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  1. #26
    Thailand Expat

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  2. #27
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    Next day, we visited Sun Messe, Nichinan... a famous replica of Easter Island.

    Apparently, the Japanese helped restore Easter Island, so in return - were given special permission to replicate it on their Island.. if you follow my drift...






  3. #28
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    Then back to the Hotel, just as it started to rain... time for a few drinks I think...





    My missus is hungry... back soon guys...

    still have the castle, samurai, Oh and "battleship ghost Island" to come...

    will update with pics after we return from dinner... brb.

  4. #29
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    Thumbs up. Terrific thread.

  5. #30
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    Good afternoon, NZ...I knew you had it in you, lad...I won't call you a dick, even though you want me to...

    What a splendiferous thread, mate...And such a sweetheart of a wife...You're a lucky man...

    It reminds me of Korea because the sites are awe inspiring, well-kept, and sometimes ancient...

    Such serenity...You can feel the past in your bones when you visit some of these places...

    Best of luck in your endeavors...

  6. #31
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    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    Dick: Do Japanese do double-pricing at tourist spots?

  7. #32
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    Thank you Mr Dick. a very interesting vignette.

  8. #33
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    ^ And Welcome to the Buffalo Board to you, Duke...

  9. #34
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    Thank you, fellers (and welcome to the board, Duke)...

    OK... after that crappy Italian meal 'la porchetta' (avoid by the way if you come to NZ) ready for part ll... where was I?

    Oh yeah, Castle... next day in Miyazaki, we visited a local castle... I love castles!

    Hey DK, not that I know of... I'm no expert in all things Japanese by any stretch... asked the missus, nah... it's illegal in Japan.. just one price for adults and one for kids.

    Thanks BB! yeah, she's a lovely lady... a very kind person (too bad she's stuck with me innit) haha
    yes, NZ is packed with natural beauty (as is Japan) but there is no history here... Japan is ancient and beautiful, which makes it interesting, instead of just pretty...
    I'll try to explain that point, when I've finished..



    They had a little Samurai museum... I love Samurai (and castles)...





    This next bloke reminded me of Terry..



    These swords and weapons look real mean... I wonder which country had the best, most skillful and deadly swordsmen?
    Nordic warrior vs Samurai vs Roman gladiator, etc...

    Last edited by NZdick1983; 11-06-2016 at 03:51 PM.

  10. #35
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    Speaking of crap Italian meals... we got back home to Fukuoka in time to see Obama's speech at Nagasaki... and I prepared spaghetti to mark this honorable occasion...

    Whatever you guys say about Obama, you gotta admit, he knows how to deliver a fine speech....
    Nana is 88, she sees through his shit though... "Yes, we must rid the world of all nuclear weapons"...

    (except for our massive stock-pile, of course)...





    Everyone seemed to enjoy that...no one died of food poisoning.. so all good...

    next day was family dinner at the local Asahi factory... Uncle was the gracious host (he paid for the lot of us) in other words... thank fook, cause it must of cost him a small fortune...







    This was another all you can eat/drink buffet deal... I was trying to find a nice leg of roast lamb to cook for my host family, but there was lamb on the menu here, so that was lucky.
    I kept joking with the waitresses "Kirin/Sapporo moe e pai koodasai?" May I have another glass or Kirin/Sapporo, please? cheeky bugger! this is the bloody Asahi factory you wally! ehhe

    My evil brothers (Arki and Itshi) invited us lads out to a local pub after the meal... I protested, but they insisted... so off we went! boys night out... woooo!
    (I didn't really protest, kidding na ja)...

    Ahh.. just one more beer before we go... trying to contain a smile... looking like a fooking clown/retard in the process... ah well...



    Last edited by NZdick1983; 11-06-2016 at 03:28 PM.

  11. #36
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    Right, so the ladies went one way... and us lads headed to their local pub...

    No idea who this lot is here... just some strays we saw outside the Asahi pub/factory.



