Archive for the 'Friends' Category

South Africa Pictures #1

Published
by
admin
on September 2, 2008
in Friends and Travel
. 0 Comments

September is here, summer is over and I’m back at work already. This time last week I was in an African desert, but tomorrow I’ll be standing in front of Japanese teenagers once again teaching the past tense of irregular verbs. I got back last Saturday and I’m still jet-lagged so forgive the late posting. I didn’t have much access to the internet while away. I’m going to post my pictures in two stints and give you some accounting of the trip while I’m at it.

It was brilliant. Udo was a great guide and storyteller (though his jokes leave a lot to be desired “Gerroff the stage!“) and South Africa is a fantastic country (leaving aside poverty and crime and lingering racism and that sort of thing…). On the first day I arrived, after a short nap, Udo said “A trip up Table Mountain would be a great start” and so up we went in a cable car full of Japanese tourists with one young chap saying “sugoiiiii! sugoiiii! sugoiiii!” all the way up. We mooched around up there admiring the scenery for a bit and taking lots of pictures. Then in the evening we had dinner at a swanky restaurant at the Waterfront. And then we did something silly - drinks at the corner bar till 3 in the morning. We had a good chat but we felt rough for it in the morning. Here’s the pics (hover your mouse over them for any extra info or right click for a closer look):

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

The following day, feeling worse for wear, we took things easy, visiting the beautiful Cape Town Castle (the oldest building in South Africa) and the District 6 museum. District 6 was a cosmopolitan area right in the heart of Cape Town that the apartheid regime forcibly cleared of 60,000 residents during the 70s. Now they are slowly getting their land back but the museum stands as a memorial to their experiences. That night we ate at the Ritz Hotel (the restaurant rotates!) with its magnificent night views of the city and (oops! somebody’s silly suggestion!) another late night at a Korean karaoke bar. But it was a good laugh and Udo got his mojo back apparently, which is nice (even if he did steal all my songs). Pics below (hover your mouse over them for any extra info or right click for a closer look):

BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts

On day 3 we went to Intyatyambo which I have mentioned on this blog before (link!) and spent some time with the wee kiddies. Check out the pictures to see just how cute they are. And then fork out some cash. Just kidding. Actually, I’m not - FORK OUT SOME CASH!!! Intyatyambo is in the township of Khayelitsha, and after visiting the orphanage we had a beer at one of the few houses in the neighborhood (most people living in shacks) getting some rather odd looks from the passers by and a lady from the orphanage keeping a watchful eye on us to keep us out of trouble. I overheard Udo saying something about the “murder capital of the world” and said “Where’s that then?” and he said “Here.” and I sipped my beer a little faster. After that we went to a winery in Stellenbsoch that had pretty little gardens that made me feel like I was in Italy. A country of extreme contrasts is South Africa. The sunset that night was particularly beautiful so I’ve included some pictures in the next set (hover your mouse over them for any extra info blah blah blah…):

BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts

And on Day 4 we went to Aquila Game Reserve which to be honest I was a little dissapointed by. I was hoping for a real safari type experience, with all the animals wandering free, but Aquila is a little too small for that, so (for example) they have to keep the lions penned up to stop them from eating the other animals (and each other) which makes it a slightly less than natural experience, more like a very very large zoo. However, I shouldn’t complain too much as Aquila is doing its bit for conservation and the animals look a lot healthier and happy than the poor sods locked up in Kyoto Zoo. Also I wouldn’t have been able to see such glorious beasties otherwise due to the brevity of my trip and Kruger National park being on the other side of the country. I shall, as Udo said, just have to go back. At least 21 days he said. Very precise.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts

More pictures in my next post!

