On Tuesdays, I have 6 hours of free time in between two classes. So this Tuesday I decided to use one of those hours to eat lunch and the other five to go to Osaka and play DDR.
I took the Keihan from 枚方市 (Hirakata-shi) to 淀屋橋 (Yodoyabashi) and switched to the 地下鉄 (chikatetsu, subway) which I took to 難波 (Namba). From there I walked about twenty minutes to Game Amuseum next to the Loft department store, and le voilà, a DDR machine. Outside.
On a slope. A slight slope but a slope nonetheless. But the great part was that they had four speakers slightly offset from the four corners of the pad set, and because the machine wasn't inside the arcade itself, it was just the DDR music from those speakers and the whoosh of the autumn wind that you heard in this peaceful corner of an otherwise noisy city.
It was 100 yen per play, per play three songs. Nothing new. Supernova 2: the newest DDR machine out there. By no means the best, and probably the worst, but it'll do. The good speakers made everything so much better. They replaced the usual machine speakers that just don't do it for Supernova 2's questionable music selection. Now either the buttons on the pads didn't press down far enough or the slope made playing a little awkward. But that was okay. I got to see the wind blow these small, small leaves off of a couple of trees about twenty footsteps away. It was so beautiful, it deserved a picture. I didn't take one, though, as I was in the middle of a round and I couldn't get my camera out. But I have the memory of it in my head, and that I cherish.
Inside, upstairs there was a machine too. That one had a camera behind it, and it seems that you could've gone up to the desk and asked them to tape you and paid however much for a video of yourself playing DDR. Awesome. It looked like a pretty good deal, too; the camera was well-positioned and the video quality was tight. But not today, I said. I got out and left, well-exercised.
I walked along some train line, possibly the JR, and came across a shop that really wanted to be a bagel shop. It was called "BAGEL & BAGEL." And let me tell you, if there's one thing I really miss from Japan, it's bagels. And oh my heavens--that cinnamon raisin bagel was incredibly delicious. A little softer than the usual Dunkin Donuts cinnamon raisin bagel, and I'm not sure whether that made it better, because doubtlessly the amount of time I've been away from them probably added to the heavenly nature of the taste. But it was so great. And there was a nice chocolate chip cookie I bought in addition with it. I've had chocolate chip cookies very frequently over the past month, ever since I discovered they had packages of them at various convenience stores, so it wasn't exactly the same experience as the bagel was. Good nonetheless. Eventually I came to wish I had bought another bagel.
And then I came back slightly late, quite satisfied, for my economics class. I love Japan.
vendredi, novembre 21
lundi, novembre 17
Korien featuring Tokyo
This title is like saying Nate Dogg (gangsta... singer, uhh, who was famous primarily for his appearances on other people's songs) featuring Barbra Streisand. It's the sort of thing the word "juxtaposition" was invented for.
But that's how my mind worked today. I'm supposed to be completing plans to go to Tokyo for the long weekend, but instead of resolving to get that done this afternoon (though I still have time to do it tonight, as it's slightly less than 4 hours before midnight) the first thing on my mind was going to Korien, a random suburb three train stops away by local train and one stop away by the brand-spanking-new purple train (YES) where I got a 1000 yen haircut, which is slightly more than 10 dollars thanks to ingenious central economic planning. And it was possibly the easiest, most satisfying haircut I have ever had. Maybe I should just get my haircuts in Japan from now on. That was my "new wardrobe" policy for the last three years, right? (I basically decided I would wait until I returned to Japan, which took three years, until I would add substantially to my wardrobe.)
If that wasn't enough of a reason to get me to love Korien--and by the way, thank you Tim for telling me about the haircut place--how about the amaaaazing cinnamon donut I had at the bakery? I wish I bought, like, 5. I will probably stop off there if I go to Osaka again. No, I'll probably spend 400 yen just to go there, make dollar-money into donut-money and go back. But it was so good! Picture having a cinnamon donut, except it being actually good. ...Okay, that image does lack a little in description. Picture a soft, soft donut with cinnamon sugar sprinkled more than adequately all over it, and imagine that donut being as fresh as fried dough that you got at one of those places at Salisbury Beach two seconds ago. (I say fried dough because you generally spread cinnamon sugar all over that stuff.) It's like fried dough, except even better!!! And cheaper and healthier (because it's Japan). I need to buy my 5 donuts tomorrow.
