I'm in Hong Kong!

I'm in Hong Kong! I have no time to write, so I'll update this post later, but I am alive!

I'm in Taiwan!!!

Got wifi in the airport terminal. Just wanted 'yall to know that I'm in TAIPEI, TAIWAN, living it up for the next four minutes XD Really looking forward to some Indian food tonight. Nothing like eye-watering spicy badness for breakfast!

Off to Hong Kong! / Fast, Day 5

I'm bringing my laptop, banking on the likely hope that I can find a usable internet connection. But just in case, I'm off to Hong Kong! Farewell for now!

8pm Hong Kong time marks the end of my fast. I think I might actually make it.

Oh, and am I the only one who finds this to be a fascinating story?

Fast, Day 4- I Get My Work Permit!

The first scrapper I saw didn't come close to this level of professionalism.
This is the Recycling Master.


I know it's still afternoon, but I think most of the interesting events of the day have come to pass, and I'd like to write with time to spare.

The weather today was cool and sunny- bright enough to bake the rain-soaked asphalt and warm enough to feel like the start of Spring.

Mysteriously, I'm feeling stronger today than yesterday. I suppose my mind has finally realized the futility (at least for now) of tempting me with ever-more-delicious visions of food.
I think fasting should be considered a tool for uninspired chefs looking for something amazing to cook- the sheer diversity of enticements the hungry mind comes up with could be quite useful :P

A postcard from the Immigration Bureau came for me last night, but I was feeling like a zombie so I barely read it. Well, it turned out to be an invitation back to Tokyo Headquarters to learn the results of my application for a work permit.
It could have waited, but then I wouldn't have been able to focus on my work. So, off I went, through the sun-dappled avenues of compact little Shin-Kawasaki.
I saw something amusing on the way to the station: a deliverywoman for one of the express delivery services (Black Cat Yamato), in uniform, on a bicycle, pulling a little cloth-covered wagon filled with packages with "Yamato Express is Kind to the Environment" written on the canvas.

I got some quality reading time (the excellent Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami) on the train, waited for my number at the office, and came away with a little 6X8" piece of paper with my work permit on it. Now I just need a job!

I'm thinking that, rather than joining a teaching firm, I'll go into business on my own. The pay will probably better, and with all the crazy travel I'm hoping to do, flexibility is important. On the other hand, I might not be able to get as many hours of work as I might want. We shall see...

Fast, Day 3

Starting to feel a little weak, but that makes sense considering I haven't eaten since Saturday. Still, I'm feeling surprisingly well thanks to the vegetable juice.

So, I've been finding thin little pieces of what seem to be bright-red vinyl in my bed, one by one, for the last couple of days. I just found out today what they were.

When Maya got back from New York, she gave me a shirt with a bandana-wearing smiley that reads "Born to be Wild! New York." The pieces of red vinyl were pieces of the smile falling off the shirt. I suppose that's actually pretty funny...

Anyway, did almost nothing today but work with arduous inefficiency on my Japanese project and read Maya's Livejournal for clues. Now I just hope I can finish translating Darker Than Black before I fall uncontrollably asleep. Leaving for Hong Kong at 5am on Thanksgiving Day!

Oh, some links that I liked:

Muto: really cool stop animation. I had forgotten about this one, but it's awesome.

Centaurus A: galactic auto-cannibalism at work :0

Eight ways to kill an idea.

And for those of you who like fireworks: military decoy flares in action.

Mita-sai 51 / Fast, Day 2 / The Waters of the Human Heart are Indeed Treacherous to Navigate

Classical mechanics at work. Perhaps this is what physicists do when their colliders are broken. (photo from the net).
The welcome banner for the 51st Mita Festival.
A takoyaki stand, one of at least forty different booths selling all sorts of yummy food at reasonable prices.
A band playing South American music- and singing in Spanish!
Booth with beers from all over the world.

Bewildering assortment of festival-related ads inside school building #1.
A few of the finer offerings from the Model Club.
The lovely young woman who seduced me and brought me to a Rakugo performance.
I was privileged to meet Zetsubou-sensei on my way out. But he despaired to see me.

----------------------------

Today, I realized that the cellphone decoration Maya gave me after her trip to Kyoto was broken.
It's a woven green cord about three inches long, with four soft little silk ornaments in autumn colors attached to it by green string- a tiny mushroom, a tiny leaf, and an acorn, with a larger mushroom attached directly to the end of the cord and completed by a little golden bell. The stem of that mushroom was all but torn from its cap, along with the little golden bell at its base.

After mending it as carefully as I could with clumsy fingers (I pricked myself rather badly on the needle), I drank a cup of vegetable juice and a cup of water while reading the online newspapers. Towards the end of the morning, I took a little salt with a vitamin and more water, and decided I would try to catch the last day of the 51st Mita Festival.

According to my driving school instructor way back when, the hardest day of any fast is the second. And I have to tell you, I was put through a particularly severe test today- with the stunning abundance of novel, delicious, cheap foods being proffered and hawked at me at every turn.

The crowds were tremendous, the variety of stalls was stupendous. There were live bands playing everything from J-Rock to Mariachi to Techno. There was even a boxing ring set up under a ginko tree, although all I saw people do on it was sit around and chat.

There were booths selling imported wine and beer, and inside the school buildings almost every club, or so it seemed, had a room to itself. You could get your palm read, go next door to a Latin Bazaar to buy a Chilean flute, and then the next room would be dark, plastered in black paper and LEDs, with a bar selling cocktails for 200 yen a glass. After two or three drinks and feeling a little tipsy, one could stagger into the now blindingly bright corridor to admire time-lapse photography of the night sky, courtesy of the Astronomy Club. And that's just the first floor of the first school building.

It was all very overwhelming, and more than a little bit lonely because I was one of the few people I could see who was by himself. I looked around idly for someone I knew, but almost everyone was from the main student body (i.e., not from the International School). And the only way I could keep myself from breaking down and buying $40 worth of food was to promise myself that I would be back some other year, with loving company, and to think of what I could prepare on my own after the fast.

So, since my mind is on food, let me get some ideas down:

1) There were "Potato Tornadoes" on sale: A small, peeled potato, skewered lengthwise, spiral cut on the skewer, stretched out into a corkscrew, and deep fried. Since I don't have a deep fryer, I'm thinking of drizzling the skewer with butter and a sprinkle of rosemary and basil, and baking it in the oven once I get back to America. Yum!

2) Waffle-covered hot-dogs (with flavored sweet cream cooked in?). They called them "Shinjuku Dogs"

3a) Takoyaki crepes. Balls of savory takoyaki sprinkled with nori and katsuo-bushi and Japanese mayonnaise, turned into a portable, delectable hand-held taste experience by a unifying layer of folded crepe. Sort of like a strange, endlessly superior taco. Ooh.

3b) Hand-held okonomiyaki.

And those are just the most important ones.

And in case anyone out there is worried or thinks I'm being foolish for fasting, yes, it's probably a stupid, pointless exercise in masochistic asceticism resulting (irrationality acknowledged) from a traumatic breakup, but I know what I'm doing and I'll know if I need to stop. I'm allowing myself juice, salt, and milk (in addition to water), so I'm keeping my blood sugar and sodium levels more or less where they ought to be.

I suppose I am acting out a need for intense personal discipline and self-reform. I think too many of the problems in my relationship with Maya stemmed from, or were exacerbated by, my own selfishness and immaturity. In short, I need to grow up.

I foresee the quality of my work dropping off in the next few days, so I think I'm going to keep myself busy tonight by drawing up an outline for a discussion in Japanese class on Population Issues in the United States.

And I want to thank everyone who has provided me with sympathy and cheer during this confused and unhappy time of my life.

Fast, Day 1

Today was cold and grey and somber. I slept as long as I possibly could, and woke up very late. I think the only thing I did today was take a long, occasionally rain-peppered walk in the direction of Yokohama. I had some thinking to do.

For the past three years, my automatic reaction whenever I was troubled had been to call Maya up, or write or text her. Whenever I thought of something fun or interesting to do, I'd invite her along. If I found something beautiful or fun, my first thought would always be to share it with her.

Am I really doing the right thing?

And as much as I try not to, I think of all the times I annoyed or hurt her. Could I have acted differently? Should I have acted differently?

Am I only now truly realizing how important she was to me, or did I feel it in my bones all along? Was I too critical of her? Was I insensitive, or was I just being myself? Am I insensitive and cruel by nature? Am I the good person I always thought I was? There were times when she came to me for comfort and I looked down on her for being weak. There were times when I was cold, when I couldn't devote the time or energy to make her happy, when I tried to comfort her but eventually became frustrated and deepened the problem. Was I too selfish? Would she still love me now, if I had only treated her with greater tenderness and tact?

In a way, these ruminations are painfully useless, but hopefully I'll come to some worthwhile conclusions.

I have decided to fast for five days. Today was the first. Hopefully I'll be able to straighten some things out before I arrive in Hong Kong on the night of the fifth day.

