Kindness of (Japanese) Strangers

After work on Friday night I went to the local cell phone store (Softbank) with full intentions of leaving with a brand new phone. When I left for work in the early hours of the morning the sun was shining brigtly and I had no reason to bring an umbrella with me when I left my appartment. But unfortunately I've had to learn the hard way of spontaneous weather changes in Japan. I've owned up to 5 umbrellas at a time since there have been random downpours forcing me to either get soaked or spend a few hundred yen on a new umbrella.

As I was attempting to sort things out at Softbank with broken Japanese and listening to the sales person speak to me in Japanese and broken English, we concluded that a new cell phone for me wouldn't be the best idea since I would have to re-sign a 2-year contract. Even though there's a slight chance I'll still be here in two years I decided it wasn't a sure thing. As I tried explaining this to the sales woman she kindly smiled and thanked me for coming by anyways. When I turned around to leave I noticed it was raining heavily. This was worse than usual since I was coming from work and still in my business suits.

Another associate behind the counter said something in Japanese to me and I kinda just stared blankly at him. The English speaking one then asked if I had an umbrella, and I sadly replied that I didn't. Upon hearing this the Japanese guy said "Chotto matte kudasai.." (please wait a minute) and he ran off to the back, returning with an umbrella. He made his away around the counter and handed it over to me and smiled. I was shocked and tried to give it back, but they both insisted I take it. Had I not, I definitely would have been entirely drenched. It's amazing how things work over here.

Mabashi Matsuri

As summer dwindles down the prime matsuri season also fades away with the good weather. Over the weekend the 馬橋　祭り (Mabashi Matsuri) took place drawing a fair amount of people despite cloudy skies and even a little rain. There were a few dance performances ranging from traditional Japanese style to Hula dancing.


Main attractions always include cheap eats appealing to the entire family-- street food, snacks, sweets, and alcohol. Everything always looks fabolous and the wide variety of options can make decision making quite complex at times. I usually narrow my choices down to something fried or grilled! >=]


Scene of the crime, Mabashi's main street right outside of the train station. For easy access, the popular shops and attractions are (usually) situated within a few minutes of the station. Another tidbit of information about Japan: the closer you live to the station, the higher your rent will be.


I swear, there's no such thing as a Japanese baby that isn't cute. Of course some of my students can be crazy from time to time but that doesn't mean in any way they're not a joy to be around.

Street Fighter IV

FINAL ATOMIC BUSTER!

Passed by an arcade in Ueno the other day and decided to finally check out what Street Fighter 4 is like. The arcade release was a little over a month ago here but I don't think an English console release will happen until sometime in 2009. Unfortunately my cell phone video doesn't do the game justice as the visual gameplay is absolutely stunning. The guy sitting down and playing was using Zangief and was completely dominating all the competition. He amassed 13 straight victories by the time I decided to leave, no one even close to beating him. Also got to see Ken, Vega, Balrog, Guile, and of course Ryu in action too.

Back to Business

Summer vacation has officially ended and it's time to go back to work. This week in particular isn't going to be much fun since it will be the busiest one so far as a teacher. On top of my regular weekly class load, there are a handful of seminars everyday which I need to make teaching materials for.

Heading back towards work was dreadful but something occurred which kept my spirits in high capacity. The gift giving tradition here in Japan is phenomenal. Japanese people simply love to give gifts, mostly souvenirs from their trips when they go on vacation. Since most of my students traveled or visited places outside the Chiba/Tokyo area they brought back various snacks and souvenirs for myself and the other teaching staff. One of my high school students went to Australia and she brought me back a keychain and pen. My students are sooooo awesome!

I ate most of the snacks during lunch and throughout the rest of the day. I still had a large amount and they'll probably last over the next couple of weeks. All the kids are so sweet and I was so surprised they would shower me in snacks and gifts. If this continues for the rest of the week, I might not need to make lunch over the next few days. It's going to be hard not to play favourites with kids now...

Rendez-vous with エド (Ed) but it's the last day of vacation...

It's been a wild week to say the least-- from visiting Yokohama to multiple overnight karaokes to random intoxication to having visitors from Hiroshima & Nagano to almost buying a couch at Ikea. I'm not sure what kind of mood I'm going to be in tomorrow morning when I force myself to wake up and get ready for work once more. Yesterday night one of my best friends from Toronto エド (Ed) landed in Tokyo and we met up for dinner in style by going to an awesome sushi restaurant in Tsukiji. Yuki and Kyle came as well and we left with our wallets feeling a lot lighter; no regrets though, it was absolutely glorious.

Great to see another familiar face here in Japan since leaving Toronto about 4 months ago. It's also going to be nice knowing I'll have another person to turn to in case of any immediate emergencies or unexpected situations. Although I go back to work tomorrow, perhaps having another friend nearby is something to look forward to over the next several months. I'm positive my crazy adventures will only get crazier!

