A New Addition To The Family #2 – Anesta

Posted on August 23, 2009 by tokyofox

I am a proud Uncle again after my sister Ruth gave birth to Anesta. She was born on August 14th so congratulations to both Ruth and Carl on their second child.

A New Addition To The Family A New Addition To The Family A New Addition To The Family A New Addition To The Family

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Italy Filming Locations: Mission Impossible III (2006)

Posted on August 22, 2009 by tokyofox

‘The Phantom Menace‘ (1999) and ‘Attack Of The Clones‘ (2002) aren’t the only movies to have filmed at Caserta Palace as the third installment of the ‘Mission: Impossible‘ movie series also used this place which is 25 kilometres north of Naples. There is a 20 minute Italian segment in this JJ Abrams directed sequel to ‘MI:2‘ (2000) or ‘Mission: Impossible 2′ as many of us preferred to call it! Thankfully this film, released a decade on from the first one, was simply known as ‘Mission: Impossible III‘.

  

There are brief shots of the real Rome first though to help establish the Continue reading →

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Italy Filming Locations: Star Wars Traveller – Naboo (a.k.a. Caserta)

Posted on August 21, 2009 by tokyofox

The very first thing I did on day one in Italy was take an 8am Eurostar train for 28 euros from Rome Termini station to Caserta which is 25 kilometres north of Naples. I had intended to get the 6.27 local train but arrived just a few minutes before and without knowledge of how to get a ticket or which platform to go to I decided to not risk it. Ironically, I still got there earlier than I would have but at three times the price!

 

The reason for this journey was to visit Caserta Palace which is luckily opposite the station and was used as Queen Amidala’s Royal Palace in Naboo in both ‘Star Wars Episode I’ (1999) and ‘Star Wars Episode II’ (2002). 

 

It also filled in for the inside of the Vatican in ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) and more recently ‘Angels & Demons‘ (2009). 

 

Having done my research before the trip it really was quite a sight to see those stairs and the huge window that appeared in the Star Wars prequels. I had a quick look around the palace and as impressive and beautiful as it was I just wasn’t that interested in any of the exhibits and pictures on display.

 

However, the palace gardens were very nice and just stretched on for ages and ages as I found to my cost when I walked them in the mid-morning sunshine thinking the end fountain was much closer than it was. With the need to move on and visit Pompeii later that day I took the shuttle bus back to the palace.

 

Back at the station I had to endure Italian inefficiency and poor service as the machines weren’t working and so I had to queue up at the one window that was open just to get a ticket the short distance to Napoli.

You can see other Star Wars Traveller entries by clicking on the following:

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Italy Filming Locations: Roman Holiday (1953)

Posted on August 18, 2009 by tokyofox

All four of my nights in Italy were spent in the capital city staying at Fawlty Towers which was not just chosen for the name, but also for it’s price and convenience to the main station Termini. Despite the kicking it gets on the internet, I found it was fairly decent but maybe I’m more used to slumming it than others when on holiday!

I spent two whole days in Rome and it’s hard not to like such a place although the people at times did their best to make it so with their attitude, rudeness and incessant arguing. I started by getting in line for the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums (below) which I guess is a must-see, and of course its unbelievable to see though it’s not really my thing. You can’t not appreciate the work and effort gone into such a thing.

   

The following sights, which I visited over the two days, all featured in the 1953 film ‘Roman Holiday‘:

St Peter’s Basilica (below) from the outside was really impressive and featured in the films opening title sequence. I returned at the end of my second day to go inside and climb the 500+ steps to the top.

         

Ponte Sant Angelo is the bridge (below) where the barge dance scene took place below with the castle towering above.

Spanish Steps (below) were where she sat eating gelato (something I couldn’t do due to a case of sensitive teeth) when Joe Bradley (a.k.a. Gregory Peck) “accidentally” bumped into her.

51 Via Margutta was the address where Joe lived (below) but sadly its under construction and bore no resemblance to that in the film which is probably not so surprising as the film was made over 50 years ago!!

Fontana di Trevi (below) was where Joe tried to steal a kids camera while Ann (a.k.a. Audrey Hepburn) was getting her hair cut nearby. Like Spanish steps this was a tourist magnet but a great place to just sit and watch people which is what I did a lot more of on my second day when I returned to both places.

Bocca della Verita (below) probably provided the films most memorable scene where Joe pulled his hand out of the ‘mouth of truth’ with his hand up his sleeve astonishing Ann. Having seen the huge line for this photo opportunity the previous day it was a relief to be almost first in the queue when I returned on my second day.

Piazza Venezia was the location for the dangerous Vespa riding scene below.

Roman Forum (below) was where they met when she was sleeping on a stone and this was one of my favourite parts of Rome as I really enjoyed looking around the ruins here and in the neighbouring Palatine.

The Collosseum (below) is visited by almost everyone including myself and of course Joe and Ann in ‘Roman Holiday’. Another fascinating place to visit and the symbol of Rome for good reason.

Pantheon (below) was really nice too and looking up at the glass bubble roof must be an amazing sight when it p*sses it down. Very sunny when I was there though. Joe bought Ann champagne at a nearby cafe. I was looking for a cafe to sit at and watch people when I was here but they were all quite expensive and I resisted the temptation to sit outside McDonalds which has a fantastic location right in front of the columns of the Pantheon.

  

Instead I went to the nearby Piazza Navona (below) where just round the corner I had a breakfast beer but for good reason as I saw Duff beer on sale which is a famous beer drunk by Homer in ‘The Simpsons‘. The piazza was fairly quiet when I arrived but when I returned after a 10 minute detour it was packed with tourists.

Piazza Barberini was the square (below) where Ann broke out from her palace….I think!

Overall, I did a lot of walking around Rome over the two days. I could have left Rome fairly content after a busy first day but it was quite nice to to be able to spend my time more leisurely on the other day.

  

Piazza del Popolo (below) finally gave me the chance to wine and dine in a nice location with a cheap pizza and a chance to impersonate James Richardson reviewing the Italian sports papers as he did with regularity at cafes on Gazzetta Football Italia on Channel 4 in the early 1990’s.


Click here to read ‘Italia 2009 Pt I: Pompeii’

Click here to read ‘Italia 2009 Pt III: Star Wars Traveller – Naboo (a.k.a. Caserta)’

Click here to read ‘Italia 2009 Pt IV: Mission Impossible III Filming Locations’

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Italia 2009: Pompeii

Posted on August 17, 2009 by tokyofox

Experience told me that I would wake up early on my first day (after the previous days 14 hour flight) I decided to head straight down to the Naples area as I really wanted to go there and thought it best to get it done and dusted sooner rather than later. One of the places I visited was Pompeii which was very interesting to look at although that novelty wore off as I wandered aimlessly among the ruins in the strong afternoon heat trying not to get sunburned as I still hadn’t bought any suncream. Hence, why I am wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and long pants in most of the photos.

Italy Aug '09 096  Italy Aug '09 097  Italy Aug '09 102  Italy Aug '09 108

Sadly there wasn’t so much in the way of information boards which are usually sufficient for me. Without a map or info on the history of the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius it was quite hard to get a real feel for the place but a guide would have driven me crazy, making me more tired and with very little information being retained in all likelihood.

Italy Aug '09 105  Italy Aug '09 113  Italy Aug '09 121  Italy Aug '09 127  Italy Aug '09 132  Italy Aug '09 135

Click here to read ‘Italia 2009 Pt II: Roman Holiday Filming Locations’

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All Set For The Movie Sets

Posted on August 3, 2009 by tokyofox

Last year I wrote a blog saying the dream was over due to financial constraints but given that I then paid nearly two-thirds of that cost just to go to Laos I thought I’d just pay whatever it cost this year as I haven’t had any other holidays in 2009 due to my participation on the TESOL course in the first half of the year.

Anyway, that ‘dream’ is now a reality and I have been doing my preparation for the trip to Rome, Naples and Tunisia but I don’t necessarily mean looking at guidebooks and webpages. No, my “research” has meant watching any films made in these locations. For Italy, this has included ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) where the inside of Caserta Palace near Naples provided the backdrop for a scene or two.

Of course, there’s also ‘Roman Holiday‘ (1954) which I had never seen before until recently. I was quite surprised to find myself enjoying this kind of film and will now even try and hunt down a few of the sights used in its filming. Also, made me a bit sad that I will not have my girlfriend with me in the Italian capital.

Two years ago I spent my birthday (August 8th) on a plane to Australia, last year it was to Laos and this year is no different. I will be spending my birthday alone yet again taking the plane from Rome to Tunis in Tunisia and then (hopefully) taking the 7 hour bus down south.

A few films have been set on location in Tunisia with these including ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’, ‘The English Patient‘, ‘The Raiders Of the Lost Ark‘ and of course the Star Wars saga where four of the six movies were filmed in Tunisia with the most memorable being ‘A New Hope‘ and ‘The Phantom Menace‘ Going in search of some of the sites used in those two films in particular is my main reason for taking my first trip to Africa and I am very much looking forward to the challenge of getting round Tunisia.

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Tokyo Daytripper: The Other Side Of Kawagoe! It’s Not All Traditional Stuff

Posted on July 29, 2009 by tokyofox
川越水上公園 26 July '09 008

It was a beautiful day last Sunday so my girlfriend and I went to Aquatic Park Kawagoe which is about 45 minutes away from where we live by train and bus. This was an unusually cheap place at only Continue reading →

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Tokyo Daytripper: Kannokura Mountain

Posted on July 24, 2009 by tokyofox

I think my girlfriend would be the first to admit she is not the most active of girls so I was most surprised when she suggested going hiking last Sunday up in Saitama. Tobu Takezawa station is about an hour away from where we live and, having got off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, we then had to walk for about 10-15 minutes just to find the hiking course which would eventually take us to Ogawamachi station by way of a scenic mountain hike.

It ultimately took us about four hours to do. A lot of work you may think just for a mountain that stands at 350 metres high but as with all mountains it’s the achievement of getting there which is most important in my opinion. Of course, the hot and humid summer heat didn’t do anything to make it any easier.

 

The photo below shows me rather poorly impersonating Michael Jackson from his ‘Earth Song’ video.

Back at street level, we came across this beer vending machine (below) which is something I haven’t seen for years and this one even included the mega-sized ones. A rewarding refreshment for our exercise that day!

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper: Top 10 Saitama Sights’ 

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Nagashima Spa Land

Posted on July 20, 2009 by tokyofox

It’s been a few years since I actually travelled for more than a few hours outside of Tokyo but last Wednesday morning myself, Ethan and his workmates Charlie and Simon drove over to Mie prefecture which is 5.5 hours away. I had to get up at 4:15 am to meet up with the guys for our 6am departure to Nagashima Spa Land for a couple of days.

I decided to jump on the Michael Jackson bandwagon and added a few of his classics to my iPod which provided a surprisingly atmospheric soundtrack to our journey due in part to all the clapping coming from the back of the car for some reason.

On arrival we were shocked to discover that the worlds longest rollercoaster ‘Steel dragon’ was closed as was the wooden roller-coaster known as ‘White Cyclone’ so with that in mind we opted for the swimming pools and slides for our first day with the hope that the aforementioned rides would be open the following day.

The bad luck didn’t end there though as we were kicked out of the pool area as Simon had a tattoo which are banned in some pools in Japan due to past links to the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). Despite saying he would cover it up there was just no reasoning with the guard which is a really frustrating thing about this country. We got our money back but still lost out as Ethan had got the tickets on the internet at a cheaper price meaning that we would have to pay the normal full price the following day.

Anyway, we spent an enjoyable afternoon on the rides without any waiting in line and the White Cyclone did later open up which was a relief and a bonus. After a funny night out on the beer (due to Charlie’s drunken antics!) we went to the swimming area on our final day with no such tatoo issues this time as Simon was in a t-shirt from the off.

Again, there were hardly any queues and loads of great slides with my favourite being the more simple foam carpet waterslide race which we went on time and time again with the competitiveness between us increasing each time and I was lucky enough to win a fair few of these races.

One of the photos below is of the little machine which you use to dry your swimwear which is something I have never seen before and can only assume its another great Japanese invention. Some of the most immature and juvenile games on the journey back brought the curtain down on a trip which included a fair few ups and downs and that isn’t just said with reference to the rides.

 Nagashima Spa Land 
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Our Own Private Tour Of The Stadium In Yokohama Which Hosted The 2002 World Cup Final

Posted on July 13, 2009 by tokyofox

It’s fair to say that seeing Japan co-host the World Cup in 2002 had some bearing on my decision to want to come here to live. At the time I was on the dole so could devote more hours to it than was probably healthy!

 

A couple of years ago I visited the Japan World Cup Museum and last Friday I went to Yokohama to go on a tour of the Nissan Stadium which played host to the World Cup Final where Brazil beat Germany 2-0. As expected there was no-one else wanting to do the tour (there wasn’t even anyone else around anywhere!) so I was lucky enough to get the tour in English by one of the voluntary guides who was a retired man. I was surprised to discover that only four World Cup games were actually played at the stadium.

 

As well as the usual displays of photos, balls, shirts, flags and tickets there was also the handprint of the German goalie Oliver Kahn and the footprint of the Brazil captain Cafu, a reproduction of the Brazil team’s dressing room including replica shirts and signed lockers, a warm-up training room (which was simple but great fun and really brought out the kid in me) and of course the stadium itself which I got to walk out on to aided by the official FIFA 2002 anthem but minus a single other person (apart from my tour guide) there to witness it. All in all, I really enjoyed this tour and can now say that I have been to both the main World Cup Stadiums in Korea and in Japan.

 

You can read ‘World Cup Opening Titles: Japan/Korea 2002’ here

You can read ‘My JSoccer Magazine Article on Japan Football Museum’ here

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