Half Way There

People in Lexington are said to “Bleed Blue,” whether they go to the college or not. I guess now tho, it’s official, as I went to an orientation and registered for my classes today at the University of Kentucky.

My general education requirements are pretty much behind me, so I’ll be taking mostly Japanese/Economics classes from here on out.

Advanced Japanese – I know this one is gonna be tough, going to get a head start and study a bit over the next couple months. Regardless of how good or bad I do, I still want to continue studying Japanese in a classroom environment, barring immersion, this keeps me on track.

Japanese Culture: Meiji to Present – I’ve heard that there’s a lot of reading that needs to be done for this course. R.E.A.D.I.N.G, ugh, lol. Some may have noticed actually, that I’ve read a few books over the past year, hmm. Ha. I don’t think this class will be too bad and Japanese culture holds great interest to me, so I’m sure I’ll put in extra effort on this one.

History: Japan at War – A special class being offered this semester. I’m really looking forward to this. My history class last spring briefly touched on the things that are to be talked about in this class, will be nice to go into more depth. Meiji Restoration, Sino-Japanese, Russo-Japanese and Asia-Pacific wars will be covered. Interesting stuff.

Economics and Business Statistics – I did well in the statistics class I took last year, tho it’s been a while. Not sure how math heavy this will be, hmm. I’m good at math, but as I mention sometimes, it’s not “fun.”

Two years left. It’ll be a challenge, but I’m up for it.

Solo Style

In second grade, at the end of the year they gave out awards and such to all of the students. One of the awards I received was an award for being best dressed. I don’t know, that sounds kind of odd now thinking about it. At that age isn’t it somewhat customary for parents to pick out your clothes, or if not a lonely child, you might be the recipient of your older brother and sisters clothes… being best dressed would be kinda like giving an award to the parent rather than the kid? Anyway, in my case, when I was young my mother made a lot of my clothes.

We’d go to the store together and pick out patterns and cloth, and my mother would sew them up for me. In that sense, not only did I have input into the style of clothes I’d be wearing, I got to pick out unique patterns that created a style that stood out. My clothes would always match and were generally in good condition. No doubt the teachers and faculty who decided to give the award noticed that, and decided it was one defining facet of me that they thought they’d recognize.

Another thing during this time that made me stand out style wise was during Halloween. Again, my mom would sew together costumes for me (and my sister). For a few years we got awards and were recognized for our elaborate costumes. The “Doll and Pet Parade” sticks out for one, where my sister and I were dressed as clowns, and without pets, we had stuffed animals that were dressed in a similar fashion. Costumes crafted by mom and we were featured in the newspaper and given an award for that as well.

When I moved to the southwest, my mom wasn’t making as much of my clothes as we were buying them now, but I still had a lot of input on what I wanted to wear. Being in the southwest, my clothing for a few years was heavily influenced by Mexican/Native American style. A lot of short sleeve button down shirts with shorts, I wasn’t dressing up but it was different from what all of the other kids were wearing. During this time is also when I got glasses for the first time so that added a little bit to things. In addition, for a lot of the time I had my hair permed (straightened), a unique hair style, divergent from the typical mini afro one might see on black people.

From there, I moved over to the east coast and again, my style would change somewhat. By this time we were buying all my clothes and I basically got to pick out whatever it is that I wanted. This would continue and by the age of 13 instead of my parents buying it, I’d actually be buying things with my own money. So yeah, total freedom to define my own style. For about a year my style would be a bit casual, shorts and t-shirts, but I’d eventually move on to something more unique. For one year I wore nothing but black and green. Not sure the reasoning behind it, but it was a style and color combo that I though looked cool. Another year, I adopted somewhat of a hip hop fashion, wearing nothing but a single brand of clothing (BOSS, by I.G. Design). It was really unique and one could tell that I put effort into it.

During high school is when my style pretty much revolved around dressing up. Business casual if you will. Button down shirts, long sleeve or short, never wearing shorts or jeans, nothing but khakis and dress pants. If I was known for anything I was known for my unique fashion sense. Even to this day, when I wear something that is not considered “dressing up,” people notice right away.

