Shinjuku Shining Star

Midnight Mess!!!

2009-06-27T03:45:00.004+09:00

It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep, so I am posting here (after a long drought, I must admit. Apologies...)!

I am very excited, because later tonight, I am heading to Midnight Mess, arguably the best gothic club night in Tokyo. It comes highly recommended by my fabulous friend Eva (and also internet blog star La Carmina). Although it's been forever and ever since I ventured into the scene, as it were, Eva invited me, and feeling nostalgic, I agreed to go. I mean, this IS the ULTIMATE gothic party I dreamed of during high school. I even had mum ship over my corset and dreds for the occasion. It sounds like crazy fun, so watch out for pics on my facebook (...I will upload these providing there's nothing too raunchy >.>).

It is too hot in Tokyo. Seriously. Also, it's really humid too, so every time I step out of my dorm room (AKA shoe box of air-conditioned paradise), I am smacked with a wall of hot "moist". I always hated the word "moist"...just saying it...no, thinking it sends a shiver down my spine. It is truly a vulgar word. The feeling I get when stepping into the heat is completely the epitome of moist. It is absolutely disgusting. I never want to leave my shoebox. This is one of the only reasons I want to leave Tokyo (also, Mum, I truly do miss you and your gourmet cuisine).

What's even more interesting is that unlike in Australia, where Summer is December, January, February, in Japan there is a specific day in June (the equinox, I believe), upon which summer begins. I had thought it had been summer here since the beginning of June, and so one day when it was suddenly 8 degrees hotter than the previous (using celsius here folks), and I was informed that the reason was "from today, it's summer," I was quite surprised. Strange as though this sounds, they've really got it right. Or rather, "Fucking right!" as I exclaimed to the family on skype. The day before summer was 24ish degrees, and it had been roughly the same for a few weeks or so, and then all of a sudden, 32. It was insane! 32 in humid Tokyo feels a lot worse than 32 in Sydney. Or maybe I've just forgotten what Sydney summer is like already.

In other news, I have discovered the cat of my dreams. Scottish Folds are just the most gorgeous creatures on the planet, and when I make enough money to afford to move out in Sydney, I am definitely getting one. Unless the family fancy a feline companion along with my most pleasant company (you know, if we got one of these, I'd never have to move out, Mum. You can keep me forever...until I get married or something).

That's all. Until I can next find the energy or inspiration. Unlikely as I'm chock-a-block until July 13th!

Can't Sleep

2009-02-24T01:05:00.003+09:00

I can't sleep and I'm damn bored. =.=

After experiencing the fantastic beds on offer in the Keio Plaza Hotel, I have come to realise that my cheap (as in, already broken) made-of-chipboard dormitory bed is not quite up to scratch, and neither is the pillow. To amuse myself I am listening to Grosvalet's Christmas Mix Preview which is actually really good. It's the first time a christmas carol hasn't given me the urge to punch a wall.

Speaking of which, instead of the usual nomihoudai, Waseda Ryuugakusei Nomikai Association - henceforth WRNA...still trying to think of appropriate kanji so I can go get a stamp made- along with Shack will be hosting a fantastic club party on the 2nd of April and apparently Andrew G will be the DJ, so I am looking forward to that. :D

Tomorrow is the last day before the Kendo Circle Spring Camp! I am really exited. I went to Yamanaka Budogu (a Kendo shop right near Waseda) today to see if I could grab myself a kote (wrist) protector, and perhaps a new bag for my bogu (armour), but they were closed. I actually walked all the way there (because it looked like rain, and I still haven't mastered the act of balancing an umbrella while riding my bike). It didn't rain either, so in the end I walked half an hour each way dragging my umbrella for nothing. I then googled their website and discovered they are closed every Monday. Good job Sam. I should have thought of that before I set out on my expedition. Oh well. I discovered online that their bogu bags are cheaper than anywhere else I've seen, so I guess that makes up for it. I'll head off again tomorrow. Oh wait, it's 2am. I mean today. ^^;;

After drinking a whole lot on an empty stomach at Leena and Otto's houswarming party on Sunday night, we walked from Kami-Ochiai to Takadanobaba, and the Finns, Anson, Katie and Koen introduced me to a bar that makes really fabulous pizza. I am definitely going back there again. During the evening, we also discussed the fine art that is Spaghetti Carbonara, and created a song about milk. I think the (only) words were "I like milky-milky", accompanied by a lot of "boom-ch".

