Joe Rodin Has A Blog

January 21. Instagram Three options on the table: Yokohama and tall buildings, DisneyLand Tokyo, or $300 Evisu Jeans. I left it to a public vote on Facebook, and conveniently when I'm going to bed my friends are all waking up, and with overwhelming support, DisneyLand Tokyo won. Honestly, having slept on it overnight, I was convinced I was going to Disney, because my spouse hates Disney, so if I come back to Japan with her, we can do the other two, but definitely not Disney. It's free for me to hop on the JR Train to make it to DisneyLand Tokyo, whereas the hotel's shuttle bus would take an extra 20 minutes and cost $20. Done and easy. I arrived at Disney early because it doesn't matter what time of year it is, there's always a line waiting to get inside. When I arrived for day of tickets, I was maybe only the 20th person in line, but there was easily 1,000 people already waiting to enter the gates. Everyone had blankets, snacks, and vinyl mats to sit down on ...

January 2nd. Instagram I experienced an earthquake for the first time in my life! Being the light sleeper that I am, around 3:30am I felt a light shake on the bed. I mean a very light shake, like mom just wanting you to know you need to wake up in 10 minutes, go back to sleep. This being the first time I experienced an earthquake albeit a light one, I went into full panic. Thoughts racing through my head included: Where are the exits? Do I hide under the desk? Will there be some sort of announcement about this? Do I leave the building? Do I seek shelter? The answer to these questions is: don't worry about it. Japan has an amazing earthquake detection and warning system, so if there was going to be a big one, you'd be able to seek shelter under a desk, bed, or doorway in advance. Never try to leave a building during an earthquake, and stay in place until further instruction. Turns out the one I experienced was just a little dude, and it was already the 4th earthquake that ...