29 posts tagged “2007”

well, it seems I am not the only thing suffering from the heat; my macbook isn't taking too well either. so i'll be offline for a few days while it is being taken care of. email is good,as i can still use internet on my phone. toodles!

Well, I finally got my lazy ass down to aikido this morning. Early. Well, for me, early. 8.00am is early enough, and starting tomorrow, I'll be up earlier to get to the first class of the day at 7am. At least that's the plan. Not going to psych myself out since it's extremely exciting to be practising at the Honbu Dojo for Yoshinkan Aikido.

I even ran into one of my fellow Torontonians there! Same dojo back at gerrard and yonge, but we don't really remember each other. My lack of consistency with attending being quite likely the reason.

Anyway, I'm excited to be back at it and a bit tired and sore from the first day back. Today was, well, really not much more than remembering how to do the very, very, very basic stuff. Not even full "techniques", just remembering how to move feet and all that. I just wish the dojo was a wee bit closer, since it takes 30m each way ... ah-well ...

My days are quickly being filled with a lot of things to do. So, now not only am I taking Japanese language classes, but also aikido. And my day is also being filled with half-assed communication in japanglish with friends. half-japanese, half-english in some horrifying mash-up of nonsense. Must be quite strange to follow for bystanders.

So, now it's time to get to work and not fall asleep while teaching. Also, no pictures today to accompany the update. None to share, maybe next time!

Ah, back at home once more from a long weekend trip to Okayama Prefecture, west of Kobe and Osaka.

I headed down by shinkansen for a 3ish hour ride to Okayama city where I was picked up by some friends that live in Osaka. Off we drove into the hills and ended up at a wonderful villa and ryokan with an onsen spa.

We were racing against time trying to beat the literal oncoming storm, as Japan was hit with the "biggest typhoon on record (since 1951 when they started)" starting with Okinawa on Friday afternoon. The worst of it seemed to pass us by, and the central part of the storm itself, judging from the satellite maps, just grazed the Pacific edge of the Nippon island chain. This, combined with the mountain shelter left us with a rather unimpressed view of the whole thing. It certainly rained heavily and for a long time, but the super strong winds seemed to miss us completely. And while the river the villa was close to certainly did swell, it didn't overflow and there was no flooding in our area at all.

Sunday we trekked closer to Okayama city and rented some bikes and took a little bike tour through a set bike path weaving in between rice paddies and temples to reach a spectacular wooden pagoda overlooking the fields. In my incredible wisdom I failed to pack sunscreen or even sun glasses not expecting there to be perfectly blue skies following the typhoon's passing. So, I have a very nice red glow; sunburn on my arms and face. Thankfully not too painful, lets hope it stays that way.

I was going to take a whirl-wind tour of the garden and castle in Okayama city today before returning, but the beautiful weather from Sunday didn't last and it was alternating between pouring and spitting. So after taking the bumpy, 45 minute train from Takebe to the shinkansen station, I wandered around to see if I could find a coin locker that wasn't already full. Alas, to no avail. At that point I figured that with the sunburn being irritating, lugging around a suitcase and the rain, maybe I should just hop on the next shinkansen back to Tokyo. So I did.

After being back a couple of hours, just heading out to the store to grab something to have for breakfast tomorrow, I run into one of my flat-mates gathering everyone to head just up the street to the Yutenji temple and shrine as there's a festival going on today.

Flocks of young girls in kimono (for what reason, I don't know yet ... wikipedia or google might help me out here ...) giggling and carrying on, circulating through masses of other people enjoying lots of festival food like tako-yaki, okonomiyaki, yakitori, and wow, so much junk food and booze! It was quite a sight. in the centre of it all a stage with dancers and drumers with more dancers dancing in literal circles around it all. So  much excitement, running children high on candy floss and bonking each other with inflatable hammers. So many smiles, so much laughter and just joy at being alive and there at that moment.

