Turning Japanese

Creepy Dancing Girl

2007-02-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

This is probably on of the weirdest things I have ever seen. We (me and Kat) finally found this after ages of pointless searching. Ahh.. it's so f**king creepy!!
If you can sleep after this, you are a better man (or woman!!) than I!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euxjuFFQpxA

Second Thoughts....

2007-01-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

Blogs: Another way to waste time on the Internet or a great way to document travels and keep in contact with friends from afar.

Discuss!!

Yes... I am crap at this!!

2006-12-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Right..
I suppose it's fair to say that I am the worst blogger in the world.
So, as a happy medium, I'm using Bebo instead. The link is :

http://howthehellareya.bebo.com

This way you can look at my pictures without reading the shit that I
am not witty enough to type!

No one wants to read what I write anyway.. do they?

THE END!!!

Feeling Bored?!?

2006-02-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

Right,

I know that I've been pretty shit on the updating front. I promise that I'll have photos and stories soon. I found this link while idly browsing on the net today. I thought it was kinda cool!!

http://www.thebubbleburst.co.uk/browse.php

Enjoy!!

I feel so patriotic!!

2006-01-25T23:01:00.000-08:00

Family Guy is one of the funniest TV shows in history: FACT!!
I love it so damn much.
Have a look at this link below to see their version of Irish history.

Genius!!

www.bebo.com/FlashBox.jsp?FlashBoxId=192895130

A unfortunate trip to the Doctor!

2006-01-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

The following is from a conversation hand-out given to the san-nensei by my JTE.
To non-ALTs, this is was on a sheet given to a third grade class by a less than fluent english teacher in one of my schools:

Doctor: Hi Mark! What's wrong?

Mark: I have a running nose.

Doctor: For how long?

Mark: Oh.... about a week.

Doctor: OK, open your mouth.

Mark: AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.........

Doctor: Well Mark.... you have cancer.

Mark: Really?

Doctor: Yes, I'm sure. Here's some medicine.

Mark: Thank you! Bye!!

So many things so wrong with this!!

P.S. - The same teacher just spelt bat..... "b.a.d."!!
Rock on Japan Education!!

Back to Reality!!

2006-01-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

So, 24 hours after chillin' on white sandy beaches, it was back to Murakami to find 6 feet of snow, and an hour of shovelling to park my car, awaiting me!

I did get to go snowboarding, so it wasn't a total loss. Soon after this was taken my face was introduced to the ground..... a lot.!!

Part 3: Phuket

2006-01-08T02:54:00.000-08:00

Phuket was a very different place. After the relaxation of Phi Phi came the craziness of Phuket. The place is full of stalls, strip-clubs and ladyboy shows. As you can see below, some of the ladyboys were very feminine (not the fella on the left though!) and were actually really cool. They were crazy which, to be fair, is to be expected from someone who cuts their penis off and gets breast implants!

We got the chance to go to a proper shooting range. My goal was to do a "Lethal Weapon" on it and draw a smiley face from 50 yards. It's fair to say I failed.... miserably!!

Elephant Trekking through the Thai jungle. Sure what else would you do on a fine Tuesday afternoon?!?

Thai kickboxing is serious shit. They really beat the bejesus out of eachother. The best part of the night was the built-up "England v Thailand" fight. The Thai fighter looked like he came out of prison, the English fighter looked like he came from a Take That audition. Amist the deafening "EEEEENNNGGGLLLLAAANNNDDD" cheers the bell rang. 23 seconds later, the English "boy" was panned out on the ring mat, counting stars, and the Thai fighter was at the bar, smoking a fag and having a victory whiskey!! Good times!!

Quad biking was some laugh! Safety was obviuosly paramount in this place. When I told the supervisor guy that I didn't have a helmet he said "It be ok. Just don't fall off". Thanks genius!!

Part 2: Koh Phi Phi

2006-01-08T02:31:00.000-08:00

This place is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Paradise. Everyone should leave there jobs and move there.... now!! This is what we saw when we looked out our hotel room window. Not bad at all!!

This is where the film "The Beach" was shot. We got a boat over here, snorkelled, swam and sunbathed. Its a hard life!!

We rented kayaks from our hotel and went exploring. We found beaches with monkeys, caves, and all sorts of interesting things. This is an actual photo by the way! Not a postcard!

We were fortunate enough to be on Phi Phi for the First Annual Tsunami Memorial. It was a beautiful ceremony to which photos don't do justice. Amazing.

Another highlight to the holiday - buckets of whiskey and coke!! BUCKETS!! Thailand - Two , Liver - Nil!!

Operation: Merry Christmas - Part 1: Bangkok!!

2006-01-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

So, its fair to say that Thailand completely kicked ass this Christmas. Our first was Bangkok. T'was pretty mental to say the least. the days were spent shopping and sightseeing while the nights were mainly spent drinking and turning down offers of "ping pong shows"!
The pic below is of a reclining Buddha, but wait there's more... the biggest one in Thailand!!
Well I thought it was kinda cool!!

This one is of our buddy Eric avoiding the most potent cocktail known to man. We found this delight, known as an "Around the World", in an Irish bar (suprise, surprise!!) 10 shots of hard spirits, not a mixer in sight. Thailand - One, Liver - Nil!!

This is the Thai Palace. We were going to go in and see it..... but ..... we went to the pub!!

This big earred, ugly, four-eyed fella is the King of Thailand. Insulting him is punishable by death.

This is Bangkok's answer to Elvis. What an entertainer! Looks more like James Brown but he was seriously good.

Randomers... Part 2!!

2005-12-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Just some more random pics from this wonderful country!!

The toilets here more like foot-washers!!

Our main city, Niigata. What a place!!

A Murakami Sunset. Beautiful or what?!?

The "Jungle Tale" musical cast. What a bunch of posers!!

Our "special" friend, Kat.

Randomers!!

2005-12-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I've just set this thing up, these are just a taste of what life has been like so far!!

This is the Big Swan. It's home to our local team, Niigata Albirex.

This is where we, The Irish, played Cameroon in the World Cup 2002

At least 40,000 fans come to every home game. Thats a lot of people chanting shit you don't understand!!

These are some of my elementary kids!! Kawaii!!

Look at the head on this lad!!

The official "Japanese picture pose" in operation!!

The Taiko Experience

2005-12-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

Taiko drumming is this wicked Japanese tradition. Myself, Pam, Kat and Ellen got a chance to see one of Japan's most famous Taiko groups "Kodo" last week. Unbelieveable!!

The speed these boys were going at was unreal. Poetry in motion!!

How cool is this one?!?

Another amazing one!!

(p.s. - Thanks for the photos Kat!!)

Hello There!

2005-12-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

Konnichiwa Everybody!

As blogs are all the rage in the Land of the Rising Sun I said I'd beter set one up to be kept in the loop! Also it'll save me showing everyone photos when I eventually make it back to the Emerald Isle.

Enjoy!!