Meeting with Vicky tomorrow for lunch at mopara, which will be great because we haven't hung out in a while. Also I think drinks with Anne-france and Shota are on the agenda. :D YES!

I have been worried lately that living in Japan, surrounded mostly by speakers of either no English at all, or English as a second language that my level of grammatical usage, verbosity, and all around language proficiency are diminishing. I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously, but I joined a facebook group titled "I Japan went to and now English no speaky can do", and I feel like it's becoming more and more true. It freaked me out so much that I logged on to amazon.co.jp and bought myself the complete works of Angela Carter. I thought perhaps partaking in some decent literature would revive my dwindling connection to the English language. I should probably write in this more as well, it would probably help.
A shout out to those aquainted with me IRL: Have I started to resemble someone who should truly belong in that facebook group? Please let me know now before it becomes too late!

Rant 1

2009-01-22T04:30:00.002+09:00

Why is there always so much homework? So many tests? So many assignments? Ugh.

Maybe a better question is "why am I so lazy?"

....I would really really like to be able to load "Kanji" and "Japanese" like software into my brain, like in the matrix...

I have totally sucked at updating this lately because my life seems to be self-documenting on facebook already but I'll get back to blogging seriously soon, when I develop some willpower.

A post in order to tire myself out so I can sleep

2008-10-20T02:52:00.003+09:00

I have just finished a multitude of homework assignments, which I would have started earlier than 8pm had I not slept all day. You may ask why I was sleeping all day. For once it was not because I simply didn't sleep all night for no reason (as often happens), but rather this time I was drunk.

Why was I drunk? Well, yesterday, after embarking upon a quest to buy myself a new shinai, I made my way to my first training session (bogu in tow, and with a stop-off at a shop selling pearl milk tea - I was so happy to find the shop actually, as I've been having easyway withdrawal symptoms). Upon changing into my kendo gi and hakama, one of my senpai asked me what I was going to do with my glasses and I then realised I'd forgotten to bring my contact lenses, and therefore couldn't put on the men (well...perhaps I could but I've never done that before and the idea makes me nervous). So I spent training with my friend Kerry from the US, and our senpai, teaching us suburi (simple three step men kote and do only). It was an amusing refresher. Especially because though I could figure out what the senpai meant, Kerry (though her Japanese is better than mine) was having some trouble.

After training, we all went to daruma for a nomikai (飲み会 - drinking party). There are lots of strange rules for the kendo club drinking parties (which I have been informed occur after every training session). For one, we can only drink beer, and only Asahi Super Dry. One of the senpai explained to me that it's because it's the cheapest. Also, food is brought out, but we couldn't eat it until a certain time (they tried to explain this to me, but I couldn't quite figure out what they were saying. Actually, it was hard to determine what anyone was saying, because they were loud and raucous, and only one of them speaks any English. I think if I keep attending all these kendo outings my Japanese will improve really fast....it'll have to). Also, whenever there's a toast, you must skull your beer quickly, and then refill someone else's glass (you must never pour for yourself). I found this quite hard - I can take a shot of spirits easily, but skulling carbonated beverages is really difficult for me. I don't know how they do it so quickly. Also, whenever someone new arrived, everyone chanted a drinking song and they had to skull from the bottle. It was quite funny.

Kerry got really drunk and dragged me to the bathroom with her, where we encountered some very drunk, very friendly (to the point of touchy-feely affection) Japanese girls from the tennis club (they claimed to be second year students, but to me they looked like highschoolers).

