Lost & Found In Translation

I finally made it to Bangkok and all I can say is that it is humid. Also, there were an amazing amount of roosters crowing at 5:30 this morning as I laid there sweating. All in all, like a trip home to Arkansas.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I made it to my bright and early flight out of Portland on July 2nd. After a two hour flight to San Fran that I slept through, it was on to Tokyo. Luckily, United Airlines put together the worst movie line-up available, so I did get some sleep. First was "Something New" followed by "8 Below," "Seabiscuit" and "Take the Lead" starring Antonio Banderas. Before I get hate posts about Seabiscuit, I will only say that it has been out for a while and should not have been the high point of the quadruple feature.

Once I made it to the Narita airport and passed through immigration, it was off to Tokyo to explore the city. The train trip into the city took about 90 minutes and passed through what I would call the "New Jersey" of Japan (no offense meant mother).

I wandered from the central station with no map or guidebook (not overly recommended) and went looking for the bright lights of the big city. I ended up in the Ginza district, which is apparently like NYC's 5th Ave. Lots of expensive stores, but there were also some cool lights that I had come to see. After wandering for a bit, it became apparent that my quest to stay up all night was not realistic.

I walked into one hotel that cost $300, the next looked more expensive and I actually think it was where they filmed Lost In Translation. I didn't bother to check the prices but sat on this huge cushion/couch thing in the lobby and looked out over the city. At some point, I must have passed out becasue I was then woken up by a Japanese gentlemen telling me "Sir you can't sleep here." I checked my watch and saw it was only 10:30, so I went back in search of Tokyo excitement. Sadly, I was not picked up by a group of dragracers and taken to the hotspots seen in the new movie "Tokyo Drift," but that will probably be on my flight to Sydney at the end of the month.

What I ended up doing was enjoying a mystery meat over rice dish with ginger and just watching people go about their nights. A trip back to the trainstation revealed that the last train for the airport left at 8 o'clock and the first one in the morning was at 5 o'clock. Also, I was told there were no hotels around for less than $200. This inspired me to engage in a little of what I call "urban minimalist camping." Sadly, there were no good spots out of sight, so I figured when in Rome and grabbed a cardboard box and took up residence down the way from a few other old men also into the urban camping scene. I caught a few Z's and by 4:30am, it was light and I decided to see what was going on. The answer, not much. Conveniently, my camp sight had a vending machine with chilled coffee to get the day started right. It was nice to see the city so silent after it had been so busy earlier. I spent the next 8 hours just walking around Tokyo and then headed back to the airport.

Notable Notes: Does anyone know what is up with cartoon penguins in Japan? There are a lot of them. Also, I became a little obsessed with the quantity of vending machines and the variety of options within them. My favorite might have been a pulpy apple juice.

This has gone on longer than I expected. I just wanted to let everyone know I had made it over here safe and sound. I have only been in Bangkok for about 12 hours, but it seems to been a fascinating place. I actually head out of the city for Siem Reap, Cambodia in the morning. I'll be back in a few day and I am sure there will be more stories to share.

-Ben

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