31.08.2006 or "Diablos Tormente"

I barely made it home on my bike today as the heavens opened to a monster storm again. For some reason these things only come at home time but today was one of the few days I decided to brave it. Even now it sounds like chairs and desks are being moved around above the sky, it might be a dragon, they have those here right? So anyway, seems I missed a day yesterday, and for anyone who was checking I apologise. I wont lose sleep over it, much on the conterary I gained sleep over it with the time it would have taken. Life continues to continue, everything seems fine, despite a wierd sense of integration into this society which my brain seems to be fighting. I get flashes where I realise, Oh my god Im a teacher, and I have all this responsibility and I need to do all these new things.

None of these things are out of the range of my capability however, its just I realised the other day that I have never worked straight monday to friday all day before in my life. Once the panic passes I can easily get on with what I want to do and look see, here I am, finding time to write a blog and after that, maybe Im going to play some Taiko, and watch some Japanese drama and have another beer. I am relaxed and it didnt take long, I was able to come home on time, change out of my sweat drenched clothing, switch on the fan, fire up the laptop and generally set about removing any cares the day may have brought. Because of all that I can be content, which makes me very lucky.

Enjoy the calm before the storm people, or enjoy the calm whilst the storm is going on, but be calm indoors. Failing that ride out the storm and find the calm in a small wooden shack for small period whilst periodically checking on the storm to see how much damage has been done. The last option would be to accept the storm for what it is, realise that there are always going to be storms and feeling guilty about feeling calm is a futile venture. The choice is yours.

Till next time,
This has been MMI

(P.S The Anime page has been updated, check it out if thats your bag)

29.08.2006 or "Nostalgia"

Today was a day like any other. Except at lunch time I went out for about an hour to kill time. I got on the bike and peddled home, Its only about a four minute ride, but the guy who works at the lobby obviously wasnt at his desk since he couldnt see me on the security camera to let me into the back to park my bike. Rather than walking around the front to bother him I decided to change my plans. I cycled around the area and checked out a place which had caught my eye the day before because it has film posters on the doors and walls. Turns out it was little cafe retaurant which serves mainly pasta. I am yet to assertain whether it serves as a bar, I assume it does since it is open quite late and it looks like a cool little bar. I hope to return there and have a drink once I find some friends! Thats right, no luck in that department yet, which made this afternoons activities all the more nostalgic. See whilst at work listening to the radio I heard that song "Forever young" and joked to myself that If I were ever to make a montage of old friends and memories that that song would be a delightfully amusing song to do it to. So rather than giving up on the idea which I probably should have done, I went ahead and tried to make one.

It started off as a bit of a laugh but as I looked through all those old photos from my three years at university I started to miss those times. I miss the carefree days of the first year when we had no idea how much money we were spending and cared even less than that. I miss the second year when we all realised how much trouble we were all in financially and academically but we still stuck together to maintain the party spirit. I even miss the third year when everyone started to get serious and the cold hard fact of reality creeping up on us meant that partying wasn't as easy as It used to be. But even then we persevered and through everything found time to socialise and stay good friends. I also feel that I am incredibly lucky to have ended it all in the best way possible; with a two week party in Tokyo, even if I never came back...

So ive decided to share this monatge with you, the readers of MMI in hope that it brings back some memories for you as i did for me. If you are reading this and these aren't memories you share, I feel through the medium of 80's montage you can relate to the concept of a timeless period in your life, one which can never be captured again but always treasured. Anyway, enough of my jabberin, roll the tape....

28.08.2006 or First Day Back, Video Update

Today was a good day. Normality has resumed its course and feel like things are finally under control. Just thirteen more days until I get paid, I’m sure I can wait that long. It will be nice to actually be in a position of financial security for once. There are numerous things which need paying off back in England and the next two pay checks will allow me to settle a sizable chunk of that whilst still having enough to live pretty comfortably. Yep, things are ok and I hope they can stay that way for as long as possible. Its weird the sense of home I got when I returned to Taiwan, although that way maybe reactionary to feeling completely lost in Hong Kong. I spent some time making my room tidy and added some little trinkets and what not to the desk. A strange sense of calm is here now. Like everything is going to ok.

Back home I put together some videos on the computer but nothing which could constitute work since I covered most of it in the later hours of the day. I ate at the American diner, read Empire and peddled home for a much needed shower. What I put together in video form is firstly a brief slideshow of the Hong Kong pics and secondly an experiment in editing based chiefly on the fact that throughout my entire trip I was listening to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on my I-Pod. See what you think and oh, enjoy the new MMI corporate logo.

Till next time,

27.08.2006 MMI Chapter 2: Hong Kong and Beyond

(Note 1: The diary never materialised, its seemed impractical!)
(Note 2: Photos and Videos will be up tomorrow, its late, sorry!)
And now, on with the show.....

I woke up from a catatonic combination of illness and sleep depravation and opened my eyes. The scenery outside was alien to me, giant tower blocks surrounding a massive expanse of water. The train I was riding, the MRT from Hong Kong airport was announcing in a broad British accent that we would soon be arriving at our destination. So I forced myself out of the slumber, switched off the I-Pod and pulled my luggage through the metal doors onto the station. Taking up a passive position in the navigation I merely carried and observed the surroundings. It was dark now, and heading out onto the streets was incredibly disorientating. We hopped in a Taxi and hoped for the best. I spotted our hotel over the back of some buildings, its bright neon sign towering over most of the others. I noticed the driver was sitting on the right hand side of the car, it took me a surprisingly long time to notice this however.

We pulled up to the hotel lobby and the staff helped us take our bags. They all spoke impeccable English. I noticed a sign in the lobby for the featured entertainer of the night. Listening closer the singer was already doing her thing, riffing on some Beatles song or another in a way which suggested jazz but also suggested she was secretly enjoying the fact that she could sing absolutely anything and in any way so long as it was low key and lounge like. Finally finding our way up to the room I couldn’t rest for long until there was a knock at the door, it was the bell boy with our one bag. I tipped him awkwardly, it was necessary here but not something I have ever done before or will ever feel comfortable doing. Which is not going to be that often as most other Asian countries see it as somewhat of an insult, fine by me. The room was really comfortable and had a great view, high tech too. There was a telephone slash console panel in the room which welcomed us by name when we stepped through the doors. There were speakers in the toilet which piped the television sound through. Hong Kong TV has a lot of English speaking channels, at least that’s the impression I got from the selection in the room. I thought to myself that I would make it a personal mission to investigate just how much England had affected this small island, but at the same time I was feeling so ill and groggy that things were mostly a blur.

The next day I awoke, took care of all the morning things and gathered my documents for my Visa application to be taken care of that day. A taxi ride out to the business complex where the Taiwanese embassy was located took far longer and was way more expensive than I had bargained on. When I eventually arrived and located the place it seemed like a relatively quick process, show this, pay this come back later. So I entered the rest of the day in a pretty carefree state of mind, ready to sightsee and generally relax. Breakfast came courtesy of the nearest McDonalds where everything was neatly displayed in English and Chinese. I should probably make it clear that in Hong Kong the native language is Cantonese. Neither I nor my girlfriend speak Cantonese but because of the occupation, the school systems and the geographical location an undisclosed number of the population can speak English and Mandarin.

