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Japan guide
01 year ago
Welcome to my guide to visiting Japan. This is based off my experience visiting and living in Japan. It’s not a completely travel book by any means. It doesn’t cover specific places to go, but general knowledge on getting around the country. I know there are things that are not on here that probably should be. In which case, leave a comment to let me know, and I’ll try to include information about it.
I’ve been asked by several people the past few years for things to do when going to Japan. Things like using the subways, good Japanese phrases and words to know, price of things, etc. I love sharing my knowledge with others, but I find myself repeating myself, so rather than have to come up with a new list from time to time, here’s my compendium of things to know before going to Japan. (more…)
Living in Tokyo
21 year ago
A strawberry cake. Don't forget to check out the rest of my photography (click the image).
Back when I was in the U.S. I thought to myself, “Wow, Japan is fun to visit. It’ll be even greater to live there, even if I have to use teaching English as a vehicle to get myself over there.” Well, it turns out teaching English isn’t really what I want to do with life, let alone a year. I wanted to wake up in the morning and yell out, “Yes! I’m a teacher!” But, I never felt that. Not even once.
Five months after coming here to teach English, I quit and moved on up to the Tokyo area. Tokyo is pretty sweet. If you’re bored here in this city, it’s probably your own fault. Or maybe a lack of funds, though you can still have fun on the cheap.
Yamaguchi-ken, where I was teaching, was all right. Rent was cheap! An equivalent apartment to what I had there (roughly $600/mo) would be at least $1,500 here in Tokyo, I think. The prefecture had a lot of nature and countryside things to see and do, but I’ve always been more of a city boy. I grew up in a city. Went to college in a small town of 30,000. Then I moved to Houston. Afterward a “small” town of 150,000 in Japan. Now, I’m in Tokyo, a place with more than 8 million people!
So, I quit my job teaching, right? Just what have I been doing? I’ve been looking for work. Just about any non-teaching job I can find. I must say though, that with my lack of amazing programming skills or strong grasp of the Japanese language, it’s challenging.
I have met some interesting people here in Tokyo though, such as Fabrizio Bortolussi, an Italian who designs creatures and models. Perhaps you’ve seen his work in Avatar or District 9.
The same day I met Fabrizio, I also met Nakamura Tomoyuki, one of the three people behind chiptune band YMCK. Speaking of which, it appears I’ll most likely head out to Blip Festival Tokyo next weekend.
Truly Tokyo has many amazing experiences to offer. I hope I can stay here longer and report on what I find. But first, does anyone want to offer me a job? Writing, PR, publication design? Maybe even photography?
Sushi party before I left
01 year ago
by Chris Valdez
in Food
Salmon
About two weeks before I moved from Houston to Japan, my roommate had a sushi party for some of his friends from school. Seeing as how I lived with him at the time, I was able to participate, so long as I helped with the cooking and prep. We started around 8 p.m. and finished at 2 a.m. It was six hours of standing and cooking nonstop, but it was a blast. (more…)
Dem sum good dim sum
02 years ago
by Chris Valdez
in Food
Offended? Oh well. I had some dim sum last night with my roommate and his girlfriend. The last time I had some was spring of 2001. I definitely won’t wait again to have some. The three of us got stuffed for $30 at dinner time. I wish all food could be as cheap as what we have in Chinatown.
We dined for an hour or two, then headed out to a nearby dessert store to get some cake. I picked up the most incredible looking black forest cake. And the care taken at the place reminded me of what I’d find in Japan. We picked three different slices for take-out. The girl helping us pulled out a clear, plastic container to stick them in. That alone was nice enough, but then she pulled out a branded paper shopping bag to put that in. It was more extravagant than I expected, but very nice.
Sorry, I don’t have any pictures this time, but the next time I dine at one of those I’ll make sure to take some photographs.
Joyous holiday season
03 years ago
Just kidding, Merry Christmas.
Last week, company joined my roommate and I. My mom visited for four nights, his g/f came to town (and is here for another week), and we had some friends over during the weekend. We ate tons of food and played plenty of games.
The roommate and his g/f cooked up some delicious Korean food Tuesday night. Some bulkoki and some other dishes were prepared. Plenty was served up, so there were leftovers for a few days.
My mother and I went out to a Polish restaurant here in Houston. From the outside, it looks a little shady; however, the inside is quite nice, and very warm. While I’ve never been to Europe, nor do I have any desire to venture there, the interior felt very homey and very European. Most people there, staff and patrons alike, spoke the native tongue, and most people seemed to know each other. My mother is of Polish descent–though not first generation–so it seemed familiar to some places she’s visited and grown up in. And as a bonus to this, Polish Christmas carols were playing on the radio.
Thanksgiving randoms
03 years ago
- Tryptophan, present in turkey meat, is not the sole cause of drowsiness after eating a Thanksgiving meal.
- At 5:30 p.m., I saw people lining up outside several Best Buy store. These stores don’t open till 6 a.m. or so probably, so that’s at least 12 hours on the hard cement so that you can buy some new TV/computer/whatever. Wouldn’t you rather be at home with family?
- Rick Astley performed his revived hit song, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Rickrolling is more than a year old, people should let it die now. Seriously. Give it up.
- This was my last big American meal for a while.
Japan, here I come!
MRE – much repulsive eating
03 years ago
by Chris Valdez
in Food
A few weeks ago I visited my cousins for a night. We hung out, had some food, chatted, played some games. Then back at their place they showed me a case of MREs they received back when Hurricane Ike struck the area. I had never seen one in person before, so we opened one up to look at the various things it comes with.
Pics of the contents, and the cooked meal, can be seen by clicking the thumbnail image here or this link.
Containing roughly 1,100 calories, this rare delicacy contained a beef enchilada, refried beans, Nesté instant coffee, an M&M cookie, non-dairy creamer, sugar, crushed red pepper, two vegetable crackers, picante sauce, cheese spread, gum, napkin, spoon, matches, “beverage base power orange” (a.k.a., Tang), and various other things. My cousins generously gave me this one, and I made it my goal to cook one up and post about it here.