I'd say it extends back to Saturday, really, but the focus isn't on that. We went out to the Solid Steel Nippon Tour at one of the clubs to see DJ Food & DK and a bunch of other DJs from Ninja Tune. It was a great time. And I haven't met so many Canadians. Seriously, the place was half-full of foreigners, which is unusual, even for that
particular club. We were out until 7am, and went to Denny's for breakfast. Yes ... and Denny's here, well, is actually really really damn good. As is everything American via Japan, it's a weird emulation that is much better. Anyway ...

Monday night we went and met up with my friends Severine and Michel. They're French, from Paris. Both are neurobiologists that study object detection in the visual cortex (Sev, she does this on mice,
Michel, he's working with monkeys), bloody brilliant people, and rather funny. Went to an izakaya for drinks and, since I hadn't eaten, grabbed some food as well. edamame and yakitori shish-kababs, etc.

Anyway, we were in Shibuya, which is a 20-min walk from home. We missed the last train, on purpose, since getting up early isn't a requirement in my world anymore. So, 1am rolls around, we leave the bar, and head home. Dan is drunk as hell, having drank five hot sake. I don't think I've ever seen him so drunk. Not so bad, really, just a bit of slurred speech. No different than the talkative Dan we all know.

We get about 2/3 of the way home and we're in a relatively quiet area, Ebisu, but it's still quite commercial. Dan sees a photo-op of about 50 wine bottles on a set of stairs leading up to a bar. We both notice the
door is open, there's some music filtering out. Of course, Daniel decides to investigate. He pokes his head in and is greeted by the bar tender who speaks passable English. The place is empty, and tiny. 10 people would be packed. so, 2 of us, bartender ... so far.

We order cold sake. I ask for "ginjo", which is the tastier, but slightly more expensive variety. The bartender calls downstairs to have some brought up. this should have been the indication that we were in for an, shall we say, interesting evening. As the saying goes, "a fool and his money are soon easily parted". Fool or drunk, whatever.

We agreed to have just 1 drink (oddly, I stuck to this, Daniel, well, he only had 2) and then go home.

Shortly after we start sipping our very tasty and overpriced nihon-shu, a well-spoken business man in a nice suit comes in. A moment later his girlfriend or wife sits next to him, too. The place is so small, it is impossible not to have a conversation. They're quite nice. Dan starts into his business mode schpeil. I take little notice and start talking to the bartender, trying to practice some japanese, too.

Ten minutes later the bar owner, a very dignified and poised middle aged woman, comes in and starts chatting with us, too. An impressive lady, a property owner, very japanese in a non-japanese-woman kind of way (hard to explain that one). She asks, in a bold way that let's you know she's a smart cookie, if she could have a glass of champagne. I agree, knowing full well that we will be the ones footing her bill. It's just like that ...

Five minutes following her arrival, two more ladies join the quickly growing party. One is in her 30's, the other in her 20's. Daniel is in full swing talking to the businessman and his wife, so I focus on these two women. The older one, also incredibly dignified, I don't remember the name of. She's pretty, but, well, not as pretty as the younger one, who's name turns out to be Momo (Momoka, in full). I start rambling drunkenly in English and Japanese about travelling, teaching, about Canada, and all kinds of things. Neither of them speak English nearly as well as the owner or the bartender, so I get to practice more, which is fine by me. Of course, I'm paying for the girls' drinks, too. They were nice, though, and only had one glass of champagne each.

So now it's an instant party. the place was dead, then we arrived ... seemed very well choreographed  to have people arrive, us drink more, spend more money, but it was so fun that it didn't feel like a scam or anything. Hell, we wanted to have fun, we did.

Then some irritated short man speaking English with a French accent comes charging in telling us to shut it up and keep it down; he lives up-stairs. The owner, who owns the entire building, is this dude's landlady. He's staying in a guest house, just like I am. I understand, it's now 2am and he wants to sleep. Sucks for him to live right above a bar, though. He then threatens to call the police if we don't keep it down.

3am rolls up and, well, a single police officer does, indeed, arrive. It's OK, we're all ready to leave by this point. I've already gotten an e-mail and phone # from this Momo and Daniel has gotten one more business contact in Japan. 2, in fact, as we also chatted with the owner. Gotta respect a single, strong woman like that, especially one like that in Japan.

