Day Two, Tokyo: Fool me once …

Why do the news programs here have a camera on the anchor not reporting the story and showing him on screen? It's 10:23 p.m. here.

… I’ve had little trouble with adjusting to local time. Mainly because I stayed up late and got up after eight hours of sleep. Diamond, however, got up at 2 a.m. and it was partly my fault. I saw him fall asleep and just let him go. He would end up telling me later that I should have kept him up.

… When I awoke at 6 a.m. local time, I was actually ready to go. Our first excursion was a trip down to the nearby fish market. It is sort of like Fisherman’s Warf in San Francisco. I was hoping to bid on a delicious bass, but would find out that it was too late and the bidding was probably not open to the public.

We had breakfast there; a bowl of ramen which I thought was great. Then again, it is hard to screw up noodles and hot water. Although I know some that could.

… We walked back to the hotel and figured out quickly what to do next. We went to Shinjuku and after walking around – mostly because I got us lost – we made it to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. It has two 45 floor towers. We went up one tower than the other and also took pictures of course. Until that time, we had just seen commercial buildings, but looking out on the city we could actually see residential areas.

We later walked into a Pachinko Slot machine parlor. Basically, it’s like going to Dave & Buster’s but it takes no skill what so ever and with no understanding of what is going on. I spent 1,000 yen, or about $11 to learn that lesson.

We walked around and ended up in another community called Kabukicho. There we saw a bit of everything. From bowling to … I guess what you would call companion bars. All within a four block area. It has something for everyone I guess.

… I entered the subway for the next trip when I had a run in someone that reminded me of a co-worker. I was picked off rather easily speaking English and this gentleman came up to me to help, without really asking if I needed it. Sound familiar to some of you. Like an idiot, I told him where we were going and sure enough he pointed out where to go, even though I knew where I was going. He took 200 from Diamond as a “service fee” for his help. I immediately gave Diamond back 200 since it was my fault. He never took my change since snagged it before he had a chance. HAWGH!

… We traveled down to Harajuku to go to the Meiji Shrine which called for a walk into a deep wooded area with a clear path. There we saw a huge 10 sided wall of prayers with people from all over the world on 3x5 inch blocks. The prayers were also stacked 10 deep to, so you can just imagine the number.

We walked down to Shibuya were we became a part of one of the biggest crosswalks I’ve ever been in; people from five different corners going.

After that, we went to go have dinner. We had another run with someone and me learning from what happened earlier, I spoke in Spanish to him, which confused him. After dinner then I had a taste of home by stopping off at a Cold Stone Creamery.

… We walked around the community when we saw a mall called Shibuya 109. Diamond saw a sign that said 109 restaurants and was surprised this building had so many places to eat. We went up to the top floor, the eighth, and found out that it was nothing like he had thought. It was stores for females, teenagers to be exact. Diamond has read in a tour book about a mall that was like that, but had forgotten the name until it was too late.

One of the stores was called titty&Co. If I could have gotten a picture of it without seeming creepier than I already am, I would have done it. I tried to sneak a photo but unfortunately I had left the flash on, so I’m sure that did it.

Not so far from that place was another Shibuya 109-2 and on the outside it said male clothes. I was skeptical but Diamond thought it had to be different and it made sense to have a separate mall for males.

The answer is, NOPE. I knew it was more of the same immediately when the two stores on the first floor were Hello Kitty and a Barbie clothing store, actual size. But we went to the top again and were faced with the facts.

… We got home and were tired. Tomorrow we are going to try and get to the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in since we didn’t know to make reservations until it was too late. But we are in for some more walking.

Pictures are here

Day One, Tokyo: 12 hours in a time warp

Even though it is Sunday Night in Tokyo, it does not give me super powers to tell you what NFL games to pick. It's 9:25 a.m. here.

… After getting three hours of sleep, I took off for Tokyo at 7 a.m. Saturday by getting a ride to Los Angeles International Airport. I met my friend Diamond and we boarded out plane at 10 a.m. From the time the door was sealed until it was opened again, 12 hours had passed and it was a new day.

The strange thing is that it hardly felt like 12 hours. I don’t want to say the time flew by, but what I will say is that the service on our Korean Air flight was so good, it help make time not drag as much. The other thing that helped was that the plane was dark and the blinds were closed.

We departed Los Angeles and went up the coast until we got to Monterey, then made our turn to Japan. During the flight there was a monitor that came up after movies and short specials letting us know everything about our flight. I can say at 5:13 p.m. PDT we crossed into tomorrow.

I wished I had received more sleep, but probably got maybe an hour. It wasn’t so much for a lack of trying, but it was about a matter of comfort. I figured foolishly that with a lack of sleep I would be able to on the plane. I was wrong. Diamond was able to sleep much better than me, but I think it is because he does it for a living covering the Dodgers.

One of Diamond’s favorite things to do on the flight was to listen to the music on the plane, especially to this one station about soundtracks. It’s not so much he liked listening to the songs, he just found the American DJ hysterical. What happens is that after a set of songs, a female DJ speaks then another in a different language then the American DJ and what he said sounds silly. Diamond said he could imagine a female saying that, but not a man.

… After we got to our hotel, we walked around the area and were immediately over taken by all the sights. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a town that was so bright before at night. Just looking down the main streets in the Ginza area of Tokyo was just a bit much for two people that just spent 12 hours on a plane and a 90 minute shuttle ride to the hotel.

We walked into the Sony Showroom and immediately saw things that we could never afford, but were so cool. We feel we have a pretty good idea of what is coming soon to showrooms to you in the United States.

We went out to dinner at what is could be compared to a bar and grill. The only thing is that we may or may not know the proper procedure to order. We felt we waited for a long time for a waiter to come by after our drink orders. We didn’t know whether to call one over or just wait. Finally we decided to wave one over.

