Well Wishes From Tokyo

[DoveTurnedHawk]

Just got here on business, and will be here through Wednesday morning. I'm on pins and needles, watching from afar. To everyone who is staffing phone banks, canvassing neighborhoods, watching polls, and a million other things that will help us win this election...THANK YOU! I wish I could be there with you!

:loveya:

Tokyo is crazy. It's my first time here, and I actually like it very much. It's very similar, yet incredibly different at the same time. Some random ramblings:

--very, very modern, in many ways more so than the US
--practically zero obesity here
--but lots of Really Messed Up teeth
--so damn expensive, I cannot imagine being here on my own dime
--SO crowded, there are people everywhere, certainly more so than Los Angeles or even New York
--when walking around the youth culture area, Harajuku, I was shocked to see so many Japanese Goths...that's right, Goths
--everyone is incredibly polite and nice, I was a little worried at first because Koreans living here are not typically treated very well, but so far I've not seen anything like that, probably because I'm a tourist

Anyway, I'm just checking in and saying hi. Luck and diligence and faith to us, we are absolutely going to win this thing, despite OBL, Rove, polls, 527 Swift Boat Liars, scumbag GOP vote suppression, and voting machines. WE ARE GOING TO WIN THIS THING.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

DTH

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Hey...have fun!

Hopefully you willreturn to a new hopeful country!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

3. Goddamn, I Am Praying So

And that's from someone who's not even religious!

So how the hell are ya? :-)

DTH

[Bark Bark Bark]

2. Lived In Tohoku For Six Years...

...While I was in the USAF. One of my friends was a Shinto priest. On weekends, he was a drummer in a punk band. We enjoyed the same manga.

Two words: fried squid. (Or in Japanese, "ika-fry.") I would miss Japan for the food alone, I NEVER ate on the base. But I miss the people more than anything else.

Avoid the crows at all cost. God, Hitchcock had NO idea how bad things could get...

[DoveTurnedHawk]

4. Haven't Seen Any Crows

But the food is indeed amazing. It's just super expensive. :-)

DTH

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. It doesn't have to be super expensive

Japan has high standards of food safety, so you don't have to worry about eating in little hole in the wall restaurants. Get the hell out of the gaijin ghetto.

Go along the side streets, and NEVER eat in a restaurant that doesn't have its prices posted outside. Not having prices posted is a sign that you can't afford it.

If you can't eat for less than 1500 yen, you're not trying, and it should be easy to come in under 1000 yen, especially for breakfast and lunch. The restaurants inside department stores (all of which have one to three floors of restaurants of different types) are reasonably priced.