TF Flashback: Christmas In Australia (2001)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by tokyofox

Over recent years I have spent Christmas in the likes of Myanmar, Guatemala and Vietnam but none of them really felt like the festive season as was the case the first time I spent it away from home. That was in December 2001 when I was in Perth (Western Australia) coming towards the end of my 12 month working holiday down under.

It may have been my first Christmas away from my parents but amazingly it was my 24th consecutive one with my sister Lorna, who had arrived in the world’s most remote city a month earlier and thanks to the journal which I kept (now available online here) at the time it is now possible to recall the events of both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

After an absence of almost ten years I made my return to skateboarding when I went to the small half-pipe ramp in Subiaco with Kenji. Using his board I couldn’t perform any stunts but it felt good to just keep rolling back and forth. We stayed there longer than expected and then went to do our weekly food shopping in Woolworths before getting back for the Christmas Eve party in the bar at The Globe hostel which started at 7pm and included jugs of punch for $5 and a free BBQ which was strikingly similar to the usual Thursday night sausage sizzle but with added salad! As it was free though I couldn’t complain!

Oz1  Oz2  Continue reading →

Posted in Australasia Travel, Family | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

TF Top 10……Japanese Star Wars Snacks

Posted on December 18, 2015 by tokyofox

The much anticipated 7th Star Wars film is finally here and it really is hard to escape the merchandising frenzy which has long been associated with the saga. Over the years it seems that just about every conceivable product has had the Star Wars logo attached to it and recently in Japan there has been a fairy wide range of confectionary on sale. Far too many products to mention them all so here, in no particular order, is the Tokyo Fox top 10……Japanese Star Wars snacks….

1. Mets Soda – 12 characters don the bottles which come in two different flavours known as Blue Force (the light side) and Red Force (the dark side). Neither taste particularly  nice but the dark side one tastes a bit better in my opinion.

IMG_3028  IMG_3029  Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Quirky Japan, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dining Out: Safari African Restaurant Bar (Ethiopia)

Posted on December 14, 2015 by tokyofox

It’s a little sad that for over three decades now my only images of Ethiopia are the ones from its famine in the early 1980’s which featured in the Band Aid video ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?’ (1984). That song, which has been recorded in four different guises now, has undoubtedly done a lot of good and raised millions and millions of pounds for good causes but there is the feeling among many that it’s lyrics perpetuate stereotypes of conflict, poverty and diseases as the single story of the whole of Africa.

Back in October though, I saw ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown‘ (S06E06) on CNN which showed the country in a completely different light to those African images portrayed by Band Aid. It really opened up my eyes to this country and with it being a show focusing on food, I set about finding a restaurant in Tokyo which specialises in Ethiopian cuisine.

IMG_3668  IMG_3670  Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, TV Shows | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

London Filming Locations: Love Actually (2004)

Posted on December 11, 2015 by tokyofox

When December rolls round each year I tend to watch ‘Love Actually‘ (2004), especially if I’m going back to the UK and want to get in the mood for Christmas. During many of these trips to the nations capital over the last few years I have been seeking out the movie locations of this Richard Curtis-directed film and finally Tokyo Fox has managed to cobble together a fair few of them.  Continue reading →

Posted in London Film Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Return To Batam Island (Indonesia)

Posted on December 8, 2015 by tokyofox

The main reason for flying to Singapore was not actually to see the Star Wars starfighters or to dine out in the hawker centres but to take the boat to Batam in Indonesia to visit my sister and her family. Prior to their trip to Tokyo in April, they stayed with my in-laws in Hiroshima and from that moment my mother-in-law wanted to one day visit them on their industrial island. As it was, I intended to visit again at the end of November with my wife in tow (it was just me last October) and so a plan was hatched for the three of us to go over there for a short break combined with some time in Singapore.

Following a day in Singapore we headed out early to Vivo City in Harbourfront hoping to get the 9:30am BatamFast boat. That was already full though and the next one soon sold out too so we were left with the 11:35am one which certainly gave us time to get some food and go to Starbucks. On arrival at Batam Centre one hour later (but at the same time as we left due to the time difference!) we then had to endure a long, long wait in line at immigration.

We all stopped briefly for a group photo under the Hollywood-style ‘Welcome to Batam’ sign and then went for lunch at Montego Resort in Nongsa where a golf buggy cart transported us from the car park/reception area to a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay. Nasi loreng of course for me and though I tried to resist I finally decided to have some Pepsi Blue which was my first soda for well over 100 days. I managed to resist alcohol during the trip though as I was determined to break my previous record of 113 days off the stuff!

Batam3  Batam2   Continue reading →

Posted in Asia Travel, Family | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Singapore 2015 Pt II: A Day In Singapore

Posted on December 6, 2015 by tokyofox

As I concluded the third and final part of my Singapore 2014 saga I said that I would be returning one day with my wife in tow. Just over a year later and that came true as we arrived in Singapore following a night flight. It wasn’t just us two though as my mother-in-law was also with us for a little family trip as she returned for the first time since her honeymoon 40 years ago!

After the bonus inclusion of the Star Wars starfighters at Changi Airport, I was already more than satisfied with my Singapore experience but there would be a few more highlights on top of that. The taxi driver was a talkative one on our drive from the airport to Holiday Inn Atrium where we were staying. He was amazed that my mother-in-law had visited four decades ago and thought he needed to update us on all details of what had happened in the intervening period. Thankfully we were able to check in early and have a short rest before we headed out though not before photographing the breathtaking wellhole-style interior of the place.

IMG_3395  IMG_3284   Continue reading →

Posted in Asia Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Singapore 2015 Pt I: The Force Is Strong At Changi Airport

Posted on December 3, 2015 by tokyofox

The journey towards ‘The Force Awakens‘ began with #ForceFriday on September 4th and ever since then ‘Star Wars‘ commercial and marketing tie-ins with all kinds of products and places have been popping up around the world. One such example included the news a couple of weeks ago about two iconic starfighters docking at Singapore’s main airport. As a big Star Wars fan I really couldn’t believe my luck with our trip to the south-east Asian country on the horizon.

There is a Rebel Alliance X-wing fighter and an Empire TIE fighter currently exhibiting in a couple of the departure hall’s at Changi Airport which is located in the south-east corner of Singapore island. Thankfully, both are in public area’s so having landed at 6:30am last Friday morning we went upstairs to the departures area in terminal 2 where I looked for the TIE Fighter exhibit. It took me quite a while to find it but had I properly done my research, then I’d have known to just head over to check-in row 1.

IMG_3199  IMG_3192   Continue reading →

Posted in Asia Travel, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Moving In 2015

Posted on December 1, 2015 by tokyofox

Itabashi-ku has been the home of the all-new Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre since the start of October and so far it’s all been mostly good and our old place in Shinjuku-ku already seems such a long, long time ago! Of course it’s still early days but so far we are enjoying sunshine coming into the apartment each morning as well as a bit of wind going through it when we open the windows and doors. Neither really happened in our old place and sadly the walls became a bit mouldy but the new place is located in the corner of an apartment block facing the all-important south-west direction with two sizeable balconies.

IMG_2667  IMG_2668  Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Japan Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pain, Agony And Torture – My Week Of Hell

Posted on November 28, 2015 by tokyofox

You’d think that a week where Leicester City went top of the Premier League would be a good one but that wonderful achievement could only slightly mask what personally was a nightmare six days for me.

My tale began last Thursday (Oct 19th) when I was feeling tired so I sat back and closed my eyes  with my smartphone playing a podcast while it sat in my shirt pocket. I soon fell asleep and when my power nap ended 15-20 minutes later I had a terrible pain in my chest where the phone had been. I still have no idea what exactly the problem was but the phone must have overheated (with apps running and all that) and fried my body. Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Japan Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Star Wars (1977)

Posted on November 25, 2015 by tokyofox

2  819_DarthVader

For the average Star Wars fan this may come as a bit of a surprise but many Star Wars fanboys (and girls) and Japanophiles are aware of how much Star Wars was influenced by Japanese cinema and particularly the works of legendary director Akira Kurosawa.

Though some of the other Star Wars films and animated TV series’ include scenes, costumes and names inspired by Japan, the one that has been mostly influenced by Kurosawa’s samurai movies is the film that later went on to be retitled as ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope‘ but when originally released was simply called ‘Star Wars‘. Continue reading →

Posted in Review: Films Inspired By Japan, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment