Darth Blog

ok, so i’m almost at the 3 month point and i’m finally gettin around to another update.  it looks like this may be a quarterly thing just seein how crazy work has been (i’ll get to that later).  so buckle up cuz this is gonna be a long one.  just like the good old updates when i was in china rite!  so here we goooo, let’s start with probly my favorite topic in the world:

FOOD
the eats here are absolutely amazing.  i never realized how many different types of japanese food there actually are.  the most amazing thing here is the sheer number of restaurants and small izakayas (restaurants where u go to eat and drink).  one block in my neighborhood will literally have at least 12 restaurants from the basement level up thru the 10th floor.  so options are a plenty.  and honestly it’s not as expensive for food here as i expected.  in a lot of cases it’s cheaper than new york.  it’s really only once you start ording drinks, then it can get a little pricey. 

the quality is usually really good too.  and they just don’t use as much oil and butter here like us fatty fat americans do.  when i went back to ny for an emergency trip in sept my family all said i’ve actually lost weight!  i guess i got a lil chubs from this past summer of absolute gluttony in LA  :)  another cool thing about tokyo is all the different types of food here.  indian, mexican, italian (they are crazy about pasta and pizza here), french, jewish deli’s, kabob places, and of course, the american chains (outback steakhouse, TGIFridays, mcd’s, kfc, subway, domino’s, shakey’s pizza!).

just a few highlights among many:
- gonpachi: the restaurant that was the model for the big fight scene in kill bill where uma thurman took out the 88 dragon gang.  really cool set up and great skewers.
- midori sushi: great sushi at a reasonable price
- kaiten sushi: there’s this one conveyor belt sushi joint by my place that’s sooo cheap and actually good
- 7/11’s: yes, the convenience store.  seriously one of the best stores in japan.  i could live out of 7/11’s here.

i do try to cook when i actually have some time.  but so far i’ve only cooked 4 times, haha!  3 out of the 4 i cooked gyoza and the 4th time i cooked fried rice.  but it is always more satisfying eating your own cooking rite?  but i do want to try as many restaurants as possible.  i’m on a 3-4 new restaurants/week pace rite now.  that’s just how many places there are and more!

WORK
the bane of my existence for the past 3 weeks.  for such an advanced culture it’s amazing to see the inefficiencies in corporate japan.  biggest issue i have is obivously the work schedule.  people usually get in between 930 - 10am.  some even later than that.  then they work all night to as late as 10pm (like i did last night, on a friday) and some even later.  whereas in america, i’d prefer to go in early to try to leave early.  and people don’t like to leave before their boss because that may "look bad".  even if they don’t have work to do, they’ll just wait till the boss goes first!

then most of the ’salary man’ basically white collar, salary based corporate workers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salary_man head out to the izakaya’s to drink, eat and blow off some steam.  but then some don’t even go home to their families!  they would crash at a nearby capsule hotel or internet cafe, then get up the next morning and go back to work.  or some don’t even make it to a hotel and pass out on the sidewalk or a bench after they’ve painted the ground with what they just ate and drank a few hours earlier.

stress levels are really high here and i can see how unhappy some people are and i feel the family life here isn’t the most healthy.  especially with the breadwinner passin out on the street while their family is at home.  when you take the train you will sometimes see train delay announcements on the screen.  my coworkers tell me that a lot of times that’s because people jump off the platform just as the train is coming to kill themselves.  now this isn’t always work related of course, but i’d be curious as to how many of those are…

anyway, thank god i haven’t been in that situation, even tho i am considered one of the ’salaryman’.  work has been absolutely draining for me.  a month into the project my mgr was replaced by a japanese local mgr, then 2 weeks after they replaced him with me.  so now i’m the project mgr and my workload has since quadrupled and i usually don’t get home till 10pm-ish. 

but honestly i did see the insane work hours coming though, that’s why i took the whole summer off to chill.  but it’s pretty intense when you actually go thru it.  so just tryin to take it in stride since it’s a promotion year and if i can pull this off in 7 weeks (i’ve inherited an absolute MESS), then it’ll be a huge case to make mgr.  so we’ll see what happens.  puttin in the dues now.

so after i get home, i usually log back onto my laptop, but this time to hit up espn.com and catch all my sports highlights.  which is a great segway into my next topic…

NEW ENGLAND SPORTS (sorry to those that don’t do sports, but i gotta do this)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  what a decade to be a new england sports fan.  that’s one of the biggest things i really miss and sooo wish i was back in boston for this year.  let’s start with of course, the sox.  got a little concerned late in the season when the yanks were so close to catchin us.  even at the beginning of the season when we were 15+ games ahead of them, you can never count out a joe torre team. 

