jonomaxwell

Propos in Tokyo

2008-04-27T13:40:21Z

My ears are still ringing slightly 1 week later. Picking a spot next to the main speakers up front wasn't the smartest thing to do but was one of the better vantage points in Club Quattro. I held out for Propagandhi to come on before getting all dirty in the mosh. If the previous bands(FC Five, comback kid) were anything to go by this was gonna be rockn. It's all about the circle pit here which looked rad from the outside but was actually pretty tame once you got into the thick of it. Still looking forward to my first wall of death!

Got a few pics and a bunch of 100M+ vids from Akane who chose to stay on the sidelines although she could've handled the mosh easy. Crazy stage diving from 3-high stacked speakers and cannonballs from the stage were the hazards to watch out for. There wasn't much pushing up the front of the pit and it was dead easy to get front row views. Todd was a total nutball thrashing around the stage in his boardshorts and dripping in sweat by the end of song1. They pulled out speculative Fiction to kick it off followed by all the meaner songs from LessTalkmoreRock through to Potemkin city limits. I concentrated on the crowd surfers most of the time giving them an extra boost. I think by the end I probably just looked like a giant foreign dooche throwing Japanese around with both arms :) All good!

There were 200 odd people there so not sure why they don't tour to NZ or Aus. We could easily pack that many into ex-Indigo. There were a couple of Aussie dudes there who flew from Aussie just for this show and got a cameo up on stage with salty Todd. It's been a while since going to a show and was good to get a pit work out. Looking forward to some more jcore and intenational shows soon.

I was suitably smelly by the end so got a tshirt for the train home. Fully worth the $30 ticket!
I'll try upload the 4gigs worth of AVI to my box back home if anyone wants to see me bobbing up and down like a munter.

Chore time

2008-03-29T07:50:59Z

Man, this blog's starting to feel more and more like a chore same as everything else ... training, commuting to work, eating, showering. I wanna go bush for a while :(

Trip to UK/Europe was an eye opener. I've grown accustomed to everything Japanese and by the end of my 2/3 weeks away I couldn't wait to get back home to Koenji. I'm stealing some of the below from an email I sent a while ago cause I just poured a whiskey and can't be arsed :)

== snip ==
Once I get past the depth of History of London/UK there isn't really a lot to be impressed about other than being a good base of Operations into Europe. Bunked up with my bro Brendan in a South-London Hostel for the majority of the stay. He was working during the week so I did all the touristy stuff and met back with him for dinner on weeknights and we went to Rome for a weekend.

Rome is dirty as hell and Italian restaurateurs are pinheads. Had to stay overnight at Stanstead airport as no trains earler enought for the 8am flight so tired most of the Saturday. Did bus tour as soon as we got there and went to a pizza place at about 2pm for some eats. Ordered a pizza and big bottle of beer between us for about 20Euros and the guy kept trying to sell us other shit. Bit of Lasagne about the size of a bit of toast for 8 Euros. Frig that, just the pizza and bear thanks. pinhead:'mutters under breath in Italian'. me: What was that? pinhead:nothing. me:I thought you said something? Guy walks up and starts mouthing off about why should he turn on his oven for 2 people sharing a pizza. The bottle of beer was open at this stage and we hadn't paid so got up and left. Guy was super pissed when I did the 'foo fukula' thing that Ryan does where you gesture with flick your fingers out from under your Chin. Don't think it's italian but he knew what I meant. He came out on the street, clenched his fist and rubbed his bicep as there were customers out front. We b-lined for another shop closeby incase he got his boys onto us. Similar storey in London but at a curry place with an indian mullet, 30min wait and still no curry. bailed.

Stabby stab stab:

Crazy guy in Rome

It was either travelling alone or the Hostel that left me with a more negative view of London. It was full of Aussies and kiwis. Most of them in early 20s and suckered in by the Hostel marketing. Party hard, sleep easy. Selling tshirts with stuff like 'im drunk, you'll do' 'my liver is naughty and must be punished'. Every night the same alcoholic slob would bust into everyones room and try to drag them out on a pubcrawl. Kinda lame that I didnt go at least once but meh .. I'm a total dad now anyway. Should have bought a pair of jandals .. The showers and now my toes covered with vomit, urine and STDs. Managed to catch something called the Norovirus just before my weekend in Bath which killed me for a day.

Feeling Unwell?