祇園祭

Published
by
admin
on July 18, 2008
in Friends, Uncategorized and Wacky Japan
. 0 Comments

Here are some pictures from Gion Matsuri I’ve been wanting to put up all week but bubbleshare has been acting up lately so… Anyway, the first set are from last Sunday, I got a couple of tickets to go and look inside two of the festival floats which was pretty cool. I went a day early to avoid the crowds. Still had to wait though.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

The second set are from Monday, Yoiyoiyoiyama when the festival really gets going and the streets are littered with impromptu street bars and stalls selling chocolate coated bananas, tako-yaki, fried chicken, all kinds of crap. We all put on our best yukata and jimbei and strolled around and soaked up that special festival atmosphere.Thankfully it had rained earlier in the day, so it was relatively cool for us.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

These last couple of pictures are from 3 am Thursday morning when I encountered a friendly group of riot police on my way home…

poli

Not sure what they were up to. Didn’t stick around to find out.

poli

Before I sign out for the evening, here’s a link to Joss Wheedon’s latest creation, a three act musical super-villain comedy which you can watch for free until Sunday when it is due to vanish from the net like the snow in springtime. I watched the first two acts yesterday, and was entranced. The third and final act goes up tomorrow. Watch it while it’s free! Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog

Zero Waste

Published
by
admin
on July 11, 2008
in Environment and Friends
. 0 Comments

Here’s a news video from the BBC on the super-enviromently friendly “zero waste” policy of Kamikatsu town in Shikoku, Japan. If only the whole country world would follow suit… LINK

And here’s an amusing video from The Onion: Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency.

And here’s my friend Thomas Schwegler’s website Tropical Mountains.

Tropical Mountains was formed in 2005 in Bolivia. We saw and experienced the need of small scale coffee farmers to have support in quality control, access to pre-financing and international markets. Many producer groups and cooperatives have now moved to direct export and away from selling their coffee to the local market or local traders. We are happy to support them on their shift towards direct export…

I met this guy in Italy in 2002, a nice chap, charming, multi-lingual and a hit with the ladies. I got the impression he was looking for his place in life. He went to South America and found his place selling coffee on behalf of coffee farming co-operatives over there. As a result of his work (he has the gift of the gab see), the guys who are growing the coffee aren’t selling to the big corporate masters anymore, but direct to consumers, and that way they get to see more profit for their work. And why am I posting a link to his company’s website? Because he’s a pal, that’s why. LINK

Yoshida-kun’s Birthday 2008

Published
by
admin
on June 3, 2008
in Friends and Larks
. 0 Comments

Here are some pictures of Yoshida-kun’s birthday party last Saturday night which was of course, a blast. His actual birthday isn’t until this weekend however, so I think we may have to take him out for some emergency-nampa before he hits the big FOUR OH!
BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

And here are some pictures of feet.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

And here are some pictures of people in hats.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

Octopus Balls

Published
by
admin
on May 8, 2008
in Food and Friends
. 0 Comments

We had a very nice evening on Tuesday night at Nakano-kun’s house. He invited us over for a takoyaki party and I have to tell you making takoyaki is really good fun. Besides “tako” (chopped octopus) you can put pretty much anything you like into the batter mix. We tried shrimp, cheese, pumpkin… I’d like to have a go at chocolate ones next time. Those takoyaki machines are pretty cheap too. Nakano-kun’s cost him less than ￥1,000. I think I may have to get one. Much better than a fondue. I can’t abide fondues.BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Anyway, sitting round a table with good people, making something tasty, chattering away and quaffing a few frosty beverages was the perfect end to my Golden Week. Went back to work yesterday. And then I had today off again! Ha ha! Great life.

Oh, and today is my sister Bernadette’s birthday. Happy Birth… ah, I’d better give her a ring… she never reads this.

And before I go… for my most recent post on Deep Kyoto, having previously written here on bar “Bollocks“, I am delighted to present to you Tits.

It’s a cafe.

Gypsy

Published
by
admin
on April 30, 2008
in Friends
. 1 Comment

I have a friend called Mike Potter. Up until recently he had a dog called Gypsy that was probably the sweetest-natured dog I have ever met. Mike found Gypsy at one of those abandoned dog places, I’m not sure which… She had been abused by her previous owners, quite badly apparently, but despite this was a truly loving, loyal, gentle-hearted pooch. Anyway, because of her mysterious origins he was never quite sure how old she was… just that she was getting older. I won’t go on. Just I wanted to say I got a message from Mike today saying he had had to have Gypsy put down and he was sad. I’m sad too. And this post is my little tribute to a wonderful little dog I met only a handful of times but I really took a shine to.

