Feeling Sideways...

Busy Busy Busy is the only way to describe this past week. TGIF for sure! Not only have I been super busy at work, but I have been out every night this week as well. Fun times, but so fun that they've left me with about as much energy as a wet rag for the weekend.
Funny that I leave for Thailand tomorrow. I haven't packed yet or anything! I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that I'm leaving in 24 hours. I did, however, start my room makeover to make space for Bex' 2-month bonanza in Tokyo. I rearranged my furniture, and even cleared out space in my drawers and closet. Now THAT is a good friend!

The activities of the week included dinner on Tuesday night with Px and Matto at our fave izakaya in Shibuya, ironically right down the street from where I used to live. Wednesday night S and I went to dinner and a movie, hence the reference to feeling Sideways, a thought-provoking film about the human spirit and experience. Set entirely from the male point of view, it was interesting to see how two very different middle-aged men come to terms with the paths of their lives-- how people grow (closer or farther apart), how people fool themselves about their lives (to avoid disappointment?), and how all of this relates to the very substance that changes the color of my face to a too-conspicuous rouge. Wine.

St. Patty's Day followed, and of course I was not missing the night to celebrate my Irish heritage. I had set up dinner and drinks at my old stomping ground Hobgoblin with some co-workers and a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. I love when the company pays to make my celebrations that much better! And I saw my favorite Irish bartender (we go waaaay back), who gave S and me some Bailey's to cap the night off.

My busy week has finally come to an end, and my eyes are struggling to stay open. The clock reads 15:43, always my sleepiest time of day.

Bon voyage to me, and be ready for some good pics with my new digi cam upon my return from the shopping mecca and glorious beaches of Southeast Asia.

Party like a rockstar?...

That I did. Thanks for the birthday shout out elizabethbutler-chan. It was probably the best birthday weekend I've had in a long time. In fact I don't think I'd change anything about it. Thanks so much to Px, Tokyomx, S and everyone else who helped me celebrate. I didn't know so much fabulousness could be stuffed into one weekend!
Friday night, the 11th: I was birthday wined and dined. S, boyfriend turned fashion consultant, advised me to gather up my sexiest dress and shoes for a dinner out. I had no clue where we were going until we got into the taxi and I heard our destination.
"Shinjuku Park Hyatt"

New York Grill:

It's actually the restaurant that shares its bar with the infamous hotel bar that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson frequent in Lost in Translation. It's heaven-- quite literally-- I found myself looking out the window into the haze of the clouds. The view from the 52nd floor was stunning. The meal began with a cosmo and ended with finally, FINALLY my beloved slab of hot meat in the form of a mouthwatering filet mignon!! If they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, it was obviously before they met me. S and I closed the restaurant and a really perfect night.

Saturday, March 12th: A continuation of the festivites, but more the drunken silly ones than the romantic. P and I brought it local for this one-- a 15 person birthday dinner/party at our local eatery Connections. As I put in my evite, a great mix of Asian and Italian, just like me! P and Mx were incredible and ordered all the champagne and wine we could drink-- and boy did we ever drink. Highlights of the night included amazing company, the most touching toast ever from my sweetie Matt, and though it totally wasn't even deserved, 2 fabulous gifts-- a digi cam from P, Mx&Jo-Jo, Matt, K&M

Click here to see them all! And please keep in mind it's my birthday so I'm allowed to act like that.
The second pressie was silver and came from S in a blue box-- THE blue box . OK, so S found there are 2 ways to this girl's heart...

And that just about wrapped up a perfect birthday weekend. Made possible only thanks to my unbelievable friends who I can't thank enough.

If my DC/Nazo crew would have been there too, it would have made things only better, but for Tokyo, it will be a weekend never to forget.

My first trip off the island...

Back to my second day of work after a 4-day holiday snowboarding in Hokkaido. Moreover, back to work with nothing to do. Add Spring time, sunny warm weather to the equation, and you just about know how motivated I am right now.

But I digress. The trip to Hokkaido was AMAZING! Think winter wonderland! Huge rolling mountains, snow-covered shores and thick, fluffy powder snow covering all of the slopes. I've now been spoiled by the boarding conditions and will probably stick up my nose at the resorts around Tokyo from now on. We boarded for 4 straight days, proving to be quite the challenge for my weak right ankle, bruised knees and aching muscles, but just the right way to improve. We were 10-- Me and Px, her 2 Japanese colleagues, S and 4 of his Frenchy friends, and one of their Japanese girlfriends, who ended up being about the same age as me and a very cool girl. The boys went off and did their own silly boy things, while we girls conquered the red (intermediate) runs, and even a few blacks. In the deep powder snow, falling wasn't so much a painful experience but an opportunity to roll around and do somersaults backwards down the hill. Believe it or not, this mindset causes you to fall less! I must give credit, however, to Frenchy F, who ended up being a most subarashii sensei. Because of his little tips I was careening down the slopes, off piste in the "do not enter" areas under the lifts, and between trees (only partially on my ass) by the end.

