Notes to Myself

Rush Hour

In all the time I've spent in Japan I've tried my best to avoid rush hour. Today, however, I couldn't help but get caught up in the rush at Shinjuku. Woah would be a good word.

I particularly enjoyed arrived on the Odakyu Line platform. Actually there were two platforms with people queueing up on either side. The queues were so long that you couldn't walk in a straight line down the middle and had to zig zag you way down the platform!

People were waiting for the second or even third trains displayed on the notice board. I too chose this sacrifice and took a slower train (express instead of rapid express!) but in fairness it wasn't too bad as I managed to get a seat. Good thing too, as I haven't mastered sleeping standing up like these Japanese folk have and I was out like a light.

Lost in Japan 2

Some of you will remember my lost adventure trying to find a shop in a Japanese city with the help of a stranger. Well, it's happened again!

I was trying to find my way to my friends' new house in Tokyo. It was drizzling after heavy rain on the day I arrived but I'd long since given up with my umbrella. With a case in tow I dragged myself up hills, past schools and parks until finally I had to admit to myself that I was lost. How can that be? I'm normally great with maps! Must have been the jet lag, ahem.

Anyway, I decided to make my way back to the main road to start again when I saw a lady leaving her house. I asked if she could help me and she came over, holding her umbrella. She thought she knew roughly were the place was. Her husband appeared out of nowhere and the three of us consulted my soggy map.

A third man came walking towards us. 'They must have friendly neighbours in this area,' I thought. Only he was with the man and his wife. Moments later another man and a woman appeared! The woman said, 'Oh, I thought we had a guest - but obviously not (spying my suitcase).'

So there were now six of us walking down tiny Tokyo roads trying to find my friends' house! Talk about embarrassing. The husband explained to me that his company was going out for drinks so they must have been colleagues. We found the right house after 5-10 minutes. I thanked them all and waved them a fond farewell.

If anybody in the Japanese government is listening, let's start naming all the roads in Japan!

Dull Tones

Though I'm sure it was in part due to the terrible weather, I was pretty horrified by Tokyo's ugly appearance as I sped towards Ueno on the Keisei SkyLiner. Tokyo's uncountable number of brown and cream buildings, cramped roads and oppressive overhead powerlines were more striking thatn in the past. Although full of life and entertainment, there are many parts of Tokyo which lack character and tend to look the same.

A more pleasant scene also caught my eye from the train. I saw a group of small school kids walking along the road. They were unaccompanied and were only 5 years old at the most. Only in Japan, eh.

Although in many senses Japan is like a second home for me, each time I return to Japan I see things more as an outsider. Of course, I was always an outsider. When you live somewhere you tend to adjust to what you see every day so that you don't really see it at all. But when you live somewhere else it makes it that much easier to compare.

Just the other day I was having a conversation with somebody about nationality. I claimed that it didn't really matter to me whether I was English or not. While this is not wholly true it isn't a total lie either. It's not that I have anything in particular against England but I don't always see myself as English. I put this slight lack of English identity down to being half-Chinese, half-Irish. I wonder how I'd feel if I my parents were both British?

Yahata San

I went to top up the pre-paid phone I'm using here at the SoftBank counter before leaving the airport. A guy named Yahata beamed at me but let his English speaking sempai take over when I started to speak English.

While the lady showed me how to top up the credit on my keitai Yahata-san kept talking in Japanese. 'You're so cool. Where are you from? Is everyone in London as cool as you? I tilted my head Japanese style as if to say I don't know about that/as if and the everybody laughed.

After topping up I left but quickly returned after receiving about 30 junk mails in a row. The designated English speaker was busy so Yahata-san came to help me. After finding the explanation in Japanese he insisted he find it in English even though I assured him I understood. As I left I said 'I'll remember you from my trip.' He held out his name plate, 'Yahata.' His colleague then followed with, 'But he's thinking of leaving soon.' 'That might be a good idea,' I jokingly, though seriously said. We all laughed and I walked off.

Why didn't I just speak in Japanese and save all the hassle?! Well, I know why. It's because I know there'll be at least one member of staff who speaks English and I can get shy in those situations. Next time I'll have to break out the J-lingo.

Tokyo Typhoon

Weather Warning

After leaving London's drab weather behind I was positive I'd be welcomed by a Japanese blue autumn sky. On the contrary, the rain was heavier in Japan. It was so grey that rough thud of turbulence in the clouds turned out to be the aircraft touching down.

'Blimey, they've got the heating turned up in the airport,' I thought. 'And why does it feel so humid?' After brushing off Customs with my fabulous Japanese ("I'm staying at a friends. Purpose? Travel") I headed outside to escape the heat. Unfortunately it was just as warm outside and felt even more sticky.

