I will trample a child

I have to applaud Stefanie. I never realized quite what she had to go through when traveling with Aaron until now. It is hard to really grasp everything it takes but I will try.

We left the comforts of the Hyatt in Xi'an yesterday around 4pm. We were only about 2 miles from the train station but carrying 40lbs of stuff on our backs we did not want to walk it. Being so close to the train station most taxi drivers do not want to take you, so we waited through about 10 cabs before one guy agreed to take us. Now the train station is at the end of one of the main roads and most drivers don't go all the way in to avoid traffic. So our driver drops us about 200 yards from the station. All the way to the station there are people sitting around, most with homemade looking luggage or sacks. There are also people asking to carry your bag for you, people selling beverages and food and some people just walking around. Now this might sound to bad but in front of the train station is an area about the size of 3 football fields and people are everywhere. People sitting, laying, standing, all waiting for their train. And this is where it gets fun.

They are not real big on lines in China. I remember reading that in Beijing they started a monthly Don't Cut the Line day to prepare people for the Olympics. At McDonald's the other day I had 3 people cut in front of me when I was trying to order. So you can imagine the fun that begins when the train station tries to funnel 500 people into a pathway that is wide enough for 2 people across. Trying to use our big bags and larger size, Justin and I got in "line" near the start of the metal gates. For a mental picture, think of a Y where the top of the Y is all people tyring to get into the lower part of the Y. After much pushing, shoving and lots of sweat, Justin was near where the gate started. I was a few people behind him. As Justin was being pushed into the gateway by the people behind he had a choice to make: hold the people off or crush the child next to him with his bag. I would have crushed the kid, but Justin held off, let the kid go then lifted his bag to get around the pole. I was a few people behind, having to cut some guy off who was trying to squeeze by. Through all this I was carrying the bag from the Hyatt that held our "dinner" for the evening. Somewhere in the fray it got ripped and was dangling by one line. But it didn't matter we were in the security area and people were actually forming lines! I was shocked.

Then the announcement came over the loud speaker. I have no idea what it said but I assume something about a train leaving soon. Suddenly our line crumbled and 5 guys rushed to the front. Then all hell broke loose. We pushed and shoved again, using our bags to clear a way. At one point 2 women carrying a huge water jug type thing using 3 poles over their shoulders got in front of me. I have never hit a women but I was damn ready to. But we eventually got through the line and into the building, where things calmed down some. We gathered ourselves at a pole until the security guard told us not to stand there. I showed him my ticket and he signaled for us to go through the door around the corner. Outside the line for our train looked about the same as outside, tons of people laying around, homemade luggage, no line. But through the doors to the soft sleeper waiting area was Heaven. All leather chairs, air conditioning, snack bar and no crowds. I had the biggest smile on my face and we got a good laugh out of it. The next group of white people to come in had the same shit eating grin on their faces and laughed as they entered.

We eventually boarded the train, settling into our 4 bed sleeper. We had bought all 4 beds, not wanting to share with anyone else and locked the door. It was an 18 hour train and it was only 5pm, so we started reading and just bs'ing. We ate our dinner which consisted of Pringles, Koala chocolate filled cookies, rice cakes, French rolls, M&Ms and a Coke. All the things a growing boy needs. The train made a lot of stops through the trip and after a few stops our locked door suddenly opened. The attendant looked in, then looked up at our 2 empty beds. Having read somewhere that trains in Vietnam or China will sometimes stick people in your beds even if you paid for all 4 we got worried. For the next 2 hours and countless stops we waited for our new roommates. When the attendant opened the door again we froze, praying. She looked in again, then closed it and locked it. We still weren't convinced and spent the time joking about how shitty it was going to be to get 2 farmers in there with us. We were not happy.

Thankfully it never happened. I fell asleep somewhere around midnight, waking up almost every hour as the train continued to stop. I finally got up around 9 am and decided I had to urinate. Now here is where Stefanie deserves every caret of her wedding ring. Opening the door to the train bathroom the first thing you notice is the smell. Stale urine. The next thing you notice is that the door handle is wet when you close the door behind you. Then you see the liquid sloshing on the floor. You try your best to avoid it as you position yourself over the metal hole in the ground and take aim, all the time the train bouncing back and forth. There is a handle at the front on the hole on the wall for girls or guys to hold if they must squat. But it does not look like something you want to touch if your life depended on it. Once finished with your business you again feel the wet handle of the door and run back to your room. I immediately pull out a wet wipe and grind the skin from my hands trying to get them clean.

Our train trip ended up being 20 hours and we arrived in Shanghai around 1pm. A quick trip on the subway got us to the start of our directions to the hostel. But they are quite bad. 150 meters turned into close to a mile, before we ran into 2 other people also looking for the hostel. With the rain coming down the whole time we were not happy people. We eventually found the place and were surprised how nice it really is. Our room has a TV, a/c, private bath, and a desk with a chair. Pretty much a regular hotel room at hostel price. Plenty of computers with free internet access, a bar with food and English movies shown nightly. We changed the trip around a little, giving ourselves 3 nights in Shanghai and 1 less night in Hong Kong. Should save us a little money in the end and give us more time to explore the Shanghai in Hangzhou area. But that can all wait until tomorrow. For now it is a good nights sleep in a real bed (that is still stiff as a board).

Xi'an...not so much

I take back a good part of what good I said about Xi'an. It is still crowded and the people are still crazy, wondering into the middle of the street with traffic coming. The one street we are staying on seems to be the only really nice street in town. The rest is all old neighborhoods hidden behind the facade of nice new store fronts. Without the Terracotta Warriors I think this town can be skipped on my trips. Some of the more interesting sites we have seen:

• 1 armed homeless man singing karaoke on the street corner with a portable amp
• 8-12 year old kid pull his pants down and pee on sidewalk, facing traffic
• 2 homeless kids poking the glass at McDonald's trying to get us to pay attention to them
• a child going into convulsions when he came around the corner and saw us. I swear he started shaking and let out a small scream
• street vendors selling corn on the cob as snacks
• a lot more beggars. I don't remember any in Beijing

Xi'an does have blue skies and some modern development but it is not quite up to par with Beijing. The capital has many more sites to see and is probably more deserving of a trip than Xi'an.

Now the time has come for us to say good bye to Xi'an and the luxury of the Hyatt. We are in hostels for the next 35 days before arriving in Johannesburg. It is an 18 hour train ride today and into tomorrow to Shanghai. We loaded up on snacks in case the dining car sucks. But the store had no bags so Justin and I had to walk down the street carrying handfuls of snack food. I am sure we have never looked so American since we got here. Our class continued as we walked into the Hyatt and asked them for a bag to store all the food in. I bet they will be glad to be rid of us.

We're classy people

Taking full advantage of our 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms we did what anyone staying in a 5 star hotel would do with their extra bathroom; laundry. Yes we filled the sick up with water and poured a packet of laundry detergent in. I was on the washing line, scrubbing my dirty clothes, underwear and all, then Justin's. I am hoping this is as close as we get on this trip. Justin had the rinse and hang duty, standing in the tub and running the clothes under the faucet and hanging them on the shower rod. We even ran out of room on the shower rod and had to use our rope line, strung across the bathroom twice to hang everything. Nothing wrong with two dudes washing each others underwear in the sink with no shirts on... pictures coming unfortunately.