Tokyo Gundam Expo... for free?!

Checked out Ikebukuro today, famous for being a well-known shopping district. The mall was quite large but unfortunately most of the stores cater to females since a fair amount of them are clothing, make-up, and accessories. There were like seven floors to explore, but the top floors had designated expo rooms for random events going on. Kyle and I had no idea but there was coincidentally a Gundam expo happening at the same time of our visit. There were random posters setup around the mall and we finally found the entrance on the 5th floor. We decided to check it out since we were there and weren't expecting much of anything. Turns out it was quite intricate and really cool for a free expo.


There were tv monitors looping 20 years of Gundam intro's and music. Most of the standing models were scaled 1/6th of size of the actual gundam, with the amount of detail metticulously accurate. Gundam Seed was my favourite saga so it was awesome finding the display for it mid-way through the expo.


The new intro for Gundam 00: Season 2

Great to see you again!

The concept of an entire nation having a designated vacation period is both advantageous and inconvenient all at the same time. While summer vacation can be the most expensive time to travel and plan trips, it's also reassuring that you'll have the opportunity to see anyone else in Japan since they are on holiday too. I was able to re-unite with the first two people I had met with at Osaka International back in May (Kimiko & Nick) since they decided to come out to the Tokyo area and visit.

Kimiko's out in Hiroshima and Nick's over in Nagano; we initially trained together for the first week way back in May during our stay in Okayama. They had planned a Fuji climb over summer vacation but since I had already gone recently there was no way in hell I was getting anywhere near the mountain. After they finished, I offered them to stay with me for a few days, and so they had the opportunity to hang out with me here in the Tokyo area.

The past few days have been kinda blurry, mainly because we've been pulling all nighters and waking up mid-afternoon, only to get ready to go out again for the night. We had back-to-back nights of overnight karaoke and also hung out in Shimokitazawa for some awesome okonomiyaki and a few beers and a very interesting bar. For the two nights they were here I think we only amassed eight or so hours of sleep.

It was also nice just having someone to vent too. While Kyle's been an emotional punching bag for me at times he doesn't really know what **** employees go through at our schools. Having Kimiko here was really nice since she's pretty much in the same working situation as me.. lockdown manager and handfuls of work to do at all times of the busines day. Although complaining to one another about our problems isn't really a solution, it certainly made us feel better!

Yokohama-Yoko-HOME-a

One of the world's biggest Chinatowns is actually located right here in Japan. Yokohama is south of Tokyo near the bay area and Kyle and I decided it was long overdue we see what a Japanese Chinatown had to offer. After spending the day there I actually cried a little inside, mainly because I miss all the Chinese food and groceries.


Kyle and I splurged on an 8-course meal combo and it was nothing less than glorious! I don't believe authenticity was a problem either, since the workers at the restaurant spoke Mandarin, only switching to Japanese when they were serving customers.

I joked around with Kyle about moving to Yokohama since we both felt like it was home. We'll likely be back very soon just for some more food. Surely dim sum next time!

Yokohama also has a famous bay area where there are several promenade type walkways alongside the water. There is a warehouse area which acted as cargo storage area for markets and traders. However, it was taken over by the military during the second world war and used as a centre for naval operations. Now, it consists mainly of shops and restaurants, which is rather intriguing since the interior and exterior appearance hasn't changed from its original brickwork layout.

Sexy new Sigma

The wonderful world of photography and digital SLR's is such a largescale market here in Japan I really am going to miss the variety and availability of products once I return home. Like any digital SLR owner, I'm in a constant state of looking at lenses and other accessories for my XTi. It's sad to say that my hike to mount Fuji did a number on my 18-55 lens which I was using to take pictures with. I believe an uneseen amount of sand and dirt got into lens and the zoom and focus mechanisms sound really damaged.

Kyle helped me pick out a new lens at Yodobashi, the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 auto focus lens with Macro capabilities. The price of the lens at Yodobashi is ¥44,800 so it was something I had to think about. Later that night, after another overnight karaoke I decided to order it off of Amazon.jp since it was only ¥35,250. This purchase helped ease the pain of not being able to bring back a sofa from Ikea! Haha.

Happy Hour at Ikea?!

There is an Ikea located about 30 minutes away from be my train in Chiba prefecture. While it isn't as large as the one I'm fond of in Toronto, it's just as grand and brought on a downpour of memories as I wandered through the similar interior setup of the store. My original intentions of going to Ikea was to buy a sofa for my apartment. Even though I'll likely be leaving Japan in the next year or so, I'd really prefer to have a comfortable piece of furniture just to chill out in. Ikea has decent prices and I thought the compactness or "assemble-yourself" properties would definitely be to my advantage.


