And even more exciting, we are off home for a week or two of sitting in the sunny-sunshine and eating-the-pies.
As a result the already sporadic updates will be slowing to a mind-numbing crawl. Still, it`ll give you something to do. Get outside and kick a ball around for gods sake.
Adios Muchachos, and to all a goodnight!
b
Friday, December 19, 2003
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Testing times....
Well, they were. Sunday saw us up bright and early for the hour and a half drive into Nagoya to sit the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Arch had strolled up for the weekend to come along, and with Nic sitting Level 4, Arch sitting Level 3 and me sitting Level 2, all we needed was a Japanese national to take Level 1 - for that is about what you need to be.
It was pretty tough.
Moving along.
First snow on the hills around town on Monday...Brrrrr. Local legend has it that when snow falls 3 times in a row on the hills, the fourth time will bring snow to ground level. Yaaaay snowboarding. Boooo riding to work. Still, we have but 11 days until we wing our way to NZ, so less of the complaining, more of the dreaming of free, easy and unabashed access to pies. Mmmmmmmm pies.
Tom and Kerryn are coming through on the weekend for an Xmas roast - looking forward to it immensely.
Hope all is well.
Have some fun out there.
Lots of Love - B and N.
It was pretty tough.
Moving along.
First snow on the hills around town on Monday...Brrrrr. Local legend has it that when snow falls 3 times in a row on the hills, the fourth time will bring snow to ground level. Yaaaay snowboarding. Boooo riding to work. Still, we have but 11 days until we wing our way to NZ, so less of the complaining, more of the dreaming of free, easy and unabashed access to pies. Mmmmmmmm pies.
Tom and Kerryn are coming through on the weekend for an Xmas roast - looking forward to it immensely.
Hope all is well.
Have some fun out there.
Lots of Love - B and N.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Right...where was I?? Oh yes...agog...
So there I sat, all agog like, while the (5 year old) kids processed this rather sad piece of news, I think the guy in the suit felt pretty bad for emotionally scarring these kids for life, so he made another hanky disappear and left the stage.
CAVEAT- THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY, WHICH DOESN`T STOP IT FROM BEING SOMEWHAT DISTURBING, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW SOME OF THE STRANGER STUFF THAT CAN HAPPEN OVER HERE....
And on come two old women. Complete with blue overalls and caps with "Godo Fire Ladies" embroidered on the top. They didn`t really look like the firefighting types, what being about 80 and all, so I figured they bought oranges on at half time during the fighting of the fires. Aaaaanywho, all the while I am still sitting agog. Then the strangest story of all time was read out by these two little old ladies to the (5 year old) kids gathered around......
The story is presented on large sheets of cardboard, hand-drawn slides if you will, that are presented along with an audio commentary, which went a little something like this...
"How Jonny (actually it was Shintaro, but I`ve translated it) became a star....."
Slide One - Happy Family gathered around being happy - "Gosh we`re a happy family, lalalalala"
Slide Two - Happy Mum and Dad - "Gosh we`re happy, what with our happy, healthy family"
Slide Three - Happy Kids (3x boys 4, 5, 7) - "What fun!! Lets play with our toys and be happy!!"
Slide Four - Mum leaving with youngest child to take him to daycare centre, Youngest child says "Even though it`s cold outside, we got told by the fireman who came to talk to us that you should turn the kerosene stove off when there are no adults around" Mother replies (ominously) "Oh, It will be alright little one, we are just going around the corner......"
Slide Five - Remaining 2 kids having a ball, running, jumping, playing, AROUND THE STOVE (dah, dah, dah)
Slide Six - Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the kiddies knocks over the stove, what, with Japanese houses being very strong on the paper and the wood, the thing goes up like a tinder box.
Slide Seven - One kid trying to get outside with his clothes on fire, "Mummy, Mummy, help me!!" other child, again, ominously, nowhere to be seen (5 years old people).
Slide Eight - Child being rescued by a passing stranger, hands, back, legs and face graphically and hidously burned "Mummy, Mummy it hurts" - the woman actually said this.
Slide Nine - Firemen arrive and douse flames, shown retreiving blackened body of other child, he is heard whimpering "Mummy where were you?" before being bundled into an ambulance.
Slide Nine - Child is in a hospital bed, wrapped head to toe in bandages, like the one in the Metallica `One` video, his face is covered in bandages too. Mother is shown slumped on the hospital bed crying, Father is pointing accusingly at her, Smallest child is heard to say "I told you we should have turned the heater off..."
Slide Ten - Jonny (the bandaged one) is seen surrounded by light, a voice asks him if he is ready to go..."Go where?", he asks, "Away", the voice replies. Jonny, a little confused, says, "I can`t go anywhere, I have to go to kindergarten and play with my friends..."
GET THIS
"No", says the voice TO A BUNCH OF FIVE YEAR OLDS, "you played near the stove so you can NEVER SEE YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN..." "But I want to play with them" Jonny replies "YOU CAN NEVER PLAY AGAIN, EVER" the voice replies. Jonny, getting a little concerned, says "I want my Mummy", the voice replies "You can never see your Mummy again- you played near the stove".
At this point even I am terrified and want to run out the door and call MY Mum and say I`ll never play near the stove again, ever. The kids are understandably a little stunned, but it continues...
Slide Eleven - Mother holding Jonnys hand as he slips into the netherworld and with his last breath manages to say "Mummy, it hurts, why weren`t you there, why didn`t you help me...."
Slide Twelve - Jonny goes up into space and becomes a star, and if you listen carefully you can sometimes hear him say "I miss my Mummy, I want to play with my friends". But of course he can`t, because he played near the stove....
Beleive me, no amount of card tricks could get these kids animated again, the fire guys bailed, as did I. It was a very, very, very strange day.
CAVEAT- THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY, WHICH DOESN`T STOP IT FROM BEING SOMEWHAT DISTURBING, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW SOME OF THE STRANGER STUFF THAT CAN HAPPEN OVER HERE....
And on come two old women. Complete with blue overalls and caps with "Godo Fire Ladies" embroidered on the top. They didn`t really look like the firefighting types, what being about 80 and all, so I figured they bought oranges on at half time during the fighting of the fires. Aaaaanywho, all the while I am still sitting agog. Then the strangest story of all time was read out by these two little old ladies to the (5 year old) kids gathered around......
The story is presented on large sheets of cardboard, hand-drawn slides if you will, that are presented along with an audio commentary, which went a little something like this...
"How Jonny (actually it was Shintaro, but I`ve translated it) became a star....."
Slide One - Happy Family gathered around being happy - "Gosh we`re a happy family, lalalalala"
Slide Two - Happy Mum and Dad - "Gosh we`re happy, what with our happy, healthy family"
Slide Three - Happy Kids (3x boys 4, 5, 7) - "What fun!! Lets play with our toys and be happy!!"
Slide Four - Mum leaving with youngest child to take him to daycare centre, Youngest child says "Even though it`s cold outside, we got told by the fireman who came to talk to us that you should turn the kerosene stove off when there are no adults around" Mother replies (ominously) "Oh, It will be alright little one, we are just going around the corner......"
Slide Five - Remaining 2 kids having a ball, running, jumping, playing, AROUND THE STOVE (dah, dah, dah)
Slide Six - Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the kiddies knocks over the stove, what, with Japanese houses being very strong on the paper and the wood, the thing goes up like a tinder box.
Slide Seven - One kid trying to get outside with his clothes on fire, "Mummy, Mummy, help me!!" other child, again, ominously, nowhere to be seen (5 years old people).
Slide Eight - Child being rescued by a passing stranger, hands, back, legs and face graphically and hidously burned "Mummy, Mummy it hurts" - the woman actually said this.
Slide Nine - Firemen arrive and douse flames, shown retreiving blackened body of other child, he is heard whimpering "Mummy where were you?" before being bundled into an ambulance.
Slide Nine - Child is in a hospital bed, wrapped head to toe in bandages, like the one in the Metallica `One` video, his face is covered in bandages too. Mother is shown slumped on the hospital bed crying, Father is pointing accusingly at her, Smallest child is heard to say "I told you we should have turned the heater off..."
Slide Ten - Jonny (the bandaged one) is seen surrounded by light, a voice asks him if he is ready to go..."Go where?", he asks, "Away", the voice replies. Jonny, a little confused, says, "I can`t go anywhere, I have to go to kindergarten and play with my friends..."
GET THIS
"No", says the voice TO A BUNCH OF FIVE YEAR OLDS, "you played near the stove so you can NEVER SEE YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN..." "But I want to play with them" Jonny replies "YOU CAN NEVER PLAY AGAIN, EVER" the voice replies. Jonny, getting a little concerned, says "I want my Mummy", the voice replies "You can never see your Mummy again- you played near the stove".
At this point even I am terrified and want to run out the door and call MY Mum and say I`ll never play near the stove again, ever. The kids are understandably a little stunned, but it continues...
Slide Eleven - Mother holding Jonnys hand as he slips into the netherworld and with his last breath manages to say "Mummy, it hurts, why weren`t you there, why didn`t you help me...."
Slide Twelve - Jonny goes up into space and becomes a star, and if you listen carefully you can sometimes hear him say "I miss my Mummy, I want to play with my friends". But of course he can`t, because he played near the stove....
Beleive me, no amount of card tricks could get these kids animated again, the fire guys bailed, as did I. It was a very, very, very strange day.
Friday, November 28, 2003
Yeah gidday...I remember you guys....
Yep. Been a while.
Twas nice a week or two back to see Mike come on down and visit. The occasion was a Cosmic Wheels gig with some smashing new tunes (hits?) being tossed hither and yon in what this, the sole surviving member of the 100% club who doesn`t see Tom naked on a regular basis thought was one of their most accomplished, thorough and rich sounding gigs of their career.