The dynamics of the group were quite funny as well. I have no complaints about being entertained by 5 very cute Frenchy boys, and to my delight, Px even liked them too! Apart from boarding we were almost too tired to do anything else besides going to onsen (referred to by the boys as the "swimming pool" because they were convinced the one we preferred was not "real onsen water"), eating lots and lots of ikura-don, miso ramen and other yummy Hokkaido delights, and drinking nama beer and umeshuu. The lodge was absolutely adamant about having us awake for 7:30am breakfast, and for some strange reason, the restaurant didn't quite appreciate our bringing cereal and toast from the conbini to breakfast rather than waking up that god-awful early. After listening to Frenchy G snore like he had industrial farm equipment working inside his nose, it didn't make for many good nights of sleep.

But all-in-all, a great weekend and break from Tokyo-- just making this week that much harder to get through, however. Now on to party planning-- my birthday bash will be held this Saturday at a location near you-- or near me, anyway... and then the next weekend I'm off to Thailand for 10 days and I'm bringing a present (Becca) back with me. Will try to update and get my photos uploaded somewhere in between, and god willing, get a new camera before I leave so I don't have to be embarrassed anymore by my "brick."

Here are some...

Here are more...

Boarding pics...

I know you have all wanted to see me with all my new gear, or to make fun of me all bundled up with my ultra cool goggles on... well here is your chance! Enjoy!

Jo-lo in da snow


Snow "angel" and Yoko Yoko taking a rest before her next run


Karuizawa...


Mandy with her new board


The Fab 5 after their day in powder

"Texas Hold Your Bollocks..."

So P dubbed our poker night. It was the first I've played since the days of my "youth" back in D.C. with my Phi Psi boys. And I had almost forgotten how addictive it can be! I was getting up for snowboarding the next morning at 6am, so we started early with the intention of finishing at a decent hour. Less than decent ended up being 2:30am. We had 5 players and more than enough tacos to start us off. The round up included PG, co-worker in a former life and poker "otaku," i.e. "I'm British but should be from Vegas," his girlfriend A-chan who is Japanese but has the best British accent ever, O-chan, P, S and me. PG, A-chan and I were the only ones who knew how to play, but a few bottles of wine/beer/shampoo later (note the red face in the pics), and everyone had gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. Also P's family tradition of hat-wearing spiced things up a bit. Choose your hat, choose your luck. If the luck runs out in the white fuzzy beret, no worries, just change to another. The boys were looking loverly in pink, of course (it's basically the only color hats P and I own)

They always say, the most memorable rounds are the ones you [almost] won. In my case there was one in particular, a big loss to S with a sad story behind it. I was dealt pocket aces. The flop and turn were all low cards-- nothing looking too promising for anyone, not even a face card on the table. And then the river brought a possible straight. Someone only needed a 5 to win... but both the blinds had folded, and who would have stayed in so long with a 5 until the river!? Perhaps I temporarily forgot we were playing with beginners, or perhaps I was too excited by my pocket aces... I'd been trying to run up the pot and then found myself trying to buy it. But P and S are (unfortunately) no quitters. They call and flip one card each to be cocky... they had nothing. I reach for the chips!.... until, S decides to be a smart a$$ and flips his other card, which is THE 5, of course. Little does he know it was a very expensive hand for him because next time I'm doing him no favors. Anyway, in the end, the money ended up with PG and A-chan-- I think they teamed up and pulled a fast one on us. I broke even, and S, P and O-chan (who ended up curled up on the couch before the night was over) lost maybe 3 drinks in Roppongi each. Not a bad night overall.


The 6am wake up was a less than deserved challenge, but the boarding was fun. I finally feel as though I can do it properly and just enjoy without having to focus too intently on staying on board and off ass. In less than 2 weeks I will be tearing up the curves in the powderly bliss of Niseko (in Hokkaido, the northernmost island) for a long weekend with 5 Frenchy boys and the KVH posse. Kid in a candy store? You read my mind!

Yikes!

4:46am = HUGE earthquake!! The biggest that I've felt yet! It's the first time things have fallen off our TV... seemingly not such a big deal, but actually pretty freaking scary. When the shaking continued I jumped out of bed, met P in the lounge room, and we ran downstairs to open the door. When all seemed calm, we headed back up and turned on the TV, which at first said to stay on alert for tsunami. We freaked out for about a minute, and then they changed their statement to say no danger of tsunami. Ugh, it just gives me the shivers, though (a bit too literally).

