Week 5

Week 5 is when I take a pause from the cultural aspects of Japan and move on to the "entertainment" of Japan. Don't get me wrong, cultural aspects are great, but.. I'm in Japan!! It never sleeps! so I shouldn't either!

Okay, lets begin!

Yokosuka - Tuesday July 24th

This day was my official welcome party. Also nicknamed the "Tuna Party" name speaks for itself, as the majority of the food we ate was tuna +p But, before I go on.. I should do a little introduction about the restaurant (my supervisor told me so +p but even if he didn't, I would introduce it anyways +D) So! This place is near where I work and the restaurant is owned by my boss's wife's (enter correct relationship here)... family +p Needless to say, we had the "hookups" and boy... were the "hookups" awesome. I'll start by saying the tuna sushi was INCREDIBLE. You know how we have tuna back in BC, where it's purplish red? This tuna was like fatty pink and was insanely shiny.. The taste was.. wow! And during the dinner, even the other co-workers were woo-ing and wow-ing because apparently, it is rare for even Japanese people to try. (Yes I'm bragging, but so what, I'm in Japan! it's my time now +p) I tried some really crazy foods.. many different sashimi like tuna's gill, cheek, normal meat.. tuna's eye the size of a tennis ball and pizza!?! lol.. yea, I dunno how that made it to the table, but whatever it was good +D. All in all, it was a pretty sweet night! Oh yea, and Japanese people really like beer, so they drink a lot at dinner +p I was able to hold my own though, getting better! Yatta! Anyways, lemme just do a photo dump here.

From Left To Right: Me, Martin, ???, ???, Miyata San (my supervisor), Fujimura San, and Okuda San (my team lead)

From Left To Right: Oku San (Boss), Kurashima San, ???, Okuda San, Sato San, Oku San



Sato San and Oku San are trying to figure out a riddle. Oh yea, we played many riddles during the party +p It was actually quite fun. And if you remember the "open and close game" I used that one on them +p Right picture, is a tuna's eye. That thing was the size of a tennis ball. Of course I tried it and it was actually very good +p



The OH SO GOOD tuna sashimi and tuna sushi. Damn, what can I say.. I'm one lucky bastard +p

So after the party, Martin, Miyata San and I went to some convenient store, bought some drinks and went to Umikaze park. We chilled a bit and I found out that some of things we had ordered that night were actually not on the menu... it was special... and so I felt like royalty for the next couple days haha +p

Hmm.. I don't think anything else happened that week.. until Friday came along.. That's when the fun starts really starts to build up +D

Yokohama - Friday July 27

Clock strikes 5:30pm, and I'm outta the office! Time to head off to Yokohama to see a friend off. It's Barry's party today, he's part of the CJP and is leaving Japan the next day. So, of course! I'm going to his farewell party near Yokohama! It's a "nomihodai" aka all you can drink party. Now, I can't really drink that much, but with food, I was pretty good that night +p Drank a few beers and tried some other stuff, god knows what it was.. Had some pretty good food/snacks and had a blast! Atmosphere was pretty awesome, we had about 15 people, mainly foreigners and there was a group of Japanese businessmen/women party next to ours. Someone from their group built up enough courage to come "kanpai" (cheer) us foreigners and we showed them what foreigners were like.. Laughing, shouting, cheering for absolutely nothing.. we caused some crazy noise!! It was fun though! Barry, hope you had a blast +p.

The night was still young! After that party, it was time to meet my friend in Roppongi! Roppongi's in Tokyo and it's mainly for foreigners and by foreigners.. I mean non-asian lol. There's... lots to see.. and do.. in Roppongi lol.. There's many people on the streets trying to get you in their "clubs" but we knew better and steered clear of those shady places... (maybe next time lol) ...

Roppongi - Friday July 27

We walked around a bit, and eventually met some french guy on the street. So we asked where a good club was and he gave us a couple places. One REALLY interesting place I wanted to check out was the restaurant that Kill Bill was shot!! (Note to self: must go back to Roppongi) Unfortunately, we didn't find it and ended up in a place called Muse. It was more of a club/lounge. Entrance was 2000Yen (not bad) and you get 2 drinks. There were many gaijin (foreigners) in that club, and I guess the girls there were mainly trying to pick up white guys +\ Nonetheless I had a pretty good time there. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Roppongi, didn't even bother bringing my camera.