Was especially nice to finally gain public acknowledgement of my role as manager of the band (in a very `hands off` manner mind), it will be even better when I get my hands of my 70% of any and all filthy lucre that accrues. That was the same day the Foxton High School 3rd 15 took on the Aussies and lost in some sort of competition in Australia. I forget which.
Last weekend saw a party in quite literally the middle of nowhere with representatives from many far-flung corners of this fair earth- including some particularly excited English chaps and some particularly heavy drinking Australian folk. My, I did shake the hands of those from old blighty and reminded them of my fondness for the mother country. They all agreed wholeheartedly that it was indeed about bloody time they won something, and good on them too. Twas a lovely night that disappeared into the morning time with a lot of standing outside and nattering and watching of the sun coming up and blearily wandering to bed as others arose and started (noisily I might add) making pancakes. Lovely day on the Sunday though, so plenty of sitting around in the garden and watching the day go by. Ooodles of fun. And what knocks a hangover on the head like a steaming pile of meat from the local Brazilian BBQ joint??? Not much. A truly grand cap to a roight noice noight.
Cold though. Well into the single digits now- 3 weeks tomorrow till we step off the plane in Sunny old NZ however, so we can deal with it with smiles firmly on faces.
BIG HAPPY BOITHDAYS TO MY BIGGEST SISTER PRU- TURNING **YEARS OLD JUST RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. CUMPLEANOS FELIZ (sp?) AND ALL THAT HOOHAA.
We had the fire brigade come to one of the Kindergartens I teach at the other day. Wow, was that weird. First off they set of an enormous smoke bomb inside the building and made the 5 yr old kids run through it to try and find their way out. Well trained though- when the fire was announced over the PA system, to a one they dropped to the ground, took their wee hankies out of their wee pockets, and bailed out. Then they made them walk through a tent filled with choking smoke (5yrs old people)....but that wasn`t the best part- hell no..... So we stroll upstairs and theres this old chap wearing a Fire Service dress uniform, he has a little chat to the kids, then puts on a manga video about a robot-firefighter that comes back from the future to chase a robot-pyromaniac from the future who is threatening to burn! burn! burn! modern day Tokyo. So that was pretty weird.
But not as weird as the guy in the dress uniform finishing up the tape, pulling a red hanky out of his pocket and making it disappear!!!! Thats right folks, teaching fire safety through MAGIC TRICKS!!! So we sat there for about an hour while this guy did card tricks, rope tricks, wand tricks, disappearing tricks, more and more and still more hanky tricks, he made flowers appear from places flowers shouldn`t be in the first place. The killer was when he made all the kids scream real loud to wake up his "little friend" in this case a stuffed badger. The idea was that they had to scream as loud as they would yell `fire` if they discovered one. So the kids were going ape screaming out this things name and he was making it jump around and stuff, and they kept getting louder and louder and he told them that that was perhaps enough and they had done a good job and well done and no really you should probably be quiet now and so on- but the kids- well they just kept a`screaming - that is until he stopped his badger moving and told the kids that they had yelled so loud that they had killed his "little friend" and now he wouldn`t be playing with them any more (5yrs old people).
I sat agog.
But it got worse....but this is the longest blog in the world so I`ll continue the story at a later date. Tune in- it`s a cracker.
b
Twas nice a week or two back to see Mike come on down and visit. The occasion was a Cosmic Wheels gig with some smashing new tunes (hits?) being tossed hither and yon in what this, the sole surviving member of the 100% club who doesn`t see Tom naked on a regular basis thought was one of their most accomplished, thorough and rich sounding gigs of their career.
Was especially nice to finally gain public acknowledgement of my role as manager of the band (in a very `hands off` manner mind), it will be even better when I get my hands of my 70% of any and all filthy lucre that accrues. That was the same day the Foxton High School 3rd 15 took on the Aussies and lost in some sort of competition in Australia. I forget which.
Last weekend saw a party in quite literally the middle of nowhere with representatives from many far-flung corners of this fair earth- including some particularly excited English chaps and some particularly heavy drinking Australian folk. My, I did shake the hands of those from old blighty and reminded them of my fondness for the mother country. They all agreed wholeheartedly that it was indeed about bloody time they won something, and good on them too. Twas a lovely night that disappeared into the morning time with a lot of standing outside and nattering and watching of the sun coming up and blearily wandering to bed as others arose and started (noisily I might add) making pancakes. Lovely day on the Sunday though, so plenty of sitting around in the garden and watching the day go by. Ooodles of fun. And what knocks a hangover on the head like a steaming pile of meat from the local Brazilian BBQ joint??? Not much. A truly grand cap to a roight noice noight.
Cold though. Well into the single digits now- 3 weeks tomorrow till we step off the plane in Sunny old NZ however, so we can deal with it with smiles firmly on faces.
BIG HAPPY BOITHDAYS TO MY BIGGEST SISTER PRU- TURNING **YEARS OLD JUST RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. CUMPLEANOS FELIZ (sp?) AND ALL THAT HOOHAA.
We had the fire brigade come to one of the Kindergartens I teach at the other day. Wow, was that weird. First off they set of an enormous smoke bomb inside the building and made the 5 yr old kids run through it to try and find their way out. Well trained though- when the fire was announced over the PA system, to a one they dropped to the ground, took their wee hankies out of their wee pockets, and bailed out. Then they made them walk through a tent filled with choking smoke (5yrs old people)....but that wasn`t the best part- hell no..... So we stroll upstairs and theres this old chap wearing a Fire Service dress uniform, he has a little chat to the kids, then puts on a manga video about a robot-firefighter that comes back from the future to chase a robot-pyromaniac from the future who is threatening to burn! burn! burn! modern day Tokyo. So that was pretty weird.
But not as weird as the guy in the dress uniform finishing up the tape, pulling a red hanky out of his pocket and making it disappear!!!! Thats right folks, teaching fire safety through MAGIC TRICKS!!! So we sat there for about an hour while this guy did card tricks, rope tricks, wand tricks, disappearing tricks, more and more and still more hanky tricks, he made flowers appear from places flowers shouldn`t be in the first place. The killer was when he made all the kids scream real loud to wake up his "little friend" in this case a stuffed badger. The idea was that they had to scream as loud as they would yell `fire` if they discovered one. So the kids were going ape screaming out this things name and he was making it jump around and stuff, and they kept getting louder and louder and he told them that that was perhaps enough and they had done a good job and well done and no really you should probably be quiet now and so on- but the kids- well they just kept a`screaming - that is until he stopped his badger moving and told the kids that they had yelled so loud that they had killed his "little friend" and now he wouldn`t be playing with them any more (5yrs old people).
I sat agog.
But it got worse....but this is the longest blog in the world so I`ll continue the story at a later date. Tune in- it`s a cracker.
b
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Hello...
....to everyone. I went to a Toyota factory last week. And right excited I was about it too, whacking great MACHINES I thought, ROBOTS, I thought, WOW!!!
It was pretty cool. We strolled above the factory floor of one of the 9 Toyota factories in the region (Aichi-Prefecture, the one wot has Nagoya in it is home to all of the Toyota factories in Japan.) This one in particular made smaller cars, in particular the Corolla, and the `Vitz`, (a snazzy little mid-sized number that has its own racing leagues over here, like Mini-7`s, but not as cool. Those of you familiar with Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 will know the Vitz as an underpowered lump, curiously with its own championship in the Professional League). Anywhoo, above the factory floor we walked, we didn`t get to see all the super cool stuff like the stamping presses and the welding robots and the painting pool -dash it all- but we did get to see a fairly well oiled production process make some fairly well oiled machines and some, presumably, fairly OOS riddled line workers.
We started with the cars in their basic shape being guided around, over and below us on the nifty rack system- the fun thing is the car is bought in after being painted, the doors are mounted and straightened and checked out, then taken off. The doors then float around the factory on another conveyer system, presumably passing the time of day, than when the cars are finished having their sound-proofing, fuel tanks, dashes, seats, engines, running gear, pretty much everything elses installed, the doors appear out of nowhere, in order, the right colour and exactly on time for them to be slotted in and off it rolls. That was pretty nifty.
The chaps assembling the engines looked a little bored. There was one fellow whose job it was to attach 5 bolts to each engine as it rolled past on a conveyor, he was on a conveyer too, then would walk back to meet the next engine, for another 5 bolts, then he would walk back to the next engine.........
It was a very interesting time indeed. Walking out there was a commemorative wall made in 1989 for the 20 millionth vehicle to comke out of the factory....thats a lot of Corollas out there.
The town the Toyota factory was in was called....Toyota Town. And woe betide any poor chump fool enough to NOT drive a Toyota in the town limits. According to the chaps at the factory if you don`t drive a Toyota you don`t get a parking space- making it a little difficult to get to work on time....which doesn`t show you off in a good light come worker review time.....and well, you know, if your not a team player and your can`t support the company....and what with all those unemployed people out there, many of whom presumably drive Toyotas....if you get what I mean....
Following the factory we were bundled off to the Toyota Stadium, 60,000 seat home of the 3rd Division Nagoya Whatsadoodles. It`s like Buller having a stadium that size. We took our seats during the stadium tour and our attention was drawn to the cables under them....they were heated seats...60,000 of them...in a 3rd division stadium...and, oh, don`t worry about the rain, because this 60,000 (heated) seat 3rd division stadium has....thats right, a retractable roof (rampant overfunded construction industry anyone??). It was pretty cool. Now if they could just spend some of their money on buying good players.....
Cold now. Leaves a stunning array of colours...right nice....
Looking forward to the Cosmic Wheels gig this weekend in the Minokamo.
