en-us http://www.keithwatanabe.net/index.php Keith Watanabe's Website http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/7/10/adb37b5f208e536f45dde26b5c7f3ff1.html Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:05:53 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/7/10/adb37b5f208e536f45dde26b5c7f3ff1.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/7/21/cb0ea1778f35fd9dc63f266e58b0d7fd.html
Comparing LA vs Tokyo in terms of negatives and positives, here is my assessment:

LA Positives

• Excellent weather
• Wide roads
• Cheap low end food
• Mostly free parking
• Reasonable working hours
• Generally good working environments
• Casual lifestyle
• Nice homes
• Proximity to the beach
• Banning of smoking in public places
• Relative distance to other entertaining areas (e.g. Las Vegas, San Francisco, etc.)
• Better dentists
• Great internet minded culture
• IT engineers can earn reasonable salaries

LA Negatives

• High crime rate
• Rising cost of gas
• Rising cost of homes
• Terrible traffic
• Polluted skies
• Lack of a good public transportation system
• Prone to fires
• Sedate lifestyle (i.e. limited drinking areas, bars close by 3 am, inability to access fun areas without significant amount of planning via freeway, etc.)
• Double tax rate (California's state tax along with federal tax)
• Natural foods are outrageously imbued by chemicals
• Fast food nation
• Mostly encouraging unhealthy lifestyle (no exercise, eat, sleep, shit, get fat)
• Alienated feeling
• Many rude people
• Too many ugly women
• You mostly have to tip
• Poor internet service

Japan/Tokyo Positives

• Great night life
• Mostly safe (about 99% of the time)
• Excellent transportation system
• Easy to access friends
• Lower tax rate (for me at least)
  
• Excellent cuisine
• Average women are gorgeous and marriage minded (rather than this feminist garbage that has been injected into American women; watch Fight Club to see what I mean)
  
• Excellent internet access
• Bleeding edge cellphone technology
• No wasted space (from a conservation point of view)
• Inflation has been mostly tame (a ticket from Minowa to Ueno had cost me 160-en in 1999 and is the same now)
• Smaller portions for food
• Mostly a clean city (by all accounts of foreigners that i've spoken to)

Japan/Tokyo Negatives

• Stressful work environment
• Emphasis on old schools of thought in terms of fashion (i.e. people MUST wear suits even in the summer)
• Long hours for work
• Transportation is open only until roughly 12:45 am
• Horribly expensive spot to live in
• Tiny housing
• 3-10 years behind in terms of software development and internet culture
• Extremely polluted skies
• Can be exceptionally dirty in certain spots (Shibuya, Roppongi, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro)
• VERY high maintenance women
• Old people just WON'T go away (hand the damn torch over to the younger generations already!!!!)
  
• HUGE bugs
• Smaller portions for food
• Closed way of thinking (common sense exist; but not in the "intelligent" category)
  
• Group thinking
• 2 faced society
• Terrible, ignored homeless problem
• Jobs can provide bad money for an IT engineer
• No such thing as work-life balance

I'm certain I'm missing more. But it's not a situation where the quantity of items overtakes another. It is a situation of degree and where one's value lies.]]> Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:58:25 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/7/21/cb0ea1778f35fd9dc63f266e58b0d7fd.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/5/31e20a9a092a229d9fa2053165556aa1.html
Or at least typhoons, snow, rain, cold, and even the heat.

What I mean by this is that the place is just "open". Not everywhere, but in the most dense areas, places are still "open." "Open" to me is when you have a cruddy building taking up a lot of land but not sharing any overhanging for when the place goes to hell. Then you have these idiot pedestrians just taking up 2-3 spots along the sidewalk and you're bound to knock into them and get even more soaked.

What I hope to see someday is the flippin' place spend some cash for creating more roofings as you walk down the street. Some places are actually built halfway intelligently like Kitasenju where the two sides of the main street leading towards the train station has a nice overhanging. Also, Asakusa has this too with their sort of outdoor kind of mall, near the Kaminari Shrine.

If the place doesn't want to spend money on this because perhaps people want to enjoy sunlight, then I suggest creating massive underground tunnels that link the city together. I admire Toronto for doing something like this; makes it more convenient getting around (I'm assuming) during the winter. Some parts of Tokyo have this like Ginza, or the Tokyo station. But they eventually close those sections of the city off and shove people out into the harsh city environment.

I just think that the government here is cheap and that their architects don't really know shit about city planning. Instead, they build the bare minimum and have ugly, useless architectures that really dull the mind. Until I went to NYC, I never realized what an ugly city Tokyo is. It's not ugly in that it's boring, but just the architecture sucks big time after you've lived here. I don't need the place to be aesthetically pleasing, but at least make it more convenient for pedestrians during harsh seasons.]]> Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:09:33 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/5/31e20a9a092a229d9fa2053165556aa1.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/6/9e0fae92fdec9e3b988a1c82b4d5f47e.html
On the other hand, Tokyo is just filled with I'd say up to 60% bad weather. It's pretty rare for a month to go by without at least one droplet of rain. And when it rains, you don't see a few droplets, but often a full day's worth of drizzling up to typhoons (like today). The mood is far more somber out here with people dressing formally and their behavior more rigid. If the climate were any warmer and consistently sunny, I would heavily doubt that people could continue wearing suits and ties to the office on a daily basis.

