Round The World Tickets (RTW)

One of the lesser known ways to travel is the RTW or Round The World ticket.  They allow a person the ability to travel around the world for a set price regardless of destination.  If done correctly they can save a person hundreds or even thousands of dollars in airfare for your trip.  The trick is to knowing when and how and when to use them.  The first thing you need to know about RTW tickets is that they require extensive planning.  You have to make sure that you know what area of the world you plan to be in at any particular time.  While it is possible to change some of the tickets after they have been scheduled there are restrictions like limited seats per flight that might make it difficult to alter your plans on the fly if that is your travel style.  Also each airline group like Oneworld and Star Alliance have their own rules and regulations on how their RTW tickets can be used.  It is important to be aware of the specific rules each carrier group offers because some offer their plans based on mileage, others on a per continent basis, some say you can't back track or have specific numbers of stops per continent you have to take, all of this is important because all of this will dramatically affect how and where you plan your trip.  The only really consistent limitation I have seen in RTW tickets is that they generally require the trip to conclude within a year.  The benefits of an RTW ticket is that you can use it to dramatically reduce the cost on the world's most expensive air routes, particularly between North or South America and Oceania (the Australian continent).  When planing your routes remember that you do not want to pay for plane tickets to each city you will be going to (if you did this your RTW ticket might not be cheaper than standard airfare) what you want to do instead is use it to get you to a specific region such as South East Asia.  For example if you land in Thailand and want to explore you should use overland travel, like the cheap bus to Cambodia, or use one of the regional air lines which can be very cheap depending on what part of the world you are in.  All of this is done so that you do not needlessly waste your mileage or your number of allotted flights.  In the end if you use it correctly and in the right circumstances you can use an RTW ticket to travel cheaper and more often than you would with other methods.


*image taken from wikimedia commons and can be found here

How To Deal With Blisters On The Trail

When doing long distance or multi-day hiking it is important to make sure that you have the proper protection for your feet.  Not only can blisters become an annoyance they can also lead to infection or put you at higher risk of parasites depending on where you are hiking.  The obvious first step to avoid blisters is to make sure that your hiking shoes are comfortable, broken in, and not rubbing on your skin.  Also if at any time you feel warmth in one isolated section of your feet pay attention to it, because that is the first warning sign that you are getting a blister.  There are several ways to head blisters off at the pass before they become a factor for your trip.  First if you can make sure that you are not walking in any wet shoes or socks.  While keeping your feet dry all the time on the trail may be impossible because you might have to ford rivers, it is sometimes best to pack a water sock or pair of sandals to change into on the trail so you can keep your shoes dry in your pack.  Secondly there is a really good anti-blister product out there called mole skin.  It is this padded felt patch with adhesive on one side that you stick on the part of your foot that is getting a blister (experiencing isolated warming) also it works on areas that have already developed a blister and makes it more bearable to walk on and can help keep the skin together and from shredding on the trail.  Now because mole skin usually comes in a sheet you will need a knife or something to cut it to the right size (of course make sure the area is as clean and dry as you can make it before applying).  Also each type of mole skin has a different thickness and that means when walking it will feel different on your feet or in your shoe so you might want to try some of it on before you go to make sure your mole skin doesn't make you uncomfortable.  In general the Dr. Sholl's brand mole skin has some of the thickest padding,  which means more comfort but a larger bulkier mass to deal with in the shoe, and the generic store brand ones have the thinnest.  Try on a few and see what balance works best for you, trust me if you get a blister on the trail you will thank yourself for it.

