Rick's Hood

Finally made the trip up to Iwaki (Fukushima-ken) to visit Rick on the weekend. Took the 2.5 hour bus ride on Saturday morning. Shortly after I arrived we went to his school where they were busy with preparations for the kids halloween party. He did mention this briefly to me, however I was unaware that there were going to be 135 kids & their parents and that I had been volunteered as be a group leader to take the kids trick-or-treating. Rick & his brother had suitably impressive costumes, sumo wrestler & daikon (Japanese radish) respectively, so I had to be a team player and wear the leftover costume bits, which were a dracula cape & a pumpkinhead hat. So I was the "Pumpkin Vampire", luckily in Japan they don't celebrate halloween so nobody questioned the existence of such a character.

It turned out to be quite fun, we just had to walk around with the kids, make sure they didn't get run over and try to encourage them to say "trick-or-treat" & "thank you". It was very cute, unfortunately I had to hold our teams sign so I wasn't able to take any photos. Then back at the school the kids ate eyeball cupcakes & (real) cockroach jelly, played various games and sang a halloween song. I mostly hung out with this one kid who took a shining to me & some of the teachers Rick works with. Two of them are highly cute but (unfortunately for him) taken. Then it was to an izakaya for after work food & drink.

Sunday was mostly spent in a car as we had to drop his brother of at a nearby town, but he managed to show me a bunch of beaches, a park with a wicked slide & the local look-out mountain where people go to make-out. Iwaki is a nice place, very country & quiet which is good for hanging out, surfing & living the simple life. Some of the beaches are actually pretty good. After visiting two other ones in Japan (Kamakura & Chigasaki) I thought all the beaches here had shitty waves and dirt for sand, but a couple of them in Iwaki are pretty respectable. Made me wish I made the trip out during summer.

So that's that. Eri is back from L.A. so she will stay at my place for a few days and then we're off this weekend to Hakone or Yamanashi. Should be grand.

Iwaki

Van She Dj Mix!!!

I'm really feeling this Van She Tech business, it gives the band an edge that pushes them over the top. Should go far in helping them win over new fans.

Here is a dj mix that was posted on the wonderful French music blog Fluokids. There is some serious heat behind the Modular/Bang Gang/Sydney scene right now, very exciting. Download this mix and enjoy.

Van She Tech - Miam Les Fruits Net Exclusive Mix

Tracklist:

-KIM - Wet n Wild (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
-Surkin - Radio Fireworks (Riot In Belgium Remix)
-Speedcats - Speedcats (James Talk Edit)
-Daft Punk - Around The World (Nicky Vanshe and Dangerous Dan Remix)
-NYPC - Ice Cream (Vans She Tech Spooky Moog Mix)
-Klaxons - Van She Tech dj tool
-Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Weird Science
-I Am Finn - I Love You (Van She Tech remix)
-Donnie Sloan - Call You Up

Lazy & Crazy Weekend

Was burned out from working two jobs & farewell parties by the time the weekend came around so I took it easy... real easy. Eri is in L.A. for work so I basically spent all of Saturday in bed on the internet. Blissfully unproductive.

Then on Saturday met up with Rick, his younger bro, his friend Kimberly, her husband, her friend Gaye, Kumiko, her bro, his friend and Ishmael to head to Yellow nightclub in Nishi-Azabu. The club is awesome & the music was good. Some live act with a dj instead of a drummer. Got a bit loose, had some fun. But as soon as we left the club around 5am some really, really hectic shit went down... really hectic. I didn't get home till about 11am, but I got to see the inside of a Tokyo police station for the first time. Nice!

I can't talk about what happened. It didn't directly concern me but I was forced to get involved. It's all sorted out now and everyone is fine. Sunday dissappeared cause I slept through all the daylight. Went for a drive to Tokyo station to drop Rick at the bus station, hung out at Kumiko's playing this crazy stupid game Loco Roco and then back home for some more net action. Killed more than a few hours looking at the Bang Gang site and then trawling through MySpace looking at all the cool people's profiles.

I finally kind of see why the site is useful, originally I thought it was just for wankers to look cool & musicians to promote themselves but now I see the value. Primarily it appeals to people's vanity but it is useful for contacting friends you wouldn't normally contact otherwise, finding people you used to know and keeping up to date on music news & gigs. Also things like Pedestrian TV are interesting. So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and made a profile. Nothing too fancy, because I still think it's a bit wanky.

