Live Streetviews of Shibuya
I found this a few years ago but just stumbled across it again the other day. This page has links to three different live webcams which you can zoom, pan, and control with the click of a mouse and see what’s going on in the streets of Shibuya. Check it out here: Shibuya Koen-Dori webcams [...]
Blogger Ben: One Month
A month ago, I arrived in Tokyo not knowing what to expect. A month later, I am happy to report that I am living happily and frugally in a city that can literally eat you alive. My Japanese has not improved much but I can say that I understand more than I first arrived. Baby [...]
Blogger Ben: Memoris of a Geisha (Tour)
There really is no such tour! I made it up just because it sounded cool, at least at the time of writing, that is….right now! Ok so this is the last portion of my Kansai extravaganza monster post. A trip to Kyoto would not be complete without a trip to the Gion/祇園 the famed Maiko/Geisha [...]
Blogger Ben: Nara
My second day in Kansai involved taking a day trip out to nearby Nara. Nara is a magical place with a temple inhabited with what I like to call four legged furry pigeons. Others call prefer to call them by a more typical name: deers. Seriously, the deers at Todai-ji (東大寺) will literally bite you [...]
Blogger Ben: Kyoto
I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Kansai via the ever “classy” and most importantly wallet friendly JR Highway bus! My goodness was it ever a blast. It would have been even better had the weather co-operated, but it’s almost always impossible to have your cake and eat it too, I suppose. I [...]
Live from Kyoto, it’s Saturday…Day?
I got in a few hours ago, but I am killing time at Kyoto station waiting for a friend, so I thought I’d do a post, of sorts. Weather wise it’s terrible. the rain has been on and off, but at least it’s still in the 20′s even though it’s already October.
Blogger Ben: A list of random things that I learned this week
1. In Tokyo (and probably all over Japan) you can get a Hamburg (steak) ハンバーグ and a Hamburger ハンバーガー. They both sound alike in Japanese. Although both contain ground beef, they are infact quite different. 2. Sorting garbage is a pain in the a$$. Someone should start a garbage sorting service. He/she would make a [...]
Blogger Ben: I’m So Sorry
Dear citizens of Tokyo, if you had the misfortune of crossing paths with me, I sincerely apologize. By crossing paths, I literally mean crossing paths. Here’s a little background: In Canada people drive on the right hand side, so naturally when walking, most would walk on the right side of the side walk. In Japan, [...]
Blogger Ben: My 1 Week Anniversary
A week ago, I started the 16 hour journey to Tokyo. In retrospect my fears of getting lost were ill-conceived. Major cities in Japan are probably one of the most tourist friendly places in the world. I was fortunate to have befriended Jeremy, an American who is in Japan teaching English. He was extremely kind [...]
Blogger Ben: Sashimi like a highroller
The neighbourhood around me is pretty upscale, which means there are upscale grocery stores. I have been to my local (somewhat upscale) Maruetsu Petit location a few times and noticed that the price of their fish is comparable to that of other, more budget locations. I picked up a package of Aji (from Nagasaki 長崎 [...]
Blogger Ben: I ♡ Engrish が大好き
I was exploring the neighbourhood yesterday, and came across this (see photo, English words below store name). It made my day. If only everyone is upfront and honest about what they cook up, our world would be a much better place.
Blogger Ben: I made it
I think altogether, it took me about 18-19 hours to travel door to door from my parent’s home to my new home here in Shinjuku. It was not bad at all, in retrospect. The flight was fine, and I saw a few movies that were on my list of movies-to-watch. Immigration/Passport control was a snap. [...]
Blogger Ben: 日本語を勉強しています
I’ve been reviewing mostly Japanese vocab and some grammar lately because, and I am guessing here, that I can at least get by at the beginning in Japan by stringing verbs and nouns together to construct something remotely understandable to a native Japanese speaker. Case in point (maybe not so appropriate): in the movie Full [...]
Blogger Ben: Booking Your Flight to Japan
Finding an inexpensive/affordable flight to Japan from anywhere outside Asia is tough. The recent recession has pushed air fare down to unbelievably low prices, but face it, it’s still going to be in the neighbourhood of about USD/CAD $1000 after taxes and fees (depending on where you’re at). This post will probably be Canadian-centric but [...]
The Japanese ‘It’s a pain in the butt’ song of laziness: MENDOKUSAI UTA – めんどくさい歌
Japanese are supposidly some of the hardest workers on the planet. So how do we explain this song out of Japan… I present to you, the めんどくさい歌 ‘MENDOKUSAI UTA’ – literally the ‘it’s such a bother’ song. Before you watch the video, in case you don’t know what some of the words mean, here’s a [...]
Okame Japanese Antiques (Video)
David Pepper from Okame Japanese Antiques in Windsor, Ontario (my home town) takes us for a tour of his shop – a gem of the Walkerville area of Windsor that many people probably don’t even know about. David gives us a splendid look into the world of ancient Japanese history, swords, pottery, woodblock prints, and [...]
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