Are You Awake?

Shout it out loud (in Japanese!!)

2012-01-26T23:39:00.000+09:00

When I first came to Japan many moons ago, I couldn't speak a word of Japanese to save my life, let alone tell you that I like big butts and I cannot lie...

Somehow along the way I picked up a word here or there and ploughed on through conversation after conversation, mistake after mistake. I've never properly studied the language but in my trade as an English teacher I don't have to be fluent. But I know enough to get by and I figured if my parents picked up English the same way (and has served them well, 28 years and counting) then who am I to be a disciple of another school of learning?

The last month has somehow found me argue and plead for important matters: matters concerning myself, my heart and professional training. I usually let my lawyer do the arguing and pleading for me so I was not prepared to do so much arguing and pleading in just a month. It would've been nice to have my lawyer on hand but since I had to confront matters 5 different times in a month I guess I saved a bit of money.

Though even if my lawyer was on hand, I doubt he would've done much with the language barrier: I can tell you why...how...whether...actually I can't tell you much about anything in Japanese. I usually do that when I'm drunk and that's when the words flow. But somehow I found myself having to speak my mind and heart.

Coherently.

Convincingly.

And in Japanese.

Fancy that.

I dunno whether I achieved what I wanted but I did my bit and that's all I could do. The one clear good thing to come out of this is that when push comes to shove I can string a bit of Japanese together to hopefully change something I truly believe in rather than, say, hide behind my lawyer who's sick of dealing with me. Damn that man.

And for the record: 僕は大きいお尻が好き、嘘はつないよ．

Music In My Head: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Everybody's On the Run

Level upping AKB48

2012-01-03T02:05:00.000+09:00

First the girls of AKB48, Japan's most popular girl group, run around in their underwear:

Then they run around selling underwear - (un)fortunately not their own:

And then one of their former members runs around and does porn:

Sex sells and it's hard to take that out of the pop music that you're trying to sell especially when you have a tonne of cute and young girls prancing on stage to an even larger number of dudes who love nothing better than sexy cute and young girls. As a dude myself I can see where they are coming from.

One wonders how far the line will go with sex and music mixing together. In Hong Kong though it seems that sex IS already the next level up for AKB48.

2012-01-02T01:15:00.000+09:00

So...that 2011 ey?

For good or bad 2011 was a year that I'll never forget: there were the earthquakes, turning 30 and hanging out with friends that never seemed quite enough.

Through it all one thing I missed all year was the blogging. Even before the blip in blog posts in 2011 I always knew that one day I'd lose interest and cast it aside like an unwanted toy. Apparently that's due to my blood type personality (B) so that's how I am. Still, I've been writing away at this blog for over six years now and even for me that's hard to simply cast aside. But with mundanity slowly creeping in by the day the blog seems kinda redundant.

I've noticed that my Facebook statuses have taken the place of blogging. Who whuddathunk it that a few simple sentences would suffice my need to let the world know about what I think? Clearly a few simple sentences cannot properly convey the complexities that is yours truly.

So that was my 2011. Here's to more complex and brain wracking blog posts in 2012.

Music In My Head: Ash - A Life Less Ordinary

ATBE: Perspective

2011-12-08T22:46:00.000+09:00

Mrs Au-Yeung: Remember to take your medication after you eat.

Me: I'm taking it now.

Mrs Au-Yeung: What?! You know taking medication on an empty stomach is bad for you.

Me: Uh...I lived through one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history. I don't think taking medication on an empty stomach is going to be a problem.

Or anything else for that matter...

Music In My Head: Kasabian - Days are Forgotten

Say hello to good times

2011-11-06T13:13:00.000+09:00

I,
I always believed in futures.
I hope for better in November.

"Futures" by Jimmy Eat World.

Welcome Novemeber, my favourite month of the year.

November is an awesome time of year. I think this fascination for Novemeber stems from the 6 Novembers that I had during university, where I would slave away on assignments and exams. However, with the end of the school year in sight, the cool late night breezes making the cram sessions enjoyable. And with the weather and the hem lines (ahem) going up in tandem, Novemeber always holds a special place in my heart.

Since this will be my fourth cold November, I should stop banging on about how I'm not sure whether a cold November will take away from the joy of the month that originally stemmed from its warm change. All I can provide is anecdotal evidence and current evidence on hand suggests that a cold November, as compared to a warm one, does not inhibit the fun and the joys that is available during those 30 days.

We all love sequels so this year brings the sister coming to Japan again. Last year's installment did not bring upon (much) destruction and mayhem as was expected and therefore can be qualified a success. As such, this year's installment is bigger (and better?) with the highly touted appearance of Mrs Au-Yeung. What mayhem and destruction will these 2 bring to my Japanese neck of the woods?

There's also the small matter of another wedding in Hong Kong. With this being the second wedding in a row that's to be held round November (the actual date is December 2nd but who's counting these things?) I guess I'm not the only person to think that November is an apt time to enjoy life. And after a particularly rough last couple of months, enjoying life is something that's much required and wanted.

Music In My Head: Noel Gallagher - If I Had a Gun

Broken Heart

2011-10-02T20:59:00.000+09:00

It's been a while.

The hit list

2011-09-15T23:47:00.004+09:00

Of late, I've been reading "Hit Man" by Lawerence Block - how I got to reading it is another blog post in itself, that is if I don't get too lazy to write it. Originally written as separate stories, in its collected form "Hit Man" reads like an episodic account of a hit man taking out his targets. There is no fuss to it: the main character just goes about bumping off targets one by one and life goes on.

In the past month my life has been of a similar nature: no I have not become a full time killer even though I'm sure it pays better and I don't have to take so much crap from kids. No, my life of late has consisted of farewelling friends in a manner seeming if I had a list with names to go through.

Over the course of being a part of the JET Programme I've been lucky to meet a lot of people from all parts of the world. I've been even blessed that these kind folks have put up with me and become wonderful friends of mine. This is one of the main attractions of the JET Programme: the opportunity to meet people from so many different countries. What no one tells you though is that one day you'll have to say goodbye to all these wonderful folks as they head back to where they came from. I guess that's the pros and cons which everything is bound to have.

So I found myself spending most of my summer saying goodbye to people. I dunno which is harder: being the one who says goodbye and stays behind or saying goodbye and hoping that all loose ends got tied up. Regardless of which, I witnessed people doing the farewell and did the farewelling myself and it's never a good thing for me. It's such a physically and emotionally draining experience that you wonder why you cared about people to begin with. But what are your options? Go through life protecting yourself by not caring about anybody?

Some went home to faraway places. Others went not so far. One thing that was shared between all was the fact that I never said "Let's keep in touch". I hate that line. I was asked to go out all night once in a previous life of mine and I said "I'll see" and I got called out for it. It seems "I'll see" basically means "No". I studied semantics and pragmatics and I guess there's some reasoning behind how "I'll see" means "No". In the same way, saying "let's keep in touch" just means it won't ever happen. I've been fortunate that all those dear to me have felt like no time has past whenever I've met up with them after X amount of time. It shouldn't require actual conscious effort to keep in touch. It just happens.

Nor do I need or do that "How are you?" or "So what's been happening?" business, over and over and over again. I trust that the friendships I have gained are strong enough that the lack of superficial chitchat will make things remain fine. In all honesty I'm not sure how many of these fine folks I'll see again: really, I may have seen some of these people for the last time, just as if I was they were really the targets of a hit. We live in the global village, of instant communication and all that jazz but really, we still don't get to see our loved ones as often as we want. And that still sucks. But whenever that happens, it will be worth the wait whenever we meet next.

All this farewelling peaked when I found myself wandering between Shinagawa and Shinbanba. It was nice to be walking in the early hours of the morning in a part of Tokyo that I knew nothing about except that a lot of fancy cars bear Shinagawa number plates. It also taught me to properly check the distances between train stations. But it was nice to be discovering Tokyo just like I did when I first arrived in Japan. Except that now I don't have to carry around my electronic dictionary, my phrase book and map(s) and instead, I have some memories of some mighty fine folk to add colour to an already colourful Japan.

Music In My Head: Guillemots - Train to Brazil

Strange news from another star

2011-07-28T09:55:00.001+09:00

It does feel like I've been living on another star with July being filled with farewells, a wedding, good news from people about plot developments in their own personal dramas...

...It's been a strange July, one which peaked with me spending the night on a suspiciously unsanitised hospital floor whilst I waited for the drip in a grown man in adult nappies to finish.

The other side of 30

2011-06-30T00:45:00.002+09:00

This was me turning 30 the other day.

Was turning 30 meant to be a big deal? I dunno. But I think it became a big deal when I found out my friend got a Louis Vutton duffel bag from his wife when he turned 30 last year. My sister wasn't having any of that: "I'm not your wife!". It was worth a try, I guess. With the bar set I decided to spend the whole month celebrating my birthday: or more accurately, counting down the weekends I had left in my 20s.

I'm not sad about leaving my 20s. I'm just confused about how I'm supposed to feel: all I know about life is from the world of sports and in the world of sports you're on the wrong side of 30 when you turn...um 30. The pace that you've built your career around starts to desert you. The injuries that were a stranger start to become a long term companion. You're included in trade deals because teams are seeking salary cap relief. You go to play for an inferior league for one final fat pay check (with your other choice being bounced around from team to team as you continue to play beyond your used by date or being a pay as you play deal because who really trusts 30+ year olds. Sure there have been examples of players still doing it well post 30s: Ryan Giggs, Steve Nash, Andre Agassi. But these are clearly the exception to the majority that consists of legends like The Original Ronaldo, Shaq and Pete Sampras amongst others. And really, we know the former group are/were involved in some dark magic that has helped their careers past 30. I'm not up for that: that shit can turn real.

I'm not sure how all that will translate to my life given that I've never had pace nor do I mind being a backup player in a team. We shall see. Though if there is anything else that I know from sport is that class never leaves you regardless of the fastest you can manage is a hobble down the sidelines when you once left the chasing defenders for dead. It's a reassuring thought.

Though not as reassuring as having a Louis Vutton duffel bag by your side.

29
28
27
26
25

Music In My Head: Asobi Sekusu - Lions and Tigers

I really didn't buy these

2011-06-23T00:09:00.000+09:00

It's great to get birthday presents.

It's even better when they're from a 5 year old who got their dad to buy the present (And bonus points for the present not being an infectious disease).

What tops it all off though is that the present are photos of the 5 year old's beloved AKB48 and which said 5 year old thought you should have. I'm not sure if the 5 year old in question got photos herself but if she didn't it's a very generous present: to forgo something you want so you can give it to someone else.

And bonus points for one of the photos being of Takahashi Minami, one of the AKB$8 girls that you don't mind. Ahem.

ATBE: Escape from Iwaki

2011-06-15T23:40:00.000+09:00

My not so usual Saturday morning ATBE was followed by a Saturday evening that I wouldn't want happen again. A night out where I throw up 5 times and ruin my favourite Fred Perry polo shirt? I can take that. Having to watch every single minute of a telecasted Royal Family event? I did Diana's farewell but not Wiliam's big day so I'm half prepared. Trying to escape a triple threat of an ailing nuclear power plant, more aftershocks and possible tsunami? Maybe not.

The way that particular Saturday night began basically summed up how unclear information were: Japanese news were reporting that the evacuation zone was a radius of 20 kilometres from the nuclear power plant. A call that I received (1 out of probably 694 that didn't get through) said the BBC were reporting that the actual radius was 60 kilometres. I lived a rough 50 kilometres from the power plant.

At that point in time, I wished I had paid more attention in those disaster porn movies: 2012. The Day After Tomorrow. The War of the Worlds. Actually I've only seen the latter and I didn't like it much. Still, if I could got anything out of those movies, I'm sure it would've helped in making the decision of staying or going to somewhere safer. I wasn't sure what the current status was nor had I seen my local area deserted: in fact, I had seen the local community centre become an evactuation centre.

I decided to rejoin my friend that I had visited earlier in the day. Before that, I visited another friend who was hiding out in the school he was working at. What followed was a rendezvous at a dark car park, a serious and direct summary of what was happening, a suggestion to head west away from the coast and an offer of "good luck and goodbye". I took everything except the last offer: fuck that it wasn't time for shit like that.

Of course I can say that now. But at that time all the calm that I had (and there was a lot of it) was shot to pieces. I already had my bags packed so I made my way to the friend who I had been with earlier in the day. When I got there, she was making dinner and the news was still reporting a 20 kilometre evacuation zone. I suggested the idea of heading west away from the threat because the number of 20 kilometres could become a greater number. Also the logical move would be to go somewhere safer compared to waiting for the situation to improve. As she thought about it in the kitchen what I said came true: 30 kilometres became the new 20 kilometres. We left without waiting for dinner to be finished.

The Fat Controller when he was a young Japanese boy

2011-06-09T22:57:00.000+09:00

Here's a confession: whenever I see the bullet train zooming its way across platforms, bridges and into and out of tunnels, I stop and salute it. I've done it whilst driving, whilst on the phone and whilst in the middle of a crowd. The bullet train is awesome and it deserves my fullest respect so stop your laughing.

Whilst other ordinary and boring trains don't get such respect, I still have to stop and take a look and whether it's the local service on the Joban line or if it's the NEXT making its way to Narita airport. I blame all this on watching Thomas the Tank Engine when I was growing up (circa 2 years ago).

So when I stopped to watch a freight train make its way past Minami-senju in Tokyo, I noticed that I was not alone in doing such a thing.

I wonder what the kid wants to be when he grows up: a train driver? A train engineer? Or probably something more awesome like an English teacher.

Music In My Head: Beady Eye - The Beat Goes On

Our morning glory

2011-06-07T23:28:00.000+09:00

I spent nearly a day and a half of eating and drinking with fine people to celebrate yours truly's early birthday celebrations. There was yum cha, a BBQ, Tokyo Tower, donations to Iwaki, Pimms, sexual aids, clubbing, tequila shots, a phone number and early morning fried chicken. In the end (and to begin with which was a good year and a bit ago when I started planning for this weekend) all I truly wanted was to see the sunrise in Tokyo with the dearest ones in my life.

In the end I got what I wanted.

It's a wonderful feeling to get what you want. It's even more wonderful when it's better than you imagined.

Music In My Head: Maia Hirasawa - Boom!

Memories of Silverchair

2011-05-30T00:31:00.003+09:00

The other day I found out that the Australian band Silverchair broke up. Sorry, the band "won't be working together unless and until it feels right again". Whatever that means.

I like Silverchair but they're not my favourite band in the world. We all know who my favourite band in the world is. But I was still a tad saddened to hear that the members of the Chair had gone their own way. Even though I own most of their albums, the relationship between me and Silverchair extended only as far as their singles, which on the whole were all pretty awesome. But I think it is the fact that I can use their singles as markers for particular periods of my life in Australia which makes Silverchair have a special place in my musical heart. Silverchair started out with its members as teenagers and they grew up as the band went along. I was a teenager when teenager Silverchair started and tried to grow up as the band went along.

As much as Silverchair were markers of particular periods of my life, I can't go past remembering about the time I was watching Silverchair performing live on some music channel.

Like a lot of drummers, Silverchair's Ben Gillies often took to drumming shirtless. Mrs Au-Yeung took a gander at what was happening and said, "Poor boy doesn't have a shirt to wear. Should I give him a shirt?"

Or back to those wonderful days of using Limewire to download Silverchair's fourth album, "Diorama". I had the downloads setup before I went to sleep and the task would finish by the next morning. Once done, I would burn it onto CD using my friend's external CD burner which worked at a max 4x speed. These were highly advanced times that I was living in.

I had heard their lead single "The Greatest View" which I had liked: the Rickenbauer guitar that singer Daniel Johns used in the video certainly helped things..

But I was more intrigued by the other songs on the album that I've been reading about: "Luv Your Life", "Without You" and "Across the Night". It was possibly the last time ever that I had my attention caught just from reading the titles being mentioned in revered tones. So the next morning with the downloads done, I played the album's opening track "Across the Night" and was bowled over by the song's scope and ambition (it has movements for crying out loud!) and the fact that Silverchair wasn't just a grunge band anymore...

And then there was the time when I first heard "Straight Lines", the most commercial single Silverchair has ever produced.

I was at a cafe in Neutral Bay, Sydney. I was there with a date and I was eating some grilled fish dish: I think I could say the night was going well. But then "Straight Lines" came on on the cafe's TV and my attention was taken away from cafe, the grilled fish and my date.

The song is the least Silverchair song in their repertoire but you gotta give credit to where it's due: it's a fucking good song. Months later down the track I took the aforementioned date on trip to Hobart, Tasmania. Somehow the song made an appearance in a street market and in the form of a little kid whose energy knows no end and at a time when my mindset was as upbeat as the song itself.

Things to do before 30

2011-05-24T23:44:00.001+09:00

Come close and I'll tell you a secret.

Come closer.

Wait that's too close.

OK that's about right now. Are you ready for it? Here we go:

I'm turning 30 later this year.

Shook your world didn't it.

I've spent quite a bit of time preparing to turn 30. There's that party that I'm finalising which I hope will be rather epic and not so expensive. There are those grey hairs to hide. And there are things to do before I turn 30.

