End Of January

Well it's the 31st of January today the rest of the month seems to have shot past hardly feels like four weeks since i got back to Japan.

Been at work today have worked the last three Saturdays, even stayed in last night as i was going to work what a god boy i am, mind you i'd been out Thursday with the guys from work for a meal, we went to a Shabu Shabu restaurant, for those that done know what Shabu Shabu is and I'm one it's basically very thin slices of meat usually beef put into a pot of boiling water or what they call dashi (broth) and swishing it back and forth several times, apparently Shabu-shabu roughly translates to "swish-swish" see bet you didn't think i knew so much, actually i don't, thank god for Wikiepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu-shabu to cut a long story
short it's poached meat but that don't sound as good as Shabu Shabu does it. After the restaurant a few of us went to a place called FreeFlight, a bar about five minuets from the apartment, unfortunately after that i made the wrong decision and decided to go to another place which is why i feel bad all day Friday and did not go out. You make these kind off stupid decisions after beer which sound good at the time but aren't, i even tried Karaoke again and should have known better.

Not a lot else has been happening lately apart from the obvious work that is, which is going real well but getting pretty busy hence the working Saturdays, we will starting the commissioning soon and it will probably get even busier.

Did have a bit of a disaster though a couple of days ago, my Kettle broke have been having to boil water in a pan till i get a new one, guess it's not the end of the world though.

Yep i know it's boring but honestly not a lot has been happening, it's not like being on Holiday I'm at work pretty much 6 days a week now and day to day life is pretty boring. Typical day sort of goes like this, get up about 7am get to work for about 8.30am,It's about 1hrs drive each way from my apartment. Get back 6.30 - 7pm try and go to the gym for an hour or so, although don't make it as often as i used too. Back from the gym about 9pm something to eat watch a bit of TV and to bed, get up about 7am and so on, don't have time to do a lot as you can see.

Most of this things i do revolve around going to the gym, out for meals and out a few beers, not really that exciting is it, so Saturday night is probably my only big night out, Sunday is pretty much taken up with looking after the apartment which can take a bit of time. I'm glad I've got the apartment and am not living in a Hotel for the freedom it gives you but one thing about living in an hotel you don't have to wash your own bedding or go and buy things like heating oil to keep warm.

So that's it it's the end of January, tonight I'm going out with my mate Razer who lives in the next apartment but one to me and some other friends. We're going to an Italian restaurant for something to eat then to the Lions Head and maybe Iceman for a few bees and no doubt after that to Birdland until the wee hours i should think.

We have had some snow since I've been back was expecting more to be honest but it was just a light covering, am going to put in a couple of action shots from work of yours truly. The one showing me eating I've actually used as my profile picture for Facebook, only joined to keep in touch with Ben and Joe but now have a total of 7 friends, wow ain't that something know them all from Utsunomiya.

Anyway check out the photos below, the guy with me is from our office in the states.

First Meetup

So anyway like i said in the last blog went to Tokyo the other weekend, hadn't been there for what seemed like ages. Had joined one of the local Tokyo meet up groups http://www.meetup.com/ a couple of weeks before that, this one was for British Expats. Thought i would give it a go what could i loose the worst that could happen was it would be crap. I was getting a bit bored with weekends spent in Utsunomiya even though i know people there now so am always guaranteed to bump into the same people in the bars i go and can hang around with them, there are only a few western style places to hang out in Utsunomiya after all.

The next meeting of this group was scheduled to be on Saturday the 17th Jan so the plan was to go there see what it was like if i liked it would probably go to another one if not had not lost anything. I was planning to make a night of it as the last train back from Tokyo to Utsunomiya is about 11pm and the first one next morning is 6am, so the last one is way way to early once you have made the trip to Tokyo so after the Meetup thingy finished the plan was to hit Roppongi and get a train back some time early morning. I'd be there on my own but by that time should have had a beer or three so would be able to talk to people no problem, Roponggi is always crawling with westerners and a lot of them would be in the same boat as me, just wish it was the summer and T shirt weather.

