一週間の東京 32

Wow some nice photos Danny. All the food looks very yummy and your iPod touch and TV looks nice too. I live in Manchester and they were thinking of doing a congestion charge but many people opposed since it would cost £2100 each year. People vote no and won 79% to 21% yes.

Sorry, Quarter Pounders are new to Japan, or is it just a re-making of the way it's made?

Hm... it depends on where in the country. Here, they do not charge us tolls (could be hotel and casino tax, not sure) but I know that there are many toll roads on the east coast. They are well taken care of, and you pay based on how long and far you use the road. Cross state can cost up to $5, but about a two hour ride is more about $2. Did suck, because you had to constantly keep loose bills and change around, but the roads were maintained well.

Great like always Danny. Here in spain some parts the highway is free. In my region of Spain is not WTF some amazing things from the spanish people :(

i saw the trailer for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". i'm so going to see the movie.

Wow nice way to refill coffee.
On Xp or Vista installation... Still slow danny.. still slow.
Quarter pounders ahve been out in my country for a long time now and can be said an equivalent of two Burge McDo meals and they don't taste great either.
Burger King's whopper really hits the spot ^_^

On highways, yeah they do charge but still the road is a bit bumpy on the south express way here in my country.

Nice insight again Danny.

Amused because of the coffee refill. Have never seen that before. Haha.
Love daiso, although we don't really get a wide variety of products as compared to Japan.

I love reading this series. Its one of my favourite series of articles on dannychoo.com. Thanks Danny!

One of my pet peeves with the PS3 is definitely the constant updating one has to do. It can get very irritating, especially when you are impatiently trying to play the new game you bought, but still have to update your system.

BTW the Ipod touch looks gorgeous. I want one too!

hello kitty with hair is kinda creepy...

they dont charge to use highways here but they do charge when you want to leave town

and 2 hours to renew the license.here they just send you a new one when the old one expires

Do they have free Coke refills @ Japan? :D

And that ETC thingy reminds me of Singapore's ERP. One of the scariest toll system I ever heard of.

And I have to try some Sand for lunch. I always have them for breakfast. I think I can actually live with bread and no rice... Sandman.

Daiso FTW, i agree!!

What figurine character is that beside the coffee refill? Very kawaii...

BTW, you always bring your figurines to all your meals? Is that Haruka-chan in the photo of Nori Miso soup? Have the same hair colour.

From the country where I come from, usage of Malaysia Highway are usually tolled. The longer you travel, the more toll you need to pay. Since I stayed in Singapore for quite some time, I dunno how much the toll now...

Never upgrade from XP to Vista. Just do a clean install. I'm currently using Vista Ultimate. It took me one hour to install Vista and twenty four hours to install all my other applications.

Mabo Tofu? Look like mince meat with tofu, a chinese dish. My mother made this for me when I was a teenager. Taste wonderful, superb. Of course, must cook with dark soy sauce and some motherly love. =)

I'm still waiting for new firmware for my PS3. U/C PS3 firmware are very slow to release. At the mean time just got Persona 4 and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories. At last can understand the game in English. I also upgraded my PS3 60Gb HDD to 320Gb HDD. I may be planning to upgrading the HDD to 500Gb if I run out of HDD space. Talk about online contents, shesh...

d@@b

Where I live the McDonald's are mostly horrid and there is one where it was just so bad I had to complain but Burger King on the other hand is a lot nicer but the price is about £5 for a meal that in no way will fill anyone up other than a child.
XP takes a good while to install no matter how good the PC is, Vista is even more boringly slow and Windows 7 is a bit more faster but I was playing PS3 instead of watching it install so I’m not too sure.

I'd stay away from McDonald's when possible. The food is just terrible for you. I do enjoy some of the crazy burgers Burger King came out with, but those are just as bad, yet i couldn't resist the Steakhouse burger. ^_^

I've never seen a food item with a real picture of the grower/maker on it. I kind of like it though.

No anime mags sold around here, but I'm sure larger cities may have some sort of selection.

Nice article Danny!

Everytime I see one of your articles, Danny, I get really hungry xD How I wish I could work in Japan, work is really dry here because of the Credit Crunch.

Is it popular to put egg on hamburger in Japan? I see it all the time in adds.

Yays another A Week In Tokyo its been a while... >.> Nice pictures as always makes me want to visit a 100 yen store =/

McD once in a while is fine, I haven't been there in a year though.

For coffee refilling, most folks here just use the can that the coffee comes with. No point in getting another container.

For otaku mags, I think anime stores do carry them (I've seen gunpla ones at least), although I don't think the market for those is very big.

Now, for highways, there's only one I know if that requires you to pay.

Just last week, I installed Vista on my dad's aging computer. The whole process took about 20-25 minutes. A bit more than your mac, but comparable. A clean install of XP used to take *4 hours*, and I could never figure out why.

For McDonalds, we've have the quarterpounder here in Canada since... forever, really. Its definately better than what you described, although I am not a huge fan. The only burgers that they have that I am able to eat on a semi-regular basis is the angus burger lineup. I don't believe Japan has those, do they?

That coffee refill method is fast.

100 Yen store FTW!!!

Great to know you are mingling with lawyers association, it's great to learn how one can protect their interest in business & IP.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a meaningful movie, it was already released in the US of A while other countries have to wait till Feb. I already watched it last week due to my company relation with Warner Bros ^^

In Malaysia, we have to pay to use every highway, while Singapore have ERP.......

Tiffania~~~~~ BUST REVOLUTION!!!!!

fries fries and more fries!
how on earth do you keep in shape danny? do tell!

In my home-country (Indonesia) they charge highway. In singapore not too sure since I dont drive & rarely goes thru a highway ^^; most probably they charge as well.

You should try reading Shogun and Tai-Pan by James Clavell. Those are clearly the best books I've ever read:)

Pretty sweet phototrip there Danny. Might have to try one meself... ^^;

I got a load of book titles to recommend, though I dont know if they'll be your cuppa tea. If you drop me a line I can send you a list.

Here in Argentina they charge to use highways, at least that is what I can remember, I don´t go out of my neighborhood often.

I like all the things you show in your pictures, all so interesting.

I want one of those things to refill coffee, mmm, I think I want all that is in your photos!!!.

Btw, this is my first post here, I promise this will not be the last, I give you my Otaku word XD

I would never eat any burger or anything that contains "meet" or "fish" in McD any more. I have had one hamburger, one fishburger, and two big macs in McD in my whole life, but it was enough. Now, when I have to go to McD with some friends, I order McFlurry, or a fruit empanada, or fries.

Singapore has awesome ERP :P!

tl;dr verion: nice pics; Quarter Pounders = bad; Vista install still long; only Newtype in Portland; Portland coffee > Japanese coffee

Nice set of pictures, Danny, as always.

As to some of your questions. Quarter Pounders have been at McDonald's for as long as I can remember. They're supposed to be the "adult" sandwich in the line up next to the Big Mac. They've always tasted terrible. In Portland, there are so many better burger options (including food ones - e.g, Burgerville).

If you haven't bothered with Vista, then you haven't missed much. The big difference between Vista and XP is that at the end of your install Vista will complain about how much your hardware sucks. My last Vista install rated my computer (which ran XP flawlessly btw) a 3.4 out of 10. It also made sure my printer/fax/scanner only could be used as a printer and made me replace my DVD player if I wanted playback with sound. The install still takes a long time and the most irritating part is how long the post installation patches take. Bleh.

As for anime / manga mags...they're virtually nonexistent here in Portland. You'll very rarely find a copy of NewType (US version) in some stores but that's about it. Same in Seattle...I visit my brother there.

Last comment: I think we Portlanders have the Japanese beat when in comes to coffee options. I'm hoping there's better than what you shown us. Portland has so many great independent coffee houses - lots of them grew like weeds in shadow of Starbuck's backyard.

Lion Saber rocks ! :O

Looks like there is some mozarella on the pizza. (njam)
But i can be wrong.

@Danny: Do you play Wii, what's your wii friend code?

They never charge for the main highway around here. There are some areas that have an express lane that you can pay for and it's supposed to be faster, but it's usually just as backed up as the normal highway.

Nice pics Danny... but what happened to your previous pro digicam? Got discarded? xD

That pizza looks much like a very delicious pizza I had there in Japan... surprized me. The pizza dough was so crunchy and the pizza tasted so light..

About anime magazines in Brazil.. there's only one publication I know of that has a more serious approach. But magazines in Brazil are overall very plain... few pages and no prizes.

Also, other than that one publication, all others are more like mashups for kids. They are overall badly written, composed, edited, etc.

