Anpanman to the Rescue!

Of all the crazy cartoon characters here in Japan, my heart belongs to just one...Anpanman. Aside from him being ultra cute, he is quite unique. Here's what I found out about him from Wikipedia:

Anpanman アンパンマン : The hero of the story, whose head is a bun made by Jam Ojisan. His name comes from the fact that he is a man with a head made of bread (Japanese: pan, a loanword from the Portuguese word meaning "bread") that is filled with bean jam (Japanese: an) called an anpan. His weakness is water or anything that makes his head dirty. He regains his health and strength when Jam Ojisan bakes him a new head and is placed on his shoulders. Anpanman's damaged head, with Xs in his eyes, flies off his shoulders once a new baked head lands. He was created when a shooting star landed in Jam Ojisan's oven while he was baking. He has two special attacks called: An-punch and An-kick. When Anpanman comes across a starving creature or person, he lets the unfortunate creature or person eat part of his head.

There are a whole gang of charaters that he hangs around with and fights against:

• Jam Ojisan ジャムおじさん: The father of Anpanman, and a very kind baker. His name means "Uncle Jam".



• Batakosan バタコさん: Assistant to Jam Ojisan. She makes and mends the capes Anpanman and the other heroes use to fly with. Her name means "Butter Girl".



• Baikinman ばいきんまん: The villain in the story, coming from "Germ World" (ばいきん星), he is the leader of the Viruses. His name means "Germ Man". His ambition is to destroy Anpanman and turn the planet into another "Germ World". He has a weakness to soap, which shrinks him to the size of a fly.



• Kabirunrun かびるんるん: These are Baikinman's little henchmen. Their main purpose is to rot Anpanman's head with mildew/mold (Japanese: kabi).



• and the list goes on...To find out more go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman

It's All Over!

I am sad to announce that my birthday was brought to a close today with the arrival of my final presents from Jono (much to his relief). He got me:

"Scrubs" Season 4

and

"The White Masai" movie.

It has officially been my longest birthday celebration...ever!!!

Reading Record (cont...)

Yep, yet another movie book!!!!!!!

19 - "Must Love Dogs"

By Claire Cook

A gorgeous story about Sarah Hurlihy's life after divorce, and re-entering the dating game. Her sister places a personal ad on her behalf in the paper and soon she has so many guys she doesn't know what to do! As Sarah juggles her job as a preschool teacher and the demands of her interfering family, life gets pretty interesting. A great read.

20-"Everyone Worth Knowing"

By Lauren Weisberger

This was a fun read, form the author of 'The Devil Wears Prada' which followed a similar formula. After quitting her job as a banker, Bette takes a job doing PR for a big-time VIP party planning company. Her job soon takes priority over all other non-pressing commitments (like family and friends) and as she mingles with countless celebrities, almost over night Bette becomes the new 'IT' girl in New York. After a very successful start in her new job life gets a bit too stressful and when she takes a good look around her she doesn't like what she sees. Another great birthday present.

Best Pyjama Party... Ever

So, they say that if you look hard enough you could probably find a festival somewhere in Japan on any day, and this week it was Himeji's turn. This week it was the Yukata Matsuri. A Yukata is like a summer kimono and a matsuri is a festival. So for 2 days the streets were lined with food, amusements, drinks and people, people and more people!

Day 1

So as Jess and Liam were here we all bought our yukata's and joined the rest of the Aussies in donning some Japanese costume. Tina had organised some of her students to help tie the Obi (belt that goes around the yukata) in pretty patterns and make the girls look beautiful... As for the boys, we were somewhere between going to bed and the beach, although I must say the lightweight material shorts are the best shorts I have worn... ever. Actually, maybe not the best,but certainly within the top 15.

The weather had been nothing short of miserable Friday so the matusri was in doubt all day... However someone wanted to see Jess and Liam in Japanese costume so they stopped the rain and allowed us all to see it... Liam wanted to buy a head mask and sword and become a full samurai (actually that may not have been true... It may have been Jess and I talking about what Dad would wear if he was here!) We caught the bus and headed to the action...

