Somewhere in this world...: July 2005 Archives

Chilling dessert...

By Shigeki on July 31, 2005 11:31 PM | 3 Comments

Regardless of me hating cooking and being not really good at it, I had to be the hostess for the home party. I made everything all Asian foods even if some of guests were non-asians. I like wine but the wine doesn't really go well with spicy Asian foods. Beers are much easier to match. However, I made myself challenged. White wine. It was brilliant. The wine I selected for today is 1998 Chablis Premier Cru / Cote De Lechet. Actually, Very Chilled Chablis is generally good in hot summer. I like it very much. It's not expensive and very reasonable considring the taste of it. If you feel like it's a hot day and you want to be refreshed, I'd recommend this. Make sure it's very chilled!. Okay, I should not keep sounding like a snob here. Anyway, for the dessert, I didn't make anything. Just fresh cut fruits as fruits I picked up at the market were very fresh. Anyway, one of the guests from Albania was so wasted at that time. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "We, eastern european, are superior on physcial appearances." Yeah, I kind of agree though he didn't have to make any official statement while I was serving fresh fruits and dessert wine. damn it. my dessert wine got ruined. People stopped talking things all of the sudden. He ruined it. But, as I was the hostess, I tried not to make the party worse. I told him something funny. "Take off your clothes and let us judge!!" He did take off his shirts!! Too pity he didn't take off his pants at all though. I'll have to invite him again and make him loose his pants. Unfortunately, he is straight. But I don't think "We are superior" speach is a great one. Now, I am off to cleaning dishes and all. I usually sing songs to my iPod stereo while I wash dishes. My first song will be "Shine" by Cyndi Lauper. Oh, did I tell you I was a fag? Off to my dish wash party. You guys have a happy week!

Change of the plan.

By Shigeki on July 30, 2005 11:59 PM | 4 Comments

You know McVitie's Biscuits? They are from England. I like them reasonably. However, I found something really Japanese today. McVitie's Green Tea Biscuits. You already know I am a green tea freak. I had to pick up these at a store and had to taste them. They are "sinfully" delicious!!! I am sure these are primarily sold here only even if they are British. But I think these are the best biscuits ever!! Like this, I love eating and drinking. That's why I run 5 kilometers = 3.1 miles everyday to burn extra calories from extra snaks to stay on the same weight. I don't pump iron to build more muscles. I just want to fit in my clothes as always. But I went to the gym to burn those biscuits calories earlier this afternoon and talked to a personal trainer. I have finally decided this. I want more muscles. They shouldn't be freaking huge but I want some profile if I may. I guess the guy I was breifly seeing inspired me and also Jason's leg did that to me. ~~that photo is a soft porn to me, really~~ I know I can't have legs like his as the body hair isn't distributed that way. But, I want to be "a little" more muscular than I am. the question is why does it take 6 months to achieve my goal? huh... that's kinda longer than I expected. My personal trainer gave me a new programme and I am starting this from August 1st. I am not sure if I can catch up the schedule accordingly as I sometimes skip work out.... I will see about that. But I love snacking. :-) I can be lean and keep snacking, can't I? Happy snacking!

Scribbles...

By Shigeki on July 29, 2005 11:59 PM | 7 Comments

Hi! How are you doing? I am a little bit drunk and can't think of anything to write here on this blog right now. I guess I am going to talk about something I have. This little notebook goes everywhere I go. I had a fancy notebook last week but I left it at cafe and I immediately went back there but it was either trashed or stolen. As a result, I had to buy another new one which was cheap. 50 Yen. = 40 U.S. cents. = 30 Euro Cents. Anyway, why do I have this? Some people ask me. This is like a scribble notepad that is not important which has temporary schedule info that I haven't copied to my real schedule book. I sometimes write down things I need to remember because my brain is full always. I know I work as a computer geek but I don't own a PDA. That's because it's not common here and I am not a preppy business dude who is extremely busy so this notebook would do my things just fine. Well, I actually prefer this premitive notebook rather than a PDA. nope, I am not an updated IT guy. I sometimes write down unnecessary things or I have this tendency to draw something unconciously while I talk on the phone. So I thought I was going to upload this as no sceret information is written on it. Just click the photo and you will see what I wrote today. I looooove scribbling things after all. Well, it's kinda dull but this is my entry for today. Anyway, you have a pleasant weekend!!! YEY!

oh, it's a beautiful day!

By Shigeki on July 28, 2005 3:30 PM | 5 Comments

I was such a big fan of Ace of Base... It's another beautiful clear day today. This summer is unusual as it's less humid here. I wish I could take a day off and walk around a little bit. It's such a perfect day to go to the beach... But this weather makes me happy enough even if I have to work inside. :-)

Larry in Maine, U.S.A., the real cool guy whom I admire, had this interesting interview meme. I wanted to participate it. He kindly got to be an interviewer for me. I am glad I ran into these as I have to work late and I don't think I get to have anything to write about today on this blog. Besides, I need a transitional moment to bury the incident I ran into earlier this week. I had my closure this morning with this guy. So I am good. (^_^)V Anyway, I answered every single one as follows...

1. 200 years from now an archaeologist discovers the data for your blog. What will your blog teach him about the world as it is today?

Continue reading oh, it's a beautiful day!.

My Fairy Tale

By Shigeki on July 27, 2005 10:48 PM | 15 Comments

I don't really describe what happened in bed specifically here on this blog. I try to keep this "blog" clean. But I have to share what happened to me earlier this week. Straight people, sorry. This is my x-rated thing. I warned ya! It was about 2 weeks ago when I met this guy at the gym. He is southern european, 30 years old, has a gorgeous body, and beautiful gray eyes. Really super good looking. He said hello to me first one day when he needed my deodorant paper and we ultimately exchanged phone numbers. We talked and did workout together. We had drinks. For the last 4 meetings, we didn't sleep together. He is only looking for relationships. It somehow freaked me out a little bit. But he is too gorgeous to let go.

He told me he liked the way I look and my intelligence. (I saw you laughing) and he wanted to get serious with me if we could. Last night, finally, he invited me to his place. I wasn't really looking for a relatinoship but then I imagined myself living with him in Southern Europe. I could be sending a photo postcard of the wedding. He once told me his bedroom was soundproofed because he plays the piano. I told him we could make it rough and he smiled back. Immediately after getting into his apartment, we kissed passionately. I could DIE there by looking at his gorgeous bod and his passion. He grabbed my arm and invited me over to his bedroom. (Yeah!) I knew this was my heaven. The problem was that I usually don't get nervous when doing "nice things" together with "friends" but this time I got very nervous. Maybe, because he is different, and I care for him... I knew this could be my PERFECT fairy tale.

Continue reading My Fairy Tale.

Typhoon Tuesday

By Shigeki on July 26, 2005 9:32 PM | 6 Comments

Apparently, Typhoon is hitting the Tokyo area. We don't have to hide ourselves and go underground like people do in Kansas for tornados. For some reason, most typhoons hit the Tokyo area when I am on my way to work/home. As I didn't have any plan tonight, I went to the gym and worked out and swom. I should've come straight back home from work. I knew that the Typhoon would hit the Tokyo area toda when I listened to the weather forcast this moring. But I guess I didn't pay attention to it enough. I should've taken extra caution today. It doesn't matter whether you put up an umbrella or not. You get so wet in a bad way anyway. A waterproof coat would be nice but it would be too humid to wear it in summer. My home is about 5 - 10 min walk from the closest station. I walked while it was raining buckets. I so got wet....down there. The problem was that I was wearing a white cotton pants. Because they were drenched to the skin,They were virtually see-through. If my undies were white or something similar, I wouldn't have had any problem. But I was wearing a pair of blue briefs. My briefs were very visible outside. I was so embarrassed by it. I hope anyone whom I know didn't see me walk by. Tips for today. Don't wear anything white when the typhoon comes unless you are a flasher. On the bright side, after this typhoon, there will be no clouds at all. Clear sky, sunny day!! It will be a beautiful hot day tomorrow! I am looking forward to it. I can't wait. (^_^)V

A foreigner in Japan

By Shigeki on July 25, 2005 11:41 PM | 6 Comments

You know Sumo? Sumo is a Japanese kind of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It originated in ancient times as religious events to the Shinto gods. (Shinto is the indigeous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan herself. It still remains Japan's major religiou besides Buddhism.) But when I think of Sumo, I only come up with those extremely fat guys with a funny hair style. I don't really watch Sumo but every once in a while, I do. I don't find those wrestlers attractive because they are unbelievably fat. But I notice there is one guy who is not in a typical sumo wrestlers body type. His wrestling name is "Kotooshu" meaning European long Japanese zither with thirteen strings. (I translated it directly so it doesn't make much sense but it's just a name) Anyway, he is a Bulgarian. Well built. not too fatty. He is one of the best sumo wrestlers. It's funny that the conservative world like Sumo can welcome foreigners. I think it's a great thing though. He is the first European Sumo wrestler in Japan. He is not fluent in Japanese but is able to carry conversational Japanese. I like his muscles. :-) Which I rarely see in Japanese sumo wrestling. There is another European sumo wrestler from Estonia but he isn't pretty at all. But this guy from Bulgaria is hot. not all the time but some times. He is one of the strongest wrestlers because he has won quick promition and is the most future promising Sumo wrestler. Go Kotooshu! Hooray!

A city boy visits nature.

By Shigeki on July 24, 2005 9:55 PM | 7 Comments

This is the photo from the plane going back to Tokyo. I could use my time until this evening to finish my assignment but I wanted to use the whole Sunday to do touristy stuff. I worked until 3 in the morning to get everything done. I slept for about 3 hours. I booked a flight to Kushiro. It's a city of fishermen. 50 mins flight, 140 miles/ 224 Km east of Sapporo. I didn't go there to fish nor eat seafood. I just wanted to feel the nature. Because they have extremely green huge marsh, I wanted to relax alone by looking at it. It's quiet there.

When I lived in the rural area for 2 years, friends around me always made fun of me being a city boy. I didn't wear jeans. (I do, now), I was wearing loafers only (I do wear different things now). I didn't like the idea of the nature. A lot of bugs and no easy access to a flashing toilet. Last year, I did "farm stay" for two weeks in this area. I had to milk cows (Well, actually, they do have this suction equipment to suck milk out of them), took care of their dumps, no internet access, etc. I admit it was hard. But air was incredibly clean there and everything I ate was delicious. Because Hokkaido Island is huge, wild nature can be easily accessed in the eastern region. Yes, it was very relaxing. Now I am back in this metropolis. Too many cars and too many people. Although the air is not as clean as it is in Kushiro, I like it here. It's nice to visit the real nature. I feel like my soul was cleansed by this journey. I don't think I can live in a place like that though. After all, I am a city person.

Northern City Weekend.

By Shigeki on July 23, 2005 6:11 PM | 5 Comments

so my weekend got ruined but it doesn't mean I have to make it worse. I am still here in Sapporo. Let's review where Sapporo is, shall we?. It's 511 miles north of Tokyo. Come to think of it, it's so interesting how different the weather is. It's really hot and humid in Tokyo in summer but it's cool and dry here in Sapporo considering it's only 511 miles north. Since I have more things I need to deal with, I took a looong lunch break. I went to Sapporo Beer Museum to "study". After 3 beers during the tour at the museum, l way passed the point where I was interestined in how beer is manifactured as I didn't have any lunch yet and got drunk easily at that time. But I learnt something new about beers. Um... I will try to remember later what I learnt. (^_^) I like Hokkaido (The region I am in right now) as "Lamb" is so common here. It's not that much common in Tokyo but I LOVE lamb. I wonder why northern people eat that frequently.

