My Japanniversary

Been back in Japan exactly one year: yikes! It has flown.

Out and about in Tokyo

It makes me proud to be a Tokyoite that these brilliant decorations -
laid out on benches here in Marunouchi in the centre of the city - go
completely un-vandalized and un-stolen.

Hopefully in this making of a new 'New Ireland', Dublin will learn a
thing or two.

Anyway, Happy Halloween to one and all!

It's toilet time again

I haven't blogged about anything toilet-related in ages, and in fact
this little photo combines two of my great loves: japanese toilets and
japanese graphic arts.

I just love how the little angel is pushing the button to dispense the
cleansing spray with his butt!

Having typed that last sentence, I am now uncomfortably aware of the
fact that I probably need to sign up for some more therapy.

Back home now and I’ve just noticed how small the photo is - sorry, it's cause I took it on my phone camera. Anyway, if you click on the image, I think you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.

A new hobby?

'We' Japanese love our hobbies - free time is rarely spent chilling in front of the box and most people plan the activity-filled weekends with military precision.

And it was with such a mindset that some of my colleagues up north took us out sightseeing for the day. We did bowling (I SUCKED) and table tennis (I SEMI-SUCKED) and apple picking (NO REAL SKILL INVOLVED) and archery (I CRIED OFF DUE TO A VICIOUS LADYBIRD ATTACK MOMENTS BEFORE THE LESSON WHICH RESULTED IN A BITE THAT IS STILL RED AND ITCHY THESE 5 DAYS LATER).

But best of all, we got to try our hands at pottery. I loved it and it turns out I might actually have a bit of a Rainman-like gift for the craft: as you can see from the photo above, I made a fairly respectable looking mug for my first ever time to put finger to clay. I will get it back in about month when it's been fired and glazed and I'll try to remember to post an update at that time.

It was so relaxing, just working the clay in a state of zen-like meditation. And then there was something primeval and satisfying about creating something practical from a fairly base material. Needless to say, I am hooked and have already looked into taking some more lessons here in Tokyo. You can see further photos from my adventures here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=327300&id=858385093&l=35ea3225c9

City Slickers

...alternatively titled, “Why I shouldn't be allowed out of the greater Tokyo area!”

So I'm up in the mountainous north on business. The hotel we usually stay at has just gotten wifi so I feel way less cut off than I normally do when I come up to these wild parts – at previous times I couldn't even get mobile phone reception.

My colleague and I thought it would be a good idea to visit the local hot-spring. We've been there many times before, but we've always gone by taxi. We figured it couldn't be more than a 15 minute walk tops. We were well prepared, let me tell you: dressed head to toe in chic black - ideal on these dark and winding mountain roads; no light source except for our mobile phone screens (maybe 6cmx4cm: veritable spotlights); and having completely neglected to tell anyone at the hotel where we were going.

Cut to us 30 minutes later, climbing out of a two-metre roadside ditch, with a distinct smell of cow poo hanging in the air. Needless to say we cut our losses and eventually found our way home. We made a vow to keep this little adventure from our more rural colleagues. We don't need to be giving them any more ammunition against the crazy foreigners.

At least the stars looked really beautiful from the bottom of the ditch! I'm all about the positives, me.

For all the Japanese-speaking fans of Arrested Development out there...

What a great name for the soba shop at the end of my road. It makes me
think of Lucille Bluth every time I walk past. What's even better is
that they have a second shop under the same name nearby. So
technically I have Lucille and Lucille II within walking distance.
Truly, my life is turning into a one-man homage to the show.

For those of you who can't read Japanese, the shop is called "Gangee";
the Bluth kids' affectionate term for their grandmother.

I am a victim of Obamania

Okay, the Obama comparisons have got to stop. Since the election I have been told by several Japanese people how much I look like POTUS. I mean, what the rock!???

Full disclosure: the other day on Skype, my sister did say that she could kind of see what they were talking about - something about the low resolution, the skinny neck and the sticky-out ears. I don't know.

But today's little incident took the cake: I was up visiting our research centre in a little rural village a few hundred k's outside of Tokyo, waiting to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing. Opposite me stood a little group of junior-high-school kids (a clutch? a gaggle? a murder!) who looked over at me and gradually started nudging each other and suppressing little giggles. Kind of par for the course when you're a non-Japanese in these parts.

But then when the lights change and I walk past them, one of the little runts plucks up his courage and bold as brass declares, "Yes, we can!" much to the group's (murder's) delight.

I will grudgingly admit that his comic timing was perfect and my eye roll was accompanied by a healthy dose of lol's. But still, c'mon...

Learning my ABCD'S

I am going to be taking a CPR and first aid course next Sunday. I just received the pre-study materials for the course and it's like they were written just for me: I had only reached page five when I started to freak out. They were talking about defibrillation and spinal injury and the like and I was really beginning to think that it as all too much for me. What if I get something wrong and end up killing someone?People who know me well know that I'm not exactly the most dexterous, take-charge person in the world.

But then I turned the page and read what may become my mantra, not just for the course, but for life (to paraphrase):

Don't get caught in a trap of doing nothing for fear of not doing it perfectly - adequate care provided is better than perfect care withheld.

Shoot, years of expensive therapy could have been avoided if I'd only taken this course sooner. Procrastination is one of my biggest flaws, usually extending from an overblown fear of failure. I fully intend to begin implementing this new policy in all aspects of my life...

No more putting off cleaning the toilet because the living room hasn't been vacuumed and so the place won't look perfect in the end anyway!

(Well, such major spot-changing by this leopard might take a little time...)

P.S. Luckily they said the use of some light humour is a useful learning tool on the course: if there are going to be a lot of slides like the one above on the day, I may have trouble keeping it together.

Jet ski and the City

It got all Miami Vice on the river down the end of my road the other day. I didn't expect to see jet skis in such a city-centre location. With the sun shining and a slight breeze coming off the water, it looked like hella fun, I have to say. Maybe this can be one of my next challenges. It seemed like a club or something, because there were at least five or six people zipping around.

Any lepidopterists out there?

I was walking by a furniture shop today and saw this little guy on the window. I wonder if he was attracted there because the chairs match his own colour scheme? Still, pretty tropical for the streets of Tokyo, eh?