Work, Billy, and the Korean Monster

As I was writing on my previous post, I was struggling to meet new people at the office. That soon changed, at least for now. I had a meeting with the HR guy.. the same guy who denied me in the first place. Basically, since I have my visa and everything, he wanted me to go through the steps on how to transition me into the Japanese status. I on the other hand, being the lonely and desperate soul that I am, was trying to come up with strategies on how to turn the enemy into a friend. My basic point of attack was just to drop all my prior knowledge of him and suck up to him at will and see where that led me. Apparently it worked and now I have a welcome party planned by him next week. Lets see how that goes.

On other news... remember I mentioned about Billy Blanks below appearing more times on T.V. than the SMAP guys? Well, I was watching SMAPXSMAP on Monday night and guess what... he was in their show. Here is the skit below: (The fake Billy or Hilly is one of the SMAP members Shingo-kun)



Also this past Sunday, I was watching a bit of K-1 fighting. K-1 is like UFC but in a boxing ring instead of a steel cage octagon. They also show the events on public television instead of PPV like in the states. Anyways, there was this huge Korean fighter that totally blew my mind. The guy's glove was as big as his opponent's head!!!! The giant's name is Choi Hong-Man aka "Korean Monster". I mean... this guy was like an Asian Godzilla.... wait.. Godzilla was Asian right? Umm.. He was like Godzilla with blonde hair and the other dude looked like one of Frotto's little hobbit friends compared to him. Needless to say, the tanned Bobo Baggins got knocked out. I thought that after the short match, the unsatisfied Korean monster was going to eat the audience and step on some buildings afterwards. Luckily, he was in a good mood and everyone was spared ... for now. I have also provided the clip for you below:

Recap on my life in Tokyo thus far

Here is a brief recap on how my life has been since coming to Tokyo:

Work: I am commuting to the office in Shinjuku. I've been doing it everyday, until I got the internet. I skipped out the past two work days and worked from home. My daily commute to the office is pretty grueling. Though I only have to endure a 12 - 17 minute train ride (depending if I hit the local or rapid trains) the amount of people I have to jock for position everyday is pretty crazy. I have been twice elbowed by two different elderly ladies. I've also been almost trampled over by a disgruntled salary man. The funniest part about the commute though is when we arrive to Shinjuku station. Right when the door opens, everyone makes an Olympic-like sprint to the stairs to get out of the station. I on the other hand patiently wait for the rush to go by fearing I would get eaten up by the sea of salary men and office ladies. My office is a 15 - 20 minute walk from the station. The time really depends on how gung-ho I am that day. Usually, I just take my time and enjoy the sights and sounds that Shinjuku offers. My office building is ok. I have taken a picture of the building in my previous post. The people that work near me (I don't actually work with anyone there, since I am remotely working with my old team) have treated me fair so far. I have met the people that were against me during my attempt to join their office and they put their fake smiles and handed me their Christmas handshakes. I offered the same. I have spoken to a couple of friendly people and had lunch a couple of times with them. I hope to make more office friends in the near future.

Apartment: Furnishing an empty apartment is not only expensive, but is hard work. This makes it extra hard without the aid of the internet to do prior research. Needless to say, most of the appliances and furniture have been obtained, but after an empty wallet, more furniture is still needed. The location of the apartment is convenient and area is not bad. On the weekends, I hear the occasional drunken salaryman battle cry, but all in all, the only constant disturbance I encounter is the express train zooming by.

Life: Life is fine. I have to admit, that I am fighting homesickness, but I try to make the best of it. I spend most of my off time trying to explore different parts of my area to find out what can be bought without going to the center of Tokyo. The center of Tokyo is not very far, but if things can be done without having to travel on the crowded trains (even on weekends it is crowded) and of course not spending money for the train fare, all the better. I also meet good friends on occasion which definitely cheers me up. So far Japan has experienced a few earthquakes and 2 typhoons. Though it sounds like a lot, I honestly haven't noticed any earthquakes thus far and had no immediate impact of the 2 typhoons.

Food: God.. I'm in heaven here. Food is so good. I even found a nearby Kaiten sushi near my apartment. There are also a lot of ramen shops that are just steps from my apartment. I look forward to exploring and discovering more tasty restaurants in the near future.

Misc: I have not missed American T.V. thanks to the slingbox. With the fiber optic connection I have here in my apartment, I get really good quality coming out of my slingbox. This is really good since NFL season is coming up in a few weeks. Go Cowboys!!!!!!!!!!!

