fashionable idiots

The Japan Times Online has an important article on fashionable idiots that wear armour to work and contribute to environmental destruction.

This suit-wearing regime is a massive contrast to the attire I donned in my previous jobs. So why have I joined this greenhouse gas producing plot? Or a better question is: "Will it ever be possible to sway the mindset of the biggest employer of English teachers in Japan and their clients?"

I think I'll enquire about it at work today. Hopefully they won't fire me but seriously consider the issue of global warming and Japan's promise. I'll try some relevant big words like Kyoto Protocol and ones honour to keep their promise.

It's 30 degrees and raining here in Hiroshima today with little change predicted in the forecast. So what would you look like at work without the neck-tie? Save the ozone layer: ditch the suit

weekly carnage

Hiroshima International Centre is where I try to go every week for Japanese language lessons. It's a great place to meet others also struggling with life in Japan and an opportunity to obliterate the Japanese language without offending too many people. Last night's lesson was largely about flavours of lollies: strawberry, orange, grape and apple. This is very important for some reason... I'm sure that reason will come to me one day.

My brother has enquired about the chewing gum that increases breast size. All too late this week I'm afraid, I'll have to ask about that next week. Meanwhile, my shopping experimentation adventures continue.

blind jousting

There are a plethora of activities one can carry out whilst cruising around town on your bicycle. I am constantly amused by the ladies wearing face shades that look like the wearer is a fully qualified welder. In my brief survey of other things you can do while BMXing in Hiroshima, I came up with this short list:

• chat with your co-cyclists
  
• smoke cigarettes
• send email from your moblie phone
  
• call your friend to ask if they are waiting for you somewhere else
• navigate your way with the moving map GPS in your phone
• hog the shade while you wait beside the pedestrian crossing
  
• film the action as you ride
  
• use your umbrella to shield from the rain or to practice jousting (works best with a transparent plastic umbrella)
• never eat, but drinking McDonald's Coke is okay
  
• dink your friends
• wear high heels on your way to work

The list goes on... Any suggestions for testing are welcome.

learning Japanese

Sunset behind a torii gate beside the Hiroshima castle grounds.
To help me learn Japanese, I have started applying what I learn, by writing a separate blog in Japanese! Sounds pretty radical to me, but it's the only way I'll retain anything. If you can't read the characters at all:

1. Install the Japanese language on your system.
2. Learn to read Japanese! Or take a guess - that's what I do...

cero - the climbers' place

CERO is Hiroshima's bouldering and climbing gym! "Hooray" to Steve for finding this little gem of a gym. A sticky sweaty experience was had by all at this fine establishment. Actually it is good and let's face it, there isn't a lot of choice in a place where climbing is defined by foreign words. This wall is seriously overhung - the photo does it no justice. Bring a couple of 'draws and your own rope and a belay doover.

A little monkey magic and a few chalk-ups later we were not all pumped out, but work often gets in the way of life... Check out the Flickr: Archive of our friend's photos taken on 15th June 2005.

over-time dining

Lunch break is all about finding the tastiest bargain in the alloted time. Usually 40 minutes. I've learned to scoff this bowl of yummy... stuff... in next to no time at all.

Another call for me to do an over-time shift in town today leaves little time to prepare anything more than an ironed shirt and a BMX bandit mission weaving down the alleys, around cars, snail cyclists, office workers and other street space hogs.

Physical challenge:

• learn to quickly eat rice meals with chop-sticks or;
• get into the slurping noise action of eating ramen

welcome, farewell, happy birthday

Honey-choco-bread was a demolition site after 6 of the Japanese staff from my old work branch, Itsukaichi, went to work on it. The triple celebration of my farewell from the branch, another staff's welcome and yet another staff's birthday was more than justification for this grand get together.

After spending the day at Miyajima, I found myself rather short when it came to paying the bill at the restaurant. Any other country in the world, I'd say even in Cambodia, who cares if you run out of cash. Maybe you could pay by debit card but Visa-san always works... Except when you're in Japan!

What still seems more stupid than my extremely embarrasing moments while the birthday girl paid for my dinner, is the fact that the ATMs have opening and closing hours that pretty much coincide with the bank's hours. Anybody, please tell me the point of closing an ATM.

Travolta's constructions

Travolta's erections have been coming up all over Japan in a new wave of cultural heritage restoration. Yesterday's excursion to Miyajima island once again proved disappointment for those wanting a clear view of the famed 5 storey pagoda. Standing tall with his finger pointing skyward, the sign was clear that the scaffolding remained, despite Saturday night's push to complete the restoration work.

On his recent visit to the 5 storey pagoda on Miyajima island, the king of the disco floor commented on the scaffolding We just can't get it down!

Apparently a lot more work than expected remains yet to be completed. With the rainy season soon to be upon us, there is no assurance of early completion. Hiroshima and Miyajima's tourism is impacted nonetheless.

shefu シェフ

shefu シェフ,
originally uploaded by vfowler.

