You can now see all my pictures in my blog. I also changed the layout so it doesn't crop them.
You can click on the images to get a larger version and you can use the "Blog Archive" to read my older posts.
Hope you like it :)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November 2nd (San Francisco and Montreal)
Today we left San Francisco to head back home. We thanked Rachel and took a taxi to the airport. There's nothing special to say about this day. Everything went smoothly. We got safely home around 10pm and undid our luggage.
Our trip has been really great. My dream as now come true. I'll go through my pictures so I can update my posts with them and add links on my older posts as I update them.
I'll try to do it all at once and then put up a post to tell those of you that are reading my blog to recheck my updated posts.
Our trip has been really great. My dream as now come true. I'll go through my pictures so I can update my posts with them and add links on my older posts as I update them.
I'll try to do it all at once and then put up a post to tell those of you that are reading my blog to recheck my updated posts.
November 1st (San Francisco)
We got up late, around 11am I think. It was pouring outside and we were hung over a bit (me more then the others) so we decided to go eat breakfast, rent a movie and take a nap before going out for supper.
And that's what we did. The movie we rented ended being REALLY shitty. What ever you do, don't rent "The Happening". The only good thing about the movie is the concept. The rest is total crap (bad acting, bad dialogue, bad story, bad characters, etc). I should have taken my nap during the movie :P
The restaurant we went to that night is called The House. The food was so good. I had steak on home made wasabi noodles! Everything I tasted was great. Joining us for supper was Marie-Claude and Patrick which is a Montrealer that's been in San Francisco for almost 2 years. I know him from Microids and Ubisoft and Nath knows him from Ubisoft. So we spoke french the whole evening.
After supper we went to a cool bar were we talked over a drink. Pat left us eventually and we left to walk in San Francisco a bit since the rain had stopped. We passed through Chinatown and walked a bit downtown (or wherever we were :P). We left Marie-Claude at a subway station and walked a bit more. I wish I had taken my camera but when we left it didn't seem like I would need it. There was a nice lighting to the city with the fog and night.
We took a taxi back home, watched Saturday Night Live that was really funny this time, talked, browsed the net and went to bed.
And that's what we did. The movie we rented ended being REALLY shitty. What ever you do, don't rent "The Happening". The only good thing about the movie is the concept. The rest is total crap (bad acting, bad dialogue, bad story, bad characters, etc). I should have taken my nap during the movie :P
The restaurant we went to that night is called The House. The food was so good. I had steak on home made wasabi noodles! Everything I tasted was great. Joining us for supper was Marie-Claude and Patrick which is a Montrealer that's been in San Francisco for almost 2 years. I know him from Microids and Ubisoft and Nath knows him from Ubisoft. So we spoke french the whole evening.
After supper we went to a cool bar were we talked over a drink. Pat left us eventually and we left to walk in San Francisco a bit since the rain had stopped. We passed through Chinatown and walked a bit downtown (or wherever we were :P). We left Marie-Claude at a subway station and walked a bit more. I wish I had taken my camera but when we left it didn't seem like I would need it. There was a nice lighting to the city with the fog and night.
We took a taxi back home, watched Saturday Night Live that was really funny this time, talked, browsed the net and went to bed.
October 31st (Tokyo and San Francisco)
Today we left Tokyo. We got up not too late so we could have breakfast at the hotel and there was nothing that we felt we really wanted to see before we left so we decided to make our way slowly to the airport. We got there 5 hours in advance... but we shopped to get rid of our final yens and ate lunch. We took the time to take our time.
In the train to the airport
For the first time in my life (even though I've flown a bit) I took a plane that had individual screens on the seat in front of you. You can listen to like 20 satellite radio stations but more importantly, you can choose which movie you want to see, in the order you like and you can actually see something!
I chose to watch "The Incredible Hulk" first which was really good. There's a joke reference about Hulk's purple pants in the original comics and I'm pretty sure the actor who played the Hulk in the TV series has a small role in the movie!
The second movie I chose to watch was "Get Smart" which I think is based off an old TV series. It's a comedy/espionage movie. It's not a must see but if you liked "Austin Powers" or comedies in general, I think it could be worth a rental or download.
Once we landed, we went to pick up the car I had rented so that we could go meet our friend Rachel (she used to be Nath's roommate) at Google where she works. She gave us a tour and we ate at one of the many different cafeterias.
