Pete's Blog

Back in Tokyo ne

2012-02-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

Kraftwerk at Lenbachhaus- Kunstbau

2012-01-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Kraftwerk provided mannequins of themselves that respond to the music.

Kraftwerk is easily one of my favorite bands. It was such a treat to see their awesome 3D music installation at Lenbachhaus-Kunstbau:

http://www.lenbachhaus.de/cms/index.php?id=51&cHash=cc4d30f42b&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=176&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&L=1

Neuschwanstein

2012-01-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

If you ever wanted to see a castle that Prince Charming might have lived in, Neuschwanstein would be it.

Much has been written about King Ludwig II and his famous castle. He used to party with Wagner and he wore a cape! King Ludwig was very good at being himself. I admire someone so genuine.

The first castle I have ever visited was a grand castle. The good King Ludwig II created Neuschwanstein castle that stands a tribute to his love of storybook castles, his faith and his love of music. He even built a cool "cave room"that Bruce Wayne would admire.

More information about Neuschwanstein can be found at this link:
http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

Levi's 25 hour hotel Frankfurt

2012-01-22T19:32:00.001-08:00

Check out those neon jeans!

Go forth!

I highly recommend the Levi's Hotel in Frankfurt. The staff is helpful. The buffet is top notch. The rooms are very comfortable and stylish.

I was in room 207.

Each floor is a different theme. My L-sized room (from 122 Euros) was a jazz themed room.

Book a room in the Levi's Hotel Frankfurt at the link below:
http://www.25hours-hotels.com/levis/?lang=en

Movie and venue posters in Germany 2011 edition 2

2012-01-22T19:23:00.001-08:00

A MAD Magazine style ad for the Rothenburg o.d.T Criminal Museum.

A mind bending ad for a Dali show at Galerie Trebchen in Austria.

Andy Warhol graffiti. Rad!

Everyone knows that the best way to promote a Lou Reed/ Metallica album is outside of an awesome pizzeria in Munich.

Executioner Tour in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

2012-01-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

Look at my drinking vitamin enriched juice from the carton next to this evil looking poster. METAL!!!

The friendly neighborhood Executioner ran into each other at Rothenburg o.d.T's best sushi restaurant. He has a English speaking tour of the darker side of Rothenburg that explores witchcraft and demons everyday from 7PM to 8PM.

He is the friendly guy with an axe that I've ever met. Totally METAL to the core. I love it!

You can book a tour with the Executioner himself at the website below:
http://www.executioner-tour.com/

Movie and venue posters in Germany 2011 edition

2012-01-22T18:51:00.000-08:00

Achtung Baby!

Tower Heist is Aushilfsgangster in Germany.

That Anne Hathaway movie hasn't even come out in the USA yet. I've never seen an ad for it in the USA. It's called One Day in the USA.

We are poems. That's deep man.

Kraftwerk had an amazing 3D exhibit in Munich. More on that later.

Wilco was playing a short German tour and so was Batman!

Always remember dear friends: German Beer is Strong like Bull

2012-01-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

A liter of Edelstoff, pork knuckle and potato dumplings. Yum!

Sleepytime!

The Augustiner in Munich serves the finest beer in the land. My walking tour guide from Sandeman's New Munich walking tours (which I recommend) suggested that I have lunch at the Augustiner. I had a liter of Edelstoff, which according to my tour guide is the beer that the Pope drinks. Being a good Catholic, I had to give it the old college try. My lunch really hit the spot. I tell ya that beer was as strong as it was delicious and it was mighty delicious.

More info about the good folks at the Augustiner at:

http://www.augustiner-braeu.de/enverabfrage.html

Cmon ride the train

2012-01-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Munich's main station was bustling all day long.

You have to remember to get your Red Bull Cola on in the early morn. The station attendant's are really helpful and friendly. Sometimes they don't speak English but they have severely rad mustaches to make-up for it.

The Apple Wine Express in Frankfurt was fun to ride around town in. You get some pretzels and an apple wine as soon as you board this Yellow Submarine-type street car. Talk about service! All for 5 Euro a person. I caught the Ebbelwei-Express at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. More info at www.ebbelwei-express.com

Hey I know you from the train! You're Pete, right?

PSA is what's for dinner.

2011-12-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

It's all too true!

Even with the reflection I can tell that only clowns drive drunk.

Germany trip comes to end. Germany blog just beginning

2011-11-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

I was deeply in the banana time zone as I stepped out of the plane and through customs. I didn't really sleep on the plane ride. I did take a mild sleeping pill on the plane to help my sleep but it only served to make me drowsy and worthless.

Germany: November 3-14

2011-10-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

Balboa Park

2011-04-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

Gold lion's gonna show you where the light is on the Balboa Park Railroad.

Balboa Park has a super fun railroad similar to the one that Navin Johnson operates in the Jerk.

Balboa Park is always entertaining. I saw a close-up magic art, did some light shopping and checked-out the International Houses that were open for Spain and Iran. Best of all, most of the charm and sightseeing at Balboa Park is free or cheap. Check it out.

