東京フレンズ Tokyo Friends
Posted At: Tue 20 Jun 2006	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
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Of course Tokyo Friends 東京フレンズ is the name of a Drama Series from 2005 starring the singer Otsuka Ai and is currently (debut August 2006) a movie in theatres… I was thinking about seeing it… but theatres are so expensive… but hey… it’s hard to say know to stories about some girl (usually from inaka-countryside) who travels to the city and becomes a singer… like Tokyo Friends and Nana….

But that isn’t really what this post is about…..

I left Taiwan on June 11th, 2006 and Arrived in Japan on June 11th where I stayed in the Tokyo region until June 20th, 2006.

[Arrival Photo here when i get it from Craig]

It was of course really hot in the 30s in taipei… but when i arrived at Narita Airport in Eastern Japan (Tokyo Region) it was soooooo cold…. like 23C or something… although normally for back home (Vancouver, Canada) 23C is a nice warm day… but after being climatized to the may/june of taiwan… 23C felt super cold…

My best friend Craig and Mizue came to the airport to greet me =) Although it had only 3-4 months since i had seen Craig and 6 since I had seen Mizue, it was great to see them!

The 2nd or 3rd day in Tokyo, I tried to meet up with Craig at Shinjuku station!! of course it is the busiest, largest, most hectic station in all of japan!! Needless to say… Craig had Mizue’s mobile phone and I had only a phone card for the payphones…. it took us an hour to find each other =P

Craig and I at Shinjuku!

Omotesan Hills

Harajuku

Mizue, her Mom, and I went to see the sighs of yokohama =)

Got to see friends in Shinjuku like Vicky, Guy, Yongmi, and Craig =)

On a little adventure, Craig and I even found a secret little pathway running through and behind a university… nicely forested.. it headed down steep until i reached a back area where there were stables…

I don’t know why i decided to live in a city where I don’t know anybody while my friends in Japan are mostly in the Tokyo region…. but soon enough, it became time for me to leave Tokyo and make my way for Osaka…. some 600-700 kilometers away… and 3 to 3 1/2 on the nozomi shinkansen here… i believe that’s japan’s fastest bullet train… and certainly the fastest one between kanto (tokyo, etc) and kansai (osaka,etc)….

but the most difficult part of this trip between cities was carrying my super super heavy luggage from Saitama onto the train to ikebukuro… carry it all the way through ikebukuro, get my ticket, get my way across the city to tokyo station, then get to the shinkansen station, and get it onto the train… when I left vancouver, I had one 60L MEC backpack and my Arctryx notebook backpack… by this point, I had those two backpacks very heavy and full, another suitcase-like bag from TingWei, and a small messenger bag like “man purse” (if you will) from taiwan… needless to say, I could barely stand let alone walk…

Farewell Taiwan… until next time…
Posted At: Sun 11 Jun 2006	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
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It’s so very sad to leave Taiwan… Over 31 days, i have be very accustomed to being in taiwan…

Thank you to everyone who has made my experience in Taiwan a memorable one!
I hope to return to Taiwan in the near future!

I almost wish I could have just stayed in Taiwan and live my life there…
but moving on to Japan in something i have to do…

Good bye Taiwan… i miss you… one day I hope to return…

530… 520….

wo hen xiang taiwan. wo hen xiang ni. wo yao chu de taiwan.
boku ga honto ni taiwan wo omotte irun… anata wo honto ni omotte irun… modoritai…
Please watch my video…. BIDEO wo mite kudasai… onegaishimasu…

Addendum: Sorry, the video has been delayed… It has been extremely saddening puting together this video… and the process is a slow one… Videos emcompasses my final weeks in Vancouver, Canada… my time in Taiwan… my time in Tokyo… and moving to Osaka… I expect the video to be released in September 2006… sorry for the inconvenience…

Edit: 20 June 2008: Finally a Taiwan video is now up; it’s available here http://media.derekwallace.com/2006/20060506-Taiwan/woxiangtaiwan.flv.php. Also, in various albums you will find various videos in Canada, USA, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan that I took.

xiao long bao (SHO RON PAO)
Posted At: Sat 10 Jun 2006	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
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The day i arrived in Taiwan… one of the first things i ate (breakfast, because i arrived soo early in the morning) was

xiao long bao… 小笼包 i think… strangely in japan, it’s written in katakana as sho ron pao ショ・ロン・パオ

On June 8th, I met up with my friend Nancy (from university-UVic) at this shangainese restaurant that just opened and i’d always walk past it and go “ooh! i wanna try that!”

On June 10th we went to a famous place for xiao long bao….

Taiwan: Taipei Zoo
Posted At: Tue 6 Jun 2006	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
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 Taiwan Zoo Penguin Seizure (VIEWER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED): Play Now

WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN NOR OLDER ADULTS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS HIGHLY ADVISED! This website is not liable for any content contained within. Sole viewing discretion lies entirely on the audience.

We went to the Taipei Zoo where they are tons of different areas and exhibits… Since Peggy loves penguins we spent a bit of time there… the video was shot in the penguin area shop… again viewer discretion is advised.

As always, click the Photo Gallery link at the top of the page to visit the entire photo gallery =)

Danshui Sunsets
Posted At: Fri 2 Jun 2006	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
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The Sun sets in Danshui 淡水