Marverous - Name of a bar in Fussa

After a month hiatus, I'm back blogging.

What have I been doing you ask? Nothing particularly special. In the past month I have:
-Worked, worked and worked. I was given the opportunity to teach some silly classes... French, darts and bar. No, I do not speak French.
-Taken a day off and got lost in Gunma on said day off. I ate a horrifying kaiseki dinner at the hotel in Gunma which included fish kidneys and clams. I'm still shuddering about this. The dinner had good points too... like salad, wild boar and some unidentified fish. Breakfast at the hotel was much of the same. I also went to an onsen where I could watch the snowfall. I went to a farm (which I later discovered was intended for five year olds) and saw some goats and sheep. I got lost on the way home because I foolishly got off the train to pee (turns out the train had a bathroom) and found myself stuck in darkest Saitama for an entire hour and a half with Take. We made some friends with the locals and wandered around. They laughed when we asked where we could find a restaurant haha.
- Caught up with some friends... Mainly drinking around my area and singing Karaoke, there was also some darts and purikura.
- Had an evening out with my co-workers and got to know them personally a bit better. We ended up drinking until 5 am... unfortunately most of them were drunk after the first.

What's on tbe books for the next little while? A friend of mine from Scotland is coming in for a few weeks to visit so I'm really looking forward to that. I'm celebrating a friend's birthday and successful surgery next weekend. I'm teaching English to the masses. That's about it. Glamorous life, I know. :)

Shady son of a bitch whatever - t-shirt on a guy

How agro!

Well... I havent been up to much, hence the lack of updating.
I've been missing my Mum terribly... and missing my Dad even more.
It's one of those things though... how do you get the best of both worlds? Until I have a Doko demo doa (go anywhere door) like Doraemon I'll just have to make do with what I have. Beautiful pictures! Enjoy! They are both of Kamakura where there is a large Buddha statue. It once was in a shrine but due to a large tsunami it is now outside. I went there with my Mum a few weeks ago.

Both the cooking and the life had better be pleasant - words on a sauce cup

The deepest apologies with a very deep bow. I know it's been ages since I last blogged. I have been very busy with my week off from work and my two weeks back to work.

What on Earth have I been up to?!
My lovely Mother came to Japan. I was very busy showing her the time of her life. We covered a huge amount of ground in the short time she was here (only nine days). I tried to show her as much of Tokyo as possible and some of the outside areas and then show her my favourite parts of Tokyo again. I also gave her a rudimentary education in the Tokyo train and subway system... I'm not too sure how much of that she grasped (no offense Mum!!)
In the short time she was here I:
- Took her shopping (duh!)
- Took her shopping
- Tried (and somewhat failed) to get her to try authentic Japanese cuisine... she ate (very reluctantly) sashimi and takoyaki, she loved ramen and shabu-shabu
- Took her to Mount Fuji
- Took her to an onsen
- Took her to some traditional Japanese places... shrines, Buddhas etc.
- Introduced her to some pop culture... karaoke, purikura, bonnenkai etc. She had a blast
- Introduced her to my family away from my real family
- Introduced her to Take (ahhh) :)
In the nine days we went to: Mt. Fuji, Kamakura, Shinjuku, Nishi-Shinjuku, Aoyama, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, Haijima, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara, Ikebukuro, Yoyogi and Hino. Phew.. we walked a lot.
So now my Mum is gone and I'm very sadly back to reality. Work is the same. Enough about work... there are some exciting things in store for 2011 (as I hope there are for you!). What you ask?
- I am starting to learn how to DJ so I can DJ for my friend's CD release party... who knew I was so cool?
---> Anyone have any song recommendations? :)
- I get to tattoo Take! Which means I have to learn how to draw... he said not to worry and to just free hand it but I dont think he knows how bad of an "artist" I am. In return... he gets to tattoo me... he threatens Hello Kitty... I dont think he'll do it though.
- I have plans to learn how to fish. Although the general consensus is fishing is moderately to extremely boring.
Well that's all I have in terms of an update! Promise to update sooner rather than later... possibly with pictures.

So this is Christmas...

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

I'm working today, hence the short entry.

It is a very delicious crunch chocolate that sprinkled the starry sky of glittering - a chocolate wrapper

I like that Engrish, it's a good one.
So it's the most wonderful time of the year and yet somehow in Japan it seems even more shallow and materialistic. There are Christmas trees everywhere and even a Santa Claus or two and I cant help but wonder who actually knows what this holiday is about... same for Canada though let's be real.
I have some Christmas parties at school for kids and adults. We're supposed to sing for the little kids... should be fun!
My coworkers and I are having Christmas dinner on the 25th... I'm not too sure I want to go but then if I dont... I'm the black sheep of the group and that's no good. But! On December 26th I've recently been in touch with an old friend from high school who was an exchange student from good ol Japan. He's living outside of Tokyo so we're going to meet up and have a little high school reunion. It should be awesome!
And the best news of all! My Mum will be arriving in 11 days! I have some great things planned and I cant wait to see her lovely face :)
As for now... That's about all the updates I can give... Will report back later.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Epilepsy - T-shirt for sale in Osaka

That was a good t-shirt.
So... on the news front... I signed another six month contract so I'm staying until November 2011 with this company. It's a little bittersweet, I love my students but I could do without some of my coworkers. After that I think I'll either go home or find a different job with a different company.
So this weekend... I'm going to try and take it relatively easy. Take mentioned something about me learning how to play the drums hahaha. Recently I've had a cold sore and some canker sores so I'm going to try and get some much deserved rest.
Did I mention I met another Canadian out here?

Who the hell cares set tripping silly - T-shirt on a guy riding the subway

I'm back from Osaka! It was a short whirlwind trip but quite nice to get out of Tokyo for the day and a half that it was. We went to see the whale shark, went to the food amusement park they have and then to Dotonbori to see the big glico sign and to the American village they have... which wasn't very American haha.