Brothers from Another Mother

03月17日2011年

I now realize why pachinko is so popular. It turns out gambling is illegal in japan. Which is very ironic cause pachinko is like the Japanese slot machine. Many people including Ayako's dad go to south Korea to gamble. Now I know what to get him for his Southern hospitality. A deck of cards.

On the Osaka subway line Ayako was quick to forget her ticket once we entered. Luckily the worker was helpful enough to issue us another one for free. We got on the midosuji line and I quickly noticed a girl sitting in the corner give me a glance. I'm sure it was cause I was a gaijin but looking back at her I couldn't help to notice a sad face. I asked Ayako if you were that girl, what would cheer you up? Unfortunately a random gaijin talking to you was not on the list. She was quick to point out that most people on the train were unhappy or exhausted. When I looked around that seem to bare truth to every female on the train. She asked what can I do to cheer everyone up? If I had dance moves like Kenny I could （＾Ｏ＾☆♪

From the reviews the neighborhood sucked which was not a big deal cause i grew up in what was once considered a shitty neighborhood. Walking to out hostel the neighborhood reminded me of the South Bronx. The place was called Hostel Toyo. It was packed because all the gaijin left Tokyo. The good news was I finally got wireless but the place was cold ass fuck. Also the unfortunate news for the ladies (thats Ayako) was that it only had a duo bathroom and shower. The place was full of Europeans and Asians. Ayako quickly became cold and scared. I cant blame her, it was like we were in the projects of Japan. We didn't stay indoors to long cause Ayako quickly rushed me to get going and I can't believe I didn't grab more mixtapes.

Before heading out to the Umeda district for lunch, I wanted to get lost and explore the neighborhood. We walked through a rugged looking shoutengai (shopping district) The place reminded me of Chinatown but the more I walked around the more it became clear it was the south Bronx if it had a Japanese population. To help keep herself warm, Ayako bought these heat pads called hokairo.

Walking through these hopeless alleys Ayako became scared and held my arm. It was all eyes on us or me I mean every Japanese person was staring at us and I kept taking us in random directions until I felt like I was in a movie where something bad was about to happen. We decided to head back and go to a livelier neighborhood for lunch.

We hit a downtown district called Umeda. We were walking randomly until i spotted the ferris wheel and wanted to see what was there and maybe even ride it. Heading towards it I see a trio of Japanese dudes who look like they came out of the 36 Chambers. It was my turn to meet  some new Japanese people and I roll up behind them and begin as polite as I can 失礼します。Broke the ice with a simple question like "where's a delicious place to go eat at?" from there I already knew they were Hiphop heads and passed them the mixtape. It turned out that they were street dancers. I immediately put em on the spot and they didn't hesitate to bust a few moves. I invited them to eat ramen plates on me and they agreed. Funny thing was they never performed on the street before and were planning to do it for the first time today （＾Ｏ＾☆♪ not only that but on the way to the ramen place they gained some fans off the first street performance they did for us. Two kids had followed us fir about 3 blocks until they built the guts to ask for a picture. 'SNAP SHOT'

At the ramen spot we talked hiphop and these cats were def heads that grew up on the 90's music. They barely spoke English but our enthusiasm for wanting to learn about one another made communication the easiest I ever had it in Japan. I thought it was my turn to show my skills off and spit a verse and a freestyle at the lunch table. They didn't understand a word but respected the flow (>_<) haha that was fun. Even Ayako was surprised. Then out of no where they snag the check and pay for everything before I even knew what happened ！(◎_◎;) I thought they were my guest?


Keep it 元気

A New Journey

03月17日2011年

You know what's interesting about Japan? There's always a smoking section no matter where you go for all you smokers out there. Now all they need is a green room for all you weed heads. Maybe when Amsterdam and Japan unite...

I awoke at 12 am but decided to stay in bed. Half asleep all night until I was awaken by Ayako tobacco urge. Hate that smell （；゜０゜）

In between my in and outs I had a dream about working at Apple Japan and selling ipad3, iPhone 5, and iPod touch 5. The plan is to transfer to Apple in Japan but first I gotta speak the language fluently.

I get up early and read the news. Possible nuclear meltdown gets closer and closer. Definitely one of my biggest fears. The US and France say that the situation is far worse than Japan is leading on.

Soon enough Okaasan is awake and we have a nice breakfast together. I am becoming more and more fond of her and would make the trip to Fukuoka just to see her in the future. I always get in really good Japanese practices with her and she is very patient, allowing me to pull out an electronic dictionary every time I don't understand something or rewords it to me in the simplest of terms. I must take a family picture with the family when I return to Fukuoka.

 Yukiko 夕起子 got up late enough to give herself another half hour of sleep but miss breakfast -_-b Everytime our eyes meet she gives me this beautiful smile that is hardly used. It's like watching a baby trying to walk for the first in your direction. I can tell that this is a family of sacrifices and Yukiko is one who most likely sacrificed her happiness to help her mom at work.

After they head off to work its time for us to head out to Osaka (^O^) Yet waking up Ayako is a pain in the ass ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ but I never get up this early in the states anyway. Ayako awakes cranky as usual. She could tell I was in a low patience attitude and didn't dare to snap. We rushed to catch a cab and I noticed that the doors are opened by a button the driver pushes. We skated and managed to catch our train.

Out of all the cities I am visiting the one I have been most excited for is Osaka. I have many things in mind such as sight seeing, red-light district and clubs but most of all I gotta get this mixtape out.

We transfer to the Shinkansen and its time for girl talk (*^^*) Over the last few weeks I have become the guy my female friends talk to about there boy drama. Yup all up in the friend zone and not the guy that boyfriends want to hear there girlfriends have been hanging with. Ayako tells me about last night's fight. Same shit all over again but I rather have her spill her heart over and over again about the subject cause just maybe our interactions can have her grow as a person in life. One thing I can't stand is hanging out with a friend who is quiet and pissed off about a situation they never had control over. As rebellious as she is, she is very dependent on men. A catch 22

In our ride to Osaka I got to learn more about Ayako's fam. Apparently her mom's fell very ill two years ago from the stress at the family business. To no surprise Ayako's dad is a very tough person to work for. I don't know all the details but in the end Yukiko had to leave her own career to help out with the family business. I think her family is awesome and have given up a lot just to allow Ayako to study in the states. I told Ayako to give her mother a big hug when we meet in Hiroshima on Sunday.

On the train we make a deal with eachother to try to meet people everywhere we go. Two for each of us which will be a bitch for me but be good practice for my Japanese. She's quick to meet someone in one of her smoke breaks. Apparently a hot shorty who lives in Osaka and recommended we go see the ocean. Exactly what I had planned (^O^)

The sky might fall but I'm not worried at all - Kid Cudi



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Last Day in Fukuoka

 ２０１１年０３月１６日

Wanna know a great way to spark a conversation with someone in Japan? Let them know your from Boston. Any baseball fan will automatically take great interest in you. Reddo Sokkusu! Not just cause of Diasuke but because they are legitimate Baseball fans and love the Red Sox \(//∇//)\ They'll tell you about Pedro and all that stuff the casual fan is oblivious too (that's me)

Ayako finally awakens and the first thing planned is to find her keys. Her and Yukie call all the places we went to yesterday. No luck. An hour after the dialing madness, Ayako Is looking through her bag for a lighter and finds the keys hidden in a pocket hole (>_<)

Ayako let's me know that she still plans on going to Osaka with me tomorrow and to keep it on the hush. I don't even talk to her boyfriend, and he sure ain't reading this blog.