Google is really big. There's around 8000 employees so the area looks more like a campus with its many buildings. Everything is free on the campus: food, drinks, gym, etc and there's a lot of other perks. We were pretty impressed with what we saw and what Rachel was telling us about the corporate mentality.
Rachel left work early to come with us. We were staying at her house for the weekend. We dropped off our luggage, brought back the car and took a cab back to a pharmacy near Rachel's house. Since it was Halloween and we were planning on going out, we wanted to try and find cheap costumes. Nath bought a witch hat and I some make-up.
Rachel rents a really nice apartment not too far from Fisherman's Wharf. She had set us up a really comfortable inflatable bed in the living room. After 3 weeks of Japanese beds, which were mostly hard, this bed felt like paradise! We took a 2 hour nap so we wouldn't be too tired after supper. I hadn't slept on the plane and Nath had for only an hour.
So, the nap over, we dressed up. Rachel "80ies style", Nath "witch style" and me I just drew some freaky marionette style make-up in my face. We took a cab to the restaurant named Dosa. There we were meeting 2 of Rachel's friends, Pam and Oliver, and Marie-Claude which is Nath's friend who just moved there 3 weeks ago for her post-doctorate.
Nath and Rachel
The food was really good and the wine also. I suggest you try it if you ever get the chance but I think it's better to make a reservation. When the supper was over, Oliver left because he had a show to go to. The rest of us moved to a bar to go have a drink.
There were a lot of dressed up people and the ambiance was really nice in the bar and on the streets. We stayed at that one for a while and then moved to another so we could dance. It was an African bar with "baobab" in it's name (my favorite word !). We were pretty drunk. We talked with everybody and had a lot of fun.
Funny thing about bars in San Francisco, most of them have only one or 2 toilets... for the whole bar ! And people drink which makes them want to pee more. You end up having huge line ups. Really weird...
Around 2 am we decided to head back home. I think most bars were closing but I'm not sure because I was too drunk :P It was IMPOSSIBLE to get a taxi so Rachel just asked a couple that stopped at the light to give us a lift in exchange for money. They accepted. So we got into their SUV and they drove us close to Rachel's house. Pam was still with us (Marie-Claude had left earlier) and she lived farther so when we spotted a cab, she left the SUV in a hurry and since we were close to Rachel's apartment we did the same. Thing is Rachel dropped her wallet in the the couples car.
We headed back home and Rachel started to call to cancel her cards, just in case, even though the couple seemed very nice. And they were ! Just after Rachel canceled her debit card, they called. They had found Rachel's business card in her wallet. Nath Stayed home to go to bed and I accompanied Rachel to go get her wallet back.
The couple lived more in a suburb of San Fran. We had to take the highway to get there. The taxi ride cost 55$ (go there, wait as Rachel gets her wallet and then back). We went to bed around 4am.
In the train to the airport
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
For the first time in my life (even though I've flown a bit) I took a plane that had individual screens on the seat in front of you. You can listen to like 20 satellite radio stations but more importantly, you can choose which movie you want to see, in the order you like and you can actually see something!
I chose to watch "The Incredible Hulk" first which was really good. There's a joke reference about Hulk's purple pants in the original comics and I'm pretty sure the actor who played the Hulk in the TV series has a small role in the movie!
The second movie I chose to watch was "Get Smart" which I think is based off an old TV series. It's a comedy/espionage movie. It's not a must see but if you liked "Austin Powers" or comedies in general, I think it could be worth a rental or download.
Once we landed, we went to pick up the car I had rented so that we could go meet our friend Rachel (she used to be Nath's roommate) at Google where she works. She gave us a tour and we ate at one of the many different cafeterias.
Google is really big. There's around 8000 employees so the area looks more like a campus with its many buildings. Everything is free on the campus: food, drinks, gym, etc and there's a lot of other perks. We were pretty impressed with what we saw and what Rachel was telling us about the corporate mentality.
Rachel left work early to come with us. We were staying at her house for the weekend. We dropped off our luggage, brought back the car and took a cab back to a pharmacy near Rachel's house. Since it was Halloween and we were planning on going out, we wanted to try and find cheap costumes. Nath bought a witch hat and I some make-up.
