...or, how I enterained myself while NOT studying for the JSDA...
Yes, JSDA studying is taking up my whole week. The only good thing this week was the 3 day weekend, which gave me a day to study and explore... But first, the JSDA.
It was a nightmare. The translation into Engrish was terrible. Being asked "...when offering the, A method must be used" doesn't help things. It was frightening. You leave the exam not knowing how you did due to the strange terminology, words that magically changed from the text to the test, and in general, um....er....different vocabulary from the US. I'll find out next Thursday or Friday...
On Monday (the day off), I hit up Shinjuku. Shinjuku has a number of electronics stores. The strange thing is that the prices are MUCH better in the US. I've been looking for a digital camera, and the prices here are 20% more for the same camera! Now, for the very low end, that doesn't hold true, but for the high end, I can't find a reasonable price on a Canon EOS 10D or EOS 1Ds.
Computers, meanwhile are a bit strangely priced as well. There are a number of absolutly TINY notebook computers here. Like one-half inch thick with a 10.4" screen and weighing less then 1 pound. Wow. Truly portable machines that you can literally take anywhere. The selection here is probably twice the selecton you have in the US. And everybody has everything IN STOCK. Really cool. Watching people walk in and plunk down Y200,000 and walk out with a notebook is an amazing thing...
Shinjuku also inspired parts of the Blade Runner movie. Flashing lights in narrow dark streets are one of the inspirations for Riddley Scott's filming. Having the need to explore them, I got some nice pictures as some think, dark clouds came in. The neon lights are fabulous. Whole sections of Tokyo light up like a temple to consumption. New York has Times Square; Tokyo has a dozen districts each 10 times the size worshipping the neon gods.
Restraunts... hmm...I know of a great Tempura place. Downtown in the Ginza district two stories beneath ground. Sit at the bar and watch them cook it right in front of you. Periodically, you can feel the subway rumble beneath you... Of course, the sushi is incredible -- and the rule in the states about "avoiding places with boats" doesn't apply here. Conveyor belt sushi means "fast, efficient and high turnover" -- and usually cheap. You can stuff yourself on good sushi for $20-$30. I have to recommend it. Sit-down places aren't as good; okay, the menu is better but the more extensive menu is probably the major downfall. Just plain old sushi bars work wonders.
There are also noodle bars. Had this bowl of Ramen noodles the other day. Ramen isn't just for college students any more.
Saturday, is rainy. Its quite depressing. Wandered out to Shiboya, and wandered thru some shops, etc... Eh. I think we managed to find the world's biggest collection of mega-tacky shops, selling all sorts of, um, "stuff that looks like it escaped from the 1960s". It was frightening. Shiboya is, of course, another neon meca dedicated to consumption and if you ever get to Tokyo, well, you'll see exactly what I mean...
Sunday poured rain all day. At least now I know what a mild typhoon is like... Didn't do anything, and when I tried, I just got wet. Very wet. Eh.
Tuesday, which was another holiday here (September is full of them!), I wandered down to (Y)ebisu. There is a photography museum featuring some pictures done by a Very Fameous Japanese photographer. Ironically, the pictures in the display were from "Spring Green, Wisconsin". Those of you reading this in Stamford, you can ask Nick about Wisconsin... Very wierd. Fly 7,000 miles to see a photography display about a small town that looks remarkably like the place i grew up in...
From there, I wandered to the Sopporo Brewery Museum, where they had a mini-tour (they really need to take a leson or three from the Guinness people in Dublin about how to do a tour), and sampled some beer. Beer...good. nummy. Listened to some good opera singers while drinking said beer too, which was interesting.
Outside the brewery, was the best example of Engrish I'd seen yet. On a giant inflatable can were the words:
Nature's Bounty
FIBER
For that clean, refreshing
feeling...
Yes, they have a beer called "Fiber". And yes, the words on the can make it sound like a laxative. That was even worse then the candy product I saw advertised on TV: "Hommes Sweets" -- or literally, "Man sweets". They seem to like French over here now...
That's all the news here... The markets re-open tomorrow, and are likely to continue their decline. The further down they go, the less chance there is of an election as the current PM was using the market's response as an argument for the fact that "his reforms were working...".
