Back to School and Bowling

So its been about a week since school started up for me again, and for the most part, its going good. I'm still having some problems with turning stuff in on time/not procrastinating, but in time I know everything will straighten itself out. Its a trip to see all the new faces of the freshmen coming in, and I hope to perhaps become friends with some of them. I am in the bowling team for my school, and the season has officially started. We still have a month or so before we actually challenge other teams, but I hope to get into full gear to practice. For now, wish me luck.

My ears are lost in stereo lost in stereo!

So today I went to the All Time Low concert at the Pipeline Cafe. My friends were holding down a spot near the front of the line as well as a ticket, from 12pm (doors opened at 7). Once we got in, my group was able to get super close to the very front (2nd row). The first a filler band called Arkeo or RKO played. They were alright. By the time they left the stage though, the place was a total mosh pit. People were crowdsurfing, swearing, yelling, jumping, pushing, the whole lot. It got so bad at a certain point that I retreated backwards a little before ATL came on so that I could breathe a little easier. Long story short, it was FREAKIN AWESOME and was a great experience. I was soaking wet, covered in my sweat, other people's sweat, beer, water, spittle, coconut sunscreen, etc. and my ears were pretty screwed up. And you know what? It felt awesome. Going to a live was a great way to put a close to a fun (but fast) summer vacation as well as the weekend.

Heres a link to one of the videos that my friends took. I was really close to him when he took them, so hopefully this will provide some insight into how awesome it was from my perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrPk_7cAZAw

Long Time no Post

So I know I havent posted anything for a pretty long while now, but I assure you, it's only because of my laziness. Basically to cut a long story short, I finally got to Akihabara for some serious shopping, and got all the stuff that was asked of me by my friends. Then for the last few days of my trip I just cruised around and got some new glasses, shoes, etc. On June 24, I got on a plane and headed back to ghetto old Hawaii, USA. The past few weeks have been generally good, and I just recently purchased a fixed gear bike off of craigslist for a steal price. Hopefully I'll consistently ride it so that my weight problem will be gradually curbed. lol. School starts on August 3, which is the day after tomorrow. I have a mixed feeling of dread/excitement as I type this, because it will be awesome to meet my friends, but I realize that I havent done ANY summer homework. FML. Wish me luck.

Outrage Fail

So today I decided that I wanted to go and watch this new movie called Outrage. It has Beat Takeshi in it as well as several other "menancing" actors who have been cast for evil or Yakuza type roles in other films. The thing is, I had gone to sleep at 4am that morning. I ate, got on the train, etc., but in the end I didn't make it. I ended up killing time by hanging around Shibuya. What a loser. Hopefully tomorrow I can make this movie excursion happen.

In the evening before dinner, I went to a local Blockbuster-ish place called Tsutaya to rent some DVD's. The reason they're different is because they're more of a Blockbuster-Barnes & Nobles hybrid, selling manga, magazines, novels, CD's, etc. in addition to DVD's. I picked up Oceans 13 and Smokin Aces 2. Hopefully they're not that bad.....

Fat People Lazy (oops forgot the "are")

Alright so I realize I haven't posted much since a couple weeks ago. I just got lazy I guess, but a lot of things have happened. I went on a trip to the Mt.Fuji area with a friend from Hawaii, visited Akihabara, Ginza, checked out a bunch of music stores, etc. A big thing though, was that I underwent nasal surgery. It was pretty minor and involved cutting some nerves in my right nostril as well as removing some inflamed turbinate tissue. I've had sinus problems since I was little, and I knew that I would have to fix it once and for all eventually, but I always put it off. One thing that sucked was that they had to insert an IV in my left arm, but the nurse couldn't find my vein. So she kept digging around and around until finally the surgeon himself came in and found a vein in the back of my hand that did the job. They used full-body anesthesia on me, and before I realized it, I was lying on a bed in the recovery room feeling......high. I didn't have to stay the night, but I have to have cotton stuffed deep in my nose for a week, as well as take pain medication, antibiotics, and various sprays at least two times a day. Even worse, my sense of smell and therefore taste has become reduced, making otherwise wonderful food taste bland. In addition, I have to come back for another operation next year to treat my left sinus as well as fix a crooked bone that is a root cause of my problems. When all of this is finished, hopefully I will do better in school because of the reduced irritation.

There are many photos that I haven't posted on here because of bandwidth issues or because I was lazy. You can view them all on my facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/james.ezuka I currently have three albums of my trip to Japan, and it's still growing. If you cant view my pics, hit me up with a friend request.

Chandan

So it turns out I didnt go to Akihabara yesterday. The day was spent picking my cousin up from preschool and going to Don Qi Jote. While I was there, I picked up some awesome incense called Chandan. It's an indian brand, and I dont know about you guys but I think it smells awesome. After the day's major events were over, I ate dinner at a local Japanese restaurant called 藍や(ai-ya). I forgot my camera so there are no pics but I assure you that the food was good.

Switching over to today, I went to a manga cafe. The place is basically a manga library with small booths complete with a reclining chair and PC. Free snacks and drinks are also available. I grabbed a couple books, got a coke, and stayed in that booth for 3 hours. A waste of time? You dont have the right to say that unless youve been to one. They are called 漫画喫茶(manga-kissa) here. Oh did I mention that its cheap? 3 hours of relaxation ,free refreshments, and your favorite manga's for only ￥1000 (about $10).

Hell Yeah

So today I decided to fulfill one of the primary purposes of my coming to Japan. I headed over to an area of Tokyo called Kichijoji. I went to a local music store there to get what I wanted, a Fender Jazz Bass (made in Japan model).


Why this exact model? Well the reason is that I'm kind of a closet otaku (coming out much?) and one of the animes/mangas that I follow is called K-ON!. If you want to know the story, etc. you can just go on wikipedia or something, but basically one of the characters has the exact same bass I'm holding in my hands right now, and this feeling of accomplishment and unity is something that only people of my world can understand.

Getting away from the geeky stuff, I went to a place called ねぎし(Negishi) for dinner. Their signature dish is the seared beef-tongue set. It may sound gross to some, but it is pwnsome.

Tomorrow I plan to go to Akihabara to check out some shops, as well as hit up the Tokyo Anime Center located there. A bunch of pics will probly be posted.