Monkeying Around

Got to say it's real hard to keep up with all this blogging, it's not like i don't have time just seems a real effort to get it done
This week both of the Fred's are back on site again so I've got more help right now than i can handle. Fred No 1 had been back to the states for Thanksgiving, and Fred No 2 flew back with him and is here for about 10 days to see what going on.
Talking about work though things are going real well the building is coming on and we're starting to put a lot of the mechanical and electrical equipment in position but that's enough about work so back to the blog.
Seems like for the last couple of weeks the only thing I've been doing is going out for meals, this time we had arranged to go for a meal at the local Monkey restaurant. Seriously some where in Utsunomiy there is a restaurant that has a couple of monkeys, yes real monkeys that bring towels and sometimes drinks for the customers.
Was watching the news a while ago and my ears pricked up when i heard the word Utsunomiya that's where i live i thought, check out the link below
http://itn.co.uk/news/d055200bb0a58b2f20bd11f967a2ce80.html
Anyway we got some of the Japanese guys on site to find out where it was and booked in, turns out it's about 4kms from my apartment, only a real small place but what the heck lets go for a look see.
So we all arrange to meet up at the place at about 7pm, me and the two Germans got there a bit late surprise surprise, we had got back from work a bit late then had to find a taxi to take us there. I had a map with an address on which was obviously all in Japanese so couldn't tell if it was the right one or not, had my doubts when the taxi driver asked to study it a couple of times on the way, but he got us there in the end.
In we walked no monkeys in site, but everyone else was already there the food was on so we ordered some beer and started to tuck in. Then the monkeys came or should i say the monkey there are two but they work in shifts, two hour shifts apparently something to do with workers rights, load of monkey business if you ask me.
The monkey was dishing out hand towels, the guy gave him one and you had to hold out your hand and he gave it to you, "Just like that" as Tommy Cooper would say.
During and after the meal the owner of the restaurant who was also the guy who had trained the monkeys put on a bit of a show with them for us. Don't know if this is normal practice for everyone but there was a fairly big group of us, about ten and i guess it was good money for them.
Anyway check out the video i took on my camera, yes i had it with me this time could not let this opportunity go by.

There were two monkeys like i say, think the smaller on is dishing out the towels and the bigger one is doing the dancing, if you look in the back ground while he's doing his dance you can see the small one peeping out over the top the plastic bin in the corner. After the dance the guy fed them, the big one was obviously in charge and the small one didn't dare come anywhere near him while he was eating, the guy said that the big one would beat him up if he got to close, can't come between a monkey and his food.

From Sushi to Red Lights

We it's Sunday the 30th and I've been at work all day in fact i was at work all day yesterday as well sucks i know but it could be a lot worse, at least i get paid for it.
Been i a bit hectic today work is work but wanted to go to the gym afterward and had arranged with the German guys at work to go to a Thai restaurant we had seen the other day, so it was a bit of a mad dash to get back form work, go to the gym and meet everyone by 7.30, but i managed it surprise surprise, I'm not the most punctual person in the world as those that know me can testify.
Anyway we all met up at 7.30 me three Germans and a Polish guy, off we went it's only about 5 minuets from where i live walking which is just as well because it was freezing, not literally but it was cold.
Once again forgot to take my camera so no pictures well not until i get some emailed to me from one of the lads who had one, as you can see have got the photo now it's just took me what seems like weeks to write this.
Seems like I've been going out for meals all week, was invited out a few days ago for some food and drinks with the main site contractor, a company called Shimizu. We met up at the local Isikaya, don't known if I've spelt that right or not but basically it's a Japanese restaurant. Food was great don't know what most of it was lots of fish dishes there was even a great big fish with what seemed like even larger eyes, not for me but they went down well with everyone else.
Now the meal finished at about 11pm, I'd had a bit to drink by then everyone had been getting me to drink Sake as i was the token westerner there. Think they wanted to get me drunk on the local stuff but their plan back fired a bit, yep i was a bit merry but some of them were worse off than me.
Anyway the meal finished and everyone went his own separate way. I live on the East side of the railway station, some would say it's the wrong side of the tracks. No one was going my way so was walking home by myself and thought why not go for another drink, probably a bad idea but you have them when you've been drinking. Now the thing about the East side of the station where my apartment is it's not far from what some people refer to as the red light area of Utsunomiys, i mean there are literally hundred of small bars there, and i mean small bars. The bars all have women in them whose job it is to sit with you and get you to by them a drink now if there is anything else going on i don't know.
So being a bit drunk thought i would go in one and see what it was like, this is how it works you pay about 3,000 Yen to go in for one hour, at today's EX rate that about 20 quid. Once you're in your drinks are free for that hour, if you like to drink it's a good deal as drinks run between 3-4 quid a pop even in regular bars. The girls job is to talk to you and get you to buy her drinks and to stay longer than an hour which costs more money. Japanese guys seem love these kind of bars they must do as there are hundreds of them, you can also sing Karaoke if you want.
You might wonder how i know all this well i have to admit i have been to the odd one before mostly with Japanese guys form work i might add.
So anyway I'm walking through this red light or pink light area on my way home thinking i would check out one of these bars, I've never been in one by myself before, so was starting to think maybe not.
Then out of a doorway pop two girls/women, now one i them I've seen before when walking home and she had always tried to get me to go in to here bar but i never had. In for a penny in for a pound as they say.
Photo does not look great but they were both quite nice from what i remember, my score on the Karaoke though was twenty two a record they said. No one had ever got a score that low before, i know I can't sing but was i really that bad, guess i must have been drunker than i thought to even attempt Karaoke by myself.
They let me stay longer then an hour guess i must have been entertaining them with my singing, yep i did sing more than one song but 22 was my lowest, think i actually got up into the 60's still bad i know but good for me.
After my hour and a half or so was up and i wasn't going to stay anymore but it was quite an eye opening experience, no hassle no problem no pressure to buy drinks, anyway time was up so off home to bed, unfortunately i still had to go to work the next day.

From Fire Escapes To Cars

Well I've just stocked up on T-Bags, 598Yen for 40 that's about 4 quid at today's ex rate, the things you do for a little piece of home, can't imagine doing this back in the UK. The other thing I've lashed out on is some Kerosene for my little heater, it's turning a bit cold here at night now so i dug out the heater the other day which my mate Razer had lent to me.
Had to go and get the Kerosene from the local petrol station, wasn't quite sure how to go about that as the pump is a self serve thingy, quite neat really you press a few buttons put in your cash and press go. When you're finished you get a little receipt with a bar code on it go to another machine get the bar code scanned and get you change all real easy in theory. Didn't quite work like that for me after about 3 attempt of trying to get the correct combination of buttons and getting it wrong i finally went in search of someone who could help me. Found a guy in a little office at the front watching TV who helped me out and showed me what buttons to press, think i can remember the correct buttons for next time, well i hope i can.
Off i go back to the apartment with my 18Ltrs of Kerosene filled up the fuel container for the heater, wouldn't you know got it all over my jeans. Didn't realise how bad it smelt until i went to the gym, got changed put my cloths in the locker while i went in, when i got back to change and have a shower smelt like i had been washing them in neat heating oil which i guess is ok if you like that sort of thing but i don't, no wonder people were moving away from me when i first went in, ah well live and learn.
Work is getting a lot busier now and next week we have another German guy and two more Americans coming over so the office will be full to busting with six people with a lot more going on. As we're getting real busy at work now I've just booked a ticket to go to Korea for the weekend, probably would not have gone but have a bank account there that i need to sort out and this will probably be the last opportunity i get for a while, booked through Expedia on United airlines so we'll see how this turns out, will let you know when i get back.
Well I'm back for Korea now actually been back for a nearly two weeks now just could not get round to finishing the blog. By the way the flight on United was pretty good and the best thing was it only cost $297. Iwas only in Korea for a couple of days but did manage to get my bank account sorted out, decided to leave the money over there and just put it in a saving account. The exchange rate is great at the moment so i mad money on that, put it in a fixed account for 3 month at nearly 6% interest. Yeah i know it may sound risky being in a foreign country and all that and i will have to go over there to get it out when i want it but i know at some point I'll be back over there, to be honest from what i here all the in the UK have problems anyway.Got to say this trip was better that the last, was a bit disappoint the last time i was here but things seemed better this time, stayed in the Young Chon hotel again. Did not really take any photos this trip though my camera is a bit old and it's a bit bulky in the pocket so tended not to take it out with me so when i did see some ting interesting did not have the camera, it's a hard life you know

This is the only photo i took while i was in Korea and it's in the hotel room shows you the escape route if there is a fire and you can't get to the stairs. Basically it's a rope in a box, you chuck it out of the window attach it to an eye blot in the wall and abbsailing down the wall, you probably need to be in your 20's or 30's to do this though and in the SAS to boot, no knots in the rope, i was on the 5 floor and it just didn't look long enough to reach the ground to me, got to jump i guess. The other major problem was the eye bolt fixed into the wall was actually not fixed into the wall, it pulled out. Just hope there isn't a fire, it all sounds good in theory and it should work but i don't want to try it. Then again theory's always do sound good, but am sure the robe met fire regulations at some point, and it is better than nothing, isn't it? by the way check out the 60's wall paper must be making a come back.

Since i started this blog entry we have not got three Germans in the office the two Americans have gone back to the states but we are getting three Americans mores on the 2nd Dec, sound's like we've won the lottery doesn't it, anyway we'll be pretty crowded.

Its getting pretty cold her right now even cold than when i started this entry, there is snow on the mountains around us and have to say the surrounding area looks really pretty nice with all the leaves changing colour.

Oh here is a view of the front of the building as of last week, the inside still has a hell of a lot to do the the outside is not that fare away from being done at least at the front.

I've had to cheat a bit and added a photo of may favorite car over here down loaded it from the Internet, been meaning to get a photo of in in the flesh so to speak but every time i see one don't have my camera. It's a little Daihatsu Copen, only seats two and it only has a small 660cc engine

Over here ether are lots of cars of 660cc or below there must be some special tax breaks and obviously they do lots to the gallon or should i say Liter, pretty nippy too.

Japan, Bugs, Biscuits and no Tea Bags

Don't know if I'm any good at this blogging thing or if I've even got any better since i first started writing a blog. Also don't know really know why anyone would want to read it apart from the people that i know and that's to see what's going on, but to be honest i quite like doing it even though it takes me what seems like forever to write one so i guess I'll keep doing it.
Wish i was i bit more prolific though at writing and could find a few more interesting things to waffle on about but there again we all wish for lots of different things. Although I'd like to be more prolific etc it's not exactly at the top of my wish list think the Ferrari and the Lear Jet come a lot higher up and even they're not at the top, in fact don't really know what is at the top, the top of the list changes from day to day depending on how I'm feeling.
Guess deciding what is at the top of the list is like picking your favorite movie or food something like that, i always think to say something is your favorite means it's your best or the one you like most and there are so many good things out there it's always hard just to pick one, but there again that's my opinion and as I've said before everyone has one, an opinion that is. The problem with opinions is that as well as everyone having one which is not a problem some people think there's is the only one worth anything and that can be a problem, but i digress back to the blog.
I've been in Japan about 5 months now with probably as many to go, just going to rant on about Japan for a while now, well not rant on exactly as to rant is to harangue or attack something at least that's what the dictionary says.
Just going to talk a bit about my observations and such about Japan since I've been here, I'm actually here working but have not spoke much about it and i don't really intend to in this blog but i am going to add a couple of photos of the site, what it looked like when i got here in June and what it looked like a few months later so you know i am doing something. The one on the left was taken on the 13th June and the one on the right was taken on the 12th September from exactly the same place, you can see what difference three months makes, will probably do this again in another month or so.
Got to say Japanese workers are good and fast, they like to dissect everything put it on a drawing so that there is not chance of a surprise and all the problems ironed out before work starts, this normally leads to a million question and can be frustrating but when i Japan and all that. Think this is why they're so good at things, mass producing cars and electronics etc everything is well thought through well drawn up with nothing to chance. The other reason they're good at this sort of thing and probably why we don't have a car industry anymore is pride in there work.
On a construction site though there are things you just don't know and won't until you get further down the line, not the best way here but that's the way it is, it's sort of hard explaining this especially as most of the things we design and build are one offs and the next one is usually slightly different always changing. All in all the Japanese work ethic is great and everyone wants to do a good Job and on time, safety and honesty is also high here doesn't' seem to be any problems on either front.
There's also a big difference in thinking over here for instance we were in the train station a few weeks ago, think it was when Ben and Tristan were here. like i say we were in the train station and either B or T had dropped one Yen (a penny) we were in a rush going to Roponggi for a night out so we left it in fact in the UK you probably not bend down to pick it up not worth the effort, it's only a Penny or a Yen in this case, Japanese guy saw one of them drop it called them back they were going to walk on but he pointed to it picked it up and gave it to them, took us longer to go back and pick it up than it was worth, in the UK everyone would just have left it, if it was 50p or so some one would have picked it up but probably not shouted you back for it, talk about thinking differently.
I also like the way you can pay bills over here as well, since I've had the apartment have had gas, telephone and electric bills all i do is walk to the 7/11 on the corner or the street at any time of day or night and pay them there you don't need to go near a bank or anything like that. At the 7/11 you don't have to know any Japanese just show the bill they scan the bar code you give them the money job done, everything has a bar code on it here so am sure you can pay a lot more at the 7/11 talk about convenience store.
There are lots of things that are good about Japan same as England, err did i really say that about sunny old England.

