Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Rising Sun
Just got back from a week in Tokyo, Japan. One word to describe it - beautiful.The Tokyo bay is all around, and riding the subway (Which you do to get to most places) you are presented with views of the water on either side, most of the way.
There are a few things I've learned during this past week.
1) Japanese women have the best goddamned legs on the planet. Plus, I only saw like one overweight woman the entire week, and that too she'd only be a 'plus' size in the U.S. In other words, nowhere in Tokyo was I presented with the fatass, overweight, lumbering bodies of sizeable mass that you see everywhere in the U.S - I guess all that walking helps.[Also, c'mon now. How fit can you be when you order a double whopper, large fries and DIET coke? Like the DIET coke is the healthy choice here]
2) It is possible to communicate to a people mostly unfamiliar with the language you speak, by a lot of gesticulating, nodding and pointing. Sign language helps.We didn't really need the spoken word to point us in the right direction, most of the time.
3) You can bungee jump, hike,skydive and/or wrestle alligators, but when you aren't exactly sure what species the item lying on your plate belongs to, it requires a great deal of courage to go ahead and flush it down. Enjoying it on the way is a big plus. We had our moments - when the fish on our plates was a little TOO fresh for the mind to contemplate; the guy basically pulled it right out of the tank sliced and diced it and threw it down (raw) on a plate with a skewer - the fish was actually still jumping around. That's fresh sashimi for you - Yahtzee!! Another adventure during food time was picking items from the menu - we went by pictures and things didn't always turn out to be what we thought they were, going by the visual presentation. An unassuming appetizer of what looked like peppers and cabbage turned out to be minced squid and octopus. It sure was tasty though.
Another time we thought we had barbequed chicken which turned out to be cartilage.Dang - it was hard too.
4) Japanese women have the best goddamned legs on...oh did I say that already? They also have incredibly lithe bodies and are extremely well dressed. I went to this place called Rappongi and I was stunned.Rappongi is this young, vibrant community that's got great shopping and bars. Nearly everybody was in a designer label and looked fantastic. I've never seen anything like it - not even in New York city. Sure, people are dressed up but they are nowhere as fit as the Japanese.
5) The Japanese that we encountered were unbelievably polite - I though the waiter at this lovely little Italian restaurant by the bay was going to burst into tears because I had to wait 5 minutes to get my food to go.People were bowing and greeting us everywhere we went and to somebody used to all the racist assholes in the U.S of A the last 5 years, this was a very pleasant change.
6) OH my holy god, can the Japs party.We went out Friday night on the town, to this nice Japanese restaurant in Shinbashi, whose name I cannot even begin to pronounce (Shinbashi Karasumoriguchimae Ten). We started out with Beer but moved on to Sake.Usually you count your Sake by the shots, but here we were doing it by the bottle. I lost track after the first 6 bottles.Throw in some extraordinary sashimi and chicken skewers and we were in a haven for the gastric juices.
All in all a great trip. I was brought crashing to the ground after I landed at San Francisco International Airport and saw all the fatasses walking around, with countless Big Mac+Big Fries+Diet Coke combos under their belt.
Ah well...there's still the beach.
There are a few things I've learned during this past week.
1) Japanese women have the best goddamned legs on the planet. Plus, I only saw like one overweight woman the entire week, and that too she'd only be a 'plus' size in the U.S. In other words, nowhere in Tokyo was I presented with the fatass, overweight, lumbering bodies of sizeable mass that you see everywhere in the U.S - I guess all that walking helps.[Also, c'mon now. How fit can you be when you order a double whopper, large fries and DIET coke? Like the DIET coke is the healthy choice here]
2) It is possible to communicate to a people mostly unfamiliar with the language you speak, by a lot of gesticulating, nodding and pointing. Sign language helps.We didn't really need the spoken word to point us in the right direction, most of the time.
3) You can bungee jump, hike,skydive and/or wrestle alligators, but when you aren't exactly sure what species the item lying on your plate belongs to, it requires a great deal of courage to go ahead and flush it down. Enjoying it on the way is a big plus. We had our moments - when the fish on our plates was a little TOO fresh for the mind to contemplate; the guy basically pulled it right out of the tank sliced and diced it and threw it down (raw) on a plate with a skewer - the fish was actually still jumping around. That's fresh sashimi for you - Yahtzee!! Another adventure during food time was picking items from the menu - we went by pictures and things didn't always turn out to be what we thought they were, going by the visual presentation. An unassuming appetizer of what looked like peppers and cabbage turned out to be minced squid and octopus. It sure was tasty though.
Another time we thought we had barbequed chicken which turned out to be cartilage.Dang - it was hard too.
