Sydney - Overheard Nine

On The Bus
Girl Dressed In Hot Pink & Black With Matching Hot Pink Hair – I liked it when she didn’t give a shit. What people thought of her and shit. Like snortin’ and shit. Yeah. And now yeah…
Emo Male Friend – Yeah.
Later
Same Girl Dressed In Hot Pink & Black With Matching Hot Pink Hair – Yeah, they’ve got the same producer as Tool. I hardly listen to it, but like, when I do I like, open my third eye and shit.

Walking on Oxford St
Girl At Restaurant – You put it on Facebook and tag it I’ll kill you!

At Hoyts Broadway
Wigga One – Oi oi, we ‘ave ta go see dis boys! [points at poster of Bruno]
Other Wiggas – Yeah

Japan Reminiscences - OVA

My year in Japan ended on 20/6/08. A long time ago. It started on 26/5/07, which means it was not exactly one year, but who's counting? At any rate, I wanted to commemorate the one year passing since my return to 'fair' Australia by talking about how much I missed everything and everyone from my time there, and then I thought, 'that is going to depress me more than words could even say', so I decided instead to choose random photos and stream of consciousness my way through four blog posts.

In the process of doing this, I realised that it hurt just as much as talking about missing everything. The story of me+Japan is a massive cliche of 'finding myself', overcoming obstacles, discovering the world, finding true love, experiencing perfect heartbreak and so on. But I now know (and I did know then too) that the good times had to stop rolling for me to actually consolidate all my cliched experiences into myself and grow and mature and become a person I could be proud to be. Japan is not the only factor to my growth as a person, and the growth itself is not at all complete. I still make massive mistakes, suffer from mood-swings, make questionable choices, piss people off, procrastinate, spend too much money, validate myself with facebook and cry myself to sleep sometimes, but my year of total separation, independence and freedom from myself has given me the ability to see these things and haltingly attempt to either accept them and love them as a part of me or actively change them so I can live longer with myself.

All the places I went, all the things I did, the food I ate, the people I met and loved, these memories are more more important to me than almost anything else, and I will treasure them, in every sense of the word, with no ironic use and no shame at the cliche (cause I'm all about cliches) because it's true.

When I look back on the year in Japan, I can see a lot of bad times, questionable times, terrible times, enough to almost overshadow the good it feels sometimes, but in the year since, it has been the same, and if I cast my geriatric mind back to before Japan, things were the same then. I am constant, the world changes around me and all I can do, all I have been given the power to do, is ride it out as best I can and in the process, make sure I don't lose the things I care about the most.

I know I should thank everyone for being a part of my life, whether they brought me love and happiness or pain and torment, but I can only thank the people who I love and who have loved me, I'm not a big enough person to be thankful to have grown from terrible experiences, I would do anything to not have had anything bad ever happen to me and I will never be thankful for them. But that's what I have now, the strength to realise this, to live with this, and to move forward without the weight of the world dragging me down.

So thank you everyone, for teaching me how to live in this world, for being my rock when I needed it most, for being honest with me and showing me integrity and trust, for worrying for me when I couldn't worry for myself, for letting me talk to you even though it was so hard, for sharing amazing, incredible times all over the world, for drinking and smoking and joking and laughing with me until we pass out or dawn comes, for dancing the nights away, for everything you have ever done, whether or not it involved me, it made you into the people that I care about and I am so, so thankful to have you in my life now, then and in the future.

/text block

Japan Reminiscences - Four of Four - The People

Yumi-kun, pumpkin, Ghibli, Tokyo, inappropriate shoes, Kyoto style parfait, endless questions about personal things, being rude, refusing to help one another (mostly Yumi refusing to help me), talking about boys, taking photos, Hiroshima, being taught a lot about life.

Alyssa, crazy Canadian, Kyoto runs, lost in Tokyo, constantly drinking chu-hi (and loving it), horror stories in the Kyoto forests, bodies in bags, toffee strawberry overload, purikura, shopping, drinking, karaoke goodness.

Lou & Jen, my distant training buddies, Monkey Park, Tokyo, Nagoya fun, first earthquakes with Jen, complaining about air con with Lou, first lessons with each other, exploring the new country together.

Michelle, another fellow Aussie, not knowing who the Prime Minister was, eating tacos and laughing at boobs, Tottori, karaoke, almost being neighbours, giving Aussies a bad name at Aeon.

