Moooooving on!

Ground control to Major Tom......
Our circuit's dead (or soon will be) ....

So we are moving into the new place tomorrow and will have NO INTERNET until Yahoo BB gets their ass in gear and sets us up. Apparently it takes a whole month for these mofos to stop at your house and say 'yep, ok you can have internet now'. What do they do at your house that is sooooo important you ask that it takes a whole month for them to come and do it? Look at your jack and say the above. *sigh* Japanese companies I tell ya. Don't worry we will be checking our mail and trying to post as much as possible from work etc. And whoever wins the contest will still get their dandy Japanese prezzie. Just don't take it personal if we can't get back to ya right away, mmmkay?

On the plus side, our new place rocks. Pictures will be posted as soon as we have everything all moved in and organised. Wish us luck in the move! We've collected enough crap here to make the move all fun and interesting :P

The year in review (part 1)

Well folks, I've been in Japan for nearly 1 year now and the prospect of many more are on the horizon. It occured to me that I've taken over seven thousand pictures and hardly anyone has seen them. So, here is part one of my year in review. Please enjoy and let me know what you think (all comments and emails are welcome).

Warning: there's a ton of pictures in this post, people on dial-up (do they still exist?) will be waiting a long time for them to load.

God decides to give me one last white Christmas back home.

My last day in Scotland

Dali and Louise

My neighbour at my old apartment


Our first ever night in Dunk (where we meet Karaoke Queen and Osaka Otaku). And where I learnt I had the superpower to sing Coldplay rather badly!

After the initial shock-and-awe of arriving, I decided to go exploring the first few months. 私は京都と姫路に行きました。I also started to learn some japanese. でも日本語はとても難しいです。

Here are some pics of Kyoto (京都).

Nijo-jo castle .

Those 3 specks in the middle are Ben, Danard and my good self. Credit should go to Dali for taking this picture.

And now for a selection of Nara (奈良) pictures.
*Sidenote for visitors to Nara: DON'T feed those little bast*** deer in the park as there are the mafia of the animal kingdom.*


I did all the things that a typical tourist would do, but soon found I was attracted more to Kyoto. There's just something I love about this place, other than the obvious sightseeing attractions. I had some of those rare "Japanese" moments where the unexpected makes you love this country even more; my walk along the Kamo river where I stumbled on a jazz band just relaxing with a free miniconcert; the Maiko who was gracious enough to allow her picture to be taken with me one night; Cherry blossom and Autumn in Arashiyama...

If I ever get fed up with Osaka, Kyoto is the place I'd relocate to.

Part 2: spring and summer (otherwise know as "Oh god, the heat!") to follow as soon as I've grabbed some snacks at Lawsons.

AAAAAND FIGHT!

So guess who is doing something unusual this year for New Years? Me, me, me. I am going to be some eyecandy at a K-1 fight this year at Osaka Dome on New Years Eve. Cool, is all I have to say.

Some Christmas cheer

In the form of videos! Enjoy!

Christmas pictures!

Well, here they are. Our house has recovered from the 30 peeps that were here on Christmas day. Here are some pictures of the fun!


Here is where it all starts: my extremely small Japanese style oven. I cooked 4 of these birds on Christmas Day. You can really only fit a chicken in this baby.


Our 2 very small Christmas trees. The one on the left only cost us a dollar! Yah 100 yen stores!


Mmmmmm. Look at all that food!


Some of the first guests enjoying their dinner :) Note the bed is all tipped up on its side to accommodate and make room for guests!


More guests enjoying their dinner. They're so absorbed in the meal that not a single person is looking up and talking. Hehe.


More guests arrive - with alot of Christmas spirit in tow. Shigeki is in the big red kidney hat and Naoyuki is Rudolph.


Ooooh, what is everyone doing over here? Playing MarioKart of course! What else would you be doing on Christmas?


Oooh, what's in the package? A secret santa present!


Ooooh Chisato got a cell phone dangly!


Rich sure seems excited by whats in this bag!

And one last photo for you...


Thats all folks! Merry Christmas!

Christmas came and went.

