"Until the day you die, you'll always admit, That you were right, you were right, About all those things"
-Fire Eye'd Boy, BSS

What am I doing?

That's a question I ask myself when I find that I've put myself in various situations and positions. Today's WTF moment is regarding the spontaneous flight I just booked to Hong Kong for 5 days in September. I just randomly decided to cash in some well-earned Aeroplan miles with Air Canada for a free flight to to the Kong. I figured it was better cashing in 20,000 miles than sitting on them, waiting to accumulate the requisite 60,000 for a free trip to Glasgow or Dublin from the T-dot.

The WTF part comes in as an afterthought in that the areas where the best (read: cheap but still not the Khaosan Tokyo Hostel) are in a somewhat scary building complex. That's right- it seems that 2/3 of all hostels in Kowloon in Hong Kong are located between 2 -and I quote from various websie reviews and sources- "dirty, old, rundown" buildings, humourously referred to as "mansions."....as a side note, "mansion" to the Japanese means condo. I've been warned of "thieves, pickpockets, prostitutes, Arabs who try to sell you fake rolexes, and stabbings" (probably with rusty hobo knives). I'm no stranger to random warnings like pickpockets in Paris or criminals in Naples, but this will be the first time I have officially gone on a full vacation utterly alone. And as we all know, I don't like people, so I don't make friends easily.

So now's the part where you tell me if you know anyone in Hong Kong.

My other WTF issue is that here I am planning a trip to Hong Kong when I haven't even made it to Seoul yet. Not only that, I'm already thinking about trips I could take with my well-earned Costco slave funds in the January-March period. Or I might just say fuck it and head off to the UK with a work visa and let the chips fall where they may.

The countdown to Fuji Rock is official as I spend the afternoon trying to set up the tent in the kitchen in a dry practice run. The flashlights have been purchased, the raincoats unpacked, and snacks have been taste-tested. We decided we needed a Canadian flag for the Broken Social Scene set, so I may have to glue one together. I'm pumped already for my boyfriends in Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, The Raconteurs, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We're leaving Thursday night and hopefully we'll make it back in one piece on Monday morning with stories and pictures.

"If you gonna come, you better make it quick"

And because my picture posting went so slowly yesterday, here's a random assortment of photos from the past few weeks.
From Friday night:

I love those "not all there" literally and figuratively.

Saturday's karaoke shenanigans:
Leslie and the flying horse wall mural.

"The Japanese Tom Cruise" dancing with Donna.

The ladies: Eve, me, Donna and Lauren after a dance party in Donna's bedroom.

Party at Yaesu's house.

Donna and I.

"Let us burn, back to life, To do it all again"

"Your mouth was making words that seemed at the time, very sensible "
-Last Night, Orson

Well it was another action-packed, whirlwind weekend for me in Fukushima. My pictures are taking too long to update, so I'll try again tomorrow to add more.

Friday was Donna's goodbye party since she was departing Japan after over a year in Fukushima. After our hardcore Monday night out of table-tipping and boozing it up, we stocked up on wine and snacks. The party was held at Lauren's flat, in close stumbling distance to my apartment. Parties here put every house party to shame back home- people bring armloads of snacks and booze for everyone to share and you literally end up wading through the goods. Of course, that much junk food and alcohol also leads to me throwing up in Lauren's bathtub around midnight and Eve passing out on the floor. Yeah, that's right, I threw up froma combination of way too many chips and sugar-coated goodies, plus an entire bottle of red wine. My years of non-vomiting (my Seinfeldian 6 year streak from 1997 to 2003) have given way to me almost passing-out Natalie style in the bathroom on Friday, coupled with the damage that drinking rum and Dr. Pepper cocktails with Shane brought earlier this year (although I technically blame that on bad pad thai). I'm becoming a lightweight.

