Last weekend I went to Rie’s (Anton’s Friend) University, the Osaka University for the Arts, for the school’s festival. And I know what you’re thinking… ("A festival run by Fine Arts Students?! Uh oh!") and you’d be correct. So after a 2 hour journey we arrive at the festival in time to get harassed by food vendors!
Oh, I should mention "we" being myself, Anton, and Rie of course, but also Boon-hau, Philo (one of Anton’s coworkers) and her parents.
Actually, half the festival seemed to be made up of food vendors. Everything from hot dogs to yakisoba to bubble tea, and more. Other vendors too, selling used clothes/cds, some selling items that they had crafted themselves.
It was rather interesting, many of the students were dressed up. Besides the numerous male students dressed as schoolgirls or in Chinese style dresses, there was a girl with eggs on her head, an cardboard samurai, a guy dressed up in a chicken costume meant for a 6 year old, and Darth Vader advertising donuts.
The first show we saw was the martial arts performance. They started off with a little skit about guys possessed by evil magical pantyhose they wore on their heads, and the good guys had to use their karate skillz to exorcise the stockings. Then each group performed a routine, some involving demonstrations of throws, or breaking boards (two good ones), and one that appeared to be dancing with sticks.
Next we went to a taiko drum/dance performance which was outdoors on the main stage. They were both very good. All the guy performers had multicolored hair, and some had facepaint, which is expected for arts students. At the very last move of the dancing, the guy at the front in the very center of the stage split his pants, quite visibly, right down the middle! Talent… you couldn’t have planned that better. Then our bad karma earned by laughing at/with the guy resulted in us being dragged onstage (not just us, lots of people) to dance with them ><. Of our group, only Boon-hau showed any signs of coordination. It was amusing.
Next were some ninja-themed stage performances. They probably would have been more entertaining if I had been able to understand the plot, but what kenya do? Besides learn Japanese of course (I’m workin on it!!!)
Wow, that bird’s a good fisherman! The cormorant I’m watching just caught a 4 inch long fish and is trying to force it down it’s throat without dropping it… Mine! Mine!
I’m sitting next to the river downtown writing this, it’s a very nice spot for just hanging out. But maybe for not much longer, it’s getting rather cool.
Didn’t do much this weekend, went to the gym all three days, studied, played vid games with a friend back home, and started writing my resume and cover letters, yay! Gotta start applying for summer jobs soon.
In other news, peanut butter has been acquired. This is good news.
There’s also a girl that lives a few houses down from my dorm (no, this story is not going where you think it is…). She’s about 8 years old and she has her own unicycle! I see her practicing on my way back from the grocery store occasionally… I don’t think I could ever ride one of those, too many directions to fall in.
Officially half done my internship now. I’ve been here 161 days! And 5 months, or 146 days to go till I’m back in Canada. I hear planning is underway on my welcome home party, there’s gonna be ducks, clowns and balloon animals! I can’t wait!
Showing posts with label Osaka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Osaka. Show all posts
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Monday, July 31, 2006
The Trees are Really Sneezing Today
Link Adam, 21, goes on a weekend adventure surfing with friends. When he arrives, he sees things are not as they should be. He finds a city populated by demanding and slightly crazy restaurant owners, and by Jamaican Hawaiian Japanese surfer dudes. It’s a place where OMLGP has no effect. A city where currency… has no meaning! Link boarded the K-Limited Express Train… to the Twilight Zone!
Doo dee doo doo doo dee doo doo….
I’m writing this well after the actual events have occurred, and I don’t have any pics to remember it by, so here’s hoping my memory serves me correctly.
Two Saturdays ago I had work. It’s a lot of fun to work on Saturday. I’d highly recommend it. In the evening I went to Anton’s place, bring my effects, but not my hat. After dinner we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean in Nara. It was in English, hurrah, with Japanese subtitles (Me and Anton still don’t know how they managed to translate "Savvy?"). The theatre was small and very level compared to Canadian theatres. Seats are reserved, so no looking about trying to commandeer the best seats. As for the movie, not as good as the first, but still very good, with some excellent scenes, to be sure! However, it was probably not the most opportune moment to go; most trains stopped before the movie ended, so we only made it to Saidaiji station and had to take a cab the rest of the way.
The next day we got up early and went down to Wakayama to meet Keith. Taking advantage of the Everything’s Free in Wakayama train station policy to get to Keith’s station nearly free of charge. We went for breakfast #2 at the station, I had kekko desu ("I’m fine as I am thanks"), which has been the subject of many jokes directed at me since. Thank you Anton and Keith, my revenge will be swift and painful.
Then we headed to Isonura beach to rent some surfboards. The two rental shops, however, were both sold out! So we passed by a reggae bar, basically an old bus transformed into a… bar… painted in yellow and green with a Jamaican flag and reggae playing. The young dudes running the bar agree to rent us their surfboards, 4h for 2600 yen each, not too shabby, apparently we got 400 yen off the normal price cause we were so cool and hip and rad and stuff.
Surfing was a lot of fun, the water wasn’t too cold, and there were hundreds of surfers out there. To be fair, I sucked. It’s hard just getting out far enough, with the waves pulling you back towards the shore, especially for someone with no mass like me. Once out there though, it’s good, I was able to catch a wave quite easily, standing up was another matter. But still managed to a few times, for a few seconds, woohoo!
After a few hours I got cold and hungry and tired, (and I was a little bit wet) so I decided to head back and get changed. While waiting for Anton and Keith I hung with the Jamaicans, one guy knew a little bit of English… The conversation started out good, but eventually, without getting into too much detail, got a bit interesting, and some of the questions I got asked were… lacking good grammar and perhaps decency.
Anton and Keith arrived back, showered, changed, etc, then we went back to Wakayama. Where we had an crazy older lady, who ran a restaurant, pressuring us to come in. Anton and Keith wanted ramen, so they were reluctant at first. I was reluctant because there was a crazy older lady pressuring me into her store. But we finally broke down (pwned as Anton called it) and went in. We got the special I think? Pasta with ham and shrimp, and the lady talking to us the whole time we were eating. Eventually she went to a nearby restaurant and bought a plate of sushi, brought it to our table, and sat down and started sharing it with us. Which is very odd… But she didn’t charge us for it, and even gave us a bit of a discount on our meal. We eventually left (in my case, escaped) because I had to make it home for shower curfew.
And that was the exciting weekend. On Tuesday we went to Osaka to see the fireworks for Tenjin Matsuri. Unfortunately, with me being the only one on time, we missed them. But not totally a waste, had to meet Keith anyway, and we went for dinner for okonomiyaki and kekko desu. Anton and Keith bought beer off some attractive girls in bathing suits. And then I went home.
More to come on my Tokyo adventure, but that’s later, cause I’m too tired to write it tonight, and the cicadas will inevitably wake me up too early tomorrow.
And pics of Tokyo are up on my web album. picasaweb.google.com/keidan.link
Doo dee doo doo doo dee doo doo….
I’m writing this well after the actual events have occurred, and I don’t have any pics to remember it by, so here’s hoping my memory serves me correctly.
Two Saturdays ago I had work. It’s a lot of fun to work on Saturday. I’d highly recommend it. In the evening I went to Anton’s place, bring my effects, but not my hat. After dinner we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean in Nara. It was in English, hurrah, with Japanese subtitles (Me and Anton still don’t know how they managed to translate "Savvy?"). The theatre was small and very level compared to Canadian theatres. Seats are reserved, so no looking about trying to commandeer the best seats. As for the movie, not as good as the first, but still very good, with some excellent scenes, to be sure! However, it was probably not the most opportune moment to go; most trains stopped before the movie ended, so we only made it to Saidaiji station and had to take a cab the rest of the way.
The next day we got up early and went down to Wakayama to meet Keith. Taking advantage of the Everything’s Free in Wakayama train station policy to get to Keith’s station nearly free of charge. We went for breakfast #2 at the station, I had kekko desu ("I’m fine as I am thanks"), which has been the subject of many jokes directed at me since. Thank you Anton and Keith, my revenge will be swift and painful.
Then we headed to Isonura beach to rent some surfboards. The two rental shops, however, were both sold out! So we passed by a reggae bar, basically an old bus transformed into a… bar… painted in yellow and green with a Jamaican flag and reggae playing. The young dudes running the bar agree to rent us their surfboards, 4h for 2600 yen each, not too shabby, apparently we got 400 yen off the normal price cause we were so cool and hip and rad and stuff.
Surfing was a lot of fun, the water wasn’t too cold, and there were hundreds of surfers out there. To be fair, I sucked. It’s hard just getting out far enough, with the waves pulling you back towards the shore, especially for someone with no mass like me. Once out there though, it’s good, I was able to catch a wave quite easily, standing up was another matter. But still managed to a few times, for a few seconds, woohoo!
After a few hours I got cold and hungry and tired, (and I was a little bit wet) so I decided to head back and get changed. While waiting for Anton and Keith I hung with the Jamaicans, one guy knew a little bit of English… The conversation started out good, but eventually, without getting into too much detail, got a bit interesting, and some of the questions I got asked were… lacking good grammar and perhaps decency.
Anton and Keith arrived back, showered, changed, etc, then we went back to Wakayama. Where we had an crazy older lady, who ran a restaurant, pressuring us to come in. Anton and Keith wanted ramen, so they were reluctant at first. I was reluctant because there was a crazy older lady pressuring me into her store. But we finally broke down (pwned as Anton called it) and went in. We got the special I think? Pasta with ham and shrimp, and the lady talking to us the whole time we were eating. Eventually she went to a nearby restaurant and bought a plate of sushi, brought it to our table, and sat down and started sharing it with us. Which is very odd… But she didn’t charge us for it, and even gave us a bit of a discount on our meal. We eventually left (in my case, escaped) because I had to make it home for shower curfew.
And that was the exciting weekend. On Tuesday we went to Osaka to see the fireworks for Tenjin Matsuri. Unfortunately, with me being the only one on time, we missed them. But not totally a waste, had to meet Keith anyway, and we went for dinner for okonomiyaki and kekko desu. Anton and Keith bought beer off some attractive girls in bathing suits. And then I went home.
More to come on my Tokyo adventure, but that’s later, cause I’m too tired to write it tonight, and the cicadas will inevitably wake me up too early tomorrow.
And pics of Tokyo are up on my web album. picasaweb.google.com/keidan.link
Friday, July 14, 2006
May the Forces of Evil Become Confused on the Way to Your House
Still and quiet feline form,
In the sun, asleep and warm.
His tail is limp his
Whiskers drooped.
Man, what could make
This cat so pooped?
Wow, gotta start writing earlier so I don’t forget stuff… It has been a busy week since the last time I blogged. And yes, once again I filled my quota for meeting random older men this week. But that’s later on!
Friday was a bit uneventful, I stayed in and relaxed. It was nice. I played video games and chatted on MSN… mmm Playstation emulators. Early to rise Saturday morning, I was off to have fun and excitement in Osaka! I met with Keith and Tyson (a fellow CJP member) at Tennoji station, and we decided to check out the Umeda Sky Building. Very cool looking building, you can go up a great glass elevator 35 floors, then take an escalator (which has nothing beneath it) up another 4 floors. Not a bad view from up there, unfortunately the view from the roof is a bit obstructed (you’re not allowed at the very edge). Got some ok photos though. We ate in the basement… udon and sashimi and other stuff.
Next we were off to meet Tongxin and Boon-hau. After a quick stop at Daiso (100Yen Shop (Dollar Store)), which has the super annoying MIDI music I hear in my office on Thursday afternoons, we went to Tongxin’s flat to wait for Boon-hau. Tongxin has quite a nice place, with her own bathroom! Plus a little loft area above her livin room. I’m jealous.
After Boon-hau arrived we went to the shrine right near Tongxin’s place. She’s been here a month and hadn’t been there yet. There was quite the path behind the temple, we decided to hike it up there. Took us about two hours and 15 bug bites for me to get up, boy was I hurting the next day! Allergic to mosquitoes sucks, I just hope I never get stung by a bee. And it was hot too, we were really hoping for a vending machine on the top… since they have vending machines everywhere. On a side note, climbing up Fushimi Inari shrine is quite the hike… and yet they have cigarette vending machines halfway up. So if you’re out of breath and really need a smoke :P. Anyway, we were outta luck, but we got a good view of Osaka from the top.
It took us way less time down… maybe 30 minutes max. After a quick stop for popsicles at Tongxin’s we went to an isakaya for dinner. The outside was quite interesting, it was shaped like a pirate ship (niiice). Inside, we got the top floor entirely to ourselves, it was pretty early, and the owner/waiter person was quite nice, helping us with the menu. We order drinks, and he explains some of the stuff on the menu. We end up getting… let me think. A Pirate Salad which is mostly various sashimi, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, yakitori, and Tyson decides it’s a fine time to order a plate of horse sashimi. Yes, that’s right… I had to try some just to say I had. Very interesting texture and flavor, I don’t know how to describe it. Not bad tho, but expensive.
Anyway, the owner guy saw that I was very quiet and polite, and wanted to be specifically my friend. I shook his hand and said Ok! He was also impressed that I sat in seiza position for the entire meal. Not many people can pull that off apparently (least without hurting themselves), but I have no problems with it. But you all know I’m not exactly normal anyways. So yeah, obviously my friends wanted me to get my picture taken with him. Yes, I know I’m not looking at the camera, but there were 4 cameras going off at once and I had no idea who was going when. We get a group picture too, but not on my camera, sorry. After I head back to my place in Kyoto, and made shower curfew by literally a minute! Which was very lucky, after the sweating and the bugs and the sweating.
- - -- --- ----- -------- ------------- ---------------------
Onto Sunday I guess… after spending half the morning deciding whether I should bother goin out or not, I decide I might as well… so I get to the grocery store and decide to get food and go home. It was very hot, and I figured studying my Japanese would be the most useful way to spend the day.
That was until I talked to Anton, who wanted to go exploring and practice his mad Photography Skillz in Kyoto. So I headed down to Takanohara first, so we could go Yukata shopping. Unfortunately for me, they only had one style left for guys’ yukatas, so Anton got his, and I’m going back to get mine tomorrow (Got it! Picture up later!) when they get more stock in. So after we head to downtown Kyoto.
So we get off at Shijo station and walk through one of the back streets looking for a place to eat. Not finding anywhere cheap we settle for (yes Erin, it’s true) Wendy’s. It was not bad, got a bacon cheeseburger, nice to have something familiar. And mmm bacon. So then we check out the Gion area, against my better judgement (still scared of the English prof). Not too lively for a Saturday night, I imagine it’ll change this weekend though! Mmm, Gion Matsuri! But I’ll discuss that later.