Everything wraps up, we get our cheque. Daniel, well, he didn't realize we'd be paying for the girls' drinks, gets a little weirded out. I knew what was going on, reassured him that I knew, and we paid our ¥10,000 cheque and resume our drunken stumble back. I mean, it could have been a whole hell of a lot more expensive, all things considered.

It's starting to get light out (Japan and it's lack of DST) and it's not even 4am. Get home, and the front door is locked. I know, I know, that should seem normal. But, it is never locked. And I didn't bring my key! So we pound on the door until someone comes. The new guy that just moved in Saturday from the US half-asleep unlocks the door for us. Have to remember to thank him again.

Let me tell you, though, I did pay for the lack of intelligence with an amazing hangover the next day.

With a bit of a shake this morning, I woke up. Not much of a quake, really, but enough to wake me up for a bit. I then drifted back to sleep again until the bathroom door blowing in the wind and smashing into the wall got me out of bed. Ah, older houses can be funny things.

Much like Christmas holidays with it's weird schedule and proximity to New Years, Golden Week is several holidays with days in between. Many Japanese take those days off entirely and hordes of people leave Tokyo to travel. Technically, this year, the holidays are Monday, Thursday and Friday (as today was the actual holiday, Greenery Day, a lieu day is given for monday). Next Saturday is also a holiday. I can't imagine what the train stations and airports looked like on Friday or Saturday, or even today.

So, today having absolutely beautiful weather, I decided to go for a bike ride on the new bike I bought last weekend. I'm so reliant on the subway, that I figured it'd be a great idea to get to know the city a bit better by being above ground and on the streets. With nothing much other than my bag, and thankfully a compass, I set off to find my way to Shinjuku.

It was mostly uphill and I did get lost a couple of times, but got my bearings again with the compass and managed to find my way to the skyscraper district. I actually amazed myself, really. The roads aren't exactly predictable here, let alone named much of the time and traveling through uncharted areas for me requires almost pure dead reckoning and luck. But, I did make it.

I was going to buy a bike-basket at Tokyo Hands, one of my favorite stores, but didn't find anything that I liked that seemed like a reasonable price. But I was in Takashimaya Times Square, so I decided that, hey, maybe there's some clothes I might like at Takashimaya. Uh, no. Nothing within my meager budget. Not a chance.

After the slow wander from the top floor to the basement, I figured I'd slowly make my way home, via Harajuku. Sunday afternoons by the Meiji Bridge are always full of incredible color and costumes of all the girls living out a fantasy of manga or anime, and as just about any travel guidebook might tell you, not really to be missed. Having been there a few times, I already knew the spot and just how crowded it can get. Well, I had neglected to think about that or that it's the beginning of a rather busy holiday week while pushing my bike through the crowds out in front of the JR station along Jingumae Dori. Wow.

But after all of the shoving and people falling on my wee little bike because they're not looking where they're going, I arrived at Meiji Bridge. All the primping and preening. It was better than ever. The last time I'd been up here it was still kind of cold.

Today was a nice and warm day, so the "Harajuku Girls" weren't wearing perfectly matching coats anymore. Seemed far more civilized if you ask me. And they'd multiplied. I knew there was a reason I'd waited to take pictures. Ah, but the crowds were rather thick making it a challenge to take photos with my point-and-shoot camera and still getting a good angle. I'm more of a fan of candid photography, so patience was really the key.

But, I did tire of trying to get a great shot, as I'm not always the most patient. There will be other weekends to gather more photographs of pretty people in pretty costumes. So, bike in tow, I continued on my merry way, along Jingumae Dori alongside Yoyogi Koen where I found the rockabilly's.

So much fun. Some of them looked like they've been doing this for 10-15 years. No doubt that's the truth. Past the food stands and bands playing, these guys just rock out to brutally distorted 50's rock blasting from an ancient portable stereo in their black leather gear. Must be terribly hot, as I was sweating in jeans and a t-shirt.

