O.K. so this is my Diary. Now I am a little crazy, so the unabridged version can be a little hard to follow at times! So to make things easier on you I have only included the best bits! Besides, it would be pretty boring if you read it all from start to finish!!

Anyway it is all in chronologiacal order (even if I forgot to write the date in at the time). So Here you are.

Day 1:

Hey there,

I'm back again it is still today but it is now 10:00pm local time about 11:59 yours! I'm bushed as I bet you can imagine but I can't board my plane yet as it isn't ready for me!!
To fill you in I am in Bali and have been since about 11:30 am (local). boy oh boy this is not at all what I expected, I will have to come back for sure. I have had a very interesting time here and would like to see more of it!!
I have been asked all day if I want a massage, or to buy a really cheesy this or that. I did a little haggling but it took me the better part of the day to work out exactly how much I was spending!
And then to top it off I think I just got ripped off at the exchange counter! But I am not sure as rupiah (or however you spell it) are totally foreign to me.
Indonesians are really weird! That is essentially it, that is the rich piece of wisdom I walk away with!!
Well I am sure I'll be back!

Talk to you later!!
Spooky

O.K. From now on you can keep your own track of the dates.

31st Jan

So yet another day has passed!! Here I sit in my own place! Yep I have moved in! I am sharing with another guy called Bruce and he seems pretty cool! He doesn't speak a word of Japanese so he in for the time of his life and I feel good to be able to help him around!! Today I went well umm pretty much I walked in a big circle trying to find the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which is a tall building that you can reputedly go to the top of and see from an observatory!! But it took us (Naoko and me) an hour and a half to find. In the end we got in a cab and let the cabbie show us where it was!Aand then found that it was closed! After that I spent my last few hours with Naoko stuffing around and she left as I was shown to this place I don't know the address yet! I will let you know tomorrow! We have been provided with all the essentials. Washing machine, fridge, microwave etc. so we are pretty much set and the TV arrives soon! So we will not have too many worries about living arrangements!! I am still not too sure about my role at work! They tell me that I will probably be a counsellor/intern. Hey that's OK but what is an intern any way is it like a copy boy, do I fetch coffee? I guess I will find out!! Well till later, I'm off to the pub with Bruce!

Luke

Sunday the 6th Of Feb

Today I spent the day in and around Yoyogi Park
WOW this has to be seen to believed! I have heard much about the Japanese youth counter culture but I never have really seen it at such extremes! I saw Japanese punks hanging around the station, just doing what kids do! And further into the park were bands or guitar players fully set up with generators running amps and playing the loudest music they are capable of. They were busking but not really asking for money! I guess that is where they practice. Some were obviously better than others were but the ones that were good were really good. One had the whole crowd singing along and dancing. It was a great atmosphere! Later as it got dark (Around 6pm) over the road a DJ desk was set up and a mini rave kicked off! This was amazing, in the middle of the path people were dancing!
And to make it all that much more weird, It was right next to one of the biggest temples I have seen in Japan. The old and new living together! An Amazing contrast!
Any way tomorrow I am going to NOVA so scope out the competition (for work)
Till then
Luke

It is 5:13 on the morning of the 11th I can't remember what day it is, maybe Friday? I am pissed, and am going to bed!
I beat the garbage men, woo hoo!!!
G'night!

Later the same day!
It is 6:15 and I am finally over the hangover!
I think.
I really want to chat with Mr Fujimaki about getting another job, but he is really quite unapproachable! I will do it tomorrow for sure!
Oh yeah that means that Nova weren't super impressed with my resume! Actually I think that it was a miracle that they got it all! I found it really hard to work out the fax machine!
Well I will keep you up to date! Oh and please send money! I'm broke!
Luke

So, right it is the 2nd of march and it is 10:30 in the morning! I have pretty much just come home, with Bruce! I am still a bit pissed!! Bruce is too! But that is OK because I am going to be way hung over with him, yeah together!! I didn't quite expect this, but I'll deal with it!!! Yeah today is the prefect day for rocking up pissed because all the others are not going to be there. So I am going to get away with it, except for the fact that I am now sitting with Mr Fujimaki and his Brother, in their office, my house, about to go to sleep and they are just starting work!!! I am a f*** head!!! Ahhhh why else did I come here???
Ahh ne
I think that Mr Fujimaki is talking about the fact that I have applied for a job in Roppongi at Gas-panic. He is not happy about that and I really don't want to let him down!! So I guess that I understand that it is my duty to turn the job down! I will not like it but at least it opens the door to other possibilities!!
Oh what shall I do????
Nah I really know what is best!!
Follow my heart!!
Ki o tsukette ne
Luke

I might add that this entry is evidence of an amazing all nighter, at club footnik, followed by going to Shigie's house (A guy we met at the pub). It led, however, to a harrowing day of a hangover and subsequently I decided to undertake a two week period of sobriety (which was a very good idea).

