Dave Quest

END OF BLOG

2006-09-30T11:06:00.000+09:00

Dave says "Sayonara"

The one year mark has almost come for this blog, so to celebrate it's 1st birthday I am going to kill it. It seems like a good time to call it a day. So from now on there will be no new posts at this address.

A new blog will be started with a new look, and slightly different approach. Season 2 will be more of a journal-type blog more for the purpose of keeping a record of my travels so I can remember them when I am an old man. Judging by the low level of response I get from people about this blog it is not worth tailoring the content to an imaginary audience anymore.

So that's it for this one. Keep an eye on the new one for Dave updates.

HTTP://DAVEQUEST2.BLOGSPOT.COM

Music Blogs are the future (albums)

2006-09-28T12:09:00.004+09:00

Most of you will already be well-schooled in the ways of downloading music, but for the un-initiated or non proficient here is a quick lesson in how to get those beats you need.

The easiest way is to use a bitorrent program, such as utorrent (click here to download). Then all you need to do is find the torrent using a portal such as www.torrentz.com. Once you have found the torrent link, open the file in your torrent program and it will start downloading.

If you can't find the album or movie you want I recommend other peer-to-peer programs such as emule which are also good, but are often slower and less reliable.

Just because I am such a nice guy, I have added the torrent links to all of the available albums that I recommend on my dave tunes site. All you need to do is click on them and open them in utorrent and you're good to go.

To the artists whose music we are getting I apologize, but the way I see it the more fans they have the better. I support music artists by going to their live shows and by spreading the word to other people. Most of the groups on the page are already pretty established and i think true artists would be pleased that more people are making their music part of the soundtrack of their lives. Spread the love!

Music Blogs are the future (blogs & podcasts)

2006-09-26T11:56:00.000+09:00

Get on the bandwagon! Check out some great music blogs. Not only do they keep you updated on great new music, but they give links to download the mp3s, saving you all the effort. Here are a few of my favourites and links to some awesome songs. Also if you don't subscribe to podcasts yet, your not living in the future.

Music Blogs:

1. Fluo Kids (a french blog with mostly new wave dance tracks) (Download fluokids dj mix here and also a radio show here)
2. Good weather for airstrikes (mostly indie rock)
3. Pitchforkmedia (Popular music)
4. Hype Machine (a music blog search engine)

Current Tracks (right click and select 'Save Link As':

1. Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows
2. Aretha - Van She Tech Remix
3. Epic Man & Plan B - More is enough
4. The Rapture - Get myself into it
5. Jamelia - Something about you (Mr Ozio Remix)

Podcasts (right click and copy the link location, then paste into 'subscribe to podcast' under the advanced menu in itunes):

1. Modcast
2. Erol Alkan Podcast
3. Diplo Podcast
4. Bang Gang (this one is a link to the website where you can get mp3 versions)

Also don't be a hater and check out this clip of Timbalake (Timbaland & Timberlake) in action. Impressive, great album too.

Geeky Weekend

2006-09-25T13:08:00.000+09:00

Geeked it up good this weeked!!! On Saturday I went to the geek capital of Tokyo: Akihabara to get a new camera which I did. But while we were there, me & Eri took part in the great 'otaku' (geek) tradition of going to a maid cafe. Where girls dress as scandalous French maids and cater to all your needs.

They do services like, hand-feeding you and wiping your face, take your order on their knees, and are generally very submissive and accomodating. Too funny seeing all the geeks and pubescent high school boys fantasizing about them. If you pay extra they do all kinds of things, from playing board games with you, to taking sticker photos, to clipping your fingernails. Now there are maid hairdressers, massage places and I heard a home service where they come and clean your house. Nice!

On Sunday I went to the annual Tokyo Game Show with Eri & Ishmael (my Texan buddy/roomate) which was pretty crazy. It's the biggest conference for the video game industry with showcases for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP, Nintendo Wii and for game makers like Sega and Capcom.

You can play the games and there are various kinds of entertainment. But the real highlight is the game promo girls at each stand who wear cute outfits and let you take photos of them. So inevitably there are hordes of serious geeks with serious cameras going gangbusters. Me & Ishmael went on a kind of TV game show where girls would throw nerf balls at us which we had to dodge while wearing a stupid suit (see below). Was a pretty funny weekend. Good to get in touch with the inner geek once in a while.

Otherwise, the new place is more than excellent, absolutely loving it. Trying to save a room for Mr. James Pick, who I'm excited to say will be joining me here in a month or so. Good shit. Also Just started a 3 week break from the junior high and with my new favourite toy in hand expect a lot more posts & photos to come.

Tokyo Game Show 2006

2006-09-24T00:29:00.000+09:00

Back in Business!!!

2006-09-23T17:35:00.000+09:00

Finally got around to buying a new camera. It's a badass digital slr (Pentax IS DL2). I'm pumped and so is Pikachu!!!

Photos of me! ..... (and a cutie)

2006-09-06T12:42:00.000+09:00

For anyone who wants to see how I look these days, here are some photos that my buddy Gen-san took when we went to Inokashira Park before work one day. He basically followed me and his lady friend around like a stalker while we walked around.

There are two albums (one and two) on his photo blog, which I highly reccomend you take a look at. He has lots of great photos from around Asia.

Unlike Europe, living in Japan doesn't pack on the pounds...

(And yes I do own other shirts, it's just I always seem to be wearing this one when there is a camera around.)

Samba in Asakusa/Tama Zoo

2006-08-30T14:46:00.000+09:00

For Tracey's last weekend here me and Kumiko (Dave Samon's girlfriend and my new local buddy!) took her for some good old fashioned sight seeing; so we went to a Brazilian Samba festival (offical site) in the old-style part of town: Asakusa. The parade was nice enough, but I get the feeling it's far from the original Carnivale in Rio, especially as most of the Japanese dancers in the parade tended to be slightly aged and a little past their used by date. But it was great to finally get to see Asakusa, it's a real cool place. Here they have some more traditional buildings and a huge temple in the centre of town.

On Sunday we met Eri and headed to Tama Zoo which kicks ass. It's basically in the forest which means the enclosures are all big and natural looking. If I was a wild animal I wouldn't mind living there. The highlight was going on a bus which drives into a huge lion enclosure with about 30 lions. They put some meat on the bus so the lions come up and eat it 2 feet in front of your face. The bus driver was a bit of a but, trying to hit the lions, but the bus was too slow and they got out of the way in time. The butterfly insectarium suprisingly kicked ass too, although the Australian animals section was fairly lame though; could only see one kangaroo (and we have more kangaroos than people) and koalas are not the liveliet little fellows. But still a worthy day trip.

Other than that, started back at the junior high school which has been fun but well tiring. I am working every week in September, so I'll be a fairly fatigued by the end of it and much richer also. In absolutely fantastic news, I am moving to a sweet joint!!! (See here) No more psycho-christians binding devils and keeping me awake!!! It's not far from where I live now, but brand new and much bigger rooms and less of them; should be heaven compared to this place.

So sayonara Tracey! Was great to see you! I look forward to the next time I have visitors from home, and I'll have a nice place to stay then too (the offer is always open). Later, stay genki!

[Just realised there are no photos with Kumiko in it. so here is one]

Summer Sonic in Osaka

2006-08-20T14:49:00.000+09:00

Took the Shinkansen (bullet train) on Saturday morning down to Osaka for the weekend. Crazy train, feels more like a plane than a train really. First on the agenda was the major tourist spot: Osaka Castle for a view of the city and a taste of traditional Japan. Despite the air conditioning and elevators, the castle still offers an idea of what Japan was like 200 years ago.

Next up was the Osaka Aquarium to see some fish. The place was huge and had otters, penguins, dolphins and even a whale shark in the insane building. The seals live in an open air section at the top of the building so you can hear their barks reverberate over the whole harbour. Me & Brad let our man love show by buying the "sunset double pass" which got us entry to the aquarium and to the worlds biggest ferris wheel for a romantic sundown view.

Then for dinner we head down to the city centre Shinsaibashi for some of Osaka's reknown Okonomiyaki. Tasty indeed. One of my students recommended to go to "the bridge" which is apparently a famous pick up spot, but all we could see was some British travellers talking about pills.

The next day was time for the Summer Sonic concert at the Osaka ports. Giant venue, almost too big. To get around the stages was a bit of a hike. It was a good gig, but it should've been great. After watching some all-image/no-soul Japanese music acts, we caugh the terrific French band Phoenix, who were definately the highlight of the day. Next up were the New York band "The Rapture" who also put on a good show with plenty of cowbell going on. Then we hit up the 'club' type venue to see Ugly Duckling & Spank Rock who were both pretty good.

The next time slot was supposed to be filled by Keane the UK soft-cock rockers who I have a soft spot for, but they cancelled due to 'family matters'; I wish it could've waited another day. Next up was the Flaming Lips show (video here) which was good value for a little while. I dont really like their music but their live show is crazy: excessive baloons, streamers, cool costumes (santas & aliens on stage), giant inflatable dinosaurs, superman, and other assorted good-time nonsense. Then for the finale we were supposed to go see Daft Punk, however 000's of other people had the same plan, which created a queue hundreds of meters long that didnt move very quickly cause no one was leaving the hall. Boo! What a downer, I left a bit unsatisfied but it was still a good reason to take a trip to Osaka.

(The queue for Daft Punk; boooo!!!!)

On Monday we went to Minoh-quasi national park to take a look at the waterfall and have a splash in the river. Beautiful spot, supposed to be lots of monkeys there but I didn't see any. Lots of families trying to catch rock fish with little nets. Just before getting the train back we went to an open air city viewing platform for some city snaps and to farewell the city.

Overall it was a good time, definately needed to get out of Tokyo for a little while. Didn't meet too many locals but not to worry, still had a good time. I look forward to the next trip and getting my own camera to go nutso with! (These ones are courtesy of Brad)

New Flickr Photos

2006-08-17T09:59:00.000+09:00

For photos of Osaka & Summer Sonic go to my flickr page, new post coming soon...

Meet the Parents/Samurai Dave

2006-08-07T14:48:00.000+09:00

(The man with the biggest sword gets the girls ifyouknowhatimsayin.)

Spent the weekend in Saitama (an hour out of Tokyo) for another fireworks festival and a day trip to Naga Toro river. Eri suprised me by wearing her yukata; it's basically a summer kimono (made of cotton) which are very cute indeed. Her parents live in Saitama so I stayed at the family home for the weekend. They were very nice and hospitable, they tried their best to speak English and I tried my best to speak some Japanese.

