ROCKING THE N-dot etc..
Cho-tomodachi ga sabishiiiiiiii!! Ichi-ban daisuki desu...
Debs, Justine and me.
Being girly girly in the city. This was one of many great nights out in Niigata. Man!- I just love you guys so, so much. xx. I think this was the time we decided to get sophisticated and do the little black dress thing.
I think that year in Japan was the best of my life so far because of all the cool people and we became so close so quickly because we were thrown into that situation.
We got together led by the amazing J-loh to do a musical (Peter Pan). It was a muscial in English with alittle Japanese narration
Sumo
Photographic evidence of the Sumo competition in Japan. Yes, I am the woman's champion umi-sumo wrestler, and Yes, I did have to wear a nappy!!! (under a bikini)
Unfortunately I left the trophey in Japan because it was very ugly and tacky as... and it didn't fit in my bag. I never got round to using my free spa hotel nights either- oh well. The competition was aired on TV and everything which was very exciting but considering I am much bigger than most Japanese women I did have an unfair advantage when it came to pushing the opponents into the water. But so much fun!!
Thailand and the 26/12 Tsunami : (
The photo is of the restaurant we ate in on Christmas day.
This is the story I wrote for a newspaper when I got back to Japan after the tsunami.Even though it was such a terrible disaster. Afterwards I feel we experienced the best in human kindness. All barriers were broken down and people were doing everything possible to help other and sharing everything they had even if they had been left with almost nothing.Koh Lanta- December 2004
Christmas day was perfect- Kate, Justine, Rowan and I spent the day pedding round the island stopping at the best looking, deserted beaches. On the way home we stopped for spring rolls and fried bananas from a street vendor before going out for Christmas night. We had barbequed fish on the beach followed by a stroll on the sand stopping at several of the fairy-lit beachside bars along the way to greet friends. We chose to come to Koh Lanta (Krabi) because it seemed less spoilt by high rise hotels than most tourist resorts but was laid back and had amazing diving. We had all agreed it was the best holiday ever- almost too good to be true. Next we planned to go to Phi Phi for New Year. 
We met up with our new Norwegian friends and headed to the second to last night of the 5 day Reggae festival on the beach (the last night never happened). The atmosphere was fantastic, friendly and relaxed and some of the best Thai Reggae bands were playing. Many people stayed all night to party under the stars and palm trees but Rowan and I had diving plans for the morning so we retired early and sober. Rowan left before me in the morning for a big dive trip. Justine had stayed out all night and Kate was still sleeping when I left to go diving. This was weirdly the only day we all had separate plans. At about 10.30 my dive instructor Aoife and I were preparing our gear. The dive centre was at a busy resort- it was peak season and the beach huts and bungalows were full. I had never been to this part of the island before and was surprised at how high the sea level was- evidently so were other people. Usually there is no surf, but big waves were crashing against the resort wall- so all the tourists were gazing out to sea in curiosity. "Does the tide normally come up this high?" I asked Aoife. "No, it’s weird" she said "but there’s no way it’ll come up here". So we carried on fiddling with our equipment. The sky had become hazy and had that strange pre-storm light that makes everything feel a little surreal. Maybe this was just a coincidence. The waves started creeping over the wall. Only then did people think to run, picking up their towels and sun lotion to move further from the water. Parents began search for their kids in panic. We started walking back from the shore towards the dive shop at least 50 metres away. The "tide rising" was gradually gaining on us, we walked faster. A frantic woman ran up to us "We’ve lost one of our children, help help!" "Don’t worry we’ll just put our gear down, then we’ll help." Aoife reassured her.
I’m not sure exactly when I finally realized what was happening, as I walked away I felt bizarrely (and stupidly) calm. I was pondering the possibilities, first- a freakish high tide? sea level-rising due to global warming? A meteorite landing in the sea? Tidal wave? Tsunami? Nah- I had convinced myself- tsunami don’t happen in Thailand and I would have expected to see a huge wall of water approaching from the ocean or even the tide suddenly being sucked out very far before the wave hit. I saw neither. When we put down our dive gear in the shop, our feet were still dry. I picked up our bags just as the water gushed in and I struggled to remain standing as the water was suddenly up to my waist. We went back outside to go help. I all I could hear was screaming. There was no time to do anything, in a split second the restaurant and huts were being swallowed by a huge, brown wave. "Aha! earthquake + ocean = tsunami" a little too slow, if only we had figured that one out sooner. The bags were torn from my hand and will probably wash up one day on the Maldives. There was no way to swim against the force of the water. I heard Aoife shout but we lost each other. I was carried down a covered alleyway with a construction net at the end of it, and kicked myself for being swept that way. I got caught in the net, the water was over my head and there was no way up because of the roof. Tables, chairs, pieces of trees and other resort paraphernalia were hitting me in the back and head. I was mad at myself for not getting out of there sooner. Time seemed to have slowed down and it felt like ages that I was trapped there in warm, brown, rushing water. I couldn’t breathe but couldn’t believe that this would be the end. I took a long shot and tried ripping the net. It worked! I swam through and took a huge breath, before being caught in another net. I ripped this one too and swam until the wave let me put my feet down.
As I ran away I felt the rush of a high at having escaped. I thought the sea was still rising but I didn’t stop to look. Herds of terrified people were running away from the ocean, eventually we hit the road. Mopeds and tuc tucs were buzzing across in both directions filling the air with dust. The jungle began on the other side of the road and the ground rose very steeply. People were scrambling up to reach higher ground. I knew I should go too but I wanted to go and look for my friends. I thought it would be a miracle if they had all survived. I managed to cross the crazy road and joined a family in scaling up the mountain on the other side. I picked up a small child and climbed, all able bodied adults seemed to be carrying either small children or small dogs. It felt like a scene from a bad disaster movie. The adrenalin was still pumping so we were able to ignore the fact that we were barefoot and dressed for the beach rather than for jungle trekking/mountain climbing. It was difficult work as the hillside was cliffy and steep we had to grab onto any tree trucks or vines in order to climb and because it was dry season the earth and rocks were loose. I kept thinking how ridiculous it would be to survive the wave and then fall down the cliff. We all felt as if the water was still right on our heels so it was a while before we calmed down enough to stop. We didn’t know how long we would have to stay there without water so I took off my wetsuit choosing to risk insect bites and thorns over dehydration. The wetsuit had probably cushioned a lot of the blows from the debris, I was lucky to have escaped with only bruises and scratches and it was still a long time before I could feel them. I found myself with a Thai family, they didn’t really speak English- the mother was crying and they seemed to have no idea what was happening. I climbed a tree with some of the older kids and we looked at the sea. I almost expected to see it still rising and engulfing the island but it was hard to see anything at all. I kept wondering what had happened to the others. Had Kate still been asleep? I was sure our hut would have been flooded- was she able to escape in time? Justine also would have been sleeping even closer to the sea. And Rowan was out at sea on a dive boat, or actually in the water- I didn’t know. I was desperate to go and find out if they were ok, but where? I doubted they would have hung around at the hut afterwards. I was unsure when it would be safe to go down but staying up there and not knowing anything was driving me crazy. So I climbed further through the jungle to find English speakers and information. I found a couple who spoke English. They knew no more than I did but I didn’t feel like being on my own so I sat with them and talked. A while later a Swedish boy came running up the hill. " Just got a call from Sweden" he said "another 20m wave is coming in 40 minutes Koh Phi Phi has completely disappeared- climb higher!" You can see Phi Phi from Lanta. So there was a second wave of panic on the mountain We climbed higher. Wild rumours were flying around the jungle and no-one really knew what was going on. At about 4pm we found a Swedish family with a cell phone. They had information from Sweden that there had been an earthquake in Sri Lanka (still not 100% true) that had caused a Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and there could be another one. I decided it was time to risk climbing down- I was desperate to find the others and was not keen on spending the night in the jungle with no food, clothes or water. I walked into town with my new friends Hilda and Sam。It was like a ghost town, plates of food had been left and shops and stalls had been abandoned and the street nearest the port was all washed out. I don’t know what I had been hoping for ...maybe some information or a place where people could find their lost friends, I guess my expectations were a little high. We walked for about an hour along the deserted road to Hilda and Sam’s hut. Their resort had been washed away and was still flooded. There were 3 Thai guys playing cards and drinking beers in a sinking restaurant with no roof or furniture. Hilda and Sam’s hut was still standing but all the others in front of theirs were gone. "Is it safe?" We asked the restaurant guys. "No, get your stuff but be quick." "Is there another wave coming?" Hilda asked. They nodded, all still wearing the famous, gleaming Thai smile. I marveled at their attitude, they’d lost everything, but seemed to have accepted that fate already- I guess there was nothing else to do at that point. I waited outside keeping an eye on the ocean while the others salvaged what they could of their belongings.
Hilda gave me some clothes and we managed to find a tuc tuc to take us to my hut. I was dreading it expecting it to be gone or worse to find one of my friends dead or injured inside. But it was on the other side of the island which had not been so badly affected and our hut was slightly uphill so our things were fine, but no sign of my friends. The owner of the resort ushered me out "you not stay here lady, not safe for you" I left a note for the others and grabbed some clothes and my camera. Just as I was about to go back into the hills I saw Justine, Kate and the Norwegians! We were so happy to find each other. We exchanged stories and hugged each other lots. It turned out they had fled to a hillside resort which had been untouched by the wave and had food, drink and the BBC news channel. We left a note for Rowan and went back there, relieved that we would have food and water for the night. There was nothing we could do except watch the news, dumbstruck for a while. It was comforting to know what was going on for the first time but I was stunned to find out what a huge scale it was on. We soon realized how lucky we had been and how Koh Lanta’s geography had saved it from the total destruction other places had experienced. In the jungle I had felt clueless, now just helpless. As it got later and later we began to get very worried about Rowan We heard rumours from other tourists of dive boats having gone missing, and horror stories about what had happened to some divers.. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and "Hey, dudes! Whassup?" – Rowan! Poor Ro was then jumped on by 3 screaming girls. He had been out on the boat in open water, the sea had seemed totally calm and they had seen and felt nothing, although the boat monitors had picked up something strange. None of them had any idea what had happened, but they were warned not to come back to shore.