It is now the 27th of the same month! And boy have I been busy (hence the lack of correspondence, sorry!)
I did give up on the idea of working in Roppongi! And now looking back I am glad that I did!! I have been working at the same going-no-where-fast job till now, we did this cool tea-party thing! Which means that all we did was play games with the clients! And it was a blast!!! Naoko was waiting for me at the end of it and we went to the Fiddler with Bruce to Celebrate her graduating and it was a good night!I am going to Osaka on the 22nd of April on my way to Hiroshima!
Oh yeah that reminds me I haven't told you that I have been invited to Yuko's wedding!So I am going to Hiroshima for it!
I will be so flat out during April that it isn't funny!!
I have a ***** ******* From the 3rd (I want to tell you about it later! )
Then I will be a tour guide for Yuko's Aussie family on the 8th and 9th
Then Trudy is coming from the 13th to the 19th
Then I am off to Hiroshima from the 22nd to the 24th!!
Boy oh boy will I be stuffed by the end of that!
Ok so what is happening on the 3rd?
Well I have a new job!! Yep that is right!
I will start working at an English school, as a real English teacher!! But it is in Kawasaki, which means that I will have to move, that is OK because the school will help me find a place! And even help me pay some of the rent, and help me by lending me all the key money and stuff! Pretty nice of them really! And top it off I will be earning ¥250,000 which works out at the current exchange rate to be a salary of over $40,000pa.!! I don't know what I will do with it all! But I have to wait till I get it first. I guess the first month till I get any pay will be hard, I am in such a rut here, that any decrease in funds at all will leave me starving! I will have to rough it for the first month! But from then on, it will be plain sailing! I will of course have to set my self up with furniture and stuff but it will all come slowly! I am not sure how I will tackle that, But I know where to get all the stuff cheap so I will be ok!
Woo-hoo, I made it!! I have a lot of reading to do but I am so excited, I can't wait to get into it!
I'll be sure to let you know how it all turns out!!
Luke "the English teacher" Brewer!!

The next one is just the post script of a longer entry.

P.S.
I felt my first earth quake the other day!
At 6:30 in the morning and it scared the shit out of me!! It was apparently 3 or 4 on the scale and my old frail apartment wobbled like nothing else!! I had no idea what was going on! I was still half a sleep till it was way over! I am not looking forward to the next one!

This next one was a blast

Gotta be honest!! The dates a bit of a blur but it's gotta be around the 11th !?!
It is 12:00 in the arvo! And I just got home! Yep, the all night bender to end all benders and I am sure I am going to do it again!!!!
Let me see to get all my thoughts straight I am going to make a few notes for myself, feel free to ignore them

Ummm…
Ok so thoughts aren't coming so freely!!!
Work, till 6
E-mail, no Shigie, dinner
The Fiddler
Ai (She's pretty cool) went home, but neither Belinda or I wanted to join her! Gee that was about umm 12ish!
Then in a flury of decision we went to Shibuya to go to umm gee I don't think we had a destination! Either way we went to Sugar high and as we were going to enter, some Yanks said it sucked so we followed them to Gaspanic Shibuya, the new one, it's only a few weeks old!!
And well that wasn't much better that the one in Ropongi!!
So we went back to Sugar high and another yank, perhaps a Canadian said that it was empty but, BUT the music was going off, it was only ¥1500 wtih 1 drink (it feels good to say only 1500 instead of being too poor for that) so we went in!
And he was right! It got fuller as it went on and some how, I'm not too sure how it happened! We met this way cool chick , Yasuko, Friends of the DJ, Okachu, and they went off to another club, (I think it is kinda like a sobering up place! We lied about Belindas Age and the let us in! (Bonus)
And well that went off harder than Sugar High!! It was called Umm Maniac Love! Way cool and umm the DJ was called Yo-c, and he was very cool!
Then as Belinda started to flake the others who tagged allong from Sugar High, About 10 of them made the pilgrammage, decided that it woulde be a good time to go to a Café! This was at about 11 am Desu!!
I am way very hungry so that will have to do for now I need brunch!!!!
Luv Luke
P.S. it was way cool I wanna do it again!!!!!

This next one is a long one, but it has a lot of fun stuff in it!

