I got my cell phone, BUT I am getting sick!

So I am getting what feels like the typical cold, so let's see if this is a Japanese strand and it knocks me on my butt, or if my immune system becomes triumphant and this lasts a few days. My first weekend with no set plans and I may spend it in, uhhh, futon?, sick...

Anyways, onto the phone!!!

paste from an email that went out to family/friends/loved ones...


So today I got my ARC card (YAY) which opened the world of Japan to me!

No more carrying my ugly passport around, I could open a bank account (which I did!) and I could get a cell phone (the point of this email!

So now to the important, yet less exciting stuff: my phone number and the rules. Please do not ever expect a call from me, from this, when you are NOT in Japan. It will cost me an organ or two (read: four) to make any call to the states! Please only call me if you are in Japan until further notice. I am not sure if incoming calls are free or not, I have heard they are… but lemme confirm… I can receive email and send it from the phone from your PCs, they cost less than a yen per email, so it is all good to email me!

Also, if my contract has any say in this, expect me in Japan for at least 2 years (the cancellation is only 10,000 yen). The 2 year contract’s rates were MUCH better than the 1 year rates, so I got it. The phone WAS free, and I pay about 6230 a month for service!

Now to the cool details!!! My phone is a Vodafone V604SH (Sharp). It has a 3 megapixel camera on it (my pre Sony M2 camera was 3.1 megapixels) that takes pictures with a 2x optical zoom along with VIDEO. I can even output the video to my TV with the, get this America… PROVIDED cables! It has a mini sd slot to save pictures, music, video, and other things like games, ringtones and such. The awesome thing is, taking notes American phone companies… IT COMES WITH A 32 MB MINI SD CARD!!! Yes, I don’t need to run out and grab anything, because it also comes with a headset for it too!!! I can watch live TV for FREE, it is built into the service. Cool thing is I will pick up the channels of whatever area I am in. So when I go to Osaka and Tokyo next week, I can get their local channels in. There are some other features I need to read about, but yeah, those are the ones that pump me up.

So that is the news. Hope I get better!