May 2009
1 post
You know what?
Japan is crazy. In the past nine days, I’ve spent every moment either giggling or being confused at something I can’t understand. Or sometimes both. Naturally, Tokyo’s neon allure has seduced me away from relaying back about my adventures on a daily basis. When you see a pants-wearing monkey performing on a dock, then taking a break by climbing onto a folding chair and drinking a...
April 2009
8 posts
I ♥ Japan's Subway System
Look, you might think you live in a city with clean and efficient mass transit. You don’t. You can set your watch to Japan’s subway cars. If it says it will be there at 5:42 p.m., it won’t be there a minute earlier or later. That’s just one of the things to love about their mass transit: There are electronic signs on the platform saying exactly when the next train will be...
"Big Deuce, comin' straight outta crib-town!"
Is it wrong that I want this? It was just sitting in a random store.
Alf in any language is funny
The Alf where he bores holes in avocados was on tonight, and it was a humdinger. I didn’t understand a damn word of it, but its hilarity transcends the language barrier. Their next-door neighbor swears there’s an alien in her midst—how else could there be holes in the avocados? Anyway, she makes a federal case out of it, going on public-access TV to debate something-or-other. She...
This one's for the ladies
The day of many noodles
You wouldn’t get up at 6 a.m. in Chicago and just wander around the city, right? Somehow, in Shinjuku, it seemed like a good idea this morning. As day turned to night, though, it seemed like a poor decision, as it felt like I’d fall asleep if I held still. It’s still hard to tell if Golden Week—a rare time of year where most of Japan gets paid time off from work and, like me,...
