- Never Stop Dreaming -
A string of events hit April of 2010 with my parents coming over, and then my friends. It was a much anticipated event which had started the hype since late last year although my parents coming over was more of a late decision early this year. While it has definitely been a great start to the new year with a new job, new place, etc. I guess too much of goodness might just bring in sudden misfortunes as the cycle of fate rotates.
Damn I was right on although caught without preparation which left me learning each lesson as it was being served. By now everyone would have probably know how I swear by Made in Japan products but a speeding ticket was NOT anywhere even close to my daily consciousness. FUCK!
Here in Japan, I mean rural Japan, speeding traps (ネズミ捕りnezumi tori) aka Mousetraps are done in a dangerous and mindless fashion. A speed radar is strategically camouflaged by the road side connected via a long wire to a distant blue police bus parked by a slip road some distance ahead. Usually these traps are found on long stretch of back roads without much bends. After the radar records the speed breach, some distance ahead along the same direction some old, one-foot-in-the-grave policeman would spring out onto the road with a red flag to guide you into the slip road where the bus would be parked. This is where you punched the air and scream "FUCKED!" Somehow the distance between where the radar is placed and the spot where the "OJISAN" policeman would jump out is probably calculated "theoretically" for the speeding car to brake safely without hitting the soon-to-be-dead "OJISAN".
You see the "OJISAN" would jump out as soon as the radar detects the breach so you HAVE TO BRAKE hard even if it means emergency braking, that is if you are really flying down more than 100km/h on that stretch of 40km/h road. Then again if you fail to break in time, be prepared for a nice red clumpy smear, dents and a shattered windscreen which will guarantee you a spot in the local jail, tons of fines and a lot more shit! The speed trap is manned by one daredevil Ojisan to stop the speeding cars, some oven-fresh police cadet to record you details and to prove to you how fast you are going inside the bus where you agree to everything they say and seal the long slip of speeding ticket with your fingerprint and there will be another police officer to fiddle with the radar equipment.
I scraped 35km/h in excess of the limit of 40km/h which carried 6 demerit points and a fine between ¥60,000 to ¥100,000.
After a couple of weeks a post card will come from the prefecture police department to tell you that you HAVE to go to the prefectural driving centre to attend a traffic lecture to rob you a further ¥13,000 ++ . Depending on how much in excess you went over the speed limit, your driver's license will either be suspended for a short term period of 30 days or mid term period of 60 days or a long term period of 90 days. The date is FIXED but it's is possible to change the date where you attend a silly basic driving lecture given by some un-professional OJISAN (AGAIN!) who will tell you everything you (already know) need to know to pass the test at the end of the lecture. It's a 1 day lecture that starts from 0845 in the morning to 1630 in the afternoon. When you arrive in the morning, you will go thru the reception where some policeman will tell you that "beginning today, your license will be suspended for XX number of days so please proceed upstairs for the traffic lecture." and he will hand you a very nicely designed form to document your suspension and confiscate your license. So it's advisable NOT to drive on THAT very day...(reason later in the post!)
Here you pay a hefty ¥13,000 ++ and attend the crappy lecture in Japanese (if you don't understand, then too bad) where you PAY ATTENTION each time the lecturer says, "これは大事な所です! (This is where it's important!) because that's the answer to the questions". You will be given a "how to drive safely" or some other crappy book in Japanese where you can take notes because he will usually repeats several times on important parts. If your Japanese language ability is not good enuff, you will find yourself struggling but you can always ask for an ENGLISH book and test which I did. There will be other staffs to aid you in understanding in Japanese if you are in doubt.
After that you go for lunch.
After lunch, play some simulator to test you reaction time against erratic changes and a driving simulator to test how safe you are as a driver. Then back to the lecture room with no preparation time, the test begins. If you have been listening to the lecture, you can clear the 40 questions with ease. I did the English version which was generally understandable English consisting of common sense questions so if you couldn't clear it, then you would be better off playing GT4 at home. The duration of the test was like 15 or 20 minutes, I couldn't really remember but whatever.
The test consist of 38 true of false questions which carry 1 point each and 2 questions at the end which is sub divided to a further 3 true of false questions. The last 2 questions each describes a scenario where you have to answer 3 true of false questions per scenario. You have to get all 3 answers correct to score 2 point for each scenario, so 38 points plus 2 points plus 2 points equates 42 points which is the full score. If you get between 36 to 42, your 30 day suspension will be reduced to a 1 day suspension which is effective on the day you attend the stupid lecture and take the test, that is why I mentioned earlier NOT to drive there. Scoring 30 to 35 will reduce your 30 day suspension to 5 days and scoring 25 to 34 will reduce your 30 day suspension to 10 days.
