Carnival Honeymoon

I didn’t really know what carnival was, I just wanted to go to Venice for my honeymoon with Yumichan and I thought I’d time it to coincide with a festival. Now I know what carnival is. Carnival is incredible. 

The narrow streets of Venice were full, at times even Piazza San Marco was full, of people with cameras and people in costume. Every second window passed revealed a universe of masks, some elaborate, some simple and all sinister, hinting at the goings on in which we were invited to partake when we donned our garb and attended the Afternoon of Saint Valentine – Homage of all Lovers. We would be attending a ball in a candle-lit palace after enjoying the Hot Chocolate in Costume event at the Gran Caffe Lavena, one of the Renaissance era caffes guarding the edge of San Marco.

We stayed in a rooftop apartment across the grand canal from San Marco. 80 steps from the ground to the door, each counted because each had to be climbed after a long day of wondering, deliberately lost, in Venice’s maze. The atmosphere was the most festive I have ever seen, and it is no difficult comparison. As we walked by, children and adults would shower confetti on us and in every direction masks were worn and those with the most admirable costumes would pose and be captured by the thousands of cameras.

When the time came, we retrieved our own costumes, selected by an excited pair of elderly venetian ladies from a room that looked like the backstage of Moulin Rouge, and returned to our apartment to change identities. Now, we were nameless. Making our way to San Marco, through the ever thickening crowd, stopping for photographs requested by the tourist sea, with myself repeatedly stepping on Yumi’s pink train which flowed behind her. When we eventually arrived at the caffe, we were treated to belly dancing while we drank our hot chocolate and ate our sweets. Surreal, all attendees wore costume and mask and as tourists gathered at the windows, peering in, two large, bright red, masked creatures guarded the door and refused them entry.

The ball was already in progress, so we made our way through the masses to the water’s edge. Yumi’s pink dress attracting little girls asked for photos with us, but really wanted to be her. The crowds parted for us somewhat as we were a part of the scenery, strolling slowly (I was wearing high heeled shoes) across the huge square, fascinated by the sight of a decadent past revived.

A water taxi later, and we stepped onto the small pier that formed the water entrance to the palace. Fashionably late, we deposited our coats and entered the main room of the palace. I had no clear vision of what to expect. I supposed some dancing, from which Yumi and I abstain, but that was happily not to be. The main room has filled with lines of seated, masked revellers and at the head of the room, a string quartet played. As we joined the audience, and the music ended, the quartet was replaced by a woman singing, accompanied by piano. Between performances, we retired to another room for drinks and hors’ devours, chatting with the other people who had become Venetians for the night.

After our time in Venice, we travelled to Rome to see the old world. Staying in a hotel by the mouth of St. Peters arms, we walked miles each day, taking in the columns upon columns, wandering through the Colosseum and hunting for good Italian food. Rome is certainly impressive, for scale alone, if nothing else. The Vatican is a fine statement about wealth and power, comically housing people who claim to be self-sacrificing and charitable. For me, its most interesting treasure is the hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel, walled with maps of the old world, revealing a multitude of tiny villages covering the landscape rather than our post-industrial revolution mega cities. It rivals, but does not beat the map room within the Doge’s Palace in Venice. I’m not entirely sure why, but I love old maps and globes where large sections are left blank for lack of exploration and sea monsters and drawn in it’s place.

Rome, for all its splendour, left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth due to our robbery. Some pickpockets attempted to lift the contents of our bags, and while I realised in time to stop them from emptying mine, they managed to steal a packet of film for Yumi’s polariod camera. While the item stolen was immaterial and certainly useless for them (which made us feel happy), I find the presence of crime, at least low-level crime that effects me, intolerable after living in Tokyo. Rather than dwelling on the negative, though, when I remember that event, it reminds me how much I love Japan and it’s largely homogeneous population of considerate people.

Now, we are wondering where our next trip will take us. Australia? I think it should be, but the question is where to stop on the way. Bali? Malaysia? I leave it in Yumi’s hands.

Roller Coaster Daisukiyo

I’ve finally gained access to a scanner, so I can post these scanned photos from a few roller coasters I’ve been on. Danielle will be happy.

