Yoko and Mario

Yoko being the cool chick she is, came to Tomioka with azuki (anko) sweets, Mame Daifuku (white) and Waribimoshi (brown). 

 The day started off at about 2.30pm, when we left home on my day off to pay my rent for the month. 

 The mission was to get an O-furikomi Kado, a bank transfer card which automates paying my rent without having to ask a japanese person to "hold my hand" at the ATM every month. 

 We were too late to get to the bank by 3pm at Yokohama, so we went to Kamioka and did the procedure just in time. After doing that we went to Macdonalds for a free iced coffee before taking the next train to Yokohama. 

 First stop was the Gelato Firenze where I had a mango, kiwi yoghurt and double berry gelato and gf had a tropical fruit, strawberry cake and something else that I have totally forgotten. It must have been good.

  We did a round trip around the Yokohama Minato Mirai area making our way to the Red Brick Warehouse precinct, which had mostly homeware shops so it was a little ordinary. We followed the area in a circle until we got back to Landmark Tower again.

 

We walked back to Yokohama station, a 20 minute walk from Minato Mirai and I we stopped in a Taito game arcade that had a lot of UFO catchers. 

 I played a 100 yen machine for a Disney bunny I have called "Yoko". It took about 1000 yen to win. The damn thing would just not go down the friggin' shute! On the last try I put a coin in (my sensitive trigger fingers), before it fell down finally of its own accord. 

 Because I put the coin in after I had already won the prize, the staff gave me a free credit on another machine. I wisely chose the Super Mario machine and only put in one 100 yen coin and got it first go! 

 It was pretty close. The claw pushed the toy against the side of the shute, leaving me in suspense for what felt like more than a few minutes, then letting gravity pull it down all the way into my tense hands. 

 I am addicted to these machines, but to tell you the truth I enjoy the challenge of winning SOMETHING. I only have to figure out now how I'm going to get these stuffed toys back to Australia.

Yakiniku Sans Tongue

I did an early shift at Yokohama waking up in semi-darkness. I thought I may have set my alarm wrong, but it was because outside was pouring again with rain. I paid my month's health insurance bill at the Am/Pm, then caught my train. 

 It was a pretty busy day, but starting early meant finishing early. After work I met up with the gf and we had an "all you can eat" dinner at the same yakiniku as last time. 

 We were the first people in the restaurant. We had unlimited meats for seventy minutes. As soon as we filled the hot plate, we ordered more plates to make sure there was no down time waiting for the staff to deliver some more. Oh, and I sampled just one piece of tongue. No, I don't like it now. Too chewy. 

 We were going so fast that after only thirty minutes the gf and I had the same face that said, "I'm stuffed!" We slowed right down and ate at a more leisurely pace. 

 After dinner it was still raining outside, so we went to the music shop in Vivre for me to ogle some pretty guitars. There was a clothing shop that had shirts with bad english. Check these out..

 

Back At Kamio-oka Again

I had so many substitute kids classes at other schools that I hadn't been here for a while.

I arrived at the station early so I went to the small games arcade beside the school and saw a Snoopy that I thought I could get. I cautiously put in my 200 yen and carefully maneuvered the crane into place.

The claw was as weak as a 90yr old man and did nothing but nudge the plushie on the head. I don't know but this made me annoyed and I walked into the school with dark clouds above my head.

The day went smoothly. The best thing I like is that it is a small school and not very busy. It's a good way to get myself ready for the working week.

My first three classes was a female student. I thought it would kill me to do three lessons in a row, but she was easy to talk to and the time went by quickly.

The second lesson was supposed to be a double booking as well, but the student cancelled so I had almost two hours free to go over my regular kids class for tomorrow.

This school is much better prepared and had all the teaching materials available. I played the cassettes (yes, tapes) for the songs I have to sing, "The Hello Song" and "Ten Little Elephants" (normally Indians, but it must be some political correctness thing).

I gave a prospective student an ability test and my final lesson was a high level student. A good way to finish the day.

The student walked to the station with me. I was a little tired and didn't really feel like giving him a "free" lesson in my own time. He said he was catching the train, so I said I needed to buy my ticket and I'd see him next time.

I made my way home in a genki mood listening to some sweet sounds on my iPod. I made a simple rice meal and practised some more sweep picking on my guitar until I was too tired to do anymore.

The gf called me. We have decided to go to the Yakiniku after I finish work in Yokohama on Wednesday.

Ueno Museums

Today we went to the Ueno area to look at two museums, the University Art Museum and the National Museum Of Nature and Science. 

 The gf wanted to see a special exhibition at the first one, so it cost 1100 yen (a 200 yen discount from the Grutt Pass). It was about the paintings on traditional paper shrine doors. 

 Although it was sort of interesting. I don't think it was worth it. The permanent collection was better as it showed the much more interesting, "100 views of Edo" woodblock prints. With our pass we could have seen this for free. 

 We were a little drained and had sore legs by the time we finished there. We were also hungry so we went to the National Museum of Nature and Science. We ate at the restaurant there. The food was basic, but much needed so I scoffed it down with vigour. 

 This place is much more interesting than the Science Museum we saw last week. It was more suitable for adults and children (the other one was more like a kids playground). 

 There is the fantastic "Theatre 360" which is similar to an Imax theatre, but the screen is all around you in a sphere and there is a platform running the length of it. Highly recommended. 

 We stayed at this museum until closing time (yes, THAT song). We had a fun time there. 

 We took a train to Roppongi to go to a museum shop but by the time we arrived it was closed. We walked around Midtown to kill some time. At the big supermarket I bought Azuki Milk icecreams for both of us, which were delish. 

 From there we walked into Tsutaya, checking out the latest J-pop CDs. The gf bopped her head to a cheesy 70s disco CD. 

 Making our way home I was quite tired but gf was surprisingly genki to say the least. It must have been the Azuki..

The Betrayal

The most shocking news is that the gf has admitted (with an evil laugh), that a WHOLE month ago at the yakiniku, she got me eating beef tongue without telling me what it was.

Apparently I said it tasted good, but I don't believe it. Looking back in hindsight, I am sure there was something in the meat that didn't taste right.

She tried to justify it by saying it tasted good. I said to her, "What if I fed you human flesh, and you said it tasted good?" Does that make it right? No, exactly!

Anyway, from now on I am going to find out what "tongue" is in japanese and tell the waiter not to order it. That girl is lucky I forgive her. pfft..

The Most Lax Day Off Ever

Today's plan was to go to Enoshima again, but I didn't get to sleep till 4am last night. I woke up quite late and the weather was cloudy so it looks like everything was against doing that. 

 I plugged in my guitar and tried practising doing sweep picking exercises. This technique allows you to play arpeggio sequences very quickly across the guitar neck. It's a difficult thing to do, maybe I should have been practising my japanese instead. 

 I worked out the chords to the "ABC" song, cranked up the overdrive and did my own punk version which would go off in my kids class. I can see it now, live at the Budokan English School, "Hello A Levels!"

Absence Makes The Heart Forget

Today I am a substitute kid's class teacher at Yokohama.. fantastic..

I wasn't as nervous, because what I am finding is that most of the students in these classes are actually better behaved than in my own kids class.

I caught the usual train to Yokohama. On the train there was a little Japanese boy sitting opposite me that looked like Chicken Little with his head down drinking from a straw in a bottle and looking up at me through his glasses.

He was nothing short of adorable. I wish I could have taken his photo, but his dad would surely be wondering why this gaijin wants to take a picture of his son.

I bought a headphone adapter for my guitar amp from Yodobashi Camera before I went to the school. For some reason most of the shops in the area were closed. I have no idea why, as there aren't holidays on anymore as far I know.

My first lesson was an A level class. I did the exact same lesson as Fujisawa, but I think it went better. I taught them "small" instead of "little" (which we are told to use). I only noticed when one of the students said "small". Oops..

The second one was a C level, older kids class, and as usual they were pretty much bored to be there. They learnt the material well so I take it as being a success.

The rest of the day was quite hectic leaving me little time to fill in the roll books with comments. I ended up completing them at the end of my shift.

Maybe it was my tiredness, but I was feeling a little down as well. I haven't heard much from friends back home, so I feel a bit forgotten. The gf called me late tonight, which made me feel better. Sometimes it can be lonely in Japan. I'm really content that I have someone that makes me feel wanted.

Walking To Shin-sugita

I walked to Shin-sugita to go to work today at Fujisawa.

