my trip to japan

i know it's late. but i was a little uninspired to post it for sometime. it's a long story i hope you enjoy it

well if you want pics just friend me on facebook
search todd quincy harris
it has a half assed cloud half face photo booth pic

japan was amazing
everyday we ate like kings and i tried so many styles
even korean bbq which was over priced
and usually we stuck to the rule of go a couple blocks
off the main strip and find food and it was always good
but the korean bbq night was on a main strip it was ok

we drank a lot
i started on the plane
double jack and coke
one suitcase had only pillows towels and 3 bottles of tequila - customs didn't seem to mind

the 1st night we were tired from plane so we ate and one guy passed out. i wanted to go out. my friend who lives in japan and the only one who speaks japanese asked us to wait on a corner for him to run an errand. which turned into let's go into stores and see what's going on. we lost our friend, ate raw chicken sashimi, ended up in a gentlemen's club, found upset friend, end of day one.

my friend teaches english and lives in osaka, he is mostly fluent. we (me and 2 guys) speak no japanese. unlike europe or other travels, no one speaks english in japan. which has pros and cons

i met up with a japanese friend in osaka day one. we drank all day. he showed us around the city. it is bigger than los angeles. it was pretty cool. food again, amazing.

day 2 or 3, we traveled to nagoya to watch a sumo tournament. i knew what sumo was, but wasn't like huge into it. however, it turned out to be one of the best times i had there. we made side bets on who we thought would win. some matches lasted half a second, other's could take a minute of so. it was awesome. from nagoya we took super speed bullet crazy train to tokyo

in tokyo we got the hook up on hotel from some girl. 40 a night in a decent spot. near shinjuku station. i love okonomiyaki. a potato pancake mix squid bonito egg batter thing you cook yourself. one night we found all you sing all you can drink karoake, enough said. i went to harajuku and saw the freaks, but wasn't really amazed by it, there are plenty here in tempe. i visited my first temple there and was very pleased. we went to the sony building. we found a small place to have drinks one night that was run by a husband/wife/son. we drank with all of them until 4 a.m. playing beatles songs on his guitar and singing. it was amazing. lots of walking. ginzu (i think) district, very rich. imperial garden. (again pics on fb) and we took a boat ride around tokyo which was very cool, and i got to visit the life size gundam robot. boo ya

osaka and tokyo go for days. but, they were very efficient, clean and quiet. trains run like arteries. i never once felt uncomfortable and truly felt like i had gotten away from everything. the people have some of the best customer service i've ever experienced.

after 3 long exhausting days in the largest metropolis earth currently has to offer, we made our way to the small prefecture of fukui. which was very welcome. it was misty mountains and a color of green that screams life. we stayed one night at a ryokan, which is like a traditional inn. this ryokan also had a few onsens, which are hot spring mineral water baths. we had our own private one for a hour. and we could also use the public ones at anytime. we were giving yukatas to wear. the 4 of us paid 150 dollars each. for one night in the best resort i've ever been to. unlimited bathing in the hot springs which were so relaxing and amazing. an amazing room. a 7 course dinner, that quite honestly might have been the best meal i've ever experienced in my life. all the beer we could drink, some sake. a 3 course breakfast. and massage chairs like you've never ever sat in in america. again the service was outstanding.

the next day, my friend kayoko picked us up and took us to these cliffs where people used to commit suicide. we climbed around on them. we went to the beach. we went to meet kayo's family and stay at her house. we went to a temple that was in the mountains covered in moss that was like walking in heaven. it was amazing. i wanted to sell every material item i own move into the temple and become a monk, then we went to dinner. i ate raw horse sashimi. and the neck fat of horse. i drank.

the next day we took a train to kyoto, which is the old capital of japan and is known for lots of temples. this was the most touristy i ever saw japan. i got annoyed. i was being selfish. i was so used to not seeing europeans, now they were everywhere. i saw some amazing temples and again ate some amazing food. at this point in the trip we had been non stop walking/drinking/sight seeing/everything. we were all ready for a day away from each other and some decent sleep. i wish i had stayed in fukui an extra day.

