The KC and Konrad Treatment

Konrad got here a couple days ahead of the Caseman, and was able to enjoy the Sowa JHS Chorus Competition. Here he is enjoying some of the second grade boys.

Here we are in Tsukiji market enjoying a wonderful lunch of sushi and sake.

Here we are at the Imperial Palace and Gardens in Tokyo with some fellow sightseers. Please see the videos link on the right portion of this page for these lovely young ladies in action.

"Man and the city"

Yeeeooowwweeeeeee!!!!

Here we are enjoying a lovely Japanese dinner in Tokyo, Japan with some Japanese friends that KC new from his time in New Zealand. They showed us how to enjoy the wonderful Japanese tradition of putting a towel on the top of your head.

Here KC and Konrad are enjoying karaoke, another wonderfully fun Japanese custom of singing the words of a song through a microphone as it is played over loud speakers for all to enjoy. It's really great. It appears KC might have muffed the words to this particular song - OOPS!!! - ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - a definite "no,no" here in Japan.



Our enjoyable weekend in Aizu:

The quaint street lined with historic thatch-roofed huts in the Old Village of Aizu.

We were lucky enough to enjoy the fall Japanese tradition of the leaves changing colors. Every year, in Japan, for about two-three weeks, the leaves on ALL of the trees change from green to red, yellow, orange and yes, sometimes brown!
They call this Koyo. I call it wonderful!
But now all the leaves have fallen off the trees and died.

We enjoyed taking pictures of Aizu's castle and the park and shrines surrounding it.

Here we are posing in front of three large things of sake after we enjoyed a tour of the Sake factory. We didn't understand most of the 30 minute tour, but one of the first things the guide pointed out and one of the only things we understood, was that every year a "stirrer" dies in the factory from inhaling fumes while stirring during the Sake making process.

Here we are with Emi, my friend in Aizu and our guide to all of its wonderful attractions. We are enjoying a lovely Japanese dinner at a Japanese bar - these are called Izakaya's.

Here is Aizu's castle at night time.

Konrad left two days before KC - missed his flight - came back from the airport - enjoyed another night in Koga - then left a day before KC. On KC's last night we thought it'd be a super idea if we tried to partake in the ancient Japanese tradition of Wasabing: the practice and art of enjoying wasabi, through one's nose. Fortunately Toshi - KC's friend from ASU (KC knows more people in Japan than I do) - and his friends are experts in this craft. So, we went out for a superbly fantastic lovely and enjoyable night of Wasabing in Tokyo, for mr. Kruger's last night.

Wasabing 101:

Step 1: Grind yourself up nice little glob of fresh wasabi

Step 2: Place a dallop of freshly ground wasabi on the end of a chopstick

Step 3: Take a nice big whiff through one of your nostrils until all of the wasabi has left the chopstick and flown up your nasal cavity

Step 4: Brace yourself for the post nasal prick, also known as "the bing"

Step 5 (optional): If you are a true Wasabing master you will enjoy a nice swig of soy sauce to complement the sweet tingle of the Wasabi


Step 6: Enjoy


These kids get that Wasabi in em, they get all antsy in the pantsy

Wasabing can also be enjoyed manually:

So whenever, wherever and however you decide to enjoy Wasabing, please remember to respect the traditions, values and customs in which the art is practiced by partaking in this activity with humility and reverence. Please do not attempt to drive or operate heavy machinery after Wasabing more than 6 times in one hour and under no circumstances should one attempt to care for children or provide guidance of any kind after a heavy night of Wasabing.
Please enjoy Wasabing responsibly.

Here is a construction worker in Tokyo, enjoying a little nap between shifts.
Even when they're sleeping, they're working.

But hey...

So long my brave warriors - and thank you...for everything.

I cover the pain of their absence with intense sarcasm and wordy humor.

Live at Sowa JHS Culture Festival

KC and Konrad came out for two weeks which was a nice breathe of fresh air for us creeps under water. Konrad arrived on Thursday and KC on Saturday. Sunday was my school's annual culture festival and without a doubt the happiest day of the year for these kids. It's a day long party with performances, songs, talent shows and various themed parties throughout the school. Everyone's in a great mood, family and friends go, the kids are screwing around and having fun, laughing, teachers are taking it slightly easy - a polar opposite from the day-to-day.

I'd known about this festival for a while and as with my previous performance, dragged my heels in volunteering to perform a song - I waited till Wedensday, the week before. They told me I had 5 minutes.

The day of the festival we were screwing around with the kids and involved in all the other ruckus going on. We helped at the Halloween party by emceeing the BINGO game along with various other pro-bono appearances. We didn't go on till about 3pm but only had time for a 10 minute dress rehearsal right after lunch. We threw in a Kojima Yoshio move (he's so hot right now) to ensure we got a laugh. At this point I hadn't been very nervous at all. The three of us have been doing this song for a few years now - granted in a much different and less sober state than we were in on this day - but we all new our lines for the most part and it's an easy enough song and pretty difficult to screw up. There were going to be over 600 watching us, but our familiarity with the song, the presence of my friends and the busyness of the day had a calming - diverting effect on the nerves. For a while at least.

Then the bell rang, the lights dimmed. We were rushed backstage and were the 4th act of about 10. Behind the curtain, the scene was weird, frantic and unsettling. The acts following us were various dance numbers to be performed by groups of 5 - 20 14 year old boys - some dressed as girls, some in nothing but short shorts and all involving some sort of make-up and/or glitter garnishment. They were all crammed backstage with us - bustling around, fixing their hair or costumes or whatever. After 5 minutes back there, the fear set in.

Sweat was pouring down my face and neck. I was shaking and fidgeting around. Honestly thought I was going to piss my pants. Most nervous I've ever been - I think. The other two were fine though, offering words of encouragement like, "Ahh, you know what, we don't really feel like doing this anymore - good luck buddy" and inappropriate comments about how cute all the little girls backstage were (I actually joined in here - and may have been the ring leader - I guess sometimes instinct just takes over) - Creeps. One of the acts before us was one kid (hack) singing karaoke by himself - I swear he didn't move the entire song - and this brought me down slightly from piss threat level red to orange.

Then we got our cue and the rest doesn't need much help explaining.