Kobe Matsuri and other things

Again, it's been awhile since I've updated and a great big ol' apology for that. I've just been busy. Getting adjusted to life here in Japan hasn't been as easy as I expected, but things are certainly turning around. There were a few bumps here and there, but no most things are organized.

Golden Week came and went. It was nice to have the time off between school in Canada and work in Japan, but I was really starting to get bored. I've been meeting more people and getting out to do more and more things.

Yesterday Mai and I went to Mt. Rokko. We took a cable car to the top and had lunch at a "Swiss-themed" botanical garden. Swiss-themed you might ask?? Well stop asking! One thing I learned years ago while living in Asia was to stop asking the question; "Why?"

This is me checking out the "Swiss Wonderland" in the middle of Japan!Original here....


Today Mai and I went downtown in Kobe and checked out the Kobe Matsuri. It was the 38th year for the Kobe city festival and I had a great time. It was a sunny day and I had the chance to hear some great music. The traditional drummers from Okinawa were definately the coolest thing for me. I'll post some Kobe Matsuri pictures and video later on.

To everyone in Ottawa...hope everything is great. Looks like summer is around the corner. Wish I was there for Ottawa Race Weekend!!! For everyone in Busan and Seoul....keep rockin!

Golden Week

I realize it`s been awhile since I`ve updated, but I still don`t have internet at home yet.

It` the end of japanese Golden Week and everyone will be forced to go back to work and school tomorrow. it will be my first day at the new job so I`m excited. Yesterday was Children`s Day. I happened to be on the waterfront at Meriken Koen yesterday to see some of the festivities. Check`em out!

Children`s Day in Japan



I was also hiking again a few days ago on Mt. Rokko in Kobe. I came across a little traditional Japanese house in a pretty sweet location.



Once I`m online at home I`ll update more frequently.

I moved to Japan!

Here are my first 3 Vlogs about my move to Japan. I've been here for almost a week.

Vlog20...I'm in Japan


Vlog21 My Sleepy Yet Industrial Japanese Neighborhood


Vlog22 IKEA Madness in Kobe!



Check out my Japan Youtube vids here...

Beer Machines and stuff...

Day 2 and I was feeling great until about 6pm and the jetlag kicked in again. I'm totally exhausted, but things are still fine. I went to my new school in Akashi this afternoon. I just wanted to check things out and find out what time I'm expected there in the morning. I'll observe classes there tomorrow morning and at another branch on Monday morning. Then Golden Week...which means I won't actually start teaching til May 7th. That's going to be a nice break for me to relax, settle into the new apartment (which will be in Kobe) and take in more things Japanese!

For those of you who live in Japan or have done the visa run thing there from Korea; you'll recognize this contraption. For my friends and other watchers from Canada and places "not-Japan", this may be a strange sight. Yes...it is what you may thing. A beer vending machine on the street. They aren't everywhere, but there are some. Reasonable prices compared to convenience stores too! HeHe...I find them amusing...hence the picture.


I can't imagine if these things were in Canada. They'd be torn out of the wall and stolen within minutes!!!

Hermit Kings...Rockin Busan! (old footage)

I came across some old footage last night and spliced some of it together to make this little vid. If you were living in Busan last year, you might remember the Hermit Kings. We used to play a lot at Ol'55 and U2. This is from a gig at Interplay by PNU. We were playin Balance Beam by Blue October.

Balance Beam...Hermit Kings

See original...
The Kings were...
Mike, Gino, Tom, Travis and Kevin(Moi).

Had so many vids where I couldn't se myself hiding behind the drums so I set the camera up backstage. Good times. Gino, Mike and Travis are still rockin it out in Busan as we speak!!!