99to1

So really it's been kind of a nervous breakdown paralyzed-catatonic kinda trip as of late. Which is really too much info for the world at large, but is only fitting for me when I read years from now in retrospect...

The typical slow-downs at work have produced a sort of impotent hopeless downer...
I've thrown my hands up and I can't go any faster than things permit... though I think I slip into the "I'll show the world... I'll go slower than it can imagine" routine.

My breathing has been heavy. Where is the common sense advice I offer others when they are depressed?
"Make sure that every hour or so you have 5 deep breaths where the inhalation is longer than the exhalation..."

Where is the lightness??
The understanding?
The knolowdge and wisdom I carry with me in my heart?
When will the tide turn?
How will levity find it's way back into my perception and experience?
When will gratitude move me?
How shall this dark cloud break and let in light?

Wow... it's been hard.

Oh yeah... there's a slight chance that I'll learn either tomorrow or Tuesday, that the company will not send me to Japan (on Wednesday) but rather to India again several weeks hence... I'm not complaining in any way, it's just the anxiety that's all...

Last week Gilles and I did our last tuesday night before I go to Japan. It looks like if I practice with Tarik, that there's no Rolf workshop, though Hamesh may be a guest teacher during my stay. From what is written about him over on ezboard I think I'm in for something special. Any how Gilles and I did up to Marichi C (modified) follwong along to Guruji's 2001 Maui lead class, and then finishing at our own pace.

The week before, on Thursday we did about the same with the entire gang (Charles was absent and sick) Christine joined us for the part and brough home-made Hummus!! That Tuesday Gilles and I did the standing postures. That week I missed my tuesday and Wednesday practice... well I may have made Wednesday... I can't recall... as I've said it's been a hard go.

Nice dinner with Loren tonight (Sunday) POD-POC-POP (POP for the bottle on Nino Franco) and trying to figure out if I'm going to find the hutzpha to get it together for my typical Monday morning routine. I've got a kitchen to clean... and some laundry to sort out... some vital stuff still at 295... heavy sigh...

Ry Cooder, Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder, Paris, Texas
Oh Suzanna, Sleepy Little Sailor
Byrd, Mass for four voices
Frida, Original Motion Picture Soundrack
Re-rip of Arvo Part, Alina

Would have been the new Daniel Lanois... only it really would have been the new Daniel Lavois.

And as ready as I'll be. Huge help from Loren... huge.
Still a very heavy mood these days... and found out Pop isn't really that well.
Hmmm...

Next entry will either be from some wireless cafe in KJFK, or once I get settled in Shibuya.

Got a chance to practice getting around Tokyo.
This city is huge! It's a dense, convaluted, spiraling jumble of concrete, metal and train tracks. It's uber-claen. It's got neat sudden little hilly parts which seem to nest most of the interesting restaurants and bars (and scary looking dudes).

The officials are friendly, and helpful, though it's difficult to get the help of passers-by. I think this would be a tremendously exciting city to visit if you knew some-one who could show you around... and I'm guessing it really excells at nightlife (not my thing)... or if you could speak the language, right now it seems like it's going to be kind of a lonely trip (day one... 41 to go).

My hotel is right at the Shibuya intersection (What a trip!!!) Check it out...

http://blip.tv/file/101418
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipEEGG_VY5k&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TucFJIpVI8Q
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/PAN1012.php

I've acquired my monthly pass for the JR Yamanote rail system, one down one to go. I still have to get the monorail pass. I travelled to Hamamasutcho station today, but the ATM-like machine which dispenses the passes for monorail only accept cash, and I had none. It was about 25 minutes travel from Shibuya to Hamamasutcho during non-peak hours, so I got an opportunity to travel the system without the typical crowding pressures...

The ATMs in the station didn't want to accept my corporate AMEX card, nor my personal debit card, and I returned to the hotel area to try to find a bank. Success was finally had at CitiBank, though they didn't accept the AMEX either. I've debited 300$ cdn from my account (which is already on a tight budget) to be able to get the monorail pass.

While searching for the CitiBank I accidentally found Yoga-Tokyo where the Chicago ashtanga teacher was guest teaching, though this is probably not the place where I'll practice. I'm still waiting for exact loaction details from the teacher at Mysore-Tokyo... likely I walked by it today as well... it's hard to figure out what's right in fron of you here.

Anyhow by the time I had some yen, it was too late to get down to the client's location to do the data transfer, and pc check, that'll have to wait for Monday. I wanted the opportunity be kind of formal and get to site before Monday, but thats the way the fish-cracker crumbles.

It's early Friday evening, and I'm starting to get hungry (surprised?) Going to have to decide between trying to find the unagi http://www.flickr.com/photos/59642267@N00/29212879/ house I walked by earlier, or trying the hotel's japanese restaurant.

Sending photos will have to wait until I get a usb cable for the camera...

Hope you're all well...

Well it's been about 10 days now with no practice.
Mainly due to preparation schedule for Tokyo.
Have been in touch with Tarik and am set to go for Tuesday morning. He says Monday is a moon day, though I've got marked as Sunday.

He's guessing that it may be as little as 30 minutes to Haneda airport with an express train... will have to investigate. That could mean quite a bit more time for a morning routine.

I offered him this summary of my practice:
Self practice 3 mornings per week and 2 evenings per week.
Typically, primary poses up to marichiC, no back bending, and then finishing.
Limited experience with Mysore style practice and adjustments.

Body is aching for some activity right about now.

The studio is very close to my hotel, likely less than 1 minute walk. Tarik sent me this link with map.

Crazy mix on itunes as I type this from the 16th floor of my Shibuya hotel, some of the recent tunes played:

Keith Jarret JS Back
Sigur Ross () #3
Chemical Brothers
Sting
Keith Jarret Part II from Koln
Mana

Last night had a beautiful meal in the 25th floor restaurant of my hotel. It was a 6 course Japanese meal, cost me about 6400 y, including a nice 150ml sake. Everything was incredibly delicious.

It was called the Sashimi Course, and came with a small appetizer, could it have been tiny raw calmare? Then a sashimi plate with about 9 pieces of the freshest fish I ever had, yum yum yum. A steamed dumpling of some sort, a broth with 2 super tender pieces of pork, and a rice dish with local vegetables, a small salad, and a fruit plate, consisting of one orange wedge and four grapes.

I ate this lovely meal as I was staring down the huge sky scrappers of Tokyo with their slow blinking red obstruction lights, like dark giant anime-samurai, standing at attention.

Travel for one.
I've got my train passes bought, though I'll have to do it again because I thought they were only by one month periods, so I'll have to get more for the last 2 weeks. I got out to the training location and by my timer the trip was about 50 minutes each way. This was on a Saturday, the jury's still out as to whether Monday-to-Friday commute times are longer or shorter. I know there'll be way more people in either case!!

Mood for another...
Thank goodness, I was starting to be in a real long lasting bummer. Different from anything I've ever experienced, I didn't feel connected to myself (will/intent/joy) at all. It was starting to be a major concern.

