The Statues of Liberty and other things I saw today

Factorial , ,

Quick dump of some things I did and saw today:

I rearranged the stuff in my apartment. Now I have a little bedroom area with dresser and carpet, couch facing TV on a table which is attached to my laptop, making that a workdesk, TV stand, and dining area.
I rearranged the stuff in my apartment. Now I have a little bedroom area with dresser and carpet, couch facing the table on which the TV now sits, attached to my laptop, making that a work desk, TV stand, and dining area all in one. Now I can watch Japanese TV, Netflix, or just use it as a second monitor.

I went to Odaiba today, a human-made beach on Tokyo Bay. The park was totally free, but I spent $13 just traveling by train. O_O

Another view of Tokyo and the Bay
A view of Tokyo and Tokyo Bay with a tree in the way.
The view today of Tokyo and Tokyo Bay from Odaiba's beach.
Another view today of Tokyo and Tokyo Bay from Odaiba’s beach. It’s a rainy day today thanks to typhoon Neoguri.
Statue of Liberty in Odaiba from afar
There’s a replica of the Statue of Liberty here…
It's a bit smaller than the one in New York.
It’s a bit smaller than the one in New York.

 

Hey y’all!!

Factorial , ,

I was in a mall a few days ago and a jewelry store had a bunch of English phrases framed behind the counters. It seems Japan is fond of using English as decoration in much the same way the West uses kanji decoratively.

sweet-as-a-peach

So I approached the saleswoman and said (in what I am discovering is my god-awful Japanese) 「それはアメリカのみなみのいいならわしですよね。」, meaning “Those are southern American idioms.” I pulled out my phone, switched it to camera mode, and asked 「カメラはだいじょうぶですか。」(“Is camera OK?”).

bless-your-heart_a-little-bird-told-me

I asked because I know from previous experience that taking pictures of shops in Japan is kind of a no-no. In this case the saleswoman also seemed reluctant, so to prove my intentions I put on my most southern accent, pointed at a frame and read “Hey ya’ll!” Then another, “Bless yer hart.”

hey-yall

That won her over and she gave me permission to photo just the frames.

My place

Factorial , ,

I’m moved in to my new home in Tokyo! Here’s a few shots (most of them panoramic) to give you a feel for the place.

at-front-door-pano
Just inside the front door. Clockwise you see my bookshelf, bed, table, balcony, doors to the bathroom, closet, kitchen, and front door.
at-bed-pano
Standing in the corner of the bed, facing the kitchen.
at-tv-corner-pano
In the TV corner, back to the TV, facing the bed, table, and couch.
balcony
Sliding glass doors leading onto the balcony (5th floor).
view
The excellent view from the balcony!
christian
My landlord Chris and me on the night of my move-in. This guy is really amazing. Funny, speaks excellent English with a Polish accent, never met a sentence he couldn’t throw a “fucking” curse word into, friendly, and at least a foot taller than me (he’s crouching in this picture).

Namja Town

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Recently I went to Sunshine City, Tokyo’s oldest “city within a city” and visited Namco Namja Town. Namja Town is a “theme park,” although usually when I hear that phrase I think of a place with roller coasters. This place turned out to be more of a children’s attraction, with the ever-present claw games, some game where kids ran around scanning random objects with a big plastic scanner thingy looking for ghosts, and a few video games.

Yet despite it’s roller coaster deficit, I was not disappointed, for I came with only two attractions in mind: Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City.

Gyoza Stadium's eating area
Gyoza Stadium’s eating area

In case you don’t know, gyoza are also called pot-stickers or dumplings and they are delicious. I know the place isn’t much to look at in the pictures. But if you know me then I can put it this way: gyoza are stuffed full of cabbage and often onions and I don’t even know what else and don’t care because I will eat 3 dozen of them if you fry them and put them in front of me with some ponzu sauce.

These little guys in this cheap little paper box with that cheap little tin plate for the tiny tiny bottle of ponzu sauce were AMAZING.
These little guys–in this cheap little paper box, with that cheap little tin plate for the tiny tiny bottle of ponzu sauce–were AMAZING.

And I had ice cream from one of the half dozen ice cream vendors in Ice Cream City.

Lots and lots…
…of ice cream flavors to choose from.

I ordered six flavors from this menu:

Which 6 would you choose?
Which 6 would you choose?

My choices, from left to right, top row first:

My ice cream

  1. #1 Golden vanilla (delicious, but still just vanilla ice cream)
  2. #3 Hokkaido shirataki potato ice cream (incredibly good, had little tiny bits of potato in it that melted in your mouth with the rest of the ice cream)
  3. #11 Double cheese (my favorite of the bunch, how did they make cheese taste even better?)
  4. #25 Homemade ice cream corn (corn flavored ice cream, believe it or not my second favorite of the bunch
  5. #30 Milk (yes, milk flavored ice cream. not sure how that works, but it did taste more like milk than the rest. also delicious of course)
  6. #50 Whisky (the whisky flavor was abundant and really not very good. you can taste this at home by just taking a sip of whisky with a bite of vanilla ice cream.)

Beauty, even in Narita Airport

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A quick photo dump of some pictures I took during my overnight stay in the airport. Click any picture to see it bigger.

