what happened?

Right, so all of you are wondering what I'm always blabbing about on the index page in the first paragraph? Well have I got the solution for you both! Here, I will keep a little archive of what I've written in exactly that paragraph. For your reading pleasure, I will try to put everyhthing on here one month at a time. The oldest post of the month will be at the top. When you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back a few days and everything should become clear. Whenever I think it's worth it, I'll add a link to the more interesting things I mention. Try to expect not too many links.

September 2005

8 - Thursday - 18:09
Ahh, Japan. Lots of it! Arriving in Osaka was a blast. It's hard to believe how much fun one can have getting a drink from a vending machine. Or visiting a ramen joint to get, well, ramen. Now I'm in the metropole called Hikawa town. Me and my friend here visited the famed Izumo shrine, where a girl who was performing a service seriously freaked me out. As soon as I can find a battery charger, I'll take pictures and put them on the site.

9 - Friday - 19:38
Well, it was to be expected. This is the first picture I took in Japan since I came here, about 3 days ago. It's not a picture of the historic house I'm living in, it's not a picture of mount Fuji, it's not a picture of the wonderful Japanese culture (hah!), it's not even a picture of the damn car we're driving around in. No, this is Yukari (what's in a name) with her trademark smile. You should hear her dialect, it's lovely.

10 - Saturday - 14:14
And this is the second picture I shot in Japan. You know you're in Japan when there's a Nissan Skyline GTR parked just in front of a big Jusco. Man what a great car. Then there was a local matsuri, a festival, and as with every festival in Japan, there was lots of food (like baked squid), drinks (ginger milkshakes!), people, and the obligatory karaoke contest. It's still pretty warm here, check the weather girl just below. Back soon with more pictures.

11 - Sunday - 17:28
I got a couple of shots of the house we're living in. They really don't do it justice, and I'll try to get better shots, but for now they'll give you an idea of what it looks like. It's pretty amazing, especially after you've lived in a REALLY small room in Amsterdam. Yesterday evening there was food, beer and even a couple of women (and a guy) to entertain us, and they all did a good job. Sunday is quiet. Nice, that.

12 - Sunday - 21:23
Today we were driving around town, to get an idea where all the good stores are, and that went pretty well. But I learned one thing, and that's the fact that beer in Japan, while very tasty, is damn expensive, no matter where you go. A couple of pictures then. This is the computer room, from where this homepage is now being made, and this is the slow computer on which it's done. Better than nothing, sure, but slow it is.

13 - Tuesday - 20:08
And now it's time to show you the car that was bestowed upon us. This is it, on a picture which makes it look much cooler than it actually is, but who cares anyway. It's a Toyota Corolla, with automatic transmission, a REALLY sensitive gas pedal, and an airco which can exist in only two conditions: off or way too cold. Also note the exterior of the house, and the view from our driveway. Yes, those are mountains. Fantastic.

15 - Thursday - 09:03
We had a huge roach in our kitchen. Piet, as we named him, was detained and released though, not smoked. See his gnarly antennas which came out from under a now rendered useless mug right here. After that adventure, we went to school, to teach a bunch of Japanese kids things about holland. Fortunately I'd brought some weed and a couple of my hooker friends, so they had an educational afternoon. Coming up: recycling in Japan.

16 - Friday - 11:49
Recycling, part 1. Today, we're going to talk about the art of recycling PET bottles in Japan. They don't just throw them in the garbage here, no that would be too easy and efficient. First, you have to remove the bottle cap and the label from the bottle. While this in itself sucks, fortunately as with all Japanese packages, this comes off really easy. But then you even have to WASH THE INSIDE of the bottle, which I just refuse to do. Anarchy! They can't control me!

16 - Friday - 20:17
Look at the cool toys kids get in Japan. And look at what becomes of them once they grow older. No more of that, then. Yesterday we had the obligatory welcome party, and it was, as expected, nice. Very nice actually, considering the food, the drinks, the people that were present, and the fact it was held at our own house, yet we didn't even have to do the dishes. Today we had the opportunity to see some marvellous vistas. Pictures soon!

17 - Saturday - 23:27
I said there would be more nature pictures, but screw that. Today, I went to the sunflower festival, and even that, while nice, didn't stop my heart as much as the following. Right in front of the Inai Home Super Center, there was a fucking Nissan fucking Skyline fucking GTR 34, with a cool owner, a fucking hot chick in the passenger's seat, and it was even in my favorite colour, as far as cars go. That's it, I'm done. Send me back already.

18 - Sunday - 22:51
Today we went to Matsue city, not to see this freaky tree, but to behold Matsue-jo, or the castle of Matsue if you like, which, when it gets dark, looks really stunning, what with the lighting and all. There was a yearly festival, with boats cruising the canal and everything was lit up, and we also found some people banging on large drums, which is always good. After I had some yakisoba and a Frankfurter sausage (...), I also had a go at banging the drums. Because that's cultural.

19 - Sunday - 22:06
We went to lake Shinji today, which is right on the way from Hikawa to Matsue. I had a huge doria at a cute little Japanese restaurant there, which was quite good actually. We also went shopping, and that reminded me once again that 100 yen stores are pretty cool. Listening to some music as we were shopping, I also took the time to take a picture of the Izumo Dome, and finally, here's a totally random pic of some coffee.

22 - Thursday - 01:18
It's not that I don't have any new pictures, I have plenty actually, and they'll be on the site pretty soon too I guess. I'm just too unmotivated to put them on the site right now. Speaking of which, the layout of this site will probably change soon, and with a little bit of luck, it'll be possible to post comments on the things I write here. We'll see how it goes, and until then, read something else. Go on.

22 - Thursday - 09:51
Yesterday was lots of fun, having the opportunity to witness a Japanese sports day, held at Shobara elementary. There were four teams, with a total of 499 kids, competing for first place, and my team, the Sky Penguins, won. Naturally. I'll just let you gaze at the pictures for a while, and maybe you can tell me why there was a team that was called the Red Cocks. Maybe then I can stop laughing. It was great to see all those kids having fun though, we even got to participate ourselves.

27 - Tuesday - 01:12
This is a post about the Izumo Taisha, or Izumo Shrine, which is located in the city of Izumo, believe it or not. Now we all know myths and legends are contradicting eachother all the time, so it's not really certain, but this could be one of the places where Japan was created by the gods. But if you want to know for sure, you're on the net dammit, go and find out for yourself. I'm here to show you the pictures I took when I went there a couple of days ago. Coming up are pictures of yet another party.

27 - Tuesday - 14:50
First some curry and a picture taken at the local Jusco. Then it's on to the party pictures, and they turned out to be not quite what I was expecting. There were lots of people at the house, but I quickly reclined to my own room with these two girls, and this vision of loveliness. I got out my iPod, and quicker than you can read this the girls got hooked on Coozer, they just couldn't resist. But then again, who could. More on this story as it develops.

29 - Thursday - 01:24
I'm afraid there won't be as much pictures as yesterday for this post. But then again 29 is quite a lot for one day. I've had myself quite a great day though, mostly because of the fine evening we had during english class. Today was the second time around, and that's always good, because people are used to the setting then, and everybody's not afraid anymore to actually say something. And someone quite dear to me praised me for my, err, 1337 t34cH1n9 sK1llz, so I feel all good now. Thank you.

29 - Thursday - 21:54
Now I'll get back to you for the nature pics I told you about before. Today was a great day to go out driving, so me and someone else went to Tachikue-kyo, or the GORGE OF DOOOOOM! Really though, what a great place that was. Just walking around made you wonder whether you really were on planet earth or not. It had this dream-like quality which you don't see that much anymore. Corny enough for you? We went for the full experience, visiting a hot spring, and having some dinner at a cute little joint.