update (warning, its a long one)

Sup all, sorry I haven’t updated earlier. Been kinda busy. All this touristy things takes up a lot of time and energy. so this update is gonna be long.

Monday...
(japan loves public bath houses, coming in second...West Hollywood and maybe san fran)
Woke up, ate brunch (oishii ramen), got ready and packed for a day stay at an onsen (hotel/public bath/spa). I don’t know why but Japanese love bathing with other people. Me being from America, I’m not quite comfortable being in a large pool naked with other naked men. Either its my insecurities (but I have big feet), or its just being afraid of eye contact while accidentally glancing around and catching an eyeful of something below the waist, I think I’ll pass on the skinny dipping.

So we did the 20 minute walk, up and down hills, to the local subway. Then after an hour of subway/train rides, we got to the bus station that will take us to the onsen. We met up with my wife’s uncle and aunt and all got on the bus for another 45 minute ride to the hotel. On the bus ride, we went over the world’s largest suspension bridge, which I only know of cuz I did a report on it for a jr. college project. When we finally got there, we took a small trolley down a hill to another station, which we caught the hotel’s shuttle to the hotel. After checking in, we all went to our rooms to drop our stuff off.

The hotels in japan are a bit upgraded than American ones (actually the hotel we were at was a Marriot). They have this dish by the front door of each room (pic to come later), where you put your hotel key in, and it activates the lights and air conditioning. When you take the key from the dish, the lights and air conditioning turn off automatically. This way, you don’t waste electricity when you’re not in the room. They also have a central control panel by the beds, that has control to all the lights, alarm clock, and radio system, which has speakers in all the rooms, even the bathroom. And the toilets are electrical and heated, with LEDs and controls for warmth.

And then there’s the bidet...
I’ve read about them in an article in a local newspaper and even seen them at mitsuwa, so I’ve always wanted to try a bidet. The article said how clean and healthy it was to use one, so I’ve always been curious to try it, but never had a chance to find one. If you don’t know what a bidet is, it’s a spout in a toilet that squirts water on your a-hole for cleaning after you’ve done your stuff. Remember all those times where you’ve wiped for hours, trying to get fully cleaned but end up being red and raw in the ‘end’. This would end all that chaffing. The first time I tried it, it tickled so much that my wife came over and asked ‘whats wrong?’. Then after a few times, the stream of warm water would make me question...which is cheaper, my wife or a bidet?

we went down stairs to wait for my wife's brother, his wife, and their new baby boy (my new nephew). after they came and passing the baby around, we had some cake at the hotel's cafe. and after a few hours, they left and we got ready for dinner. for dinner, it was japanese cuisine. lots of raw fish, some tempura, and some things i don't even know what it was. the price of the room included meal tickets and this is one of the restraunts that the fam wanted to try. it was good but my wife wasn't feeling good so she missed out on most of the meal. it was like a 7 course meal, so food kept coming. at the end, i think i busted a stitch in my pants.

after dinner, we headed towards to cultural fun center, where they had carnival games and activities for families and kids. i got to throw a real shuruken (ninja star) at a target and try to hit the bullseye. the ninja stars were dull (probably to keep the injuries down around that area) so it was hard to make them stick on the target. thank goodness i'm not a ninja cuz i would probably hitting my target's neighbor, instead of him. then i shot cork-gun but couldn't hit the target either. another reason why i'm not an assassin.

Then we headed to the hotel’s arcade to get in a few rounds of taiko master. I was stoked to find out that they had ‘love machine’ by morning musume and the theme to ‘ainori’ on it. Then my wife went to the public bath, while I just took a private bath in our own room. I would have taken a public bath if I could have gone to the women’s side, but definitely no on the men’s side. Before taking my bath, I caught ainori on tv. The show that they show in LA is a few months behind the ones in japan, so I only recognized one guy on the show.

Ainori is a reality show about 7 japanese college-aged kids (usually 3 girls, 4 guys), on a bus that travels through different parts of the world, while seeing if anyone of them hooks up with one another. If one person is interested in another, that person asks the bus driver for a pair of plane tixs back to japan. Then the guy/girl gives the person he/she is interested in the other plane tix. If the second person likes the first person, they accept the plane tix and they both go back to japan together. If the second person refuses, then the first person goes back to japan alone, and the second person returns back to the bus. Then a new person is added to replace the rejected person. This show has been going on for years and I just got into it a few months ago. i got hooked into it cuz these kids don’t act like American kids do. They’re more reserved and not so expressive of their emotions. So its hard for them to read each other and the outcome is not always as one expects.

