What have we done indeed - well had a very nice meal out… though, not traditional in any sense of the word…

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Hehe - yup, our christmas dinner was @ TGI Fridays, though very nice it was too We got a mish mash of things and quite a few cocktails, though the bill only came to a rather reasonable (well i thought, compared to UK prices) £100 - so that would be £20 each then…

Even better, I was looking at the rest of the menu, and a burger and chips is only £5! I think I will be visiting a bit more often!

Then what, well, in traditional japan style, we then of course went to another restaurant (don’t ask) - where more food was ordered! (though i couldn’t eat another thing) - including this fish thing, where they burnt off the skin using a blow torch…. crazy…

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I actually quite liked it, it wasn’t so strong, but after all the food before, it just became a bit too much.

Also, I think a night out wouldn’t be complete without one casualty, and fair play to Seiko for it not being her. Once again, Yumi showed her grasp of the whole alcohol situation by falling asleep on the table!
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However, it then got better. Deciding that the table wasn’t so comfy (obviously) - then slid off it and onto my lap - where she went into a deep sleep!!! (The second photo is taken under the table - but Seiko had the camera upside down, hence the weird angle….)

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But a great time had Just wish it could have been a bit more festive… ah well, next year… (maybe, if I’ve cracked Japanese by then…!)

As for today, well it was the last day of work - and not so busy. Voice was interesting - it started off well, then we started talking about customer service - soon the Chinese were brought up, before a full on China Bashing session began - but erm, it kinda calmed by the end (lucky, as the next teacher was Chinese… lol)

So now I’m on holiday until the 4th of Jan. Loads of time to Jvise, finish Gowry’s website and, most importantly, sleep
Oh, I’ve also restyled my hair - which I’m quite happy about - though I fear another cut is soon needed, just to trim it a bit… nothing heavy….

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Ahah! AND THANK YOU DAD For the hair gel, definately a life saver….

And finally, I’ve now had so many people who see current photos of me go “WOW you’ve lost weight” - it’s just not funny. Indeed, sitting here now typing in just a tshirt, if I squint it looks like a Tyrannosaurus is at my computer - I think my trip home in Jan will definately be an eat athon!
Ahhhh! No wait - there is a bit more - that talk of food just reminded me.

So you know Gusto is my fav place, well the same company just opened a Chinese style restaurant neat work. So think Gusto prices, but Chinese food I just went tonite with Yumi, ahhh… it was so nice, so I can also add this to my list of soon to be most visited restaurants… just think, a TGI’s a day, followed by chinese for dinner - that should help put the weight back on.

Tomorrow I think I will continue my quest to find a new language exchange parter, I’m going to amend my advert to say i want someone who wants to go to Atom each week - at least this way the person I learn with I can also hang out with
So, Happy Christmas y’all…. I best it just wasn’t the same without me

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Well, it would be - except of course here we have no christmas, however, wanting to get into the christmas spirit and all - here are the first photos of my christmas …

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I would say those antlers are quite fetching, no?

So how was my christmas night then? Well, a mixed bag really - i shall explain, however, first my dear friends I will give you one very important piece of advice ….. NEVER STUFF YOURSELF COMPLETELY FULL AND THEN GO DRINKING….

So, here’s how it happened….
Saturday day time was the usual no food affair (and indeed staying in bed until about 7pm!!! ) - however this time Seiko wasn’t going to come home first (we were going to meet in Shibuya). To get myself into the christmas, it seemed like some red wine + vodka was in order, along with a bit of a mix session.

In fact, I’m quite pleased with myself, even totally wasted, I was still mixing quite well (and I know this as I recorded it ;)) until about 10:30 when it was time to meet up with Seiko to get some food, so off to the station I went.

Arriving at Sangenjaya however, the train wasn’t for 10 minutes or so - and not wanting to sit around doing nothing (I was feeling quite impatient) - I decided to make the almost ritual trip to McDonalds to purchase a Big Mac and Chips.

Of course, this was very nice - but I was now kinda full - though I had promised I would eat with Seiko, so eat again I must (I threw away the bag when she wasn’t looking) - we therefore headed off to the curry shop. Again, another fatal mistake was made - due to my drunkeness, I was almost sure that one curry wouldn’t be enough, so ordered some chicken tikka to go with it….