Heading back to downtown we saw the ultimo in cool. What the hell, my Word 97 has the word Ultimo (which is apparently a suburb in Sydney!) but not popsicles, or terraform, or Wendy’s! Anyway, Ultimo in Cool! Yeah, we see a large old American car (sorry, don’t know my cars, couldn’t tell you what kind). Anton stops to take a picture, and the driver, a young Japanese guy, sees us, and turns on the hydraulics! Didn’t expect to see that in Japan! A few minutes later we see another guy that had pimped his ride, with lights all around, and a laptop mounted on the front playin some American hiphop (sorry, don’t know my American hiphop, couldn’t tell you what artist). He was wearing a red jacket with a leopard print on It I think? Oh yeah, his ride was a bicycle!
So we decide to check out the river. There’s an area right beside the river, and at the time an amateur jazz band was playing. We take a few pictures and walk down a bit further, where there’s girls in yukata and guys not in yukata lighting off some fireworks! They start talking to us. And by us I mean Anton, since I’m inarticulate in the ways of Japanese. Oddly enough I can understand waaaay more than I can speak, while Anton claims the opposite for him. Anyway, after talkin for a bit, we part ways, and we head back up to downtown, passing by a Jamaican guy playing the drums.
We got drinks at a vending machine. Anton got a fruity rainbow drink outside a place that sells… Canadian whiskey, among other things. And then we went in search of pizza. Not having any clue, we ask a guy at a convenience store if there’s a pizza place nearby, and he says the closest one is a 30 minute walk. Then I start thinking… I kinda know where we are, and I thought there was a pizza place maybe 15 minutes away max. So I start leading the way, only to get to the exact store I was thinkin of 2 minutes later ><. Dunno what the guy at the convenience store was thinking. Anyway, it sure wasn’t Pizza Hut, thin crust, no grease, I was kinda disappointed. Oh well.We head back home, I’m always a fan of making shower curfew, so people don’t have to smell me.
- - -- --- ----- -------- ------------- ---------------------
Muuuuuchos other stuff new. Work is going much better recently, I’ve got a lot more to do. Monday was brutal, with the meeting lasting nearly 3 hours. But afterwards I actually got some work done! I’ve actually been fairly busy since Friday, measuring tooth impedance and graphing the data. I actually find it fairly interesting.
Wake Up Neo. The Matrix Has You.
So I finally downloaded Skype yesterday. I’ve been talking to my parents a bit on MSN, and I have a webcam, but unfortunately their microphone isn’t working. Doing my research on USB connections I think I know why that is, but anyway. So I figured I’d phone em. I was talking to my mom on MSN before I called, then as I called I typed "Ring Ring"… assuming she’d get the point and answer the phone. But nooooo… so the answering machine picks up, and I say "Ring Ring"… still nothing! My mommy is funny. Was nice to call home though, talked for 45 minutes, and it cost me a whole 75 pence! I expect compensation when I return.
Hmm, future plans… Gion Matsuri on the weekend, sounds like Anton’s place is gonna be absolutely squished to the max. The festival should be quite fun. I’m thinking of going to a concert on Saturday though… mmm Coldplay. Just gotta figure out how to buy a ticket. Going to get my Yukata tomorrow, then me and Anton are going to an isakaya with Uncle Masa (which we did, was alright, nothin interesting to tell really).
Pirates comes out a week from Saturday, definitely gonna see it the first day! I hear it broke some major records, rather impressive. Then that Sunday we’re thinking of goin surfing in Wakayama.The following weekend is a five day weekend for me, company holiday! I’m thinking of going down to Tokyo for a few days, since I haven’t been yet. So if anyone is able to put me up for a few days, let me know, that’d be excellent!
Then the next weekend is Byron’s first week in Japan! Then the next weekend is Obon week, with a potential Okinawa trip in the works, or a super massive rock concert if that falls through. Then the next weekend is Fuji-san!!! Wow, that’s a month and a half of fully booked weekends ahead!
I’ll probably post this in the morning, got pics to upload first, and links to add, and other stuff. Like pie. And my online photo album will be up soon I hope. Depends on the lack of sleep this weekend!
In the sun, asleep and warm.
His tail is limp his
Whiskers drooped.
Man, what could make
This cat so pooped?
Wow, gotta start writing earlier so I don’t forget stuff… It has been a busy week since the last time I blogged. And yes, once again I filled my quota for meeting random older men this week. But that’s later on!
Friday was a bit uneventful, I stayed in and relaxed. It was nice. I played video games and chatted on MSN… mmm Playstation emulators. Early to rise Saturday morning, I was off to have fun and excitement in Osaka! I met with Keith and Tyson (a fellow CJP member) at Tennoji station, and we decided to check out the Umeda Sky Building. Very cool looking building, you can go up a great glass elevator 35 floors, then take an escalator (which has nothing beneath it) up another 4 floors. Not a bad view from up there, unfortunately the view from the roof is a bit obstructed (you’re not allowed at the very edge). Got some ok photos though. We ate in the basement… udon and sashimi and other stuff.
Next we were off to meet Tongxin and Boon-hau. After a quick stop at Daiso (100Yen Shop (Dollar Store)), which has the super annoying MIDI music I hear in my office on Thursday afternoons, we went to Tongxin’s flat to wait for Boon-hau. Tongxin has quite a nice place, with her own bathroom! Plus a little loft area above her livin room. I’m jealous.
After Boon-hau arrived we went to the shrine right near Tongxin’s place. She’s been here a month and hadn’t been there yet. There was quite the path behind the temple, we decided to hike it up there. Took us about two hours and 15 bug bites for me to get up, boy was I hurting the next day! Allergic to mosquitoes sucks, I just hope I never get stung by a bee. And it was hot too, we were really hoping for a vending machine on the top… since they have vending machines everywhere. On a side note, climbing up Fushimi Inari shrine is quite the hike… and yet they have cigarette vending machines halfway up. So if you’re out of breath and really need a smoke :P. Anyway, we were outta luck, but we got a good view of Osaka from the top.
It took us way less time down… maybe 30 minutes max. After a quick stop for popsicles at Tongxin’s we went to an isakaya for dinner. The outside was quite interesting, it was shaped like a pirate ship (niiice). Inside, we got the top floor entirely to ourselves, it was pretty early, and the owner/waiter person was quite nice, helping us with the menu. We order drinks, and he explains some of the stuff on the menu. We end up getting… let me think. A Pirate Salad which is mostly various sashimi, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, yakitori, and Tyson decides it’s a fine time to order a plate of horse sashimi. Yes, that’s right… I had to try some just to say I had. Very interesting texture and flavor, I don’t know how to describe it. Not bad tho, but expensive.
Anyway, the owner guy saw that I was very quiet and polite, and wanted to be specifically my friend. I shook his hand and said Ok! He was also impressed that I sat in seiza position for the entire meal. Not many people can pull that off apparently (least without hurting themselves), but I have no problems with it. But you all know I’m not exactly normal anyways. So yeah, obviously my friends wanted me to get my picture taken with him. Yes, I know I’m not looking at the camera, but there were 4 cameras going off at once and I had no idea who was going when. We get a group picture too, but not on my camera, sorry. After I head back to my place in Kyoto, and made shower curfew by literally a minute! Which was very lucky, after the sweating and the bugs and the sweating.
