2nd Wind

sometimes i wonder what i do at home
and then i realise i have $400 worth of 18 balls and other stuff to waste my time on.

my latest loot from Japan seems so crazy, even to myself.
Shawn asked why i needed 18 balls,
"is it of every conceivable size and color"

but see every set of balls has a different function.
5 are for bounce,
6 are for balancing
and 7 are for throwing.

different balls are just meant for different things.

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i'm beginning to find joy in the other props.
i've set my mind on learning 5 bounce juggling.
to my delight it took me all of 2 hours in 2 sessions to get it going.

considering it took me a year to get 5 ball toss juggling,
2 hours is insane.
but experts say 5 ball bouncing is like 3 toss juggling, so well.

it's really fun though, to see progress so fast.
it's still very shaky, can only get 2 rounds the most, but fun fun.
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i'm also trying my hands on ring spinning, club balancing, ball balancing, club swinging....
all very new to me and thus all with a lot of relatively simple stuff to learn.
some of the tricks look very pretty too.
MJ thinks having too many props divert your focus.
i just think do what is fun, man.
besides, it's easier to perform with diversity i think.
but then, that's me.

the other day siyong and i managed to pass tomahawks for the first time.
it just worked out suddenly from nowhere.
we've been trying from time to time and the clubs always end up like chaotic missiles and suddenly on friday they just flew great.

cool stuff.
i love it when the brain just clicks suddenly.

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went to watch an experimental dance yesterday, by a Japanese dance troupe.
someone sent me their promo vid and i thought i'd just go for ideas.

i didn't quite get it, but did get some creative juices flowing, so i guess it's not all that bad.

it's interesting how these artistes present their stuff,
it's like, you know they're trying to say something,
but they don't want to do it too explicitly.
i guess that's art,
but sometimes you just don't get what they're trying to say.

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been trying to balance work and juggling.
and sort of found the perfect solution.

the past week i tried going off in the evenings to juggle and then heading back to the office at around 8 plus for conference calls.
it worked like a charm.
i was utterly refreshed and alive after juggling and literally bounced back to work.

no more grivances about late night OT hours.
juggling also improved i think cos i was doing short but consistent practices.
balls were the easiest to carry around so i'm getting back to more ball work.

the venue i found to juggle was indoor and air-coned somemore. Best.
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been twingling with the idea of performing for my company's D&D.
let's see how that works out.

I'm Fresh!

i've been called "fat" (or "fatter")
i've been called "fair"
then suddenly yesterday someone said i was "fresh"

"Fresh? what the hell does that mean?" i asked mom.
"it means you look very awake and alert, like your work has no stress"
"oh you mean, like, everyone looks very jaded is it."

It's interesting i'm called "fresh" now because i'm recovering from flu and look as pale as toilet paper.

So after one full friday of sleep (was on MC),
and lots of Panadol, some with cold relief, some just regular,
i think i've finally shaken off the exhaustion.

If the tokyo trip was good for my mental health,
then this weekend break was sure damn good for my physical health.

i feel quite refresh now.
Working has a way of taking away all your inspiration and energy,
and i'm quite sure this won't last.
i hope it does.
i'll try to protect it. if it means some things must give, then it has to give.

yesterday we got "The Talk" by my aunt, who's a retired businesswoman.
The infamous "The Talk" was about why we should not work for other pple.
We should do things now especially when we are young and have less to lose.
It's quite inspiring actually, and suddenly i see a lot of fun things i can do.

Then i asked her how i should proceed,
and she said "For girls, i think you should just marry well."

so much for "The Talk".

But there are some stuff i think can be done.
i'm inspired again!
this is me just back from a juggling festival, and i'm always inspired after a festival.

what the hell,
i should just do it.
if it all goes wrong, i can just get married right?

Life is like a free and easy tour.
Know what you want to do, but be flexible enough to change it.

That sounds so incredibly cheesy.

Konichiwa

been a long time since i last posted.
didn't even realised that.
oh well, life happened.

not in optimal mood to blog now.
recovering from flu, which i suspect arose more from lack of rest more than anything.

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i just got back from the Japan Juggling Festival in Tokyo!
yeeha!

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First Night at Osaka Airport

the trip started out badly enough.
we were scheduled to arrive at narita airport at 2pm on friday.
we were 20 minutes from the airport when they reported strong winds and so had to divert us to Osaka airport.

it's kinda funny how MJ and I were watching the flight map thingy which had a blue line drawn from the plane cartoon to the final destination. we were watching the map closely when suddenly the blue line changed from Narita to somewhere out of the map.

Me: "Eh? how come the line can change one? are you sure that is the line for our final destination?"
MJ: "I think so...."
Me: "maybe the pilot forgot something and he's flying back to get it. or sekali the auto-pilot malfunctioned! we're off to singapore!"

and then 30 seconds later the pilot announced the diversion.

anyway, it was supposed to be a few hours delay, so they would'nt let us get off the plane. so we waited and waited, until narita closed, and they finally let us off the plane.

"Does this mean we get to tour Osaka?" MJ wondered.

No such luck. because of "customs", we couldn't get out of the transit area or check out our luggage. Which is all very fun because they have all these strict rules about stuff you can carry onto the plane so you practically put everything you have in the check-in luggage.

"Ok MJ, first things first. Find toilet, find water, find food. then we'll be alright."

it wasn't quite so bad in the end. we found the toilet and water cooler, and i had those 10 cent chocolate wafers with me. The airline also gave supper and breakfast and blankets.

since we had so much time, MJ and I wandered round the entire osaka airport. it was late and almost deserted, and whenever we got lost there would be kind japanese auntie cleaners to show us the way.

"Think of it this way, we saved one night's hotel stay!" MJ chirped.
"yeah, we stay here a few more days, and i save everything except the air ticket!"

it's the first time i stayed over at the airport, sleeping on the couches and all, so it wasn't that bad. good to experience once i guess.

I notice that i've never had any flight delays except when i'm going for juggling conventions.
the last time at Las Vegas WJF i got delayed by 12 hours because the plane broke down.
this time i got delayed by 24 hours because of weather.
next time i should book my arrival 3 days in advance maybe.

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Japan Juggling Festival

of all the places that juggling has taken me, i would have never expected it to bring me to a place where people share baths and where jugglers from 3 different countries can have a good chatty meal together without speaking a word of another's language.

more on that later.

so after MJ and I finally got to Narita, it was off to figuring out how to get on Tokyo's famous ultra-confusing train system.

their train map looks like a plate of spaghetti.

and my god, their shinjuku underground train station is like a maze. Just searching for the east exit from the west exit is an adventure in itself. you find yourself in strange corners and dead ends that end abruptly. (we gave up and finally went above ground to walk round the building)

but we finally found our way to the Tokyo National Youth Olympic Centre, where the JJF was held.
We barely introduced ourselves when we were ushered off to the theatre to watch the first performance of the festival, put up by all the past JJF champions.

it was an incredible performance.

time and time again i got wowed and more wowed and even more wowed.

like everything else, the Japanese are top class.

Shindo kicked off the night with a rubber faced comic performance that hardly diminished his technical ball skills. And then there was some slick devil stick, cigar box and diabolo performances. And a guy with amazing balance skills. pure wonder, the way he stretched the laws of physics by balancing the club in every conceivable manner.

then there were the piroutte experts, guys with ball bearings as feet. there was a young guy and another older one whom MJ calls the "zen master" because he looks so much like one. i don't even think ballerinas can spin so fast.

the Kikyo brothers, as usual, stunning in their club control.

the ones that most captivate me are the ring and poi performances. The poi piece was magic in motion. it really was. he did a glow routine in the 2nd half, and that alone was worth the trip to Japan.

The ring routine was well choreographed and he looked almost like a king fu master in action. I think the soundtrack for both pieces were well chosen too, probably the reason i was captivated.
it was a wonderful night and a great kick off to the festival. i only wished they do this every year, and more of my fellow singaporean jugglers were there to see it.

The Japanese jugglers choreograph their pieces well, and their styles are different from the western styles, so it's a breath of fresh air from all the western video diet we've been feeding on. besides how obviously skillful they are and how beautifully and artfully they present their stuff, another thing i noticed is how varied they are. Every performer on stage that night presented a different prop at a high level. This is something that is severely lacking on the local scene. Golly, we don't even do rings!

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Sharing Baths

We stayed on site at the JJF, which means they put us up in student hostel type of lodging. which is all part of the fun, in my opinion. i think in IJA or something you even have to bring your own tents to camp out or something. it's all very hippy-ish.

so i was on the girls' floor. Alick (juggler from Hong Kong) explained that that was because the shower cubicles were in glass partitions, so "you see everything".

"glass partitions??" i asked, wondering why even put partitions if they were gonna be glass.
"yup. so guys and girls have to be separated."