There are quite a few frustrating things here as well though but won't go into them too much now but one of them is the way rules are enforced in everything with no lee way no gray fudgy areas that we all love, even the smallest of little things here if there's a rule associated with it that's the way you need to do it, all in all though everything is going OK.

Another thing that frustrates me a bit well a lot to be honest driving here reminds me of Mississippi in the US, the roads aren't as big here but just the same people drive in both lanes doing the same speed and you just can't get past, it's a pet hate really but it frustrates the hell out of me.

Right changing the subject check out the size of the bug or what ever it is that we found the other day lodged in the door to our office, by the way that's not my hand did not know what the hell it was, for all i know it could have bit, stung or poisoned you, what a whimp I've turned out to be so just pointed it out, before i knew what was happening someone had picked it up, they did tell me the name but it was Japanese and I've slept since then.

That's pretty much it for now looks like I'm working again this weekend, if i get chance I'll try and and do something.

Just made a cup of tea and discovered a disaster in waiting, it was the last T-bag i had in my little glass tea bag pot, went to the cupboard to get some more only to find it bare, I'd just used the last T-bag I'd borough from the UK, will have to scourer the shops tomorrow, I'm told they have PG tips somewhere in Utsunomiya.

On the plus side today i bought these biscuits, or should i say Cookies and they're good, don't normally buy biscuits but may have to get some more of these.

The First Meal

So anyway I've got my gas cooker guess it's time to cook something on it or at least see if i can still cook. My first attempt needed to be something simple which sounded like a stew to me, for those that want it to sound a bit more up market a casserole, although i guess that's technically done in an oven and i don't have one so stew it is.

Having decided what to cook off i go down to the supermarket to buy some stuff to put in it, felt like i was on "Ready Steady Cook" buying a budget bag of ingredients for the red kitchen ready to show the chef and see what the hell he could do with it all, problem was there was no chef only me.

So I'm at my favorite supermarket to get the stuff have never really done much shopping other that buying stuff for sandwiches and things that i could zap the hell out of in the micro wave.

First thing i bought was some meat, got to say it looked good and probably cheaper than i could get it for in England, which sort of surprised me. Vegetables next, some stuff was pretty cheap but what made me look twice was the spuds, or should i say potatoes. You buy them individually nothing wrong with that you might think and there wasn't, probably would not of noticed but as the price was in Yen and not pence it made me think how much they would cost. Getting old you see and the brain doesn't work as fast as it used to, spud's were pretty small but again this is the land of rice and Sake and i needed some potatoes for a change.

So got through the shopping for food experience and off back to the apartment with my little bag of goodies to see what i could do with it all. I'm back in the apartment and guess what I've forgot, only the next most important thing to the gas burner. Yep something to put and cook the stew in, told you i was getting old got a gas hob now but no pots and pans so off i go again to get something, i was starting to think that I'd never start cooking or maybe get so hungry I'd have to go to McDonald's or something for some real food.

Finally get back to the apartment with my new pots and pans, this first meal is sure turning out to be an expensive one, almost getting to the stage where it would be cheaper to fly to the UK for a meal.

This was my thinking and what made me go for a stew in the first place anyway, basically peal everything bung it all in a pan boil it for a couple of hours, add some Oxo and Bisto and a stew was born.

Yeah i know you don't put everything in at the same time the meat takes longer etc, etc, but the the basic idea was sound. By the way the Oxo and Bisto i brought for England when i first came here just in case you couldn't get anything like it over here, i know from living in Korea or at least when i was there you couldn't get it there, plus it was about time i started to use it.

So that was it everything was in the pan boiling and doing it's thing, was also doing some mashed potatoes to round it all off.

Check out the photos, everything turned out pretty well for my first attempt and it was not bad at all even though i say so myself, so all in all money on the gas burner was well worth it and I'm sure I'll be using it a lot more. Next time will try something a bit more adventurous, can't do anything like roast beef and YP though as i don't have an oven.

So I'm over a big hurdle now have actually cooked my first meal in my apartment, did not burn the place down and the food tasted not bad at all. It may not sound like much to you but I've been looking for a gas burner for months and wondering if it all would be worth it. To be honest it's probably as cheap to go out and buy something to eat for one as it is to cook it and it's a damm sight easier trust me but you don't want to be eating out all the time now do you, or do you?

The only down side at the moment id the kitchen units above the sink and where the burner are are built for someone about 5 inches shorter than me so to say I've banged my head a few times is not really telling the whole story, guess i need to work on getting someone to cook for me.

Nothing much about Nothing

Haven't really got a lot to say, just trying to get at least 5 blogs in for October feel a little guilty about doing only an average of one a week, the fact that I'm finishing it off in November is not the point i started it in October so I'm going to post it as an October post. That being said I'm probably just going to waffle on a bit about nothing in particular so sorry if it boring. To any American that happen to stumble across this blog by the way waffle in this case means to talk a lot about not much and it's nothing to do with anything you eat.

I've had to work the last couple of weekends much to my disgust, at least i get paid for them so it could be worse, but think i would rather have the time off, hopefully will have this weekend off.