So the 17th came round and to be honest was thinking of not going, it was cold outside and and just popping up the road to the Lions Head looked a lot more inviting than getting on a train to Tokyo and staying up until the next morning. Told myself not to be such an old wimp get to Tokyo and try to make the most of being in Japan, so that's what i did got the train to Tokyo.

Didn't leave until about apartment until about 8pm had been thinking i would get the regular train but that takes nearly 2 hours so opted for the Shinkansen as i was late which is only 45min but is twice the price, what the hell it's not like i go every weekend.

The train station which is only 5 minuets from my apartment so set out to get my ticket and got to the platform about 10mis after walking out the door, trains go really regularly so only had to wait about another 10 minuets Couple of photos showing a deserted platform at Utsunomiya station, there were people there but they were all hiding as it was bleeding cold, you can probably tell cos I've taken to wearing a Beanie, good old Primart it was only a quid.

Got to Tokyo before 9pm, train only makes 3 stops so doesn't take long, Tokyo station was just a mass of people from being no one at Utsunomiys station there was just a stream of people and had to get on to the underground, now i know what it must feel like to be a salmon fighting your way up stream.

Finally made it to the underground station caught the train to Ebisu which is where i thought i was going, was looking for a bar called the FootNik http://www.footnik.com/ Turns out though that when i had checked it out on the net there were two and I'd brought the map to the wrong one which is about par for the course, didn't know all this till i went in for a drink though and it looked a bit sparse on the foreigner front so i asked around. Turns out the place i wanted was about three stops down the way, so had a beer and caught the next train to Osaki. The bar was nice and obviously catered for the football watching crowd there were lots of screens and had premiership football on a regular basis. In Japan football is pretty big so you get a mixed clientele it's real popular through Asia especially the English premier league. Food in the bar looked good as well though i didn't try it this time. The bar had a pretty varied menu along with all the old favorites Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash and something called English Chicken Pie.

Was getting late by this time i finally made it so there was not that many people left, mostly the drinkers of the group but had a good time nevertheless, everyone was friendly so will probably go to another one. Had to keep one eye on the clock as well as i needed to catch the last train to Roponggi the drink was flowing though so gave up on this idea and opted for a Taxi instead, got to the nights final destination about 2am Sunday morning and it was heaving.

Went to quite a few of the bars i went in Ben and Tristan when they were here and a couple of new ones, had a pretty good time and there were plenty of people to talk to and quite a few i didn't want to. It's part of the deal being in Roponggi though you get pestered by touts quite a bit trying to get you to go into their bars, best thing to do is not to make eye contact with them but that's hard for me not to do as i always feel ignorant, it's not too bad though you just have to say no a couple of times as you are walking away.

Just added the photo below of a shop front i passed on my way back to the underground in Roponggi not sure what time it was but must have been late/early as there was no one around anyway i thought it looked good even though i was drunk, am sure it's an expensive place though.

Next thing i knew it was about 8am and i was in McDonald's having breakfast, not sure what it was but it tasted pretty good. After breakfast it was time to head to the underground get back to Tokyo Central and the train back to Utsunomiya. Getting the train on the way back is always a little bit trickier after you've been drinking all night than it is on the way in and you're sober. The other thing you've got to do is try not to fall asleep on the train and miss your stop, got back to the apartment and into bed around 10am, got to say that was a nice feeling it had been a long night come Sunday morning, will probably do it all again in another month or so though.

Back In Japan

It's well into January now and so much for resolutions, all I've posted this month so far has been catch up blogs from last December.
Flew back to Japan on the 2nd Jan and got here on the third was expecting snow when i got back to Utsunomiy there hadn't been any, which probably was just as well as i was at work again on the 5th. Flew back KLM this time which meant i had to go through Amsterdam and then on to Narita. Met a girl on the plane and we chatted a bit so it made the time go a bit faster, she turned out to be an Oboe player and was in a concert orchestra, had quite an interesting conversation about here making reeds for her Oboe, which is the bit that makes the noise. No really it was quite interesting especially the fact that she made them herself, she was really into it. The other thing she seemed to do was knit, she was knitting a hat, made me smile as she must have made a mistake and by the time we got to Japan there was less knitting on here stick thingies than when she had started with in Amsterdam. The other thing i noticed when coming in to land at Narita was that you could see mount Fuji out of the window, i didn't know it was mount Fuji but the girl told me. Had thought it was a lot further away from Tokyo but there it was lots of snow on top, made me think of Ben and Tristan climbing it in the rain. Took a picture of it which does not do it justice as it was actually quite impressive.