While taking my Japanese bath (washing first, rinse, then soaking in a tub of hot water), my wife returned but went out to her parent’s room. She took the key, that was in the dish by the door (that controls the room’s lights, as mentioned before). So while I was sitting the bath resting, the lights went out and the room went dark. I was yelling for my wife but she already left the room. That ended my bath quickly as I blindly dried myself off and tried to make my way out of the bathroom. Just then, my wife returned but I just dried myself off and went to bed.

Tuesday...
Woke up super early cuz we were going to have an early brunch and my wife had to leave early to go renew her Japanese driver’s license. If she didn’t renew it, it would have costed her more to get one later on (even though she doesn’t drive in japan...go figure). So I threw on one of the spa outfits that you can wear around the hotel while bathing or just loafing around. i think they look like the jedi outfits in star wars 3 (pic to be posted later). Then we went to the cafe for our sandwich brunch.

The sandwich brunch had a spread of breads, meats, cheeses, toppings, soups, and drinks. And they don’t have just the regular sandwiches like we have in America. I made a sandwich of different mixes of ingredients. I had things from egg salad to curry chicken spread on my sandwich. There were so many things to try, I had 2 sandwiches. I think I tried almost everything that was out there. After my wife had left with her father to renew her driver’s license, I went back to my room to visit the bidet, relax in a bath, and try to catch a few winks (still had a bit of jet lag), before packing up and checking out. I didn’t get to take a nap but I did visit the bidet a couple more times.

After checking out, we caught the bus back to kobe and did a little grocery shopping for tonight’s dinner with my wife’s parents and her uncle and aunt. I still was tired from jet lag so when we got home, I took a nap till dinner time. After my nap, we had dinner and an hour later, my wife returned. My wife’s father and uncle were drinking and they both were sauced. After dinner, I took a quick shower and went to bed cuz I was still tired from jet lag.

Wednesday...
Woke up, ate breakfast (bread and left over croquette from last night dinner), and went to the local market to grab some snacks for our trip to Himeji for some castle viewing. While at the market, I got a pikachu keychain from one of those candy/toy that they sell at mitsuwa. Then we went back home, packed up the rental car, and drove an hour to Himeji.

We visited the Himeji castle of lord Akamatsu, who ruled the district. You can walk through it and look at architecture and the remains of that era. The steps inside are steep and hard to climb. And pretty much every level and outer building was made for defense against attacks. I tried my ninja skills to scale the walls of the castle but my sketchers weren’t made for rock climbing. After touring the seven levels of the castle, and its outer houses, we got back in our car and looked for somewhere to eat. We ended up at a sushi place for more dead fish. I had so many different kinds of sushi I can’t remember what I ate.

Japanese love tom cruise, and tom cruise loves manju...
Then we tried to go to the village where they shot ‘the last samurai’ but they were going to close in an hour and it wasn’t worth the admission and the 20 minute tram ride up the mountain. Instead, we went to a manju shop that was next to the parking lot. I guess tom cruise had visited this manju shop while shooting his movie, and he had bought 50 manjus while there. There were pictures of tom cruise while in the shop all around. And the shop owner told us that tom would take a helicopter from the parking lot up the mountain to the shooting set. What a rich son of a...

Then we headed back towards kobe. We stopped in a toys r us, while my wife’s parents went grocery shopping. Man, there was so much eye candy, I could have stayed there for a day. They had everything from hello kitty, pokemon, gundam, to ‘japanese only’ star wars stuff and miffy. But we only had 30 minutes, so I had to cut my visit short. I grabbed a pikachu cell phone strap and a keyring. Hopefully I can fit more time in for another visit cuz I barely glanced at all they have to offer. I think I felt a tear run down my cheek as I left the building. Parting ways is so sad.

Then we came back home and had dinner. Tomorrow we’re supposed to visit my wife’s grandparents (on her father’s side) and maybe some more shopping. Friday, my wife is supposed to get her haircut by her friend’s husband and maybe dinner with them. On Saturday, lunch with my wife’s other friend, finish up shopping, and start packing for our return trip home on Sunday. Hopefully I can update more frequently cuz all this writing takes a long time.

Well thats it for now. I’ll post pics when I get back. Till later, peace out...

sup from da motha-land

hey all, i'm bloggin from across the world. i'll give you the break down on what happened so far (sorry, i can't post pics yet).

thursday...
woke up early, got ready, ran to target to pick up socom 3 (that was on sale.　yea!),　did some laundry at the local laundry mat, and ran home to get some playtime in before i had to start packing. after finalizing my packing, went to shoe pavilion to return some shoes with my wife. then returned home to get to bed early.