- - -- --- ----- -------- ------------- ---------------------
Onto Sunday I guess… after spending half the morning deciding whether I should bother goin out or not, I decide I might as well… so I get to the grocery store and decide to get food and go home. It was very hot, and I figured studying my Japanese would be the most useful way to spend the day.
That was until I talked to Anton, who wanted to go exploring and practice his mad Photography Skillz in Kyoto. So I headed down to Takanohara first, so we could go Yukata shopping. Unfortunately for me, they only had one style left for guys’ yukatas, so Anton got his, and I’m going back to get mine tomorrow (Got it! Picture up later!) when they get more stock in. So after we head to downtown Kyoto.
So we get off at Shijo station and walk through one of the back streets looking for a place to eat. Not finding anywhere cheap we settle for (yes Erin, it’s true) Wendy’s. It was not bad, got a bacon cheeseburger, nice to have something familiar. And mmm bacon. So then we check out the Gion area, against my better judgement (still scared of the English prof). Not too lively for a Saturday night, I imagine it’ll change this weekend though! Mmm, Gion Matsuri! But I’ll discuss that later.
Heading back to downtown we saw the ultimo in cool. What the hell, my Word 97 has the word Ultimo (which is apparently a suburb in Sydney!) but not popsicles, or terraform, or Wendy’s! Anyway, Ultimo in Cool! Yeah, we see a large old American car (sorry, don’t know my cars, couldn’t tell you what kind). Anton stops to take a picture, and the driver, a young Japanese guy, sees us, and turns on the hydraulics! Didn’t expect to see that in Japan! A few minutes later we see another guy that had pimped his ride, with lights all around, and a laptop mounted on the front playin some American hiphop (sorry, don’t know my American hiphop, couldn’t tell you what artist). He was wearing a red jacket with a leopard print on It I think? Oh yeah, his ride was a bicycle!
So we decide to check out the river. There’s an area right beside the river, and at the time an amateur jazz band was playing. We take a few pictures and walk down a bit further, where there’s girls in yukata and guys not in yukata lighting off some fireworks! They start talking to us. And by us I mean Anton, since I’m inarticulate in the ways of Japanese. Oddly enough I can understand waaaay more than I can speak, while Anton claims the opposite for him. Anyway, after talkin for a bit, we part ways, and we head back up to downtown, passing by a Jamaican guy playing the drums.
We got drinks at a vending machine. Anton got a fruity rainbow drink outside a place that sells… Canadian whiskey, among other things. And then we went in search of pizza. Not having any clue, we ask a guy at a convenience store if there’s a pizza place nearby, and he says the closest one is a 30 minute walk. Then I start thinking… I kinda know where we are, and I thought there was a pizza place maybe 15 minutes away max. So I start leading the way, only to get to the exact store I was thinkin of 2 minutes later ><. Dunno what the guy at the convenience store was thinking. Anyway, it sure wasn’t Pizza Hut, thin crust, no grease, I was kinda disappointed. Oh well.We head back home, I’m always a fan of making shower curfew, so people don’t have to smell me.
- - -- --- ----- -------- ------------- ---------------------
Muuuuuchos other stuff new. Work is going much better recently, I’ve got a lot more to do. Monday was brutal, with the meeting lasting nearly 3 hours. But afterwards I actually got some work done! I’ve actually been fairly busy since Friday, measuring tooth impedance and graphing the data. I actually find it fairly interesting.
Wake Up Neo. The Matrix Has You.
So I finally downloaded Skype yesterday. I’ve been talking to my parents a bit on MSN, and I have a webcam, but unfortunately their microphone isn’t working. Doing my research on USB connections I think I know why that is, but anyway. So I figured I’d phone em. I was talking to my mom on MSN before I called, then as I called I typed "Ring Ring"… assuming she’d get the point and answer the phone. But nooooo… so the answering machine picks up, and I say "Ring Ring"… still nothing! My mommy is funny. Was nice to call home though, talked for 45 minutes, and it cost me a whole 75 pence! I expect compensation when I return.
Hmm, future plans… Gion Matsuri on the weekend, sounds like Anton’s place is gonna be absolutely squished to the max. The festival should be quite fun. I’m thinking of going to a concert on Saturday though… mmm Coldplay. Just gotta figure out how to buy a ticket. Going to get my Yukata tomorrow, then me and Anton are going to an isakaya with Uncle Masa (which we did, was alright, nothin interesting to tell really).
Pirates comes out a week from Saturday, definitely gonna see it the first day! I hear it broke some major records, rather impressive. Then that Sunday we’re thinking of goin surfing in Wakayama.The following weekend is a five day weekend for me, company holiday! I’m thinking of going down to Tokyo for a few days, since I haven’t been yet. So if anyone is able to put me up for a few days, let me know, that’d be excellent!
Then the next weekend is Byron’s first week in Japan! Then the next weekend is Obon week, with a potential Okinawa trip in the works, or a super massive rock concert if that falls through. Then the next weekend is Fuji-san!!! Wow, that’s a month and a half of fully booked weekends ahead!
I’ll probably post this in the morning, got pics to upload first, and links to add, and other stuff. Like pie. And my online photo album will be up soon I hope. Depends on the lack of sleep this weekend!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Weekends Don’t Count Unless You Spend Them Doing Something Completely Pointless
I made a big decision a little while ago.
I don't remember what it was, which prob'ly goes to show
That many times a simple choice can prove to be essential
Even though it often might appear inconsequential.
- Watterson
So another fun weekend has passed, and once again, I get to brag bout the wild and crazy events that took place! And then since it’s three weeks today that I arrived in Japan, I shall update with my thoughts and impressions.
Ok, onto Osaka Adventure Vol 2!!!!! And there was much rejoicing.
Saturday morning started exactly the same as last Saturday morning… well, besides meeting Uncle Masa… I met Anton in Nara at 10 in the morning and we both went down to Osaka. At Kyobashi Station, we ran into a slight snag in our plans; We had arranged to meet Keith, Boon-hau, and Tongxin here at 11, but failed to realize the size of the station. Me and Anton split up, and Keith managed to find me, and fortunately when Anton returned we spotted the other two as well.
Tongxin wanted a camera, so we decided to go to Nipponbashi quick before we had to meet Vincent. Wandered around in the stores there, and since I was wearing a red shirt in front of a red Vodafone booth with a red phone, I may as well advertise for them.
Off to Osaka station, a little late at this time, and a little lost too. After taking the wrong train, we arrived 40 minutes late. Luckily Vincent was still waiting for us (Sorry bout that Vincent), so finally we were all together. Now for the adventure to start! If only we had a plan…
Everyone was very hungry, so we decided to find somewhere to eat. We found a food court type place, and looked at all the restaurants. There was what appeared to be an All You Can Eat Desserts restaurant… 90 minutes to consume all the sugar you can… I must take note of this. We went to a smaller place where you sit at a counter to eat… we all got the same thing ><. So we got some stares and laughs from the other customers, but it was all good. Went for dessert at a café a few doors down (sadly not the all you can eat place), got some cake, and Keith, well, the cake came with a plastic wrapping around it…
Anton took a picture of the girl that worked there. He seems to take pictures of everything, which means he’s slow at processing and uploading everything, which means it takes me longer to steal his pictures!!! Dang him!!! Nah, I’m very grateful that he’s letting me borrow them for my blog.