By morning the clothes were not dry, so we moved them over by the window, using our rope line again, this time tied to the desk and a doorknob. We set the Do Not Disturb sign hoping the maids wouldn't come in, fearing they may kick us out when they see clothes hanging all around the room.

At 9 this morning we met up with our tour guide for the Terracotta Soldiers and other sites of interest around Xi'an. The first stop was to the Big Goose Pagoda. Nothing to interesting here, just a 7 story pagoda and some little temples that told the story of some Buddhist guy that went to India, studied with a master, came back to China and was basically the shit. I couldn't gather everything the guide was saying, but that is the story I am sticking with. The one interesting thing about the pagoda was they were having a ceremony for the quake victims. So they had lots of monks set up facing the pagoda all chanting and praying together. I got a quick video of them that I will put up when I can.

After the pagoda was a trip to the porcelain factory. Supposedly it is the official factory for making Terracotta soldier replicas. They gave us a 5 minute tour of how the soldiers are made and how the porcelain pots are made, then funneled us into the show room and gave us the hard sell. I relented eventually and got a 7-8 inch General statue and a porcelain piggy bank for Annie. Justin splurged, having not bought anything in Japan, and got a 15 inch soldier. I guess it can keep the lawn gnome company in Charlotte.

After the factory we loaded up for the Terracotta soldiers. There are 3 separate pits for viewing, each within a building or hanger. The first pit is massive and has the most standing soldiers. Apparently almost all of them are in pieces and they have to put them back together before putting them in line. The sheer number of the soldiers is pretty impressive as is some of the detail work done on them. We walked around, snapped some pictures and headed to the next pit. It was not quite as impressive, still in excavation and not many soldiers restored. The third pit was again pretty massive but not well excavated either. It did have glassed in examples of each of the solider types as well as some of the weapons. After the pits we watched a movie about the Emperor that created all of this and how they came to be found. The video was forgettable, probably made 25 years ago. The old man that discovered the soldiers is still there, signing books that cost way to much. Unfortunately we could not get a picture with him.

After the Terracotta warriors it was off to Banpo Village or some other name I don't care to remember. It was basically another 1880s town, except this one was supposed to be 6000 year old sun worshippers. Color me uninterested. Looking at holes in the ground that they say are houses doesn't get my engine going. At this point in the day it was close to 100 degrees and we had been at it for about 6 hours. Everyone was getting a little tired we we made our last stop at the East Gate of the wall. Xi'an is the only city in China that still has its old city wall still intact. We climbed to the top of the East Gate, looked around, saw our hotel from the top and everyone agreed it was time to leave, especially our German tour mates (the German guy basically called Justin and I girls when he asked what German beers we liked. The only non crap beer from there I know is George Schnieder Edelweiss to which he replied "that is not real beer, it is Bavarian"). We all loaded up, headed back to the Hyatt and into our room.

To our horror the maids had come through the room, folding some of the clothes and making the beds. I can't imagine what they thought when they came into the room. Good news for us is they did not kick us out. Bad news is the maids closed the blinds so the clothes got no sunlight and are still damp. Hopefully that works itself out before we jump on the train tomorrow for Shanghai.

I am still a big deal

So after consuming some scorpions and grasshoppers, skewered and deep fried (they taste like nothing by the way and pictures coming soon) we said our good byes to the Red Lantern Inn and headed for the train station. This being our first train trip in China we got to the station about 3 hours early and proceeded to wait for 2.5 of those. Once the train showed up we packed into our little room and locked the door. The room was actually fairly nice, 2 beds and a private bathroom (we splurged). Other than hearing the guy in the room next to ours snoring the ride was not bad at all. The only weird part was when we stopped entirely about 20 minutes after we started and sat on the tracks for a good 30 minutes before moving. After that it was lights out and sleeping until 9 the next morning when the attendant woke us to collect our trash. Overall it was not a bad first train trip experience. 12 hours, of which we slept about 10 or so. The only bad part was the lack of food or at least our lack of adventuring spirit to find the dining car. So we broke bread and split a loaf I had bought at the convenience store before leaving. Not the most fulfilling dinner but it worked.

Once we arrived in Xi'an we walked out of the train station hoping to grab a taxi to the Hyatt. Instead we found Petter (that is not a typo, at least not one I made). He was a local guy who worked for a site seeing tour company it seemed. He kept assuring us he was legit and even showed us a book of past customer comments. He tried to get us to go to the Terra Cotta warriors today but having just arrived we wanted to get checked in first. Surprisingly he did not charge us for the ride to the hotel.

In the Hyatt they let us check in early (9:30 am) and informed us we had been upgraded to a junior suite. The suite consist of 2 rooms, one a sitting room and the other a bedroom with 2 beds, and 2 bathrooms. It is pretty damn nice and it seems our VIP treatment continues. We lounged around for a while, took showers and went to use the internet. Unfortunately the Hyatt assumes everyone staying there is rich and wanted 2.5RMB per minute for using their computers. We checked email real quick, then signed off and booked our Terra Cotta trip with the Hyatt people for tomorrow. Having the rest of the day off we went walking around downtown Xi'an looking for a cheaper internet cafe. Some how we stumbled upon a huge mall being built and half open near the Bell Tower. We walked around it for a while, marveling at how much nicer Xi'an seems to be over Beijing. Not nearly as many people, a little bit nicer buildings at least on the street we walked down, and I could actually see blue in the sky. Eventually we stumbled into an internet cafe, which is like a warehouse of computer terminals, with huge fans running and 100 degrees. Not quite as nice as the Hyatt but at 20RMB for 2 hours for 2 people the price makes it much more appealing.

Tomorrow is Terra Cotta warriors and some other sites around Xi'an. Sunday is another train ride down to Shanghai for 2 nights. That ride is a bit longer so I may have to pack 2 loaves of bread.

I am kind of a big deal

So this is going to be long as I have not updated in a while. Last we left off Justin and I were cowering in our rooms scared to death. By the next morning we had adjusted a little and realized our hostel is pretty damn nice. The hostel is located in an old hutong which is an alleyway with courtyards. All the rooms are situated around 2 courtyards, one open air with tables to lounge at and the other covered, where they serve meals, have computers and have the reception desk. It is all family run and the family lives on the property also so you constantly see people around, with kids and everything. Makes it much for comfortable because they are all friendly and most speak some English. It is also located in what must be the music district. The street outside the hostel is lined with musical instrument shops. There are about 2 dozen guitar shops, violin shops, flutes, and almost every instrument around, both western and eastern. Most days the owners are sitting outside practicing so we constantly see young guys wailing on the guitar, old guys playing violin and other instruments. We also very well located, one street over from Forbidden City and right next to a bus stop that takes us to almost every major attraction. And for any cat lovers out there, in the entry way to the alley lives a family of cats, 4-5 kittens and mom. See the pictures for one of them all sleeping on top of each other.

