I went, nice place, interesting history. No worthwhile stories to tell. ZARA OUT.
special mention goes to Chris Murray, the delightful Scotsman with whom I explored the Naha nightlife with each evening of our trip. Nice one sir.
Highlights also include: driving from the north to south of the island listening to podcasts and getting to know Nicole. Discovering avocado ice-cream. The old Japanese navy underground headquarters. Staying at Dereks the night before the flight with Riley, getting lost trying to find the shop that was literally next door.
Disappointments: rain and the aquarium.
Wednesday, 15 April 2015
my favourite Japanese band
And, the award goes to.... 'The Fin.'.
I went to see them at a day-festival on Sunday at the infamous Ageha, a venue I've become pretty familiar with, having attended two of the Hostess club weekenders there. I was with Riley and Ku. We managed to meet the band, win their love and hang out with them for the rest of the afternoon. My inner 14 year old is having a field day. What I'm most pleased about is that we were talking to them in Japanese only, which was great practice....well, that, and that they snuck us a bunch of beers from the backstage fridge, as drinks at the festival were expensive, so I saved quite a bit of cash. THANKS FOR BEING COOL THE FIN!
For your entertainment:
I went to see them at a day-festival on Sunday at the infamous Ageha, a venue I've become pretty familiar with, having attended two of the Hostess club weekenders there. I was with Riley and Ku. We managed to meet the band, win their love and hang out with them for the rest of the afternoon. My inner 14 year old is having a field day. What I'm most pleased about is that we were talking to them in Japanese only, which was great practice....well, that, and that they snuck us a bunch of beers from the backstage fridge, as drinks at the festival were expensive, so I saved quite a bit of cash. THANKS FOR BEING COOL THE FIN!
For your entertainment:
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Early March
Meeting up with Taka in Tokyo on Friday night, taking the coach up to Mito and goofing around the whole journey.
Going to the umeshu festival in kairakuen with Taka, Freddy, Randy, his mate Mia and Tiffani. Ridiculous day. No. 21 "you are number 1, the umeshu is number 2". So much plum wine. Meeting Erica, the connect fashion editor and her patronising friend. Meeting up with Mac, going to the Ibaraki restaurant on top of Mito station. Hanging out in the aracades with Freddy and Tiff drinking a bottle of umeshu in a pirikura booth. Taiko drumming machine competition. Going to the duck to meet up the group who had spent the day at Fuji Q. Dancing till 3 in the morning. Going to Dennys at 4 in the morning with Tiff and a very drunk and non-sensical Vince. Ending up at Mac's apartment. Vince wakes up and has no idea where he is. Onsen the next day with Tiff.
Rileys friend Ben is here. We took him to karaoke last night. I spent a man on almost nothing. Great night of karaoke. Chinese food with daniel, robbie, riley, ben, vince and daedae. Went back to Katsuta, befriended some local police in a tiny bar. Ben chased some cars and then passed out in the toilet of the last bar we went to.
Friday, 27 February 2015
Whats the use of crying over...
I've probably written about this before, but it can be really alienating being the only foreigner at a Japanese work place. I go through highs and lows, and recently have been on a bit of a low. Generally just feeling very lonely and out of place, especially at work. As the end of the school year is approaching, English classes are few and far between as they get cancelled in place of exams, school ceremonies, events and holidays. This means I have a considerably large amount of downtime.
Some people crave downtime, as they become so busy in their daily lives, it feels as though there is hardly time to breath. I do experience this occasionally, depending on the school season and whatever is happening in general, so I know how stressful being busy can be. But trust me, there is nothing worse than feeling bored in life. My worst days at work are when I have nothing planned all day, no classes, nothing to actually be getting on with. I am not allowed to spend these days at home, I have to sit in the office and distract myself with Reddit for 8 hours.
So yes, I've been down. When I came into work this morning, a copy of the new 2015 leavers yearbook was on my desk. Like last year, it has a face-shot of every 3年生 student and every member of staff. When I picked it up, I suddenly realised that no one had taken my photograph in a very long time. I gasped to myself, perhaps they left me out this year. I flicked through it, I couldn't see myself. Again, I flicked through a little slower, scanning all the faces of the staff members, but alas, my picture was not to be found. I wasn't in it.