20 minutes later and we were both so full (me even more so, for obvious reasons) and Christmas was fast approaching (it was now 11:45) so we had to scurry off to find somewhere. This is easier said than done, because as you know, I don’t particuarly like Shibuya for nights out, so there was quite a bit of bumbling around until we chose a direction.

Now though, it was 11:55 and we really weren’t going to make it into anywhere in time - so drastic action had to be taken……. can you guess…… ?

Yup, the nearest department store (well we figured it would be playing christmas music and would have some trees on display!!) - hence the photos of us both wearing christmas hats (we didn’t buy them, just took the photos :D)

So that done, and our “Happy Christmas’” said, it was time to actually find something to do. Now last time we were here, we tried to go to @tom (read: Atom) however it closed at 2 - though I really wanted some good music, so we decided we would give it a go….

And am I glad we did….

FINALLY - a club in Tokyo that plays my music (well as near to it as I am going to get), all drinks are 500yen (£2.50), holds 1500 people (and fills it) AND…. AND…. AND… THERE ARE NO FOREIGNERS!!!! - yes people, there is a heaven and it’s name is Atom
Ok as far as clubs go, UK ones kick it’s ass - though (and I really don’t want to annoy anyone here ;)) - @tom does have one regaining feature - a special “gallery” thats basically a raised platform along the side of the club - women only …. UK clubs might kick JClubs for music + fun, but the women….
And no, before anyone asks - I didn’t take any photos
So all is well and good for the first hour or so, but this full feeling really isn’t shifting so we decide to go and explore the rest of the club. It’s 3 floors in total, with a “Trance Cave” at the bottom and an R’n'B/Hip Hop room up top with a huge TV showing endless “Viva La Bam” — SUGOI-YO! There were also a load of tables up here, so we decided to sit for a bit….

Unfortunately though, all was still not good - and realised I was going to throw up at any moment (and not wanting to do it in a club … i can imagine the looks i would have got - “drunk gaijin throwing up”) we had to make a quick exit (about 3am)…

I would also like to point out for the record I was not drunk, mearly very full…. so jumping around hadn’t been a good idea :o

So that was the end of the night - we got home by Taxi, which suprisingly was only 2000yen (£10) - this is great, as Seiko loved the club too, it’s cheaper than Roppongi AND we can get a Taxi back after….. HAPPY CHRISTMAS INDEED
So, what else has been going on then…. hmmm….

Wednesday was my last day of Japanese School (which was sad, I’m really liking going there now) and doesn’t start back until the 10th of Jan. I also got my test result back - 82.4% (or was it 84.2% - not sure) - which means I passed I’ve now got a great opportunity to fully catch up until the restart, not too much to do now - and stuff is certainly coming a lot more naturally.

Thursday I started work at 6:40 - so was able to spend the rest of the day working on a new project. Without getting too nerdy, I’ve now just started renting a new webserver in Germany. It’s purpose to provide backup DNS and also keep a copy of all databases held on the main server. After the unfortunate incident with the FCCUK forum (ie, they lost it) - we don’t want to take any chances.

This new server (AO - it means Blue) runs Linux (Debian) - but I have never used Linux before, so it’s also going to be a great learning tool for me. Funny story, it was setup for me on Thursday morning and I managed to lock myself out of it by Thursday afternoon Luckily the guy I’m renting it off seems to be a great bloke, and reinstalled it for me for no charge.

So I’m not going to make that mistake again - infact - now it is happily up and running and doing it’s job Never will there be a mail outage again, hurrah!

Thursday night after work, some of the chaps were going out for a quick drink, so I joined them. Due to the time I started work, I hadn’t eaten (planned to after) - so decided alcohol wouldn’t be a good idea so had coffee instead. Or at least I did for the first two, then thinking “what the hell” - had a glass of white wine (just to fit in and all lol) This didn’t seem to be a problem until i got home (maybe an hour later) - when suddenly - WHAM!! Yup, ONE glass of wine and suddenly i was battered… not even slightly either, this was full on wasted…. it was pretty obvious why, i hadn’t eaten all day so it had just gone straight to my head. To rectify this situation therefore, I cooked some yaki soba (and returned to slight sanity!) - not before having some fun with the new knife…