OK... so a real nice shift in energy, mood and spirit happened yesterday, and I've got myself back. Real nice experience, reassuring indeed.

Yesterday (Saturday)
Nice breakfast, and off to the world of Shibuya and Tokyo trains. Since Tarik had given a good visual description by email, of where he gives yoga classes, I was trying to identify the building by looking out the various windows of the hotel, alas I could not find it. After I ventured outside I realized that my hotel could not have been any closer to the location. It's so close I can't even see the building from the hotel! Less than a minute walk... very good news.

Then I had a coffee in the Starbucks overlooking the intersection, and watched the crowds for a while, still an entertaining thing to do. I try to pick one person in the cue and follow them till they get to the other side... not so easy at all.

Next up, as I've mentioned, was buying the monorail pass and traveling down to the client's site.

Then back to the hotel, popped in the dvd from a friend, and that was the trigger for the aforementioned mood change (that and the positive words/wishes from friends). The dvd is the kind of thing I love to hate... self-help schlock. Final word though; it facilitated a long overdue healing, a shift in consciousness... the torpor is gone.

Sushi
Googled "sushi in Shibuya" and ended up with this:
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofooddrinksarchive349/305/tokyofooddrinksinc.htm

Excerpt: "Sushi Daidokoya A kaiten-zushi shop in the middle of Shibuya that caters mostly to an over-thirty crowd. The fish is bought every morning in Tsukiji, assuring freshness. The portions are thicker than in many other places so you can really sink your teeth into them. The price for two pieces is JY300.
Open 11am-11pm daily. 2-15-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku (03-3476-4066). Nearest stn: Shibuya."

And that's where I ate... yum yum... freaking yum!!
On the way I found a Yamaha music store, and drooled over drum hardware for a while. Even auditioned a 29000y maple snare... wow! I feel very self conscious doing that sort of thing. The guys in the shop helped me find Daidokoya (right across the street actually).

On the way back I stopped by the hotel's bar and had a nice Japanese single malt whiskey, then off to the room to wait for Loren to call, and eventually a nice chat with her. Felt great to be light and aware.

So still on the *to do* list is to get an english guide-book to Tokyo, lonely planet or the like, and a camera cable, charger and batteries.

Right now is a lazy sunday about 12:30, great sleep last night. Have had another nice breakfast and am goofing about the hotel room... soon going out to cross things off the *to do*.

Weather changed last night and now I can see mountains in the west.
First day of the course tomorrow.

55 minutes to get to client's site. Turns out that my time on the JR line is just about as long as my colleagues walk from their hotel to the Hamamasutscho monorail station. I was preparing myself for about a 90 minute commute being out in Shibuya... very good news in the end, as it's under 60. The express train Tarik had mentioned is in fact the monorail. There's one special train every so often which goes directly from Hamamatsucho to the airport... I think I'm better off with the typical train.

On top of that we've settled our daily schedule to be 09:30-17:00, which means that a morning practice with Tarik and a regular AM routine won't be so hectic. May even have time for a nice breakfast... trial run tomorrow...

I'm working in a big computer room, which means really cold and dry air. It's going to be a long six weeks in that respect. Didn't bring enough sweaters.

Nice big bowl of Soba for lunch today about 360y, with little mushrooms. The students were impressed that I could eat noodles with hachi (even though I may not be able to spell it).

9$ sushi dinner tonight from one of food shops in the Tokyu dept store... yum.

One hour and 6 minutes from the entrance of Shin Seibijo monorail to my hotel room. Which includes shopping for sushi dinner and lots of getting lost time trying to exit the station and then that damned Tokyu department store.

Yoga tomorrow with Tarik...

Some random shots of Tokyo:

Shibuya Day

Shibuya Night

Some Shots From TV

Yoga Building and Hotel

Monorail Commute

Shoes

Guess What

Our VP and the project manager, seemed to have a successful day, they passed another milestone, and they extended an invitation ot me to join them for dinner with the client.

I get self conscious the day after an event like that, because I socialize as if I'm with friends and am pretty open. And Japan is a culture which I don't really grasp the subtilites yet (huge understatment). But we had a good time and people were enjoyng themselves...

We were at a nice Italian resturant near Tokyo Bay. I think we missed an opportunity to have very fancy sushi, our guests (I think) suggested this place, as they were not sure if we were ready for authentic Japanese cusine.

Got to bed just past 01:00, so really that was not near enough sleep.

Looks like my forward bends are going to get a bit deeper...
Between adjustments in, either padangus-and pada hastha, paschimatan, and uttitha hasta padang they're going to have little choice.

Might even make what they call progress in the side facing uttitha hasta padang. Also looks like my funny floppy tiriang MPP might loose it's flop in a week or 2.

So far I'm pretty happy with the entire yoga-hotel-commute arrangment. Let's hope I've got the stamina to do another 5 weeks or so like this.

Not much sleep as I stayed out late last night...

(sent as an update to friends via email...yesterday??)

I'll be able to have a morning practice and get to work on time...
Almost missed my stop this morning... that would have been hell. Likely I would have had to get another ticket to get me back to hat one stop, as you pay for a pass based on the number of stops you're going, I barely avoided a commuting mess and being late when I looked up at the last minute as the doors were about to close... we had been idling at my stop for a little while... lucky. Today's commute time was 56 minutes. Timed from the lobby of the hotel, to the door of client's site... left right at 08:30.

Caution: YogaSpeak
I was at the shala right on time met Tarik, and had my first practice in a long while. Felt good. He seems to right on the mark as a mysore teacher, or at least seems to have a nice environment going at the space where he teaches. Some of the yoga students have very nice practices, and Tarik makes his way around the room spreading his attention pretty effectively.

I got up to JanuB and I think that's where I'll stay for this trip. I was dressing after doing closing sequence just about on time, about 07:50. I did waste some time at the start, as it looked as if the custom may have been to do the chant together, and then be on our merry mysore ways. So for a few minutes I was waiting... Turned out the 2 others present when I arrived, do a little warm up routine before they start, so there's no communal start protocol. Tomorrow I'll shave a few minutes off the routine. Though they did stop at one point to do the chant together... it was about 07:35 or so... I was just about finished JanuA right side when everybody sort of quickly shot up to standing. I have no idea what the trigger was. First time I did it short-winded, sort of a crash course on ashtanga pranayama!!

I also managed time for a nice breakfast at the hotel as well... This morning Mt Fuji was basking in morning sunshine and keeping watch over my shoulder while I ate. I can also see it for a stretch along the commute if I'm on the correct side of the train, it's quite stunning. As are the smaller mountains in that region, quite impressive in fact. I bet they don't get enough attention, with Fuji hanging out there in back.

The guys (my students) are good. They're polite, keen to learn and are putting up with some minor delays very well. I bring just short of 70GB of data to use during this course, and we've had to be creative with how we're making space on the client's machine.

