July 18th 2010 or when Dogs sniff

i've been having back aches on and off for years now... some days i barely feel it while others i'm in constant reminder of it.

for years now i sleep on a mattress, no bed, just a mattress. Today i decided i'll try without the mattress, just a lonely blanket to serve a sheet between me and the carpet...

Of course, all the while, i dream of futon and tatami. I am not sure if i reminisce the futon and tatami because of their comfort, or is it the engulfing feeling i had during the times i experienced them. The cold nights, the warm covers, the lingering sound of the sliding Japanese doors, the radiating smoothness of my skin from the onsen bath minerals...

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Last week, i saw a guy who is younger than me, i recently knew he got divorced, so i asked him why he separated and then, matter of factly, proceeded to give him shallow advice, on marriage (of all things)

I don't know why i said what i said... i mean, was there a need for that brief dialogue? None that i can think of.

The same day an older man gave me a call, and the first thing he asked me, "when will we see your wedding? Yallah"

I spent much time recalling those two dialogues and wondering why do people say what they say, especially at the beginning of their encounters.

So i was thinking... were our opening dialogues subconscious statements of authority? to set the proper order of status? Setting the pecking order? Who's who on the hierarchy?

By the same manner of "concerned big brother", i have asked the younger man, and the older man has asked me... perhaps the former has someone where he shows his "concerned big brother" behavior to?

Honest to goodness... i didn't mean anything negative by my question... It was coming from the purist of my intentions... but i'm not talking about my intentions, rather, my un-intentions... what made ME say what I said? How much of it was free will? And how much was it genetic predisposition?

Maybe its not about hierarchy or status positioning... perhaps its just a form of connecting with each other, a by-product of Society and Social Networking... which without it Humans arguably wouldn't have survived up to this day.

Possibly, its the verbal equivalent of a nod in the street to a stranger, implying, "i see you".

"Free Will" is what i choose to do or say by my own volition? Right? But perhaps "What i choose to do or say" is the by-product of a "brain" that is genetically (by evolution) made to "choose to do or say" in that certain way?

Too many "perhap's" and "maybe's" but for now... i see no difference in what we say as "open liners" and when dog's sniff each others' behinds when they first meet.

9th of July 2010

haven't been writing much lately... i was busy with work... of course there is always 'time' to wrote a post, but my mental state wouldn't allow me to... you need to be in the right state of mind for the mental juices to be flowing...

yesterday's football game, in chalet, was amazing... nothing beats the feeling of a well deserved win... i mean, i played very well, scored alot, and the whole team was just giving 110% all the way... seriously their was a contagious thing in the air... i saw other team members who usually don't play that well, give their 110%... it was amazing... i just hope that as the team's captain, i had something to do with the inspiration...

lol i was dreaming of that game even today... i dream about football alot, and its always me running with the ball... and i can feel it, i can feel my physical body wanting to run while i'm running in the dream, but isn't able to.

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Today we had a Japanese visitor so we went to Villa Fairuz... we laughed a lot, its really a blessing to be able to 'seriously' laugh... people who cannot get into that mood often are missing something

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i was thinking... why is it, YES and NO are always very simple in all languages... right? i guess language evolution was to serve the quickest and most efficient use of words... and YES and NO are the most important when species need to communicate... arabic NA'AM and LA, EE and LA, Japanese, HAI and IIE..

so i guess, complicated, artistic words not not serve a survival purpose, rather, they might satisfied the highest of Maslow's triangle levels...

interesting... think about it..

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my family left Kuwait this morning... and i'm home alone... its really sad... big house, that was populated by sound all day long, is now very still and quiet and dark...

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July 6th 2010

Long day... and it seems that i'm destined to have problems with sewage pipes no matter where i go... something was wrong with the flusher on my toilet so it kept making noise and leaks water...

anyway finally today it was fixed... what next? the shower?

it was a long day... came back from work just before 8 pm... and i settled for my only meal for the day, my dinner :D

i saw this with the pickles



I've seen red peppers and green peppers... but this one? PICK A SIDE WILL YA?! lol

and then i had another type of the Japanese cereal i brought back...

the good thing about this cereal, is that it made the vegetable cereal from before (with dried pumpkin and tomato among other things) taste better! :P

after this post, i'll go eat watermelon :)~ hehehe i figure, if i ate all the fruits that i've eaten since i came back to Kuwait when i was in Japan... probably i'll be 100 KD short by now

July 5th 2010

everyone who knows me knows that i eat an apple every morning. I left the apple in the car for around 3 hours... i had a meeting outside my office. lol i never thought that one day i'll eat a baked apple, but... here it is... i guess 3 hours in a 50'C oven (the car) would bake anything lol

i've worked all day then at 8 went out with friends to a Lebanese restaurant... since i exercised in the morning before leaving the house, and only had a baked apple for the whole day lol i wolfed down the mezza :( i still feel stuffed...

