My "Living Conditions"

I was reminded that I never posted pics of my apartment. haha. oops. I took pictures when I first moved in, you know, before the place got buried in empty Calpis bottles, but I forgot to post them. Here you are:

This is the small street leading up to my apartment.

Take a right and then you see my building. I'm the middle window.

Here's the other side of the window! haha. You have to walk around to the back to get in so this is the view from the door.

Here's the doorway, and then there's a door on the right to the bathroom.

Here's the loft. It's about the size of a queen size bed. I used to use it for storage and fold up my futon and keep my luggage up there, but then I got too lazy and just have my futon set up in the loft all the time. haha. It's pretty comfy. I'm actually typing this up in the loft.

Here's my tiny kitchen area. I never use it though because the stupid electric stove top takes forever to heat up. But do you like my little froggy sponge?

And that's pretty much it. I told you it was tiny. Oh, wait! My landlord gave me a TV and a really tiny couch since I took these pictures. I'm too lazy to take more pics (that means I have to clean. haha), but it's just a very tiny off-white couch that seats 1 1/2 people. haha.

Update: LOVE ATTACK EVE

So I emailed Matsuyama Teruo to ask him if he would 1) ship his new album to California for me because it won't be released until after I go back and 2) give me the sheet music for some of his songs.

He said yes to both!! I just have to give him my address, and obviously pay for the album, and he'll send it to me! And he gave me the lyrics and chords for Marmalade Sky!! I'm so excited!! And also really mad at myself for not bringing my guitar with me to Japan. I'm contemplating going into a music store and acting like I'm testing out a guitar to buy just so I can play. I had this dream that there would be this small guitar shop in a huge mall and I would pick up a guitar and start playing and people walking by would stop to watch me because I'm THAT cool. haha. I said dream.

The other really cool thing about Matsuyama Teruo, is that I went to the LOVE ATTACK EVE Official Website to see if he had posted anymore music to download, but I clicked on his blog instead of the music page by accident. I was gonna just click the back button, when I happened to see the word "gaikoku" (foreign country), so I stopped to read the entry. Turns out he talked about me in his blog!! haha. I don't know why that makes me so happy. I guess it just lets me know that he was genuinely happy that I came; it wasn't like an act or anything. I'm pretty sure he thought I couldn't read Japanese and that I wasn't going to read his blog, so I can take it as the truth! Here's his entry:

毎日毎時間順位が上がっていく
サマーソニックのオーディションも
ホントに嬉しくて幸せだし
今日の神保町のライブも
ホントとっても幸せでした。

「アー、ラブアタックイブキョウココライブ??」
とMyspaceから知って
わざわざ来てくれた外国の方には
ホントびっくりしたし
数年前に神保町で歌ったとき
たまたま聴いて下さった方が
気に入ってくれて今日また来てくれたことも
とっても嬉しかったし
いつもいつも見に来て下さる方に
やっぱりまた会えたこともほっこりと幸せだったし
何はともあれ
イベント自体ゆったり素敵だったのが
とても良かったのでした。

It basically just says that he was really surprised that someone from another country saw his myspace page and came to see him and how happy he was. Although, he makes me sound like I can't speak any Japanese at all. The quote he attributes to me is just a string of nouns. pout. I didn't talk like that...I hope. Maybe I was nervous? No. I don't talk like that. You can't sway my confidence!! Actually you can and now I'm broken. (T_T)

Anyways, can't wait for his next album!

The Cost of Tokyo

Before I came here, I told everyone who would listen that I was going to Tokyo for two months over the summer. The first three sentences in reply, in varying order, would inevitable be: 1)"Wow!"/"Cool!"/"Really?!" 2) "Why?" 3) "It's expensive, you know."

Then I got more serious about coming here and started to search for an apartment. Apartments in Tokyo are expensive. That's why the stupid Chuo line out of Shinjuku turns into a sardine can every day from 6~9. Everyone lives just outside Tokyo, not in it, because it's so expensive.

So I arrived with the idea that everything in Tokyo was going to cost me about 3x as much as it would at home. But now I realized, it's all about the choices you make. For example:

1) You could go to the top of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills to get a 360 view of Tokyo from the top of a tall building and pay $18/1800円, OR you could go to the top of the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro for a little over $6/600円, OR even better, you could go to the top of the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku for free! Yay! Muryou is the best yo. haha. (無料 muryou is free in Japanese) I've been to the first two, and Roppongi Hills is only slightly better, but only because you can go on the roof for an extra $3/300円. Otherwise they're about even only one's much cheaper.

2) You could buy all your food at one place like a Seiyuu Super Market or LIFE, and pay $5 for a peach and $13 for a small watermelon, OR you could go to a small, locally run produce stand on a small shopping street and pay $1.90 for 2 peaches and $4 for 1/4 of a large watermelon (which is only slightly less than a whole small watermelon). The second one is probably better tasting too.