So after realizing our place is pretty cool, the first morning we got up and out in a hurry, planning to do Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Being public transportation masters and after seeing how taxi drivers drive in this city, we jumped on a bus to Tiananmen Square. We definitely get a lot more stares here than in Japan but more on that later. Riding public transportation gets us even more as almost every other white person is with a guide or tour group. But that is cheating. After getting off at the Square we walked from the bottom to the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Square is rather hard to describe because it is so massive and until you are standing in the middle of it I don't think you can grasp its size. The mausoleum to Mao is equally as big as are the gates to the Forbidden City. As soon as we entered the Forbidden City some random guy asked me if he could take a picture with me. No idea why, I assume it is because I am ridiculously good looking. The Forbidden City is again impossible to do justice without seeing it in person. The scale is immense and the amount of detail on some the carvings is crazy. We walked around it for a good hour or 2 and still did not touch the east or west corridors. After Forbidden City we had lunch at a forgettable restaurant then decided since we like walking so much we'd head to the Temple of Heavenly peace. I don't think a lot of white people walk that stretch between the two as we got a lot of stares, a lot of people looking then telling their friends to look and at least one guy who tried to talk to us in Chinese. We enjoyed the Temple of Heaven since there are no people trying to hawk souvenirs to you and no but asking if you want to go to the Great Wall. It was also where we got our first taste of rainy season in Asia. Feeling the wind pick up we sat on the side of the temple as the skies opened up and released a flood. It was a good hour of rain but gave us a much needed break. Once the rain tapered off we walked to the east exit towards the Pearl Market. On the way we walked past the rest of the people at the temple who were killing time by playing games, cooking, eating and playing hacky sack. It is pretty cool to see a 60 year old group of women playing hacky sack and being pretty damn good at it. Now the Pearl Market is like nothing I have ever seen before. Japan had its huge shopping arcades but the Pearl Market is a 4 story building jammed pack with different stalls selling everything from luggage, clothes, jewelry and electronics. And as you pass every stall the people working it yell at you to come buy something. I think I ever heard one lady yell "I'll kill you" trying to get a guys attention. Making eye contact is a big no no as they will hound you even more. We tried to pretend we did not speak English but I don't think it helped much. After about 5 minutes we had of share and ran out. Being so far south from our hotel we decided to find a cab but the first cab driver we showed the address to shook his head no. So we walked back to Tiananmen Square (we love our walking) and jumped back on the bus again overshooting our stop since we realized we had no idea where we got on. After that it was a mental note to always see where we got on so we could get back.

Once back in the hostel we decided to try out their food. They have a varied menu, with everything from American breakfast all day to asian cuisine, pizza, sandwiches, pasta and traditional Chinese. All of it is very well priced (26RMB for most, so like $4) which makes this hostel even better. After all the walking we went to the rooms to sleep, knowing we had to get up at 7am for our trip to the Great Wall the next day. End day 1.

Day 2. Up at 630 for the 2 hour drive out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. On the way we passed the Bird's Nest, Olympic Stadium and the Water Cube, the swimming park. We did not get close as the roads around it are still under construction. But it was cool to see in person and once again the Chinese do everything large. The stadium is gigantic and without being close to it for a photo people would not understand how big it is. The next 2 hours were spent driving to the outside of the city through some of the rural areas to get to the Great Wall. We got there around 9 in the morning which was great because it was relatively deserted and the vendors had not opened yet to harass us. We took the ski lift to the top since I did not want a repeat of the Grand Canyon trying to hike to the top (it was far). The Great Wall is pretty great, extending into the distance as far as you can see, along the ridge of a mountain. Being there early the clouds were still lingering around and it looked like the wall continued into the clouds at spots. We walked probably a good mile of it with my legs finally giving out as we ascended a very steep section. I had to sit, then lay down to keep from throwing up, but on the plus side I took in the Great Wall from all angles. Justin skipped like a little elf to the top of the last section before turning around and coming back down to me. We then walked the mile back to where we started, trying to kill the 4 hours we had on the wall before lunch. After 2 hours or so we decided we had taken in enough and loaded up for the ride down. Now the ride down is a 3 minute luge ride on a little cart. Probably not the safest thing in the world but it was pretty fun and I videotaped the whole trip down, although parts of it are obscured by my leg as I hid the camera from the staff on the way down. At the bottom I got to try out my bargaining skills buying my first China souvenir, a t-shirt. At the first the lady wanted 185RMB($25) but I got her down to 35RMB($5) so I felt proud. After the wall our driver took us down to a restaurant for lunch. Only 5 of us were on the trip but the lunch was about 15 dishes of food which gave us the chance to sample lots of different cuisine. It was very good and worth the price. The whole trip was 260RMB($40) but covered 2 hours out, 4 hours at the wall, lunch and 2 hours back. Not a bad price and all arranged through the hostel, so another big plus for them. Its called Red Lantern house by the way in case anyone was wondering.

On the trip to the Great Wall we met a couple from California who were doing a round the world trip similar to ours. We talked to them a lot and decided to take in the acrobatics show with them when we got back. We arrived to the show a little late which worked out in our favor. We paid for the cheap seats but for some reason they sat us in the VIP section. Again I am going with the ridiculously good looking reason. The show was kind of like a kids circus, except the kids were really good. They had everything from gymnast, magicians, balancing acts, strength acts and contortionist. I should probably feel bad for the kids as it is a grueling training regime they are put through but at least they are doing something. Better than the kids peeing in the street we keep seeing. After the show we came back to the hostel, ordered some 22 oz beers for 4RMB($.75) and sat around with John and Laura and talked. Turns out they will be in Thailand around the same time we will so we exchanged emails and planned to take in the kickboxing match together. So that is a big fu to anyone that thought we are not social people. We also met 3 people from France and a girl from Britain. We are quite the social butterflies.

The next day we decided to check out the summer palace, via a boat trip up the canal from the zoo. The zoo is actually pretty far away and the palace even further, so we took the bus to the zoo, planning to take the boat up the canal and then cab all the way back. The boat ticket actually gave us free entry to the zoo, so we walked around and saw the animals. Lots of pandas doing what pandas seem to do best; nothing. One panda was sitting in the water and looked like a fat kid relaxing. See the pictures. Picked up my second souvenir by buying a small stuffed panda doll, with the proceeds going to a charity to rebuild the Panda Conservation Center in Chengdu. Apparently it got wrecked in the earthquake. I felt like a good person. The boat ride up the canal was a little boring, with the announcer talking in Chinese the whole time. Luckily for us the lady behind was spoke English and filled us in that we had to switch boats to go to the palace and how to buy tickets for the palace. She seemed pretty shocked that we did not speak any Chinese are were not here with a tour group. I guess most foreigners don't risk it, but its made for some interesting adventures. The Summer Palace was a pretty nice, set on a huge man made lake. From a beauty standpoint it surpasses the Forbidden City. We climbed to the top of the palace temple which was a good distance but gave a great view of the palace and the lake. Justin got asked to pose for a picture with some random girl and a group of school kids passing us all gasped as they walked by. Again, us = better looking than most white people.

