Last day in Tokyo / Return to Sydney
On Tuesday it was my last day in Tokyo. It's pretty unbelievable now to be blogging from home about it, knowing just earlier this week I was in a totally different country. I packed up my stuff in the morning, then had breakfast down in the hotel lobby, and then hung around my room for a bit.
I left my stuff in the lobby and then headed out for one last trip. Of course, it would be in Akihabara, where I had decided to try the Home Cafe, but I couldn't find it. I walked around for ages and because of the limited roaming data I had, I had severe difficulties finding it. So in the end, I just went to the AKB48 cafe.
It was a little disappointing, because it was quite empty. The waitresses were dressed in short skirts being some kind of uniform, but the food wasn't that great. There was just no 'maid cafe' experience to it all.
After that I decided to return to the hotel a bit earlier to finally call it goodbye. I retrieved my stuff and caught the metro to the closer station to the Narita airport line. I then bought a ticket and changed lines and caught a train out to the airport, filled with sadness.
I arrived at the airport and the familiarity instantly struck me. I could not believe I had arrived here feeling so new and foreign, and yet now I had gotten the hang of things - somewhat. I exchanged some money back to AUD, had something to eat, sat around reading the Jordan book, and then checked in.
I hung around the gates waiting and playing Anipang 2 on my phone - thank god Waiza had lent me his power bank. The flight back was relatively pleasant - no one seated next to me on a three seater, so I got to lie down to sleep.
We landed in Cairns at like 4:30am and I had to find my way to the domestic terminals, which was a bit of a walk. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cold as Sydney. The next flight back to Sydney was for four hours, and again no one seated next to me.
When I finally landed, I managed to meet up with my dad pretty quickly. I was surprised customs in Cairns had let me through without checking my stuff merely because I claimed I had nothing to declare. I mean, I didn't, but I was just picturing the embarrassment of when they found my porn DVD.
I ended up having yum cha with my parents in St George. I was pretty tired but also excited to tell them about the trip and show them my photos. We then went home, I shaved my head, had a shower, and headed out to, you guessed it, the casino. It wasn't because the urge was there, but I just figured it would be my last day of freedom without having to go to work so I might as well make some money out of it.
I initially won $720 and left. I had decided to end things with Johanna by disappearing, mainly because when I checked my phone at home, there were no messages from her. No follow up to my last message of "I will miss you". No happy birthday message. No when are you coming back message.
Anyway, because of that I felt free again, so I decided to go for a punt. I used Wechat to look for people, and ended up choosing a girl because she charged the lowest ($250). It was an apartment near my old work place, and when I went up, the door was already open, which was a bit strange. A hand gestured me in and when I went in and had a look, the lady obviously did not look anything like her photo. She quickly closed the door before I could change my mind.
Fuck it, just get this over and done with I thought. The whole thing was disgusting but I just needed to get out of there. The deed was done quick, and I showered and left. I needed to get the bad taste out of my mouth. What I really wanted to do was find a Japanese girl to talk to about my Tokyo experience.
I had decided on the shop called Ginza, which is known to have Japanese girls. I walked there and stopped midway for a kebab. The sole Japanese girl available wasn't to my liking, so I ended up choosing a Singaporean girl called Lisa, who looked a bit like a devilish version of Eva.
We got along pretty well. She apparently works at DJ as well, and is doing this for money for studying. She asked me what I did and I lied and said accounting. Weird thing was she asked for my first and last name. And I stupid gave it to her, though I doubt she'd know how to spell it.
Anyway, after that I had the urge to get my money back, so I headed back to the casino. Even though it was a far walk. Even though I risked losing everything.
So yes, I went back and played again. This time I won $640 and left, caught a taxi and went home. That was a verygood lucky result.
On Thursday I returned to work. Nothing had exploded or imploded, though Gabby did do some stuff for my case while I was away. After work I met up with Yvonne to give her the water bottle. I only charged her $30 for it, even though it was a bit more. I was a bit annoyed that she was sick and still wanted to meet up. She was like, really really sick, coughing up mucus and shit. I needed to get out of there. But what annoyed me even more was when she mentioned that the water bottle was sold in Sydney, but she only asked me to get it for her so she could save $30. All this time I thought she asked me because it wasn't sold in Australia. Fuck.
