Memoirs of an American Samurai

Yahoo.... I finally made it over to Tokyo Japan and so far the experience has been amazing! I find the people, the country, the streets just to be so intriguing and fun.

Let me start off with the things I love

I love the Japanese toilets!!! I can not believe that we dont have these all over the US or anywhere else in the world for that matter. After letting go of your dark nuggets you can have this little squirter shoot water on your bum. I felt alot cleaner then when I just use toilet paper. You can adjust the pressure too! I ended up going to the Toto showroom which is the creator of most of the worlds advance toilets.

Tokyo has 25 million people living in this city that is more then all of Australia. Shinkjuku Station alone has 3 million people passing through it each day! And the best part is that its SPOTLESS!

Building here are so unique and so interesting. My favorite building so far is the cocoon building and I found out that its actually holds 3 universities. The only thing that I am not crazy about are all the advertising they have on some of the building’s. I am very impressed by the creativity of it all.

I love Japanese women style. Its not just there clothing but the way they style there hair, make-up, and accessories. Its just off the hook!!! Very feminine and unique.

So far I have walked all around Shinjuku, I have gone to like 6 shrines both Shinto and Buddha Shrines. I have gone to the Fire museum which was really interesting. I walked around the different shops and tried some of the different food. I got to smell smells I have never smelled before. I met a fellow American who has lived in Tokyo for 11 years. He took me around the bars and did a little bar hopping where I met other Americans. I have also gone to the Shinjuku gardens.

In the early morning I have gone jogging and I have amazed by how the elderly still manage to wake up and get a quick workout in the near by parks. They seem to keep themselves physically active as often as possible.

The other day I had gone to Kamakuru which is a small town about an hour away from Tokyo. I got to see the Buddha statue of Amida Nyorai. I also went on a hiking tour where i got lost all by myself for about 30 minutes. Very excited but a little scary. I finally found a couple who guided me back on the right path. The town was small and cute with little shops and boutiques.

Food here has been a very hit or miss. I am very particular with food and some of the things here have made me gag while other things haven been surprisingly good. I love the different types of steam breads and desserts. I had a very unique blend of nuts here too which were delicious.

I also went out to party one night. Since it was a long weekend here in Tokyo I got to go to the biggest gay party of all of Asia. The club is called Ageha and the party is called Shangri-la. The space was enormous and the music was insane. I brought my camera but they didnt allow them inside the club so I had to put it in a locker they have outside the club. I met a few Australians and Canadians while I was there and danced for a few hours. They had gogo dancers on boxes painted in a cool design which could only been seen when under a black light. They also had a small area just for food which was a great idea. I left at 5am since I was wiped out and luckly they had shuttle buses back to Shinjuku.

My favorite area of Tokyo has to be Harajuku. The place puts all of Soho New York to shame. The neighborhood is beautiful with all the shops and tall building’s. The main street is filled with all the high-end shops and on the side streets is where you find the boutique shops mixed in with bargain shops. I found myself getting frustrated because I thought there was no way I can see it all and I so wanted too.

On the last night I met up with New, who I met via Theo. New took me to this neat underground theme restaurant. It was a jail theme and would have been really exciting, but we missed the show time and decided to hit a roof top burger joint instead. The Burger place was delicious and the Milk shake was to die for. Then we walked around Shibuya while New filled me in with interesting Tokyo facts. Did you know that Japan has had 30,000 suicides last year alone!!! Thats about 82 a day! I also find out why the Japanese never cross the street during a green light...... You get a ticket!!! Here I thought they were just really patient. I am lucky I wasn't caught.

I have had a wonderful time in Japan and I cant possibly remember it all but here are a few pics

Enjoy

Jonathan Vargas

Good times in Canada

So I finally made it to Canada for the first time. I find it funny that I have been to the other side of the world and yet I never explored what was right next to me. I went to Toronto to be exact and stayed at the Westin Harbor Castle. As you can tell by the name of the Hotel I was by the Harbor.

Toronto was extra busy that week since it was the Toronto International Film Festival and I went to go catch a few good movies and do a little celebrity stocking. Well not much celebrity stocking since I dont care for them that much but def into the movie scene. I did get a glimpse of Matt Damon and George Clooney. George is shorter then I Imagned but then again I really dont care. I was really hoping in seeing Oprah or Megan Fox..... I think Megan is soooo HOT!!!

Besides the Film festival I did a lot of sightseeing by walking around all of Toronto. I stopped by a few of the art museums and went to bloor avenue for some window shopping. Toronto had a little area that was similar to times Square but at a much smaller scale and I found the people to be very friendly and liberal.

On one of my days there I ended up going to Hanlahs Beach which is a 15 min ferry ride from the Harbor into lake Ontario. Its a small group of island bunched together in the lake that makes the beach, park, and a small airport. The beach was clothing Optional and lets just say 80% of the people there were naked. There were people there with there wives and kids, with family members, with there partners and many individuals. I was all by myself and I thought “what the hell” I mean if people really wanted to see me naked they could. I mean my bits are not that hard to find and I felt comfortable because everyone else seemed to just hang out naked and it really want that big of a deal. So I took off my trunks and laid nude like everyone else. I did worry that my bits and pieces were going to get sun burn but I was only planing on being in the sun for about an hour and a half. I put in my ears phones and just baked. I didn't get in the water since I read somewhere that the water wasn’t the cleanliest water around but it didnt stop other people from getting in. After the beach I went for a walk around the park and admired the views and the scenery.