Maya and I Break Up

I don't know what to write, so I'll write simply. Maya and I had a great day in Kamakura. We toured the temples, and talked in the strange way we talk when we're alone. We climbed the stairs of the Hase Temple and looked down on the coast, on the little white boats on the water, and on the colorful roofs of the homes and shops of Kamakura. We saw the Great Buddha. We tooled around the little souvenir shops. Maya said that Kamakura is like a little version of Kyoto, though not quite as beautiful.

We didn't have a fight, didn't say things we would have cause to regret. There was just sadness. We both lost something today: I lost my dearest love. Maya lost her best friend.

Therein lay the impossibility. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, I went from being Maya's lover to being her friend. And as I became more and more acutely aware of this, each moment we passed together, however enjoyable, however wonderful, became a gaunt reminder of three years' worth of memories and embraces and hopes.

I still love her. I believe I love her in the same way I've always loved her. Hell, I think I'm more hopelessly in love with her now than I've ever been. But her passion is forgotten, so we cannot be lovers. And mine is not, so we cannot be friends. And so we took a walk through the cold night, along the black Yagami River, and I proceeded to reduce myself to a shivering, weeping wreck and that was that and we broke up.

Shinagawa Aquarium! A Pink Cow?

Shark! (Maya's photo)
We thought this was one octopus, reflected by the wall of its tank, when in fact... (Maya's photo)
A beautiful little leaf fish, keeping up with the season. (Maya's photo) (again!)

Blowing jellyfish bubbles.
A snapshot from Keio; Mita campus- the building on the right is the East Gate (it's built upon an arch).
Shinagawa Aquarium is really into the Christmas spirit ^ ^ There were decorations like this all around, including a Christmas tree powered by an electric eel!
The cozy interior of The Pink Cow.
Live band and painting exhibition at The Pink Cow.
Are you hero?
Bremen Street in Motosumiyoshi.
It's hard to tell sometimes whether we're big or the Japanese are small.
Dawn over the Yagami River.



This is Sake no Sakana, quite possibly the most badass band of all time, currently on their "Fish German Suplex Tour." Sorry for the terrible cell-phone quality.


I actually have a free moment to blog. How did this happen? That would be Mita-sai: a huge multi-day culture festival sponsored by the school that's taking over the Mita campus. All classes are canceled for the rest of the week. So hurrah!
Instead of being busy with homework and study, I'll have a chance to be busy with blogging and fansubbing ><; So, much has happened in the past week. (but we are men of Science, so let us get down to business) First off, Shinagawa Aquarium is well worth the money, if you ever happen to be in the Tokyo metropolitan area! 1300 yen gets you unlimited access to 450 species of fish (not to mention a bevy of odd crustaceans, live coral and jellyfish). There are loads of interactive displays, including an open tank where you can get a free exfoliation performed by a dense cloud of suckerfish, and control stations for robotic cameras which you can maneuver around a large central pool (which also happens to house the aquarium's signature architectural attraction: an underwater plexiglass tunnel where you can walk, completely surrounded by sea turtles, rays, and moray eels. The tunnel happens to be lined with poinsettias, for the season :) . Did I mention that there are multiple dolphin and sea lion shows every day, gratis with admission? And those are some mighty talented basketball-playing break-dancing sea lions, I might add. I think Baltimore Aquarium isn't getting any more of my money.

And then...

The next day, I went home from school two hours later than usual, after meeting with Maya in Mita to get some sweet KFC pot pies. The pies were disappointingly small, but the love was real.

Initiating present tense...

Anyway, I get off the train at my home station of Shin-Kawasaki, and begin my weary trudge home, when Sandra (of Francophone Switzerland) spots me. I get invited out to a party in Shibuya at a place called "The Pink Cow." Party in Shibuya! In my exhausted (just pulled an all-nighter for a project) state, the words conjure only the aftertaste of vomit and confused drunkenness. I'm trying my best to politely refuse, but the proposition just keeps getting more and more interesting. Eventually I am compelled to accept. A rambling conversation ensues, I extract some coffee from a vending machine, and get on a train bound for Shibuya.

So, what sort of party were we talking about, with such intense bovine overtones? Well, it was a fundraiser of sorts (1000 yen entrance fee), with the goal of getting enough money to 1) rent a cow and 2) hand it over to some impoverished Cambodians for a year and hopefully get it to breed calves, which the Cambodian family would get to keep. I kid you not, it is completely coincidental that the name of the venue was The Pink Cow.

