未来

I've been thinking a lot recently about the future.

Kind of inevitable really - I find out in just over 2 weeks if I've got my transfer to Tokyo.

And if I haven't, I have one week to decide what to do.

やばい

I've already spoken to a couple of people about my 'plans'. But I realise now that I was just throwing ideas around and have come to realise that I'm just not really sure.

I'm getting bored of teaching full time. Nothing's happened - my classes are going great and I adore (some of them anyway!) the kids. But I'm thinking I want to leave on a high before I get to the point of hating my job.

I'm getting really impatient for the answer though. I can't make ANY decisions before I know where I stand with this transfer.

Bored.

Scared.

Emotionally effed up.

Feeling Blue

It's amazing how you can be absolutely fine one minute, and then you suddenly start thinking about something and feel all crappy.

That's what happened to me this morning when I was sitting in the staff room and looking out the window at the snow falling.

A week ago I was lying on white sand and staring up at perfect, clear blue sky.

*sigh*

Nightwalker

So yesterday I went to Fukuoka for the Nightwalker party.

You pay 1000yen and then have access to 20 bars and clubs. The price you had to pay for the lack of cover charge was just 500yen for a drink in each place.

Can you imagine if there was something like this in England?!

It was awesome because you got the chance to check out so many places that you wouldn't normally go to because of the cover. I found a couple of really nice small bars and clubs where the music was so on point...but the crowd SUCKED!

I was actually really shocked. I went to this tiny little club and was immediately happy because they were playing dancehall and ragga. But 2 things will stop me from ever going back there. The place was so SMOKY I could barely breathe. It was unbearable. The second was the crowd. I have never seen such an obnoxious crowd of Japanese men before. It's hardly a gaijin hangout and there were hardly any women there and these men were just so rude and I was constantly getting shoulder barged even though I was standing against a wall and some cheeky git decided it would be prefectly OK to grab a handful of arse.

Knob.

Definitely found a few places though that I will start going to more regularly. I had a blinding time dancing and being out with loads of different people who don't normally go up there so much. And it was a great chance to catch up with people after the Christmas and NY break.

xx

Tasty Thai Dishes!!

Crab in a really spicy green curry sauce. Absolutely delicious! I got to pick the crab myself but I had to turn the plate around so I didn't have to look at the poor thing's eyes!!!



Steamed fish with lime and chilli and in a lemony sauce. The sauce was really good and tasted even better when more chillis were added to it!



Deep fried prawns with chilli sauce. I'm just the biggest prawn fan anyway so this was just seriously yummy for me!

Phuket

So when I decided to go to Thailand, Phuket was one of the first islands that I thought I HAD to go to.

Why? Just because everyone I know who has been to Thailand or talked about Thailand has always mentioned Phuket. So I figured it was one of those places that you go to when you go to Thailand.

NOT IMPRESSED!!

I think the thing that I hated most about it was that it was just so TACKY! I was staying in Patong which is where the mad nightlife is and it was just...I don't even know. I mean, everyone knows that people go to Thailand for the girls but I got so bored of seeing all these young Thai girls holding hands with this fat, ugly, old men while swinging a hotel room key in the other hand.

It was really amusing thought to watch women trying to attract men with their dancing. Some of them were good dancers and really pretty. Some you just looked at and wondered what the hell they were doing there! This is a bar where there were tables right down the middle of the street and then girls just line the sides dancing and trying to get work. It was great though watching the guys watching the girls. There were just some really old men there alone who were having the times of their lives!! Just not my kind of place!!



I was really disappointed because while I was staying in Phuket I was supposed to do a day trip to Koh Phi Phi. Where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. I was really looking forward to it and I made the reservation and everything. I got up the next day and the minibus never came to pick me up. I rang numbers and no one answered and the front desk of the hostel i was staying in was closed! I was absolutely fuming!! At least they gave me my money back but I was really disappointed at missing out.



This is Patong Beach. It was like a 10 minute walk from my hostel. I went here on the first day I was there and then never went back. I absolutely HATED it! It doesn't look that bad in this picture but it really was. You had no choice but to get a lounger. That space that you see in between the rows of loungers was the only bit of free sand and if you laid a towel there you would get stepped on every five seconds. So I paid for the lounger and then was bugged about every 3 minutes by people selling shit or people offering all these water sports choices. I gave up trying to read my book! The rest of the time I was there I chose to go to Karon Beach which was like a 10 minute taxi ride away. The difference was amazing. It wasn't as crowded and was so wide there was more than enough room to strecth out and sleep on the sand.

