So YAPC::Asia 2006 is going to be held in Tokyo and the dates are settled: March 29th - 30th.
I am carefully considering the possibility of going... I've always wanted to go to Japan :-)
Things I'm thinking of:
* Flights
It seems I can make it there and back again for 880 euros, with just one stop in France. Not bad...
* Japanese
My Japanese really sucks... but I'm told that if you speak English you'll do OK in Tokyo...
* Where to stay
According to the organizers, "there's a couple of decent price hotels ($50-80/day) in Shinagawa area, which is 3 stations away from the conference venue". They also say they'll post some more information on this soon.
* Food
Er... unlike Marty, who claims to be able to eat anything that's not going to eat him when he approaches, my mind does not let me eat certain things which it finds too repulsive, so... I'm still a bit afraid of this... :-) But I assume there's regular European food in Japan too, so it shouldn't be that big of a problem :-) But I'm still a bit afraid... Hollywood, what have you done to me? :-)
So, bottom line, this would about 880 + (75 * 5) = 1255 euros, plus food and extras...
Hum... Japan...
I need to think some more :-)
Japanese
arakan on 2005-12-20T00:29:59
You can survive in Tokyo without any Japanese language skills, just as you can get by in most major cities without the local language.
The most difficult task (which isn't too serious) is working out how much to pay for a train ticket: the stations are signposted in English, but the big maps that show the fares to other stations are usually only kanji.
Food
arakan on 2005-12-20T00:53:58
I'm sure you won't have a problem with the food in Tokyo. You will find that a lot of things like grilled chicken, pork in breadcrumbs, many kinds of (cooked) fish, and different types of noodles; all of these things are reasonably priced.
All the really strange food is more expensive and kept for special occasions.
You don't need to be able to read a menu as most small restaurants display models of their food, so you can just point.
If you crave American fast food you can go to McDonalds, or try some of the clones like Lotteria or Mos Burger.
stuff I learned to do in tokyo
mock on 2005-12-20T02:03:07
I've taken fairly large groups of europeans to Tokyo a few times, and unless you are extremely picky about food, you will be fine. There are a couple of things that get people though. Pasta will always be spaghetti by default, unless you ask otherwise. Food that claims to be french, will not be. Getting vegan food can be very difficult unless you have a native japanese speaker, vegetarian food is a little easier, but still tricky. If the price is not written on the menu, enquire before you order - it might be much more expensive than you expect.
Learn a few basic phrases which you can parrot while pointing at what you want, and you'll do much better. Most people speak english much the same way you speak japanese. You might get lucky, but don't count on it - so have a phrase book and memorize the important stuff (how much?, this one please, excuse me, where is the ?, left, right, straight).
Some general advice.
Get a metro/JR map and keep it with you always, you will be much more mobile
in the city if you understand how to get places on the tokyo metro and JR. If you are going to
be there for more than a few days, get a Suica card for the JR and a Passnet card for the metro
as they are way more convenient. Write down the name and phone number of the front desk of your hotel, when you are drunk and lost in a cab with no one who speaks english, get the driver (who will always have a cel phone) to call the hotel. They'll be able to explain how to get there. Which brings me to my final bit of advice. Never ever, ever, think you know where something is because you have an address. Addresses are useless in Tokyo (apparently they are assigned temporally), Anytime you need to go somewhere, get a map, bring it with you and figure out which stations are closest.
Price wise, my experience is that eating and
drinking in Tokyo is a lot like doing so in London. Expect to pay about the same, although the food will be better
;).
Also Freshness Burger rocks!
