A resoution wrecking-ball of a day...

I really struggled with my resolutions today. All these small but annoying issues at work that I thought had been put to bed came back to pester me. Luckily the nightmare words 'stock' and 'option' did not rear their ugly heads or I would have gone postal. Nonetheless, I managed to be a moaning bundle of negativity all day.

Then, because I had to deal with all these boomerang problems, I was forced to work late and miss out on this event that I had been planning to go. So that put socializing well and truly by the wayside.

I was so fed up by the time I got home. But strangely that made made me all the more determined to keep at least one of my new year's promises and do something to stay healthy. Even though it was kinda late, I forced myself out in the cold (it's been down to minus four some nights recently) and headed down to the river to jog off some of the stresses of the day.

And do you know what, it actually worked. The air was so crisp and clear and the skyscrapers just kind of popped out against the moonlit sky. It was really nice. I wish I'd had my camera - unfortunately the crap-o-cam on my phone just showed some dark blur. Point is, I came back home feeling like a new person and I'm ready for whatever tomorrow throws at me.

I thought I might have an old photo that would show you much the same view, but I don't. However, looking through the memory card reminded me of a couple of pics I've been wanting to show you.

What do you think of this installation outside a very prestigious central office building that is home to some pretty big and powerful corporations?




I hate it with a passion and can't help but feel the artist is laughing all the way to the bank, disbelieving of the fact that they got away with it. I guess I grudgingly have to say it's good art, though, because it sure provokes a reaction in me. Is the artist trying to say that no matter how evolved and civilized workers like myself think we are, we are still just animals sniffing each others' pheromones slash butts? I dunno.

Anyway,there is a tenuous link between these photos and the other ones I wanted to show you. To get to the office building above, you pass the 'Nakagin' building below.






This is an iconic building by Kurokawa Kisho from the 70s and was designed as 'capsule' living for the modern young salary man about town. I heard a rumour the other day that they're going to tear it down. I'll admit it's looking a bit rough around the edges, but I think demolishing it would be a shame. Useless fact about the building I saw on a TV show ages ago: it's actually the cheapest residential accommodation in the very pricey Ginza district. It'd be a good place to live if you're not that worried about asbestos or getting squished in the next big shaker. Anyway - I love the design and I hope any new tower that comes in its place tries to emulate its spirit.

Alright, I'm just waffling now. It's probably all the pheromones I sniffed today. Time for bed.

A little gif to make my folks laugh.

I cannot watch this penguin running off without cracking up.


see more Gifs

Vaguely resolving

I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about (and sometimes writing about) how my life is so terrible and such a disappointment.

But today, running down by the river, I was struck by how lucky I was to be alive and how much good stuff there was around me: the sky was clear and blue; the sun was shining on the fluttering susuki; old folks were fishing; people were out on the shimmering water in their speed boats and kayaks; children were literally skipping; there were even some pre-teens knocking tennis balls against a wall (which was probably one of my own happiest pastimes a kid - I was unabomber-level loner even back then).

And I just thought, well here I am getting a bit of fresh air, enjoying some exercise and having a chance to soak in all these happy vibes around me. Life's not that bad when you look at it. Maybe it is down to having had a bit of time off. No doubt it's a lot to do with another relative passing. But I really just want to be positive about 2011 and 'live' rather than just 'exist', as I feel I have been doing for the last few years.

Last year I made the mistake of writing down my new year's resolutions. I looked back at them the other day and realized that I didn't bring a single one to completion. I made a few inroads but clearly set the bar way too high and paved the way to failure and feeling down about myself. So this year I'm keeping it simple.

1. Be positive more often than negative. I think it's important to allow yourself to experience every emotion occasionally - even the bad ones - but I tend to let the scales tip too far over to the dark side.

2. Be healthier. I generally lead a pretty healthy lifestyle, but prioritizing work over health is an error from 2010 that I do not want to repeat in 2011.

3. Be less of a loner. I really enjoy my own company - I always have (see loner tennis games above). I live a lot in my head and feel very comfortable there. However, I fear I'm slipping from 'introvert' to 'asocial'. I don't want to see my relations with people as a burden or to be incapable of putting other people's needs before my own. Like in the two resolutions above, I just want to redraw the balance before it's too late.

Finally, I want to have some fun. 2010 was a dull year for me. I didn't laugh enough. So I'm going to try and join this little ninja in a project where you do one new fun or beneficial activity every month. The reason her plan really spoke to me is that she said the each month should involve "nothing insane, nothing dramatic, just activities that will make 2011 pass in less of a haze than 2010". Hallelujah! I haven't planned January's one yet, but I'm open to suggestions.

Festive foliage

So I'm stuck in Japan for the festive season...

I really did think I was going to get home to Ireland, and it was looking all systems go there for quite a while, and then work intervened. But as it turns out, I'm probably getting a lot more soul-replenishing rest here than if I had been stuck on some airport floor for the holidays (which would have been a distinct possibility with the snow-tastic weather going down in Europe at the moment).

But as I was saying to my friend on the phone yesterday, I am trying to be all about the positives. One thing this forced stay in Japan has afforded me is freedom from jet lag. My recovery time from a trip back home is usually about two weeks!

And I'm saving a tonne of money because it's really expensive to travel during the holiday season. I'm hoping to make it home now at some off-peak time for a fraction of the price.

Moreover, being in Tokyo at this time of year has given me the chance to see the lovely Kadomatsu (門 松 - Japanese New Year decorations put up at the entrances to buildings to welcome ancestral spirits back to their homes) up and about around town.


On December 25, all the Christmassy stuff comes down, and these things get put up, and on balance, it's not a bad trade off.

