After countless visits to Izu I really did think we had just about exhausted every possible place worth visiting. However, my wife noticed an advert on the Izu Kyūkō Line trains showing an old temple which looked quite interesting due to its location amidst a forested area, and she was very keen to see it.
We took the train to Izu-Kōgen (IZ06) one morning and from there it was just under Continue reading
For many years I have seen a spectacular sea cave used on promotional materials for the Izu Peninsula, and really wanted to see it for myself. With no knowledge of the place I just assumed it was out of bounds to someone like me who has to use public transport to get to such sights but when I actually realised it was accessible from the most southerly train station I began to make plans.
Those plans were finally realised back in June. The train ride down the east coast of the peninsula on Continue reading
The vast majority of the hundreds of Inari Shrines I cycled to in Tokyo’s 23 wards were fairly easy to locate. However, there were some very well hidden and elusive ones which were rather isolated, tucked away in tight alleyways or located within grounds which I was unable to enter. Usually I was able to at least Continue reading
Whilst season two of alphabet dating is taking place I thought I could fill that void with a restrospecive series which is certainly an easier operation as they were not done in alphabetical order which can be a little stressful and frustrating at times.
Season 0 will throw back to places and things we’ve done in Greater Tokyo since 2011. I generally hate the term Continue reading
It is said that the soundtrack for a film is its oxygen, and that is certainly true for the 1985 classic ‘Back To The Future‘ which was composed by Alan Silvestri. The main theme is one of the most iconic in film history, and the ones by Huey Lewis & The News are pretty famous too.
Promotion for such events is all done online these days with the algorithm deciding who to target, and I was very much part of that so when I saw adverts for this concert on social media it was hard to miss. My wife and I were keen to see it so we bought some tickets but they didn’t come cheap though and were priced at Continue reading
15 years ago was the first time for me to be back on Australian soil since my 12 month working holiday visa ended in February 2002. My eldest sister had only just given birth to her first child and it really wasn’t long before I was holding the baby! And changing his nappy too!
He looked pretty worried at first but probably not Continue reading
When Sky gained the rights to show Premier League games live from the 1992-93 season onwards it meant the end of live top flight English football on terrestrial TV. In the absence of ‘The Match‘ on ITV on Sunday afternoons a couple of alternatives emerged. Channel 4 began to air live Serie A games from Italy and some of the ITV regions showed the football league. Central and LWT made a commitment to have regular live matches whilst the other regions tended to be far more occasional.
Tony Francis was the presenter of Central Match Live with Jimmy Greaves usually alongside him whilst Alan Parry was the main commentator and the likes of Continue reading
Nowadays there are a wealth of YouTube videos, blogs and articles for finding out about Japan but back in my day the resources were far more limited. The sad fact is that a lot of my Japanese imagery was shaped by the “Okinawa” scenes (filmed in Hawaii!) in ‘The Karate Kid Part II‘ (1986), and there was one scene which stuck in my mind for a long time.
The den-den daiko hand-held pellet drums and the Japanese tea ceremony may be more famous but I was really impressed by the beauty of such floating lanterns which Mr Miyagi and Daniel-San put in the local river as a traditional way of Continue reading
After 37 years and nearly 9000 episodes the iconic Australian soap ‘Neighbours‘ came off air this week ending on a real high as some legendary characters reappeared for a final farewell to a show that many people have great affection for. However, pure nostalgia doesn’t mean too much when far fewer people are Continue reading
It’s pretty much par for the course these days that every time we get a holiday we go to Izu. My wifes parents and dog aren’t always there but they were on this particular visit. The dogs are probably Continue reading
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 