I'm not one to make lists (except for to-do lists which I don't make enough of unfortunately). I laughed once when I found out a friend had a list from his then girlfriend. The list basically contained the things he has to do as her boyfriend: things such as "teach me how to play chess", "read poetry to me" (I think) and other nonsensical stuff like that which clearly makes a relationship work. And there's a clear overload of lists for things to do: 1,001 Movies by Left Handed Asian Female Directors to See Before You Finish Eating Your Dinner. The 50 Best British Albums With 5 Words in Their Title. The Top 10 Places to Go to to Put Someone's Mind in Your Mind Vice.

But as I thought about turning 30, I thought about the things that I should do before I turn 30. I don't see what there is that I can do pre 30s that I can't do post 30s. And it's not like I'm getting married where things become slightly more restrictive...wait they're both different things right? But it was fun to think about it to keep time passing. That is until I found someone else's thing to do before 30 list. That list is rather awesome and whatever I can come up with will pale in comparison so I'll just quit while I'm ahead.

In the end, thinking about turning 30, things to do before 30 and things that I've done before 30 resulted in one thing that I wanted to do before 30:

Get in contact with people who have stopped talking to me.

It didn't take a deep inner retrospective session to realise that there are some folks who meant something to me before but now do not want anything to do with me. All this happened for various reasons and obviously I am the main culprit in all of it. There's drifting apart and then there's making people hate you and regret knowing you. That's something in the past and unfortunately mistakes I cannot just CTRL-Z. It's easy to say it's part of life but in most parts, it is. But the thought that there were people out there who do not want anything to do with me was unsettled the idea of who I think I am and want to be. And with a decade ending a new one beginning I decided I'll write to these folks.

I do realise that these people who do not want anything to do with me would not want to hear from me. Part of this is for selfish reasons. There will be apologies involved but I am not fooling myself in believing that such a simple act will make me feel better or even make everything A-OK. I actually do not know what I want to achieve nor will say to these people. But after going through the earthquake and realising that in this day and age where I can know what someone ate for breakfast, where they are at this current time or what they thought of the latest Game of Thrones episode, I still can possibly miss out on other parts of people's lives. Things like new place of abode. Marriages. Death.

Losing a friendship because of a mistake I made is a price I paid and which I cannot get a refund even if I had the receipt. But the very least I can hope for is to know what has/had happened to these people and not just wonder about them. And so, I begin to pick on my self inflicted wounds and see what will happen.

"Back when I was younger,
I was someone you would've liked".

Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino

ATBE: The social network

2011-05-16T00:28:00.001+09:00

So what did people do before Facebook, email and mobile phones when they wanted to meet someone? They hopped on their bikes and went to someone's house to see if anyone was home, that's what. Well that's what I did the day ATBE when I went to see if a friend who lived nearby was OK.

So on a rather nice early spring morning I took the scenic route to where my friend lived. On the way I saw some buildings damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Petrol stations were ominously closed. People were heading to get water from emergency water pumps. It really wasn't my usual Saturday morning bike ride around town.

I arrived to find that my friend was indeed home and was OK. Though having more things around her apartment and living on the third floor meant that her place was more trashed than mine.I also found that she had still had running water (the pros of living in an old building with a water tank) when no else had as a result of the earthquake. Like me her phone reception and internet was down but her neighbour still had internet.

I might stop to point out that when things were at its worst most mobile phone and internet providers were down except for one or two. Considering what had happened I doubt it was one company working harder than the others but I'm sure they've received a lot of new customers as a result.

So I sat on my friend's floor where his air gun collection laid (a sign of things to come?) and had my first access to the outside world ATBE. What I found was that there were a shit tonne of messages on Facebook and on my phone when the service to the latter was later restored. Messages from my family and friends. Messages from ex-girlfriends. Messages from people who for one reason or another have stopped talking to me.

I was humbled by everyone being concerned for me. I had a chuckle that people who didn't want anything to do with me were making sure that I was OK (so they can continue to have nothing to do with me). And I broke down for the only time during the earthquakes and all when I spoke to Mrs Au-Yeung for the first time ATBE.

It really wasn't my usual Saturday morning.

Coda:

However you feel about Facebook (and to be honest it hasn't done itself a favour in many ways), you must give it credit for being what it is: a way for people to connect and communicate. When my only connection to the outside world was through Facebook, I was able to let my family and friends know that I was OK, keep them up to date with developments and receive information from direct sources. As someone (and undoubtedly others as well) who got so much from Facebook during this time, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social networking really stood up and for me, came of age. It no longer became just a way to sell your wares, arrange a party or stalk someone. It really became as vital as emails, phones or the carrier pigeon. Dealing with the earthquake and the whole logistics of keeping in contact and finding information was hard enough. I can not imagine how much worse it would be without Facebook.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: Red Light Company - Arts & Craft

ATBE: The mayor of Aizuwakamatsu has a word for you

2011-05-15T10:46:00.001+09:00

So you see, only a small part of Japan will post a risk to your health. Places such as within the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, indoor venues that still allow smoking and titty bars run by the yakuza. My old hometown of Aizuwakamatsu (and most other places in Japan) is safe for you. So there.

Still, do be careful of the titty bars run by the yakuza in Aizuwakamatsu.

ATBE: It'll be over by Monday

2011-04-28T00:36:00.001+09:00

In hindsight I now know how much I didn't know at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

I felt the tremor upon violent tremor come within a scarily short period of time. I saw the buildings shake and the windows bend which every time it did that you think it would just shatter.

I heard the crazy numbers being reported on the radio about the magnitude of the quake and how Miyagi-ken took a beating.

But still that didn't stop me and other teachers going back in right after the first earthquake to inspect the damage and clean up. Yes, we went to clean up straight after one of the biggest earthquakes in recorded history. For our efforts we were rewarded with more violent aftershocks that chased us out of the building but we dutifully returned after the shaking passed.

Still that didn't stop me from acting responsibly. On the first night after the Great East Japan Earthquake I bought 2 bags of potato chips and a skewer of fried chicken from a nearby convenience store. The next morning I bought 2 bottles of tea from the supermarket opposite my house. Meanwhile everyone was cleaning out the shelves of every store.

I guess I really didn't know just how bad things were. After all I had no access to the internet nor phone and I didn't turn on my TV and see the horrific images being broadcast live and commented on as if it was a match of the day. In hindsight the latter was maybe a good thing.

People expected World War One to be "over by Christmas", four months after war was declared. No running water? Power outages? No food or supplies in the supermarkets? Pfft. It'll be all over by Monday.

In hindsight I may have been wrong.

Hindsight is such a lovely thing.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: Dreams Come True - 何度でも

1,000

2011-04-22T22:28:00.000+09:00

There are but a thousand days,
preparing for a thousand years.

Oasis - Magic Pie

A thousand days ago I left Sydney for Japan. I was wearing a Muse t-shirt and friends lost their parking ticket for the airport carpark. I think I cried on the plane as the video explaining the emergency procedures was playing. Emergency procedures always brings a tear to my eye.

A thousand days in Japan has lead me to where I am now: typing this out in my pajamas in an apartment that still bears scars (i.e mess that I haven't cleaned up since it might get messy again with another aftershock) from the earthquake in March, whilst the phone that I bought the other day on my own without any language help (and without understanding what I signed up for) buzzes away.

There's nothing much to say except that 1,000 days sounds more impressive and romantic than, say, "nearly 3 years". Yes, the latter doesn't really have the same ring.

I promised myself that one day I will go back home. But considering all the good and bad that's happened in the 1,000 days that I've been in Japan it's really hard to think about that. During my evacuation from the triple whammy that was the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear plant I had lunch at a cheap and soul-less ramen place. I was thinking about how cherry blossoms were about to bloom. For a long time I had been looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms and enjoying it with my friends. And considering all that had happened in March I became even more determined to see the cherry blossoms. And then I realised that Japan really took a beating but being what it is, Japan will get back to where it was and be even better. And I want to be around to see it happen.

Even if it hurts those waiting for me to return home.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: Ben Folds - Time

ATBE: Birds flew backwards

2011-04-20T22:36:00.004+09:00

I've learnt in life that you should be careful of throwaway comments or jokes. So on Friday March 11th, 2011 I was cleaning my classroom and blowing the water with a colleague of mine. She was getting ready to go home and I was waiting for 5PM to come so I could get the weekend started. I had planned to do nothing that weekend. It takes a lot of planning to be able to do nothing.

We were talking about our days, fellow teachers, the coming weekend, an early St Patricks Day party, overpriced drinks and how we were both somehow pathetically poor when my colleague wished God sent her a million dollars. I piped in a request as well less God was listening. That was around 14:40.

At 14:46 the Great East Japan Earthquake hit.

I'm not saying that God sent the earthquake in response to our request for a million dollars. I doubt He'd have that much time personally deliver a response to a throwaway comment like that from me. But looking back the timing of the 2 events make me laugh. I guess it's good that I can laugh about things like that.

There are many things that I remember about that day when Japan shook and shook and wouldn't stop shaking.

The way the old buildings at school swayed and looked like it would just bend enough so that the glass would break and send its shards flying everywhere.

The way that one of the school buses threatened to topple over because half of its side was sitting on a step.

The image of my boss refusing to come outside because she was trying to protect a TV in a classroom.

The students who had earlier danced to the latest pop song from some Korean pop group were now crying with the same intensity as their dancing.

The students who were in after school care and was the concern of all the teachers but somehow slept through it all.

The way we huddled and thought it was over but then the ground violently shook again. And again. And again.

The attempts at getting hold of people in Tokyo. I thought it was the Tokai earthquake and was worried about those in Tokyo. In fact it was everyone trying to get hold of me because the shit had hit the fan in Tohoku.

The way that in the midst of huddling in the playground, not knowing what literally had hit and trying to keep it together for the crying kids, that it started to snow.

And how flock after flock of birds eerily flew in the sky. We have the technology to do this and that and that and this but we still can't explain how animals can tell when shit happens.

There's a lot that I won't forget about what happened on Friday March 11th 2011 at 14:46. I'll be a lesser person if I did forget any of it.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: いきものがかり - ありがとう

There's something different about this year's cherry blossoms

2011-04-12T20:36:00.003+09:00

There's a film from Hong Kong called "The Longest Summer" or, in its original title in Cantonese, "去年煙花特別多".

The Cantonese title roughly translates to "There was a lot of firework last year". This is in reference to the firework shows held to celebrate the Hong Kong handover and other related events. Whilst no one can really get tired of fireworks, the handover back to China, the forming of the new government and an unknown future loomed over the brilliant displays.

To me this year's cherry blossom season feels similar. I was looking forward to hanami parties (picnics to enjoy the cherry blossom) and intended to attend as many hanami parties as possible. This year's hanami will still happen: following the governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara to voluntary restrain from partaking in hanami parties is stupid. But still celebrations will be unfortunately subdued and along with thinking about the cherry blossoms, the packed lunch boxes and the chosen drink of choice, there might be thoughts of more sombre matters.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: Oasis - Let There be Love

BTBE: March Plans

2011-03-30T21:54:00.002+09:00

It's hard not to think like this but I already categorise a recent part of my life as being Before the Big Earthquake (BTBE) and the coming near-future days as being After the Big Earthquake (ATBE). In all honesty my life has not changed so much as a result of the triple whammy threat of the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear power plant. But I guess such thinking does fit into my usual "back in my days we had to walk 5 miles in the snow up a hill to get to school and 10 miles up ANOTHER hill to get home" kinda talk I whip out every winter. And I only lived a 5 minute walk from school when I was growing up...

Back in the simpler BTBE days, I actually had the luxury of knowing what was happening in the coming days and plan accordingly. It wasn't anything important or significant. Just things like "Drink with X at Y on Blahday". Still, that stuff requires planning. And so at the start of March my plans for March looked like this:

March 5th:

Karaoke with old students who recently graduated.
Dinner with Satoshi before he heads off to university and achieve his dreams of getting "4 pussies" (his words, not mine).
"Summer" Shine beach party - 6 hours all you can drink.
All in Aizu and featuring Jen.

March 12th:
Skip St Patrick's Day party in Iwaki to rest, avoid paying for overpriced drinks and not have weekend ruined by seeing annoying colleague.
Miss 80's themed party in Koriyama.
Stay at home to make snacks for White Day for teachers, students, friends and cute girl who works in office below my apartment.
May cook up a steak for dinner if I feel so during the weekend.

March 16th:
Graduation day at Kindergarten. Remember to iron shirts and tie beforehand and to bring a handkerchief to wipe away a tear or 2. After party with the mums.

March 18th:
Meet Edith in Tokyo before she flies out. Looking forward to meet her friends who also enjoy abusing their livers.

March 19th - 21st:
Check out Shimokitazawa and continue my hunt for Love Love Straw CDs and (What's the Story) Morning Glory on vinyl.
Go to Roppongi to see the Surrealism exhibition.
Do early Hanami with the usual Tokyo mob. Cherry blossoms will not be in bloom but alcohol in the park is always OK.
Grab lunch/dinner with whoever is free whenever.
See Civic play and swoon.

March 25th:
Spend the night in Tokyo. Find whoever gets off work at a decent time to eat and drink with. Crash at my usual internet cafe.

March 26th - 30th:
Singapore. Drink too many overpriced Singapore Slings. Eat, eat, eat Hainanese Chicken Rice. Wash it all down with a Tiger. Stain a white t-shirt with Chili Crab stains. Get usually dry friend drunk. Get drunk every night (travelling partner's plan, not mine). Oh and do some sight seeing.

March 30th:

Fly back into Tokyo. See Jimmy Eat World

March 31st:

Head back to Iwaki. Prepare classrooms for coming school year.

It looked a bit hectic but it seemed pretty straight forward on paper. Yet somehow, especially with the Singapore part, it seemed like I was preparing for something that I had no idea if I was going to get to do. I'm always like that with things like holidays whereby I won't get excited about it until I'm actually on my way there. But this time the feeling was stronger than normal.

But all of this means nothing because what happened on March 11th ripped up the page that all this was written on and ripped up a lot of other stuff. At least I got the first weekend and saw most of my friends there before everything changed.

Ah...those were the BTBE days.

Help rebuild a kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima

Music In My Head: Blur - Chemical World

I wish I had a strategist on my staff

2011-03-20T20:10:00.001+09:00

So as I stay in my place of refuge in the shadows of my Dark Tower that is Tokyo Sky Tree I plan my next move.

I'm due to fly out to Singapore for a pre-planned holiday. I need to see if I can go back to clean last week's curry before the cockroaches come in. I still don't have running water but all things considered it's a small problem to have.

The other day I sat on the balcony having my lunch and knocking back a beer whilst basking in the sun with Tokyo Sky Tree as my company. I could've sat there forever and wanted to. But things don't work like that.

On that same day Tokyo Sky Tree reached it's final height of 634m. Well deserved attention on other matters in Japan meant that such feat went relatively unreported. But it seems not even earthquakes, tsunami and an ailing nuclear power plant can stop Tokyo Sky Tree.

I consider that to be the most auspicious of signs.

Music In My Head: Coldplay - Don't Panic

Reasons

2011-03-15T12:42:00.001+09:00

I moved to Japan away from my family and friends.

I was placed in Aizu, Fukushima.

I left Aizu and ended up in Iwaki with the latter being more dangerous than the former with the earthquakes, tsunami and power plant.

All this happened for a reason. So it's gonna be OK.

This is (definitely) not the greatest song in the world

2011-03-01T23:06:00.000+09:00

Dudes, 'Orange' by SMAP might just be the worst song EVER written, beating out an entire country's worth of shitty pop music to take the crown. Honestly, the most repetitive, lowest-common-denominator, gutless fucking pussy bullshit song I have ever heard. If you like this song, fuck you.

The above was written by someone I know. Recently, his school has been oft practicing "オレンジ" for the graduation ceremony which occurred today.

It goes against the glowing review above but I do have a soft spot for the song. The high school that I taught at in a past life of mine also had オレンジ as part of its graduation ceremony. However, instead of having the students sing it (which is the case at my friend's school), the school's brass band played it as the graduating students march out of the hall that no longer belongs to them.

I first heard this song during my first year teaching high school in Japan. On a quiet day at work, the sounds of horns playing a melody with what I assume to be a flat key shift drifted down the hallway and into my staffroom. After a bit of detective work I found out that the band was practicing オレンジ and it was to be played at the upcoming graduation ceremony.

Japanese graduation ceremonies are very solemn at the best of times. Of course there is the laughter, the tears, the millions of photos and (my favourite) the colourfully decorated blackboards that happens after the ceremony. During the ceremony the air is heavy. It is a final farewell of a life that is the life of being a student. So I guess the solemnity is not out of place. Not unlike a funeral I guess.

And so in such a setting a Japanese pop song is a questionable choice (more so depending on how much you agree with the glowing review at the beginning). The lyrics have nothing to do with school, graduation or spring, the usual stuff that such songs deals with. Instead it's about lovers seperating under an orange sky. Fitting. And then there's Kimura Takeya the supposedly "strongest" singer out of the lot in SMAP but he butchers his main bit during the song's bridge with a barging delivery akin to a bull in a china shop. And they all sound like howling dogs during the closing refrain. I'm sure the dogs down the street are howling as I listen to the song.

