My Thoughts on Game of Thrones

I started watching Game of Thrones on my flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. Thai Airways, much like its Star Alliance cousin Singapore Airlines, had the entire 1^st season on its in-flight entertainment service. I got through the first three episodes feeling that it was a good show. I continued watching it on the train ride to Osaka, as the trains had Wi-Fi, so while streaming it I was able to download the rest of the first season. By the time I left Osaka, I had finished the first season by just watching 1-2 a night. Including various train rides and nightly sessions that I use to sober up, I’ve finished Season 2 and the first four episodes of Season 3 (up to the point that Daenarys frees the Unsullied and reclaims the dragon in the bad-ass-iest way possible), and I think that I can at least start to make some judgements as to where I would put the show in my, admittedly far from complete, drama rankings.

I’ve already written about my love for The Wire, in painstaking detail as I counted down my favorite 50 characters. Game of Thrones isn’t The Wire. Now, considering George RR Martin hasn’t even finished writing the book series on which the show is based, this series has the opportunity to get better over time, but it is still very good. I’ve seen all (or all up to now, as far as Game of Thrones is considered) of the following drama series:

·         = The Wire

·         = Breaking Bad

·         = Oz (not all, but enough to make a judgement)

·         = Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not afraid to say it)

·         = Veronica Mars (even less afraid to say it)

·         = Treme (because, you know, David Simon)

That’s about is as far as I can remember. I’m not a big drama guy. I’ll probably do Boardwalk Empire when I finish Game of Thrones and return to the US, but that’s all for now. It’s hard to compare Buffy and Veronica Mars to the rest because of just how different they are (though the fantasy space that Buffy operates isn’t too dissimilar to Game of Thrones if you slant it enough), but out of the other five (counting Game of Thrones), which are all very good and all shows I would recommend in an instant, I would put Game of Thrones solidly in 3^rd, behind The Wire and Breaking Bad.

As I like to do, I’ll start with the bad news. The show, to me, is too complex for its own good. Now, it is unfair, really, to pin this on the show runners, but more about the fact that a TV show is not a book. George RR Martin can get away with a really complex ecosystem in his novels, but it is harder to translate that into TV form.

*I should mention that I’m only looking at Game of Thrones from the perspective of the TV show. I’m judging it as a TV show. I haven’t read the books and probably never will*

The Wire was also really complex, adding a series of new characters each season, but The Wire also either killed or incarcerated (or, in the case of the Port guys from Season 2, just left behind) a slew of characters each season as well. While Season 1 definitely had the fewest amount of characters, from S2 on, it was basically the same. The Game of Thrones added a bunch in Season 2 and then added a handful more for Season 3. Despite being a show that plays up how easy it is to die, few of the scripted recurring characters have, adding to the overload.

Due to this overload of characters, to me the episodes get a little choppy. While no character has been in every episode, most episodes have at least 4-5 different locations and stories to tell, and some are given incredibly short shrift. My best example would be the whole deal with Stannis Beratheon and his advisor Davos and witch lover Melisandre in Season 2, which was given far less screentime than its importance demanded. Again, part of this could be the books, which don’t spend much more time on certain characters, but when Stannis’ army is part of essentially the season’s climactic moment in ‘Bleakwater’, he should have been fleshed out more.

My other complaint is more general: I find the show a little too slow. There is way too much wasted time on Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy, and magical little Bran. Now, this could be because they become the central characters later on in the books and are thusly the main stars of a potential Season 6, but that is the problem with shooting the show when the books are incomplete. We don’t know if the amount of time we spend with Jon Snow beyond the Wall, or with Bran dreaming of three-eyed crows will mean anything.

Both of those examples are from Season 2, which I found to be a moderately sized step down from Season 1. To me, Season 2 was a total bridge, with little actually happening. The main event was that the Lannisters reaffirmed their status as the leading house of the Seven Kingdoms by beating Stannis’ in ‘Blackwater’, a character we barely knew when Season 2 started. The rise of Robb Stark is important, I guess, but Arya went from a captive to a girl on the run. Daenarys went from a girl seeking a home at the end of Season 1 to a girl seeking a home, but now with larger dragons, at the end of Season 2. My biggest regret with Season 2 was how little Daenarys’ progressed, and I didn’t like her character through much of the season, after she was arguably my favorite storyline in Season 1. Thankfully, her storyline in Astapor in the first four episodes of Season 3 have been great, especially that incredible scene where she reveals she knows Valyrian.