I still find it hard to believe that the tsunami happened. It was the most shocking day of my life but there were also moments of euphoria- after escaping and when I found my friends. We all felt incredibly lucky realizing that many of the small decisions we made had probably saved our lives and we hadn’t even lost that many of our belongings, or our passports or plane tickets. Many people we spoke to would have been out on the beach had it not been for their Boxing day hangovers. We had other friends in Thailand at the time, we knew they were planning to come to Koh Phi Phi. Fortunately it was the day of the big full moon party in Koh Phangan so most of them were safe on the east coast of Thailand. 
Kate, Rowan, Justine and I agreed that we should stay on Koh Lanta for the rest of our vacation. So, we walked around feeling shell shocked and exchanging stories with people we met. Most of the places we had been before were unrecognizable. Most of the tourists had left so the island felt empty. For a few days afterwards, several times a day someone would drive by on a moped and warn us that another wave was coming in 10 minutes, so we rushed up to higher ground. Often they were misinformed but we had no choice but to believe any rumours as we had no other information. Everyone was working really hard to clean and rebuild the island and keep any business they could going. It would normally have been the busiest week of the year for them. Not only had many people lost family, friends, homes and businesses but the tourists leaving meant that they lost that year’s income. The Thai people were amazing they treated us so kindly and were so positive despite the catastrophe. Although we saw some terrible things and the beach was empty except for the debris during the day and pitch dark at night, I felt like I could have stayed there forever. For some reason I became extremely emotionally attached to the place. The people who worked in the hotels, shops and restaurants and other tourists who had decided to stay felt as close as old friends. I cant explain why but when it was time to leave I felt almost heartbroken even though the place we were leaving was far from being paradise. When we came back to the clean and organized normality of Japan it felt like we had left reality behind rather than the other way round.
LOVE Japan HEART
Nihon Ga Daisukii!!!!!!!!!!
I thought the cube-shaped watermelon was just a joke from the Simpsons. But, No! they are for real and they do cost about $100- crazy!
Spent most of the year on Sado-ga-shima and Island off the Niigata coast (Northern Honshu). It was isolated but very beautiful and a perfect contrast to Tokyo. Some parts of the island made you feel like you had stepped into a time machine.
It could get a little lonely at times in the winter but night snowboarding, hot ramen and onsen kept us sane.
The low time for me was November but I think more because my Grandfather died. Coming back from Thailand after the tsu was also really hard- bit of a shock.
I went to the mainland nearly every weekend but i began to appreciate the island more and more. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world... except for the concrete and garbage on the beaches.
Keito and watashi near Acadomori
Johnny and Chibo Wales Johnny and Chibo are amazing people who helped me so much. They were like my parents in Japan but also great friends. Going to their house felt like going home and i always lose track of time while we talked and drank late into the night. We often went skating around the island and then they did a mean bbq too. Johnny helped so much with my art as well. They have done so many amazing things like working with Kodo and touring the world with them, canoeing around Canada through the ice.. they are both awesome.
PROS of JAPAN-
People are kind, polite and friendly, you can snowboard there, you stand out there so you get attention e.g. strangers want to be your friend, there is far less crime there, there are lots of cool festivals and traditions, the Language Looks and sounds cool, wicked fashions and everything is my size! even trouser legs! , delicious food, beautiful landscapes, cartoons are works of art, the old buildings are beautiful, Temples are mysterious, transport etc runs efficiently, the towns are very clean, onsen- public hot baths from volcanic springs, the seasons change obviously from a hot hot summer to a cold snowy winter, the people are Beautiful, and in many ways more open-minded....
CONS of JAPAN
People are more conservative in their outlook and surpress emotions, so they are easy to get to know on a superficial level but it's hard to get to know the real person, the New buildings are ugly, you stand out so you get attention e.g. wierdos follow you at the beach and everybody knows your every move, the Language is bloody difficult, concrete is everywhere (river beds, beaches, mountain sides, villages... everywhere), beaches are very dirty, women get a raw deal there, people drive everywhere (in rural areas), people work much you feel they have forgotten how to kick back and ENJOY life..... oh and earthquakes and Typhoons r cons too..
There are so many contradictions and dichotomies and it's hard to explain but that's what makes it so exciting!!
Kyoto no ame
dancing in the rain outside a cafe in kyoto. it rained so much so had to have a bit of a dance as was invigorating and was slightly eccentric behaviour but everyone in the cafe laughed and clapped when i went back inside .. Maybe they thought i was a lunatic, maybe not but was so much fun. i loved kyoto.
Debs, Justine and me. Being girly girly in the city. This was one of many great nights out in Niigata. Man!- I just love you guys so, so much. xx. I think this was the time we decided to get sophisticated and do the little black dress thing.
We got together led by the amazing J-loh to do a musical (Peter Pan). It was a muscial in English with alittle Japanese narration
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