No Motor Show

Well the visit to the Tokyo Motor Show did not eventuate. Oh well.

I have managed to surprise myself that I can now jog for 30 minutes (on the treadmill) without struggling. I guess that means I'm getting fitter. I've been trying to make it to the gym about 5 times a week and mostly achieving that. Usually 30 minutes on the bike (level 12) and then either weights or some time on the treadmill. The reason for thinking about jogging was a chat with someone who is working their way towards a marathon and mentioned that they job about 30 minutes each day. Out of interest I though I would have a go and see if I could last that long. And it worked!

Any way, Sonia has safely arrived in Bangkok for another week. I am heading back to HK on Thursday night for a few days, returning to Tokyo on Tuesday.

Six Japanese lessons so far - now I can count, ask for things, give basic directions to taxi drivers, and ask how much something costs. Of course when they give the price they speak to fast it's very hard to understand, but never mind. I can also start to pick up the odd word here and there in discussions at work, so that's helpful.

Oh well, need to go and write a couple of job descriptions tonight.

Comments

I guess the few comments mean that someone is reading this...

Might get to the Tokyo Motor Show tomorrow if I am lucky. Someone from work is thinking about going, so here's hoping.

As requested

Jonathan asked for a picture of the new car, so here it is...


I wish!

Paintball

Friday and Saturday were out of the office for me (Andrew) on a team-building and strategy workshop. For anyone who has been on one of these workshops before, you'll recognise that this is actually a thinly-disguised execuse to have some fun outside of the office. In our case this took the form of paintball on Friday afternoon and a visit to a kids amusement park on Saturday morning.

I sit writing this with a series of bruises ranging in size from a 5c piece (do they still have those in NZ these days?) up to a largish bruise about 5cm in diameter. And because it was outdoors in a valley (the walls of which provide a tactical advantage to anyone who climbs them), I am also suffering from very sore thighs. Although I have been at the gym on a regular basis (lost 5kg since coming to Japan), it appears that the climbing has identified a number of muscles that have not been addressed by the exercise bike or treadmill. Oh well, maybe try some different stuff in the gym this week.

Sonia arrived back in HK on Saturday afternoon after a couple of weeks back in Bangkok. I'm planning to be back with her around the end of the month for a few days - time to get the Japan work visa sorted out.

Third Japanese lesson last Wednesday - learning numbers and telling the time. The numbering system is a little challenging - although it's decimal, the major unit for large numbers is actually 10,000. So if you want to say 1,000,000, you end up saying something like 100 10,000's. Speaking to one of the translators on staff, they also find it a challenge to translate large numbers in a hurry during discussions. Glad I'm not alone. Turns out the gym is a great place to work on revision for the next lesson - no interruptions or distractions...

Oh - another thing about the numbers. There is more than one work for each number. There are two main systems - one for abstract numbers (e.g. telephone numbers) and another for counting things. Then there are variations depending on what you're counting - thin flat things, people, etc. And even within the abstract system, there are two words for 4 - "shi", or "yon". Groan! It's true what they say - learn languages while you are young because it gets harder.

Z4

In response to Jonathan's question - I think it was the 3 litre model? Certainly took off when you put your foot down!

A couple of pictures

Sonia with the rental car at Smiths Beach.

Parrots in a tree in the middle of Perth.

Sonia sitting outside the cafe area at Durance Vineyards. Not somewhere that we would recommend going to (food-wise, that is).

The holiday is over

Well it's the end of the week. Writing from the Qantas lounge at the Perth airport. Sonia got on her flight to Singapore almost two hours ago, and I'm waiting for mine to Sydney to board. Looking at the departures screen, it looks like it's late by a few minutes "DELAYED LATE ARRIVAL OF AIRCRAFT". Since the transit in Sydney is fairly short (1.5 hours) and involves a transfer between terminals and immigration/security, I hope that it's not too late!

We sat last night and were trying to remember our way back through the places we've eaten over the past week and which were the best:
Saturday night - 44 King Stree - very good
Sunday night - Two Fat Indians - very good
Monday night - bread and bbq chicken on the beach in Dunsborough
Tuesday night - The Cape Wine Bar - very nice steak
Wednesday night - fish and chips on the beach at Yallingup
Thursday night - Bay Cottage Cafe - an entertaining evening when we turn up not realising it's a fixed 5-course menu
Friday night - bread, cheese, and chorizo in the hotel room in Perth

And that is not counting lunches. The best lunches were at Vasse Felix winery and Voyager Estate winery. In the case of Vasse Felix it was the setting - up on a second-storey balconey overlooking the vines and the river that winds it's way through the vineyard. The food was good. At Voyager Estate the settings were a little plainer - inside, with no openings out onto the vineyard itself. The food was very nice - excellent Lamb Wellington in my case, and a very nice Seafood Asiette for Sonia.

We ended up deciding that 44 King Street was one of the best - we visited at least three times (may have been more?). It is a nice casual place with a good menu and pretty good coffee.

The worst experience (which we will write more about latter) was at Laurance Wines. Not very impressive - rather the opposite.

Time to board - more later - after my 18 hour trip back to Tokyo.