Wednesday, March 26, 2003, 09:28 p.m.

Kim Jong Il's livejournal

I have to thank June Ha for posting this journal. Someone on one of my forums knows the person who writes this and says his real personal journal is equally funny. Kim's journal

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003, 04:43 p.m.

I need a vacation...again

I really need a few days at home just to do nothing. As soon as i got back home i had a dozen phone calls to make on Monday, and now i'm leaving for Chicago for a couple days to interview at Northwestern U Anesthesia. Then i'll be back to work this weekend until Monday, then sleep, wake up, and drive to Philadelphia for a couple more interviews at Temple U and U Penn. As busy as things are, it beats the rejections i've been getting lately, so i can't complain too much. Still it would be nice if i could space things out a little more. I'd rather fly to Philly but Japan tapped me out and air fares to Philly on short notice are ludicrous...

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Monday, March 24, 2003, 09:57 p.m.

Back in Bush-land

After a pain-in-the-ass 16 hours in transit between Tokyo to Indianapolis with 2 stops in between,i finally made it home in one piece. I thought getting thru customs in LAX was going to be a major affair, but they looked our passports and declaration cards and waved us thru. Customs must have taken only 2 minutes. Now i'm regretting not purchasing more porn and some of the 'legal-in-japan' liquid ectasy. During my Chicago layover, i ran into Bilal, one of my former interns while i was a senior resident at IU. He and his wife are both originally from Pakistan, now US citizens. I guess this is pretty important to mention since both of them were coming back from 2 weeks of vacation, and from Pakistan of all places. Talking to Bilal some more, i learned that since he came to the US to start his residency, he hadn't been back to Pakistan at all and his parents never had the chance to visit him in the USA. 9/11 didn't make things easy for them either. Like me, he had been out of the country when this war broke out, but unlike me, he was MUCH closer to the center of the conflict. It wasn't shocking to hear from him that the whole country thinks the US and Bush are insane. They feel the same about Saddam as well. Two selfish idiots threatening to take a lot of people down with them...

Having only spent a week in Japan, i didn't experience any real culture shock coming back. I did have to break the habit of repeatedly saying 'sumimasen' as i was doing CONSTANTLY overseas (and i had pretty good reason to). I admit while the customer service and courtesy was really nice, i don't think it could work here. To have courteous service flourish you need courteous customers, and we dont have either. America is just populated with rude-ass people. Then again, Bilal helped me keep things in perspective as he says back home in Pakistan, they're MUCH more pushy, aggressive, loud and rude than in America. In fact when he came to the US he thought 'omg, everyone is so polite and nice!'. So maybe i should be happy with what we have.

I found this nice and easy program called Jalbum to compile my trip photo album. Thank god, i was worried this would be a hairpulling job:


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Sunday, March 23, 2003, 03:47 p.m.

Day 7: The gift shop of no return

It's the last day of my trip, and i'm in fact typing this out on the plane ride back (i love my laptop if that's not obvious to my friends). While i had a great time and got to see and do quite a bit, i don't think that i was wowed or amazed by any of the things i experienced. It made me wonder even more at the people who hold japanese culture and society in such revered awe. I came away realized, they're just people who live in a different country, speak a different language, do and think things in a different way, but there was nothing really that special or unique about it. Steve was really impressed with how clean and courteous everyone was in the time we spent in tokyo, but i told him i didn't see it the same way. Yes the service and manners are nice, but everything comes at a tradeoff and that once you get past the surface of their cultural veneer, it's as imperfect as any other. My whole experience has made me somewhat more disdainful of japan-o-philes, anime/manga fans. and its difficult to say why. Maybe i can sum up my thoughts in the line 'Its just Japan, its not that big a deal!' Apparently the japanese think the same.

