I'm going to Japan!

“luke bought me a ticket to go visit!!!

anyone know about any great hiking in the area??”

“Mt. Fuji - Check the threads around here.”

“I visiting Japan once for 25 days. Had a blast. Spent most of my time in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya...plus some resorts.”

“awesome, phil. do u have any pictures on webshots or anything?”

“I only have these pics on-line.

Went in 1993 on a study tour with 16 people from 10 different countries, courtesy of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). We got the red-carpet treatment. I haven't scanned any more pictures.”

“phil, what ARE you wearing in that third picture? LOL. just playing.

looks like a fun time. i definitely want to try and get to fugi.”

“At the hotels they have those for you to lounge around the hotel in. You wear them going to and from the hot bath also.”

“The japanese are really into hot baths...and I mean HOT water. You have to scrub yourself clean before getting in because the water is not chemically treated. You keep it clean by staying clean.
They claim foreigners get their water dirty!!”

“Lots of surprises in Japan. The bullet train was cool...clipping along at 150 mph like it was nothing.

Strange architecture also. Kinda funny sometimes.”

“Funny thing was I ate more Chinese food in Japan than Japanese food. Japanese love other kinds of food.

I went into a 3 story backpacking store. Very expensive. They had a Leatherman in a display case with a spotlight on it: $150...and that was 11 years ago! They had Goretex everything.”

“i'm real interested in seeing the "strange architecture." i know this is cliche, but does it compare to how they portray japan in the movies (excluding Pearl Harbor)?

a 3 story backpacking store? wo. where is this located?”

“The one I went to was in Nagoya. They have lots of multistory stores. They are narrow, but tall.

They have underground shopping malls. Hundreds of small stores in multi-levels...but all underground near subway stations.

Transportation is awesome...and on-time. Once you get the hang of it you can really get around.”

“holy crap.

i wont have to worry too much about transportation... he has a truck over there.”

“sounds like you wanna do alot of sight seeing baby”

“well, it'd be nice,.. i've never been outta the country before”

“lucky scorchy. you're gonna have a blast over there.”

“batman luke sounds disappointed that ScorchFire wants to do any sightseeing.”

“If you are going to Japan, bring lots of money. Very expensive. Go to their war musuem and see their bilingual displays to learn how the citizens of Nanking lived happily everafter after being liberated by Japanese troops, and how it was Roosevelt that started WWII.

We went into a couple stores that sold backpacking supplies in Toyko last April. Good selection of Titanium. The cast iron sold there was from Lodge, based in Tennessee, USA.

Mt Fuji is a must in the summer months. It is a custom in Japan to climb Mt. Fuji once to watch the sun come up. Not all make the all night climb/walk to the top in time for sunrise.”

“I don't speak Japaneese so I think I'll stay out of Asia.
Have fun Scorchy!”

“watch "Lost in Translation"”

“i saw that at the theaters a few weeks ago, and watched it again on dvd this morning. a funny thing happend. during one scene, the soundtrack and the video were not in synch for some reason, and so watching it with their lip movements a few seconds behind the spoken workds was like watching a badly dubbed japanese movie. how ironic! nearly lost in translation, indeed.”

“Scorch,
Can you bring me back a cute little Asian girl?”

“Go Scorchie!


Pajama people!”

“a nice 18 year old geisha girl, about five-two, or maybe go-go yubari and her catholic school-girl uniform would be superb”

“If you get sushi don’t put too much wasabi on it, unless you like having you nose hairs burned off.”

“Bring me back a subway map of Tokyo, Scorchy!”

“oh scorchy!! Lucky you!

mmmm, I would live of sushi with lots of wasabi on it :)”

“No Mexicans in Japan, right Phil?”

“And a Samarai sword. Just be careful bringing it on the plane, Scorch...”

“Phil, your racist rhetoric regarding Mexicans can beget violence:


Hate Crime
Violence follows immigrant-bashing rhetoric

In the early-morning hours of July 5, five teenagers in suburban Farmingville, N.Y., used firecrackers to torch the home of a family of five Mexican immigrants. The family escaped death by minutes as the fire quickly melted the house's aluminum siding and kept spreading, scorching the trees outside.
"One would think one could go to sleep in peace because one has done nothing wrong," said a stunned Sergio Perez-Garcia, whose wife and two children survived the blaze along with another relative.

To the teenagers, four of whom were quickly arrested and charged with arson, reckless endangerment and hate crimes, apparently the family had done something wrong: They'd settled in Farmingville.

After speaking with the teenagers, the local district attorney reported that they showed no remorse over burning down the house, for the simple reason that "Mexicans live there."