The main street and park near the castle were full of stalls, stalls and well, more stalls...Despite the inclement weather many people had turned out to participate in the best pyjama party... ever! I'd like to see more effort on the everyday western woman's behalf tying their dressing gown... There really is no comparison compared to the intricate tying and folding the Japanese women do... It was amazing to see the streets lined with so much colour from the kimonos. What was more amazing was that very rarely were 2 ever the same... thousands of kimonos... the majority different!

The Japanese ladies that had helped tie the Obi's helped us order at an Okonomyaki restaurant... so we sat in there and ate dinner, giving Jess and Liam another experience to take home with them. Good food and good company... what more is there to life?

Dinner had taken a fair while so by the time we had left the streets were clearing... One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how quickly crowds clear in Japan... It's almost like everyone knows when it finishes and just vanishes... Maybe they all have the power of Hiro Nakamura and can bend time and teleport themselves... or just maybe they have a public transport system that works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway... a good time was had by all!



Day 2

Having seen Jess and Liam off in the morning we headed back towards the matsuri in the late afternoon... The weather was so much better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing... There is a common belief here that possibly Jess and Liam had brought and returned with them the miserable Australian weather. (That theory was disproved only on Sunday, when the rain returned!) The Residents of Shirisagi inc. had a small gathering on the patio and worked on obis once more... food and drink were consumed, photos taken and off we went again... At first attempt boarding the bus it was completely full, so we went to find another bus... We found one, and as we exited the bus we found that the place was at least twice as busy as the night before...

Even more kimonos, probably the same number of stalls... it was actually pretty much the same as the night before, although the buzz was a little greater in the air... We had walked the streets, but before the light went we headed to the castle to take pictures... That seemed to take a fair while... By this stage I was feeling a little peckish... There were all the usual suspects as there are at most festivals... fried chicken (leaves KFC for dead!), okonomyaki, okonomiyaki on a stick (Jodi had that), takoyaki, yaki soba, kebabs, meat on a stick... However for me, there was only one thing... Some Bangladeshi curry... was really good, much better than their cricket team... I'm not sure exactly how they work out to get a Bangladeshi Curry stall at the Yukata Matsuri, but all power to them... I may even lobby the Mayor for more Bangadeshi curry stalls at the next matsuri! Top work Tigers!

Throughout the two day-festival, we kept hearing our names being called followed by excited waves and smiles from our school students. It was lucky that they recognised us because we teach so many students it's hard to remember them all. They seemed to be quite impressed that we had our own yukatas on and were only too happy to pose for a photo with us. Here's me with 3 students from my junior high.

The night had passed really quickly and after the really early morning (where I failed to get back to sleep!), I was ready for bed...

Once again... a good time had by all...

VISITORS COMMENTS:

Last day in Japan :( we were sad to be leaving but also glad because we would soon be able to read signs and go into the supermarket and be able to know what we were buying. Luckily for us the Himeji yukata festival was on :) The day started off with a lot of rain so we were quite worried that the festival might not be as good, but luckily the rain stopped and we could go without a worry. The night started off with all the girls getting their yukatas tied up this took along time and effort of the Japanese students of one of the girls for each of them. Then all of use dressed up got photos done. Next we caught the bus in on the way we didn’t very many people dressed up so we were a bit worried that the westerners would be the odd ones out but luckily for us when we got there, there were heaps and heaps of people all dressed up and lots of stalls with food and entertainment. After wondering around waiting for people we headed in a Okonomyaki restaurant which you can't really go into without a Japanese person to translate the menus. After the meal which was delicious. We wandered around some more and then found a photo booth and all got crammed into it and took some silly photos/stickers. As we were on our way home suddenly we saw a group of teenagers all dressed up in some sort of uniforms Jess said look at them and Jodi say don’t they are the ones that cause trouble. A second later it was a shambles and all of the guys started running though us and the group of people we were standing around. A second later I saw why as all of these cops ran past me I stood still as about three cops tackled one to the ground. Earlier Jodi and Jono had said that you can get arrested for loitering around this sort of thing so I quickly walked up the road about 10 meters and waited for the others about a minute later I saw Jono the others had gone across the road. We all re-grouped and headed off home Jessica Jono and Jodi caught a taxi home while the others walked other than the last little event the whole day was a great last day for Japan. Loved every minute of it.

