Life in Japan

This is the end...my only friend...the end...

2007-02-24T20:25:00.000+11:00

And here I am...a day late and a dollar short...back in Sydney, in my room, in front of the computer, writing up the final post for this blog. As you can tell from this blog, in this past year, a lot has happened during my ICS in Sapporo. I still can't believe my year in Japan is already up and that I'm now back in Sydney, ready to begin the final stages of my tertiary education...the final year of my degree. I know a lot of friends have already completed their degrees and are now engaging in gainful employment but still...its kinda scary nonetheless...

I don't think the reality of it all has quite sunk in yet...despite me being back in Sydney right now. I mean, walking around Cabramatta today, coming home etc...its almost as if I was never gone at all. Then again, this place has been my home for the last 22years so its not surprising that the air of familiarity is still there. While it feels great to be home, I'll also miss Sapporo a lot. I left the place with no lasting regrets. I only wish I could've stayed there for longer but thems the breaks. I'll be back in Sapporo soon I think...I guarantee it...

There are a lot of thoughts and feelings going through me at the moment (shit...guys aren't meant to be this sentimental and mushy...) and well...I really can't articulate them into words at the moment...i.e. I can't be arsed typing it all out right now...and so marks the end of an unforgettable chapter in my life. To all my friends in Sapporo...its been real. We've had our ups and downs but all in all...you guys are friends 4 life...and I'll probably end up seenig you guys pretty soon.

And that brings this blog to a close...its been real...and starting from now-ish, I'll begin a new blog...one that details my thoughts and ramblings with regards to my final year of study at UTS and my general life in Sydney - http://azn-mushroom.blogspot.com

Peace everyone

And then there was one...

2007-02-22T02:54:00.000+11:00

This is it...ground zero...I leave Sapporo in a few hours to head back to Sydney. Shit...words can't describe what I'm feeling at the moment. I think about the time when I first got here and compare that to now...I dunno...its taking emo to new heights methinks...

Anyway...more final goodbyes were had. Hitomi, Yumi and Takashi (I kept getting his name wrong, calling him Takeshi) stopped by my place today whilst I was cleaning to say their final farewells. They were pretty cool cats to hang with and are just some of many friends I've made here that I'll definitely miss. Sent a few email goodbyes to some others as well...Saya and Marie...wonder if I'll ever see them again...who knows.

Kinda patched things up with Chris today...sent a few emails and well...lets just say his actions over the past 2 weeks or so are kinda understandable. Ain't gonna go into details but well, I can see why he kinda lost it for a while. Its not the same as before but its better than how it was over the last 2 weeks.

Besides that, the day was spent cleaning the apartment...holy crap was there a shit load of junk in there. And I mean a SHITLOAD!! I couldn't believe it!! Man did I gather up a load of junk over the year. Then there was the packing of the luggage...I think I might be over the weight limits but thems the breaks...if I gotta pay excess then I gotta pay excess.

With the goodbyes said and loose ends tied up...the only thing left to do really is get on that plane. Anyways...this be my final blog during my ICS time. The next and final post of this blog will be posted once I'm back in Sydney. I am really gonna miss this place...

2 days

2007-02-21T06:39:00.000+11:00

Well technically at this time its 1 day left but well...I didnt get a chance to jump onto my computer to update this blog until now...4.40am...

Most of the day was spent with a certain someone who shall remain nameless at this point...won't go into the details of that as thats a story for much later. In any case...after that, left Nishioka at around 3.30pm to head into the city where me, Ben, Tomo and Misa were going to a all you can drink all you can eat izakaya called "TikiTiki"...the food was pretty decent (though not as great as "Western", my favourite buffet place here in Japan!!) and not overly expensive. The night was spent eating and drinking...being with two good friends of mine and my brother. We didn't get blinded or anything...I've been only having real light drinks recently as you all know...

So after that, we took a puri kura as usual and then bumped into Hiroshi on the way home...who ended up joining us for Karaoke along with Asuka. Although I don't really know these two very well, it was great seeing them again and I guess that the karaoke thing was the last time I'll be seeing these guys for a while...that is...until I come back to Sapporo again...which should be soon if all goes according to plan. And so...tonight was my goodbye to Asuka and Hiroshi...and my goodbye to cheap, all you can sing karaoke in Japan...800yen (which is the equivalent of like $10) for all you can sing until closing time!! Ain't gonna see that in Sydney!!...anyway...I digress...Asuka and Hiroshi...see you guys around..

And then there was one...

3 Days

2007-02-19T14:10:00.000+11:00

As the date of my departure inches ever so closer, I've been thinking about all that has happened. Yes I'm feeling a little emo right now...actually...I'm feeling really fucking emo right now and well thats to be expected.

I have made a crap load of acquaintances since I arrived here one cold afternoon in March 2006 but only a select few are people that I would call "friends." I guess no matter where you go, you always stay the same. In Australia I also have a crapload of acquaintences but only a few friends. And thats the ways I likes it...

See?? Didn't I say I was feeling real emo atm...alright...back to things I'm doing. So I just packed up two boxes full of crap that I'm gonna ship back to Sydney. Man did I buy a lot of junk this year. Looking around the room now...there's still a tonne of crap lying around. Gonna try squeeze all that stuff into luggage. Should be alright...methinks. And although I've often complained about Riverside, I'm gonna miss this little craphole. What started as a dingy lil shoebox apartment had been transformed and given personality and become my home away from home.

It really has been a great year but as we all know...good things must come to an end. Seems everyone that I talk to back in Sydney says stuff along the lines of "you gotta face reality again once you get back"...and it does seem like I had escaped reality for almost a year...that I've been in this one long dream all along. All good things must come to an end but I hope that when I leave, one thing doesn't end. How long is it going to last? That's a question I get asked quite often (to those of you who I've told, you know exactly what I mean...hehe) and well...I ain't got an answer to that. No matter how much I plan or think, I don't think I'll ever really know until I give it a shot...which is exactly what I plan to do...

(you see!! completely and utterly emo right now!! EMO!!!)

4 Days

2007-02-18T12:00:00.000+11:00

I've decided to add a new post everyday until I leave Japan...it helps my emo-ness atm. Before I get started, lemme jus say, "gong xi fa cai, xin nian kwai le" to everyone out there. This be the first Chinese New Year EVER that I didn't get to celebrate in Sydney with my family. People have their Christmases, their Easters but for me...Chinese New Year is always my favourite time of year. There's just a certain atmosphere around this time thats just great - its festive, spiritual etc. And the New year's eve dinner!!! I MISSED IT THIS YEAR!!! Ah man...mushroom and abalone soup, succulent pig etc...*sigh*...man am I hungry right now.

Anyway enough of that...on to Japan. I've got only 4 days left before I leave. I thought the mood was gonna be a festive, celebratory one. Make my last memories of Japan happy ones. And for the most part, they are...but for one thing...Chris. Throughout the year, he's basically been like my best friend here. He was the guy I hung out with the most, got wasted with the most etc. Now, within the space of a week, we've gone from friends to him completely ignoring me and everyone else. He's been accusing us of plotting against him or something..what the fuck!!?? It has something to do with him and Yuki - they had a real bad break up or something. He's lost it...I believe he thinks we all (that is...me Tomo, Misa etc) know something about Yuki that we're hiding from him...that she's cheated on Chris and we all know about it and have evidence but aren't giving it to him or something. He's lost it...and I'm pissed off yet a little worried as well. Usually, if it doesn't concern me, I don't give a shit...but somehow, I'm involved now and well...ah fuck it!! To hell with it!! In my last days in Japan I've got more to worry about than what the hell Chris is thinking. If he wants to end things like this so be it...shouganai...I'll probably never see him again...laters Chris...despite how things ended up...it's been real...

5 Days

2007-02-17T11:15:00.000+11:00

5 days...5 days...thats how many days I have left in Japan. And so the extreme emo feelings kick in along with the heartfelt goodbyes to the friends I've made here. I always imagined my last days in Japan to be one huge, mofo-ing party where I wake up every afternoon/evening completely hung over ready for another night of heavy drinking for like a week or so...but it hasn't turned out that way and you know what...I'm real glad for that. I finally realise Brian's state of mind when he left Japan - saying that he didn't want to drink so much during his last days and that he wanted his last memories of Japan to not be a complete blur.

For those of you who've read the blog over the past year, you'll know that I've had my fair share of drinking and partying whilst in Japan. I haven't told you all the full story (and I don't intend to on this blog because it's a PG rated blog =P ) but suffice to say, I think I've done just about everything I set out to do when I came to Japan - needless to say, my Japanese abilities have improved a shitload, I've made a whole heap of friends, partied my brains out, drank until my brain cell count is about half of what it was when I landed almost a year ago, travelled all over Japan and experienced the many facets of Japanese culture (incl. the dark side of Japanese culture). I prepare to leave Japan with no regrets, save for the fact that I wish I had met a certain someone a little earlier...but thats a story for another day.

A few friends have already said goodbye to me because they aren't gonna be here when I fly out. Hitomi sent me an email wishing me luck - she'll be partying it up in Thailand. I met up with Ono briefly yesterday afternoon to say goodbye as he's gone back to his hometown Obihiro until semester begins. And last night was the last time I'll be drinking at the 500yen bar (and i reiterate...my FAVOURITE bar/izakaya in all of Japan). It was my final night drinking with Tetsu as he's off travelling in Russia soon. The night finished with a shot of Spirytus...96% alcohol...yeah...

It wasn't a messy night though and thats the way I intend to keep it until I get back to Sydney.
5 days left...count them...5...I better start packing and shipping stuff back to Sydney...

Snow Festival

2007-02-08T21:11:00.000+11:00

Well I know I said I was gonna post up photos of our latest skiing trip but well...I'm not because I'd rather talk about the world famous Sapporo Snow Festival!! Yes...since I arrived here last year, people have asked me have I heard of the Snow festival and am I gonna go to it etc etc...suffice to say...there was a lot of hype about the snow festival and...it was well deserved.

And so...yesterday, I went to the Odori Koen site for the snow festival (there are 3 different sites). The weather was great...and by great I mean it was snowing a shitload for the entire day and night!! Seriously...it was hard walking around the place...and seeing whats in front of you was hard enough let alone taking photos...but regardless of all that...a shitload of photos were taken...

For those of you who don't know...the Sapporo Snow festival is basically a free showcase of a shit load of snow and ice sculptures - some of them absolutely massive!! And these sculptures are kind of scattered around Odori Koen (the others are in Susukino and...this other place that I'm not sure of...heh). I can go on and on about it but methinks photos describe it a lot better than I do so...here goes...

Here's Ben (my younger brother) in front of the "Freedom Cup noodle" sculpture...one of the many huge centerpieces of the Odori site...

Here's me (duh) in front of the Okinawa Aquarium sculpture...note the absolutely massive whale sculpture...

"Kingdom of Dreams and Magic" - the unstoppable Disney empire...lead by Stitch...

A bit of...in house cleaning was in order...

In front of the many baseball sculptures...note the heavy snowfall...it was like that for most of the day...

The "AntiJap Monsters" - a visual kei rock band that played live at the festival from abt 6pm-8.30pm...this is the sorta shit you'll NEVER see live and in the open back in Aus...see where the lead singer is placing the microphone???

The "AntiJap Monsters" abt 1hr later...please note...the temperature was about -4degrees celcius...and the lead singer had no shirt on...also note that the ground was quite slippery with snow and ice...and yes...that is a mosh pit in front of the stage there...it was beautiful really *sniff*

Here's me again in front of another huge ass centerpiece...everything was definitely much prettier at night...

So that's the Odori koen site for the snow festival. Don't think that this is the last that you've heard about the snow festival...I'm gonna keep going on about this thing until you're all sick of it because well...this is pretty much the main tourist attraction on Sapporo's yearly calander...

(p.s. only 2 weeks left to go now...my return to Sydney creeps up ever so closer and with it...an increasing sense of I DON'T WANT TO GO BACKness)

FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM OI!!!

2007-02-02T00:38:00.000+11:00

Yes...another Futurama quote...but one with relevance. I'm now officially free from all academic obligations. Classes and tests from Sapporo University are over...and the ICS final report has been sent and well...IT FEELS GOOD!!! For the next few weeks, until I get back to Sydney, I'm completely free...better enjoy this while it lasts.

And on the first day of total freedom...I went skiing!! Yes...again...this time, instead of paying close to 10,000yen, we paid only about 5400yen!!! Almost half price!!! Talk about getting ripped off last time. We didn't know about the special deals that JR had which bundle a return bus trip from Sapporo station, an all day lift pass and ski rentals!! I'm angry yet happy at the same time...didn't think that was possible...anyway...now that i know it's freakin cheap to go skiing, I plan to go at least 2 more times b4 I leave...such is the convenience of living so close to the mountains in Hokkaido...hehe...

Anyway...so today's ski trip...more of the same as last time...though this time it was me, Chris, Nhat and Ben who went. Ben and Nhat's first time skiing as well...we were kinda their instructors...can't say we were great at explaining what to do...afterall...Chris was snowboarding so he couldn't show them and I'm still a beginner...getting the hang of it now but still very much a novice. Suffice to say, Ben and Nhat had their fair share of crashes. Actually, Nhat not so much so because he was going kinda slow-ish...but Ben...man...was he going hard and fast...haha...exactly how I learnt how to ski in the first place. Photos will be posted up later...

Anyway...I'm tired...it's late...body isn't aching as much as the first time I went skiing...so maybe I'm already getting use to it?? Who knows...but regardless...I'm tired...

CLASSES ARE OVER!!!....

2007-01-24T22:46:00.000+11:00

Feels kinda weird now. Perhaps it hasn't quite sunk in yet that as of today...all my classes at Sapporo University are finished. The teachers have been real cool. Miyazaki's Monday Japanese classes were always helpful. A real nice teacher and pretty easy going. I always looked forward to Matsui's Society & Culture class for my weekly dose of "Weekend Japanology" and blatant sexist comments. Funny as hell that guy...Watanabe's Japanese class well...I know she had good intentions and all but there was just something about that class that made it not as fun as the others. Still...she wasn't too bad as far as teachers go. I've had worse. Then we have the bear...Yuriya...heh...perhaps the most easy going teacher I'll ever have. Hardly turned up to her classes...put little to no effort into the various assignments and exams...and I'll still pass her class!!...which are perhaps the most useless classes around. Not even sure what we were meant to be doing in her classes or the general point of those classes...both Society & Culture classes and the Tsuyaku (interpretation) classes. Did not take it seriously one bit...

In any case...classes are OVER!!...but the ICS assignments are not...and so with one week left before the biggie assignment is due, I still haven't started on the actual thing yet. I still got 2 more ppl to interview, the literature review is still incomplete and well...the actual 5000words of the assignment still to write!!

So while all the remaining exchange students can enjoy their freedom, I've still got this annoying creature buzzing around me. And to top it all off...it's Chris's b'day this Friday (which means going hard and gettin real trashed...and I mean REALLY TRASHED!!!...methinks...)...recover on Saturday...only to then head out to Otaru on Sunday...maybe...heh...It's possibilities at the moment. I mean I could easily pike all of these plans and focus on the final, 50% ICS assignment that's due next week!!!...but then that'd make me an anti-social bitch and well...an anti-social bitch I ain't. So if I still wanna make it to all these plans, I gotta get cracking at the ICS assignment. In saying that I'll bet you all wondering...what the fuck am I doing wasting time updating my blog when I obviously have more important things to do??? Because I'm procrastinating...duh...

(A little under a month now b4 I head back to Sydney...did I mention I really don't want to go back???...wonder when I'll come back to Japan...heh...haven't returned to Sydney and already I'm thinkin about coming back to Japan...)

Tour Guide for the family

2007-01-15T20:34:00.000+11:00

Firstly...I hope people are still reading this blog. For those who are...thanks heaps but still can't understand why you'd want to waste your time reading the crap that I write...heh... And for those who aren't reading this blog - well...no point in saying anything to you because you aren't gonna read it...

Anyway...happy new year everyone. A little late I know but hey...I've been away from home for the last 2 weeks or so. I just got back last Saturday from taking my family around Tokyo and the Kansai area. And let me tell you...it's hella weird taking your family around these places. I mean...it's just...well...you know...weird!! After almost a year of living on my own, in a foreign country...a year of heavy drinking, all nighters and deviancy - to be back with the family and having to show them the normal, pretty, touristy side of Japan is well...anyway...you get the point.

Not much to tell really. No overly amusing stories. No deviant, exciting adventures. Just the usual touristy type stuff families do on famliy holidays. I will say though that my father seemed to suffer quite a bit of culture shock and I forgot some of the embarrassing things parents can do when in a place that they aren't familiar with. It's nothing overly bad...but it's the little things. And the constant complaining about prices, the food etc...typical asian parent type things. Coming from a place like Cabramatta in Sydney to Tokyo and Osaka...quite a difference. But all in all it was fun. I got to visit places that I didn't get a chance to go to during the summer. And got to see my family after 9 months away from home (although I'll be seeing them again in about a months time when I return to Sydney). Anyway...rather than bore you all with a description of what I got up to...I'll just post up some photos...

The Kougugikan...a sumo arena. What's so great about this place? Well if you're a fan of the manga "Hajime no Ippo" you'd know (fuck me I'm a nerd...)

The crowd we had to work through in order to get to the temple at Asakusa...note that this was the "end" of the line. Took us probably about an hour or so to get from the front gate to the temple...

Odaiba at night...pretty ain't it??

The family in Yokohama's Chinatown...give them a lil taste of home again...

Me outside the Guan Yu temple in Yokohama's Chinatown...where you gotta pay to light incense...and I thought temples in Sydney were out to make a buck...

The 70s never died...it is alive and kicking here...outside Osaka castle. Seriously...this was an awesome site. Imagine a group of people aged between 12-30, dressed up 70s rock style (complete with pink jacket and pompadore!!!) all dancing...IN SYNC...to 70s rock music. I only wish I got a better picture...it was a beautiful sight really...*sniff*

Winter at Kyoumizu-dera...no snow...no leaves...still pretty though...

Kinkaku-Ji...nothing else to say really...real pretty scenery etc

The Great Buddha at Todai-Ji, Nara...freakin huge...biggest Buddha statue in Japan...

Here's Aaron (my lil brother) gettin a close up shot of this deer whos checking out his camera...

And that's it for my winter travels. I'm now back in Sapporo, facing various exams and assignments...including a 5000word ICS research report for UTS which I havent started yet and really should get working on. On top of that, I've only got a little over a month left before I head back to Sydney...did I mention that I don't want to go back?? Well...I don't...but I have to. Anyway...expect a helluva lot more bitching about having to go back to Sydney as the time for my return draws near...

Merry Belated Christmas and an early Happy New Year!!

2006-12-27T22:13:00.000+11:00

Well seeing as pretty much everyone is chucking up christmas posts I figure I might as well to. Yes I know it's a little late but do I care?? Not really...so live with it people...

Anyway...an update on things that've happened...finally went skiing last week!! And man...did it hurt!! Twas my first time ever. Great thing abt living in Sapporo is that we're so close to the ski fields. It wasn't really a planned trip or anythin...more like a spur of the moment type thing. Me and Chris decided to go skiing like 2 days before we actually went. Chris's girlfriend Yuki came along as well...good thing having a Japanese person around because it made catching the right buses and stuff a whole lot easier.

So...we got up at like 6.30am...made our way to JR Sapporo station to meet Yuki and catch the bus to the Kokusai ski field. 1 1/2 hr bus ride from the city to the field. Close ain't it?? I don't have my own gear obviously so I had to hire...4700yen for the ski kit and about another 4000yen or so for a return bus trip and all day lift pass. Expensive day yes but well worth it. So...the skiing...Chris was my so called "instuctor" and he gave me a crash course in how to ski. It went something like this...
"OK...this is how you get your skis on...going forward...stop...slow down...turn...understood?"
"Errr...yeah I think so..."
"Good...off we go to the top of the mountain then..."

Here's me and Chris...that's me before most of the crashes...

Yeah...you can tell this ain't gonna end well...

...and down I go...

Luckily...the snow was pretty much powder...so it didn't hurt...and the reason why crashing is so much fun...

