Don't you hate it when you wake up with a sinking feeling? That's what Saturday was like, as it was to be our last day in Japan. I was up early, but the rest of the family decided to have a sleep in. This gave me time to watch some Saturday morning television with some crazy cartoons on TV Tokyo. I was watching a show called Penguin no Mondai or Penguin's trouble. This show has a penguin called Beckham (I'm not sure if he's robotic or not) but everytime he gets bonked on the head, he changes shape. They were playing a soccer game and this squirrel kept dropping his nuts which hit the penguin on the head, then he changed shape... Very confusing, especially if you didn't understand what they were saying.
Also saw a show called Rescue Force, which had a group of 5 people (3 guys, 2 girls) who are part of the police/fire/ambo's and they fight robotic monsters. Sort of like power rangers style, but it is meant for little kids. I didn't really care about the plot line (I couldn't understand it anyway), but the chick in the red suit was cute. Also, this show must have been sponsored by Nissan or something as the robot CG sequences show both a 350z and an X-trail getting encapsulated into the giant mecha taskforce robot..
About this time, everyone started to awake from their comatic sleep, and we got up and went to Johnathan's for breakfast. Johnathan's is similar to Denny's. Its a 24hr restaurant that serves food.... and beer. I only had a BLT, an OJ and a coffee. Food quality was good, nothing over the top fancy, but tasty and hit the spot.
We then headed towards Takashimaya - a swanky department store about 2 blocks from our hotel. They have doorman waiting to hail taxis for customers outside, De Beers jewellery and other boutique brands on the 1st floor and take up their own city block, as well as a seperate carpark, which in Tokyo means you've either been there for a long time, or you are ritzy and expensive. A little bit of A and B in this case. Having said that, unlike David Jones in Australia, Takashimaya have stuff that you would actually want to buy or give as gifts to people, not just expensive "educational" toys that kids wouldn't touch with in a pink fit.
We spent a little bit of time there before heading towards Tokyo station/Yaesu mall (again). Even though we've walked through this place numerous times on the way home or to the station, we kept find new things we hadn't seen. Also, we wanted to check out the price of Wii remotes. If the exchange rate was higher, they would have been a bargain (3640Y) but when the exchange rate is on the fritz, it ended up being the same price as we get them in Australia for.
Also checked out Daimaru department store, before deciding that we better pick up our stuff from the hotel and head towards the airport. Fortunately this time we had left ourselves with plenty of time to get there and look around, so after the 50min train ride to the Airport, we checked our baggage in (we must have been one of the first for our flight I reckon) and looked around upstairs. They have a wide range of shops at Narita terminal 2. I've never been to Terminal 1 (mostly for european/west bound airlines), but there is enough to look at and eat, at terminal 2 to keep you occupied for a few hours.
We eventually ate some japanese food, followed by a crepe.... gotta love the smell of crepes, chocolate sauce, strawberries and stuff. Did some more shopping then went through customs effortlessly.... Gotta also love jap efficiency.
We still had about an hour and a half til boarding, so we looked around at Duty-free shops. Had some good range, but didn't buy anything as it still requires you to spend money you probably don't have. Got on the flight tired but nearly teary-eyed, and said farewell. I hope its not too long before we go again. Japan is an awesome country and although I do feel a bit like an outsider when I'm there, I think that speaking the language would help that. Otherwise the convenience stores, car places, vending machines, abundance of beer/sake/alcohol and the snow make me want to spend a lot of time there.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Time flies when your having fun..
Just looked and I haven't posted since Thursdays events.
Well after running around Harajuku on Thursday, we decided that Dean and I needed to do something less emasculating than looking for clothes.
On Friday, we went looking at cars again. This time we headed for the Nissan Gallery in Ginza, and this time when we got out of the subway we didn't see any closed signs.... We saw a most beautiful specimen of the automotive kind... the new GT-R.. In bright red.... like the blood of your opponents after you slaughter them mercilessly.... I got to sit in it, and Dean took my picture, just for proof. They also had the new Fuga there. This thing is something we don't get in Australia, but would be nice if we did... A family size sedan with either a 3.5L V6 or a 4.5L V8 in RWD goodness. We walked around the corner and down the street to the Gallery Headquarters (the one we started at is like an annex) and we got to see the new Cube (I prefer the old one better), another awesomely hot GT-R and the new 370Z Fairlady. This car definately looks like a smaller package than the 350Z. The wheel base is smaller, the over hangs are less, and looks like a much better little package. Also saw a President, which is worth 9800000Y (about 150K in Australian monopoly money). Very stately, but still would rather buy 3 370Z's (they are 3600000Y) for the same amount.... or 1 GT-R and 2000000Y of mods...
