Moar Japan - Shibuya

It's been more than a year since I posted some pictures. I really have no excuse for that. Still...

Um, okay, this system of tracking passengers was, in fact, new to me. I think this is the Yūtenji station. There's a really nice bookstore not far from here, and a rather nice fast food place right next to it. We were rather puzzled about it's name, but it seems my katakana reading prevailed, eventually.

The park in... uh, close to Hiroo. I think.

Nice small waterfall.

The Awesome!Dog

Encountered somewhere between a 100yen shop and the Finnish embassy.

The obligatory Hachiko shot. I took a few shots around there. As we later discovered, a trip to Shinjuku would'a been proper. Oh well, hindsight.... fortunately we didn't lose much. I was completely lost at this point, and I eventually took a solo trip just to learn how to navigate in Tokyo. That's the good thing about a long enough trip, you can "waste" time and no harm's done....

Yep.... Shibuya....

Here's the thing... there aren't many "Real" cities in Finland, if any. Oulu definitely isn't one. The photo doesn't give the right impression, but the Shibuya station is mind-bogglingly huge. Someone like me who's lived in cities with 5-digit population cannot easily grasp such sizes. I got completely lost in the shibuya terminal at one point, during my solo trip... and that's just a small fragment of Shibuya, which is a small fragment of Tokyo. I mean, Tokyo is practically a country on it's own, and I heavily advocate separating a trip to Japan from a trip to Tokyo.

Next time, more of life at Hanne's apartment and the first of our many trips to Akihabara .

Trip to Japan #2: Resting, finally

Instant noodles, kappuramen, nomnom.

Our most generous hostess didn't want me uploading photos of her half-awake in her pajamas for some reason. I guess I'm respecting her wishes on that matter. *sigh*

In any case, we actually managed to use the subway to get to Naka-Meguro, and from there we took a taxi cab, who dropped us to the address we were given. It took a bit of walking around, but we eventually found the... I guess Maison would be an appropriate expression, actually.

Anyway, I do have a picture of the place from outside, but it took me almost two weeks before I remembered to take it.
There's where the three of us slept. The Air conditioner device pushed hot air down from the ceiling. It ALMOST reached the ground level, which is to say "not quite." In other words, it had to be on quite high to make living bearable.

It was cold, I'm telling you.

Space-wise, it was surprisingly accomodating, although we mostly just slept there. Oh, and watched some TV and played Go, and occasionally Hanne, our hostess, cooked.

...I'm getting a weird vibe from the word "hostess", but maybe it's just me. Can't think of a more appropriate one right now, though...

This here be Heikki trying some traditional japanese Umeshu ( it's from the green bottle ), most likely. We've just been to Natural Lawson, which is one of those 24/7 convenience stores common in japan. I'm not entirely sure why this one was Natural Lawson, as most of them were simply called Lawson. In any case, this is the following day, so that would make it... 2nd of February, I think. The instant Curry there is the same brand Konata ate in one episode of Lucky Star, coincidentally.

In any case, what do you think 'bout the Umeshu, Heikki?
Oh, okay then.

Reminds me, we bought a Winnie plushie from Finland. In the mean time, Hanne had gone nuts 'bout the Evil Kitty.

...
In any case, that day we visited the Finnish Embassy, I think... Lots of walking was in store for us.

This is from Yutenji. I was struck by how NARROW every street was there. It felt somewhat dangerous, even, what with cars and such. Japanese people have incredible parking skills -- on the other hand, almost every car had some scratches in them.

Another were the spiderwebs --- Er, the wires hanging over streets.

I mean, it definitely makes me think of some sort of a huge Technoarachnid, but I guess it's handy if you need to rewire something. In Finland most wires are underground these days.
Mm... I guess that may be the case in Japan, too --- but then, how much wire can there be?

In any case, my next photos are from the park in, er... Hiro-o, I think. And there's a bunch of those, so they shall get another post.

All roads lead to Yokohama.

Okay, so... Trip to Japan, telling people stuff, and so on! Left on the last day of January, Arrived the first of February. I haven't ever really travelled much, but a friend of mine, who suggested the trip, has been to Nepal and northern China, so we're all good, yes?

That's him, in plane. Nobody told me, you weren't allowed to take pictures in a plane. In any case, Finnair has direct flights to Japan from Helsinki-Vantaa international Airport. Next Stop: Chubu airport.
Ahh, the joys of learning to use local Public Transportation - on the train from Chubu to Nagoya, in First class....