Man or Astroman? at the Casbah 2011

2011-04-03T20:23:00.001-07:00

The Casbah in Little Italy is very cool. The airplanes seem very close when they zoom by.

Birdstuff on stage delivering his famous stage banter.

Man or Astroman? has always been very cool and generous to their fans. Birdstuff has talked to me at every Man or Astroman? since I first saw them in 1997. I got to tell Birdstuff and Star Crunch that they are more important to me than the Beatles. I was never the same after seeing them live at Boston's in Tempe in 97.

Birdstuff told me that he still has the Man or Astroman? Painting that I gave him in 2001. What a complement!

Casbah tips:
-Buy a hotel room at a nearby hotel if you plan to see a show at the Casbah. The hotels are all within a reasonable walking distance or a $7-10 cab ride away.

- If you come early to a show and they will not let you in you have some options for near-by food and things to do. Some places to eat include: a Subway across the street, a fancy Mexican food restaurant about a block away and a parking garage with vending machines nearby.

-Casbah has two bars inside with video games in the back if you don't enjoy the opening band.
The Octopus Project was the opening band for Man or Astroman? and I really enjoyed their set but not every opening act can be an amazing one.

-After the show, you have lots of options for bars to hop but if you are in the mood for late night food a Denny's is a 15 minute walk from the Casbah.

San Diego Venue Posters

2011-04-03T20:17:00.001-07:00

The variety and quality of bands that play San Diego are a little better than I am used to in Phoenix, AZ.
Crystal Castles skipped Arizona on the recent tour.
I like how people added mustaches to these posters. Bat Commander might have started this trend.

Comics n' Stuff in San Diego

2011-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

When I was visited my brother in San Diego, he took me to this comic shop in SD called, Comics n' Stuff. They had a good selection of comics, anime, statues, old toys and new toys. Very cool place.

Here is their address:
1640 Camino Del Rio North
San Diego, California 92108
(619) 341-1147

Until next next time Tokyo!

2010-11-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hachiko and I are waiting for something to come through. I'm hoping we'll write a real sweet tune!

Baobab Pepsi is not baobab. Nori chips belong in my stomach 24/7. Delicious!

Dr. Grant! You said they were veggie-saurus!

Kita-Senju I love you!

Until next time, keep your eyes to the skies and don't bother with the disguise!

Mets Soda

2010-11-05T01:02:00.000-07:00

Every I passed the vending machine that sold Mets soda. Everyday I told Yuka, "I need to pick up a Mets soda for my awesome Chiropractor, Dr. Jacobsen." I would tell myself that I would pick it up tomorrow everyday. Until finally on the last day I remembered to buy it and the machine was on the other side of the train station. I took a picture to prove that Mets soda exists. If only I didn't fear the third rail...

This just in! Snoopy Suffers from Exhaustion in Tokyo! News at 11!

2010-11-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sake ad!

2010-11-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Life is like a sake ad! I saw this cool window display every night in Kayabacho.

Daddy where do t-shirts come from?

2010-11-05T00:54:00.000-07:00

Check it out. Uniqlo has an amazing t-shirt capsule system! Adam showed you his t-shirt capsule from the Evangelion shirt that I bought him in his blog. Here is a picture of the Uniqlo capsules in the store in Harajuku. Very cool, eh?

You take a look at the shirts on the showroom floor and find the capsule that coordinates with the shirt you picked out. It would be even cooler if Uniqlo had a vending machine for these shirts!

Return to Akiba!

2010-11-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

The area outside of the Uniqlo in Akihabara.

Watch yourself Doc, here comes Petey Kabuto!

Don't get personal Space Invaders!

Dawn of the Dinosaurs in Roppongi Hills

2010-11-05T00:45:00.000-07:00

I love me some dinos. Yuka-san suggested this great Dawn of the Dinosaurs exhibit at the Mori Hills Museum in Roppongi Hills. Very worth it.

Yuka is a good photographer old chum. Look at that sloth. He has a mouth and he must scream!

Mister Donut in Shimokitazawa/ Yankee Blue Jeans Workless in Resale

2010-11-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

Mister Donut in Shimo was amazing, Spider Man! In like a lion and out like a lamb, these mini donut packs were tasty and cheap. Unlimited coffee too!

I sold these clothes at Flamingo, a cool vintage clothing store, for about $6.75 American. About enough to cover this yummy Hobbit lunch for Yuka-san and I. It's alright. Those were old clothes anyway.

I aint crying Charlie!

Pete for Ultraman Soda

2010-11-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

Didn't Yogi Berra say, "I like Ultraman Soda cause I like it"?

I could have sworn he did. That delicious soda was everywhere. Yuka-san said that it's basically Coke but with Ultraman packaging. It's still rock n' roll to me. I DO want to be buried in a Pet Sematary if if means that I get to drink more Ultraman soda. Thanks for your time folks.

Dancing Sushi

2010-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yuka-san and I went to Shimokitazawa for some sushi and vintage clothing shopping. We got some dancing sushi.

This sushi is nigiri roe. It's like a strip of bacon made of fish eggs. Delicious.

The sushi is made by the chef and it rotates around the bar with the prices marked on the sign. The chef will make anything to order for you but mostly people just take what is offered on the conveyor belt.

