All Halllows Eve

I'm writing this a fair while after the event...but I am gonna backdate the post so those of you who rarely/never check my blog won't notice...apart from the fact I just wrote about it of course! Ya see, it is now November 20th in reality...but I am gonna tell you about the 29th October... a Halloween Party. Anyway a bunch of people got together and went to a house party for Halloween. It was pretty cool...incuded a Japanese guy dressed as Power Rangers. Yes, multiple power rangers! When I met this crazy Jap he was wearing a blue jumpsuit (the stylish outfit of the blue Power Ranger), then later when I spoke to him he was wearing a pink jumpsuit (the pink Power Ranger, naturally). Of course I assumed that this was due to the consumption of half a bottle of "Nikka Black Whiskey" on my part, but he assured me that he was wearing both. Apparently it was a little too hot to keep the blue one over the pink one! Anyway you can see him in the photo. I will let you guess who I am in that photo.

The Halloween party was over before midnight, mainly due to neighbour and Brian (very big black guy who ripped his shirt open with anger in a kinda Hulk Hogan style) interaction...and ultimately the arrival of the fuzz...the nicest fuzz I have ever met I might add! Anyway, myself, Brian and an English dude called Andy ended up in an Izakaya with a random couple of Japanese guys we met on the streets. They were cool. They ordered a shit load of food and drinks for everyone and we talked in limited English...they mostly shouted names of English football players they new...they were very entertaining. They ordered 'Tako Roulette' for us all. Tako is Octopus...and it was cooked in breadcumbs. The reason it was called roulette is because one of the balls is spiked with a shit load of insanely hot sauce...so one poor bugger ends up in pain! We weren't told about this so were confused when one of the Japanese guys started running around shouting for water in Japanese!

After we realised what had happened and the Japanese guy had managed to get some senses back...we got some more. This time there were two of the hot little fuckers. Despite my efforts of swapping the balls locations on the plate so no one knew which was which, I still managed to pick one of them. Now...I am a lover of hot and spicy food. Hot curries may be hot...but this...well...I don't even wanna talk about it. Suffice to say the amount of liquid on the table was quickly reduced to nothing...Andy got one too...he was not smiling.

shakey-shakey

It's 6.40am...I just got woken by my first eartquake in Japan! I was in the middle of dreaming about...no it's gone...when I woke up going sideways back and forth. It's quite a srange feeling. You can almost here and feel the energy shifting you sideways one way then the next. It came in three consecutive little bouts of side-to-side motion. It wasn't scary, but then again, this was a very small one I am sure! It was all over very quickly...I am now doubting it even happened at all! I am very sleepy...I gotta get up soon anyway so gonna put the kettle on!

Book progress...page 168/433

Kamakura

Japan's first 'shogun' military leader set himself up in Kamakura in the 12th century so this place was full of history . It stayed as the nations political and cultural centre until the 14th century when Kyoto became Japans capital. In this time Zen Buddhism from China also spread across Japan and there are many Zen shrines in the area.

Kotoku-in is one such temple and it is home to Kamakura's famed Daibutsu (Great Buddha). Basically a big fucking Buddha that is now outside. Originally it was built inside a big hall but that got washed away in a Tsunami hundreds of years ago. The Buddha still sits proud tho and its a pretty cool Buddah...as far as Buddhas go. It's 13.35 metres tall and weighs 121 tons. Whilst checking out the Buddha we got some schoolgirls to take our photo all together (there were about 7 of us). They loved asking us to say "cheese"! Their English was suprisingly good. I then said...why don't you get in a photo with us...to which a bunch of screaming girls came charging onto the steps in front of the Buddha to have their photo taken. We were sitting there for a good 5 minutes whilst numerous random schoolgirls came into the picture and countless photos were taken...many by the other tourists checking out the Buddha who prob thought something mad was going on...which it was I guess. Was very amusing. Afterwards a few of the schoolgirls asked to have their photo taken with me...us white folk with blue eyes are still a novelty to them!

After visiting the Great Buddha, we went to check out Hase-dera temple. This place has an 11 headed 'Kannon'. Not really sure on exact details but it has 11 small heads above the main head. Each face has a different expression, showng the deity listens to all kinds of wishes from various people. It is more of an old school shrine and temple thing. It's pretty big, has lots of nice things going on, overlooks the sea and clearly has a quality gardener sorting out the ladscaping. I found a preying mantis hanging out at the temple too!










