Goals and Blowfish

Recently I went through a short bout of depression. I am fine now, but in my sadness, as a way to motivate myself, I decided to make a list of things I want to accomplish while living in Japan. Actually, I don’t know how long I will be in Japan, so I more so meant before my contract with the JET Programme is up. Some things are big like pass N1, lose weight, and save money, but some are small and silly like eat more kaitenzushi and watch more anime. I’m already succeeding with those last two haha!

My list is for myself and nobody else, and it’s kind of personal, so I’m not going to share it all with you, but just for fun, I’ll tell you a few. Plus, I’ll tell you a couple I accomplished this past weekend.

1)      Visit Kyushu, Shikoku, Ise Jingu, Biwako, Uji, Himeji Castle, Tokyo (again) and possibly one more foreign country. I have Thailand, Singapore, or Beijing in my prospects.

2)      Rediscover my love for Japan through watching anime and jidaigeki films, practicing tea ceremony, eating at kaitenzushi and izakaya, going to festivals, visiting Kyoto and Nara which are nearby, enjoying konbini, and going to Nipponbashi and manga-kissa (recently I got to accomplish my goal of going to a manga-kissa for the first time).

3)      Buy a game system (or bring my Gamecube back from America) and enjoy it!

4)      Cook more Japanese food.

5)      Order a pizza for delivery.

6)      Go to more EDM and metal concerts and at least one K-pop concert.

7)      Go to a winter illumination.

8)      Don’t miss out on kouyou (fall leaf viewing).

9)      Go to a nabe party.

10)   Pull an all-nighter, and hit up a jazz bar in downtown Kobe.

11)   Go to my friend’s oyster restaurant and try eating oysters for the first time, cooked and raw.

12)   Try pachinko.

13)   Try fugu (blowfish).

14)   Stay at a capsule hotel.

15)   Cherish moments and spend time with friends.

16)   Keep going to your favorite places, bars, restaurants, etc.

This past weekend, I accomplished two of my goals on this list. First, I ordered a pizza for delivery! A lot of you are probably thinking, “So what? Big deal!” but it really is! Learning Japanese has been a long and slowly progressing experience. Maybe you remember in one of my posts from a while back (perhaps my Hiroshima one) about how I was afraid to order a sandwich at Subway because it was too difficult. Now I wouldn’t think twice about it. For the longest time, I’ve had anxiety (as most of my expat friends living in Japan do) about speaking in Japanese on the phone. Even if it’s with a friend, I still get kind of nervous. It wasn’t until recently that I have become able to make restaurant reservations on the phone. I can say that I have proudly done it 3 or 4 times now! Ordering a pizza for delivery though…yikes! You have to tell them so much! Your name, address, phone number what kind of pizza you want…

Before ordering, I wrote out my address and what kind of pizza I wanted. I had the number for the restaurant entered into my phone, and all I had to do is press dial. I’ll admit that it took me a few minutes to work up the courage to press it. In the end, it went pretty smoothly except for the part where they asked for my name, and I had to repeat it like 5 times until the person understood. I even ordered stuffed crust and half and half style! When I hung up the phone, I shook all my heebie-jeebies out and did a little happy dance. It may not been the most delicious pizza I ever tasted, but it tasted like victory! One goal accomplished!

Victory Pizza!

The other goal I accomplished recently was also food related… Ok, so I like food! Get over it! I tried fugu for the first time. “What is fugu?” “It’s blowfish!” “Wait, isn’t that poisonous?” “Um, yes?? I suppose.” “Why would you eat something poisonous?” “Because it’s exciting, a delicacy, and I’m curious!” So actually, I believe fugu is prepared in a way that ensures there is no poison (although in rare circumstances people have died from eating it). I’ve had friends who’ve eaten it who and said it made their mouth, lips, or head tingle. This personally didn’t happen for me, but perhaps it has to do with the different ways it’s prepared. I ate mine in the form of nabe, or Japanese hotpot. In the future, I’d like to try it prepared a different way too because admittedly, I want to experience the tingle haha!

Before the cooking.

During.

After!

Shinya and I went on a nice date to a seafood izakaya called Odoriya in Kyobashi. I actually knew about it because I went there for my first work enkai at my new school. It’s an upscale place, so I thought it’d be a great place to have a romantic date. It turned out to be a wonderful night. The fugu was a tasty little fish, and I got to enjoy correctly eating nabe which I don’t do when I make it at home. Shinya was so cute because he served me the fugu, picked the meat off the bone for me because I was struggling, and arranged it all nice. I told him how impressed I always am when he gets the fish meat off the bone or the shrimp out of the shell so nicely to which he replied, “I’ve been a Japanese person for 30 years. I should be able to at least do that by now.” Hahaha true story.

