Dekita!

So after three years I finally achieved my black belt. Here is a photo with me, some of the guys I train with and my sensei. For some reason my white gi makes me look huge. I'm really not that big!

Rice Planting

Finally updated

After not adding to this site for about 8 months, in the last week I caught up!! I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures. Sorry for the mistakes!

Hiking Houmanzan

Although Golden Week is traditionally the time us JETs leave the country for another south eastern asian country, I had already used all but three hours of my paid holiday so stayed in Japan. And because every Japanese person and their dog goes traveling I opted to stay at home. That was until Ayumi and Kyonkyon from work invited me to go on a day hike with them. The shrine on top of the mountain is supposed to be where you pray for good luck in love/relationships. Not sure how much luck it gives you but what the hell....
The mountain is 830m high but was a tough rocky climb. It was easier than the Kirishima and Yakushima hikes only because I only had day pack and it was shorter in length. There were a fair few people but not as many as I thought there would be being Golden Week. But I was right about one thing... there were 2 families there with their dogs and also a dog who decided to belong to anyone who was friendly. The view at the top was nice although because it was around 1pm the Japan haze had set in. I am still surprised that they built a shrine on top of the mountain. That meant someone had to drag up all the materials. Poor buggers.

After the hike we went and got a ice cream/slushy/green tea float and headed back to Yukuhashi bypassing the airport where we had a foot spa for 100 yen ($1)!

Korea with the family

Mum, Jetty, Poppy and Melva (grandparents and great aunt) came to visit me in Japan again. I was really happy that they could come because I hadn't seen any family for over a year since I was unable to home for Christmas. By this stage I only had 3 days paid holiday left so couldn't take off a lot of time to spend with them. I went to Fukuoka to meet them at their hotel and got them settled in. Lucky for me one of my monthly Monday meetings was scheduled in Fukuoka the next day so I stayed the night and spent the morning with them. We met up with Andria who took us to a shrine and a arcade area for lunch. We had to leave for our meeting but exploring the arcade area. After the meeting I met back up with them for dinner and to make sure they knew what they could do the following day without me being there, as I had to go back for work. They spent the day in Ohori Park and the museum there and had a great time. By the sounds of it, I must visit there myself before the 'year' is out.
Their request for coming to Japan was actually to go across to see Korea because they had heard how close it was from when I went. So as me as their non-Korean speaking guide we went there from Wednesday to Sunday, on the last of my paid leave. The first day was basically in transit, catching the 3 hr hydrofoil ferry to Busan and then catching the train to Seoul. Although there was warnings about hitting a whale, we made it there incident free. Once settled in our hotel we went out for dinner and gladly to me sneaky persistence we had "bulgogi', my favourite Korean food. While Poppy relaxed in the hotel, Mum, Melva, Jetty and I had a little look around the markets areas of Dongdaemun.
The following day we went to Gyeonbukgung one of the main palaces in Seoul. We were in time for the 25 minute changing of the guard ceremony before spending most of the day exploring the grounds and the National Palace museum. As coincidence had it we ran into a man that we had met on the train the day before who had talked to us. Pretty amazing in a city of 10.4 million. After that we headed to the famous Namdaemun Markets. These markets are pure craziness. There are so many people and so much stuff crammed into this area. We bought a few bargains but were soon tired of its intensity. We then headed back to the hotel and relaxed before finding another very nice but cheap restaurant for dinner.

On Friday we went to the War Memorial Museum. I would recommend this place to everyone. I have never seen such as extensive collection of information that is not only informative but interesting. Contrary to the information I was given before going, there is plenty of information in English. Even though I though we would only spend the morning here, we spent the entire day and we still didn't get to see everything. In the museum, they had not only information on the Koreans that had been in the Korea-related wars but from all countries. I had arranged that we would would come on Friday to see a military band performance. I had assumed it was one band playing but it included a display of a traditional music, a traditional military band, traditional swordsmanship, modern military marching band including a drumline performance and a gun drill performance with people from the navy, army and airforce. It was very entertaining. We ended up having dinner at the same place again after not being able to find a different place with a menu that was readable, ie. had pictures. That wasn't too bad considering it was great value for money. Again the four girls went looking at shops while Poppy was left stressing in the hotel thinking he had been robbed only to discover Jetty had moved all their things to a different place. Bit of a worry!

