I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night, after about 3 months...
That nasty Snape!
After 5 happy years together my stereo (well the CD player) has stopped working. :-(
It was 42 degrees here yesterday! B-E-A-utiful! No seriously. Finally a hot day in Adelaide that did not culminate in a thunder storm. Usually I don't like hot weather like that, but it was really dry heat- the AC worked perfectly- no complaints here!
Anyway, that is about it from me this morning.
A quiet NY for me this year........ See you again in 2006. :-)
Friday, December 30, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
A perfect blend of cultures
I chose to drink Asahi beer at Christmas Lunch with my family! Of course, it tastes better from pint glasses in Tokyo isakaya. But it certainly quenched my thirst!I found this photo opportunity irresistible. ;-)Xmas was nice this year, quite relaxed really. I got lots of great gifts, in particular a beautiful photo album from Morgan which is made with Japanese silk! So it is all over with for another year....... *sigh*.
Friday, December 23, 2005
the unfinished definitive list
The moment you have all been waiting for.... scroll down this page to see the "unfinished definitive" list on Japan, as compiled by Chrissy, Beth, Dan, Adam and myself...... I eagerly await contributions from you other crazy kids!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Miscellany
So I graduated yesterday! I can finally say I have an LLB (Hons). And it sure took long enough.... I will upload some photo's tonight of me wearing the silly clothes and celebrating afterwards.
Only 2 days until Xmas. Proudly I can say that I have only one more person to buy a present for - altogether organised don't you think? :-) The weather for Xmas day is supposed to be quite warm? Certainly warmer than Japan anyway, where I hear mother nature has been dumping snow all over the place? Has there been snow in Tokyo?
Lots of Japan/Australia related news lately too:
1) Miyamoto (Japan Soccer Captain) has been making some fairly interesting statements to try and psych out the Socceroo's in their opening World Cup game. BRING IT ON!! Can't wait for that one!
2) The Wiggles are "turning Japanese" - for those of you who have not had the pleasure (displeasure?) of hearing about The Wiggles- they are a group of four Aussie guys who have made themselves very rich by writing and performing songs for kids including "Dorothy the Dinosaur", "Hot Potato", "Big Red Car" and "Wake-Up Jeff". They are taking their franchise to Japan next year. All you crazy MPE's should audition. Seriously!
3) Whaling is back on the radar again with Greenpeace ships chasing Japanese ships all over the Southern Ocean to try and prevent them from catching their research quota. I honestly did not hear a thing about whaling in Japan- it doesn't even seem to be an issue there? Isn't it interesting how something that arouses such negative feeling in Australia is not really up for debate in Japan? Meanwhile it is plastered all over Australian news websites.....
Oh, and in Indo/Australia news- the travel warning has been AMENDED not upgraded for over the Xmas/NY period, and in Aceh- there was a ceremonial handing back of weapons by GAM to the Indonesian military which is pretty amazing given that in pre-Tsunami times peace looked extremely unlikely there.
And that concludes today's look at news and current affairs. Thankyou.
;-)
Only 2 days until Xmas. Proudly I can say that I have only one more person to buy a present for - altogether organised don't you think? :-) The weather for Xmas day is supposed to be quite warm? Certainly warmer than Japan anyway, where I hear mother nature has been dumping snow all over the place? Has there been snow in Tokyo?
Lots of Japan/Australia related news lately too:
1) Miyamoto (Japan Soccer Captain) has been making some fairly interesting statements to try and psych out the Socceroo's in their opening World Cup game. BRING IT ON!! Can't wait for that one!
2) The Wiggles are "turning Japanese" - for those of you who have not had the pleasure (displeasure?) of hearing about The Wiggles- they are a group of four Aussie guys who have made themselves very rich by writing and performing songs for kids including "Dorothy the Dinosaur", "Hot Potato", "Big Red Car" and "Wake-Up Jeff". They are taking their franchise to Japan next year. All you crazy MPE's should audition. Seriously!
3) Whaling is back on the radar again with Greenpeace ships chasing Japanese ships all over the Southern Ocean to try and prevent them from catching their research quota. I honestly did not hear a thing about whaling in Japan- it doesn't even seem to be an issue there? Isn't it interesting how something that arouses such negative feeling in Australia is not really up for debate in Japan? Meanwhile it is plastered all over Australian news websites.....
