Japanese troops may return to Guadalcanal

post from Japan Probe on 18 July 2008 11:12:03 PM. © Japan Probe

The Australian reports that Japan’s Self Defense Forces might be taking part in a peaceful aid mission in the Solomon Islands:As a result of the increased intimacy between Australia and Japan, both in strategic co-operation and aid co-ordination to the South Pacific, Japan has offered to send personnel to assist with the Regional Assistance Mission [...]

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Japanese bugs as natural weed killers in Britain

post from Japan Probe on 18 July 2008 10:59:21 PM. © Japan Probe

The Japan Times reports that British scientists plan to use bugs from Kyushu to stop the spread of a pesky weed introduced to Britain in the mid-19th century from Japan:Working with colleagues at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, scientists went to 140 different sites and observed 186 different species that attack the plant. Looking at the [...]

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Midnight Blogging

post from Ferroever on 18 July 2008 09:35:00 PM. © Ferroever

I'm too exhausted to sleep. 0135hrs here. Saturday July 19th 2008.
I thought this day would never come.
I remember when Jolea posted a countdown clock on her blog to show how many days were left until her family visited, and they were visiting before I was leaving Japan, and I remember thinking,
'Fuck! There's so long to go before I get to leave here for the summer'.
It really depressed me, that clock, and I was glad when it eventually sank deep below a load of other posts.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Lots of tick tocks since April 6th.
I've been lucky though cos May to July seemed to pass with otherworldly speed but that might have been because I was sleeping it all away. Up at 3am. In bed by 7pm. Working. Back home. Sleeping.
I think that this shows the survivor in me. I saved a lot of money by sleeping. Had I gone out to bars, I would have spent a shitload of dosh. But I managed to hibernate, hermitate, whatever you call it, quite successfully in the end, thereby saving lots of dosh for future adventures.
Okay, I am going to daydream about the future.
I can, and will, do anything because this year has given me the right to do, be, can the lot.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmm.
Fuck.
Wow.
Can I really do all that?
Where shall I start?
Maybe I could take the boat over to China. Catch up with a friend there. Then hop on the Trans Sib and finally get to Tashkent.
Dunno though.
Not sure I wanna head towards Europe.
I'm also over Tibet. Fuck the Chinese. You now have to travel with the same nationality as you are if you wanna travel in Tibet. Fuck that. Only official tours are available since the May troubles there. Bloody Chinese.
Oh this is sooooooooooooo cool.
Yesterday I was supervising a test for the third year junior high kids and I noticed they had this 'spin the wheel' kinda thing for allocating cleaning duties and they had decorated each 'quarter', and each quarter had FREE TIBET written on it and one had 'sh-it' written on it but I don't think they really meant to write 'shit'. It must mean something else, like, 'Save Horses In Tibet'.
I've kinda politicised the third year kids. They are sooooooooo cool.
They are more mature than the high school kids I teach. I love the 3rd years.
I've often spoke to them of considering other Asian countries within which to further pursue their English studies in the future, citing lower fees, better food, a more interesting variety of people to meet; you know, like going and studying in Kuala Lumpur for a year, or Bangkok or Hanoi [ I love Hanoi]
And then yesterday one of the jun high kids comes up to me and says,
'Maria. What do you think about me studying in Asia? I've been thinking that I'd prefer to do a year at a school in Asia instead of the usual Australian homestay deal.'
And I was like,
'Go girl!!'
So I guess my message got across and I'll start helping her look for study abroad programs at international schools over there cos she wants to do this as a high school student.
Made me so happy to hear such a young kid consider doing something outside of the Japanese box.
I love those kids so much.
There's this first year jun high kid; knee-high to a grasshopper, also on my cleaning duty roster, such a lovely boy. His parents must be very bright and talk a lot about environmental issues cos he always has stuff to say about the planet and what's wrong with it, or how we can help it.
I once joked around in class with him and asked for 10,000 yen and so he drew me some money, which I still have.
Then the other day he gave me a photo-copied train ticket. I have stuck it in my diary. It is so sweet. It's the same train ticket that he is going to use this summer when he takes a trip to Tokyo.
I think it's wonderful when kids have bright parents who engage at the dinner table. I learned so much from my aunt and uncle when I went to live with them in London after I had run away from home when I was 16.
Both working in the media, their stories were fascinating and clever and informing. I learned so much from them during the three years I lived with them.
So I am well chuffed that the kid who gave me the train ticket comes from a cool family.
His parents should be proud of him.