 

 

If you look closely at this last one, you can actually see folds of skin around the edge of our faces where the skin was being driven back by the sheer insanity of the ride.

That which Makes Tokyo Tokyo

I found something I thought I had lost forever – the Tokyo Damage Report Travel Guide.

This guide has directions to and descriptions of many, many things that can only be found in Tokyo. I have no idea how some of these places were found initially, as they are invariably situated in basements or deep in large buildings without any signage. So, many thanks to the author, Shultz, pictured right.

Our first destination after finding the guide was our local Ikebukuro. Actually, we didn’t take any photos of the stuff from the guide mainly because the guide led us to an erotic manga area for girls and to a bit of bizarre, gothic architecture. We did find something that I found strange, though. Yumi told me that ‘cat cafes’ had become really popular and there were increasing numbers of them materializing in Ikebukuro, so we dropped in to see what they were all about. Basically, they are a spacious room filled with the kind of stuff a cat would buy if it had a bit of extra cash – lots of things they can sleep on – and about 10 cats. There’s also a coffee machine, couches and a TV with DVD player and a Wii for the humans. The idea is that you have one hour to enjoy some coffee and hang out with the cats, feed them some biscuits… all the things you want to do but can’t because your not allowed to have pets in your small Japanese apartment. On an unrelated note, I have to include this photo I took of the window of an English school. Yumi assures me that ‘Sirius’ is the teacher’s name and not the adjective, but I don’t care, it makes me laugh.

The following weekend, we again consulted the guide and headed to Nakano. Aside from the multitude of retro toy shops, there were two special treats on this trip. First, the ‘tetsudo wasuremono ichi’ which translates to the ‘Railway Forgotten Things Market’. They only sell stuff that has been left on the trains in Tokyo. With no intention of buying anything, we dug through their collection for our amusement. Yumi managed to find three identical bags all forgotten on the trains. The other find was the beetle shop. I loved the way with each row I looked at, the beetles became bigger and bigger. I don’t know who’s buying these things, but it can’t be easy getting them over here. If anyone is interested, it’s about 3,000 yen for a beetle the size of your fist. They’d make a great surprise christmas present.

In order to fill the rest of this space, I think I’ll add a quick plug for Lyndon LaRouche. Like him or loathe him, his webcasts are really interesting if not entertaining. He’s the only person I have heard so far with an actual plan to deal with today’s economic bonfire.

Revelation, Migration and Evolution

This blog is long overdue. Not only have events taken place, but thoughts have occurred to me. Thoughts provoked by an incredibly interesting book, in my opinion. Tragedy and Hope – a history of Western Civilization, from birth right up until the present day. I am still in the process of reading it, but I’ve been fascinated by the development of the financial system. I never imagined, when I first became interested in financial matters not ten months ago, what an outrageous and thinly veiled supervillain type creature it is, nor could I possibly have guessed how deep the rabbit hole goes. Unfortunately, the more you understand the present financial system, the less comfort you receive. Having said that, it is entertaining, at least for me. I can’t really explain the content without reproducing the book here, and, although it could be achieved with a cut and paste, I think that would make the blog a little unreadable.

In terms of local events, Yumi and I have migrated to Higashi Nagasaki in Toshima-ku. Mainly for it’s proximity to Yumi’s work and the comparatively spacious apartment. As much as I will miss Higashijujo, I will not miss the long walk to train station, repeated ad nauseam. Now, I live less than 5 minutes away. I also like our new kotatsu – for those who are kotatsu ignorant, a kotatsu is a low table with a heavy blanket around it’s sides and a heater underneath and allows Japanese people to survive winter. I took a few happy snaps last time Yumi and I went to one of the highly acclaimed ramen shops in the neighbourhood. These supermarket-style kids’ rides look like they are older than most of the shrines I have taken pictures of, so I figure they deserve some awe and respect too.

Speaking of rides, I did a brown trousers tour of Fuji Q Roller Coaster Park when my mate Damian dropped into town a few weeks ago. We climbed to the peak of the 79 meter high ‘Fujiyama’, went from 0 – 106.9 mph in 1.8 seconds on the seductive ‘DoDonpa’ and then completely blew our minds on the ‘Eejanaika’ roller coaster. I must say that I believe this last one to be the most exhilarating experience I have ever had. I felt like I had been grabbed by a furious steel giant and was being waved around in a mad, primitive rage. I recommend it to anyone with the opportunity to go. This picture here doesn’t do it justice, because you can’t take a picture of G-force induced terror even with all our precious science.

In terms personal growth, I have evolved into a housewife. I continue to work from home while Yumi does the hard yards at an office in Ikebukuro, so I now cook dinner every weeknight and I actually have a few dishes I think I am good at. Spaghetti, curry and katsudon, the latter being my personal favourite. I even found myself nagging Yumi to pick her clothes up off the floor and had to wind back my evolution a little. I still need to learn to cook more meals though. beyond my listed specialities, everything else is basically rice, veges and meat and a slightly different form. I don’t really have a picture to put next to this paragraph, so here is a picture from my recently started collection of Japanese vending machines. This one is an umbrella vending machine located on the platform at Warabi train station.

Also, I can see Mt.Fuji from the roof of our apartment building, check it out. I could take some great photos if it ever erupts. Until then, I’ll continue building the vending machine collection if and when the opportunities arise.

 

 

 

Tokyo ni kaerimashita

I’m finally back in Tokyo. My three month working visit to Australia became an eight month odyssey in the tropics. Now, I’m eating ramen and regretting my complete lapse in Japanese language study.

After Yumi returned to Japan in July, I headed to the bush to commission the software I had been writing for the copper mine. It was interesting country – much more fertile and feature-rich than the country I am used to in the western goldfields, but when it comes to the actually mine sites, differences are minimal. Probably the most noticeable difference on this site was the sulphuric acid in the air – I’m not sure if it cleans the lungs or melts them away, but it made me gag every day despite assurances that I would get used to it. And then of course there were the truly immense dams all around the plant, designed to catch the water from a 1 in 100 year rain event, that lay bone dry. After spending so many months in an office, I found being in the field invigorating. Days fly by when you have things to do, and my work is pretty interesting for me, thankfully.

Once all the wheels and cogs were turning, I flew to Perth and went up to Geraldton to visit Dad, Jacqui, Ruby, Anouska and Fred. Dad and Jacqui were looking after Ruby for the weekend, so I had an awesome excuse to use a swing in the park. Everyone is happy and healthy, except for Frederick. He’s happy, but needs a hand every time he stands up these days. He sent me this picture of himself down on the beach a few weeks after I’d left. I still don’t know how he managed to take the photo.

After Geraldton, I visited my mum in Perth and had a very full week catching up with everyone I could in the time I had. Alas, I can never see everyone, but I did get a chance to meet up with a fair few, including one of my oldest friends that I hadn’t seen in years, Glen. Glen and I share the same birthday and first met in crèche – that’s before kindergarten. It’s quite rare to have mates that go back beyond kindergarten, so I consider myself lucky there.

Now, as the title says, I’ve come back to Tokyo and Yumi and I are trying to find a new apartment. We have applied for one already that would be great if we get it – it’s much larger, it’s close to Yumi’s work and it’s just around the corner from a super discount shop and a 7-eleven. I was actually quite surprised at how difficult it is to find an apartment when you are a foreigner. Granted, I have no visa, I don’t work for a Japanese company and Yumi and I aren’t married, but some landlords told the real estate agents they were not interested in renting to us purely because I am a foreigner. For shame. They could at least have lied and given us a bogus, yet socially acceptable reason. Anyway, I will try not to let those few people diminish my opinion of Japanese people. Hopefully, my next blog will be talking about how happy I am that we have moved into a amazing new apartment.

The Wonderful Yumi of Oz

After yet another eon of waiting to see Yumichan again, I finally got my fix.

