Tommy's Crazy life in Kanto!

Summer is here, and I am alive!

2011-05-20T11:11:00.000+09:00

Just realized my last post was the day of the great Tohoku area quake. No I didn't die, but with the crazy people saying the world will end tomorrow, my time, I may not have much time left...

Anyways, after the traditionally cold as hell winters here in Japan, the weather is finally to the point where I need to sleep with the windows open AND the fan on. AKA, I am in love!

I am about 3 months from my last day in Japan, which is September 1st, and I am having some slight regrets.

Not sure if the reason I decided to leave was right, but maybe just a knee jerk reaction post break up. Whatever the case, I have no clear idea of what I really want to do. Many companies that hire in France want younger than 30 year olds, and yep, guess who turns 30 next month? Several million people, but me also. Also the visa process for people wanting to just TRY to go find work is STRICT in France. Yeah I can go settle on Spain or Italy, but I have NEVER been one to just settle (see the fact that I am single). If I go back to Cali, I have an ALMOST guarantee job at Blizzard in Irvine, which would make a lot of people jealous, but is it what I really want to do? Not sure right now. I have also been getting a lot of things entering my life recently like DJing bigger and better events, my name going around the DJ circles, cute girls I have been staying in touch with (I am a sucker for a cute face/nice body... Look where that got me with the ex...) and with the change in climate and season, I am reminded of what I love the most about Japan... SUMMER!

Beaches, festivals, beer gardens, kids and adults setting of fireworks on the streets, firework festivals, lots of fun music festivals and wearing lighter clothing! It is pre rain season, so I say all of this now, plus the cicada aren't out and about yet, but these are things I absolutely love about Japanese summers. I will be leaving right at the tail end of it, which is kind of perfect in many ways.

I am already feeling sad thinking about leaving behind some good friends I have made in the past few months, let alone my almost 2 years in Yokohama/Kawasaki and previous 3 in Nagoya. One of my best foreign friends may be moving to LA to be with his girlfriend, which would be dope since we DJed together in Nagoya, now we can do it on my home turf? Yes please!

I am never one to quit, so I will keep pursuing my chance to go to France, and prosper there like I did here. I love challenges!

The last 5 years have been fun, but my time in Japan is coming to a close...

2011-03-11T01:10:00.000+09:00

You read that right. I turned down my renewal offer, and instead of look for more in Japan, I am deciding to move to Lyon, France, to teach, and do typical cool Tommy things while learning a new language and culture, again!

I will explain my reasons once I leave Japan, but I will try to keep this updated with my remaining 5 months or so here.

Thanks to the 6 people who read this and giving me a reason to keep my first ever blog!

VEXASION live in Shibuya!

2010-12-06T11:17:00.000+09:00

They came from Nagoya and tore the place down! I haven't seen them in 2 years, and that time was them recording in the studio!

Check out the video I took of the whole event here!

You got me! I will keep updating!

2010-09-07T10:11:00.000+09:00

So here I am, a couple hours before I head to the airport, where I will wait for my girlfriend a bit before we head to California for a short trip (aren't they always too short...)

My room is a mess now since my apartment is too small for all of my clothes, I keep all the extras in my suitcase, which I am using... Pictures once I get back.

I packed in a record 15 minutes, and I am now sitting around doing nothing but watching time tick by. Think I will go look for something to eat before I head out!

See you guys in Cali!

Anyone still read this?

2010-08-30T20:31:00.000+09:00

I figured this was pretty dead, but just remembered it thanks to a friend starting a blog.

If people still read, I can start actively blogging again.
Life has been busy though.

Been dating my girlfriend for almost 6 months now, and we go to California together tomorrow.
Bought a new DSLR camera that takes HD video and loving it.
Purchased all of my DJ equipment. My apartment is better equipped than most major clubs in the world.
Due to this, my neighbor has made noise complaints at VERY early times with RUDE letters (in Japanese). Because of this, my manager got me a new apartment and I will move at the end of September!
I will DJ 2 events in one night in Nagoya on October 30th with Shane, my music brother and DJ partner!

This is pretty much it in a nutshell, but if there are more than 5 unique people requesting I update this by the end of this week, I will continue to do so.

New pics!

2010-03-23T23:14:00.000+09:00

Just some new pics to share.

It's been a while...

2010-03-17T22:53:00.004+09:00

Sorry for the lack of updates! I have been busy!

Since the beginning of the year, I have been saving for DJ equipment, and I am now 2/3 done with my CDJ set up. (I got a DJM700 mixer, and a new CDJ900. Saving for a CDJ2000 now).

I just started dating my girlfriend 2 weeks ago. She is an amazing girl, who you will see more of in the future on here. Possibly in a video blog.

I went to Nagoya, my old home last weekend, to play football and BBQ, but I missed the football game because I went to the conbini with 2 friends! That was a quick game!

Coming up, this weekend, a friend I met on Outpost 9 is coming up to Tokyo to meet up (for the first time) and we will go eat shabu shabu with my girl and her friend, plus one of his friends. Should be a good time!

I will try to update with a video blog or something as soon as possible!

SORRY FOR THE DELAY, if ANYONE even still reads this...

Does anyone?

Pictures!

A post, but not a video blog...

2009-11-24T11:22:00.003+09:00

..because I don't have my tripod to set up my camera, since we have been taking pics at my office. BUT I did make a quick video montage of my last weekend which was INSANE!

Check it out!

Once I bring my tripod back, it will be business as usual!

My finished track, Oh great!

2009-11-19T02:49:00.001+09:00

I am finally done!

Any comments welcome!

Download away!

Oh Great!

My new dubstep track! (unfinished)

2009-11-11T11:14:00.001+09:00

Check out a sample of Oh Great!

Episode 4 is UP!

2009-11-07T08:56:00.001+09:00

This covers my 2 week absence due to being sick!
Lots of Halloween fun, my stuff from Nagoya came, and future plans!

Check it out!

Episode 3 of the video blog is UP!

2009-10-22T00:51:00.001+09:00

Check it out!

Festivals and weekend partying...

Next week, Halloween party, and MAYBE a night out...

Episode 2 of video blog is UP!

2009-10-16T09:45:00.002+09:00

This time, I go over my time in Califonia!

Check it out!

Started a video blog! Episode one is UP!

2009-10-07T00:39:00.002+09:00

I have been neglecting typing stuff since I have been taking in the sights, sounds and vibe of my new life. Since I had been taking sooo much video, i thought, what the heck, let me get more of my money's worth out of this Mac and make a video blog!

Which brings us to: Episode 1!

It's been a while! I am BACK in Japan, round 2!

2009-09-03T08:38:00.004+09:00

So after my 5.5 weeks in Cali I returned to Japan and stayed with my friend's Alana/Ryan for a day (the second night I was with Nayo and Chaki, at Chaki's working till morning). You will hear the results of that eventually... :)

So that Friday I trained it up to Omiya to train for my new position (same company, but now that I work in Kanto, things are done different, and I will also teach kids, so I had to).

This training group was great! We all got along (for the most part, a few...INTERESTING personalities, which caused minor drama...I tried my best to keep some things in...) and went out quite a bit. First Saturday night out, we headed out to a rooftop party near Omote Sando, which set the week off right, with everyone getting a taste of the Tokyo party life. I think everyone had fun! This kicked off a week of a busy stressful (for some) week of training, but I think everyone did great! No one cried, everyone learned a lot, and we all rocked our demo lessons, and stayed somewhat energetic throughout the week! So of course, on the last night, we partied!

Thanks to Chaki getting us on the list, we all had a great night at Club Asia in Shibuya. Due to alcohol and the smoke in the club (welcome to Japan, hell, welcome to clubbing!) we had people leave the club early, not able to re-enter. The 3 that stayed behind, got to see me go up on stage with Chaki and do Stay Faceless, maybe for the last time... Glad they saw it! Back stage in the VIP I got to see and surprise the Dex Pistols (they know I lived in Nagoya, and when I told them I live in Tokyo now, they were shocked I made the move), met and talked to Verbal from m-flo/Teriyaki Boyz (also got a pic with him) and the most random surprise guest was Surkin! Dunno why he was there, but took a pic with him and was shocked to see he didn't do a THING, but show up, then leave! Haha! Morning came and we returned home.

That evening we headed to Odaiba to eat, and check out the giant Gundam! Damn was that thing amazing!

The next day I took 2 others to Akihabara to look for some electronics, but oddly enough I met up with my friend Jason from Nagoya and his friend Tam. So random. They ended up hanging up with us till the end of the night, which ended in Koenji, drunk in the rain, unable to see the festival (Awaodori) that we went there to see! It ended up a great night just hanging out, and eventually led to a Hub (popular bar for foreigners in Nagoya, but the one in Shinjuku was all Japanese, besides our group) then back home to prepare and clean for our move to our new schools!

We woke up and had to clean, sign our "legacy poster" and get all of our stuff downstairs and ready, in our suits, EARLY....

...in a typhoon...

Yeah, this was a tough morning.

We all said our good byes and headed to our respective schools.

I arrived at Kawasaki station and was met by my new manager, who is SUPER SWEET and gets the manager job done, without having that "manager-like" presence. She took me to the school, introduced me to staff, and then took me to get registered to the city of Yokohama, where I live! We then went to my apartment, where the assistant manager picked us up from a cafe (to stay out of the rain) and I carried all of my stuff up (I felt bad for her having to load it into her car! It was heavy!) and saw my apartment for the first time!

It is about the same size in total compared to my old apartment, maybe just slightly larger. The room itself is smaller than the old one, but from the entry to the room, is much larger and spacious, and my balcony is actually functional! But with a view of more apartments...

Plus it is waaaay convenient! Post Office and supermarket across the street. Convenience store and another supermarket 2 minutes to the left. Large Supermarket/Department store and an electronics store about 6 minutes away. Station is 5 minutes away and next to it...an Ohsho (my fav CHEAP Chinese food place!).

My office is even more convenient! Another Ohsho nearby. Next to a Yodabashi Camera, upstairs from Krispy Kreme, in a LARGE department/shopping/restaurant store. Across the station from a Bic Camera, California Pizza Kitchen, and LAAAARGE shopping mall. All of this without officially leaving Kawasaki station. I need a month to learn this area...

So far work has been great! I observed classes my first day and taught two classes yesterday (my second day). I did an interview on my first day, and she signed up! I did the same thing 3 years ago at Chikusa. Full circle. Today is my third day, and I will teach my first kids class (they are 2 years old!). I have been warned about a boy in particular, and he just happened to be in the office yesterday. He was crying with his mom, grandma, older bro and sis, and I got worried. He saw me, I talked/played with him and he got all energetic and started laughing! On his way out and down the hall, he shouted "Tommy-teacher is interesting/funny!" in Japanese. This made all of the staff smile and laugh, and me relieved...Today I teach him... Let's see how THAT goes!

So far so good here in Kawasaki/Yokohama!

Oh, my camera USB cable is at Ryan's so I can't upload a lot of pics, but when I upload them I will upload some good pics from the past 2 weeks. There are some good ones!

In Cali now! Check out my videos as I upload from my iPhone!

2009-07-20T14:48:00.001+09:00

I have been taking a load of videos on my iPhone and upload them when I have wifi available! Check them out to see what I am doing while home for 4 more weeks!

My youtube page!

This is it....Good bye Nagoya!

2009-07-09T10:04:00.002+09:00

I am here in my apartment, organizing things for the last time, before I go to a hotel! Tomorrow morning at this time, I will be on a plane to Korea for my transfer to California!

3 years, wow... It went by sooo quick but I have another exciting life ahead of me in Tokyo/Kawasaki/Yokohama!

This is going to be short and sweet because my power will be shut off soonish and I will lose internet, so I probably won't be posting again until I get to California, or from my iPhone today!

See everyone on the other side!

5.15 DAMIEN event!!!

2009-05-12T22:21:00.002+09:00

◆　DAMIEN　×　 DEATH IS NOT MY AIM　◆
(TOKYO disco TEENAGE KICKS)
　

　OPEN 22:00

　
　Guest

▲▼▲DEATH IS NOT MY AIM▼▲▼

写真

TOKYO NEW MODE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _dj TEAM

=MYSPACE=
http://www.myspace.com/deathisnotmyaim_tokyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2CiZEblwwg

(TOKYO disco TEENAGE KICKS)
【ｺﾐｭ】http://mixi.jp/view_community.pl?id=224020
【 myspace 】http://www.myspace.com/teenagekicks0311
【 Kicks Channel】http://jp.youtube.com/discoteenagekicks

東京アンダーグラウンドエレクトロシーンの中で、飛び抜けた個性と輝きを放つ脅威の2ピースDJチーム。極限まで歪んだビートをズタズタに解体していく唯一無二のD.I.N.M.A styleを武器に,感度の高いFashonistaや独自のRaveサウンドに魅了されたParty Peopleから熱狂的な支持を得ている。その1st MixCDのリリースを控えているTEENAGE KICKS代表DEATHがDAMIENに参戦。

100パーセント暴れたい人！暴れに来てください！
暴れ放題です！ゴリゴリです！
ＤＥＡＴＨのニトロプレイを直接体感しに来て下さい！

更に取り置きしてくれた人にはＤＡＭＩＥＮオリジナルバッチをプレゼント！　
因みにカンバッチのデザインはROCK ARTでお馴染みのカズヤ君にやってもらいました。
120個限定なので早めにメッセ下さいね！
写真

ﾀﾞﾐｱﾝｺﾐｭも宜しくね！
DAMIENｺﾐｭ：http://mixi.jp/view_community.pl?id=4168727
　

そしてDAMIEN DDDJ'sは＝＝！
　
enameL（TINY）
POM（TINY）
Wanna（TINY・DRESS)
kulala（TRIP・DRESS）
QNYX（EVA)
U-ma（EPI）
T-Atoms
Twin⇒b

VJは＝＝！
moja

のゴリゴリＤＡＭＩＥＮメンバーでお送りします！
　

ADV：2000円（120個限定DAMIENオリジナル缶バッチ付）
/ DOOR：2000円

info: domina
http://cafe-domina.com/

Golden Week is upon me!

2009-04-30T11:07:00.003+09:00

And I have zero plans!

The last weekend was eventful...

I DJed my last show with my whole DJ crew (I have one with just Shane, and one with just me and my favorite Japanese DJ crew here in Nagoya!) and it was a great vibe, but it was ruined by people who thought it would be a great idea to tell my most recent ex (I can NOT ever get a good girl for me! They are great girls, just not for me. Probably because I am bad?) that I had a new girl (the girl is not my girlfriend yet, but I went on a first date with her the day after breaking up with the ex, and one thing led to another and...). This left me with people coming up left and right telling me my ex was bitching about me and saying I am horrible person. A huge 100% downer on such a great night. I walked to the station alone after we DJed just reflecting on the situation, because I now have an ex who thinks I cheated on her, and friends I can't trust.

The same day, after going home to sleep, I went to watch Shane DJ at a Happy Hardcore event. That brought back memories! I also got the Storm Trooper Hoodie I wish I had for my event! A day late!

Shane started and finished early and we hung out a bit, but then I caught an early train home, came home and slept for the only day of work I had this week.

We all went to Sakae's Hub (normal drinking spot for many people) and just relaxed and thought of our upcomming vacation.

Which led to yesterday and the great plan of sitting on my butt (stomach?) and playing video games all day.

I have a date today with a 23 year old girl who does black hair styles, so it will be interesting to see how this goes...

A new mix I did!

2009-04-13T16:27:00.002+09:00

I usually keep my music on my other blog, but I am damn proud of this mix!

Please check it out and comment!

I have a lot of events coming up! If you are in Nagoya, contact me and I will give ya the 411!

T-Atoms' Mild Electro Mix

Life got the best of me! But I am posting!

2009-04-13T16:20:00.003+09:00

Man oh man! I will give a cliff note version of last weekend and this most recent weekend!

4/4/09 Bought a new flash for my DSLR
Did farewell party for my manager
DJed an event, where my whole school staff went to, drunk, and had a blast.
4/5/09
Partied till 6AM, took train home, checked email, showered went to meet my student to go to her temple (mind you, I haven't slept yet).
Total time in transportation and at the temple was about 10 hours.
Went home, changed into casual clothes to go to my friend's farewell party, where we had all we can drink. I drank WAY too much! This was followed up with clubbing until morning.
4/10/09
Got home, slept until 9am, went to dentist. Then spent a day at Inuyama and Meiji Mura with my girlfriend (as of yesterday ex. Loooong story, don't worry about it though) and her parents who were visiting from California! Finished with all you can eat shabu shabu.
Went home and slept...

This last weekend was lax. I went out drinking with friends. One of our friends has a classmate new to Japan, so we took him out.
Next day was mixing some songs together for a mix CD for an event coming up.

Which leads me to now! About to go meet with someone to work on their website for their restaraunt! Money money money!

Vertebrae inflammation!

2009-03-26T11:09:00.002+09:00

So after a welcome/farewell party for our new/old Japanese staff, I was riding my bike home and some idiot ran around the corner in front of my bike. The bike's brakes couldnt stop me in time from hitting him so I put my feet down to not hit him. Regardless, he took a step to my right and kept running, didn't even acknowledge what he just made me do...

So I continue up the street for less than a minute to my apartment, and step off my bike. That's when it hit. I had the WORST pain I have ever felt EVER, in my lower back. It made me want to fall to my knees, but I just sat there and tried to stand up. I slowly made my way to my apartment (usually 20 seconds to the 4th floor, it took me about 5 minutes) and into my room where I could barely turn over on my bed. ]]

The next day (yesterday) my head teacher took me to the hospital for X-Rays and they said I had SLIGHT inflammation on the vertebrae right above my tail bone. Slight?! I would hate to have regular! They wanted to give me a shot there to ease it, but I do VERY bad with shots when they aren't expected. Give me an hour heads up at least. For some reason I get nauseous after a sudden injection or shot. I am not scared of shots, because I had to learn of this condition some how, I just don't like feeling nauseous, especially when I have to teach!

So, they gave me a back brace, some shipu (don't know what to call it in English, but think a REALLY big Salonpas, which they DO sell in the U.S.), and some pain meds. I am doing all the measures to get better because I have some plans this weekend (HANAMI!!!) and I want to be prepared!

Times are changing.

2009-03-26T11:06:00.003+09:00

As my original crew of misfits are starting to slowly find their ways back home, I find myself having a FEW less reasons to party.

To remedy that, myself and 2 others have re-bought and started playing the original Starcraft and Brood Wars online at night after work.

It has been a great way to get the brain flowing, and remember the good ole High School days when this came out (or was it Junior High? This and Tekken 2 for the original Playstation came out the same day...). I am trying to relearn my tactics and remember how to play, but it is taking me a while, plus my friends are REALLY good! A little more practice and I willl be set!

Got the word! My next school will be in...

2009-03-24T11:51:00.004+09:00

...Kawasaki!

I asked for near Tokyo, and they gave it to me. I am 15 minutes from Tokyo station, from the school I work at! My apartment is within 30 minutes from the school. So... LESS than an hour from Tokyo, from my apartment. SCORE!

I will be teaching for the same company, at Kawasaki station inside of Yodabashi Camera! That is a little dangerous because of my addiction to electronics and video games. Access is way too EASY!

Plus now I will be 300 yen from the events I usually spend 9,600 yen if I take shinkansen, or 4600 if I take a 6 hour bus. 300 yen, 15 minutes. I am set!

I will be teaching kids, which I have never done before, but way excited to do once it is here.

I will be going back home for 4 weeks around July 10th - August 4th (tentative) so anyone back home who wants to hang, let's do it!

I am MOVING to Tokyo!!!

2009-03-19T11:10:00.004+09:00

So last weekend I partied hard in Tokyo, but there was another reason as well!

I had my interview in Tokyo to handle as well! It was with the same company, but different region, so it is treated like a different company.

So, I felt extremely confident during my interview, and I got the good vibes from my interviewers, it was just all about waiting for the answer. They told by the end of this week, I would hear from them, and they tried to reach me yesterday, but they didn't have my phone number, only my email. Strange, I got called by them before... Oh well, I got the position!

No details yet, but I will find out on Monday!

Tommy is going to Tokyo!

OK! By popular (5 people) demand, I will return to active blogging!

2009-03-19T01:46:00.002+09:00

I will start by moving my California excerpts from Japanese community site mixi, and throwing them all here!

To those who remember, I went to California last winter with 2 of my friends (one who has yet to TALK to me since returning to Japan. Some "friend"...the other still calls and texts) from Nagoya.

The continuation of the Cali adventure!

Fourth day in California short diary!

I woke up at my dad's and headed back home to see my siter, but first I went to my old office AGAIN, and had a small Christmas party with them! It was so much fun, and we laughed a lot! I also got to meet two girls there who BOTH want to go to Japan and teach like I do!

My old boss and friend Eric were soo happy to see me again, that they invited me to their Christmas Eve party at my friend Eric's house and I went there after going home to sleep for a bit.

When I got to the party, it was obvious, everyone had been drinking! They were playing board games and laughing soooo much! I got to eat one of my favorite Mexican foods, tamales, that their mom cooked, and it was so good! They started telling stories about Christ, and Christmas, and after that, began opening presents.

It got late, so everyone got ready to go home, after packing food that their mom/grandma cooked, and I headed home too, to go sleep!

The next day is Christmas, and the return of the girls to California!

Fifth day in California, short diary! Christmas!

So today was the day the girls return from their short trip to Sedona and White Sands national park.

I bought some more alcohol, and picked them up from the airport, and we went to Mitsuwa so they could buy some Japanese food for themselves.

We headed home, they got to unwind, share pictures of their trip, and we began to eat some of the food my mom cooked for us!

We ate soooo much!

Shortly after, my friends Ken and Kazumi (both Japanese, living and working here in Irvine California!), came and our party turned into a kind of Japanese style nomikai! Lot's of drinking and laughing, until it was time for them to go home and us to sleep!

Sixth day in California, short diary! Lunch, El Torito and bowling!

This day we met with my old manager Kelly, and her friends that I used to hang with in Long Beach.

We went to a great restaurant called Yard House and ate some great food, that was, again, too much for us, with our small Japanese sized stomachs! (yeah me too!)

After lunch and catching up with old friends, we headed to Kelly's house and played Wii with her daughter Jillian, who has taught us some great "knock knock" jokes and how to dance like a hip hop video star!

After Wii, we drove to El Torito (mexican food!) to meet a LOT more friends, and drink and eat!

We all ate and drank a lot, and people even told them it was Akiyo's birthday and we had them sing her the song (in Spanish, and English! They called her Akichita!). After a lot of food and drinks, we headed to the bowling alley for 2 hours of...MORE drinking and bowling!

I had some decent scores the 2 games we played (over 100 at least!) and as soon as it all began, it ended... Sad sad Tommy indeed! But it was great to see my friends and everyone all over again!

Seventh day in California, short diary! Akiyo's birthday!

On this day, we celebrated Akiyo's birthday!

I woke up and prepared the room with decorations and ballons (only 2) and laid out her gifts (from my mom and Mutsumi and I) and did it all while they were sleeping!

It was around 4am, at some random time I woke up, and thought it would be perfect. I set up some streamers and everything, but everytime they would move I would jump behind the couch so they wouldn't see me!

When I finished I went to sleep, but they woke up about 2 houtrs later to the surprise, but I was just waking up again, super tired! Haha.

We sang happy birthday, wore masks, cut and ate cake, and chilled a bit at the apartment before beginning our tour of "The OC"!

Akiyo loves the drama The OC, so we did a small tour of some places from the show! We went to Fashion Island, where I let the girls loose on a 2 hour shopping spree, with expensive results! This was after having a great, but way too filling lunch at California Pizza Kitchen!

