van Marley

Imperial Palace

Since my buddy Jason H. and I were unable to solidify plans (I’m heading to his place next) I decided to hang in Tokyo one more day. Today’s tourist activity featured a visit to the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo. I’m pretty adept now at taking the metro, but not always in the right direction. I finally managed to get to Tokyo Central station around 1h30, which conveniently coincided with the hottest, most humid part of the day. So much so that I was laughing at first. I’ve been to New York, but the heat seemed a little more intense here. It wasn’t that bad though, you just deal with it.

The palace was cool, but you can’t go inside as he royal family still lives there apparently. Took a lot of photos and then headed over to Akihabara again (electronics district) as I needed more memory for my camera - I’ve already filled up my 2GB memory card!

Sake, Wine Bars
Later that night, Hiroko was kind enough to put up with me once more and showed me around Shibuya, a swanky part of Tokyo. There’s a famous Japanese architect who converted an old apartment building into a real work of art. The interior of the building features a distorted, quadrilateral shaped open space in the middle. The walkway spirals it’s way upward so one simply starts at the bottom, strolls past shops like Dolce Gabana, etc, and eventually winds up at the top.

We started off at a sake bar. They were most helpful and gave us a background on how the rice is grown, what regions are famous for their sake rice, and so on. I have to say, there’s some hella good sake out there. In the States, we tend to only drink it at sushi restaurants. After trying the samples we were given, I could see drinking it in place of water, and the sweater ones would make a nice replacement for gatorade on long bike rides. Unfortunately they don’t sell it in small bottles. Or maybe that’s a good thing.

Next we hit a wine bar which was a lot of fun. They had some nice tapas and we got to sample quite a few different wines. In true Japanese style efficiency, all the wine was dispensed automatically. You simply inserted your wine card, selected the desired wine and amount, and voila, the machine dispensed your wine and deducted Yen from your charge card.

Cycling Fan Club
Through our web site, www.missingsaddle.com, I came into contact with several Japanese bloggers who are big fans of cycling. Naco-san runs one of the most popular Japanese cycling sites and organized a get-together today between some cycling fans and a few other bloggers. We met up at a restaurant in the Roppongi area (read, ex-pats gone, wild-party zone.) Surprisingly, all but one were women in their mid to late 20’s and 30’s. (Maybe older, but of course i dare not say that!)

Their idols and motives for their admiration varied: Cipollini (hot), Basso (hotter), and of course Boonen (hottest). But even Roger Hammond had a devout follower; if not for his refined boyish looks like Basso or Boonen, then certainly for his courage, grit and determination he continually displays in the spring Classics. One can never possibly imagine how their actions and behavior can touch and inspire others, even thousands of miles away.

It was another nice reminder why cycling is so truly magnificent. The sight of an individual overcoming seemingly impossible challenges, whether they’re suffering up L’Alp D’Huez, or groveling in the rain and cobblestones of Roubaix, the spirit of human perseverance, determination, and endurance are qualities that are universally admired.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Parts
Barely had I finished digesting that meal before I linked up with Hiroko and some American friends at a Yakitori (chicken) restaurant in Omote-sando. If you thought the variety of chicken dishes stopped at KFC’s tender fillets versus their Big Bucket Chicken Breast Special with mashed potatoes, then you’re in a for a big treat at a Yakitori. Basically, any part of the chicken is fair game. Parts you never imagine are skewered shish-kabob style and barbequed. I consider myself gastronomically brave, and so far I’ve had cartilage, skin, gizzard, liver, raw chicken, and an occasional drum stick. I fully understand why this will never fly in the U.S., but for some I’d encourage anyone to try it if they come here. It was pretty damn good. But not as good as my new all time favorite dish ever, ochazuke. We had that along with our chicken. It’s a soup made with rice, tea, sea weed and some other stuff. I could only sum it up in two descriptive words: ‘God’, and ‘damn’. It was just that good.

No night would be complete without wrapping it up with drinks at a bar, so we did just that at a very cool, swanky hookah joint full of foreigners. I ended up missing my train back to the hostel, but managed to find an alternate route after asking a few people in the metro station. If anything, the past 2 semesters I spent studying Japanese paid off at that very moment because I was about a $200 cab ride away from the hostel which I didn’t even have the address for with me. Using a vocabulary that rivaled a 3 year old, I managed to politely ask how I could make it back to Ueno station. 45 minutes later, mission accomplished.