4) Japanese women have the best goddamned legs on...oh did I say that already? They also have incredibly lithe bodies and are extremely well dressed. I went to this place called Rappongi and I was stunned.Rappongi is this young, vibrant community that's got great shopping and bars. Nearly everybody was in a designer label and looked fantastic. I've never seen anything like it - not even in New York city. Sure, people are dressed up but they are nowhere as fit as the Japanese.
5) The Japanese that we encountered were unbelievably polite - I though the waiter at this lovely little Italian restaurant by the bay was going to burst into tears because I had to wait 5 minutes to get my food to go.People were bowing and greeting us everywhere we went and to somebody used to all the racist assholes in the U.S of A the last 5 years, this was a very pleasant change.
6) OH my holy god, can the Japs party.We went out Friday night on the town, to this nice Japanese restaurant in Shinbashi, whose name I cannot even begin to pronounce (Shinbashi Karasumoriguchimae Ten). We started out with Beer but moved on to Sake.Usually you count your Sake by the shots, but here we were doing it by the bottle. I lost track after the first 6 bottles.Throw in some extraordinary sashimi and chicken skewers and we were in a haven for the gastric juices.
All in all a great trip. I was brought crashing to the ground after I landed at San Francisco International Airport and saw all the fatasses walking around, with countless Big Mac+Big Fries+Diet Coke combos under their belt.
Ah well...there's still the beach.
# posted by FSN 2.4 : 3:20 PM
Comments:
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I am guessing it had to be business trip.. I have heard its a freaking expensive place.. a nice account of your trip.. the whole world already knows about the hardworking nature of Japanese, but the style quotient, thats something I havent heard off.. hey btw this is the first time am checking your blog, accidentally stumbled upon it.. I spent a few hours reading thru it, thats quite some talent and sense of humour, and thats makes for a top notch blogger... keep rocking, will be a regular :)
# posted by 
: 8:26 PM, July 24, 2007
: 8:26 PM, July 24, 2007
@Anon: Yes indeed - it was a business trip.I wouldn't call it a 'freaking expensive place'. Housing/Rental costs are sky high, but otherwise it seemed only a little on the higher side - especially when you convert from $ to Y. Do I know you from somewhere or are you totally anon? Keep reading :)
@Zywie: I looked everywhere for at least a Sivaji poster but alas :( not in Tokyo city. I might have met millions of Thalaivar's fans but definitely not an English-speaking one :).
Its me again. landed up here thru orkut, everyone knows everyone thru somebody on orkut, aint it, yes that ways u know me but well otherwise. I dont think so, your profile photo is sure to draw attention and your about me section is hilarious, rotfl.. btw from whatever I have read, you have always had something negative to say about the Americans, from my personal experience, am sure there are a lot of things that we can certainly take home from here. What do you say?
# posted by : 2:12 PM, July 27, 2007
: 2:12 PM, July 27, 2007
According to me, the U.S of A isn't a bad place. In fact I like it. That's why I live here. However, I think this place gets way more credit than it is due - most people are racist assholes and hypocrites to boot (Its not like they've been here forever. They came over on the mayflower and took over from the natives. One Thanksgiving weekend per year ain't enough). I don't like that the series between the ALCS and the NLCS is called the WORLD SERIES. I mean I can invent another dumbass sport called rockball, have it played between Kohima and
Dispur and call that the world series of Rockball. What I cannot do however is lavish $50 million on A-Rock and worship the ground he walks on and beat my chest about having the greatest 'sportsperson' on planet earth.
However I like Football (that's maybe because I hate soccer) :-).
I hate the way these idiots harp on pre-conceived notions about homosexuality.
There is definitely a lot we can take back from here. I think a lot of the progress this country has made since its Independence has to do with the 'founding fathers'. Man oh man those guys were brilliant.I love the whole "We can agree to disagree and still remain friends" concept, that exists, at least in principle.We can take back stuff from the entertainment industry - after all this is the birthplace of the motion picture.Marlon Brando.Robert De Niro.*Shudder*. Greatness.
Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld,Chris Rock,Rodney Dangerfield - stand up comedy.
Am I making sense? I just threw everything out - if this were a blog post I'd try to order it a little.
Dispur and call that the world series of Rockball. What I cannot do however is lavish $50 million on A-Rock and worship the ground he walks on and beat my chest about having the greatest 'sportsperson' on planet earth.
However I like Football (that's maybe because I hate soccer) :-).
I hate the way these idiots harp on pre-conceived notions about homosexuality.
There is definitely a lot we can take back from here. I think a lot of the progress this country has made since its Independence has to do with the 'founding fathers'. Man oh man those guys were brilliant.I love the whole "We can agree to disagree and still remain friends" concept, that exists, at least in principle.We can take back stuff from the entertainment industry - after all this is the birthplace of the motion picture.Marlon Brando.Robert De Niro.*Shudder*. Greatness.
Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld,Chris Rock,Rodney Dangerfield - stand up comedy.
Am I making sense? I just threw everything out - if this were a blog post I'd try to order it a little.
If we talk about this place and people being overrated, so are a lot of things, according to me Our Indian culture is rich and great and ... but the way its projected makes me feel that its overrated too.. that is a different subject to debate altogether.. I agree with you on the world series thingie. a world series of rockball... great idea.. lol
too bad that you hate soccer, well I can't say too much about football, I have never gotten a chance to follow it, maybe if I was here as a student I would have. Having pre-conceived notions about things is universal, its basis of human nature, however hard we try, we always have some basic ideas that we grow up with, and it takes a lot to get over it, am by no means stating that its a right thing to do. Agreed most of them are racist.
Oh well that was an interesting statement " we can agree to disagree and still remain friends", I tried too hard to rack my brains to figure out under what context you mentioned it and then gave up.. :)
Well movies, ** totally nods in agreement ** Pixar,Friends,Calvin and Hobbes, Dilbert and Archies.. I also like the way people respect your time, Never had a meeting that started late, the culture of vacations, the value for human life, nobody breaks in a Q or tries to use influence to get ahead of the rest of them, you cannot get a driving license without actually taking the test.. but I still cant come to terms with the fact that you need to pay a ** few hundred dollars** to get a prescription for a simple medicine. And the concept of letting women ahead(you should know why I feel nice about that) and the respect for handicap people, somethings that have impressed me..
and yes it did make a lot of sense, well to each, their point of view:)
too bad that you hate soccer, well I can't say too much about football, I have never gotten a chance to follow it, maybe if I was here as a student I would have. Having pre-conceived notions about things is universal, its basis of human nature, however hard we try, we always have some basic ideas that we grow up with, and it takes a lot to get over it, am by no means stating that its a right thing to do. Agreed most of them are racist.
Oh well that was an interesting statement " we can agree to disagree and still remain friends", I tried too hard to rack my brains to figure out under what context you mentioned it and then gave up.. :)
Well movies, ** totally nods in agreement ** Pixar,Friends,Calvin and Hobbes, Dilbert and Archies.. I also like the way people respect your time, Never had a meeting that started late, the culture of vacations, the value for human life, nobody breaks in a Q or tries to use influence to get ahead of the rest of them, you cannot get a driving license without actually taking the test.. but I still cant come to terms with the fact that you need to pay a ** few hundred dollars** to get a prescription for a simple medicine. And the concept of letting women ahead(you should know why I feel nice about that) and the respect for handicap people, somethings that have impressed me..
and yes it did make a lot of sense, well to each, their point of view:)
# posted by : 3:39 PM, July 28, 2007
: 3:39 PM, July 28, 2007
Oh the " we can agree to disagree and still remain friends" statement is a BIG part of what America is all about, if you read the brochures, press releases and come election time hear at the primaries & party nominations.
This is what Uncle Sam beats his chest with, proudly.
What it means is that you don't have to necessarily share the same viewpoints or have the same opinion as somebody else and yet, you two can still remain friends who 'agree to disagree'.
This is a little different from Mother India where if you're in Mumbai and Thackeray saab doesn't agree, you'll be lynched instantly.
Of course its not like they follow the 'agree to disagree' part in the U.S very closely, either.
Golden rule: If its in the BIG BOOK OF ANSWERS that this country is run by, its OKAY.
Disagree with that and you'll find a 100 Thackeray saabs coming after you.
This is what Uncle Sam beats his chest with, proudly.
What it means is that you don't have to necessarily share the same viewpoints or have the same opinion as somebody else and yet, you two can still remain friends who 'agree to disagree'.
This is a little different from Mother India where if you're in Mumbai and Thackeray saab doesn't agree, you'll be lynched instantly.
Of course its not like they follow the 'agree to disagree' part in the U.S very closely, either.
Golden rule: If its in the BIG BOOK OF ANSWERS that this country is run by, its OKAY.
Disagree with that and you'll find a 100 Thackeray saabs coming after you.
am enlightened.. :)
"Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy"
No posts in a long time??
"Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy"
No posts in a long time??
# posted by : 7:36 AM, August 05, 2007
: 7:36 AM, August 05, 2007
How were they compared to the US counterparts on work..I've heard that these ppl work on an 8 Am - 10 PM schedule..
I asked around and it seem like 13-hour work days are the norm rather than the exception.People apparently come in on Saturdays as well.However the one good thing is they have corporate accounts to "take care of the employees' needs", if you know what I mean and this privilege is frequently exercised.Plus they drink and party like crazy, so on the whole, its not entirely a bad thing.
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