Archive for July, 2006
July 31, 2006 at 4:08 pm · Filed under I am feeling...
I just spent almost the last hour of precious work time spaced out and dreamy. Maybe five minutes of writing time is due so that I can work through and out of my spaciness. Why am I being spacey? I think I feel alone today. It is weird because I don’t have much reason for feeling alone. Maybe it’s not that “nobody loves me I am alone” or being physical alone…but just one of those moments where you realize that ultimately, in your head, you will always and forever be alone. A good reason to not get stuck in your head isn’t it? I think maybe I need a hug. Heh…funny thing…the band that I am playing with for a summer festival in a few weeks…we were trying to come up with a name yesterday. I talked about this and it evolved into the idea of naming the band “Meg’s Hug” or “Hug Meg”. Yet to be confirmed but they are two possibilities at the moment. My preference leans towards to the latter as it is more suggestive though of course, in Japan it might be hard to get a hug…I don’t know. So maybe Meg’s Hug is better because it would be my license to hug people. We’ll see…
July 28, 2006 at 3:07 pm · Filed under Work
Man I feel sorry for the poor souls who have to read the user scenarios I write, especially when they start with: “hey dude, …” and end with “…heh”.
July 27, 2006 at 2:08 pm · Filed under Experiences
This feels way weird. I am writing this entry in a Word document so that it gets written. It will be transferred for viewing on your computation boxes tomorrow. This makes me think that I should set up a local version of WordPress so that I can maintain the atmosphere when I write.
I was going to talk about last Saturday, and then possibly Sunday. So – the day started with me being a little foggy given the late night before, but I was excited to meet up with a friend, in Kamakura. I went there when I first came to Japan but had not gone back since. Saturday reminded me that I should go back many times. Kamakura is great because yes, it is full of tourists, but it is not full of tourist bling (for the most part). There are plenty of places to go where you can escape the crowds and even when you are around the tourism, the city is very quaint, making it easy to not notice.
We met at the station and proceeded down Komachi-dori (the main street) to go to Tsurugaoka hachimangu shrine. It was not long before we found a yukata shop and for kicks, went in to try some on. Before this, three things made me worried about trying a yukata on: 1. going in and not fitting into a yukata and leaving quite embarassed, 2. having to strip down in front of a shop owner thus reveal the 3 or 4 bread garden muffins still kicking around my thigh area (I know it is sad and superficial but…) and leaving quite embarassed and 3. having them giggle at the 6 foot tall foreign woman and say (translate here) “oh look dear, isn’t she cute, she wants to be Japanese”. Still, I really wanted a yukata. It would make a marvellous souvenier of my adventures here.
The woman helping us was very sweet. I learned that you could try the yukata on over your clothes and that they were made quite long so, although mine would not fold up as much as on other woman, it would still get down to my feet. All my worries solved! Well, not number 3 but I know that stems completely from my own fear of people thinking that I am trying to be something that I am not. I can write about that some other time.
We both tried a yukata on and made plans to come back later if we decided to buy them. I decided to pretty much right after leaving the store and later I did go back and buy a dark purple yukata with pink flowers. Picture to come in the future, after I wear it to fireworks or a festival.
Moving on down Komachi-dori, we tested some yummy natto snacks. They were more subtle in flavour and less stinky than real natto which is a fermented soy bean dish. Then we encoutered a man trying to get people on his jinrikkisha (rickshaw). Normally I don’t go for those things but see, the jinrikkisha “drivers” are all tall younger men, fit and tanned from hauling these carts around throughout the hot summer days. They are very smiley and flirty and…heh…it sounds like I should start hitting the host clubs :P Just kidding… really, the guy talked to us in English and he actually went to highschool in Vancouver…super nice person. We accepted a ride to the (I can’t remember the Japanese name) love temple, and then to our original destination, Tsurugaoka hachimangu. I said a little prayer at the love temple and then figured, hey, if all fails I can always come back and spend my paychecks on continuous jinrikkisha rides.
By the time we got to the temple, it was getting a little late and we were due back at the station at 2pm to meet a woman and a guy from France that was homestaying at her place. The four of us went to a small café / bar off the main road called the Milk Hall. My kind of place.
Old and dark and bordering a little on the doubling-as-a-granny-antique-shop but making up for it with cool young staff. If it was called the Milk Hole instead of the Milk Hall I think it would be a favorite place. We had lunch and coffee and yummy, thick mango pudding.
