Saw this last night on the Canadian station while watching the RED WINGS win Stanley!


Not sure if these sumo wrestlers would get in trouble for doing a 'bikini car wash' commercial, but it sure is funny!

Recently, Kanda University of International Studies held the annual KUIS Cup which featured a brand spanking new artificial turf ground to play on; and boy, was it heaven! It was soooo soft and smooth compared with the
a) dirt grounds that are fast and hard, or
b) grass grounds with knee high tufts every couple of steps

Usually this event is held over two days and of course on the Saturday night, we go out and have a few drinks. Maybe a few drinks is a gross understatement. We usually go to a restaurant that offers a $10 all you can drink so needless to say our performance on the Sunday is very ordinary. This KUIS cup was played over one day only and as such we improved our performance. Our team, ELI FC, came a very respectable 7th which incidentally involved two wins and two losses. This was the ELIs best ever result and boy did we celebrate! First we had a few tinnies outside the local convenient store, then moved onto the all you can drink place, followed shamelessly by a bar that people only go to because it is open till late.

From a personal standpoint, I also did alright. I scored from a long range strike against China in our 1-0 win and also scored a penalty kick when our game against Iran went into penalties.

From the top:
1. Our team photo. The local press likened us to the all conquering Liverpool team of 2004. Some have even asked Barcelona scouts to come and see our next game to replace the has beens of Ronaldihno and Marquez.
2. Me and Saki, one of my best students who was the manager for the Russian team. Apparently they all had a shot of vodka before one of the games and forced poor Saki to have one too!
3. Ben FS about to level us at 1-1 with a header against Iran.
4. Me about to take the spot kick.
5. The ball in mid air
6. GOAL!

One last sunset..

After 6 weeks helping my parents out in the Bahamas, it was time to leave my mojitos and margaritas behind and move on to MI where the weather hasn't been nearly as warm and pleasant. On my final day in the Bahamas, I finally got my mom in the water, which she says she's always too busy to do! We went snorkeling and saw a huge barracuda and a manta-ray swimming around near the dock. We had a delicious last meal together where we ate surf and turf and lobster mornay. Nick's been jealous of all the good food I've been eating while he's stuck in Japan cooking for himself! Thankfully now that I'm back in MI, I've joined Bally's on a 2 week trial pass that's free! And when the 2 weeks is up, I'll go scam my way into another gym :)

A long but appropriate subject. I have now completed four "hikes" in Japan and two were walking up concrete steps. Now I didn't know at the time that I would have been walking up steps but others sure did! Some girls were still in their high heels, no problems! Some Japanese folk were dressed for the occasion, hiking boots, hiking pants, hiking hat, hiking shirt, hiking sweat cloth, hiking stick... the list goes on!
So, I went with Dwayne and Erik, two of my mates from the uni and we had a good time. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say the view on the top was postcard perfect. I reckon the photo i took with the cherry blossom tree in the foreground are spectacular! I am becoming more humble as I age...


Check out more of the photos here.

So it is that time of year again when the Japanese Marketing department at the university where I teach likes to take a photo of all the foreign teachers. I liken it to being a mannequin in a shopping window. Anyways, I took this photo and thought about it and came up with the following question.

How many Japanese people does it take to take a photo?

Since I was leaving, Nick and I decided to go all out at no expense and do something that we have really never done! That is...until now. Yes we did in fact do the splurge and order PIZZA!

Now pizza in Japan is like fine Italian cuisine at an expensive Italian eatery in New York. Ok, not exactly, but you're going to pay the same. It's crazy how expensive pizza is from Dominos, Pizza Hut or where we ordered from Pizza La.

We got two medium pizzas and a measly box of popcorn shrimp for the a whopping $50! Yes that's right 16 pieces of pie and 5 shrimps for $50! Was it worth it? Well, the pizza was pretty delicous and we got to sit back watch a movie and celebrate our 2 years here in Japan with a bottle of Champagne the Nick's dad gave us...so yes it was worth the splurge.

