Well it’s got to the point, the blog is so far behind, that catching it all up has pretty much become an impossibility. I’ve decided therefore to cut my loses and start again from now.. otherwise, it would just slip and slip, and become not much use to anyone.

So, lets do a real quick summary of the weeks gone past…

The first weekend after Kyoto was also Yumi’s last night in Tokyo, so we went out to a new “all you can drink” place in Shimokitazawa. To cut a long story short, Shiho got absolutely wasted (she never drinks, remember!) and at one point it looked like we were going to have to take her home…. however, she pulled through and made it out to the Karaoke afterwards
So there you have it, bye bye Yumi - we shall miss you
[IMG=691]

The next weekend, it was decided that we would head out on Friday to Roppongi. After the usual “Hub” starter drinks, we headed to “Hideout” where we stayed until about 5am when it was decided we should check out “i-Louge” over the road (which had now changed it’s name to “Maxim”).

Entrance was 1000yen, however once inside and realising it actually played decent music (it was actually pretty banging, w00t!) - plus the fact you got a free drink, it didn’t seem so bad.

Seiko had now done a usual and got pretty smashed (so was propping up the bar) leaving me on my own to jump around manicly to the very good music. After a while, I was joined by a group of girls and, I guess due to the influx of alcohol inside me, suddenly had the confidence to start talking to them (in Japanese…. duh!) - I can’t remember the girl’s name, but she was originally from Thailand, spoke no English, but really liked the club.

I stayed talking with her for about an hour and a half, before, situations over at the bar meant I had to intervene. Seiko had managed to find herself not one, but TWO guys, who were intent on dragging her off home with them - I know she might have wanted this, but the fact she seemed to keep passing out on the bar and being propped back up by them, kinda suggested she didn’t know what she wanted!!!

A swift intervention later (which rather bizarely involved me shouting out “they are bad men, they are bad men” - which they could of course hear) and we had Seiko on the way home. Rather worryingly, not 10 minutes after we had left, I mentioned to Seiko that “you really need to be careful”, to which she replied “Why? What happened??” She wouldn’t believe me at all until I told her to check in her pocket where the guy’s phone number had been put!!

We got back to Wakabayashi station at about 9am (after taking a strange detour through a graveyard - much to the amusement of the gardener) when suddenly Seiko shouts out “Ah, I have work now!! I have to catch this train…” - and off she went!?!?!

Needless to say, we didn’t go out on Saturday night!
Monday after, Vanessa arrived - so we did the official “welcome to Japan” evening out, by taking her to Bochi Bochi (any excuse ;)) - she then left for Kyoto on the Tuesday, returning on the Saturday.

Friday night was Ryoko’s birthday, so once I had finished work, I headed off to Roppongi to meet up with her, seiko, shiho and toshi. No prizes for guessing our first point of call
We did find this strange drunk guy though ….
[IMG=703]

Final stop was club “Vanilla”, a swanky place just up the road. It was a bit of fun and games at first though….

Clubs and bars here don’t have cloakrooms, but just lockers. This is generally a good idea, until you have a massive club, with no where near enough lockers to cater for everyone. So picture the scene, Saturday night in a really hot club with loads of coats and bags, but no lockers.

We stand around for a bit, before deciding this just isn’t going to work and we’re better off just holding on to everything, until suddenly a group of people standing around the lockers leave and suddenly some locker keys are glistening in the club light…..

Going on instinct, we charge for the lockers and not a moment too soon before suddenly all hell breaks lose and a huge crowd of people start rushing towards us. It was total carnage with everyone pushing a shoving everyone out the way to try and secure their locker!!!
Once all sorted, we headed to the R’n'B room, which had nice comfy sofas - where we actually just sat until the end of the night just chatting and having a good laugh
So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYOKO!!
[IMG=707]
[IMG=711]

Once the club had come to an end, we headed to the Turkish restaurant to get some kebabs (and a bottle of wine ;)) - before, at about 8am or so, heading back home to get some rest in ready for the night ahead… (and Vanessa’s return…)

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!!)

[IMG=590]

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 ….