Eve, Lauren, and Corrie

"last call, unaware of all my surroundings"

Before we all got too intoxicated to know what was going on, the party was pretty swell. Eve and I finally met the new girl, Corrie from the US, who is replacing Donna at work. I opened the conversation with the casual, "So, what kind of music do you like?" (yes, those of you who know me know that she pretty much was walking into a trap). But to my shock she says, "Have you heard of Broken Social Scene?" Eve and I gasped, freaked, and threw our arms up in the air. We had one for our team- as in the non-hip hop, non-house and rap crowd! I was even more impressed that an American knew them, since that doesn't happen very often. And to further impress me, she pulls out her (non-U2) iPod and set up the music for the night featuring Beck, Interpo, and The Raconteurs. We also discover that Corrie is going to be at Fuji Rock on Sunday with us to see BSS, so as you cna see, I have a new friend.

After rolling out of bed and onto the floor (literally, since I sleep on a futon on the floor) around noon, Eve and I declared ourselves to be too hungover/weak/lazy to do anything other than watch episodes of 24, before becoming more adventurous to go on a bike ride through the tunnel in the mountain (think the Thorold Tunnel under the Welland Canal) to go shopping and to the largest rotating sushi restaurant I've ever seen to fill up on sushi beore heading out for one last night of partying with Donna. After some drinks and dessert with Kume, Iyako, Donna, Leslie and Eve, it was off to meet Dave and April, and 3 lame JETs for some karaoke. After our group thouroughly kicked the JETs asses in karaoke- including action-packed performances of "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Eve and I to much applause- Leslie, Donna, Eve and I were left on our own in a room big enough to hold 20 people. So we did the usual- got up on the benches and started jumping up and down and dancing.

"now i'm on the floor.and i'm back for more"

When the Japanese and most normal people go to karaoke, they sit down on the benches and merely sing their songs. And they do a fine job, but they're performance lacks random jumping and episodes of the running man. It is for this reason, that we attract attention through the glass door of our room. Who should wander in, but 2 drunken Japanese boys...one of which stood in the front of the room and did a crazy dance before going around the room to each one of us and attempting to dance with us while he was standing on the floor and we were on the benches. Not being a master of the English language, he was able to announce this: "I am the Japanese Tom Cruise!!!!!!" before his friend dragged him out the door.

Bu tthat wasn't the last of our Tom Cruise sightings. he was back a little while later for more dancing where he announced that he was "An International Man." After some more hysteria, he left, and we continued our way through "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and New Kids on the Block.

"how could I know that it was only just for show?"

We also tried a bar called As Soon As for some Green Banana Milks and made our way home around 4am. After 4.5 hours of sleep, it was off to the train station to see Donna off as she begins her next 5 months of backpacking around China, Russia, Europe and Africa before going home to Australia.

Sunday also brought a new and bizarre experience- swimming in a public pool. Besides the mandatory bathing cap rule, every 30 minutes music comes on and everyone has to get out of the pool for 5 minutes to avoid cramping, injury, or wrinkled skin. The best part is the music selection: yesterday's get out of the water, song o' the day was a muzak version of "Moon River."

Top 5 Songs for a Rainy Monday (aka the "Get Out of the Water" mix):

London Bridges- Fergie (my new guilty pleasure song)
Take Me Somewhere Nice- Mogwai
Hotel- Broken Social Scene
Whistle Rhapsody- The Fiery Furnaces
Narrow Minded Social Club- Rifles

"now you're not so sure, more than you bargained for?"

"But, it's always for the best, And if you're not convinced, Then you'll get left behind, I lost interest "
-Raoul, The Automatic

Since it's still raining in Fukushima (that's over 5 days straight and counting) I was happy to have a package arrive in the mail from home. And just to prove how well my parents know me, they sent me the following:

One pair of shoes so I can wear them and ruin them at Fuji Rock if it's still raining next week.
One issue of People magazine.
One copy of The National Enquirer. Sample headline: "Star Jones' Revenge!!"
One copy of The Examiner. Sample headline: "Hilary Clinton's Gay Crisis"
One copy of the free magazine they give out in drugstores...in case I want to read about the risks of osteoporosis?
One issue of the Weekly World News, sent to me for it's connections to So I Married An Axemurder. Sample headline: "Alien Super-Men Target Earth!", "Man Hasn't Slept in 22 Years!", and "the Secrect Life of Bees!" And yes. everything does have an exclamation mark.
I also got a pack of Twizzlers and some taffy.