But when it's all horns, it becomes melancholy and fitting for the occasion. I love me horns.

And like most of the songs you remember, you remember for it being the soundtrack of a moment in your life. オレンジ will forever remind me of the students that I have taught in Japan and my hopes that they have gone on to fulfill whatever they were meant to learn and do.

And so as I sit here and write this I will have missed out on today's graduation ceremony at my old high school. I will also be missing out on the teachers after party which should be happening now or just about kicking into the second round of ~~boozing~~ celebrating. I miss my old job for a lot of reasons but today is the day that they're gonna throw it back to you...

I mean today is the day that sums up what I miss　about my past life: seeing the students that I would have taught since my first day in Japan and during their first days of being a high school student. They were a nice bunch that grew up a lot in over the years and grew on me even more. I would have been there to see their journey through high school.

Instead I'm not there at the end. And I find myself listening to a pop song of questionable quality sung by 5 men with hair that may or may not work; I'm sorry SMAP but a high school brass band trumps you. I'm also having a drink on my own in celebration of the graduating students and the teachers who worked hard to set them up for the next stage of their lives. Clearly it's not the same but it's the best that I can do for now.

And in response to the glowing review at the start, I guess I should go get fucked then.

I'll be off now.

Really, really

2011-02-27T00:51:00.000+09:00

Solanin is not a film to watch when you really, really want to be in a band again.

Nor is it a film to watch when you really, really don't know what do with yourself.

And the trailer is something you really, really shouldn't watch less you want to know everything that happens in the film.

Having reread what I wrote, I guess I know what I need to do: be in a band...

...bandage making company. Really, really.

No dice on the Lambo

2011-02-25T23:31:00.003+09:00

I was planning on getting a Lamborghini as I enter my Dirty 30s. Apparently Josh Groban is doing the same for his own entry into the 30s Club. But if he's doing the same then that idea suddenly becomes not cool. No offence to the man but I don't want to do the same thing as a man who makes music that Mrs Au-Yeung would enjoy. No dice.

Maybe I'll get me a Goggomobil...

The Bucket List that was Made in Japan #02: Sydney to Old Trafford via Yokohama

2011-02-21T23:50:00.001+09:00

Funny how things work in a round about way.

Sydney to Manchester is a long way to go. But it's all necessary when you have to go there to see Manchester United play at home at Old Trafford. That journey has not been made (yet) although it nearly happened a good 3 years ago. But like all things that were meant to be, that fell through. Instead I found myself watching Manchester United play in Japan.

Back in the days when I started watching football, I never understood why the Intercontinental Cup was only held in Japan. In a one off game between the club champions of Europe and South America (determined through their respective continental competitions) a neutral venue is a must. But why Japan? Back then, maybe I didn't understand the power that sponsors (in this case, Toyota) and money had on football regardless of how illogical or unrealistic its demands were. Or maybe back then sponsors didn't have as much sway as they unfortunately have now and Japan was really the prime place for the champions of Europe and South America to battle it out and see who will reign supreme!

In my first year in Japan, I had a lot of things I wanted to do in Japan. Places to go. Touring bands to see. Villages to destroy. One day I suddenly remembered that the Intercontinental Cup was contested in Japan, just like the sun rises from the East and you don't let me teach your kids. Facts.

A little bit of research showed me that yes indeed there was a football match being held in Japan. But it was goodbye "Intercontinental Cup" and hello more clumsily named "FIFA Club World Cup". Still, Manchester United was to be making an appearance. They could've named the competition "Combined United Alliance of FIFA Federations Champions of Clubs Cups Champions of the Cups of Leagues of Champions in FIFA Federations" for all I care. Manchester United was to be there.

It was luck that led me to blindly remember about the event. What was of more luck was that this was to be the last year that it would be held annually in Japan before it moved to the United Arab Emirates. For a change luck was on my side.

So I found myself in Yokohama at the Nissan Stadium (conveniently renamed "International Stadium Yokohama" to appease principal sponsor Toyota) to see my beloved Manchester United play. The event itself is more than a glorified exhibition match. It's held when the English Premier League is on and the team has to fly half way around the world to contest for a cup that has no tradition nor significance except for in name. But that thing called luck showed up again as United were drawn to play Gamba Osaka, the Japanese team that represented the Asian confederation. for the fact that they were playing a Japanese team in Japan meant that United had more attention and rise it than being just a mere exhibition match.

In what was becoming my new companion luck showed its head again and I got a rather exciting match. Manchester United defeated Gamba Osaka 5-3 and the weaker Osaka side actually took it to United. But that was the bonus. Simply seeing Manchester United play (with what is one of the best squads that United has ever had) was enough. Even in our global village of a world I knew my chances of seeing Manchester United play at Old Trafford in England was a dream. Logistics of getting tickets, financial hurdles of getting over there; combined it put the whole thing too out of reach. But somehow in my new home I managed to watch United. Yes they were just football players chasing a ball but this was Giggs, Ronaldo, Scholes, van der Sar, Rooney, Ferdinand, Neville, Evra, Tevez and Nani that we were talking about. These were the players and the team that I spent a whole lot of my misspent youth watching on TV at crazy hours and reading on the internet and took control of on Championship Manager. This was a whole chunk of my life finally in flesh and blood. You tell me if it's still a game of football.

It was an auspicious start to my time in Japan.

The best gift a 4 year old can give

2011-02-15T23:06:00.003+09:00

Valentine's Day just came and passed and I got a lot of chocolates. Not a lot per say but a lot for an occasional chocolate consumer like myself. The chocolates came from friends, the lady in the office below my apartment, the teachers at school and my students. Cos it's the thing to do in Japan: give guys chocolates on Valentine's Day.

In regards to the latter I suspect that the mums of my students initiated on buying chocolates for me instead of the students actually wanting to give chocolates for me; what kind of kid would pass up the opportunity to have chocolate for themselves? But if the chocolates came from the mums, do they want me to put on (much needed) weight or do they want to put me out of action via diabetes? Or God forbid they're actually grateful for me teaching their children?! Regardless, receiving chocolate, even for this aforementioned occasional chocolate consumer, is nice. What's even nicer though is receiving chocolate (with a dubious source of origin) from my 4 year old students.

Though nothing beats receiving gifts from my students that came from them. They're 4 years old so they don't have much to give me except what they have. So I have one student in particular to thank for giving me one week off work.

That is one week off work via the chicken pox.

Chickenpox
Tags: SOUTH
PARK more...

Somehow I never got the chicken pox when I was young, a question that everyone kindly asked when I fell ill last week. Apparently I wasn't vaccinated for it but my sister was. I guess that was the trade-of for getting a private school education whilst my sister missed out. And when my cousin had it when we were kids Mrs Au-Yeung forbade us from playing with him (besides him being sick himself, a minor detail of course) less my sister and I would get sick ourselves. But it seems it's OK for me to get sick now.

A week off work is never a bad thing. Once I got the minor embarrassment - all the work related people that I had to tell laughed when I told them I had the chicken pox - and the minor inconvenience of having a fever, out of the way, I rather enjoyed the week off. And it wasn't as itchy as everyone made it out to be. I got to watch some films, caught up on my afternoon naps and cleaned up the house a bit. Not bad.

All because of something a student gave me.

Music In My Head: U2 - Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

2010: The Soundtrack

2011-02-09T14:57:00.004+09:00

So...that 2010. It may have been the start of a new decade. Or it was the end. Who knows these things. All I know is that, like last year, I'm again late putting it up (later this year actually) but for better or worse this is the soundtrack for 2010. Old or new, these songs popped up on its own accord. All up, they can be traced to various moments and emotions that happened in 2010, the year that started/ended a decade. These songs are here because they soundtracked various moments or feelings that I experienced in 2010. Or I just took a fancy to the song for the first time or got seduced again by it after an absence. As such, it's not a "best of" of anything so it shouldn't be taken that way.

Organising this year's soundtrack order was tricky: songs sat well with each other but seen on the whole as an album (as I have always done in previous years) the order didn't work. So I took inspiration from a man who some of you may know and made it into a setlist for a gig. It worked out better and I stopped losing sleep over it.

Taking the idea of the soundtrack for 2010 to be a gig, let's consider the following to be the opening act/supporting band. I didn't listen to any of his stuff in 2010 but I made a promise last year to mention him for this year's soundtrack and I'm a man that keeps my promises if all it involves is copying and pasting html code from Youtube...

So lets begin and turn down the house lights...

30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens

I do not like 30 Seconds to Mars. There's the Jared Leto thing. There's their earlier output that was too emo and too shouty. And there's their general air of doucheness.

In what will become a recurring theme for this year's soundtrack, it was the "Kings and Queens" video that caught me. A video based around roaming the streets at night gets a ✓ pretty much straight away in my books. But roaming the streets at night on a bike?! That's a bigger and fatter ✓ from me.

The song soundtracks the video well with its euphoria: there is a special sense of life in a city at night even when those who reside in it are absent. And whilst I would've just put on a song by U2 if I had wanted to listen to a U2 song (not that I generally do), I think the fact that "Kings and Queens" sounds U2-esque works in its favour.

(Un)fortunately I do not hate 30 Seconds to Mars as much as some other people. So please do not flame me about not liking 30 Seconds to Mars. Or not hating them enough.

Ben Folds - Hiroshima

True story: for a brief moment in 2010 there was a slight possibility that I could be calling Hiroshima home. There was a nice job available in Hiroshima and I threw my hat into the ring. But, like most of my attempts at job hunting - and more importantly at hat throwing - I missed and I was left to look elsewhere.

But as I looked into Hiroshima, I rediscovered this gem from Ben Folds one night on the radio. I can't say I'm a big fan of the songwriters who tell stories through their songs but Ben Folds' fun, energy and passion is hard to deny: what was an amusing anecdote about falling off the stage whilst on tour can become a triumphant and infectious song with Folds. And he seems to be a pretty clever chap as well...

A song titled "Hiroshima" belting itself to my attention at a time when there was a job available in its namesake city is a textbook definition of randomness. But in less than ideal times where I was throwing my hat into many rings, it was a small thing that I could lean on. It was the only thing that I could lean on. Whilst in the end I didn't get the job, move to Hiroshima and lost a lot of figurative hats, I did get a fine song out of the whole process.

Crowded House - Archer's Arrows

When it comes to facial hair, I envy those who can grow and maintain it since I cannot go anywhere more than the 14 whiskers scattered around my upper and lower lip. But I do not for a moment envy the mo that Neil Finn was rocking for Crowded House's "Intriguer" album. It's been described as being Lothario-esque: I guess anything sounds better when it has a fancy Latin word describing it.

Fortunately "Intriguer" isn't as hard to swallow as Finn's mo. A lot of the album captures the cool mature groove that was found in Finn's brilliant solo debut, "Try Whistling This" (one of my favourite albums of all times) and was lacking on Crowded House's previous album, "Time on Earth". "Archer's Arrows" sums up all that's good with the album and it's a wonderful snapshot of the comfortable place that Neil Finn is at with the band and his songwriting.

Oasis - Waiting for the Rapture

For all its heavy, distorted and primal nature, this is a sweet love song. It may actually be one of Noel Gallagher's most direct love song. Which isn't a surprise since he wrote the song about meeting his girlfriend. Bless him.

Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang

There was a time when some folks would claim that rock 'n roll would make you do all nasty things to you. Like make you worship Satan. Or kill and harm others. Or eat a lot of refined sugar. They may have been onto something if they had cited "New Fang" as evidence. The dirty and raw energy of the song feels like it's going sonically impregnate me a number of times throughout its 3:49 song length. But isn't that to be expected when the band's made up of a Led Zepplin, a Queen of the Stone Age and a Foo Fighter/Nirvana member? By that I mean they are awesome at making music and not at making babies. Ahem.

Gemma Hayes - Let a Good Thing Go

In the summer of 2010, I left a pretty good job. It ended my incredible run of working for 13 years and never having a job I didn't enjoy.

I left a town that I loved to bits and in return it treated me well.

I left my twin behind.

I left a near thousand of my ~~fans~~ students lost without its love interest/role model/target of hate.

I left behind an apartment that, amongst other things, had insulation (how I miss thee), its own sakura tree and ghosts of all those that had made the good times, good.

I left behind what is now a past life of mine.

And in the process of leaving all of those things behind, I also inadvertently left behind 5 pairs of shoes that I rather miss.

I left behind all these things because I took a gamble. I'm not from a family who takes gambles on such things (unless it's on horses or lottery tickets) but I metaphorically blew into my hands, rolled the dice and hoped it rolled me Snake Eyes, a Natural or Boxcars. Or anything in my favour, really. The dice are still rolling so I don't know if it has turned up in my favour or not. But all I know is that I let a good thing go and I'm living a life where I'm short 5 pairs of shoes.

ウルフルズ - バンザイ君を好きでよかった

Was it meant to be a wedding gift? A blessing for the newlyweds? A nice way to advertise myself to all the single ladies in attendance? I have no idea. Nor do I know how I ended up singing at my friend's wedding. In Japanese no less. Clearly I was trying to stretch myself to impress all the single ladies in attendance.

A scrapply put together performance (60 odd repeated listens to the song on my iPod, 2 weeks of learning how to play and sing the song and 1 practice with my co-singer) did not do justice to my friend's beautiful wedding. But having said that a performance that would define any musical artist's career would still not do justice to my friend's beautiful wedding. Theirs was simply beautiful. To this day I still have to apologise to my friends and cousins about how their weddings have paled in comparison. I guess I will have to apologise for all future weddings to come until the wedding of Ueto Aya and Yours Truly. Then I'll just brag about how beautiful my wedding was and how I badly sung a Japanese song to my new bride.

Yui - Never Say Die

This is how summer should sound like. Not the constant buzzing of cicadas. Nor the droning of air conditioners. And definitely not the squealing and giggling of bikini-clad girls. Well maybe not the latter. But this is how summer should sound like.

Infant Sorrow - Furry Walls

For a while it seemed that the world slipped me a Jeffrey. But then I kept on stroking the Furry Walls and it was all OK.

If this was years 1994-98 all over again then "Furry Walls" would be a song you'd hear everywhere. As it's not years 1994-98, you'll just hear this song on the soundtrack for a disappointingly unfunny film.

I wish it was the years 1994-98 all over again.

Tired Pony - Get On the Road

Get on the road
and back to you

Radiohead - Let Down

We all know about a little known album called "OK Computer" and its impact, legacy and claims to being the best album of all time or the last 25 years at least. I dunno how "Let Down" came up but for a song that comes from an album dealing with mistrust and fear of the present and future, it is a contrastingly beautiful and comforting song. As the second verse kicks in, the song just rises and rises into a wonderfully blissful moment.

Just ignore the lyrics, I guess.

You Am I - How Much is Enough

Along with "Purple Sneakers" and "Tuesday", "How Much is Enough" completes a loose trilogy of You Am I songs with the connecting theme being that these songs and its filled-to-the-brim-with-world-weariness gets me into the mood to cry, completely bawl and lose it; just cue to the coda! But it's OK. So as long as I'm crying into my beer and pound that straight down along with the 5 shots that are waiting for me. It's just the rock 'n roll way.

Eskimo Joe - Thunderclap

From singing about wearing old sweaters Eskimo Joe has come a long way in their music. Of course there are a lot of hits and misses along the way but "Thunderclap" belongs in the former category. The song slowly builds and builds as its demand does the same: "I'm just a lonely boy with thoughts of growing old". Can't argue with that sentiment.

Placebo - Teenage Angst

I'm a good 13 years late to really enjoy Placebo and a more dressing 8 years late from being able to associate myself with the angst of the teenage kind that the song is about.

For a song that deals with such angst and decaying since the word get go ("Since I was born I've started to decay/Now nothing ever, ever goes my way" may be one of the best pairings out there) this is a very simple and straightforward song. Afterall, it's as advertised ("Teenage Angst" is about...?) and backed up by simple riffs and rhythm - but but I'm sure goths here, there and everywhere managed to crack a smile for once in the midst of the gloom.

And in contrast to the videos that make the song, the music video for "Teenage Angst" has put me off the song a bit. It's horribly dated now but I'm sure the video was terrible back in the day.

AKB48 - ヘビーローテーション

We can bang on all day about what we think of AKB48, who's pretty or (more importantly) who's not and if we'd want to give them the benefit of the doubt, we can spend some time to talk about their music. Because lest we forget they do put out some tunes.

I'm a sucker for guitar driven pop rock and behind all the eye candy, weak ass vocals and bad English pronunciation, this song is good guitar driven pop rock. The song has a healthy dosage of shredded guitars, thumping bass line and a great drum sound. I think it was Alex James who once said a great drum sound creates a great song. And then there's the chorus: try getting that thing out of your head. I'll give you 23 days to try.

But really who are we kidding: this song is here because of its music video. Filled with enough eye candy and not so weak...ahem...asses to keep you company for the 23 days that you try getting the song out of your head.

Coda: I may or may not have contributed to 20% of the total view count of this video on Youtube.

木村カエラ - Oh Pretty Woman

Even though I'm Asian, I somehow managed to fail at maths. But even I know that maths does not lie. There's no subjectivity or objectivity in an answer formed in an equation compared to say, an answer formed in an essay. There's no need for a final answer because the answer you get in an equation is the final answer.