29/7/00


I decided before I left that I would write in my diary every day while I was away, but seeing as this is the first entry since I finished work past Friday night a week ago, I guess it's fair to say that didn't happen. I'm not too sure what day it is and that makes me very happy! It's very good to be out of the droll of working-life for a bit.
I should fill you in on what I've done.
I left work on Friday night and went straight to Shinjuku and caught a bus to Osaka. I arrived at 7:00am and went to Naoko's place where I crashed until about 2 in the afternoon.
We then went to her sisters place and I finally met her niece and brother-in-law. We ordered pizza, played the dream cast and generally chatted for a while. Then I went to WTC with Naoko. I was there 4 years ago but it was cool to go again.
The next day we went to Biwako (lake Biwa) we got there at about 3pm, settled in, had a paddle and at a convenience store purchased dinner!!
We went for a walk on the second day and another paddle. Convenience store breakfast lunch and dinner!!
The next day we went back to Osaka, and I caught up with my old host family. The kids have grown up so much! Yuma who was only very little and 7or 8 years old is now 12 and looks older. Yuto who was 12 is now 17 and he blew me away! Cha-patsu (Japanese browned hair instead of the regular black, it's all the rage) and funky flares, wow!! Misaki and Masahiro were exactly the same as I remember.
They took me out to Yakiniku, yum!!
The next day I slept in and later on that evening Naoko and I went to the Tenjin festival at kyobashi and saw the fireworks and the boats along the river! Kind of cool!
Then we went to an izakaya with Naoko's mum who in a bout of drunken insight decided that we should play a game of ten-pin bowling! So we did!
The next day I went to the park with Naoko and Maru, her dog, did a few errands and left for the Fuji Rock Festival!
I got here about 10am after 12 hours of busses and trains, set up and took in the Foo Fighters, Eagle Eye Cherry, a grouse blues band, The Chemical Brothers and Placebo. Then I crashed, I was so tired!
And that brings me up to now, but as I have only woken up I will have to take this up later after I've done something worth putting in!

It's 3 am, I'm tired! It was fun
(pass out)

Yes it was fun!!
It is now 10:30 the same morning and I couldn't sleep any more because it is too hot! So I've washed and eaten! Well I should start where I left off yesterday!! (not the 3 a.m. entry)
From there I went down to see the Rollins band. For such an old guy he still puts on a great show!!
I was dog tired so I snoozed for a bit and saw sonic youth, they were, well, crap. They played like 3 songs and the rest was feed back and distortion. They seemed to be having fun doing it and they did some cool things to get weird sounds, but it really sounded crap. I saw a bit of Mogwai and they were a bit flat so I bummed around and mixed my self some juice! I went back to see Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, A Japanese group who got an amazing response from the crowd! Then I went into the DJ tent to see Luke Slater who was great and then a Japanese guy called DJ Wada who was awesome! And at 3, well you know!
I really am enjoying myself here but I am getting a bit lonely now and then!
Any way I
I've got a big day a head of me, so I'll catch you later!!

So I woke up early again, I don't know what is wrong with me! I went down to see Eve 6 but for some reason they weren't there! Another band called deadweight were playing, they were really cool, a 3 piece band with a cello and a violin in stead of the bass and lead guitars! Great sound! Rock cello!! Afterwards I saw rammstein, who put on an awesome show!! The singer pulled out a plastic penis and started pissing all over the place then the guitarist rode an inflatable boat over the crowd and later the singer put on a jacket made of metal and had it set a light! Burning rock stars, now that's what I like to see!!! Next I wanted to see A perfect Circle (the same singer as tool) but Elastica was playing in that time slot, They were good, but the equipment kept failing etc, so they were not too energetic! After I saw Moby, Very good. Then at last I found Perfect Circle! Not as tool-ish as I had hoped, but still a good sound I had a few hours till Primal Scream started so I thought I'd catch some shut eye, but I slept right through their set, woops!!
The next day I packed up and headed back into civilisation, so here I am!!!
What a week it was!!!!!!!

During my Autmn break(remembering that the seasons are opposite to Australia), I went to Hiroshima. Yes this is my second time, but last time I stayed such a short time that I really wanted to go back and see all that I was missing. Then I went to Okinawa, which is as far south as Japan streaches and it actually quite a bit sout in the middle of the pacific ocean. (If you can it might help to check the possie on a map) The climate and surroundings are totally un-Japanese, but the people are quite Japanese. It's kinda odd!!
When I got to Hiroshima I went to Yuko's parents place. They live on an island and you can either take a bus over the bridge or catch this funky little ferry (Guess which I chose). It is a bargain at only ¥70. Or at least I think that's what it was. Very cool. The driver waits untill there are three people waiting then he scoots over and picks you up and scoots you across.

Next I went fishing with Yuko's family, well Yuko, her dad and her uncle. They were all very cool and I even caught a fish. It was small-ish but I was so glad to actually catch one that I didn't care. It took ages and I didn't think I even would!! Any how I ate the one I caught for breakfast (It's not as strange as it sounds!! I actually like the Japanese traditional brekky).
One of the best things I did in Hiroshima, was going to Miyajima. There is a red gate which is in the water. It is one of the most famous things in Japan. Any how the island was a very cool place to spend a day! Deer stroll the street and the monkeys thrive in the hills! Much better than the concrete jungle that I am used to!!
The one thing that almost everyone knows Hiroshima for is the bomb during WWII. Well almost directly under where it was dropped is a big park called Heiwa Koen or "Peace park." And it really is peaceful, except for the tour groups that constantly flow through! At the end of the park is a museum which shows all you would ever want to see and alot that you probably don't really want to see about the bomb. Peoples skin melted off their arms and their fingernails fell off, and you can see them!! It is honestly the most horrible thing I have ever seen and the best reason for nuclear dis-armament!!! There is a building that is still standing, in the same shambled state as it was immediately after the bomb. fully preserved.