It’s My Birthday & Time For A Break

Posted on August 8, 2006 by tokyofox

As the title infers it is my birthday today and I enter the final year of my twenties. Call me miserable but I have never really been one to celebrate my birthday too much so I am glad to be working today as it stops me moping about thinking I should be doing something special to celebrate.

However, one good present is that it is the last day before my 10 day summer break and also brings the curtain down on a busy last couple of weeks which have included quite a few special summer schools (basically a two hour lesson in the mornings which allows the parents to get rid of their kids for a while!) on top of my regular schedule. I also took a few photos of my regular kids too which are featured along with the summer school ones below.

kg summer school 26th july 06 LE summer school 1st Aug 06 shane 002 shane 007 shane 011 shane 004 untitled
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Tokyo Daytripper: Life’s a Beach in Onjuku

Posted on August 6, 2006 by tokyofox

On the Boso Peninsula in south-east Chiba (the eastern neighbouring prefecture to Tokyo) is a beautiful white sand beach and last Friday I travelled for about 2.5 hours to spend the day on it and it was quite an experience. It was in the mid-thirties and my own body temperature was soaring high too for all the many beautiful Japanese girls there with hardly a pinch of fat between them.

Onjuku Beach 016  Onjuku Beach 020

The first thing to catch my eye as I stepped onto the beach was a statue of two camels (below) carrying a Prince and Princess which is something to do with a childrens song inspired by this lovely 2km long white sandy beach and its green hills. Those of us wanting to sunbathe and/or swim had to stay in one area which was packed but nowhere near as bad as the weekend when I guess no sand can be seen for the thousands of people there.

Onjuku Beach 009  Onjuku Beach 002

Despite the tans of most of the people on show, renting umbrellas to sit under is very common as are inflatables for lying around on in the sea. The main food stand on the beach was doing a roaring trade selling beers and food, and everyone apart from me seemed to use the 500 yen showers!

Onjuku Beach 017  Onjuku Beach 043  Onjuku Beach 038  Onjuku Beach 036

Vanity is never a problem for Japanese girls and they seem to always be looking at their mirrors, particularly at the end of the day. The restaurant sitting area was awash with them applying their make up before they trotted off home wearing their gold high heels which I’m sure doesn’t happen in too many countries after a beach trip. Keeping up appearances is very important in Japan!

Onjuku Beach 034  Onjuku Beach 039  Onjuku Beach 040  Onjuku Beach 026

Click here to read about a very different beach on the other side of Tokyo

Click here to see the top 10 Chiba Sights

Posted in Japan Travel, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Lot Of Dieting Is Wishful Shrinking!!

Posted on August 3, 2006 by tokyofox

The recent World Cup resulted in me consuming more beer than usual as well as irregular eating and sleeping habits. On top of that I haven’t really done any regular exercise since I stopped playing indoor football on the graveyard shift (called this because our games regularly kicked off well after 11pm!) at the start of 2001. Of course I have done lots of walking and hiking (as well as using my parents exercise machine when I was at home) but as I get older (29 next week y’know!) the weight is starting to pile on a bit more easily than ever before.

In response I am now into my second week of running every night around my neighbourhood at about 1am for just 15-20 minutes as well as daily press ups and sit ups plus a few bonus morning runs too. I have also changed my eating habits too and cut out all snacks, fizzy drinks, junk food and late night eating with increased consumption of fruit and water. Vegetables are still, on the whole, a no-go area for me though.

Have to say that I have found it all quite easy so far but thought best to blog this before I fall off the wagon!

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A Surprise Visitor Leads To A Day of Maid Cafes, Harajuku Cosplay, Shibuya Dining & Late Night Ramen!

Posted on August 2, 2006 by tokyofox

Sundays are all about having a lie-in for many and I was most looking forward to one last Sunday until I was awoken by my friend Keisuke (a guy who I travelled with in Australia) mailing me to say he was in Tokyo. He had travelled from his home in Osaka through the night and had given me no warning of his arrival!

I met him early morning and he wanted to sample a Maid Cafe (something I wrote about in one of my first ever blog entries) so there we were waiting like losers for this cafe to open at 11am. He was on a tight schedule as he had a concert to attend at 12.30 which was why he was in town for 24 hours. Anyway we had four maids attending to us which sounds far more exciting than it actually was! In reality we paid a ridiculous price for two drinks and a high price for two photos with a very pretty maid before leaving within about 30 minutes!

untitled  untitled

I had arranged to meet up with another Japanese friend in the afternoon and, after some food with him, we both met up with Keisuke in Harajuku just in time to catch the end of the Sunday parade of cosplayers as well as some break dancing (still fashionable in parts here despite going out of fashion in the UK in the 1980’s!) performances on a stage in Yoyogi Park.

