Tokyo discoveries

The frustration of being in a new city for a relatively short time is exactly that: it's short!.
Not that I mind going back to the Netherlands in two months. Not at all, I can't wait. But, there are loads of cool people here as well, and I just keep discovering these really cool places here in Tokyo. It just feels as if I'm running out of time...
A few recent discoveries:
- Pecha Kucha Night, Nr. 23 -- A night of short presentations of artists in the Tokyo area of their work, at SuperDeLuxe Apparently this was not one of their best nights, but I still thought it was a lot of fun to see the very different presentations - from architecture, to www.culturedrone.com, to flowers! Interesting concepts, interesting audience and overall a pretty good night.
- Livehouses! Well, I knew those before but last week I was at a gig of Pierced, the band of flatmate Jeff. Very cool, well done guys!
- Beergardens! Again, a phenomenon I knew about before, but the season has started again. Last night we had a night of all-you-can-eat-and-drink on top of the Parco department store in Ikebukuro. Not bad, not bad at all. Obviously followed by the indispensable karaoke-session :)

And, this week I'll be going to see some Tokyo stand-up comedy in Shibuya. Very curious what that will be like.

One of the best things about being abroad is to be pulled out of the very comfortable life, circle of friends and so on of life as it is back home. Throughout the years (ouch... this makes me sound soooo old!) I've met so many people who are so different from the people that I would normally get a chance to meet.
In 'normal' life it can sometimes be so difficult to get out of the daily routine and go to places that you wouldn't normally think of going to. Here, in Tokyo - or anywhere outside of the safety of 'home', for that matter - you are forced to go to all those places that you don't know because so many things are new. Which makes life here interesting. Absolutely. And, it always reminds me that I really should make an effort to go out and discover new places again when I'm home again.
And, I guess that is also partly what people mean when they say that life abroad can be more interesting, more fascinating, more exciting than life at home.... Just to reassure the Dutch readers though, I'll be back before you even know it!

If someone out there could get me a job and a house, that is ;)