HUGE IN JAPAN

STRAY SHOTS

2007-08-31T12:15:00.001+09:00

pictures of what i've been up to since my last update. no particular order. they include various sayonara and birthday parties, kagoshima, samurai get-ups and my climb up mt. fuji.

BUCK! BUCK! BUCK!

- you stay classy diego.

LIMITED EDITION FLOWERS

2007-05-11T10:40:00.000+09:00

been a routine past few weeks.
i got my new whip; a new fuji track bike. i wanna change the bars and stem and paint the frame.
just finished watching the 3rd season of battlestar galactica.
listen to dwight k. schrute yo! he knows what's up. bears, beets and batttlestar galactica.
heroes been good too.
i'm going to kagoshima (the southern tip of japan) during my birthday week.
then i'll be home june 16-26.
here's some sakura in kyoto...

you stay classy, san diego.

JET ROCK AND ROLL!!!

2007-04-13T22:19:00.000+09:00

so ren and edwin came and visited. it was sweet. my liver is still recovering...

we watched the greatest jet rock and roll band ever—guitar wolf—and it was the balls, they built a cheerleader pyramid on stage... they had japanese people stage diving... thats all you need to know about how great it was.

we went to tokyo and met up with natalie. cruised tokyo for two days and one night in an internet cafe. we also met up with mika. and tin. and norie. i tried uni (sea urchin) for the first time at a cheap conveyer belt sushi place. i shouldn't have done that. i'll try it again at a better sushi joint.

back in osaka the days went something like this. i would go to work during the day and leave ed and ren to their own devices. after work we would go somewhere to drink. this pattern was followed until they left. highlights include 280s, sa*zae with shin (the TK of osaka, apparently), and the sayonara party... and i'm sure a few other things that are hazy. oh yeah and maria ozawa. during this time sheina also came through for two days to see osaka while she was in japan visiting mika in tokyo.

it was great seeing familiar faces. peace to edwin, ren, natalie, ernesto, tin, mika, norie, and sheina. it was like having part of SD in japan. lets do it again sometime.

photos courtesy of mr. nerida.

'when in japan, tell 'em where to go!'

'i can shoulder lean, iono how to dance tho!'

yakuza get cherry blossom tattoos to symbolize a short but glorious life.

best thing ever

i'll be back in a few w/ pictures of cherry blossoms. till then.

you stay classy, san diego.

UPDATE!!!

2007-03-20T11:49:00.000+09:00

gomen for the lack of the updates my friends. but your favorite english teacher in osaka, japan has moved and currently doesnt have internet at his new place. thank god for the apple store.

so yeah, i moved and i went to sapporo a couple weeks ago. sapporo is rad. you can read about it on paige's blog; she's a much more dedicated and thorough blogger than i anyway: http://paigejapan.blogspot.com/

the lack of updates will continue until i get around to getting internet at my place. edwin and ren are coming on friday so that should be good. that all.

you stay classy, san diego.

WARMFUZZY

2007-02-14T12:31:00.000+09:00

so this past weekend i went apartment hunting. i found a place real quick that i am very happy with. fully furnished (i'll even have a bed again, a full at that), pretty spacious (for japan) and located very much in the heart of the city. BALLIN! no more last train! i'll be moving out/in at the beginning of march. now anyone who plans on visiting doesn't have to worry about disturbing roommates. come one come all.

the rest of the weekend, my broke ass participated in japan's national past time (window)shopping. and a 280. and watching movies/tv on my laptop. oh and an art show that was EXTREMELY disturbing.

oh yeah, happy valentine's day. here in japan on valentine's day it is customary for girls to give guys presents; usually chocolate. guys don't have to get anything for girls. but the gift is reciprocated a month later on white day; usually something much more expensive than chocolate.