Now I was confused and still am as to why only some people speak Mandarin. Its not as if some enthusiasts had taken it up, but a seemingly random demographic of people could either speak mandarin fluently or not at all. The same went for English, although I had a great deal more success in communicating in my language than my girlfriend had in hers. This could either be because of the rift between Taiwan and China, although I was always under the impression that capitalist Hong Kong tended to have its own ideas about that matter. I this were the case then people either didn’t want to speak to my girlfriend in Mandarin because A) they thought she was Taiwanese or B) She thought she was Chinese. But then why would they know it in the first place. Or it could be that a wider amount of the population learnt English under the occupation or have been influenced by or are in contact with or desire to consider themselves English than I initially imagined. Anyway I am none the wiser on the subject so I will continue.

Shopping in Hong Kong city was aided by the MRT line, similar if way less subtle and clean than the Tokyo subway line or London’s underground. Using this service made Hong Kong seem incredibly small and sparse. There aren’t that many stops and even then Disney Land gets its own line and station. The shopping which was sought out by my girlfriend was probably what many people see as a selling point of this place, high fashion towers of consumerism. Of which they were many but once this was out of the way, you don’t want to hear about those aspects of the trip is you are a reader of this blog. No, the first small glimmer of interest which appeared in my somewhat shaky state lay out in the cramped streets which as it began to rain had all the hallmarks of the moody smoky neon Hong Kong of my imagination. Maybe it’s because I never intended to make this trip a holiday and that such a short amount of time here could never give me the right to pass judgment on the place. But as I stood under a small electronics shop veranda taking shelter from the rain and watching the world go by, I felt I had achieved everything I ever could here. If I was to make a statement of opinion, I would say that Hong Kong is not a nice place to be, its drab, its dirty, its obnoxious, cramped and wet and yet, I felt like having seen this small area, I could somehow take a fond memory away with me, even if I was never to go back again.

Looking around the markets the term bootleg as a comparative term becomes redundant. I would hesitate to say that anything is what you could call official products. DVDs, Clothes, consumer products are all a fifth of the original price because they are fake, made in Hong Kong or china and sold without fear or reprimand. Not one to have any qualms about such matters I happily looked around every corner of the places but trying to avoid being roped in by many an enthusiastic shop keeper. I came home with some stuff, a cool Chinese traditional shirt, a bleach wall scroll for about two pounds and about the only thing which was official, something which is so great I can hardly type it Taiko no Tatsujin 6 for the PS2 with the TaTaCon drum controller. Something which has eaten up my entire day today.

Once the shopping had come to an end I headed off to meet the appointment to pick up my passport and new visa for re entry to Taiwan the next night. Now this is the first time I had ever had to do something like this, and I was not sure of the procedure although I knew it was relatively common having spoken to people in Taiwan. What I didn’t know however is how stressful and difficult the rest of my evening was about to get up in a small room on the 40th floor of some tower block in Hong Kong. Now I really don’t want to go into all of the details but needless to say when I went back to pick up visa it was not ready waiting for me. It would take hours of talking, interrogation, producing documents and generally gut wrenching trauma before I would lead with anything close to a visa. I was really broken down by the whole ordeal. I wasn’t feeling well and this place took the last of my energy, I was a wreck for the rest of the day and I couldn’t do anything except walk and space out until we eventually got to our hotel.

The last of my energy got me to the Disney land connection station entitled Sunny Bay. I chuckled to myself at the irony of about the greyest, wettest and grimmest looking scenery I had ever seen out of the window. It was a bay alright, although the entire airport and Disney land complex had been built on reclaimed land which took four years to complete. The only other time I had heard of reclamation was on an episode of Mega Structures where the sultan of Dubai built an island shaped like a palm tree on which to house hotels and casinos. Back then it looked like a difficult task and how on earth they had achieved it here was beyond me. The sheer size of such a task seem implausible but again, I was feeling too ill to give it too much thought. Instead I just sat back, slumped down into my Mickey Mouse shaped train carriage and continued my journey into capitalism and the American way.

That night I slept like a baby. The medicine I had been taken seemed to really be helping and by morning the physical tiredness had gone away, leaving only his buddy wheezy flemmy cough to fend for himself. I had energy to walk around now which was a good thing since I was spending the day in a theme park. Just as Hong Kong’s fashionable shopping districts looked exactly like parts of London, Hong Kong Disney land looks like every other theme park I have ever been to and despite minor regional adaptation, I believe it is exactly the same as every other Disney Land save the newly opened Disney Sea in Tokyo. I am never one to admit I enjoy Disney and don’t expect any such statement now, but in a place like this, it highlights just how much of our culture had been in someway influenced by this corporation. The whole time I kept thinking how forcefully the whole thing was engulfing my entire being and there was no escape, once you were inside they had you, and you would enjoy it, because it’s everything you have known since you are a child.

Even if Disney has only been something in the background of your life, you will know it intimately because of it’s stature in society, unlike the brilliantly understated Miyazaki museum, this place houses some of the most prevalent characters and assimilated values and stories (Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh) which at least I can say featured quite heavily in my childhood. It’s a big bad, powerful place which has you in the palm of your hands. But in my state of physical health and state of mind, it struck just the right balance to help me feel safe and relaxed, at least for a few hours.

The flight was at 9 and we made it back with plenty of time to spare. Hong Kong airport was way more western orientated than Taiwan CKS or Narita. I even found this week’s copy of Empire in the bookshop which I bought and look forward to reading during lunch tomorrow. We ate at a very weird place called Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits. Never heard of it myself but from what I could gather its some kind of American chain emblazoned with the image of the jovial spinach eating sea dog. I have not idea what sector of society felt it necessary to add the biscuits but the chicken was pretty good. The actual flight time between here and there works out at about 70 minutes, just little enough time to make the air staff run around like headless chickens trying to get everything done. I don’t mind, I hate having to wait too long with my tray on my lap after eating because you are pretty much trapped there immobile under that fold out tray until they take it away from you. The coach back from the airport took a grueling two hours and we had to carry our luggage a fair way to the house at 2am. When we got to the building the doorman wasn’t there so we couldn’t get in for a while. Some unsavory types were sitting across the way and I didn’t feel all too safe. Luckily the doorman eventually came back from wherever he had been and we could finally put down out bags and rest.

Morning came, as it does and the world seemed a little more quiet than usual. Today had been set aside as R and R after the traveling. Everything which needed to be accomplished had been accomplished and add to that sitting in a bag in the next room was a shiny unopened box which contained Taiko no Tatsujin Wai Wai Happy Roku Dai Mei as this latest version is enthusiastically entitled. I sat myself down inches from the screen, snapped together the stand for the drum. Fired it up and played most of the day away. Not all of it however. At lunch time we went to my girlfriend’s place of work and ate some pretty awesome buffet and for the first time in my life I got to eat what Jonathan Ross never stops raving about “Okonomiyaki”. Yes sir, Japanese DIY savory pancake. It was really nice actually in a sort of wholesome bland kind of a way and I would definitely seek it out again. As far as Japanese food is concerned however, nothing will ever top beef curry in my chart of tasty goodness.

In the afternoon we headed out to Tiger city again, my girlfriend and her sister went shopping whilst her sister’s boyfriend and I played in the Sega World. We were in there for a long time, I really had a good go at Samba de Amigo for once, something which has been around for years and years and yet I have never had the chance to realize how fun it is. It is really well made and the motion sensor is very neatly made use of. Motion sensoring in arcade games is something quite widely used but seldom done properly. The bemani games and that police shootout game are two which come to mind, all with various degrees of success. I for one have often felt they are sometimes too physically demanding. Try playing the PS2 eye toy for more than half an hour and you will see what I mean.

And with that my day came to an end. And I sit here in my room typing about one of the longest blogs I have ever written. I wanted to let everyone know what I had been up to since I feel like I have to come to the end of the first chapter in the weird adventure. With my new Visa and a re entry into the country once again, It feels like life and daily activities have a chance to start all over again. I have my very own Taiko here in the house so it seems there is no need for my daily pilgrimages to the department store anymore. Also this damned cold which has been sapping all of my energy seems to have finally dissipated leaving me with a new wave of enthusiasm for school life. From tomorrow there will be nothing standing in the way between me and a sense of daily normality. Of course I will always return here to document my activities but at least I won’t be back peddling as far as I did today. As always I hope everyone is safe and happy and healthy and you enjoyed reading the blog.

Till next time,

This has been MMI

24.08.2006 (Round about Lunchtime)

Ok so Im back from work and Im about to pack my bags. The only way I can think of keeping you guys updated with the details of this trip is to make a written diary as I travel. That way I can scrawl notes pretty much at my leisure and make them on the spot rather than retrospectively which makes a change. Of course I will be taking photos and what not, there should be some pretty cool sights out there, although I have made absolutely no attempt to research or even think about what Hong Kong is like. I guess i will find out soon enough. The plane leaves in just over five hours but the flight takes less than an hour. Which kind of makes geographical sense when you think Japan is three hours away. I wonder if such a short flight warrents any kind of snack or beverage?

Im still feeling pretty rough from this cold. I feels like my whole body is weighed down and moving about doing things is really tiring. Hopefully I will have some opportunies for power naps on route to the airport. So, expect a massive update probably at the weekend where I transfer my diary and photos to their rightful place here with you at MMI.

Until then, I bid you farewell.

22.08.2006 or "Certification"

Praise the lord after over a month of waiting my graduation certificate arrived in the mail. The final piece of the jigsaw falls into place and even though the mystery illness which is working itself through my system makes everything spin, things are looking a damned sight brighter than they were over the past two days. Today It pelted it down again tropical style, I left my bike in school and caught a lift. Feeling pretty pleased with myself we headed to SOGO for some food and Taiko. In celebration I ate terebi champion ramen from the place Im sure I have talked about before. Fueled by that Taiko came next, I played two rounds in order to wear myself out to play against my girlfriend. As a handicap I only used one stick and my left hand, what can I say, its the only thing I am good at.

During the course of the session however I noted some really wierd noises coming from my drum. It must be because it is worn out from too many games but the rim, the one than goes "ka" as apposed to "don" in the centre, seemed to keep getting stuck, resulting in a kakakakakakakakakaka machine gun tyoe noise whenever you hit certain areas. Needless to say the only one who seemed to care or notice was me. Im a little worried because I use that machine every day practically and I have never been comfortable using the right hand one. I need to either find a way to let them know or go somewhere else like Tiger City, although I wouldnt go so often because it much further away. This one was on my doorstep practically, grrrrrr. I'll just force myself to learn to use the right hand one until that breaks too.

In other news, Arcadefinger has a podcast out! I listened to it last night and found it to be most entertaining and since the promise of more now stands lets all support the young podjockey in his future efforts. It instantly made me want to do one too which is always a good thing. Day after tomorrow I fly out to Hong Kong for the weekend, going to find Andy Lau and shake him down about the whole urinal fiasco. Might also eat a bunch of expired pinapple chunks and chase after some doves in slow motion. Still haven't packed, should probably think about doing that.

Till next time,
Eat your greens,

21.08.2006 or "The Most Tired Day"

Publish thoughts says bloggers front page. Ok then I will. Today I am knackered. So knackered my brain has gone numb. See I spent all day worrying about something which was over in about 2 minutes and as a result only said about a quarter of what I wanted to. No point worrying now anyway, time to just carry on and learn from it. Feeling tired and run down I had a shower and felt I needed to do something which always helps me when daily life stress and worry gets a little too much to handle. Beat the hell out of a Taiko drum. All care and frustration is washed away for the small fee of NT$20 (32 Pence) and I can leave feeling physically and mentally cleansed and return home, place my sticks back onto their ceremonial plynth and live to fight another day. I do now have to take another shower not an hour after my last since I sweat so much. Sorry about the lack of big posts but I am missing the energy to type them. Things will be back to normal soon im sure.

Till Next time,

20.08.2006 or "Forgotten Duty"

Left it too late to post anything of substance. Today was all prep work for a meeting I have to go to tomorrow. Ill fill you in with details later but for now sleep prevails.

Take care all,

19.08.2006 or "Caught a damn cold, I hate Alaska"

My body is not stupid. It knows when I have time to sit around and be ill and figured that my two days off would be agreat time for my throat to feel like scratchy garbage. I know I caught something from the children since they all seem to have had or have colds at the moment and my proximity makes it unavoidable that the Asian super germs, those still a stranger to my flimsy western immune system, would run rampant. Nevertheless, today was all about lethargy and inactivity and to that end I did you proud folks.

I woke up and my first instinct these days is to switch on the computer. Computers got to be on for me to feel active, figure on a day off I spend about 14 hours of it infront of the computer since It substitues not only the time I watched TV and listened to music back home but also any time I spent talking to friends or family. About the only thing the internet doent replace is food and on a day off, its only ever going to be instant ramen something which people keep telling me is going to be the death of me. I took some into work last week when I knew I wasnt going to be able to find anything else for breakfast, I might as well have been eating a puppy for the looks I got. The thing is, the ramen which I eat (see earlier post for details) is really tasty and substantial and since I bought a bulk supply of the polystyrene bowl version complete with disposable chopsticks, its far too easy to make and eat and far too satisfying.

So my day off was filled with anime of all shapes and sizes. I finally got around to updating School Grumble my anime blog with the order of the day so all the geeky details have been syphoned off into there. That does mean however that the details of actual events are pretty limited short of sitting down, standing up, going to use the bathroom and sitting again all the while glued to the screen. Now is no different, I just woke up from a five hour nap and my initial reaction was to turn on the PC (it never actually got turned off) and get my diary for the day done so as to save myself from a guilt ridden explanation tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sunday and I need to get some planning done so It was best that I get most of the mooching done today. I am however on my own infront of the computer all day so I dare say Ill find more than the average person's amount of time to watch/listen/play some kind of mindless junk. Ah, weekends, got to love them.

Till next time folks,

This has been MMI

18.08.2006 or "Fun with Numbers"

59 is the current number of posts on MMI
6 is the number of days before I go to Hong Kong
7,182 is the number of views this video has now accumulated
2 is the number of new taiko playing sticks I have:















1 is the loneliest number
2 is as bad as 1
1 is however the amount of cool new monitors sit infront of me:















0 is the amount of money I have
43 is the amount of episodes of Bleach filler I have had to endure for almost a year now.
43 is probably the amount of Bleach filler episodes still to come. Ill hate them but still watch anyway.
2 is the amount of days in a weekend that I am about to enjoy
Thanks for sticking with MMI folks!