And so let's analyse the truth that is found in the following equation:

Ueto Aya (aka Mrs John Au-Yeung) + cabin attendant uniforms = ♥♥♥♥♥

This song's here more for "Attention Please", the show that it served as the theme song. I don't know how I was completely unaware for 4 years that a show with Ueto Aya running around in cabin attendant uniforms existed. But not even its simplistic plotting and prototypical Japanese theme of "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down" can take away from the infectious fun and energy that comes from the show and Aya-chan's performance as the rebel and ditsy cabin attendant trainee.

And it is this infectious fun and energy which served its purpose during darker times: for most of the year I woke up every morning sick to the gut thinking about the minor inconvenience of not being able to get a job come August. Or having a place to live. Or having to leave Japan. I've seen the stress and depression that such problems create on others but to experience it myself was something totally different. I can look back and reduce it to a simplistic summary of "it's a character building experience, ain't it?". But for me to have had a mindset where I would watch the show and, rather than focus on Aya-chan and her uniform, give an "Amen!" to the show's Hallmark-esque "I won't let this problem defeat me" motivational spiel, says a lot. The show's infectious fun and energy served its purpose and I'm glad I could take that, let alone anything at all, from a TV show.

I'll make sure to thank Aya-chan when I see her next.

Which would be tonight.

When she's next to me.

In my bed.

Love Love Straw - Wind Blows

As you may or may not have noticed, 2010 was a strange year. Thoughts of moving, finding a new job and starting all over again did my head in a bit. It certainly wasn't a rosy period but that's fortunately in the past now and I can look back at it and have a chuckle. During that time, one of the things that I spent the most time chewing on was the simple fact that I didn't want to leave: my town, my job and the life that I had in the town that I was in. It was a complete 180° turn from when I first decided that I wanted to head south to Minami-Fuku. Eventually I did accept the fact that I had to leave because that was the only option I had. It couldn't have been more obvious than that.

"Wind Blows" was the comforting thought that it was OK to move on. "Anyway the wind blows/anyway it's gonna be". With my die cast and no way to change it, all I could do was follow through with what I had started. So I got a new job. I left town. And I began a new stage in my life. Easy.

And all this came from a song written by a former colleague and dear friend. Clearly he wrote and recorded this song (a whole 10 years before) for me as his surprisingly world weary vocals matched my own voice and mind at the time. And so, I held onto this song like a safety blanket for most of the year. And it was interesting when Love Love Straw played it in their Christmas gig. Interesting because it became one of the many highlights of a memorable Christmas. And interesting because it showed me how far I had come from those mornings sitting on my couch working my way through my breakfast and chewing on a new problem.

Manic Street Preachers - I'm Leaving You for Solitude

"If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will be Next" is a song from the Manics' "This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours" album. There is an epic widescreen feel to things, a result of the song's layers of delay and overdubs. In comparison, "I'm Leaving You for Solitude" (trust the Manics to come up with a wordy titles) effortlessly creates the same epic widescreen feel without much effects or overdubs. I think it comes from a backing keyboard and singer James Dean Bradfield's awesome, awesome voice. Having lived in snow country for the last 2 years, I'm reminded of the days where you can see snow as far as the eye can see and in the middle of it all, there comes a shining light from the heavens. That's what I'm going on about.

Usually you get a lame remix or something of not much worth when an artist offers a track as a free download. But you can download the song for free and it is really a beautiful song that captures the humanity of the Manics.

ENCORE

The Tings Tings - Great DJ

In 2010, I suggested to a friend to play "Great DJ" in her DJ set at a Halloween party which served as her debut as a DJ. The said DJ dutifully played it during her set, a set that was well received by all the 13 drunken people that were still left standing and dancing after 5 hours of liver abuse. The rest, as they say, is history. Which was basically everyone woke up hungover in their Halloween costume.

The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

Set in the night and a party into the morning light: here's another video that made the song for me. But then again, the simple sentiments and its yellability has made this a recent karaoke staple. The song kinda died because it's been everywhere but then again that's what you get with the Black Eyed Peas, right? And who doesn't enjoy some excessive vocoder/Auto-Tune action?

Fyfe Dangerfield - When You Walk in the Room

I can't remember the last time that I just couldn't stop listening to a song . Maybe it was last year with Love Love Straw and "Every Single Day". Or the year before with Switchfoot and "This is Home". Wait. Maybe I can remember.

I love this song as much as Fyfe Dangerfield (contender for the Coolest Name Award) loved the girl that inspired the song and the album "Fly Yellow Moon". Apparently the album was conceived and recorded at a breakneck pace to capture the similar feeling of being in love. We've all known someone who's been absolutely smitten with their love and been not too quiet about how they feel (Oh hello Man in the Mirror). And whilst we've been happy for them we really just wished they would shut up (Oh hello Man in the Mirror). But "When You Walk in the Room" puts a big fat smile on your face which makes it all OK then.

One thing that I'm sure I can't remember is the last time that I knew all the words to a song without consciously remembering it. It's a big thing, a small thing, I dunno. At the very least it's a sign that the song is damn catchy. And maybe someone has but it surprises me that no one has used the simple but effective line "I want you endlessly" before. It should be in the lexicon. I'm gonna use it on Aya-chan tonight. In fact, I'm going to giver her a call now...

"私はあなたに無限にしたい".

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

4 years

2011-02-04T00:46:00.001+09:00

I dunno why I remembered it this year but 4 years ago I stood on the land of Japan for the very first time.

I spent 2 weeks in Japan going from here to there and, if any of my posts were true, I left kicking and screaming. Seven months later, I came back again for a quick visit. Just under a year after that, I moved and began my life in Japan. Those were heady times indeed. And they were kinda the times that led me to where I am now. Back then I somehow managed to have enough money to come to Japan and stay at places that I cannot, and still cannot, pronounce - "A-sa-ku-sa". Four years later, I somehow managed to have blown nearly 100,000 yen on various bills and debt. And it's just only pay day.

But as I pulled into the convenience store in my work car and browsed along the aisles to see if my favourite chocolate that was available for a limited time during winter was available (it wasn't) and flick through the gossip mags to see what the girls of AKB48 were up to this week, I knew that I have come a long way. But looking back, something happened way back in 2007 and I'm here because of what was then declared an "unlogical" thought of living in Japan. I'm here because of it and there is a lot of illogicality to it. But I'm here nonetheless.

Coda: I'm glad that my writing style has changed since then. Fuck those were terrible blog posts back then.

As you are

2011-02-02T23:52:00.002+09:00

A couple of kids from my class will be leaving town at the end of this current school year. A couple of years later, the kids will graduate and move onto primary school. I still keep in contact with some of the high school kids that I taught in one of my past lives but I don't think it'll be the same with these younger kids. They can hardly remember what happened the day before let alone a year, 5 or 10. The only thing I can remember about my own kindergarten teacher is that her name was Miss Webster, she always threatened to wear high heels to stomp on us when we were bad and she made me cry once because I brought a Crunchie chocolate bar to school for my little lunch and she said that was unhealthy. I sought comfort in my mate's BBQ pork bun that somehow escaped her scrutiny.

Maybe I'll bump into them here and there. But I doubt I'll recognise them when they've grown up a bit, even if they did recognise me: their mums might but that's about it. I'd imagine I'll be yelling and grumbling at them for one thing or another but most likely for being young. I wonder if they will one day remember that fella who helped button their jackets, told them when their shoes were on the wrong way round or picked them up not because he wanted to make them laugh but because he wanted to work out his guns.

And as I continue my days of teaching kindergarten kids, I am reminded of this poem. I can't find who it's by but it's probably some drunken Irishman:

As you are now,
so once was I,
remember this,
as time goes by.
As I am now,
soon you will be,
remember this,
and pray for me.

Coda: The poem provided some sort of inspiration for Fran Healy in writing the song "As You Are" for Travis. "As You Are" has what in my opinion is one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard. Just look at him make love to that stack of Orange amps! Take that, "Stairway to Heaven"!

Music In My Head: Travis - As You Are

The Dark Tower

2011-01-29T14:12:00.003+09:00

"The Dark Tower" is a seven book series by Stephen King. It encompasses so many different genres and influences that it is far removed from your typical Stephen King book. It is also my favourite series of all time.

In the series, the main protagonist Roland Deschain is a Gunslinger, a mix of Aruthurian knights and Sergio Leone cowboys. The last of his kind, Roland is called by destiny to save the Dark Tower: the meeting point of all worlds which is progressively falling apart. Save the Dark Tower, save the world; easy. Roland's a tough son of a bitch and he'll get to the Dark Tower if it means sacrificing his childhood friends, his lover, his posse, his psuedo-son, bits of his body and his sanity. At the end of the day, the priority isn't saving the Dark Tower: it's getting to it.

Whilst not as dramatic nor epic as Roland and his quest to reach the Dark Tower, I realised the other day that I too have a tower that has its power over me: Tokyo Sky Tree. Like most other major things in Japan, there is a tonne of symbolism associated with Tokyo Sky Tree: from its final height of 634 metres (which sounds the same as "samurai" in Japanese) to incorporating a pagoda-esque design so the tower can watch and protect all those that live under it. For me, Tokyo Sky Tree symbolises my short-term future in Japan. I dunno why I'm fascinated with Tokyo Sky Tree; afterall it's not even in my top 3 favourite things in Japan. But it's not everyday that you get to witness a monument being built that will represent, symbolise and be seen in so many ways.

Besides the "Can you eat natto?" question, the other most common question I get is "When will you leave Japan?". The latter question comes from an audience of a larger group ranging from my boss, Mrs Au-Yeung and the bounty hunters that are waiting to arrest me once I step foot onto Australian soil. Though I'm sure the bounty hunters are also curious at my ability to eat natto or not. Somewhere along the way I've decided to stay in Japan to see the opening of Tokyo Sky Tree. At the moment it's scheduled for September 2012 and being a Japanese project, I would be surprised if there were to be delays. It's a nice point in time to use to decide on the length of my time in Japan for now: not too far ahead so that I can't see the end, not too short so I have to start planning for after the end, and there's a nice new shiny tower at the end. And all it requires me is to keep my head down and live my life in much a similar fashion as now. Which means I do not plan nor forsee the need to sacrifice my childhood friends, my lover Ueto Aya, my posse, my psuedo-son, bits of my body and my sanity. After all, I'm just trying to stay in Japan for a year and a bit longer and not trying to save the world, right? Wait, the 2 things are the same...?

After September 2012, the opening of Tokyo Sky Tree and me coming back from the tower with a tonne of Tokyo Sky Tree magnets, who knows? It would've helped if Tokyo had won the right to host the 2016 Olympics but that would've been too far away to plan for. So for now, I join Japan in looking forward to the opening of Tokyo Sky Tree albeit for different reasons. Though I may suspect that there are one or two local folks who are also looking forward to me leaving and finally meeting with the awaiting bounty hunters.

And the Dark Tower Draws closer...

Coda:

As well as providing a realistic point in time for me to plan my stay in Japan, Tokyo Sky Tree has also served as a way to connect with my fellow colleagues. The other day I got off work and as I left school I bumped into a group of teachers who were also getting ready to leave. For whatever reason they never really spoke to me nor tried to but it's not something I'm going to bust my balls in trying to solve: I've got other things to solve such as where I lost my favourite pen in Tokyo.

Before I could say my usual farewells, one of the teachers asked me point blank: "John, do you know what the final height of Tokyo Sky Tree will be?" It was as if I was on a quiz show and as such I gave a calm and focused response: "634 metres. I won't need to phone a friend, it's no deal and the price is right".

And so I spent the next 5 minutes telling them about why it'll be 634 metres, what the current height of the tower was and showed them some photos of Tokyo Sky Tree that I had on my camera. All that amounted to more than what we have spoken to each since I started working at the school. And then I left and the next day things were the same: we didn't become buddies over Tokyo Sky Tree. Maybe I should've wowed them with more fun facts (aren't they all fun facts?) about the tower, recommend to them Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" or tell them about the new breaking leads I have in regards to the whereabouts of my missing pen.

Maybe.

Music In My Head: Brother - Time Machine

Something changed

2011-01-15T01:06:00.003+09:00

The other day I was looking for photos of myself for school. The mums were putting something together and they needed a photo of the teachers from when they were a child, a recent photo and a favourite photo. Whilst undertaking the task, I realised that there aren't a lot of photos that "suits" my job as a teacher of young kids.

And I also realised that something changed along the way of growing up.

I enjoy looking at my kids and guessing who'll have those faces that will change as they grow and whose faces won't. I guess I belonged to the former though having braces did change things. But generally I don't know what changed outside and inside from points "That Kid" to "This Man". I wonder if the parents of That Kid would allow This Man to teach That Kid English.

Music In My Head: School of Seven Bells - I L U

My Winter Vacation Report

2011-01-10T18:22:00.003+09:00

When I was in primary school we always had to write or draw about what we did during our holidays. In the same tradition (with the drawings replaced with Youtube videos) this is what I did on my winter break before I started running around Japan:

Sherlock

I was a bit late but apparently this BBC modern reworking was causing a bit of a fuss in 2010. I never was on the bandwagon where people raved about BBC productions but this series (bar the terrible second episode) is wonderfully well written, acted and paced has me...raving!

Somewhere

Constant Readers will know the thing I have for a little film called "Lost in Translation". As such, I'm automatically biased towards this similarly themed movie. I understand all the things that have been said about this film and I agree with a some of it but I haven't joined in kicking the film whilst it is down.

Pineapple Express

It's hard to get the annoying James Franco from the Spider-Man films out of my head so maybe that's why I had this film waiting to be watched for a good 2 years. I guess it helps to be ~~stoned~~ in the right mindset to watch this film because all I was thinking throughout the film was how the characters could still be alive and walking after all the damage they've taken.

In Good Company

It's got Scarlett Johansson in it so that's automatically a +1. And I actually don't mind (Chris)Topher Grace. But the thing that stood out the most for me was how interchangeable Dennis Quaid and Harrison Ford are. I thought this was a rom-com but it ended up being a surprisingly enjoyable film about finding yourself and what you want.

The Social Network

Yes, I did use Facebook after the film finished. Don't judge me. Instead, judge Justin Timberlake's annoying voice. And if the celluloid version of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are as annoying as their real life counterparts, then I'm glad that the twins got beaten by a pair of Aussies in rowing at the 2008 Olympics.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Even for a wonderful and rather serious animated film like this, you still can't avoid the upskirt shots of girls. Tis the nature of the beast I guess. This film made me miss summer, the sounds of crickets and being young.

Up in the Air

This film combines a lot of things that I like in life: George Clooney, hotels, George Clooney wearing a suit, flying, George Clooney's voice, films about finding what you want in life, George Clooney oozing charisma, aerial views of cities, George Clooney smiling, planes, George Clooney's hair, clouds, George Clooney seducing women, road trip films, George Clooney drinking, airports, George Clooney.

Manhattan

In a past life a long time ago, I attended first year film class. I learnt a bit, watched some films that I wouldn't have and didn't do a lot of the reading. In one of the lectures, they showed the act with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton spending the night talking and ending with the pair at Brooklyn Bridge at dawn. It was probably the most important thing that I got from all the lectures that I attended whilst at university.

The Other Guys

Confession: I fell asleep during this film. It's surprisingly longer than the other films mentioned here, even the artier ones. Amongst other things, what disappointed me the most about this film was that it was about financial fraud. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound as dangerous as say, bank heists, acts of terrorism or world domination.

Days of Being Wild

I first saw this when I was 9 and it bored me to tears. Thankfully I've changed quite a bit in 20 years because this film is a treasure chest of goodness: an all star cast of Hong Kong cinema all giving incredible performances. A super cute Maggie Cheung. The first film of the Wong Kar-Wai themes and style, with the act with Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung summing it up perfectly. And the ending that had me changing my underwear. Fortunately I've done my laundry so I have the luxury of watching the ending again and have clean underwear on hand:

For some reason I want to start smoking and put pomade in my hair.

Music In My Head: Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat

These are some of my favourite things...

2011-01-08T17:38:00.003+09:00

I'm on the shinkansen going from Osaka to Tokyo whilst drinking a can of Calpis Soda. Not that I'd be able to but if I saw Tokyo Tower then that would be my 3 most favourite things in Japan in one sitting. I'm glad I won't get all 3 in one sitting: I don't know if I could handle all the goodness.

In no particular order, other Japanese things that I like:

Tokyo Sky Tree
Ueto Aya
nomihodai
onsens
Hara Sarasa
karaoke
umeshu
the Indiana Jones ride at Tokyo Disney Sea

If I ever somehow find myself drinking Calpis Soda, whilst on a shinkansen bound for Tokyo, to go to Tokyo Tower to attend a nomihodai party celebrating the opening of Tokyo Sky Tree, a party that has karaoke and only has umeshuand Ueto Aya and Hara Sarasa attending and ends with a ride on Indiana Jones and a late night dip in the onsen (with Ms Ueto and Hara vitally still in attendance)...if ALL that was to happen then I think it will be messy. Very messy.

Actually I think it's happening next Friday.

Music In My Head: Tokio - Na Na Na (太陽なんていらねぇ)

It begins again

2011-01-01T16:46:00.002+09:00

They say how you start the year determines how the rest of the year will be.