Trains from London to bath(well, anywhere really) were pathetic. Should've taken 1.5 hours but took 4. 2 trains broke down and multiple delays. Subways were surprisingly shitty too. Carriages were way too small, entrance gates were balls and the whole backend IT systems crashed at least twice while I was there shutting down entire stations. Was the first system in the world I suppose but frig me ... it's time to do some upgrading in collaboration with the Japs!
==snip==
LEGO:

Netcafes
UK: Mouse, keyboard, screen, 1 pound for 20minutes of slow/locked down net
JP: Leather chair/couch, gaming rig, ps2/dvd/comics and drink bar for equivalent of 3NZD/hour

Service
UK: money <-> goods. me feeling like I should be tipping cause they look pissed off.
JP: Whole store in unisen: Welcome, come in! 400Y plz. domo arigato gozaimasu! slight bow.

Got put up in Four Seasons hotel for 3 nights as I went to our London office for a few days. Way too posh for me. I think if I'm ever lucky enough to make buttloads of money, I'll be one of those guys that dies with it all sitting in a bank account. If spending it means I have to hang out with wankers, I'll just stash it under my bed thanks.

The trip home wasn't as bad as people made it out to be when I mentioned I was flying Russia's Aeroflot. Transferring at Moscow, I felt right at home once I was on the connecting flight full of Japanese people I couldn't understand. Fell asleep on the express train from Narita Airport to Shinjuku and woke up a couple of stops past where I should have got off. I was awake close to 40 hours so was in the midst of deep deep sleep when the train dudez woke up the snoring foreigner. Stepped outside on the platform and it was a real shock. The rest of the way home I felt like I had just touched down in Japan again for the first time. Compared to UK, completly different approach to urban planning/design although a lot of it is probably historical. Streets here so nallow and buildings so small.

Akane had decide to do some redecorating while I was gone so I got home to a Bedroom decked out in Pink.

Last couple of months:
Went to Akane's uncle's wedding at Four Seasons hotel which was okish
Akane has been taking pole-dancing lessons and her class does little shows every now and then. First was at a big all night rave last year and the second was a few weeks ago in Tokyo harbour on a floating bar with crazy neons. Looking forward to the next one :D

It's starting to get warmer now and the Cheery Blossoms have made an appearance for a around 2 weeks. Met up with Akane's parents and did a big walk around near where we watched the K1 MAX last year. It was only 4 hours walking around but we were toast and had to skip shopping at the mall after. I'm getting old.

Okasan, Ottosan and Oshima-san

Got a new gaming rig for super cheap in Akiba. Couldn't be arsed buying everything separately again so bought a close to high-end prebuilt rig from one of the DIY stores for equivalent of $1200NZD minus the screen. Wasting all my 1337 cpu cycles on CS source.

Got hax R4 card for my Nintendo DS Lite too so I can 'backup' my 1000s of legally purchased NDS games on the Internet. Got a wix Jap-English dictionary for it and haven't been able to stop playing Contra4. Akane has been owning MarioKart and I reckon she could give Tom a run for his money.

Thinking of renting a car this weekend and mishing out to Fuji-ko theme park for the weekend. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2663680

Ballz to the wall

Take this!

jonomaxwell @ 2008-02-10T22:51:00

2008-02-10T14:00:38Z

Right, time for an update. How to summarise 2 months without looking like a shopping list ...

Christmas isn't officially celebrated over here so I ended up working with all the other SalaryMen Christmas day. However, somewhere in the past Colnol Saunders convinced 123 million Japanese people that xmas = KFC. I'm serious ... There are 30min queues outside around xmas and if you want to impress your GF you make a reservation at KFried. Illuminations are also big over here with most of the big railway stations, malls, Offices etc having huge lighting displays. Akane bought us both a ticket on a French dinner Cruise around Tokyo bay on the 23rd of Dec which was quite nice if a little on the posh side. Shakeys all you could eat pizza in Shibuya the next night was a contrast and a half. They sat us between two tables composed of gossiping teenage girls and a sports team of 13 year old girls high on drink bar and lols.

I managed to land work oncall over New Years but still got out to Akane's parents in warabi for a few nights. Seafood was eaten 3 meals a day and we played a lot of wii. Went to the local temple and shrine new years eve which had food stalls and some fair-like games. Choco-bananas and sausage for the win.

In the new year we headed to Nagano Happo skified(site of the 98 winter olympics) on a spur of the moment trip and it turned out to be the best boardign conditions of my life hands down. Deep base on no ice! Bonus points to Ronald for Cheeseburgers at the top of the Gondola. I'm amazed they haven't got makudonarudo on Mt Fuji yet. We stuck to the beginners course most of the time as it was Akane's 2nd or 3rd time snowboarding but you'd never know. She picked it up pretty quick so I started encouraging her to go quicker here and there. The beginners course weaves down the mountain cutting through the Olympic slalom course 3/4 times. Akane picked up a bit of speed as we were approaching the Olympic cutover point and she tried to slow down a lil bit by weaving left ... everything was going left except the board. She ended up headfirst down a black run and slide about 5metres on her tummy before somehow coming to a stop. I honestly thought she was going to keep going and wrap herself around a tree at the bottom. Made it home in one piece with a 4 hour sleep on the train home. Went up by myself the next weekend and hit some of the higher runs Love it! Going to get my own gear for next season and go every other weekend.

Laundry list:
1) Went to Disneyland for the entire day. Waited 30minutes for curry popcorn. Highlights .. illumination show insync to music. Best ride of the day was the classic revolving teacup. Screw the main attraction rollercoasters. This teacup ride had a wheel in the middle that you could pull on to spin the cup on it's centre axis. So as well as the machine spinning you around 2 ways you could control the speed of the 3rd way. Man I got us going quick. Akane got a photo mid ride on her camera which I'll have to pull out sometime.
2) Has snowed in Tokyo twice now which was a nice surprise to wake up to. Only stays a day though.
3) Heaps of Earthquakes too. One 2 days ago at 4am woke me up and went on for at least 1 minute. I'm worried about how this house I'm living in could handle a bigger one. When the people next door run down the stairs the house wobbles slightly. Good or bad ... who knows.
4) Hit local onsen with Kouji. Played some snooker and darts with a lil gamring on the side.
5) Finding motivation to train Muay Thai here is hard, even with the new gloves Akane got me for xmas. Think I need to schedule a fight to force me to train.
6) Finally found milk here that doesn't taste like pooz. Majority of milk here is nuked at 130degreesc for 2 seconds. The good stuff is 66degreesc for 30mins. Good things take time. Been overdosing on Milo and cereal since.

Heading to England this coming Friday for 2 weeks to catch up with my bro and scope the place out for potential future living. Will get some pics up after. Going back to an English speaking country is going to be a mindf*ck and a half.

uni vs jono

2007-11-18T14:28:37Z

After the very Japanese meals me and Kouji had up in Hokkaido I felt pretty confident about keeping my food down when I took Akane's family to a swanky Sushi/Sashimi restaurant in Ebisu afew weeks back. They took me in
like a son for 2 months while I was looking for work and a place to live, so thought I'd show some more appreciation via their taste buds.

The raw fish was a breeze, salmon and tuna were tasty but I struggled with the prawns head again prefering to avoid the dozen or so crunchy legs this time. The grande finale was Sea Urchin or Uni to the Japanese. All I knew of these nasty little
balls of death before tonight was that are not pleasant to stand on, I've always tiptoed around the ocean floor when swimming in the sea after hearing about my Aunty standing on one as a kid and having to get the spikes cut out of her foot in hospital.
I had no idea people ate the inards of them. Well, the gonads to be precise. It had a subtle smell so I thought nothing of it although the thought of beer and copious amounts of
raw fish all over the table did enter my mind .. I bit the bullet and did it in one go anyways. The taste was nothing short of 1000 times the smell. Take the most rotten seaweed infested rockpool at the most rank seacove and you can get
a rough idea of the taste. I wasn't embarrassed about the teary eyed involuntary refluxes at the time but felt a little embarrassed afterwards. Everyone laughed it off so I don't think I depply offended anyone :(

I did my u@most to avoid any repeat of some childhood pumpkin eating memories I have. Me and my brothers always dreaded pumpkin in any form and one particular time we were out of juice so we all decided to chase our Roast pumpkin with
cold milk. I think at least 2 of us brought up a mix of pumpkin and milk onto our plates so yeah. Words of Wisdom for the day, never chase with cold milk.

scientific blah - has to be fake

2007-11-09T12:07:50Z

It turns out the muay thai place in Saitama I was training at was the best in Tokyo. We found one about 20mins from here which is a little smaller and the technique looks dodgy but we're going to have to settle for it. We thought we found an awesome place just over the road but closer inspection proved otherwise. Everything here costs about $150 to join and then $100 per month so I was stoked when I found a gym, kickboxing and groundfighting all under the same roof. We almost joined this gym ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVNvxh0WXVs
I started questioning it as soon as I saw scientific infront of wrestling. Anything that explicitly states science is involved loses credibility from the get go; scientology, scientific creationism, scientific wrestling. Then I found videos of the guy Bill Robinson fighting abdullah the butcher in prehistoric professional wrestling matches in Japan. The catch-wrestlingfood pro fighters they mentioned included Josh Barnett and Sakuraba of PrideFC fame. They had some notable wins but I always remember these 2 guys as taking a lot more punishment than giving.