Water Purification: Iodine Tablets

If you are going to be doing long distance hiking one of your biggest issues will be finding safe drinking water.  In order to avoid a potentially deadly infection while in the wilderness you will need to have a method of purifying water.  One of the best methods of purifying water is to use iodine tablets to remove any harmful bacteria that might exist in the water.  After you have filled your container with water, added your tablets, and waited the proper amount of time for it to purify, you need to remember to loosen the lid of your container and let some of the purified water pour out so that you can wash off the rim and cap.  This is done because there might be a droplet of infected water from when you first filled your canteen.  Also it is important to realize that this method of water purification will not remove any chemicals or sediment from your water.  This is less a factor if you are dealing with clear streams, than if you are dealing with cloudy water or a water source near a mining operation (which may have polluted the water with chemicals like mercury during the extraction process).  Some people find the taste of iodine unpleasant the way I would recommend dealing with that issue is by bringing some powdered drink flavors like Kool-Aid®.  The only other real issue is that some people with shellfish or iodine allergies can have allergic reactions to the tablets, so if you have those conditions consult your doctor or consider a water filter.  The benefits of this method is that it weighs less and takes up less room than some water filters, also you never have to worry about if your filter has reached the end of its life and stopped working because the number of tablets give you an accurate picture of how much more filtered water you have to work with.

Getting Arrested In Japan

Sometimes things happen, you party too hard, you make a couple of bad decisions and you find yourself on the wrong side of the law.  The question now is, what do you do and what can you expect to happen.  The first thing to know is that you need to request for your consulate to be notified and to request their assistance in your case.  Having your consulate be aware of your arrest is important because not only can they relay the message about your arrest to people back home, but they can also many times get you in contact with a lawyer who speaks your language.  In case you want to review some of your options for legal consultation this State Department article has plenty of information including a directory of English speaking lawyers in Japan.  Even if you do tell the Japanese authorities that you want to have your consulate to be notified about your arrest don't expect to immediately get to meet with a lawyer.  This is because Japan often times, if you were arrested with something like a drug crime, simply reports the arrest to INTERPOL and allows them to notify your consulate.  Also Japan does not always allow for legal consultation before indictment for all crimes.  While the list of crimes that warrant pre-indictment legal consultation has grown since the mid-1990's there are still some offenses that do not allow for it.  It is important that if possible you utilize your pre-indictment legal consultation because according to The New York Times "Japan has a 99 percent conviction rate."  So trying to avoid trial (while also avoiding prison) would be a good idea.  The article also goes on to say that Japan has a well documented history of forced confessions, so bear that in mind when considering whether to confess or not, because even if it was acquired under duress that does not mean that the confession wont be used against you.  Also the Japanese penal system uses solitary confinement in many instances including for drug crimes. This is true especially for the pre-indictment, period which can last for months.  In case you missed it, you might want to go over the article on Illegal Japanese Meds so that you make sure you know what to not pack in your luggage.  Also if you get arrested realize that you wont be able to take the medication that you brought with you for any health condition you may have.  This has repeatedly caused health complications for inmates in Japanese custody.  In the end you want to make sure as much as possible to avoid anything that might land you in trouble because once arrested, your options and conditions become pretty stark.



*image (but not information) was taken from the wikipedia article on prisons.

How To Find North With Sticks

While it is always best to have a compass when you are doing long distance hiking, they can break so it is always good to know another method of finding your directions so you wont be lost.  You can always pretty easily tell east or west when the sun is low but the higher in the sky the sun gets, or the closer to the poles you move, the less reliable this method becomes.  One good way to find north during midday can be done with some sticks.  First you want to place a stick in the ground (the taller it is, the more accurate this will be) then mark the end of the shadow that is cast by the stick.  Next you will want to wait 15 minutes for the shadow to move.  Then place your left foot on your first mark and your right where the shadow moved to.  After you do this you will be facing north and can easily figure out the other directions from there.  Now when using this method for finding directions it is important to realize that it is not near as accurate as a compass and should mainly be used to give yourself general directions and not an exact degree heading.  Also it is important to know that this method gives you true north and not magnetic north.  So if you have been compensating one way or another to make up for the reading that magnetic north gave you, make sure that you realize that you no longer need adjust your bearings in order to find true north.