Rachel rents a really nice apartment not too far from Fisherman's Wharf. She had set us up a really comfortable inflatable bed in the living room. After 3 weeks of Japanese beds, which were mostly hard, this bed felt like paradise! We took a 2 hour nap so we wouldn't be too tired after supper. I hadn't slept on the plane and Nath had for only an hour.
So, the nap over, we dressed up. Rachel "80ies style", Nath "witch style" and me I just drew some freaky marionette style make-up in my face. We took a cab to the restaurant named Dosa. There we were meeting 2 of Rachel's friends, Pam and Oliver, and Marie-Claude which is Nath's friend who just moved there 3 weeks ago for her post-doctorate.
Nath and Rachel
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| From Trip to Japan |
The food was really good and the wine also. I suggest you try it if you ever get the chance but I think it's better to make a reservation. When the supper was over, Oliver left because he had a show to go to. The rest of us moved to a bar to go have a drink.
There were a lot of dressed up people and the ambiance was really nice in the bar and on the streets. We stayed at that one for a while and then moved to another so we could dance. It was an African bar with "baobab" in it's name (my favorite word !). We were pretty drunk. We talked with everybody and had a lot of fun.
Funny thing about bars in San Francisco, most of them have only one or 2 toilets... for the whole bar ! And people drink which makes them want to pee more. You end up having huge line ups. Really weird...
Around 2 am we decided to head back home. I think most bars were closing but I'm not sure because I was too drunk :P It was IMPOSSIBLE to get a taxi so Rachel just asked a couple that stopped at the light to give us a lift in exchange for money. They accepted. So we got into their SUV and they drove us close to Rachel's house. Pam was still with us (Marie-Claude had left earlier) and she lived farther so when we spotted a cab, she left the SUV in a hurry and since we were close to Rachel's apartment we did the same. Thing is Rachel dropped her wallet in the the couples car.
We headed back home and Rachel started to call to cancel her cards, just in case, even though the couple seemed very nice. And they were ! Just after Rachel canceled her debit card, they called. They had found Rachel's business card in her wallet. Nath Stayed home to go to bed and I accompanied Rachel to go get her wallet back.
The couple lived more in a suburb of San Fran. We had to take the highway to get there. The taxi ride cost 55$ (go there, wait as Rachel gets her wallet and then back). We went to bed around 4am.
October 30th (Tokyo)
Today we went to visit the "Ghibli Museum"in the city of Mitaka (30 minutes by train from Shinjuku). Studio Ghibli is an animated movie production house that produced some of my favorite animes like "Princess Mononoke", "Nausicaä of the valley of the wind", "My neighbor Totoro" and the Oscar winning "Spirited away". It's Japan's Disney.
To visit the museum, you have to buy the tickets in advance at specially designated stores for a specific date. We had bought ours before we left at a travel agency in Toronto. I think there's only one other distributor in Vancouver and that's it for Canada !
The museum is made for kids (and adults who still have an inner child :P). There are no set routes, only themed rooms that you can access by climbing spiraling staircases or going through small doors. It's just one big magical house that stimulates your imagination. You're not allowed to take pictures inside on the pretext that "the museum should be experienced through the eyes and not though the lens of a camera or camcorder. I would have loved to take pictures inside but I agree that my experience of the museum wouldn't have been the same.
The only picture I took inside in the main entrance
I took the opportunity to buy some Ghibli merchandise which is hard to find (and much more expensive) in Montreal. This visit has also been a strong moment of my trip.
We had a rendezvous around 6pm with a colleague from work named Guillaume that is renting an apartment in Tokyo for 1 month but we had a bit if time on our hands so we strolled through a park next to the museum as we made our way back to the train station. We also shopped a bit in Shinjuku in a couple of it's "depato" (department stores).
Tree near the park
Shinjuku at night
If you'd like to Bling something for a special occasion...
We didn't have trouble finding Guillaume and we went to a kaiten-zushi in Shinjuku. The food was really good but there was a lot of weird dishes like crab brains and cod "uterus" filled with eggs. Nathalie ate the latter :S
After supper, we went to Guillaume's apartment building to drink some beers on the roof, hehe. One of his friends from Montreal and his girlfriend also joined us (the 3 are making the same trip and are living in the same building) and we talked about our experiences in Japan and other things.
