Bloom In Japan

Here comes some more random junk…

September 18th, 2007 - Let’s Get Lost in Tokyo!

So after receiving a contact for a modeling agency from a friend, I decided to venture into the middle of Tokyo and do my best to find the agency. What should have been a relatively easy journey, turned into a marathon session of walking, as I stubbornly decided to walk a “short distance” from Ebisu to Roppongi. About an hour into the trip I realized that I had no idea where I was, and proceeded to consult a map. Bad idea. If you’re like me, you would assume that all maps face north. Well in Japan, they don’t. Every map is facing a different direction, so if you’re too lazy or stupid to check the compass rose, you end up getting even more lost. I finally ended up asking some kind gentleman for directions in broken Japanese, and he directed me to a subway that would take me into Roppongi. After getting there however, I became lost once again, and ended up not even finding the agency. What do I do next? Of course I do my best to get lost once again. Long story short, I ended up walking a good 15km all around southwest Tokyo, spending time in Ebisu, Roppongi, Omotesando, and Harajuku, before settling in Shibuya and chilling for a few hours. I hung out at a place called Shibuya 109, which is this very upscale shopping mall, but more importantly it is like heaven on earth if you like the ladies. Literally every other woman/girl you see is model material. Sitting there with my jaw on the ground was one of the most entertaining experiences of my life. After gawking at the lovely ladies for a bit, I decided to get some grub at a McDonald’s nearby. As I walk upstairs to use the bathroom, I hear a table of college kids start laughing and notice they are looking at me. This is pretty standard as a gaijin in Japan, so I think nothing of it and continue on to take my piss. As I come out of the bathroom the same kids are waiting for me and start saying Orurando, Orurando. I need to make a post on this subject soon, but needless to say the Orlando Bloom thing is rather strong here. They end up requesting that I take some pictures with them and then ask me if I would like to eat with them. I of course took them up on their offer, and had a great time talking to some really cool kids. After a bit we parted ways, and after unlodging my gigantic head from the doorway, I continued on my journey. Anyways, I finished my night by heading over to Shinjuku to explore the famed Kabukicho for the first time. This is THE red light district in Tokyo, and is said to be the most dangerous place in all of Japan. I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that, but it was definitely an experience. I’ve never been approached by a Nigerian man and handed a menu full of women before that night, but now I can say that I have. At any rate, after wandering around Kabukicho for awhile, I hopped on the last train and went home for another night of 3-hours sleep.

September 25th, 2007 - Beautiful Sunset in Miyoshi Town

No words needed…

Since I’ve been a major slacker and haven’t uploaded anything new in the past month or so, I figure I will spend some time now and just throw up a bunch of random junk. Let the fun begin…

September 10th, 2007 - The First Day of Work at NOVA

Here are some pics from the morning before my first day at NOVA. Notice how happy (and tired) I look beforehand, and how super-genki I am afterwards. If I only knew then what I know now…

September 13th, 2007 - Missing Last Train in Ikebukuro

Ah, what a wonderful night this was. The roomie Eric and I decided to hang out in Ikebukuro and get shit-faced. When I say shit-faced, I mean drunk to the point of passing out on the street, but more on that in a second. After throwin’ back countless shots and guin-eye (plural for guiness?), we decided to go hitup a ramen shop for some 1AM eats. I don’t remember much, but I do remember only eating about a quarter of the massive bowl of noodles before feeling a little woozy. The chef wasn’t too happy with me when I thanked him and left his masterpiece barely eaten on the counter, but I figure it was better to leave than to give back a slightly used portion of his meal in a disgusting way. Anyways, this was the point that I lost Eric, and began my solo adventure for the night. I remember walking into an alleyway and sitting on a bench next to a fellow drunken salary-man who happened to be reading a manga. Luckily for me there was another issue laying on the ground, and I proceeded to pretend that I could read Japanese fluently for a good 20 minutes before exchanging nods with the gentleman and continuing on my journey. At this point I lose almost all memory, but shortly thereafter I begin to feel quite sleepy. As trains have ceased operations until 530AM, I am desperate to find a cozy spot to catch some Z’s. What better spot to sleep in Tokyo than a small cove between the train tracks and street? It actually turned out to be one of the cleanest and most secluded spots that I could possibly find, and it served its purpose until around 5AM when I woke up to the sound of trains. I proceeded to board my train back home, and promptly passed out. Some time later I was awoken by a slap across my head, and looked up to see Eric with a big grin on his face. We exchanged pleasantries, and both quickly fell asleep once again. By some miracle I awoke 30 minutes later to notice that we had bypassed our home station, woke Eric up, got off at the next stop, and hopped on another train to go back. What do we do then? Of course we pass out again and almost miss our station again. Long story somewhat less long, we finally got back to the apartment at 730AM, and spent the remainder of the morning/afternoon sleeping off our massive hangovers. Good times. Here are a couple cellphone pics from the bar before the stupidness.

