Well, before I talk about the hanami I thought I might post a picture or two of this free sample of 'Mintia' that came with a bottle of something the other day. The designer obviously was in a rush as he hadn't bothered to change the label of the free sample from that of the regular product. As you can see it says, '50 tablets'.
However, once opened a paltry '3' tumble out.
Can't complain if it's free I 'spose.
Tremain & Yeni came to town a week or so ago. We meated it up at Choupana & Trey busted out some delightful tunes on the shitty guitar they had there.
& now on to the Hanami! Every spring, once the cherry blossoms start to bloom, it is customary to have a picnic under these beautiful trees, eat, drink & be merry. I saw a few of my students at the park that day.. Here is Kazuma.
& here is the always overenthusiastic Hayato!
There was also some kind of arts & crafts event going on for the local kids that day. they were playing several different strange games & making tables. Yes.. that's right, tables.
By noon many familes had set down their groundsheets & were happily enjoying the Hanami atmosphere.
I played a bit of baseball with the kids, & like most sports it's a hell of a lot more fun to play than to watch. At one point a mini tornado formed & all the kids ran straight into the center of it. It had mostly dissipated by the time I took this picture, but it was quite a sight to see all of the kids getting knocked about by the wind & debris.
That weekend my wife Aki had gone to Hokkaido for a small vacation which left me home alone! Todd & his boy Ken came over & Misa did too.. We had a pretty tame evening, beating my drums, eating pizza, playing games & chatting.
Aki brought me back a fresh crab for dinner & I spent a good 15 mins hacking him to pieces & digging out all the good meat.
He didn't put up much of a fight & I soon had a pretty decent sized bowl of crab meat to chow down on.
Deeeelicious!
However, once opened a paltry '3' tumble out.
Can't complain if it's free I 'spose.
Tremain & Yeni came to town a week or so ago. We meated it up at Choupana & Trey busted out some delightful tunes on the shitty guitar they had there.
& now on to the Hanami! Every spring, once the cherry blossoms start to bloom, it is customary to have a picnic under these beautiful trees, eat, drink & be merry. I saw a few of my students at the park that day.. Here is Kazuma.
& here is the always overenthusiastic Hayato!
There was also some kind of arts & crafts event going on for the local kids that day. they were playing several different strange games & making tables. Yes.. that's right, tables.
By noon many familes had set down their groundsheets & were happily enjoying the Hanami atmosphere.
I played a bit of baseball with the kids, & like most sports it's a hell of a lot more fun to play than to watch. At one point a mini tornado formed & all the kids ran straight into the center of it. It had mostly dissipated by the time I took this picture, but it was quite a sight to see all of the kids getting knocked about by the wind & debris.
That weekend my wife Aki had gone to Hokkaido for a small vacation which left me home alone! Todd & his boy Ken came over & Misa did too.. We had a pretty tame evening, beating my drums, eating pizza, playing games & chatting.
Aki brought me back a fresh crab for dinner & I spent a good 15 mins hacking him to pieces & digging out all the good meat.
He didn't put up much of a fight & I soon had a pretty decent sized bowl of crab meat to chow down on.
Deeeelicious!
Momo!! At this years Chibiko English competition in Kyoto, our school was fortunate enough to have had six students who made it through to the finals. Out of the 109 finalists there can be only one champion.. & it was Momo. We all had a lot of confidence in her abilities, & her refined British accent is just a pleasure to listen to.. so I can't say I was too surprised when the judges announced her name. Still, this sort of thing shouldn't be taken lightly, it really is a massive achievement for her.
Our five other finalists below also did extremely well. The boy on the left, Kaoru also picked up a prize. He won second place in his category, also an outstanding effort. All of the kids performed at such a high level that it must have been incredibly difficult for the judges to choose the best from the best.
Here is the KBS TV studio in Kyoto where the contest is held each year.
Here is the main stage with all of the contestants & families gathering in the morning.
After all of our students had completed their speeches & the session for the morning was over, it was lunchtime! We jumped on the subway & headed off to an all you can eat chinese buffet.
The kids were all in very high spirits & were running around non-stop all day.
These kids crack me up so much. They must leave their parents exhausted on a daily basis.
After lunch it was then on to one of the finest attractions in Kyoto.. The Manga Museum!!
There was a cosplay event on on this particular day, & any & all of the costumed people were very affable and allowed me to photograph them if I just asked nicely. Which I did...
again...
& again...
& again...
& again...
& again!!
It was a beautiful day, & the museum allows is customers to take books from the hundreds of thousands on display, & then read them pretty much wherever they want.
I really love going to Kyoto for the speech comp. It's a great day for everybody, so much good comes out of it for our students & the parents must really get a kick out of seeing their kids on stage in front of so many people, speaking a language that's not their native tongue. & best of all, Momo won the big prize, which made the whole day incredibly special & a day we'll never forget!
Our five other finalists below also did extremely well. The boy on the left, Kaoru also picked up a prize. He won second place in his category, also an outstanding effort. All of the kids performed at such a high level that it must have been incredibly difficult for the judges to choose the best from the best.
Here is the KBS TV studio in Kyoto where the contest is held each year.
Here is the main stage with all of the contestants & families gathering in the morning.
After all of our students had completed their speeches & the session for the morning was over, it was lunchtime! We jumped on the subway & headed off to an all you can eat chinese buffet.
The kids were all in very high spirits & were running around non-stop all day.
These kids crack me up so much. They must leave their parents exhausted on a daily basis.
After lunch it was then on to one of the finest attractions in Kyoto.. The Manga Museum!!
There was a cosplay event on on this particular day, & any & all of the costumed people were very affable and allowed me to photograph them if I just asked nicely. Which I did...
again...
& again...
& again...
