Whales & Babies

On our first night in Japan, we were given a choice of Whale Bacon or Deep Fried Whale. Simon went with the bacon, but I wanted to see if there would be a market for whale'n'chips in NZ, so I tried the deep fry.




Although this is mostly just for tourists. No-one really eats whales in Japan any more. Instead, their forced to do menial tasks.

Like pumping petrol...




And doing the laundry...

If they're lucky, they get to work in a lab...

No, eating whales is passe these days. It's all about babies. They just have such a mysterious taste!

Don't cry, dericious baby!

Innoshima Pirrrrrate Festival!

We went to the island of Innoshima for a pirate festival. So this is what a traditional Japanese pirate looks like. A bit tougher than Johhny Depp...

There was a whole team of about 40 kids all playing Taiko - traditional drums - but the video won't load!

Maybe it will...

Here is Simon with some of our ALT teacher friends, Mathew from Jamaica and Thian from South Africa. He likes to call this photo "The Oreo":

And Thians girlfriend Janal:

Simon's Birthday

For Simon's birthday, I tried really hard to make him a nice breakfast. This time I was sure I had good ingredients. So I fried up some bacon, and scrambled some eggs, and put it on nice grainy bread with some fresh sliced tomato. But, of course, the whole thing tasted like old fish - the favourite flavour of Fukuyama. We tried the bacon - fishy. We tried the egg - fishy. Oh well, we'll just have jam on toast - fishy. The OJ was good though.











So we set out for Tomonoura, a fishing village about 15 mins by bus. From there we got a ferry out to a little island.




Simon went for a swim and wrestled a giant crab.

At night we went out to Boogie Buns, our favourite pseudo-American themed bar/restaurant, where everybody knows your name... They sung Happy Birthday to Simon and gave hima card and an ice-cream sundae.

Then we met up with our Jamaican friend Mathew and went to a 'J-Reggae' night at a local club. The DJ's and MC's had really put a lot of effort into their "reggae" outfits, but not so much the music or the sound system. Still, it was fun watching the Japanese girls checking out Mathew, especially when they found out that he was a genuine Jamaican, not just a Japanese who had put extra effort into his outfit.

Not a bad birthday, although it was a bit short on presents as the elusive pay day was far far away...

Commuting

This is my walk home from school. Please note that I have to walk UP it in the mornings.





Down through the bush...



Very peaceful...







This little guy sticking his head up is a turtle.










Part of me wants to live in this house. At least then I wouldn't have a 70 minute commute.






























A crayfish in the gutter? Better than rats.
























Then it's off to the train, and then the bus...

Simon Gets a Job

Very lazy man, has to get a job...




Step 1: iron a shirt.




Step 2: take a handsome photo.




Now, you are a fulltime sarari-man (salary man).

The Honeymoon is over...

When we got to Fukuyama, it was pretty depressing...

Here is the view from our balcony:

Not the most inspired architecture.

But at least we've got plenty of room. We've got two bedroms, and a living room, which I'll add more photos of when we clean them.