“We've nothing to do and we've nothing to say, Oh, when you go...”
-Afternoon Soaps, Arab Strap

That’s it. 12 days to go in Japan. Even less in Fukushima since Eve and I are a) spending at least one night out drinking, b) we’re also spending one night in a ryokan onsen (hot springs) resort, c) one more night in Tokyo which will possibly be spent out all night drinking because the best way to spend 16 hours on a flight is hung over and/or still drunk.

Because I can, I thought I’d tally up the time abroad in handy list form for future reference:

Film seen in theatres: 2
Average price for a movie ticket: $18 Cdn
Average hours at karaoke per week: 3.5
Cost of karaoke with all-you-can-drink alcohol: $7.50 an hour (or $1 before 5pm)
Shinkansen (bullet train) rides: 6
5 hour bus rides to/from Tokyo: 7
Times fallen asleep in bars (as opposed to behind bars): 1
Average work hours per week: 1
Number of students: 8
CDs purchased: 8
Books read: 9
Trips out of the country: 2
Raw octopi eaten: 1
Worst thing eaten: the pounded rice balls on a stick and their accompanying sauce
Visitors from home: 4
Shoe size: 25.5
Maximum shoe size found in Japan: 24.5
Times approached by strangers to carry on an English conversation: 3
Seasons of “24” watched: 4 (one more to watch next week)
Japanese crushes: karaoke man. I invented a story that he lives at karaoke and sleeps in the back room while his wife works in the kitchen making all the snacks and handing out the tambourines. It’s a marriage of convenience.
Girls who look like Mick Jagger: 1
Best restaurants: the only Greek restaurant in Tokyo, kaiten sushi, the gyoza lady’s house/bar…7-11
Favourite Day at Fuji Rock: Friday for Franz Ferdinand (I just like the alliteration of that sentence)
Number of instances I got obnoxiously drunk: 3
Times vomited from being an obnoxiously drunk: 1
Items the man-eating washing machine destroyed: 2 bras whose underwires were mangled and bent out of shape, one pair of underwear ripped to shreds, one tank top strap ripped apart. (It seriously ties things up in knots and viciously attacks clothing)
Price of a watermelon: $18
Price of cantaloupe on sale: $9.80
Favourite game: “Is it sweet or meat?” in the grocery store/restaurant
Favourite karaoke songs: White Lines, I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight, Helter Skelter, Little Green Bag, Losing Grip, Do You Want To, Lemon, Say It Ain’t So
Favourite store (other than HMV): Cinema Club which is actually a clothing store which has nothing to do with movies
Bike accidents: 1, due to the singing of “Lemon” in falsetto and the failure to see the curb

Things I will miss: Eve (but only for 2 months, then I will have to get used to seeing her again on a regular basis back in Toronto), my bike Mustang Sally, sushi (you haven’t had sushi ‘til you’ve had it in Japan) and Japanese food in general, karaoke, the grocery store’s theme music, karaoke man, melon buns, mango sundaes from Sunkus convenience stores, the man with no teeth at Lawson’s convenience store, the 100 yen shop, the music memorabilia store in Tokyo, that drum game, Mt. Shinobu, that cat that lives upstairs, crazy English signs that are lost in translation, the shower room, sake, saying random Japanese phrases in an obnoxious man voice which will undoubtedly continue although no one will understand

Things I will not miss: the heat, the rain, the cold (sometimes all in the same day), not being able to read signs, inability to turn on the TV and understand what the Hell’s going on, store staffer’s greeting you in high-pitched and non-stop phrases, Paul McCartney the beetle who lives in the shoe cupboard, Hussein the Sri Lankan, 4:30am sunrises, our tiny leaking refrigerator, the lack of an oven, McPrawns, the dog who barks everyday at 4:45am

I’m sure I will think of more in due time when I feel like being reflective. I’m still pre-occupied with an upcoming trip to the gyoza lady and a Round 1 so I can play my drum game, and a night out “bringing sexy back” with Corrie, Eve, and Lauren in Sendai on Saturday. And yes, I did just go there with the Justin Timberlake reference since Eve and I are all about that song lately.

“I know why you laughed and you should know you were wrong”

It’s Been Raining for 3 Days Straight List of the Day (aka the "You told me September was hot" mix):

Fade Together- Franz Ferdinand
Somewhere Only We Know- Keane
Gone- U2
Run- Snow Patrol
Goodbye My Lover- James Blunt

"And now I'm only happy when you're not around”