Yokohama Fireworks Festival

Went to the annual Yokohama fireworks festival last night which was pretty sick. Over Yokohama Bay they set of a shitload of fireworks for about an hour. Crazy crowds, but not too uncomfortable. Went with Mai from work and met Haruka (who I met through Yoni) and her friends. Nice bunch, I enjoyed.

There were some nutso fireworks; they had ones which exploded into giant smiley faces, with different colours for the eyes and the half-moon mouth, others exploded into Saturn shapes, with a ring exploding out of a ball. But my favourite were the bright white ones that slowly drift down and fade out after they blow up, and they just keep shooting them until the sky is filled with a big white tree-looking thing.

Then my roomate Aska had a party in a little club in Shibuya. It was ok, these days reggae, hip hop, and drum & bass are popular. But the kind of cheesy/happy kind that Japanese people love to sing along too. It's not bad, but not my thing. The highlight for me was the dancing showcase that 2 girls put on. They were incredible, and by incredible I mean really really fine; and they could seriously shake what their momma's gave them. Otherwise I was pretty bored, wasn't in the mood and Eri (my woman) couldn't make it cause of work.

Otherwise, I finished working at the junior high school (chugako) for the next 6 weeks. The kiddies are on summer holidays so so am I. I'm looking at Japanese language summer courses to fill the time, also because my Japanese level has stagnated and it's pissing me off.

Also if you want to see some insane movies, check out these two starring the indie actor: Asano Tadanobu. He's like a Japanese Johnny Depp or something, only does interesting roles. I reccomend: 'The Taste of Tea' and 'Survive Style 5' both are crazy and quirky flicks that are very funny and interesting. Both could use some more selective editing of the last 1/3 of the flims, they drag on a bit but are very worth watching, especially if you enjoy trippy Michel Gondry-type films.