Miscellany

I am traveling to Thailand and expect to be there by the 31st of July/1st of August.

Japan, I know a lot about but Thailand is a bit of a mystery to me. I crave the assistance of people who have been or are planning to go, who know something about it to help me in my mission.

Visas and whatnot i'm not sure about. Do you have to secure a tourist visa if you're only going to stay for 2 to 3 weeks? Something to organise first, or do I just rock up?

Vaccinations/inocculations/painystabbyness  Do I have to get it for everything under the sun? Any recommendations for this?

Places to visit/stay.  Temples and markets and hustle and bustle are fine, but are there any rare gems I should seek out?
Also when i'm going a bit further afield, such as beautiful bamboo cottages on secluded beach type places...  tell me everything.

As I discovered when I arrived in Japan (lucky I got here 3 days before my training) that when you go somewhere new, the first 3 days are sacrificed to feeling sick as a dog and evacuating liquids from both ends. Joy. I'm guessing Thailand is going to do it to me if anywhere is going to, so any advice to let it pass more quickly, less painfully?

Anything you can think of that would assist me, I would be most grateful to you all.

Fly, my pretties! FLY!!

Current Location:	Casa Del Jules. Kakegawa
Current Mood:	curious
Current Music:	Imogen Heap - Daylight Robbery

Sakura told me about it months ago but i'd forgot up til the weekend when I had a friend staying. As luck would have it, I managed to get her to come along too! Woo!

As happens, the car without the navi, without someone who knew their way and without a Japanese person to read the Kanji signs, we got a bit lost. Backtracking, coming off and onto expensive tollways, phones running out of batteries and about 2 hours later, we were back on track.

We winded our way up a mountain road into a beautiful valley, stars shining brightly and the doof doofing doofily! Lasers in the trees lighting them up like fireflys, the smell of woodsmoke and the excited barely understood hubbub of people just about to have a truckload of fun!

Amelia had the bright idea of getting everybody to set up the tent first, in hindsight the best idea of the evening just following the idea of going to the party to begin with!

It was really, really cold but once I got into the throng a bit and had a boogie it wasn't a problem anymore.

Lots of awesome music but the highlight for me was the morning set by Sun Control Species. I didn't realise he was from Melbourne and we even chatted about the awesomeness of Japan for a bit.

Some of the cherryblossom trees were absolutely loaded and had not dropped their precious flowers yet so sunday morning was spent being showered with pink petals at every breeze. I took rather a few photos, kinda giving more of an impression of the total event than my usual sporadic efforts. On my list to do next time is photograph the market stalls... there was a guy who made a big bowl of curry for 500￥($5) which was absolutely scrumptious.. Butter Chicken or the Chickpea Marsala!

Many, many happy, smiling faces to see! Your usual mixture of almost professional party(doof)goers, tragic cityfolk in impractical footwear and giant hair (not just the girls, mind), trashbags and stumblers and gurners. Not a hint of aggro was apparent to me the entire evening which is a real delight to me.

for more hilarity and etc... go here

Current Mood:

happy

Chain link Shink

Bentou Goodies!

When you have felt thirst in your heart...

How can I resist? It's so open to interpretation...

Caution! Giant Hands!

How musical can it be?

Thus ends todays pic love.

I tried to put a cut into it, but it didn't work. Oh well. Lucky i'm pretty ;)

In other news, I have a couch! There is scant space to put it but it certainly beats rolling up futons and leaning back on the ladder up to the loft. It's small enough to tuck away when I need space but big enough to sleep on (with minor discomfort)

In 40K news, i've been working on a gothic ruin and a big storage tank, as well as basing up and priming 5 eldar guardians.

I recently ordered a bunch of sprues from a site called BitKingdom, mostly Tyranid stuffs. I tried getting a few ork bits but these were sadly out of stock at the time *sigh*. The service and ordering were reasonably painless but the proof will be in the pudding when the bits arrive. We'll see how well they do. I have heard numerous horror stories about parts missing or different from other sites of it's ilk but i'm expecting good things. I finally lashed out and got me a Carnifex. all for the joyous price of $31.50! Now I need to get me some rare earth magnets and i'll make my first 'any-option-you-like'ifex'!!


Well, it's off to class for me. I plan to start a daily pic post, just of my everyday life here in Japan.


Look forward to it, O-negaishimasu!

Current Location:	Kakegawa
Current Mood:	accomplished
Current Music:	I hear you everywhere - Chii

Bringing my will to bear and not capitulating has always been a bit of a problem for me and it's nice to be able to see I have been drinking less and feeling a bit better for it. Alcohol here is so cheap it's a crime not to drink all the time (no, really) so resisting temptation is difficult.

I've been cooking for myself consistently and only have, say 2 meals a week out. Just moments ago I polished off some Chicken Bento, which I shall give the recipe for now.

Juleses 25 minute Bento!

Makes 2 serves.

