Okairi Kai-chan!

If it were up to me I would have slept with you on the floor of your parents room for that entire week. Epic karaoke returned momentarily for a few hours. It wasn't quite the same as Megane-sama's Kokubunji spot, but I'm glad we can still read each others' minds. 2010... abunai!

誕生日 おめでとう ございます カイル！

Here's to you Kyle for being such a ROCK solid friend and looking out for me since I've arrived to Japan. Like we said before every week keeps getting better and I couldn't imagine what my experience here would be without you. Happy Birthday and thank you infinitely for everything you've done. You want a piece of me Japan?!? Bring it on! Haha, kanpai my friend!

Old School Parties

Had a little time to reminisce over a few pictures taken earlier this year and I couldn't help but laugh at some of the things I was looking over. While I don't really miss Toronto as a city all that much, I do miss some of the people. Even though Kyle and I still get together and chill on a couch on a weekly basis here in Japan, this picture makes me miss the parties we used to have. At the end of the day though it simply comes down to this: I'd still rather be here in Japan than back home in Toronto. At least for now anyway!

Another Random Sunday

After another epic session of overnight karaoke my friend Irene and I recharged ourselves on two hours of sleep. We headed into Harajuku (typical but w/e!) to rendez-vous with some of her friends from Toronto who are currently visiting Tokyo on vacation. After wandering Omote Sando Hills for awhile we made our way over to Ginza to do some more exploring and to meet up with another one of the networked friends.


Dinner took place in Tokyo at an izakaya and we all headed over to Ed's place later for his house warming party. I didn't mean to be an ass, but I showed up with three people, two of which I had only met a few hours ago. It was good old fun; random and spontaneous, a common theme for weekend outtings.

Laketown

AEON Laketown opened up a couple of weeks ago over at Koshigaya Laketown and its the largest mall in Japan. The even cooler thing is that it's only about ~20 minutes away from my station. This is one the main entrances and the picture does not do nearly enough justice as to how large this place actually is.


Who wouldn't want some Bad Ass Coffee? It was actually a Hawaiian themed cafe with a lot of tropical type products and drinks. Interesting enough they served beer and other alcoholic beverages as well. Totally Bad Ass.


In the display window is an enormous shirt maybe designed for the Incredible Hulk or something. No idea why it was so large. The store is called Tokyo Shirts or something, but sadly after browsing through their clothes and accessories I discovered that the majority of the items were made in China.


A Toyota car dealership was locating on the bottom floor. Yes, a full-sized car dealership complete with a repair and cleaning zone.

Night of Broken English & Japanese

Left to Right: Akimitsu, Rina, Akio, Keiichi, Ayana, and myself. Photo courtesy of Kyle's cellphone.. thanks!

Went out to Shibuya and met a group of Japanese university students who speak a bit of English. Dinner and bowling were both quite entertaining and it was really interesting to break down the barriers of communication when trying to express ourselves. It was a great night, hopefully we'll meet up again soon!

Kashiwa is Kool!

This picture was a mannequin in Uniqlo with an eerie resemblance to Kyle. Wait a minute, it is Kyle! Jeeeez! Yes he shops so much there and looks so natural I almost missed the fact it was Kyle live in the flesh. GJ.


Three stops over from me on the local train lies Kashiwa, a really cool station with the feel of a Tokyo surrounding. It's pretty much a gem to me since it is so close (only 160) with almost all the essential kind of stores I like browsing through. I'm really glad I ventured off over here and stumbled upon something I would have definitely regretted had I not stopped to explore.

The Return

Kyle and I have been warding off Shakey's to the best of our ability but finally earlier this afternoon we caved. I say it's been a pretty good streak though since it's been over a month since I last went balls out on their all you can eat pizza, spaghetti, curry, rice, salad buffet. Today I also tried a pineapple-walnut-raisin-cinnamon dessert pizza they had. It sounds like an awkward combination but it was damn good.

On another note Sylvia Li is apparently arriving in Japan in the next 16 hours or so! She's an old friend that I've known since high school in due of a vacation. Yay for visitors =].

Oh! E-Do Dance & Blazing Cranes

The beauty of the Tokyo area is that there's always something going on at any given time. Today Kyle and I decided to head out with really no concrete plan beforehand. As we wandered the streets of Shinjuku we heard loud drumming and stumbled upon a dance competition being held in a downtown square.


This group was the last to perform and I thought they were also the most impressive. They were a little older than the other groups so they had the age/experience factor going for them. Kyle also claims since they had an African American member on the team they were destined to win. See if you can spot him in the picture...


At this point I wondered if any of these kids were forced to be a part of these teams. There's always a ton of pressure and expectations put onto Japanese students by their parents so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the dancers here today had no choice in being part of the team.


Each team busted out onto the scene with a huge explosion of energy! I was waiting for a team to play the Mortal Kombat theme song, but sadly it didn't happen. Maybe next time.


Striking a pose! You can almost see the charka flowing freely around them... haha.


The little girl off to the side holding the sign seemed to have that as her sole responsibility. If I ever joined a dance team I think I would also fill that role. And I'd totally be the best sign holder ever.


In Kokubunji we went to check out a live band (Blazing Cranes) perform at Rubber Soul. The crowd was pretty much entirely composed of ECC affiliates, although Kyle doesn't really socialize with them on a regular basis.


Shot of the drummer dude. He was pretty good I thought and maybe the only one who spoke any Japanese.


CD's were on sale for 500 each but with a heavy heart I am sad to say that not a single copy sold. The cover I thought was a bit inapporpriate as well.