But oh, wait. There's Tokyo plans.
Aw, hell, what's a few seconds re-cherishing the taste of a Japanese donut?
But that's how my mind worked today. I'm supposed to be completing plans to go to Tokyo for the long weekend, but instead of resolving to get that done this afternoon (though I still have time to do it tonight, as it's slightly less than 4 hours before midnight) the first thing on my mind was going to Korien, a random suburb three train stops away by local train and one stop away by the brand-spanking-new purple train (YES) where I got a 1000 yen haircut, which is slightly more than 10 dollars thanks to ingenious central economic planning. And it was possibly the easiest, most satisfying haircut I have ever had. Maybe I should just get my haircuts in Japan from now on. That was my "new wardrobe" policy for the last three years, right? (I basically decided I would wait until I returned to Japan, which took three years, until I would add substantially to my wardrobe.)
If that wasn't enough of a reason to get me to love Korien--and by the way, thank you Tim for telling me about the haircut place--how about the amaaaazing cinnamon donut I had at the bakery? I wish I bought, like, 5. I will probably stop off there if I go to Osaka again. No, I'll probably spend 400 yen just to go there, make dollar-money into donut-money and go back. But it was so good! Picture having a cinnamon donut, except it being actually good. ...Okay, that image does lack a little in description. Picture a soft, soft donut with cinnamon sugar sprinkled more than adequately all over it, and imagine that donut being as fresh as fried dough that you got at one of those places at Salisbury Beach two seconds ago. (I say fried dough because you generally spread cinnamon sugar all over that stuff.) It's like fried dough, except even better!!! And cheaper and healthier (because it's Japan). I need to buy my 5 donuts tomorrow.
But oh, wait. There's Tokyo plans.
Aw, hell, what's a few seconds re-cherishing the taste of a Japanese donut?
dimanche, novembre 16
Dondondondondondon Town
Actually, it's called Den Den Town. Note to self: Do not go to Osaka when you know you're kind of stressed out and you know you should relax. Go to Kyoto.
Osaka and Kyoto are polar opposites, or at least today it feels that way. Kyoto's seemingly infinite number of temples and shrines and its peaceful riverside walks lacked big time today, when I decided to shoo myself off to the general Osaka area with two major missions: 1) Get a haircut and 2) Get a playstation. Did either of these get accomplished? NO.
My first step was to go to Kyobashi on the Keihan (of course) and look there for a cheap haircut place. I could've sworn I saw one there and that my host brother told me there was a good place (e.g. where the price was around 10 dollars) in the station for a haircut, but I could not find it. I then decided to go to Kitahama and switch to the Seidosuji(?) Line, from there departing for Nihonbashi, or, in patriotic 日本語 (nihongo, Japanese), "Nipponbashi." My intention was to go to Den Den Town and pick up a PS1. Neither of the enormous places I went to with enormous amounts of games from random-ass consoles like the Mega Drive and the Neo Geo, as well as those consoles themselves, had the original Playstation in stock. How is this so difficult to find? What on earth happened to the PS1 in Japan? What in Japan happened to the PS1 being on earth? I have gone about five separate places looking for it, but to no avail.
At least today I bought four separate DDR games. Yesss. But the fact is, if I don't acquire a Japanese PS1, I am not going to be able to play any of them. Let me check amazon.co.jp to see if they're available...
...Yes. Good. You'd be crazy to pay $57 in the US for a PS1 but I guess it's not so bad if it's a Japanese one. But you can get N64s here for half that price...