[IMG=620]

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…!
[IMG=625]

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!
[IMG=627]
[IMG=630]
[IMG=638]

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…

[IMG=639]

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
[IMG=640]

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…)

[IMG=642]

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
[IMG=641]

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!

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!)

[IMG=407]

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….

[IMG=335]

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!

[IMG=309]
[IMG=332]
[IMG=334]

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

[IMG=319]
[IMG=317]

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
[IMG=323]

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
[IMG=347]
[IMG=352]

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
[IMG=409]

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…

[IMG=410]

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…..

[IMG=411]

(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…

[IMG=372]
[IMG=389]

….but after a few hours, things were going a little downhill
[IMG=397]
[IMG=398]

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 !!!

Big changes in the house today, I was awoken by the sound of the doorbell at about 10:30am (which was good as I didn’t want to oversleep) and then loads and loads of noise.

It was so cold, I didn’t really want to get up and look, however i could see a number of shapes moving around in the front room through the glass. After about 30 minutes, all was quiet again, so I snuck my head outside…

WOW! I should have taken a photo, but basically, the front room was full of many household items, a massive TV, DVD, microwave, chairs, tables, computers, blenders …. and the list goes on…

It seems Seiko and Shiho had raided their fathers house!

Also included was a new Halogen heater (so I can give you that money back now dad) which is great, as we have been having big problems with the aircon (it keeps tripping the power) - there is a slight problem in that it’s permanently pointing out the floor, though I’m sure i can work out how to move it up without breaking it at some point…

Japanese school hasn’t got off to such a great start, after missing Wednesday, I had looked over the work to do in this morning. However yesterday at work, Usukei (or however you spell it) - had another go at Yumi which sent her off in a flood of tears… so after work, instead of going home, we went out to a restaurant and had some drinks to cheer her up.

Upshot is of course, I missed Japanese. BUT, I told her this would happen, so she is willing to make up for it by going over the stuff I have missed (and doing it properly this time :)) - not all bad.

I’m also liking Mum’s idea of meeting up with Nagisa often whilst I am back, it will work well, she has loads of free time, so we can meet - and then later I can go home / Gowry’s / out with Haroon etc…. I actually hope to get more studying done in England than I have done so far out here hahaha….

So the room swap, it would be tonite, however a big issue has come up at work. I have to work Saturday as a swap, BUT, the kids teacher won’t be in This means I have to teach all her classes, no mean feat as I haven’t had any decent practise yet - so they are letting me take the books home tonite, so basically i will be studything these - no time to do anything else.

I guess I will move on Sunday - but the good thing is, now Seiko’s computer is here, we have to get a router (so we can share the connection) which means I can carry the laptop around the house (so will be able to sit in the front room with them :)) - I really like both of them, so want to make a big effort to spend more time together.

I had a meeting at work the other day too - which wasn’t so good - I was basically told that me being late the other day was like committing “work suicide” during your probation period…. with this in mind, I made a huge effort for my evaluation yesterday and made a list of all my issues - which Tony then looked over and agreed on - I’m fed up of being told things too late to do anything about them, so this way I have come back….

My main issue has been avoiding the lessons altogether and just chatting - well, the students wanted to, so I figured it would be ok. Aparently not though, and this is the biggest issue…. easy enough to solve, just, NEED TO BE TOLD ABOUT IT …. grrrr…

Sorry, I’ve gone off on a right tangent there - and now I can’t remember what the hell I have written … lol … thats what only having 8 hours sleep does to you
Well today is friday and tomorrow ISN’T my weekend - haha - i think that’s all that needs to be said Saturday night will be my night out, so expect some more photos then ….. Atom is calling me….
Ta’ra!

Mmmm.. i am now sitting at my computer eating huge chunks of the special cheddar cheese sent to me for christmas along with a few fingers of a kit kat - i must say, they go together quite well! Yummy …!

Well that was quite a story last time hey? Actually looking back, it’s quite funny - just a shame it stuffed up my weekend as now being back and working this 7 day week is just horrible.

I could go on and write loads more, but, I don’t want to - perhaps all that is just a memory best forgotten.

Sunday, as I had already mentioned, I had to work to cover shift swapping for my holiday. I had never worked a weekend before, but was told they were always really busy. To make matters worse, you can’t go in any earlier to prepare as the staff don’t get in until 9:30 (work begins at 10)

Even worse, the night before had been so cold (and we are talking proper freezing) - I had been unable to get much sleep at all and walking to work, I was just in a daze. To try and counter this (and because for once I was up early enough) i headed straight for the local McDonalds to pick up and Sausage and Egg McMuffin - so mum, you can be happy I have had breakfast for once!!!

The weekends are the busiest days at Nova (hence the reason I have never wanted to work them) - and it seemed today was no exception. My first class was a full 4 person, but luckily for me, a lower level - which I really enjoy teaching, so it wasn’t too tough
The rest of the lessons went ok, but by lunch I was really grateful for the break. Not really much of a break though as of couse I had to plan all the next lessons, so sat with a yaki soba balanced on my knee, trying to write up all the next reports!

My final class of the day was voice - which was nice as by then i was getting quite tired - and as usual, the topic turned to how much I think Japanese food sucks over western food However, this time it was a bit more productive as the students seemed to know quite a few BBQ buffet places, so by the end of the lesson I had quite a comprehensive map of places I should try.

Even better, one of them is only a few minutes from work - and offers drinks for 1000yen (£5) for drink as much as you can for 2 hours!! They offer the same with their menu too, but this is a little more expensive at 3000yen for a 2 hour eatathon. I think I should definately try it though, make the most of the time here Haha….

I was so glad when I finally reached the end of the day and was able to stagger home, though only an hour or so after arriving home, I had a call from Shimpei who needed some help with some translation. Usually I would have said I am too tired, but i felt obliged to help as he has been so good to me.

I was just about to leave when Yumi showed up though! Apparently Seiko was coming back and she had asked to see her so she could give her a present from her weekend away. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to see Seiko yet, but couldn’t leave Yumi on her own in the place, so called Shimpei.

It turned out however that Seiko was at Shimpei’s already, so we could all go around there…. he also said he had talked to Seiko and she wanted to meet up….

So it was on….

The upshot of everything is, we are swapping rooms…. which you would think is a great situation - but, I just can’t stop feeling guilty about it I feel like perhaps she feels bullied into it (as in, “Ben will go back to the UK unless you move”) - they keep telling me not to feel bad, but it’s not helping….

I also feel bad about her having to pay so much more rent than me (£150) - but I really cannot offer any more - so, I figured maybe I could do extra things around the house to help out - such as do the floor cleaning, or the laundry (though according to Gowry, it’s not the done thing to wash a girls laundry unless she is your g/f? I don’t know, i’m not sure I see the problem) - so this will make me feel a bit better, as I will be putting more input in?

So yes, the room move will be next friday - I will miss the sunshine and daylight but i guess it will solve all the other problems. Infact, maybe this will encourage me to spend less time on the computer!! The other issue might be that next to my room now will be another bedroom, so saturday night late music might cause issues, but i suppose that can be dealt with when the issue arrises - in the meantime, i’ll just have to keep it low on weekdays.

I also told Seiko that i was sad i never see much of her, i came to live with her in Tokyo, but only see her a few times a week at most. We are now going to make the effort to see more of each other and have bought a calendar for the kitchen so we can see who is free when - thus being able to plan to meet up and stuff around those times. Admittedly me working until 9pm each evening doesn’t help, but I am right next to the station, so on Mon + Wed nights we can definately start to do more things (I have school on Wednesday at 9am you see, so the other nights are no use).

Talking of Japanese school, it starts tomorrow which will be good, though i reckon i will get a right bashing for now having learnt as much as i should have - though now I have finally got all my computer work out the way, i have a lot more time for it - there is a bit of a mutiny going on the forums, but hopefully we can sort all of this out without too many casualties.

Sorry if this is a bit rushed, but I’ve got work in 10 minutes, but didn’t want to leave anything any longer less I forget, so in summary:

1) I’m moving room
2) Seiko and I are going to spend more time together
3) I hate working weekends 4) Cheddar Cheese + KitKat is most delicious