So that was pretty much it for the flight then next thing i was at the airport and getting the bus back to Utsunomiya. The bus takes about three hours but you don't need to change like you do if you get the train just sit back and relax till you get there, no dragging your bags around Tokyo station looking for the next train.
So I'm back in my apartment time to try and get my head down for a bit, then go out for a few beers to help me sleep the night, try and avoid any kind of jet lag. Bit of a sleep and then out into the night see what's going on, not much I'm sure but anyway i went up to the Lions Head and then after that on to Birdland till the wee hours and my usual bar of chocolate and sandwich on the way home. It's bit like having a kebab in the UK when you've been out for a few beers but there aren't any Kebab's over here well not on the way to my place there ain't.
That was it for my first weekend back the next thing would be work, we were expecting a few more people from the US so we would have another office full and be busy. Actually it would be quite interesting going back to site and seeing what had been going on for the two weeks we'd been away.
Don't seem to be able to stick to any of my NY's resolutions that my be because i didn't make any NY's eve but the next day and probably they don't count if you do that. While I'd been back in the UK had not been to the gym, had told my self that when i got back to JP would try and hit it a bit harder but it's been the opposite since I've been back up to now have only managed to go a few times, ah well guess in the overall scheme of things it don't really matter.
Been back at work about three weeks now and all I've got to say on the subject is that's it's a four letter word.
Last weekend went to Tokyo, a mate of mine had joined a group over the Internet just to meet some people in Tokyo and had mentioned that it to me so thought i would give it a go. Had been planning to go to Tokyo again anyway, Joined this British Expats meet up group which had a meeting last weekend so thought i would give it a go, i know it sounds a bit sad but what the heck when in Japan as they say or should that be Rome. I know some people in Utsunomiy now but no one in Tokyo so time to broaden my horizons, what could it harm may actually be OK it was down the pub after all so couldn't be all bad, will tell you about it in the next blog.

Christmas in the UK

So i was off back to the UK for Christmas and NY. As i was having a bit of an extended holiday which i wasn't expecting was also hoping to be able to stop off in Bangkok for a couple of days to get in a bit of sun and lounge around a swimming pool, anyway that thought was lurking somewhere in the back of my mind.
I flew back to the UK on Lufthansa you can't beat good old German reliability, no seriously there was no special reason to fly with them just the schedule had fitted well when i booked it back in July. Since then though i have actually got myself a Lufthansa credit card so in theory i can earn miles as i buy things, haven't used it yet though.

So i get on the plane at Narita, it's about 12hrs flying to Munich, change plane there then another two hours to Birmingham. I total 14 hours flying but with all the waiting around and getting to and from the airports it takes around 24hours door to door, was not really looking forward it.

On the other hand I was looking forward to seeing everyone back home but not to the actual trip. The trip was pretty uneventfully and i arrived back at Birmingham on schedule and my son Ben was picking me up at the airport, when he arrived he was Ill and could hardly talk, felt sorry for him. Think i upset him a bit on the way back to Loughbrough as i thought it was a cold as I was probably not very diplomatic in the way i said "hope i did not catch it". Sorry Ben did not mean it and it, was probably a combination of traveling for nearly 24 hours being old tired and grumpy, not sure what order but honest i didn't mean it Ben.

Turns out it was a lot worse than a cold he'd had a throat infection for quite some time and typical of Ben had just sort of ignored it and thought it would go away. Actually a bit like we all did especially when we were younger, turns out though it didn't go away and turned into something called, actually i can't remember what it was called something like a Zavi but that's a music shop so it's not that, had never heard of it before but it just sounded real nasty. Poor old Ben he went to see the doctor who immediately put him on a double dose of antibiotics and said that if he didn't notice a marked difference in a couple of days he might need to have a operation, so that made me feel real bad for getting on at him, possibility of a opp at Christmas is just what we all need. The good side is that almost the next day when on the anti- bi's he felt a bit better so the chance of an opp went away as well.

