danieru in tokyo: The Guy

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Guy

who sits behind me is devouring a fruit through excessive slurping. Really long, deep, excessive drooling slurps. It happened yesterday, and I felt powerless to say "Oi. Slurper. NO." and today I cowered away on the pretense of needing a coffee. Tomorrow I shall confront.

Koizumi is The Man. ¥200 trillion of JGB's are now going to appear back on the market, which is probably why the Yen is collapsing at such an astounding rate. It's good for me - I never came here to save, and I fully expect to take debt back with me. Or an S2000, if I can get a deal. I can avoid being that lardy ageing bald man doing what he should have done as a child, if i do it when i am still a child.

Gnashing of teeth: I bought a squash racquet yesterday, after seeing a list of English speaking sancturies that had courts. Namely, the British embassy. Today, I called all three embassies, and got told No. Which leaves me with a webpage entirely in Japanese.

And then further on the S2000 front, a guy I was drinking with recommended driving home from Vladivostok. This sounds cool. Freezing, actually. Yet the idea of travelling back home across the trans-siberian route with car appeals. I must investigate further.

The Onion has written an article about me.

Japan is not expensive. If you think that it is, you have not been here in the last few years. St. Clemens with a twist. Many have heard stories of $500 melons and $10 apples. But those days have long since deflated away, and now prices are more reasonable. My only remaining question is: who was creaming off the profits, back in the day? It wasn't the taxman.

In all, I get the impression that Japan is no more expensive than Europe. Todd said something I did not understand the other day. He said he wanted to move to Singapore instead of Japan because it was cheaper. But you earn almost twice as much in Japan (lower tax), and the cost of living is only 1.3x higher. Which to me, makes Japan 35% cheaper. I am writing this down, because I hope to understand what he was talking about in a couple of years. I think I am right, because by my calculations, London turns out to be one of the cheapest place in the world to live..

- posted by Daniel @ Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Comments:

If you do that drive... I'll be happy to come along. How long would it take? -Vic

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:33 PM

30 days just to cross Russia. These guys drove on the newly opened road from Vladivostok to Moscow at 300km per day. It's a 10,000km journey. And then you're only in Moscow!

I think that an S2000 is a poor choice of vehicle. Maybe a 4WD minivan would be better.

I think that a hairy Tamil is a poor choice in co-driver. Maybe a certain Italian dancer would be better.

:)

Having said all that, I dont think that I really want to spend 30 days just crossing Siberia. I'm meeting Damo next week, who has just done the train equivalent. So quite looking forward to his opinion on it. So far, all I know is that he spent a lot of time playing cards and eating Pot Noodles.

# posted by

Daniel : 8:59 PM

I trust you will be confronting the phanton slurper today.

# posted by

Dominic : 6:14 PM

Tact: I tried to use humour rather than making demands. This involved attempting to demean him in front of another colleague.

I failed. I am quite sure that his slurps will be even more delightful tomorrow.

# posted by

Daniel : 6:23 PM

Umm, I'm sure the mistake all those men make is thinking they're still children.
Oh, and welcome to the gang ;-)

# posted by

Al : 12:40 AM

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