Like the Day After Thanksgiving

This morning, my wife and I awoke at 5:30 AM to do some shopping! And we did some shopping alright... this afternoon.

The reason we woke up so early is that the low price clothing store Uniqlo had a special sale starting at 6:00 due to the parent company's 60th anniversary. They were selling men's socks for 10 yen a pair! (For those of you in the U.S., that's about 10 cents.) I needed some socks, and we like Uniqlo, so we woke up earlier than we do on work days.

It takes about ten minutes to drive to the nearest Uniqlo store. However, our car never made it that far. We became stuck in a line of cars stretching at least four long blocks from the store (this at 5:40 AM)! We waited in line for another 20 minutes, moving only one block.

At 6:00, my wife got out of the car with my wallet and walked to the store. After 10 minutes, she came back with the grim news. What Uniqlo had failed to mention in the advertisement we saw, both on the Internet and on the morning news show we watch, was that the first group of customers at the store would be given tickets that would allow them to buy the items on sale. Without those tickets, you would not be able to take advantage of the sale, and that is what happened to us. They had already run out of tickets.

So my wife hopped back in the car and we headed back home to our still-warm bed. It was about 6:30 AM.

I did end up buying the socks I wanted at Uniqlo later in the day. However, I paid 990 yen for six pairs. (That's about $9.50 US.) A far cry from the 10-yen sale that morning.

I guess you can say that the day's events didn't really blow my socks off.

Cool Cats

Today we went to a "neko cafe" (neko means cat in Japanese). Basically, you pay money to be in a room with a bunch of cats for a predetermined period of time. It was better than I thought.

We walked in, paid the money, and sat down on one of the benches in the room. There were about 15 cats scattered here and there around the room, and a few of them were friendly. Of course, all of them were friendly when we bought a small pack of fish to feed them.

We paid for 90 minutes. During that time, we sat and petted a few of the cats, took some pictures, and just watched the cats do what cats do. Some of them ran around the room, some fought each other, and others slept in the corners. But surprisingly, it was quite therapeutic. There's something peaceful about watching cats go about their business. It helps take one's mind off of the more stressful parts of life. It was money well spent, and I would definitely go back there.


As I write this, my wife is already talking about going to a rabbit cafe! Of course, the closest one is in Nagoya, so that would involve a long drive...

Anyway, if you are interested, we went to a place called Neko no Jikan in Amemura, near Namba in Osaka. The web page is in Japanese.

My babies!!!

My garden, six days after sowing the seeds:

The broccoli and chamomile seeds were the first to sprout. I first saw green on Wednesday... just 3 days after planting the seeds. The rest of the seeds did not waste time catching up, though.

I think I noticed my first mistake in making this container garden: I used all the seeds in the packs. It's hard to realize it when the seeds and plants are this small, but using all the seeds in these containers will make it very crowded once they are mature. The broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage are going to be packed like an Osaka Loop Line train at 7:00 in the morning. Oh well... live and learn. Besides, the Internet says the fittest will survive, and the others can be cut and thrown away.

My Garden: The Beginning

As promised, here are a few pictures of my balcony garden.

Not exactly green yet, is it? The hardest part of gardening so far is trying to be patient.

Weekly Update: Going Green

I'm gonna have to reorganize my blog yet again. Nowadays I have no time on the computer during the week. After work and dinner, my wife takes the computer the rest of the night. In a sense she's not being selfish; she's often looking for ways to earn frequent flier miles so we can travel for free, or she's hunting for online discount coupons to help us save money. That helps both of us. But it means less time to blog.

So here's my latest grand idea. Long updates on the weekends, and short posts and pictures during the week when I'm able.

To begin this first weekly update on an exciting note... I'm starting a garden! Yes, I'm man enough to admit that. It's a balcony garden, to be exact, since we live in a condominium with no yard.

I'm starting off slowly. I planted baby lettuce, cabbage and broccoli, as well as thyme, chamomile, lavender and one tulip bulb. The tulip will not bloom until next spring, but I'm expecting results from the others within the next few weeks. The lettuce should start coming out of the dirt in two or three weeks. I'll try to keep you updated with posts and pictures. If I fail, it will be out there for all to see.

(News Dog) DPJ takes power in Japan

In order to make this blog more interesting, I'm going to introduce some "segments" that I'll update on a regular basis. The first one I call "News Dog", which makes fun of the strange names that some Japanese news programs have, such as "News Bird", "News Zero", etc.

A historic event happened on Sunday here in Japan. The people elected the Democratic Party of Japan to power for the first time, knocking the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (which is anything but liberal) out of power.

