Hey oh y’all,
So I recently posted about how while it’s fun to blog, it’s
also a lot of work. But that wasn’t quite right. It’s a lot of fun, but hard
for a different reason:
How does one put the words for this entire experience?
How do you describe the burn of tasting molten hot takoyaki
(fried octopus) or the awesome feeling you get being able to hang out with the
super chill ten-in (store guy)?
How do you describe fear of just asking directions, ordering
at a restaurant, or apologizing because you lost your train ticket?
How do you describe that weird sensation in your tensed up
shoulders and exhausted legs after standing on a packed train for too long?
How do you describe the excitement of a Japanese game
center, in which you addictively spend coin after coin?
How do you describe that awkward totally standing out
feeling (you think the huge backpack with a water bottle, the big bright red
jacket [grey or black is the color of choice here], the big camera, and the
panda give me away?).
How do you describe the odd joy of hanging out with friends
out in the freezing cold next to a
boring-on-the-surface-yet-once-you-are-there-it’s-not-so-boring river?
How do you describe “weird Japan,” “cool Japan,” or just
“Japan?”
How do you describe the best time in your life?
You don’t. You just enjoy it. You enjoy it a lot and hope
your pictures convey enough.
It’s hard (especially biking up a hill every night).
But it’s all been fun (and expensive, but way worth it).
That said, I am learning practical life lessons. Here are a
few tips:
Look for restaurants
that are not at ground level. These tend to be much cheaper (or look for signs
with arrows pointing upstairs and with large price signs, these are usually
eye-catching money saving deals).
Local trains in Japan
are more likely to have seats, but take longer. Express trains (which skip
several stops) are usually busier but quicker, especially if you are going
between two major stations. The trains have a color code making it easy to
follow, and you can always change trains at stations where both types stop
(sometimes a local train will wait for an express to stop, allowing people to
transfer).
If you want an all you
can eat (probably the most cost-effective meal, given Japanese portions
compared to US), if you don’t remember kanji well (like me), look for a time
limit (usually will say something like 60 分 next to
the price, meaning 60 minutes to eat which is definitely enough time to get
full).
And probably the best travel tip – shore up the confidence
(or lose your sense of awkward “I don’t want to seem like a lame tourist”
feelings) and go find a tourist center. In Japan, go to a major train station
and look for the English signs saying tourist information. There they will have
English speaking staff who can help you find stuff – from the right train, to a
particular store, to even restaurant recommendation’s. We just asked the staff
member for a cheap sushi restaurant, and she gave us a map and pointed out
where to find a 100-yen kaitenzushi (revolving sushi) restaurant. Easy as that!
Even better is that the maps the staff give often include other tourist
friendly restaurants and shops (with coupons too!).
So if you have any questions as to what to do or where to
go, ask the friendly neighborhood tourist center staff.
Hopefully I can remember these tips and not get myself into
too much trouble! Ttfn Ta-ta-for-now!
DC
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