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As even in Japan I can’t avoid Christmas (usually I like it – this year not so much as I’m away from friends and family). The further bad news is that I can’t even avoid shitty Christmas songs. So as there are only 5 days to go until the “big day” I wish you all [...]

I was having an interesting coversation with the mother of the Japanese family I was staying with in Tokyo about marriage. She was talking about how the divorce rate in Japan is rising. She was shocked when I mentioned that the divorce rate in England was currently approximately 50% (update: just checked the government figures, [...]

First thing on Wednesday morning I headed to Ginza as I needed to buy some socks; the mission to do this was successful and after that I headed to Tokyo station to get the rest of my train tickets reservations. After this I headed to Ryogoku and the Sumo (really pronounced with a very short [...]

I’ve named the latest bunch of photos on Flickr now so you now know what they are of. PS If you want to see pictures of me you’ll need to add me as a Flickr friend, see the help page for how. PPS The Japanese (aside from the Apple Store) take the view that the [...]

So after arriving late in the evening to the Japanese family with whom I’m staying in Tokyo on Sunday I went to bed fairly early and set out into the city just before 9am. First I had some admin to complete and then I set out to explore the city. First I headed to the [...]

I took the train up from Wellington to Auckland on Saturday which was pretty good and the train left early on Saturday morning for it’s journey first along the coast and then through the mountains. Unfortunately the windows are far too shiny to really get a good photo and there is too much pollen on [...]

I have to admit there is a lot to dislike about the New York subway aside from it’s safety at night which is excellent but it has a further good point on recycling. In New York all the rubbish thrown away at stations is sorted for recycling; now while this isn’t a pleasant job it [...]

I arrived into Christchurch on Thursday Evening on the train. Unsurprisingly the train was 20 minutes late even though there didn’t appear to have been any reason or obvious sign of delay while on the journey. After arrival I went to a local French named restaurant/bar called Dux de Lux, though the interior was a [...]

So I got up at 8am on Thursday for the 9am bus which was later than everyone else in my dorm who had mostly only arrived the day before – I think people are trying to do the whole country in 2 weeks. I’ve spent 5 weeks here and could have spent more time in [...]

After a long coach journey I arrived into Franz Josef on Tuesday evening. That evening I went for a few drinks and learnt that the town is completely dependent on tourists. It’s population is only 100 but swells to approximately 3000/day in the summer which is absolutely massive. I also found that in appreciation the [...]