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+--- Thread: Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! (/thread-8055.html)
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - thecite - 2011-07-07
aphasiac Wrote:I can see why eating an almost extinct animal is wrong, but what's the objection over horse-meat? What makes them any different to cows / pigs? *shrugs*Many people think of horses as pet animals, like cats and dogs, so they have an emotional connection with them and consider it wrong. Personally I oppose both on animal rights reasons.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - bodhisamaya - 2011-07-07
aphasiac Wrote:If a person is going to eat meat, I think horse would be a a very compassionate choice as it is a large animal and could feed many people. It would replace the killing of hundreds of chickens for the same amount of food.thecite Wrote:Objection over whaling and horse slaughter has nothing to do with taste, but I assume you know that.I can see why eating an almost extinct animal is wrong, but what's the objection over horse-meat? What makes them any different to cows / pigs? *shrugs*
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - ta12121 - 2011-07-07
Tzadeck Wrote:I'm all about nabe and hot springs. Winter FTW.i like winter
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - DevvaR - 2011-07-07
ta12121 Wrote:Man, it's freezing right now. I want to be in the North right now.Tzadeck Wrote:I'm all about nabe and hot springs. Winter FTW.i like winter
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mlorenz - 2011-07-07
DevvaR Wrote:Man, it's freezing right now. I want to be in the North right now.I assume that's "freezing" for some Australian value of freezing? Like, say, 10 C?
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - thecite - 2011-07-07
That would be correct :lol:
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - ta12121 - 2011-07-07
DevvaR Wrote:mmmta12121 Wrote:Man, it's freezing right now. I want to be in the North right now.Tzadeck Wrote:I'm all about nabe and hot springs. Winter FTW.i like winter
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tori-kun - 2011-07-07
mlorenz Wrote:Haha, when people say this, my father starts bursting out XD In soviet russia.. winter was -45°CDevvaR Wrote:Man, it's freezing right now. I want to be in the North right now.I assume that's "freezing" for some Australian value of freezing? Like, say, 10 C?
D (=peeing into the snow feels cool)
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mezbup - 2011-07-07
Today I went to Asakusa, it was fun but what I enjoyed the most was taking a random walk from Asakusa through Narihira and just chilling out in a regular suburb. Obviously quite different to Shibuya, was more like my expectations of a regularly tokyo suburb was like so that was cool. Went and had an Asahi at the Asahi headquarters! Such a cool building, it's in the shape of a beer. Drinking my favourite beer in the world at it's headquarters whilst overlooking Toyko? A wicked experience. Certainly one I definitely wouldn't have had without having my friend to tell me these useful things! Makes all the difference when travelling having someone who's in the know.
Disovered that at the top of Shibuya 109 there's a shop called "Titty". Lol. Just lol. Today on the train I saw a 40 ~ 50 year old woman wearing a shirt that said "Charm your balls". Again, just wow. Haha.
Had dinner with friends and then it was 解散! Didn't really go out and see much today but I did get my 新幹線 ticket! Also managed to spend 9万円 in 3 days! Gotta watch the money now haha. Didn't get to go to 東大 today but I'll go tomoz, and perhaps to 代々木 too. Then since tomoz my last night in Tokyo I'll find a whole lot of fun things to do by myself.
It's kinda interesting, sometimes when I'm with my mates I feel normal and when I'm alone I feel like it's me against the world. Other times, even when I'm not with friends I feel like I sorta fit in and don't FEEL foreign. Though it really depends. 差が激しい.
Spent an evening watching tv tonight. It's funny because I used to watch Keyhole tv for a while (haven't for ages cos I hate teh quality) but when the other streams were up I watched those lots too. So I'm fairly used to watching Japanese tv, that is to say I know what its like so it comes as no surprise. So tonight I'm watching tv for like 2 hours and by the end of it what surprised me was how unsurprised I felt at watching tv in a foreign language in a foreign country for the first time, Haha. It also made me realise that it's actually a super import thing for learning as it's sooo fully of context (and i'm talking about programs that aren't dorama) that you can pick up stuff really easily. It's also stuff that you need to fill out a certain aspect of your understanding. Makes me sad I can't get it where I live (or I can but it's expensive). Hmm. I'll think about it some more later.
So i've done NO anki for 3 days and that is... well... going to be hell. Have to do a little bit before bed otherwise it'll just be out of hand. Kinda a pain when your travelling to be blunt, however, it's what brought me to where I am at this point so I gotta keep on keeping on!
