The Chronicles of Japania Day 3: Osu Kannon

I get up early again today and am ready to tackle something new. Kevin suggested I go to Osu Kannon, only a few trains stops away from where we are. He said there was a Buddhist Temple there so I decided that going would be a good idea. He shows me how to get there and he takes off for work and I`m on my own in Japan for the first time. I get off the train at Osu and pick an exit. Theres always a ton of exits at every station and I have no idea which one goes where. I picked exit 4. I come up into the streets and have a look around. I see... I see....I don`t see anything. What gives?? I walk around a bit and don`t see very much of interest.

About ten minutes later over the top of some buildings I see what might be the top of the temple that Kevin was speaking of. Osu Kannon Temple. I make my way over there and have a look around. Its a pretty nice temple. You guys can check it out once I upload the pictures when I get back home. So I do the whole temple thing and I look over and see what looks like a few souvenir shops off to the side of the temple. So I was thinking oh cool, I could use some temple souvenirs for my fellow Buddhists back home. So I make my way over there and the first thing I see is a few restaurants. Hmmm...further in i assume. So I go in some more and see more and more stores selling stuff like clothes or tea pots and the like. Oh cool I thought to myself, a row of shops of some cool things. Not bad, let me walk further down and see what else there is and I`ll turn back around towards the temple area. I go down a little bit and I come to a fork in the road. To the left... restaurants and shops. To the right...more restaurants and shops. Which way? Um.. lets go right. I walk down right and another road of shops is revealed. Had to be over 50 shops on that road. i get to the end of the road and there is another road connected to it perpendicularly. I go left this time. This is more of a main street so it looks more normal with shops on both sides. I come to yet another street and go right once more. More shops. I figured the rows and rows of shops would end soon but it doesnt. I walk for what felt like forever and I just keep turning into more streets and more shops. Pretty soon I was completely lost in a spider web of shops. This place has everything you could possibly think of! Clothing store, shoe store, accessory store, pots and pans store, second hand shops, mom and pop shops, dvd store, game store, pachinko parlor, jacket store, glove store, underwear store, used anything store, scarves store... oh...speaking of the scarf store...

So I`m learning quickly that in Japan they advertise like crazy and store owners are always out in front of their stores screaming something out. I can only assume its good things about their stores to try and get you to come in. So as you walk down a street of stores all you hear is screaming in Japanese. Even quicker you will learn to ignore all this nonsense. So I`m walking through the streets and I walk past this store that only sold scarves. I keep walking.. almost past it....and then the girl working there comes out and yells something out in Japanese. I looked over and...she was kind of cute. Hmmm...let me...stop by the store real quick... to look at scarves of course. I step in and alot of English and Japanese exchange with no one having any idea what the other is talking about. But there are signs. So thats good. 3,000 yen a scarf. Hmm... 3,000 divided by 100, whats that like 3 dollars or so? Oh hey thats not bad at all, ill get like...3 of them, thats like ten, twelve dollars. No big deal. I know a few people that likes scarves anyways. We go through this long process of picking out these scarves and I finally settle on 3 of them. Cool, lets get out of here. But wait, very skillfully she upsells me a..belt for a scarf?? What the? She shows me how it works and its actually kinda cool. Ok ill take one of those too. Its only 477 yen..divided by 100...about 4, or 5 dollars? Not bad. Hmm...something doesnt feel right. Oh well. The exchange rate kinda sucks right now, its actually less than 100, its in the 80s but using the 100 scale gives it an approximation.

So she rings up the scarves and the total on the register said 9,500 yen. and I pull out a 10,000 yen bill. And then it clicks..

Brain - SON OF A.. 9,500 divided by 100..carry the 2... subtract...
Gene - DUDE! you converted wrong!!!! 3000 yen is over 30 dollars!!
Brain - omg omg thats like a hundred dollars...
Gene - for three scarves?
Brain - dont forget the belt thing.
Gene - ?!?! you IDIOT
Brain - dude theres no time, either pay or run...
Gene - dude...
Brain - dude shes kinda cute... and she was really nice and helpful..
Gene - Oh really? she was helpful? what did she say to you?
Brain - but shes cute too...we kinda came too far...
Gene - Dude quit being such a dude.. we can jus....oh hey..pretty smile..
Brain - Thataboy...

