winter blues

Just a quick post before I head off to the airport. Had to test out the camera and so here's semi-miserable view from my window. Its been raining all week and its hell cold outside, but it actually looks more decent than when its just cold and dry.

Luckily there are some evergreen trees that haven't shed all their leaves. There is hope yet!

The average maximum temp forecast for Tokyo today is 11 degrees Celsius. In Bangkok, the MINIMUM is 26....

Bring on the sunshine!!!

I'm off

No, not in the 'kuku' sense, but in the 'I'm off to Thailand' sense.

Luckily I was kept busy running last minute errands today but now that I am back in my room packing (supposedly), a slight feeling nervousness is taking over. Max once said that that's a good thing, nervous=cautious. So yeah, here I go.

Snagged myself an only slightly outdated Lonely Planet on Thailand at the Blue Parrot (quaint little used English books store near uni) for cheap.

The gift voucher from the internet providers got in just in time to pay for more than half of a new camera. I love freebies! Couldn't get what I went looking for but in retrospect this seems better, unfortunately the cheaper version with a viewfinder was only available in Japanese (story of my life :P) but this one had a good discount attached to it, so don't even mind the silver look anymore. Sony cybershot DSC-H3. I can get snapping now. Sweet, I am ready for this new adventure!

Also, got a package from home...FMF Breakfast crackers, can this day get any better. I am not as materialistic as I sound...no,really.

Said adieu to ronnabelle. Wished Jolie good luck with her endeavours and also got a long email from a long lost friend who is now on the path of re-self discovery. sigh..and so continues the circle of life.

I guess being away from family and friends has taught me to appreciate people more, relishing the good moments and learning from the bad ones. Getting a tad bit emo innit? hehe, but just in case I get lost in the wild, or decide to take up Buddhism and go seeking nirvana somewhere in Asia..I say it here, thank you all for everything. I may get excited by silly things like Jason Mraz concerts and go all materialistic over laptops, but its my friends and family and the moments that we have shared and the many more that are to come that make life worth living and oh so sweet!

ok enuf.

My life is complete!!

Just got back from watching Jason Mraz perform live in Shibuya here in Tokyo...I am still in awe, that man is a brilliant performer, I believed it and now I have seen it!

We weren't allowed to take pics but I managed to get a short vid with my phone which doesnt have a very good zoom...but that don't matter, its all here in my head!!!

Also, someone behind me decided to use their flash while i was recording a snippet of what Kaos terms my 'anthem'(I'm Your's) and the security guy decided to stroll by and thought it was me so there is a 'sumimasen' (excuse me!) at the end before i snapped the phone shut!

argh! I am still buzzing with excitement!!!

I love the way Mraz comes up with tunes on the spot, and he had the audience... foreigners AND Japanese alike...on their feet singing, clapping and high fiving along!

sigh! my life is complete!!

The only thing that's left now is to find out where he is spending the night so i can get some...ahem....pics. -_-

oh yeah, and Jason is the one in the white sweater and blue jeans...in the middle bobbing his head...and...minor details BUT...we were wearing the same outfit minus the hat on my part!! silly...i know, but let me be!

What a beautiful mess, this is!!!

Finally went and got tickets to watch Jason Mraz...Ears is tagging along even though she's not a huge fan, I think she's just bored or perhaps curious to see what all the excitement on my part is for.

Had to pause a moment and analyse my budget before getting the ticket coz realised I was running low on the monies from having paid for the ticket to Thailand (!!!) and THEN for a re-entry permit for Japan AND a visa to Thailand...sigh!

but decided, wtheck...!!! I am going to watch Jason Mraz live! Now I have $20 a day to survive on till end of Feb...which isn't much in Tokyo but figured I can hibernate in my room and watch movies so its not that much of a biggie.

Also,...WOOOHOOO!!! I am on a two month holidayyyyyy!!!!

Getting the tickets was an adventure too, had to go and get a receipt out of a 'Loppy' which is an ATM like machine at Lawsons (convenience store) then pay for it at the counter...and yes, everything was in Japanese so Max came to the rescue, once again!

so yeah, tis official!!! I am going to watch Jason Mraz live on the 23rd of this month!!!

I had always wanted to see a famous band i liked, live...I didn't think the opportunity would come so soon...and that too, to watch Jason Mraz live!!! wooohooooo!!!!

eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!!

