Like the First Time

With over 20 handy maps of places in Japan, I was sure I got my travelling woes down. What is good about being in an economically stable country is that they give free stuff of just about anything. Case in point when I went to the Tokyo 東京　Metropolitan Government Building view deck in Shinjuku 新宿. It was my first time to actually step out of Shinjuku station. I wasn't there on transit like the rest of the time. On the ground floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan, they have booths where they promote places and prefectures in Japan, complete with a souvenir stand and shelves upon shelves of free maps and guides in various languages for the various places in Japan. And everything there was for free. I grabbed everything I could understand, and places that can be visited within my budget. I was a happy camper. After having my fill of the magnificent Tokyo city view, I went back to my room 部屋, deposited the pile of infos on my desk with the idea of skimming through them later.

Tuesday 火曜日 came and I needed to go to Ikebukuro 池袋 to see Sasuke 佐助　perform with his band. Sasuke is my cousin I have only met once before, when I was a weeny little boy unable to recognize anything. Therefore it was sort of my first time to see him. My ex-artista aunt who now lives in Japan asked me if I wanted to see her son perform in Ikebukuro Chop. I said of course.

Now I haven't been to Ikebukuro yet so I needed a good map to get around. It's not that it was really important to have one. I just thought that maybe there is a cool tourist attraction there somewhere that i could visit or something. I dug the pile of maps and guides and found nothing on Ikebukuro. So I resigned and just went there an hour early to have a little time to scout the area and see what's good 'n cookin'.　

It's funny how I have to bike my way to the nearest station えき just to get on the train. It is so awkward. I could choose to take the bus バス but the Lord God made everything ridiculously expensive 高い here. Imagine I pay roughly the same amount for getting to a station with taking the train to my destination. What a rip off these Japanese prices are. Ridiculous.

Come to think of it, I may be the only one complaining about these things seeing that most if not all, of the people here are damn rich while I'm a student trying to get by with what little stipend I have. If I receive this amount in the P.I., I'd be four times richer than my mom or dad. But it is not the same here. But I'll get by. Magic can sometimes happen to those who wish it. ; )

The performance was good as a first time. Sasuke's band was just formed and like any other band out there looking for the limelight, they have got to perform and pay for their performances as much as they can until they get discovered by a scout and land a deal or a contract with a label. However, the next performers after Sasuke's The Libido was a pro. They managed to get heads bangin' and bodies bobbing to the groove of their puppet inspired show. Calmando Qual was a first for me. A first Japanese live rock band performance and a first to really dig a rock band. Great すごい! After the performance, I met Sasuke. Not unlike any other Japanese, he couldn't speak Tagalog and know very limited English. I resorted to bowing and saying　ｙｏｒｏｓｈｉｋｕ よろしく instead. He really appreciated me watching him perform. He thanked me profusely for watching and said "Hontoni arigatou kitte kurimashita ほんとにありがとうきってくりました."

And that was that. I wanted to have a souvenir picture さっしん　with him but he had heavy emo/goth make-up on for his performance. So I kinda decided not to push with it. And that was my Tuesday.