After the mall, we headed to Balboa Peninsula, to check out a beach I used to be able to go to and no one was around, but on this day, there were SOOO many people there!

We tried touching the water and it was TOO cold, but we enjoyed walking along the beach and enjoying the weather (which has been GREAT everyday so far, besides the FIRST day the girls arrived!).

After the beach we went to another mall to buy Krispy Kreme (which is half the price of the one in Japan! 6 dollars for a dozen! Japan is 1500 yen!). Then we went to the nearby Virgin Megastore to buy some CDs and blu-ray DVDs! Virgin Megastore is going out of business, so everything is 50 - 70% off! Crazy!

After shopping, we got tired, and returned home to get some rest!

Eight day in California, short diary! Let's go to Los Angeles!

Now this day was fun!

We went to LA, and my best friend Mark joined us!

We started by eating at a FAMOUS hot dog stand called Pink's, where we all ate some very delicious, and BIG hot dogs. We drove up Melrose, looking for the Bathing Ape store, and found it, so we parked and went inside. Once done, we did a bit of walking and shopping in the surrounding area, but did the most at a place called Johnny Cupcakes! This store is about to get big soon and we all think it would be perfect in Harajuku! We all bought something from there!

After this, we went to the Beverly Center in Beverly Hills, where the girls went shopping, and us guys, well, drank... Too much!

When it was time to meet the girls, we were TOO drunk, so we wanted to go get some food and walk it off, but we ran into the girls RIGHT when we got out of the bar! CAUGHT! They thought it was funny, and we all went to get some food and drink, before the drive to Irvine to have dinner with friends!

We made it back, picked up Atsuhi from his place in Irvine, and then we went to Pei Wei, to eat some great asian food (they have a fusion of all types of Asian foods!). After everyone came to my place, to talk, eat cake, and hear the story of me meeting Chaki from the Lowbrows, and making Stay Faceless. I showed everyone pictures from different events in Japan, and soon everyone (besides Mark, who was still gone from the alcohol at the bar), went home for the night!

All in all, we had, Atsushi, Phong and his new fiancee Lynda, Mark, Micah, Akiyo, Mutsumi, and I. The ride back to my apartment was sooo hilarious, but I don't want to post it, because it is WAY inappropriate English, haha!

Ninth day in California, short diary! San Diego!

Mark hung out with us again since he was there anyway, so now I had a shopping buddy for when the girls would leave me to go shop.

Our first stop was Carlsbad Outlets, about 30 or so minutes from San Diego. We did a bit of shopping and I got some good deals on some jeans and shirts (2 jeans, 2 shirts, nice brands, 40 bucks!). We waited till we got to San Diego to eat, where we found a nice outdoor area, where we ate at a restaurant on a pier! The view was great!

After eating, we went to Coronado Island, and visited the Hotel Del Coronado. We walked on the beach, visited the inside of the hotel and walked to a nearby coffee stand, and got some coffee.

We made our way back to the car, took some photos of the amazing view, and made our way back to Orange County.

When we got home, we said our final goodbyes to Mark and went upstairs to drink, relax while talking to Ken.

Tenth day in California, short diary! Not too busy!

We woke up and decided to enjoy the great weather and walk to Fat Burger.

We all did it again, and ate way too much food and just sat in a very nice outdoor eating area.

When we were done, we went to do a little shopping at South Coast Plaza, and then headed to Corona, for dinner with my friend Adam's dad!

We ate at a place called Mill Creek, where we had some great BBQ chicken mini sandwiches. We also ate friend zuccini and onion rings!

I started feeling sick though, almost like I had a cold, and when I got home, I took medicine and went to sleep. Mutsumi also had a rough night from eating too much fried food. Akiyo is the only one not sick of us 3, but she is getting tired!

No pictures from me for the day, but the girls did take pictures. When I get them, I will post!

Eleventh day in California, short diary! New Year's Eve PAAAARTY!

What a day!

We woke up sick, and tired from all of these plans we have had, and we didn't want to do ANYTHING!

I called my boss to let her know, her house sounded like the best idea, since it would be real laid back, but then she told me to call her brother, my friend Eric, and see what he is doing. He told me to call Norman, to see what he was doing, then Norm told me there would be a chill rooftop party in downtown LA.

The girls said they wanted to go, so we did!

Eric and his girlfriend Yen, picke dus up and we made it to Los Angeles a bit later than planned, due to traffic. When we got there, there was pizza waiting for us! We drank a bit then headed to a nearby apartment, to enjoy a gorgeous night view of Downtown LA.

Here we drank a LOT until we decided we got too cold to stay, so we headed to the host's apartment to put the alcohol away, then go find a bar, but we ended up staying at the apartment the whole time!

We drank, danced, talked, took pics, and did the countdown all at the same place! So many good people, very international (Had a girl doing a student exchange from Germany, she was really cool!), and we got to listen to some old school hip hop (not the crap you hear in clubs in Nagoya:( )!

I got BEYOOOOND drunk and my friend Eric drove us all home, after scaring the girls that he was about to pass out when driving (god I laugh so hard when I think about this!), but he was just faking it!

Such a great night! I miss parties like this! They make me want to live in California again...

Twelth day in California, shrot diary! A day of rest...

After such a looooong day, we did nothing but relax.

We went to Jamba Juice to buy something to drink We went to pick up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, and came home to some home cooked food from mom!

A veeeeeery eeeeeeeeeasy day!

Thirteenth day in California, short diary! One last day of shopping...

So this is officially our last day in California. So what better way to spend it than to go shopping in LA one last time!

We headed straight to Johnny Cupcakes!

http://www.johnnycupcakes.com/browse/all

This is a really cool clothing company, which is kind of like America's "Bape"! Today was LUCKY, because we got to meet the man himseld, Mr. Johnny Cupcakes! I bought 3 shirts, and 6 pins, and the girls got some more shirts and pins. We got to take pics with him, he took pics of us, and he signed our boxes and pictures!

After this, the girl headed to American Apparel, and I went to some vintage T-Shirt shop to buy some AMAZING shirts to wear out and about in Nagoya (I am now addicted to cool T-Shirts).

After this, we were EXTREMELY hungry, we all only ate a little before leaving and it was about 5 PM! So we went back to Irvine, I got a milkshake from In-N-Out, Akiyo a milkshake from Fatburger, all of us some food from El Pollo Loco, AND 2 large pizzas, and a mini pizza!

We barely ate much of it, and went to sleep sick from the amount we COULD eat!

Ken and Kazumi stayed over a bit (Ken lives there!) and I was talking with them with Mutsumi (sometimes) until around midnight, knowing the alarm would go off at 3AM...

The alarm went off, I woke up and showered, and said my good byes to my mom, grandma, and Ken. Ken helped us down with the luggage, and we were off on a shuttle bus!

Now I sit here in LAX, surrounded by Spanish speakers, trying to see what I can pick up, drinking a coffee, and using some free airport internet! Soon I will need a charger, but for now, I will just browse the internet, should last 2 more hours!

DONE!!!!

View all pics from this trip here!

I will start posting about my life as of recent, so you guys will miss out on pretty much 3 months of my life. Just fill in the holes. It is pretty much the same though. Party, DJ, Party, DJ, and some work thrown in for measure.

Does anyone still read this?

2009-03-16T14:58:00.001+09:00

If so, I will continue updating from where I left off soon. If not, I will get to it when I get to it, hehe.

Third day in Cali! Time with old coworkers again, college professor and my dad's family!

2009-01-05T00:13:00.006+09:00

I kept SHORT SHORT diaries on mixi, of every single day, and promised I would rewrite them with more detail here, since people would b able to appreciate the full details here in English! So you will see posts and pics at a rapid succession from me for my whole trip, as long as I have internet and power (at LAX now, 3 hours of sleep, getting free internet, no plug in sight...)

And here it begins...

So my third day found me heading out to my dad's house out in Rialto.

I visitied my old office and college again, to see people I didn't get to see the day before. My old bosses were soooo happy to see me and old me not to lose any more weight! I was flattered because the people I have been hanging out with lately, have been telling me I am chubby! Screw that! I gave everyone some CDs of the songs that I got to be on, and then they made me sign them, in case I become big, they can say they have some originals! After a quick hello, goodbye, see ya later, I headed out to the Inland Empire.

I went to get gas (which is much cheaper than the last time I was here! Almost 3x cheaper!) and headed to and through my old neighborhood (where I spent most of my life!). Driving north on the 57 is something I used to do every weekday to go to work/college full time (none of thise part tme job crap my students get away with in Japan. Or, GASP, not working at all!) or sometimes weekends to visit friends or my ex girlfriend. The drive felt new, yet so familiar!

The weather was way different than it was in Orange County, a lot more gloomy, and the mountains were covered in snow! It was almost like everything got dark suddenly, and I could just see the sunlight and brightness of Orange County in my rear view mirror.

I tried to visit some old friends, but they had all moved, or weren't home! I first tried Jacob Navas' family, to find a For Sale sign up on their lawn! What?!?! They have lived there like forever! I found out later, they moved up to Colorado with Jake! Then I went to visit Jake Holker's family, to get his address and say hi, but no one was home! Just my luck!

I gave up and tried again to buy the Marc Ecko, Star Wars Real Storm Trooper hoodie (parka) I wanted at a mall nearby, but couldn't find it, so I left the mall with my head hung in shame....

Before heading to my dad's I made a quick pit stop at Red Robin to enjoy the return of the A1 Peppercorn Burger! When I first ate at Red Robin years ago, it was the first and only burger I ate! Then one, dark and stormy night, no, one day I went there and the burger was gone! I tried other burgers there, and none did it for me. Red Robin was just average for me. So on my second return to Cali from Japan, the burger was back, and the best thing ever! I killed it in 10 minutes or less, and was on my way out, after paying tip for the first time, since coming back...

I got to my dad's house, and knocked on the door to see him peep his head through the window, but something was different...

His beard was kinda long, and it was ALL white! He let me in, we hugged, and we began talking right off the bat (just like an Adams!). He showed me his stash of liquor and told me to pour whatever I wanted, so I made some rum and cokes, and he drank some whiskey. We had some good talks, he started talking about his childhood, travelling while a Marine, and things I never heard from him before, and soon we were joined by his wife and my half-sister Andrea. We also had my step-niece Lariah, who was in her room watching cartoons. She missed me sooo much, but only really saw me when she was like 2 or 3! Such a cute girl!

Midnight came, and all that was left was my dad and his wife, and they decided to clock out and I went to bed soon after.

A good way to start my vacation, getting drunk with my dad!

Second day in Cali - The arrival of Mutsumi and Akiyo (and an explanation of who they are).

2008-12-25T17:52:00.005+09:00

So yeah, the interesting part of this little trip to California. The addition of Mutsumi and Akiyo.

Mutsumi and Akiyo, are 2 girls I met by pure random chance...

I was at Hub, back when I was DJing at Arena a while back, with my friend Adam, who just arrived to Japan (at this time he, it was his first weekend here). We were drinking to calm me down, and hang out before I went on to DJ. He saw a cute girl and tried to get her attention, but she was obviously ignoring him. This girl went to the bathroom and when she came back, Adam grabbed her, and asked her to sit. She was KIND OF scared and got her friend to come sit with us too.

I was a bit embarassed at my friend, and let him do the talking, because I had a girlfriend at the time, but then I noticed something common in Nagoya. These girls spoke NO English! Just basic words, and phrases, at best! So my big bud was struggling to get anywhere.

I tried my best to translate for him, to try to make them laugh with his jokes and such, and they were laughing at the situation and felt bad for me. The one that Adam grabbed, Mutsumi, exchanged information with me before we left, and said she would stay in touch.

A month goes by, no contact, but finally I got a message from Mutsumi, saying her and her friend Akiyo were going out to drink at Hub. I was already going to be there before a DJ night, so I said I would meet up with them. I got there, and they were surrounded by guys trying for their attention, but as soon as I got there, they both started talking to only me, and the guys eventually left. We all left together, and I went to DJ, and they went off to do their thing.

Fast forward to a meeting at a Starbucks one night, when they were near my corporate lesson, and asked if I wanted to meet for coffee. While talking (always in Japanese, 100%) they asked what I was doing for winter vacation, and I said going to California, and being SUPER lazy! They were envious of me, because their plans were just work, and hanging out with family.

Without thinking (I mean who would have guessed this would happen...?) I jokingly said they should come with me to California, stay at my mom's place because it is big, and I could show them around, since I would be doing nothing anyway. They checked their schedules, and thought about it, but we just laughed it off, finished our coffee, and went our seperate ways.

The next day at work, came the surprise. A surprise like no other. They had booked their trip to California... They were on a waiting list, but said it sounded good, that they would be able to make it...

Great! Now what do I do? I had a girlfriend, who would get a little jealous sometimes, and here I am now, stuck with not one, but TWO girls going with me to California, girls that she doesn't know, girls that are just friends (as far as I know, and even to this day, there is no love/like interests amongst any of us, just friends). What do I do?

So time goes by, they get off the waiting list, and are now 100% going to Cali, but also made plans to go to Sedona and White Sands National Park. Not just this, but it is Akiyo's birthday on the 27th, and Mutsumi and I would meet up sometimes, to plan a surprise for her, buy her a card and shirt, and draw some stuff on the shirt for her, to make her brithday in California a great/memorable one.

Well the time came and went, and they arrived to LAX the day after I did.

I woke up after partying with norm all night, and drove to LAX, getting there an hour before their arrival (15 minutes earlier than expected).

I got to the terminal and waited with some woman who was picking up her son in law from the same terminal as the girls, who is a marine in Japan. We talked a bit until he came, and shortly after the girls arrived!

As soon as they saw me, they started cheering my name, and everyone started looking at me (I forgot to mention, these girls are CRAZY! They are soooooo extroverted and not shy, and insanely funny, and to top it off, they are SOO much alike!). I took one look at them though, and knew, we couldn't go meet with my sister and go shopping like we had planned. Plus it was raining extremely hard! So I took them to my mom's apartment. They both slept pretty much the whole way there, they were severely jet lagged!

When we arrived, I introduced them to my mom, and we gave them the towels my mom bought and stitched their names into. I really think they almost cried at the sight of those towels. They took some pictures, and we began to eat some food my mom made us. Shortly after this, we were exhausted, so we decided to take a nap before I had to take them to the airport to go to Sedona/White Sands. We all knocked out QUICK, and couldn't get up even after the alarm.

We eventually got up, headed to the airport and they were off!

After dropping them off, I went to see my old coworkers at JoshuaCasey, but I missed my old bosses! I chatted for a long time, and then went to my old college after. I BARELY missed my old teacher (for the second time, it happened last year too!) and decided to go to Cheesecake Factory after that.

I got there, got a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheesecake, while watching the Packer game. I wanted to enjoy it at home, so finished the cake (I can't finish a slice without getting sick!) and headed home, to watch the guy.

I got home, took another nap while watching the game, then got a call from Ken (my old TA from my Japanese class, who now lives in my old room here in Irvine!) wanting to make plans with Eric (old classmate from Japanese class) and Kazumi (another TA from Japanese class). We made plans, and met up at a Chinesese restaraunt, to eat talk and catch up. It was a mix of Japanese and English, and Eric was ordering all of our food in Taiwanese (his parents are from there). After eating, we headed back to my apartment, and drank and talked until midnight. From midnight to 2AM, Ken and I talked until he wanted to sleep for work that day.

My next day had, visiting my old company to see the bosses again, my old teacher at college, then shopping, then heading to see my dad in Rialto! I will save that for the next blog I write, once I wake up!

Going to California, and first day! Sunday twice!

2008-12-25T07:46:00.002+09:00

So I woke up early and was luckily already packed to go.

I got to every station the time I needed to and was checked in over 2 hours early, now I just needed to wait for Susannah, so I had someone to talk to.

I was a bit bummed to find out she upgraded for a better seat and wouldn't be behind me, but then we got a surprise, to a fellow Aeon teacher also taking the same flight (Mel, who has played football with us before!). Not just that, but he will be in LA, and returning on the same day and flight as I am! Coincidence!

We get to Tokyo, to see that the flight wouldn't take off until 1.5 hours after we were supposed to board and leave. 1.5 turned to 2, and we boarded. We got a message of a plane problem and were told to sit back and wait for it to get fixed, this happened 2 more times. I woke up to the sound of the intercom saying that we had to change planes, and take everything we had and take it to the new plane, which would take off shortly!

We rapidly head for the plane and are met with, 45 minutes of waiting!

They gave us a $10 food voucher, which I used for MCDonalds. But come on, $10? OK, for that...

EVERYONE, NEVER USE Northwest Airlines, to fly to or from ANYWHERE? Your time and plans are worth $10 in airport food to them!

Ok...

I got to Cali, waited in a long line for Customs, had a cop open up the line in front of me to go through customs, so I was out sooner than expected. I even got my luggage quick.

I went outside and my friend Ken (he lives in my old apartment room in Irvine, and volunteered to pick me up at LAX. We didn't have time to do the shopping I wanted to do, so we went straigh home!

I got home, saw mom and grandma, and did some warming up to them. Shortly after I went out shopping for jeans and looking around my old stomping grounds. Sooo strange... The pople were so different than what I get back home. Ruder, bigger, women are curvier (love that), etc.

At night, my friend Norm suggested that I stay at his house, since it's closer to LAX, and we expected rain. So last minute, I go to his place, we start with 2 shots of Grey Goose vodka, drove to get Mexican Food (sooo safe huh?), drove back, walked to The Standard (popular bar/club)and went to it's rooftop to drink and party! It was great and we met some Japanese people and I had a great time. One of the girls was from Nagoya, but studying in California, and she had a friend visiting who was also from Nagoya. A few of us exhaged info, and now we are friends on Facebook, nice!

We partied till closing (2AMish), walked to his apt, drove to get mexican food after.
We finished talking and eating around 3:50 ish, and I had to wake up at 5, to shower and get my car out of the parking to pick up my friends form LAX.

Such a long day...

I am still super tired!

WOW! Just fell asleep and typed like a 1000 1s...

Time to take a nap,
I am going to a party soon...

I will update the second, third, and 4th days soon!

Last weekend started HORRIBLE, but ended BEYOND AMAZING!

2008-12-16T09:35:00.003+09:00

What a roller coaster this weekend was!

So The Undercats second gig at Maverick was a disaster. It was completely out of our control!

We got there, and when our friends started to arrive, they wouldn't let them in for half off like we were promised they would if they had a cell phone flyer and came before 10:30. Time was severely wasted getting them in...

After this, the club staff wouldn't let us switch in our equipment and get theirs out, as theirs was pretty archaic and just not functional for a house/electro/drum n bass night. Their mixer only has low and high EQ knobs (no mids?!?!?), the headphone was popping and cracking constantly, and there were no effects!

Ryan went up first, and he just wasn't feeling it because he felt he sounded bad, so he asked me to go up and save him. I went up and realized how shit the system was when I tried to mix into one song and out of another. Just wasn't working...

I did my hour set after many fuck ups, the worst being when some big rugby player came up to REQUEST that I play that "Baby don't hurt me" song. I don't do requests, not that kind of DJ. So while I spent minutes talking to him about this, I lost track of what CDJ I was on, and hit next track to mix in a new song, and yep, it was the live CDJ... DISASTER, and embarassing.

The club promoter came up shortly after to say the hip hop DJs (this main room is a hip hop room and that is what Nagoya likes unfortunately... So fucking lame!) were going to be coming in to do their magic... Yeah, whatever.

The only good thing was during my set, and after, the pole dancers were out in force, and it made people actually enjoy my set more than they should...

We left early because they didn't even let Shane DJ AT ALL! We went to the location of our second party, and our friends paid their fees to get in and got their drink tix. We went in to see a pretty decent sized reggae party going on (for the location). After a while, the bad news struck. We would only get 30 minutes to DJ... Not 30 minutes each, 30 minutes TOTAL, for 3 people. Nagoya really doesn't want us to DJ huh?

This pissed us and a lot of drunk friends off, but Shane did his set, we partied, and drunkenly walked out and towards a new friend's house who lived close. We got halfway there, and I came to my senses that, yes, my student who came to watch us, was not with us... Where in the hell...

So we (Morgan, Darlene and I) walk back, in super cold weather to go back to where we were for the second party and met up with my student and the friend of a friend. The place's owner felt bad for SCREWING us, that he cooked us some AMAZING curry for free and fed us. We sat and talked till it came time for first train. During this madness, my friend Mutsumi called to say her and her friends were close and asked if we were still DJing. Haha, no we weren't. But they drunkenly stumbled over to the place and hung out until my friends and I left. They were celebrating her friend's bday, and it looked like they celebrated, hard... Haha!

So went home to get my sleep and I was bummed. I felt bad because it was Sayaka's last day living here, and I was tired, drunk, and SO TENSION DOWN (haha love that phrase). I caught my cat nap, and had some plans in Gifu in a few hours. So I woke up, said my byes to Sayaka and had to rush to the station, still drunk... After Gifu, I had a gyoza party to do which was a ton of fun. Was hard speaking mostly Japanese the whole time, but it helps me out a lot.

After this I was driven to Obata station so I could make it to Sakae to go party HARD at JBs. I told Darlene I would meet her at 9, and the train didn't make it till 9:04. This was my first time taking this train to get to Sakae, so it was kind of fun.

I met up with Darlene, and we went to go get our pre drink on. We met up with Shane, he got his water on, and we went in the club to get lockers, and then do more pre drinking. We downed our drinks and went in to see Tom (from Tiny, our friends and best party hosts when it comes to electro events in Nagoya! We need them here!) finish his set, then my friend Yousuke start his FIRST PCDJ set. It was really good!

Then things picked up as DJ Kyoko (who introduced me to Chaki from Lowbrows!!!) took the decks and showed off her AMAZING beat matching and mixing skills! She is too young to be this good... So jealous!

After Kyoko was Chaki, who dominated the decks as usual! He does so many amazing things on the tables, it brings tears to my eyes... But the surprise came before his set. He grabbed me and told me, when he plays "Stay Faceless" he wants me to go up there with him... Hype man style! When he motioned to me to go up, his management, and the club staff kept kicking me out of the booth, so Chaki kinda got mad at them when he had the song he was mixing out of on a loop and they were delaying the start of Stay Faceless. The song went on, I lipped my lyrics, and people in the club knew the lyrics, it was crazy! My first time ever seeing people sing the words to a song I wrote and was rapping. Surreal... We ended the song with us covering our faces and I was out and in front of the booth ready to party to Danger!

If you don't know Danger, you better learn! Check out his MySpace.

So his set was a live set, in the likes of a Justice or Daft Punk show. He had a mac and a midi controller controlling every part of his set, which was 100% his songs. The energy from his songs is so intense, so we were all head banging, bopping, bouncing, yelling, everything! Every now and then Chaki would come through and rock the mixer and effects to great result! AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!

After Danger's set, YATT came on and we rocked to them a bit, but it was SOO hot, we wanted to go outside and cool off. On my way to the exit Chaki is getting out of the VIP room and sees me and hugs me and told me he loved me, haha. The result of too much alcohol... But then Danger, unmasked (didn't recognize him without his mask) sees me and tells me to come into the VIP room. He shakes my hand and hugs me for rocking out so hard to his set, and working the crowd more. His friend/manager introduces himself, gives me a glass of some mysterious STRONG cocktail and I am now part of a game of singing and drinking in Japanese. I down my drink, get a hug from Danger, his friend, and some other random people. We did this many other times, I ended up finishing off 1/5 of a bottle of some wine Danger couldn't down. Things got very blurry around here. I got my friends in, we partied, took pics, with Danger, Chaki and the other DJs, sang, ate pocky, other stuff (don't wanna embarass or screw over any of the guilty peeps during this time...)and it was amazing. Danger and his friend demanded my info when it was time to close up shop after the last DJ. We shook hands, hugged, and parted ways. Chaki and his manager gave me a copy of the Lowbrows CD, hugged and parted ways. Shane, Darlene, and I parted ways at the subway and I made it home somehow...

