Travel + Unemployment = Reading

The benefit of travelling and not working is plenty of time for reading. Since I left 4 months ago I have earned the right to wear my 'I Love Reading' shirt. Here is the list of books I have read in the order I polished them off. Some reccomendations too.

1. Bangkok Babylon by Jerry Hopkins - a collection of profiles of interesting expatriates living in Bangkok. Mostly old yanks.
2. Off the Rails in Phnom Penh by Amit Gilboa - similar book profiles some insane guys living in Cambodia in the early ninetees. Crazy times filled with drugs, guns and prostitutes.
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel - an incredible novel that claims boldly 'will make you believe in god'. Very moving, beautifully told. Seriously... no bollocks.
4. Timeline by Michael Crichton - A decent thriller-type book based on an interesting take on time travel, using the theory of parrallel universes and organic processors. Cool ideas but disappointing application involving medievel times. Part way through the book I realised that I have seen the B-grade movie version which runied it for me. Keep visualising Paul Walker... dammit!
5. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - a huge story that follows 2 British families over three generations. Indians are funny. But it's a little too realistic which is well... a bit boring.
6. Are You Experienced? by William Sutcliffe - makes fun of backpacker stereotypes, funny.
7. Sex Slaves by Louise Brown - an academic look at Asian prostitution. This focuses on the girls that are forced into it through poverty. A plethora of horror stories about the inhumane conditions that they are forced to live and work in. Moral of the story: dont go to the cheap ones (kidding... very distastefully)
8. High Society by Ben Elton - Thoroughly entertaining read from the master of trashy yet insightful novels.
9. Dead Famous by Ben Elton - Another winner.
10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling - im a big fan of the series, they are always entertaining and full of magical goodness. This movie will not be as exciting as the last one. Almost no action for most of the book, but engaging none the less.
11. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling - Just had to have another hit. In this one THE SHIT GOES DOWN!!! I wont give away anything; but this one sets the scene for a thrilling new phase in the series.
12. Toppa Mono by Miyazaki Manabu - An interesting biography on this Japanese underworld figure. Fascinating.
13. The Acid House by Irvine Welsh - A collection of short stories from the author of trainspotting. Gritty urban tales of Scotlands underbelly. Very inventive, crazy and hilarious.
14. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson - ESSENTIAL!!! Read this and you will feel much smarter. It explains everything from the creation of the universe, human evolution and all our scientific breakthroughs in astrology, chemistry, geology and physics. Sounds dry but is actually highly readable and entertaining. It details many of the colourful characters in scientific history. Anyone who is curious about the world - which I hope is everyone - will love it, puts everything into place.

Phew!! Thats not to mention the audiobooks I have listened to on my ipod; including Bill Clinton reading his autobiography and the first 4 Harry Potter novels read by an excellent english gentleman. All of the books were great and have seen me through the quiet times. They have given me so much and I have given their authors... nothing. They were all illegal pirates costing between $3-$6 USD and the audiobooks were downloaded. Such good value!!!

Just when I thought I was sorted......

I am an angry man. Angry at myself mostly. After 2 weeks of interviews and being lazily unemployed I found a good school with a nice boss who liked me and with good pay too. So what started as a happy marriage fell apart in just three short days, due to my tardiness.

I had to move house on the first day and thought I caould still make it on time at 3pm but it took a while to find the real estate agent, pick up the key, and i took a lot longer to sort out the paperwork than I had anticipated. I was also slowed down by my massive bags. Despite all this I managed to drop off my bags at the place (which is also further away from my job than I thought) and make it to school an hour after classes started. Cause I'm training I just watch the classes to see how they are conducted; so I thought it was no big deal if I missed one of eight. Also I called him in advance to let him know and he spoke nothing of the matter.

The second day I would have been on time but I had no Yen and my local bank doesn't do foreign exchange or take travellers cheques or my bankcard. So I had to take the train the wrong way jump the ticket gates then run around to 3 different banks to find one to get some money and then go back to where I started to get the train to work; again I called ahead and explained why I was late and arrived half an hour after I should have.