When we had our fill of the palace we decided to head home. The palace has 4 gates, one in each direction and at the advice of our English speaking friend we headed out the north gate to catch a cab. Unfortunately it let out into an alleyway and we did not see any cabs. We walked a little bit to see if we could find one but all we found was a guy in a black car (non official taxi) who asked if we wanted a ride. Knowing better we said no. He immediately got out of his car and took the taxi sign off the top which shows just how sketchy it was. We went back into the palace and walked to the east gate where the real adventure began. A cab there said the zoo was to far and we should take the boat back. So he drove us to the boat loading area, a distance of about 300 yards. Once there we bought a boat ticket, but the zoo was closed the lady said and they would have to take us to the Exhibition Center. Having no other option we said OK. Now the tickets said the boats stopped running at 4 and it was 4:30. But she said one more was coming at 5. I don't think they were really supposed to take us but the ticket lady said something to the boat and they let us on. Being the only ones on the boat we figured they were doing us a favor, even more so when they started cleaning and the boat and closing all the windows. At the changing point the lady had us follow her to a waiting speed boat. Again we were the only 2 people on the boat and it seemed like these guys were delivering food up and down the canal. The zoo was definitely closed but the canal runs right through it to the Exhibition Center so the guy gunned the engine and we took off. At times they had lines in the water meant to stop boats from going passed. No problem for our guy who would gun the engine, lift the prop and glide over the lines. Everything seems to be negotiable here, even closed canals. At the Exhibition Center the guys unloaded the food and dropped us off. We thanked them then walked towards the main street hoping to catch some sort of bus home. Our 111 bus showed up a little down the road and we hopped on and headed home. It was quite the adventure home and I think we have now used every form of transportation possible.

After we raced home we dropped our day bags and headed out for the duck restaurant. After walking in a circle we eventually found it in the Western District. It was one of the best meals I have ever had for about $20 each. The duck was delicious and the restaurant had a stage with entertainers constantly performing. It was like a grown up version of the acrobat show. After stuffing ourselves with duck we headed back on the bus to the hostel, where we ran into John and Laura again. Apparently they missed their train down Hong Kong and were here for 2 more nights. We had some more beers and decided to head to a market with them today before our train leaves. So now I am sitting in the hostel getting ready to eat scorpions, sea horses, centipedes and whatever weird shit they have down there. Not sure I will actually eat it all, we'll see. Tonight is the first overnight train to Xi'an. Hopefully the updates wont come so few and far between so the post are not this long each time. Lots and lots of new pictures and a few videos.

Hostel Laundry 101 - Hanging Clothes to Dry

When one is attempting to do laundry in a hostel, drying is very important. When dealing with delicate fabrics the standard issue dryer with 1 heat setting may not be suitable. In this case, using a piece of rope from the nearby convenience store one can fashion a clothes line within the room. However one should always remember to secure the line to a stable, fixed object. Using a cheap, file cabinet looking locker that weighs less than a wet phonebook is not the best choice, as we learned the hard way. After stringing the line from the door to the locker to the nail in the wall above my head, we threw all our wet laundry up. It barely fit but we were quite proud ourselves, with high fives all around. As Justin got up to use the bathroom before turning in for the night he opened then door and set in motion a catastrophic chain of events. As he opened the door it pulled the line, which was anchored to the locker. The locker was not to sturdy or heavy and as the line pulled the locker began to topple over. With his back to locker Justin had no idea and with me in bed there was very little I could do. As I leaped from the bed, throwing my blankets all over the floor, I grabbed the locker just before it crashed into the ground but to late to stop all the clothes from falling on the floor. Our victory seemed to be short lived.

That actually happened our last night in Kyoto, but I totally forgot until looking at pictures. Osaka itself was a little boring, the highlight of the town being the enormous covered shopping district in Namba, 2 meals at Wendys and of course the claw game victory from the earlier post. We flew out for China Sunday afternoon and after a 3 hour flight arrived in Beijing. The airport in Beijing is massive and after waiting around for 30 minutes our ride to the hostel showed up. Quick 30 minute car ride where I thought I may die a few times and we arrived at the hostel.

Now when the driver pulled off the main road into an alleyway I was pretty sure we were about to be robbed. I saw nothing that looked like a hostel anywhere and lots of people eyeing us suspiciously. But the driver led us down a little more and into the entry way. We checked in with the girl working the counter, Winnie her name tag read, and she told us we were staying in their other building 7 minutes walk down the road. Then she said someone would come to help us with our bags. Our saviour showed up on a bicycle with a cart attached to the back. We threw the bags in and followed him down the road, dodging traffic along the way. We pulled into another alley, a traditional Chinese hutong and into our room. Still a little spooked we settled into the room realizing we had come a long way from our shiny room at the Hyatt.

Victory!

I am an addict. I freely admit that. I think somewhere it says admission is the first step to recovery. I hope that is so. I thought I had kicked my habit a while ago. Then I got to Japan. The temptation was just to much, with pushers seemingly on every street corner. At first I was able to ignore the temptation, only looking but never partaking. Then I tried one. The rush was to much and before I knew it I was spending 500 yen a pop, sometimes more. No my addiction is not drugs, alcohol or even pornography. Mine is much worse because the satisfaction is so much harder to come by. My problem is claw games, or Chasing the Dragon Claw as I call it. Japan is the Mecca of claw games and I am like a fat kid in the candy store with a fist full of money. With arcades on almost every street corner there are thousands of claw games always on the first floor of the arcade, easily visible from the street for those weak willed individuals that pass by. From 3 prong claws, to 2 prong, to nets, to pushers, grabbers, tilters, pokers, pullers and suckers. You name it and I have played it. The prizes inside are even better. From stuffed animals to food, toys to key chains, iPods to iPhones and my personal favorites women's underwear and anime costumes. I actually spent 6 dollars trying to win a maid outfit, not that I have anyone to give it to but winning a maid outfit from claw game just sounded to good to pass up. I had lost almost all hope of winning anything until I saw the net game. It was a new one to me so I figured I had to play it. It spins a net around, opening it up and then you position it to drop on top of the stuffed animal you want, where a weighted chain around the bottom of the net keeps it closed over the animal. It is quite ingenious and I had to play. On the 4th attempt I was victorious and the proud owner of a blue bear in a bonnet. And as horrible as the prize was I was ecstatic. I was all smiles and good feelings, the dopamine levels in my head sky rocketing. I carried the bear with pride through the lobby of our hotel, not paying any attention the stares coming my way. I did not care because I had caught the dragon.

Claw games will be one of the few things I will miss about Japan as we spend our last night in country. Heading for China next I am sure I will miss the ease of getting Western food when needed (such as the Wendy's I enjoyed for lunch today). I will also miss the bathrooms on almost every street corner and the arcades that I could so easily pop into if the need arose. The signs written in both English and Japanese will be sorely missed as we try to navigate around the rest of the world. And most of all I will miss the fashion sense of most of the young women in this country. I get the feeling girls in China will not dress in tiny skirts or shorts with knee high stockings. Its been a good time in Japan and having been here twice now I will not say that this is my last time coming here. It doesn't quite have the ancient sites of the other parts of the world, but Japan definitely has a style all their own.