We left not too late because we were taking the plane the next day and we thought we had to get up early (finally the plane was at 5pm). We also wanted to pack before we went to bed. So that's what we did and we also watched some Japanese TV and ended up going to bed around 1am.
In this I wanted to show the color of the ramp of the escalator. It's the same color as the train line. I was also sad to notice that it wasn't constant but I still think it's cool :)
Great name for a drink (sounds more or less like: "drink piss" in french)
To visit the museum, you have to buy the tickets in advance at specially designated stores for a specific date. We had bought ours before we left at a travel agency in Toronto. I think there's only one other distributor in Vancouver and that's it for Canada !
The museum is made for kids (and adults who still have an inner child :P). There are no set routes, only themed rooms that you can access by climbing spiraling staircases or going through small doors. It's just one big magical house that stimulates your imagination. You're not allowed to take pictures inside on the pretext that "the museum should be experienced through the eyes and not though the lens of a camera or camcorder. I would have loved to take pictures inside but I agree that my experience of the museum wouldn't have been the same.
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| From Trip to Japan |
The only picture I took inside in the main entrance
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
I took the opportunity to buy some Ghibli merchandise which is hard to find (and much more expensive) in Montreal. This visit has also been a strong moment of my trip.
We had a rendezvous around 6pm with a colleague from work named Guillaume that is renting an apartment in Tokyo for 1 month but we had a bit if time on our hands so we strolled through a park next to the museum as we made our way back to the train station. We also shopped a bit in Shinjuku in a couple of it's "depato" (department stores).
Tree near the park
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| From Trip to Japan |
Shinjuku at night
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
If you'd like to Bling something for a special occasion...
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We didn't have trouble finding Guillaume and we went to a kaiten-zushi in Shinjuku. The food was really good but there was a lot of weird dishes like crab brains and cod "uterus" filled with eggs. Nathalie ate the latter :S
After supper, we went to Guillaume's apartment building to drink some beers on the roof, hehe. One of his friends from Montreal and his girlfriend also joined us (the 3 are making the same trip and are living in the same building) and we talked about our experiences in Japan and other things.
We left not too late because we were taking the plane the next day and we thought we had to get up early (finally the plane was at 5pm). We also wanted to pack before we went to bed. So that's what we did and we also watched some Japanese TV and ended up going to bed around 1am.
In this I wanted to show the color of the ramp of the escalator. It's the same color as the train line. I was also sad to notice that it wasn't constant but I still think it's cool :)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Great name for a drink (sounds more or less like: "drink piss" in french)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
October 29th (Tokyo)
Today we decided to go see the "National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovations". The museum is situated next to Tokyo Bay. A bit like Montreal's Old Port.
To get there by train, there's only one train available and it's totally computer controlled! And since there are no driver booth at the front or end of the train, you can sit in the front as if you were the one driving and see the track and have a really nice view of the city as the train makes it's way between downtown Shinjuku and Odaiba (the name of the district where the museum was). Odaiba is also home amusement parks and many other entertainments.
Building in Shinjuku before taking the train
The museum is kind of like the science museum we have in the Old Port but 1000 times better because you can see Asimo (a robot made by Honda) in action :D We were very close to him and we didn't have to wait in line to see him !!! This was one of the strongest moments of my trip. I was so excited. This is one of the most human like robot that exists. It can climb stairs, walk and even run ! I wish I could have one :)
Asimo!
Asimo running!
There were other robots on display that we didn't get a chance to see in action. Many displays about nanotechnology (I even controlled some nano machines!) and electromagnetic technologies were also on display on the first floor we visited. On the second floor there was a small set up that represented a part of the space station orbiting earth. It was very interesting to learn how astronauts do a lot of things. We quickly went through the rest of the floor because we didn't feel like learning more about biology and DNA.
Electromagnetic train concepts
Nathalie driving a mug
The museum cafeteria had different sized tables and chairs :)
We left Odaiba and headed for Asakusa for some souvenir shopping and to see if I could find myself some cheap tabi socks. As we were riding the automated train, the sun was setting and we had a very nice view of Tokyo.