The whole time I was in Phuket it was overcast and grey. It was actually really cool as well and started to drizzle. Not good sunbathing weather! The mornings were pretty warm and sunny but I was never out of bed early enough. By the time I made it down to the beached it was nearly 2pm and the sun had disappeared by then and it was just cold!

I really enjoyed the seafood here as well. Really tasty. I happily stuffed my face everyday.

But I don't think I would go back to Phuket again. Actually, I KNOW I wouldn't. It's just not my kind of place. I didn't have a BAD time there but I just got annoyed with the number of tourists and I prefer quiet beaches where you can relax. That's what I was looking for.

Next time, I think I'll go to Krabi. I heard GREAT things about that island.

Going through that phase again....

....where I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing here.

I started teaching again yesterday and I just felt.......tired.

Bored of it all.

I don't think that it helps that I'm still dealing with a lot of emotional stress.

But I'm starting to feel like I need a change. Not necessarily another country, but definitely another job.

And so many things are really starting to annoy me as well. Like REALLY annoy me.

I hate the way Japanese girls don't walk properly in heels.

I hate the way Japanese girls where shoes that are waaayyy too big or too small for them - what's the point?!

I hate the way Japanese girls wear sooo much make up. After travelling to other Asian countries and seeing natural beauty, I don't understand their need to put their foundation on so thickly that it cracks when they smile.

I hate the way Japanese women think it's bad to have a tan. Throughout the year when I've got a tan, I've been constantly told how 'dark' I am. I've made a habit on commenting how white people are when they say this to me. And then stressing that in the west it's actually a GOOD thing to be brown. Rather look healthy than dead. Plus they don't realise that some people could actually be really offended by that. I think they're forgetting that I am half black already. Jackasses.

Venting.

I know.

Bangkok

These are the two images that best sum up my time in Bangkok.

Food and shopping.

Bangkok was the base for the whole of my trip. I started there and always ended up going back for one night in between going to different places.

I ended up getting really sick of Bangkok...but loved it at the same time. The bustling Khao San Road brought me so much shopping joy. And women like the one in the first picture. Constantly pestering you to buy those hats and those frog things. This was taken on my last day there and I did actually end up buying one of those annoying frog things. I thought that by telling her I would only pay 50 bhats instead of the 350 that she was asking for, she would just leave me alone. But she said OK! And now I have one of them and don't know what to do with it! But I can't bring myself to give it away as omiyage!

I never ate at restaurants in Bangkok. It was always from street stalls like the one in the second picture. I love Thai food and always ate it authentically spicy, bringing tears to my eyes. And then one guy introduced me to the fabulous mint leaf. Quickly cools down the fire in your mouth allowing you to comfortably finish the rest of your meal! GENIUS! I love him for that!

I went on this trip travelling light. I came back with 2 more bags full of omiyage and clothes. Especially dresses, bikinis and bags. Everything was so cheap I just HAD to buy it! The downside to that is that it's so damn cold now in Japan, I won't actually get to wear any of it until the summer. BOOOOOO!!!!!

I mainly stayed around the Ratanakosin area of Bangkok, which is where most of the sights are. I was so hungover on my sightseeing day though, I feel like I skimmed over things a little bit and I wasn't allowed into a couple of places because I was wearing a sundress and wouldn't pay the ridiculous amount of money for an ugly shawl they were saying I could buy to cover my shoulders.


Thailand's third gender: the ladyboy!!!

I had a quick drink with these 'ladies' here! The one at the back in the blue sitting next to me had the worst make up I've ever seen! The other one in the blue sitting opposite was just oozing sex, the one at the front in the green had really scary feathery false eyelashes and the one in the orange...well, not much to say about 'her' really! I just wanted to redo the blue one's make up. Seriously - the lipstick was smudged all around his mouth and I don't know what he applied his eyeshadow with! They were a good giggle though and were lavishing in all the attention that tourists were giving them!

Ohhhh, and I got really excited because I went to Boots! And it was so cheap!

So that was Bangkok - just a stopover place at various points in my trip.

More tomorrow!

Night.

xx

あけましておめでとうございます！

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I got back to Japan last night.

It's so damn cold here! I didn't even have a jacket so the trip back to my house was very painful.

Once again, the post holiday blues have struck.

HARD.

I don't want to be back here. I just want to travel.

Cambodia was absolutely incredible. Easily the highlight of my trip. So many things had to be changed because of flights being full and stuff. So I didn't make it to Laos, which was really disappointing! Byt he time I was able to get a flight, it meant that I would only have 2 days there, so I decided it wasn't worth it and went back to Thailand instead.

So much to tell and so many photos!!!

I'll do it bit by bit! Right now I have to do some washing and lesson prep for this afternoon's classes.

HOW badly can't I be arsed!!!!