ジョシュアの写真

Nothing much to say from here....Joshua has been lucky to get so many presents!!! He's also enjoying his buzzy bee rattle and likes to wave his arms to (some) music!

Ryo & Joshua; His favourite toy......makes him smile so much!

Entranced by the mobile; Staring down the cat; Getting busy in the garden....almost ready to put the grass and trees in!!!

So comfortable; Cutie; Not all smiles and laughs!!!

Got to keep some modesty!!!; Watching his first rugby game.....and the bloody Welsh beat NZ!!!!

3 Years!!

Yes, it's been 3 years since I touched down in Japan. I was gonna update my list from last year but there's not a lot to change, so I'll make it a bi-annual thing (maybe..). Anyway, I'm just surprised and happy how much my life has changed since 3 years ago - married with a kid on the way, moving into a new house soon and buying a car (yay! I havn't driven in Japan yet!), and I finally have a job that I enjoy going to every day - well, almost.....Mondays are still tough!!

We're going camping this weekend to enjoy the last of the summer warmth, then things start to get busy as we prepare for the big move.

I'll give you the monthly update on our other blog in a couple of weeks, until then, take it easy.

Banter

I'm totally out of original titles for each entry, but I was just listening to the Flight of the Conchords 'Banter', from their 'Distant Future' album, and it cracked me up so I made it the title....expect to see more song titles in the future that reflect my current feeling or whatnot!

Matsuri parade passes on the street by our home

Already we're over halfway through the year and as always it's just flying by. June was hot and a little bit wet, but now with the rainy season over it's gonna start getting real HOT!!!

Tug'o War; Ryo gears up for a shouting match of some sort; The last two teams of Kibasen; Nagi beats a couple of chubby kids in the sprint

We started the month by enjoying Ryo and Nagi's sportsday. It was the first time I'd been to a school sportsday (having attended some kindergarten sportsdays) and it was very different to NZ styles but very intersesting at the same time. I don't think to much emphasis is put on winning as the two teams (school split into red and white) scores seemed to stay the same even when one team appeared to be dominating! The event I enjoyed the most was kibasen. In this event their were about 8 groups in each team. Each group (of 4 kids) hoisted one kid up and walked around with them. The idea of the game is to take off the hat of the kid that's been lifted. The last team standing wins.

Talking of sports, the NBA season was one of the best in my lifetime. While the Lakers got totally outplayed in the finals, it was great to see the Celtics win in a fairytale finish. Moving to rugby, I'm finally out the World Cup mourning and enjoyed the All Blacks demolition of England. Can't wait for today's game against the 'Boks - it's gonna be huge!!! I fully expect the ABs to take out the Tri-Nations once again. I havn't been playing much ball recently as my ankle has succumbed to numerous sprains, but I finally had my first run in three months and went alright, but still feeling a lot of pain....I think my cartilage is about 50% scar tissue so even a slight slip is enough to cause me grief....I guess that's what getting old is all about!!

just like Cathedral Cove - only smaller; Well earned beer after a hard day at the beach; The hellish night in the tent; Tokashiku Beach; So hapy after seeing turtle; Crystal clear sea

Aki and I finally enjoyed a honeymoon as we travelled to Okinawa last week. This time round we went to Tokashiki Island, about one hour from Naha (the largst Okinawa city) by boat. After the first night in a Naha hotel we took the ferry for a rough ride to the Island. Both of us were feeling very queasy when we finally stepped on land. We took a bus to the other side of the Island to a place called Aharen Beach. There, we set up a tent at the campsite and went straight to the beach. The beach was stunning - white sand and crystal clear water. The snorkelling was good, but not great as the variety of fish was a bit limited. That night, after a meal of Yaki-niku, we went back to our tent only to realize it was going to be a long night......the air was thick with humidity and heat and we were so hot, so we went to the store to get a drink and some ice to cool down. The first downpour came just as we arrived back at the tent, but it soon stopped and an unbearable heat filled the air again. Another harder downpour, assisted by strong winds, came about an hour later, leaving our tent slightly wet (my feet were in puddles most of the night). As you can guess, it was a sleepless night...but we made one decision - first thing in the morning we would leave the campsite (a day earlier than planned) and find a nice room with air-con! The next morning we did just that, and feeling very relieved, we decided to try another nearby beach for the day. We went to Tokashiku Beach which is supposed to have sea turtles, although it can be hard to see them as they only come close to the shore (about 30 metres out) at a certain time (4-5pm) according to a friendly local. This beach was much better for snorkelling with more fish (maybe it had something to do with the dried plums in Akis pocket?) and shallower waters making it easier. Later in the afternoon as I went for a swim I saw a dark patch of coral that seemed to be moving. As I got closer I realised that it was moving - it was a giant sea turtle!!! I was so amazed I quicky surfaced to shout out to Aki, but I was too far out so she couldn't hear me. Fortunately, she happened to look up and see me frantially waving my arms around and she soon got the message. As I waited for her I watched the turtle some more. It was really big, probably close to two metres long. It had some small sharks that travelled underneath it. About once every 10 minutes, it would come up for air, and it was at this time that Aki and I touched it. It was truely one of the most amazing and serene moments of my life to see such a large and peaceful creature in its natural environment. Our only regret - not having an underwater camera. But the memory will certainly stay with us forever. Our last day at the beach was spent at Aharen Beah again, but this time at the other end. The snorkelling there was fantastic, with much more coral and different fish. I almost crapped my togs when I saw a deadly Umihebi (Sea Snake) lurking around the coral. I didn't fancy a venomous bite so I got out of that area quick smart. We returned to Naha later that afternoon and spent the night at Akis friends' place in Naha. She showed us a few sights the next day. To be honest, I really don't like Naha, but the small islands that make up Okinawa are truely paradise!