When we got off the metro in Asakusa, we were right next to one of it's main attractions, the Asahi Breweries LTD building and the golden flame building next to it. The Asahi building looks like a glass of beer and the flame looks more like a golden spermatozoon... A took a picture of it nonetheless :P
Our destination, Nakamise street, was one street over. It was lined with souvenir shops on both sides for 250m and it ended in front of Sensoji Temple which is said to be the oldest in Tokyo (built in 628). Those shops are also pretty old and date all the way back to the Edo period (1603-1868) . I could imagine myself how it must have been like 300 years ago when people would shop as they headed for the temple. It must have been as busy a street then as it is now.
We shopped a bit and I was lucky enough to find affordable tabi. We bought some gifts, went to see the temple and went back to the hotel to do some laundry before supper.
The temple
Souvenir shop
For supper, Nath's book suggested an "Unagi" restaurant. Unagi is eel and BBQed eel is supposed to be particularly good in Tokyo. The restaurant was indeed really nice. The waitresses were dressed in kimonos and our meals were served in real bento boxes. The eel was delicious and cooked to perfection. Everything else was also delicious except the sake that was a bit sub-par to what we had had up until now.
I don't remember when but I realized today that there are no pigeons and gulls in Tokyo which is kinda nice (I think they're annoying because there are too many in Montreal and they're always in the way). At the same time, Tokyo doesn't have enough animals probably because there aren't that many parks and it's such a huge city. Well, there are a LOT of cats. I think Japan is the motherland of cats. They're like everywhere (in the flesh, objects, drawings...maids :P).
To get there by train, there's only one train available and it's totally computer controlled! And since there are no driver booth at the front or end of the train, you can sit in the front as if you were the one driving and see the track and have a really nice view of the city as the train makes it's way between downtown Shinjuku and Odaiba (the name of the district where the museum was). Odaiba is also home amusement parks and many other entertainments.
Building in Shinjuku before taking the train
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
The museum is kind of like the science museum we have in the Old Port but 1000 times better because you can see Asimo (a robot made by Honda) in action :D We were very close to him and we didn't have to wait in line to see him !!! This was one of the strongest moments of my trip. I was so excited. This is one of the most human like robot that exists. It can climb stairs, walk and even run ! I wish I could have one :)
Asimo!
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Asimo running!
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
There were other robots on display that we didn't get a chance to see in action. Many displays about nanotechnology (I even controlled some nano machines!) and electromagnetic technologies were also on display on the first floor we visited. On the second floor there was a small set up that represented a part of the space station orbiting earth. It was very interesting to learn how astronauts do a lot of things. We quickly went through the rest of the floor because we didn't feel like learning more about biology and DNA.
Electromagnetic train concepts
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Nathalie driving a mug
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
The museum cafeteria had different sized tables and chairs :)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We left Odaiba and headed for Asakusa for some souvenir shopping and to see if I could find myself some cheap tabi socks. As we were riding the automated train, the sun was setting and we had a very nice view of Tokyo.
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
When we got off the metro in Asakusa, we were right next to one of it's main attractions, the Asahi Breweries LTD building and the golden flame building next to it. The Asahi building looks like a glass of beer and the flame looks more like a golden spermatozoon... A took a picture of it nonetheless :P
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Our destination, Nakamise street, was one street over. It was lined with souvenir shops on both sides for 250m and it ended in front of Sensoji Temple which is said to be the oldest in Tokyo (built in 628). Those shops are also pretty old and date all the way back to the Edo period (1603-1868) . I could imagine myself how it must have been like 300 years ago when people would shop as they headed for the temple. It must have been as busy a street then as it is now.
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We shopped a bit and I was lucky enough to find affordable tabi. We bought some gifts, went to see the temple and went back to the hotel to do some laundry before supper.
The temple
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| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Souvenir shop
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
For supper, Nath's book suggested an "Unagi" restaurant. Unagi is eel and BBQed eel is supposed to be particularly good in Tokyo. The restaurant was indeed really nice. The waitresses were dressed in kimonos and our meals were served in real bento boxes. The eel was delicious and cooked to perfection. Everything else was also delicious except the sake that was a bit sub-par to what we had had up until now.
I don't remember when but I realized today that there are no pigeons and gulls in Tokyo which is kinda nice (I think they're annoying because there are too many in Montreal and they're always in the way). At the same time, Tokyo doesn't have enough animals probably because there aren't that many parks and it's such a huge city. Well, there are a LOT of cats. I think Japan is the motherland of cats. They're like everywhere (in the flesh, objects, drawings...maids :P).