While waiting for out food, I made an observation about my first time out of the United States. For the first time I felt isolated when it comes to conversations in restaurants. I was surrounded, as you would expect, by locals enjoying their food and I heard myself talk and it was standing out since the background noise wasn’t English but Japanese. It’s just a strange perspective I have.

… Currently we are watching Japanese television and the show has a female traveling around Asia eating random food. I have no idea what she is eating – whether be animal, mineral or vegetable – and I really don’t want to know. It’s just best that way.

Pictures are here.

On my way

What am I going to do on a plane for 12 hours?

… I got to work at the Press-Telegram again after the system went down where I work.

It was nice to have one day where we could relive what it was like to work in Long Beach again. I really didn’t get to work in the old sports area since a lot has changed.

When we did comeback, many of the reporters came around to talk to us. I guess we both were a distraction to each other.

The one person I did miss in all of this was James. I could just have imagined what he would say, but I’m sure it would be funny.

… I leave for Tokyo in a couple of hours. I can honestly say I’m nervous about not only the flight, but just being a stranger in a strange land. I don’t know how I’m going to take a lot that I see.

Take for example a Japanese commercial I saw. It was an ad for an automatic toilet, with a seat that lifts and flushes when you are done. It had two mascots that look like a knock off of Big Bird and Kermit the Frog. It was so strange. It that is out there, what does that town have in store for me.

… I did discover that on the day I get back, it will be a 40 hour day. I’m flying out at 3 p.m. on Friday. I arrive in Los Angeles at 7 a.m. that same day. So, I’ll spend 15 hours in Tokyo, 15 hours in Southern California and 10 hours on a plane. Then I got to go to work.

I love a challenge.

But I also get the opportunity to see the sunrise twice on the same day.

… I leave you with this piece of advice I got from my six-year old niece about going to Tokyo. “Don’t let a Japanese man kick you in the head and knock you down.”

Make what you want of that.

Lying to Congress

Daylight savings time, fall back: the one day of the year procrastinators get an extra

… It was like any ordinary Saturday. I was home getting ready for work when someone came a knocking on my door. I opened it to see that it was my local Congresswomen, the one I voted against on my absentee ballot.

(On a side note, the Congressional district I live in is right on the boarder of another district. If I lived a block closer to the beach, I wouldn’t be one of her constituents.)

So why did I vote against her? Well she’s had some personal turmoil with foreclosures. It seemed to me that there would be too much going on there to be also working in Congress.

Now you can imagine my shock to see her at my front door. Of course she asked if I voted for her and of course, I lied. Yes folks, there might be a subpoena waiting for me investigating why I lied to Congress.

But the story doesn’t end there. The ironic thing is that it was the day I decided to wear my old School House Rock t-shirt to work. I’ve had this shirt since I was a senior in high school and dug it out recently when I got my suitcase for my upcoming trip (more on that later). It was picture of the bill on Capitol Hill saying “I’m just a bill sitting here on Capitol Hill.”

I had forgotten I put that on until her volunteer with her pointed it out. We all had a laugh about it.

This story has one more twist. As she was leaving I went to pick up the newspaper. On the cover, top strip, was an interview she did with my newspaper, The Press-Telegram, about her problems. I saw her looking at me when I did that, and when I picked it up, I knew why without looking at the entire paper and got somewhat of an uneasy feeling.

So in a moment of truth, I cowered. At the same time, she is pretty much running unopposed and according to cqpolitics.com, it a safe bet she will be elected. If I had to do it again, I’d ask her something meaningful to put her on the spot, not Joe the Plumber like, but get an answer from her.

I have a feeling I’ll see her again in two years, maybe.

… For the first time in my life I’ve donated money to a presidential candidate. It’s should come as no surprise that it was for Barack Obama.

I found a candidate I believed in so much, I willingly gave money.

But why him and now you might ask?

I never saw his “Breakout speech” live at the 2004 DNC, but I read it and I felt inspired by it. At the time I thought, I’d like to vote for him, but he’s just running for his first term in the Senate.

Two years later, he decided to run. I was glad but wondered if he had enough experience to pull it out. If he failed in the primaries, how much would that set him back?

However, in those two years, I’ve seen him do one thing that I admire the most. Despite the politics as usual, he’s tried to become inclusive to everyone.

It’s becoming clear to me that the Republican Party has become what Colin Powell described as becoming narrow. I’ve never been a conservative type but what members have done in trying to portray Obama as something he’s not upsets me. When Powell endorsed Obama he pointed to how some GOP members tried to say that Obama was a Muslim. As Powell said, “What if he is? Is there a problem with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is No, that’s not America.”

Which makes me think, what does the GOP think of me?

With Obama, I get the sense of inclusiveness. And it was at that point, back in 2004 that I felt greatness for this person who was just running for his first term in the U.S. Senate.

You ever get the sense of saying things too much and in time it loses its meaning? It was during his keynote address at the 2004 that reminded me of a meaning again.

It’s when he said “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is just the United States of America.”

The word United I had taken for granted and at that moment I thought here is someone that can remind us what we can become if we work together towards a common goal as opposed to a common enemy which is what the current political landscape had become.

Here I am, two days away hoping everything works out on Tuesday.

… I’m less than two weeks away from my trip to Tokyo. I almost have everything. I need to buy a power converter, but that is it.

My friend and I went to the Japan Travel Bureau in downtown Los Angeles on Halloween to see what information they had, but they seemed to be closed for lunch, we’ll have to try again.

There are certain things I’m worrying about, besides the flight. Am I going to be able to adjust to the time difference? Am I going to like the food and if not, how much weight am I going to lose?

Communication will be another problem. The tour book I’ve bought came with phrases. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a Monty Python skit.