It didn't take as long as last time. In fact, it only took about 25 minutes from Tomioka.

Going from here to Keikyu Tomioka is about a 5-10 minute walk. Then there is the waiting at the stations for up to 10 minutes, and another 10 minutes walking between Sugita and Shin-sugita, so there is not a big difference in time.

The main thing is that I save the train fare (yet again), and get some exercise I really need.

Today at work was the usual Fujisawa day, with my kids class. Only three of them were there and another one that was just trying out for the lessons.

It was a mix between havoc and compliance, but like always I managed to get through it all.

Before I walked back from Shin-sugita to home I decided to do some extra shopping at the bigger local Suzukiya supermarket.

I got two 2ltr bottles of Calpis (my local has run out), a 1.8ltr bottle of Green shochu, 1kg bags of salt and sugar, 1000g of cooking oil and a 3 pack of noodles.

I don't know what I was thinking, but I decided to walk home as well.

There was a nice breeze, but by the time I got home, my shirt was soaked in sweat. Lucky then, that I smartly chose to wear a t-shirt to work and change there.

For dinner I made some chicken curry rice with vegetables and onion. It tasted really good. I still surprise myself with my cooking. I put it all down to just a little bit of luck.

First Day Back To Work

I had a weird dream this morning. For some reason I stole someone else's car in it. The Dreammoods website didn't really help (it said if I had MY car stolen), but it still offers some interesting interpretations of dreams nonetheless.

Because I didn't get to the store in time last night, I had no choice but to buy my much needed groceries today.

I went down to the store in the stifling humidity, tired and hungry. Strangely though I didn't buy as much junk food as I normally would in this condition. Just the essentials, including a 12 pack of toliet paper which we desperately needed. Double thickness for extra comfort.

I also went to the bank to make sure my pay went through. Check, all seems ok.

I found out that Softbank, my mobile phone company, still managed to withdraw from my australian credit card, even though the expiry date was last month, which is strange. I'd really like to be able to pay direct to a branch as using this card, takes an extra AU $6 each month for the currency conversion.

I played my guitar at full volume through my new amp. It doesn't seem as loud as I'd thought it would be, but it still sounds quite good I think, very clean with nice effects.

Today I had a sub day at Kawasaki. This is a nice school. I don't mind coming here. For a first day back after vacation, this was perfect.

I only did two lessons which was great. An easy way to slip back into the working week.

Back To Earth aka Tomioka

We didn't get to sleep until 4am.

So.. no there isn't that much to say. We woke up around 3pm and I started packing my things and my new amp to make way to going back (*sigh*) to Tomioka.

I didn't do a lot on my holidays, but it doesn't matter. I still appreciated the time off. It especially gave gf and I twenty four hours every day together. Living in each other's faces was really going to tell if we could stay together. A week in Tomioka and a week in Tokyo.

I won't say it was perfect. She gets REALLY annoyed and frustrated when she gets tired and sometimes doesn't have a lot of patience, but nothing I think I should worry about. Other than that, I think she has been the perfect girlfriend. Thanks gf.

Although my amp wasn't all that heavy, it was a little bit of a pain to cart it through the gates of the train stations, and up Tomioka hill. Humidity was at an all time high. I was sweating a river.

When I got home only Derek was there. He asked what I brought back and I said, "a box". We walked down to the supermarket only to find it shut early, being sunday. I have enough for dinner tonight (noodles), and I bought some azuki iceblocks to tide me over until tomorrow.

Back to work tomorrow. If it wasn't called "work", maybe it would something to look forward to.

Two Monthiversary

We woke up about 9am, because at about 1015am I walked to Musicland KEY in Shinjuku to buy my 50w Crate TX50DBJ busker's amp. It should be useful. As well as guitar, I can use it for bass and voice, effects as well and CD player inputs. 

 I paid 45,000 yen for it. This was the best price I could get from anywhere in the area. I asked him again if he could do anymore discount but he still said no, but I managed to get him to add a channel footswitch at least. 

 I got an email from Crate saying that I could use a local Australian AC Adapter with it without problems, so that is a relief. I would love to do some busking sometime. 