I think that our plates were the biggest I’ve seen since coming here. It was weird, they were heavy and I used a knife and fork (I don’t actually own forks here) which were also heavy. Now I am worried that next spring when I get back to Canadian eating, my wrist tendonitis might start acting up again. Over lunch the woman we met told us a little about Nou (or Noh in English?) theatre. She has been studying it and we were invited to a performance by her teacher in August. I think I still need to learn a little more. I spent a lot of time brushing up on my French as the homestay guy told me about a physic in France that his mother goes to.
After lunch we went to buy my yukata and then to a piano concert of the sister of a friend from work. The concert was at a pretty posh cake house and I felt a little greasy and unsophisticated but forgot about that when things started. This woman is the most amazing pianist and she played Chopin so I love her for that.
Last of the day, but not the least, was supper. We met my friend’s husband (haha…I feel silly saying it like that if you guys are reading this but I’m always uncertain about including names in here so please excuse the titles) and he took us to a sakana-ya (fish restaurant) near Kanazawa Hakkei station (10 minutes from my station). Wow, what a way to top off the day. I tried so many new things there including:
This seaweed dish which supposedly does wonders for hangovers if you eat it before a night of drink and, from my experience, I think it works.
Yummy assorted sea things including uni or sea urchin – those yellow things to the right – my first time. Interesting flavour and the texture totally surprised me. Kind of just disintegrates in your mouth on contact with your tongue. A little weird and I can’t rave about it but I think I could eat it again.
Meat from a larger shellfish…I think tokobushi (a smaller version of the expensive awabi). The bit to the right was like a boiled egg yolk in texture but with amazing flavour.
This fish which is common here in September but not around now and supposedly it is upteen times better now than it is in September. Wow…it was amaaaazing fish. I have never eaten fish that good before.
And drumroll please……I tried fugu, the infamous poisonous blowfish. It was not very strong in flavour, very light and pleasant, and was somewhat chewy. My best comparison (and I am not quite the fish connaisseur) would be orange roughey. It is very good, but I think a lot of the hype is about eating what you can from a deadly fish, not from the flavour. Still, if you are in Japan, try it. Definitely an enjoyable experience.
Coupled with all this good food was amazing sake which I love the more and more I drink it. I am going to start keeping track of the different kinds I have (when I can…sometimes you just can’t) because there are many. On Saturday I drank Jyuyondai from Yamagata and Akishika from Osaka. Hopefully in the future I will be able to tell you more about sake than that.
We finished off dinner with comple(i?)mentary shochu and a tamago dish (I think…I was talking a lot by then so can’t remember all the food I put in my mouth). The restaurant was run by a couple and their son and I hope to maybe go back sometime but who knows…there are so many places to go here. Still, they were very nice and their food is delicious. They also make an effort to bring in hard-to-get sake so, when we were leaving we were told about a sake appreciation night. I would loooove to go but I don’t know how much I could contribute to the knowledge flow. Could be a good learning experience though…and practice!
Ahh…I hope that is not too long. Still have Sunday to talk about but it is already Wednesday night and past my bedtime. I have sleep to catch up on but the weekend is catching up on me so who knows when I will get that chance. Two more days of work, then a party Saturday, and Japanese and band practice on Sunday with studying and cleaning the apartment (trying to) in between. Oh, and I am planning my first trip to somewhere further away in Japan (will go in September). Excited about that and tempted to buy a new camera before going because mine is going to crap. I am taking any suggestions for a camera in the 200$-300$ range (yeah, I would love to buy a really expensive one but that would require more saving and I’m not up for that right now).
Hope you are all well and to those far away – I miss you!!
July 25, 2006 at 9:51 am · Filed under Random Thoughts
Yesterday I was talking to a friend on the phone and she burped nice and loudly. I laughed because I love it when she burps and then I laughed some more. Wondering why I felt like laughing so much (the burps are not a rare occurence), I realized that I had not heard someone burp in a long time. In fact, I don’t know if I have heard anyone here burp including myself.
On another note, I have been pretty busy. Really busy and needing to catch up on some sleep so when I have free moments I sort of just stare blankly into space. As a result, I’ve been doing a crap job at documenting my stay here so this week (I tell myself now) I will put extra effort towards writing (online and offline).