We explored the nearby mall. And then I heard what I had been waiting for since the first week in Japan… they were playing Funkytown o.O. Craaazy… Then we started heading back to Nipponbashi (Tongxin still needed her camera), but we got distracted by arcades. Keith and Boon-hau battled to the virtual death at Dragonball, and Keith won… before he was challenged by a Japanese Highschooler!! Boon-hau took over for Keith, and was beaten, but it was a close match. Though the student may have just been playing with Boon-hau o.O.
We took some pictures in the picture booth and then spent a good five minutes decorating them all… unfortunately they turned out very very small when they printed. Vincent played some Initial D racing, and Tongxin and Vincent played the drum game. Vincent’s a madman, he’s very good. It was around 5:30 around this time, so it was time to head to the big event.
Anton and I saw a band called Kaede playing near Osaka station last week (I may have blogged about it), and they were playing again this weekend! So we decided to check it out. In classic Link and Anton style, all we had to go by was the name of the place they were playing, Esaka Muse, and the time (Anton forgot the map). So we headed to Esaka station and asked one of the workers for assistance. Took the guy 5 minutes to find the place on the map, but was eventually able to help us.
Esaka Muse was basically the fifth floor of some sort of store maybe? We get up there, looks pretty small, there’s a dozen young Japanese guys hanging around. And we’re a gang of six gaijin… we got some looks yes. We go up to the counter, and I’m not sure exactly what the conversation was, but apparently it was more expensive than we thought, 30 bucks a ticket since we didn’t have reservations. But fortunately, the guitarist from Kaede, Atsushi, recognized me and Anton, so we got a reservation and 5 bucks off the ticket price.
Now, we weren’t sure what we were getting into exactly, we weren’t really expecting a concert to be held on the fifth floor of a store… Anton and I were up for anything as usual, but we would have felt bad if this was not a concert, and the others paid for nothing. Buuut…
We go inside, there’s a small stage (good sign), about 5 small tables, and a counter around the back corner with a bar. There’s probably 15 or so people inside, me and Anton were (of course) the only white guys. And we were pretty fly… or something. Anton proposed a toast for being the first white people to set foot there… which may or may not be true, but this was an extremely out of the way place, not a tourist attraction whatsoever. It was a place for indie bands to start out, basically, so most people in the audience were either very big fans, or friends of the band.
The first band were quite good. Their name was Re:ing (which doesn’t make sense to me either)… and according to their sticker, they advertise themselves as "Non Genre Pop" (I always thought pop was a genre, but what do I know). The band was made up of three guys, guitarist, bassist, and drummer, and they were quite good. Keith bought their CD.
Nobody was super close to the stage at this point… except for one brave soul. He was getting his groove on pretty good, dancing close to the stage with some very good moves! I was jealous of his mad skillz. Oh, perhaps I should mention, he was about 5 feet tall, and about 65 years old. The bands and the fans were very nice to him! Anton got a photo of him while he was taking a break… Some of the younger guys were copying his dancing moves too.
The second group (don’t remember the name) was decent, but waaay too American influenced… Every song the girl singer would shout "What! What! What!…". Very dumb, that’s what, but I guess to be expected. American music is everywhere in Japan, and not necessarily the good music either. Third band was better than the first two, they were called Wedding… (Yes, I use a lot of … when I type, but that’s actually part of their band name). The lead singer, female, had a very good voice. Anton and Boon-hau each got one of their singles CDs.
Yay! Kaede is next! By far the crowd favorite, people were standing right next to the stage, and kinda punching the air while cheering, guess that’s the thing to do here. And three guys were getting a little… rambunctious? But that’s the thing to do at rock concerts everywhere. Anyway, Kaede played really well, even coming out for an Ankoru (encore)!
When we left the concert Chii was in the lobby area. She remembered us from last week, and thanked us for coming, and we got a group picture!
This is getting very long… like Anton’s blog long almost, and I’ve only wrote about Saturday, so I’ll speed through the next part. We went for dinner at a Ramen place, and the only eventful thing was while we were waiting to be seated. A nice looking Japanese girl was leaving the restaurant, and just as she passed us, Anton said, mostly to himself, "She’s cute!"… The girl turns around, smiles, and thanks him!
Anyway, Boon-hau and Tongxin left to go to their dorms, and we headed back to Anton’s place in Nara. Got to the stop 2 stations from Anton’s and the trains had stopped, so we had to cab it home.
I shall return with installment two shortly, perhaps later tonight, so stay tuned!
Mmm Japanese Jolly Ranchers.
I don't remember what it was, which prob'ly goes to show
That many times a simple choice can prove to be essential
Even though it often might appear inconsequential.
- Watterson
So another fun weekend has passed, and once again, I get to brag bout the wild and crazy events that took place! And then since it’s three weeks today that I arrived in Japan, I shall update with my thoughts and impressions.
Ok, onto Osaka Adventure Vol 2!!!!! And there was much rejoicing.
Saturday morning started exactly the same as last Saturday morning… well, besides meeting Uncle Masa… I met Anton in Nara at 10 in the morning and we both went down to Osaka. At Kyobashi Station, we ran into a slight snag in our plans; We had arranged to meet Keith, Boon-hau, and Tongxin here at 11, but failed to realize the size of the station. Me and Anton split up, and Keith managed to find me, and fortunately when Anton returned we spotted the other two as well.
Tongxin wanted a camera, so we decided to go to Nipponbashi quick before we had to meet Vincent. Wandered around in the stores there, and since I was wearing a red shirt in front of a red Vodafone booth with a red phone, I may as well advertise for them.
Off to Osaka station, a little late at this time, and a little lost too. After taking the wrong train, we arrived 40 minutes late. Luckily Vincent was still waiting for us (Sorry bout that Vincent), so finally we were all together. Now for the adventure to start! If only we had a plan…
Everyone was very hungry, so we decided to find somewhere to eat. We found a food court type place, and looked at all the restaurants. There was what appeared to be an All You Can Eat Desserts restaurant… 90 minutes to consume all the sugar you can… I must take note of this. We went to a smaller place where you sit at a counter to eat… we all got the same thing ><. So we got some stares and laughs from the other customers, but it was all good. Went for dessert at a café a few doors down (sadly not the all you can eat place), got some cake, and Keith, well, the cake came with a plastic wrapping around it…
Anton took a picture of the girl that worked there. He seems to take pictures of everything, which means he’s slow at processing and uploading everything, which means it takes me longer to steal his pictures!!! Dang him!!! Nah, I’m very grateful that he’s letting me borrow them for my blog.
We explored the nearby mall. And then I heard what I had been waiting for since the first week in Japan… they were playing Funkytown o.O. Craaazy… Then we started heading back to Nipponbashi (Tongxin still needed her camera), but we got distracted by arcades. Keith and Boon-hau battled to the virtual death at Dragonball, and Keith won… before he was challenged by a Japanese Highschooler!! Boon-hau took over for Keith, and was beaten, but it was a close match. Though the student may have just been playing with Boon-hau o.O.
We took some pictures in the picture booth and then spent a good five minutes decorating them all… unfortunately they turned out very very small when they printed. Vincent played some Initial D racing, and Tongxin and Vincent played the drum game. Vincent’s a madman, he’s very good. It was around 5:30 around this time, so it was time to head to the big event.
Anton and I saw a band called Kaede playing near Osaka station last week (I may have blogged about it), and they were playing again this weekend! So we decided to check it out. In classic Link and Anton style, all we had to go by was the name of the place they were playing, Esaka Muse, and the time (Anton forgot the map). So we headed to Esaka station and asked one of the workers for assistance. Took the guy 5 minutes to find the place on the map, but was eventually able to help us.