It was heaven to hear the silence out in the suburbs; since moving to Komazawa I haven't heard silence. It was also nice to take a drive out into the country. Took a boat ride down the Arakawa river where people go for kayaking. Then we took a swim, although we didn't bring swimmers so I had to expose the Japanese public to my ratty boxer shorts, while Eri swam in her dress. We got some strange looks but it was well worth it to swim in the beautiful natural water.

Then the parents took us out to a seafood restaurant for dinner; ate all kinds of delicious seafood including shabu-shabu, sashimi, a giant oyster and whale (gomenasai!) which is very politically incorrect of me... I felt a little guilty (but it was tasty).

Other than that not much to report. Just been going to school, swimming/tanning & working everyday. Last week after class we tried our hand at origami (I made a mutant crane) and I got to try on a kimono with the traditional samurai gear including 2 katanas (swords), as to be expected I got a little carried away and started yelling for sake and extorting the locals for money. Good clean fun. Next week me & Brad are off to Osaka for the Summer Sonic festival, which should be great. Until then...

(the Arakawa River)

No Fuji, No Cry

2006-08-01T15:07:00.000+09:00

(A recent photo courtesy of Trace)

Unfortunately had to cancel the Fuji Rock trip due to the selling out of carpark tickets. There is a train but Brad had some good reasons for why it was not worth it. Instead we will be taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka for Summer Sonic. But I think it worked out for the best because I had another great weekend anyway.

Tracey is in town for a little while, turns out she is staying at a friends place which is a 2 minute bike ride from my house. Also my roomie from Korea: Reuben was here visiting his brother. So on Friday I met Trace and her friend Kumiko for a beer at an English pub and did some catching up. Then we tried to go see 2 Many Dj's at Womb but predictably the club was well full with hordes of people still showing up in hope of getting in. Trace & Kumiko went to another club, but I stuck around because Eri was already inside. Eventually I weasled my way in, only to catch the last song of 2 Many Dj's... what a bummer.

It was still an insane party, crazy venue packed full of trendy Tokyo-ites. Hot as hell in the main room from all the bodies packed in there. Still I managed to find Eri nad have a decent time. Saturday saw the arrival of Reuben 6 months after I last saw him. Was great to catch up with him in a new continent. Saturday night was quiet but very nice; just went to an izakaya and then drank some cheap drinks in Komazawa park just like back in the day. Experimented with some "jump photos" which I will post when I get em.

Sunday took Reuben on an express tour of Tokyo; city view in Shinjuku and the Harajuku to Shibuya walk through Yoyogi park, before he had to catch his plane. Short but sweet visit. Then met the woman for a night view from the 45th floor of the crazy Metropolitan Government Building then some pork nabe from the Korean part of town. I was originally pissed to have to cancel my Fuji Rock trip but I think it turned out for the best.

[P.S. It turned out that part of Fuji Rock came to me in the form of a Wolfmother sighting in Shibuya. The guys walked right past me while I thought to myself 'I should say hello'. Predictably I couldn't think of anything to say, but really what can you say except as Reuben suggested: "you guys are awesome!!!". But thats not really my style, I would say something more like: "great music... I've downloaded all your stuff!" Hmm... doesn't have the same effect.]

(This is what it would have looked like)

Swimmin' & Studyin'

2006-07-30T00:00:00.000+09:00

(King of my local pool... I own them lanes!)

These days my routine consists of language school in the morning from 9:30-12pm then hitting the pool in the afternoon before work; I'm working on my summer tan since I missed the last Sydney summer. School is going okay, most of the other students are international high school kids here to study japanese on their summer holidays. The teacher is hilarious so we have a good time and learn a bit too.

Also been watching a lot of Samurai Jack recently. I loved the Clone Wars series and this is basically the same, just with a samurai instead of jedi knights. I highly recommend. Got to go hit the books, but if you have time check out my Google Pages site, made some more hot updates. New albums from Pharrell, Dj Spinna, Bugz in the Attic & Quantic. Take it easy.

(Oh & thank you to Nat & Em for replying to my cry for attention in the last post's comments)

Holidays + Rain + Lazy = Movies

2006-07-26T02:23:00.000+09:00

Due to school holidays and bad weather, I spent the majority of last week lying in bed watching a whole lot of movies. There was a predominantly Asian-theme running throughout the films; with movies like 'In the Mood for Love' & '2046' by Wong Kar Wai, Jet Li's latest kung-fu epic 'Fearless', the Japanese cult samurai film 'Azumi', the Chinese love tale 'The Promise' and 'Code 46' with Tim Robbins set in Shanghai; as well as some animation that my Japanese roomates could enjoy: 'The Spongebob Squarepants' and 'Powerpuff Girls' movies; and of course some American films such as: Michael Mann's 'Collateral', the Wachowski brother's 'V for Vendetta', Spike Lee's 'Inside Man' as well as Dave Chappelle's insanely awesome 'Block Party' directed by my favourite director Michel Gondry.

All the films were of a high standard, but I was particularly impressed by Wong Kar Wai's '2046' which is a film about love told in a non-linear Asian cinema style. You need to appreciate the Eastern style of storytelling, which is quite different. Wong Kar Wai's films are very beautifully shot by the Australian born Christopher Doyle.

I was also suprised by how good 'The Powerpuff Girls' movie was. Having never seen the show, i bought the dvd in Thailand because it was a Gendy Tartakovsky series; he is the Russian-born maker of 'Dexter's Laboratory', 'Samurai Jack' and my personal favourite 'The Clone Wars' series. As far as I am concerned Gendy is god and his cartoons have a cinematic feel which bring suprising depth and feeling to the animations. The Clone Wars cartoons easily trumped the new George Lucas films. I was pumped to find out that he will be making his own versions of two my childhood favourites 'Astro Boy' and Jim Henson's classic film 'The Dark Crystal'. I have very high expectations... "In Gendy we trust".

As for Dave Chappelle's 'Block Party' directed by Michel Gondry and featuring: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Kanye West, Erykah Badu & the Fugees, it could never miss. Dave solidifies his position as my favourite stand-up comedian who is alive (Bill Hicks R.I.P.) by just being himself and having cameras around. Nice editing to bring a narrative to this small story about a free concert. So much love and respect between all the incredible artists; this movie leaves a feeling of goodness after the credits roll. So good I watched it twice... and I'll do it again. In related news my favourite director has made a movie with my favourite actor (Gael Garcia Bernal) titled 'Science of Sleep'... can't wait to see it.

Otherwise everything's been fairly quiet. Spent some time with the girl, chilled a bit with the roomies, had to work on Sunday though because I'm taking off next Monday to recover from Fuji Rock... hell yeah. Things will be picking up soon though; I'm starting a Japanese summer course on Thursday, and I'll have vistitors in the form of Canadian Reuben (Rick's bro) who I lived with in Korea and young Tracey who should be arriving soon. Photo's next week of Fuji Rock I promise.

(P.S. - I've been feeling the new solo album from my twin brother Pharrell. Review on my Googlepages site)

Yokohama Fireworks Festival

2006-07-17T10:46:00.000+09:00

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.

Token Update

2006-07-10T13:22:00.000+09:00

Yoyogi Park (Aerial View)

So over the last two weeks I've been busy working my two jobs and enjoying my weekends. My new accomodation is somewhat depressing during the day so I try to spend as little time here as possible.

I tried my hand at teaching elementary (primary) school kids for a couple of days. The first day was disastrous, the second was excellent. I co-teached with a New Zealand guy who was funny; he started randomly doing a beatbox while we were chanting some numbers, the kids just stared at him in puzzlement but he kept going, good on him. The kids are more friendly when they are young. A lot of them wanted my autograph, and some wanted me to sign Ronaldinho's name.

I found a few good places to catch the soccer games in Roppongi, so I caught a few with my lady friend. We also went to a couple of summer festivals. One in Yoyogi park (Earth-garden) which was basically a mass gathering of hippie's selling incense, hemp pants, candles (etc) and some pretty decent bands playing (fyi - Japanese hippies are funny dancers). The other was a street flower festival (asagaya) with lots of great Japanese food like yakitori (bbq chicken skewers) and okonomiyaki (pancakes).

And last night I finally went to karaoke with the people from work for a staff members farewell. We went after going to an all-you-can-eat/drink bbq joint. Karaoke was good value, 2100 yen ($24) for all-you-can drink and entertainment for about 5 hours. We got pretty mashed and I exposed my coworkers to my terrible singing voice. But I killed it with the Black Eyed Peas: 'My Humps' & The Doors 'Light My Fire'. I was suprised by the music that was available; they have songs by Muse, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand etc. Half of the people there were Japanese staff so there was lots of J-Pop singing. I finally see why J-Pop is so popular; fun karaoke music is not necessarily good music and vice-versa. My version of Radiohead 'Just' was horrible.

So that's it. The only thing I want to add is that things have picked up with my special lady friend. She's been upgraded from 'lady friend' to 'girlfriend', we'll see how it goes. Take care.

New Muse Baby!!!!!

2006-06-26T03:12:00.000+09:00

Also courtesy of my beloved geek-friend (everyone needs one) Nat, is the information that the best band around Muse have had their unreleased album leaked onto the internet.

If you know me, you know I love Muse, and they bring the heat on this album. Titled 'Blackholes & Revelations' it is a real corker, with only two songs that are not burners. If you have the chance to catch them live I highly reccomend you do. They'll be here in August for the Summer Sonic festival, fuck yeah.

Its out in early July, and is an epic mix of influences ranging from classical (Beethoven-esque chords), various bands (Rage Against the Machine) and latin guitar music for the last three tracks. There is a continuous theme throughout the album; influenced by the state of the world and fear for it's future. Matthew Bellamy attacks president Bush on a few songs, is critical about the state of the world and it's apathy and calls for a revolution of sorts and pleads for people to take action. The cover art reinforces the themes of global warming, greed, the end of the world, etc. A little paranoid maybe, but it sures makes for some inspired tunes. Get into it.

A Bathing Dave (Thanks Nat!!!)

