collage post

It was great to have Kollin here. In my time in Asia I've only had 2 people come visit and Kollin is the closest of those. I'm sure the initial experience of meeting was slightly less surreal for me than him. I'm more than accustomed to the flashing lights, ubiquitous video adverts hanging overhead and text that I can't read, aside from looking the slightest bit more weary (he did just get off a god knows how long flight) the absence of time seemed eliminated and I felt just like back in austin, albeit a slightly larger locale.

A week ago we were privileged to go see some local bands play. I met Bo a couple months ago and I finally got the chance to see his band play after a little mistake I made sent me to the right club on the wrong day, exactly one month on the wrong day. But we got to see his band, Worst Taste and were introduced to some others including Salad Bar a very fun, noisy band that sported hawaiian shirts, flip flops and dance routines between songs. Great fun. We went out to an izakaya (late night restaurant) with Kollin, Keiko and half the club before missing the last train home and debating whether to sleep in a park or fork over for a taxi. I'm really glad Kollin got to have that experience, I'm pretty damn happy about it for myself as well. I'm hoping to be able to spend more time with those kids we met that night. I feel much less intimidated trying out my modicum of Japanese when they are fumbling for the same in English.

Finally on Tuesday, the last day and night, we bounced around to different areas and I got to throw Kollin atop of a bike at dusk to go retrieve the camera he left behind the night of the bands. Everything happened so quickly that time blurred and after a nice dinner with Keiko we were parting at the train station and he was gone. It's been great though, it's a bit jarring when those reminders of home leave once again, I go back to the shoebox apartment and the days of talking to hardly anyone until Keiko comes home at night, but so it goes. With Kollin I actually got to check out some parts of my city that I hadn't experienced before. I guess having a friend visiting inspires me to get off the beaten track of my everyday life and invigorates me a bit.

It seems to always takes me a tad bit of time to open up when I talk to other foreigners and especially people I know. Living this life, where I often don't express myself like I used to, makes me live in my head perhaps even more, at least it impedes the brain to mouth flow of words with thoughts and ideas briefly getting tied up behind my nose before a couple of hours or meetings clear up the traffic jam of culture, absence and time.

Keiko and I are going strong, surprising even myself. We spend every night together and often don't go out but that seems to be fine. Occasionally I crave the energy of a busy room or bar but usually by the time I make it to the station that has been quenched. Yesterday was a perfect example, I was going to go into Shinjuku, one of the busiest sections of town that also has one of the best bookstores, but after I swerved my bike between the crowds of the street near my local station and hopped up to the tracks, I let the train doors close in front of me while I stood on the platform. Keiko was sick, I felt bad leaving her at home even if it was for a few hours, the bookstore and the area's swarms of people could wait. I loaded my bag up with junk food, udong and other things I thought she might like and biked back home after picking up a movie I thought would distract her from her cold. Maybe I'm becoming agoraphobic, maybe it's just the shear size of the city, I'm not sure. Later in the evening when Keiko found herself falling asleep, I sneaked out to a local cafe and did some writing for a couple hours, that was really what I needed, a few people around me providing a japanese hum behind my headphones and some time to just put some thoughts down on paper, or, actually postcards in this case.

Quote of the day

ME: I love this song title: Handjobs for the Holidays (Broken Social Scene)
K: You mean like a carpenter?

20 Km in the rain

newpix HERE



Sunday left us with no call from Kollin till late in the evening, we were already eating near our house so not too many tales to tell about day 2 of his visit. He wandered around with friends from the Hotel/Guesthouse and explored a bit on his own. I took to trying to explain the genius and beauty of "In the Mood For Love" to a sleepy girlfriend after a 2 hours dinner. Monday because of work left me with little free time, so onwards to Tuesday.

Kollin woke me at 9:30 in the morning, I eventually met him back in Shibuya at 11 only about 20 minutes late. We had no set plan for the day, it was still drizzling so we started by walking through the slightly less busy than usual streets of Shibuya. After lunching once again at the sushi spot from the previous Saturday night, we made our way towards the Beverly Hills (or one of them) of Tokyo in Omote Sando to see the Prada building and the area in general which seems to have one of the highest concentration of high end stores and nice architecture. Onwards from there to a mid day hello to Keiko and then towards the winding backstreets behind Harajuku. Honestly, we probably didn't cover that much territory but rambled to and fro so much that we found ourselves walking for at least 7 hours yesterday. I actually had not been over to some of the spots we found and was shocked when I encountered a See's Candy Store which I don't think even exist in the States anymore. I bought four pieces and then tried to hide my aghast expression when it totaled over 10 bucks. So it goes. We found a great cafe we could rest our feet and wait out the last remnants of the rain over a couple great coffees watching the wide assortment of Tokyo's best dressed and strangely dressed pass by. We caught up further on life back home and how is business is doing, which is really well I'm happy to hear.