On the car ride back to Fukuoka I've realized I become a bit dependent on Ayako's translating and not getting enough of my Japanese in. I think she realized it as well and barely spoke to me all morning which was good cause I was forced to talk to Yukie in Japanese. We first broke the ice with Japanese language games such as counters and shiritori. It was a cool sunny day and the rice fields looked lively as we zipped through the suburbs. Our first stop was to buy a flash light and batteries for her brother in Tokyo. When we got there almost all the flash lights were sold out. There were only a few mini sized flashlights and they were totally out of batteries ((((；ﾟДﾟ))))))) talk about a panic.

We decided to hit a cafe for coffee, tea, and cocoa. Us three just hanging on a quiet day talking mundane dialogue felt like something out of a Tarantino movie. After my first cup of tea I asked Ayako which container was hot cocoa. She challenged me to find out by reading the labels. I took her challenge and FAILED! I was so busy looking for katakana reading ココア that I overlooked the obvious English reading for hot cocoa (>_<)

When we got to the crib I gave Yukie my final goodbyes knowing I wouldn't see her for the remainder of my trip. At Ayako's home it began to feel as though I was beginning to overstay my welcome. Glad I was headed to Osaka tomorrow. She was out of energy and although I wanted to go out I decided to call it a early night. Being with her family is an experience in itself. Ayako again gave me the ping pong effect of not thinking she can afford the trip to Osaka. I was gonna pay for her room, since I was living off her for free, it was the least I could do. So it seemed decided that I was going alone which was no big deal. This is a solo dolo trip anyway. She's just a flower I picked up on the scenic route.

Her mom wanted to have dinner with me again and actually introduced me to a meal that was adopted from middle eastern culinary. It was similar to shabu shabu but rather than a hot pot of soup it was a pot with almost no water. It is used in desert like environments where water is scarce. We had mushrooms and beef to go with some bomb ass rice. Very interesting when another culture introduces something to me from well, another culture.

After dinner Ayako keeps the debating going on whether or not she should go to Osaka with me. I convince her to roll through but she doesn't want to ask her moms to help her pay the Shinkansen fair. I knew her mom would give her birthday cash all I asked was Ayako to give her a hug when she gets the money. She agrees as long as I am there to support her. "No doubt". She ask her mom with the most polite of polite Japanese and her mom gladly hooks her up and just says "why didn't you ask me sooner?". And I am asking Ayako to give her mom a hug. She tells me it's not a Japanese thing to hug. I hugged her for Ayako. Then I gave Oneesan a hug also cause she needed love too.

Osaka here we go!


Keep it 元気

日本のテレビ Puerto Ricans Love Red

I like to take a moment for Japanese television. It is quite entertaining even when you don't understand the language. Especially when the first thing you see when you turn on the terebi is the Shamwow guy dubbed in Japanese LMFAO!

Soon after the commercials it so happens we were watching the news. I got live updates and photos of the earthquake and tsunami disaster. I saw footage of trains pushed in a parallel direction, a fighter jet thrown into a home！(◎_◎;) A tanker in the middle of the city. It was cold in Japan, so to make things worse then they were it was snowing in the area where people had lost there homes. Their were many sick people without medicine or a hospital. A lot of families were relocated to shelters. It was a spirited feeling to see many nations sending support. I also watched a scientific breakdown of the 4 nuclear plants. I saw Live coverage of steam coming out of nuclear plant #4. The area needed to be evacuated because radiation levels were dangerously high. I thought "the nuclear plants may become a disaster of there own". Everyday there was something going wrong at a different plant.

I learned that gasoline and food supplies are on empty in many areas where the earthquake struck, and in many parts of Tokyo there is no food supply or flashlights. Tokyo had been having blackouts throughout the week and Yukie's brother was living there and without a flashlight because he could not find one.

After the news we flipped to a comedy channel. The first person i see turns out to be a familiar face. Pride FC's Takada who was also known as the hulkhogan of Japanese pro wrestling. After seeing an Adidas commercial prank they pull with a director they called Steven Cameron, who is a fusion between Spielberg and the Avatar director, I watched this other comedy show that showed Japan's stereotypes of other people. They had this one dude do impersonations of an American, Indian, and a Puerto Rican. The American impersonation came off as a pissed off gaijin getting mad at an umbrella cause he tripped on it (we are looked as angry people), the Indian was of course a yoga Ghandi impersonation, but the most interesting and funny, since some of my best friends are from PR, was the Puerto Rican stereotype who apparently loves the color red and was digging through his apartment like a mad man to find anything red just to look at it.

I also saw a commercial about a hair wax for men and it sounded like it was called SEXIST. So in the commercial when the guy puts on the wax he looks directly at the camera smiling and yells "SEXIST". No wonder their are all women carts.

Watching tv with Yukie i actually saw a comedian who was apparently friends with her gayboy crush. If she ends up getting him I will ask if I can be in the audience or be a Baka gaijin in one of there shows ϵ( 'Θ' )϶

The final show I watched was of a famous singer who unknowingly was on a prank show. From my understanding it seemed like he was brought on to a place with natural hot springs and was promoting it. So he's doing a tour trying out different onsens in this indigenous area. They pull a prank where there is a wall between the male area and female area and he is hanging by himself and begins to over hear 4 woman talking about how big there breast are. At one point they are all chanting to one girl having G cups. He is listening with high interest and then his name is brought up as one girl claims he is the sexiest singer. Suddenly the wall between the two falls down and the girls run across him to the exit wearing just towels. The joke doesn't end there. It was an all day fuck with this guy event. They went to a farm and all kanpai'd to glasses of milk. However his glass was spiked with a shitload of sweeteners and the expression on his face when he drank it was dam this is some sweet ass milk! (since he was doing a promotional video it would have been impolite of him to spit it out)  There were some other pranks such as having him alone in the room and wall decorations begin to randomly fall in the middle of the night but the event to end it all was when the cops came to arrest him because the girls put on a complaint that he broke the wall. When he is in handcuffs with a shirt over his face they remove the shirt for him to find the chief of police is a very famous comedian and thats when he realizes he was on a game show with hidden cameras. Ashton Kutcher ain't got shit on these guys.

The River Kanji

In my opinion I have a high tolerance for alcohol. I can control my actions, I hold myself accountable for what I do (I don't blame it on the alcohol), and I remember the night (well at least the important things). My weakness however is motion sickness if I'm tipsy. Which takes us into the events after dinner.

So we leave the spot and head to Yukie's house. The length of the ride felt like the one from New York to Boston. I immediately pass out and feel like I woke up 3 hours later and sick. I have a headache and have the feeling of wanting to throw up. In the front seat I see Ayako screaming at the phone "Baka....motherfucker" her voice cracks in anger with the sign of tears being held back. I pass out again and awake trying to hold my meal down. The last time I threw up I didn't feel any better so I just concentrated on keeping it together through out the ride. Ayako was still screaming at her phone "$&@?#%€¥!" Yukie looks back at me and smiles (*^^*) I somehow start feeling better and pass out again (｡-_-｡)



When I awake the car had been parked at what seemed like a rest stop. It was Yukie's father's office. We take our kicks off before entering. The girls stopped for a cigarette break and began chatting about something I couldn't understand nor could focus on. I stayed standing moving back and forth to keep myself awake. Yukie hands me a glass of water and medicine to pour into it. I down it like a shot glass and look over at Ayako. "what happen?" she tells that they decided to take a break for a few days and that he finally said happy birthday. I ironically think "long distance relationships are a bitch" (I did it for 4 years in two different relationships).