I can't help to think that the formal wear and the weather play such huge roles in making Tokyo such an uptight culture. I'm not saying everyone has a stick up their ass, but imagine if people were allowed to go to work in shorts and tshirt and didn't have to deal with the crappy weather? I think people would wear a lot more smiles.

In LA, I would meet various people from other cities in the country. My professor once told me that when you move to some place like LA (in coming from Indiana), you never really want to go back, especially in dealing with the winters out there. Or my coworker, who was from Seattle, mentioned how when you look outside and see the sun on a daily basis, you gotta really love LA.

Now, here miserable and trapped in my dinky apartment, I'm starting to see a point.]]> Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:19:03 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/6/9e0fae92fdec9e3b988a1c82b4d5f47e.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/8/b6893c0d0fe668b530c4c1875a040b5c.html
Honestly, there's little for me to do in Harajuku. Don't forget at one time I resided near that zone and probably lost 30% of my sanity with that damn Meijidori street perpetually preventing me any slumber at night. Yet I've been drawn to the area recently. It's not the fashion that gets me, but just the youthful countenance of the denizens around the area. Mostly, I patrol around Takeshita Dori. It's somewhat annoying at times since you have those African jerkoffs harassing customers. (You can bug some gaijin but never touch me!) However, I'm quite adept at dodging their annoying presence and merely saunter down the street purposelessly. Or rather my purpose is just to scan the crowds, looking for something.

What?

Mostly the young girls. I enjoy the various characters around the area. When William Gibson walks through such an area, he pays most of his attention to the colors and textures of the costumes. For myself, I'm looking into the people's souls in an attempt to extract a story somehow from their eyes and behavior. That's a huge difference in our writing styles.

Sadly, the only place I can really hang out is McDonalds. Probably one of the worst McD's in Japan. The place is horribly misconfigured. The top area is for smoking while a larger section is devoted to non-smoking downstairs, with a tiny staircase that my oversized Gaijin shoes can barely grip on when I descend with a tray full of food. Then the little outdoor part only seats at most say 10 people, making it a prestigous spot for people watching. But again I only attend the place to be inspired. Hey, McD's is what the youth can afford and doesn't bug the kids to get the hell out when they've overstayed their welcome. Mine as well!

Wendy's is actually a better version of McD's, situated near the Gap. Still the view isn't that great and the non-smoking section is a box jammed near the ordering area. Whiffs of smoke still occasionally filter in, but what can you do? I loved seeing this Image-kei cuty sitting two seats over yesterday. Her attention was completely focused on her cellphone. At first, I had a bit of a hard time discerning if she was a guy or not (too many adrogynous figures in Harajuku). But her face was really naturally pretty, although I coyishly attempted not to stare.

The best girl of the day was this slender hottie that joined me from the Omotesando station and walked with me all the way up to roughly the middle of Takeshita Dori. One of these Victorian lolita types. I chose to slow my gait to allow her a certain distance away from me while I occasionally looked back to see where she was heading. Eventually, she made her way towards this fashion store that seemed geared towards these lolita types. The girl was really cute in this frilly little victorian dress. I thought it was somewhat amusing that she decided to take a train all the way from Omotesando to Meijijingumae. It's only a ten minute walk. But I guess her poor little feet and misconceptions of distance somehow relayed to her tiny sponge in her skull that the 160-en was a better deal than having a nice exercise.

Well, I hope they open more accessible cafes out there. There's a few but most are in some cubby hole underground or stuffed on the second floor without unveilng their menu. And Starbucks there is far too tiny to be useful. Whelp, I guess if i want to continue to pursue my interest in hanging out with youth culture, I'll have to stick with McD's and Wendy's out there :(]]> Sat, 08 Sep 2007 18:11:59 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/8/b6893c0d0fe668b530c4c1875a040b5c.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/9/d55a9d0a1cf03736200c99be7bb4d071.html
I truly hate having to travel through Roppongi at night, especially Fridays and Saturdays after 9 pm. The place becomes an ocean of vomit and the streets are filled with idiots stumbling around trying to get to the next bar or cab. There are tons of hot women here, but I think only the sleaziest skanks attach themselves to this part of the town. These women try to appear high class with their little princess gowns, but in truth I think there's an inverse relationship between their appearance and their actual station in life. From about 8 pm on a given day, foreigners and half of the Japanese are legally allowed to become stupid. In particular, foreigners are encouraged to dismiss all notions of reason, sensibility, good taste,dignity and class when they enter these grounds. If you're a foreign retard, you'd be highly valued here because you would be the paragon of what this section of the city represents. Posters of your mangled face after a night of debauchery would adorn the street lamps to symbolize your value to this part of the city.

Doctors prize this part of the city because they can increase their funds for organ transplant surgery, most notably liver transplants and in advance stages, lungs. Vegas faces a rival for the name "Sin City"; heck, if I was the MGM Hotel management or Mr Wynn, I'd put some serious investments into Roppongi. You already have debauchery and prostitution; add legalized gambling and you'd kill Vegas in a day!

The best part is probably walking to the station the next day in the morning and stepping through the previous night's carnage. It literally becomes a vessel for the crows/ravens or whatever ugly oversized birds flock here with all the garbage litering the streets for the Stinky Trucks (i.e. garbage disposal) to pick up at the last possible second. I even was mistaken for crow's mate one day when I meekly and earnestly traveled to work and the damn thing tried using my head as a parking garage.

Then you have the two biggest pillars of tripe around the city: Roppongi Hills and the Midtown. At first, I was quite happy about the Midtown as I thought it would add a bit of class, compared to Roppongi Hills which was an architectural masturbatory mindfuck. And indeed the Midtown is architecturally more pleasant, allowing easier access and being very posh and swank. However, as with everything most of my initial impression was just an impression. The reality of the zone is that it's an overpriced haven for Paris Hilton wannabes (which says a horrible thing about society) in their desire to exude elegance. The park really is shitty during the summer with all the bugs and crap crawling around. The restaurants are beyond a normal pieces means of anything sensible in their pocket book, save the bottom floor places which are still outrageously priced and only cater to people wishing they could brag to their friends that they've "eaten at the Midtown." Come on. All the "real" restaurants are on the 2nd floor and higher and require a reservation. Only places that require a fist up your ass means that you've ever eaten at some place "real!" Probably the only thing I really like at Midtown is the 24 hour supermarket which has some international goods. But at the late hour, I can't even find English muffins, hot dogs, waffles, or corned beef hash, so I might as well wait for National Azabu to open in Hiroo which has most of what I want (minus the corned beef hash since Japan seems to no longer import that :( ).

That leads to Hills. I think Hill's restaurants are a little more affordable, but the access points are horrible. Trying to get through one point to another in Hills is just a nightmare. I think Mori wanted the place to resemble a Vegas hotel, but ended up getting an HR Giger painting instead. Forget ever going shopping in this place because nothing is affordable here (nor Midtown for that matter). I'm surprised shops manage to stay open. Maybe they're the type that just require one sale a month to operate. Either way, the place just sucks.

I think the only two positive aspects of living here are the proximity to the subway stations and some of the restaurants around me. I've got a Cold Stone Creamery near Hills which I can take advantage of almost anytime. Also, there's numerous decent restaurants that I can hit. Unfortunately, most of these places turn out to be bar food and I get sick of it easily.

The last positive is that Hard Rock is around my corner. Naturally, my affinity for heavy metal makes Hard Rock a great place for a person like me to go to, especially when I'm alone and hungry late at night. But I have to admit that the two cute waitresses there have kept me coming back, especially lately since I started conversing with one, discovering that she even lived for a short period in my hometown of Torrance!

But these few positives don't make a right in my book. I miss Kitasenju despite the fact that it's far out and overly crowded. But the affordability and fact that the area caters more towards families rather than being some skank town move its ranking far ahead of Roppongi for me in terms of places I prefer living in Tokyo.]]> Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:19:44 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/9/9/d55a9d0a1cf03736200c99be7bb4d071.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/12/5/78bcba0cbae74f82a1afff30e2344978.html
The ride wasn't as long as I expected and it wasn't that crowded, save for people getting on at Yurakucho and getting off at Tokyo station. This was the first time for me to be in Kawaguchi. I only knew three things about it: 1) the Tipness Gym; 2) the recently opened Krispy Kreme shop; 3) Nishi-Kawaguchi (which is another infamous redlight zone). So I was kinda interested as I knew a few people who lived out in that direction.

Honestly, I barely stepped around the zone. It reminded me a bit of Fujisawa because when you exited the station, you landed about three levels above street level on a bridge interconnected between three large buildings. All the buildings around the station were some sort of shopping zone. I was in search of the Krispy Kreme but had no inkling of the location. However, I managed to locate the Tipness inside one of these massive structures. Before I review that, I want to discuss a few other observations.

Just as I exitted the escalator was under construction. Very annoying since the ramp up was pretty high. I swear to God the Japanese don't know a damn thing about user interfaces and architecture. Near the exit there was this girl standing, holding a sign begging for a ticket. Don't know where but it reminded me of those freeloaders you'd see in SF or Berkeley near the BART stations. I ignored her in the end.

Around the area there's quite a few tall mansion (apartment-like) structures. I did some research on the net about the cost of living out there and it's quite cheap. Not sure how much those spots are but I think they're focused on families. The positive thing though is that they're very close to the station so it would be worth living there.

The area should've been lively. It's quite a nice zone with all the shopping centralized. It kinda also reminded me of Kitasenju, although I do think the fact that only one train runs through this place implies that it's fairly crowded in the morning. Despite the niceness of the area, I saw mostly older folk around there. Maybe I came at a wrong time.

