Halloween Weekend

Where to start...

In the words of my favorite comedian, Dave Attell, "I was drunk, or as I like to call it, time travelling."

Let me set the stage. We were gonna go out Saturday night. I was gonna wear the Batman costume. We were gonna go clubbing. A simple plan, as usual.

Then I found out about the Yamanote Halloween Train Party. An urban legend for years, it's a flash mob type thing where gaijin dressed up for the holiday take over a car on the Yamanote line in Tokyo. The Yamanote does circles around the city, you could stay on it all day if you wanted to. So the myth is that at 9pm you hop on the train in Shinjuku on car #10. Bring booze. Share booze.

9pm... I work until 8pm. It takes about 10 minutes to get home. 5-10 minutes to shower and get dressed. 10 minutes to get back to the station and on the train. 35 minutes to Ikebukuro. 16 minutes to Shinjuku. I rushed. Fate worked for me this night and I managed to catch the right tain, right car, and even met with Eric. Flippin sweet.

Here's a video on youtube of the fun. Look for Batman runing by, thats me:



So it was just some good old fun. Everyone was chanting and drinking and hopping between cars at each stop. I started drinking.

...Time Travel...

I remember posing for about 100 photos with random people. My outfit was pretty... stand outish




Yes, it was skin tight. Yes, my goods were very much noticeable. Or maybe lack of goods is a better term. It was cold dammit! I faintly remember taking a "crotch" shot with a couple Power Rangers who also had the bulge thing going.

...Time Travel...

Me and Eric are now in Roppongi. The guy in the Ferrari wouldn't let me drive, even though I said it was the Bat Mobile.

...Time Travel...

Some Persian chick molested my package in the Lawsons store when I was buying a beer.

...Time Travel...

Some club called Grace. I thought we were going to Ageha! Dammit, Ageha was free for people in costumes. Oh well, I got a discount at least going in. We went to the techno floor. I had to time travel out of there ASAP, it was whack!

...Time Travel...

The hip hop floor, this is more like it! Decent mix of music. Lots of hype from the MC, in a good way. I got handed a lot of free drinks from people I didn't know. Someone gave me champagne. It's easy to dance to hip hop with a glass of champagne in your hand.

...Time Travel...

I got DQed from the "Biggest Pimp" contest for some reason. Fuck that!

...Time Travel...

Somehow I ended up in the building office. There were bottles of booze everywhere, but instead I just stole a bottle of Evian.

...Time Travel...

I was talking tattoos with a bunch of Yakuza looking people near the bathroom. They were very nice.

...Time Travel...

Made it to my train fine, but slept about 6 stops passed. Wow, now THAT is the boonies. Rice patties and shacks. Made it home around 7am. Slept 6 hours. Zero hangover! Maybe someone handed me some wierd sake made with onsen water or something.

Sunday was spent in Harajuku and seeing friends a little bit. Just a chill day. Monday spent loafing around the apartment. My next month is almost totally planned out. Hiking weekend, then a training weekend, then a weekend at Fuji Q amusement park, then a weekend in Kyoto.

6 months ago all I did was sit around and play World of Warcraft. I have very few stories from then. Now I have some sort of random adventure almost every week. My job is simple and enjoyable, I'm saving money for the future, and I meet happy people all the time. I would whole heartedly recommend teaching in foreign country to anyone who has an interest.

A slow weekend

Kind of a bleh weekend. Sunday I went with Tracy to the airport. She said "Sayonara" to me and this country, and then I went off to do stuff I had planned for the day. My plan was:

• Meet Mags for some "gangsta" ramen
• Hit Ueno for 2 museums and the zoo
• Drink

My plans took a nosedive when my phone died. I realized I kinda need that little green fucker to live out here. Long story short, I couldn't find Mags, I showed up too late for museums, the closest I got to the zoo was some dog poop on the street, and no one was around to drink with. Then it started raining... for 3 days straight.

Monday was spent chilling at the apartment watching funny videos on the computer.

But now it's Halloween week at school! The kids dress up, and so do I. Na na na na na na na na... BATMAN!



Hmmm... I need to shave. Check back soon for more pics of me in the full Batman suit. I'm not sure I can wear it to work. I won't get into details, but let's just say that you can see the shape of my balls and penis under the tights.

Kawagoe Fall Festival

Summer is festival season in Japan. Especially in a heavily populated area like that around Tokyo, you can find a huge festival every weekend within an hour of yourself. Lots of fireworks, food, and fun. But it's not summer anymore...

A few places have special festivals throughout the year. I guess Kawagoe is famous for its fall festival. The special "attraction" of this one was giant floats that are pulled through the streets.



So these floats get pulled around, and when 2 floats meet, there is a battle. I was hoping for a rap battle or some kind of fight to the death type thing. Not the case, but it was still fun. They just go crazy with the music, flutes and drums and chanting. For like 20 minutes. This is going on all over the city. It was... unusual.



One thing about festivals is the street food. A LOT to list, but heres a couple winners...



Takoyaki. Tako=octopuss, yaki=fried. Little pieces of octopuss in batter and various veggies fried up. Fucking tasty.



Waffle cakes. They put red bean in EVERYTHING sweet in japan. Its kinda a shame. Its tasty, but its in EVERYTHING! Waffle cakes are like... waffles... with stuff in them. Cream, sweet pastes, etc. Fucking tasty.



Beer. Beer is a beverage brewed from hops, yeast, and other grains. We have a local brewery in Kawagoe, Coedo brewery. Fucking tasty.

What choo lookin at, sucka?

Some Museums... Some Drinking

This past weekend a few of us hit up some museums, then they got a little drunk. I'm nursing some kind of head cold, so no excessive boozing for me. But for some reason I decided to stay out all night. Half the night was spent out on the street outside Gas Panic in Shibuya with silly-drunk passed out people. I remember telling myself last week, "Self, no more Sunday night all nighters. Cause then your sleep gets fucked and you end up awake at 3am Monday morning writing blogs when you should be sleeping." So anyways, here's my 3am blog. Bleh.



Edo period prints.



Eric's guest house in Japan. Feel free to show up at 3am anytime for a place to crash.



Recreation of an Edo period toilet. Yes, there was actually a hole in the ground. Yes, I almost fell in.



Print club again. "Pedikura" is the name in Japanese. I asked some of my students. One of my kids gave me a journal from Disneyland, and I've been putting my pedikura pictures in there. I swear, it's the onle "kawaii" thing I own!

Kawagoe is the Cuts... Part 2

Although I don't think Kawagoe is a shitty place to live anymore, I keep finding funny signs depicting how you might die here...



He seems rather happy to murder this young girl today.



Look at the quality of this one! I think they must have commisioned it from a famous artist.



Murder isn't the only worry. You and your cute little puppy might drown!

Classic

8am...

Beware of Ninjas

Oh, so you think Kawagoe is all temples and treats made from sweet potatoes?




Well you, my friend, are wrong... DEAD wrong. Just down the road, past the city museum, towards the lake, is Isanuma park. Isanuma park holds a secret. Tracy and I can tell you this secret, since we have been accepted into their elite order. The secret is... Kawagoe is full of NINJAS! Oh, now that you know... *shuriken to the face*









This whole park is filled with dangerous wooden structures. They are all mossy and slippery and shit. Compared to the USA where every playground needs to be approved by the government for safety, Japan is great. I firmly believe that children should fall down a lot and get hurt... it build character. Just ask my students, I let them fall down and get hurt all the time!