How big is that? Imagine that after World War II, the United States' government was reorganized. Even though there is a multiparty democracy, one party - say, the Republican Party - has basically been in power ever since then. Then in 2009, the Republican Party is dramatically swept from power in a landslide. That is what happened in Japan yesterday.

Of course, I couldn't vote, being an American and all. But it's nice to witness it.

Link:
asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：DPJ takes power in landslide win - English

(Japanese TV rant) Dance club DJ + tattoo = drug user

I like Japan. It's a great place to live, and it's fairly safe. The food is fabulous. So you won't hear me say too many bad things about Japan... unless it's about Japanese television.

I'm beginning to despise Japanese TV. Yes, there are some good shows, and terebi is partly responsible for my growing Japanese vocabulary. But there is a lot of ridiculous stuff, too.

Take, for example, the news about pop star Sakai Noriko being arrested for drug possession this week. (This BBC article writes her name the Western way, i.e. family name last. I'll write it Japanese style.) Sakai was a popular singer back in the late 1980s, in her teens, and then later added acting to her repertoire.

I tried to think who from the U.S. I could compare her to, but that would be impossible. Sakai was one of the many "idols" (aidoru) that were popular in the 1980s. "Idols" were female singers around 16 or 17 years old. They had carefully-manufactured girl-next-door images, meaning "cute". Everything about them was cute: their costumes (bows in their hair, fluffy lace dresses on stage), what they ate (no matter the idol, they always ate strawberry shortcake), even the way they held microphones in press conferences (with both hands).

Apparently, Sakai Noriko is more famous than most aidoru. She seems to be some kind of superstar not only in Japan, but in other Asian countries like China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. I never heard of her before this week, but my wife knew exactly who she was when she saw her on the news. You can imagine the shock around Japan when Sakai turned herself into the police. The story has been big for the media here.

Anyway, back to my rant. I was watching the news yesterday, and they were talking about Sakai. They showed some video footage of Sakai as a DJ at a night club. They also showed shots of the small tattoo on her ankle.

The message was loud and clear: "No wonder Sakai Noriko was doing drugs! She has a tattoo, and she DJed at a club!"

I burst out laughing when I saw that.

People in Japan, watch out. If you have two turntables, headphones and some vinyl records, you may be labeled a drug user. If you have a tattoo, they might think you're doing cocaine.

Reviving the blog... once again

There's really no excuse.

Yeah, since my new job started in April I've hardly had any time to work on my blog (and believe me: with the way I want my blog to be done, it comes close to work). I spend more hours at work than my previous job. At home, my wife dominates the computer, spending hours looking for travel deals and ways to get frequent flyer miles. (Where would I be without my honey?)

So what this means is that it's hard to write regular blog posts. But that shouldn't be an excuse. I'm sure I can do at least one post a week if I put my mind to it.

I haven't been completely out of the World Wide Web since April. A few months ago, I decided to try Facebook. Through that I've been able to contact people from college and high school - people I haven't spoken to for years. That's a good thing. The problem is that Facebook isn't so good for writing the long posts I need to write every now and then.

And this Mafia Wars thing on Facebook... I still don't get it.

I'm not giving up on Facebook just yet. But I will spend less time there and more time working on my blog.

Life In the Happy Lane

Before I begin, I must apologize about the long hiatus. I've spent the last couple of months getting used to my new job, which I'll talk about in a moment. The new job means I have less time on the computer, which means I've had to prioritize other things over this blog. From this point in time, I'm going to try to dedicate more time towards this blog, but we'll see what happens.

My new job is going well so far. I now work for the prefectural government board of education as a native-speaking English teacher (as differentiated from regular English teachers, who are all non-native-speaking Japanese). I teach at a school in the southern part of Osaka prefecture.

Before I started work there, my predecessor gave me a sort of "transition call" to explain about the school. He said the kids were downright terrible, and the teachers just go through the motions. That scared me a bit; it reminded me of my time at a similar school a few years ago. However, once I started working there and teaching classes, I began to think that my predecessor was wrong, or at least the school wasn't a good fit for him. It certainly seems to be a good fit for me so far.

How is it different from the school from a few years ago? First, I have my own classroom - a "language lab", they call it, complete with a computer system, projector, sound system and monitors for all the students. I don't have to go to the homerooms and wade through hair curlers or manga. Second, at this school the students actually call me by my own name! At the old school, they called me anything but my name. Third, while the teachers do have a hard time with some students, overall there isn't the depression and sullenness that was prevalent among the staff at the old school. The teachers at the new school are friendly, bright and generally happy.

The students themselves are quite friendly. When I see them on the train or in the hallways of the school, they greet me and usually chat a little bit - usually in Japanese, but sometimes in English. I can't say that about the old school; the only time the students talked to me was when they were making fun of me.

