Hakama, Sumo

G'day again,

A few more pics from the last couple of weeks.


A few days ago some of us got dressed up in traditional Japanese clothing which was a fun experience. I wore a Hakama, which was a fun experience, and it took about 30 mins to put on with the help of a Japanese lady.

There are also pics of Hiromi wearing a kimono, traditional clothing for Japanese girls.











































Trev and Chizuru, in casual Japanese clothing! (I'll try to update more often Mrs. Lawless!)






























































There are quite a lot of Christmas decorations already on display, with great detail as well.

























At home, adding my hat from Mt. Fuji.












































A multicultural infusion. Hiromi playing the didgeridoo.






















SUMO!


Recently we had a Grand Sumo wrestling tournament in Fukuoka (one of 6 held annually), which finished last Sunday and went for 15 days, with each sumo fighting one fight per day. It's a full day event, with higher ranked wrestlers making their appearance as the day rolls on, culminating in the top rankers fighting at the end of the day, and the crowds builds up accordingly.





















































































































The entrance to the ring. We could hang out with the sumo before they had their fight. A couple of low rank wrestlers were actually play fighting before they went on, and we literally had to jump out of the way, otherwise we could have been squashed.










































Spot the sumo!



















ringside.




















Two sumo on arriving.




















3 sumo on the way to the tournament.




















Early on in the day. There are no weight divisions so there can often be a mismatch in size. This was the biggest fella we saw.



















Hope ya enjoyed the pics,

Shutes.

Phuket, Thailand

G'day,

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Thailand.



















This is where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. Really beautiful spot.
































Doing some snorkeling.

































































We did a day of kayaking through some caves and found some nice lagoons when we came out the other side.




















































































































Some good thai food.






















Went out to a bar where it was tradition to try to make it to the top of this pole.






















Trying the one-handed approach.


































Hiromi, in a tuk tuk.




We were lucky enough to find out about an elephant rehab centre, where formerly abused elephants are now looked after. Many of the elephants in Thailand are exploited for tourism purposes, so it was great to find a place where the elephants are treated properly. The rehab centre was one of the highlights of the trip, and is not on any tourist brochure. It's also basically free to hang out with elephants, feed them bananas directly into their mouth (with a huge slimy toungue licking ya right up ya arm!), and also play with a couple of wild gibbons which come in from the jungle to hang out.

















Feeding a banana into his mouth.



































Went for a ride on an elephant for about 45 mins.




































Feeding the hungry fella. It started to rain pretty heavily about 10 mins into our ride through the jungle and a banana plantation, but this was great as it added to the experience.


















One of two gibbons that frequently visit the rehab centre. They have a good deal......get fed all kinds of fruit, and have their fur groomed by fascinated tourists whenever they feel like it.

































































































This is Richard who organises visits to the centre. The gibbons are good friends with him.




Well hope ya enjoyed the pics. Shutes.