Joel and Marc and I went to Tenjin to check out the new year’s sales (spoiler: everything was closed, almost, and it was pretty much deserted.)

The 1st thing we saw was GARBAGE! Since it was just after new year’s the magical garbage fairies hadn’t returned tenjin to it’s usual state of cleanliness, and I got the filth digitally recorded right here:

Next we saw the world’s most awesome design job on this pet van. I think the person that designed it should be given some kind of nobel prize, seriously.

Japan has lots of vending machines, they’re sponsored by a drink vendor, and contain various beverages, much like at home, however the following drink machine, sponsored by the Japanese energy drink Pocari Sweat, had a somewhat limited selection of nothing but HOT CORN SOUP. I always take that when I’m jogging or biking.

Finally Marc and I took this opportunity for some extreme streetcrossing, 6 ways in one light!

A few days ago it was lovely and sunny and Joel had done research of the topic so him and Nicole and I set out to climb a mountain!

After a trip to the restroom (good thing it had a map)

We passed through a futuristic subway station

into suburbia with a tinge of the rural

We passed by a temple complex that had all sorts of shrines in a forest, all around precarious stone steps, one shrine was even at the top of a waterfall. It was lovely.

After a bunch more wilderness and fun hiking we got to the top, here’s a couple of views of what we saw:

It was lovely!

I’m afraid there was no way I could avoid experiencing Kani-Mayo Pizza-La Doritos. That is to say, Doritos that are flavoured like Pizza from the pizza place called “Pizza-La”. “Kani-Mayo” mean that the pizza is crab and mayonnaise for toppings. So in essense the Doritos are crab and mayonnaise pizza flavoured. I didn’t throw up, they wer actually pretty good. Here’s some pictures as proof.

So, I ordered the Japan release of the Boris/SunnO)) album Altar, and it was an ADVENTURE. It went like This:
1st of all, the reasoning behind buying an album that I had already downloaded: 1. It’s an awesome album. 2. It has a bonus version of The Sinking Belle, which is a great song. 3. It has a bonus disc that’s a 28-minute song by Boris, SunnO)) and the guitarist from Earth. 4. The release is limited to 1000 copies

The method:
I went to the record label page and attempted to buy it in English, since I’m fairly good at reading that language. They only take paypal, ok, sing up for paypal…Maybe not so much. Paypal needs your address and credit card info to be in the same country, no using a Canadian credit card and living in Japan (good thing I don’t know anyone doing that) 2 days elapse…
It occurs to me that perhaps the method of ordering it in JAPANESE might be different, spoiler: IT IS!
On the Japanese site they allow you to do a Post Office account transfer! GENIUS! It works thusly; I order the item online, give my address, conveniently it’s the same as the one on my Post office bank account. After ordering the CD I’m given the companies account number, I go to an ATM, and move money directly from my account to theirs. 5 days elapse…I get the DS in the mail, no shipping charged.

This CD is awesome! I’m not posting pictures:

It was my Birthday on the 6th. It was a strange but fun experience!for the morning it was a strangely normal day. I woke up and went to class. No presents had arrived, and it was a normal weekday, very un-birthday like. Things sure changed later! While I was voice chatting with Kat her present arrived, it was The Tick on DVD and Megaman ZX for DS (also Anmialc Crossing, but that wasn’t for birthday) Such a great present, that girl knows how to shop for me. That was lovely because I got to open the present while she was on the line.

Later in the day the plan had been for me to take Joel, Nicole and Marc (the 3 other Canadians from Mac) out for dinner, cos I got scholarships, and it was my birthday. We did that. They paid for me and I paid for them, but more people came too! Marc, Joel, Nicole, Hansen, Soojin, James, Patrick, and Natassja all went to the HARD ROCK! cafe for dinner. It’s a good place to get actual western food every once in a while. I had two salmon fillets with steamed broccoli and cauliflower with mashed potatoes, and a REAL MILKSHAKE! It was great. The thing about Hard Rock is they make a big deal of birthdays, they flash the lights and announce your birthday over the whole place’s intercom. They give you a button with your picture on it, and hard rock zodiac sign pin and a free desert! I was also very surprised as people got me presents, I had no idea they were going to! I got some lovely Japanese snacks, a DVD, a pencils of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, big awesome sparkly pink and green letters of “CH” on keychains! It was great fun!

I also received lovely cards from Gramma and Grampa and Aunt Carol and Uncle Malcolm. A busy week full of birthday and a Japanese midterm means I haven’t called them yet, but I will tonight. Mum and Dad’s present cam on Thursday. It was EXACTLY what I wanted, Harvey Birdman DVD and Trauma Center for DS! THey also sent me an awesome, and completely unexpected Nightmare Before Christmas shirt! YAY! All in all it was a very nice birthday. Here’s some pictures:

James, Soojin and Patrick at Hard Rock.

Marc and Nicole at Hard Rock!

Joel and Marc and I at HARD ROCK!

Hansen and Joel, and DINNER

Dessert and a Balloon they gave me, ON THE HOUSE!

It even had my name on it, I’m eatin’ it!

I TOTALLY got Phoenix Wright II today! It comes out in Japan tomorrow and in N.A in January!