This is a type of fish with eel sauce on it.

I think this one is the California roll. Looks different than it does in the USA right?

I loved their salmon. See the wasabi peeking out from under the fish?

Jimbe Pete says howdy!

2010-10-05T09:55:00.001-07:00

Yuka-san got me this really cool jimbe for my birthday.

Coming up next: Shimokitazawa, square-dancing sushi, Mr. Donut, Harajuku, Uniqlo, back to Aikihabra, Kita-Senju and of course Snoopy.

Tommy Lee Jones!

2010-10-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be a vacation in Japan without an appearance from Tommy Lee Jones.

Some food in Hakone

2010-10-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm having tempura shrimp and vegetables with miso soup. My dessert is like a cube of soba noodle with whip cream on top. Delicious.

Yuka is having tempura shrimp with cold soba noodles. That green fish looking thing on the grater is fresh wasabi.

Both were served with oolong tea.

Kitty-chan

2010-10-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

Hello Kitty called Kitty-chan in Japan was everywhere. She is wearing the unique pattern of Hakone. I was beat by Hello Kitty's bodyguards shortly after this photo was taken.

Hakone rope way is fun!

2010-10-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Hakone rope way takes you from Odawara to Lake Ashi to ride the pirate ships.

It's Bull from Night Court. No...that's bull.

Lake Ashi is home to the Japanese Jason Voorhees. Ugly as sin but a hell of a good cook that Jin
Vatashi-san. Here's a picture.

Hotel Kawai-en and Yunessun

2010-10-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hotel Kawai-en is a mountain hotel resort. It had a really nice mori no yu which is a private onsen with the sexes separated.

They had owls...
I can't believe they allowed me to stay in their lovely hotel with my Dr. Fate shirt on.

Yuka-san and I had a wonderful buffet brunch and hit the hot tub water park called Yunessun. They had all these crazy huge onsen hot tubs with different smells: coffee, green tea, sake, strawberry wine and original recipe. Plus, they had water slides, roman baths, a huge inside onsen that had a rain storm every 60 minutes and a foot path of destruction. None of which I took pictures of. You have to take Cousin Pete's word for it.

The green tea onsen was the best!

Why did I take pictures of the signs? Well... cameras were discouraged inside the water park.

Once I left my board shorts smelled funky like Bootsy Collins' bass riffs in the 70's. I think it was the pizza onsen that did it.

Romance car to Hakone

2010-10-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

Yuka-san and I took a romance car to Hakone, which is outside of Tokyo by a few hours. This chopstick box represents the romance car but instead of chopsticks, imagine me inside the blue train.

Here's me:

Hakone is the kind of place where you can't help but relax. We stayed at the Hotel Kawai-en, which was super beautiful 3000.

2nd visit to Japan - September 2010

2010-10-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Wow! When I said see you next time to Japan I had no idea that next time would only be five months later.

I got this nice little apartment on the riverside in Kayabacho through Hikari House, this weekly mansion rental company that is friendly with Americans. I found the price to be really nice and the fact that I had my own bathroom AND shower really made me happy. Plus, my weekly mansion was right off the Hibiya Line!

I had all these really cool boats outside my front door.

See you next time Tokyo

2010-05-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ginza alley.

No one can predict the future.

Arizona kids?

Kita-Senju

Thanks Tokyo. I appreciate your love. From Naka-Meguro to Kita-Senju, (to paraphrase Jim Morrison) if they said I never loved you you know they are a liar.

Stuff I still don't understand.

2010-05-11T01:58:00.000-07:00

Some food from Japan

2010-05-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

The food in Japan was awesome! I don't think I ever had a bad meal.

This Tonkatsu was tender and juicy. The rice was sticky and delicious and the miso soup was awesome.

Sushi in Japan is just as good as you would imagine. One big difference was that the wasabi was on the inside of the sushi not on the side.

This is some kind of rice pudding which I didn't like very much but Yuka really enjoyed.

For good cheap and fast food, Yoshinoya was the deal. Soup, salad and a beef rice or noodle bowl for $4. Good times.

Stir-fried beef bowl from Yoshinoya.

Even the karage chicken at the airport was great!

Kubrick Top Gun and Brando bears

2010-05-11T01:42:00.000-07:00

Two more Pepsi Nex freebie bears. Sweet mustache on the Brando one.

Subway Signs

2010-05-11T01:34:00.000-07:00

Don't play your music loud on the subway.

Hibiya Line in Minami-Senju station.

Iron Man 2 not yet released.

If I lived in Japan I would know who this is. Drink Pepsi!

Yokohama

2010-05-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

The prez and his prime minister friends.

2010-05-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

I saw these weird DC Follies-esque masks in Ueno near the station. Creepy!

the Colonel

2010-05-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

While I was in Yokohama I saw a friend that I would recognize anywhere. The good colonel named Sanders was dressed in samurai attire.

I had KFC later in Taito and I have to say it was about the same. The original recipe did taste slightly different but it hit the spot. For two pieces of chicken and fries it came out to about $6.