17.08.2006 or "Oni Mode"

So I made the transition. Im not saying its an easy one or one which makes me look particularly dignified but its done. I am there. Im not comfortable there yet and Its not easy to do it infront of other people but im staying there and there is no turning. Today was the day I made the transition from difficult to Oni difficulty on Taiko no Tatsujin eight. I can say that it is brutal and after one song it feels like your arms are going to pop but the level of satisfaction gained even barely qualifying a song and getting a second chance is a world apart from the somewhat tame offerings of difficult mode.

If you are a new reader to the blog do this and you will know what I mean. Find a Taiko no Tatsujin Machine (Taiko drum master in the west) and make sure it is number eight. You will pick the left hand option which picks the overall difficulty setting for the songs. You will be presented with a cute drum guy who bounces onto three platforms easy, middle and hard. Hit the right rim until you get to the hardest setting on the screen. Then keep hitting many times until the drum guy leaps into the air and teleports to a new setting which looks like a demon. Done that? Right, now choose a song any song and try to hit some notes. See, see, now do you understand why it has taken me so long to be able to even try to do well on this setting.

Everything else in the day pales in comparrison so Ill leave it there. Tomorrow is Friday, nearly the weekend again yey!

16.08.2006 or "MMI Drift"

Today in the wee small hours of the morning, I was up on a stage in the middle of a tiered courtyard playing my guitar with one missing string and urging my kids to sing infront of the school. It was their first time taking part in this weekly activity and they did extremely well. The rest of the day went off without a hitch. When I got home there was pizza and coke, so I ate and drank. Later on we headed out to Tiger City to catch a movie. In the arcade I bumped into my Taiko no Tatsujin sensei, ripping it up on number 6. 7 and 8 are more expenisve respectively. I played 8 attempted Glamourous Sky on Oni difficulty and got thrashed, but in a good "Theres hope for you yet" kind of way. After all, it is Oni mode.

The movie we ended up seeing was Fast and the Furious. Try to ignore your recoil from the screen at that revelation but it was actually quite good. I too thought it was going to be the worst movie ever but it was really entertaining and well paced throughout and I dont even like cars. I think the camera work was what sold it, really slick solid effects and incredibly intricate action sequences which make really good use of the scenery. The final race in the mountains was great and there is one camera shot, if you ever dare to see this movie, which sweeps over the edge of a cliff and back round to a lower road which blew me away. Another reason I thought I was going to hate it was the setting. I thought, oh god its a hip hop movie set in tokyo, and if anyone has been to Tokyo you will know how hideous the hip hop culture is. But no, its really lightly dealt with and it's tongue in cheek enough to get away with most of it's excesses.

Its just my oppion, I was pleasantly surprised is all, and it shows how quick I am to judge something based on it's peers. Its like when we were in the high of the Japanese horror fad and every country started making 50 knock offs a week, i.e girls in white dresses walking backwards, little boys in pants with panda eyes, hair in the kettle that kind of thing. Back then, I, like most people with half a brain sell started to get incredibly sick of it. But then one day I watched "phone", expecting the worst, but the fact that it used all of the cliches in such a perfectly crafted way and was so slickly produced made it the perfect bookend to what had been a pretty rubbish fad of a genre. I not saying Phone was a great film, but the fact that I expected so little and got something quite palpable made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

There was a trailer in the cinema before the film for a movie called One Missed Call final, I believe the third in the series. It stars amogst other people the girl who played Densha Otoko's sister in the TV series, as aposed to the rather inferior movie. Anyway that is besides the point. The film was represented in the wierdest sence in a theme park in Odaiba in Japan. Me and two buddies had paid for all access tickets to the Sega Joyopolis at the Odaiba decks which meant we needed to go on everything to get our moneys worth, which was no task because everything was great and to go into detail about how much fun I had that day would take far too long. If you ever get chance to go there in your lifetime then please experience it for yourself. Im rambling again, anyway, this particular ride was a walk in ride, I will try to break it down as best I can remember it because it was one of the best and wierdest experiences I have ever had.

Ok, so we walk up to the counter swipe out tickets and wait outside. A cheerful looking lady explains the intructions to me, she is dressed in a flatcap and overcoat, like a kind of tiny Japanese columbo, but a girl. The she hands me a mobile phone? I ponder this for a second but we we enter the door way. We find ourselves in a room (If it seems a bit like Knightmare then I apologise. The room is pretty sparse and we are just three guys looking a little confused holding a mobile phone. The phone rings with a wierd sinsiter tone. At this point I was jovial about the whole thing, not aware of how dark a turn this ride/walk wa going to take. "Moshi Moshi" I said, picking up the phone. "Click" nothing. I check the missed call number but its in Kanji so Im not really sure. I notice there is a computer in the corner of the room. The screen is fluctuating wierdly, I lean over to use the mouse. Something grabs hold of my hand for a second and I screech like a girl. The other two didnt see it, they just laugh at me. Suddenly a long haired, twisted figure slams against the door frame. My friends are standing right next to it, they think its animatronic. We hurry away, but again, being the only one who sees, the thing is jauntly walking behind us. And all I have is a phone. We run round to the next room, Im really disorientated at this point and I know the thing is still after us. The phone rings again, I pick up, some horrible noise comes through. The next room a class photo of some school children, I move closer to it, It changes into a horrible twisted face, the thing is getting closer, I had had enough, I ran, in fact we all ran right out of the ride and almost run into Columbo who is laughing at us sadistically.

So no, maybe the Japanese horror things is not really dead, you just have to have it actually happen to you in real life to feel why the ring scared you in the first place. Not bad for a glorified Trailer anyway.

Tell next time,

15.08.2006 or "Best laid plans"

Today was a jaunt and a half. I woke up and said goodbye to my girlfriend as she left for work, about an hour before I do. Her work had put on a surprise for her and I was in the loop, strangely enough since I barely talk to anyone let alone my girlfriends work colleages. Nevertheless, on my lunch break someone came to pick me up and they had laid on a massive birthday cake and such and it was very sweet. She had no idea how I got there and I had no idea how to get back to work but one long confused taxi journey later I was back in class before the kids had woken up. Coming home I did a little prep work and she slept. About an hour later we headed out to a local Japanese restaurant called sasano. It was packed with drunken japanese businessmen but the food was really good. We drunk some beer and then felt a little drunk so we came home. That brings us up to speed,

Til next time..

14.08.2006 Part 2: Spice Weasel

So the end of another day comes around. Conterary to my earlier post I am not writing this in the daytime but at night. I guess I should never make promises that my future self is unlikely to keep. Today was normal, normal weather normal activites, everything was really... normal. I went to SOGO to get some presents for my girlfriends birthday. Being the considerate boyfriend that I am I bought her manga. I figured It would bring us closer, giving us one more thing to talk about, even if that thing is my three of my favourite manga/anime series. Yes, I bought issue 1 of Bleach, School Rumble and Full Metal Alchemist in chinese for the little lady. She read Bleach in about 20 minutes after I advised her that it was a good one to start with. She said it was quite good, which was nice.

