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Bullet Train

• I expected the bullet train to be an amazing experience, but it left me slightly unsatisfied. The train didn’t look that cool, and there was no sense of “wow….we are going as fast as a speeding bullet”, but for the most part it felt as though we were not even moving. I guess this is a good thing as it was very smooth and comfortable….but meh……they should call it the “rocking chair that you don’t realize is moving fast”
• It took just over 3 hours to get to Tokyo
• The Tokyo station was even bigger than the Kyoto station, and we managed to get lost trying to find the train to our hostel
• We wound up taking a JR train to another part of Tokyo, and then a subway to our hostel in Roppongi
• The hostel was not that great–12 people to a room, musty smell, one bathroom, etc–but we intended to be there only for a short period of time to sleep
• We left the hostel with the intention of going to a club, but were so exhausted that after a mos burger and some wandering around Shibuya, we decided to come home and sleep so we could hit it big time the next day
• Yeah….I know…..we are getting too old

Akihabara Electrical Town

• We woke up early and started to make our way to Akihabara Electrical Town, the nerd capital of Tokyo famous for electronics and cartoon porn shops
• We wanted to take 2 JR trains so that we wouldn’t have to pay for a Tokyo subway (different system). After the first train, we left the system to find a place for lunch
• We turned down a little side street into a small residential area and ate at a random noodle house with a few Japanese business men inside. The noodles were good, and the guy running the stand was happy to have us there
• We got to Akihaba and started to look for a store to buy an electronic dictionary. Some of you may remember that I wanted to find an English-Chinese dictionary that would allow input/output of pinyin. I looked all over Shijiazhuang and couldn’t find one. Well, Justin’s Japanese-English electronic dictionary had a supplemental mode that did just that in Chinese (as well as pronouncing words, showing stroke order of characters, and all sorts of other things). I couldn’t believe that a dictionary that wasn’t even designed for Chinese could do more than all the dictionaries I found in China……gotta love Japanese electronics
• Anyway, we looked up the place with the cheapest price on-line and started to try and find it. On the way, however, we had to stop in a bunch of the cartoon sex shops. They were filled with all the nerds who like electronics (of course) and contained some of the filthiest cartoons I have ever seen. They also had a huge selection of used women’s underwear, pictures of naked kids, and every niche fetish you could think of. It is shocking how a culture can be so polite and closed at times, and then have shops with stuff like this.
• We found the shop after a little while and bought the dictionary. It RULES!
• Next stop was a 7 story “toy store for nerds” that had a floor with the crazy anime models / figurines, a floor with model airplanes, a floor with RC cars, a floor with electronic trains, a floor with EXTREMELY realistic fake guns, a floor with a shooting gallery, and a floor with boats
• We then had lunch at a tempura place before checking out the mega electronics plaza
• The mega electronics plaza was a building bigger than most football fields with 6 stories of different kinds of electronics, cameras, computers, gadgets, sporting equipment, toilets, and massagers. We spent at least an hour trying out the various massage chairs and laughing at the Japanese business men who fell asleep in them. Then we must have spent an hour looking at the toilets that contained LCD screens, controls for heating, butt washing strength, various types of washing nozzles, hot air regulation, lid and seat raising and closing, and of course massaging
• After spending nearly the entire day in Akihabara, we grabbed a quick burger and went back to the hostel to change
• We then went to a small all you can drink club in Roppongi call Lexington Queen that Nick knew of. It wasn’t the greatest club, but we had some good times until the club closed at 6am

Wake up and eat dinner

• We woke up after 5pm!!!!! We went right out and grabbed a quick bite, then came back to the hostel and tried to get in contact with one of Justin’s Japanese friends who lives in Tokyo
• We met her in the subway and went out to a restaurant called “The Lockup” that Justin insisted we had to visit. I asked him what it was / what type of food they had and he refused to tell me. He only said that it was nothing like anything else and closest to Disney land
• Well….that was a pretty accurate description. The Lockup is a horror themed restaurant in Shibuya. As you walk in, there are decorations, black lights, strobes, corpses, moving ground, screaming things, and everything else you can think of. When they seat you, they lead you to your cell in handcuffs and then slam the bars so you are basically a prisoner (this would never be legal in the US with fire codes and whatnot). They periodically kill the lights and monsters run through the halls rattling the bars and sticking knives at you while strobes flash and crazy music plays. The drinks come in test tubes and beakers. The food is also themed and my favorite was a pastry dish called the revolver which I later understood. There are basically 5 bite-sized cream filled pastries. You take turns picking one and popping it into your mouth to eat whole. One, however, is not filled with cream, but filled with white wasabi. I didn’t know this when the dish came, and was shocked when Justin ate the wasabi one and started panicking. HEHEHEHE! That is what you get for not telling us that one is wasabi-filled
• After dinner, we made our way to Shinjuku to see that area and the giant underground mall. I was shocked at the price of fruit……a single apple sold for $25, and a honeydew melon for $100. It was crazy. We grabbed another Mos burger (I love those things) and stopped in an arcade to play the taiko drum game. We also looked at the guys betting on electronic horse racing….what a waste
• After a while in Shinjuku, we came back to Roppongi and entered club Vanilla at around 1am. Vanilla was a crazy club with 3 huge rooms on different floors full of crazy Japanese kids. We spent the whole night dancing and drinking, leaving the club at 7am
• We headed back to the hostel, grabbed our bags, and boarded a bullet train back to Kyoto

Back to Kyoto

• I managed to stay awake on the bullet train long enough to get some good views of Mt. Fuji, but quickly feel asleep and before I knew it, we were back in Kyoto
• A quick bus ride later and we were back at Justin’s house. I slept for 3 more hours, then packed my bags and exchanged photos from our respective digital cameras
• My flight departed the next morning at 10am, and I hadn’t done one of the things I really wanted to do in Japan so Justin offered to ride with me to Osaka and cross the last item off my list

Capsule Hotel

• Yes….you did read that right! I had seen capsule hotels on the discovery channel and didn’t believe it at all. I wanted to experience it first hand, so we boarded a train for Osaka where we hoped to find a capsule hotel for me near the airport.
• When we got to Osaka airport, however, there were no capsule hotels. We boarded a train back to Tenjiku, and found a capsule hotel right next to the station.
• The hotel cost as much as the hostel, around $40 a night, which may seem like a lot for a tiny capsule, but the facilities were VERY lavish
• My capsule had an LCD TV and full on control system with lighting controls, TV controls, radio controls, and alarm clock controls. The capsules were in a sealed room where all you could do was sleep. Outside the capsule room was a locker area and bathroom. On the next floor, there was a snack area and lounge with wireless Internet, and on the top floor was an ultra lavish spa with showers, electronic toilets, steam rooms, Jacuzzis, and grooming areas. I took a quick shower, and fell asleep in my capsule.
• I woke up the next morning to a bunch of Japanese businessmen who were very surprised to see me there. I used the spa, got dressed, and left.
• I have to say that I really liked the capsule idea and would stay there again without thinking twice. It was much nicer than the hostel, even if you don’t have a “room”

Leaving Japan

• The flight back to China went quickly. I found a girl from Shanghai to chat with, played with my new dictionary, and listened to my iPod a bit.
• When we landed in China, I cleared customs, got my bags, and found Michael waiting for me.
• It was immediately clear that I was home in China with dirty streets, people spitting everywhere, and no-one respecting the rules……ahhh….home sweet home

Next time……back to school and CHINESE NEW YEAR! 过年好!