Clear sky, good beers, cool breeze, and mild sunlight. It was a pleasant looooooong lunch break. I had two more beers at lunch. I guess I am reasonably drunk now. Because of that, I've been smiling most of the time right now for no reason. Yes, I look like a freak for some people. But I am happy now. You, too have a happy Saturday!

He stole my weekend

By Shigeki on July 22, 2005 7:31 PM | 6 Comments

I was extremely looking forward to this weekend. I was going to paraglide on Saturday as usual (not to sprain my ankle this time) and planned to be on a real date Saturday night. However, one of the colleagues who was planning to go on a weekend biz trip called in sick today. If he is having fun with his girlfriend in Tokyo Disneyland right now, I will DEFENITELY kill him. I was chosen to go on a trip and take care of unfriendly servers. needless to say, I "accidentaly" spilled my ketchup for lunch on his keyboard. I didn't have any tissues near by so I left it there. That's alright. It may become sun dried tomato-like stuff he could use next week for his lunch. I am now here at Tokyo International Airport. This airport isn't as bad as New Tokyo International Airport. Because it's closer. This airport is mostly for domestic flights. This is the photo of the terminal. Very crowded. Once again, my fortune teller told me this would be the best i mean bestest year of 12 years. What the fudge? If there is anything interesting to report (which is unlikely), I shall. Where am I heading to? Sapporo. Yeah, the same place in where Sapporo Beer was originally made. By the way, if you drink beers and like Bud Light or Coors light crap, please, I repeat, please try Sapporo Beer at least once in your life. It won't kill ya. My favorite beer? Sapporo. :-) I think I will go to this imagenery happy land by drinking sapporo beers then. You guys have a great weekend for me!! I shall try to make it more interesting if there is any way.

Links and Meme.

By Shigeki on July 22, 2005 12:31 PM | 7 Comments

I was going to mention this in the main post I am going to post later today but it would be lengthy so I decided to create a separate post. First of all, I thought of distributing a "meme" for the first time from myself after talking with inter|texutal about my bag entry. Unfortunately, he doesn't carry one. I hear Mush is already working on it so I have four more people to tag. What do you have in your bag/purse? If you don't have a bag to carry, what about your wallet, a coat pocket, or a car trunk whichever you prefer. If you upload a photo, that would be fantastic but it's not required. It's absolutely not mandatory. If you feel like it, please do. I've chosen people as follows. Jason, Larry, Mush, Raph, and Sven. Sorry that I had to tag you guys but I am such a voyeur.

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One more thing. I have three links I added. Mush is from Iowa (I've never been there). Her website is so kewl for a geeky guy. I need that. Her blogmate Jon from Colorado is a very talented guy. He knits things beautifully. I have knitted before but it's only a scarf and I am not good at it. I am so impressed at his works. Finally, AJ from Malaysia. Why do people in Malaysia write English intelligently? I am envious. Wow, the web site is growing. I am grateful. Thanks and have a great day!

Full Moon effect

By Shigeki on July 21, 2005 11:55 PM | 7 Comments

This new digicam I bought recently doesn't let me capture what I want. Anyway.... People in older times in Japan believed rabbits lived on the moon. Because the surface of the moon looks like an one big rabbit. Depending on the culture, the shape of the shadow on the moon may vary. If you tilt your head to the right a little, you might be able to see what I mean. One of the oldest stories in JAPAN, Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of The Bamboo Cutter), which was composed in the 9th century was about this princess from the moon (She shouldn't look beautiful if she really was from the moon). Despite the story that Appollo Moon Mission was a hoax, some are still fascinated with the moon. If you pull down your pants and show your ass, that's mooning. I hear there is a weird thing going on among people at full moon night. I had to work late until 10p.m. and decided to come back home on foot as it was incredibly less humid than usual. It's been pretty great, weather wise. The soft warm breeze made me feel refreshed. It was a beautiful night. The full moon. I made an international call to my ex who is in the Netherlands on my way back home. I told him to look up the sky at night. I guess I needed an excuse to call him. It could be a full moon effect. maybe not. But after coming back home, I got to know it was raining in Rotterdam. He could've told me that. If it's not night yet at where you are and if it's clear, please look up the sky and see the moon for once tonight. Maybe, you could tilt your head to the right a little to see the rabbit:-) Happy starry night!

Cultural Differences?

By Shigeki on July 20, 2005 9:57 PM | 12 Comments | 1 TrackBack

First of all, Mush from Iowa commented today. I went to her site. Her blog gave me a hint for what I wanted to do. I was worried how long the monthly archive menu on this site would get if I kept blogging. I changed it to a dropdown menu. That definitely saves my space:-) Whew. Thanks for the hint, Mush!

I happen to be a nerd from time to time. You already know that. I am not ashamed of it but am not proud of it, either. I used to like Oragnic Chem Lab at college because those chem experiments excited me for an odd reason. After work, I was very bored so I had a "friend", whom I got to know through gay.com, come over to my place and did "nice things" together. I will save the details here. Anyway, I've heard this millions of times that Foreigners here tend to say "Japanese condoms are so small and tight". uh-huh ~~what they mean is "I am so well endowed, and look at it!".~~ This "friend" who is by the way European told me exactly the same thing and he didn't like my condoms. He actually brought his preferred protection made in USA. Before we started doing "it", I took my ruler out. I couldn't help but started measuring my "protection" and his. I knew this wasn't hot foreplay. But I needed to know!!! So I started my experiment. Here are the results.

Continue reading Cultural Differences?.

My gateway to the world.

