Japanese Adventures

Welcome! This being my first post on here, I thought I'd do a quick summary of the last 6 months in Japan. The photos are randomly set out and not in chronological order. But they're a good illustration of the adventures that are taking place in Sasebo, Japan.


















We had a gyoza party on March 27, and after we had a feast we tried our hand at writing our names in kanji (Japanese script). Even though foreign names should only be written in katakana (one of the 3 Japanese writing systems), we guessed how to write our name in kanji. One of the Japanese girls made this attempt at my name, pretty difficult I reckon.


















Beautifully presented sashimi. The snapper (tai) is really tasty and the tuna (maguro) was pretty tasty as well. The prawns (ebi) are raw, and although I'm more of a fan of a cooked prawn, they weren't too bad either. Kinda sweet. There is also some raw octopus which I'm quite partial to as well.





Cocktail Party: March 5, 2006


















My roomate Trevor (T.C.) and I decided to organise a cocktail party and where better place to have it than in a bar. A friend who owns an Australian wine bar let us use it for the party as it is closed every sunday. We were able to put on a pretty good night, with good fun had by all. To cover our costs we charged a pretty reasonable Y2000 (around A$23) for nomehodai (all you can drink), and provided the guest with a bevy of tasty cocktails, and fingerfood. A little suprising was the drinking ability (or lack there of) of many of our guests on the night. The remaining alcohol has since provided us with an endless supply for numerous parties.



















Cocktail party early on. From foreground left to right:
Mike, Mihoko, her friend (sorry), Nick, Stephanie,
Miki, Junko (joonks), Heather, Motomi (mota).
Trev and me behind the bar.






















Above & Below: Miki, Jooks and Mota enjoying a beverage.





































A few of the girls from work:
From left: me, Mota, Natsuko (Natters), Joonks, T.C.


























Above: Yasumichi-san, a monk from Kawatana (about 30 mins by train from Sasebo) displaying his fine musical skills. I usually catch up with Yasumichi and his family once a week at their temple for a chat and a few drinks!



Below: Yasumichi experiencing the unfamiliar joy of a mullet.


































Above: I also join in.




















Above: The Peace Park in Nagasaki. This park is a memorial to those who died as a result of the atom-bomb being dropped on Nagasaki at 11.02am on August 9, 1945. We also visited the Atomic Bomb Museum which gave an incredibly informative and graphic display of the lead up to, and after-effects of the bombing. Very interesting place, aimed at educating people about a tragic historical event in the hope that it's never repeated.
On one of the trips I have made to the U.S, I visited an aviation museum in Washington D.C which now houses the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima a few days before the Nagasaki bombing. It has been an interesting learning experience seeing both sides of the argument.























Above: Aso-san, one of the world'd largest volcanos. The huge caldera has a circumference around 100km. This is Mt. Naka-dake within the caldera, and it continuously emits smoke. When we got there the road up to the summit of Naka-dake was closed due to the amount of sulphur being emitted, but fortunately just as we were about to head off, the road opened and Trev and I walked up to have a close-up look at the crater. We then went for a bit of a trek where few Japanese tourist were prepared to venture, across some hills made of volcanic soil, and it definitely felt like being on another planet.