On Saturday, we went to the Insadong area, which was very nice. In hindsight, it would have been nicer to come here than go to the crazy Namdaemun markets, but it's all experience. There was a man there who did beautiful wood carving (see pics) and also a beautiful small gallery where we met the very talented artist. After we headed back to Seoul station for lunch before catching the train south to Busan where we staying the night.
Sunday, we only had the morning and after ruling out the first few possibilities I had of morning we decided to go on a boat ride around the coast of Busan. Unfortunately because of bad weather (too windy - big waves) it was canceled which gave us great enthusiasm for our journey back to Japan. A few people were sick on the hydrofoil on the way back but I was glad we were in a hydrofoil above most of the waves or else I may have joined them.

We headed back to Yukuhashi that night in order for me to work the next day. I hired a car, which mum drove down to Beppu where they got to see the hells of Beppu. Except for a few occasions of getting lost, one time actually finding an unknown castle, they went well by themselves. I think they would have enjoyed it a little better if I had only remembered to tell them how to shut "Mary" up, which is the name they gave to the Japanese female voiced navigation system. Before leaving we had an enjoyable dinner out with my work colleagues. Good times.
I must say if you go to Korea, you must have Pizza Hut! It was so unbelievably good. Not that I eat fast-food regularly, throughout my travel I have decided.... Pizza Hut is to be eaten in Korea, MacDonald's is to be eaten in Japan and KFC chips are to be eaten in Australia!

Thailand

With only 10 dives logged, I was invited to go on a liveaboard in Thailand by Kim, a fellow diver who lives on Kyushu. With my new obsession with diving in full swing I couldn't refuse. I logged 14 more dives before the trip but was one of lesser experiences people on the trip, but not the least.

Day 1: Sightseeing around Phuket Island.
We rented a mo-ped and zipped around Patong and the surrounding towns. Traffic is crazy but I think its a little better than China. We went to visit Jamie at his shop Sunrise Divers to meet and thank him for planning the trip and also to get me a wetsuit (The only thing that I hadn't bought in my recent diving equipment splurge). Then we just relaxed by the pool waiting for our pickup. It was a pity that the pool was so chlorinated is could've disinfected a hospital. Paulo and Steve, our dive guides for the week, greeted us and loaded us in the van to meet the other people on our trip. Once on Colona VI, we had a run down of the boat and diving procedures for the trip and then watched the small fireworks display which blessed our coming trip as we left the harbor.
Day 2: Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Koh Haa.
Paulo was our guide for the first day. Our first dive was at Hin Daeng. It was my first time diving with my new BP and harness set-up and camera so it was a new experience. (Now that I have got used to diving with the BP&H, I can't recommend it enough. Diving without a weight belt and the weight distribution is fantastic). Some of things we saw were moray eels, bat fish, nudibranches, pink and red anenome fish and a lions mane jelly fish. The only downfall of the dive was having my camera set in the wrong mode (the only one that is unchangeable underwater) and the razor plankton......OUCH!
Dive 2 was at Hin Muang and we saw a lobster, nudibranches, scorpian fish and cleaner shrimp. To our surprise 2 mantas turned up at the end of the dive. Divers went everywhere! The divers that were out of the water donned their fins and masks and tried skin diving to get a decent view or picture of them. Many divers who were still underwater went in hot pursuit.
Dive 3 was again at Hin Muang. Steve and Paulo decided that we would stick around where the mantas had arrived and it proved to be a fantastic idea. All other boats left and what resulted was 4 huge mantas swimming around us for an hour - no other group in sight. The current was really strong which made most people hang on the mooring line for the dive. A pinnacle covered with anemones sheltered those of us not on the mooring line from most of the current. The mantas kept on circling by as the pinnacle was a manta cleaning station. Watching the mantas get cleaned was great to be but I think the mantas liked the attention from us too. Apparently they left the area after we left the water. Definitely memorable.
Dive 4 was at Koh Haa and a sunset dive. It was a nice relaxing dive. Anemone fish, spotted and hexagonal patterned puffer fish and porcelain crabs. It was my first time to dive 4 times in one day so I was pretty tired by the end.

