More about Hiroshima...(minus the B-word).

On my first (and only, really) full day in Hiroshima, I wanted to get up early and go to Miyajima shrine on an island off the coast of the city, supposedly one of the top five most picturesque places in Japan. However, it was also a holiday (because of "coming of age day"-see below!) therefore, I had images of families and tourists with cameras constantly glued to their faces, and trying to be much more impressed than they actually were in the midst of a holidaying crowd. So, I decided to try and see more of central Hiroshima, and went to the Peace Museum and park, then shopping on the main street, then up to Hiroshima-Jo (castle). The city also has a contemporary art gallery and surrounding park which sounds great, but is closed on Mondays! Score.

So, off I went on the hunt for some Okonomiyaki and Momiji manju (See first post on Hiroshima...) got that nicely sorted out, then went along to ZARA and bought a thick coat in the sales for my trip home through Russia this April.

There are so many places to shop in Hiroshima, Sogo, the big department store which also has a massive branch in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. There is also a big designer strip along Aioi Dori for those with Chanel/Louis Vuitton penchants. Attracting a younger and trendier crowd is Parco, a massive hard to miss department store on the major street of Chuo-Dori (just off Aioi Dori).

As well as affordable stuff, Parco is the place for semi-expensive designer boutiques. Note to anoyone interested-it has an Anna Sui outlet which sells clothes, jewelry, make up, evening dresses and bags...It was hard to leave without anything, but the prices are well above my crumbly wallet.

For those lookng for something a bit more individual and low-key, there is also a 300 Yen shop in the arcade on the approach from the peace park up towards the Parco department store. It's basically better than the 100 Yen shop, though concentrates more on accessories and furniture, etc... By the Parco department store itself, down a little side street there is a vintage shop, which seem to be quite hard to find here. This shop is amazing, I bought a skirt for 300 Yen and they had loads of old shirts and belts, bags and jackets for next to nothing. Recommended!

Overall, in terms of shopping, Hiroshima is a haven for foreigners living in smaller cities, as it has a lot of things you may miss from the West, but isn't too big a place for a swift visit, unlike Osaka or Tokyo. You can find shops like Zara or designer stuff (should you want it), go to a baseball game, get some homely fare from the specialist deli's or restaurants selling jam and olives and hard-to-come-by products, etc...

Something else which is individual to itself is that Hiroshima has never adopted a subway system like most major Japanese cities, but rather, still operates on it's old streetcars (like trams in the UK). I couldn't decide whether this was a good or bad thing in general, as it's so cheap to get around, (150 Yen for most single journeys), but the stops are old and clapped-out and it's almost impossible to get a seat as they're always so crowded. Plus, as if the wide American-style Japanese crossings weren't hard enough to cross, you have to wait for two seperate types of transport to stop before you can walk. Not good for the patience...

After the harsh bustle of a National holiday afternoon, Hiroshima castle, just North of the brightly lit traffic-dogged Aioi Dori, is a serene place to go for a wander. I went in the late afternoon and caught the sunset, which the skinny, distorted trees are so well-suited to there, playing with the light and shadows. The trees really are something special in the castle grounds, most of them are slim and spindly with really old interesting, twisting bark. A dream come true for a frottage fan.

The bridge leading into the shrine and eventually, the gardens of the castle, is like something from a picture book, and definetly the kind of thing embedded into a tourists head when they first come out here to explore. Those people who want to see the geishas and tea houses but find that these images are gradually become stereotypes-part of traditional, rather than everyday culture. But, old Japan is easily found, especially when you're not trying to hunt it down.

On the approach to Hiroshima castle (which stands on a hill surrounded by thin patches of trees) there is a major local shrine, which was an hour away from its 'sagichoo' as I was on the way out of the gates. This is when all of the good luck charms (mostly arrows wrapped in gold/decorated paper) from last year are burned ceremoniously to see out the old, ward off bad luck demons and bring in good luck for the coming year.

Each shrine burns the charms returned by people around this week, and these fires pretty much mark the end of the New Year festivities. I'll bet the fires also look great too...

Another really interesting event here, which I accidentally came across the weekend I visited Hiroshima, was 'coming-of-age day'. This is usually in January of each year and it celebrates young girls and boys becoming adults (aged 20, old enough to vote, drink etc...). At this particular time, all of the people in the country who reach the age of 20 that same year dress in full kimono and go to their local city hall for a ceremony.