"It doesn't seem like you mean it I don't believe, that you believe it"

There's not much to do in the rain, so at least now I'll have plenty to read and this trash will balance out my Russian literature reading. I've also taken to watching Deliverance just to see Burt Reynolds canoe down a river in a tight leather vest while he battles with rednecks- God's Forgotten Creatures.
Eve and I keep getting visits by beetles. I don't know where they are coming from, but there is currently one living in our "shoe pit" area by the door. I refer to him as Paul McCartney in conversation. Y'know he's the cute one. I killed Ringo with Eve's slipper last week.

Tonight is Donna's farewell party, so you know wine will be involved. And that means hilarious, madcap adventures will follow!

"And it feels like running with your eyes closed, If you forget what you're supposed to be "

"So this is summer..."
-Wine in the Afternoon, Franz Ferdinand

Sunday, Eve, Rusty and I spent our last day together in a place called Kamakura. And in a sure sign that we are all watching way too much of "The Amazing Race," we ran the entire way, dodging passengers in the train station sin order to make our train to Kamakura, even though we really didn't need to rush that much. We made the trip to see the giant bronze Buddha. And of course, mine and Eve's first reaction was, "I thought it would be bigger." .... For 10 cents, you could climb inside the Buddha and look out his back. I was a bit irate that you couldn't look out of his eyes so I refused to climb up inside. After meeting a man who invited us to watch him in a harness race this weekend, we wandered down to the beach. The beach was gorgeous and the water was clear and warm- definitely NOT Lake Ontario. We also managed to find one of the only beach bars with an outdoor patio on it. I really miss patio season at home- Japan has nothing. After our beer on the beach, it was back to Tokyo to bid Rusty adieu after his 6 week sojourn through Japan and Thailand. I am really jealous that he was able to use a Japan Rail pass and travel the length of the country, while I wasn't eligible for a pass with my visa status. Boo-urns, indeed. But I was glad to have an excuse to put my books down and put a halt on the "Perfect Strangers" marathon for a bit. "And if you're smart, you'll put that book back down"

It was then time for Eve and I to check into "Tokyo's Number 1 Hostel": the Khaosan Tokyo Hostel. I can only asusme that the people who came up with the title of "Number 1" had a great sense of humour. The floors moved as you walked on them and with every step I though I was going to put my foot through the floor. The desk clerk showed Eve and I into our room: Eve walked in. I walked in....and that's as far as we got because there wasn't any more room. I had to back out into the hallway to take off my backpack. The whole hostel vibrated and I'm not sure if there was an earthquake in the morning or if it was just someone walking down the hallway. We also had an air conditioner which gave off more heat than anything and actually burned me when I tried to turn it off, as if it was out of spite. Needless to say, we tried to spend as little time there as possible, which meant washing the sand off of myself in a restaurant bathroom. In the morning, I passed a man in the hostel hallway who grunted at me. That was a sure sign that we needed to run far away.

"Well I've been drinking wine, I've been drinking wine in the afternoon"

After a 5 hour bus ride and a trip to the rotating sushi restaurant, it was party time with our friends at Yasu's house, which can only be described as an old school Japanese estate. When we go tthere, our riend Donna had been drinking since 1pm and wass determined that she and I should get wasted together. Never one to pass up and oppourtunity, we began drinking all the wine available and enticed some friends to play drinking games. Unfortunately, my favourite game of Fuck You was not played due to lack of a deck of cards. If you want to play a difficult drinking game, try playing in Japanese. Seriously. It was also a numbers/counting game, and we all know I lack mad math skillz in English and when sober. After some sufficient alcohol consumption, it was time for dinner at a friend's Indian restaurant with Yasu, Eve, Dave, and Donna. At this point, Donna and I had sobered up and decided that we need what else, more wine. 2 hours later and only a little tipsy, it was time to leave. I stood up, I took a step, I tripped over a chair, I fell down. In my fall I attempted to brace myself on the table. Bad idea: the flimsy table gave way and I brought it down with me, water glasses and all. Of course, this was absolutely hilarious to Donna and myself while the Japanese didn't quite know what to make of it. I'm prone to falling down, as those of you who know me well know.

