• If you’re not particular about staying in a ryokan (which would be awesome if I wasn’t a cheapo), Orbitz has great airfare/hotel deals. Staying at a large hotel may also increase the likelihood of staff being able to switch to English when they realize how badly you speak Japanese (okay okay, maybe you don’t–but I do). And book a few months in advance to get the good deals!

• Don’t go during peak season (read more about when to travel to Japan). During Golden Week, the Narita Express train from Tokyo back to the airport was a little more expensive than normal. It’s actually discounted during off-peak season. As I expected, visiting popular getaways outside of Tokyo during Golden Week, like Hakone, was a very busy time. I expected Tokyo itself to be less crowded since I read locals tend to travel away during this time, but tourist attractions like Ueno Park were still completely packed.

• Bring medicine in case you get sick. You know what works for you. Going to the local store and trying to figure out which pharmaceuticals you need and how to take them can be challenging if you don’t understand Japanese characters. But if you find yourself in this situation, hopefully the store clerk can help you (get that phrase book out).

• Get the Suica and N’Ex deal at the airport (take escalator to floor below baggage claim to find the JR ticket office).
  • Your purchase includes a ticket on the Narita Express to your Tokyo destination (find out which stop is closest to your lodging beforehand), a pre-loaded Suica card to ride most trains and subways in Tokyo, and a comprehensive map of the subway and train lines that are covered.
  • You’re supposed to return the Suica card when you leave Japan. When you do, they will return the 500 yen deposit on it, as well as any remaining funds, minus the 210 yen processing fee. If your card has less than 210 yen (not counting the 500 yen deposit), that will be your processing fee (discount!).
  • If you don’t use your Suica card within 10 years, it becomes invalid…that part’s just funny.

• Grab whatever English maps you can find. Usually, they are near or inside ticket offices or visitor information centers at major train stations.

• If you’re going to Kyoto, you definitely need more than a day. I signed up for an overnight deal since just paying for the roundtrip train ticket would’ve been more. But Kyoto would probably be best explored over the course of two to three days.

• If you’re going to Hakone, get the Hakone Free Pass (can be purchased at the Odawara Line ticket office at the Shinjuku station) and opt for the slightly more expensive Romancecar. We took the regular “express” train, which felt like being on a subway for over two hours. Can be done in a day, but staying overnight at a hot springs resort would’ve been nice.

• If you’re planning to visit lots of places outside of Tokyo, the Japan Rail Pass might save you some money. I didn’t do this since we only went to Kyoto and Hakone in addition to exploring Tokyo, which was plenty for our 10-day visit.

• Buy/borrow a Japanese phrase book. I borrowed my sister‘s old version of Barron’s Japanese at a Glance, which was very useful. The ones with Japanese characters are good. If you think you’re going to butcher the pronunciation, just point to what you want to say. Here’s a bare minimum list of phrases that we found useful (note the “u” following “s” is usually silent):

And if you haven’t seen them yet, we have over 300 pictures of Japan up (as if this post wasn’t long enough already=).

Happy New Year!

As for Australia, a week was nowhere near enough time to take it all in. We first stayed in Surfers Paradise, which felt a lot like a busy, touristy part of California/Florida. The second half of our trip was spent in Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday Coast, which still felt a little touristy but had more of a small town, tropical atmosphere like parts of Hawaii. Overall, pretty scenery, cute animals, and friendly peopar with lovely accents. Definitely one of my favorite vacations thus far. I shall be back to explore more.

Some highlights:

• Petting/feeding kangaroos and wallabies at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
• Waking/cracking up to the sound of kookaburras at the Airlie Cove Resort
• Spotting a whale while en route to the Great Barrier Reef
• Scuba diving for the first time at the Great Barrier Reef and not getting eaten by sharks
• Kayaking around Daydream Island. We spotted a turtle in the water and a couple of wallabies on a nearby beach. And we didn’t get eaten by sharks.

Some lowlights:

• Pretty bad service at Sayas Mexican Restaurant in Surfers Paradise
• Losing my pedometer at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
• Some difficulty finding/securing lodging our last night in Brisbane
• Airport security examining contents from my backpack very slowly and then asking what my dental floss was for

Some things we learned whilst in Australia:

• Pedestrians do NOT have right of way
• Paying for food and activities was similar to what you’d spend in California
• A common greeting: “How ya going?”
• A common response: “No worries.”
• Appetizers are called entrees
• Pharmacies are called chemists
• Liquor stores are called bottle shops

And finally, pictures to tell the rest of the story.