When I was in SOGO I had a bit of a geographical head spin for a second when In search of a book, I suddenly realised that everything was in Japanese. I dont just mean a shelf either I mean every shelf in a 10 meter radius. I had a panic attack for a second and I honestly thought these past two months were a dream and I was actually still in Japan. It all seemed to plausable, that I had been so hungover and sleep deprived one night in Tokyo that I had stumbled into a 24 hour manga cafe and just hallucinated two month in on an Island three hours away. Turns out I was just in a Japanese book shop and I am actually a bit mental. I am after all in Taiwan, I think.

Tomorrow is a normal day, except a Birthday, although having given her the presents early the linch pin of my plans has already been deployed. I guess we will go out for a meal, relax, forget about the struggles of working life. Her working life not mine.

Not much to say or do now sept try and put some pictures up once again...

Nah, no such luck! Damn you bloggeeeeeeeeerr!

Till next time,

13.08.2006 or 14.08.2006 Part 1

Wow these titles are really starting to get confusing. If you hadnt noticed the aformentioned post detailing the events of the 13th never appeared. Thats because I never wrote it. Yeah, after I put together the back dated post before, I kind of ran out of steam on things I actually did in the day which wasnt much really. This serves as a good reminder that I cant really write two days content in one day, its just a bit to much to give. So instead I will just try not to leave a post till the next day unless It is entirely neccessary and even then I may just skip it over.

So in short,

13th.

After writing my blog about Nova and being annoyed with the photo situation I quickly realised that in waking at 1pm and milling about for a bit, my day of planning for the coming week had quickly dissappeared behind me. After getting some food and watching some TV I took a nap for a few hours, awoke and got to planning. After that I showered and then went back to bed.

14th

As I type this I am listening to the second bleach soundtrack and finishing off a fried chicken sandwich and iced coffee. The time is 07:15 am and I need to be at work for just before 8. It only takes be 4 minutes by bike to get there so im taking my time. I am taking my computer to work with me so today's actual blog will be written in my lunch hour.

I know this catching up format seems a little clinical and obsessive but I really do hate to miss a post, it pains me so I need to write posts like this that justify my absence. Until tonight then, have a good day folks.

P.S once again I was unable to put up pictures from yesterday, something which increasingly irritates me.

12.08.2006 or "Nova"

Saturday was a propper day off. Slept in really late and woke with only one concern which was getting Breakfast/Lunch. When we set out we were heading in the general direction of NOVA the electronics department so an adjacant KFC was deemed the best place to fill the gap. KFC is different here in lots of ways and I am yet to figure out if these are improvements or not.














Firsly the texture of the chicken and chicken related products is different. In its favour it is way less greasy, but it is really flakey and seems to lack the flavour which gets soaked in with all the fat in KFC in the west. I noticed they did have the choice of two types of coating. They had the origial recipie and also a spicy chilli and lemon coating which was also quite good. I settled for a filet burger and a coke. For dessert they make these awesome little egg custard things which are hot and and you can choose normal or coffee flavour. Overal its a good eating experience and you get the benefit of being treated really well by the staff, the absence of which is something I know puts alot of people off fast food in my country.

So after lunch It was time to get stuck into some geek shopping. The walk down to NOVA sets the theme for this area of town, like a little Akihabara minus the sin. Outside people were putting all of their receipts into a raffle counter which aparantly gets you some more cool tech stuff if you win.













Heading inside the place was pretty busy, more video screens than you can count and a varied mix of shiney showrooms and bulky wholsale stockrooms. On the first floor the order of the day was mostly digital cameras and mobile phones. Sony has just released three new digital cameras recently and they are being marketed together in a big advertising campaign, each of them aimed at a different demographic aparantly.

The first, the DSC-W100 is aimed at the family man, cause it has a propper zoom you see, but its not fashionable enough to seem unsensible. The second, the DSC-T30 is aimed at the young female Asian teenager who lives a crazy go getting lifestyle. Thats cause it doesnt have a propper zoom (no time for zooming) and it is sleek and fashionable, and small so it can fit into ridiculously small handbags. The last of the three is the DSC-H2 which has a bloody great zoom on it and it looks more like an art student camera. I can tell this is aimed at such a character because the guy on the adverts has a scarf on! Man, thats subversive, especially in this heat.

And he is wearing jeans, and he has slightly spikey hair. Ironically this was the first camera which caught my attention which means I identify with the fashionable social misfit rouge type and therefore must have this camera. I must have it so I can take pictures of things from cookey angles and take pictures of social injustice from really far away with my massive zoom lense. Then I can go home and write an ironic blog, listen to some coldplay and smell some flowers, cry a silent tear and sleep curled up on my hemp rug. Damn you Sony for telling me so acurately how I live my life.

The second floor was all about making your own PC from the constituent parts scattered around this floor. It was here that I wished I actually knew about hardware and could stick all the best bits together and have a monster PC. One thing I could tell is that everything was really cheap and that if I had any money whatsoever this is where I would spend it. The amount of machinary up there was inumerable and all the more impressive for being in such a compacted space.

On the way out of the shop after much wandering my eye was caught by a really cool looking monitor, 22 inch flat, widescreen, HD monitor which just looked the business. I pointed it out to my girlfriend and after telling her what HD was and how the size and clarity would make anything we watched on the computer pretty awsome to look at she engaged into heated bargaining with guy in the shop. I of course was useless to this end and instead waited and watched the japanese idols which had been set on a rotation screensaver on all 50 of the monitors in front of me, pretty hard to avoid. After a bit and a much reduced price the deal was sealed and I took upon myself the task of lugging the thing back to the car. Now it sits snuggly infront of me as I type this entry and it makes everything seem so much more epic. Well actually ironically because the resolutution is set so high the desktop has become so huge that most things seem under whelimg until you make them full screen. I never understood the benfits of a widescreen desktop until now. When blogger lets me put more pictures up I will show you what it looks like along with the rest of the picturs of NOVA which were denied to you by blogger. Thats all for saturday, see you in 9 hours for Sundays entry

11.08.2006 or "Misdirected Efforts"

Yes, the site does a little better now. Yes it did take me forever trawling through the HTML to get that banner at the top and not just the title and still keeping the name of the site on the webpage. No I will not be making any more changes because the extent of what I know about HTML was exhaused just doing that and also sticking my links in the sidebar. All in all I am happy with how the site looks now which is good.

Today has been pretty cool. We made the journey down south again to run some errands. Ate some food and came home, pondered the idea of going out for a drink and then rejecting the idea as quickly because we are both really tired. However, tomorrow is a weekend which means lye ins and lethargy. We're going to look into the prospect of buying Taiko no Tatsujin for the PS2 from the local electronics department. Whether or not we do or not is irrelevant because I enjoy going to this place so much it is worth the trip just to look round. Firstly its huge and secondly it specialises in all manner or gadgets and toys at rock bottom prices. Take every consumer product you have ever bought in the west, update the technology by five years and take off 50% of the price and youl get an idea of what this place is like. Im going to be taking the camera so expect coverage of the trip.

Like everyone else ive been watching the news lately to see whats been happening to our country. It reminds me of last year when I was out here and the London bombings happened. Its really strange that I witness these things from such a skewed angle but I am always suprised about how poiniant these matters are even to people in Taiwan and Japan. Last year, I was outside Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo and an old guy selling Ice Cream knew about the bombings and was asking me if I had any family in London. I guess that would be the equivilant of our news coverage of the Tokyo saris gas attacks on the rail network all those years ago.

