DCruzin' Japan

What happened to this blog?

2007-03-15T21:30:00.000+09:00

The layout had been changed - yeah it could be better but this is just an archive now. Maybe one day I'll get around to re-uploading all the pictures. Until then... enjoy the text. See my new blog at:
http://dcruzin.blogspot.com

Last day in Japan

2005-08-31T17:09:00.000+09:00

I'm at work on my last day. I fly out at 3pm on Thursday and arrive at 9am on Thursday. Isn't it fun how that works out? I'll be moving in all day getting my stuff from storage and unpacking. Give me a call if you're on campus, I dunno how busy I'll be but you never know.

I'm really going to miss Japan. Though it's been almost 5 months, when I was hanging out with my co-workers after work and with some of the college students I've gotten to know pretty well, I was kinda sad that I may not see them again.

Things I'll miss about Japan:
-Sushi and chopsticks
-Riding the trains
-Being able to do whatever I want outside of work
-The bright lights of the city at night, Las Vegas-esuque but somehow different
-Toilets with a seat warmer/butt spray (don't knock it till you try it!)
-Staying out all night at clubs since there are no trains
-Being able to watch anime on TV like Naruto without waiting for subtitles
-Pretending my life is a Japanese Drama
-Nomihodi (all you can drink bars)

Things I won't miss
-Not being able to read the menus
-Getting on a train going the opposite direction
-Living by myself
-Japanese keyboards
-Fruit that costs an arm and a leg
-"Low-fat" milk
-The absence of ethnic diversity

I'm sure over the next few weeks I'll think of more stuff as I go through a stage of Japanese withdrawl. So when I keep talking about Japan in future posts, bear with me, please. It's been a heck of a ride, and I definitely am coming back. Let me know if you want to go with me ;).

Erin's Birthday Weekend

2005-08-23T16:34:00.000+09:00

Here's another picture based post from this past weekend. It was Erin's 21st birthday on Saturday, so I hung out with her, Ji, Sandy, Pablo, Martin, Nate and Dimitris for most of the weekend.

Yes. Asian food.

Friday in Yokohama, having a few drinks.

No, Sandy isn't drinking green milk tea, either.

Pablo, Erin and I.

Pabs is all smiles here.

On Saturday, the guys got Erin some birthday flowers.

We went to this ToyotaLand place that had some model cars, a mini kart track, and some driving simulators. Overall it was a really cool place for being completely free.

Ji, Sandy, Martin and Nate playing in the kids learning zone.

Martin setting a high score in the driving game.

Erin setting the pace.

Ji's burning some rubber, clearly.

Nate had some engine trouble.

Sandy shows off her wide experience at driving alone.

"It's working! It's working!" or should I say "Yipee!"

Next we headed to this beach.

Who's shadow is who's?

The 3 girls with an equally beautiful background.

Martin and I on the sand.

This is one of my favorite shots.

The five of us at dinner.

For the second weekend in a row, I had to stay out all night clubbing. What a shame. At least it's helping me adjust back to California Time.

At Club Vanilla in Roppongi.

Dimitris and I. That place was soo packed, it was like a furnace inside - as you can see.

See the rest of the weekend pictures here!

Another crazy weekend to remember in Japan. I only have one more left. Back to Stanford on Sept. 1. Let me know if you'll be on campus then, though RA training is gonna be crazy!

On a unrelated note, I recently cut my hair. I've been getting random e-mails and IMs from people commenting on my hair, and while I enjoyed it, I figured I could do something else.. fun with it. Pictures forthcoming of course. Patience.

DisneySea Weekend

2005-08-17T23:26:00.000+09:00

So I had a three-day weekend last weekend and took full advantage of it. I went clubbing with Adam, Nathan, and his friend Dan on Friday night. Then after sleeping most of Saturday, met up with Dimitris, Gabi, and Eli in Shibuya. On Sunday after church, we met a group of friends to explore Tokyo Dome City, the theme park right by my house. I finally rode the gigantic rolletcoaster. Was pretty scary, but still lots of fun. Then we saw the Hanshin Tigers vs. Tokyo Giants baseball game, and the Tigers won. On Monday I went to Tokyo DisneySea with Adam, Sandy, Ji and Nathan, which was a blast. It's kind of like Disneyland, but with a little more adult-oriented rides, but not by much. Adam said he liked it better than California Adventure Park. Since last week I wrote way too much, I'll make the rest of this a picture oriented update.

By the way, for those who are subscribed to the e-mail list, sorry about the test e-mail I sent out earlier, I didn't mean to post that to the list. Now onto the pictures:

The four of us about to enter the club. This is Tokyo, so when you go out, you gotta look as ridiculous as possible.

This was the craziest outfit I could come up with, with my limited wardrobe. Note that this is the same soccer jersey I wore on Mount Fuji. (Yes, I washed it)

The "after" shot. Can you tell?

A trendy little sushi/sake bar to chill at with Eli, Gabi and Dimitris.

The 6 of us brave enough to ride the rollercoaster.

Nathan's co-worker is nicknamed "Doraemon", so I had to take the shot of the two Doraemons and Nathan. Note the little girl inside of Doraemon's mouth.

The whole group at the baseball game!

This Hanshin Tigers fan had more than the Eye of the Tiger.

Moving on to the next day...

At the entrance to DisneySea.

The Arabian Skyline in the background.

Ji and Sandy riding the Flying Flounder ride.

Ice Cream was soo good on such a hot day.

I was pretty soaked after this water ride.

The shot of us riding the Indiana Jones ride. Yeah pictures of pictures are never great, but hey, it was free.

Outside the fiery temple of the new "Raging Spirits" Ride.

Waiting for the 3-D Aladdin show to start.

Chillin' after the awesome fireworks show.

Bye Mickey, see you next time!

That was just a sample of the pictures, check out the whole set here!

Climbing Mount Fuji Part 3

2005-08-12T13:06:00.000+09:00

Here's probably the last story installment of my journey climbing Mt. Fuji. If you haven't read parts one and two yet, I'd reccommend reading those first. Enjoy!

The sound of collective oohs and aahs along with the occasional "Sugoi!" (Wow!) fill my ears as I slowly regain consciousness. It takes me a minute to register exactly where I am. Japan. Mt. Fuji. Ah yes. I attempt to roll on to my side and am greeted by a sharp spike of pain in my left ribs as there is a decidedly malicious and jagged rock puncturing my side. Now roused and fully awake, I sit up straight and look to the left.

My jaw drops.

Eyes wide, I witness perhaps one of the most breathtaking scenes in my entire life. These pictures are certainly beautiful, but they can only capture a tiny portion of the majestic display of daylight breaking - the source of all life coming into view. At first the sky starts a muted orange, but gradually grows brighter transforming into a pinkish hue. After much anticipation, the sun finally peeks out over the horizon, though initially obscured by the clouds. The blazing orange fireball ignites the rest of the sky, treating us to a brilliant light show entrancing us for the next half hour. The subtle color changes are beyond me to be able to describe adequately, but the clouds change from blackened silhouettes to ephemeral feathers glowing with rosy outlines. As the transition from night to day proceeds, the sky above becomes such a brilliant and pure blue that I just want to scoop some of it out of the air, bottle it up, and save it for a future canvas within my imagination. Rising higher in the air, the sun's intensity increases and I am eventually forced to shield my eyes. At the same time, I can feel the atmosphere around me growing warmer and warmer. I simply want to bask in the sun forever, atop a rock, like an iguana, drinking in the solar rays for survival.

Here it comes.

Absolutely breathtaking.

Love the clouds.

Scanning the area around me, I can see my friends are having similar thoughts, and some of them already putting these desires into action. I decide that it wouldn't hurt to wait for it to warm up a little more. So I lie back once again on the treacherous bed of rocks. They are no less painful than before, but with the sun warming my skin and still high off of nature's display of pure grandeur, I am asleep in no time - afforded perhaps the most restful thirty-minute nap of my life.

A bit reluctantly, we all realized that no matter how magnificent the sunrise might have been, we still have not yet made it to the top. Fairly exhausted, and already satisfied with having watched a gorgeous sunrise, I hear a voice whispering into my left ear, "You made it all the way up here already, you're basically at the top. No need to keep going, just stay here and sleep some more, yessss sleep, precious sleep. You won't even be able to make it down if you don't rest anymore."

Then in rebuttal, my right ear hears, "C'mon, you made it this far; you can already see the top. I know you didn't climb all the way up here just to stop short of the goal. Sleep is for the weak; don't you remember all those all-nighters you had to pull for CS 140? This is nothing compared to that!"