Well, Christmas came and went with all the usual antics one could expect here in Japan. First, I had a full working day to contend with; followed by the wonderful dinner at Karaokequeen and Osaka Otaku's house (cheers for that one); and rounded off by my last ever visit to Club Dunk. Still, any evening where you get to see a stunningly beaustiful hostess dressed as Rudolph is a good one (she spoke about 4 languages too)!

Have a happy new new everyone. See you on the right side of 2007...where the adventures shall continue.

Merry Xmas Everyone!!!!

Its Christmas day, my chickens are stuffed and in the oven, the potatoes are waiting to be cooked and there is a table of booze just waiting for people to drink it!

AAAAAND I have finally been added to 25 peeps.

Check me out!!! Please? C'mon, its Christmas :)

AAAAAND for those of you who want to see us chowing down, check out our live feed - here

We will be eating from 6PM onwards, that is Osaka time on Christmas day. So come take a peek at us there too and have a chat with us too ;) We will try to make sure to say hello to everyone.

Getting together on Christmas Day

We're going to have a Christmas Feast with a few friends. Come by and check us out having an Osakan Orphan's Christmas. Look here. Remember for those in other countries, there is a time difference! Luckily we've provided a link to help you calculate.

Christmas

This is a time of year for giving, sharing and the bloody strange shop displays. If it has someone dressed as Santa, japanese punters will love it!

I guess times are hard for Hello Kitty. Standing all day like that.


For the other 364 days of the year, Santa works in a supermarket and has to settle for a disgusting yellow and green uniform.
(He was standing in the same place when I noticed him nearly a year ago.)

Stop and look around

You can find that even in a dirty city like Osaka, there are many beautiful sights. I didn't notice until I decided to document my way home from the subway station.

Even the mundane, when cast in the right light, can seem exotic and intriguing.

For a city of 2.6 million (2005) it sure seems deserted.

Often things seen day in day out lose their charm. It takes stopping and looking at it from another angle to realize what you missed all those days that you walked by without a glance.

In the day, you don't really notice the interesting facade.
The absence of light sure makes it stand out.

In Japan sensory overload is so common. Advertisements are everywhere and noise pollution is rampant, but every once in a while simplicity makes you stop and take notice.

Is anyone thirsty about now?

A different kinda crazy

On a lighter note (last post was a bit heavy), I tagged Osaka Otaku with the 6 weird things. I recommend reading them. Everyone will know the weirdness I must put up with everyday :)

Gloomy weather, gloomy news

Sometimes life is full of happiness and joy. Other times... well we all know what that's like. We hope for brighter days.

In the local front, our long time friend Kouji had to make the decision to close his club. Most of the fun pics you've seen on this blog have been from that bar(when it was a bar) and club. We'll be sad to see it leave and we'll do our best to help Kouji through the rough bits.

In the "home", as Canada is always the first place a Canadian considers home, front our long time friends T&T (of the Bob Dole fame) had a rash of bad news. First they had their apartment broken into and had some stuff taken, then Tara's mom died in the hospital. So please go over and send some condolences to T&T.

And so the adventures continue.

Just to let people know, I'm still alive and I've continued to take more pictures of the randomness you find here in Japan. Please enjoy this meager selection while I'm partying my ass off through this holiday season. Merry Christmas.

"Mess with me and I will fuck you up. I'm a cop and get away with it in this country."

"Our staff are kindly working for your benefit. Please don't disturb them while they build even more confusing, poorly signed subway tunnels to confuse the stupid gaijin men taking pictures here."

The always charming and wonderful Kat. She speaks 6 languages don't you know!

Japan is such a consumer society, people will even throw away their old safes in place of newer, cooler ones.

What we all like to see on the subway: a woman holding a banana like that and not getting why it's hilarious.Friends who are missed...


Even Spider-Man needs a hand laying the smackdown on Dr Doom. In Japan, he gets a transforming robot to beat the shit out of supervillians! Nice one.

The always lovely Natsuyo.

We're moving!