Have fun all,
lots of love,
Berin
It was pretty cool. We strolled above the factory floor of one of the 9 Toyota factories in the region (Aichi-Prefecture, the one wot has Nagoya in it is home to all of the Toyota factories in Japan.) This one in particular made smaller cars, in particular the Corolla, and the `Vitz`, (a snazzy little mid-sized number that has its own racing leagues over here, like Mini-7`s, but not as cool. Those of you familiar with Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 will know the Vitz as an underpowered lump, curiously with its own championship in the Professional League). Anywhoo, above the factory floor we walked, we didn`t get to see all the super cool stuff like the stamping presses and the welding robots and the painting pool -dash it all- but we did get to see a fairly well oiled production process make some fairly well oiled machines and some, presumably, fairly OOS riddled line workers.
We started with the cars in their basic shape being guided around, over and below us on the nifty rack system- the fun thing is the car is bought in after being painted, the doors are mounted and straightened and checked out, then taken off. The doors then float around the factory on another conveyer system, presumably passing the time of day, than when the cars are finished having their sound-proofing, fuel tanks, dashes, seats, engines, running gear, pretty much everything elses installed, the doors appear out of nowhere, in order, the right colour and exactly on time for them to be slotted in and off it rolls. That was pretty nifty.
The chaps assembling the engines looked a little bored. There was one fellow whose job it was to attach 5 bolts to each engine as it rolled past on a conveyor, he was on a conveyer too, then would walk back to meet the next engine, for another 5 bolts, then he would walk back to the next engine.........
It was a very interesting time indeed. Walking out there was a commemorative wall made in 1989 for the 20 millionth vehicle to comke out of the factory....thats a lot of Corollas out there.
The town the Toyota factory was in was called....Toyota Town. And woe betide any poor chump fool enough to NOT drive a Toyota in the town limits. According to the chaps at the factory if you don`t drive a Toyota you don`t get a parking space- making it a little difficult to get to work on time....which doesn`t show you off in a good light come worker review time.....and well, you know, if your not a team player and your can`t support the company....and what with all those unemployed people out there, many of whom presumably drive Toyotas....if you get what I mean....
Following the factory we were bundled off to the Toyota Stadium, 60,000 seat home of the 3rd Division Nagoya Whatsadoodles. It`s like Buller having a stadium that size. We took our seats during the stadium tour and our attention was drawn to the cables under them....they were heated seats...60,000 of them...in a 3rd division stadium...and, oh, don`t worry about the rain, because this 60,000 (heated) seat 3rd division stadium has....thats right, a retractable roof (rampant overfunded construction industry anyone??). It was pretty cool. Now if they could just spend some of their money on buying good players.....
Cold now. Leaves a stunning array of colours...right nice....
Looking forward to the Cosmic Wheels gig this weekend in the Minokamo.
Have fun all,
lots of love,
Berin
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Struttin`...
For thats what we were doing. All over the three day weekend like a rash. Thanks to `Culture Day` being observed yesterday we decided to take advantage of it all and head down to Kyoto and indeed absorb some culture. Friday saw us in an almost record breaking trip down to Archs place and out for tasty, tasty Indian din-dins. Arch has struck up somewhat of a rapport with the Indian chap who owns the place and on a frighteningly regular basis receives gifts of Indian "Old Calcutta Fire" Rum....which burns the throat AND the eyes and removes tar from clothing and animal fur in no time flat.
Alas, he was not present on Friday, tending his new restaurant down the line somewhere, so, no free stuff aside, it was still rather good. Off home for some natters and beer and then a relatively early nap time for Saturday was reserved for.....
Uji.
Uji is a place about 35 minutes out of Kyoto by expressway which, as far as Japanese history and culture and the like goes, is just plain right up there. For those of you familier with the Japanese currency system, the temple at Uji (Byodo-In) is the one on the back of the 10 yen coin. And right nice it is too.
One of the really fun things that one can do in Japan is stroll along to a building like this one, all wooden, not a nail used in the whole damn thing and read signs that start of something like this "When this temple was built in 983 it was blah, blah, blah, blah".
Your eyes scan in vain for a fourth number on the date, but all to often to no avail. Then, you look over again at the temple, and see the roof, the walls, the steps, the huuuuuge Budda guy inside that have been standing, in the same spot, unchanged, for a 1000 years. And then you whig out. It`s quite, quite neat.
In addition to that, the gardens and surrounds of the temple have been suggested and studied as probable sites of scenes from the worlds first novel, The Tale of Genji...more about that later.
Must dash.
Toodle pip.
b
Alas, he was not present on Friday, tending his new restaurant down the line somewhere, so, no free stuff aside, it was still rather good. Off home for some natters and beer and then a relatively early nap time for Saturday was reserved for.....
Uji.
Uji is a place about 35 minutes out of Kyoto by expressway which, as far as Japanese history and culture and the like goes, is just plain right up there. For those of you familier with the Japanese currency system, the temple at Uji (Byodo-In) is the one on the back of the 10 yen coin. And right nice it is too.
One of the really fun things that one can do in Japan is stroll along to a building like this one, all wooden, not a nail used in the whole damn thing and read signs that start of something like this "When this temple was built in 983 it was blah, blah, blah, blah".
Your eyes scan in vain for a fourth number on the date, but all to often to no avail. Then, you look over again at the temple, and see the roof, the walls, the steps, the huuuuuge Budda guy inside that have been standing, in the same spot, unchanged, for a 1000 years. And then you whig out. It`s quite, quite neat.
In addition to that, the gardens and surrounds of the temple have been suggested and studied as probable sites of scenes from the worlds first novel, The Tale of Genji...more about that later.
Must dash.
Toodle pip.
b
Monday, October 27, 2003
Hey...
So hello there,
I trust respective weekends were pretty fun around the place. Before I get onto another description of a desperately lazy weekend, some observations...
The Japanese banking system is crazed.
"No surprise there!!" Say those eyeing the Japanese banks and their trillions of yen in bad loans which, despite a good 12 years of looking the other way (and occasionally whistling, checking their watch, tapping their feet etc) by the banking corporations don`t seem to have fixed themselves- disappointing that.
No, but as old Vincent Vega once so memorably put it...its the little things.
I have a bankcard. To get money out of my account. From a machine. Just last week there was an ad on TV from one of the larger banks around (not mine) giving themselves a huge pat on the back for introducing a service whereby their ATM`s are open 24 HOURS A DAY!!!!! WOW!!!! THE FUTURE!!!! HERE!!!TODAY!!!
Thats right. The ATMs over here close. Because even computer systems get crabby when they work overtime. Generally they close at about 9:00 at night and open again at a leisurely 8:00 or so in the morning, all refreshed and ready to face another day....as a computer. Even if you want money out of the machines, when they are open but outside of banking hours, there is an extra charge....nothing like a distinct lack of viable competition to really make these guys try hard...
In our wee village there is a choice of three banks. The largest is the 16 Bank - so called because we live in the 16th prefecture and it is a prefectural bank. The next largest is a bank that operates out of the 2nd biggest town in the prefecture - thats where it gets all its money from. And the third is a cooperative of the Japanese Agricultural sector - the less said about that, the better. There is no available access to a large, nation-wide bank around here. I could certainly have an account at one- but there are no ATMs or branches for larger banks anywhere outside the main centres. It is very odd. We are going to Kyoto next weekend. We will have to guesstimate how much money we will spend on the weekend and get that out before we go. Our (prefectural) bank doesn`t have outlets in Kyoto, which is 2 hours away.
Now I know I`m probably sounding a little disilliusioned, angry perhaps, but this isn`t the case. I simply find it very interesting to daily see examples of the contradiction of Japan being the largest high-tech exporting country in the world while still floundering around in a domestic sense.Having said that, it`s an increasingly exciting time to be in Japan at the moment, people are starting to scratch their heads and ask some questions, I look forward to the results of any reshuffling after the general election on the 9th of November- Koizumi is pretty much a shoe-in, but once he gets in I think he is going to have to come up with some, any, goods pretty quick to keep people happy.
Anyways, enough of that, we managed again to hit the Izakaya on Friday night, followed by a splendid Mexican feast on Saturday night with Kerryn and a bunch of folk in Gifu. Nic was most distraught when they ran out of Pina Colada ingredients, but managed to find comfort in the bounteous Margaritas available. A super night out to be sure. Sunday saw stews being made and frozen, squirrelled away for the winter months.And by a quirk of fate I have a three day week this week before we head to Kyoto for a long weekend.
Trust you are all spiffy,
lots of love,
berin
I trust respective weekends were pretty fun around the place. Before I get onto another description of a desperately lazy weekend, some observations...
The Japanese banking system is crazed.
"No surprise there!!" Say those eyeing the Japanese banks and their trillions of yen in bad loans which, despite a good 12 years of looking the other way (and occasionally whistling, checking their watch, tapping their feet etc) by the banking corporations don`t seem to have fixed themselves- disappointing that.
No, but as old Vincent Vega once so memorably put it...its the little things.
I have a bankcard. To get money out of my account. From a machine. Just last week there was an ad on TV from one of the larger banks around (not mine) giving themselves a huge pat on the back for introducing a service whereby their ATM`s are open 24 HOURS A DAY!!!!! WOW!!!! THE FUTURE!!!! HERE!!!TODAY!!!
Thats right. The ATMs over here close. Because even computer systems get crabby when they work overtime. Generally they close at about 9:00 at night and open again at a leisurely 8:00 or so in the morning, all refreshed and ready to face another day....as a computer. Even if you want money out of the machines, when they are open but outside of banking hours, there is an extra charge....nothing like a distinct lack of viable competition to really make these guys try hard...