After diddling around a bit, I hit the Tipness. Inside it's quite spacious, but the equipment is not good at all. The focus is more centered around cardio so there's a very limited amount of weights. You're better off going to Shinjuku, Shibuya or Roppongi even if you're not into cardio stuff. I just did a scan of other spots outside of those gyms and noticed that the layout seems the same. My guess is that most people are interested in just doing cardio out here so the weight rooms are limited except where the foreigners are.

The place wasn't crowded at all. I could easily get any cardio machine. Most of the people inside were older folk. It sucked considering that I'm used to all the eye candy from Shibuya. I guess I better stick with Shibuya's gym if that's my priority! (Although tonight stunk because it was so crowded. Did suddenly everyone in Japan decide to emulate me and follow me to my temple????)

I didn't stay that long and hit the sauna and showers soon after. Then I took off for Shinjuku to meet a friend for dinner. I definitely want to go back to Kawaguchi. It has some promise to be a good place to live. But I also want to check some other spots out before making a decision. So far though Kawaguchi has some good plusses: Tipness, Krispy Kreme, shopping, JR station and cheap housing!]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:50:51 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2007/12/5/78bcba0cbae74f82a1afff30e2344978.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/1/13/37b2b36191f8648d53dbbfe92f894862.html Hamburger Helper. These aren't exactly the healthiest of foods, but I enjoy them, especially corned beef hash because it reminds me of home and my dad (in a positive way). Well, I decided to give National Azabu in Hiroo another shot and lo and behold! Not just Hamburger Helper but corned beef hash!

I've lived in Japan for 4 1/2 years now, but I've been here since 1999. The one lesson I learned is that Japan goes through frequent trends and seasonal changes that it's hard to predict when one fad will come and go. Well, with food, imports and domestic goods constantly change. But at least for now, this little blessing will satisfy my craving (temporarily).]]> Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:28:18 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/1/13/37b2b36191f8648d53dbbfe92f894862.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/1/13/3dcbf3f295b815c4e17b5f894d83803c.html UCI once remarking about the author Saul Bellow in one of his novels, The Victim. The novel depicted the city, particularly New York City, as an alienated zone. I suppose the vastness of the city and the difficulty of being able to interact with people created a sense of isolation. This premise is very much and perhaps truer in Tokyo.

I think I wrote about this but today I had a shot of depression as I was returning from a small trip to Ueno en route to Hiroo. I emailed a coworker asking for dinner sometime this week if she wasn't busy. I received a brisk reply that she anticipated being busy. Likewise, this entire weekend was pretty quiet. There was a TLUG meeting on Saturday but I honestly did not want to go, due to the poor weather conditions. Earlier today, I had sent out numerous email messages to friends, but received no reply. Then on the way back home, I suddenly got really angry (perhaps my blood pressure was a bit high after chomping on Nathan's hot dogs over in Hiroo, combined with listening to ear pressure pumping heavy metal on my iPod). I resolved to simply turn off my keitai (cellphone) because I didn't want anyone bothering me anymore.

Of course, I turned it back on when I got home, but it's not as if people eagerly were bombarding me with phone calls and text messages. I don't know what it is. Are people just busy? Or am I unwanted? Or does this climate of Tokyo just prevent people from easily accessing each other?

For myself, it's been kinda sad recently. I just got back in contact with my friend Mio and discovered she had been working at a bar quite close to my office. However, just this Thursday she returned to Hawaii for her part time job. And then another friend from my previous office I found out is trying to date some goober at that other office. I kept warning her away from those people, but I guess my allusions to their dastardly demeanor fell on deaf ears. Then there was one of my longer time friends here who rarely sees me anymore. I finally (almost a year now!) managed to get a simple appointment, but that's only at the very end of February! On top of that most of my other friends have girlfriend, have gotten married and are having children and simply do not have time for me. Or that they don't even bother trying to make time for me.

At this time, I kinda debate whether or not it's a personality flaw with me or whether it's Tokyo. Since coming to Tokyo, I definitely feel I've changed somewhat. Maybe I've become more cynical since my sense of identity has been flattened, decimated, and transformed from an idealistic youth, to a sardonic, foul mouthed chump. Worse yet, I don't see my personality changing for the better as I grow older, more bitter and begin consolidating my belief set. Without question, changing jobs and departing the finance industry have vastly improved my mental disposition as of late, but I can't shake this dreary feeling that is at the core of a lot of my problems.

Probably the worst thing is that I just feel so dreadfully alone at times. Coming home sucks because there really isn't anyone to talk to nor hang out with. Sadly, I just talk to my Giraffe (no joke) because there's no one else around. Of course, with regards to Tokyo/Japan, I think the largest issue is just that I lack good Japanese skills. This is killing me because I don't have the confidence to go up to just anyone and make casual talk like I would in English. Yeah, I really believe that this ought to be the #1 thing I focus on this year, since it probably will resolve a lot of problems.]]> Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:49:00 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/1/13/3dcbf3f295b815c4e17b5f894d83803c.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/3/2/060b53e0dffd2334a06e198da28d5a0c.html
What disturbs me about the female ones is their lifestyle and expectations. In one article I read, the author talked about the problems of marriage with these women. In particular, these women end up having high expectations for their male counterpart. Because these women don't typically worry about rent and other necessities in life, they tend to purchase high quality, name brand goods. When it comes to their marriage partner, they worry that unless they find someone with an extraordinary amount of cash, they'd end up risking a good deal of their income. Furthermore, these women also worry about doing things like housework and even cooking. So they end up delaying marriage for a number of years, especially ones who know they are good looking, in the hope of finding that perfect someone.