Ahh, I should say, in Tokyo, when you go clubbing.. usually you stay all night long because the trains/subways stop running by 12:30am So clubs open till 5 am.. that's when the trains/subways start to run again.

So... we left at 5am, and I was quite tired by then.. but still had to hurry home! I was going to get internet at 9am! FINALLY! We took the first train out of Tokyo and returned to Yokosuka at 7:00am (yea, we took the local train so we could sleep.. local train takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R.. I think there's gotta be like 30 stops along the way..)

Anyways, got home.. took a shower.. slept.. or at least tried (friggin hot in Japan).. Probably slept for about an hour.. internet came! Went online.. facebooked! and found out there was a festival today (now Saturday) in Asakusa, Tokyo! Rolled around a bit longer in bed and off I went! Called up Martin and headed to Asakusa, Tokyo for Sumidagawa Festival!

Asakusa - Saturday July 28 - Sumidagawa Festival - Fireworks!

Man! this festival was pretty big! Tons of people and packed as hell! But, I guess pictures are better than words. So lemme just dump some pictures and try to narrate:

Woot! 2-3 hours of sleep later, I'm back on the train! Asakusa Ikimashou!. And yea.. it's a golden piece of shit! and it's HUGE! lol..







Look at the crowds... it was friggin packed!



Some random things you can buy here... If you think the picture of the dogs are funny.. you should see the video I took +D I won't upload here, but just ask, it's really funny lol..




People waiting for the fireworks.. Oh yes, in Japan, I noticed that people really like to wait for things... for many hours. Not just for fireworks, but for food lineups and actually any lineup.. You see a friggin long ass line.. and people still decide to wait.. and the best part is.. it's something quite ridiculous like some night market food stand lol. And also, when watching fireworks, you can mark your territory with like a mat and scotch tape. Once your mat is on the ground, no one will steal it.. or that spot.. even when no one's there and it's been there for hours! How nice would that work out in Canada?? I think maybe it might just.....

"Shit, someone stole my mat and another stole my spot."

Yea, that's about how well it'd work in Canada.

Mmm, fireworks! Honestly, I had high hopes for Sumidagawa Festival.. I think the high expectations came from my co-workers + wikipedia lol.. According to wikipedia.. there were fireworks of pikachu in the past.. I did NOT see anything remotely close to resembling Pikachu.. but part of the reason I was disappointed with Sumidagawa was my shitty location and.. I was quite tired by then. The first half of the festival was good, we scaled this fence and got an awesome spot! Then the cops came, and we had to move +\ So, next, we ended up at a place with half the fireworks cut off by this enormous building. Anyways.. it was a good experience nonetheless.. but for fireworks.. guess I'll just half to wait till next week! (Week 6)

Sunday was my rest day.. bought some groceries, made some food.. fell back to my normal , yet now was quite rare, routine of eat, watch shows/movies, sleep.

Week 5, not too shabby... and really, it just snowballs right into Week 6 +D The lack of sleep included of course.

Week 4

Week 4 - Conquering Mt. Fuji

Having such an awesome time at Kyoto, life was back to normal during the weekdays of Week 4. I returned to my routine of: work, eat, watch movies/tv shows, sleep. At least, however, now I could incorporate email into my routine. +D So the weekdays were exactly that, weekdays... until Thursday!

Thursday - Another girl's number and email!?

I left this out of week 3, but while in Kyoto I bought omiyage (gifts, usually some type of food) for my co-workers. I also decided to buy a box for the girls at Kojima, since they had been so nice to me and helped me out so much the previous week. Therefore, on Thursday, I went to give them the omiyage! My excuse for going, was of course, to buy a microSD card +p So! I saw Haruka of course, but didn't get a chance to see Maki. Anyways, I bought the microSD and at the same time, told them I had brought omiyage for them and would like to give it to them as a token of appreciation. They were, of course, quite surprised and thanked me. I stayed a bit and talked to another guy that knew English quite well and this girl comes up to me and tells me she wants to learn English, and I reply with, I wanna learn Japanese too! So she introduces herself as Kotone Suzuki, goes behind the counter and comes back with a business card with her number and email written on it. Just like that, another number and email! (SCORE x2!)

Hmmm, nothing really happened on Friday if I remember correctly... but when Saturday came.. it was time for trip #2!