"But I don't mind, I'm doing things, and doing them with you"

Since the night was young and Donna and I still wanted more liquor, it was off to karaoke for a few renditions of "Hungry Eyes" and "Lady in Red." Even two hours later, I still wasn't drunk: I was able to make it back to my apartment, a feat we all know I lack when drinking since I can never remember where I live. Donna and I crashed on the floor, occasionally waking Eve up with stifled giggles. And that was my Marine Day holiday weekend.

"Tomorrow's Thursday and that's my day of work"

Actually, today is Thursday and my one class a week is cancelled today.

In other news, Eve and I finally got our asses in gear and booked a flight to Seoul, South Korea for a week in August. Why South Korea, aside from the attractive return flight price of $360 and the oppourtunity to accumulate more Aeroplan miles (to be used for a long weekend in Hong Kong)? Because who the hell goes to South Korea on vacation? We're going to take a trip to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea where we actually have to sign a wavier that says if we get in the way and get shot, it's not the Korean's fault. Sounds like fun!

"The summer stains the sky with inky swirls, that bring the thunder low"

Top 5 Songs for a Thursday (aka the "Rainy Season is an Appropriate Term" Mix):
Miss You- Rolling Stones
Senorita- Justin Timberlake (shut up. I own this CD)
Heard 'em Say- Kanye West feat. Adam Levine
Beetlebum - Blur
John the Revelator- Depeche Mode

"You'll drag me to the floor"

"Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, I couldn't be fonder of my big home"
-The Bare Necessities, The Jungle Book

Tokyo Disneyland is the strangest place on earth. Its so eerily similar to DisneyWorld in Florida except everything is in Japanese. You have the mini- New Orleans area, the American riverboat cruise, and Space Mountain in all it's '80s inspired, Coca-Cola sponsored glory. We had the option between Disneyland or DisneySea, but although Sea was tempting- you can drink in the park- Disneyland won out.

Eve, Rusty, and our neighbour Jason all headed out for a day at Disneyland. I've been to Disney in Florida maybe 5 times so I was familiar enough with the layout of the park and the rides there to be confused in Tokyo. It was a little surreal. Of course, before we had even entered the park gates, I had to buy a pair of Minnie Mouse ears to wear the rest of the day.

We went on the usual rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Because we're big nad can push kids out of the way to race into the ride queues, we managed to get on every ride we wanted. It was unbearably hot though. Luckily, all the lines are inside in air-conditioned buildings. It started to pour with rain and lightning and while all the Japanese and Asian tourists ran for cover, we waltzed around in the rain. Only other foreigners were out in the rain. Luckily the rain ended shortly and it was back to blistering heat and humidity.

"When you look under the rocks and plants, And take a glance at the fancy ants"
It's a Small World was different- if you're not familiar with the ride, it's basically a small boat cruise around different countries of the world where animatronic children sing and dance. Canada and in fact, all of North America was represented by some penguins on the ice. Not even an igloo or Mountie in sight. I usually love It's a Small World because it is so unintentionally offensive and racist with it's stereotypical depiction of countries- for example: African continents are represented by puppets wearing loincloths and riding cheetahs, the Greeks are playing flutes for goats, the middle east has puppets in turbans riding around on flying carpets, and so on and so forth. I love it.

We didn't spot a single Mickey Mouse character in costume, but we did run across a fox from Song of the South who came over to us and pretended to drink lemonade (or lemon sqush if you wil) out of my straw. But that's fine since I dislike Mickey Mouse anyway. We also went into the Tiki Bird room to hear animatronic birds sing and rap in Japanese with the occasional "Feelin' hot hot hot" in English thrown in.

