Who the hell cares set tripping silly - T-shirt on a guy riding the subway

I'm back from Osaka! It was a short whirlwind trip but quite nice to get out of Tokyo for the day and a half that it was. We went to see the whale shark, went to the food amusement park they have and then to Dotonbori to see the big glico sign and to the American village they have... which wasn't very American haha.

Off to Osaka!

Today I'm off to Osaka. I'm pretty excited. I dont have any solid plans for while I'm there. Unfortunately but fortunately the travel agency lost our reservation for the overnight bus to Osaka so we're hitting the bullet train. I'm pretty ok with this. Basically all I have in mind for the trip is learning some Kansai-ben (Osakan dialect), Kuidaore (ruining onself through the extravagence of food) and seeing the huge whale sharks in their aquarium. I think this leaves room for other exciting things too. I'll post pics when I get back.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

Not much is new but I find myself with some free time at the moment before work. What's new? It was Take's birthday a few days ago. I got him a cake. 82 years young haha. I got some strange looks at the cake shop when I ordered not only my message in Spanish but also insisted on them drawing a music note. Take had a good laugh so I'm pleased.

In other news. I booked my tickets to Osaka! I'm going for three days next week. I'm very excited because word on the street is there is a whale shark in an aquarium there and I'm going to take me some pictures of it! I hear the food down there is pretty awesome and the people are all really friendly so I'm sure good times will be had. My coworker and I are going to go together. I'm trying very hard to refrain from spending money until I go. The tickets and hotel were only 12,800 yen which is apparently very good. I'm hoping to check out the Glico man.

Good Luck to All Who Ride - T-Shirt in Shibuya

So I have another cold. I think it's because my apartment is so cold all the time.
This weekend was a very interesting one. After work on Saturday, Take met me at the train station and we went for dinner... That is the last time I let him order even if he is the one with superior Japanese abilities. Over the course of dinner we ate: Karaage, Gyoza, steak, Buri sashimi, whale bacon, pig intestines, raw horse and deep fried oysters (Done in the Hiroshima style so I had to try them because that is where Take is from). The first few dishes were all fine and dandy... the last ones I struggled with. The whole dinner was like Take trying to see what he could get me to eat because I was being stubborn after he gave me the gears about not being open minded. "I'll show you open minded... pig intestines, wow they're lovely... I wish we had more" *gag*
Yesterday before my students house I went to Tachikawa with Take for an epic shopping trip. We went WINDOW SHOPPING for about three and a half hours and he didn't complain once. I am still shocked about this.
Last night I went to my students house. It was alright. I ate more food I wasn't too happy about lol. Steamed fish paste with fish eggs on top. I hate fish eggs. The night went alright, we sat on the floor the whole time so by the end of the night my legs were hurting pretty good. After that I went home and ate pizza lol.
Today I think I will go shopping some more. I have a 5000 yen gift card I want to spend.

Everybody Must Get Stoned - Shirt on a guy in Shibuya

I know I've been extremely neglectful as of late with updating my blog. (I think this is how I start every entry I write) Sorry!
I have been extremely distracted lately with my social calendar. I have been entertaining guests from out of town on the weekend, working overtime all week and having Halloween parties (those fell somewhere between work and play). I went to my first Japanese rock concert and I tell ya, that was very entertaining just watching the crowd. The band's name is Mucc... I enjoyed most of their songs even though they were all in Japanese. I think my favourite part of the concert was when the lead singer was trying to explain "trick or treat" to the crowd and then threw candy at them.
Recently, I've met a number of people into the music scene in Tokyo which has been awesome. I've met various bands and DJs from all over the world including one from Canada! Wooo. That brings the count of how many Canadians I've met here to three. This past Wednesday was a national holiday so I managed to swing partying for four days (with a short break to teach on Tuesday). I met so many people but unfortunately have another cold as a result.
What's on the up coming calendar?
-Tomorrow my friend Take is coming over, hopefully we'll take it easy.
-Sunday I have to go to a student's house for some dinner thing (blah)
-Monday I'm going to go shopping to find a birthday present for Dan, Takumi and Take. November is birthday season.
-Later this month I get a three day weekend so I'm hoping to hop on a bus/train and go to Osaka or Iwate.

