice, because it wasn’t on the menu that way! All that said, I’m so far managing just fine, and in fact, having some of the best food of my life. Also, I’m able to get most of the groceries that I need to cook great meals at home.
That’s all for now!
P.S. Comment your questions if you got ‘em!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Even Better Than the Book
Okay, I’m back, and I’m staying back. I wanted to leave some space between my last entry and this one, so nobody would miss the last one. At this point I think all stragglers are in.
Now, you get to hear about Japan. Aside from the fact that I’m in Japan, I haven’t really had any “adventures” in the way that I mean that word in the title of this blog. However, this is an incredible place, and I’ve had a tremendous amount to soak up in these first two weeks. If you know me well, you know I’ve always been a bit of an Asiaphile, specifically a Japanophile. I’ve been dreaming about living in this country for nearly 20 years!
In coming here, my concern was that I’d built it up too much. Sort of like a movie that can never live up to the anticipation, I half expected that being in Japan really wouldn’t feel as remarkable as I expected. I predicted this, especially because my interest has always been mostly in traditional Japanese art and culture, which I already knew is not exactly what Tokyo is all about. Well, I’ve been pleased to discover that my experience has so far greatly exceeded all my expectations. I don’t know if I was Japanese in a past life or something, but I really feel at home here. It took me three years to feel that way about L.A., and about three hours to feel that way about Tokyo (don’t worry Ormond, you’re still my main squeeze)!
So first of all, what have I been doing? The first whole week was mostly spent shopping for things to get settled in. I’m not in a hotel or anything, I have an apartment for three months. So, dish soap, towels, groceries, etc. Plus we were shopping for a couple bigger items: I had to get a cell phone and plan that I could use here, and I had to get a bicycle to get around. This whole process also took an unusually long time, because we had to find places, get acquainted, and stop and check out every neat thing that came across our path.
By the way, by “we” I mean me and my buddy Aaron. He’s lived here twice, for a total of about 18 months, and has visited like five other times. He speaks Japanese fluently, and knows his way around our neighborhood pretty well. This trip really wouldn’t work for me without his help. I’m pretty resourceful, but I don’t think I could have nearly this complete of an experience.
Once we got settled in, we began filling our days with a variety of activities: cycling, yoga, rock climbing (bouldering actually, and in a gym, not on a real rock), Japanese language study, cooking, drinking in bars, and working. Just so you know, two of the business ventures I’ve moved into are moving forward already - panning out better than expected! We also met up with an American friend of Aaron, who happened to also be here. On that occasion we went to Meiji Jingu, which is a temple erected in honor of the 19th century Emperor Meiji, who is credited with modernizing Japan. It’s an extraordinary temple, set on grounds the size of Central Park (if you haven’t been to NYC, trust me, that’s big)! And, it happens to be right down the street from our apartment - the perfect location for a bit of jogging.
Okay, so I know many of you are dying to know about how Japan compares to America - what’s different? Well, this blog is already kind of long, and this is a long topic. So, I’ll give you a couple tidbits, and then I’ll spread the rest out over future posts (which I promise will be much more frequent).
The first thing I noticed is how clean this city is. Americans, we really need to get it together and take a little more pride in the way we care for our surroundings. I mean, this city has four times as many people as NYC, and there is nary a piece of trash to be found - not even a cigarette butt! I saw one piece of paper on the ground by a store that had probably just been dropped accidentally, and a policeman walked over to it, picked it up, and carried it to a waste receptacle! Trash is actually kind of complicated here. Everywhere - including my apartment - there are multiple containers for paper, plastic, and other. Everybody respects this system, and discards their waste accordingly. I can’t picture every customer in an American McDonald’s removing the lid and straw from their cup, to throw them in one bin, while throwing the ice and liquid in another, and then the paper cup in another. But, it works here. People just do it. Amazing!
Here’s a little difference - a subtle small thing to remind you you’re amidst a foreign culture. In every store, or restaurant, or whatever, every cash register has a little tray next to it. That is where you place the money. You don’t hand the money to the cashier. You place the money on the tray, and then they pick it up. Oh, and along those lines, some of the more sophisticated stores don’t even open the register. They just insert the money into a slot, and the register spits out the correct change! It’s so cool!
Alright, this is a major blog code length violation. I’ve got tons more to say about the ways in which Tokyo differs from American cities, but it will have to wait. For now just know that I’m having a great time. I already know for certain that I will come here again many times. And at the same time, I miss you all!
P.S. Thanks for the push Shayla. Now you don’t have to kill me.
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