japan :: tokyo :: general

[dismalfuture]

winq and i just rented Softbanks at the airport and they were cheap, like 5000Y for a week, and we used them pretty intensely. winq downloaded a bunch of shit on his phone and they didn't charge him either. I think I've rented them in the past too, and been surprised at how cheap they are.

[Lab]

anyone know of a good indian restaurant for under ¥3000?

yea tokyo has good indian food.

there's this place called devi in harajuku - pretty empty and the curry's great. i i didnt get to go this time around tho. if it's still there lemme kno.

i also found a dosa shop in shibuya. im not sure if you're into south indian stuff but it's worth a try. i can't get much south indian unless im in atlanta or something so eatin dosa in tko was a treat.

[riotC]

i ate at a indian restaurant infront of shinjuku isetan/muji .. its in a basement . goes for like 600 or 800 yen buffet style with free flow curry of different flavours and rice during lunch time . they serve really good naan as well ( toasted flour ) .

[ghostdeini]

ahh, I really appreciate it. I've got a huge craving for some garlic naan right now...

and while I'm at it, where's the best aquarium? Right now I've got Shinagawa Aquarium written down... I was thinking of stopping by on my way to Odaiba

[salaryman]

Aren't most Indian restaurants under 3000 yen anyway?

Just find one. If they are playing one of those DVDs of Indian music videos the food will be good.

Best aquariums are in Nagoya and Okinawa.

In Tokyo, maybe Kasai Rinkai Koen in Chiba.

[ghostdeini]

Aren't most Indian restaurants under 3000 yen anyway?

Just find one. If they are playing one of those DVDs of Indian music videos the food will be good.

Best aquariums are in Nagoya and Okinawa.

In Tokyo, maybe Kasai Rinkai Koen in Chiba.

well indian food is known to be cheap, but I didn't want somebody suggesting to me some 5-star michelin place... I'm on a student's budget. and as far as the aquarium is concerned, I meant in the Tokyo area -- the only out-of-town trip I plan on making is down to Kamakura. I'm actually hoping on being able to go for a swim in the ocean at that time...

[salaryman]

will be in j-land for the next 2 weeks, mostly in Tokyo

holla if you're down with beers / clubbing or whatever

On a side note, anyone know of a good Docomo / Softbank phone that could be easily be unlocked and brought back to Canada. My blackberry is too ghetto to work in Japan (there's no word the describe to joy or having a 2 weeks break from the blinking red light though), but i can't live without a phone / access to email so i thought i would buy a phone and cancel the contract before i leave (does it still cost ¥3,000?). Alternative could be to rent a phone, but they generally don't have data access.

Pretty sure you can find a rental with data access pretty easily. Just rent a phone.

Getting a contract is not worth the hassle. And, although I think the cost of canceling a contract with Docomo may be around 3000, with Softbank, depending on the phone, it could potentially be extremely costly to get out of the contract.

Not to mention, to even get the phone contract you will need to prove residency in Japan, have a bank account/credit card there.

[salaryman]

NYtimes just put out a story about why Japanese phones, despite being technologically superior, never took off in overseas markets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html?hpw

Its definitely not really new information, in fact there have been similar articles in the past in the economist, etc. But it covers how even the the network and hardware are advanced, Japanese software is weak, and the market is way too Japan-focused (offering things that only the Japanese consumer is interested in: tons of emoji, i-mode type services etc.) to be successful abroad.

[herpsky]

Norikae annai / navitime is my best friend

[djrajio]

I thought i-mode deai / konkatsu sites are your best friends

[herpsky]

full of scammers

and

i honestly don't know how to access them

[Kasper]

Pretty sure you can find a rental with data access pretty easily. Just rent a phone.

Getting a contract is not worth the hassle. And, although I think the cost of canceling a contract with Docomo may be around 3000, with Softbank, depending on the phone, it could potentially be extremely costly to get out of the contract.

