03/06/2010 In Japan, Panoramics, Photos

Makoto and I walked out of the noisy pachinko parlor into the quiet street. I only had a few hours left in Japan and my mission to find Guinness foreign extra stout had been unfruitful. So we decided to check some of the nearby grocery stores to see if they had it. Unfortunately this didn’t net any special Guinness beer, but it did lead to some interesting discoveries. First off, there is a Polish vodka sold in Japan that is 96 percent alcohol. When you take a half-shot of it the first sensation is a slight burn, but then an immense warmth in your chest. I know because I purchased said alcohol and had to of course try it. Also, some food in grocery stores is so fresh, it’s still alive. There were crabs and giant prawns on ice at one grocery store that were still kind of fidgeting around; not enough to escape, but still alive nonetheless.

I took this opportunity to take pictures of a couple of my favorite things in the grocery.

Pocari Sweat: Taste The Perspiration!

Suntory Highball: Whiskey Cocktail in a Can!

After checking a few grocery stores out we were picked up by Makoto’s dad for a little sightseeing before I had to head to the airport. But first, we needed to eat. Though Japan has McDonald’s (called Makudonarudo in Japanese) its still developed its own amazing burger chain called Mos. And though it has the standard look and feel of a fast-food joint, Makoto pointed out that everything is really made to order, not pulled out of the freezer and fried. If you ever go to Japan, don’t miss out on Mos. Their burgers are tiny, but for every inch in size they gave up, they gained enormously in taste. I had a teriyaki burger that was juicy and dripping and amazing. Then I tried the yakiniku burger, which is thin-cut beef marinated and cooked then piled between two rice-patty buns. No joke, the buns were white rice. It was a little hard to eat without it falling apart, but the challenge was worth the payoff.

Once we finished lunch, we headed to Makoto’s favorite piece of architecture Osanbashi, which means big pier in Japanese and just so happens to be the place where he proposed to Yoko. I wasn’t quite sure where we were when we pulled into Osanbashi. We went through some sort of toll gate and then wound up in what looked like an underground parking structure with an origami-like ceiling. Turns out, we had parked on the basement floor of the pier and now only needed to ride an elevator to the first floor. The elevator itself was awesome. It had a glass ceiling and no cables pulling it up. Instead, it was pushed from the bottom up to the first floor. Makoto said the whole pier’s inspiration was origami, which is evident in how the ceiling of the interior folds in an intricate pattern. Then there’s the wood work. We walked over to the ramps that lead up to the top of the pier (the outside part) and I was amazed at how many wood planks were used and that the builders had managed to fit them so well in the complex shaping the blueprint demanded.

Amazing woodwork and awesome lighting

Badass photo by Makoto

Just amazing

Thinking back to my summers building houses with my dad; I could barely handle screwing down decking on a perfectly flat deck. What these guys did is pure art.

The topside was no less astonishing. There are amazing lines to the whole place. Nothing seems straight. It’s almost all angular and interesting to the eye. There’s even a large stair section that kind of folds into the center. Plus there’s a grassy hill leading up to the best vantage point of the place. And the view is ludicrous. Standing so far off shore you can look back and see pretty much all of the key figures in the Yokohama skyline.

The stair section

Looking down on the stair section

Part of the view

Awesome bridge

The Marine Tower

I miss this dude

Perfect timing

One of the best photos from the trip

Once we were done with Osanbashi we headed out to our next stop on the way passing the largest building in Yokohama (I believe) and a giant ferris wheel that used to be the world’s largest clock (it’s got a big LED telling the time in the center of it). Where we ended up was at Super Autobacs, the craziest car store I’ve been in. It was huge and it had everything you need to pimp your ride. There were even people in the parking lot playing with their new accessories.

Super Autobacs

Whoa

Touch the sound

Once we were done checking out the car store, it was time to head to the train station. I had a chance to say thank you and goodbye to Makoto’s mom over the phone earlier and in front of the station I did my best to express my gratitude to his dad, but no amount thanks or gifts or any of that would equal the kindness and generosity all of the Yagishita family showed me on the trip. I’m forever thankful to have had the opportunity to travel and more importantly to meet all of them, my Japanese family.

I said goodbye to Mr. Yagishita and Makoto and I made our way to the station. We had to stop a couple times at vendors to see if they sold the Guinness. In the station I noticed something (and forgive me if I already pointed this out). The Japanese schoolgirl uniforms you see on TV, in anime, on magazines and all that, are real. I was damn-near shocked to see uniforms with such short skirts. Though they are a more tasteful length than their major media counterparts, it was still interesting to see that the basis for those interpretations relied heavily on reality.

In the train station Makoto and I picked up some Starbucks across from a Krispy Kreme. Evidently the donut franchise is doing well in Japan whereas last time I checked, it wasn’t doing too hot here in the states. Starbucks in hand, we made our way to the platform.