2006-06-26T02:23:00.000+09:00

Here's a little Bathing Ape version of myself courtesy of the second best graphic designer from Sydney named 'Nat Jones' that I know. All jokes aside I love this little guy, custom made from a recent photo so the clothes are historically accurate (to a week ago). So here he is for all to enjoy, also over on the right you can link to Nat's OG Wigger page to see more BAPE rip-off characters. Thanks mate I owe you a couple!!!

Also available in black. I retired my piano-key belt to be replaced by a skull and crossbones one, I'm also wearing my Red Converse kicks and the fondly nicknamed 'fag cardigan'.

Killer Weekend

2006-06-25T18:43:00.000+09:00

Started the weekend by heading to this gig to see the nujazz & broken-beat keys player and producer Mark De Clive Lowe (from New Zealand) play live at Club Asia in Shibuya with my new roomate/buddy. He is a Bugz in the Attic and Dj Spinna affiliate and features in many, many killer productions. I thought he was going to play tracks from his album with a band; but instead he played an improvisational project called 'Freesoul' in which he uses an MPC to create beats and then he adds a bassline with a synth and improvises on the keys to build these spontaneous songs.

He had a female vocalist with him called Bembe Segue too, who frequently appears in broken-beat singles. I was suitably impressed, he made some crazy beats and basslines and did all the sequencing live as well. It was great but I didn't pay all that much attention to the show though because me & Ishmael were busy chatting to some Korean girls we met. Although communication was difficult, we had a good time.

On Saturday I had to return a a comb that I was holding for one of the Korean girls, so I met her for some Korean food in Shin-Okubo. It was a kind of spicy beef stew that is served in a hotplate on the table, and is to be eaten leisurely. A very enjoyable meal, indeed. Then it was over to Roppongi to try my hand at Salsa dancing with a girl I met the week before. We were not so good, but I was feeling the Latin vibe so I think more lessons are on the cards. It is a very middle-aged businessman/woman thing to do, but it is way more fun than dancing on your own at night clubs. Also when you look around and see a handful of men who are not good looking entertaining various pretty girls around the dancefloor, you know they're onto something.

Afterwards it was time to watch the Germany vs. Sweden game at a different bar; and then onto a little Brasilian club to meet my roomies, get drunk and enjoy a great Samba Trio. The place was mostly filled by Brasilians, I was unaware but there is a strong connection with Japan due to mass migration during the war. There is a large population of Japanese in Sao Paolo, and lots of Japanese-descendents returning to their home country. We also managed to catch a bit of the Argentina vs. Mexico game before the first trains for the day started.

Today I met my lady friend to go see the "Africa Remix" exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, which also includes entry to the observation deck on the 52nd floor for romantic night time views over downtown Tokyo. The exhibition was a collection of contemporary works from all over the African continent, including places like Morroco, South Africa, and Egypt; and it was excellent. Then it was off to Gaspanic for some cheap pizza, and the last train home.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, so satisfied. Now I can face Monday feeling revitalised. Reminds me why I came to Japan. There's nothing more depressing than working hard all week then having nothing to do when the weekend comes; 'all work and no play' and all that.

* Random information: 'The Da Vinci Code' is crap and 'X-Men III' is good.

Australia 3 - Japan 1 (So Friggin' Sweet!)

2006-06-14T01:15:00.001+09:00

Never heard of Cahill before... but he's a legend in my books. Came through for us in the clutch.

Well done to the boys, they did us all proud. Especially us Aussie's representing in Tokyo. We were well outnumbered in an English pub in Shibuya. Couldn't help but feel patriotic... national pride and all that. When the national anthem started me and Bradley-san put our hands on our hearts and belted it out in defiance of the crowd.

After Japan scored, I thought they would have won it if they could manage a second in the half. But we held them out and dominated the possession. But no breakthrough till my man Cahill came through; and when he did it was so sweet. Hi five's all-round to the other unknown Australians. Then again a few minutes later, the third was overkill... but still sweet. I was a happy man, until the game finished and saw all the Japanese people looking so sad. They were all dressed up and ready to party with nothing to celebrate. I almost felt bad... but not quite.

Today was an interesting day, I started my junior high class by writing up the score on the blackboard. Hopefully it didn't come across as insulting, I was just trying to get the kids stirred-up, cause they can be a little hard to motivate. 'Apathetic' best describes the situation sometimes if the work is real dry. This theme of boasting continued throughout the day until one of my NOVA students said it was a sensitive subject and that if Japan does not progress I may be stabbed in class. So I stopped.

Here's a photo of a disappointed Japan supporter. Nothing breaks your heart more than a sad looking Asian guy. Especially when they bought a special hat and everything.

Living in Komazawa-Daigaku.

2006-06-12T00:41:00.000+09:00

Good evening to all. I am writing this on the first night at my new place. It looks as though my new accomodation will be an interesting experience if nothing else. I've taken a small room in a gueshouse in order to be closer to my two jobs. My room is depressingly small, but being a young man all I really need is a place to crash. The house is not so big, but somehow they manage to cram 12 rooms into it, the other people living here are mostly Japanese and a couple of other foreigners. This is real Tokyo living; I have the highway sounds, tiny room, no window, and high rent. But I'm actually excited about it more than soberly depressed.

As with life; it's all about the people... and so far so good. Last night a Japanese girl from London (who is a model agent) took me to a party in Aoyama which was good fun. Halfway through the night a bunch of Samba drummers & dancers came out and pumped up the crowd. After that the party got real loose. Bottles of champagne were being passed around to guzzle on and for the rest of the night drunk Japanese dudes were running around without shirts-on. It was a pretty fun, but my new roomie got too hammered and passed out on the couch. The eastern-european models were nice girls but it was too loud to chat.

Tonight I met some more residents; an actor, a dj, a bar hostess, a student and a nice African lady in the next room. Everyone speaks some English but it's not the prefered language so I need to study/practice. My room is next to the common area so I will need to become accustomed to the periodic noise. It's ok though, it means I'll be more sociable... cause I can hear the friggin conversation from my room! We'll have to see how it goes, not sure how long I'll stay. There is a university nearby and an Olympic Park with a swimming pool which will be dope for summer. So I might stick around till then.

All last week I looked at places, most of them were better rooms, but it wasn't worth the extra money. They were all at least another 20,000 yen ($200USD) a month, just so I can walk a bit before I go lie in bed and look out a window for a view of another building wall; so it's the shitty room for me. I apologise to anyone wants to stay with me (sorry Trace) because it will be very cozy indeed for any guests I have.

No new camera yet, so I have posted a picture of a manga-promotion girl in Akihabara (the geek capital of the world). One love.

Fourtet / Rokakoen Junior High

2006-06-05T08:52:00.000+09:00

Went to see Fourtet play live last night at a club called Unit in Daikanyama. He played with a jazz drummer called Steve Reid. Interesting stuff, but mostly atomspheric sounds rather than songs. While the chin-strokers were getting their fix, i would have been happier with a decent beat and melody; still I went to hang out with my American/Israeli buddy cause he is leaving soon.

Yesterday I also spent the day in a beautiful place called Kamakura with my lady friend. It's down on the coast and is famous for it's temples, buddha statue and the beach. Unfortunately my camera has broken again so I don't have any photos of Eri; the lovely lady I went with. But Idid steal some pictures from some other websites to post.

I also went to my first 'gyoza party' (the chinese dumplings) it was very cool. It was at Yoni's girlfriend's house with a bunch of her friends. The ladies made a variety of 'suprise gyoza' so you didn't know what you were eating. Some interesting ones had chocolate and banana; a couple had just pure wasabi as a joke. They gave some wasabi to the girl's bull terrier which was hilarious, more so because of the girls reactions than the dogs; these Japanese girls get very excited by furry animals.

Last week was the first week at my 2nd job at a Rokakoen Junior High School in West-Tokyo. The english teachers that I work with are great ladies. One of them is my age so I think we should get along quite well. The first day I was suprised by how many of the kids slept through class. It's not like at home where teachers lay down the law, here the kids are free to do as they please; they can talk, sleep, whatever. Generally they do the right thing and pay attention, especially the younger ones, but in the older grade they are about 14/15 and they are becoming more independent and less obedient, so you have to keep them interested or they go to sleep.

One unexpected side-effect of working long days 3 times a week is that I have grown accustomed to getting by on 5-6 hours sleep, which was unthinkable until recently. Ever since my uni-days I have required unhealthy amounts of sleep, wasting more hours than I care to think about. Now I'm sleeping less and doing more, perhaps my time is due to grow up and join the working-class society... and make some decent cash money!?! No, I'm not raking it in just yet, but soon I should be earning a respectable living.

Also been looking for new places closer to my job. I have found a few guesthouses in Sasazuka which is a great location, but it's not the nicest area. Too close to Shinjuku (central Tokyo) which means highways and crowds of people, but from that area I can ride a bike to all the key spots within half an hour: Shimokitazawa, Shibuya, Daikanyama, Harajuku... so dope.

That's it for me, hopefully I will fix my camera or have a new one soon. Here are some stock photos of Kamakura.

6 months and counting..

2006-05-22T23:41:00.000+09:00

Bronte Beach, my favourite place in Sydney.

It's the six month month mark since I left Australia so I've been thinking about home. I'm definately not homesick but I do miss my friends & family. Hopefully I'lll see my friends & family overseas somewhere soon. The food is the other big one. The first thing I'll do when I get back is call the Yum-Cha All-Stars for a Sunday morning at Zilver in Chinatown for Chinese tea and dumplings. Perfection.

On the subject of nationalism; I have been looking at lists of the world's best cities to live in and thus countries. From these lists it becomes clear that Australia, Canada & Switzerland are the nicest places to live. According to the Economist our five major capital cities are all ranked in the top 11 'world's most livable cities list' (there are equal placings) with Melbourne ranking highest at number two.

These lists are based on things like: cultural attributes, climate, cost of living and social conditions such as crime rates and health care... but not in terms of fun. So while it confirms my belief that Australia is a great place and I'm proud to call it home... I don't want to come back anytime soon.

A photo from my farewell party (why I miss Sydney)

2006-05-22T11:06:00.000+09:00

The "Bourke Street" ladies see you in Brazil! (I hope)

Tokyo Design Festa

2006-05-21T20:31:00.000+09:00

Freaky performance shit from the Design Festa 2006

Today I went to the annual Tokyo Design Festa which is one minor example of the things I would never get to see back home. Basically it's a giant festival for artists, dj's, designers, performers, musicians, or whoever to set up a stand and show their stuff. Heaps of neat original stuff to buy; so I walked home with a hand drawn design shirt, some watercolour bookmarks, a mini-artwork badge, and an electric candle that flickers and everything! It was a friggin' massive event, hundreds of stalls and performers, thousands of patrons, and as you can imagine plenty of freaks.