Actually I'm thinking about a quick trip to Korea as i still have my bank account over there to sort out if it wasn't for that would probably not go back for a while.

Not a lot's been going on although we are getting a few more people at site now, in fact in our office we have Germans, English, Japanese and Americans so quite international flavour to the office.

Just changing the subject was talking to my youngest son Joe the other day and he asked me why i'd only put a photo of the back of my head in the last blog to show my hair cut, so just for you Joe here you go.

Talking about international relations about every month I've been to to a little get together at what they call the international center over here, actually its a room they hire in the Utsunomiya library building for a couple of hours ever month but international center sounds better i guess.

It's basically gathering of expats, foreigners working over here and Japanese people, they have a few drinks snacks and organise events it's a pretty good way to meet people and it's not as bad as it sounds although i was pretty dubious at first as it just didn't sound like my kind of thing. I probably wouldn't have gone to the first one but my mate Razer who lives done the hall from me asked me to go and check it out with him. It turned out to be OK though the drinks were mostly soft like coke and green tea but the food was good, found out later that everyone is supposed to take something to snack on but we didn't know, maybe next time.

One good thing about these get togethers is that you can find out plenty of local knowledge and stuff from the Japanese who go and all speak English, helps with finding out the everyday mundane things like what you do with your rubbish. Talking about rubbish everyone recycles here and i mean they do it with everything, seems like a dustbin wagon come round ever day, one day they pick up food waste the next paper and cardboard, the next bottles and plastic the next scrap metal tins and stuff, lo and behold if you get caught throwing the wrong thing away, a foreigner can probably get away with it on account of not speaking Japanese though.

The other thing that never seems to stop over here is the post office or getting mail delivered. Not sure how many mail deliveries we have in the UK now probably only one or two a day but over here seems like they do it 27/7. The other day i bumped into the guy posting mail in the boxes in my apartment and it was 10pm on a Sunday night, Ok Ok i may be exaggerating a bit it might have been 8 pm but it was Sunday night and they do that all the time it wasn't' like it was a one off event.

The other big event this week has been the fact that I've finally gone and bought my self a gas grilling thingy so i can do some cooking. Have been after one for a while but been trying to get one second hand without any luck though, so i bit the bullet and went and splashed out on a new one much as i didn't want to pay full price and it went against the grain. So like i say finally decided enough was enough and went to the local home center and bought one, 17,800Yen band new about 100quid at today's exchange rate. So got it and took it home unpacked it but didn't realise that i needed a gas pipe to do the hook up to the gas supply. Off i pop back to the home center for a gas pipe it was only a few hundred Yen but it took me over about 3/4ters of and hour to go and get back again because of the traffic so i was a bit frustrated when i finally did get back home.

Anyway I'm back with my bright orange gas pipe and my gas burner now it's time to hook it up and see if it lights. Over here and in Korea for that matter they don't have big ovens in most houses like we do the norm is usually a couple of gas hobs and a fish grill which you hook up yourself.

In the UK you would have to get a Corgi registered gas fitter to hook anything up to a gas supply for you (in theory you would anyway) would cost you plenty and you would have to wait for the privilege. None of that rubbish over here just push the connecting hose on the end of the supply pipe and on at the burner end fit the clips they send with it turn on the supply valve and Bobs your uncle you have a working gas hob. Actually it was as simple as that took all of about 5minuets to connect up and it lit the first time, next thing to do is to get some food for a meal and see if i can remember how to cook.

Men In Red N Bran Flakes

Well I've been back in Japan over two weeks now since my trip to Korea, must say it's quite nice to be back have got used to my little apartment over here, where i can just go and chill out after work and relax. I'm looking forward to going back to the UK at Christmas though, was hoping i could fit a trip in before then but won't be able to, work and all that.

looking forward to some good old English food when i get home, lots of people knock English food but i happen to like it, think if it's done right it's good. Problem is most tourists eat in pubs or places like that, nothing is home made in the majority of places it's all frozen and just doesn't do anything justice. The people cooking or preparing it are probably all worried about what they will do after work rather than cooking, but there again you can't do a lot with a frozen meal just zap it and serve it. Anyway the word goes forth English food is not the best and it gets a bad reputation, that's my opinion anyway for what it's worth, but you know what they say about opinions, everybody got one. It's a bit like the stereo type of the UK where it rains everyday, i know it rains a lot but not everyday, or have i just been away too long.

It's not that there's anything wrong with Japanese food just the opposite it's good, just different to ours and i guess like anything you tend to like what you grew up with or at least miss it a bit when you're away for a long time so a nice plate of roast beef and YP wouldn't go amiss right now, a full English Breakfast would go down well as well to say the least or at least a bacon butty.

Changing the subject from food to driving just like that, when i first got here it thought all the drivers were great, been here a while now I'm not so sure. Driving standards here are good the thing that really gets me though is how slow everybody drives out on the road or turns into a entry or round a corner, not that i want to be racing around but there's slow and there's slow if you know what i mean. Everyone seem so cautious when driving here well at least the 99.8% of the drivers I've come across on the roads in Utsunomiya are, the other .2% are just nut's, not really but at least they drive faster.

The biggest thing to watch out for here is pedestrian crossings though, they're all right at cross roads or junctions and i mean right at the corner, so for instance when the traffic light to go straight turns green the pedestrian crossing lights on the left and right fork of the cross roads turn green at the same time. So if you're turning left for instance and not going straight on you turn onto a pedestrian crossing that's green for go, people just walk or ride out onto the crossing in font of you with out a care in the world as soon as it goes green. It's not like in the UK when you use a crossing you still look, well at least i do can't relay on British drivers to stop for a Zebra crossing now can we. Here though everyone seems to have blind faith that the drivers will see them and stop what trusting souls. This crossing thing took me a bit of getting used to, nearly cleaned a few people up when i first got here as i wasn't used to it. All in all the way crossings work here seems like a bit of stupid system if you ask me, but it works and when in Rome as they say do as the Romans do or in the case Japanese. Guess this is why everyone seem to take so long turning corners all being really cautions and watching for those pesky pedestrians, problem is everyone really slow when there's no crossing in sight, course it could be that i just drive too fast.