And thats the story of how I hustled myself out of 100 dollars on some of the thinnest cloth you ever seen. This came not 72 hours after a friend told me to go to Japan and hustle THEM as much as I can. Ah well, at least they are soft scarves.

I continue walking..and I walk by this store with this jacket for girls sitting outside. Oh hey cool jacket. How much? 3,400 yen. Ok think real hard how much is that. Less than $40 dollars. Are we sure?...Ten minutes pass. Yes we are sure. Hey thats pretty good. What size is it? hmm... no size...ok take it inside and ask the shop owner what size, they understand small medium and stuff. I go inside and find the dude over the counter and he looks kinda scary until I start talking then he turns into a real nice guy.

Gene - um..excuse me.. size?
Guy - Ohhh size-o?? hashi moosen asheno ehn.. asennn herrookooki
Gene - uh..no japanese?
Guy - OOOOO no japaenese! ehh..no sizeo. vhan size..
Gene - oh one size? one size fits all? dude no way...
Guy - haii haii
Gene - i guess not then..i need to know the size.
Guy - oohhh, haii... eh..sohreee..
Gene - its ok..

So I go put the jacket up and I look at it again. Man I like this jacket. My friends come in all size, someone can fit this. I want it. I take the jacket back inside and try again.

Gene - um, you have no idea what size this is?
Guy - annoo.. haji ishi noonkeh hannteyoo (he is looking at and it really looks like he is trying to figure it out, nice guy)
Gene - ok um.. my friend..is like...this tall ( i make up a heigh with my hand) and.. about this wide.. (i just put my hands apart as if im about to clap)
Guy - ahh hai hai, asenihi oshen dattebayo horigan ishen ohren san k ai yo?
Gene - (oh he asked me a question i heard the accent go up) dude i have no idea what you just said (im shrugging like dude i duno)
Guy - ahh ahsen americano ahiishahe hajhaj yoo hahaha!
Gene - eh..(i point to my jeans) um.. jean size... maybe 3 in japan?

Guy - OOOOO... 3... hasheyanong anenne ashen sikoyi da.. eh... hearriko.. ahasejkene

Gene - ok one more time.. um.. (i look to the side and see a shirt thats a size medium) dude..ok...this... is medium...

Guy - hai! medium!

Gene - ok if this...is medium... this jacket is.. small? or medium?

Guy - (light bulb goes of) AHHH!! smallruu.. mediumruuu!

Gene - Did you just say both sizes??!?!? come on man!! help me out!

Guy - hahahha ashenoyo hikori menokorekna sano kiayyyy hahha

Gene - yea i know right, tell me about it

Guy - ashenikak noya asen ko ya?

Gene - yea its cool, dont worry about it.

Guy - ikirishio anskea?

Gene - yea your probably right, ill take it.

Guy - haisne iilkio on saneyy

Gene - yea i kno i kno, true, itll probaly work.

Guy - hosenigonaga?

Gene - i have no idea why we keep talking to each other in our native languages either when its clear we have no idea what the other one is saying.

Guy - hai!

Gene - Arigato!

Guy - Arigato!

Walk out, jacket in bag. Not sure exactly what happened. I just know it was epic.

Later that night I was introduced to Japanese BBQ called yakiniku. Freakin A is was awesome. So damn good. We need to find a yakiniku place in Dallas or make one ourselves or something. The meal was epic. This was just an epic day. From hustling myself to my legendary conversation to dinner to everything.

Me and Kevin reflected on life at dinner too. Epic. Reliving our time back in the day when we used to roll together. Also epic. Deep conversations about life and love. Nothing gay I swear... EPIC

Preview for day 4 and 5: Naked time in the city of Hakone!

The Chronicles of Japania Day 2: Takin it Easy

I go to sleep about 3am the previous day and its freakin 6am and I`m already wide awake. Even half way around the world I can`t sleep correctly. YJ crashed with us last night and he and Kevin are still asleep like normal people. Check out time is at 9am so I got at least 2 and a half hours before anyone else gets up. Time to bust out the Ipod. Only one way to go...Taylor Swift.