My talented guy. <3 

So, I had a very productive weekend for accomplishing things on my goal list. I’ll try to keep you updated as I accomplish more of them. Wish me luck!

Knotfest Japan 2014

Like Loud Park last year, this was the second time for me to make a trip up north for a 2 day metal concert with my friend Akira. After learning from the last time, I felt much more prepared to deal with the exhaustion that was about to ensue and took precautions.

This year, it wasn’t only Akira and I. Our friend Shinya also came along which made me feel less guilty about sleeping some in the car. Shinya could also drive which helped take some of the load off Akira.

We left around 9 pm on Friday night after we were all off of work. This time the concert was at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture. Loud Park was in Saitama. Therefore, it was a little closer this time, I think. It still took a solid 7+ hours, though. A fun part was that we got to drive right through downtown Tokyo. We could see Tokyo Disneyland and the castle, Tokyo Tower, the Sky Tree, and Odaiba. We drove right over the Rainbow Bridge! That was the peak of our excitement during the drive. We were blasting my favorite metal bad, Asking Alexandria, as we entered Tokyo while singing along.

The crew.

The Tokyo Sky Tree off in the distance.

By the time we got there, scoped out where the venue, a bathhouse, and a manga-kissa was and brushed our teeth at a konbini, it was about 5 or 6 am. We slept in the car for about 3 hours before waking up to go to the concert. It was really cold and uncomfortable in the car, so that’s why we looked for a manga-kissa for the following night. Luckily, I had taken a nap before the trip and slept a bit in the car, so I was able to get through the day just fine.

The first day of the concert had the best bands. I didn’t know this beforehand, but this was the first Knotfest to take place overseas. The bands were really pumped about it. The concert was completely sold out, and there were soooooo many people! This was the first time I’ve seen a crowd as crazy as the ones in America since I came to Japan. People were moshing and crowd surfing all over the place! It was intense! I thought my ribs were gona break a couple times from being smashed by people. That’s the price you pay for being up front, though. The lineup for the first day was Henlee, Crystal Lake, Coldrain, Miss May I, Meaning, Bring Me the Horizon, Crossfaith, Lamb of God, Sim, Papa Roach, One Ok Rock, Limp Bizkit, and Slipknot. It was kind of cool to see some Japanese heavy metal bands. It was my first time to see several of the bands, so I was pretty excited. Plus, even the bands I had seen before were really good ones like Bring Me the Horizon, Lamb of God, and Slipknot. My favorite performance of the day and probably the whole festival was Limp Bizkit. He was so great! It really brought me back to my junior high school days lol!

Picture from Five Finger Death Punch's Instagram. Soooo
many people!

Miss May I.

Bring Me the Horizon.

Lamb of God.

After the concert, we headed to the bathhouse, ate dinner, and got cleaned up. After that, we were able to sleep well in the manga-kissa for a long time. It was my first time to go to a manga-kissa, and I was actually equally excited for that as I was the concert itself! Please read my previous post to learn about manga-kissa and my experience staying at one.

The next morning, we lined up to get t-shirts before grabbing some breakfast. We didn’t have much interest in the morning bands, so we kind of took it easy. We sat down and watched from afar. The lineup for the second day was as follows: Silhouette from the Skylit, Make My Day, AA=, Amon Amarth, Knock Out Monkey, Wagdug Futuristic Unity, Five Finger Death Punch, In Flames, Man with a Mission, Trivium, Korn, and Slipknot. I was most excited to see Five Finger Death Punch and Korn although I had seen them both before. Five Finger Death Punch put on an amazing show by really interacting with the crowd. He pulled two people up on stage, went into the crowd, and talked with us. Korn played all their best songs and were amazing. Since we had to drive home throughout the whole night and had already seen Slipknot the previous night, we decided to skip watching them again and get an early start home. Plus Akira had work the next day. Technically so did I, but I took it off.

My Knotfest t-shirt.

