In case you weren't sure, its a Playstation 2 (coloured gold. Pretty).
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
My new toy
I've been meaning to get one of these for a while, and seeing as it was pay day on Friday, I couldn't resist. I now plan to spend the next month locked in my apartment playing games and only going to purchase alcohol and the occassional junk food. Life is good.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Long time, no see
Ok, this isn't a proper update because it is late, I'm tired and still recovering from a cough and cold, and I haven't finished preparing my lesson plans for tomorrow. But mum has been hassling me to put something new up, so here are a few pics of the delightful products availabe in good ol' J-land:
mmmm, who can resist the call of nutty menthol cigarettes?
Ok, so this one has half the word cut off. When I first saw it this is the angle. What was I supposed to think?
And my personal favourite, the Climax Lasting Gel (UV, of course). Safety first, people! If you can guess what this is for, I'll send you a prize (seriously).
Monday, April 02, 2007
The Weekend
CAVEAT: THIS IS A BLOODY LONG POST
I’ll be honest: This weekend was quite probably the best weekend EVER!!!
Saturday, midday, I rode around to a hung-over Matt’s place, then we picked up Jo and Dan, and headed south.
3 and a half hours’ later, we made it to Fukuoka.
We were meeting Chris Mack in Fukuoka, and thought Starbucks would be a fairly obvious meeting place. Unfortunately, it turns out there were about 4 Starbucks within a km of each other. We went to once, Chris Mack was at another. After calling him on his dying phone, we realized we were at the wrong one, so headed to the next one. So did Chris Mack. Oops.
Finally, we found each other and then decided we should split up and go do whatever. Matt and I hit the clothes shops looking for J-fashion. It was a great way to waste the afternoon. I didn’t buy anything (it was insanely expensive), but Matt got a couple of cool things. We also ran into a couple of other ALTs and decided to meet up that evening for drinks.
Meeting up again, we made our way to the hotel. Now, this is not as easy as it sounds. Fukuoka is a fairly big city (about 3 million people), and the hotel we were going to has several locations throughout the city. Oh yeah, and we forgot the map. Once again, oops. But Jo saved the day with her lonely planet, and we eventually figured it out. For my part, I stayed quiet. A small but valuable contribution, I feel :)
Dinner was somewhere. Ok, it was dark and busy, so I didn’t pay much attention. It was nice to eat something that we can’t get in Hagi, though. Then we cruised around to the place an ALT is renting for a few weeks for a Japanese course, and mucked around for a couple of hours.
Finally, we hit the town.
Coming from a small and fairly backwater part of Japan, it was an eye-opening experience. I have to say, I have never before been in a bar where the bar chicks came out every so often with a bottle of … something, and pours shots straight into peoples’ mouths. Also never been to a club where they spray you with a fire extinguisher, well, it was getting kind of hot. And the best part had to be the impromptu break-dancing competition. I’m not kidding. I can’t do justice to the experience. I mean, we are in a club full of Japanese people, marines and other gaijin, and the place was going off!
I won’t say what time Dan, Matt and I got back to the hotel, but I only got 2 hours sleep before we had to be up and checked out. Jo had left earlier because her mum was flying in from New Zealand and she had to meet her. That was fine, except she had Matt’s car keys in her bag. Oops. Thank god she hadn’t left Fukuoka yet, and Matt had 20 minutes to get over to the train station to meet her before she and her mum left for Hagi. He made it with 2 minutes to spare, while Chris Mack, Dan and I just chilled at the hotel.
Breakfast was Starbucks. Coffee. The four of us then mucked around for a couple of hours, and finally decided to go bowling. Only two games, and by the second we were all crap. On the bright side, it turns out Chris Mack has a hidden talent for those claw machines, and he got me a little soft toy on a free turn (you get a voucher when you go bowling).
We figured it would be a good idea to once again split up and do whatever. Chris Mack and Matt went shopping, Dan and I went to Starbucks. Again. Hour and a half later we realised we were meant to meet up with the others and head to the Orange Range concert.
The concert. Amazing.
If you weren’t there, you just can’t imagine it. I got to hear my favourite song live. There was baseball, a running race, interviews with the crowd, a Mexican wave and so much more. The sweat towel dancing was . . . interesting. A little weird. There was this one song, and everyone (except the four gaijin) pulled out their sweat towels (like a hand towel you wear around your neck. A must in summer.) and started swinging them around. In unison. At that point, words failed me. By the end of the concert, though, we were jumping about, dancing and screaming. Definitely worth the 6300 円!
Three hours of Orange Range and then we headed off for dinner and the drive home. It was at KFC that I had a break-through. I could read the menu (OK, KFC isn’t that challenging, but still), I could order by myself (something that still terrifies me), and I could understand and answer the guy! I was so proud. Now, I know this doesn’t sound like much of an achievement, but it was a pretty big moment for me. When you are living in a country where English is not that common, it can be pretty stressful trying to communicate (gestures only go so far), so I think I have finally reached the turning point where things start to make sense. It has only taken 8 months!