I checked my phone when I got home, and Johanna had sent me a message in the morning, asking me where I was. I didn't reply.
I went to basketball at night and after our game (we won) Jeremy asked me to do duty for his team. I reluctantly agreed, because I wanted to go eat with the guys. There was a girl from the other team doing duty, and near the beginning she said something about how it was so cold. I said it was, and that I had just come back from Tokyo. She told me she just came back last week, and so we started talking about that. I felt like we really hit it off. She even collects sneakers. Of course, the big elephant in the room was her boyfriend on the other team. She mentioned him once, as they went to Tokyo together, but I just pretended like nothing. Not that I thought about anything anyway, but I think people definitely noticed us talking and laughing.
On Friday I woke up with a massive headache and a runny nose. Thanks Yvonne. I contemplated not going into work but had a meeting in the morning. After that I thought about going home but decided to stay.
After work I met up with Jim for dinner. Initially I cancelled it saying I was sick, but he said he had a strong immune system so we ended up meeting. I picked him up and we went to a restaurant nearby in Glebe. I wanted to talk about Tokyo but he seemed more interested in talking about the trip to the US in December. I can't believe it's been booked and that I have already paid half of it.
I gave him the Slam Dunk towel I bought for him in Tokyo. He seemed to look at it with curiosity.
On Saturday I slept in and bummed around at home before going for a jog in the park near me at around 11am. It was still way too cold. I ended up keeping myself entertained by jogging behind a chick, just to see if I could keep up with her. She was pretty much running my pace anyway, though towards the end I sped past her and finished with my usual time of around 20 minutes.
After that I went out to the casino. I sat at a table with a weird looking dealer who seemed to look at me every now and then. I noticed that there was a hot looking chick behind him before realising that it was Summer. I stayed long enough for the shift to rotate and she came to my table. I said long time no see, and she said they had her working at baccarat, which she didn't like because it didn't involve much movement.
She asked me about my HK trip, which was probably the only thing she could remember about me, but I was pretty sure we had talked about it before. I told her I had actually just came back from Tokyo and she seemed interested, though we didn't get to talk much about it because some Asian guy sitting next to me decided to chime in every now and then.
We talked a bit about Thailand as a holiday destination and she said she didn't like Bangkok because of all the prostitutes. I knew that by talking to her that I was distracting myself. Indeed, I was down $600. It was only on a lucky spin when it landed on 34 where I had two straight ups did I catch up and was up $120.
The Asian guy and I talked a bit and turns out he plays basketball too. He showed me a photo of him and a former Lakers player, but I recognised Daniela from the photo and inadvertently pointed her out. He played on the same team as her at KGV. I then began wondering if I had blown my cover. But then again, was it such a big deal? All he saw was me playing about $120 per spin. He was betting around the same amounts.
Anyway, I decided to call it quits with the $120 gain and left. I was also late to meet Ele. How I thought I could make it to Burwood in 15 minutes from the city was beyond me. It would be funny if Johanna saw me there, I thought.
I was about 40 minutes late to meet her, which I felt bad about. Anyway, we ended up meeting and having coffee at that Korean coffee shop near the station where Thai, Malay and Brain and I had been a few times before.
I told her about Shuing having cancer, and she was shocked. She wanted to see him the next day. I talked about my trip to Tokyo with her and she seemed interested. I also gave her the foldable bottle I got her from Tokyo.
She told me about the business she started in China. It sounded like she was doing well until a big company came in and took a lot of the business. She also told me that she got sacked from her job, and was really upset about it.
I tried to comfort her by telling her to look at how lucky she was to have her family and health, and in the process revealed that I had been unhappy. She guessed the reason was because my life just seemed to consist of work and gym and basketball. I said it also had to do with not having a girlfriend. She said I prioritised basketball too much, and never spent enough time finding a girl. She was right.
She ended up calling Colin and got him to come over, but I had to headed to basketball. I met Colin briefly, and they both tried to drag me to dinner but I really had to go.