Uniqlo shirts

2010-05-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

I picked up these cool Ultraman and Manzinger Z t-shirts at the Uniqlo shop at Narita Airport. Uniqlo is like Old Navy and specializes in cool inexpensive clothing.

Ultraman and Manzinger Z were part of the Heroes of the World t-shirt collection. Other heroes include: Superman, Indiana Jones, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Solid Snake and Spider Man.

There were Uniqlo shops all over Japan, but sadly there is only one right now in the USA and it's in New York.

Akihabra at night

2010-05-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

I went back to Akihabra after missing a concert in Ueno. I found Akiba to be less crowded than when I went during Golden Week.

One of the cool places I went was the Capsule Station. With the Capsule Station you can pick up cool inexpensive souveneers like this Ultraman figure here that protected our table at Jonathan's in Akihabra. The capsule vending machines give you a mini-action figure or guitar or maid or Gundam robot at random which makes the experience like collecting baseball cards. You don't know what you are getting until you twist the wheels.

Yuka got me a really cool make your own guitar which resembles the Fender Stratocaster that Wayne loved in Wayne's World. I liked it so much I got another one for my brother that looks like the Gibson SG that Angus from AC/DC plays.

Mister Donut was a great place to stop in for a snack. I had a really good glazed cherry donut. I thought the package was particularly awesome with it's crazy phrases in English.

Akihabra is kind of cool to look at after the sun goes down.

Vendo!

2010-05-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite aspects of Tokyo city life was the abundance of vending machines. They are almost all drink based. I saw such drinks as: sake, beer, cold green teas, cold coffee, hot coffee, Gatoraide, Apple milk, coffee with milk, C.C. Lemon, Tea's Tea and Ultraman cola.

The drinks were typically $3 for beer or sake and $1 for everything else.

My neighborhood had several gentlemen getting their "vendo" on by drinking in public. However, the homeless in the area were benign and didn't even panhandle.

The vending machines were like night lights when I took midnight strolls with my Ipod.

My favorite Japanese drink would be Pocari Sweat which is like Gatoraide. It was perfect for replenishing fluids during the more humid days. I had about two P Sweats a day. Next time maybe Pocari Sweat will sponsor my trip to Japan.

Favorite sign in Japan

2010-05-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

This was easily one of the funniest signs I've ever seen! A little girl walking her dog and pet poop. Leash laws in Japan are strict!

7-11 and Vending Machines

2010-05-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

I want to give a big shout-out to both the 7-11 corporation and vending machines all over Japan. Without you I would probably starve and smell terrible.

7-11 is also a great place for American travelers to get money from ATMS as their 7-11 bank accepts foreign debt and credit cards.

Ultraman soda! Yes!

My childhood friend Godzilla the spokesperson for Fire coffee!

Alien Akiba

2010-05-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

When I went to Akihabra I bought this awesome Alien toy. Aliens is one of my favorite movies and apparently this one was made by Kaiyodo Revoltech for a two figure set, both of which are aliens. One of the aliens is green faced Japanese alien and the other is America monster from the Ridley Scott film. It cost me about $25.

University of Phoenix on the Yokosuka Naval Base

2010-05-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

It was a major surprise to be invited to the University of Phoenix campus in Yokosuka. First off, I would like to thank Dr. George Love and Dr. Thomas Hawks for arranging this very special tour. I appreciate all your time and help.

Second, it looks like I am wearing two ties in all my pictures. Jeremy, when I get back I need to attend your necktie improvement seminar (congrats on the new daughter too! I'm excited to see pictures).

Yokosuka is one of the largest American Naval Bases in the world. It houses both single Navymen and their spouses. It is also the berthing of the USS George Washington carrier. America! Heck yes (sorry this is a PG blog).

GW and 2 ties! Sweet!

My guide for this trip was program coordinator, Ms. Sayuri Anderson. Sayuri-San enrolls for only Masters as stipulated by the contract with the base. At the Yokosuka base their are only two UOP representatives: Sayuri and Jeff.

Sayuri took me on a drive around the base and I was surprised to find that Yokosuka is like a small American city. It has all the amenities that an American family could want including a movie theater (tickets for $2 and a bowling alley). It even has a high school and football field!

Sayuri-San's students are active military and spouses.

This next part might only be interesting for those in the UOP West Coast so bear with me. Sayuri said that the TED programs are very popular. They offer Master of Arts in Education/ Special Education, Elementary, Secondary and Early Childhood. All three are Arizona-based and offer an Arizona credential.

Sayuri told me that the program is designed for the students to do their 100 hours of observation and 12 weeks full time student teaching on the Yokosuka base with a supervising teacher. Pretty cool!

The classes are small. The finance class that was being held shortly after I left was comprised of only 7 cohort students.

The MBA program is the most popular with the Navy men but the TEDs are most popular with their spouses.

This is a picture of mysterious Monkey Island. I don't know anything about it is so mysterious.

I feel honored to check out my brothers and sisters at the UOP Yokosuka and it was a honor to represent UOP's Phoenix main campus, the West Coast and Team Cluff!

Thanks again Sayuri and Jeff!

