Things Japanese people like...

Here is a random list of things Japanese people like from a week's worth of observations...

- Beer: you can drink it any time here, get it at fast food restaurants, vending machines, etc.
- Porn: you can buy it anywhere in plain open view and you will see men on trains flipping through the mags without anyone giving a second look
- Cigarettes: everyone here smokes like chimneys and cigarette vending machines are everywhere
- Ramen: should go without saying; there are over a million ramen shops here for 130 million people
- Mayonnaise: The put it on everything here, including pizza.
- Eggs: They put them on top of everything here, too including pizza, British curry, etc.
- Cell phones: Everyone including the very elderly have them here, a lot of people even carry two.

...Cuz two out of three ain't bad... (Thursday in Japan)

Life seems to be getting back to normal here in the Tokyo area. The trains were all running, albeit at reduced intervals so a train may run every 10 minutes instead of 5. I decided to complete that tasks that I wanted to do on my trip on Thursday that require real travel: go to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura, Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum in Shin-Yokohama, and hit the martial arts supply store on the way back in Ayase.

I made it down to Kamakura with no issue; the transit system here is a marvel and ingenuity and efficiency. I made it down to Kamakura in Kanagawa prefecture with no problem. I meander my way through the town, which is cool, btw and hit up several gift shops. I buy a bunch of stuff for everyone back home and finally find my way to Hachiman-gu; it is an impressive site, to say the least. I wonder around, by myself a kamidana and omamori & ofuda for the dojo, and then I finally walk up that monster of a stairway. After avoiding a heart attack, I check out the inside of the shrine and go into the museum. On the way back to the station, I stumble across a conveyor belt sushi place. I get a decent amount there, spend 1000 yen and head back to the train station.

After-wards, I make it to Shin-Yokohama to visit the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum. It was near empty as one could imagine but it was still cool to check out. I had two sampler bowls of tonkotsu ramen from a couple different stands there; the first one I honestly didn't like and the other was decent. Anyways, I took the prerequisite pictures and pick up a few things in the gift shop.

Next, I head to Ayase to visit the budo shop. After getting lost at the Tokyo central station (my laptop went haywire and I lost my directions), I finally find someone to help me and make it to Ayase. I find the budo shop thanks to the info Tucker gave me but they were closed. :( I got there about 6:45pm; I come to find out that they close at 6. Anyways, I make it back to Kashiwa with my duffel bag-backpack and several sacks full of goodies. I didn't train that day due to lack of time but I got enough exercise from walking, carrying crap, and climbing stairs to last me a month.

30 Hours til Flight.

I just saw that an earthquake hit off the coast of Japan. Hopefully there is no damage or injuries over there...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12684585