Matsuyama, Japan Travel Blogs

Crossing over to Shikoku...
May 2, 2007 (22 photos)

... this embarrassing information...!). Other than the crow incident, Kashima had made for an enjoyable little excursion... Back in Matsuyama, I visited Ishite-ji, just one of the 88 temples on Shikoku`s sacred circuit. Some people embark on a lengthy ...

Cripple Creek Ferry
Feb 22, 2005 (2 photos)

Onsen, Castle, and temples, oh my!
Mar 13, 2007 (5 photos)

Onsen, Castle, and temples, oh my! Matsuyama. A vibrant university city on the large island of Shikoku, Matsuyama is known to be a hot spot for Japanese tourists. It boasts one of the oldest onsens in Japan. A Majestic castle and beautiful shrines. & ...

My photos are up!
Jul 10, 2007

This isn't anything exciting, but I finally got my pictures up on my personal website. Uploading pictures to this site can be slow and painful. So I got my own domain thenickboy.com The only thing on it is photos, and I'll be trying to figure out ...

NICK: students say the darndest things!
Mar 30, 2007

Ashleigh and I have been in Matsuyama for a full year. It's been pretty good, but it hasn't exactly been spectacular. I'm not complaining, I just mean that it hasn't been whiz-bang amazing and crazy amounts of fun. If I were to sum up this year, I'd say it ...

Ode to Lawsons
Oct 3, 2005 (1 photos)

... a moment to share with you all a little story I wrote. You see, there`s a wonderful chain of convenience marts here in Japan called Lawsons. They are everywhere and many times Sarah and I will stop at them to use the bathroom or even to eat breakfast, ...

NICK: An update
Apr 25, 2006 (4 photos)

Well, got some bad news. I guess I lost the job at the English Academy. They sent me an email letting me know that the teacher that they'd said i would be replacing has decided to stay a little longer. How long, they don't know, but they said that they ...

NICK: Ashleigh's Bellydancing performance
Feb 4, 2007 (5 photos)

... . There's an NGO (non-government organization) at the bottom that helps poorer countries with political turmoil with volunteers from Japan. It's a pretty good organization. COMS has an annual club show-off. People can come and see what the clubs do in ...

NICK: Mr. Dave comes for a visit
Apr 28, 2007 (24 photos)

Dave decided to come and visit his brother in Tokyo, and Ashleigh and I in Matsuyama. I was excited for 2 main reasons: 1) I haven't been able to show many people life in Matsuyama, and Dave got to see it first hand. 2) Dave was bringing a camera that ...

NICK: Freiburg Castle
Jan 28, 2007 (10 photos)

Ashleigh, Brian and I went to one of the weirdest things in Matsuyama. It's a small structure with nothing in it, on top of a mountain. It overlooks Matsuyama, is built in a pseudo-Western-European rampart style.  It looks like castle, is called a ...

NICK: Takoyaki? no... Tako YUMMY!!
Jun 2, 2006 (5 photos)

... , there's always new things popping up in all of them, so I make "rounds" to the various and numerous 100Yen shops in Matsuyama. I was surprised to see that one of the shops that we go to had a Takoyaki pan. For those unfamiliar with Japanese food ( ...

NICK: Omikoshi festival
Oct 8, 2006 (9 photos)

Brian, Ashleigh and I woke up super early on this Saturday morning to see the omikoshi (portable shrines) bash together in the early morning. I don't know the history of this event, but it's a pretty cool thing to see. I think first, the (probably ...

ASH: Kimono wearing!
Mar 24, 2007 (10 photos)

This isn't actually Ashleigh, it's me, Nick. Now, I know Ashleigh is supposed to write this one, but if you saw the backlog of things she was supposed to write about, you'd be surprised why I seem to write all the entries. I think this one is cool, ...

NICK: Feeling like a local.. or maybe just trying
May 12, 2006 (6 photos)

... one of the local record shops. Rachel met her in her record shop and has been invited to see a number of shows in Matsuyama. The band played a set of Andean-flavored songs with 3 members playing instruments like guitar, flutes, and a square drum. The ...

