TOKYO RUB - Words & Images from Japan.

Hello & welcome. My loving wife Hannah has given me this extraordinary opportunity to spend a year in Tokyo with her, to do as I please: to relax, to explore and to enjoy my surroundings. This is my mission and here is where I intend to share those experiences with you all. I hope that you enjoy my periodical updates as much as I will have enjoyed living them. Be happy, enjoy yourselves in whatever you do and remember that not all wanderers are lost. Peace!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

TOUCHING BASE

Hey everyone,

I’m back again with some info tidbits for your reading pleasure. It has been over a months since my last update so I’ll let the cream rise to the top and not bore you with the details. Let’s roll…


May 14 > Now!

- Checked out the two-day Thai Festival at Yoyogi Park: tonnes of people, food stalls, artisans, musicians and general good vibes.

- Secured national health care insurance for next to nothing (whew, you just never know!).

- Attended DesignFesta, a super-ginormous arts fair/convention where anyone can rent a space and display/hock their wares. It took place in Odaiba at Tokyo Big Site, which is just really, really big and angular. It was crazy, creative fun and I hope to have my own booth their in December.

- Checked out one of Tokyo’s big 3 festivals, the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa, where people carry huge shrines on their shoulders in the streets and the Yakuza can display their body tattoos. Madness, but worth a peak, even in the sweltering heat.

- Auditioned for another TV show (Cool Japan!)… and got it! I’ll be sending autographed pictures out for X-mas to whomever wants one, so please send me your addresses – COD only!

- Casually celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. (And it just keeps getting better!!) I LOVE YOU HANNAH!

- Saw the DaVinci Code and was less than impressed (itz a rental in my opinion…)

- Continued co-hosting Waku-Waku ABC, the cable English-Japanese instructional show I landed a while back.

- Caught a sold-out, standing room only baseball game at the Tokyo Dome and ate possibly the worst cheez-dog on the planet!

- Scored a free TV from some American dude who was moving to Bangkok, so now we can watch soccer like the rest of the world. (GO JAPAN!)

- Started working at an English conversation café 2x/week for pocket money, but it’s chill and fun.

- Got paid to go to Yomiuriland Amusement Park to experience a Japanese haunted house for that new TV show I’ll be on (see earlier entry re: autographs!).

- Unleashed my new foto-only Blog, www.brokenfotografy.blogspot.com (if you haven’t already been then finish reading and go – thank you!).

- Landed a part-time job at a used bookstore cataloguing their inventory (more pocket money!), AND

- Was unfortunately absent from my good friend Rob’s wedding. Now that must have been some party. Enjoy eachother!

So as you can see, I have been keeping myself occupied. Of course there are still days when I do nothing but sleep late, surf the Web and bike around. So I am living a balanced life, in a crazy town, that is getting progressively hotter and more humid. It’s now the rainy season soon to be followed by Typhoons or Monsoons or something. Can’t wait. Gonna buy me a new Speedo n some soap-on-a-roap n shower in the streets!

I hope that you are all happy and doing well. I know that Montreal and Toronto should be expecting summer any day now, so enjoy the cafes, street fests and cold beers or just get out in the sun n have some fun. Those of you in California, well, don’t let the smog or wild fires get you down. Catch a wave, drain a can n gear up for July 4th. Everyone else, wherever you may be, amusez-vous bien (it’s French for have fun!).

Later!


Hugs, kisz, n best wishz…


S.