LAZINESS

my apologies for the lack of updates. as i've told a couple people i finally feel like i live in japan as opposed to just being a visitor here. as a result i've fallen into a routine. a routine that consists mostly of working and waiting around lazily and unproductively for the debaucherous weekend. but no more, i will be more diligent and productive... no really. i mean it this time.

so on to what i've been up to the past few weeks. i went to 'round 1' an sports complex/roller rink/bowling alley/arcade. 1500 yen for 3 hours of unlimited free play. it was fun. another night, malcom, jake, matt, simon, miho and i went to 'tins hall' an australian pub for australia day. i think it's similar to our independence day as it takes place during summer and consists of bbqs and getting drunk and celebrating australia. i ate kangaroo kebab, tastes like beef but it's a bit tougher.

also, i went to himeji castle, again, with paige and desiree. much like myself it hasn't changed at all since i last visited it in march w/ the crew. oh yeah, i tried my third vietnamese restaurant looking for authentic pho... the search continues. one of the three had pho that actually tastes like pho but they only have pho of the chicken variety... i'm fiending for tripe, tendon, and rare flank... mmmm... flank.

another night of drinking was spent around sakai city, where i live... went to a local bar with jack my roommate, ryan from washington, paul my former AT (manager), dean from NY, and a japanese girl whose name escapes me at the moment. we waited for masa the bartender to close up shop so he could join us then we moved on to an izakaya and then another bar.

the other night was nicole; my former coworker's sayonara/birthday karaoke bash. a good sized crew of nova teachers went to a karaoke box at the gash (sakai higashi, which means sakai east) 2 hours of singing and nomihodai (all you can drink) for a little under 20bucks US. it was my first karaoke experience on this particular japan trip. highlights included malcom- hips don't lie, brian- billy jean and much much more. oh and you know i had to bring sexy back... and a little G'n'R and johnny cash but the time limit ended before i could do angel of death by slayer...

after karaoke malcom, jake, chris and i went to grand cafe for dancehall reggae night. i don't remember much of the rest of the night... the next day my bike was gone from the station, it got towed cause i left it over night. i just picked it up from impound 30 min ago.

near future plans include getting a track bike (word to tin) and going to vietnam in march to visit tony.

all the pics of himeji were actually taken when i went in march. it looks exactly the same so i didn't take any new pics.

you don't know me! i do what i want!

australia day w/ miho, jake, simon and malcom

japanese girl, ryan and paul

me, masa and jack

what do you mean you don't have any bread

-you stay classy san diego.

OSAKA TALENT > TOKYO TALENT

on new year's day i woke up at 3 in the afternoon. tin made 'breakfast'. probably the best breakfast i've had in months. they have denny's out here but they don't serve breakfast all the time and the menu is completely different... why even call it denny's?! after 'breakfast' tin, tin's roommate chris and i biked past a mile long wall designated by the city for graffiti then to chinatown. yokohama's chinatown is pretty big and while it still has the a 'disney chinatown' feel it's definitely more legit than the one in kobe. strolled around chinatown for a bit had some siopao and gyoza then headed back to tin's place. tin's japanese friend who went to highschool in san diego (torrey pines hs) joined us for a couple beers and to watch the muscular athlete challenge a tv special where athletes from different sports compete against each other in american gladiators style events. later we met up for a drink w/ nicole, desiree and paige at TGI's , yet again.

tin texting in chinatown. tin makes mean french toast and is a fixed-gear bicycle enthusiast.

a temple in chinatown

the next day we (nicole, desiree, paige and i) headed to the imperial palace to get a glimpse at the emperor. the emperor of japan. it reminded me of the times i saw the popes. all of them are rock stars with adoring flag waving fans. on january 2nd the emperor comes out once an hour to wave and say a little something to throngs, THRONGS of people.

"his job is waving at people" -one of my students when i asked what the emperor is responsible for these days.

