Today we all became aliens! It is not as spacey as it sounds, though. What it means is that we are now legally registered aliens of Japan. We got the alien registration process started today and we will have our cards in a little over two weeks. The card will allow us to open bank accounts over here as well as buying mobile phones. None of the companies over here sells just a SIM-card for my phone, so I will need to get a cheap one, so I have a number to submit for job possibilities.
First off, we had to find the place to get it done. We initially thought we had to go to the other end of Tokyo, but then realized we had a Civic Center right next to Tokyo Dome, which is about 10-15 minutes walk from where we live. That was a quite nice discovery. So, we went there after breakfast, went by a photo booth (we needed photos for the application form), and got the process started after filling out a few forms. Having submitted the forms, we were kindly asked to wait for half an hour. We then decided to do a little bit of exploring and took the elevator up to the top floor, as Caspar had read about an observation deck with panorama windows up there. As we stepped out of the elevator and around the corner, we did not get disappointed. The view was very good. Below are a couple of shots taken first from the walk and the photo booth and then from the scenery from the observation deck.
(Annette and Caspar with the Civic Center on the left side in the background)
(Me in the photo booth)
(A view down)
(A wider view down)
(And this is the amusement park which is at Tokyo Dome)
The last picture is of the amusement park called LaQua which is right next to the Tokyo Dome. Yesterday, Caspar and I decided to ride the roller coaster which is more obvious, if you see the image in large format by clicking on it. It is the best shot I have gotten of it, as it is hard to get it all in a shot. The price was a bit steep, being 1000 yen, but we had to try it. We wanted to do a video of the ride itself with the camera scavenged from ROSKILDE Festival - the one that also captured the video from the gaming arcade - but we were not allowed to bring it up in the ride, so no footage of that, sadly. We do, however have some evening footage from the inside of the place, which can be enjoyed below.
(An attempt to show the roller coaster)
(A fountain show with music and color)
After having enjoyed the view, we went down to the offices again and got our passports back along with a temporary alien registration to use until we get the real one. We then went on our way and began searching for food. This search lead us past a quite nice shop in our neighborhood. It had all the necessities of a small household. Chairs, adapters, plug-dividers, underpants, duct tape, and clothes pegs. All we will ever need, hopefully. Today, though, we only bought a chair (we now all have a chair to sit on!), clothes pegs and a plug-divider. The rest of the day we have spent trying out sitting on a chair all three at once - and it worked! Nobody got hurt. We had to rearrange our stuff to make room for the extra seat, so we didn't have to climb over stuff to get around the room, but that worked as well! We now have space to actually take steps around the room! Well, to be honest, it is a nice place and it is very close to most things, even though it is small. I am happy to have it and I am confident we have found something worth the money. In Tokyo it is expensive to have a place to live! And I have learned the numbers from 1-100 today! Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu, juu-ichi (11), ni-juu (20). I am proud of myself. I also know how to say sorry, thank you, my name is, I will enjoy this food, how much?, where is? and I can spell sake and wasabi in kanji. I will hopefully soon learn to make myself understood in everyday situations.
Well, that was it from me this time. Take care!
Esben.
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