It's a beauty!!!

Last sunday was one of the nicest days that I have ever seen in Japan. Rob and I took a stroll around Asahi. Take a look for yourselves:














And in celebration of such a beautiful day it was decided to have a good ole' traditional English 'greasy spoon' fry-up. Tasty!!!

The boys are back in town...

Fresh from their critically-acclaimed tour of the Outer Hebrides, The Bento Boys are back once again.

To commemorate this special occasion, the Boys have released one of their tour favourites - 'Culinary Calisthenics' recorded live at their spectacular home-coming at the Toyama Technodrome. You can listen to it at the Bento Boys' Official website:

http://www.myspace.com/thebentoboys

Many thanks to Makoto 'the Big Mac' Sato' for his help...

...

Found a really cool little music site the other day. It basically suggests new music based on the music that you like, and it's usually music that you've never heard of (well I haven't anyway).

Here's the link - www.pandora.com.

The 78 Ratio...

Before I came to Japan, I lived in Brighton. A nice little seaside city south of London. Definitely a place I would recommend to those wishing to go to England sometime.

Anyway, enough of that...

In my interim period after finishing University and before going to Botswana and then Japan, Callum (my friend currently living in Wakayama ken) and I would spend hours upon hours making and recording music in our bedrooms. Despite the crappy jobs that we both had, it was a good time and we managed to get quite a lot done.

Anyway, here is the link to a little website that Callum has set up so you can see what sort of thing we did, a sort of taster if you like:

http://www.myspace.com/78ratio

Please enjoy...

My little bubble...

Living in Japan does make it difficult to keep abreast of what is going on back home. I'm talking specifically about local events, gossip and general bits of chitter-chatter that you pick up everyday when you are back home.

My own knowledge of my own native pop culture is dwindling. I didn't know that a whale had been found going up the Thames passed the Houses of Parliament until my girlfriend told me on the phone last night. If the BBC news doesn't report it, it's highly likely that I won't hear about it. I don't know who has died in Eastenders, or who was the winner of the newest reality TV show. All the crap that usually fills my head on a day-to-day basis is not there.

Additionally, I am completely out of the loop as to what is going on in Japanese culture (other than the little bits I see on TV and gather from some of my students). I know, for example, that Yon-sama is a guy that lots of women like (or liked at some point) and Hard-Gay is 'so hot right now'. That's about it. It is by no means extensive.

However, sitting in the staff room of Asahi Junior High, I realise that I know absolutely nothing about most of my teachers save for a little bit of information gathered from some pleasantries. If I was in England I would at least know what most of my work colleagues had done over the weekend, who they liked and didn't like in office, and maybe a secret or two.

I can only imagine what is going on back home based on the news reports and my friends. England feels like the strange and exotic land that many of my students imagine it to be. It's a funny old life - it doesn't really feel like being part of any culture.

But it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's quite nice feeling free of any gossip in the teacher's room, not having heard the crazy frog number no.1 single in England and not feeling compelled to turn on a TV to watch the latest Japanese soap. I can read what I like and watch, or download what I like. I don't listen to the radio so I am not exposed to the usual ramblings, adverts and general crap. I don't hear the same songs playing over and over again. I'm sure it also applies to Japanese radio and TV, but the refreshing thing is: I don't understand it.

I am leaving Japan in the summer. I'm sure I will miss this...

Top 5 of everything

Okay it seems that everyone is doing it so here's a top 5 of thing about Sri Lanka (in no particular order):

1. The Wunderbar - cool little hotel and bar/restuarant, 1 minutes walk from the beach inhabited by Sri Lanka hippies (including one who claimed to be a roadie for Radiohead! Which prompted a grilling from Callum and I on a few occasions to check the validity of this). The rooms were big, the bar pumped out reggae morning, noon and night, and the clientele were random (a mixture of old and young germans, and horny russians!) It allowed us to slip into Sri Lanka (although I imagine rather distorted veriosn of it) quite easily.
In a nutshell: A million miles away from Japan. Nothing that happened over the few days Callum and I spent at the wunderbar could be compared to Japan.

2. Elephant shower - Sitting on the back of an elephant and then being sprayed by the water coming from its trunk was exhilarating. I would recommend to anyone and everyone (particularly as an early morning wake-up, hang-over cure or depression). It cures all (particularly car drive fatigue). The place was called the Millenium Sanctuary - a private sanctuary where elephants are looked after. They do seem to have a whale of a time, as they are always being bathed in the nearby pond.



3. Train journey and tea factory, Nuwara Eliya - Doesn't sound very interesting, but was a definite highlight. The tatty old train didn't move much faster than my scooter and the gentle waff from the lavatory was not particularly savoury, but the view of the rolling hills covered in tea plantations was amongst the most beautiful I have ever seen. Stunning. I spent almost the entire journey learning out one of the open doors attempting to, but ultimately failing to capture it all on my digital camera.
The tea factory was fascinating, particularly the old machines they still use to refine the tea!

4. Kandy tooth temple - Within the temple, within a small box lies Buddha's tooth, one of the only intact relics of the man. We went there on New Year's day (after a percularly dry New Year's Eve), glimpsed the box and left. The temple itself felt more like palace.

5. Sigiriya - The World Heritage playboy's palace/fortress on the top of a huge rock. It had stunning fews from the top, no crowds, and the added bonus of our driver/guide telling us what everything was. A daunting-looking climb, it turned out to be relatively easy. The ancient king who had built it had managed to include a large array of swimming pools. A nice touch.

...and this is what I came back to

I'm back...

Well, have finally managed to get round to writing a blog entry having put it off for a week. Don't know why but just haven't really felt like writing anything.

So what's been happening in the exciting life of Mark 'I like my jam with toast' Seymour?

Went to Sri Lanka and just about did everything! I mean everything. We saw the temples, the beaches, a tea factory, more temples, dawn safari, elephant riding and bathing, some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, a rock fortress and much, much more. We did this by driving around most of the central and western parts of the island.
I can't even begin to say just how beautiful Sri Lanka is. Driving on any of the roads you can't help but stare out of the window in case you miss anything. In a lot of ways I imagine its how Japan once looked long before the concrete started creeping across the landscape. This is amplified by the lack of tourists that were there, mainly down to the tsunami and fears about the escalation of Tamil Tiger terrorist activity.

The other thing that I really liked about Sri Lanka was that when people looked at you they smiled!! Sounds a bit stupid, but really miss that. I like it when you can look at a stranger and smile, rather than looking away and feeling awkward.



Pictures: (from top - The Buddha at Dambulla; me mum and dad on the beach at Bentota (Japanese kawaii hand signals included); fun with Champagne, a pineapple and coconut monkeys with Sophie and Callum; Brits abroad; Bentota sunset; Sophie on the train to Nuwara Eliya)