Woke up yesterday morning with a sore neck, and the worst stomach feeling. I was bed ridden the whole morning... I couldn't even make it Ryan's bday thing at Red Rock, I felt so bad. I showered, got dressed and everything, but stomach wasn't having it... I spent the rest of the night under the covers relaxing...

Woke up this morning and decided to write a blog after what seems like forever. Going to California this weekend for a 2 week vacation! It will be very eventful, so please stay tuned for that! This work week is going to fly...

Someone stole the seat to my bike...

2008-12-02T22:36:00.001+09:00

I don't want to cuss anymore.

This is the only thing I am saying...

"Stay Faceless", the song I recorded with Lowbrows, is on their MySpace!

2008-11-12T09:59:00.001+09:00

The Lowbrows, a well known production duo, consisting of Chaki (a musician and DJ) and Emi (a classically trained musician) are releasing their new CD December 24th (if everything works out) and I recorded a song with them!

The song is called "Stay Faceless", and they just put it up on their MySpace yesterday (Japan time). Go check it out!

http://www.myspace.com/thelowbrows

Just so you know, yeah it doesn't sound like me, because the pitch was edited a lot, but everything is me, even the "Daft Punk" like vocoder parts. All production by The Lowbrows!

Go show them love on their MySpace and buy their album for Christmas if you are in Japan and love Electro!

Hiroko's wedding!

2008-11-03T20:48:00.003+09:00

I really wish I had the energy to do this post justice, but I have had a busy weekend!

I spent all yesterday (yes, this is not as late as the last post!) celebrating the marriage of my friend/old assistant manager Hiroko!

Started the day waking up late and doing laundry to the point of losing track of time and having to make my coworker wait for me, as I missed the train I should have caught to be on time. I caught the next train and made it there fine. We got to the ceremony hall and were happy one of the people there knew me, and helped us sign the guest book in English. Yes! She was a head teacher at another school and aparently was an on the job training person at Chikusa, while I was there, but I didn't recognize her! A while later, Hiroko's friends from Korea came, and I helped them out a bit since they speak NO Japanese. Yes, me, an America, helping with basic Japanese translation, for 2 people from Korea... Wait till the end, it gets better! The ceremony was much shorter than I was used to from American weddings (and being the first wedding I haven't really been a part of!) but Hiroko looked SOOO beautiful in her dress! She and her new husband looked sooo happy by the end of the ceremony!

This is where things were different from American weddings. IMMMEDIATELY after the ceremony, in the same place, the reception began! Lots of good food, and alcohol were consumed and all had a good time! Hiroko changed into a kimono, as did her husband, and both looked excellent!

Everything ended, and I returned home to change clothes and get Sayaka to go to the SECOND party. This is called NIJIKAI and is a party AFTER the reception for friends and coworkers. The ceremony is usually family only, but Hiroko invited her friends from Korea, my cowrker and I, so we all felt very honored to be there! The second party found my manager, head teacher, and staff from the Sakae school there, along with many other people, 120 to be exact! This is the biggest NIJIKAI I have been to (I have been to 5 before this, maybe 5...). It was at the same location as the first NIJIKAI I ever went to so I was looking forward to eating a bit of Chinese food (was still full from the French food from the wedding!). I socialized as much as I could and was ready to join the games every NIJIKAI has.

Now I never win ANYTHING at these. I hardly ever get a chance to compete, and when I have, I lost! Last night was different!

THey were asking a lot of different questions and there were many prizes, like a crab all you can eat, fish all you can eat, and a onsen for couples!

One question comes up and I only caught "Spaingo" which means Spanish. I asked Sayaka what the question was, and she told me "What does the word "AHO" mean in Spanish?" Many people raised their hands, but everyone was wrong. Here is where my High School Spanish classes paid off. I raised my hand, and in Japanese answered "NINIKU!" aka garlic! I was greeted with a CORRECT in Japanese, and everyone cheered for me. Surprised. Yes, here is a black American, at a Japanese wedding, winning a prize for answering a Spanish question. Only in Japan...

I had to choose 1 of 4 cards to see what prize I would get, so I closed my eyes, and got the onsen for couples! I was asked to give a greeting to the couple (only me, talk about on the spot and it was super short, but I made people laugh. I took a picture with the bride and groom as they congratulated me and went back hands in the air to my seat with my prize, but not before the game host asked me who I would take, and I said Sayaka and she stood up and was totally embarassed!

The rest of the night went on, lots of laughs, pictures, and fun and things came to a close. I took so many pictures, I still need to sort through them and upload them. Once I do, I will update this post, or make a new one.

I spent today, getting DJ headphones for my first big event on November 15th 2008, since my previous headphones were too weak for a club setting. I came home and began work on a new song, to celebrate my new purchase. Let's see if I ever finish this one! I have a ton of work in progresses I have yet to release...

Finally a new post! Ganban Night weeekend!

2008-11-03T20:43:00.002+09:00

All of this happened 2 weeks ago, but I have been insanely busy since this to write the blog, so here it is! Hope people still remember me!

WHAT a weekend!

This marks my first trip to Tokyo with my new iPod Touch 2G, which replaces my older iPod which replaces a need for friends when I travel alone to Tokyo!

During work on Thursday, I went to the 99 yen shop and bought an eye mask, toothpaste, cotton swabs, and a bath towel. I used the new eye mask on the way to Tokyo (on a bus with only 5 other people) and slept better than I ever have on a bus. I got to Tokyo station around 5:25 and went straight to Akihabara to do what? Find an internet café and SLEEP! I did sleep better than usual, but it doesn’t mean it was a lot! After I woke up, I went to a nearby Denny’s to grab some pasta for breakfast and then I ion exwas on my way to meet my friend Norm (who was visiting Japan for 3 weeks!). I call Norm around the time he wanted to be called, and was told he wouldn’t be ready for another 3 hours, so I headed to Shibuya, to just let the time go.

I went straight to Starbucks, sat and waited for a while until Norm showed up. We met near the station and headed to TGIFridays for a slow lunch, with lots of talking and reflecting on his time in Japan. After we ate I wanted to check out the Bape store, where we met a staff member who was born in Hawaii and spoke pretty much fluent English. Him and I convinced Norm to buy his first pair of Bathing Ape shoes! Nice!

As time went on, we did a lot of walking around, then made plans with other friends to go check out a club event in Omote Sando. So we wanted to pre drink, to avoid the expensive club fees for alcohol, so we went to Roppongi, Mistake and a half. Not just for time, but for the whole innocence that even a drug dealer could lose, just for saying the name, let alone going there.

We get there and we are overrun by the myriad of Africans trying to get English speaking foreigners to go to the clubs they goon for. They will run up and walk with you and say, “Want to see beautiful girl?” What guy wouldn’t? But why would any guy want to be lead by an African, in Japan, to see these beautiful girls? Not us. So The first guy that came up, I responded, “We already have beautiful girl, thanks.” This made him try harder, as he was met with similar versions of the same story, until he eventually left. The next guy got, “Do you have any fat girls? Short fat girls?” He stumbled to find words to reply, but came up with nothing but “Do you want to see beautiful girl? Come on, beautiful girl is waiting!” As we walked away he started shouting “Were you mocking me?! Saying you want fat girl, you mocking me!” Yes. I was. The last ones to approach, was the best result. I told them I was Christian… This time there were 3 guys and upon hearing this they surrounded me, one started dry humping me with a few feet between us, and they asked why did I come to Roppongi if I was Christian. I told them I was looking for a church, and they started taunting me about not having a bible and such. I think they got it that I was kidding, and just shook my hand and said to have fun.
While looking for a cheap bar, we got a call from Norm’s friend, saying he would join us for the night and we would meet in Omote-Sando. To save money, I thought it would be a good idea to walk to Shibuya, then OS after that. We saw a sign that said 2km to Shibuya, so we headed in that direction to get there…
50 minutes later we arrived to familiar ground. 2km my ass!
Now the walk to OS is about 15 mins to OS, so we made the walk and waited at McDonalds for friends to arrive. Before we got there though, we saw a guy walking, a rather big, brown monkey. It was so random, we just stopped, stared, and continued on, without mentioning it too much. It got better when we were waiting at McDonalds and the guy with the monkey came by again! Shortly after monkey spotting, Norm’s friend PJ and his girlfriend Lucia showed up! They missed him!
We sat and chatted a bit and headed to the conbini to begin the pre party tradition of pre drinking. I introduced everyone to the world of Strong Chu Hi, and the power hit em half a can into it! We started feelin the swerve when Haruka called to say she was in OS. Haruka is a friend Ryan and I met back during our weekend in Tokyo last time, with her Frenchy Kevin! She was gonna roll with us to the party and meet up with Luke and Tom. She knew how to get to Ever, the club we were going to, and we headed there, after getting more to drink!
We found our way to the club, and it was pretty packed and beautifully decorated. Loads of people were there, and it was just pulsating with electro house, or a live band performance! Crazy! A short time after, we found, err, Tom and Luke found me! They run up, shout Tommy, and I get hugged (and I think kissed) by 2 of my fav underage partiers! It was officially time to party the night away.
Lots of music, alcohol, and dancing later, it was last song and we found ourselves stumbling back to McDonalds. We grabbed quick food, and said our goodbyes.
I was now alone...
Drunk, I headed to Shibuya, then wanted to go to a familiar stop, 3 stops away, to get a 5800 yen hotel. Easy enough right? Of course not in this story! I passed out and woke up 30 minutes later, on the other side of the Yamanote line! I got off the first stop after waking up, stumbled to the gate, to have it beep at me for having a ticket that was 30 yen off. I pay my 30 yen at the gate, and stumble into unfamiliar territory. I wandered the streets for a few minutes (maybe), and made it to a capsule hotel. 1600 yen, for 10 hours and a sento (public bath)? DEAL!
I woke up after setting the alarm, and was shocked to see I was in a capsule hotel! Everything I mentioned was a rough guess at what happened, but I really don’t remember much after getting on the train, just know I woke up in the capsule hotel. So I took a bath, left the hotel, and did some minor alone time in Shibuya. I told everyone when to meet up and everyone (Haruka, Hiro, and Susannah) got there roughly on time. We get there and I thought I lost my ticket to the show! I was panicked, everyone panicked, but alas! It was in my back pocket! Safe! But my friends hated me! Haha! We got alcohol, food, and downed all of the above and made our way to Messe to begin a night of amazing partying for Gan Ban night! We were eventually met by Ryan, Tom, Luke, and another friend Nami. Even more surprised to see some DJs from Tiny (Nagoya’s best DJ crew IMO). We all danced and partied the night away together and it was amazing.
Highlights from the show for me:
Waving to Daruma from Dex Pistols during Justice’s set, and him recognizing me and waving back, with a thumbs up!
Busy P, giving our section 2 cups of Red Bull and vodka!
Busy P, giving just ME a cup full of what I think was rum! He then gave me the funniest look when he saw it was gone in less than 10 seconds!
Being front row for people I thoroughly respect in this industry! Crookers, Basement Jaxx, Boys Noize, Sebastian, Justice, Busy P, and Dex Pistols.
Such an amazing night, but it was waiting to be topped by the next day.
Morning comes, and I stumble to the same capsule hotel for a few hours of sleep and a bath. I made plans to meet with Chaki from The Lowbrows, and do some recording for him. Before this day, I had made and sent recordings from my laptop, of a low quality, but he liked them, but said he wanted some more. So we meet in Shibuya with him and his girlfriend, and take a subway to get to his place. On the way, we run into one of his friends James, who is a foreigner studying at UCLA now, but in Japan for part of a class (I believe). Really cool guy in my book.
We get off the subway, part ways with James, and board a train to Chaki’s house/studio. I was amazed at everything I saw inside of there! Pure awe…admiration…jealousy! I got to meet Emi of Lowbrows and listen to the track I had recorded for previously. It was a lot different than previously heard, but still cool as hell! So Chaki drops the bomb, and tells me to write a rap. Great, but I don’t rap, but for a chance to be on their CD, I sat down and wrote something to music playing. After several takes, we got something that sounded amazing! We played with it over and over and over, until it sounded like something complete. This started at 4PM and it was around 3AM when I woke up from falling asleep while working on the track. Chaki was also tired, but we were both hungry, so we braved typhoon like weather to go to the conbini and grab some food. We got back ate, and were awake, so we played some Playstation 3. Our game for the night (morning), Call of Duty 4!
I already had a ton of respect for Chaki for doing what I want to do, extremely well (he is VERY experienced at DJing and being a musician), but to see him DEMOLISH people in Call of Duty, and laugh and taunt people like a typical American gamer, I had to bow down. One of his friends from Roc Trax was online playing with him and I was laughing at how slow he was moving. So careful and slow, but not getting any kills! It was my first time playing on PS3, so I was horrid, for a bit, but after a while, I was racking up the kills and having him show me respect for how I played. After an hour or so, we called it a night (morning) and we both passed out. I woke up to the alarm on his phone (he was in his room sleeping, I was in the living room, with his phone…haha!) and just sat there thinking of everything I just did this weekend.
Amazing party Friday night, amazing concert, Saturday night, and Sunday recording with one of Japan’s up and coming electro acts. Why me?
It was time for me to head to Tokyo station to catch the bus back home, and I bought some Krispy Kreme for Sayaka and I toe at back in Nagoya. I got on the bus and slept for most of the trip home. The most sleep I got the whole weekend!
As usual, it was GREAT to be back home in familiar, quiet, Nagoya, but it really made me feel like living in Tokyo is going to be great! Next year!

Check out the pictures from the weekend!

I am going back to California!

2008-09-30T09:24:00.003+09:00

I am officially going back to California for a day shy of 2 weeks!

I got my tix and everything confirmed!

I will be flying NWA (no Dr. Dre, Cube, Yella, Eazy?) from Nagoya, to Narita, Narita to Los Angeles on December 21st. Then the reverse on January 3rd, giving me over 24 hours to sleep off the jet lag! Maybe this time I wont fall asleep on my students!

I am about to order one of the coolest Halloween costumes for this year! Since I have been in Japan, I have spent more money on Halloween than EVER! I actually like it here!

My friends and I (The Undercats) are getting gigs! Shane DJed at Domina last night and it was amazing! They want him to do it monthly now! All of us landed a gig at Maverick, a new club in Nagoya! It is HUGE and we will take the side room, which is larger than most of our fav clubs in Nagoya! Nice!

My 32gb 2G iPod touch will arrive in 2 days! Soooo happy!

Ryan and I will trade turntables for midi controller for a couple weeks! He wants to start producing, I want to get better at mixing! NICE!

It is starting to get cold and I hate IT! I always feel sick, even though I am not sick!

Some idiot parked their bike sooo close to my bike, and now their pedal is stuck in my spokes, and I can't get either bike loose! It sucks, because now I have to leave earlier to make it to work on time! Plus it has been raining...

Oh well, still enjoying life!

Is this really Engrish...

2008-09-24T09:49:00.001+09:00

... if it comes from England?

Don't wear red when eating this!

Its not the cold that makes me feel bad, its the medicine!

2008-09-20T15:59:00.001+09:00

At work now, 4 more classes till I can go home and die!

YAY!

So I haven't posted for a while, a lot has happened!

2008-09-12T09:07:00.002+09:00

So yeah, been busy!

1. Started DJing at what I thought was a stable DJ gig, but turned out the Turkish mafia (what I will call them until proven otherwise) was behind things, so we quit 2 nights ago.

2. Nearly broke up with my girlfriend. Not going into details, but we are working on it now, and it seems OK for now.

3. Bought tickets to Ganban Night! Wait until my posts after this event. I am stating it here now. This will be the best night of my LIFE! Google it!

4. Getting back into music production, and I have the tools I need to go forward with it the way I want!

5. Awaiting the call from the local Apple store to get the new iPod Touch 2G 32GB! I love electronics!

6. Have a chance to DJ at what is now Nagoya's largest club. Gotta love obscure connections!

7. Once Star Wars Force Unleashed releases next week, I will order it, Mercenaries 2, Infinite Undiscovery, and MAYBE Tiger Woods 09.

Other than these past events, the Tokai area of Japan (where I live) is expecting a HUGE earthquake tomorrow! So friends and family, IF you hear about a huge earthquake in Japan (there have been a lot lately huh?), THIS will be the time to actually worry about me. Not when there is a quake in China, Okinawa or Hokkaido, this one will be the one to worry about me. Wish me luck, otherwise, I will be out clubbing after work, quake or not!

First DJ show over! I rockstar partied this weekend!

2008-09-01T21:11:00.003+09:00

And I slept all day today to make up for it!

After DJing, drinking and partying until past 6AM at our new club (we are now officially the resident DJs there!!!), I made it home, got a couple hours of sleep, headed to see my student's team dance, but I couldn't find her:( I did call her and talk to her and let her know I was trying, but by the end of the day, I never saw her:( Later in the night, we had a "farewell" party and welcome party, which saw us drinking until 2 something, then dancing at a club for free for 30 minutes. It was fun!

Got home at 3AM this morning, and have been sleeping on and off all day! I am already sleepy again though! Oh well, I will be preparing for next week's DJ shenanigans!

Check out how the show worked out at The Undercats!

English class test!

2008-08-21T14:24:00.001+09:00

Everyone else ignore this, this is for my English class today!

In my Frontiers class, the blue pen didn't work.

To my students,
please comment if you can find this!

Shou-ron-pou!

2008-08-16T12:02:00.001+09:00

This is so good!

Chinese food!!!

What are the chances?!?!

2008-08-14T22:57:00.003+09:00

So I get home today after the awesome day out with Sayaka for her birthday, and I did research about a high school friend of mine who was moving to Japan to play basketball for 7 months.

I get home and do some research, and see ONE news article that he got picked up by a team in Nagoya!

I mail him and ask if it's true, and low and behold, he just got to Nagoya today!

What are the chances? I knew him since Junior High, watched him play in HS, hung out with him every day at lunch almost all 4 years, and here we are 9 years later on the other end of the earth.

To make things even weirder, he MAY be 1 station away, or a 20 minute bike ride away from me!

I will show him a good time here!

Keep an eye on him! Adam Parada, from Irvine, California (UCI, but we grew up in Alta Loma, California) playing for the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins!

30 mins after ordering!

2008-08-14T19:14:00.001+09:00

This better be the best cocktail ever!

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-08-14T18:02:00.001+09:00

Time to eat!

2008-08-14T17:38:00.000+09:00

All we can eat italian!

Looks great huh?

Almost time to eat!

2008-08-14T17:13:00.001+09:00

Waiting by the fountain!

Italian buffet, here we come!

Ice Cream Time!

2008-08-14T14:21:00.001+09:00

Haagen Dazs is so great!

First Mobile Blog Post

2008-08-13T21:29:00.000+09:00

jurt trying it out!

tomorrow is Sayaka's birthday!〓

2008-08-13T21:22:00.001+09:00

Summer Sonic 2008 and the aftermath...

2008-08-13T13:01:00.005+09:00

So I am back from Summer Sonic 2008 and man, this weekend has been crazy!

Let me start from the beginning...

We get up early to go to Makuhari Messe so Ryan can find a scalper selling tickets. He gets one for 20,000 yen and it is ON!

Everyone we want to see on this day, are at the Sonic, Dance, and Mountain stage! All close to each other! But we have a problem. Ryan and I have backpacks and need to lose em! We walk alll the way to the Ocean/Marine stage and find a place for lockers. Oh well, in this time, we can find Justice T-Shirts and a Crystal Castles shirt for Susannah (our friend) right? Wrong! They were out of Justice shirts, and had NO Crystal Castles shirts!!!

So we walk all the way back to check out MGMT, who were amazing!!! Ryan wasn't feeling it so we moved on.

What we moved onto was possibly one of the greatest band discoveries ever! The Shoes! These 2 French producers/DJs put on an amazing live act! The music was off he hook, but they would grab their mics and do the vocals on some tracks, which normally doesn't work, but for them it did! Ryan and I became instant fans!

On our way to get food and to see The Polysics, Ryan overheard some Americans mention, everyone has a sweat towel, and he just told them it is necesary, and we all started talking. These 3 guys never left my side until the morning I came back home. They were, Matt, Ben, and Lord. Yes, his name is Lord! They have been travelling all over the world because they just graduated college, and Japan has been their last stop before they go back home! Only Lord had been to Japan before ( he has been studying a lot of Japanese) and everyone else was along for the ride!

Before the next band, we ran into the Dex Pistols, who just came to Nagoya last week, and they recognized me (they knew my name, but ALMOST forgot where I was from, but then remembered). We took some pics with them, sat and chatted, and went on to check out the next band!

We asked them if they wanted to join us to see Polysics with us and they were down. Now to our experience, Polysics is a kinda light techno pop band. Our experiences were WRONG! This was like going to an American punk or hardcore show! The pit that started was brutal! We got punched, kicked, pushed, jumped on, jumped over, and literally everything else you can imagine! They went from one hard song to the next, and finally let us breathe when they did a cover of "Secret Agent Man". We all got soo beat we wanted to head out so we could catch Crystal Castles!

I got a call from our friend Luke who said he was in a good position to see Crystal Castles, and we got there and found him easilly! When we got there they were playing music, and Daft Punk's "Teachers" came on, which made us lose our minds. Funny, cuz we were pretty much alone... When Crystal Castles were about to come on, everyone rushed the stage, as did we. I warned everyone we would get destroyed like we did for Polysics, but they didn't think so. At the beginning it was all mellow and cool, as Alice danced and jumped on stage, into the crowd, in front of the crowd on the ground, and on the bass drum of the drumset (that had to hurt her ears!). After a while things got hectic. Another pit started, but now people were moshing, jumping, and it got incredibly hot (we were inside)! When the song ended and they walked off, we were happy go get some air. Well, Alice came back and started another hardcore song to make us lose our mind and mosh again. At the end, Ryan lost a lens in his glasses (I can't remember if it was here or during Polysics) and couldn't see well for the rest of the day!

Next I wanted to see Does It Offend You, Yeah? but we thought it would be better to hurry to Boom Boom Satellites, so we can enjoy them, THEN get in front for Justice! We decided to go eat and get some drinks and such. After a short break, we went to see Boom Boom!

When we got there they were just starting and we worked ourway about 4/5 of the way to the front (the place is huuuge). We stayed there and rocked out for a bit and when we could find a chance, we moved forward. Meanwhile, Boom Boom Satellites were putting on a great show! Our new friends became new fans of the group we saw open up for Daft Punk last year. Their sound is sooo unique and mixes 2 of my favorite genres of music!

When Boom Boom went off, we worked our way to the front. I literally had 2 people between me and the gate, and we were close to the center! It was hard to take pics here because the security stops us from taking pics! Lame, I know! I did get some pics with me, and the cross in the background! When they started they put on such a visually and musically impressive show. I know it isn't fair, but I compared them to the Daft Punk show, which I have seen twice, and I have to say, I enjoyed it more! I felt like they were more REAL and visible to the fans! Xavier came out and jumped on the speakers to throw up a peace sign like a rock star, while Gaspard would often throw up his hands into the hair, and look up to the sky, while light shined down on him! It was purely epic and more personable than their robotic friends from Paris! Every song that came on, was remixed, and sounded like nothing that came from the CD. D.A.N.C.E. was the MSTRKRFT remix and everything else was just complete new ways to hear the songs! Oh besides the intro to Stress which was the Auto remix. Everyone did a solid hour of dancing! As Ryan said, we all went belligerent on the ground to EVERY song! They impressed! When we thought it was over, as Xavier went back to the speakers to throw a peace sign, music started back up and were all dancing again. For a little foreshadowing, I nearly lost my mind when I saw SO ME on the side! At the end of the set I was shouting his name, but of course he couldn't hear me!