In my experience, what I've seen are these spoiled brats that simply don't appreciate a damn. They take things for granted and expect people to give them things, especially the better looking ones. Ironically, they do somewhat realize that there's a billion good looking gals in Tokyo, but still tend to make their requirements high.

As they grow older though up until about 35 (these days), those requirements just shoot up the roof. In some ways, I can't blame them because age and experience teach you a lot about yourself and what you want. However, I can't stand the overprotective attitudes that these people have when it comes to the details and even trying to branch out.

It's funny because the younger ones, from what I understand, are the most open minded. Say betwen 18-22, the younger women aren't as detail oriented in their requirements analysis of guys. Instead, they care about just finding someone who loves them. How funny is that? But from about 25-30, you get more girls who are career minded these days and so relationships tend to be harder, unless you're amazing. But after 30, women go through this bizarre mental phase, kinda like Freud's neuroticism, where everything adds up to simply confusion. Probably the women between the ages of 30-35 right have it most difficult because of the change in social structure in Japan, with women now no longer facing pressure of getting married at the age of 25 (but instead 35) while still struggling for their sense of identity here in Japan.

The women over 35 are probably the best marriage aged types I've seen. They seem to collectively just say "Fuck it!" and kill any notion of requirements. Even starting a family is somewhat dubious because there's these odd little packets of info floating around that say Japanese women can't have kids over 35 (which I'm calling horseshit science that's unfounded and probably being sent out as political control by the government to retain some semblance of conformity) Some of my friends asked me why I like older women here. The reason is simple: less requirements to worry about. Funny thing too is that I notice a lot of my guy friends have ended up dating or marrying older women here. Coincidence? I think not.

To rectify this problem here in Japan, I think there needs to be a few things done by the government and the families:

• Increase the wage of people in the workforce in Tokyo. For one of the most expensive places in the world, people here earn pathetic incomes, unless you're some old geezer middle management bozo.
  
• Companies need to help their employees for housing here. One of the things that I admired prior to living in Japan was how some companies would offer dormitories for their employees. Since living here, I've only heard of a few companies that do this. Some companies do provide some pre-tax breaks for housing allowances, but this is not a standard in Japan. The government should provide tax break incentives for companies that participate in giving some sort of housing allowance or dormitory for their employees.
  
• Do something about the outrageous cost of living in Tokyo. Kill the whole key money issue. The landlords make tons of money and don't need a dime more for what they're getting. Create more affordable housing in central Tokyo. Or encourage/force more businesses to move away from central Tokyo.
• Families should be able to kick their kids out. Yes, I just said that. It's perfectly legal in America to kick your kids out when they reach the age of 18. The great thing is that it forces kids to be very independent. One major reason why I moved out here was to become completely independent from my parents and learn how to survive on my own. As a result, I've learned to appreciate everything my parents have done for me and I no longer take things for granted. I think if kids were kicked out, they wouldn't spend their fortunes on frivolous, materialism and focus on necessities and hopefully make them appreciate other people a lot more rather than just money, looks, etc.

Obviously, there's many other issues to address in correcting this dilemma. But I really believe that this is a huge issue for the maturation of people in Japan.

One thing that I wish that this would address is the inequality between those whose families live in different regions of Japan and those whose families live in Tokyo. I have some friends who are from places like Fukuoka, Osaka, Kobe, and Okinawa that struggle living in Tokyo because the cost of living is incredibly high. The main reason why they come out here is that the job market tends to be better with higher paying jobs and sometimes more prestigious positions than in those other areas. However, sometimes these people are forced to live far from their work and live off of simple bento and perhaps even not eating during downturn periods. While I admire those people who truly seek independence and a career, it makes me sick sometimes to think that others barely appreciate what their parents give them.]]> Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:47:49 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/3/2/060b53e0dffd2334a06e198da28d5a0c.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/2/8b8ef38de6cc3d1439b09c6413fdc62e.html
The funnier thing is that several people recently utilized that term to described me. Those EXACT words. Coincidental? Obviously not! But of course, the bigger question is why would people within a week's span use such terminology to depict someone like myself? I guess you could say that I've seen a lot of odd things in recent times, especially since switching jobs to Shibuya, although not all experiences are exclusive to Shibuya (but I do see an incredible amount of odd people). Here's some interesting examples:

• Last Saturday, I met up with my friend to hang out in Shinjuku. Walking back to the East side from Kabukicho (where we had dinner at a nice Indian spot closer towards the Okubo side), I spotted some odd looking person wearing a kilt. Probably was more of a skirt because this guy (yes, a dude) was dressed up in a cosplay sort of way. He must've spotted me because just before I had mentioned him to my friend. I managed to avert my eyes just in time as my friend started to exacerbate in mental anguish at a rather disturbing image that I happened to just avoid. I guess this freak had pulled out his thing and flashed my friend! My friend will probably suffer indefinite mental trauma as a result, but naturally I was the person to point this oddity out.
• Walking to work this evening, I saw this guy in Omotesando station just twitching as he walked towards the Ginza-sen/Hanzomon-sen Shibuya platform. Now, I know I tend to look odd at times while walking around Tokyo (mostly banging my head or lip syncing lyrics to some tunes on my iPod), but I often see people who look like they're about to collapse into an epileptic seizure. Fortunately, he went to the other half of the platform that I WASN'T on.
• My friend Dan and I were over at Cold Stone Cremery in Shibuya Mark City. While waiting in line, this odd kid just saunters over towards this area, points to the ceiling and shouts something that most of us attempted to ignore. After grabbing our ice cream, the guy did it again, this time in front of the workers who were doing their little gay onara song. Well, shows those workers not to do a gay onara song around there!
• Sometime during the winter as I was walking from work on the bridge that goes above Roppongi Dori, this odd guy passes me up and starts shouting, "Headphones! Headphones!" I gave him a queer look and quickly moved on. Although I was wearing headphones (I normally do while walking around Tokyo), why would he just pick on me compared to other people wearing headphones and call me out?
• A few weeks ago, I was going to work at Nogizaka station and heard this odd moaning sound coming from the opposite side of the station. As the trains came along, the moan subsequently increased in volume. I kept thinking to myself, "Please don't come near me." But apparently this odd guy (who I barely could see) was sauntering towards my direction. It was as if this guy was attempting to mimic the volume and noise of the echoes from the trains. Of course, as I get on my train, he gets aboard too, not in my car fortunately. But I realized he was aboard that particular train because once I exited at Omotesando, I heard this nutcase again.
• One of the joint companies who works with my current company is quite large and thus by law forced to employee a certain number of disabled people. You'll see some deaf, or wheelchair bound people frequently in the building. Now, the weird thing that got me was seeing this guy by the elevator playing with his hands. He had this non-sentient facial expression. I was like, "Dear God, please don't make him stand near me." Naturally, the freaking elevator (which is perpetually overcrowded) gets bundled with this people and this guy stands near me of all people!!!! Why me?????? At that point, I knew someone, somewhere is fucking with my life.
• Back around Christmas, as I was walking home from the Akasaka Mitsuke station, I was traveling up this particular road and saw this guy crouched over what looked to be his buddy toppled over from debauchery. Concerned, I walked somewhat closely towards the scene in an attempt to sneak peak if the guy on the floor was okay. Well, turns out that the guy on the floor wasn't just a single person, but two people. An older gentlemen was bundled VERY tightly with a coworker (presumably considering it was nomikai season). The guy above him was shaking the guy, as if saying, "Hey, get up! Get up!" But the particular thing was that the older gentlemen clutching the person beneath him had his lips FIRMLY planted on the other guy's forehead. I think the guy underneath him was trying to detach himself rather futilely. Yeah, that one creeped me out too.
  
• Sometime in the winter, while walking home from the Roppongi station, near the corner where I walk downhill towards my home in Akasaka, I saw this older gentleman (not the same guy as above) on his knees just fall face first flat on the ground. I mean, no hands to brace him or anything. What was worse was that this guy had these glasses on and you could hear a loud *SMACK!* when this guy hit. I guess that smack was enough to bring him to his senses as he stood up removed his glasses and revealed a nice red, trickling stain just above his nose where the frame was left indented at the bridge area. Too much alcohol kills.

I could go on. I mean, the amount of weirdness I see in a given week is overwhelming. On a typical week, I might see between 3-4 incidents, quite often in Shibuya, sometimes in Roppongi (naturally, those incidents grow in Roppongi on Fridays and Saturdays, which is why I attempt to stay in my nest before the vampires and werewolves emerge from 9 pm onwards). Quite often, these incidents involve a large degree of alcohol, which is forgivable so long as I retain a harmless, yet amusing firelight story (as in the cases above). Unfortunately, a lot of those weirdness incidents tend to be someone puking on the street (underage drinking, etc.).

However, the more disturbing incidences occur in spots like Akihabara, Shinjuku or just being on the train. I swear to God that the train system in Japan is a blessing and a curse because you tend to see a lot of nutcases that seem to roam freely (and most probably somehow and quite possibly by accident get set loose from the countryside). Akihabara's weirdness stems from just all the expressionful cosplayers. The girls I don't mind so much and think they're cute. Now, it's when the guys start wearing Sailor Moon uniforms when I need to expediently retreat to a toilet to disperse with such horrendous images.