After lolligagging around there for a few minutes, our next venture was Up Garage - A chain of used performance parts stores. Possibly not the closest one, but the easiest to get to was in Machida, in what you'd say was the Southwestern suburbs of Tokyo.. this thing is so southwest, that it nearly straddles the border of Yokohama in Kanagawa. We thought we better get some food for this expedition, so when we stopped at Shibuya to change trains, we headed to the department store (Tokyu) that sits atop our next intended train line. Like in previous posts, most department stores in Tokyo have a B1 and quite often a B2 floor dedicated to food. With the trains/subways being a major part of everyday life in Tokyo, it makes sense to have places situated on top of the train lines, where people can pick up the evening meal.
After walking around a little bit, we decided on a fried chicken and chips set for about 700Y. It was a very good feed, although it was a little cold by the time we ate on the train. One of the good things about heading to places that are off the beaten track for most tourists, is that you get to see a different side to the cities you visit. The metropolis of Tokyo keeps sprawling, although as you get further out, the homes get larger than the bedsit apartments that are often portrayed in the media.
While we were on the train it started snowing. This gave a change from the rain we had been experiencing for the last 4 days, but it was only brief, with the snow stopping/rain starting again before we arrived at our intended station - Minami-machida. Unfortunately, I hadn't written down where the shop was from the station, but knew it was near by. After walking around the Grandberry Plaza that sits next to the station, we got the girl at the information desk to find the directions and we were off. It was only about 5 minutes walk from the station, before we saw the yellow signs. We came around the corner and saw the cars inhabiting the car park. A few modified euro's, some jap cars... all with their own little flavour added.
We bound up our umbrellas and headed inside and where gobsmacked with the range. Starting at one end and working our way to the other, there were walls lined with coil overs, springs, exhausts, electronic things like DVD screens, sat navs, double din CD/MD players and the like. Then aftermarket ecus, boost controllers, pod filter setups etc. If I lived in Tokyo or Japan, with both this place and Autobacs, I'd be permanently broke, buying things for my car....
We spent around 1hr just perusing the items. I ended up buying a suspension spanner for my car, before heading out. After asking the guys at the counter we found the directions to Bee-Racing, who some might know for their Bright yellow R324 (R32 with a 34 front end) that Tezuka drives in the D1 series. It took us about 10-15mins walk before we found the place... They were dyno testing a Nissan Serena van with an exhaust on it. I suppose if you have to drive a family car, you can at least make it your own. There must be a few in this situation because on the back of the Serena it had a sticker for an Serena owners club, while there was another done-up van in the car park. We got to take a few up close pics of the D1 car, and there were a few other nice cars lying about.
Next door to Bee-Racing is a little known place called Monster Performance. For those of you that have ever played Gran Turismo 2-5, you would know the Pike's Peak Escudo... this is the guy that owns it, operating a tuning/mechanics shop out of a Suzuki Dealership. Unfortunately we didn't see the bunny car, but I would have lost it otherwise. We walked back to the station, and caught the train back to Shibuya, and after walking around a few places headed for Tokyo central.
We had a look in some of the buildings surrounding Tokyo station, stealing their air. Some of these shops were swanky boutiques, where you can get tailor made suits, stupidly expensive shoes and bags (What self-respecting male would spend $600 on a pair of shoes???) and other assorted items. The view at dusk was good, with all the other buildings having their lights on, and the rain hitting the windows made for a nice vibe, but now Dean and I were getting hungry, so we headed for the Gyouza shop in Yaesu mall.
We headed back to the hotel and after watching some wierd TV, fell asleep.
Well after running around Harajuku on Thursday, we decided that Dean and I needed to do something less emasculating than looking for clothes.
