Home Sweet Home

Its been a great week back in Oz. Kept it pretty low key; just been catching up with friends, hanging out like old times, going to the beach, eating yum cha and plenty of Ogalo... fantastic. In a week I managed to catch up with most of my friends (the key ones anyway) go to the beach three times, have yum cha twice, go out to the Cross, get hammered at the Modular CD release party in Mona Vale and have a nice dinner and drinks at the always awesome Cafe Lounge. Pretty good I think.

Thanks to everyone who has graciously had me on their couch or driven me around town. One more week to go (no weekend) before I head back. I look forward to more of the same and ticking off a few more people on the list and a few more things I want to do like see a live band, go to Taronga zoo, catch a movie at the Palace and go to Freshwater beach. It's been great to be back and get a feel for the life I've forsaken... and while it's been great I'm sure I made the right decision to relocate to Japan.

Sydney is a great place, but it's difficult to break out of old habits, do new things and make new friends as it's society is structured in terms of social circles which determine your lifestyle. The saying 'some things never change' is definitely true when it comes to people, I think people never change they just get older. So now I am more firmly committed to traveling to new places and doing new things in an attempt to broaden my horizons and see the world (and life) from different perspectives. Europe and South America are next later on this year and I'm glad to say that I will definitely be seeing many of my pals overseas and I look forward to the exciting experiences to come after I soak up the feeling of being home for a bit and head back to Tokyo to see my lovely girlfriend who I am excited to say will be living with me for the remainder of my time there. Cho tanoshimi!!!

Sydney Week One

Headman/Ashes & Snow

On Saturday night Eri took me, Kumiko & James along to Unit again to see Headman (at my request). She is a real winner; free gigs, good cook and generous in bed. The music was great and I had a good time, except Eri had to talk business for most of the night.

Yesterday we went to Roppongi Hills to see a preview of the the excellent 'Ash & Snow' nomadic museum exhibition which is coming to Tokyo soon. The photos are incredible but they are printed in a strange way that makes them look like drawings which detracts from their genuiness cause they look fake. The short films were great; narrated by 'coolest voice ever' Lawrence Fishburne and also in Japanese by Ken Watanabe.

Then we met up with American James to go to a gaijin nampa party full of NOVA teachers and Japanese girls who want to speak english. It was pretty funny, with MC's who dropped NOVA references in their raps and loose business guys trying to get with all the girls. I had a good time but going home for dinner and a movie was better, the party reminded me why I don't like being single that much.

On Saturday I take off for Sydney but I don't arrive till Sunday night. If anyone wants to pick me up from the airport or lend me a phone while I'm there that would be very sweet and I would be indebted indeed. Also if anyone has a new phone number please email it to me so I can holla at you. See you soon... get ready.

A Ghibli Good Time

Yesterday me & Eri visited the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. I am a HUGE FAN of the Studio Ghibli movies so it was great to finally get to go check out the museum. They have all kinds of cool stuff inside; models, original drawings, film cells, a recreation of Hayao Miyazaki's home studio and so on. Miyazaki is a genius and seeing his drawings, paintings and storyboards definately reinforced this fact and gave me a new appreciation for his work. They also have this crazy animation made from physical models put on a rotating surface, it's hard to describe but basically instead of using drawings they built little models which appear to move when spun around using special lighting... i can't explain it you just have to see it.

There is also a big soft-toy recreation of the cat-bus from Totoro which kids can enjoy jumping around in and a small movie theatre which shows Ghibli short films. We watched one about some kids and a whale which was cool, I understood some of the Japanese but far from all. Currently there is also a Wallace & Gromit exhibition which contained some of the models they used in the film and 'making of' footage. The actual museum building itself is pretty crazy and totally adds to the experience. Outside a life size Totoro greets you at the ticket booth and the exterior looks like its from a movie with the walls covered in ferns. Inside they really recreate the Ghibli world. It is spacious and has lots of 'secret' passages and overpasses and it's given an old style European feel by the vintage elevator and staircase. But the real treat was the life size statue of the robot from Laputa on the roof. Tonnes of people queue up for photos and we were no different. For souvenirs I bought some bookmarks which contain little film strips from Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. I bought extras to give away as gifts, so if you are a good friend and leave a comment I will give you one when I come home in 2 weeks.

After enjoying a hotdog at the Ghibli cafe we walked to Inokashira park and saw two of the craziest dudes ever. One guy is a regular who reads people manga comics putting on the different characters voices. He is very good and gives a lot in his performances, singing songs, doing sound effects and the like. I read somewhere that he has no other job and lives off people donations and any character voice work he gets from the studios. Good luck to him, theres something very romantic about it, telling stories for the love and not for the money, a true artist.

The other nutjob was a guy in various spandex suits, he was setting up getting his props ready (clothes, stereo, wigs, a banana) when we noticed him moving a bum out of the way for his performance. He looked intriguing so we stuck around and boy was it a good show. It could be called 'expressive dance' or something, the dude was just wacko. Doing various dances, gestures and acrobatics. At one point he ran away from the crowd to the lake and jumped up on the railing to display his booty. Crazy. It was a good show and he had a lot of energy. Well worth the wait. Then it was back home for delicious salmon pasta dinner and then fell asleep watching a movie; a good day all in all.

Ghibli Museum/Kichijoji Park