Divorce
But first, some SMS Magic.

>Hey. Let's cook some dinner and watch a movie tonight.
>>Sorry, can't make it. Seeing a man about a dog.
>Are you sure you're not seeing a woman about a cat?

And back to divorce. Kiwi guy at work looks on the road to getting a divorce. He's got a couple of kids with a japanese girl, and they've only been in japan 3 months. They married in NZ. Anywho, I was thinking about what makes a intercultural marriage survive over here, and as obvious as it might sound, it could well be language. If the foreigner "Nihongo wakara nai", then unsurprisingly, he/she will be marginalised by the family. When you look at it without emotion - is anything really surprising in life?
- posted by Daniel @ Friday, October 20, 2006 0 comments

 
Weekend
Someone once asked me what I normally do in the weekends, here in TK. So here's a rundown of what happened this weekend:

Friday night: Read below for minor details, but generally, Booze. Either with friends of work (nomi-kai).
Saturday: woke up late, pretended to do some house chores. Called Albert, and went and met him outside Shibuya 109, a shopping centre. A great place for a heterosexual male to stand around and kill some time. Walked across to Jingomae stadium, and hit some baseball in the batting cages for a while. Got a call from Darren, and the 3 of us went across to Shinjuku to hit up some bowling. Ate Korean nearby. Went home early (circa 11pm) as I had an early start the next day
Sunday: got an early start, and went up to Gunma prefecture for some hiking, up a hill to see this crater-thingy in Kusatsu. Stopped off at a rotemburo (outdoor hot pools / outdoor onsen) afterwards. Got home about 10.30. passed out, fell in Monday.
- posted by Daniel @ Monday, October 16, 2006 0 comments

 
Careys last night in J-land
was, as all nights go, a veritable disaster. We started late, finished early, and didnt even say goodbyes, or get photos. I guess that's what happens in the Pong. Well, i guess we got the holiday in Singapore sorted at least. He better get a Fat Pad there too. Although, I am sure he'll be back frequently enough...

On a separate note, I remain confused with Japanese girls, and the strange noises that they make. No, not when indulging in nocturnal activities you filthy preverts, but merely in general. They make some genuinely bizarre sounds in order to express anything from surprise to confusion or tiredness. So I asked a Japanese guy if western women make strange noises, imaginging that these sounds may be somehow muted to my ears having grown up in the UK. He couldn't really give me an affirmative on that one, but remained deeply suspicious about my line of questioning. Ehhhh?????? God, it kills me.

Here's a thought: I am thinking that the whole purpose behind working is to become happy. So you earn money to be happy. Like, you wouldn't get off you ass and do anything more unless the end result made you happy. So you use money to buy happiness. Which is why, I guess people get confused with the whole deal and claim that money cant make you happy. True, but you can buy some happiness with cash. Anyway, what I am trying to say is: Why do people sell happiness for money? They go short on happiness and long on cash - this makes no sense, since the only thing you really ever want is happiness, and the only thing which is ever bankable is happiness. Not cash.