Before getting your test scores you will receive the result of your simulation test which mine said, "I had lightning fast reaction time (0.44 seconds) to sudden changes in both pedal control and steering wheel turning!" scoring a 4 out 5 in the overall result. Though I screwed up some initial tests since the ambiguous instructions given by the UNPROFESSIONAL Ojisans varied with the instructions on the screen...damn those idiots, otherwise I would have aced the crappy simulation game given my perfectionist nature. Then again if you are an avid gamer, these simulation will seem like kindergarden amusement.
There...a stupid ¥13,000 ++ to feed those nothing-better-to-do unprofessional lecturers, waste my day at traffic school, play some silly simulation games to re-discover my Jedi reflexes and then a yet unknown lump sum donation, a 1st in 3 years to the rural traffic department, hopefully to fund someone's funeral all on a fine gloomy rainy day.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Industry
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Photography is a vast world with boundaries only defined by the limits of Man's perspective and the most challenging genre at least for me, is wedding photography. Factor this genre with influence of cultures and a whole new world is opened to me. Typical Chinese-themed wedding styles are all too familiar to me but here in Japan, everything that I presumed I knew would soon be thrown out and I find myself taking those essential baby steps.
Typical Japanese weddings are done more or less with respect to their age old customs and cultures, silent, solemn and very very ritual like. Speaking to a couple of rather experienced Japanese wedding photogs, I soon learnt that wedding ceremonies are done to honor and respect the guests present (done FOR the guests), somewhat different from the Chinese ones which are done for the couples themselves or for customs. Even the layout is a little different since the parents are placed furthest away from the couple (themselves being at the most bottom) while the Chinese ones have the families closest to the couple.
Ritual ceremonies will differ accordingly to religion but the solemn, silent and no-nonsense aura is pretty much the same in almost all ceremonies. Church weddings will only allow the white gown and suit style and the other Asian religion will usually see Kimonos in assorted colors according to each respective religion.
Wedding photographer is yet another very misunderstood profession here in Japan. Typical wedding photographers belong to a larger organization like a hotel, resort, restaurant, etc and are not "a la carte" like in SG to be chosen by the marrying couple. Instead, couples pick the place to have the wedding and select the style they want their pictures to be done in albums via the "Reception" staffs. Then the staffs forward the info to the respective departments and wedding photographers are assigned randomly according to a monthly schedule chart. Photographers have no prior communication to the couple other than on the actual wedding day. To overcome certain photographers from growing exponentially, every SINGLE photographer in the team of wedding photographers have to produce the very same pictures that the couple had chosen from the limited range of samples. In other words, as a wedding photographer, it's not really necessary to have any prior photographer skills, gear, passion, etc. Photographers are hired with respect to how capable they are to produce the same stuffs in the albums after they go thru a 3 month training.
Once the pictures required for making the album are completed, then the individual photographer can explore his / her individual taste by infusing their own style into the rest of the pictures, although there is a high chance that most of these artistic pictures would not make it to the final album.
Japanese couples in general want what they see in the album without much variation so as a photographer, all one need to do is to replicate the same consistency in the fixed location, architecture and place. The only variation that can be explored are unforeseen weather changes and lighting and that is pretty much everything. I was astonished and almost beyond amazement when I found out all these facts but of course there are other companies that offer couples a chance to choose the style they want according to each photographer's portfolio. In general, from a company's perspective, this is to reduce any internal friction where one member of a certain department may out shine others which coincides to the general norm in a Japanese society that is, "If a nail sticks out, HAMMER THAT BITCH down!" It's in their culture, history that have spanned a long time which everyone else is not suppose to be indifferent from the rest, better to blend in than to realize your potential.
I was indeed passionate about this job because I could see myself exploring my own style like liquid taking the form of what ever that would be thrown at me...I was wrong. I have became a staff, a part of a team to a larger part of an organization where my duties is to replicate so that the company can make more money to pay my salary and hire more people. Passion, skills, experience or style are NOT even a requirement to become a wedding photographer. It's just about any other job in the boring sector...
Unless of course I get foreigners from outside Japan, I play the boring role of a xerox machine.
Photography is a vast world with boundaries only defined by the limits of Man's perspective and the most challenging genre at least for me, is wedding photography. Factor this genre with influence of cultures and a whole new world is opened to me. Typical Chinese-themed wedding styles are all too familiar to me but here in Japan, everything that I presumed I knew would soon be thrown out and I find myself taking those essential baby steps.