  By the time I got back, I got ready to go out again. I wanted to use the Grutt pass to go to the Science Museum. It wasn't too bad, but all the exhibits were in Japanese, and there were so many kids there I didn't get as much of a chance to "play" as they did. I think these 3D specs make me look a bit like Bono. Don't you think so? 

  The museum is actually in the same area as the famous Budokan stadium ("Hello Tokyo!!") where many famous bands have played and recorded their live concerts, for example, Cheap Trick. 

 From there we had unsatifying Macdonalds coupon burgers. (I got teriyaki chicken which was quite ordinary). 

 The weather was looking overcast and threatened rain, but we decided to go to Shibuya to celebrate our two months together at the same bar we met, Tasuichi. I think the two months may have been last weekend, but better late than never. 

 We walked around Shibuya a bit. We stopped in Don Quixote, looking for my Green shochu. It was 1180 yen for a 1.8ltr bottle, but I saw a 4 litre bottle of shochu for less than 1900 yen! I'm going to be in big trouble if I buy that. 

 We found a toy shop called Blister, that was selling everything 50% off. I got a Donkey Kong gorilla for 800 yen and a Gremlin's Gizmo for 1500 yen. It would have been how much I would have spent at a UFO catcher, so better to get it than lose the yen I say. 

 We had some Häagen-Dazs "Azuki Milk" icecream which was so good, I bought another 320 yen cup. Azuki forever! 

 After that we went to the bar. It was good to be back there again. Nothing has changed. Still the same gaijin/japanese ratio. I could swear there was a japanese girl giving me the eye, but I didn't talk to her at all. After all, we were there to celebrate the time we have been together and I'm not that kind of person.

 We went home pleased and a little tired. I got my amp charging tonight ready for me to use when I get back to Tomioka. I can't wait to try it out.

Shin and Junko

These are the spoils from my UFO catcher win today. But more about that later.. 

 Nothing much was accomplished today at all. It was SO hot and humid today, the best thing to do was nothing at all. Apparently it was so bad a few elderly Japanese couldn't take it and died. 

 As the sun went down we walked towards Shinjuku. I was thinking of going to that shop and getting that friggin' amp I want/need. 

 I asked if they could bring the price down any lower than what they emailed but they wouldn't budge any further. I said I'd come back later and tried to get it discounted at other music shops and they didn't come down either (and they were more expensive). Don't these guys want to make a sale? 

 On the way to central Shinjuku I saw "my" car parked nearby with the same hardtop and colour as my MX-5 back home. Yoko was impressed. Oh, I miss driving! 

 Anyway.. we had ramen noodles at Kohmen. It was pretty tasty and not too expensive. Better than Macdonalds for sure. 

 I thought we had enough time to go back to the music store for the amp, but after a few steps I realized it would take more than ten minutes to get there before it closed. 

  Plan B was to go to Krispy Kreme. Always a good option. As per usual we got our free donut waiting in line, and then got two donuts each. I got a pineapple filled and a lemon filled one. Gf got a normal glazed and a chocolate glazed donut. We will eat these as part of breakfast for tomorrow. 

 You can sort of see the donut making behind me if you look real carefully. Yes, I'm wearing a Tokyo shirt in Tokyo. TOURIST!! 

 From there we made our way back towards Yotsuya. It looks a little overcast like it might rain. 

 We walked past the UFO catcher arcade and I asked gf if we could go in. Surprisingly, she said, "yes, five minutes!" 

 

Check out the concentration, but more notably the wallet in my hand ready to take out the next 100 yen coin! 

 I saw a Rilakkuma machine that looked like I could win it. The first (brown one) took 800 yen to win. The second (white) took 1200 yen. My adrenalin was running at an all time high. Once I had one, I HAD to try for the other one as well. 

 They have names. The brown one is "Shin" and the white one is "Junko", a play on words for their place of "birth", Shinjuku. 

 I was walking proudly, but slightly shaken back home, and I thought we could use a free Macdonalds iced coffee, so we walked back for a celebratory drink.

On our way back in a combini (convenience store), I saw they were selling flavoured oxygen in cans. These are coffee and strawberry. For what you can get pretty much free, 600 yen. Weird!

Earthquake!

I felt my first earthquake this morning. 

 After being here over two months I was thinking this was long overdue. It was early in the morning, while I was still in bed (or more correctly on "futon"). 