Ignore Alien Orders - T-shirt at the Yokohama Oktoberfest

Another few weeks have gone by and I am still very neglectful with my blog. Apologies as always.

What have I been up to you ask? Well, let me fill you in!
-Teaching English to the masses (of course) that keeps me out of trouble for maybe four days of the week. :)
-I read a book. I really enjoyed it. I dont know if anyone who reads this would but hey... it's called "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk. It's a pretty intense, strange book but rather amusing at parts and very creative at the very least. Warning - not for people with a weak stomach.
-I have been partying. As always. I introduced a friend to my new favourite bar in Shibuya. (name is Rock no Kokoro) It's a half foreigner half local bar, huge focus on indie DJs, the crowd is good and there's no cover. Need I say more?
-I went to my first Oktoberfest. It was grand! A bunch of us from our training group all went together and had a great time. The weather was excellent so we sat our in the sun and drank a bunch of beer and danced a bit to polka. I have a great beer mug from it. (you paid 1000 yen as a deposit on the glass and then if you wanted to keep it you could. So I did! It's great for tea.)
-I went to my first hostess bar. As I was making my tipsy way back home from Yokohama's Oktoberfest I received an email from my friend Wataru asking me if I was free.
"Yes, of course... what are we doing?"
"Meet me in Tachikawa."
"I dont see why not"
Upon finding each other in Tachikawa we start wandering down one of the roads... We make our way into an elevator with his friend and then voila! It didn't dawn on me for a while that I was at a hostess bar. It wasn't very special. But I didn't pay for anything so what do I really care where we drank? All in all it was alright, the hostess bar's "Mama" was celebrating her birthday that night. I asked her how old she was and she swore she was 24 but then she kept forgetting and telling me she was 20, and then 21... I think she was probably more like 30.
-I had ramen three times last weekend and it was delicious. If you've never tried Ramen, I highly suggest you do. Try shoyu (soy sauce) base or tonkotsu (the kind of broth used). I hear it isn't too healthy for you so you should only eat it like once a week... It's probably relatively high in sodium. Oh well.

What's on the schedule for the next while?
- My friend is in town! He arrives on Monday so I must go find him at the airport...
-Halloween is afoot! My school has three Halloween parties I must participate in, let alone the actual day where I plan to be out in full freak force! I'm going to a Japanese concert that day, but either way I'll be in costume for it! My costume is being imported from Canada courtesy of Bryan (the visiting friend)

On the news front...
My Mum is coming to visit for New Years! I'm very happy that I will get to see a familiar face for the holidays and get to share my love for this country with her! Hopefully afterwards she'll understand why I'm here! :)

One Tongue is Enough - no idea where I saw that one...

So the weather is finally cooling down and I no longer have to sleep with my air conditioner blasting. Needless to say, I'm thrilled by this. Also, Autumn/Winter fashion is coming out which is great. My friend is coming to visit me in about two weeks which is also great!
Things are kind of just settling nicely. I had a semi-full weekend this weekend. I went to see my friend DJ in Shibuya which was awesome. Everywhere I went I was treated like a pseudo-celebrity or local god... people flocked around me and just wanted to talk to me... much to my friend's dismay who had a legitimate reason to be flocked to but no one paid attention to him but me hahaha. We were talking about that last night and he could not get over my gravitational pull I had on everyone. Good times. Sunday I spent the entire day in a great deal of pain. The stomach bug/thing I had in May has reared its ugly head again.
I need to go see a doctor.
On Monday I went on an excursion to the English book store in Takadanobaba and I bought two books. I'm excited to start reading some intellectually stimulating books instead of the dribble I have to read for work (that came off a bit harsh maybe). If anyone has any good book recommendations please let me know! :) I also saw a coworker of mine, who works at a different school, and we had dinner in Koenji.
All in all... good weekend aside from the stomach pain and the cold. Turns out the pain killers I've been taking are for headaches... hmm...