That made me late in picking Daniel up for basketball. It didn't help that he had asked me to pick him up from a different address. Anyway, basketball was ok. Didn't think I'd get into it because it was so cold but I went alright. I gave Danile his wristband, allowing him to choose the colour. I also gave Kevin his Steph Curry key chain. I couldn't give anyone else their present there because Derek and Tristian were around, and I didn't get them anything.
After basketball we went to eat, and Tristian asked me to cover him for dinner and said he'd pay me back later. I was like, alright, but then after dinner Daniel wanted a hot dog and Tristian wanted one too and asked me to pay for that as well. When I dropped him home he said he'd come to basketball the next day to pay me, even thought I doubted it. Oh well, $30 is a small price to pay to find out if someone is trustworthy or not.
When I dropped Danile home, he surprised me by giving me a birthday cake. I felt really grateful for it, as no one else had really seemed to acknowledge that it had been my birthday.
Today I went to basketball to play for Richard's team and we lost by three points. I felt so bad. Was it because I was now used to winning? Why did life have to be viewed from a win or lose perspective? I got all philosophical with myself to try to explain the way I felt.
I went out to the casino and played on a table mainly by myself. I wasn't really making any progress, just going up and down, before making a small win and getting a gain of $200. Some dude had joined in and was betting on about 30-40% of the numbers, and he lost every spin. He kept pulling more $100 notes to play, and kept losing. It was enough of a sign for me as I knew how that felt and I didn't want to be him so I cashed out and left.
I went to Bondi to get new car seat covers and a steering wheel cover, then went home to wash the car and install all the stuff. I didn't think I'd like it too much because it was red and black, but it actually looks pretty good, like real sporty.
I had messaged Coco to see if she would come watch Terminator with me, but she said she was watching it with someone else and asked where my Korean girlfriend was. I was annoyed because she had initially set aside today for my so called birthday dinner, and told me to leave it to her to organise, but Yvonne was sick and G was going out with a girl. It just showed me that she didn't really work hard enough in organising this, and now had made plans when she said she had been free. So I ignored her and didn't reply.
I watched the movie by myself anyway. I thought it was ok, but the cinema was kinda empty. Emilia Clarke is pretty hot, but she is also quite short.
I left my stuff in the lobby and then headed out for one last trip. Of course, it would be in Akihabara, where I had decided to try the Home Cafe, but I couldn't find it. I walked around for ages and because of the limited roaming data I had, I had severe difficulties finding it. So in the end, I just went to the AKB48 cafe.
It was a little disappointing, because it was quite empty. The waitresses were dressed in short skirts being some kind of uniform, but the food wasn't that great. There was just no 'maid cafe' experience to it all.
After that I decided to return to the hotel a bit earlier to finally call it goodbye. I retrieved my stuff and caught the metro to the closer station to the Narita airport line. I then bought a ticket and changed lines and caught a train out to the airport, filled with sadness.
I arrived at the airport and the familiarity instantly struck me. I could not believe I had arrived here feeling so new and foreign, and yet now I had gotten the hang of things - somewhat. I exchanged some money back to AUD, had something to eat, sat around reading the Jordan book, and then checked in.
I hung around the gates waiting and playing Anipang 2 on my phone - thank god Waiza had lent me his power bank. The flight back was relatively pleasant - no one seated next to me on a three seater, so I got to lie down to sleep.
We landed in Cairns at like 4:30am and I had to find my way to the domestic terminals, which was a bit of a walk. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cold as Sydney. The next flight back to Sydney was for four hours, and again no one seated next to me.
When I finally landed, I managed to meet up with my dad pretty quickly. I was surprised customs in Cairns had let me through without checking my stuff merely because I claimed I had nothing to declare. I mean, I didn't, but I was just picturing the embarrassment of when they found my porn DVD.
I ended up having yum cha with my parents in St George. I was pretty tired but also excited to tell them about the trip and show them my photos. We then went home, I shaved my head, had a shower, and headed out to, you guessed it, the casino. It wasn't because the urge was there, but I just figured it would be my last day of freedom without having to go to work so I might as well make some money out of it.
I initially won $720 and left. I had decided to end things with Johanna by disappearing, mainly because when I checked my phone at home, there were no messages from her. No follow up to my last message of "I will miss you". No happy birthday message. No when are you coming back message.
Anyway, because of that I felt free again, so I decided to go for a punt. I used Wechat to look for people, and ended up choosing a girl because she charged the lowest ($250). It was an apartment near my old work place, and when I went up, the door was already open, which was a bit strange. A hand gestured me in and when I went in and had a look, the lady obviously did not look anything like her photo. She quickly closed the door before I could change my mind.
Fuck it, just get this over and done with I thought. The whole thing was disgusting but I just needed to get out of there. The deed was done quick, and I showered and left. I needed to get the bad taste out of my mouth. What I really wanted to do was find a Japanese girl to talk to about my Tokyo experience.
I had decided on the shop called Ginza, which is known to have Japanese girls. I walked there and stopped midway for a kebab. The sole Japanese girl available wasn't to my liking, so I ended up choosing a Singaporean girl called Lisa, who looked a bit like a devilish version of Eva.
We got along pretty well. She apparently works at DJ as well, and is doing this for money for studying. She asked me what I did and I lied and said accounting. Weird thing was she asked for my first and last name. And I stupid gave it to her, though I doubt she'd know how to spell it.
Anyway, after that I had the urge to get my money back, so I headed back to the casino. Even though it was a far walk. Even though I risked losing everything.
So yes, I went back and played again. This time I won $640 and left, caught a taxi and went home. That was a very
On Thursday I returned to work. Nothing had exploded or imploded, though Gabby did do some stuff for my case while I was away. After work I met up with Yvonne to give her the water bottle. I only charged her $30 for it, even though it was a bit more. I was a bit annoyed that she was sick and still wanted to meet up. She was like, really really sick, coughing up mucus and shit. I needed to get out of there. But what annoyed me even more was when she mentioned that the water bottle was sold in Sydney, but she only asked me to get it for her so she could save $30. All this time I thought she asked me because it wasn't sold in Australia. Fuck.
I checked my phone when I got home, and Johanna had sent me a message in the morning, asking me where I was. I didn't reply.
I went to basketball at night and after our game (we won) Jeremy asked me to do duty for his team. I reluctantly agreed, because I wanted to go eat with the guys. There was a girl from the other team doing duty, and near the beginning she said something about how it was so cold. I said it was, and that I had just come back from Tokyo. She told me she just came back last week, and so we started talking about that. I felt like we really hit it off. She even collects sneakers. Of course, the big elephant in the room was her boyfriend on the other team. She mentioned him once, as they went to Tokyo together, but I just pretended like nothing. Not that I thought about anything anyway, but I think people definitely noticed us talking and laughing.
On Friday I woke up with a massive headache and a runny nose. Thanks Yvonne. I contemplated not going into work but had a meeting in the morning. After that I thought about going home but decided to stay.
After work I met up with Jim for dinner. Initially I cancelled it saying I was sick, but he said he had a strong immune system so we ended up meeting. I picked him up and we went to a restaurant nearby in Glebe. I wanted to talk about Tokyo but he seemed more interested in talking about the trip to the US in December. I can't believe it's been booked and that I have already paid half of it.
I gave him the Slam Dunk towel I bought for him in Tokyo. He seemed to look at it with curiosity.
On Saturday I slept in and bummed around at home before going for a jog in the park near me at around 11am. It was still way too cold. I ended up keeping myself entertained by jogging behind a chick, just to see if I could keep up with her. She was pretty much running my pace anyway, though towards the end I sped past her and finished with my usual time of around 20 minutes.
After that I went out to the casino. I sat at a table with a weird looking dealer who seemed to look at me every now and then. I noticed that there was a hot looking chick behind him before realising that it was Summer. I stayed long enough for the shift to rotate and she came to my table. I said long time no see, and she said they had her working at baccarat, which she didn't like because it didn't involve much movement.
She asked me about my HK trip, which was probably the only thing she could remember about me, but I was pretty sure we had talked about it before. I told her I had actually just came back from Tokyo and she seemed interested, though we didn't get to talk much about it because some Asian guy sitting next to me decided to chime in every now and then.
