Hahaha! You can't see me! They're supposed to be guarding the entrance to the building, and what are they doing? All peering into the boot of the police car, cause one can't do that. Off guard! 12 hours later...40 police in bulletproof vests, and guns raided the building up to the Yakuza floor and arrested one of them, after 2 days of monitoring the building. The gang in Kurume shot one of the gang members of Fukuoka city. How interesting that we live in the same city/town that has a high population of Yakuza
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Saori and I looking like we have a lot of work! LOL
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GOODBYE SAORI!!!! - Saori's last day at NOVA! Lucky Lucky Lucky!
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I LOVE THIS STREET! So many COOL Shops!!!
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Tabete! - EAT!
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The View from the Restaurant
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Enter to the Shrine
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Enter the Temple
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DAZAIFU - 2 hours before Training! ENTER
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THE BIRD INCIDENT! - Japanese are strange and cool at the same time. I saw this piece of cardboard on the last step of these stairs everyday I would walk down them on my way to work, and couldn't work out why it was there? Was there a hole underneath it? But then why put a piece of cardboard? Hmmm..a month later, I looked up and saw the birds nest! Now in Australia, the nest would be removed, so the bird doesn't shit on the stairs...In Japan however, they put a piece of cardboard so the steps don't get dirty, bird not disturbed, and then when the time comes for the bird to leave, the cardboard is removed......only in JAPAN
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A Mysterious Yakusa van parked outside the building....hmmm
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My BIKE! with basket!
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The Student Files
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The Teachers Textbooks
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A nice Empty Schedule for the day!
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This is Second Street. It's a shopping mall that is a street completely enclosed at the top, air conditioned by that escaping from the shops, and opened at either end of the street at the cross roads....It's quite cool. They stood here and waved at us...hahaha
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Some serious fixing....ahh, that's better!
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My very first Gay Japanese Hair Cut, also being the first hair cut I've ever had to pay in my life! So embarrassing! I was soo quiet! Very quiet...why are you cutting with a razor! My hair is not Japanese hair! You're going to give me split ends! Bitch! Yet my mouth stayed closed and a forced fake smile remained on my face. "Daijobu?" "Hai"....I'm such an idiot...well it's not as if I can tell her any different! Finished and then the styling began! Oh My God! What are you doing? You made me look soo Gay! She puffed it up from behind, brough half of the front forward and lifted the other half back...I wanted to get out into the street (Ni Ban Gai) Second Street, and fix it up before anyone saw me, but that wasn't going to happen! All of them followed us out, waited till we got on our bikes and then when we were about to start riding they started screaming in Japanese "Thank you very much! Thank you very much" They even walked to the middle of the street so they could see us around the corner, so obviously everyone turned to look and I couldn't push my hair down! Dammit! I had been spotted! By everyone! Lucy's hair was fine... :-(
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Okay, this is one Meal at McDonalds! You get a paper bag for the burger, a paper bag for the chips, a cup holder for your drink, a sealed plastic straw with easy opening release, serviettes and a nice plastic bag to put it all in!
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MY FIRST GRAFFITI! Only on the back seat of the bus to Youme Town. I was amazed....because you just don't get any vandilism in Japan!

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MITCHE'S GOING AWAY What are you looking at? Shelani and myself in April...early days

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This hot place is nice and warm! You had to cook your own food here...it was so nice. Except we though the people sitting on the table next to us were cooking the same thing so we were copying them....of course they were cooking something else. So the waiter came out and stopped us and then cooked it for us...Geeze we are idiots sometimes. Baka Gaijins!

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OKONIMIAKI RESTAURANT!

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Okay so it was a whore house! How was I supposed to know....even though my mum did explain the word to me, that it was used in ancient times as a whore house.....Obviously I didn't listen and did some research on the word after we went in there and were greated by Japanese ladies wearing almost see-through dresses, saying, "it's okay, please come in" Lucy, Emily and I, headed for the door....Emily saying "It's not Daijobu" hahaha. So it means the innermost core of something special...something used to describe the intimacy of two people have sex....????? Nice. hahaha
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This really did just look like artwork to me! I didn't even click to think what this place was! I was just appreciating...good sculpture! ha ha
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The infamous sign
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ΜΥΧΟΣ - GREEK in JAPAN???

Now it's not everyday that you see Greek writing in Japan, so naturally when you do, you explore!

Now, this happened riding back from Yamada denki, I just happend to quickly gaze in one of the side streets with lots of signs and I saw Greek writing! With a word I had never seen before! "Μυχος" Hmm...Strange. Let's check it out!

Goodbye!
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Let's sit Take a pic, professional photographer Emily...
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Too bad it was closed
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Check out one of the temples
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Hey! Look at it!
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There she is
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We're almost there!
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On the way to the 66 m Statue that looks out of Kurume....a nice river...statue not spotted yet.
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NARITA SAN STATUE

HARRY & EMILY'S 'LOST' ADVENTURE!


So we had decided to go the night before. Yes! Lets go to Narita San! Do you know how to get there? Umm...yeah, Ben said to just follow the Post Office road all the way down and you hit it about 50 minutes.

So we got on our bikes....no bike pumps, just a really vague map with no Narita san on it...I think it's about here...maybe (as the Japanese say) So we started riding, riding....
Emily: "I reckon we'll get there in 20 minutes tops!"
Harry: "Nah, it'll be about 40"

(60 minutes later)
Harry: "Where are we?"
Emily: "Fucked if I know"
Harry: "Oh I see it! there it is! Down there! Near the horizon! Geeze! It looks so small! Let's ride for it!"

What followed was constant riding in and out of Japanese alley ways, constantly diverting us from the eagles view of Narita san and taking us to many things besides the statue. Army bases, little cool bars which we should've stopped at to have a drink as we'll never find them again. Tiny little half way streets for cars, bikes and pedestrians. Up and down hills. Passing beautiful Japanese gardens, houses with no buildings around...just like a beautiful little town. And then...at sunset...

We arrived! Now it didn't really matter that the last monk was heading out and it was closed, so we couldn't climb up into her head or go to the tortue chamber below or the beautiful gardens lacing her precense, so we just climbed into up into temple section and took a couple of quick photos before the sun went down.

The BIG float! Let's run it around the corner! 

Who said grown up men don't play with hoses? 

Wet them all!! hahahha! Geeze it was hot morning! 

Arriving at Tenjin. Supposed to be empty....not anymore! 

An EMPTY Kurume station. Something you don't see everyday! 3:00am....nice! Specially opened for one train to run to Hakata....for YAMAKASA!! 

These ones aren't any better... 

Who are these wankers? 

YAMAKASA IS HERE!!! 

TYPHOON APPROACHING!!

IT'S ALMOST HERE!!

Okay, my first typhoon I'm ever to experience is said to hit us tomorrow, Tuesday 6th September 2005. I'm actually slightly excited! I don't want it to be a bad one otherwise the electricity will be gone as will water and gas, and I'm not so worried about not having water or gas, but no air con, and no computer, no internet! That would really kill me! It's only supposed to last one day so it shouldn't be too bad. I have to go stock up on some food though, as I have none, but I can't be bothered.

Yamakasa - Coming Soon

Discover one of Fukuoka's most anticipated Festivals, in which men are separated from women, their families, and are not aloud to have sex, or eat anything their wifes prepare especially cucumbers 2 weeks before the 'race'....that's right, THE RACE.

4:59am the race begins....

Crazy! Men in large G-strings (thongs) holding up massive floats and racing to the finish line while onlookers throw water to cool them down while shouting "Oisa! Oisa!" (Go! Go!)