New Roommate just arrived. His name's Magic. That's all I know thus far. He's knocked out from his flight.
Tim Soo
Monday, June 30, 2008
Productive
I worked last night until 5 am. Slept three hours and started again. This is the most productive I've been in a while... and for some reason, I'm not sleepy. Hmm. Maybe it's all the green tea.
Back to work!
Tim Soo
Back to work!
Tim Soo
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Japanese people are smart.
I've meant to talk about this for a while. But Japanese people are very efficient.
Since all trash has to be organized (crazily increases amount of recycling and decreases trash amount), you really get an urge to create less trash. And when you do have trash, you're lead to organize it before you even throw it away because you'll have to sort it later and you want to make that process as easy as possible.
Grocery stores are more efficient, too. No need to waste money on bag boys etc. When you check out, you get bags to bag your own stuff and there are stations set up at the end of the store for you to organize it how you wish. Also makes for a much faster check-out line.
When you walk into places after it's been raining, there are either one of two choices. Some places have umbrella stands outside (stealing doesn't really occur much) and at some places you put your umbrella in and pull out a key so no one else can take your umbrella. In bigger places, there are just a bunch of plastic umbrella bags you pull right over it so you don't soak the floor and you just put it back when you're done.
C'mon America. Get w/ the program.
Tim Soo
Since all trash has to be organized (crazily increases amount of recycling and decreases trash amount), you really get an urge to create less trash. And when you do have trash, you're lead to organize it before you even throw it away because you'll have to sort it later and you want to make that process as easy as possible.
Grocery stores are more efficient, too. No need to waste money on bag boys etc. When you check out, you get bags to bag your own stuff and there are stations set up at the end of the store for you to organize it how you wish. Also makes for a much faster check-out line.
When you walk into places after it's been raining, there are either one of two choices. Some places have umbrella stands outside (stealing doesn't really occur much) and at some places you put your umbrella in and pull out a key so no one else can take your umbrella. In bigger places, there are just a bunch of plastic umbrella bags you pull right over it so you don't soak the floor and you just put it back when you're done.
C'mon America. Get w/ the program.
Tim Soo
Work Work Work
The roommate (Sean) moved out yesterday. I didn't even get to say bye. *sniff*. Haha no worries. We didn't say much to each other, he seemed to be very involved in something. Nice guy, though.
I called Sakura House and supposedly I was supposed to get another roommate yesterday. No show yet. My hopes are that he won't show up for a while so David can use his bed while he's here. Worst case scenario, he shows up while David is here. Hmm. Oops.
Two new amazing flavors? Wild Apple Sherbet (YUM! Kinda like Sour apple... but it really does taste more like Wild Apple, hard to describe) and Tiramisu ice cream (instead of the cream layer, it's ice cream). I do feel like we get screwed w/ our flavors in the states. These are sooo much better.
I've been working frantically most this weekend to put my project together. It'll be a long night.
Love all,
Tim Soo
I called Sakura House and supposedly I was supposed to get another roommate yesterday. No show yet. My hopes are that he won't show up for a while so David can use his bed while he's here. Worst case scenario, he shows up while David is here. Hmm. Oops.
Two new amazing flavors? Wild Apple Sherbet (YUM! Kinda like Sour apple... but it really does taste more like Wild Apple, hard to describe) and Tiramisu ice cream (instead of the cream layer, it's ice cream). I do feel like we get screwed w/ our flavors in the states. These are sooo much better.
I've been working frantically most this weekend to put my project together. It'll be a long night.
Love all,
Tim Soo
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Across the Universe.
I went out to lunch w/ some people at work yesterday. Twas difficult to communicate but I was sleepy all the same. Something about a lab makes you tired... aside from the chemical fumes and endless paper reading. My headache hadn't subsided so around 5:30 I packed up my work and brought it home to do.
The work didn't get done last night. I dozed off early a couple times, woke up for a bit, and crashed until 11 this morning.
Today was spent relaxing, taking walks around town, learning Japanese, watching movies. I think I needed it.
Homesick? I keep thinking how good it's going to be when I finally arrive at home, but I still have plans in store for Japan. I can't let myself be homesick just quite yet.
The bento boxes are wonderful. When I'm tired I just pick one up and eat it in the room... there are so many different types! *yawn*.
My goal really is to be able to switch to broken Japanese conversing rather than broken English conversing by the end of this trip. Meaning... I gotta get back to work.
-Tim Soo
The work didn't get done last night. I dozed off early a couple times, woke up for a bit, and crashed until 11 this morning.
Today was spent relaxing, taking walks around town, learning Japanese, watching movies. I think I needed it.
Homesick? I keep thinking how good it's going to be when I finally arrive at home, but I still have plans in store for Japan. I can't let myself be homesick just quite yet.
The bento boxes are wonderful. When I'm tired I just pick one up and eat it in the room... there are so many different types! *yawn*.
My goal really is to be able to switch to broken Japanese conversing rather than broken English conversing by the end of this trip. Meaning... I gotta get back to work.
-Tim Soo
Friday, June 27, 2008
Other things Japanese
Their stairs aren't as tall. I get tired stepping on every step so I just walk them two at a time now.
And no one uses binders (as in three-hole-punch type). Tis difficult.
Tim Soo
And no one uses binders (as in three-hole-punch type). Tis difficult.
Tim Soo
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Webcams are useful.
Yesterday I finally took a breather. I was productive at work and am currently designing an experiment. During the course of the last year where my time in lab was minimal, it seems people have come through with more research and I'm spending much time reading these papers and catching up.
The miso soup helps.
David is going to come visit next week! It's nice to be stupidly American w/ someone else. Hopefully we'll be able to amuse ourselves in Tokyo for a while... Anyone else have parents who work for airlines? C'mon down! (Or east rather.)
Head hurts. Probably should take some tylenol.
I need to start finding healthier food. Pastries for breakfast every morning probably isn't that great.
And I haven't eaten this much rice per day in a long time. Nom Nom
Tim Soo
The miso soup helps.
David is going to come visit next week! It's nice to be stupidly American w/ someone else. Hopefully we'll be able to amuse ourselves in Tokyo for a while... Anyone else have parents who work for airlines? C'mon down! (Or east rather.)
Head hurts. Probably should take some tylenol.
I need to start finding healthier food. Pastries for breakfast every morning probably isn't that great.
And I haven't eaten this much rice per day in a long time. Nom Nom
Tim Soo
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Japanese people know how to party...
After a day of not being able to stay awake and not being able to focus, I had forgotten that tonight was the night of our lab's "Welcome to the lab" dinner for myself and a couple other new people. And by dinner, I mean a five hour social gathering.
We walked to the restaurant (a solid 30 minute walk) to a wealthier side of town and came to this restaurant. This place was very typical of more traditional style (some of the guys who didn't speak much English just loved saying "Ja-po-nesa-sty-lu" ... i.e. Japanese style) with many many courses (I was full by the third one) and unlimited drinks.
And man alive, the guys could drink. It's customary (as I was told) to never pour your own drink if you're of higher rank (or just a male in some cases). So when a sensei went to go to pour his own drink, someone would always stop him and do it for him. Quite funny to watch. Anyways, maybe about 10 guys and 10 women total. The guys pounded 4 or 5 huge pitchers of beer within the first 10 minutes, and then their own drinks were ordered, then they ordered sake as a table (and were drinking that pretty crazily), then afterwards they were drinking just ice water. I thought, that's smart... they know their limit. Nope. I asked Kanami-san and it was actually another mix drink w/ ice that happened to be completely clear. They weren't turning red much either (until the fourth hour anyways). They were funny when less inhibited. These bunch really seem to enjoy sitting and talking. I feel like for me my idea of an outing involves much more "doing" in some way. It was fun though. I just didn't think it was going to last five hours. Matsumoto-sensei informed me that this is very normal for groups going out to eat. One meal lasts all night, and then some karaoke or other late night evenings. After Matsumoto-sensei and I were drunk off our ginger-ales and grape juice, we left them to their camaraderie and hilarious antics (it really was a fun night). I arrived home close to midnight. Three nights in a row folks. I was sleepy.
Pictured above are some of what we ate. Top right is an avocado salad w/ fried wonton wrapper crunched into it. Quite good. The Vietnamese-looking spring rolls actually weren't so Asian. That's a huge chunk of feta cheese in the middle. Nom Nom. Also very tasty. The rolls on a stick is actually pork and some spice rolled up and then wrapped w/ a thin piece of bacon. Very good, though the spice was very new to me. I also had the sashimi (salmon and yellow tail) which was actually more like carpaccio but didn't take a picture because well, I wanted to hurl. Still can't used to something sliming down my throat. I like COOKED food. Haha.
About an hour after that there was what we know as hot pot. Also good. But I was already stuffed by this point (there's other food in between, but I forget). About an hour after that Udon was served. Another hour, another more Chinese noodle dish, another hour, a cute Alon style bakery dessert. I was full.
I was fielding questions of evvverrrything while learning Japanese customs. Crazy crazy.
I slept when I got home...
Of the peoples names I can remember. These are it. Kanami, Reiji, Akio, Akiko, Nakamura-san, Matsumoto-sensei, Hashimoto-san, and a bunch of other people. I just forget easily. Ah well.
Here are some pics of the festivities.
Reiji and Hire?
Matsumoto-sensei
The one in pink is Kanami
Smile! (They say cheese in Japan, too)
Biru! Biru!
-Tim Soo
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tastes like cookie.
After a late night, I got a late start on the morning... though I still beat most everyone else to the lab. The hours of work are technically 9-5 but most people work more like 10/11 to 8/9. Yeah, I don't have enough time in Japan to be spending all of it in the lab.
I sloooowly got up, showered, cleaned up and headed out. My pastry shop... was closed! Sad. Instead I picked up a pastry at the 7/11. It was really good actually. It was somewhat like a fruit danish. It was triangular with chopped up cooked apple in the middle. Nom.
I finally bought a bus card. I wasn't really sure how to in the beginning so I sucked it up and asked the bus driver... and by asked I mean said "Sumimasen" and spoke in universal sign language. Oh and of course ended with "arigato."
Aren't you all glad? You get a Japanese lesson just for reading!
And it's official... I'm past jet lag. Took me Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not bad, eh?
Okay big day at work today. Not sure why. But let's pretend it is.
-Tim Soo
I sloooowly got up, showered, cleaned up and headed out. My pastry shop... was closed! Sad. Instead I picked up a pastry at the 7/11. It was really good actually. It was somewhat like a fruit danish. It was triangular with chopped up cooked apple in the middle. Nom.
I finally bought a bus card. I wasn't really sure how to in the beginning so I sucked it up and asked the bus driver... and by asked I mean said "Sumimasen" and spoke in universal sign language. Oh and of course ended with "arigato."
Aren't you all glad? You get a Japanese lesson just for reading!
And it's official... I'm past jet lag. Took me Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not bad, eh?
Okay big day at work today. Not sure why. But let's pretend it is.
-Tim Soo
Party time?
Around 5:30, I decided I was done and headed home.
Vikrant, one of the guys from India, was leaving later this week so we all went out and had a good-bye outing.
They're all... interesting. They're all about 5-8 years older than me with the exception of a few. For most of them they just wanted to smoke, drink, eat, and chat it up. Which was completely normal.
We set off around 8:30 and went nearby Kazagawa (sp?) station to this nice restaurant. It was kind of like a Japanese tapas bar. We each ordered two different small dishes and then all shared.
The alcoholic drinks (aside from the beers) were interesting. The apple sour looked much different that it does in the states (or so they told me). It was like a cloudy dark green color floating on the bottom and apparently really good, b/c after everyone had their first beer they ordered a few more apple sours. There was also this umi (sp?) drink... a small glass with ice and a shriveled up plum at the bottom. Apparently that was good too... though not so good when Chris decided to eat the plum (very sour.)
Oh right. People. I'm going to TRY and remember everyone I've met thus far in the building.
Shaun (still don't know if I'm spelling it right) - antisocial person from Korea
Tomas from France - hesitant with English but still nice
Sandro - from Germany but is also half Italian (looks like the guy from the Transporter) and speaks English, German, Italian, and French fluently and is pretty good now at Japanese
Chris - From California and is one of the only ones actually enrolled in a Japanese class.
