Wrestle Kingdom 13 Week Meetup and Info Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > Wrestle Kingdom 13 Week Meetup and Info Thread

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Auritech posted:

I'm in for at least one of these events/meetups/whathaveyou because I'm a local and maybe I can help with planning and logistics.

Two things non-locals should do:

1. Get a Suica or Pasmo card. You will be riding the subway a lot and IC cards are awesome, cheap to acquire, and actually a bit cheaper than buying tickets to each destination. Plus they're super easy to top up; every train station self-service kiosk has an English option.

2. Get a temp SIM card or rent a WiMax device (many of the big electronics stores can let you do that). Although Wifi is everywhere, if you find yourself somewhere free coverage isn't, having something that you can take with you everywhere is paramount.

As for Ghibli Museum tickets, I've helped someone out with this and the trick is that they only allocate so many entry tickets for foreigners to buy, so if you haven't reserved one already, you need a local to buy something out of the Loppi or ePlus machines in convenience stores. They were just a day late and I had to buy their tickets, and then show up with them to present my ID since I was the ticket buyer.

Tokyo parks are nice even in December but it's going to be a bit chilly. It snows as much in Tokyo as it does in Seattle or San Francisco, though, which is to say barely at all and all melted by the next day. Ueno Park is very cool any time of year and Kitanomaru (near Budokan, the place Cheap Trick played, and the infamous Yasukuni-Jinja) is also quite lovely. Akihabara is a tourist trap and it's only a few blocks radius around the JR station there, but a few of its arcades and game stores are amazing, including Super Potato. Go to Nakano Broadway instead; its level of nerdiness will blow your mind clear from here to Toledo.

I'd be happy to field any other Tokyo/Chiba/Saitama area questions.

I am going to probably be doing the most touristy poo poo possible for the most part, but one of the things that is important to me is that I get to (sorry if this is wrong the title is based off twitter translation) Basketball Cafe Balltongue. Is that going to be easy to get to via normal tourist methods?

# ¿ Oct 5, 2018 19:50

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 09:17

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Thank you, that is good. I was hoping to do that in the evening of the same day I visited Akihabara although maybe I could mix it into something else.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2018 21:54

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

So when Dave Meltzer talks about going he talks about checking out from his hotel before the show, then directly flying out. Is that possible if you have like, luggage? Are there lockers in train stations? Or was Dave just traveling to Japan and wearing one shirt the whole time?

Rick fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Oct 8, 2018

# ¿ Oct 8, 2018 19:01

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I don't think I have a choice but to Meltzer it because my boss was pretty much like "Wow cool!!!! Do it!!! Leave the country, white devil!!!! for once in your life!!! Explore the world~~~!!!!!! . . . . ..... . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . Be back by Monday."

I guess I should like, buy the plane tickets sooner rather than later. The dominant internet recommendation is to fly on JAL but I am not exactly sure how to make that happen. Like fly to LA maybe and connect there? Or does it really not matter much and am I cool taking a flight out of Phoenix or even Tucson.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2018 07:59

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I've done it I've bought a ticket to an event in a country that's not the US or Mexico, what have I done.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2018 06:41

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

What is the Japanese equivalent of a La Quinta Inn?

# ¿ Nov 13, 2018 08:00

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Well, looks like I'm not going.

I just wasn't super confident about booking the flights correctly since I live somewhere without a direct flight, so I went with a travel agent who basically farted around for a month to the point where as of today I still don't have plane tickets and they are now significantly out of my budget, since I've had to also pay for a couple car repairs that dipped into the funds for this. I would have still been able to afford to go based on plane ticket prices when I contacted the agent, and would've been able to even manage the additional $500 bump in prices caused by foot dragging, but she picked the wrong day for departure (basically would've meant leaving during the show) and when she got the new prices, the tickets went up by 500 over Thanksgiving break.

My fault for not being more proactive (more of a jerk, I guess, since I just didn't want to press the agent very hard) I guess but that's part of why I went with a travel agent because I really suck at these things and thought that having someone else do it would solve for me.

If I can figure out how to give away my ticket I will although it says non-transferrable in the email.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2018 01:58

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Vendo Thefastlane posted:

Quick advice... Try Korea or Taiwan. Much cheaper and you can have the option of super cheap budget airlines between there and Japan. Consider low cost airports and train to Tokyo.

May still be impossible, but worth a Google...

Thanks, I was going to try that, but when I told her I was out at that price she magically found a deal that was only 50 more than her last quote. So it's back on, booking flight tomorrow, room booked. It is leaving later so I don't have to worry about Dave Meltzering before the show now at least.