So I'm back in my little house for the first time in a bout 5 months, it was cold and damp to say the least but it was home. Got my self settled turned on the gas got the central heating chuffing away even though i need a new boiler and tried to warm the place up that was pretty much it for my fist night on UK soil. The next day it was to be shopping for prezzies which i am not very good at so i guess it will be DVD's and Chockies again.

Was up at my mums for Christmas, went up for Christmas eve as we were all going out for a meal, we have done this for the last few years and it has become a bit of a tradition. My sister Linda was doing Christmas dinner, she's done this for quite a few years now, and i've go to say she does a really good job, foods great so thanks Linda, she made me a little Christmas cake for my prezzi as well how good is that.

Found a pound in my Christmas pudding which i gave away, much again my better judgement i might add. When i was a kid it was a thrupnee (threepenny) bit or maybe a tanner (sixpence) if you were lucky, for everyone that doesn't know what they are the equivalent money for a thrupnee bit is about 1 n 1/2 p and for a tanner 3p

Christmas sort of came and went and along with it new years eve, went out for the night with some old friends for a few beers, had a good night and it was nice to see everyone but probably would not go to the same place for another NY's.

Anyway that was my holiday back in the UK almost over as i said at the beginning was hoping to be able stop in Thailand for a couple of days on the way back to Japan but that was definitely out as just did not have time, ah well maybe next time.

It was good to be have been back but did notice that the economy was going down the tubes, i knew from hearing the news over here that obviously things were not great and that some the Banks had basically been part nationalised. I know it's the same in Japan but I'm pretty much immune from a lot of it as i can't understand Japanese. Back in the UK on the other hand i could understand what was going on, just the sort time i was there Woolworth closed its doors for good, Zavvi the record shop announced to was closing along with a few other high street names, not good. Was in WW myself looking to see if there was anything worth getting, by the time i got there think almost everything had gone and to be honest I felt a bit like a scavenger picking at the bones of a dead or dieing animal and i couldn't really be bothered to keep looking.

Anyway thats all for now the next blogs should actually be about the months i post them in.

The Last Meal

Sort of almost up to date now with things before Christmas now, am sure I've probably forgot more than I've remembered but at least I'm making an effort.
Been out for a few meals before the holidays, took my American mate Ernest or Ernesto as i call him over to Red Lobster which I'd spied a few weeks before when i was on the bus coming in from Narita. Was actually surprised to see they had a Red lobster in Utsunomiy, did a bit of digging found out where it was on Google maps and off we went.
Meal was good but we sort of screwed up on the ordering, it was all in Japanese after all and all we could understand was the price and the photos. Turns out there was some stipulations on what you ordered and we order the wrong combinations. We wanted the salad buffet but to have it you had to order a mine meal we'd already ordered though when they told us this. Tried to cancel the original order which would have been OK but as we couldn't speak Japanese it sort of got lost in translation so to to speak and even though we thought we had canceled everything came. Basically far to much food for the two of us and pretty expensive but it was good so there was nothing to do but to tuck in and enjoy.
A few days after that we all went out for a meal before Christmas it was sort of a last supper so to speak, turned out to be really nice. The meal was acutely organised by the German guys who had been working with us and it was my mate Gerhard's going away meal, he was going back to Germany and would not be back next year. Went to the Chinese we call it the big menu restaurant you'll see why in a bit basically it's got bleeding big menus you can't see over the top of it if it's in the middle of the table.

Meal was real nice from what i can remember, it has been nearly a month ago after all, seem to remember we had some of the usual suspect such as sweet and sour chicken etc, some different things like fried squid and some kind of clams n oysters. It was all good though and i haven't even mentiond the beer and Sake. Anyway that's about it for last year, am sure there was lots of other things but i cant remember them all.