What I do at school... Jodi

Since being in Japan many people have questioned what if any work I actually do. As a picture person, I have prepared a step by step pictographifonium (don"t think that's a word!) of what I do so you can see...

Let's put some perspective in here... I teach (no, more like attend) about 8 x 50 minute classes across Mon, Tues, Wed and Fri, which means that I don't teach 14 lessons over those days. That means I have approximately 6 hours per day, that's 360 minutes, which is 21,600 seconds, per day to keep myself busy (refer to flash card). I am now an expert at it!!

To keep with Jono's style, I have compiled my list of top 7 things I like to do at school to keep 'busy';

7. Look out the window.

I quite enjoy peering out the window from my desk as it looks straight at an identical building, which is parallel, where the majority of classrooms are. While the large majority of students are sitting studiously at their desks and doing their work, there are a minority that keep the teachers on their toes. In terms of Australian standards, Behaviour Management procedures do not exist here in Japan. If a student 'escapes' from the classroom it is up the the teachers to follow and guide them back into the classroom. Quite often I see students wandering along the corridors with teachers in hot pursuit following them. I have even seen students run into other classrooms and come out the other door in an attempt to continue the chase game! While most behaviours are harmless I have seen some interesting things, like as mentioned in Jono's entry, students walking along the window ledge on the outside of the building on the third floor. They do this by climbing through the classroom window (which doesn't have fly screen) and jumping down. They often wave as they pass other classrooms, stop and have a chat and even jump through their window to pay a visit! Quite entertaining!

6. Write pen pal letters.

The girl in the special class has adopted me as her special friend. She has been writing me letters in Japanese and I have been writing back. They are simple letters like; What colour do you like? I like yellow. Yuki is very sweet and even gave me birthday presents and a card. I hear that that is quite rare in Japan, especially for the Japanese teachers.

5.Prepare for lessons.

Keep in mind that I assist in 8 lessons during the week at my Junior High, and I do the same lessons in each class, therefore I only ever have to plan / make / photocopy things once. The teacher will give me the focus phrase for the week and I try and come up with an interesting way that they can learn and practise it. This week it was "Have you ever...?". (It's a little bit different to the game "I never, never" which is one we all know and love.) I made a game which simulated naughts and crosses but each square on the grid already had a question in it. When they asked their opponent a question, they marked that box and waited for the reply. The aim, get 4 in a row. They loved it and even I got in on the action.

4. Look through bizarre catalogues.

Every week or so there comes a wad of Japanese home-order type catalogues filled with goods ranging from clothing and footwear to foods and gadgets. I always look forward to scanning through them as I have often found good examples for the 'What the?' section on this blog. Here is the latest in gadgetry in Japan...

It is a breath tester! It has a scale on which it tells you how good (or bad) your breath smells! Who buys these things?

3. Marking

This is purely voluntary! I often remind teachers that I am happy to help mark English papers any time. Ms Kawarai often takes me up on the offer which suits me fine, and keeps me busy for 20 minutes or so! Students complete at least 2 drill sheets per week. Multiply that by 20 students in a 1st grade English class and 18 classes of 1st grade English classes and that is a whole lot of paper! Here is the biggest pile I have had to mark at one time so far. It was great! The one thing I had to get used to here was that a tick mean WRONG and a circle means OK. They also draw their circles clockwise starting at the bottom left. If a whole section of work is correct they do a huge swirl over the top. It looks pretty. I've got into the swing of things now and love marking Japanese style!

2. Reading
This is easily my new favourite hobby. There's nothing better than sitting down and getting lost in a world of fantasy. I get lost in that world for hours a day! Don't you just hate me right now? I do, however, sometimes have to fight my drooping eyelids due to the lack of body movement and stimuli around! Nonetheless I have quickly grown to love reading and am about to start my next book.

Here it is, the big 'ichi ban' (number #1)...