The finish up and we get back in the car and drive for 1 minute to Yukie's home sweet home. Yukie's family home was something out of the Edo period. The hall ways were very thin, the wood on the floor felt like it had a history of samurai's and geishas, there was a sliding door for every room, and there was even a room that had a ritual set up of geisha dolls that are said to bring good luck to a woman's love life (I think that's what they told me). The place however was freezing cause it did not have a heating system and each room had a separate plug in heater. We all went to sleep in what was Yukie's little sister's room. Yukie set up the sheets on to the tatami. Before I laid down Ayako joked and said we were going to be sleeping like the river kanji 川 I laid down still feeling half tipsy and knew my unbalanced feeling would make me the stroke that leans off center 川

3月16日2011年

I awoke 4 hours later and could see the light from the sun filling the room with life. It was 5 am and the others were out like rocks. I have no idea where I am and have to wait it out until the others awaken. I felt like I was full of energy but in a social prison. I looked outside and I was literally in the middle of no where. I couldn't sleep so I pick out a magazine from Yukie's imouto no zasshi collection. As soon as I pull a magazine off the shelf 5 random items come crashing down. Not a single reaction from any of them. Yeah they were out like Tokyo electricity. I check my phone and find that softbank is just like AT&T. Not only does it carry the iPhone but its signal sucks. Yukie actually has the iPhone and also a phone from the rival company Docomo for all her phone calls. Lol I'm sure the employees at Apple Japan get the question "when is the iPhone coming to docomo?" everyday. I figured skyping with people from the states would kill time but unfortunately there was no wireless.

 I eventually had to piss enough liquid to cool down a nuclear plant, so I regrettably woke up Yukie to show me the bathroom. I hadn't met her mom or pops yet and didn't want them to meet me as some random guy searching for the bathroom in there lovely home. Yukie decided to stay awake so me, her, and hikari (a cute little dog that kept farting) watched Japanese programing all morning.

Happy Birthday Ayako chan

In America I can't stand the police. To them I say fuck you but in Japan they seem so kind like your friendly neighborhood mailman. Well at least a mailman that has yet to shoot up a place.

We are at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. It is known for being the first museum in the world to specialize in contemporary Asian art. Exploring the facility I see art primarily from Nepal, Mongolia, and India. I go to this one section that has many painting of the Indian god Vishnu. Every single one is him fucking some goddess or Indian princess, a great exhibit to take that artsy chick your interested in. Made me think about the robot sex museum in Nikko, I imagine Gundam meets sex in the city.

We skate for me to get some chocolates and flowers for the ladies. The whole time Ayako is stressed and pissed her man hasn't called back or responded to her texts with at least a Happy Birthday. "Alright fuck this shit, give me your goddam phone and I'll pass it to you if it rings" I was hoping to get her mind off of what she can't control. I knew the dude would eventually hit her up. He is just the type that needs time to think and when he thinking she shouldn't be stressing. Especially on her birthday. She agrees but on many occasions I have to refuse to give her phone back.


I got the chocolate and go to this flower shop. I was thinking I was gonna run into the usual flowers I see but no I do not. I see huge beautiful roses, blue tinted flowers that look like the sky, colorful pedals for any occasion, and sunshine flowers to bring any females spirits up. I pick a different flower for each girl and get Ayako two for white day and her birthday. Now this dude doesn't just wrap this flower up and it's a goodbye. Nah he puts together these flowers like a ritual as if it were for the emperor. He also put a nice label on them either saying happy birthday or white day. How can you not be romantic in Japan with options like these? By the end of it I would have blushed if these flowers were given to me.

Off to la casa. Ayako lost her keys (>_<) off to the family business to use someone else's keys (^O^) back to la casa I give Ayako her flowers and chocolate and finally see today's first genuine smile (*^^*) soon her mom gets home and gets her white day flower and chocolate. She seemed so happy with the gift that I felt my cool points shoot off the roof. It turned out that was her first white day gift ever ！(◎_◎) I felt honored but sad at the same time that a lovely spirit like her isn't  appreciated on occasions like white day. Im sure I lost cool points with her husband. No man likes to be upstaged by another. Oneesan wasnt home so i left her gifts for when she gets home. We hunt for Ayako's keys around the apartment, car, and premises until Yukie shows up with my new pair of glasses @(・●・)@ I give her a gift from the states and her white day flower and chocolate. As soon as I put them on I feel like I just got a whole new perspective on seeing the word. Daddy's got a new pair! Let's hit the night.

Ayako's keys are never found and we make way to dinner in this Fukuoka strip that looked like the place to be. "Why weren't we here yesterday?" I'm talking lights, skirts, cuts, and all of the above. It looked like every bad broad in Fukuoka was out this night. We walked until we hit this modern style Izakaya that's seems to have have nothing but young hood like employees. When I enter, the idea strikes me that Ayako still needs a birthday cake. I tell her that her hair looks like shit and she should go fix it again in the bathroom. She takes the bait and I tell Yukie to ask if they can serve a birthday cake for desert. Score!

I snatch a bunch of club flyers about Hiphop events for my next go around in Fukuoka. Dinner was live and poppin. I really digged (dug) the atmosphere there. Not a place to take your parents but a great spot to hit with friends or a meal before hitting the club. When we hit the drinks, Ayako recommends me Plum sake. Do it like the natives and I find that plum sake is my new favorite drink. Goddam that was delicious and strong. I down 3 more within the night and I'm nicer than southern hospitality. Umeshu, that's the name for anyone hitting Japan. I'll be bringing back a bottle for the states.

So her man finally calls and I don't notice but it don't take long for Ayako to want to check her calls. She's off and they go talk about something that my alcohol levels don't care to relapse. I get my Japanese on with Yukie and she tells me about a guy she is interested in. She jokes and says she likes a gay boy. The guy is her hair stylus and has that feminine look some high maintenance Japanese guys carry. Yukie has never been in a serious relationship but in my opinion she is a keeper for a guy looking for a good woman. I tell her Ganbatte (^_-) AKA go get em girl.

Ayako returns and immediately this big muscled Japanese dude who looks like he's been in prison for the last 5 years bust out a cake with a candle flaring and begins to sing Happy birthday in English. He sounded like Al Green. I joined in the chorus and soon enough everyone around our table began to sing. It was fucking awesome. She blew the flame off and looked to be happy amongst friends. I wonder what she wished for when she blew the candle?

二人やな女

You know what's interesting about Japan? In places like tokyo where the trains can get overcrowded and sexual harassment from gropers is common, an all woman's cart is available during rush hour. Be aware of that and don't end up like me, waiting for the train in the women's only section and looking like a pervert. I swear I didn't know! Or like my friend manny who actually got inside and must have scared a cart full of women ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))))))

Ayako is still up for going to Osaka and decides to keep it on the hush from her boyfriend. We go to the station to find out how much a roundtrip would cost by Shinkansen. Over ¥30000 dam! That's almost the price of my 2 week JR pass. By the end of this trip, my use of the Shinkansen and JR lines is probably going to be over ¥200000 worth. I highly recommend anyone wanting to travel Japan to get a JR pass. You will save so much money but you can only buy it before entering Japan.