In our wee village there is a choice of three banks. The largest is the 16 Bank - so called because we live in the 16th prefecture and it is a prefectural bank. The next largest is a bank that operates out of the 2nd biggest town in the prefecture - thats where it gets all its money from. And the third is a cooperative of the Japanese Agricultural sector - the less said about that, the better. There is no available access to a large, nation-wide bank around here. I could certainly have an account at one- but there are no ATMs or branches for larger banks anywhere outside the main centres. It is very odd. We are going to Kyoto next weekend. We will have to guesstimate how much money we will spend on the weekend and get that out before we go. Our (prefectural) bank doesn`t have outlets in Kyoto, which is 2 hours away.
Now I know I`m probably sounding a little disilliusioned, angry perhaps, but this isn`t the case. I simply find it very interesting to daily see examples of the contradiction of Japan being the largest high-tech exporting country in the world while still floundering around in a domestic sense.Having said that, it`s an increasingly exciting time to be in Japan at the moment, people are starting to scratch their heads and ask some questions, I look forward to the results of any reshuffling after the general election on the 9th of November- Koizumi is pretty much a shoe-in, but once he gets in I think he is going to have to come up with some, any, goods pretty quick to keep people happy.
Anyways, enough of that, we managed again to hit the Izakaya on Friday night, followed by a splendid Mexican feast on Saturday night with Kerryn and a bunch of folk in Gifu. Nic was most distraught when they ran out of Pina Colada ingredients, but managed to find comfort in the bounteous Margaritas available. A super night out to be sure. Sunday saw stews being made and frozen, squirrelled away for the winter months.And by a quirk of fate I have a three day week this week before we head to Kyoto for a long weekend.
Trust you are all spiffy,
lots of love,
berin
Monday, October 20, 2003
Well it`s simply been too long...
Not much to note really, a lazy weekend with very little energy expended. One interesting incident to note. The phone rang on Saturday. Not such a strange thing I guess, but on the other end of the phone was a bunch of chums from my year over here as an exchange student when I was 16. We haven`t talked for a decade or so (I know, I know), one of them was getting hitched and my erstwhile host brother was there with my cell-phone number on hand. The chap getting married didn`t tell me his name for some 7 months when I was over here, insisting that I call him "The Prince of Darkness"- this is the only English I ever heard him speak.
They all seem well and are looking forward to when Nic and I wander on down to say hello sometime after the nuptuals. I actually received 5 or 6 calls from them during the day, each one a little more slurred and raucous than the last. As I said, a fine weekend with little to report, apart from going to the Izakaya for the 5th Friday in a row. As you may have guessed, things are pretty quiet here in Godo-towne.
Toodle-Pip...
berin
They all seem well and are looking forward to when Nic and I wander on down to say hello sometime after the nuptuals. I actually received 5 or 6 calls from them during the day, each one a little more slurred and raucous than the last. As I said, a fine weekend with little to report, apart from going to the Izakaya for the 5th Friday in a row. As you may have guessed, things are pretty quiet here in Godo-towne.
Toodle-Pip...
berin
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Knives...
Long weekend in the Japan this past weekend, and it greeted Nic and I with another night down at the Izakaya a-sampling the delights of beer and sake. The next morning, after a couple of false starts we strutted down to the local festival to have our fill of fried goods, just to kick the day off right (see former post regarding festivals, fried goods and coronary disease). The festival here in Godo is suitably cheesy, Nic did make the fine observation that they could have done with one less whole-barbequed-squid stall (there were 3, in a total of about 15 food stalls- a little overkill-y, especially for the squid). Still, they seemed to be doing a roaring trade. Godo spares no expense and drags in all the Carnies (with their big, big hands) from around the countryside including the cheeseball-I-was-a-small-time-celebraty-in-the-70`s-and-I`m-STILL-working-it-and-my-toupee-has-been-with-me-since-those-heady-days type folk to MC it. There was also an enormous, bald-headed, handle-barred moustachioed (sp?), all-Japan arm-wrestling champion. He was taking on all comers. His leather pants were a little odd. He was damned lucky I had elsewhere to be.
And that elsewhere to be was the Seki festival (a real glut of festivals at the moment- everyone trying to have theirs be the last, big blast before the winter sets in). Seki is a medium sized industrial town about 40 minutes away that traditionally made the finest of samurai swords in all of Japan. Understandably, what, with the drop off in Samurai numbers over the past 200 odd years, they have had to branch off into other pursuits. Sticking with what they know, they now make the majority of.....razor blades made in Japan. Talk about a slide is prestige.
They also make cutlery and big, scary, big knives. There were thousands of people, and a few too many of them for my liking were just sort of holding enormous knives, with a 1000 yard stare in there eyes, all glossy like, grinning. These knives were nuts, hey, everyone likes a knife, sure, but these knives made Rambo look like a pussy. We left pretty quick. Still, it was a lover-ly day for a drive and we saw some pretty cool country on our way hither and yon.
Right, I`ve got some Kanji to study.
Goodbye all.
berin
And that elsewhere to be was the Seki festival (a real glut of festivals at the moment- everyone trying to have theirs be the last, big blast before the winter sets in). Seki is a medium sized industrial town about 40 minutes away that traditionally made the finest of samurai swords in all of Japan. Understandably, what, with the drop off in Samurai numbers over the past 200 odd years, they have had to branch off into other pursuits. Sticking with what they know, they now make the majority of.....razor blades made in Japan. Talk about a slide is prestige.
They also make cutlery and big, scary, big knives. There were thousands of people, and a few too many of them for my liking were just sort of holding enormous knives, with a 1000 yard stare in there eyes, all glossy like, grinning. These knives were nuts, hey, everyone likes a knife, sure, but these knives made Rambo look like a pussy. We left pretty quick. Still, it was a lover-ly day for a drive and we saw some pretty cool country on our way hither and yon.
Right, I`ve got some Kanji to study.
Goodbye all.
berin
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAC!!!
wOoP WOooP - Zac is 8. WoOpWoOOp - Zac is 8. wooOOOp WoOOooOp - Zac is 8.
kiss 7 goodbye big fella, 8 rules.
Hope you have a good day, I am still wrapping a little something, something over here, so check the mailbox in a week or so.
Mmmmmmmmm cake.
kiss 7 goodbye big fella, 8 rules.
Hope you have a good day, I am still wrapping a little something, something over here, so check the mailbox in a week or so.
Mmmmmmmmm cake.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Colder...
Yep,
It`s a chillin` down in Godo-Towne. To put a positive spin on the approaching winter months, Nic and I strutted in to Gifu yesterday and sorted her out a right nice little snowboard. In the stark white. It`s perty. She managed to get herself some click-in bindings too, which just save you so much time at the top, they have to be worth it. So we are looking to the sky and she is itching to try out the new board. I`d wager a month or so before the season starts, so the neighbours are going to have to get used to Nic snowboarding down the stairwell for a wee bit, aaaaah well.
In other news...not much has happened. A surprisingly sifty weekend, kicked off by a grand night at the local Izakaya on Friday followed by an all too early wakeup Saturday morning to make the trip in to Nagoya for a look around. Did some solid strolling on what was a lovely blue-sky day. It takes just over an hour to get in to Nagoya, and you get a chance to see some of the crazed public works that has been theoretically "kickstarting" the Japanese economy for the last decade. MASSIVE overpasses, underpasses, throughpasses, roundpasses, essentially the entire way there is along a former 6 lane highway over which they are constructing a....6 lane highway. (earthquake anyone?). A good chance to see some enormous bundles of yen thrown around. They are planning to have it finished in a year or two, and then they are going to tackle the 6 lane highway under the elevated 6 lane highway. Whew!
Still, a grand day out.
Are planning some sort of a road trip next weekend, being a long weekend, but are still undecided.
Have some fun people,
berin
Oh yes - and an enormously belated "good luck, go get `em tiger" and not so belated "well done, have a drink and wait for the results" to our Dr. Jane. Top stuff.
It`s a chillin` down in Godo-Towne. To put a positive spin on the approaching winter months, Nic and I strutted in to Gifu yesterday and sorted her out a right nice little snowboard. In the stark white. It`s perty. She managed to get herself some click-in bindings too, which just save you so much time at the top, they have to be worth it. So we are looking to the sky and she is itching to try out the new board. I`d wager a month or so before the season starts, so the neighbours are going to have to get used to Nic snowboarding down the stairwell for a wee bit, aaaaah well.
In other news...not much has happened. A surprisingly sifty weekend, kicked off by a grand night at the local Izakaya on Friday followed by an all too early wakeup Saturday morning to make the trip in to Nagoya for a look around. Did some solid strolling on what was a lovely blue-sky day. It takes just over an hour to get in to Nagoya, and you get a chance to see some of the crazed public works that has been theoretically "kickstarting" the Japanese economy for the last decade. MASSIVE overpasses, underpasses, throughpasses, roundpasses, essentially the entire way there is along a former 6 lane highway over which they are constructing a....6 lane highway. (earthquake anyone?). A good chance to see some enormous bundles of yen thrown around. They are planning to have it finished in a year or two, and then they are going to tackle the 6 lane highway under the elevated 6 lane highway. Whew!
Still, a grand day out.
Are planning some sort of a road trip next weekend, being a long weekend, but are still undecided.
Have some fun people,
berin
Oh yes - and an enormously belated "good luck, go get `em tiger" and not so belated "well done, have a drink and wait for the results" to our Dr. Jane. Top stuff.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Ovens
The Ovens. In Japan. They are very small. Imagine a microwave oven. Thats the size of the ovens in Japan. They are normal ovens and microwaves in one. And they are very small. I don`t know how people cope going from here to the States for example, where the average oven needs its own postal code, their food must get lost. It would be like trying to roast a chicken in an aircraft hanger.
The reason I bring this up is that this last weekend with Arch, Tom and Kerryn in attendance, we managed to roast a chicken. Not a noteworthy event usually, but seeing as we were roasting in shifts I thought I`d bring it up. First in....taties, those are done, out they go, in goes the halal chicken, imported from Brazil with cooking instructions in Arabic (not as helpful as perhaps it could be), then, in shifts, sidled in alongside the bird go the kumura, then the mushies, then the garlic, then the....it went on and on and around 10:00 on Saturday night we had the bird. And it was dashedly good.