Everyones finally up and we get on out of there. Head downstairs and had breakfast in the hotel lobby. It was alright. I ordered an orange juice for like 4 u.s dollars and it came in a shot glass. Fantastic. There was an item on the menu that read "Hawaiian Breakfast." The description said "spam, eggs and toast." Not a pineapple anywhere to be found I kid you not.

They decide to take me around Tokyo to see a few sights before me and Kevin head back to his city, Nagoya. Its an absolutely gorgeous day. The day before was really cold and rainy. Since YJ stayed with us he still has all his stuff with him so he is walking around the city with his long sleeve sweater, big jacket, and an umbrella in 75 degree weather and sunshine everywhere. Pretty damn funny. I hear a little about YJ`s story. Quite the interesting character. Korean dude that doesn`t even really wanna be Korean. See kiddos, not even Koreans wanna be Koreans. Life lessons.

Anyways after all the walking around they take me to a store called Bic Camera. Its like a giant electronic store. The thing is like 9 floors full of electronics and appliances and all sorts of crazy stuff. You can even purchase a Cambodian slave on the 7th floor. Its wild. So I wanted to get a camera in Japan and I`m looking through their stuff. A little disappointed as most of the stuff I saw was available in the U.S. But I did see this one that looked pretty badass. A bit pricey but I was like screw it I want it. Now... I think there was something like 150 different cameras on that floor... and 149 of them had the option to turn the menu into english. Guess which one I chose? Yea, total wackness.

No camera for me. Head to the train station ready to head to Nagoya. Said our goodbyes to YJ and hop on the bullet train. The train ride is about 2 hours long. Not to bad at all. Halfway into the trip though I go to my bag to get my Ipod out and...no ipod anywhere. Damnit i left it at the hotel. This sucks.

Kevin - dont worry ill call the hotel when we get back and they will send your stuff to my apartment
Gene - seriously? they do that?
Kevin - yea why wouldnt they?
Gene - i dunno? that wouldnt happen back in the states man. all the maids there are black or mexican. thats a christmas present for the family right there dude.
Kevin - dude its Japan, there are no mexicans and if they find it theyll keep it for you.
Gene - wow...no mexicans....

Before we get to the apartment he takes me to the 7-11 convenient store. Man they are OFF the chains. They got everything in there. Like an entire section of Japanese food, like real Japanese food! Noodles and ramen and soba and hot buns and hot soup and rice. It was amazing.

Anyways, we wrap up the day with dinner a bit later and I pass out. Pretty tired. Was a long two days. Nothing too too interesting today but Day 3 is pretty epic.


p.s. - even in Japan the bathrooms smell like doo doo. I half expected it to smell like potpurri all the time or something... i dunno.


PREVIEW FOR DAY 3 - I hustle myself out of $100 and a legendary conversation.

The Chronicles of Japania Day 1: Arrival

Day 1: Arrival

So i arrive in at the airport in Tokyo and all is well. Went through customs and it was pretty much a painless process. Took a good 45 minutes to get through everything. These people like to bow...alot. Anyways i get out through the terminal and start looking for Kevin. Dude is nowhere to be found. I walk back and forth and finally decided he stood me up. I go to a pay phone and make my very first purchase in Japan. I buy a phone card for 1000 yen. Machine popped out a card, i stuck it into the phone and called him. No answer. Hmm... where is this dude. Call him again, he picks up this time hallelujah. Hes not there yet!! He been waiting for me for ten years to get to Japan and dude gonna be late. Seriously. He said he will be there in a second and all of a sudden i hear his voice echoing. Dude is running up the escalator right next to the phone booth. MY NIGGA!!! Um... many many manly homeboy hugs ensue. ANYWAYS moving on...