There was a great consistency of quality throughout the event, some very talented people, some hilarious performers; such a sensory-overload packed into a weekend. I took a few photos, but naturally the batteries died very early on in the day so unfortunately I can't show you all of the really cool stuff that was there.

I shall soon be a very busy boy because next week I am starting a second job teaching at a junior high school three days a week. I am a little anxious about it cause I have never taught a class this size before (30-40 kids) or been an assistant before. The job is reffered to as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) position but I do not know anyone who has tried it. At the very least it should be quite interesting; I hope it turns out well. I have also been busy getting to know some lovely Japanese ladies, but you'll have to get on skype and talk to me for details. Later....!

2006-05-20T23:41:00.000+09:00

The entrance in Tokyo Big Sight.

One artist of hundreds.

Some weird fashion/performance thing. The two girls started making out at the end. Not quite sure what it was about. Must be too high-brow for me.

These guys have a blog at rapeme.org ...lovely

Freaky deeky.

Some intense footwear (The one on the right is a dude).

2 Great Songs, 2 Great Clips

2006-05-18T00:47:00.000+09:00

Just wanted to post some videos to make sure it still works, there appears to be some errors with my other posts. Anyway here are a couple of great songs/clips from my new cd recommendation page which you can link to ===========> over this way

1. Hot Chip - Over & Over; Five really geeky looking guys bouncing around their keyboards like a teenage Kraftwerk. One of them looks seriously like Napolean Dynamite. They look like they got beat up at high school and are getting their revenge by making nice beats.

2. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy; Awesome concept (scatterplots) and execution. Incredible visual effects. Hate to think how much time some dudes spent in front of a computer to make this. I imagine they have hunchbacks and don't see much daylight.

Dave goes live (Skype Me)

2006-05-12T10:17:00.000+09:00

Some dudess rocking out in Kichijoji, the families are loving it.

If you want to speak to me from time to time buy a headset and get onto skype.com so we can talk. Its very simple; basically it's the same as MSN Messenger but we can talk instead of type. A headset costs around $20, so it's well worth it for those of you who spend as much time on computers as I do.

In other news, more of the same over the past 2 weeks. More day trips around Tokyo, another night out in Roppongi, more dates, more Japanese classes. Work is still fun, my bosses are still cool, the Japanese staff are still cute and friendly; all in all things are going well. I'm quite happy at the moment and having a good time getting to know Japanese people. Mostly I hang out with girls. There isn't anything wrong with the guys, it's just we don't seem to have enough in common or something. I don't know. I should try to make some guy friends though.

Don't have too much else to say right now, too busy having a good time to think much. Except soon I think I might be starting a day-job working at junior high schools so I will be much busier, but also richer which will be nice. I think working in a high school and getting to know the kids will be a reward in itself; as will the cold-hard yen! If I do get the job I'll be moving into an apartment somewhere cool so I can live the high-life.

We'll see.... So remember your homework, buy a headset so we can talk, it's a small price to pay for some priceless conversation (maybe).

Oh and here's a photo I found of the Thai movie stars we were living with for a while; the movie is about a Thai guy who falls for a Japanese girl (fyi - she is actually thai girl). The guy in the middle is the one that hit on me. You have to do better than some instant noodles mate.

Other Photos

2006-05-12T01:20:00.000+09:00

Chinatown in Yokohama

Ohh lord.... let me touch it. Yum Cha is one of the main things I miss about Sydney. Don't take it for granted; make it a Sunday ritual. When I get back there will be no slackin' off.

Roppongi night with the Canadians.

Gimme some feedback!!!

2006-04-28T01:12:00.000+09:00

I've been a bit lazy with this blog thing lately because I'm not sure what to write about. I would appreciate some feedback. It's a bit strange writing in this thing for 6 months and not getting any responses. So I'll have to assume I'm basically talking to myself, and this blog is for my own benefit.

I have settled in pretty well, coming up on my first month at the job. So far I couldn't have asked for more. The hours are sweet, I'm not overworked so I still enjoy it. The Japanese staff are all cute and friendly; they definately brighten up my mood as soon as I walk in the door. I really like a lot of my co-workers, have been there long enough to feel comfortable making jokes and exposing them to my dry humour. Performnce-wise the feedback has been quite good, things like "most oustanding participant" at the follow-up training session have been said by the big boss, but I don't want to toot my own horn too much and it's still early days.

Most of the students are cool, which is the most important thing. Noone wants to teach people they don't like, but I genuinely do which makes the job quite enjoyable. We have a good time. Of course I don't like all of them, but enough that most classes are fun. The other day I did a class with a girl whose occupation was "Glamour Model" which definately brightened up the day. Another girl gave me her email address on a piece of paper, but unfortunately socialising with the students is strictly forbidden and not worth the job. There are plenty of other girls in Tokyo.

Been real busy the last 2 weeks; started Japanese classes (or nihongo as I should say), been doing overtime at my 2nd job helping the students with their resume's. They are all going to Australia to study english and work a bit, so I've been teaching about all the wonders of Australia like: trams, Virgin Blue flights, Bryon Bay, cab bolts (the concept is crazy to them - one student really wants to try it), Bronte Beach and Yum Cha in Sydney.

2 weekends ago me & Brad hit up "The Room" again for some more jazz beats. I wanted to go to an indie rock night, but his girlfriend and her friend came from a wedding so they were dressd too nice for some sweaty jumping around. It was another good night there, one of my Tokyo reccomendations. Later on in the week I had some farewell drinks for a nice German girl from the guest-house. It was nice to go out with the people I live with; considering we live together I don't really see them much. Last weekend Rick who I hadn't seen since January came to town. It was good to see a familiar face, crazy to think that it was 3 months ago I left Korea, feels like such a distant memory now.

Me & Rick went to the 1st annual couchsurfing party. Was nice enough, a bbq by the beach at Chigasaki. Friggin cold though, was windy and the sand is more like dirt, but still met some extra nice people and enjoyed their food. That night we went to Roppongi again and went to a professional foreigners bar (bankers & the girls who like bankers money). We told the local girls that we were in a band and talked ourselves up but they didn't really understand.

Brad sweating it out on the dancefloor. He likes the nightlife.... he likes to boogie.

A school band killing it at the mall.

Our dates for 'The Room'

Last night I went to one of my WHA student's bars (with the new Aussie teacher) for a beer and some chicken... a suprisingly good combination. I got lost on the way and finally found all the love motels (FYI cheap hotels that you can get for a few hours or overnight) lots of workers going there after work in pairs to relieve some office-work stress in best possible way.

A quick story: this guy came up to me on my way to work and shoved a business card in his face written in Japanese, he kept talking to me after I repeatedly told him I didn't understand Japanese (watashi-wa nihongo-ga wakarimasen) but he wouldn't go away so I took the card. I asked the girls at work what it was and they told me it was for a talent agency (TV, film, magazine, etc) in Harajuku. So I went there the next day and was told to wait on the couch, until this pretty guy came up and kept talking to me in Japanese until he gave up and just sat there smiling at me like an idiot. Eventually he gave me a magazine to look at while he kept staring, so I got up and found someone who could speak english. From her broken english I gathered that my lack of language ability was a problem, which the original deusch should have gathered, so I left. It was very 'Lost in Translation'. That is the third person to approach me so I think I'll try to find an English-friendly agency and hopefully get some work in a Japanese commercial or something.

Which reminds me of something that happened recently. Turns out there was a reason the Thai movie star was being nice to me, on his last night here he came into my room with a dowry of instant noodles and then had a crack at wooing me. I explained to him that I'm not really into touching other men and he was suitably embarassed and left. I can't blame him though... if I wasn't me I'd have a go too.

Thats it for now; check out the new link to Flickr on the right if you have a minute. Some decent photos from a few weeks ago. Later, my imaginary readers. Also look at the sexy portable speaker I got for my laptop... so sweet!

Hexstatic Rocks!!!!/NOVA is OK

2006-04-08T13:24:00.000+09:00

Went to this gig last night; was so friggin AWESOME!!! It was in a crazy hi-tech venue; a massive 3-room arena (check these photos) which was perfect for the audio/visual behemoth that is Ninja Tune.

The first act I saw, and by far the best, was Hexstatic a VJ/DJ duo. I had heard their album and Solid Steel mix cd before which I thought were a bit medium; but their live act is INCREDIBLE!!! For their show the visuals are equally, if not more important than the music. All of the songs had a video to go with it (see here), and mixed the visuals like a dj in time with the music. They most creative application for this element was the remixing of old tracks and remixing the videos that accompany them (they did that Mylo mash up & the filmclip). So you get these beat-ed up versions of classics songs while the images of them are on screen singing and playing in-time with the music. They sampled artists such as Dusty Springfield, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC along with more hilarious versions of Cliff Richard, The Cookie Monster and Ren & Stimpy. They also use loads of amazing images and footage in the show. There is no DVD so you have to go see them live if you want to check em out and like movies the bigger the system the better; but to get the idea check out this filmclip to one of their Brazil sampling songs:

There were some great djs playing as well at the other stages; one Modular/Gang Bang type stuff and another guy who killed it with some wicked nujazz & broken beat. Other highlights of the night included Spank Rock at the outdoor bar by the pool who make/play this awesome booty electro music. They toured with M.I.A. if that gives you some idea. Also seeing Dj Kentaro kill it was a great end to the evening, playing some great drum & bass tunes and finishing with his DMC winning routine. Coldcut were crap so I didn't watch them.

It was a spur of the moment decision to go and I'm very glad I did, it's been too long since I've been to a proper gig which made it all the more sweet. Of course partying with the friendly and funny Japanese people is great and making friends with two English people (based in Hong Kong) here for the weekend made it much more enjoyable.

Since arriving back in Tokyo I have had training and my first full week of work at my new job. I am based in the Shibuya branch of the company which is very cool. So far the job has been going well, I really enjoy talking and getting to know the students, they are all lovely and sweet people which means you walk out of work feeling good most days which is nice.