Now, beyond clothing, during my time on the east coast also brought some interesting hair styles. First, I grew an afro a couple inches long and had my mother trim it into a high top fade. I think the high top was a bit of a dated style at the time, but that’s part of what made it stand out. What I did next however, made it stand out so much more.

I had been accustom to getting perms, which was unique in it’s own right, but this time I did something different. I dyed my hair bright blond. Note, that with the high top, the sides are buzz cut, I left that black, the top however was now not only straight, but a blond/gold color. A really unique style that caught many eyes when I returned to school after the summer when I had it done.

The next step in the evolution of that hair style was to braid my hair. Whether the braids were cornrows or 20 to 40 varied sized plats, it was really unique. My hair would eventually grow down to my shoulders, keep in mind that the sides were always buzz cut and it was only the top of my hair that was long. An interesting style indeed (sometimes causing me to be confused for a girl, actually), that lasted for about 4 years before I cut it off. From then on out my hair and clothing has been pretty consistent. Dressy, but not overly so, totally different than what both people of my age and what older people would be wearing.

My facial hair didn’t really start growing in until I was around 21. I’ve never really done much with that but shave it off and or have a mustache/goatee. Also at 21 is when my hair started thinning. A mix of heredity and probably, if only slightly due to the bunch of chemicals I had put into it years earlier, heh. I’ve been shaving my hair for the past two and a half years or so, the baldness has taken complete control and I’m too lazy to try and come up with something unique around that nowadays.

Before my trip to Japan last month, I decided to do a slight mix of my style. Shorts and some interesting designed t-shirts. Simple, yeah, but really out of the norm from what I usually wear. The shirts were purposefully a bit tight on me, giving a slight glimpse of the outline to my body. I really liked this and it made me feel kind of, not “sexy,” but confident and cool. More and more recently I’m becoming interested in varying up my style, and hope to look into it more seriously. I’ve even considered cross dressing too, wouldn’t work for work and other such occasions, but who knows, I might like to mix it up every once in a while.

Whether it’s “cool” fashion, or “cute,” or some undefined “solo style,” it’ll be unique that’s for sure, as my style always has been.

Six Years in Kentucky and the History of Asia

What can I say, the past year has been great. Hmm, it’s been more than great actually. Despite some personal annoyances, it’s been pretty smooth sailing.

Work wise, I continue with self-employment. I’ve been working on one project in particular that’s gotten streams of good reviews. I think I’ve mentioned to those involved already, I’m really thankful for all the opportunities Kentucky has offered me, past and present.

I’ve been a contributor over at International Wota since May. Or well, what started off as some consistent contributions has since dropped off significantly. I’m trying to get back into things without forcing myself, you know? Will see how that goes. Even with my inactivity and what not, I’m appreciative of the fact that I was accepted to the team.

Went to Japan twice; once in the summer and once in the fall. This is where the more than great parts of the year come into the picture. The highlight of the trips being the Hello! Project concert experiences, but even beyond that, it’s the whole history of the place, being immersed in the language and culture that I really enjoy.

School has been moving right along; I’m on track to get my AA degree this May and will be full time at the University of Kentucky in August to finish up my last two years. One thing I’ll need to be thinking about is what lies beyond that, what happens when school is done. As right now, I’m not completely sure, but I am confident that something good will come of it, if nothing more than a great learning experience.

Looking forward to the future!

History of Asia, 1800 – Present

I needed a Humanities course to fill my general education requirements and this class fit not only that, but will fit my major as well. Unfortunately BCTC didn’t offer the class and the class offered at UK didn’t fit my schedule, so I ended up taking this one online. I’ve got a little bit of experience with online classes actually, having completed a two year Graphic/Web Design program as well as taking some courses related to site design and e-commerce. I was a bit hesitant to go into online classes, but I wanted to finish up my Associate’s Degree this semester, so I fit it in. In addition to being online, it was also an 8-week course, so yeah, as of now it’s over and done with.

