Jacko in Japan

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Koide Snowball Fight 2006
2006-02-15 13:35:00
Well the last weekend was pretty ace! Our team entered the famous snowball fight in Koide. I didn't really fancy our chances as we are all big meathead gaijins except for our only Japanese representative, Kazzy bear. Our team name was 'the Giant Snow balls' which was kinda naff to say the least but we took it upon ourselves to stuff our costumes full of exactly that and try to live upto our one truly beneficial gaijin stereotype: having big balls etc...   The group stage went pretty well: 2 out of 2 and getting into our stride, but I think maybe a spot of over-confidence was our undoing as we went out rather prematurely in the next round. Either that or the fact we weren't very good combined with a complete lack of tactics. At least we still managed to do a stupid watered down pathetic version of the Haka to make our Japanese hosts laugh at how 'baka' we gaijins really are. The 'baka haka' so to speak. We also managed to get on TV for an interview, which aired on Monday 13th ...
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Photo Album: Tainai
2006-02-15 13:11:00
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Skiing Japanese-style
2006-01-20 03:12:00
Finally made it out to the slopes in Niigata thanks to my good friends Candi and Saxon in Joetsu. Last Sunday we went to Ikenotaira (see photos) where there was quite a Gaijin posse and on Monday, Sax, myself and the Shazdog went to Suginohara. The weather was great on this day and I tried mini-skis (blades) for the first time, which was interesting (although I had to take them back as the binding was broke within the first couple of hours. Probably my fat ass on them!!)   Gonna go again this weekend as I intend to make the use of all this snow thats about. Cheers, for now. Jacko.   PS check out the really geeky photos of us on the slopes. Also big thank you to Mauwi (probably spelt your name wrong here??) for the day's cooking effort on Sunday, where she created a most wonderful lasagne. Great to get some proper food at last!
More About: Japan , Style , Japanese , Pane , Skiing

