I will do as you suggest. I'll start by going down to 23.9 hours per day. Luckily, I'm used to cold turkey. We host the family for Thanksgiving each year, and cold (leftover) turkey is what I have for lunch for the following month.wdlove said:Wow going cold turkey on the internet connection. Will the razor and camera be enough. Of course you can get your fix at the local Apple Store. I would high recommend weaning yourself gradually from the internet, it will prevent a headache.
Helloooooooooooo, kitty! I've been to a Giant Robot store here and to be honest I don't know how to characterize what they sell.yellow said:A word to the wise though.. look out for giant robots and cuddly egg-shaped animals.
I was going to say yes, sneak in the baggage, but then skubish (see below) posted just in time! I have an abacus, in case of power failures or if Excel crashes, but it's a Chinese abacus, not a Japanese one. As for electronics, I'm debating whether it would be fun to have a Japanese version of a well-known video game. I wonder if I'll meet Mario and Luigi in person? Or do they live in Italy?powermac666 said:Any chance of sneaking me in your baggage? I'll carry your abacus for you.If I were going to Japan, I'd probably want to spend my time in Akihabara (sp?), glorious citadel of cheesy electronics and video games.
Thanks, very useful. Whether or not it's expected that tourists know and follow the customs, I plan to try my best. For example, one of my guidebooks said to hand gifts to people with two hands; nice to know. It was harder for two friends of mine who went recently. Their ancestry is Japanese but they live in the U.S. and speak no Japanese. But since they look Japanese, everyone expected them to act and speak as the Japanese do.EGT said:
Which brings up another question: Is there a good Japanese <-> English translation website? I haven't had much luck with Google's beta version or www.babelfish.altavista.com.mkrishnan said:Ano... gaikokuryokou ni omedetou gozaimasu ne! Sore wa totemo tanoshii, asobi na koto to nozomimasu.![]()
I will certainly follow both of your suggestions. Some tourists I talked to said they wished they had heard that warning before they went. They had to ship their luggage from hotel to hotel since it was too big to travel with. I'm bringing a small rolling suitcase and a duffel bag. So... yet another question: Is it hard to find laundromats if hotels charge an arm and a leg for doing laundry?skubish said:Don't forget to hit the Apple store in Tokyo (Ginza area). Pack light. Travelling to all the cities will be a pain if you have to lug a bunch of suitcases around.
Doctor Q said:Which brings up another question: Is there a good Japanese <-> English translation website? I haven't had much luck with Google's beta version or www.babelfish.altavista.com.
Doctor Q said:...
Which brings up another question: Is there a good Japanese <-> English translation website? I haven't had much luck with Google's beta version or www.babelfish.altavista.com.
...
krimson said:I use JEDI for my light translations (single word, short phrases).
I wonder if they serve it at the ryokans? I'll probably cause a great stir by accidentally wearing my hiking boots onto the tatami mats, but nevertheless we're going to try Japanese style accommodations.5300cs said:I went to Takayama last summer, it was really cool (it's in the next prefecture over from me.) Make sure you try Hida gyuu, which is the local beef. It was GREAT. Getting there early in the day or later is best to avoid the crowds.
Great, then that won't be a problem. Yes, I got the memory cards here already - 1.25GB of it, and it's only a 3 megapixel camera. I took test shots at the three jpeg compression levels my camera offers, both indoors and outdoors, to test which level to use, since that affects how many shots I can take in a given amount of RAM. I'll take all shots with medium compression, but with maximum resolution, since it's not a high-resolution camera but I hope to make some 8x10s out of the best shots. I can save RAM by deleting the bad shots at the end of each day, like 49 of the 50 shots I will have taken of one deer in Nara Park.5300cs said:As for memory cards and such, most electronics shops will make prints for you, and most likely burn CDs for you, too. Get your memory cards state-side though, they're expensive over here.![]()
Hmmm. I heard the opposite from other travel tipsters. Has anybody out there really done comparison shopping? The first one I saw here was $1 per connection plus $1 per minute, and I certainly want to do better than that.5300cs said:I'd get a phone card while still in the US, I think it might be cheaper there.
If you see everything, it will spoil the air of mystery. But since you are as compressible as my jpegs, sure you can come along. Meet me at 35.3 north latitude, 138.7 east longitude and we'll get started from there.Onizuka said:Take me with you! I can collapse my body to fit in a suit case! I want to see hot japanese school girls! I want to see tokyo! I want to see everything!!!!!!!! PLEASE I BEG YOU!
Hmmm. I heard the opposite from other travel tipsters. Has anybody out there really done comparison shopping? The first one I saw here was $1 per connection plus $1 per minute, and I certainly want to do better than that.
Sounds like an international version of the Ugly American. OK, I will hide the fact that I'm loud, rude, boorish, and culturally insensitive. And I won't complain that they are speaking a "foreign" language.Mechcozmo said:Advice: Don't do all tours. Spend time walking around, just being a part of society. Don't be a touron.
Touron-- adj. Tourist Moron. I.D'd by sandels with socks, camera dangling about, and sunburn. Talks loudly.
That's why we will visit the Apple Stores whenever we come close to one. I'll need to go in there and breath the air to rejuvenate myself!w_parietti22 said:No iBook!!! I would die!![]()
Recommend that you take all pictures at the best your camera can do.Doctor Q said:I'll take all shots with medium compression, but with maximum resolution, since it's not a high-resolution camera but I hope to make some 8x10s out of the best shots.
Doctor Q said:I came to a clever tip in my research: to take advantage of jet lag to visit a fish market, like the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, in the very early morning, while you aren't sleeping anyway! Wholesale markets are best if you get there early when all the day's activities begin.
Our only plan for dealing with jet lag so far is that we scheduled very little the first day and a half, so we can stumble around in a daze while congratulating ourselves on finally making it to Japan.![]()
The Tsukiji fish market is a great place to visit. You can take the subway to the station then it is a short walk. At the market area, or just outside may be a better way to say it, there are a few sushi restaurants. You might want to try some sushi for breakfast.Doctor Q said:I came to a clever tip in my research: to take advantage of jet lag to visit a fish market, like the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, in the very early morning, while you aren't sleeping anyway! Wholesale markets are best if you get there early when all the day's activities begin.
Our only plan for dealing with jet lag so far is that we scheduled very little the first day and a half, so we can stumble around in a daze while congratulating ourselves on finally making it to Japan.![]()
krimson said:dont wear anything (esp shoes) you wouldn't want smelling like faw fish if you go to the market. oh, and make sure your shoes have good traction on wet concrete.
Yeah, but how do I know it will be fresh?sushi said:The Tsukiji fish market is a great place to visit. You can take the subway to the station then it is a short walk. At the market area, or just outside may be a better way to say it, there are a few sushi restaurants. You might want to try some sushi for breakfast.
I remember hearing about this diet a few years ago. I wonder if it really helps?As for jet lag, I have no suggestions.
I have no pics to share so far, but that's because the trip isn't until next month. I hope you won't mind waiting a bit longer.Eevee said:Any pics??? Please post some pics
Doctor Q said:Sounds like an international version of the Ugly American. OK, I will hide the fact that I'm loud, rude, boorish, and culturally insensitive. And I won't complain that they are speaking a "foreign" language.
Seriously, I will have the dangling camera (although it might be in front of my face much of the time), but we do favor wandering around over formal tours, except that we'll use the Goodwill Guides (English-speaking volunteers) at some of the historic sites because we will learn more that way.