By sheer coincidence janelle and i booked the same flight on the same airlines leaving from Narita to LA and as we went to the gate together, it felt good to have a friend to go along on the long, boring flight home. I'm sure she felt the same, given that she had to leave her bf whom she hadn't seen in months. I'm just grateful i didn't have to deal with that. Right next to our gate was the last gift shop a tourist would see before leavin japan and its beautiful, sparkling whale-free seas. I found it funny because i realized that this shop must generate a decent amount of business, provided by all those tourists who in their desperation do their last minute gift-shopping, purchasing bottom-of-the-barrel overpriced trinkets just to show they went thru the effort of getting them *something* from another country, even if it's a stupid lighter shaped like a matchbox, or some magnet that has the rising sun and says BANZAI! in kanji. I tried my best to find gifts for friends to whom i promised, but sometimes i wonder if its worth the effort to give someone a stupid little something if i can't find something that is somewhat meaningful. I supposed some appreciate the effort and thought made.

It'll be good to return to the USA, stupid president and all. For one i miss the open roads. Also, i have so much to do and take care of. Now i've found i have an anesthesia interview in Philadelphia and theres only so much business i can conduct by 14 hr delayed e-mail.

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Saturday, March 22, 2003, 03:42 p.m.

Day 6: Shibuya - My Tokyo Breakfast

After our night session of mahjong and watching Janelle die repeatedly trying to blast thru FFX-2, we ended up crashing at ryo's house. Normally i don't sleep well in someone else's home, especially on the first night, but my body was so exhausted i passed out until ryo's dogs woke me up around 8 am running under my futon covers. I think they slept in my bed for a while, but i can't remember. Ryo's mom treated us to breakfast, which consisted of an amusing international spread of german OJ, french butter, japanese rolls, and items from i'm sure a half-dozen other countries. A little different from the traditional japanese breakfast of fish n rice, but i liked the home made yogurt. I wasn't really in a breakfast mood, but who am i to refuse when someone goes out of their way to feed us in the morning? There was nobody shouting 'NIGGAH!' either, but i suppose we can't always believe what we see on the internet.

After stumbling back to the hotel later that morning, i napped for the rest of the afternoon and decided to do a little more last minute gift shopping in Akihabara. Yes i was getting very tired of the place but it was only 2 stops away, and i didn't have time to venture elsewhere to go shopping.

Steve and i were supposed to meet up with ryo, janelle and some of his friends in Ikebukuro, but apparently one of them didn't want to go (fear of the black gaijin who seemed to frequent the area). As with all other things, i didn?ft think much of it and said it was ok to go back to shibuya, although i was disappointed since i hadn't yet been to ikebukuro, which i was told was like a cross between shibuya and shinjuku. Ryo's sister, and a couple friends from yokohama met up with us for dinner and karaoke. Satoko (the daughter of ryo's drum instructor) was pretty cute and reminded me how much i missed meeting (and trying to impress) new people. Not that it mattered but it was a shame that she was taken. She did teach me something interesting; that the band Toto took their name NOT from the Wizard of Oz, but from a japanese toilet manufacturer. Funny that i noticed this the next time i hit a public urinal.

Having gone to karaoke 3 times this week, i decided i need to learn new songs.

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Friday, March 21, 2003, 03:35 p.m.

Day 5: Sangen-kaya - Life at the Mukaiya house

Although i had planned to, i missed the chance to attend the anti-war rally in downtown tokyo near the Tokyo tower. Apparently every american who happened to be in the city was there and even made the news on many international channels and papers. Dammit.

I really wanted to express how much of an embarrassment GW and his actions were to the rest of the nation and that he seems to be acting on his own insane personal agenda. Someone reminded me that saying things like that, even in a foreign country, could be considered seditious during war time. Some say they don't see a purpose to this conflict, i think there is a well-defined agenda, but it doesn't benefit the citizens of the US, and definitely not those of the Iraqis.

Aside from missed political moments of fame, steve and i were invited to ryo's home in lovely sangen-kaya, just a stone's throw away from shibuya. For a neighborhood that was still in the city, it was really nice and if i grew up there, i probably couldn't imagine living anywhere else either. His home was probably bigger than the typical Japanese house, and although his mom said it was small, it seemed comfortable enough to me. Yes, the house my parents currently live in may be about 4-5 times bigger, but for tokyo standards, the Mukaiya house was probably the envy of many. Also how many homes use the whole first floor as a workplace digital musical studio. His parents took us out for shabu-shabu later in the evening, and i loved talking with ryo's parents. It helped for one, that they spoke english better than most tokyo residents and his father had an amazing grasp on the subtleties of language, and was a smart man on top of that. There wasn?ft a subject where he wasn't curious about our opinions including politics, medicine, or just lifestyles in general. For once i felt really frustrated that my japanese was limited and i could fully express the insights i had about the american health care system.

Oh, i learned the basics of mahjong (japanese rules) tonight. Granted, just like nearly everything else on this trip, i felt like i was half-bluffing throught the game, trying to remember when to say 'pon!' or 'nichi!'. I think i even won a hand, but i'm not sure.

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Thursday, March 20, 2003, 11:22 a.m.

Day 4: Kyoto

After waking up late (yet again), the first thing i did was promptly turn on the tv set at 10 am Tokyo-time (8 pm EST) to see if the US had officially declared war on Iraq yet. I don't have very much to say about this at this time except that Bush is a moron, he embarrases the American nation and its people, and i wonder this is going to affect my going home. As much as i enjoy my time spent in Japan, its not my home and i don't like vacationing in a foreign place for too long. I'm planning on checking out a anti-war rally near Tokyo tower tommorow afternoon. Steve and i figure if we speak english loudly and act obnoxiously american, maybe the local news, or better yet, CNN-j might have cameras out and we'll get to appear on tv, and maybe get the opportunity to apoligize for our country's idiotic image.

Political missions aside, we spent most of the afternoon and evening making a 6 hr round trip to Kyoto by shinkansen to see the old capital of japan and check out a shrine or two. I noticed two things; Kyoto has a LOT of shrines and it also has a LOT of foreign tourists. I noticed more white people walking around the streets of Kyoto than in Tokyo itself. Same could be said about the Kyoto station, which was a gorgeous gigantic complex (station + mall + hotel). Again, i loved getting away from the big-city craziness of Tokyo to the more quiet countryside atmosphere of kyoto. Not to sound too cliched, but i really felt relaxed and serene hanging out at the kyomizu temple, taking pictures and enjoying the view of the countryside. I decided that i MUST get a better camera. I learned a couple other things about the shinkansen and reading my JR pass pamphlet ahead of time before getting on the train. First of all, the green cars are OFF LIMITS, and it helps to reserve a ticket ahead of time before getting on the train and if you dont, don't board the cars marked RESERVED. Needless to say, i learned each of these things the hard way.

We didn't arrive back in Tokyo until 10 pm and decided to spent the last couple hours of the night checking out Shinjuku, which like Shibuya had a pretty active nightlife going on. However, the average age looked like late 20s, early 30s, compared to the younger/trendier/freakier crowd of Shibuya. Plus there were all the strip clubs. Guess i now remember where the red-light district of Tokyo was. I capped off the night getting a coke from the vending machine and drinking it while walking. Screw it, i didn't care if it was rude or not, i was thirsty and in a hurry...

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Wednesday, March 19, 2003, 11:11 a.m.

Day 3:Gunma Prefecture

I spent most of my 2nd day in Tokyo in Akihabara and Shibuya again. In the middle of the afternoon I dragged my friend Steve, along with me to the Subaru Sti store in Ueno. I guess you can consider this some holy shrine for Impreza owners, but it was a little smaller than i expected and kind of dissapointing. Still at least there was a nice 04 WRX Sti parked outside. The new car looks pretty good. I dropped about $100 picking up various souveniers for people, mostly Sti merchandise, although i was tempted to just keep them all. Still i figure i owed Taka something for helping me find the store in the first place and there are a few others who could use a nice subie-related gift.

Most of today was spent taking the Shinkansen up to Takasaki and Shibukawa city, located in the heartland of the Gunma prefecture as part of my Initial D-related pilgrimage. Shibukawa is the town located at the base of Mt. Haruna, Myogi and Akagi and i ended up taking a taxi ride up to Haruna (the real life version of Akina). The countryside was gorgeous and it felt nice to be a quaint mountain resort town and away from the crazy bustle of metropolitan tokyo. Being March, there was still snow on the ground as we were driving up the mountain pass road, definitely no conditions for driving anything but slow. Still i took about 100 photos of the whole course, recognizing nearly every turn and hairpin from the anime and game. Its amazing how the actual road has been recreated so meticulously down to the staging area at the top of the mountain. I even found the Haruna crater lake with the swan-head lake boats. I only wish i arrived in Gunma sooner so i could take the time to see Akagi and Myogi as well, but the taxi ride for Haruna alone cost me almost $150. Maybe the next time i'm in town...

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Monday, March 17, 2003, 11:01 a.m.

Day 1: Akihabara, Shibuya

Having finally made it to Tokyo after a fairly decent 11 hr flight from LAX via Thai Airlines (i'd rather not thing about the United flight from Indy to LA, since it was pretty awful), Steve and i got situated at the lovely Tokyo Dome Hotel. It was raining the first night we got in so it made late night sightseeing less than fun.

After meeting up with Janelle and later Ryo, we spent most of the day in Akihabara and then later Shibuya. I was warned that Akihabara would be a geek's sensory overloading, and that was no joke. I think after a while every story carrying wall to wall electronics, used game shops, and anime stores started to give me a headache from the constant barrage and color and noises.

I'll probably be back there tommorow.

After cornering Ryo at his job at Softmap and pretending to be obnoxious american customers, we all got together to head to Shibuya for a little shabu shabu and kareoke. I'm glad i did all that last minute practicing, since it actually paid off. After looking thru the songbooks, there are 3 or 4 new songs i will have to learn...

I learned a few things during my first full day in Tokyo:
1. People don't just drive on the left side (of the street), but they seem to do EVERYTHING on the left, including walking up/down stairs, sidewalks,etc...

2. It's rude to drink while walking in public or in most places of business (except for restaurants obviously...)

3. There is NO tipping done anywhere, and in fact if you unknowingly leave a gratuity, you'll be chased down until they give it back to you.

4. How to eat shabu shabu (and i prefer the sesame sauce over the clear shoyu-based one)

5. Tokyo drivers seem to be very fond of their Mercedes.

6. Used games aren't always as cheap as you think they would be (the only used copy of Radiant Silvergun for the Saturn cost almost $160 USD!!)

7. Subaru Legacys are MUCH more popular than Imprezas.



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Tuesday, March 11, 2003, 10:58 p.m.

New shoes...goodbye winter.

Temperatures jumped to the 50s this weekend, making it pracitcally t-shirt weather, although some of the more wimpy denizens still had their turtlenecks and full coats on. I guess i shouldnt speak since i still had my coat wrapped on tight when outside. Looking at the forecast for the next week, i see nothing but sun, rain and above-freezing temps. It's time to put the summer tires and wheels back on the impreza. Of course, now that i've said this, expect another 4-8 inches of snow for the next 3 weeks...

Coming off 6 straight nights of work at the HCI, i feel ready to pass out. 14 hr shifts 3 nights in a row is fine, but 6 was ridiculous. I basically had enough time to get home, go straight to sleep and have about 2-3 waking hours to get anything done before going back to work. Plus i was annoyed having to work the weekend esp with the weather turning so nice. Things have gotten busier at the HCI, but it was still nothing compared to the level of work at the old 86th st hospital. After all i had time to work on my DVD projects, as well as logging in about 20 hrs of Xenosaga.

