Scheveningen (スケベニンゲン) in Japanese

When I first got to Japan, a friend asked me if I knew a place in Holland called "perverted people". I looked at her with a strange look, and then realized she was saying Scheveningen with a Japanese pronounciation, which is "sukebe ningen" (スケベニンゲン). When I told her I lived in "sukebe ningen", she had a good laugh and proceeded to tell all her friends I lived in a place called "perverted people".

Tokyo, Japan

Our office is closed over the holidays from 21 December to 2 January, and my plan is to never be in the Hague over this holiday period. This year, I chose to be in Japan because when I made my plans, I felt the need to be around friends - more specifically female friends, which I didn't really have until fairly recently. Probably the greatest concentration of my friends are in Tokyo. Some go way back to high school when they came to Virginia as an exchange student. Others are friends I made when I lived here several years ago. Some have even moved here since my departure. Oh... and my mother is here, which is another compelling (perhaps a more important) reason for me to visit every now and then. The last time I visited was in April of 2004.

Prior to leaving the Hague, I was some what stressed about the idea of coming here. I was not looking forward to the crowds, bumming lodging off of friends (I really cannot stay with Mom too long and stay sane), and the possibility of being extrememly busy during my 2.5 week stay. I also did not really want to stop working since I was on a roll with one of my tasks. Well, perhaps my bah, humbug attitude towards Christmas did not allow me to have a positive outlook towards this upcoming trip. It wasn't until the last day of work, after I left the office, that I finally felt free and excited about this trip.

The flight from Amsterdam via Munich was about 14 hours - almost a 24 hr travel time altogether, door to door. My plan was to split my time up between 3 friends so I didn't impose on any one person too much, but would be able to spend quality time with each. I have just arrived at friend #2's place... and she had to run back to work. It's almost 8pm and she's still not done. She works at the same company I used to work at for 5 years in Tokyo and NYC. Every once in a while, I miss the money I used to make there, but then you see her working her butt off and then I remind myself "the grass is always greener...."

Anyways, my stay with friend #1 was a success. The last 5 days went by pretty fast. During that time, I also saw Mom and 4 other friends. It started off with a party on Saturday night, but my friends and I ended up leaving it since it was boring. Unless you know lots of people that are going, or have an opportunity to meet cute people of the opposite sex, I don't really see the point in parties. If I'm just going to chat with a few friends, I would much rather do it somewhere more quiet. So that's what we did. (The odds of actually meeting a decent Western guy at a club in Japan is pretty much nil.) On Sunday, I went to an onsen (hot spring) village in the city. There I enjoyed lots of good food, shows, and hot baths. We spent the whole day there.


Monday was Christmas, but it really did not feel like it here in Tokyo. There are few place in the city that are decorated for the occasion, and I was near none of them. The day was spent with friend #1 and a mutual friend from out of town at a spa and at home eating chicken and Christmas cake (both a Japanese thing). It really felt like just another day, but nevertheless, it was a good day. Tuesday was spent with the same friends, and I finally got my (short) karaoke session in. I suck as usual, but it didn't stop me from belting out hits by Eurythmics, Guns 'n' Roses, Britney Spears, Tiffany, Sir-mix-a-lot, and Bonnie Tyler.

I suspect that the next few days will be less hectic. Friend #2 has to work until Friday, and most of my friends are out of town for the year end. This is my chance to get some shopping in. I'm not quite sure what we will do for NYE yet tho. It really isn't celebrated much in Japan. I suspect any countdown event will pale in comparison to the Times Square one that I've already done. Parties will most likely suck for reasons I've already mentioned - unless friend #2 has some really cool friends. So what's left?? I don't know. It would be nice to do something unique for year end, but I'm pretty much out of ideas. Maybe we will be welcoming 2007 from a karaoke box....

London, England

Okay, I couldn't go five weekends in a row without getting out of this freakin' country so I booked a trip to the UK to see some friends. EasyJet was having a 40% off discount at the time of my booking so it only cost me 60 euros - woo hoo! Anyways, a friend of mine living in the UK just moved there recently and hadn't visited London, but I lived there previously for 4 months and have friends there I wanted to visit, so I figured I'd hop on over on the hour long flight to show him around.

We only had 2 days in the city, so we didn't get to spend too much time checking the sights out in depth. We saw most of the major tourist stuff from the outside - Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Trafalger Square, Leicester Square, Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, St. James's Park, Wellington Arch, Hyde Park, etc. I've seen it all before, but it's been a while (~8 years) and was still nice to see it all over again. I wouldn't mind going back and seeing more, such as inside some of these places, and visiting less touristed attractions.

The only killer about London is the price though. The USD these days is a whopping 1.95 to the GBP!!! I went out to dinner on Friday night with my Morgan Stanley friends at a typical restaurant in SoHo. A dinner for five (including appetizer and desert for some) and perhaps 2-3 bottles of wine cost us 200 freaking pounds! Perhaps you wouldn't bat an eye at a US$40 dinner, but at 40 pounds a head, that's almost 80 bucks! I was about to say that I might have broken my record on the most expensive dinner I've ever bought for myself, but I can't really say that I bought this dinner either (it's so nice being a girl sometime). I guess compared to the euro, the pound isn't as bad (1 GBP = 1.5 EUR), but still... ouch.

Well, this was a much needed break from all the drama back here in the Hague. And in 10 days, I'm out of here for the holidays to Tokyo. Can't wait.

Pictures from London are here.

Aachener Weihnacht Markt

Today, a few of us went to Aachen, Germany to check out the Christmas markets. These markets supposedly go on all over Germany but we went to the one closest to us - just 2.5 hrs away close to the Dutch-German border. There were many booths selling cute Christmas type stuff like ornaments, sweets, and miscellaneous knick-knacks. Lucky for me, I am resistant to shopping temptations since I dislike shopping. I bought a few ornaments in hopes that some day I will have a Christmas tree again. (I don't plan on being ever being around the Hague for the Christmas so I will probably never have a tree while I'm here.) There are also many German food stands, too, where you can get tasty wursts, pizza, warm drinks, etc. If you're ever near Germany around Christmas time, I totally recommend going to one of these markets at least once. Especially if you actually like shopping....

Kaizers Orchestra

There are a lot of Norwegians in my team at work. Therefore, we are often exposed to various Norwegian cultures, such as drinking Aquavit. (I think the next cultural education session involves eating a sheep head.) I was also previously introduced to the Norwegian band Kaizers Orchestra on DVD, and on Saturday, I finally got to see them live in Amsterdam. Any description I give of the band probably will not do it any justice, so I refer you to the link above to read about them and sample their music. This type of music normally would not be my taste, but I actually enjoy theirs. I also like their performance in concerts. The lead vocalist is kind of cute/sexy and is very good at getting the audience involved. The guy on the pump organ also wears a gas mask and is interesting to watch. It's a shame I can't find any good videos, but here's a very short clip from Maestro: