Yukata Night etc

Well folks, it almost time that I leave Sasebo and head to a different part of Japan. I'll be leaving Sasebo on August 18, and work in Fukuoka for 2 weeks before I head down to Kumamoto and take up residence there. It's an exciting move and am looking forward to it. The old fella Trev is also moving from Sasebo, he's moving camp to Fukuoka. So things around here will be a bit different in a month's time, the aussies are moving out (including Heather the other aussie here), and the kiwis are moving in. Not a bad replacement, with the kiwis keeping the oder of balance in representing down under.

Some exciting news is that Rob is coming over to visit in October for around 2 weeks with his German girlfriend on the way back to Australia. It will be good to see the fella after seeing him off in Canada. And it's good to see he has found himself a 'serious girlfriend' as were his words. If anyone wants to pop over, you are more than welcome to stay with me.


Here are the latest photos from the last month or so.


As you are probably aware, Japanese girls are of slight build and have awesome flexibility, which makes a backpack quite an adequate way of travelling .......being in it that is! Here we have Miki showing us the traditional way the japanese ladies travel, with the husbands doing all the hard work.













Now Japanese food is a lot more diverse than what we are exposed to in the western world, and quite often I come across a new delicasy that I couldn't imagine previously being food.



I think it was kind of a seaweed, fairly tasty actually.








Below: watching the sunset near Sasebo, in the land of the rising sun.










Below: around Sasebo, Haruna and myself.









I was fortunate enough to be given a samue from Yasumichi a few weeks ago, so I put it on at the Temple and played Monk for a few hours.

















Oto-san showing how it should be done.






Enjoying some sushi dinner at the temple.











A Japanese fly swatter! Fly tennis is popular, a quite fun to play. With the press of a button, an electric current runs through the 'strings' of the raquet, and with a quick swing it puts an end to a fly problem.






Around 2 weeks ago I headed back down to Kumamoto to go to a Yukata party. A yukata is kind of a summer kimono. It was a fun night with most people getting decked out. I wore my samue.


















Well that's it for now, I'm hoping to head to Shikoku (4th largest island in Japan) for a few days around August 12, so I should have some good pics from there. Hope everyone is well, looking forward to hearing from ya. Take care, Shutes.