Okay guys... I've finally gotten around to putting a few photos of Japan up that I took in January 2003. First up, This is me disembarking the plane into Narita airport :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/japan001.jpg[/img] My hotel room in Tokyo!!! VERY VERY cramped, and this is quite a large room by Tokyo standards :rofl: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/japan002.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/japan003.jpg[/img] McDonalds is RAMPANT in Japan. They actually call it "Macudonarudo Hanbaagaa" or "Macu" for short.. A McDonalds Value Meal isn't such good "value" in Japan, with a regular Value Meal costing around AUD$9-10 [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/maccas.jpg[/img] Speaking of value, check out this rockmelon!!! 10,000 Yen is about AUD$125.. That's right... [b]AUD$125 for a ROCKMELON!!![/b] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/rockmelon.jpg[/img] Fresh fruit in Japan is very expensive and a luxury, and is a common gift when visiting friends at their house. Everytime you goto someone else's house to visit, it's polite to bring a gift :) I wouldn't mind if people brought me takoyaki all the time ;) These are little egg and flour balls with a piece of octopus in the middle that just melt in your mouth... SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD :) They're the little balls on the left of this photo: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/tako.jpg[/img] Everything is really convenient in Japan. Their JR rail system is extremely efficient to cope with the population, and lack of space for everyone to have a car. Another efficiency invention is vending machines. There are vending machines on just about EVERY street, and sometimes there are "Vending Corners" like this: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/vending.jpg[/img] The other mode of transport ;) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/bicycles.jpg[/img] With the cost of living so high in Tokyo, it's not surprising to see people homeless and living on the street. I didn't even notice this was someone's "house" until it was pointed out to me! [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/homeless.jpg[/img] That guy probably wasted away all his money on Pachinko and pr0n ;) [b]NO GAIJIN!!![/b] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/nogaijin.jpg[/img] There are many many perverts in Japan, with all the grabbing of women's asses and tits on the train, taking upskirt photos on escalators, and downright weirdos like this guy. He's about 40 years old, and he's wearing a school girl's outfit........ No, I'm not kidding. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/pervert.jpg[/img] Here's Akihabara, the electronics suburb. It's really weird... I first went there during the day, and it looked just like any other shopping district you'd see, except a lot more crowded. Then I went back at night to buy some goodies, and the whole place was lit up in neons so much so, that it still looked like it was daytime... I didn't have a proper camera to capture that feel sorry :( This is what you see when you first exit the JR Station. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/akihabara1.jpg[/img] This is the main street of Akihabara... All the shops you can see, all the way to the end are electronics stores. Camera, Computers, Video Games, Pr0n, Gadgets, Spy Camera shops, Military-type stores, etc etc :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/akihabara2.jpg[/img] We went to a very very nice high-end Japanese restaurant, and had to make our own wasabi :) This is what REAL wasabi looks like... You grate it on a board covered in shark scales and it magically turns into this hot wasabi paste :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/wasabi1.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/wasabi2.jpg[/img] Where are the cars???? Well Japan isn't quite the modified car heaven you might think it is :( There aren't Skyline GTRs on every street corner and Drift FD3Ss in every driveway... In fact, I'd venture to say there there were more modified cars in Sydney than there were in Japan. Difference being that the Japanese have taste and don't fuck up the cars like our bling bling brigade :) Here are a couple of cars I saw on the street: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/fd3s.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/fd3s2.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/gtr.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/soarer.jpg[/img] And some VIP cars :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/vip.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/vip2.jpg[/img] I won't include many photos of Tokyo Autosalon, because I'm sure the others will post a lot of pics from this year. Here are just a few: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/tas.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/cwest.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/nagata.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret01.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/r1titan.jpg[/img] I visited the Top Secret Workshop in Chiba, and took a few pics :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret02.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret03.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret04.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret05.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret06.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret07.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret08.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret09.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret10.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret11.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret12.