"I Want to Ride My Bicycle!" Followed by "Stone Cold Meats"

Shew! Sorry it's been so long folks. I'll try to make this one a biggie. Perhaps a multi-parter


So: bicycling. To the left, you'll see a parking lot near my apartment. And yes, it's all bikes. Everybody in Japan rides a bike and I mean everybody. Most people bike to work (or the nearest train station), to the grocery store, out to eat, you name it. But it's not quite what you'd expect, it's a very different game out here.

To begin with there is the choice of material. You don't see many mountain bikes, or street bikes for that matter, or adult bikes with more than one gear. What do the Japanese ride? you may be asking as you read this sentence if you read aloud. Well, what we would call beach cruisers. Bikes out here are less like vechiles and more like more like pickup trucks; they're tools. For example, no one greases their bikes, so when someone hits they're brakes while you're walking past it's a sound worse than the fakest fingernails on the cheapest of chalkboards. Which leads me to my bike! Don't be disappointed folks, but yes, I have one such bike. It's in good shape though, it's still new. But it does have whitewall tires, a wire-basket, and a little bell so people know when I come rollin'.

Another oddity, is where people choose to ride. It's pretty much standard to ride on the sidewalk. In fact, the side walk in front of my house has a bike lane, that's usually ignored by both pedestrians and bicyclists; usually people just dodge each other. And when there is no sidewalk? People just bike on whatever side of the road they feel like, opposing traffic isn't that big of a deal for some crazy reason.

Ok Part II, Stone Cold Meats. Let me begin here by saying everything you've heard about Japanese food is a lie. I've had some of the least healthy food of my life here including but not limited to chicken skin on a stick; chicken sweetbreads on a stick; chicken cartlidge (you guessed it) on-a-stick; the fattiest pork you can imagine ala kabob. But first prize comes down to two finalist; which you are more than welcome to be the jury of.

Alright folks, it's time for.. Iron Che-fu Stomach Infect-i-on!

Contestant ichi-bon (#1) is a grilled chicken--I think breast--that was served on a bed of ice with some soy sauce on the side. Oh, and it was bloody rare, pink as a baby's brains. But actually it wasn't that bad. It tasted kinda like sushi... the chicken that is.

for Constestant ni-bon:


Yup, I ate that. Well, some of it. And yes, 100% raw.

Alright folks, you decide! Who is the Iron Bactaria Chef?
















And here's some more pics:



Here's some friends of mine. The owner of the bar (the dude on the left you can barely see) is from Nepal and speaks Nepoli, some of the best English I've heard over here, and Japanese.











Here's a beer and a snack I had in Umeda the same night I had Contestant #1. It was pretty strange stuff, but not rare.



















Another expat trying to fit in.

Kyoto!

Home of Astro-Boy museum and a whole lotta temples and shrines, Kyoto is beautiful. The ardous 2-hour journey by train was made by myself, a couple of friends from work, their branch manager (a Japanese guy who appointed himself translator and tour guide for our expidition), and my roommate, Jerome, who was confused for an NBA star by a flock of Japanese middle schoolers. In order to escape from their deathlike clutches, he was forced to sign all of their purses.

The Japanese really love Jerome, because he's a really big Black guy. Usually, he gets a kick out of it, like at the temple in the picture. Regretfully, I cut off his head (not with my ninja sword, but with a camera) so you can't see how happy he is ruining Louis Vuitton purses. (I'm dead serious; they give their kids real Louis Vuitton purses.) Another fun time was when we went to an all you can drink night club in Namba (the party district of Osaka) and all of these Japanese guys started giving him drinks... In an all you can drink bar. The crazy part was, you needed to bring your glass back to get your next drink. These guys were giving him their drinking privlages!

But it's funny and sad at times, like on the way to Kyoto. He and I were just standing in a train station, waiting for our friends to show, when this little Japanese woman walks up to him and says "Basketball?" In her defense, he was wearing a NJ jersey and shorts, but then she started poking him, still saying "Basketball!"... Then she hugged him... And then, I swear to god, she groaped him. Straight for the pecs! We were dying at the time: this little Japanese girl feeling up six-foot-plus Jerome. After a few squeezes and a a couple of pats to show how impressed she was, she was off. She had seen and assaulted her first NBA star.

First Day of the Actual Job

This was a funny picture that I saw on the Commute of Hell. Oddly enough, it seems like the kind of ad that Hell would sponser. I mean, I'm all about kids eating beef, I just feel that they shouldn't go rip it from the side of a living cow. (Notice the dark trail of blood beneath brutus' little tootsies.)

Anyway, let me say first off that my job is actually pretty cool. I work waaay out of the city, and it seems pretty chill. But the problem was Nova's (once again) expert directions department. If it wasn't for a lot of trial and error, and many more kind people, I would have likely straved to death a week from now some where in Fuse (pronounced "Foo-say," much more embrassing than dying in a place called "Fuse."). Oh, and as for those many people, let me tell you, there were some that sucked. For example, when I got to the right train, I wanted to be sure, so I began saying "Hyotanayam" (the name of the place I was heading to) to the people by the door and pointing at the train. The one guy didn't even look at me, some lady looked at me like I was crazy. Looking back at it, I could imagine walking up to a train in Boston yelling "Park Street!" and I'd probably come off pretty crazy. (Once again, be kind to your local immigrant!)

Okay, here's a pic

"Why," you might ask, "is Steve making me look at a toilet?" Well, I'll tell you why. You see that funny thing stickin' outta the top? That's a sink.

Okay, this is the most innovative thing I think I've ever seen. I mean there's those tiny mp3 players and all but this...do you know what this is? Let me explain.

When you flush, the water that comes in to refill the back of the toilet? it runs through the sink. So, you can wash right after you flush! Talk about conservation!

First Dose of Home Sickness

Just got off the phone with my dad. It was the first call I had that wasnt rushed and it left me feeling a little queasy. It's gonna be a long year... sometimes.

But part of the reason I got to make that phone call is that I got a phone. One of the hardest things I've done in Japan. (Did I mention nobody speaks English?) Plus the calling plans are really confusing compared to the US. For example I got plan M which included about 144 free minutes for about $50+. Yeah, minutes are hard to come by out here. But I also have a "double-flat rate" plan for all of my email and webbing. What is double-flat rate you ask? Well, it took me one solid night of staring at this graph, and that was only after I found the English site! Basically, it means that I pay one flat rate for X amount and then when I go over that amount I pay so much per "packet" (kinda like minute) until I reach the next pay rate which is unlimited packets. Yeah...
Anyway! The phone is really cool and has all kinds of features I don't understand yet. This one called EZ FeliCa? Apparently my phone can do things with other phones just by being next to them. Oh and it can read bar codes to get information off of billboards, pamphlets, etc. Weird huh?

Oh and for you video game buffs out there. My roommate has FFXII! It's been out here for months.

Anyway, next time I'll hopefully have pics. Sorry it's so boring.