Tokyo: Part 2
The entrance to one of the malls in Roppongi Hills. The architecture is breathtaking and is incredibly clean.
The directory written in both English and Japanese.
One of the many sculptures throughout the mall.
Aside from that fact they drive on the opposite side of the road, one of the first things I noticed about their taxis is the placement of the side mirrors. They’re like shrek-mobiles.
More sculpture. This one is a daddy long leg spider. Also reminds me of the War of the Worlds movie. The building to the right has a night club on the 52nd floor that plays house and trance and provides an incredible panoramic view of the city. Kids here party till the sun comes up.
Even the signs themselves are works of art.
The subway just before it gets busy.
In the middle of Toko is a huge area of trees and landscape. The Japanese have found away to balance concrete with nature.
It’s not uncommon to find people (and not bums or hobos) taking a nap under one of the thousands of trees in the middle of the city.
One of the many buildings surrounding the Emporer’s Palace. It’s interesting to see how these buildings have remained unchanged as the modern city grows around it.
One of the guards to the Emporer’s Palace.
With land being so scarce it amazes me to see how much open space is reserved in the middle of town.
One of the trees that surround the parimeter of the Emporer’s Palace.
I think he is stretching.
A famous bridge that leads to the Emporer’s Palace.
Vending machines are popular here. You can even buy ice cream!
School children on what appears to be a field trip.
Many of the elderly come to the park to relax and meditate (or to check out the school girls passing by).
A Japanese toilet – complete with instructions (in case you’re not sure how to use it).
One of the things I love about Tokyo is that they display these signs that shows you all the stores and restaurants in that building.
The famous Tokyo Station (similar to the Grand Central Station in NYC). It’s currently being rennovated and should be completed by next year. It appears they’re simply restoring it back to it’s original look which provides an interesting contrast to the skyscrapers behind it.
Only in Japan.
A girl from Romania we ended up chatting with at a coffee shop. We learned she was a professional model and gave us some tips about the night lift. Robert was in heaven.
In back alleys of busy streets you’ll find buried between skyscrapers and malls houses like these.
Mirrors are posted along tight street corners to help prevent accidents.
Japanese versions of Twighlight found in a bookstore at the airport as we waited for our flight to Japan.
The WON, YEN and US dollar. At one point or another I had 4 different currencies in my wallet — including some from the Philippines.
On the 2.5 hour flight from Seoul to Tokyo. Dinner was some kind of noodle with vegetables.
The subway system in Japan. I love the fact that most signs include English — a sad comparison to Americans who get pissed when they hear “Press 1 for Spanish”.
During certain days of the week only women are allowed on certain subway cars (namely the front).
My first meal in Tokyo: Noodles, shallots, deep fried shrimp pieces all swimming in some kind of mild flavored broth. The green tea was nothing like any tea I’ve ever tasted. It had a rich, root-like flavor and it was served cold. You actually order your meal in a vending machine as soon as you enter the restaurant and by the time you sit down, your meal is brought out to you.
The The hotel lobby. We arrived around 11PM. The staff were friendly and spoke English. $37 per night, per person — considering the location of this hotel this was a steal.
This is our Hotel. It is the smallest room I’ve ever paid to stay in. It’s basically the size of a single car garage. The bed was also small which Robert and I shared. The bathroom reminded me of the one on the airplane.
After checking in, we cleaned up and got dressed. Then headed out to get a glimpse of Tokyo before it got too late.
Robert goes over the subway map and then teaches me some basic Korean phrases. For instance the phonetic spelling for hello is si le’ hamnida and thank you is gam sa hamnida.
Still alive and kicking. Apparently 7ELEVENS thrive in Korea.
A road located in the Insa-dong district. It’s very much like the St. Augustine of Korea and is a popular place for tourists to visit. What’s also nice was that many of the vendors spoke English.
According to my new Korean friend Jinny, these are pay-as-you-go toilets. You insert your coins (75 cents) and do your thing. You are given exactly 5 minutes. After your time is up the doors automatically open — whether you’re ready or not. Mind you this particular stall is located at a very busy intersection.