    Cheers boys!



    The goofy dude in the Mickey Mouse t-shirt, fell off his chair... well funny he is...
    bloody lightweight though, can't keep up...



    my 2 uncles... one is a taxi driver, the other owns his own business (manufacturing bathtubs)...



    20 beers later....




  12. #37
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    Then we walked home... Japan has a no alcohol tolerance for drinking and driving (good on them!)...

    Arki (pictured above) getting smooched 55 - had a surprise for me the next day... well, it was a surprise then...

    Battleship ghost island! oh, fuck yeah!...

    Next day, feeling refreshed with 3 hours sleep and nursing a hangover lol
    we jump into Arki's car and head off to Nagasaki... it's raining, which come to think of it, didn't matter - and probably helped the atmosphere going to battleship island.

    Battleship Island is an English translation of the Japanese nickname for Hashima Island, Gunkanjima (gunkan meaning battleship, jima being the rendaku form of shima, meaning island). The island's nickname came from its resemblance to the Japanese battleship

    It is known for its coal mines and their operation during the industrialization of Japan. Mitsubishi bought the island in 1890 and began extracting coal from undersea mines. In 1916 the company built Japan's first large concrete building (9 storeys tall),[5] a block of apartments to accommodate their burgeoning ranks of workers. Concrete was specifically used to protect against typhoon destruction.
    Beginning in the 1930s and until the end of the Second World War, Korean conscripted civilians and Chinese prisoners-of-war were forced to work under very harsh conditions and brutal treatment at the Mitsubishi facility as slave laborers under Japanese wartime mobilization policies.[1][6][7][8]
    In 1959 the 6.3-hectare (16-acre) island's population reached its peak of 5,259, with a population density of 835 people per hectare (83,500 people/km2, 216,264 people per square mile) for the whole island, or 1,391 per hectare (139,100 people/km2) for the residential district.[9]
    As petroleum replaced coal in Japan in the 1960s, coal mines began shutting down across the country, and Hashima's mines were no exception. Mitsubishi officially announced the closing of the mine in 1974, and today the buildings are empty and the island is unpopulated. Travel to Hashima was re-opened on April 22, 2009, after 35 years of closure (source Wikipedia).

  13. #38
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    All aboard! as I think to myself... why did we drink so much last night? and who is going to puke over the side of the ferry first?



    Japanese (much like the Thais) are very scared of ghosts... of course, Arki and I, being mature, responsible adults, would never play tricks or try to scare other people on the ship...


    BOO! here we see Battleship Island coming into view.. holy fook, it looks... umm what's the word for it??

    FOOKING SCARY! yeah.. that's it..


  14. #39
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    200 people died, down the mine shafts, each year... people have seen umm ahhh people in the windows of buildings and have felt cold hands on them...

    *yeah bro! that was me and Arki haha...

    But seriously, if one was to see a ghost.. that's the perfect place for it... very, very cool place... pictures can't convey the 'aura' of certain places...










  15. #40
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    Next time, I want to go to "Suicide Forest" Aokigahara... supposed to be the best place in the world, to die.

    Aokigahara (青木ヶ原?), also known as the Suicide Forest or Sea of Trees (樹海 Jukai?), is a 35-square-kilometre (14 sq mi) forest that lies at Mount Fuji's northwest base in Japan.
    The forest contains a large number of rocky icy caverns, a few of which are popular tourist destinations. Aokigahara forest is very dense, shutting out all but the natural sounds of the forest itself.[1] The forest has a historic association with "yūrei" or angry ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology, and it is a notoriously common suicide site (in which 54 took place in 2010).[2] For this reason, a sign at the head of the main trail urges suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.[3]