I got to see a lot of girls in kimono and boys in suits (with their sharp, blonde-dyed Bowie-circa-Labyrinth mullets) in both Kokura and Hiroshima, which was really nice as they all look really proud-the Japanese seem to like a good old special occasion to dress up. I accidentally snapped one of the girls in a photo in the castle garden (left). Usually, they wear a fur collar as it's winter, but her dad was holding hers for her.

Unfortunately, the next day was not a holiday, which meant I had to go back on the shinkansen to Kokura. The price for a ticket from Kokura to Hiroshima is 13,000 Yen (about 65 quid) for an hours journey, so it would have been worth it to stay on if it wasn't for work..

However, I got to see the station area at night on my way back, which was nice as the moon was at a crescent, the clouds were stuttered, making for a great view on my leaving.

Stuart the green shield beetle update.

Stuart decided to hide in a soggy reciept which I had left next to some flowers in my hallway. When I tried to scrunch the reciept, (how was I to know where he was?) he got REALLY angry and fell out with his wings beating violently. It turns out he makes a really nasty buzzing noise when he's upset, and he flew onto the top of the window frame and has been there for about a week now. He's sulking and won't go back on the plant I put there.

Oh, here's the picture I took when he first appeard on my balcony in summer (June/July maybe), 2007.

Stuart!

Dazaifu, Fukuoka.

Feeling that "I'm leaving Japan soon...ahhhgg!" pressure again, I decided to take a day trip to Dazaifu, about half an hour out of Tenjin, Fukuoka, by train. It's one of the country's most famous and treasured temple grounds as it contains a shrine and lots of historical sites.

I got on the train and connected using another, and arrived in the little city. I was pleased by how busy it was, the first few days of New Year see millions of people across Japan going to shrines and saying a little blessing for the year ahead. Dazaifu seems to be a good and very popular place to do it.

When I arrived, I walked up a street full of shops and restaurants, selling hot Sakura (cherry blossom) tea and sweet bean paste cakes. Then, at the top there was a shrine gate and a bridge, not far from the museum.

The bridge lead to the shrine, which was a big, very beautiful building with a queue of people waiting outside to recieve a prayer from the monks inside. The people who were already in had lined up their little shoes neatly outside...

Again, I came across a monkey show, which I'll discuss in a different post, as it's happened before, unfortunately in Kokura's shopping mall "Cha Cha Town". Anyway, here's a nice photo of the actual shrine instead...

After seeing the shrine and the things clustered around the station area, I decided to walk on further through Dazaifu town and have a look at the other things on the map, such as an old Ordiantion hall where monks used to be recruited, and the actal ruins of the government office of Dazaifu. The old ordination hall had a shrine next to it, which looked great as the sun sank lower between the trees.

The actual hall was a lovely patch of ground, with some top gardening skills surrounding the building to show it off. It had a lovely, peaceful feeling to it and made me see why you might want to abandon the everyday for a serene, more simple life. Although maybe not as a monk- my cheekbones couldn't take the presure of a shaved head...

A few metres down the road are the ruins of Dazaifu itself, the name given to the actual administration office of the whole of Kyushu. This must have been a really powerful seat with a lot of responsibility packed into one space, but all that remains now are some foundation stones, a museum displaying items found during excavations, and a beautiful park, in which families play football, hurl frisbees and walk their tiny, stupid dogs.

The trees surrounding the park were a real sight after spending a year without much countryside, staring everyday out of accelerating train windows at tightly-packed beige coloured apartment blocks straddled by multitudes of thick overhead cables.

Further on down the road there is another final ground of interest, Mizuki, which is...

However, it was getting dark by that point and there was a railway station by the Dazaifu ground, so I decided to come back before I leave and see it on my second visit. I went back to Tenjin, then Hakata on the subway, then Kokura on the Sonic, grabbing some Raamen on the way.

Dazaifu is the place to go when the city gets too much, you're in need of a bit of reflection, or if you simply want to take some stunning photos and memories back home.

Japan and Dogs.

Dogs are big business here, due to the "cute" obsession seemingly built into the Japanese psyche. But, not dogs as you and I know them, big slobbering golden retrievers or greyhounds limping through streets whizzing on lampposts, but dogs which look like rats dressed as princesses, proudly twinkling down the street with dog clothes on, ribbons in their hair, and YES, sunglasses, even!

There are hardly any stray dogs here, though stray cats are a very common occurence, and people seem to take an unflinching pride in their tiny dogs and carry them around in small custom made doggy bags. The more expensive the dog, and the bag and the accessiories, the better, it seems. And then there's the phenomena of dog beauty parlours, where they dog gets groomed and clipped and treated like a king while the owner does a bit of shopping around the mall. If you come across owners who tick all of these boxes, more often than not, their nose is firmly in the air. They KNOW how elite they look.

This penchant for tiny dogs is probably, on the surface quite a nice thing, a novelty for passers by and a lot of fun for kids. However, it's actually quite a cruel thing when you look a bit deeper, as having one (or commonly, more than one) of these dogs scampering ahead of you says a lot about your image. It's expensive to buy these dogs, and even more expensive to kit it out with accessories (the latest, designer), and also to keep it as well groomed as some people seem to do here. If you come across one of the worst offenders on the street, a perfumed, ribboned, combed little chiuhaua, people will stop and swoon/take a photo. However, if a smelly old half-dead mongrel emerged from an alleyway, it wouldn't raise a second look from the same crowd. So, as a lot of things conclude here, it's not about the dog at all, but how high it comes on the KAWAII!! (cuuute!) scale, not to mention the suggestion of the expense adding to the owners image...

Here is a photo I took at New Year in a holy temple ground, Dazaifu, which sees millions of visitors in the New Year. This woman obviously wanted to be seen, else she would have taken her pack of fluffy cloudy dogs to a quiet forest for a walk....

Unfortunately, they got into a scuffle with another tiny dog in a tartan coat, and she ended up tangled up in dog leads and looking like a bit of a clown...talk about backfiring.

27 Hours in Hiroshima

Looking at a monochrome aerial map of Hiroshima, it seemed to me to resemble a piece of rough beef marbled with white veins of fat, rivers winding downwards out to sea like thickening white arteries. A big piece of rare, bloody meat.

Halfway through the Atom Bomb museum, there's a small corridor to lead you to the rest of the building. On the right there is a counter selling Hiroshima souvenirs. I saw a white T-shirt with the words "THE A-BOMB DOME!" emblazoned on it in a playful font.

I bought some okonomiyaki, made with cabbage in Hiroshima, and the local sweet, Momiji manju, a little cake in the shape of a maple leaf, which is Hiroshima's city symbol. Momiji Manju are GORGEOUS, as they contain ANCO, a sweet paste made from little red beans, which is also in my top favourite Japanese cakes...DORIAKI!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmm....

On the first night I found the only Irish bar in Hiroshima, which is the best one I've come across in Japan yet,"Molly Malone's". Apparently, everything was shipped over from Ireland in order to get the decoration right-even the painters came over to finish the murals on the walls. Most importantly, for me, who hasn't had a roast dinner/sausage/pie for almost a year, it had ... BANGERS AND MASH on the menu!!! How could I resist??? I also had a Magner's cider (doesn't hold a candle to Strongbow Super Strength though), and half a Guinness. And I mean half, not three quarters which seems to be the norm here...

Oh yes, Hiroshima was good.

Japanese New Year

After spending the last few days of 2007 in Osaka, seeing the New Year in at the top of Osaka's Umeda building (I do like a good view...though it was FREEZING...) I said a very miserable goodbye to my boyfriend, who had to go back to the UK from Kansai airport, then I decided to brave the train crowds and get on the shinkansen back to Kokura. I wanted to see how the Japanese typically spend New Year, which doesn't normally involve big cities, but going back to the smaller towns people may have grown up in.

So, back in Kokura, after standing up for two and a half hours on the shinkansen, minus a boyfriend with a week off work but no money on the horizon, I was feeling pretty miserable. (In retrospect, though I was so close to leaving, the week following this was one of the hardest stretches I had in Japan. You know what they say about so close to the finish line, yet so far...)

Anyway, as I stepped off the train and down the big, unusually deserted steps of Kokura Station, (did I was miserable...?) when I felt a really cold feathery drop hit me in the eye-SNOW! Snow has always had a great effect on my spirits. Maybe it's because I was born in the winter in a pretty small, snowy countryside town, or maybe it's because my first memory was my dad taking me out into the snow. Either way, it cheered me up and made me feel like I wouldn't be missing out by staying home alone that night.

Kokura was weirdly quiet on the walk back-New Year is the only time that things really truly close down across the country. It felt strange, as Japan is normally such a fast paced place. But it was also a nice anomaly to experience. The rest of that day, I settled back into my apartment, unpacked, and checked my boyfriend's flight progress on the internet...nerdy, much?