On Friday, we went looking at cars again. This time we headed for the Nissan Gallery in Ginza, and this time when we got out of the subway we didn't see any closed signs.... We saw a most beautiful specimen of the automotive kind... the new GT-R.. In bright red.... like the blood of your opponents after you slaughter them mercilessly.... I got to sit in it, and Dean took my picture, just for proof. They also had the new Fuga there. This thing is something we don't get in Australia, but would be nice if we did... A family size sedan with either a 3.5L V6 or a 4.5L V8 in RWD goodness. We walked around the corner and down the street to the Gallery Headquarters (the one we started at is like an annex) and we got to see the new Cube (I prefer the old one better), another awesomely hot GT-R and the new 370Z Fairlady. This car definately looks like a smaller package than the 350Z. The wheel base is smaller, the over hangs are less, and looks like a much better little package. Also saw a President, which is worth 9800000Y (about 150K in Australian monopoly money). Very stately, but still would rather buy 3 370Z's (they are 3600000Y) for the same amount.... or 1 GT-R and 2000000Y of mods...
After lolligagging around there for a few minutes, our next venture was Up Garage - A chain of used performance parts stores. Possibly not the closest one, but the easiest to get to was in Machida, in what you'd say was the Southwestern suburbs of Tokyo.. this thing is so southwest, that it nearly straddles the border of Yokohama in Kanagawa. We thought we better get some food for this expedition, so when we stopped at Shibuya to change trains, we headed to the department store (Tokyu) that sits atop our next intended train line. Like in previous posts, most department stores in Tokyo have a B1 and quite often a B2 floor dedicated to food. With the trains/subways being a major part of everyday life in Tokyo, it makes sense to have places situated on top of the train lines, where people can pick up the evening meal.
After walking around a little bit, we decided on a fried chicken and chips set for about 700Y. It was a very good feed, although it was a little cold by the time we ate on the train. One of the good things about heading to places that are off the beaten track for most tourists, is that you get to see a different side to the cities you visit. The metropolis of Tokyo keeps sprawling, although as you get further out, the homes get larger than the bedsit apartments that are often portrayed in the media.
While we were on the train it started snowing. This gave a change from the rain we had been experiencing for the last 4 days, but it was only brief, with the snow stopping/rain starting again before we arrived at our intended station - Minami-machida. Unfortunately, I hadn't written down where the shop was from the station, but knew it was near by. After walking around the Grandberry Plaza that sits next to the station, we got the girl at the information desk to find the directions and we were off. It was only about 5 minutes walk from the station, before we saw the yellow signs. We came around the corner and saw the cars inhabiting the car park. A few modified euro's, some jap cars... all with their own little flavour added.
We bound up our umbrellas and headed inside and where gobsmacked with the range. Starting at one end and working our way to the other, there were walls lined with coil overs, springs, exhausts, electronic things like DVD screens, sat navs, double din CD/MD players and the like. Then aftermarket ecus, boost controllers, pod filter setups etc. If I lived in Tokyo or Japan, with both this place and Autobacs, I'd be permanently broke, buying things for my car....
We spent around 1hr just perusing the items. I ended up buying a suspension spanner for my car, before heading out. After asking the guys at the counter we found the directions to Bee-Racing, who some might know for their Bright yellow R324 (R32 with a 34 front end) that Tezuka drives in the D1 series. It took us about 10-15mins walk before we found the place... They were dyno testing a Nissan Serena van with an exhaust on it. I suppose if you have to drive a family car, you can at least make it your own. There must be a few in this situation because on the back of the Serena it had a sticker for an Serena owners club, while there was another done-up van in the car park. We got to take a few up close pics of the D1 car, and there were a few other nice cars lying about.
Next door to Bee-Racing is a little known place called Monster Performance. For those of you that have ever played Gran Turismo 2-5, you would know the Pike's Peak Escudo... this is the guy that owns it, operating a tuning/mechanics shop out of a Suzuki Dealership. Unfortunately we didn't see the bunny car, but I would have lost it otherwise. We walked back to the station, and caught the train back to Shibuya, and after walking around a few places headed for Tokyo central.
We had a look in some of the buildings surrounding Tokyo station, stealing their air. Some of these shops were swanky boutiques, where you can get tailor made suits, stupidly expensive shoes and bags (What self-respecting male would spend $600 on a pair of shoes???) and other assorted items. The view at dusk was good, with all the other buildings having their lights on, and the rain hitting the windows made for a nice vibe, but now Dean and I were getting hungry, so we headed for the Gyouza shop in Yaesu mall.
We headed back to the hotel and after watching some wierd TV, fell asleep.
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