Sometimes I underestimate how much of an influence the UK and the US are on the rest of the world. But then again it all becomes apaprant when I think about how desperately everyone here wants their children to grow up and speak English. Luckily this time, so far, nothing of that scale occured this time but who they hell wants to fly any more, especially to and from the US. There is no way I would argue with someone telling me I couldnt have cabin luggage if I knew it was going to make me safer but all the same isnt it nervewracking enough flying without all of this other worry on our heads.

Anyway, enough of that, its time for me to kick off my weekend with a shower, a cold Taiwan Gold label beer, the latest episode of school rumble and then sleep. That seems to be the essence of true happiness and enlightenment. Take care everyone

10.08.2006 or "Business as Usual"

It is very easy to look back on a day, in search of memorable events and anecdotes and be put off by the fact that there werent any. Usually it just means you need to think a little harder

Today after I awoke I walked through to the kitchen and saw a huge tub of something called "CLIM". I was a little too sleepy to heed it any attention and I as of yet still havent actually looked to see what it actually was. Instead I laughed at the fact that because of the L in CLIM, It could also be titles CRIM, which would make even less sence save sounding like its an all purpose powedered food stuff developed especially for criminals. Im sure if I actually got off my ass I would find out it is something really mundane, but that would spoil the illusion and the joke wouldnt it. On the way out I grabbed a garbage bag full of ice, shoved it in my bag and peddled like the clappers through the busy Taiwan streets in order to make it to school in the blazing morning sun before the ice melted all over my back, down the back of my trousers, onto the peddles causeing me to slip and fly straight under an articulated lorry. Thats the second time now Ive expressed that irrational fear, I wonder where that comes from.

So why the ice? Well we were studying ice today. Well not ice in particular but the sun and how it melts things. I pretty sure by the end of the day no one was any the wiser on the topic but we had fun nonetheless. On the way home I swung by the house and played with the kitty a bit.He had just woken up but after a quick stretch he was back to his old tricks again. He walks on his hind legs so often now I think he has make a concious decision that it is just more effecient to do so. It alows him to box and swipe and run all at the same time. He got up onto the counter and started feverishly scratching at the other laptop, I took my eyes off him for two seconds and he rips off the F8 button and then runs off. Luckily I managed to fix it back on but he would'nt listen to my scolding.

So after that I headed out to the American diner to get myself some food. I had a chicken burrito, which I have never had before but it's very similar what us litteral British folks call a wrap. I chose it because like a burrito, I wasn't really sure what I would be getting if I ordered a quesadilla or enchilada. Maybe Ill try each over the next two days. They have walls of American food stuffs in the restraunt which you can buy. I like to look at them, and seethe. I dont know why they anger me so, maybe because the names and the pictures on the boxes and cans are just so stupid. Such meathead American Joe products like "Potatoe buds", since when did potatoes come in buds. They call rice crispy sqaures(our name, literal, factual) rice crispy treats. What are they for Dogs? Dont get me started on the word treat, I hate it. And the breakfast cereal, so obvious and clumbsy and in such hideous 1980's packaging. I could never live in America because I could never bring myself to put the stuff in a shopping basket. And what the hell is produce, it's fruit you bloody morons. huff huff huff. Sorry. I honestly cant tell you where that came from, I dont mean to offend and I am even more confused about why this particular strand of American culture irritates me so much.

So after Tea, Taiko, two games. I started trying to get perfect scores and in persuit of that quest I stopped caring the moment I missed a note and just whacked the drum for the remainder of the songs and made a bored face as if the game was dead to me now. I still love it though, im just finding new ways for it to be entertaining.

Now Im home, got some stuff to plan but after tomorrow its the weekend again yey! I t came around so fast. Lets hope this weekend is more cheerful than last. (See "Idle Hands") and I can get some quality relaxation and anime going on.

Until tomorrow folks,

マイヤヒ

Some things just cant be explained by anyone!



I'll give you a hint, say what you see!

09.08.2006 or "The Squatter"

Ah dont you just love comically misleading blog subtitles. It makes all of this seem so much more epic dont you think. If you cant tell from my tone Im feeling fine today and seem to have miraculously returned from deaths door. Today was a day like any other bookended by some food and a quick game of Taiko.

Now im home, Blog in one eye, TV in the other. Its some kind of cop drama, of course I have no idea what they are saying. All I can figure out is that they really want it to look like Infernal Affairs but since its a daily "Neighbours" syle show, the obvious restrictions on the budget are always amusing. Yesterday they tried to stage a massive fight scene around one coffee table. They were going at it crouching tiger style but all shot on what looked to be one DV camera. See its the little differences, image Carl Kenedy doing the one inch punch on Harold. See its always the same two groups going after each other every week, some gangster and some police agents. You would think they had more than one set of criminals to attend to. Like I say, I have to interpret the pictures rather than the dialogue so Im sure there is more to it than Im giving credit for. I know, when I get time, Ill rip it, subtitle it and post it on the website.

So I needed to use the toilet today in the department store. I was on the 15th floor having my tea and I decided to make use of the facilities. The toilet looked great, more like a work of art than a bathroom, Im talking chrone, cobbled stone sinks, big high taps, glowing glass pannels lining the walks, plants.... the works. My concentration at that point however was dealing with an imminant bowel movement. It was at this point I encountered an old enemy, one which strikes fear into the hearts of any foreign visitor to Asia. The Squatter. Now I have always associated the squatter with maybe the less lavish bathrooms, where space and budget was an issue. At least that was usually the case in Japan. But not here, not in flushingham palace, where dreams are born and released into the ocean through pipes of hope. Now at this point I should probably make it clear Im talking about a type of toilet. Its basically a porcelain trough in the centre of a cubicle. Now I will breifly outline some of the problems I have with the squatter without going into too great a detail.

The first is evident in its name. You need to squat to use it, but the hole is literally ground level. Just try to imagine using the toilet, at ground level with no support for the rest of your body and a pair of jeans on, whilst simultaniously trying to keep balance and relax enough to get the job done. Now imagine trying all that whilst people repeatedly try to open the cubicle door to see if its free. Now imagine that the moment you realise there is no level of separation between you and what you have just squeezed out. Thats right readers, when you get up to wipe, you have to deal with the fact that until you flush the contraption, you have pretty much taken a dump on the floor. And if you are like me someone who likes to wipe pretty thoroughly, you are going to be staring at your matter on it's little white display shelf for some time.

Now I write this whilst chuckling to myself about the complete obserdity of it. When you do flush, the poop just gets unceremoniously blasted backwards, where it slams into the wall and eventually makes contact with the water that takes it away. The whole sequence of events just makes you feel like you will never want to use the bathroom again. But maybe thats it, maybe they just want to discourage people from using them because they are so damn awkward and disgusting. But if that were the case then the normal urinals, which they have everywhere would be all they need right. Its like saying ok, you can wee here, but first you have to wee into a cup, look at it, wash your hands with it and then we will take it off you, its that disgusting.

See, when there is nothing real to talk about each day, I will just make everyone too sick to care.

08.08.2006 or "Fathers Day"

I was sick today, But whilst I was chucking up my soul in the School toilet, which is child sized making it impossible to puke comfortably or even succesfully, my body temperature reached a critial level and I caused myself further damage. Once I had finished being sick, I had to get out but by that point it was too late, my breathing got laboured my vision blurry, I knew if I didnt lie down I was going to faint. I was pretty worried so I swaggered back to the class room to help me find the nurse. I got the nurses office but she wasnt there so the best I could do was crash out on the bed and try to get my breathing and vison back. Then I passed out for a bit.