Krink

2010-05-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

It looks like the famous artist Krink was in my neighborhood (Minami-Senju) at some point as this graffiti is his signature.

I have to catch a train but I will be posting the University of Phoenix Yokosuka pictures a little later.

Akihabra!

2010-05-04T01:11:00.000-07:00

May 5th

2010-05-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

I knew today would be a good day when I woke up and bought a Pepsi Nex Zero (which is Pepsi Max in the USA) and I got a free Kubrick Axel Foley bear!

Who is my boss?

2010-05-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

What on earth? I love this Darth ad campaign but I can't figure out what they are selling.

Who cares?

I love Japan.

May 3rd Harajuku and Shibuya

2010-05-03T16:14:00.001-07:00

I started my day walking around Kita-Senju. It's got a lot of nice shops and it's not too crowded. The people are very friendly.
We met near the train station and took a 45 minute train ride to Harajuku.

I had heard about this 5 story toystore called Kiddyland. I've heard many things about it actually. One rumor I had heard was that it had one story of kids stuff and 4 of 'adult' stuff. It turns out that all 5 stories are for kids. One floor was all Hello Kitty, another all Lego and Playmobile, one story was Dragonball type stuff, another was all Disney. Yuka really liked the Disney floor. There was an all Spoopy floor too.

Adam I saw this wall scroll there that you might have liked. It was like a Star Wars cloth wall scroll like I saw at the shrine later. I didn't get it because I figured you wouldn't have much use for a wall scroll though.

We checked out a shrine which was a quiet as the streets of Harajuku was noisy. It was calm and peaceful but filled with crazy teenage cosplayers. I put a few pictures in there but I didn't put in the one with the dude dressed-up as a school girl. It was far too disturbing and I feel that he wasn't dressing-up to get his kids back or move into affordable housing like we do in America.

We had udon noodles and those buns with meat in them for lunch. I had the macha (green tea) ice cream for dessert. Delicious!

After the shrine we walk around Harajuku for awhile. I went to the Levi's store and saw $250 to $500 Levi's that I didn't buy. However, I did get a really cool belt (that is not pictured here).

Call me cheap but I can't ever justify buying Levi's for $500.

I checked to see if they still had Levi's button covers but they have been sold out for 6 months. Bummer.

I got to see Shinjuku on the way to the train station. Shinjuku is so busy. I think it's the station that Bill Murray walks out of in the movie Lost in Translation.

I saw the statue of Haciko, the loyal dog that died waiting on it's master at the station but he never came. The story of Haciko is inspiring because the dog completed what he set out to do which was wait for his master at any cost. It reminds me of that really sad Futurama episode with the dog that dies waiting for Fry to come back. So sad!

Hey noticed the hipster Japanese guy in the background drinking a beer and probably thinking,"what is this crazy Gaijin doing?"

Tommy Lee Jones for Boss

2010-05-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hey when I was getting an iced coffee yesterday guess who I saw? That's right the star of Men in Black himself, TLJ!

Tommy Lee is a spokesperson for Boss Coffee drinks I guess cause he looks constipated.

May 2nd Ginza

2010-05-02T18:20:00.001-07:00

Yuka and I took a trip in the Ginza prefecture. Wolverine fans (all 2 of you) will recognize Ginza as the place where Logan was dumped out after his fight with Shengen.

The day was lovely. We hung out and had pizza and then watched Alicei in Wonderland in 3D which was excellent. Did you know they serve beer at the movies in Japan?

I ran into some kids with Arizona jerseys so I gave them some smashed pennies from Rawhide. It was nice to even see the word "Arizona." Yuka translated for me during the whole thing.

"What did the mom say," I asked Yuka.

"She was surprised," replied Yuka.

I'm working on my Japanese but so far I can only say "thank you" in the polite way.

Today I'm checking out Harajuku with Yuka. I assume that I will meet Gwen Stefani sometime today.

Sincerely,
Pete

May 1st

2010-05-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Wow on the way to my hotel from Ueno station and I got my Axel Foley on started talked to a cute girl on the subway! I got a date my first night in Tokyo.

Her name is Yuka and we at this fancy place called Denny's!

The menu was very different from the American Denny's. I had the tonkatsu pork and Yuka had the pork and curry. Yuka ordered me the awesome Melon soda which is Godzilla green and tastes awesome.

Yuka spoke flawless English with an Australian accent. She studied in the USA and Australia.

Today I'm going back to see a movie and maybe the Imperial Palace.

Coming Soon May 1-8

2010-04-29T00:31:00.001-07:00

Hugo's

2009-10-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

Getting burgers at Hugo's was awesome. Hugo's feels like an underground speakeasy. It even has an old timey piano.

Purple Haze was on tap!

Get your crepes on! This demonic looking desert is the viciously delicious grasshopper crepes made from: mint chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate syrup and thin pancakes. You like thin pancakes right Ricky Bobby?

Yoshi da cat

2009-10-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yoshi is Nick's roommate Christian's cat. He is not as cute as Molly but I like him. I haven't had an allergic reaction to Yoshi yet.

Post-Modern living.