There were tests, readings, movies to watch, research and participation assignments, a lot packed in. The online nature is probably what made it feel less like a half semester course, as I could work at my own pace (waiting until the last minute for most of the things, but hey I got it done). The course was flexible enough also that I could somewhat focus the items I wanted write and learn about. Japan’s economy, Sensoji, Japanese curry, the Tokugawa Shogunate… and as I’ve done the past few semesters, I had to slip in a presentation about “wota” in there. The presentation conjured up a bit of discussion with other students, the teacher as well, which is always interesting to see peoples’ reactions to a subculture they may not be aware of.

Anyway, I ended up with an A in the class. History has always been a favorite subject of mine and I’m looking forward to taking a few more classes with regards to that.

Report Card – Semester Three

Despite a few issues this semester, things turned out pretty well.

First, my microeconomics class was an interesting one. The teacher I had was a bit, hmm, preachy. Anti-government, free-market kind of guy, who didn’t hesitate to point out the flaws of all of the current political and economic issues going on. Because of his teaching style however, I would say that I learned a lot. He really opened my eyes to a variety of different views and changed my ways of thinking a bit (or rather, got me thinking where I was mostly apathetic before). And that perhaps, was his goal.

Now, I say I may have learned a lot, but I’m a bit worried that I might not have learned the things I needed to learn as far as continuing my studies in economics is concerned. He taught practical, real world economics, and not say, academic economics. That’s my feeling anyway.

Though I never received higher than a 65% on any of my tests or quizzes, I managed to get an A in the class. Attendance and class participation was a big factor in that. An enjoyable class, I’m looking forward to continuing with economics.

I’m going to miss Patton-sensei, my Japanese teacher of the past year and a half, tho I’m sure I’ll see her around sometimes. Patton and Slaymaker did a great job with presenting the material and I really enjoyed the class this year. I also learned a lot of new stuff, some of which I got to use during my trip to Japan this past Thanksgiving. While in Tokyo, I had to ask for directions, something we had just gone into detail about days before. Using what I’ve been taught in class, speaking listening and understanding while actually in Japan, it’s a great feeling.

The class, I do not feel was significantly harder than JPN 101 and 102, but I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I managed to be consistent however, and squeezed out a B for the semester. I’m not going to make any excuses, but I definitely need to push myself harder, study more &c. I feel I need to take this more seriously. As with economics, I’m looking forward to continuing learning not only the Japanese language, but also more about its culture, history and beyond.

Fall 2009 (6)

A – ECO 201 – Principals of Microeconomics
B – JPN 201 – Intermediate Japanese I

Summer I 2008 (3)

A – MA 109 – Algebra

Summer II 2008 (3)

A – MA 123 – Calculus

Fall 2008 (19)

A – ENG 101 – Writing I
A – JPN 101 – Intro Japanese I
P – CIS 105 – Intro Computing
P – CIS 130 – Micro Applications
A – GEO 130 – Earth Science
A – STA 291 – Statistics

Spring 2009 (14)

A – PSY 100 – Intro Psychology
A – ENG 102 – Writing II
A – JPN 102 – Intro Japanese II
A – COM 181 – Public Speaking

Berryz Tattoo

This is my fourth tattoo, and much like the other three, this one has a particular meaning. It’s somewhat obvious if you take a read over at my other blog, or browse trough some of my photos. To keep it short tho, I’m pretty passionate about Japanese culture in general, and Japanese music. Berryz Koubou is a largish part of that and this tatto, aptly positioned is a representation of that. Read more

6 Days in Tokyo

My last 6 days were spent in and around Tokyo. I had some ideas on where I wanted to go and generally kept myself busy, all the while still managing to miss a lot of what Tokyo has to offer.

Akihabara

I’d certainly be broke if I lived close to anything like this. Akihabara, the ever growing Electric Town, has shops full of computers and various electronics, as well as lots of anime, manga and other otaku related goods. A lot of the shops are laid out so that each floor has a specific something that they’re selling. Like on the first floor, they’d have cameras or something, the second they’d have computers and on the seventh they’d have video games, anime and action figures. Really, it was all pretty cool. I visited a couple of arcades which have a similar layout, different types of games on each floor.

There were a couple of maid cafes here, which I was tempted to stop in, lol. But decided against it, until next time when my Japanese is a bit better. It’s just one of those things I have to experience sometime.

