Hello there campers, it’s been a while again hasn’t it? At the arse-end of 2023 we find ourselves back at the point of talking about what’s been happening over the past while, perhaps while sipping on a lovely covfefe or twelve to keep us awake against the unyielding level of meh that goes on. Have to be frank, it’s been a pretty muted ending to a year that had bits and pieces of fun and frolics with a trip of a lifetime, but overall meant sticking to a routine, and some weeks it felt like Groundhog Day.

Before I continue with what will amount to being rambles on a random blog, I should say with supreme confidence that where I am, is still much better than what a lot of folks have been able to do in 2023. Life seemingly continues to be sapped away from all but a few select individuals who seem to always have a sunny outlook and zero poops to give. That and perhaps a healthy bank balance which more than keeps the worries away at all times! And yet, there will still be some things which unless I write down somewhere, I may go nuts….. well… nuts’er.

Since the last post proclaiming that I was turning Japanese, turning Japanese, I really think so…. the epic trip to the land of the rising sun has sadly now been and finished, all the way back in October. However, coming back to the UK turned out to be quite the ordeal and perhaps quite the omen that maybe I should have just stayed in Tokyo longer!

Due to a wonderfully minded person in Business Class breaking their IPhone open on their fancy chair mid-flight, we were forced to land in Alaska to remove it in a teapot. It’s true! Due to US immigration rules, we then had to fly onto Toronto to stay the night. Everyone being tired as hell, can’t argue with that. We then were able to escape the next day before arriving in the early hours of Tuesday morning, where it transpired, everyone else was having a right meh too and night flight rules were suspended as a result.

Since coming back from Japan, there were a number of activities all scheduled to try and dull the landing back in the UK and try to remember that there are fun things to do here as well….. they sort of worked ish. In a way, going to Japan was perhaps the worst thing I could have ever done. How? Let me explain.

I saw so much over the course of 3 and a bit weeks; met some lovely folks (and one particular person, who shall go nameless, but who made the last night in Tokyo so memorable, I suspect it will be hard to ever top), ate incredible food, amazed at how many good hotels I lucked out with, and enjoyed so many things that coming back to the UK…. felt hollow in comparison. It became difficult to separate what was had from the trip with what was normal here in the UK. Japan has ruined me.

For example, enjoying the fact that public transport worked. Think on that sentence for a moment. The UK is meant to be one of the top countries in the world, and I gave up on planning train travel within these isles ages ago, due to one thing or another. Indeed to visit my parents, I have to rely on coaches which go at weird times of the day, but I know they will run on time!

Yet there, in Japan, trains just worked, save for one day and that was due to a faulty train heading to Universal Studio in Osaka. That’s incredible! Know what’s even worse? The 4G phone signal worked all the way at all times on the Shinkansen! You’re lucky to get occasional signal on most train services here in the UK!

Food I am now addicted to, include Japanese Curry (to the point of even getting a Rice Cooker to do the whole thing properly at home) and Japanese KitKats, because of the sheer volume of different flavours. I already miss the fact that a bag of KitKats would be around 280 yen (about £1.60) in Don Quixote (a most excellent department store chain in Japan) and yet the same thing here at best is had for £6.75 a bag with nowhere near as many flavours available. Told you, spoiled!

Take a look at the below for one of the wonderful sights for yourself, the Gundam sequence from the Gundam Factory in Yokohama, which in 2024 sadly is due to be decommissioned;

It was incredible to see in person that such a thing was even built at all, let alone a tourist attraction! The trip barely scratched the surface of what Japan and its people have to offer and there is no way in hell, that it is the only time to visit. Mark my words, I will return…. perhaps even more than once.

In fact, a blog post here or even 12 would be insufficient to go through everything that I did during the time. You can see a lot of it on the old Instagram feed where various pictures were posted during the course of the trip, but there were so many more not posted at all. Ended up taking so many photos and random videos of things, that I could only begin to imagine how insufferable it would be to go through them all. What few videos were actually good to post, are now on the YouTube channel, including probably what will likely be my only chance at seeing a Persona concert in Japan in person.

So at the end of 2023, what else can be said after all that’s happened?

Well, that’s kind of the problem.

There’s not a lot else in the bag that could be pulled out, save for going to some concerts, various activities out and about, most of this has been overshadowed by the Japan trip, and what else going on with myself personally, is not all that exciting. Indeed it does give immense pause for thought. Most of the year has been spent working, drifting through, waiting for September to come along. There’s been some exciting gaming for sure over this year, and the fact I was able to afford a new shiny laptop right at the end of the year is not a small thing. But I do now wonder what to do next with myself, and it is only myself. Through various actions, the inner circle of hate (Friends and Family) grows ever smaller, and there’s seemingly less and less to look forward to on the horizon.

There’s a massive sense of just doing things because of lack of choice and options more than ever.

This in contrast to what currently I have, I should be forever grateful for as frankly it appears that it will be impossible for many others to even attempt to achieve. The sense of a drawbridge or ladder being pulled up, has never hit more than now.

Perhaps it’s the issue with being my particular age, a sort of melancholy has set in and it is difficult to see the wood from the trees. Though…. I say this here on this digital tome and it’s not the first time it’s felt like this. In fact, the feelings increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, where we were all forced to stay at home, and either get along fine in whatever became our fortresses of solitude or in many situations, go nuts at the other people we were confined with, all the while wondering if we were going to come down with it and be one of the poor unlucky bastards who died as a result of contracting the virus.

With all that’s going on (2023 has no end of events which decided to take a giant dump on folks) it’s become so easy to get swept up with the misery and forget quite a lot. The question then becomes on how to get out of the rut and what to do next. That has become a lot harder to answer since 2020 honestly. The feeling of being lost and no longer knowing what to do is very hard to shake. I also have the feeling now for various things, it is now too late, my chances have past and this is now it. This is as good as it gets now.

How do you get past this? I honestly don’t know.

There’s thoughts to be had about what to do in 2024 now, as the status quo is only good if all holds for the next 30 or so years before retirement. There is 100% no way this lasts now. What comes next? A roll of the dice methinks and hope for the best.

See you all in 2024, and I hope that the next year is better for everyone, that there will be brighter days…. and we all get to enjoy another Beef Bowl in Tokyo! Take care campers and thanks for reading this random, serious and plodding post. Whoever you are, thank you and now, go away! 😀