So Desu Neh… (2)

Posted by narrowband - 22/06/08 at 06:06:02 pm

A couple of days ago I was informed of a possible delay in the project I’m working on. Yesterday it was confirmed and therefore I will be allowed to return KL. I have never been out overseas this long before, so it will be nice to go back, chill with friends and family, and recharge. Sure, I can chill in Japan too while waiting for all systems to be up again, but they wouldn’t like to pay me everyday just to ‘chill’, right? If the delay is substantial then it’s actually economically-wiser to fly me home, and send me here again when everything’s resolved. Unless of course during this period I’m assigned to another project.



Anyway, since I’ve blogged about the touristy stuff in Japan, let’s now take a look at the ‘more ordinary’ stuff – the typical everyday life in Japan. Most of the photos here are, therefore, less impressive because you don’t usually use an SLR camera in your ‘typical everyday life’, do you? I relied heavily on my phone for these pictures. Let’s begin with food. I’ve been having authentic Japanese food everyday. And I love them lots. If you convert into RM, each individual meal here normally cost around RM10~12. That’s if you convert. If you earn in Japanese Yen, 350 – 450 Yen for a meal is normal.

That’s the katsudon I normally eat at the canteen near my office. It’s a small little place, and it’s not meant for profit-making. It’s just a canteen for the workers to have their meals. But I love the food there! I could go back again and again eating the same stuff. That bowl of rice in picture (comes with soup too) costs 320 Yen, that’s about RM10 if you want to compare. That canteen’s menu does not have any graphical illustrations. It’s all in Japanese characters, written on papers slapped onto walls. Usually I go like “Kore, onegaishimasu” (This one, please!). Haha. The two ladies who serve the food there do not speak English, but are very nice and sometimes funny too.

One day I had to go to the eki (train station) to pick up someone. While waiting, I stumbled upon a really small noodle house that could barely fit 10 standing persons inside. It had a noren curtain (shop curtain) outside its sliding door. I was starving at that time so I slid open the door and peeked inside. I saw no chairs, and about 5 persons were either waiting for or eating their noodle (standing). I studied the menu – yes, no pictures or English – and recognized some characters. I could read ‘meat’ and ‘noodle’ but I couldn’t read what meat. I ordered something, and had my breakfast standing that morning. It was faster than fast-food (in McD and KFC you need to take your tray and walk to your table, sit down, grab some sauce and what-not…). In that noodle house, one step was all that was needed to reach the counter.

That’s a shot of the train station after my meal. I had to meet a Singaporean engineer whose plane had just touched down early that morning. If you’re here in Japan as a tourist, it is unlikely that you’ll get to take much train or patronize local Japanese noodle houses like that one I did. Speaking of taking trains, Tokyo has one of the most impressive train networks I’ve ever seen. The population here is very high, so they need a good system to transport people from one place to another. There are so many trains in so many lines, and you have to be sure of the route you have to take to arrive at your destination. You can check online the shortest possible route (including train-switching) to save traveling time. All phones here can surf on 3G!

That’s how a Tokyo train route map looks like. And the subway lines are not even shown here. There is a separate route map for subways. Once you’ve decided on your route, you need to check at which station you need to get off and switch lines. During rush hour, it is normal to walk slightly quicker or even run while you’re in a train station. That is why if you’re not in a hurry you must stand on the left side of the escalators. Also, it is normal to see people squeezing their way into the trains. Such sights, for someone from a less-metropolitan city like myself, was indeed quite interesting. Traveling by taxi is considered as a luxury even to the locals. I work in the outskirts so I’ve taken taxis a number of times. I’ve also been on the expressways twice – each time about 1.5 hours ride – from Kurihama to Chiba.

Traveling in a taxi for long distances is very expensive in Japan. The locals would agree. It’s because of my work I get to experience this. And during those times, the taxi would use the famous Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, which is the “longest underwater tunnel for cars in the world” (via Wikipedia). The tunnel is about 10km long underwater, and it has a scenic observatory, man-made island at the point where the tunnel starts. Perfect for photography! One can actually drive to this island (gotta pay toll), hang out there and make a U-turn back to where he came from. Inside the tunnel itself, there’s nothing much to see as it’s just like any other tunnel you know. It does not have a glass-enclosure for you to see all the fishes underwater! LOL.