How To Get Cheap European Flights

One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to travel, particularly in Europe, is that it has to be expensive.  There are ways to travel around the world without breaking the bank, you just have to keep an eye out for deals and have a little bit of flexibility.  One of the best ways of getting cheap airfares is by signing up for the newsletters of various budget airlines.  By doing this you will be able to be aware of incredibly cheap airfare deals that certain airlines offer from time to time.  One such airline is Aer Lingus, which is based out of Ireland, I have seen deals on average of about $200 USD for airfare from the cities of Chicago, New York City, and Boston to various European hubs like Paris, Rome, or London.  Once you are in Europe itself its best to switch over to other budget carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair which can offer incredibly cheap offers from time to time.  I have seen Easy Jet prices as low as one pound for a flight from London to Barcelona.  There are however, some downsides to these deals.  The conditions in budget carriers tend to be very cramped and tend to offer much less amenities than their more expensive cousins.  Also in order to get the really low deals there are usually very specific conditions such as very narrow travel windows and limited number of seats at that price.  That is the reason why it is best if you are planning a trip across Europe to both plan ahead and pay close attention to the deals they offer.  In the end if you are willing to put in a little planning, work, and be flexible with conditions and prices you can let yourself travel longer and more often with the same budget.

Avoiding Montezuma's Revenge

Due to the poor quality of the water in third world countries such as Mexico or Cambodia one must be very careful to avoid contracting severe travelers diarrhea also known as Montezuma's Revenge.  While the obvious sources of contamination such as drinking tap water at a restaurant should be avoided, it is also very important to make sure that you do not have any drinks that have ice or crushed ice in them.  This even goes for alcoholic drinks such as margaritas, don't think that just because there is some tequila in the frozen margaritas that it will stop you from becoming very ill.  Because of this it is important that you make sure that you rise off your toothbrush with bottled water and don't accidentally let it touch tap water accidentally.  Also you need to be careful when eating fruit, in most cases fruit that has a peel to it such as oranges is safe but with other fruit, like apples you need to make sure that you wash it with bottled water so as to remove the pathogens that might be on that surface layer.  In the end it isn't really that difficult to keep from getting sick, all you have to do is make sure you stay with sealed bottled drinks.  This is one instance where the factory seal is vital because I have seen locals selling bottles of water that they washed off and refilled from the tap themselves.  I have seen this done more with glass instead of plastic bottles but still it is good to make sure you keep an eye out to keep from getting sick.

Camping With Bears

If your travels take you to bear country, for example Yellowstone national park, there are some important things to remember to safely enjoy your trip.  The first thing to know is that you want to make sure that your car does not have any food or drinks that might attract a bears attention.  You may think that buried cheeseburger in the backseat is safe, but remember bears have a very strong sense of smell and can rip a car door off with one hand, so why risk it.  This prohibition goes double for the tent since the last thing you want is a hungry bear ripping into your tent while you are trying to sleep.  The way you deal with the problem of food is by putting all food and drinks into a bag 100ft away from your campsite downwind.  You also are going to want to hang it 25 feet in the air and make sure it is 6ft or so from the tree so the bear cant easily reach the bag by climbing the tree, or if you are in an established camp ground they should have some bear proof containers for you to use.  The cooking and preparation of food should also be around 100ft downwind from the campsite so as to not attract the bears with the smells of the food you just prepared.  When it comes time to cleaning the dishes (or yourself for that matter) make sure you use unscented soap because while bathing with fruit scented shampoo and body wash will make you smell nice, it also makes you smell like food to the bears, which isn't something I would recommend.

Illegal Japanese Meds

One of the biggest things to know when going to Japan is that some of the medications that you may be used to taking when in the United States or Western Europe might get you arrested for many years in Japan even if you have a prescription for the medication and a doctors note.  The big thing to know is that the Japanese are really really serious about their drug laws.  Stimulants seem to be especially frowned upon in the Japanese legal system particularly because anything containing methamphetamine or amphetamine such as Adderall, or things containing pseudo-ephedrine in concentrations above 10% is extremely illegal and if caught with it you can expect long prison sentences.  Also it is important to note that in Japan blood and urine tests alone can be used to convict someone of using a prohibited substance, thus making any possible medication mistake costly for you when it comes time for sentencing.  Also narcotics like Codine phosphate (in concentrations above 1%), hydrocodone, etc, require a special permit issued by the Japanese authorities prior to your trip.  This State Department Article has information on how to get the proper authorization to bring in narcotics to the country.