Just into a new apartment about 5 blocks from our old one. However, we're doing it right after Christmas. Our place is a disaster right now. Nothing (hardly anything) is packed, I have a million guests coming over in under a week. Yep. All I can say is........gambarimasu. Hopefully our place will be non-disasterish enough to hold 25 people and Christmas dinner. And I will have packed enough so when the moving guy shows up he can actually move stuff - hehe. Speaking of which, we may not have internet for a couple of weeks at the new place. And due to vacationing in Canada in January, blogging maybe a bit sparse in the New Year. Don't worry. I'll be back. Hehe.

I guess I should go pack or something. Yep. Should do. Aww, heck, I'll do it tomorrow :D

Contest!

So it looks like only a few peeps are in the running for the contest! It doesn't end until the 31st so people still have time to catch up on their comments if they want some happy happy joyful prezzies from Japan!!!

Check out my friends Blog

Our best friends in Vancouver have succumbed and finally started a blog. Go read about Timmie and Tara here.

Tim is a programmer at EA and Tara works for Celestial in advertising. They have a cat (which its our fault that they have - a long story involving my sister, kittens, a car ride back to the Okanagan and a gosh darn cutie that slept on a certain someone during the trip) named Bucky. Think 'Get Fuzzy' and you will have a general idea about his personality. They just moved into a new townhouse and sent us the lovely pictures of Vancouver under ice :D Miss ya guys! See you in January!

I have been tagged!!

I have been tagged by Charles at Deuces Stay Wild. So here are 6 odd things about myself.

1. I am a bit of a closet geek. People don't look at me and think - wow she is obsessesed with Totoro, loves Star Trek etc. Yep. That's right. Here is one of my secret addictions :) And here, and here.

2. 99% of the time when I go out 'drinking', I don't actually drink alcohol. Not that I don't like it or anything, but I'm a bit of an expensive drunk and I just don't think its worth the cost most of the time. I'd rather spend my money on other things - or buy a bottle at home first.

3. I love cats. Alot. I miss my kitties in Canada like crazy. I could tell you what kind of mood my babies were in anytime. The waited at the door for me to come home everyday and would meow until I picked them up. I sometimes find it difficult living here in Osaka with so many strays. I want to take them all home.

4. I like to pluck, rather than wax. Wax is messy. If I miss some bits shaving etc, I pull out the tweezers to get the rest. Ouchy, but much tidier!

5. I loved vegetables as a kid. Broccoli? No problem. Spinich? Yum. I still love my green leafies. I prefer them to candy. I still can't finish a whole chocolate bar, my sweet tooth is so lacking. I'd rather eat a carrot than a chocolate bar - except for that one time a month when I would kill for a caramilk.

6. I really am a shy person. My actions apparently dictate otherwise, but that was through years of training. I really have to make myself be outgoing etc and do worry about what people think about me. Whats has changed since I was younger is that although I worry, I don't let it affect what I do anymore.

Thats it!

I tag Osaka Otaku and Nantonaku!

Merry Christmas!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME AND PREDATOR!!! GRAAAAAAH!

Sushi and such

I love me some sushi. And there's so much of it here in Japan. And Osaka is known as Japans kitchen. Boy did I pick the right city to live in!! SO dinner plans were made and Rich, Rachel, Ikuyo and I decided to head out and get us some raw fish!! On our way to dinner, we ran across some interesting Osaka sights.


Rachel and Ikuyo on the escalator.


Ikuyo is really tiny. In this pic you can see Rachel on the left - who has stated that she herself is not the tallest person, me in the white coat and Ikuyo on the right. Tiny!


A Takoyaki stand. These ones are actually made with a kind of "taco" shell which is NOT usual. Tako in Japanese means octopus. So coming with a shell is....uh....unusual. They are delicious regardless and an Osaka specialty. I love the towel headgear.


This is the big crab on Dottonbori street. It moves. Its pretty cool. A real landmark downtown.

Well that was our Sushi dinner adventure. No pictures of the sushi. We were concentrating on the wolfing down of the food. Maybe next time :D Who am I kidding? When do we ever wait to eat?!!

More evidence of Christmas in Osaka

I thought only crazy house decorating peeps had these :) Apparently Pachinko parlour owners like them too.

