Life has an incredible way of throwing curve balls. Whether I’m at work, or at home… there is no end to the surprises in store for me. This year was supposed to be the year I manage to get published, or at least put in a solid effort towards it. In case you haven’t noticed, writing has drifted somewhere into Neverland along with this poor, dusty old blog. Does that mean I’ve been unproductive? Not at all! But the things that mean the most to me for the most part come in last. Since I last wrote on this blog… Wow… Has it been that long?

The last thing I wrote was a scene I’d had in mind for a long time. Almost two months ago. That is embarrassing. So much has happened since then! 

Firstly, I finally achieved one of my biggest goals in life; To travel to Japan and visit my Uncle. It has been a long time coming and it did not disappoint. From seeing my extended family, to gaming culture, to the Japanese culture and even further onto the history and beauty that is Japan… It was not hard to see why I know so many people who love Japan, and miss it so. For me, it felt like home; Safe and comfortable, yet exciting and new. 

Seeing my Uncle was incredible, after all, the last time we had seen each other was my father’s funeral (his brother). It was a rough time then, but we made the best of our time together given the circumstances. This time was not like that at all, but despite him running his own business and rushing everywhere, it was fantastic to spend the time with him and share some laughs and learn some family history. It was great spending some time with my wonderful Aunt and my cousins (who are both much taller, older and funnier than their shy younger years). I cannot thank them enough for opening up their home to us for the first few nights of our stay. Started off with some great relaxing for the trip ahead!

After this we went straight to Tokyo (stayed in Shinjuku) and enjoyed the sights and the city. Despite the enormous amount of people walking near the train station (which Japan’s trains are the best system I’ve been on, crammed, but efficient), there was always a sense of order and it seemed almost as if people moved in well coordinated lines. Also unlike most other places, people make the effort to move out of the way and make space for you no matter where you are. Just little kindnesses here and there, but they all added up. Our room was spacious and decently close to most of the areas we wanted to hit before moving on from Tokyo. 

I became obsessed with BookOff and the many small gaming shops around the city. We saw so much in regards to anime and gaming that my mind began to melt (and my wallet began to empty). I definitely picked up a Dragonball, some merchandise at a Pokemon Center (just one of many visits across Japan), some games that are never to be released in english speaking countries and paid my tribute at the Square-Enix cafe. All honesty, I could live there tomorrow if things were going differently. 

Next we headed into Kyoto with a bit of unease as we arrived. We had heard stories such as: it was hard to get around, experienced racism and people generally aren’t helpful. Within moments all of this was drowned with the kindness from the people around us and the fact that Kyoto has a bus pass that is a hop on, hop off anywhere pass for an entire day. Handy for the traveller there for a few days. Kyoto was absolutely beautiful; the history, the traditions and the people. Seeing kimonos first hand was extremely interesting as it still it the fashion there, unlike the budding metropolis we had visited just days earlier. Also in Kyoto, we found a restaurant… no, THE restaurant. It was a Do-It-Yourself Tempura feast, you paid one price and ate until your time was up. We may have gone back there again the next night… no regrets. 

From there we headed into Osaka. To me, I loved Osaka, both heart and soul. Tokyo was too crammed to feel quite comfortable for me, but Osaka was almost the calmer version. It still had the rich gaming culture and anime everywhere, but without the foot traffic and regular traffic of Tokyo. Here is where I did most of my shopping (games I held onto for years were available here for roughly $5 and were still popular!) and I made the decision I will need to learn Japanese. I’ll get to that later. For an afternoon, my girlfriend and I parted ways and I ventured around the city. I swung by many small back alley shops and marvelled at games that cost in the upwards of $6000 (first editions and rarities). It was hard to leave Osaka, but we still had another stop.

Atami was our stop in at a hotel that was styled like a traditional Japanese guest house. We wore our robes and went to eat dinner, when we realised that we were most certainly the only white people in the whole building (or perhaps even city…) We felt out of place for a few minutes as people pointed us out and the such, but then everything went about as if nothing happened. It was an odd feeling, but I’m sure to them, it was an odd sight! Here I fell in love with melon soda (or green, delicious, fizzy nectar of the gods as I like to call it) and we then headed back to the airport for the trip home.

So that was my journey into Japan. Before we left however my boss told me he had news. All of the sales managers for the local area were shifting stores. Without so much as a chance to say goodbye, I found out that was my last day and when I arrived back in Australia, I’d be headed into a different store. Going from a mall store to a destination store is tricky, especially now that Christmas is gone. That means I can work on growing the clientèle until then, but when Christmas hits we have to be in tip top shape. It is the only time of year you can hit a huge customer base and work hard to keep them for after the season. I did it with EB Games, and now it’s my plan with this store. Just means it’s going to be a long wait until then.

As for my writing… it has fallen off the wagon. Getting puppies was a fantastic idea, and I love them to death… but my productivity has disintegrated. I feel terribly guilty when I don’t pay attention to them as we have to pretty much lock them in the laundry while we work during the day. In our home we don’t have a nice yard they can just play in (hopefully in our next place they will) so we both feel as though we owe it to them to give them our undivided attention while we’re home. As one of my days off falls during the week, I still keep them away while I am home so not only as to get things done, but keep their during the week routine consistent as my day off may not be the same from week to week.

Also trying to fit gaming, writing and learning Japanese into my non existent free time has proven quite the challenge. My last days off were spent weeding the garden (AKA TJ Versus the Plant Spires Of DOOOM), cleaning the house (AKA Revenge of the Dust Hares), catching up on the laundry (AKA Attack of the Pasta Stains 2) and IKEA Furniture Assembly (AKA How Not To Assemble Furniture). The last game I played was on my iPhone (I’m so ashamed… all these game consoles and no playing time on them as of late) and in the washroom, where I have uninterrupted free time! Hurray for irritable bowel syndrome!

Anyway I am hoping to get back into it pretty soon, most likely in about two weeks time when my boss returns from holidays and I can focus on getting out of work on time. As for gaming, I’ll get there when I retire. *Sigh* Any one out there have any decent time management strategies/books they’d like to suggest or tips!? I’m all ears!