Eye of the Tiger, baby!

I've finally done it! I've been looking for a martial arts school to train at ever since I got here. I was quite picky about what I wanted. The school had to be close to home, had reasonable training hours, preferably offered more than one class a week, not anything too similar to what I was doing back home, yada yada yada. Needless to say, I was having little luck. I pretty much had been settling for going to the gym at work (which was open weekdays only), and an occasional swim at the community pool. Now I've done it though. I've found the perfect place for me to train. Patience has paid off. I have just now come back from my first... boxing class!!

The school I found is Haagse Directe, about 15-20 min drive from home. They have training every weekday (though I can only make Tues & Thus because of the times), and it's only 5 euros a week!! (And I don't have to pay if I'm not there at all during the week.) Training is about two hours long, beginning with jumping rope as warm-up for about 20-30 minutes. Actual box training is about an hour, followed by another 15-20 minutes of strength training (i.e. abs, push-ups). Needless to say, I really enjoyed the training. I realize boxing is not exactly martial-arts, but I think it compliments it really well. No doubt training here will help my fighting skills.

Yep, so now I'm going to go watch Rocky VI as soon as it comes out later this week here in the Netherlands. I hear it's good. I've already got The Rocky Story Soundtrack, so between the movie and Eye of the Tiger, I should be ready to go kick some ass at Haagse Directe!!

Blue Man Group

Yesterday we went to go see the Blue Man Group in Amsterdam. If you are not aware of what that is, it is an off-broadway show starring three men, painted blue, that basically puts on a colorful percussion show with intermittent stints (see website reviews for more). The show is basically in a class of its own, with little in common with the typical singing, dancing, and acting routines on Broadway. While there is little in the show that moved me, I did find some of the stunts impressive. There was plenty to laugh at, although some of the performance required understanding of Dutch to enjoy. At 54 euros for a ticket, I think it is a bit over-priced for the 1.45 hour show, as everything is in Holland. I would be willing to go watch it again though, if I have the opportunity to go see it in English, and for a more reasonable U.S. or discount price.

Book Review: Zahir

This book by the author of The Alchemist sucked. The story is about a renowned author, presumably himself, whose wife leaves him for no apparent reason. He then comes in contact with a man who helps him find himself and then his wife. There was too much bullshit about the flow of the energy from love. The characters also all talked alike and seemed to have no personality of their own. One thing they all have in common though is that they clearly have issues. (Spoiler warning) Who leaves their husband and waits around for him to find her for years? Who becomes so obsessed with a woman who left him? I was getting really annoyed by the main character of the story by the time I started reaching the end of the book. I suppose he had nothing better to do than to chase his past.

Tokyo Pictures Are Up

I just got back from my Tokyo trip. The trip overall was pretty good, although it was more like a visit home rather than a vacation. The only down side was that I didn't get along too well with my mom. We had some miscommunications that led to a lot of frustrations. I also tend to get irritated in general just talking to her. As much as I want to show her my appreciation for all she's done, I just wasn't successful. I didn't even go see her family, though I had intended to. Things were especially bad on the very last day and I broke out in tears at the thought of how my family had been so dysfunctional growing up and that we still are. Although I know that we all care about each other in our own ways, there's never any display of love or affection in my family. I am closest to my two brothers, but they each have their own family now and I often feel alone. I don't think my own choices significantly affect how my life turns out, but I hope that in five years I am in one of two positions - still enjoying traveling and new adventures, or married and starting a loving family of my own. However, if I were to choose which way to go today, I would vote for the latter.

Tokyo pictures are here.

Dining in Japan

I pretty much had two objectives while I was in Japan. One was to spend time with friends and family, and the other was to eat as much food as possible. There are so many Japanese dishes that I like that 2.5 weeks here wasn't enough time to eat everything I wanted. (I have been putting in a lot of effort though.) Here are some of the foods, if made Japanese style, that I enjoy eating and recommend to anyone visiting Japan: sukiyaki, shabu shabu, yakiniku, yakitori, curry rice, sushi, ramen, udon, soba, okonomiyaki, onigiri, dango, satsuma imo, strawberry shortcake, purin (custard pudding), taiyaki, croquette, bread, an-pan, melon pan. Drinks in Japan are also great. None of their drinks are overly sweet or sugary. I don't drink tea, coffee, wine, beer, and most types of alcohol or soda so I love the fact that Japan has so many varieties of soft drink: calpis, pocari sweat, lemon water, etc. A lot of them are also sold in vending machines all over the place.

