Guess Who's in Tokyo?

Wednesday brought us another visitor from home... the world famous dj Justin Mile. After initiating him to the crazyness of Shibuya, we took him out on Friday to Shinjuku to try and find some crazy wackness to laugh at. We headed to a club for a 'para-para' dancing party, where all the young freaks go to dance in unison, however the party actually started at 6am that morning so it was finished long before we arrived. So stuck in Shinjuku without a plan, I thought it was a good opportunity to finally go to the infamous 'Ni-Chome' gay area. It is basically the only real gay area in Tokyo so I thought it was worth a look.

Turns out it is much tamer than I expected, you could probably walk through and not realise what is was. There were a few rainbow flags and inside one shop they sold gay manga which was quite interesting. So we went to a bar that Eri's gay friend recommended, to our suprise it was pretty quiet and the dudes looked the same as most Japanese guys perhaps even slightly more masculine. After a drink we decided to go bowling, which turned out to be good fun. I took out the first game by 2 pins (too bad Juz) and on the second game the skill level deteriorated to joke bowls such as through-the-legs or run-down-the-whole-lane.

Saturday arvo we walked around the super funky Shimokitazawa and then feasted on all-you-can eat Shabu Shabu. Sunday was a cultural day where we took in a French art exhibition at the crazy new Art Center in Roppongi (the building more impressive than the exhibitions), then went to the arty Super Deluxe for an art magazine event which included videos, djs and a live performance which was interesting. Basically a dude was in a huge box and he would push the box around the room in sync with a video that was being projected onto the screens. It was interesting for a little while but it got old pretty quickly. Then me & Eri went to a quirky Chinese restaurant for some shredded duck with Chinese bread, dumplings & stir-fried vegetables; god damn was it delicious! Super cheap too less than $10 each. Which capped off another stellar weekend. Only 4 more to go until I get out of here, there sure will be plenty to miss.

Shimo/Shabu Shabu/Art Center

A Quiet Wednesday Evening

I spent my one day weekend hanging out with Rick because he leaves Japan next week. On Saturday night we had an all nighter in Roppongi for St. Patricks Day, his Irish buddy Alton was insanely loose, when I got there he was hoisted on peoples shoulders screaming Irish songs. We stayed away from the madness though and headed to the Brazilian bar, the Aussie Bar and a ramen restaurant. On Sunday we walked around Harajuku with some really nice graphic designer friends of Ricks. They were taking photos of the clothes which they then sell to a company in L.A. at $10 a piece, sweet gig.

It was pretty low-key, so on Wednesday Eri got us cheap tickets to see 2 Many Dj's play at Womb. I'm pretty sure Womb is the club they used in Babel when the deaf girl goes to a nightclub and takes ecstacy. This was actually the 2nd time I have been there to see them but last time the line was ridiculously long so we got turned away and by the time I got in they were finishing up and the club was so humid I was sweating from just being in there. This time was much better, it was still crowded but manageable and we caught about an hour and a half of their 'Old School' mix set, the following night they were doing a 'Current Stuff' set. Despite the title they still played plenty of new tunes I was happy to hear, like the devastating 'Walkman' by Sebastian and the final track of the night which was their awesome Soulwax remix of Robbie William's 'Lovelight'.

Needless to say the Japanese crowds were loving it. This is the 3rd and 4th time they have played at Womb since I have been here. It is pretty difficult to differentiate yourself as a dj and still make people dance for a long time, so I definately respect their talents, especially because they do a crazy live show as Soulwax Nite Versions which I'm dying to see. It was cool to finish work, go to a rocking show (every night is pumping in Shibuya) then head home with the lady on the last train. Eri struggled on the bike ride home from the station because she was hammered from spending the afternoon at a fshion party drinking beers and nihon-shu (sake).

It's My Party

After getting reaquainted with Japan, work and my woman my 24th birthday rolled around (on the 9th of March) so it was time for celebrations. This year I was fortunate to have my astro-twin (same birthday) James here to celebrate with. After minimal organisation we gathered a small group of party people for all you can eat & drink yaki-niku, followed by more drinking at karaoke in Shibuya. It's nice to have Japanese friends because they are very hospitable when it comes to special occaisions, me & James received the special gifts of Japanese thong-style underwear and 'vitamin drink' for extra power in the bedroom. It was a good night from what I can remember... I definately know Rick made an ass of himself... humourously at first followed by excessively later.

The rest of the weekend was kind of low key in a nice way. Then on Monday night Eri took me to see Muse play which was awesome, Mathew Bellamy is just the most crazy musician in the world. They played for two hours without a bad song, their stage production is pretty good too with the lights and whatnot. It could be much better though I think they need a new stylist/production designer. My only problem with the night (and it's a big one) is that it was a seated venue and our seats were too far away. The venue makes the biggest difference to the experience and ours was a little distant, standing in rows is not how a rock show should be enjoyed. The highlight for me was 'Knights of Cydonia' which they played last, they seem to have cut my favourite 'Space Dementia' from their set, probably because it's too crazy.

Anyway, solid weekend, solid birthday. Getting older now so I've decided this is my last year of travelling and teaching. Next year I will settle down (somewhere) and try to figure out how to have an enjoyable career and make some good money at the same time.

がんばります。

Birthday Weekend

Love You & Leave You

The second week started off well, with a tourist ferry ride home via Circular Quay for some photos, then on Tuesday the lovely Lara organised some tickets for the Zoo for me & Cam to enjoy. I do love a good zoo trip and while this one was good I couldn't help but think the zoo has gone downhill since my youth.

I remember when they used to have panthers, more monkeys, an awesome aquarium at the bottom with a kickass seal tank. Also they have traded the impressive African elephants for puny Asian ones... talk about a shitty deal. All the new buildings are pretty wack I think, especially the Thai style elephant enclosure and food hall and the layout seems more difficult to navigate. Still worthy but not worth paying the $33 they charge. The highlight was easily the bird show; with huge birds regularly swooping over your head it's very impressive indeed and the stadium has one of the best views of the harbour in Sydney, great spot.

The rest of the week was filled out with dinners, last trips to the beach and yum cha. Then on Friday we went along to see Nick's new band Sparkadia play which was awesome, I highly recommend seeing their show and checking out their music. It's great to see my good friend doing well in a band that has a promising future on the horizon. Soon they are moving to London to try and crack Europe. Best wishes to them, I'm sure they will do well.

So that was that, a nice little trip for me. I got to tan it up a bit, see my friends (people I didn't see don't classify), catch up on news and what not and eat a shitload of Ogalo burgers... damn fine it was too! Two weeks was enough for me to get an idea of the life I could of had and I feel no regret in my decision to come to Japan. There are plenty of great things about Sydney but also many disagreable things; not the least of which is the transport.

Public transport in Sydney is a joke and owning a car is not much better unless you never want to go to the city. How can people live productive lives when they can't even get around? This theory also extends to the realm of Sydney's social structure. Because you need to use private transport for socialising I think that it's partly the reason that people to develop small social circles which lead to exclusivity and socially strategic attitudes... which I detest. It's just an idea which may or may not contain some truth , however I would point to Melbourne as a case example where the public transport is great and people are friendlier with less attitude. Think about it.

Enough ranting, it's back to Tokyo for me for a few months until I head off to see the rest of the world for research purposes before I begin my campaign to start my global empire. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Sydney Week Two