ugh

28 01 2007

We went out to a bar in Ikebukuro last night.  It was pretty fun, and very out there.  This bar was called “Fantasy Paradise”  and has themed areas.  We ate in the Opera House area (gorgeous and gothic dining, with girls in French maid outfits for waiters), but they also have Under the Sea, Bamboo Grove, and Year of the Pig (at least thats what I think the theme was….).

Pretty interesting in all.  Next time I want to go to the Lock Up, where you have your own little cell with torture items decorating the walls.  Cant say the Japanese aren’t creative.

On the downside however, Im feeling quite seedy today, so I didn’t make it to church, or the shopping that I wanted to do.  Ah well.


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*ahem* fat men giving each other wedgies and stuff…

22 01 2007

 Last weekend some of my cousins were in town – John and Jackie, so we arranged to meet up.  They wanted to see sumo while they were here, so we went along to the Grand Tournament that they were holding here in Tokyo.  Offically the day starts at around 0830, but really, it doesn’t get all that interesting until mid afternoon.  So in the morning I took them to the Tokyo Edo Museum.  It was my third time going there, but as always I learn something new everytime.  This time around they had a display about the 2nd las Shogun, who was the one that was in charge of the country when the Americans forced their way in.  And they also had a display about mechanical dolls..  I tell you what, they were pretty impressive!

After Lunch we headed over to the Sumo Stadium to watch the professionals.  Sumo is pretty fun, even if you are in the second last row of seats….  Its all about the atmosphere I guess.  I have to admit that I almost fell asleep durning the matches… The night before I didn’t get to sleep until 2am because my neighbors were talking…  grrrr…  But that was the first time I’ve had problems regarding noise here, so that’s been a pretty good run.  Anyway, sumo…  We also wandered around and looked at all the stores.  If there’s one thing Japanese people love, its souvenirs….

After sumo we went to Shinjuku for dinner at an izakaiya.  The meal was okay~  By the end of the day we had spent about 13 hours together, so it was a long day.  Suffice to say, on monday I pretty much just did some house work and chilled out at home.

Work has been kinda hectic recently.  This is the season for new students to sign up, because the school year will be starting again in March.  So we’ve had a lot of interviews to do. And poor Katie was pretty sick and had to take a day off because she lost her voice.  But I can’t complain, the extra money is always welcome.

This weekend I finally got around to going to church (sounds bad hey… finally….).  It was an interesting day.  There are so many new faces at church, and not that many old faces, which is kinda sad.  I guess It’s just not going to be the same as before.  But I’ve already made some new friends, so I guess thats a plus.

Yesterday I was supposed to go with Xina to a doctor’s appointment, but she canceled it, and instead we went to this little malaysian place near Roppongi.  Really yummy food, but its so cheap! 


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Welcoming the Year of the Boar!

6 01 2007

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a great Christmas and looking forward to an even better
year in 2007!

Its hard to believe that another month has passed!  As always,
December seems to pass by so quickly.  Unfortunately it wasn’t the
best of months for me, with persisting colds and flu, but I seem to be
better now, so I’m looking forward to January!

Being sick however didn’t prevent me from getting out and doing things
🙂  December is the month for Christmas Illuminations in Japan, and
they can be quite pretty, if not as ‘christmassy’ as we are used to.
At the start of the month Peter and I went to Roppongi Hills to check
out their Illumination.  We also went up to the observation deck
there, said to be the tallest in Tokyo I think.  Tokyo is an amazing
city, it just goes on and on!

Work was pretty busy last month as well, but I’m really enjoying it.
This company allows the teachers to socialize with the Japanese staff
and students, so about mid month we had a large end of year party at a
Korean restaurant near work.  It was pretty enjoyable, and everyone
seems to be fun-loving.  With work I also had a training day last
month, and I got to catch up with all the people I did initial
training with.  They all seem to be doing well.  I’m actually on my
last day of holidays now, in total, for New Year we have had 8 days
off.  I wish it was a little longer, but the rest of this week at work
will be only be two days long, and with no regular lessons, so it will
be pretty easy.

Peter and I also went to Disneyland to see their Christmas lights and
parades.  As always, I love that place, but unfortunately my favourite
ride – Space Mountain – was closed for the day.  However, as a special
holiday ‘event’, the Haunted Mansion was themed with Nightmare Before
Christmas characters, so that was pretty special.

On the 23rd we had a public holiday for the Emperor’s Birthday.
Apparently you can see the Imperial Family on this day at the Palace,
so I went along for a look.  I didn’t see them myself (I probably
arrived too late in the day), but I did walk around the outside of the
palace (its a huge place, it took over an hour) and the east gardens.
It was very picturesque, however I think I’ll have to go back in
spring when the flowers are out.  I’ve attached some pictures for you
to look at.


For Christmas day we didn’t make any plans, but Christina pulled
through and we went to the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi for a buffet lunch.
 Believe me, the food was really really good!  And it was really great
to spend the day with friends, even if the lunch wasn’t so much of a
traditional Christmas spread.