We head off to get my cellphone turned on. I had a phone that my girl had used 3 years ago and figured it would make sense to put calling card minutes on that phone that way I can save money. Surprise! It turns out I have to buy a new phone cause the old ones no good for whatever reason. I buy a new phone but I'm told that if I don't use the phone by January 2012, it becomes useless and I will have to buy another one. Of course it wouldn't （＾◇＾） I plan on returning to Japan every 8 to 10 months so this cheap phone will just make me stick to that plan. Ayako ended having to put her name on the phone because I had forgotten a document I received from customs back at the house. Now that I think about it I don't even recall where I put it (>_<) I hope leaving the country won't be a problem and if so well I against my stay has been extended （^人^）The softbank employee asked me what combination would I like for the last 4 digits. I look over at the form Ayako has filled out and on the date of birth section I see today's date 0315 囧 I'll take it.

Tabetai time (=^x^=) we go to a joint called Gasuto. At Gasuto, we end up being seated next to these two Japanese bitches, and I use bitches with the upmost respect. In many Japanese establishments there is a smoking section or you are allowed to smoke, Massachusetts used to allow this until maybe 10 years ago (I'm sure there are states that still do). Now in this particular case this was not an establishment where you can smoke. Ayako had already been in a mode where every little thing pisses her off because her man had not been responding to her text. As for me, I am not easy to piss off but these bitches were rude for even American standards. Did it bother me that they were smoking in a non smoking establishment? Not really, I mean I'm hanging with someone who downs a pack when ever she's stressed, which is often. Did I care they were students that should have been in school? Been there done that. Did it bug me that one of the girls was laying on the seats like a sofa with her bare feet against the wall? The place was pretty empty so no big deal although the site of her ugly feet made me regret ordering steak. But what did piss me off was when the sweet waitress who was timid of asking them to put the cigarette out was scoffed at! Nuh uh uh puta. Before that Ayako had kept asking me if she should tell em off like I was her master and commander and all she wanted was the order. "Fire away baby doll". They put that cigarette out like a fire drill. You go girl (^_-)

Keep it 元気

Diaries of a Sad Japanese Girl

You know what's interesting about Japan? There's this company called AC that sponsors commercials about helping people in Kenya, showing kindness to the elderly, and donating to earthquake victims. The fact that these commercials exist don't surprise me but the fact they get a heavier rotation than budlight commercials in the states is very impressive. And during peak hours.

-Ok pancakes are done and ready just in time for when Okaasan and Oneesan get up for work. I soon learned that all of them only have one day off from work a week and Otousan is known to go to work from 5:00 til 21:00 (´･_･`) so making Okaasan and Oneesan breakfast plus cleaning up made me feel as though I was pulling a little weight around and making their lives easier. Especially Oneesan, who is known to get up at the last minute and skip breakfast. It was hilarious seeing her in the morning cause she literally looked and moved like a zombie out of thriller before freshening up (´Д` ) it shouldn't be funny cause I know she was exhausted but it was a Kodak moment Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

Thank god they enjoyed the pancakes (*☻-☻*) I was a little nervous on whether or not they like it (~_~;) they go to work and I hang til Ayako gets up and eats her birthday breakfast I made her.

The day before Ayako had asked me to cut the side of her hair. I was a little hesitant cause I thought I might fuck up but I assure what ended up happening was not my fault lol. I go to trim the side of her head and Zzrrrrk there goes a bunch of hair and she starts freaking out （；゜０゜）apparently she forgot to put the clippers on for the length she desired cut hahaha. We got creative and still made it look sexy.

Before we headed out for the day I met the house maid. She was very kind and happy to meet me. Again an Obaasan and also it proves they got stacks but they bust their ass to live this luxurious.

Our first stop we went to the family business to run an errand. It seems to be a company that fixes and sells automobiles. Their were fucked up vehicles all around as well as sweet looking ones. Okaasan and Oneesan give me big waves and smiles while Otoosan just gives me the nod. I'll take my respect soon enough.

Next area we bounce to is the post office and Ayako is quiet and looking stressed. I try to cheer her up, I mean it's her birthday but it turns out her boyfriend is threatening to breakup with her and hasn't given her a happy birthday. Now if I was really hunting for her this would be the time to make moves but that's not my M.O. She is in an unhappy relationship but is the kind of girl who can never be alone cause she is emotionally dependent of others. I am not gonna be the next person for her to be emotionally dependent on so rather than kick advice or make an advance we talk in a manner where she is gonna make her own decision. She probably thinking it's best to be single but she admits to being afraid of being alone...

Yeah this trip is going to be "The Diaries of a sad Japanese girl" and I'm just a page ( ´▽｀)

Don't trust your girl around me

火曜日3月15日2011年

You know what's funny? Everytime I cross paths with a gaijin I get this look like "WTF are you doing here?" I should be saying the same thing. Ayako told me she had the same vibe when she ran into Japanese people in Boston.

I passed out early last night after my conversation with Yukiko and woke around 3 AM. I just couldn't sleep for more than 4 hours. I was full of excitement. At one point Ayako was came in the room to smoke a cigarette. Apparently she had been fighting with her boyfriend (who lives in Tokyo) all night. The reason: me!

Last night Okaasan had asked me about my plans in Japan and I told her I was off to Hiroshima on Thursday to see the bomb sight. Okaasan said she wanted to go but only has Sunday's off. I let her know my schedule is absolutely flexible and I will go to Osaka first and meet her in Hiroshima on Sunday if she really wants to go. Ayako, being the translator for all things not understood, liked my plan and asked if she can tag along. "Of course, Osaka seems tailored made for us, 行く。"

She apparently told her boyfriend who flipped out. Now he is a guy who's incredibly jealous but from what I know about Ayako, I can't blame him. Now even though we weren't gonna even gonna be sharing the same room, I don't care what any dude says, a boyfriend should be jealous. Not to say I would handle it the same way as him but at the end of the day it's a trip with just us two and I truly believe any guy, yes even the ones who say "I trust my girl and would never get jealous", deep down inside do not like a scenario like the one that's about to play out. Plus i only met the guy once so even worse that he hardly knew me. Oh well, her decision

She went to bed and I got up. I wanted to take a shower and eat but decided to wait until her father got up at 5 am and left to work so I won't get in the way if he needs the bathroom or whatever.

I decided to get on the computer for news updates and found out about a third explosion at the plants and 10000 people are either dead or missing. This situation gets more horrific by the day. I scrolled through before and after pictures from satellite view of areas destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami. It looked like Godzilla had ran through it. Also it turned out Tokyo had apparently been shutdown. No food in the markets, blackouts, trains stopped running. Good thing I got out when I did.

After Otousan left the building I decided to hit the showers and realized I don't know how on heavens to use this. I didn't want to wake Ayako but I was gonna wake up Ayako. Luckily it was her birthday and I can sing her Happy birthday as an excuse to wake her up. She swats at me like I'm some sort of water fly but eventually gets up. As soon as she shows me i realize it's the same as the showers in the onsen. バカだよ。

After the shower it was time to make pancakes for the family. "where the hell is everything in this kitchen?"...."Ayako!" after waking up Ayako again and having the tools and ingredients ready, I was ready to make breakfast. "now how do I use this stove"..."Ayako!"

Fried chicken with the man of the house

You know what's awesome about Japan? Softbank, there biggest cellular provider, has a black guy who speaks Japanese as there mascot.