Day 3: Bida Nok (Phi Phi Island), Shark Point and Koh Dok Mai.
Today we dove with Steve and the first dive was at Bida Nok at 7am. We saw different kinds of soft corals, lots of puffer fish, a few table corals and scorpion fish. Dive 2 at Shark Point was cut a bit short by me losing my buddy. I looked behind waited till I got his attention and thought I saw him following but the next time I looked back he was nowhere to be seen. I was pretty worried so went up to see if he had surfaced. He had. Phew! Lesson learned. Dive 3 was at Koh Dok Mai which is a dive along a wall. My favourite part of the dive was a huge open cave area. There were heaps of life in this area. Very nice dive.
The dive at Koh Dok Mai was the last of the trip to the south so we headed back to Patong where we had a few hours to relax on land before joining the boat again with a new group of people. I had decided to do my Nitrox certification so while everybody was rushing around getting settled in, I studied a bit.

Day 4: Anita's Reef, East of Eden and West of Eden
We traveling through the night north to the Similans, where we were told the visibility would be better and it was. There wasn't as much stingy plankton around either. The dive at West of Eden was awesome for one reason in particular. I spotted a leopard shark!!! I was so excited, I am still surprised I didn't use all my air right there and then. I tried to get the attention of everyone in my group but because I had nothing to make noise with, so most people in my group missed it. Only Iggy, turned around to see why I had stopped and saw it too. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the dive which in my case is a big problem as my mask fills up with water. The rest of the dive was very enjoyable. It was an interesting site as there are opposing currents.

After finishing the dive at West of Eden we headed to Mooring Bay where we were given the option of going ashore or staying on board and doing a bit of snorkeling. I went ashore and walked up the the lookout with Nuna and Kim. It was a beautiful view but man it was hot! When we returned to the boat I went snorkeling with Nuna and we watching a very cute turtle grazing.

Dive 4 was a night dive at Mooring Bay. It was interesting but there wasn't much to see. I felt very Indiana Jones-ish exploring around with torch light going everywhere. The only notable thing I saw was a huge parrot fish and the beautiful reflections of the boat lights. With different diving groups crossing over each other, we had an interesting time keeping tabs on our group. We lost a few people by the end of the dive but not to worry, they got back to the boat safely.

Day 5: Rocky Point, Koh Bon West Ridge, Tachai pinnacle and Koh Bon.
Today we were back diving with Paolo and the first dive was North Point of the Island affectionately known as Island No.9. There were heaps of cool swim throughs in the rock formations. Dive 2 was at West Ridge at Koh Bon. On this dive there was a feeding rock where there was an abundance of fish of different species and colours. You could've stayed there the whole time taking photos. Unfortunately I didn't get any decent photos of this. Dive 3 was a great learning experience and for me a very fun dive. There was a strong current on top so we used the anchor line to descend (pull ourselves down) and once on the bottom there was a huge surge. Once I relaxed and realised it was better to hover than to try and hold onto stuff, I really enjoyed myself flying around like a plane. I think some of the other divers thought I was crazy. I got to see a fair few things on that dive including multiple scorpion fishes and different varieties of anemone fish. There was a leopard shark but I didn't see it very well. At the end of the dive one of the guys ran out of air and borrowed some of mine. This doesn't usually happen but I was glad to be in the right place at the right time.
The last dive of the day was an afternoon dive at Torinla. It was my first dive of Nitrox (which for those of you who aren't divers it's air with a higher percentage of oxygen that normal air). I definitely like diving it as I didn't get a slight headache as I sometimes get diving. Some say this is from the nitrogen build up.