That said, the educational level of the school is quite low, and it will be a struggle to get them to learn any useful English for communication. But so far I'm off to a good start.

Moving On To Another Job

Starting in April, I will have a new job. I will work full-time as a senior high school assistant language teacher.

For the past five years, I've worked for the outsourcing division of a well-known foreign language teaching company in Japan. I had a hybrid job; half the week I was teaching at public and private schools, and the other half was spent working in the personnel department of the outsourcing division. I enjoyed most of those five years. I enjoyed both teaching and personnel work.

However, I think it's about time for a change. I still like teaching, despite the various troublemakers I've had in my classes over the years. Personnel work, however, has started to affect me, I think. Personnel work is always stressful, but I think I'm becoming less tolerant of stressful situations. Maybe getting into teaching full-time will help me out... I'm hoping.

Anyway, I'm excited about my new position, and I hope it works out for me. I'll keep you updated.

Walk like an Egyptian...

Me with some buddies on the wall at the Luxor in Las Vegas. (December 2008)

Start spreading the news...

A shot of New York New York in Las Vegas. It does look a bit like the real city. (December 2008)

Ca va?

I'm standing next to a scale model of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas. One day, I hope to stand next to the real thing.

Bonjour!

At the base of the Paris Las Vegas. (December 2008)

Ugh!

This is me after tasting some really sweet cake at the Bellagio Buffet. (December 2008) Having lived in Japan several years, I don't have the tolerance for sweet American dessert anymore. The cake in Japan has far less sugar, and you'd be lucky to find cake in Japan with frosting on top.

Fountains!

A glimpse of the fountain show in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. (December 2008)

What are you looking at?

It's a fact of life in Japan: if you are a non-Asian foreigner living here, Japanese people are going to stare at you. It's something that you can't change, and it's something that you have to live with if you plan on living here a long time, like I am.

I have to admit, it bothered me a couple of years ago. Nowadays, I don't let it bother me. The same can't be said for my wife, who is Japanese. Whenever we go out together, there will be at least one person we pass by on the street or see on the train that is staring at me. My wife will get upset, make an angry face, and stare back at the person, who quickly looks away! It's nice to have people stand up for you, isn't it?

Back when I was in elementary school in Alabama, there were a few times when a white boy or girl would stare at a black classmate. The black kid would say, "What are you looking at? You act like you ain't never seen a black person before!" To which the white kid would say, "Sorry." I thought at the time, I gotta use that if that ever happens to me.

But here in Japan, where 98 percent of the population is ethnically Japanese, that doesn't quite work. Imagine:

JAPANESE PERSON:
ME: What are you looking at? You act like you've never seen a black man before.
JAPANESE PERSON: Well... I haven't.
ME: Oh.

Just taking it in stride, man, just taking it in stride.

Freezing Las Vegas

This is me in the courtyard at the Flamingo before heading out to the Strip on Christmas Eve 2008. Look at what I'm wearing; that should tell you how cold it was that day. Even that wasn't enough; I needed a bigger coat and some longer undergarments. It was freezing!

Disappointments - '08-09 U.S. Trip Pt. 2

We woke up late on Christmas Eve, still a bit tired from the previous day's travel. Our excitement increased, however, after we took a look at the view from our hotel room in daylight for the first time. What a view! (Picture to the left.) We couldn't wait to explore Vegas.

We went downstairs to the courtyard of the Flamingo. It quickly became obvious to us that it was freezing cold. The night before, the hotel employee who checked us in told us that a few days ago there was actually snow in Las Vegas... snow!!! It was hard to believe. Also, we watched the weather forecast on TV before heading out, and it said it would be around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). But down in the courtyard, it felt more like 32 degrees (0 Celsius) with the wind factored in. The cold didn't seem to bother the hotel's namesakes (pictured left). It bothered me, though; I had my fleece jacket, knit cap and gloves that I usually wore in Osaka, but even that didn't seem to be enough.

The cold would remain with us the whole time we were in Las Vegas, which was the first disappointment of the trip (certainly not the last!). We left Osaka to go somewhere warm and comfortable, and we thought our U.S. trip in California and Nevada would provide that. But nope - it was actually colder in Vegas than it was in Osaka when we left. My image of Vegas as a hot desert area was out the door for good.

After perusing the Flamingo courtyard, we first headed to the Venetian, where we planned to ride the gondola there, but changed our mind at the last minute, in part thanks to the $13 price tag. (I'd rather save my money for the real ones in Venice, Italy.) Still, the hotel itself and the shopping areas were beautiful and luxurious.