It's starting to get quite busy at work now, in fact i worked last Saturday and Sunday and that's the first time I've done that since being in Japan. Check out this photo though have been driving past these guys everyday on the way to and from work ever since I've been here, have always been meaning to stop and take a photo of them but never got round to it. Going past the other day though i noticed that their caps and stuff had been changed, it had always been red but the old stuff had faded to pink and now it's bright red again, so just had to stop and take a piki.

Not exactly sure what they are or why they are there but as you can see they are all doing something or holding something different so i assume there is a reason for this but don't know what it is. You see these guys a lot at grave yards, they're always dressed in red stuff, dressed to kill or to die should i say, some kind of a religious thing I'm sure, don't know why the red either though, will look it up when i have time.

Went to get my hair cut again yesterday, don't know what's going on but i seem to be getting it cut shorter and shorter, next stage is a shave. Went to a different barbers this time asked for the same size clippers but they seemed to cut it shorter to me, but do like easy maintenance, haven't used a comb since I've been here.

Barbers sort of reminded me of an American barber shop not that i know what one would be like just what i have seen on TV. Anyway walked in the shop there was about 10 chairs for punters and what seemed about 20 people cutting hair, everyone sort of looked up and chorused hello at the same time i walked it's sort of strange but seems to be the norm over here when you walk in a shop. Anyway as soon as i walked after the hello chorus i was shown to a chair, had three people do a bit on my hair, first guy did the cutting then another one came up and gave me a shave the last guy sort of did the finishing off and checking sort of fine tuning so to speak, finishing off with a neck shave and cutting the hairs in my ears thank you very much. The whole thing cost me 1430 Yen about 8 quid at today EX rate, not bad but it cost a little more then the little old lady who cut it last time, but there again i did have three people work on me. Here's a photo of the back of my head, trying to spare everyone the front view after complaints last time, short ain't it..

Also been out shopping today looking for a gas grill to finish off my kitchen, trying to find a second hand one but not having much luck. I'll probably have to bite the bullet and buy a new one even though it goes against the grain, it's not like they're real expensive about 100 quid new but if i can get one for twenty that's even better. I'm either going to have to throw it out or give it away when i leave like most of the things I've bought for the apartment so no point wasting money is there. Like i say not had much luck at the second hand places so probably will get a new one much to my disgust but i least i should be able to do some cooking, did buy a few cheapo utensils at the 100Yen store though in preparation for when i get it.

That's it for tonight going to make myself a cup of char and get to bed, got to get to work early in the morning unfortunately.

Oh one other discovery i made the other day food wise, thought i would go and buy some cereals for breakfast. Decided to get some bran flakes, Kellogg's bran flakes to be precise, so off i pop to my favorite supermarket to get them. Next day for breakfast open the pack and I'm looking forward to some cereals for a change, well knock me down with a wet piece of Sushi they were coated in sugar and tasted more like Frosties than Bran Flakes. It was a bit of a shock to the old system that first mouthful you know when you're expecting one taste and get another, guess Japanese people like sweet things. I've never come across sugar coated bran flakes before though but obviously I've led a very sheltered life up to now.

Out and About

It's been nearly two weeks now since i got back form Korea, time soon goes. Started this post as a draft a while ago as you can see from the post date and have just added this bit on the start of it. Wish i could say that I've too busy to finish it off but the truth is just been a bit lazy, just couldn't seem to get round to finishing it of.

There was one other thing that sort of got me out of the mood to finish it and that was what the hell going on with the economy in the UK, listening to the news here it sound like the whole world is going down the toilet. Talking of the toilet guess I'll paper the walls of it with my HBOS and LloydsTsb share certificates, they sure ain't worth much now.

So back to the post, as i only had one weekend in Songtan thought i would split it up and try to see all the bars i used to go too. After eating at the Sam IL where i had a good meal, the owner and her husband seemed pleased to see me, at least they remembered me it had been a long time after all.

So after eating it was time to see what was going on it town, was still fairly early about 8pm so thought i would go and have a couple of games of pool sort of let the food go down over a slow beer then round the bars and see who i bumped into.

Won't go into the night much as to be honest i can't remember a lot, did go down the Golden gate again to give it another try like i said i would, still not impressed didn't feel the same. Won't say i'll never be going there again but i'm in no rush, the atmosphere has defiantly changed.

Friday night turned out to be a bit of a blur met a few people i used to know had a few chats about old times and what was going, turns out most things a pretty much the same.

Saturday was much the same did the gym thing bit of shopping and food, this time went for something to eat with some people i used to know also met up with someone from my days working at the Brush. He lives over here now with his girlfriend and still works for an English company, not the Brush though. When you work in software you can pretty much be based anywhere i guess, another one of the benefits of the Internet, good for him i say.

Now for a bit of an overview of Songtan which is where I'm staying, it's about 45kms south of Seoul and has a big American air force base right at the top of main street and i mean literally at the top of the street. Check out the photos you come through the main gates and straight into the main road, Sinjang Shoppimg Mall, American or what.
Shopping is good though you can get all sorts of things, some of the most popular are tailor made suits, leather jackets, blankets, bags basically anything you want and a few you don't. A lot of the things like the bags and stuff are fake even though i can't tell the difference. Before you ask how do i know it's fake then, you don't Louie V or Gucci bags for $20 do you, even i know that.

The blankets are good quality as well check out the photo, i know you can't tell from a photo but have bought a couple of them in the past and they are
good. No i didn't buy any with anything on, just got old fashioned plain ones, I'm told the ones with things on go down well though, but it's not for me. I can definitely vouch for the suits, I've still got a couple that are going strong mind you that may be because i don't ware one very often, on the plus side though i can still fit in them.

The photo on the right is of my mates bar, the Bulldog, well it was his he's just sold it, it was the only bar in Songtan owned by an English man, probably the only bar owned by a westerner for a while. Most bars that westerners are involved with seem to be in the names of wife's or girlfriends.

Popeyes next door which is one of my favorite American fast food chains, they sell chicken by the way, it's much nicer than the Colonel's if you ask me, that KFC for those that don't know.

Am struggling to finish this now as it's been so long, will just add a few photos of out and around town and down in the market, a Kimchi stall, a view looking up the main street early evening, not in any particular order.