Takka, Yuko-chan, Miyuki, my fellow teachers, getting me discount tickets, naming me 'love-chicken-forever' and 'love-dirt-ground', fighting in meetings, hiding in our classrooms, drinking, izakayas, bounenkais, farewells and good times.

Katie-chan, nanna hair, best friend, stairwell, 'down the street', making fun of everyone else, holding each other when we cried, sharing internet, feast, karaoke, street beer, Osu, smoking, drinking, barely sleeping.


Hisae-chan, my second fellow Aussie at Meieki, staying at your place near the station after I got denied exit from the country, izakaya hopping all the time after work, gossiping about students, going to Tokyo Disney, being overwhelmingly happy when you got along well with Carl, laughing at work, eating, eating, eating.


Susannah, butt of my finest photo-editing joke, Sango, Seto, traveling a lot, crazy decisions made for penises, mushrooms, roomies briefly, karaoke all night, gaijin bars, boobs, anime discussions and Kyoto sakura strawberry maccha.

Genmasa, Hiroshima, talking about life, the universe and everything, eating okonomiyaki, feeling so cared for and well looked after, Miyajima, train trips, smoking, sitting, relaxing, drinking.

Ari & Kiyo, the power couple, kind, sweet, caring, mature, never awkward, welcoming, fond goodbyes after not enough time spent together, Ari & I being Fort St alumni, amazing fashion, admirable for so many reasons.

Eric, training buddy, similar mindset, having a beer, dragging him to places he clearly wasn't impressed by, seeing the difference study can make, comparing each others' love lives, gaijin bars, heaps of shared friends, discussing student/teacher ethics.


Mark, karaoke, Joy Joy, my first takoyaki in Japan, always hanging in Osu, gambling, sleeping in net cafes, bike riding, snacking on QQ food, being my guide, getting my ketai with me, Sakae.


'Hinano', inviting me to the maid cafe you worked at, not recognising us when we sat down and I used your real name, squealing and forcing every maid and otaku in the place to squeal and/or stare jealously at us, making beautiful art on our ome-raisu.


Takeshi, never spoke English to me, chef at Nanpu, could never establish if he understood that I was not joking about being gay, laughing constantly (usually at me, unbeknownst to me), free food, good food, fresh sashimi, goya, goya, goya, sake, bad awamori, Okinawa.


Matt, introduction to purikura, Nara, deer, wondering why our friendship circles (his being Jenny, mine being Katie) hadn't crossed more often, constant chats, anime freaks, Osu, Mandrake, trying to understand the Sailor Moon obsession...


Katie-chan, seriously the greatest person ever, soulmate, dildo-mate, club-mate, Harajuku, Akiba, Tokyo, singing and breaking down in tears, never coming to my place, Seiyu late at night, video store, downloading, eating, drinking, going to karaoke.


Homodachi, Seth, Joa, Jason, Brian, gay boy band, internet notoriety, civilized brunches, Yokohama, ni-chome, Advocates, karaoke, drunken times, Shinjuku, maid cafes, Dragon, sad goodbyes.


Carl, incredible, amazing, magical, dream come true.


Galih-kun, so many matsuris, so many late night chats, so much food, learning about life, the universe and everything, dragging him to Osu over and over again, him dragging me to Zara over and over again, settling on UniQlo, glasses, drinking, mutual friends.


Carlos, cool, smart, funny, easy to fall for, girls love him, sings at a whim, forcing him to sing for students, friends, everyone, going up against him in karaoke and failing miserably, drinking, eating, purikura, Tsurumai, Disney, Universal, sleeping, snoring, dancing, singing, eating, walking, laughing, swimming, wading, sunbaking.

Japan Reminiscences - Three of Four - The Stuff

Hi no Matsuri, one of many, freezing, drunk men jumping in water, fire by the beach, fire by the temple, matsuri food, interviewed by Japanese children's TV show, eating okonomiyaki, going to roadside cafe, snowball fight, laughing.


Natsu matsuri, summer, chicken in a cup, yukata, teenagers everywhere, festivals in the palace, down the street, in every park, parades, humidity, fans, air conditioning, sweat, gay-pride, trad.


Gloomy Bear, running around Nagoya and Kyoto taking pics with a toy Gloomy, time of my life, Sonny & Cher, Gokiso, subway, being ignored by everyone when we sat him down next to an old man on the train, eating in Tsurumai, on the shinkansen.


Dress-up, cake dresses, Osu Kannon, endless fun, laughing until it hurt, Yumi-kun, being stared at in a yukata shop, buying toys down the street, eating chicken, drinking bubble tea in the park, buying clothes.


