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Old November 26th, 2007, 11:19 PM posted to rec.travel.asia,soc.culture.japan
Alfred Molon[_6_]
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Default Japan travelogue (long, very detailed)

In article 2007112613054443658-xxx@yyyzzz, gtr says...

We bought pre-paid cards for phone usage all over Japan. If the locale
includes a soda or cigarette vending machine, you can probably find
one. When you say there are none, I assume you're speaking of cards
that are specifically for cell-phone usage or some such.


Obviously I meant prepaid cards for cell-phones.

In Shinjuku you saw gambling and possibly prostitutes? I don't think
you saw either. There are pachinko parlors, but they aren't really
"gambling" though you can win "prizes" of cigarettes and claptrap
and/or sell them elsewhere. I've never seen street prostitutes. It's
quite illegal and they have kind of a law fetish in Japan. They women
certainly dress provocatively in Shinjuku though. I'm thankful, and
that's free.


I saw packinko places, and assumed there was gambling as well. You mean
there is no gambling in Japan? Is it illegal?

As for the girls, some of them looked like prostitutes.

What's with the KFC dining?!? You've been in Tokyo two days and you've
eaten *twice* at KFC? If you want chicken, throw a rock and you'll
likely his a grilled-chicken (yakitori) place.


There is nothing wrong with KFCs IMHO. Anyway, it took me a few days to
familiarise with the local restaurants, so initially I relied on known
places.

okonomiyaki


Saw that and it left me wondering a bit.

grilled fish,


Had that in an eatery opposite Miyajima island. Excellent fish and
excellent rice.

Jeez, it's a country for dining.


Maybe, but I didn't know the place. Perhaps next time I'll dive more
into the local cuisine.

Incidentally the last time on Odaiba while eating lunch in a museum of
technology or some such we had an earthquake that was pretty exciting.


I never had dinner in Odaiba. The Chinese restaurant was in Ningyocho.

We've been up in a mega-building once
or twice to see the view, but it's a rarity. You seemed to take a great
interest in it.


They are good for nice sunset views of the city.

In older areas like Ueno and Asakusa, particularly at
night, there are all kinds of odd shops and places to get a snack or a
drink. And we do our best to hit as many in a given time as possible.


Indeed. Tokyo has a lot to offer. I guess you could spend one month
there without getting bored.

You seem surprised so few people speak English.


I wasn't surprised, just noticed that. It's easier to get around in
Japan if you can communicate with people. Luckily I can read to a
certain extent Chinese characters and that helped in some cases.

And the kind of service you got at the Hotel Sumisho: we get this kind
of service so often it's amazing. I think part of it is that hotel
workers are fully "professional" folk, this is their career. They
aren't just doing it until they get through school. They studied to be
hotel service personnel. They take great pride in their task, as is so
much the case all over Japan at all social/professional levels. That's
my guess.


As I wrote, the staff at hotel Sumisho deserves a medal for good
service.

What would a walk give you a bus didn't?


It's different. By walking you get a much better impression of the city.

I've never had the opportunity to make it to Miyajima and you seemed to
like that quite well. Wasn't it just a bunch of water and some trees
with a monastery on it? They have those all over Germany, don't they?


It's the setting which is gorgeous, the combination of temples, trees
and island.

Too bad these areas weren't located on
the walk between the train station and a tourist attaction! :-)


Maybe. But I only had one day to get an idea of Osaka.

Regarding the lack of interesting architecture in Osaka, do you mean
the modern Western-style skyscraper wasn't in enough abundance to
dismiss as "just another city" (HIroshima) or "a cement jungle"
(Tokyo)?


It does have some interesting places, but can't compete with a place
like Tokyo.

I'm irked that you didn't see the Japan that I see from the first
minute I step out of the hotel in almost every single town I've been
in. Ah well. It takes so many eyes to see so few things. I too am
undoubtedly blind to what others find the only interesting things about
such locales: "You what? You went to Osaka and didn't see a baseball
game!!"


Every person has a different way of exploring places and seeing things.
Those I wrote are just the impressions of a first time visitor. But it's
likely I'll be again in Japan in the future. I did like the place and
there is so much left to see.

Thanks for taking the time to make this available to all. Are you going
to put pictures up? I promise I won't savage them. Much.


Yes, but that will take some time. I shot 3200 photos in Japan, but
before that I'll process other photos I took last year in Malaysia,
which have been waiting longer in the queue ;-)
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe