10.27.09 Pachinko

::blOg::

So after all these years I finally did it. I played that mystical game known as "pachinko".


Now I know for a fact anyone who's ever been here has been surprised and interested in the pachinko parlors. As you walk by the automatic door opens up and you are bombarded with nothing but noise. Well I am going to tell you how it works.


So the first thing you do is find a machine that you like. Each machine has a number over top of it which lets you know the odds of winning it.

You will see a coin slot for 500¥ coins, once you insert your coin all these balls will fall out and fill up your tray. The tray feeds directly into the machine.



To start the machine you just turn this knob. It will shoot the balls to the top of the machine. The harder you turn the harder it shoots them. If you turn it too hard then your balls fall of the screen and go to waste.

The goal of the game is similar to the Price is Right game Kerplunk. The ball falls down from the top of the screen hitting various nails as it falls. You want the ball to land in this little tiny cup.

Once it goes in the cup it will start up the slot like element to the game. This part works pretty much just like slots. If you get three cherries (or whatever your particular game has deemed as the winning token) then you get to play the bonus round.
In the bonus round you have a limited amount of time to get as many balls into the cup as possible. Everytime you get a ball into the cup you will awarded more balls.

By the time I realized this I had already pumped 15 bucks into the machine.

When you're done you go to the ball counting machine. There your balls will be counted.

You will received a ticket, and you have to take it to the cashier. The cashier will give you special pachinko dollars. You can use these to buy special pachinko products. An assorted store of knickknacks is there for you to choose from.

If you want you can take your pachinko dollars and cash them in. Since gambling is illegal in Japan you have to go to a different building where somebody "buys" your pachinko dollars. As you can see mine was some random little booth a block down from the parlor. We actually had to follow somebody cause we had no idea where it was.
So yeah that's pachinko.
Many thanks to Koji for taking me, it was really fun; and if you haven't tried it yet I recommend that you do.

10.26.09 Going Away Party

Going Away Smiles
Originally uploaded by Fried Toast

Well this last weekend was my going away party. It was a great time. With Lisa's help I made masks of myself for everyone coming to the party, and we all went to Universal Dining (the one place which could probably have enough room for the amount of people I had planned on coming).

To my surprise there was a cookie jar there that was being passed around and accepting donations for my mother.

It was eerie to look around the room throughout the night and see myself staring back at me. With about thirty Tim-masked people in the room I wasn't sure who was looking at me and who had their mask on backwards.

After UD we all headed over to Iceman. We walked into find a large group of gaijin (most likely new recruits to the Honda plant down the road). I remember when me and Matt used to go and the entire bar would be empty.
One of my friends used this to their advantage and got ever person there to donate some money to my mom. The cookie jar made it's rounds throughout the entire group of strangers.

After everyone had a drink at iceman we all headed over to karaoke for one more bash.

It was nice because as the night went on people kind of straggled off, saving me from having to say goodbyes. I'm not very good at goodbyes, so this made things much easier for me.

All in all it was an amazing night, and I'd like to thank everyone for coming and everyone who didn't. All around I just want to say thanks to all my friends here in Japan for the past 3 years, and thanks for the kindness and support you've shown me and my family.

Pictures to come later, so until next time

FANTiM

10.10.09 Things to do Before Leaving Japan

So I've managed to do pretty much everything I could think of in Japan. So now I've been trying to think of a few things I want to do before leaving. Here is my list so far.



Things to do before leaving Japan:

Wake up early and take photo of fog over rice fields.

This one might be hard for me. Let's just say I'm not much of a morning person. But I hope to bike out of the city a little bit and shoot photos over the rice field. I wanted to do this in the spring time when they were full of water, but I didn't. But the sky has been beautiful lately, so hopefully I'll get some good shots.

Play pachinko - done

This is one thing I've never done the whole time I've been here. When I go into Pachinko parlors I'm usually so overwhelmed by noise I have no desire to stay. But I have officially made it a goal to play.
For those of you who don't know gambling is illegal in Japan. So what they did is created a loophole. Pachinko is similar to slots, and you win little metal balls. When you're finished you can cash in your balls for a prize, and the same place where you're playing will cash in your prize for money. I love loopholes.

Shoot Utsunomiya - done

I've lived in this city for two or my years in Japan, but I have yet to properly shoot it. Tonight I will change that. Photos to come later.


See a sumo match - done

This is one I'm really excited about. This weekend I will go to Tokyo to watch the Sumo wrestlers practice. You can bring your camera and take photos too. So I think this will be pretty great.
If you are interested you can find more information here


Take pictures at a kabuki theater

Kabuki is a traditional Japanese play. The actors paint their faces with white black and red paint, and it looks gorgeous. Unfortunately this is one thing I don't think I will get to do while I'm here, as most kabuki theaters run weekly and don't allow photography so they can sell their own photos. If you want to see some kabuki you can look here


If you have any other ideas of things I should do let me know. I have three weeks left here.

Later
F

10.06.09 Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth are a traumatic experience anytime you have them removed. I had the unfortunate experience to have mine removed while being here in Japan, and this is the story of a survivor.