I had decided. My philosophy is that if you're gonna do anything seriously, you have to do it all the way. No half-hearted attempts allowed. If you're not gonna go full throttle, balls to the wall, pull out all the stops, then it's not worth doing in the first place. I live a passionate life, and whether it comes to love, sports, or even (certain) classes, I give it my all, and I don't look back. Life is too short for regrets like that to haunt me. I've heard it said that, "It's easier to forgive yourself for the things that you've done, rather than forgive yourself for the things you failed to do." I was gonna make it up this mountain. Period.

Once everyone, even Brian, was awake, we gathered our belongings and once again began our journey anew. There was still a pretty constant stream of people trekking up the mountain, but we could still squeeze in. You could probably fit 2-3 people side by side on most of the trail, so we were able to pass the slower people, and faster people were able to pass us. Still, the path was fairly steep, but it didn't seem too much further to the top. We had been climbing like this all night, so it really wasn't that bad. Honestly, it should have been pretty easy. Here's the rub: we were approaching 12,000 feet and each time we took a breath, we only got maybe 80% of the oxygen that we were used to getting. So the trouble is that even at a moderate pace, we were continuously running out of breath. So we'd climb for maybe 5 minutes, and then briefly stop to catch our breath. The saving grace was that you could recover fairly quickly. A few stationary breaths while waiting for everyone to catch up was usually enough to re-energize us.

Follow the path to the top.

Many of us had entered Zombie Mode already, and were just mechanically trudging forward, mindlessly moving our feet, oblivious to our surroundings. It was more difficult than ever to talk, and we could little afford to expend our precious oxygen for such minor comforts like conversation. Subsequently, we marched up the rest of the way in relative silence, chatting a bit at each stop, but then pressing forward. Along the way, you could see people stopped on the side of the trail. I swear for every 10 feet or so I walked, I saw someone asleep on the rocks. Old men and women would be seated on a rock, wheezing, and sucking oxygen from the spray-paint like canisters they sold for around $10. We passed mothers and fathers holding the hands of their children who looked no older than 8 years old, and they had made it this far. One of the primary motivating factors along the whole trip, besides your friends with you, is just the sheer number of other people climbing alongside you. You feel like you're part of a greater whole, one of the few (less than 1% of Japanese people) who have climbed Mt. Fuji, part of a legacy. You tell yourself that if these people ranging from 8 years old to 80, can make it up, surely I can as well.

We get so close that we can see the torii gate that marks the entrance to the 10th station, the peak of Mt. Fuji. But I shift my focus down a bit and see yet another impenetrable wall of people ahead of me. At least it's daytime and we can see, so it shouldn't be as dangerous as last time. Or so I thought. You see, scattered all over the mountain are ominous signs that read, "Danger: Falling Rocks" which I had noticed, but never really paid much attention to. Until now. Without warning, I hear gasps from the people in front of me along with the foreboding sound of gravel falling. Looking up, I see a rock the size of a cantaloupe tumbling down the slope, straight at me and Sandy. The crowd parts instantaneously and the rock slips through them. Straight into Sandy. It glances off her ankle and ricochets behind her, right where I'm standing! To me, the scene unfolded in slow-motion, I clearly saw the rock coming down the slope, through the people, off Sandy, and right at me. And yet I couldn't get my body to move out of the way fast enough. It collides with the instep of my right ankle and I fall forwards, attempting to absorb some of the shock that way. Since it was coming straight at me, I receive the brunt of its momentum, whatever was left after hitting Sandy. Sprawled out on the ground, I watch the rock slowly roll away from me, and totter on the edge of the trail, overlooking yet another slope with more unsuspecting victims below. With both hands, I reach out to grab the rock and stabilize in front of me, refusing to let it endanger more people.

I'm not trying to be mean when I say this, but Japanese people aren't quite as friendly in public to strangers in need. I've witnessed this in the streets of Kyoto, and seen people neglected in the Tokyo train stations as well. In America, most people would immediately ask you if you're alright, perhaps even help you up. In Japan, you receive nothing but cold, if concerned, stares. Once again, I'm not bitter, I'm just stating my observations. It's just a distinct culture difference I thought I'd mention. Anyway, I was lucky enough to not need any help. I gingerly get up and tentatively apply some weight on my right foot. Jolts of pain shoot through my foot and up my leg, but they gradually lessen with each step, much to my relief. Sandy and I soon stop to examine our injuries, and luckily it seems that we've suffered nothing more than minor bruises. I was lucky to be wearing high top hiking boots, as the rock hit me pretty high on the ankle but in spot still protected by my boots. If I had been wearing lesser footwear, I fear the damage would have been much more severe. So we walk, er rather limp, it off. No pain, no gain. And honestly I've played through much, much worse pain in soccer games before, and I'm lucky (I think) that my ankles have been through so much abuse in the past, that this was fairly minor.

With no further incidents, we reach the top of the stairway and congregate at the entrance. It still hasn't quite hit us yet, I don't think. I take a look at Brian with his eyes glazed over, and he's staring into space, apparently oblivious to his surroundings. We take a few ceremonious pictures, and parade into the 10th station. The top of Mount Fuji. We had made it. It hits us then. Many of us overemotional from a night of no sleep, and after enduring such hardships as the frigid weather, rocky terrain, and unending hiking, we proclaim, "We did it, we actually did it." I look over at Adam and see tears in his eyes. "I really didn't think we were gonna make it at some points, but we did, and we're here." is what he roughly said. The eight of us mostly just met in April and have since gotten to know each other pretty well. But with everything that happened on the mountain up until then, I think we had become closer in those 12 hours than we had in the previous 4 months. Embracing in a group hug, we congratulate each other on the accomplishment, and console each other for all the pain that it took to get here. I'm pretty sure Adam wasn't the only one crying. I step back and survey the surroundings. We were on top of the highest mountain in Japan. The view was amazing. I look back at my friends who surround me. And I realize that therein lays the true value of my journey.

At the top of the stairs (And a random dude on the right). Also notice "zombie" Brian.

The famous sign marking the peak of Mt. Fuji.

It wasn't about the sheer number of feet in the air that we had climbed, nor the number of miles on foot that I had traveled. Even successfully navigating our way through the crowds and up the steep slopes seemed insignificant. The dull aches in my head and feet were irrelevant. We jokingly called ourselves a Fellowship as we began the journey, mocking JRR Tolkien's band of heroes. And while I admit that the fictional Fellowship accomplished much more awe-inspiring feats, I believe our Fellowship was greater. It was real. Looking at the weary faces of each of my comrades, one at a time, I could feel the tangible bonds linking us together. The same bonds that were formed over the last twelve hours. Simple things. Sharing water with Adam. Eating Wei's trail mix. Making fun of Jerry for wearing shorts for over half the trip. Watching Priscilla doze off at every station. Brian punching Jerry in the back (refer to pictures). Threatened by an avalanche with Sandy. Taking pictures with/of/for Evelyn at practically every stop. Small bits of personal conversation that leak out as you trudge along the mountain trail. All these things put together define my experience much more than any simple trail I climbed.

The view from above the clouds.

I've learned that you can do the most amazing things in the world, but if you are alone, they become meaningless. Or you can do the most mundane activities, with people you like, and life becomes exciting. Only rarely do I get to accomplish great things with people who I love. And those experiences are the ones I treasure the most.

I rejoin the group, we form a circle, much like a football huddle. Embracing each other momentarily, the emotional bonds briefly become physical. And I feel something wet on my cheek. Quickly wiping my face, I take a deep breath and inhale all the oxygen I can. It still doesn't feel like quite enough. But surrounded by friends like these, I don’t really need much else.

We did it guys!

Alright, I know that's not the real end of the story, but as far as "story mode" goes, I think I'll mostly quit here. There were a few more incidents on the way down, but I guess you'll have to wait for those. I can wrap things up next time and offer some final reflections and thoughts though. I'd love to hear what you thought of the whole story though, so leave me a comment!

Once again, picture links here and here. I'll have new pics courtesy of Evelyn up soon, too.

Climbing Mount Fuji Part 2

2005-08-11T11:35:00.000+09:00

If you haven't yet read the first part of the Fuji story, I encourage you to scroll down or click here.

From where I left off, I'd say we're only about 2-3 hours into our group trek which started from the 5th station. But Priscilla and I have been going since morning, and have hiked up 2/3rds the mountain for about 6 hours before meeting the rest of the group. Everyone's spirits are still high; I've kept us at a relatively slow pace. Many times, I have to rebuke Wei or Brian from going too fast and possibly leaving me behind. Wei always has so much energy. In the train stations, he's always bounding ahead of everyone sprinting up the stairs. I think he just likes running. Anyway, around 10pm or so, we reach the 7th station. Beforehand, we agreed we'd take an extended break here since after this station is where people are most likely to suffer from altitude sickness. Though my headache was still bothering me, I was really hoping it was just dehydration and not altitude sickness. I went ahead and bought more water, while prices were relatively cheap, at 300 yen a bottle. We find a few empty seats on a bench and the rest of us stand or sit on the ground.