We talked a bit about Thailand as a holiday destination and she said she didn't like Bangkok because of all the prostitutes. I knew that by talking to her that I was distracting myself. Indeed, I was down $600. It was only on a lucky spin when it landed on 34 where I had two straight ups did I catch up and was up $120.
The Asian guy and I talked a bit and turns out he plays basketball too. He showed me a photo of him and a former Lakers player, but I recognised Daniela from the photo and inadvertently pointed her out. He played on the same team as her at KGV. I then began wondering if I had blown my cover. But then again, was it such a big deal? All he saw was me playing about $120 per spin. He was betting around the same amounts.
Anyway, I decided to call it quits with the $120 gain and left. I was also late to meet Ele. How I thought I could make it to Burwood in 15 minutes from the city was beyond me. It would be funny if Johanna saw me there, I thought.
I was about 40 minutes late to meet her, which I felt bad about. Anyway, we ended up meeting and having coffee at that Korean coffee shop near the station where Thai, Malay and Brain and I had been a few times before.
I told her about Shuing having cancer, and she was shocked. She wanted to see him the next day. I talked about my trip to Tokyo with her and she seemed interested. I also gave her the foldable bottle I got her from Tokyo.
She told me about the business she started in China. It sounded like she was doing well until a big company came in and took a lot of the business. She also told me that she got sacked from her job, and was really upset about it.
I tried to comfort her by telling her to look at how lucky she was to have her family and health, and in the process revealed that I had been unhappy. She guessed the reason was because my life just seemed to consist of work and gym and basketball. I said it also had to do with not having a girlfriend. She said I prioritised basketball too much, and never spent enough time finding a girl. She was right.
She ended up calling Colin and got him to come over, but I had to headed to basketball. I met Colin briefly, and they both tried to drag me to dinner but I really had to go.
That made me late in picking Daniel up for basketball. It didn't help that he had asked me to pick him up from a different address. Anyway, basketball was ok. Didn't think I'd get into it because it was so cold but I went alright. I gave Danile his wristband, allowing him to choose the colour. I also gave Kevin his Steph Curry key chain. I couldn't give anyone else their present there because Derek and Tristian were around, and I didn't get them anything.
After basketball we went to eat, and Tristian asked me to cover him for dinner and said he'd pay me back later. I was like, alright, but then after dinner Daniel wanted a hot dog and Tristian wanted one too and asked me to pay for that as well. When I dropped him home he said he'd come to basketball the next day to pay me, even thought I doubted it. Oh well, $30 is a small price to pay to find out if someone is trustworthy or not.
When I dropped Danile home, he surprised me by giving me a birthday cake. I felt really grateful for it, as no one else had really seemed to acknowledge that it had been my birthday.
Today I went to basketball to play for Richard's team and we lost by three points. I felt so bad. Was it because I was now used to winning? Why did life have to be viewed from a win or lose perspective? I got all philosophical with myself to try to explain the way I felt.
I went out to the casino and played on a table mainly by myself. I wasn't really making any progress, just going up and down, before making a small win and getting a gain of $200. Some dude had joined in and was betting on about 30-40% of the numbers, and he lost every spin. He kept pulling more $100 notes to play, and kept losing. It was enough of a sign for me as I knew how that felt and I didn't want to be him so I cashed out and left.
I went to Bondi to get new car seat covers and a steering wheel cover, then went home to wash the car and install all the stuff. I didn't think I'd like it too much because it was red and black, but it actually looks pretty good, like real sporty.
I had messaged Coco to see if she would come watch Terminator with me, but she said she was watching it with someone else and asked where my Korean girlfriend was. I was annoyed because she had initially set aside today for my so called birthday dinner, and told me to leave it to her to organise, but Yvonne was sick and G was going out with a girl. It just showed me that she didn't really work hard enough in organising this, and now had made plans when she said she had been free. So I ignored her and didn't reply.
I watched the movie by myself anyway. I thought it was ok, but the cinema was kinda empty. Emilia Clarke is pretty hot, but she is also quite short.
posted by toey | 23:09
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