Hakone

Hakone was an excellent break. Spent lots of time in cable cars going up and over mountains made so colourful by the trees whose foliage was every shade of green yellow, orange and red. Didn't eat the customary black egg which is cooked in the hot sulphurous volcanic earth but I didnt mind as it was pretty stinky hanging around! Went on a really tacky pirate ship across a lake and walked up a mountain which had amazing views of Mt Fuji. It was a clear but really cold day so I managed to get a few good shots of the mountain and surrounding area.

Spent Tuesday evening in a local pub being fed wierd and wonderful local specialities and inflicting our karaoke on the rest of the pub in true British style!

The open air sculpture museum was nice but made more spectacular by the surrounding scenery - set half way up the mountains. It was just so nice to get out into some open air and to get a lungful of fresh air - I'd forgotten how much I miss it being a country lass anyway! Oh and I think I managed Japanese public bath etiquette without causing too much offense! Its an all-together-all-naked experience where you have to wash first before plunging into a pool heated to abnormal temperatures (naturally in the Hakone area because of the volcanic mountains). Apparently a lot of ooo ooo aa a a a aaaaaaaaahs are the norm until you aclimatise to the heat and as soon as you do, you are encouraged to jump (well ok slide gracefully) into the cold plunge pool and if your heart is still in tact after that you can then have the pleasure of sitting in a sauna and sweating it out once more!

So getting back to work after that was hard work but I have only got three weeks to teach before the Christmas break - and unusually for English schools out here we have over two weeks so I expect I will have plenty of time to do some more travelling around. I can't wait for that although it will be a bit strange being away from home for the first time ever! Awww!

Boo Hoo!

Well I was going to put on some photos to show you all - to discover that I have lost a whole memory card with over 100 photos on! Arghh I can't believe it! It may still turn up but I am getting less optimistic about that since checking everywhere I can think of. I can't even work out the last time I saw it so I can't go back to where I've been and ask either. Its a real shame but I suppose the images are in my head - at least thats one way of looking at it. Hmph.

Apart from that, I am going to Hakone tomorrow with some friends. Its in the mountains near Mt Fuji and there are lots of open-air museums and natural hot springs. Perfect to relax and get away for a couple of days. So will write again soon about that.

Some facts you may or may not be able to live without.

Went to a small Jazz gig yesterday afternoon with my friend Hiromi. The venue was really small and there were only about 15 people there but the music was excellent and we were invited to stay for the party afterwards. Plenty of food, drinks and more music - this time in the form of Shamisen (a traqditional Japanese guitar / banjo) and traditional singing. The party grew more and more drunken and I was totally welcomed by these people I had just met. I was encouraged to clap, sing, dance and have a go at playing all the instruments (as they laughed heartily at my poor attempts!) Some of them spoke English others didnt but it didnt spoil the fun and it really is true that true communication happens inspite of language barriers! They play every month and I am definitely going to try to make it next month too.

Also went to Tokyo Designers week and 100%Design UK on Thursday. It was a really interesting event - full of zany creations and some downright silly ones too. It also reminded me of being a fresher again - full of queuing and being squashed! I have now been inside a dyson hoover (well obvioulsy not to scale) and have put my head in a big box full of lights which flickered on and off as you shakeyour head. If it sounds bizarre - its because it was - totally! We also stumbled accross the nearby Tokyo Fashion Week festival and were ushered to the front row of a fashion show - expecting to see the likes of Kate Moss we were left a little dissapointed but it was nevertheless an unexpected pleasure!

Also would just like to mention a little bit about digital Japan especially the toilets! They seats open as you walk in, make flushing sounds as you pee (to protect the sensibilities of the delicate female population), flush as you stand up, warm the seats for you and have countless buttons for washing, squirting and more I havnt had the pleasure of working out. Have yet to find a loo that will actually wipe your arse- but Im sure the engineers working on the project are Japanese!

So thats all for now, I will leave you with some of quotes from one of the English language magazines I have been reading recently:

Election over: ...no other country in the world would tolerate election posters being put up every 50 metres without somebody scrawling a moustache on at least one.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper has found it necessary to respond to an initiative of The Yomiuri Shimbun which has been leaving two rolls of toilet paper for each stack of neatly bundled used newspapers they pick up from their readers doorsteps. Previously only leaving a single roll, it will now leave two.

Radio shows for cats may be broadcast as soon as next year when the digital radio radio network is launched.

Japan's first whistling competition is being planned by 63 year old professional whistler Masaaki Moku to try and popularise his rare vocation.

Asahi Breweries has recalled 1.6million bottles of nonalcoholic beer whose lable says it has 10 caleries per bottle when in fact it has 19.

New York City police were reported to be baffled at the news that, because Japanese law requires anyone coming across a lost article to turn it in to the nearest Koban (police station) cops here spend a considerable amount of time filling out reports of lost umberellas. A New York City assistant district attorney was heard to murmur, 'The Japanese are (expletive) insane'.

A 2004 census found that there are 46 homosexual penguins in Japans aquariams and zoos.

The number of university students busted this year for drug use hit an all time high: 107.

If you are curious about the world your dog lives in, you might consider buying a gadget called Wonderful Shot, a digital camera that attaches to your dogs collar and takes a picture every minute of every hour from which you can compile a diary for your dog.

And Finally...

The Asahi Shimbun revealed that a small bottle of schoolgirls saliver can be bought for 12000 yen (60 pounds) pants cost 8000 (40 pounds) and urine 11000 yen (55 pounds!). Urgh!