For the day, I stayed mainly on the green, easier course...crashing and wiping myself out many a times as you can see...then night came at round about 4-4.30pm...thats when most of the courses except for one red/intermediate course gets closed down...now...I didn't know this until I actually started down the course (because the green and red courses have the same starting point)...anyway...so down I go...and as the run gets steeper I suddenly realise..."shit...I can't control my speed very well..." And as expected I start gaining speed and before I knew it...I was hooning down the hill at a suicidal pace...zooming past Chris and Yuki (two very proficient skiers) and well...you guys guessed it...completely wiped myself out...apparently...the crash was a spectacular one...after falling, I slid down the mountain about an extra 10m or so before coming to a stop...and I laid there for a moment...in the cold...completely covered in snow...and in pain (because although throughout most of the day the snow was soft powder, it had been rather packed in by this stage and...well...falling hurt a lot...) And so I got up, dusted myself off, sped down the mountain (not that I had a choice of speed because well...I can't control it at the moment) and...did it all once more. No I don't have a death wish...it's jus fun to wipe oneself out at high speeds. I suggest you all try it sometime. The second run was just as bad, if not worse. Wiped out twice...but both times were kinda 1/2 as bad as the first wipeout so you could say it sorta evened itself out. Suffice to say, that was the last ski run for the day. I had bruises all over and couldn't lay down on my right side for the next few days...so all in all...an awesome first experience skiing...

So this was all before christmas. Actual christmas wasn't as exciting. Christmas Eve, Tomo had a singles party at his place (yes ppl...still single) and it basically consisted of a hot pot dinner and drinks...the usual stuff. Chris and Yuki ended up going skiing Teine ski field on Christmas Day...and while I wanted to go as well...I was/am still kinda sick and recovering from previous skiing battle wounds...all of which are pretty much gone now. So bring on the next ski trip!!

Oh...by the way...have a Happy New Year everyone!! Don't get too blinded. I know I won't!! (hey...what's with the laughing??)

Fare thee well

2006-12-20T21:24:00.000+11:00

And so Heath, the last of the American exchange students left today to head back to America. Cody left on Monday and Brian left last Friday. So our little group of exchange students has been halved - now only the kiwis and the Aussies remain...

So what's been happening these last few weeks...a shit load has happened I can tell you that much. I won't go into all the details (as perhaps some of said details should be kept to myself...hehe) but suffice to say its been one helluva few weeks.

The official fairwell party for the Americans was two Saturdays ago...yes an emotional/drunken fairwell as is the usual. Nothing special really...just talking and drinking...here are photos as I can't really be bothered going into much detail here...

Here are the said Americans (Cody in the cap, Heath in the Ball State jumper and Brian in the black) making their heartfelt fairwell speeches...yes...twas emotional...not that I have any idea what was said because I was too busy drinking...

Many a Japanese friends...I know them all...I think...well...I recognise them anyway...

Anyway...despite that being the farewell party for the American guys, it was a relatively light night of drinking (relative being the key word there)...which is a good thing as well because the next morning...at abt 6am...the Americans, me, Hitomi and Takeshi were headed to Hakodate for a day trip. Suffice to say, I was quite buggered but...it was a genuine, fun, sober trip. Met up with Jeric as well, whom I haven't seen since his fairwell party in Febuary (where he was smashed beyond belief)...he's doing well...and his Japanese skills is pretty damn good I must admit...a helluva difference from how things were back in J4...haha...but then again methinks thats the case for everyone on ICS atm...anyway...enough chatter..more photos...

Some sorta landmark in Hakodate...birthplace of some famous dude...I dunno...pretty though...

Here's Hakodate tower...a lot of towers in Japan...hmm...perhaps this is the Japanese way of compensating for something lacking in the physical department...ne??

Here's us sitting in La Pierrot - a Hakodate exclusive burger chain and man...the burgers here...holy shit...rival anythin thats in America...from front to back we have...Brian, Takeshi, me, Cody, Jeric and Heath...

The "Futocho" burger...yes...it tastes as good as it looks...everytime you order one...a worker comes out ringing this cow bell, congratulating you on your purchase and gives this long winded, polite speech thanking you for taking on the 'Futocho"...and I will bow down and call anyone master if they can eat that monstrosity with their hands, keep everything in and keep clean as well...go on...I dare you...I double dare you...

Here's the crew (left to right - Takeshi, Brian, Hitomi, Cody and Heath) standing outside this huge ass christmas tree imported from Canadia (yes I realise what I've said and I stand by it...)

And so the Americans have gone back now...Brian and Cody to Nebraska...Heath to Indiana. We've had our ups and downs but all in all...it's been real...Life in Sapporo will sure be different without these fools around messing things up. And as sad as it is to see these guys go, the even sader fact is the realisation that my time here is almost up. The new year is almost upon us...and only about 2 months left before I return to Sydney. I better make the most of my time here while I still can...

Photos as promised...

2006-12-04T13:48:00.000+11:00

Here are photos of the live houses I was talking about...plus some stuff done in the snow...

Here's Kento (band - Sealion) at Sound Crue Basement...singer and guitarist...

Ken and Brian sharing a moment...

Hiroshi (band - The Punk Rockers) at Counter-Action...awesome hair yeah??

...well here's the lead singer...you see?? Super Saiyans really do exist...

Me and Punk Boys' friends...from the left we have...Nobu, Daisuke, Ryouta and me...

Our snowman throne - the big man...now nothing more than a memory...R.I.P Big man...

Can't...make it...anymore...

Space...It seems to go on and on forever...but then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you...

2006-12-02T14:04:00.000+11:00

What does the title have to do with this post?? Nothing...I've just been watching a lot of Futurama lately (leeched it all off Nhat...thanks buddy) and that's my fav quote of the show. So...what's been happening since the last time I posted something...hmm...lemme see...

Surprisingly...not that much drinking's been goin on. Only drank twice since the last post...and on one occasion it was real light drinks. No shots of spirits or anything..haha...am I finally recovering from my alcoholism??...perhaps...that is until the time comes for the numerous fairwell parties thats gonna b held 4 the Americans...under 2 weeks and they're gone...with the possibility that I'll never see them again...heh...as much as I hate to admit it, its been fun hanging out with those dudes. Definitely gonna be a different atmosphere with them gone...

Last Sunday, went to Counter-Action - a rock live house - to watch a friend's band play. THE PUNK ROCKERS!! haha...they're a decent band that knows how to work the crowd. ひろし (aka Punk Boy) is my friend's name and you shoulda seen his hair...awesome...but when compared to the lead singer's hair...haha...if you thought Goku's super saiyan hair was amazing...you should see this guy's!! (photos will be posted once I get them from Brian)..an fun night, with no drinking either!! Although it took abt 2-3days b4 the ringing in my ear stopped due to the shear noise of the place. Standing abt 2 metres away from a massive speaker, in a small room whilst its pumping who knows how many decibels directly into your eardrum ain't exactly healthy 4 u...

What else...ICS assignments. Yes...that annoying lil fly that keeps buzzing around that just won't go away, no matter how much you want it to. Project proposal over now...have abt a week or 2 b4 I start on the final, 50% research monster. Let's hope I do a decent job of it since well...50% of your marks is kinda a lot don't you think??

Lastly...to those who decide to skip Society & Culture classes because they think its irrelevant and useless take note as to what can happen if one turns up to class(OK maybe I'm talking to myself here because most of the time it is useless!!)...Thurs morning...Yuriya's Society & Culture class. Was thinking of skipping it. Is usually pretty boring and irrelevant. However, I changed my mind and decided to show up 2 class...and luckily I did (It was only me and Tyronne who turned up...Yuriya was pissed). The guest speaker for the day was Simon Jackson of NorthPointNetwork. We introduce ourselves, I casually tell him my major is in Visual Communication (which like it was back in Sydney required some explaining as to what that meant) and he casually mentions that his company is currently working on a 32pg, glossy real estate magazine and needed help in getting it done because the deadline was coming up really soon...and they've only got 1 designer working on it atm...so he offered me some work there...and I accepted...hehe...its all smiles and excitement now...but...well...guess we'll jus hafta wait and see how this 1 turns out...

怠け者 (なまけもの)になった

2006-11-20T19:20:00.000+11:00

Yes...believe it or not...I've gotten even lazier than I was before. I haven't been updating this blog like I use to...I hardly study anymore (OK...maybe there's not much change there)...my shitty lil apartment is getting messier and messier...clothes...papers...can barely walk through my apartment atm without stepping on something...I'm also cooking a lot less now because washing up is a pain in the arse (hurray for Gusto being only 3mins walk away and 24hr Convenient stores)...and on top of all that...I've got a stack of bills that I haven't gotten round to paying and 2months rent to give to the landlord, whom I never see anymore because he only comes in abt twice a week and stays for the mornings only...whereas most days I've been getting up from 2pm onwards...due to the severe hangovers and many a drinking nights...the latest one happening last Friday...

It started out all good...going to 日の出 izakaya like always...we were meant to go to the 500yen bar but all 3 of the ones in Sapporo were all full. 500yen bar is by far the best izakaya I've been to in Japan...2000yen gets you a 飲み放題 for 2hrs...and the drinks they make here...holy crap...strongest and best tasting drinks around (err...I think I've talked abt this place b4...anyway...I'll talk abt it again)...the last time we went there we took a shot of Spirytus as our final drink...Spirytus - i.e. 96% alcohol!!!!...yeh...its like drinking metho...heh...

Anyway...back 2 日の出...so we go there...its me, Chris, Brian, Heath, Cody and his new gf...飲み放題 as per usual...some ppl on the table next 2 us recognised me and Brian but we had no idea where we met them (apparently we drank with them on Brian's b'day...go figure) ladidadida...the usual things. Anyway, towards the end...Chris suggests we all drink depth charges. Now, for the uneducated ones out there...a depth charge is a glass of beer...with a shot of vodka dropped into the glass...you then proceed to skull the glass of beer. So we all did this...twice...actually...all except Heath anyway...the only smart/sane one of the group. We didn't feel it at first...but it hit all of us later on...Heath and Brian went home early...Cody had to take care of his gf as she was completely blinded...which then leaves me and Chris...and a bunch of drunk business men who were sitting behind us...

Without going into much detail...an interesting night unfolded. More drinks were had...black outs were experienced...I wake up the next day to find my clothes soaked in the bathtub..along with my keys and my mobile phone (which doesn't work to well anymore) and a killer hangover...and memory of about 70% of the night...although I was told the next day that nothing real bad happened...so all in all...another fun night drinking in Susukino...