Off to China in the morning to continue our whirlwind tour of the world. Some long train rides await us, such as the 22 hours between Xian and Shanghai. If we dont kill ourselves or each other I think it will make for an interesting experience.

I hate white people

White people are ruining my Kyoto experience. I am not sure if it is the time of the year or the city, but I have seen more white people per square mile in Kyoto than I ever saw in Tokyo. From old tour groups to groups of high schoolers they are everywhere. The funny thing is we never see them on the public transportation (which we have become quite adept at using) or in the traditional Japanese restaurants, like our yakitori or pork cutlet place (side note, apparently cat fish in Japan is called cattle fish, at least according to the engrish menu). At times I feel like I am back in DC. I guess they can add Kyoto to the list of Stuff White People Like.

We got off to a late start today. The two beers we had on the roof of the hostel really did a number on me. Getting going at 1030 I was kind of looking forward to a relaxing day. But poor directions had better plans for me. After taking the subway towards the monkey park we got off at what look liked a stop near the park. But alas the bus map was not quite to scale. By not to scale I mean we had to walk another 3 miles just to get to the base of the monkey hill. Hungry, tired and a little mad we then had to make the trek up the hill, which was no small feat. Apparently the monkeys like the cooler weather so they live at the very top. It was a good 20 minute walk to the top and having seen no monkeys on the way I was a little skeptical that this was going to be worth the 500 yen we paid to get in. Then I saw a monkey in a tree, then another off the side of the road. Then I saw one in the road directly in front of me. As I passed George, as I liked to call him, we opened up to the observation deck, which was monkey paradise. It is a little nerve wracking to walk into a field of about 30-40 monkeys just milling around, climbing the building and screeching at each other. Once we got used to it we walked around, took some pictures and fed them. The little bastards would climb the fence of the feeding room, stick their little hand out and look at you with pathetic eyes. Some of them would even take the peanut, stick it in their mouth without eating it and then put their hand out again. I gave most of mine to the mom with the little baby clinging to her, figuring she needed the most nutrition.

After watching them feed we watched them go for a swim in the little pond next door. I never knew monkeys could swim but they are pretty good at it. The younger ones would jump off the edge on top of each other then chase each other around. They also seemed very intrigued with the fish swimming in the pond, reaching out and touching them as they came by but never grabbing them. We watched them wrestle for a little bit then made our way out of the park. The older monkeys were sitting in the trees watching us as we left which was a little scary again. Something about 20 monkeys sitting above you watching you walk by is a little odd.

On the way back from MonkeyLand we tried a new set of directions, using the trolley system instead of the subway. This didnt help much and put us out a mile or two west of our hotel. Dieing from hunger at this point we stopped into McDs (we did traditional food last night at a shared table in the basement of a building) and grabbed lunch. After a quick stop in the hostel to change shoes it was off to the other side of town for temples and shrines. Unfortunately most of them close at 4pm so we saw a few from a distance. But really after MonkeyLand a temple just doesn't compare.

From there it was off to the shopping arcade at Karamachi for some souvenirs. After grabbing some anime toys for Marty, the only person besides myself that truly appreciates them, we randomly stopped in a t shirt store. Once again my fashion sense was confirmed as dead on accurate. Not only did we find every DARE shirt known to man, but also high school gym shirts, old family reunion shirts and the jewel of the pack - a This Is My Costume shirt, the exact same one I have. It was like they raided my closest and were selling all my shirts, only for 10x the price I paid. We spent a good 20 minutes looking through all the shirts with huge smiles on our faces. It really made me want to go back to Salvation Army and restock my t shirt collection. Elizabeth Adams School of Dance is getting a bit dated.

After shopping around a bit for souvenirs we headed back to the hostel, dumped our bags and ran out for dinner. Tomorrow is Osaka and the Hyatt, which will be a huge improvement over our shared showers and single western shitter. Something about using a whole in the ground for the bathroom has not made me curious enough to try it yet. I think I will save that experience for when I have no choice.

Lost in translation

A few times now I have tried not to be the ugly American that only speaks English to everyone. I looked up some key Japanese phrases and did my best to pronounce them. In almost every case I felt more like a fool afterwards. At McDonalds I did my best to order a large coke, by saying "Cola, domo" hoping he would gather I wanted a large Coke. The guy behind the counter looked at me and said "large coke"? Strike 1. With the sumo guy the later that day I tried to use hand gestures to get my point across and his reply of "ok sure" made me feel silly. Strike 2. At the train station twice now I have tried to use my notepad of phrases to try to order and both times the attendant replied in English what I just asked them then told me the times in English. Strike 3, I am out. Oh well, at least I tried.

In Kyoto today we visited the Fushimi-inari shrine. It is a large complex in the mountains dedicated to the fox goddess. There is a 2km pathway leading up the mountain that is lined with thousands of red torii (archways). We walked to the top, saw the city and then headed back. It wasn't quite as bad as the Grand Canyon, but I looked like someone sprayed me with a hose by the end. After that we headed to the train station for lunch at a Italian place (we did yakitori for dinner last night on some side alley of the main street so we deserve "western food"). Next stop was Nijo Castle with the squeaky floors. That wont really make sense unless you stop by there sometime.

Kyoto is pretty heavy in the shrine department so we may take in a few more. There is also a monkey park and a bamboo forest we may check out. We saw some geishas walking around last night and a few monks praying and chanting on the bridges. So I think we have covered plenty of traditional Japanese culture.

Traditional Japan, minus the tradition

Up a little later today. Normal laziness setting in. Feet on fire from walking around for 12 hours a day. Back sore from standing all day. Yet I must persevere because... I do not like Japanese TV.

Having been to much of the city in the past two days and basically killing our bodies by walking non stop we decided yesterday would be a rest day. We wanted to take it a little slower, sample some of the more traditional Japanese culture, so we started our morning with breakfast at McDonald's. I am now a convert of the delicacy that is the McGriddle breakfast sandwich. The many blasphemies I said about it before I take back. It is cocaine for the taste buds.

We left McDs for Ueno, to check out the neighborhood and buy train tickets down to Kyoto. Using my fluent Japanese, meaning being able to say Seat Reservation and the train name, I secured two tickets. It also helped that the attendant knew how to say Tomorrow and the times in English. Either way it was our first major challenge and I was able to get by without making anyone cry this time. On the way out of the station we were stopped by a little old Japanese man, who knew quite a bit of English. I am not sure if he was drunk, homeless or just bored but he proceeded to lecture us on the downfall of traditional Japanese culture. From people paying for sushi rather than making it, to coffee drinkers instead of tea, to how expensive an orange is to the fact that 50 years ago milk and cheese did not exist in the culture. He seemed very upset about the Irish Pub in the train station and yet very pleased with the train system as a whole. When I mentioned we were going to Kyoto to see more traditional Japanese culture he seemed pleased and said how much better looking the women are. We listened to him for about 15 minutes before I got sick of it and told him we had to go. He had some valid points about the changes in Tokyo over the past 50 years but he picked the wrong people to use as a soundboard. We shopped around Ueno for a little bit, finding the Gremlin shrine in a toy store and the best t-shirt I have ever seen: Lazy Smurf with the words This Is My Lazy Shirt. I really wanted to buy it but for $60 and a woman's small I didn't think it was a good use of funds.