I’m here in Tokyo and so far it’s been better than I could have hoped for. Perhaps I should back up first to the day I left LA though. After packing all night, getting 1 hour of sleep — is there any other way to pack for a trip? — and then taking an ‘alternative’ means to the airport (Syl, I’m soooo excused for Chinese New Years, and in fact, I think you owe me x 75, maybe even 100x, I actually had one of the fastest check in times ever. I did have to ditch my water bottle and toothpaste from my carry on due to the London incident, but otherwise it was pretty hassle free.

Five movies and about 30 minutes of sleep later I arrive in Narita airport which is located in a rather agrarian area outside of Tokyo. One can get by fairly easily without knowing Japanese in the airport, but that didn’t stop me from taking 10x longer than I should have to get myself situated. Not withdrawing money before my trip may have been a bad idea in hindsight, but I was able to find an ATM machine that allowed me to get enough cash to make it to my hostel.

After check in, I thought, “man, I’m really tired and I should go to bed immediately.” So naturally I headed to the nearest restaurant and launched myself into my first real live test of my Japanese language skills. The restaurant was far enough away from major tourist areas that it didn’t have the pretty pictures or English translation that you find elsewhere. I was actually a bit intimidated at first, but feeling my stomach lining dissolving from not eating for 9 hours gave me courage to persevere.

There’s nothing to sooth a churning stomach like eating chicken parts that you have no idea what they are. I believe I had chicken liver on a stick, but beyond that it was all pretty new, but tasty! Yakitorias are popular in Japan. One beer later and two gentlemen and I were engaged in a pleasant conversation. I guess since I’m in Tokyo, most people are able to speak at least a little bit of English, I understand that’s not always the case in the countryside (my next destination)

To wrap up the night I headed to the Samurai cafe and put down a few more beers. Chatted a couple Canadians from Montreal and Banff who impressed the crows with their loose leaf tobacco cigarette rolling abilities. Halfway through the conversation my body completely shut down and realizing I was going to fall asleep in my chair decided it was time to finally call it a night.

Day 1:
David, a really nice guy who I met through Kadir put me in touch with his friend Hiroko here. Hiroko-san was very kind and gave me the VIP tour of Tokyo yesterday. I got to see a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, take a boat ride towards the harbour and then visit a Japanese garden. There we went to a tea ceremony (one geared towards tourist, not the true style), and then headed to Akihabara.

It had been raining off and on all day, and they get the crazy lighting and thunder storms here. One of the trains was actually out of service as a result - a rarity - and so we, along with 50,000 other people had to cram on to another train. When I say cram, i mean cram! It’s basically like being pushing your way to the front of an arena rock show, except more violent. People really don’t mess around when it comes to getting on the train! See accompanying photos…

Akihabara if you’ve never been is a tech-geek’s paradise. Blocks and blocks of electronics stores with all kinds of cool stuff you can’t buy in the U.S. I had been looking for a Toshiba MP3 player that had a bigger screen than an iPod, played movies in 16:9 format (letterbox style), had a built in radio, allowed recording of radio, displayed photos and served as a media center for your home network. For only $380 it can be mine, all 60GB of it can be mine which seems reasonable compared an iPod with less features. There are no plans to sell it in the US so if you want one, tell me quick…

Later that night we went to a party with some of Hiroko’s friends. Normally there are crazy fireworks shows here during the summer that make our 4th of July shows look like sparklers next to a Roman Candle. I say normally because due to the rain, the show had been canceled. It wasn’t a problem though; we still had a great time. I met a lot of really nice people and got to further practice my Japanese and then French as one of the girls there had just come back from France. Sakura-san’s father (the hosts of the party ) had hit the fish market that morning and wound up making us fresh salmon and tuna later on that night. It was g$d#$$#% good!

On our way home we of course hit the obligatory karaoke bar. For those of you who have heard me sing, you can imagine how painful this was for everyone, including me. I did pull of a nice rendition, however, of the Eminem-Dido duet, ‘Stan’, if I may be so bold. Maybe because there’s really no singing involved.