By the end of the night, we had drunk quite a lot (all the senpai's had to pay 3500yen each, but the manager Taira-senpai said that it was a treat for Kerry and I. :D). I wasn't smashed or anything, but I was a little happy and slightly wobbly on my feet.

I'd discovered that quite a few of them live in my area (Nishiwaseda), so we walked home together, and my new friend Nozomi Yamane (who asked me to call her "Mook") even took me to my door. They are really nice, friendly inclusive people and I had a great time. I'll definitely be going to training on Tuesday (and I'll make sure to bring my contact lenses).

Today (or rather, yesterday, as it's now past 3am) I woke up at 2:30 in the afternoon with a slight hangover. I went to Picasso (ピカソ - a store in nishiwaseda), and discovered they had a wok that works with an induction cooktop, as well as a small electric kettle, so I bought them. Hopefully I can start cooking something aside from pasta now that I have the wok. Kung Po chicken here I come. :D

Kendo Circle

2008-10-16T22:30:00.002+09:00

Apologies for the delay, I've been so busy settling in to the new environment and schedule.

I finally found the Kendo circle today! They train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights, and they seem like a really friendly bunch (rather like the USYD people). I was really happy to find them...

Last week I went searching and came upon the Waseda Kendo Team, all of whom seem to be Dan grade players - they were seriously freaky, and their training seemed really really intense; there was no opportunity for a beginner like me.

In contrast, the Kendo circle (though still pretty impressive in terms of their training and skills) were happy to have me as a beginner and even a friend who has never trained before. Also they seem to be quite sociable (though I returned home after training due to sleep deprivation, they all went out drinking together). They are going to take us to a store on Saturday to buy equipment (I left all my shinais at home).

Maybe if I train enough I'll fit into Japanese pants! :D

I have plans to visit Yoyogi park on Sunday with Noelia, so hopefully there will be some photos coming up soon.

CoCo Curry Competition

2008-09-24T18:02:00.003+09:00

Today's adventure was a trip to CoCoICHIBANYA curry house. While the majority of us decided upon small or regular servings (myself included), seven guys and one brave girl decided to entertain the 1.3kg curry challenge - if you finish in 20 minutes, your curry is free! Only two suceeded.

Participants will be forever remembered in these two clips:

Part 1
Part 2

The fact that nobody threw up in the vicinity actually rather surprised me. As did the pictures of tiny Japanese girls who had successfully finished the enormous plate in only 13 minutes!

Day in Harajuku/Sidewalk Live

2008-09-23T22:51:00.007+09:00

Today I woke up at 11. This in itself is something to smile about.
After cleaning my room (a daunting task), and then trying to work out how to divide up the rubbish (seriously, rubbish is so confusing here....I was procrastinating all week and I had this seriously enormous bag of rubbish taking up half of my hallway), I met the others in the kitchen and we set out for Harajuku.

It was fun shopping - it's such a cool, young area, full of insane fashions and stores. I found the phone charm I was looking for (hopefully it will distract from the ugliness that is my pink phone).

Then we crossed the bridge looking for cosplayers, but by then it was after 4pm and they had mostly cleared off. Lucky we stuck around in the Yoyogi park area though, because we happened upon this random J-Rock band playing a small live gig on the sidewalk, with a troupe of enthusiastic followers (who even had choreographed head-banging moves). We hung around to watch and I have decided to become their fan, because I thought they sounded pretty cool. I bought a CD too (only 500円!!). They are called PRIMEADDICT.

I took two short clips of the action: here and here.
Meanwhile, here are some photos of the day taken by Noelia.

Sam in Japan Travel Blog

2008-09-18T22:43:00.001+09:00

Since I am staying in Japan for an entire year, this blog is my opportunity to record my personal experiences in order to preserve my memories of the experience, and additionally to function as a platform of communication between myself and those in my acquaintance outside Japan.

If you want to keep in contact with me, please check up here regularly. :3