July 4th 2010

i went to work early today, and by early i mean 15 minutes after work's official starting time. :P

i formatted my laptop right? so before doing that, i copied all the files from the laptop to an external hard disk. Today i wanted to return the files back to my newly formatted, windows 7, laptop, and the hard disk died on me! 0 files! which means that all my pictures from the trip were gone! :( but... i reinserted the hard disk again, and slowly, copied some files, then it crashed, redid the same, copied some more files... and so on... loooool one of my staff was with me in my office when i noticed that the hard disk said "no files available" for the first time... seriously, my heart stopped... sorry if i scared you Mrs. B. :/

after work, i went straight to starbucks for a short time to practice Japanese, but then i was too in need for a toilet to concentrate. So, i passed by my grandmother's house, prayed, stayed with her a while then went to Dowaniya (family gathering) i think i ate a lot, :( because i then went to the Panasonic 3D tv launch, and also ate some more :((((

anyway, to be honest... today was great!

July 3rd 2010

Today is my brother's birthday... Happy Birthday Yousif :)

so i woke up today and went to run in the basement... totally different than the running i'm used to.

then i had MORE fruits and ate a little cereal from Japan... lol its weird, first time i eat cereal with dried vegetables rather than fruits... ok, its not bad, but... but... its not nice :/ ehhehe i wouldn't buy it again thats for sure.

me and my friends met up at dowaniya and watched the game... Germany!!! Man... lol take it easy on our friends the argentinians.. i feel sorry for maradona... loooool back to being broke i guess.

ok let me tell you a little story... my mother likes those pink ginger/pickle dish that usually comes with sushi... i got a bit mixed up and thought she actually liked wasabi... so i brought with me lots.. and i mean LOTS of wasabi looooooool... wasabi salad dressing, wasabi paste in a tube, wasabi etc... so :/ imagine my face when she said "i don't like wasabi"

anyway, i'm going to have to mix a little of wasabi in everything, to make the best of it.

i mixed it with hammus which isn't bad actually, but i put a bit too much and my nose was in agony with each bite... so next time i'll ease on the wasabi... hmmm maybe next time i'll try wasabi with my apples :P (a LOT of wasabi i tell you)

クワイトの走ると日本の走るがちょっと違う。ここで家のしか一かいにけしきおいつもおなじです。だから、５０カロリとき「今、わたしはstarbucksのとなりにいます」とおもいました。そしから、「てんめんばしえきのみぎにいます」、「いま、かわのひだりにはしっています」。。。さいごの「いえへかえっています」。。。

ほんとうにぼくは大阪がいなくて寂しいです

(i hope i didn't butcher the Japanese language)

July 2nd 2010

Today i fulfilled a dream i had for the last three months... i ate kentucky friend chicken!

i have been jet lagged and have allergy and been sneezing all day so i didn't do anything...

just ate KFC and lots of fruits! :D

its weird to dream in Japanese.. i've been dreaming all night in Japanese... lol

ok i'll call it an early night and go to bed... i've am planning to do something from now on... i will TRY... and please note the "TRY" to write everyday on this blog something in Japanese... since i'm planning to revise and practice everyday, i'll put into practice what i have reviewed that day on the blog...

and right now, my laptop is at the workshop being formatted, i have mentioned this before, that my laptop is dying.. so i'll install windows 7 and hopefully i'll have japanese language on it as well.

July 1st 2010

I decided to continue writing... i don't know how it would go, being in Kuwait... it might be more repetitive and less exciting... maybe...

Also, since most of the people who used to read my posts are IN Kuwait, i do not know why would they continue reading if its not about Japan life.

But maybe this time, it would be for ME... I will write, for me.

I was very satisfied that i did complete my goal, i wrote everyday without fail in Japan... a task completed.

Anyway... well.. actually today, now, its friday and i'm writing last night's post. Since just now i decided to continue writing, naturally i have no photos from wednesday nor thursday.

But i'll start on it tomorrow, today, i would probably just sit in the house...

i returned wendesday and went straight to work after my shower at home, and then i played football at night, and yesterday i also played football in the windy dusty weather... add that to my, now apparent, jet lag and i believe it would be better to stay at home today... even though someone also called me today and said there is a football game at 7 pm... it pains me to have to cancel going... but as i sneeze (and i'm sneezing RIGHT RIGHT NOW...YES i can write while sneezing, since i can type with my eyes closed) my belief that i SHOULD stay at home is reaffirmed.

i have lost a lot of weight... around 5-6 kg and i dont think i want to gain all of them back... but maybe a few would be ok. So today, i'm going to eat KFC :D

the first world cup game today is at 5 pm... lol what a relief, much better than 11 pm in Japan.

oh also... i'm eating LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of fruits :D aaaaahhh how i love Kuwait's food prices and abundance.

i have lots to say, but i'll keep some for tonight or tomorrow.... since, again, this is supposed to be yesterday's post :/