And no night would be complete without me wandering around the streets at 4a.m. completely lost. 1.5 hours later I was back in my room sound asleep. Good times.

Well, that’s the report for day 1. Stay tuned for more…

Hello Kids,
This will be a quick update before my trip to J-pan tomorrow. I spent last weekend in Mission Beach (San Diego) at a friend’s. That area is known as Party Central, and it certainly lived up to it’s reputation. I’m no daisy, but somehow being in an area where drinking 24/7 from Friday through Sunday is the norm, not to mention Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for good measure. I opted for something a tad bit more residential about a mile away in Pacific Beach (PB). All the craziness is still accessible, but now I can focus on such things as, say, school, for example. I was able to find a reasonably sized studio all of 5 blocks from the beach.

I’m by the Trader Joes (mouseover one of the squares in the middle), so any friends or family who are looking for a little vacation and want to improve their surfing skills, feel free to drop me a line.

So, this week’s web finds

Randomness vol 1, episode 5

Randomness 5.1 - Backyard Artillery
I’m not a fan of guns or violence in general, but this seemed like a real gem for any household.

And I quote, “This beauty is a fully funcitonal[sic] machine gun with TWELVE rotating barrels and a live action trigger. Loads 12 bands per barrel for a whopping 144 rubber bands…”

Randomness 5.2 - Hack an Elevator
Can someone please test this out and let me know if it actually works?

From Hack Canada comes this nifty tip:

Randomness 5.3 - Crib Candy
With my upcoming move, I will of course need some furniture since all the furnishings here at my place in LA belong to my roommate. What better site to visit than Crib Candyfor all sorts of cool, swanky comfort.

What’s that you say? You don’t have a spare $6500 for a 50th Anniversary Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman set? Can I interest you in some replacement cushions for only $680 then?

Yeah, me neither. It looks like I’m stuck with the trusted standby, or more likely the good ‘ol SA by the time my bank account finishes hemorrhaging cash during the trip.

Greetings race fans,
It’s been quit a week, which is good, because I felt a serious lack of scandal in my life what with Ken Lay keeling over and Paris Hilton maintaining a low profile, despite proof that she has never changed her facial expression. Linsdey Lohan DID get publicly chastised for being a drunkard and ruining production of her latest pic this week, but allegedly retorted, “at least I’m 11-teen times more expressive than Paris is.”

In race news, Sergey Lagutin off team Navigators took the oveall victory in Altoona ahead of Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), and Andre Bajadali who is proving his jump to Jelly Belly was a good one (wasn’t this guy on Vitamin Cottage last year?)

For the Girls, Kristin Armstrong (Lipton) proved too strong and topped the podium with Alex Wrubleski (Can) Team Biovail and Shannon Willock (Can) Webcor-Platinum rounding out the top 3.

Meanwhile, there was this scandal in Europe.

Enough about all that. Let’s talk about some of the gems on the net this week.

Randomness vol 1, episode 4

Randomness 4.1 - Cycling Anime
Category: Bike Stuff

If your anything like me, you’ve griped countless times about the lack of cycling comics available. Well, fret no more. In keeping with this month’s apparent Japanese theme, I stumbled across this great site run by Yoshida Kuniko. Kuniko-san takes the daily/weekly cycling news and turns it into an illustrated comic that is a mix of the real and her own imagination. At least thats how she explained it to me in her email via her husband who speaks pretty damn good English. I dunno, I can’t read any of the site, but I love the idea of it.

More at GamiGame

Randomness 4.2 - Bad Ass Rides For Bad Ass Guys
Category: Bad Ass

Seeing as my racing days are going to be numbered for awhile until I finish school, I’m looking at other aspects of cycling to enjoy. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of the chopper scene.

Someday I too will have the absolute dopest ride around, designed and manufactured by my buddy Brink up in Montana. I seriously encourage you to check out www.pedalhawg.com and order one today and become the coolest kid in your town.

Three Hawgs, Missoula, MT. (Brink not pictured)

Randomness 4.3 - Asphalt Shredder
Category: Bad Ass

More in the category of toys I don’t need but will buy anyway…
I was talking with two friends today about snowboarding and how expensive Mammoth is ($68 a day and a 6 hour drive make it a tough regular activity.) Then I remembered reading drooling over the freeboard and I think I’m going to have to order one after I move to SD.