Then yesterday I arrived at 2:51pm and classes started at 2:50pm. So he decided that was enough and sent me home to decide if I'm right for the job. I apologised and explained to him that moving into this new place and working out how to get to work caused me some problems. I think he is being a bit unreasonable judging my character on these three days. The third time I thought it started at 3 and got there early, but I was mistaken. To get to work I have to make 4 platform transfers and I get confused about where the hell I'm supposed to be going sometimes which means it takes longer than it should. On Monday I find out if he still wants me but I'm a bit bitter about the whole thing so I'm not sure if I want it anymore.

Sorry for bitching, but Brad didn't agree with me and I need some support here. I tell you he's one of them now! He's real neat and tidy, too polite and has no sympathy for my reasons. His mixed breed battle has been fought and won by the Japanese in him. Anyway, I'm just pissed cause I just started making some money so I could make more expenses and have more fun, but its back to the money-conservation mode and the drawing board for the job hunt. So feel free to try and make me feel better, cause I've decided to be depressed for a few days and mope around in my unemployment uniform = trackies and a jumper.

At least I have some time now to learn some Japanese and get to know my roomates. I'm living in this dorm-like guesthouse with a shitload of foreigners who I have barely met. They seem quite nice though and are probably sympathetic to my situation. The majority being English Teachers and all. If you want to have a look at the place look here. It's brand new and quite nice, I pay 60, 000 yen a month which is the equivalent to $172.50 AUS a week, all utilities and internet included. So wish me luck, not having too much fun yet; the other guy working my job was going to take me to some crazy outdoor rave on Saturday but I don't have the desire to walk back in there if I'm not wanted and I shouldn't be spending money on stupid stuff either.

No new photos cause my camera is broke, but here are some from Mr Walker. They are of a model-casting agent who thought we were "so cool", tokyo, me & benny at shinjuku, & one of the Ben's on a hi-tech toilet complete with ass sprayer, pressure gauge, and stop button; no drying button though...

A Quick Update

Just thought I'd make a quick update for my loyal followers who I know check this site daily in anticipation of the veritable feast of truth & knowledge that I write here in my regular babblings. So, its been a week and a bit & I haven't been spending too much money thanks to my hospitable host and my lack of a regular income. This means that I haven't done anything much worth writing about, so no crazy Tokyo stories yet I'm afraid.

I am teaching at a Kindergarten on Saturdays for just a couple of hours, I'm doing it for the experience and from what I've learned about 3-5 year olds is that I don't want to teach them. They cry too much and don't know any english which means that I am a baby-sitter who talks at them in the hope that they'll learn something. Suprisingly some do catch on pretty quickly, but the majority just stare blankly until they cry from boredom. Anyways, I've been doing the rounds going to interviews etc. A real promising job came up yesterday teaching 7-14 year olds in a family neighbourhood. I won't know if I've got it for a little while, but I really want it. The boss is way cool, the money is good, the work is easy/fun, and the assistant teacher is cute.

The other day my dear old roomie Benny and my good Mr. Walker arrived from skiing in Nisiko to Tokyo for 4 nights of fun. It is great to see familiar faces; we hit up Shibuya which is where all the clubs are and it is OFF THE HOOK!!! The place is pumping with energy and neon lights every night of the week. Awesome shops, clubs and intimate drinking spots. The boys are having a wicked time pumping plenty of money into the Japanese ecopnomy at all the hot spots: Harajuku, Shibuya & Shinjuku.

In other news I have decided to stay in Asia till the end of the year; whether here in Japan in China remains to be seen. In February next year I plan on hitting up South America before getting to Europe next summer (June 2007). I found out that it is easy to find work in Brazil which is awesome; cause generally an Australian passport is useless for working in Europe & South America. But apparently the market for teachers in Brazil is booming and to get a work permit is no big deal. This is an amazingly useful website for anyone thinking about teaching in other countries: EnglishJobMaze

Thats it for now, here's a few photos. I'll post again after the weekend. Bye!

Brad, action shot, ironing... sorry it's not very exciting but it's the only one I have of him.

B-squared + locals. We got those booth sticker photos together!

Shibuya station, Hachiko exit. When the lights go green it's like Braveheart when the two armies charging at each other.


Ben rocking out on the skins. Stage Cleared! Down below is Benny, always hoping.