Oh, and in Indo/Australia news- the travel warning has been AMENDED not upgraded for over the Xmas/NY period, and in Aceh- there was a ceremonial handing back of weapons by GAM to the Indonesian military which is pretty amazing given that in pre-Tsunami times peace looked extremely unlikely there.
And that concludes today's look at news and current affairs. Thankyou.
;-)
sakamoto kyu
Look what i found! Where were these fabulous phonetic lyrics on the last night at karaoke? Does anyone know what the song is about by the way?!
Sakamoto Kyu
Sukiyaki
by N/A
Ue wo muite
arukou.
Namidaga koborenai youni
Omoidasu, haru no hi
Hitoribocchino yoru.
Ue wo muite
arukou.
Nijinda hoshi wo kazoete
Omoidasu, natsu no hi,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni,
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni.
Ue wo muite arukou.
Namidaga koborenai youni
naki nagara,
aruku, hitoribocchino yoru.
Omoidasu, aki no hi,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Kanashimi wa hoshi no kageni,
Kanashima wa tsuki no kageni.
Ue wo muite arukou.
Namidaka kobore naiyouni,
Naki nagara, aruku,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Hitoribocchino yoru.
Sakamoto Kyu
Sukiyaki
by N/A
Ue wo muite
arukou.
Namidaga koborenai youni
Omoidasu, haru no hi
Hitoribocchino yoru.
Ue wo muite
arukou.
Nijinda hoshi wo kazoete
Omoidasu, natsu no hi,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni,
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni.
Ue wo muite arukou.
Namidaga koborenai youni
naki nagara,
aruku, hitoribocchino yoru.
Omoidasu, aki no hi,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Kanashimi wa hoshi no kageni,
Kanashima wa tsuki no kageni.
Ue wo muite arukou.
Namidaka kobore naiyouni,
Naki nagara, aruku,
hitoribocchino yoru.
Hitoribocchino yoru.
Monday, December 19, 2005
stage, candles and cool night sky
i believe that the title of this one is probably self-explanatory.
beetles and carols
As a cynical and ageing 23 year old not many things make me feel like Christmas these days. One of them, that does not happen every year is "christmas beetles"- they have just hatched and are everywhere tonight. I think they usually die within 24 hours which is a bit sad.... But for now, they remind me that it will soon be Christmas! (In 5 days in fact....)
The other thing is something of a corny family tradition- our annual visit to the Elder Park christmas carols by River Torrens in Adelaide. I went last night with my family, and yet again, I shook off my "ba humbug" Uncle Scrooge tendency in favour of some merry xmas spirit! It was a beautiful night, and for all those of you who either a) don't know anything about Adelaide or b) laugh at the fact Adelaide even exists, I have attached some rather pretty photo's to this post!
Yes, I have worked out how to blog my pictures. Aren't I clever??!
The other thing is something of a corny family tradition- our annual visit to the Elder Park christmas carols by River Torrens in Adelaide. I went last night with my family, and yet again, I shook off my "ba humbug" Uncle Scrooge tendency in favour of some merry xmas spirit! It was a beautiful night, and for all those of you who either a) don't know anything about Adelaide or b) laugh at the fact Adelaide even exists, I have attached some rather pretty photo's to this post!
Yes, I have worked out how to blog my pictures. Aren't I clever??!
Friday, December 16, 2005
listing random things
Updated and condensed 23/12/05
Still lacking contributions from Elizabeth, Peta, Damon and Caroline and MPE's!
- Butter flavoured potato chips
- Teriyaki Boyz
- $2000 puppies
- 20 second zen exhale
- 6000 homeless in Ueno Park
- Yodobashi: God's gift to Geeks.
- I-Dog (cute or irritating….?)
- Koala...She's my Bitch
- Showing your neck is sexy
- Giving someone the finger either doesn't mean anything in Japan, or is THE most offensive gesture possible: I'm still not sure.
- Japanese girl's try to avoid becoming a xmas cake
- Factory uniforms make people look like serial killers.
- Butt-welded pipes are important
- The waitress at Denny's
- The world's smallest beer at Denny's
- Cuttlefish: A cruel joke, or something more sinister?
- So called 'coffee' from vending machines.