The teenagers are not alone in their sentiments. Anti-immigrant fervor has spread through the Long Island town of 15,000 since Latin-American immigrants began to move there in the 1990s. In September 2000, two local white men posed as contractors and lured two Mexican day laborers — from a house next door to the one that burned this July — to a warehouse where they stabbed and beaten nearly to death.

Two weeks after that attack, Glenn Spencer (see Anti-Immigrant Extremism) of the nativist American Patrol hate group gave a fiery speech to a hard-line new anti-immigration organization in Farmingville, Sachem Quality of Life. A few days later, a member of Sachem — a group whose Web site blames a rise in local instances of "rape, sexual assault and manslaughter" on men "who hail from Central and South America" — was arrested for threatening a local Hispanic family.

No direct connection between either anti-immigrant group and the violent backlash in Farmingville has been established. But as the Rev. Allan Ramirez, a friend of the Perez-Garcia family, told Newsday, "What we are seeing is what happens when you plant the seeds of hate."

source: Southern Poverty Law Center”

“i must have missed something, i didnt see phil say anything derogatory about mexicans or any other group. be careful mutt, this guy has the power to do funny things to your picture and post it on his photo page”

“Phil posted some racist screed regarding Mexicans causing all the crime/drug problems somewhere, and that if you ask them, they'll tell you it's all their fault!

I hate racists.”

“well then take it to that thread, then.”

“No, I prefer to remind people they're talking to a racist on whatever threads he posts to.”

“ive noticed in the past you seem to have an obsession with him. im not saying youre right or wrong, im just saying this is not the place for it. let ppl make up their own mind about the guy. i normally think you make more sense than most of the posters here, but i dont agree with this tactic. plus, it contributes to thread degeneration.”

“Mexicans are a nationality, not a race.”

“so hes a nationalist? careful, bison, this is how pc-ism starts”

“stormbringer, you speak wisely. I will drop it. But if he says something stupid again, then I'm back on the case!”

“You better bring a supply of your fav food Scorchy!”

“You'll have fun, Scorchy. It's a great place to visit. Not sure I'd want to live there. For one thing, I think I only got full twice, maybe three times, and two of those times were on American-style food. The other time was at a noodle place.

I love sushi and sashimi, but I don't think there's enough raw fish in the world to get me really full.”

“Jezus! Mutt just peed on the campfire!”

“The train and subway stations have enough English signage so you can figure things out. Many Japanese people can understand English, but they are reluctant to speak it.

Yes, it is pretty expensive. $3-$4 for a cup of coffee...no refills! Figure about double what it costs here for food and stuff.”

“Public transportation, what a novel concept.

Our governor claims that we have tried it and people don't like it and, doggoneit, we just can't afford it.

Hence, crappy bus system and more highway construction.”

“Have fun scorchie - you're actually planning on making it out the hotel room then?”

“"If you are going to Japan, bring lots of money. Very expensive." prosecutor

Well, hopefully I'll have made a bundle from my graduation party that I won't have to worry about saving up from now. Yall should come to my party and bring me money, LOL.

"Scorch,
Can you bring me back a cute little Asian girl?" lumberzac

Um, no.

"If you get sushi don’t put too much wasabi on it, unless you like having you nose hairs burned off."
lumberzac

Thanks for the tip? I actually never had sushi and I don't like hot-HOT foods.

"Bring me back a subway map of Tokyo, Scorchy!"
Treebeard

Okay! But no Samaurai words, 'tay?


"Phil posted some racist screed regarding Mexicans causing all the crime/drug problems somewhere, and that if you ask them, they'll tell you it's all their fault!
I hate racists."
Mutt

Okay,.. that's wonderful, but can we keep it off my thread of joy?

"You better bring a supply of your fav food Scorchy!"
bearmagnet

I'll have to bring lots of 'bolis.

"For one thing, I think I only got full twice, maybe three times, and two of those times were on American-style food. The other time was at a noodle place." bitpusher

Well I'm staying on base, so lots of American food (at least that's what he tells me :P).

"Have fun scorchie - you're actually planning on making it out the hotel room then?"
Y2

Hah, it'd be nice considering I've never been outta the country before.”

“Why did the whole movie Lost in Translation flash through my head but only with Bill Murray replaced by Scrotchy?”

“dirtball!”

“Um, that "dirtbag" to you sister. LOL! "Douchebag" is also acceptable if the situation grants it.”

“douchebag sounds too... feminine.


do you ever get that not-so-fresh feeling??”

“You should go around taking pictures of everything. You could be an American Japanese Tourist.”