1 Chicken Breast, sliced into 1-2 cm strips
handful of broccoli pieces
half an onion, sliced into strips
handful of mushrooms
1 cup of rice (Japanese rice.. this is a bento afterall.)
Mayonaise

Sauce
1.5 to 2 tbsps of Soy (depending on how much you like it)
2 tbsps of Oyster sauce
1 tbsp of Vinegar
2 tsps of Sesame Oil

Put the rice on to cook. a few minutes before it's done, throw the broccoli pieces in an let them cook/steam til the rice is done.

A splash of olive oil for the pan and once hot throw in the onion and the mushrooms and give them a good fry. (garlic, if you wish is good at this point)

Before they start to brown, add the chicken strips and cover til they go white through. Before the chicken starts to brown, add sauce and simmer until the sauce becomes a bit thick.

Scoop out some rice, put the broccoli in beside it and ladle chicken and sauce onto the rice. Give the broccoli a bit of mayo (I understand there are some who don't appreciate this. Heathens) and you are good to go.

Devour.

Classes this week have been great. Very little have I felt frustrated and angry. The classroom I teach at this week has a great Japanese teacher but I feel like i'm on my game this week. I'm being clear on what I want in simple english, the links between the topics are clearer, so the kids aren't going "What? Where are we now?" I'm being firmer with the kids than i've ever been and they seem to be okay with this.

Because I don't take their shit and their goofing off isn't eating into their game playing time, they're happier too. Ahh. It's a good feeling.

Here's a little something for Miss Fish, which is also class related as the pic was taken at my school.

He's been a bit reclusive of late, not unlike myself, but has decided to do the good thing and come out of his shell, just a bit.

Okay.. so no temples in cans for me but I am gonna catch the last days of autumn Kyoto style. I have 4 days to traipse my way around town and see what there is to see. If anyone has been there before and has any reccomendations, do share.

I`m mostly feeling good because I don`t have to work for 10 straight days and when I get back to work for a week or two we have a giant christmas holiday to look forward to as well! Looks like most of the plebs here get to go home for christmas so i:m thinking of planning an orphans christmas here. Amelia has said she wants to have one in Nagoya which sounds pretty tempting. Maybe I can invite a few interesting people along.

My update-fu has been very weak of late as i`ve not felt much like sharing my boring life but I think a little more often than I have might be okay, even if it:s just to talk about the little amusing things that I see on a day to day basis.

My Japanese accent is rather good and I am constantly amused when people assume I know more words than I do. They start chatting away and I have to say "ano... wakarimasen". Bless!

When I get to Kyoto and find an internet cafe, i:ll begin the photo postyness.

many loves from the land of the hot coffe can from a vending machine :)

Last night there was a storm and it rained and hailed and thundered. It was a nice change to have doors and windows open and a fresh breeze come through instead of stifling evil. By 9am it's back too 30+ degrees and icky sweaty.

Then this evening, as I was teaching, it thunders and rains and lightnings again and now it's something like 28 and sticky out there.

Apart from the weather, things here are pretty sweet. I'm pretty on top of the teaching thing. I make little improvements where I see a need and lock them in and do them all the time. I have yet to do this so effectively with my own organisation. I have good weeks ad bad weeks. Sometimes i'm all over the place and sometimes i'm in the zone like a sniper. Weird.

I have yet to do any tai-chi and have been really sporadic with the yoga but last monday, I went to my first Kendo class. Omoshiroii, ne (interesting) I even got to hit this guy in the head protector with a bamboo stick! (A shinai for all those un-oriented types ;) and shout too... Mennnnnn! (face-mask) Ko-te! (glove) and Do! (torso protector)

I am very keen to go back but it's hard to get to, no english and the gear, once I have to get it is tottemo expensive, so will have a look-see. I hear tell there is a place nearer to me but if I go there, I will not even have the tenuous link of knowing anybody there at all. I can hope that someone understands a bit of english but i'm willing to push past that and learn. Gambaru!

Japanese language skills are slowly creeping forward day by day but it is still a bit perfunctory. Single words and phrases, for the most part and the occasional sentence but is difficult to understand the response. I think signing up for classes would be ideal but have had neither cash or brain space of late. Once summer stops being such a bitch, i'll get to that.

Looking forward to having visitors soon! You know who you are, give me a shout, peoples. Woo!!!

A new shiny has been purchased in the last month. I had a whole bunch of bonus points from when i bought the computer so i gots me a Casio Exilim EX-S770, a card type camera... very slim. If anyone remembers my hulking Sony behemoth, it was a good camera with some still good features, this beats it for ease of use and portability, which is what I wanted for so long in a camera but could never have.

I have still yet to upload anything... so the saga of lazy (goro goro) continues.

Will post more photo fun tomorrow (or later tonight, lets see how drunk I get, huh?)

Current Mood:	recumbent
Current Music:	ministry of sound - Chill Out Session - Future Sound of London

Sadly the site in english is crap and out of date but clicky the shiny pics, you'll get the gist.

The Dodompa was our first order of business, which has some incredible drops on it, some even curve in, concave cliff like and though intense was quite short. I was giggling like a crazy person after that one.