- posted by Daniel @ Saturday, October 14, 2006 1 comments

 
EFF ONE
I was in charge of the entrance tickets. JB was in charge of the shink tickets. Toxic Daz was in charge of the hotel. It all seemed sussed. With the Friday night behind me, I woke up as early as the body would allow on a Saturday morning to get-me-to-the-shinkansen on time. Met Jeremy, and said "sorry i'm late". His reply "i dont think darren realises how big tokyo station is. I spoke to him 2 mins ago, and he's just ordering sushi. The train leaves in 10mins." "He's never going to make it, lets go". Somehow, through the panicked thought of missing it, he shoved, pushed, ran, and ploughed through persons old and small in Tokyo Eki to prove me wrong. We jumped on the train, and the doors closed. Woosh. Took the fastest of fast trains down to Nagoya (366km in 102mins = 134mph average).
The three of us made for good company - equally minded fools looking for disasters in any shape or form. Darren provided Episode #2 after getting into a taxi. He called the hotel, and persuaded them to give directions to taxi driver. He started driving, taking the directions. Then, 30seconds later, the great Japanese sound "eh????" and a tirade of nonsensical words, followed by handing the phone back. It's the wrong hotel. Daz, the muppet-man, had called a different hotel to the one that he had instructed the taxi driver to proceed to. We jumped out, a mere 2 minutes down the road, and spent the next 30minutes stunned to realise that Daz had no idea where we might or might not be staying. All the hotels in Nagoya would be booked, I knew this was tight. Luckily the weather was good, so the thought of buying a tent from The Donki and rocking up to some field, wasn't so far fetched. As was checking into the capsule hotel. Credit to him, he eventually delivered on his promise, and we ditched our bags, dashed back on the train - with amazing timing - and arrived at Suzuka. The noise was unreal - these machines must translate 70% of the fuel energy into the eardrum busting raucous that can be heard for a few km away from the track. The speed was tremdous. A safety car NSX came out later, and pelted it round the track. The guy was driving flatout - the body roll showed. The F1 cars remained rivetted to the ground, yet going so much faster. We got to watch approximately 12 to 15 seconds worth of the qualifying, before the horses were sent back to the stable for the evening. Track cars, safety cars, minvans and AMG Mercs all whizz about enjoying their moment in the eyes of the masses, all waiting to see something - anything - happen on that tarmac down below. But it was time to wander, and find out what Suzuka circuit had to offer, in terms of vantage points for tomorrow's fun. There was some well prepared geniuses out there, with ladders, and all kinds of contraptions to get that extra inch in, and lift themselves above the crowd. Everyone turned up a day in advance to reserve their place on the grass verges by slapping down some kanji-signed tarp and stones for the next day. Needless to say, we were completely unprepared for this, and started by lifting a couple of binbags, grabbing some pebbles, and hey presto, we had smacked out some turf.
Chuffed, our days work complete, we wandered further afield, using the opportunity to explore Suzuka completely, in the knowledge that tomorrow it would be impossibly busy to do the same. And then we found a hill. A hill that had a perfect view, and free space to plant down another squatter settlement. We were out of binbags, so I found a foldable table in a marquee and pinched it, slapped it down, and went home.

We got back to Nagoya, and headed out to a district known as Sakae. I asked some kids on the street where we should go to get some food & drink, and got mostly bemused looks, until someone decided to take us all the way over to a place called ID cafe. It was singularly the most vicious bar i've been to in Japan, worse than being filled with drunken GIs, it was filled with 7' Brazilians, looking for trouble with the 8' LA bouncers. Nonetheless, a goodtime was had, and we even got herded on to a Salsa bar afterwards. 6am, called it a night, and stole a couple of hours sleep before waking up for the Grand Prix. On that Sunday, God parted the wind and the clouds from the skies to deliver a picture postcard day. Magically, our seat on the lifted table was still intact, a mere hour before the race started, and so we sat, with earplugs, and snapped happy.



Got back to Nagoya, and managed to sneak in a brief cultural experience - Nagoya castle. Huge thing. Every time I witness an example of historical Japanese architecture, I am left aghast with disbelief that the same culture who valued asthetics so highly as to create {whatever I am in awe of at the time: from castles, to plain residences, bonzai plants, Kyoto, kimonos, the onsen} could leave such a brilliant legacy with the nonchalant disregard that created, in a mere 4 decades, one of the world's ugliest cities - Tokyo.












Listening to: Feedback - Jurassic 5
Read: Freakonomics
Looking forward to: Bring back the 'dale. Getting about Tokyo
Most desired skill: Lying. Convincingly. Going to try harder - I have to nail this one, or it's going to cost me. It's all about value, baby. Sell people what they want to hear, and they'll pay more.
Next holiday: Shanghai. Just got in touch with Dom after 3+ years. It's that time again...
Watched: The Inside Man. not what i expected from Spikeeee
Waiting for: Snowboard season.
Thinking about: learning to type with more than 2 fingers.
- posted by Daniel @ Monday, October 09, 2006 0 comments