It`s a bloody good job i`m leaving for Thailand tomorrow. For some reason Japan seems to have adopted George Michael`s "Last Christmas" as it`s anthem this season. It`s like it`s on this constant national loop in every shop, restaurant, and street you walk into. If George only knew the impact he had on Japan, he could probably make millions out of them. I was mildly amused the first time i heard it like, maybe two weeks ago, hell, i`ll even admit it made me feel somewhat nostalgic for Christmas back home, but after about the 200th time, i`m beginning to lose my capacity to cope. And today they REALLY tested my limits. I was made to sing the bloody song in class. Me. With my not so harmonious singing voice. Sing "Last Christmas". The Karaoke culture seeps into everything, with me on the receiving end. Shudder....

Anyway, i can wash my hands of it as of tomorrow. Plus the coooooooold coooooold coooooold, and the stinking kerosene heaters that fill every building with their toxic fumes. Japan is a most fascinating country this time of year. I never thought the day would ever happen, but i`ve discovered long johns. And i`m seriously converted. The problem you see, is that you can never get warm (unless you fancy gassing yourself in a small room with a Kerosene heater - think of the exhaust fumes and locking oneself in car scenario), so you`re permanently shivering and your immune system is always down. It`s no colder than England (in my area of Japan, anyway), but at least in England as soon as you walk in doors again you`re got beautiful wonderful radiators.

Emily`s keeping me warm with laughter though. The girl is a diamond. I`m beginning to look at America through different eyes, well, the South anyway. She`s from North Carolina originally, and loves it passionately. Even though she is a complicated mix of Japanese American. Emily has fallen for a Japanese dude who owns a Rockabilly bar in the next town along from us. Ken. He`s a very unusual J-Dude, covered in tattoos, but not a Yakuza, and adores America and all things American. Particularly Emily. He doesn`t speak much English, and his Japanese is also a little inaudiable (throat cancer means we can`t really understand a word he says, but when has that ever mattered?), but he devours food with his fingers so contradictory to most nihon-jins and definitely thinks outside of the box. Plus he cooks a mean curry - makes it for us every time we go and visit. So of course, i`m always looking for an excuse to visit. Emily just sits me in a corner with my curry whilst she dances around the bar to Ken`s spinning of 50`s tunes. The pair of us are happy as larry on these occasions.

They`re an interesting lot in Kokura - they`ve all got a glint in their eye like they`re up to something. Emily and I visited this tiny bar on Sunday, in which the guy loves reggae and old skool hip hop, and has Tom and Jerry on the projector on a constant loop. And all these hipsters pop in and out without actually buying a drink, but come behind the bar to see said bar man and do some trading of some sorts. Bingo eh! I think it`s pretty clear why this dude likes his reggae.

I`m aiming to go to a trance festival in Thailand for New Year. Now we all know trance isn`t exactly my thing (after all, this would be Chasing Sticks and TRANCE if that were so, i reckon), but, it`s a festival held reet at the bottom of Thailand in a place called Krabi. I have a slight feeling of dread it may be a repeat of the BOOM festival in Portugal, in which they only every switched the trance off for 3 hours a day. And if we get there, and i sniff it out to be so, i`m legging it. But, I like to keep and open mind about these things. I`ll also be doing my damned hardest to keep away from the Brits Abroad. Caitlin came up with the plan that she would speak Spanish first, English second, and that I speak only Spanish and Japanese, and thus she has to translate everything for me. That should keep `em well away!!! They`ll be like "Dude, too much effort duuude".

Anyway, enough blah for now. Think you`ve all been subjected to quite enough for this session.