Medical Care In Japan

Getting access to non-emergent medical care in Japan is relatively easy as long as you know a couple of quick pointers.  First and foremost its is important to remember to make sure you have medical insurance that will cover your costs in Japan because as the State Department says the cost of a serious injury in Japan can be up to $120,000 if you don't have insurance.  Though it is important to note that even if you have insurance that will cover everything with no deductible it doesn't always mean that your medical coverage will be free overseas.  This is because many medical facilities charge foreigners the whole fee upfront leaving the patient to collect the reimbursement back from their insurer on their own.  While this may seem like it makes the insurance seem worthless it might be the difference between being out a few grand for a few days or weeks or being out the money forever.  Now when it comes to finding English speaking medical facilities the State Department has compiled a comprehensive list of the various facilities and their contact information.  Now if your medical issue is an emergency or you just need to brush up on how to say a few medical words like "bleeding" in Japanese for your medical visit check out The Guide To Making An Emergency Call In Japan

International Driving Permits

Sometimes when you are traveling abroad it is helpful to be able to just get in a car and drive.  Unfortunately in most cases your U.S. driver's license isn't enough in a foreign country to legally drive.  What you need is an International Driving Permit.  International Driving Permits are not expensive costing about 15 dollars and requiring two passport quality photos when the application is filled with the American Automotive Association (click here for the application.)  It is important to note that the driving permit is valid for only one year and that many countries have limitations on how quickly you can re-enter the nation with a new permit.  Make sure you understand that fully because in some nations like Japan if you enter too quickly you can face a lifetime ban on the usage of international driving permits in the country.   It is a good idea to go over all laws in the locations you plan to drive in so as to avoid both accidentally breaking laws you didn't know existed as well as be aware of the penalties should you get in an accident and what sort of punishment you might be facing.  Also make sure that you have the proper insurance coverage for your vehicle in the nation you are driving in and don't just assume that even if you are driving to a country from the US that your insurance stateside will be valid once you cross that border. 

Guide To Making An Emergency Call In Japan

When traveling abroad we all hope nothing happens but just in case it does, it is sometimes good to know how to perform an emergency call to get help.  One of the first things you need to know about emergency calls in Japan is that there is no one "911" equivalent instead the number you dial depends on the service you need.  The number for the police is 110 while fire and medical help can be found by dialing 119.  It is also important to note that it might be impossible to dial either of those numbers from a cell phone in Japan.  Also it might be impossible to find an English speaking dispatcher and so knowing some basic emergency service Japanese might be valuable.  Below I have taken the language help for fire and medical emergency calls from the State Department and made it phonetic so that English speakers with no Japanese experience can get an accurate idea on how to pronounce the words.  Or if you forget them (as you probably would) in an emergency simply look at this website from your smart phone as you make the call since you might not be able to use cell phones anyway.

Dial 119 for fire or medical emergency help

Kah-gee des-oo

Say this to be directed towards help from the fire department

Kew-Kew des-oo

Say this for medical emergencies

(Remember to stay on the line until you are 100% sure the dispatcher knows both why you are calling and where to send the help as well as your phone number)

Dough she-ma-she-ta ka?

(What the operator will say after you tell them fire or medical it will mean "what happened")

den-wah ban-go wah (insert telephone number) des-oo

How to tell them what number to reach you at (guide to telephone numbers at the bottom)

