In Japan

I'm finally here. After landing, it was a 2hr marathon bus ride into the city to get to my sister's workplace. Tokyo traffic is no joke... I found myself getting excited when the bus would break 30 mph. Expressway is definitely a figure of speech in this country... Finally, I reached the ANA hotel in Akasaka. From there, it was a short walk to my sister's work. Interestingly enough, I was not allowed into the actual workplace to see what its like, but forced to sit in a conference room just outside. What kind of psycho science experiments is JMI doing, that you won't let a visitor glimpse a Japanese cube/desk?!? They're probably making a real life Wolverine in there or something. And I just missed my chance to see it/him... Anyway, after taking the metro back to my sister's place, I was able to make a few observations.

First, I've forgotten what its like to be in an Asian country... small alley-like streets w/o any street signs or directions, tons of small mom/pop stores & restaurants everywhere. The directions to get to my sister's apt were something like, "take this street by the overpass, then turn right you hit the first road, then go straight until you pass 2 bars and the soda vending machine, then you're there." No way you're going to wander around here if you're not a guest or a resident.

Second, it's interesting to be in an Asian country that is super crowded of people, but drivers aren't all psycho tr ying to kill people and driving in accordance of the law. I actually saw dudes signalling lane changes. Wth, this ain't Asia!!! The driver inside was probably kow-towing to my commuter bus too while he was at it. When I finally got here, we were hungry so went out to eat at this local ramen place. I foolishly ordered some spicey ramen dish, which was like eating stomach pain in a bowl. I immediately started feeling queezy, and had to go buy a plain bread roll from the convenience store to settle myself down. You win, Ramen store... you win.

Funny things I saw today:

1. A hotel that looked like a Rubix cube. The exterior looked like it had rows of tiny squares, and each couple of rows was painted a new color. Weird...

2. The fast lane in the streets is on the right hand side, not the left hand side. Think about it people. Just think about it.

3. My sister's toilet has a drinking fountain like thing on top of the bowl, which has no on/off switch. Once I flush, the water starts turns on. There's a hole that allows the water to fall into the top and fill up the toilet water level. So I guess if I'm ever thirsty after doing my thang, I'm in good shape then...