Note: This entry is in multple parts, as finding time to write the whole thing in one go is becoming difficult…

So…. Part One
As I had said, the rest of the week went “as work does” until we hit Friday night. Seiko had mailed me earlier in the day to say we should go to Shinjuku Nichome (the gay area of Tokyo). Naturally, I wasn’t so keen on this, but she was going there with a friend already - so it did seem like that would be that.

It was therefore at about 9pm or so when I walked out of Shinjuku station and headed to the nearby police box corner to meet Seiko. She had been drinking for quite some time now, so was in very good spirits. She explained that her friend had decided she now liked girls as well as boys, so they had been trawling around the various gay bars for the last few hours - so her friend could “test the water” as it were.

So first stop was a quite swish bar in the basement of a building, decorated with really tasteful decor. There was a bit of a commotion getting in the door, due to me waiting to let a guy out, and him waiting to let me in. After a few minutes of bowing at each other, I was finally ushered in by the barmaid who had come out to see what was going on
Inside, there were no actual customers except for us three - so all wasn’t too bad. The bar maids were very chatty (but only in Japanese) - so I just watched “Romeo Must Die” on the tv (which had subtitles :)). Not really much more to tell here, we stayed until about 12:30, when we had to go and catch last train.

Leaving Yuko at Shinjuku station to catch her train home, Seiko and I transferred to the Yamanote line to go somewhere different (staying in Shinjuku wasn’t going to be an option) and “Ebisu” was decided upon. We could have chosen Shibuya, but it seemed like a good idea to actually go somewhere new. So, on the last train of the night (literally) we sped past Shibuya and got off at the station that was Ebisu…. and then instantly regretted it when there was absolutely nothing there!! Well, this is of course a slight exageration, but what was there that looked good - all closed at 2am or so….

After walking around for about 30 minutes, the only sensible option was clear (though we of course wished we had thought of it earlier) - get a taxi back to Shibuya —- doh!

Of course this only took a few minutes (it was litterally just up the road), though set us back a cool 1000 yen (£5) - however at least we were back where some of the action was We knew we didn’t want to club it, though were quite happy to head to a bar, so it was quite lucky when we were stopped in the street by a guy offering “nomihodai” (i love that word!) for 1500 yen… hurrah!

It actually turned out that this was the same place we had gone on New Years, but that was cool. We just wanted somewhere warm to sit and get alcohol. The all you can drink lasted 2 hours, after which, it was decided just to head back as there was nothing else particularly fun to do (and we were kinda running low on funds) - to the taxi stop!
Saturday I had planned to get up nice and early to go and do some sightseeing, but on waking at 11am and finding the weather awful, bed seemed a good enough place to stay… and stay all day I did, just taking some time out to get up, microwave some food, and change the DVD on the computer
Come Saturday night, I had (miraculously??) managed to tire myself out (by doing nothing) and I got to bed at 12:30, hoping for a nice long sleep so the Sunday wouldn’t be so unbearable… ahh… sleep…..

* BANG BANG BANG *

Eh?

* BANG BANG BANG *

Ah yes, of course, common sense prevails and the man next door decides to start banging on the wall at 1:30am. What for, I just don’t know, but he decided to keep it going until 6:30!?!? Leaving me just 2 hours of sleep before I had to be up and alert to go to work. As you can imagine, I wasn’t at my brightest (for all the day… haha) and had to make frequent trips to the coffee machine to give me my much needed energy juice.

Come the end of the day, I just wanted to go home - however this was the new staffs “joining party” night, which meant 1) I had to go out, but even worse 2) I finished work at the 5pm shift, yet the party was at the end of the 7pm shift… no time to go home, so I just stayed at work doing admin jobs… (why i don’t know, but it seemed more fun that just sitting around doing nothing…)

The chosen venue for the party was the same izakaya that we had gone for Vanessa’s leaving do (so you can just look at the same photoset I guess) - and believe it or not, the same food was ordered… so like a complete copy of the previous night. I was trying my best to get involved in the conversation, but in reality I just wanted to go to bed. So it was begrudgingly that a few hours later, when Karaoke was suggested and everyone got up to go sing, I made my excuses and left …. bed bed bed!!
Aparently they only stayed for a few hours so everyone could get last train home, so perhaps I should have gone along - however, I saved some money, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Monday night was again a “bed early” due to Helen coming the next day, however sleep was kinda hard as I was quite excited I think I finally got off at about 2am or so All was not over though, as then the phone calls started… over and over someone kept calling from England with seemingly their phone in their pocket. The normal thing in this case of course would have been to just turn the phone off, BUT, I couldn’t incase Helen rang. The other option would have been to put it on silent, but again, due to the fact Helen might ring, this wasn’t an option.

So I got to bed at about 4am
However, all was not quite so bad (for me at least) as I received a call at about 8am or so from Helen telling me they had forgotten to put her luggage on the plane, so she would need to wait for the next one to arrive…. 3 hours later… hurrah! This meant I could go back to sleep and meet her at a much more respectable 12′o’clock at Shinjuku station… hehe…

So it’s now Tuesday and Helen is (by all accounts) here —> to Shinjuku station!

Wow! Next day sure takes a long time to arrive! Why haven’t I updated since last Wednesday, well, the easiest answer is that I haven’t yet actually been home!! Or at least, if I have been, not really been in a fit state of mind to type something insightful (though thinking about it, it would probably quite insightful into how I was feeling at the time… haha)

So let’s begin with the Wednesday night then and Vanessa’s leaving party.

