Scooter, Guppy, Christoph,

Sorry I'm coming in late to the discussion. I'd be happy to get together some Saturday in Kamakura. The meetup with Guppy, Taijuando, and Marshal was a blast.

As far as January goes, I'm busy the 21st, but other than that I think I'm open. How about your schedules?

Scooter - gotta wait till February/March for the JLPT results.

As far as 第二 get together is concerned I'll come along if I can make it. Can't do Sundays but Jan 20 or 27 are okay for me.

Anyone in the Tokyo/Yokohama/Kamakura area who would like to meet together, visit the following page and indicate when you can meet.

http://www.doodle.ch/dpipLn3VBPut

Scooter

Scooter,
I voted. For me, Saturday mornings I'm in Kamakura, so lunchtime
would be best...
Keep me informed. See you then

Four of us who have voted so far. Wakela, are we going to hear from you? Don't know if Taijuando and Marshal are receiving these posts. Anyone else in the area is welcome to come; just vote in the Doodle poll linked above.

We'll wait another few days before making a final decision, but so far we're all available for lunch on the 27th.

Scooter

If it'd be in Tokyo, I'd be in. Kamakura is a bit "off the map" for me. (Been there once though, histoire oblige. Pretty nice up there.) Maybe next time?

Woelpad, we can make another time for Tokyo folks!

Just curious: where in Chiba are you?

Scooter

I'm in New York wishing I could visit Kamakura again.. a fun time and a very interesting town.

Chiba town (next stop after Kaihimmakuhari on the Keiyou line to be precise). Office is in Tokyo, Hamamatsuchou. What about you?

School and home are both in Higashi Kurume, about 30 minutes from Ikebukuro on the Seibu Ikebukuro line.

Scooter

Sorry, I'm late folks. I expect to get forum update notifications in email, but sometimes they end up in the spam folder.

Anyway, I voted. Looks like lunch on the 27th in Kamakura is our best bet.

Do you guys want any particular kind of food? Price range?

woelpad, I realize Kamakura is a bit of a haul from Chiba. But from Tokyo station it's almost exactly one hour and it's a straight shot, no changing trains. I mention this only because every time I tell someone I live in Kamakura they comment about how far it is, when it really isn't (less than 30min from Yokohama). I think this is because people go there on holidays so it makes it feel like a distant vacation spot.

Well, let's just call it: Lunch on the 27th in Kamakura is it. We need to decide a time and place to meet. I will suggest Kamakura eki, but perhaps there's a better place. What time?

Wakela, I'm fine with just about any cuisine and price range (within reason), however I don't do sashimi. (Yeah, yeah, I know.... Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to eat something raw that once moved of its own volition.)

Woelpad, please do consider coming. If you want, I can meet you early or hang around with you afterward. Have you been to Kamakura before? (Not reading past posts.) A number of interesting sights there. In fact, if the weather is nice, I know a great hike through woods to some cool places between Kamakura and Kitakamakura stations.

Scooter

scooterinjapan Wrote:In fact, if the weather is nice, I know a great hike through woods to some cool places between Kamakura and Kitakamakura stations.

Ya' know, we could just plan to do the hike, weather permitting. It's easy, involving very little climbing (one small ridge, if memory serves). The path goes past a few interesting shrines (one with a fox theme, another all about washing money), a park, a secret ninja hideout, and the Daibutsu. It would be a great way to continue the fun and walk off lunch!

I'd be up for it, but no worries if others aren't.

Scooter

Lunch and a walk on the 27th is fine with me. My vote is for a 定食。

Walk sounds good. I hiked the hills once a long time ago and got hopelessly lost. I ended up just heading downhill until I found a bus. I'd love to try again. Might be cold, though.

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Japanese food, either. The soba in Kamakura is good, but it tends to be expensive. If everyone meeting lives in Japan then there is no pressure to eat something local. We could do KFC, McDs, Mos Burger, or Denny's even. We also have Thai, Mexican(!), and Indian places. And of course Chinese and a good Italian place.

If Japanese is off the menu, Mexican or Italian sounds good. I'm happy for Wakela to decide using his local knowledge. Surely there is a better option than McDonald's!

For the record: I like Japanese food, just not the raw fish. Any of the other ethnic cuisine suggestions is fine.

Need we try to beat a "lunch crowd" on a Saturday in Kamakura? Noon is good for me, and so is 11:30.

If it's too cold or wet to walk, we can chat over some good 茶 or other beverage of choice.

Wakela,
It may be out of the way but I'd vote for the Kai'una Burger. It's a Hawaiian burger joint that has the best avacado burgers. However, I'm really up for anything. I live here and like Wakela mentioned, we don't have to eat Japanese food. There are lots of type of food and I like eating, so I'm not very picky

There's a Kua 'Aina Burger in Kamakura? I've been to the one in Aoyama (near Harajuku) a number of times, but it's been years. Amazing burgers. Where's it located that it may be out of the way? We can adjust meeting time and place accordingly.

Phineas J. Guppy, you're a genius! I can't believe I did not think of Kua'Aina. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from the station, but if we were up for a hike anyway, that shouldn't be a problem.

It's more than two weeks away, but let's pencil in meeting at 12:00 noon on Jan 27 at the McDonald's outside the East Exit of Kamakura station (that sentence reminds of me teaching prepositions). There are two exits, the east one has lots of busses, the west exit has none. Go out the east exit and look to the left. The McDs should be easy to spot. I chose that as the meeting place because we all know what it looks like, we can meet outside if it's nice and inside if it's rainy, and if you get there early you can at least get a coke or something. Kamakura is unusual for Japanese cities in that it only has one McDonalds, so you won't end up at the wrong one.

This sound good to everyone?

The 案 is fine with me. Don't think I've had a Hawaiian burger before. See you all then.

Wakela Wrote:...Let's pencil in meeting at 12:00 noon on Jan 27 at the McDonald's outside the East Exit of Kamakura station (that sentence reminds of me teaching prepositions).

That's hilarious.

Wakela Wrote:Kamakura is unusual for Japanese cities in that it only has one McDonalds, so you won't end up at the wrong one.

This sound good to everyone?

Odd indeed, and perfect! See you all then.

scooterinjapan Wrote:Woelpad, please do consider coming. If you want, I can meet you early or hang around with you afterward. Have you been to Kamakura before? (Not reading past posts.) A number of interesting sights there. In fact, if the weather is nice, I know a great hike through woods to some cool places between Kamakura and Kitakamakura stations.

You hit a soft spot. I'm always up for a little hike. Checked the train tables. It's almost to the minute 2 hours from my place. Reasonable for a day out. By the sound of it, you're all coming alone, or am I mistaken?

scooterinjapan Wrote:Have you been to Kamakura before? (Not reading past posts.)

Perhaps you should We went by car, across the Aqualine (the bridge-tunnel combo across Tokyo Bay), stopping a few times in between. I wasn't driving either, so it did seem like a bit of a distance. Well, 2 hours by train also qualifies. Then again, I didn't come here to waste my time between four walls. Count me in.

woelpad Wrote:It's almost to the minute 2 hours from my place. Reasonable for a day out. By the sound of it, you're all coming alone, or am I mistaken?

I believe you're correct. Guppy and Wakela live there, and the rest of us are coming separately. It's exactly 90 minutes for me from the northwest side of Tokyo.

woelpad Wrote:...I didn't come here to waste my time between four walls. Count me in.

Cool. Really looking forward to meeting you all.