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(under construction) Visited Tokyo Tower Visited and had lunch at Balai Indonesia Visited Yoyogi Mosque Had dinner at Indonesian Embassy

There is no denying that the train system in Japan is truely amazing.  You can get anywhere you need to in the country by taking the trains, and local subways systems interconnect with mid and long range trains.  The mass transit system is a model that every other developed country in the world should aspire too.  It puts my own home town of Washington DC to complete shame.There are some hazards to the train system for Gaijin (foreigners).   The biggest issue I...

These are just some of my favorite photos from the first leg of my world tour. Starting off with Japan, then Taiwan, Korea & China. This blog chronicles my travels over the first part of my adventure. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do. :D

Arriving at Tokyo Central Station after a 40 minute trip from Chiba, we quickly found the Shinkansen platform. Next, we purchased bento (box lunches) from station concessionaires to eat on the train. My bento consisted of five finger sandwiches (three egg salad and ham on white, two tuna on wheat).   Our luggage had been sent on ahead to Kyoto in Japanese traveling style. There is no room for luggage other than carry-on on the Shinkansen and no checked luggage. The hotel made arra...

Day 9: We woke up, packed, and checked out. Today was the day that we left Tokyo and ventured to other parts of Japan. We first went to Ueno station to eat breakfast (was craving american food) and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We then went back to Minami-Senju to drop off our stuff in a large box they call a hotel room, only took what we needed. I'm not sure if this was a wise decision, but we had fairly large luggage and didn't know where to leave it, so we got a room for a week at the ...

One Louis Vuitton, two Louis Vuittons, three Louis Vuittons - oh, and there’s a Gucci bag. Tokyoites love high fashion handbags (or satchels for men) so much, I wonder if they are created with these accessories like Barbie and Ken dolls. It seems that a Western designer bag is a necessity, immaterial of one’s status. But are any of them real? Well, apparently they are. Expensive brands symbolise wealth and worldliness of such importance that some Japanese will buy a brand rather t...

Some glimpses of the first signs of Spring in Tokyo. The sun was out and it felt warm after a long winter..the cherries have started blossoming in some places...I cant wait for them to cover Tokyo fully and its just two weeks away!!!

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:58:30 EST The Tokyo subway stations is really humbling me.  They have 4 different types with varied pay amounts - same number of stations like in NYC, 400+. I kept going to the wrong station today to get back to my hostel.  My japanese is as good as my German - mediocre.  I finally found a white guy who directed me to the right place.  I was getting desperate bec not alot of people speaks English. Today was my first sight seeing day and I went to the ...

  Today I set out to acquire my “visa re-entry permit.” A moderately simple task one would assume. Well don’t forget the old adage that “to assume only makes an ass out of you and me.” And in Japan my friend, Gaijin, are always made an ass of and as with everything else in this lovely country there is a process to be followed.   Naturally my first instinct was simply to have my passport, gaijin card, and some Yen. Now all I need to do is find the immigration office. &n...

Tokyo, in considerable contrast to the varied nature of Kyoto is ALL about bright lights and big city! Particularly at night, the whole place looks like the streets of a video game like need for speed or fast and furious.While in Tokyo we've been to a few different areas - none of them looking a whole lot different but being very different in vibe. First place is where we've been staying - Ginza, this place was one of the first areas to get modernised and despite that still manages to fee...

To summarize everything that happened in the last two days, the tour started off with a bang. Got to meet my tour guide, and for the most part... I'm in Tokyo right now. Did a lot of partying and yesterday I spent wandering around Rappongi Hills. Revisited Shibuya and Harajuku once more, because we wont be back there for a while. The JR trains were always full, so we took Express most of the way back. So today marks he first day of our tour, and I got to see a lot of shrines and temples... li...

26th Feb Ok well landing was interesting, clouds down till about 50/60 feet! Most of the tops of the buildings were in the clouds, wierd! Got thru the airport fine but then realised that the only thing I knew about my accomodation was it`s name. I had no idea how to actually get there. At this point I couldn`t help but smile, what the f**k am I doing? I`m in japan with no clue where to go or how to get there. Thankfully the kind people at tourest info managed to figure out what train I need...

After our horrible package tour experience in Shanghai some 7 months back, we've sworn it off for good! So yes I rather get lost in a city than being lugged around in a bus by some bitchy queer with a microphone. You end up having no recollection of the wonderful city (I have to go back someday) other than the jewelry and medicine factories they forced you to go to.  Which btw, don't ever buy anything from those because they're all so expensive and FAKES!!  So we're on our own in To...

When I thought about choosing a place where I could spend my exchange semester, I knew that I would love to do it either in South America or Japan. Considering both possibilities Japan suddenly won and I spent there one of the best times of my entire life. I just love that country, its history and customs. It's so mysterious and it's just a question if you dare to make the attempt to discover its secrets.

It was my second day and my first activity was a morning walk to the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo.  It was raining and very chilly outside so I had to buy the very "in" transparent, plastic umbrella.  While walking around the Imperial Palace and "freezing" ... I was quite a amazed that there were still a number of joggers with minimal clothing!  The rains did not dampened my spirits that day and I proceeded to Asakusa Temple complex and explored this nice place.  Lots of sh...