Last weeks adventure took me to Tokyo. The best way I can describe Tokyo is to tell you it's just like New York City but cleaner, brighter, and easier to get around. And there's a Lot more shopping here too.
I can't tell which there are more of, stars in the sky or shops/stores in Tokyo. The short buildings alone are usually 5-8 stories high, but on top of that...or rather under... there are 1-2 stories of stores under street level. Every where you look around shops and stores abound. And given the amount of electricity this city uses for advertising I'd say there are more shops than stars in the sky.
I've never been into the whole Starbucks thing. Starbucks does coffee. I don't drink coffee, I drink tea. And the crappy bagged tea they serve at Starbucks is..well....crappy. So I always felt left out of the Starbucks craze b/c of this. Well, when I traveled to Tokyo I got to try a Green Teaspresso and a Black Assam Tea Latte. How SWEET!!!! Well, the teaspresso was actually not very sweet, it was super concentrated matcha powder tea, but the idea is still Sweet. And very delicious. I really enjoyed the Black Tea Latte. I'll have to remember that for the future ^_^
And while I'm on the subject of great tea ideas that should be brought to the USA...Hot tea from a vending machine. It sure does hit the spot while waiting at a cold train station. And yes, the vending machine sells both hot and cold tea...coffee too. I thoroughly enjoy this and sometimes look forward to taking the train just b/c I know I'll get a chance to buy hot tea from a vending machine.
Expensive....Many people expounded on how expensive Japan is. And while they are correct it's really Not that bad. It's about $10 US to go pretty far on the train system 1 way, but you get to travel to some Amazing places on the train system and it's a really easy train system to use. Your other options are to rent a car and drive or not go anywhere. It's expensive to rent, then the fuel charges, then the parking charges....it adds up to more than $10 for a 1-way trip. Plus mass transit is supposed to be greener...at least that's what "They" say. And the city is So vast that you really do want to get out and explore. Never going out isn't an option in my book, and shouldn't be in yours if you ever get to travel.
Buying things is expensive too, but it's just as expensive as it would be if you were shopping in NYC. And I've learned that as much as image is everything in America, it's even more so here in Japan. And at least in America there are multitudes of images a person can choose from. Punk, Gangster, business, business casual, casual, baggy, goth, theatrical so on and so forth. People in America have many choices of styles and their look is generally accepted as representing their click of choice. However Japan has 2 styles that really boil down to 1 style and 1 style alone. I'd call it sort of a Vogue/Milan fashion runway style. Everyone here dresses like the people on shows like Sex in the City and many pop fashion magazines (the only difference here is that they don't where low cut tops). If they aren't fashionably dressed in modern gear then they are either wearing their school uniform or they are an elder wearing a traditional kimono. Granted I know there are people that challenge this Fashionista climate, but they really don't stick out in enough numbers to really make a dent on this "Look like a pop-star" atmosphere.
Well I'm almost outta here for now. I leave on Wednesday for Anchorage Alaska. There I'll meet one of our P-3's to do an Ocean Winds project. I'll spend the month of February freezing in Alaska so I can go to Hawaii in March and properly thaw out on the sunny beaches of Waikiki and finish up this years Winter Storms project on the G4. ^_^
Then I'll be back here in Japan for 2 weeks in April to see the Cherry blossoms bloom and see what it's like when it's Not the dead of winter. ^_^
Sayounara!