1.Using the computer.

I have just about lived on the computer this year. It is my connection to a world that speaks English...it is my connection to family and friends...it is my connection to the latest world events (thanks to ninemsn.com and Adelaidenow.com) and of course a connection to blogspot.com so I can write this blog for you! I barely feel out of the loop due to the amazing technology of the Internet! Bless it's little cotton socks.

What I do at school... Jono

Since being in Japan many people have questioned what if any work I actually do. Let me state for the record I am very busy at school... I read much more than I ever have in my adult life (I think I've read 17 books so far, the majority at school), I count the roof tiles in the teachers room (200), I attempted to study Japanese but found that doing nothing was impairing my ability to concentrate, I look at the pictures of the sports newspaper (as I can't read the articles), I have 7 fantasy sports teams (NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, NRL, SUPER 14, AFL (I also participated in the cricket world cup fantasy competition and the premier league one isn't too far away)), I know all the Aston Villa news, both fact and transfer gossip and am waiting eagerly for MON to strengthen the squad... just out of interest Diego Forlan, Wes Sneidjer and a Marlon Harewoodare all rumored to be on their way to the midlands (rumour only!), so as you can see I am very busy!

But, when I have spare time I think and dream of being a tv show host. I think in the style of Letterman because I love his top 10's... So, in between dreams I have compiled the top 10 differences between Japanese and Aussie schools according to me... Here they are...

1. Seniority means less work, not more. Whilst everybody works stupid hours, the Principal sits at his desk in open view and reads the paper.

2. Students are dragged into rooms by the ears... The rest is seen and not heard... In Oz, it would be seen and heard... On ACA and Today Tonight and finally in court!

3. Teachers can poke students up... well, use your imagination... and still have a job!

4. Sleeping is acceptable in the staffroom... If only in Australia...

5. Students in Japan run along the outside of the windows whilst class is on... That is along the third story window ledge... I guess at least they're still on site!

6. Teachers here are disappointed when one student is away... I'm disappointed when only one student is away!

7. Teachers run to class 5 minutes early and walk back to class 5 minutes late... I run to the staff room 5 minutes early and avoid going back to class at all costs!

8.Teachers work extremely long hours here... Usually around ten hours a day... The curriculum is from a text book and students do a lot of the marking. Am I the only Aussie teacher who wouldn't hang around?

9. As with tradition here, it is important to wear the correct shoes inside. I'm stoked if my students even wear shoes!

10. In Japan, my desk is the tidiest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Out of 50 desks, me, my, I own the tidiest desk!!!! The most organised!

Please note... these are the views solely of the author and reflect nobody else's views but my own (although I have a sneaking suspicion others may agree with me, or be really offended and disagreeable!! Also, my teaching stories may have been slightly exaggerated purely for comic effect (I have never seen students walk along the window ledge on the third storey. That happpened at Jodi's school!)! JDG)

Tanjobi Omideto Jodi san!

27 years ago, on the 18th of June, a child was born. Yep, that was ME!! I was my Mum's birthday present, and a present for my Dad 1 day early!

Jono gave me my birthday presents at the stroke of midnight. He actually stayed up until then especially. He had to wake me up but I was more than happy for that to happen! In the morning, before school, Jess and Liam came across with presents from them and the Gardners back home. Thanks guys, I love everything!

Jono had planned a surprise celebration for me on my birthday (which I accidentally found out about before the fact). Chelsea, Lauren, Tina, Steve, Marie, Jess, Liam and Taube came to our place for cake. This was no ordinary cake...it was a chocolate nut ice cream cake from Baskin Robins. YUM!! We even had candles (thanks Mer). Everyone had to sing "Happy Birthday" quickly so I could blow them out before the cake melted too much!!! I was spoilt rotten with gifts from my friends and we all had a great time chatting and swapping photos from the weekend. Below is a picture of all the presents I got on my birthday! This Thursday we are all going to an Italian restaurant for my birthday too! This is the longest and greatest birthday EVER!!

Flowers...for me?