Tonight was the night I would finally meet Ayako's father and sister. Was I nervous? Your dam right I was! This was the man of the house who was allowing me to take shelter in his hen house. He don't approve I move. As soon as I walked in the kitchen, there he was. Standing and waiting to meet me like I was some sort of foreign diplomat about to negotiate my stay.

 He was interested in knowing who I was but we didn't get far at all on our own. As soon as he began to talk Japanese It felt as though it was totally a foreign language I hadn't ever heard. Ayako had to translate everything and i felt embarrassed in my language skills. The next morning I would learn that Fukuoka had a different dialect than that of Tokyo and that was why I didn't understand a word. Luckily Okaasan cooked dinner for us and I kept myself preoccupied with eating and barely made conversation.

 Okaasan can make some bomb ass food by the way. She made one of my favorite Japanese meals. Rice, miso soup, and fried chicken! And not just the fried chicken the states are familiar with but Japanese fried chicken. If you never had it, just imagine fried chicken taken and engineered by Japan's greatest minds. A vegetarian would break their code for it.

At some point Yukiko "Ayako's older sister" came through. She was very friendly and took a high interest in conversing with me. Just like her mother, she was very patient and would reword her sentences if I didn't understand. Now that I think about it, I'll make a pen-pal out of her. Ayako later on told me that she is never really that talkative and guessed that my origin being outside of Japan must have brought a strong interest to her.  During our conversation I found out that today was the "White Day" holiday. OMG! I completely forgot.

For those who don't know about "White Day", it is Valentine's Day for women because in Japan "Valentine's Day" is dedicated to the men. I apologized but they said they didn't care about that: meaning that they don't care cause they didn't get anything but would care if they got something. I was gonna have to think something up ASAP. I got four ladies in Fukuoka who need "White Day" love and one has a birthday tomorrow.

I Saw Her Light

You know whats interesting bout Japan? Businessmen in suits riding bicycles like middle school kids.

- Yukie had to return to work so we headed back and made a plan to meet later tonight and I gave her the hug she deserved. Again Ayako forgot where we parked but i was there on my spiderman to save the day. I'll admit about 2 thirds of the cars on the lot were white compact cars and I got the wrong car a few times. Def not buying a white or silver vehicle in Japan.

We had options on places to go and since I was tired of traveling so much chose what ever was closer. To the temple we go. Iku

Dazaifutenmanguu temple. Dam that's a long name. It began to rain so we busted out the sakura looking umbrella, which looked good on me (^_-) The street we walked on towards the temple brought me back to feudal Japan. You probably could go back 300 years on this path to the temple and you most likely get the same vibe you get walking the path today. On both ends it was full of shops, food stands, and ornaments. A stone gate from end to end given one an invitation and exit.

At the very end of the street was the entrance to a garden that was part of the temple. I began to once again notice alot of people with surgery face mask on and asked Ayako if alot of people are sick these days. It turned out that during this time period the flowers from the trees begin to bloom and many Japanese get allergies from it. Interesting indeed.

As we walked along the path, there was a Buddhist bridge that one would recognize from watching any samurai anime or Japanese samurai flick. It had a story behind it's architecture as well. Apparently the steps to the center of the bridge represented the past, the center was the present and the steps descending the bridge were a representation of the future. As I climbed the steps to the center of the bridge I thought about how I sometimes get caught up resenting the past and not living the present moment.  As soon as we hit the center of the bridge I asked Ayako  if she thought alot about the past or the future. Her reply was worries of the future. We paused in the center of the bridge and glanced at each other. I believe we were in the present for a split second and I had to look away before I was drawn by her beauty.

Walking through outside the temple felt like living in a masterpiece you would see in an art gallery. The temple was known as a place where women and students go to pray for there wishes. There were a lot of middle aged women and students there to give truth to that. The middle aged women would pray for a happy family and the students would pray to get into good universities.

Inside the temple walls was a omikuji. You can call it a box full of fortune cookies without the cookie. Also instead of a quote you get a detailed message on your future. We randomly pick out our oracles and Ayako reads them to me. If you believe in coincidences this is it. Her fortune pointed Towards moving into a stable place in life if she stays focused. Mines predicted my bad luck turning into good luck very soon.

On our way back I had a chance to get gifts for my peoples back home and saw the Cutest obaasan. She was asking Ayako if she had seen her friends, apparently they had been separated. She was trying her hardest to move quickly and find them. Right then and there I wanted to give her a piggy back ride to her destination. She was straight out of an anime.

The ride back home I crashed in the passenger seat and was out for the count when we arrived home. Ayako suggested if I should call it a night. Hell no! I can sleep back in the states and got up off my ass when Yukie arrived to check out the nightlife.

Tonight was not going to be a night where things were popping off. We hit a location with a beautiful scenery of the city's harbor but it seemed everything was closing and the rain kept most people home. Looking at the harbor made me think if the tsunamis had hit here would my friends have survived? Shot a bunch of photos and went to get dropped off at the cribo for dinner.

Daddy`s getting a New pair

For those of you who don`t know: In Japan they drive on the opposite side of the road and the driver`s seat is on the right. It screwed up my sense of direction and made me panicky at times when making turns, I always instinctively felt as though we were headed right into traffic.

The ride from Hakata to Yukie's place of work was a troop. I began to feel as though I just wanted to stay in one location and just chill. All this traveling without a moment to smell the flowers was wearing me down.


I felt bad that I didn't get anything for Ayako. The truth was I had barely spoken to her since the Christmas get together and thought I wouldnt get to see her in Japan because in our last conversation it seemed as though I wasn't in her plans when I arrived to Japan. It turned out she was the first to hit me up after the earthquake and has followed up with all kinds of accommodations, such as given me her room to sleep in while she takes the couch. Dam I better get creative ASAP.
When we finally get there it was awesome to see Yukie. I wanted to give her a hug but felt it was inappropriate at her place of work so I held back. We bust out the glasses I asked for and even fixes my old piece of shit glasses. Wow my Japanese friends go the whole nine yards for me. I am very grateful to know such people.

Thank god the eye examination had me reading hiragana rather than kanji cause i would have been fucked. And thank god I can read hiragana otherwise I would have been communicatively prison raped. At first I didn't realize that I wasn't suppose to be able to clearly see the writing at 100% and kept asking for a stronger prescription even though I could read the characters. It wasn't until Yukie asked if it was too strong that I decided to look around and realized DAM I have a magnifying glass for lenses. I quickly asked to make it weaker but had already gotten a headache and hoped that the prescription I'm going to receive will be ok.

Side note:  her coworker was so hot you buy glasses just to talk to her even if you had 20/20

After the eye examination we were lucky to catch Yukie before her lunch break and she joined us for a meal. We took Yukie's car which by the way stood out from the pack. Most cars were either silver or white. She had nice blazing red compact car. I gotta give these girls props on the music they jam too. Not your usual Japanese. Yukie bumped a merengue that I hadn't heard since the 90's at a JP house party. For lunch we headed to a Okonomiyaki. Now I heard of places like these in movies, where you choose your meals and cook it yourself on a table built with a squared out pan. I've done shabu shabu before in Japan and the states but this a bit different. The menu was totally foreign to me with food mixed together. Something I was not use too since all my Japanese meals have the orders separated from one another. I felt like I was looking at a mexican menu. Funny thing was we almost melted those menus. None of us had realized the pans were turned on and we were leaning the the menus on the surface. I felt heat but I guess I was in my IDKWTF to do moment but thank goodness the server noticed and we quickly removed the menus.

