I spent a few weeks in Manila over the spring. I took surprisingly few photos so I don't have much to share, but here are a few things that I thought worthy of capturing.
First, my flat. I was staying on Makati Avenue in the A.Venue complexes. Great view...
But from the day I got there, there was construction going on, which is definitely going to kill the view from that apartment. The guys working there would stop and wave if I stepped out on the balcony, which was pretty funny.
And talk about noisy!! What's worse, the noise wasn't just by day...they worked 24 hours a day. Check out the volume at 5am!
But living with non-stop noise is just one thing you need to get used to in Manila. I used to complain about the idiot "recycle" guys going through my area in Japan every day with loudspeaker trucks...I don't even notice them now thanks to my Manila training. Be sure to pack your ear plugs!
This and that... Being primarily a nation of practicing Catholics, there are churches everywhere. This is one at the Mall of Asia...
If churches aren't your thing, then how about an ocean view. I caught a few sunsets from here over beers.
I also went to Cebu to meet a friend for a few quick beers. There were a few food stands near the resort and people never failed to smile or say hello. And no, I didn't ever eat at this place, but I thought it was cool to see a taste of home.
I did, however, have this juice made from sugar cane. A good start to the day in Cebu.
And I got at least a few cold beers by the beach on Mactan Island.
More to follow about places to drink in Manila in Part 2. Stay tuned!
On March 11, 2011, there was a massive earthquake and tsunami about 200KM north of where I live in Chiba. People always ask how bad the damage was in my area. Although there was a huge problem with liquefaction, my apartment wasn't bad at all as you can see below.
I was so lucky not to be in Japan when the quake hit. Instead I was watching from a condo in Manila. The quake and especially the tsunami footage being shown on NHK International was just unbelievable. There were tsunami warnings in the Philippines, although as far as I know there was no damage. Still, I stayed up on the 20th floor watching on TV until it passed.
Not long after the news about the earthquake in Japan, I found a video from a geeky-sounding guy who is in my prefecture. As I'd heard, the quake started off slow and then suddenly increased in intensity. And it was long. Based on the shaking in this video, I was fearing for the worst about the condition of my place.
As it turns out, this guy is closer to Narita, so he was inside the most severe shake zone...my place was on the other side of the shaking fence, so to speak, so I didn't see any damage, and there was only a bit of mess.
First a quick glance into my back storage room when I got in. I had the bookshelf attached to the wall (standard earthquake-prep in Japan). But I guess it didn't work as it looks like an angry poltergeist went to town on my books.
Not that the messy books mean that much. Here's a shot from my other bookshelf...and as far as I can tell, it's exactly as I left it. I'm a slob, what can I say.
Part of the problem was the polarity of the shaking -- things in a kind of West-East orientation, such as the bookshelf in the top photo or my kitchen drawers below, felt the most force. My fridge was also thrown out about a foot from the wall -- which was surprising because I have a big-ass fridge. Anyway, damage to the kitchen was minimal...just my old frying pan now with a huge dent in it. So far so good...
In fact, the only thing that broke in my place was a wine glass....that fell out of the cupboard when I got home and stupidly opened it to see if anything was broken. So after a long day of travel, I christened my apartment with about a billion tiny shards of broken glass that flew all over the floor when it smashed. DUH!
Liquefaction: The place I live -- in fact all of the Tokyo Bay coast in Chiba -- is on "reclaimed land." This entire area used to be under water. So when a big earthquake hits, the water just reappears up through the ground in a process called "liquefaction." That caused more damage than anything else in this part of Chiba. Here's a video from my area on the day of the earthquake.
All that mud that starts to pour out as the flow gets stronger is the foundation of the parks, parking lots and other areas around Kaihin Makuhari, some of which sunk as much as 1 meter. Certain areas of that convention center are like walking on a roller coaster with all the troughs created when the ground leaked out from under the pavement.
Here's a few pics of the rollercoaster.