Esaka Muse was basically the fifth floor of some sort of store maybe? We get up there, looks pretty small, there’s a dozen young Japanese guys hanging around. And we’re a gang of six gaijin… we got some looks yes. We go up to the counter, and I’m not sure exactly what the conversation was, but apparently it was more expensive than we thought, 30 bucks a ticket since we didn’t have reservations. But fortunately, the guitarist from Kaede, Atsushi, recognized me and Anton, so we got a reservation and 5 bucks off the ticket price.
Now, we weren’t sure what we were getting into exactly, we weren’t really expecting a concert to be held on the fifth floor of a store… Anton and I were up for anything as usual, but we would have felt bad if this was not a concert, and the others paid for nothing. Buuut…
We go inside, there’s a small stage (good sign), about 5 small tables, and a counter around the back corner with a bar. There’s probably 15 or so people inside, me and Anton were (of course) the only white guys. And we were pretty fly… or something. Anton proposed a toast for being the first white people to set foot there… which may or may not be true, but this was an extremely out of the way place, not a tourist attraction whatsoever. It was a place for indie bands to start out, basically, so most people in the audience were either very big fans, or friends of the band.
The first band were quite good. Their name was Re:ing (which doesn’t make sense to me either)… and according to their sticker, they advertise themselves as "Non Genre Pop" (I always thought pop was a genre, but what do I know). The band was made up of three guys, guitarist, bassist, and drummer, and they were quite good. Keith bought their CD.
Nobody was super close to the stage at this point… except for one brave soul. He was getting his groove on pretty good, dancing close to the stage with some very good moves! I was jealous of his mad skillz. Oh, perhaps I should mention, he was about 5 feet tall, and about 65 years old. The bands and the fans were very nice to him! Anton got a photo of him while he was taking a break… Some of the younger guys were copying his dancing moves too.
The second group (don’t remember the name) was decent, but waaay too American influenced… Every song the girl singer would shout "What! What! What!…". Very dumb, that’s what, but I guess to be expected. American music is everywhere in Japan, and not necessarily the good music either. Third band was better than the first two, they were called Wedding… (Yes, I use a lot of … when I type, but that’s actually part of their band name). The lead singer, female, had a very good voice. Anton and Boon-hau each got one of their singles CDs.
Yay! Kaede is next! By far the crowd favorite, people were standing right next to the stage, and kinda punching the air while cheering, guess that’s the thing to do here. And three guys were getting a little… rambunctious? But that’s the thing to do at rock concerts everywhere. Anyway, Kaede played really well, even coming out for an Ankoru (encore)!
When we left the concert Chii was in the lobby area. She remembered us from last week, and thanked us for coming, and we got a group picture!
This is getting very long… like Anton’s blog long almost, and I’ve only wrote about Saturday, so I’ll speed through the next part. We went for dinner at a Ramen place, and the only eventful thing was while we were waiting to be seated. A nice looking Japanese girl was leaving the restaurant, and just as she passed us, Anton said, mostly to himself, "She’s cute!"… The girl turns around, smiles, and thanks him!
Anyway, Boon-hau and Tongxin left to go to their dorms, and we headed back to Anton’s place in Nara. Got to the stop 2 stations from Anton’s and the trains had stopped, so we had to cab it home.
I shall return with installment two shortly, perhaps later tonight, so stay tuned!
Mmm Japanese Jolly Ranchers.
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Conversational Equivalent of an Out of Body Experience
I think I felt an earthquake yesterday! I was on a pedestrian overpass, next to a train station, listening to a rock band perform, with people jumping up and down… hmm, maybe it wasn’t an earthquake o.O.
But anyway, that’s later on, I prefer to write my adventures in semi-chronological order so as not to confuse anyone (including myself).
First, I should mention work this past week… but not too in depth, I don’t want to violate the confidentiality agreement in my contract (or bore you all, this blog will be loooong)… I have 4 themes I’ll be working with during my 10 months here, and the first is improving upon a video memory circuit board. Only I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing. My first assignment is to check over the board, the circuitry, the signal, the VHDL code… only it’s not a very big job for the time I’m given to work on it. So maybe I’m doing something wrong? Or maybe I’m just prostar? I’ll let you all decide! I’m also helping a co-worker on one of his assignments, which involves me analyzing a nasty circuit diagram and figuring out what’s goin on.
Had another Monday meeting today, which means sitting for two hours, listening to things I can’t understand, and mostly trying not to sleep. Also, I’m supposed to describe what I did the past week (in Japanese).
Work’s not bad, it seems very independent, so I’m never sure if I’m going about it the right way. Anyway, not much happens after work during the week, I get home between 5:30 and 6. They tell me to leave if I’m not gone by then, not like poor Anton, who works till 9 every night. I have decided to devote 1-2 hours every night to learning Japanese… and I try to learn a bit at work too online.
Now to the good part of my blog… Osaka Adventure Vol. 1!
On Saturday Anton and I, armed with everything but my camera and a plan (both would have been good to have), went to Osaka for the day! First off, I would like to give a big thanks to Mr. Anton for letting me steal his pictures for my own use! So anyone reading the planetcjp blog gets to see the amazing pictures twice, lucky you!
We decided to meet in Nara instead of Osaka, seeing as how neither of us know Osaka at all, and didn’t want to get separated before we even met. So I went down to Yamato-sadaiji station and then we both headed towards Osaka.
We had our first… umm… experience?… within a few minutes of leaving; an older man (probably 50ish) started talking to us on the train, practicing his English. He asked where we were from, where we worked, our hobbies, all good. He said he had been to Canada (Banff of course). Eventually the topic turned to Onsen (for those who don’t know, Onsen are hot springs that you basically go in to bathe… naked… with other people. They’re supposed to be really good, and I’ll have to try one sometime.) . The older guy told us he likes to visit the Onsen once a week, and that since Anton lives close, he should come with him sometime! Perhaps on Sunday? He even offered to pick Anton up! Now coming from North America, this seems rather disturbing, but maybe it’s normal in Japan to be asked by strangers to go to Onsen? Thinking of how weird this was kept us laughing all day.
*Note: Asking the people at my dorm, and Anton asking at his work, this is considered weird even for Japan. Just so you know…
Next we went to Nipponbashi, Osaka’s electronics district. Interesting place, saw a store that sold miso paste, another that sold old photographs. We passed by a bookstore, Anton decided to go in. "Seems like most of the books in this store are about travelling" he says… look up, I says. The shelf above is loaded with a lot of porn books. Porn is rather, umm, accessible here. People had stands set up on the street with porn videos. Normal video stores had large cardboard cutouts of the very famous Razor Ramon Hard Gay. And yet, all their porn is censored apparently. Very odd…
We wandered around there in circles for a few hours. Anton needed some camera supplies (lens case and mem card), and he needed to change some dollars to Yen. Not sure where the bank was, he asked a lady at the department store, who was nice enough to take us halfway across the mall to the foreign exchange bank! That’d never happen in Canada. We also found Kitchen Alley (least that’s my name for it)… a long back street with every store selling miscellaneous cooking and kitchen supplies. Anton suggested that if I ever get fired from work (say from breaking the confidentiality clause), I should open up a sausage stand in Kyoto! It’s a great idea of course, Anton even found a good apron for me to wear! He suggested the blue, but I think the orange one woulda been better.
Eventually we decided to head more downtown, to Osaka Station.
