Alpha's J-Adventure 2 - Final Update (P28) All Updates (P1)

Last edited by Alpha eX on Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:22 pm, edited 56 times in total.

Original Post:

Daily Updates:

Day 1 - Arrival and Exploration
Day 2.1 - Asakusa
Day 2.2 - Shibuya
Day 3 - Akihabara
Day 4 - Aeon Lake Town
Day 5 - Gunma
Day 6 - Meeting the Father
Day 7 - Tokyo Dome City
Day 8 - Tokyo Imperial Gardens
Day 9 - Skyscrapers and Karaoke
Day 10 - Harajuku and Yoyogi Park
Day 11 - Mount Takao
Day 12 - Ikebukuro
Day 13 - Back to Aeon Lake Town
Day 14 - Kappabashi, Ginza and Roppongi
Day 15 - Yokohama
Day 16 - Disney Sea Tokyo
Day 17 - Back to Akihabara
Day 18 - The Long Journey Home

Best Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/madebyluke ... 407895349/

Hotels and Hostels

http://www.oakhotel.co.jp/english/
http://www.tokyohostels.com/

I stayed at the Oak Hotel in a single room for about £36 a night, pricey because of the exchange rate but I was very happy with the room. It had a nice little bathroom with a shower, tv and internet in the room. It was very clean and in an amazing location, very close to Ueno station, 1 minute from another and in an area with lots of places to eat.

You can also stay at the Tokyo Hostel in a dorm for about £12 a night, I stayed here last time in a single room but the dorms seemed nice. It's a good place but location isn't as good as Oak Hotel but still only a 5 minute walk from a station close to Ueno.

Travel Guide

Youtube it. Every trip to Japan has to now be recorded for the forums pleasure as set by the Aaron and Lewis precedent.

Hotel sounds like the best bet to me. I'd probably advise you stay there as your first choice in terms of being respectful, but I'm also partially thinking about your penis too. You won't get sexy time in the J-parent's house and I doubt you or the J-girlfriend will be able to keep your hands off each other.

[youtubeuk]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ2DbODle9M[/youtubeuk]

This was a three style meat tataki platter which had chicken, pork and beef, all seared on the outside but still ice cold and raw on the inside.

Do this.

!

Oh, and for bonus internet respect points.. come home half way through.

In before any of you other banana splits try that joke!

Sounds a bit terrifying meeting her father, but it should be interesting to see how it goes

Obviously avoid dragging them into Shinjuku at night. Some of the shopping bits in Asagaya (West Tokyo) are nice to walk around for a day.

Perhaps get the Bullet Train out to Kyoto for a day, and see all the old castles; you can make sure to say that you think the Kyoto Railway Station is a disgusting piece of over-elaborate Western architecture, then get your gf to translate. Your future father-in-law should be impressed, as ALL Japanese hate that building. It seems.

Get a bus out to Fuji-Q Highland - it's not too long a ride from the centre of Tokyo. There are tame rides there for the old bigot and his wife, and a couple of gut-wrenching ones for you and the gf (I had to stop going on anything faster than 10 mph after going on 'Dodonpa'). My mates were pissing themselves laughing at the photo of me taken automatically just after 'launch'. Looked like someone had just shot me.

There's lots more to do in Tokyo, but I'm sure you know some things to do yersel.

What happened to Proto's post?

I thought it was a good idea.

Last edited by Alpha eX on Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

Roonmastor wrote:Youtube it. Every trip to Japan has to now be recorded for the forums pleasure as set by the Aaron and Lewis precedent.

Hotel sounds like the best bet to me. I'd probably advise you stay there as your first choice in terms of being respectful, but I'm also partially thinking about your penis too. You won't get sexy time in the J-parent's house and I doubt you or the J-girlfriend will be able to keep your hands off each other.

You guys want Youtube videos? I might do some actually but I don't want people to think i'm ripping off what Aaron and Lewis did.

I'm actually staying at the hotel from day one, i'm actually looking foward to checking in and going to the room, my gf will be picking me up from the airport and we're going straight to the hotel. I don't plan to stay at the parents house, in their culture it's weird for a bf to stay with the family so I can respect that. You're right about us not being able to keep hands off each other, lucky i'm not staying there cause the parents will probably catch us, nearly got caught by the mother back in London :lol:

Lewis, that meat tataki thing looks dangerous! Is it really safe to eat that? We're going to try those strange ice creams, has to be done!

Gil-Martin, awesome suggestions, cheers.

Alpha eX wrote:You guys want Youtube videos? I might do some actually but I don't want people to think i'm ripping off what Aaron and Lewis did.

I certainly won't think that, it'd be awesome to get some more Japan related videos.