THRONGS

afterwards we treked to the tokyo tower. it's a tower. it's pretty tall. it has a nice view. it's a bite of the eiffel but painted safety orange and white. yup.

i don't know... you tell me what they are... 'only in japan' mascots for the tokyo tower.

similar to the cn tower in t-dot they have a glass floor. but like everything else in japan, it's smaller

after the tower we headed to asakusa shrine. in japan tons of people got to shrines for hatsumode—prayer for the coming year—on or immediately following new years. asakusa is the oldest and busiest in tokyo. it was absolute madness. the crowd was stifling. i was getting shoved by little old ladies so they could throw their coin into the 'wishing well' and say their prayer. total insanity. it was good to experience but i probably wouldn't do it again.

just a nice peaceful visit to the shrine.

the last day of the trip was spent shopping in shibuya, harajuku and shinjuku. which was more madness. think the day after thanksgiving (or boxing day for you canadians out there) times 10 and lasting a week. the first department store/shopping mall/whatever we went too was 68 floors of women's clothing. needless to say i didn't do much shopping myself so i threw on the locs, blasted the ipod to drown out the incessant high pitched yelling and did some talent scouting. which in itself was good fun. i also have come to the conclusion that, on the whole, the talent in osaka is better than the talent in tokyo. which is surprising. i don't remember that from the previous trips.

in harajuku i was able to do a bit of shopping. nothing bank breaking or enhancing tho. checked out smokestack lightning, good shop (peace to mr. owerka-moore, RIP tabo kagaya; i met you only once but much respect). couldn't find FIL or the new burton shop tho... not enough time and no prior research. checked out shinjuku then headed back to yokohama and almost missed the night bus back. back in osaka. home sweet orient happiness.

obligatory tokyo neon picture.

you stay class san diego.

i'm vince santos?

BIG ONE

took the night bus with dr. jake, jake's matt (i know like 48 different guys named matt out here), nova graphic designer chris, old dirty malcolm, and fast and the furious simon to akakura; a mtn/ski resort/hot spring out in niigata prefecture. the 9 hour bus ride was uneventful—beefeater gin, oranges, snack attack, in and out of sleep. no toilet on the bus cause it was cheaper that way. stopped several times at rest stops. leave it to japan to have spic and span restrooms at rest stops... well lit, spotless, not a glory hole in sight.

got to the mtn at 530am. no snow except on the runs. sort of. first lift at 830am. old japanese guy wouldn't let us look at the breakfast buffet. wherever you are there's an old guy telling you what you can't do. got locked and loaded w/ the rental equipment and fireman outerwear. rentals suck! it started to snow and it didn't stop. caught the first lift. 3 first timers, a skier and simon and i. first run down, jumped over a river! ok a stream... a big stream. still you don't really wanna hear running water while your on a lift at a ski resort. result of the natural hot spring i guess. unforgiving, hard packed and icy just like home. lots of flat spots. lots of skating. went off track/out of bounds good fun. hot ramen hits the spot for lunch when snowboarding. rental goggles are useless. boarded all day. beat up and dead tired. first time onsen! natural hot springs renowned for their healing properties. had one in the hotel. basically sat in a hot tub with 3 naked japanese dudes. nohomo. not sure if i can get used to the nakedness but it definitely felt good. oh yeah, so in japan they have slippers you put on when you used the bathroom. so i come out of the bath and see someone had worn the bathroom slippers to the onsen. i think to myself, what idiot wore the shit slipper to the onsen. how uncouth. i get back up to our room and matt asks me, "do you know what happened to our bathroom slippers?" turns out i was the idiot. and i stole someone elses slippers. some poor japanese guy had to wear the bathroom slippers around the hotel. the package we paid for included the night buses, lift tickets, rental and also it came with dinner at the hotel. probably the best japanese dinner i've had in japan during this particular stay. awesome.

this is jake. i had to rent the same kook outfit. rookie of the trip.

"what's that word you called me? GUY-JEEN?"
simon likes to go off track.

it dumped snow over night. probably 2-3 feet of new snow. POWDER! i wasn't used to it though. quite different from the hard packed artificial snow of the mountains of southern california. simon was amped. hit a ungroomed black diamond of knee-waist high powder. i did cartwheels down. point your nose down lean back and go straight. i kept trying to turn, bad idea. most fun i've had eating shit tho. still, i was upset that i looked like a total kook. i threw the rental goggles in disgust and cracked the lens. the rental place didn't care, they knew they were crap to begin with. great day of riding. RAD. yeah i said rad. sat around the lobby taught the boys how to play pusoy dos. yup. hit up a restaurant in town that served clam chowder in a bread bowl. jake tried to chat up some japanese girls from kyoto...

