Well, true to form, these shots are really outdated - from before Christmas! Sorry, I know they aren't photos of rotund, semi-nude men as promised, but I don't have time right now to sift through all the images, upload and format them etc. It's tempting, but I would be a very tired fool tomorrow if I started. Instead I've given you a couple of shots of Luminarie. I thought I'd post these shots up now before they become any more redundant. It's become an annual public sculpture (? ...installation ...lightshow? ...I'm not sure what you'd call it) in the heart of Kobe city. I think some people confuse this event with it being part of the many Christmas displays in the big cities, but it's to commemorate the anniversary of the great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake of 1995, in which 6000 people were lost. I'm not sure if you remember the images on the news back then but they were frightening. CCTV footage of inside office buildings showed everything moving side to side with an incredible violence. It was amazing to hear Mark at church recount what it was like - seeing a whole 5-6 storey building that had tipped on its side into the street. Anyway, Luminarie is a way of giving the city some light. The crowd was amazing - you had to creep through the course of golden arches (no, not a Macca's crawl!) at almost-stalling speed. Maybe I'm just an old humbug but I thought it was beautiful, but not worth enduring the crowd and the cold! It was absolutely freezing... but yeah, pretty.


I like this shot - it captures the atmosphere at the end section where you were surrounded by lights. I particularly like the chap who happens to be beaming straight at the camera!

Oh, I would like to retract my criticism of blogger.com. Just as I am an ingrate when it comes to massive free art like Lumarie, I have been ungrateful for this free website which allows me to put up all this stuff and let you in on what I'm seeing/doing/bemoaning/whinging about over here! I think I would be pretty unhappy if I couldn't blog, so thanks blogger!

This shot is from around the same time. Teachers Yukiko, Sue-yen and I caught some nice food and drink inside a cosy little izakaya/restaurant thing not too far from here. It was really warm inside and numbing outside. We had to run our feet off for the last train - it's been a few times that we've just made it!

This bottle was on display in front of me - I guess it's the local brew. I haven't seen it anywhere else... would be sad if it's no longer made.

Well, despite my intentions of not being a tired fool 7 or 8 hours from now, I have written too much and will be one. I am sad to say that my friend Justin has decided to go back to the States in the next few weeks. He has been a-wayfaring for a while and has realised that home is where he should be for now. I'm happy for him and, in a way jealous, but I will miss having such a dude nearby to hang out with... but I guess it means I'll have a friend an ocean away in Seattle, which is a good thing.

Only 3 days 'til Mum and Dad arrive!

Anyway, where was I... me ... yes, vain, tired and foolish. Goodnight

Well, no photos today... blogger.com is not being very cooperative.

What can I report? I've been well and truly riding the rollercoaster (did you know here they are called jetcoasters?)- this week has been great ... the week or two before I wished I could die without anyone noticing. I'm not really exaggerating saying that, but I guess I was exaggerating a lot of things in my head when I felt so. It was a case of heartache, of "what am I doing here?" and "what the heck would I do if I went home anyway?"... mixed with a bit of early mid-life crisis ... who am I kidding ... I guess a large part of why I'm here is the early mid-life crisis thing. You know: I'm 31, single, no commitments, no property, limited prospects... at least that's how I view it when I'm having a really bad time. When I'm having a good time it all seems like a great opportunity. Sorry if I'm revealing a bit too much here. Very unJapanese of me. I guess tonight I'm being a nudist and will pull this post offline when I come to my senses ... hey, being a nudist is kind of Japanese, isn't it? At least at an onsen it is. (An onsen is a hot spring where people bathe... one of the oldest and most famous in Japan is a few kilometres from here).

Well on the subject of nudism I will introduce my new friends, Hiroshi-san, Yuko-san, Norihiro-san and Yoko-san. Are they nudists? No, but Hiroshi always seems to bring up the subject of nudist beaches in Australia and laments the limitations of Google Earth's zoom feature! He is very funny. This is how we met...

I plucked up some courage and went to the little restaurant behind my flat by myself. I'd been there a couple of times before with Sue-yen (my friend, fellow Aussie teacher and building-mate) and we'd enjoyed great, simple but delicious and amazingly cheap food and some very friendly co-diners. Anyway, I walked in and sat down with a book, giving a very fleeting glance of acknowledgement to the other people inside. I felt kind of like I'd just walked into a saloon in Tombstone and the guy playing the piano had just stopped mid-tune. Despite this establishment being very much the "local" I was far from grasping the reality of my situation, but I have an over-active imagination. I had not recognised that I was among the company of the abovementioned very friendly co-diners: Hiroshi, Yuko, Norihiro and Yoko.

Well, as I feigned nonchalance and nervously read my book Hiroshi came up and said hello. The scales fell from my eyes as soon as he approached me. It was more his demeanour and voice than his appearance that I registered - hearty would be a good word to describe him. He asked me can I drink beer and as I said yes, he summoned a glassful from the kitchen as if he was the master. I don't mean that he was arrogant - everyone was so kind and happy at what was happening. I instantly felt ashamed of my fears and suspicions that caused me to be so afraid of being there in the first place. We talked and ate and drank for a good while and I walked out at the end having had a great meal and having 4 beautiful new friends, with an invitation to Nori and Yoko's house for dinner the following Monday. How gracious are these people? How gracious is God?

The invite was also extended to Sue-yen and so as planned, Hiroshi and Yuko picked us up and took us to the Izugami's. We were surprised to find we were very familiar with their place - we walk past it all the time! Wow, real local friends! There we met Titi the golden retriever puppy who is a lovable and lively (leaking) bladder on legs. We ate oysters and drank beer and sake. We talked and played cards and the night was over too soon.

Another night at the Izugami's has since happened - this second occasion saw us eating home-made okonomiyaki. Totemo oishikatta desu!! (It was yummy). We did some Google Earth travelling and I showed them Mum and Dad's house in good ol' Epping, New South Wales, Osutoraria.

Hiroshi is a kak. At work on his lunchbreak he likes to take virtual holidays. He had taken a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas that day. He said it was quite boring - nothing but straight roads in the middle of nowhere! I am very fond of these guys - they have made a real difference to life here - just knowing that you have friends who are such nice people around the corner is a great comfort.

One more thing to know about Hiroshi - he drinks a glass of warm salty water everyday. This may not seem remarkable, but what if I was to say he drinks it through his nose and spits it out of his mouth!? I think it's 5 years that he said he's been doing it and swears he hasn't had a cold since starting. He could read the apprehension in my face as he told me of his routine and added this disclaimer to his suggestion that I try it: the first time you may feel like you are dying!

Anyway, he should know about that part of the anatomy - he's a dentist and Yuko, his wife's an orthodontist. Nori is also a dentist, so it's a real dangerous group to smile too broadly among! Just kidding. I must get photos of these guys from Sue-yen.

Well, in contrast to Hiroshi, I've been snotty for about a month now - the week leading up to that trip to the hospital was the worst, but I still haven't gotten back to 100%. The weather here has been crazy, swinging on a pendulum between warmish and wintry weather. I thought Spring was supposed to have started at the beginning of March, but apparently it's officially this Tuesday (equinox - a national holiday here... yay!). Today I walked out into something which I will call micro-hail. I think it was snow, but it didn't seem to be like ice crystals. It was drier than sleet, but faster and smaller than snow. Picture tiny polystyrene balls in a wind tunnel. It snowed on occasions through the last 2 weeks - nothing substantial, but considering that it was interspersed with warmish days where you could walk around in just a couple of thinnish layers, enough to confuse your body. I am well and truly sick of cold weather. Sorry to whinge again.

Well, on a very bright note, my parents are going to be here in just over a week! Hard to believe. I will spin out for the first few days, seeing my "two lives" comes together in this obscure place. I am getting extremely excited! Apart from missing them so so much, I am keen for them to experience what is so dear to me - Japan. After they spend some time in my neck of the woods and seeing other bits of Kansai (Kyoto, Himeji) we will go to Gifu Prefecture to see Hida-Takayama (where I took most of those snow photos) and stay in a traditional ryokan for 2 nights (one that's decked out with antiques - I'm excited) before going on to Tokyo for 4 nights. Hopefully we can visit Tom, Jen and Ruby in their new place in Tsukuba (north of Tokyo) and see Junko too (it was great to see her again in Kobe just last weekend).

Well, this will sound like a really poserish thing to say, but I swear it's true - I better go as I have to get up earlyish to go see the Sumo. The Osaka Spring Tournament is underway and I am keen to see the top guys strut their jelly and smack into each other. That's a pretty crude way to put it, (the ceremonies are quite elaborate and refined) but essentially that's the spectacle, right? I've been following it a bit on the telly and it should be great - although at my price-range I might be straining my eyes. Hopefully I will have some good piccies to show you soon...

Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.

Mata ne (later) (^-^)

Have you seen the movie Akira? If so then perhaps you'll appreciate these machines - it looks like Kaneda and his friends had pulled up outside Osaka Intex. We were all there to see more machines inside... Osaka Auto Messe. It's basically an after-market accessory show for modifying bikes and cars - big business here it would seem - the place was packed!

Bosozoku means something like "crazy action team". Who are they? They are the proudly self-titled scooter gangs of Japan. They are mainly harmless (unless you class disturbing the peace with loud noise late at night harm), but I gather some are a little sketchy. They love to cruise around on their chariots that have sometimes huge sports exhausts that make their little engines sound as deep and thoaty as possible. Scooters here range in size a lot. Some are actually quite large.

This one's for Cooper, my supervisor and workmate from Souther Star. Thought you'd dig this!

There were quite a lot of Odysseys, but I thought this one was pretty cool.

This one is for the Sparks brothers, my friends who had a $500 Tarago with a $1000 stereo inside! Over here Tarago's are called Estimas. This one has been given a pretty good going over! The "wagonists" here love lowering their vans and so they give the wheels a crazy negative camber to fit them under the guards - especially at the rear. It can look cool, but can also look ridiculous. Now you may be wondering about the acoustics of this speaker set-up. It's not designed to be heard properly inside, but rather outside. I saw a van like this, but smaller, cruising slowly in Umeda (Osaka), evangelising the masses with J-pop music (Japanese pop). The more extreme cars/vans have airbrushed pictures of their favourite singers (Ayumi Hamasaki is par for the course), but you don't tend to see many day-to-day. There are so many different car sub-cultures here, from the tasteful, to the overly pretentious, to the downright bizarre. I really love spotting the different vehicles. It would seem that you can register anything here - from a left hand drive Cadillac with hydraulic suspension, to bat-mobilesque Hiace vans with huge wings on the roof and extensions to the front and rear, to a little Gorilla clown motorbike, to a robot-like decotora (or decorated truck) with massive chrome protrusions that would do great damage to pedestrians.

I love this little van. K-class cars are under 1000cc and are cheaper to buy and register. There is a whole world of K-class car culture to explore too!

Well, this is my "pity me" photo.

Valentine's Day has been marketed extremely well here. I would normally be a little ecstatic to receive 5 valentines (I think they were my first 5 ever!), but here they come as thank-yous from any type of relation. I was given chocolates by a 5 year-old, a 6 year-old, an 8 year-old, a friend and my manager. In Japan, the girls do the giving on this day. Then, on March 14 or "White Day" (I'm told by Brad this is an invention of a chocolate/sweets company here) it is the boys' turn to respond. If there is romance involved, the boy must buy something more extravagant to tell the girl of his affection. We are potentially talking lots of money. Major department stores commision Cordon Bleu chocolate chefs/sculptors from Paris! A small top-line box can set you back a couple of hundred dollars.

Well, the humble Kobe Dentetsu train line made it onto the Kansai news. We've had a couple of derailments within a month of each other, both at the same spot one stop before mine. Not great considering it's the most expensive local line in Japan. It's been a pain at times - having to walk further or catch buses. But everything's working again now.

Here are my friends Yahata-san and his daughter, Mana-chu. You can also see a reflection of Yuko-san. We were all going our separate ways after church, so the Yahatas were in the train next to ours. Mana-chu loves to wave - she would make a good queen! We are on Hankyu trains... the other side of the hill from my local line... ah the greener pastures of Hankyu. They offer cheaper, pristine, shiny maroon trains! Hanshin trains are likewise. It can be very confusing at times when travelling here. There are many different privately operated train companies. And then there's the publicly owned JR or Japan Railways. And then there are the subways. All these different networks interconnect - you can usually make a transfer from one to another using the same ticket, but I've been caught out before. I made an assumption that 2 different companies' stations of the same town-name would be connected, only to find they were a kilometre apart! Oh well, I got to meet some helpful locals on my way between! An old man I asked for directions took me to the police box! I think it gave the 2 bemused cops a bit of novelty factor for the day - "we had a lost gaijin who could barely speak visit us!". On that note it was funny when I had to catch a bus because of the derailments. The guy who was directing everyone was sitting at the front and then he stood and faced me and said very proudly in English, "Gosha is next stop!", as if to say "everyone, we have an international visitor with us! On my bus." I'm overstating it a bit, but I couldn't help chuckling to myself. Having whinged so much I should say... the bus was a coach with mini chandeliers! Luxury.

Just another of my shop display photos. They know how to allure certain people to their stores, that's for sure.

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Kobe's Chinatown. It's not as big as Sydney's Chinatown, but it's nice. The major difference is the price of the food! I'm not used to expensive Chinese - plus I think the food in Sydney is better. I would be interested to know how long most of the Chinese community here has been in Japan. Another big difference I noticed was that I was hearing Japanese being spoken - not much if any Chinese. Anyway, there were some colourful and loud dragon and lion dances which were crowd-pleasers!

I can never remember how to write the Chinese new year greeting, so I'll just say

I hope you get fat with choy... or maybe joy?

This is the aptly named Sky building in Osaka. You go the last 5 floors to the observation deck via escalator - those diagonal structures you can see going up to the round hole. It's a cool building. I went with my friend Noriko-chan. It was great to be shown the city by a local.

Here Noriko is standing infront of her neighbourhoood - the east side of Yodo River. She says Osaka is a messy city. I kind of agree - it's certainly no Sydney Harbour but it's got a life and charm that is really endearing - at least to me, anyway. I think that comes from its people.

Well, this is my backyard. Not literally, but this is my nearest city, Sanda. I love quirky little blocks like this. Sometimes you have to wonder if any architects were consulted in the construction of some buildings here. There are some great designs here, and there are some seemingly non-existent designs.

Up the hill from the city is a peaceful bamboo grove nestled behind a large shrine.

This picture reminds me of Hiroshima and the many paper cranes you can see there. They are offered as wishes for recovery from sickness.

This shrine was fairly new, but obviously there are still people in Japan making a trade of doing ornate carpentry. A building itself might be new, but often the site has been a shrine for many hundreds of years. Temples and shrines are often destroyed by earthquake or fire or just become too old to maintain.

Anyway, hi ho hi ho, it's off to work I go...