wah-ta-she no nah-may-uh wah (insert name) des-oo

How to tell them your name

shoe-ket-sue des-oo

Bleeding

co-set-sue des-oo

Broken Bone

He-doy yah-kuh-do des-oo

Burn

co-kew co-nan des-oo

Difficulty Breathing

kay-ren des-oo

Convulsions

moo-nuh gah tie-hen koo-roo-she des-oo

Chest Pains

co net-sue des-oo

High Fever

Kuh-gah des-oo

Injury

dough-koo-boo-sue des-oo

Poison

dough-koo gah-sue des-oo

Poison gas

bee-yo-key des-oo

Sick

E-she-key foo-may des-oo

Unconscious

If you call from a land-line (i.e. not a cell phone) the dispatcher will in most cases have the capacity to trace the phone call and send help to your location.  However if you are using a cell phone or sometimes if you aren't it might be important to know a few words to direct them towards you.  First of all if you have the actual address of where you are remember to give it in reverse order of how you would normally give it.  For example instead of giving the street number, street name, then city you would do the exact opposite.  If you have any land marks around you the following phonetic vocabulary might help you direct the dispatchers.

may

Front

ur-ah

Behind

nah-nah mah may

Diagonally in front

to-nar-E

Next to

As promised above here is the list of the words 0-9 phonetically so that you can give someone your phone number.  If you for some reason need to know the characters for Japanese numbers please see the Guide To Written Japanese

Zero

0

E-chee

1

knee

2

sah-n

3

yawn

4

go

5

row-koo

6

nah-nah

7

ha-chee

8

kew

9

Ok for a recap lets say your name is Jenny and your number is 867-5309 and you wanted to give out your number you would say

(wah-ta-she no) den-wah ban-go wah ha-chee, row-koo, nah-nah, go, sah-n, zero, kew des-oo

(My) number is eight, six, seven, five, three, zero, nine

*All information in this post except for the numbers 0-9 is based off of information found in This State Department Article you can find the non-phonetic version of the vocabulary there

Japanese Travel Guide

Guide To Written Japanese
Guide To Money In Japan
Gnoming Asakusa Temple Tokyo
Navigating Tokyo Metro System
Gnoming Mount Fuji
Guide To Mount Fuji Japan
Guide To Making An Emergency Call In Japan
Medical Care In Japan
Illegal Japanese Meds
Getting Arrested In Japan

Dangers Of Lay Over Countries

One important but seldom discussed aspect of international air travel is how to plan for countries where you are only staying for a lay over as you wait for another flight.  As I did not know until relatively recently often times when you enter a country even if you are never planning to leave the airport you have to not only go through customs but you must also go through the bag rechecking procedure all over again.  While I understand that the reason for this is that it is different countries have not only different lists of contraband but also varying degrees of proficiency at intercepting them, all of this makes it so you can not schedule those flights as you would normal domestic connecting flights.  This is not as big of a deal if you are booking a series of flights online say from Boston to Bangkok with a layover in Japan, this is a bigger deal if you have a set departure location and are traveling around a region.  For example if you were traveling around Asia but were scheduled to leave out of Tokyo you would want to make sure you gave yourself plenty of extra time to go through customs, recheck your bag and go back through security.  Because of all of this, that hour long lay over which would be more than enough time to get to the gate on a normal connecting flight, becomes very risky particularly because each nation and at times airport makes their own rules about how much of the security procedure you have to go back through to make your next flight.

Guide To Written Japanese

When considering a trip to Japan the Japanese writing system can seem daunting, however if a person knows just a couple of characters of Japanese Kanji it can make life much much easier.  First I would recommend going over the symbols for your gender.  While some areas of Japan, especially those that cater to foreign tourists might have a picture of a man or a woman (or in some instances English signage) it is best to know in advance so that when it comes time to use the restroom you are not left with a confusing and possibly high stakes game of heads or tails. 

女

female

男

male

Another important time to be able to read is when it comes to finding something to drink.  If for some reason you either want a drink but do not want to pay the high prices of a restaurant or bar the following symbol is generally found outside of a store that sells alcohol.  Also if all else fails and communications totally break down in a restaurant or bar show them the symbol by going to this site from your smart phone in the bar.

酒

Alcohol

Here is an example of this outside of a store

Now that you finally have your drink and enjoyed your meal its time to pay the bill.  The only problem with that is that sometimes the prices on the menus are in Kanji and so can be impossible to read if you don't know any Chinese or Japanese.  Below is a list of numbers 0 - 9.  In the menus I have seen that used Kanji they used 0 for zero instead of the Chinese character but I will add it just in case. 

