When Brett came to Japan, he chose a new name.
He thought it'd be fun, just like a Nintendo game.
He called himself Link, to impress all the hoes,
Then went to the store, to buy some new clothes.
Things were different here, there was no doubt at all.
He was tired of being called, skinny and small.
So he started to eat, much much more food,
And others would join him, while he bathed in the nude.
The thing about Link, which most of us know,
He's a little bit off, he's not one with the flow.
So what has Link learned, in all his time here?
How to live on his own, and drink lots of beer.
- Keith
Before Kansai Invasion, I went to Anton's with Keith and Tongxin, and met up with Billy and Vincent there... Tongxin thought it would be fun if we all wrote anonymous letters to each other (written in advance), saying, well, whatever we wanted... her original idea was to have it kinda sentimental, since she was going to be leaving Japan and probably wouldn't see us all together for a long time. And Keith wrote me a poem!
That night (Wednesday) was fun, we played a game kinda like Broken Telephone mixed with pictionary. One person would write a caption, then the next person would draw the picture of it, and hide the caption, next person would write a new caption, cover the picture, and so on...
Conan the Barbarian does indeed protect his Jam Jars.
More on Kansai Invasion to come... including all nighter at JJs, Universal Studios Japan, Party at Anton's, and CJP invasion of the Monkey Park! But I'm a little tired, and still have to write my weekly report for last week, and my resume, and study for Japanese, and make second dinner, and finish cleaning my room, and eventually get to bed.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
If Mom and Dad Cared About Me at All, They'd Buy Me Some Infra-Red Nighttime Vision Goggles
On Saturday I went with Anton and Rie to Anton's company's president's BBQ. Since I'm trying to keep this short, I'll only write the important points.
The President had to come fetch us when we got lost in his neighbourhood.
He wore a dirty straw hat and rubber boots.
There was basically a jungle in his backyard.
That's pretty much it, we had fried steak, and fried veggies, and BBQ banana. Some of Anton's other coworkers were there too, so we talked to them. And Anton and I went exploring/photographing.
Sunday involved a trip to Spa World, feeding Dr. Fish, and getting a wedgie.
Spa World - A resort dedicated to what most North Americans would see as an act of personal hygiene. There's 2 main bathing floors, one with an Asian theme, one with a Europe theme, one per gender and they switch every month. And there's a dozen rooms with different baths, showers, saunas, etc.
The Asian theme had rooms for Egypt, Japan, Persia, India, etc... Some baths were freezing cold, others super hot, some with jets in them, some outside, and all are full of naked Japanese men.
Interesting points: One sauna had a bowl of salt in the middle, you are supposed to take some salt and rub it all over your body. I don't get it. There's also a decent water park (swim trunks required) on the top floor with two decent water slides. We were nearly out of time so we didn't go on, and the water slides are an extra 300Y per ride anyway.
There is also a part of Spa World dedicated to Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish involves taking off your socks, rolling up your pants, and sticking your feet in a pool of fish-filled water. Then the fish come and nibble at your skin, eating away all the dirt/germs/dead skin. My feet musta been very dirty, they really liked me! I wonder if my feet smelled fishy after... pictures on my webalbum.
We attempted to find a gaijin hangout near Tennoji called Tin's Hall, famous for its hamburgers apparently, and after 20 min of walking we did manage to locate it. Oddly enough we found one of Anton's coworkers on his cell outside the place... small world. Then we found out there was a charity party, which meant 1000Y cover, and we were a little short on cash. So we went to Denny's instead.
The President had to come fetch us when we got lost in his neighbourhood.
He wore a dirty straw hat and rubber boots.
There was basically a jungle in his backyard.
That's pretty much it, we had fried steak, and fried veggies, and BBQ banana. Some of Anton's other coworkers were there too, so we talked to them. And Anton and I went exploring/photographing.
Sunday involved a trip to Spa World, feeding Dr. Fish, and getting a wedgie.
Spa World - A resort dedicated to what most North Americans would see as an act of personal hygiene. There's 2 main bathing floors, one with an Asian theme, one with a Europe theme, one per gender and they switch every month. And there's a dozen rooms with different baths, showers, saunas, etc.
The Asian theme had rooms for Egypt, Japan, Persia, India, etc... Some baths were freezing cold, others super hot, some with jets in them, some outside, and all are full of naked Japanese men.
Interesting points: One sauna had a bowl of salt in the middle, you are supposed to take some salt and rub it all over your body. I don't get it. There's also a decent water park (swim trunks required) on the top floor with two decent water slides. We were nearly out of time so we didn't go on, and the water slides are an extra 300Y per ride anyway.
There is also a part of Spa World dedicated to Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish involves taking off your socks, rolling up your pants, and sticking your feet in a pool of fish-filled water. Then the fish come and nibble at your skin, eating away all the dirt/germs/dead skin. My feet musta been very dirty, they really liked me! I wonder if my feet smelled fishy after... pictures on my webalbum.
We attempted to find a gaijin hangout near Tennoji called Tin's Hall, famous for its hamburgers apparently, and after 20 min of walking we did manage to locate it. Oddly enough we found one of Anton's coworkers on his cell outside the place... small world. Then we found out there was a charity party, which meant 1000Y cover, and we were a little short on cash. So we went to Denny's instead.
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Even If Lives DID Hang in the Balance, It Would Depend on Whose They Were!