So, to speak of my busy-ness, this past weekend started with a work party on Friday night. It was the usually set dinner, drinks and then second party with drinks but this time there was a third party that was much needed for me. Last week I was complaining that I have not had too many late nights so I was glad to be around people until 3am. One thing became clear though: need to learn more Japanese songs for karaoke.
The next day it was a little hard to get up but I had a lot to be excited about so it gave me my needed motivation. More to come…
July 24, 2006 at 7:44 pm · Filed under Site Specific
I just upgraded my WordPress version with 2 clicks. I thought that bombs would have dropped and this site would have been scrambled but it “looks” like it all worked. Is this the quiet before the storm? Please, if you see anything buggy let me know.
Now to install a moblogging plugin (yay!).
Busy weekend.
July 21, 2006 at 5:58 pm · Filed under Japan
Yesterday I alluded to writing something more substantial soon. Well…I am pretty pooped today so I don’t know if you’ll get much out of me but considering that I went to a Tokyo Bloggers meetup, I feel I should write something about Tokyo…or at least Japan.
…
Actually, that was the other day. Now it is today and I am more pooped. Could not fall asleep last night with the rhythm of sirens, cars driving by, motorcycles roaring by, doors opening, slamming shut, and parking lot conversations, all occasional but enough to make very nonoccasional, constant noise. There is a lot to hear here except for when you are in designated no sound areas like the train. In the morning I hear chimes at some odd hour like 8:20am and then there is a recorded voice on the bus, announcing stops as well as attractions (I think…) in the area. The bus driver as a microphone so that he can be heard by people in the back of the bus but the people in the back of the bus also get to hear his low utterances and grumbles when he is talking to someone up front. My work elevator says good morning and good night (I think…) and if you are still here at 8:00pm, you hear the first 20 seconds of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68, I. Then there are the tunes at intersections and in the train stations. I really need to get a portable tape recorder and document these sounds because I will forever tie them to my experience here.
So this is not about Tokyo or the blogging meetup which was around Shinjuku:
But there is a picture for you. Now to finish up work and then I am off to a work party. I think I have a lot to tell about actually…just need to find time so when I do…
July 19, 2006 at 5:31 pm · Filed under Mundane
I was looking for the Japanese onomatopoeia for a “hard work” sound and found “yoisho”, “nsho”, or “unsho” for effort. To double check it I used the google language translator on うんしょ (unsho) and the result was:
The [u] it is to do, the [yo]
Yeah…beta. It made me laugh though so I thought I would share. I`m going to make a rap using that line…or maybe not.
Going to a Tokyo Bloggers Meetup tonight in Shinjuku. Then maybe tomorrow I will have something more substantial to write about. The [u] it is to do and I am [out] [yo].
July 18, 2006 at 12:54 pm · Filed under Dreams
I just learned that Bobbi Brown the makeup artist is not the same as Bobby Brown aka. Whitney and Bobby Brown. I always thought that he released his own makeup line. Gee…you learn something everyday!
I also accidentally stabbed myself with a mechanical pencil the other day. Getting a little too passionate over a game of Kakuro. There is now a piece of lead embedded in my hand. I tried to dig it out but that only led to a more painful injury. This may be a dumb question but…could I get lead poisoning? Will it eventually work its way out or should I continue my handiwork (haha…get it?) with the tweezers and scissors?
It might be getting to my head. Get this - last night I had a dream that I was in Chapters and I found a pop-up-book edition of the Necronomicon. It was really elaborate…and dark. Jemma was there and I was like, “sweet, Jemma, look at what I just found!” and she responded, “oh yeah, don’t you remember…I should you that last time we were here”, and I was like “oh yeah” and I put it back on the shelf. Why did I not keep looking? Good reason to do some lucid dreaming training.
July 18, 2006 at 10:22 am · Filed under Music
I was given a lot of good advice on some new tunes but sorry, I ignored you all. Before the weekend I bought Final Fantasy’s new album, He Poos Clouds.
You may recall that I mentioned Final Fantasy once before. It is an almost one man band named after one of my favorite video games. Might not be as upbeat as I was asking for, sometimes it’s borderline tragic musical, but it is….lovely. No, wrong word. It is magical…but I guess I always think the violin is magical. Also, any time I find it a little too “heavy”, I only have to think of the album title and I smile. Poo. Heh. The third track, “This Lamb Sells Condos”, has been played many times in the past 3 days. I think I will play it many more times. Today it is raining and that song goes perfectly with the rain.