Visit the company website and watch the video. It’s beyond rad, especially the part where the narrator explains, “and you can be going 50 mph and stop in about 2 seconds,” as the young man narrowly avoids becoming a Freeboard hood ornament on a SUV.

I think you’ll agree that this will become a part of the off season training program for a lot of riders.

Freeboard web site

The intro is a bit slow but it pics up after that.

Well kids, the Tour is over, Floyd is the new champion, and the doctors are getting ready to saw his hip off. That’s a bit morbid, but on a lighter side, check out Phil Zajicek’s post from back in the day when he and Floyd rode on Mercury together.

And now, without haste I present to you more…
Randomness - Vol 1, Episode 3 -

Randomness 3.1 - Cycling - It’s Just a Bunch of Propaganda! - Well, this wasn’t exactly on the internet, although, you can get them for free if you buy something from the Discovery web site right now.

I had dinner with a friend in downtown LA in Little Tokyo the other night and stumbled upon these propaganda style posters plastered on a wall. It was kind of cool to see cycling marketed along side concerts announcements, Gucci, and Toyota ads.

Randomness 3.2 - Make the Most of Your Air Miles
While preparing for my trip to Japan next month, I’ve come across some helpful travel related sites. Webflyer.com has some good info on making the most of your air miles.

Why Japan in August during the most god-awful humid and hottest time of the year? Well, because school starts soon and it’s really the only time I have. I’ve been studying it for the past 2 semesters at Santa Monica College and figure I better put it to good use or I’ll forget it all. I’m a big fan of Iron Chef and Most Extreme Challenge, which I highly recommend if you have Spike TV. It’s no longer on the air in Japan, but my friends tell me it was sort of like Survivor, but with more injuries and a lot less money.

Plus, any country where this is aired on TV is top on my list for travel destinations:

Greetings once again, and wow, two weeks in a row with updates! I’m really over doing myself. Very interesting stuff this week (OK, maybe only mildly interesting…)

Randomness - Vol 1, Episode 2

Randomness 2.1 - Autisitic describes inner workings of his brain. No really!

“I’m lucky,” he says, “because most others who have rare abilities are also seriously disabled.”

Two years ago, Tammet became famous for reciting pi to 22,514 decimal places with the same ease that the rest of us can reel off 3.142. Even more remarkably, he says he could still do it: his memory is not only extraordinarily capacious, it also retains everything.

In a documentary last year, he again demonstrated his numerical powers, this time by breaking the bank in Las Vegas, never having played blackjack before. And now he has done something that, for a man who describes words as “his second language”, is even more remarkable: he has written a book. Read more

Randomness 2.2 - You Sank My Battleship!

Outgrown your favorite Milton-Bradley naval warfare game? Are those pesky red and white pegs not cutting it for you anymore? Well why not play the old classic in the real world with high tech GPS systems and Google Earth? Some guy has used a little Python programming savvy to do just that. Is that a Destroyer on Santa Monica and 4th ave? Just use your GPS connected cell phone to call in a few bombs. If you hit, it will show up on the game board, er, Google map. Read more

Randomness 2.3 - Adam Carolla Hangs Up on Ann Coulter

Love line was a staple in my radio diet for many years - Carolla’s insight and analogies have served as beacons over the years, (and I’m excluding that lame, overly scripted stint where they were on MTV.) I haven’t had the chance to follow him on his new gig as Stern’s west coast replacement, but after hearing this, I might have to start! Listen to the “very first interview where that bi$(& didn’t actually say something offensive”

CYCLING
Big rides over the weekend for some of the Missing Saddle bloggers:

Props to, Burke Swindlehurst, for scoring a nice win at Cascade. Likewise for Trent Wilson, Austin King, and team for some solid rides and a first team victory for Jittery Joes by Neil Shirley. You can catch Trent’s audioblog updates from Cascade here.

Out in Wisconsin, Pete Lopinto of Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada took the Bensenville stage with some help from teammate Dan Schmatz.

And of course, there’s the one and only Dave Z, reporting live from the Tour.