I, Me and Myself

A week to remember

Started with a Bon Jovi concert, was like a dream come true, watching someone I have
idolized for so long. Was so much fun watching him perform live but cant forgive him
for not singing Always, Blaze of Glory and Someday I will be Saturday Night. We were
so depressed that after the concert we went to Shinjuku to a Karaoke and sang all the
numbers he didnt sing. And well, it was nice to meet APU students after such a long long
time. Finished late night, and well on the way back, met an old friend. Took a taxi and came back home, was in no mood to sleep but then was working next day....... Monday was a national holiday, left office early and went to this different kind of Marathon run, where you have to run for 10 kms and once you are done, you get a Waterlemon Tabehoudai, guess from now on we gonna participate every year.

But Wednesday and Thursday were pretty depressing. Started working at 20:00 on Wednesay Night
and finshed at 20:00 on Thursday, had to work for 24 hours on a stretch without any break. But after finishing, took a train to Roppongi and had a nice dinner at this Italisan Restaurant next to the Asahi building (Dont know why I always tend to forget the name). Dropped her and came back home at 1 in the morning and slept for almost 12 hours to recharge my batteries.

And today, leaving for APU for the Indian week. Gonna stay in this hotel called Oniyama for a
day. Its kind of special cause this is the same hotel I used to clean when I started my life in
the land of the rising sun. Reminds of all the hardships I had to go through, reminds me of how
I used to finish at 2 in the afternoon, and then used to run to this Marushoku to buy groceries
and this 100 yen ice cream I used to love. Life has changed for better but now that I look back, feel a sense of achievement cause never thought I would come this far.

And well, after spending a day in Oniyama and attending the Indian week, we gonna move to Ana Hotel in Oita and go around Yufuin and Kumamoto and then to Fukuoka for a day and back to Tokyo. Not too sure if this is the right time to go as the weather on the top of the mountain is pretty depressing but then have a niece in APU whos gonna perform in the Indian week so dont have a choice...

Looking forward....

Back in the land of the rising sun

Back in Japan after almost a month, was so much fun being in India. Did almost everything I wanted to including a few financial decisions which I was procrastinating for a bit too long. But fortunately, everything is back in place.

Apart from that, everything else is coming good. Its festive season but seems wont have much to enjoy as have to compensate for all the good time I had back in India so once again no Christmas for me. But new years gonna be different, will fly to Kyoto for a couple of days and then might go back to my hometown; Beppu on the 17th for the Indian week. All those plans are still in the pipeline but one thing for sure, gonna enjoy the Bon Jovi concert on the 13th of Jan and then the Iron Maiden concert in Yokohama on the 15th of Feb.

And well, bought a lot of stuff from India including the whole Robert Kiyosaki collection; google it. You will be amazed about the whole rat race we all have been in for years and years so it does make sense in trying to get out of it. Got into his books after reading one of his best sellers; "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and since then been so much addicted to his work.

Bon Jovi Live Tokyo Dome 2008

Going crazy about Bon Jovi coming to Tokyo. Well havent heard much of his songs lately but used to be a die-hard bon jovi fan when I was a teenager, and here after so many years I have got this chance to see him perform live ...... so gonnaaaaaaaaaaa go.

Hope it will be a night to remember, 13th and 14th Jan, 2008, Tokyo Dome 17:00 ..... Bon Jovi gonna go on fire ....

But before all that, going to India for a couple of weeks but sadly wont have time to visit Delhi... And nothing worse than having a transit in Delhi and not being able to go out of the Airport :( But then looking forward to going around Mumbai, have heard so much about the night life in Bombay which is apparently much more fun than Delhi and Marine Drive and Andheri and Dadar so gonna be fun, well if I do have time to spare as I will be having training every single day from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening :( And gonna meet Taneia if she can take out time to come back to Mumbai ...

But before all that happens, Pakistan is coming to India for 5 ODIs starting 5th of November, I hope I can watch a couple of them in India but even if I am still in Tokyo, we gonna go crazyyyy, its nothing like India Vs. Pakistan. So next three months gonna have hell of a time .

View from L1 floor window

This pic might not mean much to most of u but it reminds of my univ days,
Miss APU more than ever. But am coming soon.

View from L1 floor window. Was a RA there, guess one of the worse RAs.

Izu

View from hotel in Izu

One of the Best Australian Cricketers : Brett Lee

Brett Lee made it to Number 2.

Indian wins T20 Cricket World Cup

It was celebration time, India won the t20 cricket world cup. The last time we won the world cup was 24 years back when I was 6, back then I didnt even know what was cricket all about. But this time it was all different, it was fun watching India win the world cup. Watched most of the matches at home but for India Vs. New Zealand, went to her house. Unfortunately that was the only match in the series that India lost. For some reason, I have always avoided watching cricket with someone who doesnt know the game cause am just not into explaining the rules of the game when a match is on, though I really appreciate her trying to understand it.

newaz, there is nothing like winning the world cup.

It was celebration time this weekend, a day full of fusion. Woke up at 5 in the morning and left for this place called Tsukuji fish market, the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind in Japan. This place has a wide variety of wholesale as well as retail shops. Am more into Sashimi than sushi but here I just tried everything I could find. Spent a couple of hours there trying different stuff. Reached home around 9:00 and after spending a few hours doing nothing, went to Tsurumi to play badminton for a while. I have always enjoyed playing badi, used to play in India and then played for my university for a couple of semesters and then started playing here in Tokyo.

After our badminton session, came back home; had lunch and played this game called WII we had bought a couple of weeks back, spent more than five hours playing it, it was more of a fight than the game cause for some reason some people can just not take a defeat more sportingly, right eko.. hehehe. Evening was reserved for a dinner at Cafe La Boheme Shirogane; one of my favorite italian restaurants in Tokyo. Reached home around 11 in the night, was a good day out especially my surprise (GO India GO cake) at Cafe La Boheme.
It was day of fusion, started with a traditional Japanese sushi, then Indo curry for lunch, and ended with an Italian cuisine.

失敗は成功のものです

失敗は成功のものです　－　As the famous Japanese phrase goes, failure is an integral part of success. Thomas Edison after failing over 700 attempts before inventing the light bulb said;" Those weren't failures cause all 700 of them taught me what not to do to make a light bulb, they were more of an education than mistakes".

So this weekend, I decided follow in his footsteps, decided to try something I was so sure I couldnt be good at. I had planned to go to Kinugawa onsen with friends but had to postpone our plans as the weather gods were playing games with us. So decided to try my hand at golf with Rieko, which for years I have considered the most boring game ever invented by mankind. But then lately she has been trying to understand cricket and has started to enjoy the cricket games so had to go with her even if I considered it a waste of time, energy and ofcourse money as a day out can shed off atleast 150 $ and that if you are lucky enough to find the cheapest ones around Tokyo.

So woke up 6 in the morning, it was a bit too early for me and guess this is the second time in 7 years that I had to wake up that early; first time being a couple of weeks back when someone decided to enjoy the sunrise with an early morning coffee ._.._. So back to our expedition, got everything ready and drove to Gunma, a city on the outskirts of Tokyo; paid 9000 yen plus addition 1000 yen for lunch which includes complimentary onsen. After just stepping a foot on the course, I found it worth coming as it was one of the most beautiful gardens (wont say a golf course cause have never been to one and am not that golf material so it was more of a garden for me than a golf course) I had ever seen. She tried teaching me the rules but they were a bit too complicated to understand in a day but yeah, basically it was all about getting the ball in with minimum number of hits.

So here I was, all ready to swing with my golf club. Tried it but probably it was the worse hit ever ; infact technically cant even be termed as a hit as the club didnt even touch the ball. Right there and then, I realized it wasnt as easy as it seemed. Tried second hit, same result. I was all fired up and all ready to prove myself, made a third attempt, here it goes, the ball flew over and landed in the middle of a small pond, further humiliation. Tried fourth time, and here you go baby, ball flew .. flew ... and flew and landed just next to the hole. Rieko tried and well, do agree that she is good but wasnt good enough, ball landed far far away from the target, walked for half an hour to reach the spot, and I hit the ball into the hole with my second attempt, she took another three to get the target. So won the game and refused to play anymore cause I didnt wanted to spoil my no loss first day at gold course thing. She said my win was all luck, but I thought otherwise, for me it was sheer talent.

It was a 1-0 win for me in my first golf game against someone who has been playing for over a couple of years. Yeah, guess got my revenge. She explained it as a +10 or -5 win, but it was confusing for someone who has grown up watching, playing and worshiping cricket.

Took a lunch break, it was a typical Japanese lunch including Japanese nuts. Lately have tried almost all kinds of stuff so thought why not nut, tried it but things havent changed even after 6 and a half years in Japan. Tried eating nuts in my Japanese class back in APU just to impress all my classmates but my attempt backfired; almost vomited. And even this time the feeling was no different, guess am still not ready for it and if I am right will never be ready for it. Took a hot bath, and was all fresh, sat in the sun for a couple of hours chatting, and we were ready to head back home. Both of us were dead tired and ready to for an early retirement for the day, we decided to skip the gym.

Drove back, and as we reached Tokyo, got stuck in traffic jam. Sometimes wish Tokyo was like Beppu, quite with less people and less traffic. But yeah, couldnt have got this far if I wasnt here in Tokyo so all in all, no complaints. Stopped for dinner in Nishi Azabu in an Italian restaurant, and drove back home. Was a good day out; especially considering my win against a golf veteran; felt like Tiger Woods.

ところで, I figured out the name of the girl I have had crush on for a long long time; megumi kurihara. She is a Japanese professional volleyball player, guess the reason why I started watching volleyball games. And for sure the only reason why I will cheer for Japan if its a India Vs Japan game. Japan's women volleyball team won the Asia cup for the first time in 24 years.