We`d all worked up a hunger by tackling the Godo Miniature Golf course that day. I don`t want you to think this was a putt-putt type experience with windmills and volcanoes and the like. This was a miniature golf course. Sure, the holes were only 30-50mtrs long, but the worn-out-astroturf-on-concrete-bases made for some lightening fast greens. It also seems that in between Gary Players design studio and the Godo riverside there had been some sort of a mix up in that all of the `fairways` had a reverse camber on them. In addition there were no handily placed edges to the fairway, the ball would simply roll off the quick greens and into the rough, the bunkers contained river rocks. I am serious about this. The final killer was that over half the holes were placed on a slope....things were a little tough.
Still, fun was had by all, and when the time came to call the game on the 12th hole, we all had vey respectable 18 hole scores and a hankering for some roasted goodness. Certainly a fine catch up and as far as I can recall we called Paul in London Towne and had a natter. Good times.
I certainly hope you are all well, have some big fun out there,
berin
The reason I bring this up is that this last weekend with Arch, Tom and Kerryn in attendance, we managed to roast a chicken. Not a noteworthy event usually, but seeing as we were roasting in shifts I thought I`d bring it up. First in....taties, those are done, out they go, in goes the halal chicken, imported from Brazil with cooking instructions in Arabic (not as helpful as perhaps it could be), then, in shifts, sidled in alongside the bird go the kumura, then the mushies, then the garlic, then the....it went on and on and around 10:00 on Saturday night we had the bird. And it was dashedly good.
We`d all worked up a hunger by tackling the Godo Miniature Golf course that day. I don`t want you to think this was a putt-putt type experience with windmills and volcanoes and the like. This was a miniature golf course. Sure, the holes were only 30-50mtrs long, but the worn-out-astroturf-on-concrete-bases made for some lightening fast greens. It also seems that in between Gary Players design studio and the Godo riverside there had been some sort of a mix up in that all of the `fairways` had a reverse camber on them. In addition there were no handily placed edges to the fairway, the ball would simply roll off the quick greens and into the rough, the bunkers contained river rocks. I am serious about this. The final killer was that over half the holes were placed on a slope....things were a little tough.
Still, fun was had by all, and when the time came to call the game on the 12th hole, we all had vey respectable 18 hole scores and a hankering for some roasted goodness. Certainly a fine catch up and as far as I can recall we called Paul in London Towne and had a natter. Good times.
I certainly hope you are all well, have some big fun out there,
berin
Friday, September 26, 2003
Earthquake? Eh?
Didn`t feel a thing.
An earthquake hit Hokkaido this morning, the Northern most island of Japan. It was a 6-7 on the Richter scale and there have been 11 injuries reported so far. We are good. Just thought you`d like to know.
You can stop calling all the hospitals.
Tom and Kerryn and Arch coming through this weekend for good times. Will file a full report as it becomes available.
How about that Paul Holmes eh? What a tool.
An earthquake hit Hokkaido this morning, the Northern most island of Japan. It was a 6-7 on the Richter scale and there have been 11 injuries reported so far. We are good. Just thought you`d like to know.
You can stop calling all the hospitals.
Tom and Kerryn and Arch coming through this weekend for good times. Will file a full report as it becomes available.
How about that Paul Holmes eh? What a tool.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
28
Hey there all,
Well, first off, thanks to all concerned for the birthday messages last week. I was certainly looking forward to this one, it fell on a Friday after all, and as it happened, that Friday was payday (oooooh payday) so by the mighty power of those two facts coinciding upon my birthday, I was relishing the thought.
Until about two weeks ago.
Then my supervisor strolled on up to me, bold as brass and stated it was work as usual on the
Saturday, followed by work as not so usual on the Sunday. Any other weekend would have been fine, dash it all. So, plans were hastily rearranged and I faced the working weekend. Nic managed to be pretty sneaky and underhanded however, dragging me out to nearby Gifu to a mystery dinner spot. As it turned out it was a swell Mexican place we had been to once before and lo!! who should that be grinning like iijits in the corner, wiping nachos from their greasy chops (we were a shade late) but Tom and Kerryn- all pre-arranged like.
A super surprise and we sat down to some good natters, some cool beer and some ridiculously good food. Big steak fajitas, mmmm fajitas, dirty ole' spare ribs, mmmm ribs, and....the lights went down, the crowd looked, the waiter winked, Kerryn winked back, and there it was...cake. Mmmmmmmm cake. Adorned with sparklers and such, and a damn fine cake it was too, having survived the bike/train/walk from tom and Kerryns place.
The table we had was actually booked so at the appointed time we made our excuses and left to the station, all of us training home as we were. With an hour or two until our last respective train we ducked into the Station Izakaya , essentially a restaurant at which you drink. Round these parts there isn't really a 'bar' type culture. Drinking is something you do with food. I do miss a good bar. Aaaaah well.
Still, we sat and mulled over this and that over some more sweet beer, and them the trains came and we said our farewells and disappeared off into the night.
Cut to the following morning when Berin has to get up and go to work at 7:00...
Cut away as its just too harsh to relive...
Still a dashedly good night and the Saturday went by in a veritable flash of instant coffee and cold tea.
Sunday the weather around here decided that in fact we had had enough of summer and so dampered down the furnace. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees overnight and has stayed there. The trees are already beginning to turn. Autumn in Japan is quite, quite pretty, albeit a little short. Those days of summer are gone...next stop snowboarding - woopwoop.
Well, first off, thanks to all concerned for the birthday messages last week. I was certainly looking forward to this one, it fell on a Friday after all, and as it happened, that Friday was payday (oooooh payday) so by the mighty power of those two facts coinciding upon my birthday, I was relishing the thought.
Until about two weeks ago.
Then my supervisor strolled on up to me, bold as brass and stated it was work as usual on the
Saturday, followed by work as not so usual on the Sunday. Any other weekend would have been fine, dash it all. So, plans were hastily rearranged and I faced the working weekend. Nic managed to be pretty sneaky and underhanded however, dragging me out to nearby Gifu to a mystery dinner spot. As it turned out it was a swell Mexican place we had been to once before and lo!! who should that be grinning like iijits in the corner, wiping nachos from their greasy chops (we were a shade late) but Tom and Kerryn- all pre-arranged like.
A super surprise and we sat down to some good natters, some cool beer and some ridiculously good food. Big steak fajitas, mmmm fajitas, dirty ole' spare ribs, mmmm ribs, and....the lights went down, the crowd looked, the waiter winked, Kerryn winked back, and there it was...cake. Mmmmmmmm cake. Adorned with sparklers and such, and a damn fine cake it was too, having survived the bike/train/walk from tom and Kerryns place.
The table we had was actually booked so at the appointed time we made our excuses and left to the station, all of us training home as we were. With an hour or two until our last respective train we ducked into the Station Izakaya , essentially a restaurant at which you drink. Round these parts there isn't really a 'bar' type culture. Drinking is something you do with food. I do miss a good bar. Aaaaah well.
Still, we sat and mulled over this and that over some more sweet beer, and them the trains came and we said our farewells and disappeared off into the night.
Cut to the following morning when Berin has to get up and go to work at 7:00...
Cut away as its just too harsh to relive...
Still a dashedly good night and the Saturday went by in a veritable flash of instant coffee and cold tea.
Sunday the weather around here decided that in fact we had had enough of summer and so dampered down the furnace. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees overnight and has stayed there. The trees are already beginning to turn. Autumn in Japan is quite, quite pretty, albeit a little short. Those days of summer are gone...next stop snowboarding - woopwoop.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
2 cents? Anyone? 2 cents? Come and get it...
Just quickly, I am relatively excited by ex-NATO guy-with-all-the-sparkley-stuff-on-his-chest Wesley Clarks` decision to join the 2004 US Presidential race. I think someone who realises that there is a world outside of the US mainland would be a welcome change at the helm of that juggernaut.
Not whole-hearted support from this corner, simply a quickening of the pulse in interest to see how a committed multilateralist who has spoken out about the Iraq debacle fares in the US of today.
There. 2 cents. Take it. Go on.
Not whole-hearted support from this corner, simply a quickening of the pulse in interest to see how a committed multilateralist who has spoken out about the Iraq debacle fares in the US of today.
There. 2 cents. Take it. Go on.
Well, not much actually...
Yep, things have been pretty slow in old Godo over the last couple of weeks.
Still, just letting you know we are alive and well.
We had a phone call from old Jarrod Blaine Ward just the other day, out of the blue there, he sounds well and is mooching along right nice in sunny Kansas City.
Other than that Nic has found a new vocation - Total World Domination - in the form of Risk2, on the `puter. This led to a fine, fine Friday night last week with 6hrs of Risk for her and a similar amount of time on the PS2 for moi. Added to that some rather good Chilean wine and some natters when we could be excused from our respective ventures added up to a top evening.
Monday saw us faced with "Respect for the Aged" day holiday over here, we lazed about for much of the day before heading up nearby Mt. Ikeda (about a 25 minute drive seemingly straight up and wendling -thats enough Shane- around some pretty tight corners, from home) ostensibly to sit in the sun, Unfortunately we didn`t realize it was 5:00 when we left and the sun was bidding us farewell. Undeterred we chased it across the mountain range for an hour or two through some nice bush/mountain land, before finally giving up and returning to nearby Ogaki to visit its grand Brazilian restaurant/cafe to fill up on meaty goodness and real bread.
`Twas grand.
We are getting our Japanese licences on Monday- very much looking forward to being legal again.
Tata.
Still, just letting you know we are alive and well.