I decided to order rice and miso soup with steaks. All separate orders while Ayako ordered this mesh that turned out to be something like a pancake when you toss it on the pan and began adding all kinds of seasoning. It was very unfamiliar to me and even stranger when she toss me this mini fork and we began eating right off the pan. Dam good! I'll be having that on my next visit (^O^) monjayaki kudasai

Keep it 元気

A Morning in Fukuoka

The morning of 二千十一年三月十四日

We woke up early because Ayako had a part time job interview to be a promotional sales girl. Wasnt sure what that was but it seemed like something short term and she wanted just to move out of the house. Ayako is what one can call a wild fire girl in any culture. If the norm is to go straight down the path she is going to zigzag all over the trail to see what life has to offer. She has goals that conflict with her parents wishes and are totally opposite of why she studied in Boston. She had arrived back home a week before I came and had been in a bit of a depression. She told me a lot of personal info I wont get into and made it clear she hated living in Japan and missed America. I guess I reminded her of back home and since my arrival to Fukuoka her spirits have jumped. Originally the plan had actually been for me to stay at our friend Yukie's place who had kept the offer up but I knew that I should stay by Ayako side to at least keep her head up and hope she finds her own piece of happiness.

We left much earlier than the appointment time itself because i had to turn my phone on at soft bank and exchange my American dollars.

On the way out I noticed that when you leave the house you need to scan a security card. There goes my escape plan if my meeting with her father went sour （−＿−；）who by the way, in the photos looked like a guy who doesn't fuck around! He had this Judo champ build with a Donald Trump suit that let you know how the hell they had such an amazing home. That dude was running shit!

On our way to soft bank I realized I forgot my phone. That knocks down one errand to take care of. We decided to turn the phone on tomorrow and headed straight to a bank to exchange my dollars. The yen I believe was around 80 cents to every dollar which makes a dam difference when your exchanging hundreds of dollars. My $400 bucks became 32000¥ which is basically $320 dollars. Time to skip a few more meals (>_<)

It was an adventure looking for her future part time job. In the process of asking conbini workers directions I was able to look for melon pan which was a fail. Ayako passed me her phone to contact me after her appointment and told me to do what I do best: get lost.

I went in a random direction that lead me to a canal. I saw some steps going down that brought me to a path along the canal. Finally some graffiti under the bridge. Took some shots of a fox and a spray can painted under the bridge as well as tags and decided to rehearse my songs while being isolated under the  bridge.

Immediately Ayako's phone buzzed with a a text message from Yukie. I was able to read my name and the fact that it was a question asked but was unfamiliar with some the kanji and words. I wanted to respond by telling her it was me on the other line but that was one confusing phone to use. I felt like a customer at an Apple store who never used a Mac.

In my attempt to text her back I got a call from Ayako. Already!? 10 minutes went by there's no way a successful interview would be that short. I met her at the conbini and was not surprised to hear her say she turned down the job. Apparently the job would have required her to jump around from place to place and she was not fond of going to different locations everyday. Couldn't blame her, it took us 45 min just to find the interview spot and from yesterday's experience of bouncing around the station trying to find out where she parked after we met up, one thing was clear: she is bad with directions.

She told me she wanted to try her hand at bar-tending or working at a pachinko. It turns out working at a pachinko was looked down on in Japan. It is a gambling spot and as popular as they are, from the position her family is in, I'm guessing it's a step down. She didn't mind the only thing that bothered her was the arguments she was going to have with her family over it. But it is just a short term plan and sometimes you gotta do what you do. Point A to B sometimes requires us to jump to L just to get back to B.

Anyway she called Yukie who was working at her Eye clinic and we made immediate plans to go down there for me to get a new pair. She was gonna give me the hook up with a free examination and stylish lenses I picked out from a link she sent me. We had been essentially email penpals for nearly 6 months and it was very helpful for my Japanese studies cause she barely knew English and I had to translate and communicate back in Japanese.

I told Ayako I brought her a gift from the states and at that moment I realized tomorrow was Ayako's birthday and I had nothing to show for it. And at that moment I realized I lost a lot of cool points. She said it's ok, but when a gal tells you it's ok, IT IS NOT OK!  I will have to think up something in our trip ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆



Keep it 元気

My Japanese Curse

I robbed myself of 100¥ lol

After the onsen I decided to use one of those reclining massage chairs. My friend seemed to be in great spirits after her personal massage and we headed home. Again her place was amazing. I go to the living room and there it is. The same massage chair and free! With a flat screen in front of you. The news was on and I began to see footage that truly blew my mind. Alot of people had video recorded themselves in Tokyo during the earthquake. I saw glass shatter, people falling, many hiding under tables, and panicking screams. The footage that really shocked me was seeing the power of the tsunami. Water must be the most powerful force on earth. At first it seemed like a very slow overflow on to the streets, but suddenly out of no where it sweeps away cars and homes like paper being washed down a stream. To see the footage made me wonder how I would deal with a tsunami. Even boats were not a safe haven. I saw footage of two boats over thrown in the waves. One was flipped over and the other was being tossed like tennis ball. These boats were legit yachts not some rowing canoe either.

To make things worse a second explosion at one of the nuclear plants. Although no one was killed a few were injured and made me wonder how bad in shape are the plants?

As tired as I was the footage woke me up like a shot of 5 hour energy and I got myself another massage. I had a great night experiencing Japan but what made my night most of all was meeting my friends mother.

She was the sweetest woman I ever met. Me and my friend had been talking way to much English so it was good to force myself to communicate in Japanese with a non English speaker. She was small and adorable. Her hands were half my size and she had this smile that you would only find in the land of the rising sun. She was a come to life anime character. She even gave me her phone to call home after Ayako told her about my troubles at home. I was finally able to talk to my mother and see that she was feeling better. It turned out that she almost died on her way to the hospital due to her low blood sugar level. If it wasn't for my brother being home IDK what would have happened. Times like these it is very thankful to have siblings. This news also made me reflect on my last trip and when my best friend died in Iraq while I was in Japan. I hope tragedies like these are not a forever occurring event on my Japan trips.

After I got on the phone I had some great Q&A with Ayako's mother and promised to make her pancakes. She gave me a good luck charm for my travels and tied it to my keys so It will always be with me. I quickly asked her to adopt me since she had no sons lol. Maybe by the end of my trip I will be Humphrey Tsutsui.

I slept like a baby

PS Ayako said she would only be nice to me today. A sign of things to come

In Fukuoka

After a 6 hour trip....

I roam around Hakata eki until my friend arrives. I was in the search of a public phone, restroom, and melon pan.  Usually finding a public phone in Japan is not to difficult but dam was I on the hunt for public phone. Found one but I couldn't say the same for the restroom.

As I went about my way looking around. I overheard a group of teenagers chanting. It turned out they were volunteering to get funding for the earthquake victims. I donated what I could and shot footage of them. They were very happy to pose for the camera.

I searched several conbini for melon pan until I found something that looked similar to it. It didn't read melon pan but I chanced it and asked the cashier if it was melon pan, and he gave it a look like IDKWTF this is! I bought it anyway, maybe it was the fact I hadn't eaten in half a day but that pan was freaking delicious.

