wow, 2 weeks since last

Its been far too long since I've added anything to this blog. University has been a killer, lots of homework and presentations to do. A short recap of the last week is required I suppose.

• Met Kudara Sensei, from Cardiff University, in Kyoto. After 2 hours of nomihoudai and a meal of (strange) assorted meats and vegetables, the four stooges (Duncan, Ben, Basim and I) said farewell to the Kudara and his friends and carried on to a intensives session of drinking at Karaoke. After an eventful round of songs the party carried on in the room next door with 20 odd Salarymen who were happy to sing Japanese songs with us foreigners and dance our crazy dances. As a parting gift they presented us with a bottle of wine =)
  
  
  The 4 Stooges + Kudara Sensei
  
  Salaryman can Party! Check out the guy passed out in the back
  
  This guy on the left looks like their boss
• My 1000 yen bike's rear tyre exploded on my way home from Uni. Since I didn't fancy wheeling it the 40 min to Uni I waited as long as possible before doing it. When I finally did go to get it repaired the cost was 3500 and just as I paid I saw a 2nd hand bike for 4000 with brakes that work, 2 new tyres and a bell on it! Stupid of me not to look around for a new bike instead of repairing it. boooo!
  
  
• Had another meeting with Kudara. This time I was alone and had to rely solely on my Japanese skills but I think Kudara wanted some proper conversation so after a while we switched to English. It was good practice though. Once again assorted meats were brought forth accompanied by several beers. Because of Kudara's visits I have eaten the weirdest things, some of which I may order again since they were surprisingly tasty and some I probably wouldn't touch with a 6foot pole. So far the list includes
  

1. Tripe
2. Gizzard
3. Liver
4. Gristle
5. Cartilage
6. Raw chicken liver
7. Raw chicken kidney
8. Raw chicken giblets
9. Tori sashimi - Chicken Sashimi - i.e RAW CHICKEN! with avocado, soy sauce and wasabi.
   
   

I was told that the chickens used for sashimi are raised in a perfectly clean environment, feed the best of grains, slaughtered and delivered to the restaurant on the same day so the meat is at its freshest. Even though I had been told about this I was reluctant to eat it since I've always been told that Raw Chicken is dangerous and will cause you to get really ill. Its been 3 days so far and I feel fine so need to worry.

• Finished a 20 min presentation today about Instant Meals like Ramen noodles, frozen foods and packed lunches. It was all done in Japanese and it went well. Luckily we could read from the script that we wrote. Overall it was 3000 characters which is over 3 times the normal amount I ever had to write in Cardiff.
  
  
• I have also had some dried Kangaroo meat (jerky) thanks to my buddies from Australia. Next time how about snake or crocodile? I've been promised alligator next time I go to Florida =) Should be interesting!
  

Fly by over Arashiyama

A report done for NHK - Helicopter flies over Arashiyama during the 紅葉 (Red Leaves of Autumn)

Publish Post

Arashiyama

After deciding to do some sightseeing things again I hopped on my bike and sped off towards Arashiyama. Being the end of the Autumn Leaves Season, I wasn't expecting much colour to remain on the trees but I still wanted to go. Once I got there, I took the 20 min walk to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view of Kyoto and to captures some playful monkeys on film (well, Digital SD card but whatever). After spotting the first cheeky one in the tree above me, I found myself at the summit only to be surrounded by 50 or so monkeys. It was a bit like being back in Yellowstone National Park and seeing the first bison crossing the road. Everyone stops to take pictures until you get bored, carry on driving over the next hill only to find yourself surrounded by several 100 of them. Having read the signs of "don't stare" etc I was cautious as I approached them and even though they seemed tame, their screeches and fighting amongst each other did make a lot of children cry. After feeding some monkeys with apples I carried on my sightseeing-way down the mountain to 天龍寺 Tenryuutera and the World Heritage sight that is the Zen garden.

Cute Warning Sign at the entrance

Monkey in the tree

After feeding the monkeys calmed down

Mmmm, apples are tasty

These 2 were fighting each other over scraps

They were so cuteAnd very hungry. Monkeys have sharp fingernails if you didn't know...The view from the monkey park overlooking KyotoMonkey and fish sharing the pondI got my Zen on while visiting the garden - at peace with the world now

Kyoto Tower

If you are coming by Shinkansen (High Speed Train) to visit me, this is where you will arrive in Kyoto. Kyoto Station is a several storied building with a rooftop garden and has an awesome view over Kyoto. Also, next door is Kyoto Tower (and Hotel). A must-see spot for tourists. I still haven't been to the top of Kyoto Tower so I'll wait until my first visitor comes here =D

Looking from the rooftop garden down into the station. 12 floors high I believe, at least...

Taiko drums

Outside the Onsen in Kyushu the Onsen worshippers had a street performance on their big taiko drum. This is a short clip of them playing it. Apparently there are several different styles on how to play the drums and we were given a brief glimps into that crazy world of theirs ^_^

Swedish Meatballs

For the monthly birthday party we all have to make food. For last months I made Swedish meatballs. Unfortunately, not having all the ingredients or a recipe I'm sure they weren't as good as they should have been- However everyone was happy to try some Swedish meatballs ^^. It definitely beats Marmite on toast, damn those pesky lazy Australians =P haha

Trip to Asia Pacific University on Kyushu Island

What an amazing trip! From Friday afternoon until Monday I spoke Japanese almost all of the time, hung out with Koreans (who speak Japanese fluently) and Japanese and other exchange students and talked about how to make universities more exchange student friendly. All the discussions were in Japanese too, so I did my best to get my thoughts across. Because so much happened during this trip I think it'll be better if I list the best parts of it.

1. 12 hour overnight boat trip to get there that included lots of noise and alcohol being consumed in our sleeping quarters
2. slept in the same room as 50 other people (all from Ritsumeikan) on futons (mattresses) on the floor. There were no windows, AC and the lights got turned off at 11.
   It was compared to being either
   a) an animal transport to the butchers
   b) the way smugglers pack their boat with illegal immigrants
   
3. slept 2 hours in a full body massage chair because the room was too hot
4. arrived at Beppu city at 7am, followed by a 30 min bus ride to APU
5. talked about being a foreigner in a homogeneous society like Japan, in Japanese
6. learnt the rules to a Korean card game by just watching, this was followed by me taking part and eventually winning my money back. We played for 10 yen each time so overall I only won about 60 yen
7. slept in bunk beds with 7 other Koreans in my room
8. held a presentation in front of 80 people in Japanese about what students should do to break cultural boundaries
9. went to an onsen (hot spring bathing house) with the Koreans.
10. had a naked onsen, was walked in on by the female owner who "needed to dry the floors", got stared at by the Japanese men, had a guy do yoga (NAKED) about 1 m in front of my face
11. had my head bitten by a Japanese spirit (god) to remove my wrong doings
12. was filmed again by Japanese TV. this is the 3rd or 4th time now
    
13. ate the most amazing ramen
14. got back on the ferry to party more
15. searched for JJ for over 1 hour since she got drunk and disappeared. Luckily she was found in the bathroom on a different floor
16. slept 3 hours in the 50 person room
17. arrived at Kyoto and Ritsumeikan in time for my 10am class; which I attended

The sleeping arrangements on board the boat

Aibek and I on the ferry going under Osaka bridge

Joss and JJ after getting off the ferry at Kyushu

The view from APU

My Korean mates - sleeping in the guest dorms at APU

The god that bit my head - Their followers worship the healing properties of the onsen that I was at

Outside the Onsen with group (Koreans and Japanese)
-I was the token white guy- hahaha

The old and famous Onsen in Beppu, Kyushu that we visited

Noticeboard Fail

Came home to this written on the noticeboard. Had a little laugh and let it be. English is difficult and so is Japanese so I'm not judging anyone.

Restaurant "Surprise Donkey"

With a name like Surprise Donkey I was hoping that donkey would not be on the menu, and that the waiter would not be waiting for me to take my first bite before yelling "surprise - jokes on the foreigner". Instead the food was delicious, combining different meats and cooking it in a western style. I had some deep fried chicken and a steak with fries. I also manged to convince the 2 Japanese girls that were with us to try something less Japanese. The most interesting thing with this restaurant (besides the name and the tasty food) was the menus. Just check out the size of this bad boy!

New shoes

My old shoes that I bought in Japan last year finally gave up on me. With holes in the soles, water kept coming in whenever it rained (not that its rains much but I want dry feet for the winter months). At an outlet shop in Kobe I found these ones... so comfy! Also more Japanese like than something I'd normally wear. Usually costs over £120 but with a small defect with the colour - hardly visible at all - I got these with more than a £90 discount.

Tried new foods today

Decided to write up a short story of today before going to bed. I went to Osaka and did some touristy stuff and visited Hankyu Department store. Whilst walking around, playing dumb gaijin we managed to get some sample foods. It ranged from Brie cheese (a first for me, delicious by the way), goat cheese, 21 year old whiskey, wine and cheese cake. All very very tasty. Also I tried 2 things that I would usually not eat at all. Cow's tongue and deep fried (dried) squid. The tongue had a strange texture but was good and I had a fun conversation with the butcher. The squid on the other hand was delicious. I'm going to order that from now on. No fish taste at all and not chewy. Very good, highly recommended!

Size of Mukade

So, maybe a mukade doesn't scare you? We had a baby one in Zina's room yesterday which made everyone freak out, including me. So yeah, this one was kind of small. It easily fits inside the slipper so it shouldn't have been scary. Well, for all you neigh-sayers out there.........

Id like to see you let one of those buggers live when they can get this SIZE!!!! Yeah, thats right. Kill it, kill it, kill it now!

Kurama Fire Festival

The annual Kurama Fire Festival was held in the mountains north of Kyoto. Dating from 940 AD, it was until recently a rite of passage for the villagers of remote Kurama.

The pushing begins once getting off the crowded train

I was greeted by this mask after getting off the train. I now own a smaller version that hangs on my wall in my room

The main shrine, viewed from the main road.The festival begins with this The bonfires, known as kagaribi are lit in front of most of the houses in the village.Villagers parade up and down the main street holding taimatsu (pine torches).The villages wear traditional clothing
Later, massive pine torches are carried along the same street.

Festival of the Ages

A parade in downtown Kyoto with the participants being dressed up in clothes from the different periods of Japan. This was held on the same day as kurama fire festival. Both these festivals are held each year.

Name Fail

"Happy Time"
Body Moisturiser/lotion by Nivea that gives a "feel good sensation" - Epic Name Fail

Weird Stuff In Japan part 2

A: I want to make some meat sauce for my spaghetti. Its too expensive to buy tomatoes fresh and the canned stuff isn't that nice. What ever shall I do now?!

B: It simplez. Buy some sauce in a bag, dunk it in boiling water for 5 minutes, pour onto desired dish and stir. Voila, instant Delicious sauce.

A: But isn't it weird to heat stuff in their bags, in boiling water? It seems strange to me...

B: Eh, well, whatever. It tastes good. You can worry about it later.

A: Ah, right. Oki doki.*

*Note - Any references to real people is a fluke. Converstaion and persons A + B are fictional characters.