Danny is a very meeting person. xD

I'm also watching Kannagi... only on my PSP. :P

Finally, I'm not reading as many books as I'd want to, nor as much as I used to read some 5 years ago... but do read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer... or at least watch the movie. :D

I just finished Kannagi and highly enjoyed it! :) I hope you enjoy it, too.

Also, Hello Kitty with hair looks scary :(

You have to renew your driver's license every two years? Wow!
They have no such renewal here (except if your license is stripped by the courts and they make you take the examinations again, but not sure). Good for me though since I barely have any depth perception. ^^;;

Been waiting for this post. Finally it's here. heheh. I just love looking at pictures around Tokyo and life in japan in general.

Vista is faster to install than xp but still slow compared to the 15mins with leopard. Windows 7 is a lot closer though. took 20mins to install with all the reboots and stuff.

The mini sword turned out different from what I imagined. heheh! I was thinking the blade was metal. In the pic it looked like plastic to me.

driving lesson pic: oh snap, i thought they only still used projectors at my school... and even that's changing now :O

kannagi is great :D have fun watching it!

about the anime mags, they actually do sell some at the local kinokuniya, which is great :D
but its probably better it get it online. cheaper too =/

what a great week !!

again, if someone can help me finding a marketing job in HK, Singapore or Japan, i would be grateful until the end of my life !!!!!

Must resist urge to get that Lumix LX3... >_< Very good photos again! How to convince the waifu I need another camera in less than 3 months...

The hairy kitty(ahem) product is weird... Hardly think something with fur would need different coloured hair.

Anyway, will try to catch Benjamin Button in the cinemas after my exams in early Feb ^_^

So many good photos....now I must visit so many places in Tokyo...when I go to Japan in the summer...
Well, Mc Dee here in Toronto...DO NOT TOUCH...some staff I hear from a friend actually take a little sprinkle on the fries and such. I usually avoid fast food nowadays...
I do wish there are more places like where you go to here in Canada...too much fast food here...
Magazines here in Toronto...well, the book store will sell English ones...and English manga...not much...
Now must add you on PS3...

Great coverage! That's a pretty smart way to refill coffee.

Kagami needs a bowl for the soup. I avoid McDee's and have avoided them since about 1994. Well computer games have taught me not to read manuals so don't even read the TV guide now. / big grin.

That IS an interesting way to refill coffee. Nice and simple. Saves plastic too. Unfortunately, I doubt any coffee companies in the West (other than the very environmentally conscious) would go through the trouble.

Anime mags here... well, all I have to say is "meh". At little tokyo, though, I can find some imported ones.

haha... mapo tofu instantly makes me recall Kotomine in f/sn...

and in LA, they are considering toll roads. The transportation budget here was never enough for roads, let alone public transportation. All the money allocated to transportation eventually gets siphoned off somewhere else.

kannagi's goot, me and hubs were watching it over dinner ^^ just finished the season over the weekend ^^; also enjoyed the OP very much ^O^ Sando= Love ^^
and the mapo tofu looks weak LOL!

man those photos look amazing as always. I like the old Japanese architecture (one of the reasons I want to go to japan) food looks yummy. don't really care for Mcdees. as far as highway tolls usually about 80 cents (US) to go through a day. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button good movie thats all I will say. need to catch up on my anime as well.

Daiso is my favorite store! They rose prices from $1.55 to $1.69 though. Oh well, its not that big of a difference.

Hmm Quarter Pounders here are actually good. Guess it just depends on the location.

As far as Windows XP goes it's like a 30 minute install for me whenever I re-format my HD. It's tolerable to say the least. Have tried Vista on a friends computer and am not pleased with it. But it's all I can get for a laptop right now so I'll just have to install Windows 7 when it comes out.

The Mikuru/Shana figma combo really works well. ^_^

Liked the post :) thx a bunch !

lovin' the first photo.

Very food-y WiT Danny. That pizza looks pretty good; just needs more cheese. When you come to Canada, MickeyD's might taste the same, but BK's Whopper will taste better than in Tokyo. We don't have pics of farmers on our food. I don't think people here would care. If I'm ever in Tokyo, I look forward to having a cuppa sand with ya.
Reading books makes me sleepy. However, I can read text on a screen for hours on end. ^^;
We don't have any paid highways within our vicinity. Closest one on the way to Vancouver which is 9 hours away.
Hello Kitty with hair = Hello, hairy pu$$y

Are PG tips hard to find in Japan Danny?

