Ever seen Mr. Baseball? The scene where he's hitting baseballs at a golf driving Range?

So since moving to Tokyo, I've been dying to play some golf and heard of the crazy prices they charge in Tokyo so I decided to check it out.  It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when my buddy asked me if I'd like to hit ball with him.  It was a short 15 minute walk from the Omotesando station and located at Meiji jingu gaien where they have the Jingu baseball satdium, Golf driving range, Ice Skating Rink, Tennis courts, and much more.  What an amazing complex!  When we first got there, we noticed that there were two driving ranges, one the furthest you could hit before going into a net was 65 yards, and the second about a 100 yards further at 160 yards.  It was actually a converted baseball stadium so when we got there the 160 yard was not ready yet as there was still a baseball game going on.  So we decided to wait until the game was over so we could hit the ball a little further.

So we waited for about an hour and the driving range was amazing, beautiful mats, three levels, individual seats, fans......... and the best part about it you got to hit out into a baseball field.  Tokyo being Tokyo, everything was advanced from where you inserted your money card to the balls automatically coming up to electronically controlled tee heights.  The one downside, it was extremely pricey for a driving range.  So here is the price breakdown  As you can see in this picture, the card was 3,000 JPY to hit 92 golf balls.  Converting 3,000 JPY to USD you come out with $37.50 for 92 balls.  That's more than $0.40 per ball to hit only 160 yards.  Anyway, it was a good time and I'm sure I'll head back there again to fulfill my golfing needs.  For those of you looking to hit balls here it is walking distance from Aoyama Itchome station.

I cooked for the first time in Japan....

Hi my loyal followers.  So, Japan is well known for it's combinis or convenience stores like they call them in the states.  They have them everywhere, and what's great about them is that you can do so many things there (which I will cover in another blog post) along with buying fairly tasty food for a decent price.  As a result, I often find myself grabbing something quick to eat when i don't go out to eat or eat at work. 

This convenience has made it very difficult to get motivated to cook.  However, for the first time I busted out my pan to cook my first meal in Japan.  As you can see, I stuck to the basics -- spam, eggs and rice.  Yes, I am from hawaii and I love my spam.  Here is a picture of the before, eggs, instant rice from korea, a bag of spinach that I  bought from a combini around the corner from my house, two eggs which I bought from a combini as well and 3 slices of spam.  Food here, especially ones of great quality like this meal right here can often run pretty expensive.  So I'm glad I was able to make it for myself.

  Here is the after picture, pretty good right? 

So i promised I'd provide some helpful hints about traveling to Tokyo....so here goes!

Tokyo Airport Limousine from the Grand Hyatt at Roppongi Hills to Narita International Airport

Hi All, This post is not so much about food nor things to do in Japan.  However, the information that I'm about to provide might come in handy to all those that want to travel to Tokyo.  In the US, getting picked up by friends, taxis, family members, etc... is usually the way to go when you land at the airport.  However, in Asia, it's much different.  The most common mode of transportation to/from the airports are these "Limousine Buses."  For Narita, the major international airport for Tokyo, it often takes 60-90 minutes to get to the Airport.  So how do you get there in an affordable fashion?  It's the Tokyo Airport Limousine Bus.  From any major hotel/train station in Tokyo, an Airport Limousine Bus can pick you up and transport you to Narita in a convenient, timely, and comfortable manner.  Schedule to/from Narita or Haneda can be found here. 

Tsukiji Tsushi :)

Tsukiji fish market is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world.  At any time of the day or night, you can find locals and tourists enjoying fresh seafood.  Since moving to Japan, people always ask what do you eat there? Are you eating Sushi and Ramen all the time?  NO -- I'm not.  Japan has much more to offer than just Sushi and Ramen, but damn the Sushi at Tsukiji is amazing and if I could be here everyday I would be eating Sushi all the time :)

Surprisingly, while most things in Japan are more expensive here than in the US, high quality sushi is much cheaper here than any sushi bar or japanese restaurant that I've eaten in the states.  This Nigiri set includes Toro, Meguro, Hamachi, Uni, Ikura, Uni, Ebi, Surf Clam, Tamago, and some other pieces for around $30 US.  Great deal right?  And look at those beautiful pieces of sushi, the combination of rice, wasabi, and fresh seafood is an amazing combination.  Stay tuned for more food pics and thank you for following. 

Until next time, Sayonara!

Basketball is Universal.....

My long-time blog followers and loyal fans :) sorry I have not been posting recently.  I have been traveling around from San Francisco to Beijing, Beijing to Seoul, Seoul to Tokyo, Tokyo to Beijing, Beijing to Tokyo, Tokyo to New York City, and last weekend was my first weekend back in Japan since the beginning of August.  Crazy huh?  So how did I spend my first weekend back?  Well, I played in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the city of Matsumoto in the Nagano prefecture.

It took about 3 hours to get here on train from the Shinjuku station in Tokyo and a group of about 20 of us (3 teams entered in the 3 on 3 tournament) traveled together.  It was a great time traveling with a bunch of people I haven't met before and all of them were very welcoming.  Most of them, like me, moved out to Tokyo to work and a common interest -- basketball -- has brought them all together.  Here is a group picture of all of us.  



As we arrived into Matsumoto to play in the basketball tournament, it was quite the gathering of locals.  There were 64 teams total.  Saturday was group play where you had to be the top two teams of your group of 4 to make it into the tournament.  There were 16 groups and 4 courts.  Luckily, Taco Bell A made it out also known as Batman.  We named all our teams Taco Bell A, B, and C because a guy known as Tako organized the tournament for us.  We were the only ones that traveled from outside of Nagano to play and it was fun to be amongst so many local japanese folks.