My co teacher woke me up and said I needed to go down to the first floor. By this point I was just feeling really groggy and stupid. I dumped myself in a chair down in the lobby whilst my co teacher talked to someone. Heading back up to class took all the energy I had, luckily the last of the kids were just leaving and I grabbed a pillow and just lay down on the tatami mats and closed my eyes. I woke up about an hour later kind of disorientated. I sat up from my spot in the middle of the classroom to see my co teacher working and once again felt pretty embarrased that my entire system had gone into meltdown. I got up, said sorry, what else could I say, and made a very woozey bike journey home, trying not to drive under any lorries.

When I got home, the sickness and the heat and everything else nesecetated yet another sleep. Food was off the cards for a while yet. I woke up about 2 hours later, ate some medicine and ordered some ramen, non spicy and eat it slowly. Only now I seem to be ok. My head is still pounding and I still have no idea what caused it all. I can rule a pretty obvious things out and it wasn't sunstroke because I was inside the cool, shaded AC classroom all day. What I put it down to is a domino effect of something bad I ate, followed by the extreme heat. But even so, it was entirely out of character and not something which would ever happen to me under normal circumstances. I really feel drained now.

Aside from that my day was pretty good and luckily I only got sick once it was pretty much over. The rest of my night is pretty much dedicated to resting up and gathering all the energy I have left in order to work tomorrow. So Ill get to that. Normal service will resume shortly.

07.08.2006 or "Melting Stuff"

Just a quick hello to people who read this, I know of at least three. Not much out of the ordinary happened today, the weather today was nice so we traced our shadows out in the sun. I melted a wax crayon with a magnifying glass but then everyone wanted to do it so I think that was probably a bad idea. I thought I was making a useful scientific point but kids will be kids. I ate at a pretty swanky restaurant, wrote that the water wasnt cold enough (in chinese, Im trying hard) on the feedback form and signed it John Voight. I like to think someone in there knows who John Voight is and it will send them on a bit of a rampage like that episode of Seinfeld. Probably not though right.

Tommorrow they celebrate fathers day and we are doing all types of cute stuff in celebration. See the date is 08/08 which in chinese is baba (daddy) . Awwwww. So were going to make crowns and read a book and poems about it, then were getting back to our proper topic, cant stray too far from that. Errrm. So, no I cant really think of much else to say. Oh im off to Hong Kong in 17 days. That should be fun. I have no idea what it will be like outisde of my knowledge of Wong Kar Wai films, and since we are going to be staying a night in DisneyLand(TM), im sure its going to be much different. It's another Asian country to add to the list I guess and it should be really good fun. Expect wacky pictures and videos from that trip. I really want to go to South Korea too, although I dont know if work commitments will allow it.

Right im off to tie off the loose ends of the night, shower and sleep. Sincerely hope everyone is doing well back home. I know it must seem like I have disappeared off the face of the earth a bit but rest assured my heart and my thoughts are always back home with friends and family. With that sentiment expressed I can continue my self centred and selfish attempt to find fame and fortune in the east completely guilt free. As always Ill let you know how I get on...

P.S I just randomly checked Youtube and one of the videos of me playing Taiko no Tatsujin has been viewed 4,253 times!!! And I made that when I couldnt actually play the damn game! What the flipping heck is going on? I think I might have discovered one possibility for my fame in Taiwan?

P.P.S- Further investigation seems to reveal that the words Taiko and Taiwan only bring up three entries on youtube, two of them are mine, one of them is the one of me walking to the department to play the game. Ulp.

P.P.P.S- Further thought on the matter makes me think I could exploit this and actively seek fame and then become some kind of cultural oditty. Hmm, Let me think. Who is clever? Someone tell me where I should take this from here.

06.08.2006 or Taiko Terror

It always gets a little confusing when I type the date into the blog entry. My brain sort of stopped counting the years after they started to seem silly and futuristic. Also im never sure if its 2006 or 2007. Well, I guess now that my education has come to an end, well for the moment anyway, there are no overshadowing divisions by which to mark the passage of the years. And when you get older, Birthdays seem to get less important too. Well as the folks in Japan say, "Shouganai na" or :"theres nowt that can be done about it".

Today has been a good day off, lazy and unproductive but pretty carefree which Is how days off should be. Staring into the face of a working week doesnt seem so bad and Im feeling pretty grounded now which is good. We sat down and watched the Keroro movie today which was suitably mental. Not much to say other than that. Oh, I got pretty freaked out in the department store today. I kept noticing these two girls shadowing me when I was walking round from having lunch to heading up to Taiko. When I got up to the machine and waited my turn it was clear that they were following me and I was feeling really uncomfortable at this point.

As I got back to observing the game I felt a little tap on my shoulder. "....take a picture", said one of the girls. "Sure Ill take your picture" I said, hoping for the best that they weren't actually stalking me. "No, No" they replied. Turns out they were stalking me and they inisted that they take my picture. "Why?" I asked them. I got no response. Reluctantly I agreed to let them take one picture, my brain still trying to work it out. When they asked for a second one I just flat out said no. I turned around and about twenty seconds later I glanced back to see if they were still there and they had completely vanished. I assumed the worst, that they had taken my soul, or they were going to do some unthinkable thing with that picture. Now Im keeping my eyes out for any goofy looking westerner on Billboards and TV to find out who the hell they thought I was. That way I can maybe clear my name and feel at ease In the department store. Because I need that place, thats where Taiko is!

05.08.2006 or "The Show Must Go On!"

Ok so the mindless violence and comedy of Devil May Cry 3 cheered me up a little. I took my leave of the house and headed out in the night air to McDonalds, about a ten minute walk away. Once I had eaten I figured I had nothing else to do except try and patch up my realtionship with Taiko no Tatsujin. The time was around 8:30pm and the department store closes at 10.I still had two games worth of Tokens in my pocket from the session I walked away from in a strop earlier in the day. The Arcade was a little quiter now and it was relatively easy to get my game on, although busy enough that the usual people would crowd around the machine like they usually do when they see that someone can actually play the game. It went pretty well I guess, I stuck to songs which were enjoyable and familiar and eased myself into remembering why I started playing this game in the first place, for fun. I didnt attempt any Oni setting songs this time and I might not for a while now but it seems there is hope for me and this game yet.

Coming home and having a good long think about why I am so wound up lately, I think it boils down to more than just sweat and fluffed Taiko games. Ive been away from home and friends for a long time now, by my count about a month and a half. For me this means im almost always fine and happy but when I get tired, any stress or problem is multiplied. The neccesary dependancy on others is also another factor which is really starting to build in my mind as a kind of claustrophobia. I am in a position where I am eternally grateful to a lot of people but as a counterbalance to that, any problems, worries or issues generally need to be kept to myself for fear of sounding ungrateful. Luckily as time passes, I can start to take on more and more resposibility for my existance here but at the moment, its difficult having no choice than to rely on the power and resources and abilties of others, things which I, as of yet do not possess. Hopefully as my self reliance in this country grows, financially and physically I will be able to repay all of the people who have helped me and maybe then I can begin to feel less like a house cat and more like a human being.