I also went out at night and bumped into my friend chase and his boyfriend at this bar. I hate going out on my own so when I saw them there I was relieved. They introduced me to there friends and we just hung out during a drag show. I also went to “Fly” night club which is the club “Babylon” from the show “Queer As Folk”. Its a lot smaller then I thought but the music was good and I did my happy feet dance. Afterwards I was invited to go to the Sauna..... From what they said the Sauna in Toronto werent like the Saunas that people were used to. They said that they were very clean and had many fine “amenities”. I am pretty sure all these things are true but I declined the offer since I really wasn't in the mood to watch or to participate in sexual behavior. As you guys know I am not afraid to have people watch me do my thing but again I wasnt in the mood and just felt like going to bed since I needed to be up early to do more things. Next time I will consider going.....

Anyways thats all for now..... Stay tuned for more

Jonathan Vargas

Queen Bee’z Birthday

Cornell is no FOOL...... he knew because I had missed his Birthday last year that I would have to make up for it BIG TIME. He was able to make his one special day into a long 3 day 3 parts birthday celebration. What kind of person does that???? He must think he is something real special!! gag ......JK

Day 1

The day of his actual birthday Cornell choice a thai restaurant in his neighborhood. He invited 17 of his closes friends to join him to celebrate. He turned 25.... he is now a quarter of a century old or you can say a quarter of century Young since he is Asian.

Not sure what possessed Cornell to get drunk before dinner but he definitely put on a show at dinner. He was silly and funny through out the night. I think he may have scared his little sister since she had never seen him that way. Alma just laughed and Miguel would have laughed too had he not been so tried and worn out.

After dinner we went to the beer garden for a few drinks. We were there for about an hour and I actually pumped into elementary school friend who I haven't seen in about 10 years. After the beer garden we hopped into a cab and went to Rockit. Which is this Gay bar in the city that is usually jammed pack on friday nights. We went for one drink and then I sent Cornell and Alma back in a cab back into queens. I went home to rest up for

day 2

Cornell feel in love with the Artsy Fartsy day party at the PS1 Museum. So that is where we were on saturday. We had a couple of drinks, looked at a few of the art pieces and then danced and mingled with the crowd. Its such a unique place because you see all kinds of people. People are rolling around with the infant childeren and senior citizens are rocking it out on the dance floor. I wasnt kidding when I said you see all kinds of people. After the PS1 party we went to the diner for a quick meal and then I was in bed by 1030 resting up for the final installment.

Day 3 .... The final installment to Cornell's reign

Since Cornell’s birthday falls on a 3 day weekend we ended up at one of the big circuit parties..... ALEGRIA!!!! But before Alegria I met up with Alma to watch “The September Issue” which is about Vogue Magazine and the famous Anna Waltour. The movie was interesting enough and I would recommend watching it but either at home or at an early matinee to save money. I don’t think it was worth watching at 13 dollars but at 6 I would have been a lot happier lol. So Alegria was a big hit and we had a lot of fun. We went with our usual friends and once again had the times of our lives. Erica and Cornell had matching shirts which was cute and I just wore one of my deep cut tank tops. They played Cornell's and Erika's song Celebration by Madonna and they want wild and crazy. Cornell was actually on his way out of the club heading towards coat check when the song played. He dropped everything and ran back to the dance floor lol.

Now I just need to rest up ....... I cant imagine what he has planed for next year.

Cant wait !!!!!!

Hope all is well

Jonathan Vagas

Ps The first picture is of the way I wrapped Cornells Bday presents. I thought he might appreciate Hot boys and Madonna

Get into the "CIRCUS"

Well I am very excited to say that I went to my first real concert ever this past week. When I was in Sydney I was supposed to go see the Pussy Cat Dolls but ended up selling my tickets at the last minute. This time around I was ready to go buck wild to see Britney Spears. I am not a big Britney fan but all my friends wanted to go and they have always mentioned how much fun her shows usually are. I planned it with Cornell and it was going to be a group of 10. The only problem was that I made a huge mistake and got the tickets for a different night to Cornell's. I know I totally messed up but hey they survived.

Before the concert I cooked for my friends. It was going to be Yarenis and her two friends, Erika, Alexia, Alma, and myself. I made my favorite dish from my cook book. It was Chicken mushroom and tarragon casserole. It tasted amazing and everyone said they loved it even thou they all ate only half there plate. I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were just looking out for there figure and trying to stay petite. I believe them since they ate little appetizer’s and barely ate any dessert.( by the way after the concert I ate all the brownies and cookies) Thanks guys.

We headed over to the concert which was held at Madison square garden. The place was packed with 20,000 people. We had really good seats where we can see all the stage’s very clearly. Jordan sparks opened for Britney and sang some of her major hits like “No Air” and “Tattoo”. Before Britney appeared there was a mini circus show with acrobats and clowns. The introduction video with Perez Hilton was Hot!!!

The only issue I had was that Britney was chewing gum while lip singing. I mean we all know she does that but you would think that she would be a little more respectful and try to make an effort in not being so obvious. Oh well.....

Till next time

Jonathan Vargas