As we were getting ready to leave, I went exploring on my own and found these signs (and took pctures for Mairin and Shane):
The Bebop did not, in fact, serve the BeBop sundae from the great Canadian diner, Nickel's.

And no, we didn't hear "You call this bacon?" playing anywhere in the park.

"That's why a bear can rest at ease"

"But we did nothing, absolutely nothing that day..."
-Drinking in LA, Bran Van 3000

The past 4 days have been action-packed, even though today's song o' the day may lead you to believe otherwise. Since I spend most days just hanging out in Fukushima, I try to cram as much as I can when the opportunity for fun and hilarity arises. The past few days have included: Disneyland, fun with sake, a giant Buddha, the world’s worst hostel, and me falling on the ground in an Indian restaurant and taking a table down with me. I’ll get to all of that and more in due time, but since I’m prone to ramblings and am unable to make a story short and concise, I’ll break it up into a few days worth of posts. So let us start at the beginning….

Rusty made it back to Fukushima on Thursday after spending a week travelling alone in Japan with his rail pass (which sucks because I’m not eligible for one with my visa) and we decided to hit the town at night with Eve for our first sake experience. We went to local izakaya (read: bar) to rink. If you haven’t had sake, it’s okay, nothing special. I prefer swigging rum straight out of the bottle. The bar was cool though. And no- sake wasn’t the reason I knocked over a table…that all happened a few days later. Sake left me with no buzz whatsoever, so we called it a night. Eve was tipsy so I had to hang on to her on the walk home while singing “My Humps.” The sake is served in these double shot glass style glasses: the wooden box is actually a glass that is filled with sake.

Friday, Rusty and I went to Tokyo. After a bit of sightseeing I managed to track down the only Greek restaurant in Tokyo. Literally. I’d been dying for Greek food and even this Japanese take on Greek was good enough for me. Now I just have to find a place that makes Eggs Benedict… I also found an awesome shirt, which, like the "I love Jesus" shirt I wanted, was a bit to much money. So I took its picture instead...long live The Goonies.

And the reason I love staying in hotels: English TV. Friday's selection was the Sylvester Stallone classic Daylight.

"I woke up again this morning with the sun in my eyes"

Eve and I are in the process of getting things together for Fuji Rock. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had to pull out of the festival, so that sucks. It’ll be an amusing adventure either way since Eve has never been camping, and my first attempt at camping last summer had me in a hotel by the 3rd night. It also looks as though we'll hit up South Korea for a week in August, and I might get over to Hong Kong before my time in Japan runs out, bu tmore on that when I know for sure.

Top 5 Songs for a “Tuesday is Soylent Green day” Afternoon:

One Night is Not Enough- Snow Patrol
Fear of Sleep- The Strokes
Peace & Quiet- Rifles
Money- Pink Floyd
Beautiful- Athlete

"We've got a conclusion, and I guess that's something"

"I'm so tired my mind is on the blink, I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink "
-I'm So Tired, The Beatles

If the words, "I want children" ever come out of my mouth, please get me drunk, roll me up in a carpet, and throw me off a bridge. Granted, I have never uttered those words, but just in case I do remind me of the weekend I worked at Children's Summer Parties for this English compnay I am employed with. Most people would look at these littel Japanese children and think, "Awww how cute." These are the same people who look at puppies the same way. I look at children and think, "I have a headache." And for the record, I look at puppies and think...well nothing since I don't waste my time thinking about puppies. I'm too busy making lists or obsessing.

I am exhausted from a day of running around and playing inane games and shouting out commands in English. And I can't even fathom that in less than 12 hours, I'll be at it again for another entire day. I am a slave to money however, and the company treats me well: paying for my travel, accomodations overnight (don't go to Iwaki), meal allowances, not to mention OVER-paying me by about $60 on travel fees and then telling me to keep it anyway. SWEET. And I got a free ride to th train station instead of taking a 90 minute train by my boss who played an odd mix of Queen's greatest hits, followed by Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. But still, my distaste for children remains. My time in Japan can't all be reading books and hanging on the balcony- or more appropriately as I aptly put it to Shane in an appropriate conversation- It can't all be Soylent Green and Trvial Pursuit. If there was booze in the house, I would have downed it by now (not thinking ahead, I finished the last of my Don Simon box of sangria earlier in the week).