Thanks Mum, Dad, Nicky, Ali, Beanie and Raz for my beautiful, gigantic basket of flowers! Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Shiraishi Island

This weekend the four of us were invited to join a group going to Shiraishi Island. Shiraishi Island is a 25 minute ferry ride away from Okayama and is an oasis, a world away from the hustle and bustle of city life in Japan.

We caught the train to Okayama, which took about 1.5 hours. On the way I whipped out the Uno cards and Jess, Liam, Jono and I played a few hands. It certainly kept us entertained.

We felt a little like refugees as we rode the ferry to the Island. As we approached the ferry from the front we saw the cushioned, velour seats, but as we boarded the vessel that was not where we sat. We sat on the back half of the ferry which consisted of a few wooden benches, rusted walls and no glass windows (ahh, the beautiful fresh sea breeze). Tina was delighted to see a cockroach scuttle past her feet. It was allegedly wearing sunglasses, bathroom boots and a life jacket (it was THAT big)!!!!!

We were all greeted as our feet touched the new land by Amy, who took Jono and I to our accommodation. We got to ride on a beam of wood in the back of the "Moooooo" ute (more about that later). The others made their way to the International Villas and got settled in. Amy had organised our accommodation for us, because the villas were full. Our accommodation was at a traditional Japanese home, of which we were the first foreigners the owner had rented the house to. We felt privileged and we were keen to make a good impression. The rooms which we stayed in had wall to wall tatami floors, the family shrine, rice paper sliding doors with intricate wood carvings and was right on the beach front. Amy helped us settle in and showed us around, as well as acting as an interpreter for Jono and I. Later in the night the Japanese lady set out our futons on the floor in the middle of the room. It was very traditional and a first for both of us.

Once we were organised we made our way up to the villas to meet up with the rest of the group. It was only a 5 minute walk away, winding our way through various vegie gardens and Japanese houses. Grabbing our beach towels, we all headed down to the beach to catch some rays and go for a dip. The sand was pebbly and started to hurt my feet after a while. The water was quite cold, but refreshing. Many of the group dove straight in but I chose to inch my way in to waist depth. Jono and Julian decided they wanted to swim to a small island in the close distance but, after swimming about 50 metres, gave up and headed for a closer island which had a small shrine on it. Tina and Marie had already swam there and looked like ants when they climbed the rocks and stood next to the shrine. Liam, Jess, Chelsea, Taube, Karen and I watched them from the shallows.

We ate lunch at the only restaurant/shop on the island. Jono and I enjoyed out yakisoba with pickled ginger. A Japanese guy came into the shop and asked if we liked card tricks. He had a small purple bag of 'tricks' which he blew our minds with. He would perform different tricks that left us scratching our heads and even feeling a little creeped out. Witchcraft???? He was incredible.

Next we enjoyed some kayaking. In pairs we all chose our favourite coloured kayak and headed for the water. Jono and I made a good team and soon we had paddled to a small island with a huge rock mass. We all parked our kayaks on the shore and inspected the island. Jono discovered a jellyfish, which just sat like a big clear blob of jelly on the sand. You could see it's purple tentacles tucked up inside. Soon we boarded our kayaks again and paddled around the little island to the other side.

Marie told us all to 'raft up', so we all managed to paddle close to each other and join together. All, except for Lauren and Chelsea!! They did a couple of laps around the whole group before, with a little coaching, they joined the line. Marie's challenge set for us was to all swap kayaks. Being slightly petrified of deep water, I happily stayed put! I had a shock when Jono stood up on the front of our kayak and it was tipping violently from side to side. He was doing his Titanic impression, "I'm king of the world". I was happy when he sat down again. Almost everyone else found a new kayak and as a result, a new paddling partner. Off we went to explore the island that Tina, Marie, Julian and Jono swam to earlier.



Paddling was hard work. I have discovered that Jono's left arm is stronger than his right because he kept making the kayak turn to the right!! So I would then take a rest while he corrected our path! Once again we all parked our kayaks on the shore and did some exploring. There were marble steps leading up to the little shrine, on which we had to be careful because a few of them were broken.