The group at the 7th station!

Wei, Adam and Sandy were still pretty happy at this point.

Looks like I wasn't the only one napping.

I'll take this chance to discuss the bathrooms that you find on Mt. Fuji. You see, hundreds of thousands of people climb Mt. Fuji each year, so it really just wouldn't do to have people piss off the side of the mountain. Besides, what are the girls gonna do? So at each station, they have running water and real toilets. On a mountain. Of course, just to get the water up there, not even considering construction costs, is a huge ordeal since you can only take it up on foot, or on horseback. So, they charge for the bathrooms. Well, they don't exactly enforce it, but they have boxes outside the bathrooms that as for a 100 yen donation. That's right, a dollar just to use the bathroom. Sounds rather outrageous, doesn't it? But honestly, once I walked inside the bathroom, I understood why. In Japan in general, their bathrooms are immaculate by American standards. And even on Mt. Fuji, the cleanliness easily surpasses the average American public toilet. So, yeah, the bathrooms were expensive. But I don't even want to think about what kind of state they would be in if they didn't have donations, and I gladly drop my hyaku en coin in the slot. I'm paying so much money to buy their water, and I'm paying to get rid of it too. Great business model.

I'll get my mouth out of the potty now. At the 7th station, I take a seat on the ground, keep chugging the H20, and attempt to take a little nap. I'm less than successful though, and soon enough I figure it's time to go again. We set off for the 8th station, and we realize that the crowds have at least doubled. We're stuck behind this 50 person tour group, with the guide blocking the exit to the station, only letting his tour members through. It was a bit irksome to say the least, and from this point on, it was relatively slow-going. The main reason for the holdup was that the terrain had suddenly changed. Well it was still lots of grey volcanic ash and rocks, but it had gotten much steeper. Instead of being able to simply walk on a slightly inclined gravel path, we were forced to climb over huge rocks and makeshift steps. In order to make it up, you had to keep low, and many times get down on all fours to make sure you didn't slip. Gloves were so clutch at this point, as was a headlamp so I could use both hands. At the sections where the trail narrowed, the going got pretty slow while waiting for people ahead of you. In a group of 8, in the dark, it was a non-trivial task to stay together. Luckily, our group members were conscious enough to make regular roll calls to ensure no one fell off the mountain or anything. A few minutes into climbing again, I found myself rather enjoying the treacherous paths, seeing them as challenges, trying to scale the tougher paths on the sides, all the while keeping an eye on my fellow group members. I think the rest I took at the 7th station along with all the water I drank (I counted, and it took me almost 2 minutes to empty all that water in the bathroom in each of the last 2 stations, btw, I'm sure you're glad I shared that) had finally paid off, my headache was minimal, and I felt like I had a second wind.

Getting down on all fours was necessary to avoid falling off the mountain.

Looking up towards the top, the zigzag parade of lights representing our fellow pilgrims seemed to stretch on forever. Looking back down the mountain provided a hazy view of faint city lights. At one point we even saw some fireworks going off in the distance. They seemed so tiny, instead of filling the entire sky above you, each explosion was like a tiny spark in the background that bloomed into miniscule fire-flowers of red, blue, and green in the distance. Above in the sky, a kaleidoscope of stars had erupted into intricate patterns of light that were unfamiliar to me, as I had never seen the stars from this hemisphere before. I suddenly felt that, in comparison, our grand adventure to climb the gigantic Mt. Fuji, suddenly didn't seem as grand as before. Suddenly, a loud scraping sound fills my ears, and I realize my foot slipped on one of the rocks that wasn't quite as steady as it seemed. Feeling my momentum carrying me backwards, I lash out a gloved hand to regain my balance and prevent me from crashing into Sandy who was climbing behind me. Note to self: Only admire the scenery when you're stationary.

As midnight approaches, we've climbed for nearly 2 hours with only short breaks to regroup, and I realize that it's been over 12 hours since I began my journey with Priscilla from the bottom of the mountain. At this point, I remember Will (the guy we met at the bottom who had climbed Fuji once before) telling me that from the 8th station up it took him 4 hours, and he was going at a pretty good pace. Originally, our goal was to make it to the top by sunrise. We had about 4.5 hours. It was gonna be tough, but I still thought we could make it. We take another break here, not as long as the last one though. It's tough to find places to stand/sit so we can get out of people's way - that's how crowded it's getting. We peer inside the huts at the station where they sell food. You can also go inside to stay warm, but you have to buy a bowl of their cup ramen which cost something like 600 yen or so. Some people even pay to sleep in the huts. Ha, sleep? Who needs it?

Brian leads the way to the 8th station, and pauses below the torii.

All of us at the torii by the 8th station.

Jerry is having some back problems, and requests someone to punch him in the back. Brian happily obliges him.

Again slowed by the continuous stream of people, we finally see an opening in the line and all dash to insert ourselves in it. Grabbing on to each others backpacks, we ensure no one is going to split us up - at least not at first. The terrain is similar to that of before, a mixture of rocks to clamber over and steep paths of gravel that you might slip on. I generally gravitate towards the side of the trail where the side of the mountain forms a little wall that helps me keep my balance, though often the slowest people stayed on that side, and it was getting more difficult for our group to stay together. When the trail shrank so thin that people in front of me stopped moving, I felt like I was stuck in rush hour traffic. I contemplated "changing lanes," but realized up ahead that the other lanes came to a standstill as well. It was around 1:30am at this point, and we still hadn't made it to the 9th station yet. It was reminiscent of my overcrowded high school's hallways, where you had a solid wall of people in front of you, and it was impossible to get through. Or a line for a ride at Disneyland: it was literally that slow. You would see people take maybe one or two steps at a time and then stop for a whole minute or more before you could take another tiny step. I was pretty frustrated, I knew we could get up sooner, but due to the crowd, it was impossible to get past them without crossing the safety boundaries and going around. And with the level of oxygen decreasing my ability to think with each step, I decided against that. Looking ahead, I also saw that Sandy and I had lost the rest of the group. And it was impossible to find them until we got to the next station since they couldn't really hold up traffic any more just to wait for us, and we couldn't penetrate the mass of people in order to find them, either. So, step by step, we made the laboriously slow trek towards the 9th station.

But this was no time to let my guard down. Without warning, I heard a loud rumble of rocks falling and looking ahead of me, I see a cascade of people fall to the ground like dominoes as the rocks they're standing on slide from beneath their feet. They collapse only to knock down the person behind them, and the chain of falling people was rapidly approaching. Instinctively I grab the rock wall I was next to, and grab Sandy as well, since she couldn't reach the wall. Luckily, the mini rock slide seemed to stop a few feet in front of us. People gradually get up and start moving again - even slower this time, if that's even possible. Fortunately, it seemed no one was seriously hurt, but, that wouldn't be the last time we're endangered by falling rocks. We finally join the others at the station 8c with no further ordeals. I think that was the station at least, they had numerous stations labelled 8 and 9 (I think). At this point, I can feel the wind whipping through my hair, penetrating the makeshift beanie on my head constructed by a towel - as per the local Japanese trend. From all the sources I heard from about Mt. Fuji, they all warned to carry lots of warm clothes. Now, with the time approaching 3am, and us being about 10,600 feet above sea level, I truly understood. We took shelter near the bathrooms and emptied our backpacks of all the layers of clothing we brought. I removed my outer jacket and the wind hit me like a wall of ice. I hurriedly added the other 2 layers, an extra sweater and fleece, and ended up with 5 layers total. I put my hood on and tied it tight, limiting my peripheral vision, but keeping my precious ears warm and not allowing any more heat to escape from my head. Many of us were trying to combat the cold by moving around, I did a few jumping jacks - anything to generate more heat. Filling up on food and water again, we were anxious to get moving and hopefully warm our bodies up more.

At this point, my memory gets a little fuzzy. My second wind had died down to less than a gentle breeze. We saw a sign that said we were only 500 meters from the top. We tried to pump each other up, get ready for the last leg of the journey. Unfortunately, Adam, among others, kept lamenting the fact that Mt. Fuji was "owning" us, as evidenced by the extreme cold, and the paths only got steeper as we got closer to the top. I tried to focus on the task at hand, just put one foot in front of the other. Repeat. So simple, but I was losing it. The lack of sleep had finally caught up to me. It was a constant struggle just to stay awake as I lagged behind the rest of the group. I was frustrated once again. My body actually felt fine still. My legs could go on for hours. But my mind was failing me, in no short part to the fact that the oxygen levels were only about 80%-90% of what they are at sea level. I was glad I wasn't climbing alone. At this point, I was considering giving up, at least temporarily, and just collapsing along the side of the path, as we saw many people already stopping for rest. Yet, with encouragement from the rest of the team, in the form of their gradually disappearing backpacks ahead of me, I redoubled my efforts and trudged forward.