No doubt you’ve heard of the bullet train. But did you know that there are something like three or four classes of travel for Japanese railways. There’s local which stops at every stop. Express which stops at most of the major spots and is a bit faster and cushier train. And then there’s the Super Express which is the bullet train and mostly stops at major cities. Our train from Yokohama to Narita Airport was to be an express. I’ll ride the bullet next time.

More tracks than Richard Pryor

The man in charge of announcing trains

Whole lot going on there

Me + Train = Friends

Our express to Narita Airport

Told you it was cushy

What did you expect?

Sad to be leaving

I think the train ride was about an hour long and then we arrived at the airport. We promptly found where I was to check my bags. Turns out if you check in online prior to arriving, you don’t have to wait inside in a long line to check in, but outside in the cold behind two slow-moving businessmen. Afterwards we walked around the airport and did some shopping. I picked up a couple of awesome t-shirts (one features cats and boomboxes. Who woulda thunk?) and some interesting candy. There are a lot more that just standard Kit Kat bars in Japan. In fact, there’s a crazy variety of flavors all wrapped up in a fancy cardboard package. I picked up the green tea and ginger ale Kit Kats.

It was getting close to my boarding time so we went to get in line. Standing there and looking around at all of the signs I was just reading about liquid carry-ons when Makoto asked “Do you have any liquids?” Suddenly I had a flashback to the night before. In packing my suitcase, I thought I could fit more if I put all of the marinades and sauces that Makoto’s parents bought me in my backpack, which was to be my carry-on. That was a sinking feeling. Not wanting to risk my flight over yakiniku and soy sauce, I handed all the liquids in my backpack over to Makoto. Only the dry miso soup mix and various chocolates from the wedding made it back with me. It was yet another sad farewell saying goodbye to Makoto. He’s a great friend and I wish him the best in life and in love.

After passing through the security check I made my way to immigration. They had TV monitors repeating pertinent messages in english and chinese hanging from the ceiling. I glanced up at one point and saw the message “Narita Immigration will be side by side on your heart.” I made no type-o’s in that sentence and quite frankly, I can feel Narita Immigration on my heart to this day.

I boarded the plane at about 5:30 pm Tokyo time. Another window seat, only this time there were two men sitting to my left, which would make getting up for the bathroom awkward. On this flight I decided to have a couple Jack and Coke’s to hopefully help me sleep. It kind of worked, but as I said, led to my having to climb over, under, or through the two dudes to my left in order to use the bathroom.

About eight hours later our captain notified us of our descent to San Francisco. If you’ve never landed at SFO at 9:30 am let me take you through it from a window seat perspective. You’re looking down at literally nothing but lumpy grey clouds thousands of feet below and your mind is thinking, “wow, we’re really high up, this descent is going to be a while.” Then, when you break through the clouds you look at the wing of the plane and it keeps disappearing into a milky-white abyss. This goes on for a minute. Wing, white, wing, white, wing, white. Then a small break in the clouds behind the wing reveals a darker grey color and you see two white stripes zip past. Clunk-ka-burr. You’re now on the ground taxying to your terminal.

At SFO I had an hour until my flight to San Luis Obispo would board. I knew I was in America when the TV monitors hanging in the immigration area showed their message in English and Spanish, thereby missing entirely the native language of the demographic that just got off my plane. Once I got my bearings I decided to have a beer. Hell, it was like 2 am Tokyo time – just after last call. What followed was a beer, then a Makers Mark and Coke at a mexican restaurant and then a short walk towards my terminal interrupted by another beer at a brewing co. restaurant. I met a nice couple there who needed a beer recommendation, they were happy they took my advice. After settling my tab there I made my way to my terminal only to find I still had about twenty minutes to kill and there was a bar 20 feet away. One more beer and I was ready for my flight. It’s not everyday you can get drunk before 10 am with good excuse.

Mmmm best way to start your 24-hour day

Boarding the small plane to San Luis Obispo, I saw the couple who I gave beer advice to near the back. Small world. Also, a man getting onto the plane asked the attendant “San Luis Obispo?” Yeah dude, as if the eight people who just looked at your boarding pass and let you continue on made a mistake. And maybe it was the beer, but I couldn’t understand half of what the flight attendant said. On the flight to Japan I had watched Snatch on my iPhone and now it sounded like my flight attendant was speaking in Pikey. I hope no one saw me giggling to myself. Once we took off the fog had burned off so I snapped some photos out of the window with my iPhone. To my surprise, they came out looking like this:

Propellor gone crazy

We landed safely in San Luis Obispo and I struck up a conversation with the beer couple while waiting for my luggage. I wished them luck settling into life on the central coast and then bought a bottle of water and called a cab. Already I missed Japan, but damn it felt good to be home. The rest of the day I laid in bed and watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, napping when I felt tired.

That does it for my trip. It was superb and I can’t wait to do it again. But now what am I going to write about?