At long last, I finally enjoyed the local specialty. It's called okonomiyaki and is a superb meal cooked right in front of your wrists. You know it's fresh! This particular eatery, in a building with 3 floors of okonomiyaki serving venues, includes a menu in English and a cool chef.

Standard okonomiyaki comes with egg, pork and either soba or udon noodles. Add your extras like garlic, onion, shrimp, squid, cheese, or perhaps cows' achilles for a custom version. After a hearty feast with a pair of fellow teachers, I can definitely agree now (finally), that it is a scrumptious and filling dining delight. I'll be back for more some day soon!

Coming to Hiroshima? Seek out one of these places serving okonomiyaki for your dinnner! ... or lunch, a snack, something to munch on, an alternative to whatever else you've been feeding yourself. Choose any excuse.

keeping fit?

Aussies versus Hiroshima's only bouldering facility

Note the sophisticated technology indicating the route to be climbed.
Green Arena's the only place in town!

All one needs to do to utilise this brilliant climbing facility is:

1. buy tickets from a vending machine before each visit (pretend you're going to a cinema)
2. take your shoes off before you enter the soft floor area
3. swipe your member card and press some magic buttons on a touch screen
4. hand over your ticket and member card to the smiley staff
5. find the route maps that you think you might try and plug the numbers into the sophisticated electronic route mapping system (a 486 that tells which LED's to light up, just like landing a jumbo jet at night time with the Christmas trees along side the runway)
6. shoe up and chalk up (neither are optional if you plan to last more than 15 minutes)
7. and don't take photos unless you have a photography pass - available free at the swipe-in counter!

And that's assuming you have survived running the gauntlet past the kyudo (Japanese archery) club.

toukasan festival

Toukasan festival, unfortunately I am largely missing out on... I'll blame the new work situation for putting me on a long shift Saturday night. Though I did catch a few friends at a house-warming party still wearing their yukata (summer kimono).

I'll be donning a rather expensive new pair of rock shoes instead. Expensive by my standards, though they are cheapest pair in the shop! Of course even my little foot is too big for a Japanese shop to stock, they came after I ordered them in my guessed size. Tonight at the unsung saviour of climber's sanity (aka the Green Arena) we'll be hangin' tough in the bouldering cave.

Other than that, new outfits I often slip into now-a-days are my business suits that are quickly becoming saturated in sweat. Not quite the emporer's new clothes that I had in mind. I asked my students at work yesterday if they mind if I turn the climate control down to 21 degrees (celcius).

"25," was the reply.
"How about 22?" I asked, noticing students clutching at cardigans and warm clothes.
"25."
"Is 23 okay?" I'm dying of dehydration here.
"25."
"24?" Please!
"25."
"Okay then..." If I melt into a puddle of simmering organs, it'll be your fault!

serious drugs

Yo baby! Slip me some skin brother!
What are the sign-writers in this country on?

mysterious mando mitami

tori gateway to the Gokoku temple,
originally uploaded by vfowler.

A work colleague mentioned the mando mitami festival for this weekend. Great, I am definitely interested. I mentioned it to everyone during the week leading up to the event and no-one had ever heard of this festival. I was beginning to worry this was someone's idea of a practical joke.

After a champion's dinner at an Indian restaurant, the 3 of us dodged and weaved through waves of pedestrians and zebra crossings, over the moat bridge and parked it near the Gokoku temple.

This is a video clip.
You can watch it on Vimeo.

It was definitely on. Stupid me left my tripod at home, but check out some of these photos anyway. The festival write-up called it a nuptual tie dance. If my Japanese was better, maybe I could confirm that... In the mean time, the pictures will have to speak for themselves. The drummers we're very loud and excellent, the sword dancers a little zany, so imagine a psychotic performance when you look at this photo and these short movie clips.

pick up the hotness

Pick up the hotness of your choice!

POW concentration camp #55

I'd have to say I was quite pissed off after finishing a hard days work, catching the train back to Hiroshima, only to find my bike wasn't where I'd parked it. A good hard look in the area was fruitless. Other bikes were standing there, staring at me like an idiot. It was no use:

• stolen... maybe;
• or perhaps the rumoured bike Nazis had cleared off with it.

In the unlikley case of a true theft, you'll never get your bike back. If the parking police have cruised the area and picked up your bike, it may take a journey, a few thousand yen, and a few curse words, but you can get your bike back.

After half a week of asking around for any intelligence on the location of the bike prisoner camp, a liberation mission came to light. I paid the ransom to the crusty gate-keeper and filed the paper work with the crusty key-master. "Gimme me bike back, you bastards!"

Free again, I rode off down the city streets, with the wind in my ¥1,000 cut hair. Even without a helmet, I ride safe in the knowledge that no vehicle driver would ever nail a cyclist.

The Geneva Convention was an agreement among the nations of the world directing countries in the proper treatment of Prisoners of War.

