Sayonara Party, with Izakaya and Karaoke

This friday I had my goodbye party with my great friends from Matsudo. I won't actually be leaving in another week, of course, but I decided Halloween was not the right day to have this kind of party on, so the day before yesterday was chosen in its stead. Not everyone could attend, unfortunately, with some cancelling much later than would have been preferrable, so we ended up being only 12 people at the izakaya instead of the expected number of around (or over) 20.

Four of the missing people did show up later though, one just before we left the izakaya, and three once we had reached the karaoke place at which we would spend the rest of the night. We had a great time through the evening, of that I am sure we can all agree. The only darkness looming around the event was the state of the economy back home, with the Swedish krona losing more of its value for every passing day, and the effect that had on the cost of the event - as well as everything else of value in Japan.

Either way, I ended up singing three Rihanna songs that night. Starting with Unfaithful, I then got a request from Shinya to do Umbrella as well, after which I thought I might as well end the night with Take a Bow. Other high points with my involvement were a number of duets - such as The Phantom of the Opera, performed with Christian, and A Whole New World with Hana-san.  There were also a number of songs by Nobuo Uematsu, the mastermind behind the greater parts of the soundtracks from the Final Fantasy series, all of which were like extacy to me, Louise and Christian. We will definitely have to do more of those next time around!

To end this post, I have a question for everyone reading this blog. Do you by any chance know anything about Freud, or dream psychology in general? Because two nights in a row now I have been having dreams, where I have gotten romantically involved with two of my friends - none of which I have any such interest in, in real life - and I would really like to know what that means. So if you have any idea, let me know!

A Look at the Apartment

Once again I find myself too slow to update the blog. Things happen, and a week later I still haven't written even the slightest thing about them. Like the time last week when I called my soon to be landlord company asking for a viewing of the apartment that I and my two friends had already payed the deposition for more than two weeks earlier. Because people were still living in the apartment halfway through October, there had been no posibility to actually see it before signing up for it. So it had been a bit of a gamble. The apartment seemed nice in theory, but who knew what it would actually turn out to be like?

I wanted to know. When I called the company though, I was told that they usually couldn't offer a viewing to people who had already paid the deposition.  That to me seems a bit backwards. Either way, using my intense charm, I managed to convince them to show me the apartment later that day. So I went there, bringing one of my soon to be cotenants with me.

As it turned out, the apartment was better than we could ever have wished for.  Fully furnished, with all the furniture feeling very fresh, it really put all of our potential fears at rest - not that we really had that many. There was even a TV at around 24" standing in the central dining room, as well as a wireless router, something we had definitely expected to having to buy ourselves. The only thing I felt was missing was a real oven. So I wont be able to start baking after all. (Sorry guys, but it seems there'll be no home baked ginger bread for Christmas.) On the other hand, the kitchen did have a gas stove - but most apartments here seem to have that, so that was pretty much expected. I wish the same would have been the case back home. Gas stoves are extremely rare in Sweden outside of restaurants, which is a shame given how much better they are than their electricity-using cousins.

All three bedrooms had real tatami floors - even though it for some reason was covered up by large, ugly mats in two of the rooms.  Apparently it was because they had been marketing those two rooms as somewhat more western or something like that, which I really can't understand the point of doing. Especially as the underlying tatami mats were considerably more attractive to look at, something which the guys showing us the apartment definitely agreed with. They then gave us full permisson to remove the "western" cover mats, as long as we returned them before moving out. So it was all good there as well.

Only one of the rooms actually have a bed. Neither me or Mikael - who was the one that was with me - picked that room. The problem with a bed is that it takes up way too much of a room's total area. Sleeping on a Japanese style futon that you can fold away during the day frees up a whole lot of space. It may be harder than sleeping in a bed - the beds at my current guesthouse being the large exception, as they are hard as stone, even with the double set of futons I am using - so I acually expect it will prove to be more comfortable sleeping on tatami floors.

Another problem with the room with the bed was the western style desk taking up even more of the precious area. The other two rooms had desks of the more traditional Japanese style, low things by which you have to sit on a cushion on the floor. And they looked much more exclusive than the western desk as well. To further help along my decision for the room I chose, I just got a very good feeling in that room. Maybe the feng shui of the room just felt good, maybe it was something else. Either way, I knew that I would have to be the one living in that room.

Linus, who still haven't seen the actual apartment, had originally set his mind on the same room after looking at the floor plan. But he didn't prove to hard to convince. When I mentioned that the bed was still not taken, the remaining resistance flew away pretty quickly.