Later in the evening we met up with Keiko to go find some food eventually landing in AC Cafe near Harajuku after passing by a Condomania store (is this a world chain or it is just the most obvious choice in names?). Needless to say, after eating the tasty yet fusion-esque food and downing a couple of drinks, the two of us were exhausted and ready to call it a night. Today, if everything went well Kollin should be on a train to Kyoto and be returning on Saturday. As for me, I'll try to slow down the monetary leakage of the last few days and focus on work. Sunday is another day off to look forward to.

Kollin-san meets Jazzy Jeff first night in Tokyo

Ahh, what a week, I'm hardly sure where to begin since it's been a bit since my last entry.

The weather of late has been nothing but grey skies and days of continuous light rain but luckily the skies parted in the form of a friend coming to visit and bearing gifts. Kollin arrived safely into Tokyo this past Saturday surprisingly well rested which is good since on his first night in town we kept him out the entire night. Thanks to Lito and Guido for providing me with coffee and music. As I write this I am taking full advantage of the both. Now, if we could just get their asses out here as well but alas, I know Senor L is busy with too many projects and Mr. G, well, he'd probably have to find a job first...

Met Kollin near the famous Hachiko statue outside of Shibuya station. He had a native KC-ite in tow who helped guide him a bit looking excited and surprisingly refreshed even though the rain was coming down in sheets. The streets were shining a welcoming leading a nice night. Even though it's been a year and half and the environment probably could not have changed more, life slipped right into place. We headed over a bar for a beer and some long needed catching up. Over a couple pints I got filled in on some of the details of his life and others close to me from that city that seems so far off, and in actuality, is. Since I had worked all day and the weather lately seems to be creating some allergies, I wasn't planning on a late night. We took off for a late dinner at a great rotating sushi bar in Shibuya a friend had turned me onto a few weeks back. Everything is one price pre plate, around a buck actually. You have to order a minimum of 7 plates per person and during peak hours have time limits on how long you can stay, needless to say no one had any problem meeting the quota and our bill for three was only around 30$. Can't beat that.

Our Kansas compadre had left a bit earlier to go see DJ Jazzy Jeff who was playing that night, we were feeling good and unsure about dropping the cash and the time for an all night venture. We walked over and decided against it and rushed back to the station to realize that Kollin had missed the last train to the area he was staying at. For some reason it ends a little earlier on Saturdays which makes absolutely no sense to me. Well, with this and the fact that a taxi ride is completely unrealistic, back to the club not knowing what to expect.

After a brief pit stop for a small bottle of whiskey to lighten the expenses for the long night, we inched into the line we had see a bit earlier to go into the nondescript and completely signless club "Nut". As the case is with a lot of clubs in Japan, this one sunk would would be 3 stories into the ground. I guess this helps with sound control but it doesn't do much for promotion of the place on the outside, there was nothing except for office buildings and a couple of convenience stores down the block. Now, I've brought my own drinks into many a bar and club and in Tokyo especially I had experienced no searching or any cause for concern but as we descended the stairs there were some Aussies stirring up trouble doing the same thing. All I can say, is thank goodness for briefs as opposed to boxers, mission accomplished. Down the rabbit hole we go, further.

There are really 2 floors to the place, upstairs a dimly lit bar and a DJ spinning more mellow dance and hip hop. The 3500 Yen ticket gets you a drink ticket which I use as much for the ice later on as I do for the gin and tonic it originally contained. We meet up with the guy from Kansas and decide to check out the main floor below. Jazzy Jeff isn't scheduled to come in until about 2:30 and there were a handful of other locals warming up the crowd. This is my first time to go to a dancing environment in Japan and I had been warned that unlike Korea, the Japanese were a little nervous about letting it all hang out. This proved partly true. This isn't a huge place, maybe around 500 people total but it was packed considering the size, about the size of the Emo's small stage back in Austin, maybe a tad larger. It was a mixture, unlike in Korea where there probably would have been break circles going on, here it was largely people dancing relatively in place facing the dj booth on the stage. A screen behind the dj projected the turntables that were being filmed from somewhere above. A nice setup overall and in typical Japanese efficiency (the Germans probably love Japan) in addition to a second bar down below there was a vending machine for beer in the rear next to the exceptionally clean bathrooms. For a club like this, there is something peculiarly incongruous about this, but then I'm used to slacker Austin I suppose.