Saturday - Shinjuku

Saturday comes about quite quickly. First thing on the list, getting my stove fixed! So in the morning, this guy comes and fixes my stove, takes awhile though and I'm getting kinda worried that I won't make it to Shinjuku for the bus! Anyways, stove finally fixed, double check what I packed: shorts, hoody, 2 liter green tea, towel, various snacks, victory beer, camera. Yup! I was ready.. or so I thought +p

Made my way to Shinjuku, and ate a hearty meal at yours truly.. McDonalds. This time I decided to try the Double Big Mac! It was actually quite good and in Japan there's this sweet supersize deal. You can substitute your medium fries for small fries and 5 pieces of chicken nuggets! So of course, I got that!



Anyways, after lunch, boarded the bus for Kawaguchiko 5th Station. Went along with several people from CJP: Scott, Zhi, Vivian and Barry. Here's what I saw on the bus ride there!

Left to Right: Zhi, Scott, Me, Barry


Left to Right: Barry, Vivian, Barry's friend.... (Sorry lol!)

That roller coaster is in Fujikyu.. they have some pretty sick roller coaster rides that apparently sets world records... so yea, must go for me +D

Saturday - Kawaguchiko 5th Station - 8 p.m.

We arrived at 8ish p.m. Kawaguchiko 5th Station is at the 2300m level of Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji is 3776m..? high. So.. We have approximately 8 hours and 45 minutes to tackle 1400m in altitude. I changed into my shorts in this pay-to-use washroom lol.. 50 yen. That was the last time I was gonna pay to use a washroom!

Oh! Beer vending machine! Betcha don't see that in Canada +p Of course, I was smart enough to bring my own VICTORY BEER! A whopping 135ml +p Yes, my fridge is small, a "REAL" can doesn't fit lol.

lol.. 26 People in total doing pre-game stretches! And what's with that sign!? Why's all the English missing... Discrimination! They want us to die on the mountain!

Woot! 2700m and still in my t-shirt and shorts! It was getting cold, but I was a tiger out there! And typical Japan, the price for washrooms increase as you move higher up +p

Note: Many people, including myself were now suffering from altitude sickness. And therefore, headaches were kicking in, and it was much harder to breath as well. Rain was on and off, and wind was getting stronger and stronger as you moved up the mountain... though in hindsight, that was still relatively pleasant compared to the wind, rain and blistering cold at the top.

I made it up to the top at about 3:15a.m. if I remember correctly.. although still dressed in shorts, I had given in to the cold by putting on my hoody about 2/3rds of the way up. Nonetheless, the I was able to withstand the cold due to my Canadian-ness lol.. (for lack of a better word) I waited at the top for an hour or so... I was cold, tired, dirty, cut, bruised and battered and I thought to myself, why I even bothered paying to come to Mt. Fuji and suffer! And then, I saw the sun rise.. I don't think I could ever describe how beautiful it was.. so I'm not even gonna bother trying... it's really one of those things you just have to see for yourself... As the morning sun rose above the clouds, I celebrated.... KANPAI!

Yes... you maybe thinking why I'm trying to destroy this rock.. "Mt. Fuji doesn't own me.. I own Mt. Fuji!" and here's evidence to prove it!.....

Of course.. Then there's also evidence to prove otherwise...



To sum it all up. Mt. Fuji Conquered By CJP 2007!

Aftermath: The not so glorious details of Mt. Fuji. The sun rise was really something! but once you've absorbed all that beauty, you return to reality and realize you're still friggin 3700meters up and you haven't slept yet! So.. lets start going down the mountain...

This was really brutal.. because it was quite steep and the rocks were loose... I musta fell on my ass about 7 times coming down the mountain.. If you're not focused, it's extremely easy to fall because of the loose rocks. Not to mention the blistering heat. Remember, you're above the clouds, so the rays of the sun really hit you hard. I was lucky I managed to escape without being sun burnt... of course, that was because I was still wearing my hoody and had put on my jeans by now..it also helped that I had sunscreen on... So it took us approximately 3-4 hours to get down. It felt like I was walking in a sauna.. but hey, what can you really do?... gotta keep trekking.. When I finally made it down.. I waited about 3 hours for my bus... and the thought of sleeping the rest of the day was extremely appealing.. I got home at about 4-5pm and to no surprise, that was the end of my Week 4 as I took a well needed shower and slept...