I have moved

Find me at Kokogahen

CIR news

Ok, i know i said i wasnt going to put any more posts up
but i have finally found out more details about my CIR job

I will be working in the International affairs division of the Ibaraki Prefectual Office which is in Mito

the office is in a suburb called karahara, which is apparently a 45 min bike ride to the train station.

Mito itself is about 2.5 hours from the heart of Tokyo, and about $40 each way to get there.

But Mito is pretty close to the ocean and also Ibaraki is supposed to be a very nice prefecture for nature.

I will have to find my own apartment when i get there, but they are supplying all the mod cons like futons, tv, washing machine etc.

Thats about it for now. But soon i will be starting up me new blog so i will post the address when i do.

IBARAKI

that is all i know so far

which means it could be anywhere in Ibaraki prefecture, which is north of Tokyo for those who dont know. north and about 2.5 hours on a slow train which will cost around $30 each way.

but this is good

its a place i have only ever fleetingly been to, but no too far away from the people i know

i should be finding out more details in the comming weeks. well i better, its only 8 weeks or so till i go!

lack of posts

i know i have been lazy recently. but i just havent been in the mood to post anything nor have i had much time

i think i am going to go on a blog holiday until i have something decent to write which doesnt revlove around "oh i was busy at uni today" or "oh i was busy at work today"

i might even go on hold until i get to japan and then i will take this blog back to its roots, back to its original purpose of informing my family and friends of the fact i am still alive even though i am half way round the world

so until then, please feel free to keep checking back to see if i have changed my mind, or wait until july 24th when the real news should start flowing in.

get involved

http://www.fieldofwomen.org.au/

public transport woes

last night i went into the city for 2 occasions. first i went to a houe warming in kew, and then a birthday party at bridie o'reileys in lt collins st.

i am sure the public transport system is against me.

first of all, the trains were cancelled between box hill and burnley so we had to get on a bus. the girls sitting in the train on the seats near me were having a lot of trouble with that concept. they could get the fact that they still could get home from the city, they just needed to get on the bus again.

going by bus put an extra 30 mins on the trip. they did supply a bus that went directly to burnley but i wanted to get off at glenferrie so i had to take the stopping all stations model.

anyways, on the bus i ran into a friend of mine so i had someone to chat to. then i got off at glenferrie to catch the tram down to kew.

i got the tram after buying some drinks but it only went as far as cotham rd corner cause they were doing some major digging up of the road all through kew junction. my friend had just said, catch the tram down without remembering to tell me, and a lot of other people who were at te party that not even cars were being allowed through to his street.

i finally got there, after a lot of walking. and then i couldnt find his house! granted i cant blame public transport for this issue, but lets try anyway.

i actualy knocked on someone elses door before i got to his apartment. it was a brand new place and i hadnt really thought that people my age could afford a place like that so i had discounted it before even trying. but it was, and it was very nice inside. i wish i had a place like that

getting back into the city was going to be hard too. i had no idea where the trams were starting from so i managed to convince someone to drive me to the first tram stop we saw, but it wasnt going to be that easy. i managed to get a lift all the way into the city!

coming home i got a lift too so i didnt have to tackle the public transport again. and anyway, we got home around 2am so i missed the last train.

fashion show

next friday i have been convinced by my grandma to be part of their charity fashion show at "inner wheel" (like rotary but for women)

so yesterday morning at 9.30am i drove up to monbulk to get fitted. i had only gotten home from work at 12.30am on friday night so when i finally woke up at 8.45 and looked at the clock i was it a bit of a rush. it takes over 30 mins to get to monbulk and i made it, just.

the clothes that i have to wear are probably not my choice of fashion, but the show is aimed at older ladies. so i will have to grin and bear it. oh well.

so if anyone wants to come along, the tickets are $10 and its up in wandin.

it looked innocent enough

working in at southbank this morning meant that i had to fiind some lunch down in the food court.

i often eat at Think Asia, and today i decided to try a new dish there as i usually just get mee goreng everytime

it looked innocent enough in the picture. it was called nasi lemak. anything with nasi in the name is usually pretty good. it had rice, topped with what looked like onion, chicken drumsticks, some veggies and an egg

when i got it, the rice tasted like a coconut rice pudding. the fried stuff in top was actually some kind of dried fish. the veggies were pickeled. the egg and chicken were the only normal items on the plate

but after the shock had worn off, and i had mixed everything on my plate into one big pile of food, it didnt taste that bad

but i must say, it isnt that easy to eat chicken drumsticks with chopsticks...

looking for interesting weekend activities

spurred on by kate, i am on the lookout for interesting things to do on weekends which dont involve going to smokey pubs and nightclubs.

her idea of a winery tour was quashed for the fact that it is too expenisve ($85 is pretty steep for us uni students)

so does anyone have any good ideas? good day drips out of melbourne? different activities that dont cost an arm and a leg

i would like to go sailing or surfing. but alas they are really summer things and now winter is upon us

so please put any suggestions in the comments

thanks