After work, due to everyone finishing at different times, we all met up at the nearby Seigo Fraidos (or however you say it) before moving to the first main stop of the night - a local izakaya, whose manager is actually a Nova student! (though I didn’t know this at the time) Once there, it was basically the usual izakaya experience (order drinks, then snack food - usually fried potato, fried chicken etc) - though i remember the umeshuu was particularly good
That done, we had about an hour and a half until last trains - so it was decided to head out to karaoke, for “one last sing song” as it were. The place chosen was smack opposite the train station, making quick exits possible and, whilst looking pretty grim from the corridoors, had pretty ok rooms. One extra cool thing was the “song pick computer”, unlike the usual karaoke affair, this one had a full colour screen and even let you play space invaders on it!

As is usually the case when alcohol is involved, the plans were soon changed, as come last train - no one wanted to head back “just yet”. This however left the agonising question - “reluctantly finish the night off now” or “stay out until first train at 5am”. Admitedly, it wasn’t such a big deal for me due to my late starting times anyway - though for the others it was more of an issue. However, the “all nighter” was the chosen option, made even better by the arrival of Hisako (the new Yumi) - you only need to check the photo gallery to see how good a time was had by all With the drinks flowing all night (and some hilarious poses shown off by Mark!!)

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I got home by about 6am or so - then a wonderful sleep in until around 3pm, when it was time to get back into work. Hisako had to start at 10, and when I arrived at Nova - it was pretty plain to see she hadn’t had much sleep “Late night?” ….. lol.

Friday after work, once again it had been arranged to go to “Dot” in Shimo, so when I was able to finally clock off at 7:30, it was direct to the bar we went This time, we were joined by Toshi, Ryoko and Shimpei but also the return of Yumi!! Hurrah! It was decided that although we made pretty good use of the nomihodai last time, this time we should do better - so a 15 drink target was applied to the night. I’m also pleased to say that we made this target (and above) and come 11:40, we were well and truly merry. Seiko and Ryoko then wanted to go to a club, however I thought perhaps I should try and save some money, so instead went with the rest of the gang to another izakaya (the one i had gone with Shimpei to previously) - were, yup, more drinks ensued.

We also had a game of “Suishi Roulette” - where basically you order 5 of the same sushi dishes, however one of them is laced with loads of wasabi (hot). I think it’s pretty obvious from this picture who the “unfortunate” was ….

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Finally, I think at about 3am or so, I couldn’t stay awake, so we all left, splitting up with Yumi half way as she went back to her house, and us to ours
Saturday had the obligitary lie in, followed by the obligatory do nothing for the rest of the day (though not much was actually left!) until Seiko got home in the evening, bringing with her a bottle of umeshu for me Go Seiko! This actually was nicely timed, as I had just started to do some mixing - and the added alcohol went down a treat. So well in fact, that an hour later when we were due to leave, I was quite drunk
So first stop of the Saturday night was Sangenjaya where we went looking down the “cheap street” for somewhere to grab some food and a few extra drinks. We settled on a really traditional looking izakaya, which had the full “shoes off, tatami mat” experience, and also, had a large selection of drinks.

I ordered the Umeshu Sour (suprise, suprise) and a few minutes later, was greeted with the following sized tankard…!
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Yup! That’s not a photoshop, it really was that massive! Seiko opted for the beer, and whilst although there was an equal sized glass available, she instead chose the “more wimpy” pint
3 glasses (or pitchers or whatever you call something that size) later, and finally it was time to head out to Roppongi - first stop “Hub” to get in a few drinks, before we really hit the town… lol… no actually, to get a few “cheap” drinks in, before we moved on to an old haunt “Hideout” - which had been recently closed for repairs.

It’s funny I guess, when writing a blog entry about going out clubbing, there really isn’t much you can say. I guess I can say where, and if anything exciting happened, but there’s not really much else one can add. So here, look at some photos of some fire breathing by the bar staff instead!
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Shortly after all this went off, the amount of alcohol finally got too much for me, and i had to make my excuses and head to the toilets where I stayed for the next hour or so, until i was able to stand (using the word very loosely) and get back to the safe chair by Seiko. By now, trains had started and I really wanted to get back - however Seiko was now getting friendly with some new bloke, so I left them too it and headed off to the cloakroom.

Memory here still a little hazy, though I just remember someone tapping me on the shoulder and saying “come with me”, which seemed like a good idea at the time - so I followed (or rather was led) by a girl out of hideout and into a next bar where more alcohol was had, before then heading to ANOTHER bar!! By this time, I had managed to start on the water, so was feeling a bit better - though still not completely with it.