September 13th, 2007 - Trip to Ochanomizu to Try and Find a Guitar

So with my supposed salary advance soon to be on its way, Eric and I decided to go in on a guitar together. After asking around and doing some research, I learned about a place in Tokyo called Ochanomizu, which is famous for its guitar shops and other college targeted stores. It turned out to be quite amazing, with a good 30 music stores within a half-mile radius. We searched and searched, and finally found a used acoustic for 8000 Yen ($80), and decided to go get a drink at a local bar before making the purchase. Of course we ended up staying at the bar too late, and by the time I went back to pickup the guitar the place had closed. It turned out to be kind of a good thing though, as my financial situation was not going to be good anytime soon…

September 14th, 2007 - Daytime View from the Front of My Apartment

September 16th, 2007 - First View of the Mountains from My Apartment

September 16th, 2007 - Chilling in a Park in Ikebukuro…The “Bike” Night

I met my roomate Michael and his friend/manager Reiko (the birthday girl from Typhoon night) out in Ikebukuro to have some street beers in the park. It was a pretty chill night, but later on was when I missed my last train home and had to find my way back from a few stations away. Thanks again random stock-boy with bike…

more to come…

Well I have now been living in my new place for about 5 days, and I must say I am digging the change. The house itself isn’t much to look at from the outside, but inside it is more than adequate for my needs (and my room is freaking awesome). The location can’t be beat, as I can literally walk from my front door to my office cubicle in 20 minutes. I have sooo much stuff to throw up on the site, and will be trying to at least get started tomorrow when I wake up. As always, I hope things are going well with everyone, and I hope to talk to you soon.

Well yesterday marked the 2-month mark for my time in Japan, and needless to say it has been a wild ride so far. The next week will bring about even more changes, as I move into Tokyo, start 2 new jobs, and wait to hear WTF is going on with my last job.

Thursday afternoon I will officially make my move into Tokyo prefecture, as I settle in a few minutes walk from the heart of Ikebukuro. I managed to get my address and find the house, and while the place itself looks like shit from the outside, the location is absolutely perfect. From front door to standing on a train at Ikebukuro Station was less than a 15 minute walk, including wait time at 3 traffic lights and dodging thousands of people. To make things better, my main branch for one of my new jobs is at the station, so I will be able to freaking walk to work. How cool is that? I will be a little sad leaving Miyoshi Town, but it’s been my goal to live in Tokyo, so this will be quite exciting for me.

I finished training for one of the new jobs yesterday, and will technically start work on Friday, although I have yet to create my schedule. I plan on working as much as possible over the next few months to build up some funds and recover from the bullshit that has gone down over the past 9 weeks. I just receieved another offer for a 2-day per week contract at a corporate training company, and I plan on accepting it. I should be able to get some valuable experience working in a professional environment, and the money will be decent. In addition I hope that living in Tokyo will open up the possibilities for teaching private lessons and getting some grub money while I await my first paychecks from the “real” jobs. Things are going to be tight for the next couple months, but hopefully things will work out.

NOVA is set to make an announcement on Thursday regarding the future of the company. Surprisingly 10+ companies have expressed interest in buying them out, so it will be interesting to see what happens as far as backed wages and everything. At the very least maybe the students will be able to use their old points, but I’d obviously like to see SOME money for the 2 months of service I “volunteered”.

At any rate, I’m still a prick and have not uploaded all the media that I have stored, but I will do my best this week in between moving and everything. Beyond that, I hope things are going well back home with everyone. I see the temps are quickly falling, luckily we are still at a reasonable range here. Anyways, I shall try to catch up with everyone soon, mata ne.

Holy crap, a friend just informed me that my favorite band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, will be playing a show in Tokyo on January 11th. You have no idea how happy this makes me.

Well the circus has continued. It seems as though the Japanese government may have found someone gullible enough to take over NOVA. The problem is that this doesn’t do much to help out teachers or staff as far as money is concerned. Even if a company took over NOVA in its entirety, it would still be doubtful that we would see back wages, as they would probably restart everything under a new name and contract. We may be able to have a job though, which would be better than nothing I suppose. They are supposed to announce everything next week, so we shall see. As far as the scandal itself, the press here has been crucifying the moronic president. It seems as though the man could indeed be going to jail for a long time when all is said and done. Embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, etc etc etc. The man is a real class act. It was a real treat seeing his 3,000,000 Yen per month office, with 70,000,000 Yen worth of furnishings being paraded across television the past week. His “office” is more like a freaking love hotel, complete with sauna, twin bed, tea ceremony room, plasma TVs, and probably a hidden shrine to himself as god. It’s nice to know that the fucker was living his life of luxury while selling off his stake in the company and dooming fools like myself to a life of eating instant ramen and rice. If or hopefully when they actually catch up to the guy, I hope he is paired with an unfortunate cell mate in jail. Words can’t describe my disgust for the man.

In other news, I have decided on a new residence, and will be moving within 2 weeks. I have chosen a guest house in Ikebukuro, which is the closest section of downtown Tokyo to here. My room will be 50% larger, the house itself is decent enough, and the location is excellent. I will be within walking distance of every major subway/train line in Tokyo, which will save me tons of money in itself. Unfortunately I will be a good hour away from the woman, but I’m sure we will figure something out.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Thanks to a photographer from London, I can now pull a Zoolander and go around saying “I’m a model, idiot”. I spent the entire afternoon posing like a moron in various locations in Tokyo. The highlight of the day was doing a shoot in the middle of the clusterfuck that is Shibuya (the insanely crowded place featured in Lost in Translation). As we were shooting, a crowd of literally 30-40 people gathered around and began taking their own pictures with cameras and cell phones. Just another surreal moment in this crazy place. Unfortunately the gig was non-paying, but I got some free food and drink, and will be receiving a DVD full of all the pictures for use in my portfolio. All in all it was a fun experience, and well worth it.

Beyond that, I have been busy in general and have plenty of stuff that I need to throw up on the page. I start training tomorrow with the new company, so that will be quite exciting. I need to head into Tokyo right now though, so that I can try to find a cheap black suit for the new job. Until next time, peace outs.