I’ve gone and done it again, made the mistake of thinking “oh I see that blade looks a little worn, but I’ll use it anyway” - result, I look like someone has used me as a pin cushion…. doh!

That’s two stupid things in as many days…. I know you are impatient dad, so I will jump straight to it.

So yesterday was the first day back at work, but my Japanese school doesn’t start until next Wednesday, so I stayed up until about 4am talking to Gowry. Actually, thinking about it, that’s quite irrelevant as I still woke up on time, erm, anyway, I’m starting to stray from the point ….

So I wake up at 12 and get on with some work (suddenly I see to have become the busiest I have ever been…), happily typing along until about 2pm when the phone rings:

Me: Hello
Them: Hello Ben, this is Haruna (from work) - I didn’t wake you up?
Me: No, I had just got up Haruna: Well happy new year!
Me: Erm, yes, Happy new year!
Haruna: So where are you now?
Me: At home

* Pause *

Haruna: But you start at 2:15 today…..

DOH DOH DOH! I had checked over and over my papers the night before to see if there was a scheduled time change, but couldn’t find one - so was a little confused. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had to dash as fast as I could (including having my shower and getting dressed) to make it to work for the second lesson (3:10).

When I got it, all was explained, Nova had different new year opening times (which were displayed on the board in early December) - but due to it not being a shift swap as such, no paperwork was given out….

Nuts…. the worst thing is, you don’t just lose the money for the lesson missed, but also another 2!!! So I had to work 4 lessons, but only got paid for 2
Sucks.

Anyway, so dad that was the stupid thing I did that I told you in the email.

The plus side of starting early of course means you finish early (woot!) - 6:30 to be precise (though I had to stay until 7 to wait for Yumi), I passed the time by sleeping on the desk
Over here, McDonalds seem to release a new burger every week, and this one was no exception. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it has big mushrooms in it…. ah, so nice, the sauce is rather pleasant too
Tonite was also special in the fact everyone was home, and Yumi was coming around so Seiko and Shiho cooked some very nice chicken and a big salad. For people that like green vegetables, you should come here… You won’t believe the “greeness” of them, they look soooo fresh. For example, the brocolli is not dull like English brocolli, but all nice (and almost fake) looking…

I’ll get a photo next time I have the chance.

The rest of the night I spend working on my new business venture. A fantastic offer came up the other day on a new server (and we are talking TOO good to miss) which I just had to snap up. Thus all night was spent getting it ready for use by the general public.

I hear a load of you shouting “but he hasn’t got any money” - well yes, but this is 1) on credit card and 2) will be making profit within the next 2 weeks!!!! Basically, it involves splitting this new server up into 8 parts and putting them out for silly money, just to sell them. Whilst this might not seem like the best way to make money, after 2 sales the server is already in profit!!! Sell all 8 blocks and this server pays for itself AND the main server!!! I thank you
Also makes the company look good, we’re up to 3 now - I wonder how long until the next one comes along. There’s another idea I’ve got brewing, which will require some pretty heavy promotion in the UK when I get back, but then, I will have enough free time
Speaking of which, I only have a bit left until work and I need to finish securing a few things….. tonite I think will be uneventful, but due to me working Sunday, Friday night is going to be my weekly night out!!!

Now, off to get some new razor blades

Hehe… I write to you now as once again Yumi has fallen asleep on my bed, and I don’t have the heart to wake her up just yet and send her back into the cold (its freeeezing outside) - I figured I might as well come back on here and write something, rather than just waste a load of time doing nothing.

[IMG=200]

So what did I do today, well, most of the day was spent updating the iNETFX site and working on the new server. I’m happy to say all is now complete - the main focus of my work today was to build a “server status” page, which updated with live information….. and all done
Click here to see it in action

So what does it do, well, just basically connects to all the server services and makes sure they are working. Also allows me to update the “urgent news” page in real time. The whole point is, this is a seperate machine to my normal one, so if there is trouble with machine one, it can be posted up here (machine 2) - without this method, any problems and people would just be left wondering … “whats happened!!!”.