2009-10-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

Nick describes his domicile as post-modern. I like that you can't hear the neighbors unlike my old apartment at Paradise Lakes.

Petey Ramone in AR

2009-10-23T17:12:00.001-07:00

Fall colors...weird.

Hey ho let's go...in Arkansas.

Fayetteville!

2009-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Fayetteville's downtown is beaut. Very old style.

Nick rocks out!

I'm visiting my homey Nick Barber in Fayetteville, AR. We had a killer dinner not at Uber Burger but at Doe's where I scarfed a 2 and one half pound porterhouse steak! It was an eating contest with myself.

Calling Hong Kong!

2009-09-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

Bruce Lee's statue is located on the Hong Kong Walk of Fame which is very similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I love Bruce Lee and appreciate his creativity and charisma as an artist. Game of Death wouldn't be the same without Bruce Lee. Lee is easily as famous in Hong Kong as he is in America.

That's the Hong Kong Harbour behind me.

Density is one word I would use to describe Hong Kong. Since I'm a super nerd 2000, I will tell you that I thought of Judge Dredd's MegaCity1 when I first arrived in HK. I kept that observation to myself...until now.

Growing up I remember reading, "Made In Hong Kong" on all my favorite action figures. The mysterious city of Hong Kong were always destined to meet. Now that I've been to HK, I want to go back.

Dortitos

2009-06-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Doritos in China were weird looking. They were classified as D1 (nacho cheese), D2 (Taco) or the mysterious D3 (civet cat...just kidding. I'm not sure what D3 was).
The delicious Diet Jolt Cola like drink Pepsi Max is just called MAX in China. I thought you might like to know.
-P.S.

Movies in China

2009-06-03T01:13:00.000-07:00

"I like movies cause I like 'em." -Yogi Berra

I agree with my second favorite baseball player of all time when he made that statement.

When I was in Guangzhou I watched some fantastic movies.

Two movies I had already seen: Wolverine and Star Trek.

One was new: Blood Brothers.

When I visited Beijing Road, Candy and I saw Wolverine. Two tickets to an afternoon matinee was 80 RMB or $11. Pretty cheap.

In China, the movies have assigned seating which is weird.

Smoking is everywhere in China, including restaurants which is weird for me because Phoenix has a smoking ban. I don't smoke and it's kind of new for me to have people smoking everywhere. I was glad that the movies were no smoking.

Trailers are shown in the movie lounge before the movie. I saw a preview for John Rabe a movie about the Rape of Nanking with an all German and Chinese cast plus Steve Buscemi.

The concessions at the movies are a bit different too. At Bejing Road there was McDonalds, KFC, Chinese food and also a more traditional type cinema concession stand. Outside food is tolerated.

The best part of the experience is that the popcorn in China is like Kettle Corn that you would get at the State Fair. Delicious!

Wolverine was great. I'm a huge Wolverine nerd, so this made the third time I saw it. Oddly enough, because I saw the movie before I noticed that in China scenes were missing.

The part where Striker and Wolverine talk in the hospital was much shorter than the first time I saw it. Maybe this scene showed authority in a bad light.

A day later, a young guy on a mo-ped was selling copies of movies that are still in theaters. I guess this is kind of old hat now that we have bit torrents and so forth. Bootleggers are still crawling around though.

Blood Brothers was this great Hong Kong action/drama that was produced by director John Woo (the Killer/FACE/Off and Hard Target).
I watched it on Guangzhou TV when Candy was sick with a cold. What a good time! I just went down to the 24 Mart, bought some water, chips and Tsing Tao beer. Beer and potato chips are universal. Cinema makes me feel at home.

Blood Brothers was all in Mandarin, so it gave me a change to learn some vocabulary. I learned how to say older and younger brother. It was a really solid gangster movie.

Star Trek is great. The Chinese audience I saw Star Trek with totally loved it. What's more American than Star Trek. People often pass off Star Trek as the domain of nerds, but Star Trek is popular with everyone especially in America. You can't tell me that a Captain Kirk bar fight is un-American!

Again, some scenes were cut from the movie. Star Trek was missing the scene where Spock was fighting with his schoolmates. They cut the part where the elders separate them.

The mall where we saw Star Trek was seven stories high. Awesome! There was an Indiana Jones mine cart ride near the theaters. I totally wanted to ride it but we ran out of time.

Kung Fu

2009-06-02T00:53:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to see the very cool Bruce Lee-themed restaurant, Kung Fu, on my trip to Beijing Road in Guangzhou.

Being a big fan of the late great Bruce Lee, I was eager to try the food.

Before lunch, Kung Fu serves noodles and meat in a soup. I had pork and Candy had Chicken. I would have liked the pork to be a bit more cooked. The meat was served pink and chewy.
I had some lemon Pepsi with the lemon monster on the bottle which I got a kick out of.

I ended up ordering rice after the clock struck ten. I mostly ate noodles and rice. Noodles with chopsticks is a challenge, try it sometime. Candy was very good at it.

I also tried Kung Fu in the late afternoon a day later. Candy had some delicious pork and I had beef. This beef was of the mystery variety. However, I ate most of it.