July 13, 2006 at 10:01 am · Filed under Evil Things
Bell Mobility is EVIL. Okay, maybe that is a little harsh. But here is the deal:
- I left Vancouver but kept my mobile service going, it would be cheaper to keep on paying till the end of my contract (this month) than to cancel before I left
- I called to “pre-cancel” but they said that I couldn’t do that until sometime in May so I would have to call back then
- when you call internationally, you have to call their local Ontario or Quebec numbers
- they put you on hold for a god-awful-long time
- I just called and was on hold for 20 minutes (hmm…$5.00 wasted) to have it occur to me that the Bell Customer Service offices might not be open 24 hours a day
- I looked that up online and saw that yes, they do indeed close at 8:00pm ET…at the time it was 8:40pm I think. Why was I left on hold when the office was closed?
- I’ve searched everywhere on their website (which is awful) and cannot find any information on cancelling my service. Oooo I can’t stand it when companies do not let you know how you can break up with them.
- I was hoping that I could send an email but you can only do that through this stupid web form and I suspect (because they ask for a current number which must be North American) that it is a request for a callback.
Conclusion: the most horrible thing a business can do is not make it easy for people to go. I feel like I’m in a suffocating relationship with no way out that will not cost me.
Sorry if you work for Bell Mobility…I just…have issues with them.
July 12, 2006 at 6:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I drank some really good sake last night. Also had the opportunity to eat horse meat but I passed. I don’t think I can go there, not after riding one knowing the whole time that it was strong enough to throw me off. Good thing my spidey-senses made me ask what it was I was being offered. Still, the sake was really really good and I hope I can find it again.
Today I am really tired but somehow (miraculously) I was able to finally get a number of plug-ins and tools that I needed for development all running and working on my computer. Why oh why was it so much effort? I don’t know but I hate config files.
I’ve been trying to get a few winks in as I walk to and from the washroom and I was just thinking (on the way to) - what if I fell asleep on the loo? Worse yet - what if I died on the loo? I would be caught for sure! That made me realize that I don’t fear death as much as I fear dying in certain ways…not for the process that I would have to endure while dying but for the humiliation of being found dead like that afterwards. The top two: Elvis-style and Mama Cass-style (okay that last one is just a myth but it still carries the symbolism). You might say, “oh but why would the humility matter? you are dead”, but who knows! What if there is the other side and it is not shaped by how you acted your life out but by the final great event of it.
Yeah I am tired. I am going to go home in a bit and make something instant to eat and then I will sleep. I hope I have good, deep dreams. Maybe one where I am floating around my neighborhood and it is dusk like in this picture:
July 10, 2006 at 5:00 pm · Filed under In the News
Sure some people wearing hoodies look threatning but not because of the hoodies. I guess we all generalize in different ways.
Mr Cameron will say teenagers who hide under hooded tops are trying to “blend in” rather than appear threatening.
In a speech on Monday he will describe them as “a response to a problem, not a problem itself”.
And he will argue that while teenage criminals must be punished, they should also be shown “a lot more love”. (BBC link)
I like the bit about a lot more love. When I was younger we called hoodies “bunnyhugs”, that term is full of love isn’t it? Maybe if these “teenage criminals” were wearing bunnyhugs they would think of hot chocolate and roses more than guns and money. Right?
The interesting thing this article made me think of though, is how we choose our clothes to a) fit in but also for b) security. When I pull the hood up on a sweater or jacket I am entering my “comfort zone” which may or may not be to get away from the things around me.
July 10, 2006 at 10:21 am · Filed under I'm a Nerd, Music
I took yesterday off to become reacquainted with my goals here. Got some good thinking and organization done and this morning I am, although very sleepy, very motivated. Unfortunately I find that my current music selection is not quite matching my motivation. I think I need something new. If you read this, can you recommend an album in the comments? Preferrably something not depressing. I also started another personal project yesterday. I will write more about it once I get past the first stages. Still, I would like to share something so here is a poem I wrote:
CRUNCH CRUNCH *slop*
how I love your milky goodness
with comforts of the couch
and voices tuned out
each body unified in my mouth
I wish I could savour your morning moments
but you are quick to retire
I must take before you die or
I’ll be left with one sad bowl of SOG
July 6, 2006 at 3:34 pm · Filed under Reflection, Thinking
Yesterday on entering my work building, a front entrance security guard substituted the usual “ohayoo gozaimasu” for “good morning”. It made me smile and today I tried to be louder and clearer with my ohayoo gozaimasu reply. Usually I just mutter it under my breath because I am not sure if it is normal for people to reply. But that’s silly isn’t it? It is silly that I consider what the normal response should be instead of going with my instinctual [you wave I wave back even if I don't know you].