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
October 28th (Tokyo)
Today, we were pretty sick of shopping so we decided to go to a museum. The Edo-Tokyo Museum to be exact. It's a museum dedicated to history of the city (Tokyo was named Edo before the Meiji restoration).
All metros and most main streets have things on the ground to help guide the blind
We started walking the museum realizing that there wasn't that many English signs so we went back to the entrance to get audio-guides. When we came back we realized that the audio-guides were just reading the English signs and didn't give any extra info... So I decided to read the signs instead :P And as we went deeper into the exhibition, there were more English signs so we learnt quite a view things. I think we spent around 2 hours in there, maybe 3.
When we came out, the sun had started to set so we took the metro to go to Roppongi Hills, a sky scraper with a 360 degree view of Tokyo on the 52nd floor.
Roppongi Hills
We arrived just in time for the sunset. We could even see a hazy silhouette of Fuji-San (honorific name for Mount Fuji). We took a lot of pictures of the sunset, the city at night and Tokyo Tower which a broadcast tower that looks like an orange-smaller-version of the Eifel Tower. It was also a bit romantic :P
Fuji-san
This bench was white until you sat on it and the more weight there was, the brighter the color was (I want one!)
There was a store at the bottom of the building selling art things because there also an art museum in it. They had a couple of Murakami merchandise that was hard to resist (but I managed to) and some merchandise from an artist that I didn't know but was glad to discover.
Seems like there's a statue of "Maman" in Tokyo too
We were starting to get hungry and Nath had spotted an organic vegetarian restaurant in her book about Japanese food. Ironically the restaurant was in Harajuku so we went there for the 3rd time.
After a small stop at Kiddyland we found the said restaurant named "Mominoki House". I took a Japanese "quille" (a 633ml bottle of beer) an Nath some sake. The food was good but not amazing except for the bowl of brown rice. The services were also served a bit too fast and I felt like I didn't have time to take the time to have a nice supper with my chick.
We took the long road to go to the metro station to see Takeshita street at night, came back to the hotel and went to bed.
All metros and most main streets have things on the ground to help guide the blind
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We started walking the museum realizing that there wasn't that many English signs so we went back to the entrance to get audio-guides. When we came back we realized that the audio-guides were just reading the English signs and didn't give any extra info... So I decided to read the signs instead :P And as we went deeper into the exhibition, there were more English signs so we learnt quite a view things. I think we spent around 2 hours in there, maybe 3.
When we came out, the sun had started to set so we took the metro to go to Roppongi Hills, a sky scraper with a 360 degree view of Tokyo on the 52nd floor.
Roppongi Hills
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We arrived just in time for the sunset. We could even see a hazy silhouette of Fuji-San (honorific name for Mount Fuji). We took a lot of pictures of the sunset, the city at night and Tokyo Tower which a broadcast tower that looks like an orange-smaller-version of the Eifel Tower. It was also a bit romantic :P
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| From Trip to Japan |
Fuji-san
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
This bench was white until you sat on it and the more weight there was, the brighter the color was (I want one!)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
There was a store at the bottom of the building selling art things because there also an art museum in it. They had a couple of Murakami merchandise that was hard to resist (but I managed to) and some merchandise from an artist that I didn't know but was glad to discover.
Seems like there's a statue of "Maman" in Tokyo too
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We were starting to get hungry and Nath had spotted an organic vegetarian restaurant in her book about Japanese food. Ironically the restaurant was in Harajuku so we went there for the 3rd time.
After a small stop at Kiddyland we found the said restaurant named "Mominoki House". I took a Japanese "quille" (a 633ml bottle of beer) an Nath some sake. The food was good but not amazing except for the bowl of brown rice. The services were also served a bit too fast and I felt like I didn't have time to take the time to have a nice supper with my chick.
We took the long road to go to the metro station to see Takeshita street at night, came back to the hotel and went to bed.
Monday, October 27, 2008
October 27th (Tokyo)
Today we were a bit hung over. We got up around 7am to eat breakfast and then went back to bed :P hey, we're on vacation !
We decided to finally go shop in Akihabara. We ate some McDonald's on our way there (I didn't eat that much for breakfast). I would say that the best meat is in europe. The burger tasted a bit like in Canada but the bread tasted fresher. The fries were a bit too salty and tasted the same. I really wanted to eat some to taste the difference.
Akihabara is crazy. You have a lot of shops and all of them have like 8 stories. Being able to read the signs or knowing where is what must be amazing. I felt kind of down because I was there. Surrounded by games, electronics, mangas and anime but my Japanese is so basic... It's like having all the best food in front of you and only having one taste bud...
We did a couple of figurine shops and one store that's like a huge Futureshop. The prices seem pretty much the same (even more expensive today because of the shitty exchange rate) as what we have in Canada. I expected the stores to have special gadgets that we don't have at home but we seem to be pretty up to date. So overall, Akihabara was not as fun as I thought it would be but I'm still happy to have experienced it.
After that, we went to a "Depato" (department store) so I could try to buy some tabi socks. I didn't find any but we found some souvenirs to buy. When we finished shopping, it was raining pretty heavily outside and we didn't feel like eating yet so we took a cab to our internet cafe to geek out.
We ate supper in a small restaurant. A bowl of rice and vegetables (Nathalie was happy) with broth in it. We finished the evening in our room (playing the DS and drinking sake).
We decided to finally go shop in Akihabara. We ate some McDonald's on our way there (I didn't eat that much for breakfast). I would say that the best meat is in europe. The burger tasted a bit like in Canada but the bread tasted fresher. The fries were a bit too salty and tasted the same. I really wanted to eat some to taste the difference.
Akihabara is crazy. You have a lot of shops and all of them have like 8 stories. Being able to read the signs or knowing where is what must be amazing. I felt kind of down because I was there. Surrounded by games, electronics, mangas and anime but my Japanese is so basic... It's like having all the best food in front of you and only having one taste bud...
We did a couple of figurine shops and one store that's like a huge Futureshop. The prices seem pretty much the same (even more expensive today because of the shitty exchange rate) as what we have in Canada. I expected the stores to have special gadgets that we don't have at home but we seem to be pretty up to date. So overall, Akihabara was not as fun as I thought it would be but I'm still happy to have experienced it.
After that, we went to a "Depato" (department store) so I could try to buy some tabi socks. I didn't find any but we found some souvenirs to buy. When we finished shopping, it was raining pretty heavily outside and we didn't feel like eating yet so we took a cab to our internet cafe to geek out.
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| From Trip to Japan |
We ate supper in a small restaurant. A bowl of rice and vegetables (Nathalie was happy) with broth in it. We finished the evening in our room (playing the DS and drinking sake).
October 26th (Tokyo)
Today we decided to sleep through our breakfast and just get up when we were awake. We went back to Harajuku because on Sundays, at a specific location, there's a bunch of kids (mostly girls if not all) that dress up extravagantly and just chill at that spot. A lot of tourists go there to take pictures of them (guilty :P), all dressed up as anime or manga characters, punk clothes or goth-loli clothes (gothic-lolita).
Proof that some wagons are reserved for women because of pervert problems (ass-pinching, up-skirt pictures, etc)
Harajuku girls
This one is mine :)
We went back on one the main streets to a 6 story toy store called "Kiddyland". I think we spent 2 hours in the store. We even helped a little girl find her mother (well, we managed to tell an employee that we thought the girl had lost her mother).
After that we meandered on Cat Street which a street that has store mostly for men. It's a "hip" and a bit expensive kind of street. I'd like to have that street in Montreal.
We had pretty much seen what we wanted in Harajuku and Shibuya and I was starting to want to visit Akihabara which is 10 minutes from our hotel and the district I wanted to see the most. It's the "electronic district" and it's supposed to be the biggest in the world. It's also to place to find new and used video games and a lot of thing related to anime or manga.
Akihabara is also known for it's "maid-cafes" which are cafe where the waitress is dressed up as a maid. We decided to go try one because we were in need of coffee and a break. We chose the only one we had seen. We waited 5 minutes (there was a small line up) to get into an elevator. We decided to exit at the 5th floor. There seemed to be different cafes at different floors from the 4th to 7th or 8th floor. When we got out, we realized that there was a longer line up in the stairs to get in... It was all confusing, we didn't know how long we would have to wait, where the line started or ended and I didn't want to wait in line just to drink coffee. It's not like I needed a maid fix...
