Saturday 31 May 2003

How do you get a drink in this town?

Thursday (29/05/03)
I started off a bit tired and annoyed due to the Champions League game and non-result. I got a call from home and managed to find out the result before we all went to training so at training I was just tired.
I managed to persuade most people of the virtues of Akihabara and, as I had done a bit of research about where to go, I was confident I could find what I was after. Akihabara is pretty near a place called Ueno which is meant to be a pretty major place so it was decided that we should go down there too. It was a bit odd because I acted as a bit of a guide but I could see everyone's eyes open a little when we came out of the station to be greeted by a cornucopia of electronics. 

Unsurprisingly, most were interested in checking the phones out and a bit impressed. Thing is, in my opinion, they all looked pretty similar - clamshell design, two colour screens, small and camera. Well, we walked around and I asked at a load of places about my camcorder until we were ready to go at which point I found somewhere that'd do it for me at JPY 80 000 (probably cos I was gonna be the last customer) which was as much as I wanted to pay. Once I got that sorted, we moved onto Ueno. To be honest, I wanted to walk about but the others just wanted a bar really. As it turned out, I "won" as a result of not knowing what was going on. 

The bars and stuff are hidden away on different floors of what appear to be office blocks so you have to get into lifts and find them. Not quite as simple as London…or anywhere else. We found a few bars that were a bit intimidating due to the genuine jap-style of them - no shoes! We found a few bars but we kept getting all the staff coming to the door and telling us to go away. In Japan they say no and, instead of shaking their heads, they form an X with their forearms which looks really weird at first, and a bit like a dance move[B]. I expect I'll be doing it soon though. Eventually we just found a noodle place (after being rejected from one and rejecting another due to lack of vegetarian options - Japan is really tricky for veggies, (HA HA) and ate. Some of the guys got some beers in aswell so everyone was pleased. My food was good and everyone else seemed pleased. 
The weird thing was the payment. In Japan, they love having plastic models of the food in windows or on display, which makes it a lot easier for the non-Japanese to choose food. This place also had a vending machine so you paid at the machine, got a ticket and gave it to the bar where they gave you your food (after having made it)[C]. It was all very simple apart from the distinct lack of English. But the people are so very helpful - one of the staff came out to help with our orders and pressed the right button when we pointed. A customer who was also choosing at the time recommended me something and I was not disappointed. People are so helpful here.

After that, I returned to the hotel because I was knackered and we were meant to be out on Saturday on the Shane expense account and had organised something for Friday too. Obviously I didn't go to sleep but played about with my new toy, which had no English instructions…


Friday (30/05/03)

I was feeling really tired in the morning due to my lack of sleep (playing with camcorder) and was in dire need of some caffeine. The vending machines all have some form of caffeine drink, usually iced coffee but some of them have hot coffee too. I was feeling a bit more adventurous so I got some random iced mocha drink from the convenience store near the head office where we were training. Andy had had one the day before and said it was pretty decent so I thought I would have something similar. I went for the "less English on packaging is better" philosophy and got some random drink, which was gorgeous[D]! It really did perk me up and I felt good for a while but by the time it was our next break I was feeling a bit weird. Obviously I went and bought another one and I felt really odd again - it's a bit like when I have tangfastics (and some people know that I go mental on that) so I think this may turn out to be my new haribo. This resulted in me saying loads of random crap in training and generally being "funny" which means that all of my jokes were rubbish and nobody laughed. But I didn't care. Our training guy also kept asking me specifically all the time (maybe I was paranoid though?) and we seemed to build some kind of rapport which is worrying as I thought he tried too hard before and I still do.