Day 6: Richelieu Rock and West Ridge
Diving again with Steve we dove our first three dives around Richeleau Rock. This is a very popular spot and because of this we were in the water around 6:30. The highlight was .... seahorses!! A brown male, a yellow female and yellow female baby. We also got to see nudibranches and moray eels. At the end of the dive I managed to pull off a air ring like Otis (my instructor from Okinawa)!! It's a pity I can't do them consistently yet.
Inbetween dives Steve (not dive guide), Iggy and I had a bit of a cool off. We jumped off the top of the boat which probably wasn't a great idea in my bikini but I didn't lose it (completely). Who would've known that I am scared of heights!?!? Paolo and Ann also joined us for a bit of a swim after our jump. It was nice to have a swim without all the scuba gear.
The last dive of the day was at West Ridge. There wasn't anything as exciting as the seahorses ath this site but it was still a very relaxing dive.

Day 7: Elephants Head rock. Shark Fin Reef
The first dive was at Elephants Head Rock with Paolo. This dive site has interesting boulder and rock formations so we were able to do multiple swim throughs. Interesting things we saw were anemone crabs and a huge barracuda. Apparently this barracuda has a huge mean streak so we warned to be careful of it. The second and last dive of the trip was at Shark Fin Reef where there was huge slab rock formations. We saw lots of trigger fish, puffers and anemones.
On our last safety stop, our group decided as a farewell to all inflate our markers. It's usually only one. We all got a bit of a laugh out of it.
We then had to wash all our gear, pack our cabin up and say farewell. It was such a fantastic trip. I will definitely do one (or many) again. Once on land I had the worst sea legs!

Day 8: King Cruiser, Anenome Reef and Shark Point - Day diving trip
Jason and Iggy from the liveaboard invited me to go out on a day trip with them so because I seem to not get enough of diving and I had my gear, I went.
The day started a bit stressfully. Our pickup was really late and then once we made it on the boat we found out none of the equipment we had hired had made it on the boat. Luckily there was some spare equipment on board that we could use.
The first dive was on a wreck of a ferry called King Cruiser. The visibility was bad and there was only a few fish. The good thing of the dive was I got my fingers cleaned by the cleaner shrimp. The bad thing was I lost my group. I probably didn't do the right thing by waiting a full minute at my exact position as I was inside in the wreck. I thought it better to get to open water in case something went wrong. I now know that it is much more stressful for the buddy with the group that the one who got lost. Anyway the guide was... in short.. very angry with me which is fair enough, but I didn't think it was too professional that for the other dives I became invisible even though I was always right there. I'm just glad I didn't get short on air or have any other problem. Even Iggy and Jason noticed I had completely disappeared from the guide's radar. ANYWAY, the next dive was at Anemone Reef, the visibility here was a little better. We saw lots of different coloured moray eels and nudibraches. The third dive was a Shark Point. This was a really nice site. We saw a group of baby eels (10+), 2 nurse sharks, scorpion fish, nudibranches, ghost pipe fish, banded shrimp and at the end of our dive, heaps of barracuda swimming along the surface.
After the diving Iggy, Jason and I went out for a bite which ended up being a huge meal of Austrian food and some drinks.
Please note: This day was booked via a different shop than the liveaboard. NOT Jamie.

Day 9: Sightseeing
On the last full day left in Patong Kim and I took at tour which took us off Phuket Island. We saw a buddha, monkeys, bats, floating villiage and James Bond Rock. It was a great day. We met 3 people for Ireland who were great quality.

It was a great trip all up and if money permits I may head back that way again. I was glad that I could experience both a liveaboard and day trip in quick concession. The difference in Thailand was amazing. Well it was in my experience. I can't recommend the liveaboard enough. The people on board Colona were great. The guides were friendly, helpful and cool to hang out with, the Thai captain and cooking staff were friendly, the two boat boys were a great help when getting on and off the boat and the food was awesome. What more could you ask for?!

Easter

Again it was time for me to put on the bunny suit! We made bunny photo frames, decorated easter eggs, made crepe paper bunnies, had an egg toss competition and of course had the egg hunt. The kids had a really good time and it went really smoothly... all except for the overly helpful kid who collected the hidden easter eggs before we had a chance to have the egg hunt. There was a quick scramble to re-hide them. Like Halloween, I hope this annual event continues long after I return to Australia.