Happy Halloween!!

2006-11-02T16:26:00.001+11:00

OK so halloween has come and gone...but the story of my exploits on halloween remain. Although I usually don't celebrate halloween in any way, shape or form, this year was different. Since I'm living in another country at the moment and we have a few American students here that LOVE halloween I thought...yeah why not join in the silliness. And silliness there was...we decided to celebrate halloween on the 27th rather than the 31st because well...its was a Friday night...and the clubs in Susukino were having their halloween parties on the 27th...sounds like a good enough reason for me...

There's a photo of me in my costume+a monkey mask in my apartment...

That's us on the subway heading into the city...and yes...we were getting really funny looks.

And so the night begins as usual...at an 居酒屋 (izakaya)...at 日の出(Hinode...or Sunrise) to be exact...the place that we usually go to. So we get the 飲み放題 of course...2hrs unlimited drinks...and being in costumes, we get the attention of other customers at the place as well...they take photos with us...we have a few drinks...some girl tries to unzip the green ranger's costume...you know...the usual...

OK so who do we have here...that's Tyrone in the Spiderman mask...Brian in the Godzilla PJs...Cody in the monkey mask...Nhat in the Dragonball outfit (I wasn't the only one...) and the mysterious Green Ranger of justice (aka Heath...)

Requisite drinking photo...yeah not everyone we were with wore costumes...so there's Ono (in b/w Spiderman and Godzilla), Hiroshi (dude in glasses on the left)...Chris in a Jason mask...and err...Jack (Chinese dude in glasses on the bottom right...)

The foreigners downing whiskey shots...always with the whiskey...

Anyway...once well and truly toasted we decided to hit a club...King Xmhu...finally...it's known as the best club in Sapporo and I've never been to it on a club night...until now...but before that...

Here's a photo of us (minus me as I was taking the photo) with a bunch of random, complete strangers on the streets of Susukino, heading toward King Xmhu...

And so...we reach the club...3000yen entry fee...1 free drink...yeah it's an expensive cover charge for a club here but...well...it was worth it anyway...the music was good...all mix...a bit of hip hop...a bit of house...unfortunately no hard trance...heh...the crowd was good...a few foreigners but not too many (unlike Booty...)

Pictured here in the middle is a drag queen DJ in a maid outfit...not pictured...the 2 other drag queens dancing on stage...the whole crowd wasn't like this OK ppl...it jus so happens...thats the special guests that they had at the club on halloween...no smart arse comments pls...

And here's me doing a stupid Dragonball pose with Mike...some dude I met at the club whos from England and is here teaching english at some private english teaching school...

So all in all...a decent night out...well that wasn't really the case for Chris...as at one stage he thought he'd lost his wallet and got really down abt that...so we were running around asking various staff members and the like if they had seen a wallet or has a wallet been handed in to anyone and...there wasn't...so as we were leaving, we head to the lockers to get our stuff and lo and behold...Chris's wallet was in the locker the whole time...hehe...yeh we gave him shit for that...so at abt 3am or so we all split a taxi home where after I fall asleep for abt an hr or 2...wake up...have a quick shower to get all that shitty gel outta my hair...I pass out until 2pm or so Sunday afternoon...

Lazy...and Drunk

2006-10-21T14:25:00.000+10:00

Well tis been a while since I posted something up here. It's not that I've been overly busy or anything...it's just that I'm well...lazy...very lazy...even lazier now since I've managed to acquire the internet at home. I mean before if I wanted to use the net I'd at least have to get up, get changed and walk to the uni, forcing me to leave the house. Now...well...I just have to get up...roll over and I'm on the net already...heh...the internet...a blessing and a curse...

That's not to say I've become a complete otaku or anything (although I can't blame you if you thought that)...I've still been keeping up my weekly business of getting drunk with various people. Last Saturday was Ono's b'day...we all kinda got drunk then at Bishi Bashi - an izakaya thats relatively close to home. Got drunk but didn't go overboard...heh...I've learnt the art of self-control...sorta...didn't wake up with a hangover, which is always a good thing...

Tuesday night on the other hand...well...went out drinking (again...yes I know...that makes two times within a week...so much for self-control) with Brian and some guys from the ESS club (English Speaking Society). Despite the name of the club, almost all of its members....can't speak english!! If one wants to speak and improve their Japanese whilst at Sapporo university...one hangs out with the ESS...heh...anyway...back to the drinking on Tues night...originally we thought it was gonna be in Susukino...so we caught a bus to the city...then we found out it was gonna be around Nishioka...so we caught a bus back from the city. Anyway...it turns out the ESS already drank the previous night and Brian misinterpreted and thought that they were gonna drink again on Tues...most didn't...except for two guys who were still keen to drink...Suyoshi (aka..."Yarichin-kun"...hehe...see if you guys can figure out the meaning of that one) and another Japanese dude whose name I've forgotten.

Anyway...on to Bishi Bashi...where someway...somehow...I ended up in a drinking competition with Suyoshi. We order the "tabenomihoudai" (all you can eat and drink) deal which cost a total of 2800yen for 2hrs. Anyway...back to the drinking...the rules were...we had to drink anything Brian and the other ESS guy picked for us to drink. Points were awarded to the one who downs the drink 1st. 1st drink...500ml glass of beer...we skull it...I lose...2nd drink...whiskey shots...Brian joined in on this one...not sure who won this round...3rd drink...beer again...we both agreed to slow it down...but in the end...I won this round. So the score is 1 all. 4th round...back to the whiskey shots. This time, all joined in. Not sure who won this one either...5th round...plum wine. Skulled those...I won that round.

Next...they order red wine for us...but I declared that I didn't feel like throwing up that night...and still wanted to be able to walk straight...so I pretty much stopped there (self-control...see??). Suyoshi however looked like he could still go on for the rest of the night. Beaten by a Japanese in a drinking game...what can I say??...definitely one of the strongest Japanese drinkers that I've met so far...Around this point, we were joined by another member of the ESS...a girl...can't remember her name...and the rest of the night was all of us jus sitting around talking...Brian and I speaking only in Japanese...whilst the ESS members speaking in only English. A fair trade methinks...

By the way...did I mention that I had class the next morning at 9am??...well I did...and I skipped it...what can I say??..didn't feel like going to class with the killer hang-over that I had. And besides...it was only Watanabe-sensei's Japanese class...no big deal.

Photos of Summer Trip (Part 3)

2006-10-02T17:44:00.000+10:00

And I feel like posting again...what can I say...I'm bored...
So here it is, the last of the photos of my summer trip...not as exciting as the other photos but what are you gonna do...

Us drinking it up at Liz and Nick's kaikan in Kokura...

Okonomiyaki at Kokura...man I'm hungry now...

The kaikan where we stayed at in Kokura...

Me and Eubs literally Fresh Off the Boat...going back to Osaka from Kita-Kyushuu...

This is Gifu...yeah...

Eubs, Kaye and Migs (and me obviously) at the Hub in Nagoya...

Gidai kaikan...(not pictured - rice paddy fields that surround the area)

Me...tired as and on a shinkansen going from Tokyo back to Sapporo (well actually it only went as far as Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture...the rest of the way was via ltd express trains)

Anyway...that'd be the end of my summer trip bloggings (and abt time too)...I've got a crap load more photos that I'll post up on like photo bucket or something...should I be bothered setting up an account etc...anyway...its now back to business as usual in Sapporo...

Photos of Summer Trip (Part 2)

2006-10-02T13:35:00.000+10:00

Yes yes...I know this is a little late but what can I say...I'm a lazy person...anyway...here are more photos of stuff I got up to during my summer trip...

Here's us at the 1000 gates shrine in Kyoto (minus Lisa...who was taking said photo)

This be at Kyomizudera at Kyoto...I think...too many temples/shrines...

In deep thought at Ryouanji...Kyoto still...

Osaka castle at...well...Osaka...

Biggest single rock at Osaka castle...what Nick was doing to Migs...I didn't want to know...

Me and Migs FOBing it up outside some set piece at Universal Studios...

The Hiroshima Dome/town hall after the bombing...a really somber atmosphere...

Me at Miyajima Torii at low tide...

Battle of the Shoes at Miyajima...

More photos to come...when I feel like posting again...

Photos Of Summer Trip (Part 1)

2006-09-26T16:05:00.000+10:00

I said I was gonna post up photos and well...here they are...

Here's a photo of Tokyo (Shibuya) by night...pretty much every night looked this busy...even after midnight...

Tokyo tower...yeah I did some touristy things along the way...

...and took stupid photos as well...

Hello Kitty looked hungry...

Locals of Harajuku...nuff said...

Outside the Imperial Palace, Tokyo...you can't see or go into the actual palace though...

View from the 5th station on Mt. Fuji's Kawaguchiko trail at sunrise...well...you all remember the disaster that was my Fuji experience...

Summer Tour of Japan (Part 3)

2006-09-19T17:51:00.001+10:00

We arrived at 北九州(Kita-Kyushu) after mid-night and took a taxi to the 留学生会館 (exchange student dorms) where Liz and Nick were living. Accomodation arrangements...Kitty and Lisa stayed in Liz's room...Liz stayed in Nick's room...Eubim, Migs and me were all in Ian's room (who was travelling around Tokyo at the time I think...thanks for letting us stay at your place btw Ian..) A tight fit to say the least but...it was free accomodation so i can't complain really. So we basically got there...had showers...then crashed out for the night...

Next day...woke up half way through the afternoon...at like 1-2pm or something with no real purpose to the day. We sat around and played our PSPs for a little before deciding that we were hungry and went out for lunch at "Big Boy" - a western style family restaurant. The rest of the day was spent at the 小倉 shopping centre "Riverwalk" - really nice place thats right next to 小倉城(Kokura Castle)...we didn't visit the castle though because...well...we jus came from 大坂城 (Osaka Castle) and that's like probably the biggest castle in Japan...i think...anyway lots of walking around later and we were back at the 会館 for dinner...indoor BBQ...nice...we met some of Liz and Nick's Korean friends...and a French dude (I know his name but not sure how it's spelt so I'm not gonna bother...)...cool people...