I’ve been visiting the local stores, bookshops, CD/DVD rental stores, and even the pachinko (slot machines) outlets. It’s interesting to note that selling pornographic material is not illegal in Japan, and a walk in any CD/DVD stores will remind you which country you’re in. You can see an entire rack of pornographic DVDs, with assorted titles and various ‘styles’, depending on your favorite fetish preference. In some magazines (non-pornographic), it’s normal to find a few pages (usually glossy) of sexy images of Japanese models – for whatever reason I dunno. Totally unlike what we have (or don’t have) in our Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku.

Normally I’m not interested in the household appliances department. But in Japan, Kim Huey says it’s a must to go check them out. Very interesting products they have. Robotic vacuum cleaners, automatic lift-up heated toilet-seats, toilet flowing-water sound-emitting device (you get the idea – It’s to avoid embarrassing splashing/farting noises LOL!), air-conditioner-cum-heater, washing-machine-cum-dryer, multi-purpose rice-cooker, and alot more. And the information they display on these appliances is kinda headache-inducing. Besides the prices, you’ll also see many other bright-coloured papers stuck on them, detailing the features of the product.

They also have an entire floor dedicated for photography equipments – tripods, bags, lenses, binoculars, cables, etc. This is where I bought a lens case for my 10-22mm. See the photo above, they’re all camera bags! How often can you find so many camera bags under one roof, in Malaysia? But the highlight of the place has got to be the SLR camera section, where they lay out all the latest SLR camera models for shoppers to try and test, which is really helpful if you’re thinking of leaping onto the SLR bandwagon. I spent a lot of time trying out the various brands and models myself. I kinda like the 40D… hehehe…

There are other dedicated floors for Mac products (Apple has a very large market here!) and accessories, computers and laptops, console games, television, CD/DVD players (Blu-Ray technology is mainstream here) and beauty care products. I shall let you come here and experience walking into these stores yourself, because I’m tired of writing already LOL! I wasn’t thinking that I would blog anyway, so I didn’t really take many photos in there. Besides, there were so many people! Shy wei.

P/s. I’ve always wanted to visit my company HQ in Tokyo, and next week, I will have this opportunity! I have work to be done there but it’ll probably take only about half an hour. Now I can say I have a purpose for the visit lol. After that I’m free to go home. Thursday is a good day for flying, no? I can then take Friday off, so I’ll have a long weekend before returning to office on Monday. I haven’t touched my car for two months now. I’m sure I will not look forward to refueling it…

23 Comments »

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  1. No sushi? LOL.

    Welcome back to Malaysia in advance. Haha. :D

    Comment by day-dreamer — June 22, 2008 #

  2. *dizzy from looking at the train map* I think I might get lost trying to get from one place to another!

    If you do upgrade to 40D what are you going to do with your current baby? *hint hint* Hahaha.

    Comment by rinnah — June 22, 2008 #

  3. really la, hv to tabik the nihonjins, kan!

    enjoy the rest of yr stay there!

    ps: gomenasai abt the wrong vibes.. heeee… :P

    Comment by angel — June 22, 2008 #

  4. Definitely an eye opener. :D
    Where are the jap babes, by the way? Not a single picture yet woh!
    And did you buy any of those pornos? Be honest! LOL.

    Comment by Jason — June 22, 2008 #

  5. japan is like… 1000000000x more advance than msia.. sigh

    those stickers all over the items make it look very.. cartoonish.. like such a fun place to be in.. japan you’re making msia very envioouss!!!

    Comment by drumsticks — June 22, 2008 #

  6. oh btw, you seen any mother’s milk in carton there?

    Comment by drumsticks — June 23, 2008 #

  7. If only we have that kind of train system… I can kiss my car goodbye!

    Comment by Che-Cheh — June 23, 2008 #

  8. The train system is really mind boggling :P I’ve only been to Japan once… to Tokyo. It’s really a wondrous place which I’m sure one wouldn’t mind visiting again given a chance :D

    Have a fun trip to Tokyo!

    Comment by sue — June 23, 2008 #

  9. omg the train punya jln jln warna warni sana sini

    Comment by smashpOp — June 23, 2008 #

  10. Really nice place! Dunno when I can fly there ler…

    Comment by Neo — June 23, 2008 #

  11. you have the best job in the world!