It's amazing to see what's going on in the music scene back home, bands are blowing up!!! I'm impressed by what the groups like the Valentino's, Midnight Juggernauts & Riot in Belgium etc and buddy djs like John Glover & Moe are up to. Dude's are taking over! I never appreciated how good the music scene is in Sydney, there is so much going on musically and with all the different clubs, gigs, & festivals there really is a lot of opportunity for musicians to make a living. A good one too. Makes me wish I had talent cause it is a really cool lifestyle. Parties, girls, good times & money. Great.

Anyway this video of an Indian Michael Jackson will make you smile and feel better about your own life.

This is where i work at night

Making this night panorama proved suprisingly difficult due to the lighting and the different colours. I had to take the photos from close to the intersection so there is a tilt on the buildings, but you get the idea.

That floor with the lights on is where the magic happens. In contrast to my other job, the Japanese manager at NOVA told me I am the staff's hero because all the students want to take my lessons. I was suprised but I'll take the compliment, it's nice to be valued.

Also good luck to Tomek (who is officially too cool to be my friend anymore) & Van She who are on tour through the US & the UK. They've been killing it with all these remixes that I love. Hope it all goes well.

New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream (Van She Tech Remix)
The Presets - Are you the one? (Van She Tech Remix)
I am Finn - I love you (Van She Tech Remix)
Aretha - Van She Tech Remix
Valentinos - CCTV (Bang Gang vs Van She Tech Remix)
Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Tech Remix)

Skateboard Dave #2

Version 2.0 fully is updated with my new favourite clothes and comes equipped with a digital slr camera.

Thanks Nat I appreciate it. Perfect timing too, it looks great on my new site and favatar.

Makin Plans

Had a fairly quiet weekend up until Sunday. Me & Eri met up with Gen & his friend Mari in Shimo-kitazawa (the more bohemian trendy youth area) to have and wander and some tea. Mari is very tiny and very cute. I was quite shocked when Eri called her a "hobbit" just after they met. I had to explain that this is a derogatory term, she thought it was a compliment because hobbits are cute. Usually someone would be offended but Eri is so sweet that it was funny.

Then we went to Jingu-mae stadium together to catch the Swallows play the Giants in a friendly off-season baseball match which was ok. Then it was time for Gen's farewell party, after a quick dinner we went to all-you-can-drink karaoke for 2100 yen ($25). I drank way too many Ume (Sweet Sake) on the rocks and sang a few songs but the microphone was mostly monopolised by the Japanese staff & r'n'b Sam. In between songs I practiced my beatbox, which sounded good with the delay effects. I had a good time but the train ride home at 5am is never fun.

On Monday night Eri took me to her friends restaurant in Akasaka. God damn the food was amazing, the best tempura I've ever had. The place had a moat around the dining area filled with fish to catch for dinner. I snared a huge one which flapped itself out of our basket and onto the table where it made a huge mess. Soy sauce went everywhere, I was embarassed but the staff were very courteous.

Not much going on now but after Eri gets back from L.A. we are going to take a trip to Fuji Q highlands & Mount Fuji over a three day weekend and I just booked my flight to Singapore to see my family for Christmas. Nice.

Baseball/Dinner/Karaoke

This is where i work

Whenever you see a shot of Tokyo in a movie, it's more than likely to be a shot of Shibuya & the famous Hachiko Crossing. On an average day about 2.4 million people pass through the train station. Making it the 3rd busiest in Tokyo. By night Hachiko Square is such a vibrant place with the buzz from huge crowds, sights & sounds coming from the giant displays and the flashings from all the neon lighting.

In my opinion it is the coolest part of Tokyo. It is something of a youth centre with countless clothes stores, izakayas (Japanese style bars), nightclubs & karaoke joints. The place is buzzing all day & night, especially on the weekends. The area outside the train station is one of the best for people watching; there are many different breeds of people passing through to observe such as tourists, nampa guys (sleeze industry guys), school girls, fashionistas, ganguro & yamanbas (rebellious teenagers who wear crazy clothes & face paint), street performers, musicians and of course drunk salarymen.

There are still areas of Shibuya I haven't discovered. On the weekend I found a crazy website which gave me directions for a used panty store. They buy & sell used underwear & school uniforms at a premium price. The more expensive ones come with a photo of the girl, but when I went people were just going through the bargain basket of underwear from unknown origins.

I'm quite lucky to be working right where everything is happening. Basically it is the hub for all of my activities. You can see it featured prominently in Lost in Translation, Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift & Jackass: the Movie.