- Drunk guys shouting at us to drink beer at Tokyo University
- Hot sweet sake
- The Beatles Live 155
- Brainwashing Candy (Caroline……)
- Joypolis: Not quite as kinky as it sounds - but fun nevertheless
- Girls’ Box at Joypolis (what was this?????!!!)
- OJ in a cup in a bag: Overpackaging gone mad in a city with no bins.
- Smiling Robot Tour Guide at Toyota. Someone accidentally set her to 'Slow Walk' that day.
- Production line at Toyota- makes human’s seem terrifyingly redundant…….
- Showering together at the Crazy House Ryokan. It wasn't gay - I swear.
- Blood Type Fortunes
- Lucky charms for anything
- Nightinggale Floor Boards
- Ninja walk to avoid making nightingale floor boards squeak!
- Gum Syrup
- Cider meets Condensed Milk
- Panda Hotrods
- Geisha in an elevator in Hakone
- School Uniforms in Chigasaki
- Screaming children in high school in Chigasaki
- Signing pencil cases in Chigasaki
- I would like plastic model ... if it actually existed
- Vending machines
- 1 yen coins -damn they're annoying still have a small pile of them!
- construction hats
- huge glasses
- Aomarushin tempura
- Ginza
- Shibuya
- Akihabara
- Ueno Park
- Momiji leaves
- Kinkakuji
- ferris wheels
- love hotels (inc. Hotel “Pay-up”)
- Palette Town
- B-Flets!
- NTT
- Sakamoto Kyu "----da da da da da da da -aruko -ooooo"
- kimonos
- phone cards
- pim, pim pom
- Damon ----“Hey U..S..A!!!!”
- crunky
- air crunky
- dars
- ghana
- pinky
- nara
- crazy deer
- 23rd floor at mitsui
- 24th floor at mitsui
- tsukiji fish market -need i say more!!???
- eri-chan
- samurai
- ninja restaurant
- MPE's
- Family Mart
- Aoyama -itchome!!!
- Lesson No. 9!!! -adverts with Big Bird
- Astro Boy poster saying to stop illicit drugs!!!
- Wanted posters in sub-way equpped with helpful artist’s impressions of the effect of the ageing process….
- McDonalds Happy "Sets"
- Wham! xmas carols
- "popstar"
- I can't tell if the coffee at the *chemicals was bad or if the chemicals in the coffee were bad
- Scary smiling ladies with pink dresses and pink lace shoes
- Toyoda
- Steam cooked food thanks to sharp (to help control the pervading obesity problem in Japan- NOT!)
- The outfits of the two guides at Tokyo metro government (a bizarre cross of James bond henchmen and flight attendants)
- Skytime “Yuzu” (choose JAL for this reason alone!)
- Kirin Beer
- Crunk U
- Beer from vending machines
- Ramen
- Slurping noodles is ok, if not obligatory
- Tom Cruise, Last Samurai AKA Damon
- Apple Tea
- Soba Noodles
- Surgical Masks to stop colds spreading
- Opthamologist treatment for Pirate Eye
- Red Dragon : ingredients illegal in 37 countries, but not Japan
- Bins not being present, despite the streets being oddly clean
- Those comfortably uncomfortable bean pillows at Okatami Ryokan
- Not being handed samples of tissues or vouchers for karaoke
- Fake glases
- Graphic design T shirts, Graniph
- Being harrassed physically and sexually by deer (peta knows what I'm talking about)
- That brilliant guide at Hakone
- Fuji san hiding
- Hello Kitty EVERYTHING
- Izakaya
- Yoshinoya
- Aussie beef in Yoshinoya
- suuumimaasseeeeenn!!! (when calling for a waiter in a restaurant)
- Falling down stairs at the champagne club (Beth…..)
- Vomiting in Salsa Club (Sorry B!)
- Being chased by menacing African from Salsa Club
- Mopping up vomit with ineffectual cloth at Salsa Club
- Nap time at the ambassadors (sorry C!)
- Pinky peach mints
- Pianissimo Peche/Duos/Capri/Rose
- Wardrobe malfunctions (i.e. Beth and my trouser leg, Adelle and her heel...)
- Gaspanic cafe (huh?)
- Keith cakes
- Shouting out "Keith!" at the train station
- Being deafened when Adelle found Keith
- Charades with crazy ryokan ladies
- Drunken man passed out on genkan in Hakone
- Hankyu
- Sankyu Berry Muchie
- Happy Smile Christmas
- 200 Yen Dlinks
- Lets enjoy
- watering kiss mints
- bed up
- roppongi
- yoko san
- harajuku
- wah-oh-nine (109)
- hell-o
- it’s beautiful, it’s art, it’s new, it’s the vibe, it’s life….. yeah it’s just life
- melty kiss chocolate
- pocky
- pocky mens
- clorets
- CC Lemon
- Hot Vitamin
- pork buns
- AM PM
- Dogs in clothes
- hottokennai (MAKE POVERTY HISTORY - IN JAPAN)
- Uni-Qlo
- Pedestrian Paradise
- screaming irritating boy at Kabuki
- ineffectual translation and commentary at kabuki
- fish flavoured “candy” biscuits at kabuki
- host family generosity
- MOS Burger
- Turry's Coffee
- natto ("not suitable for foreigners")
- limosine buses
- chigasaki breeze
- volcanic sand
- karaoke
- as you can
- healin' feelin
- fake food (that one is for you caroline!)
- metro train (especially in peak hour)
- green tea
- okonomiyaki
- fresh whitebait
- umeshu AKA "prum wine"
- sho-chu
- free sho-chu from drunk salarymen
- asahi
- free asahi from drunk salarymen
- cassis
- sickening cocktails with 0.05% alcohol (or thereabouts)
- sho-chu RTD's
*sorry!- alcohol interlude*
- ecocement
- ecocement coffee (so environmental!)
- nippon steel
- gion
- geishas
- odaiba lemonade bottles with ball bearings
- yellow candy wrapped in dissolving rice paper (what was that called again??)
- braille footpaths
- opthamologists who smell like tomato sauce
- ninja restaraunt
- Harry Potter (say with Japanese accent!)
- "let's go people"
- ladies night- champagne included!
- chicken bizarro
- chicken abstracto
- tokyo style
- M-FLO (especially Vanessa)
- gingko trees (male AND female y'know!)
- gingko nuts
- egg custard
- onsen
- modesty towels
- modesty toilets
- heated toilet seats
- miscellaneous buttons in toilets
- hard gay
- japanese television generally!
PS- If you feel offended that I removed your comment- it was to save space- and because it must be really irritating for people to read "double-ups"!
Still lacking contributions from Elizabeth, Peta, Damon and Caroline and MPE's!
- Butter flavoured potato chips
- Teriyaki Boyz
- $2000 puppies
- 20 second zen exhale
- 6000 homeless in Ueno Park
- Yodobashi: God's gift to Geeks.
- I-Dog (cute or irritating….?)
- Koala...She's my Bitch
- Showing your neck is sexy
- Giving someone the finger either doesn't mean anything in Japan, or is THE most offensive gesture possible: I'm still not sure.
- Japanese girl's try to avoid becoming a xmas cake
- Factory uniforms make people look like serial killers.
- Butt-welded pipes are important
- The waitress at Denny's
- The world's smallest beer at Denny's
- Cuttlefish: A cruel joke, or something more sinister?
- So called 'coffee' from vending machines.
- Drunk guys shouting at us to drink beer at Tokyo University
- Hot sweet sake
- The Beatles Live 155
- Brainwashing Candy (Caroline……)
- Joypolis: Not quite as kinky as it sounds - but fun nevertheless
- Girls’ Box at Joypolis (what was this?????!!!)
- OJ in a cup in a bag: Overpackaging gone mad in a city with no bins.
- Smiling Robot Tour Guide at Toyota. Someone accidentally set her to 'Slow Walk' that day.
- Production line at Toyota- makes human’s seem terrifyingly redundant…….
- Showering together at the Crazy House Ryokan. It wasn't gay - I swear.
- Blood Type Fortunes
- Lucky charms for anything
- Nightinggale Floor Boards
- Ninja walk to avoid making nightingale floor boards squeak!
- Gum Syrup
- Cider meets Condensed Milk
- Panda Hotrods
- Geisha in an elevator in Hakone
- School Uniforms in Chigasaki
- Screaming children in high school in Chigasaki
- Signing pencil cases in Chigasaki
- I would like plastic model ... if it actually existed
- Vending machines
- 1 yen coins -damn they're annoying still have a small pile of them!