Holidays are over now but did have some good news before Christmas was only expecting to be able to have a week off. Thought i would have to be back here for the 28th but as luck would have it Christmas is not a big holiday in Japan, in fact it's a working day. New Year on the other hand is pretty big here and there was a holiday on site between the 28th Dec and the 5th Jan so had an extra week thank you very much.

So any way it was off to blighty for Christmas and NY, my son Ben was picking me up at Birmingham airport when i got there so that was good, will probably do a bit of a blog about my trip home will see how i feel.

Random Stuff

So that's Nikko out of the way at lest for last year anyway, by the way these posts are not in any kind of order as i can't exactly remember when i did things.

I was i a shop before Christmas and spied some baked beanz, yes Heinz baked beanz believe it or not, well at that time i hadn't had any beans for 5 months so decided to buy them. You almost needed a mortgage to buy them not that you can get on of those any more from what i hear on the news just recently. Just had to take a photo of them though before i opened the tin, can hardly believe what i paid for a can of Heinz BB myself, didn't realise i actually missed eating beans. They cost me 480Yen which at the exchange rate is about 3.50 for a 50p tin of beans in any supermarket in the UK, just shows you what missing a a little bit of culinary excellence will do for you, so here are the beanz.

Don't know if you can remember in an earlier blog put in a photo of one of my favorite little cars over here, well bumped into one in a car park the other day, not literally but here it is. These little Daihatsu's i think look great, they only have a 660cc engine in them an are pretty small but i like them.

They've just built a new gate to the shrine in Utsunomiya, they call them gates but not like any typical gate we know guess it h as an opening it, anyway it's pretty big and impressive, check out the photo.

Utsunomiya has also had the Christmas decorations up, carols were constantly being played in all the shopping centers, got a bit annoying to be honest as the same ones are repeated over and over. Christmas decorations and the tree looked pretty good though

Cold In Nikko

We'll it's the new year no so Happy New Year to everyone, totally screwed up with the blogging last year, only published one post in December. Was going to make a NY resolution to do more this year but don't think it counts if you don't do it on NY's eve, what with one beer leading to a Bacardi totally forgot so it don't bode to well for the old Blog count this year.

Anyway going to try and catch up with a few things that happened before Xmas, so the next couple of blogs will be about that.

Now where was i, yep last blog was about the monkey's, got to say the service was pretty good they only get paid peanuts, just had to say even thought it sound really crap and has been sad a thousand time before.

So what happened after that, pretty much business a usual at work things are defiantly getting a lot busier and it's getting a hell of a lot colder.

Guess i must have a bit of a memory like a gold fish cos i can't remember an awful lot of what when on before Christmas, went out for a few meals and visited a place called Nikko, which apparently has one of the best shrines in Japan.

So guess I'll start with Nikko, first of all I'll say that i need to go back as i really didn't see anything. it's was on a Sunday thought I'd catch the train instead of driving, found out it goes pretty regularly about ever half an hour.

As usual had been out on the Saturday night so got up fairly late messed around after that, typical you might think. By the time i caught the train it was about 3pm, got there about 4pm. Don't know why i went really when it got so late, it was already starting to get dark when i got there, the other thing is it was bleeding freezing. Nikko is a lot higher up than Utsunomiya in the hills/mountains and always a good few degrees colder, it was freezing in Utsunomiya when i left, had not thought of this before i got on the train what an idiot if i had that would probably have been the deciding factor not to go. Check out the photo i took when got out of Nikko train station, i know it doesn't look like there's much snow but it was cold i promise you

Now i don't know what was going on on the particular Sunday if was just because it was cold, late or some kind of holiday ore everyone else knew something i didn't but there was no one there when i got into town and everything was pretty much closed, which sucked a bit as I'd made the effort to get there even if it was late. Bottom line is i walked through town didn't get to see anything, walked back got on the train was only there about an hour nearly froze to death for my troubles, so guess I'll have to do it all again what joy. No seriously it is supposed to be a must to visit when you're in Japan so will defiantly do it again, did take a couple of photos though when i was in the town so here they are. one is of the bridge at the end of town and the other is of a restaurant i went in for a quick coffee to get warm.