I'm leaving for Japan soon - hotel recommendation?

yeah it seems all my stops almost are on the JR line...i don't even like pokemon but I'd give it a look heh

so is the gundam statue in or close to daiba? that seems like a cool place to go to, especially for the sights...i may actually turn that into my day 5 as I was just at the San Diego Zoo and Sea World last month so it's hard to top those especially so quickly heh

 

The yamanote "circle" line connects to just about everywhere you'll want to go, but as it stops at every station, it's not always the quickest way to go, especially if your travelling to places like shinjuku, harajuku,shibuya.

The statue is in the middle of Shiokaze park, Daiba station is just a few hundred metres away.

As the shimbashi monorail station is only a stop away from the pokemon centre, you might want to hit them both in one afternoon. Your also within a stop or two of Tokyo Tower & Roppongi (on the subway).

I did all this on my trip in march, but the early sunset hinded my exploration, you should fair much better. I'm going back in october so hopefully i'll get to see much more.

 

Don't miss the shopping/market street just to the left of Ueno station, called Ameya Yokocho (Ameyoko). It's a great place to walk around with lots of energy & variety.

 

Yeah I'm probably going to visit there on both my flight days as it's close to the hotel and I don't have much free time those days.

 

is it easy to find a washroom in Tokyo? that'd really suck if I had to take a dump in the middle of like Shinjuku and I was totally screwed - I remember in New York I had a couple times where I was really pressed to find one

note to self: settle up all bathroom business before leaving hotel

 

Yes. Throw a rock and walk into the McDonald's you hit.

 

One question about Japan:

Are windows in trains openable?

 

Most of the large convience stores have a washroom too, outside of Tokyo every convience store has a washroom. Remember to take the free tissues that are handed to you as most JR stations do have a washroom too but most will have zero toilet paper.

 

I've yet to find one any better than the toilets I was subjected to in Thailand. Just think ahead and hit a McDonald's. You'll thank me for it later. Maybe one day when I'm drunk enough I'll tell the story of when I had to use the can in the train.

 

Haha, is that the story you told me?

 

If it involved a mushroom omelette and hiking through the woods at night to take a shit on a toilet made for midgets, then yes.... yes it was.

 

Lovely.. (typical GP response, 笑)

 

Actually that wasn't it at all -- the Thailand story was the one w/ the woods. The train station toilet was much more surreal, mainly b/c it happened so quickly (and at about 7:30 AM).

 

gp - totally want to hear that story


just got in last night, so far japan is awesome and much easier to navigate than I thought - everyone is really friendly and polite here it's weird...probably helps I learned to say alot of japanese phrases so it at least seems like I'm making an attempt to fit in somewhat

already bought something in yamashiroya in ueno...what can I say I'm a sucker for kinnikuman items

 

So did you end up staying at the oak? THis whole thread has me thinking about reviving my Japan plans.

 

Yup I'm here right now. I actually uploaded a vid to my youtube account of my room:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kH9NKf-7cQ

It's not bad, about a 7 min walk from Ueno station and this morning I will walk to Akihabara. Doesn't matter if it takes 30-45 mins as I'm used to the walk (I walk my dogs 1.5-2hrs day) plus I've been up since 3am local time. Probably just scouting prices today in aki and likely won't buy anything as I hit up the Tokyo Dome to watch the Giants play the Carp.

I'll likely keep updating my youtube as I take vids and may start a flickr or something to upload photos.


btw - i noticed penn as your location, you may notice my Steelers SBXLIII champs cap in the video and that's what I'm wearing all around Tokyo, except at the baseball game where I'll wear my Red Sox cap

 

It's not that exciting... not as much as the Thailand one. I was just on my way to work, and of course, at exactly the halfway point between my home and the station, I had to take the most massive shit ever. This is like 7 in the morning. I make a mad dash for the station for some reason. There was a Dotour about 50 yards away from the station. I wasn't sure if it was open though, so I made my descent into the subway, where the only male can was in use. I really fucking panicked as I was far beyond turtle head at this point. So, what did I do? Ran into the women's shitter, only to find a big massive turd on the floor (no joke -- Japnese style toilet, where someone missed). In disgust, I ran back to the mens where the guy was thankfully done, and I proceeded to do my sinful business.

I specifically remember in the Thailand incident above, I told God I would never complain about toilets again as long as any one I used was at least as good as the one in Thailand (which wasn't hot, but liveable). This goes to show that God isn't into making deals.

 

aki is pretty damn cool - you definately have to price things out before you buy and do research because I see items for 15,000Y one place then down the road for 8,500. I've really only been buying kinnikuman items as it's hard to get and very expensive outside of Japan. You can buy off yahoo japan but the bid fees and shipping...eeeeeek. I already have all my money "spent" I'm just looking to find things cheaper now. Mandarake has neo-geos for 12,600 which ain't bad.

one tip I'd give anyone, always take the elevator to the top floor of the store and walk your way down...don't be a stud and start from the bottom and walk up the stairs to each floor

after like the tenth store you start to feel it, trust me



I need to find an arcade where I can get some good SFIV matches in. The only downside to being alone on the trip, I'd love someone to film me whooping ass on the machine.

 

Try Club Sega (or whatever they changed the name to --- HiTech maybe) right across from Akihabara station (B1). They've got some good competition for other fighting games. I assume SFIV as well.

 

Yep I noticed it, the Steelers tattoo in your avatar was a tip off as well. I thought you had mentioned you were from Canada, any ties to PA or is it just a football thing?

Anyway not a bad little room there. I'll keep an eye on your youtube channel as I'd love to see some more videos. Hopefully this winter I'll be in a better position to get myself to Japan and have some fun doing my own exploration.

Quick bathroom story. I was on my way through Lansdale to catch a train to Philly extremely early and basically nothing was opened yet. I parked in a lot and started to make my way to the station when my stomach hit me bad. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut by a rhino and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I would be through. Apparently there was to be some bike fest thing later that day so there were port-o-johns everywhere, but the bastards had them all PADLOCKED! In my haste to evacuate my bowels I ran frantically from out house to out house until I spotted a loose piece of rebar and used it to rip the lock off of one of them. I lunged inside sweating and in pain. Not 5 minutes later I emerged feeling like a new man.

I still wonder if anyone noticed me darting around the streets roughing up port-o-johns like a mad man.