- construction hats
- huge glasses
- Aomarushin tempura
- Ginza
- Shibuya
- Akihabara
- Ueno Park
- Momiji leaves
- Kinkakuji
- ferris wheels
- love hotels (inc. Hotel “Pay-up”)
- Palette Town
- B-Flets!
- NTT
- Sakamoto Kyu "----da da da da da da da -aruko -ooooo"
- kimonos
- phone cards
- pim, pim pom
- Damon ----“Hey U..S..A!!!!”
- crunky
- air crunky
- dars
- ghana
- pinky
- nara
- crazy deer
- 23rd floor at mitsui
- 24th floor at mitsui
- tsukiji fish market -need i say more!!???
- eri-chan
- samurai
- ninja restaurant
- MPE's
- Family Mart
- Aoyama -itchome!!!
- Lesson No. 9!!! -adverts with Big Bird
- Astro Boy poster saying to stop illicit drugs!!!
- Wanted posters in sub-way equpped with helpful artist’s impressions of the effect of the ageing process….
- McDonalds Happy "Sets"
- Wham! xmas carols
- "popstar"
- I can't tell if the coffee at the *chemicals was bad or if the chemicals in the coffee were bad
- Scary smiling ladies with pink dresses and pink lace shoes
- Toyoda
- Steam cooked food thanks to sharp (to help control the pervading obesity problem in Japan- NOT!)
- The outfits of the two guides at Tokyo metro government (a bizarre cross of James bond henchmen and flight attendants)
- Skytime “Yuzu” (choose JAL for this reason alone!)
- Kirin Beer
- Crunk U
- Beer from vending machines
- Ramen
- Slurping noodles is ok, if not obligatory
- Tom Cruise, Last Samurai AKA Damon
- Apple Tea
- Soba Noodles
- Surgical Masks to stop colds spreading
- Opthamologist treatment for Pirate Eye
- Red Dragon : ingredients illegal in 37 countries, but not Japan
- Bins not being present, despite the streets being oddly clean
- Those comfortably uncomfortable bean pillows at Okatami Ryokan
- Not being handed samples of tissues or vouchers for karaoke
- Fake glases
- Graphic design T shirts, Graniph
- Being harrassed physically and sexually by deer (peta knows what I'm talking about)
- That brilliant guide at Hakone
- Fuji san hiding
- Hello Kitty EVERYTHING
- Izakaya
- Yoshinoya
- Aussie beef in Yoshinoya
- suuumimaasseeeeenn!!! (when calling for a waiter in a restaurant)
- Falling down stairs at the champagne club (Beth…..)
- Vomiting in Salsa Club (Sorry B!)
- Being chased by menacing African from Salsa Club
- Mopping up vomit with ineffectual cloth at Salsa Club
- Nap time at the ambassadors (sorry C!)
- Pinky peach mints
- Pianissimo Peche/Duos/Capri/Rose
- Wardrobe malfunctions (i.e. Beth and my trouser leg, Adelle and her heel...)
- Gaspanic cafe (huh?)
- Keith cakes
- Shouting out "Keith!" at the train station
- Being deafened when Adelle found Keith
- Charades with crazy ryokan ladies
- Drunken man passed out on genkan in Hakone
- Hankyu
- Sankyu Berry Muchie
- Happy Smile Christmas
- 200 Yen Dlinks
- Lets enjoy
- watering kiss mints
- bed up
- roppongi
- yoko san
- harajuku
- wah-oh-nine (109)
- hell-o
- it’s beautiful, it’s art, it’s new, it’s the vibe, it’s life….. yeah it’s just life
- melty kiss chocolate
- pocky
- pocky mens
- clorets
- CC Lemon
- Hot Vitamin
- pork buns
- AM PM
- Dogs in clothes
- hottokennai (MAKE POVERTY HISTORY - IN JAPAN)
- Uni-Qlo
- Pedestrian Paradise
- screaming irritating boy at Kabuki
- ineffectual translation and commentary at kabuki
- fish flavoured “candy” biscuits at kabuki
- host family generosity
- MOS Burger
- Turry's Coffee
- natto ("not suitable for foreigners")
- limosine buses
- chigasaki breeze
- volcanic sand
- karaoke
- as you can
- healin' feelin
- fake food (that one is for you caroline!)