Season 3 has been better in that regard, and from what I’ve heard, the Third book (which is being played out in Seasons 3 and 4) was the best of the series so far, so I have hope it can reverse course, but much of Season 2 I felt I was being dragged through the boring stages of a long game.

Now, let’s get to what I like. The show is incredibly well acted. Almost all of these actors are close to unknown, to the point where this will probably be the biggest role of each of their lives when it’s done. Tyrion might be the exception (I feel like I’ve seen Peter Dinklage in a lot), but still, their all guys, much like in The Wire, that I hadn’t heard of. What is really amazing is how good the child actors have been. The girl who plays Arya is brilliant. Emilia Clarke (Daenarys) has been as good, especially when she’s given material that is more than just yelling “I want my dragons” over and over again. I think the most popular star performer here is Dinklage, who’s made every scene with Tyrion incredible fun, but I really can’t think of one performer who’s done less than stellar work. Maybe Margeary Tyrell, who I find a little hammy, but in a worse acted show, she wouldn’t stand out at all.

Some of the characters are just great. I can watch Tyrion, Arya and even Tywin Lannister do just about anything (one of the highlights of Season 2 for me was watching Arya and Tywin match wits). I want to see Robb Stark with the game. I want to see Joffrey dead as soon as possible (which is the point of the character). I think there something of a ‘The Wire’ thing going on where most people are in the gray area between good and evil (think about how the bannermen and knights in every house are all rapey killers), and it probably doesn’t reach the levels of The Wire, it comes close in some of its characters.

The other aspect of the show that I find incredible is the photography and locations and sets. Considering the budget of the show can’t be that much (despite being on HBO), to get the shots they get is amazing. I was bored by much of the ‘Beyond the Wall’ story of Season 2, but their location filming in Iceland was a genius move. Their houses and forests are so real, so perfectly chosen. Even the deserts of Qarth or the Dothraki areas that we spent Season 1 in were great. Breaking Bad is the only show I can think of that comes close in terms of photography and camera work, and while Breaking Bad is more creative in the types of shots they get and the lighting, the set work and location work in Game of Thrones is unparalleled.

So far, Season 3 has reaffirmed my faith in the show long term. I probably would have kept watching anyway, but it is nice to see that Season 2 may just be the case of it being a transitionary book, like many second albums for artists. I don’t think any show has better toed the line between outright fantasy and realism at the same time. It is my favorite type of show: real problems, real conversations, real people, in an unreal world. They can mix in dragons (which are really well presented), and mysterious smoke-filled newborns, and seers, but this show is still about power, control, and the lengths and justifications for it.

Before I move on, I want to make two points:

 
1.) The magic does bring up an interesting issue: What’s the point of the internal Game of Thrones fighting for the Throne when there’s a Taergaryn with growing dragons and a bunch of Wildwalkers roaming outside of the walls. I like the dual movement of the stories of what’s going on outside and inside the walls, but at some point they have to meet. Also, I’m glad I got the answer to why Milasandre couldn’t just create an army of smoke children to do her killing. I’m grateful that George RR Martin has taken active steps to limit magic in the series.

2.) This show has made me think of an interesting hypothetical: would a TV Series have been a better format for Harry Potter? The one concern is that the books are way too famous where there’s no point of dragging out things that people know are coming for 10 hours a year (or 12, or 22 or whatever it would have been in this hypothetical). Game of Thrones works as an independent piece of art if you haven’t read the books, and I’m sure the Harry Potter movies (and hypothetical TV show) would as well, but so many people did read the books before watching the Harry Potter movies. Just say, the movies were coming out along with the books, and the books weren’t nearly as famous as they were (essentially, the Game of Thrones situation), wouldn’t the Harry Potter tv show been awesome? I would say you could combine books 1-2 (or even push it to 1-3), instead of making a 300-page Sorcerer’s Stone the same length as the 900 page Order of the Phoenix, but Harry Potter would have been an incredible TV show.