That night, some people I worked with were still around and we went to a 'Little Chef'-style roadside diner called 'Royal Host' for dinner and stayed chatting until after midnight.

This was nice, but I ate a bowl of noodles with some DISGUSTING excuse of a reconstituted pork steak lumped on top. It made me feel constantly like I was going to chuck up through the night, so, I do not recommend Royal Host, Ringer Hut, Volka, Joyful, or those other mock-Western, half-arsed places in Japan. If you want decent food in Japan, eat Japanese, (food, not people). It's as simple as that.

On January 2nd, I decided to go to the really beautiful shrine next to Riverwalk shopping centre and see in the New Year Japanese style. Things hadn't gone extremely well so far, so I thought maybe a Buddhist blessing would give me an untouchable security bubble to live in for the rest of the year. After all, with the big move back to the UK and six the weeks of travelling I had planned, I really needed the luck and safety.

So, I went to the shrine. Aah...



So peaceful and picturesque, considering it's flanked by main roads on all sides, and a massive shopping mall and car park.



The Japanese New Year tradition goes something like this. Japanese mothers (who still, traditionally, cook) prepare a few days worth of food, kind of like a bento with vegetables, etc.. which is likely to keep well. The family then live on this and laze around together for a few days, many going back to their family homes, if they don't already live with their parents and grandparents.

'Mochi' (steamed rice that has been pounded and formed into cakes) is in abundance at New Year, as are public mochi-pounding cook-ups, where you can watch it being made and then offered to the Gods. I had a kind of love-hate relationship wih mochi throuhout the year- it's exceptionally chewy (many elderly people die every year by choking on it...) and, as it's basically glutionous part of the rice, gives me bad heartburn. You can eat it as a sweet, however (with strawberries or anco bean paste in the middle...gorgeous!) or you can eat it in soup (not so great...) People also grill it at New Year and eat it in a special soup, known as 'Ozoni'.

The home is an imporant hub at New Year, and one of the things some of my work colleagues told me about was the intense cleaning which goes on before the bells toll. Japanese people believe no baggage should be carried over into January, therefore they hold 'Bonnenkai', or 'forgetting the year' parties in the workplace (kind of like the typical English 'photocopy your arse office party', but even better because everbody had to forget it afterwards, ahah) and also try their best to wrap up all of their business affairs and debts in time for January 1st.

Families make offerings to keep their household Gods happy, also. Some of the foods they offer up on small tables include dred fish (seabream, shrimps,cuttlefish) mochi, dried persimmons, sardines, herring roe, cray fish, sea-bream, dried chestnuts, pine seeds, black peas, dried cuttlefish, 'Mochibana', or flowers made of rice and straw, mandarin oranges, and many other items varying from district to district. 'Otoso', a thick rice wine is also traditionally serve around this time.

Within the first four days of the January, millions of families visit shrines to bless themsleves and offer things to God's for the New Year.



The 'Shimenawa' (rope) and the 'kadomatsu' (pine decorations) are important adornments. The shimenawa is a sacred rope made of straw on which zig-zag strips of paper have been hung, which is placed above the front entrance of Torii (the arch entrances to Shinto shrines)/ buildings/homes/shrines to prevent "evil spirits" from entering. The two weeks (or one week in Tokyo) during which these decorations are hung is referred to as 'matsunouchi'.

Another thing which you commonly find around shrines and generally anywhere and everywhere are small white papers tied to tree branches. These are called 'Omikuji', or fortunes/prayers which people write/choose from on long thin pieces of paper, read then tie to tree branches in the hope that their prayers will be answered.



Another important thing worth mentioning is that every year, people buy charms in the form of arrows from their local shrine (which cost around a tenner, or 2,000 Yen), to give them good luck for the year. Then, at the end of the year, they return these arrows to the shrine and buy new ones. In february, the old ones are burnt on large bonfires to officially end the New Year celebrations. here are some of the arrows collected by my local shrine in Kokura...



Some of the busiest places in the country include Tokyo Meiji shrine (7 million visitors during the first few days of NY) and also Fukuoka's Dazaifu temple ground. I decided to visit Dazaifu, which needed a whole post of its own, so do have a browse at that post if all of this New Year stuff has grabbed your attention.