Playing Xenosaga made me miss Xenogears, the only RPG i ever played to completion. I miss the music mostly, everything was much too quiet. If there wasn't a random battle or cut scene going on, the game was aurally dead...the just the sound of footsteps. I can't honestly say i like the game that much, especially when compared to the first, but i look at it more like a sequel to a really great book that i read, and i find i have to finish it...just to know what happens in the story.

I can't believe tommorow is already Weds, i'll have a couple days to burn in Chicago, then I have to rush back into town Fri, meet up with a local friend for rock climbing +/- dinner (i'd prefer to do the climbing first), and then leave for LA and eventually Tokyo early Sat morning.

This will be my first time leaving the country in almost 15 yrs. I guess i'm lucky my waking hours are already in sync with Tokyo time...

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Monday, March 3, 2003, 01:45 p.m.

Happy 3/3/3

I didn't really have much to say today, but i thought that i should at least observe what a special date this is. Of course how do i celebrate it, except by waking up at noon, catching up some badly needed sleep from the last 3 days. Lately i've been obsessed with the wonderful world of DVD ripping and authoring. Every since Eug helped me piece together a new desktop PC, i've been trying to find anything and everything to copy onto DVD; original movies, movie files on my PC, VCDs, VHS tapes, whatever. It's fun in a time consuming way and i'm looking at it as another creative output to keep myself busy. Well, between that, practicing piano, reading, studying internal medicine and spoken japanese. I'll need to start cracking open my korean textbooks too after i get back from my trip to Tokyo (i can't believe it'll be in less than a couple weeks). I have other things in terms of future job prospects as well in the works, but i think that should wait until things are definite. Happy 3/3/3 Day, tell a loved one....that its 3/3/3 if he/she hasn't noticed. Its a good bet that person hasn't.

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Monday, February 17, 2003, 12:00 a.m.

The Chicago Auto Show 2003

It becomes the rare journal entry where i actually *talk* about cars, but i just returned home from Chicago after checking out the car show on Saturday. It wasn't too bad, but there were a small handful of upcoming cars i was looking forward to that i didn't see, like the VW Golf Gti R32 and a few others. I caught glimpses of the new WRX Sti and Lancer Evo 8, but as usual, the really spicy cars were locked. What, they couldn't trust us not to steal the shift knobs? Of course as soon and Eug and i hit the Subaru display, who did we see but 7 or 8 of the chicagoland i-club/NASIOC guys there, and as usual it was fun hanging out with them and pouring over every little detail of the new 2.5 turbo engine. I was most impressed by the fact the new Forester turbo will be sporting the 2.5L turbo instead of the standard WRX 2.0L. Maybe i should wait a year or two for the first person to crash his Forester *wishful thinking*. Rest of the weekend was nice but slow, and i'll be returning to chi-town next weekend to hit a computer show. I'm really hoping i can get March 1st off to visit my friend joe in SF and catch his housewarming party. It'll be fun to catch some of the #a! guys that i haven't seen in a while.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2003, 01:50 a.m.

Hello mother, hello father...

I've never really gotten along with my parents, and anyone who knows me or has read by journal in the past might have picked up on that. Maybe i'd have a more open relationship if they didn't always express a constant state of dissapointment on me, and by dissapointment, i mean that i'm not doing *exactly* what they want. Anything less is kind of a failure, especially when they can't brag to their friends. I can understand competition and i'm not exactly innocent either, so i try to throw them a bone once in a while. I wouldn't even dwell on this except i hear from my sister secondhand that my parents are planning on going to korea for the next week or two. Now i know they go on trips without my knowing, because frankly, it doesn't really matter to me, but i can't help shake off this strange feeling like i *wish* one of them had called me up to let me know. The other half of me is kind of glad they didn't. I sound pretty ungrateful, don't i?

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