Today really felt like the first day of spring. First day this year I went out without my heavy jacket, and I left my door open all day long without need of the heater. So after getting all my winter fur chopped off my head (at the barbershop where I actually was able to read an entire newspaper article about cameras understanding all of the kanji and only having to look up a few words), I went to Ichinomiya (一宮) to pick up a futon from my friend John, who is the only other remaining person from the initial training class at Aeon from two years ago. We went to a park where we saw some of his students and shot some hoops.

2008-03-08 一宮

In the evening, I went to a Chinese place near Fukiage (吹上) recommended to me by my co-worker Rieko. I had the tantanmen, which was pretty popular I hear. Anyway, apart from me there were only two people there, but the place was pretty interesting. The staff were all Chinese (and spoke Mandarin), but there were pictures and menu items from all over China. In fact, there were probably about 300 different items on the menu, from Dim Sum to Taiwan Ramen to Tantanmen. The Tantanmen was pretty good, although the soup was a little watery. It does look like a good place to go for a big party though, so I'll probably try it again. One interesting thing about the place is on the menu they bragged that people from 52 countries have visited, from places like San Marino, Andorra, Mauritius, and Tanzania.

OK, again a while since the last update. Last week, I was actually feeling really out of it, as my tinnitis was acting up and it was really hard for me to concentrate. This week, it's been slightly warmer and I've been able to run more frequently and sleep more, so I've felt a lot better. So here's a synopsis of what's been going on in my Japanese Blog, plus some other random observations.

On the 22nd, I went to go see Acid Mothers Temple here at Tokuzo in Imaike. It was the first show I've seen in Japan (apart from the many free shows in Central Park and near Osu). It was absolutely my favorite kind of show. There couldn't have been more than 50 people in that little room, and the entertainment was spot on. One of those shows where I really lived in the moment, thinking "This is exactly where I want to be, experiencing these very sensations." Some of the features of the show: Really really long beards. Percussion using various kitchen implements and religious artifacts (like Tibetan singing bowls played on the guitar's pickup), a broken guitar string that didn't matter because the artist was so entrenched in the performance, and a little ditty about Japanese convenience stores. These pictures taken from my keitai don't do it any justice, but in a way it's ok. It's a kind of performance that has a life of its own in my memories. Oh, I also realized that I missed Bob Log III there just two weeks before :P

Tokuzo

Sunday the 24th was my birthday. There was no big party this year (mostly because I didn't tell anyone about it), but it was still fantastic just the same. My favorite person in Japan took me out for a fantastic sushi dinner. She also spent a lot of time making me wonderful cakes and candies. 広美さん、本当にありがとうございました！

２００８誕生日

Other than that, I went to a meeting of people who want to learn to speak French. Of course, it was more Japanese practice for me, but I think I'm going to be spending a lot more time speaking French than I ever thought I would.

At work, I'm in charge of the music, so when the boss is away we have a good time listening to things like 80s music, Persian, and J-pop. And at home, I've just started getting into this 80's J-pop station on USEN.

And my final guilty pleasure I've been getting into is Days Of Our Lives. I've watched that show since I was, like 8, and it had been like 15 years since I've watched it. But it took me all of two episodes to get right back into the storyline, since it moves so damned slowly. Lots of things to wonder: Why did Chris Kosichek turn into Roman Brady? How many times has John Black had his memory wiped? How is it that Patch still has the same unknown checkered past that he had 20 years ago? Does anything ever change on this show? Inquiring minds want to know!