Weekend in Tokyo

So, of course, my lazy ass didn't finish my story about my weekend out with my Japanese friend Chihiro. We went out for a stroll in Ueno Park on the way to the National museum and then I went shopping with her in Ginza. It was a great day, although I was so tired I had to bail out on other plans I'd made with other people for the rest of the weekend. First I met her at Korakuen Station, which is right next to the Tokyo Dome area and then we got a cab to Ueno Park (my first cab ride in Japan, made much easier by riding with a native speaker).

Once there we strolled around the park until reaching the Tokyo National Museum. It was a great museum that featured many Japanese scrolls, sculptures and old Japanese swords, but I noticed when we got to the sword section that familiar loud, American accent of annoying tourists that turned out to be (obviously) military guys with high and tight haircuts. One in particular kept eyeing me and when I looked over at him, he increased his voice as if trying to get my attention- he did, annoyingly enough. So I lingered a little longer around the katanas until he and his friends got way ahead of us. Sigh...

But to my glee the next section featured traditional wardrobes of the Japanese Ainu, which I assume are similar people to the Native American Alaskan peoples (do we still call them Eskimos?), but it wasn't the clothes that caught my attention as much as the sign revealing that the traditional performances "must have been fabulous." WHAT? Again it said "their performance must have been fabulous"- I'm sorry but when I read that my inner gay voice goes NUTS! Maybe the word fabulous has been forever sullied by me being the ultimate fag hag, but come ON! Okay, I guess you had to be there...

Then she took me to this famous Thai restaurant originally based in Singapore called the Coca restaurant:

http://www.wonderland.to/pc/english/coca_ueno.html

It was great food and I loved the decor.

Then we went shopping at this uppity mall called Printemps, so I could buy some gaijin-friendly dance clothes as I've started going to a Ballet class at the gym during the week. BUT, of course, their large was like America's petite and I had to squeeze my fat ass into everything- DAMMIT! I finally found something that didn't squeal in terror as I out my fleshy legs into it and bought some items fast and furiously.

Places I want to go next:

http://www.ninjaakasaka.com/

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/07/11/the-lock-up-prison-restaurant-at-shibuya/

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+44300

Also, my friend Kimie is visiting this weekend with her mom from America, so hopefully I'll have some more pictures to post.

OH! PLEASE post comments- it gives the will to carry on...

I'm sorry, but I don't care what kind of anger management issues Christian Bale has because he's still one of the most beautiful fuckers alive! And a great actor who makes unique, albeit sometimes weird, choices with his movies...



I love Welshmen (don't be fooled by the assumption he's English , Bale was born in Wales)...

Anyway, yet another week of teaching English but this week was "the Easter lesson" (sounds like an obscure 1980's play you'd see your "promising young actor" friend in off-off-off Broadway) and so I tried to add some craftiness to my classes and so far it's worked pretty well. So far I've tried a four-leaf clover for St Patrick's Day, a Valentine's Day heart and this week was a color, cut and paste chick that hasn't destroyed my classroom TOO badly so far.

Just an aside that I have a little boy in one of my classes that interjects once and a while with shouts of "Yes we can!" during lulls in my class and I have mostly ignored them in an attempt to keep the class focused but this week I finally turned to him and and asked "Obama?" Then the WHOLE class started laughing hysterically like I said poop or butt or something- so weird! THEN- the WHOLE class of six kids start chanting "Yes we can!" TOGETHER! I shit you not- crazy... I gotta get my ass to Obama City soon.

So I haven't really ranted about my douchebag neighbor too much on this blog, but I know a few of you know my situation with him, mostly through Facebook status rants: basically, he's loud. In an I'm-an-obnoxious-college-boy kind of way and it wouldn't be SO bad if it were limited to the weekends, but he's loud even during the week at 3 or 4 am? Seriously, dude? WTF? I'm also distressed by the fact that the walls in my LeoPalace apartment complex are very thin, but it still doesn't stop the annoyance of neighbor's shrill, schoolgirl-like laugh that follows with a kind of nyuck nyucking right afterwards. YES! I have been listening in somewhat and have found he's quite the video game and guitar playing dipshit who always seems to be home. This is technically the off season for school, but should end soon (by the end of March, I think), so I'm hoping he either has a job lined up or at least starts to leave the house once and a while. I finally saw him last weekend with his fat friend and he matched exactly what I imagined him to be: a skinny, dork with a goofy, but kind of cute face- who promptly laughed his nyuck nyuck right after I walked past him- douchebag!

This leads me to another reality of Japan for me so far: dating. My JET (Japanese English Teacher) co-worker thinks I should date a Japanese guy, but I have since fallen in love with someone new named Gym. Yep, he's faithful, reliable, clean, and has helped me lose a few pounds since coming to Japan- almost 10 kgs (20 lbs), in fact, in the three months since I've moved here. Don't worry, I don't have an eating disorder, quite the contrary, but I've become quite the gym rat and ALL the trainers know me, which is hilarious! I think the reason I like this gym is that the trainers help you train as part of their job (and not with extra money paid to them for their special attention), the same people teach a lot of the cool classes, and the these classes fucking ROCK! My membership includes classes like ballet (more on that later), hip hop (fucking HILARIOUSLY fun) and a Tae Bo-ish class called Fight Do as well as Hula, Flamenco, and Boot Camp-type shit you'd pay extra for in the states. I LOVE my new boyfriend!

One other piece of news: I finally got a katakana stamp last weekend when I met up with my friend Chihiro (maybe I mentioned her: she and her husband Tomohiro helped me navigate the vast Tokyo metro when I first got here and have since become great people to know for going out and exploring Tokyo). I have another separate post for that, but I wanted to show you pictures of my stamp, an owl, OF COURSE!

Here's the breakdown:









If you're wondering what the Hell it says or how to read it, start from the the top right down and then top left down and it reads: Ro-ma-n-su, my last name- well, kind of- the Japanese LOVE adding vowel sounds, so there's a "u" at the end, but not really pronounced. Voila!

ANOTHER hilarious Japanese ad- this time for pachinko:

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...

No, I'm not high or on LSD, but I AM pissed that my Japanese reading ability still sucks. Basically, I am living in the apartment of the teacher before me named Marin. She was great from what I hear and was very sweet to leave a lot of stuff here for me as I would have had to buy it all when I moved here. Above the kitchen sink is a small cabinet with spices she bought and many that I have since tried. So one of the bottles had a label that said in English "mint, parsley, thyme" and I was excited to add it to my pasta one night. It was liquidy and easy to spread in with my sauce. Once I started eating an obnoxiously clean taste rose in my mouth- WTF?! SOAP! Marin had put her mint, parsley, thyme dish soap in with the spices before she left. Yay pasta bubbles!

In a related non-Japanese reading story I also dyed my hair for the first time since moving here and let me just say that blond for the Japanese is Village of the Damned hair for Suzanne. It will fucking blind you! I am now speaking from experience...