Each entree was served with a soup that consisted of cuts of meat (pork, chicken, and beef) in a chicken stock and a small salad with an orange dressing. I avoided the salad because I was advised not to eat salad by my travel doctors at World Travel Health (top notch place by the way, if you need shots Contact Dr. Laura at (602) 863-3433) .

Kung Fu was very inexpensive. I think the cost was like 70 RMB for both of us. Not too shabby.

Beijing Road aka Zhongshan Wu Rd.

2009-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Candy and I took a cab to the famous Beijing Road or Zhongshan Wu Road as it's called. The cab ride was only about $7-10 bucks. I wish taxis in Phoenix were that cheap.

First we stopped at Candy's apartment. Here is a view from her window.

I love the aging buildings in Guangzhou. I love that new buildings will be erected right next to the old ones. The pictures from Beijing Road itself will give you a better sense of the new and the old living next to each other.
Near Candy's house, she had a lot of small restaurants and produce markets.

At Candy's apartment I found that I could check my Hotmail account and bank account but my blog was blocked by China's firewall.
What happens when you are blocked isn't too exciting. You simply get a "page not found," message.

We went to Beijing Road and had a look around. What an impressive place. Beijing Road has a lot of the same shops that you would find at Scottsdale Fashion Square (Levis, Lacoste, and so forth).

Again there was a Las Vegas feel to new buildings and a very ancient feel to the old buildings. Often times I noticed familiar faces on the billboards. You can almost make out Zhāng Zǐyí from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon there in the background.

The mall at Beijing Road is five stories tall and very impressive looking.

I saw this crazy looking ad on Beijing Road and Candy immediately said, "Wow he looks just like you."

The coolest thing about Beijing Road is that part of the original road has been preserved.

Cowboy in China

2009-05-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ni Hao!

When I was shopping on Beijing Road I was surprised to find a Levis store in the five story mall.

I tried a pair on and felt that they were a little tighter than the usual 501s and more expensive too.
The pair I tried on were 799 RMB or about $100 American. I've never paid $100 for Levis in my life. This blew me away. Who is buying $100 Levis.

I snapped a picture of the Chinese Levis Cowboy and left the store.

After leaving the store I saw a bunch of ads for Levis Indigo on buses downtown.

By the way, jeans in Mandarin translate out to "cowboy pants." For some reason I loved that.

Here's a picture of me wearing Candy's Crocs in her apartment while my Cons dried.

The Food Of Guangzhou Part One

2009-05-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Whenever my friends travel the first question I usually have for them is, "how was the food?"
When I got back from Guangzhou I got the same question from my friends.
Here is a quick account of Guangzhou's food.

At first, when the passport agency suggested that I just eat McDonald's in Guangzhou, I thought, "man forget you! I'm going to China, I will max out on Chinese food all the time."

After about three days in Guangzhou, I was ready for a Big Mac. Why you ask? Well, you'll see.

The first day I woke up at lunch time and was ready for a good Chinese meal. Candy, being from Hunan, decided to take me to a Hunan restaurant first.

We walked through the torrential Guangzhou rain and found a Hunan restaurant with huge windows that looked out on the city. Guangzhou does not get much rain and the way the streets flood I believe it. Guangzhou and Phoenix have that in common, the way the streets can get all flooded out in a hurry during a big rain storm.

The menu was completely written in Chinese characters. Candy would tell me what I was looking at we would make selections together.
Some advice I have gotten is to chose entirely based on pictures but I believe you should get some clarification before ordering.
I pointed at more than one picture that I thought was beef that Candy told me was guts or goat face or whatever. Be careful or be adventurous, it's your call.

The first dish I ordered was a spicy Hunan chicken dish. The waitress said, "are you sure, this dish is very spicy."
Being a stupid arrogant Arizonan I said, "Bring it on. I'm from Arizona see, I put hot sauce on my Cap N' Crunch."
First off the chicken served was every part of the chicken: the breast, the neck, the gristle, the bones, etc.
The way you are supposed to eat chicken is to put the whole piece in our mouth and swirl it about and get the bones out. Then you are to eat the meat and spit the bones out on the garbage plate. At first, I loaded up Candy's plate with food and then said told me that the plate is for the refuse. The tiny rice bowl is for the good food. Often, Chinese people will just eat off the serving plate and it's customary to feed your date.

Ok, back to the chicken. Not only was it hot but this chicken was the hottest food I've ever had in my entire life. It was supernova-red-Hades-burning-holes-in-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot!
After the sweating and the panting began, Candy reassured me, "you don't have to eat that if you don't want to."

This wasn't like the time Scott and I had a bucket of habanero wings. Where the food was hot but it was our mission to put those wings to rest.

I found it difficult to separate the meat from the bone with my mouth in a four alarm fire.

Candy showed me a picture of what looked like a wagon wheel and told me it was lotus root. She assured me that lotus root was delicious. The root has a snap to it and has little spider webs come out when you break a piece off. It helped with the heat of the chicken but made me feel like I was on Star Trek.

Next, Candy ordered the delicious green bean and eggplant stir fry dish. I think of all the food I had in Guangzhou this dish was my favorite. Later, I had a version of this dish at another Hunan restaurant with potato in place of the eggplant. I ate almost of of this dish.