Long Weekend

Great weekend. Friday night went to see Justice & Erol Alkan play at Ageha (the biggest club night in Asia) which was cool. Expensive but fun. Managed to drag along a bunch of people. Rick came down for the weekend, Eri came with some friends, Kumiko and Ishmael rounded out the group. No cameras inside the venue unfortunately, but I took plenty of photos of the drunken way home. you can see them on my Flickr page. I forked out the $35 to get a Flickr Pro account, which should be worthwhile.

Saturday went to the Meguro Parasitological Museum which isn't a good idea if you have a hangover, but Rick's friend Alex wanted to go. Saw some gross stuff, like a photo of a guy who could sit on his balls. Nasty. Saturday night Eri came over and we (mostly she) cooked a nice salmon dinner with a bottle of red. Felt very grown up, compared to my usual dinner (see Hoka Hoka Bento).

Sunday we hit up Ueno Zoo together, which was the perfect thing to do in the glorious weather. Got a good work out for my camera. Then went to Harajuku for dinner and to see the Pharrell 's new Billionare Boys Club/Ice Cream store. No cameras allowed. It's a pimped out place but the clothes are rubbish.

I had the day off, so Eri called in sick and we took Rick to the Shinagawa Aquarium which was decent. When he left we went to Odaiba, the cheesy date place for people in Tokyo. You can walk along the harbour, look at the pretty lights, the Rainbow Bridge, hold hands, pay a shitload of money for a buffet dinner etc. But whatever, it's pretty nice. They have a crazy Toyota showcase where you can test drive the new models, but we just walked around the giant arcade, then went on the (former) world's biggest ferris wheel in Palette Town.

Ahh! So much stuff! Too ambitious I think, too much walking & riding on trains. Not to mention the expenses. These weekends are fairly rare so might as well enjoy them. It was a little bitter-sweet though; because we had such a good time, the relationship suddenly became a bit more serious, which makes it more of a problem that I'm leaving.

Eri shed a few tears, but then got over it. No point in feeling sad. The future is unknown so we should enjoy the time we have now. I think. I have some experience with this kind of thing and feeling sad doesn't help. I believe that saying "it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Anyway.

Ageha/Ueno/Shinagawa/Odaiba

Bits & Pieces

This seemed like an appropriate time to look back at all the posts from the old blog. Last year there were a lot of ups & downs, basically from November to February everything was on the up & up peaking with Korea which was wonderful. The first few months in Japan were not fun, partly due to the cold but more to adjusting to the new culture and making new friends. In June things really picked up and I have been enjoying myself ever since.

Also looking at the content, there is too much general ranting, due to a few reasons. Firstly I have never kept a public diary before and it was my first time travelling so everything was exciting for me, also the web address was given to family, friends and new acquaintences; so controversial content was witheld. But I want the new blog to be a more accurate record of my experiences for my own benefit; so these more interesting details will not be omitted anymore. So: less ranting, more detail.

Such things like the insane lady I was living next to. She was from Cameroon and extremely religious. She told me she was having a 'spiritual crisis' and that there were devils in her room. So I would often wake up to her cursing the devils or yelling to Jesus. Needless to say my sleep was badly affected. We had several conflicts, mostly over the fact that she would play Christian music all day & night to keep the devils out. She said if she turned it down then they would come, I asked her how a Panasonic stereo has any effect on devils.

And other more juicy details like in May & June I was semi-dating a number of girls at the same time, so I couldn't write about it, just in case. Some weekends I had 3-4 dates to juggle. But that all stopped since me & Eri got together, so my love life is more predictable and more enjoyable. Juggling girls is not my style, too stressful and no feeling.

There are also a few stories from Thailand and Vietnam... but they will remain classified.

The Beginning

This is a test post to see how the new blog looks... and it looks mighty fine!!! The cut & paste banner was pretty simple to make, but it still took a long time because I had to remember how to use photoshop. I'm fairly happy with it, the elephant requested that his face not be shown on the internet so I had to censor his eyes. The rest of the template was basically stolen from the fluokids site.

I like this video Ishmael sent me, it's of a guy who has become a minor internet celebrity. He is famous for doing a stupid dance in many different countries. It's pretty funny and also a little inspiring to get out there. The footage taken in Tokyo is from right outside my work in Shibuya. Sometimes if I'm bored in class I watch the advertisements on that big TV screen out the classroom window.



This blog is about a new start, a new phase in the journey. I'm excited about the next year, I don't know exactly how it will turn out, but I'm sure it will be interesting. A proper update coming soon...