After that, we were hungry, so we headed to the Bellagio for lunch at their buffet, which we heard was the Strip's best. I was shocked at how long the line was to go in - on Christmas Eve! And they had special holiday rates: $35 per person, compared with the usual $25 lunch price. Two more disappointments. However, the food was very good, and so was the service. You could say that it was worth it. They had a nice assortment of dishes. I enjoyed the meat, salad and some of the side dishes, while my wife enjoyed the crab legs and sushi.

We had plans for after the Bellagio, such as looking around at more casinos, enjoying some of the free shows, and perhaps doing some shopping. But after lunch, we felt too tired. Our bodies had not yet recovered from the long plane ride and subsequent car ride. So we just went back to the Flamingo and slept most of the afternoon.

We woke up around 5 P.M. or so, as Vegas turned dark. After eating instant ramen in our room (we brought a bunch of the stuff with us, along with a portable hot water boiler, to save money), we headed back to the Bellagio to watch "O", one of a few Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas. The title refers to water, which in French is eau, pronounced like the 15th letter of the alphabet. The acrobats did their performances mostly over a pool of water (sometimes they performed in the water). It was a good show - the performances were daring and exciting at times. However, the tickets were $150 a pop, and we felt that the show was not good enough to justify the price. We left somewhat entertained but a bit disappointed.

After "O", we started to (again) feel tired and sleepy, so we called it a night and returned to the Flamingo, hoping to rest enough so that tomorrow we wouldn't sleep most of the day again.

Beginning of a Long Vacation - '08-09 U.S. Trip Pt. 1

In late December and early January my wife and I took a nice 12-night, 14-day vacation that took us to two countries, three states, and a number of cities, primarily Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles. It was the longest vacation that the two of us have ever taken together, even longer than our honeymoon to the Maldives in 2007.

While I was looking forward to the vacation, I was not looking forward to the first day of the trip, which involved me driving us from Los Angeles to Las Vegas immediately after flying from Japan to the U.S.

We flew from Osaka Airport, a.k.a Itami (the smaller airport in the Osaka area), to Narita International near Tokyo to transfer onto a flight from there to Los Angeles. The Japan Airlines airplane from Osaka to Tokyo had our hopes up for a comfortable airplane ride. The plane was large for a one-hour flight; it was a Boeing 747, I believe. The coach seats had a lot of leg room, comfortable seats with moveable headrests, and foot rests. Very comfortable. First class must have been heaven! We were thinking, if the airplane to Tokyo is this comfortable, the airplane from Tokyo to Los Angeles must be really good.

We were wrong. The seats on the second flight were cramped, somewhat uncomfortable, and the seats had no foot rests. So much for a comfortable airplane ride to the U.S. I brought a lot of stuff to help me get some sleep on the airplane: neck pillow, eye cover, earplugs, among other things. But I just couldn't sleep. I can never sleep on airplanes. So when we arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), I was tired and sleepy - not exactly the state you want to be in when you have to drive six hours.

After getting the rental car, we departed LAX. I was happy that I could drive on the right side of the road without really thinking about it. However, I got lost trying to get to the freeway. Before the trip, I got driving instructions using Google Maps. But I had instructions from LAX to Vegas, not from Dollar Rent-A-Car, which was a few blocks away from the airport.

We spent maybe 30 minutes trying to find the freeway that runs right by the airport. Once we found it, we had to contend with massive traffic in the Los Angeles area, and that was around 11 A.M.! It took an hour for us to drive to the other side of L.A., where we stopped at a Wal-Mart to do a bit of shopping.

My wife and I always make it a point to stop over at Wal-Mart whenever we travel to the U.S. We can buy a lot of American foods and goods to take back to Japan, and at reasonable prices. During this Wal-Mart stop, though, we bought sandwiches, a salad and fried chicken from the deli for lunch, a lot of bottled water for our travels, and a six-pack of Coca-Cola for me to stay awake during the drive to Vegas.

And I definitely needed that Coke as we drove up I-15 through the California desert. I had to do all I could to stay awake. We had the radio blasting, and I sang along. I was drinking sips of Coke every opportunity I got. My wife would speak to me with a loud voice. It was difficult, but we made it to Las Vegas sometime before 8 P.M.

It was amazing to see the lights of the Strip, the place I had heard so much about ever since I was a kid. We saw the MGM Grand, New York New York, the Bellagio, and Caesars Palace as we drove up to the Flamingo - our home for the next five nights. We checked into our room, and the only thing we did before quickly going to bed was take a good view of the north Strip from the window. It was beautiful - we had a great view of the Mirage, Treasure Island, Harrah's, and the Venetian, not to mention the Stratosphere in the background. A relaxing way to end a tough and busy day.