Paying for the highway actually depends on where in the U.S. The ones where you have to pay are called turnpikes (if I remember correctly) versus the freeway, which is free. That said Southern California is all free from what I've seen.

Polish highways are way overpriced, short and although relatively new - always in a bad condition. My guess is they use cheap tarmac cause most of the money paid to build a highway goes for bribes...

I can look at that coffee can emptying all day long! And as far as I know they charger for the highways here!

Not yet, but there are plans here in Holland to charge during peakhours. which is totally ridiculous. as if we don't pay enough tax already...

they charge on only a few highways in and around Pennsylvania. I'm pretty sure I saw a Ghost movie poster in there? please don't tell me that movie just made it to Japan.

I lived in Togoshi this summer but didn't eat at the restaurant that much. I had McDonalds quite a bit at first and tons of 7-11. (Actually, I went to the 7-11 on the main road a bit up from the ginza).

My favorite restaurant was the beef bowl place right at the corner of the ginza and the main road. It's right before the Mr. Donut.

Delicious curry or katsudon or normal beef bowl.

Hmm, from our weekly grocery shopping, no pics of ppl that grow the vegs or fruits on our packaging that I know of. We do have signs that indicate which country they are imported from, that's about it.

Cool way to "recharge" your coffee. We drink Nescafe Goldblend at home as well, seems like the best tasting instant coffee we've found so far. Would love to get a nice coffee machine to grind and make fresh coffee / latte at home though, but I think we'd just use it a few times and then neglect it because it's a bit of trouble.

Wow, you have a few hundred PS3 friends? My PS3 ID is Kaeze.

Anime mags are kinda sad in my region also. We used to have Hobby Japan but there's only 1 city store left I think.

Funny thing with the Eureka 7 pachinko poster is the "Ghost" movie image that says "Love Pachi" LOL.

I'm staying on XP for now with both my PC at home and at work (not my choice for at work but I think they won't get the CS4 upgrade for the Adobe suite and they tell me CS3 has issues with Vista).

Had yummy mapo tofu for dinner last night.

The Quarter Pounders here are really nice, probably because we use local Australian beef. We have choices like a double quarter pounder and even a triple quarter pounder.

Last year I read the new Keller "Hit and Run" by Lawrence Block and "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk. Currently reading "Contract" by Simon Spurrier. Saw Benjamin Button at the cinemas last weekend and it was really good I thought. Very different from director David Fincher. What's the app called for reading e-books?

We have tolls on our new highway / freeway extensions and tunnels. Have these electronic things that we need to pay annual subscriptions and attach to our cars. Usually avoid the tolls if possible.

BTW Danny, every time I click the top comment button and attempt to type in there, the comment gets lost / deleted. So now I avoid clicking the top comment button and just scroll to the bottom one. Could be just me though, don't know.

I was shocked by the highway toll prices during my visit to Japan a few weeks ago. Got to hitch a ride with a friend's family and discovered the toll from Nagoya to Ise was about 3100 yen for one way! We pay tolls here in the states too but never that much. But, traffic in Japan seems much smoother to me, not as much gridlock.

Also loved the 100 yen stores while visiting Japan! So much stuff!! And so much better than the stuff found in smelly dollar stores in the states.

Hey-- in the very first photo, what is that place called "Fukuchan?" Does anyone know? Is it a restaurant, or...? Unfortunately I can't read the kanji underneath. It's funny to me because that's the name of my wife's family dog.

Still interesting to see that they aren`t serving proper burgers at Micky D`s in Japan, tough as a whole Micky D`s just doesn`t make too great a burger no matter where you are.
Still cant forget the shrimp burger I had, a croquette-ish outside with a soft filling of shrimp.
Freshness burger still remains the best buger chain in Japan (or at least Tokyo that is) IMHO, better than MOS(def) burger I think.

In regards to the Windows installation, Vista has the same installation time as XP does.
However being signed up with Microsoft, I have tried the Windows 7 Beta and it installed in under 15 minutes !
That`s a milestone for Windows ( if you dont count installing Win98 on a modern machine ha !)

The ghost poster had me laughing, that seemed so out of place, yet at the same time being in Tokyo it doesn`t !