but i have a gift for you:

warmfuzzy, a mixtape by dj neil armstrong
1 - I'm So Glad Your Mine - Al Green
2 - You Know My Name - Beres Hammon & The Originals
3 - That's The Way Of The World - Earth, Wind & Fire
4 - Computer Love - Zapp & Roger, Common & Erykah Badu
5 - Bonafide Love - Wayne Wonder & Buju Banton
6 - Hey Love - Stevie Wonder
7 - My Cherie Amour - Jackson 5ive
8 - Method Of Modern Love - Hall & Oates
9 - Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears
10 - Close To Me - The Cure
11 - True - Spandau Ballet
12 - Play The Game - Queen
13 - Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney
14 - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Police
15 - You're The Best Thing - The Style Council
16 - Got To Be There - Michael Jackson
17 - Selfish/Georgie Porgie - Toto, Slum Village & Noelle
18 - Mr. Telephone Man - New Edition
19 - Don't Make Me Over - Sybil
20 - Linger - The Cranberries
21 - I'm Wishing On A Star - Teena Marie
22 - If I Don't Love You This Way - Jackson 5ive
23 - Eye Know - De La Soul
24 - Do I Do - Stevie Wonder
25 - I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince
26 - I'm In Love - Evelyn Champagne King
27 - Love Bizarre - Sheila E.
28 - I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman
29 - Kiss On My List - Hall & Oates
30 - Every Breath You Take - The Police
31 - Stand By Me - Ben E. King
32 - Is This Love - Bob Marley
33 - Send One Your Love - Stevie Wonder
34 - Lover's Rock - Sade
35 - The Scientist - Coldplay
36 - Always & Forever - (sung by Kip Dynamite) Dedicated To You Internet Players
37 - Cause I Love You - Lenny Williams

link: http://rapidshare.de/files/24621138/DJ_Neil_Armstrong_-_WarmFuzzy.rar.html
(copy and paste)

give it to your loved one and make them a better more well-rounded person or play it alone in your room and get emo with your bad self.

you stay classy, san diego

280s ARE SO THE BEST

2007-02-09T10:00:00.000+09:00

280s are dining establishments here in japan where everything, food and drink, is 280 yen. they are enjoyable places to eat, drink, be merry and drink some more. during my weekend i spent two nights in a row at 280s.

sunday night, jake, malcom, simon, miho and i went out here in sakai. we had planned to go to some bar to hear live music but it was 1500 yen to get in then another 500 yen for a drink that you had to buy... i don't understand why they don't just say its 2000 yen cover w/ a drink... so that ended up being a bust. we went to some other bar only to pay a seating charge, a charge for a small bowl of bread crumbs that we didn't order and the price of a heineken. we essentially spent 11$ on one beer. after this fiasco it was off to the 280... and everything was again all right with the world.

when at a 280 i recommend spicy chicken and green onions on a stick, salty chicken balls on a stick, karage (fried chicken), bacon wrapped cheese, and the triple bypass inducing deep fried cheese disk... with butter. mmmm... cheese and butter. washed down with generous amounts of beeru. well that's how i do anyway...

so i spent most of the next day calling different travel agencies looking for tickets for vietnam so i could visit tony when he's there. turns out it's dumb expensive to fly from japan to vietnam... so that gets put on the back-burner for now... but hey that trip will be there essentially the rest of my natural life so i'm not too disappointed.

i finally left my place late in the afternoon to grab a bite to eat with paige at this cafe at sakai station. their chicken-basil sandwich is amazing... it will make you a better person, i promise. after some lovely conversation it was decided that a 280 was once again in order for the evening.

this 280 crew consisted of jane the new girl from oz, her roommate mj who makes bad first impressions, malcom, jake, matt, desiree, paige and i. the first 280 we went to was full... no problem, we wen't to another one a few blocks away. they're almost as common as starbucks. we got split up into different groups and proceeded to do what we do at the 280. later the group was reunited at which point the laughter ensued. you-had-to-be-there kind of stuff. later ended up at a 200 bar and called it quits around 330am... spent the night on desiree's couch.

malcom is the funniest scotsman you'll ever meet

orient happiness bicycle club, founders

a push up contest is so necessary.

even homeless people work harder in japan

woke up the next day around noonish and went to a travel agency to figure out possible other trips since nam is no longer a viable option. so turns out i'm gonna go to hokkaido now. hopefully there's snow and we can get a day on the slopes in. finally got back home around 330 in the afternoon... dead tired.

oh yeah.... and despite this post and some of the other posts i've made i don't drink that much. that just happens to be the times i have pictures of. ya dig?

but yes mom i'm being careful.

and another thing.... who want's to have a push-up contest?! apparently i have to step the machoness up. word to lim dawg lim and spyder steve.

you stay classy, san diego.

