R-sanichi

Here, here. Even with keeping high standards.

Hey thanks R31Nismoid! That Iku Izakaya place looks about right, the menu looks good (though the prices are 2 to 3 times the average price in Japan - but if its tasty, I'll be happy to pay.)

My wife and I are trying to find Japanese resturants in Melbourne that serve Japanese Japanese food, not Australian Japanese food! From the eastern suburbs to the city, all we can find so far are places who claim they are Sushi resturants, when what they call sushi varies of three different types of fish and some hand rolls i've never even seen in Japan. W.T.F?????????? This is serious and any help will be appreciated. (I'm not just complaining). I miss my local 105yen Kaiten Sushi place in f*kuyama. (two of the staff were Skyline owners, and they'd always make me special dishes when I walked through the door, which was about twice a week. I think there was a level of respect and appreciation becauase we had "Skyline minds".)

OOOH, i really liked those Vodafone ads with Kumi-Chan......

"i cant believe its not butter" I dont think she is for real. she couldnt be,..... or could she? how the hell did u find it? lol, lol.

I vote one for Koda Kumi. Apart from the obvious kawaiiness and sekushiness, after studying the 3 dvds that me and my wife often watch, shes a talented singer. My second vote is rock band 8-Ball from Okinawa. I recently bought their 'Sound of Drift' albumn. You'll know their D1 theme music. They really do rock like an 80's rock band, and they look the biz too! They performed at Tokyo Auto Salon this year. Number three is Hirai Ken. His cheesy tune 'I wanna be a popstar' caught my attention last year. It became me and my wife's theme song. (not that we wanna be pop-stars). I'm wondering if this thread will be of interest to ppl.?? Please, list your top 3.

Hey sleeper ET.!! We had some good times in Japan together, did'nt we? Hitchhiking from the train station to Super F3 at Okayama circuit (among other things) stays in my mind. Getting back to the thing about Japanese people thinking highly of Aus..... In the weeks before leaving Japan with my Japanese wife, her friends were saysing she was so lucky to be getting out of Japan, and Australia is so beautiful. There was also a bit of jealosy. And they would say to her, you're so lucky that you can have cute 'half' children. At first I laughed, but they were serious. And it made me angry cos these ladies had kids already. It was a novelty concept for them. Japanese people would even question my wife about her surname, 'Are you Japanese?, But you dont have a Japanese surname, why did you choose a Gaijin to marry.' Being home in Aus, I've been stripped of my Super Gaijin powers and i miss getting looks from the j-birds. My wife thought it was funny,"you're just a normal person, why do they look at you?"

Its just personal. I need something more challenging, in a different way. It was a fantastic experience, especially the second company I worked for, which was just teaching kids.

well, your basic one only costs around Y7000 (a Whale Land), but if you want gears, the price goes up cos they dont use a de-railing system. Its done inside the hub/axle of the bike. Its good, cos u can change gears without peddling at all. So anyway, what do the city do with all the unclaimed bikes??? The ones that get stacked up in yards after they've had the red tag attaced to the handle bars. I guess they are crushed for metal like the metal plant near my in-laws place crushes imprezas, crowns, skylines, etc. after they pass the use-by date.

"I really REALLY don't want to teach English ever again..." I'm with you on that one. Although its was a fun time.

Yeah, thats why i really awnted to get back to Aus. I guess, i just need to re-adjust to the culture differences/way of life. Anyone know of any Sentos in Victoria?????? I love the Sento.

This one had gears, hub-powered lamp and front basket and rear rack. A rolls Royce. I rekon new, about 20,000yen. And, the things was that I didnt steal it myself - it was actually lent to me. The most suprising thing for the Police was, that I had two keys for the "hoop" style rear wheel lock, and the thing came from a town that was a 30minute train ride away!

Its almost 3 weeks since my wife and I got to Melbourne. We are missing Japan a lot. I'm sure any other person who has lived in Japan will share my feelings. If there are any people who want to meet up in Melbourne, PM me.