If your down in Center-Gai on Shibuya be sure to visit the Shibuya kaiken monaco arcade if your up for something else.
50 yen play for anything, but the whole arcade is filled with old classics, a welcome change from the hyper-modern arcades with nothing but large flatpanel screens and network mania going troughout

Wow the coffee refill is interesting. Never seen that before.

nope. here in the US we only really get charged at toll plazas when there is a bridge to cross. We also have electronic payment system called fasttrack here in the bay area. toll charges are about 3-4 dollars. Lol you can guess what poped up in my head when I read the word "Hakone" jeez I need to drive around in Japan one day.

I never knew there was a fuku-chan, hakata ramen store near Tsukiji! (Pic 1) Lovely Ramen....maybe the best in Japan in terms of a biggish chain.

looks like Danny's becoming a stalker. Same girl with a long strapped white purse in photos 7 and 9, and they're obviously taken a few hours apart.

Just joking^^

He's probably out having walkies with the waifu and she hasn't realized he had an "ooh, shiny object" shutterbug moment and kept walking.

My wife once said that her grandmother told her that the reason Korean women walked behind their husbands in olden times, had nothing to do with a patriarchal society or anything to do with the Confucius order of things. It's was so that the women could keep an eye on their husbands and keep them from getting lost.^^

Hey Danny speaking of Tsukiji, is it true that the fish market really is gonna move? If so it would really be a pity.

Another great week with great photos Danny!

Awesome pictures. Makes me wonder if I want to get a DSLR.
There's not charges for using the motorway around where I live, not that I know of. I remember going down south once and we went through a toll gate. That's the only time I experienced a toll gate.

Nice photos. There was a slight difference between XP and Vista, I'm told. But I watched someone download and install the Windows 7 Beta in half the time XP took to install. 25 minutes from start to up and running Win 7. I can't wait to install mine, but I still need a DVD. Alas, no $$ to get some blank media... :-(

Benjamin dies in the end.

I used to go to Daiso and 100 Yen shop after coming to Japan because They have almost all the stuff I need for and it's cheap to get it from. Some are worth it but some are useless. LOL!

Burger King in Tokyo is indeed rare to see around.

I'm still under Windows Vista and the installation time is no difference than XP.

That's pretty nice that the coffee comes with it's own container...we just get ours in a bag and then fill it in a random empty plastic container...I the quarter pounder has been here for a long time, but they barely got it in Japan now? And why eat pizza with a knife and fork, it's usually finger food...

oooohh.. Shibuya.. pretty lights..

Yes we do get charged for use of the highways here in the Philippines. We have Northbound Express which I wouldn't mind paying a good fee for use and then there's the Southbound Express which I think could still use a lot of work in a lot of parts.

highways, bridges over the Tejo river, you name it...We may pay a bit than in Japan but our highways are good, I even get sleepy riding in them :P

Sounds like In n Out needs to get their butts moving and get to Japan! Seriously, it sounds like Japan's fast food burger pickings are pretty slim; In-n-out's definitely what you need.

As for books, I wish I had time to read more. I used to read all the time, but currently I don't read nearly as much as I want to.

However, I can recommend some older titles for you. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is an amazing book about the construction of a fictional gothic cathedral. It looks dauntingly long at first glance, but the characters are awesome and the story moves at a decent clip.

For something more modern in setting, I suggest Stone 588 by Gerald A. Browne, about a diamond broker in New York who discovers that ugly diamond he inherited from his father is something much more special. It's a very fast read.

In the fantasy vein, the first three books of the Symphony of the Ages series by Elizabeth Haydon are fantastic, starting with Rhapsody. Assassins, dragons, epic battles, and chicks with swords--seriously, it's pure win.

Additionally, I've always had a soft spot for the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery, but they're a little nerd-tastic. If you do decide to launch into that series, start with either Dragonflight or the much lighter Dragonsong. While Dragonsdawn is technically the beginning of Pern's history, it's definitely geared more towards existing hardcore fans.

Hope something here catches your fancy. Happy reading! ^_^

You have to import brown sugar?! Wow I guess I take it for granted here.

California highways are free and usually in decent condition. When you go up into the mountains though they get worse because during the winter people have to drive on them with chains.

I like going into discount stores and just seeing what they have. 100 yen stores seem to be right up my alley.

Why do you always wear a beanie danny and what brand is it ?