The cold, pouring rain didn't help my mood. I've had a bad cold the past few days and decided it was best to spare my body the pain of going to the office today. My first sick day. I slept until 2 and am ready to go back to bed again now, 4 hours later. I just can't seem to keep my head up.......

Valentine's Day...

Here in Japan it somewhat reflects the sexism that still permeates the workplace. Valentine's Day is a "man's day." The women are expected to give chocolates not only to their boyfriends, husbands, or "crushes," but to the men in their office as well. Hence we have the giving of "giri choco," which literally means "obligation chocolates." Quite literally, when a woman gives chocolates to her co-workers, she will say, "Giri choco desu."--> "These are your obligation chocolates." What a way to show appreciation!

On March 14th, one month later, the holiday "White Day" was initiated to let the women get even. This is the day for the men to give chocolate to the ladies. The thing I don't think is fair, is that the men can see which women gave them chocolate, and then they can simply just return the favor to those women, and in true male fashion, not give it much thought at all. The burden of "how much should I spend" and "who should I give chocolate to" falls yet again to the women.
In the midst of these J-traditions, it was a basically Valentine-free Valentine's Day for me. S thinks that Valentine's Day is commercial, and that a holiday shouldn't dictate to him when to be romantic (of course he's French, so NO ONE can dictate how to be romantic to him, haha). So, though up until now, I have pretty much been a V-day believer, like most American girls, worrying what type of present is most appropriate for the current status of my relationship, and getting way too excited for what kind of surprise date I could possibly be in for, I've found myself more cynical this year. Is Valentine's Day simply a day of "giri romance?"-- the day when every couple feels obligated to do something romantic just because it's Valentine's Day, though every other day of the year lacks any romance? And doesn't obligation defeat the purpose of romance anyway?

A work party on Valentine's Day evening prevented me from doing it the "traditional" way anyway, but S and I did still manage a last-minute, totally unplanned rendezvous, which I guess was spontaneous enough for him and still romantic enough for me.
I've concluded that all the Valentine's Day fluff of roses or chocolates or "romance" won't make anyone fall in love anyway. So why not make such a holiday just an obligatory day to break up the monotony of a hard-working February? I certainly will not be opposed to receiving my "giri choco" on White Day next month !!

WOW Zao!...

My second weekend of snowboarding has come to a successful close. This time it was 5 of us girls, pretty much beginners, facing some wild wind and about 3.5 meters of snow. From start to finish it was a fun trip, almost like being a kid at camp again. We did this one cheaply-- took the bus and stayed in an anachronic lodge that was literally usurped from the beginning years of the Bubble economy. The 5 of us stayed in one room-- think 5 sets of bunk beds and a bright orange carpet-- it was room 217, which actually wasn't even written on any of the signs at the hotel. Officially, the room numbers reached only 215 and we are convinced we were actually hidden in a storage area. But actually in the end it wasn't even that bad. The place had an onsen (hot spring), so it's not like we were bothered by the shared bathroom/shower, and I was so exhausted I could have slept on a rock-- the futon was surprisingly quite comfy anyway. And meals (basic washoku style) were included and pretty good-- even had mangos (possibly not as good as in Dominica, but I digress).

By the end of day 2 on the slopes, after having had a lesson the day before, which helped a lot, I was smoothly dismounting the lift without falling, skating along flat surfaces with one foot in the binding and the other on the board, and most importantly, maneuvering down the slope (unsteadily but still maneuvering) in "S" turns. The challenge was the last run-- A. had convinced me to come up with her to try the intermediate slope, which we knew immediately was a mistake when we saw it. I ended up facing the mountain and braking down the whole thing! But hey, if you don't try, you never know, right?

Anyway it's really fun learning a new sport, I realized. It's been a while since I've worked on a new physical skill-- the days of learning to do backflips are over. I guess for a soon to be 23-yr old, snowboarding is a good sport to pick up, however expensive! On Sunday I realized I was $100 short of spending my entire budget for the month... and $800 of it has been spent on snowboarding (gear, trips) for this month only. Incredible. I have now limited myself to weeknights straight home from work, canned soup and blogging-- at least for the next few weeks. Be prepared to hear much more from me!

Upon arrival to... summer camp??! On the slopes with Amy


Our dodgy lodgey ranchi I heart Mandy


Yuka survived her first day! Happy faces!


That's me in action! And me on my butt... a common theme...


The post-onsen pic... we feel normal again!

Such a great mix...

Event: O-chan's birthday dinner, organized by moi since I wasn't back from snowboarding in time to make it to her party on Sunday...

