New projects
By locomote | May 28, 2008
I haven’t been using this site in a LOOONNNGGG long time, but I’m moving to get back into the online world soon.
These days what most people hear me talking about is a dream that I’ve been playing with in my head for a long time. I’ve finally (almost) decided to go on with it and set a timeline:
Decide if I’m gonna seriously do it by July of this year (traveling for 3 weeks at the end of June/beginning of July - gonna use that time to get me thoughts in order). If it’s gonna happen, make it the #1 focus in my life and be ready to go by summer of 2010.
The basic dream is to travel around the world finding people helping people and ask them how they do it.
I wanna make an online documentary to share what I learn. Everything else goes from there.
To that end, I’m studying videography these days, learning the basics and I’ll get my first practice tonight as a videographer for a group called Dr. Sketchy’s in Tokyo.
If anyone has any advice/information about web video and everything related, please contact me!
Topics: Japan | No Comments »
Current credit card balance: $0
By locomote | September 23, 2007
Whoooo — hooooo~!!
Many of you might know that I’ve been fighting a rebounding credit card balance for years (along with most the people I know, so I don’t feel so bad about it). But I was never really ok with that outstanding balance, and last year in August, when I got back from traveling in Thailand almost penniless, I decided to take it on full force. It was a slow, gradual battle. I had to take a break to move into my new apartment in February and other things here and there, but finally — it’s paid off!
I can clearly remember that phone call I got on my 18th birthday. They explained how easy it was for me to get a credit card, and I thought how it must be a smart idea to have one around for emergencies, so I answered a few questions that took about 3 or 4 minutes, and a few days later, my first plastic demon arrived in the mail. Since that time, I haven’t really made it into positive wealth…well, really ever. I didn’t have a job the beginning of that summer…gotta enjoy being out of high school, right? Without a job, I could sit around at home all day, or I could roam around having fun and using the card for gas/food/etc. It soon became a habit, that I couldn’t break until I finally realized that I was 26 years old and still maxing out my card on Italian dinners in Bangkok. There was no end in sight - so I made it end.
Anyway, I just want to say sorry to all those that I might have neglected in the over-workaholic lifestyle I’ve fallen into this last year. Also, I wanna thank everyone who’s supported me through it, and ask that you help keep me in check so it never comes back to that point again. I’m about penniless at the moment, but from here on out, it can only go up!
Topics: Japan | No Comments »
Just photos for now
By locomote | August 13, 2007
I’m back from Thailand - and I had a great time!
This was probably my best (but shortest) trip to Thailand. It was fun traveling with a friend, and because she is so outgoing too, it was still just as easy to meet new people along the way as it was traveling alone. We made some good friends, had some great times, and relaxed into a constant state of peaceful half-awakedness. Overall, it was great!
Here’s the pics:
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| Thailand20 |
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If you had any intention to comment
By locomote | July 29, 2007
I changed a setting, so now you need to login to my blog to comment. It’s really easy, free, all-that-jazz, so feel free to join if you want to comment.
It’s a vain attempt to combat comment spam - of which I used to get about 200 a day. Now I get about 20 a day, so that’s an improvement. (how on earth even one gets past that kind of filter, I don’t have a clue!)
Topics: Japan | No Comments »
I was in the Olympics…let’s be friends~
By locomote | July 27, 2007
I’ve been thinking about war a bit recently. I have a very solid hate for everything war related, and it’s probably one of the things I believe in the most in this world. Hate, suffering, killing, evil, dehumanization….in other words - war….is bad. But anyway, I like to stop and think about it at times and try to look at it from all sides, etc… Recently, I somehow stumbled onto thinking quite a bit about WWII. I watched the 2 new Clint Eastwood movies on DVD (Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima). Also, in preparing for my trip to Thailand, I came across a documentary called True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai.
That last movie was the real eye-opener. I haven’t seen the original movie, but from the documentary, I know that it’s completely off, so I don’t think I need to watch it. But I had no clue about what had happened in Thailand and Burma during the war, and was really shocked to learn that so many British, Australian, US, and Dutch soldiers died in the jungles of Thailand. It’s a really horrifying story. Somehow I think it’s really wild how the world changes so quickly. My life in Japan is such an easy life surrounded by loving, warmly-accepting faces and the most peaceful people imaginable…but our histories meet in the not so distant past in a completely different way - in a place where I’ll just happen to be traveling come next week.
Anyway - I can’t put down the whole history of it here, but if I can, I’ll try to visit the famous bridge near Kanchanaburi. I’ll have to think about how many of my grandfather’s fellow British soldiers died/suffered there… It’s worth thinking about that kinda stuff sometimes.
Now the bridge is just a site for tourists. A lot of Japanese tourists even go there without a clue of its real meaning. I talked to one of my older students yesterday about that and she smiled and said something along the lines of - “isn’t it lucky that we live in a time when we can all go to a place like that smile and take pictures.”
I feel lucky. 
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Recent cooking endeavors
By locomote | July 23, 2007
I’ve been cooking for fun with my roommate quite a bit recently. Here are a few of my recent attempts.
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He’s baaack
By locomote | July 20, 2007
Well - I didn’t really go anywhere, but I’ve been away from blogging for a long time. Sorry to all who might have been looking for me.
A quick update on what’s up with me: I’m living in Takadanobaba (just down the street from Shinjuku, Tokyo).
My high school is on holiday at the moment, so I have a bit more free time than usual, but it seems like there must be a lot of actors out of town for the holidays because acting jobs are really picking up the slack quite nicely. I’m living with my best friend - a Korean girl who I met here in Japan and we’ve known each other for about 10 months now, I guess, but it feels more like a lifetime. It’s basically like living with family, but she never falsely bribes me into eating her meat by promising games of Castle Risk.
As of yesterday, I have decided to take a vacation this summer, so I’ll be heading back to Thailand for 10 days from the 1st of August. I guess I just can’t get Korea out of my blood, because I’ll be meeting another Korean friend there and we’ll be travelling together. My plan is to hit Koh Phangan, and especially spend time at a secluded resort called the Sanctuary. It does have a hint of a new-agey feel that I’m not too excited about, but the beach looks great, the food sounds great, and doing yoga by the beach sounds heavenly!
I’m not sure how much I plan to post in the coming weeks, but hopefully it’ll be a bit more than once every 4 months. See you soon!
Topics: Japan | No Comments »