After Ueno we headed down to Ginza, the big modern shopping center. All the buildings are new skyscrapers with familiar stores like Prada, Brooks Brothers, etc. We did the Sony building tour and played with the gizmos which really isn't that exciting. One thing about Japan is people love to shop and with two penny pinchers like us walking around the city it eliminates about 50% of what we can do. As we walked down the street of Ginza looking for the Kabuki theatre we spotted in the distance what could only have been a mirage. As we got closer the mirage materialized into heaven on earth - Wendys. We grabbed lunch even though it was early because lets face it, there are only so many chances for Wendys in a foreign country and being connoisseurs we were not going to pass it up. The odd thing was they were playing American Top 40 music inside, so for a moment I totally forgot I was even in Japan.

Continuing with our traditional Japanese day we headed out to the Edo Tokyo Museum, which was closed. We were not real happy as we had to take 3 trains to get out there. We went over to the Sumo Arena instead and did their short museum tour, which consisted of 1 room and a whole bunch of Engrish. This part of the day was feeling like a bust until I spotted a sumo guy coming out of the building. Thinking this was our chance to get more authentic I asked if we could take a picture with him by pointing at the camera then at him, to which he replied Ok Sure. So much for authentic. It was even stranger to see a large man in a robe get on a bike and ride away, barely dodging the cab as he crossed the road. It was mid afternoon at this point and being hot, tired and full of good food we headed back to the hotel to recharge.

With still half an afternoon and an evening left in Tokyo we felt we had to get some more traditional Japanese experiences. And what better way than to head to Tokyo Disneyland. Yes you read that right, I flew half way around the world to go to Disneyland. The funny thing was it was just like regular Disneyland; long lines, cartoon characters, the castle and lots of Asian people. We did a few of the traditional rides, like Its a Small World (very creepy and very racist ride. Why must the asian creepy animatronic people have slanty eyes? of the black ones have big afros and be riding elephant tusk), Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought Justin was going to cry when Space Mountain was closed. The park over all was packed and as we watched the Light Parade pass the street opened up for everyone to cross. I thought Shibuya crossing was crazy but this blew it away. People were running, kids were getting knocked over and women were dragging their strollars. We tried to grab some food by heading over to Westernland or something like that. Little did I know that cowboys only ate curry as that was the only food on the menu. As we headed for the exit, resigning ourselves to ramen for dinner again, I spied a hot dog restaurant. Foot long dog, fries and a coke, I was a happy camper. On the way out we also tried to go into one of the stores for souvenirs but the place was insane. It was like they were having a fire sale. Shelves were bare, people running everywhere and the line to checkout at the Sugar Bank (candy store checkout line) was almost as long as the rides. As the employees tried to restock the shelves people were going through the boxes and pulling stuff out. I don't know how Disney did it, but Japanese people love their Mickey.

We got back to the hostel around 1030 and the regular hostel kids were hanging out drinking and talking. I really don't know why these people came to Japan as half of them seem to sit in the hostel all day. We slipped by without talking to anyone, hoping they would think we don't speak English, and into our room. This morning we got up, packed up the bags and headed for Kyoto. 3 hour train ride down, box lunch of some beef and god knows what veggies, 1 mile walk carrying 40 lbs and we were in our new place. Kyoto is pretty neat, definitely a little more traditional and older than Tokyo. And so far the old man was right about the women.

You all act like you've never seen a white person before

One thing I have failed to mention until now is the location of our hostel. Unlike last time I came to Japan we are staying more on the out skirts of town. This is good and bad. Bad because we have to take a train to go pretty much anywhere and once we come back it can be quite the hassle to go back out again. But also very good because we see a side of Japan that gets missed by most people. Our neighborhood is pretty quite, mostly residential with a few local shops and dining. When we leave in the morning we get to see people starting their day, like the old man down the street who runs a bike shop from what looks like his garaged but is really his house. We also see all the little kids, like 6 and under, walking to the subway to go to school in their uniforms. The girl this morning was having trouble walking with a backpack, lunch pale and her hat continually falling off. It's very different than the US, as their are no school buses, so kids as young as first grade are expert train riders taking their place ride next to the businessmen in suits heading out in the morning. Bikes also seem to be very popular, all of them 50s style with a basket on the front. We routinely hear the ching ching of the bell telling us to move because they are coming through. In a city this crowded I guess bike riding is done out of necessity rather than a hobby. We stick out a little more here than in the rest of Tokyo but no one gives us trouble or stares to long. And after walking around the busy streets of the rest of Tokyo, it is nice to come back to a quiet place with empty streets.

Anyway back to the story. Early yesterday morning we left our hostel for Shinjuku. I had read in a magazine that there is a flea market on Sunday mornings as a temple in the area. After seeing all the kitschy shit for sale at Sensoji temple I thought the flea market might offer a better selection of authentic items. And I was not disappointed. From wall scrolls to miniature Buddhas, to photographs from turn of the century to new kimonos. They even had what looked like a radio from WWII. It was definitely different and I was able to pick up my first souvenir, a three piece painting of samurai attempting to arrest a demon looking kabuki guy, and they were not doing to well at it. From the broken English of the old man selling it I gathered it was Edo period artwork (1800s) but you can never tell. Either way it looks pretty neat and I plan to frame it when I get home. I was very tempted to buy presents for other people, particularly the fertility amulet of a monkey with a gigantic you know what. But I didn't think most people would appreciate that so the search for gifts continues.

After walking around Shinjuku for a little while longer we took the train over to Meiji Shrine. Meiji was the emperor who really opened Japan up to the rest of the world (Meiji Restoration)and began the process of westernizing their culture. He cut off his top knot, wore western style suits and brought in western business. Meiji and his wife had the shrine built in their honor. It's a huge park but other than the shrine there is not a whole lot more to it. So we left and headed to Harajuku. The best way to describe Harajuku is a mix of Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Greenwich Village. It's the place of cutting edge fashion, crazy cosplay and goth kids and the latest in eating. Coming across the bridge we saw all the kids dressed as their favorite anime characters, the guy giving out free hugs and the acoustic musicians. We popped into the Italian Tomato for some lunch of spaghetti and strawberry cake. We stopped into a few of the stores and found out a simple fact; we have the best fashion since in the world! One store was a used t-shirt store where we found Dare shirts, old US sports team shirts and basically everything else you find in a salvation army. The store was packed and for a moment I had the idea of coming back every year loaded with $1 shirts from salvation army and selling them.