Aharen Beach shots; Aki enjoys sunset; Cooling down with ice; Sunset over Mt. Fuji from the plane

Japanese Kiwi

Started our new blog.....go to http://japanesekiwi.blogspot.com/ to check out the new site. There'll be plenty of new stuff and updates this week as I try to document our NZ trip and wedding. Have fun!!!

The Lost Blogs

Hey everyone, just arrived back in Japan yesterday and I know you're all eager to see the pics.......but you're not gonna see them just yet! As you know the last few months were very busy for us and this blog was somewhat neglected, with my last real post written at Christmas. So this is going to be my last blog here, covering the winter I had in Japan leading up to our trip back home. After this I will create a new blog site for Aki and myself (coz it's no longer just about me), so I'll let you know when that happens....hopefully within the next week........

JANUARY - The new year started with a bang in Japan. This time I couldn't have the standard big night, as we were taking off early the next morning, but still had a great time. Mark and Hiroshi came down on NY Eve, and we mucked around a bit, but we were all nursing hangovers from the previous nights partying in our respective hoods (mine being our Burnin' Basketball Bounenkai), so the alcohol was going down a bit slow. After an evening of eating, drinking and watching K-1, Mark and Hiroshi headed into Tokyo to try and carry on, while Aki and I went to Yamashita Park to watch the fireworks, then went to Chinatown where Chinese firecrackers were going off like gunshots all over the place. Funniest moment of the night was on our way home, where we saw a salaryman (in his suit) sitting between two concrete blocks with his pants round his ankles taking a dump.....absolutely disgusting to shit in a public place!....anyway, after he's done he's trying to pull up his pants and walk away at the same time, only to trip over and fall into a pond! Hilarious stuff, wish I had my camera ready coz it would've been a hit on youtube.

Yamashita-koen at NY'08; Burnin' Basketball & Raja's Baseball team bounenkai

The next day we headed off with Aki's family to Yamanashi for skiing and tramping. It was the same drill and place as last year so I won't repeat it all, but still had a lot of fun.

Fun at karaoke; Hiking; Mt.Fuji & Laka Yamanaka at sunset

Brad, Stan came for a weekend. It was great fun, especially the amazing haka performed by Stan (sorry Stan, it's too funny not to show!). We went to Akihabara, which was an eye-opener for them (first time), with all the stramge characters.

The "Infamous Stan Haka"; Brad in his bowling digs

Me & Brad with some hot "chicks", Akihabara; Brad upgrades

FEBRUARY - Not too much happened in February either, as we got closer to the big day. It snowed a few times which was cool, but I generally stayed inside out of the coldness!

Snowmen get ready to take over

MARCH - With our departure looming ever so close it was time to get into action. The weather started to warm up as we headed to see Brad and Stan (for the last time in Japan) and Mark for one last weekend of drunken fun. We had a weekend full of competition, much of it disputed, but I will claim here to be the champion of tennis and bowling, while I'm looking for some rematches in chess and backgammon! The weekend after that we had an end of (school) year picnic for the toddler class. It was an awesome day and the kids really enjoyed it. We had a hectic last week of shopping, packing and other stuff as we prepared to fly out on the 22nd.........

Tennis, crack, tequila shots & bowling make for a fun weekend that ends with sleeping on the train; Aki frisbees at the school picnic

4 Seasons

It's been a while and I do have plenty to write about, but I've been very busy of late, especially with the wedding planning. Just wanted to post some pics I've taken from our balcony over the last year. The "set" was completed on the weekend when we got a snowfall for the first time this winter......more snow due this week!

And so this is Christmas?

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Once again, I had to work on Christmas day, so once again, I celebrated on the 24th instead. I still can't get used to Christmas over here (this was my third).....there's such a big build-up, decorations and lights everywhere you look....but then it kinds of fizzles out because nobody knows what Christmas is all about and how to celebrate. The average Japanese person believes Christmas is on the 24th and treats it as a couples day....much like we do for Valentines day (which is also funny, coz Valentines day here involves just the women getting their bloke some chocolate!!!). So anyway, for the third year running I'm getting my annual bout of homesickness as I think about the hot weather, beaches, barbies and beers back home. However we did have a good day yesterday. We started with a Christmas brunch with Anthony, Fumiko and Liam, followed by a nap then another big feed with Akis family.

Liam and me before the madness; Liam enjoys his cool marble tower; Decorating the cake

Nagi and Aki play with Lego (I do that for a job!); Ryo and Michiyo (Akis mum); More cake!

And one more thing.....some of you might know that Aki is a Rockstar here in Japan, with quite a following.....anyway, I finally got to see her play last month to a packed house of about 200 people. It was pretty awesome to see her and the band (Sea of Time) get the crowd rocking out like they did. Only problem was that she was so nervous, she forgot to tell me I could watch from backstage, so I could barely see her. But we did get to see the headliners (Snatcher) from the VIP area.

Aki with "Sea of Time"; Backstage groupie; "Snatcher" rock the crowd