The girl (whose name was Chie) worked as a hostess in one of the clubs in roppongi and had just finished work when she popped down to the club (she explained) and had just noticed me toterring around by the door hehe … anyway, come 8am and i *really* needed to get home, so arranging to meet her on Monday, I made my excuses and left, so stagger home to a much needed sleep!
But! It doesn’t end there. Waking up at 5pm, I then had to rush to get ready for Mark’s birthday meal, which was going to be held at the French restaurant we had gone before. Even worse (or better, depending how you want to look at it) was it was another nomihodi I would have actually liked to have opted out, but due to the fact I had to pay 5000yen to go to it, this hardly seemed like a sensible option
The food at this place is exceptional, I have never had such fancy stuff, but it was all amazing, including something was aparently some exploded liver or stomach or something of a force fed animal, erm, I forget it’s name - something like “Far Gwah”?, but it’s delicious, I don’t care where it came from Luckily, some of the others didn’t agree with this, so left there’s… perfect! Oh oh oh! Plus of course, the meal wouldn’t have been complete without the lamb, and let me tell you, it was just as delicious as before, though this time there was more…. MUCH more…

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Mmmmmmmmmmm….. just thinking about it again is making me hungry So the food done and drinks newly topped up, we headed downstairs (the main room was upstairs) where the last task of the night was to give the cake….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
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At about 10:30, it was time for the poor chef to get some rest (he had opened just for us) - so we headed off to Asso to get some “goodbye” coffees, where the talk went on for an hour or so - after which, it was finally time to say our goodbyes
Whew, almost there
So Monday, with work being “normal” (I no longer think I need to really write about it anymore - everyday is the same now) - though after I had arranged to meet with Chie, so headed off to Shibuya and Hachiko at about 9:30. As neither of us had eaten, first stop was a restaurant of some sorts. Due to it being absolutely freezing outside and Chie only wearing a light jacket, anywhere close seemed like a good idea - so we settled on “Lockup” (readers of my previous blog will remember it as the place where you get handcuffed and led to your table, which is actually a prison cell). The cells were all full this time though, so we had to make do with the “cave bar” - which I guess needs no explaining (it was a cave).
They were running a current special promotion there, which involved a load of new cocktails and “potions” (you got them in test tubes and science beakers). One in particular looked quite interesting, so, despite the warnings from the staff that it was very strong - I decided to order it anyhow. When it arrived, it looked quite harmless. Just a simple clear liquid, however as soon as you smelt it, you realised it was going to bite a lot worse than it could bark
One sip was all that was required to know that things were going to now get very interesting, no sooner had it started to go down my throat, then it started to burn - and burn a lot! However (and perhaps looking back this was not such a wise decision) not wanting to waste any money, it was decided I should just down it to quickly get rid of it and then follow it up with an umeshu chaser! So I did……. and once the burning had subsided (and the umeshu had taken away all the nasty taste) - we grabbed the bill and headed off back into the night to the nearby “Gas Panic” nightclub to use up the last few hours before the train departed.

And…. here begineth a usual tale…. Once in GP, a round of shots was ordered, followed by some cocktails and then a bottle of champagne (!?!? don’t ask….) and then of course, the drink of before kicked in….. come last train, i was past caring and indeed it was about 3:30 by the time I had regained enough sense to work out where I was (and take this photo of the cool tissue dispenser…)

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I was also now pretty knackered and didn’t want to hang around at the club anymore, so we once again braved the cold and headed out into the (relatively empty) streets of Shibuya. And then froze. So very quickly ran into a nearby karaoke building, hired a room ……. and went to sleep
Believe it or not, Tuesday I actually DIDN’T go out Instead, staying an hour or so after work to talk with Haruna about random Nova topics
The 14th of March in Japan is actually “White Day” or the woman’s valentines (not sure if I wrote before, but valentines is for men in Japan - they don’t get the woman a gift) - however in our household it was reversed, so when I got back, I had the following waiting for me
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Oishiiiiii! Infact, I am just finishing it off now - and jolly nice it is too
So, rar, I think I’ve done it - once again up to date. I got paid today (luckily) so am safe in the knowledge that I didn’t overspend toooo much Though I definately don’t have any “over” money, so will have to be very strict this month. I think I will lie low for the rest of the week (yes, all two days of it) - so don’t expect much (if anything) - and i then have just Friday night out, due to work on Sunday…… however, that should be my last Sunday working for a while (fingers crossed).

So all that’s left to say is well done for struggling through this entry, I hope you have enjoyed reading about my week as I did living it
Hurrah!

So where are we up to, ah yes, the Thursday night. Due to Mark and Jimmy either starting late, or not working Friday at all, Thursday night seems to be “the weekend”. This time, after work, we managed to drag Kate along to a very cosy French restaurant just around the corner from work.

The purpose was pretty obvious, the work crew wanted once again to order a cheese platter. I however, had eaten a block of cheddar for lunch, so decided against it. Instead, I ordered the leg of lamb, which I must say, was absolutely delicious! It wasn’t cheap at £8 (but I am now living right) - but was a huge slab of pure meat, with a few potatoes added for good measure.

This was then all washed down with a few bottles of wine, which we all “swooshed” expertly, under the instruction of Josh.

Whilst it was a nice place and everything, the conversation once again turned to books and movies, of which i knew nothing, so was starting to feel a little left out and wondering if I should go. Decided against this in the end though as figured as the night went on, there must be one topic that will pop up that I knew about (where’s Helen when you need her!)

Before leaving, the guys all indulged in a glass of Port (which I really couldn’t afford, no matter how much I wanted to “live”) - which I had never had before and was actually very nice. I think next time, I might save up especially
Anyhow, after here, it was decided to go to ASSO to grab a coffee before the last train, however, horror! On arriving there, we found it closed. Not really wanting to end the night just yet, it was suggested we head to another coffee bar on the other side of the tracks - however, yup, this was closed to.