Not to mention, to even get the phone contract you will need to prove residency in Japan, have a bank account/credit card there.

yeah, forgot how things you assume are simple end up being really complicated in Japan. should have just rented a phone at the airport. i bought an unlocked softbank phone for my gf to use in canada and i got a pre-paid card for it, but was such a hassle and we have to "share" a phone which is far from optimal

NYtimes just put out a story about why Japanese phones, despite being technologically superior, never took off in overseas markets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html?hpw

Its definitely not really new information, in fact there have been similar articles in the past in the economist, etc. But it covers how even the the network and hardware are advanced, Japanese software is weak, and the market is way too Japan-focused (offering things that only the Japanese consumer is interested in: tons of emoji, i-mode type services etc.) to be successful abroad.

i use to be pretty enamored with japanese cellphones, but it's been 3 years since i last came here and i feel that pretty much nothing has changed. non-existing software and over reliance on on carrier content is really annoying and definitely holds back innovation. not too sure what has been the impact of the arrival of the iphone, if any though?

on a side note, anyone know a a decent surf spot in chiba where i could rent boards? use to ride in kanagawa cause a friend had a badass cottage there, but he's in the states now and from where i'm staying, chiba would be much closer. would like to take advantage of those jet lagged sunrise wake-up to do something a little more productive than browsing the internet....

[salaryman]

had some friends who sometimes went to Kujukuri Beach in Ichinomiya, but I think depending on the conditions the waves can be pretty small. Shimoda is not bad either.

http://www.wavehuntersjapan.com/ has weather info.

[herpsky]

at least japanese cellphone firmware is 300x more stable than iphone's

[herpsky]

Hi Herpsky..

I am going to Tokyo in Sept. I wanted to hit some used stores and stock up on some Julius, V::Room, WJK, and Attachment amongst others. I heard some US brands are very popular in Tokyo and i was thinking of bringing over some of these and taking them to a cool store to get store cred. Any suggestions or am I wasting my time?

THanks

JC

Some awesome PM I received

[herpsky]

i actually thought the PM was funny cause i thought it said street cred

i wonder if he meant STORE CREDIT

[Seething Tortoise]

I'm not going to lie, I read that as street cred too.

[herpsky]

Just to give you a rough idea of store credits you'd get:

Made in UK Fred Perry SS polo: 800 yen

Visvim x Fragment Egyptian Cotton L/S: 3200 yen (retail = 29800 yen)

Visvim x Unrivaled FBT sz 9: 4000 yen

This was either at jumble or ragtag. You might as well sell jawns to the sheeps on sufu or ebay.

Also, this is a cultural thing but value of used goods, in general, are perceived very differently by the Japanese and the rest of the world.

People in the japland tend to take a very good care of their jawns.

i.e. When a seller says the conditioin of an item is 7/10, it's equivalent to sufu's "worn once. tags still attached," but things still depreciate like crazy.

I saw a used car dealer that was selling a 2008 Civics for like 2000 USD. I also snatched a "used" copy of Resident Evil 5 for ps3 for like 1900 yen in akihabara 2 weeks ago. I could not tell that it was used. It came with stickers and product registration cards. Not even a finger print on the disc.

My friend here in the states just bought a 1998 Camry (in good condition) for 4700 dollars. I FUCKING LAUGHED HARD though she was some ditzy / korny azn girl.

[DaBestSpoona]

yeah I hear you about used shit in japan.

my wife has book covers for all her novels

The car thing is different, theres like a emissions thing for cars and the inspection costs make it not worthwhile to keep the car, and rather buy a new one every 2 years or so, well thats what my mother in law says when she gets a new car every 2 years.

[cyberPUNK]

my girlfriend's dad changes cars every 3-4 years too. he says it's just not worth keeping an older one. i asked him what they do with the old ones, he says they sell them to malaysians or something, shit is funny.

[Vinneus]

sorry, wrong post

[cyberPUNK]

thought i'd drop this in here:

http://www.fashionsnap.com/streetsnap/2009/summer/6761/

[salaryman]

Question and Answer

よく行く街 - "Tokyo"

[kickeye]

lulz

what a coincidence, you come here often?

俺も東京によく行ってるけど。。。今度会わない？？

[Lab]

i lol'd but yall b hatin harddddddddd

[djrajio]

i lol'd but yall b hatin harddddddddd

:p:p:p:p

I know something they don't know........

[Lab]

fkkn herp -_____________-

[djrajio]

watup playa.

[Lab]

im snackin. u?

he wuz lyin btw

[djrajio]

i can't imagine u guys would make it up....

the details were pretty specific....

its ok tho. I'm sure 99% of the fashionz forumz boyz would love to be in your shoes...