This dude Brian was a software entrepreneur from Oklahoma. We met around midnight and spent the next six hours talking politics, Japan, start-ups, functional programming & other computer science topics. I actually learned a lot about investments and start-ups from this guy.
This dude Brian was a software entrepreneur from Oklahoma. We met around midnight and spent the next six hours talking politics, Japan, start-ups, functional programming & other computer science topics. I actually learned a lot about investments and start-ups from this guy. Would’ve been a much longer night without him.
During the Tanabata Summer Festival, the Japanese write their wishes on strips of paper and hang them on "wish trees" like these.
During the Tanabata Summer Festival, the Japanese write their wishes on strips of paper and hang them on “wish trees” like these.
My favorite thing to see, however, was this sampling of an upcoming Bonsai exhibition of some kind. I love bonsai and these trees were beautiful.
My favorite thing to see, however, was this sampling of an upcoming Bonsai exhibition of some kind. I love bonsai and these trees were beautiful.
If you look closely you can see this tree (which was over 50 years old) has a trunk of two colors entwined. Unfortunately, right after taking this picture I got kicked out of this area. It was very late and I wasn't supposed to be there evidently.
If you look closely you can see this 50+ year old bonsai tree has a trunk of two intertwining colors. Unfortunately, right after taking this picture I got kicked out of this area. It was very late and I wasn’t supposed to be there evidently.

Now I’m in Japan

Factorial , ,

Just as easy as reading one blog post after another, I’m in Japan now! OK it wasn’t really that easy at all. A quick recap of my last 36 hours:

  • I guess due to inclement weather, my first flight to Chicago is delayed 50 minutes and arrives in Chicago 60 minutes late.
  • Thus, I miss my flight to Tokyo and have to wait 5 more hours in O’Hare.
  • Thus, when I arrive in Japan the airport post office (where I am to pick up my pocket wifi) is closed and I have to wait 9 more hours in Narita for it to open.
  • Thus, I wore these clothes for 36 straight hours and head straight for the shower when I finally get to the house I’m staying in for the next week. Then I fell asleep at like 5pm (it’s 8pm as I write).

So it was a pretty long day. 🙂 But I’m here now! And this is my room:

My room for the next week

It’s not much, but it’s definitely sufficient for my needs for the next few days. Now it’s time to find some dinner!

Now I’m in America…

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As I write this post I’m in America. Mere hours later I will be in Tokyo, living there. Wow.

Hey I’m bored let’s look in my carry-on bag:

Must represent support for USA men's World Cup team
Phone bumper – gotta support the USA men’s World Cup team (thanks Robbie!)
Several books and Reese's Cups with which to buy Japanese friends
Several books (thanks Tony!) and Reese’s Cups with which to buy Japanese friends
my umbrella
my umbrella
charger cables and sanitizer
charger cables and sanitizer
more books
more books and chargers
and the laptop I'm writing this on
and the laptop I’m writing this on.

Moving To Japan – a checklist

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Apple Reminders App IconWhile planning to move to Japan, a dream whose fulfillment has taken a year and a half from inception to reality, I kept an ever-growing and morphing to-do list of things I knew I would have to eventually tackle.

Whenever thoughts came to mind like “I’m going to need a Japanese phone number, how is that going to work?” I’d put it down as a to-do item and then basically forget it. Later, I’d idly revisit and rearrange items on the list. When the time was right for me to address one, I did.

Here is the list I eventually ended up with, in chronological order of completion. Note: often items later in the list began much earlier and took a very long time to complete.

  1. Number crunch – start a budget
    • How much do I make now (both currencies)?
    • How much will rent be in Japan?
    • How much for expenses back home (storage, etc.)?
    • How much left over for fun/travel?
  2. What about USA taxes?
  3. Call 401(k) company, find out what happens to unvested employer contributions when I quit.
  4. What about Japan taxes?
  5. Get passport renewed
  6. Update music library
  7. Make copies of passport
    • Leave copies at home in USA
    • Leave copies in apartment in Japan
  8. Learn how to make Chipotle burrito bowls at home.
  9. Make sure iPhone will work in Japan
  10. Scan passport and other documents and send to Japanese employer to begin work on Certificate of Eligibility.
  11. Notify bank and credit card fraud protection departments that I’ll be going overseas.
  12. Find and secure a temporary place to stay while signing paperwork for permanent residence.
  13. Secure Airfare.
  14. Secure portable internet in Japan.
  15. Eat Little Caesar’s Italian Cheesy Bread one last time.
  16. Schedule all my remaining PTO up to the day before my plane leaves.
    • This way I can still be an official employee a little while after I’m gone. Easier transition.
  17. Web check-in to flights.
  18. Find and secure a place to live
    • Still have to sign paperwork when I get there.
  19. Get “vacation overrides” for prescriptions and pick up multiple months in advance.
  20. Telephone – arrange pick up of sim card
    • Went with Mobal Narita – Free rental, free incoming calls, free incoming SMS, ¥216/min outgoing calls, ¥135/msg outgoing SMS. Perfect.
    • My connectivity plan (deserves its own post). Basically: iPhone connected to mobile wifi from Let’s Internet (carried everywhere I go) + Mobal Narita SIM for phone calls to a Japanese number + Google Voice forwarding to my Japanese number so I keep my number in the States.
  21. Telephone – port number to Google Voice
  22. Telephone – cancel Verizon account
    • Early cancellation fee = $350 – ($10 x number of full months since contract signed)
  23. Setup blog and start blogging.
  24. Get Skyliner ticket from Narita terminal to Airbnb room.
    • Must purchase 20 or fewer days prior to flight date.
  25. See the dentist
  26. Send health check information to employer
    • Japanese Ministry of Health requires a very thorough health exam be submitted when onboarding new employees. Includes chest X-ray, ECG, vision, hearing, physical measurements, etc.
  27. Get omiyage from my hometown to take
  28. Give my car to my sister for safe-keeping and driving if she wants.
  29. As my friend Tony encouraged me, Turn risk and sacrifice into victory.