in standard yankee fashion, they had role players coming up huge (melky, jabba, etc) and a-fraud just beastin.  but in the end, they still suck.  a-rod is great if you want to do well in the regular season, but an absolute choke job in the playoffs.  then into the playoffs.  we pwned the angels as usual.  i was surprised at how easy that series was especially with the pitching, and mix of power and speed they have.  but again, we pretty much own them, so wasn’t surprised.

then came the indians.  what a series.  the sox were absolutely lifeless when they lost and were down to 3-1.  then came josh beckett.  hands down the best pitcher in baseball rite now.  he set the tone and a david ortiz pep talk shot life back into the team and we ripped off 7 straight wins to our 2nd title in 3 yrs.  and like 2004 the ALCS was the real world series.  the NL is sooooo weak.  i think they should just get rid of the whole NL altogether.  and to finish, we must resign mike lowell.

the frustrating thing was obviously the time difference.  i caught most of the games via espn.com’s gamecast application in the morning’s at work.  needless to say, i was not productive at all on those mornings.  and when i could catch a game on the weekends, it would only be if dice-k was pitching.  and when dice sits and okie is out, they stop broadcasting the game!!!  when that first happened it was game 2 against the angels and they stopped showing the game after okie was done in the 7th and it was 3-3!!!  so i had to watch the rest online, but seeing that little virtual ball go over the green monster for manny’s 3 run bottom of the ninth walk off homer, was just as good as live tv.  i went crazy in my apt, by myself.  it was great! 

now to the patties.  2 words, tom brady.  he was nasty with noname receiving cores and pulled out 3 titles without a superstar receiver.  so finally this summer belly took a chance on moss, got some great pick ups (stallworth and welker) to put around brady.  and now we’re 9-0 with one of the most potent offenses in nfl history.  and on the defensive side, the timeless linebacker core is still holdin it down.  and that indy game.  one word, stud.  i think may have an unhealthy man-crush on tom brady.  but how can you not, he is THE man rite now.  if there’s anyone i’d want to be right now, it’s either tom brady or kevin garnett, haha.

now onto the celts.  oh my c’s.  what a facelift danny ainge gave to this team.  you think he finally realized that doc rivers can’t coach and decided just to put 3 superstars around him so he can just pretty much be hands off?  regardless, this team is sick.  as bad as people said the bench was before the season started, i’ve been impressed by the 2nd unit’s play.  but if one of the big 3 gets hurt, we may be in a lotta trouble.  so just prayin they stay healthy. 

also, a quick shout out to the new england revolution for that sick bicycle kick win.  let’s hope they can take it all this year.  man, even our soccer team is on fire.  ok, i think i’m done with the sports for now.  sorry, it’s real hard findin someone out here who i can just talk sports, much less new england sports!  next…

SHOPPING
ahh, i’ll admit, one of my favorite metro pastimes.  it’s pretty intense out here.  especially my neighborhood, shibuya, which is considered the young, trendy, fashion area.  what’s great about japan is that anything goes.  u can wear the most insane, clashing outfit, but no one will think anythin of it.  i actually feel like a plain jane out here, haha.  but everyone’s really accepting here and used to whatever.  some of the style here tho is just way overboard for me.  some of the guys look like they jumped out of the final fantasy video games just sans giant sword.  but if you wanna see straight up freaks, head over to harajuku on the weekends and all the high school kids with insane facial piercings and crazy outfits/costumes come out for the attention.

the only thing i’ve really bought so far are a few pairs of sneakers.  pasia/steph you guys REALLY gotta bring an xtra suitcase in march.  the kicks here are siiiick and there’s so much shopping for women out here.  i can’t really buy pants here cuz i can’t even get my thighs into them much less the bootaaay.  but the jackets here are pretty cool.  ok, enough of the metro-ness, next topic…

LIFE IN GENERAL
so monday-friday during my 2-3 free hours when i’m not working or sleeping, i’m eating.  i’ve gotten very familiar with watching tv shows/movies online thanks to http://www.watchtvsitcoms.com (looks like tvlinks.com got taken down, boooo).  youtube has been great too, but i really miss espn.  i do catch up on all the highlights, but it’s the lack of sportscenter that’s killin me.

i also just downloaded sudoku on my mobile.  and i’m hooked.  i can’t wait to poo just so i can finish off my sudoku game!  ok, sorry for that visual. 

on that note i should probly wrap this up.  i know this wasn’t a very interesting update, more of me just rambling, haha.  anyway, hope all is well with everyone.  GO SOX, PATS and CELTS!!!

love u chu family!

peace,
e