Tokyo — Stories

A promise of fading light and cooling mercury…

“They’re not even like real men, Ava! They’re all hairless under their shirts. Come on! It’s gross!” I remember zipping my lips shut right after my mate yipped that particularly distasteful ‘observation’ at me,..

Racism, RelationshipsBy Ava Senaratne (From Sri Lanka, Dubai & Melbourne. Living in Sydney)25 July 2020TCK TOWN, third culture kid, TCK, racism, bi-racial, Tokyo, Japan, Asia, Asian, relationships, love, attraction, travel Comments

Alone in a City of 13 Million

I took great pleasure banning the the rest of the world…

Asia, COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)16 May 2020TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, alone, lonely, solitude, Tokyo, Alaska, connection, disengagementComment

Vegemite Homesickness

When I think of Vegemite, I think of Japan—Tokyo specifically. When I first started working in Japan, about half of my co-workers were from Australia…

FoodBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)1 April 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture kid, food, vegemite, Australia, Australian, Japa, Tokyo, Alaska, Amazon, family, visit, vacationComment

Binge Watching Brittany Murphy

Girl follows boy to foreign country, boy leaves girl there, girl falls in love with country (or food of said country) and decides to stay….

Not Another KFC Christmas

I was mortified to learn that a Tokyo Christmas meant cozying up over a bucket of KFC…

My Tuxedo Shirt

It’s my favorite choice for our annual Christmas brunch at one of the hotels in Tokyo…

Let's PartyBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)25 December 2019Japan, TCK, fashion, Malaysia, Christmas, brunch, Tokyo, malay, Malaysian, third culture kid, TCK TOWN, Americans, Texas, tck, American, JapaneseComment

Japanese American on the Flip Side

My blue eyes and straight nose a legacy of Northern Europe and gifts from my ancestors…

FamilyBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)7 December 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, identity, family, parents, sterotypes, Japanese, American, America, language, Tokyo, poemComment

Bridging My Two Worlds

I adapted to the new environment, but life never became easier. As I walked down the street, students from my school would yell, calling me Chinese…

Sri Lankans Drink Like Fish

Heading back home with my housemates, we would stop for tsukemen by the station - delicious yellow noodles dipped into a thick, hot broth that was ordered from a little ticket machine at the front of the store...

Let's Party, FunBy Ava Senaratne (From Sri Lanka, Dubai & Melbourne. Living in Sydney)6 July 2019Sri Lanka, TCK, Chinese, Melbourne, Victoria, Tokyo, hangover, Sri Lankan, hometown, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, drinking, tckComment

The Great Tohoku Earthquake

March 11, 2011. Just an ordinary day. Then earth fell away beneath us…

Hijab and the Doppelgängers

There shouldn’t be an issue of not accepting another culture or religion just because you don’t like it or because you don’t understand it. Is this lack of tolerance something we might eventually be proud of? I shudder at the thought…

AngerBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)30 March 2019anger, TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, friendship, racism, prejudice, Islam, muslim, hijab, Tokyo, winter, Japanese, Japan, KoreaComment

The Tokyo New Year’s French Fry Rally

So what did you do if you were in Tokyo with limited funds? The new year began and we were still deep in our french fry quest…

AsiaBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)2 February 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Tokyo, Japan, customs, Roppongi, Shibuya, foreign students, NYE, OmotesandoComment

Moose Tongue

It was about half an hour in, and most of the attendees are comfortably settled into the conversation. It is the right time to hurl a brick through a stained glass window during a funeral. “I was thinking of boiling a tongue today for dinner...”

The Steam Bun Shell Game

I couldn’t make up my mind so I bought one of each. My fingers were the worse for wear because the bags were only big enough to cover them, not carry them…

FoodBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)1 December 2018TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, steam buns, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kowloon, sweet bean, Japanese, Seoul, philippines, Thai, Thailand, kombiniComment

The Travelling TCK Tea Towels

It’s a tea towel. Why apologize?

Riding with Cigarettes in the Rain

I’m sitting under a small stone shelter on Hibiya Dori. It’s raining, and businessmen and women are hurrying past under their umbrellas…

CitiesBy Ava Senaratne (From Sri Lanka, Dubai & Melbourne. Living in Sydney)10 November 2018TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, bicycles, Japan, Sri Lanka, Tokyo, Imperial gardens, onigiri, new home, rainComment

Water Hopper

From old theatres to laneway bars, I walk the Yarra with boys and cars.
With double tongues, I watch bright lights, as I explore and devour the night…

Where Are You From?By Ava Senaratne (From Sri Lanka, Dubai & Melbourne. Living in Sydney)5 September 2018where are you from, TCK TOWN, tck, TCK, third culture kid, Identity, cross cultural, culture, Tokyo, Bahrain, Dubai, Melbourne, Tasmania, Sri LankaComment

8 Wellness Practices from Melbourne, Sri Lanka & Tokyo

New environments help you gain new perspectives, I'd visit temples with dense foliage to block out the busyness of Tokyo, or huge gardens, where you can only see the tops of neighbouring buildings…

College Sex in Tokyo

My perceptions on sex have been hammered and scratched and polished. Although I still admit to catching myself admiring ankles from time to time…