“Ah heck to it, let’s just go to another bar instead” was the suggestion, and seeing as it seemed like a pretty good one, was thus accepted. So a few minutes later, we found ourself in a “carribean” style bar, where a most fantastic drink was discovered!!! I think it was called Rum and Cow, which basically equated to: Dark rum, Milk, Sugar and Butter - all heated up. It was fantastic, though perhaps more a bed time drink I have been raving to Seiko about it, so I need to go and buy some rum to make it here.

By now, the conversation had turned more to something I was able to talk about, so was having a much better time - until about 2am, when the bar closed - not quite wanting to let anything finish, it was decided ANOTHER bar should be visited! lol…

First however, was the obligatory “man fight” outside the bar, with Jimmy setting onto Josh. All was going quite well, until I got a bit too close and a (badly?) aimed kick (at full force I might add) from Josh hit me square in the knackers - haha, it hurt quite a bit, but i couldn’t stop laughing, I really wish someone had filmed it - all I could picture was just You’ve Been Framed or something and how much I laugh at that, so it seemed only right to laugh at my self.

To his credit, Josh did offer to take a “retaliation kick”, but it really wasn’t so much of an issue
So finally, we headed on to the next bar (though minus Mark now, who had to depart) which was a small affair, full of the locals. After talking aimlessly for about 30 minutes, the young girl opposite and her friend (who later turned out to be her music teacher) started to strike up conversation. This was great for Josh, who understands quite a bit, however this left me kinda blank. To compensate for my seemingly stupidity, after every question I tried to look as clueless as possible, which always brought the girl out with a “kawaii!!” (cute) - well, better to get something out of the situation
I think it was about 4:30 when I finally left, though not before taking this incredibly gay looking photo of Josh, which I am sure he is very proud of ! lol…

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Friday was just a usual work affair, I had decided not to go out and just stay home to conserve energy so I would be ready for Seiko’s birthday on Saturday……

Saturday comes!

Though not officially her birthday (it’s tomorrow) - she had chosen this weekend to hold her celebrations.

5:45 and first stop the newly opened Icebar in Roppongi, which was housed in a pretty impressive building…

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So an Icebar? Let me explain… well it’s quite simple really…. just, everything is made of ice!!

Be it the glasses….

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The tables….

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And even the walls….

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Even more amusing, due to the extreme temperatures inside (well obviously everything had to be kept below 0) - you had to wear a “cape” type thing along with a pair of mittens (this also allowed you to sit on the ice chairs without getting you bum wet!)…

Aren’t we all a happy bunch
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The Icebar was £17 in total, which included one drink. I think good for a one time experience, but I doubt I would make it a regular. For a start, it was freezing (well duh!) and after about 30 minutes the gloves seemed to lose their effectiveness. It makes me wonder about the market they have though, as all of us felt the same - so I wonder how long it will actually last …. (there were about 10 people in there with us…)

The Icebar done, it was off up to our all time favourite “Hub” in Roppongi, where Seiko had booked the back section - very posh When we got there, to our delight, happy hour was running, which meant all drinks were half price for the next hour or so.

I think it’s safe to say me and Toshi certainly made the most of this, ordering in two at a time, drinking one at the bar and then ordering some more…. lol…. well, you need to make the most of a good offer right?

For veteran readers that saw my cake before, this was nothing compared to the ABSOLUTELY ENOURMOUS example that was produced for Seiko, I don’t think the photos do it justice, but this thing was massive. To carry it there in the first place required two people and I dread to think how much it had cost…. see for yourself…

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I don’t think it was all eaten in the end, though Toshi did do his best…
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Come 10:30pm or so, it was once again time to move on, with Muse being the end target, though not before stopping off at a Hawaiian bar called “Be Sun” - where ever more alcohol was consumed (and judging by the colour of Seiko, it seemed she was nearing her limit ;))

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I even picked up this rather fetching flower (though not as good as the christmas tree I had at christmas :D)

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With the colour of Seiko now fast changing, it was figured now would be a good time to get her to Muse before she completely passed out …..

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So onto Muse it was…. I could drag this story out, but really, there is no need. I will give the following key bits of information, and you can work the rest out for yourselves….

Arriving in Muse, Seiko ordered a white wine…. followed by a red wine….

Can you guess yet?
Hehe… yup, you guessed it, 30 minutes later or so, it was the obligatory “carry Seiko home walk” - provided by your fine young gentlemen Ben and Shimpei!! hurrah!

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Of course, before we actually took her home, we had to go for another meal (!) - so to the Ramen shop (where Seiko fell asleep in the bowl…. I wish I had taken a photo of that, classic) - after which, the taxi was called and we were all whisked home, arriving back at around 3am - one of our earliest nights out ever!!

Sunday was the usual uneventful “sleep in late” and do nothing all day, until the evening when Seiko returned so we watched “Totero” - another anime made by the same guy that did “Howl’s Castle”. Again, it was a great movie, though perhaps slightly bemusing as subtitles were coming up, even if the characters weren’t actually saying anything?!?! At first it seemed maybe this was to “catch up” - but it soon became apparent, that extra dialogue was just being added! (For example, it would a quiet scene, with no one saying anything, yet various words would spring up in the autotext). It also got a bit confusing when they starting talking about “Sprites” until about 20 minutes in, when obviously the translator realised his mistake and changed it to “Spirits”! haha…

After work on Monday, I was in quite a good mood, so gave Seiko a call to see if she had already eaten. Fortunately, she hadn’t, so we decided to go to Bochi Bochi (the okonomiaki place down the road), also meeting up with Shimpei (who would arrive later on). I’ll try and get some photos next time I go, but for now, peruse the website, it should help explain it a bit better.

About an hour after we had started eating, Shiho also arrived, so we ordered again (the exact same, Pork and Cabbage, followed by the BochiBochi Okonomiyaki) - which I think amused the waitress somewhat. So it’s safe to say, by the end of the night (2am), I was quite full and had drunk a substancial amount of Umeshu (that has got to be THE best drink in the world).

It’s so nice to be able to live
So anything else? Well, tonight Vanessa from work is leaving, so we are going out for her farewell party. I’ll take the camera along and hopefully get some good shots (you will also be able to see who I work with too), Yumi is also going to be back in Tokyo (woot!) so will be coming along too.

Better get to the post office to pay my health insurance now (only 4 months late :eek:) - then off to work early to study for my next training session…. will do my best to update this tomorrow and not let it get so far behind again in the future….

To you my friends, goodnight

Well back I am here in the wonderful city that is Tokyo. Do you detect some sarcasm in my voice? No, I don’t think so - though being back in London has made me think how much a better place it is
First I should write the obligatory - OH HOW I MISS EVERYONE - which I really do mean. It was so nice to catch up with everyone again, be able to sit in a bar and make jokes without having to explain them in precise detail, sit at home on a SOFA!! (like OMG!!! ;)) and spend time with Mum + Dad.

I was thinking in the shower earlier, it doesn’t matter what people say - you can have a great a place as you could ever imagine, but without your good friends there, it will never be perfect. On the flip side, you can take an awful place, but as long as your good friends are there - you will always be happy.

I was reflecting on the last few years and uni. I didn’t really go in, so didn’t get the chance to meet the hundreds of people that is usual for a uni adventure, but i was very lucky in the fact that the few people i did meet are really great people… i guess i was lucky - and that was my point - how can a place where you have to study be any good? but add in a few great people and suddenly everything is ok
Ah the memories, going to uni (well almost, over the road) and just sitting in Ruks room (after climbing in through the window when she is changing of course) - guys, I would like to send out a bit “w000000t!” to (in alphabetical! :p) alex, greg, judge, nat & ruks plus of course the amazing Mr Fish (Lawrence) who joined in with the uni antics as best he could (when he could get there on time that is!) - without you lot, uni would have just been “something to pass the time”, but you lot made it a happy experience… to friendship forever, hurrah!
So, the mushy stuff done, what’s been happening to me.

Well, I’ve been back almost 2 weeks now so what great things have I done.

First biggest news I guess is that I have left Japanese school! Why you may ask?! Well, I was fed up of not ever having any money / not being able to go out with the work people due to school the next day - and really wanted to do something about it.

My new motto is: Stop existing and START LIVING!

So this is what I have done, in the last week, my daily funds have jumped from £7 a day to a more reasonable £15 - and I have been out about 3 or 4 times with the work crew. I know, it sounds trivial, but I hadn’t been able to do it before - so this was quite a big thing.

Don’t worry though, I don’t intend to give up on Jap, Seiko has agreed to teach me (well it was actually her idea) plus I have been hot on the websites looking for language exchange students. At the moment, finding someone who is a low level English student is quite difficult (most are high level) as I need someone low so that there is no danger of flicking into English….. My aim is to have found maybe 2 or 3 by the end of the Month, I’ve got a load of replies already - just need to get around to mailing them back!

What else, hmmm… last weekend was quite amusing actually. Due to the time off I took, I have been having to work each Sunday (so this one too) - which meant I have just Friday nights to go out. Last Friday then I was to meet Seiko in Roppongi after she had had a meal with some friends, to go drinking. I got all ready, and from about 11pm started the labourious journey to Roppongi. When within one station of it (after 3 trains worth of changing) - I get an email “I feel really sick, can we go home!” - hehe - so basically, I walked out the station, and into a cab which took us back home!!! hahaha…. Not really wanting to waste the whole night though, I decided to go and meet up with Shimpei in Shimokitazawa, so told the driver to wait until we got Seiko in the house, before jumping back in to meet up with Shimpei at a very nice izakaya (the joys of having some money!!!) - the izakaya itself was actually pretty cool, with a load of shelves all around the bar with various nicknacks on them, including a large collection of puzzle games (the type where metal shapes are joined together and you have to split them up) - we ate and drank, then proudly left at about 3am with all the puzzles unlocked and strewn over the bar…! hurrah!

Ah I know, I haven’t mentioned the room change. Well this has been completed now, so I now am in Seiko’s old room. I should take some more photos when I get the chance. So it’s all happy sailing now…. actually, not really - but i think i’m just going to have to live with it… hehe… i can imagine the grief i would get if i said something now!

Firstly, there is no day light in the room, so even now, its really sunny outside, yet I am sitting here with the light on!! Problem is then that I never wake up! I wake, see it’s still dark so go back to sleep… I can’t see the time on my clock (it’s not flouresent) - and don’t want to put the light on, just in case it is really early, and i then won’t be able to sleep again…. hehe… so thats problem one.

Problem two relates back to noise again (though it isn’t as bad as before) - because I am now on the inner side of the apartment, it means all the corridoors are just outside my room. And, I don’t know how they managed to soundproof this place so badly, but it means if someone puts a key in their lock and turns it, the whole noise travels down the corridoor and wakes me up?!!? Insane sounding I know, but true…. same thing with people talking and going to work etc…. but like I said, no way I can complain now after all the fuss I made before!

