London Filming Locations: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

Posted on January 24, 2020 by tokyofox

This spin-off from the surprisingly successful Fast & the Furious films sees that classic movie scenario of the mismatched pair. Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are reunited having previously exchanged fisticuffs in the sixth and eighth installments of the franchise. They are unwillingly paired up by the authorities to track down an artificial and potentially world-destroying virus called ‘snowflake’.

Having injected the virus into herself, Shaw’s estranged sister, Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) goes on the run whilst the two main stars of the film have to work together to do something or other whilst bad guy Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) is the genetically engineered antagonist trying to throw a spanner in the works. Hattie first manages to escape on four minutes as she runs over Millennium Bridge (below) with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background.

On 22 minutes Hattie flees from her Continue reading →

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Dining Out: What is “Japanese” Food in England Like?

Posted on January 21, 2020 by tokyofox

This trip back to the UK was mostly about enjoying some good old-fashioned British food but when we went off on our own, my wife and I were both keen to try what is advertised as Japanese food in a number of restaurants. The most noticeable Japanese restaurants seem to be Wagamama and Yo! Sushi whilst lunchbox shops like Wasabi and Itsu are very commonplace too.

First up for us was Wagamama in the city centre of Leicester during the time between Christmas and New Year. We went a little early before the lunch time crowd so it was quite empty when we entered and were shown to our bench which would later be shared with fellow diners.

 

Unlike many places in Japan this restaurant is Continue reading →

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Meeting The Ex-Leicester City Player Who Scored The Final Goal At Filbert Street

Posted on January 18, 2020 by tokyofox

Filbert Street was the home of Leicester City from 1891 until May 2002 when they played their last ever competitive match against Tottenham Hotspur. An already relegated foxes side managed to go out on a high and the man who scored the winner in a 2-1 victory that day was a young winger who had been one of very few shining lights in what had been a pretty awful season.

Matt Piper played 27 games for Leicester and I never Continue reading →

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Taking My Wife on Her First Trip to Leicester

Posted on January 15, 2020 by tokyofox

My wife Rina may have been to my hometown twice before (August 2013 and August 2014) but she had never been into Leicester. Now that would not be a problem for almost all tourists visiting England but she is married to me!! As mentioned in my ‘Sightseeing in Leicester‘ post five years ago I was born in Leicester, used to regularly go shopping in the city, worked there for a while and have a great love for the place.

A surprise was waiting for us at the station just after Christmas as by chance my old schoolmate James (who featured in my very recent Christmas post) was waiting to go in the opposite direction.

 

The journey to Leicester is only about 15 minutes yet Continue reading →

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On The Fox (Hunt) Trail……In Great Bowden (Leicestershire, UK)

Posted on January 12, 2020 by tokyofox

After a day of excess eating on Christmas Day it’s always good to get out of the house the next day and, other than the start of the shop sales, the Fernie Hunt meet is the thing to do on Boxing Day. It’s very much a community tradition on the village green in Great Bowden (as well as other places around the county of Leicestershire) where the residents and supporters from across the area mingle over some mulled wine.

Sadly it was a stereotypical British day weather-wise as it was wet and grey so we wondered if it would attract the one or two thousand people that attended in past years. It was probably that hesitation about whether to go or not which meant we sadly arrived a bit late as the last of the horses and hounds were already racing off into the distance to follow pre-set artificial scent trails…or something like that!

 

Thankfully we noticed a couple of minutes later that there were Continue reading →

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Two “Christmas Days” Back In My Hometown With The Family

Posted on January 9, 2020 by tokyofox

 

After five years away I returned to England to spend Christmas with my family back in my hometown of Market Harborough in Leicestershire. I can’t say I was really planning to return this time as I had seen my parents briefly in Melbourne back in March. However, my wife was amazingly given time off for the whole of Christmas and not just the New Year as is customary in Japan.

That gave us the perfect opportunity to fly home for the festive season and after arriving at Heathrow Airport on the 23rd we were met by a pre-arranged taxi driver who Continue reading →

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Return To The King Power Stadium 5 Years After My Last Visit As Leicester City Aim For FA Cup Glory

Posted on January 6, 2020 by tokyofox

 

The recent success of my beloved Leicester City sure has been great but it does sadly mean that getting a ticket for any match (without the season ticket credentials) is really difficult. When I knew I’d be returning to England for the festive period I looked at the games available to me. Liverpool at home on Boxing Day was just never gonna happen so my mind turned to West Ham away on the 28th December as a trip up to Newcastle on New Years Day was also out of the question.

It was impossible for me to get tickets for any of those games anyway so my mind turned to the FA Cup and in early-December I was counting on a home tie against a team from outside the top half of the Premier League. My prayers were thankfully answered with Continue reading →

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TF Top 20……Tokyo Fox Hits Of 2019

Posted on January 1, 2020 by tokyofox

 

So 2020 has only just begun and already Tokyo Fox is looking back!! For about a decade now there have been exactly ten new posts on here each and every month and these are the twenty from 2019 which got the most hits…excluding sponsored or TF Top 10 list posts! Of course those entries from earlier in the year had more time to accumulate hits so don’t read too much into it all as it’s basically just another filler post to kick start the new year!

20. Nagoya – This City Is Fast Becoming My Favourite One In Japan! More details here

19. Around The World In Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Filming Location Trips For 2019

Posted on December 29, 2019 by tokyofox

For over a decade now Tokyo Fox has brought you a whole host of filming locations but it’s fair to say they have dwindled in recent years. I really did think a year ago that the chances of being able to compile such a list for this traditional curtain closer were very slim. Thanks in large part to my trip to Melbourne and Sydney in March I have managed it though. Here then, in no particular order, is the TF Top 10……filming location trips for 2019…

1. Neighbours, 1985 – (Click here)

 

2. Home Continue reading →

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Countdown to Christmas 2019 in Tokyo

Posted on December 26, 2019 by tokyofox

Christmas lights (known as illuminations in Japan) are a big deal in Tokyo and from November each Winter they begin to appear around the city in a range of displays. Having included them in my festive posts the last two years I felt obliged to continue the tradition so here are a couple of pictures from the ten minutes I spent at Shibuya Blue Cave 2019 (below) which stretched for about 800 metres between Shibuya Koen Dori Street and Yoyogi Park Keyaki Namiki. Approximately 600,000 blue LED lights were used to light up the avenue.

 

On the way home from my friend Marina’s leaving party in Kichijoji I also snapped a quick picture of Santa’s Continue reading →

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