I have also been making more effort to get to know the people I live with. Last weekend we went out to Roppongi which is where all the foreigners go to pick up Japanese girls. Lots of loose women; was very interesting. I got a few kisses on the cheek by some very sexy girls which was nice. We were at this bar called the Gaspanic where they play the most terrible music you've ever heard (techno remixes of pop songs etc) but because some of the girls are so cute and they have their little organised dance routines it's infectious and you find yourself dancing to music that you disdain... but its fun so who cares?

On an interesting note a Thai film crew has moved into the building for a few weeks to film a TV movie. So in the evenings there are a bunch of Thai dudes drinking in the common area. They are pretty nice, not so much english though, except for the actors who can speak it quite well. The actors and actresses are quite good looking as you might expect. I don't know how famous they are yet... one of them was in a magazine they showed me but I have to get their last names so I can google them. It's key intelligence!!! They will be a handy contact next time I visit Bangkok, but I want to know how handy!!!

Here is another Hexstatic clip. This time they match Astro Boy footage to a Japanese song.

(By the by, if you use MSN messenger add my contact: davetran66@hotmail.com - I have bought a shiny new laptop so now I am constantly online.)

23 in Laos

2006-03-27T20:10:00.000+09:00

So after securing my new job I thought a short holiday was in order to relax, let go of the stress and anxiety endured from moving to a new country and restore the caramel colour to my skin. With an unused ticket from Bangkok to Tokyo in hand I got a one-way to Thailand and decided to hoof it over to Laos, a place I knew only by reputation. Everyone you meet who has been there says "It's sooooooo cool... great.... amazing" - but no one can explain why, and neither can I. Basically it's one of the most chilled out countries in the world.

The national religion is officially Theravada Buddhism which actually prevents them from doing any activity that causes stress. So you can imagine there is a lot of sitting going on. As soon as you cross the border the mellow vibe is infectious; you start to talk slower, gaps in the conversation become standard, your plans become less ambitious. The perfect Laos activity is the backpacker tradition of "tubing", where you get driven a few kilometres up the Mekong river, and get dropped off with the inner tube from a truck. Then you float lazily down the river in the sun, stopping from time to time to have a beer on the make shift river-side bars; and if your feeling adventurous a jump from a huge swing into the river. Good days.

Of course the thing that makes a country enjoyable are the people you meet and hang out with and Laos attracts a very down-to-earth crowd, very easy to get along with. While it's not the place to go to party it is the perfect place to relax. The bars close at 12pm so me and my new English buddies went for some drinking at the all-night bowling places in Vientienne which are bizarre but fun. The only downer was that a gay Laos dude followed us there and wouldn't leave me alone. He was harmless, but he kept touching me and tried to get cosy which tested my patience after a while. I would have given him a bitch-slap but he might have liked it.

So I got around the main areas of Laos for a bit over a week mostly with this funny English girl called Jess. The trip was lacking in quality beach time (river time just isn't the same) so got the train back to Thailand and was planning to go to an island, but due to a lack of vacancies on the bus I headed to the mainland beach of Hua Hin which is nice enough for a few days. Bangkok can be a difficult place sometimes so I avoided the backpacker area and stayed in a nice hostel in the Sukumvit area which is near a the Skytrain station for convenient sight seeing. Finished up my time with some pirate goods-shopping and massage. All in all a nice little trip, met some cool people from England, Israel, Finland, Austria and the US. Feeling rejuvenated and prepared for my time in Japan to really start.

And on another note I turned 23 on the 9th of March. Thanks for the birthday emails, they were appreciated; if you didn't send one don't worry I've never been that big on birthdays and you can be assured that I will forget to do the same for you.

Nice jump!

2006-03-26T22:14:00.000+09:00

Kings Palace, Bangkok

Vang Vien in Laos at sunset... so nice

Sleeping Buddha at this water cave. It was so cool, you float down into these huge caves with headlights on and pull on a rope to make your way 600 meters into the cave.

The drop into the Mekong river from the swings is pretty high

Me at Luang Prahbang, cool town

At Hua Hin, I had to explain to the lady that it was not the correct spelling for 'crepe'

Sukumvit at night.

FINALLY... employment!!! A purpose in society!!!

2006-03-04T18:56:00.000+09:00

Ahh yes, unemployment is a thing of the past now thank god. No more of the self-doubting, anxiety, endless hours to fill with minimal activity. I got a job with a big company over here called NOVA. They have a bad reputation, but I think that it is exaggerated. It will be fine, and even if it's not it beats unemployment.

Being on a Working Holiday Visa means that I only work 20 hours a week, 5-9pm each day, which gives me enough money to get by... but I want more. So I'm doing interviews to find a part-time day job as well. Which shouldn't be too demanding (I was doing 48 hours a week in Korea no problems) and should be very rewarding both spiritually and financially. In all likelyhood during the day it will be children and adults in the evening at NOVA.

So to reward myself I'm going to take a trip back to Thailand and visit Laos this time around. Cause my contract doesn't start till the end of March and I still have a plane ticket from Bangkok to Japan that I haven't used. Also it's cheaper and hotter down there: so why not eh? I could use some sun after winters in Korea and Japan. My tan is a distant memory as are beautiful beaches.

Here are a few odd photos and videos from around Tokyo:

2006-03-04T14:20:00.000+09:00

Rockabily dancers get down in Harajuku park!

Harajuku park, so awesome.

I love Harajuku, its full of these crazy people. This guy dresses like a pirate and his buddy walks around with a horses head on... as you do.

Me & the man from Kyoto Jazz Massive. He's so pimped out, cool guy.

'The Khronos project' was as cool as it sounds. The screen is elastic and when you touch it the display changes time. This one is from day to night, when you let go of the screen the image ripples the time changes.

Travel + Unemployment = Reading

2006-02-24T14:31:00.000+09:00

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......

2006-02-17T16:01:00.000+09:00

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

2006-02-10T10:06:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-02-09T10:46:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-02-09T10:30:00.000+09:00

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#!

2006-02-07T18:58:00.000+09:00

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?

2006-02-01T20:03:00.000+09:00

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.

2006-02-01T00:09:00.000+09:00

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.

Now Broadcasting in Video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-31T13:55:00.000+09:00

This is the only one I had. It's of a class practicing their performance of "Old Macdonald" while their teacher lays down a drum & bass beat behind it with his feet & claps. I was impressed.... the kids got rythm!!!

All Good Things...

2006-01-27T17:57:00.000+09:00

So this is where Korea and I part ways for the time being. It has been a wonderful month, made some good friends, had some good times and made some good money. As I sit here looking at my stack of 2 Million Won ($2000 USD) I feel extremely grateful to this place. The last week was very bitter sweet, it's funny how much you can bond with people over a short period of time. On the last 2 days there was a lot of crying by teachers, workers and kids. None of my kids cried though... ungrateful little shits. Just kidding, I love my kids even if they don't care enough to cry at our farewell.

On the last two days we had our completion ceremony where the kids did the performances that we prepared with them. My first class did the original play that I wrote for them entitled 'The Amazing Transformation Machine', once I get the video I will post it online for you all to enjoy.

The basic story is about a Mad Scientist who builds a machine that transforms people into different shapes and sizes and other objects too. So he pays this dude a million dollars to get into the machine; he then changes into a girl and gives the scientist his money back to transform him back into himself. We then go through the whole class having their turn of coming out of the machine and saying something like "now I'm too short, try again!" and getting progressively angry at the scientist. The kids loved to get to yell and push the funny fat kid who was the scientist. Then at the end the original kid gets out and pushes the scientist into the machine, then after the machine beeps and does it's thing the whole class runs out from the machine making lots of noise and takes a bow. Genius. I thought I should have got some sort of screenwriting award, but apparently only the kids get awards here. It's all politics man.

My other kids sang the Rudolph song. Their singing wasn't great but when you make little kids wear antlers and give them little red noses they are so cute noone cares what they do. I wish it didn't have to end so soon, but perhaps if I stayed much longer I wouldn't love it as much. It was also sad saying goodbye to our coworkers, they are a good group of girls and it was fun working with them. Especially one in particular who I have a not so secret crush on, but she is spoken for by her boyfriend and Jesus... stiff competition. So it's not to be right now, but after all the good things that have happened here I'm sure I'll come back one day... not soon but definately one day; so all is not lost.

It has been very nice to be settled in one spot for a while, it's given me the time to do the things I like to do. Downloaded some new music; been digging the new Wolfmother & Maddonna albums. That Jacques Lu Cont production is killer. So is the new Gilles Peterson cd; its all live recordings of the guests he gets on his radio one show, needless to say some amazing artists. Also been reading Harry Potter 5 which is entertaining. Also bought some cool Korean films. They have an incredibly strong movie industry cause there is a local content rule that means that more than half of the films at the cinema are Korean made. The films are all melo-dramatic, stylistic and have an element of tragedy to them. The coolest one I've seen is called 'Old Boy' about a guy who gets kidnapped/imprisoned for 15 years and doesn't know who or why it was done. The film real twisted and some hardcore stuff goes down, it is very well made and if you can find it check it out.

Tonight it's club night in Hong Dae where you pay a cover at one club and you can club hop into all of them. One last hurrah before heading to Japan tomorrow, I've got my fake Bathing Ape sneakers so I should fit in just fine, but I do feel foolish heading to the most expensive city in the world with no job and no place to stay. But I have confidence that it will all work out. Wish me luck my people and write to me with your trials and tribulations, I would like to hear from home.

2006-01-27T12:37:00.000+09:00

Reuben, Rod & Leena at the war museum

A very graphic model of a high school that was attacked by the North during the civil war. The locals fought them back till replacements were sent and annialated them. Great bravery though.

The Canadians standing in front of the flags of the U.N. coalition that was sent during the Korean war.

2006-01-26T12:48:00.000+09:00

Which included the Australians. Patriotism is cool.

This is how they sleep in the navy. Just like the Village People.

A paratrooper in the museum. It was closing so the lights were turned off.

Me & Leena, a teacher at the camp and a top-notch lady.

Reuben throwing around one of my kids.

Me & the lovely Grace. The best thing about Korea.

2 of my little reindeers.

They don't come much cuter.

Bye kiddies! I'll miss you all!

One of my other classes.

And another one.

The class fat kid. He ate 5 pieces of pizza that day. Be careful buddy, gastro-surgery is expensive!

