Garden

During the Obon week holiday Aiko felt cabin fever hitting so we decided to take a drive and went into the city, to IKEA (a furniture outlet) and LaLa Port (a large shopping mall). At IKEA we were checking out dining tables and found a good deal on one but a set of 4 chairs were twice the price of the table so we decided to wait a bit longer. We did however pick up a second counter stool to go with the one we already have and Aiko scored some new plants.

Our Plumeria is also getting closer and closer to blooming!!! We are kinda excited because last year it didn't flower and the Plumeia flowers not only look great but also have such a nice aroma. Fingers crossed, they should come out in a week or so.....stay tuned

NZ RAIL

This video is classic. NZ has a long way to go to rival Japan for it's rail punctuality.

Fishing with Friends

It's official, OBON has started and the traffic to go anywhere is as good an indicator as any that the best thing to do is to stay put and enjoy what we have on our front door step.

There were no waves to speak of following the weak TD that passed over the country so it was decided to try our luck fishing.

First stop, YAKS STORE. They had so many options that we were a little overwhelmed at first but settled on a $20 rod and reel deal and some basic hook set ups, bait and some cold drinks (fishing is hot, hard work!).
Next it was back down to the Marina where we got ourselves all comfortable and rigged the lines ready for action...
It took awhile to reel in the first one, the honor going to Mizuki, a tiny sucker that after posing for a picture (in case there were no more opportunities) was quickly released to swim with his buddies again. Then I reeled in his "big" brother...
The old guys to our right were catching Aji (horse mackerel) every so often so fingers crossed it was just a matter of time and patience....Kona was the first to strike, landing an Iwashi (sardine).The flood gates opened and everyone got in on the action with Aiko getting the best of it.

Back home and the girls got to work cooking and whipped up a delicious dish with the aid of "cookpad.com", a great online site with truck loads of recipes for every occasion just like this.




Kona made a sumptuous Parfait for everyone for dessert to wrap things up on what was a very enjoyable and relaxing day.

Donya Ken

Celebrated a friend's wife's birthday the other day and went to a couple of eating establishments. Wasabi, which I posted about almost a month and a half ago, and Donya. Ken and his family are in fine form and the shop is doing good. He whipped up this plate of fried chicken for us especially which we devoured as we savoured a few big botts of Saporro. (pic stolen from Dave's Blog)
And here is a gem that I had from ages ago. Ken's boy is now in Junior H.S. but still knows how to serve an ice cold beer! Here he is cracking the top off one of my big botts, blues brother sunnies and all. Sweet Bro!!

Man time flies...

Plumeria

We've had this plumeria since it was a cutting and it has grown and grown. It doesn't much like the cold in winter but it's getting to the point where it's too big to bring inside.

It looks as though we should have flowers soon.

Stay tuned....

Summer means SUIKA

Japanese love their watermelon in the summer and are prepared to pay big bucks for the pleasure of eating a nice juicy one. Coming from NZ we take them for granted a little. So next time you see one on the roadside or at the supermarket, think of us here in Japan paying $20 US a pop.
Big MAHALO to our neighbours, for this slice of heaven all the way from Niigata.

MT FUJI

With forecasted thunder storms and rain over the last few days and the prospect of a typhoon crossing the country this Thursday, plans to scale Mt Fuji have taken a back seat. Instead, it's been fun waves in Kamogawa with very few people out! Just the way I like it.

LIVE SURFING

Ain't it cool how you can sit back and relax in the comfort of your own home, cold beer in hand, and watch live surfing?

The quality of coverage is improving event by event and the US Open is leading the way. Guess what I'll be doing tonight/tomorrow morning?

Don't Try This @ Home!

R16 - RESPECT TO THE ILLEST! from Mason Rose on Vimeo.

Relaxing...

After the excitement of the fireworks festival, Aiko and I had a nice relaxing weekend. We hung out at the beach, had a few swims, watched 'Sherlock Holmes' on DVD (awesome movie in my opinion!Right up there with my favs) and went for a drive down the coast.....argh, the serenity....

BTW, only 3 days of work until Obon Vacation starts! Yeah Haaa!!!

HANABI = FIREWORKS

As per usual, I was working this day. It seems there is some kind of conspiracy to not run these events on a Sunday....Oh well, what can you do?

We handed out FANS! That's what we did! 500 of them! Actually it was pretty easy work and they went like hot cakes as they out classed the rival AU fans and it was a rather warm night. With any luck we might get some business from it, if not then at least we raised the profile of the school and got our name and face out there.

A lot of students had to study through the din but a lot of others got to enjoy the festival. (A-chan had to study, Y-chan got to party. I know who I'd rather be.)

My lesson at that time was still in Australia on a 2 week home stay so I had a free period. Once I was done with the fans I headed to the roof and snapped these photos. A lot of people had vantage points from far away to avoid dealing with the traffic, parking and people down by the beach.


Every year the show runs for an hour, 7:30~8:30, so once I had officially finished for the day I ran across the street, purchased a couple of ice cold Sapporo Beers and then Aiko and I headed down to beach to see things from the front row for the last 10-15 minutes or so. It was even better close-up and the boulevard was packed with people and stalls selling festival foods. I saw lots of our fans in use which was good, too. Pics from the beach.

Good News!

K-kun (pictured below) made the first cut off for his speech contest and will be going to represent at the all Chiba event. He'll also be joined by the only other student from school to enter, L-chan. They've done a fantastic job to get this far and all their hard work and extra effort put in is reaping rewards. Keep your fingers and toes crossed and wish them luck on the big stage mid September!

Speech Contest

K-kun (pictured), a student of mine, has been putting in lots of hours on his speech contest. He did a fantastic job and now we are just waiting for the results. Regardless of whether the judges pick him to proceed to the next round or not, he did amazingly well in my opinion. Fingers crossed K-kun

Aloha Subway

The Hawaiian Tourism Board is all over it! We were in the city on Monday and treated ourselves to a Subway sandwich, a rarity when you live out of the city. I had a 6 inch WAIKIKI COB SANDWICH with shrimps, avocado, cheese, lettuce,etc and it tasted so good! Aiko went with the Turkey option, her favourite, especially with the Honey roasted bread. I wish there was one of these near work...but then again I'd probably end up blowing all my money on it everyday. Hahaha. Just as well there isn't one.

B'Ball in the HEAT!

The annual South Bosou Penninsula B'ball tournament was held last Sunday and it was hot! The lifeguards just announced that it's 34 degrees today and it must've been about the same on Sunday. The sweat didn't/wouldn't stop for an eternity after the game finished. Luckily there were only two games which we split, a lose and a win, keeping us in the same pool for next year (no relegation or promotion). Our team is made up of mostly older fellas and we had one kid from the local Uni playing guard for us. The poor kid hardly got anytime to take a rest whereas us 'seniors' had a pretty good rotation going on. good timesTeam photo of the boys in our new kit before the first game (hence we don't look knackered yet)

I'm Shrinking!!

The health check passed with no probs BUT, I shrank 1mm!! My old mate Bill will be stoked as he doesn't need much to surpass me and it's been buggin' him since we were in Jnr HS.

Health Check Tomorrow

In Japan, companies are obliged to pay for their staff to undertake annual health checks which is pretty good really as most people probably wouldn't bother if it were left to them.

The degree of detail varies but in most cases they measure your height, your weight, calculate your BMI (fat %), take blood pressure and a sample for testing, take a chest x-ray, urine sample, and check your hearing and eyesight as well as a short counselling session to discuss aspects of your lifestyle and answer any queries you may have.

Once you turn 35 the fun really starts (as I'm about to find out).

I have to take a stool sample (kind instructions included, even detailing how to sit) and drinking the dreaded Valium, a white liquid form, which runs through your stomach as they tip you upside down and all around while strapped/holding on to a flat table like surface and if you burp.......you have to drink some more!! Oh yeah, and I can't eat from 8pm the night prior until it's all done at about noon the following day.

Wish me luck

Summer in Japan

All I can say is thank goodness I don't live in Tokyo!

Sunset

Great way to wrap up the day. Taking a stroll out around the Marina on sunset.

SUNRISE

Got a little burnt yesterday despite my best efforts to cover up. Woke up at 4am...HOT! Awesome timing to catch the sunrise though which was a beauty with fog rolling over the hills!