Akihabara again

Made another trip to Akihabara, it is so big that I have to go take another look. I got my electronic dictionary which is a must to carry at all times. I got a boiler too; finally I can make hot drinks. I really miss Spore’s instant coffee and tea.

The best find is a stall which sells old school game consoles and games. They even have old school arcade games. Think Super Mario, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, Mappy etc etc. Whatever you want from your youth, they have it. Retro retro, I was half hopping the shop keepers will break out in some Mambo dance. The only downside, the place is filled with cigg smoke.

There were many more people doing street performances. Funnily, the audience seems to know how to dance to the songs they are doing. I really hope it is a very popular song; I mean how can you be such a groupie till you know the actions and do it together. I see people in the background dancing. You can see the clips below, people crowding around the performers dress in maid or school girls. I even saw a scene where the maid performers are just talking and a few guys just clapping and smiling away happily. I swear those guys are Otaku (Name for people who stay at home all day doing something; in this case read manga and think they are in living in the anime world). I really hope I can understand what is going on soon. I think the performers really like to busk in the limelight, with people taking pictures and talking to them.

This wanting of attention culture is pretty predominant, there were even cars all supped up and displayed along the street for people to take pictures.

Snacks

Interesting snacks you can find in Japan…

Melon flavored Kitkat

Peach flavored Kitkat
I prefer the Peach flavor, infact I recommend trying one when you come over. It is really good.

Grape flavored pocky sticks, yummy yummy!

Coffee flavor pocky which was actually pretty darn good.

I am starting to like the taste of grapefruit, so much so I bought the juice. Acquired taste.

A opening to allow you to drain water away. Such is the thoughtfulness of Japanese.

Purple Juice, as advertised.

Milk ice cream which is very delicious. Ice cream is relatively cheaper then Singapore. Wider range too.

I ate many other snacks which I did not have a chance to take a picture. The chocolates here are very good. Many different flavor which will keep you entertain for a long time. The ice cream is also very good. I can get nice ice creams for abt $1 at the training center. The green tea with moochii ice cream really deserves a try.

Here are my cooking utensils which hopefully will be put to good use

Akihabara

I decided to check out Akihabara with some friends today. Add Sim Lim square and Sim Lim Tower together and times it by at least 2 times. That is the size of the place, totally filled with gadgets. It is a geek heaven. I could probably go there another 2-3 times and probably still not finish touring the place. There are many interesting shops selling hobby goods too. There are maid cafes littered all across but I did not visit one as my friends were not keen (How can I go right?). These are places where the waitresses will dress as maids and serve you, pretending that you are their masters. They even have massage places like these. There are people wearing such outfits and other over the top costumes to promote the shops. There are buskers along the street as you leave the train station.

Maids doing promotion for some stores.


This is an advertisments for Nortan Anti virus, they just pop out from nowhere

The road is closed for people to walk. Notice the 2 school gals in the middle? They are guys. That is how weird things are over here

Akihabara is so big, it overwhelmed me. I did not know how to walk and there were so many things to see. The prices are pretty good. Things like hdd, hdd covers, mouse, ram, gfx card and discs are cheaper then Spore. LCDs, motherboards and network related products are more expensive. You can also bargain the prices at the smaller shops, but that is only if your language is good enough.

Dinner was at Yoshinoya, it is similar to Matsuya but the food is better than Spore. Although I think Spore’s Yoshinoya has more variety. I ate a milk ice cream which I thought was pretty good, yum yum.

Tokyo Game Show 2007

The first weekend over here and I found out there is the Tokyo Gameshow 2007. This is a game conference where the big names showcase the new games. The journey there was long as it was at Chiba-Mukuhari Messe hall. Upon reaching, the whole train station was filled with people. I don’t really need to ask where was the location, just had to follow the crowd. Along the way I saw a factory outlet building for products like Nike, Adidas, Coach etc. I will probably check it out if I have the time next time. The crowd was insane, we had to queue up under the hot sun; forming about 8 queues as the entrance was not big enough.

Never in Singapore will you see tons of game makers all lined up in booths. Each booths with many booths for you to try the games. You get retro games on new consoles and you have to queue up to 45mins to try the games. Some popular games will take you an hour of waiting. That is even after they have 10 stations to try. A few games I saw were, Metal Gear Solid 4, Winning Eleven 8, Devil May Cry 4, Grand Tourismo 5 etc. Overwhelmed by games and people. They even have a system where you can literally do the actions of Dragonball and play the game. It really takes gaming to a new level.

Like the PC fair in Spore, they have gals trying to sell you the products. But over here, the gals actually pose for you. You can ask them for a picture, and they will strike a kawaii pose, sexy pose and even alternate poses for different cameras. Many people are armed with digital SLR cameras with tripods, videos and even reflectors; how professional. I swear the gals go through training before they are allowed to take the job. Took some pictures, but ALAS….my battery ran out ¼ way through the show. The stupid indicator is not accurate and the life span is not very good. This is why my number specs I look out for is battery life. There were so many gals I wanted to show you all, but could not. Too bad. There were lots of cosplay people. They actually dress up and come for the game show. In between the halls, there is a place where they will just stand there and wait for people to take pictures. There were queues forming everywhere to take picture. This is as kinky as it gets when you have gals dressing up as characters in DOA. I really wished I can explain the experience to you all in words, but it is really something you have to go and see for yourself. Not only for the gals and cosplay; the games are really mind blowing.

We went to the Chiba Pod Tower, which was really nothing much. About 130m and you get a 360 degree view. The skies were pretty foggy, as such we could not see Mt Fuji. The place is an area for shipping business. But I feel that the mayor is really trying hard to get visitors to come. They have their own LRT like system where the wheels are on the top instead, the roads are nicely paved and they have a pod tower which you don’t get a beautiful view.

We popped by an onsen (Japanese public bath) which was near Disney. Upon exiting the train station, the feeling of happiness and being a kid overtakes you. As I stepped into the Disney store, I recalled the time I visited HK Disneyland with my good friends and the girl. Sigh.

The onsen cost about $30. You have to get naked and shower on a stool. Then you hop into the different pools. Hot, warm, water channeled from a hot spring, water bed, Jacuzzi, cold water, steam room and sauna. After soaking for an hour plus, we headed for a rest on a reclined chair with TV. You can pay extra to get massages and there is place to eat. I think if we knew the time the fireworks for Disney is showing, we probably could see it too. The onsen relaxes the body so much, that the entire journey back was in a semi-sleep state; like you were on weed.

Expensive or Cheap?

I decided enough of Matsuya and other ticket booth dinners. I wanted a place with a traditional Jap feel. I went to a inn in a small alley (plenty of such places around) and walked in. I had a little trouble with a menu without pictures. We ordered some traditional Japanese food, beer and sake. It cost each of us about $22. This is what I call a good experience.

I came to a conclusion; the expensive food in Singapore is cheap over here. But the normal / cheap food in Singapore is expensive over here. And to survive over here, I got to stop thinking in Singapore prices. Have to adapt to what is the general pricing and then compare.

Brainwashing

The chop I was talking about.

Japanese language lessons are held everyday as long as there are no other trainings. 4-5 people in a class. Nothing much to say other then the duration is too long.

The brainwashing has begun; I actually had an hour of lesson of the Toshiba song. Haha. I was literally laughing throughout the entire session.