I would come back to Akiba once more in my trip in search of some Bakugan figures to bring back as souvenirs. That said, although it originated on Japan, Bakugan apparently isn’t too popular here, so it was hard to find something, though I eventually did so. I also grabbed the latest Weekly Jump magazine, which is a thick book of manga including series like Naruto, One Piece and Bleach. I really wasn’t expecting it to be packed full of so much stuff; I basically got it though because there were some color pages of Naruto featured in it that week, heh.

Shinjuku

Plenty of skyscrapers, shopping and food. Didn’t do much but look around the city portion of it and had planned come back later at night, but ran out of time. From here however, I did take a short trip to Nakano, to Nakano Broadway, which had some interesting shopping and what not to look at.

I visited Shinjuku Gyoen (Gargen), which was pretty large and had some interesting designs and layout of the various trees, bushes and flowers. It was a nice peaceful walk compared to the city side of things.

Shibuya

Busy, busy, busy and lots of cool fashion, and shops, and stuff to do. I did a lot of walking around and throughout the stores, starting at the big 109 shops across the street as you leave the train station. That famous crosswalk was pretty cool too, the cars stop and everyone gets movin’, iconic Tokyo. I missed the famous Hachikou dog, totally forgot about it the couple of times I would come here, oops. Overall this seemed like a cool place to hang, even just during the day time or on the weekends.

I went to the Hello! Project shop here, and bought up a lot of Berryz stuff. There were a few sold out photosets that I would pick up at the some of the other stores, and I saw some stuff on the way out that I had missed. As I mentioned before, if this stuff was more accessible to me, I’d be so broke, lol.

Ueno

Took a walk through Ueno Park which connects to a lot of museums and a zoo. The park was really nice. There’s a lot to do here but I spent most of my time at the Tokyo National Museum. The museum had a lot of artifacts, statues and history to look over. Definitely enjoyed walking thought it all.

Made a trip to the Hello! Project store here to buy some more Berryz stuff. Yeah, I didn’t buy much while in Japan, but I spent a pretty penny on H!P.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo’s Eiffel Tower, only bigger. At the base looking up this thing is kind of daunting. From the top down, even more so. There were two observatories here, one at 150 meters and another at 250 meters (the tower is 333m). Nice view of the city from both. There is also a small museum inside and some shops to go along with it. One thing that was interesting was when riding the elevator to 250 m. An announcement said something to the effect of, “there will be a cracking noise, this is normal.” I just found that to be a bit amusing, lol. The ride up was a little nerve tingling, but the view is worth it.

Harajuku

Went a couple of times, but made sure one of them was on Sunday, when a lot of people were said to hang out. Another fashion spot similar, but different from Shibuya; and it’s withing walking distance of Shibuya, tho I didn’t walk the whole way, I did walk around a bit. Streets full of young people, in the shops and hanging in the park.

Visited another H!P shop and also stopped in a bunch of the other stores located along Takeshita Dori right outside the train station. The Oriental Bazaar and Kiddy Land were on my list of shopping stops as well.

The Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park were also in the immediate vicinity. A lot of walking, there was a lot to see. Yoyogi Park was huge and bustling with activity. From people playing soccer to cosplayers posing, dancing and acting for crowds, picnicking families and kendo practice/performances. A lot going on and it was great to just sit back and observe.

Odaiba

Spent a whole day here, there was a lot going on. On the ride over I noticed that there was some sort of special Pokemon promotion going on. There were a lot of cute kids and families with Pikachu hats and little booklets packed on the trains over the weekend. They went to the Pokemon Center to get info and apparently each train station had a booth setup where you could get stickers and such. You would also get a pokemon stamp to stamp in your booklet. Got to catch ‘em all, haha.

Going to Odiaba I took the unmanned/automated train, the Yurikamome, over the Rainbow Bridge. It was kind of slow, but still cool that no one was driving it so to speak. I sat in the front which offered an awesome view. Coming over, I could see the giant Gundam towering in the park, was really cool.

Spent a lot of time at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Lots of interactive and informative displays on computers, technology and biology. And an Awesom-O… err an ASIMO demonstration. He was pretty cool, talking and interacting, walking, running and kicking a ball; he drew a large crowd.