After we got tired of Harajuku's crowds we walked down the street to Shibuya. On the way we saw a protest of some sort, we assume for the handicapped. In Shibuya we stopped at the Shibuya station which is the scene from Lost in Translation with the giant dinosaur walking on the screen that is the entire building front. I took some video and pictures of it just to show the mass chaos that happens at the intersection. While they have cross walks no one follows them at all and it turns into pandemonium as people walk every which way. Its quite the experience. Shibuya is also the stereotypical shot of Tokyo as it lights up quite a bit at night and still has tons of people. It's also the first place Justin and I got separated. After popping into an internet cafe to cool our heels I began to upload pictures. Justin came by and said he was done, or so I thought. I told him I would be 1 more minute while I finished uploading. When I was done I walked out to the street expecting to see Justin but he was no where in site. So I sat down figuring maybe he wondered off to look at something while he waited for me. 40 minutes later he comes up saying 'where the hell were you'. I asked him the same thing and then he told me what happened. After he left me he went back to his computer thinking I understood to come get him when I was done. Well just to give you an idea of this place it had floor to ceiling cubes for the PC terminals, with locks on the doors. They are the type of place you don't want to touch the keyboard for to long and definitely need to wash your hands afterwards. He said after waiting for me for 30 minutes he peeked over my cube wall to see if I was there. Seeing a white guys hand he assumed it was me, except the screen had porn all over it. He said he was shocked and disgusted with me so he decided to leave thinking 'if Chris wants to do that I am going home'. We had a good laugh about it, then kind of got sick thinking about what goes in that place. We have seen a lot of interesting uses for the internet cafes, from reading comics, to playing video games, to businessmen in for an afternoon nap. Strange places for sure, nothing quite comparable in the US but they have been our haven for long hot days.

After Shibuya we came back to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit. We didn't quite want to go all the way into the city again for dinner so we stopped at the 24 hour ramen shop around the corner from our hostel. You buy a ticket from a vending machine that shows what food you want, hand it to the waitress and she brings the food. It wasn't bad, but not exactly filling since it is, well, ramen. But it got me through the night as I came back to the hostel and fell asleep at the late hour of 9:30. I guess the time adjusting continues.

Pictures AND Video!

I finally was able to get some pictures uploaded. They are in the Tokyo section and cover stuff from before we left Arizona until today (today being mid afternoon 6/15). I added descriptions to most of them so you can tell what the hell you are looking at. Being the technical wizard that I am I also figured out that my new camera can do short video with sound. Not the best quality but it does make it a little more exciting for everyone watching at home. At least I hope.

To recap where we left off last night, after the internet cafe we went to dinner at a sushi place. I am not a huge sushi fan so I only got 4 pieces. The guy offered me miso soup also, which I like so of course I ordered it. When it came I noticed some large chunks of meet floating in the soup so I wasnt quite sure what I actually ordered. After looking at them a little closer I realized it was chunks of fish as miso soups main ingredient is fish stock. One of the chunks was a piece of the head with the eye still in there. That about ended my miso soup eating even though the broth itself didnt taste bad. I am not sure if they were just messing with me or if that is just the way they server it in a sushi place, since they have so much left over pieces of fish. Either way my miso soup days may be over.

After dinner Justin and I went to Gas Panic in Roppongi. Having been here before with Aaron I knew what to expect. On the way from the internet cafe we got harassed by the regular assortment of expats trying to get you to come into their strip clubs. My favorite was the British guy that asked if I liked nice strip clubs and I said no, to which he replied how about disgusting ones. We got in Gas Panic pretty early so it was not very crowded, so the waiter/bouncer talked to us a lot. We found out his name is Charles and he is from Paris (white guy) but foolishly moved to Japan for his Japanese girlfriend he met in college. Poor Charlie speaks about as much Japanese as I speak French so he told us he is not to happy about living here or that fact that he has to work as a bouncer in a seedy club because no place will hire him if he doesnt speak Japanese. He was a really nice guy and just needed some white people to talk to. We were happy to oblige. We traded a few stories with him about time in Tokyo, how naive Japanese girls are and how trashy Roppongi is. He told us we should go to Shinjuku as the nightlife is much better and you dont have Nigerians hassling you to come into their strip clubs. On a whim I asked if he and his girlfriend would want to go with us and he seemed very happy at the idea. Plus it works out well for us having a Japanese girl that can translate. On the way out of the club we ran the gauntlet again. I got one guy to tell me to shut up when I asked if he was going to give me money to take the card to Tantric. He didnt seem to happy with my attitude so he left.

We did a lot today but the day is not over yet so I dont want to say to much until I can summarize the whole day. I will do more later.

Hai, genki desu

Last we left off we were dirty, sticky and up way to early. After a full day of walking around Tokyo we can add tired to that list. After showering this morning we set out around 7 am local time for Asakusa, home of the Sensō-ji shrine. We came in through the Thunder Gate which leads through a street of shops. And then I realized why I like Japanese people; they keep the same schedule as me. None of the shops were open and would not open until 10 or 11. While I normally wholeheartedly agree with business starting at that time of day being here for a limited time and having nothing else to do made Asakusa kind of boring. We wondered around a bit and found an amusement park (wasn't open), a shopping "arcade" (not open) and what we assume was a porn theatre (probably open, lots of weird old men staring at the nude women on the advertisements). We wondered around a bit more watching the city start to wake up and then decided to try out Akihabara.

Akihabara was getting going by the time we showed up. For those that don't know this also called Electric Town and sells everything from the latest gizmos to soldering irons. It's also the place where some 25 year old kid attacked and killed 7 people with a knife last week (I didnt tell my mom about that when I read it). They had a memorial set up at the site of the attacks and lots of flowers and drinks had been laid out. I didnt quite get the drinks, seemed like a waste of some good Coke to me. Lots of people were praying and taking pictures but something about taking pictures seemed wrong to me so we didnt get any. Among the other oddities of the area was the Anime/Comic shop that sold what seemed like child pornography to me. Videos of preteen girls in bathing suits. It was pretty disgusting. We perused the toy shops looking for any Transformers Aaron may not have yet but couldn't find any (I did see a Gremlin and a Gizmo toy though! Aaron probably just screamed to himself and closed the browser). We walked the main road a few times checking out various shops. I bought a new watch (1,050 yen) and hope this one last more than 1 night. We also tried a few arcades and I tried my best to win a teddy bear with a bloody mouth and paws at one of the claw games. But just like back home they are rigged and I won nothing. My claw game addiction was in full swing though and I was very tempted to keep trying but I ran out of coins. I will tell you though, you havent lived until you've been in a 8 floor arcade. We watched a kid play a rock band like drum game. This kid destroyed any sense of skill I had. They also had horse racing games, where you bet on a horse and train it, soccer games where you collect cards of players and use those to field your team in the game, 180 degree pods for Gundam style games and old school classics like Galaga and Street Fighter. It really is the oddest thing seeing everyone from 12 year old kids up to 50 year old men in business suits playing video games at the arcade. The Japanese are a very interesting culture, almost child like from a Western persepective. Many things that we view as kids hobbys or interest are openly shared by all age groups in Japan. From video games, to toys and action figures to reading comics, they all do it.

On the way out of Akihabara we grabbed our first taste of real Japanese food. Can't tell you what is was called as we ordered by pointing at everything. I assume it was some breaded fried pork with rice and miso soup. It didn't taste to bad. We went back to the hotel to grab a break and on the way saw a repeat performance of last nights shrine carrying performance, only this time by kids with clothes on. It was funny watching a bunch of little kids try to get organzied enough to chant and carry it in rhythm with each other. Once they got going through they started going fast and had to be slowed down before they ran into the giant drum being carried also.

