Juggle, juggle, juggle

My best juggling vid yet, against a backdrop of awesome Korean scenary...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfVgzyllB0


Juggling in Tokyo:

Sushi restaurant - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMSKlYpxpF0

Disneyland - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2y5NFjB6g

Shibuya - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40wrFYWV__s

TOKYO!!!

Wow, I'm really bad at keeping this blog up, but I mustered up the determination to write about my trip to Japan. It was my first vacation in 6 months, that's not to say I've been working very hard - 4 hours on a big day, 1 on a relaxing one. Nevertheless it was nice to have uninteruppted free time...

I spent a week in Tokyo, it felt alot like Seoul on the surface; tons of people, many buildings, and me being a clear monority. Here's where I really noticed the differences:

• Going into a restaurant and not being able to communicate other than pointing at the pictures or sample dishes that are often displayed outside the restaurants.
• Vending machines everywhere selling beer (love it), cigarettes, and sodas
• Soooo many bicycles driving on the sidewalks, with no motorbikes. It's quite the opposite here.
• Eating is individual. Most restaurants had around the chef bar style seating. Here, there are many foods I can't eat because individual portions aren't served. EX barbequed meats
• Koreans speak english much better than japanese. Guess the $40/hr English lessons are paying off...
• Japanese are accepted more for being individuals than here. This can be seen by the many diverse and crazy styles of clothing, hair and piercings.
• Koreans hate the Japanese more than the Japanese hate the koreans. In fact Korean culture (soap operas and k-pop stars) are quite popular.
• Japanese love halloween, haven't seen as much as a pumpkin here.
• Tokyo is waaaaay more expensive than Seoul. Ex water here 50 cents, there $1.50. taxis start here at $2, there $6.

The coolest place in Tokyo was around Shibuya, the busiest train station in the world servicing 3.2 million people per day! That's where the infamous crosswalk is that we see in movies and t.v shows all the time. Around there are some sweet clubs. On the Saturday I ended up at one of the clubs to see DJ Marky and Laurient Garnier spinning drum and bass(both- Garnier usually spins techno). This club was smack in the middle of a residential neighbourhood and I never would have found it without these kiwis I met at the staion. The club was packed and a great time, I had to stay until 5 am cuz thats when the trains start running again. So I partied until then and went to jump on the subway. I was so tired I passed out and when I woke up just exited the station and walked aimlessly like a zombie. Suddenly I thought, "where the hell am i?". I looked up and saw a sign for Shibuya, the same place I left from. Then I saw a clock and it was 7:30 am. I passed out on the subway and rode it all the way back to where started. So I got back on the subway and passed out again, I awoke to a completley empty train but luckily I was at the right end of the line where my hostel was.





Another night I was eating a bbq meat restaurant and these two Japanese men who just finished work really wanted to show me how hospitable japanese can be. They kept ordering food and insisting I eat it, it was sweet cuz I got to try a ton of new food. They also insisted I get drunk with them on shochu, its a rice wine similiar to Korea's soju but a lil stronger and drank while mixed with 'soda' - tasted like tonic. Then they kept calling all their English speaking friends and their wives for me to talk to. Unfortunatley these people couln't speak English well either but finally they got another friend to come and join us who spoke pretty good English, at least enough to have a conversation with longer than " MY HOUSE (making roof sign) .....KOREA". But actually one of the guys sorta stunned me when he pointed at his buddy and said 'Masturbation". I nearly spit my food outta my mouth laughing, it was priceless.









Also priceless were these signs I saw at a global initiative fair for organizations in Japan helping those in other countries....



Well, that's all cuz this has taken me an hour and a half, stupid slow loading the pics.... When I came back from Tokyo I went to a beach here that was super sweet, I'll try and write about that later this week. Peace.