This was an excellent idea! Just outside the station, on a large pedestrian overpass, were a couple Japanese rock bands giving a free live show! We stayed to watch for well over an hour (there were 2 bands, not playing at the same time, unlike some places in Japan. Speaking of which, anyone know where the park where all the bands play in is? I love live music (except Country).). Anton took way too many pictures, but got some good shots (below) and I bought the one band’s (Kaede) CD, and even got my picture taken with them! Very cool…
Kaede is having another live show next Saturday in Osaka, me and Anton are thinking of going, if anyone in the Osaka area wants to join…
Next we went for lunch… Anton tried to force me to finish, but as all who know me know, I have a small stomach, /sigh. Was good, I got katsudon, but raw egg tastes a bit weird. Oh yeah, you order by vending machine, then take your ticket to the counter, I thought this was quite cool. Then we went to the Osaka Science Museum, which was a bit lame… not very unique, and we couldn’t read anything anyway. And having taken three years of electrical engineering, I didn’t learn anything. But we got some good pictures (of me sticking my head in a magnetic field).
Near the museum we saw some semi-engrish, the following street sign:
Now at first glance you may think this sign means "Ok, if you’re with children, hold their hand"… but then you notice, hmm, it looks like the girl is either struggling to get away, or perhaps dancing? Her dress is also quite short. Then you notice the weirdest bit; the man has tentacle arms! And they’re unequal length! And what the heck’s he wearing?! No, something’s not right here! Not right at all!!!
Anton says "Some signs are better left uninterpreted." But what’s the fun in that?
Anton wanted to stop at an internet café to check his email, hoping Tongxin (from the Co-op Japan program) emailed him. Tongxin works at Sanyo in Osaka, and she was supposed to have arrived a few days before. We were kinda hoping to meet here in Osaka…
But first, we saw this fancy pants bit of Engrish outside the Metro Media Café:
By the way, the only Special Memories Anton got was getting ripped off…390 yen just to check his email.
Still completely without a (logical/workable/sane) plan, and without an email from Tongxin, we did what any normal person would do… we went to her neighbourhood and try to find her randomly! What? You say that’s not what a normal person would do? You’re right, sue us.
So yeah, after asking around where Sanyo was located, we headed to where we thought Tongxin may be. Got near to the Sanyo building and actually passed by the dormitory… so we went floor by floor seeing if Tongxin’s name was on any of the doors. I told Anton he gets 50 million bonus points if his super Random Meeting Gaijin Powers led us to Tongxin.
No luck at the dorm, but Anton won 30 million a few minutes later: A few doors down was a man outside a restaurant, Anton asked if there were any other Sanyo dorm buildings around. He explained our situation, and it turned out that Tongxin may have been there the previous night! The man knew someone who worked at Sanyo. He called the person, and let Anton talk to her; turns out she knew Tongxin! Wow, the likelyhood of this is… wait! Was there an Infinite Improbability Drive nearby? Was that creepy street sign warning us of Zaphod Beeblebrox? Am I going off on some tangent here?
Anyways, the lady (Tomoe-san) actually came down to the restaurant (she lived close) to talk to us in person. Unfortunately, she couldn’t contact Tongxin and wasn’t able to tell us where she lived (for obvious reasons), but we gave her a note to give to Tongxin. We invited us to have dinner with us, she declined dinner but stayed and talked with us while we ate. She spent nearly 3 hours talking to us, teaching us some Japanese while we helped her practice English. It was very cool.
The restaurant was also quite good, very small, 3 tables and a bar, but extremely nice inside. It’s actually owned by Tomoe-san’s mother in law… even more coincidences! Dinner was the specialty, basically fried, squid filled doughballs. Not really something I’m used to but managed to eat it all, it was pretty good.
By this time it was well after 9, and a long trip back home. I didn’t have much chance meeting curfew even, so I stayed at Anton’s for the night.
Two weeks down, 40 more to go… aaaah, time’s going so fast! So much to do!
Oh, side note, Music in Japan!!!
Music in Japan is quite unique… some of it (J-pop or J-rock) is quite good, but there’s a lot of music borrowed from the US… let me recap the most interesting musical selections.
The Electronics Store Theme Song – Written by the devil maybe? Pure torture!
Auld Lang Syne – Yes the New Year’s Song, I heard it in Joshin (similar to Future Shop in Canada).
Ice Candy! – We saw this ad in a store, it had very annoying music plus one of the weirdest videos ever… and it looped every 10 seconds o.O
My Grandfather’s Clock – In Japanese, playing in my dorm lobby at lunchtime…
And the most important… my office has music playing in the background. A lot of it is American music, minus the actual lyrics (just the music). I’ve heard (at least once):
Culture Club (Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?), Queen, Disney (Whole New World, Under the Sea), Uptown Girls, and the Macarena!
Also, Friday afternoon had me listening to 3 hours of accordion music… /cry.
Second side note, cause Anton forgot... we saw our first really big person on the train in Osaka. He was big enough to be a sumo wrestler... and he had a very funny haircut too! But he was too far away to take a picture...
Third side note, which involves me making a bad joke… but since Anton has already posted it… In Japan, certain train cars are designated as ladies-only during rush hour. As many of you know, there has been a problem with ladies being groped on the train when it’s super busy, so these trains were set up to reduce the problem. This sign is on the platform so people know where the train cars are.
I suggested that that would make a good welcome mat for Anton’s apartment ><.
It’s now Monday night, and the World Cup game is on, Japan vs Australia. Sounds exciting, think I’ll go watch for a bit. Next blog probably next Sunday, after Osaka Adventure Vol 2.
But anyway, that’s later on, I prefer to write my adventures in semi-chronological order so as not to confuse anyone (including myself).
First, I should mention work this past week… but not too in depth, I don’t want to violate the confidentiality agreement in my contract (or bore you all, this blog will be loooong)… I have 4 themes I’ll be working with during my 10 months here, and the first is improving upon a video memory circuit board. Only I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing. My first assignment is to check over the board, the circuitry, the signal, the VHDL code… only it’s not a very big job for the time I’m given to work on it. So maybe I’m doing something wrong? Or maybe I’m just prostar? I’ll let you all decide! I’m also helping a co-worker on one of his assignments, which involves me analyzing a nasty circuit diagram and figuring out what’s goin on.
Had another Monday meeting today, which means sitting for two hours, listening to things I can’t understand, and mostly trying not to sleep. Also, I’m supposed to describe what I did the past week (in Japanese).
Work’s not bad, it seems very independent, so I’m never sure if I’m going about it the right way. Anyway, not much happens after work during the week, I get home between 5:30 and 6. They tell me to leave if I’m not gone by then, not like poor Anton, who works till 9 every night. I have decided to devote 1-2 hours every night to learning Japanese… and I try to learn a bit at work too online.
Now to the good part of my blog… Osaka Adventure Vol. 1!
On Saturday Anton and I, armed with everything but my camera and a plan (both would have been good to have), went to Osaka for the day! First off, I would like to give a big thanks to Mr. Anton for letting me steal his pictures for my own use! So anyone reading the planetcjp blog gets to see the amazing pictures twice, lucky you!
We decided to meet in Nara instead of Osaka, seeing as how neither of us know Osaka at all, and didn’t want to get separated before we even met. So I went down to Yamato-sadaiji station and then we both headed towards Osaka.
