Too much Curry

What a day yesterday! Only three people at footy training as the weather was pretty bad, after that I went to my freind Stew`s party he was having at a curry restaurant. All you can eat is always a bad idea! I was sweating curry afterwards. Afterwards I followed some people to a party they were having. Bloody hell they were crazy, drinking games with shochu is also not a good idea. God I drank a lot.
Today I bought the sweetest bike for 78 Aussie dollars. You can`t get away with riding a woman`s bike in Australia without at least some embarrasment but here it`s status quo and I love it.

Kobe Trip 2

Well I haven`t been able to access my computer because it has a bloody virus at the moment. Who creates those things and why? I finished work at one yesterday and had nothing to do so I headed to Kobe, I went to the Gaijin houses again but this time they weren`t closed so I could go inside. The house was okay but a little sparse for my liking, stately yet overrated in my opinion. It was lacking an entertainment room, although the view of Kobe was great. I then went for a walk in the mountains surrounding Kobe- so beautiful, but in my walk I nearly fell down the side of the mountain, anyway I made it back home safe and well.

Spare time

This is a picture taken just outside my house in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. This is probably the best part of Melbourne, about 10 km from the city and 2 minutes from the beach. There are a lot of tourists, particularly around Acland street, which has many cafes. If you ever find yourself in Melbourne I recommend you visit. Yesterday I only worked for one hour. I went out at 8 and wandered the streets of Namba and Shinsaibashi, I thought I should call my family. After that I went to a bar and got home at about 2.

Today we had footy, there was some crazy dance spectacular at the same park, that was a sight. One of our players sprained his ankle so that wasn`t fun. I took the train to Tennoji, walked home and cooked some karaage chicken.

Miss Japan hasn`t inquired about the flat yet, I`m starting to have doubts, oh well, there`s always that crazy man who keeps stealing my underwear...

Movie

Well yesterday I saw Dark Knight, the new batman movie, whoa was that good!Apart from that I didn`t do too much, just a little Japanese study, terebi and reading. Today I bummed around until 3, when I had to go to work. I`ve made some flashcards with a Japanese word (usually a verb) and the English translation on the back so that`s good for studying. I cooked yaki soba today, an Osakan dish made with pork, cabbage, carrot, onion and noodles which you buy pre cooked and then heat in a pan.

We still haven`t got a flatmate but hopefully this week and hopefully it`s Miss Japan.

Suma beach and the jellyfish

Last night I was incredibly bored, I did nothing between 2 and 10pm because there was no footy. I decided to see a movie because I had to get out of the house-I was imagining ghosts. The movie was `What happens in Vegas` suprisingly it was pretty good (I was expecting crap). Today I woke with purpose, I decided to hit Suma beach, I got there at 2.30. That beach has a great atmosphere-shops, beach games and drinking, however it`s a little dirty, in fact the water was filthy and something stung me, I got a bit of a rash so I didn`t go back in the water but I had a great time.

One of my pet hates is those motorcyclists who drive up and down the street revving there engines until it nearly bursts your eardrum, everybody hates them and to my dismay I learnt that some ratbags do the exact same thing on JETSKIS! You just can`t get any peace.

I was about to leave but I thoought I should have a walk, turned out there was a massive dance party! Everyone was going off. I saw my friend coincedentally and she got me into a VIP tent. Great stuff, some girl was giving me shochu out of a water bottle, headed back at 9.30pm and now I`m pretty tired.

Free grapes

Today I was so tired, only got 6 hours sleep. Finally lugged myself out of the flat and made it to work in the `nick of time`. I was so tired at work so in between classes I had a nap and when I woke up I had a sore back. The great thing about working in Korien is the taco yaki shop, the best ever. Taco yaki is my favourite Japanese food, it goes down a treat after a big night drinking, but never with mayonnaise.
I was eating my lunch outside a supermarket when a lovely, freindly old lady came up and gave me a bunch of grapes! You can`t get much better than that!

Lots of walking

I`ve been a little bored recently. There has been no work this week as a lot of people are busy this month. I had nothing to do today except a private class at 6.30. I did some Japanese study, I`m trying to learn verbs-pretty difficult stuff. I headed off for Yodoyobashi train station on foot as I had nothing better to do, it took about an hour but I got a little lost so I had to take the subway. Turns out my student had forgotten about the class but I saw him as he was going to dinner with his family and he kindly paid me anyway. I got back to Yodoyobashi at 7, again I had nothing to do so I just walked home. Watched a really good dorama set in a school, whoo that teacher is good. That was the highlight of my day in fact, that or the can of mandarins I ate earlier.