I still haven’t read anything of its length that is as well told as the Harry Potter series. Sure, there are plot holes, and it all got a little silly by the end after the Deux ex Machina of horcruxes were created, but the reveal was perfect. Everything outside the epilogue was perfect. Enough people die. The books would have been 100x better served in 10 hours than they were in two and a half. Everytime a movie came out, there were complaints of ‘they left ‘x’ out’. Well, that basically goes away in tv show form. Because of the immense popularity of the books, this probably never could have logistically worked. I mean, to me one of the biggest flaws of Game of Thrones is I can’t see myself rewatching it, and in Harry Potter’s case, the first viewing would have been like semi-rewatching it if you knew the entire plot. The better fit probably would have been The Lord of the Rings as a tv show, as far fewer people read those as did Harry Potter, but I haven’t read nor watched The Lord of the Rings, so I can’t comment. I’m happy we got the Harry Potter movies, and I found them quite good on the whole, but Harry Potter the tv show would have been awesome.

RTW Trip: Day 84 (5/11) - Tokyo

Day 84: The Main Event

With my first bit of train traveling out of the way, I can get down to business in Tokyo, the place that I have really come to Japan for. In the end, doing Osaka first and Kyoto last and putting Tokyo in one chunk in the middle is better than my initial decision, and because of the JR Rail Pass, as cost-effective. Tokyo is a large, large city. I don’t have too many days when you count the day trips and the fact that I don’t really get up early and the fact that I’m meeting a long lost friend for a day or two, but that only makes me more focused.

I got up rather late (big surprise) and decided to skip breakfast (even bigger surprise), so the first place I went to was Tokyo Central, using it as my main hub to wander around Central Tokyo (saving North Tokyo for later in the week). While the JR Rail Pass doesn’t allow you to use the subway, it does allow you to use the next best thing, the local JR lines that run through most of the main areas of the city. Someone inside the cavernous Tokyo Central station is the entrance to the Daimaru Shopping Center, one of the many large shopping department stores, all housing food courts on their bottom floor. Because of its cavernous-ness, and the fact that there are many others to choose from, I left the Tokyo Station and headed to the Nipponbashi Takayamashi (or something like that – look it up, there is little chance I’m getting even 50% of the names of Japanese locations right), another place that from the outside looks like Macy’s in New York.

The bottom floor of the department store was a giant paradise of ready-to-go food (along with groceries, which were less interesting to me, but still plentiful). There were so many different stalls selling packages of sushi, or bento boxes of meat, or both, or neither but stuff that looked equally interesting. Since no one really knows English, I had to go by appearance only in choosing my lunch, which was incredibly difficult. Since I wanted to expand my sampling of Japanese cuisine to include things that were not Japanese Korean-BBQ or sushi, I went for a beef bento box. I then wanted a beer, because I had read on a blog detailing cuisine in Japan (which listed this as the best Diamaki – what they call department store food hall) of the writer having a beer and a bento on the rooftop park seating area. I went up to ask one of the people where the beer was, and she looked at me like I had seven heads. I asked another and he shouted at me in Japanese and pointed up. I took the verbal cue, and took the elevator to the roof, hoping that I understood what he meant by pointing up. Luckily, I did, and I got my beer at the top and sat back at a table and had my beef.

Rooftop park is about as apt a description as this place can be given. It really is a small, clean park (equipped with fountain) full of lush greenery on the roof of this building, with a nice view of Central Tokyo around you. I read in my research about Singapore that Singapore had the 2^nd highest living standard of any Asian country after Japan. I don’t know why, but seeing this rooftop park made me believe it. After lunch finished, I took the elevator back down and headed out and down south towards Ginza.

My incomplete research about Ginza prepared me for a shopping district. I guess that is correct, but the more apt comparison or descriptor would be that Ginza is a larger, but shorter, Times Square. Ginza, like Times Square, is closed off for car traffic. All that did, however, is made me avoid the onslaught of people and hasty shoppers that careened down the street from store to store. The bottom floors of those building were all branded stores, with high glass and men in gloves manning the doors. Unlike similar stores in India or Australia, these were full. Makes sense, though, since the only people in those same stores in Australia were Asian.