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/topsecret13.jpg[/img] And I also visited JUN Auto Mechanics in Saitama which was an absolute ADVENTURE to get to... EVERY SINGLE CAR in the JUN workshop is worked off it's tits... It's amazing to see so many cars being worked on to such an extreme in one place!! [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun04.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun05.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun06.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun07.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun08.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun09.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun10.jpg[/img] This is a brand new R34 GTR shell, being held for a customer in Dubai. They get problems with corrosion in Dubai, so the owner ordered a spare shell just in case :eek: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun03.jpg[/img] Before the big crash: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun01.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/jun02.jpg[/img] Okay, here's the next part... After a week in Tokyo, I loaded up my backpack, grabbed my JR Railpass and proceeded to head down to Hiroshima and Kyoto... I went upto Nagano as well, but that was pretty boring. The train platform at Chiba Minato at some UNGODLY hour... [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima001.jpg[/img] I caught the train to Tokyo station, where I boarded the Shinkansen (bullet train) bound for Hiroshima!!! [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima004.jpg[/img] It's very much like a plane inside the shinkansen, and even has pretty hostesses pushing carts up and down the aisles selling o-bentos and gifts :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima002.jpg[/img] About 4 hours later, I arrive at Hiroshima :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima003.jpg[/img] Outside of the JR train station, there were these weird guys dressed up in red coats singing... I assume they're some religious group? Rezz? Dave? [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima01.jpg[/img] I had to catch a bus to get around Hiroshima, as it's quite large and I only had limited time, so I couldn't walk everywhere like I would have liked... But I managed to have an experience on the bus as well :) In Australia, you enter the front of the bus, tell the driver where you're going, pay the fare and then get off when your stop comes up! In Japan, you enter via the REAR doors, and take this little ticket (which is optional)... All the ticket has on it is a number. :wtf: At this point, I realised that my japanese (at the time) was abyssmal and I needed help.... RUH ROH!!!! After much hand gestures and broken japanese by me and broken english by the bus driver, I pretty much figured out how things worked... The number printed on the ticket indicates the zone in which you boarded the bus. When you get off, you look at this dynamic table at the front of the bus and look at your stop number, and then look down the table and depending on how far you've travelled, it tells you how much you owe.... As you get off the bus, theres a fare collection box near the door and you just drop in the money and get off. There's no-one to check how much you put in... It's all honour-based!!! That was really cool I thought, and something that could NEVER EVER work in Australia. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima005.jpg[/img] So I caught the bus and I visited the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Wow. I don't think I'll [b]EVER[/b] forget that place. EXTREMELY GRAPHIC exhibits included a whole clump of hair that had fallen out of someone due to radiation, a concrete wall 2km from the blast centre with the shadow of a person standing up against it left when the blast vaporised him and burned his shadow into the concrete, models of people running around with flesh dripping off their arms, and so on and so forth. The WORST however, were the drawings done by survivors, depicting the sights that they saw. Drawings of mothers charred and burnt to a crisp after throwing themselves over their children to save them, and the child underneath their dead mother crying for help... Anyway, enough of that... I'm starting to get emotional again. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/peace01.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/peace02.jpg[/img] Before: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima02.jpg[/img] After: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima03.jpg[/img] The Hiroshima Dome... I think it's going to be left damaged as a memorial, they're just restoring it so it doesn't fall down. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima006.jpg[/img] Two elderly men playing tennis............... Without a net. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima04.jpg[/img] My hotel room. Quite an interesting story with that one, because I didn't have anywhere to stay, so I basically walked around for the day, and then as night fell, I wandered into the first hotel I found and asked for a room. The conversation went a little like this: Me: Hi, can I please have a room? (holds up a finger) Lady: Room? No room now... Tomorrow! Me: What? No, not tomorrow, I need a room TONIGHT! Lady: YES!!! COME BACK TOMORROW! Me: No no no, I need one TONIGHT! Lady: No, you pay tomorrow! Me: OH!!! I see, so I can stay now, but I pay tomorrow when I checkout? Lady: YES!!! Me: Great, okay I'll take it!!! Lady: Me: So can I get a room now? Lady: NO! Me: uhhhhh... Lady: You come back later! Me: Well can I leave my things here? Lady: NO! Me: Riiiiiiiiiight... How much is it for a room? Lady: 3700 Yen! (This is REALLY REALLY cheap) Me: 1 night? Lady: NO! 1 hour! Me: OHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I walked into a "love hotel", I'm sure you don't need any more explanation ;) I was wondering why the entrance was hidden and covered with overhanging plants :o Anyway, so I found another hotel for 6000 yen which was still pretty good, except it was HALF the size of my room in Tokyo. Here's the bathroom. The rest of the consisted of a bed, and a desk. That's it :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima05.jpg[/img] I also visited Hiroshima Castle, which was beautifully crafted... [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima007.