Cos-play, finding a convention late in the year, being the only foreigners there, amazing costumes, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note, L L L L L, eating on the floor, asking to take photos, pretending to be involved, wishing there was more.

Karaoke, everywhere, Sakae, Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ni-chome, Gokiso, Nagoya, Osaka, Tsurumai, on the train, in the street, in remote places, singing everything, I Got U Babe, all night long, Bon Jovi, loving every single second.

Japan Reminiscences - Two of Four - The Food

Ome Rice, inside a maid cafe, singing while decorating in AnPanMan, Doraemon and hearts, egg filled with tomato rice, tiny salad, ice-cream scoop of potato salad, failing to make it at home, but trying endlessly.


Yaki-soba roll, buying them from convenience stores, eating them in Tokyo for breakfast, lunch and dinner when alone, hating the idea, but loving them in practice, wishing I could eat them still, but refusing to make them without super-sweet bread.


Toffee strawberry, better than anything ever, so sweet, so small, so worth going back and buying 12 for the shinkansen home, feeling sick, red lips, red tongue, sugary buzz.


Real takoyaki, rolling it with two pins, filling it with octopus, mix, other things, burning my mouth constantly, having them with egg, with different sauces, with mayonnaise, eating them in a shop above Osu shopping village, going on dates to eat them, eating them at matsuris and izakayas and in Osaka.


Sashimi, kill that fish for us, OK, eating it while its body flapped on the stick, it being warm, imagining it was still pumping blood through the muscle, eating the deep fried remains afterwards, trying all kinds of sashimi, horse, beef, chicken, all fish, never regretting anything.


Okonomiyaki on a stick, on chopsticks, only at matsuris, eating them even when sick from eating, tasting kind of plastic, so much mayonnaise, eating it in Mikawa Toba, licking it off the wooden chopsticks, not sharing it.


Instant noodles, Pokemon brand, seafood extender pokemon inside, free chopsticks with some meals, eating it with cooking chopsticks, putting an egg in it, comfort food, happy food, love.


Goodbye banana, from Takeshi at Nanpu, Okinawa style grilled banana, chocolate, good friends, hilarious times, too much alcohol, going there almost every week, umi-budou, okonomiyaki, goya, goya, goya!


Nagoya food, tebasaki, miso katsu, miso ramen, ebi fry, so much miso on everything, in everything, fatty food, not like what I had thought of Japan. Tebasaki from Yataiya down the road from my place, okonomiyaki with noodles from the same place. Lots of beer.

Japan Reminiscences - One of Four - The Country

My home, fourth floor, no elevator, scary metal (and apparently normal) door, little alcove for shoes, tiny kitchen, airplane bathroom, tatami room, sleeping on the floor,
making all food in a toaster oven, separating trash into six different bags/piles, having air conditioning running all the time, my hideous light fixture with a plastic-wood bonsai tree on it.


Winter, snow, utterly freezing and girls wearing boots and short-shorts. Watching melting snow fall off the lights outside my classroom, walking around in it before class, looking at the snowmen that survived for days after, seeing the cabbages bloom, going to a billion bonfire-lit matsuris.


Spring, seeming like every tree was in actual fact a sakura tree, streets lined with fluffy pink flowers, segmented petal rain falling constantly, mochi, pink, so much pink everywhere, hayfever from the 'yellow sands of China', all foods coming out with a sakura-flavored line, including kit-kat and nothing actually tasting like flowers.


Tokyo Pokemon Center, tears on arrival, greeted by enthusiastic staff, 'happy birthday' for a tiny kid who hid in his mother's skirt, looking at Pikachu branded seaweed and trying not to cry some more, buying a metallic badge to commemorate the occasion, secretly feeling like I was on a journey with Ash.


Tsurumai Joy Joy, place of my first kiss in Japan, karaoke all night long, bowling, game center, discovering pink stitch, drinking nomi-hodai cocktails, purikura, catching cabs from out the front, walking in Tsurumai park in every season, winning Gloomy Bears, eating vending food.


Sakae, ferris wheel on a building, meeting place for everyone, Hosts milling around endlessly above and below ground, hot, sticky subway station, waiting in the park, eating, drinking, gaijin bars, first meeting the one I love.


Sakae TV Tower, the only thing to look at in Nagoya (and the castle), drinking underneath it, looking at it from my balcony, being told endlessly how wonderful is is and not believing but being entranced by it's yellow brilliance.