Last weekend I went to Rie’s (Anton’s Friend) University, the Osaka University for the Arts, for the school’s festival. And I know what you’re thinking… ("A festival run by Fine Arts Students?! Uh oh!") and you’d be correct. So after a 2 hour journey we arrive at the festival in time to get harassed by food vendors!
Oh, I should mention "we" being myself, Anton, and Rie of course, but also Boon-hau, Philo (one of Anton’s coworkers) and her parents.
Actually, half the festival seemed to be made up of food vendors. Everything from hot dogs to yakisoba to bubble tea, and more. Other vendors too, selling used clothes/cds, some selling items that they had crafted themselves.
It was rather interesting, many of the students were dressed up. Besides the numerous male students dressed as schoolgirls or in Chinese style dresses, there was a girl with eggs on her head, an cardboard samurai, a guy dressed up in a chicken costume meant for a 6 year old, and Darth Vader advertising donuts.
The first show we saw was the martial arts performance. They started off with a little skit about guys possessed by evil magical pantyhose they wore on their heads, and the good guys had to use their karate skillz to exorcise the stockings. Then each group performed a routine, some involving demonstrations of throws, or breaking boards (two good ones), and one that appeared to be dancing with sticks.
Next we went to a taiko drum/dance performance which was outdoors on the main stage. They were both very good. All the guy performers had multicolored hair, and some had facepaint, which is expected for arts students. At the very last move of the dancing, the guy at the front in the very center of the stage split his pants, quite visibly, right down the middle! Talent… you couldn’t have planned that better. Then our bad karma earned by laughing at/with the guy resulted in us being dragged onstage (not just us, lots of people) to dance with them ><. Of our group, only Boon-hau showed any signs of coordination. It was amusing.
Next were some ninja-themed stage performances. They probably would have been more entertaining if I had been able to understand the plot, but what kenya do? Besides learn Japanese of course (I’m workin on it!!!)
Wow, that bird’s a good fisherman! The cormorant I’m watching just caught a 4 inch long fish and is trying to force it down it’s throat without dropping it… Mine! Mine! I’m sitting next to the river downtown writing this, it’s a very nice spot for just hanging out. But maybe for not much longer, it’s getting rather cool.
Didn’t do much this weekend, went to the gym all three days, studied, played vid games with a friend back home, and started writing my resume and cover letters, yay! Gotta start applying for summer jobs soon.
There’s also a girl that lives a few houses down from my dorm (no, this story is not going where you think it is…). She’s about 8 years old and she has her own unicycle! I see her practicing on my way back from the grocery store occasionally… I don’t think I could ever ride one of those, too many directions to fall in.
Officially half done my internship now. I’ve been here 161 days! And 5 months, or 146 days to go till I’m back in Canada. I hear planning is underway on my welcome home party, there’s gonna be ducks, clowns and balloon animals! I can’t wait!
Oh, I should mention "we" being myself, Anton, and Rie of course, but also Boon-hau, Philo (one of Anton’s coworkers) and her parents.
Actually, half the festival seemed to be made up of food vendors. Everything from hot dogs to yakisoba to bubble tea, and more. Other vendors too, selling used clothes/cds, some selling items that they had crafted themselves.
It was rather interesting, many of the students were dressed up. Besides the numerous male students dressed as schoolgirls or in Chinese style dresses, there was a girl with eggs on her head, an cardboard samurai, a guy dressed up in a chicken costume meant for a 6 year old, and Darth Vader advertising donuts.
The first show we saw was the martial arts performance. They started off with a little skit about guys possessed by evil magical pantyhose they wore on their heads, and the good guys had to use their karate skillz to exorcise the stockings. Then each group performed a routine, some involving demonstrations of throws, or breaking boards (two good ones), and one that appeared to be dancing with sticks.
Next we went to a taiko drum/dance performance which was outdoors on the main stage. They were both very good. All the guy performers had multicolored hair, and some had facepaint, which is expected for arts students. At the very last move of the dancing, the guy at the front in the very center of the stage split his pants, quite visibly, right down the middle! Talent… you couldn’t have planned that better. Then our bad karma earned by laughing at/with the guy resulted in us being dragged onstage (not just us, lots of people) to dance with them ><. Of our group, only Boon-hau showed any signs of coordination. It was amusing.
Next were some ninja-themed stage performances. They probably would have been more entertaining if I had been able to understand the plot, but what kenya do? Besides learn Japanese of course (I’m workin on it!!!)
Wow, that bird’s a good fisherman! The cormorant I’m watching just caught a 4 inch long fish and is trying to force it down it’s throat without dropping it… Mine! Mine! I’m sitting next to the river downtown writing this, it’s a very nice spot for just hanging out. But maybe for not much longer, it’s getting rather cool.
Didn’t do much this weekend, went to the gym all three days, studied, played vid games with a friend back home, and started writing my resume and cover letters, yay! Gotta start applying for summer jobs soon.
There’s also a girl that lives a few houses down from my dorm (no, this story is not going where you think it is…). She’s about 8 years old and she has her own unicycle! I see her practicing on my way back from the grocery store occasionally… I don’t think I could ever ride one of those, too many directions to fall in.
Officially half done my internship now. I’ve been here 161 days! And 5 months, or 146 days to go till I’m back in Canada. I hear planning is underway on my welcome home party, there’s gonna be ducks, clowns and balloon animals! I can’t wait!
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