The rants and laments of Fred and his dad: First week

Monday, August 4, 2008

First week - Tokyo is our first treat

TOKYO - 26th July to 4th of August

Nice flight - would have preferred to sit next to Frederic who enjoyed his freedom :-).

Surprise! Telephone message waiting for us at hotel check in! Our friend and future travel partner - Tonami-san - offered to come and show us Tokyo. Deal. Agreed on Tuesday.

Hot.hot.HOT. Now I understand what they meant by "muggy summer heat". Changed to suitable clothes: short pants, bare feet in sandals, running T-shirt. All of a sudden the heat was bearable. Even nice.

Hotel Gimmond (great bargain - mail me for details) - is in a business district - less than a kilometer from the centre of Japan! Nihonbashi (=Japan bridge). This was the centre of Edo Japan. A signpost shows the distance to important places in Japan.

At first sight the surroundings seem deserted - only consisting of office buildings. But after a few days - I know it sound strange - lots of little but good restaurants serving office workers at lunch and after work. We try half a dozen - the prize goes to a very fast fastfood place where you select and pay for your food at a machine, then give the ticket to a waitress - and 60 seconds later you have your meal. Very good quality - and at prices of 25 DKK per meal. People do not look rushed - but don't linger either.

Tonami-san walked us around Tokyo. Surprise: take the underground and you will forever be estranged. Walk - and you will understand the city - which is large, but still walkable. Nihonbashi, Ginza, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya and Asakusa were just a few of the places we saw. After the sightseeing we drank beer at a small open pub and later went to a nightspot under the safe leadership of Tonami-san.

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注目 - ((( LOOK HERE! ))) - 注目

Hello! My name is Frederic, 17 years old, half Danish, half Thai.
I'm currently on an AFS exchange program until February, in Shimane prefecture, Izumo City, Japan.

This blog was originally used to document the experiences my father and I had when we were traveling through Japan back in .. August-ish, '08.

I'll be using this blog to tell my stories as well, and please, DO scroll. There's a LOT of stuff here.
If you're new, you should probably start from the first "exchange" post, labeled "From the moon". It's way down, and might even be on another page, depending on today's date.

Hope you enjoy!

AND DO NOTE! You can write comments on my posts, so please, share your thoughts or feelings! Leaving your name too would be appreciated.

Oh, and don't forget to vote down below this.

Added stuff - check here for latest additions and edits! Shows latest 10

8/11 Updated top picture, quote, added new mp3 player and songs. The new mp3 player (lower one) will feature more lively/upbeat music, but will not autoplay. It also has a volume control, for safety's sake. Do check it out!!!
29/9 Finished first part of the new post.. It's been edited here and there, so if you've already read it, you might want to read it again from the start.
28/9 New feature; mp3 player! I'll update the music about as regularly as the quote. The music will likely represent my mood more, so I'm sorry if crazy techno starts bursting out your speakers!
27/9 New post, "When you wish upon a blog..", filled out TOMORROW!
4/9 New feature, I will now change the quote at the top of the page, in blue, when I update/feel like it, with something.. I feel like
3/9 New post, "Time capsule post"
3/9 ZOMG ADDED NEW STUFF, the lifeslices in Zeta Insert filled out, new post coming soon
25/6 Added new lifeslice stuff and titles to Zeta Insert, rest filled out sooon
21/6 Changed "注目 - ((( look here! ))) - 注目" block of text slightly
21/6 New post, "Zeta Insert", and edited "CHESS"

Welcome to TripThruJapan

Why this blog?
It is our diary - and our way of sharing the friendliness and overwhelming nature and culture of Japan with our old friends at home and with the many new friends we made on our travels.

Why this trip?
This trip was a son-father undertaking. Frederic (16) and Jannick (55) want to spend three months exploring Japan. We reached Soya Misaki (the northern-most point of Japan) on the 8th of August and landed on Hateruma-Jima, the southern-most island of Japan, on 15th of October. In between we travelled more than 3500 km with lots of adventures (and challenges :-)) - some of which are told in this blog.