QQ, my local store, everything being 99yen, all grocery shopping being done here, buying umbrellas every time it rained, buying gyoza by the dozen, frozen pizza and candy, super-sweet bread and melon pan every other day.


Nagoya Pokemon Center, my local Mecca, too crowded to enter a lot of the time, pokemon hanging from the ceiling, staff registers being inside giant poke-balls, crappy anime shops on either side, capsule machines, sneaking away from work to go there.


McDonalds, amazing service, good food, crazy deals, lots of egg, spinning signs that say 'hamburger mcdonald', walking through the drive-thru, hiding in the Harajuku branch, smoking inside.


Akihabara (Akiba), capsule machines, maid cafes, anime, hobby stores, otaku, electronics, clean, bubble-gum fun covering seamy porny anime, multi-level stores of toys, DVDs, back lane maid vending machines, maccha, magic, heaven, home.

Sydney - Back 2 tha 90s

The 90s is comin' back baby! Which means mega-raves, livin' large, kickin it to the maxxxxxxx and it AAAAAAAll bein' good! If you gots the flava flava to match my mad skillz then you had better show me the money brother! If you don't wanna roll with this homie, then whatEVER, just go take a chill pill.

Anyway, Ky and I were driving around sans camera. We had at first planned to go back to mine and retrieve it, thus being able to document the night’s feasting, however we decided instead to go back to the 90s and purchase a disposable camera!

So we took ourselves off to a tiny convenience store and pulled the camera down from the dusty top rack next to the pregnancy tests, excited and a little bit ‘high on life’ for the coming fun.


And fun it was.

First, we had an amazing meal at Wagaya, so much sashimi and takoyaki. Renkon.. mmmm and snapped away like it was going out of fashion!


We took ourselves to the ferris wheel in Darling Harbour, both agreeing that it was a pathetic representation of one and comparing the experience to Osaka’s Hep 5 Building, Yokohama’s Wheel and the London Eye.


On the way back, some guys and their hoochies were posing around hotted up cars. We wanted to take closer photos but on fear for our lives, decided instead to move on. These photos sadly, didn't make it past the negative stage.

Sydney - Gauntlets

After driving for what seemed like hours through the wastelands to the west of Sydney, we arrived at Casula Powerhouse for a production being put on to raise awareness for Liverpool refugee week. After watching a few videos, and hearing many more monologues from people recounting their very real, very raw journeys just to get to Australia, my idea of it having been a trial to get to the western suburbs of Sydney suddenly seemed overwhelmingly petty. I was utterly taken with the stories put forward by the people involved, both the lighter and the more harrowing. I would recommend attending something like this to everyone that I know.

Kyrani and I, in anticipation of an exciting new project, took 2 The Streetz to take some photos of ourselves and our lovingly created gauntlets. As you can see, we are both classy AND funny.




About a day later, we found ourselves in Waverley Cemetery, stranded and alone, scared, but with gauntlet. We were eventually rained out, which I considered pretty unreasonable of God. Nevertheless, we took shelter and ate us a feast of picnic overlooking the water, which was lovely.





Gauntlets is coming!

Sydney - Overheard Eight

At Taylor Square Crossing
Girl - He was not waiting for the lights, he was checking out the Asian bitches.

Waiting at Darlinghurst Medical Centre
Receptionist [shouting to manager in 'back room'] - I'm sorry, but I'm going! I'm not leaving here at 10 at night and finding my way home with all those junkies out there!

At Elizabeth St Bus Stop
Girl [on mobile] - She's a dickhead! Yeah.

Sydney - Gypsy Singstar Deep Fried Mars & Battle of the Four Cheeses

Let's start this bitch with some amazing deep fried goodness c/o our fat chav brit friends. Bondi Beach holds one of the only Mars affiliated vendors of deep fried fatty goodness. So we trundled down there on Sunday morning to gorge ourselves on the most hideous yet delicious food in existence.




Gypsy Singstar is a reaction to draconian legislation placed upon our usual place of karaoke residence. With very little effort we were able to convince them to bring the PS3 to another venue for frivolity and awful singing. While I feel it became a little too serious at times, towards the end I was able to belt some out, somewhat hiding my complete lack of talent again.




Finally, the Battle of the Four Cheeses, aka 'Battaglia di Quattro Formaggio' which occurred simultaneously to a Boogie Superstar tournament, was a raging success. Who knew that four little cheeses could be SO amazing? The soft ricotta, the crisp parmesan, the gooey mozzarella and the tart blue all complemented each other beautifully. And since we also made the dough and sauce, we were pretty chuffed with our work!