& again...
& again!!
It was a beautiful day, & the museum allows is customers to take books from the hundreds of thousands on display, & then read them pretty much wherever they want.
I really love going to Kyoto for the speech comp. It's a great day for everybody, so much good comes out of it for our students & the parents must really get a kick out of seeing their kids on stage in front of so many people, speaking a language that's not their native tongue. & best of all, Momo won the big prize, which made the whole day incredibly special & a day we'll never forget!
On a chilly Sunday morning I got up much earlier than usual to embark on a day trip to Shimizu city with Shinya & Misa.
We could see the mighty Mt. Fuji in all its snow capped glory quite clearly (better than this photo came out) from the expressway.
We arrived on schedule at the Shimizu station and then had a brief wait for the rest of our party, Tremain & Yeni.. (The latter who is notoriously always late).
Then it was on to lunch at a local Spanish restaurant. Pictured below is Tremain who I hadn't seen for around 4 years.. pretty much since we worked together at the fascist dictatorship known as the Mirai school.
After lunch it was on to the Shimizu S-Pulse Dream Plaza where we indulged in super creamy & delicious fresh crepes.
Here's Tremain's monstrosity.. jam-packed with all sorts of fatty goodness.
We were going to ride the ferris wheel but unfortunately they could only accommodate 4 to a carriage so we said bugger it.
It was quite a cold day but the weather was still quite fair. These birds had the right idea.. just chilling out standing around and doing nothing.
Shinya and his jacket made from rabbits.
Tremain was being stalked all day by a giant piece of tofu.
It finally caught up to him & then dragged him off to Guantanamo bay.. he hasn't been heard from since.
I was fortunate enough to meet chibi-Mariko-chan.. a very popular local cartoon character.
Misa and Yeni then posted some mail in the sickly pink mail box & all too soon it was time to bid each other farewell.
Another lazy Sunday spent not so lazily!
We could see the mighty Mt. Fuji in all its snow capped glory quite clearly (better than this photo came out) from the expressway.
We arrived on schedule at the Shimizu station and then had a brief wait for the rest of our party, Tremain & Yeni.. (The latter who is notoriously always late).
Then it was on to lunch at a local Spanish restaurant. Pictured below is Tremain who I hadn't seen for around 4 years.. pretty much since we worked together at the fascist dictatorship known as the Mirai school.
After lunch it was on to the Shimizu S-Pulse Dream Plaza where we indulged in super creamy & delicious fresh crepes.
Here's Tremain's monstrosity.. jam-packed with all sorts of fatty goodness.
We were going to ride the ferris wheel but unfortunately they could only accommodate 4 to a carriage so we said bugger it.
It was quite a cold day but the weather was still quite fair. These birds had the right idea.. just chilling out standing around and doing nothing.
Shinya and his jacket made from rabbits.
Tremain was being stalked all day by a giant piece of tofu.
It finally caught up to him & then dragged him off to Guantanamo bay.. he hasn't been heard from since.
I was fortunate enough to meet chibi-Mariko-chan.. a very popular local cartoon character.
Misa and Yeni then posted some mail in the sickly pink mail box & all too soon it was time to bid each other farewell.
Another lazy Sunday spent not so lazily!
A week or so ago, as part of our regular school lessons, we made small cakes & cookies for Valentines day. Here we have Hayato, holding his creation.. a hodge podge of chocolate, cake & cookies.
At the end of this class I asked him to see how long he could sit still without making a sound.. He lasted about ten seconds before he burst out laughing and two thick viscous torrents of snot exploded out of his nostrils. He is officially the funniest kid ever.
After a week of cake & cookie creation we had a large event for all of our students at the local Nayuta hall.
It was a big success as everyone seemed to really enjoy it & all activities ran smoothly.
Here is a photo of the kids from the first session of the school event.. unfortunately several kids were absent.. including Todd!
After lunch it was on to phase two.. & mayhem ensued.
Out the front a truck had dumped a load of snow a few days earlier for kids to play in.There was still a small pile left & the kids unleashed hell on me. One skilful lad got me in the nuts.
After the event I went on in to the city to visit my friend Pete & have a bit of a jam.
Here's Misa punishing the skins..
After annoying the neighbours enough we headed on it to a bar to watch Japan take on Australia in the soccer. It was , as most soccer games go, incredibly boring. No goals were scored and we all went home mighty... tipsy.
Awaiting me at home was a fat, rich & juicy chocolate cake.. courtesy of Aki. It was damn nice.. & no, I didn't eat the whole thing as thank god Aki was there to devour most of it for me.
At the end of this class I asked him to see how long he could sit still without making a sound.. He lasted about ten seconds before he burst out laughing and two thick viscous torrents of snot exploded out of his nostrils. He is officially the funniest kid ever.
After a week of cake & cookie creation we had a large event for all of our students at the local Nayuta hall.
It was a big success as everyone seemed to really enjoy it & all activities ran smoothly.
Here is a photo of the kids from the first session of the school event.. unfortunately several kids were absent.. including Todd!
After lunch it was on to phase two.. & mayhem ensued.
Out the front a truck had dumped a load of snow a few days earlier for kids to play in.There was still a small pile left & the kids unleashed hell on me. One skilful lad got me in the nuts.
After the event I went on in to the city to visit my friend Pete & have a bit of a jam.
Here's Misa punishing the skins..
After annoying the neighbours enough we headed on it to a bar to watch Japan take on Australia in the soccer. It was , as most soccer games go, incredibly boring. No goals were scored and we all went home mighty... tipsy.
Awaiting me at home was a fat, rich & juicy chocolate cake.. courtesy of Aki. It was damn nice.. & no, I didn't eat the whole thing as thank god Aki was there to devour most of it for me.
