All hail to Alma Mater,
To thy glory we sing;
All hail to Southern California,
Loud let thy praises ring;
Where Western sky meets Western seas
Our college stands in majesty
Sing our love to Alma Mater,
Hail, all hail to thee!!
OAK in the AM
I’m in South Pasadena right now, blogging away at a Starbucks. Their only redeeming trait (besides mocha malt frappaccinos) is that they have wi-fi hotspots. So that’s why I’m at a Starbucks, in case you care…
I flew SWA outta OAK this AM. It took far too long. It was 20 minutes from the Outer Richmond to 6th and Market. Then it took 25 minutes to get on the bridge.
Yes you read that right. 25 minutes sitting in traffic calming, I mean gridlock.
Then it took another 20 minutes to get to the parking lot I park at near OAK.
Out of these three times, which one looks to be the most unreasonable? I’ll give you a clue: it’s not getting across town or going to the parking lot.
Thank goodness I left the house 30 minutes early.
Also thank goodness I packed shorts. It’s fricking hot here. It’s Singapore-like at USC and it’s dry heat in South Pas. Sheesh.
Imported Posts
Sooo if you’ve noticed, I’ve been able to import the travel entries from Blogspot. Next comes my previous blogs and hopefully some sort of gallery/thumbnailing program for the pix.
I have all the entries sorted by airport (type in NRT in the search box to find all the Tokyo entries for example) for easy reading.
Easy in a chronological way…until I get the categories indexed on the index page.
Hola!
Hah! I finally figured this out!
I installed Movable Type all by my lonesome! All it took was 2 months (on and off), a 12 pack of Diet Coke and gallons of tea. Over 2 months of course.
Now, I’ve gotta make this look pretty and try to import the Blogger entries from walkingixus.blogspot.com.
Muuhuuahhaaa!
Thirsting for Wanderlust
I found this useful map that points out where you can get something cool and replenishing to drink.
Mmmmm. Sweat! There’s even a handbook! And if you must absolutely have it in english, click this. It’s not quite as interesting looking tho.
Yep, I’m over the deep end a bit because it’s 22 degrees out site and I’m not:
A: in LAX
B: in HKG
C: in SIN
D: in NRT
or any other place that’s supposed to be hot. Makes me think of traveling.
Ever feel the need to bowl?
Bowling is an international sport.
Though I’d question the word of “sport” since people who sit at a table shoving cards and chips at each other is also considered a “sport”.
In HKG, you can go to an old airport and bowl in the terminal.
In Tokyo, all you need to do is look for one of these. Or it could just be a piece of moderne retro design…
Usually they’re out front like this one but sometimes they’re huge on the rooftops making a very weird statement on the skyline.
Lost in Translation’s Tokyo
I received my DVD right before my recent trip over there. I watched it on the way to Tokyo (on a 12″ Al Powerbook and noise cancelling headphones) and again (on a big screen and proper Dolby Digital sound) when I returned home.
The movie does a good job portraying the sensory overload of Tokyo and the various islands of calm that can be found in that big big city. It connects at many levels and I’d gander that most foreigners who visit Tokyo on a regular basis can relate to many things in the flick.
Anyhoo, here’s a rundown of some of the places that Bob and Charlotte visit in the movie. And if you’ve not seen it yet, go do so. Tonight.
Then book your trip.
Shameless Plug
When I’m in HK, I usually find some time to go here to have a smoke. This place is above the main Shanghai Tang store in Central in the Pedder Building.
Now since I’m here to smoke, I usually go downstairs to shop. The clothes are nice and the home decor stuff is nice. It’s nice and nice & expensive! So I don’t buy but I do shop. I did pick up a CD of old Mandopop songs remixed, much like the recent Verve Remixed CDs called Shanghai Divas in Residence.
Except this was only 6 songs plus the remixes so I guess that’s 12 songs. Still kinda short but it’s a nice CD. I found myself listening to this a LOT on the Tokyo subway after I ripped the CD to my iPod. The remixes are about as long as the ride from Sendagi to Hibiya. It’s a nice groove and being on the train, it just fit.
Go here and click “next” at the bottom right corner of the page. You’ll see the CD on the next page.
Lodging in Tokyo (why pay twice as much as last time?)
On my last trip here (November 2003), I stayed at the New Koyo in Taito-Ku. It’s a bit out of the way, then nearest JR station being Minami-Senju. That’s several stops outside the Yamanote but you can’t beat the price.
This trip, I decided to stay somewhere different, albeit a tad pricer. The Annex Katsutaro is in Yanaka, a little bit closer than the New Koyo is. The nearest subway stop is Sendagi on the Chiyoda Line. It’s a one block walk (as opposed to the 6 block death march from Minami-Senju to the New Koyo). If you’re on JR or jumping off the Skyliner, you get off the train at Nippori Station and walk for about 10 minutes.
There’s a big pedestrianized street after you walk past the Yanaka Cemetary with all kinds of markets and shops. That’s called the Yanaka Ginza.
Walk to the end and make a left. Walk another block and you’ll see the Annex.
It’s new and it’s modern and it has three times the space that a room at the New Koyo has. And it has free internet via CAT 5 jacks in the walls. Wah!
The room was roomy, clean an it had a microfridge. And its own bathroom. Next time me and the fellas come to Japan, we stay here. No more friggin’ business hotels for me!
Best of all, if you dun bring yr Powerbook w/you, there’s FREE internet in the hall, a pee cee and a slot loading iMac. An iMac! Cool!
Thumbs up, and this is why I stayed here as opposed to the New Koyo this time, April. =P
Leaving on a (crowded) Jet Plane and other forms of transport
Today was my last day in Tokyo. Blah. The plane leaves for San Francisco at 1945 which means I go BACK in time and arrive at 1100 today.
That date line thingie can be a real pain in da butt…
I had some time today before I had to leave for Narita on the Skyliner. Since it leaves at 1445 and it takes about an hour to get to Narita, I had the morning to putter about. Now what is the Skyliner? Well…
There are several ways to get to Tokyo from Narita. Most people take the JR N’ex, the Narita Express. It takes about an hour to get to Tokyo Station and another 15 minutes or so to go to Shinjuku and another 30 to get to Yokohama (at Tokyo Station, the train splits in two). It’s in the neighborhood of 3000 yen (yes, that’s about US$26 or so) EACH WAY! It’s not worth it unless you have a JR Pass (in which case, all JR lines are free) or if someone else is paying.
There are also private railways here, usually ran by department stores (go figure!) such as the Tokyu Lines or the Hankyu Lines in Kyoto. Keisei Electric Railways runs the Skyliner that runs from Narita to Nippori, terminating at Ueno. The trains are older and look a tad funky, but it’s only 1900 yen each way (and if you hunt around, you can get discounted tix).
I had a chance to visit Roppongi Hills, a very upscale redevelopment in Roppongi. It’s an attempt to bring some grownupness (respectibility) to the area. It’s pretty nice. I visited the Mori Institute for the Future, a urban planning exhibit that compares New York, Shanghai and Tokyo with some neat 1/1000 scale city models and a bunch of multimedia shows. And naturally, no cameras allowed.
Sorry bout that.
Gotta boogie, the train will leave soon…