Wow... The iphone and it's many uses... good pictures though..

Wow... The iphone and it's many uses... good pictures though..

Daiso here is 2 dollars canadian for each item.....

Nice pics Danny and great "week in Tokyo" post as usual ^^

Dannys ps3's friendlist is full :(

Very nice pictures! After reading my stomach is growling T_T

I never go to McDonald's for burgers either, just go for breakfast sand! The Whopper is way better than McD's Quarter Pounder.

Nice post! :D Also, how do you know what "the hide of a steaming camels bottom" tastes like? XD

Alite from top to bottom:
-No on photos on produce, they're probably snug enough with their subsides to not have to worry about their sales.
-What's the point of refilling the container? Do they sell seperate refilling cans? is there something special about the clear plastic jar?
-My friend with his PS3 has never had that issue. Then again, he rarely bothers connecting to the internet since the wireless card on that thing is weak.
-That's a decent looking pizza. For 13 bucks it better be. Think an individual pizza here would be aroudn 10 at a not fast food joint. California Pizza Kitchen/Roundtable Pizza for example.
-Wonder if DMV's line issues are worldwide.
-We have our stash of anime mags, though I think the english Newtype's been discontinued. The other english stuff just doesn't compare from online blogs though.
-oh god damn I could use those L socket adaptors. Too many plain power strips around the house.
-Eh, McDonalds at least has decent fries. Too bad you guys don't have an In n' Out there. That might be worth a franchise. Hum...
-Soooo, hows gas prices there?
-Yes, Kannagi was a good show. Also, lol at eps 11.
-US highways are pretty much free but are crowded as heck. Almost a delay at peak hours. Think any toll roads around here go $0.25 to $2 a crossing.

I lol'd at the sando comment XD I hope none of my friends are that cheap that they'll serve me a cuppa sand... Oooh Eneos, the gas station they use in Initial D! So I guess watching anime on a portable media player is pretty normal... I wonder what people would prefer, portable smaller screen or in front of computer/TV with a bigger screen to watch their anime.

Lots of nice pics again Danny. That coffee refilling trick is actually kinda neat...although pooring it yourself would probably only take 5 seconds longer ^^;

We are not actively charged to use the highways here, although there are talks of implementing some similar system. We do have road taxes obviously; is the toll you pay in Japan the only charge or are there also additional taxes?

Love the interesting way of filling up the coffee jar. Would love to try it sometime.

Beautiful photos Danny ^___^

Major expressways here charges a toll fee. It may be high but as long as the roads are smooth and well maintained

As a matter of fact they do charge for the highway here and most of the time the road is not is good shape. The photos taken by your camera is amazing would like to see more to Tokyo in a later post. That pizza definitely look delicious!!~

I don't know what kind of books you enjoy, but I really like anything written by Haruki Murakami. For me it's still English translations, but at some point I may be able to read the original. When I have a book I like, I tend to read all the the. After finishing I usually don't read anything for a few weeks.

I'm tired of seeing Hello Kitty! Everywhere I look I see that little pink monster. Makes me want to get a flamethrower DX

Meh... I just drink those coffee you buy in the can. Y'know, the cold ones?

Clean river is uber clean! It looks nothing like the rivers here; full of garbage, floating poo and floating BODIES! Dogs, cats and even human bodies. You'll get used to it though XD

I'm not a fan of reading. I can't concentrate without seeing pictures! Guess I got used to reading manga.

Highways here also need you to pay. 2800yen? Woah... Here it's only around 120yen equivalent. But I guess it depends on the destination.

100yen shops & Health mags FTW!!!
great pics, danny-man^^

you should read haruki murakami's novels~ kafka on the shore & after dark is a great read!

image ID#24231
Ah, so this is why the Japanese are so healthy, all these health magazines ;)

There are some toll roads but if you know the area you can usually avoid them.

We have stores around here that sells Japanese magazine but mostly comic, anime and music stuffs, dolphin related stuffs are quite rare, only seen Tech Gian perhaps.

Ah, I miss Shibuya and it's overwhelming crowds that visit there ^^;

Great photo post. I really enjoy photos of the stores you visit. I gives me insight in what is like to be there.

Curtislaw on the picture of PS3 is my brother ^_^
Mcdonalds is always thought of as a burger place in UK way more popular/cheaper than Burger King. Have had quarter pounder for about a thousand years! lol.