We hop on the train and headed back to the hotel. He is in Tokyo for business so his company put him up for the weekend. Free room, sweet. We get there and its bigger than I thought it would be in Japan. Anyways, we kick it for awhile and then we head out to dinner. Kevin has a couple friends that are gonna meet us up. We head to..Shibuya was it? one of the busiest cities in Tokyo. Was pretty sweet. People everywhere. We get off at the station and Kevin points out the busiest starbucks in the world in the middle of Shibuya. So we meet up Kevin`s two friends. A guy named YJK. Yea the dudes name is 3 letters. Y J K. pretty freakin awesome. Real chill guy. We call him YJ. Korean dude with endless stories. and then we meet another guy nicknamed "Seku." I won`t tell you what that nickname means. But he is a really nice guy and he actually went to UNT in Denton for 4 years way back when. Anyways he says to me:

Seku- eh..i..fohget...engrish...how.

..are you?
Gene- oh, its cool, im good im good. thank you
Kevin- ha, thats funny, just wait.
Gene- wait for what?
Kevin- *smug smile* just wait.

YJs english is very good so now problems there. We begin walking, headed to dinner. They wanted to start me off with a nice Japanese experience so they take me to a "Izakaya" style dinner. Its where you sit on the floor around a table order a bunch of appetizer type food to eat and drink some beers and have a good time. Its like family style eating. It was pretty awesome. At this point, Seku and Kevin are at like... 8 beers already. I`m quite a few behind them since I didnt wanna overdo it, I had been up for about 23 straight hours from when I left Dallas at that point. A few more people arrive and join us so we all kinda have our little side convos. I was talking to Kevin then all of a sudden...

Gene - man so talk to me bro hows everything
Kevin - its good man its good, im doing well at my job everythings good.
Gene - thats good to hear yo
Kevin - yea yea, how about you? hows home?
Gene - man you know how it is.. same ol stuff back there... everyone looking for a job and all that
Kevin - man i hear ya..

Seku: So with the economy struggling as it is,how does your government plan to avert this problem facing America. Any stimulus package or something of the sort in the works?
Gene: well the thing is... wait what?

I look around kind of confused and i look to Kevin. Dude is laughing his ass off.

Gene- dude did you just speak perfect english to me?
Seku - haha! i dont know? i... i am not sure! more beer???
Gene - ....
Kevin - hahahaha, i told you to wait for it man. dudes english is unstoppable when he is drunk.
Gene - dooode
Kevin - dude, you good? you gotta be tired...
Gene - Im good man, i think i can go another 3 or 4 more hours.

So we all start telling stories and just chilling and somehow we started talking about black people. Oh yes. I had plenty to say. Black girls specifically and the amount of hatred I have for them. YJ agrees, he is very knowing of the black girls way in the states. Evident by his constant finger snapping, head waiving and saying "OOOKKKKKK" oh yes, my kind of guy, he knows. So i tell the gay black guy vs. black girl story I experienced back home and most are quite impressed with my gay guy/black girl impressions. But Im not sure YJ knew what i was doing as he was still in the background head shaking finger wagging to no one in particular. He knows. My nigga.

3 to 4 hours have elapsed...

Kevin: dude man.. you been up for like.. 27 hours or something, you good? we can head back..
Gene - whenever man, im cool. im good for another 3-4 more hours...
Kevin - dude you said that 3 hours ago...
Gene - ...... sweet...
Kevin - sweeet

So now we are all done with dinner and about to head back and we say our goodbyes to most everyone and head out. YJ brought out a girl that he wanted to introduce to Kevin..Seemed like they got along pretty well. Then i accidentally told the story were everyone in texas thought Kevin was gay until recently... i swear it was an accident, Kevin not happy. So we start heading back but Seku wants just one more drink. So we head down to an irish pub kinda deal and he gets a drink while we pretty much wait for him. We finish up and head back to the hotel, I`m almost at 30 hours straight now.. time for some rest

ODD CONVO OF THE DAY

Ok so in that pub we were at... this weird older white guy just randomly comes up to Kevin and starts talking to him. Just out of nowhere. He is from the states. Anyways they talk foreevverrrr...

Guy - *small talk small talk small talk*
Kevin - *fake responses fake responses*

this goes on for a good 15 minutes...and then..