hightop fade.

there was no snow here the previous day.
powdier... IT'S POWDER! SAY IT RIGHT FRENCHIE!

random simpons and various movie quotes hangin out w/ simon... it's like being around kj and leo except with an australian accent.

it snowed enough that these japanese guys were able to build a kicker between these buildings in town. looked like fun. slam.

matt, malcolm and i parted from the rest of the crew to catch a bus to catch a train to nagano. nagano isn't that interesting. good thing they have the largest ski resort in japan an hour away. walked around a bit. found the media cafe we'd be spending the night at. went to a pirate bar. yup, a pirate baaaaaaaaarrrhh. sat on crates in a cage and drank grog and got pillaged for 12$ french fries. interesting to say the least.

japan home of the strange signs since 1963.

a flag they were flying in the pirate bar.

media cafes are great. cheap place to sleep in japan. private booth. you can lie down. dvd player, internet, video games, comic books... 15$ for 9 hours. extra 3$ for a shower. woke up bright and early. saw a snow covered temple. then another bigger temple with the first ever image of buddah brought to japan but no one not even the emperor of japan has seen this image in 200 years or something. witnessed an intimate moment of pathos that i'll never forget then caught the shink(bullet train) to tokyo.

the SPEED of the shink distorted this picture. the shink got that SEC SPEED!

no vacant coin lockers in any train station in tokyo. walked around tokyo all day with my 30lb travel backpack. killed my knee. they have a krispy kreme in shinjuku now. we couldn't find it so we asked at mister donut a japanese donut chain. no shame. but they knew where it was. found it and there was an hour and a half wait. definitely laced with crack. shinjuku, harajuku, shibuya. love hotel hill. the cowboy room please. 3 minutes happiness the busiest cross walk in the world. parted with matt and malcolm. met with paige, desiree and nicole at nicole's place in yokosuka. hour and a half out of tokyo. needed a nights sleep where i didn't have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn. thanks again nicole.

they needed a sign that read the wait from this point: 2 hours.

woke up the next day—new year's eve day—and left the ladies to get ready and plan the new years eve activities. headed to tin's place in yokohama, where i would stay for the remainder of the trip, thanks again tin. tin's been here almost 2 years now teaching for nova and riding his track bike. met the posse and headed out to a bbq at a park by yokohama bay. tin's room mate is australian. in australia they bbq on new years cause its summertime there. it was cold but a good time. ate hot dogs, drank beer and canadian club and ginger ale, burned trees. went back to tin's place for more of the same plus shooting guns(air soft). left tin to meet with the ladies at TGI's in yokohama. yup TGI. (yo dudes at home! remember in tokyo we ate at the one in shibuya and we had the japanese hilary duff as our waitress?) no duff this time and no half off happy hour but a ton of flair. ate some more, drank some more and got more merry. decided to get dessert (brownie sundae! ) but that turned into a total gong show (word to the canucks out there). a party of twenty beside us decided to split their check. finally got our dessert and didn't have to pay so it was ok.

the bbq was held under this ferriswheel. ferriswheels are big in japan. literally and figuratively

hit the local conbini (convenience store) for more drinks and mixers. drinking in public (i see you TJ, sooo lucky) is OK in japan. headed to AGEHA out in chiba, the biggest club in japan, for the new years eve festivities. marija and diana (paige's roommates) stood in the mile long line for us and we sprinted to the front and cut in front of everyone. just like home, i don't wait in lines. VIP. ha! no TK to hook it up with the freebie tho. paid 70$ finally got in. felt like it was high school and i was at a rave at orange show, maybe audiotistic. the place was massive, huge warehouse spaces. wandered around while the ladies took a bathroom break, with a line up of course. tin said they have a pool. i didn't see it though. counted down on the dance floor. oh yeah... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! i then proceeded to bring sexy back, and then anted up... what you know about that? ... "you wanna see a dead body?" actually ended up leaving early cause a couple people got the "time of my life" award(i see you chris). it was a good time though. it was an interesting trek back to yokohama... i cant say i've ever seen anybody ride up an escalator handrail on their face until now. 6am hit the sack... just another night out.

**party and aftermath pictures not posted to protect the innocent.

nicole and i muggin for the camera

funny face, smile, funny face, smile.

you stay classy san diego!