London Baby - Yeah!

* I love Japanese sleeping pills - I slept solidly for 9 out of the 12 hour flight

* I was so mad as the hotel said a taxi would cost 30 pounds from the airport when it actually cost 60 – lesson learned!

* Panic as I realize I have forgotten my cash card PIN number

* After we took our bags to the hotel the first thing I did was find a greasy café and treat Minika to a proper English breakfast complete with cockney builders

* I toured London like a real tourist in an open top red bus. The weather was gorgeous and we even took a cruise on the Thames



* We met Lou in a pub (where else) and had a good catch up over a few pints. I have decided to drink nothing but cider in the pubs as I miss it so much in Japan.
After dinner Lou took us on a tour of the streets of Soho – a great way to finish our whirlwind tour of London

Thailand Part 1

On the way to England Minika and I had a nine hour layover in Bangkok. We had an interesting start to the trip as when we arrived at customs the airport official told us we couldn’t leave the airport. I decided to argue the fact with him (as we knew perfectly well we could leave and we’d made reservations at a spa in the city) and 10 minutes later we were on our way. I’m sure Minika was a little nervous as I was exaggerating all the facts to try and get through to the guy. I told him we’d made the booking weeks ago (4 days) and we had paid in advance (no we hadn’t) and if he wanted to check he could call them (as I stood waving the paper at him praying he wouldn’t take me up on my offer). Oh well, it worked!

The fast, bumpy ride into the city gave us an insight into Bangkok life. Busy streets full of shops selling their wares, the busy traffic made up of cars, bicycles, motorbikes and even elephants!

The spa was fantastic and we spent over 5 hours there. I had a traditional Thai massage, an hour head and neck massage, an hour foot massage, an hour facial and finally a pedicure. We were even served tea and fresh fruit.

The whole lot cost me about 40 pounds – so cheap!


My fresh, relaxed feeling vanished as soon as boarding time came but I quickly took my sleeping pills and was asleep before the plane had taken off – bliss!

Welcome

This blog will follow my adventures in Japan as I start my 3rd year as an ALT in Kumamoto, Japan. I have lived here for two years working in elementary and junior high schools across the city. From September I will have just one school; Hitsuyukan High School. I am very excited and can’t wait to start.

My other blogs were very detailed and focused on the everyday things I did in Japan. I have decided to take a different approach now and keep things simple focusing on special events, trips, festivals and all the strange things that happen in Japan. Actually if I included all the strange stuff my blog would be twice as long as normal but you get the picture.

Speaking of special events I filmed this in my last class with the youngest kids at Matsuonishi elementary school - I will miss these kids so much!

Ironically this blog of my life in Japan starts with a trip home - enjoy!