I made my way to Cairns, arriving in the early hours on 24th June and found our little apartment across the road from the beach. Listening to the waves crashing, I snatched a few hours sleep then collected Yumi from the airport. After a quick breakfast, we were on a boat headed to the Great Barrier Reef. Alas, the sky turned grey, the swell grew large, the winds blew cold and the rain teased and threatened us. The boat took us out to a permanent platform floating over the reef, lined with deck chairs and loaded with diving equipment. We gazed at the reef from the warm inside of a semi-submerged boat, then rolled our way over the swell back to the harbour, the effects of which gave Yumi a brilliant idea for an effective weight loss program. Despite being seasick pretty much throughout the entire endeavour, Yumi assures me enjoyed it as I did.

The next day, we jumped in our hire car and headed for Paronella Park – an amazing castle/mansion estate nestled in the rainforest and built by a rich Spaniard for his lover that inspired Miyazaki to create the floating castle Laputa. It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in  Australia and I had no idea it existed until Yumi enlightened me. Though it was built so long ago, it housed a private cinema, ballroom and roller-skating rink and was powered by a hydroelectric generator. The Spaniard even tunnelled though a hill and attempted to fill the walls of tunnel with water and lights, creating a walk-through aquarium. It didn’t pan out the way he wanted, but he did make a nice home for some miniature bats. This place is worth a peek if you are in the vicinity.

After spending the night in Townsville we flew to Brisbane where we did some window shopping in the CBD and enjoyed a few quality restaurants in South Bank. After two nights, we took the train to the Gold Coast and had a busy week visiting Movie World, Sea World, Dream World and Tropical Fruit World. The weather was great and we even found the time to laze about on the beach where some hooligan turned Yumi into a mermaid. We decided that Tropical Fruit World was our favourite world. We ate a lot of strange things I never knew existed and which tasted great. I think places offering new and delicious food is pretty high up on Yumi’s list of desirable destinations. I’m sure she preferred it to the exhilarating roller coasters I managed to talk her into boarding. She told me she didn’t enjoy them at all, but she wore a big grin when we were flying around upside-down.

At last, we spent one more night in Brisbane and then headed back to Townsville where we had a week of relaxation. We enjoyed the local markets, experimented cooking new recipes, took a walk along the beach and spent the day on the nearby Magnetic Island, but generally we just enjoyed each other’s company. Yumi really enjoyed Australia. She developed an appreciation for the humble meat pie and declared that she could live in here.

Now, Yumi has returned to Japan and I have begun my next stretch of waiting to see her again. I discovered that my project here in Queensland has been delayed yet another month, thus I won’t be able to return home until around October. I’m consoling myself with the fact that I will earn more money, which is a comforting thought as the world’s share markets plummet, but I really miss Tokyo. I can only go so long without a beer and a plate of karaage in an izakaya. I just hope I can survive until my next fix.

I Can Smell Something Burning

Since I’ve been back in Oz, I’ve been watching a lot of news and political commentary. I hasn’t exactly filled me with a strong sense of hope for a rosy future, but then again news and political commentaries rarely do.

I’ve seen more than a few indications that demand for oil coupled with finite resources are going to disappoint those people waiting patiently for oil prices to ‘go back to normal’. And already, I’ve seen some industry spokespeople declaring their imminent demise. Australian politicians are bickering over whether they should create a law that would publish suppliers’ petrol prices for the following day on the web, or reduce the tax on petrol by 5 cents per litre. I find it quite frustrating watching them spend so much time attacking each other’s policies, as both seem to me to be the definition of futility. In fact, it has become increasingly apparent that nearly all rhetoric and actions performed by politicians are an effort to appeal to popular opinion and thus secure political survival. If this is fundamental to a democratic system, then how does the system cope when we are required to take actions that are inherently unpopular? In an age where we would do well to wean ourselves off oil and curb our emissions, could it be that Kent Brockman was right? Could it be that democracy simply doesn’t work?