Yep there they charge to use the highways...and roads are really bad! Absurd, but I live in Italy, so that's normal administration.

I always love A week in Tokyo photo's. Been reading dannychoo since two and a half years ago and was always to lazy to comment. Got of my chair and had a go ^^

If you want Burgers you always have to go with BurgerKing.Havent eaten at any FastFoodChain that can beat them so far.
AnimeMags?Its pretty sad if you are talking about German AnimeMags but if youre talking Japanese Mags im lucky since they have many in stock in Düsseldorf ^_^

No charge for Highway usage over here except for Cargo

My local highways don't charge (minus a bridge, but that's a town over), however they are in pretty good condition. I guess it just varies from place to place.

Great article yet again Danny. Talking about MOE, in Thaialnd we finally have our first MOE manga. It's call Change 123, have u heard of it. I heard it was very famous in Japan.

Cool seeing Eureka Seven Poster with Pachinko treatment.

Also I wouldnt expect to see Nescafe coffee in Japan (obviously its kind of different for merchandising issues).

I'm a bit of a conservative, so I tend not to prefer reading e-books. The traditional paperback is more fun and since it is solid I feel a better sense of ownership.

Prefer the touch of a solid paperback or hardcover. Would go for e-books if they were more readily available.

Been reading Harry Potter - from first to last. Now at Half-Blood Prince. I reckon this is the only series I have managed to finish reading.

Wow really nice way to refill your coffee... gotta get one of those XD

Foods' nice!! Well KKnM here gets anime magazines every 15th of the mth! Newtype, Megami? we have it ^^ where also kinokuniya if kknm runs outta stock ^^.

in singapore, we have the infamous E|R|P - Electronic road pricing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Road_Pricing
-------------------
| | E|R|P | |
-------------------
|x0 yen ||x|
|x0 yen ||x|
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the citizens called it "Every|Road|Pay" or "Everyday|Rob|People"
wonder if any1 has seen it during their trip here?...

In terms of books I would have to recommend Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. My all-time favorite author. They are fairly difficult reads though and if you want something a bit more easy-going you could try some 1800s classics from Jane Austen/Elizabeth Gaskell/Emily Bronte. Those always seem to calm me down on a rough day but Atlas Shrugged is definitely my favorite novel ever (it is enjoying a 3rd read at the moment).

Have pictures of the farmer on some of the veg here, always look like they need a wash.

These week in Tokyo are always really interesting. I can can see my hiragana improve also.

We buy most of our fruit and veg from the Northey Street Market on a sunday, so we're buying directly from the growers anyway, no need for photos. Never seen the photos of the farmers on packaging in the supermarket though. However, little of our fruit and vege, even from the supermarket, comes packaged anyway, most of it sits out in pallets so you can pick and choose which bits you want. Then put it in a bag and it's sold by weight.

The coffee refil thing seems like a bit of a waste of packaging I must admit, why do you need two bottles for? Besides: instant coffee, blech... ground beans and a plunger bare minimum.

Pizza looks killer though, sudden mad craving for pizza.

I think I didnt step into mac for like many years lol, avoiding fast food now =X

The Daiso here I seen are only in shopping malls so always came back home with big bags small bags lols since I have to travel for quite a while

In Portugal we have 'via verde' meaning green way or green passage but you have to be registered with the service and carry a transmitter in the car to charge directly from your bank account. The prices are quite high here, on a normal consuming car (6l/100k) you'd spend more on the highway fee than on fuel. There are some free highways but the most important routes are payed.

beautiful city.

Was that an advertisement for a pachinko machine based of the movie Ghost?! Seriously?! Thats too wierd. Next they need to make a "Sister Act II" machine.

good week in tokyo

very nice photos Danny.

greetings

Lots of toll roads here in metropolitan Chicago, and throught the states east of here.
The City of Chicago discovered (in the late 1950s) it did not have the authority to construct a toll *road*. So it constructed the 'Chicago Skyway' and called it a toll *bridge*. It got away with it. It's still in use, and still charging.
I was always good at avoiding toll roads. It's especially important to know how to do that now since the toll for cash-paying motorists is nearly *double* for what it is when the motorist has a _computerized on-board device automatically deducting the toll from your account_.
(Yes, do you see the inherent privacy problem associated with this? And, its ability to tell if you went *too fast* between two toll checkpoints?)

great pics =) love the coffee reload system ya got there

every tokyo week you post I miss it more! the katanas are great addition to your dolfie

Oh yeah I once ate some daikon oroshi at a japanese restaurant, it was really nice, I didn't know it would taste that light being made from a kind of radish ^_^
Oh and will I be allowed to visit you when I'll be coming to Japan in about less than a year? XD

We have discount stores like 100 yen stores, but they never seem as fun lol.

