The great Toyama road trip!

Got a great opportunity/excuse to go and visit my friend Sara in Toyama which is by the sea.

Headed there on the dreaded night bus on the Friday after work and arrived bright and early on Saturday morning. Was met by Sara at the station and headed back to hers for a much needed nap. When we got up we quickly packed a bag and headed into Toyama to prepare for the fashion show her ALT co-workers were putting on. Arrived and got to work helping everyone set up for the show and pretty getting in the way.

Then it was fashion show, band playing and drink o'clock! Had an awesome time until the guy who ran the place decided to shut the party down due to 2 noise complaints. Who runs an event location where you cant have evening parties anyway? So we smartly packed everything up and headed out to a music studio owned by one of the ALTs. The party then proceeded on until the early hours.

Of course when that party started dying down we went out down to a local nightclub and did a bunch of dancing. Sara even got hit on by a bunch of Japanese girls - it is a regular occurrence. Then it was home via 8 people in a car and MacDonalds.

The next day was very relaxed starting with a long bike ride to the most amazing cheap yummy sushi restaurant in the world where we ate our fill for nearly nothing. On the way home we detoured to have a look at the massive park in middle of town. Then it was nap time - again. After an amazing nap we took a ride to visit her J-family. They are the family she teaches English to their children after school during the week. We headed there for dinner and it was frikkin amazing! We had bbq sirloin that melted in your mouth, salad, okonomiyaki, teriyaki chicken, naan bread, rice and we even made our own sushi! Amazing amazing!

After that amazing dinner we cycled back and it started raining. I proceeded to then crash my bike by putting my front tire in a rail track. Epic fail! And then 5 meters down the road we got pulled over by the cops to check the bike registrations. From then it was smooth sailing but it did get wetter. Good fun all around though.

The next day poor Sara had to go to work so I amused myself by riding a bike down to the coast. It was an awesome ride and super sunny. Then I arrived at the coast, took 2 pictures and it started raining! Found some cover, watched the rain for an hour, read my book and ate my picnic lunch. Then I cycled back when the sun started shining again. Brilliant day.
Once Sara got home we headed out to dinner. Found a great place that had 900yen drink as much as you can in 90 minutes and Italian food. We shared a bunch of different dishes and drank a bunch of wine. Beautiful times. Then it was time for the stupid night bus and an end to an amazing Toyama/Takaoka road trip.

View the pictures on:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237692&id=565510866&l=8f9d535db6

My new home

So it has actually been ages since I did the last update here. So much for keeping up and posting regularly.

Thought I would show you lovely people where I am living now. Sorry the pics are a bit close but there isn't enough space in my house to get full angle shots :D
We actually live above the hostel bar and when the bar is open we can jam along to the music while sitting in the lounge. Good thing the bar shuts at midnight.
There are 6 of us that live here and somehow we actually manage to live together in such close quarters quite easily.

Click on the link below to check out the pics:
FaceBook pics of my new house

2010-04-04 Kanamara Festival

In April I went to the most insane festival. It was a festival that started decades ago when prostitutes used to go once a year to pray to be free from syphilis. Over the years the festival has changed to be more about aids awareness and people also pray for fertility.

We headed out to Kawasaki in the morning to check out pre-festival activities. It was insanely packed. We watched the going ons for a while and then heard an announcement that anyone who would like to be dressed in a kimono could be. So we rushed off and get all dressed up - and all for free too!

We then headed into the streets to watch the parade of floats which were... Penises!

Yes that is correct. One float is a steel phallus, one is a wooden phallus and the other is a pink (fiberglass) phallus. It was insane insanity. They were selling penis and vagina shaped lollipops, sake cups and pourers, head scarves, and all manner of strange things. We had so many photos taken of us all dressed up in kimonos and it was like being a mini celebrity. Joined the parade for a while and took way too many photos to count.

We even managed to get in a sightseeing of a temple to add a little culture to the experience.

After about 6hr of festivaling we were tired out, called it a day and headed home. It was pretty much the best festival I have ever attended and I recommend it to anyone who will be in Japan in April next year.

Check out the pics on:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=218688&id=565510866&l=cee49df460

First night out in Tokyo

Nothing beats a truly random night out in Tokyo, at least not yet :)

Met an amazing bunch of people at the hostel and what started as a couple of us heading out to experience the neon lights, turned into about 10 of us joining the party. We started out with a couple of giant cans of beer and it has to be said that Japanese beer is really good. Then we headed off to the hostel bar to have some cheaper drinks and decide where to head out to. At 11:45pm we caught the last train off to Roppongi where there is nightlife of all kinds.
After dodging some dodgy Nigerian bouncer types trying to get us into bars we headed to GasPanic which doesn't charge cover but you do need to have a drink in your hands at all times. Immediately headed for the dance floor and instantly made some new Japanese friends who wanted to dance with the white folk.
After being there for a couple of hours we headed off to a different bar to mix it up. Turns out that the next bar we ended up was owned by GasPanic too. Chain night club I guess. It was a much smaller place and we were also treated to a bunch of girls dancing on the bar. One of them was getting pretty close with a guy and I have some suspisions that she was a working girl - but no way to confirm it.
We stayed out all night because that is what you need to do when the trains aren't running and cabs cost a small fortune. Unfortunately it meant that when hungry o'clock came around there was only the option of MacDonalds - and I actually ate a chicken burger. So dissapointed with myself. Then it was hopping on the first train home and getting in at 6am. All in all it was a fun night out and here are the pictures to prove it.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206604&id=565510866&l=36bbbb6264

Welcome to the big bad city

After a great 4 months of travelling around in Southeast Asia it was time to head to Japan for a year of working, living and being amazed!

I left Bali on the 2 March to Jakarta for my flight to Japan. Lucky for us the plane was delayed for 4hrs so we got to freeze in the airport while waiting but at least they fed us. Then it was off to Beijing for my connecting flight. Strangly we had a stop over before Beijing where they made everyone get off the plane and clear customs. It was quite fun to explain that the reason I didn't have a chinese visa was because I was flying on to Japan, but luckly they worked out what I meant eventually. Then it was back to the same plane and a long delay on the ground due to bad weather. Finally got to Beijing and headed off to my connecting flight that Air China had thankfully rebooked for me as we arrived 4hr after my connection was meant to happen.
Eventually I arrived in Tokyo on the 3 March to find that because of all the changes and delays my luggage had not arrived with me. Very glad I asked them if I could claim renumeration if I had to buy essentials as they gave me 5000yen then and there. They also found out how I could get into Tokyo as of course by then it was 11:45pm and I had missed the last cheap train into the city centre. So I go the bus in and then had to get a taxi to my hostel - so the 5000yen came in very handy. Got to the hostel at 1:30am and was just in time to get my room key as the night staff went off shift at 2am and I would have been stuck out in the cold! But it all worked out and I got to finally to go to sleep after being awake for 42hrs.

Since then quite a few things have happened and I will fill you all in on that next time. It has been a long day of writting updates, but really it needed to be done :)

Here is to the year ahead. Cheers!