Japanese Pranks are AWESOME - Part 1

Canada's Just For Laughs Gags have NOTHING on the Japanese!

The Japanese always take pranks ABOVE and BEYOND what you'd expect. With that in mind and the fact that they find humour in embarrassing people publicly, please enjoy these, some of my favourite Japanese videos from YouTube. This will be the first installation of these, as I will post a few more in the coming months.

They may be brutal, but to me "BRUTAL is FUNNY".

Toilet Prank - Squatting toilets are funny by themselves. Throw in a countdown...and you have comedy genius.

Massage Chairs - This is my all-time favourite Japanese prank. What could be more relaxing than sitting in a massage chair while skiing in the mountains?

1 vs 100 - This ain't no game show with Bob Saget. Be careful when you're walking alone...

1 vs 100 Part 2 - Let's up the ante here and get even more ridiculous.


Onsen Fart - This one is new to me, but is hilarious nonetheless. Some men are a bit bashful when they see a women at the onsen (public bath) with them.

So Much Tokyo...So Little Weekend...

First Weekend in the Big City

     After meeting the entire staff on Friday, the school warmly welcomed us with completely paid for (as I mentioned last posting) ALL YOU CAN EAT and ALL YOU CAN DRINK party at Shannon's, which is an Irish themed pub nearby. Sorry for no photos of the grotesque amount of scrumptious food or the bevy of beverages, but I can assure you I got my money's worth

Shinjuku Station

Morning rush hour at Shinjuku Station

          On Saturday, a bunch of us teachers attempted to meet up at Shinjuku station to go to an Koenji station to watch this dance festival. When we learned quickly, being NEWBS, is that when you don't have cellphones yet, you should never meet up at Shinjuku station.

Why? ...because it's just the busiest station in the world.

How busy? ...about 3.64 million people go through it every day.

How is that possible? ...it has 12 train lines connecting to it, plus it's a hub for buses, and on top of all of that, it's surrounded by a busy commercial area.

Do I have any pictures or video to prove it? ...Yes...but I'll save that for another post. :D

Koenji Awa Odori

     In the end, we went to Koenji with a smaller group people since we couldn't find everyone. I wasn't sure what to expect going to this festival (odori meaning "dance") since it was labelled as "Fool's Dance" in English. It turned out to be fantastic! An ocean of people filled the streets, beautifully brightly coloured costumes, loud rhythmic drums, and cheap mouth-watering food stalls lining the roadsides...it was a wonderful festival atmosphere. 

Festival poster

      The dancers were of every age bracket and apparently there were 12000 of them. Every one of them was smiling and you could see how enthusiastic each one of them was by watching how passionate they were about the 3 hour long dance march (which they have to do again the next day).

     For those of you who like history, here's some info on the festival:

The awaodori ('awa dance') tradition can be traced back to Tokushima in Shikoku, where the story goes that the local daimyo plied his citizens with alcohol to celebrate the completion of the local castle in 1586, leading to a citywide outbreak of dancing in the streets. Whatever the accuracy of that story, the enthusiasm was contagious, and Koenji has been holding a dance of its own for over half a century.

   For those of you who hate history, here's some (9) pictures (click HERE to see the WHOLE album) and a video of what I filmed that day:

One more week till school officially starts...and fun ends...just kidding, fun NEVER ends.

Biru means Beer (ooh!)

First day of orientation at the school started yesterday. So all the new teachers got to meet all the other new teachers (21 new teachers in total). So many new teachers this year due to a lot of the other teachers having fears over last March's earthquake situation.

Some random facts about Canadian International School:

• 21 new teachers
• about 70 teachers in total
• Kindergarten to Grade 12
• 257 students

Un-school related... some new teachers and I went out exploring the last few days. This cartoon represents what basically happened:

I thought this comic was hilarious when I saw the original at one of my favourite gaming webcomics, Dueling Analogs. Here's the OG:

Here are a few photos of beers found by anonymous people here in Tokyo in the last few days.

This looks big...BUT...

THIS is a GRADUATED CYLINDER of more than a LITRE of BEER...

This fellow needs to use 2 hands...for shame...