Umeda Fireworks

Worked all day yesterday and then went with some students and the boss from my eikaiwa to the fireworks in Umeda, we walked from the station to Juso but all of a sudden right before they begun it started raining cats and dogs. There was lightning and thunder but we got a great spot below a bridge, only problem was- so did about a thousand other people, I thought I was going to be crushed to death. The fireworks were great but then some girl started rubbing against me and then gave me an indignant glance when I moved away.

At night I went to `Rock Rock` in Amemura, bloody hell it was hot in there and some loony had a jumper on. Good music there, got home at about 5am.

High School Baseball

Woke at 11am today. There was no work so I had absolutely nothing to do. I thought I may as well go to the baseball at Koshien Stadium. It was free if you sat in the worst seats, but you could still see pretty well. I reckon baseball is no more exciting than test match cricket, which a lot of people say is very boring. Still, I had a good time, it was my first baseball match. Those supporters absolutely love it, they were going off! I was pretty dissapointed with myself in the end though as I had planned to drink 24 beers and get kicked out of the stadium on live t.v, oh well, I guess there`s always next time.

Beer Garden

Today for the first time I went to a beer garden.

The day started off quite slow, I slept in and missed work, unfortunately my alarm didn`t wake me up. I also went to International House but they had a convention on. The day wasn`t looking so good.

At least I was getting exercise from riding my mama chari. Went home for a bit and did some Japanese study, I really have to improve, also watched `Freinds`-I never appreciated how good that show was until I couldn`t understand anything else.

Met up with my student at 7pm, we went to the Hankyu beer garden-unluckily it started pouring with rain.

The rain came on so suddenly it was absolute chaos, we had to leave the beer and meat behind, sadly they didn`t make it, we had to leave them behind.

Left there and went to a restaurant in Umeda, bloody good food-sushi, beef, noodles and lots of grog(alcohol) めっちゃたのしRode home fro Umeda at 11.30.

Trip to Isonoura

Today Australian Rules Football training was cancelled so I decided to go to Isonoura beach in Wakayama, I had heard it was really good. Things got off to a bad start as I was in the wrong part of the train and was charged an extra 700 yen, I suspect the train lady loved it. Eventually I made it after getting lost a few times.

Pretty nice beach very close to the mountains. The water was really warm. Actually, it reminded me of the beach right near my house in Melbourne-St. Kilda beach. I liked it-it has a certain charm.

Unfortunately I realised that my shorts wouldn`t dry as I thought they would, that was a fun trip home!

Decided to stay at home tonight, managed to get my T.V working, so for the first time in 2 months I`ve been able to watch it. Woo-hoo! Too bad I have no idea what`s going on.

My flatmate moved out today and the other one`s in Tokyo so I`ve got the place to myself.

Yesterday I only had work for one hour. I headed out on the town after making a nice pork dinner. I`ve been looking for a replacement meat as I`ve become a little sick of chicken(basically eat it every day) and Japanese beef is a little expensive. Pork cutlets are beautiful-tasty, healthy and versatile. It was good to eat a nice meal as during the day my eating habits have gone a bit haywire.

I was walking to a bar last night when I ran into some fellow Gaijin, followed them to a bar in Shinsaibashi. All I remember is singing `happy birthday` and drinking champagne, also a transvestite comes to mind-Good times.

Day in Kobe

Here is my first post about a Gaijin`s life in Osaka.

Today I set out for Sannomiya, Kobe, about 30 minutes from Umeda. I went because there was no work today and therefore I was bloody bored. I had two options-get out and do something or sit on my arse and watch `Freinds` season 1 like Tuesday, damn was that a horrible experience-by the the time I left the flat I felt like jelly.

I headed off at 4, good train ride. Got to kobe and some old bloke nearly had a go at my because I got in his way, he mumbled something I couldn`t understand and then kept walking. I had no real plan so I just walked around. Eventually stumbled upon the old Foreigner settlement which I`ve always wanted to see.

The above was taken in front the Weathercock house. Unfortunately all the houses were closed off so I couldn`t go inside.

At this point I hadn`t talked to anyone in about 6 hours and was starting to talk and sing to myself, I figured it was time to find a bar.
Pretty difficult but eventually I found a cheap place.

Slammed back 3 beers then tried to call my freind Dante Sugar, not home so I went to a different place. Not so good so I decided to call it a day.

I took this picture of the old Panama consulate. I thought it curious that Panama would have a consulate to Japan around the turn of the 19th century. Was Panama even a country back then?