I decided on the Fothult sofa as it was extremely cushiony and luxurious, with a colour that would match the rest of my interior design at my apartment. Another positive is that until September 30th 2008 it is ¥14,900 down from the original ¥24,900. Everything was going according to plan until Kyle and I got to the marketplace checkout and the Fothult was just too big to carry home. It was already assembled and just had a plastic covering and cardboard protecting it. I considered shipping as an option but unfortunately it isn't really worth the cost if I am just shipping one item. Dammit. For the first time since I got to Japan, I missed having a car.

Kyle testing out his potential purchase. Look how happy he is.

Kyle on the otherhand is going to con one of this bosses into driving him to Ikea and driving his sofa back to his apartment. Japanese people are too nice to say "no", but Kyle is balls out taking advantage of him! In any case Kyle likely needs a sofa more, especially since the one he has in mind (Solsta) folds out into a bed. I however do have a bed to sleep on since the previous teacher working here left me her old one.


On another note, here's more proof that Japan adds their own magic touch to things to make a great thing even better. A trip to Ikea isn't complete without eating something at the restaurant/cafe. While we weren't in time for $1 breakfast, we still had a great lunch. As we were sitting and eating I noticed this ridiculously awesome ad on the table. Happy Hour at Ikea?! ¥100 yen per bottle ($1 Canadian). Nooo way! The Japanese touch definitely wins.

Hanabi at Tokyo Bay

On Sunday night at about 7:00 pm the annual Tokyo Bay fireworks kicked off in style. Although Kyle and I didn't have the most optimal viewing area they were unquestionably the most epic fireworks I have ever witnessed in person.



We didn't do much research about the actual viewing location or optimal spots to enjoy the show from. Instead we headed to Kachidoki station and just followed the mob of people towards a designated viewing area. Unfortunately by 6:45 pm much of the better viewing area had already been occupied by others. If you didn't notice already, pretty much all my pictures have the same tree and building obstructing a portion of the view. Oh well, it was still fabolous to witness in person.



When Kyle and I decided upon a spot two Japanese girls wearing ukatas (summer kimonos) were hoovering near us as well. They flagged down some of their friends and started opening up plastic mats to sit on. They had brought four and were even kind enough to give us one for the two of us. The funny thing was we attached all the mats together and from an spectator's point of view it looked like we were the outcasts or uncool part of the group.

They huddled together in a circle formation and started drinking relentlessly while Kyle and I were helpless to do anything in attempts of joining in. The funniest this was when one of the guys left the group to come back a few minutes later with a bottle of wine and wine glasses. Keep in mind all their drinking was accompanied by random energetic Japanese chanting, dancing, singing, and laughter. As we packed up after the show and started to leave, one of the girls stared straight at Kyle and began motioning her hands as if she were taking out a samurai sword. I looked down at the ground and just slowly started backing away... lol.

自由!

Opening ceremony fireworks in Beijing
Freedom! As of 7:00 pm yesterday my one week summer vacation officially started. My Japanese co-workers and I couldn't have been more ecstatic and we celebrated in true Japanese fashion by going out for drinks!

I'm looking forward to the next 9 days or so, planning on heading over to the huge Tokyo Bay fireworks show later tonight. Although a part of me just wants to kick back and be lazy and watch the Olympics, I feel I should be spending time outside of my apartment. Alhtough this accordingly means I will be spending money. Dammit.

Already August

First off, it's August. That means I've already been in Japan for almost four months now. What the hell??!? Where is the time going? As cliché as it sounds.. "It seems like only yesterday when..." I was tying up loose ends back in Toronto before getting ready for my departure. At least the good news is I'll have an entire week off next week for summer vacation.

While I would prefer not to invest too much money into new assets there will always be a few items here that I simply can't pass up (Super Famicom being one of them). I finally settled on an awesome new pair of headphones, and it was surely a purchase I didn't regret.


They cost ￥3990 and the really cool thing about them is how compact they can get. In my experience traditional earmuff style headphones always take up too much space and can be rather bulky when you need to put them away in your bag. The JVC Victor HP-S550's however can be folded up neatly to create a compact storage form. Next, the headphone wire is actually retractable and it is stored within the left ear piece. Very, very awesome in my opinion. Most importantly the sound quality is quite amazing. While they aren't officially noise cancelling headphones they virtually block out a lot of exterior sound while I'm wearing them.


Since picking up the headphones I'm actually in the market for a new portable audio player as well. It's actually a bit tougher finding something here since most mp3 players I've seen are only supported by Japanese OS Windows. If this really is the verdict I may actually cave and get an i-Pod. Hopefully this isn't the case though since I haven't had the best experiences with i-Pods in the past.