The light was changing, and my camera battery died, so I meandered my way through the crowded, twisted streets down through Shibuya and Daikanyama and once more found myself at the front of my house.

And wow, it's suddenly very late. Guess I should head to sleep. Fun times!

So, against my somewhat better judgement, I decided to head out last night with some of my new friends to Club Asia in Shibuya for some dancing to house, techno and drum & bass. I say against better judgement because I knew it would turn into another all-nighter. And I was right. I got home far later than is probably healthy for me. At least I don't work until the evening, so I have plenty of time to rest up.

But, wow, was it worth it. After the super-packed venue for Fantastic Plastic Machine, this was a nice change. Crowded, yes, but at least it wasn't a mosh-pit! I met so many new people with my broken Japanese, it was incredible. Everyone was there for one primary reason, though, music.

It's a cliché to say that music is the universal language, but, last night it was really evident to me. But the more practice trying to speak Japanese, the better, I say! And despite that, the amount of English that most young Tokyoites can speak is quite high, even if they don't think so.

I really did lose count of how many people I met and talked to, which for me, well, that's just incredible. Unlike the underground club music aficionados in, say Toronto, the whole scene is just a lot more friendly. I'd chalk it up to being a foreigner, but I don't think that's the case at all. No cool receptions in Tokyo. I even met and talked to (well, tried to) a couple of the DJs.

So, I danced my ass off, and I'm going to be sore for a couple days because of it. A few of us went for all-night rice bowls on the way home while watching some poor SOBs trudging their way to the office. We'll see how well I fare in trudging in the same tomorrow. I think I might be starting to get to old for this. heh.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another fun and entertaining episode of Locked Door of Fortune! Our next lucky contestant, Paul, hails from the land of ice and snow, but is currently residing in a shared house in Japan! Won't he be so surprised to discover that he's locked his own keys inside his room! Oh, yes, yes he will. Let's go catch up with him, now, on the scene of our wonderful show, and chat with him about his progress!

So, Paul, how's the game show going for you today?

Well, let's see ... I came home about half an hour ago to find my keys weren't in my pockets or in my bag. It was then I realized I'd locked the door when I left for work and left my keys sitting on the desk. So far I've tried to jimmy the lock latch open and get in and inspected the other sliding doors that are locked from the inside.

Wow! Already such progress! As I can see, you're still not inside, so what are some more ideas?

Hmm, well, I've noticed that the strange valance windows can still be opened from the outside, but there's only about 15cm of clearance when they're tilted open. I think I could fit my head through there, but after that, I'd be stuck. I think I'll need to take a break and watch TV for 15 minutes instead of staring at my door.

Ok, Paul, we'll get back to you soon, right after this commercial break!

Ok, thanks Suntory! Ah, Suntory coffee ...

RIGHT! Now then, back to our show. When we last left our contestant, Paul, he was just sitting down to take a breather. Let's see his progress now.

Paul! Paul! I see you've pulled out a screw driver now! Where did you get that? I thought all of your stuff was inside?!

Well, thankfully it's the middle of the night so everyone is home in the house. I asked my downstairs house mate to borrow it, and asked my next door one for a flash light. I discovered that the window I couldn't squeeze through is held in place by screws, so now I'm removing them in the hope that I'll be able to take out the window altogether. I'm almost done this second screw now.

Wow! Impressive results so far! Uh-oh, it looks like the removable screwdriver bit fell off! OH NO! And into the locked room! Ah, it looks like Paul has another option for bits, and just changed to another one! Well done!

Ok, now it looks like the window is coming out, YES! Yes, it is!

And now Paul is on a stool ... Can he make it inside?! One leg is up! it's in. Wait, he's stopped ... OH! I see, he didn't want to fall face first into the ground and is using the inside wall to steady himself. The other leg is heading over the window sill and and

HE'S DONE IT! HE'S SUCCESSFULLY MADE IT INTO HIS OWN ROOM WITHOUT A KEY!

