Japan, so far...

Japan has been amazing. It's really hard to sum up what it's like living here if you haven't been here. We're fortunate enough to be able to stay with Luhan's aunt in a quiet Tokyo neighborhood. My suggestion to you is to take a vacation here at some point. Innovation, beautiful modern architecture, service galore and quality quality quality seeps from this country. Sure, you have to pay for it, but really, these folks have got their shit together. Off the top of my head, this is why:

ALL of the trains are on a time table that's on the money and they stop exactly where they're supposed to. Whether the train is express, semi-express or local, you'll know exactly when it's going to be there.

The buses also use a system (see picture from kyoto) to tell you where each bus is currently on it's route. Now, this is something I could never understand why they cannot do in Brooklyn. The sad part is that this system looks at least 20 years old.

Japanese beer is excellent, for an Asian country. They have much more of a Japanese beer selection here than what you see in the states.

You can eat a great lunch at 711 or Family Mart for 5 to 8 USD.

Besides having heated toilet seats they also do wonderful things to clean you (us eyour imagination for the details).

Just last night I was in a 24 hr grocery store at about 1:30 am and they were blasting the first Run DMC album throughout the store while Tokyo suburbanites bought their kid's lunches for school.

Thoughtful design exists in everything, even my metro card.

more...

We're in Kyoto at a Hotel, and at the moment we're watching the Olympics. This is our last evening here before heading back to Tokyo for a week. We've been out and about on bicycles and foot tearin' up the town. The heat is brutal and the sun turned me pink. In a few minutes we'll be heading out to this sushi joint we've hit once already. It's easily the best sushi I done ever had. The Japanese guys scream at you when you enter, then scream again when you leave. My favorite piece is the salmon with salmon roe. In second place is the shrimp that are literally taken from a fish tank near the sushi bar and moved onto your plate for some soy sauce and wasabi soaking. I've also been enjoying the Yakitori, BBQ skewers. I've included a picture from a Yakitori evening. When we get back to Beijing I'll post all of the pics on Flickr if you're so inclined to see them.