And for Mraz noobs, the title is from a fave song of his...Beautiful Mess

random quote i like

By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy - indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction.
- William Osler

Culturally Acceptable Skinny Dipping

When you think 'Japan', depending on who you are, you probably think sumo, samurai, hentai (*cough*), sushi etc. After actually getting here I added Onsen to my list of all things Japanese.

Onsen's (温泉）are hot spring baths and there are thousands of them all around the country! While they come in all varieties and sizes ranging from sulphur pools to green tea onsens, the basic ones have just plain steaming hot water.

The catch?...and the one thing that was probably the biggest culture shock for me was the fact that it was a bath of hot water that has to be shared with strangers...naked.

While it came highly recommended by friends for its relaxing qualities, the fear of being a dark-skinned foreigner of different proportions naked amongst homogeneous Japanese females kept me away from trying out said onsen till the trip up to Nagano over the Winter Holidays.

So, I finally shed my inhibitions and took the proverbial plunge. Luckily, the one other stranger at the onsen was leaving as we got there and so I only had to share the onsen with Ears who has become somewhat a soul-sister in these 5months. All in all it was an interesting experience. Temperatures outside the onsen were close to -10 so there was a lot of screaming when trying to get in and out.

But the beauty of the experience was the fact that it was an outdoor onsen overlooking some lovely snow covered hills AND we got to see a beautiful sunset!


The onsen itself might take a bit of getting used to because the temperatures are so high that if you stay in too long or get up too fast you feel lightheaded.

Next stop...trying out the indoor onsen near my dorm...and even more daring...a mixed (as in mixed gender) onsen at least once before I leave this country.

Yes, I have serious thrill seeking issues!

OMW

I am an idealist: I don't know where I am going but I'm on my way.

(and yes, am re-using this pic also!)

Random Pics from Sep '08

Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with apparently about one machine for every 23 people. So far I have seen ones that sell soft drinks, beer, coffee, sake, snacks (very rare!) newspapers, cigs...and yes, am still waiting to see one of them used panties ones...!!


In the spirit of Kaicoloness, I find these towering giant powerlines...kaicolo-worthy.


When sugarcane trains are the only trains you have seen your entire life...passenger trains (and tracks for that matter) are fascinating indeed!


This will forever be a reminder of the first time me and a couple of other newbies at the dorm got properly lost. We (They...i didnt get a bike till xmas eve but more on that later!) went to buy used bikes a few stations away and since the bikes could not be carried back on the train we had to find our way back to the dorm using a very confusing map...even Japanese people get lost in Japan so it wasn't THAT embarrasing.
The river ofcourse came into the picture, when close to giving up we decided to follow the river because a river runs past a park near our dorm too. We did make it back to the dorm that day...3hours later.

Onigiri lifesavers

Found yet another old pic taken when i first got to Tokyo in September. This is most probably the first onigiri that I consumed in this country...the first of quite possibly what may be more than a hundred onigiri's consumed thus far!

Onigiri's (おにぎり）are basically rice balls often wrapped in an edible seaweed paper like thing called nori and have an assortment of fillings ranging from prawns, tuna and mayonnaise to fish eggs and salmon etc.

Along with being relatively nutritious, they are also cheap, some costing as low as ¥97, and can be bought at almost every convenience store or supermarket. And their size makes them easy to have on the go, especially when one is running late and since it is considered rude to eat in public or while walking outside in Japan these can be devoured (very quickly) while standing outside the convenience store itself.

I think the closest comparison I can draw to explain its economical/delectable convenience is the 'roti parcel' in Fiji.

Onigiri's also proved to be a life saver when I first got to Japan and could not decipher labels AT ALL (as opposed to now where I second guess!) So the ones like these with prawns sticking out were quite self-explanatory. Other favourites include tuna and mayonnaise, chicken and mayo, salmon and roasted rice onigiri's. the ones with fish eggs are really not my thing...and so that's one kanji I learned to read in a hurry!

There are some with a bit more complicated wrapping where the nori is not attached to the rice ball but requires a simple peeling of the plastic to attach the seaweed to the rice before eating...and like several other things, it was something Neto and I had to learn from our all-things-Japanese Guru Max. Now in retrospect, I feel like sucha a noob. ><

anyway, food in japan=drool.