friday...
woke up early (too early in fact. like 5 am early and couldn't go back to sleep), got ready, packed the car, and drove to steve sato's house. steve let us leave our car at his place (cuz he lives close to lax) and we arranged a shuttle to pick us up at his house. we gave ourselves an hour and 15 minutes to get there but the traffic getting there was so bad, that we barely made it to steve's house just as the shuttle was driving up. so we got our bags from our car and ran into the shuttle (whew). we got to the airport 5 hours before our plane leaves so we had lots of dead time. when we checked in, my wife's co-worker has a connection with the people at the check in desk, so she was able to block a row for us. so we had 3 seats to ourselves and plenty of leg room.

while we were waiting to board, i saw a japanese girl wear a pink t-shirt with the words 'relax bitch' on it. i thought this was the funniest thing cuz i don't think she knows what it means, and its something that a japanese person would never say. man, i wished i took a picture, it was priceless. also, she was kinda dressed up with it (wearing jeans, high heels, and a jacket) on so it really didn't fit in. man, that made my day.

we were pretty much in the front of the economy class seats, so less noise from the engine. i started the flight with a beer, then another, and then another. 3 total from the flight. i also saw way too much movies. i started with 'war of the worlds' (a good remake and worth buying on dvd for the effects), then 'cinderella man' (a good heart warming flick, like rocky. but i don't know if i would buy the dvd), and finished it off with 'batman begins', which i need to watch again since i was falling asleep through out the flick (since it was like 9 pm already and 3 beers later). each seat has its own small lcd screen on the back of the seat in front of it, and a controller on the side of the arm rest. you can chose movies to watch, listen to music, and play really simple video games on it (worse than an atari 2600). when picking a movie, the movie runs constantly. so if you pick one during the middle of it, you have to wait till it ends for it to start at the begining. so i didn't get to see all the movies i wanted cuz i didn't want to start in the middle of them. i still have to watch 'crash' and a few japanese sci-fi's on the way back.

the food was okay. my wife had a bad dish but mine were fine. my wife also heard from a co-worker about a basket of snacks in the 51st row, so we made a grab at them. a couple of biscuits, japanese rice crackers, and m&m's. all i did　on the plane was watch tv and eat. good times.

after landing, we got our luggage, went through customs (which was easy when you're with someone who speaks japanese. not like last time when vince made me carry his maxim magazine and the security thought it was a playboy, which is forbidden in japan. thanks vince). then we caught a shuttle and made the hour ride to my wife's parents house, coming in around 8 pm (japan time). ate a light snack, then showered up and hit the bed.

sunday (cuz we lost a day from the flight)...
woke up early, ate some breakfast (never had salad for breakfast before), got ready, and walked to catch the train to go to my wife's uncle house for her grandfather's memorial service. only my wife's aunt spoke english, so i didn't do much talking. and the memorial service was buddist, which wasn't new to me since my grandfather's memorial service was buddist. the only problem i had was sitting in the kneeling position while my legs falling asleep. but i took karate in college, so i was used to it. and the monk chanted in japanese, which i thought would make a good sample for a rap song.

after the service we had lunch at a shabu shabu restraunt. man, i ate so much i almost busted my belt. the lunch was a set meal, so it had many courses, which i was not aware of and ate too much at the second course. after the shabu shabu, there was an udon course, then dessert. after eating all that, i almost broke out in an overeating sweat.

we were in the city of sannomiya (which is kinda like a shopping district of new york). we had planned to get some eye glasses made, since its so cheap to make here. its kinda like 'lens crafters' without the name brand frames, and the prices were low as $50 for the whole glasses. it was kinda wierd since we didn't need an appointment, and i'm not quite sure that the guy who checked out my eyes was a licenced eye doctor. but the place was packed, and my wife had gotten her glasses there before, so i figured it was ok. so i had to have my wife with me when i got my eyes examined since no one spoke english. and after the long translated eye examination, i picked out a nice frame (i found one for $50) and we waited an hour for them to be made. after getting the thin lens and the anti-scratch coating, my glasses came out to around $120 (with no insurance). i think thats the best price i ever got, even with my insurance.

then we walked around a bit and made our way back to the train. my feet was so tired from all the walking, and i think i have some new blisters down there too. then we just relaxed at home and now i'm writing this blog. tomorrow we're going to the onsen (hot springs) for a day to relax and take in the view.

hope you all are doing well. i probably will update in the next few days, since we'll be away from the house. catch ya later. ja mata (see ya later).

so we're all packed and ready to go. got my tixs, my passport, gifts, and clothes. now we just have to fight the traffic to the airport, wait in the check in line, then wait some more in customs. ah good times.

sorry about not updating earlier. its been a very stressful couple of days. i've been running around trying to prepare and finalize everything. hopefully i'll be able to update while in japan. i can email to a certain address and my emails will be posted on my blogs (sorry, no pics). so check back and hopefully you can read about my doings in japan.

