WhiteHawk wrote:

YAY!! Boof-OFF!!

If you're into J-Pop, next time you go to Japan you might want to check them out. Great selection and reasonable prices.

gaijinmark wrote:

YAY!! Boof-OFF!! If you're into J-Pop, next time you go to Japan you might want to check them out. Great selection and reasonable prices.

Oh really? Man! I bought bird's latest CD, New Basic, and a remastered CD of Loudness' hits at a store in Ikebukuro on my last night in Japan. Cost quite a bit! I do have a Japanese iTunes account now, and get all my J-Pop (J-Rock, J-Jazz, etc.) fixes through them. Still, I'll be sure to check out Book-Off on my next trip.

To be fair, they only deal in used stuff so if you're looking for something brand new that just came out they probably won't have it. It can be kind of hit and miss. Sometimes I've gone into Book-Off and they've had nothing and then a week later I'll go back and they'll have so much stuff I have to empty my wallet.

gaijinmark wrote:

To be fair, they only deal in used stuff so if you're looking for something brand new that just came out they probably won't have it. It can be kind of hit and miss. Sometimes I've gone into Book-Off and they've had nothing and then a week later I'll go back and they'll have so much stuff I have to empty my wallet.

Ah, okay. In that case, I'll definitely have to check it out, as some of the songs/artists I like aren't available on iTunes any more. If they ever were.

This little machine was my best friend in Tokyo. Since the summer ran long last year, the heat and humidity were constant. This dehumidifier - normally used for drying clothes, I think - turned my upstairs bedroom from a sauna into a room I could actually sleep in at night. Every morning and every evening, the machine shut off because its five-liter bucket would be full. I would carry it downstairs, empty it into the kitchen sink, and then put it back in the machine. That's five liters of water, twice a day.

I don't mean to sound like a wuss. After all, I'm from Tennessee. Nashville, to be exact. We have hot and humid every summer too. But I've not felt it like that. Here, the heat gets to you, even though the humidity is 90-95%. In Tokyo, the humidity would "only" be 85%, but it felt worse than Nashville. I jokingly attributed it to the Japanese tendency to do more with less.

Cruising the Toneri Liner. Did this a lot, living in Adachi-ku.

Went to see a nice play in this neighborhood.

Now THAT is a cargo box! How about that, BMW GSA rider?

356 and a 308GTB getting a little attention at this shop. Along with a new Fiat 500 (drove one of those home tonight, coincidentally) and... a Prius? How is that for eclectic?

Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Known to some only as "the place where James May dropped off a couple of sumo guys".

Ah, another taxi ride. Where to now?

Oh, just this place.

Allow me a little distraction here. The morning we went to the Sky Tree, I was awoken by an earthquake. My first. It was at 2:20 in the morning, and startled me such that I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I found out on the internet that it was a 5.2 centered just east of Narita airport. It didn't wake up anybody else in the house, not even the cat. It certainly didn't make the news. And then we went to the Sky Tree. I felt perfectly safe doing so, as I had watched a documentary of the construction. As an engineer, I knew the chances of getting hurt there in an earthquake were slim/none. And here I am posting about it two years - almost to the hour - since the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

Japan is often on my mind. Very much so now. To my friends there - including friends I have yet to meet - thoughts and prayers for you all.

WhiteHawk wrote:

The morning we went to the Sky Tree, I was awoken by an earthquake. My first. It was at 2:20 in the morning, and startled me such that I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I found out on the internet that it was a 5.2 centered just east of Narita airport. It didn't wake up anybody else in the house, not even the cat.

Obviously you're not from the West Coast.

bmwracer wrote:

Obviously you're not from the West Coast.

Nawsuh.

WhiteHawk wrote:

Nawsuh.

Then whereabouts?

bmwracer wrote:

Then whereabouts?

Nashville, Tennessee.

WhiteHawk wrote:

Nashville, Tennessee.

Ah, I shoulda recognized the accent.

WhiteHawk wrote:

Nashville, Tennessee.

Whenever somebody asks where you're from, this is the correct answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_CRANDTCAY

Just make sure you can beat up everybody in the room first.

WhiteHawk wrote:

Allow me a little distraction here. The morning we went to the Sky Tree, I was awoken by an earthquake. My first. It was at 2:20 in the morning, and startled me such that I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I found out on the internet that it was a 5.2 centered just east of Narita airport.

Interestingly, we had a quake here in SoCal today... About 4.7 magnitude... Hardly worth mentioning...

bmwracer wrote:

Ah, I shoulda recognized the accent.

gaijinmark wrote:

Whenever somebody asks where you're from, this is the correct answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_CRANDTCAY Just make sure you can beat up everybody in the room first.

Shouldn't be a problem. That's a pretty good line, I'll have to use it.

So. The new Tokyo Sky Tree.

Seeing the city from the entrance is beautiful enough.

Has anybody mentioned how flippin' huge this thing is?

So are the lines to get in. But there is entertainment while you wait. And typical of Japan, the line moves fast. It took us about an hour to get to the elevator.

And the view when you get up there...

Ah, Tokyo. How I love you.

And there is the dock where we launched on our Sumida River tour on my first day in Japan.

I took many more photos, but not being a very good photographer, most of them were either blurry or had glare from the glass. True photographers would have no trouble working around that, I'm sure.

Had to snack at the cafe! That pastry on the left is the Sky Tree Roll. Normally, one would expect anything named after a tourist spot to be awful, but not this creamy pastry. It was perfectly delicious! Really suited the high-altitude dining experience. Highly (pardon the pun) recommended!

Back outside, the Sky Tree has put on her finest for the night sky.

Leaving the complex, we found this little shop. With a name like that, we had to investigate!

It certainly didn't disappoint! The counter was staffed, as is often the case in Tokyo, by a really cute young woman. I said to her (in Japanese), "You're very cute. And you work in a chocolate store. Will you marry me?" She politely declined, and we all had a good laugh. Whew, that was close!

Good night, Sky Tree. I had my doubts about you when you were announced, but now you've hooked me. I won't soon forget you.

We capped the night by going to a jam club. I don't know if you can see it in the little picture, but I signed up to play guitar on The Thrill is Gone, a B.B. King classic.

I think these guys were regulars. They were pretty good.

I loved this guy's Flying V. It's a 1974 model, if I remember correctly, and it was perfect. I've got a Flying V too, but it's a re-issue from the 90's. I didn't bring my V (or my Les Paul, Telecaster, two Charvels or four Stratocasters) with me, so I borrowed an American-made Stratocaster for my jam.

"Finished". Yes, so were we! What a day and night! Living life like one can only do in Tokyo.

(How he got that magnet to stick to his forehead, I have no idea!)