April Summer

Summer has come early this year with the mercury reaching 20+ degrees regularly this last week. Along with the warm weather, the cherry blossoms have started blooming so it's time for Hanami once again. This year I'm fortunate enough to have a park across the road with cherry blossoms blooming so this was the place to go. I had a meal with Aki and her friends and then enjoyed playing in the park with Anthony and Liam. Here's a couple of clips from Hanami 2007.......

Weekend at Brads

Hows it ya'll? Aki and I went for a little weekend trip up to Ota in Gunma prefecture (about 2 1/2 hours from Yokohama) to visit Brad and Colleen (who will henceforth be known as Stan). Brad and Stan were quick to find jobs and have settled in to their school-provided accommodation nicely. We arrived in Ota at 8:30 on Sat night and I was stunned by the quietness as soon as we got out of the station. Ota is about the size of Hamilton so it has a real small town feel compared to Yokohama/Tokyo. We arrived at their place to see that Stan had the BBQ fired up, so Brad got to cooking some delicious marinated ribs and chicken kebabs, while Stan prepared an equally delicious salad. After the meal we got into some drinking and a heated game of Yahtzee. At about 2am we were all a goner so we hit the sack......morning came, hangovers came harder, but we still managed to get up and have a bowl (Brad, Stan...you'll have to pick up your games for the rematch), followed by a stroll to the local shopping mall, then a relaxed arvo of Rugby and Friends on the box. All in all, it was a nice quiet weekend away from the big smoke and hopefully we'll give that Weber a few more workouts this coming year.



Yahtzee, beer and peanuts = recipe for a good time!


Got Meat??......That freezer is a thing of beauty


Meanwhile, a big congrats to Glenn and Lisa who are tying the knot this coming weekend. I'd love to be there but I'll be thinking of you guys instead. Hope the day goes well!

New Home

On January 7, Aki and myself moved into our new place. The move from her old place was aided by Aki's friend who had a truck, his friend, Anthony, Brad and Colleen (who had just arrived in Japan the day before). We were finished in about 3 hours then Brad and I went to watch a rugby game down the road (Anthony's old team were playing).
As for our new home, it is fantastic! We are very conveniently located just 10 minutes walk from Yokohama Station and for Aki it is 3 minutes walk to her work. We have a great park across the road where I can kick around the rugby ball. It is one of the very few parks I've seen in Japan that actually has grass!!! Most of them are just dirt. As for the inside, it has been recently refurbished so it looks very new. Aki's Mum was very generous in buying us many new things, while we bought a few things ourselves. The new furnishings include a massive fridge, Queen size bed, curtains, kitchen table, XBox and a 32" Widescreen HDTV.....and I bought myself a cool new cellphone.

Lounge and Kitchen


Kitchen and Bathroom


Bedroom and Lounge

Map showing where my new place is.... (the big red thing is Yokohama Station so you can see how central we are!) ....and Liam gets a taste of the rugby ball


....and a little (cellphone) vid of Liam on the train, off to watch a rugby game in Tokyo

Tabula rasa

After a busy couple of weeks to start the New Year, I can happily say that things have settled down and I can now relax a bit. So, as promised, here's a recap of my New Year celebration and vacation......
Countdown to 2007
Unlike last year, I had half a plan for the big night ahead. Mark joined me early in the afternoon and we began drinking, played a bit of ball and drank some more (2 player Kings Crown is nasty!!!). We cruised into Shibuya at about 10.30pm and met up with Miyuki, then headed into a massive club called "Womb". This place was huge (capacity: 1000 party-heads). The headlined DJ (I forget his name) played a nice set for the crowd. Basically we danced and drank til we couldn't go any more then called it a night. The worst part of the night was the one hour wait for the train in the freezing cold. Overall, it was a pretty cool night but the hangover was just beginning.....

Mark "Hunt" smashes some dude on the train; Miyuki, M-Do and Me

Inside Womb

Yamanashi
I spent the 1st in bed, feeling like crap but I had to get up the next morning at 5am to hit the road to Yamanashi. Aki's family were nice enough to invite me to join their vacation in Yamanashi, near Mount Fuji. We spent the first day at the ski field where I tried skiing for the first time. I was still feeling suspect from the party night so skiing wasn't so fun as it took too much stamina which I did not have. Instead, I found my comfort zone with the kids on the toboggan where I could just sit down, slide and not fall off....much more relaxing than skiing!!!
We then drove to Lake Yamanaka where our accommodation awaited. Aki's Mum works for Shiseido and the company has a beautiful place, like a Bed and Breakfast, for employees and families. This place had a Karaoke room, table tennis, pool table, awesome cooked breakfast and dinner, and a view of Mt. Fuji! The next day we went hiking in the nearby hills. A very light snow was falling and the dirt track was very icy. It sure felt good to get into nature even if it was freezing cold! When we got back we were all pretty tired so we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The final day was a beautiful clear day, so Mt. Fuji was most impressive. We left in the morning and went to Gotemba where there is a big outlet shopping centre. The ladies had a great time shopping, while I was more content just relaxing and people watching. We drove back to Yokohama in the evening and I went straight to bed after a fun but tiring sojourn.


Me and Hajime (Aki's Bro) before skiing; Frozen lake in the mountains


Ryo and Nagi enjoying a break; Ice on the track


Aki and Nagi; Aki doing karaoke (Oasis, I think?)

Fuji-san



Me and Nagi ride the toboggan

2007...Here we go!!!!

Happy New Year to everyone out there!!! I hope you all enjoyed the festivities and didn't get too hungover!
I'm really busy at the moment having just got back from a few days away and I'm moving house this weekend and Brad (yeah, the Brad that slept in our lounge in Hamz for about a year) will arrive in Japan tomorrow and we've only got a few days to catch up before he heads to Osaka and...ok thats all, but anyway, because I'm moving house I won't have any internet for a while (maybe 1-3 weeks?) so if you want to contact me for anything I suggest you do so in the next day or two. When I get settled in with the internet cranking I will give you the full report on my New Years holiday and stuff, but in the meantime, enjoy this video clip of the countdown in "Womb", the huge niteclub where we partied away with 1000 people.
This video clip is brought to you coutesy of MSD Entertainment (all rights reserved)

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!)