 It's quite unsettling and a little scary. The apartment shook like it was made of paper for a few seconds, like it was possessed. 

 Somehow I thought it would be "fun" to experience it, but I can really do without it. 

 Gf was busy today so I walked to Shinjuku alone. It was so humid. By the time I got there, I was soaked in sweat. 

 I tried the amplifiers I am interested in getting. 

 There was a Line 6 Vetta combo for 99,800 yen which is a fantastic price. It has modeled sounds of all the best amps out there and sounded pretty good although I was a little nervous to turn it up. 

 The only thing that really bugs me is that this thing is heavy! I'm not sure how I'm going to cart this thing back to Tomioka, let alone Australia. 

 The other amp was a 2 channel Crate 50W buskers amp. They were selling it for 45,800 yen, which is a reasonable price (I'd still want to talk it down though). It didn't have too bad a sound (with effects too) either. It wasn't too heavy and I think it would be much easier to transport. 

 From there I went through Shinjuku. Unfortunately my only purpose here was the UFO catchers. I lost 300 yen today. Maybe if I keep on losing I'll give up. 

 To make myself a little happier I bought two bottles of peach juice and a Pooh bear yo-yo at the 100 yen shop. Yes, it made me more happy. It lights up! oooh.. 

  Before walking back to Yotsuya I couldn't resist taking a picture of all these girls in yukata (summer kimonos) getting some Macdonalds. 

 If I waste train money I have to punish myself somehow, so that's why I'm walking. 

 We may be going to see more fireworks tonight.

Studio Ghibli Exhibition

We only had one thing in mind to do today and that was to see the new Studio Ghibli exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT) in Kiba. 

 We caught the subway line from Yotsuya to Kiyosumi-shirakawa station and walked about fifteen minutes.

  There was a huge lineup to get into the exhibition. In hindsight we probably should have just went to the normal section, but instead we waited one and a half hours to get in. 

 I recommend anyone coming to Tokyo to get the GRUTT (Good For Round Tour Ticket of museum) pass. It's 2000 yen and gives free entry for 56 museums, galleries and zoo for two months. For special exhibitions though it's discounted. Sounds like good value to me. 

 The exhibition itself was interesting enough. It was about the guy who draws the background landscapes for Studio Ghibli anime movies. We only had an hour an a half to see everything. 

 To end it off we heard Auld Lang Syne yet again in the polite japanese way of saying "Get outta here buddy!". I would hear it again later on getting out of a shop in Ginza. On New Years I'll be NOT singing that song. 

By the end we were really tired so we took a train to Ginza, eating unagi (eel) at Chikuyo-tei. It was really nice meal. We kneeled on tatami mats, with a short table just like in traditional japanese eating. Eel is really tasty. Something like fish but maybe more tender. 

 After that we went home to rest and a little more shochu.

The Maids Of Akihabara

I went mostly solo today. The gf is doing a short job for a few days so I was left to my own devices. 

 I didn't have anything in particular planned so I decided to go to Akihabara and Ochanomizu. They are only a short walk from each other. 

 Aki for the UFO catchers and electrical junk in Electric Town (oh, and maids too), and Ochanomizu for guitars, guitars and more guitars!

 

  Arriving at Akihabara I saw one of the maids promoting their maid cafes. I felt like a perv for taking her picture. Yoko would probably call this hentai, but all I can say to that is "pffft". 

 Surprisingly the whole time I was there, I didn't spend a yen on a UFO catcher, although I REALLY, REALLY wanted too, as people were winning all around me. I was waiting for my "moment".

 

I sneaked another maid picture here. She clearly busted me for taking her photo. Thank you maid girl. May your picture remain posted here for all eternity! 

 Later on I met up with the gf at Ochanomizu, sparing her the boredom of me weaving in and out of the numerous guitar shops on the strip. 

 We had some cake and coffee/tea before walking back to Akihabara for some blank CD/DVDs. 

 We went to the local Don Quixote, where I admired the maid outfits that I wish gf would wear for an um, special occasion. 

 There I bought a 700ml 25% bottle of the infamous green shochu. Looking back now I wish I got the 1.8 ltr bottle for 1080 yen. DANG! 