So on Thursday I went with some of the work guys to one of their leaving dos. It was at a bar just around the corner from work called “dot” - actually a pretty nice place, a proper shoes off affair (with little slippers in the toilet) but best of all, “nomihodai” (all you can drink) for 980yen (about £5) for 2 and a half hours!! As you can imagine, this was being seriously abused by the gaijin in there (ordering like 5 beers at a time) - at which I was actually quite embarresed. You can picture the scene, a traditional Japanese bar, filled with loud and annoying foreigners…. I HATE GAIJIN!! haha…

Anyway, I tried to sit away from the loudest of them in the hopes people would think I wasn’t with them, but I don’t think it worked (it was pretty obvious, we had taken over the whole of the upstairs!!!) - this finished at about 12′o’clock or so and it was time to wander home.

Friday night was (once again) my only weekend night out (due to the working on Sunday situation) so this was an important occasion. This time, I decided I *actually wanted* to go to Roppongi (shock horror!) so arranged to meet up with Seiko at about midnight at “Hub”. I got there before her (she was enroute in a Taxi) so got some drinks in. About 20 minutes later, Seiko arrived, and my earlier show of kindness looked like it was going to be unrequired as already she was completely battered She had also brought along a friend with her, a 51 year old chap called Nobu, who works for a web company and had very little English. (which was good….)

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We stayed in Hub for about an hour or 2 (with me and Nobu propping Seiko up) - talking about various computer like topics and various other things until it came to the subject of music. Nobu is a great fan of older rock music and was talking about old bands he liked - I then started to tell him about dad and his love for music too. This conversation got quite involved, until Nobu suggested we go to his friends rock bar down the road which had loads of memorobelia and things he wanted to show me.

So we carried Seiko up the stairs and into a taxi ….

Arriving at the bar (called Heaven) - I was greeted with a fantastic site.. a really cool looking place, decorated with posters and news clippings all over the wall and guitars and amps strewn about the place. A really, really nice place - I think you would have loved it dad, it was just your scene Inside there were only about 6 people (all who were friends) so the atmosphere was also very good “funiki ga yokata desu-yo!” - so we went over to a little table, and the orders were taken….

I wanted a Matador (tequila, pineapple juice and a dash of lemon) - but there was not tequila or pineapple juice. Not to worry though, as the barmaid went off to the 7/11 to get it for me!!! Talk about service. Then, the hunger started, but alas the chef was ill… no worries, again, the barmaid went off to the 7/11 to return with a selection of food (as she wasn’t sure what i liked!!!) - so i had sandwiches, pasta and some crisps
Anyway, back to the rock - so over the wall was all this rock memorobilia, a load which i recognised from dad showing me (though i can’t now remember what it was) - so again i started to tell all of them about dad, and his adventures and the such like. They were all very impressed, and I have to say, listening to myself saying all the stuff dad did, I was pretty proud of him too It would seem that if you look past the pineapple head, there’s a pretty cool bloke there NICE ONE DAD!!!
I think we were talking for about 2 hours, by which time Seiko had fallen asleep, so it was time again to go back to the Taxi and get back home …. z00m z00m!

Saturday was the day I had set aside to get Dad’s cds, so at about 5pm (hehe) I got out the house and went off to Shinjuku - not before stopping off at the temple to wish for some good luck for the day I really like this whole Shinto religion thing, it’s nice to be able to go somewhere, ring a bell and say your bit to “someone”. No, I haven’t gone full on religious freak, but just saying hello to whoever or whatever made everything in the first place….. it’s a really nice place, especially in the evening as it looks really traditional with lanterns hanging about lighting the place up. I’ve been trying to go each day as it’s en-route to work, so on the way home I try and stop by.

So anyway, on to Shinjuku, where I first needed to go to the bank. Now for those of you who don’t know, Shinjuku station is absolutely massive and has so many exits. Unfortunately, I had forgotten which one led to Starbucks (which has the only ATM in Shinjuku I can use) - so it took me about 30 minutes to actually get some money out!!! Grrr…. Then it was a quick stop off at the electronics centre (go Sofmap!) to buy a new memory card for my iPAQ.

I’ve been fed up of listening to the same tracks day after day on my 128MB card, that I wanted to go for something somewhat bigger. After pondering for a good 20 minutes, I finally plumped for a 4GB compact flash card (I would have prefered SD but they didn’t have any) - which I got for about £80…. a good deal, yes, at the time, though I could have possibly grabbed it on ebay for a big cheaper…. ahh well, at least now I’ve got hours and hours of tunes for the 30 minute walk to work haha….

So that done, it was off to find the CD shop. I had a map, so it wasn’t too tricky, however after going in, the cd couldn’t be found. Therefore began a comedy sketch between me and the shop assistant on trying to obtain where a copy might be…. after logging on the net, and a translation site, he was able to inform me that the cd wasn’t made anymore, and they had no second hand copies in stock. I therefore asked if he could reserve one for me, at which he told me (after about 5 minutes of looking it up) that I needed to go to the “prog rock” branch over the road ….

…. so over the road I went ….

