Reekin' in Old Reekie

We had a couple of nights out in Edinburgh. One with my old cronies from Uni. We started off with a couple of drinks and some snacks at a flat and then ended up in a nice little bar in the new toon. After that we went for a kebab, as I recall. All good fun until I got chili sauce on my Chrimbo cashmere jumper. I'm not sure if it was my own spillage as I can recall someone rubbing there coupon (Scots slang for face) on my puppy soft cashmere clad gut, for pleasure. Cashmere and rubbing your face on a comfortable belly, some of the last nails in our twenty-something coffin. That was only a minor kick in the jewels, it was nice to see everyone well and happy. It's kind of funny though, you only see your buddies once every 6 months or so and what do you do? Go out and get drunk and not remember a damn thing about what was said. Still, we looked happy enough, below. That's exactly what small digital cameras were invented for, evidence. Previously people could be going out, walking into bars and getting hypnotised. They'd wake up the next day with a sore head, a taste of chili sauce and reeking of alcohol. They'd assume that it was a great night out, and as not another body who was out could corroborate otherwise, that's what they'd all agree upon. Little did they know they were hyponotised, on the cheap, this was no Paul McKenna, doused with chili sauce and industrial alcohol, whilst they emptied their wallets, purses and sometimes if it's been a lean month, their bank accounts (this has happened to me a couple of times). Pocket sized digital cameras have put an end to this racket, hallelujah amen. Maybe not though, it's possible that they just work a little harder and get us to pose in these pics - the drinks are fakes, the back grounds are sets including extras and they use a system of pulleys, wires and if you're unlucky, brooms, to get us upright and rigid. Imagine being the poor blighter that has to fit, remove and maintain the brooms.







We also went out with Caroline's old chums. They're my chums too but you know what I mean. She brought them to the equation and now we're all chumly together. We were going to go to Evol, a club that plays music that we like, but we were all running a bit late and were collectively goosed, or should that be gaggled. There was a lot of gassing to be done so it was probably as well that we didn't go to a club. We went to a flat, drank, ate a little, gassed and then went to a bar in the westend. Again, nice to see our friends and catch up. I remembered more from this occasion and there wasn't a broom or broom tender in sight.

Going home: Winter vacation

The Trip to Narita, Tokyo and then home.

We went back home on the 23rd of December to see our family and friends. The journey was a bit of nachtenmaren, as they'd say in Frankfurt. We drove to the ferry terminal on Sado and got a ferry to Niigata. We then got a train from Niigata to Tokyo, Shinjuku (right in the toon). Then from Shinjuku we got on a train to Narita, which like all big airports is in the furthermost suburbs. From there we got a 12 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany. We had a few hours to kill before our flight to Edinburgh so we went into the old part of Frankfurt for a mooch around the Christmas market and some ale and sausage. Which was a bit surreal through a jet lagged mind but nice never the mind.



Frankfurt train station and the Christmas market


This is a monty stein of beer but it doesn't get justice next to my coconut...

Here's a somewhat uninspiring pic of me outside the station. Ring a ding...

A few more random pics for any punter that's interested.

A view of some typical houses with partially shrouded mountains in the background:



Water sumo in the summer:



A picture we took last weekend at a dam on the island, you can get an idea of the status of my doo:



Caroline as a 'Shrine hund':



Last weekend at the Kodo Concert:


Aikawa festival:


Here's a picture of an aerial picture of one of the Junior High Schools that I work in. Believe it or not this school has 19 students. The facilities that they have is unbelievable:

The Cabin

Here's some picks of the cabin:



Mayhem unfolds:


The morning after the night before:


Getting rid of the evidence:


Last 3 pictures courtesy of Thea Bracewell


I'll have to give a decent account of this party as it was, from what I can remember, a lot of fun. But I'll update this post later.

Balls to the history, here's some pictures.

From left to right, top to bottom:

Here's our apartment. It's above a fishing tackle shop. That massive aerial actually fell off our roof in a storm.

This is Caroline's motor. It's a micro Daihatsu 4x4.

Here's my shed. It's a wee Honda 650cc that's been slightly boy raced with a spoiler and tinted back windows.

Check this beastie out.




I was just picking up some momentum there and the website that I host my pics isn't responding. Pile of mince.

Here's the last batch from the Earth Celebration in August: