Hello you lot, Yes, another week has gone by, and I`m still surviving. Not much happened during the week except that the building next to us caught fire. They are gutting the place and something must have got hot or something. I don't think that it was a very big fire but four fire tenders came out and I got some photos of the firemen. I couldn't see anything of the fire or even some smoke but knowing what the Japanese are like for safety it was probably a dropped cigarette that was still lit or something. Well it added a bit of excitement to the day. Spent the rest of my time at work teaching the others about TV and Oxtel stuff. Same old, same old. I have got a picture of me to prove it! Reza came to every lesson I gave even the ones he had heard before. I ribbed him over being kept back a grade but I don't think he saw the funny side. Ryo Terada, who is the new sales bloke, is my star student as even if his English is not perfect he makes up for it with enthusiasm. On Thursday Reza & Yoko were going to meet Matthew from Kevin's party last Sat. They wanted to look at his flat to see if it would suit them as it is quite close to Work and would mean that Rezas 1:30 commute would be only 30 mins. Matthew is going back to Canada in a couple of months to do some more studying so his flat will be available. I came along as well as I had nothing else to do and it was on my way home anyway. Matthews flat would be perfect for someone like me except that the bath is very bazaar. Its even squarer and deeper then my one and I have problems getting out of that! The flat is above a Vets and is close to lots of shops and is good for transport links being close to a JR line and Subway stations. We went for dinner after seeing his flat. The food was good (as is almost all the food in Japan is, except curry) and after a couple of beers it was time to go home. Reza and Yoko had no problem as the JR line they wanted was next door to the restaurant but I had a little bit of a walk. Matthew told me the directions but I was a little worried that I might get lost. I still find Tokyo a bit disorientating at night, and after a couple of beers. Shouldn't have worried though got back OK. Was a bit pissed of at having to buy a Y170 ticket to go one stop to Morishita that was all of what seemed to be half a K. I bet I could have walked to it in ten mins if Matthew had given me directions, but still, maybe it was the sensible thing to do. It was getting late at night. On Friday, Kevin asked if Reza and I would like to go for a drink after work in Roppongi we both said yes. When we got to the bar/restaurant Louise and Patricia were already there. I had met Patricia at there house warming party last weekend. We got on rather well and I do think she is a bit of a scream. There is one picture of her with a rather provocative smile on her face and all I say is that I have cropped the photo to protect the not so innocent! Kevin got me to go over and ask some Japanese women if I could have my photo taken with them and they said yes. Kevin is always doing things like that, both him and Louise can be a bit bossy. Then on Saturday we were all going to meet up for dinner and the go to a Salsa club. Roppongi Subway station has its own particular smell. It's a mixture of every known perfume and it ends up being a bit like very cheap stuff indeed. I got to the Roppongi crossing just a little early and at 7:30 my phone went and it was Kevin saying that they were going to be a bit late. Not that I minded much as it is fun just to watch the people go by. One 6 foot European blonde with a pink leather jacket stood out some thing rotten from all the other people there, but that's Roppongi. After about tem mins the cold started to get to me and I was glad when they finally turned up. They said that some of the others were running late as well and that Patricia was never on time. Kevin took me to the Restaurant, it featured food from Tahiti not something I`ve tried before. Kevin left me with Michelle (Australian) and Jorge who was Latin American and only spoke Spanish. I asked Michelle what she did and she said that she was in Securities and I said that she didn't look much like a Bouncer! We got hungry waiting for the others to turn up so we started to order. Michelle gave here order to the Japanese waitress in Spanish as the waitress spoke Spanish as well. Now I have two languages that I can't understand, to cope with. Finally as the food started to turn up so did Kevin, Louise and Ako their Japanese friend from the party (She had come in a kimono) last weekend as well. The food was a mixture of Texmex Italian and Asian. Spring rolls were followed by Potato skins and Fajitas with Pasta to finish off with. Louise was being very bossy and forced me to eat raw prawns and other fish. I agreed with her that the Prawn was quite sweet but I didn't like the texture at all! She kept telling me that I would get use to it in time. She seems to think that Japan is a bit like the Hotel California, " you can check out any time but you can never leave... " " You will love it, in three years time " she said. We go to the Salsa club just after 10. It was very crowded already and reminded me of the subway into the office in the morning! I danced with Ako but she had never done Salsa before so it was a little difficult. She picked up the basics quite quickly though and by the third dance was getting quite good. Then some of there friends turned I and I danced with a couple of them but they weren't that interested. Then just before 11, Patricia and a her friend turned up. Only 3 hours late! Still, she is Columbian so you don't want to cross her. I asked her to dance and I think I surprised her with how good I was at Salsa, I surprised my self! I think it was all down to my partner, she does seem to bring out the best in me. Salsa is a very sexy dance when done well, and that is something Patricia has plenty of! It was then 11:30 and I needed to get my last train to Ichinoe, it being so far out of town. Pity but I was starting to feel a bit unwell anyway, so I said my goodbyes and got a dirty look off Louise for going so early. But what was I to do? I was not going to stay up until 6 went the trains start running again. In the end it was a good thing that I left then, as I only just caught the last train to Ichinoe and was feeling so bad that I could hardly walk back to my flat. I don't know if its Japanese beer ( I had only had three pints) or the fact that I was getting a cold but the following morning but I felt awful. Sunday I got up around ten and went to do some shopping at a discount shop I found called " Heart Attack " it is very cheep, I suppose it would be something like Kwick Save. I stocked up on the Pot noodle kind of things that Reza had told me about. They are very good and full of freeze dried veg and Miso, fermented bean curd, it has lots of good healthy properties including removing Radioactive substances! I will take them into work for lunch. And at Y97 each or 48p are very reasonably priced as well. Felt a bit better after lunch so went for a cycle to see if I could get over the rainbow bridge, the new supper bridge between the new reclaimed land and downtown Tokyo. If I could, it would mean I would have a lovely cycle in to work, but I found out that you only have pedestrian access and there is a policeman to make sure that you don't try to take a cycle or skateboard etc. at the entrance. When I was in down town Tokyo I got stopped by the police who ran a check on my bike to see if I had stolen it. This was a pain as I didn't speak Japanese and they didn't speak English. I told them that I had bought it and showed them on my map were I lived and even where I got it from. I couldn't give them my address as I don't understand it anyway. As my bike had been registered in only the last couple of weeks the computer system had not been updated or so I figure as they kept me hanging on for a long while asking questions that I just didn't understand. I think that my nose rescued me in the end as it started to run and then the weather turned nasty and snow started to fall and one of the policemen gave me a tissue to blow my nose. I think in the end I was just too much trouble to keep any longer and wave me on my way. I do hope that I`m not stopped too often as it is a real pain, mostly because I don't understand what they are asking me. I am perfectly legal. What I didn't know then was that a USD35, 000, 000 Diamond theft had happened a couple of days before by some westerners in that very road! And we do all look alike to the Japanese. But really would a Diamond thief be riding around on a Y8500 shopping bike two days later in the same road? I wonder what delights are install for me next week? I think that after three night in a row out and this cold, I need a goodnights sleep to let me catch up with my self. Well only 7 weeks left of this good life, if it doesn't kill me first. Cheers me dears. Paul Fincher. [Week 1] [Week 2] [Week 3] [Week 4] [Week 5] [Week 6] [Week 7] [Week 8] [Week 9] [Week10] [Afterwards] Home