Below are pictures of Taco Bell A (Batman), Taco Bell B (Superman), and Taco Bell C (Popeye).

Two of the three teams made it into the second day with our team easily getting out of Round 1.  Unfotunately, we met some tough competition late in the second day and came short of the championship. 

Below are more photos for your enjoyment, much more posts to come (next one will probably be about the Onsen in Matsumoto)

Take care my loyal followers.

What? Horse Sashimi? mmmmm OISHI!

So the other night a few people from work went out for dinner.  It was an awesome Izakaya (Japanese word for Tapas or PuPus) place in Roppongi (name of restaurant to come later) and we tried a variety of great dishes.  One of the dishes we tried was Horse Sashimi!  what????  Horse Sashimi?  Who eats Horse?  Well, I didn't know what to think when I saw it on the table?  What would it taste like?  What may be strange to me who is Chinese and enjoys eating Chicken Feet must be extremely weird for everyone else.  With a little hesitation, I tried it and actually enjoyed it!  Oishi!

Horse Sashimi is called called sakura (桜) or sakuraniku (桜肉, sakura means cherry blossom, niku means meat) because of the meat’s pink colour. It is very chewy and can be served raw as very chewy sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case, it is called basashi (Japanese: 馬刺し). Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku (a type of barbecue), where it is called baniku (lit., horse meat) or bagushi (lit., skewered horse); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf. 

As I said in my introduction, I hope to share my experiences with all of you.  Food, will definitely be a heavy topic as I experience Japan firsthand.

A bed, a sofa, a coffee table, and a TV stand???

To continue on from yesterday's post I know I mentioned I'd tell you what I could fit into such a small place. Well here you go, see the pictures :) When I first moved here, my real estate agent and I kept on moving the bed around in different corners of my room to see how we could maximize space. Hmmm how much space can be maximized you ask by shifting around a bed??? A lot! I finally settled on a floor pan that would enable me to sleep parallel to my couch in the direction I would watch TV as you can see in the pic. The bed is about 140cm wide and the couch is about 135, a nice two seater that can actually only fit one -- ME.

When one moved to Japan, you have to know the spots to check out to furnish your place. Places that I visited was Ikea of course, but along with Ikea there are great furniture places in Japan that have great little things for your little place. Stores like Muji where I purchased storage containers that hold clothes, valuables, and dirty laundry. The Loft in Shibuya where I purchased my sofa for only around $350 USD. And other random stores like Bic Camera, a superstore near Shimbashi station where i bought a bunch of household goods, and Ikea in Yokohama where I purchased nearly everything else. All in, I don't think I dropped that much on my place, you'll be surprised with how nice you can make your place once you simplify your lifestyle.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and for those looking to move to Japan, 26 sq meters is actually on the larger end. I have seen much smaller!

Aloha!

How can I fit in 26 square meters (280 sq feet)??

How can I fit in 26 square meters I asked myself? Not only was I not used to the metric system but who could anyone fit in 280 square foot flat and still be comfortable? Where I come from, minimum studio sizes that I look for to rent in the bay area are at least 750 square feet, nearly 3x that of my place so when I started to pack for my move I made sure to pack just the essentials.

Well in Japan or Tokyo specifically, everything is made for small places. From miniature iron boards and irons, too book shelves that fit only three books per shelf and are about 15 cm wide. I wanted to live as close to the way I lived in the states as possible, a flat screen TV, a decent size bed as I am well over 6 feet, a sofa, coffee table, night stand, and a floor lamp. Hmm but how do I squeeze all of that in my 170sq feet of living space (space not including the bathroom and mini kitchen). Well I say, take a look at the floor plan. Yes, you're reading right, I measured my living space in centimeters! Welcome to Tokyo! :)

I will share how I arranged my room in a following blog, more to come, stay tuned!

Morning commute to Roppongi HIlls from Minami Aoyama

Hello all and Good Afternoon Tokyo time. Ever come from a place where you take the car everywhere and drive yourself 20 steps away from your office door? Well that doesn't really happen in downtown Tokyo. This morning the bus was exceptionally crowded on my way to my office in Roppongi Hills. Our company recently moved to Roppongi, an area known for a great nightlife as well as foreign companies. In fact, companies such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Google, and other well known US and European brand names base their Tokyo presence out of Roppongi Hills.

So, I live 3 stops away from my Roppongi Hills office in this area called Minami Aoyama. The bus stop to be exact is Aoyama Gakuin Chutobumae. Which is the local University in Aoyama. I live off of Roppongi dori (street) which is a major thruway in Tokyo. The bus that I take comes from Shibuya station so every morning and evening its very crowded as commuters pile in and out of the inner circle of Tokyo for work. My commute to work only takes a few minutes and many Japanese locals are very envious of the short commute, but unlike many of them I don't have a family so I only need 26 square meters to live in.

My stop is the first stop on its route and as you can see, this morning was very crowded. As you can tell, I am in the left-hand corner of the bus (the only one allowed to fit in as only one got out at my stop) the driver is on the right-hand side unlike the United States. It's only packed like this for one stop though as about 50% pile out at Minami-Aoyama. Five minutes later, I am at my stop: Roppongi Hills.

Enjoy!

Hello and welcome to Tokyo, Japan

Hi Everyone,

I recently moved here from the San Francisco, California where I enjoyed the amazing weather the Bay Area had to offer along with its rich culture and educated people. I recently moved to Tokyo to take on a new role at work where I am beginning to learn the culture an immerse myself in my new home. Please follow my blog as I will bring you a piece of my life. I hope you enjoy it.

all the best!