 Akihabara is geek central. With all the computer stores, porn manga comics and GUYS playing the UFO catchers for upskirt dolls, it must be heaven for nerds.

  Just in case one of them missed this "prize" in an arcade, this UFO catcher has a mirror. 

 Arriving back in Yotsuya, I had shochu mixed with peach nectar juice which I heartily recommend. 

 Oh, to be in Tokyo and pleasantly inebriated.

Macdonalds?

We walked to Shinjuku today. 

 First, we went to Yotsuya library where I found a lot of CDs I plan on copying. I feel like a total alien walking through here. 

 It's not very obvious where the library was, and as usual I felt like the odd gaijin out here. There were a few English books and magazines. I was happy to find the Rolling Stone mags in English. 

 I'm noticing that everytime something closes in Japan they are playing Auld Lang Syne, the New Year's song to let everyone know it's time to go. (yes, they even played it at the beach). 

 After the library closed we walked towards Shinjuku. We got a peach gelato which, while not the best I've had, was still refreshing in the summer humidity. 

  There seemed to be a festival going on as we approached Shinjuku. There was a rainbow of balloons showing the entrance and exit of the closed off street. 

 On closer inspection it looks like this was a gay festival. 

 Yes, there were a lot of men around, but I only saw one male couple openly holding hands. Oh, and the two transvestites dancing on a podium was a dead giveaway. 

 Across the road was yet another music instrument store. As usual there was something that I felt like buying. A guitar amp was 75% off! It would have been sweet, but it would be a bitch to get it back to Australia. 

 It would probably also need a power conversion to 240v I believe. So, for now I will have to be patient. I may get a small busker's amp later on. 

 We went into the Isetan to get some "Time Reset" or something facial creme for the gf. I don't think she needs it, but you think she's going to listen to me? 

 I have to confess that we went to Macdonalds today and yes, I got a burger. Yoko had coupons. I was hungry and.. one thing led to another. So, there it's done. I can't take back that moment. It felt dirty and wrong, but it was cheap. So anyway.. 

 We went to some UFO catcher arcades. I lost 100 yen yet again, but I will master it. The gf was looking unimpressed. At least she didn't get as annoyed as last time. 

 We walked back home again. With the money I save from not catching the trains, I will have more UFO catcher money. See, it's getting me fit, right, RIGHT?!

Tokyo Bay Fireworks

The days in Tokyo are so hot and gf's air conditioner today doesn't seem to be working. 

 It's good being here rather than in Tomioka though. 

 Derek arrived home friday night angry, banging on the door because I locked it when he arrived. He hasn't been very happy since Reina broke up with him. 

 Also, with the infestation of fruit flies that have been partying in our rubbish bin and house, gf (and I) are relieved to be away from that for a while. 

 It's difficult to decide what to do when we have all the time available to us. Tonight we went to the Tokyo Bay Fireworks. 

  We took the train to Tsukishima station to go where it was free to view the fireworks. It looks like tonight everyone else had the same idea. I would easily say that there were more people here than Sumidagawa fireworks. 

 The fireworks were easily more impressive. Check out the love hearts in the sky! There were also smiley faces. You can see some other examples here. 

 After the fireworks we made a joint decision to go to Shinjuku and get a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to end an enjoyable night. 

 To gf's disappointment we went through the UFO catcher arcades. Seeing the look on her face sucked out any enjoyment I would have had to play them so I didn't spend any yen there. 

 We walked home to Yotsuya stopping momentarily to grab another doughnut out of the box. We also stopped along the way to get two bottles of shochu and an energy drink. 

 On arriving home I finished one of the 220ml 25% shochu bottles quickly and felt pleasantly intoxicated. I love this place!

Enoshima!

Today we went to Enoshima to go to Shonan Beach. 

 The Japanese don't rate it very highly, but I thought it was really nice. It reminds me a little of the beaches of Sicily with the bar huts along the beach. 

 We arrived there around 330pm. There were more people here than Chigasaki and I think it is a better beach. There were more young people and it had a better atmosphere. 

 Best of all, when it came time for the lifesavers to go home, they didn't tell everyone to get out, so I stayed in the water until about 6pm. I even managed to catch a few waves bodysurfing which made me happy. 

 There was one dead fish in the water. Maybe the water isn't that clean, but here I am still able to post to my blog! 