Heading to Osaka on saturday and am really excited about seeing my old flatmate who i'm staying with. It's been ages and we're still really good friends. After 4 days in Tokyo I feel like I'm going home to NZ and not like the trip is continuing on to Kansai! Kinda strange huh? Guess what I feel about that is like... these last few days have been so much fun that i'd be satisfied if this was my first experience of Japan. However, it's going to get better! Still a week to go. Lots to see.
Interestingly, i've not had so much chance to meet new people. Though, who really does on a short trip?? I prefer to hang out with my friends anyway but maybe it'd be fun to spend a night with some randoms in Japan. Might try my luck in Kobe when i'll be all alone anyways. Haha.
One thing i've noticed (living in??) being in Shibuya is that fashion in Japan (especially shibuya) is just awesome. So many stylish people it's cool. Also, since nearly everyone is not fat, and I'm slightly fat (like 100kg and about 185cm, so 30kg over what I should be) I find myself feeling like it would be more natural to slim down. Not in a way that's like...putting pressure on myself to lose weight but more like... that's the natural way things are so it's the right thing to do. Kinda thing. Interesting. Never had that experience in NZ, that's cos theres tonnes of fat people.
Hmm... being in Japan gives me a lot of things to think about. Also, it's helping to point out the weakspots in my Japanese. Feels like I need 2 more years to be on par with where I want to be and the final year (2013) needs to be spent in Japan. That should bring me to a level where I can be happy with my Japanese.
I look foward to what tomoz has in store!
PS: photos will have to wait until I get back to NZ as I have my linux laptop with my and my iPhone hates it. Need to work that one out. Once i've gotten back home i'll post all the pics at the end of the thread!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - ta12121 - 2011-07-07
for anki reps, I recommend doing them during the first part of your day. So you don't need to worry about them at the end of the day. Get it out of the way and then go out. Makes life easier.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Gingerninja - 2011-07-07
I'd say go through Namba while your in Osaka, but everytime I go I tend to wander down ebisubashi and shinsaibashi.. get bored and go home. Guess that's the problem with living in Osaka, it loses it's special feeling rather quickly. Just like living anywhere I guess. Home is always the least exciting place to be. Hopefully Tokyo will give me that feeling next month tho.
Glad your enjoying your trip so far
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Zon70 - 2011-07-07
Javizy Wrote:I was just checking the flight prices again and the cheap ones I mentioned have gooooown. Everything is coming up at £570+. Probably should have made a decision on that rather than waiting around for two weeks...i was noticing same thing, i was looking at prices last week and i looked at them again and i have noticed they are 100 to 200 dollars higher.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tzadeck - 2011-07-07
mezbup Wrote:Today on the train I saw a 40 ~ 50 year old woman wearing a shirt that said "Charm your balls". Again, just wow. Haha.I saw a guy in Kyoto wearing a shirt that said, "North Dakota: The Garden State." And I laughed for a long long time. My favorite of the weird English shirts that I've seen in Japan.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - julianjalapeno - 2011-07-07
I`ve got a pretty healthy collection of Engrish shirts. My favorites are `F-CK the evil dictator` (in full caps, mind you...I guess this site is G-rated and wont let me type the full thing) and a hoody that says `Spear the bearded clam`. I only wear them on special occasions (weddings, court appearances, etc).
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mezbup - 2011-07-07
'spare the bearded clam' !? that's just gorgeous.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tzadeck - 2011-07-07
Oh, I thought of another good one. On Teramachi, in Kyoto, there's a used clothing store. There's a letterman jacket there that has English printed on the back, backwards. And it says something like "liveD eht fo ytreporp eht emoceb lliw uoy ,tekcaj siht raew uoy fi"
But, it's much longer and it explains what the curse is, and how the only way to break the curse is to destroy the jacket in a ridiculous way.
It's been in the store for over two years, and nobody has bought it, haha. I would totally buy it but it's like 6000 yen, and it's quite ugly.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - julianjalapeno - 2011-07-07
Theres a store in Nakano, Tokyo that gets lots of Engrish shirts and theyre all cheap. Nearly every one I own, including the Bearded Clam hoody, I got from there for 500-1000 yen apiece. They get new stock in all the time, so I make sure to go by there often. I dont know the stores name but if you leave the north exit of Nakano station and go through Nakano Broadway you`ll find it at the very end.