I'M A JACKASS

2007-02-02T07:54:00.000+09:00

ryan blowing out his birthday cake

yesterday was a decent day all in all. i actually enjoyed ALL the classes i taught. which doesn't happen very often. usually the classes are mostly dull and/or frustrating with a couple good ones. but yesterday was good. perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of my students yesterday were good looking females; another rare occurrence. maybe yes.

after work i ran into louise and met up with paige and headed to bar 60 for ryan's birthday. all in all a pretty good time. sayuri (my now former staff) showed up later. bought the bday boy a shot. slammed some beers. sang happy birthday. chatted w/ japanese people. stone face... peace to nicole for listening to my drunken nonsensical rambling. i'll return the favor anytime.

so, as a caveat of me updating my blog more regularly there are going to be less pics and they'll be of a poorer quality because my point and shoot is out of commission and i don't lug around the SLR everywhere i go so that only leaves the cell phone camera. which gets the job done i guess.

that all.

you stay classy san diego.

LAZINESS

2007-01-30T15:44:00.000+09:00

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

2007-01-12T19:06:00.000+09:00

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

2007-01-07T23:19:00.000+09:00

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!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2006-12-26T23:07:00.000+09:00

so the month of december has been spent attending parties of various shapes and sizes. first up was a sayonara party for my now ex coworker hannah. she got tired of nova and has headed back home to london. she gave all of 0 days notice and left saying, "F*CK YOU, F*CK YOU, F*CK YOU, YOU'RE COOL, I'M OUT." GANGSTA!***the preceding was not a true story.

sayonara hannah. i spy a ponytail...

donna, hannah's flatmate who also wen't home to jolly old england. sayonara donna.

then there was a bonenkai (sp?) party [end of the year party] for nova branches along the nankai train line. a group of about 30 or so nova instructors and japanese staff descended upon an ususpecting yakitori establishment. we proceeded to eat and drink. a lot. here in japan it is customary to split the bill equally regardless of how much you ate/drank or didn't.

chris and i set trippin.

why is it fun to throw signs and be ghetto when you're drunk? the world may never know. chris is from philly and he's works as a graphic designer for nova.

at some point paige, desiree, alex and i also went to kobe to see a temporary exhibit of works from the musee d'orsay in paris. i'd seen many of the paintings before when i went to paris but some were new. looking at art is fun and educational. hooray art!
also in kobe was the 'illumination' a fancy word the japanese like to use for christmas lights.

ahh look at the pretty lights.

this was fun for about 10 minutes. they did however have a row of food vendors giving out free samples. we then ate jamaican food and it became quite the ordeal. our food came one by one over the course of two hours. i wish i had more hands so i could give the service four thumbs down.

along with the bonenkai (sp?) my branch along with another branch also had a christmas party. we did a white elephant gift exchange.

my man shu in the middle.

thats Risa spelled Lisa on the right. she's japanese staff where i used to teach.

so i've found something that is not better in japan: christmas. christmas is definitely not better in japan. not even close. not the same without family and friends. i still had a pretty good time though. on christmas eve i went to an izakaya with some coworkers for dinner and drinks, the large sake was probably a bad idea. i had karage (dank ass fried chicken). the japanese have perfected the art of deep fried foods. true story.

christmas eve dinner with an american, a filipino american, a scotsman, an australian, another american, and a half-japanese french canadian (not pictured).

on christmas day i worked. then i went to an irish pub (tangent- they have an irish pub in every single city in the world, i swear) with my roommates for a couple drinks. i ran into maribel mayo and also nick alvin's ex-roommate. after the pub i went to desiree's for a small christmas gathering. a good time was had by all. we even somehow managed to start doing the electric slide. no seriously.

fix ya face!

me reppin the crew. that's nicole with the other funny face, she's also from san diego. she's friends with desiree and teaches for nova a little outside of tokyo, she had a class with toeknee at state. small world.

in japan it is tradition to have a christmas cake on christmas. what is christmas cake exactly you ask? it is cake that you eat on christmas. obviously.

cake eaters.

i leave you with random pictures of art. pop art on a building and art on the bathroom door of a club that i went to for 'indie rock night'. i'm going snowboarding for two days in nagano and then tokyo for new year's. expect a big update.

you stay classy san diego.