On another side-note, I spotted this interesting pairing of hand soaps in a public washroom:

I chose the "non-flammable" one.

Today is Friday...so that can only mean it's "all you can eat AND all you can drink" day all paid for by the school. COMPAI! (cheers!)

Japanese McDonalds

I was planning to stay healthy this year, but when I saw that there was a McDonalds right by my place that is open 24 HOURS, I just had to check it out. I went and attempted to order some food. It's a good thing I learned Japanese writing, because I can sound out some things on the menu (although I'm not very fast yet) to understand what it is, if the picture isn't very infomative.

I ordered myself a McChicken...or what I thought was a McChicken...I'll pretend it was a McChicken...

McDonalds menu in Japan - What would YOU order?

Just for fun, I thought I'd include some interesting Japanese spins on McDonalds in the following advertisements.

Yes...PLEASE...Take my order...

 

McDonalds Gundam

More Than Just Sushi...

I got picked up from the hotel today and brought to my new apartment near Mejuri Station, which is actually a few metro stops away from Shinjuku and Harujuku (which are apparently very famous areas). I also saw the famous intersection in Tokyo that everyone knows of. I'll take photos or video of that later.

Anyways this post will just be about food. I was planning on taking photos of my new apartment, but I am sleepy. There is much more to Japanese food than sushi. The food culture here is rich with more than just raw fish on rice balls.

Japanese food LOOKS as good as it TASTES!

Visited the school I'm going to be teaching at today (Canadian International School Tokyo) and along the way stopped at a popular Japanese restaurant to eat this:

Unknown dish (fried chicken, eggplant, rice, assorted greens)

After setting up the Internet in my apartment, I went out and bought some food and other household items. The first shopping experience in a new country is always a lot of fun. I'll dedicate another future post on that topic.

Freshly made foods here are all DISCOUNTED 2 hours before grocery stores close!

Yes I know this photo is of sushi, but it was discounted! 30% off! I picked up 2 of these, one of which was supposed to be breakfast...but I ended up eating everything.

This isn't boding well...

A King's Throne

Riddle me this...

Q: What s the best thing in life?

A: The Japanese Toilet

Why? Oh, let me count the ways...

1. Heated seat. Cold and miserable? Let a seat on the toilet wash your worries away.
2. Pre-flush. As soon as you sit down, it flushes before you even THINK about getting dirty.
3. Bidet. It feels weird, but sometimes your bum needs to be pampered (not literally).
4. Spray. Basically the same thing as #3.
5. Water pressure gauge. Set how strong the water sprays. You are truly king on THIS throne.
6. Deodorizer. Mmm...smells like roses.

I will be on the lookout for a toilet that sings, or makes flushing sounds for those people who are embarassed to let others listen to them do their "dirty" work.

 

Of Airplanes and Airports

It's official! I'm in Japan!

Sooooooo TIRED!

Let's recap:

• Did my last minute errands in Vancouver (which included these interesting moments)
  

• Exchanging my Canadian dollar for Japanese yen in BC. Money changer lady looks at my driver's license for ID and asks "Manitoba...is that in Canada?"

• Old man behind me in line at London Drugs had 2 things with him. One was a large pack of Depends. The other was a worried face.

• Departed Vancouver on a 12 hour flight to Taiwan.

• Paid $32 extra in total for being overweight with my luggage (less than I thought it would be...I paid $50 for being overweight in Winnipeg PLUS another $20 for a second check-in luggage)



Everything I need for a year.

• Arrived in Taiwan and walked around the airport because of my 8 hour layover.

• Really big airport...each gate has its own theme! Behold the over-the-top cuteness (or barfiness) that is..."Hello Kitty"

• Stumbled across my first Asian dilemma in the men's bathroom (Do you take the RED PILL or the BLUE PILL?)

Door #1: Western sitting toilet on the left OR Door #2: Eastern squatting toilet on the right

• Last 4 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan.

• 1 hour bus limousine ride from Narita Airport to Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa for my first night.

It's Been a LONGGGGG DAY...

Tomorrow I'll be taken from this hotel and brought to my apartment for the year. And now...I... sleeeeee.....