So anyway that pretty much it for the Korean experience for now, I've got one more day left than I'm catching a flight early Monday morning, means i have to leave the hotel at 5am, two hours by bus to the airport then the 8.55 flight, then to work, oh my God. Will have to come back over here again though in the no to distant future as i really need to get my bank account sorted out, if it wasn't for that probably would not be back for a while. All in all things seem to have changed a bit, the flight to get here is only 2 half hours but with all the traveling to and from the airport and waiting for the plane, took me about 10 hours door to door bit of a drag really.

Changes

It's Friday now, was going to say Friday morning but to be honest i went out last night and didn't get back to the hotel till pretty late so you can guess i got up late. When i got up i found out it was a bank holiday in Korea this totally screwed up my plans for the day. One of the reasons i wanted to come here was to sort out some money in a bank account i have here, so much for the plans of mice and men.
So it was on to plan B, wasn't sure what that was when i found out about the banks being closed, so came up with one quick. Get some dinner do some shopping and go to the local gym not necessarily in that order and then out for the night.
Shopping first didn't really need anything but just wanted to have a look round and see what had changed. Not a lot has really changed but the dynamics of the town have changed it just doesn't seem the same, there been a few new restaurants and bars opened up and a few old ones either closed or changed their names since the last time i was here but basically it's the same.
The biggest changes i have found so far have been that Mr Kim from the Young Chon where I'm staying had retired, the Mamasn who ran a bar called the Golden Gate (GG) in the center of town has either sold up or leased it out, found this out last night as it was one of the places i went.
Now the GG had always been one of my favorite bars in Songtan and i always thought of it sort of like a bell weather of the town. When i first came here many years ago the GG was always busy every night of the week, it was standing room only at the weekend. It always had the best looking girls working there, the best music not the best beer as everywhere sells the same, anyway it's steadily gone down hill over the last few years but i still liked it.
Now it's changed hands to me it just didn't seem the same being in there, in fact it was dead but there again it was Thursday. I'll give it another chance tonight and see how it is, the curfew for the US air base at the top of the road is three o'clock at the weekend instead of the usual midnight in the week so there should be a few out. Amost forgot couple of other things had changed i noticed one of my favorite places has vanished, a cloths called Chasecult, now i don't know if there is one still in town but not in any of the place i went. Used to like to shop there they had some nice stuff, with this and the other two change the town had definitely changed for me a bit. Photo on the right is of the shop that's taken it's place
Did find my favorite sock shop though, yes i know it's sad but got back to the hotel with a few pairs of new socks and some J shorts.
The other change was i when i got in a Taxi to take me to the hotel Thursday night, the meter started at 2,000Won, about a quid to you or me, cheap yeah i know, try getting that in the UK and 2,000Won takes you about 2.5Km. It was basically 25% more than it was a year ago though, inflation and all that. On the plus side beer is still the same price 2,500Won for a bottle of OB that's about about 1.40 UK, OB is a Korean beer and it stands for Oriental Brewery.
That was pretty much if for my shopping and sight seeing trip around Songtan, time to check out the gym i go to when I'm here, it's called O2, needed to get this out of the way get something to eat then get ready for what the night would bring.
So off i pop to O2 for a hour or so. when i get there every thing's the same, same bloke in charge same price, same machines. Now the machines are a little old but everything works so no problems, the gym provides free towels and free shorts and T shirts if you want them, all you really need is a pair of trainers and socks then off you go, not bad for 5,ooo Won or just over two and a half of the UK's finest pounds. Didn't do an awful lot there a little on the tread mill and on the bike and a few free weights, about an hour and a half, and Bob's you uncle i was in the shower and it was time to out of there.
That's the gym out of the way after that it's was out for some food to one of my Favorite restaurants in the town, the Sam IL Bulgogi house, at least that was still the same.
Had sort of arrange to meet some one last night, a bloke i knew from before i might add but you know how it goes had only been in town one day and i wanted a bit of space, just wanted to walk round by myself make my own mistakes and take everything in. I knew the people who owned the restaurant so it was no problem to go there by myself. Had a Koren dish called Samgyeopsal (not sure of the spelling) but It real popular here, basically is bacon that you cook on the table in font of you, like a lot of the food food here. You get a lot of little side dishes lots of Kimch which you add with the bacon wrap it in lettuce make a little parcel and then eat, don't sound great but it's good i promise you. I like Korean food probably more than Japanese food the main difference is that Korean food is quite spicy and Japanese food isn't, i like spicy food, you also get a lot of sushi over here just like in Japan but I'm not a big fan of it, think it's over rated and a bit bland, but will say this it's healthy.
So that was it for the day now to get ready for the night, so paid the bill 9,000 Won about 4 and half quid, cant beat it, i left more than i ate and still ate too much.

In Transit

Well got back from Korea earlier today then had to go work so feeling a bit tired right now but "onward and upward" as some one once said, which sounds to me like it's mountain climbing related jargon, just looked on the net and apparently Abraham Lincoln said it at some agricultural society address way back when, enough of this on with the blog.

So It's Thursday the 2nd and I'm planning on getting the bus to Narita airport as for once I'm ready in plenty of time, bus takes longer but it a one stop deal on the train you have to change in Tokyo which means carting your bag around the train station until you find the right platform.

As I'd got plenty of time off i trot to get my bus ticket, unfortunately I'd not looked into it and the next bus departs too late and won't get me there in time. So on to plan B get the train, by the way It was a hot day Thursday and I'd already walked past the train station to try and get a bus ticket so by this time i was sweating and swearing a bit under my breath as i was walking and carrying my bag with me, but not to worry don't get frustrated that's what i told myself after all i was going away for the weekend to the "Land Of The Morning Calm" AKA Korea

Finally get to the train station and got myself a ticket, i was early but decided to go anyway wasn't really worth going back to the apartment even thought now i was getting the train I'd be at the airport at least an hour earlier than i needed to be.

I get on the train and as usually happens everything runs like clock work or in this case high voltage electrical train works and on schedule.