Two of my stalkers. 15 years old, only 3 years to go. (Joke)

They called me 'handsum teecha' here. My ego has inflated a little since I got here. Even though the compliments are from little kids I still enjoy it I'm not gonna lie. Feel free to leave a comment about how I'm a tosser.

Korea Pt. 2

2006-01-17T08:32:00.000+09:00

I've just past the halfway point of my stay in Korea and I'm already sad at the thought of leaving. It's been really good here; Korea has treated me well. Its very nice to not have to move every few days. My Canadian buddy has been showing me around town and there is plenty to see. I've been sharing a room with his brother who is a real funny dude. The other teachers here are cool, we get along well and have a good time together. The Korean staff members are all friendly and good fun and of course most of the kids are fantastic.

The initial phase of getting use to teaching classes and getting to know the kids has passed. Now I know the kids pretty well. I had to bust some balls recently though to set the ground rules for my classroom. Being firm with the kids definately did not come naturally; it had to be done though cause it only takes a couple of kids to disrupt the classroom and make things difficult for you. I didn't like it, but it really starts to piss you off when kids don't pay attention. I made a little girl cry the other day which is a horrible feeling. The image of her looking at me as her little eyes welled up with tears is burned into my memory... I didn't do anything too bad, just some stern talking cause she refused to do the class activity. But I think she thought we were good buddies and that I would let her do whatever she wanted to. So when I laid down the law she was a little shocked.

Otherwise everything has been wonderful. The kids like me, I like them. Teaching is easy and fun too. We all have a great time together but I don''t know how much they are actually learning. But I think that at this age range (8-12) it's more important for them to have a good time so that they will want to continue learning. I don't think I am the favourite teacher here, but I am the only teacher with groupies! I can't walk through the halls without bunches of little girls staring and giggling at me. They try to conversate in broken English which is pretty funny: 'You so handsome teacher! '.

I hit up the shopping district for some warm clothes which was quite an experience in itself. The girls that work in the stores are a lot like the school girls. 'You handsome. I love you!' is about all they know of the english language. Out the front of the department stores they all have these stages with massive sound systems, usually blasting jiggy Rn'B. But on busy nights they have other entertainment; I saw breakdancers, a dating game show and a rock band who were rocking out unconvincingly in turtlenecks and with beautifully conditioned hair. Hilarious.

The nightlife has been cool so far. We only have one day off a week, so realistically we can only get drunk once a week and go sightseeing once a week too. On the first week the staff here took all the teachers out for Korean barbeque and drinks. It's a great way to spend the early evening, leisurely cooking food at your table and getting wasted on Soju (Korean rice wine). I got a little too loose for the first outing with work colleagues, now some of the camp assistants call me 'crazy man'.

But the real story started after we got back to the dorms and Reuben just lost it. I don't think he drinks a lot but when he gets drunk he turns into a looney tune; rolling around on the ground rambling and such. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to spray him with the fire extinguisher to calm him down; which was very silly cause instead of the cloud of gas I was expecting a whole lot of pink powder came out and made a big mess. To make things worse I went to switch it for an unused extinguisher downstairs and I set off the alarm that goes off when you go into the girls dorms. Then they came into our room and confiscated our alcohol which completed the breaking of every rule they have here. Our liason had to sort out the resulting mess with the security people so we didn't get kicked out.

One thing I have learned quickly is that Soju = trouble. This weekend we went to an all you can eat & drink place for $22USD, which was great fun. We went with some of Rick's Korean friends, a coworkers and her husband. All was going well until we hit the batting cages near the restaurant where we demolished the bottles of Soju we took from the serve-yourself fridge. From that point on things went wrong. Reuben wasn't allowed into the club cause he was so drunk, which is unheard of here. So I hit up the club with Rick and his friend Nicole... and it was off the hook!!! Granted I was very drunk, but there was an insane amount of cute girls bumping and grinding just like they do in filmclips. They totally worship the whole jiggy vibe... and I like it! It was like a booty paradise, I had great fun until I lost Rick and the girl I was dancing/kissing with. So I had to drag myself home without a jacket (cause it was in someones bag) in the bitter cold Korean winter. Trapesing around freezing cold, missing train transfers cause I was asleep, alone in an unfamiliar place... it was real shitty.

Anyway the night was great fun and completely worth it. Wish I could stay longer but my visa runs out straight after the camp. So I'm looking at hitting up Japan at the end of the month to see my homeboy and wreck havoc. I'm a bit busy but I'll try to post again soon. Enjoy the photos.

2006-01-16T21:53:00.000+09:00

Some of our co-workers who took us out for dinner.

Another crowd shot.

The man-made lake they built going through Seoul.

Part of the palace.

Another lake shot.

And of course the kiddies.

Her English name is Angel. Ohhh.

Two of my favourite cuties.

Me & Teddy. What a legend.

My boys!

In da club.

2006-01-16T21:46:00.000+09:00

The 63 floor building. Awesome views.

A cool viewing box on the 60th floor.

Another one... Nice expression

Pimpin out in da club, rockin' my new clothes.

Place was off the hook! At least I think it was, pretty wasted.

Reuben in the batting cages, before he lost a 50000 won bet to his brother ($50 USD).

It's cool just meeting people in the street. We're going out with them later this week.

Pretty lights all over the place. These stairs were way cool.

2 Big teddy bears.

Rockin out in turtlenecks. Had the girls going nutso with the phone cameras.

Street shot.

These people were going crazy over the fashion designer (Andre Kim) who made a street appearance. Apparently he's one of the most famous people in Korea. I thought he looked silly and took photos of the crowd instead.

Sightseeing near the Palace.

This guy was protesting the naming of a new port. Good luck champ!

12 statues for each lunar sign. This one is for the year of the monkey.

Hello South Korea!!!

2006-01-03T22:26:00.000+09:00

So after my week in Saigon and I had my visa in my hand I departed for Seoul in South Korea for my first experience trying to teach little kiddies some English. Reunited with my Canadian buddy Rick and his also his older brother Reubin which is cool, cause most friends met through travelling will inevitably disappear forever. I've been in Korea for five days now and so far I've had a great time working with kids. It's pretty f**king cold here though, the first few days were shite arriving in thongs and with minimal warm clothes and fatigued from travelling as well. But I have adjusted to it now so it's okay.

NYE was average. Saturday is a work day for a lot of Koreans and the vibe in the city wasn't anything to write home about (even though I just did). I expected more atmosphere than there was. Could be that lunar new year (Chinese new year) is bigger over here. We hit up one of the club districts but were too cheap to pay to get into the clubs so we went to one of the bars and then downed some cheap Soju from the convenience store. After harassing the people in the street for a while we called it a night and retreated after a somewhat uneventful new years'. But whatever, it's just another night really, sometimes it's memorable, sometimes not.

Teaching has been the real story. I was nervous about being put at the front of a room full of kids and being responsible for their educational experience. After my first week though it all seems to be falling into place. Most of the kids are angels which makes it real easy. All the camp workers are super-nice and we have these cute Korean assistants to help us (hopefully they will assist us with dinner and a movie). It really great being with kids (8-12 years old) all day; the job is stressless, not difficult and even fun! Which is a phenomenal concept to me! Work that's fun and makes you feel good. Crazy. I'll put up some photos of my kiddies next post... asians are super-cute when they're little.

The kids like me because I don't punish them. We just have a good time together during class, playing games and stuff. There are a group of little girls who follow me around in between class. Today they followed me into the elevator which was a weird experience. Being in an enclosed space with my non-english speaking 10 year old fans. I mean what do you say to them? Even though they are little kids I can't help but feel good about having girls chase me around and scream when I wave. It's just like Beatlemania! I know its sad but I take whatever compliments I get. It's like that 'beggars can't be choosers' thing.

So it looks like it should be a great month here. I have high hopes and very much look forward to seeing the sights, and hitting up the clubbing and shopping districts. Should be a great experience and the best part is that is was totally out of the blue. This is the benefit of having no commitments people. Why don't you think about that for a while? Hmmmmmm.

Until next time "ANNYEONG HASEAYO" (later).

2006-01-03T22:25:00.000+09:00

Light snacks.

Ricks bro: Reubin

This bar has a mural of Snoop behind the bar. A mural!

Rick passed out in the cab home, early 2006.

Goodbye Vietnam...

2005-12-27T22:00:00.000+09:00

Hello all, I am alive and well. Been super busy since last post. I had to cut my Vietnamese explorations short to and head back to Saigon to sort out a visa for this Korean job. Luckily it all worked out and I had a good week in Ho Chi Minh city in the meanwhile.

After my parents left, I befriended several locals who showed me a nice time. I enjoyed the company of some top people (3 girls, 1 guy) whom I met in Dalat who took care of me; taking me out to restaurants, cafes, and sightseeing. Went to the Cu Chi Tunnels which is where the Viet Cong made an underground network of bunkers and rooms where they lived and took down the Yanks. The highlight for me was shooting my first gun on the rifle range. It was an M-14 rifle and I managed to hit the bullseye on the target 100 meters away (after a few shots). Guns are real f**king loud! The kick into your shoulder isn't as bad as you'd think. Also shooting guns makes you feel like a real man; not that I don't normally. It would have made me feel like more of a man if it was possible. It was great hanging out with my new friends and if you are reading this right now, thank you very much.

I also spent a little time in the afternoons with the girls who work at the "massage" parlour out the front of my hotel. They were cool chicks who let me sit around with them when I was bored. They were never busy and just sat around in the alley all day and night. I must admit I enjoyed the attention of a big group of girls in uniforms and short skirts. It turns out that their jobs do not warrant the inverted commas that I used. Their work place only does foot massages... which is proabably why it's never busy. Also right near my hotel was an internet cafe which had some nice girls working there. They took me out for coffee one night and to a club on christmas night... they were a little bit cute too which was nice.

I also got some pimp clothes made. Eventually I chose a material with pink pinstripes for my suit. It sounds gay but looks pretty sharp. I wanted blue pinstripes they were out of stock. All up I got a suit, a shirt, 2 ties and 2 cardigans (You got a problem with cardigans?). All tailor made which sounds great but the materials and the quality could be better... but for $120 USD for everything it's to be expected.

I think I know Saigon quite well now and having Vietnamese blood I think I have a certain connection to the people. I could easily live here one day but at this point I want to be somewhere more exciting and fast paced. It's real nice here and nice is great, but I want to be somewhere that more crazy shit happens. Hopefully Japan will be all I'm hoping for. But first I'll be taking a 4-week detour to South Korea. Why? Because I can. Isn't that great? God bless the English language.