The humidity can be attributed to the typhoon that's sweeping over Tokyo but the temperature was 18 degrees C - T-shirt weather! Is that also down to the typhoon? London is so much colder that I'm in a state of shock. Breathing in this sticky hot air is seriously hard work - tennis should be fun if I get to play that is!

British Omiyage

With my trip to Japan just around the corner I've started buying some gifts for my Japanese friends. I've been back and forth between the UK and Japan quite a few times and often find myself carrying boxes and boxes of tea.

But there is only so much tea you can buy people. I'm getting bored of buying tea and the people I give to are probably bored of being given tea.

I don't really want to buy too many tacky souvenirs, either. Frankly, I'm running short of ideas.

Y-kun & M-chan, I'm sure you'll sleep well at night after seeing that I've got your favourite prawn cocktail crisps. =)

Orange Coke

Has anyone tried Orange Coke? I am intrugued as to how this drink tastes. Does the orange flavouring taste artificial?

About a year ago I gave up drinking Coke. I often felt like having a Coke and it wasn't until I'd stopped drinking it for about a month when these 'feelings' stopped. I think I was just addicted, plain and simple.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a health freak. My healthier lifestyle is more about avoiding junk food and fizzy drinks than about making sure that everything single thing I eat or drink is healthy.

On Fridays I normally treat myself to a few naughty treats starting with a 'greasy' breakfast over e-mails which is something of a tradition in my department. When I move jobs in November I won't escape - instead of greasy Friday breakfasts they have a greasy for lunch on Mondays!

Not Just Me

The day had worn me out as I travelled home on the Tube. Try as I might to study, I realised that I was just staring at the Japanese in my notebook. At first I resisted. I put my notebook away and got out a textbook. That proved just as bad so I took out my electronic dictionary to look at my saved word lists. No good.

Just 10 minutes from my destination I packed up everything and slouched against the pane of glass beside me. I must have fallen asleep within a few seconds which is very unlike me.

A few stops later I opened my eyes and saw Japanese again. I was puzzled as I looked down at the 'Minna no Nihongo' (Everyone's Japanese) textbook beside me. The English bloke next to me was was studying Japanese! What a bizarre situation. I'm glad I didn't have my books out at the same time.

Hangin' Tough

New Kids on the Block - Hanging Tough (Amazon.com). Talk about a blast from the past!

My parents were going through the old videos on the shelf in the living room and came across this 80s classic.

It's taken me many years to come to terms with the fact that I was a fan back in primary school. Yes, I admit it. It must have been the great lyrics and those dance moves ("do the New Kids dance...").

It really brought back memories seeing the Hanging Tough Video. I thought I could face throwing the video away but now I'm not so sure...

> Wikipedia - New Kids on the Block

Massager

A mail order catalogue was delivered to our house yesterday. I started to have a quick flick through the products, most of which seemed aimed at the older generation or people with health problems.

There were lots of health aids like joint supporters, back support braces, 'stomach bulge eliminators', waterproof pull-on pants and the like. Also, there were gadgets and novelty items. A couple of my favourites were the roll up jigsaw mat and the 'portable swivelling seat'.

When I came across the page pictured above, I was surprised by one product which seemed a little out of place. I give you the 'Melt Away Tension' massager. The description reads:

Help reduce pressure and stress in complete home privacy and comfort, with this versatile, 'soft touch', flexible personal massager. The soothing, speed adjustable vibrations penetrate deeply to melt away the tensions and frustrations of the day - bringing blissful relaxation and total contentment. Length 18cm (7") approx. Uses 2 x AA-type batteries (not supplied).

Student Life

Waking up yesterday at 2pm and today at midday I feel a little like I've returned to my student days. The only difference being that I am working on and off through the night.

In my department at work our on call night shifts are week long blocks where we don't have to go to the office during the day. When I hear of people working through the day and then being on call at night, I wonder just how they manage. But I'm sure the overtime pay would provide ample motivation.

You'd think I'd have more time to put in to studying Japanese with a week at home but for it hasn't worked out like that. My routine has gone out of the window and I find myself travelling almost for the sake of study. It's time to get my head down and cram those kanji!

Library Visit

For the first time in years I thought I'd see what it would be like to study in a library. Proud of my commitment to study, I wandered up to my local library only to find a heavy set of closed wooden doors.

Ok, so I was unfortunate to pick one of the days when the library closes at 5 o'clock but still, how irritating. Perhaps it was quite silly of me expecting it to be open at 6 in the evening, perhaps. Maybe I'll try tomorrow.

I didn't really mind though, it was another excuse to head off in search of coffee!

Night Shifts

S...o... T...i...r...e...d...