At times, I kept comparing my situation to what it must be like living in UC Berkeley for a good several years. I heard similar stories crop up. You hardly see these kinds of things at more conservative zones like UC Irvine or my little hometown in LA. But Tokyo, my god. This place is just nuts. And it seems like those nuts tend to congregate around me!]]> Fri, 02 May 2008 13:23:09 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/2/8b8ef38de6cc3d1439b09c6413fdc62e.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/2/bbe4caf43f54cd42c0346a0885293879.html Fri, 02 May 2008 14:46:46 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/2/bbe4caf43f54cd42c0346a0885293879.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/7/56f0eb277e040fad9d1af847dd98fb56.html
I haven't read any major damage nor injuries yet. But considering Myanmar's recent cyclone assault, natural disasters are probably still in people's consciousness.]]> Wed, 07 May 2008 11:39:54 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/7/56f0eb277e040fad9d1af847dd98fb56.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/18/0d9f80b00a86b36d50ba4518523e5795.html
This whole thing is making me think just how burnt out of Tokyo I am. Sure, the work is okay, my co-workers are fine, etc. but there's something missing. I've always said that I would prefer if .jp was adjacent to Los Angeles such that I could take a bridge and just drive to Tokyo on the weekends. Instead of having that little shitty Tiajuana place, give us a nice city for people like me to hang out (hmmm....just to think about it....it would be pretty interesting if the Japanese and people in Mexico could exchange geographic locations. That would be kinda cool in reality).

Anyway, forgetting the exorbitant gas prices, the political mess and other screw ups going on in the states, I want to be back. I guess .jp just isn't fun for me anymore....]]> Sun, 18 May 2008 15:50:11 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/5/18/0d9f80b00a86b36d50ba4518523e5795.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/6/14/a21ca09a5fcc16ee06be9b3c15eb5e78.html
That said, I'm always hunting for places that I enjoy from America in Tokyo. My friend had pointed out the other day that California Pizza Kitchen has a restaurant in Kawasaki, so I decided to check out the website. I was pretty surprised to find more than one in Tokyo. But that lead me to look at a few other spots:

Burger King - Locations: Akihabara, Oimachi, Sugamo, Kanda, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku (West Side)
California Pizza Kitchen - Yokohama, Kawasaki and Suidobashi (next to the Tokyo Dome)
Krispy Kreme Donuts - Shinjuku, Yurakucho, Kawaguchi (Saitama), Tachikawa, Minami Funabashi (Chiba), Shibuya

Well, I'm hoping one day that they'll open In 'n' Out, IHOP, Del Taco, Carl's Jr and Jamba Juice as well out here. I think with those spots in addition to the aforementioned restaurants and other existing places like Subway (they just need the meatball sandwich!!!!), I can survive out here a little longer :)]]> Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:19:43 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/6/14/a21ca09a5fcc16ee06be9b3c15eb5e78.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/6/19/a37791f413bf589eac3cc3d1ff6818cb.html
For our order, we got an Asian chicken salad, BBQ Pizza and the Thai Chicken Pizza. I also had just for myself the tortilla salad. I think that one was a bit smaller than I remember, but the taste was exactly the same. The flavor of the food matched what you can get in the States, so triple points for them. Price-wise, it's quite fair at around 1500-1700-en for a pizza. With a few drinks added, our total came out to be 7700-en or so. Not too bad for 3 people.

The great thing is that it's hard to find quality pizza in Japan. There is an excellent place in Roppongi, but it can get quite crowded from time-to-time. Also, they have a more pure "American" style menu that really caters to foreigners. However, California Pizza Kitchen, I believe, is a great place to go for a date. They have a nice atmosphere, great sides, excellent wine and drink menu, good lighting and is located in a great dating spot. Oh, more importantly, the pizza selection is quite unique with some Asian flair that I feel is quite acceptable for the Japanese.

At any rate, I highly recommend going out to one of the CPK's as they offer some great food for reasonable prices if you're in Tokyo or Yokohama.]]> Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:01:07 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/6/19/a37791f413bf589eac3cc3d1ff6818cb.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/27/046aa6980c1d23165e09064ffd330252.html
Worse yet, the US Embassy has really limited hours. I can't imagine what would happen if an American was stranded here on a Saturday or Sunday. I kept thinking to myself, "Damn lazy Americans!!!!!"

Anyway, bottom line is if you're in the US, on a trip away from Tokyo and thinking about renewing your passport despite being there for a limited time, do it then, not in Tokyo!!!!]]> Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:15:17 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/27/046aa6980c1d23165e09064ffd330252.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/28/15fb56392d4b455b981ede052663a2b7.html
I FINALLY was able to turn in my passport and the paperwork necessary to renew my passport. All the verbosity on the website really amounts to a bunch of pain that's unnecessary. Basically, what you need are:

• A copy of the application on the website.
• An Expack 500 envelope that you can buy at the post office (it looks like a FedEx cardboard mailing envelope in the states). Cost I think around 500-750-en.
• An international money order for $75 (or you can pay at the cashier over in the embassy)
• 2 50x50 cm photos.

If you have these things, you're pretty much set. Just got to the embassy near Tameiki Sanno station. The embassy is across the street from the Akasaka Twin Towers. If you see the Lawry's it's across from that, down a tiny street, across from Lawsons.

If you go, make sure you DON'T bring any food or water. They'll dispose of it. Also, they'll conviscate any electronic devices temporarily. So it's best to come with the bare minimal items to get through the security check points quickly.

And the guards at the security check point are Japanese, so you might have to be prepared to speak a little Japanese. I think they might understand a word or two in English, but don't count on it.