Simplest thing to do when I got in was just ask for the cd again, so I did, and was then handed a copy!?! Slightly confused I asked if they had anymore, at which point I was given another…. ?!!? EH?!? Thanking the girl, I then headed back to the original shop to show the guy. “Ah!” he goes, I am so sorry, I thought you wanted the “Import” … erm, no, but thanks anyway
Due to the ungodly hour I had to wake on Sunday (8:30!?!? does that time even really exist) - I aimed to hit the sack at around midnight. This got extended slightly as I rang Gowry first, but did manage to get to bed at around 1:30. All was good, I was nicely snuggled and fell asleep within 20 minutes or so. Then….

Bzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzz - my phone started ringing, I tried to ignore it, but it rang and rang for absolutely ages…. before finally, it stopped…. so I started to drift off again, before, bzzzzzzzz, bbzzzzzzzzzz, yup, it started again.. this time i couldn’t ignore it, so got up and switched it off. However, the damage was done, I was now wide awake, and would stay so until about 5:30 which is the last time I remember on the clock before sleep.

This of course meant Sunday was one of the hardest days EVER, with me even starting to feel dizzy in some classes and just wanting to get onto the floor and just SLEEP!! hehe…. I got home at about 6pm or so and then got a text from Seiko saying she would cook tonite, so I bashed back saying cool and that we should watch a movie together, which was met with a “cool”.

The movie we chose to watch was “Howl’s Moving Castle”, an anime movie about a wizard called Howl who has a castle that it totally mechanical and can walk! HERE!. It was a really cool film and even better, in Japanese with English subtitles. This meant I was able to both listen to Japanese, but have the translation below if I wasn’t sure of the word (I must admit, most of the time was spent reading the subtitles, but hey!) - next we are going to watch Totoro, which features the same dialog format… this is part of my new school of Seiko
Monday I had an earlier shift again, so was going to finish at 7:30 - therefore I arranged to meet Seiko and Shiho after work to take them to “dot” (the izakaya of the other day). When we got there, there were no tables, only bar stools, which neither of us wanted, so after a little negotiation, we were moved into the “lovers room”! - basically a private room with a sofa, heaters and loads of hearts everywhere We were also opposite where the staff stood, so everytime we wanted a drink, all we needed do was poke our heads outside the curtain and ask!!!

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Well, 2 and a half hours later (and a blinding 12 drinks later! I was going to make the most of it this time) - we decided it was time to head somewhere else, so we gave Shimpei a call and told him to meet us at a nearby bar, after which we would go to Karaoke.

The bar we chose was “Heaven’s Door”, a pretty cool second floor joint, which sold about average priced drinks.

It was here, where suddenly everything started to go wrong …..

No one can be truely sure what caused it, though we suspect it may have been the now 14 drinks she had consumed, but when Seiko didn’t return from the toilet for 20 minutes, we were slightly bemused…. The wall was really thin though, so we could shout to her through it and she said she was ok….. not wanting to push the issue, we let her be, though by now a gentleman by the name of Henry wanted to use the facilities….

Remembering previous nights out usually ended in Seiko falling asleep, it seemed the best thing to do would be to just drag her out…. but alas, the door was locked, and then had a seperate slide lock on the inside (so we couldn’t open from the outside) - by now we weren’t sure what was going on, but Seiko kept banging on the door…… and shouting something….

Suddenly (and without warning) the door comes crashing open and Seiko goes flying across the room!!! Running back to pick her up, she seemed a bit confused and couldn’t understand why she couldn’t get out ….. we pointed the inside lock out to her ….. “AHHHH” she says, “I didn’t notice that!?!??” - a true “Helen” moment GO SEIKO!

It was pretty obvious now, Karaoke was no longer on the cards, so we decided to take the 30 minute walk home… no mean feat when you are taking a completely totalled girl with you, who is ademant she can walk on her own!! (no chance!!) We got about 10 minutes down the road, before it was obvious we weren’t going to get anywhere fast like this, so doing the only thing that seemed sensible at the time, I took it upon myself to start carrying her home!
Not that she was heavy, but I doubt I would have been to carry her very far, so when a taxi popped into view, the decision was (very quickly) taken to get in it :). I don’t know what the driver could have thought, he pulls over the brow of a hill and suddenly there is this gaijin carrying a (good as) passed out j chick with her mates all waving frantically…. SUGOI!!
A fun night had by all Which of course Seiko couldn’t remember in the morning…. haha….

So the plans for this weekend? Well it’s Seiko’s birthday on Thursday next, so this weekend is her party weekend. The plan is to first head to the newly opened ice bar in Roppongi (HERE) - basically, the whole place is made of ice! You have to wear a special cape and gloves in there, and can stay a maximum of 45 minutes!!! Should be pretty cool, I will be sure to get many photos!

There are a few extra things going on, but not really fit for here, but apart from that, the outlook is ok….

So apologies again for the late late updates, but now I am all settled again, regular posting should be resumed. One thing I will say though, I’m now at the point where I will stop posting just for the sake of it… if all I did one day was go to work, then home, don’t expect an update.

However, the amount of things I am trying to do now, this should (hopefully) not be a regularity
Onwards and upwards …. HURRAH!

No I’m not talking about life, but the end of my birthday But more about that later, I have a week or so to catch up on.

It seems no one believed me (dad :p) when i said i have been working very hard, but it’s true! Everyday I have been spending hours at a time working on my Japanese book and trying to get everything copied across. It sounds like quite a simple task, but the thing is, I originally wrote it all in English characters, but of course, now need to convert it all across…. (well, i guess i don’t HAVE to, but it would be silly not to…)

So all week this has been going on, hence the lack of updated.

