Friday 8th September 2000

I've been very busy lately and will now try to bring my diary up to date.

Last Saturday night Yuki and I visited her friend Ema's apartment. Her family was having a party to coincide with the Asakusa hanabi festival. Along with a few other friends of the family, we had a unique twenty-third story view of the fireworks,virtually at the same height as the display itself. The girls and I all wore yukatas. They looked very pretty. I just looked!

Last Wednesday Citibank visited my office. Because of the high proportion of foreigners in our company, they've offered a preferential rate for us. I signed up for an account. Hopefully it will be easier to deal with Citibank, as they provide all services in English (including internet banking).

The next afternoon I went on a business trip to Kyoto. On Friday night, business over, my Japanese host, another visitor from Finland, and myself went out on the beer in Kyoto. Kyoto is very different from Tokyo, but it's just as easy to get drunk. The shinkansen back to Tokyo in the morning was a little subdued.

Also last Friday, Yuki started a new job. She's working in a huge advertising company, a convenient subway journey from my apartment.

Coming right up to date now, I've been offered another job with a choice of beer or cash in return. It's writing a web page for another bar, Bill's Bar in Akasaka, the first bar I visited in Japan, and very close to my current office. Obviously, if I choose the beer option, it's worth more! With the price of beer in Tokyo, that's certainly tempting.

Monday 11th September 2000

On Friday night I went with a few friends to a pool hall in Roppongi. The tables aren't so great, but the fact that you can have food and drink delivered while you're playing makes up for that. I won't elaborate too much on the quality of my pool playing, except to say I'm more than a little out of practise!

After playing pool some of us visited a few more bars, finally ending up at the Plastic club. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun. Arrived home at around half past five in the morning!

On Saturday afternoon I managed to get out of bed in time to visit the Asakusa Samba Festival. This is a scaled down Brazilian type street carnival. It was a lot less well rehearsed than the real thing, or even London's Notting Hill Carnival, but it was fun all the same. Again though, it was one of those occasions where the Japanese people observe (many through video camera lenses), but do not actually get involved. Most (not all) Japanese don't seem to have the spontaneity to just let their hair down unless it's been planned that way.

Wednesday 27th September 2000

Last Saturday Yuki and I went to Disneyland for my third, and her umpteenth time! I'm not a theme park junkie, but I have to say I did enjoy it. It rained most of the day, but if you can stand it, that helps. It keeps the crowds away. It also makes it pleasantly cooler. I was surprised by the number of attractions we were visiting for the first time. There are plans to double the size of Tokyo Disneyland over the next couple of years. There was a new attraction, "Winnie the Pooh's Hunny Hunt". This was very busy during the day, but we managed to get in at about a quarter to ten just before closing time. It was well worth it. The "hunny pots" you ride in presumably follow tracks hidden under the floor. The ride itself is not a simple trail followed by all the cars, my guess is that a computer guides individual cars along independent routes. The tour goes through a series of large fun-filled rooms, with the cars appearing to react to each other's position and movement. I recommend this ride greatly, but I would not go so far as to buy the priority tickets on sale to move up the queue during busy times.

For the last few weeks I've been playing five-a-side football with some colleagues from the office. The Tokyo Crusaders team hasn't played in a few months, and I really need the exercise. Of course, I enjoy it too. I really shouldn't tempt fate by writing it, but I've discovered hidden goalkeeping talents. My talent on the field however, remains constant... Unfortunately!

It's time for me to book some holiday now. I have seventeen days left this year and don't want to lose them. Having started her new job (which seems to be going very well), Yuki has no holiday until at least Christmas, so I have two choices: stay in Tokyo, or holiday alone. I'm planning on going snorkeling from an island called Zamami in southern Japan, just off the coast of Okinawa (the most southerly of Japan's four main islands). The following week I want to go somewhere else, I've not yet decided where, but somewhere interesting where I don't feel so guilty about holidaying on my own, i.e. Not Bangkok!

Last Sunday we went to a bar called "The Juke Joint" to hear a couple of friends, Robbie and Andy, each singing lead in their respective bands. The venue is a small pub with amps drums etc. set up to accommodate hassle free gigs to be performed by up and coming bands and wannabes alike. At one point, even I got in on the act!

I got a new next-door neighbour this week. He's an ice-cream salesman from New Zealand. He actually manages an office very near our building. It's strange how people from much further away from Britain than the Japanese, seem like compatriots in comparison. It seems that Brits, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis and South Africans all have so much in common here in Japan. The Americans, of course have much less in common, especially in terms of their outlook on life. Not bad, just different!