Everything you've ever heard about this town is true.

Yes, even.... that!

Buildings rise to the sky for as far as the eye can see. Strangers on the street treating each other with... get this... respect! People everywhere appear to enjoy their jobs, no matter the position. Almost every site or attraction we hit had at least minimal English so one can at least feel his way to consumer bliss. Grown women dressed as anime maids stand at the ready to serve you a nice meal and call you 'master'. Some people simply ignore you (respectfully, mind you), while many others take pictures when they think you're not looking; as if your whiteness makes you celebrity, or a at least a small freak of nature. Countless vending machines around every corner sell cigarettes, green-tea, and Dragon Balls. Ginger Ale beats out Sprite, and for crying out loud, a large drink there is a small drink here! The trains run on time, every time, no one is ever more than a few moments late. The food comes in every variety you know of, and so much more. If there is something in this world that you truly love, I guarantee that you can find a corner in Tokyo that seems dedicated to you. You always stand to the left on escalators so those in a hurry can run up the right. And a little FYI: bowling lanes are on the 6th floor.

Cheers go out to Aya and Midori for dragging us around like the little lost puppies we were. Pepper wants to give extra “thanks” to Ayumi for hanging out, even if it was just for a little bit over some lunch.

My digital card died unexpectedly mid-way through the trip, so no pics of the famous Akihabara, or much else of the city for that matter, but here are some sweet pics of Tokyo Disney Sea, and a few from my hotel vantage point I took with my 35mm SLR.



More Pictures!

Buddy of DoQ will be stepping out of the office for the next week. Between now and the next update, he will have traveled the distance of mother earth.

Peace!

There will be pictures!

Yo!

Been a while since ST, had a bit to rest and catch up on 6 weeks of missed sleep. Well, okay, I'm still wiped out and totally exhausted. I've been like this pretty much since week 5, tired and wore down, not out, just down. At ST it was completely understandable, long hours, little sleep, lots of sports. Here, not so much. Sure work has been 100X more effort than it was last year, but I love it. It's this constant 100 degree heat. BUT! Today it rained! Not just rain, but a freaking storm dumping buckets of water thick as led. Lasted about an hour or so, and the whole town just freaked out. I passed like 4 wrecks on the way home from across town. Last year we had the same thing, and I managed to film it, sadly this year the camera was not handy. You know what they say about a good rainy day eh? Time to spend your money! So I spent a pretty dime on mother for her birthday tomorrow, and a dime nearly as pretty on a new TV for our living room. A bit smaller than our old hand-me-down, but this is one of those nifty Toshiba true-flat-SDTV's, perfect for Anime off the laptop (s-video FTW!) and console games. The only tube had nasty magnetic distortion blobs, and a horrid glare. And finally after collecting episodes for years, and over 6 months of regularly scheduled viewings, we finished the adventures of The Good Dr. Tenma! Now that it's over, it truly feels as though I just wished a good friend off for the last time. Now why can't American TV have something like that?! I hear that they're making a live-action version in Hollywood. I double dare them to fuck it up. It's impossible I say!

PASSENGER BRIAN MAYBERRY



LV: DALLAS FT WORTH 10:15 AM

AR: TOKYO NARITA 1:20 PM

In the face of adversity, sheer "I'm going... dammit!" is the only way.

Hot.
Really.
Freaking.
Hot.

But it's nice to be home, relaxing on your own personal staff couch (one of three in this tiny apartment of mine)and blasting your new Level Two cd at humbling volumes. So, as some of you know, I didn't catch a break this summer, went back to work as soon as I got home. We have our beautiful new building up, and renovations to the old one are nearly 100%, not so bad to be back you might be thinking, right? Distribution is hell. Over 100 computers from one building to the other, with the Texas sun beating down on you, toasting you like moldy white bread from the inside out. It's not all fun and games! But dammit if it ain't home! And I'd be lying if I said I ain't glad to be back. (It's all about the strong southern brewed Iced Tea, you know, without all that Yankee lemonade to water it down.)

On the plane home, the exposure to AC was akin to living in a freezer for 4 hours. I had become acclimated to the NY summer without any AC at all, and the sudden and prolonged exposure drove me to busting out the nice fall Manhattanville shirt I purchased at the bookstore on campus. 4 days in Texas later and the AC just doesn't get cold enough fast enough.

The Lexus is fine, unlike the last car I abandoned for 6 weeks, she held up quite nicely. The leather burns my back, and after sitting in the sun all day, she's like driving in a pizza oven. Thankfully the AC works very well, I just wish I could say the same for the radio.

Tokyo is coming up fast, and I'm giddy as a school girl. I don't think I'll be able to sleep much due to anticipation of the journey this month.


Ahh yes, before I forget: I lost about 15 pounds this summer! I'm right at 150, I was over 165 when I left.