I started the first day of 2011 by being woken up 'round 8 by an earthquake.

I guess this means that 2011 will be ROCKIN'!!!

Maybe.

As I went about town to send a present to a distant friend, I soaked up the scene that I witnessed at the post office as folks madly dashed to send off late nengajo and post office staff madly dashed after the folks with baskets filled with nengajo. In turn, I went home to find my own letter box filled with nengajo from a motley crew. On this refreshingly crisp start to 2011, I decided it was a good day to start the year.

More importantly, the words to a Sum 41 song (wait, come back!) came into consciousness and I thought it would be nice to make the coming year follow a similar path:

I will be home in a while/
You don't have to say a word/
I can't wait to see you smile/
I wouldn't miss it for the world/

Sum 41 - Walking Disaster

Out of time

2010-12-31T18:21:00.005+09:00

When you're not caught up in the middle of it all, things just pass you by. And so that's how the coming New Years Eve of 2010 feels like. Folks at school asked me how I was planning to spend New Years Eve and they were shocked that I was going to spend it by myself. Of course in Japan everyone runs home to their families, eats soba and watches the annual New Years Eve programmes on TV. I once promised someone we'd eat soba on New Years Eve. Strange I remember things like that but not, say, the words to AKB48's "ヘビーローテーション".

But given the choice, I rather spend New Years Eve by myself doing nothing, than say Christmas. Oh did I have me a good time this Christmas. But there's nothing major happening tonight. As I write, the rice is being cooked (FUCK! I should be eating soba!) and dinner will be made. To go with dinner, there's "Somewhere" ready to be watched. The last time I had a quiet New Years Eve, I saw "Broken Flowers" so it's kinda fitting to watch another film during another quiet New Years Eve about finding yourself and all that jazz. And I think I'm going to grab a drink with some folks who didn't run home for the holidays. It depends.

2010 was a funny year. It definitely was a year of two halves (sports cliche used, yes!) and the polarity of emotions that I've experienced and lessons learnt is a bit too much. But that's how things go I guess. At least I'm learning.

I'll see you around.

Music In My Head: Blur - Out of Time

How people celebrate Christmas in Tokyo

2010-12-30T00:49:00.002+09:00

On Christmas, I saw my friend's band, Love Love Straw, play in Tokyo.

They played one of my favourite songs of theirs "Wind Blows", a song which kept me sane in 2010.

I saw the band that I adore, Civic.

I saw Sugardrop, a new band that I dig.

I laughed at the bassist from Love Love Straw who'd rather play Monster Hunter than check out the other bands.

I met a couple who had never miss a gig of Love Love Straw, a feat that stretches for a good decade and a bit.

I got introduced to everyone as "the buddy of 'Love Love Straw'".

I joined in the praises of this band and that and the key word of for the night was "adolescence": it seemed that the ability to exude a degree of adolescence (whether you possess/ed it is minor in comparison to the ability to exude it) is what makes a great artist.

I dashed with the guitarist from Civic to catch the last train back into town.

On the train, we passed the time by blowing the water about guitars, songwriting for Civic and good stuff he should listen to (for those playing at home, it was Fyfe Dangerfield, School of Seven Bells and Passion Pit, which the latter he apparently likes).

I ended the night but helping said guitarist collect his pedals as it all spilled across the concourse floor of Shinjuku station, one of the busiest stations of Tokyo.

There were various things that came before the gig (oh hello really expensive pork ribs!) and various things that followed after ("Is this a gay bar, Yui?"). But hands down the gig was the highlight. Add it all up, it was a day that no matter how well you planned it, it would never be able to reach how absolutely brilliant and magical that night was. Placed in the setting of Tokyo and the timing of Christmas and all positives get multiplied to an ever greater amount. Right after I took a photo of the gig's after party, I knew this was one of those nights that you wished would never end, a night that you'd still clearly remember 10, 20, 30 years after because of how everything was so alive and how it made you feel alive. But end it did as everyone made their way to catch the last train for the night or to stumble back to their hotel room and ultimately return back to their respective normalcy. But for a moment, my God was it good. And I realised a key fact: as much as we hate to admit it, but rock stars are way cooler than you and I. At the drop of the hat, who wouldn't want to hang out with rock stars? I hate that fact but man is it true.

As of now I'm many a day removed from Christmas in Tokyo and yet it still lingers like a dream. I lived it (my clothes smelling of cigarettes and my lack of funds are evidence of it) but for there to be that much joy, laughter and happy memories that that day is filled with is something reaching the area that the straightforward/mindfuck (delete as appropriate) film "Inception" dealt with: is this a dream or reality? I don't have a spinning top to tell me what's what but whatever it was, it was something that has become part of my living memory.

Coda: It took me at least 4 proper goes to write this post. The attempt to put a magical night into a words has probably diluted it into reading like a drunken night out in Tokyo. I do not deny that but you would've also wanted to be there. I would've wanted you to be there as well but hell you would've stolen from my rack of ribs. I'm not having that.

Music In My Head: Elbow - Lippy Kids

A new hope

2010-12-20T23:23:00.003+09:00

That, my friend, is the sound of a whale breathing a sigh of relief as it sees the future of Japan taking a stand against whaling.

Also my friend, the following sound is the sound of said whale beaching itself.

Music In My Head: Mr Children - 終わりなき旅

The Year in Review

2010-12-18T00:08:00.000+09:00

It works like this: go back in your blog and take the first sentence from your first post or the post title on the first day of the month (or closest to) for all 12 months of 2010. Those were the rules back in 1863 but eh, I'm picking whatever I want cos doing so makes me feel big.

This used to be a meme but who reads my blog AND keeps a regular blog, ey? But there's still a few things I like to do with the blog and this is one of them. Regardless, I'm surprised that there's content for me to do a summary of the year.

So it goes a bit like this...

January

I started 2010...feeling safe in the knowledge that all the hard work for the coming year will be worth it.

February

Gone is the boy who came to Japan and gawked, giggled and took photos of fancy wancy electronic toilets. He is replaced with the man who lives in Japan and is not really sure of how to use it but nonetheless frequently washes and (more frequently) sits on his own fancy wancy electronic toilets and surveys his kingdom.

March

So close yet so far.

April

Spring has threatened to come for a while but then it didn't but then it did but then it didn't but then it did but then it didn't and in the end I got confused and needed to have a lie down.

May

One day not too long ago I envisioned what my life would be like in Japan.

June

I let a good thing go.

July

I've been thinking a lot about how I've spent the last 2 years.

August

In between trying to figure out the quirks of my apartment and fitting into my new job, things are going to plan; the plan being to eat various festival food and shaved ice whenever it's offered during summer.

September

I need to heal my soul every so often.

October

Apologies to my cousins and friends but your weddings have become a tad inferior.

November

Then there will be love: not for me but for 2 of the dearest people to me.

December

When will I learn anything?

Music In My Head: Weezer - Memory

My best friend's wedding

2010-12-02T23:38:00.002+09:00

When will I learn anything? Or at the very least, when will I learn that Hollywood movies will never ever teach me anything that proves to be true or useful, especially movies fronted by Julia Roberts.

Head full of crazy ideas, I travelled to Hong Kong to try and stop my best friend, Anderson, from getting married. The wedding was a long time coming but me being me decided to give it a shot at the last moment. Things were looking up: on the day I was placed in charge of keeping the rings until the ceremony. This would be a piece of cake...

By the end of the day I was left tending to my best friend's drunken friends whilst he was left tending to his bride. Clearly, it seems I failed in my mission. Though it was a marriage of a couple whose relationship where the single, married and those tending to broken hearts can learn something from.

Amongst other things, I learned that I'm finding it harder to beat the stupid laws of time and not have enough time to properly hang out with people like I used to. I learned that my life is slowly turning into a Judd Apatow movie but without the ensuing hilarity and possibly happy ending. And I learned that it's good to have someone more sober than you when it comes to paying the bill for the wedding banquet at the end of the night. Strangely that sober person in question was me: "Yes, just chuck this on that credit card and the rest on this one. And grab a bottle of red wine for your efforts, sir!"

I guess we can all change, ey?

Fortunately, I got to spend sufficient time with these two. And even though I failed my mission happily, they'll be spending their time with each other for the rest of their lives.

Music In My Head: Robbie Williams - Strong

Things happen in 3s

2010-11-25T22:39:00.000+09:00

It happened in 2008.

And then again in 2009.

And because all things happen in 3s, it happened again this year: I forgot the birthday of this blog.

The other day I was sitting with my students at tables that are just about knee high height. I was eating lunch with them and making sure that their cups are at the top of the table so they don't knock their milk over (and subsequently learning the life lesson that it's no use crying over spilt milk) when I realised that the blog had turned 6 a while ago. September 21st to be exact.

Given that my sideburns are starting to turn grey, I guess forgetting things like birthdays of blogs, lyrics to Oasis songs or what I did in 2004 (the year this blog started actually) goes hand in hand. It's just one of those things that happens even though it'd be best if it didn't: I really love my sideburns.

When asked, John of 6 years ago would have struggled to say where John of 2010 would be. Whilst still a wild guess, I think "feeding my own kids" would have been more believable compared to "feeding someone else's kids for a living". But the latter is the truth and who can deny the truth?

The blog has done well to be a testament to all the truths that have come and gone over the last 6 years. Though it pains me to say that this year has been a really dry year when it comes to blog posts. I have no real reason to explain except for the fact of pure laziness. I'm not out going on a murder spree everyday or some other exciting thing like that but things still happen which is worth writing about but alas doesn't. Although if I were out on a murder spree everyday it would be best not to blog about it. But 6 years has been a long time and most TV shows have already out stayed its welcome by now and only existing to generate more future DVD and syndication income. I doubt that the blog has such a prosperous future but it definitely doesn't has such a grim future.

And as the blog posts dry up, I note that there are still some Constant Readers hanging around for whatever reason. I thankee for your welcome and the 0.57 seconds you spend here. Since I'll be away in Hong Kong for a bit, I thought it would be a good time to conduct a census. see who lurks around here. I have a vague idea at some folks but it'll be nice to see who's who.

Use your real name, fake name or your porn star name and answer the following questions as a comment:

1) Name
2) The last song you heard
3) It's my round. What do you want to drink?

In a bit.

Music In My Head: 楊千嬅 - 數你

You stole the sun from my heart

2010-11-09T23:57:00.003+09:00

If I had my way, I would be teaching every Shunsuke, Daisuke and Yusuke how to sing the following classic of my time, your time and Hammertime:

Singing on the bar with a bottle of beer in hand will be covered in the advanced course.

Alas I sometimes have to compromise and roll with it when it's not my way. As such I have to teach the kids to sing the lesser song "You are My Sunshine" for the upcoming Christmas concert. Why we are singing this song for Christmas I don't know when we can singing the praises of Ole Gunnar ~~Solksjaer~~ ~~Sojsklaer~~ Solskjaer.

And I guess it's a decision that's paying dividends. The day after I went through the lyrics with my kids for the first time - kids aged 3 give or take a year and who have never heard of the song before (I told you it was lesser!) - one of my favourite students (yes I am a teacher with favourites. Bite me) came up to tell me that he remembers parts of what we went through.

"John-sensei, you are my sunshine!"

That moment nearly rivals watching Soljs...Solskjaer scoring the winning goal to claim the 1999 Champions League for Manchester United. And like that moment, I thought I would live a couple of years short from being too happy.

Come Christmas concert time, I know I will be as proud as the parents. And if they're not proud, I'll be proud enough to cover for them.

Music In My Head: Fyfe Dangerfield - When You Walk in the Room

Say hello to good times.

2010-11-04T00:23:00.003+09:00

I,
I always believed in futures.
I hope for better in November.

"Futures" by Jimmy Eat World.

Welcome Novemeber, my favourite month of the year.

November is an awesome time of year. I think this fascination for Novemeber stems from the 6 Novembers that I had during university, where I would slave away on assignments and exams. However, with the end of the school year in sight, the cool late night breezes making the cram sessions enjoyable. And with the weather and the hem lines (ahem) going up in tandem, Novemeber always holds a special place in my heart.

Last year was filled with a lot of music, imaginations of love and the first sighting of snow.

This year, the forecasts for November predict slightly the opposite.

There will be music, not created by me but by 3 Irish lads.

There will be my sister in Japan and when paired together we will make the folks on the Amazing Race look like goodwill ambassadors.

And then there will be love: not for me but for 2 of the dearest people to me.

Since this will be my third cold November, I should stop banging on about how it'll be different from the warm Novembers that live in memorial form for good health and good times. So far it's been the same: good times, just with more layers of clothing. But I do have to mention that this year instead of snow I have to tackle the cold winds. I don't know which I prefer. I'll let you know when I find out.

Music In My Head: Motor Ace - Carry On

The most sexually explicit post ever on this blog

2010-10-30T01:02:00.002+09:00

It happened again:

Another work do.

Whereby the same people turned up again.

And we went to eat, drink and sing at the same karaoke joint down the road from my house.

And up the stairs and first door on your right was the same room we had last time.

But unlike last time, this time I didn't have to wait long before a questionable video by AKB48 came up and I was posed with the same question: in a room full of women (7) and myself, do I appreciate the video for all its intended glory? Or do I put on my sensitive hat and not care too much for it?

In the midst of things, I was curious as to why a woman would choose to sing or even like such a song which has such a loaded video. Sure, it's catchy bubblegum pop but can it really be that easy to completely ignore the mass market selling of sex, sex, sex - and one more to boost my traffic - sex, as you follow the highlighted words on screen and sing the profound lyrics: "I want you/I need you/I love you"?

And whilst people were outraged or flocked to their local porn stores when a former member of the group changed careers and started making porn, it can be argued that the jump from prancing around to bubblegum pop in sexy lingerie to taking it on screen in sexy lingerie (kinda safe for work), isn't that far.

But like last time, after a while I forgot what I was thinking. I just sat back, drank my Chateau Rogue (which was red wine and ginger ale and something else) and admired something something. My fellow coworker's singing? The aforementioned sexy lingerie on young flesh? The art that is bubblegum pop?

I don't know and I still don't know.

Life skills

2010-10-24T17:34:00.002+09:00

"For Alexandra,
...May we leave your generation a world
better than the one we were given".

Carl Sagan's dedication for "Contact".

As I spend more time with my students, I realise that I want their future to be better than what it can be. I want them to learn more than just the set curriculum and direct themselves to such a future.

I want them to learn skills and values that will set them up for life.

I want them to learn how to feed or dress themselves.

I want the boys to man up and be little men and not cry at the drop of a hat.

I want the girls to be little ladies and not base their whole lives around what's cute or not.

Ultimately though, I want them to be able to take care of themselves in whatever challenges or hardships they face, be it work, relationships, or a zombie attack.

Music In My Head: Manic Street Preachers - I'm Leaving You for Solitude

The Bucket List that was Made in Japan #01: An Overpriced Cocktail

2010-10-21T23:14:00.001+09:00

Having come across a few people's respective lists of things to do during their time in their respective bit of the world, I realised that I never did have a list of things that I wanted to do whilst I'm in Japan. I always felt that having such a list makes the activity in question is done for the sake of having it crossed off, rather than purely out of desire.

Mainly though, there is something else. When asked say, "What do you want for your birthday?" I am the type of person who never knows until later when the moment has passed. There is an inability to know what I want or want to do at the moment of asking and this explains the absence of a bucket list of Japan. It is only after that I've done something, that I then know that it was something that I had wanted to do. This last paragraph has been surprisingly therapeutic.

Having said all that, I thought it would be nice to create a bucket list of sorts that works in hindsight or retrospect. It would serve as a nice reminder of all the nice things that I came across whilst in Japan. Of a more practical nature, it would give me something to blog about, as this blog has suffered quite a bit for whatever reason. I'm sorry.

What better place to begin than the beginning:

Constant Readers (all 3.6 of you) will know how the film "Lost in Translation" holds a special place in my consciousness. So on the very first day of my stay in Japan, back in late July 2008, I made my pilgrimage to the New York Bar at The Park Hyatt Tokyo. The bar was a key location in "Lost in Translation" where the main characters Bob and Charlotte meet and have their lives changed.
Whilst the bar tastefully does not advertise the fact ("As seen in 'Lost in Translation'!"), there is a quite nod to the film in the form of an original cocktail named in honour of the film. Even the name is subtle: L.I.T. I wonder what it stands for?

In many ways this place was the place where my dream of Japan began. As well as being a place that I wanted to go because of the film, it also became the place where I started to dream about my life in Japan, as I sipped my L.I.T and soaked up the Tokyo skyline. Whatever has happened to me during my time in Japan is kinda a result of that afternoon at the bar.

I haven't had the opportunity nor the financial strength to go back again. But it would be nice to make a pilgrimage to the place where it all began and to see how far I've come. Plus the L.I.T isn't too bad of a drink.

Music In My Head: The Beatles - Penny Lane

Furry walls

2010-10-17T18:53:00.003+09:00

We were meant to celebrate the annual Health and Sports Day. Instead, we ended up celebrating Rebekah's wedding to her tremendously handsome husband. It was a beautiful wedding that ticked all the right boxes. Apologies to my cousins and friends but your weddings have become a tad inferior in comparison.

The wedding was the culmination of a pretty awesome long weekend filled with love and joy. I got to work on ~~Monday~~ Tuesday not knowing why I was there. The thought of work had not entered my mind over the past 3 and a bit days. I guess that's always a good sign that the weekend was a success.

The following week felt like someone had given me a Jeffrey. Somehow I survived the it though it would've helped if I had a Furry Wall to stroke.

Coda: It shows how much I needed a Furry Wall to stroke when I failed to mention how "extraordinarily beautiful" the bride was. Because she was. How I missed mentioning that in the first place, I do not know. How I became a pushover to write what people wants me to write, I do not know as well.

Music In My Head: Infant Sorrow - Furry Walls

Tic tic tic tic BOOM!

2010-10-03T22:42:00.000+09:00

And I have no idea why the suggested videos are bomb/explosion related. Maybe that's how violent, explosive and destructive things will be when I share the same roof with my sister for a week in November?

Music In My Head: Crowded House - Archer's Arrows

Never work with kids...

2010-09-29T22:00:00.001+09:00

Just over 2 months into my new job at the kindie and I already know that the challenges are bigger but the rewards equally so.

Today was a pretty hectic day with one of the 2 homeroom teachers in my class away due to illness, full rehearsal for the upcoming sports day and every kid wanting help with changing, packing or going to the toilet. In the midst of it all, I was reminded of this classic scene from this classic movie...

But really I'm just blowing the water: things aren't bad and I don't mind my new job. The real problem though is the lack of Tony Leung videos on this blog. I'll be working hard on that problem and hope I have started in the right direction.

Music In My Head: The Verve - Sonnet

Giving 200% effort

2010-09-26T23:45:00.000+09:00

We all know that most if not all things require effort if it is to be done well. It is even truer if it is something creative. Alas.

Still, sometimes you can luck out and create something from the top draw without much effort.

Considering that when I took the photo I was slightly hungover, in my pajamas, with bed hair whilst having a break from smuggling my futon and persian rug between cities, I am rather chuffed at how it turned out: in between pointing and shooting everything for the photo fell into place. But then again I'd probably used up all my luck for the rest of the year in having everything right for the photo. Easy come, easy go, ey?

Music In My Head: You Am I - How Much is Enough?

The Dai Kannon has eyes

2010-09-20T00:22:00.001+09:00

Cavaet lector: As hard as it is to decide between Team Edward or Team Jacob, it's really Team Jesus for me. So there might be a sense of bias when I say that I find giant Buddhist statues to be slightly creepy. I don't pick up on the friendly or benevolent vibe that such a large religious statement should be projecting. And there's something about the eyes: all these giant statues with closed eyes, looking like they're waiting for the moment to open their eyes one day and wreak havoc onto the villages standing below it. Maybe it's just me and the result of spending too much time playing Ganbare Goemon 2...

So the other day when I went to Sendai for work training I paused for a bit when I found that my hotel was next to a Dai Kannon statue. Perched on top of a hill overlooking the city of Sendai, it was in the prime position to wake up from its slumber and shoot lasers and stomp on the unsuspecting city below. But it seemed the town wasn't too unsuspecting.

On the cab ride to the hotel, the cab driver started talking as all cab drivers do. Once we approached the hotel and saw that it was right smack bang next to the Dai Kannon statue, the driver started yapping away at something or other. Later I found out that he was banging on about the statue. And how you could go inside the statue and see all the shrines and alters and views of the city below. But they stopped people going inside the statue for a bit when one day the closed eyes of the statue opened. But hey, that was in the pass, right, because now the eyes are closed and it's all safe again so you can go up all you want and hey it's the hotel here and that's ￥4,090 thank you very much.

You don't tip taxi drivers in Japan but if I could I would've in that situation. He was clearly playing the roll of the "crazy old person" in a horror movie who babbles about something or another but turns out he was warning you of the horrors ahead. Such information is the kind that those unaware would dismiss as crazy talk but really it's the truth and the kind that those in the know would keep shushed up less to scare away unaware folk like me. I was more careful of the statue than usual. You can never be too careful about giant religious statues waking up and wreaking havoc. And naturally, during my stay at the hotel I had to have the room closest to the statue. Naturally.

That night, I drank terrible wine from a can and slept with the light on. The Dai Kannon didn't open her eyes. But I had my eye on her. Just in case.

The tough decisions in life

2010-09-13T21:54:00.002+09:00

The other day as I was downing Red Bull and [insert alcohol of choice] and destroying my vocal chords (seriously) at karaoke with my new colleagues, I was faced with a tough decision when the following music video (minus the cinematic gold that is the extended intro) came up as part of a fellow teacher's selected song:

Being the only male in a room full of women, is it OK for me to continue to appreciate the video for all its intended glory? Or do I put on my sensitive hat and not care too much for it?

I forget what I was originally going on about now.

Yesterday, today

2010-09-08T23:58:00.003+09:00

It's really empowering to be able to say that I teach the children and future of Japan using cutting edge technology.

Not lost in translation

2010-09-06T07:48:00.008+09:00

I rewatched "Lost in Translation" the other night because I need to heal my soul every so often.

I realised that after seeing it for the first time nearly 4 years ago I now understand the film's "lost in translation" parts where the Japanese becomes a source of comedy, confusion and charm: for those playing at home specifically the commercial shoot scene and the scene at the hospital.

This film was one of the reason's why I came to Japan, that it inspired the title of this blog and helped me to appreciate Scarlett Johansson's excellent body of work.

With all that said I thought it was kinda significant. I also thought that drinking white wine whilst watching the film was also kinda significant.

Not so lost anymore?

Music In My Head: My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes

Treasures

2010-08-30T00:15:00.001+09:00

We all need some point of focus in our lives, something to focus our time or energy on. Some people have loved ones, others have addictions. Or for the blessed ones amongst us, loved ones who feed our addictions.

Throughout the years I'd always have something to keep an eye out for throughout my travels. It all started out with hunting down first edition hardbacks of Richard Laymon stuff in the various second hand bookshops around Sydney on days when I should've been at school or attending lectures. It then became Oasis bootlegs and other tidbits. This was all before the days of Ebay and being banned from Ebay so looking for not your everyday kinda stuff was a real treasure hunt armed with nothing except your luck. And yet I wouldn't have it any other way: the simple act of popping in and out of stores - stores that are so unique and filled with character that they are worth a simple visit for that - in the hope that Lady Luck shines on you and you stumble on your gold is something romantic and adds to the reward when it is found. Like the time when I blindly stumbled upon the book, "City of Darkness" (a photography book about the infamous Kowloon Walled City) in a major Hong Kong bookstore. This was in my past life as a bookseller and every source of industry information told me that the book was one level away from being "out of print"; which is even worse than being out of print because it's technically still available but you know it's not. So when I found the book on display on a goddamn display stack I was indeed a happy customer.

And so my current life continues to have meaning by my current focus: tracking down Love Love Straw CDs. They've put out 4 albums and 1 best of and I own 3 of them. True I can just jump onto Amazon Japan and just get them there and save me the hassle of figuring the Japanese alphabet when looking in countless second hand stores. Or even better I could have asked the man himself, Nonaka-sensei, in scoring some copies of his band's CDs: nothing like from the direct source and asking a favour from a colleague, ey?

But it's not as fun as finding it by pure accident and the joy of ownership that follows. And so it happened the other day in what was a nothing-to-do-except-go-look-around-town kinda evening I found a copy of "Terranova", Love Love Straw's last album before their hiatus.

I usually don't but this time I kept the price sticker on the CD because I thought it was funny that I bought the CD for ￥600 (around $6) when the actual worth of the item with all of its personal value and time spent seeking for it and is, at a random guess, more than the ￥600 that I paid for it.

3 CDs.

2 more to go.

The seeking continues.

Music In My Head: Coldplay - The Scientist

Tokyo Blitz

2010-08-28T15:51:00.003+09:00

With the risk of pissing off various people (Mrs Au-Yeung, Mrs Au-Yeung and Mrs Au-Yeung), I'll delay my trip to Hong Kong to see you lovely Irish folks in Tokyo in November.

If my stay in Tokyo is as half as fun as what Ash got up to in that video then my decision to put off best man duties, getting fitted for my suit and doing my share of stimulating the Hong Kong ~~drinking establishments~~ hospitality industry is fully worth it.

In the mail along with a flyer for the local pachinko parlour

2010-08-18T12:19:00.004+09:00

Finally a wedding that I can attend without having to worry about international travel, knowing no one at the wedding or fear of reprisal from jealous/paranoid grooms-to-be.

Now all I have to worry about is whether the dinosaur suit is a reflection of the intended dress code and how those poor bunnies are gonna get off that cloud.

This should bring my wedding attendance rate to 2/6 for 2010. Still a sucky rate.

A promise

2010-08-12T19:25:00.002+09:00

Those who know me will be able to tell you that I am not one who is good at completing tasks that go for the long term; some may have a more convincing story than others. I think the only thing that I ever did well for a long period of time was managing Manchester United to the 2026/27 season in Championship Manager 01/02. That must account for something, right?

The other day I made a pilgrimage to Tokyo Sky Tree. It's being constructed as we speak and it's due to be opened in September 2012. And you know it'll be done on time because it's Japan.

I already had the idea in my head a while back but as I strained my neck up to view the structure in its 400ish glory (it's designed to stand at 634 metres) I promised myself that I will be stay in Japan to see the completion and opening of Tokyo Sky Tree. How I'll go about doing that and what happens after I don't know but it helps to have little goals here and there, right?

So God and Mrs Au-Yeung willing I'll be joining the million and one folks in viewing 634 metres worth of glory and awwwing and ahhhing at the sight of Tokyo from the overpriced observation decks come September 2012.

Of course, to fulfill this promise I'll also have to deal with the minor inconvenience of the world ending. But I won't let a minor inconvenience get in the way of a promise between me and a glorified antennae, right?

On the last episode...

2010-08-07T15:01:00.002+09:00

In between trying to figure out the quirks of my apartment and fitting into my new job, things are going to plan; the plan being to eat various festival food and shaved ice whenever it's offered during summer.

As I said it's going to plan, so well in fact that 36°c heat and a fever can't stop it. I clearly don't things half-arsed when shaved ice is involved.

Why you shouldn't hit the delete button

2010-07-27T00:26:00.001+09:00

There was meant to be a post about me turning 29.

A post that was written as I was stuck in the place that I most wanted to be stuck in: on the bullet train.

A post that was punched on my phone was being sandwiched between a really hot girl and a really fat middle aged woman.

A post that I saved to be posted later but deleted by accident because I am awesome and refuse to learn how to use my phone.

A post that was suppose to feature this photo to capture me turning 29:

A post that, in summary, was about how 29 was going to be fine. and 28 did turn out to be great.

In reality, it's no one's loss that the original post was gone and this post is here in its place. Maybe it'll do the same trick as Green Day misplacing the mastertapes that they were working on.

Or maybe it will just announce the simple wish of 29 being fine. No more, no less.

Music In My Head: Robbie Williams - Bodies

Where in 福島 is John 歐陽?

2010-07-26T12:06:00.002+09:00

I really have no idea where I am right now: I just let the lady inside the navigator and the bus driver respectively take me to Iwaki.

As such I'm glad that I bought a t-shirt that tells me where I am. Otherwise I would've been lost and naked. Double no-no's.

See you Aizu

2010-07-25T13:27:00.001+09:00

After 2 years it's time to say goodbye to my kingdom of Aizu. I wasn't forced out like other leaders but it's still sad to leave.

Actually I lie: I'm still not registering the fact that there's a bigger kingdom to conquer in Iwaki, my new home. I'm sure it'll hit me soon but for the moment spending 8 hours on driving alone for the moving process is numbing all feelings. A king has a lot of treasure chests and concubines to take with him y'know.

In a bit.

To which we came from

2010-07-18T23:43:00.002+09:00

So on a beautiful summer's day, I farewelled the last of my house guests to stay at the current abode that soon will stop becoming my home. Somehow over the past 2 years, people have managed to come round are way where there's not much to do. But yet every time we raised our weary heads the next day, we sobered up and chuckled about our fresh memories, in-jokes and stories over a big bowl of oh-so-good ramen.

Our house back at home was never the best place for people to stay over. As soon as I came to Japan, it became my duty to make it possible for people to stay at my place if they needed to. I guess I was making up for something.

On this beautiful summer's day, people left: back to their homes in Japan or back to their homes across the seas. Soon too I will leave this home of mine for the last 2 years and all that's left would be some photos and a funny story about so and so.

It's not much but it's enough to keep the spirits alive.

"Blue eyed sun,
shines on me in the morning.
Can't help but feel a little cold,
thinking of you".

Evermore - Light Surrounding You

Today we escape

2010-07-15T22:44:00.002+09:00

It's been 2 years in the waiting but tomorrow I will be giving my farewell speech to the whole school. I'll be wearing the same shirt that I wore when I gave my welcome speech (I don't know how I remember things like that), try not to bow after every paragraph and bring my hand towel...to wipe away my sweat. Because it gets hot on stage. Yes. It's not like I need to wipe away my tears...

I have to go through my speech a bit more but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get the message across to my target audience.

Music In My Head: Oasis - Waiting for the Rapture

Sowing the seeds

2010-07-15T01:02:00.000+09:00

The other day two of my favourite things at school, the baseball team and the brass band, came together to run through some songs and chants for the upcoming national high school baseball competition.

One of the songs they went through was "Paradise Ginga" by the late 80's boy band Hikaru Genji. Whilst struggling with a fellow teacher to think of the name of the song and the group, I realised that this was probably the first ever Japanese song that I had ever heard. Upon realisation, there was a warm fuzzy feeling that a song that I first heard when I was 8 or 9 and and which introduced me to the funny world of Japan, would somehow come up again after all these years and where I'm contributing and maintaining the funniness of the place.

Like all sugary pop, it is a catchy and infectious song. But really, the song got me with the rollerskating. Which kid won't go nuts over rollerskates?

Story of my life

2010-07-06T19:51:00.001+09:00

Job description

2010-07-02T16:04:00.000+09:00

There's about 4 weeks left before I wrap up my current gig. Last time I did such a thing, I gave myself, my employers and my students a month to get all the logistics and emotions ("I [love/hate/want to kill you/want to have your babies/want to have your sperm/want to know where the toilet is] John") out of the way. It worked well and I left on a good note. I'm hoping it'll be the same this time around.

I've been thinking a lot about how I've spent the last 2 years and what I've learnt about my chosen profession of teaching. I think I can say I've learnt a lot from what I've done during my time teaching English in Japan. This is how I've earnt my yennies:

Taught English to students
Developed and improved students' English skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing and pronunciation)
Introduced and exposed students to foreign culture and traditions - internationalisation
Played the guitar or bass in the teacher's or school's brass band
Started a bad joke and ran with it way past the line by starting a band with fellow teacher
Became said fellow teacher's concert promoter, editor and street crew
Introduced students to music that they should be listening to
Modelled and introduced correct and sensible fashion styles
Acted as a counsellor for students' relationship issues: crushes, unrequited love and witness of anniversaries are a specialty
Acted as a counsellor for fellow teachers bemoaning about their partners and/or lack of relationships
Provided a positive (possibly lacking?) male influence in male students' lives by performing and creating original "man-shakes"
Became the target for high school girl crushes
Was the #1 fan for the school's baseball, volleyball and basketball teams
Was a friend to everyone

I'm impressed to see that my resume is looking nice and respectable.
Music In My Head: Eskimo Joe - Foreign Lands

It's just rock 'n roll...

2010-06-24T00:45:00.000+09:00

So there I was the other night at the johndickheadhunter3 gig fulfilling my role as the band's promoter. It's just one of the many duties that I have as part of my job as an English teacher.

For me, part of the fun of going to a gig is people watching. Somehow a wide variety of folks pop up at gigs and it's fun to figure why they are there and how into the music they are.

It was a new one when a group of kids showed up just as johndickheadhunter3 came on stage. Right from the word get go you could tell that the band were mad for it.

The songs got belted out. Feedback got milked. Pregnant pauses led to the undeniable force that is rock 'n roll attacking your senses. All this and more led to a good show.

And through it all, the poor kids just stood helpless, caught in a wall of sound and not knowing what to do. I'd wager a bet to say that this was the kids' first rock gig and my were they caught out. They were clearly helpless: immobile and as heavy as a Michaelangelo statue, they did not show any signs of life or idea how to respond. Every riff, beat and feedback was something new and really, it could go either way. I'd like to think that this whet their appetite for the beauty that is rock but who knows? I certainly know that I wasn't that gawky and awkward when I went to my first rock gig and I've definitely sold myself to rock.

So who knows what will happen to these kids?

All I know is this:

It's just Rock 'N Roll.

Music In My Head: Placebo - Teenage Angst

And it was all yellow...

2010-06-22T23:44:00.002+09:00

I would like to say that my absence can be blamed on my fascination with Japan and its fruits. But then that would be lying and lead you to assume that I was well off enough to indulge in such a fascinating aspect of life.

Instead I'll distract you by presenting you with this yellow watermelon from Kumamoto.