Jazzy Jeff was actually great, I mean I have those juvenile memories of him and the now "Will Smith" doing summertime back when I was in high school and I knew he had gone on to be a well regarded dj and producer but I was impressed. The set went back to high school days but lacked entirely any Fresh Prince material, I can't say I missed that. In fact, although I'm not an expert, his mixing was great and with the video you could really see how much he was really working the process and giving the people their money's worth. There wasn't any of the talking over the tracks or much communication with the audience at all other than through the music. By three I was sweating and dancing with Keiko trying to maneuver our position so that she could see a little better while Kollin was getting free shots by these two insanely tall Japanese women. With the shortening days we left the club a little after 5, made our way back to the station and found ourselves walking down Kohumbutsu street around 5:30 with dawn only beginning to peak it's head up and slamming down the storm shutters so that we could sleep in peace which we did until about 3 that afternoon. Not something I want to do every weekend but it effectively wiped out my allergies and gave me a release that I have needed for a while. A good night, with good friends, old and new.

Big Cities, Pastor, AMANSET and Her Space Holiday

Skip to more pictures HERE

Small bottle of whisky that conveniently fits in a bag that is never checked at the door: 500 yen.
Cost of the show (advance price) + required drink ticket = 4000 yen.

So, to translate that into US money, before I've gotten my first drink or heard the first note I've dropped a little over 40 bucks and it's only 7 o'clock at night, only 2 bands playing, but they be 2 bands from Austin and the entire night ended up well worth my while.


American Analog Set and Her Space Holiday played last night here in Tokyo, I found out it was the first time in Japan for AMANSET which I was surprised by and hence the show sold out. Luckily I didn't repeat the mistake of waiting to get my ticket and even though my other friends couldn't make it I had a lovely night of dancing and seeing familiar faces. Amanset had some technical difficulties with their rented Rhodes but ultimately the sound was rich, clean and LOUD. Kenny kicked a couple songs up a notch giving them a good punch with the distortion peddle. They mixed some old songs with newer ones and if memory serves correctly there was even a track from their first CD "From our Bedroom to Yours" (I think).

It became obvious that quite a few had come for Her Space Holiday who headlined and I don't think anyone left disappointed. After seeing them a couple times post-Kylie Mark and co. solidified my opinion that their live shows outshine their CD's. I haven't heard the new one but while the last one had some nice tracks the energy of the live shows never quite crosses over to the recordings. They opened with "My ex-girlfriend's boyfriend" but actually toned down the Weezer-esque chorus and instead revved up the rest of the song with strong drums and heavy bass. It's hard to get Japanese audiences but there were some bodies other than mine jumping around to the music. The rest of the show featured some new songs and past and everything was beefed up by the mixture of electronic and live drums. Good show, the people left hot, sweaty, tired and in great spirits, exactly how it should be.

After getting a chance to talk and finally meet Mark, the drummer from AMANSET I hung out for a while reminiscing about Austin and life there. For a moment I felt a million miles closer to my old home. Leaving the club I was faced once again with the anonymity monster that is Tokyo, to walk the street half drunken swerving between people worse off than myself, staring at my feet as I faced the crowded train ride home awash in my thoughts and feeling more alone than I have in ages. Maybe it just takes growing up in a city like this to be accustomed to it, but I don't really know if people were meant to live like this, and THIS is the future, at least for a lot of the world. I read about the megatropolises sprouting up throughout China, creating cozy communities of several million over a couple years and I wonder if we're all headed in the right direction if it means living amongst more and more strangers in apartments the size of suburban closets. I'm not at all ready to leave, but I am anxious to see the green spaces of Austin and ride my bike once again and wave at familiar faces which after 5 months are still all but absent here. I'm planning on staying here for at least another year, but I have been thinking that if I find Japan in my future again, or any of several other countries that I'm going to pick a smaller place. I've heard you can bike across Kyoto and meet people with ease because you'll see them several times a week. All a bit like back home and that is something I miss.

Pastor from ATX/NYC was here for a couple weeks and said that it's hard to even compare this place to NY, that it sucks in and consumes that entire city and multiplies, then lays it down in sheets of concrete (my words, not his). Tokyo is a beast unique to itself and perhaps I've simply not found the correct way of navigating through it, time will tell and language is a bit part of the key. In the meantime I'll be waiting for a familiar face to return a smile or wave of the hand as I bike the familiar path to work. Hajimemashite.