Random bits

Last weekend, the ladies and I went out to Kamakura and did some sightseeing. The cool thing about that area, which is about an hour away from the city by train, is that it’s easy to get around via bicycle. So we rented a few and rode around to the Big Buddha, Hase Temple and got our first look at Japan’s coastline. I totally forgot we were on an island for a minute there.

Bought our tickets for spring break. A bunch of us are heading out to Thailand in March so while I’ll  be off the grid for a week or two, be on the lookout for updates and photos.

Speaking of photos, I’ve updated the Flickr stream (left sidebar).

Oh, and speaking of bikes, I went and bought one. Got it for ¥2,00o used which is pretty sweet since new they run around ¥11,800. In dollars I paid around $22. It’s a basic little “shopping bike” with a bell and basket on the front LOL. Everyone rides them here. I took the train out to Hatsudai to pick up the bike from a nice lady named Rika who was packing up to move to Austrailia with her hubby. It took about an hour to ride the bike back to Akasaka (home) through Shibuya and Roppongi. Good thing though, because I’m getting a little workout on and hopefully things will be in the right place come Thailand.

What else is up? Been going out and partying. Having lots of fun with my new Japan friends. Granted, most of them are not Japanese, but still. It’s Valentine’s day here already and we’re going out with some new folks for a 5-course dinner. Then out to nomihodai clubbing. Holla!

Things have gotten better. We’ve been here since Jan 7th and I feel much more acclimated and comfortable. Still, being away makes you appreciate home a lot more. I’ll be diving into some Cap’n Crunch when I get back, just you watch!

I’m sure there will be more updates in the coming weeks. Some interesting things are planned like Harajuku, a prison tour and maybe a trip to Korea. I know I haven’t been updating for a while but I don’t think anyone wants to hear me talk about boring class.

FYI, McDonald’s here doesn’t serve breakfast. You don’t know how much you want an egg mc muffin until you can’t have one!

This week (mini update)

What have I been up to this week? Not much. Regular life stuff, school/sleep/eat. Walk around the city, pop into different shops every now and again.

On Monday, our Japanese teacher Suzuki set us up on a rendez-vous with some advanced students of hers, French guys. They were pretty cool, albeit young (21!). I was hyped at first because I have way better French skills than Japanese. When I got there though, I was kind of quiet with the francais because I didn’t want to sound like an idiot. All was well though. We went to an Izakaya (almost like a tapas style restaurant with drinks and private rooms) in Shinjuku and shared plates while drinking warm sake

1 of our new French pals

and having conversation. Afterward we headed to an English Pub for a beer. I think it was that brief interaction with those guys that reminded me how much I need to get to France. They were telling me how 7+ yrs of language study was like a complete waste without ever having visited the country. Who can disagree with that?

We also went out with Suzuki for an eel lunch. Pretty tasty. I could have sworn that my last experience with eel was unpleasant, but when we got to the restaurant and had a lightly grilled eel over rice in a brown sauce, well I was pleased.

Lunch!

Side note: the Japanese will make tea out of anything. I’ve had rice tea, soba tea, oat tea and who the hell else knows what kind of tea. They’re all pretty bad if you were wondering. What happened to all that green tea I was told they drink over here?

Tonight I’ll pack a bag to get ready for a weekend trip. We’re heading up north to Naeba to go snowboarding! So you’ll most def have to check back for the details on that!

New FLICKR photos up, BTW. If you’re my f’book friend, you’ve already seen ’em though.

Pics link

I figured since I’m going to be taking so many pictures that I ought to put them somewhere else instead of trying to embed each one into this blog. I’ve got a photostream poppin’ over at Flickr. Check out the link to view:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hellokia/

Pictures

You guys are killing me. Yes, I have been taking pictures of almost everything. Have I had time to get them up here? No. I can barely sit still with all the crap I have to do. I’m up at 6am right now just trying to get THIS little bit down. So please, be patient and let me settle a bit. I will get them up!