So that took me quite a lot of the day, the rest of the time was spent planning Gowry’s new website and watching episodes of Family Guy.

I’ve now also managed to grab the whole of the movie “Kokurisan” - a supposed really scary J-Horror, so I might watch that tomorrow.

Also spent an hour or so on the phone to Gowry, who wasn’t in the best of moods, however this time - i wasn’t to blame So in a funny way it was really nice, just her letting off steam to me - made me feel like I had some worth again I miss her telling me everything, though she has promised to start calling me more - w00t!

An unfortunate side effect of things going right - something didn’t like my skin and I seem to have some nasty and painful spots on my neck - grrrrr….. i wonder if it’s the washing powder … hmm… hopefully they will be clear in a day or two though, so not too much of a worry….

Well, it seems Yumi isn’t going to budge as she has now wrapped herself up in the covers - so it’s the matteress in the front room for me … doh! It’s so cold, and we only had a little spare rug thing…. plus of course she is getting up at 6:00 to go catch her plane, thats 3 hours sleep then before I can get back in my own bed …. hurrah!

[IMG=201]

Reminds me (though I’m not sure why) - I really need to call Helen, miss her antics (though I now have two Japanese replacements - they’re about the same size too) - except actually, Helen never falls asleep - which is a shame as I think she would stay out of so much trouble if she did haha….

I’ve been waiting up all night for the call from home, but I think it’s got a bit late now - no one loves me - so sorry Uncle Jack that I didn’t get to say hello, but I need to get some sleep …..

Until next time - hey - be careful out there

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

[IMG=168]

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…

[IMGT=182][IMGT=183][IMGT=184][IMGT=186]

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!
[IMG=190]

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….)

[IMG=194]
[IMG=195]

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….

[IMG=204]

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 …

[IMGT=154][IMGT=155]

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
[IMG=160]

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!)

Perhaps a little too good to last, but last night the unthinkable happened…

However, first some good stuff
So I met with Chizue after work to go out and get some food. First we went to an akonomyiaki restaurant, drank loads and ate loads too. I think I went over budget a bit, but I haven’t seen her for like 3 months - so I’m sure I was allowed to just this once.

We then went to the cheap drink place I went with Yumi last time, to get rid of the last of our money - haha - I think in total I spent £20. So £15 over budget (or two days money) - hmm… will have to cut back today and tomorrow then. So that was all great, had a great time, but had to go home as I had work.

Got back and Yumi was round, which was nice so we sat and chatted for a bit. However, it was getting late (maybe 12:30 or so) and I wanted to go to bed. Now we have problem, everyone is still up, watching tv and chatting on the phone…. ok i figured, this only happens a few times, so i’ll leave it…. however by 3am and still it was going on - i was getting quite annoyed. It seemed though that then it was to finish, so I managed to settle back down.

Until everyone decided to take a bath and shower!?!??! So noise up until 4, then to top it off - Yumi was staying over (so sleeping in the front room) - who then proceeded to text her friends all night.

I really thought everything was ok now, but this is just getting ridiculous. I’m going to write Seiko a letter or something, but I don’t think this can go on - after work I’m going to go to the estate agents, see how much my own apartment would cost. I know I’m on a tight budget, but I would prefer to pay a little more just to be able to have my own room, get some privacy and be able to sleep
If this had been tonight and I had school the next day, I would have been furious…. hmmmmm….

So basically, now I have woken up late, feel awful and just generally annoyed with everyone. But seriously though, who is at fault here?? Do I have a right to be annoyed, or is it the girls fault for buying this stupid apartment in the first place - thus they should live with the consequences….?

I did look into swapping to Shiho’s room, but sitting in it just made me feel like I was in a box - it’s too unfriendly and just depressing. The bars on the window and the fact you can’t put anything up on the wall just makes it seem like a prison cell….

Ho hum….