I saw the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra  on Sunday.

I saw them do THAT!

They played for 2 hours, the show was sold out at a venue that fits 2300 people!

They took my camera at the door, but here’s some terrible quality cell-phone pics:

It was SOOOOOOOO GOOD! Also in Japan no one skanks to ska, they all do the Monkey, so 2300 Japanese people all doing the monkey. Definitely a sight to behold!

Here is a lot of Engrish I’ve seen:

These workaholics come to work 3-9 on Saturday, and 2-8 Sunday, Workaholics indeed!

The autumn collection is REALLY french!

That’s the way people usually get to the Rock Garden, I suppose.

For all the Final Fantasy VII fans

it’s from the re-nais-sance, I think that’s shen mich-el-an-gelo painted.

The podiatric equivalent to off-white

Non-player characters can be found here all day!

I couldn’t buy any of that jewelry because I have a neck.

There were all along the walls of Nijojo castle, so we wouldn’t write on the battlements, I suppose…

This is the portal through which we entered Sanjusangendo, it’s from a world I might not understand.

It’s just like every other center in Japan.

I suppose this store is for “fat-bottom girls”

By the same people as Sick hair and Tight hair.

Feeling too good about things? Have a Deepresso!

Japan, home of Sentence Arranging.

I’m glad it has a plenty.

“I” before “E” Except after “D”….

It’s in this season.

Clairol, Natural Imstuncts.

This past weekend was the international student trip to Kyoto, and it was amazing!The trip cost about 180$, including shinkansen (bullet train) and 2 nights in a hotel, and admission to all the historical sites. It’s heavily subsidized by the school, as a one way train ticket to Kyoto is about 120$. I think we got a pretty good deal on the trip personally!

We set out for the subway, then the shinkansen at 6:30. The shinkansen left Fukuoka at 8:30 and got to Kyoto shortly before 11. That’s pretty fast, if I do say so myself! It goes about 300km/hr. Here’s a picture looking out the window of the shinkansen:

Here’s what the area around the station looks like. That’s Kyoto Tower, and it’s near our hotel.

During our stay in Kyoto we visited, among other things: Sanjusangendo it’s a temple with 1001 Buddhas in it, here’s a a pic of the building, and the pond near it, as well as a stock pic of the inside, cos they don’t allow photos:

We also went to Kyomizudera, an amazing mountain temple, that’s huge, and gorgeous and surrounded by lovely woods. Here’s a picture of it:

We also went to a temple that has 7 KM of paths lined by Shinto gates, it’s amazing. here’s a picture of some of it’s main part:

One of my favourite things we visited was Nijojo castle, it was commissioned by Ieyasu Tokugawa and was the seat of the Shogunate for a long time. Here’s a couple pictures of it’s beautiful grounds:

Here’s a picture of a random mountain temple near where we ate lunch one day:

We also saw Kinkakuji, it’s a gold plated temple in a pond, it’s gorgeous, here’s a picture:

And finally here’s a picture of Kyoto at night, from the top of the Kyoto tower:

In other news that:

is my ticket to see the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra in Fukuoka on Sunday, YAY!

So, I’ve been here for 2 weeks, or thereabouts. It’s generally pretty neat. I like it. I’m getting mildly disillusioned about being here, though; A lot of the classes are boring and/or half-assed attempts and teaching, I was hoping for more, but the Japanese language courses are good, and I have them for 9 hours/week. Also very good. The people at iHouse are pretty fun (some of them like the concept of all you can drink a lot more than I do, though) I’m settling in, I like my room, I wish the Internet didn’t have everything you could think of blocked, I miss Kat, but it’s all pretty cool. I’ve been putting that scholarship to work, my guitar setup:

It cost I’d say about 210$. That’s for a nice Les Paul copy, a 15 watt amp (both used) a wah pedal, a nice copy of the Big Muff overdrive pedal, 2 large and 1 tiny patch cord and a guitar strap. I’d say that’s pretty nice!

I’ve been going frequently to Hawkstown (a shopping centre near the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, where the Baseball team the SoftBank Hawks play) as it has a Toys R Us. I love Toys R Us in Japan. I got an infrared controlled Artoo unit, and everything there is just so cool! Here’s a picture of the river on the way there:

There’s a pedestrian bridge on the way to hawkstown, so you can look over the road. Here’s what it looks like:

On Saturday it was Tim (from Delaware) and Hansen (also from Delaware)’s birthdays. I went with Tim, as Hansen was taking people to all you can drink and bars. We went to hard rock cafe (they rock the 13$ Caesar salad hard!) Since it was Tim’s birthday he got a free desert, a button with his picture on it, a hard rock cafe pin, and 20% off his meal. Here’s a picture of him being happy:

On Saturday we had actually been planning to go to a Fireworks festival, but it was postponed cos of rain, and happened Sunday. It was basically closed of streets PACKED with people, and there were people selling food, everywhere! Here’s some of them:

It was the most intense fireworks EVER! they lasted for an hour and 3 minutes, apparently 7700 of them were set off. By the end one’s whole field of view was filled by fireworks, it was CAMPING INTENSE! Here’s a picture!