Over the New Year, my friend Yui invited me to her house for a few
days.  It was really great time.  She lives near a place called
Hakone, which is famous for its hot springs and views of Mt Fuji.  And
on New Years day we took a bus tour to Tochigi Prefecture.  The bus
tour included a visit to a shrine, a flower park, a shopping outlet,
and a strawberry farm.  Now, I’m not a big fan of strawberries, but
they were really really sweet and tasty!  So those few days with Yui
were spent relaxing, enjoying hot springs and eating really good food
(her mum’s a great cook too!).


Well, that’s about all for December!  Hope you are all looking forward
to the new year as much as I am!  I would love to hear from you too!

Take care!



Michele

 


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Long weekends

25 12 2006

  God Bless long weekends! 

This weekend was a long weekend for me because on Saturday, it was the Emperor’s Birthday!  So not only did I get Christmas day off, but the weekend before it!~  I won’t be as lucky next year

So, Saturday being the Emperor’s Birthday, you are supposed to be able to see the Royal family at the Imperial Palace…  I really don’t know if that happens, because I decided to go, and I don’t think I saw anything that isn’t open at any other time of the year.  They have the East garden which is open all year around, and Im sure it would be quite beautiful in spring.  I also walked around the whole palace, which took over an hour.  Its a huge place.

There’s a lot of moats, old stone walls, guard houses and gates.  It’s pretty impressive, however, the sad thing is that most of the built structures aren’t originals.. But you would find that true with a lot of Japanese historical sites.  Still, they are usually faithful replicas, and they can really transfer you back in time~

The gardens are really beautiful and well kept, and Im sure when there’s a bit more green and flowers out it would be a sight to behold.  Its kinda like an oasis in the middle of Tokyo (well, technically its not the middle…  and it used to be on Tokyo Bay… but with land reclamation you certainly cant see the sea anymore….)

Certainly worth the visit (esp since the garden is free!)

Sunday, unfortunately I was feeling pretty sick once more… Hopefully I’ll be able to get over my colds over the holidays and my immune system will get back up to speed.. touch wood.

Today was Christmas, of course!  I didn’t plan to do much apart from call my family and eat KFC for lunch (its traditional christmas food in japan?!?).  However, Xina, being the wonderful person she is, decided that was no good, and we, being Xina, Jason, Peter and myself, all went to the Grand Hyatt for lunch. 

They have this great restaurant called French Kitchen, where you can get brunches, lunches, and dinner.  We went for lunch, and that included all you can eat entrees, choice of main, all you can eat desserts, a glass of champagne, tea or coffee, and cheeses…  It was a bit expensive, but it was really worth it…  And I ended up drinking Xina and Peters’ glasses of champagne… so I was a bit happy.

Ended up being a better christmas than I expected


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Its been one week since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said….

11 11 2006

Wow.  Things have been such a whirlwind since I got into the Omiya training house.  Training for Aeon has been full on, but pretty rewarding.  And now it’s over! (for the time being….)

 

Um, its hard to really know what to say.  We’ve done so much in this past week, but I really don’t want to bore you with the little details….

 

Well, from the beginning.  I touched down at Narita around 8pm on Nov 1st, and the lovely Xina and Jason were kind enough to have me stay with them for the first 2 evenings.  On the Friday I had to make my own way out to Omiya to be met by some of my trainers and be taken to the training house.

 

I met all my fellow trainees that day, and then the following day we actually started training.  Sunday Brooke (another aussie) and I went into Asakusa and Shinjuku to do a little sightseeing.  And then Monday through to Friday has been all training, training, training.

 

The group I’ve been training with are all pretty nice people.  I won’t lie and say that I get along with all personalities here, but there’s only ten of us and we are a fairly close knit group.  Mind you, a majority of the group really really like to party, and I’m just not up to that.  Every night.  Until late….. (shakes head)

 

On Friday night after we finished our training we all went out to an Izakaiya for drinks and some pub grub, and then headed on over to karaoke.  It was a pretty good evening, even if Cindy (American, and strangely enough a physics major too) and I ended up leave a few hours before everyone else.  What can I say….  I act older than my age???

 

Today hasn’t been much, just some wandering around Omiya.  Unfortunately it was a pretty poor day weather wise so that restricted me a bit.  I was looking forward to spending some time in the park just relaxing and reading my book.

 

Tomorrow I’ve arranged to meet up with Peter in Ikebukuro and just hang out.  Hopefully the weather will be somewhat better.  I don’t want to have a huge day because next week’s also going to be killer.

 

On Monday I’ll be taken to my new school, and they’ll set up my bank account and help me find a mobile phone.  Which, believe me, I’m really really feeling.   I guess having a mobile is a bit of a security blanket….  And then on Tues and Wed I’ll be observing classes.  On Thurs it seems I’ll actually be teaching….  Which is a little scary… but I can do this!!! (pep talk..)

 

The internet situation here is rather intermittent, so although I want to email everyone, it looks like I wont have the chance.  I really sorry!!!  I’ll also try to upload some photos to my flickr, but I really can’t promise anything….  We’ll see how it all goes.


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