Almost there. We look so happy at this point, but I'm not sure why.

At long last, I know at some point we reached the 9th station, well the final 9th station before the top. The peak was soon approaching; at least we wanted to think that. I don't think I was the only one in the group who was having a tough time at this point. In fact, it seemed everyone was already rather exhausted. Around 4am, we could see the sky begin to brighten slightly. The sun was due to rise in about 30 minutes. We walked maybe 10 minutes past the 9th station when we paused and looked around us. Many people had stopped climbing and had found "comfortable" spots alongside the trail to rest and watch the sunrise from. I don't know who asked, but someone suggested just stopping here for now so we can watch the sunrise. I didn't respond verbally as others simply plopped down their backpacks and took a seat. I followed suit, and took it a step further. I attempted to transform my backpack into a makeshift pillow and laid down among rocks that were on average the size of a baseball or grapefruit, but not nearly as smooth. Adjusting myself to get as comfortable as possible, I tried to pluck the stabbing rocks out from behind my back, but no matter how many I removed there was always a new sharp edge waiting to dig into my skin. Defeated, I gave up and crossed my arms across my chest, futilely trying to stay warm. I should have been disappointed; we missed our goal of making it to the top by just a few hundred meters. But I wasn't. My mind was too concentrated on the piercing cold and daggers in my back. I knew if I wanted any hope to make it to the top, I'd have to try and get some rest. As I closed my eyes, I felt alone atop this wretched mountain and since my mind could do nothing else, I quietly slipped into darkness.

Will we make it to the top? Tune in tomorrow to your regularly scheduled broadcast, and find out! No fair cheating and looking at the pictures either!

Update: I've now posted the Final Part of the story!

Climbing Mount Fuji Part 1

2005-08-09T17:59:00.000+09:00

Mount Fuji stands as the tallest mountain in Japan, measuring 12,388 feet from sea level. It's a currently dormant volcano, and it draws plenty of visitors during its open climbing season during July and August. When I knew I was going to study abroad in Japan, I also knew I was going to climb Mt. Fuji. Why are mountains put there? To climb, of course.

You might remember this picture of Mt. Fuji I took from the plane back in April.

Now I've had some mountain climbing experience, including Mt. Shavano in Colorado, which is actually 14,236 feet hight at age 14 with my Boy Scout troop. Now the thing about that trip was that we climbed it over a period of 2 days, and got to sleep in nice tents halfway up. That time, some of my friends got altitude sickness on the second day up to the peak. Some of the leaders stayed behind, and only half of us made it all the way to the top. Most recently, I scaled Half Dome which is 8842 feet in Yosemite on a dorm camping trip in 2004. We had to start pretty early in the morning, I think around 6 or 7 to be sure to make it down before dark. This time, the group also split, and half of us made it to the top while others didn't.

Back to Mt. Fuji. I figured since I was 14 years old when I climbed a 14er, and now since I'm now 21, I figured I could probably take on Mt. McKinley which is almost 21,000 feet. And Fuji-san (as they call it in Japanese) is only a mere 12,000 feet high or so. No sweat. I wasn't really worried though many of my friends who I was going to climb with were a little nervous after hearing stories from their co-workers and reading articles online. Out of everyone in the group, I'd say that Priscilla was the most gung-ho about climbing Fuji-san. So excited, in fact, that she wanted to climb it from the base of the mountain. Most people start climbing Fuji from "gogo-me" meaning the 5th station, which is really already 2/3 up the mountain. But I'm always looking for a challenge and since Priscilla's determination never wavered, we ended up leaving about 8 hours before the others to climb from the base and meet everyone else at the 5th station. My main mistake at this time, I realized was that I had gotten very little sleep before. We were going to climb starting Saturday morning, and Since Thursday night, I had gotten a total of only 8 or 9 hours in those 2 nights before climbing. How long would I last?

So Priscilla and I caught a series of trains beginning at 7am, and we made it to Fujiyoshida around 10:30 or so. We should have taken a direct train there from Shinjuku station but we didn't know about it. Upon arriving at the station, Priscilla had the foresight to find the information center where we got some very, very useful maps of Mt. Fuji and the different trails, along with time estimates for each section. We loaded up on a few groceries inside of the big shopping center. I felt weird inside such a commercial area as I was about to begin hiking a mountain. In the States, you usually drive your car to some trailhead in the middle of nowhere, park, and go. But since most people use public transportation, our hike began at the train station. We walked along the streets until we finally reached a cedar forest where the shrine stands, marking the beginning of the pilgrimmage of climbing Mt. Fuji.

Priscilla and I at the shrine at the base.

We explore the shrine for a bit, and then find the trail behind it, which actually begins as a paved road. Eventually, there is a parallel walking path right next to the road which is better, but sometimes through the trees you can still see the road, which kind of ruins the atmosphere, in my opinion. Around this time, it starts raining. I laugh a little as we put on our raincoats, saying it's better that the whole group didn't start here at the bottom. In less than an hour though, the rain lets up, thankfully, and we continue our hike through the green forested areas. I had gotten so used to the buzz of crowds and concrete while working in Tokyo, that this was a very welcome atmosphere, and I almost forgot I was still in Japan. As we're resting at one of the substations and talking in English, this Japanese looking guy (Note: If you're Asian and you're in Japan, you look Japanese) asks us do you guys speak English. We tell him we're students from America, and in fact, so is he. Will, as he introduces himself to us, even happens to work at the same company as our classmate Jerry, who is among the group that we're meeting at the 5th station later that day. Talk about coincidences. So now in a group of 3 we keep hiking, passing through the broken-down and decrepit stations 1 - 4.

The look kind of like barns, or perhaps an old house or shed that's been abandonded for a few decades, with the wood rotting, and many boards out of place and falling apart. Still, each station is marked with a small wooden sign, and helps guide us on the well-marked trail up to the 5th station. The trail get gradually steeper as we approach the 5th station, but still nothing that difficult. We end up reaching the station at around 5:30 and I text my friends who are on their way (Yes, cell phones work pretty much anywhere on Mount Fuji - even at the peak) and they say they'll be there in about an hour.We eat some Ramen at one of the many (maybe 5-6) restaurants at the 5th station. It's pretty commercial for being 2/3 up a mountain. As the sun goes down, the rest of the group arrives and we prepare our gear, stretch, and take some pictures.

Our group at the 5th station.

At this point we're pretty psyched. Lots of adrenaline running especially for those who have been sitting down on buses or trains for the last 3 hours. Everyone is eager to go. Well, except me and Priscilla. We weren't super tired from the morning hike, but definitely weren't 100%. Personally, at this point I can tell I'm suffering from mild dehydration already which is why I ordered soup and I kept drinking. I should have drank more. You can never have enough water. Nevertheless, once everyone is set, we start off around 7:30pm. I try to pace us, since we don't want to get to the top too early, I said. But in reality, I wasn't sure what kind of pace I could keep up with myself. My legs were fine, but when I walked, I was feeling lightheaded and a slight headache which was emphasized with sudden movements. Still, I figured I could think pretty logically, and I tried to calculate how long it would take us to get to the top. I put us on an admittedly leisurely pace. I figured, you don't want to get too tired at the bottom and run out of gas by the time you get near the top. We pass by the 6th station and take some water breaks in between. At first, the crowds are rather small and we're not sharing the trail with too many people at once.

The terrain is pretty much all rock. At the beginning it's not so steep at all, and the gravel is pretty shallow so there's minimal slipping. Still, I'm wary of pushing myself too hard, and I soon finish the one liter of water I brought along with me. I was carrying more water earlier in the day and finished it, and I decided I'd rather pay the exorbitant prices charged on the mountain for water, considering my current condition, and I'd make things a lot easier since I would be carrying significantly less. Water at this point costs about 300 yen ($3) for half a liter. It was already 200 yen at the 5th station.

Yummy trail mix, thanks to Wei!

I'll stop here for now. Check out some pictures, and look for the rest of the story very soon.

Update: For Part 2 scroll up or click here.

New Employee Party

2005-08-03T17:43:00.000+09:00

On Friday, the development team here at Cybozu had welcome party for new employees. Besides me, they've hired 2 other developers in the last month or so. We ate some Okinawan food. They still called it nabe, which was a mixture of meat and veggies in soup that you heat up yourself on a hot pot in the middle of the table. Some of was . . interesting, but overall pretty tasty. They brought out a few extra dishes periodically, but I didn't get to take pictures of all of them, oddly enough.

A big hotpot of nabe.

Yes, all you eat in Japan is vegetables.

My friend Kamura and I.

Around the table.

It's pretty different hanging out with my co-workers outside of work. In the office, it's all business. Of course we don't really talk that much because I'm not fluent in Japanese, but even with each other, it seems like they only talk about work at work. Then again, since I really can't understand all of what there saying anyway, what do I know?