This week I'm on call working night shifts. I've had quite a few calls tonight and feel like death.

To Japan 2007

Did I mention that I'm off to Japan for a holiday at the end of the month? I can't wait! Plenty of all my favourite pastimes: seeing my friends, going to izakaya, playing tennis, a spot of photography and browsing the latest electronics and cameras!

I'm looking foward to some of my favourite Japanese(ish) foods. Tempura, katsu-don, yakitori, Japanese curry, yaki-niku (Korean?!) and let's not forget niku-man and pizza-man! Not all exactly traditional Japanese foods but that doesn't bother me.

This year I'm going before the JLPT and not after which is a bonus. No doubt the trip will provide a further incentive to study when I realise yet again how far my Japanese has to go. My goal is still unchanged: reaching native Japanese level, including the accent! A worthy goal, even if I do say so myself.

Chinese 5 Pence

Today I treated myself to a cheap lunch in one of China Town's restaurants. I can't remember the last time I sat down to eat alone in a restaurant - I always end up going to sandwich shops.

Anyway, I didn't notice at the time but I was cheated out of 5p. Yes, a whole 5p (not to mention the extra £1 for choosing choosing chicken instead of beef). In my change was the coin pictured above, an old style five pence.

I haven't seen one of these in years. The newer small type of five pence came out in 1990. Was it really that long ago?

Japanese Muscle

Is it the same day, the day after or second day after playing sport or doing excessive exercise when your body starts to give you pain? Why can it take so long for this aching feeling to affect us?

I'd always thought that fit people normally felt muscle aching the second day after pushing their bodies. I'm not sure where I got this information from or whether it's just some kind of myth.

On a number of occasions the Japanese people I play tennis with have said that as you get older the pain or muscle ache takes longer to set in. So which is the correct answer? Does each culture have a different idea about this or am I just wrong?

The Japanese have a word for this kind of muscle pain, 筋肉痛 ('kinniku-tsu'), literally, muscle pain. It feels so much easier to say than something like 'my muscles ache from...' though now that I type it out it doesn't seem quite so long winded.

I guess if you were very very fit you wouldn't get this kind of pain at all, though even the best athletes have to watch out for repetitive strain injuries.

Psychic

This evening I was sitting in a cafe poring over some kanji while listening to music. In front of me a man sat facing a woman and it seemed to be the guy doing most of the talking, giving the woman a lecture almost.

When I took out my earphones about an hour later, I could hear parts of their conversation. The guy was a 'psychic', giving some sort of reading. He was talking about people in the woman's past. I watched her nod when he made any comments which seemed to represent her memories. When he was way off she didn't move.

At one point he said, 'Did this person have something wrong with his chest?' 'Something wrong with his lungs?' The lady didn't nod or seem to respond. He promptly continued, 'Nevermind. So...' You have to wonder if these people aren't just extremely good at reading people and their reactions and nothing else.

Back Pain

I've had back pain for a while now. Bad back pain comes and goes, particularly after lugging around my heavy tennis bag or pushing myself too hard on the crunch machine at the gym. In general though, it's gradually getting worse.

A couple of years back when I was in Japan I never suffered from back pain and always wondered what people were moaning about. Some time after returning to London though, I noticed a strange sensation in my back.

When learning to drive I found the seat uncomfortable and after driving for about half an hour my back would be in quite a bit of pain. In the end I had to bring a towel with me each time to roll up and support my lower back. I thought the seat was designed for much taller folk but perhaps my spine just isn't quite right.

On the way to work and back each day I can't get comfortable when sitting down, no matter what posture I try. Even if I shove myself right into the back of the seat to support my lower back I feel a feeling of discomfort growing. Not really pain but discomfort. This cannot be a good sign. Even when I sleep on my back I've noticed that I wake up with a sore back.

I tend to blame sitting down all day at work on an uncomfortable seat. I've tried everything to sit properly at at my desk though. I have a foot support, got my desk lowered, have a wrist rest and even use my mouse left handed to protect my tennis arm and shoulder.

At lunchtime today at the gym I thought I'd use the opportunity to stretch out and relax my back on a Swiss ball while doing some crunches. Tonight I realise this was a big mistake!

Or was it the running machine? Can running hurt your back? I always wonder when jogging whether to maintain an upright position or whether this is damaging. Anyone know about this?

Today I was reading how scientific studies show that acupuncture is one of the best methods for the treatment of back pain. It so happens that one of my tennis friends does acupuncture, so I might give it a shot. It's not cheap though.

Umbrella Vendor

I thought I'd seen every type of vending machine possible in Japan but this one is in London, next to Trocadero.

An umbrella vending machine. Genius!

Brick Wall

It's like talking to a brick wall.