I finally made it back to Japan after about 4 years. What was supposed to be an extended layover for 24 hours on my way back to Singapore from the US turned into a 5 day stay. I convinced my supervisor to let me work out of the Tokyo office for a couple of days, so the Friday night layover turned into Friday night until the following Wednesday. And I'm very glad it did.
First, I got to see a bunch of friends from Beijing and elsewhere who I haven't seen in a while. I spent a good amount of time with my friend Tama, who is the coolest Japanese person I know. And if you know any Japanese people, you know that's pretty high praise. He organized our night out on Friday night, which started at a great izakaya, after which he decided we all needed costumes. So we bought costumes and proceeded to walk around Tokyo all dressed up for the rest of the night, making a stop at a temple to get our Hatsumoude (first temple visit of the year) out of the way, before ending in a Maid Bar. I think it's also worth mentioning that all of this happened within 8 hours of me touching the ground. Only in Japan.
Saturday followed with 3 lunches and 2 dinners, before a Sunday day-trip back to Iwaki, the town I used to live in on JET. It was great to get up there and see some of the families I was close with when I lived there. And even better to see Baba, creator of cosmic curries and perpetual purveyor of good vibes and beer. The man is a legend and he makes the best Indian curry in the world, hands down. Ask anyone who's eaten there, it's an indisputable fact. I ended up having both lunch and dinner with him and getting a bit of take away to share with my hosts in Tokyo when I got back. The only disappointment was that due to the early sunset I wasn't able to get out to some of the coastal communities and see the damage from the earthquake like I was hoping, but I guess it means I just need to get back again soon.
Even the couple of days I spent in the office were great. There's an office dog in Tokyo, so how could it not be? I was a bit concerned about having to work in Japanese after not having spoken Japanese regularly in a very long time, but it all worked itself out. And my colleagues fed me very well. The manager even said if he was happy with the results that come of my current project, he'll take me for dinner at Jiro's next time I'm back. So that's some great motivation.
Nothing, however, could top my last night in Tokyo, when we finally made it to the Robot Restaurant. I found this place online a couple months ago and had been hoping to go on my 24 hour layover, or what then became my first night in Japan, which would have been ideal because then more people would have been able to join. The place wasn't open after the New Year holiday yet, though, so we had to postpone to my last night, and only 3 of us went. It was still as ridiculous as I had hoped. It was an hour and a half spectacle, which, from the audience, you would guess was tailor-made for foreigners to give them exactly what they think of when they think of Japan. And that is exactly what we got. There were like 5 performances over an hour and a half, which included a Christmas performance with pole dancing bunny girls (dancing on poles attached to robot legs, to keep with the theme) dancing and drumming to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." There was an epic battle in which the local inhabitants of a distant world, which included demons, kung-fu panda, women riding giant spiders, great white sharks and chickens, had to fight off the alien robot invaders who wanted to destroy their world. There was a robot parade with a roller-blading robot sporting a rainbow afro. And of course there were lasers. Lots and lots of lasers. You actually didn't know where to look throughout the show because so much was going on, and when I left, I felt drained, both physically and mentally. It was pretty fantastic. I highly recommend it. Worth every single yen. Just remember, you're not there for the food, which is horrible. There are plenty of other pictures and videos on Facebook, which I'm guessing is how you found your way here, so you can go have a look at the rest on there if you're so inclined.
So all in all, a great Japan trip with plenty of fun and friends. It reminded me why Tokyo is my favorite city in the world, and why I want to live there. So hopefully I can still do that at some point.
Now, moving from one weird thing to another, it's on to Wild Beasts. I think these guys are pretty weird, but in the best way possible. They make amazing music. I didn't like it when I first heard them a few years ago on their sophomore album Two Dancers, but I slowly came to love them more and more. The closest thing I can think of when I listen to them is Alt-J (or I should say, when I heard Alt-J, the closest thing I could think of was Wild Beasts), and you all know how much I love Alt-J. Or you should if you read my blog post about them here. There's plenty of fantastic songs on Two Dancers, so it's hard to decide which one to share, but Hooting & Howling always seems to stick in my mind. It's also a great track to hear the ridiculous vocal range from Hayden Thorpe, which never ceases to amaze me. I actually thought there might be two vocalists when I first heard them, but that is not the case. He just has a ridiculous falsetto.
The only problem with writing this post was not just having to pick a song to share, but even trying to decide which album to pick a song from. Their third album, Smother, made it into my Top 10 in 2011, and there's some amazing songs on there, too. I think it's also a bit more listener friendly than Two Dancers. Now they're getting set to release their 4th album, Present Tense, next month. They just put out their first single from the new album, Wanderlust. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. There are parts I really like, and parts I don't like so much. It's definitely a different sound for them, but apparently they have changed their production team from the last two albums, so that makes sense. You can be the judge for yourself, but even if Wanderlust isn't your thing, you should take the time to listen to Two Dancers and Smother.