But especially after most of them have been drinking and relax, they become a lot more outgoing. Plenty of people who I see all the time at work but have never spoken to, finally introduced themselves and talked to me. Some even try to speak English. Don't get me wrong here, some of them are quite good at it, but then again, some just . . aren't. I know I can't say that much in Japanese, but sometimes it's easier to talk to me in Japanese if you can only say one English word every 10 seconds. I'm not complaining too much though.

Still though, this is one of the only times I've gotten to hang out with co-workers outside of work. I don't know why, but everyone here works so hard. I mean I do to, when they let me (another story), but I don't want to spend all day at the office. I get there at 9, have an hour for lunch, and leave between 6 and 7. Most people are already there when I arrive in the morning, and it always seems like I'm the first of all 150 employees to leave in the afternoon. That's what it specified in my contract, and if I don't have any pressing work that needs to get done, I usually go home and cook dinner. I hear most people are here till about 8pm, which I think is a little ridiculous. I mean they don't even have their own gourmet chef like Google. Others stay even later. And what's kind of sad is when I ask them what their weekend plans are, and they tell me they'll be in the office. This isn't always true, but for some of them it is. I'd say the average commute for them is about one hour each way on the trains. Which means they have to leave before 8am, and they don't get home till after 9pm. I suppose they are the leading groupware development company of Japan, so it makes sense that a successful company has hardworking employees. But when I "grow up," I think I can work hard, be successful, AND have a life outside of work.

Just smile and nod.

2005-07-28T11:47:00.000+09:00

Since this just happened like 5 minutes ago and I'm on my lunch break, I figured I'd make a quick post. Normally at work I just kinda sit at my own desk and program by myself, occasionally asking my mentor some questions. I've been interacting more with people since I got a new assignment that put it in a larger team. The problem is that most of these people don't really speak English. At first, the people I talked to most knew pretty good English because they worked or studied in America before. Though I usually spoke Japanese, when it got to tough technical vocabulary I usually had to resort to English. But with my new project, it's been tough to figure out exactly what they want me to do, and to ask my very specific and slightly nuanced questions in Japanese.

My lack of language ability was just demonstrated to me when one of the computer technicians came by and started spouting off some Japanese to me. He had a clipboard in his hand and was looking at my computer's serial number. I figured he was doing some kind of hardware registration check. He asks me a question (I can tell from his intonation more than from the actual words he uses) and points at my monitor. He says the name of the groupware program that we make and also use, so I open it up. Apparently he sent out a company wide e-mail this morning telling us to download this utility and run it. Of course, I get maybe 10-15 of these e-mails a day and they're all in Japanese, so by now I've given up on trying to read them, and focus on the ones that are just sent to me.

He points at the monitor. I click. Then I just let him have the mouse. Easier that way. I run this utility program, it spits out a few numbers and other data that he jots down, and then it finishes, leaving this nifty window open that I have no idea how to close. He says some more things to me, I just smile and nod. He's like "daijoubu?" (Is it okay?) I just answer back with the same question, "Daijoubu?" (I have no clue, is it okay? He answers "Daijoubu" (it's okay), maybe because he already knows I can't understand anything else. Haha. Don't worry, it's all daijoubu.

Here's a screenshot of my desktop with that cool utility program running and the groupware program in the background. I'm not sure what the icon is, looks like a yellow cartoon ghost wearing a police helmet and carrying a set of padlocks. Beats me. Any of my more Japanese literate friends are welcome to help me out with translation.

Earthquakes, Typhoons and Humidity, oh my

2005-07-27T10:39:00.000+09:00

You never really know what to expect here in Tokyo I suppose. On Saturday Adam and I were playing Frozen Throne in my apartment when all of a sudden we feel this shaking. He's like quit shaking the table man, and I'm like I'm not. Then we pause the game realizing that its a freaking earthquake. I've never been in an earthquake before, so I was kinda like hey this is cool. But I was quickly rebuked and sobered realizing that serious earthquakes can be disatrous. We look outside the window as my apartment building is swaying side to side, and people are all looking around, we see some guy get off his bike. Finally it stops. No major damage to my area. But we were luckily pretty far from the epicenter. It was a 5.7 on the Richter scale and 5 people were injured.

It was pretty scary, considering that Tokyo is bracing for the Big One, since it's due for a disatrous earthquake like the one that hit Kobe in 1995, killing 64,000 people. The worst part for me was that it stopped all the trains and subways. You see, unlike America where we always drive cars, pretty much everyone here uses public transporation. And there's literally no other way to get around besides walking, biking or super-expensive taxis. Because of the quake all the trains were shut down for a few hours, stranding me at home unable to go to this fireworks festival I was planning to go to. It was pretty frustrating, but instead Adam and I hung out some more since he couldn't go home either. We saw this Taiko performance going on across the street and watched for awhile - he was even able to play some which was cool since he hasn't played in a long time. Then we played this goldfish catching game with some little kids. I ended up taking about 4 of them home. Some tried to jump out and died, so I put the rest in my bathtub, which was interesting. I finally got a little glass bowl for the remaining survivor, and some fish food. Still deciding on a name.

Anyway then yesterday we were hit by a typhoon which wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. It just rained pretty hard all day - I've seen much worse back home in Houston. The same goes for the heat and humidity - yeah unpleasant - but about the same as in Houston. I have lots of pictures to post still, so keep your eyes open for those. In the meantime here are some pictures from the weekend before last:

From the Osaka Aquarium.

Kids marching in the Gion Matsuri parade.

One of the floats.

Some kids playing in a stream.

Me + Hydrogen = ?

2005-07-22T15:07:00.000+09:00

Here's a funny link I saw:

Stanford project mixes Darwin with hydrogen

Hmmm... in other news - look at my new photostream at flickr:

I cooked dinner for the first time this week. Fun fun. And work is okay. I finished my first project and gave a presentation on it, but they haven't really decided what to do with me next. So I'm just waiting...

Here's from last weekend's Gion Matsuri when I went back to Kyoto:

Yay for the mini SCTI reunion!

More pictures!

Living alone. . .

2005-07-08T19:14:00.000+09:00

It's been kinda weird these last few days. I work until 6 or 7pm and then I go home to my apartment. And there's no one there. I suppose it's not that weird, but for always living with my family or in a dorm with a roommate, it's different. A little lonely, but I've been getting out and hanging out with people too. There was a Japan Stanford Association Meeting/Party on Tuesday, and they invited some of us SCTI students to go. Like 6 of us RSVPed but I was the only one who actually showed up - on time at least. So I'm in this fancy reception hall with Stanford banners, business men and lots of good food surrounding me. The last part was the best, meaning dessert. But Derrick, Sandy and Kelly showed up later to help finish off the food, and I was glad to finally see some people who I could speak English with naturally.

Kelly, Derrick, Sandy, and I, all very happy after eating some good food!

And it tasted better than it looked.

It was over by Tokyo Tower.

Too bad it was too late to go to the top. Yeah I heard it's not that great, and expensive. But I'll probably go up there anyway, just because, well, it's Tokyo Tower.

First Day in Tokyo

2005-07-05T14:16:00.000+09:00

So I got here on Monday, almost missed my Shinkansen, but made it to Tokyo - took the wrong train at first but eventually made it to the right station and walked in the rain to my company. I get there and the receptionist sits me in this conference room by myself and serves me some green ice tea. About 10 minutes later these two Japanese guys walk in with laptops, sit across from me, and start asking me questions, etc. They speak some basic English, but I still really have no idea what they're saying most of the time. The best part was when they busted out some kind of confidentiality contract for me to sign. They're like Wakarimasuka? (Do you understand?) But at least one of my co-workers was there, she tried to read some of the contract, and she's like I can't even read some of this Kanji - so I didn't feel that bad.

They ask me if I have a hanko, so I get it out and after I stamp it, they're eager to see what it says. It reads "hikari, ken, shi" as in "light, sword, master." My co-worker is like huh? and one of the guys asks Staa Woozu? I'm like hai, and we all start laughing. He's like anata wa jedi desu ka? I'm like moochiron, jedi master desu. (Are you a jedi? Of course, I'm a Jedi Master. hahaha.

That was one of the highlights of the day, besides trying to explain the story arc of the entire SW series to them at lunch, how they're prequels, etc. They couldn't get my login to work for a few hours so I kinda browsed the web randomly and read about the company - in what little info in English they have. Once I logged in, I wrote a self intro and posted it to the company message board, that was fun. I'm basically resorting to copying and pasting all messages I receive into rikai so I can read them. Yeah and I finally figured out how to switch the keyboard setting back to American style. Still though, it's pretty frustrating not being able to read much and trying to understand all these people when I really have no clue what's going on.