Dining in Japan is also more than just good food and drinks. You can't beat the service you get here. If you walk into a restaurant, you are greeted immediately with a cheerful irashaimase (welcome) by the staff. Of course, water is free and generally brought to you as soon as you are seated, without even having to ask for it. The attitudes of the restaurant staffs from start to end are one of how they could possibly serve you better. In one restaurant, a waiter apologized profusely when they over cooked a set of gyozas and had to remake them, thus delaying its serving time by - woah - a whole 5 minutes. We were like, hey, don't worry - it's no big deal. In another restaurant, they were quick to replace a cup of mayonnaise that was starting to run low, even though we were nearing the end of our meal. As you leave after your meal, you are once greated with a loud arigatogozaimasu (thank you). When you dine in Japan, you really feel like your patronage is valued and that they are truly happy to serve you. What makes this even more surprising is that there is no tipping in Japan. It is not even normal practice to leave change. Even in the U.S. where a 15-20% tip is expected, you won't get service as good as in Japan. In the Netherlands, and most of Europe, you can pretty much scratch the word service out of your vocabulary. It doesn't exist.

Great dining isn't found just in restaurants or cafes. Many department stores will have basements (depachika) that are food halls. In addition to grocery, fresh meals and side dishes are prepared and packaged for easy consumptions. Food prices in Japan are reasonable, too. Last night, we went to an all-you-can-eat shabu shabu place (aka Mo- Mo- Paradise) -> 1,700 JPY per person. 1 USD = 120 JPYand 1 EUR = 157 JPY, roughly. You can add all-you-can-drink (alcohol included), for about another 1,500 JPY. Lunch menus can range from 800 to 1500 JPY for an average meal. A take-out meal is about the same, and depachika food prices can't be beat. If you're a busy person, there really is no point in cooking here. It just isn't worth the hassle and the left overs. Good food, good prices, good service... I'm going to miss it all.

My First Exorcism

According to Japanese superstition, the year a woman turns 33 is called yakudoshi, a year of "major calamity". Generally during such years, these people will experience great illnesses or misfortunes. The year preceding (mae-yaku) and year following (ato-yaku), are generally not good years either. I turn 33 this year.

The topic was a recurring theme in my visit to Japan. A Japanese friend told me of the miseries she went through during her yakudoshi. According to her though, you are supposed to add one to your age when deciding your yakudoshi, so in theory, last year should have been my yakudoshi, so I was relieved... briefly. A few days later, Mom convinced me 2007 was going to be my yakudoshi. It was also going to be my friend's (the one I am staying with at the moment) as well. While we are not superstitious, we didn't like the sound of having a year of "major calamity". We decided to follow the Japanese tradition of doing a yakubarai - their version of an exorcism. All things being the same, we thought we'd play it safe.

On New Year's day, Mom took us to a temple near her home that specializes in yakubarai. The process is nothing like the exorcism you see in movies back home. Rather, hourds (only so because of the special occasion of it being a new year) of Japanese people stand in a queue to check in at one counter, and then bumrush into a room on an hourly basis where monks perform the yakubarai. Yakubarai involves the monks parading into the room in their most stylish outfit, banging the drum and few other things, chanting or praying, and lighting a fire that is supposed to burn away all the evil spirits. Many of the Japanese silently prayed along with the monks. At the end of the ritual, each person is given an ofuda, a piece of wooden plaque that is supposed to be our migawari, or replacement, to suffer through yakudoshi in our stead.

Yakudoshi or not, I am expecting 2007 to be a good year. I have big travel plans for the year, and there are some exciting things going on at work. I suppose what happens in a yakudoshi tends to be unexpected. However, if 2006 was indeed my yakudoshi, I can't say it was a bad a year. To the contrary, I had an awesome year. It started off with me earning my black belt in karate, a short term assignment to Holland, a snowboard trip in France, a week in Mexico, finishing my Masters degree, getting the job I wanted, followed by lots more fun and traveling. The only stain in what would otherwise be a spotless year were problems, and eventual fallout, with one of my closest friends. Strong feelings of anger, hatred, and sadness consumed parts of me throughout the latter half of the year. Still, 2006 was much better than 2005 and 2004, which sucked royally. The last spotless year was 2003, and I hope 2007 is just as good, if not better (tho that might be tough given that was my year "off" traveling).

Anyhoo... I wish everyone a yaku free year and many happy returns. Akemashite Omedetou-gozaimasu.