Participants: O, my beautiful, first real Korean girl friend! Hehe, sometimes I feel like she is (or should be) my sister.. I don't know, she just kind of "gets it." I often wonder what I would be like had I grown up in Korea, and I guess she kind of gives me some sort of idea of it. We are alike in a lot of ways, I think, but not even in very tangible ways. It's just a strange feeling I get.

T-Kennedy, O's boyfriend, an American lad who was my best friend and confidant here 2 summers ago when I was caught in my messy web of European lovers, yet was still, ironically, so alone. T was unemployed at the time, so we would get to spend lots of time with each other while our significant others were busy/living in Korea. Since then he has become an elite member of the banking bourgeousie, also known by initials GS. We're so proud of him!

A., my Hong Kongese-American long-time partner in crime, who, as I mentioned before just moved one station away from me. Also a member of the elite GS crowd, A. planned this weekend's snowboarding trip to Zao. We will fall together!

The four of us studied together in Nagoya, so we go waaaayyy back!

And finally, Han, a Korean colleague of O's, whom I met for the first time. Very sweet guy and everything I expected of a fine Korean young man.

Venue: Good Honest Grub, Harajuku -- O's choice as it was her birthday.. she wanted Western food... masshisoyo?

The mix: I just can't be more amused by the stares we were getting from people. We have 4 Asians in the group-- All speaking Japanese, though not quite natively. 1 obvious gaijin also speaking very good Japanese. Out of the same five, 3 were speaking native level English with American accents, 1 conversational English, and 1 not much at all. I don't think one person could figure out who the heck we were or where we were from. Even Han didn't figure it out after we had been sitting and talking for 2 hours. In the middle of the conversation, he looked at A and said, "Nihonjin? (Japanese?)"

Highlights: A. teaching us to say, "Are you full?" in Chinese (Cantonese), T trying Beijing style (he lived there a while), and O and Han noting that the same word (pronounced slightly differently) means F*ck off in Korean. Me? I couldn't contribute much to this conversation.
O. styling all of our lovely locks in a butterfly, diamond-studded comb and taking various pictures of us (boys and girls) in our best modeling poses.

All finished off with lost diamond from said diamond-studded comb.

I find comfort in the fact that I am not the only crazy one in this city.

Firsts...

Wobble wobble. Balance? How!? Fall down. Try to get up--but oh so unsuccessfully. Down on my ass again. Really gonna get up this time. Almost there, come on just stand the hell up! Ah, back on my feet again. Just before (shit!) wobbling and falling down again. The joys of learning to snowboard.

This past weekend was my first time. P's friend shares a huge 4 bedroom house in Minakami with 3 other guys, and they go up every weekend. So the two of us took advantage of the invitation and went for a jam-packed 2 days of snowboarding. I had received warnings from everyone I knew. "You won't be able to sit down or turn your neck for days." "You'd better get some butt padding." Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. At first I was sure I was going to kill myself, but once you get used to balancing and learning to shift your weight it's alright. The first day my boots were too big, so I ended up having to stay on my back edge because my heels were coming up out of my boots when I tried going on my toes. So there I went whizzing down the slopes shakily but without falling too much. But by the second day, I realized, the point isn't to stay on the back edge the whole time. I needed to learn to turn! I had taken a pretty hard fall on my 2nd run of the day right on my lower back, and I swear I thought I had broken it. Aside from the pain, my confidence was shaken, which means I just fell more. But up I went again, and after a few more good runs and successful turns, all in all, I seemed to be alright and I had so much fun!!... SO much fun that I am going again this weekend to Zao. Everyone says that the more often you go and keep following up on what you learned, the better you get. So, in preparation, tonight I went out and bought a Salomon board, boots, bindings, a huge bag for my board and gear, a new coat, pants, and gloves-- all Salomon-- for 33000 yen ($330). I was chuffed! Such a bargain! And now I never have to worry about renting too-big boots again! P and I are now in the process of planning a trip up to Hokkaido in 2 weeks as well for a long 4 day weekend, and S is coming too... can't wait!! Yes, I warn you now-- watch out on the slopes-- I have become a snowboarding convert.

Along with snowboarding, the trip had some other firsts: Imagine having a long hard day of boarding, and every muscle you never even knew you had aches. But then, you have the amazing opportunity to soak outside in a rotomboro (outdoor hot spring-- this one was co-ed no less), surrounded by some pretty gorgeous guys, just relaxing your body in the hot pool under the falling snow. THIS is heaven!!! It might just be the best part of snowboarding in Japan! :)
Speaking of gorgeous guys, at least half of them on this trip were. Yet, while grilling thin slices of meat over the Korean barbecue, I found myself saying in the dinner conversation, for the first time, "my boyfriend." So I guess it is pretty much safe to say I do have a boyfriend now-- still S, and I'm still as happy as can be with my adorable Frenchman.