After leaving Den Den Town, I made the mistake of going to Shinsaibashi to look for the same barbershop that I passed about a month ago, no, more, when I went on a tour there with a fairly large group of people. Could not find. The haircuts were only 900 yen!!! (9 dollars. Nothing really to get excited over in the US.) I also intended on doing some shopping there but I was too tired and hungry and I just went there, not thinking, looking for the haircut. The barber, rather. I also went to the wrong train station and only realized this after exiting the gates, which means I had to pay 230 yen more than I should've. Not great.
And just to go to Shinsaibashi to not get a haircut.
Oh well, I went back into the train station and at least got a slice of pizza, at about 17:15. I almost couldn't eat my dinner at 19:00 as a result.
Which reminds me, I need to find that place, wherever the hell it was, that had hours ending at 25:00. That was great. I've never seen that before. I might be able to find it again in Hirakata if that's where it was. ARRR, can't remember
You know, the main reason I went out to Osaka today was because I need to get out of Hirakata more. There was a good four weeks that had passed before I finally got my ass on the train. That was pretty much an utter failure of a shopping trip, though. Also, good thing I have a test tomorrow: I need to start waking up earlier than 11:15 AM again.
It's time to tango. That is, 単語(tango, vocabulary). And 漢字。 And 読み。
Osaka and Kyoto are polar opposites, or at least today it feels that way. Kyoto's seemingly infinite number of temples and shrines and its peaceful riverside walks lacked big time today, when I decided to shoo myself off to the general Osaka area with two major missions: 1) Get a haircut and 2) Get a playstation. Did either of these get accomplished? NO.
My first step was to go to Kyobashi on the Keihan (of course) and look there for a cheap haircut place. I could've sworn I saw one there and that my host brother told me there was a good place (e.g. where the price was around 10 dollars) in the station for a haircut, but I could not find it. I then decided to go to Kitahama and switch to the Seidosuji(?) Line, from there departing for Nihonbashi, or, in patriotic 日本語 (nihongo, Japanese), "Nipponbashi." My intention was to go to Den Den Town and pick up a PS1. Neither of the enormous places I went to with enormous amounts of games from random-ass consoles like the Mega Drive and the Neo Geo, as well as those consoles themselves, had the original Playstation in stock. How is this so difficult to find? What on earth happened to the PS1 in Japan? What in Japan happened to the PS1 being on earth? I have gone about five separate places looking for it, but to no avail.
At least today I bought four separate DDR games. Yesss. But the fact is, if I don't acquire a Japanese PS1, I am not going to be able to play any of them. Let me check amazon.co.jp to see if they're available...
...Yes. Good. You'd be crazy to pay $57 in the US for a PS1 but I guess it's not so bad if it's a Japanese one. But you can get N64s here for half that price...
After leaving Den Den Town, I made the mistake of going to Shinsaibashi to look for the same barbershop that I passed about a month ago, no, more, when I went on a tour there with a fairly large group of people. Could not find. The haircuts were only 900 yen!!! (9 dollars. Nothing really to get excited over in the US.) I also intended on doing some shopping there but I was too tired and hungry and I just went there, not thinking, looking for the haircut. The barber, rather. I also went to the wrong train station and only realized this after exiting the gates, which means I had to pay 230 yen more than I should've. Not great.
And just to go to Shinsaibashi to not get a haircut.
Oh well, I went back into the train station and at least got a slice of pizza, at about 17:15. I almost couldn't eat my dinner at 19:00 as a result.
Which reminds me, I need to find that place, wherever the hell it was, that had hours ending at 25:00. That was great. I've never seen that before. I might be able to find it again in Hirakata if that's where it was. ARRR, can't remember
You know, the main reason I went out to Osaka today was because I need to get out of Hirakata more. There was a good four weeks that had passed before I finally got my ass on the train. That was pretty much an utter failure of a shopping trip, though. Also, good thing I have a test tomorrow: I need to start waking up earlier than 11:15 AM again.