Yes, JSDA studying is taking up my whole week. The only good thing this week was the 3 day weekend, which gave me a day to study and explore... But first, the JSDA.
It was a nightmare. The translation into Engrish was terrible. Being asked "...when offering the, A method must be used" doesn't help things. It was frightening. You leave the exam not knowing how you did due to the strange terminology, words that magically changed from the text to the test, and in general, um....er....different vocabulary from the US. I'll find out next Thursday or Friday...
On Monday (the day off), I hit up Shinjuku. Shinjuku has a number of electronics stores. The strange thing is that the prices are MUCH better in the US. I've been looking for a digital camera, and the prices here are 20% more for the same camera! Now, for the very low end, that doesn't hold true, but for the high end, I can't find a reasonable price on a Canon EOS 10D or EOS 1Ds.
Computers, meanwhile are a bit strangely priced as well. There are a number of absolutly TINY notebook computers here. Like one-half inch thick with a 10.4" screen and weighing less then 1 pound. Wow. Truly portable machines that you can literally take anywhere. The selection here is probably twice the selecton you have in the US. And everybody has everything IN STOCK. Really cool. Watching people walk in and plunk down Y200,000 and walk out with a notebook is an amazing thing...
Shinjuku also inspired parts of the Blade Runner movie. Flashing lights in narrow dark streets are one of the inspirations for Riddley Scott's filming. Having the need to explore them, I got some nice pictures as some think, dark clouds came in. The neon lights are fabulous. Whole sections of Tokyo light up like a temple to consumption. New York has Times Square; Tokyo has a dozen districts each 10 times the size worshipping the neon gods.
Restraunts... hmm...I know of a great Tempura place. Downtown in the Ginza district two stories beneath ground. Sit at the bar and watch them cook it right in front of you. Periodically, you can feel the subway rumble beneath you... Of course, the sushi is incredible -- and the rule in the states about "avoiding places with boats" doesn't apply here. Conveyor belt sushi means "fast, efficient and high turnover" -- and usually cheap. You can stuff yourself on good sushi for $20-$30. I have to recommend it. Sit-down places aren't as good; okay, the menu is better but the more extensive menu is probably the major downfall. Just plain old sushi bars work wonders.
There are also noodle bars. Had this bowl of Ramen noodles the other day. Ramen isn't just for college students any more.
Saturday, is rainy. Its quite depressing. Wandered out to Shiboya, and wandered thru some shops, etc... Eh. I think we managed to find the world's biggest collection of mega-tacky shops, selling all sorts of, um, "stuff that looks like it escaped from the 1960s". It was frightening. Shiboya is, of course, another neon meca dedicated to consumption and if you ever get to Tokyo, well, you'll see exactly what I mean...
Sunday poured rain all day. At least now I know what a mild typhoon is like... Didn't do anything, and when I tried, I just got wet. Very wet. Eh.
Tuesday, which was another holiday here (September is full of them!), I wandered down to (Y)ebisu. There is a photography museum featuring some pictures done by a Very Fameous Japanese photographer. Ironically, the pictures in the display were from "Spring Green, Wisconsin". Those of you reading this in Stamford, you can ask Nick about Wisconsin... Very wierd. Fly 7,000 miles to see a photography display about a small town that looks remarkably like the place i grew up in...
From there, I wandered to the Sopporo Brewery Museum, where they had a mini-tour (they really need to take a leson or three from the Guinness people in Dublin about how to do a tour), and sampled some beer. Beer...good. nummy. Listened to some good opera singers while drinking said beer too, which was interesting.
Outside the brewery, was the best example of Engrish I'd seen yet. On a giant inflatable can were the words:
Nature's Bounty
FIBER
For that clean, refreshing
feeling...
Yes, they have a beer called "Fiber". And yes, the words on the can make it sound like a laxative. That was even worse then the candy product I saw advertised on TV: "Hommes Sweets" -- or literally, "Man sweets". They seem to like French over here now...
That's all the news here... The markets re-open tomorrow, and are likely to continue their decline. The further down they go, the less chance there is of an election as the current PM was using the market's response as an argument for the fact that "his reforms were working...".
Gullible isn't in the dictionary.