We decided to take the stairs to get back down but they were blocked halfway... Then we tried to take the elevator but it was always full... We decided toi go to the top floor and take the elevator there to get down. It took us like 20 minutes to get out. I was kind of pissed to have lost my time for nothing. We went to our usual internet cafe so Nath could check if Daniel had written to us about supper. We also took the opportunity to drink coffee and soft drinks. At a lot of internet cafes, all the drinks are free (read included in the price while you use internet). There's even an ice cream machine :D
Daniel hadn't written to us so we called him. He was with Mikayo and we left Akihabara (shopping would have to wait) to go back to Harajuku (yes again) to meet them.
It's really nice to be able to go out with locals when you're in a different city! Mikayo took us to a Izakaya which is like a Japanese pub. We ordered a couple of different dishes that we all shared and we drank some beer and other drinks.
Nath and Daniel had to squeeze their own grapefruit to put it in their drink
Daniel and Mikayo
We left to go to a nearby Thai restaurant to meet one of Mikayo's friends. We drank some more (myself a bit too much of sake), ate some more, talked and laughed. We had a lot of fun with our new friends ;)
Mikayo answered some of my questions, her English was very good. I learnt that you can drink anywhere, at any hour in Japan :D That would explain the beer vending machines almost anywhere.
We left around 11pm to go home. The metro closes at midnight in Tokyo.
Cat in a bush !
Proof that some wagons are reserved for women because of pervert problems (ass-pinching, up-skirt pictures, etc)
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| From Trip to Japan |
Harajuku girls
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
This one is mine :)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
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| From Trip to Japan |
We went back on one the main streets to a 6 story toy store called "Kiddyland". I think we spent 2 hours in the store. We even helped a little girl find her mother (well, we managed to tell an employee that we thought the girl had lost her mother).
After that we meandered on Cat Street which a street that has store mostly for men. It's a "hip" and a bit expensive kind of street. I'd like to have that street in Montreal.
We had pretty much seen what we wanted in Harajuku and Shibuya and I was starting to want to visit Akihabara which is 10 minutes from our hotel and the district I wanted to see the most. It's the "electronic district" and it's supposed to be the biggest in the world. It's also to place to find new and used video games and a lot of thing related to anime or manga.
Akihabara is also known for it's "maid-cafes" which are cafe where the waitress is dressed up as a maid. We decided to go try one because we were in need of coffee and a break. We chose the only one we had seen. We waited 5 minutes (there was a small line up) to get into an elevator. We decided to exit at the 5th floor. There seemed to be different cafes at different floors from the 4th to 7th or 8th floor. When we got out, we realized that there was a longer line up in the stairs to get in... It was all confusing, we didn't know how long we would have to wait, where the line started or ended and I didn't want to wait in line just to drink coffee. It's not like I needed a maid fix...
We decided to take the stairs to get back down but they were blocked halfway... Then we tried to take the elevator but it was always full... We decided toi go to the top floor and take the elevator there to get down. It took us like 20 minutes to get out. I was kind of pissed to have lost my time for nothing. We went to our usual internet cafe so Nath could check if Daniel had written to us about supper. We also took the opportunity to drink coffee and soft drinks. At a lot of internet cafes, all the drinks are free (read included in the price while you use internet). There's even an ice cream machine :D
Daniel hadn't written to us so we called him. He was with Mikayo and we left Akihabara (shopping would have to wait) to go back to Harajuku (yes again) to meet them.
It's really nice to be able to go out with locals when you're in a different city! Mikayo took us to a Izakaya which is like a Japanese pub. We ordered a couple of different dishes that we all shared and we drank some beer and other drinks.
Nath and Daniel had to squeeze their own grapefruit to put it in their drink
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Daniel and Mikayo
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
We left to go to a nearby Thai restaurant to meet one of Mikayo's friends. We drank some more (myself a bit too much of sake), ate some more, talked and laughed. We had a lot of fun with our new friends ;)
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
Mikayo answered some of my questions, her English was very good. I learnt that you can drink anywhere, at any hour in Japan :D That would explain the beer vending machines almost anywhere.
We left around 11pm to go home. The metro closes at midnight in Tokyo.
Cat in a bush !
.jpg) |
| From Trip to Japan |
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