Footy in Tokyo

We set off Saturday night, we had a private bus with two drivers. The trip was very arduous, however, after 2 am I slept pretty well. We got to the ground at about 10 after getting lost a few times. I was a bit flat because I didn't eat any breakfast-the first quarter of the game was tough, luckily Genki brought some chocolate so I ate that and played much better.
As for the game- it was close in the first two quarters, due more to us not playing very well. In the second half we put the foot down, using the ball nicely, doing some nice plays, with good running and teamwork we blew the margin out to 49 points at the final siren- 99 to 50.
The opposition organised beer and onigiri afterwards.
Unfortunately the beers were two of the worst in the world- VB and Fosters. We were able to watch the first quarter of the game that came after us but then we had to get back on the bus for the return journey. At least that time we had beer.Outside Tokyo there are some really beautiful mountain ranges which were nice to see, we also drove past Mt. Fuji, the top was clouded over but we got a beautiful view of the bottom. In the end the return trip turned out to be worse, we left at 3 pm so I couldn't even sleep and i thought I was going to die a few times, I'm pretty sure the driver was going a tad over the speed limit, and a few of us got airbourne as he tried to make it back in time. Geez I was sore when we got back at 10.30 and glad to be home.

Koya san

Pictures-top Kongobuji Temple, second from top Mausoleum of the Tokugawas.


Yesterday at 1 o'clock we set off for Mount Koya in Wakayama prefecture, about 2 hours south of Osaka. We got on the train with only seconds to spare. It was lucky because that train only comes once an hour. You take the train to the last stop then take a weird tram/cable car(second from bottom) that goes up the mountain at an incredibly steep angle.
We got to the top then took a bus to the restaurant area. We were fairly hungry, having not eaten all day. In fact I had a headache and was about to collapse. After a nice curry udon we had a look at the mausoleum of the Tokugawas (Japanese Shoguns about 400 years ago).
We tried to make it inside the main building of Koya san-Kongobuji Temple, it's the headquarters of the Buddhist sect who settled the mountain, it's also the place where Toyotomi Hidetsugi was ordered to commit suicide, but it was closed.
So we walked through a huge graveyard (bottom) Many famous people had tombstones here as well as many big companies such as Panasonic and Yakult as well as people who have died in different occupations. There was also a giant rocket, though I'm not sure why. The area had a very strange atmosphere, and as we walked back toward the station, along the main road we were getting a bit creeped out. Then a car came past and slowed to a stop. Luckily the lady was just offering us a lift, or perhaps she was planning on eating us but changed her mind, either way we got back to Osaka in one piece at 10 o'clock.

Maiko and Wedding

We headed for Kyoto on Friday. We had free tickets to a maiko or 'apprentice geisha' performance. It was performed in a very old looking temple/ theatre in the old geisha/entertainment distrit of Kyoto-Gion. Before the show we got to eat traditional Japanese green tea and sweets in front of a maiko. (see picture)

I didn't know what to expect but it was great. Really fascinatiing, there were shamisen players and strange singers. The maiko were incredibly graceful, like nothing I've ever seen before. There was one older lady in the performance and she was downright scary.



Today was my friend Genki's wedding. We took him drinking last night. Good times. We had some pre drinks then went to a club in Umeda. It ended up with the groom climbing power poles, putting cones on his head and running into walls and 8 of us on top of a building for a good photo op. I don't know how we got up there.
Today was the wedding, my alarm didn't work but I miraculously woke up at 11, I missed the wedding, but it wasn't too late for the party. Japanese wedding parties are great, good food, speeches, tears, drinks and entertainment. After that was finished we headed for another party at an izakaya. All you can eat/drink. I was relieved to get home at 10.30. I was pretty buggered.

Big Weekend

The Okinawan band at the work hanami in Yao City.











Had to fill in at work on Saturday, fortunately that mostly entailed having a picnic under the cherry blossoms. They had an Okinawan band which was nice. They even made me play the drums. That type of music is great. Afterwards I came home, I was absolutely stuffed. I needed to sleep but I somehow convinced myself to go on a pub crawl with the others. The first 4 bars around Umeda were great but after that things went downhill. Busted noses, bloody elbows etc, not mine luckily. On the upside-there was bingo. Anyway, by the end of it I was ready for sleep-big time. The next day we struggled out of bed to Stew's hanami at Osaka Castle. I've been getting headaches, from hayfever I believe. The hanami was great, the flowers are falling at this time, they should be gone in a few days. There was tons of food and drink, badminton, frisbee and Aussie rules football. At one stage some 'idol' girl came to promote her blog, she was on fire, she came out of nowhere, doing some futuristic robot song and dancing around the place.
Probably the highlight of the day.

Hanami

We ambled over to Osaka castle on Sunday morning. The other guys had come at 8 am to reserve our spot. its not unusual for young recruits to wait all week, reserving a prime spot for their boss-stuff that!
Hanami is cherry blossom viewing. We had a lovely picnic. The day was long however and I really struggled, I was drinking at a pace to make me tired. We had some good food and drinks.
I went to Den Den Town afterwards, it's the electronic goods district, there were some interesting shops to say the least. I got home and felt so tired and sick, but I recovered fairly quickly.

On Tuesday I rode my bike down to the 'Sumioshi Taisha' shinto shrine. Its the most beautiful shrine/temple I've been to.


It also has one of the steepest bridges known to man. This thing should have an escalator. Imagine if someone fell!

Samurai land

Today I finished my lesson at 12 and headed for 'Samurai Land' in Kyoto, a large complex that has many Edo era show/movie sets. Much filming takes place at the site. Basically it's like you've stepped back into the Japan of 200 years ago. They had everything, from old police stations to toilets. They even had power rangers! As you can see from the photos, those wonderful cherry blossoms are back, everyone loves cherry blossoms. Especially when mixed with alcohol. Such a scenario is called 'hanami' or 'flower viewing'. I'll be going to a hanami for the Osaka Dingoes on Sunday. Luckily my knee isn't hurting too badly. Its much better than I was expecting, I don't even have a limp. Still, I can't train tomorrow. After the samurai fun, we headed into Kyoto City for a look around.




This photo is from the set of my favourite samurai show 'Abarenbo Shogun', the set was from the fire station that features in the show, however I'm not so sure what I'm holding.