Gypsy

Saturday Night’s Party @ Joao

Published
by
admin
on March 25, 2008
in Friends and Larks
. 1 Comment

I got back from Ishikawa yesterday, but haven’t had a chance to sort out my pics yet. Be prepared tomorrow for a full accounting of my trip north to beautiful Kaga City (Hokuriku’s answer to Middlesbrough perhaps). Well, maybe not a full accounting. That might not be wise. Here however, are some pictures from Saturday night at Joao (or at least the ones I can show). I can’t claim credit for all of them but I think I took the one on the left here, and I’m quite pleased with it. Actually my consistent (some would say incessant) picture taking and blogging of said pictures does have some uses; it actually persuaded the chap below to put his shirt back on for example. Let that be a deterrent to you all.
Anyway, it was a great night and everyone was on top form. But where was Kageyama. What he up to, hmmm? There is some fairly pointless commentary on the first few pictures below if you hover your mouse over them, but after a while I got bored so it petres out towards the end. Kind of like this post….

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

A New Baby, Beer and Other Sundries

Published
by
admin
on March 20, 2008
in Friends, Restaurants and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Baby Rowan

Congratulations to old pal Rik Abel and Adrienne Copithorne on the birth of their new baby Rowan Alexander on March 19th, which coincidentally also happens to be Rik’s birthday. Hurrah!

Deep Kyoto is back!

It’s spring and time to bring Deep Kyoto out of hibernation with a new article on Cafe Proverbs [15:17], the new vegan phoenix that has risen from the ashes of Cafe Peace. I went down there at the end of last month and having mentioned my blog, was introduced to the owner, one Marre, a charming fellow and quite a Rennaisance man (that’s him on the right with his wife). While talking to Marre I was overheard by another customer, who was courteous enough to introduce himself as a reader of Deep Kyoto by the name of Thomas Bertrand. As it happens, Thomas also writes a blog on Kyoto by the name of la riviere aux canards (Kamogawa sounds awfully romantic in French, don’t it?) which he has been writing for a good three years now and as a result he has been employed by a French publisher to write a travel guide to the city. It just goes to show what’s possible if you stick at something… Anyway, his blog is worth a look if your French is up to it. Or like me, you could just look at the pretty pictures. LINK

The 12th Japanese Beer Tasting 2008

Paul Sparks held his twelfth and final (?) Japanese beer tasting at Chez Sparks in Ichigaya, Tokyo last Saturday evening, thus ending a long run of enjoyably exhausting parties that first began in Fukushima-ken back in 1995. 48 beers were tasted, blind taste-testings held, quizzes quizzed, buzzers buzzed and a heck of a lot of cheese was consumed. I love cheese with beer! As usual, my old friends Chris Cotter and Graham Chave were also present as well as a host of other regulars : drool-worthy Mayumi of Beer Bar Bitter, big Mark of the massive leather jacket, some newer good-characters such as Henry and Sean who I hadn’t met before and my team-mate Rei who was a total star in the quiz. And my team won! Amazing. I forgot to claim a prize in the end but I don’t really care, it was so much fun. And I got two taste tests right too (!) - correctly identifying four beers each time in a blind tasting. As Paul took pains to point out I’ve always been utter crap at these in the past so I was super pleased with myself on this occasion. I shall miss the annual beer tastings, they were a great event and a good opportunity to catch up with old friends, and I shall miss Paul too, one of my oldest friends in Japan (I first met him in a Tengu izakaya in Koriyama city back in 1997), he has gradually gained status over the years as one of my bestest (and most supportive) mates. He and his wife are moving back to Australia later this year so I think I a wee Lambe-tour of Australia may be on the cards in 2009! Anyway, a big お疲れ様 to Paul and Kaori, they obviously worked super hard to make the beer-tasting a really great night. Here’s some piccies (the one of big Mark making team-mates Rei and I look like hobbits is worth waiting for), there’s some commentary on most of the pics if you hover your mouse over them, or you can click on them for a closer look.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

UPDATE (March 21st): Just got a mail from Paul today which reads: Absolutely poptastic having you stay for a couple of nights. Sunday night was very natsukashii. Baeren’s winter ale Ursus, which is a weizen bock won with 14.2 points and Sankt Gallen’s barley wine came second with 14.1. Those points are out of 20. Paul told us on the night that Baeren’s future is in doubt however as there was an explosion at the factory recently during which the owner was killed, and prompting me upon tasting the beer to declare it “dead good”.

Holy Crap

I saw this video on the imminent collapse of the U.S. dollar today and thought “Holy Crap!”. “U.S. balance of payments deficits is so strong and irreversible, that we must accept that at some future date there will be a run against the dollar. Probably the kind of disorderly run that precipitates a global financial crisis.” Dr. Paul A Samuelson (Nobel Prize winner in economics) said that in 2005. Obviously some big changes lie ahead…

GOOD.

Tees TOON Army

Published
by
admin
on February 28, 2008
in Friends
. 1 Comment

I have a friend (my oldest friend) who calls himself “BIGLANKYGEORDIE” (though he isn’t really a Geordie), and as I fear for his safety if I use his real name, I shall reluctantly call him that too. For as long as I can remember, “BIGLANKYGEORDIE”, has combined passionate loyalty to his heritage, with a fantasist’s ideal of what that heritage actually is. Maybe this time he has gone too far. The online shrine he has built for his imaginary “Tees TOON Army” (”Army” no less!), with comments like “after all Middlesbrough is nothing more than a Toon suburb”, is nothing less than blasphemous.

…there is only one really big team in the North-East. And just because you live in Middlesbrough doesnt mean you have to support a band of smoggie no-hopers. No, there is a better way, and it’s just 50 miles up the A19. Middlesbrough is a small town in Yorkshire. A very polluted, small town in Yorkshire. Meanwhile, Newcastle is the ultimate football metropolis, the buzzing Barcelona of Britain. Lively, stylish, independent-minded and a long way from the capital city… Oh, and you can breathe the air without a gas mask!

And on it goes. (Sigh)

Now, don’t get me wrong. Anyone raised in Middlesbrough knows it’s crap. Quite possibly the crappiest town in the UK. And anyone born and bred there will happily admit it to you. They may even take a perverse kind of pride in the fact. But if there is one thing the good burghers of Middlesbrough are loyal to, it’s their home team: THE BORO. That is all they have after all. Even I, effete child of immigrants and dilettante exile, with normally no interest in sports WHATSOEVER, will grudgingly admit loyalty to the home team. I can even be persuaded to go and watch them getting beaten from time to time. Though the people of Middlesbrough can be a tad bitter, there is a kind of camaraderie (and even good humour) in the shittiness. In the midst of all the crime and pollution and health problems and general grimness there is one shining beacon of hope: there is a Lion by the Riverside and though he might be a bit mangy, he’s ours.

I fear my friend may have invited a tidal wave of abuse.
LINK TO “TEES TOON ARMY”

Goodbye STT

Published
by
admin
on February 25, 2008
in Bars, Friends and Larks
. 1 Comment

Small Town Talk finally gave way to harsh economic realities on the weekend (even a special guest appearance by Bono couldn’t save it) but it didn’t go out with a whimper. The place was jam packed with STT supporters, DJs Noda, Yoshida, Masuda and Nana all took turns at the turntables, beverages were quaffed, emotional speeches made, gratitude expressed, Queen renditions sung and good times had. Here’s a short compilation of photos with a short message from Kageyama-san at the end. Adios STT!

I put the photos up on Bubbleshare if anyone wants copies: LINK