Tokyo...one last time

Back again after after only 3 months, I figured I'd end up regreting this rather pricey Tokyo trip but it turned out to be an awesome time - well worth the expense (which thanks to Aleyah and Adam's trifty ways didn't end up setting me back too bad anyways!).We got up there Wednesday arvo and while we waited for our hostel to open we went to get lunch. We spotted a curry resto across the street and while we waited to cross the street we witnessed a dog attack - a man was patting a a pretty solid dog and all of a sudden the dog turned on him, and dug his claws into the guys neck and nose - you should have seen the blood! RIDICULOUS! Definitely set an odd tone to that day...That night we hooked up with Steve, Sol, Mikako and Steve`s friend, Kevin for a rather huge night of Indian food, shots, karaoke and then in the wee hours of the morn - bowling with Sol and Aleyah! Sol bowled a 300....over 2 games!Thursday we took a bus to Kawaguchi-ko - one of the Fuji Five Lakes and had a horseshoe up our ass cause we got a rare, perfectly clear day. We took the ropeway and got a spectacular view (though the pictures just look fake in my opinion which is a shame but what can ya do!?) We chilled there that day then went out at night a bit in Shinjuku and Asakusa. Friday we woke early to go to Tsukiji fish market - a second for me but still a shock to the senses at 7am. We then hung out at Shibuya and Harajuku (where we attempted to chill out with the 'goth-loli's but got lost in this massive park and eventually accepted defeat and collapsed in the middle of a crowded temple pathway!) That night Adam made his way to the airport where he slept and then flew out very early Sat morn to London. (hes now left Japan :(

Saturday we hung out in Ueno park (high five -sex crimes- for finding a park to chill in!) all day where we rode around in swan shaped pedalos (too kitsch to avoid!), had fantastic okonomiyaki, went to the cheapest (600 yen!) yet most excellent zoo Ive ever been to (they had a giant panda, okapi and the old standards which Id never seen that up-close: hippos, giraffes and kangaroos) and then headed home...back to to a 12 day work marathon...but the end is so near its all daijobes! :D

Spally creates a huge void :(

So Kate (#1, Aussie, Spally, Kaito...whatever you wanna call her!) has left our fair city and returned to Melbourne temporarily before settling in London where she'll no doubt find another unsuspecting group of people to argue with!

Kate and I arrived to Kurume on the very same day. Mel, our fantastic tour guide, brought us together and I remember our first 'night on the town' as if it was yesterday - famous Kurume ramen at a yatai followed by drinks at Lowdash and then our first and last visit to Fellows (despite being damn impressed with the size and cheap price of that bottle of beer!). Although we worked in different branches and never did live together (she did live with every other Canadian girl to come through here in the last year though!?), we managed to rack up the good times and memories...I think our common feeling toward work (a means to travel...and nothing more) and our reputation as shift swap sluts definitely brought us together!

So many things will not be the same without ya Kate - Bishnu, K's bar, hanami, Higashida, Pizza Hut daydreaming, kaiten sushi, grape chu-hais, Scrabble games, movie watching, wine drinking, bike-riding and Stamina. When Fukuoka does get the Olympics (keep the dream alive!) well meet back up here along with all the other amazing people that made Kurume so awesome for us!

Kyushu excursions!

I went on three awesome roadtrips in the space of a 3 weeks. The first of which was to Kumamoto, Kyushu's third largest city, and home to one of Japan's most revered castles. The night before Spally, Sol and I had gone to a yakiniku party at our friend Kumiko's place and drank enough to kill a small horse so...we ended up leaving later than initially planned. Adam joined the 3 of us and we got to the castle about noon. As nice as the castle's exterior was, it was the fire extinguisher and escape chute inside that managed to grab our attention for far too long...they were just so confounding! I don't know what it was that day but it was as if we were trying to out-do each other in a zombie contest. In what began as a testament to laziness and became a test of stubborness, Kate and Adam had a standoff concerning the car boot door, whose fault for it being open was and who would have to get out of the car to close it...I broke after about 20 minutes but I reckon that if I hadn't, we might still be sitting in Kumamoto-jo parking lot! We did end up moving on...but remained spaced out at Suizenji-koen and the huge shopping arcade...though the 350,000 yen hideous dog at the pet store definitely perked us up.


My second road trip was to Nagasaki and this time our friend Yoshie drove Tamzin, Carly, Kate, herself and I to check out the last day of the Nagasaki Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. I admit that my expectations were quite low...I've been to my fair share of festivals in Japan and witnessed a familiar thread throughout: parades, dances, unhealthy yet fabulous food, etc but I was grossly mistaken in this case. Kate and I were especially blown away by the sheer scope of the festival covering essentially the whole city center. We had champon (Nagasaki's famous local specialty) for lunch, went to this freakishly amazing acrobat show, then took a walk along the canal to this infamous temple (the main worship hall is in the shape of a giant turtle with a god standing on its back surrounded by children!?). We ended up meeting up with Brian, a Kurume teacher doing a one month stint in Nagasaki, and walked around for what seemed like ages but then had the most amazing pizza Ive had in Japan, even rivaling Pizza Hut in Seoul!

The very next day, we embarked on what was roadtrip 3 for me in less than 3 weeks: this time to Mount Aso. Chand packed his van with Gerard, Vince, Sol, Carly, Kate and I with the intention of climbing the volcano. However, due to crazy heavy fog, thick-ass gas fumes and intense cold, we gave up after about 700 metres of heart pounding trekking. We then drove around to the other side and took a walk in the crater. I had spotted a NOVA usagi (NOVA mascot - a fluo pink rabbit) in Chand's backseat so we came up with the idea of burying it in the sand for someone to find 50 years in the future. Despite it being bitter cold digging in that black sand, we had a wicked time defacing the mascot likened to Ronald McDonald here among us teachers. I think considering we couldn't climb the mountain or even see the turquoise lake in the crater, we managed to not be too disappointed by the day's events...so small things do amuse small minds...

So those were a busy few weeks - largely due to them being Kate's final few in Japan. Though things only got more intense leading up to her actual farewell...