I've just found the free green-tea machine, and a spare cup, so I'm set for a while and won't have to drop 70y a pop for tea/coffee in the vending machine anymore. Today, it's green tea and 85% dark chocolate for Desert, bought at the local 5th floor convenience store. A little reminder of home... I'll have to watch myself with that (the chocolate that is)!!

The guys are smokers, so after a quick lunch (today was another soup I think it was called Sho-Yu and a nice little cluster of seasoned rice, lightly sweet) I get a chance to come back to the lab and get some of this writing done.

Ran into our VP and the project manager this morning... looks like they didn't suffer the crowds on the JR or monorail lines. :-)

I think I know why this practice gets such a hold on people. I mean aside from the obvious ocd lure...

Receiving physical adjustments from a teacher each day is a real tough thing to put the body through...

Small (or not so small) adjustments by experienced teachers profoundly affect the body, and at the end of the day there's a level of soreness and aching, which creeps in as the muscles repair themselves...

It's kind of the same soreness you'll get about 8 hours after a physical fight...
So I'm suggesting that there's a survival endorphine which is released, and it's making the ashtangi feel as if they've survived some dangerous, or life threatening event (like a street fight)... and they want more, because it's a safe high.

This idea just occured to me after 3 days of adjustments in forward bending, hamstrings have no idea what's going on.

It's great...

Ok well I've been in touch with AMEX here in Tokyo, and they support what the guy at the Apple store told me... go to a post office. Yep that's right a post office.

So I finally got cash from an ATM using the corporate card. Good to have some bills in the pocket again. Hope The post office will come through with a functional transaction on my debit card next time around.

Nice practice this morning, good breathing. I'm trying to pick up the pace a bit, at least so that I can get some more time in relaxation, before heading off into the day. I don't have any extra time to do any sauna etc ( in fact I don't even have a sauna!)... so the winding down really does come from final relaxation pose now. Currently I'm getting to JanuA in about 40 minutes ( 3As and 3Bs), which only leaves about 15 minutes for finishing and rest.

Adjustments today came with paschimatan, and tiriangMPP. I totally flopped to the floor on right side today in tiriangMPP, so reset and went forward with Tarik's support, and adjustment. He's waking up a pretty dead part of my back with that assist.

Wouldn't surprise me if he's entertained by the amount of force he's having to exert on this thick asana-resistant body of mine. I could imagine that there's not that many people in his mysore program who require him to physically push this hard. Given that the average weight of his mysore student is likely in the range of 105 pounds (at the outside).

On top of that, until today I couldn't get my hands on enough cash to pay him! He's been very understanding about my cash situation... he's very kind, even offered to lend me some money!! Much faster action than my *urgent request for cash avance* from the company I'm working for.

So the whole wheat cereal and the prunes have finally caught up to all that rice.
The planets are once again aligned... thank the good lord.

Good brisk pace today, minimizing extra breaths, and the long pauses I can introduce between in/exhalations. Anybody who knows me personally has had to put up with the long gaps in my sentences. These pauses are long enough that some people think I've lost the mental thread... just slow wheels turning up there. Anyhow as with speach, so with breath. I have the same capacity for producing sort of a prolonged moment in between breath directions. I'm cutting down on those.

Adjustments arrived today during prasarita-padotan C and paschimatan. The hip-hinges are starting to feel different in the presaritas. Not sure if my trunk is actually getting les rounded, but going down and lifting out feels like there's a different action in the hip crease. We hung out for about 10 breaths today in paschimatan... ever so slow to come out of a pose once you've been assisted to go deeper.

I'm beginning to be able to take the foot/leg to the side in uttithahast-padang. The knee no longer tries to bend as soon as I initiate the swing. It waits a couple of moments longer...

My thoughts and prayers tonight are with Guruji, his family, close friends, ashtangis and all people he has managed to touch in any way.

I ask and trust, that he receives care, attention and love.

One of the newer members over on the ashtanga board posted an excerpt (or an interpretation) from another ashtangi's blog with some details about Guruji's condition. The blogger then contacted the board's moderator requesting the post be edited, and it has been done. That's the first time I've seen that happen on that board.

I don't think the discussion board post was done in a bad taste, however it did lack a certain sensivity. Any how it's modified now and even the blogger has applied some self censorship and modified their original blog-post. I'm sure there's lots more people now anxiously waiting news, including me.

My heart really does go out to all those people who have very close relationships with Guruji.

Early again (or right on time I should say 06:50). Adjustments today arrived (sounds like a UPS shipment eh?) in padhahastasan, prasarita padotan C and paschimatan. And I am still being able to get some side-swing range in uttthitha hastha padang. Interestingly I'm not missing the internal aspect of my practice, as it's coming from the slight effort to move things along a bit more briskly.

Starting to feel like I've got some control lowering legs in sirsasan, as well as feeling quite a bit more stable while up. Or at least better able to make finer corrections to the pose once I'm up.

Karnapindasan is seeing arms starting to be in correct position. Typically I've been getting knees close to ears, and grabbing toes instead of stretched out along the floor in the proper position. In the past few days I've been keeping proper hand position and just letting legs/knees hang down as far as they will... the letting-go feeling has been reminding me of the assist Sharmila was giving in this pose.

Still haven't felt like I had enough strength to do any chakrasanas, this short practice is still working up quite a sweat...

Was having a chat today with one of the students, a relative beginner (just past sun sals), and I was stressing how fortunate I thought Tokyo was to have Tarik here.

It's true they are.

It occured to me that I should post all my email updates sent home, right here. It'll make for easier viewing/reviewing later...

Now I know that some people would set up a blog just to be able to keep friends and family updated... but that's not my approach with this blog, it's less public, more private in a manner of speaking (how private could a blog be anyways? you might ask) I really don't know...

So here's the updates I authored for friends and family:

Japan01

Hello friends!!
Ogenki des-ka? (how are you [all]?)

As usual I'm a little scattered (and a bit stressed)...[and of course full of ease joy and glory... But you all know that part]

I've got my prep done and I'm ready for the Japan contract. It'll be 6 weeks in the field.

Last Wednesday there was some talk of not sending me to Japan, as a recent training opportunity opened in India... looks like we're too late in the game to change all that around... For now until I hear otherwise, I'm intending to go to Japan... yeah I know there's less then 48 hours before I'm scheduled to leave... we'll see...

Omosheeroi-neh? Phonetic Japanese for interesting, isn't it?
I'm going to have to figure out how to say... "how does it get any better than this?"

So I'm not packed, the travel agency has not yet gotten me full dates for the duration of my stay, and I don't have a reliable laptop case... The bookstore didn't have the Lonely Planet guide to Tokyo... I don't want to list the rest of the stuff... including getting my tax stuff together before the end of day tomorrow.

Japan is one of the countries that I've always wanted to visit. Kodo, http://www.kodo.or.jp/ unfortunately for me, is on a world tour, so while I'm in Japan, they're in North America. I'm hoping to find perhaps a Shakuhachi show, or perhaps a Noh show http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh. (Funny eh Noh-Show??) And of course the temples...

I'm very much looking forward to the opportunity to work with the Japanese, and to try a different way of eating/living/commuting... and of course to practice yoga. The yoga should not be all that different, as I've found the Ashtanga yoga shala in Tokyo... though it will be different as I'll be in the daily care of an experienced Mysore style teacher (a big difference!!)... let's just hope that the hotels free something up for me...

I know there's a few people on the list who were expecting (because I had mentioned it would be possible) to be in touch personally before I leave, though it really looks like it will not happen, sorry about that. In place, I will try to organize a small gathering in mid-May.

In the mean time, I'm planning to send updates from the field including stories and photos... if you don't have room for me in your inbox, let me know and I'll modify the list.

roy

Japan02

Got a chance to practice getting around Tokyo.
This city is huge! It's a dense, convaluted, spiraling jumble of concrete, metal and train tracks. It's uber-claen. It's got neat sudden little hilly parts which seem to nest most of the interesting restaurants and bars (and scary looking dudes).

The officials are friendly, and helpful, though it's difficult to get the help of passers-by. I think this would be a tremendously exciting city to visit if you knew some-one who could show you around... and I'm guessing it really excells at nightlife (not my thing)... or if you could speak the language, right now it seems like it's going to be kind of a lonely trip (day one... 41 to go).

My hotel is right at the Shibuya intersection (What a trip!!!) Check it out...

http://blip.tv/file/101418
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipEEGG_VY5k&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TucFJIpVI8Q
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/PAN1012.php

I've acquired my monthly pass for the JR Yamanote rail system, one down one to go. I still have to get the monorail pass. I travelled to Hamamasutcho station today, but the ATM-like machine which dispenses the passes for monorail only accept cash, and I had none. It was about 25 minutes travel from Shibuya to Hamamasutcho during non-peak hours, so I got an opportunity to travel the system without the typical crowding pressures...

The ATMs in the station didn't want to accept my corporate AMEX card, nor my personal debit card, and I returned to the hotel area to try to find a bank. Success was finally had at CitiBank, though they didn't accept the AMEX either. I've debited 300$ cdn from my account (which is already on a tight budget) to be able to get the monorail pass.

While searching for the CitiBank I accidentally found Yoga-Tokyo where the Chicago ashtanga teacher was guest teaching, though this is probably not the place where I'll practice. I'm still waiting for exact loaction details from the teacher at Mysore-Tokyo... likely I walked by it today as well... it's hard to figure out what's right in fron of you here.

Anyhow by the time I had some yen, it was too late to get down to the client's location to do the data transfer, and pc check, that'll have to wait for Monday. I wanted the opportunity be kind of formal and get to site before Monday, but thats the way the fish-cracker crumbles.

It's early Friday evening, and I'm starting to get hungry (surprised?) Going to have to decide between trying to find the unagi http://www.flickr.com/photos/59642267@N00/29212879/ house I walked by earlier, or trying the hotel's japanese restaurant.

Sending photos will have to wait until I get a usb cable for the camera...

Hope you're all well...

Japan03

I've got a few things sorted out...

Travel for one.
I've got my train passes bought (both for one month [teiki] and both bought from atm-like vending machines), though I'll have to do it again because I thought they were only available in one month periods, so I'll have to get 2 more for the last 2 weeks.

I got out to the training location (dry-run) and by my timer the trip was about 50 minutes each way from my hotel. Better than the 1 and a half hours I was suspecting. This was on a Saturday, so the jury's still out as to whether Monday-to-Friday commute times are longer or shorter. I know there'll be way more people in either case!!

Yesterday (Saturday)
Nice breakfast, and off to the world of Shibuya and Tokyo trains. Since Tarik had given a good visual description by email, of where he gives yoga classes, I was trying to identify the building by looking out the various windows of the hotel, alas I could not find it and was a bit discouraged. After I ventured outside I realized that my hotel could not have been any closer to the location. It's so close I can't even see the building from the hotel! Less than a minute walk... very good news.

Then I had coffee in Starbucks overlooking the intersection, and watched the crowds for a while, still an entertaining thing to do. I try to pick one person in the cue and follow them till they get to the other side... not so easy at all. Next up, as I've mentioned, was buying the monorail pass and traveling down to the client's site.

Sushi for another...
Googled "sushi in Shibuya" and ended up with this:
http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyofooddrinksarchive349/305/tokyofooddrinksinc.htm
Excerpt: "Sushi Daidokoya A kaiten-zushi shop in the middle of Shibuya that caters mostly to an over-thirty crowd. The fish is bought every morning in Tsukiji, assuring freshness. The portions are thicker than in many other places so you can really sink your teeth into them. The price for two pieces is JY300.
Open 11am-11pm daily. 2-15-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku (03-3476-4066). Nearest stn: Shibuya."
And that's where I ate... yum yum... freaking yum!!

On the way I found a Yamaha music store, and drooled over drum hardware for a while. Even auditioned a 29000y maple snare... wow! I feel very self conscious doing that sort of thing (I'm not an accomplished drummer). The guys in the shop helped me find Daidokoya (right across the street actually).

On the way back I stopped by the hotel's bar and had a nice Japanese single malt whiskey, then off to the room to wait for Loren to call, and eventually a nice chat with her. Felt great to be light and aware.
So still on the *to do* list is to get an english guide-book to Tokyo, lonely planet or the like, and a camera cable, charger and batteries.

Right now is a sunny lazy sunday about 13:00, great sleep last night. Have had another nice breakfast and am goofing about the hotel room... soon going out to cross things off the *to do*.

Weather changed last night and now I can see mountains in the west.

First day of the course tomorrow (updates may come slower once I'm in course [or at least be a bit less long-winded]).

Tangerine Dream playing on itunes...

Hope you're all well and in great spirits!!


R

Japan04

If I don't Get Too Comfortable, I'll be able to have a morning practice and get to work on time...
Almost missed my stop this morning... that would have been hell. Likely I would have had to get another ticket to get me back to hat one stop, as you pay for a pass based on the number of stops you're going, I barely avoided a commuting mess and being late when I looked up at the last minute as the doors were about to close... we had been idling at my stop for a little while... lucky. Today's commute time was 56 minutes. Timed from the lobby of the hotel, to the door of client's site... left right at 08:30.

Caution: YogaSpeak
I was at the shala right on time met Tarik, and had my first practice in a long while. Felt good. He seems to right on the mark as a mysore teacher, or at least seems to have a nice environment going at the space where he teaches. Some of the yoga students have very nice practices, and Tarik makes his way around the room spreading his attention pretty effectively.

I got up to JanuB and I think that's where I'll stay for this trip. I was dressing after doing closing sequence just about on time, about 07:50. I did waste some time at the start, as it looked as if the custom may have been to do the chant together, and then be on our merry mysore ways. So for a few minutes I was waiting... Turned out the 2 others present when I arrived, do a little warm up routine before they start, so there's no communal start protocol. Tomorrow I'll shave a few minutes off the routine. Though they did stop at one point to do the chant together... it was about 07:35 or so... I was just about finished JanuA right side when everybody sort of quickly shot up to standing. I have no idea what the trigger was. First time I did it short-winded, sort of a crash course on ashtanga pranayama!!

I also managed time for a nice breakfast at the hotel as well... This morning Mt Fuji was basking in morning sunshine and keeping watch over my shoulder while I ate. I can also see it for a stretch along the commute if I'm on the correct side of the train, it's quite stunning. As are the smaller mountains in that region, quite impressive in fact. I bet they don't get enough attention, with Fuji hanging out there in back.

The guys (my students) are good. They're polite, keen to learn and are putting up with some minor delays very well. I bring just short of 70GB of data to use during this course, and we've had to be creative with how we're making space on the client's machine.

I've just found the free green-tea machine, and a spare cup, so I'm set for a while and won't have to drop 70y a pop for tea/coffee in the vending machine anymore. Today, it's green tea and 85% dark chocolate for Desert, bought at the local 5th floor convenience store. A little reminder of home... I'll have to watch myself with that (the chocolate that is)!!

The guys are smokers, so after a quick lunch (today was another soup I think it was called Sho-Yu and a nice little cluster of seasoned rice, lightly sweet) I get a chance to come back to the lab and get some of this writing done.

Ran into our VP and the project manager this morning... looks like they didn't suffer the crowds on the JR or monorail lines. :-)

Japan05-no worries

So this morning I was in line at the restaurant on the 25th floor, and for about 20 seconds while reading my newpaper, I felt a bit dizzy, and very slightly nausious. I thought I didn't have that much sake last night...

And about 10 minutes later the hotel's earthquake alarm was sounding. No worries I'm fine, the quake was very far away from Tokyo.

Hope you're all well.

Japan06

So as I've mentioned Japan has encountered an earthquake this (Sunday) morning...
It actually was a big one, I think 7.4 magnitude. It was on the north-western shore, pretty far from Tokyo, where I'm staying. It claimed one death, and over one hundred people were injured, though I'm sure none around here were.

I've just had my first western meal (sort of) in quite some time. I went to a place called Bobby's Cafe. Had a glass of beer, a pumpkin and cheese spring roll, and tandor chicken. Wasn't western, not really Asian, and certainly not Indian!! It was tasty food though, from a very an odd little restaurant on the 4th floor of one of the main streets around my hotel. The number of establishments per square foot is astounding. Go into any of the hundreds (thousands??) of the little (or big) buildings, and you find entire cities nestled within. Getting lost in Tokyo is facile, getting lost in one of these buildings is guaranteed.

Cash...
Wow Tokyo is a real cash-based economy. The Citibank which is where I managed my only 2 cash withdrawls since I've been here, no longer seems to provide that service on my debit card. And finding places who accept the American Express (in any way) is a needle/haystack undertaking. I am in a very cool city with tons of things to do and I can't seem to be able to get any cash anywhere (can't afford do anything).

It's been suggested to me to go to the post office... of all places. Apparently the post offices in Japan are a one-stop-shop for all kinds of things and services. Currently I've got 700y in my pocket and no real idea of how I'll get more (that's about 7$ Canadian) to cover my next 5 weeks. I feel like a nice Starbucks coffee, but if I do that I won't be able to afford lunch tomorrow (good coffee is expensive, JAL's caf is affordable).

Last night I was craving some western food, most affordable restaurants only accept cash, so I was pretty limited in my selection... room service... I called to place my order around 18:45... Well room service only starts at 21:00... damn!

Well guess I'd better hit the streets then... 1st to the Citibank hoping against all odds that whatever glitch was preventing me from making subsequent withdrawls on my debit card was gone... no luck... wandered around to drop into a couple of the smaller local banks to try my cash-withdrawl luck...still none... off again to the grocery store across the street in the Tokyu dept store (they accept VISA). Picked up more Sake, and by the time I got to the place I wanted to shop at, it was closing... 21:00 not much selection left... and boy I was hungry... thought about not buying food and returning to the hotel room to get room service... ahhh!!! Buy food now!!!

Remember I was craving western food... check out the girly-sushi I ended up getting, photos attached...

Last night I got to see a Kumi-Dakio (Japanese group-drumming) performance. The group's name is Ondekoza. I've seen them in Montreal a few years back, their show is great. This kind of music in a live context is a very powerful experience, through it's range of fierceness and gentleness... really moving... check this out:

http://www.fesfestival.com/photos2006/04-06/ZaOndekozaLesTamboursdeTok/index.html


Hope your all well,

roy-san

Japan07-pix

As promised...
A couple of shots, commuting, streets, hotel room. vending machines, phones etc...
Enjoy...

goodmorning-goodnight!

Pretty much the same photos posted here...

Japan08

The post office comes through!
Hey gang... thanks to everybody who offered to help out financially. I appreciate the offers! Turns out the ATMs at the post office are able to do cash withdrawls, so I'm good for money right now. Why didn't my hotel know this you may ask??? They do now...

And just so that you know, it's not like I had no money... just no cash. I was ok to live at the hotel, and fancy restuarants with my credit cards. Just that Tokyo has so many interesting places to eat (and do yoga), and none of those accept anything other than cash, so I was a prisiner to the high-end joints for a while... now I'm ok, I can go back to the little 14$ sushi joints, and can afford to pay the yoga teacher. He'e originally from the States, so he understood my situation, as he'd been through it himself. He's arranged it so that I can pay whenever I can... looks like that may be tomorrow.

Ya know... I thought that Udon noodles would be easier to eat (with chop-sticks) than Soba, as Udon is a much larger noodle... wrong! Udon is in fact larger and rounder, and has much less surface for friction, and seems naturally slippier to boot. It was quite a struggle to down yesterday's soup, despite being well established with the sticks. Today's soup was Ton-ka t'su. A nice pork soup in a white-ish base, kind of like coconut milk-based soups, very tasty (Oishee) and a simple thin egg noodle, (which was way easy easier than yesterday's undon).

ciao4now, and thanks again!

Japan09

Some of you guys are funny...
Any who think I've got animal, or special senses (re: earthquake story), think of it this way...

I have no extra-ordinary senses, just the ability to recognize when the surface I'm standing on (actually I was sitting) is moving, or at least not as motionless as it typically is.

I felt the quake as it was happening,
The hotel's alarm, quite simply, sounded after the earthquake.

And I imagine you all would have had simmilar reactions... except you likely would have been quicker than I, and figured out that since you were in Japan and on the 25ht floor, your dizziness was due to an earthquake, not to having consumed too much Sake the night before. :-)

But then again perhaps I was slow to figure because of the Sake.

