When I first arrived in Japan I stepped into a different world, foreign to what I grew up with.
You take a look at the map street map of Japan and and you can only say OMFG!!!
Then looking the transit map you think WTF.
I think about it like an adventure video game. I know its lame but it’s the best way I can describe it. It's like when you start playing a final fantasy game. You suddenly get thrust into this foreign world not knowing the lay of the land and have to figure out the best way get your items, weapons and quests. All you have is your trusty information device and sometimes an overhead map, and of course the destination arrow. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the cute moogle giving you tips along the way.
I did my best to prepare for this trip. Entering a foreign land without access to live Internet data and not being able to speak fluently the native language, I had to rely on my best path finding skills. Fortunately for me I have an upgraded GPS installed in my head, an internal compass and a near photographic map memory. I downloaded the map of Shinjuku in my iPad not knowing anything about it other than the roads and station. As I walked the streets for the very first time I was able to fill in my navigation data with real life surroundings, in a way unveiling the fog of war. After a day I was confident in making my way to and from the station on bike and walking the streets of Shinjuku proper. After a few more days I began to truly understand the complicated train system. After one week I can ride my bike around Tokyo and know relatively where I am. I leveled up from 1 to 5 and can tackle this complicated city with confidence. It's fun to see the progression and compare it to adventure games I played in my youth. I can remember the very familiar feeling of trying to figure out where to go find things and only after a few hours of running around the game world, knowing where to get that sword upgrade for my character.
Now, my next challenge, the Tokyo bus system. I can really say OMFG to that one!
Today was a very hot day. We first wanted to go back to the Tokyo capital building because when we went last time they had one of the towers closed, which is the one where Michi found some very nice souvenirs we couldn't find anywhere else. Riding our bikes there was a breeze.
There at the capitol building we found the souvenirs we were looking for and something else very unique to Japan. There was a kiosk where they sold little figurines but there was a unique twist I've never thought possible, you can put your face on the figure!!!!
It was so cute, unique and a great value we couldn't resist so we got a couple made. It was a simple process, you can use the built in camera to take your picture, scan a photo or insert your memory card. There was even an IR interface for beam transfers. They thought of everything!!! The only thing missing was web access or the ability to wash your butt.
Here is a pic of the finished product.
After being thoroughly wowed by yet another piece of unique Japanese technology we went and rode our bikes to Harajuku. It was a very hot day, humid and deadly. We went to Akihabara for the sole purpose of seeing Cosplayers but it was so hot, only the few dedicated appeared in this weather. We did find a pizza place called Stokey's Pizza and thoroughly enjoyed it and their happy hour. A full review will be posted in a separate review of Japanese/American food joints.
Stuffing our faces with yummy Japanese style pizza, a thorough improvement over American pizza, we went next door to kiddy land, six floors of toys. It was a fun place to see as adults and kids alike viewed the marvelous array of toys and trinkets. They had a Lego floor and a hello kitty floor. They even had a floor devoted to snoopy, yes snoopy and not peanuts. Apparently snoopy is more popular here than Mickey mouse, almost to the same star level as hello kitty.
I was personally fascinated by their technology toys. This toy featured robotic like bugs that move and wiggle. You can put them on a race track and race them down the line or place them in a maze and see if yours will wiggle it's way though it first. They also showed off their talking clock that was kinda creepy and robot spiders that have some aorta of intelligence.
Moving on from kiddy land, it got kinda late so after 8 PM all the shops are closed. It is surprising that they close so early in such a huge shopping district. It was 8:30 so we decided to ride back home. I was mounting my camcorder to my bike so Michi went ahead of me. Unfortunately I got caught at many stop lights so I never caught up with her and she had taken a wrong turn at Shinjuku and got lost for a bit. The night was a calm one as we called it an early night so we can have a slightly early start to go to the flea markets of Japan in Koenji.
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