The last straw was watching the kickboxing class that they have just 4 times a week. It was way too structured for my liking, akin to what I use to do at Taekwon-do. Everyone was counting out loud when doing 10 punches and 10 kicks etc and they'd have drink breaks literally every 5 minutes. It's been so long my pecks are getting smaller ... :(

Still getting my tooth fixed at the dentist. It's been about 4 weeks now and I swear they're trying to drag it out as long as they can. They got an impression of my teeth for a crown today so next better be the last one.

Just finished 2 weeks of morning shifts starting at 7am and I'm glad it's over. They're working me like a Salary Man. Though I don't think I'll be able to live up to the feats of some of the heroic Salary Men that the Newspapers have paid tribute to recently. Nature was calling for one train driver but he didn't want to delay the train so he made doodies(of the hangover variety) in the drivers room. It managed to work it's way through 2 or 3 carriages and had to be taken out of service anyway but I'd give him a high five for effort. That man deserves a bonus for duty above and beyond.

TV over here is pretty average. The news is always dominated by politicians and companies cheating and lying from tax evasion to reprocessing expired bean paste and passing it off as fresh. All the game shows are hosted by 'comedians' and more often than not they involve food. ie. Guess how much she can eat, guess how much this food costs, who is the best cook.

I promise some visuals next update. I'll take my camera to Roppongi next time I go drinking with Kouji. Some guy at work has an awesome remote controlled tank setup which I'm going to go play with in a couple of weeks. http://www.geocities.jp/panzer_warriors/

I need a hard line

2007-10-14T10:20:39Z

First few weeks into work have been interesting to say the least. I don't have gmail access at work and no net at home so haven't been able to reply to emails of late, apologies.

I got butchered at the dentist here on Satuday but it only cost me $30 thanks to mah J-Insurance card. 2/3 more appointments to come for a root canal. I don't know if they used enough local anaesthetic for a Japanese guy on me or they like to inflict pain but it was the worst dentist experience of my life. Getting my wisdom teeth out, I didn't feel a thing. When they wound the metal screw down into the root of my back molar to extract the dead nerve .... fark me it hurt. Apparently the nerve has been dead a while and it started to get infected recently which would explain the blinding pain that started on Thursday.

I can't help but feel this is all the fault of my cavity farmer dentist back in Welington. Way back my Orthodontist(The Sheppard's love Julie Carter(?)) said ask your dentist about your Wisdom teeth so I did and he said you'll have to make another $100 appointment. I don't want a whitepaper on them, just tell me whether I need to get them out or not! So roll forward one year .. "hmmm, oh shit. Your wisdom teeth are impacted. You'll need to get them removed straight away and have extensive work done on your back molars" ... What the money-grubbing bastard was really thinking ... "Cha-Ching! I'm gonna be able to pay off my mortgage and buy a new car with this sucker. Those 2 small cavaties I 'missed' last year are monsters now and his Wisdom teeth are goners! Hah!"

Arseholes. I went to a real dentist(Surgeon) to get the wisdom teeth out but went back to the crook for the fillings on the molars. I think he picked up on me going elsewhere for my wisdom teeth and I was promptly transferred to his wife(dentist at same clinic). I got in her bad books too by asking about Dentistry Ethical standards and decided to move to another dentist soon after.

</rant> I need to be more trusting of the human race

naaa

Apartment is getting decked out slowly. Have a fridge now and curtains. Despite what people say, everything seems a lot cheaper over here and is higher quality. Big ticket items like couches, beds and electronics are sometimes half the price of NZ. Alcohol and Cigarettes here are on the cheap too due to lower Tax I think. 40ounce of Smirnoff for 1000Yen and JDs for 2000Yen. Just above $10 and $20 respectively.

Commute to work is 40 minutes total, 20 of which is walking and 20 on the trains. I managed to stick my fingers up some guys nose the other day but I'm gradually getting use to having 0 personal space and rubbing crotches with strangers while half asleep in the morning.

chunky Pork buns and hot boss canned black coffee in the morning for teh win!

this pic sums up me in Japan

2007-09-27T07:37:18Z

Uploaded some more pics to http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z148/jonomaxwell/hakone/

quicky

2007-09-26T14:15:19Z

My work visa was approved in record time and I'm scheduled to start on Monday. Everything seemed to come together at the same time as we just found an awesome 2-storey apartment in Koenji, Tokyo with polished wood floors, views of Shinjuku and a pull-down ladder to the flat roof for BBQ action and possibly golf target practice. Moving in Monday also.

Found an Irish pub in Roppongi to watch the rugby live and there are a few other AB supporters there so should be some good times. Getting home after 1am once all the trains are shutdown is the only issue.