On the way home, I slept most of the time…except for when we almost got into an accident. I had been wearing my seatbelt the whole trip except at one point when we took a break at a rest stop. I was sleeping when we got there, woke up for a slight instant, took off my seat belt to get into a more comfortable position, and immediately fell back asleep before re-buckling up. Later, some person in front of us changed lanes quickly and cut us off, forcing us to slam on our breaks. I was in a dead sleep, and before I knew it, I was on the floor between the back and front seats, and my elbow hurt really badly. I had hit it on a plastic part of the front seat. When I got home, I iced it the next few days, and it ended up being ok, just a little swollen and purple. Seatbelt safety people! Bad things can happen to anyone! If you are the driver, check to see if you passengers are buckled up. I would’ve appreciated if someone noticed I wasn’t.

We made it home at about 5 in the morning, and I slept all day. Overall, the trip went a lot more smoothly, in my opinion, than last year. The lineup was really good! I’m excited to see which bands the next Knotfest will bring!

Knotfest success!

Manga-kissa (Comic Café)

Recently, I got to have another Japanese first experience, one that I had been curious about since I became interested in Japan. I went to a manga-kissa (comic book and internet café). Manga-kissa are another one of those things unique to Japanese culture like maid cafes, kaiten sushi, and pachinko.

What is a manga-kissa? Let me explain. Basically, they are cafes you can go to in order to read manga (Japanese comic books) or use the internet, but there is so much more to say about them. I think in the past, internet cafes and manga-kissa were separate entities, but nowadays, most manga-kissa have the option to use the internet. Straight up internet cafes, on the other hand, might not necessarily have manga.

So here’s the basic setup. You pay by the hour (or like every 3 hours) to have a private cubicle. Most places have cubicles to accommodate two or more people if you want to go with friends. There are two types of cubicles, ones with a reclining chair and ones with a squishy floor in which you can stretch out on. I will explain the squishy floor ones in a bit. Each room has a desk with a computer and big monitor (unless you chose a room that doesn’t have a computer). There is also a trash can, tissues, big over-the-ear headphones, personal lighting, a blanket, slippers, a food menu, remote control, and I suppose if you requested a cubicle in the smoking section, there would be an ashtray too. You have access to all-you-can-drink soft drinks and usually all-you-can-eat soft serve ice cream. As I mentioned, there is a menu in which you can order food and alcohol from. That obviously costs money. You can also buy/rent things like sleeping masks, toiletries, pillows, etc. The main feature of a manga-kissa is the large selection of manga you can choose from and read freely. According to my boyfriend, they keep things pretty up to date, so when new books in a series come out, you can usually find them at manga-kissa. Spending around 800 yen for three hours of reading time turns out to be much cheaper than actually buying the books and reading them at home.

The cubicles.

Inside a cubicle.

Manga! Manga! Manga!

Besides going to read manga, there are a few other reasons people go…and not all of them are so pleasant. I already mentioned that most cubicles have computers. You can also watch TV of these computers, hence the remote control. People go to watch TV, play online games, work in a quiet environment, or simply just mess around on the internet. You can rent gaming systems and DVD players as well if that’s your thing. I think it’d be fun to rent a game system and play it in a 3-person room with your friends.

As for the not so pleasant reasons for going…in the manga library, there is a hentai section with pornographic comics. Also, there is the internet of course. I can’t say for sure if people go there to have privacy in a cubicle to do you-know-what, but somehow I didn’t think the tissues and trashcan conveniently placed in your cube were a coincidence. Not to mention that the chairs and squishy flooring are all made of easy to wipe down fake leather. *shudders*

Also, my friend told me that couples sometimes go to manga-kissa to be “alone.” However, you aren’t really alone because it’s not a private room, just a private cubicle. You can still hear everyone around you. My friend said he’s not sure if couples go to “go all the way” because it’d probably be too noisy (although I’m sure it’s happened), but they probably do other stuff…

Since manga-kissa are so cheap, they have become underground hotels. People began using them as places to stay the night after missing last train or other reasons. This was actually the reason I went to one the other week. I was up in Tokyo for a concert with my friends with no place to stay except in the car. It was cold and uncomfortable, so we decided to stay at a manga-kissa because it is cheap and much more comfortable than a car. When you first stay at a manga-kissa chain, they make you become a member. You get a card that costs just a couple dollars (like 200 yen?). After that, you don’t have to pay for the card again if you go back to the same chain. I’m not sure, but perhaps you can accumulate points or something if you go a lot. I stayed between 6 and 9 hours and it cost me about 2000 yen which is even cheaper than a love hotel (some love hotels can actually be quite expensive, but there are cheap ones that usually run for like 2500 for 3 hours)! Maybe the only kind of place that compares to the price of a manga-kissa is a capsule hotel which I still have yet to try.