I was surprised by how many people I knew there (am I that out of the loop?). The interior was warm and dim, with paintings all around and small lights hung in strands. There was a film on depicting the plight of a Cambodian family (and explaining the tremendous wealth and importance a cow would represent for them). I found a seat on (or in?) a cavernous, soft couch. After the film, we were treated to a pretty decent magic (slight-of-hand, or trick, rather) show by a snarky American, followed by a (far too loud) performance by a live band (accompanied by a live painting). I was able to make a few new acquaintances.

After a few drinks, I joined a band of stalwart folk on a journey to Burger King (hah, and hah again, hah! I feel like I own Burger King after the Windows 7 Whopper thing) for some late-night snackage, then caught the last train back.


One of the best things about living in the midst of urban sprawl is that you can run for ten minutes in any given direction and find something interesting. So, what lies ten-minutes north of here, along the Yagami River? Motosumiyoshi, which has its own JR Line station and a really good outdoor shopping arcade called "Bremen Street." Bremen Street is long, lined with vegetable stores, restaurants (including fast-food places) and cafes, and all matter of small boutiques, barbers, and other shops.
Near Bremen street, across the train tracks and past the station, there's a karaoke parlor that's half as expensive as any comparable one in Shibuya. And of course I took Maya there! The only down-side of the experience was the ear-splitting feedback noise that would result from simultaneous use of both microphones. Maya sings "Zombie" better than Dolores O'Riordan ^^.

And I completed my (long, involved) application for a work permit, and submitted it today to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau. Three cheers for Capitalism!

And the following Saturday...

Provocation...
Retaliation.
Ah, home, sweet home...
From left: Chris, Martina, Me, Maya, Leila, Fabien, and Chris Kozielski

In other news... I gave a scary ten-minute presentation in class on the Chesapeake Bay. I believe it went very well. The assignment was to give a presentation on an interaction between people and their environment, so I wrote my presentation on the economic and cultural impacts of the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland. Presentations were given over two days, with presenters grouped by the geographical region of their topic. About two-thirds of the class presented on some aspect of China or Hong-Kong... : /

And then the following night there was more drinking to be had! Daniel's friend from Italy, Leila, was studying abroad in Hong-Kong, and she and a several of her friends have been traveling around Asia on a break from school. On Saturday they happened to be in Tokyo, hence the outing. Dinner was taken at the wonderfully cheap and filling "Sukiya" restaurant, and the rest of the night turned into an increasingly muddled series of challenges as we attempted to go clubbing (after cheerfully drinking a great deal of cheap sake while walking around and chatting). In the end, Maya and I got separated from the others, and I assume she took care of me magnificently because I'm still alive ^ ^; It turns out the others did finally succeed in getting into a club called Atom, after we were all initially refused for being drunk (that's what we got for drinking in plain view of the bouncers). I have a memory of a cozy, dimly lit underground bar. I think I fell asleep (or passed out) in Maya's arms at one point, and then later she bought me something warm to eat after I threw up somewhere... <3 I believe I will never deliberately drink that much again. Not for fun, anyway.

In the morning, I fell asleep for a total of nearly two hours on the trains, missing my station twice, before drifting home and collapsing gratefully into bed.

... and November means Novembeard!

My good friend Daniel Kaluza, who became a whacked-out assassin in a fit of supreme boredom.
The greatest picture ever of our true feelings.
Feigned enthusiasm.
The guy on the right is Fabien, sexiest Frenchman alive.


Indeed, it is true, and I have not shaved since the beginning of the month in observance of Novembeard.

Let's see... where were we? Ah yes! A splash of water on my face and off I was to the Sou-Kei game（早慶戦）!　Turns out the early reveille wasn't strictly necessary, as the game didn't actually start until three hours after our arrival at the stadium. The interval consisted of ninety minutes of standing around outside waiting for latecomers, and ninety minutes of fierce pregame cheering in the stadium (which, with my fatigue and headache, I could have done without).

The game itself, as I tend to find baseball in general, was blindingly dull. I would have enjoyed myself a great deal more, I think, if I was actually familiar with the cheers and anthems that were perpetually being belted out in unison by the crowd, or if I had had any energy for enthusiasm. The experience was made better by good company and good food (instead of hotdogs and beer, you can buy bento boxes and beer!).

Keio and Waseda have had a fierce rivalry in baseball (among other things) for over one hundred years, and classes at both universities are canceled for the games. In the end, Keio was triumphant for a second day (the games are held in sets of three), thus winning this year's 早慶戦 (soukeisen)!


