ＭＥＲＲＹ CHRISTMAS! メリ一クリスマス

Merry Christmas to everyone!!! This year I've found myself in the unfortunate position of having to work on the 25th (no public holiday here, just a normal day), so Christmas was celebrated a bit earlier than usual. I went to Aki's family home on Saturday night and enjoyed a nice big Christmas dinner then on Sunday I enjoyed another huge meal (Champagne brunch)with Anthony, Fumiko, Liam and Aki. Once again, Liam cashed in with heaps of cool presents which will keep him busy for the next 12 months.
Hope you all have an enjoyable time with the lucky people that you choose to spend Christmas with. Have a safe holiday and all the best for the New Year....you'll be hearing about my New Years shenanigans in the next week or so, so stay tuned....


Akis niece, Nagi, and nephew, Ryo, enjoy their prezzies; Nagichan & me


Liam & Anthony...anticipating the present opening; Tearing into his prezzies


Liam gets ready to chow down some chicken and Dom Perignon; Singing on the mic (Skype) to everyone in NZ; Playtime!

Kyoto 京都

Hey people, hope everythings fine and dandy wherever you are. Ever since coming back from NZ I have been flat out working, but I was lucky enough to get a few days off last week to go to Kyoto (one of my must see places in Japan). I'm a bit too lazy to write about everything so I'll let Wikipedia do the talking..........

"Kyoto is considered the cultural center of Japan. During World War II when firebombing was conducted throughout the country, Kyoto and its 1600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines, palaces, gardens and architecture were spared, leaving it one of the best preserved cities in Japan. The Kyoto area has some of the most famous temples, shrines, palaces and gardens in Japan, including:
Kiyomizu-dera, a magnificent wooden temple supported by pillars off the slope of a mountain;
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion;
Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion;
Heian Jingū, a Shinto shrine celebrating the Imperial family (built in 1895);
Ryōan-ji, famous for its rock garden;
Kyoto Imperial Palace, home of the Emperors of Japan for many centuries;
Katsura Imperial Villa, one of Japan's finest architectural treasures;
Shugaku-in Imperial Villa, one of Japan's best Japanese gardens.
Other notable sites in and around Kyoto include Arashiyama and its picturesque lake, the Gion and Pontochō geisha quarters, the Philosopher's Walk, and the canals which line some of the older streets.
The "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" are listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. These include the Kamo Shrines (Kami and Shimo), Kyō-ō-Gokokuji (Tōji), Kiyomizu-dera, Daigo-ji, Ninna-ji, Saihō-ji (Kokedera), Tenryū-ji, Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji), Jishō-ji (Ginkaku-ji), Ryōan-ji, Hongan-ji, Kōzan-ji and the Nijo Castle. Other sites outside the city are also on the list."

I think I saw almost all of the aforementioned sites in 3 days of sightseeing (and many more!). Being that it is now autumn, the crowds were pretty big in the places that were popular for the autumn colours. A big thanks to Babbu-ko who was kind enough to let us crash at her pad for a few nights!

Ginkaku-ji....yeah, it's not really silver....but check out the silver in the pond that everyone throws away!

Silver Pavilion from the hillside; Eikando-ji (maybe?)

Aki checking out koyo; The longest wooden building in Japan-Sanjusangendo...amazing inside, but unfortunately I couldn't take pics

Doing some heavy thinking on the Philosophers Walk...."hmmmm, I know! I feel like a drink at the narrowest pub in the world!!"

The crowds at Kiyomizu-dera; The famed Kinkaku-ji or Golden Pavilion...yes, this one is real gold!!

Ryoan-ji, famous rock garden (famous for it's simplicity?)

Toji Temple...the tallest pagoda in Japan

Hordes of people swarm for a glimpse of the leaves at Tofuku-ji

Pick a path...but be warned...one path leads to certain death, so be careful little boy!!!The mountain of Fushimi Inari is adorned with hundreds of thousands of torii, all the way to the top of the mountain

Ojisan carves up another torii; Kentucky Fried Sparrow!!! No kidding!!!! (and no, I couldn't bring myself to eat one!)

Aotearoa '06

Well, I'm back in Japan after an awesome holiday in NZ! I have heaps to write about but I'll try to keep this brief....
Fri 8 Sept - Flew out from Narita on a stinking hot day.....wow, certainly doesn't feel like I've been gone a year. Air NZ has improved its standards with personal entertainment systems so you can choose your movie, TV show, listen to music or play games. The plane was half empty so I could kinda strech out across 3 seats and get a bit of shuteye.

Sat 9 Sept - Arrived in Auckland on a miserable cold day....was picked up by Mike and we went back to his place for the day where I caught up with Claire and met my nephew Jack for the first time. He's a gorgeous little baby....seems very inquisitive and happy. Mum and Dad came up in the evening. Very lazy day as I tried to recover from the flight.

Sun 10 Sept - A big surprise this morning for Mum and Dad when Steve walked in the door a week ahead of schedule. We then went and picked up Aki (she had to come a day later because of work) and we all went to the Auckland viaduct for lunch. It was another wet day so we didn't look around much before hitting the highway to Hamilton. After getting home we went and surprised Nicky, Ian and the kids then went home for another early nights sleep for all the tired travellers.


Mon 11 Sept - Went and paid off half my student loan....so much money, but it felt good! We had a look at "The Base" in Te Rapa. Hamilton sure is growing fast in the North. Paid a surprise visit to Nana, she was so happy to see us. Had a big roast dinner at home and got ready for our road trip starting tomorrow.

Tue 12 Sept - Time to show Aki some sights of New Zealand. We started heading south to Waitomo where we went Black Water Rafting. It was an awesome experience being in the dark caves, jumping off underground waterfalls and seeing the glow worms. I highly recommend ths for anyone that hasn't tried it!! We then went to Taupo for the night.

Wed 13 Sept - Played mini-golf in the morning. Steve made the call that the loser had to take a dip. Aki took a big lead after the first 9, but I came through to take the Taupo title while Steve went for a swim in the Lake. Stopped for a quick look at Huka Falls then headed up to Rotorua and went luging. It was great fun as usual. After that we went to Rainbow Springs and the Kiwi house where we saw a newborn Kiwi...very cute! We then went to Roshannas house for the night.



Thu 14 Sept - Steve stayed at Roshannas while Aki and I kept moving, firstly to Mount Maunganui. We had lunch and relaxed on the beach, then we climbed up Mauao. Aki got to see lots of sheep and lambs on the way down. After that we had a quick look at Tauranga then drove up to Whangamata for the night.



Fri 15 Sept - Went to Hot Water Beach but it was high tide so we went to Cathedral Cove for the afternoon and relaxed on the beach. We then drove home rather exhausted and had an early night.



Sat 16 Sept - Got up early and went to the Frankton Markets and then went for a look around town which was like a ghost town. Got home and started preparing for a BBQ. Was stoked when everyone turned up and we had a great time catching up. Very late night but also very fun!!


Sun 17 Sept - Got woken up early when Glenn, Lisa and Carlos popped in. Carlos is a gorgeous baby, full of laughs just like his Dad! Went to the Rose Gardens for the afternoon, but it was pretty dull, flowers not blooming yet. Had a lovely dinner at the Morgans.


Mon 18 Sept - In the morning we went for a bike ride along the Waikato River then had a round of golf with Hutch and Aki. With the Brae title on the line, I somehow came through and got my first win ever. Aki did excellent for a first time golfer, hitting 101 (I had 72). Aki cooked dinner tonight with a bit of help from myself. We had Okonomiyaki, Meat in Capsicum and Chicken Cabonara...oishii kata! Great to see Nana have a go with chopsticks!



Tue 19 Sept - Shopping day. Time to buy gifts for everyone back in Japan. Also paid some more off my loan. Took Aki out for dinner and tried to go to the casino but she wasn't allowed in without ID so we went bowling instead. Went home and started to pack.

Wed 20 Sept - Woke up at 1.30am Japan time and got back to Yokohama at 7pm Japan time....buggered.

Thur 21 Sept - Back to work :(