Since over time manga-kissa unofficially became places to sleep, some started including showers in which you can pay to use along with selling of toiletries, pillows, sleep masks, etc. That’s also why there are cubicle options with squishy floors in which you can sprawl out on. They are more comfortable for sleeping than the chair ones. I stayed in the squishy floor type and was able to sleep pretty comfortably. There is a small Japanese style folding chair though in case you’d like to sit. The floor is kind of raised off the ground, and the desk is much lower than the ones with the chairs.

Squishy floor cubicle.

Staying at a manga-kissa is definitely a fun and interesting experience that I recommend trying. It’s something you can’t experience anywhere else as far as I know. One day, I’d like to go back to one not to stay but to actually read manga, play on the internet, and eat ice cream!

Hooters in Japan

Yay! We finally got a real Hooters in Japan! I can’t remember whether I shared this a while back, but two summers ago, they opened up a temporary outdoor Hooters with a limited menu on the river. About a year later, Osaka opened its own permanent Hooters restaurant!

The temporary Hooters. Fun nonetheless.

I finally got to check it out a couple months ago. It was interesting to compare it to the ones in America. First, it had a completely different atmosphere. The ones I’ve been to America kind of have like an old shack feel to them with lots of wood and Christmas lights on the front porch area. The atmosphere of the American ones exemplify their slogan, “Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined.”

When walking into the Osaka branch, I was surprised by how big, open, shiny, and bright it was. There were neon orange lights everywhere and other bright lights on the ceiling. Like everything was orange! The floors, chairs, etc. I would compare it to a sports bar-type atmosphere.

This is from the outside. So bright!

Triple date.

Next, I’m sure you are all wondering about the girls. They wore the same sexy uniforms as they do back in the U.S. The only difference between the waitresses in Japan and America is that about every hour, the Japanese waitress come out together into the dining area and perform a routine dance. From an American perspective, it’s incredibly silly and kind of embarrassing. If American waitresses did that, the customers would probably just watch and be like, “Wow, that’s kind of embarrassing and awkward. What are they doing? I feel sorry they have to do that.” In Japan, however, I could see how this kind of thing appeals to Japanese customers. For some reason, it just seems more fitting for a cute little Japanese girl in uniform to do a staged dance to some pop music. Probably because that’s basically what all their pop star groups are like. Honestly though, I still felt a little awkward. I think my guy friends and boyfriend enjoyed their dance though! xD

So the next thing you are probably wondering about is the food. How was it?! Well, it was freaking fantastic! ER MAI GERD it tasted the same as America! The only set back is that it’s quite a bit more expensive here which makes sense I suppose. Secretly, I want to go back to Hooters alone so I don’t have to worry about keeping face or the food being too spicy for other people and just stuff myself with the hottest chicken wings and shrimp, some curly fries, margaritas and daiquiris until I can’t feel feelings. Oh, and I can’t forget blue cheese dip for the wings and nacho cheese for the fries!! Maybe throw in a side of fried pickles and ranch for good measure. I probably would have to save up a pretty penny for that trip lol….and then not eat for a week after.

Oh dear sweet baby Jesus!

Anyway, I definitely recommend going if you are an expat in Japan and are craving the flavors of home or you want to introduce your Japanese friends to some real American style food. There are all sorts of other things on the menu, too like ribs, burgers, nachos, and salad.

By the way, for those of you who are curious to know what other American chains there are in Japan, here is a list of places I can think of in no particular order (this list may not be complete. Leave me a comment if you know of some others!): McDonalds, KFC, Wendy’s, Garret’s Popcorn, Burger King, Krispy Kreme, TGI Friday’s, Baskin Robbins, Denny’s, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Café, Subway, A&W, Auntie Anne’s, Big Boy, Domino’s, and Red Lobster.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Halloween Year 3

Hey blog world! Long time no see! Do you remember me?

It’s finally that time of year again where things get busy and there are many events, so stay tuned! I will be trying to update frequently from now through January. In case you were curious, the past few months have been quiet and consisted of me spending time with my boyfriend and settling into my new school…ok, so there were a few crazy party nights tossed in there as well. ;) Gotta keep my Osaka AJET “Biggest Party Animal” award intact!

Rocking our awards from best dressed and
biggest party animal.

This post’s topic is Halloween. Like last year, this year Halloween consisted of two all night parties on consecutive weekends. Let me tell you about them!

