So, I suppose this will be some sort of a combined post of what has happened since we landed in Tokyo. I'm too lazy to separate the events.. not that I'd even be able to separate them, the past days just seem somehow.. merged together. Ahh, the mysterious power of alcohol.
Let's get started then, shall we. First of all, 15 seconds after the final security check up point at the airport we got noticed by some group from a TV show. Miikka was telling me "go go, they're coming this way, quickly now, let's get away", but too late for me to realise what was happening. And there we go, somehow we ended up on yet another TV show with me after no sleep on the plane, practically no hearing in my right ear thanks to the airplane & pressurising, and not having spoken Japanese in 7 months doing the interview in Japanese. I have no proper memories of what was being asked or how I replied, but they were laughing when I tried to be funny (on purpose, I think..), so all things considered it could have gone worse.
Unexpectedly everything went smoothly at the airport & after that this time. No opening luggage at the airport, no fuss with the new train lines, nothing. Oh, and our plane was equipped with Asahi! The only minus was that we watched Boredom Games: Catching Boredom on the plane. Hrrrhh.
Once in Asakusa, we proceeded to Sakura hostel to meet up with our friend Tomo and had some grub with her at Kitchen Jiro and then fell in a few-hour coma sleep. Revived for now, we went to Don Quijote for.. I don't even know what. Not really knowing what to do next, the only logical option was to surprise our local friends that have their own bars. The reactions were overwhelming to say the least. We also bumped into Anders, another Northener, at Hiroshi's bar. Unfortunately I had to tell everyone that night not to tag any pictures of us on Facebook as we were still abiding by our plan to surprise a certain Vietnamese-Australian-living-in-Japan friend of ours the next day.
Thanks to our other Australian friend living in Tokyo for managing to get him in the right place at the right time. The reaction we got from him was.. pretty much what we expected. "Whattt the fuck are you guys doing here?". As one might expect we continued with some refreshments - alcoholic beverages if you will - to celebrate this unexpected reunion. After all, it was a bar we were meeting up at. In case anyone ever wanders off to Kasukabe head to Lad's, it's cozy as hell.
Now, a few days later, I thought I'd pull myself back together and head to the gym in the morning. Except all the gyms in the area are closed on Mondays unless you want to join a gym with monthly memberships, which is expensive as hell due to the initial joining fee. So, I did the next best thing: headed off to the neared park/playground. The pensioners, kids and the kids' moms were looking at me like I was mental. Then again, it _was_ a children's playground, but as such one of the few places with poles etc. to do pull-ups, dips and other shit in. After a 1,5 week break from the gym, drinking for severals days straight and exercising in heavy sunlight, a 45-minute session was more than enough to get me worn out. Not to mention it was getting awkward with all the little kids playing around in the same Jungle-George track and their moms constantly staring at me.
All in all, we've spent more than we should have, we've drunk more than we should have and we've eaten more than we should have, but we've had more fun than two idiots can handle. And that's what this DumbassTravels is all about. And for my next trick, I'll finish my Salmari & go to the humongous french entourage in the next table and speak some Finnish ín a French accent. Huvastii / Au revoir!
April 14, 2014
April 5, 2014
Resurrection (?)
Well, it's about time I suppose.
I'll be trying to revive this old thing in case my new fellow students at the uni. are interested, and just to keep sort of a journal of what has happened because with my horrendous short term memory and the amount of bars we visit in Japan my recollections of events can get rather hazy over time. Then again, those two combined might cause me to forget to write anything down.. We'll just have to see how things turn out. Not to mention my love of sleeping & laziness might get the best of me when attempting to create a new blog post. My apologies in beforehand.
The closer the trip gets, the more we've been browsing the upcoming menus and campaigns of dining places in Tokyo. Being the all-devouring glutton that I am, I've got my work set in front of me. 10-decker hamburgers, 2kg curry rice plates, all-you-can-eat yakiniku.. You name it, I'll eat it. Or die savouring. We've also yearned the taste of chu-hai, one of the most devious drinks known to man. Tastes and goes down like soda, yet the 9% version gets you going like James May in a Bugatti Veyron after a few pints. And of course there's Asahi. Oh sweet Asahi, how I miss thee. Our plane better be prepared this time. On our last flight they had run out of Asahi and tried to offer us Finnish beer instead - after we had been waiting for a few cans of Asahi for several months. Oh the stewardess' expression when seeing our reaction to her telling they're out of Asahi. We must've looked like receiving news of our parents having just died in a horrible accident.
Still, we have faith and that's what keeps our spirits running high. Let us hope we stand fortuitous in our quest for some ice cold Japanese beer.
I reckon that's it for now, I'll return to posting once we get to our destination or something worth writing occurs. That might very well be having a beer @ The Oak Barrel within the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Sorry. :<
I'll be trying to revive this old thing in case my new fellow students at the uni. are interested, and just to keep sort of a journal of what has happened because with my horrendous short term memory and the amount of bars we visit in Japan my recollections of events can get rather hazy over time. Then again, those two combined might cause me to forget to write anything down.. We'll just have to see how things turn out. Not to mention my love of sleeping & laziness might get the best of me when attempting to create a new blog post. My apologies in beforehand.