After Justice, we were done with other acts, and just went on with our day. I was contacted by my friend to make it to a party, but we couldn't find it after hours of looking in Omotesando! Things were made worst, when I woke up to a text message from her saying that she was almost alone in partying with Justice at that party! I would have claimed this to be the best weekend of my life had I met them, but we may have another chance to meet them in under a month...

The next day after waking up, we grabbed some Chinese food for lunch and saw Dark Knight, which was beyond amazing! I won't get into much of that here, but go see it if you want one of the most complete movies from beginning to end!

When we were thinking of what to do next, I got another message from Yuko telling me SO ME was having an event in Omotesando, the same place we couldn't find the other club, but this event was easier to find, and was just a meet and greet (and buy) type dealie. We got there and in seconds I was standing next to SO ME. I got to shake his hand and take a picture with him. We talked for a bit on a couple occasions, but I got to learn that he does music and graphic design for fun. He called them fun hobbies. I told him I will be back to see Mr. Oizo in 2 months, and he told me Mr. Oizo's new album is amazing. He said if Mr. Oizo's older music is broken and jagged, his new album is fixed and straight, and very danceable. This made me excited as I LOVE his original style of composition and synths (I LOVE his drum beats!) I am excited to hear a change!

We went into the store and checked out his shirts he helped design and one of our friends bought something for someone and had it somethinged by somebody (sorry this is to not spoil a surprise for one of my friends for his someone for that someones gift, just in case they read this before he exchanges it). While in the store we saw a very familiar face to all of us! Andrew from MGMT!!!

We walked out, and he was just hanging out near a wall with Ben and their managers! Strange seeing them here! My friends and I went over and talked and took pics with them and they were soooo cool and down to earth! I mean seriously, they talked to us like we had been friends for years! Andrew was telling us how he liked Japan and performing at Summer Sonic. He asked us a lot of questions just about us and our lives and we sat and joked. Ben was definitely probably the more social one (I will credit lack of sleep on Andrew not winning this title) as he was talking to me about what it is like to teach English in Japan, telling me his ex girlfriend left him and came to Japan to teach English...and she likes girls now! I couldn't stop laughing, but he said they were still good friends, and she came to see him the same day I did in Tokyo. He said he will come back and do some sightseeing for sure. Their managers were equally cool! We talked to them a lot and one of them told me to email him, because he heard I did some photography and was interested to see what it looked like. Hmmm future contact...?

After the event, we went off for the rest of the night and I woke up 30 minutes before my bus from Tokyo station was to leave! I barely made it, and finally made it home last night! Got some ramen, got home, and went to sleep! It felt sooo good!

Such a GREAT weekend and I look forward to every chance I have to meet musicians who have made it big and are down to earth like these guys! I love that!

Enjoy the pics!

New music blog set up!

2008-08-06T11:46:00.002+09:00

The Undercats!

Find it here. Post good electro-dance-music. Listen to electro-dance-music. Comment on local artist!

Just have fun!

It is run by me and my other DJ buddies!

Saw Dex Pistols play at JBs. Got their contact info!

2008-08-04T21:31:00.002+09:00

If you don't know who Dex Pistols are (and you should), they are highly popular Japanese DJs/Producers/Designers based in Japan, who opened up for Daft Punk last winter in Tokyo. Since then, they have made great connections with Ed Banger, and open for all of their artists who come to Japan. These guys are solidified. Jealous of their pics with Daft Punk in the suits too.

Regardless, they came to Nagoya last night and put on an amazing show, and afterwards, DJ Daruma, gave me his phone number (I didn't ask for it, I was drunk and trying to call a friend I lost, and he was shocked at my Japanese, and remembers me dancing and knowing every song he played that night) and said if I ever start DJing in Tokyo to call him, or if I ever get some good music produced. Awesome.

So I get home just now, to see the other half of Dex Pistols, messages me on MySpace, because he recognized my face, and told me to keep in touch and when I go to DJ, we could DJ together sometime!

This is all blowing my mind at the moment, because I seriously have like a month of DJ experience under my belt, but the kind of house I spin and love, is right up their alley, and compared to other DJs in Japan, I prefer music that most club goers wait for big name djs to come and spin.

I am seriously going to just work my butt off to get to the level to take them up on their offer. It would be a waste for me not to!

Pics from the night!

Beach, Onsen, then Oiden Matsuri! Summer has officially begun!

2008-07-30T09:52:00.002+09:00

Well the weekend came and went, and damn did it go by fast!

Sayaka and I set the alarm for 5:14AM on Sunday morning. I remember waking up at 5:55. Apparently Sayaka turned off the alarm, and we both went back to sleep. Well, our train was at 6:18!

We quickly showered and jetted to the station, no food in our stomachs at all!

We made it to our destination now problem at all and found Nao-chan and Hide-kun and began our ride to the beach, stopping for food at a conbini on the way. THANK YOU!!!

We got to the beach and it was more crowded than I have ever seen it! So manyc ars and people. We changed, applied sunscreen and headed down to the beach.

We quickly found Sayuri, but Maki was missing! Sayuri said she hadn't seen her for 30 minutes, since she went out body boarding. We tried looking out for her but couldn't see her, so Sayuri went to look, while we enjoyed the waves and water for a while. The waves were super strong and big on this day, and made for some hilarious moments for people unexpecting them. I won't name any names... After a while Maki showed up and looked like she had fun body boarding. Well now we haven't seen Sayuri for over 30 minutes... Haha!

After a while Sayuri showed up, and we were ready to go rinse off, change and head to the onsen!

To those who don't know what an onsen is, it is a large public bath, where you wash yourself off in front of many other people, then go sit in hot, or cool water to relax. My first time was a little strange, now I am super comfy doing it. Hide-kun and I went into the warm water first to relax, then we went to this place where you lay on rocks, and warm water just flows beneat you. SOOO comfortable! I swear I know I fell asleep here!

After the onsen we headed to a nearby ramen shop where we all got gyoza, and everyone got some spicy ramen, and I got the regular soy sauce flavored ramen. We had a great lunch and headed back to change for Oiden.

It was then where I got a message from one of my students that I invited to come join us, who said it was raining hard in Nagoya... We were in Okazaki, and saw dark clouds, and lightning, but no rain. So he was debating whether he should go or not. We said we didn't want to say yes or no so early, as it was still 3 hours before the event started. I called him to communicate better, and shortly after, it began to POUR! The rain was so hard, but we told him to still wait it out, but he made the call to cancel! So sad!

We got to Hide-kun's apartment in Kariya, where him and I played Mario Kart Wii while the girls got ready. After they were done, we got dressed and drove to Toyota.

There were sooo many people there it was crazy. This was my 3rd year in a row though, and probably my last while living in Nagoya, so I was used to the crowds. We found good FREE parking, and went to go to a famous spot for GREAT cheap kakigori! I got ichigo (strawberry) milk flavor, which is AMAZING! After we ate, we met up with the rest of our friends, and bought beer and drinks at the store, which was MUCH cheaper than anything on sale at the booths!

We found a good spot in front of Denny's and enjoyed watching the fireworks for a while. When we noticed people were leaving, we decided it would be a good idea to go, or we would be stuck in Toyota for hours, while everyone returned. We got the first train we attempted to get on (after I tried to get a W Zeppin Cheeseburger from Lotteria!!! But it didn't go on sale until the next day!).

Sayaka and I were hungry, so we went to my favorite cafe near my job called C's Ave. Cafe and had dinner.

After dinner we headed home and I swear we slept as soon as we got home. I woke up still physically and mentally tired, and I really wasn't sure what day it was! That is bad!

The next day found me being super LAZY! I did nothing but laundry, play videos games with my best friend in America online, and sit under the air conditioner! I was supposed to (allegedly) go to my friend Ryan's house to practice DJing, but I was soooo lazy and the weather was too weird to take the train or bike ride over (There was lightning, thunder, strong winds, and random rain fall!).

Overall a great weekend!

This weekend, sees me at Club JBs to see Dex Pistols DJ with a slew of other good DJs, and local DJ crew Tiny!!! The next day, my school will have a BBQ at Aichi Bokujo (my prefecture's farm!). The weekend after that, Tokyo and Summer Sonic. the weekend after that, the beach again! The weekend after that, someone I met wants me to see his DJ set, then I will go see my student dance in Sakae with her team who won last year!

Life! Great!

Pics!

It's summer, which means, I have plans every weekend until September!

2008-07-23T09:18:00.005+09:00

And in September, my friends and I are trying to throw an end of summer DJ event! A big one... No details yet...

So 2 weeks ago saw Sayaka and I going bowling and out to eat. We both had amazing scores and a lot of fun!

Last weekend, we went out to eat after I got off of work, and had a GREAT carbonara pasta, salad, and dessert dinner set at Marino's! The pasta is prepared in this HUGE block of aged parmesan cheese, and it looked, smelled, and tasted GREAT! After this Sayaka and I were both horribly sick! Maybe it was too rich for us!

The next day we travelled to Kurokawa (literally Black River), to go eat ramen that Sayaka claimed was the best ever. We waited in line, in the hot sun for over an hour, and I was expecting the second coming of Christ in this ramen, but for me, the taste was too weak. The line was so long because they can only fit 8 people inside of the place. I told her we may not need to come back here again, at least I don't need to!

We headed to the city to do some window shopping and stuff before I had to meet up with my friends for the Shinichi Osawa show. When the time came, we parted ways and I contacted my friends after grabbing something to drink from Starbucks (it was SUPER hot this day). They wanted to go do karaoke, and I didn't feel like it, so I called up my friend Ryan who was also going to the show, and met him and his friend at Outback. We shortly left to the British Pub we always go to called, The Hub. We drank about 2 beers, and headed to go look for our friends who should have been finishing karaoke, and we saw them about halfway there and headed to the venue.

Did I mention we didn't know where the venue REALLY was? Luckily Sayaka found a map online with navitime I think, and I took a pic with my cell phone. We got to the place, and everyone else wanted to go eat. My stomach has horrible side effects if I eat when it is hot, so I passed, and Ryan and I went into the club (JMAX).

We were the only people, and first people there, so we stepped in front of the DJ booth and talked to the DJs. One of the DJs was Canadian (DJ Ether!) and he let us take some swigs from his bottle of tequila, good man that he is! When he got off of the decks we talked a bit and exchanged info. This is one of 4 DJs I would exchange info with at jmax, then 2 more later randomly.

Time passed, our friends joined us, and the music began to pick up into more hype music! But the place was still relatively empty. That is what happens when events start at 6PM! Around 9 or 10, the place was packed and it was crazy. Ryan and I stayed in front of the DJ booth all night, unless we went to grab drinks, go to the bathroom, or go see our friends. There was a point when the DJ who was spinning's equipment went silent, and Ryan and I started hyping the crowd up by clapping and chanting in Japanese. Everyone started getting hyper, and I got some great shots of everyone at this time!

When Shinichi came on, the place went mental! His set was so high energy, people looked tired, were covered in sweat, but had huge smiles and bounced and danced all over the place! I shook his hand so many times as he kept seeing I had the biggest smile on my face, so he kept reaching out to shake my hand, or vice versa. He went on for an hour longer than scheduled, which no one cared about. When he eventually ended, we met up top, and HAD to get some water. We met with a few friends we see at other club events and exchanged info for whatever event may come up in the future (2 will be going to Summer Sonic the same day Ryan and I go!).

It was now 2:50AM or so.

We all walked to Sakae with our heads ringing, going over how awesome the whole night had been. We walked to JBs, and it sounded exciting, but they wanted 3000 yen, and we all felt tired, and sleepy! So 4 of us walked to Denny's to eat and sleep, while 2 went into the club. Before leaving I saw and exchanged info with a DJ crew who we saw before Gildas and Masaya, who were REALLY good!

We got to Denny's and like usual, it was filled with people who had been clubbing all night. People dressed for clubbing, who look like zombies, eating at one of few places still open! The plan was to sleep there, but I wanted a bed and announced I would take a taxi to get home. No one complained and actually did the same thing. I hailed a cab for 2 friends and got them on their way home, and Ryan and I shared a cab back, since we live close to each other.

I made it home, and went straight to sleep!

The next day, Sayaka and I went to eat ramen near Chikusa (much better, and cheaper, and COOLER, then the place in kurokawa!), then went bowling! My first game was average, but shortly into the second game, I forgot how to approach the lane! I could not bowl at all! I eventually just started standing at the front and throwing it, no approach at all! I must have been sooo exhausted! After our 3 games, we walked to Shin Sakae Machi to go to Starbucks!

We drank, ate, and talked for a while, then I eventually fell asleep there, since I was so tired. It was only 5 minutes or so (I dunno, how long was it Sayaka?), but when I woke up, I was ready to go! We looked for an Italian food place between Shin Sakae and Sakae, but couldn't find anything with lasagna (she was craving lasagna, I wanted something with a lot of cheese!). Our search led us to a walk to Fushimi station, where we found Pizza Salvatore!

The food here was great! We ordered a lot:

A chicken and spicy salami pizza, with mozzarella and red pepper.
Lasagna
Tomato, onion, and garlic pasta.
Lemoncello
Sambuco (too strong of a taste for me!)
Gelato
Cappuccino

Everything was around 6000 yen and it was a perfect dinner. The place was BEAUTIFUL on the inside and played a lot of nostalgic old r&b and rap music that was big when I was in college. Too funny! Made me miss my mom a bit as they played songs I know she used to like!

After dinner we headed home and I think we played Puzzle Fighter on Xbox360 Arcade, and she beat me. MAYBE I fell asleep shortly after? I don't remember...

Now I am back to the work week, but this weekend, we will go to the beach early in the morning and go body board and swim (I hope no jelly fish this time!), then after that go to an onsen to relax, clean off, and MAYBE eat, then go to Toyota city (where Sayaka and ALL of her friends are from), and dress into our yukata and go enjoy Oiden Matsuri!

The week after that, the Dex Pistols (GREAT JAPANESE DJs, who opened up for Daft Punk last December when they came to Japan!) will be at Club JBs in Sakae, and I will see them after work! The day after that, my school will have a BBQ at Aichi Bokujo!

The week after that, I head to Tokyo to go to Summer Sonic and see Justice, MGMT, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, HADOUKEN!, and Crystal Castles!!! A DAY of great music!

When I head back to Nagoya (not sure when yet) Sayaka and I will celebrate her birthday, and possibly go on a trip somewhere.(if we don't go on August 4th...)

The following weekend I think we have been invited to go to a BBQ on the beach. If it isn't this weekend, it is the next weekend!

I always say I am busy, but here is my schedule, PROOF!

In September, Ryan and I will try to get this big DJ event planned, so keep an eye out if you are in Nagoya, to check it out and hear some great house music!

As usual, please browse the pics HERE!

Happy Birthday to me! In Nagano!

2008-06-30T17:19:00.002+09:00

So Sayaka and I decided we would take each other on trips for our birthdays, and since mine is today (yay me!), we went to Nagano yesterday!

We spent the day in a town called Iida, and did sooo many interesting things!

The first thing we did was head to a farm where we made our own apple pie, ate a potatoe with some GOOD butter! We also got to eat some blueberry soft cream which was DELICIOUS!!!

We made one of severa stops to some souvenir shop, and bought some omiyage!

Our next stop was going to a river which was moving pretty fast due to the heavy rain! We saw these tiny boats with motors on them and we soon boarded them for one of the most exciting rides I have ever had! The view, mixed with the rain and everything that surrounded us during this boat ride, made for a VERY memorable experience. When we got to the end, there were 7 or 8 ducks just waiting in the water for us! There was also a white cat just sitting there watching the ducks! The highlight of this moment, was when Sayaka and I were taking pictures of them, since they were so close, one of the ducks attacked her camera (pecked the camera when she wasn't looking!). We both got startled and the duck just stayed there like nothing happened! Too funny (see the picture later...)

After this we headed to a beautiful area that had tons of old Japanese shops and items to buy. It really felt like being in ancient times in Japan. I took WAY too many pics of this place because it was soo beautiful!

After that we headed back home and I had to head to my friend Mike's farewell party (he is going back home to Canada :( ). We started at the Hub, where we drank too much, then people bought me beer and shots for my birthday at midnight. Then a few of us stumbled to a hip hop club which I totally regret! The music was SOOOO horrible, as an American who knows what real hip hop is. There was some singer who was similar to Exile's style and everyone sat on the floor to watch them perform. We just stood then eventually sat with our face's in our hands because it was soooo bad! We just sat and talked, while people "danced" to horrible music, and then the Euro Cup game (Spain vs. Germany) came on and we watched that until it was time for first train.

I made it home and went to sleep after Sayaka attacked me, knowing I was exhausted! Thanks for that baby!

Tonight we go to Hard Rock Cafe and eat some GREAT food!

Check out the pictures from yesterday!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/agent_viagra/sets/72157605895308909/

Another weekend full of excitement! - NOW with videos at the bottom!

2008-06-24T09:51:00.006+09:00

So for weeks I was planning on going to my student, Shigeo's, band Coffee Time's live show. (who I designed and maintain their website at www.coffeetime.com)

Well the day finally came and they were amazing! I got there a bit late due to stomach problems (Sayaka and I ate like 30 something gyoza in 10 minutes...) and the band before them was on. I got in and was the only foreigner, but when is that ever a shock! I got there, and Coffee Time's drummer recognized me and said "Heeeey Tommy!" which instantly made me official as for having a reason to be there. He went up front to get Shigeo, and he came and we talked and joked around a bit. The singer Chikako, from Coffee Time came to introduce herself in English to me (I haven't met her yet, I only met the previous vocalist. Plus the new bass player and keyboardist came to introduce themselves to me too. Shortly after they were ready to go on!

They warmed up with a cover of a Maroon 5 song, and after that they did 4 original songs. They really are a great band, and it is hard to describe their style. It isn't J-Pop, too hard, it isn't JRock, to electronic... I will have vids up to decribe it a bit better later!

After that, I joined my friends for the farewell party of a local teacher. We hit up Karaoke Kan, the Greek designed karaoke place with an AWESOME night view (well the room we got had the great view!). We did this all while drinking too much and singing horribly to horribly old songs (but like always Ryan and I did Justice's D.A.N.C.E.). Most were going to stay and do karaoke for one more hour, while Ryan, Susannah and I were going to look for the club that would be our after party.

We went to JBs and it was closing at 4 and they were playing, what they call "techno". We tried Daughter, and it was dead, but playing rap (who wants to dance to rap?). SO we decided to take the walk to Magos. We are glad we did! It was Electro/House night and DAMN were the DJs good that night!

I met a DJ who will be having a set on August 27th and he will get me in for free to check him out! I always love clubbing in Japan because people seems to have more fun when foreigners are around. It was so quiet, even thought the music was BANGIN, but when we got there everyone got louder. Some guy eventually came up to me with a bottle of white wine which we drank from, literally in front of the DJ booth!

The other joined us, but I wasn't sure for how long because of the alcohol, but eventually the sun rose, the last song played, and I stumbled to Denny's where everyone was crashed at. I made the decision to go walk to the station so I could catch the first train home at 6:10AM. I caught the train, stumbled to ride my bike home, and got home and took a shower then slept!

I was shocked to wake up and see Sayaka was gone, but forgot that she had work! I woke up at 10 something and got ready to go to Immigration to go get my visa and passport renewed! I left around 10:30, got my passport at 3:30. Yeah, immigration offices... After that I headed home to get the first care package my dad and his wife sent me!

When it came I was sooo happy to see 9 packs of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (MY FAVORITE CANDY IN THE WORLD!!!!), 4 containers of Creole seasonings (Zataran's and Tony Chachers), 2 bottles of Frank's Red Hot sauce (such a good taste, and not too spicy!), some mac and cheese, and liquid popsicles to freeze! I will be happy with these for some time!

My mom should have sent me another package today too, with 3 new suits that I bought, plus some other things I asked for!

Such a good week!

Also, 6 more days until my birthday, and Sayaka and I will go have a day trip to Nagano on Sunday, and after that I will go to one of my friend's going away party. No idea what the plan is, but sounds like a bar night!

Busy busy busy busy busy... You should know me by now right?

Also after this weekend at Club Magos, I was seriously considering thinking of becoming a party promoter, and give some local DJs more recognition. These guys are as good, if not better, then other artists who make a ton of money and travel the world. I think they need someone to get their name out there! Maybe that someone is me...

Pics from the live!

Video from the live will come as soon as I get em uploaded!

I met Nabe Atsu!!!

2008-06-16T20:10:00.002+09:00

AKA Watanabe Atsumu!!!

If you live in Japan, you know who he is, or at least know OF him!

Sayaka and I went to the big Eiden event at Nagoya Dome and got to see him and his partner do a 10 minute comedy sketch. Before that I bought 2 hi vision camcorders that were on sale for a GOOD price, and now I am going to sell them! (YAY!)

Anyways, Sayaka made reservations fora book signing event that he would be doing at Nagoya Station, at Books Sanseido. I didn't think I needed to do it, because I thought we would have been closer to see him at the Eiden event, but I was wrong...So after we ate I asked her to see if she could make reservations for me too. Well who would have guessed it, I got my reservation, 4 hours or so before the event! LUCKY!

So we go to Nagoya station, go get our tickets to buy the book and get in line to meet him. We waited for an hour and a half or so, but when he arrived, everyone got soo excited and started cheering. As they say in Japan, everyone became TENSION UP!!! (this always makes me laugh when I hear this being said...)

Thanks to Sayaka getting us in line early, she was number 8 in line and I was 9! We both went up together and she kinda acted as my translator. She asked him if he was tired, because he LOOKED exhausted (after the Eiden event, now signing 200 people's books and shaking their hands...) and he said he wasn't. He asked me if I understand his act, and I said a little, which made him laugh. He also asked if I spoke Japanese and I said a little again... We both got our books signed and Sayaka looked like she was about to explode, cry, faint, or all of them at the same time! She was tension up for hours to come.

Following this momentous occasion was a 2.5 hour drink fest at the beer garden in the Dai Nagoya Building. I was meeting up again with my trainers and other teachers after they did a day hike at some mountain in Mie. We drank ourselves stupid and ate till we couldn't move, just like you should at a beer garden! After that a few of us went to The Hub to chat and BS around until it became too late.

A super eventful day yesterday, and I was sad to see it go! Now I am stuck in my apartment, with no water, and thinking of how to sell these camcorders!

Wish me luck!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/agent_viagra/sets/72157605640447837/

Bowling party, drinking party, and almost going to Nagoya University's school festival...

2008-06-09T18:12:00.002+09:00

So my student who goes to Nagoya University invited me to go to the school's festival. So Sayaka and I got ready early and I picked up a day pass for the subway, and we headed to the station. When we got there, there were signs, and people in megaphones saying the festival had been canceled. A bit of back story is in store...

So Saturday night, after work, we saw that a lot of people got sick from eating some food at a school university. They were sent home, and people were shown crying and what not. Then we found out it was Nagoya University! OK, so get rid of the bad food, and all is well? Nope, the sign said something about not being able to continue with the festival knowing they got people sick, and they remained hospitalized. I do understand that though, but felt bad, because I KNOW my student worked sooo hard preparing for it, only to have the last, most busy day, be canceled! Maybe next year will go better!

So after those events, we thought we would go to Sakae before I had to go to my school's party. We did some walking around and caught a glimpse of a new J Pop artist who was signing her CD at Parco. I took pics even though I shouldn't have!

