Spengs vs Japan

[DrSpengler]

Going to Japanland tomorrow! Signed myself up for a sweet 10-day tour that'll take me all over the country (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and places I've never heard of). Should be fun and especially educational, as I've been studying the language and culture for about 3 years, now.

It'll also be the first time I've ever left the east coast of the United States and only the third time I've ever been on an airplane. Speaking of my flight, I'm going from Dullas to San Francisco, and then it's a 12-13 hour flight to Narita. Oh man, that's gonna suck.

Anyway, I hope my plane doesn't crash and I'll see you all on the 25th!

[Barkworm]

Awesome! Have fun! :)

[Brodie]

Man, if you find some of those sweet Resident Evil or MegaMan toys, send'em my way. Cheap-o amaz-o cool toys are awesome.

[Jo Dawn]

Wow... Have a safe and fun trip!! See you when you get back!! :D

[Ryona]

Ooh! Exciting! :D

Have a wonderful trip and tell us about it when you come back! :)

Oh, and yes, don't get killed on your trip. ^_^

[ThirdMarioBro]

I want to go :cry:

If you want a real good time, head to the Sega World Arcade outside Akihabara. It's the only place in the world with a three story arcade, and a playground that wraps around the entire outside of the building, sometimes looping inside. It's heavy duty so that adults can climb through the pipeline and a one of a kind place.

Have a blast you lucky bastard you ;)

[愛]

Oh man, I can't wait until I go. I'm shooting for Fall '06 for the Fall semester. Studying abroad is going to be so fun. :D

Enjoy yourself. Take pictures. I want to see them...

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

I want to go :cry:

If you want a real good time, head to the Sega World Arcade outside Akihabara. It's the only place in the world with a three story arcade, and a playground that wraps around the entire outside of the building, sometimes looping inside. It's heavy duty so that adults can climb through the pipeline and a one of a kind place.

Have a blast you lucky bastard you ;)

DITTO!

Also, we're going to want a full account of your trip when you get back. :D
So, have fun and Good Luck!

[DrSpengler]

Got back yesterday! Still tired from jet-lag. Got so much to say but here's some highlights:

About 2 hours out from San Francisco my plane had to turn back because the landing gear was heavily leaking hydrolic fluid. An hour after we got off the plane the gear buckled and it toppled over on it's side. Yeah, I was real excited about trying again the next day.

There were only 2 non-American movies playing at the theater in Kyoto. They were both cartoons so I chose the one that WASN'T based on a collectable card game (sorry, Zatch Bell). The Full Metal Alchemist movie was actually pretty cool, even though I'd never seen the tv series. The ticket cost me the equivalent of $18 bucks, though. BTW, in Japan movie theaters have assigned seating and everyone follows it. Kind've annoying.

Got copies of Ghostbusters I and II in Japanese, as well as a bunch of episodes of Justice League, Batman Beyond and even South Park the movie. Peter Venkman sounds a lot like Lupin III (Yamada Yasuo) but the DVD doesn't come with Japanese credits. And Batman is voiced by the same guy who did Optimus Primal on Beast Wars (I checked that one). Weird.

Tokyo is 99.9% litter-free, but there are maybe a total of 8 well-hidden trashcans in the entire city. Do these people eat their garbage?

Japanese people are very sympathetic listeners. My Japanese isn't great but they were very polite trying to figure out what I was saying.

There is a pachinko place ever quarter mile. I still don't get why people think it is fun.

Hyper Street Fighter II got rereleased in the arcades so I got that Street Fighter arcade experience I missed out on back in the day. I wouldn't play with any of the Japanese people, though, as I didn't want to get embarassed (I suck at it).

Try the soup made of liquified bean curd and sea urchin eggs. It's delicious*.

Takayama is the most gorgeous place I've ever been in my life. I would live there if I could.

Communal hotsprings are very relaxing...if you wait until 2am so there's nobody else there.

Nearly all of Japanese basic television consists of talk/game shows where a host interviews a large selection of Japanese celebrities and has them engage in activities or something else. Very boring.

The rest is all cartoons. I still don't get what people see in Shinchan and Doraemon, but Rantarou was a fun kid's show.

There's plenty more, but those are the biggies.


*It is not delicious. It is disgusting.

[愛]

That sounds like a lot of fun, Spengler. So was it everything you thought it would be? I still can't wait until I go. I just hope I don't get disappointed when I get there. :ohwell:

[Anarchistguy]

Welcome back, DrSpengler. :)

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Did you have cable where you were staying? If so, did you get WOWOW?

[DrSpengler]

I only got the basic channels, unfortunately. I was really hoping to catch the new Guyver or Transformers shows, but they weren't on any of my stations 9I only got TV Tokyo while I was actually in Tokyo). The only popular stuff I saw was the new Black Jack and an episode of One Piece which I didn't watch all the way through.

Oh yeah, and a rerun of Full House. It's a terrible show, even in Japanese.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Sounds great! I wish I could've gone too. Did you watch any Sumou? I LOVE sumou!

BTW if you haven't seen the Full Metal Alchemist show yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! Any spoilers you can give me about the movie?

[DrSpengler]

Sounds great! I wish I could've gone too. Did you watch any Sumou? I LOVE sumou!

BTW if you haven't seen the Full Metal Alchemist show yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! Any spoilers you can give me about the movie?


If you want I can PM you a whole plot synopsis, sans character names (as I only remember...ohhh...4).

I picked up the first DVD the other day; have yet to watch it. The movie was gorgeous-looking and had some pretty well-done fight scenes.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

That would be just fine! :)