What are the alternatives to the current system? If we stop forcing our decision makers to fear the reaper every four years, we open the door to ruthless administrations like Robert Mugabe who reminds me of a guy playing Sim City, who has become bored and is unleashing tornadoes, earthquakes and monsters all over a once lovingly constructed city. It’s an extreme example, I know, but everyone has their mean streak. The fact that a person aspires to be the leader of a country is reason enough for me to distrust them. There are very few candidates that I would feel comfortable with, and most of them have been assassinated. I had thought that one of the few living candidates would be the Dali Lama. I would not expect him to have prejudices nor make self-serving policies, although recently I have learned that there are people who have a problem with him besides the Chinese government. Apparently, people in the Shugden branch of Buddhism say is ‘duping’ western society and he is not such a great guy. Anthony has also pointed out that according to apocalyptic prophesy, the Dali Lama will in fact become the world’s leader, then reveal himself to be the antichrist after a failed assassination attempt. Maybe, as Bob Marley put it, ‘we’ve got to fulfill de book’.

I’ll be happy if we just avoid grinding through a global depression during my lifetime. It would have sucked to have lived through The Great Depression, and it would be such a shame to revisit that kind of world. Having said all this, I am actually optimistic that the global economy will recover. We could always make the transition to good old nuclear power and electric motors while we wait for zero-point energy to pan out.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, I’m Working in Townsville

I’ve found an effective way to achieve my two current goals: Save some money and speed the passage of time until Yumichan finishes university. I’ve flown to Townsville in the tropical North of Queensland, Australia and I’m plugging away for eight hours, five days a week. Surprisingly, I’ve managed to embrace what I previously considered a lifestyle I would do well to avoid. Perhaps, I’ve become a hard-core capitalist, but I would actually prefer to work than have a day off. Why? Because I want money! I want to take Yumichan to Venice upon her graduation and still have some bullion in the coffers. My newly found interest in capital has led me to the age old wisdom of a text called ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ – an excellent repository of simple rules and ideas that are fairly obvious, yet utterly unpracticed in my life at least. Stripping it down to it’s most basic principle, the book states that 10% of your income is yours to keep forever. Rather than spending it, you should invest it and have that money generate more income, thus enabling it to grow and sustain you. I only wish I’d read it earlier.

My stay in Townsville has been extremely satisfactory thus far. The apartment, so generously provided by my company, is easily superior to my own in Tokyo. I love the excessive lounge suite and big t.v. with surround sound. It really synchronizes with my shift toward a capitalist attitude. I also lodge just five minutes on foot from my office and enjoy a relaxed workplace with just two colleagues sharing the office. I must mention, though, that it has not been without rigours. I have suffered much at the hands of two large Australian companies that inexplicably decided to make my life difficult. My airline of choice extorted $100 from me when I was standing at the check in counter with all my luggage, no choice but to fly and only $50 to my name. This was followed by my new ISP forcing me to endure 35  gruelling days between requesting an internet connection and actually receiving one. It made me appreciate the efficiency and servitude of Japanese companies, although I suspect that airline all over the world share a tendency toward evil high jinx. Anyway, I made my flight and acquired my connection, so now I can reestablish my sense of well being and plot my elaborate revenge. 

I Hate Visas

Why can’t we just live wherever we want without having to justify our existence?

With March approaching, the Japanese officials are politely herding me towards the airport doors. I’ve been digging around for a way to stay here, but the best plan I came up with was devious and required a level of ruthlessness I just can’t muster. Thus, I am heading back to Australia in 3 days. I do intend to return, as a tourist, but this is a method that becomes more and more precarious each time I do it. The first time should be fine, the second time might be ok and after that I need to lay some serious charm on the immigration officer who will inevitably grill me at the airport. In the short term, I’m going to spend the next three or four months working in Townsville mainly. At least it will boost the coffers.

Since my last blog entry, I’ve seen a bit of action. I flew Yumi back from England to spend Christmas and New Years with me and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our Christmas celebrations were minimal. We just had tabehoudai Shabushabu on Christmas eve, basically. That’s Japan. Christmas here inspires a lot of decoration on the streets, but not a lot else. New Years is the bigger holiday here. Yumi and I took the night bus to her family home in Kansai and spent New Years making soba noodles with her parents, grandmother and siblings. I feel I have room for improvement in the noodle making department, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Perfection leads to stagnation, after all. I think the highlight for me was a fun card game we all played together. Despite my consistent, underhanded attempts to sabotage Yumi, she never  lost a single round.