On the bright side, the company - Cybozu - is pretty much all young people, I'd say 75% of the employees are under 30, though it could be that Japanese people just look young. The President looks early-mid 30s. There are about 150 people here in the office, which is basically one big room, with desks in rows, no cubicles, but there are short divders so you dont have to stare at the person across from you all day. Another upside is that the company's about 30% female, and not just secretaries and stuff, but some programmers, sales people, etc too. Def. a better ratio than the upper level CS courses at Stanford. Some of the guys I met just started working 3 months ago, and some just graduated, so they're like 22 which is cool. I'm looking forward to playing some yakyuu (baseball) with them, and we have party this friday b/c we're releasing some new product. Ok, enough for now.

GW Day 2: Sapporo

2005-05-04T11:05:00.000+09:00

At about noon on Monday, we got on a train to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido (Japan's northernmost island). We checked out some of the sights there, saw some interesting things and buildings. Then we had dinner and did karaoke in a group, and Matt finally joined us. Me, Matt, and Brian went searching for the "Gaijin Bar" (Literally "Foreigner Bar") but it ended up being closed that night.

Been awhile since I've played this game.

Now this was an interesting ride.

This was descriptively called the "Old Government Building"

And it had a really nice park next to it.

I still found some snow - even in May.

Pink Taxis are the only way to travel.

We found a big plaza with some cool fountains.

There was this sketchy guy who looked like he just robbed a bank.

But he was just a mime. Is that scarier?

I guess it is everywhere you want to be.

I think these girls were selling jet-packs powered by some kind of shampoo or lotion. Interesting.

Hardcore.

But not as hardcore as me and Martin.

But this little guy might have us beat.

Yes.

Oh baby.

The 8 of us at dinner.

Adam breaks it down to Andrea and Priscilla at karaoke.

If Brian's singing, it's most likely in Japanese. He's an aspiring J-Pop star, you know.

Our duet. If you look close, you can see the lyrics, haha.

Brian, Matt and I found some interesting places as we roamed the city.

Like this club. Yeah, an interesting facade on the front.

What do you think goes on in this place?

Don't you agree that Natural Selection is indeed lovely?

Taxis completely line the streets late at night.

After we got some ramen, we actually took one back to the youth hostel. I had the "Baataa Koonuu" or Butter Corn ramen, which was pretty good I'd say. Though not having just descended a mountain, not quite as good as the night before.

That night was pretty interesting, since all 9 of us were actually all in one big dorm style room. There were 6 bunk beds, but Matt was too tall, and didn't fit into his. It's pretty funny with so many people in one room trying to go to sleep or turn the lights off since some people are tired, some people want to stay up, etc. Perhaps you can see some foreshadowing.

Golden Week Day 1: Hakodate

2005-05-03T14:20:00.000+09:00

The week beforehand, the original group of maybe 2 or 3 people expanded into 9 people which was pretty exciting. We spent about 4 hours one day planning our general itinerary and I figured out all the trains we would need to take for the 7 days. We ended up buying like 13 train tickets, but it was all for a flat rate since we all bought week long JR Rail passes for about $275 which allows for UNLIMITED travel throughout Japan including the Bullet Train.

Me and Brian doing some hardcore planning the week before.

We began our epic journey across Japan early on Sunday morning. We left Kyoto at about 9am, and we arrived in Hakodate - on Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido - at about 7pm. We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to the top of Japan's main island of Honshu. Then, to get to Hokkaido, the train goes underground, beneath the ocean. Unfortunately that train was pretty slow, and took us about the same time to travel about a third of the distance we had already gone.

From the back, left to right: Brian, Nathan, Nate. And in the front: Adam, Martin, me , Priscilla, and Andrea. Matt isn't there because he's meeting us the next day.

Outside the Shinkansen or Bullet Train.

Nathan and Martin inside.

More people in their seats.

As soon as we arrive in Hakodate, we head for Mount Hakodate. At the bottom of the island, the mountain overlooks an isthmus of land, and is one of the best nightviews in Japan. We walk around bewildered for awhile, debating where we are and how to best get to the mountain. We thought of walking, but then I saw a bus terminal and a bus about to leave. I ask the driver if the bus goes to the mountain, he says yes, so I tell everyone to jump on and we do. In my guidebook, it says there's a bus that takes you to the base of the mountain and one that takes you to the top. I wanted to climb up, so I thought our bus would take us to the base. So when it looks like we're approaching the base of the mountain, I ask the lady in charge of taking tickets:

Me: "Ano sumimasen, koko wa, yama desu ka?"

Her: "Mada desu."

I was trying to ask her if this was the stop for the base of the mountain. But apparently this bus only went to the top of the mountain. If I were to translate the previous conversation, it would go something like this.

Me: "Excuse me, is this the mountain?"

Her: "No, not yet."

Maybe you had to be there, but it pretty silly of me to ask if we were on the mountain yet, whe clearly, we weren't there yet. But hey, I was trying to ask something else, it just came out wrong.

We eventually got to the top of the mountain, and I was tempted to ask the lady if this was the mountain, but I didn't. Unfortunately, once we get to the peak there is this thick fog that only lets you see maybe 30 feet in front of you. It was impossible to see the famous nightview from the top!

Us through the fog, the guy who took the picture was only standing like 8 feet away! Note the headlamp on my forehead.

So after shopping in the gift shop and looking around some, I knew I had to find a way to take some good pictures. I had packed my mini-tripod to tote all around Japan, just for that one picture, and I was determined to take it. Naturally, I started hiking down the mountain until I broke the fog. And I took the entire group with me. Yes, all 8 of us. We hiked down on the road, staying to the right side, opposite traffic in Japan, in the pitch dark, no street lamps, through the fog, with cars meandering their way around the tight curves of the mountain path. Luckily I brought my camping LED headlamp, so I led the way to be sure I'd be the first to die in any kind of accident.

It was an adventure.

Finally, after maybe 45 minutes or so, we broke the fog and found a nice place to take some pictures!

My decision to bring my tripod was validated ^_^

Mmmm, this was some of the best ramen I've had, and no, I don't think it had anything to do with being tired from a whole day of traveling and then climbing down a mountain.

We had a few more escapades that night looking for a place to stay. See, part of the "plan" was to not actually make any hotel reservations whatsoever. We talked to a cab driver who drove us from the mountain base to the ramen shop, and he directed us to a small little inn. It was so small it took us maybe an hour in the rain to find it. In my guidebook, I'll always remember why the Hakodate Map page is all wrinkled from the rain that night, haha. But we finally found it, and it was a cozy little place owned by an old Japanese woman who treated us kind of like a host mother, so it was cool.

The next morning, we woke up to check out the famous morning market that they have.

Fruits are expensive in a country with such little land for farming. Thus, this tiny slice of cantaloupe costs 100 yen, roughly equal to a dollar.

Crabs are my friends. What's funny is that when I showed this picture to my host sister, she said, "Mmm, that looks delicious." It's part of the Japanese obsession with food - and it might be rubbing off on me. Even at aqauriums, they see the big fish and all it really looks like to them is a huge swimming slab of sushi.

Oh man this stuff was soo good. It's kind of like a mini waffle with red bean paste inside.

The 3 of us with the shopkeeper that sold us those little snacks.

The actually call Hakodate the "San Francisco of Japan," which I could see. It's nowhere near as big, but it's a port town, you can smell the sea air, feel the strong wind, and look, boats!

Me and Andrea.

For some reason the Vienna Teng song, Harbor, kept playing through my head then.

Not quite California, but it was pretty funny.

Here's the Fried Scallop Burger I had for lunch! It was good, too!

Now, prepare yourselves for the most impressive sight I've seen so far in Japan, and possibly in my entire life.

Oh yes, it's coming. Which way will we go?

I heard your jaw drop. Yes, that is truly the First Concrete Electricty Pole in Japan.

Haha, how desparate must they be to come up with tourist sights like this?

Tastes like.. well it wasn't quite as good as the Scallop burger.

We also visited a glass blowing factory.

Oooh, pretty!

The group outside the ryokan (Japanese inn) before we leave for Sapporo.

See all the pictures from Hakodate.
http://www.darwinsphotos.com/hakodate/
So far a great start to the trip. Yeah, a few snags and low points on the mountain and in the rain, but hey that just makes things more memorable, right?

Arashiyama

2005-05-01T14:03:00.000+09:00

After 2 days straight of sightseeing, and then our Golden Week trip starting tomorrow, I was ready to rest some today. But then some old friends invited us to hang out in the Arashiyama district. Mutsumi, Maki and Sayaka from SJEC (Stanford Japan Exchange Club) who had visited Stanford last quarter, asked us to go to Arashiyama. I couldn't say no.

Some shops along the river.

A cool little bridge.

These red trees are cool.

Mu-chan and me staying cool.

Mutsumi, Evelyn, Brian, Maki, Jerry and Sayaka taking a break.

Natchan!

Me by the garden.