It eventually became time for Sayaka and I to part ways for the day, so we said bye and she lead me to the station. After a short time, I realized she lead me to the ENTRANCE to the shopping center, while she was walking towards the station... Dizzy dizzy girl! I walked back and she was on her phone calling me, and started laughing and hid her face when she saw me. A funny moment, for sure!

I eventually made it to the meeting place, and everyone was jokingly mad at me for being late. I admit, I was 9 minutes late, but stupid slow walkers in Kamimaezu station were to blame!

We rounded almost everyone up and made our way to the bowling alley.

The first game was my best game in a long time, where I scored 155 points. This put me in the number 3 spot for total points. After the first game we were set into teams for the tournament, and we bowled a difficult 10 frames, only to tie for last place. I ended with a 138 for that game. Pretty consecutive day for me, nothing below 100 this day!

After bowling we headed to Wara Wara, where we all ate, drank, and had a great time!

Our next party? BBQ in August!

On to the PICS!

My last 2 photo days!

2008-06-06T08:52:00.003+09:00

Check out my new photo galleries for pics of what I have done recently!

Our anniversary at my student Yoko's strawberry themed party!

Our first Chunichi Dragons game!!

My last 2 photo days!

2008-06-06T08:52:00.001+09:00

Check out my new photo galleries for pics of what I have done recently!

Our anniversary at my student Yoko's strawberry themed party!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agent_viagra/sets/72157605419471970/

Our first Chunichi Dragons game!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agent_viagra/sets/72157605437959602/

It has been a while since my last blog post...

2008-05-29T09:10:00.002+09:00

Since then, Sayaka and I celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!
We didn't want to do anything too flashy and big, so we spent the day together going to my student's house, where she had a strawberry themed party! Her garden has a lot of strawberries so she let the kids from her art class come, if they drew her a picture with a strawberry in it. All of the kids were so cute and happy to be there. She prepared many types of snacks with strawberries in them too! Strawberry ice cream, fruit cup, soda, and other food too. After we stayed there and took several pictures, we headed to Kanayama to find something to eat. We ended up going to a buffet for 2 hours and enjoyed some great food that they had there! A nice relaxing anniversary date with Sayaka, we were both happy!

I also started a new hobby, which is DJing house music with my friend Ryan, who teaches in Kasugai, near me. He is also from the same city I lived in before I came to Nagoya, and has gone with me to many concerts, and we both have a love for music. Last weekend he had a small get together and we djed and drank and socialized, so I guess you can say it was our first DJ event. We want to practice more and see where it could take us...

Today or tomorrow I will be buying my ticket to Summer Sonic 2008! I went in 2006, skipped 2007, and now I am ready to go again! My first Summer Sonic I saw Daft Punk live for the first time. Daft Punk being the biggest house music act coming from France! This year will be my first time seeing Justice live, who is the NEXT biggest house music act coming from France! I will also be able to see Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Crystal Castles, and many other bands I can't wait to see! Ryan should be going with me and maybe a few other teachers in the area, so it should be a fun day of music!

OH! And Sayaka and I went to our first Chunichi Dragons game last weekend! It was a COMPLETELY different feeling than an American baseball game! Each batter has their own chant and cheer, people go crazy without alcohol, and the visiting team has their own section, going crazy and doing the same things! it is definitely more festive than the American version, and the biggest difference I noticed was that the field was shorter than the American sized baseball field. I felt like it wouldn't be TOO hard to hit a homerun!

Also I haven't made any music since my laptop died, and just yesterday, at work, I started working on the drums for my first new track in a while. I can't wait to put together another track, since I have been discovering a LOT of GOOD house/electro/french in the last month or so. I have TONS of inspiration now!

Now to the pics!

Big News (for me) I am moving! Next year to...

2008-05-16T08:47:00.000+09:00

Tokyo!

I asked my trainer if I could transfer after I finish my 3rd year, and he said it would be no problem! He even asked why I didn't ask before my first year ended, but I just recently found out it was possible.

So next July, I will be moving to Tokyo!

The reason I want to be there is the find a foreign (or Japanese) company to be their graphic designer, web designer, or anything not teaching English!

Nagoya is a little sleepy when it comes to foreign friendly careers, so I want to make the move!

A year and a month or so away from the big T!

Slowly getting my laptop to life...

2008-05-13T08:42:00.001+09:00

So I can NOT recover the data on my old hard drive. So I lost a lot of pictures, my Outlook data files (which means I lost ALL of my clients, all of my schedules, birthdays, etc.) and who knows what else I had on there that I just wasn't keeping track of (stuff on desktop, important financial info and such).

I am slowly trying to get this back to a state where I can make music, receive and send email outside of a web browser. and go back to making websites...

Slowly but surely.

This officially marks the second time in my life that my hard drive died while I was really enjoying making music. This time though, I had it all backed up!

So FUCK you fate!

Sorry, I am so pissed when I think about everything I lost...

Major major set back!

2008-05-08T12:04:00.001+09:00

So shortly after I wrote the blog from today, my laptop bit the dust. Well at last the hard drive did....

Yeah I can go buy a new hard drive and be up and running, but, yeah, Ilost all of my programs, settings, a lot of picture I haven't uploadedyt (and even getting ones I have uploaded back on my hard drive is a pain, sine I have to download them one by one...)
Luckily, I just backed up my music and music files to my external hard drive, but I did lose 20 gigs of free sounds for my music software... Thoe took FOREVER to download and I never got a chance to back them up!

For reference, I am using an Acer Ferrarri 4000. NEVER buy one or ANY other Acer product after reading this! This is just the latest problem I have had since buying it just over 2 years ago.

This is why I am saving up for a Mac Book Pro!

Oh yeah, I am able to use my Playstation 3 to check e-mail and write posts still, but that is about it, as the browser is very limited.

Golden Week, a success?

2008-05-08T08:43:00.002+09:00

I would say so.

My first days were filled with laziness, carbs, and calories! Got to disk 4 of Lost Odyssey and just completing a lot of side junk now for fun.

Bought some Bape stuff.

Made some songs for some videos.

My plans didn't really come about until Friday night, when Sayaka and I went to Outback for dinner. Saturday we slept in a bit to catch the night bus that night with her mom to Tokyo to go to Disneyland. Before the bus,w e ate dinner though, and we all agreed, the food at that place wasn't so great!

The bus ride there wasn't too bad, I got off at one rest area to buy some candy, as I just had the taste of grape chu-hi on my tongue and it wasn't pleasant! Next time I awoke, we were within Tokyo's boundaries, but not quite to the Disney resort. I stayed awake for the rest of the trip, enjoying the view of my favorite city in Japan!

We did our breakfast buffet which was pretty good. The food, salad, fruit, yogurt, everything was sooo good!

Now the day before, was SOOO hot in Nagoya, that I bought 3 pairs of shorts, and wore one of them for the trip. This day, in Tokyo, was COLD and windy!

Throughout the day at Disneyland, it would start sprinkling quite often, then downright rain a few times during the day. I was definitely not dressed for it!

The day was fun, but definitely, the most crowded I have seen ANY Disney park, save California's on New Year's Eve! We waited 3 hours and 40 minutes, for Winnie the Pooh's Honey Hunt, which was better than waiting an hour and 50 minutes JUST to get a "fast" pass, which wanted us to return at 8PM, and it was 9AM... After the Pooh ride (which underwhelmed Sayaka and here mom because of the length of the wait, to length of the ride ratio was ridiculous) we went on Big Thunder Mountain. The wait here was about 2 hours and 45 minutes. This ride always satisfies me, so the wait was worth it! After this we ate, then went on Splash Mountain which was another 2 hour + wait! Our picture for Splash Mountain was soo funny, because Sayaka looked like she was going to die, her mom was smiling so big, and I looked super relaxed!

After Splash, we watched the Electrical Parade, which I really think Daft Punk was inspired by for their last tour... After the parade we did omiyage shopping and headed to the bus to go home. It was a looong ride home, because the little girl next to us decided to start crying for a good part of the trip, and I think she kept everyone up.

Check all Disneyland pics HERE!

We arrived back in Nagoya Monday morning, which was around 17 hours before I would go see Gildas and Masaya at club Magos in Shin Sakae Machi.

We slept a bit and recovered, and the time to go meet my friend Ryan came and went.

We met at Hub which is a popular foreigner bar in Sakae, to go drink a bit. It is much cheaper to drink at a bar, than it is to drink at the club, so we always do this before a show! We met a guy named Mike that was half black and Japanese, lived in Hawaii for 10 years, so had a thick Hawaiian accent, but looked Mexican! I was shocked to find out his nationality, and that he was born in Nagoya! His English and Japanese were flawless. So jealous...

Anyways, we met with 2 more friends and headed to Magos. When we got there, the DJs that were on in the main room, weren't bad, if you don't consider the type of house that Gildas and Masaya play. Their style was a bit too slow for our liking. We moved to the next, smaller room, and got much better music! It was a shame these guys were not in the main room though! While partying in the small room, Ryan came and got me, and told me that Gildas and Masaya had just started, so we worked our way to the middle right side and partied there for like an hour or so! As usual we made friends/fans because us foreigners usually do a lot more than the 2-step at a house music show, so the Japanese party goers were amazed. At some point I realized "Hey, I want to be in the front by the DJ booth, so I gracefully made my way up there, bringing Ryan and our friends with me. We stayed there rocking out till Gildas and Masaya ended their set, and passed the turntables over to 2 Japanese DJs that were pretty much the same style as the star DJs. They even played a few of the same songs!

Overall, this show was one of the best house shows I have ever seen, and a lot more energetic than some of the bigger shoes. Maybe because of how small Magos was!

And that was that. The next day, Sayaka and I rode our bikes to 31 Flavors to get ice cream on the last day of their sale, then we went to get yakiniku and seriously ate so much we both wanted to throw up. Great huh?

And here I am, hours before my second day of work after vacation. Yesterday wasn't as bad as I thought. This is seriously the first and only job I have had, that I don't dread after a long vacation. That is a gooood thing!

The video with my song is UP!

2008-05-02T09:07:00.003+09:00

SO I mentioned someone wanted to use my music for a video of cars using their products right? Well here it is!

It is his first video, and he is learning as he goes (he is not a video guy), but I like the way he got everything to fit with the pace and changes of the music.

Please check it out, and let him and I know what you think!

BTW the song is called Alta Loma, after ONE of many cities I have lived in.

So it begins!

2008-04-30T16:43:00.002+09:00

I was asked by someone making some car oriented videos to use one of my songs on my MySpace page. I wont get paid, but I will get some exposure.

Of course I said yes!

Once he puts the video up and online, I will put a link to it!

Plus, today I went shopping and bought 2 new Bathing Ape items!

Some new shoes, and a reversible shirt!

What do ya think?

Last day of work before Golden Week Vacation!

2008-04-26T09:28:00.002+09:00

Yes in an hour I will be leaving to work, to teach 7 classes, before I begin 9 days of LAZINESS!!!

I have been soo busy lately that I want to just lay back and be Tommy!

Sayaka has only 3 days off during this time, so her, her mom and I will go to Disneyland, and the day we return, I go to a Gildas and Masaya show in Shin Sakae Machi.

Between Tomorrow and then? I will be sleeping a lot, playing a lot of video games I have neglected, and just being lazy and useless to society.

I deserve it!

What a busy weekend!

2008-04-21T17:53:00.002+09:00

Yeah like you have never heard that before!

Well here it is another busy weekend on my side of the world.

Saturday, after such a busy day at work, we all went to my coworker Eriko's wedding party! I love Japanese wedding parties because there are games and chances to win prizes! This one was extra fun because Krystin and I were the only foreigners there, so we got to be circus monkeys in a confined space, unlike in the wild like a regular day in Japan. The party location was amazing and Eriko looked great in her wedding dress, and her husband looks like a really cool guy (they are now the Nekoda family. Neko as in cat!) One of the games had everyone get into teams based on the number on our name tags. Manager and I were the only ones to go up and do it, as the others were too shy. I was on team 10 and manager team 9. On my team, was only one girl who spoke English, so I had to try my best to communicate in Japanese. The first game saw us having to go up and do a speech to the bride and groom. Well I was partnered with a girl who spoke no English and thought it was hilarious that I panicked when I was handed the mic. When I tried giving it to her, she hid behind me and I was stuck in front of the married couple, not knowing what to do or say. EVERYONE got a laugh at that, I guess even me! Next was imitating someone famous to make the couple laugh. A guy on my team and I were going to do Oriental Radio (Japanese comedians) but when they got to our number, they skipped us and started voting for the winner! We were sad because we kept practicing in line, which was great because we had kind of an audience watching and laughing at us. My partner who spoke NO English was bummed he didn't get to do a short team comedy with me, so we promised no matter what, we would go up and do our skit no matter what the game was. Unfortunately, that was the last team game and we didn'[t get to make fools of ourselves... Regardless, the food was great, dessert was lots of fruit with white chocolate, chocolate, and green tea fondue! Let's just say I ate a LOT of that! Plus Manager and I were drinking a lot and we made some awkward hoots and hollers after the bride and groom kissed. A great night!

The next morning, yesterday, we got up early and headed for Toyota to have a BBQ at a park. The weather was perfect as we all cooked and drank under the trees. The park was filled with soo many people, and there were a lot of kids running around too. Sooo much fun! After that, we went to Uniqlo and I bought 2 new shirts and a pair of clear lens glasses. We made it home and Sayaka did Billy's Boot Camp, while I made some music.

Speaking of music, the band wants to have a 4 song demo, and I have been working on the music for said 4 songs. Well as of today, 3 of the 4 songs are DONE! I feel like I can kinda relax a bit, but I LOVE making music and relaxing is the last thing on my mind!

I will eventually share the music we make once we are ready, but until then, check out pics of the wedding and the BBQ!

Back from Tiesto, and TIRED!

2008-04-15T11:05:00.002+09:00

I don't want to go to work today...

So what an amazing experience. Everything that led up to it, and followed it, all add to the experience!

Started off with a bad, busy day at work! Taught 8 classes, with an hour lunch in between, which I spent rushing home to get my bus ticket I left at home (made more difficult due to train delay!). Anyways, work ended and I rushed to the nearest station with a shinkansen (bullet train) to get to Tokyo.

Now there are 3 types of shinkansen in Japan, and I found the time for the fastest at 8:30PM. My watch was set fast and it was about to be 8:30 and I heard the sound for the doors about to close, so I jumped in thinking I was safe. The train started, and I noticed the Japanese saying I was on the slowest of the 3 trains! The fastest takes 1.5 hours to Tokyo from where I live, the next just under 2 hours, mine 3 hours 15 minutes, which put me in Tokyo 30 minutes after the concert started!

Before I got to Tokyo, there was a stop at Yokohama station and it was POURING with rain! I was definitely not prepared for rain. So I text my friends who said they would still wait for me, and none of them had brellas, kinda screwed now. We took the train to Shin Kiba, where the club is, that Tiesto would perform at, and when we got there there were at least 40 people waiting in the station for taxis, or thinking of walking to the club. We ran to the side and got a taxi ride for pretty cheap, but were shocked at what we saw when we got to the club!

After we got dropped off we see a LOOOOOOOOOONG line to get in! By now it is 30 minutes after the concert started. So we get in line, in the pouring rain, no umbrellas, for 2 hours! We started getting sick of being rained on, so my friends asked me to start asking girls with umbrellas to cut in line so we can share umbrellas. We finally found 2 girls with 4 guy friends, all with umbrellas and let them exchange freedom from the rain, for a place in line next to us. The next hour became a hilarious exchange of bad Japanese and English, and chanting "Tiesto" and such other things.

We were told that we would be checked for cameras, so I decided to throw my camera into my bag, and throw that into a locker. When we finally got in, I was amazed at the size of the club. It says it can house 6,000 people, I think it can do 8,000 easily...We all had to get drinks, so we hit up the bar, complete with pole dancers at every corner doing their thing, and enter the main dance hall area, which was massive. We found a good spot kind of in the middle and just began having fun. After a while we had a crew of new friends who were all dancing like crazy. After about 30 minutes Tiesto came on and everyone lost it.

Now I watched his Elements of Life DVD and didn't like it at all. I haven't listened to trance in sooo long, as I am a pure house head now, but being there at his show, I began to love trance again! He played a few old songs, songs from Elements and a lot of songs my friends said must have been new, but sounded AMAZING!

This went on until 3:30 when we had to rush to literally get the last free bus tickets to Shibuya so we could get home! We grabbed the tix for 4AM went back to drink then caught the bus home...

SUCH an amazing night!

Hahaha interesting...

2008-04-11T10:24:00.002+09:00

So a while back, Sayaka and I got a new neighbor. Now a neighbor in Japan means nothing besides "Hey I see and hear someone every now and then next to my apartment!". Well at least in my experience thus far. Well the guy who moved in is an older gentleman, as we saw him smoking on his balcony one night.

Well last night I get home after seeing a LOT of police (5 - 7) arresting an older man at the 7-11 near my apartment. I noticed my neighbor's light was off (hardly ever off) and all night and morning it was quiet. Well today again, the light was off and it is still quiet...

Was my neighbor arrested for something?

I am on the eve of probably one of the busiest weekends I will ever have.

Going to see Tiesto in Tokyo tomorrow night with my concert buddy Ryan M. It starts at 11PM and who knows when it will end... After that we crash at his bud's place, and then I am going to try to see Yokohama when I wake up. So I will part ways and do some sight seeing. That night, we may check out Womb, since it is a very popular club in Japan, hopefully good house music is playing! Then I have to take the day bus back to Nagoya Monday at 12:30, arriving in Nagoya at 6PM.

I smell the tiredness already!

Didn't play football, but had a hell of a time!

2008-04-01T09:38:00.005+09:00

This is from last weekend! I MAY or may not get to this weekend tonight. But it was a busy fun day yesterday! Still relaxing after too much walking! Next week, Tokyo with Ryan to see Tiesto!

It rained and we were short by TOO many people who WOULD play football (more women and kids, then able bodied men), but we did have a nice hanami party/birthday party before the rain came! Most of the Japanese people left when it started, and foreigners replaced them!

We decided to hit up the karaoke booths for 3 hours after the party, where we all drank way tooo too much!

After that, an izakaya stop for more drinking, but this time with FOOD!

I will let the pics and vids do the talking!

Some funny student moments, and a look at how busy I am!!!

2008-03-30T07:31:00.005+09:00

So yesterday found me paired up with 2 students in a mid level class that I teach on Saturdays. I have taught this unit many times by now, but seriously these 2 are some of my best students for this level.

A little background before I continue...

Japanese English speakers are FAMOUS for the mixing of Ls and Rs, but that is only one thing they find difficult to pronounce. F and H is another one that gets mixed. B and V gets mixed up as well. But let's highlight the one I will use today. S often gets pronounced as Sh, especially when the next vowel is an I or E.

So back to the class, we are looking at pictures in the book and I always have to elicit what is happening to get the students to speak. So there are many pictures, one of the American president, with a generic picture of a blonde man, and my student said it was Bill Clinton, a drawing of Tigger, the Disney character, which they just lamely call Tiger here, but the gold is a man on top of Mt. Fuji, watching a sunrise.

I ask my students "What is the man doing?" and one QUICKLY replied "Oh, he is shitting on Mt. Fuji!"

Could not stop laughing...

The sad thing is, they have no clue why I am laughing and why that sounds horrid to me!

This next one is maybe you had to have been there to appreciate it. And also a bit of a nerd.

Same students, I was checking their workbooks which we do once a month, and we had pictures of some Star Wars characters to help teach some American culture. I had never seen this before so I was a bit shocked! I asked the students if they knew what it was, and they told me Star Wars. I saw a crudely drawn R2D2 and C-3PO and asked if they knew who they were, but only the girl knew. I asked her if she knew where R2D2 was from, and she told me "He is from America!"

Daibakusho!

I don't know why, but this made me laugh soo hard. The other foreign teacher got a kick out of it, while the Japanese staff thought I was crazy, again...

Good times!

Now onto my schedule for the next month or so, so you see how busy I am.

Now my work week consists of Tuesday through Saturday. Nights and mornings find me doing web design or producing music for myself (we will touch more on that later).
So weekends are Sundays and Mondays, Sundays with Sayaka and Mondays for myself, unless plans arise. Like today...

In a couple hours I will leave to go play American football AGAIN, and have a hanami party (a sakura, aka cherry blossom, viewing party. AKA lots of drinking!) with my trainer and other foreign teachers and students. After that my school may be meeting at an izakaya for food and drinks into the night. MORE DRINKING. This will go on until almost midnight, as usual. Tomorrow is rest day.

Next Saturday after work, a fellow teacher is having a Nintendo themed party, which is a KIND OF farewell party for another teacher. This will go until the next day for sure, so Sunday and Monday will be recovery!

The next Saturday is insane... I will get off work at 8PM, change clothes, catch the train to Nagoya station, catch the Shinkansen to Tokyo, where I will take a train to Shin-Kiba, to go to Ageha (one of Tokyo's largest clubs) to see Tiesto at 11PM. Will probably go until 3 or 4 in the morning looking at the line up. Since getting a hotel would be a waste of money, the homie Ryan and I will be clubbing till morning and just rough it out Sunday and get a place to sleep Sunday night. Then prolly take a day bus back on Monday. Where I will sleep for the rest of the night!

The next Saturday night is my coworkers wedding party, aka lots of drinking and funny events. Being a foreigner at a Japanese wedding party is fun, you become the star for the night, as the bride and groom or their friends put a lot of attention on you. At least in my experience so far. The next day, Sayaka and I will get up early to meet friends at a grocer store to buy a lot of meat and such for a BBQ with a LOT of friends. Will probably been an all day event!

The week after that will be my only planless weekend, but sure that will change.

The following week will see Sayaka and I, paired with Nao-chan and her new boyfriend Hide-kun (for the Japanese pronunciation impaired He-day) taking a nightbus to Tokyo Disneyland where we will get an all-you-can-eat breakfast and a full day at Disneyland, then a night bus back to Nagoya...

This will be the first weekend of Golden Week and Sayaka only gets 3 days off, while I get 11... So I will be working on...

Music!

I am now officially involved in 3 music projects!

A pure house music project with a fellow teacher in a nearby teacher. We both love French house and want to put an American touch on it!

An online friend has a rap;/rock/screamcore band but no producer. He heard my work and asked if I could try to produce some samples for him. I sent him one, and he officially added my name as producer for the band... The lyrics will be in English and Japanese so it will be pretty interesting, plus him, the other band member and I, are very future oriented so this may go somewhere, soon...

And I called my cousin up. Now anyone who knows me, knows I have never been EXTREMELY close to ANY of my extended family, long story. Well I call him up and I haven't spoke to him in years, but he has been writing hip hop his whole life. I wanted to know where he is musically, if anything big was coming up for him yet. He told me he was working for Coldstone. This saddened me deeply and I told him I have been touching on music production but mostly electronic dance music, but told him if he gets back to rapping, I will try my hand at producing hip hop for him. He got excited and told me he would be getting internet soon and start writing and sending me his vocals and I can make beats around that, while also sending him beats to write to.

B.U.S.Y.

Spells Tommy...

Oh well, gotta live this to the fullest right?

Oh yeah,my last music production experiment, before I start doing things seriously (sitting down and planning out a complete song)

An ode to the greatest toys and cartoon ever...

G.I. Joe!

First Video Blog

2008-03-17T08:23:00.004+09:00

Too lazy/busy to type lately. So here is a video blog!

I am trying to compile a series of videos I took from yesterday but my laptop is not wanting to cooperate!

Well at least I have pics from this day!

Still ultra busy, but...

2008-03-15T07:43:00.002+09:00

...it will calm down soon! I am almost done with the most recent site! (and about 1500 away from my future Mac Book Pro!)