Of course one of the world traveler's best friends other than beer is of course good ol' Coca Cola.
If your MTV shirt doesn't tell your new friends you are American, the fact that you chug-a-lug the Coke will!
I love Coke and really everyone does. Even Joe Strummer has a coke in the Combat Rock picture on the inside cover.
In China, Coca Cola translates out to "to make mouth happy." During the trip I often exclaimed that coke was making my mouth happy, much to Candy's embarrassment/my amusement.

Guangzhou Zoo

2009-05-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Oh the Guangzhou Zoo was so cool!

2.5 million visitors can't be wrong.

Notice the University of Phoenix shirt. I was doing my part to get the brand out there.

Hey hey here's some monkeys! I believe them to be golden monkeys, but I'm not sure.

This is a killer crab of the deep sea variety. Candy told me that it kills man. If you are ever in the ocean and see him crawling, be polite!

In China no holds are barred. I was about 80% sure this cage was locked, so I took this picture while I continued walking.

Bears are at least 50% more lazy in China.

Get a job hippies!

Cheetah you are not eating any Cheetos like in the commercials. Where's your Ray Bans?
Black panther, you are even more lackluster than the Marvel comics hero of the same name. Way to go big cats!

Shark has gone to Cheeba Hut for a pinner and is sleeping on the job.

Sea turtles we love you!

Ape has never shot ape!

Bird on faux lake.

Mermaid show 2000.

The fish on the right stole my wallet. The blue fish on the left watched him do it. Which one is really worse...

Fish haiku by Peter S.

Yellow fish swimming
looking for some food to eat
rock n' roll high school

Are we done? Not yeti...no we're done. Thanks for checking out this zoo post.

7 Days Inn

2009-05-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

The hotel that I stayed at was pretty fly. It was called the 7 Days Inn and mostly catered to the locals. Candy reserved the room for me but I'm pretty sure a room could be reserved through elong, the hotel website. The address for the 7 Days Inn that I stayed at was Yuexiu District LuHu Road #5, B Zuo.

Candy pointed out many times that the people in the elevator spoke Xiang, which is spoken in her hometown the Hunan province. Candy watched this really weird Xiang cartoon on TV. I don't know the name of the show but it kind of resembled South Park. The animation was really crude and the audio sounded like it was recorded live with a studio audience with scratchy microphone and really lame sound effects. Every show ended with Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" from Pulp Fiction, which was cool. I haven't been there but maybe Hunan is like South Park, Colorado.

The hotel was only thirty U.S. dollars a night. The bed was very hard but it was a queen. The bed is a little shorter on the sides than I am used to but it was comfortable.

The hardwood floors were very nice. The shower always had hot water and the air conditioning worked perfectly which was a necessity in the humid rainy Guangzhou weather.

The location was near a UPS store, a building under construction, a shady office building (which is another story) and the great 24 Mart.

The hotel was only a $2 cab ride from the zoo and only a $7 dollar cab ride from the Beijing Road shopping center.

Big ups to the 7 Days Inn, at $30 a night you could easily stay and eat in Guangzhou for under $100 a day.

Travel Tip #187

2009-05-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

When traveling abroad remember that international flights are very different than city bus-like experience on a domestic flight.

For one, you have all the movies, video games, TV shows and music you could ever want to watch available on demand for FREE. Not to mention all the booze you can handle, even sake bombs!

Nothing is quite like drinking Japanese beer at 10AM and watching Yes,Man on your own personal TV in a safe environment.

Insane! I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I found out these little details. My seat mates were shocked that I had never taken an international flight before.

A word to the wise, get up and stretch out at least once between movies. I skipped the exercise on the first 12 hour flight and did the Frankenstein walk for a few hours after the flight.

One last airport tip: if you check a bag you only have to check it once. When you arrive at your destination, your bag will be waiting for you. I checked my bag in Phoenix and picked it up in Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou.

I didn't have any pictures from the the airport, I was too busy taking my shoes off for security.
Instead, I included pictures of the official Guangzhou mascots, the Five Goats. I think their names are Bashful, Snap, Crackle, Pop and Larry from Three's Company. Good guys those goats.

All's well...

2009-05-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the love everyone!
I just got into town about an hour ago like Jim Morrison once said.
My trip to China was just what the doctor ordered.
Since the Chinese Government has a firewall to block Blogger and Blogspot, I was unable to post anything.
I plan to update the blog everyday with some new entries so when you see me: at work, at home, at dinner, at Van Halen concert; pretend that I'm still in China. The blog will be much more exciting that way.
Word.

Travel

2009-05-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

After spending time in Joe Arpaio's resort, I decided to take some steps to travel more.
This blog will among other things, document my trip to Guangzhou, China on May 18-25.
I plan to eat lots of Chinese food and buy you all silly Chinese t-shirts.
Please feel free to make comments like the old men who sat in the balcony on the Muppet Show.
For example:
"Way to get traveler's diarrhea Pete!"
or "Nice Ramones shirt CHUD face!"

Much love,
Pete