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima008.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima009.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima010.jpg[/img] Hiroshima Mall: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima07.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima011.jpg[/img] Hiroshima Redlight District :) That woman you see in the bottom left is a "Hostess"... You pay 4000 Yen (AUD$50), which gives you entry into their club, your personal, half-naked girl to talk to all night and all the whiskey you can drink. Be warned though, they drink whiskey and WATER, so I ended up drinking whiskey straight........... Not that I went to any of those kinds of places :o [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/part2/hiroshima012.jpg[/img] Skill Testers filled with................... RAMEN :rofl: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima08.jpg[/img] And something I saw spraypainted on the wall in hiroshima mall. Unbeknownst to me, Hiroshima's youth are VERY VERY violent. They are all in gangs, as will be evident in my next few photos. Anyway, here we have one gang who has spray painted their "tag", which is two tigers onto a wall, and another gang has come along and spray painted what THEY think of the other gang on top of their tag. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshima09.jpg[/img] I didn't even think twice about it until I came across these sights: Two girls dressed exactly the same running across a courtyard. "That's strange.." I thought. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang01.jpg[/img] Guardian Angels? What do they need Guardian Angels for??? [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang02.jpg[/img] Police in riot gear?!?!? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE? Actually you can see in the foreground of this photo a guy wearing a martial arts gi (uniform)... What the photo doesn't show is that the rest of his gang is also wearing their gis and brandishing long metal poles with metal spikes on the end, nunchaku, tonfa and other assorted martial arts weaponry. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang03.jpg[/img] One of the gang member's cars [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang04.jpg[/img] This is another gang walking up and down the mall [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang05.jpg[/img] This is an all girl gang. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang08.jpg[/img] and the car they arrived in: [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/hiroshimagang07.jpg[/img] Sorry for the blurred photos, I didn't know how they'd react to me taking photos of them, and they were all out looking for a fight so I didn't really want to get involved with gangs packing that kind of hardware. Basically what they did all night was sit/stand in their groups, all wearing the EXACT same things (gang uniform/colours I guesS) up the entire Hiroshima Mall Strip that I posted a photo of earlier. They were in either all male gangs or all female gangs. No mixed-sex gangs that I saw. There were literally about 15 gangs with about 10-20 people in each gang. I was waiting for world war three to break out :) What they did was sit in their groups for a while, then the entire gang would get up and strut up and down the mall eyeing off other gangs and shouting things at other gangs. I met up with some American marines who were scrawny as all hell.. Don't they get fed?? And we stood there watching for a while waiting for something to happen. That kind of weaponry and this much testorterone/estrogen (which turns out was worse), and something's gotta give :) After watching them strut up and down in turns along the mall, two female gangs started shouting at each other and all of a sudden, they all hopped up and flew at each other with a flurry of spinning kicks and head punches and the rest of it... It all started soooo quickly. Those girls don't hold back, let me tell you, they were putting their entire bodyweight behind those kicks... The fight lasted about 1 minute before the Riot Police broke it up. Luckily, these girls were only using their hands and feet and no weapons, so no major blood was spilt, but it sure was fun to watch :) Well after that interesting night, Kyoto was next on the agenda and didn't quite hold such promise of excitement :) Kyoto is the old captial city of Japan, and is still very much "old school". Everything is still extremely traditional, and not many people speak english. If only I had started to learn Japanese BEFORE going there and not after, things would have been so much easier :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto01.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto02.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto03.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto04.jpg[/img] I visited Kyoto zoo too, and I saw a few old friends ;) There were 2 or 3 "Aka Kangaruu" (Red Kangaroo), so they're not lonely, but they were all hiding inside their enclosure until I said "G'day mate... How's it going in there?" and the kangaroo came out and licked my hand!!! hahaha... Must have been a while since he last heard an australian accent :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto05.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto06.jpg[/img] They had emus too :) [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/kyoto08.jpg[/img] Oh well, that's all I've got for now... I only have 1.2 Gb of photos, so I have lots of reserves for later ;) Let my just leave you with one piece of Japlish that I saw :) Would you believe that's the slogan for a HAIRDRESSERS?!?!?! No joke. [img]http://www.andrewho.com/misc/japan/japlish.jpg[/img] I love Japan :D