By Shigeki on July 19, 2005 9:16 PM | 9 Comments

The second icon from left, the fan-like one on top, is a wireless connection icon on my iBook. (I have 3 computers at home, and iBook is connected with WiFi) uh-huh. uh-huh. I am so geeky. My internet connection at home was out since Friday. Maintenance people couldn't do anything over the weekend because ~~I didn't behave nicely~~ they just don't work weekends. The maintenance guy (not the hunky plumber type) finally fixed it this morning. For the last 4 days, I wasn't able to browse internet a lot. But I wanted to keep the promise I made to myself. Posting at least one entry a day. Over the weekend, I went to a cafe and brought my laptop just to upload my entry. I didn't feel like having overpriced Cafe Americano (410yen here...= $3.66 = €3.05.) But that was the only option. Then, it hit me all of the sudden. My life is heavily relied on Internet. I don't talk to my parents much so I e-mail them even though it's just 10 mins drive from here. I chat with friends. I even research on something that is not important but is stuck in my head. My job needs Internet, too. I so don't want to say this but here it is. I cannot live without Internet. There, I said it. If I lost internet, I would have to check myself into Internet Recovery Institution and do 12 step program. Fortunately, my fabulous 100Mbps fiber optic connection is finally back up and running today. I can now get back to be a cosmopolitan version of peeping Tom by looking at other blogs. Watch out, people! Here I come. (^_^)V

It's officially summer!!

By Shigeki on July 18, 2005 4:59 PM | 7 Comments

It's Monday but a holiday here in Japan. Marine Day. I have no idea why it's called that. According to the climate observatory, the rainy season was officially over as of yesterday. The summer has come. This may be very cliche but I went bodysurfing earlier this morning to observe "Marine day. As Tokyo bay isn't great, we went to Hayama which is about 1.5 hour drive from Tokyo. We didn't have great waves but they were mild enough. I carefully put water proof sunscreen all over as I didn't wanna look like a boiled lobster tomorrow. My suit was from last year. By the way, is it so weird that I put speedo on under the suit? My friends picked on me doing that as they didn't wear anything inside the suit. I like certain support on my crotch. Is that so wrong? We bodysurfed for about 3 hours there. The temperature went up to 35 Degrees Celsius = 95 Degrees Fahrenheit. I generally hate summer in the Tokyo area but this time it's different. Maybe, I don't have to wear anything fancy. Shorts and a sleeveless shirt. And of course, cute guys with little fabric. Anyway, since it was already too hot to continue, we headed back to Tokyo to avoid the evening traffic jams. It was absolutely relaxing and fun regardless of my hair getting sticky due to the sea water. The blue sky, hunky life guards, and the beach. The mixed smell of sun oil and the beach. ooohhhh yes, it's very summer. I am happy. Now taking a shower to get rid of this beachy smell on me. (^_^)V

Chocolate guilt.

By Shigeki on July 17, 2005 9:39 PM | 8 Comments

Your body doesn't lie to ya. I couldn't run for about 5 days because I sprained my ankle a week ago. I measured my weight this morning and was surprisied I gained 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds). I now weigh 66Kg = 145 pounds. For your info, I am only 172cm tall, 5'7"-5'8". I think I burnt enough calories at the gym this afternoon. And then, the evill rang the phone. A call from a suspicious Catholic straight friend of mine from last Sunday. He was wondering why I didn't go to church. I don't believe I gave him an impression that I go to church every Sunday. I don't practice Catholicism. Anyway, he wanted to have drinks with me. I was so ready to take a bath and called it a night. I told him to meet me at the closest cafe as a compromise. I ordered Italian Mimosa and Opera (French Chocolate cake). I shouldn't have after gaining some weight. I felt guilty... Then, he said we could share it. Does a straight guy share dessert? I seriously needed to know if he was either so metrosexual or very gay. I decided to be direct and asked him a question. His answer was "I am straight" We didn't have an awkward moment afterwards because I was reasonably drunk and this chocolate cake was so damn good. I am gonna have to run for 10km = 6.2miles tomorrow to burn this chocolate cake. I think I laughed a lot and am very happy right now even though he is straight. FYI, no exciting moment came up at all. He offered me a ride to my place but it was only 5 min walk so I told him no Thanks and walked back home. The only strange thing is that I felt this was like a casual happy date. I am so confused. All in all, I enjoyed it very much. I hope he did, too.

My goodies

By Shigeki on July 16, 2005 8:57 PM | 7 Comments

I had to work this morning and went to my friend's to cool off a little bit. This is the photo of my bag. It's Agnes B bag I love. Then, this weird friend of mine suggested me to do something on my blog. He wanted to see what I had in my bag. That suggestion caught me off guard. I mean I don't have anything interesting in it. As a matter of fact, I am kinda embarrassed that I had to show these to him. He started laying my contents out and took a photo of them. If you click, you get to see what I have in my bag. Okay, I guess my post for today is something weird. My contents in my bag...I assume I am being judged that I am gay. Yes, I am. I so am. But it doesn't mean what I have would make me less of a man. In addition, there is nothing Neo-Japanese as we are so westernized. But two things a little bit more Japanese are Xylish Gum and Japanse Fan? Japanese Fan is kinda for old people but I like it and bought it in an old tradition oriented city awhile back. It comes very handy when it gets too hot. I can cool myself down with it. Xylish gum is a mint based gum. It contains Xylitol which is very popular in Finland. That's what I heard. It improves the health of your teeth. And it has only a few calories. (^_^)V Anyway, here are my items I had in my bag for today. If he asked before hand, I could have put something better than these... Okay, really weird post today... Anyway, Have a happy weekend, guys!