Wow, did I get a little serious there for a moment? Well it cant all be smiles and Pokemon here a MMI now can it.

05.08.2006 or "Idle Hands"

Man, I know today was my day off and all but if inactivity makes one this depressed I would rather have been at work today. I woke up around 12 with that awful feeling like your skin is going to peel off your body. From what I have gathered this happens when you forget to shower the night before and you sleep with the AC on full blast all night. This occurance is usually accompanied by complete and utter stomach malfunction and a sense that you really shoudlnt have got out of bed today. So once I had showered and dressed I sat down and felt all new and exciting layers of sweat forming within minutes. Around 1pm I knew I had to eat otherwise I would not move at all, all day so I cooked some ramen. After this I decided that the best course of action to save the day was to go play taiko.

I instantly regretted the idea when my brain put together the fact that it was a saturday and that the arcade would be packed. Nevertheless I persisted and played like utter crap and and was constatly battling people for a place on the machine. Some girl kept putting more and more money into the machine and then shouting something in Chinese whenever anyone came near the adjacent area. To be fair I think there was something wrong with her brain, but still, she played better than me and I wasn't in the most sympathetic of moods. After my second awful game I just couldn't get my arms to do what my brain was telling them and I thought it was because I wasn't awake yet. So I headed down a couple floors and bought a can of coffee, "Mr Brown" brand, not a touch on Suntory Boss but I pretty sure they dont sell that outside of Japan.

Heading back up, I felt my knees were going to give way and my stomach, not half full from the ramen felt soulless and hollow. Again, after watching two guys who had clearly been playing it for years deftly kick ass on the machine (the worst possible act to follow) I tried my hand once again. First song: I picked the wrong song and ended up losing! :O I could'nt beleive it, this is almost unheard of and I felt incredibly folorn, luckily I managed to win another round of redemtion on the wheel of fate but just whacked out a lack luster and by this point pretty sorry looking performance. I dropped the sticks back on the plinth and vowed never to play the game again!

And all this on what is meant to be my day off. I came home and figured that the anger which had been building throughout the day just needed to be chanelled into something productive, such as work but it seems like the anger beast is no match for the apathy beast on days like this so I just sat sweating, angry and exhausted in my chair and waited for my girlfriend to come home. We sat down and watched the Nana movie. Then I used the net, and that brings us up to speed on my pointless uphill struggle of a day. Every movement or idea has been met with a force of equal resistance. I guess that pretty acurately describes your typical run of the mill bad day.

Still, I dont mind writing it off as such. For the remaining hours of the day I plan to escape into some playstation and let my brain shut off.

04.08.2006 or “Weather: Smiley Face”

It suddenly dawned on me that the reason why my blog entries have been so sparse in detail of late is solely down to the time which I choose to write the things. It always seemed fitting to me that the creation of a new entries should fall into the category of tasks to be dealt with before bedtime, when all of the things of note which happen have already happened. However, due to the fact that it seems that I am always going to be pretty tired during weekdays when I return home, I have decided to use what free time I have during the day to see if the quality of my blogs improve somewhat. Based already on my legibility it seems that this might be a good idea. For one, it’s cooler, quieter and much more relaxing during mid day naptime to tell you what I’m up to. Also, I have just woken up myself from about an hours sleep, feeling refreshed and ready for the afternoon’s activities.

Today so far has been pretty good. I woke up pretty easily and managed to grab some breakfast on the way in to work. I had a chicken sandwich and some iced coffee which I ate hunched over my tiny desk whilst waiting for school to start and the children to finish their own breakfasts, which needless to say were a sight healthier than mine. The rough weather we have been having recently seems to have dissipated and today brings and cool breeze and sense of calm which I enjoyed during break time. I cannot stress how much better it is not having to suffer the effects of hay fever out here. I’m not sure of the scientific reasons as to why the pollen in Asia doesn’t make me ill and the flowers at home do but Its a great relief. Unfortunately things like dust still get me and my eyes started itching a little on the tatami mats so I think Its about time I gave them a hoover.

So I roughly three hours time, the conclusion of my first week of school will arrive and I get to spend two days pottering about to my own devices and sleeping. I have no cause to complain about work whatsoever mind you, It never feels like work in the sense of menial work, it feels like a challenge but in a mentally stimulating fun way which has to be good in a job right. Unlike all of the other jobs I have done in my life, my soul is still entirely intact at the end of the week and I feel fulfilled rather than degraded or physically exhausted. Next week real school life kicks in to gear, which means real topics, real experiments and more hard work, but ultimately a more interesting work day. Hopefully the daily routine will click into place with my mental gears and I can learn to be more awake at the right time. All in all, I survived and think I have gotten over the worst part of the integration process.

(Late Night Addition to What I wrote before this point)

True to my aforementioned statement, there is no way in hell I could have produced that many words in the tired state I am in now. This is about all I can muster, I went to TGI Fridays, it was very good, I did lots of things which I was way to tired to do and now I must collapse. Night Night

Aaron

03.08.2006 or "Dont bother reading this, really, come back tomorrow"

Yawn, is all I can say, I just feel really knackered today. School was really good and quite funny today and I also managed to get a nap in although for some reason im still really tired. Now the sensible person would not complain and just take a shower and go to bed but no not I. I choose instead to sneak in a quick, if wafer thin post just incase anyone checks MMI. I dont like missing days now, the hole which stands on the 1st just seems to tarnish an otherwise pretty good run of post so even if this is a bunch of waffle at least I can say I was here, falling asleep at the keys.

I going to go now, if you read this then It was a bit of a waste of time, but rest assured, I will sleep, work and hopefully come back with enough energy to put up a real post. At least tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is reserved for relaxing and doing sweet nothing. I look forward to that immensely.

Seeya

02.08.2006 or "Forget about the 1st"

Well its a new month and I'm still here writing what is apparantly my 41st blog entry here at MMI. Im suprised really, I dont think I have ever maintaned any type of internet past time for this long before, I usually just get bored and find something else to play with. Im sure its that this site serves such a cathartic purpose in my overseas life that I just have to keep coming back. Well, lets hope we see 40 more in the future.

Its about 9pm and after I finish this entry I really need to do some planning for tommorrow's school day. Today was good but as soon as I hit home time, the skies opened and it started chucking it down by the bucket load, and thunder and lightnight followed. We had to change the weather on our class calender twice in the space of five minutes from miserable rainy face to angry storm face. I had to leave the trusty bicycle at the school because it would have taken a braver man than me to attempt the journey home. Instead I got a lift and we went out to get some pasta nearby. Returning home I watched some Anime on TV about a possesed violin, creepy. Im not going to talk about Anime here anymore since just five minutes ago I updated my Anime Blog with an entry.

Umm, what else, aside from being pretty wiped out(I didnt have my nap today) I havent really got much non work news of note. Tommorrow is busy all day, probably just come home and collapse again. Friday too, Saturday we go to a Theme park of some kind so expect a Blog of higher standard around that date. Not that I wont post when I have absolutely nothing to say (Because I do, you have witnessed this), but I think it should provide ample rant and photo oportunities to share with you, the reader.

Im going to go now and do some more work and then slip into a deep deep sleep. I hope everyone on the other side of the world can do the same thing when your bedtime arrives. From everyone here at MMI sweet dreams.....