We had our first… umm… experience?… within a few minutes of leaving; an older man (probably 50ish) started talking to us on the train, practicing his English. He asked where we were from, where we worked, our hobbies, all good. He said he had been to Canada (Banff of course). Eventually the topic turned to Onsen (for those who don’t know, Onsen are hot springs that you basically go in to bathe… naked… with other people. They’re supposed to be really good, and I’ll have to try one sometime.) . The older guy told us he likes to visit the Onsen once a week, and that since Anton lives close, he should come with him sometime! Perhaps on Sunday? He even offered to pick Anton up! Now coming from North America, this seems rather disturbing, but maybe it’s normal in Japan to be asked by strangers to go to Onsen? Thinking of how weird this was kept us laughing all day.
*Note: Asking the people at my dorm, and Anton asking at his work, this is considered weird even for Japan. Just so you know…
Next we went to Nipponbashi, Osaka’s electronics district. Interesting place, saw a store that sold miso paste, another that sold old photographs. We passed by a bookstore, Anton decided to go in. "Seems like most of the books in this store are about travelling" he says… look up, I says. The shelf above is loaded with a lot of porn books. Porn is rather, umm, accessible here. People had stands set up on the street with porn videos. Normal video stores had large cardboard cutouts of the very famous Razor Ramon Hard Gay. And yet, all their porn is censored apparently. Very odd…
We wandered around there in circles for a few hours. Anton needed some camera supplies (lens case and mem card), and he needed to change some dollars to Yen. Not sure where the bank was, he asked a lady at the department store, who was nice enough to take us halfway across the mall to the foreign exchange bank! That’d never happen in Canada. We also found Kitchen Alley (least that’s my name for it)… a long back street with every store selling miscellaneous cooking and kitchen supplies. Anton suggested that if I ever get fired from work (say from breaking the confidentiality clause), I should open up a sausage stand in Kyoto! It’s a great idea of course, Anton even found a good apron for me to wear! He suggested the blue, but I think the orange one woulda been better.
Eventually we decided to head more downtown, to Osaka Station.
This was an excellent idea! Just outside the station, on a large pedestrian overpass, were a couple Japanese rock bands giving a free live show! We stayed to watch for well over an hour (there were 2 bands, not playing at the same time, unlike some places in Japan. Speaking of which, anyone know where the park where all the bands play in is? I love live music (except Country).). Anton took way too many pictures, but got some good shots (below) and I bought the one band’s (Kaede) CD, and even got my picture taken with them! Very cool…
Kaede is having another live show next Saturday in Osaka, me and Anton are thinking of going, if anyone in the Osaka area wants to join…
Next we went for lunch… Anton tried to force me to finish, but as all who know me know, I have a small stomach, /sigh. Was good, I got katsudon, but raw egg tastes a bit weird. Oh yeah, you order by vending machine, then take your ticket to the counter, I thought this was quite cool. Then we went to the Osaka Science Museum, which was a bit lame… not very unique, and we couldn’t read anything anyway. And having taken three years of electrical engineering, I didn’t learn anything. But we got some good pictures (of me sticking my head in a magnetic field).
Near the museum we saw some semi-engrish, the following street sign:
Now at first glance you may think this sign means "Ok, if you’re with children, hold their hand"… but then you notice, hmm, it looks like the girl is either struggling to get away, or perhaps dancing? Her dress is also quite short. Then you notice the weirdest bit; the man has tentacle arms! And they’re unequal length! And what the heck’s he wearing?! No, something’s not right here! Not right at all!!!
Anton says "Some signs are better left uninterpreted." But what’s the fun in that?
Anton wanted to stop at an internet café to check his email, hoping Tongxin (from the Co-op Japan program) emailed him. Tongxin works at Sanyo in Osaka, and she was supposed to have arrived a few days before. We were kinda hoping to meet here in Osaka…
But first, we saw this fancy pants bit of Engrish outside the Metro Media Café:
By the way, the only Special Memories Anton got was getting ripped off…390 yen just to check his email.
Still completely without a (logical/workable/sane) plan, and without an email from Tongxin, we did what any normal person would do… we went to her neighbourhood and try to find her randomly! What? You say that’s not what a normal person would do? You’re right, sue us.
So yeah, after asking around where Sanyo was located, we headed to where we thought Tongxin may be. Got near to the Sanyo building and actually passed by the dormitory… so we went floor by floor seeing if Tongxin’s name was on any of the doors. I told Anton he gets 50 million bonus points if his super Random Meeting Gaijin Powers led us to Tongxin.
No luck at the dorm, but Anton won 30 million a few minutes later: A few doors down was a man outside a restaurant, Anton asked if there were any other Sanyo dorm buildings around. He explained our situation, and it turned out that Tongxin may have been there the previous night! The man knew someone who worked at Sanyo. He called the person, and let Anton talk to her; turns out she knew Tongxin! Wow, the likelyhood of this is… wait! Was there an Infinite Improbability Drive nearby? Was that creepy street sign warning us of Zaphod Beeblebrox? Am I going off on some tangent here?
Anyways, the lady (Tomoe-san) actually came down to the restaurant (she lived close) to talk to us in person. Unfortunately, she couldn’t contact Tongxin and wasn’t able to tell us where she lived (for obvious reasons), but we gave her a note to give to Tongxin. We invited us to have dinner with us, she declined dinner but stayed and talked with us while we ate. She spent nearly 3 hours talking to us, teaching us some Japanese while we helped her practice English. It was very cool.
The restaurant was also quite good, very small, 3 tables and a bar, but extremely nice inside. It’s actually owned by Tomoe-san’s mother in law… even more coincidences! Dinner was the specialty, basically fried, squid filled doughballs. Not really something I’m used to but managed to eat it all, it was pretty good.
By this time it was well after 9, and a long trip back home. I didn’t have much chance meeting curfew even, so I stayed at Anton’s for the night.
Two weeks down, 40 more to go… aaaah, time’s going so fast! So much to do!
Oh, side note, Music in Japan!!!
Music in Japan is quite unique… some of it (J-pop or J-rock) is quite good, but there’s a lot of music borrowed from the US… let me recap the most interesting musical selections.
The Electronics Store Theme Song – Written by the devil maybe? Pure torture!
Auld Lang Syne – Yes the New Year’s Song, I heard it in Joshin (similar to Future Shop in Canada).
Ice Candy! – We saw this ad in a store, it had very annoying music plus one of the weirdest videos ever… and it looped every 10 seconds o.O
My Grandfather’s Clock – In Japanese, playing in my dorm lobby at lunchtime…
And the most important… my office has music playing in the background. A lot of it is American music, minus the actual lyrics (just the music). I’ve heard (at least once):
Culture Club (Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?), Queen, Disney (Whole New World, Under the Sea), Uptown Girls, and the Macarena!
Also, Friday afternoon had me listening to 3 hours of accordion music… /cry.
Second side note, cause Anton forgot... we saw our first really big person on the train in Osaka. He was big enough to be a sumo wrestler... and he had a very funny haircut too! But he was too far away to take a picture...
Third side note, which involves me making a bad joke… but since Anton has already posted it… In Japan, certain train cars are designated as ladies-only during rush hour. As many of you know, there has been a problem with ladies being groped on the train when it’s super busy, so these trains were set up to reduce the problem. This sign is on the platform so people know where the train cars are.
I suggested that that would make a good welcome mat for Anton’s apartment ><.
It’s now Monday night, and the World Cup game is on, Japan vs Australia. Sounds exciting, think I’ll go watch for a bit. Next blog probably next Sunday, after Osaka Adventure Vol 2.
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