Too little vocab

By Shigeki on July 15, 2005 1:30 PM | 7 Comments

Things have been crazy for the last few weeks at work. The nightmare project is about to complete. (I was able to prove my task right regardless of the dumb-ass engineer in the States. And his supervisor offered me a sincere apology today.) My supervisor approached me and said I wouldn't have to work in IT today. He sent me to the department for interpreters and translators!!! Because they have to translate technical documents by the end of today, I have become their help. That's so wrong. Now I am surrounded by smart people with huge vocab. I feel so dumb. As you may have noticed, my English vocab isn't huge. I can basically talk with people in English but that's about it. If somebody tells me to talk about Plato, I go mute. I finished 20 pages. I have 47 more pages to go. I believe someone will proofread mine hopefully. The one thing I am so happy about this is the guy in the next cubicle is pretty. I mean FUCKING pretty. And I rarely say an F word. Greenish gray eyes and dark skin. He is half Japanese and half Kiwi. He said he was 28 but looks older than that. My gaydar didn't go "ping" unfortunately. Luckily, I get to have lunch with him in 20 mins. (^_^)V I am excited. I am certain I cannot offer you a steamy story like somebody coz I am not that blessed. It is weird though. This pretty guy talks to me both in English and Japanese. I assume some expressions can be better expressed in one of the two languages over the other but it's hard for me to switch back and forth. I hope he won't start difficult discussions in English at lunch. I don't have to make myself sound more stupid than I already am. Waiting for happy lunch with the cute guy. This really is TGI Friday. \(^_^)/

Living with dead people

By Shigeki on July 14, 2005 9:05 PM | 5 Comments

I was busy last night. I totally forgot about my family tradition yesterday. I didn't even bother to return calls after hearing my parents' repetitive angry voice messages. July 13th was the day to welcome the dead ancestors. It's a Buddhist observance honoring the ancestral sprits. (Yeah, my father is a Buddhist so I was raised in a Catholic/Buddhist family.) Anyway, since I forgot about the thing yesterday, my parents rescheduled their thing and planned on doing it today instead. I went to my parents' right after work and did what we had to do. We lit a torch like object and put it on the earthenware. Because it is believed that the sprits of the ancestors need to have their way illuminated to guide them, we lit it at the entrance to welcome them. It's called "Mukaebi".(welcoming light if you translate it directly) Not many people nowadays do this but my parents are very tradition oriented. Even after I moved out, it's mandatory for me. The dead ancestors are supposed to be staying for a week, and we light another torch a week later to guide them to get out. Ergo, my parents and my sister live with dead people technically. I didn't welcome them at my home so I am good? I don't know. I used to see my dead great grandfather when I was little during this season. I hope I won't run into him this year. I today realized for the first time that taking a photo of fire was difficult. Something new. :-) Okay, heading back home.

Wanted!!

By Shigeki on July 13, 2005 12:26 PM | 2 Comments

Okay, it's time for me to sound like a highschool girl who is only into Entertainment tonight or tabloids. I can't get rid of him from my head. I don't know his name and I don't know how he talks. (maybe, with a british accent.) All I know is dancing he did for 3 minutes. The way he gave a look to the audience was soooo sexy. He is one of the dancers for Javine. He doesn't seem tall at all comparing him with other dancers and Javine. When I watched "Touch My Fire" segment on Eurovision video (I am sorry to bring this up again. I think this will be the last time for this year. :), I never paid attention to Javine's Boob even she had an accident. (Intentional, no?) I only watched him dancing. My goal for arms is something similar to his. They are not too showy but they definitely have some appealing quality. If he asked me to marry him, I would definitely do so even if he had a terrible personality, was not great in bed and had weird behaviors. At least for a week and I could get divorced. I can only dream. duh. I think I sound the lowest ever on this blog. Fine, I like a guy with good quality. Who doesn't? There, I said it. Now I am done with being a gropie for today. Back to work.

Rediculously Red

By Shigeki on July 12, 2005 5:30 PM | 2 Comments

Today, I had to give a presentation in front of a lot of people. Probably about 500. I memorized all the things and was ready. I wore a nice suit and I believe I looked confident. I went into the conference room at 8a.m. and checked my equipments to demonstrate. For some odd reason, I like giving presentations in front of people. I do not know why. But it's so extraordinary and I like the tense I can feel in there. Time came.. I checked my tie again. I was all set. I went on a little stage and started talking. Then, I suddenly realized that I was being captured by a video camera in front of me. I guess this was for pepople sitting far back. I stopped and looked at my side face on the screen. My face was all red. Not because I was too nervous. It was a bad sunburn from last Sunday. The redness was extremely noticeable since the background was dark and black. And my face and body was like really enlarged on there... It didn't occur to me up until then I was so red. If people squinted their eyes and looked at the screen, I swear it was like watching the Sunset in Hawaii or something. It was that rediculously red. Anyway, I managed to finish what I had to do without losing it. After that, my supervisor came to me and told me it was the best presentation I had given because I looked so cheerful and confident according to him. It's funny I was kinda laughing my ass off inside while talking up there. Anyway, it's all good as he was satisfied with my presentation. So am I. Thank you, my crazy sunburn. (^0^)V

OHHH PLEEEZ

By Shigeki on July 11, 2005 7:05 PM | 8 Comments

On my way to work, somebody suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind. I got surprised, and he scared the crap out of me. Anyway, he was a Caucasian about mid 30s, very sweaty not in a good way. He instantly started asking me a question in English. "How do I get to the closest CitiBank?" or something. I don't remember the exact sentence he said. First of all, it's extremely rude to grab someone's shoulder all of the sudden. Second of all, try to speak Japanese at least for the first sentense like "Excuse me, I don't speak Japanese". Or at least try to speak English slowly. Third of all, don't expect everybody to speak English please. I was a little cranky already for my being unable to walk fast enough because of the thing on my ankle. As my shoulder literally hurt a little bit and my heart was racing from the surprise, here's what I said."Oh, Gee. I do know how to get to Citibank, but I am not sure if I would be able to direct you in English. I don't have a lot of vocab. I wish I could help! Sorry."