The closer the trip gets, the more we've been browsing the upcoming menus and campaigns of dining places in Tokyo. Being the all-devouring glutton that I am, I've got my work set in front of me. 10-decker hamburgers, 2kg curry rice plates, all-you-can-eat yakiniku.. You name it, I'll eat it. Or die savouring. We've also yearned the taste of chu-hai, one of the most devious drinks known to man. Tastes and goes down like soda, yet the 9% version gets you going like James May in a Bugatti Veyron after a few pints. And of course there's Asahi. Oh sweet Asahi, how I miss thee. Our plane better be prepared this time. On our last flight they had run out of Asahi and tried to offer us Finnish beer instead - after we had been waiting for a few cans of Asahi for several months. Oh the stewardess' expression when seeing our reaction to her telling they're out of Asahi. We must've looked like receiving news of our parents having just died in a horrible accident.
Still, we have faith and that's what keeps our spirits running high. Let us hope we stand fortuitous in our quest for some ice cold Japanese beer.
I reckon that's it for now, I'll return to posting once we get to our destination or something worth writing occurs. That might very well be having a beer @ The Oak Barrel within the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Sorry. :<
December 13, 2012
Arrival
Oh sweet Mary Poppins & Garrosh Hellscream how I've missed this. I didn't get an ounce of sleep on the plane, threw up and almost passed out due to an instance of sudden hypoglucemia during the 'lights out' part of the flight and what not. And it was all well worth it. At this point I'd like to mention how knowing even a bit of Japanese can help with the customs officials. Just happens so that the official inspecting luggage at the end of my line was the same gentleman as last time, so he automatically just casually asked in Japanese "Japanese is ok with you right?", to which I simply agreed in Japanese. He then just asked a few questions such how many times I've come here now and what I'm gonna do this time, and ended with "Oh, is this all your luggage?" "Yes." "OK, have a nice trip!" without even asking me to open my bags. Even though I was carrying slightly more alcohol than the regulations allow.
The first thing I saw while waiting for the train was the spitting image of Japan that is in my head; a cute girl with huge headphones on, sleeping in a corner of the train. I just couldn't help but smile and think how simply happy & at peace I felt just being here out of the ordinary. It's always the little things that get me like this. Kids playing rock-paper-sciccors on the train, a girl sleeping on the train with headphones the size of her head, grannies at the local 100 yen shop arguing and laughing about the price of tangerines and on the side pondering & making fun of our height out loud thinking I can't understand them.
Speaking of which, on the train from Narita airport to Asakusa, I had a rather pleasant surprise. A few minutes after boarding the train I dozed off due to lack of sleep on the plane. When I woke up, I somehow thought I was still on the plane and Miikka was sitting next to me. Wrong. I suddenly realized it was some random girl sleeping and leaning on me, and I admit, I felt giggly inside, especially with Miikka staring at me funnily across the aisle. Oh and by the way, Miikka wasn't so lucky. Instead of a cute girl, he was forced to sit next to a rather angry looking elderly lady. I guess she wasn't a fan of foreigners (:<).
In any case, We got to our hostel around 1 pm, and got a warm welcome back as usual. After a solid dinner of udon noodles with Tomo nearby we went for a short nap to compensate for the jet lag and general lack of sleep. 2,5 hours later we managed to pull ourselves out of the beds and headed to the lobby for some more dinner, and consequently, a few beers. This is where the stories always repeat themselves: Every single time we decide it's best to head to bed early and catch the new daily rhytm. And every single time we fail. We came across a new acquaintance, Dave, who happens to have a T-shirt company 'Image in motion T-shirts' distributing mentioned products on Ebay. What makes the shirts special is that they all have unique pictures on them taken by his friend, mostly of old school rockers such as Ozzy Osborne, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Freddy Mercury. And when I say unique, I mean the kinda pictures that have never been released and you cannot find anywhere, so heads up people. You can look for the shirts on Ebay by the company name, Image in motion, the artist names, or the photographer John Shiner. You can also find John on facebook and become a fan.
As I was saying, our calls to head to bed early and have a good night's sleep never hold, and this was no exception. A few beers later we broke out te Salmari, a.k.a The Terror of the Japanese, and had a few too many shots than we probably should have. Many bars and beers and whatnot later, I think I finally hit the sack around 3 am. But not without losing something. Oh yes, that was no exception or surprise either. So far I've managed to lose my wallet and my bag in Japan, and they've all been returned to me in a day or two. This time it was my jacket's turn. I was at A.S.A.B., our friend Yu's new bar, and started to leave & put on my jacket. Which was when I noticed I simply couldn't find it. People then told me I didn't have a jacket on when I got into the bar. Hmmm. Interesting. I can only assume I left it somewhere else. This could be the latest Indiana Jones flick; Yacchan and the Jacket of Disappearance. Or perhaps Three Bars, One Jacket. Whatever. I trust it'll find its way back to me eventually.
And on that bombshell (thanks Jeremy, we wub you), it's time to end this time's blog. Good night people.
EDIT: Yes, I realise this is a bit late, but alcohol and sleep got the best of us :[
The first thing I saw while waiting for the train was the spitting image of Japan that is in my head; a cute girl with huge headphones on, sleeping in a corner of the train. I just couldn't help but smile and think how simply happy & at peace I felt just being here out of the ordinary. It's always the little things that get me like this. Kids playing rock-paper-sciccors on the train, a girl sleeping on the train with headphones the size of her head, grannies at the local 100 yen shop arguing and laughing about the price of tangerines and on the side pondering & making fun of our height out loud thinking I can't understand them.
Speaking of which, on the train from Narita airport to Asakusa, I had a rather pleasant surprise. A few minutes after boarding the train I dozed off due to lack of sleep on the plane. When I woke up, I somehow thought I was still on the plane and Miikka was sitting next to me. Wrong. I suddenly realized it was some random girl sleeping and leaning on me, and I admit, I felt giggly inside, especially with Miikka staring at me funnily across the aisle. Oh and by the way, Miikka wasn't so lucky. Instead of a cute girl, he was forced to sit next to a rather angry looking elderly lady. I guess she wasn't a fan of foreigners (:<).
In any case, We got to our hostel around 1 pm, and got a warm welcome back as usual. After a solid dinner of udon noodles with Tomo nearby we went for a short nap to compensate for the jet lag and general lack of sleep. 2,5 hours later we managed to pull ourselves out of the beds and headed to the lobby for some more dinner, and consequently, a few beers. This is where the stories always repeat themselves: Every single time we decide it's best to head to bed early and catch the new daily rhytm. And every single time we fail. We came across a new acquaintance, Dave, who happens to have a T-shirt company 'Image in motion T-shirts' distributing mentioned products on Ebay. What makes the shirts special is that they all have unique pictures on them taken by his friend, mostly of old school rockers such as Ozzy Osborne, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Freddy Mercury. And when I say unique, I mean the kinda pictures that have never been released and you cannot find anywhere, so heads up people. You can look for the shirts on Ebay by the company name, Image in motion, the artist names, or the photographer John Shiner. You can also find John on facebook and become a fan.
As I was saying, our calls to head to bed early and have a good night's sleep never hold, and this was no exception. A few beers later we broke out te Salmari, a.k.a The Terror of the Japanese, and had a few too many shots than we probably should have. Many bars and beers and whatnot later, I think I finally hit the sack around 3 am. But not without losing something. Oh yes, that was no exception or surprise either. So far I've managed to lose my wallet and my bag in Japan, and they've all been returned to me in a day or two. This time it was my jacket's turn. I was at A.S.A.B., our friend Yu's new bar, and started to leave & put on my jacket. Which was when I noticed I simply couldn't find it. People then told me I didn't have a jacket on when I got into the bar. Hmmm. Interesting. I can only assume I left it somewhere else. This could be the latest Indiana Jones flick; Yacchan and the Jacket of Disappearance. Or perhaps Three Bars, One Jacket. Whatever. I trust it'll find its way back to me eventually.
And on that bombshell (thanks Jeremy, we wub you), it's time to end this time's blog. Good night people.
EDIT: Yes, I realise this is a bit late, but alcohol and sleep got the best of us :[
December 6, 2012
Helsinki-Vantaa
Yes, we're finally at the airport. And consequently, the local pub. By pure chance, in case you're wondering. Just happens so that the chance's name is Miikka.
Anyhow, the beers here are freaking expensive. I bought a round for me & Miikka (2 pints of Foster's), and the total was.. 17 freaking euros. WTJesusF? Despite this little upset, Miikka bought a second round. Still F'n 17 euros. That's 34 euros for 2 beers each. Seriously, are the bartenders androids that consume liquid gold for fuel? The messed up thing is, I don't even care. We're at the airport and nothing costs nothing, and we're just fine with that.
Because. Japan.
Anyhow, the beers here are freaking expensive. I bought a round for me & Miikka (2 pints of Foster's), and the total was.. 17 freaking euros. WTJesusF? Despite this little upset, Miikka bought a second round. Still F'n 17 euros. That's 34 euros for 2 beers each. Seriously, are the bartenders androids that consume liquid gold for fuel? The messed up thing is, I don't even care. We're at the airport and nothing costs nothing, and we're just fine with that.
Because. Japan.
December 3, 2012
Japan, we're almost there (again)
starting to be that time of the year again. Tampios gonna travel, huh, Miikka? Yeah, tampios gonna travel. It's been way too long since our last (and far too brief) visit, so we saw it as our obligation to spend the the coming xmas & new year with our friends in Tokyo. So, our flight is 3 days away, and we can barely stay in our pants. Keep an eye out for some more idiotic TampioTravels action.
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