Uber Web Caf

The internet 'cafes' in Japan are impressive. Private booths. Fast connections. Audio-technica headphones (including headphone amps), playstation 2, large flatscreen monitors, free beverages, tv/DVD etc. All in the booth for you to use. All for about 4$NZ an hour. Have a look.....

Tokyo Day 3 - Shinjuku

15 - 7- 6

After a brief ride on the local train arrived at Shinjuku station approx 5pm. On exiting the train we were caught in the masses of people & pulled along with the crowd till we reached the ground level. First impressions are big city shopping area - tall highrise buildings with advertising & neon-lights. Plenty of hip Japanese youths dressed in cool getups. Didn`t see any really crazy fashions. More `understated cool`. Japanese high-fashion - more like Comme de Garcon (eg. think Zambesi/Nom*D with more of Japanese twist.) I was really impressed to see that the guy`s were right up there with the girls in terms of really cool unusual styles.

Wandered around the streets, taken in all the high rises and neon signs which were just starting to light up. Very busy, people everywhere, although it was probably rush-hour. Went into one of the department stores & wandered through the 70`s style floors. All sales staff are so polite & friendly as you walk pass they all call out something which sounds like `masai masai` which I presume is a welcoming call. Into another department store next door which had really cool clothes, infact 7 floors of them - all womens!!! inc accessories, shoes, make up etc.. This time a big Thanks to Tere for bearing with me whilst we wandered around each floor. Very cool, trendy gears but unfortunately with a rather pricey $ tag - some pieces were 20,000 Yen which is just under $300 NZ so needless to say I didn`t buy anything!

A bit more of aimless wandering & just going with the flow of foot-traffic & we come a cross an area, literally packed with people, quite a few tourists just hanging around taking it all in, like us (and there`s a lot to take in). Huge TV screen on the side of one of buildings playing animal clips from an National Geographic type show. Amazing shots of birds, elephants etc.. Off this main street are lots of little alley streets lined with bars, business men stand around little tables drinking beer, sake & eating yaka-tori.

We decide to have dinner at a little Japanese run, Italian restaurant (a break from ramen noodles, also we were a bit brain-fried from absorbing all the Shinjuku sights). Tere had a Hoegardden beer & I had a gingerale & beer (Ronnie you will approve, a shandy of sorts). Went down very well. Food was really really delicious, we had salad and foccacia bread, warm with melted butter and oil (almost tasted like naan) & pizza itself was really yummy - smoked mozarella, aubergine & tomato. Meal cost approx 4500 Yen. 3 young trendy Japanese male chefs in the kitchen went into fits of laughter when Tere & I complimented them on the food and all 3 of them ducked down and hid behind the counter, one called out Thank you from his hiding place?? Not sure what was so funny - obviously us! (haha-comical)

Walked past buskers - playing a mix of jazz/ska - all dressed up in there suits with crazy hair (2 guitarists, bass, 3 brass, keyboardist, drums & vocalist). Bass player had crazy long ponytail with mohawk & big goaty. Small crowd gathered around - business men in suits & students alike were tapping there feet & clapping there hands to the music. Pretty good band for the side of the street. Finally a man who looked like a basket ball coach with an offical like tag around his neck came over & asked them to stop (noise control), quiet disappointment from crowd. He relents & say`s they can play one more & they`re off again - putting on a great show. 5 mins later another more official police officer comes over & asks them to stop - very politely I might add, he goes around to each individ and bows politely to them. Like to see NZ police do that or American for that matter...

After the live music comes to a rather abrupt end the crowd disperse & Tere & I head to HMV store, really good selection of music - including `Die Die Die` CD (NZ Punk band). Tried to buy new Jet Li DVD `Spirit` (aka Fearless) looks really good - kinda like Hero, unfortunately no English subtitle options, only Japanese and Chinese - bummer. Finally a store stocking English language fashion mags - I stock up on a couple! Yaahhh. Catch train back to our station, grab some brekkie for tomorrow from 7/11 store (cup of noodles and yoghurt has become the norm while we`re in Japan - affordable!) Back to our crazy 70`s time-warp hostel - tonight we sleep on a tatami (Japanese style mat beds). Another crazy-fun day in Tokyo - tomorrow we check out Harajuku (bring on the crazy goths!!)

Geek-Off (Tokyo Day 2)

13-7-6















Today we threw ourselves into the district of Akihabara. Only two stops from our local subway station and we were in geek paradise. An area of a number of blocks - we didnt cover all of it in a day - devoted almost exclusively to a. electronic products and b. Anime related products. Pretty much all space from ground floor up to the 6th to 8th floors are filled with such stuff. I managed to cover maybe 6 bigger stores and three or four small ones. Several stores were just toys and were divided into different departments - cutesy girl toys, Gundam Robots, Anime TV/Film toys, and Ultraman/Masked Rider type toys. The bigger stores usually had a floor devoted to each.







Several stores had departments selling costumes from Anime shows. A big thing here atleast in Akihabar is the Maid Craze. Anime characters dressed in Maid outfits. There are also many Maid cafes in which customers are served by waitresses dressed in said outfits. Customers, we have been told, can be fed their cake by the maids, amoungst other services. Bizarre. We saw quite a number of maids out on the street handing out pamphlets.