I went to the shrine next to Kokura castle and there I followed other people and said a little good luck prayer for the year ahead. I've attached a video I took, showing how the New Year prayer works. Basically, it involves washing your hands in a freshwater font with a long handled square spoon, bowing in front of the temple, clapping you hands, yanking a rope so a bell rings, clapping your hands again, praying, making your wish, bowing then sodding off again to knuckle down and stick out your year.

The Japanese also send postcards 'nengajo' with traditional pictures and New Years Greetings to friends and colleagues- I sent and received a few, just for good karma.

In February, I was running out of weekends left in Japan and decided to finally make the trip to Hiroshima. I went around the 14th/16th and therefore caught a great ceremony which officially ends the New Year celebrations. 'Setsubun', is when shrines compile all of the good luck charms returned to them at New Year, stack them onto a pyre and burn them in public.


I caught the burn up at 'Hiroshima Gokoku Jinja' (the city's busiest shrine), which is just next to the gorgeous Hiroshima Castle. It was, understandably, bustling with people taking photos, dressed in kimono and worshipping at the time.


Anyway, being one of the three weeks the Japanese are guaranteed to get off work per year and, unlike most holidays, bringing the mighty Japanese work ethic to a grinding halt, I thought it was a major thing to think on while I was there. Not a part of my year away which I will forget easily, and was really interesting to outside eyes.



PS.) I walked out of the temple down the side of the shopping mall where my bike was parked for TWENTY MINUTES while I visited the shrine, only to find it had BEEN NICKED!!! For the SECOND TIME in TWO MONTHS!!! AAAH!!! Maybe this serves me right for butting into a Buddhist celeration when I'm not a Buddhist...maybe Karma does work afterall.


The culprit, frequently ransacked bike park, outside Riverwalk Mall, Kokura.

Old Japanese guys and young foreign girls.

Now I'm on holiday (which seems to have gone before it even started), I think it'S abot time I related the details of a rather strange friendship I struck up not so long ago in Japan (no, not Stuart the green shield beetle).
In October, I started going to Fukuoka a lot more, as on weekends it'S only 3,000 Yen day return on the shinkansen and the shops/nightlife/scenery is much better in Fukuoka than in Kokura. So there I was one Saturday afternoon on the shinkansen when an elderley gent walking throught the aisles stopped at my row and asked if he could sit next to me. "dozo.."
Anyway, after a few seconds I knew he was going to attempt to talk to me, because he kept looking towards me messing with my Ipod, then turning away again. Finally, he struck up a chat and preceeded every question with...
"I'm sorry, can I ask you personal question?"
"Yeah, of course!
"Do you like the... Japanese food?"/"How long you been Japan?"/ "Do you enjoy the Japanese culture?"

Highly personal questions! He seemed like a very polite old chap anyway, so I chatted away. As the train pulled into Fukuoka, he recommended shrines and places to see in Japan which I may like, and, as I alwasy tend to do when I meet new faces, I gave him my Email address and wandered off into the crowds of Hakata station.

This slipped my mind until, quite soon afterwards I got an Email from the guy, (I shant put his name up but will hereby refer to him as 'the doc'), asking me if I wanted to go to a famous shrine about an hour out of Fukuoka city. He would DRIVE and we would go to a nice tradtional restaurant afterwards so I could enjoy Japanese culture.

Hmm. How weird would that be at home? I can see the cogs turning in your minds already-an old perv? A guy who wants to be seen with a young girl? I wasn't sure. All I kneww was that I didn't have long left in Japan and that I wanted to start enjoying my last few months more. I DID want more Japanese friends who could show me these things, and I did want to see shrines and temples. However, I certainly did not want to get in a strangers car (flashbacks of childhood). Even through adulthood, it's funny how the warnings of your folks and one-day school visitiors harping on about strangers stay with you.

So, Double-C agreed to come with me. Ah, Double-C, my old missus. She has a similar old friend, who is also an elderly gent who seems to have a lot of leisure time and enjoys socialising, particualrly with westereners. However, her wrinkly 'sugar daddy' is different-they meet in neutral places, like bars and restaurants and always with other people. To cut a long story short (actually, it's fully related in my "shrines, squid..." post), we went and it was a lovely day. He told us his wife had died a long time ago, he had gron daughters ad sons (one of which works in the nearby uni) and that he was...SEVENTY THREE! Folks, you would not believe he was 73 if you saw him...I guessed around 60 at first. How do the Japanese do it? I advise you to start eating fish and rice ASAP.

