"Lifeguard: The original bionic drink"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6EDXZsHhn8

Gone Vietnaming

Law school abroad v. Law school domestic

2 nights in a row professor's were buying drinks for everyone after class.

A commercial I see in the train everyday

http://blogs.abril.com.br/japan/2010/02/novo-comercial-meiji-almond-macadamia-2010.html

FEBRUARY

I'm lazy so I have stopped embedding photos. Instead I'll put in links to my picasa albums.

I started February off right by going to the famous Tsukiji fish auction. This is the biggest Fish/Seafood market in the world, and also the most dangerous. First a little history: Before December of ’08 tourists were allowed free reign and could see the whole auction. However many tourists disrespected the auction and the Japanese culture, so the Japanese government banned tourists from the whole auction. Just recently they opened up a small section for tourists to see 45 minutes of the frozen tuna auction. What we saw was amazing. There were mammoth sized tuna’s that cost up to $40,000.

A link that talks about why drunken tourists are idiots.

http://www.japanprobe.com/2008/12/15/outrageously-rude-foreign-tourists-at-tsukiji-fish-market/

The auction gets a large drunk crowd since it starts at about 5AM, and many bars don’t close until that late so people go right on over to the auction.

As I mentioned the auction is very dangerous, well it’s more like getting to the auction is dangerous. We walked through the whole fish market before getting to the auction. The market consists of trucks, and what seems like hundreds of mini flatbeds carrying fish to other trucks for distribution. The drivers of these flatbeds do not care that you are there. They WILL run you over. So after about 10 minutes of dodging death by flatbed we finally got to the auction.

After the auction we went to the best sushi joint in the world. Sushi Dai. At 6:15 we had to wait 45 minutes for all 7 of us to get a seat in the small sushi bar. As we walked in our appointed sushi chef was full of smiles. Right away he threw a handful of pickled ginger down on the counter in front of each of us…no plates are to be used here.

We were served 14 courses of sushi, all were amazing. I believe we had fish miso soup, Tuna, Horse Mackerel, Uni, Fatty Tuna, Clam, Egg, Spanish mackerel, Tuna Roll, Baby Shrimp, Eel, and at the end you can choose anything on the menu so I tried an Oyster since people keep saying they are delicious but I haven’t had one that I liked. This one was great.

http://picasaweb.google.com/anovzen/TsukijiFishMarketSushiDai#

My next eating adventure was at a whale eatery…yes green peace, WHALE! Two people have already made Shamu references and no I don’t feel bad. It was delicious. Whale is a red meat, the steak was delicious. When we first entered the restaurant the elderly lady at the front desk told us in Japanese “You know this is a whale only restaurant.” My friend responded “Yes, we know that.” She then let out a hearty laugh and said “Great. We have been expecting you.” The night went on and we had whale sashimi with whale skin, whale bacon, roasted whale, whale steak, and whale blubber amongst other cuts. It really was good and it’s a shame that they are endangered.

http://picasaweb.google.com/anovzen/WHALE#

Next off too Sapporo, the northernmost part of Japan for the 2010 Snow Festival. http://picasaweb.google.com/anovzen/SnowFestival#

Every year Sapporo hosts an international snow festival where people from all over the world create spectacular ice/snow sculptures, and there is also a constant snowfall. The sculptures ranged from Mario to German palaces. The USA snow sculpture was a bunch of grapes. When we asked the American team how they came up with the idea they said they were extremely stoned and couldn't change the idea once it was submitted. Definitely the worst sculpture there.

When we first arrived at out Ryokan (Traditional Japanese hotel) there was a long table setup with 8 little chocolate pastries on it and teacups. Then a woman came in, traditionally dressed, and poured us all tea. It was a weird feeling having somebody serve me like that, but that is the culture and I guess I have to just accept these things. At this Ryokan we slept on mattresses on the floor, which was actually the most comfortable sleep I had in a while.

On the second day we went to the Sapporo brewery which was really fun. Well, it was more the adventure getting there that was fun. Trekking through 2 feet of snow in the best possible type of snow, you know the type where you grab a handful of snow and a snowball instantaneously forms in your hand …yes that kind. The brewery was ok; it was more a museum than brewery. The cool part at the brewery is that there are restaurants on the Sapporo property where you can order the Genghis Kahn. For all you wondering what could a Genghis Kahn possibly be, it is 100 minutes to eat all the lamb and drink all the alcohol humanly possible. The kicker is they give you the lamb meat raw and you cook it on your own little hibachi. It was fun and fulfilling and deliciously greasy.

Afterwards we went back to the Ryokan and did a little pregaming before going to “Booty Bar.” Haziness begins.

On the third day a few of us decided to find the Ishiya Chocolate Factory. This place was the real life Willy Wonka's. Way too crazy to put into words. We first nursed our hangovers at the Chocolate Factory’s café. They served delicious coffee and cake. After, we went on the tour. The tour began with displays of ornate hot chocolate cups dating back over 200 years from all over the world. As we went deeper into the Oompa-Loompa den we stumbled upon what I guess was the owner’s toy collection. This was more impressive then the collection that Jerry’s girlfriend had. This guy has everything from the past 50 years. All in mint condition. Unreal.