Here are some pics of our gourmet delivery. Oh and you should've seen the face of the delivery guy when Nick told him to keep the change (about $3). Usually this is not customary to tip anyone in Japan and actually from what I heard they find it rude if you try to. Usually they won't except it and will try to give it back. Nick tried to explain in Australia, we tip, here..take it....it's just $3!

Our favorite sushi restaurant in Japan has been a place called Kappa Kappa Sushi. It's a sushi train where you can pick off the conveyer belt the sushi you want until you stuff yourself silly. The best part, while it might not be the top notch sushi being served in Tokyo, is that it's cheap! About a dollar a plate. This is something I will miss back in the US, where sushi costs much more than just a $1 :) We visited one last time with fellow Kanda teachers Al, Tara and Julie. Farewell Kappa Kappa Sushi

On Saturday Nick and I headed in to Akihabara to check out some skype phones, but all we found was the following picture of men taking pictures of girls dressed up in their maid costumes, pretty typical for this area of Tokyo. But this one was different as it was a group of Gaijin! Otherwise known as foreigners and we swear they were like 12 years olds. Nonetheless, they were creating quite a crowd taking pictures of them




After Akihabara we headed to Ueno which was packed! This was the big weekend for cherry blossom viewing and hanami parties. Plenty of Japanese people pack Ueno Park, bring a picnic and what appeared to be plenty of alcohol! Now contrary to popular belief that Japanese are quiet and polite people....they sure can let loose when the Sakura trees are blooming. here's some pics and a movie for our last trip into Tokyo for me (Jen)

Bangkok should only be a stopover point and should never exceed a day. Unfortunately, we stayed there for two nights before we headed off for Cambodia, two nights when we came back from Cambodia, and two nights at the end of our trip after Malaysia.
We did the obligatory walk around the Royal Palace, the walk down Sukumvit Road - the diplomat area - and of course down at Pat Pong with all the Ping Pong clubs.
To us, Bangkok dragged on a little long, there wasn't that much to see and do. It's also a dirty place, lots of pollution in the air, land and waterways. If you haven't been to Bangkok, they use taxis and small tricycle vehicle called a tuk tuk with two seats in the back for passengers. I honestly would never want to jump in one of them cause you have no protection from the elements nor in the event of an accident. They just increase the intensity of Bangkok and add on noise pollution as they are constantly honking. I am pretty sure it is just a honk to indicate "I'm here, don't change lanes", but coming from a society where a honk is a sign of aggression, it is hard to tell.
Now, coming from Jen...there's a lot to do in Bangkok, okay maybe not a lot of variety, but one thing in particular, there is a lot...a ton of shopping! Almost every street has a night market, every corner is a shopping mall and almost every three shops is a jeweler or tailor. While, we will return for two final nights and most likely hang out at one of the cafes catching up with our journal and reading, I at least am looking forward to doing some last minute shopping with or without Nick :) Although to be honest, I have had my fair share and going to a night market in Malaysia reconfirmed both of our notions that perhaps the excitements of the markets have worn off more than a little bit. But we do agree out of all of them in Asia, Beijing has by far been the best for shopping...Bangkok comes in 2nd.

Yep...uh huh...the excitement has worn off -Nick

Oh yeah, here's the view out of one of our rooms. Classy!


And the mandatory Tuk Tuk photo + Pad Thai photo.


You can buy fake student cards, journalist cards, press cards, drivers licence, just about everything! There was a sign "No Photos" so Jen slyly stole this pic.


Finally, a cultural photo of these Thai ladies who walk around trying to sell these items. We didn't see anyone buy anything...

Our good friends from Japan, Angel and Clive, recently had their first baby son, Asher. We travelled from Krabi, Thailand to Penang, Malaysia and stayed with them for four days. We did absolutely nothing of interest to write here on our blog so we'll just say that both mother and son are doing well, Clive on the other hand is suffering from an anxiety disorder and needs a couple of serious chill out pills three times a day after a meal.



Above are a few photos, the one with Angel and Clive was taken on Asher's first time to the shopping center. Check more out here.