Being Celebrities and Being Drunk
15 February 2002, 21:01
Geoff Rose, Matt and I hit the streets on Saturday and got cornered by Fuji TV in Sugamo - apparently we are going to be gaijin superstars as our 30 second ‘gig’ is airing next Sunday. We had to answer the question “Who does this man look like” (pointing to a photo of some famous ‘Japanese comedian’ (probably some dodgy porn star) who we have never laid eyes on before) with:
Matt: He looks like Midori Utsumi.
Kim: No, he looks like Keiko Kishida.
Geoff: Nah, he looks like Peter!
The TV crew pissed themselves laughing, although we weren’t sure if they thought we were funny or just dickheads.
That night we went to a wine party out in the boonies with plenty of Aussie vino and then hit the Karaoke bars in Ikebukuro around 1am (we missed the last train from Ikebukuro to home which is bound to happen if the entire Tokyo infrastructure shuts down at 12:30 am - what the???) The Karaoke was not mine, nor Matts, and undisputedly not Geoff’s finest hours - I actually don’t even recall what we sang, although I am assured it sounded bloody awful!
Fortunately, unlike the smattering of Melbourne Karaoke bars where you are forced to embarrass yourself in public, in Japan, the majority of bars have individual booths (apparently private karaoke booths are a favourite among the ‘Love Hotel’ patrons looking for some alternative private booth bootie) where you can rev up the TV and program your choice via RC in relative privacy.
And unlike Melbourne, where Karaoke fans are forced to hide their passion should they be ridiculed and ostracized from hip society, Karaoke is de rigeur here. The coolest of cool people do Karaoke. That includes us.
Permanent Link | The Japanese Cinematic Experience
7 February 2002, 21:00
Last night we went to see ‘Harry Potter’ (thankfully subtitled in Japanese) - a v.sad treat as it’s 1800 yen a pop (about $30 although considering the Japanese peso probably quite a bit cheaper). It was thankfully v. civilised as we had reserved seats, but I’ve heard tales of theatres overbooking cinemas which means that your 1800 yen doesn’t even guarantee you a seat… people sit in the aisles or stand at the back or at the sides, so when the doors open at the beginning, patrons sacrifice their grandmothers for pole position.