Guy - So what do you think of this whole kidnapping thing going on in Japan?
Kevin - uh... what?
Guy - yea man kidnapping
Kevin - oo..k.. hey listen i gotta..
Guy - So i was in Japan years ago and I had a baby with a Japanese woman here. And guess what she did? She took my kid and left. Just kidnapped him man. I mean I`m the kids father. Its ridiculous.
Kevin - oh.. well.. hey my friends are..
Guy - So i went back home for awhile..then i was like you know what.. im gonna go back to Japan...and I`m gonna find my kid no matter what.
Kevin - um...your in a bar... i dont think your kid is here..
Guy - Yea i was here yesterday too, it was kinda dead...
Kevin - hey my friends have left already, their all waiting for me outside..im gonna go...
Guy - ok man ill be here tomorrow too if you wanna come out here and get a drink...
Kevin - o.. yea..no...
Guy - Later bro!!

Awesome day 1.

Preview for day 2: The camera fiasco and lost ipod...(yes, already)

curious..

Got to talking with a friend about relationships and whatnot and it got me thinking about what we talked about. Well we talked about a little of everything as far as relationships goes including just about every cliche in the book. "Guys are all assholes" came up alot. I don't dispute that. I'm losing more and more faith in my species. Not to saying you girls are just flawless. I could right a book on you guys but thats for another time. Yet those "assholes" got all the girls. Curious much. You hear that all the time right? "the asshole always gets the girl" and "the good guy finishes last." Those two go hand in hand. You always hear girls saying something like "I wish I could just find a decent guy." Please. They don't want that. They already have that. They can get that anytime they want. In fact, its pretty much guaranteed that 2 or 3 "good guys" are after any given girl at any given time. But what do they end up with? The Asshole of course. Its uncanny how often this happens. The handful of decent guys left in the world just cringed cause they know all too well. We literally see it all the time and just about everyone has wondered why the heck that is. Who knows! There have been a multitude of theories out there. You can pick and choose which one you think is right. I sure as heck can't figure it out. Why does the following conversation seem to happen all too much. Every, and i mean EVERY single one of you has been through this or knows someone thats been through this.

Girl A: Hey girl, hows it going with you and Timmy Perfect on Paper?
Girl B: *sigh* um... I don't know. It's ok I guess?? I just don't know about him...
Girl A: What do you mean you don't know? The guy is like perfect in almost every way.
Girl B: yeaaaaaaaa.. buttt...
Girl A: But what?? You guys get along so well, he has a great job, he makes good money, he takes care of his whole family, he's very educated, he loves you more than anything in the world, he would do ANYTHING for you, he puts you ahead of everything... even Tom Brady for crying out loud. And as a bonus he can even cook a little. What more can you ask for?
Girl A: I knowwwwwww... but... there's Johnny...
Girl B: What? You mean Johnny Dumbfuck?! Are you serious??
Girl A: *dreamy eyed smile* but i loveee himmmm
Girl B: What's wrong with you?? The guys a dead beat, doesn't even care about you, all he does is party, and he puts every single one of his friends before you. Besides that, he treats you like crap!
Girl A: *staring into space* but i loovee himmmmm..
Girl B: .........

Seriously. Happens way to much. The battle between Timmy Perfect On Paper and Johnny Dumbfuck rages on. Timmy your a great guy... but you got your work cut out for ya. Wait a minute...What if there existed a more balanced guy?? A cross between said Mr. Paper and Senor Dumbfuck. That would be the perfect guy wouldn't it be ladies? I don't know man. Becareful what you wish for. If you combine Timmy Perfect On Paper and Johnny Dumbfuck, you might end up with Jimmy Perfect Dumbfuck. I guess we can't win.

bummer

gt

i got nothin

Seriously, the whole reason I even started this blog was because I had quite a people tell me that my opinions on all matters in life would make for some great writings. And yea i started to think it was a good idea as there in fact were many things that I have strong opinions about. Picking a topic I thought would be the least of my worries. Couple months into this blog and I can't find anything to talk about. I still can't. Blanked out so bad lately I even posted a queer ass entry which has since been deleted. Oh well. I even missed my NBA finals blog. The finals has since started so I won't visit that. Which is good since I don't want to do too much sports anyways. For now I'll go rapid fire random thoughts. 1-50 in no particular order. Here we go.