One important thing this week though was my visa related tasks. I had almost forgotten that when you leave Japan, if you don’t have a re-entry permit, you cant get back in! Not wanting to leave anything until the last minute - Tuesday morning, i went with Shimpei to the local immigration office. I say local, but it was actually 40 minutes away, but we went in the car, so it wasn’t all bad
The system to actually get the permit was so strange, first, you go in on the ground floor and get the forms, then you have to go to the 7/11 to pay for the permit (£30 for a multiple, a single is £15 - but figured i might as well be sure and get it all) - before finally heading up to the top floor to take a ticket and await your turn.

Once you actually get seen, it’s only a 2 minute job - and as they seemed to be zipping through all the applicants, we actually finished the whole thing in about 20 minutes! Awesome!
Following our success, Shimpei then suggested we try out a new burger joint he had found “Baker Bounce” - so off we set. Now, as you know I have always been quite sceptical of the food here, so wasn’t expecting much - however i’m delighted to say i was very pleasently suprised Quite a large burger with added bacon, cheese, avocado and mushrooms - yes thank you very much, hurrah!

The rest of the week was uneventful, though, woops, I’ve forgotten about Sunday night…. doh! Last time I wrote, i was just talking of going out right? Well we went to a restaurant in Shimo to eat proper traditional Japanese food… I even had some raw fish, which was actually quite nice (shock horror!) - i had intended to take a load of photos, but not so many actually materialised (read 2!)

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So, on to the weekend - as per usual, I wasn’t going to be able to make going anywhere on the Friday night, so stayed at home working Later on, Seiko came home, so she was helping me out - before at about midnight or so, Shimpei came over, so we ended up watching TV (though I did still carry on writing!). Finally, I caught Helen on Skype, so spend the next few hours or so talking to myself (she didn’t have a mic, so was typing responses, lol)…

But enough of that, as you may notice, my story seems a little impatient, well, for good reason! I want to get onto Saturday….!

So Saturday is the same old, same old, wake up freezing, put on my little blanket thing and get on the computer. However, this is where it changed….. a few minutes after I woke up, Seiko pops in the front room telling me to look outside, ok, sure….

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Wowza! Proper snow! This hasn’t happened for ages, the last time i can remember was when I lived at Kingston, so thats at least 2 years ago!!! So I was very excited and got ready as fast as I could, to get outside and get some photos taken …. first stop, the roof!

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Before heading outside to the park, which suddenly didn’t need grass to look good …

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I do apologise for any camera blur, but it was freezing, so very difficult to hold the camera still There’s loads in the gallery, including this Tom inspired arty attempt
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This snow was deep too (especially on the roof) and really soft and powdery, a good start to the weekend ….
Seiko then had to go off to “prepare for tonite” - so I wandered back home to work a bit on this site (you will notice now there may be some video clips online, though they might take a while to load up…..)

Finally, at 6:30 it was time to go and meet Seiko and Shiho @ Shibuya, where I was then ushered into a Taxi and whisked away to Ebis to a very swanky looking restaurant called Kitsune…. there we met up with Yumi, Chie and Akie.

Before the meal however, it was time to open the mystery box, which contained inside it one of the most delicious cakes I have ever eaten! Just full of cream and strawberries….. oh my, i want it back NOW
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So the food arrived and the alcohol flowed and a great time was had by all - it was great to be spending such a good time out with everyone Even better was the fact that everything had been planned for me, all i had to do was turn up I don’t think I’ve ever had a birthday like this, usually I have to do all the organising - Seiko’s birthday is in March, so I will need to work with Shiho to think of something special to do for her….

Just before the main course arrived (a mixture of meats and pasta) it was “present time” hehe…. in true to birthday tradition, I opened the cards first - which of course were all in Japanese. Cue 10 minutes of me trying to translate all of them (which i couldn’t quite do - but got the main jist) before opening my bags…. hehe …. i know a lot of you reading this are going to be thinking WTF?!? But, I am happy with them, so ner ner
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The Miffy stuff is from Seiko, Shiho and Shimpei, the flower from Chie and the Moomin Mug from Akie.

I also want to show you this, along with all my individual cards, they also wrote one big one for me - it’s things like this i think are cool about Japan, some of the stuff is just so cute Even more amusing is Yumi’s choice of words, I promise you Gowry, there is nothing going on… haha…

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So after we were all done, it was time to find somewhere else to go - everyone wanted to know what I wanted, but i was at a loss and was just happy going where everyone else did. It was therefore decided that first we should head to the local arcade to get some photos taken in one of the phot me machines…..

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(There were more, but they got dished out to the others :))

Before finally heading for a karaoke room, which for 3000yen was infinite drinks for about 5 hours!
To start with, everyone was pretty fresh faced with some amazing moves in action…

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….but after a few hours, things were going a little downhill
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Come 5am, the trains started and it was time to leave - though once home, the party continued (much to our neighbours delight I’m sure ;)) until about 8am when we finally all crawled into bed (not with each other, obviously :D)

So did I have a good time? I think that should be obvious I had a great time, and many many thanks to Seiko and Shiho for organising it all, I know they felt guilty for new year, but this completely made up for everything - it just puts on the pressure for theirs now …. hmmmm….

Happy Birthday Me !!!