Afterwards I met with my friend Ayako and she helped me find the restrooms. Now this mens bathroom puts some of the art work I seen in the museum of fine arts to shame. The design was so beautiful I felt like I was pissing on a work of art. I'm gonna have to secretly take a photo of that rest room one day. (i did a few days later)

We hopped in a sweet looking white compact Honda. Fukuoka seemed like a big city but not as busy as Tokyo. We headed to my friend's parents home and dam this place was one of the most amazing homes I ever entered. Absolutely beautiful. When she gave me a tour I felt like I was on Japan MTV cribs. I wish I was better at articulating architecture so I can give you a visual of it. Marble floor from the outside, beautiful wooden floors, a restroom with a toilet and fountain that was automatic. I guess there are no arguments about keeping the toilet seat down in that home. Bedrooms the size of most peoples apartments and sexy leather couches in the living room.

I dropped my stuff off and we headed out to a izakaya and onsen. At the izakaya (google that) I had one of the best meals ever and my first official Japanese meal. The place was called Maru and I highly recommend it if your in Fukuoka. The place makes me feel as though i went back to Japan in a time before foreigners. It had this very family owned business kind of feel and the server and cook were very kind and welcoming. I even joked to her about adopting me. Best onigiri I ever had!

Off to the onsen. There's something about being in the onsen that is so relaxing. At first you may confuse it for a hot tub but the outcome and feeling of it is out of this hemisphere. Laying in the onsen I felt all my fears, worries, stress, and anger seeping away from my body. I believe I was finally ready to have my first night of sleep at that moment.

From one new tree trunk line to the next

I got my sexy looking JR Pass, I  am headed to Fukuoka, and i have yet to sleep. This very morning it seems like a quarter of the population has the sniffles. So many people walking around with surgery masks on their faces.

Now getting on the Shinkansen was freaking awesome. That thing can fly! Seriously my ears popped a few times as if I was in high altitude cause of the trains speed. It was very accommodating ride maybe because Sundays are not so busy the train had full rows for one person.

I'll tell you one thing that didn't seem to have a shortage of the population. And that was pachinko: google it. Lines were down the block in Shibuya before the place opened.

On the Shinkansen, seeing the rice fields wad mesmerizing and as Bison from the Americanized street fighter would put it "delicious". YouTube that!

One thing I notice alot of areas in Japan lack public wifi. Not even the shinkansen had it. But it did have public phones. That came in handy since I hadn't activated my phone yet.

In no time I had flown by cities such as Nagoya and Kyoto.

Waiting for the Shinkansen arrive in Osaka was interesting cause Japanese people pulled out more cameras than tourist to video the entering Shinkansen. It was awesome cause, I felt like a kid watching a plane land for the first time.

The ride was very long and I had to make a shinkansen switch at Osaka. I knew I was only half way there and thought I had to make another switch at Hakata eki. I must have been exhausted and relieved cause when I asked where was the bullet train to Fukuoka at Hakata eki located, the employee gave me a funny look and said you are in Fukuoka.
（ーー；）Zzzzzzz...


Keep it 元気

McDonalds at a Shibuya strip

About 3 and half years ago I was at this "MickeyDeez" with my classmates Han and Rob for our first night ever clubbing in Japan. While we were chilling in the basement floor for Han to finish his French Frie craving. 3 B-Gurls come to the spot with the boom box bumping and breaking off dance moves like ABDC. It was my first taste of Hiphop in Japan and I loved it, plus them Shorties were fly. Rob, Han, and I had a blast hanging with them until we hit a all you can drink club named pure (which I could not find on this travel, probably got replaced along with that huge Starbucks that became Cheesecake cafe, which is alot like the starbucks but with Cheesecake! Yummy) after I got trashed and partied so hard I could hardly stand I returned the morning of after leaving the club to that McDonalds and decided to order a chicken sandwich. I order it and soon as  the cashier turns around to give the order he looks back to see me passed out in front of the register. I quickly get up cause I feel I need to keep the blood moving to stay awake and leave the McDonalds and chill in front of it like I'm dealing narcotics with fries. I come back to see if my chicken was ready. Once again when the cashier turned around to check on my food he looks back to see me passed out again on the counter. This time I just get up and decide to stay in my Ronald McDonald drugdealing spot with fresh air until the cashier calls me for my food. I get the chicken sandwich and don't even eat it cause if I don't go home to Yokohama now, I'll be sleeping in the Shibuya streets like a drunk business man barely making ends meat. I go home, pass out and wake up 8 hours later to throw away my cold nasty chicken sandwich.

Moral of the story: eat at Mos Burger (not available in the states)

A morning in Shibuya

 Captain`s log March 13, 2011

The Search for Melon Pan
The morning begins with my search for melon pan. Although there are many cravings of Japanese food out there, there is one delicacy that I have yet to see the states bring over along with sushi. That is the different types of bread desserts that Japan offers. Melon pan to me is the ultimate of ultimate bread deserts. I must have been to every conbini in the Hachiko square perimeter looking for melon pan.

Originally the plan was to get to Shinagawa eki before 9 to catch the Shinkansen to Fukuoka. Unfortunately I couldn't get my JR pass until 10 and had 2 hours to kill. Fortunately this was an opportunity to go to the clubs to search for promoters to hand off the Otaku Talk mixtape to.

Shibuya at 8:00 in the morning on a Sunday is almost lifeless which is strange because every other time of the week and day it makes time square look deserted. Trying to remember how to find the street where the clubs were forced me to do what I always love to do when I'm in a foreign country, get lost.

I recommend anyone going to foreign countries, and have enough wits to deal with the worse, to purposely get lost. You will learn so much about the region and yourself. What did I learn in this adventure? Well since you asked, I found out that there was a Disney store! Say waaaaaaaat? Not just any Disney store but one with an architecture of the palace.

Anyways on making circles and finally feeling more familiar with the area I run into that "McDonalds". Which I will write a separate blog about because the story is too good to pass up.
 I found the street with all the clubs but still can't find that dam melon pan. Dam Rocky for getting me hooked. So when i hit the clubs what do I get? of course. no one is there and they are all closed cause it's 9 in the morning on a Nichiyoubi. My luck has it though that right before I give up on finding someone.  At club asia I see a guy grabbing mail out the box and entering a door I hadn't noticed. I hesitated at first but I decided to go in and find out that on the 4th floor was the directors office of the clubs in the area. I come to find the guy with the mail and he is an employee of club Asia. Told me to comeback at 3 for the hotshots to get the mixtape themselves. I had plans to go to Fukuoka so I chanced it with him doing the pass off and plan on revisiting at 3 on the dot when I return to Tokyo.

PS. I still couldn't find that dam melon pan. The search continues...

PSS. It seemed most of Tokyo is intact from the earthquake and things are up and running as normal. There are many relief efforts coming from all over Japan, Help from the US, Russia and China. At least that's what I thought on March 13

Keep it 元気

saiyakuna koto ga okota

Shit happens

The flight back to Tokyo was the first time I ever passed out on a flight heading towards the place I'm visiting. What can I say it was a long stressful day of deciding whether I was going to return to Boston and revisit Tokyo in the summer or just going and taken my chances with the situation, which had me worrying about my friends in Tokyo. Attempting to get a Internet connection at the Detroit airport was hell as well but when I did I was surprised to see how many people were worried about my safety and if I had been in Japan during the Earthquake and Tsunami. In times of tragedy it cheered me up to see when my friends and family come through. Although friends at home and Japan told me to return to Boston and go to Japan another time, my stubbornness disallowed me to go back when I was already 90% on my way home (my home away from home).

I gotta give it up to Delta because they could have made this trip much worse but there customer service understood the situation and allowed me to push back my return flight to Boston a day later without charge.