Saw the mini Statue of Liberty, which was kinda funny. Apparently France had temporarily brought over a larger one for display. After it was taken back, the mini one was put up in its place. In addition to that, I did a lot of walking around to the ferris wheel, and the shopping and restaurants all that.

Photos are up on Facebook here and here.

Had a great time in Japan and hope to go back soon. The flight home was as uneventful as the flight out, and customs was a breeze; non existent really. There’s more to be said, but I’m going to leave it at that. Fun, fun, fun!

Tokyo Tour

For my first full day in Tokyo, I decided to go on a guided tour of the city. Of course I wouldn’t be hitting all of the spots in the city, but I thought it’d be a good idea to get a general view. It was a guided bus tour, so there was a bit of info about all of the spots we visited thrown in which was nice.

Picked up from the hotel, I was bused over to the bus station at Hamamatsucho, where the first half of the eightish hour tour would begin. We started things off in the World Trade Center on the 40th floor observatory which offered a nice view of the city. Was a little unlucky with the weather, but you could still see a good distance even with some clouds hanging around.

From here we hopped on the bus in transit to the next stop. On the bus, I sat with a few Perfume fans which was kinda interesting. They had asked how long I was there and what not and I made mention that I had been to a Hello! Project concert, of which they were not immediately familiar. When I mentioned Morning Musume however, it clicked. Anyway, the one guy was there for college which had just ended and so he was then with his friends visiting before leaving. So, they were kind of a hyper, younger bunch of people… yeah.

The next stop was to a 40 minute boat ride (ferry, or whatever) through the Sumida River. Was pretty cool cursing through Tokyo, though it was kinda hard to take pictures. The end point of the ride was in Asakusa, where we would visit the Kannon Temple, which is apparently the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Leading to the temple was the Nakamise Shopping Arcade, a road full of shopping for Japanese goods and food. I didn’t buy anything there, but there sure was a lot to look at.

At the main gate and inside the Kannon Temple itself, there were some pretty cool Raijin and Fuujin statues and the overall architecture of the buildings was cool. The whole experience of the temple was nice, from the holy water, the billowing smoke, the fortune/luck things, to the inside with the offering box, statues and other cool stuff.

This first half of this tour ended with a trip through Ginza and a stop at the Imperial Palace. Ginza is a place where they used to manufacture money, now they say it’s a place where they take money. A lot of big, expensive shops and brands, a nice place to go window shopping, but that’s about it with most’ budgets. While touring through Ginza, the guide talked a lot about the hard economic times.

The Imperial Palace is where the royal family lives. It’s a huge plot of land surrounded by a moat. The buildings on the inside are fairly low, so it’s not like a castle or anything. Which makes sense from both a defense and practicality standpoint. It had started to rain at this point, but we got some good views still.

On to the second half of the tour, we first headed out through Ginza over the Rainbow Bridge and on to Odaiba, the man made island in “new” Tokyo. We had dinner atop some… building, I forget the name, haha. It offered a good view as a lof of these tall buildings do and the food, a variety of sashimi, was good.

From there, we headed to the park where the giant Gundam was on display. Even at night, this thing was really impressive; so large, and detailed. This was a temporary display, so I’m glad I was able to see it.

The night ended in Roppongi Hills, with a high view of the city at night. Roppongi is one of the newer developed areas of Tokyo, and you could tell. The place was a little busy for a Tuesday, I can see that this is an active place. That said, I’ve not heard all that much good about Roppongi, that I’d be interested in anyway, so it would be my only stop in the Hills.

On the way home, it had started raining pretty hard but I got dropped off right at the hotel so it was alright. ‘Twas a good first day.

Photos are up on Facebook.

Yokohama

A day trip to Yokohama included a visit to the Ramen Museum, Chinatown and a bit of wandering around Yokohama Port. Yokohama was a straight shot from Shinagawa, so getting there via train was a piece of cake.