- metro train (especially in peak hour)
- green tea
- okonomiyaki
- fresh whitebait
- umeshu AKA "prum wine"
- sho-chu
- free sho-chu from drunk salarymen
- asahi
- free asahi from drunk salarymen
- cassis
- sickening cocktails with 0.05% alcohol (or thereabouts)
- sho-chu RTD's
*sorry!- alcohol interlude*
- ecocement
- ecocement coffee (so environmental!)
- nippon steel
- gion
- geishas
- odaiba lemonade bottles with ball bearings
- yellow candy wrapped in dissolving rice paper (what was that called again??)
- braille footpaths
- opthamologists who smell like tomato sauce
- ninja restaraunt
- Harry Potter (say with Japanese accent!)
- "let's go people"
- ladies night- champagne included!
- chicken bizarro
- chicken abstracto
- tokyo style
- M-FLO (especially Vanessa)
- gingko trees (male AND female y'know!)
- gingko nuts
- egg custard
- onsen
- modesty towels
- modesty toilets
- heated toilet seats
- miscellaneous buttons in toilets
- hard gay
- japanese television generally!
PS- If you feel offended that I removed your comment- it was to save space- and because it must be really irritating for people to read "double-ups"!
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Where do we live???
Excuse me? Can someone let me know what country this actually is??? Why the hell is there race-related violence on Sydney beaches?
For the benefit of people O/S- in the past few days there have been large gangs roaming the streets in Sydney and attacks on people of middle-eastern descent in Sydney- and then retaliatory attacks apparently by young Lebanese.
After my own recent extremely positive cross-cultural experiences in Japan, what is going on now makes me sick to the stomach. How is that on one hand people can be so tolerant, generous and willing to embrace diversity and on the other, prepared to hurt others based on their place of birth? All I can say is - thankfully, the majority of Australians are appalled and disgusted with this pointless violence and hatred, and that this rowdy mob certainly does not speak for me.
For the benefit of people O/S- in the past few days there have been large gangs roaming the streets in Sydney and attacks on people of middle-eastern descent in Sydney- and then retaliatory attacks apparently by young Lebanese.
After my own recent extremely positive cross-cultural experiences in Japan, what is going on now makes me sick to the stomach. How is that on one hand people can be so tolerant, generous and willing to embrace diversity and on the other, prepared to hurt others based on their place of birth? All I can say is - thankfully, the majority of Australians are appalled and disgusted with this pointless violence and hatred, and that this rowdy mob certainly does not speak for me.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
home.
Hello people!
I can once again use capitals and grammar because I am HOME!!!
I can't believe my Japanese adventure has ended, but now that it has, I intend to tell the entire world about what a fantastic place Japan is! (Or as close as I can get to the whole world...)
I am a little tired now- woke up in the middle of the night thinking "wow this hotel room looks a lot like my bedroom!" which was a rather weird experience... but when I catch up on my sleep and my body readjusts to western food, all will be well. All the tedious things like work, and organising my post-graduate legal training start now.
To wind up the Japan part of this blog I thought I would invite you to ask me questions about my experiences or things I have written about etc and I will endeavour to respond as best I can. So go for it!
I can once again use capitals and grammar because I am HOME!!!
I can't believe my Japanese adventure has ended, but now that it has, I intend to tell the entire world about what a fantastic place Japan is! (Or as close as I can get to the whole world...)
I am a little tired now- woke up in the middle of the night thinking "wow this hotel room looks a lot like my bedroom!" which was a rather weird experience... but when I catch up on my sleep and my body readjusts to western food, all will be well. All the tedious things like work, and organising my post-graduate legal training start now.