Came across some cool road-side stores in Akihabara Electric town the other day that sell all kinds of espionage gear. Telescopic batons, stun guns, pinhole cameras, listening bugs, anti-bug devices, anti-camera devices, night vision goggles. I want a stun gun to experience 10k volts and a radio transmitting pinhole camera just cause it's cool. Only $250NZD!!. I just need some ideas on stuff to do with it. Maybe put the camera up my nose while I stungun myself. If I get those night vision goggles and that replica Sniper rifle ... Max payne - gun for hire.

Will post an update of trip to Hakone lakes near Fuji with photos soonish. Didn't manage to catch up with Kouji in Tokyo last weekend but he may land a job in Chiba soon so we can do it later. The police treatment of foreigners has gained some attention in the papers here recently so me getting on the sauce before I start work here isn't necessarily a good thing.

Hokkaido - tick

2007-09-14T09:09:23Z

I've been meaning to give it a go for years and finally got around to trying surfing. Left on a 3 hour drive south of Tokyo to Chiba at 5am with Akane and her little sister Itsuki. Met up with a couple of dreaded, ganja smoking hippy Japanese who took a group of us out on longboards to muck around in the shallows. They gave me the wetsuit without shoulders so I got sunburnt like a whitey again. Was fun, managed to stand up most of the time and am thinking about buying a shortboard and learning some more.

It was finally time to get out of the house and meet up with Kouji for a trip up to Hokkaido, the most northern island in Japan. It's right next door to Russia and is bitterly cold in the winter, -30 degrees celcius, but being summer it was a pleasant 20 degrees most of the time we were there. A welcome change from the constant +30 in Tokyo. I originally planned to take an overnight boat by myself and hire a motorbike but am glad we took the tour bus in Hindsight as the island was much bigger than I anticipated. Thankfully, Kouji sorted out the tour package through a friend in Osaka so I took the early Shinkansen to meet him in his stomping grounds.

Not much to report on for the first day. Took a 2 hour plane from Osaka to Sapporo and then jumped on a tour bus with 40 Pensioners(possibly the ones I passed on Mt Fuji) for a few hours before we arrived at the first Onsen(spa) resort. There it was straight onto a traditional Japanese dinner and the local Ale. There was rice, raw fish, soup and veges. Tasty! Hardest part was keeping my legs crossed the whole time and eating at the little table. Everyone seemed impressed by my Gaijin chopstick skillz and my ability to eat radish

After dinner it was back to our room for some Back to the Future action on TV(popular movie over here) before hitting the Onsen. Thank god it wasn't as packed as the swimming pool we went to a few weeks earlier cause it was a first for getting Jono Junior out in public and I didn't need thousands of eyes staring at the naked Gaijins member to make me feel even more self conscious. The Male and Female pools are separated and you are given a small white towel to hide your bits while you slink into the pool. The towel, only moments ago touching your member, is then symbolically placed on your head within neuron firing distance of your brain.

A recurring theme throughout the trip was 0630 starts followed by a rushed breakfast and sleeping on the bus and Tuesday morning was no exception. First stop of the day was at a nearby waterfall that cut through a cliff face reminiscient of the MacGyver vs Murdoch Rock climbing episode setting. Caged mountain foxes and the first sponsored toilet stop of the 4-day trip were next. Chocolates, stuffed toys, fresh seafood were all on sale. It seemed like all of the toilets around Hokkaido were paying good money vying for our number 1s and 2s. Maybe that's why the bus tour is so much cheaper than going it alone. I wonder which ~~tur~~ toilet stop of mine paid for that last flash Spa resort!?!

Kouji and I were both disapointed when the bus rolled straight through Abishiri and past the nations most notorious prison. Abishiri prison is Japan's Alctraz equivalent where all the hardened criminals are sent and broken, naughty kids at school are threatened with it and the Siberian Winter tempratures that come with it. At least a museum visit? or a brief stop for a photo? Nope. Lunch was more important and Crab was on the menu. Kouji helped me get the crab meat out of the legs to avoid me severing any major arteries and then it was outside for some fresh ocean air next to the statue of Joe and Zoe(Kouji kept saying). Epic beard I think.

We had another 20minute toilet stop to drop off some valuable friends near a picturesque lake before arriving at the 2nd resort of the trip. More tasty traditional Japanese delights for dinner accompanied by a brew before nakedness in the Onsen. Afterwards we went to the local 711, grabbed some more beer, some fireworks and the best junk food ever, Cream collon. The rockets were like the moontravellers we use to get in NZ except they exploded like Double happies once they were spent.

Wednesday highlight was the zoo but no poo throwing to report on. Monkeys were cool but all the other animals were asleep or engrossed in their walk back and forth routines. The last resort was the nicest and had a games room where Kouji tried unsuccessfully to get cartoon nakedness on the resident strip mahjong arcade machine.