i took a day by myself walking around osaka. trying to get some shopping done. i got a foot massage. i listened to a lot of hip hop and pimp walked it through the town. i found a bar that sold brooklyn lager and bought a couple bottles.

we went to kobe. i bought a horse mask. i wore it everywhere. i wish i had found it earlier in the trip. the japanese people are very reserved and keep to themselves. but when i wear a horse mask, they all laugh and come alive. old women, young children, it was great. i finally got japan to acknowledge my american ass. i ate a kobe beef hamburger. we went to a baseball game. this game was by the hannshin tigers and the tokyo giants. which in japan is equivalent to seeing the red sox play the yankees. it was sold out. in japan, baseball games are byob. amen. i wore the horse mask. the boy in front of me wore the horse mask, as did his grandfather. in japan, i hate to say it, they are bigger fans of baseball than we are. during the 7th inning stretch, everyone stands up with a different colored blown up balloon not tied at the end. all at once they let them go and you see a filled stadium release thousands of balloons, similar to seeing the flaming lips i suppose. we went out for drinks.

we went and saw a temple that has a statue covered in "living" moss. or something like that. people come all day long and say their prayer and then pour a little water on the statue to keep the moss going. it was neat. after seeing the temple in fukui though, i was pretty much "meh" to anything else. we went to an observation deck that stood between two large skyscrapers in osaka and got a good view of the whole kobe/kyoto/osaka metropolis.

i bought a yukata and got some nice compliments on how well it fit. we went to a fireworks show. in japan (and i would imagine china/korea too) fireworks are done the right way. that reminds me, two things before i go on. one, you can buy fireworks, good ones, in the "7-11's" there. kickass. two, i spent one night with my friend in drenching rain, drinking large amounts of tequila and shooting fireworks. all nights. we had roman candle fights across a bridge. we shot so many colors and fire into the sky, i'm very surprised we went arrested. once a cop found our discarded already shot works while we refilled and once an old lady came out screaming in japanese how you can't shoot fireworks here. on this night while looking for somewhere to cool off to not get arrested we found my favorite sushi bar. in japan, there are plenty of small little restaurants that will consist of a bar/sushi bar with 5 to 6 chairs. and maybe 2 or 3 side tables. one chef. his wife will probably be there in the back cooking. best chef ever. i loved his sushi. i ate there 3 nights in a row. we drank. we laughed. people loved my funny antics and bought me drinks and food. loved this placed. loved it. anyways back to fireworks. we went to a fireworks show. imagine the coolest/best finale you've ever seen in all of your life during a fireworks show and that is how this fireworks show started. they shot off so many fucking fireworks that a large dark smoke cloud covered the sky towards the end and hid some of the show. it was so fucking spectacular. mostly everyone dresses traditionally in yukatas during these events. we did the same. amazing

one night i ate fugu. the poison blow fish. yes it fucks you up. if you eat 4 to 5 slices of sashimi you will feel it. it's like taking half a valium and drinking a couple beers. it is a neuro toxin. it tells your muscles to shut off. it works. i ate a lot of it. it was cool. it lasts 30 minutes of so. i also ate the sperm sack of this fish. it was delicious.

i love japan. i loved that people didn't bother me. i loved that i felt comfortable. i loved beer on a train. i loved my flask of tequila. i loved the toilets. the toilets were so fucking cool. my butt was so happy with me. the food was so much fun. i ate like a king. i loved that everywhere i went there was a cartoon description of whatever was going on. i loved that it was also accompanied by a nurturing ringtone. i love how they do it over there.

i took a sleeping pill coming home. i slept the whole flight. i had never experienced jet lag. this was my first international trip. i had horrible jet lag for 7 days. it sucked. my job sucked. i didn't sleep. i was a zombie. i might go back. i might never come back here.