One of the challenges I knew I was going to have to deal with was pulling an overnight stay in the airport because my flight landed close to midnight. Luckily Going to Haneda airport was so much more convenient than Narita. If anyone plans on going to Japan and there first destination is Tokyo. Make arrangements to land in Haneda. It will save you an enormous amount of time. It was only a 20 min train ride to get into Tokyo vs the 2 and half hours I went through in Narita (although you can take an express train that makes it a half hour but it is a bit more costly).

I ended up in Shinagawa, an area of Tokyo I was not familiar with but was informed that I can take the legendary Shinkansen to Fukuoka at that station. I arrived way past midnight and was not surprised to find out that I would have to wait til 9 the next morning to catch the Shinkansen. However I was surprised to find out I was in a part of town where there was no manga cafe in sight!
So after asking pedestrians, police officers in the koban, and a taxi driver, I start drifting around aimlessly in an area that seemed to not offer anything I needed at that moment. It wasnt until I saw another taxi driver chillin outside his ride that I decided to approach him with the manga cafe question. He wasn't sure but asked his friends and when two Japanese taxi drivers are together your sure to get somewhere. While in the ride to the cafe I realize that dam my Japanese is better than I give myself credit for. Finally all those years of studying paid off! I was having a legit conversation with the driver about the earthquake, directions, and small talk conversations.

So dude got me to my destination and again I'm in an unfamiliar place but I'm thinking it's all good I'm finally gonna get to communicate back home, shower if possible, sleep, and catch my train in the morning. NO. HEAVENS NO! The manga cafe was full. WTF and there was not one anywhere near by, and I looked (>_<) So again I'm asking cab drivers and most simply don't know. I eventually get this one dude who didn't know but called his friend on that keitai denwa and sure enough I'm getting somewhere.

By the way taking a Japanese cab is freaking expensive. I blew $50 bills trying to get to a manga cafe and the second ride was even more pricey.

The good news however is that I was taken to Shibuya. That's a place I knew because I was there one way or another everyday on my last trip in 07. I got to use my Japanese once again and had a chip on my shoulder until dude left me off on the other side of the building where the cafe was and it took me like 15 min to find the door and floor.

I gets there and it turns out that they don't have a shower. I came this far I'm gonna keep going. The crew there was very helpful and directed me to a cafe that did have one. On my way to the other manga cafe I come to see this McDonalds that has a legacy to it in my heart. I'll save it that story for another time.

So finally I'm here I'm set. I can use the restroom which by the way the Japanese have immaculate toilets. I won't go into details but the job was 5 stars. Enuff said

Being able to contact my peoples was a relief but at the same time I come to find out that the day I went to Japan my moms turned out to be hospitalized. The relief was that I come to find out she was getting out of the hospital. I'm gonna have to skype video with the family ASAP! My Spider-senses tell me she must have lost her appetite and let her blood sugar levels fall cause I was gone. (- - ; )

The good news is all my friends in Japan as well as there families were Ok. It was good to hear because I came to find out that night that the death toll went from 300 to the possibility of 1700 within a few hours. Also although all the nuclear plants were successfully shutdown one had a bad reaction with the cooling waters used and an explosion occurred. Nothing nuclear but it put the plant in a position of a possible nuclear meltdown. To make things more dramatic there is a city in the North that has half the population not in contact with the rest of Japan. Possibility of many deceased. I hope all this is more precautionary measures rather than truth. Crazy to think an advance civilization like Japan can have half a city MIA with no contact.

On a side note the limitless green tea at the manga cafe was totemo oishii (^^) I needed that cause for all the good customer service Delta had there food was horrible and the green tea was below standard even for American green tea.

I'm gonna have to skip a few meals in the next few days due to running through $100 in one night. Thank goodness to all that Delta grub I smuggled off the flight and did I mention peanut butter and organic bread from the states. Customs in Japan never saw it coming.

Where was I when the Earthquake hit Japan

The day of Japan's greatest earthquake. I was on my way to Japan I was actually 2 hours away when the pilot informed us that Japan had suffered a great earthquake and the damages were not clear but because of tsunami warning our plane had to be turned around. We were headed back to Detroit. The Haneda airport (the airport we were scheduled to land at) was not damaged but it was clear to us that Narita International Airport was closed. It wasn't until I got to Detroit airport that I had realized how devastating the tsunami was. It looked to cause more damage than the earthquake itself. Crazy thing about it was that I had originally planned  to go to Japan wednesday night but the latest flight I could take ended up conflicting with a class. So I made it for the day after. It seemed though that Tokyo was fine for the most part and that's where I am headed and would have been.

Returning to Detroit airport and spending the entire day with my first Japanese teacher was actually enlightening. It was a complete coincidence that her and me were going to Japan the same day and ended up on the same flight (O.O) I got to learn alot about her and her family. Especially the old school ways of thinking for Japanese people. She told me about how women were raised to follow the father, then their husband, and if both were gone their oldest son would be the leader of the house. Which was the case for my Japanese teacher's mother. Her mother did not want her daughters to live on the dependence of men and made sure that they received a good education and could fend for themselves. The crazy thing about it is that although she raised her daughters with that mentality, she was engrained in going by the old ways of a woman being dominated by men. That is the case with my Sensei's brother abusing his own mother. I am ashamed to say that I have looked down on my Sensei as a frail woman but learning about her past made me have really high respect for her strength. She not only chose to marry the man she loved, who was an American and also considered taboo by traditional Japanese culture, but also stood up for her mother and siblings when her brother wanted to take all their family's inheritance when her father died. She is a symbol of a strong Japanese woman in a culture that in many ways still holds old school ties to a women's place in society.

During one of our talks We managed to pull a woman whom I call 'Nightin Gail' into our conversations. She is one of the most interesting individuals I have ever met. She has lived and is living my dream of having a profession she enjoys that allows her to travel the world and move to different countries and live there for a few years. It turns out she is a master of her own spa agency and living in Memphis, Tennessee where 90% of her clients are transvestites coming in for laser hair removal. One of her past gigs for 7 years was working for the Saudi Arabian royal family. I thought rappers with gold toilets was ridiculous but it turns out there were royal members who owned over 800 cars. WTF you can pick a different car to drive each day for 2 years and you wouldnt drive all of them. And hell, another member had a pure diamond ash tray for his cigarette smoking. To think that so many people there are nearly dead poor with almost no rights is disgraceful. I knew about the horrible conditions of women in Saudi Arabia but to hear it from someone who saw it first hand brought more of a visualization to the situation for me. I learned that not only are Saudi Arabian citizens violated but also that people from other nations outside of the west who come to work for the royal family are victims as well. A lot of Philippine women come to get a job and as soon as they arrive their passports are taken away from them and they are considered property of the royal family. On top of that 80 % of there salary goes to the Philippine government. Nightingale seemed to me as a woman who did her part in understanding different cultures, so it was no surprise to me that she tried to read and understand some of the Quran. She was not the first of many who told me that alot of the scriptures in that holy book are manipulated for other people's way of keeping power. Now I never personally decided to look up any of these stories she told me so I commend anyone to dispute them but talking to her I felt I learned alot more than a google search could offer.

To end it on a happy note we spoke alot about traveling in Europe and our discussions lead me to want to definitely backpack places like London, Spain, France, Italy, and Amsterdam. For those planning on visiting more than one country she said Eurobus was the way to go. It not only took you to several locations but dropped you off at great hostels and had a bus every day for when you chose to go to your next destination. Quite Splendid (^O^)