I'm coming home! In a week's time! Just for a week, but that's okay. I would like to stay for longer, but I can't because of work and I also think it's for the best - it would just become painful leaving all over again if I were to be there longer. Well, it will be painful after just a week, I'm sure. But it's a good time to go, because things here are good and I'm happy. I think if I was to come home in one of my troughs of despondency I would just feel utterly crap getting back on the plane to boomerang back to my armpit of a life. So yeah, lately I've been free of such views of my little world here - if it is an armpit, it's a good one - dusted with the sweet fragrance of Johnson's baby powder (what I used when I first discovered I could produce B.O. - ah, the joys of adolescence). Anyway, before I take any weirder tangents...

Life's been good for a few reasons. I guess the thought of coming home is one. My classes have been going pretty well. The relative ease with which I could replace stuff from my missing wallet is another cause for relief. Getting to know the family that run the sushi restaurant behind my place has been great. I've started teaching their girls English in exchange for dinner. And man, do they put dinner on for me! Kazuya-san (Dad) keeps plying me with drinks, too - he's pretty fond of it... apparently I don't drink much. They are a really nice family.

I had a funny weekend a week ago, hitting the town in Osaka on a Saturday night for the first time! It felt rather freeing to be heading into the city at the sort of time when you are usually starting to check your watch to see when your last train is, going the other way. Kind of stupid, but nice for a change. I went with some newish friends to a club and did some boogie-ing. Yes, I am too old for this (my use of the word boogie gives that away). I couldn't help thinking it was just like the old high school dances. The same self-consciousness, the same attempts to look super-cool. I met a Hollywood Californian who was so much like a bad stereotype I was impressed - these people really exist! He tried to make me feel at home/impress me/amuse me/I-don't-know-what-me by telling me a racist joke about Aboriginese people. Yes, "Aboriginese". I thought, jeez, if you're going to take shots at people with whom you've never had anything to do, you might as well get the word right! I'm too lame/timid to confront people - I guess I should have said something, but I just gave a very unimpressed response as he cracked himself up next to me. Better to shoot at him from the safety of my blog, huh? Ian the brave. He said "I thought you'd get that!" - I'm not sure if he meant he knew I'd get it, or that he expected me too, but thought I didn't, it was too loud to hear his tone. I just said "well, I'm going to get a drink". Anyway, classy guy. I surfaced at 5:30 in the morning after our number had dwindled to a few (one really overdid the drink and said to the comedian I've just been talking about "I'm leaving because I don't like you") and I made my way to Kobe for some breakfast. I then headed to Suma beach for the All Kansai combined churches beach party! I was a little tired, to put it mildly, but managed to last the day - it was a really great event. Great to meet heaps of other Christians from not just Japan, but all over the world. We ate and sang worship songs, some hula-danced and then finally there were baptisms in the sea. My buddy Taketo took the plunge and he was really happy, as we all were. There were about 250 people! My friends that I went clubbing with were a little bemused by my weekend schedule, as were my church friends. I was too! A strange but memorable weekend.

Anyway, I'm going to cut to the chase - the Tokyo chase! Here are some more photos...
This is a view from the shinkansen as we neared Tokyo. Takayama was still too cool for sakura, but further south from Nagoya to Tokyo we saw lots of trees in bloom. The hill you can see looks to be home to a temple complex of some sort near Shinagawa.

Once settled into our hotel in Ueno we headed to Shinjuku to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices - a large block of buildings with two striking towers. Best of all, there is a free observation deck. West Shinjuku is where the city's skyscrapers are to be found. The east side is a lot more happening at night - great for people-watching, but a little seedy. Well, okay... a lot seedy in parts. The vibe there in general is amazing - you really feel that you are in a part of the world where sleep is optional. Massive halogen lights light up the street like daylight, not to mention all the buzzing neon, provided by anyone from massive corporations to tacky clubs and pachinko parlors. What's pachinko? Scroll on! Anyway, enough talking - let's get down to ground-level!


You come to this part and think, oh wow, look at all the signs and people walking around late at night etc.. and then you go a block or two further and get to...

the intersection at the end/start of Kabuki-cho, a famous strip of all sorts of dubious characters and establishments. I've never been to Las Vegas, but I imagine this is the Asian version. I have to confess, the razzle-dazzle and shinyness of everything is very appealing. I guess that's the idea. You understand, don't you, Jen? (I remember us talking about this!)

Now, if you were wondering about pachinko, wonder no more. This parlor graciously tells you the whole deal. Well, okay, it tells you nothing really, but I guess this is their manifesto or philosophy of pachinko. It's deep. It does at least mention that there is a ball involved. Actually about a squillion of them - ball bearings tumbling down a shiny, flashing,vertical console behind glass, and if you're lucky, out of the slot at the bottom of the machine and into a plastic basket in front of your lap. There are all sorts of themes, as in pinball machines. There's even a range based on the hugely successful Korean drama, Winter Sonata, starring the housewives' favourite posterboy, Yong-sama. All demographics covered! The noise from these parlors is incredible - like a thousand angry, discordant keyboards fighting for your attention. You exchange the ball bearings that you win for goods like nice lip sticks (I think, don't quote me). You then take your winnings next door and exchange them for cash. A nice loophole around the whole no-gambling thing worth roughly 30,000 billion yen a year, casting a shadow over even Japan's massive auto-industry! That's around 6-7% of GDP. Anyway, thanks ORIENTAL PASSAGE for helping us all see what it's really all about.

Sunglasses wouldn't be amiss! All sorts subcultures can be seen milling around these streets. Also lots of disappointingly normal people! I'm not sure what a "typical" Japanese person looks like - I guess the same can be said of Australians.

Anyway, I gotta sleep! More to come, but... maybe see you next in Sydney!