"but it's no joke it's doing me harm"

What continually surprises me, and what goes with something Shane posted on his blog is how cool Canadians and Canada are to people outside the country. I meet so many people here who say that they really want to visit Canada. When I first heard people say that, I made a face and said, "what for?" Even I lack in the travelling the native land. But so many people- again, lots today alone- have said how much they want to see various parts of the country. One 78 year old student (seriously, dude is awesome. Looks like he's 60) is actually going to Winnipeg in September. He may be the only person in the world excited about a trip to Winnipeg. I have family there and I don't want to go.

"you know I can't sleep I can't stop my brain"

Props to everyone who picked up Mairin's Carbon Dating Service CD (yay Nat!). If you didn't, what's your problem?
I'll promise to post more frequently, now that my weekend of servitude is almost done. And I'll add pictures. It's getting a little boring. I should add subliminal messages to my entries. Or maybe I already have....hmmm try to find them. Rusty, Eve and I are going to Tokyo Disneyland next week where I am sure to wreak havoc while wearing Mickey Mouse ears (yes I am aware that I hate Mickey Mouse, I may substitute mouse ears for a Goofy hat). I also rocked a new favourite karaoke song- "White Lines" as covered by Duran Duran.

"you know it's three weeks I'm going insane "

Top 5 Favourite Karaoke Songs o' the Week:

My Humps- Black Eyed Peas...I don't sin git because I like it, I sing it because it's stupid
Spice Up Your Life- Spice Girls (Eve and I nailed it)
Bullet with Butterfly Wings- Smashing Pumpkins
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor- Arctic Monkeys
Subterranean Homesick Blues- Bob Dylan (Rusty has learned his lesson about daring me to sing songs because I always win).

"I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind"

"Oh you didn't do bad, you made it out, I'm still stuck here oh but I'll get out"
-I Spy, Pulp

Not much news to report. I've been studying hard for my all-day work shifts this weekend in both Iwaki and Fukushima, trying ot memorize inane children's games and songs. But at least it pays well and includes a hotel stay, so I will be able to check out some of Iwaki City. Canada Day brought the usual: slightly drunken renditions of "O Canada" to the Japanese, Australians, and the one American, with my fellow Canadians. Followed by a mad dance party in Donna's bedroom.

"It may look to the untrained eye, I'm sitting on my arse all day "

I've been up to the usual: reading, watching the entire 1st season of "24", going to karaoke, visiting the rotating suishi bar, and planning trips in Japan and elsewhere (North and South Korea, or "bad" and "good" Korea as it is sometimes referred to when people can't remember which side is which). I'm also listening to Edge 102.1, and I'd never thought I'd say that I'd miss it but they just played "I Spy" by Pulp, and the cover of "Pop Music" by U2 back to back. Sigh.

"I do these things just so I survive, And you know I will survive"

Now I must demand that everyone visit the Teargas Recording site to get their hands on a copy of the Carbon Dating Serivce CD. DO IT. As we all know it's Mairin's band, and they're awesome, so buy up. I've already ordered mine and am having my parents ship it to Japan along with some Twizzlers and a copy of Rolling Stone. Listen to samples here, then shell out the $12 for the CD.

I don't want to alarm you, but in case you didn't hear, David Hasselhoff was injured in a bathroom shaving accident, but he's okay now. You can sleep easy again.

"I used to compose my own critical notices in my head"

Top 5 Songs on my Rotating List of Favourites:

Who Cares?- Gnarls Barkley
Cheshire Cat Smile- Milburn
Mountains- The Spinto Band
Trying to Help- Orson
You Only Live Once- The Strokes

"You've got to wait for the best"