Anyway, the worst part was getting through the security check points. Then you have to pick a number from a kiosk near the front desk. There's a tiny room/hallway leading to the passport service. Not many people work there (only 2-3). And it's not open for long hours (seems like low demand).

Of course, you can avoid all this by submitting your passport through the mail, but I suggest going in person to avoid the risk of using improper information on the form. The process, according to the woman at the desk, takes from 3-4 weeks.

Also, if you're like me and have your work visa and re-entry permits, you'll have to go to the immigration office in Shinagawa to get that fixed up. The sad part is that neither office communicates with each other. One office ruins your passport (basically, they'll punch a bunch of wholes in it) and the other makes you fix it.

Well, at least this shit is almost over. I can't wait to get it back so I can sail home finally!!!!!]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:20:25 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/28/15fb56392d4b455b981ede052663a2b7.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/28/3fce267626eda05bcf243ca37d4e8b30.html
If there's one HUGE motivation for me to escape Tokyo/Japan, it's the fucking weather here. The weather here is absolutely awful. Today was raining on and off, but overall it was still humid and cloudy. I blame the weather on my ear infection recently, with all the pressure and moisture in the air, causing me to cough like crazy.

Not only that, but this friggin' place drives me nuts with all the goddamn summer bugs. It's not just a little tiny ant, but these horrible cicada and green beetle things. I can't open my window at night because I'm scared that one of these buggers will fly in one day. And they're NASTY! They're huge, make tons of noise and leave their dead, bloated bodies all over the ground. I get so annoyed seeing these old fucking farts hobbling around the gardens thinking, "Ah, it's summer because these insects are about!"

This year's weather has just been purely miserable. It's been either too cold or too rainy. We rarely had good days that you could just saunter down a street without the sky turning gray.

Then I checked the weather forecast and this crap will be continuing. You know, this is one place in the world that doesn't need more water. Give it to people in Africa or LA even! Not here! We got plenty all around us!]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:46:04 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/8/28/3fce267626eda05bcf243ca37d4e8b30.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/10/20/4ee37cf9b4ccd0bb11af6cd42806602d.html
I really shouldn't have grabbed a spot in Roppongi of all places. The place is a filthy mess and my only rationale for choosing it was the proximity to my old office (as well as TBS). However, my place has brought me a lot of grief, namely that it's far too small, noisy and just nasty. Tonight another friggin' HUGE cockroach ran across the wall. So nasty! I have no idea where these goddamn things come from. Down the street is a Chinese restaurant and my Japanese friends and coworkers often say that's one main source of the problem.

Another issue is living on the second floor. It's just too close to the ground, allowing these buggers to easily climb up and enter. Even outside during the summer, you can spot these suckers scurrying around the walk ways. Then this morning I found a friggin' sleeping on my balcony of all places! I have no idea how the son of a bitch got there. There's this stupid overgrown tree that looks barely strong enough to hold the fat orange bastard, but I guess the thing managed to sneak aboard that way. No wonder I've been itching lately and finding all these tick bites on my body.

This place is supposedly a designer mansion, with the center section cut out. However, I think the person who designed this should be sent back to kindergarten because it's a shoddy design with no practicality.

Some people might feel that the closeness to all these major subways is a huge convenience. Sure, but I have to walk quite far or uphill to reach most of the subways. And all the dog owners around here....it's so disgusting with all the poop lying around. I really want to grab the owners faces and shove it into the poop.

I can't wait to get out of this hell hole. I really wish I had been smarter and took a pre-furnished place in Ginza instead. Moving out would've been far easier. I should've learned from my first time here. Goddamn it!]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:33:31 -0600 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/10/20/4ee37cf9b4ccd0bb11af6cd42806602d.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/11/9/73b61da716d62c7c1467fed0dff9eb24.html
Here's a far better indicator of rain in Japan. Go outside. Check to see how many people are bearing umbrellas. If the count is greater than 3 within 1 minute (depending on how crowded of an area you live in), bring an umbrella. Your best bet is to bring the umbrella regardless. I'd say your chances of avoiding rain by always carrying an umbrella are better than not bringing it and listening to the forecast online.]]> Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:58:43 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/11/9/73b61da716d62c7c1467fed0dff9eb24.html http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/11/10/f478c1ab772b29d399304465a1cedb84.html
Winter in Tokyo is pretty brutal, at least for me. Being a SoCal boy, I'm used to being able to wear shorts and tshirts with but a light sweater during the "winter" season in LA. Here though, without the full regalia of pants, thick jacket and whatnot, it's a bitter fight to not scuttle quickly toward the covers or to switch on the heater.

Soon, I'll be trekking back to LA (hopefully unscathed) and just in time to avoid the brutality of the winter here. But I'm amazed just how cold this place has become in such a short time span. It's as if this place is either too cold or too humid.

I'm actually quite glad in terms of temperature for my decision. I think this year will be especially cold out here. I can't imagine what January and February will be like...]]> Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:23:05 -0700 http://www.keithwatanabe.net/blogs/2008/11/10/f478c1ab772b29d399304465a1cedb84.html