Train ride was nice and smooth Shinkansen to Tokyo then change to the Narita express and on to the airport and the next thing i know is I'm there with about three hours to kill. After checking in at the JAL desk and going through customs i think a drink maybe a McDs or Burger King some kind healthy food of that sort are in order that wasn't to be though, in Japan there are what seems like thousands of MacDonald's almost one on every street corner, but not at Narita airport no sir at least not at terminal 2 i can tell you cause i walked around it about twice. Just went in a little cafe to get a drink and a snack, that was pretty much it next stop Seoul in about 2 and half hours.

It took about two and a half hours to get to Seoul we landed on time, the first thing i notice on the way to the customs counter was that the neat rows of Japanese standing on one side of the escalator's so the people in a hurry could get past had changed to a sort of disorderly stand anywhere you want sort of thing. Think I've sort of got used to the ordered way in Japan, but i soon got back into the swing of things had just forgot what it was like.

It was then on to customs and the usual wait but luckily i some how got there in the first rush of people and it didn't take that long, then down to get the bag from the carousel and try and get a bus to Songtan.

Oh another thing i noticed during the transfers at Narita airport i had to get a shuttle train to the gate on another part of the concourse. The same thing happened in Korea at Inchon airport, i was flying JAL and had never done this before but the thing i notice was the speeds the trains traveled at. Both were unmanned trains, computer controlled in other words programmed to do the same thing all the time. The difference was the speed the one in Japan went at a sedate maybe 30 kph while the one in Korea seemed to accelerate really fast to probably about 60kph, remember you're in a narrow tunnel and it seemed fast even to me. What made me laugh to myself was the reaction of some of the Japanese passengers, they sort of when whooo-arrh that sort of sound anyway and laughed a bit thinking it was going to fast, it didn't come off the track or what ever it was on though and it wasn't driven by Lewis Hamilton, just welcome to Korea i though.

So got my bag, had been pretty lucky up to now with getting my bags fairly quickly but tonight had to be different, just had to didn't it when I'm in a rush. My bag was one of the last off thought I'd miss the last bus but just managed to catch it or him him before he pulled off. Then it was on the bus and on my way, it would be another two hours at least before i got to the hotel though.

Photo above is while I'm waiting for the bus just out side the terminal.

By the way Inchon's a great airport tho old one Gimpo sucked a little bit, this one is brand new, well it was about 8 or 10 years ago but in airport terms that still pretty new i think.

Got to the hotel about 11.30 pm and checked in, first thing i noticed when i got there was that Mr Kim who i knew fairly well and had been the night manager for years had retired, was this the shape of things to come i wondered.

Got my self checked in met the new night manager another Mr Kim surprise surprise, Kim's a very popular name in Korea it seems. Then it was out for a couple of beers, did bump into some one i knew and had a bit of a chat about what the town was like, seems it's pretty dead in the week and it sure was on Thursday night i can vouch for that, maybe Mr Kim retiring was an omen after all

On looking back I'd been travailing for almost 10 hrs the flight was only 2 and half of those the rest was getting to and from the airport or waiting there, not sure if I'll do it again for such a short trip unless i have to, but may feel different tomorrow or after the weekend, but tomorrow after all is another day as they say.

Getting Ready

Well i booked my hotel in Korea last night http://www.youngchon.com/, I've stayed at the place i am going before it's not the cheapest but it is right in the center of town and i like it. It's costing me 60,000 Won which is the Korean currency, at the current exchange rate that works at to about 29 quid a night not bad at all. The rooms have computers, DVD players and fridges not to mention AC, you can't get that in the UK, in fact you are lucky if you get a fridge in most rooms, oh forgot to mention it also has a swimming pool.

Did a bit of last minuet washing last night and have to do the ironing to night along with my packing. I'm only going for a long weekend so i don't need much and I'm going to see if i can get everything in a small bag that i can carry on the plane with me, that way i won't need to wait around for the baggage to be unloaded and should be able to get straight to the bus. This is a critical part of the plan because if i don't get on a bus by about 9pm than i won't get to the hotel in Songtan which is where I'm going until about 11.30 pm and a couple of the place i want to stick my head in and see what's going on will be shut by about midnight, there will be plenty of place open after that though if i don't make it.

Songtan is where i stayed most of the time when i was working in Korea, as a place to stay it's pretty good as there's a big American Air Force base there, so lots of bars with a lot of western influence, also good shopping and good eating. It's maybe not everyones cup of tea as we Brits say, but i liked it. Don't get me wrong there are also plenty of Korean places there as well the western bit is mainly near the USAF base.

When i was there my mate Phil of http://thenakedbloggers.blogspot.com/ fame came out to see me and stayed for a while, think he would also say it was not a bad place to hang out for a while. If anyone sees Phil you will have to ask him about his trip to Korea, think he visited more countries than Phileas Fog did on his 80 day trip around the world, anyway suffice to say it was an epic trip to get to Korea which he had not planned on.

Talking about Phil i see from their blog the he and his wife Claire have just moved houses so hope everything goes well, i can see from the blog that it's been a bit of a wrench but as some one once said or sang "Things can only get better"

Anyway i digress so upward on onward so to speak, I'm actually debating if i should go and get my hair cut again before i go. After the shock of having it done before I've decided i quite like it really short, don't think I've used a comb for months, don't need to, may not have time to get it done though.

Haven't decided on how I'll get to the airport yet, have two options train or bus, the train is more expensive but faster, guess it will depend on how i feel tomorrow or if I'm in a rush, which i usually am, so am sort of tilting towards the train.

Anyway on to more pressing things "ironing", pressing things get it a bit of a play on words if you don't mind.

I'm not keen on ironing but guess it's got to be done as no one's going to do it for me unfortunately, so here goes.

Now that's done time to pack my bag, like i said before i don't need much only there for three days, but as usual I'll probably take far more than i need, never wear half the stuff i take away usually but for some reason no matter how hard i try not to i still take too many things.

That's about it for now will do some more than i get back from Korea, may not be able to or have the will to post while I'm there but if i do it will probably be with out photos. If i do post I'll add the photos when i get back to Japan as i won't be able to down load any, not taking my computer.

The photos below are just a random shot of me in the office and the view out of the window which just recently has been of a line of concrete trucks, as you can tell am struggling right now to write anything so got to blog off now.