After the tour we played in the courtyard which was filled with miniature houses. Then the clock tower struck 4 o’clock and the whole place came to life. Singing chefs, a bunny riding a cow, bushes dancing (all plastic except for the bushes). It was an performance.

After the chocolate factory we had to leave the snow to go back to Tokyo. What a shame.

Last Sunday I spent Chinese New Year in the biggest China Town in Japan in a city called Yokohama. First we stopped by the Kirin brewery. Free Tour in Japanese/ 2 Free beers (which included a Kirin Stout). An hour and a half well spent. We also learned how to Serve Perfect Head

The nighttime New Year celebrations involved following around dragons then setting off masses amounts of firecrackers. It was fun. I also met Japanese Spider, he sold me a pastry. I also found the only beef bun in all of Japan (SCORE)!

http://picasaweb.google.com/anovzen/ChineseNewYear#

I booked my Spring Break trip to Thailand and Vietnam. Only two and a half weeks away, I can’t wait.

Almost a Month

Almost a month has passed. Time for a rundown: (Currently watching the sunset over Mt. Fuji)

My first week here consisted of me wandering around and getting very very lost. Tokyo does not believe in addresses as we know them. Addresses here do not involve street names...I just blew your mind. I now own a compass and amazing atlas of Tokyo so getting lost is a thing of the past, I hope.

I hope the toilets here are going to be the standard for the USA in a few years. Next to many toilets here there is a little control panel with buttons. If you are of the adventurous type you can try your luck to get the heated seat on or try to get music playing. However the bidet option is there to. I have quickly learned what buttons not to press.

I was at a club the other week. At around 2AM one of the bartenders walks through everyone with this huge cooler. He also has a sign written in 5 languages that says "If you do not have a drink in your hand or are not buying one you have to leave." He just stood there showing me this sign. After a few minutes of me shaking my head no he left.

There is a store here called Don Quijote. SENSORY OVERLOAD is an understatement in describing this store. It is something I cannot explain with words. This may be due to my lack of literary talent or maybe because the store is on crack. I will take a video of it the next time I go. They sell everything from Cell Phones, to Fried Octopus Ball Makers, to Sailer Moon Outfits.

Sumo: The school hooked us up with tickets to a Sumo Tournament. The arena was

massive, the Sumos were massive, the prices for beer were oddly cheap. Each match lasted one round. If you knock the other dude down or out of the ring match over, wait till next tournament. There were two Yokozuna's (the top dudes) who (Sumo'd?) as well. One of the Yokozuna's lost his match and the crowd went wild and they threw there cushions into the ring. It was a very entertaining day. Pic of Yokozuna and Posse.

Akihabara: Akihabara is a town in Tokyo and is often referred to as "Electric Town." Supposedly there are more electronics sold here than anywhere else in the world. While walking around here a few of us went into an arcade. First we tried to play this FPS with the most ingenious controls ever but we couldn't get a "LAN

Game" set up. So I found a Street Fighter IV arcade, took a seat and began demolishing Zangief with the best player in the game, Ken. After a few rounds of beating down the computer a message popped up on my sceeen "Here comes a New Challenger."

I peered around the machine and I saw a group of 5 Japanese guys. They glanced at me and smiled knowing that this was about to turn into an international battle. I was hoping he would choose Ryu to get the real East v. West match but he chose Gouken. I took him down in 3 rounds.

As soon as he gets up my friends said another one sat down to challenge me. My new opponent chose Ken. He destroyed me 3-1. I blame it on the joystick since I am used to SNES controls...but he was really good. Anyway after the match he bowed his head to me and it was over.

Last week a few friends and I went to Ginza. It is like the 5th Avenue of Tokyo. All high end stores. It also has something the NYC does not have. Extremely Expensive Cantaloupe. Yes, that says 12,600 Yen which equates to about 140 dollars. This is why I will be malnourished when I return.

They also had these awesome waffles with fruit and cream inside. This is why I will be fat when I return.

Last weekend I explored Harajuku and Yoyogi. Harajuku is the

SOHO fashion area of Tokyo. Google Harajuku Fashion and look at the pictures to understand how they dress. I wasn't able to snap any pics of the interesting garments. However I did find two interesting stores. One is the Illest Clothing Store Ever. The other is CONDOMANIA. What is Condomania you ask? I will tell you. It is a store with everything Condom. Keychains, pens, lollipops.

After that interesting adventure I went to Yoyogi park which has a huge buddhist temple. I do

not know if it was a holiday or if this what it is like there every weekend but a lot of people were going to the temple. Here is a pic of the cleansing area used before going into the temple.

I found a Jewish Deli and it's right next to my school. Weird.

Luckily there is a cheap conveyor belt sushi place near my box.

apartment. I eat a lot of sushi. At this place when you order Sake the glass comes in a box and they overflow the glass so the box fills up too. When you are done with the glass you drink the box.

To end this lengthy post I would like to share with you the most valuable information I have learned since I have been in Japan.

TOMMY LEE JONES IS THE BOSS!