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Food... finds?
After lunch yesterday, the owner of the small noodle shop I had dined at personally thanked me for coming to her establishment and gave me four beautiful postcards and a pen. I had been watching as other customers had left, and no one else had received the same treatment. I was left scratching my head -- until I looked at the pen. It had the name and telephone number of the restaurant on it.
During the meal, I had been intermittently pausing to record my notes on the day's events. From the point that I put pen to paper, my water glass never dropped below half full. The level of service was extraordinary. I had received the same level of service at a different meal a few days prior, a meal during which I had also taken the time to record a few notes. The waitress had given me a menu, the restaurant's card, and had even taken the time to find out what brand of knives they were using in the kitchen (at my request).
So try it the next time you eat out. Pause, look thoughtful, and start doodling on a piece of official-looking paper. Maybe the restaurant staff will think you have a shot at giving them some publicity.
Always me and the ladies
Thus far, most of my "friends" in Japan have been young women. This is to be expected, I guess, because I am charming as hell. No, just kidding! No young man would have any reason to brave the language barrier in order to talk to me. What use am I to him? He can joke and discuss subjects of interest with people who speak his native language. But to the young women, I have some potential! I could be a desirable mate -- or at least willing to buy them a drink. I am neither of these things, but thanks to the language barrier, it usually takes them at least a couple hours to figure this out.
The Japan Rail Pass is a horrible deal
I could not be happier about not buying one. The pass saddles its holder exclusively to government-run trains (often private trains, buses, or even ferries are better alternatives) and is not valid for the very fastest bullet train. $600 for 14 days? No thanks.
City of Peace
I was having dinner in Hiroshima when the girls at the table next to me leapt up and started pointing at the ground. I looked down. There was a cockroach on the pavement near my foot. I could have stepped on it, but this was Hiroshima, City of Peace. Cockroaches are rumored as being able to survive nuclear fallout. Surely cockroaches have... well, if not an honored place in Hiroshima, at least a place. Right?
I was pondering the etiquette of killing the cockroach when the waitress showed up with a can of pesticide and sprayed for a full ten seconds. The roach twitched a few times and lay still.
  
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Poor roach, 10 seconds is just too much.
I like your blogs
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I found JR line/subway and general trains superior to other means of traveling in Japan. Why would ferries and buses be better?
The Rail Pass is mainly for multiple trainrides, especially through the lesser populated areas where those super bullet trains doesn't exists.
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If you wanted to hop from, for instance, Hiroshima to Matsuyama, you would have to take the train all the way to Okayama before making your way to Shikoku by way of, um, Takamatsu. Or you could take a ferry for $30, which is what I did. From Matsue to Hiroshima, you would have to make your way along the coast (or back through Okayama) before finally heading to Hiroshima, but a bus will get you there, direct, in around three hours for $30.
If you stayed in the Kansai or central Honshu area, I could see the love for the JR Pass. I still use the JR lines a lot, obviously! But I like having the option to take more convenient transportation options. I am pretty sure that, thus far, I have spent around $450 (over 12 days) on transportation costs, and I have taken the very best means of getting everywhere. The super express shinkansen (NOZOMI), ferries, buses, private trains, JR trains -- whatever was fastest, basically. So not only have I saved money (assuming I don't spend $150 in the next two days), I have saved time, which is way more precious.
Individual experiences will vary!
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United States22883 Posts
Go to a curry restaurant that has a time challenge.
I'm a bit confused about the pass as well. The JR lines are pretty much all you need for most things, especially since nothing is that far of a walk. I guess if you want to be on the Nozomi line, but that doesn't guarantee you're going to get the most badass train anyways, just that you don't get to ride it for as long. o.o
EDIT: Ah, that makes sense. I always found the bus system kind of stupid, but that's in comparison to the ridiculously easy trains.
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Yeah my pass was like 250 for 7 days, and it took me within tokyo for a bit (on the JR line only obv), but from Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Osaka, Osaka to Hiroshima, and Hiroshima back to Tokyo all within that week. My roommate estimated our traveling costs to be something like 700 dollars each person, so it that's true then it was definitely a huge save on our part. But then again we took the slower Shinkansen and we definitely were restricted by our 7-day limit :X
edit: also we have a cockroach friend in our apartment! We have it trapped within the cupboard-thing system in our kitchen, with aluminum foil covering any part of the cupboard doors that might give him access to the outside world.
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i found JR awesome, it's all you need in tokyo and unless you're island hoping pretty much that fastest way to get around. Plus you can get the over night trains for free as well, that saved me on hotels, but you don't get the best sleep on a train, just like sleeping on a plane.
plus you've done the same for 3/4 the price, but there's no way to know you'd be able to do that before you went, with the rail pass i knew i could go anywhere i wanted for free and never had to worry about money running out. plus it's so flexible, one day i was chatting to this guy and he said something about some place so the next day i just went because it was free.
i guess if you're island hoping you might need it but i never used anything else aside from a few buses around cities and one private train by mistake.
i love JR
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i dunno man, the JR pass is pretty sweet. probably best for staying in honshu (as you said). pretty much every city has JR, so with the pass, those are all "free". you cant ride the nozomi, but the hikari is pretty fast, too.
dont kill spiders, either. those are "protectors" of the home.
oh, and if you're asian and have a language barrier, they'll treat you like you're retarded. or at least look at you that way (seriously). that is, until they get to know you, but usually shopkeepers and random folks wont (obviously).
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Andy, you never fail to make me laugh.
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Such a nice and enjoyable read. Thank you.
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City of Peace, haha. I like your section titles almost as much as the stories themselves.
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keep up the blogging, nice read
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Can you speak Japanese well or do you have problems? I'm asking cause I'm searching for people that speak japanese as I want to go there next year for a year and maybe practice a bit :D
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On September 12 2008 21:57 DJEtterStyle wrote:
Cockroaches are rumored as being able to survive nuclear fallout. Surely cockroaches have... well, if not an <em>honored</em> place in Hiroshima, at least <em>a</em> place. Right?
I was pondering the etiquette of killing the cockroach when the waitress showed up with a can of pesticide and sprayed for a full ten seconds. The roach twitched a few times and lay still.
Hahahahahaha this is awesome
Great blog, this is really interesting. Foreigner's adventures in a new country always intrigue me.
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Osaka27093 Posts
City of Peace
I was having dinner in Hiroshima when the girls at the table next to me leapt up and started pointing at the ground. I looked down. There was a cockroach on the pavement near my foot. I could have stepped on it, but this was Hiroshima, City of Peace. Cockroaches are rumored as being able to survive nuclear fallout. Surely cockroaches have... well, if not an honored place in Hiroshima, at least a place. Right?
I was pondering the etiquette of killing the cockroach when the waitress showed up with a can of pesticide and sprayed for a full ten seconds. The roach twitched a few times and lay still
Wow you goddamn pussy. I cant imagine how else you could lessen your chances of having that table of women camp out in your hotel room. I'd say "get a room you hippy" but it would be empty anyway.
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EPT