I've been told by my bestest friend in Japan Ishii-san, the middle aged lady who works at my local supermarket, that the yellow watermelon tastes the same as your boring red ones. I went back the next day to buy what clearly is a fruit that God did not allow in the Garden of Eden. But, it had disappeared, probably to the same place that the Muse for this blog went to; that'll teach me to not buy yellow watermelons when I have the chance.

So I couldn't tell you if my bestest friend in Japan Ishii-san is a liar or not. I'm sure she's not. Well, at least she's never double scanned my purchases. Yet.

Music In My Head: Eskimo Joe - Thunderclap

Summer is coming

2010-06-13T18:06:00.002+09:00

Whilst spring has its sakura and short skirts to announce its arrival, summer has even shorter skirts and summer fruits to tell you it's here and it wants to party.

However bad the world's currencies are though, 3,800 yen for 2 domestically grown mangoes is just a bit too much. I'll stick with my shorter skirts, thanks. That is, ogling and not wearing them.

Music In My Head: 木村カエラ - Butterfly

Sunday morning call

2010-06-06T14:16:00.003+09:00

On a rather fine Sunday I somehow find myself spending the day watching my school's baseball team play a practice game and listen to my kids profess theis love for Gabriella from "High School Musical", mock rapping of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and talk of penises and/or sex which happen on a near daily basis. I did have plans for the day and whilst they weren't of great importance - epic bike ride through a part of town that I've yet to explore followed by a late lunch at KFC - the school's baseball team has somehow gained higher priority.

I'm not sure how this has happened but when I found out that next weekend's game would be the last home game for the season, I got a bit sad about it. I guess it's one more thing to add to the recently growing list.

Though I could do without all the penis talk.

Good thing go

2010-06-05T23:51:00.001+09:00

In the shade of every moment I bled
Such a sorrow was to be expected

I let a good thing go
I let a good thing go

Now every feeling it kicks me to the bone
And takes me under to a place that I have known
There goes my quiet life I used to keep me warm
In the shade of this moment I am born

I let a good thing go
I let a good thing go

In the shade of every moment I bled
Such a sorrow was to be expected

I let a good thing go
I let a good thing go
Good thing go

Sunday morning, 'round four

2010-05-30T18:34:00.002+09:00

Spring ended for me Sunday morning 'round four.

I know that there's still one more day left before May ends but that's a Monday and the less we talk about it the better it will be.

Despite the mornings where I woke up feeling worse for wear from the fact of not knowing what will happen come the end of July, Spring has been rather nice to me. As often as those said mornings were, the number of Facebook photos of nice and pleasant things taken during Spring, is greater.

So I guess things balance out.

Music In My Head: Feeder - Yesterday Went to Soon.

The state of the world

2010-05-22T13:21:00.001+09:00

Maybe this was how it was like during that part of my life when I had not heard of "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie. Or "Penny Lane" by The Beatles. Or the timeless "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran. Maybe.

But the other night at karaoke someone said "'Don't Look Back in Anger'? I don't know that one".

That's wrong.

Very, very wrong.

The fact that there's people out there who have not heard of "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis shows how screwed up our world is at this point in time. I worry for our future generations.

My old man rant ends here. Time to do some vacuuming.

Thank you for your time

2010-05-20T22:46:00.000+09:00

The other day I travelled nearly 9 hours return to attend an interview in Tokyo.

The interview lasted no more than 15 minutes with most of the questions asking for information that was already on my resume.

At least after the interview I got to eat at Burger King..

Though it was no Hungry Jacks and they didn't have a Grilled Chicken Burger.

I guess this summarises my luck of late.

The local tourism campaign

2010-05-18T10:22:00.001+09:00

I have a couple of one-on-one classes with a junior high school student. She's a native speaker of English and did primary school in North America so she can't really be in the normal English classes. The other day we composed some acrostic poems because I came up with the idea earlier in the morning when I was brushing my teeth and at the time it seemed like it was the best thing in the world.

We started writing one about food (cake), then our names and finally about a place. I suggested using "Aizu" as her theme but then the letter "z" would be tricky because all the words that I could think of that starts with "z" is "zombie" and "zoo. On her own, she came up with this:

Three Reasons for Not Going to Aizu

Asparagus is the only food they have,
Ice cold in the winter,
Zombies will attack you at night;
Unfortunately I live there.

There is some truth to the poem but I'll let you decide which bits are true or not. Though I'd recommend staying indoors at night if you ever find yourself round my way.

Music In My Head: The Ting Tings - Great DJ

A good secret place

2010-05-16T19:40:00.001+09:00

Sometimes I get caught up with my past lives: the time when I was was a trader on the Nile, a detective on the hunt for Jack the Ripper in West London or a astronaut training for the next NASA shuttle launch. All of this was of course a long time ago, in a life I no longer live.

Not too long ago I lived a life where I worked at a bookshop in Sydney. It was a pretty decent little place to hide from the real world and I was actually good at selling books.

Everything's eventual and that life had to end. Sometimes though I get taken back to that life and the world where books by "McDonald" get shelved before those by "Macfarland", where fat fantasy writers never finish writing their books on time and where browsing that ventured into the reading territory is frowned upon.

I found myself at a bookshop in Shinjuku the other day when I had an hour and a bit to kill. I killed that hour and a bit by being lost in a limited range of sci-fi, of reading and subsequently creasing a fair few magazines and eyeing the photo books. The architecture ones and not the ones with naked Japanese idols, of course.

There was no one to frown upon my browsing that went far into reading territory. As I got ready to leave I was confused: not because I couldn't find my way out but at why all the guys around me were dressed like they came out of the fashion magazines that I were next to the football magazines I had thumbed through earlier or the girls who all looked super cute. It seems that I had temporarily forgotten that I was in Japan. That was soom rectified by the diving into rush hour crowd at Shinjuku station.

Moments like that, along with everytime I buy a book at full price and miss my generous staff discount,often take me back to my past life. Nostalgia is a nice place to go visit every so often to bring life to those memories and times that slowly dies as each day passes. Equally good though is the fact that I can say that I live in Japan.

Music in My Head: Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

Common interests

2010-05-07T23:00:00.000+09:00

Of late the combined amount of classified ads that I've gone over must be equal to a full-length novel or two; hell can I ever do with some more reading time (Hi, Mark!). And it gets worse when I think about how scouring through ad after ad finding something right for me is akin to a walk through the mud, whilst knowing that things could be so much more fun.

Still there are some gems here and there: a post that sounds like something I'm suitable for or want to do. Something that can challenge me and expand my horizons. Or something that can allow me to indulge in my favourite physical activity...

Hey English speakers!
I am a 37 year-old Japanese man and am looking for people hanging out with for karaoke,playing tennis,baseball,volleyball and doing windmills together listening to DEICIDE!

Hi girls,don't be afraid to contact me.
I listen to FOO FIGHTERS too!

I'm not sure what kind of windmills this guy has in mind. Does he want to channel his inner rock-god and do a Pete Townshend?

Or channel the b-boy and keep it real?

Or something less physical, but not less exciting, as windmills that are just blowing in the wind...

Your guess is as good as mine, really. Still, he's got me at the end with the fact that he listens to Foo Fighters.

Clearly I am having so much fun going through ad after ad. The search continues.

Asakusa gods

2010-05-06T22:43:00.002+09:00

On a public holiday, a day when only the foolish braved the crowds and packed into the ever-popular Asakusa temple district, it seems many were there to seek wisdom and guidance from the ancient gods.

Some though may seek their guidance from the more contemporary gods...

...and turn their back on the ancient ones.

This was another lame homage to the anything but lame Tokyo Times.

The 5 minutes that your dreams are made of

2010-05-05T00:50:00.002+09:00

One day not too long ago I envisioned what my life would be like in Japan. We could be hear until the cows come home but really it could be summed up best in the video for "When You Come" by Crowded House (click on the link because you can't embed for some silly goose reason).

One night not too long ago I found myself on the platform of one of Tokyo's many identical train stations . I had just got off work and off a four hour bus ride and was about to head to a friend's new residence in Tokyo. "When You Come" came on just as the train pulled away and my night began in Tokyo.

To say I ever needed a sign in my life is the same as saying Lennon and McCartney wrote some decent tunes. In the Crowded House video, I envisioned a life of eternal bemusement, running around the streets whilst playing the guitar and all-decade long bad hair. Depending on which day it is, being in Tokyo for the long term seems to be a reality and a dream. And add the fact that a tonne of people I know and cherish dear are round Tokyo way and the place just begs to crush and heal me. Whatever it is, it is safe to say I'm chasing that dream right now, right down to the all-decade long bad hair.

Home delivery

2010-04-29T19:32:00.001+09:00

This time last year I brought up the courage and took the journey home: a journey which lasted nearly a full day and resulted me being a tad smelly and drunk on arrival. Upon seeing me my sister commented on my dishevelled state and unruly hair; nice to see you too, Sis.

This time I'm living it up and ordering a delivery of home in the form of Mrs Au-Yeung coming to Japan. I get to do a bit of travelling around Japan and she brings home over for 2 weeks and some homemade pork jerky: it's a decent deal.

Japan won't know what hit it when it meets Mrs Au-Yeung. Or the customs officer who discovers her bag of homemade pork jerky. May God have mercy on us all.

Home is the castle

2010-04-28T11:30:00.001+09:00

Recent absence has come about as a result of figuring out whether my future address will be shorter or longer than my current one; 35 characters and God knows how many strokes is the target to beat.

As such, simple things like my current modest abode (as seen above) is something to savour before the change comes.

Come by when you still can.

<B>Music In My Head:</b> Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Slightly busy in Japan

2010-04-11T13:42:00.001+09:00

The other day my cousin and my good friend decided to get married.

At the same time.

To each other.

That's handy.

Somehow I didn't make it home for the wedding. At this point that's 0-2 in terms of weddings that I've attended so far, with 2 more to come later in the year. Either my record is going to improve or those figures will continue to suck like Shaquille O'Neal's free throw stats.

Still it was good to be remembered; apparently the following conversation occurred at the wedding between three of my friends:

While on the walkway from Pyrmont pier to a boat

E & K: "Where's John, I can't believe John's not here at the wedding!"

P: "He's doing something important in Japan"

E: "Yeah, like what, drinking?"

In the same week that I was told about this conversation, I had to write an essay titled "Why I want to teach English in Japan" for a job that I was applying for. If only I could have worked it into the essay.

Music In My Head: 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens

Tokyo Times

2010-04-10T01:44:00.001+09:00

Times in Tokyo are slowly passing by. And what with the last post it makes it sound like I'm dying soon but unless my recently taken annual health check results prove otherwise, I don't think I am dying anytime soon.

Still random weekends in Tokyo are going to be a thing of a past much like Myspace, smoking indoors and hot male Asian teachers are. Wait, who am I kidding: hot male Asian teachers are always in.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of something something. So with that spirit I saw this and thought of the original Tokyo Times, minus the quality of the photographs and the writing.

Oh what would have taken the attention of these two lifelong friends, away from the beautiful spring day at the Imperial Palace?

Why a European-styled bridge, which was the subject of their painting. The bridge should juxtapose with its surroundings but somehow it blends in with the rest of the palace grounds. I wouldn't be surprised if it was built to give the Emperor the chance to feel like he was strolling in Europe on a similarly fine springs day. You too can experience strolling through Europe whilst in Japan with the bonus of getting deported for breaking onto the Imperial Palace grounds.

I think I'll stick to painting and admiring the palace from afar just like the two ladies.

Peering into the other side of the East Sea

2010-04-08T13:10:00.002+09:00

"I never worry about action, but only inaction" - Winston Churchill

I spent six and a half years at university and never did I once hand in an assignment early. It was always a case of "there's plenty of time" and indeed there was plenty of time. But then "plenty of time" slowly gives way to "some time" which then leads to "no time". You'd think I would learn my lesson after six and a half years to not let time on hand slip away like that. But then we are creatures of habit and I am a particular stupid creature at that.

As of writing, there's only four and a bit months to go before I head off to someplace else. Wait, I guess I should make that clearer: I'm moving and not dying. Glad I got that sorted out. Amongst the things that I have to sort out for my move such as making sure my yet-to-be-used-for-making-out couch doesn't get scratched in transit (getting scratched in the process of making out is totally acceptable) and how to keep my fish and plants alive from Point A to Point B, is the minor detail of getting a job.

At the moment it is still a tad early to look for jobs for what I need. Current listings are looking for April starts which is fair enough since the school year begins in April. No fault of my own but the inactivity bothers me especially in regards to something that may affect my life just a tad bit. And as I'm counting down the days, I realise I don't have the luxury of time and unfortunately cannot get things sorted out in the last minute, ala all my assignments at university.

As a result, all I can do is twiddle my thumbs until the jobs that I can apply begin to appear. Which isn't a bad thing since once they appear it means that I'll have to worry about applying, running the gauntlet that is job interviews (now conducted via Skype!) and making sure I'm not selling myself to a slave driver. Fun times indeed.

Still before all that happens, I've applied for positions here and there to see what happens. One was for Korea and before I received any information about the school, I got two emails that contained rather useful bits of information.

"I'm attaching another file about phone & internet in Korea.

The internet connection is awesome in Korea.

The distribution rate of Internet in Korea is the best in the world.

The speed is also uncomparable. When cable connections in US provides from 10 to 30 mbp Korean internet utilizes optical fiber which provides internet connection up to 100~200 mbp.

Internet and phone are one thing you should NOT have to worry about. (^^)"

"Kimchi is a famous Korean staple eaten at every meal.
The most common is fermented cabbage/radish with hot pepper sauce.
Many varieties vary from restaurant to restaurant, so try them all."

The city that the school is in. The transport system. How hot the girls are in Korea. These and many more I'd mention in my introduction of Korea before I'd hit the communications network and kimchi. The stereotypes smell as strong as the kimchi but the emails inadvertently gives life to the stereotypes: Koreans are proud of things in Korea and they'll bang their drums loud about it. I remember my Korean students telling me how awesome Korean-made socks were. I own a pair but I've yet to wear them so maybe I should try.

And indeed maybe I've got it all wrong and knowing about how awesome the internet kimchi in Korea is, is way more important than how hot the girls are. Maybe

Spring forth

2010-04-01T18:01:00.002+09:00

Spring has threatened to come for a while but then it didn't but then it did but then it didn't but then it did but then it didn't and in the end I got confused and needed to have a lie down.

There are a tonne of things that announce the arrival but none more accurate than the year's first display of my bare arms as the layers of clothing come off. Or should that be bear arms? I think I need to have a lie down again.

Something that also announces the arrival of spring round are way is the blooming of the cherry blossoms: never fails to take my breathe away and only JUST beats my bare/bear arms in the beauty stakes.

Only just.

Music In My Head: Radiohead - Let Down

Mixtapes

2010-03-26T17:07:00.002+09:00

Furthering my attempts at teaching my students well, I burnt a mixed CD for the student who was asking me about bass lines. I'm not too familiar with songs that are widely perceived to have great bass parts but these came up when I went looking through my hard drive. I forgot to put in "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet but The Jam's "A Town Called Malice" makes up for it. Plus is has the mindfuck that is Radiohead and a little song by The Queens of the Stone Age about how bad drugs are. And I deemed it fit to write all on a notepad I stole from a beer hall in Tokyo.

I teach them well.

The social ladder of a North Korean in Japan

2010-03-20T13:09:00.003+09:00

What's not to like about Japanese work parties: all you can drink, more than enough to eat and a chance to catch up with colleagues who are relaxed through the social lubricant that is alcohol.

As a result of the latter, I managed to talk to one of the teachers that I teach with during one of our recent work parties. We talked about various things: his son, another teacher's recent wedding, Texas Hold 'Em, pachinko and North Koreans. One thing led to another and somehow we led to North Koreans in Japan, or specifically, how North Koreans can progress in their social standing in Japan.

"There are many North Koreans in Japan. But because they're from North Korea they can't really get jobs. So a lot of them start by collecting rubbish or scrap metal. And after that they can move to working or running a yakiniku shop. And if things go well they move onto hotels. Maybe the normal hotels or maybe love hotels. And if they work really hard they can have their own pachinko parlours".

Of course this was all verbatim because I was lubricated with alcohol myself. But the matter of fact manner in which this was delivered makes me not surprised if this was common assumption. And I have known of a yakiniku-esque joint that is supposedly run by North Koreans or have North Korean chefs who worked there after fleeing the communist North and killing 5 people, one of which died from just the communist stare of the North Korean. These things do happen y'know.

I wish one day I can own a love hotel. I just have to work harder.

Music In My Head: Civic - Lemon

Soft and silky bowling

2010-03-15T23:02:00.002+09:00

There are somethings that I want when I go bowling. Things like improve my average score of 77, get a pair of bowling shoes that are hopefully not wet and warm, and get a strike when they have that special strike period and get a prize.

Until recently, it seems that I apparently would also want some ladies lingerie when I'm out bowling.

I'm not sure if I want to know if they are clean or not. For ￥100 you can find out and tell me. And keep the lingerie for yourself.

Music In My Head: Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang

So close, yet so far

2010-03-05T23:46:00.003+09:00

It's Spring and besides the cherry blossoms and the long awaited return of short skirts (though technically they never went away during the cold months), high school graduation can be relied upon to announce the arrival of the season.