After a small break at the room we were off to the Imperial Palace. Since you can't get to close to it there isn't much to see. But as we walked away we could here the distinctive sound of live music coming from Hibiya park. We walked down that way and found a concert was going on and they were doing sound checks. Unfortunately it cost 60 bucks to get in, but we did enjoy the different "tribes" of kids hanging out in front of the venue. Everything from Rockabilly kids to long haired rockers, from dreads to gothic lolitas. Tokyo really is the New York of the Eastern world. All the younger kids are extremely fashionable even when that fashion involves trying to look like a heroin addict. The guys all go for a rocker look with a dash of cartoon character. So we've seen some pretty crazy hair styles with some clothes that can only be described as Kurt Cobain of steroids. All the women seem to be into the short shorts with black stockings to just above the knee or skirts with t-shirts with english words on them. I wonder if the girl wearing the shirt that says "My Babies Daddy" really knew what it said at all. The concept of function over form seems to be lost on them so I am sure Justin and I stick out even more with our travel clothing. Even though I am not a fashionista I do enjoy seeing very fashionable girls get all dressed to the 9's and I am sure I have stared to long or had my mouth drop open a few times.

After the palace we headed down to Roppongi to do a little partying. Again we got here way to early and most of the bars are still closed. So we are killing a little time in the Internet cafe before we grab dinner a drink or 2. Having been up since 5 am I don't see us partying to hard, but just enough to get a taste for the night life of the area.

Pictures are still on hold until I can find a place to upload them from. But hopefully I will have some soon.

Konichiwa Bitches

Yes we are here. It only took us the loss of a whole day but we are here and the trip has officially begun. Things got off to a bad start when my watch broken in the hotel in Phoenix the night before. Granted it was circa 1990 but still, the first day you dont want stuff breaking already. After getting up at 4 am in Phoenix we took the first past of the trip to San Fran. Short flight and we slept most of it. 2 hour layover in San Francisco before we boarded the baby express for Tokyo. While our seats were not uncomfortable we did have about 5 babies within 5 rows of us. One directly across from Justin was quite taken with him and stared forever. But she never cried the entire time and was damn cute so we had no problems with her. In fact almost all the babies were well behaved even the one that looked like an orangaton (he had spikey hair and a round little face). Our bad luck continued when Justins pen exploded on me when I tried to fill out the customs form. We started to get a little nervous. It was Friday the 13th after all (Justin beat you all saying happy birthday when we passed the international date line).

10 hours, 4 bad movies and little sleep later we landed in Tokyo. Customs was a breeze, so was getting the train ticket into town. It was a 55 minute train ride down to our stop, then onto the metro for 2 stops, then a half mile walk down the road to the hostel. We were pretty beat at this time having been up almost 24 hours and were looking forward to a comfy stay on a nice bed. Instead we got a tradition Japanese room with what amounts to ground pads for beds, sandbags for pillows and doorways that arent tall enough for us to fit through. It was at this time that we started really wondering what the hell we have gotten ourselves into. We contemplated switching to a nicer hotel but realized this trip is all about the experience and decided to stay. We werent quite ready to get to adventurous so we had McDonalds for dinner. On the way back from dinner we passed what seemed to be some sort of street celebration. It was about 100 people walking down the street chanting and carrying a shrine of some sort. Most of the guys had on traiditional Japanese jackets and sumo wrestler kind of diapers. It was odd but kind of neat to see (not the underwear part). After we got back to the room we crashed on the ground pads with our mission of staying up until 8 accomplished (this should help us adjust to the time difference).

So now it is 5 am local time. We are sticky from the humidity, dirty from wearing the same clothes and sitting at the free internet terminal in the hostel. But we have started and so far it has not been boring. Pictures to come once I can find a place to upload them.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the West

There is actually quite a few feelings I get: excitement, nervousness, anticipation, fear, etc. Probably a lot more but I'm not good at expressing my feelings. I've packed my bag early to make sure I have everything. It's kind of weird to think I will be living out of a backpack over the next 4 months. Hopefully my 5 shirts, 5 underwear and 3 pants hold up or I am SOL. The picture over there (clicky to see a bigger version) is everything I am taking with me. And yes I am taking a sleeping bag since we will be camping in Africa. Sadly the hotels in African cities worry me more than camping in the wilderness. But we'll have to see how that goes. We leave Tucson tomorrow for Tempe where we will be staying in a hotel so we can get to the airport by 5:00 am. Then it's 15 hours of travel (Phoenix -> San Fran -> Tokyo) before the real start of the trip. I will probably be out of communication until early Friday morning which will be evening in Tokyo.

I'm not the most eloquent speaker and only marginally better when writing. So I will let Everett Ruess do the talking for me.

"I thought that there were two rules in life - never count the cost and never do anything unless you can do it wholeheartedly. Now is the time to live."

Hot town, summer in the city

I've been out on the town three times now in Tucson. The first excursion was in February when my Dad and I decided to try a local bar named Plush. Now right off the bat with a name like that I was skeptical. But nothing could prepare me for the shirtless midget with a scarf yelling every curse word and sexual position possible into the microphone (he wasn't really a midget, just a small guy). He seemed like a sad attempt at being a Jim Morrison type figure and another testament that our generation has very few original ideas and lots of bad imitations. The "band" which consisted of 2 guys on electric keyboards who were moving around like they were being electrocuted on stage did not help the matters at all. The crowd consisted of kids in thick rimmed glasses, t-shirts with obscure or meaningless sayings, lots of converse shoes and 2 girls in tutu's. After getting a Jack and Coke I was instructed to drink it quick. That was all the encouragement I needed, so I finished and we left.

The next outing was more recent, to a cowboy bar named Maverick's. I've never been to a country and western bar and was actually pretty intrigued. The band seemed to be secondary to the dancing action, which totally differs from my normal bar experience where dancing is secondary and lots of motionless kids watch the band. After every song, everyone would clear the dance floor and once the band started get up and dance again. It was quite the odd ritual. The highlight of the night was the Freddie Mercury cowboy (that's twice I've seen him on this trip!) wearing the tightest jeans ever and dancing with every lady in the place. From 20-80, he danced with them all and none of them refused. Everyone seemed to be there to dance and it didn't matter with who. It was pretty fun and if I had more time I'd have stayed longer (but probably still wouldn't have danced unless a 40 year old woman asked me).

The third time was to The Shelter, named one of the 100 best bars in the world (so my Dad tells me). I don't know who made this list but I am guessing it is some guy that has never left Tucson. The place was the size of a small apartment with lots of 30 and 40 somethings rocking out to the Boogie Nights soundtrack. The music was good, I won't argue that, but for 100 best bars in the world I guess I was expecting a little more, like Dirk Diggler doing Transformers covers in person. I don't think anyone is going to get that reference but I don't care you uncultured heathens. 

New pictures from Salt Lake City, Vegas, Grand Canyon and the Colossal Cave in Arizona.