Graduation

I attending graduation at one of my schools. Unfortunately I couldn't get to both because they are held on the same day. It was great to see the students that I had been teaching for nearly 3 years graduate. It's a pity that as soon as they get good enough to have some really interesting conversations, they head off to high school. But I guess that how it is. The two students in the bottom corners of the collage were the ones I had regular chat sessions with so they would be ready for the interview test to get into a high level English high school. I am sure they would have got in regardless but it was great to get to know them better.

Good luck class of 2008.

Snowboarding in Hiroshima-ken

I was invited to go snowboarding with a family from karate up in Hiroshima-ken and jumped at the chance as I hadn't been this winter. We left at about 10pm and got up there about 4 or something. I spent most of my time with Mayu, who I played snow chasey with and had numerous snow ball fights! At about 4pm we packed up and drive back. Pretty tiring but very enjoyable "day out".

This is me and Mayu on the chairlift and some cute penguins.

White Yukuhashi

Jono's visit

Jono, one of my best friends from university came to to visit after traveling in Europe. I went up and met him at Kansai Airport (Osaka). We both had a bit of trouble. I initially went to the wrong airport. STUPID! Jono had a fair bit of trouble clearing immigration. A single male coming from Amsterdam who didn't know the exact address where he was staying didn't exactly go in his favour. Jono also said if he had shaved then it might have been a bit easier to get in. Luckily Jono's phone worked so he was able to get my address from me. After meeting up we took the train to Kyoto. We found our hostel and went exploring in the Kinkakuji area. Kinkakuji is a must see when going to Kyoto so I think I've been there 5 times now with different friends and my family. After we went to a Zen Garden I had not found before. The next day we made a trip to Kiyomizudera, another must see in Kyoto. At this time of year the trees aren't very picturesque but the building is still impressive. We then caught the train to Himeji to see the very impressive Himeji Castle.

Within 36 hrs Jono got to see the 3 things to see in Japanese - a temple, a shrine and a castle!! And probably the best ones there are to see too! That night we headed back to Yukuhashi as I could only get 2 days off work. From Wednesday to Friday Jono went on a train ride adventure to "God know where" and chilled out in Yukuhashi. It was great to have someone to talk to when I came home.

On the weekend I hired a car and drove to Mt Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan. Around Mt Aso is one of the largest craters in the world. It's actually really hard to know when you have entered in it because it's so big. The are a few town within it.

On the Sunday, Yuki drove us to the newly built longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Japan (390m long/173m high). Little did we know it was pretty much where we had been the day before. Oh well! We had really good udon (noodles) there. We had to come back so Jono could catch the train up to near Osaka airport before his JR pass ran out. He didn't have any trouble getting back up there are spending a day fending for himself because he made it made to his flight to Oz.

I was glad Jono got to see Japan and Yukuhashi where I live, so if I tell him a story when I get back he has some reference. The funny part of the trip is that we went to the Kaiten sushi (sushi-go-round) in Yukuhashi 3 times in the week he stayed as he loved the sushi there. I do too. By the 3rd time, they were all smiles for their regular customers.

NOTE: All the photos used in this entry were taken by Jono. Thanks Jono!! Mine have gone missing. :(

New Year's holiday in Okinawa

I was hoping to go home for Christmas like I had done the previous two years but unfortunately the tickets to Australia nearly doubled in price... and I was looking for tickets early. So instead I spent Christmas with Steve and his family in Yukuhashi and then escaped the cold as best I could by going down to Okinawa again. Considering last time I went, I dove practically the whole time, I wanted to have a look around. I stayed at Hamby Resort and was really happy they remembered me and were happy to see me. The first day I visited the dive shop and went riding up the steepest hill in the area. Not on purpose and not a good idea unless you are trying to get fit. I wasn't keen to go diving straight away as I was still recovering from a cold. On the second day i hired a car the first day and went up to the Chiraumi Aquarium, the world's second biggest aquarium. Around the grounds there were creatures made from plants. Very well done. Some were still a work-in-progress.

