LONG OVERDUE

yes yes i know i havent blogged in a couple of weeks. but that just means ive been doin way too much stuff to keep up. haha

anyways ill keep this as short as possible coz really i cant be bother writing thesis length blog posts but the longer i leave it itll just get longer and longer before i post. (yes that makes sense...in my head)

ok picking up where we left off last time. found a cool ramen place not too far from uni. (i lie, it is DAMN far, its like 30 min walk) but its heaps cheap for some not too shabby ramen. 200 yen. awes. also went out to gusto's for western food for the first time in japan. wasnt too bad, but i miss REAL food from home. (btw im typing this by following the photos on facebook. so you should too)

ok next album. went to kyoto to meet mr. tom, steph's dad. was good fun, got to see kyoto tower, got some cool photos too. had mass sushi and udon. there was also a lot of tezuka osamu tributes and museums. (the creator of astro boy, and kimba the white lion) considered the father of manga and anime. got a photo with black jack in front of the museum. was pretty cool. first time in kyoto too.

ok then that weekend, karaoke. yep, again. we go like EVERY week its retarded. but SO fun. i got a picture of the karaoke machine which totally kicks every other countries butt. mainly coz it has flashy colours and lights.

also headed to osaka jou (temple) and the sakura trees had just started to bloom so got some wiked photos again. really awesome coz we got to climb to the top of the temple and look over osaka city. was so beautiful. AND oh man creepy old man came up to us and kept talking to us about nothing. and then insisted he take photos of us with our cameras. OH and other creepy man who was taking pictures of brittany, georgie, kana and rie. HE was creepier coz he used his own camera. but all that aside, it was a REALLY nice place.

HEAD LINE COZ THIS IS A HUGE HIGHLIGHT OF THE POST: SWEETS PARADISE

probably every gaijin's dream. ALL YOU CAN EAT SWEETS (plus some savouries) for 15 dollars. (1500yen) that is NOTHING. and we friiking eat till we burst. i swear i couldnt walk properly afterward. but SO worth it. oh man the jelly was SOOOOo good, it was like lychee flavoured, the kind you get in jelly cups. and they come in little bowl portions, i was downing them like shots. there was cake, cookies, ice cream, everything you could think of. oh man i swear we probably put that place out of business. but they made us wait for like 45mins for a table, so its their own fault.

afterwards to help us digest we took a ride on the karansha (ferris wheel) so we got to see all of osaka again, from the middle of the city area. so you bet i got some awesome pictures again. cant really describe but, but the city stretches on FOREVER, its so cool. just look at the pictures. oh and we took some purikura (the photo machine thigns that u doodle on) relax its just the first time this trip. im spreading it out so i dont get sick of it.

righto so the day after i made my teh-ya-ki soup, the bean curd and spare rib soup i used to have at home but it didnt really taste the same. but hey i tried.

so then that week we went bowling in makino, probably bowled the best game ever, like, 5 strikes in one game. but anyways, the shoes are given to you BY A VENDING MACHINE. you go to the size you want, and put in 300 yen, and out pops your shoes! so cool!

day afetr we went down to hirakata city and hung out at ring, a place where u pay by the half hour to stay there. theres pool, karaoke, manga, darts, ping pong. pretty much ping ponged it up with keisuke and man, probably the most exercise i did all this trip. (it was kinda tiring but its mainly coz i havent done ANY exercise.) but yeh, the others decided to be hardcore asian and play pool but oh wells, good time had by all.

ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT!

shakeys pizza, ANOTHER ALL YOU CAN EAT for about 1500yen, this time it was pizza and pasta. nothing special tastewise, but the sweet pizzas were awesome so mainly hooked in on those. they had a custard pizza with marshmellows. so good. so yep, ate till we almost burst FOR THE SECOND TIME in 2 weeks. no wonder im getting fat while im here.

aight, that weekend, KARAOKE AGAIN. this time aws heaps fun, more fun that usual, but really cant describe other than photos so just check them out. i didnt get to take a lot so just look at the ones other ppl took and tagged me in to see more.

AWESOME HIGHLIGHT HERE! NEW JESUS LIFEHOUSE LOCATION

aiight so on sunday jlo (jesus lifehouse osaka) had the first service in anew venue, a lifehouse in shinsaibashi. and man, we got to hook up all the band equipment and we got to jump and scream like church should be! american team was there too so got to meet some cool people. the hall looked really cool lighting wise etc, so yes another reason to check the pictures. after we finished decided to play a little football in the street, not a good idea, since josh managed to knock over bicycles in a domino effect, which i had to fix. plus kazuki kicked the ball, it bounced of the building and almost hit an old woman, oh man. BIGGEST GAIJIN SMASH EVER.

alright, last event that happened before today. last night went to nara to see a ritual at a temple. monks burn a huge ball of branches on the end of a pole to burn evel spirits. they run with the poles around the temple and spin the balls so all the embers fly off in different directions. was really interesting. got some really nice pics when i figued how to use the extended exposure function on the camera. oh and there are MASS deer in nara. they just roam the streets around the temple. SO random. but oh well. and man had to climb a massive hill to get there. least it was all downhill on the way home.

OK thats enough for now, going to kyushuu for spring break next week so more photos and a new post then, HOPEFULLY.