It's time to tango. That is, 単語(tango, vocabulary). And 漢字。 And 読み。
mardi, novembre 11
in Japan
Things that are expensive in Japan:
Batteries
New clothes (As opposed to used ones. Used clothes do not have the "thrift" connotation as they do in the US)
Heating oil
Gas
Electricity
You can tell that you would have to live differently from how you live in America, if that's where you live. Actually, I should really be prefacing the list with "Things that are more expensive in Japan than they are in the States," because there's no doubt in my mind that all these things are higher. Of course, it all comes down to negotiation on the oil prices, right?
But note the first one. That's what spurred me to write this. If you buy 100-yen batteries here, you suffer the consequences. I still have not learned my lesson on this, and these batteries run out in I swear 1 hour of camera use. The same is true for 100-yen toothbrushes, and I finally figured that out about a fortnight ago (lol, I wrote "a week" at first and in the next sentence realized I needed to change this, so I decided to make it so I'd only change one word). I got a 555-yen (or so)toothbrush and it's still there, in good shape. Awesome. How come they don't last this long for me in the States? Maybe those wholesale deals really are a ripoff...
Well, I finally got expensive batteries (ugh, it's like $1 a battery) and they should do well; we'll see. But you see, in this society that we perceive as being one and the same with its progress in technology, or rather as having becoming completely integrated with its technology and reliant on communication, life, and spirit through it, or whatever, well... there's more to this picture than that. Especially after you marry or get a job. Then, everything, EVERYTHING changes.
What a split in Japanese life, from the life of cramming I see with high schoolers to the life of laidback days and slight excess (+ part-time job) that I see with college students to the half-life of work and the half-life of family, that is, the man taking the work half and the woman taking the family half, with neither really getting what Westerners would think they should of the other, or at least that's the normal situation here. And yet it goes on. It's a pretty solid foundation, at least until the earthquakes come. And of course, that goes without saying; how often can you predict an earthquake? But it needs to be said. It really looks like Japanese society will continue to be what it is for a long time, because it seems so efficient and it works so well. But who knows? Big things happen.
I really wish I had things more specific to say about things I've seen, places I've gone. But for some reason those aren't as easy to write about. I mean, they've been great, but still.
I did have some great conversations with Tim today, but I can't remember any of them. I especially can't remember the ones about Fushimi-inari, which fate led me to a second time today. Well, it would be more accurate to say fate led me here today because we really didn't know that the mountain we wanted to climb with an orange gate on it was the mountain with many, many, many orange gates on it. Hmm, what did I think about when I was there?
Well, what do I think about it now? It's great. Orange gates. In Japanese, they're called red gates. I don't know why. The fox statues aren't nearly as scary as the random cats that you can find pretty much everywhere. Apparently, there was one with red eyes that Tim saw that was sick. I didn't look.
One thing I do realize is that I'm feeling more at home or rather at one with the fall season now, with the cold temperatures. They seem to be helping my body rather than wrecking it as I thought they would. There's a heater in my room, but I don't want to use it anymore; it was bothering me. I've heard that heaters and air-conditioners aren't actually good for you because they throw big fluctuations in temperature at your body, and they're especially not good for you if you don't clean them regularly.
I'm tired now and I'll log off and think more about this tomorrow. If there are any profondeurs (yes, it's French) that I reach tomorrow, I'll let you know, and good night.
Alex
Batteries
New clothes (As opposed to used ones. Used clothes do not have the "thrift" connotation as they do in the US)
Heating oil
Gas
Electricity
You can tell that you would have to live differently from how you live in America, if that's where you live. Actually, I should really be prefacing the list with "Things that are more expensive in Japan than they are in the States," because there's no doubt in my mind that all these things are higher. Of course, it all comes down to negotiation on the oil prices, right?
But note the first one. That's what spurred me to write this. If you buy 100-yen batteries here, you suffer the consequences. I still have not learned my lesson on this, and these batteries run out in I swear 1 hour of camera use. The same is true for 100-yen toothbrushes, and I finally figured that out about a fortnight ago (lol, I wrote "a week" at first and in the next sentence realized I needed to change this, so I decided to make it so I'd only change one word). I got a 555-yen (or so)toothbrush and it's still there, in good shape. Awesome. How come they don't last this long for me in the States? Maybe those wholesale deals really are a ripoff...