Or perhaps I am "sepcial".

As in "oh yeah Roy... he's special"

Hope you're all well!!


Roy

Japan10

Hey gang!
My course is going well, my weeks are passing pretty quickly.
I miss Montreal and home, and you all, very much...

Can hardly imagine that I've got 4 more weeks left... usually at the 2 week point during a course I'm half way done... this time it's only 2/3rds... I've got the entire duration of the usual course still in front of me.

This would be an absolutely terrific city to be in if I had some local friends who could show me the goods. Though I have to admit that during the week, the days are very full. Between daily yoga, public transportation, and training (exhausting) I've got little energy left to get around to the city at hand.

Friday night after work on the way home I was treated to a spectacular sunset. It was beautiful beyond words... the clouds, the light, the air the mountains, the landscape... and my photos do not do it justice. Especially since Mt. Fuji was in the frame, and that doesn't come through in the snaps at all...

iPod's currently playing a wonderful tune from The Diga Rhythm Band. It's fundamentally a percussion ensemble formed by Micky Heart from the Dead and Zakir Hussein...

Have cash, can eat at cool joints...
I've found a little standing resto/bar... soooo delicious. My 2 favs there are the Seared beef-wrapped asparagus and the sort of sashimi/gazpacho (sp??) Maguro (tuna). The bacon seared scallops are pretty good as well as the Kimchi... They sell for like 6$ a plate max, small dishes a la Tapas... see photos...

Tomorrow night (Sunday) I think I'm off to a yoga party!
Check this out... http://www.yogajaya.com/en/events/2007_04_jayajaya.html

Well I've had a lazy day today, conserving energy for Hanami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami
http://images.google.com/images?&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&lr=&as_ft=i&as_qdr=all&as_dt=i&as_rights=&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi&q=%20%22hanami%22

I get the impression that Gilles will never speak to me again if I don't get out and do this.

Anyhow here's a smattering of various photos which have been accumulating on my camera...
By now, The Beatles, The smiths, Van Morrison, Shreikback, Brian Eno Big Sugar, Shakuhachi (trad Japanese flute) have all played during the composition of this update...

I've become a member of the Hotel's point-awarding club... I just received 10000 y in certificates... what to spend it on???? ... oh yeah, the list of shops where these coupons are valid is entirely in Japanese (kanji). Going to be fun...

OK friends... I'm in a reading mode...
I'm asking to receive some updates from you all, Montreallers, Vancouverans, Paris-eans, Baldwin's Mill-eans, Kanada-ians, email savvy, and not... busy folks and not-so-busy folks, please find some time to send me a note to let me know how you're doing... photo attachments are also welcome.

I hope you're all well...

Yours in easiness, joyfulness, and gloriousness,
(How does it get better than this?)

I think I can smell the blossoms now... gotta run...

roy-san

Photos referenced are here...

Japan11

Well I may have to settle for monorail-Hanami. Photos of the Sakura (cherry tree) blossoms shot from my morning commute on the Tokyo monorail to be posted tomorrow. Even though the snaps aren't much to observe, the sights and smells of these wonderful trees just as you go around is quite the thing of beauty.

Yes Gilles, this is no joke...

Saturday night was when I had planned to get out to Hanamize, however it was raining. I've got 2 pairs of dress shoes, and the idea of walking around the grasses of Tokyo's version of Central Park was not at all in my interest. Was looking farward to trying Sunday if it was drier. It really wasn't, and I did want to do the party.
So far no Hanami outings... though maybe tonight... there'll be fewer crowds.

Speaking of crowds and Hanami, Sunday I saw TV news coverage of Hanami from one of the parks... and there were thousands of people out.. really tons of people. They all had their blue tarpolins out a la Mastercraft under thier favorite tree... or any available tree. This was just like the casual gatherings you see in quebec in some of the parks and public places... for instance say, on the nights of the fireworks (just on a much much larger scale). I have to admit that these are the kinds of situations I look to avoid when at home, and seeing the news coverage lessened my interest in getting out. We'll see...

The yoga party was fun on the other hand... yoga posture (and gung-fu) demonstraion by a world-known ashtangi celebrity, 2 belly-dance inspired performances by a girl here in the Tokyo yoga scene (originally from Ohio), music performance by (guitar djembe and vocals) by the same guy who did the posture demo and a Toronto ex-pat, and some very cool chill dj-ing, by yet another ex-Torontorian.

Got a chance to speak with a NLP (neuro-linguistic-processing) specialist/hypnotherapist, and his Tokyo girlfriend. Conversation with him just felt right, like a coming home. In a way I'm not at all surprised... could that be my calling?? I hear there can be good money in it... oh yeah he's originally from Scotland... met a Columbian documentary photographer, a local Tokyo yogi, and some of the senior Japan/Tokyo/Kyoto yoga crew.

It was in the part of Tokyo were you find most of the ex-pats, called Roppongi Hills. Even though the club where the party was held, is right on a road (dori) which essentially runs past my hotel, the locals say it would take me close to 2 hours to walk... did I mention the city is huge??

Found a great place to snack last night. I had nama haru maki, and a Yebisu beer. Nama haru maki is like a health food spring roll, with a very small amout of fish in it, and lots of greens... just the right amount of food. I think it was about 8$.

It's a real treat to come this far from home and be able to be in the hands of a qualified ashtanga yoga instructor. At home I practice according to the methodology and principals of my teacher and his teacher etc... though I practice alone, and don't often get to practice with instruction. Or in ashtanga parlance, with rockin adjustments!!

Another great meal at my favorite tachinomya (standing bar) tonight...

Off to sleep... or...
Gotta figure out how to do the expense claim thing from the field so that I can pay the credit card...

Wish me luck!!


r

Japan12

Hi gang!

3 down, 3 to go...
I miss you guys...

Heartfelt thanks to everybody who wrot me back... it was terrific to hear from you all...

Very sleepy Saturday... slept till about 10:30, wokd and showered and shaved and all, and then power napped untill about 15:00. Thought I might have taken in a museum vist today... perhaps tomorrow... and maybe even a Shibuya haircut...

Woke up... headed out into Shibuya... walked around to loosen my lower back. That much sleep is not good for me phsysiologically, though it's just what I need internally after a long week of yoga teaching and commuting.

Back to my favorite Kaitzen-Zushi joint 20$ including a big beer... very tasty.
Toro, Ika, Tako, Sake, Saba, Ebi, Tamachi... yum freakin yum!

Brian Eno on the ipod right now... Ambient 1, Music for Airports???? Not sure...

After that dropped back into the Yamaha msic store... "sound-checked" a top of the line digital drum set up... in the head phones... Sugoi-in-ehhhh!!! (very freaking cool!!!!)

Back to the hotel and watched 2 episodes of Top Gear, and finished half as many bottles of sake... it was unfiltered and bubly. Very delicious. Proclaimers playing on the ipod and speaker combo... King of the Road (one of my father's favorite songs... he played it on guitar).

Friday's yoga practice was really lite, due to Thursday's party... which was really a hoot!! Our client has 2, maybe 3 outings like this every year, and I was lucky enough to be here for one of them. It was a classical Japan business outing, in tatami mat style restaurant. Openning speaches from everybody including the client's rookies, senoir management (vp llevel) and me and Marc, employees from my company both stationed in Tokyo for now... Kampai!!!!

Lots of beer and lots of Sake... I got along well with everybody, and didn't take anywhere close to enough pictures (see attached). Really good food, and lots of getting to know each other. Got the chance to relate to my students in, what they called, speaking to each other from from the heart... very cool.
I chatted with the rookies, and bowed to them, and bowed to anybody who would pour sake. Did the classical business card exchange with some upper managers, and generally had a blast.

I remember eating wasabi straight, when one of the employees thought he was going to introduce me to it (little did he know). He handed me a tasty bowl of soba noodles with a little garneshing of wasabi. I could see in his eyes that he was anticipating my tasting of the sacred green stuff...

I offered a litlle wager... how long did he think I could withstand eating half the wasabi without any beer, sake or rice... The average guess around the table was 10 seconds...

I picked up about half the pile and deposited in my mouth... the looks on their face were wonderful... I waited about 20 seconds... and then very slowly picked up the remainder, and dropped it right onto my tounge... "very dangerous!!!!" was the excited cry from the guy who initially offered me the sample....

"I know..." I said, and proceeded to roll and tounge the wasabi around in my mouth... they looked on in complete ashtonishment... no sweat I said, drawing my first 2 fingers across my forhead, which had not yet produced any sweat. They bowed to me...

Tokyo is a very neat city, and I wish I knew someone of like mind who could show me the hot-spots...

That yogajaya website is indeed pretty cool... no I can not do the postures depicted there. Those are done by very experienced individuals (and also slightly ego-centric) ... my practice contrasted by outward appearances is quite humble. Though who knows what another year or 2 will yeild... if it does produce the ability to do such cool postures, I doubt I'll be posted on the internet... though I'd be happy to offer personal demos...

For those of you who are interested, I am comming close to being able to do one of the simple standing postures called uttitha hastha padangustashana/parsvasahitha, check here:
http://ashtangayoga.info/asana-vinyasa/primary-series/01c-Utthita-Parsvasahita.html

Not impressive... but quite impressive....

All the hard work on the forward bends, may just have rendered me useless as a cyclist and mountainbike hill climber, Gio, Drew, you mayhave to wait for me at the top of all thoses Rougemont summits...

As promised I've attached some photos of my Tokyo Monorail Hanami experiences... enjoy...
There's even 2 photos of Mt. Fuji included... just for Gilles... you may have to look hard to see find it...

For those of you who didn't visited the links to hanami, here they are again...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=hanami

Shreikback is playing now... Running on the Rocks... "...we're going to find out what the rules are then..."

May all beings be free from sorrow and the cause of sorrow, and may all being know happiness and the cause of happiness... may be the Sake talking, though it's conveying my favorite message...

With Love,

Roy-san

PS
The night is not over... I think I'm hungry again... back to Salsa Tachinomia???

OK... so now it's Ry Cooder playing slide from Boomer's Story... if you don't know this album, go out an get it straight-away!!! Or download it or whatever... but listen you must...

Photos...

Japan13

I don't care how much yoga (asanas) one does, or any other physical exercise for that matter...
One likely won't loose weight if one's daily (or every-other-daily) intake includes chocolate truffles, full-milk cappuccinos, and double cheese dainishes.

Fact.

PS
Kanada-ians... thanks for all the great photos!!!

Japan14

Hi gang!

So I had a difficult time tonight deciding on whether to go back to standing bar, or sushi bar. Decided on Standing bar (Tachynomiya) Tachy=standing Nomiya=drink... It's called Salsa I'll be happy to tell you how to get lost in Shibuya, so that you may find this joint...

Met 2 Amway guys, one from Osaka, and one not too far from Kyoto... we got along straight away...

(Brothers by Ry Cooder, playing from Paris Texas on the iPod)

They were very impressed with my (very limited) Japanese. Pronunciation probably was what won their hearts...
Had a nice chat in Salsa (the Standing bar)... and I quickly turned the conversation to sushi...

I need to know how to order the hot nigiri plate I had 2 weeks ago... everybody I ask about hot, or grilled nigiri tells me there's no such thing... they think I'm crazy Okaashi-eee!!

I pleaded for their help. I offered to treat them to sushi if they could instruct me on how to order the hot nigiri... they accepted.

We had very little English between us, and even less Japanese (impressed as they were with the little I knew).
Once back at sushi bar, Da Doko Ya, these guys managed to order us tons of heated nigiri!!!

I have to pause to elicit some sort of inkling as to how much more delicious certain sushi combinations are when heated. I know what some of you may be thinking...

Though, as I've learned, it's not really heating... they do this torch-like thing to the nigiri. Much like creme-brule...
Oh my god so freaking yum!!!

Well suffice it to say that I paid for one order of Sake, and one round of their drinks at Salsa... and the rest of the evening was on them... no arguing about it... "Welcome party" they kept saying... "no pay"...
We had several orders of Maguro at Salsa, and tons of nigiri-sushi at Da Doko Ya's, lot's of it heated/torched, their treat... what a treat!!!

Well so now you're all thinking that I'm now equipped to order more nigiri-brule... not the case.
The one question I failed to ask clearly is "how to order torched nigiri???" I could get them to order more... on end... but could not get from them to tell me how to order for myself. Life's a long-shot I hear...

Any how...

#1 on the agenda tonight was to get my hair cut... what a story that is!! I'll save it for another email...
Please find attached, before and after (haircut) shots of me... and one of me and my new Amway buddies Tadaumi-san and Takayuki-san. (Alberto, comments about my ego-centricity are expected at this point).

Too much fun for a Thursday night...
Hope you're all grand and glorious adventures unto yourselves...

Roy-san (I won't refer to myself that way here... don't worry)


PS
To all those that think I "must" try pachinco...
If slamming myself in the head with a hammer in Montreal will hurt, it will still hurt when I'm in Tokyo. What do you think is the justification for the "obligation" to do this while I'm here???? As far as I'm concerned, pachinco can not get better than watching it from through the window, for as short a period as possible... if not from the other side of the road, where the decibel level is at least tolerable for short periods. Same goes for karioki...

PPS
Yeah I know... too comfortable with the NLP and Amway people... Japan is wierd... not me... I swear...
You can argue with me after you've visited here...

[photos to be posted soon]

Japan15

Hey folks!

I'm still alive...

I'm pretty sure I've met a spy (has nothing to do with my still being alive as far as I know). I haven't verified if he slashes his zeros and dashes his Sevens; a sure way to spot a spy according to my good buddy Gilles. Doryan is from Korea (South) [that's what he says] and he's traveled to 46 countries. And has been to 48 of the US states... way too much travel for an ordinary (young) person... know what I mean??

