Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Party hard...

This weekend was fun. A lot of fun actually.

I went to Rachel's place and hung out with her friends for probably the last time. It's a bit of a shame, because I've had a lot of good laughs with them. On the other hand, I am pretty glad that I don't have to go and stay at the dorms any more! Having said that, I've stayed in worse places. I might actually miss the old place. Might.

The goodbye party was a kind of multiple goodbye to a number of Rachel's co-workers. There seems to be a constant leaving/welcoming party, such is the high turnover of guest house. This one was obviously a little more significant than most, but it was pretty much played by the book in the good old style of all you can drink karaoke. Good stuff!

The next daywe went for a much belated visit to my cousin's house, whih was a lovely evening of catching up, reminising and introductions- it was the first time we really got to see the new baby. I am obviously a scary looking fella though, because poor little Kai didn't much like the look of me. Ho hum....He'll like me when he's old enough to want to play football.

The next day I went into Tokyo itself (Rachel lives a wee bit outside...) and met with a girl I had spent a little time with in Yokohama 4 years ago when I last visited. These meetings can sometimes be more awkward than fun, but we had a great time. Coffee and food was had, and we'll do it again.

That night I met Rachel after work and drank one of the biggest beers I ever saw.

:)

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Hello mum.
x

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Still here...

...despite a lack of posts.

Hong Kong was amazing. I have wanted to go for a long time, and we crammed an awful lot into the 2 full days that we had there as we possibly could. Highlights were the Buddah on the Mount which was well worth the journey out of central Hong Kong. The night view almost goes without saying, but it was absolutely fantastic. The food was also top notch- I had a Malaysian curry that was absolutely gorgeous. The markets were also fascinating- including a whole district dedicated to gold fish shops. Weird.

Since then? Work work work. On Sunday I go to Tokyo to party with Rachel, which I am very excited about. The flip side? It's her fairwell party. Things will be very different in about 2 weeks!

Oh well...4 more days to get through. Onwards...

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Holiday Time...again

Its over. Another week, that is. Nothing remarkable really, except that this weekend I have 4 days off rather than the standard 2. As a result, I'm off travelling again- this time to Hong Kong.I'm really excited. I've wanted to go to Hong Kong since my friend Jon spent a week or two there. I wish I had that long, rather than just 2 days, but I think we'll make the most of the time we have.

I tried my best to jepardise the whole trip (for me, at least) by forgetting to pick up a rather important piece of paper from immigration. I have time tomorrow morning, fortunately, before heading east to Tokyo again. I can't wait.

This week was good fun. I was in a good mood all week, and spent last night at a nice wee piano bar (giving me my first proper go on a piano for some time!) with a few friends. Our party was probably nearer the 15 mark to be honest, and we had a great time.

Roll on tomorrow...

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

All smiles

I've had a really good day today. This is odd, both because today was a work day and because it's the first day of the week. For some reason I was in high spirits though. Maybe it was retail therapy- I bought an i-pod today (after threatening to do so for some time).

More likely, however, is that I am still glowing after a great weekend (and I'm not just talking about the football results). Rachel and I spent the weekend in Shizuoka- a relatively unremarkable city, notable mostly because it's the biggest city close to Mount Fuji. Fuji is some 4000 feet tall (I think), but I didn't catch site of it once. Damn cloudcover. Oh well- not to worry. I plan to climb old Fuji-san before I leave this island, so there's plenty of time for all that.

Shizuoka was fantastic fun. No agenda- just talking, drinking and eating. We had a nice hotel or two, and a jolly good time.

Next week...Hong Kong. I guessnI have every right to be in a good mood- everything's pretty rosey at the moment.