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+--- Thread: Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! (/thread-8055.html)
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - fakewookie - 2011-07-08
thurd Wrote:I'm moving to Yokohama in September.thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.dizmox Wrote:I'll be going in September too myself.Javizy Wrote:I should be going for the first time in September as well. I'm just looking for a good flight deal. I might be able to get one for under £500 through the travel agents on cheapflights. If my girlfriend didn't work for a draconian, i.e. typical, Japanese company, I could've gone when Aeroflot are offering flights for under £350... I'm probably going to be limited to areas in and around Tokyo, but I'll try to make the most of itIt will be like an invasion from koohiiI'm going in August for 3 months. We really should get together in Tokyo for drinks.
I smell an オフ会!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - thecite - 2011-07-08
I'm keen.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mezbup - 2011-07-08
So today it was time to say goodbye to my mate as he had to head back to Nagoya and tomoz I'm off to OSAKA! While I was waiting for my mate at ハチ公 a friendly old おじいさん struck up a conversation with me and we were chatting for about half an hour. It was fun. Old people are hard to understand in any language but Japanese can be quite tricky! Still, we had a pretty lively chat.
Took a walk from Shibuya to the Komaba campus of 東大. The walk was cool and it only took about 20 mins. Something in me just loves walking through suburbs in Japan. They're so different to the ones where i'm from it's really refreshing, yet I've seen them enough on TV they feel familiar to me. I kinda prefer it to being out in the hustle and bustle. It was fun poking around the Komaba campus and we even looked in the bookstore there. During the walk I found a store called Funky Street and it was such an adorable little shop filled with some kinda fancy stuff and a lot of cat stuff. My mum has 10 cats so I bought some cat related stuff for her and some for my sister (who also loves cats).
Headed out to Nakano, wound up finding a shop that sells tshirts with crazy Japanese slogans on them! So I got a couple. One has a giant 夢 on the front and on the back it says 夢はでかく。 haha. Also had Baskin Robbins which I haven't had since I lived in Aus for 2 years during 2006 - 2008.
After that headed to the Hongou Campus of 東大 and got a picture at the 赤門, which was cool! Then it was time for my mate to go and time for me to navigate the train system by myself for the first time. Thankfully I did fine. We'll have to see how it goes tomoz morning in Shibuya though! I'm catching the のぞみ from 東京 station.
I'm kinda exhausted. Might just spend a week in Osaka relaxing and watching TV. As much as I want to I have sights to see and people to meet (hopefully). Though perhaps I should just try get some relaxing done too. It will be a stark contrast going straight from the heart of Shibuya to a regular home in on the outskirts of Osaka but I'm really looking forward to seeing a slice of real Japanese life.
I have like 3万円 left! I'm terrible with money in Japan. I guess it kinda comes from not really having an idea of what prices are what because of not having used the currency too much. Though, I've finally started to get a feel for what costs what in Yen which is nice because every time I watch drama and amounts of money come up I can't get a feel for how much they're spending... but now I can!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - pudding cat - 2011-07-08
fakewookie Wrote:I'll probably be in Japan too around September but down in Kyushu. Not really a great fan of Tokyo.thurd Wrote:I'm moving to Yokohama in September.thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.dizmox Wrote:I'll be going in September too myself.Javizy Wrote:I should be going for the first time in September as well. I'm just looking for a good flight deal. I might be able to get one for under £500 through the travel agents on cheapflights. If my girlfriend didn't work for a draconian, i.e. typical, Japanese company, I could've gone when Aeroflot are offering flights for under £350... I'm probably going to be limited to areas in and around Tokyo, but I'll try to make the most of itIt will be like an invasion from koohii
I smell an オフ会!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - thecite - 2011-07-08
Depends when we plan to meet. I'm starting in Okinawa and working my way up.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Javizy - 2011-07-08
Just booked my flight with Virgin Atlantic, since the travel agents weren't offering anything better (not sure what they exist for). More than I wanted to pay but it's direct and on the dates I wanted
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - PensukeD - 2011-07-08
fakewookie Wrote:I 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.Wow, you actually understand that waitress' Japanese? I think all of the staff in Japanese restaurants in HK are trained to speak the set phrases いらっしゃいませ and ありがとうございます(usually badly). Admittedly, I noticed because a stand up comedian made fun of them
.@DevvaR's last paragraph "High five".