I've taught the current Year 11/sophomores/高2年生 since I've been at 北福/North Fuku 2 years ago. If I had decided to stay for one more year, I would have been able to see those damn kids through until the final years, get asked extremely inappropriate questions by them and have them make me go toe to toe with any Japanese female in regards to crying, when I witness their graduation.

Alas that won't be the case with all that's been planned.

This will be the closest that I'll get to seeing them graduate.

Don't let me down, kids.

Music In My Head: Superfly - やさしい気持ちで

Snow is falling down on me

2010-02-28T20:46:00.003+09:00

Maybe it's the Winter Olympics.

Or maybe it's watching Japanese moguls skier Aiko Uemura, who looks like someone that haunts me more than it should.

Or maybe it's the fact that I know I won't be seeing the snow like this come winter next year in 南福.

Whatever the reason was, on the last day of winter, I dragged myself up to a ski resort and boarded for the very first time in my life. Somehow I found myself learning how to board from a Hawaiian; stranger things have happened I guess. Even stranger, I found myself being competent by the second run and at the end of the day I wasn't keeping anyone behind. Strange, huh?

As I recover from the various sorenesses, I will tick off boarding from the list of things that I have to do before I head for 南福.

Music In My Head: Ben Folds - Hiroshima

And it's legal!

2010-02-25T18:15:00.002+09:00

This is what happens when the students and I don't have classes for a day and a bit: I've somehow got myself into a marriage. Nao, my legal wife to be, graduates in one years time. I have one year to find a lawyer to make the contract not legally binding. Though since I've put my thumbprint to it（in fluro orange ink no less） I think it's going to be hard.

The distance

2010-02-16T01:02:00.001+09:00

It's late and I'm completing my final leg of my travels so a little Engrish on my sandwich is what I'll have to make do with to keep me sane.

During the last weekend and a bit, I took time off work, leave that necessarily didn't belong to me, and spent it running around and just making it on time for everything that gives a new definition to the word "ぎりぎり".

I spent it by seriously dashing around on a local bus, highway bus, local train, monorail, plane, subway, limited express train and a taxi over the course of 10 hours of travelling to get to where I wanted to go. Repeat a similar schedule but throw in an over night bus back home, a place I reluctantly want to be，and it gets hectic. Add to that, 300ish kilometres of driving and I'm looking for ways to claim all that distance covered.

Still it was all worth it in the end, even the bit where I thought I had missed the last bus for the night and would've been stuck in Tokyo alone. The all you can eat yum cha on Chinese New Year Day was a masterstroke and Valentine's Day （the movie） was something that I couldn't have planned better. Like my sandwich it was all done with the heart.

The bus moves on through the night heading north towards the cold, both the physical and the emotional kind. I think I should try and sleep.

Music In My Head: Fyfe Dangerfield - She Needs Me

Extra credit

2010-02-10T23:38:00.002+09:00

My luck's been misplaced of late: I had to teach 4 classes on my own on a day when it was the thing that I least needed. Cancelling out the fact that technically I shouldn't be teaching on my own （I usually teach with a Japanese teacher of English but they were away at a faraway place fighting grammar） was the fact that I was teaching 2 of my favourite classes.

My third class for the day （and one of my favourites） went well even though nothing followed the lesson plan; that'll teach you the value of lesson plans. As I was packing up my stuff at the end of class, one of the male students comes up with a pen and a blank piece of paper.

"Teach me", he asks. Teach you what though: English? The combo moves for Ryu in "Street Fighter IV"? The ways to a woman's heart （actually if you have the answer to this please write it on a postcard and send it to the usual address）.

Turns out he wanted me to teach him a simple bass line: 8 notes for a 4/4 beat for those playing at home. He had seen me play the bass for last year's opening ceremony for the school year and we'd talked a bit about playing the bass since then.

Without an instrument in hand and being absolutely pits with tablature I managed to scribble down the main riff/bass line to Oasis' "Fuckin' in the Bushes".

It has 9 instead of 8 notes like he had wanted but it's a simple but effective bass line. Plus it's Oasis so you know it's automatically ＋27 points to your coolness.

See, I am teaching the kids of Japan well.

Music In My Head: You Am I: Purple Sneakers

These things really do happen, y'know

2010-02-04T23:43:00.003+09:00

I decided to stay longer in Japan until the 19th.

Why?

Because I`m having too much fun.

That was me just over 3 years ago when I came to Japan for a holiday for the very first time. More than just feeling like it was a long time ago, it feels like it was a time from another world which somehow collided with ours and the memories and experiences have spilled and gone everywhere. Forgive me but I've been reading multi-world fantasy for the last four months.

Gone is the boy who came to Japan and gawked, giggled and took photos of fancy wancy electronic toilets. He is replaced with the man who lives in Japan and is not really sure of how to use it but nonetheless frequently washes and (more frequently) sits on his own fancy wancy electronic toilets and surveys his kingdom. How times, and people, have changed.

One thing that hasn't changed though: I'm still having fun here. Back in 2007 I extended my stay in Japan by a few days before heading to Hong Kong. Skip to the now and I'm extending my stay in Japan again. Instead of a few days though, I'm extending it by a year or a bit.

Like I said 3 years ago: these things happen, y'know.

Music In My Head: Mr. Children - 終わりなき旅

The end of the affair

2010-01-30T14:13:00.002+09:00

And so as I stand on a street in Tokyo waiting for the first of the abusers of my liver to come whilst forever wondering if I'm at the correct station exit, I realise that with me sailing away in the not too distant future means my love affair with Tokyo will soon come to an end. I plan to sail away to overcome the tyranny of distance. But then that whore comes back again and screw things up between me and Tokyo.

I can never fucking win, can I?

I teach with this man every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

2010-01-29T21:48:00.003+09:00

As much as this is a top song ("TOON!!!"), which is something that Loretta can back up, you really want to do yourself a favour and just skip to the 6 minute mark and watch as magic unfolds.

Legend has it (i.e., Nonaka-sensei told me) that Nonaka-sensei tried to channel the spirit of Sonic Youth and break his guitar strings. First he looked for drum sticks to snap the strings off. Failing that, he grabbed a can of polish and tried but failed as it was too thick. Getting frustrated he resorted to his God-given weapons of choice: his hands.

I was in the crowd and I may or may not have been a bit turned on by it when the "magic" happened. Speaking of the crowd, just who is that Asian man in the crowd right in the front by the far right with glasses? He looks hot and must be a fine damn English teacher to boot!

2009: The Soundtrack

2010-01-25T21:49:00.006+09:00

So, 2009 ey? The soundtrack for 2009? That's so last year isn't it?

So I'm late but for better or worse this is the soundtrack for 2009. Old or new, these songs popped up on its own accord. All up, they can be traced to various moments and emotions that happened in 2009. As reflected in my meme for 2009, last year didn't really kick off until the middle of the year when summer came round, things and all bets were called off. In a similar fashion, last year's soundtrack was fairly pedestrian and plodding by on cruise control until summer came round and everything got turned up to 11.

Whilst 2009's soundtrack was not as epic as 2008's, it did share a characteristic with last year's soundtrack: if the theme for 2008's soundtrack was places and change, then 2009's soundtrack is fairly obvious.

Oasis - Lord Don't Slow Me Down

I'm tired and I'm sick,
Gotta habit that I just can kick.
I feel hungover and I'm all in love,
and when the lights go down we're gonna shoot em out

Ah Oasis. You did and then you didn't and then you did and then you didn't and then you did and then you didn't and then you did and then you didn't and then you finally broke up just like how we thought you did but you didn't but you did but you didn't...

I was hungover when I woke up one Saturday morning and found out that Oasis had broken up. And whilst only Oasis went and ruined my life by breaking up, waking up feeling worse for wear was a common occurrence in the summer of 2009. There was a period of time stretching back from late spring/early summer to the end of summer where I didn't have 2 consecutive weekends at home with nothing to do. Summer does that to you but really that's what summer's for, right? And whilst slightly different to the song, in the midst of it all, I hoped the good old Lord would let me catch up. Catch up to what I don't know but I feel I am catching up.

Civic - Tensai

I saw the band.

I bought the CD.

I got it signed.

What's more left to say about Civic? From the moment I heard them play "Tensai" all the way back on June 27th (my birthday for those playing at home) I knew Civic would be sitting comfortably with all the other bands and artists that I cherish in my life. In hindsight, that day was probably when 2009 began in earnest for me. Not surprisingly, Civic then soundtracked the rest of 2009 for me.

Death Cab for Cutie - Meet Me on the Equinox

No matter how much you think about it, somethings in life will always remain a mystery. Like who killed JFK. Or why Beyonce didn't win that award even though she had the best video of all time...of all time! Or how I ended up watching "Twilight" whilst I was in Korea...

To this day I still don't know why I paid to watch "Twilight" on a lazy afternoon whilst I was in Korea. Fair enough the tickets were cheap compared to Japan and I had not seen a movie in a cinema for a while. But that doesn't excuse anything since I was familiar with the novel and its target audience: I had to sell it to sexually frustrated females by the truckload in my past life. Wasting 2 hours of my life is bad enough. Wasting it whilst I was on holidays in a place where I had wanted to go for a while is an even bigger crime. But wasting it on the "Twilight" movie? Guilty.

So you can take a random guess at whether I'll be seeing the sequel, "New Moon". Amidst all the hype and fangirl/woman squealing, word came out about the soundtrack. With a lineup consisting of folks such as Thom Yorke, Muse and The Killers, it's a rather kickass collection for an undeserving film. The single from the soundtrack, "Meet Me on the Equinox" by Death Cab for Cutie sounds like a great choice to be played over the closing credits of a movie, no matter how bad the movie is. Wikipedia duly informs me that the song is indeed played during the credits. Shame the movie isn't as good as the song. I realise the fault in commenting about a movie that I haven't seen. But I guess I don't have that many 2 hour blocks to waste in my life.

Biffy Clyro - Mountains

Come to think of it the lyrics for the chorus are rather daft. But the delivery and hooks sets them apart from your usual radio ready rock outfit. And just my luck they had to tour Sydney whilst I was over here, playing at my favourite venue no less.

And come to think of it, that's the daftest name for a band for a long time.

Colbie Caillat - Fallin' For You

Until the day when we can all somehow read the minds of other people, we will have to be content with guessing and or interpret signs about how other people feel and what they are thinking. This means that sometimes you end up second guessing yourself, drive yourself up the wall and generally become a mess. Or, you can get lucky and be told directly and have your heart and mind assured with what you wanted to hear but never imagined you would:

I don't know but...
I think I'm maybe fallin' for you
Dropping so quickly
Maybe I should keep this to myself

Waiting 'til I know you better
I am trying not to tell you
but I want to...

I'm scared of what you'll say
So I'm hiding what I'm feeeling
But I'm tired of holding this inside my head

And so, through a pop song I found out what I needed to know and take the plunge; it's a wonder what a song can do, ey?

The Fray - Never Say Never

Earlier this year, I was watching a bit of the latest season of Australian Idol. I watched it on and off years ago and for what it's worth, Idol (and I assume the same can be said about the American version as well) is harmless entertainment and that's something you need every so often. This year I was watching it more for the accents than for it's entertainment value and I caught this by accident. It's not the first time I've found a song I like from Idol so you can't really fault the programme in getting people into music. The lyrics in "Never Say Never" is so gentle yet powerful which makes the pleas of "don't let me go" even more heartfelt. The deal is sealed nicely with the final refrain's excursion into half a key higher; this is where heartstrings are tugged and broken.

Gavin DeGraw - Follow Through

Oh,
this is the start of something good,
don't you agree?

Kan - 愛はかつ

Know your where your strengths lie but also know where your weaknesses are as well. And with that I know which 3 songs I'll bust out at karaoke if my life depended on it; you never know what kinda of trouble happens at karaoke.

And so "愛はかつ" became my anthem to impress the locals and annoy the non-locals ("Not that song again!"). It says a lot about how far my Japanese has come that I can now follow the lyrics on screen as I belt it out in my slightly intoxicated state. Now I have to find a new anthem, one that at least came from the last decade...

Love Love Straw - Every Single Day

This song really came to life as I used it for the video I made to celebrate my first year living in Japan. It is such a fun and rockin' TOON that perfectly summed up the craziness of my first year in Japan and the summer that followed. I'm used to hearing Nonaka-sensei telling me to read out this section in the textbook or repeat the new words for the students. So it still freak out a bit when I hear his voice rocking out on my Ipod. I guess that's how it feels like when Brad Pitt's kids see their dad on TV. Or maybe not.

嵐 - Happiness

The teachers and I got round to playing this for the final farewell for the departing teachers; there seemed to be a million and one farewells for the departing teachers. The school year had ended in late March and I had nothing to do but practice the guitar parts by myself in a heated classroom with the sun shining in through the windows that looked out to the snow covered mountains in the distance. It wasn't a bad way to pass the time.

And unlike every Japanese person, I do not have a favourite member of Arashi. I equally want to kill them all.

Natalie Imbruglia - Counting Down the Days

Somethings do get easier with practice and somethings don't. Constantly having to countdown the days until you get to be with the one you wanted to be with during the days you were counting down belongs in the latter category. Though I thankfully have not had to go more than the original and legendary 50 days, it's still an exercise in patience and self control in not being a pile of mess and an emo wreck. No one likes an emo wreck.

Pulp - Something Changed

I wrote the song two hours before we met.
I didn't know your name or what you looked like yet.
Oh I could have stayed at home and gone to bed.
I could have gone to see a film instead.
You might have changed your mind and seen your friends.
Life could have been very different but then,
something changed...

When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing,
that in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going.
Where would I be now if we'd never met?
Would I be singing this song to someone else instead?
I dunno but like you said,
"Something changed".

SMAP - オレンジ

Ah SMAP: you and your ever presence which somehow does not over stay its welcome. You and your good looks that is slowly losing its battle against old age. You and your bad singing that can even withstand public scandals. You and your ability to badly belt out a sappy Japanese pop song and pull at the heart strings at the right moments; as demonstrated at your nearest school graduation. Oh and how I cried when the students stood up one last time at the call of their names and marched out of the freezing school gym whilst the flat key changes in the song soundtracked them. You try to be cold hearted and not shed a tear.

Sandrine - Trigger

The things you find in your hard drive: this was a new old song that came up on shuffle when one day I was going through my mess of an MP3 collection. I'd forgotten about this song and even more important, I had forgotten how sexy it was.

End of Fashion - Rough Diamonds

It's a compliment and a half to say that I was feeling rough when I went back to Sydney: nearly 24 hours of travelling left me dirty, smelly and in need of a hug. And a hug is what I got when I eventually made it back home. It's always nice to have someone waiting for you when you're heading home and right now that statement can apply for both the Japanese home and the original "Made in Australia" one.

Elbow - One Day Like This

Finally. They came with acclaim with their debut album ("Powder Blue" is still one of my favourite songs of all time. Of ALL time!). They had their mixed second album. Their third was overbearing in my opinion. And then they came back in a grandiose return with their triumphant fourth. "One Day Like This" sums up how beautiful the music of Elbow was, is and always will be. And whilst the song has been used by every Tom, Dick and Harry, no amount of overplay can dilute the absolute beauty and spirit of the song.

And ultimately, how can you not love a song that has the lyrics "And holy cow I love your eyes!" and gets away with it. Holy cow!

Coldplay - Swallowed in the Sea

I still have the pirated Coldplay CD that Anderson brought over when he and Amanda came over in July. Such pirated CDs are a dime a dozen (or more accurately 3 for $100) and what makes them a worthy purchase is not their value, sound quality (which is rather good) or their selection of tracks (albums worth plus live stuff). No it's their hilarious translations of English song titles into Chinese. Some stuff you can translate (such as "Yellow") but try translating "Death and All His Friends" without sounding daft.

"Swallowed in the Sea" came from Coldplay's "X&Y" album which was average at best. AS such, I missed this song completely from the album as it's the penultimate track and I think I lost my attention just after halfway.

Something about the imagery of the title still catches me. I think at the time I associated with the song as I felt myself being swallowed in a sea that I had created for myself. There's redemption in the song and who knew that such redemption extended to the listener as well.

You belong with me,
not swallowed in the sea.

Travis - Sailing Away

This was the closing track from Travis' 2007 album, "The Boy With No Name" and it's also the last Travis song known to man. They did release another album but I choose to ignore that album; in fact I won't even bother going over to my shelf to see what it's even called. Travis holds a special place in my life in that their sophomore album "The Man Who" has the best 4 songs in consecutive order EVER, has made me cry more times than I can count and in itself soundtracked a whole period of my life, not just a year.

In 3 and a bit minutes, "Sailing Away" brings across the feeling where you have the biggest grin on your face and you have the head of the one you love lying on resting on your shoulder. That is, said head is still attached to the one you love. Who is still alive. Let's make things clear.

I'll be doing my own sailing away soon enough. Well not literally. Again I'll have to disappoint my year 12 history teacher in not choosing travelling in a refugee boat like she thought I did to come to Australia. But there'll be departures and farewells and I can only wish that amidst all the tears and farewells, the moment would be as happy as the song is.

Coda: This took me forever to write. Even worse, it nearly killed me to put the tracks in order.

2008
2007
2006
2005