But he didn't get my sarcasm, did he? I am a happy person usually but, once in a very very blue moon, I can be bitchy just like that. Please... Japanese are always nice to help people for directions or something. That's what I hear. I made a negative reputation about us.... Okay, I am a bad person....

Peaceful Sunday

By Shigeki on July 10, 2005 8:27 PM | 5 Comments

I had to go to church with my family today. I was going to pick up the best suit at the dry cleaner but I forgot.... When I went there, I saw the evil cousin right in front of me. Dumb ass. In church after the mass, one guy came to me and said hi though I didn't really remember who he was. He was about the same height and dark skinned, and had cute piercing light brown eyes. He told me he was a classmate from the same junior high I went to. I hadn't contacted him for a very very long time. Damn it, if I knew I was going to meet him in church, I would've broken into the dry cleaner and picked up my suit. We talked a little bit and decided to go for branch. But it was very hot. We decided to change our clothes and meet later. I went home and slutted myself up by changing into short cargo pants and a sleevless shirt. No...it was a hot day. 1 hour later, he came to my apartment and picked me up. As I sprained my ankle yesterday, I walked funnily, and he helped me hop in his car. What a gentleman. We talked what we'd done after graduting from junior high. Then, we went to the Shinjuku Gyoen Park (Imperial Garden Park). He even prepared a blanket to sit on and wine. We laid down there and looked up the sky. It was uncomfy when my arm touched his as I didn't want him to get any idea that I was after him... but then, I laughed at myself why I was being nervous about it. The rainy season is supposed to kick in and shouldn't be over by the end of this month but a beautiful day. If he was gay, it would've been a perfect date. but still, it was an amazing early afternoon moment. However, I forgot I didn't put sunscreen on. I am now like a boiled crab. ugh...now I walk like an alive mummy you see in a movie.

Healing...I guess :-)

By Shigeki on July 9, 2005 10:13 PM | 3 Comments

This was very difficult to capture because of the steam and all.... In older times, people believed Onsen (Japanese hot srpings) would heel their wounds, sickness, and stuff like that. This is the country of volcanos. that's why we got a lot of hot springs all over. I got up this morning very early and went paragliding. Because it's been awhile since I did this last time, I sparined my ankle when landing for the third time today. It wasn't really serious. I didn't cry at least. (-_-;) The paragliding time was shorter than I expected because of my failure to land. Since I drove to the site, I thought I was going somewhere else to spend my time I was going to spend for paragliding before I came back to Tokyo. I went to the hot spring. This is like 4 hour drive away but it was good. I like outdoor hot springs because they are open-doored. Because it was early afternoon, it was very empty. Very relaxing. I could feel my stress I got this week melted away with my sweat, and I was the only one in this spring. And I heard that taking a long bath and keeping yourself hydrated with a lot of water to drink during the bath would make you loose metabolic decomposition product. Ergo, your skin tone would look better!!! What a luxruious thing to do. :-) though the doctor who treated my ankle told me to ice my ankle. I guess this hot spring wouldn't do any better on my ankle. but hey, it's not life threatening. :-) Now going back home.

tipsy lurch

By Shigeki on July 9, 2005 2:05 AM | 4 Comments

Why do people lie? White lies are fine but lying to hide facts is unforgivable. I was told by my director that I had to show what I'd done to make things worse. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We had this computer virus outbreak 2 weeks ago because one of the systems was misconfigured by one admin in the States. But this guy reported to his director that I misconfigured the system and made the situation worse. I was shocked. All I did was located the cause of the outbreak and fixed it to stop the outbreak. That was devastating.

Anyway, I needed biiiiig drinks to forget everything at work. I met up with a friend and drank like fish. I don't really remember what we talked about and I laughed a lot when I got to know there was a drink called "Italian Mimosa". As many of gay people may already know, "Mimosa"is a cocktail made out of Champagne and Orange Juice. I had never heard of "Italian Mimosa". The drink mix of Orange juice with Asti Spumante instead of Campagne. Guess what! this is such a great mimosa!! I think this is easy to mix. Asti Spumante is very cheap compared with Champagne. It's sweet so people unfamiliar with mimosa can enjoy this one better. People who don't drink alcohol a lot can appreciate this, i think. I don't like Spumante usually as it is too sweet but this tastes damn good. I highly recommend this for your next party! I took this photo on the way back. I am not so certain if I was walking straight. (Well, I am gay so .... :-)) I feel a lot better now :-P Okay, did I obseesively talk about Italian mimosa? oh well :-) Have a wonderful weekend, guys!

Wish upon 2 Stars Part II

By Shigeki on July 8, 2005 12:50 AM | 3 Comments

It was about 2 and a half hours ago when the first news about the terror in London hit us. We were in the middle of peaceful drinking. But the news definitely sobered us up. It's so sad for the fact that the world is no longer safe anymore. I just wished on 2 stars this morning for world peace. I guess my wish didn't do any good. we prayed for the people who got hurt by this awful tragedy. We wrapped up our drinking moment earlier than planned and came back home. On the way back, there were bigger versions of bamboo trees and decorations for the Star Festival. I looked up and tried to see if stars were visible. Unfortunatelly, no.... I am not really religious so my wish may not be valid to reach these two stars. But I truly wish there is a better approach to the whole terrorism than the current measure we've been seeing. It's often said Tokyo is too peaceful to care any of it and Tokyo is a security hole for terrors. We may be next target. Who knows. However, I have never wished more seriously than this for world peace. I am saddened and mortified. I hope it will be a better safer day tomorrow. Peace.