And an interesting point about language...I doubt there's a child in the English speaking world who would know the meaning of "liquefaction." Yet when I was out in the park, I saw a kid of about 5 years old talking to his dad about "ekitai gensho." So it seems that our linguistic skills really are a product of our environment!
Donating: Although I was truly lucky to have been away for the quake, the tsunami and the radiation, 20,000 or so people were not so lucky. I've asked a friend who was involved in the relief effort to send me some links to reputable relief agencies. I'll update this post when I get the links.
Sakura: Anyway, in spite of the tragic events, it was a nice day and time of the year to arrive home. Here's a shot of the cherry blossoms from my place, taken shortly after cleaning up the broken wine glass...
My last post about slobber cock in Japan got quite a response on Facebook, so here's a couple more noteworthy examples of poor product name choice in Japan: BJs at Canon, and Japanese Slats for sale in convenience stores nationwide.
The first of these two ads caught my eye more than 10 years ago, when Yoshikawa Hinano, an up and coming Japanese model became the spokesperson to promote BJ printers from Canon. The name BJ was from "Bubble Jet," since the Japanese love to shorten every English word to either letters, or some kind of abbreviation of a few syllables.
Clearly, nobody from any of the international offices took the time to drop an email to the head of the ad department in Japan. Or maybe they did, but the company knew that Hinano, being neither the brightest nor sharpest crayon in the box, would not be aware of the wider implications of her offering up BJs on TV. But I think it's the explosive enthusiasm of Hinano that makes the BJ name choice just so wrong, and yet soooo right.
Here's a still.
And the video. There's no way anybody can deny that Hinano's explosive bucket of BJ clippings was meant to be anything but overtly sexual. You gotta love the poor old lady who has to clean up the mess. Now I know how hotel maids must feel. Anyway, at the end she lets us know that a BJ from Canon is wonderful, which I'm sure nobody would dispute. The video ends with a nice touch of bestiality for a classy finish.
The other ad isn't quite so bad, but is still a bad name choice. It's Asahi's new product, Slat -- a diet alcoholic beverage that is pronounced SLUT. Niiiiice. Let's hope there's some decent cause / effect relationship from drinking the stuff.
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And another addition to the Wacky English thread. Just got this in my mail. I'm both impressed that somebody actually knew the abbreviation for Double Income No Kids...DINK...and amused that they are juuuuuust clueless enough to print it on the formal 60X40 cm glossy poster ad they put in my mail.
I know that teasing a non-native speaker about spelling is the lowest form of humor, but sometimes you just have to do it in the name of common decency. Particularly when it's a very successful restaurant chain like Monsoon Cafe. C'mon guys -- it would have taken but a minute to ask a foreigner if they were hungry for "slaver cock."
I had dinner with a buddy last night at the Monsoon Cafe in Ginza in Tokyo. It's located in a complex of all the restaurants run by the same group that runs the Monsoon Cafe -- it's known as the "G-Zone." Is it just me, or does that sound suspiciously close to the G-Spot. Then you look at the menu choices...
Your choice of steaming or deep frying cock. Yes, I know a cock also means a male chicken...but really. It's not the best word choice for a menu.
Yeah..."Asian Hormone," "Slaver Cock" and "Broiling Cock" also are not appealing menu choices for the discerning hetero palate.
But they did try to make an English menu. Since "Slaver" was supposed to mean "mouth watering," the waitress told me they'd corrected to the following.
Slobber Chicken. I swear to god, I'm not making this shit up. This is actually their professionally translated English menu.
All kidding aside, Monsoon Cafe has pretty decent SE Asian food for Japan. Japan usually brutalizes foreign cuisine by trying to Japanize it by adding fish eggs or mayonnaise or some other disgusting thing. But Monsoon cafe is at least in the same ballpark as the original flavors. And they have a great atmosphere -- particularly if you can make it to the Ikspiari location just beside Tokyo Disneyland. And, as a treat, on their special Slaver Cock menu they had one of my favorite Thai dishes - BBK pork neck, "Koh muu yang."