You won’t believe how sharp this thing is, you just push it on chicken and it cuts straight through it !!! Seiko had cut her finger on it earlier in the day, so was warning me to be very careful with it…. of course, after hearing such a thing, what is the first thing you do …. hehe… yes, the exact opposite - walking into their room and holding it against my neck had them screaming and hiding under the bed covers…. lol…. what fun…
So onto Friday, which has to be one of the best days at work I have ever had:

First lesson - No show, giving me a load of time to plan for lesson 2

Second lesson - Probably the most fun lesson I have ever given, we were doing restaurant complaints - and by the end of it, everyone was just laughing so much
Lesson Three - Voice: And just a single woman (as in, just her…) who had been to England so was very happy to talk about it. As with all these lessons, it soon gets around to me complaining about Japanese food and how much better it is in the UK. We therefore had a 30 minute or so conversation on food you can get in England and what I will be eating in a month - I was so hungry by the end of it !

Lesson Four - After the success of Lesson 2, it seemed a good idea to do it again. And again, it worked out brilliantly - especially as one of the guys seemed to have so many complaints Great Fun!

Lesson Five - Last lesson of the day and another voice. This time, just one (high level) guy in there. My first question - “So what is your job?”; Answer “Web Designer” w00t! And there began an hour conversation on programming and the internet - it was just like talking with a friend We got into the idea about design and hosting combined, so possibly we might be able to sort something out (he designs and I host) - either way, I think he’s going to be an interesting person to get to know
Finally (and now in a really good mood) - it was time to leave and as we had some money (as i hadnt eaten the day before ) - Yumi and I had planned to go to an okonomiyaki restaurant (these places are getting popular!) - as the stupid ATM wouldn’t give me any money (on a public holiday they don’t unless it’s your own bank) - we had to go back to mine to get some cash, before onto the restaurant.

This is the same place I always go, so I won’t bother to explain it all again, however there was a slight difference… this time we were joined by Santa and a seemingly pissed off rudolf
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After a few hours in here (and a few drinks) it was time to go - after paying a modest 4000yen (£20) bill - we both got up and went down the stairs to the exit… well, at least, that’s how it should have happened. It seemed however that suddenly the alcohol just decided to hit Yumi, who had gone from 0 to wasted in like 3 seconds. I’m not talking Seiko drunk either, this was full on out of it hahahaha… It therefore wasn’t practical to walk back, so a train ride was in order. I can’t even begin to count how many bad looks I got on that train (with Yumi seemingly passed out) - I’m sure everyone was thinking - “look at the gaijin, just taking advantage of that poor girl”…. but oh well, i get that every weekend with Seiko anyway
I did get her home (eventually) - and it must have been the funniest journey ever - she was basically sleeping as we walked (well, she was being half carried) - but kept making random noises in a really cute voice. Sooooo sweet haha….

I still can’t believe how drunk she got though, I don’t think we had loads (maybe 3 drinks tops) - though still better than my effort the other night … lol…

So here we go, back to today - so whats happening. Well, in an hour or so Seiko will come back and we are going to meet some of my work friends for drinks. Then Seiko, Shiho, Toshi, Yumi and I are all going for dinner somewhere - not sure where exactly yet - though KFC is traditional christmas food…. (really!)

Hehe - so it’s now Sunday evening and I’ve just got time to write this entry, then I’ve got to take my Japanese end of term test In theory I could just cheat as I have it here next to me, but i think that would be a little pointless - so i am going to create real exam conditions!!

So last night, I hardly need to say where we went, it hasn’t change week in week out yet, so I’m pretty sure you can guess. A little difference in the planning this time though, as Seiko wasn’t going to be home for dinner and we were going to eat out. However, I had to wait for Mums call, so had to cancel that bit (the eating out) - thus leaving me with the dilema of no food
I decided that something out would probably be best, however before I left, it was time to make the customary “going out cheapskate drinks” - it was going to be a simple vodka and coke, but i had neglected to buy any coke, so it was going to have to be something different.