Anyway, the drive home was pretty chilled. After finally finding our way out of Fukuoka and onto the expressway, it was smooth sailing. The conversation was, uh, lively, and the music was only occasionally NOT Orange Range. Needless to say we were pretty pumped.
Today it was not easy getting up – I did get 6 hours sleep, which wasn’t too bad, considering, but this afternoon bed is beckoning. Oh, and we have another Ohanami (see previous post) tonight.
Tomorrow, Starsky, Dan and I are going to Kyoto for the week. Japan. You gotta love it.
I’ll be honest: This weekend was quite probably the best weekend EVER!!!
Saturday, midday, I rode around to a hung-over Matt’s place, then we picked up Jo and Dan, and headed south.
3 and a half hours’ later, we made it to Fukuoka.
We were meeting Chris Mack in Fukuoka, and thought Starbucks would be a fairly obvious meeting place. Unfortunately, it turns out there were about 4 Starbucks within a km of each other. We went to once, Chris Mack was at another. After calling him on his dying phone, we realized we were at the wrong one, so headed to the next one. So did Chris Mack. Oops.
Finally, we found each other and then decided we should split up and go do whatever. Matt and I hit the clothes shops looking for J-fashion. It was a great way to waste the afternoon. I didn’t buy anything (it was insanely expensive), but Matt got a couple of cool things. We also ran into a couple of other ALTs and decided to meet up that evening for drinks.
Meeting up again, we made our way to the hotel. Now, this is not as easy as it sounds. Fukuoka is a fairly big city (about 3 million people), and the hotel we were going to has several locations throughout the city. Oh yeah, and we forgot the map. Once again, oops. But Jo saved the day with her lonely planet, and we eventually figured it out. For my part, I stayed quiet. A small but valuable contribution, I feel :)
Dinner was somewhere. Ok, it was dark and busy, so I didn’t pay much attention. It was nice to eat something that we can’t get in Hagi, though. Then we cruised around to the place an ALT is renting for a few weeks for a Japanese course, and mucked around for a couple of hours.
Finally, we hit the town.
Coming from a small and fairly backwater part of Japan, it was an eye-opening experience. I have to say, I have never before been in a bar where the bar chicks came out every so often with a bottle of … something, and pours shots straight into peoples’ mouths. Also never been to a club where they spray you with a fire extinguisher, well, it was getting kind of hot. And the best part had to be the impromptu break-dancing competition. I’m not kidding. I can’t do justice to the experience. I mean, we are in a club full of Japanese people, marines and other gaijin, and the place was going off!
I won’t say what time Dan, Matt and I got back to the hotel, but I only got 2 hours sleep before we had to be up and checked out. Jo had left earlier because her mum was flying in from New Zealand and she had to meet her. That was fine, except she had Matt’s car keys in her bag. Oops. Thank god she hadn’t left Fukuoka yet, and Matt had 20 minutes to get over to the train station to meet her before she and her mum left for Hagi. He made it with 2 minutes to spare, while Chris Mack, Dan and I just chilled at the hotel.
Breakfast was Starbucks. Coffee. The four of us then mucked around for a couple of hours, and finally decided to go bowling. Only two games, and by the second we were all crap. On the bright side, it turns out Chris Mack has a hidden talent for those claw machines, and he got me a little soft toy on a free turn (you get a voucher when you go bowling).
We figured it would be a good idea to once again split up and do whatever. Chris Mack and Matt went shopping, Dan and I went to Starbucks. Again. Hour and a half later we realised we were meant to meet up with the others and head to the Orange Range concert.
The concert. Amazing.
If you weren’t there, you just can’t imagine it. I got to hear my favourite song live. There was baseball, a running race, interviews with the crowd, a Mexican wave and so much more. The sweat towel dancing was . . . interesting. A little weird. There was this one song, and everyone (except the four gaijin) pulled out their sweat towels (like a hand towel you wear around your neck. A must in summer.) and started swinging them around. In unison. At that point, words failed me. By the end of the concert, though, we were jumping about, dancing and screaming. Definitely worth the 6300 円!
Three hours of Orange Range and then we headed off for dinner and the drive home. It was at KFC that I had a break-through. I could read the menu (OK, KFC isn’t that challenging, but still), I could order by myself (something that still terrifies me), and I could understand and answer the guy! I was so proud. Now, I know this doesn’t sound like much of an achievement, but it was a pretty big moment for me. When you are living in a country where English is not that common, it can be pretty stressful trying to communicate (gestures only go so far), so I think I have finally reached the turning point where things start to make sense. It has only taken 8 months!
Anyway, the drive home was pretty chilled. After finally finding our way out of Fukuoka and onto the expressway, it was smooth sailing. The conversation was, uh, lively, and the music was only occasionally NOT Orange Range. Needless to say we were pretty pumped.
Today it was not easy getting up – I did get 6 hours sleep, which wasn’t too bad, considering, but this afternoon bed is beckoning. Oh, and we have another Ohanami (see previous post) tonight.
Tomorrow, Starsky, Dan and I are going to Kyoto for the week. Japan. You gotta love it.
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