Keep up the good work, Monsoon cafe! But get a new translator! :)
Japan has definitely come a long way since I first got here 20 years ago. Then, there was one kind of coffee, one kind of burger, one kind of salad...you get the picture. Look how far we've come!
Today I walked by Lotteria -- kind of a low-rent Japanese clone of Macdonalds. You can now buy a burger with TEN patties. And for about US$11, it's not much more than a burger at a regular restaurant back home...although I'm sure not as tasty. And if I didn't want to have an artery go POP in by brain I'd try one. Actually, if you read the fine print on this poster it says "Free angioplasty with every burger!"
So I get home and I find that the only "beer" in my fridge are two non-alcoholic ones I'd bought the other day -- kind of a taste test to see which is less foul.
And check it out -- not only is the Suntory All-Free a decent tasting no-alcohol beer...it's zero calories. Holy crap. I didn't even know that zero-calorie beer existed. And I'd rather swill this stuff than diet coke, which makes me jump around like a 10-balled billy goat after drinking too many due to all the caffeine.
So Japan is starting to offer some choices. Nothing compared to what you can find in the US, Thailand or pretty much everywhere else -- but still much improved compared to before. From the world's first 10-patty burger to a zero calorie beer.
There's no better way to experience a performing art than to see it live, and to see it by the best in the business. Hangin' out with the band after the concert is an added bonus. Welcome to a short introduction of Hawaiian born Willie K, and a few other of the most talented people I've every had the pleasure to meet.
A few weeks ago I got a call from one of my oldest friends in Japan who now performs in a Hawaiian music band. Mike had organized a small-venue tour for a Hawaiian musician, Willie K. One of the concerts was near where I lived, so he invited me to go. It was amazing. And not just Willie K, but all of the other people who performed on stage. Maybe it's because I didn't know Willie that I went expecting just to see some "Hawaiian music" -- but the concert was so above and beyond any of my expectations -- I'd have to say that I'm one of his his biggest fans now. And not just him, but everybody else in the concert.
Willie K Both me and a Hula dancing friend who went with me to the concert were blown away by the performance. It included Hula, traditional Hawaiian music, amazing Christmas music, opera (Nessun' Dorma -- one of my all-time favorites), all topped off with an amazing rendition of Hotel California. Willie is amazing on stage. He can play any genre and sing any style -- all insanely well. What a voice! Of all the songs, my favorite was Somewhere over the Rainbow. I couldn't record the concert last night, but here's a clip from one of his older performances.
Napua Greig And just when I thought the concert couldn't get any better, out comes Napua Greig, yet another ultra famous, ultra talented and ultra charming Hawaiian singer and dancer. She did one song where she was both singing and dancing Hula. I came dangerously close to squirting tears during that song. Just gorgeous! Here's a youtube clip so you know who to look for if you're in Maui and want to hear some amazing vocals.
Natasha Oda OK, there's nobody in the world who doesn't like Hula. It's beautiful to watch. But when my friend Mona heard that Natasha Oda was performing, she said it would be amazing. It was. All of the Hula styles were elegant and soft. Really breathtaking stuff...and I mean that. I was just sitting there completely still asking how somebody can move that gracefully. This is a clip of Natasha from when she won the Miss Aloha 2001 competition. It's a much faster style -- and it's just sick how good this clip is. The music and dancing go full blast from about 1 minute in, so keep watching. I guarantee you'll play this clip more than once.
After the concert, I was lucky enough to go with the whole group to Outback for some beers (and by some I mean too many). Super nice and down to earth people. Willie sang a couple of songs right in the restaurant with his ukulele -- amazing. Of course the staff were freaking out worrying that it might "bother the other customers." This is coming from a restaurant where the staff belt out "Happy Birthday" 15 times a night -- which IS truly annoying. Anyway, the customers loved it. Everybody was clapping. Except the restaurant manager, who was too uncomfortable to clap due to the stick up his ass.