Another Chris (from Australia) - looks like a scraggly chill guy and is pretty funny.
Katrina - Chris's fiance who is somewhat sad at her inability to speak Japanese well after four months. Also very nice though
Erica - 27 year old from Arizona. She seems to know a LOT about all things entertainment and was well... entertaining :)
Layla (sp?) - Older woman from Iran (Shahein you can help me out here) who doesn't really speak English so communication is often limited to Japanese.
Viki - Aussie woman (30?) whose funny and socialable. Not really sure how else to describe her.
Matias from Germany.. I think - His English isn't perfect but he seems like a very nice guy as well. Very European
Lully (Lauren) - Katrina's sister. I don't know her very well but she seems extremely eccentric. You might hear more about her later.
Paul - I spoke the most with him tonight. He reminds me of the English gambler/announcer from A Knight's Tale. He's been in Tokyo for 3 years after landing a marketing job. Originally from England, he describes his home country as extremely dull. Very English.
Vikrant - guy from India (could you tell by the name?) who's leaving soon. My neighbor on the third floor and a very friendly guy away from India for the first time. He seems to be sad to be leaving... but that's understandable.
Jose from England - he's actually a few years younger than me and one of the wanderers from England... just came .. to come. Isn't working or anything... somehow pays for stuff...
I think there is another Matias... but I'm not sure if that's his name - From France, doesn't speak much English but is very nice as well.
I'm probably missing a few but I think that is pretty good considering my memory...
Oh I just ran into another guy. John maybe? I'm making it up. But there are a couple more from England.
Most are here teaching English. Others are working... others are searching. Tis an eclectic bunch.
There were some group shots but I haven't gotten those pictures yet. Here are mine though.
Oh btw. One of the dishes was RAW horse meat. And I'm sorry, but I tried it. Tasted actually like cooked beef. And a lot more tender than I thought... but I'm going to stop typing about it or I might just hurl.
And no, I still didn't eat the squid.
People Watching.
"It's been a long day. Working 10 hours days in a department store on the west side of town just ain't cuttin' it. Today we had four customers... total. Not one of them bought something. I've got my silk satin shirt and black jeans for what? It doesn't pay the bills to look good. I spend 50 dollars on a haircut twice a month to return to my empty studio apartment to show... no one.Doesn't seem worth it, does it?
How many hours did I waste on school, on meaningless sports, on night schools and workbook exercises.
It doesn't seem worth it.
I wonder if my parents think about me. About how I turned out, about where I am. All their time spent trying to make me somebody else. Go to college. Be a doctor.
It doesn't seem worth it."
Haha. First disclaimer.
Mom, I'm not talking about me at all. :). I WANT to be a doctor and am VERY happy about I turned out.
Waiting at the bus stop I just took pictures of lots of interesting people. The above is the story I put along with that guy. Yeah I don't know him.. but he looked oddly unsettling and was dressed very chicly (he probably had something to do with fashion)... kinda like an unhappy Japanese Johnny Depp. Below are a few more pictures from my ride home.
Lab is... Fun :)
Differences in lab.
Everyone wears face masks in lab. They're a lot more concerned about being clean and neat than us Western folk... but then again that just might be a generalization.
I'm picking up Japanese little by little... w/ some of the younger guys teaching me things I shouldn't... or so I'm told.
I can communicate on a basic level with almost everyone in the lab due to their having taken English at some point in their life.
I'm on my 5th cup of tea. Boy I hope it's not caffeinated.
I crammed a lot of knowledge into my head in one day. Feels good to be back in lab.
Shahein and I talked on aim about crazy science topics for a while... if only the Shahein and Tim of pre-college could have seen us now. We've come a long way. In a lot of ways, suffering through Bio 141 paid off. Kinda.
They're very efficient here, which is probably why they can get consistent results. They have one person who's sole job is working with gene chips, which, yes, does make her job probably seemingly tiring repeating the same thing day after day... but at the same time, she's very skilled at what she does--meaning whenever someone needs gene chip work, they go to her because they know the risk of error in procedure or methodological errors is minimal.
8 weeks is so long yet long enough. So long to be away from everyone but not long enough to get substantial work done in this amazing lab.
My goal, in short, is just to assist in any way I can on other projects and learn about their techniques (and how they differ from our own) and hopefully be able to replicate it in the states. Needless to say, I'm documenting like crazy.
Unfortunately, no more pictures since I've been at work and from here on out the posts may become much more science-filled when I publish at work... but I'm having fun.
Oh and there are three of us who are relatively new to the lab. The entire lab is going out on Wednesday.
As an update to the lunch service I ordered, Yum. 420 yen (roughly 4 bucks) for a box of rice (maybe about a bowl and some), grilled chicken (Japanese style of course), pickled radishes (they were orange... but good), some other vegetable thing (I forget what the name of it is), the same fried veggie/carb thing I had in my bento box from before, a little bit of pasta thing that tasted remarkably like beefaroni, a mini hot-dog like thing, and some kim-chi like thing (that was probably my favorite). Sorry I can't be more descriptive... I'll take a picture later.
This post is going backwards through my day... oh well.
I worked with Reiji and Hire (yes, Hire!) on an RNeasy extraction and Hashimoto-san on the gene chip work. And by work I mean watch. Not yet situated enough to begin my own experiments.
The main things I need to figure out is just the location of everything in the lab. Once I know that, I think I'm good to go.
And I had some extended conversations with people in lab today. They're all very friendly. Well, the ones who talk to me are friendly :). I still haven't met everyone but I fear some may be less social. Ah well, I can fix that.
Checks have been retired. I ran out of interesting things to say. :)
Hasta ato de (yes I just combined two languages)
Tim Soo
Everyone wears face masks in lab. They're a lot more concerned about being clean and neat than us Western folk... but then again that just might be a generalization.
I'm picking up Japanese little by little... w/ some of the younger guys teaching me things I shouldn't... or so I'm told.
I can communicate on a basic level with almost everyone in the lab due to their having taken English at some point in their life.
I'm on my 5th cup of tea. Boy I hope it's not caffeinated.
I crammed a lot of knowledge into my head in one day. Feels good to be back in lab.
Shahein and I talked on aim about crazy science topics for a while... if only the Shahein and Tim of pre-college could have seen us now. We've come a long way. In a lot of ways, suffering through Bio 141 paid off. Kinda.
