la vache qui pise: March 2006

I've been so busy lately, life never seems to calm down. But it's not me, it's Japan. The hulking Japanese economic machine doesn't allow its inhabitants to rest, ever! So, if you're thinking of coming here to live or work at some point in the future, just bear this in mind.

Anyway, all this busy-ness has at least allowed me the opportunity to take some nice photos, so here's a load of shots for you which haven't made it on to my main photos site.

Kamome

Koizumi-san in a muddy wet rice field

My mate Chris and I at Sapporo Beer Factory, Hita

A woodpecker in Maizuru-koen

This サイダー (cider, not the alcoholic kind) is designed to be drunk when, and only when, you step out of an onsen

My friends Kaori and Rie in a ramen shop

My colleague Johnson wasting time at work playing the Nintendo DS

People tell me I have a...

But I don't know if that's really true or not.

I've spent the day in Hita with my good friend Chris of The Routes. Chris recently offered to help me record some of my songs and we finished the first takes of them today. They're not necessarily the final versions but you can hear what we've done so far at my myspace music page.

It was Shannon's birthday on Saturday, so a group of us went to Sancho Panza to dance (or at least try to dance) salsa! Despite the fact that we were all awful, it was still a lot of fun!

Well last night the crazy guy above, my friend Kazu, took my buddy Skip and I to a place that can only be described in fantastical terms, the wonderful world of the maid cafe. Let me explain. The Maid Cafe phenomonen started in Tokyo and quickly spread throughout the rest of Japan. They're just like a normal coffee shops except all the waitresses are cute girls dressed in sexy black and white frilly maid outfits! And that's not all. When you enter the shop you're greeted by them in Japanese with 'Welcome home, master!' and they give you a little curtsey and a slight raise of their dress after they've taken your order. And using chocolate they'll also draw any picture you desire on the top of your coffee (and with ketchup on your omurice). There were loads of otaku (geeks) in there and when I left I asked myself if I was one of them.

Here's a couple of grainy keitai pics below which showcase the maid's awesome omurice art (I requested our maid to ketchup the Fukuoka Tower, Kazu chose Kitty-chan and Skip chose himself, but I didn't take a photo of that one). And unfortunately it's forbidden to actually take photos of the maids so you'll just have to use your imagination!

After the delights of the maid cafe we went over to one of my favourite haunts, International Bar, where there was a party in progress. We enjoyed drinking with Sean and Karen (don't be folled by their names, they're Japanese) and lo and behold it happened to be the manageress Shanti's birthday, henced the reason for the party! She was dressed in traditional Nepali costume and looked really beautiful. She has become a friend to me over the last three years and she lets me play gigs in the bar whenever I want! There was also free karaoke last night so Kazu gave us a bit of Bon Jovi (top pic, battling with the darlick) and I whacked out my usual Beatles number.

Shanti and I

Badboys Kazu and Sean

Skip and Karen

Sean and I made one more stop at a new 'British' pub on the way to the subway, where we got free Guinness because their barrel ran out just before they could fill two pint glasses. So we both had a three-quarter pint of Guinness for nothing. The bar manager apologised profusely and offered to let us whip him into a frenzy, but we had a train to catch so we politely declined.

Maybe the first hanami party of the year (hanami means 'cherry blossom viewing')? However this group of afternoon drunkards in the ruins of Fukuoka Castle weren't anywhere near any actual cherry blossoms, but that didn't seem to matter too much. Most sakura are still a few days away from blooming although I did come across a few species of early bloomers in Ohorikoen, pictured below.

And while I was wondering around Maizuru-koen I spotted my first ever uguisu (bush warbler). It's a beautiful bird and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to get closer to try and attempt a photo. I couldn't get close enough to get a good shot but I was just happy to finally see one of these birds (super-enlarged close-up below)!

So spring is finally here in all its glory! I really love this time of year!

**If anybody can help with the identification of any of these flowers I'd really appreciate it. I have no idea what they are, although I think one of them might be magnolia.**

Ace British rock 'n' roller Dave Taylor played his last Fukuoka gig at the Voodoo Lounge last weekend. He's moving to Tokyo to pursue new and greater things and I think I speak for everyone when I say he's going to be sorely missed around these parts! Until later, Dave!

The third grade students at my school graduated today. And after having spent almost three years teaching these kids, I was genuinely sorry to see some of them go. Maybe I'm not just your seasoned-professional-English-teaching-mercenary after all. The school will not be the same without them, well not for a few weeks anyway.

Graduation ceremonies in Japan could never be described as exciting, in fact the words dull, tedious and very boring might be used. But for the benefit of those of you who have no direct experience of Japan, I'd like to briefly show you what the graduation ceremony is all about.

As with any graduation ceremony there were plenty of songs and plenty of tears. The students sang with enthusiasm and pride.

Meanwhile, I think there's nothing more glorious than a man in a suit*. Except when he's wearing trainers. Japanese men like wearing sports shoes with their suits and it looks ridiculous. You can see an example of this fashion crime in the above photo. Now, they say that these are 'indoor shoes', fair enough, but surely they could find better looking indoor shoes than the white trainers they all wear? The school principal, up there on the stage giving one of a whole host of very dull speeches, was particularly guilty. He was wearing an awesome extra-long black blazer which came down to the backs of his knees, and he would've looked pretty cool had it not been for the white addidas.

The girls playing the piano have to know how to play a whole load of songs such as the Japanese national anthem, the school song and lots more. They did a good job as always.

Jun, does this bring back memories?

I always try and guess before the ceremony which teachers will burst into tears. As well as this female colleague, I was surprised to see tears in the eyes of two of my male colleagues too!

After the ceremony the first and second graders line up and the third graders walk through them receiving applause, flowers, softballs and the like.

Then it was cheesy photo time!

These boys hated English

I think I might miss these kids now that they're gone. But after the spring holidays I'll only have four months left in Japan and soon I'll be saying goodbye to a lot more than a couple of classes of kids!

*Actually I can think of many things more glorious than a man in a suit, but you know what I mean.

The magnolias are just about ready!

It's the graduation ceremony tomorrow for the third graders at my school. It's quite possibly the most boring two hours of the year, but I'll do my best to get some nice photos! The best thing about it is that I get to go home at about noon. Easy life!

Tenjin Core Spring Collections 2006

Well, that's good enough for me! When Tenjin Core announces the arrival of the spring collections, it's spring! The knee-high black boots which many of the women have been wearing for the last five months are slowly disappearing, flowers are blooming all over the place, the cherry blossom season is just around the corner, my heater hasn't been used in the last few days and my coat hasn't been worn for over a week. So, as far as I'm concerned, the winter has at last ended! I'm so happy!

Check this out! Sakura (cherry blossom) flavoured ice-latte!

The choice of soft-drinks available in Japanese convenience stores is mind-boggingly good! Whether you want coffee (ice, hot, espresso, latte, caramel flavoured, mocha, in a can, in a bottle), tea (green, straight, lemon, apple, grapefruit, lychee etc), sports drinks (too many to name) or regular soft-drinks, the selection is awesome! I have a different favourite drink every month. I'm definitely going to miss this when I go back to the UK. The choice there is very limited in comparison, and consists only of sweet sugary soft-drinks which rot your teeth. I think I'm going to have to make my own ice milk tea there during the warmer months.

Well, I've been away for a while. Actually, that's not true, I've been here all the time. I just didn't have anything interesting to post. And I still don't really have anything interesting to post. So instead I'm going to show you some photos of things I've been eating and drinking recently.