Wish upon 2 stars

By Shigeki on July 7, 2005 2:30 PM | 3 Comments

7/7 is the day for "Tanabata" a.k.a. Star Festival here in Japan. The two stars "Altair" and "Vega" that are usually separated from each other by the milky way are able to come together on this day according to the legend. In a nutshell, Altair (The man) and Vega (The weaver. also the daughter of the Lord) were dating and they fell in love madly. Because they were frequently seeing each other, they left their jobs behind ~~and had lots of sex.~~ The Lord got angry and put the river between them to separate. As a result, they are only allowed to see each other on 7/7. Today. We put a bamboo tree and hang a piece of paper with wishes written on it and hope they will become true by looking up these two stars. I too wrote something on it today on my way to work and hung it on a bamboo tree at the subway station that was, I assume, prepared by the subway station's staff. My wishes? World peace and a boyfriend. I hope it's not too much to ask. What would you wish upon these two stars?

I am going to change in Yukata later tonight and observe this tradition. However, it's cloudy today. I don't think I can see these two stars.... Still this is supposed to be a romantic night. But I will be hammered with friends. I will make sure to keep my legs together in Yukata this time. (^_^)/

Dark side of tech

By Shigeki on July 7, 2005 3:38 AM | 5 Comments

This is a dove in case you didn't get it. :-) When you watch "Miss Universe" which is considered "sexist" by some people, you always hear "I want world peace" with a big smile. When I started receiving e-mail assaluts toward myself, I was not going to share this because it's too lame to do so. But then, I read one article while I was on a lunch break today. It kind of motivated me to bring this up. I got two kinds of messages. One is too controversial to share. My bottom line for this blog is that I am not going to say anything extremely political. ~~Because I once dated a politician, and it was so awful~~ So I am not going to mention any of the first ones. The other kind of messages is very sad. I wrote what I wanted to say here. This is for this person from Sydney, Australia. I made it as a graphical file so it won't be googled unless they invent OCR (Optical Characater Recognition) system. If this is to open a can of worms, I may remove this post later. Please forgive me if I do. I don't intend to make a big deal out of this. Really. No controversial comments, please.Happy thoughts, people. Happy thoughts! \(^_^)/ I just wanted to share this because I wanted you to know there are people like this one. Technologies are nice and convenient. But they can become a way to hurt somebody or destroy the universe even. I hope some day, some time, in the near future, the world will be so much better than it is now. However, I like this world just fine (My saying might be shifted if I lived in a different part of the world though...) but there are some things that make me concerned. That's all. All in all, I want world peace. (BIG SMILE with increadibly white teeth. OH, I so want to try the crown on :-) ) Happy Internet surfing!!

V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N ! !

By Shigeki on July 6, 2005 2:18 PM | 3 Comments

I am so hoping Paris will win the 2012 Olympic games. It will be a cleaner romantic city if they win. (No offence) The verdict will be read later today in S'pore. So exciting.

A friend of mine just messaged me on my cell. He is a professor and is officialy on vacation for almost 2 months from this afternoon. Although the e-mail message was a little "showy", I am not sad for the fact I have to keep working like a dog. I can still be happywithout vacation days if I wanna. \(^_^)/ Many people seem to be enjoying their loooooooooooooong vacation. That's darn nice. Enjoy!!

Let me at least feel some of it by changing the title, please. If you don't see any change, delete your Internet Browser's cache or refresh this page, please. :-)
Happy vacation for those who are on it.
For those who are not, happy Wednesday!

No Excuses. Deal!!

By Shigeki on July 5, 2005 4:53 PM | 4 Comments

Awkward moments are unexpected. They suddenly show up out of nowhere. When I run into them, I get embarrassed but there is nowhere to hide or no way to recover the situation, and I feel I am sweating inside my head while I am not literally sweating. I have more of those lately..

Singing out loud and dancing with my headset on in the server room while my director came to talk to me but I did not notice him coming in and kept singing.
In a meeting with outsiders, I definitely smelled that somone passed gas and a person next to me stared at me unpleasantly.
A not-so-close-friend told me that s/he got engaged but I am very single.
I went on a blind date and the person I said hi to was not a date but I wished he was.
When trying jeans on in a dressing room, a store clerk opened the curtain when adjusting my crotch. (Last Sunday. say something, please!!!)
I still see the yoga guy in the same yoga class but we are so over.
I realized in the company's elevator that my zip fly was wide open but I already walked for 10 minutes from the gym. (this morning)
I tripped at where there was nothing. But I got surprised and looked back at where I tripped as if there was something there to have made me trip.

"Pull myself together" is my theme for this month.... huh...

My one week vacation planning!

By Shigeki on July 4, 2005 10:50 PM | 4 Comments

It took me awhile to create this map. I was really bored at work. :-) Anyway, I finally got approval from my manager to get 1-week long vacation. Unlike some people up north, I only get 12 paid vacation days for a year. I earned extra vacation days because of too much weekend work. I spent two weeks in February on vacation already. But I still have some to spend. I will definitely visit "somewhere in this world" for a week in Sep. My friends are mostly taking their vacation in August so I will end up doing my part alone. There are so many places that I want to go to and that I haven't been to.

Tunis, Tunisia. To feel something Arabic.
Khiva, Uzbekistan To see the real silkroad and real cultural mixture.
Einburgh, Scotland. For scotch whiskey. :-)
St. Maarten To see this spectacular view and beach.

Continue reading My one week vacation planning!.

Go Vote!