Typical Japanese weddings are done more or less with respect to their age old customs and cultures, silent, solemn and very very ritual like. Speaking to a couple of rather experienced Japanese wedding photogs, I soon learnt that wedding ceremonies are done to honor and respect the guests present (done FOR the guests), somewhat different from the Chinese ones which are done for the couples themselves or for customs. Even the layout is a little different since the parents are placed furthest away from the couple (themselves being at the most bottom) while the Chinese ones have the families closest to the couple.
Ritual ceremonies will differ accordingly to religion but the solemn, silent and no-nonsense aura is pretty much the same in almost all ceremonies. Church weddings will only allow the white gown and suit style and the other Asian religion will usually see Kimonos in assorted colors according to each respective religion.
Wedding photographer is yet another very misunderstood profession here in Japan. Typical wedding photographers belong to a larger organization like a hotel, resort, restaurant, etc and are not "a la carte" like in SG to be chosen by the marrying couple. Instead, couples pick the place to have the wedding and select the style they want their pictures to be done in albums via the "Reception" staffs. Then the staffs forward the info to the respective departments and wedding photographers are assigned randomly according to a monthly schedule chart. Photographers have no prior communication to the couple other than on the actual wedding day. To overcome certain photographers from growing exponentially, every SINGLE photographer in the team of wedding photographers have to produce the very same pictures that the couple had chosen from the limited range of samples. In other words, as a wedding photographer, it's not really necessary to have any prior photographer skills, gear, passion, etc. Photographers are hired with respect to how capable they are to produce the same stuffs in the albums after they go thru a 3 month training.
Once the pictures required for making the album are completed, then the individual photographer can explore his / her individual taste by infusing their own style into the rest of the pictures, although there is a high chance that most of these artistic pictures would not make it to the final album.
Japanese couples in general want what they see in the album without much variation so as a photographer, all one need to do is to replicate the same consistency in the fixed location, architecture and place. The only variation that can be explored are unforeseen weather changes and lighting and that is pretty much everything. I was astonished and almost beyond amazement when I found out all these facts but of course there are other companies that offer couples a chance to choose the style they want according to each photographer's portfolio. In general, from a company's perspective, this is to reduce any internal friction where one member of a certain department may out shine others which coincides to the general norm in a Japanese society that is, "If a nail sticks out, HAMMER THAT BITCH down!" It's in their culture, history that have spanned a long time which everyone else is not suppose to be indifferent from the rest, better to blend in than to realize your potential.
I was indeed passionate about this job because I could see myself exploring my own style like liquid taking the form of what ever that would be thrown at me...I was wrong. I have became a staff, a part of a team to a larger part of an organization where my duties is to replicate so that the company can make more money to pay my salary and hire more people. Passion, skills, experience or style are NOT even a requirement to become a wedding photographer. It's just about any other job in the boring sector...
Unless of course I get foreigners from outside Japan, I play the boring role of a xerox machine.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Good times bad times nostalgic times
- Never Stop Dreaming -
I guessed to achieve certain dreams if not all dreams, sacrifices no matter how minor or grave are necessary and so this was how I paid mine. The path which I had decided back then is now half completed and slowly I thought I had it all until the all so familiar faces, the smiles, the giggles, the hugs and memories started to surface from the vivid lake of the forgotten.
Mummy has more grey streaks now and she walks more slowly, daddy has aged more and was no longer the man I knew who lifted huge slabs of stones. Mummy has less aspirations for herself because she just wants to spend more time with me and daddy just wants me to get married soon. Little brother is all grown up now and has become more of a man than I am, well I am still a kid as usual. He dresses pretty smartly and has the charisma to shine...but still I pull some strings on his style and head gear of course.
Certain visions has become much clearer but there are some issues that I felt compelled to accomplish. Indeed I had not provided anything for my parents for a while so mummy's complains about borrowing cameras and a backpack came across to me as a form of responsibility to fulfill. In the end, I bought the Canon S90 and a Japanese design bag for Mummy because her smile was my satisfaction for a long long time to come. Daddy on the other hand just wanted to enjoy so food was something that he always liked and I tried to clear the bill for each meal. Then of course the fact that I was entering into the professional realm of photography was an opportunity to fulfill my duty as a son. Though I cannot provide perishable wealth, photography became a medium to preserve the beautiful memories that I shared with my family. An element so strong and untainted by time or nature. I tried but still in the end, I was only half satisfied because nostalgic memories brought tears to me eyes.
Then my good friend brought his troops whom I knew little more than their names and a couple of friendly chats back then. I was most impressed with getting a little closer to them and slowing understanding them more as a personal friend. We shared good times and I missed their giggles, smiles and laughters.
