Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 207

we came back to the hotel to get cleaned up and empty out pictures. we stopped in b's room for a while and watched the city. the red lights fading on and off. tokyo is dense. the elevator to the lobby has an lcd screen which shows soothing images. all buttons are capacitive sensors. we went back out to ropangiii- to gaspanic first. a man stopped us in the street and tried to get us to go to his club. we tried to tell him no, but he kept insisting. we got past him and into gaspanic. it was cool. they have a rule that you have to be drinking to stay inside. there was a dj and a few people working there and us. i guess not too many people go out on sunday. we ... read more

Our plane boarded a little late, but the still said we would be there around 17 Tokyo time. All of us had middle seats in coach, which didn't seem so bad until we discovered that the plane had no power outlets (neither normal nor travel) in coach. In flight entertainment was sparse and we were about as far from the screen as possible. Good thing D had given us a couple Airborne to take we had to sit next some sick people. I wish the Americans on the plane had the same courtesy as the Japanese. Both here and on the plane, anyone who feels sick has the good sense to wear a mask over their mouth. We tried to catch a little sleep on the plane and ration what battery life we did have on ... read more

A quick walk around the block revealed our hotel, a massive two building complex overlooking Akasaka. Some stares while crossing the street informed us that the Japanese do not J-Walk, even when there is no traffic. We checked in and went to our rooms to freshen up before heading out. The rooms are absolutely beautiful, probably the fanciest hotel I have ever stayed in. The view from my room was breathtaking - a panoramic look at the Akasaka district. Our rooms seem about as large as a typical American Hotel, except more technical. Bathrooms are marble, with a tile painting in the shower and the ever popular computerized toilet. You can control all the rooms lighting from the nightstand, as well as the room's sound system, which ever pipes the radio into the bathroom. After we ... read more

Lost in Translation 2 Asia » Japan » Tokyo By Joe and RocioFebruary 26th 2007Joe & Rocio St. Clair-Fordurl='/Videos/3492.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3492.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'Lost in Traslation 2url='/Videos/3493.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3493.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'Boys & Girls...... read more

When I first arrived in Japan I taught lessons about traveling since it is my passion in life. I told my students about all the incredible places I had been and intended to go, including places like living on a boat for a week in the countryside of England, eating the best baguettes in the world in the south of France, hiking the Swiss Alps, scuba diving in Mexico, drinking Czech beer in Prague, riding a camel in Tunisia, and wandering the canals and red light district of Amsterdam. As the year went on I boasted about hiking Fuji-san, riding a bicycle to Shikoku, and my desire to harvest rice. All these amazing things did nothing for my students. I soon realized that a) leaving Japan was not high on their priority lists and b) the ... read more