Local Insanity

I’ve been in Asia now for roughly a week, and I’m writing my first entry.  Let me sum up that time.  The flight to Tokyo was long and rather sleep-free, so when we arrived at Narita at 1533 and took the subway to our hostel in Tokyo, it seemed like ‘no time’ - that time when you can’t precisely say what time you think it is, only that it’s not now.  Of course our hostel was not labeled, but we were lucky enough to meet a woman who is friends with the owner on the street, and she helped us find it and get settled in.  The ‘we’ here, in case you were wondering, is me and Sam, another guy from UCLA.  At this point we checked our email, got something to eat and went to bed, waking up the next morning early (0600) and heading down to the fish market.

There’s nothing quite like it in the states - not that I’ve seen anyway.  There are large covered areas with concrete ground near a river with a swarm of gasoline powered, steering-wheel driven flatbed carts loaded with fish, crab, fruits, vegetables, and other items - and they’re going everywhere.  There are no clearly marked differences between the pedestrian areas and the cart areas.  Indeed, it was difficult to brave the swarm and enter the building.  We saw many fish, some quite large (1 meter long), being carved up and sold.  It was quite a sight, but nothing was really that appealing for the visiting American, so Sam and I found a sushi restaurant and sat down for breakfast.  He had abalone, shrimp, tuna, and some other stuff.  I had salmon, shrimp, and tuna - 5 pieces for 724 yen ($7.10).  Did I mention that Japan is expensive?  We then walked around and took the subway to all kinds of temples, parks, and other places of interest.

Walking around Tokyo for an English speaker is not too bad.  Most basic signs are written in Japanese as well as English.  There are maps in English.  Most people speak at least some English.  For Americans it is nice, because the USD is about 100 yen right now, which made prices easy to figure out.  Many of the places we ate at had picture menus, which was nice.  At one place we realized after we’d bought the food that it was Korean, not Japanese.  It was still good, but it just took a minute to get used to it.

Arriving in Singapore was like coming into a really nice house only to see that the backyard was totally run-down.  We took a cab around 2300 and that was the first of the heat and humidity, which we’d already encountered in Japan, but not as bad.  Don’t get me wrong, everything was incredibly manicured and clean, but the weather was bad, and it was nearly midnight!  We waited for about 30 minutes to get checked in, then we went up to our rooms, or rather tried to.  We were given electronic ‘transponders’ that transmit a signal that enables the elevator, opens a gate, and unlocks the room - only the gate wouldn’t open.  I spent the better part of an hour trying to open it and waiting for the guy who checked us in to open it, until finally it gave and I got in my room and went to sleep.

The next day we went to the canteens (food court like place) for breakfast/lunch and met a few people from UCI, who we hung out with for the rest of the day and went shopping with.  I bought some necessities, including a sheet and towel.  We met other UC students that day and a few exchange students not from the UC program (from Canada, England and Germany).

The next day the UC students went shopping.  Another guy from UCLA has the same phone I do (I think), and he got his unlocked for free and got a SIM card for it for pretty cheap.  I have yet to find a place that will unlock my phone.  So for now I have no phone, no address, and no regular access to email or iChat.  We’ve done more since then, but I’ll tell you about it later.  Right now I’m tired.

So I finally got a phone number here, using my phone.  It’s an interesting story actually, but in case you don’t care, here’s the number: 9883 1620.

So I have a Sony Ericsson T616.  It’s a pretty sweet phone, and I’d been told it would work here.  I was happy about that because it meant that I could avoid buying a phone here and then ending up with two.  Here’s the catch: AT&T, in their infinite wisdom, locked my phone (and all the phones they sell, I’d wager) into a specific region.  It’s called SIM locking and it’s similar to DVD regions if that makes more sense.  As a consequence my phone only works in the US unless it is unlocked, which AT&T refused to do.  Now, from a business standpoint, this makes sense - lock your customers into using the highly subsidized phone that was given to them with the plan so that you make back the money and they can’t take it to Asia or Europe and sell it.  However for the customers it is a real pain in the ass.

Fortunately another guy from UCLA had the same phone and, on the second day, got it unlocked in this kinda shady electronics store somewhere in this complex called Sim Lin Tower.  I wasn’t with him, so I didn’t know which he went to.  I waited on buying a phone card because I thought some other phone store would unlock my phone for me.  They didn’t.  Apparently most of the stores are too ‘reputable’ to do that sort of thing, even though it doesn’t appear to be against the law.  I went to Sim Lin Tower, but it was a Sunday and almost everything was closed… then one guy told me that my phone, being the T616, wouldn’t work here as it was designed for the states, whereas the T610 was designed for elsewhere.  Turns out the difference is that the T616 works with the 850/1800/1900 bands, and the T610 works with the 900/1800/1900 bands.  There is overlap, so it should work here.

Turns out the guy was wrong - it does work here.  I think he wanted me to buy a new phone.  I originally thought that William (the other UCLA guy) got his unlocked for free, but he told me that it was S$40 ($25).  After all the frustration I went through, I was willing to pay that.  I went back to Sim Lin today and found a mid-shady phone place that did it for S$15 ($9).  I was excited, nay thrilled that I finally had a phone.

Now I’m back in my dorm room making a video for all of you.  If you want to call, you can do so using 011 65 9883 1620 (I think).  Have a nice night!