Photo Album: Suginohara
2006-01-20 02:48:00
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Photo Album: New Year 2006 - Friends
2006-01-08 01:53:00
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Photo Album: Christmas 2005 - Family
2006-01-08 01:47:00
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Home for Christmas and New Year
2006-01-08 01:44:00
Well I ended up going home for Chris t mas and New Year to be reminded of what I'm missing out on i.e. not that much!! Ha ha! Only joking I had a great time catching up with friends and family. Had a lovely Christmas apart from being ill for a couple of days then I was back on the razz within a short space of time.   Some of the highlights included seeing my nephew for the 1st time in 8 months and seeing how much he has grown into a little person and watching him dance to the 'fun to fimble' song. Also, on the mates' front seeing how much Danny Walker has progressed since I was last home. Keep it going Danny boy! Also, seeing Ste Clegg and his little poodle piss on New Year's Day (coincidently his 29th birthday!). Anyways all the best for 2006. I'm now back in the land of rice and sushi.   Take care! Jacko. 
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Tropical Guam
2005-11-27 06:37:00
Oh my Beauties! Hafa Adai from the lovely Chamorros people in Guam .   What a great little tropical break myself and Shannie have just had. The only problem being naturally that it didn't quite last long enough. Not to mention the hoards of Japanese people we were trying to escape! Only joking! Ha ha! Anyways we're now back in the Goaks and surprise, surprise it is pouring down with rain as we peruse our magical photos of our great trip. Oh well! The light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long (quote: the crazy inventor guy from Blade Runner).   Yeah so if you wanna know the brief story it was amazing. If you want the long version keep reading... First of all the holiday didn't get off to the rosy beginning that it might have as me and the Shanmeister had to wait for nigh on ages to get through immigration into a US territory. The only surprise being that the paranoid Yanks didn't give us a cavity search. Maybe next time ey?! Only waited about 2 hours and finally through...
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Here Froggy Froggy!!
2005-11-11 15:05:00
Well what can I say??? Sorry it?s been so long since I?ve been in touch!! Been busy doing nothing: working and getting up to the usual tricks. Finally after over 7 months I?m gonna cash in on my first allocated paid holidays and get myself and Shannon off to Guam for a fruity tropical birthday holiday of sorts. We?re going for a few days so I shall be out of contact in Japan from 22nd November to 26th. Hopefully I should be on a beach somewhere with a nice cocktail for my 28th birthday on the 23rd. Also, I?m mentally preparing myself for Christmas and New Year back in England. Really looking forward to getting back to Blighty for some fun and frolics with everyone I?ve missed since coming to Japland.   Recently I djed at a Halloween crazy party in Niigata with Jon and a few other non-descript type djs at a bar called Hot Spot, which is located in the Furumachi area of Niigata on the 9th floor of some building. All in all it went pretty sweet apart from everyone not really wanting t...
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Nagisa Party
2005-09-13 15:05:00
Hey there all,   Went to a pretty decent party the other night. It was a beach BBQ party at a really cool bar in Kashiwazaki, which allegedly and rather unglamourously is the place with the largest nucleur power plant in the world. Other than that it has this wicked bar with hammocks and stuff called the Nagisa bar. It was mainly all foreigners there and everyone got pretty wasted. I went with Shannon and Jon, my English mate who's from Nottingham. Shannon ended up getting pretty wasted and was dogging up by the end of the night. Jon was also a state. Anyway the night went swimmingly until near the end when I sat on a glass table and it smashed on me. Feel really bad as it was a nice table but there were other people sat on it until it smashed so i reckon it was as much their fault so if necessary i will pay some money for it but not all. Check out some of the photos...
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Photo Album: From Sado with Love
2005-08-29 16:39:00
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From Sado with Love
2005-08-29 16:22:00
This weekend was quite an experience. First 4 of us stayed in a love hotel in Niigata, which are definitely unique places to visit in Japan. They are unbelievably tacky: they have the weirdest, seediest décor and you can buy all sorts of sex equipment and the like. However, they are cheap and it?s kinda something you have to do if you come to Japan. They have them in nearly every city. You can select your room for a choice as you walk in to the hotel. You don?t have to deal with looking at anyone in shame. You just hand your money over at the counter and a hand gives you a key. Nice! On the wall you can pick your room: normally you have 3 classes of rooms, maybe A, B and C; all at various prices but generally cheap in comparison to other hotels. Some rooms are not just overly seedy they are creepy: check out the picture on the site with the bars!!! One for Danny Walker that one!   On Sunday I went to the Earth festival on Sado Island. This was amazing. At first I was worried: hippie...
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Photo Album: Nagaoka Festival
2005-08-10 16:58:00
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Nagaoka Fireworks and Festival
2005-08-10 16:50:00
Well I suppose it's about time I update you all (if anyone reads this apart from the odd-webpage-hopper) as to what i've been up to recently. I suppose I'm getting a bit lazy; I think this has to do with the weather, which is crazy hot!! It's like living in a bloody sauna over here: 35 plus degrees and touching 100 per cent humidity. No wonder Beckham and the boys couldn't beat Brazil over here in the scorching afternoon heat in 2002!! Actually, talking about football, I've been playing quite a few times recently. I've managed to get a game with some Japanese friends on Friday evenings. It's really interesting to see the difference in styles and skills between my Japanese friends and my mates back home. Here they are all pretty nippy (excuse the pun!!) and have got tons of stamina, even in the unbelievable humidity and heat. They are also pretty decent on the ball, however, they don't seem to have the real 100 per cent commitment attitude that goes with us lions (me apart) ...
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Climbing MOUNT FUJI
2005-07-11 16:31:00
What on earth was I thinking?? I decided that on my 2 days off this last weekend (Sunday and Monday for me) that i would climb Mount Fuji with my friend Shannon and her work colleagues. The idea was to set off early Sunday for Tokyo by bus (4 hour ride) then catch a bus to Fuji (2 1/2 hours). We would then set off hiking up the mountain at 8pm and get there before sunrise at 430am. We would then watch the sunrise gleefully and then hop on down the mountain and come back to Nagaoka as rosy as little happy Santa Clauses. I was told climbing Fuji was a doddle but a friend of mine had recently just tried it in his shorts and t-shirt and nearly froze to death. I was determined not to make the same mistake.   Anyways a bit of background info: Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan and is revered for its natural beauty and symmetrical shape. It is 3776m high and is located in Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo. The climbing season starts at the beginning of July and according to a famous Ja...
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Trip out of the Goaks!
2005-07-04 10:56:00
Well, finally after working my 2 days off the last week I managed to grab a slice of action and head out of Nagaoka (now officially entitleed the Goa ks!). Well it was quite a 3 day trip. I had to fit in so much again as I only had 3 days and no chance of any more time as I don't get any holidays in my first 6 months with Nova(cation). So on the agenda was 3 day's worth of drinking:   First up was seeing the Burtmeister General again. Graham was on good form. He's going back to England for a holiday this month so I think he's pretty happy. We met in Shinjuku then went for a few drinks around Tokyo's busiest area. It was a pretty low key affair by anyone's standards as we decided to head back to his district Fuchu on the last train as he was working in the morning. We had a few more drinks around his area of Tokyo then basically hit the sack. Check out the pictures of the last train home from Shinjuku. You couldn't stand up! Ultra Sardine time. Japan's the only place in the w...
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Routine! Routine! Glorious Routine!
2005-06-13 08:44:00
Hey there all, Sorry it?s been so long since my last update. The wireless internet connection which i've been using has been a bit hit and miss of late. However, we should have our own connection soon and at present I am managing to use another wireless connection in order to browse the net and send emails. I will use my friend's connection at his flat on the other side of town in order to speak to people on msn etc. I will probably go round to his a couple of times a week to do this. I've kind of settled into a routine over here now and the weeks are flying by. I've been here 2 months today now and at this rate a year will pass in a jiffy. I'm not sure what i will do about staying in Nagaoka or putting in a transfer request just yet. I think i will wait til the end of Summer and then decide. It could take a while for a transfer to come through so I'll have to decide exactly what i want to do and where i want to go pretty fast. Whatever happens though I'm sure I'll be fairl...