Chunko Nabe!

*DISCLAIMER*
Before I begin this entry, there's a rumour floating around that three people were spotted foolishy trying to carry a sofa home from Ikea. They were stopped dead in their tracks upon arriving at the station by the Minami Funabashi station master... I'll deny every bit of it...

Yesterday's dinner was "food for the sumo soul". Ed, Yuki, Kyle and I ventured out into sumo town to find a sumo wrestler's meal properly coined as "Chunko Nabe". Similiar to everyone's favourite Chinese style hotpot, it is the meal that sumo wrestlers have in order to stay in top physical form. The good sumo wrestlers are out on tour in Nagoya and Nagano at the moment so we didn't see any at the restaurants. However we did manage to spot a couple getting off the train which were probably in a lighter weight class since they didn't look too large.

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.

You Want a Piece of Me Fuji?!

I really don't think I have a sufficient enough ability to accurately recount my adventure to Mt. Fuji using coherent English. It really was beyond what words could describe both physically and mentally. To this point in my life it was the absolutely most strenuous task I've ever accomplished. The amount of physical and mental exertion required was definitely more than I had bargained for. With that being said I cannot express how happy and lucky our group was to complete the ascension in one piece. Sadly, my pictures aren't even close to justifying the entire experience. And for the record-- the descent isn't as easy as everyone claims it is (*cough cough Lydia)!

Can you say Domino Effect?
Starting our upwards climb at about 8:30 pm on Sunday night, we were all in high spirits ready to take on anything that was in store for us over the next 12 hours or so. At least we thought we were. Some parts of the climbing trail were so sketch and dark, there was no way I could have done it without a nearby flashlight, linen gloves, or a walking stick to assist me. Certain areas of the mountain are so cluttered and bottlenecked with other climbers it's truly miraculous that no one lost their footing and started tumbling hopelessly out of control. There were several points of the ascension where that was the sole concern in my mind: "Oh shit, I'm going to slip and barrel roll and take out this entire section of the mountain..." Again, I'm so grateful that it didn't become a reality.

Attempting to capture sunrise
By about 4:30 am we were well above the clouds and could catch a glimpse of the sun slowly rising above the horizon. As the sky slowly starts to brighten there is a slightly induced sense of urgency to find the best viewing area possible to witness Mother Nature do her thing. Luckily, I was able to find a spot slightly off to the side of the climbing trail. At this point in time I had lost most feeling in my limbs and was repeatedly cursing at myself for not bringing more than a sweater and a pair of sweat pants to maintain my body warmth.


Upon reaching the summit we quickly found shelter and I immediately ordered four bowls of ramen to combat the cold and hunger we were experiencing. Taking into consideration the cirucmstances, it was probably one of the best bowls of ramen I have eaten. Altitude sickness had no effect on me, but it did start to bother Kyle a little bit. After about an hour rest we slowly decided it was time to start our descent. This definitely took longer than planned since we stopped on several occasions to take a handful of epic portrait and landscape photographs. As of right now I don't think I'd ever do the climb again. Looking at tiny hills in parks and my local area is enough to make me shudder. But who knows.. as exhausting as it was the amount of duress is inveresly proportional to the brief moments of glory at the amount of glory that awaits at the top of Fuji-san.


Very windy and bright, it was hard to keep my eyes open!

Bowling & Bug Bombs

Yesterday I finally met up with my friend Yuki (Ed's girlfriend) and we headed to Shimokitazawa. It was raining pretty heavily for the entire day but we still managed to have a lot of fun. We found a nice cafe to have lunch at and afterwards had some amazing ice cream for dessert. Seeking shelther from the rain, we headed to Suidobashi for some bowling at the Tokyo Dome. After Yuki bought a pair of socks we were all set to bowl!

Later on I met up with Kyle again and we checked out his new apartment for the first time. We even moved some of his stuff over from his slum into the new place. After staying there for the night we triggered a bug bomb this morning in order to fully extinguish any potential chance of insect life. It was pretty interesting trying to decipher the instructions since they were entirely in Japanese. Using deductive reasoning Kyle figured out how to activate it by the illustrations and we were set to go. I thought it would have been cooler to buy two or three of them to set off simultaneously, but Kyle insisted that one was enough. When we finally set it off we ran away like little school girls!!

Discovery: Kyle Ng

After riding the Shinkansen (bullet train) for about 3 hours from Okayama to Tokyo yesterday, I met up with my new boss. She then took me over to the train station closest to my new apartment where I met the teacher I'm replacing. After walking for about 10 minutes we reached my new apartment and I started to get settled in. As we talked about a lot of things, she quickly showed me around town, and we went out for dinner shortly after.

Upon returning home I finished unpacking and went online to check some e-mails. I received one from Kyle with his Japanese cell phone number and I was able to contact him. It was so exciting to hear from someone I had known before arriving in Japan. Turns out he was only ~20 minutes away from me so he came over to my station at around 10pm. We found a Taiwanese restaurant to eat at and he ended up crashing at my place for the night. Both of us still can't get over how big my apartment is. I've actually got an entire empty tatami room next to my bedroom, a separate kitchen area and separate bathroom area as well. I also have enough closet space to hide several dead bodies. I'll post pictures of my place soon enough!

It was so sad to see Kyle's place today. His entire place is literally half the size of my entire bedroom. Since he's in a guesthouse/dormatory building he doesn't even have a bathroom on his own floor. I'm a tiny bit outside of Tokyo, but I can't express how happy I am about my living quarters. I wouldn't be able to cope with living at "Big World 21". There, there. It'll be okay Kyle!