@mezbup, I'm so jealous now . Please use もうかりまっか & まあ、ぼちぼちでんな for me
.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - rich_f - 2011-07-08
Ahhh, I miss Osaka. I stayed near Dotombori when I visited there. Fun place. Good eats. Crazy signs. Had some great Korean food there, and some awesome Okonomiyaki.
For Americans it used to be easy to do the Yen conversion thing. Just chop off two zeros and you're in the ballpark. Now that the dollar is in the toilet, it's not so easy.
The pound is killing me in London. Damn, this city is expensive. I love it here, but I can't wait to get back to the States and my crappy dollars. Everything here costs the same in pounds as it does in dollars, only pounds are so much more expensive than dollars. Owwww.
EDIT: Trains are easy to figure out: Tokyo is a donut. The Yamanote-sen is the outer ring, and the Chuo crosses the creamy center. Or maybe it's more like the London Underground sign, where the Yamanote is the circle, and the Chuo is the bar across the middle. That's all you really need to know to get to Tokyo station.
That, and use Hyperdia to find the cheapest trains.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - SendaiDan - 2011-07-08
This thread makes me wanna LOL
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - aphasiac - 2011-07-08
rich_f Wrote:The pound is killing me in London. Damn, this city is expensive. I love it here, but I can't wait to get back to the States and my crappy dollars. Everything here costs the same in pounds as it does in dollars, only pounds are so much more expensive than dollars. Owwww.Aaah what you doing in london? ah man I miss it so much..
You been to Mitsukoshi department store and Japan Centre yet? And how how about East london / Brick Lane (that's where I used to live
)If you're still around on Tuesday go to this, it's wicked and a great way to make new friends (both Japanese and British): http://www.meetup.com/japanese-34/events/22598111/
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - rich_f - 2011-07-09
I'm still here after taking the N2 JLPT. They still don't offer the summer one in the US, and it's just easier to sign up for it here than to go through 800 hoops to sign up for it in Japan. (Seriously.)
Went to Mitsukoshi. Books are nice, but ungodly expensive. Otherwise, it was full of stuff for Japanese tourists. The food was good, if a bit expensive.
Japan Centre was also fun. I want one these back home. At least the book bit. We've got a nice Japanese market, but it doesn't have any books, or pork ramen.
I also went to a pretty good used Japanese book shop nearby, and bought a copy of Harry Potter in Japanese. That was really the best of the three, bookwise.
Tokyo Spicy in Kensington makes a mean okonomiyaki, and a good katsudon. I think it's new. Yeah, they do sushi, too, but you can get that anywhere. I want the good stuff. The yakisoba at Wagamama was good, but nothing else on the menu really jumped out at me.
Now I'm doing all of the usual touristy stuff, because who knows when I'll get back? Can't do the thing on Tuesday, I leave for the States Tuesday morning.
Getting ready to do the Tower and Westminster Abbey, along with 800,000 other tourists. Yaaaay.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - fakewookie - 2011-07-09
PensukeD Wrote:Yeah you're probably right. Actually, at the time I did think it sounded a bit gaijiny.fakewookie Wrote:I 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.Wow, you actually understand that waitress' Japanese? I think all of the staff in Japanese restaurants in HK are trained to speak the set phrases いらっしゃいませ and ありがとうございます(usually badly). Admittedly, I noticed because a stand up comedian made fun of them
aphasiac Wrote:If you're still around on Tuesday go to this, it's wicked and a great way to make new friends (both Japanese and British): http://www.meetup.com/japanese-34/events/22598111/You used to go to that? Maybe we've met each other without realising it :p
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tori-kun - 2011-07-10
hey mates. anyone in greece right now? sitting in the sun in corfu... paradise.