Anyway, when training had finished (and my head was still all over the place at this point) we all decided to meet at Shinjuku station so we could have a look around it. I wanted to go back to Akihabara as I wanted some more bits for my camcorder that I didn't get (cables for PC connection). So I went off and bought those (and a new 40 Gb hard drive for my laptop) and then went to Shinjuku station. I was meant to meet the others at 830 but I wanted to go there a bit earlier to try and find these places that sell entertainment tickets because I really want to go to the SummerSonic Music Festival in Tokyo[E]. The station is huge - absolutely massive and I walked out and got instantly confused. I was told to go to the West exit, which I did and I walked out, and I saw the skyscrapers and the business and the lights and the people and the cars and I knew I was at the right place. I had no idea where to go or what was going on but I walked around for about twenty minutes very slowly with my mouth open. I got back to the station to meet up with Allan and his mate, (Walid) who he met only a while back. I found the others aswell before they got too confused. Apparently Shinjuku has twice the population of Belgium through it every day! I have not checked the facts (hence "apparently") but there are 2million people through it each day and I can totally believe it.
Eventually we all found each other and I did the intros for Allan/Walid to everyone else and then told them to lead us to "a good place". This involved lifts and stairs until we found a garlic restaurant - can you guess what they did? Shinjuku on a Friday night is not the quietest place in the world so we were lucky to find somewhere but we did have to be split up. I ended up with Walid and Allan while the others were together and indulged in some sangria action. It was a shame we got split up but I did end up having an interesting set of chats with Allan and Walid about Tokyo and politics. 

Once we had finished there, a drinking hole was desired. This is actually a difficult task in Shinjuku for us but eventually we find this place that looks OK. Allan and Walid have got other/better things to do so they head off (arcades I think, before "out") so the Andy, Elin, Craig, Becky and Saif party enter. We are aware the trains stop running fairly early so we are ready to leave at the right time. The bar itself is quite nifty and we are sorted out with a table and waiter. Drinks are ordered and enjoyed. The service is really friendly but a bit slow so only one round is got in before we go to the station for the train to our respective "homes".
The train home is absolutely mental. I have never been on a busier train in my life and never even seen one either. I had heard before coming to Japan that the subway has people employed to push the trains full but I have not seen that yet. I also read a while back that the Tokyo subway runs at 186% capacity at rush periods. Not eighty-six but one hundred and eighty-six! This train was so busy that I was basically levitating and still more people got on. And more. I kind of respect the attitude of the passengers getting on as they basically just try to ram on at full pelt to break through the "skin" of people at the doors. When the train moved, the whole carriage basically "fell" over onto each other but could not fall. We were travelling whilst standing at about 45 degrees! When the tra[A]in stopped at a station the force made people go vertical again but then, when moving, it was back to leaning. You couldn't put a leg out to balance either as there was nowhere for that leg to go. Really bizarre experience but it felt very friendly. I assume that a lot of the passengers are used to the journey so they were unfazed.


---All lettered footnotes were written in 2015---

A. I wonder if this was a vision of the future. I have, since I can remember, been distinctly unimpressed with mobile phones and I am not sure why. I had quite an interest in consumer electronics in general but these have never grabbed me. Bearing in mind that this was 2003, the phones were undoubtedly quite advanced for British eyes. In a time before pure homogenisation of the market, Japanese phones were different - but similar to each other usually. The cameras were better, in specification terms, than any phones in the UK and internet on phones was the standard at the time. I-mode was a brand for NTT docomo and it was effectively a network portal but it did not give access to the world wide web (as far as I was aware). There was a lot of information that was readily available though and you could send e-mail (rather than texts) to each other and there were places to get train times and weather etc. It was perfectly serviceable. This may explain my antipathy - it was perfectly serviceable. I did not see why you needed to spend more and more on things when you did not get an improved service - and I still kind of think this. I did like those phones though, the clamshell flick to open was always fun and I liked being able to write Japanese and English with lots of emoji. Not that I used the emoji much - it just wasn't, and isn't, my style.

B. In hindsight, I am not sure whether they were full or that they did not want a large group like ours. Some places did not like serving foreign customers much as they were harder to deal with (which is true - and some of the foreign groups were irritating - I liken it to not allowing stag/hen groups in) and could be annoying to others. Once you know that bars can be on any floor of a building, it is much easier to find them and the ground floor is just the beginning.

C. This is a very common system and one that I really like. It means the staff do not have to handle money - they can concentrate on food and service. It means that you have paid before eating so you can leave at any time - it is ideal for quick service.

D. The drink was not actually mocha of any sort - it was just very sweet. As a drink, it is called "Kohii gyunyu" translating to coffee milk (milk is often called "milk" in Japanese rather than the Japanese term "gyunyu") and is ridiculously sweet. As the name suggests, it is not placing itself in the coffee market, the milk is strong and it is almost like a coffee milkshake - a coffee version of a strawberry milk... Japanese vending machine coffee is very popular and instant coffee was quite popular in Japan. As these drinks were more like coffee drinks, I wasn't a huge fan but they were very easy to drink and ice coffee was quite common too.

E. I did go to the festival and it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. The music scene in Japan is quite strange and there seems to be a split in those that like domestic music and those that like international music. Summer Sonic was a generally international festival with a few Japanese acts thrown in. 2003 had Radiohead and Blur headlining each night though I could only go to the Radiohead night. Only(!).

Thursday 29 May 2003

Is this work yet?

Tuesday (27/05/03)
The first day was not supposed to be too taxing and we were only "in" in the afternoon to fill in forms and have a quick chat. A few of us went for breakfast at a coffee place which looked pretty smart. We were offered some croissant bits at the door, which were tasty (yet again) and free. Steve also managed to knock all of them over but the waitress did not seem annoyed and was incredibly polite and picked them al up and still took our little cocktail sticks. Once inside, I had some random pastry, which was cheesy, and an iced coffee. So far, I am unable to fault the food and I reckon I can be a lot more adventurous[A].
Orientation was just meeting some of the staff and having a chat to get some advice. I got lots of reading material including teaching and "living" manuals.
After Orientation had finished, I legged it for the intimidating first solo journey on the trains. Luckily there were no changes required to get to Akihabara[B] and so I got there in half an hour - a little late. The next bit was a little bizarre as I had no idea about what Allan looked like other than he was oriental - not the most helpful detail in my situation. I was also late so there was the definite possibility he had gone. So basically, I walked around the place I was meant to be for a while. This guy caught my eye by simple virtue of being white (a rarity) and he was waiting around. Apparently for the same guy in fact. Allan found me (and the other guy - Pete) and we grabbed some food at Becker's Burgers. Allan can definitely put the food away (Richard style) and he got a load of burgers. Had a bit of a chat about how everything was going and got introduced to Pete. As seems to be the way - he was a really nice guy (as was Allan) and I found out he was also an ex-teacher that had moved to import/export. I told them I wanted to get a camcorder so they showed me around but, disappointingly, I could not find one for a good price like I had seen so I said I'll get one later after a bit of research.
It was a little annoying, as that would have given me digital camera abilities for the week. Then we went to a big Sega Arcade in Akihabara, which was an eye-opener. I had never seen anything like it - 5 floors of pure arcade action. Allan played a bit of "Soul Calibur" and then we watched some "Virtua Fighter 4 evolution" action, which was poetry in motion. I have not seen much of it but there were tons of machines in play and most were busy. There were some really good matches on display and they have an odd one player per cabinet system[C].
It is odd as you challenge from a machine that is back to back so you don't see your challenger. Seems unsociable at first sight but it encourages versus play which lends itself to greater social interaction and improved play. It is far less intimidating to play and you don't "ask" for challenges - they just happen. I played a bit of Power Smash[D] 2 and the second stage of Initial-D (obviously, for anyone that has spoken to me recently) which I hadn't played before. I got a shiny new car (RX-7) and played it. Really nice actually and a better car than the ones I had in London.
I then said my goodbyes and went back to the hotel, getting a pretty decent convenience store fish burger on the way. I HAD to watch a bit of Initial-D after that so I started the second stage. I also played a bit of Capcom vs SNK even though the rubbish composite connection[E] is hurting my head with its awfulness. How does everyone else cope?


Wednesday (28/05/03)
Today was my first real day of training and so we were all in for 10 in the morning. The training was OK - quite friendly but I do think the trainer was trying a bit too hard with the jokes. As in every single time he spoke it was a "joke" I reckon he was about 50/50 in terms of the class liking it and not. In the afternoon we all had "observations" to see how the teaching should be done. I went with someone else to see one adult and two kids sessions (ages 4 then 8) in Warabi[F], which was only one stop away. We grabbed a bit of lunch (some potato cheese pastry job and some sushi) and then watched the magic unfold in front of our eyes. The lessons were great and obviously of a level that we would not attain for a while. The kids lessons were fantastic and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. I was never too worried about the kids' lessons but I know others were, but this was good. I think fears may have been allayed. Underneath the school was a 100yen shop. Unsurprisingly, it sold lots of items at 100 yen but, unlike pound shops, these were of a good quality and cheaper. They had chairs and MD storage. Amazing but neither of us bought anything because we would just have to take it with us from the hotel again.
Once I got back to the hotel, I relaxed for a bit by watching a bit more Initial D then playing some Ridge Racer 5 afterwards because I needed some adrenaline boostage. I wanted to watch the Champions League Final[G] that night (it was on at 345am) so I went to sleep and, obviously, forgot to set my alarm. I woke up for the second half and saw the first half of extra time until the TV station just went to a different programme entirely!!!!!! It was 0-0 and they were blatantly carrying on but they went to some morning programme rubbish. I was so annoyed[H].