The first weekend before Halloween, my friends and I started off by gathering at our izakaya that we always go to in full on costumes. This weekend, I literally threw together a sexy party devil costume consisting of stuff I bought at the dollar store haha! Shinya even came for that part of the night (he’s not one for big crowded events, so he caught the last train home). Little did our friend Yuki know, we were also celebrating his birthday along with Halloween. We surprised him with cake and presents. In two hours, we downed as much beer, hot sake, and plum wine as we could to prepare ourselves for the night.

You sexy devil, you!

Hey, it's all-you-can-drink!

Yay!! Shinya came too!

Happy Birthday Yuki!

Happy Halloween!

A few people went their separate ways after the izakaya. Joe and I actually left the izakaya before everyone else to meet my coworkers who I invited and bring them to the bar we were going to next, Balabushka. Somehow we arrived at Balabushka before everyone else though. It turned out that they went to check out the scene at Triangle Park before heading to the bar. For those who don’t know, Triangle Park is the place to be on Halloween. Hundreds of people in costumes gather and party right on the street! It a good chance to take pictures.

Balabushka was packed when we arrived as it always is on Halloween. The drinks were cheap and there was a DJ. Mostly I chilled with my coworkers while also chatting with various acquaintances I ran into. My friends from the izakaya didn’t actually show up at Balabushka until my coworkers and I were ready to head out to a club.

I found a pikachu!

...and a Mario!

We decided to go to Wax. We danced so hard until morning! I really do enjoy the rush of hopping on stage when you favorite song comes on and giving it your all! It was a good Halloween round 1.

Halloween round 2 was the JET Halloween event and another one of my friend’s birthday. This birthday gathering was smaller. Four of us gathered and went to an upscale izakaya. The white wine on the all-you-can-drink menu was actually delicious! …not like the cheap crap they give you at regular izakaya. I was the only one in costume at this time. This costume, in fact, was my main costume that I put thought in to. I was Jessica from the American drama, “True Blood.” I actually made a lot of the costume myself.

Jessica from True Blood

This is the only picture my True Blood bottle
made it in to.

After the izakaya, we stopped at Don Quixote so the guys could randomly buy some costumes. Before heading to the JET party where I was supposed to meet more of my friends (the ones from the previous weekend), we stopped at Balabushaka for birthday cake time and tequila. It was pretty chill. Once we were nice and saucy, we headed to the JET party. This year it was on the top floor of Big Step. They had it done up nicely. The line to get in was so long! It took at least a half hour to get in. While waiting in line, my friends who I was supposed to meet were heading out to go somewhere else…oops! I at least got a quick picture in with Lisa! There were plenty of fellow JETs inside who I wanted to see though as well.

Birthday cake time!

...and tequila time!

Sacred Lisa picture. Haha!

Once we got in, we all kind of did our own thing. I chatted with JET friends, danced with Ken, and admired everyone’s costumes. The party had more of a relaxed feeling than I expected. It probably had to do with the fact that the DJ’s weren’t playing hits but house music no one knew instead. I didn’t mind that much though. After a while, Ken (as usual haha), got blackout drunk. I dragged him out and took him to the one place I knew would cure him, a ramen shop. I wasn’t really hungry, so kept him company while he ate his ramen and fell asleep on the counter. The two other guys who I started off the night with ended up joining us.

It's a JET party up in here!

Dancing~

Ramen: the magic cure. *Note-check out
Haru's airbrush tattoo that he got at the
party haha random?

When it came time for first train, I tried to lift Ken’s dead body out of the chair like I always have to, but this kid is like a foot and a half taller than me and is freaking heavy despite how thin he is lol. I usually somehow get him on his feet, but this time he refused to move because he just wanted to keep sleeping at the counter. :P I made sure he was ok (he always ends up getting home fine one way or another) and left his ass!! I’ll be damned if I ever have to ride a train home past 6 am. I’ve done it before, and it’s not fun. First because you are tired as *explicit*, and second because once it’s past 6am, people who are actually up and going to work and whatnot are on the train and look at you covered in sweat, cigarette ash, booze, and god knows what else and judgeeeeeeee youuuuuu…also, I once ran into my own students going to club practice that early… definitely don’t want to repeat that experience.

So, in conclusion, Halloween turned out to be just as fun as it is every year. Now please enjoy some of the adorable pumpkins I had my students make:

First place.

Second place.

Third Place.

There's some really awesome ones!

Top third from the right is Luigi's Manson themed!