Once showered and changed into dry clothes it was time for tea. We had booked into a BBQ on the beach which cost ￥2000 each. It was a pretty interesting concept. Once we got done to the beach we made our way over to the marquee under which was a long table and benches, 2 hot coal BBQs and 2 trays full of raw meat and vegies. Little did we know that it was a self-serve/self cook event and we were the only group there. It was great. Julian and Liam took over at the BBQs and others helped from time to time. We had fish, beef, rice balls, corn, carrot, pumpkin and cabbage. It was very yummy and we ate it Japanese style (pretty much straight off the grill!).

As the sun started to leave us for the day, a bon fire was lit for us. We all gathered around, chatted, drank beer and had a great time. A few Japanese men came to join us too.We were told we had to go home at 11 because that was when the school group of kids had to go to bed too! From there Jono and I headed back to our accommodation, while the others headed up to the villas to play Jenga. Aparently this was the tallest game of Jenga EVER, and poor Jess was the one who made it all come crashing down! What an action shot - well done Marie!

When we arrived at the house the futons had been made for us and there were two little electrical air fresheners filling the air with a beautiful scent. The lady had left a soft light on for us too, which was very handy. I got a surprise when my head hit the pillow, if that's what they call them here in Japan. It was 1/4 the size of a regular pillow and was tightly packed with beans. Not the most comfortable thing I've ever used but I managed to sleep on it all the same. The futon was surprisingly comfortable too, simply a soft layer of wadding on top of the tatami mats. Unfortunately we couldn't close the rice paper doors fully (and didn't want to break them by trying) so we knew we were in for an early rise! We were right.


After a few games of Uno, we got dressed and headed up to the villa. It was 8:10am, no one was up and the doors were locked, so we dropped off our bags on the back decking and went for a walk along the beach to get some drinks. We were relieved to find Liam up and at em when we returned so we could go inside.


The menu for breakfast was scrambled eggs with tomato, bacon and cheese on toast! Very traditional Japanese? Jono was the master chef and kept the scrambled eggs coming. They were divine and everyone had a feast.


The first adventure for the day was a short walk up the mountain to get a beautiful view of the island, the hillside graveyard and the luminescent white temple that stands at the base of the cemetery. It was quite a steep climb but the view was worth it. After taking a few happy snaps the group split up...Julian, Taube, Marie and Tina continued to hike up the mountain, while the rest of us went for a bike ride...or at least that was our intention! The International Villa has a number of bikes for use by residents, but not all of them were ready to go. Jono and I scored a bike each which had brakes and inflated tyres. Liam tried to use the pump to pump up a tyre on his bike, but he accidentally pulled out the valve of the pump and also the rest of the tyre's air escaped! 2 other bikes has flat tyres and Lauren got the last bike. So, the 3 of us went for a short bike around the place.

We soon met up with the other non-hikers on the beach (after I almost went a croppa trying to ride through a small patch of sand) and we decided to check out the 'Moo Bar'. Amy owns and runs the 'Moo Bar' and had told us it would be open on Sunday at 9am. They are dedicated drinkers here in Japan! The Moo Bar consists of 2 small wooden huts which have a cow print painted on the rooves. The tiny bar has a few cow artifacts hanging around the place and even the stools and tables don't escape the theme. It made me affectionately think of Stirling North Primary School (our Learning 2 Learn project had a cow theme). The girls slurped on banana daqerees and the boys had a Heineken beer. We figured that if we were drinking, we should eat too, so we all ordered small pizzas from the only shop in town, right across the road. They even delivered them to us at the bar! It was a very cheezy pizza, but very delicious. The 'Moo Bar' also had a little merchandise hut where they were selling jewellery and clothing. Jess bought a t-shirt and earrings and I bought some earrings.

We all met up at the villas again and decided we needed to go pretty soon to catch an early ferry back home. The ferry ride back to Okayama was cockroach-free (that I saw) and I was sad to say goodbye to the ocean. We decided that we just wanted to go home, so bought tickets for the shinkansen. It took 20 minutes to get back to Himeji, which had taken an hour and a half the day before. It was Karen's first shinkansen experience so she was excited! We were happy to get home after such a relaxing, yet exhausting weekend.

VISITORS COMMENTS:

This weekend really enforced how lucky we were to be holidaying with temporary residents in Japan. Liam and I were all too aware that we would have never have had this opportunity if it wasn't for Jono and Jodi (and the organizational skills of Taube and Julian). Apart from (Jess) feeling sick, all weekend it was almost a holiday from our holiday. Liam really loved the kyaking and cooking the barbeque "traditional style" while Jess enjoyed sleeping on the beach, losing at Jenga (it was 33 blocks high) and late night chats with Chelsea and Lauren. It was so quiet and peaceful, such a contrast from mainland Japan. The scenery and the sunset (especially with the beach barbeque set up) were memories we won't forget in a hurry.

Christmas Already?

I was thinking all my Christmases had come at once when I opened a package that arrived from Mer and Simon back home. Inside was a mass of presents, just for me, just for my birthday!!! Amongst the wrapped pressies are some much craved sweets we can't buy here. The next 3 days are going to be very long as I await my special day and let rip at the wrapping paper! If only Beanie was here to play in it all and make the mess even bigger. And Mer, yes, of course I have been feeling the presents to try and figure out what they are!!! haha. Just like Christmas!

There was one packet in there that was NOT for me (made quite clear by the message on the bag!!!!!) You're classic Mer. Thanks so much!

An Early Birthday Celebration

The month of June is chockas with various social events and festivals, so I grabbed the opportunity to have my birthday celebration a little early.

VENUE #1 Egret Beer Garden

A large group of us congregated at the beer garden on top of the Egret centre, right in front of the castle. Here we paid $30 each for an all you can eat buffet and bottomless drinks. The rooftop was set up with scattered tables and tents for the drinks and food (which became our spot of shelter when a light shower came). The staff were really friendly and one of them spoke fluent English and worked hard to accommodate our big group's seating needs. As the sun went down the lamp posts provided soft lighting and a really mellow atmosphere.

The buffet included a variety of food including french fries (which we ate with chopsticks!!!!), spring rolls, chicken kebabs, fried squid, fish, fried chicken, meatballs, steamed dumplings and salads. It was all really yummy. For drinks you could choose between soft drinks, beer or Chu-Hi (an alcohol similar to vodka). Jess and I started our dinner with some liquids (hehe) and going for one lemon chu-hi and one grape. The glasses we had were a solid stein with a handle and held a good amount of drink. Next we graced the buffet. At one stage it started raining so everyone made a bolt for the drink and food tents. The rain only lasted a few minutes after which the staff were busily drying the seats with towels!

There were many friendly Japanese people there and my friends were quick to tell them it was my birthday. One guy got the beer garden's attention and lead them in singing "Happy Birthday" to me, very funny! Even the boys serving at the buffet threw up their hands and said happy birthday! As time went on everyone got progressively happier and we had an absolute ball. At 9pm it was time to go and so we headed for a spot of karaoke!

VENUE #2 Time Machine Karaoke

All the Aussies and Yuki (Marie's new Japanese friend) organised a room and we were quick to warm up the mics. Thankfully there was an English book song list so we had no problems choosing songs we knew. Lauren was the remote control master and kept the good songs rolling in (except for "Mr Roboto", what were you thinking Lauren? hehe). Everyone gave their vocalisers a thrashing as we belted out a few favourite songs like "Baby got Back", "Achy Breaky Heart", "Are you Gonna Be My Girl?", "Don't Stop", "Bootilicious" and heaps more. The drinks kept being ordered which helped with the lowered inhibitions! Lauren was very cute as she did a little dance when she had the microphone! After about 2 hours it was time to go and we moved on to a little pub called Mr B's.

VENUE #3 Mr B's Pub

Jono had discovered this little pub the night before and so we headed back there. It was a cute little place tuck away in the back streets of Himeji, which was probably the same size as our lounge room. Mr B is an American who is a cruisy guy and is a bit too generous when he pours spirits! We certainly didn't need it. I wanted a vodka and raspberry but he had never heard of it before, so he offered some fresh blueberries instead. It was ... unusual! The drink was REALLY strong and the blueberries didn't add much flavour. After seeing how much vodka was poured into my drink, Jess ordered a half serve of Vodka! Liam had Jack and Coke, which was a ratio of 1:1! My next drink I ordered a Vodka and Coke, another drink Mr B had never heard of before. We had a great time chatting and Jono had fun rounding up potential customers out on the street! At about 3am we decided to call it a night. It was the best night I have had out in Japan so far! A super birthday celebration.

VISITORS COMMENTS:

We had a cruisy day in Himeji just buying presents so that we could be home in time to get ready for Jodi's Party :) At 6 we went to a roof top beer garden (had a scare because it started raining when we were coming home but that subsided very quickly which was good- it meant it wasn't cancelled). At the Beer garden it is all you can eat and drink for ¥ 3000. They had kind of a buffet with chips and dim sims, weird fish stuff and soupy kind of stuff. Drinks on tap were beer and chu-hi (alcohol made from potatoes i think, then added flavouring). After that we picked up some random japanese people and headed off to Karaoke and bowling with the rest of the people from the residence (hilarious). Quite random having a bowling alley on the fifth floor of a building but hey its Japan :) Next stop was an American bar for the last drinks before bed. Pubs in Japan are nothing like in Australia, they are really small. We caught a taxi home in the early hours of the morning rounding off an enjoyable night for all :)

Chilli Peppers do Osaka

The Chilli Peppers made their way to the Osaka Dome, after the original concert set for March was cancelled. The good thing about that was this time Jono could come, as well as Jess and Liam.

We arrived at the Dome and there were quite a few people making their way inside. On walking through the door I had to surrender my water bottle lid...what the? So I had to carry an open bottle around for a while! Once we found our seats and sat down the concert started straight away. The stadium was incredible and we had a great view from the nose-bleed section! I even felt a short burst of giddiness from being up so high! Jess and Liam scored great seats near ground level while Karen, Julian, Marie, Tina, Lauren, Jono and I had seats with a walkway in front of us so we had heaps of room. The only bad thing about that was you had to be a bit sneaky about taking photos!!! I got caught! Whoopsy!

The Chilli Peppers sounded awesome and there were heaps of Japanese people dancing crazily in their seats! I was impressed with the stage set up, certainly the most high-tech set I have seen at any concert. There was a gigantic pixilated screen that spanned the width of the stage and just as tall that served as a giant TV as well as a projection screen. On the front of the giant screen were 4 smaller TVs. I loved watching the base player do his snake-like head whips,and his finger work on his guitar was something else! The band members clearly have a lot of fun performing and love jumping around the stage. They played a lot of their new stuff as well as some favourites, "Californication", "Give it Away", "Scar Tissue" and "By the Way". The lead guitarist sang a rendition of "SOS" and the base guitar did a trumpet solo (just for something a bit different!). They played for a total of 80 minutes and we all had a great time.

VISITORS COMMENTS:

Well Friday was certainly a day to remember! Liam and I had spent the afternoon traipsing around the Himeji Castle (we thought it would be a leisurely afternoon... oh so wrong...) so we were exhausted already by the time that we met up with "the others" to go to Osaka to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Liam, Jodi and I agreed it was hard to get excited as the whole experience of seeing such a huge band in another country was quite surreal. The pic on the left is quite fitting as this is when I really started getting excited (my little bit of a dance of excitement drawing a bit of a ribbing from Liam and Jodi!) Backtracking, the train ride to Osaka was fine, then it was our induction to the subway system in Osaka (the blanks between can be filled in in Jodi's blogging above). This was Liam and my first real experience of being crammed into trains. In Australia, we think there can't possible be any more room, and the Japanese somehow find enough room for 10-20 more people AT EACH STATION! It's remarkable. Anyway, the Chilli Peppers were full of much more energy than those of us in the crowd in the steamy heat of the Dome, but it was absolutely worth the time and effort. I was even more excited as I could see perfectly. even when everyone was standing :) I love Japan!