Bar Tour101 / Tony`s Birthday

Once again flying in the face of chronology, i bring you a recent event while many others wait in the wings. The Osaka Bar Tour hit Umeda this past weekend and it was also in honour of Tony`s birthday that Ulala and i actually ventured out of our couples coma to see the world at night once more. Overall a good night, cut a bit short by Ulala not feeling well (though probably for the best). We also met a couple new people while running around collecting stamps at various bars for the "treasure hunt," one of whom is Clemens (in the photos below). AND we got stuck in the pouring rain for the early part of the night, adding to the sense of adventure.... and wetness. Meh.



Clemens and i downing a whiskey and coke faster than ought be done. It was a race after all...

As a bonus i got to see the crew at Captain Kangaroo for the first time in way too long:



Two of many funny signs seen during the evening:

I don`t know about you but i`m hungry for some cubes, yo.


And nothing says "cut loose and party hard" like V.D.!

Nagoya Castle

While in Nagoya we also got a chance to see the castle. Nagoya-Jo ("Nagoya Castle") is much like that of Osaka - razed in wartime and rebuilt as a museum. The exhibits of Nagoya history and samurai armor and weaponry were interesting, but the feature draw of Nagoya-Jo are the "Shachihoko,"usually translated as "golden dolphins" though they look nothing like dolphins seeing as how dolphins have no scales. My electronic dictionary has a more accurate translation: A fabled fish with a lion-like head, dragon-like sharp scales along the back and an arched tail that points skyward. They sit in pairs on castle rooftops throughout the Land of the Rising Sun. I have yet to figure out why Nagoya`s are considered so special. The castle also has lots of good photo ops and a beautiful view of Nagoya city.

`Red Hair Anne` strikes again

So on Saturday we woke up nice and early and took the Kintetsu train (about two hours) and arrived in Nagoya where we met Noriko, Ulala`s cousin who recently married and moved there. While waiting we saw a giant billboard in the lobby of the shopping center where we were meeting Noriko. It was an add for an "Anne of Green Gables Fair"!! WTF?! They LOVE "Red Hair Anne" here in Japan. To the point of absurdity. You may recall the previous post on this blog about the Love Hotel that bears her name (what you bare inside is up to you, buddy). Up on the top floor of the department store we found a massive gift shop of Anne goods and Canadian Food Fair!! Sweet! I bought a piece of carrot cake (which was delicious and covered with cream cheese icing- just like home!) and we got some maple sweets. There was a big exhibit all about Anne`s life, L.M. Montgomery`s life and the life of the woman who originally translated Anne in to Japanese (who became something of a national hero). There were pictures of East Coast Canada and models of Green Gables. Air Canada even had a table! At the end you could put on the ubiquitous red hair pigtails wig and hat and have your photo taken (see below). Good times.

Back Again

Not that i really went anywhere... It`s just been a while since i posted. I`d like to claim that i was really busy or that i was called away on important (and top secret) business but that`s lies. I was just lazy. The heat has a lot to do with that but actually i`ve been faring better this year in the Japanese summer than in previous years. It seems that this year Ulala is the one suffering through heat exhaustion and general malaise. No, it`s not that bad. My mother tells me that my last post worried her. Of course, worrying is one of the primary functions of motherhood, but upon re-reading the post (something i try very hard to rarely do) it did seem a bit glum. In fact i am in a really good state. I don`t have enough fingers and toes to count all my blessings but the big ones are: a loving family, a loving fiancee, great friends, a good job that i enjoy with a decent paycheck, relatively good health, a nice apartment, and an intelligent mind with which to enjoy it all. Now that i`ve said that i`ll likely get hit by a bus or some such thing but *shrug*, that`s tomorrow and today is great.

Moving on, Ulala went to Nagoya this past weekend, which was a long weekend here in Japan. Monday was "Umi No Hi," which is variously translated as "Ocean Day" or "Marine Day" and has little to no significant cultural importance other than providing a much needed long weekend in July. Ulala had a wedding to attend (to which i was not invited! - another strange cultural difference: here in Japan you don`t bring dates to weddings unless they are specifically invited. weird.)

We took the train up on Saturday morning and then came back late on Monday night. Overall we had a good weekend in Japan`s third largest city. Saw some sights, ate some eel. I`ll let the pictures do the talking.

this thing is in the center of town and looks like it`s just waiting for an action movie bad guy to fall on it, impaled on his comeupins.

this dude is the public transport mascot. he`s a "Shachihoko" or something like that - the golden fish on the tops of the Japanese castles.