So dinner started at around 9pm or so...ate a crap load of food (didn't pay you guys back for dinner that night...本当ごめんね m(_ _)m )...and there were drinks afterwards...lots of drinks...especially a lot of this French drink "Ricard"...nasty stuff...only 45%...and it tasted like absinthe. Suffice to say...I ended up pretty toasted as I seemed to always be losing at the drinking card games that we were playing. So that was our first real night in 小倉.

The rest of our stay in 九州 consisted of a shopping trip to 福岡 (Fukuoka)...which was followed by this huge buffet dinner at what looked like a fancy 5 star restaurant type place...complete with live flamingoes!! (didn't take photos of that dammit)...a trip to the beach...complete with rain and whale scab (hehe)...nothing compared to Australian beaches but a shit load better than the "beaches" in 北海道 (Hokkaido)...and more trips to the 小倉 city area...it wasn't so much a time where we were doing touristy crap as it was more about experiencing what life was like in 小倉...personally I prefer living in 札幌 (Sapporo) if it wasn't for the fact that I'm paying like $300/mth on rent...while the folks down in 小倉 are paying like $90/mth!! And so...this is where our summer tour as a J4 group ended...Liz, Nick, Kitty and Lisa were off to Sth Korea soon whilst Eubs and Migs returned to 岐阜 (Gifu)...with me tagging along as well..

And so the 3 of us heading back to 本州 (Honshu)...we took an overnight ferry from 北九州 to 大坂...and spent the day at 大坂 again...more specifically....at Den Den town nerding it up at the various toy and game stores. This was my 4th trip to Den Den town!! It's not as big as 秋葉原 (Akihabara) in 東京 (Tokyo) but the stuff there is more varied...and cheaper as well...and did mention how dirty 大坂 was/is??...it's really dirty...at least when compared to other Japanese cities...compared to Sydney I'd say...it'd be about as dirty as Chinatown and Cabramatta is dirty...smells like Cabramatta as well. And there are a lot of homeless people in 大坂...each one wheeling this huge trolley around with cardboard boxes that they set up at night as their means of accomodation.

So we left 大坂 around 7-8pm...and a 3hr train ride later...we were at 岐阜. Ahh 岐阜...田舎 (inaka..meaning country town). Keiko wasn't kidding in her description of where the uni was positioned...rice paddy fields all around and in the middle of it all...岐阜大学...hehe...although in all honesty...its not as 田舎 as I've been lead to believe...I mean 新岐阜 resembles a proper city area...and there are restaurants, supermarkets and shopping areas within biking distances of the uni...plus from 岐阜 station its only 2omins until you reach 名古屋 (Nagoya)...

Anyway...so I end up staying in 岐阜 for around 2 1/2 weeks...at the 留学生会館 Eubs and Migs are living in...first week was in Eubs' room...then when Kaye arrived from Hong Kong...I moved to Migs' room. Anyway...I can't really recall in order the things that happened but life in 岐阜 pretty much consisted of going to Masa (closest shopping area), MallEra (bigger shopping area but a little further) and 新岐阜 (the area that resembles a city and where the train station is at..) Life in 岐阜 is relaxing to say the least. Then there were our many trips to 名古屋.

Ahh 名古屋...in my opinion...an awesome city to live in...the shopping is plentyful...the clubs are happening...and the talent is perhaps the best in Japan...and I should know...as I've travelled a fair bit during the last few weeks...hehe...Once again...my time spent in 岐阜/名古屋 wasn't about doing the touristy crap that I was doing before...it was experiencing the lifestyle of the area and I must say...me likey very much...

During that time though...we had one more pass left on our seishun 18 kippu (I'm not gonna bother explaining what that is...) and so decided to take a day trip to 京都 (Kyoto). 京都 round 2 was more a shopping/exploring trip rather than a temple hopping trip...plus it also doubled as a recon mission for Eubs for when Kaye arrived. So we walk around...looked at the various shopping areas...made our way to the Imperial Palace (at least I think thats where we were...at least the garden area of the palace...didn't see the actual thing though)...and I ended up buying a Perfect Grade Evangelion model whilst there...￥7000...a bargain considering they were selling the same thing at Toys R Us for ￥16,000...so I have jus reached my pinnacle of nerdiness...

Weekend nights were mostly spent in 名古屋...drinking at the Hub...a place that sells mango beer!! and "stairway to heavens" (which consisted of some sort of fruit ice...and absinthe..again with the absinthe)...and clubbing at ID bar...ID bar...a 6vl club that on Sat nights...has different music on each floor...the 1st floor being trance music!!..ahh trance...久しぶりだね...although the way the Japanese dance to it is quite funny/daggy/amusing...￥3000 entry...4 free drinks!! (although slightly watered down) it was great though for some odd reason...the place closes at 2am!! What the hell?? One of the most happening clubs in 名古屋 and it closes at 2am???...first time we went there (jus me and Migs) we didnt know that it closed so early...hence we weren't prepared...we couldn't get back to 岐阜 because the trains stop at around 12am and don't start up till around 6am...so what did we do?? Why we walked to 名古屋城 (Nagoya Castle) of course and chilled there for a while until the trains started again...never actually went inside 名古屋城 but it looked real nice from the outside during sunrise...the 2nd time we went to ID (on a Fri night (15th)...where there was only hip hop and reggae music...much to my dissapointment...) it was with all of us (Eubs, Migs, Kaye and me)...we all drank at the Hub 1st (I owed Migs 2 drinks and Eubs 1 since I happened to have lost at poker the night before...I shall have my revenge Migs!!!)...then we had dinner at this Italian restaurant...then on to ID...and after ID...karaoke until like 6.30am...we booked the room until 8am but we all agreed that getting back to the 会館 asap was the best option...Saturday night was a quiet night that we spent at a local 居酒屋...not 飲み放題 but we did have a few drinks...a really nice way to end my trip anyway...

Initially...I had only planned to stay in 岐阜 for a few days...and return to 札幌 on the 3rd of Sept...then it changed to the 5th...then to the 12th...then the 15th...16th...and I finally left on the 17th via 新幹線 (bullet train) and ltd express trains...a 13hr ride all up that cost me around ￥30,000...about the same price as a plane ticket but took a lot longer...the great thing about it though is that I didn't have to book ahead of time (hence the constant change in my intended departure dates..)...to Eubs and Migs...thanks for letting me crash at your guys' place for as long as I did...should you decide to come up to the freezing north here...I'd be happy to return the favour...heh...its been real...

And so here I am...back in Sapporo...a stack of bills waiting upon my return...2mths worth of rent stuck to my door...4 new Chinese exchange students staying at our apartment block...a new Aussie/Viet guy meant to be arriving soon...the weather getting colder and semester starting next week...welcome home Matt (ただいま)

Summer Tour of Japan (part 2)

2006-09-14T13:49:00.000+10:00

We arrived at Kyoto at around 6-7pm. The bus ride there took a few hours but it was comfortable as hell. We made our way to the youth hostel which was about a 10min walk from the main station. It felt good to be sleeping in a proper bed again!! Anyway so we checked in, dumped our bags in our rooms then went to dinner at this restaurant jus across the street. It was a relaxing night...exactly what I needed to recover my strength for our lil bike tour of Kyoto the next day.

Yes bike tour. The hostel we stayed at rented out bikes for 500 yen/day...we saved a crap load of money on transport that day. We biked all over Kyoto going from temple to temple, shrine to shrine checking out the sites. I can't remember the names of them but they were all pretty awesome (photos shall be posted up in due time). At night, we ended up in the central Kyoto area by this river than runs through the city. There were bands playing live music on the streets etc...the whole place just had this really relaxing vibe to it. A nice way to end our 1st day in Kyoto. We checked out the next day...dumped our bags off at the station lockers and proceeded to check out a few more temples and even went to this miny amusement park type place called 'eigamura' (movie village)...its where they film all those samurai dramas in Japan...it sounds a lot more interesting than it really was.

So after a hard days walking around, catching trains and buses etc (bikes really do come in handy) we made our way to Osaka (only 1/2 hr away!!)...like our 1st night in Kyoto we pretty much jus dumped our bags off, had dinner etc...another relaxing night. For our 1st day in Osaka, we checked out Namba first - the shopping/entertainment district of Osaka...its pretty big and we only really explored like 1/10th of the place. We got a lil bored quite quickly so we decided to head Osaka castle...real good touristy spot...has this huge park that surrounds the castle. Inside the castle has been turned into a museum though so there was nothing left of the original castle really. Still, its a must see if one is in Osaka. Then we made our way to "Den Den town"...Den Den town...what can I say about this place except that its a nerd's paradise!! Unfortunately by the time we got there, most of the shops were closed...so we vowed that we'd come back the next day to check out this place...

The next day (Sunday in case you've all lost track of the days) we went to the aquarium first...huge difference from Sydney's aquarium...its like 6 lvls of sea life where you start from the top of the aquarium and work your way down...it was pretty cool...another one of those touristy things one should do. Anyway..."Den Den town"...this place...although smaller than "Akihabara" in Tokyo has a lot more cool shit...we all started at the same shop (named - Super Position...like the ultimate toy/nerd shop franchise in Japan) and split up from there...this place brought out the lil nerd in me...what can I say...underneath this trance loving, drunkard beats the heart of a complete nerd who loves videogames and action figures...

Monday...our original plan was to leave Osaka today but we liked the place so much (plus accomodation was pretty cheap) that we stayed an extra night...so the plan for the day??..why Universal Studios Japan of course. Oh twas a fun day. Naturally being a theme park entry and all that was expensive but what do you expect. Anyway the cool thing abt the place is that on most rides...there are groups and singles lines...people that want to ride with their family and friends etc go the groups line...people that dont mind jus filling in the odd gaps..goes into the singles line...diference in wait time??...umm...abt a 1hr difference!! e.g. in group line...wait for the ride...over 1hr...singles line...20mins!! I love the whole collectivist group mentality of Japanese people. Favourite rides were definitely Spiderman (because it was cool and had the shortest singles line...5-10min wait!!) and Jurassic Park (because it was the only 1 resembling a real ride)...the Terminator ride was really funny though...hearing Arnold speak in a Japanese dub..seriously...we all jus cracked up...and getting funny looks from the Japanese around us. Anyway...the next day...Hiroshima...