Well, I finally got expensive batteries (ugh, it's like $1 a battery) and they should do well; we'll see. But you see, in this society that we perceive as being one and the same with its progress in technology, or rather as having becoming completely integrated with its technology and reliant on communication, life, and spirit through it, or whatever, well... there's more to this picture than that. Especially after you marry or get a job. Then, everything, EVERYTHING changes.
What a split in Japanese life, from the life of cramming I see with high schoolers to the life of laidback days and slight excess (+ part-time job) that I see with college students to the half-life of work and the half-life of family, that is, the man taking the work half and the woman taking the family half, with neither really getting what Westerners would think they should of the other, or at least that's the normal situation here. And yet it goes on. It's a pretty solid foundation, at least until the earthquakes come. And of course, that goes without saying; how often can you predict an earthquake? But it needs to be said. It really looks like Japanese society will continue to be what it is for a long time, because it seems so efficient and it works so well. But who knows? Big things happen.
I really wish I had things more specific to say about things I've seen, places I've gone. But for some reason those aren't as easy to write about. I mean, they've been great, but still.
I did have some great conversations with Tim today, but I can't remember any of them. I especially can't remember the ones about Fushimi-inari, which fate led me to a second time today. Well, it would be more accurate to say fate led me here today because we really didn't know that the mountain we wanted to climb with an orange gate on it was the mountain with many, many, many orange gates on it. Hmm, what did I think about when I was there?
Well, what do I think about it now? It's great. Orange gates. In Japanese, they're called red gates. I don't know why. The fox statues aren't nearly as scary as the random cats that you can find pretty much everywhere. Apparently, there was one with red eyes that Tim saw that was sick. I didn't look.
One thing I do realize is that I'm feeling more at home or rather at one with the fall season now, with the cold temperatures. They seem to be helping my body rather than wrecking it as I thought they would. There's a heater in my room, but I don't want to use it anymore; it was bothering me. I've heard that heaters and air-conditioners aren't actually good for you because they throw big fluctuations in temperature at your body, and they're especially not good for you if you don't clean them regularly.
I'm tired now and I'll log off and think more about this tomorrow. If there are any profondeurs (yes, it's French) that I reach tomorrow, I'll let you know, and good night.
Alex
mercredi, novembre 5
Oh, bama.
With few hours left in my sleep account and two rather important things to do tomorrow, I will go to bed soon; however, not before I get this down.
Everyone in Japan, pretty much, is very happy that Obama won. At least that seems nearly true. I'm not very happy he won. I would not have been happy McCain won either, but I at least would have laughed at how we would've been just doing the same thing again for another four years; another four years of neo-conservatism (read: a false, dishonest version of conservatism) and an economy going down the bucket, and no change. And yes, I see change in Obama, but it scares me.
It scares me that people (men) I know here cried listening to his acceptance speech. But I even came close to it when I was watching Japanese TV coverage at dinner and I saw how happy people were, especially when they showed the footage in Kenya. But the fact is, how fleeting is this happiness going to be? And why exactly are we moved to tears by this?
Is it the death of neo-conservatism that we want to see ensue? Is it finally our reconciliation with the rest of the world? Or is it, more than either of these things, Obama's amazing rhetorical skills? Look out for his propaganda later.
Let's get back to what scares me, though. It scares me that people are willing to trust a candidate to change things without being all that specific on what he's going to specifically change. He's going to have the troops out with 16 months, okay. Good. Could have it a little faster. But what will he change in regards to our foreign policy, apart from Iraq? We can't afford to spend the amount of money abroad that we have before, with the debt the way it is. Is he going to let the debt just loom there and spend just the way Bush did, except perhaps more?
As for corporate bailouts, um, giving money to people who lobby you a lot is no change. Remember how a majority of Democrats voted for the first bailout? It was the Republicans that brought bailout #1 down. With an even larger of Democrats in Congress and one in the Oval Office, well, where do you think this leaves us? We'll have more of the same, and then some.