First, I got to see a bunch of friends from Beijing and elsewhere who I haven't seen in a while. I spent a good amount of time with my friend Tama, who is the coolest Japanese person I know. And if you know any Japanese people, you know that's pretty high praise. He organized our night out on Friday night, which started at a great izakaya, after which he decided we all needed costumes. So we bought costumes and proceeded to walk around Tokyo all dressed up for the rest of the night, making a stop at a temple to get our Hatsumoude (first temple visit of the year) out of the way, before ending in a Maid Bar. I think it's also worth mentioning that all of this happened within 8 hours of me touching the ground. Only in Japan.
Saturday followed with 3 lunches and 2 dinners, before a Sunday day-trip back to Iwaki, the town I used to live in on JET. It was great to get up there and see some of the families I was close with when I lived there. And even better to see Baba, creator of cosmic curries and perpetual purveyor of good vibes and beer. The man is a legend and he makes the best Indian curry in the world, hands down. Ask anyone who's eaten there, it's an indisputable fact. I ended up having both lunch and dinner with him and getting a bit of take away to share with my hosts in Tokyo when I got back. The only disappointment was that due to the early sunset I wasn't able to get out to some of the coastal communities and see the damage from the earthquake like I was hoping, but I guess it means I just need to get back again soon.
Even the couple of days I spent in the office were great. There's an office dog in Tokyo, so how could it not be? I was a bit concerned about having to work in Japanese after not having spoken Japanese regularly in a very long time, but it all worked itself out. And my colleagues fed me very well. The manager even said if he was happy with the results that come of my current project, he'll take me for dinner at Jiro's next time I'm back. So that's some great motivation.
Nothing, however, could top my last night in Tokyo, when we finally made it to the Robot Restaurant. I found this place online a couple months ago and had been hoping to go on my 24 hour layover, or what then became my first night in Japan, which would have been ideal because then more people would have been able to join. The place wasn't open after the New Year holiday yet, though, so we had to postpone to my last night, and only 3 of us went. It was still as ridiculous as I had hoped. It was an hour and a half spectacle, which, from the audience, you would guess was tailor-made for foreigners to give them exactly what they think of when they think of Japan. And that is exactly what we got. There were like 5 performances over an hour and a half, which included a Christmas performance with pole dancing bunny girls (dancing on poles attached to robot legs, to keep with the theme) dancing and drumming to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." There was an epic battle in which the local inhabitants of a distant world, which included demons, kung-fu panda, women riding giant spiders, great white sharks and chickens, had to fight off the alien robot invaders who wanted to destroy their world. There was a robot parade with a roller-blading robot sporting a rainbow afro. And of course there were lasers. Lots and lots of lasers. You actually didn't know where to look throughout the show because so much was going on, and when I left, I felt drained, both physically and mentally. It was pretty fantastic. I highly recommend it. Worth every single yen. Just remember, you're not there for the food, which is horrible. There are plenty of other pictures and videos on Facebook, which I'm guessing is how you found your way here, so you can go have a look at the rest on there if you're so inclined.
So all in all, a great Japan trip with plenty of fun and friends. It reminded me why Tokyo is my favorite city in the world, and why I want to live there. So hopefully I can still do that at some point.
Now, moving from one weird thing to another, it's on to Wild Beasts. I think these guys are pretty weird, but in the best way possible. They make amazing music. I didn't like it when I first heard them a few years ago on their sophomore album Two Dancers, but I slowly came to love them more and more. The closest thing I can think of when I listen to them is Alt-J (or I should say, when I heard Alt-J, the closest thing I could think of was Wild Beasts), and you all know how much I love Alt-J. Or you should if you read my blog post about them here. There's plenty of fantastic songs on Two Dancers, so it's hard to decide which one to share, but Hooting & Howling always seems to stick in my mind. It's also a great track to hear the ridiculous vocal range from Hayden Thorpe, which never ceases to amaze me. I actually thought there might be two vocalists when I first heard them, but that is not the case. He just has a ridiculous falsetto.
The only problem with writing this post was not just having to pick a song to share, but even trying to decide which album to pick a song from. Their third album, Smother, made it into my Top 10 in 2011, and there's some amazing songs on there, too. I think it's also a bit more listener friendly than Two Dancers. Now they're getting set to release their 4th album, Present Tense, next month. They just put out their first single from the new album, Wanderlust. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. There are parts I really like, and parts I don't like so much. It's definitely a different sound for them, but apparently they have changed their production team from the last two albums, so that makes sense. You can be the judge for yourself, but even if Wanderlust isn't your thing, you should take the time to listen to Two Dancers and Smother.
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