Like a hard rain, like a night train

Hello there again readers!!! It is I Lala posting again from Japanlands. Today I`m going to talk about buses.

There are a few rules about transportation in Tokyo.

1. The trains go everywhere.
2. Where the trains don`t go the subways go
3. Where the subways don`t go the trains go.
4. You walk anywhere else.

Japanese buses are usually designed to seat about 30 people. That may seem like a lot but most American buses can seat 60 people. This isn`t to say that Japanese buses can`t hold 60 people. Japanese buses use most of its space to hold people standing up. The proceedure to ride buses doesn`t change. You get on in the front, pay, then get off in the back.

Now I would like to talk a little about long distance buses.

Much like greyhound Japan has buses that travel all over. I recently rode a bus from Tokyo to Osaka. JR (Japan Railways) owns a series of "highway buses" The most popularly ridden ones are the night buses. Since traveling by auto is very lengthy people often take the night bus to a distant location. The trip from Tokyo to Osaka lasts about 8 hours (by bullet train it is 3). The seats recline really far back and the lights are dimmed giving for a perfect relaxing aura. Its great to fall asleep in Tokyo and wake up in Osaka. Plus the buses don`t smell of angry bum urine.

These buses are usually double deckers and can hold lose to 70 people. This method is great for people who arn`t in a hurry and don`t want to worry about a place to stay for the night! Another advantage to the Highway bus is that it is half of the cost of a bullet train ticket.

Well it appears I am almost out of time at this manga kissa again. I might travel to temple town (AKA Kyoto) today.

See you next round!
~Lala~

JR Highway bus information http://www.jrbuskanto.co.jp/bus_route_e/ (English)

Fire shadow

Hey everyone its me again!

How are you?

I only have one week left in Japan!　；＿；
Its been really fun so far. I`m going to miss it again but I also miss my kitty. ;_;

Today I`m going to teach you some words to remember for when you are having fun!

盛り上がれ（もりあがれ）－moriagare
やり過ぎる　（やりすぎる）- yarisugiru

These are both words that don`t really translate well but I will make an attempt to explain them.

moriagare littlerally means "To Swell" but when you hear this at a concert it means "GET EXCITED!! access often use this term.

yarisugi is a more commonplace word so I`m going to spend a little more time on this one.
sugi at the end of yarisugi means "too much" yarisugi means "to go overboard" but sugi can be added to almost verb. It turns the word into a ru word. Like adding -suru to a word.
example:
tabesugi - to eat too much
nomisugi - to drink too much (usually referrs to liquor)
nesugi - to sleep too much (usually means overslept)
kaisugi - to buy too much

To make this compound simply take a verb in its masu form and drop the masu and add sugi.
Try it out!

yari in yarisugi is the inpolite form of to do - suru you are saying I did too much litterally.

Well thats all for today. I better stop before I kakisugi!

See you next round!!!!

Melt

Its been a long time since I've wrote here. I learned a lot in Japan. Not only Japanese but life lessons. So what have I been doing since then? Many things. Looking for work and now I am taking care of my father who has unfortunately been diagnosed with cancer. I have more hobbies now! I've gotten back into Gundam and my new love is Vocaloid.

For those unfamiliar with Vocaloid let me give you a quick run down.

Vocaloid (ボカロイド) is a synthesized vocal program created by Yamaha. At first the program wasn't very popular amongst the public but it quickly grew an audience after the creation of Miku Hatsune. Miku's character design gained a following and became more popular after a video on Nico Nico Douga (Japan's answer to youtube) displayed Miku waving a Leek to the song "Ievan Polkka" Miku and other Vocaloids such as Kaito and Meiko (who were the first character Vocaloids) became popular. Since the rise in the Vocaloid's popularity more character Vocaloids have been released. Rin and Len Kagamine, (Len is rumored to be designed after Daisuke Asakura) Gakupo Kamui (the voice is sampled from J-pop singer Gackt) and the newist addition Luka Megurine. There are officially seven character vocaloids. However there exsists upwards of 30 fanmade vocaloids. only three of those are reconized by the devloping company Crypton which devolped the character vocaloid series.
Hachune Miku
Yowane Haku
Akita Neru
and Kasane Teto.

Hachune Miku was the one who starred in the video that made Miku famous. She is an SD version of Miku Hatsune.

Yowane Haku devolped by 2chan users, represents the "not so well made" songs. Haku instead of Miku sings these. She will appear as a costume for Miku in Project Diva the PSP game.

Akita Neru also devolped by 2chan users, represents people who like vocaloid but give up using it. She will also appear as a costume for Miku in Project Diva.