I had looked up the Ramen Museum before deciding to go, but the concept of what exactly went on there wasn’t too clear until I actually got there. I understood that in the basement there would be a replica of various ramen shops, but I thought it’d be more museumesque, rather than like a restaurant. Aayway, on the first floor there is some history and photos and displays of various ramen making tools and such. Simple stuff, but it’s put together well I think. There’s also a souvenir shop, tho I decided not to get anything from there.

On the bottom floor, there is a series of 9 restaurants, each representing a different area of japan. The whole floor is laid out as if it was some old town that you were walking through, the atmosphere was pretty cool. Basically what you did here was visit each one of the ramen shops where you could either get a sample of ramen, served in this mini bowl; or you could go in, sit down and eat a large bowl, selected from a wide range of ramen that one might have found served in that particular area of Japan that the ramen shop is supposed to represent. Was cool, though I managed to burn my tongue a bit. Nice variety tho, and all of it was tasty.

Next stop was to Chinatown, Japan’s largest. I’ve never been to a Chinatown or other, themed(?), area of a town like that, and so it was pretty interesting. The roads were filled with shopping, and food and other entertainment, oh and people; lot’s of people packed the streets. And the place was pretty huge, it stretched far and wide so it took a while to walk through it all.

From Chinatown I headed to the “futuristic” port. The walk took me through Yamashita Park which was pretty calm, but with a lot of people lounging and walking around. There were a few performances going on in the park, like a juggler who had gathered a large crowd. Lots of large buildings, a ferris wheel, boats and stuff could be seen on the way to the “Sky Garden”. It reminded me of the inner harbor in Baltimore a little bit, only bigger and more up to date. Well, I’ve not much to compare it to really.

Enjoyed my visit to Yokohama and there’s some stuff I missed while there, so I’d definitely make another trip if I had more time.

Photos are up on Facebook.

Nagoya

The sun sure does rise early here in the Land of The Rising Sun. Woke up at about 4:30 on Sunday and the sun was beginning its journey. Before getting ready for the day, I had checked my emails and double checked a few spots to visit in Nagoya while I was there waiting for the Hello! Project concert.

The bathroom here is pretty spacious I guess, comparatively speaking. And the water in the shower stayed hot, unlike some hotels I’ve stayed at in the past. Overall the room is pretty good; it’s in a convenient location and has a lot of sights, shops and restaurants &c right on grounds.

Packed up all of my stuff, making sure I had my concert tickets and what not, my jacket and umbrella as well, as it was supposed to rain. Then I headed down to the first floor for a hybrid American/Japanese style breakfast buffet. It was a little bit pricey, but I’ll pay for convenience. The food was good and so I just chilled there for a little bit before heading to the train station.

Entering the station, sliding the ticket into the little ticket gate was easy enough and so I proceeded downstairs to find where I would be waiting for the train. Found it, and promptly headed back up stairs into the air conditioned waiting rooms to avoid the humid heat.

After a little wait, went back and boarded the train. Pretty comfortable seats with plenty of space and the ride was fast and smooth. Arrived in Nagoya and as planned, headed out to find the concert venue before doing any other sight seeing. One issue however, I was at the wrong train station (which I hadn’t realized at the time)… and so I spent about a half hour looking for the place that obviously wasn’t going to be there. The little map I had did have a street with a 19 on it, which I saw a 19 as I exited, thought I was in the right place, lol. Anyway, I headed back to the station, got a ticket to the -next- station on the local train and found myself set straight.

The concert hall was just a few blocks away, and as I walked up to it, I had seen that a lot of people had already started gathering. I was planning to go to Nagoya Castle, but instead decided to just hang out there. About a block away, they were doing some sort of a talent show/performance thing, unrelated to the H!P concert. So I watched that for a bit and also did a bit of walking around the general area.

As for the concert itself, I have that detailed a little on my other blog. I had a great time, to say the least of the experience.

Before the second concert started, outside, it had started to rain. Only had to wait about a half an hour tho, and I was back indoors. And at the end of the night, around 9:00 PM, it was still raining, but again, it was just a skip over to the train station and I was all set to go. One problem tho, the train ticket I bought was for 8:30… oops. For some reason I wasn’t expecting the concert to last so long. Anyway, the ticket I had was for a reserved seat, so all I had to do is board with the same ticked, only, in one of the unreserved cars of the train. Pretty simple, and the ride back to Shinagawa was about as uneventful as the ride to Nagoya. Slept a little bit on the train, as I was exhausted from the days activities. Got back at around 11:00 and rested up a bit.

