Roppongi had a special Christmas light show - what you can't really see here is that along with the blue lights, they had white lights that swirled and moved like a milky way...
The trees were fully lit up too
Jack and Mark were wonderfully in harmony when they sang their duets, mainly because they're both tone deaf!
For some reason (maybe it's a male thing), people decided to pull they're kecks down - yes, that is Mr O'Leary's rear in the background...
Jack and Mark disappeared from ourbooth for quite a while and the following pictures were on my camera...
Apparently the guys in one of the other rooms had their trousers down, so when Jack and Mark busted in they decided to do the same. Jack's reasoning was "When in Rome..."
We couldn't go to the arcade without playing on some games too - Jack really got into his Tekken 6 and managed to win about 8 battles straight, I played Street Fighter II but some Japanese kid sat on the opposite machine which means that you play each other and he's clearly put in some hours on that game so I was completed floored and lost all my battles within about 30 seconds. Jack and Mark battled it out on a driving game and after a close-run race, Mark was crowned champion.
Then we called it a day at the arcade and decided to go home. We bought some freshly-baked fish-shaped wafer things that were filled with custard (really tasty) and wandered back to the palace with Mark. Once back, I tried my best to make some pigs-in-blankets though I had to use hotdog sausages and Japanese bacon that seems to always go grey, however you cook it. We settled down with some beers and snacks and watched Scrooged. Mark's girlfriend Kaori come over after work and brought more food (proper cheese!!) and champagne which we had along with Christmas cake and Christmas pudding from Jack's mum and some mince pies from Mark.
It was lovely to Skype both our families and get to see them on Christmas Day, and although it wasn't the same as being at home, we had a really lovely Christmas.
Boxing Day
Today we managed to sleep straight through until midday and decided that some fresh air would be a good idea. We walked down to Chiba to get the train to a large park in Toke and on the way down we were invited in to another local festival-type thing. We were given a very warm welcome by the people there and imediately given a plate of motchi (Japanese rice cakes).
This is Jack attemprting to eat the savoury rice cake that was covered in a white-radish and soy-sauce sauce. He did not like it!
We finally made it to the park. It was a beautifully clear day, a bit windy and quite cold, perfect for a nice walk.
There's a high school near the park and it was obviously sports afternoon as there were loads of groups of teenagers all over the place running drills or going on long runs...
Towards the end of our stroll we came across this slide - it was awesome! It had loads of little rollers on it that helped you go down. The only downside was that the friction when you go down builds up to the point that you feel like your trousers are smouldering when you get off. Jack and I had very warm derrieres all the way home!
The trees were fully lit up too
Christmas Eve
Jack and I went to Shibuya for a few drinks with Marky B and Dan O'Leary and his GEOS crew (a different English language school to ours). It was fairly civilised until we left the bar and moved on to a Karaoke place where it cost us 3000 yen each (roughly £15) for all-you-can-drink until 5am.
Jack and I went to Shibuya for a few drinks with Marky B and Dan O'Leary and his GEOS crew (a different English language school to ours). It was fairly civilised until we left the bar and moved on to a Karaoke place where it cost us 3000 yen each (roughly £15) for all-you-can-drink until 5am.
Jack and Mark were wonderfully in harmony when they sang their duets, mainly because they're both tone deaf!
For some reason (maybe it's a male thing), people decided to pull they're kecks down - yes, that is Mr O'Leary's rear in the background...
Jack and Mark disappeared from ourbooth for quite a while and the following pictures were on my camera...
Apparently the guys in one of the other rooms had their trousers down, so when Jack and Mark busted in they decided to do the same. Jack's reasoning was "When in Rome..."Christmas Day
We returned to the palace at about 6:30am on Christmas Day after leaving Karaoke at 5am and getting the train back home. So we slept for a few hours and then Jack woke me up about midday being very lively and excited about opening presents and seemingly hangover-free. I, on the other hand, was fully aware that I needed at least another hour and a half's kip to feel normal again. We opened our presents to each other which was lovely, but then I had to retreat back to bed for another hour's sleep whilst Jack entertained himself with his Christmas stocking full of treats.
Mid-afternoon we met up with some other Shane teachers and went for some much-needed food. We went to a strange-looking building in Chiba which was an Italian restaurant that happened to have live opera singers singing Christmas songs. The food was tasty and certainly did us the world of good, though I don't think I've ever eaten pasta on 25th December before.
After that we went along to an arcade and had some ridiculous pictures taken of all of us - I apologise for the poor quality of the pics, we are without a scanner here in Japan...
We returned to the palace at about 6:30am on Christmas Day after leaving Karaoke at 5am and getting the train back home. So we slept for a few hours and then Jack woke me up about midday being very lively and excited about opening presents and seemingly hangover-free. I, on the other hand, was fully aware that I needed at least another hour and a half's kip to feel normal again. We opened our presents to each other which was lovely, but then I had to retreat back to bed for another hour's sleep whilst Jack entertained himself with his Christmas stocking full of treats.
Mid-afternoon we met up with some other Shane teachers and went for some much-needed food. We went to a strange-looking building in Chiba which was an Italian restaurant that happened to have live opera singers singing Christmas songs. The food was tasty and certainly did us the world of good, though I don't think I've ever eaten pasta on 25th December before.
After that we went along to an arcade and had some ridiculous pictures taken of all of us - I apologise for the poor quality of the pics, we are without a scanner here in Japan...
We couldn't go to the arcade without playing on some games too - Jack really got into his Tekken 6 and managed to win about 8 battles straight, I played Street Fighter II but some Japanese kid sat on the opposite machine which means that you play each other and he's clearly put in some hours on that game so I was completed floored and lost all my battles within about 30 seconds. Jack and Mark battled it out on a driving game and after a close-run race, Mark was crowned champion.Then we called it a day at the arcade and decided to go home. We bought some freshly-baked fish-shaped wafer things that were filled with custard (really tasty) and wandered back to the palace with Mark. Once back, I tried my best to make some pigs-in-blankets though I had to use hotdog sausages and Japanese bacon that seems to always go grey, however you cook it. We settled down with some beers and snacks and watched Scrooged. Mark's girlfriend Kaori come over after work and brought more food (proper cheese!!) and champagne which we had along with Christmas cake and Christmas pudding from Jack's mum and some mince pies from Mark.
It was lovely to Skype both our families and get to see them on Christmas Day, and although it wasn't the same as being at home, we had a really lovely Christmas.
Boxing Day
Today we managed to sleep straight through until midday and decided that some fresh air would be a good idea. We walked down to Chiba to get the train to a large park in Toke and on the way down we were invited in to another local festival-type thing. We were given a very warm welcome by the people there and imediately given a plate of motchi (Japanese rice cakes).
This is Jack attemprting to eat the savoury rice cake that was covered in a white-radish and soy-sauce sauce. He did not like it!
We finally made it to the park. It was a beautifully clear day, a bit windy and quite cold, perfect for a nice walk.
There's a high school near the park and it was obviously sports afternoon as there were loads of groups of teenagers all over the place running drills or going on long runs...
Towards the end of our stroll we came across this slide - it was awesome! It had loads of little rollers on it that helped you go down. The only downside was that the friction when you go down builds up to the point that you feel like your trousers are smouldering when you get off. Jack and I had very warm derrieres all the way home!