In the hostel we had to make our own beds, so when we collect the room keys they also pass us bedsheets and pillow cases to put on ourselves. We also clean up ourselves before leaving, so no housekeeping and no room service, yes.

the sinks and toilets and shower rooms were in the common area at the lounge. Thankfully the toilets had solid non-glass partitions. (imagine the awkwardness when 2 pple are pooping)

I went into the shower room to check out Alick's proclaimed glass partitions.

there wasn't even glass partitions.

well there was one, to partition off the main door. So it's like, you open the main door, you get to a dry area, where you dress up and so on. Then you open a glass door, and inside are 3 shower taps side by side and a big bath tub for everyone to soak in together.

it's like a gay/lesbian's ultimate orgy fantasy. (interestingly, in almost every japan tour guide book, there is always a mention of its famous gay bars)

It's just a cultural thing and i find it interesting how liberal the Japanese are with this, but i couldn't bring myself to share baths with strangers. or worse, sharing baths with friends. when i use the sink outside i could always hear them chatting happily in the bath. someone would step in and the pple inside will greet a "konbanwa" enthusiastically. it was really interesting. maybe with a few more JJFs i'll get used to communal baths. but for now, i'm happy just listening to the chatter from outside.
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Wakarimasen Nihon Go!

On the first night, we got together with Shin, a korean juggler, and Alick, a juggler from HK, because we're the only non japanese at the festival.

Shin could only speak a little English and Japanese, but he was a very chatty and enthusiastic fella, so we all went out for dinner together and just tried to guess what each other was saying.

i think it's heartwarming, to meet pple, jugglers, of different places, and we all get together because of a common love for juggling. and we don't even speak one language, but what the hell, we juggle. it's so cool.

Shin backpacked Japan before the festival, on his inline skates no less (he's an inline skating instructor in Korea). He can't really speak Japanese, so he survived on "Doko Desu?" (Where?)

it's all quite comical not knowing japanese. even worse that i look japanese (or at least, asian). my best line of defense is "wakarimasen" (don't understand). Just like in Hong Kong, "mm ji do" (don't know) always comes in handy too.

sometimes i take pains to start off with "sumimasen, wakarimasen Nihon Go" and then they will go "yes, you speak english".

MJ and i have also sub consciously mastered the blank look. the deer-in-headlights kind of blankness. useful when strangers suddenly rattle off a string of japanese.

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MORE JJF

it was only a 3 day festival, so things were quite packed together.
almost everything in this trip was pretty hectic i must say.

the workshops start at 9am till noon.
and then there were performances/shows at 2pm to 5pm.
the gym closes at 10pm so no overnight juggling there.

it was all good though.
didn't juggle as much as i'd like, cos i was too busy observing and taping stuff. but i think i learnt quite a fair bit. now it's just putting them into practice.

on the 2nd day it was the competitions.
watching the excalibur still gives me goosebumps. with the right music and lighting, the excalibur can be the most beautiful thing in juggling.

there was only one lady in the whole competition (hopefully, just maybe, that will change one day)
she did a devilstick routine, and even though there're other more technical stickers out there, i thought her routine and song choice was very sincere and heartwarming. perhaps, a female touch that only female performers can give.

Tempei did a club and devil stick routine. he's a true all rounder. i think the diabolo is his strongest prop and even then his clubs and devil stick are competition standard.

There was also a guy who won special achievement i think. he had an interesting cool costume and a contact routine.

on the final day, Tomas Dietz, Marcus faulkner and Peter Gerber presented their routines. Marcus Faulkner's routine was almost flawless and wow (perhaps because i'm not well versed in devil stick) and truly deserved the standing ovation.

there was also a traditional Japanese performance group which was very endearing. and very different.

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and so that was the end of JJF 2006.
another festival off my checklist.
i might go again, simply because the standard is world class and it's cheaper than IJA or BJC.
learning Japanese will help though, a lot.

i'm more scared of sashimi now than ever,
but other than that Japan has endeared me.
The people are courteous and polite (especially at the JJF, where pple really do greet each other along corridors) and they are highly original and they embrace it (make a trip down Harajuku, my favourite place).

I'll put up photos and videos when i can.
now it's back to the hustle and bustle of life.
it's been far from a restful trip.
but in many other ways, it has recharged a lot of my other mental batteries.

Did i mention, among other things, i spent a fortune buying EIGHTEEN juggling balls?