arigato mr. roboto

so in between trips, i got to visit my cousin Patrick who is stationed in Japan with the Navy. the first week i stayed with him, his wife Ahbie and 5 year old daughter Annell at the naval base in Ayase. it was nice to get acquainted with the culture and customs before i headed out to tokyo on my own. for the first week, i, more or less, was Anelle's babysitter while Patrick and Ahbie went to work. it was fun nonetheless. the highlight was our day trip to climb Mt. Fuji. we started real early in the day and started the climb at about 9am. after about 30 mins into the climb, i realized that it was no joke; i was climbing with three navy guys and i was already winded. to make a long story short, climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji was the hardest thing i have ever done. the altitude, the physical and mental strain and bad weather added to its difficulty. at the end, it took 6 hours to get to the top and 5 hours to get back down. the only advice i could give is to train, train, train. here are some pics:


the struggle upwards.


the rugged terrain.


80% there.


at the top, exhausted and fighting against the elements.

the week in tokyo was bittersweet. i was excited to be in this metropolis of city lights and sounds and the newfound experiences ahead. the only thing was, i was alone and my expectation that the Japanese know or speak English was vastly overestimated. so i basically had to make do. my guidebooks and my ability to remember landmarks were my best allies, as well as any American fast food restaurant. so as much as i was able to experience, it still felt lacking. it may have been that i couldn't share the experience with anyone or i was just literally lost in translation.

top 10 observations about Japan

10) if there are random guys hanging out on street corners or in the middle of the walkways in Kabukicho, they are most likely gangsters that will persuade you to go into their karaoke bars. inside the karaoke bar, you were paired with a "foreign relations officer" (aka bar girl) that would have you order expensive bottles of liquor so you could run up a tab, in which a cut would be given to the gangster that got you in the bar.
9) the weirdest sight was seeing the amount of Nigerians, who speak fluent English but absolutely no Japanese, who try to get you into karaoke bars. they really are the ultimate hustlers.
8) the Japanese culture is paradoxical; in-the-box corporate salarymen are as plentiful as the out-of-the-box costumed teens who hang out in Shibuya.
7) without knowing someone who lives there or speaking perfect Japanese, it is super hard to get to know the culture from a native's eyes. and since at face value, the Japanese are extremely courteous, you never really know what they're thinking.
6) equally as difficult is trying to decipher those train stations that only have the train stations labeled in Kanji, or rather Japanese characters.
5) climbing Mt. Fuji seems to be a rite of passage; children, teens, adults and seniors all had turns passing me by.
4) vending machines are readily available on every block yet you never see a pop can or bag of chips on the ground anywhere.
3) in japanese culture, you don't see much affection (i.e. holding of hands, kissing etc.). yet once rush hour hits, people don't mind liberally having their bodies touch complete strangers while they're packed into train cars like sardine cans.
2) the train schedule dictates nightlife. because the last train ends at midnight and first train starts at 5am, most clubs are open til 5am.
1) if you ask for directions, don't be suprised if the person you ask literally walks you to your destination. i asked for directions maybe 5 times and each time i was walked all the way to the destination with the person i asked. even if i insisted vehemently they just show me the direction, they'd still feel the need to escort me.

here are some videos: