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Published: July 23rd 2009
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I wrote this group of blogs on myspace after I got back from Japan in the summer of 2007. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Tokyo 1
Hi all,
So, I was debating if I was going to write any blogs about my Japan trip, mostly because we saw so much, and I'm not able to get into too much detail about it, or it'd just be a lot of work, but hell with it. Here we go.
I flew standby to Tokyo and back, and about a week before we left I started getting real nervous because the flights were very oversold, and United, who I was flying on, sent out a memo to employees saying not to non-rev to Japan because employees were getting stuck there. One woman was stuck in Tokyo for 10 days! I almost convinced myself not to go, but instead I decided to get back-up passes on Air France. If I wasnt going to make a flight out of Tokyo to the US, I was going to fly out of Paris to the US.
On the day that we flew out Chris picked me and Jon up from our houses and
headed to the Milwaukee airport to catch the Coach USA shuttle bus to O' hare. I hate O' hare, what a dump! It's busy, dirty, and the employees are complete assholes. Anyway, I made it on the plane ok, because there was a little weather in Chicago, and a bunch of people missed the flight. Chris, on the other hand, wasnt able to make the flight because they wouldnt let him jumpseat internationally. He ended up going home, buying a cheap standby ticket for the way out, and buying a regular ticket for the way home...for $1600.00! I got a middle seat, which was alright, at least I got on the flight. Towards the end of the 13 hour flight, however, that middle seat was feeling pretty cramped. We landed in Tokyo, got off the plane, and was hit by a brick wall of heat. It was super hot there. I couldn't believe it; locals kept telling us that this summer hit record high temperatures. We made it through customs, exchanged our money (the exchange rate isn't too bad there, about equal), and boarded a train headed to Shinagawa, where our hotel was located.
...to be cont.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Tokyo 2
We got off the train, made our way through Shinagawa station, which was a madhouse, and headed outside. First impression, kind of smelly. It smelled like New York, no big deal. In the distance, towering over the skyline were three huge buildings that said Great/Grand prince hotel, which was the name of our hotel. We picked one at random and headed towards it, while tracking down potential hole in the wall resaurants to eat at later. After about a three block hike uphill we found our hotel and entered. This hotel ended up being one of the nicest Ive ever stayed in, very clean, big, and friendly. We checked in and filled out some paper work, all the while two very pretty girls waited at a comfortable distance behind us with a cart to place our luggage in. They walked us to our room, while at the same time gave us a small tour of the hotel. The entire way up Jon got into a bowing competition with them. They would bow, then Jon would bow back in respect, of course they would bow because he bowed and so on, pretty humorous. Our
hotel room was a lot bigger than I would have thought, with a balcony, super bathroom, and robes and slippers, nice. We settled in and decided to go out on the town to get some grub.
to be cont...
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tokyo final
Im going to finish up this whole Tokyo blog thing. We did a ton of great things during this trip. We visited a bunch of Buddhist temples/shinto shrines. For the record, Buddhist monks are super nice people, shocking.
You have to keep in mind that Tokyo is monsterously huge, and it's all city! I kid you not. What's my point? A lot of things we saw and did have run together in my mind. To sum it up, if you've ever seen a modern movie that takes place in Tokyo, Lost in Translation for example, that's what it's like, big, busy, and extremely polite.
We made it out of Tokyo for the day and headed to Kamakura. It was about 45 minutes away from Tokyo by train. My whole goal for this day trip was to see the Daibutsu, or big Buddha. It was awesome! My pictures don't give
it justice. We explored a large amount of Kamakura in the sweltering heat. It was very hot, in the upper 90s. Everyone kept telling us that it was hitting record temperatures. To combat this heat we went to the beach. Nothing like the Pacific ocean on a hot day. I walked in up to my knees (not a fan of salt water) while Jon and Chris swam like crazy. We went to the beach bar and met a bunch of very cool locals. Im not going to lie, we had a drink or two. Who am I kidding, we got wasted. Good times.
One night we got a little turned around looking for a pub that we read about and a kind old man named Sato helped us out. Sato-san was awesome. He hung out with us the rest of the night. Definately the highlight of the trip. We met so many people that night while Sato was translating for us. Great guy. When we left the first bar I kind of left my back pack there. No big deal, I only had my passport and airplane tickets in it. We went back and Beautiful Bamboo (our waitress, thats
what her name meant) had it waiting for me. She was very pretty. Oh, I found out my name means Beautiful Day. Jon's means Castle, and Chris' means crazy person. Very funny.
We did and saw a lot. We ate authentic sushi in restaurants the had no english. We ate curry that was without compare. We saw a Beatles cover band. Outside one of the bars a girl was throwing up in a sewer. Her friend that was holding her hair with one hand was fixing her own hair with the other using the reflextion in the building as a mirror. We saw festivals and parades, and took a boat ride on the river. There was so much. We met a lot of great people. I honestly fell in love with Japan and the Japanese people. Their culture is so different than our own. They are always nice, and willing to help you out. I really can't put it into words. I'd love to move there someday.
On a side note, I barely got home. I was trying to get into Chicago on United, but all the flights were full. I waited in the airport all day, getting
bumped off of flight after flight. Luckly I had backup passes on Air France. Next thing I knew, I was on the first flight to Paris. I was planning on seeing some sites in Paris, but after being in the Tokyo airport all day, and then sitting on the 13 hour plane ride from Tokyo to Paris, in a middle seat, I might add, I didnt feel too adventurous. Now that I look back, I wish I got out there and found a hostel or something. No big deal, Im going back to Paris in a few months. I got on the flight from Paris to Philly, another 9 hours, and finally from Philly to Milwaukee, another 2 hours. When I finally got home I didn't know what time or day it was. I think I traveled back in time twice. I can say, with this trip I flew all the way around the world. Chicago to Tokyo, Tokyo to Paris, Paris to Philly, Philly to Milwaukee. What a trip.
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