Monday brought me back to Tokyo and to work, just in time for my FIRST EVER RAISE!!! Effective February 1st, I am now making 11% more than I was a few days ago. Thank you to all of you who made this possible. I will never forget you. And please, don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got... hehe.

And now for a very weird first... today was my dad's birthday so I called to wish him a happy birthday, to find out that, for the first time, I was told by my father that he got remarried-- in DECEMBER! And this was prompted by my asking, "So any other news?" and his response, "Nope, no other news, oh, except that we got married." What else could I say but "uhh, congratulations!" This is what I would call an abnormal parent-child relationship, or at least one that lacks proper communication. Dad really needs to hire a PR firm to manage his familial relationships-- too bad my firm doesn't specialize in training fathers how to show interest in their children.

Right, anyway, sorry for that tangent. Really, life is good!

Lesson learned last night...

Why settle for Jagermeister when you can have Veuve Cliquot?

My alcoholic analogy for the reaction to my date last night. I know I know, you're thinking, "Date?! Didn't you just post something last week about being head over heels for a Frenchy?" (who, by the way, I am calling S from now on, because I don't want to associate him with "Frenchy" anymore-- he's too good for that)" I am just a playa, what can I say?! No, really, though, I thought this would be a good idea, just to make sure I really am ready to commit to something if it comes to that. I said I was going to be really careful about taking my time with this one, and rather than rushing into things and then later panicking and yelling, "Wait! I want to see other people!" as I courteously release myself from the grips of the J keisatsu, I decided to do my homework first. This may seem childish, but I'd rather do it this way than hurt him later. And since technically it is OK for me to date other people at the moment, I took advantage of it.

Anyway, this one was a German, hence the reference to Jager. He was a very nice German, in fact, in addition to being the chief financial officer of Hugo Boss in Japan. He came very nicely packaged in a complete pin-striped Hugo Boss suit with the scent of his yummy cologne constantly wafting my way. If there was to be a "competitor" to the Frenchman, he was a formidable one. Like I said, he was very nice... and also very BORING. I found myself chattering away and forcing myself to keep the conversation rolling... Frankly it reminded me of sorority recruitment when I was matched with a rushee with whom 3 minutes of conversation felt like a very, VERY long hour at the dentist.

But no worries here-- isn't that what I wanted anyway? It confirmed my intuition. I don't want to see other people!

It's the truth: One sip of Veuve and you'll never go back!

My loverly locks...

This morning at the gym, while I was rushing to apply my make-up and get out of there by the 8:30 target, a funny thing happened. An older woman sitting next to me at the... what would you call it... "get pretty bar?"-- it's a room with mirrors as well as a counter with sinks, a supply of Q-tips, tissues, blow dryers, etc., all around the perimeter. Little stools are then spaced at the counter so you can sit (quite comfortably) and do your hair and make-up-- kind of like what you find at some hotel and fancy restaurant bathrooms in the States. A considerable improvement compared to American locker rooms. Anyway, this older Japanese woman turned to me and commented:
"You have such beautiful hair. Is there any special treatment you use to make it so beautiful?"
I responded with the usual, "Oh no, it's not beautiful" comment, being that it's Japan, and told her I had my hair straight permed. She seemed satisfied with the response and gave me a friendly bow before leaving to continue her beauty ritual elsewhere.

Anyway, it's funny how a nice little comment like that can really put you in a good mood at the start of a day. I always find it especially nice when random Japanese people talk to me and I can respond without their noticing that I'm not Japanese. Apparently my hair and my Japanese, perhaps, are improving.

My bitch session...

It is 8:15pm. I am in the office. I am the ONLY one in the office. I am waiting for a press release from a client so I can send it to a translator to be done by tomorow morning. It was supposed to arrive at 7:30. It is now 8:17, and still no release. The client was conveniently on the phone when I called. The translator will be pissed because he now has 47 less minutes to work on it tonight. I am paid the least out of everyone here-- WHY am I stuck here!? Sorry, I guess it isn't THAT late, but I didn't have much on all day, and was excited for an early getaway. I feel like I'm here for a stupid reason. I have no other work to do right now, and so here I am bitching to my blog. I guess this is on top of other annoyances, however, which have just put me in a bad mood. Another was a briefing memo, which I finished at 2pm today and sent "upstairs" to the big boss for a "check over." He finished checking it at 7pm, and then left me to reformat the whole document because he, once again, screwed up the bullet points. I have pre-experienced my hell on earth reformatting bullet points. They have an agenda of their own, trust me.
8:47 and I'm still here... still no release, but I'm blowing this joint. Hopefully I can check from home and send it later.

