Uniform Normalcy

This will be the last photo of Japan. You can view all the pictures I took (+200) in my Yahoo Album. I pick this photo as the last one because we saw kids in uniform everywhere went... day and night. Constantly spotting the kids in uniform gave me a sense of "normalcy". In fact, I was a little on edge when I "didn't" see any uniformed kids. But I guess being forced to wear a yellow cap takes it a little too far.

And of course, the bear from Korea represented in national colors.

All the bears had awesome designs. I also really enjoyed the exhibits at the Mori Museum.

This is the bear submitted by U.S. of A.

Buddy Bears, Roppongi Hills

The courtyard in Roppongi Hills (Japan) exhibited the 128 Buddy Bears celebrating peace and friendship. The exhibit started in Germany. Each bear was painted by an artist from a different country. You can see Tokyo Tower in the background.

smoke break

Here's another kewl picture from Tokyo's subway station. It's a designated smoking area. Basically a room where business men stand around huge venilators for a smoking break. Notice the bum to the right? He's standing in front of the elusive, multi-categorized trash bins. Japanese are huge advocates of recycling and being eco-friendly. It was hard to find a trash can while we were traveling. And even when we found the trash can, sometimes it ended up being the wrong material and we end up looking around for the right waste category.

This photo sums up my experience of Tokyo's subway system. People move so fast. At one station, I just stood there as people exited and crammed back into the cars. The cars would get so packed that people near the doors exited to let those poor souls in the middle out. Once they were let out, the waiting party shoved back in, squeezing every inch of standing space available. It reminded me of a time I used to play with Play Doh. Remember shoving the doh back into the container when you were done playing with it? Yeah, it was like that.

This is for all the "Lost in Translation" fans. I didn't know the name of this huge intersection but was determined to find it. It's amazing sea of bodies when the traffic stops.

Now this is a picture you don't see everyday, unless you get on at the first stop. Normally the buses get cramped. You enter from the back door and pay at the front as you exit. It's a daunting task when you're crammed in like sardines and barely any room to keep a balance. But they're already thought of that dilemma and located stop switches everywhere within the bus. You're never more than an arm's distance from the switch. Can you count all the request switches for stops?

Bus Stop

Not only are the subway system in Japan super efficient. The bus system rocks as well. The yellow circles in this display indicate the approximate distance the bus is from the stop. Not to mention there's an annoucement when the bus is approaching.

Here's a digital bus stop display.

Korea Pavilion

Now I couldn't go to a world expo without visiting the Korean exhibit. They hosted an awesome 3D show. It was touching, hi-tech and incorporated the expo theme of "respecting & learning from nature" I believe name of the show was "Tree Robot"

Toyota Group Pavilion

Japanese Pavilion. The Toyota Group Pavilion cut off the line around noon and no longer accepted visitors. Probably one of the best shows at the expo. We had to decide whether to waste the whole day waiting in line for the Toyota Exhibit or collect (passport) stamps from all the representing countries. We opted for the stamps.

Another Japanese exhibit. Very kewl design but the show inside was mediocre.

Overall picture of one of the central pavilions.

Station for the Linimo.

We came in on the "Linimo" that was exclusively servicing the Expo.

I think it was a mistake to go on a Sunday. The place was hella crowded. I mean, I've been to almost all the major amusement parks (including Epcot in Orlando) but this place took the cake. Good thing Tess was smart and reserved our tickets in will call.

2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan

2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan

Harajuku Girls

Typical Harajuku girls.

Harajuku

Harajuku alley. If you can't find the accessory here, it probably doesn't exist.

Hattori Hanzo's Place

For those "Kill Bill" fans... I found Hattori Hanzo's house. Apparently it's in Kyoto.

Panties or Briefs

One of my goals before going to Japan was to find the vending machine w/ used girls panties in the red light district. Not because I wanted one but just to take a picture of it, of course. Alas, I couldn't find it. I didn't even know where the "red light district" was. But I stumbled onto a coin machine that had these characters in it. I spent more than 2000 yen (about $20) trying to complete the whole set. At one point I had too many duplicates so I brought the store owner outside and using my advanced hand gestures convinced him to crack open the machine and trade my dupicates for the missing characters. Japanese people are so nice.

Here's a panoramic view from one of the corner towers of a castle (forgot the name) in Kyoto.

Here's another garden that was more successful.

Here's my attempt. It's harder than you think. I recommend a tripod.

This is a photo collage of the Zen Garden by David Hockney

Phuket

Reading material on Thai Airline. I think the magazine was marketing toward over-worked business people. "Where are you going for vacation?".... "Ah, Phucket". LOL

This was my cheat sheet while I was traveling. My only regret was I didn't know a single word of Japanese. I'm sure I would have appreciated the culture a lot more. I mastered the term "Sumimasen" (Pardon me) by the end of the trip.

This is the entry to the restaurant, the rabbits are inside. I would definitely recommend this place to visitors. Except, order the curry plate.

But thanks to Richard's awesome Japanese skills, we manged to get a bowl of tofu in hot water. Yeah, just hot water. Thanks Richard.

it lead us to this kewl little bar with menus with no pictures and the servers didn't speak any English

But we saw a white rabbit and like any Matrix junkie, I followed it.

kewl shot, huh? This is suppose to be the geisha row, but there was none to be seen.

Also everywhere we went, there was a big door and a small door. And I mean "small" door.

forgot about the mini door.

sakura crazed tourists (sadly my group). no, serious... they're looking at the tree. Tess had to sit down and admire it for a while. Richard tried to take a picture while balancing an umbrella and Pricilla was so amazed by the sakura, she forgot about the rain and abandoned the umbrella.

more sakura and temples

No matter where we went (especially temples), there was always school kids in uniforms on field trips. And I mean ALWAYS. Here's Mel taking a picture for a group of kids in front of the Golden Temple.

Water dripped from 3 different locations, each representing different fortunes like love, wealth and health. You're suppose to select one drink from it. Not in love, wealthy or healthy yet so not sure if it worked.

Just following rules.

Entry

This is what we were hiding.

Doesn't mean the temples weren't kewl. They were awesome.

We saw so many temples. By the time we left Kyoto, I was done with shrines, temples and gardens.

Don't expect to see your variety of sodas. TEA is the most popular drink. I never drank so much tea in my life. I didn't know Coca Cola made so many tea brands.

working man getting a drink. believe it or not, that seemed to be the dress code for construction workers. yes... he got his drink and went to build a house.

Oh yeah... apparently April is sakura (cherry blossom) season and that's one of the reasons why Mel & Tess decided to go at this time. It was pretty but flowers aren't a big motivator for me to sit in an airplane for 12 hours.

This vending machines was on a public street. A kid (in uniform) could very well walk up to this thing, pop in 1000 yen and walk away with a 40. Is that insane or what?

Drink More Sweat

See my shiny forehead? Wouldn't really recommend Pocari Sweat unless you like flat soda water. Not really a thrist quencher.