Sun23July2006 011  Sun23July2006 012  Sun23July2006 010  Sun23July2006 008   Sun23July2006 004  Sun23July2006 015  Sun23July2006 014  untitled

We then went to Shibuya and the statue of Hachiko which is Tokyo’s most famous dog (a loyal dog who waited for its master to return every night for many many years after he had died) followed by the 8th floor restaurant overlooking Shibuya crossing which I went to the previous week.

Sun23July2006 020  hachiko & hikaru  hachiko & keisuke  Sun23July2006 018

On the way back to my house later, we met up with my girlfriend and stopped at a place which is very famous for its ramen. This place is on the corner of the main intersection near where I live in Ikebukuro and in true Japanese style, always has a long queue of people waiting outside to go in just because its been on TV. To be fair though I was curious as to why so many people felt the need to wait when I’m sure theres many equally good ones nearby but thats the Japanese for you! I have to say that it was very nice though maybe I was too drunk to really be able to taste it properly!

Sun23July2006 029  Sun23July2006 027

Keisuke crashed at mine (in return for the many times I stayed at his) and when I woke up he had gone as he had to get back to Osaka.

Posted in Australasia Travel, Hentai, Japan Life, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

A Nice ‘Only In Japan’ Moment

Posted on August 1, 2006 by tokyofox

From time to time I do make light-hearted fun of the Japanese but one of the nicest things about living here is its safety in terms of crime. As for natural phenomena like earthquakes, typhoons and so on, that is a different story altogether!!

One of the reasons most of the Japanese sleep in so many public places is because it is safe to do so with the knowledge that when they wake up they will still have all their possessions on them.

As I got into bed on Wednesday night I realised that I’d left my SD Memory card (used in my mobile and digital camera) in the machine at ‘7 Eleven’ when I was printing out a photo a couple of hours earlier. I have to admit as I jogged on down to the convenience store that I did kind of expect it to be there and sure enough it was. Exactly where I left it in the machine rather than having been handed in. Mighty relieved I was too as the memory card holds many photos from the last year.

In many countries if you put a wallet down in public for a moment there is a big risk of it being snatched away but in Japan it is very very likely that if you leave it somewhere then it will still be in that same place or have been handed into the police complete with all the money too. It has even been known for some Japanese people to use one of the groups wallets, purses or mobile phones to reserve a table for them in a restaurant whilst they order their food!

Posted in Japan Life | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

‘Pantsu Getta’ – The Latest Pervy Japanese Game

Posted on July 26, 2006 by tokyofox

It’s the game thats sweeping the nation……………..or maybe not!!

I’m not usually one to talk about news related items (that’s if you can even call it news!) as I’m too busy talking about myself on these self indulgent things called blogs! I thought this was far too interesting not to mention though after hearing about this パンツゲッタ article in the most recent ‘Metropolis’ which is a popular free magazine for foreigners living in Japan.

For those desparate to know what the game is I will enlighten you. From what I remember, girls hide their panties in a public place somewhere and then post hints on-line which people can then go and hunt for and the one who finds them gets to keep them and use them how he wants! Best not to think about that part! It’s basically Treasure Hunt with a more pervy twist.

Posted in Hentai, Japan Life, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Too Honest For Their Own Good?

Posted on July 23, 2006 by tokyofox

Japan is a very safe place in terms of crime and, unlike the rest of the world, you have a very, very good chance of getting your wallet back if you lose it. Thankfully I haven’t had to test this out myself.

It was with interest that I recently read that the Japanese police are getting constantly inundated with lost property of which 20% is made up by umbrellas. The Japanese are very umbrella-conscious and they are very much a way of life here whether it be p*ssing it down, snowing, sunny or even cloudy! It doesn’t really matter what the weather is doing as there’ll always be someone with their umbrella.

Obviously protecting yourself from the suns rays is a very serious issue these days but I am still bemused when I see people walking with their umbrellas up when its just light rain or not even raining. Not sure if its fashion here to have one or whether its just a way of life as most westerners on the whole tend to use umbrellas only when its very heavy rain. Trying to walk through a crowded melee of umbrellas can be an ardeous journey.

Also, in the UK I had one umbrella that lasted me over ten years but I get through about ten a year in Japan as they are so cheap and ubiquitous that its no real loss when you leave it on the train or at work or wherever.

The Japanese police now have sh*tloads of these umbrellas in lost property due to the honesty shown by Japanese people but only 1% of them are actually claimed. That is why the police want the six month rule for keeping such items to be reduced.

While it is refreshing that there are honest people in the world maybe it has gone too far with such a cheap item like umbrellas. I often ask ‘taiken‘ (demo) students what they would do if they found a 10,000 yen note (very roughly £5) on the street in order to test use of conditionals and not their honesty! The answer is nearly always to hand it in to the police or even just leave it! This way of thinking is so uncommon in the west that it seems almost wrong to hear their answers which surely can’t be right can it?!

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Review: Films Set in Japan – Various

Posted on July 21, 2006 by tokyofox

Had a few days off recently and for once didn’t go on a trip as saving for one next month. It was tipping it down with rain anyway so I watched a few DVD’s with Japanese connections as the rental store had a special offer.

Firstly, I watched ‘The Last Samurai‘ (2003) which I’d still never seen. It was actually better than I’d imagined it would be though far too long for someone with my limited attention span! Read a more detailed review of this film here.

Secondly, I watched ‘Pearl Harbor‘ which I only knew previously to be a war film best not to be mentioned to most Japanese! ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!‘ (1970) is the cooler WWII film to like and this one isn’t but I quite enjoyed it despite being an overlong Hollywood film (albeit one full of amazing battle scenes) overflowing with cliches.

Next up was the 1982 so-called sci-fi classic ‘Blade Runner‘ which was set in a Los Angeles perhaps based on a futuristic Tokyo. This was the directors cut so I don’t know whether it’s better or worse than the other version. I know many people consider this to be amazing, and whilst I did enjoy moments of it, I never really got into the story so much.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, my ideas about Japan previously came from films like ‘The Karate Kid‘ (1984) as well as ‘Lost in Translation‘ (2003), ‘007 You Only Live Twice‘ (1967), ‘Kill Bill‘ (2003), ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember‘ (2002) and even ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s‘ (1961) where Mickey Rooney portrayed a Japanese man in a time when you could get away with such a thing.

Whilst its not a film ‘The Simpsons‘ also gave me an insight into the land of the rising sun and my final viewing was their ‘Japan: 30 minutes over Tokyo‘ episode (Season 10 Episode 23 for all the geeks out there!) which saw the dysfunctional family go to Japan and run out of money resulting in them appearing on a crazy Japanese game show in order to win tickets back home. Seeing Homer continuously just walking through the thin paper walls was very amusing as was his rude behaviour in such a polite country and it was these images which were stuck in my mind before I came here.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10 (The Last Samurai)

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10 (Pearl Harbor)

Tokyo Fox Rating 6/10 (Blade Runner)

Tokyo Fox Rating 9/10 (The Simpsons)

The Simpsons also advertised a tasty Japanese drink called ‘CC Lemon’ years ago and those adverts are here for anyone interested.

Posted in Films, Review: Films Set In Japan, TV Shows | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dining Out: A Pizza Non-Japanese Food For Me

Posted on July 18, 2006 by tokyofox

Many of my students seem to live in a world where they think us ‘gaijin‘ only use knifes and forks and don’t eat Japanese food. This is so untrue and a little annoying for most of us but maybe they would have been happy to see where i went this afternoon for a ‘Viking‘ (buffet) lunch. I decided to take a break from my usual rice diet and go to ‘Shakey’s’ Pizza in Shibuya for an all-you-can-eat feast of pizza, spaghetti, fried potato’s and curry and all for the very reasonable price of 787 yen (less than £4!).

However, the main reason for me sampling this was because a couple of years ago my then neighbour (and now fellow blogger) Gideon said that he’d rather eat turd on toast than ‘Shakeys’ or something like that! I failed to believe that as even bad pizza is ok. I mean it doesn’t exactly take much to make a pizza does it?! Slap some cheese on a bit of bread and bake it and bobs yer uncle! Thats not always the case though as while tucking in to the tasty slices I had a flashback to a time in Sydney when I went for pizza with a load of people including some stupid girl who didn’t like cheese or tomato so her pizza was basically mushrooms on baked bread!

Anyway, ‘Shakeys’ was all fine as I thought it would be. Well fine for Japan which doesn’t probably say much as pizza here isn’t on a par with Europe or America. Certainly wasn’t as good as Hull where I went to University and where in my post-University house I lived within spitting distance of half a dozen good pizza takeaways.

Posted in Food & Drink, Japan Life | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Suits Aren’t Cool Enough For Japan!

Posted on July 16, 2006 by tokyofox

These last few days in Tokyo have been unbearably hot and humid with temperatures near to the mid-30’s and humidity levels at close to 100%. Judging by what some people wear you wouldn’t know it though as jeans and cardiagans are still worn by some Japanese as of course are the suits.

Japanese working customs are still very much formal and its part of the business culture that the salarymen wear their suits whatever the weather. These principles have been relaxed a little in the last 15 months or so due to Prime Minister Koizumi’s not-too-novel idea of introducing ‘Coolbiz’ which is where the jackets and ties are taken off to make life more bearable and mainly to help protect the environment. Japans arctic-like air conditioning in indoor public areas leads to ridiculously high fuel bills.

My company was a little late last year in agreeing to this approach which is hardly a brainwave of an idea but this year we don’t have to wear our ties between the start of June and the end of September.

It doesnt affect all though as the business men are still regularly seen dressed up in their formal attire though i have heard that some of them do take off their jackets once they get to work which seems a little stupid to me but thats one of many examples of how this countrys attitudes and culture are so different to that of the western world.

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