As for Mcd's, WHAT? They didnt have Quarter pounders with cheese before recently??? Seriously??? Thats insane!!! Thats a staple of the menu in the UK. I always have nuggets though, I love the 6 bit nugget meal. I've never liked the burgers.
I LOVE Burger King Double Bacon Cheese Burgers though, they are soooooo awesome! Better than any Mcd's burger. And I've only ever had one burger at Mcd's, but I was always fussy as a child, didnt like the pickle, onion etc.

Shibuya looks awesome at night. Can't wait to go there, whenever that may be.

And Kannagi, is brilliant! I can't wait for the next series! (Which there has to be lol) And I can't wait for my Nagi figure. (Not Koto, not Wave, but Freeing. Hope she'll look alright. There was a severe difference between the Rin Kokonoe's that go released and the preview shots.

love your "Tokyo Week(s)". The first photo looks so "civilized" and "clean". It reminds me of this game "Mirror's Edge". Did you play it already?

hang on hang on. 1 aussie dollar equals approx 56yen atm :(
so if the local tollway is 2800 yen that means a trip will cost AUD$50 o.O
OW! mega owie! expensive! how long is the tollway?

mcdonalds...so far I find it is universally bleh. the quarter pounder has been the sidekick to the bigmac on aussie menu's forever, but its exactly as described. >1/4pound of reconstituted cow product. makes you feel bleh as well.

and i am in rural australia at the moment, with seriously ancient petrol pumps (probably driven by clockwork or mouse inna wheel). looking forward to the day when I can experience losing my money to a fully automated talking pump with a lcd monitor!

oh and kannagi ftw.

hi i just started this site and have to say that it is adorable and very informative. thank you.

Would suck to be a hideous farmer... people wouldn't trust your produce.

Seems like I didn't miss out too much for two whole weeks of not logging in. Liked the anime mag photo, too bad they don't have much where I live.

Why would they want Kitty to look like Peggy Bundy? Oo

I seriously miss my Tokyo trip...and Tokyo of course
speaking of Tsukiji
I was so eager to visit the infamous Tsukiji fish market
but I didn't in the end because I was to busy visiting other places (like Akiba...:D)
however, I did managed to get to Tsukiji...by foot
all the way from Ginza station
came across Kabuki-za and I ended my journey at the Tsukiji station (Hibiya line)
I stayed in Minamisenju during my short trip
I wished it could be longer...T_T

I'm 'Fuzeblown' on your PlayStation Network friends list above. ^^ There do seem to be a lot of updates, but I use my PS3 almost daily and don't notice as much as friends of mine that use theirs every few weeks. The wireless connection is never fast for me, but if you use a wired connection, the updates download in no time.

whaaa!

your the anime figure master!

Pardon for being my first time posting a comment, do you moderate the comments or does it show up automatically?

Was wondering if the kanji up there read Uesugi or Uesugu. Having limited kanji knowledge sometimes requires me to double check with people about words... =^_^=

I don't know if anyone's mentioned the following authors-sorry 184 comments are too much for me to go through. Haruki Murakami- I really enjoyed the book Norwegian wood and well all of his books in general. He's such a fantastic author. Swann's Way by Proust, Physics of the impossible, Beast by Joyce Carol Oates-another one of my favorite.

Ghost came out in 1990! I can't believe it's on a pachinko poster.

There are a couple of Daiso stores here in Seattle. I shop for office and kitchen supplies there.

Oh and I like how when I am writing a comment I can still scroll up and see the Week in Tokyo post instead of the comment button taking me to another page. Very user-friendly! Thanks.

The highways are generally free but there is a beltway that goes around the city of Houston, Texas that they charge you to use. Its $1.50 per booth and are set in strategic locations where the more popular areas are so as to make the most money rather then to just set them every XX miles.

Question from the office here.
"How were those tomatoes, were they tasty?"

Rather enjoyed this article; that lion Saber gets me every time.