---All lettered footnotes were written in 2015---

A. Which I was. In the span of time that I was in Japan, I had a grand total of two meals that I didn't like - unfortunately both were with company. The quality of "normal" food in Japan is remarkably high and it meant that I could trust that a meal would be at least OK wherever I went, which is really liberating.

B. Akihabara is an area that is between Ueno and Tokyo stations that had built up an "electric town" reputation that made it a mecca for gamers and those interested in consumer electronics. I went to Akihabara quite a few times over the years but it changed quite substantially in that time too to become more palatable and less specialist in electronics. These are, of course, relative terms.

C. These types of arcade cabinets are called Versus City. I am not sure that I have seen them in many places other than Japan where they are the standard. Cabinets are generally very well maintained and you often see mechanics recalibrating the machines and ensuring that they operate at a good level. Maintenance is a very important part of the psyche of arcades, it seems, and other places and so catastrophic failure is rare. The cabinets are also "sit-down" which is a different feel to the stand-up variety I was used to but it lends itself to a much more relaxed environment.

D. Power Smash is the Japanese title for the game Virtua Tennis - a tennis game par excellence.

E. Annoyingly, I may have terrible eyesight but I am attuned to video signal interference - so I may not be able to read the text on screen, but I could probably tell that the signal was fuzzy or there was colour bleed better than most. It is hugely frustrating to have one of the downsides of good eyesight without the upside of actually useful, good eyesight. As I mentioned earlier, I was quite in to videogames and the technical aspects to them. "Composite" is a connection method for video which was the low-level standard. A higher standard was "RGB" which separated the signal and had far less interference and I used this exclusively at home. This has been simplified by the use of HDMI in more modern equipment which gives a nice solid connection.

F. Warabi school was infamous amongst the teachers for having a difficult school manager and so when I was moved there a few months later, I was not pleased but I found it to be a pleasant place and I seemed to get on quite well with the school manager. I had some great students there too.

G. This was between AC Milan and Juventus and I used to have a soft spot for Milan due to some of their players being amongst my favourites - specifically Paolo Maldini and the slightly lesser Andrea Pirlo (at the time, 2003, I really liked him, such a graceful player. It was a bit weird when the English press seemed to suddenly "discover" him in the 2012 Euro Championship.) The game itself was apparently quite dull and went to penalties which Milan eventually won.

H. At the time, I thought this was because football was not popular in Japan but it was only a year since they had hosted the World Cup. I don't know why it was so poorly treated but the Japanese people I saw (and I was based in Saitama) really got into football when it was on and the World Cup in 2006 was followed by everyone - even with the time difference. I still have strong memories of some of the "housewives" lessons being about the football on the night before and the excitement after the 2006 final.



Monday 26 May 2003

The flight and day 1 (25/05/03) & (26/05/03)

The flight (25/05/03)
Direct flights over twelve hours = a very long time. The flight itself was not too bad but it did feel quite bizarre because we flew so far north that the sun did not set and we did not see night time at all, which was very disconcerting. I flew with about ten other teachers - though that really should be "with". I ended up a bit isolated, a few rows behind them and so ended up not knowing them too well when we disembarked. I had met a few of them on my training sessions but had hardly seen the others. I did try to minimise my social pariah status by doing a quick meet and greet on the plane but cattle class makes it difficult to have a chat really. Entertainment wise, there was nothing special. I saw "Daredevil" which fell into the "OK but no real recommendation" category. The superhero is blind but has amazing senses of smell and hearing to make up for it - a bit like me, but without the amazing senses to make up for it. I tried yet again to "get" the Matrix and failed for the hundredth time. The radio was pretty decent actually, bit of Giles Petersen and some random decent tracks but over 12 hours it gets somewhat repetitive. Food was edible but not exactly great. Good for plane food I guess. I think I might try to get a Japanese airline, like JAL or ANA, for the return trip actually as it will be different at least and I'll get some interesting food. Hopefully I will understand a bit of Japanese at that point.
A distinct lack of sleep did mean I was pretty tired by landing but I think the adrenaline helped me through.