But before that...in the morning...I made, what I had thought at the time...was my last trip to Den Den town...I apologise sincerely to everyone that had to wait for me...heh...but what can I say...it was Den Den town and there were paraphernalia that needed buying...anyway...we ended up leaving Osaka at around 12:30pm and made our way to Hiroshima via futsu (normal) train...a couple of hours and many line change overs later...we arrived at Hiroshima at night...luckily we found a hotel that had vacancies because we didnt book ahead of time. We only stayed the night and checked out the next day...dumping our bags at JR lockers once again and left to check out the Hiroshima peace park and war museum. A really somber experience. To see described in detail the aftermath of the atomic bomb drops...structures left almost exactly as they were...we all left a lil depressed...the trip to Miyajima changed that though...

Miyajima...a 10min ferry ride from Hiroshima port...is a lil island thats famous for its giant torii gate (shinto shrine gate) thats in the middle of the water...We got there around 2pm or so...it was still low tide so the gate wasn't in the water. We walked around the place, checking out the sites and looking at the various omiyage (souvenirs) available...there were deer roaming around everywhere and the place stank of deer crap...despite that though...this was perhaps one of our favourite places to have gone to during our trip...around sunset...the tide began to rise, making the giant gate look like it was floating in water (i think photos explain it a lot better than I do...which will be posted once I'm back in Sapporo)...anyway...with the sunsetting in the background, the tide rising with a light ocean breeze in the air...we didn't want to leave the place...but we had to if we wanted to make it to Kita-Kyushuu in time...where Liz and Nick live and are studying for their ICS...

(to be continued...again...)

Summer tour of Japan (part 1)

2006-08-14T01:08:00.000+10:00

Well peoples...its been a while but here I am updating my blog again. These past 3 weeks have been freakin hectic, travelling around Japan with our lil group from Sydney. I won't go into every single detail about our trip...simply because with the amount we've done an experienced, I can probably write my own lil lonely planet guide to Japan...and I have no intention of doing that at this point...maybe later...heh...anyways to the trip...

For me, it all began on the night of Aug 9th. Me and Chris decided it would be a good idea to head to Tokyo via the local train service...from Sapporo. To illustrate just how stupid this idea was...imagine travelling from Darwin to Sydney via a cityrail train and having to change lines every hour or so...now imagine doing that for an entire day or so and I think you'll start to realise how stupid this idea was. It was blazingly cheap though. 10,000 yen (equivalent of abt $130) from Sapporo to Tokyo and I had 5days unlimited use of the train services. So I managed to get to Tokyo 2 days later (made an overnight stopover at Sendai...got real drunk etc...you all know the story) and still had 3 days of unlimited train use within Tokyo...so I saved a shit tonne of money travelling to Tokyo with this train pass...but suffered much pain...

Anyway...Tokyo. Fresh from an entire days travel we arrived at Tokyo and met up with Liz and Nick...then Eubim and Miguel abt an hr or so later. It was great to meet up with these guys again after so long. Anyway, not even properly rested or anythin we all head to dinner then to a club...Harlem - a 4 story hip hop/RnB club. Now this was a real club!! Although not really my style of music, it definitely beats the clubs in Sapporo by miles...although to be fair...I've still yet to check out King Xhmu on a club night in Sapporo...supposedly the biggest club in Sapporo. In terms of size though...Harlem is bigger. That was the only club I had time to go to though. There's still Atom (trance club next door) and Ageha (biggest club in asia...mainly trance...I've been told its like a rave every week!!) that I need to check out...definitely gonna come down to Tokyo again before the yrs up...other things I did in Tokyo...shopped around Shinjuku, Harajuku (whilst checking out the cosplaying freaks...photos shall be posted once I'm back in Sapporo)...nerded out in Akihabara...went to see the imperial palace...did a lot...anyway...after Tokyo comes mt fuji...

Ahh mt fuji...and the disaster that was the attempt to climb the highest mountain in Japan. It all started abt 10am on the 15th of Aug. Me, Eubim and Miguel...fresh from an overnight stay at an internet cafe...oh...did I mention that for the 3 of us (and Chris when he was down here) our accomodation in Tokyo consisted of staying overnight at various internet cafes??...well it did...and that also hurt. Don't reccomend doing that for too long. Anyway back to the fuji experience. The 3 of us took the local trains to fujiyoshida with the intention of meeting up with the rest (Liz, Nick, Lisa and Kitty)...but it turns out that they were staying at a beach out and partying it up the night before and only woke up at around mid-day...about the time when the 3 of us arrived at fujiyoshida. I gotta say, we were quite agitated at this point...we hadn't had a good nights rest in the last 3-4 nights and now we had wasted an entire day because the others said that they'd meet us early in the morning to go to fuji but instead slept in...

In the end, when we all met up (at around 7pm!!) and headed to fuji, we were all psyched and ready to climb the highest mountain in Japan. Any ill-feelings and animosity that we had quickly dissipated at the thought of climbing the mountain with all our friends. So we get to the 5th station of mount fuji (via bus) which is like 1/2 way up the mountain already and we start our trek...only to be turned down at the 6th station 1/2 an hr later. The dudes on the mountain were like (in Japanese)..."no you can't go up there...its dangerous!!...you definitely can NOT go up there!!" Well...considering most of us weren't wearing anything more than jeans, t-shirt, jumper and a poncho...I think the mountain guys had just cause to be worried. So...after having been refused passage up the mountain...and missing the last bus down to the nearest town...we were stuck at the 5th station 4 the night...10 hrs...outside...in the cold...waiting 4 the 1st bus which was at 8.30am...oh that was a fun night indeed...and considering how cold it was at the 5th station...1/2 way up the mountain...I can only imagine what the summit would've been like. Anyway, 5am rolls along and after a nights suffering the sun rises...to see that from the 5th station...it wasn't a complete loss. The 5th station of fuji is still above/in the clouds...so the view at sunrise was still quite amazing...b/w 5am and 8.30am our time was spent alternating b/w watching the sunrise and passing out at the restaurant (which openned at around 6am)...in the end we took the bus back to the nearest town...collected our bags and made our way (via an extremely comfortable highway bus) to Kyoto...

to be continued...

I only drank once this week

2006-07-24T16:18:00.000+10:00

I'm quite proud of myself this week...in total I only drank once this week...ONCE...although that once was one hell of a drinking session.

It all started Friday night. We (me and Chris) rode our bikes into the city (takes abt 30-40mins or so). After watching the hour long fireworks display at Toyohira river (which make the Sydney NYE fireworks look like fire crackers) we head to a cinema to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2...despite what our American friends told us...they weren't screening any shows that night and we were told that the movie opens on Saturday...fair enough...left with nothing to do we went to eat dinner...Little Spoon...a decent curry house...after that we met up with the others (Brian, Cody, Yuji and this girl whose name I can't remember) and told them that we aren't watching a movie tonight. It was about 10pm or so right now. We kinda wondered the city a bit doin pretty much nothing until about 12am when the others left to take the last trains home. Me and Chris stayed in the city though...

This is where our night begins...we were still kinda hungry so we went to get more food...burger and chips...12.30am...wondering around Susukino looking for a bar to drink in...something different...I vowed only to have maybe 1 or 2 drinks before making the long ride home. We ended up checking out Rad Brothers II. Walked in...seemed to have a decent atmosphere. It was someone's b'day party. So we sit at the bar...order a drink each...bourbon and cokes...Chris starts flirting with the girl next to him. Order our second drinks...long island ice teas...nice...It seems the b'day boy...or one of the guests or something...was a Yakuza type dude...evident because of the tatoo he was sporting...nice guy...actually so far...I've found most of the gangsters I see around to be quite nice and polite...so long as you don't piss them off...you'll be fine...

Anyway...At about 1.30am or so...we were informed that if we paid ￥2000...we'd have a 飲み放題 (all you drink) until closing time...which was 6am..nice...I didn't want to...but seeing as I had already spent about ￥1200...and the fact that they allowed us to just pay the difference to get the 飲み放題...i figure why not...

And so...after that I had...another long island ice tea...2 moscow mules...3 tequila shots (or so I'm told...I only remember 1...)...2 whiskey shots...a vodka shot (or so I'm told...I can't remember that one) and 3 Kamikazes (again...I only remember skulling one of those)...

So we end up leaving at about 5.30...6am or so...I cant really remember because I was still blind drunk then. The sun comes up here at about 3.30-4am...which is damn annoying considering we always seem to leave the bars and stuff around about that time. And so...we ride home on our bikes...drunk as a skunk...a 40min ride thats mostly uphill with cars all over the place...that was fun. I was crashing into a few walls and poles on the way home...actually...I don't remember too much of the ride home. However, depsite the odds, I managed to actually make it home safely and passed out almost immediately...waking up at about 1pm with the biggest hangover I've had in a while...to meet up with everyone and go to Yuki's (Japanese friend) bbq party.

So Begins the Summer Holidays

2006-07-14T13:11:00.000+10:00

Well yesterday was my final class...and besides the fact that I've got a 2000 word society & culture report due on the 28th and my 2nd methodology report due on the 31st...I've got nothing else in the way of uni work or classes. No exams and the like...and about 2 months or so of free time. Life is good...

But...what to do with all this free time? Seeing as I'm probably not going to start my summer trip till round about Aug 10th or so...that leaves me with about a month or so to make a mess in Sapporo/Hokkaido. A new tradition has been started amongst the exchange students here...one that is perhaps not entirely legal...but not overly damaging either...since I like this city so much...heh. All I have to say is that by the end of my time here...I'll have obtained a large variety of souvenirs, photos and videos that are...well lets just say...a little out of the ordinary. I shall keep you people updated on our exploits during these next few weeks...

SOBER FOR ALMOST A WEEK NOW!!!!

2006-07-06T15:26:00.000+10:00

Well its been a while since I lasted posted on here...it's not because I've been too busy or anything like that...it's more that I've been too drunk. And that's all I've been doing lately...drinking - although I've remained sober for the last...umm...6 days now??..I know that doesn't sound like much to the folks back home but believe me...its an accomplishment!! My aim is to go a week without drinking (I'm being realistic here...) But its not without good reason...Last Mon was the first time hanging out with a different group of people...so that was cause for drinking...until 6am...and last Wed was Steve's (the other Aussie here at 札大...from Queensland) farewell party. He was only here for like 3 months. So that was also cause for celebrations...that also lasted till 6am...and last Fri...ok so there was no good reason for me drinking that night...but that was only a light drinking night...and I caught the last train (12:15am) home...