Another engrish shirt I saw on yahoo japan that I wanted for ages had pictures of OJ and Tyson and it said `OJ Simpson? Mike Tyson? YOU be the judge` but it was like 4000 so I had to pass.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - fakewookie - 2011-07-07
mezbup Wrote:So for 2000円 I got absolutely plastered which I just couldn't believe cos that's like $30 where I'm from which would get you about 3 beers.Now that I'm in Hong Kong and paying the equivalent of about 500円 for all you can eat *and* drink, I've lost the ability to think that anything else is a good deal. :3
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tori-kun - 2011-07-08
fakewookie Wrote:Now that I'm in Hong Kong and paying the equivalent of about 500円 for all you can eat *and* drink, I've lost the ability to think that anything else is a good deal. :3Seriously? About 4.90€? For "all you can eat and drink"? O_o
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - PensukeD - 2011-07-08
Tori-kun Wrote:"Shush" Wookiefakewookie Wrote:Now that I'm in Hong Kong and paying the equivalent of about 500円 for all you can eat *and* drink, I've lost the ability to think that anything else is a good deal. :3Seriously? About 4.90€? For "all you can eat and drink"? O_o
, don't tell them about HK. Especially don't mention the fact that Hk has one of the cheapest and best Japanese cuisine outside of Japan 
. Seriously for about 10 euros, I had a decent all you can-eat Japanese dinner in Mong Kok. (Waaay better than the expensive Japanese restaurants in the UK anyway) Now I'm really hungry..Also, this is the best thread I've read in a while
.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tori-kun - 2011-07-08
PensukeD Wrote:"Shush" WookieFor some reason Japanese restaurants are quite.. expensive as hell here as well, but Thai and Chinese restaurants just as cheap as possible. Lately I ate Sushi in a Sushibar and said "御馳走様でした" and the man looking at me like "Fu, I'm from China". lol How poor that chinese man had to be to sell his pride selling Japanese makis XD
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - fakewookie - 2011-07-08
Tori-kun Wrote:We go to one place that does this. It's a bit shady and the rumour is that it's just a front for the owner's criminal activities, but yeah.fakewookie Wrote:Now that I'm in Hong Kong and paying the equivalent of about 500円 for all you can eat *and* drink, I've lost the ability to think that anything else is a good deal. :3Seriously? About 4.90€? For "all you can eat and drink"? O_o
But even in a normal place it would still be cheap as hell. Hong Kong is crazy.
Tori-kun Wrote:Lately I ate Sushi in a Sushibar and said "御馳走様でした" and the man looking at me like "Fu, I'm from China". lol How poor that chinese man had to be to sell his pride selling Japanese makis XDI went to a Japanese restaurant in some mall here the other day and overheard "ありがとうございます" being said to some customers as they left, so I spoke to one of the waitresses in Japanese but got a bunch of Cantonese in response.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - DevvaR - 2011-07-08
Tori-kun Wrote:Lately I ate Sushi in a Sushibar and said "御馳走様でした" and the man looking at me like "Fu, I'm from China". lol How poor that chinese man had to be to sell his pride selling Japanese makis XDIt's actually quite common...well at least in Australia. In terms of immigration, hardly any Japanese immigrate to Australia in comparison to Chinese and other asian countries. So what you have is Chinese people running Chinese restaurants and Chinese people running Japanese restaurants.
Speaking of selling his pride, how would you think I'd feel being Chinese and not being able to speak fluent Mandarin/Catonese but learning Japanese instead? =p
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Hashiriya - 2011-07-08
DevvaR Wrote:Same way in the East Coast of America... everything is ran by Chinese, Filipinos, and Koreans. It's funny when my wife and I go to a Japanese restaurant that everybody working there freaks out because she is actually Japanese.Tori-kun Wrote:Lately I ate Sushi in a Sushibar and said "御馳走様でした" and the man looking at me like "Fu, I'm from China". lol How poor that chinese man had to be to sell his pride selling Japanese makis XDIt's actually quite common...well at least in Australia. In terms of immigration, hardly any Japanese immigrate to Australia in comparison to Chinese and other asian countries. So what you have is Chinese people running Chinese restaurants and Chinese people running Japanese restaurants.
Speaking of selling his pride, how would you think I'd feel being Chinese and not being able to speak fluent Mandarin/Catonese but learning Japanese instead? =p
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Javizy - 2011-07-08
It's similar in the UK. The big chain stores わがまま and わさび are Korean owned I believe, although a lot of the staff look Japanese, and restaurants I see outside of the city are pretty much always run and staffed by non-Japanese. You can find a lot of authentic Japanese restaurants in central London though. I even ordered in Japanese once. Imagine that in a Japanese restaurant