Sunday, December 20, 2009

Goin home!

Man I haven't posted anything new in almost a month!

I blame 2 large problems for this:

1.  I don't carry my camera around because it's not small enough to fit in my pocket without looking like I have a gun, or something big and pointy in my pocket.

2.  I haven't done much these past 30 days but take tests and drink.

But I'm going home to visit my family for the Christmas break!  I bought some cool things for you guys!  Even though Japan is a lot less about samurai and swords, and a lot more about sex and alcohol, I managed to find things both appropriate and useful  :D


and to finish this boring post, letting you know I'll be back in the states for 2 weeks, is a pic of some sweet graffiti I came across in 心斎橋 Shinsaibashi in 大阪 Osaka, as well as a funny Engrish sign and a very mysteriously awesome company all from the same area:




















































Bonus points if you can name the Star Wars character who looks very similar to the character in that graffiti!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Soil and Pimp Sessions

Some friends and I made our way out to Osaka again last week to see Soil and Pimp Sessions live!

Soil and Pimp Sessions is an awesome jazz band that is very original and lively!  I wasn't allowed to take pics or video, but here are some others from the web:



























I'll have another Hennessey, and a martini for the lady.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Human Collisions and Weird Subway Man!

So while waiting at Kobe Station today for my friends Buddy and Face to arrive, I noticed that the information screen was displaying that one of the 新幹線 (しんかんせん) shinkansen or "Bullet Train" had been delayed.  The cause is rather well stated.  That's actually the 5th time I have seen this in 2 months...and I'm sure I missed a few:























Poor soul.


Well on a different note, while riding the 海岸線 (かいがんせん) kaigansen "ocean bay line" subway line, I sat down right across from this man, and didn't even notice him until a few moments later.  Buddy and Face were to my left and right:























Sweet dreams...
(yes his zipper was open, I can assure you)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Kyoto Imperial Palace

I went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace last weekend!  I took some pictures and video...but there isn't much content as the Palace is mostly closed off.  You basically just get to see the outer walls, but it's still pretty cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPpteWQ2G5o



Some pics:









































































































































































Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Crazy Moth, Monkeys, Jazz and Engrish?

Check out this moth!  Chad, Malia, Buddy, Risa, Face, and I went to Nishinomiya Gardens (a HUGE mall that is very spacious and resembles those in the US) and when we sat outside, I noticed this moth.

I also took some videos about our day, they are below.



























































In the 阪急 (はんきゅう)hankyuu department store, there was a live Jazz band playing.  Now that's high class!  And if that wasn't enough, there was a live monkey show too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckfiey6rEk8



and a special surprise for you--This was a sign in a store in 梅田 Umeda in 大阪 Osaka:


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Halloween!

So I'm still alive!  It was midterm time...and still is so I haven't had many interesting things to talk about.

However!

Halloween should be interesting.  Apparently--in full costume--tons of people just walk around the local inner-city / place-to-be and get drunk.  I will be sure to film and take pictures!

See you then!  (and sorry for the lack of posts recently)


**EDIT**

Here are some sneak peaks of Halloween!























Monday, October 19, 2009

Angry Porsche

Ok I was gonna do a large post much later about all the awesome cars I've been seeing (and the 10% of them that I actually take a picture of)  but this Porsche has to go up now.

This is the most bad-ass motherf*****g Porsche I have ever seen.  It actually makes the SUV look good.  Man this car makes other cars backfire when it rolls up on them from behind.















To whomever owns this car: I want to shake your hand...or run away. 

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I haven't much to talk about lately (* ̄m ̄) **UPDATED**

So not much in terms of blogable stuff has been happening lately. But I did take some interesting pictures I would like to share with you (just 4 small pictures, each with a small story).

First I would like to show you the stamps on my homework after being graded. The first one is good, the second was well, not so good:















It says, "You did it well."



















This one says, "Let's try hard(er next time)."