When everyone left, I knew I was back where I had started, alone and spinning a web of illusion to every local here. I was sad because good times fly past and I meant really really GOD DAMN fast. But still there isn't the slightest hesitation to deny a retry and live my life in SG. Just not something that I can do or forgive myself for doing.
Then I started to speak, I have spoken to a few lucky people of my interpretations but sadly some people are simply too proud of themselves to listen to anyone and it's here I realized that those around me who used to be and still are my inspirations are still in their own exclusive league above average man in the street. They are the ones who listen and they are the ones who are very talented with recognition without self promotion.
Before that I defined how the casual chat actually contained a deeper meaning to people like me and likes around me. It was my way of luring out the a friend or foe of my level from the usual nonsense sprouting trash who never fails to amuse me each day with their stupidity. It's hard not to bite the bait when ego is at stake so a very well orchestrated master piece that worked once again was laid out without much effort and the Law saw it thru right from the start.
Talking is a 2 way conversation while a speech is a 1 way conversation. Most, in fact everyone don't think much of talking especially casual conversation but I see it very differently. Talking is merely a medium of conversation and a conversation is merely a medium of exchanging information. A mastery of the art of conversation is to collect as much information from the other party without being detected with the intention to facilitate any of the followings,
1. To aid and to cut down the learning curve but leeching on the experience of others.
2. To fish out more information pertaining to certain issues.
3. To force the other party into a pre-determined situation without being detected.
4. To ridicule or to amuse others like minded around.
5. To put oneself in a favorable position.
Speech basically is made when the speaker is of a certain calibre where everyone else LISTENS to gain as much as possible.
Then I started to go deeper and defined why fashion is a very crucial part of our existence. There are 5 mortal senses and the sense of sight is possibly without a doubt the only sense that allows an evaluation of a total stranger. Here is where fashion plays a TREMENDOUS part in making an average person stand out to be noticed. Once that ambiguous barrier is broken, speech is the next optimum weapon to use since we can paint who ever we want to be to the other person. Here is where genuine conversation shines and bragging, let's just say it's not always efficient around talented people who KNOW their stuffs. Continuing from above, if one is adept in the mastery of speech, following up on the relationship of the 2 strangers would be of relative ease.
The point is that if you set too high a bench mark from the start, you better make sure you can keep up because falling from high places usually results in fatalities. Moving on to the internet...
These days, the power of the internet have indeed brought people closer and surprisingly, stores an immerse collection of virtual information readily available for free. Sadly all these technological marvel seems to make most of us lazier and to a certain extent, more stupid.
Take for example how those unsolicited emails get around faster than we blink our eyes simply because people these days just abuse the "forward" button. Those spams, pity some poor mofo crap, FB charging people, help some S.O.B. Tsunami/Earthquake victims, etc, the list goes on like a bottomless pit and many of use simply forward these emails to our vulnerable friends without even questioning the credibility of it.
From the way I see it, I began to question how these people have their lives written out like a 3 year old kid's story book which I could read with little or no effort. So does forwarding these emails satify your inner insecurity that your friends would be better informed and appreciate your actions? Or the fact that you felt like you did a good think and really think that some Haitians would benefit from your actions? No doubt that we all have different reasons to use the internet, to use it wisely is perhaps the hardest concept to put across to the common folks around us. Google and other major search engines are not surprisingly available 24/7 and yet these names become unknown then the "forward" button appears. A simple check with google while still seating on the same seat, staring in front of a screen and a few simple clicks of the mouse have become a hassle for some. Like a chain reaction, our little compassionate actions to inform our friends would simply lead them to their immenient end.
I am sad, I miss everyone back home and everything back home but still I have found my path and that sadness usually only last for a transitory period of time.
I guessed to achieve certain dreams if not all dreams, sacrifices no matter how minor or grave are necessary and so this was how I paid mine. The path which I had decided back then is now half completed and slowly I thought I had it all until the all so familiar faces, the smiles, the giggles, the hugs and memories started to surface from the vivid lake of the forgotten.
Mummy has more grey streaks now and she walks more slowly, daddy has aged more and was no longer the man I knew who lifted huge slabs of stones. Mummy has less aspirations for herself because she just wants to spend more time with me and daddy just wants me to get married soon. Little brother is all grown up now and has become more of a man than I am, well I am still a kid as usual. He dresses pretty smartly and has the charisma to shine...but still I pull some strings on his style and head gear of course.
