All that glitters...

Kikumi's event was a great success. A glam-rockin' good time was had by all.

Welcome to Nature

We spent the public holiday on the hunt for nature in KitaKyushu. At first we found a theme park with someone dressed up like a dog, dancing and singing over a loud speaker. Then we searched harder.

Bring in the noise...

We went to an old railroad warehouse in Mojiko to meet Rob and Na-chan at a noise festival. Artsy. Fartsy.

Tawarayama

Louise and the Mitsukos and I went to Tawarayama, a small onsen town in Yamaguchi-ken, to say Bon Voyage to Mitsuko number 2. Mitsuko number 1 had a great time leading her yukata clad pet gaijin through the streets of Tawarayama, up the hill to our secret destination. It turned out to be a penis shrine which delighted us and Mitsuko seemed very pleased with our reaction. It should not have surprised us though as Mitsuko number 1, despite her age (65), has possibly the filthiest mouth in all of Japan. Check out the video below. God bless her!

Otsu kare-chan!

Waka-chan and Lou took me to an onsen in Yahata to celebrate my departure from AEON. We almost didn't make it in as the original onsen we wanted to go to was closed, and the second one tried to kick us out because of my tatoos. The compromise we made was for me to cover the tatoo on my wrist with band-aids. Good thing the front desk lady couldn't see my other 3 tatoos. Otsu kare sama deshita! Sayounara suckers!

how i spent my summer vacation

Upon my arrival in America, I experienced a little reverse culture shock which included speaking Japanese to anyone in a uniform, crying when I couldn't figure out how to use a pay phone, proclaiming loudly on the phone to my mother that "I hate America because everyone is big and fat", and a perpetual state of annoyance at the fact that I could understand every inane conversation taking place around me. After a few days, however, I was back in the swing of things, with the exception of a few occasional right hand turns into the wrong side of the road. It was good to be back in a world where I could find shoes that fit my feet.