January 6, 2012
I'm Here, Betches!
Jason and I left the house early morning so I could catch my 8:30AM flight to LAX. We said our good-byes and I headed onward to my gate. Sitting there waiting for my plane to arrive, I saw the passengers for Reno board their flight. Nothing makes you feel more beautiful or handsome than comparing yourself to the natives of Reno; not only did their Cherokee pants and sequenced vests offset their giant infinite bodies, but their fashion also looked familiar; I then remembered seeing it EVERYWHERE at the Arizona State Fair (Mesa residents, I’m talking about YOU). I finally made my way onto my nonstop flight for Tokyo, Japan. The first few things I’ve noticed about Japan Airlines compared to American airlines are the flight attendants, they were all women and looked flawless. Their hair, make-up, overall composure, and down to the scarf they wore around their neck were to the “T” in perfection. The 11 hours went by fast (mainly because I was drinking the entire time) and majority of it was spent playing competitive Tetris with the young M.D next to me. The food was probably some of the best I’ve had and that says a lot. You are given two meals, dinner and breakfast. The first entrée was a curry and rice dish, topped off with some chicken, and salmon. The second was a shrimp and bowtie pasta bowl accompanied by a salad and packaged caesar dressing.
Upon arrival to Tokyo I went through customs, hopped onto my flight for Nagoya, and safely arrived. The biggest culture shock that I’ve experienced so far in Japan was that a British man picked me up at the airport.
Where I’m staying for training are at the company apartments located in west of central Nagoya. It’s located right across from a love hotel, which is amusing to stalk at times. Who would of ever thought a hotel covered with neon palm trees and pink flamingos would attract such a crowd! The place is always fully packed around 2PM and they cleverly cover the license plates of their bumpin’ customers. The roommate that I am currently sharing the place with is a sweet Canadian woman who happens to be a vegetarian, it's working out well for her, for now. She’s cool and as long as she doesn’t accuse me of video taping her having sex like a past roommate, she’s okay in my books (BTW that previous roommate was later sent to rehab by her family because they found out she was crushing and snorting horse tranquilizers). We later visited a local supermarket and I bought some discounted meals (about 5PM convenience stores and supermarkets around Japan discount their pre-made meals—sushi, bento boxes, and onigiri) and then went to bed.
That night I dreamt my plane en route to Japan crashed into the Pacific and instead of being scared or having my life pass before my eyes, I was pissed.
Tips'A'Hoy!
The American dollar is Shit to the Yen.
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made so far is over-estimating the American dollar to the Yen. Google reads that the exchange rate is approximately $0.82, but in reality its 70 Yen (don’t forget the service charge) you can read that as $1.00 = $0.70. So basically, what I’m trying to say is I brought way less than what the Company told me to bring, embarrassing less. Living as a broke and poor student/adult for the last 4 years of my life taught me a thing or two about saving and living the frugal life.
Fun Fact
Turn right at the dead pigeon.
There are no street signs in Japan, so whatever town you are visiting or staying in, landmark that shit up fo sho.
January 8, 2011
Lazy Face
I didn’t feel like visiting the Nagoya Castle with my roommate and our other friend (who too is also here for training), so instead I decided to whip out the SLR and take some photos as I walked to Fujigaoka. I listened to Slayer’s Raining Blood on my iPod it got me into my creative photography mode as I walked under the subway. You can think of this subway more as a monorail, because majority of the Higashiyama Line hovers above the city.
Walking though the city the first thing I noticed was that people were staring at me, this really didn’t bother me as it does to so many foreigners here in Japan, but instead I just soaked up the attention. The strides in my walk somehow became longer, my posture was a little bit straighter, and I pointed my face in the direction of the sunlight so the townsmen would take note of the sparkles in my eye shadow. It wasn’t until I fell face first on the road that broke my confidence. One thing you will notice about Japan is that people are so friendly—about 5 people came up and asked, from what I assume is, “are you alright?” but for all I know it could have been something like “you almost toppled over that child 10 feet away from you, what the fuck is the matter with you?” Due to the influx of their voice, I assume it was not the latter.
The only graffiti you will see here in Japan is all in English
Finally, I entered an Internet Café. It took about 5 minutes of hand gestures and apologies to understand that I needed to sign up first before I could use their facilities. After all that was said and done I finally Facebook-ed all my friends and sent out a few emails. It was nice to receive a response email from father that read, “I’m glad you didn’t die on your flight or somehow ended up in Pyongyang” Geeze dad.
Pachinko in Fujigaoka (they love it here in Japan!)
Tips A'Hoy!
Don’t point to the 3-hour option (or anything higher) at Internet Cafes unless you are going to use up the entire 3 hours. I was only there for 2 hours, but they charged me for the 3-hour package I pointed to in the beginning and slapped on a New Member service fee, totally 1,000 Yen. This one does not pay you back the difference. If you are not sure of which one to get, point to the minimum package where they charge you about 80 Yen for every 15 minutes after the minimum (usually 30 minutes) allotted time is used up.
Fujigaoka is great. There are about 30 different restaurants, a Starbucks, and two Mr. Donuts located 15 feet apart from one another. I will probably go back there tonight to grab a beer with the friends I’ve made so far (I NEED MORE) or tomorrow to use their Internet.
The apples are HUGE here
Comfort cereal food
Fun Fact
Don’t feel bad for the majority of the stray cats you see here, they are as fat as fuck (my guess is due to being fed, not because they have tumors hanging out in their bellies) and presumably look happy. Though, they will never come up to you and shouting at their faces telling them to “COME HERE I WANT TO PET YOU, KITTAAY!!!” doesn’t help. I’ve tried.
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