Monday, September 26, 2005
Falling Spirits
Damian got into the lift on Sunday morning and in walked a Japanese man who had a high pitched voice and a camp smile.
"Hello".
"Hello".
"Where are you from?".
"Scotland".
"ohhh, really? what is your name?"
"Damian"
"ohhh, i'm Bernard"
"hello Bernard".
"are you staying here on your own?"
*ding* goes the lift, and Damian makes a quick escape. A fantastic start to the day.
We meet up for lunch, and go hunting for iPod nano's. No luck. The world is out of stock, and I quickly had two sullen faces following me to the PC store to look at ultra small notebooks. Devoid of enthusiasm, I find my favourite meal (ka-ra-ge) then head West for the Sumo.
Without reading the guide and without asking Rimiko too many questions, I found out everything I needed to know about Sumo from watching. All I know is that it is a fantastic way to waste a Sunday over a cold beer, a friendly jabber, whilst watching fat men slap each other. The event itself is rather like cricket. Lots of preparation, parading and applause, very little action.
The guys dance, stare, throw salt, and after 15 minutes or so of messing with each other's psyche, they get ready to bout. The initial engagement is crushing - the sight of two 150+kg men ramming each other at full pelt feels painful even to the onlooker. But the fights are ordinarily over within a few seconds, as the first person to either leave the circle, or contact anything other than a foot with the floor loses. No 2nd round, no rematch, no warmup. You're done, goodbye, see you next year.
The prize giving ceremony at the end was crazy. The winner had to stand by and collect endless tokens of gratitude from other nations. The UAE gave him a years supply of petrol. A prefecture in Japan gave him a tonne of meat. Another gave him a tonne of potatoes. There were dozens of prizes all for the same man. He looked bored, and he had to stand through the whole ordeal in a ridiculous pair of pants. I could leave. So I did, and we headed down to the Tokyo dome for the rollercoaster.
It was superb, and i'm hoping that they intergrate it into the Tokyo Metro, so that you can commute to work on it. At least i can guarantee a seat.It was getting late, so I split with the enormous crowd that Renata had managed to have herded so efficiently so far, and got back to Ikebukuro to meet Nana for dinner. In a spaceship. This was easily the most bizarre restaurant I have been to, ever. You sit on the floor in a cage, in a darkened room lit only by the multicoloured stars rotating as your ship meanders through space and time, in a journey which somehow prevented my grilled chicken from arriving in less than an hour. So I had beer instead, which only took 15 minutes to order. A sure way to stop your patrons from getting too drunk. The girls wore miniskirts. Damo was happy.
And so the weekend ended. Right now,It's nearly 5pm on Monday, and i've blogged, just finished reading the script to Apocalypse Now, found a site to read PG Wodehouse. On Sunday, someone asked me if I was an English teacher. I said: No, Engineer. Reply: Oh, so you have a real job.
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Engineer?
I take it that's Japanese for "I'm not really sure what I do, or why they pay me so much, but it's not that it's difficult, just tedious and boring to learn"
Never confuse it with a real job.
Yes, was off yesterday, so today is my Monday.
I take it that's Japanese for "I'm not really sure what I do, or why they pay me so much, but it's not that it's difficult, just tedious and boring to learn"
Never confuse it with a real job.
Yes, was off yesterday, so today is my Monday.
i am supposed to have an engineering visa. of course, my agent is too slack to bother applying, so i havent got one yet. 5 weeks into it.
if i get fired and deported, can i sleep on your couch?
there are sooooo many bank holidays in Nippon. apparently next weekend is Long too. i am thinking about heading North.....
if i get fired and deported, can i sleep on your couch?
there are sooooo many bank holidays in Nippon. apparently next weekend is Long too. i am thinking about heading North.....
you can sleep in my bed if you want.
Not an offer in that way you tart, I just never go home these days.
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Not an offer in that way you tart, I just never go home these days.
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