I must say not only is it the biggest I have been to, it was the best. The variety they had was amazing. Of course the massive tank that held the whale shark, rays, sharks and others was awesome.

After spending a lot of time in the aquarium I went and saw the dugong and turtle enclosures. The dugongs and turtles were cute but it was a pity that their enclosure weren't a little better. I then headed to the dolphin enclosure. There they not only have dolphins but also a false killer whale. They were all so cute and there were singing and showing off as they knew the show was coming up soon and they would be fed. I have some cool footage of them all doing their tricks. I also got wet from the false killer whale's final display... We were warned.

After the very entertaining show I had a look around the traditional Okinawan village. They must have had very small horses as the stables were not even up to my shoulder. I took a spin around the botanical garden but by this time my stomach was eating itself.
After some lunch I went to the Butterfly House which was in the area. As you can see there were many butterflies. After I went to the Busena Underwater Observatory but because the sea was rough the lady told the visibility was about 2-3 metres. I decided I'd save my money. Instead I took photos of the hibiscus that were there. From there I went to Cape Maeda and to some castle ruins. I got the car back in time which is always a good thing.

On the 3rd day the diving began. We went up to where I had been the day before which made me feel a little counterproductive but it was one of the only places we could go diving. The dive site we did is called Gorilla Chop. Because it was my first dive back I was a little rusty and didn't take down enough weight. Lesson learned! Thicker wetsuit, more weight. I left my common sense at home that day! The fact it was a shallow dive didn't particularly help. Anyway enough excuses we saw fish such trumpet fish, moorish idols, emperor angelfish, triggerfish, speckled sandperches and black spotted puffer fish. The second dive was the same site and much the same.
The next day was New Years Eve so we only did one dive finishing on sunset down on Oda Coast the southern most of the island. We had to go down to the south of the island as there were storms out at sea which were making most of the island un-diveable. The dive is called Channel Crevices, which is a very accurate description. The rock formations were interesting. We swam through the rock formations and saw parrot fish, different soft corals, butterfly fish and chocolate dipped damsel fish. Cute!

That night I stayed around Hamby Resort and we had a big feast. Miho (Otis'wife) and her brothers had gone out on a fishing charter and caught heaps of fish. Lots of yummy sashimi! Thanks guys! Fireworks went off at midnight at the nearby American Village
New Year's Day I had a big sleep in and relaxing day.
On the 2nd we went back down to the Channel Crevices dive site as the weather was still crappy. On the 3rd the weather settled down enough for us to get to the Kerama Islands. These islands are famous diving spots. Although it had settled down enough to get to Keramas it was still choppy and silly me sat at the back cramped up. Yep... I got boat sick! So, I started the day with a hurl over the side. Ewww! The best thing is that no one gave me too much slack over it. Apart from the bad start, the dives out there were great. We saw a large cuttlefish, an octopus, sea snakes, large staghorn coral, Nemo and his relatives and a huge turtle with a remora attached to it.
One of my dive buddies Greg and I got talking and he invited me to go out sailing with him on his yacht. I was thinking of taking a break from diving so it was a great opportunity. So the 4 th, after lunch I went sailing. If only I had money I'd spend my life sailing and diving! Oh yeah, Greg let me steer for a little bit which was cool. I must say I was nervous being in charge of steering his home around.

