en-us http://www.keithwatanabe.net/index.php Keith Watanabe's Website http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/12/5/78bcba0cbae74f82a1afff30e2344978.html
The ride wasn't as long as I expected and it wasn't that crowded, save for people getting on at Yurakucho and getting off at Tokyo station. This was the first time for me to be in Kawaguchi. I only knew three things about it: 1) the Tipness Gym; 2) the recently opened Krispy Kreme shop; 3) Nishi-Kawaguchi (which is another infamous redlight zone). So I was kinda interested as I knew a few people who lived out in that direction.

Honestly, I barely stepped around the zone. It reminded me a bit of Fujisawa because when you exited the station, you landed about three levels above street level on a bridge interconnected between three large buildings. All the buildings around the station were some sort of shopping zone. I was in search of the Krispy Kreme but had no inkling of the location. However, I managed to locate the Tipness inside one of these massive structures. Before I review that, I want to discuss a few other observations.

Just as I exitted the escalator was under construction. Very annoying since the ramp up was pretty high. I swear to God the Japanese don't know a damn thing about user interfaces and architecture. Near the exit there was this girl standing, holding a sign begging for a ticket. Don't know where but it reminded me of those freeloaders you'd see in SF or Berkeley near the BART stations. I ignored her in the end.

Around the area there's quite a few tall mansion (apartment-like) structures. I did some research on the net about the cost of living out there and it's quite cheap. Not sure how much those spots are but I think they're focused on families. The positive thing though is that they're very close to the station so it would be worth living there.

The area should've been lively. It's quite a nice zone with all the shopping centralized. It kinda also reminded me of Kitasenju, although I do think the fact that only one train runs through this place implies that it's fairly crowded in the morning. Despite the niceness of the area, I saw mostly older folk around there. Maybe I came at a wrong time.

After diddling around a bit, I hit the Tipness. Inside it's quite spacious, but the equipment is not good at all. The focus is more centered around cardio so there's a very limited amount of weights. You're better off going to Shinjuku, Shibuya or Roppongi even if you're not into cardio stuff. I just did a scan of other spots outside of those gyms and noticed that the layout seems the same. My guess is that most people are interested in just doing cardio out here so the weight rooms are limited except where the foreigners are.

The place wasn't crowded at all. I could easily get any cardio machine. Most of the people inside were older folk. It sucked considering that I'm used to all the eye candy from Shibuya. I guess I better stick with Shibuya's gym if that's my priority! (Although tonight stunk because it was so crowded. Did suddenly everyone in Japan decide to emulate me and follow me to my temple????)

I didn't stay that long and hit the sauna and showers soon after. Then I took off for Shinjuku to meet a friend for dinner. I definitely want to go back to Kawaguchi. It has some promise to be a good place to live. But I also want to check some other spots out before making a decision. So far though Kawaguchi has some good plusses: Tipness, Krispy Kreme, shopping, JR station and cheap housing!]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:50:51 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/12/5/78bcba0cbae74f82a1afff30e2344978.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/4/5/5f40c9a3e90af97aa8245f40552adb1b.html
On the other hand, this week was nuts because I also purchased my ticket for May. Can't wait to get back to LA for a few weeks. But the price was ridiculous! Sadly, the price of gas is roughly the same cost as the ticket itself! I easily spent $400 just for the gas. My friend suggested trying Singapore Airlines next time because the gas is cheaper. I guess I'll have to take a look at the prices a little better.

Unfortunately, the price of gas really set me back this month. I've got 19 more days before the next pay day, so I have to play it humble. On a positive note, I will have just about a week off for Golden Week. I'm so happy to be out of the financial service market, since those people are practically working as long as the market is open. I can actually do something relevant for myself during that time. Of course, I plan to send a good chunk of change home since I'll be spending 3 weeks in LA. But I'd like to see or do something, hopefully outside of Tokyo for once. I kinda doubt it though.

Also, I saw my friend who works at this Lady's Bar last Friday. I was kinda saddened to find she got a finance in Hawaii. Sucks because she was cute. But very flaky. I guess that'll work out for the better as I really need to avoid flaky girls these days.

Went to Kudanshita to check out the cherry blossoms with some friends. I was pretty much in awe at the number of Yatai setup as well as the sheer number of salarimen (and women) sprawled around the Yasukuni Shrine. When I tried looking for my group, I was slightly intimidated in that it was nearly impossible to differentiate between all the generically attired people. When it was finished though, everyone was pretty plastered (except me because I'm attempting to avoid drinking to cut down on my body fat). I wish more ladies attended and was disappointed to not see many people. However, the crowd around us was a riot. Some idiot kids were just slipping and sliding in front of us. It was like watching a Vaudville comedy act, except these guys were landing hard. I suppose they'll feel it on Monday when they recover.

I'm not looking forward to the coming week as weather reports indicate that it'll rain from Monday. This year really blows in terms of weather. This winter was immensely cold and even now it's still pretty chilly. And it really hasn't warmed up that much. But the cherry blossoms quickly are dissolving into the water so there's really not much to see or do this year.

Tomorrow I should be meeting with Leron for some yakitori. Hopefully, the weather holds up as I'd like to hit Shinjuku and grab some grub. Also, I hope to hit the gym. I've been doing fairly well recently in terms of my attendance at the gym. I'm trying to average between 3-4 times a week. This week, I hit the gym 3 times and last month I managed to go 15 times. Since the cost of going to the gym is quite high out here, you have to be economically minded in how you utilize your membership. I figured that 4 times/week will bring the cost down to less than 1000-en/entry. Also, that factors in to your home water usage as I simply shower at the gym. And of course, I have a lot more energy as a result.]]> Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:42:30 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/4/5/5f40c9a3e90af97aa8245f40552adb1b.html