 We had an idea to go somewhere outside of Tokyo/Yokohama these holidays, like Osaka or Hiroshima, but being everyone's summer vacation it's not that easy. Maybe I'll do it another time with better planning.

Tonight I am going into Tokyo for a few days so I'm not sure how much I'll be posting.

Going to the Beach!

This was the second day of my holidays and I was determined to go to the beach. We are in the midst of summer and the humidity is a bad as it gets. 

 I didn't get up until about 130pm. First idea was to go to Enoshima beach but the decision was made to go instead to Chigasaki. 

 The way to get there is the same way that I go to Fujisawa, except instead of getting off there, we take the train for a further two stops. 

 Getting to Shin-sugita, the Club Sega was calling me. Thankfully I resisted to not spend all the yen in my wallet, instead only (wasting) one 100 yen coin on the evil UFO catcher machine. 

 We arrived at Chigasaki station around 415pm. Gf wanted to take the bus to the beach but I thought it would be better to walk seeing it was only about 20 minutes from the station. Gf won, we took the bus.

 There weren't all that many people on the beach. It was late, but I have to say the water was the perfect warmth. I wanted to stay in the water for a long time. 

 Unfortunately the lifeguards (I have no idea why they have them) blew their whistles to get everyone out of the water as it was time for them to go home. 

 I couldn't believe this. This only leads me to believe Japanese are the most boring people on earth, happy to do what everyone else does. For some reason this includes leaving all their rubbish on the beach. I don't understand why they do this. 

 If you look anywhere else, there are no bins around the city but you will never hardly ever see any litter anywhere. Don't get me started on their crazy garbage rules for the home.

  This is about the time we went home. If you look in the distance behind the buildings you can see Mt Fuji. Well I think it is.

Azuki

I can always rely on gf to bring some sweets when you comes around. 

 The way to a man's heart is with Azuki, and she knows it. The little wooden box will come in handy as a key box or something. Attractive and useful! The box I mean.

Kawasaki Two Time

I was in no hurry to go to Kawasaki today.

I had three, count them, one, two, three kids classes to do today. I wasn't really keen to do them, but it looks like it sounded worse than it actually was.

First up was the Mini Kids class.

There were thankfully only two little bundles of joy to deal with. They were full of beans (or at least Miso soup), being a handful for their tired mothers who are in the classroom to encourage them.

Next up I had a higher A level class with three girls. One of them was really loud and very outspoken. The second girl was quiet but had a good grasp of the lesson. The last girl was very quiet and shy, but they all went through the lesson without any problems.

Finally, I had a B level kids class. This is the ideal level that I prefer. The only thing is that there were seven children in the room.

At first I thought I was going to be over my head if they all ran riot, but they all had a blast. They bounced all their active energy of each other which made the teaching actually easier on me. Dang, if only I could remember all their names!

Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I decided to seek out a UFO catcher amusement arcade.

I know, I know, this is a BIG mistake, but i just can't help myself. I lost 800 yen (or was that 1000 yen?) trying to win a cute Rilakkuma bear that was temptingly hanging over the edge of the drop shute.

Feeling again defeated, at the Keikyu supermarket in Tomioka I bought not just one, but two blocks of Crunky to make me feel better. Does it make me feel better? You bet it does.

It gave me the chance to use my new points card too for the first time. It's going to be a while before I get my "free" shopping voucher though.

Roppongi One Time

I hadn't been here before so next on the itiniery would be Roppongi. 

 To tell you the truth, the place at least during the day doesn't leave me inspired much. Compared to Shibuya, there is no comparison. Everything Shibuya is, Roppongi isn't. At least this is my impression in daytime. 

 Again we got our free iced coffees from Macca's. Gotta love free drink vouchers! 

 I couldn't resist the Don Quixote store. In there we found "rodeo" exercise machines that were actually turned on. More fool you, you Don Quixote staff! 

 No, I couldn't resist the temptation and jumped on this bucking bronco of technology. The gf has a funny video on her mobile. When I finally work out how to get it off her phone I will post it! 

 Two other teenage japanese girls saw me on it and must've thought it would be great to go for a ride as well. You go girls! 

 From there, we made our way to Roppongi Hills. The weather was not looking so good, but all we had was gf's summer cloth umbrella that I was carrying all day in my pocket. Not so good for rain though.