Scrambled Eggs and Lemsips

Well it's Monday the 29th today and just got back from work, actually have been back a while now but who cares.
I booked my flight to Korea the other day and like i say i go on Thursday of this week. Wouldn't you know it i started with a bit of a cold last night and this morning i had a full blown head cold. Not exactly sure what a head cold is but if it's what i think it is running eyes, dripping nose and generally feeling stuffed up then i have one.
Anyway I'm on the Lemsips that i brought from the UK tonight hoping i can get rid of it by Thursday night which is when i fly. I hate flying with a cold so hope the Lemsips last I've only got 10 left, I'll have to get some local stuff if they run out so that should in it's self be interesting in Japan.
I get into Seoul, which for anyone that doesn't know is the capital of South Korea at about 8.30 if everything is on schedule then hopefully to the hotel where I'm going to stay by 11pm, which reminds me i need to book one yet, shouldn't be a problem though as i know a few in the town where I'm going.
Work has been pretty uneventful today, but i did manage to figure out how to get the air con unit in the office heating up rather than cooling down today. It's been a bit cool today and with me feeling under the weather needed some heat on, got to try and get better and all that. Actually I didn't do it asked my mate Fumio who is the PM for our electrical subcontractor and lives in a porta-cabin just round the corner from ours to do it for me, everything is in Japanese after all. He doesn't really live there it's just his office, but he does do a lot of hours come to think of it.
That's been pretty much it for today as you can see i lead a pretty exciting and eventful life at work. Got home decided not to go to the gym and just to chill out and get something to eat and watch TV. Hit on the idea of scrambled eggs on toast, surly i could do that couldn't I? don't know why but I've had a micro wave all this time and have never done anything in it.
So it was off to my favorite supermarket to get some eggs and a bowel to do them in, to cut a long boring story short they were great so watch out Heston, rest assured i will be doing them again, may even throw a scrambled egg and beer party. After the food it was TV watching then a Lemsip watched a bit more TV, another Lemsip phoned my youngest son Joe for a chat after that you guessed it another L......p.
That's it for today enough plugs for Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare, which is who by the way who make Lemsip.

Maybe if I'm not any better tomorrow i will check out the Sports conditioning and aromatherapy place in the bottom of the apartment block i live in, I'm not sure about the name though. Chance of me going though are bit doubtfully the last time i went for a sports massage they nearly killed me, thought my arms were being twisted off and i was going to get my back snapped in two from some one walking on it, have to say Asian people are much more supple than westerners well at least than this one.

I walk past this place night on my way to go to the gym, the bloke who owns it always says hello, well actually he says Konbanwa as he's Japanese and i don't think he speaks English. Konbanwa is the Japanese word for good evening by the way anyway he always seems pretty busy there are usually cars outside so i guess things are good.

Can hardly believe that i have wrote a blog about nothing but there you go, may even try to do another one before i go to Korea so Tarar for now.

Kalbi and Origami

Well it's been another week since i did my last blog, times just seems to shoot past when you're having fun, that's sarcasm by the way.
The season's are starting to change here now, driving to work everyday the farmers are hard at work harvesting the rice crop. The rice paddy's that were a really bright shade of green in the summer are now all turning to the colour of straw and everyone seems to have a little rice harvester and be out in the rice paddy's getting in the rice.

Its definitely turning a bit colder over here as well now, still quite warm during the day it was in the 80's the other day but first thing in a morning and at night bit of a chill in the air. It's still not really cold weather yet but in another month or so it probably will be. On saying that though have seen a few Japanese girls on my travels to and from the gym around eight at night wearing pretty big coats, so i guess some people are already starting to feel the cold.
It's Sunday here and am going to try am post at least ever Sunday and if i really feel inspired in the middle of the week as well, but don't hold your breath.
Stayed in all this past week apart from going to the gym or maybe getting something to eat that is, I'm going to try and do every week if i can apart from weekends. It gets difficult to do this though when we have people over from the States, they're' usually only here for a week or so and want to go out and be entertained, for them it's sort of a novelty but for me and Fred who are here long term we don't really want it especially on a working day.
So stayed until Friday then went out with Fred to a nice Korean restaurant we found, had some Taji Kalbe, which is basically marinated pork. Korean food or the meat part of the meal is usually cooked /grilled over a small barbecue built into the middle of the table which is usually either charcoal or gas, anyway we had this and it was great.
That was Friday out of the way then on Saturday i was invited to a sort of curry party at a restaurant which had been organised by a Japanese guy who i know but I've forgot his name, sure it will come back to me later. My mate's Razor who's my neighbour and lives just down the hall from me and he'd forgot to mention the party it to me earlier in the week. Anyway he phoned up out of the blue at about 5pm Saturday right while i was in the middle of my washing and ironing, so i was in a bit of a dilemma should i continue with the washing and ironing or go to a party. One second later and party it was, it had been a tough decision but in the interests of international relations, Razor's Indonesian and everyone else was Japanese i decided to sacrifice the washing and ironing for the greater good, that's just the kind of guy i am always, thinking of others.
So anyway it was out at 6 and on to the restaurant, had not really thought too much about it but it was at a Japanese restaurant that specialised in Indian food. There was about 25 people there luckily quite a few of them spoke English as there were only two other non Japanese there apart from me, Razor and an American guy. Like i say food was good and we played some sort of party games which i didn't really have a clue about but it was good fun. At one stage we all had to do origami and make a swan, good job i was surrounded by Japanese else i would not have had a clue but they kept helping me and i got there in the end. It was for some kind of raffle but instead of a ticket you had too make a paper swan, imagine a bunch of blokes folding paper at a party in England to make swans, i don't think so do you, don't think they would think of it as a very macho thing to do.
Got to say though it was all good fun and not a drop of alcohol was drunk that was to be at the next place, the party was sort of in two stages one at a restaurant than it was on to a bar for drinking until the wee hours. So it was on to a place called Nokins and than after that Razor and me went up to Birdland, probably wasn't a good call but we did it anyway.
That pretty much wraps it up for last week and the weekend, have done one other this though booked myself a ticket to Korea next weekend. I've been promising myself a trip there for a long time as it's so close only 2 and half hours away. Found cheap ticket on Expedia and I’m going for a long weekend next week, leave Thursday night and will be back first thing Monday morning, will let you know how i get on.
I'll try and do another blog before i go and then the one after that should either be from Korea or after i get back.