They're very efficient here, which is probably why they can get consistent results. They have one person who's sole job is working with gene chips, which, yes, does make her job probably seemingly tiring repeating the same thing day after day... but at the same time, she's very skilled at what she does--meaning whenever someone needs gene chip work, they go to her because they know the risk of error in procedure or methodological errors is minimal.
8 weeks is so long yet long enough. So long to be away from everyone but not long enough to get substantial work done in this amazing lab.
My goal, in short, is just to assist in any way I can on other projects and learn about their techniques (and how they differ from our own) and hopefully be able to replicate it in the states. Needless to say, I'm documenting like crazy.
Unfortunately, no more pictures since I've been at work and from here on out the posts may become much more science-filled when I publish at work... but I'm having fun.
Oh and there are three of us who are relatively new to the lab. The entire lab is going out on Wednesday.
As an update to the lunch service I ordered, Yum. 420 yen (roughly 4 bucks) for a box of rice (maybe about a bowl and some), grilled chicken (Japanese style of course), pickled radishes (they were orange... but good), some other vegetable thing (I forget what the name of it is), the same fried veggie/carb thing I had in my bento box from before, a little bit of pasta thing that tasted remarkably like beefaroni, a mini hot-dog like thing, and some kim-chi like thing (that was probably my favorite). Sorry I can't be more descriptive... I'll take a picture later.
This post is going backwards through my day... oh well.
I worked with Reiji and Hire (yes, Hire!) on an RNeasy extraction and Hashimoto-san on the gene chip work. And by work I mean watch. Not yet situated enough to begin my own experiments.
The main things I need to figure out is just the location of everything in the lab. Once I know that, I think I'm good to go.
And I had some extended conversations with people in lab today. They're all very friendly. Well, the ones who talk to me are friendly :). I still haven't met everyone but I fear some may be less social. Ah well, I can fix that.
Checks have been retired. I ran out of interesting things to say. :)
Hasta ato de (yes I just combined two languages)
Tim Soo
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Japan Rocks
First day w/o Jet lag... and I gotta say. It rocks
One of my friends happens to also be in Japan (Ming-yee), so I'm going to try and catch up with some of them next next weekend (they have class and I have work).
My Japanese is being put to good use. I haven't gotten the hang of listening quite yet, but I can at least slowly verbalize my thoughts in Japanese on the MOST MOST basic level.
I asked "what type of cell sorting" in Japanese. They didn't really understand me at first,but then again I didn't really say it with confidence.
Slowly but surely.
I'm keeping busy relearning lots.
Today I went through a RNeasy protocol. There are a couple newbies here in lab running the protocol so I got bored of watching... the process was simple enough.
Still working. Hasta Luego.
Happy? Check
Tired of this checking? Check
-Tim Soo
One of my friends happens to also be in Japan (Ming-yee), so I'm going to try and catch up with some of them next next weekend (they have class and I have work).
My Japanese is being put to good use. I haven't gotten the hang of listening quite yet, but I can at least slowly verbalize my thoughts in Japanese on the MOST MOST basic level.
I asked "what type of cell sorting" in Japanese. They didn't really understand me at first,but then again I didn't really say it with confidence.
Slowly but surely.
I'm keeping busy relearning lots.
Today I went through a RNeasy protocol. There are a couple newbies here in lab running the protocol so I got bored of watching... the process was simple enough.
Still working. Hasta Luego.
Happy? Check
Tired of this checking? Check
-Tim Soo
Jet Lag Averted
This is one of the first mornings where I've woken up... not tired. Hopefully this means that jet lag has been overcome.
I got up to see tents strewn across our staircase, apparently someone had gone camping. I woke up half an hour later than I had planned (my alarm didn't really work?) but it was still very early nonetheless. After a good shower and clean clothes, I headed out.
I've decided to try everything in the Fortina Pistrina (name of the little bakery that I like) day by day for breakfast since it's on my way to the bus stop. Today I based it on the amount of change I had in my pocket. 170 yen. So I bought this little pastry that tasted remarkably like a bagel with cream cheese and walnuts. Nom Nom. (Didn't look like it though).
Rode the bus for about 25 minutes to work. It'd actually be about the same time if I had biked, but this way I don't sweat like crazy.
I also ordered the bento box service that everyone else gets for lunch. Works for me. Nom Nom
I'm starting to feel like a real japanese person... I do get the feeling that my muscle percentage is going to shoot down the drain from lack of protein, but ah well. I can make it up later. :)
Circadian Readjusted? ...Hopefully Check
Tim Soo
I got up to see tents strewn across our staircase, apparently someone had gone camping. I woke up half an hour later than I had planned (my alarm didn't really work?) but it was still very early nonetheless. After a good shower and clean clothes, I headed out.
I've decided to try everything in the Fortina Pistrina (name of the little bakery that I like) day by day for breakfast since it's on my way to the bus stop. Today I based it on the amount of change I had in my pocket. 170 yen. So I bought this little pastry that tasted remarkably like a bagel with cream cheese and walnuts. Nom Nom. (Didn't look like it though).
Rode the bus for about 25 minutes to work. It'd actually be about the same time if I had biked, but this way I don't sweat like crazy.
I also ordered the bento box service that everyone else gets for lunch. Works for me. Nom Nom
I'm starting to feel like a real japanese person... I do get the feeling that my muscle percentage is going to shoot down the drain from lack of protein, but ah well. I can make it up later. :)
Circadian Readjusted? ...Hopefully Check
Tim Soo
Rain Rain. Sleepy Day
(A shot I took from above the road)
I'm still sleeping like crazy. I think I'm getting the last of jet lag out of my system... either that or I'm allergic to Japan. Let's hope it's the former.
I found a pharmacy but I felt okay at the moment... eventually I might need something to nasal decongest. (The humidity messes you)
So I think my body is going to have an issue w/ lack of protein. So THAT's why Japanese people are skinny... the amount of protein they eat is soooo minimal. Where's my steak?
In addition to all the other things I mentioned, there are hair salons everywhere. And pet clinics. Seriously, like once every ten stores is one of these.
Sunday, rainy. Not much open cept for... hair salons, pet clinics... most the restaurants weren't even open.