A big flower next to a 100 yen coin, which is about a dollar. And they even have 500 yen coins here. It's kinda weird having change be worth so much. Usually I don't care about losing or spending quarter back in the States, but here if I lose all my coins, that could be $10 or more!

Walking through the bamboo forest.

A view of Kyoto from atop a hill.

Yes! Pink ice cream! The sakura (cherry blossom) flavor is so good, and it's hard to find, too! I dunno how to describe it. Just think pink. How can you go wrong?

See, everyone bought some!

A tranquil stream.

See the rest of the Arashiyama pictures.

It's a lot of fun hanging out with Japanese students, especially ones who we met before in the states. It was fun showing them around Stanford and stuff, and now it's cool that they're showing us around and all. Cultural exchange is tight.

Kinkaku-ji and Nijo-jo

2005-04-29T17:36:00.000+09:00

On Sunday, we were invited to go sightseeing with some of the DESA students. Me and Dimitris were in the same group, and we went to see the Golden Pavilion Shrine and Nijo Castle.

With walls of gold, it's truly a breathtaking sight.

Players for life.

Through the trees.

Even the Japanese kids are amazed at Dimitris super-thin camera.

What a view.

Eating green tea soft serve.

Next we went to the famous Nijo Castle.

The front gate.

The garden inside.

The guys.

At the top.

The whole group.

Pretty trees and flowers.

The wonders of co-dominance :).

A rock garden. Almost as cool as a pet rock.

One of my favorite pictures: the castle wall.

See more pics from Kinkaku-ji and Nijo Castle.

Japansese Baseball: Tigers vs. Dragons

2005-04-29T15:18:00.000+09:00

After the shrine, we went straight to Osaka to see a Hanshin Tigers baseball game!

Baseball is a little different here than the U.S. They're pretty good, but not quite MLB quality, so you see more errors and such. The infield looked wretched & brown. They call it a tie if it goes to 12 innings still tied. The relief pitchers get driven out to the mound in a little cart.

But most importantly, the fans here are nuts. They cheer all the time, there are no lulls in the noise. Each player has his own theme song that the fans chant. And there are cheer leaders who stand on platforms in front of every section, like a drum major directing a high school band, they lead the crowd in all the cheers. Pretty ridiculous.

I almost bought this jersey.

Martin's got team spirit.

So do Nathan and Chelsea.

Me and Dimitris are enjoying ourselves.

Some of the crazy fans.

Me and Sandy.

See the nasty infield?

These guys are legit.

The highlight of the game is the 7th inning stretch. You buy colored balloons before the game, and blow them up. We sing a song together, and all at once, everyone in the stadium releases the balloons! It's pretty amazing to watch. I took some video I can hopefully post sometime.

Dimitris is getting ready.

Mike and Matt are preparing. Mike actually pops his at one point and has to get a new one.

Pat's having some fun.

Everyone's ready.

Us too!

More baseball pictures.

At the time, the Tigers (our home team) were up by like 5 runs, so some of us went home early. Alas, we later found out that the Dragons rallied back for the win. That's baseball for you.

Fushimi Inari-ji

2005-04-29T14:40:00.000+09:00

Today was a pretty busy day! After Japanese class in the morning, we eat lunch and then head straight for one of the most the most famous shrines in Kyoto - Fushimi Inari-ji. Never have I seen sooo many Torii (the red gates that signify the entrance to a shrine).

The entrance, marked by the first of 3872453217637411 torii we will see.

One of the shrine's main buildings.

From the front.

We all wash our hands first to purify ourselves.

A statue of a kitsune (fox) a common form of the Inari god.

A different statue.

Erin and Ji pose underneath all the torii.

They come in all sizes!

If you put money in that box on the left and then walk around this sacred tree three times, you're supposed to have good health - or something.

Had enough yet?

Didn't think so.

It was getting a bit hot climbing up hundreds of stairs to reach the 3 different peaks, so Adam and I decided to keep "cool". Ok, sorry that was bad.

At one of the peaks.

Pat and me.

Purple is cool.

We all listen intently to our religion teacher.

I am amazed at the sight of such a unique torii!

What will happen if I drink the sacred water?

Resting from the hike.

Mmmmm, stone frogs.

More fun statues.

Who wants to have a tea party on the mountain?

Haha, I took a picture of myself in the mirror.

The rest of the pics can be seen here.

Sandy turns 21!

2005-04-28T14:55:00.000+09:00

This week is going by pretty quick, classes are pretty good. I'm trying to get used to biking up over a mountain everyday on my way to school, but it's still pretty tough. We celebrated Sandy's birthday early to surprise her, and also since this weekend most of us are going to be travelling since next week is Golden Week, a national holiday that lasts all week.

She's clearly speechless with surprise.

Bystanders wait hungrily for the cake to be cut.

Look, Erin's taking pictures of the cake, what a surprise!

What could be inside?

They managed to find her a tea set with bunnies on it!

My gift to her - a few bottles of an alcoholic sparkling grapefruit drink. Apparently it's all the rage with the Japanese girls here.

More pictures here.

Happy Birthday Sandy!

Picnic and Osaka Excursion

2005-04-26T15:36:00.000+09:00

Some of the DESA students invited us to a Picnic at the Imperial Palace Park. I had a little trouble finding the place, but I managed to make it after a 45 minute bike ride.

Adam, Asane and me chillin' uner the trees.

Nate enjoying a snack.

Aww look at Pat and Sandy.

Look, we aren't the only foreign students studying in Kyoto.

So when I first saw this group of American students, I kinda listened to them for awhile until I introduced myself in Japanese to all of them. Since I was just saying all the simple introductory phrases, I could say them pretty quick, and I could tell that they actually thought I was Japanese . I kept it up a bit longer, until I couldn't help it anymore. I stopped briefly and then said in perfect English, "Yeah I'm American too." They all were pretty surprised and we all started laughing. No my Japanese isn't really that good, I attribute this to the fact that I haven't really cut my hair since October.

Do you think she looks kind of Filipino? But she's really Japanese. Then again, people think I'm Japanese (or Chinese) and I'm really Filipino.

Earlier that day, I went to Osaka to buy electronic dictionaries with Brian, his host sister Naomi, Nathan and Martin. It was a pretty cool place, so big and busy. I need to go back some time. We went to th district called "Den Den Town" which is famous for lots of cheap electronics. There are some Duty Free free shops that you can haggle at, too.

The streets were pretty crowded.

Anime pervades everything in Japan.

The All-Gundam-All-The-Time Store.

Me, Martin and Nathan on the subway.

We stopped to watch a Jr. High School band play for a little bit on the way back to the station.

So there's this cafe that has the waitresses dress up as dolls or maids or something and they serve you tea. Martin says we gotta go back sometime.

Back at Kyoto Station.

Kyoto Tower.

The front of the station.

Then I hiked to "Liquor Mountain" to pick up Sandy's 21st birthday present, shhh.

See the rest of the picnic/Osaka pictures at my photosite gallery.

First Weekend Out

2005-04-25T14:09:00.000+09:00

As I was saying in my last post, me and Dimitris went out to a bar called A-Bar last Thursday - and then I ended up going there Friday and Saturday, too. It's a pretty cool place, has an interesting atmosphere, and is famous for attracting lots of foreigners as well as Japanese people who want to meet foreigners.

The first night, it was just me, Dimitris and Matt. After a few drinks we decided to find this club called Metro that our friend Jerry told me about. He said it was located underground, in the Subway station. That just sounded weird, but I was like, ok, sure. So we're wandering around the subway station at like midnight, when all the trains have stopped running, and no one is around. We're about to give up, since the idea of a nightclub in the middle of a subway station is completely ludicrious. But, we go down one hallway and it finally leads up some stairs with a big black door, and we can hear some faint thumping of bass inside. Wow, this place really exists.

The three of us do a tequila shot, with lemons since it seems this country is completely devoid of limes.

This club was strange because everyone danced facing the DJ, and mostly danced by themselves. It was kind of like being at a concert instead of a club.

Taken from the front. Isn't it weird how people all face the same direction?

The next day, we hosted a party at the Stanford Center and invited lots of Japanese students from different universities. The DESA club helped us plan it, and we decided to buy some food, and also cook some food on our own.

Here's me and Jerry hard at work in the kitchen.

And here's who did the real cooking, haha.

Plenty of people showed up.

And there was plenty of food.

Nathan's getting some language practice here.

And Sandy too.

Dimitris and Yuki.

Mike and Naomi.

Well at least this way Brian didn't get red-eye.

My buddy Shima and I are having a good time.

Kanpai! (Cheers!)

I'd say that overall, the party was a pretty big success. And yet the night was far from over. Some of us decided to go out to a bar. Martin's host Dad works as a bartender part-time, so we wanted to go to his bar. But it was a little too expensive for our college sized pocketbooks, so we went back to A-bar.