Which we didn't have tickets for, as we eventually figured out thanks to the friendly Mr. Conductor. Oh well, off to the sardins-in-a-can class cars. It wasn't crowded, really. Afterwards, we were in Nagoya, waiting for a bus, by the Yuri fountain.
We waited for two hours, listening to the "Pikku pikku Kaamera" chime from across the street. What's that there, though?


Oh, look! Real live japanese schoolkids, on a class trip, even! How curious--- Wait, what's that?

I has been spotted! Oh noes!

Heh, there was mutual laughing afterwards.

Anyway, we got on a bus, which was kind of small. Buses in Japan are... not so good. Not much worse than here, really, but a bit smaller perhaps?

In any case - I guess this comes as no surprise to most city people, but I never realized Finland only really has one city, and that one's not very large, either. There are some city-elements in most Finnish cities, but they just lack the population. Where are all the forests?
I also didn't realize it was okay to build roads on top of concrete pillars which go over other concrete pillars which just may go over a shopping street down below...

Oh, and these people don't really bother hiding wires from the view. In Finland most wiring is hidden from sight. In Japan, it's like a spider web between buildings.

A funny story: As Heikki's an experienced traveller, we - that is, my mother was being comforted by the fact he was with me, so we'd be safe and get where we're supposed to be, in time.


Surely you can trust that face, 'tis a honest face. Even if he found Zoolander to be a very funny film. I haven't seen it myself, though.

That reminds me, there were instances where we were going "Dude!" "Sweet!" a whole lot, but that's a different movie and a different story. In any case, we were on our way to Tokyo, and he told me we were going to the Shinjuku station or something.... We had arranged a meeting with the person whose place we were crashing in for our stay in Tokyo. ( I'll need to get her permission to use the photos, btw. )

Nooo problem... If he's looking like death warmed over, it's just because he'd only slept for like four hours in the last thirty-six or so. I tried explaining my theory of "While your eyes are closed, your optic nerves are resting", but that didn't take --- yet.

We weren't supposed to drop off at "Tokyo station", right? I mean, there was no proper bus stop or anything, right?
The driver -- the bus is circling around. We could ask, but that wouldn't be Proper. Surely, there's a proper station here in Tokyo, right?

"Next Stop, Yokohama." SVOBU? Wot? But, but... Aand we're on some sort of a freeway. no hope of stopping now....

Oh well, cannot do much now. Let me see those directions, will you?
...
What's this, a map? "Bus stops here," "Tokyo Station"... What? Dude, you had a map! What do you mean you assumed it was for Nagoya? It says "Tokyo station" right there!

Oh , great. Yokohama's a different city, right? Great, so now we're going to Yokohama. Just great.


We had a Learning Experience. Level Ups, don'chaknow?

Well, fortunately in Yokohama, we were helped by a friendly local who'd been an exchange student, and spoke better English than we did. We got some more experience in using local public transportation, and we took a taxi cab from Shibuya, to see if the person waiting for us, still was. She wasn't so now we had to figure out a way to get to her apartment on our own...
But that's for later, okyes?

Dummies Guide for Japan - Tokyo

1. Got to the government building in Shinjuku. Get maps, check out the view from 45th floor.
2. Get good shoes. Use the subway, but do check first if places are within walking distance.
* Avoid the early morning rush!!
* Get a Pasmo card.
3. Go to the side alleys. Tokyo's a safe city, and many of the interesting shops are there
4. Gaijin Park
* Limited Express may get you to Yokohama.
5. A place to live in; A Guest House at around 2500 yen a night is the best you can get, probably.
6. Ask.
* Otherwise you may end up in Yokohama.
7. Akihabara, Kanda Bookstore Area; Avoid these for the sake of your wallet.
* For clothes, go to Harajuku or Shibuya. Cheap shoes.
* You'll probably find the best place to shop in within 100ft of your living quarters, one day before leaving Tokyo.
8. Hyakuen shops. Way too much useful stuff, too cheap.
9. Learn to say "I am not an American" in Japanese, if it applies.
10. Visit the Ghibli Museum. Make sure to make a full day of it, and start early, since it closes at 6 PM.
11. Stick to the left side. Except in Kyoto.

Nerima Wrecking Crew

Totally random title, which only has any relation to anything by the fact that I visited Nerima today. Very scenic, nice little town -- in comparison to, oh, Shibuya.

Akihabara is an evil, evil place.

( Must update this post later )

*edit* must still add pictures or something.

Still alive, still in Tokyo.

Svobu? It's not wrong...

...So, I'm currently staying in Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Naka-cho. I''m more or less culture-shocked, with very little net access. I'm taking a lot of pictures, will probably make some sort of a report out of those.

Until I get back to Finland, no art.

The title comes from what I've been saying a lot. Weirdness.