@mezbup we have 60% humidity here and comfortable 34 degrees ;p not to forget the wind and the pool bar!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - aphasiac - 2011-07-10
fakewookie Wrote:You used to go to that? Maybe we've met each other without realising it :pPossibly! Though to be honest, when I went I mostly just spoke to friends or random Japanese people; I tended to avoid the Westerners due to the high ヲタク count at these events (yeh yeh I know, pot kettle etc
)
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - dizmox - 2011-07-10
Is it me, or are 90+% of the people on that meetup list not Japanese? Kind of defeats the point... this is why I avoid stuff like this.
I think I'd have better luck meeting people just riding the underground all day and talking to Japanese people I come across.
Javizy Wrote: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 restaurantEvery time I've gone to a Wagamama, there were no Japanese staff and maybe 1 asian customer at the most. |: And that's always been in London.
Recently I met someone going "I LOVE SUSHI HAVE YOU BEEN TO YO SUSHI", bleh.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - aphasiac - 2011-07-10
dizmox Wrote:Is it me, or are 90+% of the people on that meetup list not Japanese? Kind of defeats the point... this is why I avoid stuff like this.Paul (the organiser) has pretty l33t language skills, and advertises this meetup heavily outside of meetup.com (e.g. Japanese restaurants, schools, shops and on Japanese websites). He tries to hook Japanese new to london, who dont have great english skills.
He also always brings a ton of Japanese friends, and there are loads of regulars (it's been running since 2002)
Everytime I went the turnout was 40%-50% Japanese, and everyone is willing to chat to strangers! it's a great night out, you really should go!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - fakewookie - 2011-07-10
dizmox Wrote:Is it me, or are 90+% of the people on that meetup list not Japanese? Kind of defeats the point... this is why I avoid stuff like this.That list is actually pretty misleading. I've been a bunch of times and there is actually a tonne of Japanese people there. I guess they just don't sign up on the website (neither have I).
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Javizy - 2011-07-10
My girlfriend went with her friend once and said it was quite good. Seems a bit 合コンっぽい to me though...
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mezbup - 2011-07-10
rode the ShinKanSen! That thing goes pretty quick and it's neat how the whole thing leans when going around corners. Tried to do a bit of study on the train but made me feel sick so I just watched the scenery.
Yesterday I went to NARA! 鹿しかない is really true. Deer just wandering the sidewalks was totally random! Adorable though. Went to Toudaiji aswell... big massive temple, was really cool. So far Nara has been a big highlight for me. Felt really Japanesey. All the cities here are so different they just each have their own charm.
Also couple of friends drove me up to a good spot in Nara on a mountain somewhere where you can see Osaka at night. Was amazing! Long drive from Osaka though.
Today I'm off to Kobe... can't wait!
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - mezbup - 2011-07-11
Kobe was sweeeet!!!! Got so many pictures of the night lights. Took a 2 hour tour of 六甲山 which was wicked. Great view from up the top at the garden terraces. Rode the gondola too. My driver for the tour taught me all kinds of interesting stuff about Kobe.
So far I think Kobe has been the best. If I had to live anywhere in Japan on a permanent basis Kobe feels like it'd be the best place. It's relaxed, it's pretty, it has awesome night scenery, it's by the sea.
I often look up 夜景 on google cos it's something i'm fairly fond of and Kobe often came up in those searches so that's why I wanted to make a special trip to Kobe. Atm my background on my laptop is the port in Kobe, so I'm used to the sights and scenes somewhat... it was amazing strolling around the port area in real life! Especially since it's quite familiar to me from having seen it so many times. The thing that surprised me though is, if you go for a walk around the promenade there's more lights to see! It was just a neat experience and I can't wait to come back and see it again. Fantastic place to chill out and take a stroll at night time.
In dorama I often see places by the water with city views... I found lots of that in Kobe which made me really happy cos I always thought ahhhhh i'd love to just hang out at a place like that! Kobe totally delivered!
I wound up buying some MORE books. I just can't help myself when I walk into a Japanese bookstore. I spent a fair bit of time in there by myself for the first time and noticed that it's quite different to the book stores back home. In particular I noticed there's a lot of books in relation to study. Go figure. Though I did pick up some interesting ones that I thought would be an interesting read/might come in handy. I hope I haven't got toooo much luggage now. Getting a bit more than I can probably pack in my suitcase but I think it'll be just within the limit so I should be ok.