Ginza stretches about 3-4 blocks in the heart of Tokyo, all closed off to cars, all full of stores and glitzy restaurants and bars, ensuring that this stretch of Tokyo stays full all day and night long. I walked into the Hermes store just to see the prices. I got a few awkward stares when walking in, probably because people with black Jansort backpacks and Nike sneakers don’t usually walk into Hermes. Anyway, I have no idea if the prices here compare to the prices in the US, because I don’t know the prices in the US. With my curiosity in these stores extinguished, I left Hermes to continue walking down Ginza. Eventually, the cars were allowed to return to the streets, which was my sign to leave Ginza and head for greener pastures.

Tokyo has many parks inside the city. The main two parks are the Eastern Park which houses the Imperial Palace, and the Ueno Park in Northern Tokyo which houses the Tokyo National Museum. I left Ginza headed in the general direction of the Eastern Park and the Imperial Palace. Of course, I say headed in the general direction because street signs are a little hit or miss in Japan. Japan tries to make up for this with large maps place throughout the city, and I appreciate that, but even those maps are mostly in Japanese. Anyway, when walking towards the Eastern Park I came across another park, a park I was unaware of, Hibaya Park.

Now, nothing was really special of the small Hibaya Park if I had come three days earlier. However, I didn’t come three days earlier, but I came today, which was Day 2 of a 10-day long Tokyo Oktoberfest. Enveloping the main square of Hibaya Park were about seven to eight stalls selling craft German beer and German food. The place was incredibly well attended, this being a weekend. To my dismay, the price of these German beers was not cheap at all. It was about 10 dollars for a pint, which isn’t terrible in isolation, but not great compared to the rest of Tokyo. Still, everyone there had at least one beer. The food was equally ridiculous, with schnitzels and similar fare being about another 10 dollars. I couldn’t help myself in the end and got a dark German beer, which was good but probably not worth it.

Still, having a beer in that square, with a live German Folk band playing on one side, and the hundreds of Japanese 20-somethings all in a great mood singing along to the music, was an experience unto itself. The whole place was done up well, with the server girls dressed in little German outfits, and each place with German names and their own cups (which had a 1000 yen deposit, refundable when you return the cup, which was smart for them since I would have probably jacked the stein if not for it). I would not have ever though I would experience Oktoberfest in Japan in May, but here I was.

With my dalliance in Oktoberfest Tokyo complete, I left Hibaya Park through its emptier, more quiet and picturesque side, and headed North (or what I hoped North would be) towards the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is tucked away inside a large park that itself is right inside Central Tokyo, almost like Central Park (though not as large). Many were jogging and running by my on the walking path up the park towards the Palace. By the time I reached, I realized that there probably wasn’t enough time left before the Palace closes at 4:30 to see it all today, and without enough days left I decided to just walk around the park and enjoy the palace later next week.

The Park has extremely well-manicured tree s and shrubs lining a large weaving walking path through the park. It was a great walk, with little nooks and crannies along the way, and after about 40 minutes I emerged on the other end, a little tired. I left the park then and headed back to the hotel to freshen up for the evening.

I couldn’t have too late of a night since I was scheduled to meet my father’s friend and former colleague tomorrow. I decided to have a light dinner near the hotel and then leave to meet my friend in Roppongi. I remember quite a bit of what I did there, but instead of detailing those parts, I’ll talk more about my general impression of Tokyo on my first full day.

Tokyo is a large city, but with its parks and open streets, it seems more walk-able than it should. There aren’t a bunch of tall buildings, but enough shorter ones where it seems like a series of districts than a complete city, a shocking thing given the incredible size and population of Tokyo. What I really like is there is some space between the buildings. They aren’t built on top of each other and they aren’t fighting for room on the street. They are well spaced, well designed and well maintained. Tokyo is about as easy a major city as you’ll see. I never felt cramped, overwhelmed by the towering buildings. I never felt my neck crane as I had to look up for too long. As someone who lived in New York, that is a major plus. Also, my neck doesn’t crane because I’m taller than the average person here. That helps too.

RTW Trip: Day 81-82 (5/15-/516) - Osaka & (a little bt of) Nara

Day 81-82: And I thought South African Meat was Strange

To be honest, I didn’t do too much on my first day in Osaka. Actually, that might be an overstatement. I got up around eleven thirty on my first day, still sleeping off a couple nights with little sleep. I had to first figure out quite a complex problem, which is the issue of how to organize my stay in Japan. I thought two weeks would be more than enough, but with the incredible amount of attractive day trips, coupled with the power of holding the JR Rail Pass… well, it’s as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Luckily for me, Osaka doesn’t have too many things to see inside its city walls, and because of its proximity to Kyoto, and therefore to any day trips from Kyoto, any day trips I do now I won’t have to do later. So, with the fact that there aren’t too many things to see, and the fact that I was starving which would push my earliest possible leave time from Osaka to at least 12:30, I decided to spend my first day in Osaka.

For lunch, I wandered back over to Dotonbori Street, which was no less crowded at lunchtime than it was last night. Instead of going to one of the restaurants on the street, I ventured into one of the many alleys that branch off Dotonbori, all as busy as the mother street. I kept walking down this covered street until I saw a restaurant where the signs outside showing the food gave off an interesting vibe while also being at a reasonable price. I finally came across a place that was advertising some interesting sushi meals. It wasn’t a real sushi restaurant, but served a lot of seemingly authentic sushi (it looked like what real sushi should look like) in different sets. I had no idea what was what. You learn quickly in Japan that only knowing English is quite a precarious position to be in.

Whatever I did order turned out to be very good. All the different varieties of sushi were excellent, with just the right amount of wasabi put on the sushi itself. The meal wasn’t too heavy, and a good enough first experience with Sushi in Japan. Considering that actually finding restaurants in Osaka is basically a nightmare, it could easily have gone totally wrong, but the place was nice and the food nicer.

After I finished lunch I had quite a few options for what to do next, but I picked to roam around Osaka on my way to the Osaka castle, the main historical site in Osaka proper. The castle is up on a hill surrounded by a slight moat, as all good castles should be, and quite regal. It isn’t that big, but as I found out, it is one of the bigger castles so centrally located in a major city. The castle has a complex of shrines that open up to hallways that are mostly empty. Honestly, it wasn’t that special (at least compared to the ones I would see the next day in Nara), but it allowed a great view of Osaka below it, a sprawling city that extends in every direction. From up high, I can understand why people are relatively down on Osaka. It doesn’t have the charm of the smaller cities and doesn’t have the height of bustle of Tokyo, but it is still damn impressive from up high.

I continued to walk around the rest of Osaka, which means walking around open areas and tall buildings, like any other major city. They had some glistening malls that I went in to, but I was put off by the prices as much as the nearly tacky neon signs and moving statues littered around. Soon, I gave up on trying to see all of Osaka, and it was near time to return to get a ‘Irish Tea’ at one of the many bars and pubs near Dotonbori Street.

I had a lot of options of where to go for dinner, but I chickened out and went to the same place as yesterday, that Korean-Grill type place that served all those foods that had I not been in Japan I wouldn’t think twice about eating. I just wouldn’t have Achilles or heart or intestine or necktie. I had all of them, and they were all decent to great, chewy little morsels of meat. I don’t know if this type of meat beats out the animals I ate in South Africa, because it still is beef or pork, but it is the part of the cow or pig that I’ve never considered eating. Did this open my eyes? Am I now going to start eating Achilles and intestines all over the place? No, probably not. But next time in Osaka, I definitely will.

So, I deleted what I originally wrote about Nara, which is a shame. I didn’t do a lot more than the usual tourist fare, like go to the Deer Park (where cute little deer run free all over the place), and the Todai-ji temple. I ate meat. I’m too far behind to try to write this all again. Anyway, let’s move on to Tokyo…

Thoughts on the NBA and NHL Playoffs

A few quick thoughts on the NBA and NHL playoffs that I'm either missing or watching in the background as I have breakfast and lunch in Australia/Japan.

Despite my interest level being higher in the NHL, since it started so late due to the lockout and is just starting the 2nd round, I have fewer thoughts on it than the NBA playoffs, so let's get the NHL out of the way.

