tky06

the plan was to go to yasukuni shrine today so i went to shinjuku because i know there is a street there called the yasukuni street. the average traveler would assume that the famous shrine would be close to the street, right? i was walking around and through that street trying to find the damn shrine when i met a canadian who was searching for the same shrine too. so i thought, why don't we be lost together? so i teamed up with him in search for the controversial shrine.

after feeling bored walking around without a clue, we asked this homeless guy sitting by a small shinto temple, for directions. unfortunately for us, not enough by being homeless, he was also intoxicated by alcohol. i don't really get what he is saying. because the homeless guy (he is quite nice though, offering us some rotten bread) can't help us, we asked someone else. this time its a korean girl who can speak broken japanese! and yeah. she can't help us neither.

somehow, by asking random people a couple of times, we got on board the train to kudanshita, heading to the right direction to yasukuni. it was a big shrine but by the time we got there, it's already closed and it started to rain. we took a couple of pictures and went back to the train station.

i don't know how, but when we were both busy with trying to get our train tickets in the midst of the crowds, somehow i lost sight of Max, the canadian guy. i searched and looked for him but in vain. so i decided, oh well let's just board the train. when my train started moving, i could see, on the other side of the platform, there he is, Max the canadian guy looking clueless because he can't speak japanese. he said to me that he is going to asakusa. if he did board the train from that platform, damn he is going to be so lost. well, good luck Max and i'm sorry for being such an inpatient guy.


right after arriving at shinjuku, i went to kinokuniya to check the latest gaming magazines there. for free. oh yeah free stuff feels good. then on my way back to the station, i stumbled upon a group of malaysians doing an event to promote malaysia, sponsored by tourism sabah. being a good malaysian citizen with a warm and friendly heart, i said hello. i got my face caricatured and i asked them to take the picture above. wow their costume sure is sparky!

the old man above, do you know who he is? he is the the member of a special unit to prevent illegal bicycle parking in the city of shinjuku. maybe the city mayor were thinking about how to help the retired community to get some money. so the solution is to give them jobs that are not needed and are easy to do. there were also other special jobs like the special unit to help schoolchildren cross the street. sweet.

shinjuku is full of colorful and weird shops just like the above two: a peep show house offering discounts to students (!!!) and donkihote, the multi-billion-worth-franchise of store selling just about anything that you could imagine. just look at how pact the store is! there is so much stuff in the store, and yes if you look closer at the center of the picture, you could see their famous product hanging on the shelf: boob pillows. nice.

NEXT: REVIEWS !!! WAWAWEEWA !!!

The King of Kong – 7.0

A documentary about 2 adults competing with each other to be the world title holder for the retro game: dong king kong. Stupid game, not so stupid documentary.

The Condemned – 7.5

Simply put, this is a simplified, Hollywood version of the legendary Japanese movie: battle royale; and surprisingly, it was not so bad. Stone Cold Steve Austin was in it. What ever.

Paprika – 8.8

Another anime gem by acclaimed Japanese anime company: mad house. The story was quite complicated and demands multiple viewing to fully understand it fully but the experience watching this anime was just amazing. Pretty much a science fiction anime, the animation and the detail to perfection on every scene makes this a must watch for all anime lovers. i’d gave a better score if they had made the ending much more interesting though.