Zip @ Nihon TV

So, Friday was officially weird. First Miikka was ambushed by some people interviewing people in Akihabara, asking questions about Skype, World Heritage locations etc. Based on what Miikka told me, the incident went as follows in 3 simple steps:

1. Step out of the Akihabara Subway station

2. See a crew of cameramen & interviewers closing in on their prey: you

3. Get asked whether you speak English

a) answer ’yes’, get interviewed

b) answer ’no’, gtfo

Since Miikka isn’t exactly a fan of people interrupting his shopping sprees in Akihabara, he tried to get the interview over with as soon as possible.. to no avail. But, since I didn’t see anything in the news about people getting hurt in Akihabara, I can only assume the camera crew let him off to continue his shopping spree soon enough.

You’d think that’s pretty much the 15 minutes of fame for the day, right? Well, think again, Tim.

Once Miikka managed to get back to the hostel and we finished off the delicious Korean bibimpap above with Yuri, Tomo and Johrel, a group of people from Nihon TV - a Japanese nationwide network - popped up at our hostel’s front desk. I noticed Naoto, our friend and one of the staff members at Sakura Hostel, pointing at us while talking to them, and saying something about Japanese being OK.

The next thing we notice is them closing in on us, giving the cameraman a green light and saying let's begin. In Japanese. If I had had some time to prepare (the amount of discomfort a camera brings to me is ridiculous) by having a beer or two, things would've been a lot more relaxed, plus my Japanese tends to get better and more fluent with a few beverages as I stop worrying about grammar too much & so on. Well, in the end it went OK I suppose, since the guy listening to the interview behind us was telling us it was smooth, though from my point of view it was relatively awkward since they were using the kind of formal language I personally do not use or hear too much. Anyhow, the TV show is a morning show, and it will be out on May 19th on the Nihon TV channel (channel 4) at 7:15 am. Prepare for the worst.

EDIT: We managed to see the show at our hotel in Tokunoshima, seems like they only used about.. 5 seconds of the 15 minute interview, so nothing to panic over if you missed the whole thing.

Hello all!

Today I got a textmessage from Janne.

And he ask me to inform you all, that they are somewhere

on those little islands of Japan (don't ask, I don't know where).

And there are no internet connection near of them

or they haven't just found it.

So...

It could take time when Janne is writing in here again.

Patience.

-Pasi

(sorry my bad english, I hope it is still readable)

TampioTravels is living up to its name yet again. Yesterday we decided that it'd be best to hit the sack early, to compensate for the lack of sleep during the last 40 hours. Yeah, right. When did we ever do something smart?

So, we went to Samurai Cafe soon after it opened, to greet the friends we last saw 1,5 years ago. It's next to impossible to explain the staff's faces, but a mix of disbelief, joy, confusion and fear (of Salmari aka the Black Vodka) would be the best way to describe them. After the initial shock we got bear-hugged and seated at the counter, and we instantly started dishing out Salmiakkikossu - the terror of the Japanese. After a healthy 3 hours, the manager of our Hostel, Tomo joined us at Samurai Cafe, and we headed towards our friend Hiroshi's new bar near the Kaminarimon. The place was rather small, but very cozy, and the atmosphere was extremely laid back as everyone knew everyone. Somehow we bumped into a representative of Asahi, which was rather odd because he was the second one we met that night... I'm starting to suspect the bartenders at our regular bars are spreading the word about our beer-loving nature.

We decided to call it a night since we really needed the sleep, and thought it'd be smart to adjust to the new daily rhythm. Yeah. Right. We happened to pass by Samurai Cafe, and after seeing the people inside waving at us to come in, I managed to persuade Miikka to go in with me for just one more pint. Which lasted until 3 am. After the bar started closing down we figured we should really hit the sack. Hah. As if. Yuu-chan, one of the bartenders from Samurai Cafe, told us we couldn't quit now, and said he'd take us to a bar that's open until morning. Well, what can I say, it's hard to say no. So, off we went, to find ourselves in a bar held by two girls, who were drinking as much as the customers, which suited us just fine.

Finally, around 7 am we got out, and realized we were somewhat tipsy, and had no idea where we were. Sounds awfully familiar, right? Well, through a miracle, we managed to find our way back to the hostel after a 30 minute hike, and with the meals from Paku Paku we had bought 7 hours earlier, we were ready to finally dive into the fluffy hostel beds (which at that point horribly resembled my backpack.. which I later found out it was).