Self serve gas stations are a very new concept here. In the few that I’ve seen there are usually a couple of attendents waiting by the pumps.
Unlike in the US, Kia/Hondai are very strong brands here. However, owning a car here is probably more trouble than it’s worth because of traffic. For many Koreans, the subway, bus stations and bicyles are sufficient.
One of the many houses in the Unhyeongung historical compound. Young boys who are in lineage to become emperor were raised and educated here.
This particular area is where the music stores are located. Nearby are the art schools and universities.
Another view of the temple.
Random sculpture (of a flower?). I believe these are just a bunch of barracades ziptied together. Apparently a construction worker had too much time on his hands.
Although there is a Home Depot here specialized shops thrive along with the restaurants. Each vendor sells goods in a room the size of a single car garage.
A craftsman at work twisting metal together.
This particular vendor specializes in metal piping.
KFC in Korea. This is a chicken sandwhich composed of a breast, hash browns, cheese, lettuce, tomato and some kind of tangy sauce. It was delish. The cost is approximately $7 in US currency.
This adorable little girl would stare at me for long periods of time. I suppose with my complexion and bald head I really must’ve stood out.
A view from Robert’s apartment. Residents occuppy the upper parts of these buildings while businesses take the lower two or three floors.
A view of Robert’s loft or ”office-tel” if you want to get technical. It’s basically a single room on the 9th floor and probably about 20×15 with a bathroom just barely enough for one person to squeeze in. According to Robert having this size is a luxary. His previous residence was about a third of this one.
One interesting observation about Korean culture is that they love their technology. While sitting in a subway train I looked around and noticed that 90% of people have their face buried in some kind of electronic device.
I know this photo is a little blurry, but that’s because I was so incredibly tired walking up all these steps that I could barely hold the camera up. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. These stairs lead to Seoul Tower — an observatory located in the middle of the city and provides an incredible 360 panoramic view.
It’s a little over 11,000 miles to NY from here.
I took this photo of a trash can because these are very rare. Rather than having them throughout the city, it is understood that you simply carry your trash home and throw it away there. I was carrying around an empty water bottle for hours and couldn’t tell you how happy I was to see this.
For dinner we went to a restaurant a few miles away from his place. When you first enter you’d think you’ve stepped into an aquarium. But what you’re actually doing is picking out your dinner. Once you’ve made your selection (in this case we picked flounder and octopus) they take it to the back and prepare it. Then you are escorted to the second floor where you wait for your meal to arrive.
You are required to take off your shoes before entering the dining area. If theft is your concern they provide lockers for your convenience.
These tastey delights are silkworms marinated in some kind of vinegrette. Yeah.. no.
Salted fish. I forget the name but it’s a very common bate fish in Florida.
Chopped octopus. Although you can’te tell from the photo, this entire dish was still moving. Eating this required that you chew your food completely otherwise the suction cups would stick to your throat and possibly cause death.
This is my new friend Sunny. She is a very talented chef and loves her beer. A very common drink here is Sojo (probably not spelled right) which is simply a combination of a strong beer mixed with an even strong liquor. The danger here is that there is no alcohol taste. It goes down like water.
Our flounder friend from earlier. This is as close to eating fresh fish as you’ll get without catching it yourself and eating it raw straight from the ocean.
Sunny mixing the Sojo. It’s set up very much like a car bomb.
Fish heads. The best meat is just behind the gills.
This is Jinny, Robert and Sunny — the crew that picked me up at the airport. When I first met them I thought Jinny was in her mid 20s, but in actuallity she is 40! Anyway, great food, great company, great times. Both Jinny and Sunny will be visiting Jacksonville in September.
Instead of traditional rice, the sisters wanted me to try this Korean style rice which is a combination of fish eggs, kimchi, steamed veggies and seaweed all sitting on a bed of white race. Then you mix it up with your chopsticks. I have to admit this was my favorite dish.
After dinner we dropped by a local bar for some beer.
And since I was the new guy I was required to taste Korean beer while everyone else drank Guiness. The running joke for the night was I drinking a “woman’s beer”.