Doesn't look like I"m going to be able to swing the guided tour to Mt. Fuji now which is kind of a bummer but also I have friends in Japan who want to hang out and hopefully the know of some cheap local stuff.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2018 21:45

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Auritech posted:

If you need a mountain scaling fix during the wintertime, Mt. Takao is open during the winter since it's much smaller and doesn't snow as often. It has some awesome shrines on the way up and more chances at restrooms, plus if you're lazy you can take a cable car up. It's also way faster to get to.

Hahah, my lungs are extremely bad so I can't hike at all. But I found a tour that basically drove to the highest road they could drive you to and then took you to a forest to see some cool trees, and they also said the winter was a good time.

Speaking of, it says the average temp is 5 C January, is there windchill or that sort of thing? Also going over recent weather trends it seems to be a pretty consistent temp the whole day, but it might just be the chunk I'm looking at. Should I sacrifice the packing space for a heavy jacket? Sorry this seems silly but I'm a native Californian and have lived in Arizona forever so don't understand weather.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2018 06:43

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I've been unable to find the Shake Shack in Mesa, so having it first in Japan would be pretty fun.

My stepfather is Japanese and while he knows how much of a food baby I am, he's exposed me to enough that I am less worried about the content on the plate and more successfully ordering something.

harperdc posted:

So here's the thing: You're not going to be in a car much. Trains get warm, but you're going to be walking -- from the hotel to the train, around neighborhoods to explore, etc.

There is a bit of wind chill, and you're also probably going to be exposed a lot more than you're used to (unless you spend a lot of time walking in the cold in, say, New York City). So unless you want to buy a jacket in Japan, I'd recommend bringing a decent jacket and also dressing in layers. That way, you can open a jacket to cool off. That's better than only wearing a t-shirt under a heavy jacket.

This is useful, thank you.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2018 20:40

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Met with a friend yesterday and he took me to a shrine and I got a lucky stick it was cool. I went to Akihabara and it also was really cool and I went through some shops and had mos burger.

My lungs are bad; ten years ago I would have been zipping around this place like crazy; so my suggestion is if you are in good health and want to do this you should because it�s a place that is a bit difficult for me at least, as someone who finds slopes to be difficult (luckily there are elevators or escalators which at least protect me from stairs).

But I have still seen a lot of cool stuff and am trying to be guilt free about spending more time in the hotels than I envision while traveling.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 06:14

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I just decided to explore a bit and found that while it is about a quarter of a mile longer, it is a much flatter way to just walk down Kurmaebashi-Dori street so I had a much more relaxing stroll that I wasn�t zoned out for and also I got to pet an owl.

Gonna do a bunch of New Japan catch-up this evening.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2019 09:50

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Thauros posted:

i have at&t international day pass which is 10 bucks a day and i didn't have to worry abut it. more expensive but it's all paid through work anyway

I finally turned this on. I have been getting by with Wi-Fi hot spots just fine to be honest, but I am meeting some friends tomorrow before the show and being an hour late because I didn�t use map apps because I didn�t want to spend ten dollars seems incredibly silly at this point.

I did have to abandon my grandfathered plan but it isn�t even really a deal anymore.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2019 08:06

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Although there may not be an opportunity for me, I want to do it again, and hope to meet up next time.

I can probably do a �how NOT to travel to Japan� next year because I made so many mistakes (note: 11:30 hours in to a 13 hour layover so living out these mistakes) that people might find useful.

But I still had a lot of fun. So much fun. Japan is amazing.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2019 06:42

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

STONE COLD 64 posted:

where are you laid over

Hawaii. Originally when I saw it I was going to make the best of it and do some Hawaii stuff but I hurt my knee at some point and after the flight it was super swollen and I could barely walk so decided to check in. This airport is�not a great place to spend any amount of time in (although some looks nice). Also I might have lost my luggage! United is pretty confident they haven�t lost it yet but I won�t be shocked if my luggage doesn�t make it home.

This isn�t my worst lay over, I had eight hours in Kingman, Arizona (literally longer than it would have taken me to drive home).

# ¿ Jan 6, 2019 07:20

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

STONE COLD 64 posted:

how does kingman have an airport

vegas is *right* there

My mom somehow came to the conclusion that this was the best way to get me to Laughlin.

I guess by raw distance, it makes sense.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2019 08:16

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

Book Off is where I ended up finally finding a 3DS charger.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2019 16:17

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 09:17

Rick: Feb 23, 2004; When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I�m still not home. Officially is going to take longer to get to Tucson from San Francisco than Tucson to Japan.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2019 06:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > Wrestle Kingdom 13 Week Meetup and Info Thread