To wind up the Japan part of this blog I thought I would invite you to ask me questions about my experiences or things I have written about etc and I will endeavour to respond as best I can. So go for it!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
sad, sad, sad
next time i post on here i will be back in adelaide most likely.....
i am not ready to come home. this has been the most amazing trip of my life and i wish it didnt have to end! the people, the sights and the atmosphere have been unbelievable. farewell tokyo.
sad, sad , sad.
i am not ready to come home. this has been the most amazing trip of my life and i wish it didnt have to end! the people, the sights and the atmosphere have been unbelievable. farewell tokyo.
sad, sad , sad.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
i am ok!!!!
regarding my eye- the irritant remained in it all day, but just went to an opthamologist (random, random, random) and he pinced, of all things, a piece of bark from my eye. who woulda thunk it!!!
anyway, now that i am healed, time to do the crazy eye makeup for karaoke!!!!
anyway, now that i am healed, time to do the crazy eye makeup for karaoke!!!!
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
tokyo my love town #2
so i forgot to write last night, that i had something in my eye all day yesterday and that it is all red and irritated and puffy. i hoped it might get better overnight but i woke up at 4 am and my eye had swollen virtually cloed (rocky eat ur heart out) but it is better now.... sort of. so the moral of the story is, i will meet the ambassador looking rather weird. fabulous.
tokyo my love town
can i just reiterate how much i love this place??? the title refers to a tshirt that can be bought here^ kinda cheesy-but when i find one- i am buying!!!! hehe.
so today we went to the tokyo municipal govt offices and took a tour. it was quite interesting especially considering that the area they are administering is two thirds the size of our national govt with a tiny fraction of the geographic size!! we also visited ntt docomo which is the biggest telecom company in japan. all i can say is - the future is now people!!! their internet is 50 times faster than our fastest. a 2 hour movie downloaded in living colour in just 5 mins!!! hello! but alas, the technology will not be coming to australia- docomo have the patent, and methinks they aint sharing!!!!!
we went out for dinnmer in harajuku tonight which is the young trendy part of town, well another one of them! the clothes and accessories are amazing, but despite my diet of fish and rice (and asahi....!), i still cant fit. actually i havent tried. might save that for my free day in my love town- thursday!!!!!
tomorrow we are meeting the australian ambassador to japan which is huge really.... hopefully my mind wont be on karaoke later that night with the awesome mitsui students the whole time i am disussing our bilateral relationship with japan...... hmmm
thursday i will be going to see harry potter, which will set me back about double the australian admission, but i consider pennies well spent.
speaking of pennies- it seems that i am burning money here even in spite of mitsui picking up virtually every tab. but with 3 days left i think i am in decent shape. might not be when i get home though..... )-: i still have one extravagant purchase to make with my mitsui travellers cheques!!! i intend to splurge on an anna sui purse. very hot! if i could find shoes to fit my clodhopping feet i would also splurge on them too, but all the girly ones are tiny... so it might have to be converse chuck taylors!!! at least the japanese designs will be unique (-:
so today we went to the tokyo municipal govt offices and took a tour. it was quite interesting especially considering that the area they are administering is two thirds the size of our national govt with a tiny fraction of the geographic size!! we also visited ntt docomo which is the biggest telecom company in japan. all i can say is - the future is now people!!! their internet is 50 times faster than our fastest. a 2 hour movie downloaded in living colour in just 5 mins!!! hello! but alas, the technology will not be coming to australia- docomo have the patent, and methinks they aint sharing!!!!!
we went out for dinnmer in harajuku tonight which is the young trendy part of town, well another one of them! the clothes and accessories are amazing, but despite my diet of fish and rice (and asahi....!), i still cant fit. actually i havent tried. might save that for my free day in my love town- thursday!!!!!
tomorrow we are meeting the australian ambassador to japan which is huge really.... hopefully my mind wont be on karaoke later that night with the awesome mitsui students the whole time i am disussing our bilateral relationship with japan...... hmmm
thursday i will be going to see harry potter, which will set me back about double the australian admission, but i consider pennies well spent.
speaking of pennies- it seems that i am burning money here even in spite of mitsui picking up virtually every tab. but with 3 days left i think i am in decent shape. might not be when i get home though..... )-: i still have one extravagant purchase to make with my mitsui travellers cheques!!! i intend to splurge on an anna sui purse. very hot! if i could find shoes to fit my clodhopping feet i would also splurge on them too, but all the girly ones are tiny... so it might have to be converse chuck taylors!!! at least the japanese designs will be unique (-:
Monday, December 05, 2005
kabuki kalamity
hmmm. kabuki. interesting...... a little dull. without commenting on the quality of what i saw tonight for i feel somewhat unqualified to assess quality, i will say, definitely, not my thing...... sorry kabuki officiandos.
