OK, so dudes do read this thing. In fact, I should have known that since I counted Jr. Slab as one of the four or five people reading this thing. So, I wrote a check for TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS TODAY. At one point I wrote a larger check for THIRTY-SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS, but at least at that time it was for a car for ME, not a house for my stupid sister. OK, so it’s not my money (it’s my mom’s) and my sister promises to pay us back. I wasn’t so sure about the house, but our friend Jason likes it and he’s a contractor. It doesn’t have a … Continue reading I made a mistake.→
Boy, was Woman in the Dunes slow. I thought Tokyo Story was slow, but this movie I watched on fast-forward, reading the subtitles. I must admit that the subtitles are usually much more garish than the actual dialog. I usually want to turn them off on a Japanese movie. I also watched Run, Lola, Run which I found to be clever but amateurish. Woman in the Dunes was bleak, but I can understand the protagonist’s feelings. At least neither movie left me feeling as lonely as Next Stop Wonderland. It’s set in Boston, and I have recurring dreams of how my life derailed after going to college in Cambridge, MA, … Continue reading I understand “Woman in the Dunes”.→
I keep buying cheesy CDs after hearing the songs at the gym. And I always admit that I like the gym to sound like a gay disco. I bought one CD because it had a funny mashup of “Land of Confusion” by Genesis and “Upside Down” by Diana Ross. (I forget what’s it’s called, but it’s by Alcazar.) Today I heard another couple of songs I liked. Dave the Trainer said one of the songs is probably by Cher and I was chastised for liking a song by Cher. (Yeah, I’m not a big fan of Cher, either.) And there’s another one with a baseline that sounds like it’s from … Continue reading What sort of embarrassing thing can I admit today?→
It’s a day of lists. We’re in Tokyo to: Visit my next door neighbor’s kid, who has an internship this term in Tokyo. Allow my neighbor to train at the main Aikido dojo as he’s a second or third degree black belt and that was on his bucket list. I tried to tell them that visiting Kyoto was bad, but they insisted so we took a day trip with an overnight in Osaka. I am not a fan of Kyoto and I have a bunch of reasons. It’s always crowded and full of Europeans. I have enough on my hands being racist about other Asians and I don’t want to … Continue reading Japan 2024: Day 3→
This is mostly a travel day, going home! I had this grand plan to start out early, get a morning set, pack, do some last-minute shopping for my sister, and then check out. It all worked out but the plan failed. Turns out it’s Labor and Thanksgiving day and a lot of the coffee houses are opening later. I ended up at Starbucks because they’re always open early and actually it wasn’t that bad. Packing was easier than expected because things fit nicely into my sister’s REI duffel bag. Going to the store that opened at 10 and checking out by 11 seemed to be pushing it so I just … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 22→
Oh boy, I think I overdid it today. I’m OK now though. Better take it in order. Got up this morning and I got out of my room a little later than I wanted to. Too much cursing at my computer. But my sister and I had been discussing a cafe around the corner from the hotel and I decided to try it out. It turned out to be OK, but not nearly as good as other choices. I think Drip-X-Cafe in Osaka has been the best so far and Tully’s is still a strong standby. I usually just go to Hoshino Coffee when I’m in Shinjuku and I might … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 20→
Oh boy, I ate too much. But that’s at the end of the day. Today I met my friend Yumi and since she knew about my back she suggested going to an onsen. I had no idea she’d drive so far. But first, I had breakfast at the Greenberry’s just down the street from the hotel. The yogurt even had granola in it! Quite tasty. Then Yumi came to get me for the hour-and-a-half drive up to Yubaru Onsen. On the way we stopped at a soba shop that’s only open on the weekends and is quite popular. We arrive just before opening so we got in right away but … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 18→
Mistakes were made. I started out the day with breakfast! I didn’t sleep as well as last night because early on I was getting up a lot to go to the bathroom. (TMI section: why is it that when I wake up at night I actually have to go to the bathroom, but during the day it seems like I want to go but there’s no volume?) I thought back and realized I tried not to drink anything after dinner, but I did get sobayu after I finished eating and drink all of the soba tsuyu. (You can google that if you want, it’s not TMI.) Oh, and as I … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 15→
Woo, not a bad night of sleep. What I did was let the A/C heat the room all night even though it makes awful noises and then didn’t use the comforter as much. Through much experimentation I found that even if the room is cold the comforter in the hotel is just too much. Phew. Too bad I figured it out on my last night. The pain in my ass keeps being a pain in my ass. It changed though. I could not get it to go away, but it wasn’t as intense. So as you’d expect, I overdid it later in the day. I’m on vacation. I can’t just … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 14→
UPDATED not that anyone would notice. I might update this later, but it’s mid-afternoon and I’m chilling in the hotel room. It’s cold and rainy and I’ve done the main thing I wanted to do today: laundry. I also went to Toki, a restaurant I go to at least once a year. But first, I went around the corner to the fancy Hotel Vischio because my sister said they had a coffee shop, and they did! The coffee was strong and the breakfast set was tasty. Lots of SE Asians there, or at least they sounded like SE Asians to me. After that, I went back to the hotel and … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 11 (updated)→
Well, there really wasn’t much else to do in Onomichi but it was a beautiful morning and I tried walking around the hotel a bit but it takes a bit for my back to loosen up. And there really wasn’t much to eat in the area besides a coffee shop next door. But I had the idea that I wanted to try finding a rolfer in Osaka so I just got going. Not the best plan. Fortunately, sitting on the train isn’t too bad for me. Onomichi station is actually not that small and there’s even ticket area. They told me there were only three seats available on the shinkansen … Continue reading Japan 2023: Day 10→
AARGH. It helps if I hit the POST button. Kind of a cranky day at first but what do you expect? I was trying to get across Japan when I’m used to taking the trains that go up and down. And it started out so well, with the breakfast at the hotel. The staff was unusually chatty and you didn’t have to do anything: they just asked you which of the four options you wanted and they just brought it to you. And like my first day, not that many people were there when the restaurant first opened. But then I tried to schedule my next days of travel. Today … Continue reading Japan 2022 Day 4→