By Shigeki on July 3, 2005 11:20 PM | 11 Comments

It was an election day today for Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. As this is a peaceful country and nothing serious issues are brought up (well, some may think weak Japan economics is a plague), a lot of people are not interested in voting. The vote rating for today was 43.99%. That's so low.. To be honest, I am not really much interested in Tokyo City Government. My tax for the city of Tokyo is outrageous but I put up with it. I didn't know whom I should've voted for. So I voted for a candidate who belongs to my favorite political party. It really didn't matter whom I shold vote. No critical issues were discussed. Obviously, no gay rights stuff was mentioned. I thought I was going to choose a candidate by their looks (Yes, I am so silly) but the good looking man belonged to my least favorite political party... Darn.. Of course, if it's a national election, I get more serious. How you vote here in Japan is very simple. For this metropolitan thingy, you just write the candidate's name in the textbox on a piece of the paper given at the reception. If you spell it wrong, your vote will not count. Simple as that. Fold that paper and put it into the box. I always vote because I want my vote to be counted regardless of ignorance about queers. How do you vote in your country? My country is very premitive. No IT stuff involved.. (-_-#) Just paper and a pencil...

Fabulous Lunch

By Shigeki on July 3, 2005 6:21 PM | 3 Comments

In spite of the recent my ~~dumb ass~~ cousin's stupid "Do tell and keep telling" policy happened yesterday, I ~~am required to~~ have lunch or dinner at least once a month with my parents. Today was that. I was on the road when it was Father's day so it was my treat. This is the photo of the view from the restaurant. It's very cloudy but we got a great view of Tokyo. I tried to reserve the best table for my father.

Oregon Bar & Grill is where we went. This restaurant has launched with the support from the state of Oregon, United States of America, actually. Oregon is "kinda" happening here in Tokyo as Northwest Airlines started a daily non-stop service from Tokyo to Portland last year. This wasn't my choice as I am not a big fan of western meals while I am in Japan. (No offence. I am kinda a Japanese meal person when I am in Tokyo.) But my father wanted something "American" . Oregon is a special place for me because it is the first place in the United States I went. I love Oregon even though it's kinda too countryside. I still go there every once in a while as a good friend of mine lives there. Everything about American was exciting while I was there. So when I think of America, Oregon comes into my mind.

Continue reading Fabulous Lunch.

I am not sorry

By Shigeki on July 2, 2005 12:07 PM | 19 Comments

First thing first. I added the link to quite a gifted guy's blog from Kentucky, U.S.A. I have never been to the state of Kentucky. Is a Fried Chicken a local speciality there?? hmmm... I don't know... I know deep fried stuff is kinda common in the deep south but...

No photo's taken yet for today... I didn't do well in Intro to drawing in college. I kinda hated it because it takes freaking time!!! I like watching art better than doing it myself. Yes, I know this is sloppy. I just scribbled this for about 15 mins without any fundamentals I learnt in school. No harsh critique please..... I just wanted to see how my left hand would look like with the wedding ring on. That's all... silly, huh? But this is a substitute for the photo today.

Seriously, I 've had enough about these. Marriage meetings are funnily translated but they are the meetings where one boy and one girl meet at a fancy place. Both of them know s/he is looking for a life partner. The meeting is usually set up by her/his relatives or superiors at work. If things go well after some time, they will arrange their marriage later. If you graduate from a well-known college, work for a well-known company/ work as a doctor/attorney/1st Class Goverment Employee, you are considered as the great candidate for the meeting. I am 29 so it's sad not to be married by now in rigid folks's own terms.

Continue reading I am not sorry.

I changed mobile coz...

By Shigeki on July 1, 2005 7:25 AM | 6 Comments

My mobile carrier used to be "Tu-Ka" but I changed it to AU. One of the reasons is that I fell in love with my current mobile. The other reason is him. He is an image character for AU. His name is Satoshi Tsumabuki. He is a Japanese actor. Obviously a Japanese gay icon!!! His major work was "Water Boys" the movie. High School Swim team trying to be the only male sychronized swimming team for real. This movie got so popular and so did he. He is charming indeed. I am not really sure why but he is so popular for gay crowds here. I guess he acted as a swimming team member with too much skin with very little fabric. :-) Despite those speedos, this movie is actually good. It was released with the subtitle so I am pretty sure you can check this out outside of Japan. This is very hilarious. It's not as good as my favorite movie but it's definitely entertaining. He is like 5 years younger than I but he is cute. :-) I am not violating any laws here, am I? For the record, I don't have any crush on minors. I just find him charming is all. If you are bored and don't know what to watch for the weekend movie night, I'd recommend this. Speaking of which!!! It's Friday July 1st here. I haven't had any day off since June 6th. Now, tomorrow is the very first day off for me ever since then! Wow, exciting. I can finally sleep for 8 hours at least. :-) You guys have a great weekend!

The last supper

By Shigeki on July 1, 2005 4:13 AM | 6 Comments

(I labeled the item as always. Click!) One of my "friends" will be going home tomorrow for good so I got out of work and had the last supper with him. His request was Sushi. I mean even though I am Japanese, Sushi isn't my favorite dish. There was time I could not eat a thing after studying Microbiology!! However, lately, I don't mind eating it. I wouldn't enjoy it heavenly but I appreciate it enough. I hear that there is a certain way to eat Sushi. Like Tuna should be the third item to eat or something. And lingos for Sushi. But I don't know any of it. All I care is good quality and enjoyable meals. ;-) If you don't follow the unwritten rules, you will be shouted at for what you did wrong at some restaurants. I have never seen it in a real life but it barely happens. Watch out if you go to one of those places!!! Anyway, it was expensive but I think he was worth it. Okay, this is the second photo of Sushi this month. It looks like I eat it frequently. For the record, my friend chose it as it was my treat. He lived here in Japan for 6 years and finally goes back home to Europe for good. I hope his life here in Tokyo was something meaningful. I am sure living in a foreign country can be challenging and difficult for anybody some times. But once you get over it and know how to get by, it's absolutely a great thing to experience in life. I am saying this based on my personal experiences abroad. I am pretty sure living in Tokyo can be exciting but stressful some times. However, he survivied! He kissed me in public at the end but I didn't care if I was looked at. :-) I hope it was a fabulous experience to live in Tokyo for him anyway! Von Boyage!

July 2005 Archives