Well I'm not really sure he's a spy, though he does have uncanny situational awareness and a tremendous amount of social and perceptual awareness. He's likely one of the smartest people I've ever met, and he's genuinely centered.

Last Saturday night, me and a Californian (a guy named Dylan) who is staying at the same hotel as I, went out for dinner and a few drinks, and bumped into the spy, and his Tokyo connection, a guy named Hiro. It was a fun night, there was not one single conversational topic the spy knew nothing about. It scared even me... There's a shot of the four of us attached...

Part of the evening was awkward dealing with a guy from Mexico. The Mexican was (drunk and) slamming Dylan for being American. I could have done without all that argumentative stuff, but bits of it were entertaining nonetheless.

Found a really wonderful Indian restaurant, excellent chapatis, and butter nan which would have made Ian's mouth water. They even served Kingfisher beer! Lamb curry, vegetable curry, and of course bindi. We were sent there (The Jewel of India), by Riday, of the Train Bar, who is originally from Bangalore... small world eh? The waiter was very happy to have client's who could handle proper Indian seasoning (apparently the Japanese are really only good at wasabi in terms of heat). Riday's brother is a guy named Roy, so that partly explains the graffiti on the air conditioner (see attached)...

Speaking of Bangalore, for those of you who knew I may have had a assignment there in the near future, as of Monday the 16th, the project has been shelved. So, no India trip any time soon, I sorry to announce, though it will make a much more reasonable summer for Loren and me.

The yoga studio where I'm practicing has a guest teacher from the UK in town for a week. Really I've got a magnet for ashtanga teachers and travel. I've had the opportunity to meet the grand-daddy (twice), his grandson and grand-daughter (twice) all in India, Darby, Shankara, Leino, Petteri, Celistine, and now Tarik and Hamish. Of course top honnors go to Glen and Christine for being my first intro to this beauty. Hamish has changed my downward dog forever... ok enough yoga talk...

Hanami is very close to completely over. I'm going to try to take some close-up photos of the sakura blossoms at Ryutsu Center Monorail station, they're lasting longer than anywhere else I've seen. It was indeed a very beautiful thing to see Japan turn into Spring with those magnificent tress all over the city. At one point I was stopped at a train station (maybe Ebisu or Gotanda), and the doors were open. I caught the scent of a very beautiful perfume, and I looked around the train and wondered which girl might be sporting it. As the minutes passed (unusual for JR Line) the fragrance got so strong it became clear that now woman could wear enough perfume to create such a profound experience... it was sakura scent drifting into the rail car. Impossible to explain the beauty of this experience.

I've twice now seen a Clydesdale horse grazing in the inner field at the race track I pass daily on the way to work. Dramatic irony if I do say so. I doubt this guy runs the course... I feel an affinity to (with??) these creatures, as in the cycling world, when you weigh as much as I do, you register to race in the Clydesdale Class... no joke.

Oh yeah, I had a massage... for those of you who remember my Toronto days, you'll recall that even in that fine and English city I managed to get myself into the wrong kind of massage parlor (another very long story for those of you who haven't heard it)... imagine what could go wrong here in Shibuya...

Turned out just fine though... nice one hour session with a therapist named Inamura. A slight guy who is not that familiar with thick dense muscles (back and legs) of big westerners, but he knows the body very well and offered a good deep session nonetheless (nothing like my regular sessions back home I assure you).

Turns out those membership points/dollars are good for hotels and restaurants associated with the chain I'm staying at. Have got a reservation for four for next week (I love the fact that I had an opportunity to type that, English is cool eh?) Going out with my students and their supervisor Thursday night, sushi in Yokohama, hope it doesn't tast like rubber (sorry, couldn't resist).

Any how... it is getting late here, I've still got to get my photos off the camera...
Speaking of photos, I'm going to have to go back to Salsa and order the mushroom dish again so that I can take and send photos to Alberto (and you all).

In the mean time, you can see my typical weekday breakfast... maybe it's not the chocolate, cheese Danishes and the cappuccinos preventing me from loosing the pounds, rather the croissants and butter after practice...

Hope you're all in good health and spirits,

Miss you,

roy-san

Chotto... chotto, chotto!!

[photos to be posted soon]

Japan16
Tokyo trip is extended by 2 weekends...
My return date will likely be May 8th.
Tons of hard work (and some play) has been getting in the way my being able to commit my experiences to email.

If all goes well a small photo-essay on some of the things/places/people I've been experienceing in the last while.

Hope you're all splendid (actually I know you are)

P.S. I gave in.... last night I was at karaoke... it was a blast ... (don't tell Gilles or Bernard)

Japan17
Photos

Japan18
Well I woke at 18:00hrs. Went to bed just after noon, I have agreed to a special request to work night shifts. It's foolish, though it's for the students benefit. Their pay checks have really been suffering since they have been on this course, many fewer hours and no overtime.

I'm a sucker... though I'm happy to do it.
You might be thinking it'll be a perfect opportunity to reset my clock to Montreal time... oh no... you see Monday the 7th is my last day of work here, and I have to do a day shift. BAM!!

I guess you could say the good news is that I am spared from doing my yoga practice 10-20 minutes after waking (which in kinda rough). I watched the sun go down over the mountains in the west, got dressed and went out for breakfast/dinner. Back to Salsa, tonic water, asparagus/beef sautéed, mushrooms sautéed, and the avocado/tomato salade. Had a hard time explaining why I wasn't ordering sake.

Really sorry to all you work folk in the field who's inboxes got slammed by photo overload... hope there weren't too may headaches with that...

Thanks to everybody who sent birthday wishes, I try to not make a fuss about that sort of thing, few people know my birthday (the sneaky ones of you who have managed to get it from me hurray). I am now 40 years old. My buddy Stephe asked me recently, how does it feel to be old, I told him I have no idea, though I'd consider getting back to him in 3 or 4 decades. Still might not have an answer for him at that point either... we'll see...

My energy is good, have been in good spirits despite being in a strange place with not that much English conversation (important part of my life as many of you know) [what??... do I hear mumblings of Understatement of the Century!!! Watchit!!]

Anyone out there thinking they want to got to Japan/Tokyo... DO IT!! It is a fascinating and stimulating place. And a lot more affordable than you are probably imagining.

For those of you who know about my singing (in)abilities... you'd get a charge to learn how I impressed everyone with my renditions of Message in a Bottle, and Rock n' Roll by the Police and Led Zep at karaoke last Friday night.

Laugh as much as you want... I have witnesses who can testify to my rather (and surprisingly) musical renditions of these songs. I'd pay money to have the video of that session...

Miss you all... wish me luck with the schedule...

roy-san

LED Statue of Liberty, and Very Tasty Black Peper Crackers

Shots in and around Hamamatsucho

Stunning Sunset Shot from Tokyo Monorail

Food!!!!