Ryans Sayounara

Well, its happened again...another person has gone back home. Here are some pics from the party! We'll miss ya Ryan.


We went to a little izakaya in Shouji. Cute little place - not enough seats though :) Ryan is the one in the black shirt.


Hey, I got some grade A nuggets in here. Look, someone else is trying to get some too!


Marcus. Casual man about town.


Becs and Dali.


Chris and Dell. And Chris is smiling!! Its probably the beer.

Anyway, we'll miss you here in Osaka Ryan. We hope your flight is a good one and be sure to pop online sometimes and say hi!

Kikis Bday!!

Another belated post :) We went out for some Shabu Shabu and then hit a karaoke bar for some all-night drinking and singing. Woo hoo! I love Japan.


There's our Bday girl opening a gift!


Dinner! Yum!


Some of our motley crew.


How do you work this derned thing??


I ruv you too raggy!


See? Drunk people don't NEED microphones to sing. Just a hand shaped like one!


Hmmm, what should I sing?

Well, it was a fun night! Happy birthday again!

A little bit of Christmas

Just a little reminder that Christmas is coming. Even in a coffee shop in Osaka.

Ready, Set aaaaand GO!

So it turned December 15th here in Osaka about an hour and a bit ago. So, start commenting!! Run like SpongeBob. Remember, prezzies!!

Comment Contest!!

Ok, so I've decided I need a little more love here over at Osaka Daze. Call me needy, whatever, but I'm having a comment contest. Rules are: I will only count 1 of your comments for each of MY posts. So if you post more than once on a single post, it doesn't count. If I have a tie, then I will go by QUALITY of post or random draw. Whichever I decide is better at the time (cause its my site and I'll do what I want so so NAH NAH!)

There will be a prize!! I will mail a Japanese prezzie to whoever wins! DIRECTLY FROM JAPAN!!!! ISN'T IT EXCITING!!!!!! DON'T YOU WANT TO START COMMENTING RIGHT NOW??????

Here is a sample of what COULD be yours!

*prizes may not be exactly as shown :D teehee

So the contest starts December 15th and ends January 1st! So get going. Start thinking of clever and witty things to write to me ;) I may give prizes just for effort!

Osaka at night

Just some regular night life in Osaka.


Cafe window at night


Blue apartment.

Some random karaoke at Dunk

I'm really into the word random this week. Random. Random random random! I like the way it rolls off my tongue. So, Rich and a few friends went to Dunk for a little karaoke. There was drunkeness and singing. Well......I'm not really sure if you can call it singing! But there were microphones and people saying words into them :) Hehe. Here are some pics!


Yikes! Don't fall off your chair!


You!! ....should be singing some karaoke!


And Peace out.

New link!

My friend Ryan has joined the Blogger world. He lived in Japan (although the opposite side to me) for a year before heading back to Canada. Here is his blog.

I always knew I had a good vocabulary

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

25 Peeps

So while lurking on others sites I came across this. Check it out.

Click here to go to 25 Peeps and see who else you know is registered there!

They said it might take a day or so for me to be registered, so if it doesn't work today, try again tomorrow :)

More random weirdness

So, my husband is an otaku (in English that means geek). He loves computers and anything related to them. So a visit to Osaka's Denden (electric) town is not unusual. However, what we saw there was....



I think they're advertising for a manga store nearby. It was really f@#cking cold that day. I used to play saxophone and know how cold your fingers get. I don't know how they were doing it with no gloves! You see me and my boss (our backs) pass in front of the camera as my hubby records.

The video is a little fast so here is a picture


And the maid girl is actually not part of their little group - that IS normal in Denden. Maid Cafes. I'll get into that one some other time!

Random Walk

Sometimes when you have nothing to do, just walking around is a good way to pass the time. Sometimes you see funny things. Actually, in Japan, you always see funny things. Some random pictures from our walk.


Oops.


Errr, yes Hello Gucky. Who is Gucky?

