The Obligatory
"Play safe. Ski only in clockwise direction. Let's all have fun together."
Monday, September 25, 2006
ATM Cards and Rhythm Games
Earlier on in the week, I thought I was screwed. When I put my Washington Mutual ATM card into an international ATM here, it was rejected, telling me I had no ‘beneficiary account.’ I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew it didn’t sound good. I tried hitting the local Citibank, to no avail. It looked like I was going to be in Japan with $100 in Yen to my name.
And so, the first few days went by, with me spending very little money and being totally freaked out. Skype calls to my bank told me that the only way I could get money out here was by getting cash back from a store that offered that service. But based on my limited shopping experiences here, I didn’t think it’d be easy to find a place that did that. And also, trying to explain the relatively complicated concept of “cash back” to someone using simple English, awful Japanese and hand gestures just didn’t seem like something that would have a high success rate on the old probability scale.
I mean, this is the same country that produces things like these, which are utterly baffling to me:
Fortunately, I did find out that – somehow – my debit card had been cancelled two days ago. According to the bank, this was something that I did. OK. That has me a little worried, but maybe that at least would explain why my card was being rejected everywhere.
Long story short, my ATM card finally got working again. And I immediately started spending money, where before I’d been so stingy. Luis and I ate at an amazing sushi place in Shinjuku (which, admittedly, was not very expensive), and then we promptly dropped about $20 each in a local arcade.
But for this, we should not be looked down upon, for they have some kick ass arcade games here. For example, a four-player updated version of Mario Kart, where not only do you get to sit in a go-kart body and use a steering wheel to drive, but you also get to put a picture of yourself in as the driver, which comes up whenever anyone gets near your kart on the screen.
Not to mention the awesome rhythm games. Taiko Drum Master and its giant drums were a good diversion, but no match to the awesomeness that was DrumMania, which has you sit at a complete virtual drum kit and rock out to nonsensical J-Pop songs. It’s incredible.
And so, the first few days went by, with me spending very little money and being totally freaked out. Skype calls to my bank told me that the only way I could get money out here was by getting cash back from a store that offered that service. But based on my limited shopping experiences here, I didn’t think it’d be easy to find a place that did that. And also, trying to explain the relatively complicated concept of “cash back” to someone using simple English, awful Japanese and hand gestures just didn’t seem like something that would have a high success rate on the old probability scale.
I mean, this is the same country that produces things like these, which are utterly baffling to me:
Fortunately, I did find out that – somehow – my debit card had been cancelled two days ago. According to the bank, this was something that I did. OK. That has me a little worried, but maybe that at least would explain why my card was being rejected everywhere.
Long story short, my ATM card finally got working again. And I immediately started spending money, where before I’d been so stingy. Luis and I ate at an amazing sushi place in Shinjuku (which, admittedly, was not very expensive), and then we promptly dropped about $20 each in a local arcade.
But for this, we should not be looked down upon, for they have some kick ass arcade games here. For example, a four-player updated version of Mario Kart, where not only do you get to sit in a go-kart body and use a steering wheel to drive, but you also get to put a picture of yourself in as the driver, which comes up whenever anyone gets near your kart on the screen.
Not to mention the awesome rhythm games. Taiko Drum Master and its giant drums were a good diversion, but no match to the awesomeness that was DrumMania, which has you sit at a complete virtual drum kit and rock out to nonsensical J-Pop songs. It’s incredible.
Labels: travel
that one guy you know, 8:47 PM
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