At Tokyo Game Show and IKEA

Yesterday was a great day. I went to Tokyo Game Show with several of my friends, and spent the day having lots and lots of fun. We began by waking up very early (for a sunday), gathering in the lobby of the guest house. There were Alberto, Alexandra, Christian, Linus, Louise, Staffan and I. At Matsudo Station we met up with two other guys, Markus and Jonas - the brothers who don't look at all like brothers.

I paid no attention to how long the trip took, or what stations we passed, I know we went further into Chiba, passing Disneyland and IKEA along the way. Once we arrived, a brisk walk awaited through an area which reminded me very much of how I sometimes like to imagine the future. With beautiful white buildings, raised walkways, palmtrees, and a warm but not pressing temperature, it felt somewhat like a paradise.

The cenvention halls themselves were huge. Like six huge airplane hangars stuck together. By the time we had gotten through the doors our large group had long since been divided, my small splinter group warking our way quickly towards what we considered the main event of the show: the playable demo of Resident Evil 5.

There we would come to stand in line for almost three hours. After two of those hours, we had started to wonder why the line to our right (there were five of them altogether) went much faster than ours.  Speculation began that perhaps it was some kind of VIP line, especially after we had noticed that the people in that line were wearing some kind of tags around their necks. When we got a good look at one of those tags, another question arose. Why did it have the words "single player game" on it?

Someone made a joke that maybe we were standing in the co-op line. Then I noticed that the people in our line were wearing tags as well, only not as many at a time, and that's why we hadn't recieved any yet. Trying to catch a glimpse at a tag worn by one of the people in front of us, I noticed the words that confirmed what had started as a joke. We were standing in the co-op line. I don't think I've ever seen Linus look as shocked as he did at that moment.

Soon thereafter, we started thinking at the whole thing from a different perspective. How many people would actually get a chance to try out the co-op mode of Resident Evil 5 this long before its release? We should consider ourselves lucky to get that opportunity. Good thing there just happened to be four of us. We quickly teamed up based on previous experience with Resident Evil games. Before long we recieved our own set of tags, and fifteen minutes after that we finally got to enter the prechamber. 

An exclusive new trailer of the game awaited on a large screen, followed by an actor dressed up as one of the main characters showing up to welcome us and tell us to pay careful attention to the instruction video that would follow. Once that was done, we finally got to enter the actual playing room, which was filled with TV screens and Xbox 360s.

Taking up our places, each at their own screen, donning headphones and reaching for the controllers, anticipation was flying through the roof. The game started, and wow!! It was unbelievable! The graphics were stunning, the controller felt perfect (and I am usually not a big fan of the 360 controller), and the whole game experience just felt so fresh. I am really glad I ended up trying the co-op mode, by the way, because it was without doubt the best frecking co-op mode I have ever tried. Never before have you needed your partner this much, never before have your fates been tied together as much as they were in this game. And never before has there been this much you can do only because there are two of you.

Upon exiting the room, we were given a bandana featuring the logo of the new in-game faction. It's nothing anyone back home would recognize, of course, but still kinda cool. The whole thing was a great experience, its only downside being that the long waiting made us unable to try out everything we had wanted to in the rest of the show. Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Sonic World Adventure were among the titles I really would have wanted to try. I would also have liked to take a closer look at Ryu ga Gotoku 3 and 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de, the latter of which seems to have gotten absolutely no english language media attention at all.

But time was very limited, so alot had to be skipped. Which really made me wish I would have gone to the show on the saturday as well. Alberto was there during all four days of the show, something made possible only because of the press pass he was carrying. What I wouldn't have given for one of those.

What I did get to try my hands on included the expansion for Metal Gear Online, as well as Sonic creator Naka Yuji's highly innovative Wii title Let's Tap. Another highlight of the day was me being interviewed by the Japanese television channel NHK, about the game Monster Hunter 3. In truth I didn't really know anything about the game in question, but I wasn't about to admit that! So I improvised - and I have to say I did so very well. And I must admit the game does look interesting. Had there only been more time, I would definitely have tried it.

About the interview, I have no idea if or when they actually aired it, but I still think the experience was quite noteworthy. Good practice, either way, for the countless of interviews I expect to give in the years to come, during my rise to the position of a truly international business leader.

All too soon we witnessed the end of this year's Tokyo Game Show. Perhaps next year I'll get the chance to return, even though I will hopefully live in Hong Kong by then. On our way back to Matsudo we stopped by at IKEA, where we ate traditional swedish meatballs. We also bought swedish candy and cookies - in my case Ahlgrens bilar, Singoalla and Annas pepparkakor - before finally leaving for home again.

I would have posted a whole bunch of pictures in this post, but my camera died before the event, and I still haven't recieved the pictures from any of my friends, all of whom promised me a share of the loot. Maybe I'll post a few later on, or maybe you'll just have to do without them.