Anyway, I won't go into detail about my lastest experiences of being drunk...I mean you've heard it all before...so I thought I'd reassure everyone that whilst I'm here...I'm not just getting drunk everyday and am going out there and doing other things as well. Case in point - the Yosakoi Soran dance festival. The festival took place around early June. The center of the city was basically closed off for all the various parades...at Odori koen there was a huge stage where the Soran dance off took place. And there was this part of the park where everybody could join in and do the dance...yes I took part in that...and yes...I looked like a idiot...but it was fun. Below are photos from the festival - and no...you won't be seeing me do the dance in these photos...

The above photo...the main dance stage at Odori koen...here's one of the groups starting their dance...

One of the parade floats going down the street...

The place where anybody can join in and dance...

Join in the dance and you score one of those cool looking blue thingys...thats advertising ice cream...and yes...I do have one of those...

22nd Birthday

2006-06-21T17:26:00.000+10:00

Now I know I said before that my next post was gonna be about festivals here in Sapporo. But seeing as I don't have any photos with me at the moment I figure I'd save that for the next post and go on a bit about what happened on my 22nd b'day last week.

Well what can I say besides the fact that it was a memorable night. It started off innocent enough. Meet in the city at 6pm. It was basically just me, Chris, Brian, Cody and Heath. So thats most of the exchange students there...first place they take me...a maid cafe. Now for those not familiar with the fetishes of the Japanese, let me enlighten you what a maid cafe is...it`s a cafe where all the waitresses are dressed up in French maid uniforms...lovely...so we all end up drinking coffee there. And pretty expensive coffee at that - ￥500 for a regular type glass. I guess you pay for the staff in the uniforms. In any case, before we left, Chris and Brian request that they get a photo of me and the waitresses...I tell you this now because if I ever show you guys the photos of my 22nd b'day, you'll be able to put it all in context and not think I'm some weirdo with a maid fetish...ahem...anyway...

Next was dinner...nothing flash...just curry and rice at the Little Spoon. Next...on to an 居酒屋 (izakaya - Japanese type bar/restaurant) for 飲み放題 (all you can drink...but I'm sure you all knew that already). This place we visit quite often. The staff are pretty cool...a few of them are 札大 (Sapporo University) students. Anyway it just so happens that tonight it was all you can drink...all night...for about ￥1080. We got there at about 8.30pm or so...which meant that it was 4hrs...all you can drink...usually these 飲み放題s are pretty cheap but tonight was like extra cheap. So how does the night start off...first drink...whiskey shots. Please note that we asked for SHOTS...but what they bring out is this huge glass thats filled with whiskey!! There was probably about 3-4 shots worth in one of those. And naturally what do we do? We down the whole thing in one go...good way to start the night...and whilst we were waiting for our next drinks to come (i ordered a screwdriver - vodka and orange juice) i notice that there was an actual shot glass of whiskey that someone didn't drink...and so what do I do? I down that shot of course. So as the night continues we drink more...at least 2 more screwdrivers...another huge glass of whiskey...a whiskey and coke as well...or was it 2 of those??...cant remember...

At this point, I was pretty toasted...that was when my b'day surprise came...we it wasn't so much a surprise since I was expecting it...but it was a shock nonetheless. Now at this place that we're drinking...when it's somebody's b'day the bar staff do something special for the b'day person...they come running out in nothing but underwear...and do a little dance for you. And at times...they get a little too close to you. So imagine my shock when I see 4 guys...in nothing but underwear run out and start doing a little dance behind me. One of the guys...まさ...who is a fellow 札大 student wasn't working that day...but decided to join in the dance wearing the hard gay costume. If you guys don't know who hard gay is...google it...you'll find out...

Right well...the night's getting interesting. So it's around midnight now and Brian and Cody decide to catch the last train back home. Me, Chris and Heath on the other hand...weren't quite ready to go yet. And while Chris was picking up these two Japanese girls sitting behind us, I ordered my last drink...another huge glass of whiskey...good way to finish off the drinking session really...And so upon leaving the 居酒屋, we (me,Chris,Heath,the two Japanese girls and ひがし - this Japanese dude I met at a club a while back) decided to go to karaoke - for 6hrs - all you can drink. However, being quite drunk already I didn't really drink that much at karaoke.

In any case...by the time we finished it was about 6am. The first trains are running. Happy joy. We catch the train back to ふくずみ (Fukuzumi) station then walk the 20mins it takes to get from the station back to our apartments. The time now is about 7am. Did I mention that I had class at 9am??..Well I did...and being the good student that I am...I decided to turn up. I hadn't had a shower yet and my head was still spinning. Luckily, the class is a bludge and you don't really have to pay attention in it...hehe...but at least now I know what it's like to turn up to class still buzzed and with a killer hang over...

GO AUSSIES!!!

2006-06-13T12:20:00.000+10:00

I was gonna post something about the Yosakoi Dance Festival that took place last week...but i think I`ll save that for my next post and go on a bit about the World Cup...Japan vs. Australia...

Deciding where to watch the game was difficult...especially when most of your friends don`t know where a decent sports bar is...and so me and Cody (one of my American friends) hit Susukino with the hopes of finding a decent bar to watch the game in...a place where there are plenty of Japanese people and alcohol...and well...lets just say...mission accomplished.

We asked a dude on the street where would be a good place to watch the game and he told us that everyone was going to "King Xhumu" to watch it...now...this place is known as being one of the better trance clubs in Susukino so I was kinda surprised...but he was right...imagine a club like Sublime/Home in Sydney...completely PACKED...with Japanese people...most of them wearing the Samurai Blue colours and are big soccer fans...and me being one of the only Australians in the club...all watching the game on this massive screen...this was gonna be interesting.

The entry fee was expensive though...￥1500...including one free drink...expensive but well worth it considering the atmosphere. Now I said that I was one of the only Australians there...I wasn`t the only one...inside I met this guy from the Gold Coast...his name was Rhett and he had just moved to Hokkaido not too long ago...so we had two Aussies in the club now...and with Cody going for Australia as well...that was a total of three people cheering for Australia...against the hundreds of Japanese supporters in the club...Chris (dude from NZ) was there as well but he was going for Japan...and getting free drinks because of it...traitor.

The game started and everythings going fine...there`s this Japanese dude next us smack talking the Australian team but we ignored him...tis all in good fun. Japan scores a goal...the place goes nuts. And I mean really nuts. We were copping it a bit from the Japanese people we were hanging with. But I kept the faith and in the last 10mins of the game...the mood of the club went from extreme joy...to extreme depression...it was funny. When Australia scored their first goal...the crowd was still in high spirits; so you couldn`t really hear our attempts at an Aussie chant. The score was 1-1 and Japan still had a chance. Then along came the second goal. Things got a little more quiet but the Japanese fans still had hopes of a comeback. The three of us going for Australia though...we were going absolutely nuts...and getting quite a few dirty looks from a few of the Japanese who were around us. Then that final moment during injury time when Australia scored that 3rd goal...the look of horror on the Japanese`s faces...the whole club was virtually silent...broken only by the sound of 3 foreigners shouting "AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!"...it was a kodak moment really...if only I had my camera there...

After that pretty much everyone left the club in virtual slience. Although there were the occasional few that were still chanting the Japanese chant on the streets, it was quiet. The mood wasn`t great but inside I was jumping for joy. In a way it would`ve been good if Japan had won...because Susukino would`ve been just one massive all night party if they had...and I wouldn`t be here posting on my blog if that were the case. So regardless of how the match went, it would`ve been a win win situation for me.

Riverside 46

2006-05-23T14:44:00.000+10:00

Class got cancelled today because the tutor was sick...so I`m here now, in the computer labs, bored and with nothing to do...so I thought I`d talk a little bit about the apartment block that I`m currently living in - Riverside 46.

First impressions of the place - what a shit hole. And I`m paying ￥30,000/month for this?? (that equates to about $350/month). The whole apartment is about the size of my bedroom at home. It really is small and probably not very fire safe either. Hopefully no fires will break out in the complex (*knock wood x 3*). Speaking of fire dangers at Riverside - I was probably seconds away from blowing myself along with half of the building up the other week. How you ask??

Well, one day I walk out of apartment to go do the laundry. I walk into the laundry room to find that the floor was completely covered by 1/2 cm of liquid...and a heavy smell of petrol in the air. I walk in, put my laundry basket on the table, and go to put my clothes into the washing machine...when I kinda thought...hang on...with this heavy smell of petrol...its probably not a good idea to start the washing machine...so I left...only to find out later on that the liquid on the floor was kerosene and that the gas heater in the room had been leaking it all day!! If I had decided to start up the washing machine, the whole building would`ve probably blown up!! Along with me in it!! Such is the safety of our apartments.

But its not all bad though. Although I was really disappointed in the shit hole that I got stuck with, I have grown quite use to it - its actually kinda cosy really...despite the fact that I`m sleeping on the floor...due to the fact that my bed is one of those uncomfortable as hell fold out beds that has a bar that digs into your back if you try to sleep on it!! But I digress...Riverside is actually not that bad - mainly because we don`t have a landlord on the premises most of the time. He only comes in twice a week for like 3hrs to collect rent and maybe check up on things...but other than that, we can have drinking parties till the wee hours of the morning, be as loud as we want, and nobody will complain...because the Japanese don`t really like to complain. Hence there are parties/get-togethers at Riverside once, twice...maybe more every week if we feel like it...we get drunk...we get loud...and nobody is there to tell us off!! And nobody complains. You take the good with the bad I suppose. But I tell you...our neighbours must hate us by now...

Non-Drunk Photos

2006-05-18T16:03:00.000+10:00

And just to show that I`m not drunk/drinking 24/7 whilst I`m here...below are photos of me and friends at 大通り park and at 円山park last Saturday...where we went to see the cherry blossoms and caught a glimspe of a Shinto wedding ceremony...

西岡 Leisureland

2006-05-18T15:27:00.000+10:00

I thought I`d make this post about something other than me getting drunk...I mean after all, I`m over here on exchange and I`m meant to be studying right?? on that note, let me tell you a little bit about Sapporo University or 札大. This place is also known as "西岡 Leisureland"...西岡 being the district that I live in and also where the uni is.