    Comment by szetoo — June 23, 2008 #

  12. wahhhh shiokness la stuck in Japan…i oso want…too bad me no dealings with Japs…

    Comment by laundryamah — June 23, 2008 #

  13. The more ‘usual’ side of Japan instead of the glamorous ones. Love it. Heard my mom telling me almost all about what you’ve told us here when she went there for work, but could never really imagine it. Back then whenever I heard Japan I’d think of the Tokyo Tower.

    And the train system…here I thought Russia’s one is confusing enough. But if we ever going to have that in Malaysia then I won’t bother with driving; it’ll save me the money for petrol.

    Comment by Adz — June 23, 2008 #

  14. Do you miss malaysian food ? :P

    OMG, look at the train system map? So complicated..

    The train looks like our KTM hor?? Right? :P

    Comment by keeyit — June 23, 2008 #

  15. Bro, tat piece of rice? tak nampak 1 bijik of rice leh, is rice like mushrooms in kunichiwa land?! oh and Chiba, wat a name.. almost gave me a tot tat u sacrifice decently for information, but i’m sure it’s just a name of a place :)

    but but bro, tat toilet flushing water sound bowl thingy.. they have volcanic sound as option? cuz water might not cover the lava ejaculating sound, u know wat i mean.. but really it’s a great idea good invention.. must be requested by the gals hoh?

    ahh looking forward to get ur ass back here ei, i suffered my 1st petrol shock dy.. %$@$%!#@%$#@! 3 digit + more even though not on an empty tank… @$#%!@$#%$!#@!

    Comment by Jian — June 24, 2008 #

  16. oh my… the map of the train system is making me blur.

    it’s so complicated!

    Comment by em — June 24, 2008 #

  17. Oh leaving Japan already? I thought of sweetly asking you to get me some bento stuff :)

    Comment by giddy tigress — June 25, 2008 #

  18. welcome back :)

    Comment by bengbeng — June 27, 2008 #

  19. Day-dreamer – Oh I’ve had sushi ;)

    Rinnah – Yeah the train map takes a little getting used to! I’m very satisfied with my current baby ;p

    Angel – Ya I have high regards for them!

    Jason – The babes… I’ve not been shooting them. Later kena tarik masuk polis lokap ;p Porno need to buy one meh?

    Drumsticks – Haha, not so kua jeong la. But yeah there are obvious differences. Didn’t see any mother’s milk hahaha…

    Che-cheh – Yeah most of the people here don’t have to own a car, the public transport is good enough!

    Sue – The train system (esp the map), to someone who’s new, is intimidating! But once you really experience it, it’s actually very easy to understand.

    Smashpop – Ya very colourful hoh! Cannot print the pdf map in greyscale lol. No use.

    Neo – Start planning!

    Szetoo – Well we will see about that!

    Laundryamah – Yours more syok… Got convertible to sit… *jeles*

    Adz – Yeah the train system is very widespread and comprehensive. Oh Tokyo Tower, in turn, reminded me of Paris :p Haha.

    Keeyit – Actually, I do not miss Malaysian food. Haha. The train map is a little intimidating to look at for someone who’s not seen it before, but it’s very understandable if you have tried once. Well yeah similar.. but they’ve many colours ;p

    Jian – The rice is underneath that layer of egg + meat la. That’s what “katsudon” means. Hehe. I just learned this not too long ago only. Oh you mean your poo poo always very loud izit. You probably need to audio-out that device to a set of Bose speakers in your toilet.

    Psst… felt like you were driving a 3.0L BMW rite. Che wah… ;p

    em – It’s a little complex to look at, but it’s quite ‘idiot-proof’, what with all the colour-coding and stuff!

    Giddy Tigress – Well, yeah, tomorrow!

    Bengbeng – Thanks Bengbeng. Tonight is my last night in Japan.

    Comment by narrowband — June 27, 2008 #

  20. holly crap shit the train route, how to see?

    Comment by Elyn — June 29, 2008 #

  21. Narrowband : Support original. And also souvenir mah. :P

    Comment by Jason — July 2, 2008 #

  22. A 40D? Hehehee…..Bila? :P

    Comment by voch — July 6, 2008 #

  23. Yo since when the “Katsudon” got come with soup 1? I eat there for almost 6 months never get 1 soup neh … Nan-de, obasan da-meh-yo!!!

    Comment by KHGan — October 23, 2008 #

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