Thursday we stopped at Otaru 'The Venice of Japan' for a whole hour where I wasted money at a music box store. Then we grabbed a coffee and some mean looking chocolate cake that we ate in a minute flat cause our hour was almost up and we had to get back to the bus. It's in Otaru where we got a picture with the 3 old ladies that sat behind us on the bus every day. One of them had a flatulance problem. The funniest part of it was that she always sounded surprised when she let one go. Blue hat = Guilty

Airport was the next stop and I thought it appropriate to get a photo with the Tour guide. The 2 tour guides had a good guide, bad guide arrangement from the start of the trip. The guide in the photo with the hat was direct and in your face. She would try to crush our hands when shaking and kept telling us to pay attention to the 'lady folk' - Japanese for biotch. Throughout the trip she would stand up the front of the bus with a microphone jabbering on in Japanese. Honestly ... 4 hours straight while everyone was asleep and there was nothing outside but onion farms. The other guide was younger, more pleasant on the eye and announced all the good things like lunch soon, toilet stop soon etc and handed out all the freebies we got at each of the toilet stops. I decided to see how mean this lady folk guide really was so I picked her up just before Kouji took the photo. All bark, no bite :D

On the plane and back to the heat of Osaka. Met Kouji's dad briefly and had dinner at his Mum's Korean BBQ. We let off a few more fireworks ~~while driving~~ and drove around Kouji's neighbourhood and school before hitting some much needed zzzzs.

Slept in Friday and then headed to Osaka's version of Tokyo's electric town Akihabara. All the computer and comic geeks hang out here and go to cafes where girls are dressed up like maids. There we visited the Gundam action figure shop and some other assorted stores before getting some food in the middle of Osaka. We left my bags in a locker at Osaka station in preparation for an allnighter as Koujis house was quite far from the city centre. We had some food and drinks at an Irish pub in town and then had a bit of a walk around the dodgy streets before bunkering down at a nearby Net cafe for the rest of the night. Osaka was more PG than I expected so am looking forward to Kouji coming up to Tokyo in a couple of weeks.

In hindsight, the bus tour had its pros and cons. It's definitely cheaper with the toilet subsidies and much less stressful not having to worry about booking accomodation. In saying that though; being stuck on a cramped bus 6/7 hours a day next to Pensioners peeling them off and being rushed around the attractions in less than 20minutes was kinda sucky. The oldies were all nice, talking to us, giving us chocolate, drinks etc but It would've been nice to have a little more freedom and time to do our own thing each day. All in all, a good trip and I now have a broad overview of Hokkaido so I can pick out the good stuff next time I go back.

That's me. Still looking for apartments in Koenji, Work Visa should be completed by Early October, Hakone Onsen resort this long weekend. Missed the Italy game but found a pub in Roppongi showing the rugby live so will catch the hard games once we break out of the wooden spoon pool.

Rest of photos at http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z148/jonomaxwell/Hokkaido/

owie

2007-08-31T01:09:36Z

Man, I've really got to change the layout of this blog. Just got back from Mt Fuji last night so have had a down day to do a semi-mega update.

Last weekend Akane and I went to a huge pool and amusement park complex in Tokyo for the day. She had trouble dragging me out of bed before 9am again. Being summer it was a scorcher and I couldn't wait to jump in some cold water. I came prepared with a bottle of sunscreen but despite using half of it about 3 times throughout the day I still managed to get lobster red shoulders. I don't think the Japanese use sunscreen much. The number of peeling near black bodies lying everywhere was insane. When I say everywhere I mean it. There was barely any room to move with our stuff from the entrance onwards. We started stressing a little until we spotted heaps of space near the only pool that was over waste deep. <insert tasteless Joke about Japanese not being able to swim here>. I started salivating over the 20 hydroslides nearby remembering all the good times had on the slides at Jellypark and QE2 park in Christchurch; Blocking the water at the top of the turbo slide, butt skimming on the straight fast ones and the ultimate challenge, climbing from the bottom of the turbo tube to the top avoiding would be sabotour strangers and friends.

