Saturday Night's Alright

Saturday is the busy day at Yokohama. My first lesson was a no show, but from then on it was every session booked. I actually prefer to do the classes as sitting around all day is probably more draining.

After work I was going to go home and then straight to gf's. I saw Nathan and Johnny on my way out and they were going to a Izakaya to celebrate Nathan's birthday. I really wanted to be going home, but I didn't want to say no.

I had an 8% Chimay Belgian beer for 800 yen for a small glass. A bit expensive but it tasted nice, kind of malty. I left by 630pm thinking I had plenty of time to catch a train into Tokyo.

I didn't leave Keikyu Tomioka until 730pm and SMS'd gf that I would likely be there at 830pm. Now I realize it actually is about an hour and half to get there. I called her and said sorry but this girl is TOO understanding of me. Man, I like her!

She met me at Yotsuya station and I surprised her by creeping up from behind while she was looking at brochures.



This is my girl. Ain't she sweet? This is from my K800i. Not bad for a mobile phone.

Somebody Has To Pay

I made my way back from gf's a little tired. I got plenty of sleep. Just the train itself is quite draining.

When I got to Yokohama I decided it was about time I paid my rent. It's due on the 2nd and if I couldn't work it out, I'd have to ask someone to help me.

There was quite a lineup at the ATMs so I asked a clerk where to do it. She said the same place that I tried in vain a few days before. I asked another girl but she said I could do it without a bankcard and in english. I waited patiently in line thinking this would be another waste of time.

I got to the end of the line and the girls were nowhere in sight. My savior came in the form of a security guard. He talked and showed the way through it. A bit pointless as it was in japanese and I didn't get a word he said. It went quickly and before I knew it my rent was paid for another month.

I called Shinjuku HQ from the foyer of the Yokohama office to find out that I was going to be working in the office above. I could have just walked upstairs but I was dressed very casually, unshaven and had a bag of seaweed (I think) that gf gave me to take home. Thanks gf!

I went home and got changed. Jesse and Derek both noticed that I had cleaned the shower and thanked me for my efforts. Derek said I looked a bit down. I didn't tell him that I knew about the degrading post he wrote about me. I think it's better I shut my mouth and let it go away.

I just found out that on wednesdays I will now be starting much earlier at 1045am. I think this is a good thing. It should mean that I will have a lot more time to appreciate the day off I have the following day. Woo Hooo!

I made a spag bog again this evening. No one is home and everything is fine.

Two Faces

I found one of my flatmate's blog. I read a post from when I first arrived in Japan. From what he said it left me quite down. I won't go into detail. He just didn't say nice things about me. I think things are much better now. Sometimes you just don't know. I think everyone is two faced to some extent.

It's my day off and I just don't feel like doing anything. I did clean my room up a bit so now it looks presentable to any visitors that might come by. I must have been REALLY bored as I also cleaned the most filthy bathroom in Japan. When gf saw it she didn't want to go in there at all. Us boys were oblivious to it. So much for cleanliness.

Anyway I scrapped away the mouldy spores off the ceiling and the floor and even though I used the dishwashing liquid I did a reasonable job that the other guys noticed the next morning.

I left home at 5pm and went to Akihabara electric town first which is like one big Yodobashi Camera store. There were a few girls in maid's outfits giving out flyers to their maid cafes. Sort of cute.

Yotsuya is close by so there was no problem getting the train there. I decided to walk to gf's place instead of her meeting me at the station. I didn't get lost and she was pleased to see me. I was happy to see her. It's nice to have someone in lonely Japan.

The Cheese Has Left The Building

Another day at Yokohama. I didn't have any classes for the first two time slots so it was pretty cruisy. All the classes I took went well.

I attempted to pay my monthly rent at the UFJ bank with little luck. The room was just full of ATMs with no-one to help. I had to go to work so I'll have to try again on my day off tomorrow.

My classes always seems to run a little bit over. On my last one, one of the other teachers stole my single student class so I had to do his three person class. I'm sure it wasn't intentional so no grudges here.

At home Jessie was making his dinner so I just decided to finish the last of "the chunk". I was going to make spaghetti but I just couldn't be bothered.

Seems like gf wants me to come over tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to see her on the weekend anyway but she SMS'd sounding like she's keen to see me. So I guess I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow.

Toosday

Out of all the days of the week, today is one I dread the most. You guessed right, kids class!

Only four of them showed up, but they still were a handful.

Koudai is adorable as ever. No dribble this week. He does his own thing, but the lil' guy knows the answers it baffles me. Masato is the rebel of the class. He distracts the others enough to screw up my lesson. Nonoka and Nanami are the cute little girls. Nanami is the most 'aware' of this actually being a lesson, and Nonoka got a little distracted, but wasn't too bad.

I made sure I set up in a room without a window and thankfully the mothers weren't around until later. Even then by the end of the lesson they were hiding under a table I set up. So, I didn't really get through all the material but they had fun. Especially when I did a lion's roar. No shame in this class.

It's not my favourite train ride. I have a ten minute walk between stations at Sugita, which is a drag, but the whole journey only takes about thirty minutes. The rest of my classes were all fine but I was tired at the end of it. I forgot my umbrella at Fujisawa.

Once I got home I really didn't feel like cooking. I ended up eating as much of "the chunk" as I could. This cheese is on it's last days, so I REALLY want to finish it. I also made a cup'o'miso. Usually it's put in boiling water in a saucepan but this way is more convenient. It tastes pretty good. Go the Miso!

Monday-itis

It is one of those days, but the hardest thing is getting out of bed. Apart from the obvious reason I just like sleeping in too much. Once we finally got up, gf helped me make some miso soup.

I didn't have any vegetables to add to it except onion (A LOT of onion). She added an egg to it and it was so cool how it cooked on top of the water. I also made some scrabbled eggs in the frying pan and fried crispy ham. Mmm..

Luckily today I only had to get to Kamioka. It is only 3 stops away so I didn't need to leave before 3pm. YAY!

The strangest that has happened so far was when I asked a man if he could have any car in the world, a Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes or Ferrari, he said that he wanted a japanese mini car. Go Figure..

Yokohama Rain

After doing the usual sleeping in, we finally got out of bed. I video-called mum and dad. They both got to see the gf. For some reason she goes all quiet and suddenly forgets her near perfect english. I'm sure she was nervous.

Even though it was raining we still made the decision to go to Yokohama's Minato Mirai where there was a nice harbour and a mini amusement park. I'm sure if there was no rain it would have been much better.

We had a gelato in the shopping complex. I had a mango and blood orange sorbet and gf had rockmelon and some kind of japanese flavour that tasted quite good as well.

We went on the ferris wheel (700 yen) which was nice, high and maybe a little romantic?! The couple in the carriage behind us looked funny. They sat patiently next to each other, but no touching at all. weird..


We were considering going up the Landmark Tower but because it was raining and 1000 yen, we both decided to do it another day. Still, it didn't stop me taking a picture with the obligatory victory sign.