またね。

Unsure of My Place on the Astral Winds

So I am sitting here in the middle of the night, unable to sleep because I slept till four this afternoon, wondering if there is someone out there actually reading my blog. I know I have given the adress to several people, but have anyone actually taken the time to find their way here?

I've also been considering moving my blog to Wordpress. It somehow feels like I would reach more people there. It feels like I would be more visible.

But regardless of how things will eventually end up, the fact is that my blog just looks too boring at the moment. It needs more pictures, more vibrant colors and more... well, more life. As a first step to change that, I added a temporary picture to the top. I will try to find something more attractive, but at least it looks better than nothing.

Didn't get much studying done today, by the way. Instead I met some people downstairs, started talking, and then we went to the arcade. Where I played a few games of Dance Dance revolution, and a rather interesting drumming simulation game. I totally sucked at DDR, being nowhere near my former level.  Which made me really wanna play it alot more to get back in shape. I have a reputation to uphold!

I should probably try and get some sleep now. I am going to the Tokyo Game Show tomorrow with a bunch of friends, so I have to be up in four hours. Hopefully I will be fully rested by then.

Mata ne!

In the Heat of the Night

This evening I made use of the sauna in the guest house for the first time. It felt great, and is something I will have do much more often now in the days leading up to my eventual move to Ikebukuro-honcho. I might even take another visit later tonight, if I get the time between the studying I will spend the following hours on.

I've also started planning for my application to the University of Hong Kong, checking their website for information on the programs I am interested in and the deadline for applications, and sending them a mail with some additional questions. Hopefully I will recieve an answer before too long. I also started looking into funding for the three years I will hopefully spend there, starting with CSN's (the Swedish Central Student Grants Commetee) website.

The next step would be actually finding a job here in Tokyo, allowing me to save some money instead of just spending it.

Earthquake!

I just experienced my first earthquake since comming to Japan. It was a really small one, over in no more than a second or two, and it would hardly even have been worth taking notice of had it not been for the fact that I've never felt one before.

As it is, I am kinda excited! I was sitting in my bed, browsing Facebook, when suddenly I felt the bed shaking slightly. Hearing a breaking noise from somewhere below, I realized it was not just the bed, but the whole building that was shaking. Sometime in the moments following the short quake, I also noticed a telephone cable outside my window wobble as if set in motion by some force.

The Ace of Clubs and a River of Yoghurt

It has been too long since my last post. Too much has come in the way of me updating this blog. I will try to be more dilligent in the future.

Truth be told, I am not really sure of what this post will contain. Several things of interest have happened since the 18th, when my last post was made, but will I remember more than a few of them before I finally give up and click on Publish Post? We'll just have to wait and see.

Almost a week ago now a friend of mine found an apartment near Ikebukuro, one of the larger centers of Tokyo. Merely five stations from school, and much closer to everything else of importance than where both my friend and I currently resides, the location was obviously as good as any we could ever realistically expect to find. And the apartment itself seemed great too. Three rooms, each one six tatami mats large (that's just under 10 sqr meters) with a kitchen and dining area in the middle.

It stood clear to both of us that this apartment would be perfect. However, as expensive as it is to live in Japan, we couldn't afford it on out own. Or at least, we didn't want to afford it on our own. We needed a third person. And so the hunt began. The next morning I immediately called Sakura House (henceforth known as "the company") asking about the apartment. I told them we were very interested, not mentioning the fact that we still hadn't found out third person. 

It wasn't until later, when we were on the train on our way to Shibuya to do some shopping, that I realized I already knew a person looking to share an apartment with someone. A classmate of mine - and yet another swede. (I swear, Tokyo is crawling with them.) Though I would probably have preferred someone not of north european origin, the fact was that the clock was ticking. If we wanted this apartment, we had to act as soon as possible. There was no time to be picky.

So I called my classmate and asked him if he was interested. Getting a positive answer, I called the company back as soon as I could.  A third call would prove necessary for formality later that evening, after I'd gotten home and filled in an online form at their website, but after that second call, the apartment was indeed ours for the taking. And during the third call, I could swear the person I was talking to was flirting with me. All in all, it was a good day. I even did get some shopping done.

The next day we went to Sakura House's main office in Shinjuku to really make it official. The final contract has yet to be signed,  but the deposit has been paid, and the apartment is ours from the last of october. So that's when I'll leave Matsudo City in Chiba Prefecture for the (metaforically speaking) much greener pastures of Tokyo proper.

Speaking of pastures, I discovered something quite unexpected a few days ago. Until that time, I hadn't really been any further away from the center of Matsudo than the location of my guesthouse. I had seen no reason to. The city had enough of that small-town feeling I usually dislike so much as it was, without me having to seek out its even more outlying parts. But then one day when I was up on the roof, getting some clothes I had hung to dry there, I looked out over the parts of Matsudo where I hadn't yet set foot, and I got a real urge to go out and explore them. This might not have been so unexpected - I am nothing if not adventurous.

So out I went, out on my quest to find something new - somewhere along the way buying a Coke in one of the several thousands of vending machines spread throughout Tokyo with surroundings. After something like ten minutes my jaw completely dropped, and I stopped in admiration.  I had found a river, bordered by the most wild-looking greenery I had seen since coming to Tokyo one month before. Walking down toward the river, the place really started to feel like a scene out of some roleplaying game, like the serene little village you always run across at one time or the other throughout the adventure.

In truth I had known that the river would be there. It had been part of what I had set out to find. But seeing as I'm this close to central Tokyo, I had kind of expected it to be bordered by ... well, stone or concrete or ... anything but wilderness, actually. Instead I had found (if only just a little bit of it) true nature.

I stayed there for more than half an hour, letting all of it flow through my senses. The urge to learn how to ride that has surfaced within me this past year really struck me with full force. It was like I could even feel the horse standing before me.

But let's not linger any longer at that subject. I still have much to talk about. Like yoghurt.

When I realized a few days ago that I didn't have any breakfast for the morning after, it was already to late to go to a real department store to do anything about it. So I improvised, thinking surely they must have some kind of yoghurt in one of the convenience stores bordering the way I was walking from the station to my home. And they had. Sure, it was dringking yoghurt, but surely it can't be that liquid, I though. Surely I would be able to eat it with my cereals. I was wrong. Utterly and severely mistaken. This thing was as liquid as milk. And while I do love the taste of milk to my cereals (be it something I haven't had since I came here), there is something quite disturbing about "milk" with a strong taste of yoghurt.

The next time I have forgotten to buy my regular kind of breakfast (like today...), I will not be quite so adventurous when it comes to finding a replacement. So tomorrow I'll just buy a couple good old onigiri instead.

Food brings me to drinks, which brings me to the next subject at hand. Clubbing. Tokyo is of course the clubbing capital of the east, featuring a great many night clubs of different varieties. With that in mind, it would obviously have been next to impossible for me to have tried out everything on offer so far. But I do feel I am at least on the right way.

This weekend I went to three clubs all in all. All of them in Shibuya. One may not really count though, as I left it after merely 15 minutes. That one was Gas Panic - which is a chain owning several clubs in Tokyo, mostly in Roppongi. I've been to two of them before, and now this third one. The thing is, I hate Gas Panic. Really truly hate it. This Shibuya branch was even worse than the ones I had visited before.

It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is I so dislike about the place(s), but it probably has something to do with the horrible interior design, the crappy DJs, the chaotic feel of the place, as well as the fact that almost everyone inside are gaijin (and most of them probably tourists). Further, there're usually so much people you can hardly move - let alone dance - and they have a rule saying you have to have a drink in your hand at all times or be kicked out. I suppose the main reason why people go there is because there is no entrance fee. As if that would ever make it worth it.

Considerably better were the two other clubs I paid a visit to this weekend. First of them was Atom. With three dance floors - playing R&B and two kinds of trance respectively - it was definitely a club in which I enjoyed spending my time. While it may not be the club with the most exclusive air - the guards were all big, black guys wearing red t-shirts, jeans and sneakers - but the place definitely had style. The entrance fee was 3000 yen, with one drink included, and the price of most of their standard drinks was 500 yen.

The other club, the one to which I went saturday, was called Womb. Somewhat hard to find, tucked into an extremely soundproof old warehouse or something on a backstreet in the middle of Shibuya, with no sign at all of its existance other than the three guards and the few other people standing outside, it really looked like the kind of place you needed five different invitations to get into. Which was the reason we walked right past it the first time around, not expecting it was really the place we were looking for.

Once we got in - which was not as easy as it would have been had we not had a girl in our company who weren't quite as old as she were supposed to be (clubs in Japan apparently require you to be 20 years of age to enter, unlike the 18 that's standard in Europe) - we were unfortunately told that the main dance floor would not be open until 4 am. I don't know if that's the way they usually do it or if it was just a one-time thing due to some problem. Either way, it did mean the smaller dance floor, the one on the bottom floor, was pretty cramped for most of the night.

The interior design of the place was really interesting. Falling somewhere in between the look of a warehouse and the place of worship for some spiritual cult, it really spoke to me, despite my usual preference for more luxurious surroundings. The music they played was unfortunately limited to techno, a genre for which I hold no particular love (I prefer R&B and house when clubbing), but dispite that I managed to have quite a good time. It was just unfortunate that we lost half of our group to some other club before the night had hardly even started.

Entrance at Womb was 2000 yen, with most drinks landing at between 500 and 800 yen a piece.