Head in the clouds...

P called me out on it. I was washing the dishes and had this stupid giddy smile and dreamy eyed look on my face. "What are you smiling about?" "Oh me? Nothing," I answered, trying not to smile. But God I hate when I do that. Whenever I try not to smile I just end up smiling more. When we were kids, all my guy friends would love playing that dumb game with me-- the one when you try not to smile for 60 seconds while the other person makes all kinds of funny faces at you. I was the inevitable loser everytime and would burst out laughing. I am still surprised by the fact that I can actually keep a poker face.

It seems, however, that I have recently developed "the smile." This is the one that accompanies the fluttery stomach. The one that you might catch on someone else's face and wonder if they know some really good secret that you don't. The one that keeps you from concentrating on any small task and makes you mad at yourself for wasting your time with your head in the clouds. Well, I've gotten it, and I only hope it doesn't go away too soon. If I remember correctly, though, it's just the beginning of the ride. If you've ever started seeing someone you really like, you know this ride. It's the one in the brand new Ferrari that can accelerate from 0 to 150mph in .33 seconds (bear with me, it's a super Ferrari). You're loving it and just want to keep enjoying the ride, but yet a part of you is thinking, "whoa, slow down, if this thing goes any faster it's just sure to crash and burn." And with some good sense, I'll tone it down a few gears. I really will try, though I say this with a sly smile. Perhaps I know myself too well. I'd take a crash and burn over a Sunday joyride anyday.

Can you feel my pain?

Wednesday & Thursday went much the same.

6am - wake up (still dark and cold, desire to get out of my warm bed ZERO)715 am - arrive at the gym, run a few miles, am dismayed at the fact that I have gained 2 kilos since B's sayonara party in October. Resolve to keep going in the mornings, though OUCH every muscle in my body is hurting845 am ~ 730pm - WORK... I have resigned myself to the fact that there are no more "slow" days. Every day is just this busy. Though I did get props from my boss at a staff meeting for my "crisis management" abilities in persuading said newspaper to print a different quote from Tuesday's interview.

830pm - arrive home, futz about with some sort of sustenance (or canned soup, which wouldn't necessarily count)

930pm - pilates, gossip with P, etc etc

11pm - bed.

How depressing!? I was even supposed to go out last night but couldn't even entertain the thought of staying awake.

Today has been just as jam packed until now. Maybe I finally get a breather! TGIF!

HOLY STRESS...

Can't exactly call this the best day...

I had to be at the Imperial Hotel this morning at 8:30 to sit in on 4 media interviews for a client. I arrive at the station promptly at 7:40, and among the swarms of people around me, I stand wondering, "Have I never been to the station at this time of morning? Why are there sooo many people standing around?" And then I hear it. The train is broken down. NOOOOO!!! I call my boss who lives in the area, but she had already left. Next thought, hail a cab. Unfortunately that was everyone else's next thought too. Not a cab to be found. I walk to the nearest bus stop and wait 1/2 hour in a skirt, chilled to the bone. No bus. No bus. No bus. At 8:15, I see the train pass on the tracks. Up and running again... 9:00 arrival at the hotel, just when the interview started. Phew! Close one... but still not a way to start a morning.

Next, crisis management. The client made a quote that we did NOT want in print, and a publication was going to use it. Fortunately this one was a decent reporter, and told us about the quote before he printed it. Had to liaise back and forth with client and reporter to make a quote they could both agree on. The client was freaking, "He CAN'T print that! Can you do something?" I totally owe this journalist-- he agreed not to print it. Too close again.
Finally, I just checked my e-mails from home. A NY client e-mailed last Friday night (Friday morning NY time) that she didn't get an article translation that was sent by our media monitor, though her address was clearly on the e-mail. I, being the dedicated member of the proletariat that I am, ventured into the office on Saturday to resend this already sent article... ONLY to get an e-mail today saying, "Where is it? I still didn't get it." WHAT!? This internet thing is CLEARLY against me! One very long distance, off hours and embarrassing phone call later, I am off the hook (barely) again.

I am too young to be stressed by work. Make it stop! Bedtime can only come to soon. This day needs to end!

The current snapshot...

And what a weekend it turned out to be. We are blessed with another random Japanese holiday this Monday, so after a killer week at work I can now take advantage of a not-so-early Monday morning at the office.

Highlights of my weekend include but are not limited to:

1. Finding out that my friend A. is moving to Toritsu-daigaku, within walking distance from me. Super excited about that!

2. Buying the hottest shirt ever at a sale at FCUK... 5000 yen for not so much material, but totally worth it. I'll be sure to post a pic of this one when I wear it.

3. Finally, thank God, a new mama chari, aka bicycle with a basket. You can't even begin to imagine my excitement about this one! B, I am so sorry that "the rocket" didn't live up to its well-reputed name, but the air tube inside the tire popped, and for 7000 yen for a new bike, I couldn't resist. Not only do mama-chari cut down on time when you're in a rush to the station, but a whole new world is uncovered, including trips to Daiei anytime, where paper towels, toilet paper, and bathroom items are like 1/2 the price of the normal supermarket; a quick ride over to Mx's place rather than a 660 yen cab ride each way, and soon to be a short ride to A.'s too; and maybe even if I am really ambitious, I can ride to the park and go for runs there. I just rode to Mx's house tonight for another fabulous dinner as usual (her boyfriend is a phenomenal cook), and all I have to say is YAYYYY mama-chari!!!

4. A new development in the love life... It's been a while since I've written about Frenchies, but... actually since I told Frenchy 3 that we should just be friends, we really have been -- and have gotten to be quite good friends at that... and actually the better friends we got to be, the more I started thinking, maybe I do like him a bit? Anyway, friends with benefits couldn't harm anyone, right (famous last words, but...)? Anyway, I think this is a good thing, and I really actually am not hoping/expecting/even preparing for anything exclusive or serious, but I'm having fun for now, and I guess we'll see where things end up. Honestly I have no idea.

5. My future has become a bit fuzzier... no need to go into detail yet, but it seems that soon I might be having to make some difficult decisions about my life (again). Why can't I just be a normal person and settle to do one thing that I'm happy with?
Anyway, must be going now... company awaits....

"Home..."

Some say it is where the heart is... or maybe it's with the one(s) you love. In any case, for me, home is no one place. Though I had never been to Hawaii before in my life, I found that it was an easy place to call home for one week. The familiar company of my mother, still chain smoking and claiming that these non-smoking restaurants are discriminating, therefore forcing her to leave the table for periodic sessions of "respiratory therapy" (Mom lingo for smoke break); my sister roasting herself to a deep golden brown on the beach and resolving to move to Hawaii once and for all to the chagrin of my brother-in-law (she says this every beach we go to); and then Eric, stuck in the middle of all this estrogen and thus needing to make disgusting "boy" comments for attention, i.e. "Hey Joce, this looks like a deep fried spider!" referring to the calamari I'm popping in my mouth. Shopping, overeating, beaching, smoking, complaining about the smoke, with some slight variations in between-- these are the typical mantra of our family vacations.

From the time I was little, EVERY family vacation we have ever taken has been to a beach. The Jersey shore was our "regular" destination-- we'd rent a house for a week or two on Long Beach Island and have all our friends and family from home visit and stay with us... always a vacation for everyone except my mom, who was entertaining everyone. When my parents were together, we were the inevitable hosts. I hardly remember going to dinner to others' houses or being invited on vacation with other families. It was always my mom doing the cooking and inviting. Perhaps everyone simply accepted that she was "the hostess with the mostest." No one can do it better.

My mother and sister are just "beach people." I tell my sister if only she'd live in an oven she'd be happy. Apart from Long Beach Island, for a few years we were vacationing in Fripp Island, SC, the Outer Banks, NC, with occasional trips to Florida, Ocean City, MD, Fenwick, DE, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. ALL BEACHES. Until I went to London on spring break as a sophomore in college, I'd never been on a non-beach bound vacation. Hawaii, then, was a natural choice and another reason it felt like home. But it wasn't just the company or the destination, this time, but also the feeling of coming back to my home country. Hawaii, be it closer to Japan or not, is still America, with English-speaking people, too-big portions of food, overweight people blocking the sunsets, snotty New Yorkers (yes, they are even in Hawaii!), slabs of meat you cut with a knife, the thrill of a sale at Banana Republic. This is home, too. Even the monster of a rental car we had felt normal. Just to be riding in a car on the wide roads of the States (for some reason I was not permitted to drive for "insurance purposes") felt so familiar, and in the midst of my mom's cigarette smoke and my sister singing off-key to the radio, we might as well have been back in Nazareth or Baltimore.

So maybe "home" is a sense of familiarity relative to somewhere not so familiar. The people, surroundings, or a combination of all contribute. And now I'm at the airport in Maui en route to another strange home. P will be gone for one more week, so the place will be strangely quiet. Though tonight when I return (or tomorrow--figuring the plus 19 hours), M will be at my place for her last night in Tokyo before departing for London. I'll see her off and then go to my host family's place in Toyota for the New Year. I'm half-wishing I'd planned it for a less hectic, tired time, but hell, I'm still young and genki. I'm sure I can ganbaru thru another 3 days of family time! By the way, it's hard to think of a more appropriate ending to a family vacation than sunrise over the mountains of Maui thru the airport window...!
See my

Karaoke Confessions...