>>>>>Attention#!%New phone number#!

This post is to inform you all that I now have a mobile telephone. A wireless device which enables me to send and receive telephone calls.
You can send emails to the phone (sensei.tran@t.vodafone.ne.jp) but you should them to my regular account (sensei.tran@gmail.com) and cc the mobile for good measure.

The number is: 09017682796. But if you are calling from Australia dial: 0011-81-9017682796.

New South Wales is 1 hour ahead of Tokyo. The sky is the colour blue. This is manga-porno.

I land in Japan & my Fuji camera breaks... coincidence?

The screen on my Fuji has given out so I cant see what I'm photographing; just like the old cameras our grandparents used to use. The main problem is that I can't use the menu to change the settings. Anyways, this post is to fill in the blanks of the last few days. My last night in Korea was a late & drunken one. Had to awaken after 3 hours sleep and begin the long treck to the airport & to Japan. Needless to say I wasn't feeling tip top upon arrival and to make matters worse I could not contact my buddy so had to hike it to a youth hostel; where they kick you out at 9am & you can't return to your comfy bed until 5pm for some unknown reason.

The new day brought with it better luck as I was able to contact Brad and arrange to meet him in the evening after he visited his girlfriend & was allowed to lodge at his place until his grandma gets out of hospital. Lucky for me, not so lucky for her. So after spending the day seeing the sights of Shinjuku (crowds, shopping, red light district etc) and viewing the sprawling city from the 40th floor of the Metropolitan Government building, I caught up with my good old friend. On the way to meet him I kept thinking about the last scene from Shawshank Redemption. Brad is like Tim Robbins who escapes the confines of Sydney to start a better life and I am Morgan Freeman, who after serving his due time also leaves to reunite with his friend in paradise. I think the symbolism fits perfectly.

Brad lives in the quiet neighbourhood of Horinoichi, where despite being 4 stops away from central Tokyo is a sleepy area due to it's mostly elderly inhabitants. The house is right next to a cemetary/shrine area so most of the neighbours are either dead or close to it. Since srriving here I have taken full advantage of Brad's hospitality and have mostly stayed put in this cosy place for numerous reasons. The first being the computer & phone access which I use to find and apply for jobs, the other being that the weather is too cold & rainy to venture out into the strange, hectic & expensive world outside. For now I am happy researching the city, reading a lot and resting up in this cheap & warm habitat. Later today I will brave the cold & wet to visit the Mori Museum in Roppongi to see an exhibition about the links between German & Japanese art over the last century. If that sounds interesting you can take a look at the details here.

Initial impression, from my whole day's experience of the country are good. Tokyo is pretty wild and there are lots of cool looking people walking around. They sure do dress super-sharp. I'll miss the attention of being in Korea. In a city this big and crazy you're just another face in the crowd. The pay off is that there is a tonne of cool shit always happening. tokyo is a fashion/music/art/design hub of the world which is wicked. The problem being that you need a lot of money to really enjoy it.

The food and transport cost about the same as Sydney, however entertainment & accomodation are through the roof!!!! For example a movie costs 1800 yen = $18USD!!! Sheizer thats steep. Clubs are around 2000 yen for entry with a drink included, and gigs such as Franz Ferdinand or M.I.A. are around 6000 yen ($60USD). So I do need to make some fat cash to have a fat time, and while there are plenty of teaching jobs, there are also plenty of teachers; and my working holiday visa restricts me to part-time work (20 hours/week) plus whatever cash in hand tutoring I can get.

I also need to learn a bit of Japanese to get by; cause there are less people who speak basic English here than anywhere else I've been. I anticipate buying a laptop before long, more to save money than anything else (Laptop + intertnet = endless cheap entertainment) so I can save my yen for the really cool shit that goes down here and the pimped out clothes I see everywhere. Wish me luck people, I'll be needing a few things to go right to have an excellent time here. Peace out.

The noisy neighbours... always pumping techno music.

The whole thing about the trains being packed with people is true. At least asians are clean. Would be a lot worse with the people on Sydney public transport.

Tokyo by night. It's a billion times more impressive in person. Flashing lights as far as you can see in every direction. 30 million live in the greater Tokyo area.