Birthday trip to HK! Here comes the flood!

Birthday trip 2008!! for the dirty 30 birthday, i decided to jet out to hong kong for a few days to see the H and the boy. it was a cheap flight so the flight times were crap. the night i got in, it was too late to really do anything and i had to get one of the earliest flights out too. so although it was 5 days, i really only had 3.

thought i was going to die on the flight over as the plane plumetted for a few seconds. i kid you not, EVERYONE on the flight screamed (including the flight attendants). the woman in front of me lost her grip on her cup of water and it came down all over us in the row behind her. i thought i was going to barf on the flight. i found out later that it was a record breaking storm.

here are the stats in the newspaper regarding the huge storm:


the view of the rain from the H's window. this is a decent hour in the morning.


what to else to do on a rainy day but shrink your pores with some rubbery gunk that makes you look like a panda?


this is the sidewalk outside the H's place. this is NOT construction.


and let the flooding begin! as the H and i headed out for some breaky, we took a look at the mass destruction the rain caused. she said she'd never seen it like this before.








businesses were totally screwed. the dry foods places had all their merchandise soaked through. it looked like a riot had blown through town.


and since all this stuff is super exy, the people decide they aren't going to throw it away. they'll just set it out on the sidewalk to dry again so it can be repackaged and sold. yum! the city was super stinky once the rain let up!!

Penises, Strange Art, and Bad Ass Volleyball

Actually ventured OUT of Ikebukuro today and met my friend Sops for lunch and art. Sops had free tickets to the Mori art museum, which i had never been to, so after a nice cheap lunch set at Chinese Cafe 8 (AKA the penis restaurant) we went to see some modern art.


modern art is strange. i don't get some of it. scratch that, i don't get most of it. with art, its like first impressions for me. i either like it or i don't. Sops says he doesn't like it if it looks like he could make it himself. i understand the logic but i don't subscribe to the theory myself. the exhibit was a retrospective of the Turner Prize over the last 25 years. i thought some of the sculptures were interesting and there were a couple of video pieces that i liked. also the Hirst piece with the cows cut in half and preserved in formaldehyde was cool. i will admit, there were several pieces i didn't understand at all. what i thought was funny was that the informational labels next to the pieces had interpretations written on them telling the viewer what they were supposed to be thinking about the piece. like i don't know how i feel about it? i do! i DON'T LIKE IT!!!

we went to do a bit of window shopping afterwards. roppongi hills is an interesting building. he design is beautiful but not very user friendly. i've gotten lost here almost every time i've come.


we parted ways in the late afternoon as my friend Yukari had tickets for a group of us to see the Japan Women's Volleyball team play against the Dominican republic team. We met at Tokyo Gymnasium at Sendagaya Station.


first of all, me and sports don't get along. i can't play ANY sports that takes score or gets timed or has anything to do with balls, bats, goals, nets, sticks, lines, targets, baskets, pucks, or any kind of special footwear. and although i readily admit my total suckiness with playing sports, i really like going to see live games of just about anything. i don't understand the rules or the chants of the crowds but i really get caught up in the whole atmosphere. before today, i had never been to a volleyball game before in my entire life. and you know what i found? i LOVE volleyball!



it helps that we had KICK-ASS seats! yukari scored FRONT ROW seats for us through her company!




these chicks were crazy tall too (at least 6 ft easy). and really ballsy! they were smacking that ball super hard.


there were cheerleaders at half time (this is your you dad!)


and some boy band called Hey! Say! Jump! was also there. the girls in the crowd were going nuts.


Go Japan!


Here's a video! Check it out!

I cheered for the Dominican team too. #1 Vespa would serve the ball by punching the fucking thing! but my fav was #10 Cabral who had one of the meanest fucking spikes in the game.



this is the channel 6 pig that loves volleyball


we walked through the big balloon thing in the front as we left.


Thanks for getting us tickets Yukari! We had fun!

2 Festivals in 1 Afternoon? Noooooo Problem!

Double Whammy Festival Sunday!!

after my two morning lessons were through, i ran out to the station to meet with friends for a festival extravaganza! we started by going to Asakusa for the Sanja Festival.

They raised Kaminarimon so the mikoshis could get through:


i dont know if this is a con or what. but it's a perpetual sleeping/praying cat.


check out the huge crowds!


and this band of miscreants!



does this qualify as a swarm?


one of the things i love love LOVE about festivals are the vendors. there are tons of them selling all kinds of stuff and all sorts of delicious foods. (i even got a hundred yen discount on my second chu-hi because i had boobs. gotta love it!)








there was some bad ass drumming going down in the back:


and another little band on the side:


INAPPROPRIATE CAPTION TIME:

"Dude, cover it up. you never know when the
little guy is going to spring into action!"

"Who says don't be a square? my junk is."

there were even these super cute kids doing stuff!


these "brave" police officers were not trying to control the crowds at all. just enjoying their good view:


and the hauling of the mikoshis was on!




at about 5 in the afternoon, we decided to catch the end of the jamaican festival in yoyogi park. we figured it would be pretty dead since we were going so late but it was still hoppin'!


just when you though beer couldn't get any better . . .


Dr. Rasta, i presume? this dude's clothes looked like reggae hospital scrubs and crazy shoes.


this guy has the crowd going!


yum! the jerk was good although you paid a ton and only got a few morsels. damn them!!


a fun but exhausting day!