Lessons learnt in Japan...

Spent the last week in Tokyo. Fantastic place. Absolutely blinding, a
really refreshing culture-shock.

However, in my enthusiasm to experience as much of the local food as I
could... on my second night I tried the horse sashimi. I think this was
more than the 'bacterial flora' in my gut could deal with.

Result, I didn't eat anything else for almost three days and returned
about 4.5 kilos lighter than when I arrived.

On the plus side it's reduced my expenses but on the downside three days
suffering waves of nausia and blinding stomach cramps is rather wearing.

It's damn hard to concentrate on how you're trying to phrase a
particularly delicate point to be presented by a translator whilst
you're worried you're about to shit yourself.

Still, I live and learn. Next time I'll try the chicken liver sashimi.

 

It is isn't it.

Well I wasn't that brave and I had a stomach upset there. Very rare for
me to suffer with gut rot when I travel. It did put a dampener on my
visit but I would happily go back.

 

I've traveled a little in SE Asia before and ate whatever the locals did
without any regard for hygiene etc. I've eaten at roadside places where
they don't really wash the plates between diners, never any problems
before. I thought I had a cast-iron gut. That's my only regret, I've
found out my stomach's not invincible.

Still, I 'spect to be back in a month or so... maybe my gut will be more
up to the task by then.

 

I would *love* to go there, it's a real dream of mine. Were you there on
business... if so, I'll carry your bags next time.[/QUOTE]

Business unfortunately. You'd *love* roppongi (which incidentally is
where the offices I was visiting were situated).

It's not really that expensive; I was in a fantastic hotel (the New
Otani) which was about 100 quid a night and where I ate... it was about
a tenner a meal.

I was tempted to nab a yellow pages from the hotel for future use. I'm
sure there are places that make suitable machinery for your industry
there... tax deductable and everything...

 

wrote:

I loved my brief exposure to Japan and have decided I have to go back
there sometime in the next few years. It's one of the most interesting
countries I've ever been to, and it's so strange... Now just to work out
how to pay for it, and whether I'll tie it in to a trip to Australia.

Yummy raw horse, it sounds delightful. It wasn't one of those places
where they show you the live food first was it?

"Can _I_ have a pony Dad?"

"Yes, pick one.."

Are you as thin as Bonwick yet?

In India, I gave up on the worry once i knew I'd lost all control, it
became more like a game of russian roulette that way. It's a bit of a
sod when the gun turns out to be fully automatic though.

I'm not a big fan of liver so would give that one a miss... Any other
interesting delicacies you saw out there?

 

Curry doughnuts. Sold in Starbucks.

 

The municipal knocking shop is by the station.

hth

 

There's a very good chance I'll be there during that week. If I've not
sulked off from ukrm by then.... remind me you're off there and we'll do
turkish kebabs! or failing that a decent German meal of Pork and Beer.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

My observation over the years has suggested that redlight districts are
generally coincident with train stations.

Someone suggested that this was to do with easy access when I discussed
this. I must admit I was puzzled by whether he was referring to the
train station or the whores though.

 

I'm planning on going to china in the next year or so, mainland though,
not one of the islands.

I hope I don't get any of that with proper chinese cuisine.

More room for luggage!

I'm trying to learn Mandarin, hopefully the length of time that it will
take me to save up enough to go to china, I'll have a decent grasp of the
language and not need the services of a guide (much).
Though I think words probably would fail me in your situation. :-S

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Cane"

Probably cleaner than you'd find elsewhere.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

[snip]

While I was in Hong Kong, a Chinese person told me they eat "anything with
its back to the sky".
I think he was joking. Maybe.

 

Heheh
Anything except plaice then, I guess.

 

I don't see why 'proper chinese cuisine' should be any different from
'proper Japanese cuisine' although the Japanese seem to be riskier
eaters since I've not suffered on previous trips to places like Beijing
and Bangkok.

I have a generous luggage allowance that I never fill anyway.

Good luck, I'm tempted, at the moment, to learn a little Japanese- just
enough to be polite really.

 

Good luck with that - it's a bastard. The phrase for 'I want to sell a
horse' is the same for 'I want to sell my mother' but with different
inflection, and the rest of the language is the same.

That said, I lived in mainland China for 2 years knowing 4 phrases so
it's not impossible to get by without (they don't speak mandarin in
Shanghai anyway)

 

Yeah, I know, the tones are quite difficult to bear in mind.

 

Most Japanese sounds to me like people trying to cough something up.

 

Consider it a date. You'll have to remind me, of course.

 

Things going well then?

 

oh a few years ago. It was pleasure - out via Hong Kong and then on to
Tokyo. Japan / Tokyo was both amazing, confusing and utterly
bewildering. For some daft reason I assumed it would be similar to Hong
Kong - how wrong I was. There was little that was familiar and the
cultural and language barrier was huge at first. It was this coupled
with a stomach upset and poor weather that made it very hard going at
first.

The Japanese are lovely people though - they try so very hard to be
friendly to people who are obviously visiting. I also was there when
their economy was doing very badly so the prospect of a tourist spending
some cash meant you were treated like royalty.

If I go back I would want to visit some other parts of the country and
I'd try to add a few more words to my very limited Japanese language
knowledge.