= I feel like there have been more OT games this year than normal, which makes me even more sad for missing them, but they have been bananas so far. My favorite was that we had three OT games on either the first or second night of the playoffs.

= I feel bad for hte Capitals, who took over the front spot on the mantle from the Sharks as playoff disappointments after getting Halaked in the 1st round in 2010, and then took it back after the Canucks had their brief spell in the last two years. Losing game 7's is never easy, especially at home. True, they were embarrassingly bad in Game 7, but they easily could have won that series in 6. Lundqvist was just awesome to close out that series.

= Yes, Alexander Ovechkin disappeared in this series, but the only reason the Caps made the playoffs was because he was Ovie of old the last 20 games or so. As a Peyton Manning playoff defender, and acknowledging that one player in hockey has little power (other than the goalie), I'm an Ovie supporter, and when he was truly dominant back in 2006-2009, he had good postseasons. This wasn't one of them, but let's not discount what he did this regular season.

= I can't stand the Bruins. It's odd, because the Devils have never played against this current iteration of the Bruins in teh playoffs (we beat the Thornton-era Bruins 4-1 back in 2003 in the 1st round on the way to winning the Cup). I still can't stand those little bastards they have on that team. The worst is Brad Marchand, one of the pestiest pests I've seen since Sean Avery (albeit way more talented). The Bruins, after losing Phil Kessel by trade and losing Marc Savard to concussions transitioned from a fun, fast team to a pest-filled physical team, and it's helped them in the playoffs, but man I cannot stand them. So much so that I'm actively rooting for the Rangers for the first time in my life.

= I can't stand the Kings either for what they did to my Devils (that said, they deserved that series), and now they're doing it to the Sharks. I've been a semi-Sharks fan for years, predicting glory for them as far back as 2004 when they lost to the Flames in the conference finals. I've gotten past being deflated by disappointments, but this team is good enough and this season is cooky enough for them to go on a run, and those Kings are still there.

= I got many of my preseason predictions wrong (I chose the Hurricanes to win the Eastern Conference), but I nailed my Blackhawks prediction. Seeing the highlights and the stat sheet of their Game 1 win just shows how much of a machine that team is. They aren't as deep or complete as the 2010 Cup winning team, but I don't think that great of a team can exist anymore. This Hawks team is as good as it gets.


Anyway, let's get to the NBA

= I think LeBron James is better than Kevin Durant (and everyone else), but I don't think its fair to use the Thunders' flameout to Memphis after losing Westbrook as evidence. Many compare what the Thunder just did to what LeBron did with Cleveland, but there are a lot of factors at play. Namely:

   1.) LeBron's Cavs teammates were better than what people remember. Yes, he dragged a really bad team to the finals, but that was a really weak East that year (the best team had 52 wins). He had great regular seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 with the supposedly awful supporting casts, but those supporting casts were probably better than the Westbrook-less Thunder supporting cast for Durant. Ibaka is probably better than Varejao (or Shaq in 2010), but LeBron had a good Moe Williams, had decent role guys in Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Z Ilgauskas in 2009 and then add a good Antawn Jamison for 2010. Those supporting casts were better than Ibaka, Kevin Martin, the battered remains of Kendrick Perkins, Derek Fisher and Co.

   2.) The West now is a lot better than the East then. The three best teams LeBron had to face in the East in his time there were the 2005-06 Piston, 2007-08 Celtics and 2008-09 Magic. Guess what? He lost to all three. Yes, he took the first two to 7 games, but he still lost, just like Durant just did. And yes, he dominated the 2009 Magic, but that was the Magic's defensive plan, to make LeBron do EVERYTHING, and tire him out and then launch threes and bang Howard inside all day. It's why they easily won that series (the Cavs needed a come-from-behind game-winning shot in Game 2 to avoid being swept). Anyway, this Grizzlies team is good, finishing with a record four games worse than the healthy Thunder. Losing to this Grizzlies team really isn't any worse than losing to the 2009-10 Celtics in Round 2.