Photo Album: Tokyo
2005-05-16 16:44:00
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TOKYO!!!
2005-05-16 16:30:00
Hey there! Just got back from one of the best weekends ever! Tokyo is an absolutely amazing city. I set off after work at about 8 on the shinkansen and got there at about 10 on Saturday night. I then met Graham who i hadn't seen since graduation at Lancaster uni and we went into Shinjuku. Then the neon lights hit me. Wow! They must use up half the world's electricity over here or something. We decided on a plan to go to Roppongi and drink all night, which is basically what everyone does over here til they drop the next day. So off we went at a canter. We went to this crazy bar called Gaspanic which is alledgedly named after the attacks on the tube in the mid nineties. Sounds a bit sick if you ask me but who am i to argue. If this is true you'd expect it to be a bar that plays really dark techno or something but this wasn't the case at all. They were playing cheesy and funky house from about 3 years ago UK timeline. 'I'm horny, horny, horny' all that kind of gear. I was like w...

Niigata Party
2005-05-09 14:35:00
Hey there everyone. Just got back from a party in Niigata where it was Tristan and Emma's leaving do (they are a pair of Kiwis heading back home). Was very good fun. We had a kind of all you can eat/drink thing going on at an Izakaya called Shoya or something. The only problem was it was a bit uncomfortable with you haven't to sit on the floor, legs crossed etc Japanese style. Ended up getting very drunk with everyone and we carried on the party at Shame where I finally found somewhere with some decks so i djed for a bit with some records that i haven't got a clue what they are. Was good to get back on the wheels of steel. The debauchery continued til about 5 in the morning and then i found myself back at some Canadian girl's flat with lots of random people, including Johnno my Nova trainer. I've also had a good day off today with a language exchange partner called Akiko. So i've had a good few days over the weekend. Saturday night I did karaoke for the first time over here. ...
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Pictures of the Dia Palace Flat
2005-05-02 14:30:00
Hey all. How's it hanging?! Just had my 2nd Japanese lesson and my head is hurting a little to say the least. Try learning 3 new alphabets!!! One is more than enough! Already well into learning Hiragana, which has 46 symbols but Katakana and the ridiculously difficult Kanji can definitely wait. I've decided to put up a few pictures of the new flat I've just moved into. It's not particularly plush or anything but I thought it might be interesting for you lot in the UK etc to take a look at some rather interesting Japanese mod-cons etc. The toilet for example is heated and contains all sorts of mad buttons that are meant to make noises etc to cover up unsoundly bodily motions. The heated seat works a treat. Also the shower is crazy: it talks! Plus you can get in the deep bath next to it (or not so deep in this flat's case) and bathe after showering. The thing on the wall controls it all with a push of a button. Nice one. If only I knew which one did which I wouldn't be filling ...
More About: Pictures , Picture , Palace , Pala , Lace

Photo Album: Dia Palace Flat
2005-05-02 14:20:00
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Weekend starts here!
2005-04-30 13:33:00
Hey there you all!! Thought i'd add another entry seen as though i've just finished work for the week. I get Sunday's and Monday's off so I'm quite lucky compared to some who only get a couple of weekdays off. It's top having Sunday and Monday off because it gives me a chance to fully recover from the weekend and means i don't get totally wrecked on Friday evening. Also, I get to work at Jusco in Nagaoka on Saturday's which is pretty chilled. I've been pretty fortunate to have the schedule I've got. Some get a rougher deal. I have my one month observation coming up this week and my Nova kids training so I will be going back up to Niigata on Monday or Tuesday for a couple of days. Pretty weird having my one month observation after only a week's training but apparently they do this to nearly everybody so that they can get the paperwork done. I managed to watch the Champion's League semi final the other night. I stayed up til 6 in the morning to watch it after going out. ...
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Cherry Blossom and the start of work
2005-04-27 05:44:00
Hi all, Back once again for the renegade blah blah. How are you all? I'm pretty good. Settled into work life. Work is actually fun: the Japanese are pretty amusing. Teaching them is quite a nice experience: they are enthusiastic learners. Star t ing to have a pretty good time here. Nightlife is especially quiet in the week days but its still fun just to go out and have a few drinks with whoever's about. Went to a cherry blossom party on Sunday. What happens is that in Spring all the Cher ry Blossom begins to flourish and all the Japanese absolutely adore the stuff. They all go out and sit under the trees, having barbeques and drinking themselves silly. So who am I to argue with such a great tradition?! On Sunday the gang from Desperate (a bar in Nagaoka) all went down to the river and had a huge barbeque, where food was never ending. And booze even more so. The weather was also hot, hot, hot!! Was the hottest since I got here. Apparently that was nothing compared to Summer, when last...
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Photo Album: Cherry Blossom Party
2005-04-27 05:32:00
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Photo Album: Nagaoka
2005-04-22 17:12:00
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Photo Album: Niigata
2005-04-22 17:12:00
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Photo Album: Arrival in Tokyo
2005-04-18 13:23:00
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Photo Album: Flights to Japan
2005-04-18 13:21:00
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Photo Album: Pre-departure
2005-04-18 13:20:00
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