Tom |
An irregular blog.
The previous post is Ikebukuro (April 22).
The next post is Hong Kong I (April 26).
I also have a photo gallery that I'm not sure what to do with.
Comics:
Achewood,
Day By Day,
Gunnerkrigg Court,
I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER,
Not From Concentrate,
Penny Arcade,
Strongbad's Email,
Sunday Morning Breakfast Cereal,
The Perry Bible Fellowship,
Xkcd,
Music:
Blentwell,
DI.fm,
Soma.fm,
Tokion FM,
Spacing Guild:
Craig, Dave, Eric, Evan, Josh, Katie, Matt, Nick, Phil, Tony, Yin,
Blogs:
Asymmetrical Information,
Baby Bunia Chronicles,
Boysbriefs,
Church of the Masses,
CQG,
Eidos,
Eve Tushnet,
Free Exchange,
Giveawayboy,
Glitter For Brains,
Heretical Ideas,
Εν αÏ?χη ην ο Λογος,
James Lileks,
Jimbo.Info,
Joe. My. God.,
John Heard,
Ling the Merciless,
Little Yellow Different,
Merrilee's Overseas Travels 2010,
Sed Contra,
Sinobling,
The John Larroquette Project,
The Neutral Corner,
This Blog Sits at the,
Thomas P.M. Barnett,
Waiter Rant,
Ze Frank,
Hikers:
Bigfoot (that's me!)
Magaroni
Stanimal
Walk On
feeds: ,
I fly out of Narita this afternoon at 6PM. Right now I’m drying a load of laundry, then I’m going to drop off my Tokyo references (bilingual atlas, guidebook, phrasebook) at Rob’s place and head for the airport.
Tokyo is an amazing place. Not only have I caught a glimpse of this huge megapolis-from-the-future, but I may have succeeded in my goal for the visit: to pick up basic training methods from Rob and Akuzawa. That stuff has been eye-opening and a lot of what I have read/seen/tried before now clicks.
Before I go on to China, I should write down some thoughts for a future compare-and-contrast.
Tokyo is safe. Amazingly safe. Even in the seedy heart of the red-light district. People don’t lock up their bicycles. There are no endemic pick-pockets. Everyone carries cash. Everyone waits for the green signal to cross.
Tokyo is huge, sprawling, almost Cthulhoid. Everything is available everywhere. Ten story malls and restaurants under the train tracks. The sprawling train and subway system navigates easily. A map and compass are essential for getting properly lost. Wandering is much fun.
Everyone dresses — many in suits, some in fresh teen fashion from 109, others in wilder outfits. And there are very many people. New York, in my memory, now seems quaint. Exciting and hurried, but quaint.
Eating! Sushi bars, soba noodle counters, burger joints, eel and tuna and street vendors with steamed buns and pizza and lots of rice. Strange deserts. Vending machines on every block, selling hot and cold drinks of many flavors.
That’s it for now; laundry’s done. On to Hong Kong.
I didn’t even get to the add campaign and lights and strange English signs and ingrained etiquette and jammed-packedness of the crowds and the touts handing out toilet tissue packets and everything else.
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Ah! Toilet tissue packs! Lisa and I just rented a movie set in Tokyo (name escapes us) where free handed-out-in-the-street tissue packs were a main element…
— malfridi Apr 24, 10:10 AM #Oh Tom! Your lucid running decription makes me ache for the same joureny of discovery. We should chat when you have summarized your long travels later on. email me and we can set up IM if you do chats. cheers! -krispy
— krispy Apr 24, 01:09 PM #