Japan never signed this agreement.

alien species

Working in Japan requires that one must register as an alien. Anytime you change address you must update your details at the local ward office. At first I thought it was a way for the cops to round up a few gaijin anytime they needed to raise revenue or have a laugh.

I just moved in to a different apartment last weekend and needed to update the details on my alien registration card. My Japanese language is still terrible, but luckily for me, many of the staff at the ward offices seem to know enough English to do the job. I swear he first asked me in Japanese though, "Which UFO did you arrive from?" At least that's what it sounded like...

After a few minutes he scribbled something on the back of my card and it was all over. Back to cycling by the riverside...

unhealthy ancient cinema habits

For all you folks back home that haven't taken advantage of the fact that movies come out to the cinema on time, please feel free to wait the extra months or years before I rave to you about some movie that you will have already forgotten about.

For some reason cinema and beer are really expensive in this country. Yet you can have the two together. Anyone know why they cost so much though? In fact food and eating healthy are far more expensive than smoking cigarettes. The bonus of smoking is that you lose your appetite and eat yet even less - I'm sure the Jenny Craig of Japan and the budget and financial planners are on to this!

the big Yamato

Yamato scale model,
originally uploaded by vfowler.

My friend Yukio, from Kobe, drove with his wife, Keiko, to Hiroshima for the weekend to visit their son and myself. What an honour!

After my Japanese language lessons finished for the week, I met up with Yukio and was introduced to the family before we headed for a very impressive Japanese restaurant.

The feast was exquisite and much more than just another chop-stick practice session for me. Real sashimi, 刺身, is exactly what was served up, so fresh that the head of this fish was still jittering with nerves - now that is what I call FRESH fish! Calamari and other delights all heartily stuffed their way into our tummies. おいしい Yum!

Indeed it was a grand dinner on Saturday night, followed by a Sunday drive to Kure, and a ferry ride to Etajima. Leaving the docks of Kure I saw the biggest cranes I've ever seen in my life, like mechanical arms of the BFG reaching out over the harbour waters.

A comic guided tour of the Etajima's Imperial Japanese Navy Candidate School followed our peaceful lunch on the beach.

In the afternoon we stopped in at the Yamato museum, detailing the history and artifacts of the incredible shipping and naval activities. The huge 1/10 scale model of the Yamato battleship is amazing and to think that it was 10 times bigger means it was absolutely gigantic. Big enough to make more than one Yamato movie.

Arigato gozaimas to Yukio, Keiko and Hideaki. You really made it an excellent weekend for me.

fripper

With work starting at 5pm each weekday, you've got to wonder how I spend my days. Most of them have vanished with seemingly simple tasks, like working out whether you really are buying the smallest packet of rice or something that is just not rice at all.

With a little prompting and a lot of help from my Japanese language classmate, I went and checked out apartment options around town. It is true: You can rent an expensive shoe box - and Japanese feet are generally smaller than others!

The stable and subtle sandwich grabbed my eye in the convenience store, while my friend grabbed a sushi pack. We munched inside the entrance of the Shukkeien garden, while garden staff were trimming the lawn and massaging the soil around the roots of a small bush.

Cruising around the garden, it is very pretty and very peaceful. A tiny tea plantation and a small bamboo forest stand by the river in the back corner. In fact everything here is a miniature version of many scenic views, the name literally means shrink-scenery garden. There's a big pond in the centre modelled on Xihu (West Lake) in Hangzhou, China, with plenty of carp fish and a type of jumping fish. Little islands around the pond are covered in turtles all praying to the sun god. All the animals here appear to be well trained and will approach tourists crossing the rainbow bridge, like Flipper, they put on a real show (probably more than 88 episodes worth).

Words can only begin to describe the beauty. I'm going back again soon to fork out another ¥250 and take some photos! A picture tells a thousand words, so get Flippr! - flickr wallpapers.

Yahua garden

Yahua garden,
originally uploaded by vfowler.

Yuhua Garden was built by the city of Hiroshima in commemoration of the fifth anniversary (1991) of its friendship city relationship with Chongqing in China's Sichuan province. Based on designs sent by Chongqing, the garden incorporates characteristics particular to Sichuan gardens and, with its classical design, reveals traditional Chinese garden-building theory and techniques.

"Yu" of Yuhua is the old name for Chongqing, and "hua" means splendor and beauty.

The garden covers approximately 1,700m² and is surrounded by a wall with lattice-style windows. Inside, a variety of traditional structures - a walkway, gazebos, and gates - and settings with a pond, trees, and rock formations all lend a unique ambiance, allowing visitors to meander through and enjoy the scenery in any of the four seasons.

The eastern half of the gardens forms the entrance and exit and is an arrangement of inner gardens and three gates, two small and one large. The western half, which evokes images of natural beauty, consists of a central pond (Xiqiu Pond), two gazebos (Liuxiang Gazebo and Yanxiu Gazebo), and one walkway (Danbi Walkway). These elements compose the heart of the garden.

The City of Hiroshima
March 1992