Hotel New Neo Kumagaya

... the fact I signed a contract. I told her I had run out of money and had to go home. We finally came to an agreement and that was that. Interesting to note, that after we told her of our plans to leave, she offered me 70 hours a month. But this was something I was supposed to keep secret from Rob. Also, it was possible to move into an apartment. I said, well, where were these hours this month? If there has been an apartment available, why aren’t ...

... Not because he shared the name with a popular Nintendo character or because it seems to be one of the most popular names in Japan or the it rhymed with the name of the guy in my first class, but because he loved to talk, he loved to learn. His name was Yoshi. He was very enthusiastic and made the classes fun. After this lesson, Asa took me to sushi train. I nearly had a fit of joy when I saw that each plate of sushi was a mere 99yen. I vowed that in Japan, I would try some of the local ...

... to explain what these exotic and sometimes scary looking culinary items are.

Speaking of translators, If the truth be known I'm not so sure any more that even when a Japanese person claims to speak English and is nodding in agreement, smiling, and speaking broken English back to you that the two of you are really communicating. What there seems to be is a lot of nodding and smiling ...

... to no English. Of course one must use the "vending machine" another Japanese phenomena. I've heard that there is a machine for every 20 people here. At the baths there was a vending machine with 50 some options. The woman at the desk helped me deposit my yens and press the appropriate buttons - at least I think they were the correct ones they got me into the baths and sauna.

Yokota, Tōkyō, Japan kitchenshrink

... certain is actually a documentary. It's a rather quiet environment where elementary school children ride the trains without an adult companion and wear uniforms that include white hats and leather backpacks - red for girls/black for boys. The staff tell me that these good looking backpacks cost 3 to 4 hundred dollars. Things here are expensive.

At any rate, I'm safe and sound. Exploring the food markets (note the fresh ginger ...

Second day in Tachikawa. After riding bicycles around Showa Kinen park, we trained again at the Suwa Jinja Renseikan dojo. My glutes are sore.

Went to a local "diner" after cleaning up, where we had an assortment of seafood, meat, vegetables, and unknown consumables boiled up in a community pot. And beer, or ’beer-ru’ as they call it here. No problem.

Set the alarm for 5：00am. Tomorrow is showtime.

... it just isn't a meal without her spilling something and us taking a photo. So we went to Roppongi Hills in the hope to go up to the Tokyo Sky View which is at the top of the Mori building near the museum and the glorious designer shop that David and I bought maybe a little bit TOO much at last time. And once again the Tokyo Sky View was shut, weird thing is the guy at the ticket counter pointed at a sign with a look that said 'der' to us ...

... lulled to sleep by the gentle rumblings of trains going past. And with the double glazing it literally is just a gentle rumble. Probably quieter than the trains going past at our place to be honest! And the line is RIGHT THERE. hehe So looking forward to another gloriously cold crisp and sunny day. Weather today was around 11 degrees, they say it will be 8 degrees, still and sunny tomorrow so all good. I'm loving my thermals - especially because they are rainbow coloured!

... It's 15 metres higher but only has 2 observation decks. One 1/2 way up and one at the top. Having journeyed up to the main observation deck, we went through the various attractions at the foot of the tower including an atrocious wax museum, in the style of Madame Tussuad's, but basically ****! The best (because it was terrible) part was the full scale version of "The ...

... we found the club, stood in the entrance line about 10 minutes, then finally got inside. As soon as we had bought our first cocktails and found the dance floor, Tiefschwarz started spinning. It was perfect timing. They were amazing DJs, and the club was not only huge, but packed with high energy people. Dancing mixed with drink breaks on the third and fourth floor lounges passed the early morning hours in a flash. I managed to shake hands with one of Tiefschwarz ...