Hot Fantasy

Posted by Glen in on 16 Dec. 2004, 9:28 pm

Nothing epitomizes our Tokyo experience better than HOT FANTASY ODAIBA, a Christmas spectacle erected last week next to our hotel. Seemingly inspired by the Grizwald house from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, this popular attraction takes Christmas cheer to a level of luminosity only possible in Tokyo. To understand the hot fantasy, think 30-foot Christmas trees with fiber-optic lights and embedded big-screen televisions, spotlights visible from space, and swarming crowds of cell-phone-camera-wielding pedestrians, clicking away at every tree. And what’s a hot fantasy without Fantasy Girls? It’s true; check out the official website. Oh, and bring the kids; Hot Fantasy Odaiba is a family event.

My camera was unable to contain the sheer hotness of HFO, but I will try again tonight. In the meantime, here is an image from afar. The action is at the base of the spotlights.

To make up for the lack of hot fantasy photos in this post, here are some night shots of Ginza, Tokyo’s $1 million per square meter shopping district:

and a pit toilet:

Our hot fantasy ends tomorrow, when we fly home. We’ve had a great time here.

  1. Comment from Angela on 21 Dec. 2004, 10:11 pm :

    Ok, pretty, nice, good, cool. But what about Hot Fuss? How do the Japanese feel about -that-??

  2. Comment from Glen on 23 Dec. 2004, 12:47 pm :

    Hmm, they’re no Bump of Chicken.

Photos

Posted by Glen in on 11 Dec. 2004, 6:25 pm

I’m lousy at travel narratives, so here are some photos from the first two weeks in Tokyo. We’ve had many oppotrunities to see the city, and the more I see of it, the more I like it. Also, I retract my previous statement about it being less crowded than I expected.


The great-circle route took our plane over Alaska. Must travel there.


Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge, as seen from our hotel in Odaiba.


Level C King Air 200, the reason for our visit.


Lunch. My strategy has been to load up on breakfast.


A selection of awesome Tokyo signage.


Asakusa, source of your souveniers/Christmas presents.


At a Shinto shrine in Asakusa.


Coca Cola even makes tea.


Park near the Imperial Palace.

Full photo album to follow after I return.

  1. Comment from DAD on 12 Dec. 2004, 5:40 am :

    Has this update occurred upon tentacle consumption?

  2. Comment from Glen on 12 Dec. 2004, 4:05 pm :

    No, but I’ve eaten more than my share of raw fish (my share is zero).

  3. Comment from Tammy on 13 Dec. 2004, 12:00 pm :

    That lunch looks FANTASTIC. I can’t understand why you don’t gobble the entire thing down in practically one bite.

    (So, how many pounds have you lost? Are we going to see an emaciated Glen at Christmas?)

  4. Comment from Glen on 13 Dec. 2004, 4:39 pm :

    Yes, every lunch is an adventure. Otherwise, we have been eating very well. The food choices are odd, but I can usually find something I like. And we always have dessert.

  5. Comment from Angela on 14 Dec. 2004, 9:36 am :

    Man, I think that lunch looks good. It has my favorite! A slice of pink-rind pressed gelatinous fish. What’s for dessert? Mochi?

  6. Comment from Glen on 14 Dec. 2004, 4:39 pm :

    I think the pink thing is actually some sort of tofu. It’s wet when you bite into it. And there is no dessert with lunch. Only rice (not pictured).

  7. Comment from Angela on 14 Dec. 2004, 10:01 pm :

    Hmm…tofu you say. Pink tofu. That’s interesting…is this the sort of thing you can smuggle back?

  8. Comment from Glen on 14 Dec. 2004, 11:09 pm :

    You may be right about the fish, but I’d prefer not to think about it. I eat these lunches while breathing out through my mouth, so as to minimize the omnipresent fish taste. I’d be happy to ship all future lunches to you, if only they didn’t need the containers back.

  9. Comment from Angela on 15 Dec. 2004, 3:21 pm :

    Your description of how you eat it makes me sad for you. But you will be home soon enough with the Mrs. to fix you all sorts of regular American goodies. Although…your blogging behavior has been excellent lately. You should go to Japan more often!

  10. Comment from Glen on 15 Dec. 2004, 4:38 pm :

    Oh, just you wait until tomorrow’s post, when I discuss HOT FANTASY ODAIBA. See link for hot preview.