Two weeks after Yumi’s return to England, my cousin, Danielle, came to see what I’ve been doing over here. I played the tour guide and showed her the sights and sounds of Ginza, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara etc etc etc. We visited a myriad of random izakaya and really indulged ourselves in amazing Japanese cuisine. We also rocked Disney Sea, where I repeatedly tricked Danielle onto numerous roller coasters and took a ride on the merry-go-round in exchange. We both had a great time, although curiously both of our lips were really dry the whole time we were together. Mine went back to normal almost as soon as Danielle went home. I assume hers probably did too. My best guess is that it’s a side effect of drinking too much Asahi Super Dry, but it’s still a little mysterious. This is a picture of us high on the magic and dreams of Disney.

So, now I am counting down the last few days before my departure. I’m trying to soak in the last few scraps of this lifestyle before I kiss it goodbye for such a long time.

I’m Saving for a Personal Fabricator

I saw a documentary recently that discussed something I had never considered before. Something imminent that will change society, economics… everything. The personal fabricator. I hope I live long enough to see one.

All matter in this world differs only in the arrangement of the atoms that compose it, only only that. It’s a powerful idea, that, up until now, has really made no difference to everyday life with the exception of the alchemists who spent their whole lives trying to turn lead into gold. Lately, though, we have managed to actually alter matter at the atomic scale. This technology is in it’s infancy, but it is apparent that eventually, we will be able to build nanometer scale machinery that can manipulate atoms according to our guidance. Ergo, we can make anything. Literally. I imagine there would be huge complications in trying to make something that is alive, but dead things should be no problem. In fact, if the design is perfect, so too will be all the stuff we make. The documentary I saw speculated that at some point, we will all have a ‘personal fabricator’ – a microwave sized, nanomachine factory that will spit out whatever we have the design for. The pessimistic view is that we will start seeing the outlines for personal fabricators by mid to late 21st century. And I loved this quote from Joel Garreau, author of Radical Evolution: "If a self-assembler ever does become possible, that’s going to be one of history’s great ‘Holy Shit’ moments." I agree. What effect would it have on economies? To the very idea of trade? The concept of having money and swapping it for goods would be obsolete. Land and services, I suppose, would still require payment, but what kind of payment? Money represents a small portion of a country’s gold stocks doesn’t it? You could press a button and make some gold. Interesting times ahead.

Anyway, back to the present – after Yumichan went back to England to study, I found myself packing my bags for Australia once again. This time, I worked on the copper mine in Western Australia for 5 days or so, and spent a few days taking it easy in my Mum’s house in Perth before heading to Brisbane and working full-time for 2 weeks at my company’s office. I stayed with my brother, Gary, once again and I had an awesome time. Working full-time after so much respite was a bit of a challenge. I found myself feeling sleepy around 3pm. But, every night I had a lot of fun at Gary’s house. Following two weeks of hard work, I took a two week holiday back in Perth. I had a long list of people to see and, I’m happy to say, I saw them all. I managed to trek up to Geraldton and visit my father and my growing Geraldton family. It was really nice to be in a small (yet growing), beach-side town again. My father is always good to catch up with too. He always offers some advice that I keep with me. And in Perth I get spoiled by my Mum who would do anything for me. I saw doctors and dentists who spoke English and made sure my body is fully serviced, and had a beer or a coffee with many of the people I regrettably can’t take with me to Tokyo. I didn’t take any pictures of them this time, but I did get one of my Mum’s new cat ‘Pickles’.

I’ve been back in Tokyo for about three weeks now and I’m trying to create some sort of routine, which has always been difficult for me. So long as I go to the gym a few times in the week and do a few hours work, I’m happy. Really, I’m just waiting for Yumichan to come back. On the 20th December she will touch down at Narita. I know she will still need to study and do some work for university, but her mere presence for two weeks will make me so happy. I think the plan is to go to her parent’s house in Ayabe for New Year’s, and I’m looking forward to that. I must brush up on my Japanese, so I can speak flawless keigo to the family.