  Roppongi Hills is the (slightly) more upmarket version of Roppongi, meaning there are more expensive shops here. We went to Midtown and looked at clothes that even at half price discount was sure to be a markup for 500%. 

 Here, there is a nice food store with a lot of international food. We found all the cheeses I have been craving from back home, but they were too expensive to buy here. 

 On the other hand, there are a LOT of shops here giving food samples. SO, at every opportunity I tasted the food to sample with the standard reply of, "We'll come back and get some later". *evil laugh* 

 On arriving back to Yotsuya we were still both hungry, so we went to Pizza Salvatore for what was originally one Capricciosa pizza, becoming another with salami and eggplant. Both were tasty and not too bad for japanese-italian pizzas.

  I have to tell you about a new treat I have discovered in Japan. 

 It's called Azuki or red bean. They have them in jelly, icecream and as filling for doughnuts. 

 It's strange a vegetable as a sweet, but if anyone can do it, the Japanese can. Here, Yoko and I are showing our love for this Azuki iceblock. Mmm.. 

 Before going to bed I watched Astroboy on Youtube. Gf got a little excited when I found the japanese version intro music to both Astroboy and Yamato (Starblazers in English). She knows all the words. That is strangely cool in a weird way.

Shibuya Skool

The great thing about staying in Tokyo is that doing my sub class in Shibuya is going to be a cinch. Instead of the hour or so of train from Tomioka, it will only take a measly 20 minutes to get there.

The strangest thing when I arrive at these new schools is that the staff act like they are not expecting me at all. Who are you? Don't you know who I am? I'm the sub teacher here to save the day! Hmm, or something like that.

Anywhoo.. the day went ok. I had two kids classes to teach and they were really good. Well, the first one was amazing. Kids old enough to know enough English but docile enough to actually do what I ask them to do.

The older children in the later class are a bit too cool for school, but still not a bad lesson if I say so myself.

By the end of the day I was feeling satisfied with how it all went. I was up for staying in Shibuya, but gf prefered to stay in. So, basically we ducked into Yoshinoya (japanese fast food) for surprisingly quick served and tasty beef and rice. Mmmm..

Friday Night Tokyo

After work I made the unusual step of going from Yokohama to Tokyo. Why? Because now before (and after) the summer vacation I am subbing quite a few kids classes.

Sub day at Yokohama was the usual slow slog (that I like after my day off) but the last three lessons were taken up so I wasn't totally idle. I went straight from there to the gf's.

I went to Tokyo tonight because tomorrow I will be in Shibuya to be substitute teacher to two kids classes. Yay.. kids classes bring it on!

Landmark Tower Yokohama

On today, my day off, we headed off to Yokohama with a mission.. to go up Japan's tallest building, yes, (queue *suspenseful music*), the Landmark Tower!

  I have a HEAP of free coffee drink vouchers for McDonalds, so we went there first to get our free (iced) coffees. Now, I still don't consider this cheating and eating here because no, I didn't order a burger and hey, a free coffee's a free coffee right? So my McDonalds boycott is still in progress ok? 

 We also decided badly to get an icecream dessert from Cold Stone Creamery. I had a coffee icecream in a chocolate wafer, which also had peanut butter mixed in as well. 

 It was sickly sweet. Instead of feeling satisfied, I just felt sick and bloated. I wanted to tell all the other suckers to get out of that overrated line and go upstairs to the better gelato store. 

 We walked along Yamashita Park, past Hikawa Maru and Chinatown.

   

At first we were going to go up the tower during the day thinking we would be able to see Mt Fuji. They said that it would not be visible, so we went later on at night. 

 The lift is super fast going up 750m/minute. I don't know about you, but I like the idea of "getting off" on the 69th floor. 

 The view was quite nice, but the glass was a little fogged up from condensation. You can get a really nice look from here. 

 On coming back to earth we made our way to the Club Sega and yes, UFO catchers. Like before, I pumped in more yen than I should have and walked out of there a little down and empty-handed. The Snoopy was mine, godammit!!! 

 We got a bento at the Family Mart and decided to walk from the Minato Mirai complex to Yokohama station. It took longer than expected, but we eventually walked the right way and made our way back to Tomioka.