We had a phone call from old Jarrod Blaine Ward just the other day, out of the blue there, he sounds well and is mooching along right nice in sunny Kansas City.
Other than that Nic has found a new vocation - Total World Domination - in the form of Risk2, on the `puter. This led to a fine, fine Friday night last week with 6hrs of Risk for her and a similar amount of time on the PS2 for moi. Added to that some rather good Chilean wine and some natters when we could be excused from our respective ventures added up to a top evening.
Monday saw us faced with "Respect for the Aged" day holiday over here, we lazed about for much of the day before heading up nearby Mt. Ikeda (about a 25 minute drive seemingly straight up and wendling -thats enough Shane- around some pretty tight corners, from home) ostensibly to sit in the sun, Unfortunately we didn`t realize it was 5:00 when we left and the sun was bidding us farewell. Undeterred we chased it across the mountain range for an hour or two through some nice bush/mountain land, before finally giving up and returning to nearby Ogaki to visit its grand Brazilian restaurant/cafe to fill up on meaty goodness and real bread.
`Twas grand.
We are getting our Japanese licences on Monday- very much looking forward to being legal again.
Tata.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
A MOMENTS SILENCE....
Johnny Cash is dead. I am upset.
John ("Three's Company") Ritter is also dead. Thats a tough break, to die on the same day as someone like Johnny Cash. Sure Threes Company was good, but compared to "Ghost Riders in the Sky"?, come on.
Today is a black day.
John ("Three's Company") Ritter is also dead. Thats a tough break, to die on the same day as someone like Johnny Cash. Sure Threes Company was good, but compared to "Ghost Riders in the Sky"?, come on.
Today is a black day.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
The Buddha Guy's Vital Stats
So this is how big he is...
Height of Body: 48.91ft (sitting).
Length of Head: 17.75ft.
Length of Eye: 3.34ft.
Length of Ear: 8.33ft.
He was a very large chap.
Height of Body: 48.91ft (sitting).
Length of Head: 17.75ft.
Length of Eye: 3.34ft.
Length of Ear: 8.33ft.
He was a very large chap.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Hello Again, Thanks for waiting.
Well then, our weekend...
After slashing our usual 2hr20min trip to Archs down to under 2 hours we had a super catch-up over some Yaki-Niku; (Yaki , meaning "to roast/grill" and Niku , meaning "meat" = inordinate amounts of meaty-meat you roast yourselves over a small, charcoal BBQ.) I look left....I look right...nary a vegetable do I see.......Mmmmmmmmm. Meeeeeeaaaat.
An aside on that- Nic does sometimes run in to trouble when introducing herself as "NIc", because the Japanese generally pronounce in 2 letter combinations - ka, gi, mu etc, which is why there is very rarely a Japanese company that ends not on a vowel sound - ToyoTA, HonDA, MitsubiSHI etc - So when Nic introduces herself, the closest they can get to approximating it is Ni-ku, meaning Nic simply states "Gidday, call me MEAT."- Bemused stares all round.
Anywhoo, next day we started our super trip to Nara, and lo! there was certainly much gob-smacked staring and a small amount of running from rabid, out-to-get-you-sacred-deer. The deer just hang out around the enormous park that has the historic attractions of Nara placed on it. You buy little bikkies for them to nibble on, but some of them...
a) don`t understand you have to physically have the bikkies in your hand before they can accost you for them, and
b) have grown past the Oooja-boooja-boo-wook-at-the-widdle-deery-weery-lets-give-him-a-widdle-bikkie-wikkie stage and are old, fat, ugly and angry at the younger Bambi (tm) types working the crowds and getting the goods.
These make for scary deer.
So we ran the gauntlet of deer and made or way to the star attraction, the Todai-Ji Temple. You can also have a gork here. Think of something big. Then think of that as being very small. Then think of this building being very big. And completely made of wood. And considered `new` because it was built in 1709. Relatively new I guess, but the statue inside of the big Buddha fellow is really very, very big and old, dating, in parts from the original, cast in 749, with the `newer` pieces added in the 12th century. The guy is 48 feet tall people. And he`s sitting down. Thats a pretty big guy.
The building has two main beams supporting the roof, these are 1m in diameter and 23m long, weighing in at a cool 43.5 tons each. Of wood. These are 40m above the ground and you can`t see them for the gold and carry-on on the ceiling. They sit there, thanklessly supporting the 1200 tons of building plonked around them. I thanked them. Particularly when they were over my head.
We spent a while in there and just as we were coming on out, the nature turned on a flash thunder storm forcing us to sit on the 1600 year old steps and do a good bit of people watching. CONCLUSION: There are some sour faced old American tourists who need someone to tap them on the shoulder and remind them just how long ago 1600 years was and how big a 48ft tall sitting Buddha guy actually is.
It was a very peaceful excursion. You wash your hands before entering the hall, you place incense in an enormous incense bowl just at the entrance way, waft some of the smoke over yourself and then go in and look at a representation of a God who has a very relaxed look on his face and looks like he has just read a damn good book, or scratched a good scratch, or eaten some bacon. It was really very, very nice.
I have to go and make boomerangs- thats just the sort of thing that happens over here. Toodle pip.
berin and nic.
Well then, our weekend...
After slashing our usual 2hr20min trip to Archs down to under 2 hours we had a super catch-up over some Yaki-Niku; (Yaki , meaning "to roast/grill" and Niku , meaning "meat" = inordinate amounts of meaty-meat you roast yourselves over a small, charcoal BBQ.) I look left....I look right...nary a vegetable do I see.......Mmmmmmmmm. Meeeeeeaaaat.
An aside on that- Nic does sometimes run in to trouble when introducing herself as "NIc", because the Japanese generally pronounce in 2 letter combinations - ka, gi, mu etc, which is why there is very rarely a Japanese company that ends not on a vowel sound - ToyoTA, HonDA, MitsubiSHI etc - So when Nic introduces herself, the closest they can get to approximating it is Ni-ku, meaning Nic simply states "Gidday, call me MEAT."- Bemused stares all round.
Anywhoo, next day we started our super trip to Nara, and lo! there was certainly much gob-smacked staring and a small amount of running from rabid, out-to-get-you-sacred-deer. The deer just hang out around the enormous park that has the historic attractions of Nara placed on it. You buy little bikkies for them to nibble on, but some of them...
a) don`t understand you have to physically have the bikkies in your hand before they can accost you for them, and
b) have grown past the Oooja-boooja-boo-wook-at-the-widdle-deery-weery-lets-give-him-a-widdle-bikkie-wikkie stage and are old, fat, ugly and angry at the younger Bambi (tm) types working the crowds and getting the goods.
These make for scary deer.
So we ran the gauntlet of deer and made or way to the star attraction, the Todai-Ji Temple. You can also have a gork here. Think of something big. Then think of that as being very small. Then think of this building being very big. And completely made of wood. And considered `new` because it was built in 1709. Relatively new I guess, but the statue inside of the big Buddha fellow is really very, very big and old, dating, in parts from the original, cast in 749, with the `newer` pieces added in the 12th century. The guy is 48 feet tall people. And he`s sitting down. Thats a pretty big guy.
The building has two main beams supporting the roof, these are 1m in diameter and 23m long, weighing in at a cool 43.5 tons each. Of wood. These are 40m above the ground and you can`t see them for the gold and carry-on on the ceiling. They sit there, thanklessly supporting the 1200 tons of building plonked around them. I thanked them. Particularly when they were over my head.
We spent a while in there and just as we were coming on out, the nature turned on a flash thunder storm forcing us to sit on the 1600 year old steps and do a good bit of people watching. CONCLUSION: There are some sour faced old American tourists who need someone to tap them on the shoulder and remind them just how long ago 1600 years was and how big a 48ft tall sitting Buddha guy actually is.
It was a very peaceful excursion. You wash your hands before entering the hall, you place incense in an enormous incense bowl just at the entrance way, waft some of the smoke over yourself and then go in and look at a representation of a God who has a very relaxed look on his face and looks like he has just read a damn good book, or scratched a good scratch, or eaten some bacon. It was really very, very nice.
I have to go and make boomerangs- thats just the sort of thing that happens over here. Toodle pip.
berin and nic.
Friday, September 05, 2003
Friday, August 29, 2003
Jon,
I hesitate to agree with your claim that "The Hulk is the best @#%&*^(())+$#$%@# damn ?"{#$@^&*()@ movie ever made". I'm sorry. We all are.
Moving on, a wonderful overview of New Zealand Culture is now available on-line. I will be pointing any and all queries directed towards me in regards to New Zealands identity in the world towards this fact-filled delight.
Now, back to the Obon celebrations....
As you will no doubt recall, our intrepid cultural ambassadors had just alighted from their special train and were wending their way towards the celebrations....
Gujo is a really pretty little place, at least at nighttime it is. Gifu prefecture has an awful lot of mountains in it, The Japanese Alps for example. Gujo is nestled in some pretty mountainous country with a large castle overlooking the town and a bunch of rivers running through it. (I looked for Brad Pitt and Mr. Newman, to no avail). We knew we were on the right track when we arrived at the Festival Food stalls. Mmmmmmm festival food.
A QUICK ASIDE ON FOOD IN JAPAN...Food, in general is seen as a very large part of the identity of domestic Japan. Take Ramen for example. Noodles. Good old, bog standard noodles, imported from China a bullion years ago. But still the identities of many different parts of Japan are tied up in their version of the original recipe. Fukuoka, for example, in the Southern Island of Kyushu, where I was for my exchange, has Hakata ramen, named after the central area of the city. Hakata Ramen is basically an entire pig carcass, placed ever so delicately in an enormous pot and boiled to buggery for a day or two into a thick, white, oily, pig-gy, really, really dirty good soup. Add noodles, et, voila (excuse my French) a regional delicacy. Ask for Hakata Ramen anywhere in Japan and this is what you'll get. The Ramen from Tokyo are, as far as I can recall, based around a soya sauce soup, Hokkaido has a salt based soup and so on. It is interesting to talk to many Japanese people about their domestic travel...
