Yesterday's Challenge

Yesterday's challenge was: Get to Yokota AFB from Yokosuka via Train.

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? NOPE! In order to get there, we had to transfer three times. The distance? 55 kilometers away. How long it takes to get there? About 2 hours if you're lucky and transfer from train to train on time. We learned that if you don't catch the right train at the right time out in the country, you would have to wait 20-40 minutes for the next train. Even with a map and a little guidance sheet, we still got miserably lost. And of course, me and Soco found our way there through arguing and bickering back and fourth. We got off at the wrong train station at another city and ended up taking a taxi to the base. By the time we got there, we were so hungry and frustrated, we wanted to go home. We ate at Burger King (which doesn't exist in Yokosuka) and went shopping at the BX. It seemed like a cloud of bad luck was surrounding me. I usually don't get lost, but somehow I lost my sense of direction.

The bad luck didn't end there. Somehow, when I was flipping through some books at the "Bookmark" (a bookstore in the BX), two book shelves collapsed right next to me spilling books everywhere. I said, HOLY CRAP!!! and some guy next to me stated that he was glad not to be standing where I was standing. I went and got the proper people to put it back together again.

Of course, we got lost on the way back. Somehow, we trapped ourselves in the JR Line station in Yokohama station. We couldn't get out! I asked an attendant on how to get back to the Keikyu line and he pointed outside. Well, the damn ticket machine wasn't allowing me to leave the JR line station! I had to come up with a backup plan.... AND QUICK because I can see the fumes coming out of Soco's head. Somehow, I remembered that I got back to Yokosuka via the Yokosuka JR line, but it was long and boring. That was sadly, our only alternative. I took Soco by the hand and went to the Yokosuka line. We got back an hour later.

Disney Store in Ikebukuro

It is strange to me that there would be a Disney store in Japan. I had figured that it would be like the ones in the states. Strangely, I was wrong. Aside from the stuffed cartoon figures, there were so many gifts and souveniers which cater to the Japanese. Everything is small and can be hand-carried. They sell fancy tins of cookies and candy. They have the "baby" versions of almost every cartoon character such as the Baby Little Mermaid. Real strange. Most of their gifts are practical. Lots of pencils and stationary products. Oddly enough, this store sits right next to a big Hello Kitty Store.

All Sushi is 140 Yen! Ikebukuro, Tokyo 

Typhoons and Earthquakes

Yesterday, all of the military bases in Japan were evacuated due to the typhoon. It was my first typhoon so I was kinda interested in seeing what it would look like, but they said that the climax of the storm was going to be at 0100 a.m. Darn it, I'm not going to be awake at that time! Anyways, I put out an empty coke can and bag of trash in my balcony just to see how far the winds blow it. Well, this morning, it was still in the same place I left it. I'm wondering if all the tall buildings and skyscrapers broke it up???? The satellite photo on the weather site shows a huge spiral of clouds the size of Japan that have just passed us. I don't get it. Oh well.

Well recently, we also had a large earthquake hit us. It was registered 6.0 on the Richter scale. I was doing some work on my computer and I saw everything shake and wobble back and forth. It was a little scary and funny at the same time. After that, it was back to normal and I went back to my daily routine.

More Photos of 2005 World Expo, Aichi Japan

Tropical Fish in an Aquarium 


When I saw the fish in the aquarium, I thought, wow, those are some cheesy looking fake fish. Upon closer inspection, they were real fish. They were actually swimming in place in this tight formation perfectly still. Very strange.

Spinning Thread at Sri Lanka Exhibit 


Baby-Bot 


This baby robot is really cool. It talks and plays with children.

More photos to follow...

World Expo, Aichi Japan

Expo Plaza 


This year's World Expo is a lot of fun! I hope everyone in the world is given the chance to come here because it is really great. It seemed like the only foreigners at the expo were us (the group traveling from Yokosuka Navy Base) and the people running the expo themselves. Other than that, it was overrun by Japanese. Me and Soco had to get up at 3 in the morning to catch the shuttle bus, however we woke up 30 minutes before it took off, so we had very little time to prepare ourselves for the long 5/6 hour trip. It didn't help that it was a hot and humid day either. We brought umbrellas, not because of the rain, but because of the penetrating sun. With the humidity, you can feel yourself getting sunburnt and catching skin cancer. The only relief is standing in line to get into one of the exhibits. We didn't have enough time to browse the entire park, it is too huge. And I would've liked to see the Toyota exhibit, but it was too densely packed and we wanted to make the most of our day by visiting less popular attractions. The country exhibits didn't have many lines. Korea and the US did. Oh did I say Korea? South Korea had a really good small anime about robots taking over the planet and being crushed by an atomic bomb only to have trees and nature comeback and swollow up the whole planet again. Real good stuff.

USA Exhibit 


Another American Invention, the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car 


I must say that the United States was the only exhibit that had metal detectors at the entrance. I looks like somebody is out to get the US. Anyways, it was about Benjamin Franklin and how he invented.... no, discovered electricity. Because of him, we have a modern world with computers and satellites. We were pretty much bragging about how smart we are with all of our high tech inventions, pictures of Mars, the Segway and displaying GM's hydrogen fuel cell car. It was cool.

Massive Walkways 


Vietnam Exhibit at the Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan 


The Vietnamese Exhibit was very interesting. Inside was a shop filled with hand-made items and flowers. They had a show with musical instruments. Soco told me that Vietnamese music sounds like Disney in how it sounds like nature music. It was really great how the lady playing a stringed instrument made it sound like a sad crying voice. Just e-mail me if you want to see a video of it. I captured a 15 second movie. Real interesting. I also wanted to try out their food, but I didn't have enough time.