Also at this temple was the Jizo-Busatsu, a Bodhisattva possessing great powers like the blessings of the Earth. On both sides of the shrine are laid out small Jizo figures to comfort the souls of unfortunate unborn children (miscarriages/abortion etc.).











Following this we wondered down to the beach to muse at the sea for a bit...then went to eat in an American style bar restaurant thingy. Ate, drank some beers, smoked some cigs, looked at a huge spider (the guys did...the girls all ran away screaming), then came home! Oh...I also saw the colonel and had to stop for a chat.

Book progress...page 120/433

joro-gumo

I mentioned these spiders before when I was up near the foreigners cemetary/china town last week. Now one of the fuckers has decided to make his home on my balcony! Not impressed! A quick search on the internet told me it is of the Nephila Clavata variety...also known as big yellow and black scarry fucker. The japanese call it the joro-gumo I think. Pretty sure it can't hurt me too much. The web is massive too. I will probably add some better photos later if I can get some good shots with a camera other than my mobile phone!

At least I didn't pass out on the train

...but I was definitely pissed and I distinctly remember karaoke being involved. Oh well.

In fact I had a pretty cool evening. It started with meeting some English guys from Newcastle who came to Japan just over a week ago to do the same thing as me. A bunch of us met by landmark tower in Minatomirai (by Yokohama Bay) and walked around wishing there was more to do there. After talking to a guy from Maldover in the Soveit Union and a Polish Sven Goran Erikson (both of whom were pissed out their faces), we decided to leave Minatomirai cos there is fuck all to do there. (I found out Americans apparently don't use 'fuck all' as they had no idea what I was saying...they just say, quite simply, 'shit', instead). It was quite an educational evening all round actually. I found out Maldover is officially the poorest country in "Europe" as no one pays their taxes etc...but people are apparently well off because of this! Also the Maldovan (???) charmingly informed us "I fucking hate zee Russians...my family used to fucking shoot them"...which was nice. The Polish guy had little of interest to say as he was so pissed. He was about 40 years old, looked incredibly like "Sven" and got very excited when he saw us all and said we were such a "diversified" crowd. I looked at him and said "diversified!". To which he exclaimed..."I love it it...I say diversified then you say diversified...I fucking love it!" We left these men shortly after...

Anyway after getting taxis to another part of town, the swanky Matomachi area, a few of us didn't see the English guys again. I was in the company of the same Americans I was out with when I passed out on that train...!

We found a tiny little bar called Misty. Of course we didn't know it was tiny until we were inside...most Japanese bars, and everything else, are on floors other than ground level. There are a lot of lifts in Japan. Misty was a very cool hideout. We sat at the bar and chatted with the friendliest bartender in Japan (I may be wrong but thus far he is definitely the friendliest!). He showed us magic tricks and gave us discounts on the cocktails we were drinking. His tricks were cool by the way...none of that pointless tacky shit! We picked up a friend at this bar, a local guy called Suburyou (I think that is the spelling). A 26 year old guy who then took us to an Izakaya for food and more drinks.

Cockroaches are rank little bastards...and we were handed them. The waiter brought over some ashtrays and inside one was a cockroach and loads of little ones scurried out of it. It wasnt very nice! Suburyou was not pleased! He shouted at the waiter and then before we knew it we were in the "special" room out the back with a proper table and chairs. Suburyou clearly knew how to complain even tho I had no idea what he was saying. Cockroaches are everywhere in Japan but you rarely see them so blatently.

Then I got a slap in the face...there in the corner of the room was a big TV and karaoke system! This did not please me but by this time I was pissed enough to think it was great when everyone else got excited! Suburyou of course made sure this was included once he saw it.

The food was good; we ate a small feast and drank more drinks. I sang as tho I liked karaoke (alcohol does that to me) and also made lots of stupid noises down the mic...obviously. The first thing they brought us for food was small-ish whole fish - three varieties of. Later I found that one was standard, one was chargrilled and one was pregnant fish full of eggs. I asked how to eat them so Suburyou put one into his mouth headfirst and chewed the whole thing in one go. I did the same. They just tasted like fish really! They were all cooked so I didn't mind doing this...would've spewed if they were raw! Oh, and yes they still had their heads and eyes and tail. I ate lots of them, kinda became a drunken habbit for a short while. The rest of the food was standard enough not to mention.

After eating we were politely shown where to get more beers from a convenience store and were helped to the local train station! Was a nice and eventful evening...and at least I didn't pass out on the train this time.

