Random Friday blah...

It was a busy week. Maybe because it's because after Golden Week. People are back at work. People are back in Tokyo. So yeah, Tokyo is crowded once again. Haha! It doesn't really bother me because I don't really like going to Shibuya or Shinjuku. If I do go to those areas, the places I go to are in the less crowded areas.

As for the trains, I haven't been taking the train so often. Given the nice weather, I've been walking to work and back home almost every day. Hehe. It's not much of an exercise because it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes but it still counts for something I guess.

I haven't had a chance to go for a run this week. I'm planning to go for a run this afternoon after my Japanese lessons.

Tonight, I'm having dinner with a visiting friend from Singapore. Like I said, God has been good enough to send my friends to Tokyo almost every month. Maybe he knows how I feel here. Haha!

Anyway, I had made another decision recently. I'll say I'm almost 90% decided. I chatted with Tey and with Tipz and I'm glad to get their support.

Long story short: as much as I enjoy hitting the drums, there's just something that's off. So I guess I should move on and try to find whatever it is somewhere else.

"I still haven't found what I'm looking for" is playing in my head.

I guess I'm kind of going to miss it. I wouldn't say I'm super good but I think I'm good. Lol.

Thinking about it now, I also decided to just go for one-to-one Japanese lessons instead of my usual small group lessons. I felt like the group lesson's not really working for me. I only feel bad about myself when I go for the lesson and I decided I'm not going to sit in another lesson for two hours feeling bad about myself. Lol.

Changes, changes....

Another one....

Yesterday, one of my regular students had his last lesson.

He had used up all his lesson points.

We usually have our lesson at lesson. After some time, you kinda get used to seeing the person.

One of my first super regular students was a guy who was prepping for his overseas assignment. He had a lot of room for improvement but he's really motivated to learn.

When we had our last lesson together, it felt like breaking up with someone.

After I had similar instances with other students, I thought it would be easier the next time but it's not. I still feel sad when it's time to say goodbye to a student.

Sigh.

I need to be tougher. Hehe!

Honne and Tatemae...

Though I may have been living in Tokyo for more than a year, the place is still one big mystery to me.

I may live here for a hundred years and I still probably wouldn't fully understand the Japanese culture.

Recently, one of the things I'm learning to understand/deal with is honne and tatemae.

Simply put, honne is a person's true feelings and desires (本音, "true sound") and tatemae is the behavior and opinions one displays in public (建前, "built in front", "façade").

It's a concept that I feel a lot of foreigners find difficult to understand.

To the outsider, it seems like being two-faced. To the local, it means being polite.

It's difficult to understand and I'm not starting to see this in the past few failed dates I've had. On more than one occasion, at the end of a date that I thought went well, the other guy would say, "Let's hang out again." "Looking forward to seeing you again."

Now, I know that they don't really mean it. It's just their way of avoiding conflict, or perhaps avoiding to hurt someone's feelings.

What I'm wondering is if they know that either way, they actually hurt another person's feelings. Hehe!

In any case, I feel I have to constantly remind myself of these two concepts. Maybe then I won't be as annoyed with some people. Maybe then I would move one step forward to understanding this beautiful country and its people more.

Not replying promptly... is it a Tokyo disease? Lol.

It doesn't really take a lot of time to reply to a message, does it?

Read somewhere:

If someone wants to be a part of your life, they will seriously make an effort to be in it.
No Reasons.
No Excuses.

So true. For this reason, get a dose of your own medicine. Lol!

Feverish Wednesday night...

There's always a first time.

So, today, I had to cancel four lessons because I'm down with fever.

Thankfully, there were only four lessons this morning (since Thursday is my day off sort of. Lol!). That means I didn't lose a lot of money (since I'm in a no work, no pay arrangement).

I could have tried to go to work this morning but I think it was smarter to stay in bed and rest.

Hmm, I dunno what happened. Yesterday morning I was feeling super genki and in the afternoon, my temperature shot up. It was a hellish experience as I had to work six straight hours in the evening.

First, I had to make sure I looked okay in front of the student. Second, I had to ensure that I was giving a quality lesson. At one point, I felt like I was going to throw up. Thankfully, I didn't.

Shitty as I felt, the show had to go on.

After my last lesson, I spoke with the manager and explained my situation. It was better to cancel this morning's lessons I told him.

Heading home was also an excruciating journey. Even though my place is 15 minutes away from work, it was the longest 15 minutes with the chills and blurry vision. On top of that, you have the stupid cold weather.

Ugh! Can't wait for winter to be over!

Random Monday blah...

My 18:15 student didn't show up. I wonder why. He must've been busy at work. I was looking forward to seeing him though.

Now, my 19:00 student also didn't show up. I wonder what happened to her. It was supposed to be our first lesson together.

Oh well, maybe another time.

Today has been quite an interesting day. It's super busy with 13 lessons, but I'm able to get through it because I managed to take a nap this afternoon. Haha!

In the morning, I stopped by Bake cheese tarts in Tokyo Station to buy a few pieces. They're not for me though. From Tokyo Station, I walked to nearby Marunouchi Building to deliver the tarts.

They were quite nice. Hehe.

Taiko boy....

So, this is what I've been doing three Thursdays a month since July 2017.

Because I wanted to improve my Japanese language skills, I joined a taiko group. I think there are one or two other foreigners but both of them can speak Japanese. So, I'm kinda the only one who's struggling with speaking in Japanese. Lol!

Six months later, my Japanese hasn't improved that much but I can say that I'm able to do some taiko now. Lol!

Last weekend, the group joined a concert where other music groups also performed. Our group did four pieces. I was in two pieces.

Tbh, I wasn't that nervous because we really, really, really practiced before the performance.

It was a good experience.

Who would've thought I'd be doing this. Haha!

A memorable second day of 2018...

The second day of 2018 was just as memorable.

Today, I got up really early. So did Moi and I-van because we planned to go to the Imperial Palace for the New Year greeting.

I'm glad that both Moi and I-van were up for the event.

It's such a memorable event for me: First, this is one of those rare opportunities that you get to enter the Imperial Palace grounds; Second, this is the last time to see Princess Mako. After she marries her fiancé this year, she will lose her royal title; Third, this is the first and probably only time I will get to see Emperor Akihito before he abdicates next year.

We queued for more than 2 hours (thankfully the weather was cool). We only got to see the Imperial Family for less than 10 minutes.

It was a very memorable experience though...

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu...

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

Good first day of the year!

The day started with breakkie in Ebisu. From Ebisu, I walked to Shibuya where I met up with I-van and Moi. It's Moi's first visit to Japan. His timing was very good.

After taking the mandatory photos with Hachiko, we walked to Harajuku area. Thankfully, the crowd at Meiji Shrine was bearable soooo we actually got to do hatsumode, or the first shrine visit for the New Year. I guess it's one of the parallelisms between Catholicism and Shintoism - going to the church/shrine to pray for the New Year.

From there, we walked around Omotesando and Aoyama. However, most of the shops were closed since it was January 1.

We went to Kyu Shiba Rikyu so Moi can see a Japanese garden but it was also closed. Hehe! Instead, we headed to Tokyo Tower and passed by Zōjō-ji along the way.

Our final stop was Shibuya where we met up with Frances. We had dinner at a semi-izakaya place. I made the guys try various kinds of kushiyage which they liked. Yahoo!

Nice first day of 2018!

Memorial flowers...

Last night, I went to a friend's place for a dumpling party. His parents are in town from China and they made dumplings from scratch! So awesome!

On the way to my friend's place, I decided to get his mom some flowers just to say thank you. I passed by a neighborhood flower shop and chose a small bouquet from one of the several pieces on display.

I took the flowers to the Obaachan to pay. As I was getting money from my wallet, I said to her, "これわプレゼントです。" (This is a present.) because I'd like her to add a ribbon. She replied, "これわプレゼントができない。" ("This can't be a present.")

She said, "これわ memorial flowers です。" We both LOL'd! So I asked her which flowers can be presents and she showed me.

Good thing I asked! LOL!