Take it easy.

2005-12-27T21:58:00.000+09:00

De Tham St, backpacker district

Internet girls & friends on Christmas night

Feeling the spirit of Christmas and Tiger beer.

Cu Chi tunnels entrance

Me & the massage girls from near the hotel.

Vietnam Pt. 2 (Dalat)

2005-12-21T01:46:00.000+09:00

Well I'm back in Saigon for the 3rd time. Trying to sort out my Korean work visa which is proving to be quite difficult due to the fact that I am not applying from Australia and it is hard to get in contact with the camp director as I do not have a phone and she is in Korea. It looks as though it might just work out but dark clouds still loom overhead. Will need some luck to get me through.

Anyways it's nice to be back and have a sense of familiarity in a place so foreign. After Cambodge it was time for us to visit my father's coffee farm in Dalat which he has been visiting during harvest season for the last few years. Finally got to reconcile the difference between my the way I imagined it was and the reality. It's actually very nice... though I was not impressed intially. Very hilly so it is hard to judge the size, it's 60 hectres apparently which is "fookin large init?" [Just finished a Ben Elton book (High Society) so I have a pommy accent in stuck my head.]

It was a relief to my conscience to see that the workers on the farm who get paid roughly $2.50 AUS a day are treated well by local standards. They get paid more than other farms cause it is far from town (28km dirt roads of varying quality) so none of them can get girlfriends, so they pass the time smoking some local plant through a long bong-like apparatus. I don't think they get high from it, but I was a little shocked to see the workers sucking down bongs on their lunch break!

Dalat is a mountain town that has been growing fast cause of the perfect agriculture conditions they have. Its in the central part of Vietnam in the middle of plenty of rainforest and has awesome soil apparently; so plenty of farms growing coffee, fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants. It's also home to many local artists and poets; the beautiful countryside is supposed to be inspiring or some crap. One dude recited his poetry to my parents whilst pissed at a restaurant and gave them a book of it. We arrived midway through the first ever Dalat Flower Festival which was as lovely as it sounds but with no hippies. At night though the party got going in a Vietnamese way: terrible music, innocent dancing, mild drinking and yelling like soccer hooligans.

Most nights were spent at various restaurants entertaining local officials, businessmen & the like. Was an insight into the way the socialist government works over here. It's no wonder that things move slowly, you have to wine & dine the people with power all the time and because the officials can do whatever they want you need to give them a cut on any profits or they just say no to any requests. The fine art of negotiating with these people is to work out how much to give them so they are satisfied, but not so much that they become greedy and start making unreasonable demands. Very fine line which is why my dad has a friend who manages the farm with him who is also the director of the local national park. One night we had dinner with Phung's parents if you know him. His dad is an important man involved with local agriculture, I think he represents Austrade giving aid to Vietnamese farmers.

The old ones and I parted ways as mum had to head back to Australia for Xmas & pops had to go look at tractors or something. So I stayed with my dad's friend and did a touristy tour of the city. All went well until I wandered around at some minority village and lost the rest of the tour group. Eventually I hitched a ride on the back of a schoolgirl's motorbike and found them at the "Chicken Village" after making them 20 minutes late for departure. They were all very goodhearted about it and kept making jokes that I needed 5 buffaloes if I wanted to marry a local girl and from then on everyone kept an eye out for me as I was the only white (sort of white) guy who couldnt speak the local language... was very touching, warm feelings and all that.

Trying desperatley to sort out this visa business so I can let loose for a few days, havent been properly pissed since... actually recently. On Saturday I hit up karaoke with my dad's friend and his work friends. The Soju wine and beer was flowing a definate prerequisite for karaoke. I killed em with "Imagine" by John Lennon and "Superfreak" by Rick James. The karaoke machine gave me 100% for both efforts, which says a lot more about the machine than it does about my singing. No one else got the full marks but they were singing those Viet songs that use those weird notes; the ones that are real irritating.

Hopefully I can sort out this visa business so I don't have to worry about anything. I'm meeting some people for dinner tommorow which should be a bit of fun; now that the folks aren't around I can start to misbehave a bit more. I'd like to raise the rating of this blog from PG to MA at least, if not higher. When I think about it 15 is still a little young, so I'll go for the R rating. Either by adding some sex scenes or using explicit language, one or the other is bound to happen.

[Also check out Tomek's bands new website www.vanshe.com their Ep is worthy and things are looking good for those young upstarts. Also theres a bunch of photo's of Tomek in silly shorts too!]

2005-12-20T14:05:00.001+09:00

I tried to pat this horse and it turned around and kicked me! Can you believe it! I thought they were meant to be friendly and stuff! Why do parents buy them for little girls? So they can get their heads kicked in?

2005-12-20T13:59:00.000+09:00

Me being an idiot.

2005-12-20T13:57:00.001+09:00

Pebble art. Never knew.

2005-12-20T13:56:00.001+09:00

These guys were killing the illusion for the kiddies. The guy on the left look more like a criminal than an children's entertainer.

2005-12-20T13:52:00.000+09:00

"I'm Rick James Bitch!" This is me doing Superfreak. No Hammer dancing though. Pants too tight. "Cause she's a very sexy girl...."

2005-12-20T13:49:00.000+09:00

Where the workers sleep. Like all 15 of them!

2005-12-20T13:48:00.001+09:00

Workers sorting the beans. Green ones are bad I think.

2005-12-20T13:46:00.000+09:00

The greenhouse. Trying to grow vegies, capsicum and shit.

2005-12-20T13:43:00.001+09:00

Hows the serenity?

2005-12-20T13:43:00.000+09:00

Dalat festival at night. These guys put huge systems on the back of trucks and drive through the closed streets blasting rockabily music. The Viets love it and jump around like crazy. They are easily excited these kids.

2005-12-20T13:39:00.000+09:00

Some nice girls who took care of me after my parents left

It's Cambodge in French!

2005-12-20T12:57:00.000+09:00

Whats happening my people? I have had enough free time recently to actually start to wonder what's going on in Sydney and yes, miss you a little bit... but not that much. So while your on the web reading this blog, take a minute to drop your uncle Dave an email with some news, plans, hopes & dreams and postal address if you want a postcards or dvd's or something.

Christmas is approaching and I want to feel the love. It is a time for giving & sharing, spending time with loved ones, hot cocoa & milk and a 2nd quarter spike in consumer spending boostering economic activity to counteract contractionary pressures of high interest rates. So in the true spirit of the corporate-sponsored holiday, purchase retail goods and also send me an email.

Another week, another country, this time the lovely Cambodia. Situated in the middle of Vietnam and Thailand it is actually like a cross between the two. There is a strong Indian influence (the people are darker for starters) because it is the halfway point between the India and China sea route, heaps of Hindu temples. I really do like this country, the people are friendly and don't hustle you too much... except for the kids, who cleaned me out. They all come up to you on the street and try to sell you pirated books, every time I left the hotel I'd come back with another book I didn't want, too hard to say no to the little faces.

There are some cool streets filled with French villas converted into bars & restaurants in Siem Reap. But really it's the history that makes Cambodia such an interesting place. The remains of the Ankorian empire provide it's only major industry (being tourism), the French colonisation influenced their architecture and food, their involvement in the Vietnam war & the reigning Pol Pot regime put Cambodia back into the dark ages. All their infrastructure and the whole intellectual population were destroyed. Only since the the U.N. administered democratic elections in 1997 has there been enough political stability for economic progress and for them to open up to the world. Understandably things are still pretty crazy in terms of government. Poverty is rife, and most of the people know someone killed in the mass genocide back in 1975-79. I visited the 'Killing Fields' where there are mass graves and a memorial building filled with shelves of skulls. They also keep the Tong Sleum prison where 14,000 people were kept and totured as a memorial museum as a reminder of the tragedy that occured.

Heavy stuff. Another thing that makes the place great are its sexy girls. In my opinion they are prettier than Vietnamese girls (Thai girls still win it - they are way over quota). But they don't think they are pretty because they have darker skin, which is an advantage for any guy who doesn't have the Asian obsession for white skin. I don't see how anyone can prefer the girls who look ill they are so white over the caramel skin colour of the Indochinese. There are plenty of sexy girls here who value themselves lower than they should; the difficulty is finding ones that don't require money for their services. I met a cool chick who used to be a soap opera actress and we hit it off, but things fell apart after she asked me what my bridal price was so she could get Australian citizenship. I told her I wasnt for sale (besides her offer was way too low!) and she seemed to lose interest. I suspect that her interest in me was not completely genuine.

It's worth visiting the country to see Ankor Wat. These world-heritage listed temples attract 1 million tourist visitors a year for good reason. There are hundreds but it only takes 3 days to see all the good ones. My favourite one is on top of a large hill and has a panoramic view over the major temples and mountain ranges, the best part being that you can ride an elephant all the way to the top. The temples that are over-run with jungle and have giant prehistoric trees growing throughout them are the coolest. Sometimes there are traditional bands playing to add to the atmosphere and seeing monkeys and elephants around always makes me happy.

In other news it looks as though I'll be heading to South Korea at the end of the month to teach at a winter camp over there! My Canadian mate is doing it and so I applied for the same camp. All looks good, just waiting on the contracts to arrive. Otherwise my plan is the same it's just my arrival in Japan will be delayed by 4 weeks. I'm super pumped! Korea sounds cool, and it will be good experience before I rock up in Japan and start asking people for jobs. Rick has had a good time teaching in Korea for the last year and he assures me it's a wicked place.

On unrelated note Asian popstars are hot!!! On television the choices are basically between: terrible asian soap operas which all feature moustache touting idiots or the Chinese Channel V which features pretty girls bouncing around & also pretty guys crooning in that un-masculine way that asians do. Both are very pretty but I prefer the girls over the girly-men. Asian music is genuinely terrible, but occaisionally it sounds a bit like a good song you heard 10 years ago. The redeeming factor being the pristine little girls that bounce around. There's this one pop group of four girls who do a mean cover of Maddonna's 'Material Girl'. I watched an hour long special on them, including a half hour interview which did not understand (couldnt even get the group's name). Intellectual stimulation is overated anyway and easily overlooked. The less processing required the better.