I was trying to find cute puppy... but I couldn't find a puppy store. Hopefully this video will hold you over until later... :) (from Taiwan a few years ago).
Saturday, June 21, 2008
And one.
Oh. Another video from last night. Wandering near the cafe. If you look closely you can see the sketchy guy in the cafe...
Detailed Night Adventure.
Jet lag is still getting to me. I slept all afternoon... not sure if I blogged about that yet. I promised someone I'd detail my night time exploration.. with pictures more than anything else.. so here goes.
I explored. Twas nice. (Sorry Cindy, still habit). I took a picture of the street I was at...
But it really matter. I wasn't really that sure where I was anyways. As long as I could find my way back I was happy. I went the opposite way just to see what I might run into... most stores are apparently closed on the weekend so I didn't find much... but twas still nice outside.
This random sign was there... not really sure what it was for because the crosswalk signs were below. Beware of man with hat.
This store intrigued me... Snack Crayon. I hope it's not what it sounds like. "Kids, tired of having to eat your OWN crayons? Get them here! And chomp away." I walked on.
The first big thing I ran into was this restaurant. It was a sashimi/sushi house, which was great and all, but I prefer the more local, less high class cuisines. The building itself was gorgeous though.
Just down the street from that restaurant was a Denny's. Now when Shaun told me that's where we went, I scoffed. Denny's sucks right? Wrong. It had all types of Japanese food. I was doing a lot better with the food thing.
I walked in as a couple was walking out so I held the door for them. They were very confused and didn't understand why I was holding the door open and standing behind it. When they figured it out they just said sumimasen a few times and walked through. Apparently people don't really do that here.
Just an excerpt from the menu. They had Japanese-tinted Western food (sandwiches, pasta) but also a lot of Japanese food. Of course.. I went for the Japanese.
See I'm happy :). Good food. Good atmosphere. The waiter actually knew a little English. I walked him and he asked me whether I wanted non-smoking or smoking. Of course I didn't understand so I told him I didn't understand Japanese. He thought about it and then said it in English. Went well.
I order Bubble tea from the menu just to see what the differences would be. It was a lot heavier (cream-wise) with smaller bubbles but very yummy all the same. It came first and I downed it pretty quickly.
My meal! I ordered from the menu and the waiter read to me what I had ordered... And well. I was pretty sure he said ramen! Lo and behold. I had found my ramen.I ate (nom nom) the ramen, which was quite delectable, and couldn't eat anything else. I haven't really been hungry since I left home (jet lag probably) so I whipped out my handy phrase book and asked if he could pack it to go. Lunch for tomorrow :).
I didn't feel like I had filled my exploring quota so after a late dinner I continued on. I found a little cute cafe and took some pictures... though some guy was giving me the evil I so I passed quickly.
I stopped in another convenient store and took pictures just so you guys can see what I meant in my previous posts.
Lots and lots of food. Chomp.
Finally I realized that most everything wasn't open during the weekend and headed back. This last shot is one of my favorites though. My camera doesn't do it justice.
I attempted to learn more Japanese today but I still can't fight off this constant lethargy. I slept 8-9 hours last night, slept another 4 this afternoon and yet I'm still completely exhausted. I think I might be allergic to something or another b/c my nose is congested fairly often. My dad believes it might be the humidity--I don't disagree since I breathe most easily in lab (where the air is a bit drier). I was going to look for some Sudafed... except it's illegal in Japan. I think Claritin might be too. Ah well. I'll deal.
Ramen? Check.
Awake? Not yet.
-Tim Soo
Trash..
So I'm spending the day learning Japanese... it's gloomy outside and I can't fight this feeling of exhaustion even though I just woke up. Yay for jetlag.
Trash is very interesting here.. you have to sort everything into burnables, non-burnable, PET bottles, cans, and food waste. It is REALLY strict. It makes you want to generate less trash and makes you more conscious of reusing what you can.
Trash is only picked up at certain times... not like certain days like us... we have to put it out between 7-8 on a different day depending on what type of trash it is. Trash can't go out any earlier or any later... meaning somebody has to get up that early...
*yawn*
Sleepy? Check
-Tim Soo
Trash is very interesting here.. you have to sort everything into burnables, non-burnable, PET bottles, cans, and food waste. It is REALLY strict. It makes you want to generate less trash and makes you more conscious of reusing what you can.
Trash is only picked up at certain times... not like certain days like us... we have to put it out between 7-8 on a different day depending on what type of trash it is. Trash can't go out any earlier or any later... meaning somebody has to get up that early...
*yawn*
Sleepy? Check
-Tim Soo
Friday, June 20, 2008
Much Better... Yum
Saturday.
After trying to stay up as late as I could to fight jetlag, I finally fell asleep. I still have no clue when Shaun (sp? - the roommate) goes to sleep.
After chatting for a little while... I went for a morning stroll. Places don't really open very early so I had to wait awhile after waking up insanely early. It was much more enjoyable this time around w/o a heavy backpack on. I walked about half a mile and turned around onto a different road. Granted, I had no idea where I was going, but it had to be in the general direction.
As I left the house, I stopped by a small bakery next to where I live. It got better. After a horrid night of food, I got a couple pastries. (No pictures... I ate them too fast). One was a flatter danish type bread with dried mango cooked on the top. Yum. The other I saw there was only one left (thus it must be popular). And it might as well have been pure sugar. It was like the red bean thing I had the other day, except it was a donut-like bread around the outside and COVERED in sugar crystals. I needed water afterwards... and a second to recover from the headrush. I haven't decided whether to get a bike or just ride the bus. Since it's the rainy season it makes sense just to ride the bus, but I saw a couple bike shops on the way. Unfortunately... nothing was open yet.
The food escapades don't just stop there. When I took that random turn to the unknown, I came across a bento box place. It had pictures! AND good food. No longer obligated to have noodles, I went in and ordered. The workers there were like busy bees... never ceasing. I ordered something with something with something... I couldn't read it. But this is what it looks like...
I'm saving it for lunch.
So food-wise I was doing MUCH better. And I picked up some necessities (picture shown but I'm not sure why)... going through the grocery store rocked. Everything is so much more organized and easily packed... and they have EVERYTHING. I really do want to cook... except that it'd cost about the same... *sigh*. Ah well.