LewisD wrote:
Alpha eX wrote:You guys want Youtube videos? I might do some actually but I don't want people to think i'm ripping off what Aaron and Lewis did.

I certainly won't think that, it'd be awesome to get some more Japan related videos.

Hopefully my gf is willing to be in some of the videos too, i'll try get her to do her infamous Wall-E impression. Expect videos of me on Drum Mania and Taiko no Tatsujin when I visit the arcade with the sister.

Videos will be done, I have a Canon Ixus 800 something, is that ok for taking videos?

LewisD wrote:
Alpha eX wrote:You guys want Youtube videos? I might do some actually but I don't want people to think i'm ripping off what Aaron and Lewis did.

I certainly won't think that, it'd be awesome to get some more Japan related videos.

Yeah, me neither. It's not exactly original to make youtube videos, and as such I won't get upset if you do it.

Who do you think we are, DML?

Hope you have an awesome time by the way! I'm so jealous. I'll have to wait for 2 years before I'm off to Japan again.

Good luck, fella!

Alpha eX wrote:So i'm going to Japan in a weeks time (monday), this will be my second visit to Japan, some of you may remember I went two years ago with a friend, I had a thread to post my adventures and updates. I'll be going back to Tokyo but for a specific reason.

This time it's going to be very interesting, in August my girlfriend moved back home to Japan, i'm going out to visit her which means I have to meet the parents, sister and the dog... (spoiler boxed the rest of the story)

I've met the mother and she was really nice, didn't seem to care about her daughter dating a white guy but she did seem a bit bothered when my gf told her how far along our relationship was in terms of us sleeping together. Anyway, that should be fine and the sister is an otaku gamer so no problems there. The problem? The father.
My gf never spoke much about her dad, infact she only did once. Aparently he's very strict and traditional which means he is against her daughter dating a foreigner. I was originally going to stay at the family house after my gf and her mother convinced the dad, he said I could stay for a week but wasn't happy about it. So out of respect, I booked a hotel as a back up plan.

So yeah, going to be an interesting trip, meeting the family and parents, hopefully we get along and I don't do anything to offend them. I'd also like some suggestions of things to do, if you know any crazy things for us to try in Tokyo.

Things to do:
Yakuza (thanks proto)
Shopping in Asagaya (West Tokyo)
Fuji-Q Highland - Link
Meat Tataki Platter (if this kills me i'm haunting lewisD)

SuperFinal wrote:

Good luck, fella!

SuperFinal wrote:

Good luck, fella!

That picture = made for this thread.

Fatal Exception wrote:Don't worry too much about the Dad. Just be nice and polite and they will accept you. The fact they are letting you in the house should mean they are OK with it.

My Ex was from an Indian family so I had to deal with some stuff like this. So long as you don't come across as a dick you'll be fine. Oh and if the Dog likes you it's a big bonus. If the dog hates you then you're in trouble.

I think I should be ok, I am a polite person, got approval of the mum for being honset, genuine and very kind/nice ect so just have to be the same when I meet the Dad and try not to destroy the family dog.

I really am screwed if the famlily dog hates me. I should do a video of me trying to bond with the dog, it'll end one of two ways, the dog biting my hand or me accidently throwing it out the window.

Oh and SuperFinal, that picture is hillarious if not a little worrying.

Good luck Alpha, I'm sure you'll be fine. And you have your gf there for support anyway, so go have fun!

How long are you going to be in Japan? I wouldn't mind going back this time of year to see the autumn in Japan. Bar the cherry blossom autumn is the second best time of the year to visit. Which hotel you at btw?

I want to go to Japan.

Last edited by Alpha eX on Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DrPepperMan wrote:Good luck Alpha, I'm sure you'll be fine. And you have your gf there for support anyway, so go have fun!

How long are you going to be in Japan? I wouldn't mind going back this time of year to see the autumn in Japan. Bar the cherry blossom autumn is the second best time of the year to visit. Which hotel you at btw?

I'm going to be there just under 3 weeks, got to get back for work, the day after I get back I have to teach a class at 10 in the morning! I'm staying at the Oak Hotel in Ueno, it's about 10/15 mins walk from the station, quite cheap, 6000Y a night for a single ensuite room.

I'm hoping to go back next year for the cherry blossom.

Fatal Exception wrote:I want to go to Japan.

If you have time, go, you can get a flight for around £400-500 and a place to stay for two weeks really cheap if you go to a hostel.

Oh, and i'll be trying this,

Hopefully it's better than the fowl cucumber flavor I tried time.

Roonmastor wrote:but I'm also partially thinking about your penis too

Alpha's J-Adventure 2 - Final Update (P28) All Updates (P1)

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