Monday (26/05/03)
Once we landed, I went and met up with the strangers that I had spoken to briefly on the plane. They seemed friendly enough and we went through customs and the baggage collection together. I got stopped at customs for the first time ever[A]. The guy stops me and asks if I packed it myself, and all the standard stuff. I reply in the affirmative and then he holds up this sheet with a load of pictures of firearms, knives and other (very obviously) banned items and asks if I have any. He then picks my case and asks to see it but when I open it he didn't really look through it and then helped me put all my stuff in. Quite helpful actually and I see a possible theme develop[B]. Once I get through to the landside area, there is a guy from Shane to meet us all along with a few other new teachers from other flights and parts of the world. I couldn't follow it all but once we got to the meeting room we had got a few extras and were then split up according to where we were based in Tokyo. Tokyo Narita isn't really in Tokyo but a little outside so a train[C] is required to get to the city (we get off at Nippori), which is pretty spacious and comfortable. I get to have a chat with some people now and look through the packs we have just been given which have hotel and apartment details. I now have an address but still no idea where that actually is. The maps are pretty confusing and I am trying to take a lot in through the windows (it seems to get more built up station by station), what people are saying and the reading we have. After a quick change of trains and another split of people we eventually reach "Akabane", which is where our hotel is. This was with the able assistance of Tomoko who is housing admin at Shane. Due to our apartments being occupied, we will not move into those until Sunday, which is our first day off after training. It was annoying to hear that at first but I reckon it might work out better as there are six of us at the hotel and we are all new to the country so there is a bit of company.
To be perfectly honest, and this may sound a bit lame, but the first real "shock" is the number of vending machines. They are everywhere and sell all kinds of drinks (such as iced tea, cola, coffee - both hot and cold, fruit juices, water, yoghurt and even beer) and cigarettes. I didn't see any of the mythical (and possibly false) knickers machines[D] though.
Once I dumped my bags in my room, had a shower and had a look at what was in the room, I was eager to check my surroundings out. I found a willing colleague (Elin)[E] and walked in a random direction. Eventually, we passed a load of shops and stuff so we have a look at the prices and they seem reasonable. Japan is so very expensive according to urban legend and Tokyo even more so. We were both pretty shocked, on first glance, to see that pretty much everything there was cheaper than London - often pretty significantly. The trains were cheaper too[F]. Went back to the hotel to get the others so we could get some lunch. All except one came a long and we found a random restaurant. I got some salad, ramen, fried rice and coffee for about 780yen (about £4), which was very tasty, filling, and far too much for me. I even used chopsticks and managed to not totally embarrass good and myself -always a bonus when I am out - for a first time. I think I could get used to this.
Everyone then has a bit of a walk around to soak it all in and then goes back to hotel for a kip…that lasts till the next morning. I wasn't too keen on that so I have a sit down and then look for an internet café or phone to try and get a message to my parents somehow that I am OK. The telephones are a bit confusing and most are not suitable for international calls so I use the net for a bit. Apparently there was a massive earthquake when I was there but I didn't feel it though everyone else seemed to. It was on the news after I got back though.
I just sat in my room for a while where I eventually fell asleep briefly. Then I went to try and find some food and grabbed some sushi and a drink from a convenience store[G]. The sushi was pretty decent and I got a good amount for the money (6 bits for a little over a pound). Also made a phone call to my "mate" Allan (hopefully I won't put that in quotes again) in Tokyo who I had never met before but had helped me loads with the whole Tokyo thing[H]. Rather embarrassingly he didn't recognise me as he had thought my name was said differently. I hope that is the only reason anyway! Organised a meeting with him the next day after my orientation.
Once I got to the hotel, I had a chat with Steve (a colleague) until the South African girl (Pritiva) popped into my room. If I am honest, I have no idea why she came[I]. She told us that she had never left South Africa and was sick of Tokyo (already). That it was too many people, she didn't like the people, she thought the food was rubbish (though she had not tried any) and that the culture was "aerated" - meaning fake and plasticky I guess. I tried to allay her fears and told her that she had to see it out and check the place out. Steve and me persuaded her to leave the Hotel and went for, yet another, walk. It seemed very safe even though the area we were in took on a different image now we were looking a bit closer. There were tons of drunken men - salary men, floating about at the bars and all the bars seemed to be "hostess bars". I have no idea how they work but I think that there are women there that "accompany" the men for a while whilst they drink[J]. There were a lot of women hanging about too so we assumed they were looking for some cash. I think it is a cross between Soho and King's Cross-, with the majority of the seediness stripped away (leaving nothing?)[K]. We walked through and had no trouble at all and it was all pleasant and totally lacking in the aggression that you would expect elsewhere.