"How was your trip to blahblahblah?"
"The Ramen was delicious"...
"I want to go to Hokkaido"
"Why?"
"I hear the Ramen is delicious"
It is quite difficult to overstate how important gastronomy is as an identifying factor for regions in Japan. I digress. Back to the festival food. With festival food, the more the food is fried, the better the food is. Mmmmmmmmm fried festival food.
Deep Fried chicken, Deep fried squid, Fried Noodles, Fried Meat, ...Mmmmmmm Fried stuff. It tastes good and is not necessarily 100% proven with finality to be the only major cause of heart disease. Mmmmm.
So. Greasy chicken in one hand, warmed up defribulators (sp?) in the other we marched on to the festival. At first it seemed a teeming mass of people, on closer inspection however it turn out to be... a teeming mass of people. So we wendled our way in and joined the throng. it was estimated that 100,000 people were there that night, I estimate about 60% of them were in fact fried food vendors but still there were a ton of people doing the dance and methodically shuffling along the road in time with the minstrels. We caught on to the particular dances pretty quick, and as they each went on for 20-30 minutes before a brief break and the launch into the next, we got prety good at them by the changeover.
It was very interesting. You are standing in a line, doing these ritualistic dances (cranes flying, warriors on steeds - no
"chopping-thewood" or "top-shelf-middle-shelf-bottom-shelf-trolley" though) that have been done for a few hundred years, over and over, and over again and it can get very trance-like. Just shuffling along and all of a sudden your 30 metres away from where you last remember being- all very odd.
Right. Thats enough for today. Have a swell weekend.
tata.
I hesitate to agree with your claim that "The Hulk is the best @#%&*^(())+$#$%@# damn ?"{#$@^&*()@ movie ever made". I'm sorry. We all are.
Moving on, a wonderful overview of New Zealand Culture is now available on-line. I will be pointing any and all queries directed towards me in regards to New Zealands identity in the world towards this fact-filled delight.
Now, back to the Obon celebrations....
As you will no doubt recall, our intrepid cultural ambassadors had just alighted from their special train and were wending their way towards the celebrations....
Gujo is a really pretty little place, at least at nighttime it is. Gifu prefecture has an awful lot of mountains in it, The Japanese Alps for example. Gujo is nestled in some pretty mountainous country with a large castle overlooking the town and a bunch of rivers running through it. (I looked for Brad Pitt and Mr. Newman, to no avail). We knew we were on the right track when we arrived at the Festival Food stalls. Mmmmmmm festival food.
A QUICK ASIDE ON FOOD IN JAPAN...Food, in general is seen as a very large part of the identity of domestic Japan. Take Ramen for example. Noodles. Good old, bog standard noodles, imported from China a bullion years ago. But still the identities of many different parts of Japan are tied up in their version of the original recipe. Fukuoka, for example, in the Southern Island of Kyushu, where I was for my exchange, has Hakata ramen, named after the central area of the city. Hakata Ramen is basically an entire pig carcass, placed ever so delicately in an enormous pot and boiled to buggery for a day or two into a thick, white, oily, pig-gy, really, really dirty good soup. Add noodles, et, voila (excuse my French) a regional delicacy. Ask for Hakata Ramen anywhere in Japan and this is what you'll get. The Ramen from Tokyo are, as far as I can recall, based around a soya sauce soup, Hokkaido has a salt based soup and so on. It is interesting to talk to many Japanese people about their domestic travel...
"How was your trip to blahblahblah?"
"The Ramen was delicious"...
"I want to go to Hokkaido"
"Why?"
"I hear the Ramen is delicious"
It is quite difficult to overstate how important gastronomy is as an identifying factor for regions in Japan. I digress. Back to the festival food. With festival food, the more the food is fried, the better the food is. Mmmmmmmmm fried festival food.
Deep Fried chicken, Deep fried squid, Fried Noodles, Fried Meat, ...Mmmmmmm Fried stuff. It tastes good and is not necessarily 100% proven with finality to be the only major cause of heart disease. Mmmmm.
So. Greasy chicken in one hand, warmed up defribulators (sp?) in the other we marched on to the festival. At first it seemed a teeming mass of people, on closer inspection however it turn out to be... a teeming mass of people. So we wendled our way in and joined the throng. it was estimated that 100,000 people were there that night, I estimate about 60% of them were in fact fried food vendors but still there were a ton of people doing the dance and methodically shuffling along the road in time with the minstrels. We caught on to the particular dances pretty quick, and as they each went on for 20-30 minutes before a brief break and the launch into the next, we got prety good at them by the changeover.
It was very interesting. You are standing in a line, doing these ritualistic dances (cranes flying, warriors on steeds - no
"chopping-thewood" or "top-shelf-middle-shelf-bottom-shelf-trolley" though) that have been done for a few hundred years, over and over, and over again and it can get very trance-like. Just shuffling along and all of a sudden your 30 metres away from where you last remember being- all very odd.
Right. Thats enough for today. Have a swell weekend.
tata.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Hello again.
I just received from Shane a super e-mail that I am going to share with you.
Thanks Shane.
You do, in fact, rule...
On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
And when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING IN THAT FOR ALL OF US.....
I just received from Shane a super e-mail that I am going to share with you.
Thanks Shane.
You do, in fact, rule...
On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
And when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING IN THAT FOR ALL OF US.....
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Hey Hey Hey.
Pretty hot here in the old Japan. As Mike said the weather has been a little skew-wif this year, people are looking to the sky, there is much shaking of the heads and gnashing of the teeth. Oh well.
Thought i'd fill you in on the Obon celebrations of a few weeks ago...
Obon is a Japanese celebration of the dead, the theory goes that during the Obon all of the dead relatives come home for a wee while and see what you've done with the garden and how the new drapes look in the living room. Obon forms a quasi-national-public holiday, not really a true holiday, but everyone (traditionally) was compelled to return to their homes and eat, drink and make merry. Leading up to and during the Bubble economy companies were more than willing to let people stroll home for a week or so on unofficial paid leave, assured that when they returned the Yen would be stronger still, and some more of New York would be available to snap up at bargain basement prices.
Then one day it wasn't.
Since then free leave for Obon has been reined in somewhat, but still a couple of days are set aside during the traditonal Lunar Calender oriented festival for you to dash home and pay your respects. This year we were invited up to dance at the Obon festivities in a wee town/hamlet called Gujo-Hachiman. Gujo has been doing this for some 410 years in a row and the practice really does show.
Basically there are five simple dances that are performed by all and sundry in a line three deep that wends its wendly-way down a wee road from a large central courtyard. The line is essentially a large loop, with the dancers facing the middle, open stretch of road, looking across at other dancerswho are ahead/behind them in the conveyer. Like a slot car set. In the middle of the no-mans-land in the middle of the road sits a float and upon this float sit the minstrels, about 7 of them, who play, and play, and play, and play, and play, and play, and play all damn night.
We strolled up there with Tom and Kerryn (our "in" to the whole affair) and a bunch of other foreign types with and International Association of a town called something-a-rather-that-i-forgot. Anywhoo, these folks kitted us out in Yukata (summer kimonos) and taught us (briefly) the required dances before bundling us on a train the 1 1/2 hours up the way to Gujo. The train was pretty swell, we had a booked carriage that had been outfitted with a tatami mat (rushes bound together tightly to form a mat. They appear in essentially all Japanese houses, spectacularly expensive, long-wearing and a standard unit of measurement for Japanese homes eg: "a 5 tatami room"). So there was much sitting on the floor of the train and nattering.
I had a nap. It had been a long day already. (Trick for young players- the Yukata is basically a dressing gown. Take care to keep the mouse in the house...especially while napping)
We arrived, the expected rain didn't, and off we set for the dancing....
Ooops
I have a 3hr 1-1 Japanese class starting in 15 minutes, I"ll be back with more of the Obon carry on after a message from our sponsors...
Pretty hot here in the old Japan. As Mike said the weather has been a little skew-wif this year, people are looking to the sky, there is much shaking of the heads and gnashing of the teeth. Oh well.
Thought i'd fill you in on the Obon celebrations of a few weeks ago...
Obon is a Japanese celebration of the dead, the theory goes that during the Obon all of the dead relatives come home for a wee while and see what you've done with the garden and how the new drapes look in the living room. Obon forms a quasi-national-public holiday, not really a true holiday, but everyone (traditionally) was compelled to return to their homes and eat, drink and make merry. Leading up to and during the Bubble economy companies were more than willing to let people stroll home for a week or so on unofficial paid leave, assured that when they returned the Yen would be stronger still, and some more of New York would be available to snap up at bargain basement prices.
Then one day it wasn't.
Since then free leave for Obon has been reined in somewhat, but still a couple of days are set aside during the traditonal Lunar Calender oriented festival for you to dash home and pay your respects. This year we were invited up to dance at the Obon festivities in a wee town/hamlet called Gujo-Hachiman. Gujo has been doing this for some 410 years in a row and the practice really does show.
Basically there are five simple dances that are performed by all and sundry in a line three deep that wends its wendly-way down a wee road from a large central courtyard. The line is essentially a large loop, with the dancers facing the middle, open stretch of road, looking across at other dancerswho are ahead/behind them in the conveyer. Like a slot car set. In the middle of the no-mans-land in the middle of the road sits a float and upon this float sit the minstrels, about 7 of them, who play, and play, and play, and play, and play, and play, and play all damn night.