For those of you who are thinking - wow that girl takes a lot of pictures of bar signs (see previous posts) - are there really that many bars in Osaka? The answer is "Yes!". Aside from there being a convenience store, cigarette machine, beverage vending machine and cafe/ramen shop every half a block, there are also bars. Many many bars. Basically Japanese people are chain-smoking, potato chip buying, alcoholic eating machines. At least in Osaka. Seriously. I swear that most of these people should be joining Lyndsay Lohan in AA.


*ring ring* *ring ring*
receptionist - Thank you for calling the Doggyman International Pet Academy, teaching poodles how to poop outside for 20 years.

Well, that's the end of another random walk. Maybe I'll make it a monthly thing or something ;)

200th post!!!!!

Wow! I can't believe.....I have so much time that I have posted 200 times! *cough cough* Errr, to celebrate I shall post about absolutely nothing. Done.

Lidias new place

Something else we did last month was go to Lidias new place downtown for a few eats and a good chat. Here are a few pics from the evening.


Her new place is near Tsutenkaku. Its kind of a scrubby neighborhood for Japanese. Not really dangerous as we are in Japan and the worst thing that can happen to you is having your bike stolen. Japanese people don't like the area though so its very cheap!!


Outside the elevator. Despite the 'area' her building is actually very nice. Pretty new and cool design. I like the colours!


A rather shitty picture of Lids and her new place. Sorry Lids but its the only one I took! Ah well. We all know its a cool place.

A belated birthday post!

Happy Bday Matt! I know it was last month. I even went. I took lots of pictures. We all got drunk. Here are some pictures!


There he is. The birthday boy. My thats a large beer.


Antoinette and Dali.


Errrrr......Rich and Hiroko sure are scary or something.....


Hehe. Thats my boss.


Me and Claire looking sexy!


Steve and his holy grail of nama.


I'm totally not drunk.
Yeah, me either.
Err...totally
*snort giggle* uuuh yeah!


A couple more girls having some fun at the party. Hi Claire and Melinda!


Looking good Kiki!


Havard and Russ. Russ obviously just got off work in his snazzy white dress shirt.


Someone must have said something funny cause these 3 are laughing at something.


Yes hello Rob! I see you too!


Aaaand one last photo of the Birthday boy. He sure is enjoying that beer.

Canadian bloggers

So when I joined up with the Canadian blogroll list, of course I had to check them all out. Of course some I read more than others, some I post on and some I only lurk. Here they are!

Troll Baby - come live in Troll baby's world. See what her and her family get up to.

It's all about me - meet Teena and her family in Toronto.

Tricia's musings - Tricia, a wife, a nurse and a woman having a really great time!

As the Garden Grows - this site is also by Tricia. As the title says, its a gardening blog. Lots of nice pics of flowers etc.

Odd Planet - "You'll find humorous news stories here about dumb criminals, and odd people." Yup, that sounds about right.

The Gnostic World of Candy Minx - you will find everything on this site! Books and music, politics, events and the musing of Candy Minx.

My life in Pictures - a great photography blog. Cool pics by an amateur photographer.

Caylynn's Contemplations - she's a military wife and a runner! She just got an extremely rare breed of cat (a sphinx) and belongs to alot of blog communities and events.

Mackeydoodles Blog - a family friendly blog with pics of her family, little poems and videos and other stuff.

Breath of life Photography - another photo blog - mostly flowers and nature shots.

Waterfalls Paranormal Life - a blog about ...well... the paranormal. A little bit of regular life thrown in for good measure.

Winged Emotion - "35, wife, mother, friend sarcastic yet sweet" In her own words. Check out her day to day.

A round peg in a square hole - life in Winnipeg. This girl is a great writer. A more serious blog.

Jessicadoyle.ca - a seriously good blog. Great art and great writing from a girl struggling to know herself.

Deuce's Stay Wild - one of my favourites. Kind of a music blog, but also short stories and other stuff.

Canadutch - a Canadian girl living in Holland and her struggles and joys of living there.

Seanthebond News - this site hasn't been updated for awhile for its a technology blog. All geeks welcome :)

Motivated Motion - a modern renaissance woman living in the countryside. A blog about everything!

One Old Green Bus - This blog is about the attempts to acquire a dusty, old, double-decker bus. Really.

Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog - A Place to discuss, rant, and rave... about the paranormal. Its the bus guy!

Nuttin' but Pimp - Products, services, how-to's, raves, rants, paying the rent, and helping you to pay yours too.

Well that finishes up all my links on my page. Of course I have other sites that I frequent on a regular basis. I will probably get around to linking them on my page eventually.......er......when I have time. Until then, enjoy the ones that are already there :)

Cyberspace friends....

So I have introduced everyone to my friends that we have met in person, now I want to introduce you to those we know only through cyberspace. There are the people whose blogs I love and comment on all the time and they give the love back on ours.

Quasar - this guy is brilliant. I love his site. Its all about astronomy/astrophysics and philosophy and poetry and great pics. I almost met him when we were in England, but we just didn't have time. One day!

Aliens Mosdef Better - meet Ana-chan. She lives in Singapore. She talks about her friends and daily life there. She is a fantastic girl that I would love to meet someday. She is originally from Germany I think, but speaks Japanese and other languages as well. I think she's fluent in 4 languages.

iBlog - an otaku after my own heart. Loves his cat and has lots of info on all the new gizmos and gadgets coming out.

Sanity Interrupted - crazy Lainey! Me loves her sense of humour. She is on a blogging break right now, and we miss her hilarious Fan letter Fridays, but I'm hoping she'll pop back sometime to say hi.

Pointless Drivel - meet Mr and Mrs Fab. A little zany, a little crazy, a lot of fun. He will make you laugh and sometimes say, 'Huh? I don't get it.' He loves lemurs.

Peas on Toast - errrr, I mostly lurk here, but I have commented a few times. Peas is a fantastic girl living it up in South Africa. Her stories make me laugh so hard I nearly pee myself. I don't know as I could handle as much drama in my life as she does. Go Peas!

Dutch Bitch - well, she's Dutch. And always has interesting stuff going on in her life. I mostly just lurk here too. She makes me laugh. Mostly I just don't have anything cool to say. I just enjoy reading her posts.

An Oxymoron is not an idiot with zits - the certifiable princess will always make your day. She writes very poignant posts about the more serious things in life, and then makes you laugh like crazy the next day. Worth a visit!

Captain Picards Journal - hehe. Anyone who loves startrek will love this site. The author, Jean Luke Picard of course, writes great stories about the crew of the enterprise. I kinda just lurk here too. Love the stories, not much else to say really.

Next on the list, the Canadian blogrollers....

How Jedi are you?

Mwa ha ha hah! If only I could rule the world...


how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen

Friends and their blogs

So, I have a whack of links to other peoples sites on the side bar. Some of these people we have actually met in person - either they are my friends from Canada and Japan, or people that we have met in our travels.

Claires Blog - my husband used to work at a environmental testing lab in Vancouver. He used to work with Claire. She's a funny girl :) She's going to Bolivia in about a month. She also has some nice pics posted on there.

Delly the Elephant - we met Delly here in Japan :) She works at the Big N like everyone else here. A really great girl from Northern England. All about her adventures here in Osaka.

The Wolf's Den - a friend we met here in Osaka, but now lives in Seattle. He is moving on and forward with his life there. Our very own Ookami! Check out Bretto's life in the coffee city. We miss you Bretto!

Excelsis's Flikr Site - we met her here and she is still plugging away in Osaka. Beautiful pictures taken all over Japan of her and her friends.

Sune Sune - we met Sune on our adventure in Tokyo last year. He's a french guy that me met at a hostel and still talk to quite a bit. Unfortunately, we couldn't hook up during our Europe trip! But we still chat on msn. He loves music and is in general an interesting guy. Warning, his site is in French.

Osaka jock -thats right. Our very own Osaka jock. Check out what this bad boy has been up to via pictures.

AND last but not least.......da da da daaaaaaaa

Osaka Otaku - yep, my husband has a blog. And maybe one day he will actually blog on it. :) maybe you guys should hit his site and harass him a bit.

So check out all of our friends blogs and enjoy!
Next time, the people we've never met - except in cyberspace, and then the people who don't even know I exist (....because I just enjoy lurking there.....)