Nagoya Tower

bridge in central park



since when did warning signs start using Ebonics?

in case of... be prepared



one of the best things about Nagoya is the all day breakfast you can get at lots of little cafes. sweet.

the eel. Noriko, Ulala`s cousin, was a wonderful host and took us to this super famous eel restaurant where we had to wait for over an hour in line but it was worth it. I`m not normally a big fan of eel but summer is the season and this was apparently "the place" and i have to admit that it was fantastic! The servings are nice and large as well.

the view from our hotel room. it was a cheap but new (and ridiculously clean) business hotel.
I would recommend it to anyone on a budget.

From where i sit

I can see the mountains in the distance, and the sea of buildings that stretches from here to there. I can see the clouds and i can only assume that the clouds can see me. We all paused to watch a helicopter roar past . What bliss it is to be able to travel in three dimensions.

Ulala is slightly mad at me. Or was. Maybe she isn`t any more but i won`t know until she gets home from work. I am already home from work because there were only two lessons available today. These two unfortunate facts about my current reality stress me out far more than they probably should. Ulala will almost surely be fine by the time she gets home (our dispute was miniscule and inane and - of course - my fault) and lesson numbers go up and down like my own personal stock market (but it`s the not-knowing that largely causes the stress).

So this afternoon i will see Michelle (who is just ending a brief but awesome visit on her way back from Bali) off at the airport bus and then i will plan lessons, practice mixing (DJing - not tending bar), and most likely do housework and whatever else i can do to distract myself from worry (including blogging). I need a switch somewhere that disconnects the stress circuit in my brain and ceases these constant fantasies of personal terror that plague my idle mind. Unnecessary? Yes. Melodramatic? Definitely. So why the hell does my brain do it? Meh.

I started a new project the other day. As if i don`t have enough hobbies already. It has already fallen by the wayside. It was an idea that i can`t remember why i had. The plan was that for the month of June i would take pictures - one a day - of whatever and glue them in a book. Underneath them i would write a line or two that impressed me from a song. This project lasted exactly two days. On the 3rd day i looked at the photos (one of Ulala`s feet while she was sleeping and one of an underground walkway here in Osaka that has crazy lighting) and i looked at the song lyrics underneath and realized that these things had no connection, nothing to join them but they paper they were on. I`m not really sure if my goal was art or journalistic or a need for creative outlet or what. Perhaps it was just some weird arts and crafts flashback from childhood, when making things didn`t need a point. Now i have this mostly empty notebook with two pictures and a couple of song lyrics in it and the really weird thing is that I don`t want to throw it out! I have somehow become attached to this misguided, not-quite-creative brain-burp. All the more reason to toss it.

Also, while wandering around downtown yesterday with the girls we came across this punk-puppy. Now i have a whole new way to define the word awesome.

Guinness The Large

Well it`s been a busy month and continues to be so. Alas, i find little time to post on the blog. Meh. Michelle is visiting for a couple of days on her way to and from Bali, i have a DJ gig coming up on June 7th at Zerro with fellow Canadian Gerry Belanger, owner and operator of Nice and Smooth records (check out "Solazul" if you can - they`re awesome), and work is keeping me happily busy with lessons and projects and a crazy swiss-cheese schedule ( i make use of my vast amounts of train riding time to read the latest Chuck Klosterman book or study Japanese). You`ll hear no complaints from me. Life is good. =)

So for now i`ll just post these pictures of Guinness, my family`s puppy. I`ve put a couple pics from his first week at home (in January) and then more current pics sent to me by mom. He`s only a few months old but look how much he`s grown in that time!!!! Insane!!! He`s like one of those "just-add-water" creatures! And he just keeps growing! Look for "The Dog That Ate Toronto" in theatres in the future...

Back Ho`z in my `Hood

These two Hoes (sans pimp) have been busy at work on the next block making a helluva racket. I have named them Myrtle and Skeezy Jane. They`re off work for a few days for Golden Week thankfully. Meh. When whatever is planned for the space starts going up i figure the noise will only get worse. But i have more or less gotten used to the constant sound of construction here in our little busy corner of urban Japan. It never stops here. At any time i can see a minimum of half a dozen cranes from any side of this building. Amazing.
Haven`t blogged in a while since i haven`t been feeling very good (physically, that is) and have been busy working as well. More to blog later this month, no doubt. =)