一

One

二

Two

三

Three

四

Four

五

Five

六

Six

七

Seven

八

Eight

九

Nine

零

Zero

The other thing is that for numbers under 1000 they add place the numbers 0 - 9  next to each other to equal the number below is an example of what I mean.

五

五

二

Five Hundred Fifty-Two

If the number is horizontal it is important to verify how much things are because if it is a two digit number it can be read left to right but if it is three digit it can at times be read right to left.  In the end all the numbers in this guide should be used as an aid for communication so that if you see something like the above symbols on a menus instead of the numbers you are used to, you can get an idea of how much the meal might be but in the end since you will be paying for the food you order it is a good idea to verify that your idea of the price is right before you order.  This can be done by writing the number you think it is on a napkin, or using your fingers as I did at one restaurant, or even getting out your phone and dialing the number you think it is so they can see what you are talking about.  In other words make sure you know exactly what to expect before ordering so there are no surprises come bill time.  If you have any other issues with paying for things in Japan see the post I did earlier on Money In Japan

How To Beat Jet Lag

Jet lag is the scourge of everyone who does long distance air travel.  The CDC says that the reason for jet lag is the fact that as a person crosses more than three time zones in a day their biological clock has a harder time adjusting to the new surroundings.  While the CDC article did say that eastward travel takes the longest to adjust to that has not been the experience of myself or those I have talked to about the issue.  This is because with long distance eastward travel you are able to go to sleep at 8:00 or 9:00pm local time where you arrive and sleep through to the next day and this helps automatically set your biological clock to the local time.  Now in order to do this I would recommend not sleeping on the plane during long distance eastbound travel so that you are sufficiently tired for the local nighttime where you land.  Unfortunately none of this applies when it comes to westward travel.  When you travel west, say from Tokyo to Houston, you will feel very tired by the time you get to the local night time but you will wake up in the middle of the night for no reason.  You will still be dead tired but will be unable to fall back asleep, with you just laying in the bed staring at the ceiling wishing you could go to sleep. 

The way to fix that problem is to take an antihistamine like BENADRYL® so that it puts you back to sleep and lets you complete the normal sleep cycle for your new time zone.

Now of course before taking this and or any other medication please consult your doctor to see if it is right for you, disclaimer, disclaimer. Now this is why I say if you can give yourself two days to recoup after doing long distance westward air travel.  This is because if you have to wake up at say 7:00am for work right after traveling west like that you might wake up at 3:30am on your own making it so if you took an antihistamine you would feel very groggy and dead tired when you had to wake up at 7:00am.  In the end the real trick to getting the body used to its newly found timezone is to immediately do things at the appropriate time for that timezone.  This includes eating, working out, sleeping and waking up.  If you eat everyday around 7:00pm in the United States then when you go to Tokyo or Germany eat at 7:00pm Japanese or German time.  Hope this helps, enjoy traveling.

Pure Awesome: The Wilderness Downtown

I just saw this really really amazing thing Google has done with the band Arcade Fire.  Not to spoil the surprise of it but it takes the neighborhood where you grew up and makes it into an awesome music video.  It is the first non-creepy use of Google street view technology in a residential area.  Works best on Chrome because after all its a Google product, an awesome Google product.  Definitely worth a look. 

The Wilderness Downtown

Guide to money in Japan

One of the biggest things involved with visiting Japan is getting access to money in the country.  Japan does not generally accept foreign cards at ATMs.  Even when paying it is not assured that any place even in Tokyo accepts debit or credit cards and it is always best to ask in advance to make sure to avoid some very difficult and uncomfortable situations when the bill comes.  While language can be an issue when trying to find this out what worked for me was to hold my credit card and ask in English at the start if they accept it, eventually the idea got through.  Also the word card-o (yes I know how bad that sounds but seeing as a Japanese person said it to me first I assume this is the word) seemed to help get the point across.  Now if you want to get cash to walk around with in Japan it isn't too difficult (so don't feel like you have to constantly carry massive amounts of cash all the time) you just have to know where to look.