After the morning staff meeting, I immediately took myself into the staff toilets, locked myself in a cubicle and cried for a very long time. Of course it wasn't just the yearbook I was upset about, it was the loneliness and lack of self esteem that has been building up for quite some time. I had come to a breaking point. No one here likes me, they don't want me here, I'm bad at my job, I'm not good at anything, I'm a massive loser....and so on. These are the thoughts I was having.
Eventually I managed to calm myself down. I told myself I would go back to my desk, make myself a cup of tea and listen to the most uplifting song I could think of at that moment by Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, Big Girls Don't Cry. With this fail safe plan in mind, I re-entered the staff room.
However, not even halfway through the song, due to a timetable re-arrangement which I was unaware of, one of my JTE's came up to me and asked "are you ready to teach the 2-3 class now", huh? what? its not until 5th period... "oh, didn't you know the timetable has been changed", no, clearly not. Entering the classroom with my eyes still red from crying, I then proceeded to have one the best classes I've had in a long time. Those adorable 二年生 students give me so much joy, that I actually can't control how excited I get when I'm in their lesson.
After that, the rest of the day seemed to go quite well, there was a rehearsal for the school graduation ceremony in the gym, in which I sat studying from some Japanese vocab flip cards. I bought a nice lunch and got to float around school for a little which is always a nice change to the office. Somehow the catharsis from my big cry had left me feeling relieved and more positive.
A few hours later, I sat back down at my desk and decided to flip through the graduation yearbook one last time. I don't know how I had missed it in the morning, but my picture was there, in with the other teachers from the school's English department. It had been taken such a long time ago that I had completely forgotten about it. I hadn't noticed myself because I was looking for the big curly hair, and the picture had been taken at a time when my hair was tied back and I had a fringe, which I've slowly grown out over the last few months.
What a butthole.
Some people crave downtime, as they become so busy in their daily lives, it feels as though there is hardly time to breath. I do experience this occasionally, depending on the school season and whatever is happening in general, so I know how stressful being busy can be. But trust me, there is nothing worse than feeling bored in life. My worst days at work are when I have nothing planned all day, no classes, nothing to actually be getting on with. I am not allowed to spend these days at home, I have to sit in the office and distract myself with Reddit for 8 hours.
So yes, I've been down. When I came into work this morning, a copy of the new 2015 leavers yearbook was on my desk. Like last year, it has a face-shot of every 3年生 student and every member of staff. When I picked it up, I suddenly realised that no one had taken my photograph in a very long time. I gasped to myself, perhaps they left me out this year. I flicked through it, I couldn't see myself. Again, I flicked through a little slower, scanning all the faces of the staff members, but alas, my picture was not to be found. I wasn't in it.
After the morning staff meeting, I immediately took myself into the staff toilets, locked myself in a cubicle and cried for a very long time. Of course it wasn't just the yearbook I was upset about, it was the loneliness and lack of self esteem that has been building up for quite some time. I had come to a breaking point. No one here likes me, they don't want me here, I'm bad at my job, I'm not good at anything, I'm a massive loser....and so on. These are the thoughts I was having.
Eventually I managed to calm myself down. I told myself I would go back to my desk, make myself a cup of tea and listen to the most uplifting song I could think of at that moment by Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, Big Girls Don't Cry. With this fail safe plan in mind, I re-entered the staff room.
However, not even halfway through the song, due to a timetable re-arrangement which I was unaware of, one of my JTE's came up to me and asked "are you ready to teach the 2-3 class now", huh? what? its not until 5th period... "oh, didn't you know the timetable has been changed", no, clearly not. Entering the classroom with my eyes still red from crying, I then proceeded to have one the best classes I've had in a long time. Those adorable 二年生 students give me so much joy, that I actually can't control how excited I get when I'm in their lesson.
After that, the rest of the day seemed to go quite well, there was a rehearsal for the school graduation ceremony in the gym, in which I sat studying from some Japanese vocab flip cards. I bought a nice lunch and got to float around school for a little which is always a nice change to the office. Somehow the catharsis from my big cry had left me feeling relieved and more positive.