Oh and walking on the streets is pretty interesting. You know how in ATL people will follow the Walk and Don't Walk signals in the city more out of fear of death than anything. But here, everyone follows them no matter where they are, no matter if there are cars coming (except maybe the realllllly small roads). And bikes aren't locked to anything. Some lock the back tire with a lock I could probably break with a wrench but most just sit there unlocked. Not much crime rate.
The only place where you have a slight chance of getting mugged is Roppongi. Why? It's the part of town where all the foreigners go. Figures.
Shops I see the most of;
Eateries... of any kind.
Convenience Stores
Cafes
Bakeries
Entertainment Stores
They take a very different approach to shopping. For us is HUGE STORE w/ everything in it. These shops are each about the size of my dorm room, yet they make it work. And there are enough of them so no matter were you are you can always get what you need. Oh and their covenience stores... yeah pretty much all food.
Good Food? Check
Relaxing Day? Check
-Tim Soo
Meh
It's easier for me to blog at work than at home... the internet is faster there. Anyways, after meeting everyone in the lab... I went home around 6. I walked back some of the way trying to find somewhere to eat. Tis sad eating by yourself :(. Japan rocks, it'd just be nicer to have someone to share it with. With time I suppose.
Anyways since I can't read Japanese, I ended up having to go to bigger restaurant where I could just point to pictures. Apparently people just assume I can speak Japanese... and well I didn't have the heart to tell them I couldn't so there was a lot of head nodding and "hai. hai. hai."
I walk into this empty but VERY nice restaurant where everything is electronic. Twas somewhat confusing actually. He took my order on an electronic pad and there was a screen I think I was supposed to order from myself. Ah well.
I walk into this empty but VERY nice restaurant where everything is electronic. Twas somewhat confusing actually. He took my order on an electronic pad and there was a screen I think I was supposed to order from myself. Ah well.
I promised someone I'd eat noodles today.. so I pointed to a bowl of noodles and waited. Turned out to be a cold chewy clear noodle in kind of glue like consistency soup, served with veggies and a very lightly cooked egg. I was not pleased. But I ate it and left...
I gave up on walking the last two miles and just hopped on the bus for home.
So remember the other day when I bought Pocari Sweat? Last night I opted for a 2 L bottle of Aquarius and I gotta say... not as good. It looks like cloudy water but just taste like a horrid flavor of gatorade. Yelch.
I went back home and met a bunch of people in the building. Sad though. When asked what they do for fun, no one had an answer. Most of them were here to teach or work and actually it seemed like some of them were just drifters.. just hanging around Japan to see what's there.
After getting cleaned up... I went out by myself for a walk. Twas gorgeous. There was a light breeze and I was dressed down and MUCH more comfortable. Japan is much more beautiful when you're not sweaty and tired.
I walked around trying to find some better food... same problem though. I couldn't read menus w/o pictures so I'd end up just guessing completely. I'll work on that.
I went to the 7/11 and picked up an udon bowl.... turns out it was ANOTHER type of cold noodle. Apparently it's following me around. Anyways, I got pretty sick from .. who knows .. but eventually made it back and rested.
Meet People in the Building? Check
Get Adjusted? Half-Check
-Tim Soo
First Full Day
I woke up around 3/4 in the morning (I need to get used to military time, that's how they do things here) and called family and a little bit lot friends. :) Skype works wonders. Anyways. After getting a little more organized and taking a nap, I headed out for the day. Where I work was only 3 miles away and I didn't have to be there until 1 o'clock b/c they had a meeting today and requested that I arrive after it. After stopping to figure out where to go and how to get there, I set off from Sakura House: Shoin Jinjamae (my point of residence).
This next picture is from Setagaya street, pretty much a direct line from where I work to where I live. Tis pretty, no?
Well, I hadn't eaten or drinking anything since I left the airplane the night before... so I stopped by a vending machine. I found it humourous to see a huge picture of Tommy Lee Jones on the side.
I got a bottle of Pocari Sweat. If any of you have every had Pocari Sweat, you'll know it tastes much better than it sounds. It really is like a clear gatorade... except it's much better than gatorade. I can't really describe it, you'll have to pick one up. It, too, describes itself as an ion/electrolyte replenisher. I needed the replenishing.
So my plans to learn Japanese in the recent past failed miserably (due to unforeseen ... events) but nonetheless I pressed forward. I passed a little bread vendor and immediately they started a rampage of hellos, good morning, and welcomes. I walked forward and paused. I wanted to order something since they were so nice but had no idea of how. So I followed an old lady and just pointed to something random and ordered.
Turns out I ordered a red bean bun. Twas quite yummy. The rest of the walk was filled with dashing in and out of stores and sweating. ENDLESS sweating. It wasn't very hot, but the humidity kills. I ended up buying this... thing (pictured below)
The only thing I could read about it was that it was 100 percent cotton. Good enough for me. It became my handkerchief so at least I wouldn't be soaked by the time I got there. I was crazy tempted by all the food along the way too. Turns out though, most restaurants don't open until lunch time... around 11. Do Japanese people just not eat breakfast?
To appease Dean Ram and Dean Brzinski who no doubt will be reading this eventually, I'll get to the actual work part. I finally arrived at the Research Institute. This place looked much more hi-tech than the rest of Tokyo. (Tokyo is similar to Taiwan in appearance... i.e. a lot less hi-tech than I thought). I walked into the main entrance to a phone... where I called my lab. I was two hours early, but I was greeted and taken up to the ninth floor by Kanami (who through my email contact, I had thought was a guy... oops.) Anyways, they were just finishing the lab meeting so I was ushered to the front to talk about myself and who I was in front of the entire team (10 or so)... of which most know preliminary English and few actually speak it well enough... but that I'm used to.
I filled out most the paper work stuff... hacked into their network (cough... twas hard to do in Japanese) so I could use my own computer instead of their Japanese one and got to work. I found out a couple things. Most people bring their lunch.. so I'll have to start figuring out how to do that as well. There are a LOT of people in this lab, so I'll need to learn Japanese... and quickly. I'm picking it up little by little. And I have a lot to learn. Dr. Saito was sick today so that meeting will have to wait until Monday. I met Dr. Matsumoto and many others, they're all very nice.
( a picture during the set-up process.)
I'll be learning how to culture Human mast cells from peripheral blood (which if you know immunology, is cutting edge) along with a million other new techniques which in itself is awesome... but I have a lot of relearning to do.
Begin Work? Check.
-Tim Soo
P.S. I need to eat...
This next picture is from Setagaya street, pretty much a direct line from where I work to where I live. Tis pretty, no?
Well, I hadn't eaten or drinking anything since I left the airplane the night before... so I stopped by a vending machine. I found it humourous to see a huge picture of Tommy Lee Jones on the side.
I got a bottle of Pocari Sweat. If any of you have every had Pocari Sweat, you'll know it tastes much better than it sounds. It really is like a clear gatorade... except it's much better than gatorade. I can't really describe it, you'll have to pick one up. It, too, describes itself as an ion/electrolyte replenisher. I needed the replenishing.
So my plans to learn Japanese in the recent past failed miserably (due to unforeseen ... events) but nonetheless I pressed forward. I passed a little bread vendor and immediately they started a rampage of hellos, good morning, and welcomes. I walked forward and paused. I wanted to order something since they were so nice but had no idea of how. So I followed an old lady and just pointed to something random and ordered.
Turns out I ordered a red bean bun. Twas quite yummy. The rest of the walk was filled with dashing in and out of stores and sweating. ENDLESS sweating. It wasn't very hot, but the humidity kills. I ended up buying this... thing (pictured below)
The only thing I could read about it was that it was 100 percent cotton. Good enough for me. It became my handkerchief so at least I wouldn't be soaked by the time I got there. I was crazy tempted by all the food along the way too. Turns out though, most restaurants don't open until lunch time... around 11. Do Japanese people just not eat breakfast?
To appease Dean Ram and Dean Brzinski who no doubt will be reading this eventually, I'll get to the actual work part. I finally arrived at the Research Institute. This place looked much more hi-tech than the rest of Tokyo. (Tokyo is similar to Taiwan in appearance... i.e. a lot less hi-tech than I thought). I walked into the main entrance to a phone... where I called my lab. I was two hours early, but I was greeted and taken up to the ninth floor by Kanami (who through my email contact, I had thought was a guy... oops.) Anyways, they were just finishing the lab meeting so I was ushered to the front to talk about myself and who I was in front of the entire team (10 or so)... of which most know preliminary English and few actually speak it well enough... but that I'm used to.
I filled out most the paper work stuff... hacked into their network (cough... twas hard to do in Japanese) so I could use my own computer instead of their Japanese one and got to work. I found out a couple things. Most people bring their lunch.. so I'll have to start figuring out how to do that as well. There are a LOT of people in this lab, so I'll need to learn Japanese... and quickly. I'm picking it up little by little. And I have a lot to learn. Dr. Saito was sick today so that meeting will have to wait until Monday. I met Dr. Matsumoto and many others, they're all very nice.
( a picture during the set-up process.)
I'll be learning how to culture Human mast cells from peripheral blood (which if you know immunology, is cutting edge) along with a million other new techniques which in itself is awesome... but I have a lot of relearning to do.
Begin Work? Check.
-Tim Soo
P.S. I need to eat...
Japan Ahoy!
I have arrived and I'm safe. But I'm sure that's not the reason you're reading. I tried posting last night from my residence... but the internet there is a bit dicey. It's better from where I work. This post will be waaaay more detailed than you'd ever care to read; but I suppose if you're stuck somewhere in a hot, sweaty office, you'll appreciate it.
I started off at 3 am leaving for the airport... see this smile? It's fake. I hadn't slept but an hour... and twas time to leave the comfort of my own home into the mix of excitement and anxiety that was ahead. Anyways, airport journey isn't that interesting. I slept in the car... and had a mess of a time at Hartsfield. Apparently no one even shows up to check your bags until 5 ish... for my flight at six. To add to that the train was down so I had to walk the mile to my terminal. All's well though.
I ate burger king (yelch, it was the only thing open) for breakfast and slept all the way to Newark. The cabin pressure screws with your ears when you're not awake... I woke up deaf... well deafer than usual. Found a chair in Newark and slept during my 2 hour layover. Packed some better food for the 13 hour flight (philly cheesesteak!) and off I went.
I look happy, right? The plane hadn't taken off yet. 13 hour flights generally aren't that bad. I slept through a lot of mine. My laptop died within two hours and I didn't want to pay 125 USD for the adapter the charge it on the plane. The movies being shown were horrible and Anna Karenina became boring pretty quickly. The airplane food however was pretty good. Nom Nom
Welcome to Japan! And I felt that way... happy to have arrived. This would change with time.
One thing I had to get used to was doing everything on the left side. Generally when walking toward someone, both people veer right to avoid hitting. In Japan, it's left. Still getting used to that. I bought a ticket to Shinjuku from the counter (my preliminary Japanese training was paying off). I rode the Narita Express to Shinjuku... this "train" however was more like a airplane on wheels... unlike the crazy packed trains in Tokyo. Also I had no idea how to read my ticket. Took me a while to figure out I had to sit on a specific seat on a specific section because the train sections separated halfway through the trip.
At this point, the number of pictures I took dwindled... paralleling my decreased energy levels and increased desire to add to Japan's increasing suicide statistic. On the Narita Express, believe it or not, I ran into someone from Emory! It was a fleeting encounter but this '06 graduate had been living in Japan for a year and was leaving within the week. Perhaps I arrived just to fill the Emory quota for Japan. I also sat next to a (rather smelly) gentleman who lived in Japan but was obviously from America. He, unlike me, was fluent in Japanese so he answered many of my concerns. I was confident.... for about 5 seconds.
When I arrive at Shinjuku station, everything seems calm. As I got closer to the heart of the station, EVERYTHING picked up. People rushed back and forth. It was like a game of frogger in every direction. Or like those VISA commercials when everyone is moving in unison until the one guy with cash... or in my case two huge things of luggage and no knowledge of where to go or what to do... breaks everything down. Funnily enough, this was the top post on one of the newsfeeds I read.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/eki/shibuya/map_rittai_1.html
And seriously, that was only a SECTION of the station.