I really want to update more, but seriously I haven't done many exciting things lately. I DID go bowling last weekend, but other than that, nothing too exciting.

This Monday I will go to a farewell party, which means more drinking, bowling, pizza and movies! Maybe I will make a video diary of that day. Next Thursday will be a BBQ, sports and American Football day! I will def take pics of that!

May go see Tiesto in Tokyo on the 12th of April, followed by my new coworkers wedding second party she invited me to! Pretty impressed! Only knew me for a month and she invited me! NICE!

I may just do a video update of what I have been doing lately!

Pros: Easy for lazy me. I dont need to type, and I can use my new webcam.
Cons: You have to look at me for as long as the post is!

You be the judge!

My first song!

2008-03-05T00:03:00.003+09:00

Well, more of a loop! But you can hear and save how it is now, and say you knew it before it grew up and got all big!

Listen HERE!

I have been busy...AGAIN!

2008-03-03T11:32:00.002+09:00

So I finished a website for a student's band. Then was asked to work on my friend's site (keep an eye on it! It is still being worked on). Then I realized, if I am going to be this busy, I might as well work on my site again, so people can come to me for websites!

All of this, and I just got a MIDI controller (Axiom 49) and will try my hands at music production once I find/make/steal time!

Speaking of time, is anyone watching season 4 of Lost? Last week's episode = brilliant! Wish I could do that myself, go back in time. I would do some things differently... Maybe a LOT of things!

Went to a concert last night! Digitalism!

2008-02-21T11:36:00.002+09:00

Yeah yeah, I go to a lot of house concerts, but I have sooo much fun!

This is probably the first and last time I go to a concert on a work night though! I have no motivation to go to work now!

Oh and I finished the website for my student's band, and with the money, I will buy what I need to start producing my own house music.

The legacy continues...

Pics here

Video tonight.

Just got back from Kobe!

2008-02-04T13:28:00.000+09:00

And no I didn't get to eat any beef!

My coworker told us we could find some shish kabob style beef, but we couldn't find it, but we did go to a Brazilian chirasco all you can eat/drink and got stupid drunk!

As you know, Sayaka's little brother got hit by a truck and she went out there to take care of him. He was OK, but she stayed to help him out for a bit. We decided that I would go out there and spend the weekend in Kobe to meet him and check up on him myself, and I bought my shinkansen ticket right away. Saturday night finally came and I convinced my head teacher to replace my cleaning night with hers, so I can try to catch the 7:25 shinkansen. I get off work at 7, have to clock out, mark down my students, get to the station by 7:10, which gets to the shinkansen station in 10 minutes, and the shinkansen leaves at 7:23!!! Mission impossible huh?

Well my fellow foreign teacher coworker Krystin helps me out, and puts my stuff from my last class away, I had brought everything I needed into the teacher room so I could just grab it and run. I clocked out, and ran to the station, and got there at 7:03. 3 minutes! Record breaking for SURE! I text Sayaka to let her know that I MAY make the 7:23 (previous plans were the 8:03) and tell her to get ready to leave just in case. I get to Nagoya station and RUN RUN RUN to the shinkansen platform, get to the right platform and run up the escalator! I find a shinkansen, but not sure if it is the right one, I ask one of the station workers if it is the right one, and he tells me NO! But then he looks at my ticket, and says YES GO GO (in English!!!Even though I asked in Japanese) and I run to the nearest door, which closes on my arm! It of course auto re-opens and closes when my arm gets out of it, and the shinkansen begins its trip to Osaka. I was the last to board!

An hour or so later, I am at Shin-Osaka station and make the transfer to Osaka station to meet Sayaka. We finally got to see each other after over a week and we g find some places to eat. I was super super hungry (after a small breakfast and lunch)and I ended up eating, gelato, spicy chicken wrap from Subway, AND a bowl of ramen and gyoza. I was super upset with the gyoza because it wasn't hand made, it came from a bag in their freezer, and tasted like it should have! After eating this I felt sick, which was scary since there is a huge scare about frozen gyoza from China in Japan right now. I walked it off though and have been fine since!

We headed to Kobe after eating to go to her brother's place and I was shocked at how close it is after taking the express train (just under 30 minutes!). We get to his place, do the introductions, and begin eating some snacks and watching TV until it was time to sleep.

Sayaka and I woke up early so we could start our day. We headed to Sanomiya first to go grab breakfast and go to an area famous in Kobe for foreign buildings. A long time ago some foreigners lived in Kobe and made a community that looks like the homes from their own country. The houses are all well preserved and in great condition! Disaster struck though, when I was trying to change lenses on my Canon DSLR, with Sayaka's help, and we ended up dropping it and what appeared as, breaking it too! This put me in a horrible mood as this was my 50mm lens I got late last year, that has been responsible for some of my favorite pictures. I later found out it was just the lens guard/filter that broke, and 2200 yen later, I was back in business.

We ate at a cafe that had some special deal for cheesecake and a drink for around 600 yen. Sayaka and I wanted to relax at a cafe so we bit. We were both surprised by what the cheesecake was. We expected traditional cream cheese like cheese cake, but what we got was a sweet tasting cake, with some form of cheese melted on top of it, like pizza almost. Mentally, I didn't want to even try it, but I just bought it and didn't want to waste my money. The taste was definitely interesting. Not good, not bad, but edible. Sayaka said the same. After our cake we visited some pet shops to look at some dogs and cats, then it was time to meet her brother so we could go eat dinner.

Sayaka decided on a Brazilian chirasco all you can eat, where basically they keep bringing meat to your table until you turn over some green and red block, that means they should STOP. The servers were funny as they spoke Portuguese and Japanese only, and kept quoting famous Japanese lines that comedians say, calling everything they brought out "mazui", and even saying that the meat they brought comes from snake legs, or giraffe or something else absurd (it was all beef and pork). We drank WAY TOO MUCH (since her brother was younger than us, and drinking faster, we couldn't let him beat us. End result, him 6 glasses, me 5, Sayaka 4) and stumbled our way through 2 stations and back to his apartment. When we got home they plopped in front of the TV, as I went to go shower first. When I got back, they were both sleeping and I quickly joined them.

This morning we had to wake up early to catch a 7:10 bus from Osaka to Nagoya, so we ran with a LOT of stuff to the nearest station, caught the right train we needed based on our online search for train schedules, and made it to Umeda station. We felt we got a bit lost and asked someone who worked at Family Mart, and he guided us in the right direction (went as far as leaving the store and walking with us to the street, then hand signaling where we should turn and even gave a rough time estimate). After the great guiding, we arrived to our destination, and got some quick snacks and boarded our bus.

During the ride I saw many places covered in snow and was sad that I was not in Nagoya when the snow came through! The week before it snowed a LOT in Kobe, but not while I was there, and then it snowed in Nagoya! Oh well, next weekend I go snowboarding AND to Kyoto, so I will see my snow soon!

So I ate motsu last week...

2008-02-02T09:26:00.000+09:00

...and just found out what it was yesterday...

So yeah my student invited me to go to a nabe party with her and some other students because some couldn't make it to Krystin's bday party. Well Krystin felt sick and I wanted to go so I went. I love nabe!

I get there and see what looks to be yakiniku style grill tables and some noodles with meat in them. 2 of my female students had ordered my drink and put some of the food on a place while I hung up my jacket. I took a bite and it was great, but I noticed I didn't have any meat, so I took a bite of that by itself. MAZUI! GROSS! Seriously, it tasted to the effect of when/if your gums ever bleed and you can taste the blood. Yeah multiply that taste by 3 and you have a rough estimate at it's grossness!

Well yesterday I told the student who invited me I didn't like it, and she said she didn't either and apologized to me for not knowing it wasn't the kind of nabe both of us expected! She didn't have to apologize, we both went in not knowing what it was...
Well she tells me what motsu was, and I swear I wish I didn't know...

What motsu is the small intestine and bowels of a cow. Well when it is gyu motsu. Yeah. If I had known then what I know now...

Bad luck, Good luck

2008-02-01T22:36:00.000+09:00

This week, wow life is strange...

So today I can't find my key for the life of me and I always leave it in the same place, and I destroyed my room looking for it, arriving to work late in the process... Had to leave house unlocked all day...

I do an interview today with a girl who spoke no English AT ALL (after being told she is slightly above beginner) and I had to tell her to talk to me in Japanese and I would teach her the English. She ends up signing up for private lessons with me for around 300,000 yen...

My mailbox door breaks.

Had a party with students and my coworker for her birthday. Took a lot of pics and videos with my camera. Connect it to the PC, use the MS camera manager to upload em off the camera, click delete after transfer. Well everything goes through, and deletes, but NO files transferred. So now we have no memory of that day whatsoever (if you knew how much I drank, you would know).

When being observed by the new Japanese teacher, my class that is normally GREAT was horrible and completely out of character! Luckily it resulted in all of us laughing way too too much and making the new teacher laugh until she cried. She complained of stomach pains later...

Strange week...

Oh well! Will be watching episode one of Season 4 of Lost soon! Can't wait!

I love French house music!

2008-01-27T10:28:00.000+09:00

This isn't a revelation.

It's a declaration.

What a week...

2008-01-25T23:38:00.000+09:00

So this week has been pretty hectic if I do say so myself.

I will start from rank of seriousness. Least serious to most.

1.

I finally had a run in with THE LAW here in Japan!
I usually park my bike across the street from the station I exit at, and just hop on my bike and ride. But 2 nights ago was a little different. I saw 2 people just standing there, and in the dark, it looked like they were uniformed, but I dunno why I didn't think anything of it. As soon as I got closer, they blew their whistle and tell me to stop in Japanese. They ask me many questions in Japanese, and I reply, in Japanese. Where do I live? Where do I work? Do I have my gaijin identification card? Is this my bike? Why don't I have the seal of purchase on it? So on and on... The man who was mainly speaking with me asked me something and I couldn't understand, so I told him. He stops and thinks, then starts speaking to me in above average English! I answer the rest of their questions and they eventually let me go. The reason for all of this craziness...I didn't have my light on, on my bike... You live, you learn...

2.

Tuesday morning (or was it Wednesday...) Sayaka and I were woken up by the sound of her cell phone. She normally won't check it if we are sleeping, but this time she did. It was from her mom. She kept saying "Really? Really?" in Japanese, then told me something happened to her brother, and her parents were heading out to go see what happened. Sayaka called her mom to get more details. I didn't understand everything that was said, but I can tell Sayaka went from shocked, to worried in her tone very quickly. When she got off the phone I asked what was wrong, and she told me that her brother was in a car accident, and had some serious injuries to his head. His body was shaking and he wasn't responding, was the only info we had as far as his condition. She began to panic and cry and I tried to calmed her down and made her realize she needed to head to Kobe (where he lives), where her parents were heading when she got the call. She calmed down a bit, got some clothes together and was out of the house and headed to Kobe via shinkansen rather quickly.

I headed to work like I normally do, and waited and waited for a text from Sayaka and I finally got it late in the day. We found out, her brother was riding his bike home after working the night shift, around 5AM, and he was hit by a truck. A nearby taxi driver witness this and stopped the truck driver and got the authorities to come get her brother. The hospital contacted her parents, and we got the news later, about an hour after it all occurred. Great news soon followed as I received texts from her. Apparently his injuries were not major and he would be able to return home the next day! VERY lucky he didn't have any injuries that could have kept him there longer, or worst... For the first time since dating Sayaka, I was able to talk to her brother, when she called me the next day and when I asked if he was fine, she put him on the phone with me. Of course he doesn't speak English and I am not confident in my Japanese, but we managed a decent conversation. To this day (Saturday morning at 12:05AM) Sayaka and her family are still in Kobe, and I don't know (neither does she) when they will return back. They are waiting until they feel like he can take care of things on his own. I am missing her so bad, but I want her to take care of her little brother (he is only a year younger than her!).

3.

The hardest news...

Since I came to Japan to teach English, I have been lucky to have nothing but great students (save 3...) and have truly enjoyed what I do, EVERY day! I have 3 students in particular that stand out because they are around my parents' age, and treat me like their son!

The Sawada's, a married couple, who learned a lot of English because they go to Hawaii yearly to golf. They treat me almost like a son in class and always bring me back something from wherever they go. Mr. Sawada printed a map during his work hours, and highlighted a trail from where I live to Toyota city, because I told him Sayaka's friend drove from Toyota to visit us one weekend. The next class he comes with this HUGE map, he made from printing pages, taping them together, and highlighting the best route to my apartment! Both of them such great people! The last thing they did was bring me a menu from Yard House in Hawaii, after their coworker went there last weekend. I had mentioned to them that I love Yard House's food and beer, and they were excited to try it out in Hawaii when they went again. They also brought me a menu from Cheesecake Factory from their last trip, which makes me hungry every time I see it.

The other student, is Naoharu Mizuno.

From my first class with him, my first week of actually working at my school, he began to like me a lot, because I was from California. He was the co-owner of a metallurgy company that created car parts and owned NGK, the company that makes spark plugs for cars. Him and his wife have a garden that they always take care of, and they both take international trips twice a year, and domestic trips more times than I can count. Since our first class, he always brings me English brochures from wherever he goes. Our class was was a private free conversation class that he loved, since he is retired and belongs to an English speaking club at a college for older people. We would talk about politics, Japanese history, his experiences around the world, USUALLY California, and MANY other topics. He was always smiling and happy to be in class, and always looked sooo sad when our time was up. I always let the class go over it's allowed time, just to get more time to talk with him...

Well today I was informed by my manager, that Naoharu passed 3 days ago...

This is the first (and I really hope LAST) time I have had to deal with the death of a student. Not just ANY student, but one I felt really close to. Of course I feel close to all of my students, but this one in particular was special from day one. He was 64 years old and showed no signs of anything wrong until around October. He got sick somehow and would come to class sort of slow and walk very slowly to my class. I began teaching him in the nearest class, so he didn't have to walk too far. He requested a leave of absence in November, saying he would return in January, because he had to go to the hospital. January came, and my Friday time slot came up, where he should have been, and he didn't come. Oh well, possibly at home recovering from what ever brought him down, and I was sure to see him the next week. But three weeks passed and I hadn't seen him. So today he was supposed to arrive again. But he didn't, just like the previous weeks before. It is my responsibility to call my students if they don't show up to class after a few consecutive weeks, and I tried twice, and never got an answer, and that is when I started having a bad feeling. I began asking the Japanese staff to call because of this bad feeling, and as they called, they were never able to get through. I guess my manager got through to voicemail last week and his wife called today to respond to that voicemail.

My manager and I spent the whole last hour of today just contemplating how sudden he died, and how we never know what will happen tomorrow. We don't know what condition he was in, but from our point of view it seemed too sudden. My manager went to have a smoke and I stood next to him (which is rare for me, I hate smokers) and continued our talk. He told me that Naoharu told his wife, who had studied English like her husband, to continue studying English with me if he were to pass, and that is where we stand now. She told him that when she is done dealing with the funeral ceremonies, and everything, she will continue his lessons with me.

I instantly didn't know what to think of this, but I figured, I will be able to help her do what he wanted her to do, and I can be of some help to get her to keep her mind off of everything she has probably gone through. I have only seen her in his MANY pictures he has shared with me (most recently Italy), but she will now become my new student in his normal weekly, 40 minute, time slot. I almost fear the first meeting, but I know I will be strong...

Such a surreal week. I don't need anything else to happen before the end of tomorrow. Just need to try to be happy!

A not so busy weekend!

2008-01-21T23:57:00.000+09:00

Finally! A weekend where we don't have so many plans!

Sat on our butts, ate junk food, watched MANY episodes of LOST, and did chores!

We have finished season 1 of Lost, and watched 2 episodes of Season 2. Currently trying to get Sayaka caught up for the Season 4 premier in just under 2 weeks! She has predicted a few things happenings, dropped tears on several flashbacks and plot happenings, and been shocked and surprised at others! I think I have created another fan!

Was watching the Patriots/Chargers game on TV, while watching the Packers/Giants game on the net. I was sooo disappointed that the Packers lost, that I had to just close the website and step away for a bit. I HATE not being able to watch live games, but I guess this loss was extra hard since they have been doing good all season, after such a bad season last year. Oh well, at least I can look forward to next year as they work out their last few kinks!

We went to Shiogamaguchi to Hiromi san's place (Sayaka's friend's cafe where she does tarot readings and assembles power stone bracelets). We met with Nao-chan for some Turkish food (kebab sandwiches finished with White Chocolate Turkish ice cream!) then headed to the cafe for some tea, and free snacks! Today was a kind of event which is too difficult to explain, but we did get free tea and snacks. After we left, we headed home to watch more Lost!

I was able to watch Cloverfield and can not WAIT to watch this on Blu-ray (I hope...) in the future! A great movie, great quick storyline and enough character building to get you interested and care in case something bad were to happen to the characters! No spoilers from me, just go see it, and don't get sick!

It was supposed to snow this weekend and I was deeply disappointed not to have any! It has been so cold, but no rain, and then when it finally rained, it didn't snow! Come on!

We bought some junk food from Yu-store today and ate some of the pizza bread we bought. It was good, but not great like the Stauffer's I used to eat back home!

Played a bit of brain training on DS, and beat Sayaka twice in the number memory game! We moved to Wii, where we had a close game of air hockey and ping pong, but I ended up on top (both games down to their last point)! In pool she put up more of a challenge and I won 2 games, and she won 1.

As of now we are taking a break, while she looks for a new job (she left her ultra difficult sales job last week), and I type this post up.

Gyah I just realized it is 12:13AM! I seriously thought it was around 8PMish! We are both wide awake and just hanging around!!! Well, here is to a good work week before we have a "secret" birthday party for Krystin (my coworker) this Sunday! (the secret is, the other staff at work don't know about it. Krystin and I are forced to plan separate parties like this so we can enjoy the company of our students.)

Oh yeah, and big news! I signed my contract for another year at my current job! So I am officially an English teacher until 7/09. Not making anywhere near the money I want, problems with my head teacher, and in a tiny apartment, but I still signed as it will set me up for a brighter future.

1. If I teach for 3 years, I will have the experience needed/required by European companies to teach English there. Europe pays better, and have better living conditions than Japan. A potential future!

2. More time to work on my Japanese to get a better job next year. I wasn't too motivated to study last year, and I have to start this year! I really could land a better job if I get better Japanese. My goal is at least JLPT 3 by end of this year!

3. More time to build my resume. As I said in my last post, I have worked on my Megapixelet's Go site, and will work on at least 2 more sites in the next 2 months! I need this to show clients in Tokyo next year (Yeah, Tokyo is my goal next year. More money, more exciting!)

Wish me luck while I continue being more productive this year!

I have been BUSY lately!

2008-01-15T10:45:00.001+09:00

No posts recently because I have been working on a new project of love!

A friend of mine introduced me to a piece of blogging software called Wordpress, and I spent a week learning it and all that it has to offer. Well after that week of hard work, I came up with this!

Megapixelet's Go!

This is just a way to get photographers I know motivated to go out and take pictures! It also forced me to create a forum for it, which I am just using a public theme for, but will eventually make a custom one myself, when time permits!

Forums

The last week saw me getting a package faster than any I ever have from California. My mom sent Sayaka and I's Christmas present, a NICE 6 inch digital picture frame! The frame itself is amazing, but check out my mom's wrapping job! Too nice!

This weekend I was able to pull myself away from coding/designing to go eat some Shabu Shabu with Sayaka and Nao-chan (Sayaka's best friend! Errr one of many...). Anyone who doesn't know shabu shabu, you have a bowl of boiling water in the middle of your table, a plate of raw beef, and a plate of vegetables. You toss it all into the hot water, cook it, then dip it into sauce and eat! The place we went to, has an all you can eat/drink for just under $30!

If the description wasn't enough, check out this video!

And in a moment of hilarity, I taught Sayaka the word areola today and she thinks it sounds hilarious. So of course, while eating shabu shabu, before she heads to the bathroom, she tells Nao-chan that I will teach her what areola means! Nao-chan understands 0% English, and my Japanese would have made that explanation very vulgar! So I try my best to change the subject while Nao-chan keeps egging me on. I change the subject to Lost and what I did that day, and she bites! When Sayaka gets back, she explains to Nao-chan and they have a big laugh over it. The rest of the night they would just randomly say it and we would all start laughing! Now Nao-chan says it in almost every text msg she sends to Sayaka!

Girls...

New Years Eve, Day, and the following day!

2008-01-03T20:45:00.000+09:00

Wow... All I can say is wow...

For weeks we had planned to visit my friend Neil who was in my training group in Yokkaichi, and the day was finally upon us. December 31, 2007!

Sayaka and I were lazier than expected (if you know us, it should be expected) and we stayed around the house until 2 hours before we should be boarding a train to Yokkaichi!

We headed to Meiki (Nagoya station area) and ate at Pepper Lunch for early dinner! Pepper Lunch is this place that does a type of fried rice with either steak or thin cut beef to mix in with it. We showed ourselves why we should eat there more often!

We boarded the train to Yokkaichi at the time it said we should, and took our first Kintetsu to Yokkaichi! The train said it would arrive at 6:17, but we got hung up 4 stations before Yokkaichi and got there 20 minutes later!

When we arrived, Neil and Stuart met us and we went to go shopping at Apita for some beer and things we would need the next morning.

We went to Neil's apartment which is twice the size of mine (but he is farther from Nagoya, which has its cons) and drank a bit to save money we would need on drinking at the Jazz bar!

We ALL (Sayaka included!) drank a tall can of Kirin and a small can as well before it was time to head to VeeJays for some Live Jazz until the new year clocked in! We walked over through the immense cold and made it less than 5 minutes. When we arrived, we saw Ryan (also from our training group), his coworker Susan and friend/girlfriend/? Atsuko (maybe that was her name, of 4 of us, we all had 4 different names...). They had awesome seats near the front where people would perform all night long. As soon as we sat down, Stuart paid for all of our cover charges and first round! We were shocked! Interesting enough though (things were crowded so it happens) I had to pay for my first round and my drink, Sayaka didn't. Oh well! The night was filled with amazing live jazz, a man who spoke ZERO English, but rocked Ray Charles' Georgia on My Mind, and loads of alcohol! Midnight came and went while we continued to drink, shout, clap, and so on throughout the morning. Ryan, Susan, and Atsuko (tm) had to leave because Atsuko was heading to Yosemite the next day! This was around 1 or so. 2 hours later, I found myself so drunk, I had to leave, because I was just way too dizzy! (I have seriously drank twice as much with NO results. Alcohol, go figure!) Neil, Stuart, Sayaka and I headed back to get me to a bathroom (yes I spoke to god (errr threw up)twice that night), drinking some water, and into a nice warm futon. Sayaka was AMAZING and took care of me until we both headed to sleep. Our hosts, the Brits, went back for more! They got home about 6:15 or so.

Around 11AM, we woke up and Sayaka showered. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Nagoya, where we got our day pass for the subways (600 yen!).

We headed to Sakae to see if they were doing any fukubukuro at Bathing Ape, but that wasn't until the next day. Everything else in Sakae was closed! This is strange, because this is the most popular shopping area in Nagoya! Luckily The Gap was the only store open, and we made our way there to buy Sayaka a new knitted cap and me a new scarf (I left my old on in the izakaya, Sayaka, Naoko and I went to at the start of the vacation!). We called it quits for any other shopping potentials and headed to Atsuta shrine to go pray for the new year. Atsuta shrine is one of the biggest shrines in Japan, and very popular for the near year. When we got there, there were TONS of people, stands selling food, masks, and various other things! We made the walk to the shrines entrance, stopped holding hands (Sayaka said this would make this God jealous, since it is a woman god), and walked under every Torii gate in the shrine. During the walk to the largest, most popular shrine, it began to rain. The rain continued to grow harder, and it even began to snow a bit! First day of the year, and we have snow! We made it to the large shrine, threw 5 yen, and made our prayers! We quickly made our way out and headed for Aeon JUSCO to go do some potential shopping, look at the dogs/cats and eat.