  11. Comment from Mark on 15 Dec. 2004, 8:17 pm :

    Lunch looks tasty. What on earth is that pigeon sign all about? It’s hilarious on its own, but now I’m really curious.

  12. Comment from Angela on 15 Dec. 2004, 10:32 pm :

    ok, that’s hot, but what the heck does odaiba mean? the dog angels are saying something but it’s alllll in Japanese. I could read the Korean ramen ad on the bottom though.

  13. Comment from Glen on 15 Dec. 2004, 10:45 pm :

    Mark, I read the sign to mean, “The pigeons at this shrine like to eat worms, and you’ll throw a tantrum when they crap on your head.” Or something to that effect.

    Angela, Odaiba is the landfill-cum-yuppie shopping district where we are staying. The complete hotness shall be revealed to you shortly.

Lost in Translation

Posted by Glen in on 2 Dec. 2004, 12:29 am

Arrived in Tokyo Monday (or was it Tuesday?) following neverending 13-hour plane ride, have managed to avoid inadvertant tentacle consumption so far. Ate dinner at restaurant featuring Japanese-only menus; asked Japanese-only waiter for “steak” and deflected several Japanese questions with “yes, ok”. Wound up with third-best-ever pepper steak, behind Hawaii honeymoon steak and Chicago anniversary steak (was fearing tentacles). Work site next to firehouse and extremely dedicated firemen performing wind sprints and ladder drills all day long, shouting with enthusiasm (HOY! HIY! AY! …). Witnessed meticulous construction of cinder-block wall at work site by extremely dedicated contractors (no laughing, no chatting, no smoking, just work work work). City very clean and orderly and not as crowded as I expected. Hotel room features advanced toilet with bidet and heated fountain features (have not tried either). Japanese television even more bizarre than I imagined. Watched sumo match featuring famous wrestler with enormous mutton chops. Cataloging best random collections of English words on shirts, such as, “I am born of circle”. Next update upon first tentacle consumption.

  1. Comment from Angela on 2 Dec. 2004, 10:08 pm :

    Mmm…tentacles! Good work on brave foreign eating! Keep at it!

    I hope you get to squeeze in some good holiday shopping between the long bouts of hard work. We want cute cell phone charms! Also anything Badtz Maru or Chococat! (Think Sanrio cell phone charms for all your loved ones!) No Hello Kitty! Although her husband Dear Daniel is more tolerable :)

    Also, I think your wife wants a kimono!

  2. Comment from Glen on 5 Dec. 2004, 6:19 pm :

    You have an alarmingly firm grasp on Japanese pop culture, although I hear much of it is imported from Korea. Cell phone charms and Chococat are everywhere; you’ll have to be more specific.

  3. Comment from DAD on 6 Dec. 2004, 11:15 am :

    I heard that a wicked storm went through Tokyo Monday. Have you seen any damage, Glen?

  4. Comment from Glen on 6 Dec. 2004, 4:48 pm :

    There was some serious wind and rain the other night (our hotel was shuddering), but I haven’t seen any damage.

  5. Comment from Angela on 6 Dec. 2004, 9:16 pm :

    Tsunami warnings? Goodness, you’re getting the whole experience.

    I have no specific requests. I just wanted to shout out to Chococat. If you see Gwen Stefani, don’t forget say hey, baby, hey baby hey! Also, if you see Sarah Michelle Gellar going down a remote street to a house, do -not- follow!

  6. Comment from Maggie on 7 Dec. 2004, 12:22 pm :

    Hello Kitty has a -husband-? Surely you jest….

  7. Comment from MIL on 7 Dec. 2004, 9:22 pm :

    Typhoons are interesting phenomona also. Experienced that at grand age of 4. :)

  8. Comment from Glen on 8 Dec. 2004, 1:38 am :

    More interesting than the natural phenomena are the TV commercials and game shows. A recent commercial for an English-language newspaper promised, “We have happy surprise for you!” to new subscribers.

  9. Comment from Angela on 8 Dec. 2004, 8:22 am :

    You seem so amused by their poor command of the English language. Let us discuss how your Japanese has improved over the last week! Also, what is the tentacles update?

    Someone told me Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel were married in London. It makes sense, at 30, she’s like way over the hill ;)

  10. Comment from Glen on 8 Dec. 2004, 11:13 pm :

    On amusement at random English, I am guilty as charged. And as I have said before, I’m sure the Chinese characters found on American clothing are equally random.

    My Japanese has improved 238% over the last two weeks, although 238% of zero is still zero.