A few hours later, I sat back down at my desk and decided to flip through the graduation yearbook one last time. I don't know how I had missed it in the morning, but my picture was there, in with the other teachers from the school's English department. It had been taken such a long time ago that I had completely forgotten about it. I hadn't noticed myself because I was looking for the big curly hair, and the picture had been taken at a time when my hair was tied back and I had a fringe, which I've slowly grown out over the last few months.
What a butthole.
Quetic
After going to another Hostess club weekender, which was absolutely fantastic, I saw some absoultely great acts!
I was photographed by a Japanese webmagazine because I'm one stylish motherfucker. Here's the link, try spot me, its pretty easy, I'm the only whitey:
http://www.qetic.jp/life-fashion/hcw-fashion-snap-2/126669/3/
I was photographed by a Japanese webmagazine because I'm one stylish motherfucker. Here's the link, try spot me, its pretty easy, I'm the only whitey:
http://www.qetic.jp/life-fashion/hcw-fashion-snap-2/126669/3/
Friday, 6 February 2015
Beauty routine FIGURED OUT
I think I've finally cracked it. This is only interesting to me, but I need to write this somewhere I can come back to it. I have been trying to figure this out for my whole life, and I think I finally got it. In fact, I don't really want anyone else to read this.
New life rules for beauty regime:
face:
wash face morning and evening with a very light face wash. In the evening, take makeup off using a makeup remover and cotton pads. exfoliate every 2/3 days .... so bascially, only exfoliate when you wash your hair. Dry with a clean towel. Pat dry. Moisturise. In the morning, you can use a fresh vitamin serum, Muji do a cheap one which is awesome.
make up:
use a base, aka. a primer.
Use green CC cream on red areas. (unnecessary in summer time)
Use BB cream. (Its a light form of foundation.) - only use if you feel you need it.
blusher / bronzer (depending on season)
eyebrow brush / gel. Dont over-pluck eyebrows. Only get rid of stray hairs, dont re-shape, your natural eye brow shape is awesome.
eyes: liquid eyeliner .. then eye shadow. finish with mascara, apply it slowly.
lips: lip balm followed by lipstick if you want to wear it.
hair:
When you wake up with bedhair, spray hair with water and curl correcting spray... run/sray curl correcter/ argan oil through hair. Hair needs to get quite damp to remould. Try not to touch much afterwards.
when you wash: use a small amount of shampoo on base. condition like a motherfucker. brush hair before rinsing conditioner out. once every couple of weeks use a deep conditioning treatment.
dry with a t-shirt, not a towel.
with damp hair, put a small but significant amount of all the products you want to use. Mush them together in your palms, then, work through hair slowly, avoiding the roots.
use curl clips and a diffuser/hairdryer. hairspray is probably good if you are going out.
New life rules for beauty regime:
face:
wash face morning and evening with a very light face wash. In the evening, take makeup off using a makeup remover and cotton pads. exfoliate every 2/3 days .... so bascially, only exfoliate when you wash your hair. Dry with a clean towel. Pat dry. Moisturise. In the morning, you can use a fresh vitamin serum, Muji do a cheap one which is awesome.
make up:
use a base, aka. a primer.
Use green CC cream on red areas. (unnecessary in summer time)
Use BB cream. (Its a light form of foundation.) - only use if you feel you need it.
blusher / bronzer (depending on season)
eyebrow brush / gel. Dont over-pluck eyebrows. Only get rid of stray hairs, dont re-shape, your natural eye brow shape is awesome.
eyes: liquid eyeliner .. then eye shadow. finish with mascara, apply it slowly.
lips: lip balm followed by lipstick if you want to wear it.
hair:
When you wake up with bedhair, spray hair with water and curl correcting spray... run/sray curl correcter/ argan oil through hair. Hair needs to get quite damp to remould. Try not to touch much afterwards.
when you wash: use a small amount of shampoo on base. condition like a motherfucker. brush hair before rinsing conditioner out. once every couple of weeks use a deep conditioning treatment.
dry with a t-shirt, not a towel.
with damp hair, put a small but significant amount of all the products you want to use. Mush them together in your palms, then, work through hair slowly, avoiding the roots.
use curl clips and a diffuser/hairdryer. hairspray is probably good if you are going out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)