I was deciding what to have for dinner last night and had to get something cheap cos by this point I have only 1万円 and still 4 days in Japan. EEK! Anyways, I looked at the prices for the hotel restaurant... 1万円! NO FREAKING WAY! Though it's on the 35th floor and I'm sure the food is beautiful but NO, EFFING, WAY. So I went to Mosaic to see what was on offer there. Lot's of nice restaurants at reasonable prices with good views while you eat. However, I decided to go for some fast food at a joint which I'd never heard of. So it turns out they had a 5段 cheese burger on offer. I was game. Turns out to be THE most delicious cheese burger of my life. Like seriously, anyone who has lots of Japanese friends living overseas will hear them constantly complain about how much better everything tastes in Japan. They aren't kidding. That thing had FLAVOR. Like serious flavor. The meat was soft, there was tonnes of flavour.... and there was a whole 5 layers of it to enjoy. Like I know it's not the kind of thing you want to be eating if you want to live long enough to see your 40's but still... when on holiday there aren't many rules. I'm considering having it again for breakfast cos that thing was the shiznit.
Today I'm going to check out 異人館 in Kobe before heading back to Osaka... I still really haven't seen Osaka much at all! Only driven through it and past it on the way to other places. Perhaps I could explore it a little today? Who knows.... time for breakfast me thinks.
PS: I've taken about 400 photos so far. The ones of Kobe rock. I'll go through and sort out all the good ones and upload them as soon as I get back to Auckland.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - six8ten - 2011-07-11
mezbup Wrote:Like seriously, anyone who has lots of Japanese friends living overseas will hear them constantly complain about how much better everything tastes in Japan.I actually find a lot of Japanese food very bland and nearly tasteless, even after (maybe moreso) about 9 years here. I've had to search to find good pizza, for instance, and while it is possible to find here it's not easy. A lot of places pizzas are just... blah. I end up using so much more tobasco sauce of various types here just to give a lot of things a little more zing. The darts bar in Chitose had a really good one, but that's a bit far to go nowadays.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - caivano - 2011-07-11
You should check out Hakodate in Hokkaido sometime, sounds like somewhere you'd enjoy, great night view by the sea and v chilled out.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Asriel - 2011-07-11
Hokkaido is my favorite part of Japan -- although I haven't really explored kansai at all.
There's definitely a difference in taste between here and there. I think it also has to do with what you're eating though -- McDonald's always tastes pretty much the same, but you're not going to find a Chicken Tatsuta in America. I've found actual Japanese food is better in Japan. But yes, pizza is notoriously horrible in Japan. I could never find a place that was good -- although a friend told me they exist...
I'm glad you're going around having a blast -- you've already taken more pictures than I did in my year long stay! I don't really take pictures though...
Every time I read one of your posts, I want to go back again so bad!
ps. I always read 異人館 as 黒人館...Just sayin
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - bodhisamaya - 2011-07-11
six8ten Wrote:I actually find a lot of Japanese food very bland and nearly tasteless, even after (maybe moreso) about 9 years here. I've had to search to find good pizza, for instance, and while it is possible to find here it's not easy. A lot of places pizzas are just... blah. I end up using so much more tobasco sauce of various types here just to give a lot of things a little more zing. The darts bar in Chitose had a really good one, but that's a bit far to go nowadays.If food in America tasted like it does in Japan, there would be no obesity problem. I shop at Costco twice a month, but get veggies from local farmers.
Mezbup'z First Trip To JAPAN!!! - Tzadeck - 2011-07-11
Haha, I don't know where you're from that the cheese burgers actually taste better in Japan.
Not that I haven't found good burgers in Japan. I have. It's just that they're so few and far between. (The best ever is a place in Nagahama called Shamrock--so if anyone lives near Shiga they should check it out. Unfortunately, it's a long walk from Nagahama station. I didn't know about that place when I lived in Hikone, which is sad because I would have went often, haha. In general, Nagahama is an interesting little town, with some fun things to do. The glass factory, character museum, child kabuki, festivals, kimono college, etc. There's also a local brewery that serves Omi beef called Roman Beer, and a good bar called Second Booze--300 yen martinis at happy hour.)
In general Japan has great food. Better than any country I've ever been to.