We warmed up with a few rides on the dual inflatable tube slides before hitting the stairs to the longest, fastest slides. About halfway up we hit a queue. I should've seen this coming. It took 30 minutes to get to the front of the queue so we only did it once. I think this is where I got the majority of my white boy tan. Part of the wait was due to the regimented way they were putting people down the 4 slides. Go, Person gets to bottom 60 seconds later, Radio confirmation from bottom to top, Go ... I liked the 'pile as many people in at once as possible' approach in Christchurch much better. We went for a quick float around the river(?) pool(see photo)and I did a few lengths of the 50m pool before almost drowning Akane in the deep end. We grabbed some food and then had a relaxing play around in the less crowded wave pool. Thank god it was nothing like this video I watched the night before http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inA-36YRV0Y

The smallish amusement park was next on the agenda and was fun for what it was. We rode; Loop and corkscrew rollercoasters, crazy 80s teacup disco ride, pendulum pirate ship. There have been a few amusement park accidents around the world recently(amputations etc) and the creaking German-built revolving rides were slightly unnerving. Sat down for some American hotdog action before hitting the Carousel. The hotdogs gave me a killer stomach ache equivalent to the one I had after Wisconsin Burger in New Plymouth while staying with Nick a few years back although the supposed resolution(according to Nick) was different this time. I managed to win a big Chipmunk bear for Akane by throwing rings onto poles(100Yen for 3 trys) on our way out the gate. All that practice at my Grandparents paid off!

Blue Steel x 2

I accompanied Akane's dad, Susumu, to a local driving range to remind myself how much I suck at Golf. Golf is very popular over here with the Salary Men and it is difficult/dare to join a club. I'm surprised it's expensive considering everywhere Nick and I travelled in Japan, you couldn't look our the train windows without seeing a skyline concealing green driving range net. Was quite pleased with my technique by the end of the day managing to hit each one straight.

It was time to hit Mt Fuji. I bought a smaller tramping pack, donned my DC skating shoes and jumped on the bus from Shinjuku station to Mt Fuji 5th station arriving 1:30pm. It's 2300m above sea level at the 5th station, roughly equivalent to the top of Mt Taranaki/Egmont. I grabbed a 30minute nap on the bus after not a wink the night before. My sleeping pattern is slightly odd at the moment having zero responsibility.

I set off on the wide, well worn trail up the mountain and soon caught up with a few large groups struggling on the flat, weighed down with their large packs, sticks, raingear and state of the art climbing shoes. I gunned it up to the 6th station and kept on going to the lower 7th station huts. I was originally planning on staying at a hut near the summit and climb early the next morning but I thought I could do the summit and back in one day at this rate. It started to get rocky and slippery at the lower 8th station but my DCs were still going strong. At 3400m feeling slightly faint and my fingers were tingling from more than just the cold so I decided to get a bottle of oxygen like everyone else just in case. It occured to me that maybe the groups were walking slow to aclimatise. In hindsight the phamplets say altitude sickness can hit above 2500m and you should rest often considering a stay at a hut overnight. They also say it takes 7 hours to get to the summit ... Booyar! :D

Got to the top at 5pm and was surprised at the number of man made structures up there on top of the world. The actual summit at the crater is occupied by a weather station built in the 50s or 60s. I was expecting something similar to the white domes you might see in NZ but it looked more like an abandoned factory. It was a fitting end to the climb as I was constantly surprised and amused by the wide zig-zag tracks and number of buildings/huts from the 5th station all the way to the summit. A total of 15 huts sleeping upwards of 3000 people.

Stopped for a snickers advert moment part way down the supply track heading back towards the 5th station. I don't think it will help improve sales unfortunately. Odd that snickers is the only chocolate bar on sale over here. No Moro, Mars, Crunchie, Picnic etc. It started getting dark about now so I made up time by running a zig and walking a zag. When the heavy fog moved in and it was pitch black I used the second most useless piece of luggage I dragged all around China. My Maglight!! It defintely saved me some blood at the slippery rocky sections. The most useless thing I dragged around China was the badass hunting knife Joe and others got me for my birthday although I had already used it at my old Shimbashi guesthouse to peel and cut fruit. I swear I'll use it for its intended purpose when I get back to NZ. Can't be a happy knife peeling kiwifruit when it was ~~born~~ forged to stick pigs.

Arrived back at the 5th station at 19:15 about 6 hours quicker than the pensioner oriented phamplet suggestion of 12hours. Stoked but sore. Apparently the buses back to civilisation stopped running on the 27th of August so I split(got ripped off) a taxi with an English speaking Japanese guy from the 5th back to a nearby train station. My shoes were caked in red vaolcanic dust and my shorts stank for the next 2/3 hours stuck in crowded trains with drunken Salary Men. Got back to Akane's about 2am, stuffed.

Surfing this weekend, Hokkaido and drunken Osaka demos with Kouji all next week. Stay tuned and thanks for the comments! Keep em coming.