  3.) Westbrook's injury happened in the playoffs. Durant didn't have a whole season to adjust to having a lousy supporting cast, neither did Scott Brooks - who I'm not sure is good enough to adjust to it anyway.

= I don't know if the Spurs can beat the Grizzlies, but what they did in Game 5 against the Warriors should be submitted to the HOF for Popovich brilliance along with the 2005 series against the Suns and what he did in the 2007 playoffs. He limited Curry, Thompson and Bogut to just 15 points total. Just awesome.

= I'm started to get freaked out at the similarities between the Patriots and the Spurs. Both won three (or in the Spurs' case four) titles with a defense-first mentality, then because of aging and changing personnel, they morphed into brilliant offensive machines that dominated regular seasons but couldn't finish the deal in the playoffs. They both had one transcendant generational-player. Now, the switch to offense first enabled Brady to really explode, and Duncan didn't really benefit from the switch to an offense first system; and Duncan was far better during the title years than BRady was during the Pats dynasty, but it still holds. Also, they both have unquestionably the best coach in the league, a crotchety old man who's a genius but doesn't have the best PR abilities (both PR faces are assumed reportedly assumed fronts, too). It's really just scary when you look at it.

= Pacers vs. Heat (and I'm assuming the Pacers close out the Knicks) is going to be interesting. The Heat should win, but the Pacers will do what the Bulls did to them, but only with a better team with more size (a Heat weakness) and an even better defense. The Pacers owned the Heat early this season, but lost to them badly in one of the Heat's signature performances in their 27-game win streak. The Heat are on an ungodly run, but the Pacers do pose some problems. The Pacers lack of a bench will probably kill them, but if they play their best, they have a shot.


Anyway, back to my trip....

RTW Trip: Day 79-80 (5/13-5/14) - Flying to Japan & Osaka

Day 79-80: Let’s Talk About Flying, Shall We

In the end, that little bastard was right. That little drunk-with-power bastard was right and I was wrong. Still, since I’m the customer, and he was making up his reasons as he went on, I feel right, or more accurately, I feel like I was wronged.

So, here’s the story. My mileage reservation states that I get one bag of 44 lbs (20 kg) for ‘0 JPY’, and a second bag for ‘0’, which I took to mean for free. I had already run into some issues with Thai Airways before on my flight from Johannesburg to Bangkok, where the person at the Thai Airlines check-in counter tried to claim that my reservation entitled me to just one check-in bag, to which I calmly responded that no, as per my confirmation, I’m entitled to two. They accepted this reasoning quickly, and I had no further problems. Still, I was wary of the games Thai Airlines tries to pull, and lo and behold it happened again.

I arrived at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport and dutifully waited my turn in the slow line (my guess: everyone else was having luggage issues). When I reached, I was told my reservation on their system entitled me to one bag. I showed the lady behind the counter the same deal of proof that I showed the people in Johannesburg, and she said she would check with her manager.

Now, it should be said that the check-in lady was nice, and in the end let me slide, but that manager, who worked for Thai Airways (unlike the check-in staff who are locally hired), was a complete, ranging bitch to the N-th degree. He comes over and tells me that despite what my confirmation says I’m only entitled to one bag of 20 kgs because that’s Thai’s policy on flights from Australia to Japan. I sensed that this wasn’t entirely true, and told him that even if it was, when I flew Thai from Jo-burg to Bangkok they let me take two after I showed them my confirmation. He said that Thai Airways rules hold because of some IATA policy which I’m sure he made up on the spot.

Anyway, after Shooter McGavin over there walked away, the lady let me through after I removed some negligible weight from the suitcases and stuffed it into my backpack, as she clearly sided with me in this debate. So, after I checked in, I read my confirmation more clearly, and it said that Singapore Airlines (as it’s the first airline I fly on this reservation) decides the baggage allowances for the entire reservation (which still doesn’t make total sense for a reason I’ll get to). I approach that little slapdick with my new proof, and he loudly scoffs that he’ll check with Singapore, who’s baggage limits are more strict than Thai’s (which they aren’t), and charge me. At this point, I couldn’t decide whether to laugh at this guys idiocy are fight back.