However, a few things disturb me about the Doc. One is that he never seems to want to met casually for a chat. He alwasy wants to be completely in control of the situation. he wants to meet early, drive us everywhere and pay for things. I don't like not being in control of what I do, and I don't like people paying for me.

At this point, I'm (rather cruelly-but this is amongst friends, right?) going to cut and paste some Emails he sent me just before Christmas.Bear in mind he is using "Engrish" and it isn't even his first language...

"My dear Denise and Claire Hello!
This is from a quack ranging in Fukuoka, you know. I'm very glad you remember me and you give memost kind and heart warming comment about my medical paper. Actually, and also glad to hear that you enjoyeda day-tour for Shrine at that time including squid plates. I don't exactly know what you are doingon ordinary holiday. I spend my leisure time for mostly travelling once or twice in a month for joining forsome medical seminar or just for enjoying the travel itself. So, I'd like to ask you if you do mind staying inthe ordinary triple beds room in the hotel with me. If you don't mind staying with me in the same room inthe hotel, I could take you anywhere you like in Japan with only the air-fare on you. Any other miscellaneouscost which incurs for travel, like meal service, rent-a-car, hotel stay cost and any other expences mustbe on me. For example, you could enjoy two days tour for snowy Sapporo in Hokkaidou with only the air-fareroughly 37,000-yen for R.T. for each on you. How do you find it? I hope you and Claire could have the same off-time for a travel with me. And if you could, I would like to make an arrangement for somewhereeven in next December. Actually, I am planning to go to Tokyou for joining some medical seminar nextSaturday. If you follow me such a time , you can enjoy a whole day long for shopping and any other thingstrolling the downtown while I am in the seminar. If you don't like such a behavior, just forget it. Bye!"

Oh dear! "If you don't like such a behaviour..." See what I mean about pushiness? "Just forget it, bye!"
I declined gracefully and then he sent me this...

"My dear Denise and Claire,
This is another suggestion for you. I'm going to visit Beijin in China joining some tour groupvisiting sight-seeing spots including ' The Great Wall' from December 30th to January 2nd.The tour costs 129,800yen per capita. If you'd like to join this tour and not mind to stay inthe same room in the hotel with me, I would subsidize a half of the total cost of it for you.If you'd like to accept this suggestion, please contact me as soon as possible, becauseI have to make a reservation of the tour for you quickly."

Hehe. I also, gracefully declined and told him we were leaving in April so mst save for the trip home.

"My dear Denise and Claire,
Thank you very much for your quick reply mail. Your mail of this time reminds me two matterswith something sad feelngs. First one is an old English movie titled ' Brief Encouter ', a marriedwoman falls in love with a young guy met in a commuter train and then separated for somereason. Second one is an old Japanese adage saying ' Encounter is the beginning of leaving'.I don't know how many foreigners living in this area Fukuoka, and also don't know how manyof them I could encouter to by any chance. I have seen so many foreigners living for manyyears in this area and some of them for several tens of years, so I have never imaginedyou go back home within so short lapse of time. But come to think of it, it's quite naturalthat you go back to your home country when time comes. How about you and Claire goingto travel somewhere with me? We could'nt have so many opportunities to go for travelhence in coming five months, so all of the cost of this time must completely be on me. Please don't worry about any expenses of you. Just be my guest. Only thing needed is your time. Makingan itinerary for it isn't hastened because there is roughly five months before you leave Japan. I would be very glad if you could tell me when and where you'dlike to go. I hope you could make and leave a lot of fantastic, fabulous and fascinating memories of Japan and also least of an old guy, too. Thank you."

Sniffle, sniffle. Doesn't seem so unusual or sinister now, does it?
What can you possibly make of this? Shall I meet up with the 'Doc again? Will it be like "Brief Encounter?" Hang on, in that film, Laura falls in extra-marital love with...with...with... a ...DOCTOR!!!! AAah! An interesting situation, opinions welcome.

Festive devastation.

Aforementioned, much photographed, appreciated and swooned-over bicycle has just been nicked by some lousy gits AGAIN from the SAME PLACE as last time. Yeah, thanks a shedload Jesus, Happy New Year.

More...karaoke!

I seem to remember renouncing it recently, but three times later, here I am again, Terence, me and a bunch of random people we grabbed from bar Scorpion in Shinsaibashi, Osaka to try the delights of Dotombori's Shidax branch of karaoke...aaahhhhhhhhhhh. Not again! By the way, thank you to Colette and Dad for the shirt, it's a good fit.

Osaka Aquarium

Osaka aquarium is very cool.