3) You could buy your Calpis (because you are as addicted to it as I am) from a vending machine on a busy street for $1.20, OR you could find the vending machines sort of off the beaten path that sell Calpis water for only $1. Once I found that vending machine, I saved about $1 a day! Just kidding. I don't buy that much Calpis water. Or do I? hmmmm.... haha. OR, for the true addicts, you could simply buy a huge container of Calpis water for like $2.50 or something instead of the tiny bottles. I don't do that. often.

4) You could pay $50 for super tasty sushi of a quality that you could never find in the U.S., OR you could just skip down to the nearest convenience store (they're everywhere. worse than starbucks along highway 80 in California) and pay $4~8 for some pretty tasty sushi of a quality that you couldn't find in the U.S. for less than $50, OR, best yet, you could find a mom and pop bento place (mines at the beginning of Ai Road on the right in Nakano) and pay $2.90 for some super, super tasty futomaki-type sushi with ikura, tuna, egg, pickled veggies, and an unidentifiable white-ish fish. (haha. I gotta get better at remembering the names of fish.) At least that what I had for lunch today, but they obviously have a variety.

5) You could buy your books at Tsutaya Books or some other pretty and new book store (perhaps one in a major station might catch your eye?) and pay full price for your brand new perty book, OR you could find a Book Off and get your book second hand, and even sell your old books to help pay for another.

6) If you want to get into the Tokyo fashions, or get some nice presents for friends back home, you could go to 109 in Shibuya and swim in a sea of jewelry and accessories that are cute, but supremely overpriced, OR you could go to the 500円 store ($5) about a little more than halfway down Takeshita Street on the right when coming from Harajuku Station and get two earrings for $5. Just as cute. ^^

7) When traveling from Tokyo to either Osaka or Kyoto, you could spend more than $100 on a Shinkansen ticket, OR you could go here and get discounted Shinkansen tickets, OR you could go here and ride a night bus for $50, OR you could spend like 9 hours on local trains. I don't recommend that last one unless you are really that poor, or it's a clear day and looking at pretty farm scenery doesn't get boring for you after the first 3 hours. That's about how long I would last I think. I suppose it's still better than the 11 hour plane trip from California to Tokyo though...

8) When your glasses unexpectedly break and you are forced to string them together with floss until you can buy new ones, (because that happens to everyone who travels to Tokyo) you could go to a nice, fancy glasses store in Shibuya or Roppongi, or really any of the major shopping hubs and get some glasses for hundreds of dollars, OR you could skip down the street because you are happy with excitement since you're about to get some sushi at your favorite bento place around the corner (see number 4. haha) and do a double take at a little glasses store shoved in between two overflowing sake shops, and on a whim decide to duck your head in only to walk out 20min later with $45 glasses that look "oshare" to you. I choose option number 2 onegaishimasu~

There's more, but either it's obvious or I don't know it. The obvious ones are like carts or stands of vendors selling food or fans or something in parks or at a train station entrance. Those things are usually cheaper than other places. One guy was selling umbrellas for $3 at Harajuku Station, he just had a handful of them and was yelling "Umbrellas for 300 yen!" I'm pretty sure I saw the exact same umbrellas in a store a little earlier for $6. He started yelling right when a sudden downpoor caught everyone. I'm sure he did pretty well for himself.

Anyways, those are Hiroko's words of cheapskate wisdom. ^^

Chasing the Sun

So I had this great plan to go spend the day in Ikebukuro shopping and whatnot and then catch the sunset from the top of the Sunshine 60 building, but the electric company had other plans for my day.

I went around the corner to a small bento place, bought my sushi lunch, turned around, came home, maybe spent 15min total, returned, flipped on the light, and nothing happened. How is it possible that of all the 15mins there are everyday, the electric company sends in their sneaky little worker right when I'm out?! 15min!!!!

So I called up my landlord and he fixed it. I'm not sure exactly why they switched off my electricity, but I think it has something to do with the mail that I was receiving addressed to a Onodera Teruo. I'm thinking maybe he was the person living in my apartment before me and didn't pay his electricity bill and they decided to turn off my electricity to make him pay. I don't know. I haven't received a bill yet, so I'm cool.

Anyways, my landlord got it all sorted out and in the afternoon a cute, little man with a happy smile came by and turned on my electricity. It took him about 8mins. I'm guessing it took about 8min to turn it off too, right? So some sneaky guy timed it just right so that he would be in and out in 8min with 7min to spare before I returned. I think he was watching from around the corner waiting for me to leave. This was a premeditated and well executed conspiracy. I'm sure of it.

Anywho, that's where my day went. The electric company stole it. They told me they would be right there to turn my power back on and subsequently made me sit in my apartment for an hour and a half with no air conditioning and no internet waiting for them. Very boring and sweaty. I was not amused.

After everything was all fixed, I decided to go to Ikebukuro anyways just to see the sunset from the Sunshine 60 building and do the shopping later, but when I got to the train platform at Nakano, the sun was already beginning to set!

Oh no! So I got on the special super fast Chuo line, ran through Shinjuku station to make my connection, and booked it out of Ikebukuro Station. I had never been to Ikebukuro before, but google maps is really handy. They have this street view feature that lets to virtually walk from point A to B so I knew exactly where I was going and got to Sunshine 60 pretty quickly, but the sun looked pretty low.

Then you have to take an elevator up 60 floors. Note: make sure to swallow a few times to pop your ears otherwise your head will hurt. The elevators in the Sunshine 60 building are really cool though. They turn the lights way down and then the walls start to glow with constellations and sea creatures. I know it sounds odd, but it's really cool I promise.

I finally get to the top and what do I find?

Waaaaaaaaa!!!!! Sunset isn't until 7 pm, but tomorrow's rain clouds are blocking my sunset view!! Even though I ran and actually made it on time, the sun escaped me...

So sad...

But it was still an incredible view! I really liked watching the sky get darker and darker and the ground get more and more twinkly. Would have liked the sunset better though...

There is a nice little cafe at one end. I just got a melon soda. It had a really nice atmosphere up there though.

The stars are on the wrong side of the horizon.^^

Then the moon came out and made up for the lost sunset. None of these pictures are even half as pretty as the real thing. I don't know why, but my camera was having difficulties. Maybe it was just too spectacular. Couldn't handle the spectacularness. tisk, tisk.

I Use the Word "Happy" or It's Various Forms 5 Times in Here

I really haven't done anything all that interesting since my last post. At least, it's not interesting to read about, and might not even be interesting to experience unless you're me. In which case, you would be ecstatic, complete with dancing in the rain. Yes, I actually danced in the rain and skipped back to my apartment one night.

It's the little stuff that makes me really happy. Going to famous temples and tourist hot spots are cool. I mean, they became tourist attractions for a reason. Also, that's what people back home can understand. They can see the draw in visiting Tokyo tower and even seeing live music, those are familiar stories that make them feel like I'm really enjoying myself here, but the truth is, those things are the worst part of this trip. That should tell you something about how wonderful the rest of it is.

What I really enjoy doing is slowly walking down the sidewalk with nothing but a huge umbrella and my key in my pocket and suddenly think to myself, 「日本にいる。これは日本だよ。そして、今、日本語で考えてるよ。」 ("I'm in Japan. This is Japan. Also, I'm thinking in Japanese right now."), break into a huge smile and look up at the rain, and have passersby give me funny looks. I don't see what's so funny about pure enjoyment from nothing; happiness is just contagious I guess.

I can't believe how easy it is to live here. I don't understand why more people don't do it. It's so simple. Even if you don't speak Japanese, if you understand basic English, you can survive in Tokyo with little effort. But visiting here is nothing. It's like going to a Japan theme park in the U.S. if you're not careful. It's living here that's meaningful. Just walking back from the supermarket with the knowledge that I just independently and freely bought food and now I'm going to go to my apartment and eat it like all the other Japanese people.

Conformity isn't given enough respect in America because we were founded on beliefs that everyone has equal and individual rights to happiness and to express that happiness in their own personal, original way. It's the snowflake credo. All of which I wholeheartedly subscribe to. However, we've let conformity's meaning be completely engulfed by our overzealous cheers of independence. Being in Japan has allowed me to see good and bad in both independence and conformity. Conforming is a form of belonging and belonging is something every human soul craves. Conformity is comforting. It gives you the confidence that you are doing something right and despite the fact that life has no guidebooks or absolutes, the choices you're making at the moment aren't completely warped. Obviously this isn't always true (I'm resisting the urge to bring up the horror that conforming to Hitler brought about because Hitler is an overused cliché); like I said, there are no absolutes, but at least others can understand you.

And so the everyday little things that I do, not being immediately spotted as the outsider in a foreign society, walking home from the supermarket just like the woman on the other side of the street, it makes me proud. It takes a certain kind of understanding and open-mindedness to embrace a culture to the point of conforming. Pride is another misunderstood concept. Pride isn't always bad. My small accomplishment of partly understanding another group of people and stepping away from my window to peek out another at the world makes me feel like a better person than I was a month ago, and it makes me feel like I am someone who can learn and therefore grow and that makes me proud. And all of that, conforming and being proud, makes me happy.

Skipping and dancing in the rain doesn't seem as odd anymore, right?

P.S. Sorry to get philosophical on you guys, but I got nothing else. I probably haven't really been doing anything much different than you do every day, minus the work/school. Just living. ^^