Pay close attention to the above picture.  The symbol on the top that looks like a giant weird letter "T" is the symbol for the Japanese Post Office, which if you have a foreign credit card is the only place you will be able to find an ATM that will work for you.  The lower one with the JP network is also found on banks, useful for currency exchange but may or may not accept foreign cards.  There are times when you will find one but not the other so it is good to know what they both look like.  Here is what the entrance to Japanese post offices and banks look like.  Notice the front has the signage of the bank but if you look to the sign on the right you see the giant T that is the symbol for the post office.

Once inside you will find an ATM that has an English menu (picture below) to get your money or you can go to a teller to change foreign currency into Yen (if it is a bank)

Japanese WTF part 2

Ok so more along the lines of how crazy Japan can be at times.  I was walking around Tokyo the other day and I saw this really weird looking picture.

 I didnt really think much of it, you know just sort of putting it up to how crazy ads are here.  That was until I saw the TV commercial attached to it.





So ya lets recap...not only is he a banana warrior.  He also can shoot massive amounts of bananas out of his nose onto your lap at will, and then escape the scene by using banana power to fly away on his invisible chair like Wonder Woman

Japan, WTF

If you walk around Tokyo long enough you will run across some very odd things.  I havnt figured out if this is because I dont speak the language or I dont understand the greater social context of some of these random things.  But I do know from asking the locals, that some like the bust of Obama crashing into peoples heads is just as confusing to Japanese people as it is to the rest of us.

While I totally understand the need for American companies to adapt their image to the local customs, something about how that Colonel Sanders is dressed just makes me smile

Not sure what it does, maybe it helps make me into one of these

oh ya speaking of cartoonishly giant mega-creatures what the hell is up with Tokyo's Crows

For perspective that tree is 25 feet tall, that bird is bigger than most of the small dogs people walk around the city.  No wonder they had Godzilla fighting giant winged creatures like Mothra.  They probably were just modeling it off of their own killer giant birds.

Love and Horses best named track event of all time.

This one confuses the hell of out me... I have no idea what this is supposed to be... The people working the booth could only tell me that you enter and have your picture taken as Obama with lectern in tow crashes onto your head.  I asked both the people working it and a waitress in a near by cafe if they knew what this was for...they all seemed as confused as myself.

Gnoming Asakusa Temple, Tokyo

Small shops near in the temple complex

Navigating Tokyo Metro System

While Tokyo has a really good and comprehensive transportation system for those not used to how it operates or who like myself lack the ability to read Japanese it can at times be confusing.  One of the first things to look at with the metro system is the map of where the trains go.  This can be made difficult however by the fact that at some stations, such as the one at the famous fashion district Harajuku, there is no romanized names of the stops thus making it impossible to read unless you know some Japanese or Chinese.  In order to help with this I have taken pictures of the map both in the Western and Japanese writing systems so that you can look at them from your phone if you find yourself in a station somewhere wondering what to do.

Now that you have the map and know both how to read the map and where to go it is important to pay attention to the numbers under the place names.  This is because that is how much you will need to pay to reach your particular destination.  While the cost of a trip will shift depending on which station you start from the above maps will help you at least translate the maps found above the ticket machines and figure out how much to pay.

The machines themselves can seem daunting at first to anyone who can't read Japanese especially if you attempt your first time like myself around rush hour.  The trick to easily operating the machines is to first read the map and figure out how much money is required to get to your destination.  After that instead of messing with all the buttons just walk up to the machine and start putting money in. Here is a picture to show you what I am talking about.

At that point there will be a screen that shows a series of numbers simply put in the money for your fare and press the corresponding number.  At that point both your change and your ticket will come out and you can be on your way with no hassle or worry.  If you still have any questions go to the booth next to the turn styles and you will be able to ask questions to English speaking staff.

Gnoming Fuji

Those lights directly to the left of the gnome are people coming up the trail

The inside of Mount Fuji

Gnome Fans/ cool people I met going up the trail