My Last Canadian Sleep

My flight leaves at 2:20AM on Saturday morning, so I won't be sleeping tomorrow night at all and will be going directly from dinner to the Vancouver Airport. So tonight will be my LAST CANADIAN SLEEP.

Some more things I ate:

More than 20 raw oysters at The Boathouse Restaurant

Crab...that always takes a lot more time and effort than the meat that you get out of it is worth

Went on a 2 hour Sea Safari today that was pretty cool to check out the Strait of Georgia and some friendly seals:

My Cousin's Husband and ME all geared up.

Farewell! Family, Friends...Food

Out of Swaggerville and into BC

Thanks to everyone with all the well-wishes! The last 3 weeks have been fantastic...filled with family, friends, and my favorite...FOOD!

I HATE packing with a passion so thanks goes out to my sister who basically packed all of my luggage for me. A whole apartment packed into 2 pieces of luggage was a daunting task. Oh thanks also goes out to my sister who basically did all my packing for me. As for why I only got 1 hour of sleep? Answer: I do not know.

Kitana, Raiden, and Mileena (Yes, those are their REAL names)

THIS IS NOT A PHOTO OF MY LUGGAGE

I will miss my nieces and nephew the most. After seeing me off at the airport, my sister tweeted me saying "The kiddies said they're taking a spaceship to visit @ccabiles in Japan". As you can see from the photo...despite their enthusiasm, unfortunately their spaceship won't make it to Japan anytime soon.

So...I'll be here in Vancouver for 5 days with family before I leave for Japan. So therefore I have 5 more days of eating! Yes!...I mean "Hai!" The last 3 weeks I had in Winnipeg were FILLED with food...and I was a happy man. Mostly due to my Uncle (who just arrived from the Philippines and apparently is an awesome chef) as he made a new dish every day. Yummm...

Anyways...Here's a look at some of my favorite foods that I ate before I left Winnipeg:

Blondie's 9 Pound burger - Wrapped

Blondie's 9 Pound burger -Undressed

Blondie's 9 Pound burger - 1 slice (a little more than 1 pound)

My Last Winnipeg Meal: KFC Poutine

And so I'm in Vancouver for 5 days...to acclimatize myself to Asians (this joke is okay because I am also Asian...:S) before flying over to Asia. To celebrate my arrival in Vancouver, my family here cooked this magnificent monstrosity:

.

Bacon Explosion: (bacon, sausage, prosciutto wrapped into a meatloaf, covered with a bacon weave)
Surrounded by golden smoked ribs using Mesquite woodchips

I am currently in a state of perpetual "food-coma".

It's gettin', it's gettin', it's gettin' kinda hectic...

Leaving Winnipeg in 5 days...

After procrastinating as usual, having too much summer fun, hanging out with old friends, and spending time with family...I've finally started to get some badly needed things done:

• lent my car to my brother to use in Ottawa for the year
• moved out of my condo
• bought new luggage
• bought new laptop
• finished paperwork for PEI Teaching Certification (yes Canadian International School Tokyo apparently uses the PEI curriculum)

Things still to do:

• pack
• buy some actual teacher clothes (no more t-shirts and shorts outfits allowed like in Winnipeg School Division)
• spend time with nieces
• eat the 9-pound burger at Blondie's on Main Street
• go Ultralight hangliding

Travel & Life: Eat, Learn, Move...Dance

Under 10 days to go before I leave Winnipeg to go traveling again. On that note, I've posted 6 inspiring travel videos today. They are a MUST-SEE if you love to travel, like I do.

EAT, LEARN, MOVE

The FIRST 3 VIDEOS were shown to me by a friend today. Here's the synopsis from the Director, Rick Mereki:

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....= a trip of a lifetime.

DANCE

Watching these videos reminded me of the LAST 3 VIDEOS of a famous "dancing" traveler, named Matt Harding. This guy quit his video game developer job a few years ago after being fed up with it, and went traveling the world with nothing more than a video camera and his dancing shoes. After his first video went viral, Stride Gum took notice and then sponsored his next two trips. In his last 2008 video, he included many of his ever-growing fans from around the world. Personally, the music in these videos is really inspiring too.

2005

2006

2008