1. mamba mode
2. one more again
3. vesperia
4. can you stop the unstoppable?
5. awesometerrificness
6. scofield
7. two words for you
8. you are out of control
9. what kind of phone is that
10. 7
11. 13
12. yo yo
13. hado-ken
14. cilantro and lime
15. i don't get it
16. in the roof
17. i can't sleep
18. let's go
19. you can have whatever you like
20. it is what it is, isnt it?
21. im running out of random thoughts already
22. make the call
23. spoofee
24. 24
25. thats just too much attitude
26. dylon, dylon, dylon, dylon... and dylon
27. years old
28. a beer
30. dont worry about it
31. hautelook
32. dissidia
33. i see you like to chew...
34. jvg
35. i got you
36. chilissssssssss baby back ribssss
37. gold chocobo
38. what number are we on?
39. is the answer to the question in another question?
40. shattered
41. exp points? or ap points?
42. this can't be life
43. shoot the j
44. soft!!!
45. why won't my rechargeable batteries charge..
46. just relax, i got it
47. get money, get paid, oh rah
48. rawr
49. im better
50. straight cash homey

....

SUCKS

jeanius

Sudden obsession with jeans. Jeezums its a terrible addiction man. How did this all come about anyways? Let me take you back to a night once upon a time...

I don't even really remember what we were doing that night. Just remembered we were going out somewhere with a couple of friends. I had picked up a friend and went on to meet another friend. Soon as a stepped out of the car...

Me: Hey..whats up
Friend: NEW JEANS!!!!!!!
Me: Huh!? Wha?! Whats going on?!
Friend: YOU GOT NEW JEANS!!!
Me: Dang... how did you know so fast?? its dark out here!
Friend: Dude seriously?? you got like...3 pairs total.
Me: Dang why you gotta call me out like that??
Friend: You only wear like one pair dude, and its not that one.. SO ITS NEW!!
Me: Crap maybe i should get some new jeans..
Friend: uh YEA you should, i got like 60 pairs
Me: 60!?! i bet you only wear like 5 of em huh...
Friend: Don't hate

So that started it all. I set out to have more jeans. Started out as an amateur and rightfully so, picking up some ok jeans here and there. But something was missing.. what was it? Baller jeans, duh. And since I'm a self proclaimed baller anyway, might as well go for it. Ended up at a far away place that had some pretty ballerific jeans...

Friend: Dude, gotta get some man.
Me: Na man.. a bit out of my league, not used to spending this much on jeans.
Friend: Dude, feel these. Feel how soft they are.
Me: Whats the big deal, its just a pair of j... ....oh my. These ARE soft.
Friend: Try them on yo.

And that was that. The beginning of an era. So it began. Now i had some guidlines to go by courtesy of my jeans mentor. Softness, comfort, wash and fit. Got em coach. I got it. But I was still young and not experienced enough and still had alot to learn.

Me: Sifu, Sifu. How about these?
Sifu: *backhand slap* Have I taught you nothing? Feel the texture of those. Smell the poor materials that they are made of. Out of my sight!

But I perservered. Trying to get better and better everyday. Only way to get better? Buy more jeans of course. And so i did. Not to long ago my closet had nary an option as far as jeans go. Now? I actually have some sort of choice. And the addiction isn't slowing down. More, More! MORE!

Me: SIFU! I got you these! what do you think??
Sifu: hmm, eh. Not bad. These are ok, do away with these.

Sifu would never say it, but Sifu was proud. I could tell.

All this accumulated to last night when I was trying on my latest pair at home. Seriously, they were softer than a swimming pool full of named brand marshmallows. Called for my cousin...

Me: Dude, come check out these jeans. FEEL THEM!
Cousin: ZOMG, so soft!!
Me: I know! What you think? Look alright?
Cousin: Dude.. what the hell man? Your..hot?
Me: What??
Cousin: Na, dude...like.. the girl kind of hot. Those jeans make your ass look better. Your... gay.
Me: *raises hand in victory as my cousin walks out of my room*

I follow her to her room.

Me: EH? EH? EH?
Cousin: Your such a chick. My cousin is a homo. Get out of my room
Me: Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful.


til next time kiddos
gt