I feel so tech savy writing in my blooooog

2007-08-18T04:47:37Z

I've had enough interviews over the past 5 weeks to last me a lifetime but it has all been worth it in the end. I managed to get 3 job offers choosing to go for a Unix SA role at the investment bank Morgan-Stanley after many sleepless nights resulting in an epic rusty(not ginger damnit!) beard. I start in 4 weeks time at the Ebisu Garden Place tower( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebisu,_Tokyo) while they sort out my work permit. Won't be difficult finding somewhere to eat with the Yebisu beer museum near by. This means I have the next month to be a tourist again and get some serious kickboxing in at the local muaythai.jp gym complete with thai padholders and sparring partner Kuntap Weerasakreck http://www.flixya.com/video/117440/Andy_Souwer_vs_Kuntap_Weerasakreck_kickboxing.

So yeah, bit of a change from my original plan of going straight to London but now looking at staying in Tokyo for the next 1 to 2 years and will try and get a transfer to Morgan-Stanley London afterwards. Spoke with a couple of people here who have worked in Tokyo, New York, London and they say Tokyo is the best, 'What's the rush to go to London?' It feels safer than NZ here and there is HEAPS to do and see. What better way to learn a new language? Money is also pretty good espiecially with the current Yen/NZD exchange rate.

Between interviews Akane has helped me experience more of Japan. I've been watching a lot of baseball(for lack of anything else on TV I understand) in air conditioned bliss away from the 35 degree heat and even managed to watch a professional Japanese game at a nearby stadium complete with fanatic fans and chants. I reluctantly agreed, to the delight of the Oshima family, to adorn a traditional male Yokata to one of the larger Haneda(fireflower/fireworks) festivals in Asakusa,Tokyo. Throughout July and August they have hundreds of fireworks displays and festivals to celebrate the beginning of summer; 35degree hear + high humidity +suits + full trains + sweaty pits is worth celebrating ? The larger displays last 2 hours and put NZs 30min performances to shame although finding a good viewing spot among the throngs of people here is near impossible.

I haven't had the opportunity(avoiding like the plague) to experience Sashimi yet(raw fish) but have attempted almost everything else from Tempura(battered fish and veges) to Mos Burger (Japanese McDonalds equivalent). Favourite so far is Shabu Shabu which involves a pot of water over heat at your table with thin slices of beef/pork, veges noodles and sauces. You swirl the meat around in the water for as long as it takes to say Shabu Shabu and it's ready for consumption. Unlimited plates of meat for $20NZD each... meat overload heaven.

A BBQ in the 'country side' about 1.5 hours drive west of Saitama towards Mt Fuji was on the agenda last weekend with a few of Akane's friends from Junior high. One of which was Kazuhisa Haraguchi or gixainn as he's affectionately known. Named after this big character with the stipey orange top http://www.dmm.com/rental/-/detail/=/cid=n_620sdv17097r you can spot the resemblance for yourself. Hearing that he got boozed and was sleeping on the floor @ their junior high reunion the previous week sounded promising & I Wasn't disappointed. Akane says his Japanese is hard to understand as he speaks quite fast kinda reminding me of Marko a little. Oh yeah, he drinks too! He plays drums in a band and is into Hardcore and Punk. He's going to take me to a hardcore show in Shinjuku sometime soon. You wouldn't know it from the photos and the 'grow a moustache' cap but he is a Salary Man by day. Being a Salary Man involves excessive bowing, working unpaid overtime and drinking Beer with Grilled Chicken after work everyday. Some Salary Men also partake in Sexual Harassment with Office Ladys on the train on the way home although they are quickly put under Citizens arrest and locked away I'm told.

I was a little disappointed with the BBQ spot mainly due to the used nappy nearby and the river of questionable cleanliness we were eating near. Once the nappy was removed and beer/food started flowing, the good times rolled. We stayed there for the wholeday, approx half a bottle of sunscreen for the whitey of the group, before having our own Haneda display at a nearby park. I've been disappointed by the fireworks for sale here. You have to buy $50 packs full of sparklers and one or two roman candles. I expected display grade rockets and small IEDs to be on sale here seeing as the Chinese invented gun powder and all :D I heard there is an intermediary in Asakusa through G so might go and investigate for blackmarket warez.

So where to from here ?

Heading to a big water park this weekend

Golf range with Akane's dad tonight

Live Sumo in Tokyo soon (moving north from Osaka, Kansai region)

K1 max final in October

Lotsa kickboxing training

New apartment through MorganStanley

Being worked like a Jap for the next year or so

I've got to figure out what to do with my flight to the UK which I can push back to May 29th 2008. I might try and make an All Blacks rugby world cup game. Email me any ideas.

Oh yeah, here's a youtube video of this cool moving clock which was near my hovel in Shimbashi. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-E1oqrPNTo

I probably should have made a mental note of what I said before taking ths photo so I don't make the same mistake twice!

Ja Mata Na

Jono

bah

2007-07-11T08:54:22Z

humbug