Last weekend was good. I went to a BBQ on Canada Day (had my own little inner celebration) with people from my work group and many people who used to work with the group as well as family members. At first I was a little nervous because I only knew a few of the people there…but they were amazingly nice so I had a great time. On Sunday a new NTT intern from Canada arrived so I took her out for some shopping and a cooking class which I will hopefully post about soon.
This week I find myself reflecting on home a lot. Not so much things at home, but people. I am thinking a lot about all you out there back in Canada. I wouldn’t say I am “missing” people (I don’t often feel “miss” (??)), but I am wondering about the changes in people’s lives, how people are growing, how much will be changed when I get back, and how much I will be changed. Sometimes I worry that I will come back and the physical distance I have with people here will be translated to mental distances when we are close again. I also think about relationships I will develop here, and if they will be maintainable in the years after my Japan experience. It is weird to think about the lack of permanence I have here. I could come and then go and then be gone and to some I will just be “that intern from Canada”. Is it conceited to say that I want to be remembered?
So lately I have been thinking about how I can make my experience worth it, how I can make an impression on people that will last and how I can build strong friendship ties. My goal (heh, tell me if this is realistic or not) is to make at least one friendship where I am able to convince that person to visit Regina with me.
Maybe that is actually code for “I want to find a Japanese guy that I can bring home to meet my mom”. Who knows : P! I don’ t know if I know any single people here. It seems that most are married or close to it and I think that might affect my perception of being single. In Vancouver marriage seemed like something in the distant future - similar to how a driver’s license seems when you are 8…man, it is totally far away. Now it is dawning on me that just like I got my driver’s license and smoked my first cigarette and made my first credit card transaction (not necessarily in that order), I might also someday get married. That is scary. But exciting. But scary. So scary that I can’t talk about marriage without using a lot of words to express uncertainty. “Hmm…maybe it is possible that I could get married someday to someone from somewhere in the world and I might be happy about it.” I guess I should really take advantage of these years…I guess I am doing that. Just need to remember to relish in singledom while I have it (is that the proper use of relish?). Being single means that I can shamelessly conduct cereal experiments. More to come on that soon if I can learn how to make appropriate use of my afterhours and find the right bowl.
July 4, 2006 at 1:13 pm · Filed under Spend spend spend!
I bought three life improving technologies this weekend. Okay not all are technologies in the modern sense of the word but they are new things I will use in my life practices. Ha ha…life practices.
1) a new pillow: I have been waking up every second day with the most horrible knot in my neck/shoulder area. This knot also wakes me up during the night and last week I was sooo tired from it and of it. I blamed the cheap lumpy pillow I bought when I first came here. Was thinking the solution would be a 4000円 pillow that remembers the shape of your head but instead I chose a 500円 thin seat cushion. It is perfect! The last few nights I have had good deep sleeps and some very interesting dreams.
2) hair straightener: goodbye humidity hair woes, hello sunshine. I think I walk with better posture because of the inflated sense of self esteem.
3) Mario Kart DS: I was playing the downloaded Mario Kart with some people at lunch (using wifi) but I think it limits the levels we use and I cannot choose my character. Could only be this ghost guy who, although cute and wee, is very very slow. So I bought the game and now the cruising is much better although I am still not as good as all the other people : P Someday!!
This weekend was also bargain weekend (across Japan maybe?) so I attempted some shopping. Man…it was insane but actually, it was not even the customers that made it insane. It was the employees. I swear each store had three times more (salesgirls) than a Canadian store of similar size. Three times more young girls yelling prices and folding clothes so you can’t actually get in to look at them. When I did find some shirts to try on, I was told that you can only try on pants. It was too busy to have everyone trying on shirts. I was quite disappointed but did take a small risk with two tops and luckily they turned out alright. Now I think I’ve had enough mall for a while.
