decided.

i resigned today. life's too short for um-ing and ah-ing all the time. i know what i want.

martinis 52 floors up!

just spent a very tokyo afternoon in shinjuku with andi. she is probably the speediest shopper i know! i have much to learn. we shopped then lunched and then played rich and famous at the park hyatt hotel! it's the flashest hotel in town at $2000 a night and where 'lost in translation' was filmed! we elevatored ourselves up to the 52nd floor to the new york bar (where scarlett johansson met bill murray) for martinis. they were seved with little white cloth serviettes and some puffy rice nibbles by waiters in swish little white jackets. the view was sweeping. and so were the martinis! :) the toilets were luxury too, and soothingly soft-lit. we were sent off with a bow at the elevator, and then another bow on the ground floor. a very scrumptious afternoon indeed.

check it out! :) http://wedged.showcard.co.nz/gallery/album08

mountains and earthquakes

oh what a beautiful day! sat down for my first lesson and WOW (no, not a hot student ;P) ...there was mt fuji bang smack in my eye! i have never seen it in such clarity from fujisawa before. it was sparklingly snow-capped and like a giant stage backdrop. stunning. the air was so clear today.

last night i awoke to a swaying and jolting at about 2am. i am so gonna die if the big one hits in the next couple of months! i just lay there goin "oh dear god", while apparently my workmates were rushing to open their doors and take cover. there was another one about an hour ago while me and nolan were watchin a movie. this house creaks like a creaky thing! nolan's all sorted - he has an earthquake emergency cubby hole in which he has stored bottles of water, a torch, plastic bags to poo in, and a saw to cut through fallen debris. there's a rather shaky table in my room that i could cower under...!

farewell old friend

hurrah! i'm all done at immigration. i'm legal until the 6th april 2007. alas, my little green frog umbrella died today. i've had that thing since the first few days of life in japan. it's been through a lot with me since then. a typhoon suddenly whipped up out of nowhere this morning and clobbered me as i was walking across the crossing. unfortunately, my little frog umbrella didn't fare so well. i was gonna bring him home to nz and show him the sights... :(

the humidity is timidly snuggling up against us already... reckon this summer will be a scorcher... don't think i wanna stick around to find out.

oh oh! i bought that book today, the wierd one, 'kafka on the shore' by haruki murakami. i haven't finished my other book yet but i couldn't resist delving into it in my lunch break. the first two chapters sure are good 'uns! :D

well, noran's home! hot choc and 'flight of the pheonix' (not actually sure what that is!) await...

sweat patches

man, i didn't go to immigration this morning. i was trapped by the cocoon of cosiness and safety that is my bed. i HAVE to go tomorrow morning. otherwise they will cancel my visa and i will be illegal.

today was a grumpy old man. it was really humid and the air conditioning at work didn't seem to be working. the threat of summer really scared me and i thought of packing my bags (again).

my friend kaz is going to LA tomorrow with her boyfurendo. she'll be gone for a week and i'm gonna miss her :(. i just hope she remembers what side of the road to drive on and that their car doesn't run out of petrol in the wrong neighbourhood!

i need some sakura tea. oyasumi xx

i really need a bag of gobstoppers

konbanwa

had a fun night out with andi, nolan, colleen, kaz and some randoms along the way, on sunday night :). started at our place with some feijoa voddie (thanks andi, mia and wiffy!) mmmmmmmmmmmmmm and then stumbled into town getting up to all sorts of mischief along the way (some of you know my tendencies when nature calls!). went to a groovy okonomiyaki cafe for some sake and tequila, and okonomiyaki too of course! the waiters were very patient with the loco gaijin, but they wouldn't give up their recipe to me, even when i offered to split the profits from my nz okonomiyaki cafe with them! but it will be mine dammit! the karaoke bar was right next door and even though i've been to both the okonomiyaki place and the karaoke place (many times) before, i never realised! not until i went to the loo, took the wrong turn on the way out and found myself in the karaoke bar!! i'm sure you can imagine my confusion. anyway, it was such a fun night, until the drink well and truly took over. i'm so truly sorry to a couple of people in particular. gomen. let's not dwell on the past, the future is full of plump juicy berries ripe for the picking!

have had a couple of excessively lazy days. had planned to head into yokohama today to pick up my renewed visa from immigration, but my bed was mighty cosy so i stayed there til 'bout lunchtime. then i was hungry so wandered to the little supermarket to pick up some supplies. i made nolan and me some good ol' fashioned sandwiches with ham and cheese and tomato. i don't know why but they just don't taste the same as ham, cheese and tomato sammies back home... i think it might be the tomatoes here? we watched 'v for vendetta'... THAT is a cool movie. and ate donuts.

andi and colleen took off down south this morning... lucky things! hiroshima is amazing. they'll be back in about 3 days i think. as for me, back to work tomorrow. another week begins. have to get up early so i can squeeze immigration in before work :(

if ya wanna check out some pics of sunday night, please do :) http://wedged.showcard.co.nz/gallery/album07

otanjoubi omedetou to me!

nemui again!! *yawn*

got up at 7 this morn to meet andi and kaz at the station by 8.30. we finally made it to hakone in time for lunch (after back-tracking a few times on trains!). yunessan onsen is SO groovy!!! a wonderland of wonderful onsen. the first thing we did once we got there is change into our togs and stunningly sexy orange tie-dyed tents, then we went to the restaurant for lunch (of which i got for free because they forgot to charge me! - happy birthday me!) :) lunch was delish, everything from spanish to indian cuisine with soba and sushi thrown into the mix. of course i had to have seconds, plus dessert :). there was something so liberating about swanning around a flash-looking restaurant wearing bum-length orange tents. my favourite onsen was the wine bath i think. it was just so gloriously pink, and smelled devine. but the dead sea bath was also extremely novel. apparently they actually ship the salt in from the dead sea. i have never experienced such buoyancy! unfortunately i shaved my legs this morning and the salt really stung, but it was still so very fun. there were green tea baths, a coffee bath, a charcoal bath, a jellyfish bath, baths in caves, a waterfall bath, and a super waterslide. we spent like 6 hours there and could've stayed for 6 more! it was heavenly. we were all dog tired (and so relaxed out) by the time we got back to fuj at about 8.30 tonight but dragged ourselves to cafe pensee for some sakura tea and gourmet chili sandwiches. nolan met us there, bringing cake! (thanks noran-chan....yum). and a huge hug to ma & pa wiechern and kim for the gorgeous flowers all the way from nz! :) i love them. thanks to all who remembered my b'day. i can't believe i'm 28. don't feel a day older than 20 (although my legs are still slightly sore from hiking in nikko).

will sleep well tonight i think :)
xx

pics here: http://wedged.showcard.co.nz/gallery/album06

stinkbugs and snowangels

am sooo sleepy. nemui.

got back from nikko trip number 2 a little while ago. it was pretty cool, especially today (there was lots of snow). was really fascinatin' to be able to compare summer (our last trip to nikko) and "spring" (felt like winter up there though!). entirely different. we did the hike across the senjogahara plains again and it was breathtaking. it rained pretty much the whole time and the hike was a little more difficult due to the deep snow and ice in some parts but it sure was fun. our legs were often swallowed suddenly and i even made a snow angel! showed andrea the temples around the place yesterday and went shopping in the souvenir shop (i finally brought the little japanese doll i wanted 8 months ago). we frequented "gusto" (like cob'n'co david reckons, but choicer), well, as much as a place can be frequented in 2 days, and our accommodation was very spiffy for the low price. all chalet styles! but the stinkbugs buzzing around our room sent me leaping across beds in fear on more than one occassion! sitting in my room now, back in fuj, the little trip seems quite surreal, almost like a dream. nikko is a whole different world. the hike today was like a vincent ward movie set. true, check out the pics...

http://wedged.showcard.co.nz/gallery/album05

must sleep.
xx

don't read this

today was wierd. got the first snippet of positive feedback from the boss today, but it's too little too late! am still quitting soon... and one of my students ran out of my lesson this morning 5 mins after it started and never came back. she fell over herself to get out the door and was holding her hand over her mouth, so i assume she was sick, either that or she didn't like my perfume? tensions were high in the staff room and i got snarky and someone meowed and said "ooo catfight". i was told david bangs his new girlfriend really loudly (i didn't ask and didn't particularly want to hear it either, especially at work). and then at last work was over. i ran from that place. that place of wierdness. i went to see andrea for a cuppa and we chatted about human frailty. now i'm safe at home. maybe i should call in sick tomorrow?

365

today i have been living in japan for 1 year. 1 whole year!!! wow, where the dang hang has it gone?? i have seen spring, summer, autumn and winter here in the land of the sun. and now it's spring again. it will soon become stinking hot and i'll find myself in the ocean trying to stay on a surfboard and likely getting stung by jellies. can't wait! :D andrea arrives tomorrow... woohoo!! lots of fun shall be had over the next 3 weeks. off to nikko on monday, FINALLY a 2-day weekend!

na'nighs xx

hanami humperdinks

well hello there :)

it was thundering and lightening and pouring down with rain all day yesterday and last night, but here in nippon we all awoke to a GLORIOUS sun-sparkling day today :). perfect for our picnic in the park. during cherry blossom season (which lasts 2 weeks max) all the japanese flock to cherry blossom trees, lay out their blue plastic tarpaulins and sit themselves down for a feasting on all sorts of random food and most importantly sake. this ritual is called hanami. so we did it too! nolan, tamao, david and i ventured into yooga, tokyo, to a huge park called kinuta koen. armed with a blue plastic tarpaulin of our own, a mish-mash of food and 2 BIG cartons of sake we picked a lovely spot underneath some hugely grand cherry blossom trees in a sort of quieter area in the park. there we spent the next 4 hours or so eating, drinking, talking shit, listening to the crows and soaking in the rays. it really was quite nice. until the wind picked up and the sake began to spill. we took our leave of the heavenly trees and train-ed all the sleepy way back to fuj.

but POOS. i can't seem to upload the photos to the gallery...! grrrrr! will try again tomorrow. then you'll see what the rantin' and ravin' was all about :) cheerio! xx

http://wedged.showcard.co.nz/gallery/album04