Blogs from Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 206

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Asia » Japan » Tokyo March 11th 2007

As most of my trips go, this visit to Japan was full of purpose and typically overextended in commitments. Arriving last Tuesday, the first 2 full days were dedicated to business in Tokyo. On Friday, I headed for Tokyo Station with Akasaka-san, one of my work colleagues, to catch a train for Itoh, a small coastal town in the eastern seaboard of Izu Peninsula in Honshu, Japan’s main island. Our ultimate destination was an executive briefing facility that my company uses to host clients and is nested on the highlands region that is part of the Amagi mountain range, overlooking Mount Fuji (or Fuji-san as this famous volcano is respectfully referred to by Japanese nationals). My company’s Amagi facility is remote enough that we get our clients’ undivided attention during their stay there. It is ... read more
Shinkansen at Atami
Amagi Briefing Center
Edo Village Mill

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shinjuku March 6th 2007

One of our goals for this trip has been to have a drink in the bar from Lost in Translation. This morning, while at the cyber café, we did a little research and found that it was in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku. After getting back from Tokyo Tower, we changed into suits and had a glass of scotch before heading out. The Park Hyatt was about a kilometer from the subway, but unlike American hotels, there were no glowing signs outside to indicate which building it was. After a few strolls through the lobby of the building it was most likely in, we found a sign pointing to the entrance for the Hyatt and went up. By this time we were totally in character: the bar is quite fancy and we didn’t want to ... read more
classy
wisky
vodka tonic

Asia » Japan » Tokyo March 6th 2007

the tokyo tower has two levels - the special and the normal observatory. the special costs a bit extra, but its at 250m while the normal is only at 150m. guided by advice from dan budny, we decided that we had to go for the special observatory. we got there right about dusk. the elevator made a cracking noise on the way up, but it was only a safety device. its hard to describe how the skyscrape of tokyo looks. tokyo is big; really big. you cant see beyond tokyo. d and i took a lot of pictures and we waited for night. the wave of red lights and fluorescent signs, while the sun flamed into the mountains. it got pretty crowded- apparently we weren't the only ones who thought about coming there at dusk. ... read more
tower

Asia » Japan » Tokyo March 6th 2007

Later in the afternoon, having temporarily giving up in our search for ‘Lush’ and the Melt Banana, we decided to head over the Imperial Palace and gardens in the center of the city. After exiting the subway we first walked through Hibiya Park, which is just outside of the Palace walls. It was a very calm and well kept park, with the mood broken by speeches being heard over loudspeakers in an open air stadium in one corner of the park. We headed over to the stadium to see what was going on, and observed a protest of some kind. Banners were being held up, and music was playing. Most participants were wearing brightly colored vests. It seemed all very well organized, and peaceful. Continuing on our walk we reached the outer wall and moat ... read more
sweep sweep
imperial palace

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Akasaka March 6th 2007

still excited about successfully sneaking into the hyatt, we came back to the hotel and changed into more casual clothes and headed out into askuasa. we stopped into mcdonalds and tried teriyaki mcburgers. the small here might be smaller than child sized in america. Then we went to the 82 ale house, which was actually a hub branch - the same place as tuesday. we tried some of the house beers and cider and watched soccer. back at the hotel there was nothing on tv as good as monkey man, so we went to bed... read more

Asia » Japan » Tokyo March 6th 2007

After our walk through the Imperial Gardens, one of the oldest and most traditional sites in the city, we headed over to Akihabara which houses the city’s electric district. Every store we passed had bright neon signs exploded with appliances, computer accessories, cameras, stereos and anything else with a power source imaginable. At one store there was a floor dedicated to televisions, the largest of which was a 103 inch LCD screen, much larger then anything I have seen in the United States. Sitting in front of it I could see no reason for anyone to have a TV so large, as even HDTV displays aren’t clear enough to do it justice. Between stores we decided to eat, and stopped at what looked like a Japanese Denny’s chain, at appeared to be more like a ... read more

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Shinjuku March 6th 2007

after breakfast the same toast set breakfast in asukasa we headed to the Internet cafe to post on this thing. we looked up the location of the melt banana show and i checked where to find bikkembergs in japan. both were in shinjuku. using a mix of map-following and random direction picking we found barneys - no bikkembergs, but they had trovata. we wandered around trying to find LUSH using the same method- this time it didn't work. we stopped in a guitar shop and a japanese guy was playing far beyond the sun. he even looked a bit like yngwie - just less chubby and less sweedish. we asked them where LUSH was and they had no idea. later we found a record shop and asked them. they didn't know either. this must be a ... read more

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Ueno March 5th 2007

Hello to everybody! Tokyo is absolutely amazing! In the three days I hae ben here I feel I have seen and learned more than I did in the last few months combined. Firstly, I have to say for those of you who have never been that it is absolutely EVERYTHING you think it would be, plus a whole load MORE! I got into Tokyo Narita airport at around 11am saturday after a night of virtually no sleep and did not stop. In a city as trippy as Tokyo that could have been a major mistake, but fortunately the confusing juxtaposition of everything cute with everything commercial, tradition with modernity and the latest craze absolutely amazed me from the moment I set foot in Ueno station. I am staying in Asakusabashi, which I think is in Chinatown, ... read more

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Akasaka March 5th 2007

We had dinner in an upstairs lounge with table-mounted grills and firepits in Asakasa. The food was very cheap and quite good, and the style of the place reminded me of the New Orleans restaurant in Easy Rider. I finally got that Gin and Tonic I was looking for. When we left it was pouring rain, so I dashed through the streets to the nearest convience store and grabbed some clear plastic umbrellas for us (I shouldn’t have bought three - I doubt we will have to use them at all for the rest of the trip, the weather forecast is pretty clear). We ended the night at that Bass Ale bar that I had been looking for on Saturday - it turned out to be a branch of the Hub (the British pub we ate ... read more

Asia » Japan » Tokyo March 5th 2007

The Ginza line to Shibuya was a little more crowded than the subways we had ridden thus far, but we still havent experienced the massive crowding Tokyo’s subway system is famous for. We then headed for the world’s busiest intersection in the heart of the Shibya. Across the street was a record store (the second floor of which is the starbucks from Lost in Translation). We listened to some Japanese music, even found a couple of bands we like (note to self: checkout Wolf & Cub), and tried to get some good pictures from the view at the starbucks, but it was too crowded. We checked out some of the shops in the area: The Gap, DG, and an electronics store. The Gap was pretty much the same, they are promoting some new look that looks ... read more
park
shrine




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