やった！！

Long time no see. I finally got the internet hooked up to my apartment. It feels so good to have it back. As you can expect a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. I also took a lot of pictures. I don't have much time so I have to decide which to post.. my thoughts or what I've seen. I pick the latter. I'm going to be lazy and post them up with no comment. You can try to figure out what is going on and leave a comment :)











Since I have internet now, it also means that my IP phone is working, so please feel free to call and vice versa.

I'm fine

This will be a short post since I'm using an unstable internet connection (stealing from a neighbor's weak internet signal). Anyways, many have heard about the 6.6 and 6.8 earthquakes that occurred yesterday.. or today depending on which time zone you are reading this at and though people felt the earthquake in Tokyo, I had no idea we had an earthquake until I saw it on T.V. at an electronic store. Funny thing was that I was walking dondon when the initial earthquake happened and I guess I might have mistaken a tremor for one of the loud noisy cars that passed by. Me and everyone else is fine. I should get my own internet next week (hopefully) so I'll make a proper post with nice pictures then.

Final days in いなか

I enjoyed great food, evening BBQ's by the beach, massive amount of local beer, talking and meeting the very kind local people, beautiful and tranquil scenery and did I mention the great food? Even though I am really looking forward to starting my new life in Tokyo, I will really miss the slow pace life in the rural part of Japan.

I will make my move to Tokyo in 2 days and have spent the past couple of days packing. This is the 3rd time I've packed hardcore during my big move. I'm also shocked to find out how much stuff I am going to be sending to my new apartment. I honestly do not know how everything will fit inside. Oh well, I'll see soon enough.

Upcoming plans include more packing, going to a celebration party, researching in furniture and home electronics and spending a good amount of time riding the Shinkansen. This means that this will be my final post during my rural area stay. I have still yet to figure out how my internet situation will turn out when I arrive to Tokyo. The apartment is supposed to have 光フィーバ (fiber optics) already installed and all I have to do is activate it, but since talking to the internet company, that may not be the case. I hope to have the internet by next week, but worst case scenario is I won't have internet at home for atleast 2 -3 weeks. If that happens, it means I will have to commute to the office in Shinjuku when I have to start working remotely. This will also mean that it may take that long to update the blog again.

I look forward to my new chapter to my new life. I hope you do too. じゃね！

The hottest thing in Japan

After being in Japan for the past couple of weeks, I have seen what the hottest trend is. Now for those of you in the states might be thinking, "Man, we won't get to see this in another couple of years". Well, you are wrong. Its not an innovative gadget nor is it a break through fashion accessory. The hottest thing in Japan right now, this very moment, as I'm typing this entry, is ....... Billy Blanks.

Billy Blanks??



Yep, the guy who made Tae Bo famous in the states several years ago is a HIT here. The picture above is Billy during his Tae Bo phase. Now, noticeably older and sporting a bit of a gut, he is promoting his next money making idea, Billy's Boot camp. Check out a very recent video clip of him making a bunch of high school girls VERY HAPPY.



I see him on T.V. more than the SMAP guys and for those who have been in Japan know that is an impressive feat. Even the people in the remote parts of Japan know his in-depth profile. I think I even heard that Japanese soccer players are now doing some of his patent movements after scoring a goal. This guy is a marketing genius.

On a completely opposite subject, I've been eating like a madman. Luckily for me, the food I've been scarfing down is relatively healthier than what I would have been eating in the states. Since I'm currently in the rural area, I've been eating lots of fish. The fish here are so fresh and cheap.



Unfortunately, the healthiness factor of eating fish are usually negated from all the beer I'm drinking. I'm slowly turning into the Michelin man. I guess its time to enroll in "Billy's Bootcamp".

The Rainy Season

Since I've been to Japan, it has been raining everyday except for one time which I posted my joy 2 entries below. The worst part is that the rain that we receive is the heavy typhoon-like kind without the wind. Imagine yourself going through a car wash, but just without a car. Yeah, thats the feeling. So you get drenched in just 10 seconds, which is the amount it takes running from the car to the entrance destination. Many people have told me that this rainy season is very unusual and that they have never seen this amount of rain before. Anyways.. I hate the rainy season, I can't wait for it to be over. Lucky for me, it should be over sometime this month. Oh wait, the next season which also begins this month is Typhoon Season. Its like a really bad joke and I can't stop laughing. Let's just hope that it will be a record low typhoon season. *knock on wood*