Back in the water on the 5th, we just went to the Sunabe Sea Wall, which is the place closest to the shop and where I did some of my dives when I was first learning. Actually in our group there was a some beginner divers so it was a good dive for them. We got to see heaps of sea snakes, long-spined sea urchins (which look cool), groupers, bubble coral shrimp (I found it myself this time!), balloon fish and wrasse. That night Otis, Greg and I hit Naha to check out the nightlife. They introduced me to soft Tacos which are soooooo good. I am a big fan of mexican food now. We went to a few spots including a Brazillian Bar (I think) where we had some Brazilian bourbon. It was good but strong. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Chatan. Because Otis and I hadn't seen a certain movies, of which I forget now (sorry Greg), we bought some snacks and watched the movie in Greg's yacht. Otis fell asleep about halfway through, I managed to watch it through. The next morning Otis and I had to get up early to get back home, get our gear and then come back to the wharf to go out on the boat. A bit tired but after getting into the water, I was totally awake.
On the 6th, my last full day in Okinawa, we went out to the Keramas again. It wasn't as rough and I didn't squish myself at the back of the boat so no sea sickness. Yay! The first dive was mainly for the other divers to do some training. I used the time to practice my buoyancy/breathing. Because of this dive, Otis said he felt bad because I was just waiting around for everyone. I didn't mind but the dive we went and had was AMAZING! The best I have had so far. After our entry with the group, we swam out to a pinnacle. The pinnacle had huge drop-offs and looking out to sea all you could see was blue. We saw a top sail drummer (probably the biggest fish I had seen underwater) and schools of blue and yellow back fusilers circling far above us near the surface of the water. We also saw 2 firefish and a beautiful pacific lobster in a cave. Once we had joined back up with the rest of the group, we were swimming through a crevice when Otis turned to me and told me to wait. We were the leaders of the group. The people following asked me why of which I had no answer. I started to doubt he asked me to wait when I saw them..... 3 white tipped reef sharks swimming at me with Otis chasing them down. It was so cool and not at all scary. They swam about a foot from me!!
On the way back to the boat we saw two large white mouth eels, something else I hadn't seem before. Oh, and while we were diving we could hear whales calling!
The last dive was a drift dive so Kumi led us and Otis stayed on the boat. We got to see 3 green sea turtles. Kumi had given me her camera to play with.
On the way back we met up with all the whale watching boats and watched the whales!! Value for money! It was a perfect last day of diving.

Yuki & My Bounenkai

Yuki and I had I own bounenkai in Kokura. Yuki found a really nice restaurant and the food was AWESOME! Of course we did nomihoudai (all you can drink). After dinner we walked around the River Walk area where all the Christmas lights were set up. I still believe that the organizers at the station got everything upside-down. I think the one on the top right is supposed to be a bell with a heart in it and the blue V thing (on the bottom row) is supposed to be a Christmas tree.
Anyway... after our Christmas light viewing we return to Yukuhashi and went to our favourite hangout - Angel. Ryuya, the owner, is really cool and makes really nice original drinks. Yuki found amusement in the piggy bank. SEXY!

Karate Bounenkai

Halloween for the kids

Halloween for Yukuhashi's elementary school students went really well this year. Many of us dressed up and we played Halloween music to set the mood. Even I was a bit scared of Ikegami with the blood flowing skeleton mask and Steve in his scream outfit. We made woolen spiders, photo frame, played pin-the-bone-on-the skeleton and had the traditional pinatas. I wish I had got a photos of them as this year I made them into ghosts (with toilet paper) and spiders. They looked cool! I hope the tradition continues after I leave.

Halloween

Chris and Kenji planned Halloween for all the adults at Sai, a really nice Izakaya (restaurant) in Yukuhashi. Kenji especially was adamant that we wear costumes. I guess he knew that the foreigners were more likely to dress up that our Japanese friends. I didn't derss up a great deal, although all my friend seemed shocked. Tony and Michelle came to pick me up and man did I get a surprise. You can see Tony below wrapped head to foot in toilet paper oh, and wearing one of those beauty face masks. What a pisser!! It was a really cool night and we all had fun. I managed to go very Japanese in all the photos. PEACE! The honorable mention goes to Tim who decided is was a great idea to spray paint himself yellow and come a Jaundice. He stunk of paint. I'm surprised he didn't get sick.
I don't know why but I can't find photos of Kenji and Chris. Kenji dressed as a can of Asahi beer and later dressed in a nurse's uniform. Very funny as his legs are quite hairy.

The week after this Chris, Tim and I went out to a Halloween party in Kokura. Chris gets a special mention because he went as DORAEMON. So cute!