Kasane Teto, While not reconized by Crypton is reconized by KEI the artist who created the Vocaloid character designs. Teto appears in his manga "Hatsune Mix" which is a collection of stories about the vocaloids. Teto was created in 2chan to be an April fool's day prank for Vocaloid fans. The prank blew up in their face as Teto became popular and people wished to save her from dissapearing. The video "uso no utahime" (The fake Diva) tells the story of Teto. She sings with a rival software called "Utau" (which means "Sing")

Well that concludes today's post. I leave with you with a few Vocaloid videos.

Dancing Samurai - Gakupo's song. Features all official as well as Neru and Haku


Honey - Vocaloid Allstars. A song released before the creation of Gakupo and Luka. Features Haku, Neru, and Teto.


and Triple Baka - Miku, Neru, Teto. A cute song


See you next round!

Just a new day is coming awake, Any dream will do

So it has been one month since my last post. Sadly we still don`t have internet. I am posting from an Osaka manga kissa. (Comic Cafe) These are all the rage these days. When people are cheep or cannot find a room for the night they start to search for these places. For 3000 yen (30 bucks) a night you are promised a booth with a computer and a TV. Unlimited broadband internet use, 12 channels, the all you can drink buffet (no liquor sadly) snacks and sometimes food to order (though those are a seperate charge) most manga cafes have showers to use (for another charge) You can get booths with a "soft floor" which has a mat to lay on. I like these kind. Others have reclining chairs as well as massage chairs. Many have playstation 2s as well. Its not a bad deal when you have no where to stay. 3000 yen gets you a 10 hour pack. (at this one) I have sayed at a place where the 10 hour pack was 1400 yen (14 bucks) It veries depending on the chain. My favorite chain is Manboo (named after the Japanese sun fish) Gera Gera is my second (Gera Gera is the sound a frog makes much like the word "Ribbit") and Media Cafe Popeye is my third. Well that being said it is almost 9 am and I have to get ready to go.

See you next round.
-Lala-

LINKS:
http://www.manboo.co.jp/
http://www.geragera.co.jp/
http://www.mpo.ne.jp/

Kiss me in summer rain

Hello everyone.

Today was our official first day of school. We started it off with a BANG...
from the sky that is. The sky opened up and dropped at least a good 3 inches of rain.
Oddly enough, this is common in Japan. Because Japan is an island nation they are use to suddan rain storms and typhoons so today was part of the norm. What made it bad was that half of us had to be moved to a different building because our classrooms are sperate so we had to walk without umbrellas. So some of us got a free shower. Other than that, the day is going good. I feel good about this school. Steph and I might have gotten placed too low but, in the end I think it`s good for us because we get a chance to improove on our stuff. The teachers are really friendly and I like the teaching style. There are many students from many different places and some speak English and some don`t . In our class there are people from Spain, UK, Hungry, Guiana, China, Korea, and Portugal. We all learned a lot. Well our time is almost up. We hope to have internet in our apartment soon.

See you next round!
-Lala-

Dream Runner

Hello everyone!

We arrived safely in Japan but we`ve had the problem of conflicting schedules. Once school starts we will be seeing each other everyday. The place I'm staying has no internet so we are forced to just make do by watching TV and reading. That being said we've also been train riding.

Albireo

I briefly touched basis on the difference of transportation in Japan. Let's go a little more in depth about each of these.

Travel on train depends on a few things.
1. Where you are going
2. Which line will you be taking
3. How much are you willing to spend.

For long distance travel one would probably use the bullet train (shinkansen) (新幹線)
The inside of these trains could easily be confused for an airplane!

These trains are can reach speeds of 170 MPH (at the fastest) Not all of the shinkansen go this fast. That's were the first comes in. Where are you going? Due to noise pollution regulations many trains have to go slower in residential areas. However for short travel one will for the most part be using the local trains.

While most JR trains are the same, there can be difference depending on how old the line is, how much is it used, and where is it located. In Tokyo most of the trains are less "comfortable" than the shinkansen. The commuter trains are used to haul as many people as possible.

The Yamanote line (Also known as the Tokyo loop line) Has cars that are referred to as "Cattle Cars" these cars have fold up seats that are folded up to help make room for the morning rush. The Yamanote line is the best and worst of Japan's train line. Anyone who rides the Yamanote might think that all of Japan's trains are bilingual and they are always packed. While it's true that Japan has tried to "modernize" them selfs by putting most signs in romaji (wester characters) there are still problems outside of the big cities. For instance. While on the Yamanote line you are given the luxury of signs that say what the next stop is, what lines you can transfer to, and if there are any delays in both English and Japanese. However, after you transfer off that line, you will be greeted by little to no English help and the stop announcements will be in Japanese. While it's helpful it also sets up for a fall. The over crowding on the Yamanote is a problem that will never be solved. Between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00 the trains are impossible to get on as everyone is rushing to their jobs in inner Tokyo. People pushers help get the job done.

Well I've grown tired. Been packing and cleaning all day (though the only you can tell happened was the packing)

Only one more day!!!!