Neil Duckett

Sarushima or Monkey Island as it translates into English was location of Saturdays festivities. On the back of a big night out with work Friday night it was an early start having to meet the others from the local Sushi bar at Shinagawa station at 9.30am.

Unfortunately there are no actual Monkeys on the Island, no any of the real kind, however some members from my group put their best foot forward to make up for it.

Like any party in Japan, the plan is pretty simple …. lots of food and lots of drink then off to the 2nd and 3rd parties later in the night.

All the grog and food was bought in Yokosuka with the BBQ, utensils and tables and chairs etc … hired from the Island. It’s a captive market and they don’t miss you with the prices either.

Saturday was a pretty over cast day but the rain stayed away for the most part.

I think the numbers visiting the Island were down for the day with really only 2 large groups there for the duration, ours and 1 other. I’m sure on a hot summers day it’s teaming with people.

After a short 10 minute boat ride for 1200 yen per head you arrive at Sarushima Island.

A pretty easy trip by anyones standards and not exactly rough water so the chance of getting seasick is minimal …. well, on the way over anyway.

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I'm back from a great 10 days over in Ireland. It was the first time in a long time i've travelled without the want or need to take a laptop and i have to say, i loved it.

Ireland as a place was pretty much as i expected it and no great surprises, more of a surprise for me was finding out exactly how much i miss the more "outdoorsy life" you don't get so much in Japan.

The days and nights were full of socialising with Friends and i managed to see more of Ireland than i'd first planned due to a trip to Dublin by train and then a return to Adare around the coast by car.

I took a few photos while abroad but also missed out on a few occasions due forgetting my camera or being a little too inhebriated to use it. I've narrowed them down to a selection of shots and will put them all up at once. There may be some more coming when a few Friends arrive back in Australia.

Unfortunately there's very few high rise hotels in Adare, so it was B&B Accomodation. I was out the back in the converted stable. 

The Main Street of Adare. Saturday was extremely busy due to a Bank Holiday on the Monday and lots of people heading off for a long weekend.

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That's right, just as the weather is on the improve in Japan (with the exception of today) i'm going to leave these fine shores for about 10 days and see what Ireland has to offer … it will be cold i know that much. 

Early Friday morning i'll be well on the way to Paris, for a short stop over, then to my final destination of Adare, which is a popular village in County Limerick - Ireland.

Research tells me there's about 2700 people in Adare, 3 Hotels, 6 Public Houses ( I hope that means pubs) and 8 Restaurants. It could be a long week on the turps if nothing else.

It's definitely not a place i would ever have thought to visit had it not been for a great mates wedding and with about 20 others heading over from Australia for the week i'm sure we'll have a ball.

I arrive Friday night and there's nothing official planned until Tuesday. I'm tossing up a short train trip over to Dublin to meet some Friends for a Sunday session then head back to Adare with them Monday ….. keeping my options open, i will decide Saturday afternoon.  

Tuesday we have the Bucks and Hens parties. Wednesday is the wedding dinner and Thursday is the wedding itself.

Friday will be spent having a traditional Irish Wedding "Afters" party … then Saturday night i will slink back to Shannon Airport and on to a place for the long ride home … no doubt a little worse for ware.

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Last weekend i went down to Nagoya with some Friends. The plan for the weekend was pretty basic, down Saturday morning and back Sunday afternoon via the Shinkansen, with plenty of food and drink in the middle.

Saturday was just that, we got in at lunchtime so it was straight down to a local restaurant for a few of Nagoya’s recommended dishes, i had the Miso Tonkatsu set … i think that’s what it was called.

Saturday night there was plenty of eating and drinking at a Friends place followed by a trip up to Karaoke around 10pm for the second party ….. bound to be a little more rowdy, so best done away from those trying to get some sleep.

Sunday after a slow start we were able to fit in a little sight seeing and Tokugawaen was the place suggested. It was a cracker of a day getting into the mid 20’s and there were no shortage of people out soaking up the great weather.

Unfortunately i forgot my camera so i had to make do with my phone which actually took some pretty good shots all things considered. Needless to say upon arrival back in Tokyo Sunday night it was off for a Sasebo Burger around the corner from home at Zatts, followed by a pretty quiet night on the couch … Monday still came round too quick.

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This weekend i headed up to Gala Yuzawa, about 1.5hrs North West of Tokyo on the Shinkansen. I must say, it certainly is the easiest way to get to the snow and the same as last week, pretty cheap too. This weeks trip was an up and back affair for 8700 yen, which includes the day on the mountain.

Gala Yuzawa is in Niigata Prefecture, check it out on this Map Of Japan, and the station is only operational during ski season where the lifts operate directly from it’s own station, how easy is that?! The station is actually on a side track which diverges from the main Joetsu Shinkansen track just after Echigo Yuzawa Station, being only 3 minutes further on. The main Joetsu Shinkansen line runs between Tokyo and Niigata City on the Sea of Japan, Northwestern coast of Japan.

Although you can go to Gala Yuzawa as a destination, there is very little parking, as it is really regarded as a day trippers mountain. The number of people at Gala Yuzawa is limited to some extent by how many people the Shinkansen can carry there. Even so, it does get crowded, but not as much as you might expect.

The Joetsu Shinkansen, you can just tell it goes fast by the look of it.

It was another great day and we were treated with perfect conditions - being blue skies, great snow and 12 degrees C.

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