AAHHH , Rezz, the money falling out and polite, concerned citizens take their time to give back the 10s of yen. Dont you just love that about our 2nd home? Me and my mate Tom took a trip from our home town in west Japan to visit a mate in Tokyo. we made it to his local station (Kikijyoji 45 mins from Shinjuku) and as we waited during peak time, Tom thought it funny (and me too) to do the robot dance and call out "(in a robot voice) I am a robot", repeatedly. Among the busy businessmen/women and students, NONE of them battered and eye-lid! they avoided eye-contact and passed him off as crazy gaikokujin-san. we tried it later at Shinjuku and we crakced a few smiles on the locals faces. And there was that time that ......... I'd just arrived in Japan, ready to work for the all mighty NOVA "We love the leader", and hadnt bought a bike yet. One of my co-workers lent me one of his. I know he didnt leagally aquire this bike, so i was always checking behind in case of police. One night i finished work, went out and un-locked the "borrowed" mamma cha, and there were undercover police officers waiting for me! I had nowhere to run. so i walked to the police station with them, i called my buddy on my kei tai and asked for help cos he could speak japanese. It turns out that they detained him with me for over two hours. They wanted to know who my friend was that leant me the bike. lots of questions, and they called in an off duty officer from another town who could speak english. He was prtty anrgy! So, we used another NOVA teacher as the scape goat cos he'd just left the country. The Police even called my manager and she was a real bitch, so i knew i was in shit. but after leaving the police box, she said (in japanese) boys will be boys, and smiled at me. I was very lucky - I could have had my visa cancelled and been sent back to Aus.

Nice one. I like the contrast in that one.

Whats the name of the company you're working for?

BNR32's were used in the WRC (I think) in Corsica and maybe the Mote Carlo. I think Scudueria Racing Team ran them, and I'm not sure why they didnt compete in a full season. I'll have to check my Reinhard Klien Rally books when I get home, and I'll know for sure. Maybe Joel can correct me here.?

Autum is kicking in over here in Japan. So out come the suede thigh-high boots. But the hot pants are staying, im glad of that! Im leaving Japan tomorrow to start a new life in Melbourne, so I'm looking forward to meeting you guys on a cruise sometime.

From the shape of it, it looks like Honda may be gearing up for a go at the WRC. Suzuki are doing it. But, I'm not sure they'd operate an F1 team and WRC team at the same time. Has anyone heard anything? Having said that, I cant see Honda finishing their F1 program, but then, no-one expected Toyota to quit the WRC and go to F1...........

.... and, dare I say it, I think that the Verossa looks better (in a slightly modded spec, especially in drift form).

After seeing the never ending news reports, the city of Miyazaki got it reeal bad. 3 people dead. It took on the form of a Hurricane and overturned a train , among other mass destruction.

Yeah, apart from reading Option 2, there wasnt much else to do.... With no air-con, I think it was about 40deg in our room Luckily, Mazda renta ka took our car back only hours before the destruction.

Its said that its the worst in 5 years. The Okinawan Islands and Kyushu were hit worst. The beast is still in motion in the East China sea and threatens to turn right and scrape across Hokkaido. I was on Honeymoon on Ishigaki Island which is between Okinawa and Taiwan. It was hit pretty bad. We were told not to leave the hotel for 24 hrs. The Hotel reception windows were taken out, cars were blown across the car park and one was sent rolling. The 10 storey hotel was even swaying in the wind! now that was what worried me. and that when I put my hands on our window, i could feel it flexing inwards. No power or mobile phone coverage. Pics.... The wind decided to angle park these cars. The blue van barrel rolled from the apartment car park and into the cars of the hotel car park, The Toyota on the right with pin dents down the side was blown sideways into the Vitz (Echo) that was cleanly de-badged! Most street signs were bent over!

I came here (f*kuyama, half way between Okayama and Hiroshima) in June 2005 to work with Nova. But my morals took over and I quit (after they told me to choose between my fiance (a student) and my job). Then I started work with a company only teaching kids - soooo much fun! Theres not much of a car scene here in f*kuyama so I've travelled Japan to see Super GT rounds, R31House, Tokyo Auto Salon, Rally Japan, Nismo Fest, and more. Sadly, im leaving for Melbourne tomorrow (back home). But this will always be a second home because of my marriage to a Japanese woman.

If you cant get in on Friday, I recomend on strolling through the car park!