That was pretty much the whole table.

Another big Kanpai! (also on video)

Matt seemed to have attracted some attention from across the room, so this one Japanese dude told us that his friend wanted to come sit with some of us "gaijin" (foriegners), and she gladly sat down next to Matt.

After the bar, some of us still hadn't had enough fun for the night - so we decided to go to the club Collage which is pretty much right next to A-Bar. The music was some kind of weird techno/house/80s hybrid if I remember correctly, though Mike probably knows best. It was actually a pretty empty place that night which was odd considering the week before it was relatively pack. Perhaps the oddness of the DJ had something to do with it. Nonetheless, we all had a pretty good time.

Minami, Naru, Mami, me and Mike.

And the Greeks know how to dance.

I figured I'd join in.

So does Matt.

The rather.. interesting DJ.

We're all pretty tired by the end of the night. But it was certainly fun.

Check out more pictures from the Stanford Center Party and out on the town.

lost in translation

2005-04-22T11:43:00.000+09:00

I'l keep this post short since I'm going out later tonight with Dimitris. We don't have classes on Fridays, so it's a 3-day weekend every week!

So like I said before, my bike ride is only about 30 minutes long, but that's when I know where I'm going. I tried to go home late at night the other day, and I was totally lost. Instead of half an hour, it took me an hour and a half. All the streets started to look the same, and I even resorted to asking strangers for directions. See, I know enough Japanese to ask for directions, but sometimes when they give me the directions, I can't really understand them. So this one guy gave me wrong directions - I swear he did, I knew what was saying that time. Then I ended up going the wrong direction for like 20 minutes before I asked some other people, and they told me I was way off.

People are generally nice to foreigners here. Even though the guy pointed me in the wrong direction, he had good intentions. But hey I was never really lost, I just had the opportunity to explore the city more.

Here are some random pictures:

Now this is a pimp ride.

For sure.

From my bike.

The gate to a shrine.

Alright, enough for today, but I thought I'd mention that you can subscribe to my blog if you want to get it in your e-mail, just fill this out:

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I'll let you know about the weekend on Monday. . .

Ramen!

2005-04-21T10:10:00.000+09:00

School's still been pretty chill - had my first Medical Imaging Seminar class which was cool. We have like an hour off for lunch each day, and we've gone to some nearby noodle houses so far. There's an Udon place, and a RAMEN place. Now this is not the ordinary ramen that most college students think of. This is truly legit. It was pretty dang oishii (delicious) and was only like $5 too.

Mmmmmm.

Wei with his bowl.

Itadakimasu! (Thank you for the meal)

Here are some other pictures from around the center.

A fountain in the river, with the sakura blossoms.

Oooh, a boat!

Some great vending machines in this country.

Pachinko casinos are everywhere. It's kinda like a slot machine, but you watch little metal spheres fall down and you win/lose money depending on where they land. Looks the guy to my right must have won something.

Tons of anime.

Lots of video games.

And your buddy Ronald even speaks Japanese.

See more random pictures!

Things have been pretty chill so far, finally got myself a cell phone. By the way, you can e-mail my cell phone for free at: dcruz@k.vodafone.ne.jp !

First day of school

2005-04-19T09:45:00.000+09:00

Yay for classes - we finally started, only like 3 weeks after the rest of the school, haha. My bike ride to school is pretty killer - in a number of senses. So Kyoto is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides which made it a very defensible place back in the day. But that means that since I don't really live near the center of town, I have to bike through the mountains to get to school. It's not that bad, but the hills get so steep I had to walk my bike up for part of it. It takes about 30 minutes each way. But then the streets are super narrow and there are tons of cars and motorcycles whizzing by. Not to mention the whole biking on the left side of the street with traffic, still kinda weird.

You know how when you're walking or biking past someone, and you both try to go the same direction, and almost run into them? Well usually in America, people tend to swerve to their right, just like cars drive on the right side of the street. So I'm used to going right automatically. Unfortunately, people think the opposite way here and there have been countless times already when I almost ran into an old lady on a bike because I tried to go right instead of left.

Anyway, Japanese class is definitely tougher here, considering I didn't really understand even all the instructions my sensei said. But she's nice and I think I'll learn a lot.

Oh yeah and yesterday was the barbeque with the Japanese students at the Kamogawa.

Me and Dimitris with some students we met.

Hazella mingling with some students.

Me and Brian with a group of new friends.

Near the grill.

Japan is great.

A group of students by the river.

These guys were cool, we talked baseball, and I complained about the Astros not making the World Series last season and not keeping Beltran.

More BBQ pictures!

It doesn't quite feel like school just yet. I watched an E40 lecture this morning and already have Japanese homework, but I guess I just need to wait for my first midterm for things to hit me. Until then though, this sure beats the basement of Gates.

My Host Family

2005-04-17T15:16:00.000+09:00

I moved into my host family's house today. Meeting my okaasan (mom) for the first time was pretty cool. She drove me back with my huge suitcases and I tried to understand her speaking at 100 mph (well maybe km/h here) as we're on the way home. I manage to make out maybe 30% of what she's saying, and just smile and nod for the rest of it. The house is pretty big, and I get my own room which is pretty nice. My host sister is 31, and my host mom is 72. My sister recently moved out of the house since she works in Osaka, which is like an hour away. So that means I get her room which is pretty sweet. The stairs here are pretty steep and narrow, and all the floors are wooden. Some of the doors are sliding doors but most here have hinges. My bed consists of a frame with a wooden mat on it, and then a 2 inch thick "mattress" which is more comfortable than I thought it would be.

Me and my Okaasan when she came to pick me up.

Brian and his host mom.

Pat and her host parents.

Erin and her family.

Sandy and her mom.

Nate + his Okaasan.

My bed before it's made.

Afterwards.

My desk and bookshelf.

After I unpack all my stuff.

The balcony outside my window.

The view from my balcony.

Another angle.

My host family and me :).

The dining room.

And the living room.

My host sister took me around a temple about 5 minutes from our house.

The bamboo forest in the mountains next to the temple.

A statue at the temple.

The entrance to a nearby shrine.

Well it's been a pretty eventful weekend so far, there's a BBQ tomorrow with some Japanese students, and then class on Monday.

Check out the rest of my picture gallery from my host family.

A whole new world...

2005-04-15T17:11:00.000+09:00

Today was my first full day here. Just walking around the streets is kinda weird. The whole driving on the left side is still throwing me off. Almost got run over a few times, gotta look to the right first before you cross the street. And not being able to read like 80% of the signs is a bit disorienting. We took a little tour of the area around the Stanford center, saw a temple and then finished orientation. Then for dinner, we went out with some Japanese students from an exchange student group at Dooshisha University.

Afterwards they took us to a Karaoke place, which was lots of fun. The best part was when we tried to sing Japanese songs, and when the Japanese students tried to sing English songs. It's still a little hard to believe I'm really here.

The director showing us around near a big map of Kyoto.

A cool statue near the center.

In front of the gate to Nanzen-ji temple.

Dimitris from the top of the temple.

Ji, Sandy and Erin posing for a picture.

Brian is clearly overcome by the extreme beauty.

Nazen-ji with sakura blossoms in the foreground.

Arches near Nanzen-ji.

Me with some of the students on our way to dinner.

My new friends Naru and Shima at the dinner table.

Okonomiyaki, a pancake shaped dish with rice, vegetables and various types of meat inside.

The street outside of the Karaoke place.

Me and Dimitris warm up our voices.

Brian and I attempt to sing "Haruka Kanata" from Naruto.

Shima, me and Yuki having a good time.

So far, been having a great time. I meet my host family tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. . .

Check out the rest of my picture gallery from my second day in Japan.

I'm finally here.

2005-04-14T16:34:00.000+09:00

So I got into Japan tonight, the flight was about 12 hours long, but I got the new Orson Scott Card book, Shadow of the Giant, beforehand and I had some good Japanese Dramas to watch.

My last view of the California coast. America, sayoonara.

Mount Fuji from above the clouds.

I'm ready to get there.

Brian, Wei and me in the airport.

Kelly and me in the shuttle, with Shamika and Priscilla in the back.

Yep, all the signs are in Japanese, and notice which side of the car the driver's hand is on.

The welcome dinner.

Enjoying my meal.

Me, Dimitris and Brian out for our first night in Japan.

So far, the culture shock hasn't been too bad, but I've been around all English speakers for the most part. Kyoto is a really nice city, the Kamo River (Kamogawa) is really pretty, and all the cherry blossom (sakura) trees are cool too. My hotel room is super tiny, and the bathrooms are too. They give you little slippers to wear, and I mean little. It took me awhile to figure out how to flush the toilet since it had all these buttons on it and they were all labelled in Japanese.

I'm pretty tired considering it's now 8am back in California, so I've been up 24 hours straight. We'll see how well I can sleep tonight.