So, all in all, as usual, our plans never hold up. Even with 3 previous trips of experience, we still fail miserably at executing the plan. Or plans. Or even a hint of common sense. But what matters is we had fun. With old friends, new acquintancies, or just some rediculously cute Japanese girls, it was one of the parts of Japan we fell in love with years ago. As for now, we're on our way to fins an izakaya with our new Scottish & American friends that we just met at the hostel. So, remember to behave, since we won't. Over and out.

P.S. the author of this post was intoxicated during the process of writing, so please forgive all the grammar mistakes, the content, and whatever you might find offensive, vulgar or stupid.

F'n Tron

Three hours on the plane, about seven to go. As if the anticipation in itself wasn’t enough to get our smiles from ear to ear, the complimentary drink service providing us with Asahi Super Dry made the smiles, if possible, even wider. And just when it seemed things couldn’t go any better, one of the air stewardesses was kind enough to inform us that Finland just beat Russia in the penalty shots after the actual game time and the 5 minute sudden death extension period. For those who don’t know WTH I’m talking about, it’s the ice hockey world championship tournament going on this time of the spring. Speaking of which, what is this, like, the 3rd match where Finland wins the penalty shot contest this year? Usually we suck horribly at those.

But enough of that. We’re still several hours away from Tokyo, and there’s no Internet connection up here. So, I have to resort to writing down what’s happening and uploading them once we land and I can find a free Wi-Fi.. Anyhow, we just finished watching Tron. And with the help of Asahi, we survived. Let’s just hope the next movie is less horrible. That being said, I suppose we’re gonna have to drink to Finland’s victory tonight.. which can only mean one thing. Samurai Cafe!

Ready for us Tokyo? ‘Cause we sure as hell are ready for you.

Space Crusade & planning the trip

..well, playing Space Crusade, thinking of planning the trip yet consuming alcoholic beverages instead.

Yeah, that's how these things usually go. I bring a pile of printed maps, red marker pens and a head filled with ideas and enthusiasm. 15 minutes later I give up since everyone else is drinking (and playing Space Crusade, wtf?) and telling me to quit nerding at the computer. So much for deciding the schedule & islands we're gonna hit. So, instead you have yours truly blogging (despite the rest of the gang yelling at me) here while knocking back shots of Pepsi infused with vodka.

Personally, I can't be arsed to try out Space Crusade myself (the rulebook just doesn't seem that inviting during these nights), but I have to admit, it makes one hell of a spectator sport. Let me get this straight. The game itself doesn't seem that interesting (I assume it's due to not knowing or playing the game myself, I expect someone to tell me an unsophisticated fool such as me doesn't understand the depth of this game's fineness. And hell, they'd probably be right), but surveying the players even without having any knowledge of the game itself is like watching the fights in the middle of hockey games. Priceless.

The quarrels about the rules that aren't stated clearly enough in the rulebook, the explosions of rage when someone throws a double 2 three times in a row, the epicaricacy of when someone fails miserably.. The entertainment value of this game is almost infinite. Make that infinite to the 4th power when the players are intoxicated. 5th power if you as the spectator are. Infinite to the n:th power if all the participants are under the influence of alcohol.

Seriously, this should be a sport in the Olympic games. The winter and the summer Olympics.

I'll get back to you once they settle out the scores. Unless I'm too focused on the beverages by that point.

Anyway, ttfn.

Return of the dumbasses

So, it's that time of the year again huh?

Spring is on its way, along with all the allergies, gastric flus, and of course, travel fever.

Despite the recent events, it's about time we did one of our recurring trips to Japan. We figured this would be as good of a time as any, and if nothing else, we could at least try to give our local friends in Tokyo something else to think about for a moment. Such as worrying about two drunken Finns with a high accident proneness and no instinct of self preservation whatsoever.

Anyhow, since we will have no business going to Sendai or Fukushima (nor probably Hokkaido or the northern parts of Honshu), we thought we'd spend that extra time somewhere else, and opted for the Ryūkyū Island in the south. We're still in the process of narrowing our options of islands down to three or four (since we won't have more than 1-1,5 weeks for the purpose), though we've almost made up our minds. I'll come back to the matter of islands of choice once we're actually there.. which is about three weeks from now. I can barely restrain myself.

That's basically it in a nutshell. I won't go into detail about the rest of the destinations, but you may at least expect diving, climbing and scootering around. Hinting too much there? Perhaps, but the locations might still be a surprise! Cold can be hot, scooters can be turtles, and even if the water boils it doesn't mean the paper is burning! Father, I'm a frying pan!

..right, I'm rambling again.

Off I go then.