Tokyo Pics!

So we spent 3 days in Tokyo. We took the night bus from Osaka and arrived in Tokyo at about 630 in the morning. The first day we hung about in Asakusa, the traditional temply area of Tokyo. The surrounding area was beautiful as well. Lots to look at and many touristy things to buy. After the temple, it was check in time at the hostel - which by the way was the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in. Sakura Hostel if anyone is interested. After checking in (and taking a nap), we headed downtown and met a friend for drinks.


Sunrise from the bus


A mural outside our hostel. What IS he doing?? Hmmmmm.


A sneak preview of the temple in Asakusa


Jason tying his fortune up.


Lanterns


Jaason and Ieva.

Day 2. We went to Harajuku. Its near Yoyogi Park and famous for its Harajuku girls. Gwen Stefani "loves their style". They wear the craziest stuff and go every Sunday to hang around the area. Of course, the love getting their picture taken. It is the whole point of going. After Harajuku, we went to see the Imperial Palace. A bit of a disappointment really. The surrounding park was beautiful, but the only part of the 'palace' that you get to see is a bridge with some guards and a really big gate. Hmmmmm, why is this recommended for tourists to see?? Ya got me! After din din, we met another friend in Shinjuku and the friend we met the previous day for drinks. We got fantastically ripped off at the Izakaya that we went to (they have sitting fees in Tokyo) and then hit a fun gay bar for a drink.


HG's


HG


HG


HG


HG


HG's


The park outside the palace.


The palace folks. This is all you get to see. A bridge, a gate and a guard. 2 actually.


Mwa ha ha. NOVA is everywhere!


Me and Josh

Day 3. TOOOKYOOOO DIZUNIRANDOOOOO!! The last time our friend Jason was in Disneyland was just before his parents got divorced. He was maybe 9 or 10 years old. He said it was miserable. So we decided to go see the mouse again and make some new good memories. We had a FAB time. Its so refreshing being able to act like a kid again and just run around like an idiot, ride silly rides, eat too much caramel corn etc. Lunch was hotdogs. It rocked. Being October, everything was set in a Halloween theme which was kind of fun too. The Haunted Mansion is now decorated like The Nightmare before Christmas. Cool stuff. A good time was had by all, and Disneyland can now be a wonderful memory for Jason.


Hi boys! Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!


Ba dam ching!


I'm driving Goofy's car.


Its Jason. Petting a beaver. He he. Theres sooo much more I could say here. But I won't.


Standing outside Poohs Honey Pot!


Waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion. What are you pulling out of that bag Rich?

Day 4 was just another travel day. We hit the Shinkansen in the morning and arrived back in Osaka in the afternoon. I dragged my luggage back to my office and went to work. Hehe. The first thing my boss said was, '5 people come for you'. Its nice to know I'm loved. Back to work.

Family Matters

So, Richard and I will be heading back to Canada in January to visit our families. I don't mind telling you that I'm a little apprehensive about it. I won't be giving details or anything but suffice it to say that I have had issues with my family for the last 10 years that are as of yet, unresolved. The same problem keeps cropping up and doesn't seem to be able to be fixed. In the past, I had always tried to fix the problem but nothing I have done has seemed to help. So, this year I have resolved to do nothing. Or rather do something by doing nothing and simply cutting the problem out. Errr, if the problem arises. I am really hoping that this trip back will be enjoyable and I'll be able to catch up with everyone.

I'm really excited about meeting my nephew (that was born, just after we left Canada) and hanging out with my niece. I keep hearing from everyone that she asks all the time, 'How many more sleeps will Uncle Richie and Aunty Jamie be away?'. That girl loves her Uncle Richie. Well, he is a pretty funny guy if you're 7. I really want to spend some quality time with my parents and my grama too. For those of you who don't know me, I practically grew up at my grandparents, and after my grampa died, I moved in with my grama. So I spent most of my highschool years, and college years living with her.

Of course, we are excited about seeing some of our friends too!! Tim and Tara are even going to try to get the weekend off that we are there and go back with us to the Okanagan. (Their families live there too) So we will be able to spend alot of time with them too. We used to go out almost every night with T and T and Jason when we were living in Vancouver. It will be almost like old times! We can eat patchos everyday guys!!!! Yah!!!! Sorry Jason, I know you can't stand those things. Jason might be able to get a few days off at the same time and visit in the Okanagan. We will spend a night in Vancouver before we head back to the Okanagan so we can go out with all of our friends there too. Should be great. I am going to have to plan a big dinner at a restaurant or something. I will be madly emailing.