How can an activity so basic bring out such extreme behaviors in people?

It seems basic anyway... you take a mike, you click in a song, you sing, and usually get drunk while you're at it, if you're not already. But from my experiences, the implications of karaoke go above and beyond the singing-in-the-shower type deals that you get in the States.

First, my confession... I ADORE karaoke! Fortunately for me, I'm not the only freak, nerd, etc. in this world who loves to hear herself sing. My flattie P is a regular diva. We have our regular duets, and (gulp) must admit we've practiced just the 2 of us before. (Sorry P, it had to be said...). So, I guess in my case, karaoke has the effect of making me feel like the Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera that I never will be... Anyway, I think, P, we fall into the "diva" category.
And I suppose compared with other things to do in Tokyo, karaoke is relatively good clean fun... but there is no limit to the emotions it brings out in people! Boys, take note... Hand the mike to a guy who can actually sing, and no kidding, he's 10 times sexier than he usually is (and the sexy ones just get sexier, i.e. B!) . Of course it goes both ways. It's all in good fun, but people who can't sing don't climb the sexy charts through karaoke...

The best was the Monday after our work bonenkai (end of year party), when my boss, who couldn't carry a note to save her jolly life came into work and decided to give her very opinionated, as always, account of the night's 2jikai. "Well, Jocelyn is the new karaoke star of the office. She's a bloody good singer. Unfortunately I can't carry a tune. But actually, you know, someone once told me that I just naturally sing a descant, so really it's not that I can't sing, I just naturally harmonize. So I need someone who can sing the main bit, and then I'm fine." My boss was referring to the Weather Girls song we sang together... she also no doubt falls into the "You're fooling yourself" category.

Then there are the shy ones who pretend they can't sing and then belt out "My Heart Will Go On" sounding twice as good as Celine Dion... but usually they sing these slow love songs, and after they're finished, there's just this long depressing silence until someone is like, OK! Livin the Vida Loca! and brings the party back to life.

And let's not forget about karaoke fights... back to my work 2jikai, a new director decides to input the song "My Way" for our very detail-oriented, you could say anal retentive, boss, exclaiming, "This one's for you! My Way! Just for you!" (No reference at all to the fact that the boss has been scrapping a lot of his work so far). As the tension builds, and builds, the boss retorts in his snottiest British, "I only sing the songs that I put in. Got it?" To no one's surprise, My Way was sung that night by our new director... NOT the boss.

And the karaoke chronicles could go on and on... believe me, the mike can bring EVERYONE to life!

Where have you gone?

Time, money, sleep, waistline, self control...
Just a start to the list.

First of all, hisashiburi (long time no see) to my blog!

It has been ages since I've last written, and though I know it seems to be a poor excuse, I have had NO TIME! I used to update my blog at work during a lazy, boring spell. Apparently I don't deserve those anymore, and (sigh) they have finally seen at work that I am competent and have been giving me more and more to do. The great part is, according to a chat with my boss after my 3 month probation period ended, he thinks that if I keep going at this rate I'll be moving up through the company quite quickly relative to everyone else. More specifically, he compared me to M, who moved up 4 positions and tripled her salary in 5 years. So, if I want to stay with this company and stay in Tokyo, I guess that could be me (without the red hair and sweet Scottish accent...)! Anyway, this is good to know because it keeps me hard at work, and I am enjoying it, so I guess now it's all about learning as quickly as I can and putting in the time...

Aside from work, which has been keeping me extremely busy, the social life has gone on an upswing as well. Of the past 10 nights, I have been out 9 of them... dinners, bars, movies, parties, karaoke, you name it. And let me tell you, my body, my brain, and my wallet are all EXHAUSTED! Good thing Hawaii is in 2 days or I might have had to climb to the top of Mt. Fuji and camp there for the winter by myself! Of course it's fabulous going out every night and having tons of good food and drinks, and being with friends, but all of the little things suddenly escape you. Christmas gifts to buy, birthday gifts to buy, laundry to do, letters to write... it all just slowly creeps up on you and then makes you jump with a tap on the shoulder when you least expect it.

Tokyo is a playground, and more than that, a playground within a bubble. And even more than that, it has some sort of suction function inside that just keeps nagging at you, and if you're not careful you'll be sucked into the abyss and transformed into a Tokyo ex-pat version of a Stepford Wife.

Anyway, the vacation should do me some good, though I hear that all of Japan is following me to Hawaii for the holidays. Won't it be funny to think I'll be missing out on one of the only times Tokyo is empty... Then I'm off to Toyota to visit my host family for the new year.
Let's hope that some sun, family time and relaxation will rejuvenate me for my return back to the playground...