We strolled up there with Tom and Kerryn (our "in" to the whole affair) and a bunch of other foreign types with and International Association of a town called something-a-rather-that-i-forgot. Anywhoo, these folks kitted us out in Yukata (summer kimonos) and taught us (briefly) the required dances before bundling us on a train the 1 1/2 hours up the way to Gujo. The train was pretty swell, we had a booked carriage that had been outfitted with a tatami mat (rushes bound together tightly to form a mat. They appear in essentially all Japanese houses, spectacularly expensive, long-wearing and a standard unit of measurement for Japanese homes eg: "a 5 tatami room"). So there was much sitting on the floor of the train and nattering.
I had a nap. It had been a long day already. (Trick for young players- the Yukata is basically a dressing gown. Take care to keep the mouse in the house...especially while napping)
We arrived, the expected rain didn't, and off we set for the dancing....
Ooops
I have a 3hr 1-1 Japanese class starting in 15 minutes, I"ll be back with more of the Obon carry on after a message from our sponsors...
Monday, August 25, 2003
Well folks, we're back. Thanks for feeding the pets and getting in the mail.
We didn't actually go anywhere as such, rather were swept off the net by the persistant and oft' annoying demands of the REAL world. Still, here we are.
I'm not so sure about the instant noodles I'm eating at the moment...they are a soupless instant noodle that one tops with mayonnaise and mustard out of a squirty-pack affair when ready to eat. They seem to be sticking to my insides in quite, quite unpleasant way. Hmmm. In current news, a 1.5m crocodile was caught two towns over in the rice fields...not a daily occourence to be sure...them not being native and all.
My International Drivers Licence expires next week, and I have to change it over for a Japanese one. This involves trips to three seperate offices, including the killer one; the actual licensing center, where I have to ring up and make an appointment for a DAY, not part of a day... a DAY. You turn up at 8:00 and they promise to see you AT SOME STAGE between then and 4:00 in the afternoon...("The offender is described as a bureaucratic nightmare posing as a First World, High-Tech economy..."). Still, should give me a chance to brush up on my "waiting-in-line" skills.
We had a visit this past weekend from my erstwhile host brother, from my one year jaunt as an exchange student over here many, many moons ago. We never really saw eye to eye during the time and I was a little concerned that initial niceties may dissolve into some hardcore uncomfortable silences. Happily surprised I was to find him (as am I) a completely different person and some not-as-uncomfortable-as-previously-expected times were indeed had.
We strolled off to our local fun times a-go-go locale, the Riverside Mall and went to see the Hulk. Now I have been waiting for this wee number for quite some time. I have fond memories of Dr. David Banner and his unfortunate run-in with near-lethal doses of Gamma Radiation (and the end theme...on the piano? wow.) I was excited about Ang Lee directing it. I was excited about Eric Bana playing the big green chap. I was a shade disappointed. The nods to the comic boook genre were appreciated to be sure, the CGI was pretty nuts, I just felt it could have been a little better. Thats all. There, I've said it.
Next day, after receiving an impassioned plea from Norihiko (for that is his name) to go and see some more movies (he has two kids and made note of the fact that if he sees one more mermaid, magical horse, talking teddy bear or juggling jungle beast he will not be held accountable for his actions) we went to see Terminator 3. Which was sold out. So we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean (Quick poll: Cari-BEE-in, or Carib-i-in?) Now. I'm a chap who likes my Pirate adventures (an underexplored genre in recent times to be honest) to be swashbuckling. More of the Swashbuckle. Less of the not-Swashbuckle.
it was good.
Get along and see it. Leave your rolling of the eyes and your "Johnny Depp? A Pirate?" and your "Disney?" and your "Berin thought it was good and he's a tool" at the door and get along in there.
me hearties.
aaaaaaarrrrr. cap'n.
On that note, I'm going to drag myself out the door and go and do something productive with the day. Toodle-pip.
We didn't actually go anywhere as such, rather were swept off the net by the persistant and oft' annoying demands of the REAL world. Still, here we are.
I'm not so sure about the instant noodles I'm eating at the moment...they are a soupless instant noodle that one tops with mayonnaise and mustard out of a squirty-pack affair when ready to eat. They seem to be sticking to my insides in quite, quite unpleasant way. Hmmm. In current news, a 1.5m crocodile was caught two towns over in the rice fields...not a daily occourence to be sure...them not being native and all.
My International Drivers Licence expires next week, and I have to change it over for a Japanese one. This involves trips to three seperate offices, including the killer one; the actual licensing center, where I have to ring up and make an appointment for a DAY, not part of a day... a DAY. You turn up at 8:00 and they promise to see you AT SOME STAGE between then and 4:00 in the afternoon...("The offender is described as a bureaucratic nightmare posing as a First World, High-Tech economy..."). Still, should give me a chance to brush up on my "waiting-in-line" skills.
We had a visit this past weekend from my erstwhile host brother, from my one year jaunt as an exchange student over here many, many moons ago. We never really saw eye to eye during the time and I was a little concerned that initial niceties may dissolve into some hardcore uncomfortable silences. Happily surprised I was to find him (as am I) a completely different person and some not-as-uncomfortable-as-previously-expected times were indeed had.
We strolled off to our local fun times a-go-go locale, the Riverside Mall and went to see the Hulk. Now I have been waiting for this wee number for quite some time. I have fond memories of Dr. David Banner and his unfortunate run-in with near-lethal doses of Gamma Radiation (and the end theme...on the piano? wow.) I was excited about Ang Lee directing it. I was excited about Eric Bana playing the big green chap. I was a shade disappointed. The nods to the comic boook genre were appreciated to be sure, the CGI was pretty nuts, I just felt it could have been a little better. Thats all. There, I've said it.
Next day, after receiving an impassioned plea from Norihiko (for that is his name) to go and see some more movies (he has two kids and made note of the fact that if he sees one more mermaid, magical horse, talking teddy bear or juggling jungle beast he will not be held accountable for his actions) we went to see Terminator 3. Which was sold out. So we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean (Quick poll: Cari-BEE-in, or Carib-i-in?) Now. I'm a chap who likes my Pirate adventures (an underexplored genre in recent times to be honest) to be swashbuckling. More of the Swashbuckle. Less of the not-Swashbuckle.
it was good.
Get along and see it. Leave your rolling of the eyes and your "Johnny Depp? A Pirate?" and your "Disney?" and your "Berin thought it was good and he's a tool" at the door and get along in there.
me hearties.
aaaaaaarrrrr. cap'n.
On that note, I'm going to drag myself out the door and go and do something productive with the day. Toodle-pip.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Right-o kids- i did warn you about the infrquent updates, so you'll all have to take the good with the mediocre. Suffice it to say we have hit a busy patch right nearing the end of the summer holidays and writing time is at a premium.
We farewelled Arch this morning, he was strutting off to do some camping in the nature, he came up on Sunday and it was marvellous fun to see him, we rode the ferris wheel at the mall down the road. I forgot about my debilitating fear of heights until the kindly chap working on the "Godo Wheel of Death" locked us in...then my clammy hands, racing heart, blurred vision, tightened throat and slight whine reminded me and I kept my eyes on the horizon for the wonderful 10 minute adventure.
Much beer was consumed following this near-death experience, but it still took a couple of hours to really get over the nerves.
Nic now sees me in a whole new light.
Bugger.
Anywhoo, we have been up to a bunch more, but unfortunately are running around and around and around and around doing this and that- will write when the hectic-ness fades.
Hope all are well and good.
Berin
We farewelled Arch this morning, he was strutting off to do some camping in the nature, he came up on Sunday and it was marvellous fun to see him, we rode the ferris wheel at the mall down the road. I forgot about my debilitating fear of heights until the kindly chap working on the "Godo Wheel of Death" locked us in...then my clammy hands, racing heart, blurred vision, tightened throat and slight whine reminded me and I kept my eyes on the horizon for the wonderful 10 minute adventure.
Much beer was consumed following this near-death experience, but it still took a couple of hours to really get over the nerves.
Nic now sees me in a whole new light.
Bugger.
Anywhoo, we have been up to a bunch more, but unfortunately are running around and around and around and around doing this and that- will write when the hectic-ness fades.
Hope all are well and good.
Berin
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Following closely behind Mike "I Blaze The Trails" Crump and Kate "I Follow Freshly Blazed Trails Closely" Doherty-Taylor/Taylor/Taylor-Doherty?? we bring to you from deepest, darkest Japan, the trials and tribulations of hanging out in a wee town called Godo...(see what i did with the blog name there? did ya? huh? huh? woopwoop)
Well folks. It's been a long day. I wrote a tome. A biblical tome. A tome as long as your arm. I learned a lesson. Save your tomes. I will write soon. I must fetch beer.
Yours,
Berin.
And here I am!!
Back again!!
Patient smile resting on my lips.
Just.
Man- what a tome!! It rests now. In tome heaven. Still, heres some stuff...First, is the CRAAAAAAAAZY installation art place Nic and I wandered out to a couple of weekends ago, its called "The Site of Reversible Destiny"....and it's been put up by a Japanese chap who, it seems, likes to take lots and lots of acid.
Second on the list is our brand-spanking new digital camera. Ooooooooh it's so peeeerty
i trust you are all well.
lots of the love,
Berin and Nic.
Well folks. It's been a long day. I wrote a tome. A biblical tome. A tome as long as your arm. I learned a lesson. Save your tomes. I will write soon. I must fetch beer.
Yours,
Berin.
And here I am!!
Back again!!
Patient smile resting on my lips.
Just.
Man- what a tome!! It rests now. In tome heaven. Still, heres some stuff...First, is the CRAAAAAAAAZY installation art place Nic and I wandered out to a couple of weekends ago, its called "The Site of Reversible Destiny"....and it's been put up by a Japanese chap who, it seems, likes to take lots and lots of acid.
Second on the list is our brand-spanking new digital camera. Ooooooooh it's so peeeerty
i trust you are all well.
lots of the love,
Berin and Nic.
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