well that's it for now. got get ready and fight the traffic. catch ya all later.

weekend update...

busy busy busy...
well, less than a week to go for our japan trip. i think we finally got all the gifts we need to bring. i washed all the clothes i'm going to wear. now i just have to throw all of it in our luggage. i'm kinda excited for the plane trip cuz they have individual tvs for each of the seats and they have tons of movies i wanna watch. i think i'm gonna watch 'war of the worlds' first, then maybe 'batman begins', and maybe end it up with 'cinderella man'. of course this will all be aided with the free alcoholic drinks i can drink. ah, now this sounds like a vacation.

man down!
aw man, socom 3 comes out tomorrow but...target has it on sale on thursday (for $39). so i bought the sunday newspaper to have the target ad and hopefully i can find a place that price matches so i can get it tomorrow. if not, i guess i'll just wait till thursday. ah well, i waited till now, i can wait a few more days. it just means less play time till the japan trip. man down...indeed. =(

the end of densha otoko
last night we caught the last episode of 'densha otoko'. we didn't know that it was a special hour show so luckly we turned on the tv in time. if you miss the beginning, don't worry, its just a recap of the whole show. it was a good show. too bad it has to end cuz now i only have one japanese show to watch (ainori). and for its replacement, its another shogun/samurai drama. ah well, maybe i can catch another modern/comedy drama later.

well, i better run to work. my last 3 days till my vacation starts. catch ya later.

quick update...

phil slips me a quickie...
my mom ordered a gift for my wife's family, so she had it sent to us. well, we got a notice on wednesday that they had made a 1st attempt on delivery. i was supposed to have thursday off so i thought i can catch the UPS guy yesterday, but i missed him cuz i had to go in to work. so last night, i had them hold it at the station and i would have to pick it up there. i went there this morning, waited in line, and finally got the package. when i got back, the UPS truck was in front of our apartment building delivering a package to someone else in the complex. just my luck.

wow, just a few more days to go...
...till the release of socom 3! oh yeah, and our trip to japan. i suppose i can be excited for socom 3 since it does come before the japan trip. then after socom 3, i'll be excited for japan....maybe.

well, gotta run to work. lates...

i have the day off!...

...well almost. it was supposed to be my day off but i got called into work. the girl who was supposed to cover me today, called in sick. no worries, i could use the money (its overtime). man, i can't remember the last time i had my day off. i've been working 6 days weeks since...i don't know when. its been so long that i don't know what to do if i did have a day off. ah wells, i go on vacation next week.

we've been getting ready for our big japan trip. today i did a big load of laundry of things we need to bring on our trip. while at the laundry mat, there was a tv showing mexican shows. i think it was showing a mexican 'jerry springer' type of show where there's a lot of shouting from guests and a host urging them on. man, after a while, it really got on my nerve. all that shouting gave me a head ache. who put the tv to this channel? and no one there was watching it. next time, i'm gonna bring a universal tv remote, program it, and changed the channel. and before i leave, i'm gonna leave the channel on a chinese station. how funny would that be.

well i better get ready for work...ON MY DAY OFF!!! catch ya all later. peace out.

busy busy...

hey all, sorry i haven't updated in a while. we've been getting ready for our trip to japan. its less than 2 weeks away so we have to get our butts moving. we had run around town to buy gifts to bring over (like wines and foods). and we still have to buy yen, which today i was doing research for. at least i have my new passport, which is the most important thing...well besides the plane tixs.


my wife didn't want me to be wearing t-shirts and shorts the whole time over there so she wanted to buy me some new clothes. so we went to old navy and checked out their clearance section. they had a tons of clearance items so we grabbed tons of shirts and jackets and headed towards the dressing room. i ended up with 3 button up shirts and a blue jacket (like the one on right, but blue). so now i'll be looking like i just walked out of an old navy or a gap store. my wife was so happy cuz she never really got to chose my clothes before, and this time, i didn't care what i wore. so i guess i'll be wearing one of my new outfits for the xmas party.


i guess the only bad thing about going to japan next week is...
socom 3 is comes out next week! i'm a big fan of socom and i waited the whole year for this to come out. i saved all my gift certificates through out the year, just to buy this game. i guess i have a couple days of play time before leaving for japan, but when i get back...watch out, 'fire in the hole!'.


the smell of phil still lingers...
its been over a week since i got back my car and i still haven't been reimbursed for my new rim. everyday i check my credit card balance to see if the transaction has been processed but it still doesn't show up. so today i called the shop and talked to the manager. he said he would call the accounting department and see whats up. just when i thought this whole crisis would be over, it still lingers on. thanks alot phil. =(

well thats it for now. gotta run to work. i'll catch ya later. peace out.