A couple of days after that, Maya and I perpetrated our greatest crime ever when I managed to successfully sneak her into my room, in clear violation of my housing agreement. That was Tuesday night last week... the plan being to smuggle her in after the Hongos had gone to sleep, and have her leave by four-thirty the next morning in order to avoid the watchful and stern Mr. Hongo (who is quite the early riser). All was going according to plan, except for one thing: Maya was so sleep-deprived that it would have been an act of cruelty to send her on her way at such a bloody unthinkable hour. As a result, after a night of much-needed couple time, we agreed upon a change of plans whereby she would sleep in with me and leave the following night. Meaning, for all of Wednesday, Maya was trapped in my room like a fugitive, unable to leave... : )

We spent the early afternoon cocooned in my room watching anime and a dumb (great) movie called "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle." Around 4pm, I left for my very first boujutsu practice.

What is boujutsu? Boujutsu is the art of beating the crap out of people with a long, heavy staff made of smooth hardwood. The "warm-up" exercises were so intense, my thigh muscles were all but turned to acidic pulp and destroyed. I nearly fell several times the next day attempting to negotiate the staircases at school, I was so incapacitated- even now I can feel a slight tightness in my legs to remind me of the beating they took! Pain included, I found the practice extremely rewarding, particularly because I find both the staff and the method of its use to be elegant and great fun.

Upon returning to the dorm and showering, I fixed a humble meal for the two of us. Preparations were made for Maya's stealthy departure. Hat, gloves, and a face mask were donned. At around 7:30 I slipped alone into the elevator and took it to the lobby, then punched the button to send it back up to the second floor. After a quick scan of the lobby and the office, I rang Maya up on her cell phone to tell her the coast was clear, and then walked outside. Without a second's hesitation, Maya caught the elevator back down to the lobby, walked through the door double-doors undetected, and met up with me outside. Operation complete!

Security really isn't very tight at my dorm, and the office is never occupied after 6:30 pm, but still, I figure caution pays off in the long run. This was actually the second time Maya has trysted with me to my room- the first time being rather more ridiculous and involving knotted sheets.

It's November!

This sign was on the busy sidewalk in front of an American-themed clothing store called "Americay," in Shibuya. I was seriously tempted to spend the money there.
Last night in Shibuya- we bought juice and sake in 2-liter bottles, and everyone got drunk while wandering around looking for cheap place to sing karaoke. For about 325 yen per person. Ahh!
A packet of "Ninja Food." These are nutritious little gummies designed to curb hunger. "Satisfaction for the modern ninja's stomach."
Que Sera-Sera in Shibuya. Quite possibly one of the greatest shops ever. It is a hair salon doubling as a tailor's shop, full of carefully maintained, gorgeous saltwater reef-tanks and bicycles. I worry about my dear, dear fish back home!
That great staple of Japanese oddity, Condomania.
The second and final Keio-Waseda baseball match.
It is Halloween and Yutaro Tanaka is warming everyone's hearts as his alter-ego Yuty, a kindergartener from the Tulip Group.
I had this dream once...



Woah. It's been a while since my last post, and lots of stuff has happened! Let us go back to Halloween and find out how we got where we are today...

Halloween! I spent most of Halloween day sleeping, or alternatively pondering how I could turn 300 yen and an uncluttered room into a costume. I immediately ruled out using toilet paper, settled briefly on turning an empty snack bag into a mask, but ended up going as a boxer. Meaning, I took off my shirt and put on my boxing gloves. I looked around for something other than permanent marker to black out one of my eyes with, but to no avail.

I left in a group of about eight people around 6:30pm, to journey to Keio's party hotspot- Willing Setagaya (where the Beer and Banana Party was held previously). Angus and Michael took to the night as spandex-clad Power Rangers, Mo (who actually has the belly and the joviality for it) went as a fully-bearded Santa, and then dear, dear Yuty was himself. There were also a few cat girls in attendance.

The party itself was packed, with nearly everyone in elaborate costume. Some of the costumes (I am thinking, particularly, of Albert as a 19th century British gentleman complete with pocket-watch, waistcoat, and top-hat, and of the guy dressed as a giant taiyaki pastry) were quality. Others were of a different sort of quality, in which category I would include the Canadian gent who came dressed in a suit, then taped bottles of cheap whiskey all over his chest and torso and invited people to drink from them with straws. He was quite popular, and had hangers-on all night.

After the party, I wandered tipsily around Hiyoshi with Amy (from Melbourne, Australia) until about three in the morning. No sooner had I collapsed in bed, it seemed, than I was awakened by a friend to cheer on Keio at the Keio-Waseda baseball game on Sunday morning. Groggy, exhausted, muddle-headed and feeling unpleasantly grimy, I fell out of bed and crushed my schoolwork binder.

And then it was off to the game...

(to be continued shortly...)