When we arrived, I picked up a new knitted cap from the winter sports store (my old beanie is too thin, and this new one protects more of my ears and back of my neck). We looked for other things for Sayaka and I but couldn't find anything else. We found a ramen shop she really wanted to take me to, and I was super hungry, and was cautious about eating ramen now. Lucky for me, this was THE BEST ramen I have had in Japan so far! We got 10 pieces of mini gyoza, and I even got 2 refills of noodles for the ramen and was proper full after that! Sayaka finished with some black sesame ice cream, that I really didn't like!

After that we headed to the pet store to watch the dogs and cats like we always do, and eventually made our way home, after some SUPER light grocery shopping. It was SUPER cold today and we were happy to be home!

That night we got a text from Sayaka's mom that she would be in the city shopping and she invited us to go with her and go to the Aquarium too! Can't pass that up! I kept tossing around the idea about going to Bape to try for fukubukuro and finally decided I would let Sayaka sleep in and go check it out, then meet her and her mom later.

I woke up extra early in the morning and headed to Sakae to line up. I got nervous as I exited Sakae station and saw tons of people lined up for Matsuzakaya, Mitsokoshi, Parko, and Lachic! I swear they looked like lines from Disneyland! The day before we read that Bape would be holding it's line in a big park behind the store (in front of the store would be too small). When I was close to the park, I saw many people wearing Bape clothes, running towards the park. I kept my pace, but was in complete SHOCK when I saw the length of the line! It was about 8 rows deep, with roughly 25 people per row! I got in line and waited patiently, with my headphones on, since of course, I was alone, and no one would even talk to me anyway, just stare, look, point, laugh. Welcome to Japan.

Eventually one of the store staff came and stamped my hand, and my number was 207... This was going to be a LOOONG wait. Once 10AM hit, we were guided throw the line to receive raffle tickets. These tickets would give us a new number and order to get into to line, to enter the store... Complicated? Yes. Confusing? When you speak little Japanese, yes. Fun? Well, I have to admit, kinda!

My new number became 85, and I made my place in line and waited! During the wait, I came across a few interesting things. One, the age and sex of people into Bape amazed me. I typically see guys get a few things for their girlfriends, but in line, I saw girls by themselves, with 100% Bape clothes on, head to toe! I saw men and women in their 50s, dressed the same! I also heard some guy who was speaking English, and obviously from the US or Canada, and he was SUPER annoying. He was with a Japanese girl who spoke excellent English and I can tell even she was annoyed. The stuff he was talking about was super petty, uninteresting, repetitive, and annoying. I was blessed when the security moved them out of line because it was too long. They had to go wait on these huge steps while the rest of us stood in the shade, in the freezing cold... Hey better than listening to him! I finally started talking to people as my ipod died, and I found the 2 guys next to me's conversation funny. They saw me laughing and figured I understood Japanese, and began talking to me. We had some fun conversations about Bape, movies, music, and America, and eventually 4 other people joined us, and it became a Tommy interview.

It was finally my turn to enter the store! 3.5 hours later! I went in with one of the guys I was talking with and we had hopes to find certain things we wanted. When I got in, I didn't see anything that caught my eye on the first and second floor (third is for women). I went back to the first, and found that my new friend had already collected 5 or 6 items!!! I looked at the shoes and one pair caught my eye. I had never seen them before I tried them on in my size, which they only had one of. That fact, plus I just waited for almost 4 hours to come in here, I was going to buy something! So I bought the shoes, and the new season's magazine!

After my shopping, it was time to meet Sayaka and her mom in Osu. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was because Sayaka gave me a great description of where they were, and I have a great memory of where certain stores are in Osu. Osu is a HUGE shopping area, with smalls stores placed throughout, with restaurants and different things thrown in for flavor. We met at a jewelry store that had fukubukuro and her and her mom bought a big bag! After that we headed to one more store where her mom bought another bag, and a small case. We were pretty hungry so we headed to an all you can eat and drink Italian food place! Their pizza was GREAT as was their cesar salad! I wasn't impressed with their pastas, but was more than happy with about 9 slices of pizza and 3 salads! After we finished, we headed to Aeon JUSCO to go find something for Sayaka's dad. We found him a nice shirt, then went to go find a calendar that her mom wanted. After a lot of shopping, we headed to go get a smoothie after a day of hard shopping! Her mom was shocked to see it was 7:30 when we prepared to leave!

We headed to Akaike via subway and helped her mom get all of the bags to her car. She drove us to the nearby game center (we call it arcade in America), and her mom gave us money to play air hockey twice! We played after what felt like a year since we played last, and I won both times! Sayaka gave me her sad face, but I still had to win! After this, it was time for the long subway ride home. I think we literally went to sleep less than an hour after getting home, which is VERY unusual for us.

This vacation has been expensive and tiring!

Oh yeah! If you want to know what fukubukuro is, it translates to Happy/Lucky Bag/Box! It is a tradition in Japan where stores throw a bunch of random stuff into a bag or box, and sell it for much less than the total of all the items. Some stores even throw in a random GRAND PRIZE of sorts, like a car (keys to the car)or something, so people love going shopping for those items. Last year Bic Camera gave everyone a Nintendo DS Lite in their 10,000 yen fukubukuro, at a time when Nintendo DS Lites were sold out everywhere in Japan. So going shopping for these items is a great deal and a chance at some cool stuff!

Winter vacation has begun!!!

2008-01-03T12:53:00.000+09:00

I am writing this all in hindsight, 2 days before the end of vacation, but I have had a lot of fun (and spent too much money so far...!)

Christmas Eve was a bit hit and miss. We had plans to go get my gift before it sold out (a Bathing Ape wallet), eat ramen at Sunshine Sakae, do some looking around and then go eat yakiniku for dinner! We got out of the apartment and I felt sooo sick! We got the wallet, and I felt worst, and continued to decline after we ate ramen. I had to call it a day and go home. I was sad we couldn't eat ramen and promised if I slept a bit, we could go get yakiniku when I wake up! I slept about an hour or so, and went to yakiniku, without my sickness interrupting anything else! The next day being Christmas, meant nothing here in Japan! Sayaka and I both worked! Before work I bought myself a new point and shoot camera, that is MUCH smaller than my older one and better quality (go figure, living in Japan...)I had to go to Akaike to teach a corporate lesson, but after I stopped by Oozone to get Sayaka's Christmas present ( a new ipod Nano and case for it). I had her meet me at Oozone station so I could present the present to her, and she loved it! We stopped by a izakaya across from Shin Moriyama station and enjoyed a great dinner there! The next 2 days were work days, so vacation was yet to begin!

Vacation began at the end of me teaching a corporate lesson in Meiki (near Nagoya station), which was a lot of fun. I met up again (had coffee with them before my lesson) with Sayaka and her friend Naoko (who just came back to Japan after living in Mexico for a year+). We found an izakaya and ate some AMAZING and CHEAP food!

The next day we had to wake up early to head to a mochi tsuki party in Toyota! We got to the station and Sayaka's mom met us, and drove us to the place we would have the party at. At a mochi tsuki party, you get to pound mochi gome (which is a kind of rice for mochi) with a mallet like object to soften it up. I got to try this out for a bit and it made me exhausted! There were soo many kids here, so if I wasn't eating, drinking, or pounding mochi gome, I was taking pictures of kids, or talking to them. It was fun to have them ask me to speak in English and they would shout "Wakaranai!" which means they don't understand! That is why you don't have me speak English! Some kids would say I was African or Brazilian, but 2 kids would quickly correct them and say "AMERIKAJIN!!!" or American in Japanese! Too cute. When the mochi was ready we had some dipped in kinako, or inside a radish and soy mixed sauce. I LOVED the kinako (tastes like a sweet peanut based powder) the most, but was made fun of because it is for kids!

After we did the mochi tsuki, Sayaka and I were exhausted and thought we would go bowling, but we sat there, nearly falling asleep on the bench. We went to the liquor store after a while to buy her dad a gift that should have been from California, but we had liquor import issues. We bought him a bottle of Johnny Walker which came with a special edition cup and he loved it. Sayaka's mom picked us up from the liquor store, we went to go get her dad, then went to eat yakiniku together (just like we did before we went to California!). Again we ate and drank sooo much! Her parents love taking us out to eat! We did the long train ride back home and I think slept instantly!

The next day, we were super lazy most of the day, but at night we went to Sayuri's house to do a kimuchi nabe party! We took the train to Nissin and Nao-chan, Sayuri, and Aiko were waiting for us. We went shopping and bout everything we needed for the night. We got to Sayuri's new apartment (which is a Leopalace like mine, but WAY nicer and a bit bigger, with a loft!) and I built a glass table we would use to eat on (IKEA style table). After all of the cooking and preparation, we ate some of the best nabe I have had yet! There was some thick cut pork in there that everyone was drooling over! Overall, a GREAT meal!

New Years Eve will come at a later time!

Weekend in Tokyo, Daft Punk baby!

2007-12-11T09:55:00.000+09:00

OK I am back after a stupid CRAZY fun weekend in Tokyo (that city is insane...)!

The weekend was super eventful even though some bad things happened.

I was planning to go alone, since my gf had work, and doesn't like Daft Punk, but at a welcome party I met a guy who said he would go, and he invited a friend of his, who has never heard of Daft Punk, but she wanted to come with.

We met up like 3 hours before the show, and I took em on a quick Harajuku tour and had to go find my hotel and check in. The map on their website was FUBARed so I got lost and spent almost 45 mins looking for the damn place, but eventually found it and met up with them at Tokyo station. At this time it was like 20 mins after the show started and we were 35 mins away by train.

We eventually get there and find out just some small time DJs were on (but still good! Ryukyudisco is a Japanese house group who combine traditional Japanese taiko drums and house. ALL Amazing! Also Boom Boom Satellites is a Jpop/Jrock band who went all house for the show! Live drums, guitars, all played to some house music to back it up.) and Daft Punk was going on at 7:10.

We all drank too much and just kept buying more and more drinks (each drink was 600 yen). We met a girl who thought we needed help, but I speak enough Japanese to get by, so we told her we were OK and she was off. 10 minutes later we meet her again, and find out she was there alone, so she rocked with us the rest of the night. When it was 10 minutes to DP, we did the last restroom break, got one more drink, and "gaijin"ed (Japanese people are too polite to stop people who move their ways forward through a crowd, and foreigners, gaijin, can take advantage of this. Hey, for DP what are you gonna do) our ways to the front.

The other girl's ears started ringing and my friend took her to the very back, while I stayed near the front with our new friend (her first DP show, and first house concert ever. Her first time gaijining to the front even though she was Japanese) and we listened to the last minutes of the small DJ. Unlike my first DP show last year, that had a good 20 minute delay between the last act and them, the small time DJ finished his last song, and before people could start clapping, the "First Encounter of the Third Kind" music started playing, and the DP pyramid was unveiled! People went crazy! This venue is a huge floor, surrounded on the sides by raised seating, like a concert hall. There were old people, kids as young as 4 or 5 years old, but the WHOLE place went NUTS!

If you don't know their current live set, go get Alive 2007 and you will know exactly what I hear, in the order I heard it. Even though it was my second time hearing them, it was better than the first time for a few reasons. I was with people who love Daft Punk, minus the girl who didn't know them, they did an encore after 5 minutes of people clapping and chanting, and the energy from the other people was way more hectic than last year's.

But 1 bad thing did happen during the show. When One More Time came on, EVERY PERSON IN THE PLACE, went crazy as hell! People started jumping AND pushing, and I wanted to take more video with my camera, and I reached for it, but it was GONE! Yes, 4 people from the front gate now, and the last time I used my camera, was about 40 feet behind me, and I have hundreds of people bouncing and jumping to One More Time, I will never see my camera again... After the show, the girl we met, Yuko, helped me ask some security (which I don't have enough Japanese to do) where I could find my camera, and they led us to the right place but my camera hadn't turned up, so we got a number to call and the next day my camera turned up as I was shopping to replace it with a newer smaller camera (hey it is Japan! Newer and smaller is a weekly thing!).

The next plan is to go to Tokyo and see Digitalism in February. I love this country!

Life recently...

2007-11-28T10:15:00.000+09:00

Has been SUPER busy! Our first day back to Japan, Sayaka began a new job, that has her leaving at 9AM, and getting home around 11PM. We live together but hardly see each other.

My work schedule has been and continues to be super packed and busy! I miss the days I could go online and keep this blog updated like I wanted to originally!

I did a photo shoot with one of my student's bands, and will begin their website once they decide which pics they like.

Last weekend was definitely one of the most fun I have had in a while! Sayaka and I went to see Doralion, the new Cirque du Soleil show. It was AMAZING! Such great talent from EVERY member of this circus. Definitely an inspiration on other parts of life if I would say so, and also extremely entertaining if I don't say so! Before this though, we ate at a dessert all you can eat and got stuffed on various cakes, fondue, and pasta. We also went to Uniqlo (think, Japan's Old Navy) and bought some clothes to protect us this winter. I think I need to go buy more!

The next day was amazing...

The head trainer for the company I work for (he is in charge of everyone in the Chubu area) invited all of us to a game of football and a BBQ, at the river by our apartment. Sayaka went to get her haircut and we met everyone at a nearby station when she was done. We had 8 guys for football and Sayaka was a cheerleader for both teams. Eventually another girl came to join her in this job.

When we made teams, I was trying to go for team California, but some salt got thrown into the mix, and it was team California, and a Candadian! Oh well!

I voted myself as QB and damn did I have fun doing so!

Our team lost, but I had a couple TD passes, some successful series into the in zone, and 1 interception. Yeah I had a lot of turn overs when I couldn't get the ball to anyone, but hey, it was my first time QBing ever! Once I had to run because I got blitzed (the guy covering me is a good 5 inches taller and a lot heavier than me!) and I had to run it, I got stopped and tried to push the guy off so I could run more, but the whole team was on me pretty much, and they couldn't get me down! My own team mate took me by the legs so I could go down and gain a few more feet. Now I know next time I need to run it or go out and catch more balls. We were playing tackle, so people got hurt, but me, yeah, jammed my finger catching the ball during practice.

Yesterday and today, I have been in and continue to hurt pretty much everywhere. My jammed finger is swollen now, legs, stomach, and everywhere else hurts. But DAMN did I ever have fun!

This weekend...either a lazy Sunday, or dinner with friends and a student from work!

Life is good, just busy!

California Day Five!!!!!

2007-11-28T09:45:00.000+09:00

I was the first awake, and the first to discover...IT WAS RAINING! We all know how bad luck that is in America! Mark was a bit panicked this morning. Probably the first I have ever seen him like this! We got our breakfast (and I got some for Sayaka too, and took it to her room), got dressed (while the photographer and videographer took pics and video of us preparing) then went downstairs to take pics.

All of the pictures were taken in the hotel lobby since it was drizzling and very overcast! After our pics, it was time to get ready and head down to the wedding location!

I went up and got Sayaka and by the time we were leaving the hotel, the rain had stopped! LUCKY! We made it to the place and the waves were crashing pretty hard, because of the weather, but it made a beautiful backdrop.

As the best man, it was ALSO my duty to escort women to their seats, so I showed Sayaka to hers, and helped a few other people with their seats before it was show time.

Mark was nervous...Haha! We were pretending to spot snipers on the roofs and quote one of the million video game related moments in our lives to laugh while the music played and we were lined up waiting for the bride. When she arrived, the first thing Mark said was "Looking at her is making ME nervous". The wedding went on, I didn't forget their rings (I wouldn't be here to type this if I did!) and the rain never showed again!

We took pics after the wedding with the photographer, and Phong and his gf Lynda took pics of Sayaka and I, and vice-versa. Now it was time to party!

We headed to the hotel to check out and get Mark's stuff. This took a good 45 minutes to organize and get together, then another 25 minute drive to the reception place. When we got there, the bride and her dad were dancing. Mark came up to us and asked what happened, because they did an introduction of everyone, and pretty much ALL of the guys were checking out and not present! Ooops!

The reception was moved inside, because of the rain, but the weather had improved, so we moved outside! The weather and view were great! The DJ at the party was def the corniest man on the planet and made us laugh at him, not with him. I gave my speech and made people laugh as I did a small trek through Mark and I's 20 year history. After me, more speeches were made, and it was time to party harder! Sayaka ordered a TALL Pina Colada, and Phong and I got tall Long Island Ice Teas! The music started and we had to go down and dance, which was funny, but I felt like I needed more alcohol! We all kinda formed a group and just stopped dancing after 3 songs. After the music, we watched the bride and groom cut the cake and smash it into each other's faces! Soon after, that was that!

The bride gave Sayaka and I all of the table decorations, which we gave to my mom (and she loved them!). After we gathered everything, we made plans to go out to eat that night. So Sayaka and I returned home to give her the decorations, change clothes, and headed to the RITZ CARLTON, where Mark and Ashley had a NICE ASS room, with an amazing view! We hung out a bit and headed to a restaurant called Sarducci's in Laguna Nigel (I think). A few people from the wedding party were there and we had a good time just winding down.

Everyone began to feel sleepy and we called it a night. We met with Mark and Ashley and they opened their present from us and thanked us. We did our tearless but heartfelt goodbye hugs (who knows when we will see each other again...hehe come see this blog in a week, OR after Christmas for an interesting surprise!) and Sayaka and I headed home.

But not YET! We made a stop at a few stores to do last minute shopping, Blockbuster to buy some DVDs, and In-N-Out to get a LARGE Strawberry Shake! We got home late and exhausted, but I uploaded all of the pics from the day, set up the laptop to be charged and began packing!

In the morning my mom had made my fav food that she cooks (potato skins!), but I am really bad with time and airplanes and I was too nervous to eat, as I prepared, so Sayaka and my mom sat and ate together! I called my dad to say bye, and my aunt called and spoke to me a bit too! Called and left a message for my sis who said she would meet us at the airport, and we were officially heading out of my mom's apartment to head to LAX. We loaded up the car and took pics of it and Sayaka got to drive it in reverse for 5 feet! Haha! After that we hugged my mom and were off. Not even 1 minute later, Sayaka was crying because she missed my mom! Too cute, and sad...

We made it to the car rental place pretty quick, and the process to return it was smooth as silk. The bus to take us to the airport also arrived early so we were making good time! At LAX, we checked in rather quick, and some guy, Japanese American might I add, pulled Sayaka and I out of line to take our suitcases to get them checked. His coworkers were so mad at him, because they closed that line, but JUST Sayaka and I got our bags taken. We were a little worried if we would ever see them again, but happy we didn't have to wait in a loooong line!

We went to the food court, and I got us a chicken quesadilla and Dolce De Leche milkshake from Haggen Daaz! Sayaka was in love with the In-N-Out shake from the night before, but I swear, she was ready to have an affair with the Haggen one! We both loved it sooo much! I kept looking for my sis and ran down to see if I could see her, but couldn't at all! It was about time to board the plane so we got in line!

The line was ridiculously long and again, as fate may have it, we were ushered to the front by JAL staff so we could board our plane that was leaving shortly. We bought some omiyage for friends and my school, and boarded the plane.

As soon as we could, I ordered as much liquor as I could drink so I could sleep on the way back, and I definitely slept like a baby! It felt like we were in Tokyo in no time!

Honestly, it felt great to be back in Japan again. I loved being back home, but being in Narita airport, just made me happy to be HOME again!

We boarded the transfer train to Nagoya, and after a 50 minute flight, we were the closest to home we had been this week!

We took a train to Kanayama, where I fought drowsiness and fatigue, and when we arrived there, we got a cab to our apartment, which was great because we brought back about 5x as much stuff as we left with.

When we arrived we took 2 trips to get our luggage into the apartment and as soon as it was there, what did we do?

We went to yakiniku (Japanese BBQ. Not much different from Korean BBQ)! Yes! I had missed Japanese food soo much, that I didn't spend 5 minutes in my apartment, before I headed to the nearest yakiniku restaurant! We ate, unwound, and headed back home to sleep the last week, and our meal off!

What a trip!

California Day Four!!!

2007-11-03T21:46:00.001+09:00

This day was super eventful!

Not because a LOT happened, but a few things happened in a short period of time!

Sayaka and I started the day out going shopping, to Olive Garden, then more shopping!

When we made it home, I had to get directions to the wedding practice and tux rental shop!

I raced (thanks Mustang!) to the tux rental place and made it there super quick. Unfortunately I was a bit surprised to find I had to pay for the tux (not that I am cheap or anything, just, historically the wedding party has covered tux rentals for everyone, coming from Japan I had a set budget on how much I had on me, and that had already taken a few unexpected bumps since arriving), but put it on my debit card and raced to the wedding practice place.

Sayaka and I got there and saw NO FAMILIAR cars or faces! So we hopped back in the car and headed back up the hill! Luckily I happened to catch a glance of the bride's bro and followed him around until he noticed me. We pulled aside and talked and I found out, EVERYONE was late and we were in the right place! All of that rushing for what??!!??!!

Everyone showed up and practice wasn't as smooth as the bride had planned. It was obvious in her actions...We got through it and everyone was ready to eat! We caravaned to one of the largest houses I had ever been to, and had a nice post practice dinner! Mexican food! The house had a fireplace in the backyard and we did s'mores!

After the bride and groom thanked us, we headed to the hotel to get Sayaka checked in. I was to stay with the groom on the night before his wedding, so she got her own room to herself. When I arrived to Mark's room, Josh was sleeping, and Mark was laying down watching TV. I got them awake though. We tried on our tuxedos to make sure all was well (after lying and saying we did before this last moment) and took a lot of stupid pictures! We couldn't sleep so we went downstairs and talked with the bride's sister and 2 of her friends until about 1:30AM. When we arrived to the room we all slept pretty quick.

Me being a bit jet lagged still, woke up first. This is the day of the wedding!

California Day Three!!!

2007-11-03T20:13:00.000+09:00

Bachelor Party Day!!!

But not the kind of party you see in those teen comedies, or other TV dramas! Now this one has MUCH more testosterone!

It all started out with Mark meeting up with me at my mom's apartment so we could car pool and I could be designated driver (so he could liquor it up, WHICH HE DID!). We hopped into the Mustang and took advantage of the convertible top and I was finally able to open her up on the road (Sayaka would get sick when I would drive fast...). In no time we were at the exit to Mark's brother-in-laws house. When we were almost there, I recognized a familiar face! Phong (of the Tokyo 3, read the archives about the first trip to Japan...) was a car behind us and to our left! His reaction was priceless, as he didn't recognize me due to weight loss and not having seen me for over a year, plus I was waving to him belligerently from the top of the Mustang! When he realized who it was he gave a "What's Up?" nod. Since he drives a nice black 350Z, we had to have a little fun on the rest of the trip to Courtney's house!

When we arrived, we found Mark's brother had arrived just before us, and we found our way to Courtney's Apt. When we arrived, we met with Courtney and Derek (the bride's brothers),we began to throw the meat on the grill, open up the liquor and watch "I love New York season 2"! A while later, after getting lost, Josh showed up, and it was officially a party! All of us drank quite a bit, and ate some great chicken (THANKS Courtney!), and the drivers sobered up for the drive ahead of us. Phong and Mark rode with me, while Courtney and Josh rolled with David (Mark's bro!)

We cruised down to the place we would spend the next 6 hours at, blasting some Kanye West, Justin Timberlake (yeah we are all fans, WHAT?!?), and various other music to get us pumped for what was next.

