So I'm here, and it's awesome. I arrived yesterday afternoon Tokyo time and met Dan after work at the local train station, which was a great idea because I could never in a million years have found his house on my own! He drew me a map to get back here for when I go out without him, and hopefully that works, otherwise I'll just have to wander around until he gets off work and call him and make him come and get me!
Dan's house is soooo small. Before I came to visit, he warned me that if it wasn't in Tokyo he wouldn't let a dog live there and in the past he's described the place as "urban camping." I'd have to say that a more accurate description is that it's more like an urban camper van. It's incredibly compact space but it has all the amenities, they are just really close together. It's giving me some perspective on my complaints about my apartment being to small. My favourite part though is the bathroom. The sink is on top of the tank of the toilet, so when you flush the toilet, the water that would normally refill the toilet tank from the top comes out the faucet and runs down the drain. So instead of flushing clean water down the toilet, you are using the water that would otherwise have gone down he drain when you washed your hands. It's ingenious, I want one just like it at home (except in a larger washroom!). I don't know why everyone doesn't have one.
Bill I thought of you when I was getting on the trains between terminals at Narita, the trains are computer driven, not on tracks but on wheels between bumpered curbs and they run on the same track in both directions and pass eachother in wider parts of the track, it's really cool. Also all the other trains run both ways through the stations. I was standing on the platform waiting for my train to Shinjuku from Narita and a train came in from the left and went, and then another one came in from the right and went, some were commuter trains others were subway trains. I was so exhausted from the flight I wondered for a second if I was imagining it. All in all, Bill I think you'd love it here, and I'm really glad I bought the rail pass, because the train system is excellent.
Dan's house is soooo small. Before I came to visit, he warned me that if it wasn't in Tokyo he wouldn't let a dog live there and in the past he's described the place as "urban camping." I'd have to say that a more accurate description is that it's more like an urban camper van. It's incredibly compact space but it has all the amenities, they are just really close together. It's giving me some perspective on my complaints about my apartment being to small. My favourite part though is the bathroom. The sink is on top of the tank of the toilet, so when you flush the toilet, the water that would normally refill the toilet tank from the top comes out the faucet and runs down the drain. So instead of flushing clean water down the toilet, you are using the water that would otherwise have gone down he drain when you washed your hands. It's ingenious, I want one just like it at home (except in a larger washroom!). I don't know why everyone doesn't have one.
Bill I thought of you when I was getting on the trains between terminals at Narita, the trains are computer driven, not on tracks but on wheels between bumpered curbs and they run on the same track in both directions and pass eachother in wider parts of the track, it's really cool. Also all the other trains run both ways through the stations. I was standing on the platform waiting for my train to Shinjuku from Narita and a train came in from the left and went, and then another one came in from the right and went, some were commuter trains others were subway trains. I was so exhausted from the flight I wondered for a second if I was imagining it. All in all, Bill I think you'd love it here, and I'm really glad I bought the rail pass, because the train system is excellent.
Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing today, possibly visiting some shrines, I'm going to be going it alone today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't need to ask for directions too much (all the signs everywhere are in English and Japanese - very convenient but I'm sure there must be a larger ethnic minority than English speakers to cater to - I'm not complaining though, it's great for me!). Anyway tomorrow, Dan's lovely cute Australian boyfriend Jason has some time off for the "Golden Week," so thankfully I won't have to fly solo the whole time I'm here, I was kind of sweating about that, I usually travel with a sidekick, so having a cute sidekick who speaks Japanese is a total bonus.
As for the rest of my time here, I'm thinking about going to the area of the Kiso Valley for a couple of days and maybe another few days down in the direction of Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka. I wanted my trip to be half Lost in Translation and half Last Samurai, with a little Memoirs of a Geisha thrown in for good measure. I think I'm well on track with that, I've already seen several of the locations for Lost in Translation, the Kiso valley area should be quite Last Samuraiish, they've got some preserved villages and a Unesco world heritage site around there. Some of the hostels there, I'm told are old Japanese farmhouses and one is an old shrine. Also Dan tells me I can have someone dress me up as a Geisha and take me for a walk around, I want him and Jason to come and get dressed up as Geisha aswell and we'll all go for a walk around.
Anyway Dan's making me a breakfast of Japanese toast - the bread is sliced so thick, thicker than Texas toast, I'm not sure why.
Anyway, that's all for now. Dan's got cable internet, so don't hesitate to email me, I should be able to check it everyday that I'm chez Daniel.
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