Anyway, mahalo Willie, Napua and Natasha for an amazing performance. I hope you can make it back to Japan soon! And thanks to you Mikey for the invite and for doing such an amazing job organizing this tour!!
The view from my classroom is good on any given sunny day. But now that the cold weather is clearing the mist, it just keeps getting better and better.
This is the view from my classroom / office window this morning. Photos never do Fuji justice -- but it's really a beautiful sight!
What's that off to the right?
Yup, that's Fuji.
Still can't see it?
Not yet? Man, get some glasses!
And in super zoom...
Meanwhile, my students are oblivious as they practice speaking English...
People seem to spot Elvis all over the planet. Well, I've found Freddy!
Back in 1984, the horror series "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was a huge hit. It featured the horribly burned Freddy Krueger. He would appear in your dreams and if he killed you there, you died for real. Well, yesterday I ran into my artist buddy, David, channeling Freddy in his hat and sweater. 9, 10, never sleep again! Click to enlarge photo And just for those too young to have seen Freddy on screen, here's the rhyme that went with the movie...Sweet dreams!
My posts on this blog are often about places to work when you're on the road. My ultimate goal, of course, is to convince everybody that you can have a great time on vacation and still get more work done than you ever would at home. You just have to find the right place. One of my favorites in Thailand is The Pattaya Beer Garden.
My Office in Thailand: The Pattaya Beer Garden
I've recently returned from a month "holiday" in Thailand...if you can define a holiday as a month of 8 hour work days, 7 days a week. This sounds a bit like cruel and unusual punishment, but if you find the right place to get your work done, work does feel like a holiday.
So what constitutes "The Right Place?" Well, much like "The Right Stuff," that's something everybody needs to define on their own. I've met one or two traveling workaholics who like quiet beach resorts. Tried that. Got bored after a week. Not to mention there's rarely WiFi in places where all you can see are coconut trees and bamboo huts.
Personally, I like places that have a nice atmosphere, but music that's loud enough to both make me feel like I'm having fun, and to drown out the conversations of people sitting around me. And if you've read some of my older posts you know I definitely need a view of a beach -- nothing else does it for me. And of course cold beer for when the work day is coming to a close...and I know that I can do my remaining work even when I have a beer buzz going.
The Pattaya Beer Garden has it all. If you're in Thailand and need to find a place to both chill and do a corporate takeover, give it a try. In fact, I'll probably be there, so buy me a beer while you're at it for this great tip!!
So without further ado, here's a short video.
Need to see the map in the video again? Here it is:
It takes some talent to be an asshole by accident. I've now done it twice...at Disneyland no less. There's just something about annoying young couples that brings out the worst in me
In my 4th year in Japan -- about 14 years ago -- me and an old girlfriend decided to go to Disneyland. The lineup for Splash Mountain was huge -- almost 90 minutes. And for the entire time we had a rather annoying couple behind us. Actually, the girl wasn't annoying -- just her date. He spent most of the time talking about where she should point her face so they could get a nice "kinen shashin" (記念写真) -- a commemorative photo of their date. So I was secretly thrilled when I saw the photos. I never would have bought this if not for the fact that I found it hilarious.
Check out how he made sure he had his arm around her (which is not easy to do on that drop off!) At least I was nice enough not to block her face out.
But then a few weeks ago, one of my oldest friends, Mike Kurucz, came to visit from Port Alberni. He wanted to see what Disneyland would sound like with everything in Japanese, so away we went. And once again we got a hopeful young couple behind us...and again the talk about the kinen photo. Luckily, being an asshole at Disneyland is something shared by all Canadians, and so we both managed to pretty much ruin the photo hopes of the guy behind us.
Interestingly, I just realized that my receding hairline was the same then as it is now. While it sucked having that hairline when I was young -- at least it's not getting much worse. Bonus!
And if you're wondering what Disney sounds like in Japanese, here's a clip from the electric parade. Who's kidding who, even at 44, I still love Disneyland!