It's Wednesday, well, for another 40 minutes. But what's so special about Wednesday, you ask? Well, that's drunk salaryman singing night. At least in my neighborhood.

Like clockwork at 11:15pm some random drunk guy stumbles home past my house. I think he's either listening to his iPod or just had a very good night at karaoke, cuz he's always singing at the top of his lungs. Both times I've heard him, now, it was so loud I thought he was inside my house!

I'd find it kind of annoying save for a few things: I am a night owl, his singing is actually damn good, it's English pop-songs. Now, I only hear 3-4 words as he stumbles along, but it always sounds like some sappy love song. I wonder if he continues his acapella for his wife when he gets home ...

It's been days! Hello Vox! I spent many afternoons wandering around Meguro River for hanami, cherry blossom viewing. It was very crowded, and the trees were so strikingly beautiful. It made me fully realize why so many haiku have been written about the magical presence of the pink and white little flowers.

I would have loved to spend endless hours outside in the warm weather, drinking nihonshu (aka, sake) and eating takoyaki or grilled mochi, but alas, the time would always come that I'd have to head to work and being half-drunk might not be the best of plans. :D

Saturday afternoon was spent walking from Shibuya to Harajuku to Daikanyama to Nakameguro. It made me realize just how close I live to all of these places. It felt like walking from Yonge Street and Queen through West Queen West to the edge of Trinity-Bellwoods park.

During the trip, I found no less than five pairs of shoes I wanted to buy. That'd have set me back almost $600! Some may not know, but I have, unlike most men, a small obsession with shoes. I'm good though, I don't go overboard on shoe buying. I mean, I only have 2 pairs here in Japan that I brought with me. In the end, I opted to buy something a little less pricey during my voyage, a cellphone strap.

Here, you can see it pictured next to my phone. He's a daikon! The back of his jacket says, 茶 (cha) which means "tea". Haven't translated the other kanji, but I do know one of them, 開, means "open". The other one is hard to read.

Darkness started slowly creeping up on me by the time I got to Meguro, and a light sprinkle of rain was edging it's way onto the swollen crowds watching the sakura petals falling into the river. I decided to get myself home to relax. I had also spotted a pair of camo pants in Nakameguro I think I'll have to go back and try. Very unique design.

Sunday I went out to Chiba city, which is an hour away by train, to get a proper haircut and hang out with my new hair-stylist friend, Yasu. Starbucks are everywhere in Japan, and even more dense in Chiba than Tokyo, which I found incredible. Went for Korean at a restaurant on the top floor of Parco Chiba, part of a chain of depato (department store) in Japan. It was damn fine food, and included noodles, a big bi-bim-bap and some kind of thing that resembled a pizza, which i couldn't catch the name of. Kim-chi in all of it of course.

Then I caught the train home and tried to call it an early night, which of course didn't happen.

I can't seem to fall asleep before 1am these days, which results in my waking up quite late in the morning. Usually never before 10am, but never later than 11am. Ah-well, I still can usually get a lot done in the hours before work (although today I'm being a little lazy because it's raining). After work is the same thing. But, for some reason I feel guilty and lazy for having a non-standard waking life. Truly, I get more done in a day now than I did back in Toronto. I should just fully embrace my nocturnal tendency and not get hung up on being out of synch with a lot of the world.

Ah, yes. Some may be wondering about the earthquake. Yes, it's a couple days late, but I honestly didn't even know there was one until yesterday. So, to recap, in case you haven't seen any news: 7.1 magnitude on Ritcher scale quake struck just before 10am Saturday morning off the coast of the Japan Sea (Inland Sea). One woman died, more than 150 injured.

Me? I didn't feel a thing. According to the JMA, Japan Meteorological Agency, it is possible to maybe have felt it here. The quake was over 300km away, though. I slept right through it. I even asked people at work if they had noticed it. No one had. So, be assured, nothing is wrong here. No one hurt in Tokyo. Well, that's not necessarily true, but likely not because of the earthquake. And now I'm rambling. Which means it's time to stop this post.