RAMBLING

2006-12-16T01:37:00.000+09:00

all right, so as a way to sort of update everyone as to what i have been up to for the past three months here in japan—without writing a novel length post—i'm going to do a stream of conscious blow by blow of my adventures thus far. it probably will not make sense to anyone. tough. cry about it. but if any part of it intrigues you feel free to email me for an explanation.

ready. set... GO.

da vinci code. basic instinct 2. guy teaching in okinawa. meet desiree also from sd. touchdown in kix. louise is my block trainer. orient happiness is the name of my apartment building. chimbo from canada roommate. jack from new york other room mate. i sleep on a futon. meet alvin and desiree at the silver ball. internet at the apple store. tons of walking. osaka castle. osaka castle at night. on the job training day one kicked my ass. missed giles peterson. ojt got easier. jessica from indiana. skate spot in namba. shin, hana, katsuya skate posse. hang out and drink chu hi often. dan, donny and crew. beer on the street. its like vegas. osaka daggers. chopper stomps on baby chickens. cheap cheap cheap.

mexican food is not mexican food. missed the last train. out til 5am. has become common place. kishiwada branch nova teacher. STOP! I'M SORRY!!! free internet at internet bench. eaten alive by ninja mosquitos. gary 18 year nova veteran. simon too fast too furious australian. god damnit maverick! nicole. muriel. hannah frumpy vietnamese english girl. jake runs marathons. malcom funny scotsman with the dirty jokes. dave space cadet/pirate. brian gregarious guy from sac. wes australian santa clause. risa japanese staff taker her home to mom. mai japanese staff i wanna smash so bad. yumi tanaka. my favorite highschool girl. yumi, yumi, yumi. going to palomar. man to man.

osaka drift racing with simon. wild speed. jakes matt. full moon party at osaka castle. ghetto matt. ragga/rave. naked guy climbs a pole. crash in tengachaya, the ghetto. kids training. hi i'm vince, hi i'm paige... where do you live? orient happiness. me too. no way. upstairs neighbor. charmed life. balabushka. gaijin bar. 5am. alex my boy from barbados. greg tall australian. big fuck off shiny ones. marija other upstairs neighbor. tuesday is travel day. alvin, desiree, paige and i team kyoto. kinkakuji golden temple. geisha. takashimaya basement food. onigiri is best. stick with pink.

el pancho carne asada is legit. nara. deer and big buddah. ninja boot. dropped two belt sizes. instant ramen diet. spaghetti dinner. 200yen bar. 280yen bar. mos burger. freshness burger. matsuya. yoshinoya. slept on their counter. used bike. mama chari. orient happiness bicycle club/sakai kitty crushers are formed. chibiko training, bye bye apples. you like apples? how you like dem apples? kobe minus alvin. chinatown. bay. mall. robot animal rides. shopping. m-65 black. sk8-high black checkered. abc mart. shin from fight club formerly of conveyer. talib kweli for half price. vip. drink. out til 5am. foo fighters. no drink. hit makers. minoh monkey attack. waterfall. there goes japan being peaceful.

ponytail pullers. not so many ponytails in japan. touch the charm game. shakeys pizza all you can eat. soft bank/vodaphone ahmed personal assistant. nova arcade game. out run 2 drifting. champ. chris nova graphic designer. blood. i hurt myself today to see if i still feel. halloween. crabs. star wars. saddam. guns and roses. octopus balls. work is cake. 5am. work 1050am. work 10am. late. absent one day. miss boat races.

maribel mayo is here. el pancho. uniqlo good store... dancehall is japan's reggaeton. danced with a jamaican girl at a dancehall club in japan. naja jamaican girl. louise/hannah birthday party. balabushka. ragga club. weird dudes come out of the woodwork. excuse me do you have moldy dick. yo shawty. ATL is good. kobe lights. jerk chicken isn't jerk chicken. do you want happy ending. sayonara hannah and donna hannah's roommate. hiroshima is sad. miyajima is breathtaking. absolutely breathtaking. seriously its good. i wanna be friends with it. i wanna be on you. izumisano. shu my man. sub culture pop warner dance. nomihodai all you can drink. tabehodai? all you can eat. i'll house you. poppin pirates. free rounds. 5am. dont take the advance. i'm poor. lulu tucked into socks. starbucks. action figure exhibition. japan discount store. supa tamade, supa tamade.... ok thats it i'm over it. no one is gonna read this anyway. one more lesson? FINISHED.

you stay classy san diego.

FIRST POST PHOTO FRENZY

2006-12-13T18:17:00.000+09:00

so this is my first post on the blog... its photo heavy and i know some of them aren't right side up and they're not in any real order but oh well. deal with it. i'll do a proper update with copy soon. this is a small representation of my adventures thus far in Japan. photo credit goes to me, alvin and paige.