**EDIT**
I just got my first 100% on a 漢字 (かんじ) Kanji exam (Chinese characters)!!  Check out this kitten!


















It says, "YOU DID EXTREMELY WELL!"
**EDIT**

Say what you want, but there is something special about the feeling you get when your homework has a cute little kitten stamp on it.  I really like that my favorite teacher stamps our homework!  I want to hang it on my refrigerator at home!
(*^▽^*)

Next is a pic of very odd name for a shop.  It was a hair salon...so they were going for the French...












Well I didn't want to be the one to tell what that means.  I know, I know, it means "bath shower" but any non-Japanese that looks at this will laugh and take a picture just like I did.  :P


Lastly, well I should preface this first:

I was walking around 梅田 (うめだ) Umeda, in 大阪 (おおさか) Osaka.  For those that don't know, 大阪 is a pretty large city right next to 神戸 (こうべ) Kobe, and it is full of shops and clubs and bars and things that will haunt your dreams until the day that you die.

Well I was just walking around with some friends, and we found a little shop that sells cute little things of all types which you can hang from your cell phone.  (Hanging things from your cell phone is a super East-Asian thing...)

Well we were in there looking around when I came upon this:


















Yeah.  Yeah.  Yes.  It does come in two different sizes.  Yeah.  No really, yeah.

This is the one thing in this store that you can't actually hang from your phone.  I'm not sure what the purpose is, and why any company finds it profitable.  But hey, I've come to accept that I'm in Japan.  "It's Japan."  Is the one answer to all questions.  Why?  Because it's Japan.

Imagine a foreigner like me trying to buy that.  I don't know the word for boobs.  These 2 were tied down out front of the store so to purchase, you had to ask the owner.  How could I do that?  Do you just start playing charades with this guy until he guesses, "OOOOHH BOOBS!!  YOU WANT TO BUY A BOOB?!?  HEY EVERYBODY!!!  THIS WHITE GUY WANTS TO BUY A BOOB!!!"


It's Japan!  (* ̄m ̄)



Oh by the way, Matt (my bro), you know what you're getting for Christmas! ( ̄ー ̄)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Storms' a Brewin'

台風18 (Typhoon 18) is approaching Kobe!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3FNAjCq9bU


Here is the predicted movement map of 台風18!


















As you can see, it will go straight up Japan!  The eye might even pass over my very house!

I'm so excited, this is my first 台風!!

Here is a satellite view of my house in Kobe (marked with the 'A'):


View Larger Map

According to the NHK news, when winds reach 20 meters per second, it is difficult to walk into the wind.  But 台風18 will have winds up to 80 meters per second!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

My Short Video of 高野山

Sorry that it took a while and that it is so short.  I took mostly pictures at 高野山.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0WT7FK2I7o


I have no idea what that Spire far off in the distance was.  If anybody knows, 教えて下さい!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

気持ちいい!

気持ちいい (きもちいい) kimochii  
"THIS FEELS FREAKING GREEEEAAAATT!!!"


I went to the doctor again today.  They had my blood sample results and said that I have a small Japanese Bug that I don't need to worry about, just take the medicine and take it easy.

BUUUUT!!

I was dehydrated and lacking a few vitamins, so they gave me an awesome IV full of stuff.  Since it takes about 1 hour, they laid me down in a bed made of miracles.  It was great.

This bed massaged me for 1 hour.  It was like having the tender yet skillful hands of a hundred delicate women, orchestrating over my body in a symphony of euphoria.  Yeah.  It WAS that great.  I want that bed.

BOY did it feel good!  気持ちいい!!! 


(I wanted to post a pic of a 看護婦 (nurse) but apparently all google image searches of that are a bit...umm...suggestive?)

So instead I will post a pic of a Japanese guy whose face is representative of 「気持ちいい!」 and therefore representative of mine while being massaged at the hospital:











Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A little bit of complaining and terrible news.

So the terrible news should come first:

This morning, the train was delayed for 30 minutes because somebody jumped in front of it.

You read about this happening in Japan all the time but when you actually experience or are affected by it actually happening, well it's very unpleasant.

