When worlds collide
1 November 2003, 08:12
Last night Dave brought along a friend of his to dinner - Jennie. At karaoke, she had a voice that could woo angels and I think (I think) I may have sulked “who the hell brought her along, anyway?” , but of course, that’s nothing like my true nature, so it couldn’t have really happened…
But I digress. At the izakaya, the talk turned to horror movies and it turns out she is a fellow horror movie fiend (I am not alone), but even stranger is that she is a fellow blogger, of the enigmatic Mint Dandy fame, whose exploits I’ve been following for quite some time now.
She sent me an e-mail today, confessing that she thought she recognised my stories, but didn’t want to embarass herself by shouting “You’re the 35degrees thingie” but how she didn’t recognise me considering the enormous number of mugshots I clutter my site up with, I’ll never know…
Crazy, crazy times.
Permanent Link Empty Orchestra
31 October 2003, 17:38
Definition of torture = going to karaoke and not being able to sing ‘cos you’ve lost your voice…
It was Dave’s sister, Suzie’s, last night in Tokyo so we took them to our local nomiya. Dave had only been to expensive izakayas and not a local hole in the wall - how this is possible after 3 years in the country I’m not sure - so we set up camp on the tatami mat and ordered a bucket-load of beer, yakitori, pork kimchi and the perennial favourite - fried cheese (somehow Japan never graduated from the 1980’s).
We had the ditziest waitress, an old duck in her 60’s, who was obviously just a ring-in for the evening. One of our conversations (in Japanese) went something like this:
Matt: Excuse me, could we have some plates, please?
DW: Plates?
Matt: Yes. Plates.
DW: [looks confused]. Plates?
Matt: Yes.
DW: Hmmm. What for?
Matt: Erm. To eat from.
[at this stage, the two ladies next to us, who had understood Matt’s rather clear Japanese, intercepted and told DW what we wanted]
DW: Heh? Small or large?
Matt: Small is OK.
DW: Small?
Matt: Yes. Thanks.
DW: You want small plates.
Matt: Hmmm. Yes.
Without another word and with a clear look of confusion (who can blame her for not understanding that we wanted something to put our food on?) she disappeared into the kitchen.
So the service wasn’t great, but hell, it was entertaining.
Afterward, the guys wanted to go to karaoke so I relented knowing it would be hell. It wasn’t of course, but it was damn hard not to belt out a tune…
Takao-san
31 October 2003, 03:07
Rude blue skies, a day off, and a potter about a mountain-top temple (Yakuo-in). Sigh. Could life get any better? If I’d realised how easy it was to get to Takao-san, I would have gone sooner.
Saturday is the start of the Momijimatsuri in Takao-san, but the leaves are only just beginning to turn. Give them a couple of weeks and the mountain will be awash with reds and oranges.
Of course, millions of Tokyoites know this so expect it to be crazy swamped with tourists.
R.I.P Rodent
29 October 2003, 18:30
We recently discovered the extent of our ex-flatmate, The Rodent’s, cheekiness.
You may know that The Rodent is no longer with us (Matt lovingly describes his demise on Opinios). Yup, we finally got him on one of those inhumane “stick-and-starve” traps. It was all very traumatic (Matt wouldn’t let me see The Rodent stuck to the trap, preferring to “take care of it himself” - my hero!). But, look, it was either The Rodent or our underwear.
For days prior, we’d been mystified as to how The Rodent had eaten 6 (6!) rat poison sacks and still lived. Were we messing with Super Action Hero Rodent? Maybe there was an army of rodents going through our drawers. We shuddered.
Until Matt discovered in the corner behind the TV, 6 sacks ripped apart and poison spilled everywhere. Ahem… TOYING WITH US! He hadn’t eaten a goddamn thing. And he’d pooped all over it for a good measure, in a final “take-this-you-stupid-humans-you-can’t-trick-me” display of generosity. You gotta respect The Rodent’s intelligence, but not the foul mess he made of our corner.
Ah… ex-flatmates. Believe it or not, I’ve actually had worse.
In the Nikko of time
28 October 2003, 17:38
I hate waiting. Thankfully, in Tokyo, the well-oiled machine ensures (mostly) that everything runs on time. Unfortunately, not always so for the inaka tourist traps. This weekend in the wilds of Nikko National Park, the machine went horribly wrong.
We thought we’d be sweet - go up on Sunday afternoon, stay the night (at Lodge Narusawa - highly recommended!) then sightsee all of Monday. It wasn’t a public holiday so we figured the crowds wouldn’t be a problem. Bup-Bow. WRONG!
Our first stop yesterday morning was the huge and fascinating temple complex on Nikko-San. Hato Bus Tours must have been having half-price pensioner Monday or something, as everywhere we turned, obattalions were pushing and prodding and generally pissing us off with their….erm…obattalionness.
There was, of course, a reason for the crowds - “Momijigari” (“Autumn Leaves Viewing”) and up in Tochigi, the leaves are frikking stunning. Nikko is one of the most popular places for it and on arrival in the sleepy town, tourists (ahem… us!) get bitten by the red, orange and yellow foliage virus and promptly turn rabid.
We thought it would be nice to make the 50 minute journey out to Lake Chuzenji to escape the crowds. 90 minutes later we arrived at the lake which was, well, a lake. Pretty average. Overly touristy and commercialised, and when will the Japanese learn that they don’t have to put a swan-shaped pedal boat on every lake in Japan?
We didn’t mind the trip up, which was bumper-to-bumper, as it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e. The lake is high up in the mountains, which were coated with Autumn. You see, I have this thing about maple leaves. I f.u.c.k.i.n.g love them. I love them so much, I had one permanently etched on my butt. So, in spite of the fact that Matt and I were still barfing up our respective lungs, I had to see them and for some reason I had to see them in one of the most popular places in Japan. I should be shot.
What the “well-oiled machine” hadn’t reckoned on was hundreds of thousands of sightseeing Cujos, frothing up the roads…
At around 2.30, we queued to wait for the bus to take us back to Nikko Station. Behind about 100 people. Buses are scheduled every 30 minutes regardless of season, so when no-one had moved at 3.00 it was no big deal. 3.30 a bus arrived and took 50 people. At 3.45, with the queue winding half-way up the street, train attendents confirmed that there was a problem, and 4 buses were dispatched from Nikko station. Keep in mind that the journey was a decent 2 hours in the godawful traffic.
Finally, at 4.30 one of the en-route buses arrived, and ferried Matt and I away. As we departed from Chuzenji there were still about 300-400 people waiting (if you’re reading this and you were one of them - we feel your pain!)
I’m constantly amazed at the Japanese laidback attitude toward the squeaky machine. They sigh and say “Zannen, ne!” (too bad, yeah!) or “Shoganai” (it can’t be helped). NO! NOT too bad! 2 hours of waiting for a bus sure as hell CAN be helped. Put more buses on during the busy season, people! It’s not like you’ve never had a packed out Autumn before. SORT IT OUT!
The feistier Japanese frown and say, “Taihen, desu ne!” meaning, in context, “This is pretty fucking average”...
Back in Tokyo now. Virus abated. Calm. Looking forward to “Snow-Viewing-Season”.