I think the main thing that's bothering me is the blind trust I see from people (especially from people in my generation) in the Democrats. Let's recall the last four years: we had a Democratic majority in Congress, and no end to the Iraq War. Can anyone name anything the Democrats did in the last four years, except complain and maintain the status quo? Nancy "Impeachment is off the table" Pelosi and her cohorts perhaps have something to hide about with regards to Bush's torture-filled interrogations too. (Did they know about it? No wonder they wouldn't want to make an investigation on this kind of stuff, regardless of whether it would get Bush impeached...) God bless Cindy Sheehan for getting 17% of the vote in Pelosi's district.
Perhaps I was scared the most by Massachusetts voting against the income tax 70%, which is much higher than the 55% they had when they voted it down a few years ago. Why do we continue to think the government needs all the money it's getting, and that it will actually do any good with it? The jump from 55 to 70 there seems to imply we're believing this MORE.
I'm done. Neither Lindsay Graham's opponent nor BJ Lawson won, so that's why I'm mainly unhappy about this election. Hey, but although third party percentages weren't great, more people voted for third parties than in 2004. That's a great thing.
Looking forward to 2010, when we go to vote again. Let's see how Congress changes then...
Everyone in Japan, pretty much, is very happy that Obama won. At least that seems nearly true. I'm not very happy he won. I would not have been happy McCain won either, but I at least would have laughed at how we would've been just doing the same thing again for another four years; another four years of neo-conservatism (read: a false, dishonest version of conservatism) and an economy going down the bucket, and no change. And yes, I see change in Obama, but it scares me.
It scares me that people (men) I know here cried listening to his acceptance speech. But I even came close to it when I was watching Japanese TV coverage at dinner and I saw how happy people were, especially when they showed the footage in Kenya. But the fact is, how fleeting is this happiness going to be? And why exactly are we moved to tears by this?
Is it the death of neo-conservatism that we want to see ensue? Is it finally our reconciliation with the rest of the world? Or is it, more than either of these things, Obama's amazing rhetorical skills? Look out for his propaganda later.
Let's get back to what scares me, though. It scares me that people are willing to trust a candidate to change things without being all that specific on what he's going to specifically change. He's going to have the troops out with 16 months, okay. Good. Could have it a little faster. But what will he change in regards to our foreign policy, apart from Iraq? We can't afford to spend the amount of money abroad that we have before, with the debt the way it is. Is he going to let the debt just loom there and spend just the way Bush did, except perhaps more?
As for corporate bailouts, um, giving money to people who lobby you a lot is no change. Remember how a majority of Democrats voted for the first bailout? It was the Republicans that brought bailout #1 down. With an even larger of Democrats in Congress and one in the Oval Office, well, where do you think this leaves us? We'll have more of the same, and then some.
I think the main thing that's bothering me is the blind trust I see from people (especially from people in my generation) in the Democrats. Let's recall the last four years: we had a Democratic majority in Congress, and no end to the Iraq War. Can anyone name anything the Democrats did in the last four years, except complain and maintain the status quo? Nancy "Impeachment is off the table" Pelosi and her cohorts perhaps have something to hide about with regards to Bush's torture-filled interrogations too. (Did they know about it? No wonder they wouldn't want to make an investigation on this kind of stuff, regardless of whether it would get Bush impeached...) God bless Cindy Sheehan for getting 17% of the vote in Pelosi's district.
Perhaps I was scared the most by Massachusetts voting against the income tax 70%, which is much higher than the 55% they had when they voted it down a few years ago. Why do we continue to think the government needs all the money it's getting, and that it will actually do any good with it? The jump from 55 to 70 there seems to imply we're believing this MORE.
I'm done. Neither Lindsay Graham's opponent nor BJ Lawson won, so that's why I'm mainly unhappy about this election. Hey, but although third party percentages weren't great, more people voted for third parties than in 2004. That's a great thing.
Looking forward to 2010, when we go to vote again. Let's see how Congress changes then...
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)