I’m pretty glad there wasn’t any coke actually as this allowed me to find my perfect drink. Simply take half a glass of red wine, add a random amount of cassis and finally top up with vodka - delicious
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Two pints later and having then dj’ed for the last hour or so (so was very hyper) - it was time to leave. However, I suddenly had a massive “missing Gowry” attack, so decided it would be a good idea to call her. Of course, after 2 pints of the above, i really wasn’t in such a fit state to call anyone, so just remember apologising over and over for being so drunk lol…

Leaving the house was also a bit of a challenge as the flooring in our apartment is so uneven or at least, it was last night - strangely enough it seems to have flattened out now….
First stop before Roppongi was McDonalds to pick up some food. The order went OK, Double Cheeseburger - no problem. Whilst I was waiting for it, the next person made their order - some chips… hmmm… yes, I want some chips too - so called over the staff to add it…. next person orders some Chicken nuggets… sumimasen - sore-to Chicken Nuggets hitotsu…. I’m not sure how long this would have gone on, but luckily there was no one else in the queue or i dread to think how much food i would have left with
So I make it down to the platform, but although they smell nice, there’s not much taste to the french fries, coupled with the fact i’m getting a load of strange looks. Taking a quick step back to reality, it doesn’t take a genius to see why. Whilst I am indeed picking the chips up and moving them to my mouth, none of them are actually making it and I’m just dropping them all over the platform :o …. a hasty chip collecting situation then ensues and i’m left with a bag full of dirty chips lol….

When I finally make it to Roppongi, for once Seiko isn’t drunk, which is an incredible feat by her, especially as she has just been out drinking with mates… good on her!

So first stop is Hub to take advantage of the cheap drinks (and to watch Everton on the TV - so it was packed) before hunger got the better of us and we relocated to a local izakaya to get more drinks and some yaki-udon (and some glasses of water!!!)

Finishing here, we then headed off to iLounge (where we went last week) which was actually playing some good music this week (and had about 20 people in it, unlike last time) and was doing drinks for 500 yen… HOWEVER, if you didn’t know this, you had to pay 1000.. (as in, we went in and they gave us a 1000yen menu, however I pointed out there was a huge sign outside saying 500 and threatened to leave unless they charged as that … so all was good!)
At 4am however the drinks did go to 1000 yen, so naturally we chose this time to leave and head to the Wall Street Bar next door which was again quite empty. I think it’s due to the fact that these places are off the main highstreet, so perhaps you only go there if you know they are there, rather than just spotting it….

I don’t think we were here for so long until we got hungry again, so it was off to an Akonomiyaki restaurant, where we were able to get a very nice meal (though Seiko nicked most of the meat before I had a chance to get any myself :D) - I know, it looks like someone has thrown up on the table, but no, honestly it’s really nice
Come 6 or so (i think) it was time to head back to the station, there was a brief comedy moment when Seiko tried to get her coat on backwards (true to form, she had now got quite drunk) - but apart from that, we made it out relatively unscathed
Finally making it home, we discovered that somewhere along the way we had managed to pick up two softcore porn mags?!? So something new to add to our collection of “things picked up on a night out” - though I don’t know where they came from. They’re not even new, so it’s not like we bought them from a shop …?

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But wait! The story doesn’t end there, there’s just a little more to go…. On returning from my room where I had put on my pajamas - i was greeted with the site of Seiko having fallen asleep on the bed, toothbrush still in mouth I submit the following photos as evidence
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So there you have it, a quite successful night out

woot.. something else i can claim a first to, buying something on interest free credit speaker and mixer now ordered, coming in at a total of about £300 (so £30 a month, not the £20 i told you mum) - much easier to manage so now i’m dead excited and the thought has cheered me up no end
May I introduce to you the Alesis M1 Active, 100watt RMS of pure music playing ability
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And finally the new - just released - Vestax VMC-002XL in special edition white

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Hopefully arriving within 4 days or so, in time for next weekend
So last night, well, i’m quite starting to like saturdays now. Each week when Seiko returns she cooks something new (and delicious) so at least on Saturday nights I will always be sure to get a good meal
We then made the usual trip to our favourite place (lol) Roppongi and of course started off in Hub. They had some new christmas cocktails on offer (not sure what was in them, but they tasted very nice) so we ordered a few of these. Not sure how we discovered this (I reckon we must have just been button bashing) but the jukebox was on free play, which meant we were able to supply the other patrons of Hub with as much Bon Jovi music as the machine would put out
Now I know you guys look at this and just see every weekend we go the same place. Well, Seiko and I are painfully aware of this too, so decided this time to make an effort to go a new place ‘I-Lounge’ which opens at 3am. (hence the Hub to pass the time).

I must admit, i was actually quite excited as 1) it was new, and 2) it was supposed to be a trance bar - so we both had quite high hopes. First impressions were good, the place was very nice inside indeed - erm, except there was one problem - no one was there!?!?

Luckily the barman was very friendly and kept us entertained for the time we spent there - it would have just been nice if more people had turned up On the plus side, i now have another place i can go and dj at if i want to, so perhaps just us being there was a good thing. (as we wouldn’t have got to chat with the manager if it had been busy).

It had now got to about 4:20am or so, and knowing i would be hungry, it was time to go so we could get food and be in time to catch first train. Unfortunately, I think Seiko had now just passed her drinking boundary as she had fallen asleep on the bar…

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However, a bit of a proding later and she was able to stumble along with me to the kebab shop - where she then promptly fell back to sleep (though i didn’t mind so much as it meant she didn’t eat all my chips like she usually does… haha) - leaving to catch the train wasn’t so easy though as by this time she was properly sparko and it took a lot of persuassion to wake her back up
The actually train journey back was the usual amusing affair, with her collapsed in my arms (though this time with me monitoring carefully to make sure she didn’t throw up on my coat :D)

At Sangenjaya, i wanted to make a quite stop in McDonalds (gotta love the S+E muffins) - by which time Seiko had decided she didn’t want to walk back - but to get a taxi instead. I would usually tell her this is a waste of money, but then, it was very cold and she was offering to pay so it seemed like a good thing to do.

Now my favourite bit of the story:

So we’re in the taxi and off we go, except Seiko then falls back to sleep again. Well, due to my slightly intoxicated state and feeling quite confident, it seemed like a good chance to practise some Japanese (make those classes be worth something!) - so it began….

Ok, so it wasn’t the most advanced of Japanese (straight ahead please, at the next corner - turn right, stop in front of that building etc…) but using my new found knowledge i was able to direct the taxi all the way home and to stop it in front of our door (without using *any* hand guestures!!) - w000000t! go me!!!
It’s little things like this that make me happy i am studying and out here - i know it sounds stupid - but it feels like a great achievement to me, i haven’t learnt anything for years - so now, it’s like a lot more of a big deal
So let’s see, i can direct taxis, or stuff in a restaurant (properly up to 5 items… then my counters get a bit squiffy), ask for directions and tell people they are a “stupid f**king idiot” - progress!!!

Ah I should also point out, the photo shoot has me wearing glasses. Special “no lens” glasses to be exact, which apparently make me look smart (or something….)

I’d better get back to the books now, bed in 4 hours

Well last night was an interesting clubbing experience
After making our “take out” drinks using an interesting array of alcohol..

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.. it was time to brave the cold (it really has got freezing here) and head out to the usual weekend haunt of Roppongi (despite the fact that neither of us particuarly like it). So 3 trains later and we were there.

By now the bottle was finished, so of course I had now got hungry again - first stop a cheap izakaiya where we both ordered some more food (me a yakisoba and seiko what looked like the same as we had for dinner) and quite a few drinks.

A few hours later, we figured we should actually go somewhere, so headed for the high street….. looming in front of us was Don Quotie (or however you spell it) which gave us the alternate idea to go and buy a bottle of Moet and sit on Yukas roof drinking ….
£15 worse off (and a quick stop to McDonalds for me to get meal number 3) we were soon sitting on Yukas roof, all wrapped in blankets kindly supplied to us From here on is where my memory ends, I apparently drunk half the bottle or so then fell asleep!!!

The girls woke me up a few hours later (after Seiko had already now had her meal number 3 - ramen cooked by Yuka) as one of the neighbours had complained or something so we had to leave….

It was now 4am and *very* cold - it seemed the only sensible thing to do would be to go to a restaurant So First Kitchen it was: Cheeseburger with Bacon and Eggs plus a large chips please…. hurrah, meal number 4.

Then back home.

So that was last night, I’ve put some photos up but they’re not really so interesting, especially since the battery ran out (not that there would have been much to photo anyway).

Now, I’m just working on a few bits and pieces here, will have a shower in a moment then get on with Japanese.

Yumi is coming over later for dinner, pehaps a little inconvenient as I have to ring home and Gowry, but I’ve told her this, so she can’t be suprised when I kick her out … haha…