So whoever designed these stations wasn't bright. I had tons of luggage and there were escalators... but only ones going down. Sure helps the kid needing to go up. I was pouring sweat and tired from lack of sleep slash jet lag. Finally I made it to the housing office to pick up my keys and fill out all the lease agreements (took about an hour) just to have to go back.
Back at Shinjuku, I had to take the Yamanote Line to Shibuya... then switch to the Denen Toshi line to go to Kamagaza or something like that. It seems simple... until you realize there are like 50 different train lines with a different price for every stop and buying tickets is NOT simple. You pretty much tell them a price you want to put on the ticket and fix it later if you're wrong. Luckily enough I guessed right both times. It makes you appreciate the simplicity of Marta.
http://www.tokyotechsupport.com/map/rosen_eng2.png
That's a map of the MAIN ones. Only the main ones. One of the ones I rode isn't even on that map... the smaller private train lines don't get included.
After arriving at the last stop. I still had a mile to walk to attempt to find this place. At this point I really wanted to give up and sleep there. I was contemplating giving up existence. No joke. I pulled to the side and just called a taxi. I gave him the address and let him figure it out. He had to stop and ask for directions a couple times but by chance we found it.
First thing I did? Took a shower. Though I didn't figure out how to turn on the hot water... but at that point I didn't care anyways. After 17 hours of plane and the Tokyo metro, it felt great.
My roommate Shaun is from Korea... but he's moving out next week. He's into a lot of musical/video things so we had a bit to talk about. After unpacking, my room looked like this.
The doors aren't that tall. Literally maybe a couple inches taller than me. I feel sorry for non-short people. After all is said and done, I went downstairs and met a couple other people, Baboe from Korea and Jeff from Utah and hit the sack. At 8 pm.
Arrival in Japan? Check.
Tim Soo
I started off at 3 am leaving for the airport... see this smile? It's fake. I hadn't slept but an hour... and twas time to leave the comfort of my own home into the mix of excitement and anxiety that was ahead. Anyways, airport journey isn't that interesting. I slept in the car... and had a mess of a time at Hartsfield. Apparently no one even shows up to check your bags until 5 ish... for my flight at six. To add to that the train was down so I had to walk the mile to my terminal. All's well though.
I ate burger king (yelch, it was the only thing open) for breakfast and slept all the way to Newark. The cabin pressure screws with your ears when you're not awake... I woke up deaf... well deafer than usual. Found a chair in Newark and slept during my 2 hour layover. Packed some better food for the 13 hour flight (philly cheesesteak!) and off I went.
I look happy, right? The plane hadn't taken off yet. 13 hour flights generally aren't that bad. I slept through a lot of mine. My laptop died within two hours and I didn't want to pay 125 USD for the adapter the charge it on the plane. The movies being shown were horrible and Anna Karenina became boring pretty quickly. The airplane food however was pretty good. Nom Nom
Welcome to Japan! And I felt that way... happy to have arrived. This would change with time.
One thing I had to get used to was doing everything on the left side. Generally when walking toward someone, both people veer right to avoid hitting. In Japan, it's left. Still getting used to that. I bought a ticket to Shinjuku from the counter (my preliminary Japanese training was paying off). I rode the Narita Express to Shinjuku... this "train" however was more like a airplane on wheels... unlike the crazy packed trains in Tokyo. Also I had no idea how to read my ticket. Took me a while to figure out I had to sit on a specific seat on a specific section because the train sections separated halfway through the trip.
At this point, the number of pictures I took dwindled... paralleling my decreased energy levels and increased desire to add to Japan's increasing suicide statistic. On the Narita Express, believe it or not, I ran into someone from Emory! It was a fleeting encounter but this '06 graduate had been living in Japan for a year and was leaving within the week. Perhaps I arrived just to fill the Emory quota for Japan. I also sat next to a (rather smelly) gentleman who lived in Japan but was obviously from America. He, unlike me, was fluent in Japanese so he answered many of my concerns. I was confident.... for about 5 seconds.
When I arrive at Shinjuku station, everything seems calm. As I got closer to the heart of the station, EVERYTHING picked up. People rushed back and forth. It was like a game of frogger in every direction. Or like those VISA commercials when everyone is moving in unison until the one guy with cash... or in my case two huge things of luggage and no knowledge of where to go or what to do... breaks everything down. Funnily enough, this was the top post on one of the newsfeeds I read.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/eki/shibuya/map_rittai_1.html
And seriously, that was only a SECTION of the station.
So whoever designed these stations wasn't bright. I had tons of luggage and there were escalators... but only ones going down. Sure helps the kid needing to go up. I was pouring sweat and tired from lack of sleep slash jet lag. Finally I made it to the housing office to pick up my keys and fill out all the lease agreements (took about an hour) just to have to go back.
Back at Shinjuku, I had to take the Yamanote Line to Shibuya... then switch to the Denen Toshi line to go to Kamagaza or something like that. It seems simple... until you realize there are like 50 different train lines with a different price for every stop and buying tickets is NOT simple. You pretty much tell them a price you want to put on the ticket and fix it later if you're wrong. Luckily enough I guessed right both times. It makes you appreciate the simplicity of Marta.
http://www.tokyotechsupport.com/map/rosen_eng2.png
That's a map of the MAIN ones. Only the main ones. One of the ones I rode isn't even on that map... the smaller private train lines don't get included.
After arriving at the last stop. I still had a mile to walk to attempt to find this place. At this point I really wanted to give up and sleep there. I was contemplating giving up existence. No joke. I pulled to the side and just called a taxi. I gave him the address and let him figure it out. He had to stop and ask for directions a couple times but by chance we found it.
First thing I did? Took a shower. Though I didn't figure out how to turn on the hot water... but at that point I didn't care anyways. After 17 hours of plane and the Tokyo metro, it felt great.
My roommate Shaun is from Korea... but he's moving out next week. He's into a lot of musical/video things so we had a bit to talk about. After unpacking, my room looked like this.
The doors aren't that tall. Literally maybe a couple inches taller than me. I feel sorry for non-short people. After all is said and done, I went downstairs and met a couple other people, Baboe from Korea and Jeff from Utah and hit the sack. At 8 pm.
Arrival in Japan? Check.
Tim Soo
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