---All lettered footnotes were written in 2015---

A. I was also stopped on my way out 3+ years later, a symmetry I realise only upon re-reading. That time, I was taken aside and asked about my immigration status and my foreign national ID card. As it happens, they were quite slow at asking this (or me at answering, and I was a little chattier than I needed to be) and so eventually, there was an announcement requiring me to get to the plane as soon as possible. This was a stress that I didn't really want and I was told, by a female staff member, to run. She helped by running with me and taking one of my bags! Narita is a pretty big airport so I got a little tired, as did she. No problem. My bag was then passed on to another (female) staff member who then ran along with me so that the first person could rest. A relay style race for time. It was pretty bizarre and a wonderful last moment. Ahh, Japan.

B. The theme did develop and people were unfailingly helpful and polite throughout my first three years. After that, not always...

C. I cannot remember which train we used as there were two "express" services to Tokyo - both taking about an hour - which should give an indication of the distance.

D. I think every single (non-family) visitor I had mentioned how somebody had asked them to get some schoolgirl pants from a vending machine - this was a popular story to indicate how weird Japanese culture was.

E. I am averse to naming people on blog posts now and so I would not have done so were this written now. On a later trip, I coded all the people with numbers so I could refer to them without giving their names away. As it happens, although I have kept in touch with quite a few people from Japan, Elin is not one of them. We did stay in touch for the length of time that she stayed in Japan though - about a year if I remember correctly.

F. When I went to Japan, the exchange rate was about GBP1=JPY180 and had changed a bit as the yen weakened. As it happens, Japan had had very little price inflation since the late 80s and so prices were fairly reasonable in 2003 although they may have been very expensive at the point in time before price stagnation. I would guess that London is a fair bit more expensive now, sadly. In 2003, I was told that train tickets had not been raised since 1987 (when it was privatised and I did not notice a single increase in the time I was there or on subsequent visits.

G. Convenience store food was actually of a decent quality and I, along with millions of others, would have food from convenience stores quite regularly. Each of the chains had their own types of food and it ranged from rice and noodles to sandwiches and steamed dumplings. If you go, don't turn your nose up at it - it is pretty nice and a very good snack in the case of the dumplings or onigiri.

H. At this point in time, I had quite a strong interest in videogames and was a member of a games forum called NTSC-UK which specialised in "import gaming" - basically games that were from outside the UK/Europe. Apart from the obvious difference in release timings and certain games not being released in different territories, the main reason importing appealed to me was technical - due to the vagaries of the electrical and TV systems (PAL/SECAM and NTSC) in different countries, games ran at different speeds. The forum brought likeminded people together and it was a lovely community where I made loads of acquaintances. I even met up with a few of them and there was a regular discourse on many topics with an openness that was really welcoming. There is something quite special about a group of people that are into something and I have found, even as my gaming has dropped off, that (self-certifying) gamers are amongst the friendliest and nicest group of people. I mean everyone games nowadays, but as with so many things, not everyone takes it seriously. It was a great environment and everyone just wanted to share the joy and excitement of new things.

I. As in footnote E, I am averse to naming people on blog posts. As it happens, I have kept in touch neither of the aforementioned. I liked Steve but he left a few months later [ http://walletsandswords.blogspot.co.uk/2003/09/revolving-doors.html ] and Pritiva also left a few months later. I think I saw her one more time at a training session a few month after. I found out that she was vegetarian when we went out for lunch as she explained that Japanese people didn't understand vegetarianism. In many cases, I think that this was true and you could often see bits of meat in vegetable dishes. In her case, I think it was more that they didn't understand her. At this point, we'd been there a few months and although I could not speak Japanese or had any lessons or anything like that, there are things which it is just useful to know. Phrases and words to use. Pork, (or pigmeat, more accurately) is butaniku - I knew this so I could find out if it was in dishes or not. To check whether it was in a dish, you could easily say it with a questioning tone - "BUTANIKU?". Grammar isn't always necessary to be understood. Anyway, Pritiva had not even learned this simple word (and vegetarian in Japanese is just BEJETEERIAN, which sounds remarkably like the English word with a b instead of v (as there is no "V" sound in Japanese) and ordered in English saying that she didn't want meat. This was accompanied with the crossed arms action which is a very strong "no". As our food came, she got "no" meat. And "no" food. Of course it was everyone else's fault (I cannot remember why nobody else helped her, think she refused help) but I remember thinking that learning a word is hardly difficult.

