A slow weekend

Kind of a bleh weekend. Sunday I went with Tracy to the airport. She said "Sayonara" to me and this country, and then I went off to do stuff I had planned for the day. My plan was:

• Meet Mags for some "gangsta" ramen
• Hit Ueno for 2 museums and the zoo
• Drink

My plans took a nosedive when my phone died. I realized I kinda need that little green fucker to live out here. Long story short, I couldn't find Mags, I showed up too late for museums, the closest I got to the zoo was some dog poop on the street, and no one was around to drink with. Then it started raining... for 3 days straight.

Monday was spent chilling at the apartment watching funny videos on the computer.

But now it's Halloween week at school! The kids dress up, and so do I. Na na na na na na na na... BATMAN!



Hmmm... I need to shave. Check back soon for more pics of me in the full Batman suit. I'm not sure I can wear it to work. I won't get into details, but let's just say that you can see the shape of my balls and penis under the tights.

Kawagoe Fall Festival

Summer is festival season in Japan. Especially in a heavily populated area like that around Tokyo, you can find a huge festival every weekend within an hour of yourself. Lots of fireworks, food, and fun. But it's not summer anymore...

A few places have special festivals throughout the year. I guess Kawagoe is famous for its fall festival. The special "attraction" of this one was giant floats that are pulled through the streets.



So these floats get pulled around, and when 2 floats meet, there is a battle. I was hoping for a rap battle or some kind of fight to the death type thing. Not the case, but it was still fun. They just go crazy with the music, flutes and drums and chanting. For like 20 minutes. This is going on all over the city. It was... unusual.



One thing about festivals is the street food. A LOT to list, but heres a couple winners...



Takoyaki. Tako=octopuss, yaki=fried. Little pieces of octopuss in batter and various veggies fried up. Fucking tasty.



Waffle cakes. They put red bean in EVERYTHING sweet in japan. Its kinda a shame. Its tasty, but its in EVERYTHING! Waffle cakes are like... waffles... with stuff in them. Cream, sweet pastes, etc. Fucking tasty.



Beer. Beer is a beverage brewed from hops, yeast, and other grains. We have a local brewery in Kawagoe, Coedo brewery. Fucking tasty.

What choo lookin at, sucka?

Some Museums... Some Drinking

This past weekend a few of us hit up some museums, then they got a little drunk. I'm nursing some kind of head cold, so no excessive boozing for me. But for some reason I decided to stay out all night. Half the night was spent out on the street outside Gas Panic in Shibuya with silly-drunk passed out people. I remember telling myself last week, "Self, no more Sunday night all nighters. Cause then your sleep gets fucked and you end up awake at 3am Monday morning writing blogs when you should be sleeping." So anyways, here's my 3am blog. Bleh.



Edo period prints.



Eric's guest house in Japan. Feel free to show up at 3am anytime for a place to crash.



Recreation of an Edo period toilet. Yes, there was actually a hole in the ground. Yes, I almost fell in.



Print club again. "Pedikura" is the name in Japanese. I asked some of my students. One of my kids gave me a journal from Disneyland, and I've been putting my pedikura pictures in there. I swear, it's the onle "kawaii" thing I own!

Kawagoe is the Cuts... Part 2

Although I don't think Kawagoe is a shitty place to live anymore, I keep finding funny signs depicting how you might die here...



He seems rather happy to murder this young girl today.



Look at the quality of this one! I think they must have commisioned it from a famous artist.



Murder isn't the only worry. You and your cute little puppy might drown!

Classic

8am...

Beware of Ninjas

Oh, so you think Kawagoe is all temples and treats made from sweet potatoes?




Well you, my friend, are wrong... DEAD wrong. Just down the road, past the city museum, towards the lake, is Isanuma park. Isanuma park holds a secret. Tracy and I can tell you this secret, since we have been accepted into their elite order. The secret is... Kawagoe is full of NINJAS! Oh, now that you know... *shuriken to the face*









This whole park is filled with dangerous wooden structures. They are all mossy and slippery and shit. Compared to the USA where every playground needs to be approved by the government for safety, Japan is great. I firmly believe that children should fall down a lot and get hurt... it build character. Just ask my students, I let them fall down and get hurt all the time!

Club Ageha

Some good times at Ageha. We were rolling like 10 deep, thanks to Mags and her Texas connections. Suwen and Branda were there, of course. Can't have BMS without the B or the S. Luckily Eric was back in town, so I had someone to drink with before going in. And Andy and his Dublin friends stopped by as well. Throw in Steve and Yoji and Tak and a couple others and I guess we're looking at 15. Good music, some famous (I guess) DJ from Detroit throwing down the techno. The hip hop room was tight as well.

We did some wandering after. Tsukiji fish market was closed. Somehow we got in, but when we tried to leave, all the gates were locked. So our little possee of hung over club zombies hopped an 8 foot fence. Good times.

Back in Kawagoe by 10:30am, spent the day sleeping and watching movies on the computer.

1:15am and I hear a man coughing and a crying child outside my apartment... I <3 Kawagoe