Let's just say, this uni doesn`t exactly have the best reputation academically. In fact...i think it's the uni that students who don't want to go to uni go to. It`s kinda known as the uni for the drop kicks. I`ve been told by people on two seperate occasions that the students here aren`t exactly the brightest of the bunch. It`s a party uni...if you tell people that you study at 札大 they won`t take you very seriously...which for me is a great thing...because the people that I meet/have met here...all they want to do is go out and drink...or go to someone`s house and drink.

I guess this post ended up being about drinking again...but what can I say?? It really is part of the culture here. Back in Sydney I`d be what...drinking maybe 3 - 4 times a month - max. Here its 3 - 4 times a week - minimum!! I`m doing a hell of a lot more drinking than studying...but the way I see it...drinking is part of my studying...afterall...i end up speaking a lot more Japanese when drunk than when I`m sober...

Golden Week = Susukino Week

2006-05-08T13:31:00.000+10:00

Golden Week in Sapporo, what can I say...it wasn`t much different from the way things normally were here. I suppose all the festivals and interesting stuff happens in smaller towns and stuff...or maybe it`s just Sapporo that doesn`t really do anything for Golden Week. Still, it was nice to have the week off which basically meant going into Susukino almost every night and getting absolutely wasted. Almost forgot that I`ve got an assignment due pretty soon...soon as in 2 days time...and I haven`t even started yet...

Still Golden Week was fun...I mean going out and getting drunk is always fun...and this time I didn`t throw up...maybe my tolerance for alcohol has increased slightly since I got here...however I have discovered my new favorite cocktail...Kamikaze!!...almost all the Izakaya (restaurant/bars with all you can drink) have it and its a pretty strong drink...especially if they mix it with just pure spirits without the lime chaser...as they did a few times for us...yeah...they must really like us...anyways below are some photos from last week...

On the top is us and two of our Japanese friends from Uni (and me relatively drunk) on Wed night at an Izakaya...on the bottom is us at Acid Room afterwards...a club...

Above is us and another group of Japanese friends from uni...on Thurs at another Izakaya...for the picture at the bottom...we told the Japanese that it was a western tradition to flip off a friend when taking photos...classy...

Skyscraper Welcoming Party

2006-04-28T13:52:00.000+10:00

Skyscraper is a uni club...it basically consists of a group of people getting together and playing a random sport every Wed then go out drinking or something afterwards...anyway so this week was the clubs first meeting this year...the welcoming party...I went with Chris and well...it was an interesting night indeed...we were the only foreigners there and were considered somewhat of a novelty...everybody was quite shocked when I said I was from Australia...

Anyway the 1st stage of the party was as you can probably guess...heading off to a 飲み放題. The difference this time though was that the drinks that were ordered...were kinda weak (meaning no throwing up on my part)...the strongest drink they had here was beer!!...but most people seem to like this "chuuhai" stuff...which is kinda like a stolly and tastes exactly like fruit juice...still...drink enough and you`ll get drunk...

The 2nd stage then was Karaoke...and karaoke with these people is quite a sight...alot more roudy than any other karaoke session I`ve ever been to...but nonetheless I managed to hold some decent conversations with a few people...mostly in Japanese as well...I stand by my earlier statements that being drunk improves your Japanese communication skills by like 10-fold...in any case...below are photos of Karaoke that night...

Weird Stuff - Part 1

2006-04-25T13:23:00.000+10:00

OK so I`ve been here in Sapporo for almost a month now and have decided that one of my many goals will be to document weird stuff that I happen to come across...weird stuff as well as examples of jinglish...The following photos were taken in a shop around Susukino...ok so this shop is like a multi-level variety store...these were on the 3rd floor, which sells things like costumes, toys, board games, electronics and sex toys...yep thats right...all on the same floor...

Now these two machines in the photo above are one of those skill tester thingys...and its kind of in the corner, in front of the escalator that goes down to the 2nd floor (which is a supermarket btw) and what we have on the right are pandas...fluffy cute pandas...the kind of soft toy you`d expect to find in any old skill tester machine...and on the left we have...dildos...well...vibrators actually...bright pink ones...sitting right next to the fluffy panda soft toys...

Pretty self explanatory really...gotta love the jinglish...

Non Japanese Asian living in Japan

2006-04-18T16:50:00.000+10:00

You hear all these stories from foreigners about their experiences in Japan - how random people just walk up to them and say "hello...how are you?...how do you find it here?" etc etc...but they are all from the perspective of a caucasian living in what is predominantly a mono-cultural society. Well being from a Chinese background, I have a somewhat slightly different experience than a lot of other foreigners here.

For one thing, most Japanese people seem to assume that I speak Japanese fluently...if not fluently then well enough to hold a decent conversation...which for those of you that know me...is definitely not the case...anyhow, because they assume this, I get random people on the street coming up to me and start speaking, not english but Japanese...I try to go along with it but really...after they say a few sentences I get kinda lost then admit that I don`t speak Japanese...but even though I do that...they don`t dumb it down or anything like they do when I`m with the other exchange students...no they continue to speak at their natural speed...and while I`m flattered that they think I can speak Japanese fluently, I kindly remind them that I don`t understand what they`re saying...it`s at that point that they kindly leave me alone...

And on another occasion, I`m in an elevator with Chris (one of the exchange students from NZ) and a bunch of middle aged Japanese people get in...Chris asks these people if there were any good bars in this particular building and they kinda said yes then went on laughing and talking etc etc...then I happen to say the name of one of the bars in english and all of a sudden this lady goes "すごいすごい！！"...and I`m like "huh? what`s so amazing about that?"...that is before I kinda realise that they thought I was Japanese and thought it amazing that I could speak english so fluently...being a non Japanese Asian living in Japan can be quite interesting...I dunno if any of the other ICS students are experiencing the same sorta thing but...it can lead to some interesting possibilities...

to be continued...

1st days of uni

2006-04-11T15:38:00.000+10:00

Well yesterday was my first day of uni and I must say...so far...its easy as hell...nothing compared to the amount of work we had to do back in Sydney. Then again, each subject taken is worth only 2 credit points...but the funny thing is they seperate the lectures and tutorials making them 2 different classes...and they seem to place a greater importance on the lectures rather than the tutorials or seminars...

And so, for the Japanese language class...we had to do a Japanese proficiency test...but it ended up being a 20min interview...which turned out to be pretty easy...i passed (well I`m pretty sure I passed) therefore I`m in the Intermediate Japanese class...but then again...i think anyone who managed to pass Japanese 2 at UTS would be put into the Intermediate class.

And today, my second class - Japanese Society and Culture...and by the looks of it...its way easier than the Japanese language class...the teacher said that...all we gotta do is turn up to class and he`ll pretty much give us whatever marks we want...and i quote.."If you want a AA+ I will give you a AA+...as long as you turn up to every class." Well that suits me just fine..hehe...but I understand now what they mean when they said that for the Japanese, uni life is like their easy years...an end to the harsh study regimes of high school and their final days of freedom before entering the work force...

Susukino

2006-04-08T15:52:00.000+10:00

"飲み放題" - what can i say about these places. ￥1500 - 2000 (which is about $20-25 in Aus...i think) for all you can drink for 2 hrs!!..and believe me i definitely get my money`s worth. I`ve been to 2 of these places now and everytime we (as in...me and the other exchange students...yes I`ve got friends now thank you very much!!) go its a matter of us ploughing through the entire list of cocktails as fast as we can... and the way the Japanese mix their drinks here is quite different from back in Sydney...there`s alot more alcohol in the mix!!...for example...i asked for JD and coke at a club last night...firstly they dont serve it in one of those half glasses like they do in Sydney...the cup is twice the size here...but not only that...i could barely taste the coke in it...it was more like...JD and drop of coke... But the people here are really cool...both times we headed out to Susukino, we had no idea where all the decent clubs were...so using our extremely broken Japanese skills, we ask a bunch of young people and eventually were able to tag along to a few good places...but its funny because we try to speak to them in Japanese and they try to speak to us in english...much hilarity ensures...but I`ve found that when drunk...my Japanese communication skills improve quite significantly...hehe...there`s a tip for all you other ICS students out there...

Consadole Sapporo Vs. Thespa Kusatsu

2006-04-08T15:27:00.000+10:00

These were the two soccer teams that were playing at Sapporo Dome on Wed...and with Sapporo university being a major sponsor for Consadole, we got free tickets to watch the game...actually the university gave out free tickets to all first year students...though I`m not sure how many of them actually turned up. The stadium sure is big though. And the soccer field itself is actually on a sort of platform...on wheels...and it literally gets rolled in whenever it`s needed...the same goes for the dome`s baseball field as well...the whole place can transform from one field to another in about 5hrs...pretty cool if you ask me...

In any case, the stadium wasn`t packed that night but there were enough fans out there to make a strong cheering crowd...at least that was the case for the Sapporo team...for Kusatsu i think there was only about...20 people who were cheering...as opposed to the hundreds that turned out to cheer for Sapporo (not surprising considering it was a home game).

For the game we were accompanied by a staff member...Hatakeyama-sensei(at least I think I should call him sensei...I don`t think he teaches a class though)...and I gotta say he`s a really nice guy...not only did he accompany us to the game but he also paid for the taxi trip there AND also paid for our dinner as well!! We didn`t want to accept and all but he was quite insistant...heh...I can`t imagine any of the staff members at UTS doing this for anyone...

First week in Sapporo!!

2006-04-05T16:05:00.000+10:00

Well Ive been in Japan, here in Sapporo for about a week now and what can I say besides the fact that it`s FREAKING COLD HERE!!!...ok maybe I exaggerate a little...it`s freaking cold at night...it`s meant to be spring time now and but the top temperature here is...hmm...about 3 degrees??...ok maybe it reaches 4 degrees celcius sometimes...but at night the temperature drops below zero...which means the snow that was around or that was melted during the day turns into ice during the night...which makes walking around the streets a lot harder that what I`m used to...but it`s also alot more amusing (especially when you see other people slip and fall on their arses...hehe)

Sounds like I`m having a little bitch here but I`m not...in fact I like the fact that it`s freezing cold and quite different from Sydney...it`ll make life here alot more...interesting...