What was next was not s strip club or Vegas, but we were about to experience 6 straight hours of paintballing! Courtney found out the price of the place and when it was our turn to pay they tried to get more money out of us! This didn't make Courtney happy and he calmly complained and raised hell, while the probably still drunk Mark, got it a little escalated! At the end of things, we got the price we saw on the internet, and were off to go shoot fools!

The gun I got back in High School that I used to play with, didn't want to play nice with the co2 tanks they had, and the guy there kinda broke my gun trying to make them play nice! The result, he didn't charge me for air or a rental gun! We went to go practice a bit, then it was off to the first combat area!

The sun was out and we had full visibility in this game, and damn I wish we had it all day! This round, like every other one after this (besides the 3 vs 3 games) we always got on the same team. Courtney was down and out within the first 2 minutes, and you could hear his cry of pain after being shot for the first time (this was Courtney, David and Phong's first time playing!)! The rest of eventually got out, with me being last being shot in the man-hood! I threw my hands up and walked off QUICKLY after that perfectly places hit!

We tried to do some 3 on 3, where the teams were Courtney, Phong and I, versus, Mark, Josh, and David. We kept winning a game and losing it, and when the tie breaker came, my team was victorious! Usually we play 2 games and move on, but the guy let us get a final game in before the other team moved on. This time it was 2 on 2! Courtney and I, went up agaist Mark and Phong. I was nervous as I saw Phong was super fast and taking people out when he was on our team, and Mark had probably the most and most recent experience after everyone, but C and I took them out pretty quick!

We did the rest of the night in the huge battle arenas and had some interesting games, never winning, but we did draw quite a bit (each team has about 15 - 20 people on it!). The last game was probably the most fun because when the guy shouted 2 more minutes, we all said screw it and went Rambo on fools! Unfortunately for the bulk of us, so did some 50 something year old black dude with a fast trigger finger or fully auto, who took 3 of us out in 4 seconds. In that spurt, I got hit on the knee, upper thigh, finger, shoulder, back of the head twice, and right elbow. That is not including the multiple shots on my partners! Perfect end to an awesome night!

We headed back to C's place after that for more drinking and light food and we caught the TV version of "Next Friday", which was great with all of the censoring they did (horrid job!).

When the movie finished, everyone headed home and I drove Mark back to my place. It was around 1:30AM and Sayaka was sleeping until I walked in. I showered, changed clothes, then asked if she wanted to go shopping. She thought I was crazy, but seeing that I wasn't laughing, she threw on her clothes and we were off to Walmart!

I was relieved to find the Walmart we drove to was open and we began shopping! I replaced all of my underclothes to match the weightloss, bought a shirt for my friend who always buys me gifts when he travels (it is a Japanese thing), and we bought a ton of food and junk for friends and family back home!

After our shopping we made it back home around 5:30AM, where we found Mark STILL sleeping in his car! Poor guy, he only has to be at his mom's house, an hour and a half away, to practice the reception dance they have to do, in 2 more hours! Ganbatte!

Day three is picture light. Guess you just had to be there to see what went on!

California Day Two!!

2007-10-22T07:23:00.000+09:00

Wednesday morning... Probably the busiest day of our week as far as time being tight, and the amount of things we did.

The day started early, around 6AM, which is when we headed down to IHOP to grab some food! Plans were for some pancakes or french toast, but I found a good BBQ bacon cheeseburger and Sayaka got a Double BLT! More proof of my appetite change was when I finished my burger and felt pregnant/sick again! Sayaka ate one half of hers before she threw in her towel! We did begin this with a cup of their awesome hot cocoa! After breakfast we headed to the beach!

Now this beach has always been my favorite because not too many people go there, and the view is beautiful! Today was no different! It isn't exactly a BEACH-beach area, but this place is called Balboa Peninsula. There are lots of nice houses near the small bay, and then a few minute walk to the edge of Newport Beach!

We get there and it is another beautiful day! No clouds, clear sky, warm-hot, and a little windy. After not being here for so long, I was shocked to see what the tide has done to the beach area! It created a sort of small cliff (3 feet or so), where it used to be a slow decline into the ocean. After 2 trips to beaches in Japan this year, I was reminded why California beaches are so famous. The beach was clean, yellowish-white sand, and massive! We changed to our flip flops and walked along the beach for a bit. 3 boys came up and did a little wake boarding and I caught a few pics of them. Later on, we saw a dog running towards us! Luckily he was just chasing some birds along the beach, until his owner called out to him. It was around this time when Sayaka whispered "I want to live in California...". The seed has been planted...

After an hour or so we headed to my old job, to surprise them and use their restroom! Everyone was definitely surprised and happy to meet Sayaka and see the weight I lost. We chatted a bit before they rushed us out to go enjoy Disneyland! We would see them later tonight anyway! By the way, my old job, is a 2 minute drive from Disneyland!

We get to Disneyland and I was shocked at the amount of cars going to park there! This is the beginning of October, on a Wednesday, Earth's most random day of the week! We had to wait about 5 minutes to pay for parking! After we parked we headed down to the trams to get to the entrance. Due to the sheer amount of people waiting just HERE, we had to wait for the third tram to arrive! When it finally did, we were off to Disneyland's entrance! I thought I saw a lot of people just waiting to park, and waiting for the tram, but damnit, this place was packed! This seriously felt like a weekend at the beginning of summer! We had to wait about 20 mins to get our Park-hopper tickets for So Cal residents (saved 5 dollars each, and she just checked my ID! We don't even live here! Tommy and Sayaka - 1, the system - 0).

We first entered California Adventure, and went straight for the sundae place! I love this place's sundaes so we got one and some drinks to go with it. I was reminded about something that I love about America, and wish Japan did more of when we bought our sundae. The guy who helped us, Andrew, was physically disabled. When I see that big companies hire people of any background, sex, physical or mental condition, it makes me feel good to be human! While we waited for our food, I struck up a friendly conversation with him, because I was happy to , we ate it so quick and were off to our first ride, Soarin over California!

The whole time in line, Sayaka was nervous because of my description of the ride! When we were seated, I could feel her heart beating fast, as she grasped my hand so hard. When the ride started and we were lifted around 75 feet in the air, she was the only person who screamed. Every time the ride moved, she would scream, and the older couple next to her would laugh at her. By the end of the ride, she was glad she got on it, and it definitely woke her up, if she wasn't awake by then! After we went on what I always call "The water ride". Sayaka didn't want to go on it, but I "silent-something"-ed her into getting on it. Before we got on though, we watched people for about 5 minutes. There is a part where a geyser shoots up and depending on your timing, you may or may not get VERY wet, as the water comes back down on top of you. When our time was up, we were about 3 seconds from the spot, and no geyser! But wait, this is our lucky day! A second before our raft goes over the geyser spot, it shoots up and we get drenched! When we pass the geyser, which was under us, it shoots up and comes down on us AGAIN VERY hard! We seriously looked like we hopped in the shower for a minute with our clothes on! Sayaka looked like a wet dog and she was sooo sad, but interestingly enough, she became super genki (energetic) after we got off, and just kept jumping and singing like a kid!

After that, we did some walking around, window shopping and such until we decided to leave and do more walking around Downtown Disney. There we got Jamba Juice (oh how I missed thee) and boarded the monorail to Disneyland!

We had plans to do dinner with my coworkers in an hour and a half and knew time was limited. I wanted to do the new Finding Nemo ride, but the line was like 110 minutes, so I asked Sayaka what she wanted to do and that resulted in her behind the wheel of Autotopia! The line went by pretty quick, so we made a trip to Toon Town since she has never been to the one in Japan! We made our way to Mickey's house and took our pic with him then it was time to head out! We stopped by Wetzel's Pretzels to get a Wetzel Cheese Dog and then headed to Chilis for our dinner!

When we got there, my friend Mark, the man getting married, arrived around the same time! We waited and chatted a bit while waiting for people to arrive. As soon as we got half of the people, we were seated! Food, drinks, and laughter ensued!

It was a crazy fun night, followed by sad "See you someday in the future"s and promises to email each other more. Sayaka and I were exhausted so we headed home and got to go sleep probably the earliest of any night that week!

Tomorrow, Mark's bachelor party!

Until then, enjoy pics of day two!

California Day One!

2007-10-22T05:59:00.000+09:00

So it's about that time to get to talking about my California trip last week! I will break this down into days, just like I did my photo albums, because it will be much easier to remember everything this way.

Months ago I was invited to be my best friend's best man for his wedding. Not so much invited or asked, but destined, and confirmed to be (we have known each other for 20 years now). He lives in Colorado now (moved there a few months after I moved to Japan) and I thought the wedding would be in Colorado. I had visions of visiting my sister who has lived there for a few years, and getting my first taste of the state. Then, 2 months ago I found out it was in Cali, and was excited to be able to see my mom, friends, and family again, AND go to Mark's wedding. Fast forward a bit, and I get the whole week off, paid, Sayaka and I pay for our plane tickets, and I buy a new suitcase for the trip, it is time to go to California baby!

The morning of our flight, I wake up SICK! I dunno why, maybe being out in the cold, while dressed decently for the weather, for my old assistant manager's wedding party, but the sick-gods descended on me in my sleep! Sayaka and I packed the night before, and all we had to do was wake up, shower, eat and head to the airport!

We headed down the steps with our mildly heavy luggage and got the train to Kanayama around 9. There we purchased our reserved seats to Chubu Centrair, so we could get there in 35 minutes, and sleep a bit on the train.

When we arrived, it was a rather quick and painless process to get checked in, and our luggage xrayed! I was spoiled after my fiasco (LUPE!) at LAX when I first came to Nagoya (check the archives). We went around and looked for some food and things to buy before our flight. I got a bagel chicken teriyaki sandwich and Sayaka got some good looking curry! I also got a bagel with apple pie cream cheese on it, which was damn good! We bought a bag of chocolate covered potato chips (better than expected!) and boarded our plane to Narita! We purchased our tickets in a way, that we had a row of three seats to ourselves, so this flight, and the flight from Narita to LAX was rather comfy!

50 minutes later we arrive at Narita, wait 45 minutes, and board a larger plane for LAX! The weather in Narita was way different than Nagoya! It was much colder and looks like it had rained! This was to be a big contrast to the weather in California! On the plane, we were given 2 meals, and able to drink as much as we wanted, with the press of the button, alcohol included (we flew JAL!)! After 2 strong screwdrivers, I was ready to sleep! I woke up before our second meal, 2 hours before landing. While eating I was shocked to see how clear it was below, and see the mountains and landscapes of Central California, a sight most appreciated from an airplane! The closer we got to LA, I realized, that I had not seen a cloud in the sky for quite a while! We made a clean, smooth, descent and landing at LAX, and I felt like, wow, I am home again!

We arrived at the landing terminal, which was under construction and looked horrible, causing Sayaka to repeat "Wow, what a beautiful terminal!" several times! After going through customs/immigration, our luggage took no time to arrive, and we were up and out of the airport in NO time! We found where we needed to go to get our shuttle to the car rental place. They said they came every 5 minutes, we waited 20 or so. When we arrived to the place, the line wasn't too long, and I got to watch my first news in English in 1 year and 3 months, plus see my first ghetto verbal argument in the same time! Good ole LA! The process to pick up the car was smooth and quick thanks to my online reservation, and in minutes, I had the keys to a convertible, red, 2007 Standard Mustang convertible! It took us a bit to get the top down, and realize how we would get our luggage in the car, but after a while, we were good, and on our way out to my sister's apartment!

We cruised on the freeway for a short time and I was shocked to see how close my sister lived to LAX! It felt good to be behind the wheel of a fast car again after being the "driver" of a bicycle for so long (or passenger in my friends Skyline or AMG Benz...) and I let the car breathe a bit with the pedal to the floor. Driving in a car like that, with the top down was such a great experience this day! CLEAR beautiful skies, warm-hot weather, and fresh off our flight from cold Japan!

We arrived at my sister's house and she ran out to hug Sayaka first, then me! We went in to wait for her to get ready, then headed to Pink's, a famous hot dog stand in Hollywood! The smell of their food used to make me hungry, but after all of the light food in Japan, it made myself, and Sayaka sick to our stomachs! Sayaka had to go sit down, as she was jet lagged and feeling sick (My sister made a comment saying "Uh oh, are you guys going to have to make a Knocked Up 2?") and I had to move from the wind of the food! When our food arrived, we ate it pretty quick, without feeling sick! Sayaka got a chili cheese dog, I got a Polish Pastrami dog (hot dog with pastrami, mustard and swiss cheese), and my sister got 2 of the same as me, plus onion rings! I forgot how much I used to eat when I lived here, because it seemed like she ordered so much, and then I remember how I used to eat more than her!

After our meal we headed back to my sisters house to get a cable to connect my ipod to the car stereo, since hey, we were headed to Hollywood in a convertible, we need some good tunes! As we approached a corner, we noticed a familiar face in the car next to us. After pulling up to his window, we noticed it was Danny Trejo! At first he was mad when my sister called out to him, but we realized he was listening to Barry White and was too focused! We chatted a bit until the light turned green, and he was SUPER nice to us until then. We made it to my sister's place and grabbed what we needed and were off to Hollywood and Highland (the plan was the Beverly Center, but my sis said there was construction and it was a mess there!).

We arrived to see the normal busy Hollywood streets, filled with weird people, tourists, and the trendy. I guess this time I was the tourist! I had my camera out like I had never been there, and was snapping away! We did our rounds, got good pics, looked around, and eventually realized, Sayaka was too sick to be out right now! So we took my sis home, and got a call from my dad that he was waiting with my other sis at my mom's place! WHAT?!?! That is an hour away no traffic! So my sis says she will meet us there later (to kill the suspense, she didn't make it) and we head out to Orange County, to return home, but there was a LOT of traffic!

An hour later we arrived in Anaheim, and I showed Sayaka the original Disneyland off the side of the freeway and we had to make a detour to my old college for a restroom break before making it home! Our jet lag was kicking in so we picked up some energy drinks near my mom's place to liven up before we see my family. When we arrived at the apartments, we saw my sis waiting outside for us! How long had she been waiting! We get all of our luggage out and head upstairs to the apartment. We open the door and my dad is standing nearby talking to my mom. His reaction to me was shock, since I have lost so much weight! He asked if I left the other half of me in Japan (I heard this same phrase many times last week). My mom was equally shocked!

After hugs and introductions to Sayaka, we got our luggage laid out, and began eating. Our plans were to go out and eat, but since it was too late for my dad and sis, we ate the food my mom cooked. It was good to eat enchiladas, rice, and beans, that were home cooked by my mother again. We talked, laughed and caught up for 2 hours, then it was time for my dad and sis to leave, and take my grandma back to the IE (Inland Empire, an area of Southern California, not too popular, but where I was born!).My grandma was cute as usual and asked me as she exited the apartment "Where are you about to move to?". I don't think she knows I live in Japan still (come on now, she is 94 years old!And healthy!).

As my dad and everyone left, Sayaka and I hopped in the car to the nearby mall to grab cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory! I can't remember the name of mine, but Sayaka got the Vanilla Bean one. We both agreed mine was better, but again, our Japan meal sized stomachs couldn't do their usual damage. I finished mine, Sayaka finished half of hers. I felt sick after just one cheesecake and knew my big American appetite was GONE! We headed home and rested our heads for our next big day! Tomorrow we have, IHOP, the beach, Disneyland, California Adventure, then dinner with my old coworkers (aka extended family)!

Gyah! Unfortunately, Bloggers image uploader wants to NOT work, so here is a link to day one on Flickr!

Updates from California soon...

2007-10-19T10:02:00.000+09:00

Once I can battle this jet lag!

Everyday I come home, I HAVE to go to sleep ASAP. It is really bad right now!

But I promise PICS, videos, and stories from the action packed 6 days in California!

Until then, relax, and grab a drink!

I'm going to Disneyland!

2007-10-09T08:22:00.000+09:00

Well here we are! The morning of our flight to California! Sayaka is still sleeping beside me, but she was up late due to anticipation, which is why I am up early! Who will have the harder time sleeping on the plane?

I will TRY to update while I am in Cali, but don't expect anything! When I return to Japan, expect pics and stories galore! Quote me!

See you in a week and wish us luck on our flight!

Weekend update!

2007-10-02T09:24:00.000+09:00

So this weekend was rather eventful!

We made plans to go to a mountain, and go climb it for good luck, but because of the rain in Nara, we had to cancel! So we made plans to go meet Sayaka's friend for lunch and her parents for dinner.

We arrived to Toyota station right on time and went to Saizeriya (a local restaurant) to meet her friend. Rieko arrived shortly after we did and we ordered a drink bar for all of us, and each got a dessert! I found out that Rieko used to teach for Aeon, so we got to talk in English about that and many other things! Rieko showed us some pics of her trip to San Francisco, which were amazing. Maybe my spoiled SoCal beliefs were changed after seeing them, and MAYBE I want to go now... Rieko is studying this color therapy thing, where we have to chose a bottle with different color oil in it. We chose 4 of them, and depending on the color and order we picked them in, she can read about our personalities. Sayaka was surprised to see hers was accurate, and it was in her native language, so when I had mine done and had it translated to English I was extra shocked! This was so representative of my life in the past, and now, and where I want to go. I was definitely surprised!

After our lunch date, we went to Daiso to look for something green, since both of us were told we needed the color green in our lives, but unfortunately we found nothing. We didn't have much time left before meeting her parents, so we headed down to the bus stop area where her parents awaited. We went to a yaki niku place not too far from where we were. We ordered a rather big course set, 2 HUGE beers for her dad and I, one regular glass for her, and her mom drank Oolong-cha! We began to eat and drink sooo much! By the end of the night I had one more huge beer, and a regular sized one, plus enough meat to feed a family! We joked around with her mom and dad about many things, and just like the first time I met them, I felt like I really was accepted by them. Again, they paid for our whole dinner, PLUS gave us money to go to Disneyland in California next week! We are both kinda short of money for the trip and told our sad story to them, and without hesitation, received money for Disneyland. They even gave us money for our ride back to our apartment!

Okaasan to Otoosan, honti ni arigatou ne!

Yesterday, we were pretty lazy and started our day late. We went to go eat a late breakfast at McDonalds, then went bowling, where both of our scores were pathetic because we had to use heavier balls, because they were the only balls that our fingers could fit, but we only paid 500 yen, so who cares! After we went to the nearby Daiso again to find some green stuff, but no luck. We went grocery shopping together and bought some rice, milk, and eggs for the apartment, then came home and played Wii. Sayaka was still sleepy so I worked on a newsletter and party poster I needed to finish for work.

Now it is Tuesday morning, a week before we will be heading to the airport to go to California! super excited! This Sunday, we will go to the aquarium, and Monday, a wedding party for my old assistant manager, then Tuesday is departure day! Just have to get through this week of work!

Until this weekend!

OK I give up on catching up, so I will just look forward!

2007-09-25T10:13:00.000+09:00

I have to many things to write about that happened, but I am too lazy to remember it all. So now my new goal is to keep this thing updated more frequently!

Went to a car show this weekend, with Sayaka, @chan, and Chris! Had a ton of fun there and took a load of pics!

Afterwards we had a going away party for Chris, since he goes back to American TODAY! It was fun, and sad at the same time, but he will be back in 2.5 years (he said he would be!)

Check out pics from the car show, and enjoy your week!

2 more weeks until Cali!

I have some catching up to do! Toyota Bon Odori!

2007-08-31T11:21:00.000+09:00

Well lets get to the dirt shall we! It is long overdue!

Great intro huh?

So in the middle of Obon Vacation, I took a trip to a small village near Toyota, where Sayaka's friend Sayuri lives, and we went to a Bon Odori dance festival. This was probably my 3rd one this summer, but definitely the most memorable.

I got to see Sayaka in her yukata for the first time and she was amazingly beautiful! I wore my jinbei because I didn't want to struggle with my own yukata that day.

We headed on the subway from Tsurumai to the nearest station where we were picked up by Sayuri after she got off from work.

When we arrived to Sayuri's house, their friend Miyo was waiting for us. We all entered the house and the girls changed into their yukata, and Sayuri's mother helped Sayaka fix her obi (cloth that wraps around the waist). Sayuri's mom was sooo sweet and polite to me, as she likes foreigners and even hosts exchange students or people doing homestays there, so I felt super comfy being there.

We went to the festival, and saw that Sayuri's brother, who is very good with English might I add, was the leader of this year's festival (I think he is every year though haha). Not only that but Sayuri is in charge of the dancing, so she gets to go up on stage and dance all night!

Sayaka and I kicked back and ate free kakigori (think snow cone in a cup), drank free beer, and watched everyone have a ton of fun!

Some old man came to me and pretty much forced me to go down and dance and Sayaka joined me. While he escorted us he said I should give a speech and started laughing and whisked away! Uh oh...

Before we even made a complete circle, the man was back, to grab my arm and take me to a microphone! What!?!?! Was he serious?!?!? I watched the probably 100 or so people at this festival and then the music stopped and all eyes were up on the stage area. The man gave an intro in Japanese, gave me the mic and said in his best english "For Los Angeles!". Wait, how did he know I was from near there?!?

I can't remember what I said, but everyone clapped and cheered at my horrid Japanese speech. After that, I was asked to give a speech in English too! All I know is, Sayaka said my Japanese speech was MUCH better. Oh god...

After my speech, the village elders (for lack of a better term) scurried to me to give me some of their sake they had ( presented in a white bag, kinda like how people brown bag it back home). They even had some appetizers from their plates that they shared with me. LUCKY!

Then it came time for the games! We had to pass out fans, with numbers on them. They would draw numbers, and whoever's number was called, would win a prize. Prizes ranged from Nintendo DSs, air conditioners, down to a 24 pack of soda or Pocari Sweat! I was asked to help hand out flyers, since I was a friend of Sayuri's and when I grabbed a handful of fans, I literally had about 80% of the people there form a line in front of ME, when there were at LEAST 9 other people passing out fans! I had people screaming "Tommy-chan!" with their hands out stretched to get a fan from me. Now I know what a celebrity feels like!

After the drawing and all of the prizes were handed out, it was time to clean up and start the nomikai (drinking party!!!)!!!

All of the young people involved, met up after changing into some regular clothes, at a huge room near where the festival was held, and we had ourselves a fine nomikai! Sayuri, Sayaka, and I made a trip to the conbini to buy some more alcohol, and food for me (since I can't eat the fish!). When we arrived, there were maybe, 16 people there. We did our initial compai (cheers) and started eating and drinking. This was pretty much all in Japanese, and if there was any troubles, Sayaka became a translator. I hade someone (Hyde-kun) show me some Japanese jokes, that I only laughed at one. I made a fool out of myself with some chocolate covered strawberry candy, that made everyone laugh (Oh Pink! You had to be there...)and we made initial plans for our NINIKU TOUR! (Garlic Tour!). Hyde went to somewhere in the Gifu prefecture, that has garlic everything on their menu, and I am a HUGE fan of garlic (ask Sayaka, haha...).

This party started around 10PM or so, where I even got a call from my mom near the beginning (I was still sober!), and it ended around, hell I don't know! All I know is I couldn't stay awake much longer, and the last time I saw the clock, it was 5:50AM! Someone woke us up at 7AM to start cleaning the mess, and that took around 20 minutes or so! Afterwards, we said our goodbyes and we were off on our own ways!

Sayuri drove Sayaka and I to the station again, and we made our long sleepy train ride back to Shin-Moriyama station, where we walked back to our apartment. I seriously think we slept about 14 hours after that, but it was much needed after such a great day (2 days?)!

Sayaka "dancing" by herself!

Sayaka and I waiting for the train to the village!

Getting the special stash of sake from the village elders!

The only thing better than kakigori, is FREE kakigori!

Haha! Sayuri's mom wanted to take a pic with me!