On the way home, as the rapid express train was approaching, I stood near the railing and watched the headlights come closer and closer.  It seemed like it was taking forever for those small gold lights to arrive.  Then, before I knew it, the train was roaring past beside me at blinding speeds--blowing my hair and shirt all over the place.  I just couldn't help feel so sad at that moment.  I felt as if I just experienced the person's last view and last moment on earth.  I could have easily jumped right in front of that train too, traveling at some odd 200 or more kilometers per hour.  It would be over so fast!

But I'm not suicidal.  It was such a sad moment.

NOW for the complaining!

2 things:

1)  What's wrong with Japanese people?!  Nobody was even phased by the suicide!  In fact, a lot of people were angry that the train was delayed.

I told my host family about the suicide and the first thing that my host mother said was, 迷惑 (めいわく) meiwaku

迷惑 is very hard to translate into English.  It's a rude thing that affects everybody.  When a company produces a product that needs a recall, that's 迷惑.  Every year, the emperor of Japan apologizes for WWII, because what Japan did was create a 迷惑 to it's own people.  (God this is hard to explain.)

迷惑 is when you do something bad that affects others in your same group.  Since Japanese are very group minded and nationalistic, WWII, getting involved and eventually leading to Hiroshima, is a 迷惑 committed by the old government because it negatively affected the Japanese people (a lot of them died, etc).

So basically, my host family didn't even feel a bit bad for that person.  They said he committed a 迷惑 on all the people riding the train that morning, and more importantly, to his own family.

I can agree, but daaaaang don't you even feel a bit bad?


2) I'm sick.  I don't know what I ate on that temple excursion, but it is ruining me.  Everyday I have a headache all day and night, my whole body aches, my neck is stiff, my shoulders are stiff, my lower back feels like I'm pinching a nerve every time I bend.  And I am throwing up.  I ask for aspirin or some kind of pain killer and my school and family do nothing but tell me to stretch and take some joint-health pills.

Can I get a pain killer, a fever reducer?  Nope.  Just take some joint-health pills for old people and stretch your shoulders and you will be fine.

I had a fever last night!

Just take joint pills and stretch.  OK Fine I get it, I need to ask my fellows for some freaking advil or something.



OK done ranting.  It's OK to rant sometimes about Japan, contrary to popular belief, this place isn't perfect you know.  And their are no more samurai, and pokemon never existed in real life.  Sorry to kill your dreams.

But I still like it here, just wondering why I can't get an aspirin or something?

(super short temple trip video coming soon)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Pics from 高野山 !!

高野山 is the heart of Shingon Buddhism in Japan.  The mountain range actually looks like a giant Lotus Flower, with the main temples and graveyard right in the heart of the flower!~

I don't remember the important names because I am bad at Japanese names and didn't write anything down T-T sorry.  Here are the pics, the video will come later, I hope you enjoy!


A pic of the mountains as we rode the train to the heart.











The track that our cable car would soon take us up.  It was long and STEEEEEEEEEEP!
(That isn't the top, the car was approaching.  The top is out of sight because the track turns the left and is much too high!)


















For those that still don't believe me: the green grasshopper that this spider is munching on, had a wingspan approaching 4 inches!  Why is it that the only thing in Japan that isn't small, are the bugs?!











Here are some pics from the famous graveyard which holds the graves of many famous samurai and Japanese:












 








































































































If you can get a stone to land on top of a gate, you are granted one wish! でも、できなかった。






















The founder of 高野山



















































A hidden Mausoleum.








































 
















































































































































There was also a really cool little box, with a HEAVY and LARGE stone in it.  You are supposed to reach inside the box and try to put the stone up to the top level inside the box.  If you do, you get 1 wish!

They said that those who are guilt-free will have an easy time to lift it, while those who are full of guilt won't be able to do it.  Guess what?!  I lifted that sucker up to the top like it was paper!  And some guys even bigger than me couldn't even get it half way!  Some girls got it too!  Weird, I think I believe the stone.  So I get 1 wish!!  O(∩_∩)O
(Sorry there are no pictures, this box was in a part of the graveyard where no pictures or video are allowed, it's one of the most sacred places.)


There was also a temple grounds with some cool temples, check them out!












































































Well that's it!  I hope you enjoyed it!  The video will be coming soon, don't expect anything special as my videos aren't the greatest!