    Suicides

    The forest is reportedly the most popular site for suicide in Japan and among the top three most popular sites for suicide in the world. Statistics vary, but there were around 30 suicides documented every year during the period leading up to 1988.[5]
    In 2003, 105 bodies were found in the forest, exceeding the previous record of 78 in 2002.[6] In 2010, it was estimated that more than 200 people had attempted suicide in the forest, of whom 54 completed the act.[2] Suicides are said to increase during March, the end of the fiscal year in Japan.[7] As of 2011, the most common means of suicide in the forest were hanging or drug overdose.[8] In recent years, local officials have stopped publicizing the numbers in an attempt to downplay Aokigahara's association with suicide.[9]
    The high rate of suicide has led officials to place a sign at the forest's entry, written in Japanese, urging suicidal visitors to seek help and not take their own lives. Annual body searches have been conducted by police, volunteers, and attendant journalists since 1970.[10][11][12]
    The site's popularity has been attributed to Seichō Matsumoto's 1960 novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Sea of Trees).[13] However, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place has long been associated with death: ubasute may have been practiced there into the nineteenth century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the yūrei (angry spirits) of those left to die.[9]

  16. #41
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    Right.. with my morbid curiosity abated... we head home

    One final family dinner (Nana is turning 88) and my mum-in-law is turning 69, so we surprised them at dinner with a happy birthday cake..
    (no, I didn't jump out of the cake naked)... settle down...



    more Yakitori!!




  17. #42
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    Bettyboo's Avatar
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    Very nice pictures, mate.

  18. #43
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    Brilliant stuff Dick thanks for posting. Me and the wife have always wanted to visit Japan.
    Great photos well done.

  19. #44
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    Mrs. Dick, wanted to meet her friends in Yokohama for a final night before flying back to Auckland...
    It just happened to be the anniversary of the opening of the harbor...
    So after a teary farewell to her/our family (one of the first times I've ever seen my missus tear up) we boarded the plane for Yokohama and said goodbye, Fukuoka!

    Hello Yokohama! first impressions.. it has a more lively, party vibe to it - than conservative Fukuoka.. much more busy, much more tourists of course.

    Very nice Hotel, Yokohama bay view tokyu... amazing views of the harbor and the incredible fireworks display...











    The following morning... great news on TV... the boy that was abandoned by his parents, was found alive.. hey, that's the 2nd time I've seen Mrs. Dick cry, during our trip... anyway, that was the best news we could have... and a perfect ending to a perfect holiday...



    Thank you, for all the nice comments guys... Arigato!
    now I appreciate how much effort a photo thread takes! 55... took me all bloody day!

    We really find it harder and harder to leave, Fukuoka each year... it truly is my favorite place on earth.... I shit you not, the first year she had to drag me to Japan... I just wanted to go to Thailand... what's to see in Japan? just lots of skyscrapers and kinky underwear vending machines... zzzz

    How wrong I was... 10 years in Thailand... I don't wana be the guy that poo poos on Thailand just because I've married a Nippon lady... I don't wana be that guy..

    I still like Thailand... I'm more Thai than Kiwi, put it that way... but I love Japan.. and will be very proud to call Japan my new home... soon..


  20. #45
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    Great thread Dick, I now want to visit Japan

  21. #46
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    Thanks, Iceman... you should mate.. forget about the stereotypes we all hold for Japan... just go with an open mind (look forward to seeing your photo thread mate)

  22. #47
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    Great picture thread Mr Dick... really nice insight into Japanese life, thanks for sharing







    *btw... a feller is a man that cuts down trees, a fella is a proper geezer mush ...
    don't think there's too many lumberjacks on TeakDoor... cue song.!

  23. #48
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    Thanks Neo!

    Oh, my bad.. I can't even blame my phone anymore for typos, as I'm home using my PC... I'll edit my shitty syntax tomorrow, when my senses are a bit sharper... dooh!

  24. #49
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    ^^ Feller will work here...He's a lumberjack and he don't care...555...

  25. #50
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    ^^ I fell large trees, I skip and jump.. I like to go to Fukuoka...

    WTF rhymes with Fukuoka?

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