So yah, I can't sleep. Overly exhausted. Was a bit stressed earlier. That's over now.
Am so excited to be leaving.
I want to cry I am so excited.
In fact, I have tears in my eyes right now.
It's a wonderful feeling.
Emotion.
Positive emotion.
Loving life again.
I feel so much relief.
I guess this is how I should have felt when I first left Japan in 2006.
It's like when you realise that the orgasms you had in the past, weren't really orgasms, you know, once you get to experience what an orgasm really feels like.
It's the same with this leaving Japan deal.
I now realise that I hadn't actually understood just how fucking amazing it was to have quit work back in 2006.
So in many ways, I am glad I came back to Japan because now I now what a real freedom orgasm is.
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Fuck. I am so happy right now.
I am so happy I have tears in my eyes.
It's lovely to feel again.
To feel human again.
Really lovely.
So what shall I do in March 2009?
Oh, wow.
I don't know.
I will just daydream for now.
Hmmmmmmm.
I wouldn't mind going back to Myanmar and seeking out Yoda's English School and hanging there for a bit.
I loved Myanmar.
I loved sitting in the beer cafes where you could get a massive bottle of beer for 60 cents. There were just men in these cafes, talking, watching news/sports/stuff on tvs hung high from the ceiling, fans going, food, interesting buzz.
I went to this one beer place each day when I first arrived and one day a man came over and sat with me and told me about how he was trying to save one of the minority languages in Myanmar by writing a dictionary of the language. He was so interesting. We met twice whilst I was there.
I love travel.
All the people I get to meet.
I don't do all the sites when I travel, albeit I do a fair few, cos I love getting in with the people more than anything. My best experiences have always been with the people, not the buildings.
So many memories.
I need lots of new memories.
I have been regurgitating old memories for too long now.
I want to sail, of course.
I want to be out in the elements again.
I love life afloat.
The struggles.
The joys.
The social life of cruisers.
The swimming.
The dinghy stuff.
Fuck. I am so lucky.
I can do that.
I have a boat.
Wow.
Right.
Time to make a tomato salad with fresh toms from Mr Smile's garden cos I have heard that tomatoes contain melatonin and melatonin helps you sleep.
Will have another beer too.
Cos beer might help me sleep.
Evil roar.
I love life again and all the fun I am soon gonna have.

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Nayong Pilipino in Clark to showcase Philippines
pre-colonial, colonial past

post from Philippine Travel Blog on 18 July 2008 09:26:35 PM. © Philippine Travel Blog

The Nayong Pilipino at the former Clark Expo Zone, which had its soft-opening in May this year, will focus on the pre-colonial and colonial aspects of Philippine history, according to its executive director Charito Planas.This refers to the period before Spanish and American colonization in the 15th century, when indigenous Philippine homes and other cultural [...]

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Japan Photo of the Week: Biei Sunset

post from Japan Probe on 18 July 2008 09:22:24 PM. © Japan Probe

If you are looking to escape the heat and humidity of Japan, Hokkaido is the place to be in the summer. There are many places worth visiting and summer time is the perfect time for a lot of these places. Last week I mentioned Furano and today is a place pretty close by, [...]

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Screaming With Relief

post from Ferroever on 18 July 2008 08:47:00 PM. © Ferroever

If ever I get kidnapped and my captors decide to torture me by keeping me awake, I'd do really well. Cos I have just had 4 months of erratic, weird sleep patterns.
Imagine waking up every day around 3am.
Weird huh.
I have obviously been a bit mentally sick.
I am so glad I am leaving on a jet plane today.
I have had enough of this.
I hate being mentally fucked up.
I used to be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool.
Fun. Happy. Excited about stuff.
Uh.
April to July sucked.
From today it's gonna be GREAT.
I want to scream I am so relieved.

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First night in Murchison Falls

post from Andria in Uganda on 18 July 2008 07:59:00 PM. © Andria in Uganda

The bumpy roads and the day of travelling are worth it. We are staying inside Murchison Falls National Park, and it is incredible. After arriving, we take hot showers. (Hot showers!) We talk to other travellers from around the world; we order beers; we eat delicious food. No matoke in sight. The lodge has a campfire set up, a band playing some Ugandan music nearby, and a group of dancers showing us how it's done. It is so nice to relax. When the entertainment wraps up, a bunch of us sit around the fire, downing Nile beers (Slogan:"The True Reward of Progress") and sharing stories.

It's pretty dark, but we have a few flashlights and the campfire light to go by. The lights of our nearby lodge are fairly reassuring, except we start to hear some noises - twigs snapping in the bushes, not far from our bonfire. More branches crackle. "It's something BIG," says Eric. A warden walks by just at the right time, and Eric manages to flag him down.

When the man shines his flashlight down a small hill, into the brush, we are shocked at what we see. Elephants, a family of four, not 20 feet away from us. I think about taking a photo but am worried about what response a camera flash might instigate from these giant beauties. We are absolutely awestruck, and we don't dare make a sound. Amazing.

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Jetcetera: Tasmania, Tibet & The Tate Modern

Ocean Beach, Tasmania [Flickr/dmmaus]

·A “Bring Your Own Food” restaurant in Tasmania [PSFK]
·Man behind “illegal” hotel room renting site Woogo arrested [Curbed]
·Assouline books at the Plaza is up and running [HC]
·Hong Kong has banned Tibetan flags at Olympic event [MSNBC]
·Reminder: Williamsburg walks this weekend [NYShitty]
·The Tate Modern and Herzog and de Meuron hoping second time is a charm [Wallpaper]

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Travel insurance goes bananas but doesnt find the
cheapest quote

Has travel insurances gone bananas? Well Quotebanana.co.uk appear to think that a zany name is going to attract buyers of travel insurance with a strapline of “Don’t monkey around, pick the best of the bunch”. I hesitate to call Quotebanana a price comparison site as it predominately features insurance companies which are [...]

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