So now that my last month in Japan has arrived I decided to take advantage of the health care system that I have here. Government sponsored health care sounds like an amazing thing, but ask most any foreigner who's lived in Japan and they will warn you that things are almost archaic at times when it comes to health care. Take my friend who visited five different doctors asking for an allergy test and allergy medicine only to be told that she was having an allergic reaction to her own body and sent on her way. Until eventually she realized she was allergic to her couch, threw it away and cured her symptoms on her own accord.

I went to the dentist very worried about what would happen. My last visit to the dentist resulted in a filling that fell out the next day leaving my tooth looking as if I had just took on Tyson in a ten bout.

The dentist x-rayed my mouth and then told me he would be able to take out booth teeth that day. I was excited because I didn't want to pay the fees you normally have to pay in America. One of the teeth just crowding the others a little bit, but the other tooth was completely on it's side and pushing all my teeth together. The tooth on it's side was the one I really wanted removed. The dentist told me it'll take about an hour to remove both teeth.

He leaned the chair back and pulled out this instrument which I assumed would inject Novocain into my mouth. I felt the minute sting of the needle and then heard Disney music playing from the instrument. It was nice as it allowed me something to focus on instead of the needle jabbing my gums. After about two Disney songs he was ready to go. And he started pulling. He pulled and he pulled and he pulled, not giving me a break. This didn't last very long until the anesthetic began to wear off. At this point I realized he wasn't injecting me with Novocain. He pulled out his Disney syringe again and injected me with a "Part of Your World" dosage of anesthetic, however this time some of it dripped down to the back of my throat. The suction person was busy keeping my tooth dry while the dentist pulled and yanked on it, so I had to deal with the nasty taste at the back of my throat, and breathed solely through my nose.
Eventually the anesthetic once again wore off. This time I had to practicly scream at the dentist who was still jerking out my now sensitive tooth. I didn't mean to yell, it's just that one someone is pulling out your tooth and the nerve is no longer numb it begins to hurt.

He removed his clamps, which gave me a chance to swallow the built up saliva, blood, and anesthetic that was caking the back of my throat. I got another helping of Disney anesthetic and he went again. This time I drilled out the inside of my tooth in hopes of pulling it out in pieces. He used his clamps and took a piece of my tongue along with my tooth. I got my tongue loose, but it felt as if I had bit my own tongue. He pulled some more but as was noted the previous times that anesthetic doesn't last long. Before he could remove any pieces I could feel the sharp pain of him pulling out my teeth once again. This time he went to the back and got a real needle with real Novocain. My gums finally felt numb, and he pulled and pulled until the slivers off my tooth began to come out. One piece broke off flew threw the air and landed on my arm. The dentist didn't even look for it, he just kept pulling.

After he had removed the tooth I put my gum in the desensitized hole and noticed it felt like someone had cut it out my tooth with a samurai sword, or a hatchet. Pieces of gum lay split open, and all the teeth around my wisdom tooth were now a little bit loose.

The dentist returned to the room and told me that he would not be able to remove the other tooth (the other tooth being the sideways one that was causing me problems). He said I would have to go to an oral surgeon to get that one removed.

So this is my last memory of Japanese healthcare, I am now one wisdom tooth wiser. Japanese healthcare you will not be missed.

09.09.09 What to do With My Last Days

So for the last three years I have been doing everything I've wanted to do in Japan. And alot of things I had no desire to do, but have enjoyed it all the same. Now that I'm down to my last three months (tentatively) I have no idea what else to do.
This routine of going to work then going home and watching seasons of tv just isn't enough for me. But also if I were to spend money to go places I'd be spending money that I should be saving in order to reestablish a life in the US.
So this is where I am. Running out of time with nowhere to go.
F

09.03.09 Days of Future End

So my time in Japan are coming to a close. It is sad for me as I pack up all of my stuff. Sure I have several more months left. But all in all I am disappointed that soon this land will be a memory. At the same time though I am extremely excited to be going soon. Japan manages to confine you and keep you in a certain position of life. There's not much room for growth unless you are one who speaks perfect Japanese.
It's interesting how language can be so limiting, yet communication is still existent. But yeah I am eager to get my life back on track, and get back to my family and the things I love. So through all my experiences here I must say that there is one thing that I will remember and never forget:
American cereal is better than Japanese cereal because American cereal turns milk blue.
F

04.18.09 Sweet Corn and Parkinson's

So as well as the McDonalds New Classic Hotdog there I was also excited to find that McDonalds now carried another new breakfast item, 'Sweet Corn' which to me looked like Corn Pops

I was so disappointed to find out that it is actually just sweet corn. You can even listen to the theme song for sweet corn on their website. Who want's a corn of hot corn for breakfast? The Japanese that's who.

On another note I was at work the other day talking to a new teacher. He was going on about how Americans drink alot of cola. I am used to hearing this argument, it usually starts out on how Americans drink cola instead of tea. Then they go on to tell me that is why Americans are so fat. This time was a little different. After telling me Americans drink alot of cola (which is true, we drink a significant amount more than Japanese) the teacher then said something which I found pretty unexpected and kind of offensive. "That's why Micheal J. Fox has Parkinson's". I tried to argue against this idea, but he would not hear it. "He is addicted to Pepsi, and had to do alot of Pepsi commercials. So now he has Parkinson's. Coca Cola is ok, but Diet Coke is probably just as bad."

This could explain the lack of Pepsi in this country. Because you know if one Japanese person thinks that, many other do too.