Although we actually only covered a fairly small area, Akihabara was pretty taxing with the flashing advertising, crazy Anime tie-in music blasting, and sweaty geeks elbowing their way through the merchandise (me included).

A big thankyou to Em for accompanying me on this mission. Tommorow we`re going to check out Shinjuku - another central area of Tokyo.

Update

Be sure to scroll down. Have added a few photos to the Pingyao section below.

To Tokyo by Bullet

Jumped on the bullet train this afternoon, and zipped from Osaka to Tokyo at God-knows-what-speed. Trip only took 3 hours and needless to say all facilities and the vehicle itself were superflash.



Now in Tokyo, we have settled into yet another hostel/guesthouse. One block away are the Bandai headquarters. Toy geeks will know what I speak of. Akihabara is also not too far away by subway - the gadget and Anime capital of the world. My hands seem to be rubbing themselves together.

Late afternoon here, and will probably just recharge the batteries for some exploring tommorow.








- Update -
Forgot to mention that the Blackeyedpeas and a small entourage were standing on our platform and jumped on the train before ours.

Osaka Day 3

11 / 7 / 6

Osaka Castle

Kita Area

Amerika Mura (again)

...more info to come....

Osaka Day 2

Just back to our hostel now after a busy second day in Osaka. Decided to head to Bay area to have a look at the aquarium - something a bit different for us.

After cheap brunch at a kind of Japanese fast food joint called Yoshinoiya, we jumped on the subway. A forty five minute ride took us to the bay area, and a short walk to the aquarium itself.
Very impressive aquarium, of a somewhat different calibre to Napier's one. Special mentions go to : The Whale Shark - never thought I'd see one of those; and the Cook Strait section. I had no idea what sort of creatures were lurking in our humble strait. Had to come all the way to Japan to find out.

After the aquarium, and a bit of a wander around the bay area shops, we jumped back onto the train. We hoped to find an area called "Amerika Mura".

Despite following our instructions, we couldnt find the famed area. After a while of senseless wandering we pretty much had given up when we stumbled into it. It is fairly easy to miss. Several narrow alleys of very cool shops, and even cooooler (typo intended) people. This is surely the best country in the world for people watching. The fashions have to be seen to believed. The youngsters (and even not so youngsters) go to great lengths to capture the look they are emulating. Amerika Mura seems to be kind of a centrepoint.




Every trend/movement you know about from past, present, or for that matter the future, is still going strong here. Rockabilly, Punk, Grunge, Tribal, Goth, Hippy, and in all sorts of combinations as well. But often the look is presented in a way that is of course Japanese, and of course new. Many stores offer the clothes, accessories, and music in very complete and faithful ways.

This part of Osaka was very good to see. We look forward to seeing Tokyo's versions - Harajuku and Shinjuku.

On our way out of Amerika Mura at around 8pm, we were beckoned over to a bar by the noisey but friendly staff. We squeezed into the tiny bar (probably can seat 8 people at most around the bar) and we were treated first to some very tasty draught beer, and an Osaka speciality "Takoyaki" - balls of octopus meat cooked in a type of batter. Very tasty. Also a small frying pan of sliced potato, melted cheese, corn and several sauces. All food to help the beer go down better! All the while there was alot of jovial shouting going on amoungst the bar staff as they served the patrons - several business men and one woman in a Kimono.

A memorable end to a busy day in Osaka.

OSAKA , JAPAN !

This entry deserves an exclamation mark in the title! And in the first sentence.

Last night flew into Kansai Airport from Shanghai. Had a 4 hour stopover in Incheon, Seoul again. 2 flights only around 1.5hours each. One hour on a rapid train brought us to within a 5minute walk of our hostel in Osaka. Altogether about 12 hours of travelling from hotel to hotel. Overall a relatively low stress journey.

This morning we spent a bit of time planning our 20 days in Japan, reviewing budgets, and consulting the Holy Lonely Planet again. Then headed into Minami district from where this post is coming to you from.

In this area there are many narrow alleys, each lined with all manner of shops. Already we have seen many weird and wonderful sights. Of course I made straight for SEGA WORLD when seeing the sign. 3 floors of noisey arcade game action.

Many bizarre and quite alien games to me. Lots of games seem to be played in groups. There were games that had an electronic table in front of the screen on which players moved trading game cards on. For example a soccer game. The cards are different soccer stars, and the player positions them on the table, also using buttons to left and right. A completely new concept in games to me. I had flashbacks to the first time I entered a Spacie Parlour as a kid at "Wizards" in courteny place when it was all new and of course ultra hitech. It has been many years since Ive seen arcade games of the same graphical quality as PC games and I definately saw a few that were at such a level. For the geeks out there who want some specifics : Virtua Fighter 5 seemed to be one of the latest.

This is also a time for us to get to grips with the cost of things here. No surprises really - it is expensive. But we have found already that we can eat for fairly cheap on the street. Our lunch today cost a little over 5$ NZ for both of us, and was damned tasty. Have no idea what it was called. Basically like a roti pancake, fried on a hotplate, fresh sliced cabbage thrown ontop , an egg cracked ontop of that, rolled closed like a crepe and a delicious sauce poured over it.

Needless to say, the internet Im using in this cafe could be the fastest Ive ever used. Oh, and we are sitting in Contessa mesh chairs (expensive) surrounded by shelves and shelves of Manga comics with pleasant muzac playing in the background.

We have definately reached Japan.