So back to the family issue. I want to have a good time visiting my family. Lana (Richards sister) has said that we can stay at her place when we are back. That would be really great. Its kind of neutral ground. Richards family and my family live in different cities, that are really close to each other (45 minutes apart) and Lanas place is kind of in between. It will be great having a retreat and an escape hatch if things get kind of hairy. Thanks Lana!! We'll spend the night at the Tangs and a night at my mom and gramas place as well. But I think we'll spend the majority of our time at Lanas where we won't be stepping on anyones toes. AND Lana has been studying Japanese, so I can have someone to speak Japanese with while in the Okanagan! I actually think I might get homesick for Osaka. So wish me luck guys!!!! I know its months from now, but I think I need all the luck I can get!

Tokyo trip

Whew! What a ride. We spent the last few days kicking around in Tokyo. We decided to take the shinkansen back to Osaka today just to experience it. Me and Rich have taken it before but we really wanted our friend to enjoy the smooth fast ride of the bullet. Hehe. God bless the Japanese and their technology. Anyway, it was back to the grind today after arriving back in the city. When I catch up at work I will post some pics.

Tokyo baby!! And review of Puffy.

Puffy rocked. It was sooooo cool seeing them play in front of the big buddha. It was a little surreal seeing a J-pop band play in such an old structure. When we were leaving the monks were thanking us for attending. A little weird, but very cool. We both heard the songs we wanted and danced our little gaijin asses off(as much as you can in front of a little chair) much to the chagrin of our Japanese neighbours I am sure!!

New news, we are headed to Tokyo for a couple of days. Obviously being my friends first time in Japan he wants to hit all of the touristy spots which includes the capital. We will be gone for 3 days to investigate all things Tokyo. There will be pictures.

Biwako Indian Summer

Aaaah, we went to Biwako on the weekend for an outdoor dance party. It rocked. The weather was beautiful!

Photo Shoot

Hey! Check it out - I got a copy of a few of the pics from my photo shoot the other day. Here is the pic, and his email in case you are interested in modelling or purchasing some art off of him. He does painting, photography, and etchings and I'm sure a number of other things:

indiphotoosaka@yahoo.com

Blogroll

Check it out! I joined a Canadian Blogroll. Yes, I am Canadian.

How Canadian is this???

My friend emailed me this pic. Looks like it was pillaged from somewhere. Sorry whoever you are. But how cute!!!

Send some love....

Send some over to the certifiable princess at An Oxymoron is not an Idiot with Zits . Her son is in the hospital right now because of his heart. We're all sending our good wishes over to her here in Osaka!

Self Portrait

So, I went to a photo shoot today, and since I was already looking purty, I decided to take some pictures of myself at home. Then I thought it would be fun to play with them and edit them a bit. Here they are:


Just like an old photograph. But glowy!


Almost like a charcoal sketch...


A soft closeup


I thought my hair looked pretty cool today. I saturated the colour a bit.


I think this is my favourite. It was a pretty good pic before I fudged with it :)


This one I added sepia to. I like the softer colour.

FROMAGE!

New night at Dunk which I sadly had to miss yesterday due to a nasty cold. Bugger! Wednesday Fromage! It was also Dali's Sayounova. I never posted the pics from last week so here they are! And guess what I bought?? You'll have to look in the pictures. I'll give you hint - its red.


Hanging out having a chat


Thank you Havard!


Me and Daniel - do we look cheesy??

Housewarming, karaoke, and rock rock!

First on this evenings agenda was Antoinettes Housewarming. Yah! I love house parties.


Hi Antoinette!


Some peeps at the party - Dolly, Chie, and Louise.


Cory and my cookie.


Mike and Anna belting out a few tunes.


3 girls. 6 boobs.


Yoshi!


Heres the gang. Oliver, Havard and Havard (Kevin and Andy) and Claire.


Party in the DJ booth!


The other DJ taking a break.


This guy was hilarious. Great dancer.


And a beautiful finish to a fantastic evening. The full moon.....

Oh yeah - my celebrity look alikes.

There ones are pretty hot, but you should've seen the ones I pulled without my makeup on. Hehe.

Some cool optical illusions

My sister sent me these. I swear that these are all just regular pics and none are really moving! Its just your eyes tricking you!


If you stare at the black centre of the circle, that one stops moving. The second you look away at another one, it starts moving again!! Neato!!


He he. This one made me laugh.

Beauty Queens

I have no words to describe this. A picture is worth a thousand words they say. A video must be worth a million...

I'll have a big mac and a baby to go please...

Here are some random shots I've taken in the last week or so.


I'll have a big mac and a baby to go please...
This kids mom was banking in the Life and decided the basket was the place to be.


Just how long has this bike been parked here - in the no parking zone. Seriously, this ivy is growing through parts of this bike.



For you non-Osakans, this is a giant takoyaki statue. Dancing of course. Because that is what takoyaki does best. That, and your taxes. Mmmmmmmmm. Takoyaki.