I'm Baaaack...

Sigh, back at the Portopia. The garden in question was the scene of last years crime. Those poor bellboys.

The upside of the Kobe earthquake in 1995 was that much of the city was rebuilt - very clean views without the usual Japanese tangle of overhead cables.

Mark, Ross, Keith and Han-mouse champing at the bit for another seminar!

Even the Nagasaki JETs couldn't keep themselves away from the Yamaguchi party. Gorgeous Indian food aplenty with samosas to die for.

Chris "Daddy" Mack and Jen up to no good.

No group of people have ever been more excited to get on a bus. Time to party baby!

(Yet again) Yamaguchi Brings The Party!!!

Fuelled by innumerable Indian beers, pumped after a days hard work, Yamaguchi embarks on a mission to bring Kobe to its knees. Over 900 JETs from across Japan hit the city lights after the 2006 Re-Contracting Conference in Kobe. Big thanks to all my Yamaguchi supporters, apart from sounding like a two-pack-a-day croaker, my presentations went off without a hitch. Go the 'guch! Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Steph!

Petronas Towers, 2nd Tallest In The World

Islamic Art Museum, KL

Little India

Home Sweet Home

Dan and I arrived back yesterday. Japan was a real shock and I found myself hating being back. I just about exploded with anger when I was twice directed into the "Foreigner" lane at Customs by well-meaning people. They didn't read the kanji that said Foreign Residents are processed in the same lane as Japanese. Dan told me they were just trying to be helpful, and as I was running on no sleep I took his word for it. But it really grated.

So after 18 hours of sleep and an afternoon watching the pirated DVDs we bought in Kuala Lumpur I'm feeling much better. I rang my Mum and Dad. I went to Mosburger. Life returns to normal.

It is really fun going through the bags of stuff and remembering everything I bought - the normal clothes and souvenirs and the weird I-live-in-Japan stuff like custard powder and Marmite.

I hope everyone had a great Golden Week and returns safely home. I can't wait for Photo Night!

Singapore

It's lush and green, all cables are underground - yes here we are in beautiful Singapore. So far I am very impressed with this city. So we have decided to stay here until Friday when we fly out. This will mean we don't get to go to Palau Tioman, the island off the east coast of Malaysia. But we are feeling a bit rushed and worn out and want to stay and enjoy the city. Plus we found ourselves a fab guesthouse.

Had dream reflexology foot massage tonight, this guy was making love to my feet. Eyes-rolling-into-back-of-head territory. This brings my total foot massages up to three. Not bad.

So tomorrow we are going to do the Asian Civilisations Museum and some other cultural things, plus Mission: Impossible III is opening at the cinema tomorrow night. May even do a Singapore Sling at the Raffles bar. Excellent!