While on a horticultural theme, I wanted to show you my poinsettia, Poncy.




This guy came to live with me over three weeks ago. I thought it was going to be another case of my infamous fingers of death, as he really struggled for the first few days. But now that I look at the time delay (a photo each weekend) apart from a loss of bulk, he really is not doing that badly.

Plants are so bloody expensive in Japan that I fully intended this poinsettia to see me through to Christmas 2011. Happily, that may no longer be such a far-fetched aspiration.

What did we ever do without the youtubes?

I have had a song stuck in my head for days. It's one of those songs that reminds me of those happy (and what I know now to be relatively carefree) college days when I was still barely 20. It was driving me mad because I could remember all the words (the song has one line repeated A LOT) and all about the video (people faffing around the desert in animal body paint) but I could not for the life of me remember the name of the song or who sang it.

So I just typed that one line into youtube and up popped the video. I cannot tell you the relief. So many memories came flooding back. I am putting it up here in case I get a fit of the seniles again a few days from now and can't remember it. Did anyone else bop around to Dario G, "Sunchyme" when they were in school?



My search around for random 90s dance hits did lead me to a bit of a dark place, though. So I came across another great song and what was the first comment? "Oh I love this song - I love listening to all my Mam's old clubbing music. I'm 18 now and rifle through her wardrobe for her old clubbing gear."

Old music? Mam? Eighteen? I mean how freaking old am I? It was harsh reality time and I sure wanted to punch that little youtube commenter in the face for forcing me to see it.

A spot of hot water (or two?)

I attended the Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner tonight. Avid readers will remember that I won a kettle at last year's event. And a very nice kettle it is, too!

Well, guess what I came home with this year... the exact same prize! Same colour and everything.

Now, while my new residence is palatial, I'm not sure I can justify having a separate water boiling device in both the north wing and the south wing. What to do? What to do?

Having my envelope pushed.

Three years ago, I spent most of my time shut away in a library or computer lab and I was happy. But I could feel myself slipping down the scale from loner to complete recluse. Then I got this job in HR and now everything I do these days is social. Most people that know me well couldn't believe that I'd be doing a job where all I do all day is deal with other people and their problems. To be honest, I couldn't really believe it myself.

Now two years later, the job continues to push me well outside my comfort zone. There have been many times over the last few weeks when I would gladly have locked myself away again in that library! But I guess it's good for me to force myself out of my shell and do things I normally wouldn't dream of doing. Let me give you a rundown of some of the envelope-pushing tasks that have been thrown at me over the last two weeks:

The 'comedy' presentation
Our company was asked to participate in a recruitment event at a very prestigious university here in Tokyo. The other presenters were the real big hitters - the international management consultants,the super banks, the big trading companies and the like. So, a relatively small company like ours had to do something a bit different to stand out from the twenty or so other quite stuffy presenters. To give you some background, the company I work for is originally from Osaka, Japan's second city; famed for its food, the business acumen of its people and its comedy duos! Another bit of info. - one of the well-known comedy duos over here is 'Pakkun and Makkun' made up of an American guy and a Japanese guy. Also, please bear in mind that I work for a medical company. So taking all this into account, my company's presentation became me and my boss (Pakkun and Akkun), acting out a doctor-patient skit in an effort to explain exactly what it is our company does. All this with my boss dressed up as a nutty-professor-style doctor - white coat, comedy wig, the lot - and me acting out the role of patient. Honestly, this type of thing is my idea of hell and, in normal circumstances, I would rather die than have to go through such public humiliation. But I was only told a couple of hours beforehand that I'd even be going to the event, never mind acting the mickey on stage, so I didn't really have time to get all that fussed about it. And in the end it was all worth it because we managed to snag a great MBA who I think we will hire this month, and we're now looking into the possibility of running a internship program, which wasn't even on the cards before that night.

The magazine interview
This was another task that came out of left field. So I get told one morning that a recruitment magazine used by students over here was coming to do a spread on our group - interviewer, professional photographer, the whole works. The interview was fine. It was one of those cases where I could mostly imagine beforehand what they were going to ask me, so I had some answers half ready in my head. But the worst part was by far the photos. They were never-ending. And it was all this supposedly 'natural' stuff - the group having a meeting, the group looking out a window, the group walking through the corridor. And all the time, the photographer kept saying, 'Just forget I'm here!' Yeah right, some chance! In the end, my boss and colleagues came out looking really well, and the ensemble photos weren't bad either. The natural shot of me on my own? Imagine Mister Bean doing an impression of a seal clapping and you get some idea of the horror. So...not...fair.

The press release
So this was the real biggie of the last few weeks. My company has just signed an agreement to acquire a company in the US. This is a substantial acquisition for us and will have a big impact on our company culture. I was asked to help out with the project (in a very small way) there a while back, and I couldn't say anything to anyone about it, not even to my colleagues. It was all very hush hush. I was responsible for the English-language press release and it was a very long and stressful day getting that thing ready to be sent out. I lost count of the times they changed what they wanted to say, and of course, they were telling me all the details in Japanese so I was terrified I would mistranslate some vital statistic. It all got done in the end though, even if I did look like I'd been dragged through a bush backwards by about 10pm. So much so that I had random colleagues coming up and asking me if I was okay. Looking back on it, it was pretty exciting, I have to say. But now the real work starts as we (again with just tiny involvement from me) basically have to set up a whole new company from scratch by December 31. I am shaving off all my hair today so that when the next big stress comes I will look less like I stuck my finger in a power outlet.

Anyway, the above are some of the reasons why posts have been thin on the ground of late. I'll try to do better.