Second was the Fujiyama roller coaster which was much, much less extreme and longer than the previous one but made up for this by it's sheer vertiginous-ness! It sedately carts you up to the top of it's 74 meter tall tower before sending you hurtling down at some ridiculous gradient. Oh, the screams!

The picture I have of this from the second time I went on this is a great example of how you can tell exactly what someone is about to say a mere moment before they do. It's printed to sticker so will need to get a good can of it to post.

The bestest ride ever was the Ii-Janai-ka, which literally translates as "Not Good?" It's not a conventional rollercoaster. It has the main part that holds the tracks but the rotating seats connect to either side of this and the motherfucker even does barrel rolls! It carts you up it's 60 odd meter high precipice, backwards, mind you and you also get a lovely view of Fujisan from this ride. It then tips you backward so all you can see is the clear blue sky and your feet flick upward, no shoes of course, the people sitting in front as I was have to remove their shoes. Don't ask. From this point you float free, weightless before the rushing sound begins and you are unceremoniously dropped in this horrendous curve, face first toward the ground at about 130 kph.

Here 'tis. Please clicky on 'Special Movie' This hardly does it justice but you get an idea of the sheer terror involved. Sadly it doesn't give you how long it takes to cart you up to the top which only serves to heighten the anticipation and increase the screamy goodness once you do take the plunge.

There were a few more awesome things at the park that kind of pale in comparison to the adrenaline overload yet went toward making my day complete. A sign in the middle of the paddleboat lake, in english, sitting next to the Danger: Loch Ness Monster sign was "No Synchronised Swimming"

In the mens toilets, in front of the urinals was this gem...

The writing in the cubicles was "Smells Good"

One thing I missed out on was the Haunted Hospital, which is one scary bastard. It takes about 40 minutes to get through it's 700 meters of scary creeps, eviscerated babies and people jumping out at you and chasing you. It has 3 exits along it's course for when it gets too much for people and anyone with heart conditions are barred from entry. As you go in, you are given a torch between the group, my friends went in as three. At one point they got seperated from each other and were reduced to a screaming fit. They were then chased into a dingy room where there is a creepy man sitting at an office desk. Michelle, Melody and Lotus screamed their heads off before the man said "Be Quiet" in such a stern voice that they stopped immediately (in english too, mind) He held out his hand and barked "Torch" once they had shakenly handed it over, he pointed and commanded "Out" and they then had to go the rest of the course by the available light. Michelle said it was the best thing she had ever done and the most she had ever screamed in her entire life and I for one will be going back for that!

I have a post to do about Tokyo when i went a month ago but i've not even uploaded any of the photos and finding it hard to get the motivation going. Also... I met a girl xD

Current Location:	Kakegawa, Juleses Apato
Current Mood:	giddy
Current Music:	Marrakech - Hybrid

Decided that as well as updating phone photos, I should put up the big ones from my camera too. It's all about getting into the habit of doing so.

I'll be going to Tokyo on Monday to meet Gothabillywench and her dear sister and explore the freakshow that is Tokyo! I will then have a mountain of pictures to upload. *sigh* I mean *Yay!*

( lots of fone pics below the cutty )

Current Location:	Casa del Jurusu
Current Mood:	drunk
Current Music:	Depeche Mode - Dream On

Mostly these will involve pics taken with my phone cam. The backlog will keep you all amused and me busy for a good long while.

Every time I take a detour or take a different way home, I find something unexpected and cool!

First is the 99 yen shop.
When I moved here I was sad that I couldn't find one. Tonight I did!

I found this in said 99 yen shop.
Do not put bag over... ummm... nevermind.

more 99 yen stuff. All Aboard!

Last is this weird manga cover. Inside artwork was very basic but I just loved the cover! (for Ingrid!)

There are more on the way as soon as I sort through the deluge, Including a lift sticker informing of the hazards of your dog on a leash being on the opposite side of the doors to you. Sad that the sticker is there because it's happened a LOT!

Enjoy.

Current Location:	Casa del Jurusu
Current Mood:	busy
Current Music:	A Harrowing Experience - Cry on my Console - www.wiredsounds.tk

Here, it's spring. The winter is losing it's icy teeth and the weather is improving bit by bit. The Japanese are mad-keen for their cherry blossoms and there is a very limited window of opportunity for their viewing but I feel a bit "meh"

I'd rather play computer games 'til 4am and wake up having to rush around for work. Grrrr at self.

Both of the two classes today were a bit crap as I didn't do much but skim over the content before I started it. The first lessons material was a bit too advanced for these kids. They weren't familiar with many of the words I used and were too busy wiping snot onto me and clinging to my leg so that I would lift them up and swing them around. They were lovely kids but I really felt like losing my cool.

The second class was one I taught yesterday but 8 girls nattering away to each other really tried my patience and my voice.

In order to prevent this from happening I will be planning my classes tomorrow this evening and spend the first day of the week planning classes. Often I teach the same material on different days so I can use it again.

All it takes is to call upon the power of the anti-lazy. This is very difficult so I will see how I go.

http://xkcd.com/c231.html