Certain visions has become much clearer but there are some issues that I felt compelled to accomplish. Indeed I had not provided anything for my parents for a while so mummy's complains about borrowing cameras and a backpack came across to me as a form of responsibility to fulfill. In the end, I bought the Canon S90 and a Japanese design bag for Mummy because her smile was my satisfaction for a long long time to come. Daddy on the other hand just wanted to enjoy so food was something that he always liked and I tried to clear the bill for each meal. Then of course the fact that I was entering into the professional realm of photography was an opportunity to fulfill my duty as a son. Though I cannot provide perishable wealth, photography became a medium to preserve the beautiful memories that I shared with my family. An element so strong and untainted by time or nature. I tried but still in the end, I was only half satisfied because nostalgic memories brought tears to me eyes.
Then my good friend brought his troops whom I knew little more than their names and a couple of friendly chats back then. I was most impressed with getting a little closer to them and slowing understanding them more as a personal friend. We shared good times and I missed their giggles, smiles and laughters.
When everyone left, I knew I was back where I had started, alone and spinning a web of illusion to every local here. I was sad because good times fly past and I meant really really GOD DAMN fast. But still there isn't the slightest hesitation to deny a retry and live my life in SG. Just not something that I can do or forgive myself for doing.
Then I started to speak, I have spoken to a few lucky people of my interpretations but sadly some people are simply too proud of themselves to listen to anyone and it's here I realized that those around me who used to be and still are my inspirations are still in their own exclusive league above average man in the street. They are the ones who listen and they are the ones who are very talented with recognition without self promotion.
Before that I defined how the casual chat actually contained a deeper meaning to people like me and likes around me. It was my way of luring out the a friend or foe of my level from the usual nonsense sprouting trash who never fails to amuse me each day with their stupidity. It's hard not to bite the bait when ego is at stake so a very well orchestrated master piece that worked once again was laid out without much effort and the Law saw it thru right from the start.
Talking is a 2 way conversation while a speech is a 1 way conversation. Most, in fact everyone don't think much of talking especially casual conversation but I see it very differently. Talking is merely a medium of conversation and a conversation is merely a medium of exchanging information. A mastery of the art of conversation is to collect as much information from the other party without being detected with the intention to facilitate any of the followings,
1. To aid and to cut down the learning curve but leeching on the experience of others.
2. To fish out more information pertaining to certain issues.
3. To force the other party into a pre-determined situation without being detected.
4. To ridicule or to amuse others like minded around.
5. To put oneself in a favorable position.
Speech basically is made when the speaker is of a certain calibre where everyone else LISTENS to gain as much as possible.
Then I started to go deeper and defined why fashion is a very crucial part of our existence. There are 5 mortal senses and the sense of sight is possibly without a doubt the only sense that allows an evaluation of a total stranger. Here is where fashion plays a TREMENDOUS part in making an average person stand out to be noticed. Once that ambiguous barrier is broken, speech is the next optimum weapon to use since we can paint who ever we want to be to the other person. Here is where genuine conversation shines and bragging, let's just say it's not always efficient around talented people who KNOW their stuffs. Continuing from above, if one is adept in the mastery of speech, following up on the relationship of the 2 strangers would be of relative ease.
The point is that if you set too high a bench mark from the start, you better make sure you can keep up because falling from high places usually results in fatalities. Moving on to the internet...
These days, the power of the internet have indeed brought people closer and surprisingly, stores an immerse collection of virtual information readily available for free. Sadly all these technological marvel seems to make most of us lazier and to a certain extent, more stupid.
Take for example how those unsolicited emails get around faster than we blink our eyes simply because people these days just abuse the "forward" button. Those spams, pity some poor mofo crap, FB charging people, help some S.O.B. Tsunami/Earthquake victims, etc, the list goes on like a bottomless pit and many of use simply forward these emails to our vulnerable friends without even questioning the credibility of it.
From the way I see it, I began to question how these people have their lives written out like a 3 year old kid's story book which I could read with little or no effort. So does forwarding these emails satify your inner insecurity that your friends would be better informed and appreciate your actions? Or the fact that you felt like you did a good think and really think that some Haitians would benefit from your actions? No doubt that we all have different reasons to use the internet, to use it wisely is perhaps the hardest concept to put across to the common folks around us. Google and other major search engines are not surprisingly available 24/7 and yet these names become unknown then the "forward" button appears. A simple check with google while still seating on the same seat, staring in front of a screen and a few simple clicks of the mouse have become a hassle for some. Like a chain reaction, our little compassionate actions to inform our friends would simply lead them to their immenient end.
I am sad, I miss everyone back home and everything back home but still I have found my path and that sadness usually only last for a transitory period of time.
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