As the prophet Springer says: "Take care of yourselves & each other"

2005-12-20T12:54:00.001+09:00

Part of the kings palace

2005-12-20T12:54:00.000+09:00

Just walking down the middle of the street, so awesome.

2005-12-20T12:53:00.000+09:00

Our wheels & our tour guide

2005-12-20T12:52:00.002+09:00

Ankor Wat... the big one

2005-12-20T12:52:00.001+09:00

One with faces

2005-12-20T12:52:00.000+09:00

One thats in the middle of a huge pond surrounded by stairs

2005-12-20T12:51:00.000+09:00

One with mad jungle overgrowth

2005-12-20T12:50:00.002+09:00

Taxi...

2005-12-20T12:50:00.001+09:00

Another one...

2005-12-20T12:50:00.000+09:00

Me & momma at the top of the hill temple

2005-12-20T12:49:00.001+09:00

A shelf inside the memorial building, the shelves are stacked 20 meters high

2005-12-20T12:49:00.000+09:00

The guards at Tong Sleum prison, kids.

2005-12-20T12:47:00.000+09:00

Beggar children at the fields

The Motherland!

2005-12-08T00:41:00.000+09:00

Getting in touch with my roots right now, roots are very important... I like roots. Spent a little time in Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Min city) before heading to the town my father grew up to visit my grandfather. Tis a very strange experience for me seeing what my people are like, Vietnamese have a very distinctive character and compared with Thai culture the differences are definately magnified. It's the little things you know, like what they call a quarter pounder with cheese, but it's also the big things like the way their society works. I only managed to spend 6 nights there before we jetted to Cambodia, so I don't want to make sweeping generalisations before I've spent some more time there. Also I haven't really gotten down with the nightlife as I haven't been able to contact my playboy cousin (the unrelated type) to get him to take me out. He left Australia at my age and never came back, abandoning Oz to live the life of a playboy in Saigon, so he should be able to show me what I'm really interested in seeing.

It's nice to be with the folks again, very comforting after being out all alone (sort of... for a week anyway) in the crazy world. I am a certified momma's boy, a defining characteristic of our generation I think; or maybe it's just a defining characteristic of the friends I have... who knows. Does that say more about the times we live in or my choice of friends? Hmm... Anyway the point is it's cool spending time with my family and not spending time opening my wallet. Just kidding... sort of. My dad gets real excited when he tells me things about Vietnam (being a local and everything) which is great cause he rarely gets excited about anything, quite like myself. So far I have gotten to know district 1 in Saigon quite well, from the rich tourist area to the backpacker area and especially the cheap dvd area. I have scoured the many stores to amass the greatest collection of pirated dvds the world has ever seen!!! (well at least 40 odd movies that I haven't seen yet anyway).

[Authors note: I know this blog is about me but its a bit tedious reading about all the trivial thoughts someone has and I have a tendency to drift when writing about things and just type as I think.. Like right now. So I pledge to write less about what I think from now on cause it's mostly crap]

I found out that my father grew up in a small town called Sadet which is close to Saigon, just on the other side of the Mekong river. Which is where I met my grandfather for the 2nd time, the first being 15 years ago when I was a little tucker. Unfortunately he is in very bad health (being an 85 year old Vietnamese guy is almost unheard of) and was unable to say more than a few words, which I did not understand anyway as I do not speak Vietnamese or French. So we were restricted to non-verbal communication, he was very sick but still had a tight grip on my hand and when he smiled I could see that he knew who I was and I think he appreciated the visit. Sadly I think the end is near for my last remaining grandparent and all his family knows it. But after hearing several stories of the antics that he got up to in his day, it sounds as if he lived a very full and interesting life, which is all anyone can hope for.

He fathered 12 legitimate children (I have heard there are others) over 2 marriages and managed to feed them, put them through school, and even send some overseas (in my dad's case Australia to study which was fortunate otherwise he would never have met my mother) which is no small feat for a man from a small town in a poor country like Vietnam. My father was the first kid from the town to study overseas (god bless capitalism). He definately was no saint though, most of the stories I manage to squeeze out of my dad are tales of greed and debauchery, which made gramps infamous in his hometown. There are tales involving a regular opium-smoking habit, embezzlement, and also at an old age sharing his bed with his 2nd wife and a 19-year old mistress. These details are probably inappropriate for a holiday-blog, but I know that only real friends will check this site anyway.

In summary right now I'm well fed, well slept, well read and well over this hot ass internet cafe. So check back soon to the mildly entertaining adventures of...

(Bum-ba-da-da.... "DAVE TREK")

(Fade Out)

2005-12-08T00:40:00.000+09:00

Saigon from the sky.

2005-12-08T00:39:00.000+09:00

Me & mother dearest

2005-12-08T00:38:00.000+09:00

This crowd formed around these 2 guys who crashed into each other then threw down the fisticuffs... lamest fight I ever saw. No ninja kicks.

2005-12-08T00:37:00.000+09:00

Me & poppa g

2005-12-08T00:36:00.001+09:00

Love the zoo, Saigon gators.

2005-12-08T00:36:00.000+09:00

Happy Hippo!

2005-12-08T00:35:00.000+09:00

Smiling elephant

Koh Phangan & Koh Tao

2005-11-27T00:28:00.000+09:00

Ahh good times. After the blast that was Phi Phi we made the pilgrimage to the party island of Koh Phangan, which is where they host the monthly full-moon parties. We missed the party, but after reviewing the video footage which was on display (you can buy dvd's) I did not regret our inattendence. On the TV screen were images of a plethora of idiots, hooting and hollering under the spotlight of the video camera. There seemed to be an abundance of sweaty shirtless guys convulsing in a manner which is reffered to as 'dancing'. Although we missed this strange ancient mating ritual, where the male attempts to woo the female by impressing her with his ability to digest large amounts of alcoholic liquids and proceeds to behave poorly and also urinate frequently, getting louder and rowdier until the female can no longer resist his advances, assuming that the male is able to control his body's needs for regurgitation and unconsciousness, (sorry got a little side tracked!) there were still a number of events to attend and participate in the mating game.

There was a nice little party by the waterfall which was good dirty fun, we drank alot and got carried away alot also. Safe to say I don't remember too much, but Tony's photos proved to be most interesting and informative. We stayed on one of the north beaches, which was nice and quiet; however not reccomended if you are partying on the main beach and then have to ride in the back of a ute over pot-hole ridden island roads after a long night of mushroom shakes and Sangsom whisky buckets. So after a few days on Phangan we split from our travelling buddies (amicably) and headed to the smaller, more pristine Koh Tao for some quality time together: holding hands, candlelit dinners and so forth, before Tony departed for the UK.

Koh Tao is a brilliant little island, with perfect water, cool people and friendly locals; however our arrival coincided with the arrival of shitty weather. The catamaran ride to the island over choppy seas proved to be a vomit-inducing experience for us both, with the reward of constant rain once we arrived. The lack of sunshine was a major inconvenience for us, especially as Tony's tan was not up to the standard required for bragging to his pasty housemates in England. Despite this we had a really good time, mostly due to the lovely locals who took a shining to us; in my case a sexy Thai lady, in Tony's a sexy Thai lady-boy, or more appropriately a sexy Thai lady-MAN!!! Ha ha ha, the image of Tony on the back of her motorbike brings a very large smile to my face. If Thailand had a rugby team, she would have been a front-rower for sure.

But seriously, they were both great fun, we met on the night of my lady's birthday party which she invited us to where they fed us, got us drunk and played a little kiss-the-tourist. We both had a good time, however it is feasible that I had a better time than Tony as his motorbike driver to the night-club was too drunk and crashed his bike onto the sidewalk. I'm sure his spirits rose though when his adoring lady-man proceeded to pull him off the ground and drive him to safety (how romantic!). After a couple of days it was back to Bangkok via a flooded Koh Samui (They had to shut down the airport, chaos) for the departure of the big fella back to England, and myself to the homeland (my other one) to meet the old folks. I anticipate that things will be much quieter as my parents don't like the nightlife as much as Tony. I should be able to get much more sleep, eat like a champ, and spend much less money, which is a wonderful thing cause I do enjoy travelling and apparently it requires the possesion of funds to do so.

2005-11-27T00:24:00.000+09:00

Stoned lazing at Phangan

2005-11-27T00:22:00.000+09:00

One of the champs at Koh Tao, birthday girl in the back

2005-11-27T00:21:00.001+09:00

Heavy rains at Koh Tao

2005-11-27T00:21:00.000+09:00

Floods at Koh Samui

2005-11-27T00:20:00.000+09:00

Love the aerial photos.

2005-11-27T00:18:00.000+09:00

Another shot of the Israeli's, for the hell of it

Koh Phi Phi

2005-11-21T16:54:00.000+09:00

Koh Phi Phi is a wicked little island, most people go for the diving but there is plenty to keep you entertained. We made friends with this local we renamed "Playboy" because he always had foreign girls chasing after him. One night he took 2 Japanese girls on a 'night fishing' trip and brought beer and had a bbq, what a legend, he said the girls cried when they had to leave. We met the Playboy after we kayaked out to the little island off the main beach where they filmed the Leo movie, it was a really long way and he rescued us on his tour boat cause it was dark and we were a long way from the shore. Cool day though, stopped on Monkey island where these cheeky little bastards stole my camera out of the kayak. It would be gone now but after they figured out it wasn't food they gave it back. If you ever go to Phi Phi there is an all you can eat seafood barbeque for 200 baht ($7) which is incredible, we ate like champs.

We also did a cliff jump from 15 meters I think, not sure exactly how high... high enough to make me soil myself though. A highlight of our time their was when this old crazy American guy took us on a boat trip around the whole island at sunset, was so beautiful (especially cause he passed around a doobie to everyone, driver included). The playboy gave us the hot tips on good islands to visit and places to snorkel, had some really nice days. The other highlight was having some fun with these 3 sexy Israelis, check the photos! Phi Phi was brilliant, definately the coolest place so far. We are moving off to Koh Phangan where they have those full-moon parties. Stay tuned for the next episode of...

'Dave Trek' (theme music playing)

Getting to know the locals.

2005-11-21T16:37:00.000+09:00

Me & 3 sexy Israeli girls, good old fashioned fun

2005-11-21T16:36:00.000+09:00

Tony & the playboy

2005-11-21T16:35:00.001+09:00

Ugly monkeys/sexy girl

2005-11-21T16:35:00.000+09:00

Me & Josie on a longboat