Going to See Sumo, the Final Event of the 2006 Winter Tournament

(Updated: June 15, 2013 with high resolution photos)

On January 22, 2006, it was the day we got to go see sumo. We had signed up in December and there were only 50 places available so I was lucky I signed up early. The sumo ticket was worth around 4300 yen, also we were given a free bento lunch box.

The scene outside the Ryōgoku Kokugi-kan, the arena where sumo is held.

Tokyo Tower at Night

(Updated: June 15, 2013 with high resolution photos)

On January 20, 2006, me and my fellow Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) exchange student friends decided to visit Tokyo Tower. We decided to go during the night time so that we could see the night view.

Arriving at Tokyo Tower.

Lunar New Year 2006 in Yokohama Chinatown

(Updated: May 24, 2013 with high resolution photos and better descriptions)

Today (January 30, 2006) was the first day of the new year on the lunar calendar. Because of this the Chinatown in Yokohama had a parade and celebrations. I went with fellow exchange student Ning, from Hong Kong and her Japanese friend whose name I can’t remember now. At Chinatown, we saw many of our foreign exchange classmates there as well. There were so much people that at one point you were just moving with the crowds. Also on this day there were lots of restaurants offering all you can eat, tabehoudai 食べ放題, for around 2000 yen.

The parade was organized by the Yokohama Chinese School (I saw the banners as they passed by) and only consisted of their dragon/lion dance teams. As a result, the parade was pretty short. At least here they don’t try to make it into some kind of “multicultural” event unlike in Vancouver where you have police, native Indians, Indians, firefighters etc.

Tokyo Odaiba on January 5, 2006

(Updated: June 15, 2013 with high resolution photos)

Odaiba is a man made island in Tokyo with more shopping malls and amusement areas, like arcades and a ferris wheel. On January 5, 2006, the day that I went, there was not much people. Also its expensive to go to Odaiba by train even though its so close to Tokyo.

Also coming here the 2nd time doesn't seem that impressive to me anymore, just more of the same woman's clothing shops and arcades.

Although there is a Toyota Showroom "Mega Web".

The Rainbow Bridge, the main access point to the island.

First Snowfall of 2006 in Tokyo

(Updated: June 14, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On January 22, 2006, I experienced the first snowfall in Tokyo and in 2006. Because of this, instead of staying indoors in the dormitory, my friends and I decided to go out and explore what Tokyo looked like in the snow.

Starting out from our Tokyo University of Foreign Studies dormitory in Arakawa-ku in Tokyo.

The main square in front of our dormitory.

Pictures from Nagoya Toyota Museums

This blog is still ALIVE, busy with tests, reports etc.

Winter Trip: Day 5 of 5 Nagoya, Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology and Toyota Automotive Museum and “Linimo” Maglev Train

Dec. 28, 05.

On this day first I headed to Toyota’s Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. I have to say it’s the best science/engineering museum that I have ever visited.

The museum shows how Toyota started out as a maker of automatic looms of fabrics into the No. 2 (and soon to be No. 1) automaker in the world. When I went there at the opening time of 9 am, I was probably the 4th or 5th person to go there.

The museum is split into 2 sections, one section is all about automatic looms and fabrics, and the other part is all about automobiles.

The section on the looms was pretty amazing because not only did they have lots of historical automatic looms that were used before, but they all still work and they had people who would demonstrate them. It was so amazing seeing all that “ancient” machinery still working with all those gears and belts.

Kyoto - Nintendo, Kiyomizu Temple, Gion

(Updated: October 7, 2007 with Google Map; June 4, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On December 27, 2005, I went to Kyoto from Nagoya. Going to Kyoto took about 2 hours by local train, it involved going up a mountain pass. When it was going up the mountain pass, it was snowing hard so it looked really nice. I had to transfer trains at some station in the mountainous area. At the station there was a lot of snow and fresh snow too.

I arrived at Kyoto at around 9 am or 10 am, and I only had 2 places that I wanted to visit, the Nijo Castle (二条城) and the Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). I wanted to visit these 2 places because the first time I came here in 2004 I had already seen to other stuff. Once again, the Nijo Castle was closed, last year when my family and I came to Kyoto, we went to Nijo Castle late and it was closed and we came back on another day after doing sightseeing elsewhere and we were late and it was closed so this is the 3rd time I came and it was closed. The Kiyomizu Temple was open but since I had all day I wanted to “visit” Nintendo headquarters. I asked the tourist information where it was and it was only 2 subway stops away from the train station.

The following map shows the places that I visited on this day in Kyoto.

Winter Trip: Day 3 of 5 The Famous and Revered Shines of Ise (伊勢)

Dec. 26, 05

Winter Trip: Day 3 of 5 The Famous and Revered Shines of Ise (伊勢)

The Outer Shrine, thats all you get to see for a 1 hour 34 min train ride! (I was not allowed to take this picture, did not see the no photography sign...)



The fastest train to go from Nagoya to Ise was the “Mie” rapid train. The first train only leaves Nagoya at around 9 am so that was the train I took. It took 1 hour and 34 minutes to get there. It was not even an electrified train, it ran on diesel I think so the ride felt like a bus on rails. Because the train partially uses the tracks of another railway, I had to pay an extra fee of 430 yen.

The 2006 New Years Sale

(Updated: June 14, 2013 with high resolution photos)

Today I went to Akihabara to see if there are any good bargains to be found. I heard that on New Years day, stores sell lucky bags (福袋) which are sold as a set price but you don’t know the contents inside, so it would be like a surprise. I walked around and didn’t find much interesting until I saw the DVD for Howl’s Moving Castle (Studio Ghibli animation movie) being sold for 2006 yen, that it almost half price from the normal price of 4700 yen. Afterwards I went to Yodobashi Camera to see if there was anything cheap to buy. I ended up buying a home appliance “lucky box” for 10,000 yen about $100 CDN. It was very heavy bringing back to the dorm. I was thinking of getting a hot water heater because its so cold in the dorm room, its like a garage because there is no insulation so I can get something hot to drink without having to boil water every time.

Outside Yodobashi Camera, taken with cell phone.