Don’t think I’ll be able to top this, my first full day in Japan. And still, I can’t wait to explore some more over the next week or so.

Photos are up on Facebook.

LEX > ORD > NAR > Shinagawa

LEX

Called a cab a little bit later than I probably should have. I did the online check in thing tho, so I had a few extra minuites to spare. Security check was speedy and I arrived at the gate just as they were calling my seating group. Take off from LEX was a little bit bumpy as storms had just started to roll in. It was in any case, pretty cool to see the lightning in the clouds from a different perspective.

ORD

About a four hour layover, meh. Anyway, I wasn’t able to get a boarding pass to my ANA flight either online, or in Lexington. It was early in the morning when I arrived in Chicago, so there weren’t many customer service places to ask where I was supposed to get it really. They said at the ANA counter, but there wasn’t an ANA counter setup anywhere. Didn’t waste too much time looking and instead grabbed some breakfast at McDonald’s. Eventually the flight showed up on the departures screen and I was told that ANA wouldn’t be setup until a couple hours later. Parked next to an outlet, tethered my iPhone/MacBook and just wasted some time on the internet.

ORD > NAR

The long flight. Was a Boeing 777, which I think is the biggest one flying now. I was in a window seat in the front of the economy section, which wasn’t too bad. If I recall correctly, I had an isle seat when traveling to Sweden; gave me some extra leg room in a way, not that the room here was bad, but it could have been better. The seats were overall comfortable. For long flights in the future tho, I think I’ll try and book premium when I can, just for the fun of it. Plus I’ve got special benefits with United Airlines/ANA through my bank and stuff.

The flight was pretty uneventful. I listened to a special RIP SLYME summer mix thing; they have a pretty good summer sound, which is what first caught my interest with Taiyou to Bikini last year. Watched a movie, Oppia Volleyball -_-; It was alright, not great. Other than that, I listened to my iPod most of the time. I had originally planned to sleep a lot, but only got in one to two hours.

The food was pretty good, if not a little much. But I guess it made sense for a 12+ hour flight. Steamed salmon with creamy dill sauce; Vegetable lasagna with tomato marinara; Sandwiches, ice cream and other various snacks and sides.

NAR

Customs was a bit easier than what I remembered. Tho, maybe it was the flight back from Sweden that I was thinking about being a bit more thorough. Through luggage and customs it took a little more than an hour. Exchanged the ~$200 cash I brought with me, with plans of using ATMs &c as needed.

Was going to take the train to Shinagawa and get the special discounted ticket thing they had going on. The train that stopped there wouldn’t leave for another hour tho, either that, or I would have to do a transfer which I wasn’t interesting figuring that out on my first day here. Took the bus straight to the hotel, as was originally recommended to me anyway.

Shinagawa

Check in was painless, just showed them my passport and they made a copy of my credit card. My concert tickets were there waiting for me as well, which I admit, I was just a little bit worried about. The room is nice, cool view, with a queen bed and internet access. The room also has American style plugs, which I don’t need, but it’s still nice. ‘Twas recommendation that I made use of and am happy with it.

Didn’t do much the last few hours of the day; walked around a bit, stopped by an ATM, grabbed a quick bite. I also explored the train station and grabbed some tickets for my trip to Nagoya and back. I talked with one of the ticket sellers rather than trying my hand at the automated machines. Time, date, number of people, train number, destination to/from &c is all pretty easy speaking Japanese I think, so I was able to get in and out pretty quickly. They more than likely spoke English anyway if I needed it.

Oh, and, first impressions. Well, there’s a bunch of stereotypical(?) stuff, or stuff you see I’ve seen movies and such that stood out. Sailor fuku, umm, the automatic doors, the overall housing, buildings side streets, escalators (sand on left) &c. Looking forward to exploring more.

So far so good. Well, except for the lack of pictures… I’ll get on that eventually, maybe.

Photos are up on Facebook.