More pictures to follow...

Narrow Road in Iwakuni 

Exion and Soco pose for shot

Ex&Soco 

Automatic Soap Dispenser

Pictured here is an automatic hand soap dispenser next to an automatic water dispenser. These things are rare as of right now, but I bet that they will become popular in the future. You just put your hands below the sensor and it will shoot out a good amount of foamy soap. Now using the restroom can be completely touch free!

Ikebukuro, Japan

I would honestly say, that when coming here, I had very low expectations. I wasn't too sure if there was anything fun to do. I only read that there was a giant indoor aquarium in some high rise building somewhere. Yeah, fish way above sea level! Anyways, Soco and I were kinda impressed. We traveled the west side of Ikebukuro finding it to be very relaxed. It felt like a surburbia of Tokyo. We ate frozen fruit popsicle sticks while walking in the hot sun. We discovered the Toyota headquarters. On the first floor, it is a free museum and concept car auto salon. Very interesting. A little bit past it, was a monumental building called "Sunshine City". It is a giant indoor mall with many stores which come from the US. The Disney and Sanrio store featured items unique to Japan that you can't get elsewhere. Soco looked at purses and clothes at the GAP. Well at dinner time, we got hungry and wanted some Mexican food. There was a Tex-Mex restaurant called, "EL Torito". It was very good and it fed our craving for cactus (nopales) and grilled chicken and steak.

After visiting the mall, we walked over to the giant Anime store. It featured lots of DVDs, CDs, miniture figures, collecting cards, costumes, and stuffed animals. Then we were sucked into Sunshine 60 street by the huge crowd. At night the lights, loud pumping music and huge crowds, made it very exciting. We had a good time and northern Tokyo is definitely worth a trip back.

Japanese Driver's Test

In Japan, it is very difficult to obtain a drivers license. They must go through extensive testing and exercises. Pictured here, is a driving school which is mandatory and costs about a thousand dollars. If I remember correctly, the school is about 3 months long. So once a Japanese person gets their license, they are already a driving expert.

Iwakuni, Japan

World Famous Kintai Bridge

Iwakuni is located an hour and thirty minutes south of Hiroshima. It is surrounded by a thick bamboo forest and is amongst the hills of farmland and ancient castles. It is some of the most beautiful land that I've seen in Japan thus far. It is far away from all the high rise buildings and Japanese business men. It is peaceful and quiet and there are many traditional Japanese homes. Everything here is spread out and I rarely see people on bikes. Everyone here drives a car which is unusual. A tourist attraction, the Kintai Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in Japan. The traces of ancient Japan still lies within this bridge and castles around it.

Two Large Castles on Top of the Hill

Japanese Homes typically look like this in Iwakuni

Thick Bamboo Forestry which surrounds much of southern Japan 

Going to MCAS Iwakuni

The trip to Iwakuni in southern Japan was a really good experience. I had to take an hour and a half flight from the Haneda Airport (which used to be the international airport) to Hiroshima Airport. From there, Rocky, the driver, picked me up and drove me an hour and forty-five minutes to MCAS Iwakuni. Boy, that is a lot of traveling for one day. More photos to follow.

Why Japanese have to dress up their food

Mountain of Lobster

Yesterday, we ate at an expensive American style diner, "The Roadhouse Grill", Soco suggested that the food there looks so big and delicious, yet when we were finished, we were still hungry. Well, at least I was. Maybe I was a pig... I don't know. The diner's salad bar consisted of lettice, deviled egg yolk, seaweed, beansprouts, slices of pineapple, and orange slices. The tiny saladbar was perhaps had a slight resemblance of an American style saladbar with common Japanese ingredents. My plate of steak was really great. But the harsh reality that we were in Japan came crashing down once I discovered that I actually had 4 pieces of thinly sliced steak with a small mountain of seasoned rice beneath it. Soco had a seafood plate where her dish had one of everything. One shrimp, one squid, one scallop, one clam, one big mushroom in the center, all on top of a small mountain of rice. It does look pretty though. It looked exactly like the picture in the menu. Well, after paying 40 bucks, we headed over to the Daiei mall and I engorged myself with a crepe and Soco had an ice cream cone. Making food look like there is plenty of it, is definitely a magical Japanese artform.

So this is where all the gold is at. Hmm...

Bazaar Shop in Chinatown, Yokohama 

Japan's Largest Chinatown

Chinatown in Yokohama 


To Soco, having a Chinatown in Japan is redundant... well that was what she thought right before entering the little island of color, beauty and aromas of freshly prepared cakes and various culinary delights. Japan has a strange monotonously boring feeling in most places. Even in all the bright neon lights of Akahabara can't dazzle me enough, because the excitement is counteracted by the outrageous pricetags on everything. Chinatown was really unique. Now that I know how to get there, I plan on visiting this place during Chinese New Year in the future. Me and Soco was pretty happy to see that Chinese and Vietnamese ingredents were available for sale here. We stopped by a few restaurants and did some shopping. It was just strange to me that unlike the Chinatowns I've been to in the states, the vendors all speak Japanese. So bringing our friend, Lee (who speak Contonese), didn't help much. Except once when we asked someone how to get back to the train station. Even that one lady, couldn't really speak Chinese. Strange. Chinatown was really big and it is very easy to get lost. Expect to spend a whole day there. I still haven't seen it all (it's too big). I would say that the area spans around 10 city blocks.

Guan Yu, Legendary Chinese General who helped unite China around 180 - 210 A.D. 


Market Street Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan