Appearing As A Guest On BBC Radio Leicester’s Football Forum

Posted on February 2, 2020 by tokyofox

Ever since the late 80s I have listened to the football output on BBC Radio Leicester. Every match is covered live nowadays but back then (and going into the early 90s) we were lucky if we got second half commentary but more often than not it was just goal updates. The Monday night football forum has been around for as long as I can remember. I used to hear it in the early 90s when I lived with my parents but then I moved away. Many years later as the internet took over the world, and podcasts became common, I could start listening again.

I’ve long enjoyed hearing this show in podcast form on Tuesdays over the years and I was delighted to be on the programme in early January. I texted presenter and match-day commentator Ian Stringer to say that I was back in the East Midlands on the morning of the Wigan match in the FA Cup 3rd Round. He instantly replied and invited me on to the following Monday’s radio show to which I gleefully accepted despite saying I thought I was a bit rubbish when I was last on in Hong Kong in July 2017. He assured me I was brilliant which is obviously not true but was all the reassurance I needed! I’m easy like that!!

The palace of glittering delights!

When I was last in the UK five years ago I was invited Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Reverse Culture Shocks I Experienced When Back In The UK

Posted on January 30, 2020 by tokyofox

Five years is by far the longest I’ve ever been away from the UK and so when I returned last Christmas there was inevitably some reverse culture shock on my behalf. Many of these have been mentioned on the pages of Tokyo Fox before but that was all well over a decade ago when I was still finding my feet in Japan and blogging about such differences.

1. Waiting to cross roads – This was probably the first thing that stuck out for me. In Japan nearly everybody waits for the green man to start flashing before they cross the road, even if it’s 3am and there isn’t a moving vehicle in sight! London seemed fairly chaotic with pedestrians crossing the roads in all places at all times.

2. Method of payment – It’s changing a little but Continue reading →

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Oasis Masterplan25 Exhibition In London

Posted on January 27, 2020 by tokyofox

They were the band that defined a generation and continue to influence musicians to this day! Oasis have been the biggest band to come along in my lifetime but the Gallagher brothers’ wibbling rivalry eventually came to a head in 2009 when they broke up. Stories of them reforming for a tour are never too far away from the media though. I’m still not sure if a reunion is a good thing as it’s surely going to be difficult to recreate the magic of those past glories. I’m actually quite content with both Gallagher brothers still releasing their own music but having said that I’d no doubt end up lapping up the nostalgia which comes with such news. This exhibition certainly helped me reminisce about the greatest music era in my opinion.

Last year marked an incredible quarter of a century since the release of their debut album ‘Definitely Maybe‘ (1994) and thanks to Continue reading →

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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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