First, you must find a proper place to do your business, out of harm’s way and other peopar’s view. This deer fails.

And then you are just exposed. To bears. And mosquitoes. If you are like me, they will jump on any opportunity to latch onto that precious bit of flesh you didn’t chemicalize with DEET. In my case this time, my left leg.

Another problem with no toilet? Ever had to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom? Now imagine having this urge out in the woods on a very cold, very dark night, with only a headlamp to guide your way through The Blair Witch Project. And then there are the bears. And Jeebus knows what else. I’m confident I’m not the only one who decided to hold it until morning.

But waking up and splashing the morning out of my eyes in this?

Ha-mazing.

(Thanks to Nelson and Reid for letting me use their photos! My pictures didn’t make the cut for this blog post.)

Does this make us anti-social? In the traditional sense, probably. But if you take into account all the online social networking going on, not really. In fact, if we consider our cyberspace interactions on Twitter, personal blogs, Facebook, MySpace (perhaps reader(s) groan here), IM, etc., we’re actually pretty darn social creatures.

From my point of view, what makes online interactions more desirable at times is having more time to convey exactly what you want (or something close to it), and not really feeling the recipient’s immediate rejection/incomprehension/awkwardness that goes along with in-person conversations. If another person doesn’t respond to your IM/Tweet or comment on your most recent blog post/status change, you can always make the excuse that they stepped away from their computer, or they simply missed your message. And if they just didn’t bother to respond, doesn’t matter as much when you’re floating in seemingly infinite cyberspace, among so many others signing on/posting to let their cyber presence be known. On the flip side, you can check on a person’s status without explicitly having to show that you actually care. And so the passive personality thrives.

Of course, I would never want to entirely replace interactions in person with online communications. Because even with video chat, the magic of eye contact is somewhat lost, which I have to say I still value. And come on, lol is not as fulfilling as sharing a good laugh fo real. Anyway, I’m sure this topic has already been touched on much more eloquently by others, but it was just on my mind. Kbye.

So naturally, I want to start recording again.

Fortunately, I found a sleek-looking mic preamp under my bed, which my wonderful friend Jamie had given to me a year or so ago. Now all I need is to purchase an audio interface to connect to my Mac Mini. I thought about upgrading to a new Mac, but then I found an Engadget article about turning your Mac Mini into a low-cost recording studio. Maybe I don’t need to be too fancy with the equipment–and then maybe I’m not far from starting up again. I just need to dust off my instruments and learn to sort of play again.

If anyone has song ideas, feel free to add them as comments here. My goal is to churn out one song per month…we’ll see if that actually happens=).

Anyway, this was more of a get-from-point-A-to-point-B-by-day-X kind of road trip. Not much time for leisure sightseeing. However, we did stop to see the Niagara Falls at night. It was so cold, the spray from the powerful falls turned into snow bits that wanted very badly to get into my eyes. Unfortunately, we both forgot our cameras. Hence, actual snapshots of our trip are limited to camera phone quality. These are the Niagara Falls from my phone…

Ehh...see it?

Most of our trip was spent in the truck driving by things. I suppose some baby highlights would be:

• Getting lost in Martinsville, Illinois (a lot like middle of nowhere) and successfully not sinking in a creek
• A Branson, Missouri radio ad about a show that includes a live gunfight and burning down a cabin
• Cuba, Missouri
• Lebanon, Missouri
• “Do Not Drive Into Smoke” signs in Oklahoma
• A full-blown dust storm near Oklahoma City, complete with airborne tumbleweeds (for more details, ask Ryan–I was asleep)
• Finding only one radio station when we first entered New Mexico (Tejano music, in case you are wondering)

I’m sure there were other things…I am now regretting not taking notes along the way. But I did utilize the My Maps Editor app on my G1 phone to document our travels.

View Larger Map

We got back in one piece. Ha-mazing.

Oh, and if anyone knows of any good documentaries out there about truck drivers, please let me know. I’m very curious now, having seen so many on the road. I think it’s an interesting career choice, constantly being on the road like that and usually alone.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
Don’t want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I don’t think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won’t have to use our dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door, that’s the easy thing to do

I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes
To see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too

Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian

There’s lots of room for him in our two-car garage
I’d feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage
I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes
To see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses
I only like hippopotamuseses
And hippopotamuses like me too!