J. This is, indeed, how they work. There is an hourly fee for the accompaniment of the hostesses and then the drinks are bought on top of this (including for the ladies). The idea is that the hostesses, and there are also host bars, will bring an enjoyable element to the night with their great social skills and abilities. They are also usually rather attractive. My understanding is that this should not be far removed from the geisha/maiko concept and there is, theoretically, no sexual aspect to it.

K. I was told that the name, Akabane, which means "red wing" was so named as it was a traditional red-light district of the Edo era but I couldn't find this later. I did believe it for most of the time I was in Japan and it did seem to have a reddish hue. The Edo period red-light district seems to have been Yoshiwara - it is a risk to believe things when you first go somewhere!

Tuesday 13 May 2003

Think Tank - Blur-------------------------------

A band would be expected to change a fair amount when they lose a quarter of its staff and Graham Coxon, as lead guitarist, was always a pretty major member of the band. But times change and it was with an odd mixture of surprise and expectedness that he left the band. It is actually quite difficult to say what difference this has made to the sound of the newest Blur album as it is always difficult to tell what their next album is going to sound like anyway.
I actually went out and bought the single - Out of Time (my first DVD single) without hearing it and was very pleasantly surprised. A nice simple track with similar qualities to the last two lead Blur singles (Beetlebum and Tender) in that it was a soft slow burner that boded well for the forthcoming album. The greatest strength that Blur possess is, not only their ability to develop from album to album, but also to provide a variety within their albums.
The songs vary from the quick, punky, one-minute "We've Got A File On You" to the slow burning "Out Of Time" taking in the groove of (the excellently named) "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" and simple charm of "Sweet Song". Individually, the songs are fantastic and the album is very well crafted with a nice progression throughout to make a satisfying whole.
There are some similarities between Think Tank and "13" with a lot of different sounds thrown in to make most songs quite complex in terms of pure instrumentation. I have to say the "sound" and production of the album is excellent. The type of noodling evident on both Think Tank and "13" is usually used to obscure a lack of focused songwriting (although I am a fan of soundscapes) but this is not really true of a "pop" band of the calibre of Blur. The beauty of this album is that each track would be similarly brilliant without the instrumentation and production.
I have not felt like this about an album for a long time and I have been repeat playing it for much of the week. Special mention must go to the packaging which is red book styled and similar, though smaller, than that used by Radiohead for thier "Amnesiac" album. It isn't as nice as that and limited edition packaging always causes storage issues but it is still nicer than a standard jewel case.

Friday 9 May 2003

09/05/03


So starts my pointless rambling on stuff...
Well, anyway, I went and picked up my visa today at the Japanese Embassy in London. Thats about it. Its the first visa I've ever got actually because I never stay on holiday long enough to need a visa. I get a lovely holographic visa in my passport and also the certificate of eligibility which I need for working.
I did also get some DVDs in the post which is always a bonus. One ten disk Initial-D DVD set and a four disk Final Fantasy Unlimited set. Started watching Initial-D and it is, thus far, well funny. The main character (Takumi) is really laid back but his mate is manic as. They are at school but can drive. Does not look like a waste of money so far. I have kept an eye on Initial D for a while but the arcade game tipped me towards it. The arcade is made by Sega (SegaRosso divison) and is, unsurprisingly a racer. You pick a car (standard japanese sports jobs such as skylines, GTOs, Lancers etc) and then race against you opponent - ie just one other car. It sounds "worse" than a grid but the car drivers have real personality and there is loads of tension as you close in or are closed in upon. Brilliant game and it has memory cards too. You can store your data on the Initial D card which logs points, how much you have played and also what car you have along with its upgrades. This means that you have your "own" car which is pretty decent