Kinda sorta.

I know you’ve heard it all before, but in Tokyo, the mobile phone けいたい電話 (”keitai denwa”) is your everything. Email, texting, IMing - all with cute emoji (emoticons) that express more than words/characters ever could, frantic business research on the net (paid ¥5000/month for unlimited access but used ¥700000 worth - that’s getting your monies worth), train schedules, coupons, pictures, games, watch, alarm clock, voice recorder, calculator, music player, and sometimes your (read: my) only companion.

With no regular access to a proper PC and Net connection and always trying to stay outside of the house to see as much of the city as possible, my keitai became something else: a temporary replacement to my Moleskine, which usually acts as storage for all my random (and not so random) musings. The Notepad function became invaluable to me, housing a lot of ideas and observations from my time in the City of Benevolence. Once I returned to China, I powered-off and threw the phone in my drawer. After losing the key, finding the key, and finally opening that drawer today, I turned my phone on and was reminded of some classic Tokyo moments. And here, in no particular order, I give them to you.

The fifth (forgotten) of the “5 things that make us thirsty post”: Taking a bath/soaking in onsen

From Narita to Sangubashi station: My schema is all fcuked up! Hot J girls. Umbrellas. Asahi. Guys with make-up and cool hair. Suits!!!! Vending machine as a psychological tool. More hot J girls…sleeping on the train as a birth right.

Walking from Sangubashi station to the flat: People/Places with whom/where you experience a great deal of pain become those which you are most attached to.

Shinjuku (Kabuki-cho) observation/advice: If you need to have a drink immediately before or after doing it…don’t do it

Lifestyle versus Lifesubstance

Something like: if you want to see the real power of Japanese women, you must watch them during one of two national sales that falls just after New Years.

In Japan, people won’t always speak the truth, but they’ll always tell it.

Quote of the year: “Long time no see(seduction)”

Take a number: Yeah, we are ALL WAITING here TOGETHER about to do the same thing. So don’t be shy, just enjoy this feeling. Yeah, it’s my first time, too. No, really, it is.

Pleasantly disappointed with Chinese food in the US. I haven’t experienced a single taste here (China) that I did at home…and I’m not the least bit upset.
The people you should be weary of:

1. Girls who pluck their eyebrows and pencil in (note: girls who thread and/or wax are okay)

2. People you’ve never seen angry. People you always see angry.

3. People who charge a lot for either Indian food or Chinese food. And even more so, those who charge for rice. Rice should be something of a human right when it comes to dining. I got got charged 10 bucks for rice at an Indian joint in Midtown. The worst is when people are like, “would you like rice with that?”. I’m like, “Is this an Indian/Chinese restaurant?”. I digress.

4. People who don’t write (borrowed form IL)

5. People who walk far in front of those they are with. Remember: to lead, walk behind.

6. People who don’t use lamp shades

7. People with loud cell phone rings

Old women can be quite rude, always pushing on the train.

The East begins/ends with Japan. The West with USA

A foreigner asked me for the new south Shinjuku exit. He looked rushed and worried. TI pointed him in the right direction. He ran. It was raining. We were heading the same way. Saw him. He was meeting a girl. Reminded me of my own advice: first thing you do when arriving in a new country? Map? No. Exchange money? No. Get a girlfriend? Yes. The caveat: don’t fall for the first one you meet.

Advice for foreigners: “You might be offended. Remember, this is from another country. It’s like social studies”.
“Mindlessly Busy” courtesy of VL

“Who Dares, Wins” courtesy Brits

ML into a lovely smile that’s blooming. And it’s so clear to me that here’s a dream come true.

Fame Is (put this on a t-shirt)

asphyxiated with silence. doused in doubt.

ba ba bamp ba ba ba ba bamp ba

i wanna be serrated

Seeking solace in the arms of frustration.

Retreating ambition, seeking solace in the same velvet couches that harbor discarded pocket change, he edged closer to the roped off entrance, dressed head to tow in finely pressed self-doubt.