came *home* tokyo today. this place is so cool and i am so happy to have three more days here.
but, that said, i have just experienced the most overwhelming hospitality and generosity with my host family in chigasaki. kobayashis- you are the best. chizu, risa nao and ally, thankyou so much! i had a fantastic weekend in this little surfer town one hour from tokyo. the experience of *everyday* japanese life is something i will never forget. and my luggage is literally twice as heavy as a consequence of the multiple gifts i have received. unbelievable kindness. overwhelming.
anyway, again, short post i apologise. the speed of events is crazy, but it will regretaby end soon. )-:bye!
came *home* tokyo today. this place is so cool and i am so happy to have three more days here.
but, that said, i have just experienced the most overwhelming hospitality and generosity with my host family in chigasaki. kobayashis- you are the best. chizu, risa nao and ally, thankyou so much! i had a fantastic weekend in this little surfer town one hour from tokyo. the experience of *everyday* japanese life is something i will never forget. and my luggage is literally twice as heavy as a consequence of the multiple gifts i have received. unbelievable kindness. overwhelming.
anyway, again, short post i apologise. the speed of events is crazy, but it will regretaby end soon. )-:bye!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
more photos
i am currently uploading some more pics to the blog- available for viewing any second.
and yes, that is a real geisha girl. i felt like paparazzi! there are only 200 i think in kyoto, so we were very lucky to see one. in other years groups havent been so lucky. kyoto was a breathtaking city, the picture of the leaves is not even 10 percent as vivid as in the real version!
i am going to kamakura today which should be good, lonely planet shall guide me i think, as risa is at work. chizu-san and nao-san are escorting me, so between their english and my japanese it should be a great day!!!! ;-)
and yes, that is a real geisha girl. i felt like paparazzi! there are only 200 i think in kyoto, so we were very lucky to see one. in other years groups havent been so lucky. kyoto was a breathtaking city, the picture of the leaves is not even 10 percent as vivid as in the real version!
i am going to kamakura today which should be good, lonely planet shall guide me i think, as risa is at work. chizu-san and nao-san are escorting me, so between their english and my japanese it should be a great day!!!! ;-)
Friday, December 02, 2005
chigasaki breeze, no english, no japanese!!!
aya!
i have been with my host family for approximately 4 hours, and already my arms are feeling tired as a consequence of the wild gesticulation i have been doing! only one person speaks english, and she is a teacher out of the house most of the day. aaaargh! it is quite funny though. chizu-san, the mum, made delicious okonomiyaki for dinner- i was so full i couldnt have the second course of noodles, but seriously, how japanese girls stay so thin with all the food they eat is beyond me!!!
anyway, went to the onsen last night in hakone, which was an amazing experience. not a co-educational one thankfully, and we foreigners were a bright white sight to behold in the baths, but it was fabulous. highly recommended everybody.
anyway, have 2 days here, which promise to be manic. keith- the mum is a tigers fan (baseball) and has already given me 2 presents for knowing that they won the championship this year (communicated with the able assistance of my phrasebook!) haha! apparently this weekend is supposed to be relaxing. i personally expect it will be anything but!!! oh well!
ps- sorry for brevity of posting lately. will try to get some more pics up over the weekend.
i have been with my host family for approximately 4 hours, and already my arms are feeling tired as a consequence of the wild gesticulation i have been doing! only one person speaks english, and she is a teacher out of the house most of the day. aaaargh! it is quite funny though. chizu-san, the mum, made delicious okonomiyaki for dinner- i was so full i couldnt have the second course of noodles, but seriously, how japanese girls stay so thin with all the food they eat is beyond me!!!
anyway, went to the onsen last night in hakone, which was an amazing experience. not a co-educational one thankfully, and we foreigners were a bright white sight to behold in the baths, but it was fabulous. highly recommended everybody.
anyway, have 2 days here, which promise to be manic. keith- the mum is a tigers fan (baseball) and has already given me 2 presents for knowing that they won the championship this year (communicated with the able assistance of my phrasebook!) haha! apparently this weekend is supposed to be relaxing. i personally expect it will be anything but!!! oh well!
ps- sorry for brevity of posting lately. will try to get some more pics up over the weekend.
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