NICK: Virtual tour of our apartment
Apr 15, 2006 (12 photos)

see pics

NICK: Mommy comes to town
May 22, 2006 (8 photos)

... hi-tech RF identification speed passes. Thanks, mom. We then went back to the apartment via the bus. We talked about Matsuyama, her trip to Japan, her visits with her friends.. it was really nice to get to talk to my mother about stuff that I'd seen. ...

NICK: Heh, I'm practically a 2 year old myself!
Apr 14, 2006

Things have been moving well. I've been super busy with teaching my classes and doing a little more work on the apartment. Ashleigh and I have worked hard on buying and arranging things into a logical order to finally have some settled point. My mother ...

NICK: Ballet, anyone?
Jun 12, 2006 (2 photos)

I scored some information from my co-worker, Roni, that Ehime (the prefecture we live in) was putting on a free ballet performance entitled "Paquita." I found out later it had nothing to do with the _actual_ ballet of "Paquita." Just a mish-mash of ...

ASH: Happy Halloween!
Oct 31, 2006 (4 photos)

Aiko Kindergarten's four English teachers helped their students celebrate good ol' American Halloween today, setting up an elaborate "Halloween party" that involved a haunted house (built in the back room of the gym), pinatas, 8 jack-o-lanterns, games, ...

NICK: Tortillas and Mama!milk
May 18, 2006 (4 photos)

... we got here. There is a real shortage of mexican paraphenalia (big surprise) to cook with. We did find a store in downtown Matsuyama that sells a can of traditional Rosarita refried beans for $4.50, but other than that, that's it. Man that sucks. ...

NICK: My Halloween pics
Nov 1, 2006 (11 photos)

Ashleigh posted her pics of her Halloween celebration with her kids, but we had a Halloween party as well. I made my costume from a picture I saw of another guy's costume. It's an Angler Fish head. Similar to the one on Finding Nemo, but sculpted to my ...

NICK: Dancing in Matsuyama
Jun 18, 2007 (4 photos)

Ashleigh and I finally started teaching dancing!! Our students are actually mostly my students from my classes. As inconsistently as we teach our classes, we're slowly teaching japanese people how to dance! We're going to need to find a new room, ...

NICK: Our pet, Udon, R.I.P.
Jun 25, 2006 (2 photos)

... .. you get it.. Good. Anyways, turns out these things are totally harmless (as most of the crazy wild super huge beetles in Japan tend to be). And the noise they make is not that loud. BUT! they are extremely destructive beetles that lay their eggs in ...

NICK: Japan's creepy crawlies
Aug 22, 2006 (8 photos)

... on small islands are larger than their mainland cousins. I think she's got it right. The bugs we've seen here in Japan are ridiculously huge. I don't know why, but they're awfully disgusting. So I took some pictures to show you. Sometimes I ...

NICK: On the road again, er, water?
May 2, 2006 (6 photos)

Ashleigh and I finished up at work (my last day at Aiko) and headed home. I was given flowers and my final paycheck, as well as a thank you for helping Aiko out in a tough situation. I was pleased that I could get the experience of teaching children so ...

NICK: Welcome party from Amic
May 21, 2006 (1 photos)

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NICK: I become a citizen of Matsuyama
May 23, 2006 (10 photos)

After breakfast, my mother and I set out to the Matsuyama city center to get my paperwork all settled for the city of Matsuyama. Residents of Japan are required to register with the city in which they move to within 10 days of moving there. I had no ...

NICK: Claire Claire, bo-bear, banana fanna ....
Aug 20, 2006 (6 photos)

... down to visit us since both she and Ashleigh had free time. Her train came in the same day that we got back to Matsuyama from Korea. It actually worked out best that way since Ashleigh could then maximize the last 5 days of her vacation. I've discovered ...

NICK: Hello Kitty and Pikachu fireworks. Wow.
Jul 30, 2006 (8 photos)

... beach near the amusement park. Keiji was able to borrow a huge van (I was surprised to see that they had MPV-style vehicles here in Japan) to drive all of us to the beach. Rachel wanted to stop in at an art show she'd heard about and take a look at. I ...

Musings
Oct 3, 2005

Two things that I find hilarious about Japan: 1) Businessmen on bicycles, 2) Old ladies on motorcycles. Never fails to bring a smile to my face. One thing I find frustrating about Japan: grates on the sidewalks with holes big enough to suck ...