"weekend"

Nothing new to report today. Though it is sunday evening now so my weekend has just begun; for those of you that can't work it out - I have monday and tuesday off of work! Hopefully gonna do something interesting this "weekend" as opposed to just getting pissed, singing badly into a mic and passing out on trains as seems to be the usual affair. Maybe I will go to Kamakura...the old samurai town not far from here. I have been threatening that for a couple of weeks and as my money is running seriously low I may well just do that! Or, I could just get pissed and pass out on a train (hopefully I can avoid the singing part).

Book progress...page 107/433

Sleeping gas?

I taught a kids class today for the first time. There were seven of them and they were all about 7yrs old. They made fun of me and fucked about lots but it was quite good fun!

The Japanese fall asleep everywhere. If you get on any train you can guarantee that there will be people sleeping. It is almost expected that you sleep at some point on your journey. Today on my way home from work I was sitting amongst 5 Japanese people...they were all sleeping...although the older woman was fighting to stay awake. I have seen people miss their stop because they were sleeping on more than one occasion. I have seen salary men sleeping upright with a can of Asahi in one hand. Japan is a sleepy nation. I think the bright lights and humidity tire out the mind and body.

Maybe I can get the kids to fall asleep in the next lesson...

Book progress...page 73/433

What was it?

On my way to work today my train hit something big; I felt and heard it bang and rattle beneath my feet as the train's brakes went on and then we stopped. All I could imagine was that we hit something big...actually at the time I thought we may have hit a person. The Japanese voice over the P.A. did not help me understand the situation. After about 4 minutes of sitting there stationery we began moving again. I later heard today that the thing which is most common for delaying trains in Japan is suicides...

Book progress...page 48/433

Walking about...the other day

Well this didn't happen today but actually a couple of days ago. I got up before midday for once and decided to check out the parks around Yokohama bay. I then went to check out China town, got some food and then treked to Landmark Tower (tallest building in Japan) where there is quite a lot of action. The photos are pretty non-interesting I am afraid. The camera I am using is worse than I am at painting so what do you expect?! I will maybe buy a decent camera and start taking some proper photos...maybe. I have, of course, included a standard self-taken shot of myself. Once again I must apologise for the sideways night shot of Landmark Tower landscape with the massive ferriswheel (just looks like a bunch of light in the middle of the shot) and other buildings...it seems that photos from my phone always go portrait.

Book Progress...page 28/433

Ade reading a book...an actual book...????

Yesterday I began to read a book. A proper book. I think I must be starved of english because I actually enjoyed reading it on my way home from work yesterday...will have to see if it lasts! For those interested it is 'Hokkaido Highway Blues' by Will Ferguson and is about some guy who was doing what I am doing now some years ago and he hitchiked from the South of Japan to the North following the cherry blossom that blooms in Spring. I began reading The Hobbit when I was travelling around Europe...got halfway through it then stopped on the flight on the way home and never picked it up again! As I will be in Japan considerably longer I hope I actually manage to finish this one! I will keep you posted on my progress! It is a big fat book with small writing and hundreds of pages...so before you ask...yes it is a proper book!

Book progress...page 10/433

My appartment in Wadamachi

It's a bit shit and expensive...but I didn't expect anyhting else really. It's clean enough and it does the job so i'm not complaining...will prob find a better place myself when I can be bothered...so maye never. I live in a residential area called Wadamachi in Yokohama (second biggest city in Japan) and am only 45 mins from the going out and shopping parts of Tokyo. Wadamachi is quiet but fairly nice I guess...I have to walk up a huge fucking hill to get to my appartment...but it's only 2 minutes from the station so not complaining. Above is the view off the balcony...if you lean out and look left!

My first beer in Japan!

First up here is a shit photo of me with my first beer in Japan. I was in an Izukaya in Yokohama. Izukaya is the name given to Japanese 'pub' style things where the Japs go to get pissed, eat food and make lots of cheering noises about anything and everything...or so it seems.
(Sorry its sideways i'm having issues!!)

Let us begin

Well it's been nearly 3 weeks so I figured I would set up a blog to let you all know what I am up to! Haven't really done much yet except go out on the piss; which isn't very exciting for you to hear about believe it or not - although I did wake up on a train clutching a nice selection of hangers this morning 9 stops past my destination...and then woke up again back at the other end of the line on a different train...

Anyway...let's begin...