It was clear he was BSing from the start and trying to cover his tracks by becoming more adamant. First, his new statement of calling Singapore Airlines and going by their baggage rules totally invalidates his original argument that the operating airline’s baggage rules supercede what’s written on the confirmation. Second, I’m pretty sure he can’t charge me after the fact after it’s been checked in, and if he tried, I would immediately call Thai (or better yet, United, who wouldn’t be too happy with a minor member of Star Alliance pulling this crap). And finally, if it is Singapore who’s charging me, Thai doesn’t get any money from it, which clearly goes against his main objective. Also, Singapore Airlines let me through on my Mumbai-Melbourne flight even though by their rules I was only allowed 1 bag. I have no idea what this guy’s issue was. All I’ll say is boss hog needs to get laid.

If my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin weren’t there to witness this, I wouldn’t gone away as quietly and called the guy on his shit (even then, I was embarrassed about getting as mad as I did in front of them). I’m pretty sure Star Alliance would rather give an exception to someone who’s done this entire trip on their Alliance (they love that shit) than surfeit some arrogant puissant guy at Melbourne. In the end, I got away with it. Plus, no matter who is deciding the baggage limit for my Tokyo-Bangalore flight (whether it be All Nippon or Singapore), I’m getting two bags at 23 kg each, and I’m definitely getting the same on the way home, so I won’t have to run into this problem again.

The worst part of this whole mess is that the in-flight experience on Thai Airways is generally very good. They serve cold beer (a huge plus for an Airline), and are very generous in their scheduled drink services (of course, I could just go to the back galley and ask for whatever I want). They show a bunch of movies, and it was a smack to the face of how long this trip has been that the ‘new releases’ section is quite different now than when I took Thai Airways from Johannesburg to Bangkok back in March. My only complaint would be that the breakfast service wasn’t great, and the breakfast was the main meal of my second flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. I was stunned at how empty that flight was, by the way, especially since Thai is choosing to use the A380 on that route. I guess it means more for them if the business class is full, which ostensibly it would be on a business-heavy route, but all of us in the back got 3-4 seats to ourselves in economy. It was the emptiest flight I’ve been on since my initial New York to Johannesburg flight.

I reached Tokyo around 3:45, and because of scheduling conflicts, I had to rearrange my Japan schedule which forced me to go to Osaka first, meaning that my 18 hours of door-to-door flying time was extending to about 24 straight hours. Japan’s train system is numbingly confusing (but still incredibly efficient), but it is made easy for foreigners who can easily buy a rail pass out of the country, which I did. I got my tickets first to Tokyo Central and then to the Shin-Osaka station. The first train was luxurious, and the second, with free Wi-Fi even better. Japan trains are so incredibly efficient, with precise times scheduled hours in advance. I was scheduled to reach Shin-Osaka at 21:26 (9:26 PM), and as the train pulled into the station, the clock turned to 21:26.

It took about 45 minutes to reach my hostel because the cab driver didn’t really know where to go at first. The hostel is situated well (which makes it a little obsurd that he couldn’t find it), right across from the bright-at-night Dotonbori Street, a bastion for the crowded, glitzy, lit-up Japanese streets of fame. Because of how late it was, and how starving I was, I decided to scour around Dotonbori Street to find a restaurant, but even then most were closed. All I found was scores of girls hanging around the street approaching me (and every other guy) and saying some Japanese. I finally found a nice place which I could best describe as a Japanese take on the Korean-BBQ, with a flame grill brought to each table. They had a variety of meats, most of the strange Asian variety like Check, Neck, Tongue, Throat, and so many others that I can’t name. They had normal ones too, but what’s the fun in that?

I ordered a plate of beef skirt steak pieces (just in case I hated the more interesting ones), and then ordered a plate of pork cheek, and pork intestines. All were brought raw and had to be cooked at the table, where I had to be on high-alert to flip over the pieces. As far as I know, I generally did a good job, letting the pieces of meat fry more than they probably needed just to be safe. What I’ve found from my one meal in Japan so far, and later corroborated by the friendly Nepalese hostel manager, is that food and especially drink is relatively cheap in Japan. The beer was between 2-3 dollars at meals and 1-2 dollars in stores. Japan isn’t really cheap in general, but it is for sustenance purposes.