less stop, more rock!

Nick, myself and Matto awaiting the start of the Hash
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Hash

On a wet cold Saturday morning about twenty of us (us being foreigners) participated in the Yoshinogari Hash race.  The explanation of "hashing" is best left to wikipedia, but for know all you need to really know is it's like a race through a maze (except the maze is made up of back roads and cross country lanes).  It was my first hash, yes I was a "hash virgin", which meant there were several initiation rites to be completed (I won't mention what they are as if you don't know you have to find out for yourself).  All race the rain pissed down on us, making my waterproof jacket... well, not so waterproof!  It was a load of fun though and something I will definitely do again.  The fact I fluked a win has nothing to do with my outlook of the race though, honestly!

it was easy to see why they recently won the 'Best Live Act' at the Brits

ikidentaikai
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Muse - Zepp Fukuoka

When Friday March 16th finally rolled around I couldn't have been happier!  School was a piece of cake, and also a lot of fun.  The afternoon was the annual ikidentaikai which is a big relay race for first year students.  Each student runs a one kilometer course before passing on the sash to the next student in the team, and there are 10 members in each team (making the total distance... yep smarty pants, you got it, 10kms!).  I took the place of one boy who was absent from school.  I was the fourth runner on our team and can proudly say I put in a pretty good effort (little did the kids who I was in training for the half marathon!) as I reeled in six guys in front of me and passing on the ‘sash’ with my team now in front.  However, our teams lead was not to be, as the kid I passed it too must have had lead in his shoes, and I'm sure he would have done better had he run backwards.  Still winnings not everything, right?... yeah, whatever!

some of the boys I raced against
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So with a little afternoon exercise under my belt I headed home and got ready to head to Fukuoka with Tan and Matt.  The three of us had tickets to Muse (a kick arse English rock band).  We had a little hiccup on the way when we missed the exit ramp we wanted and it almost cost us big time, but we pulled finger, asked for directions, and rolled up to the venue with twenty minutes to spare, the perfect amount of time to grab a beer and soak up the atmosphere before the band took to the stage.

Go Gus, Go!
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The Zepp Fukuoka was the venue and the three of us instantly agreed that it was a cracker.  I don't think more than a thousand people would fit in there which is just what we wanted, a nice smallish gig, but with enough body weight in the crowd to have a little mosh pit fun.

The band came out to a huge crowd roar, and we made a dash down the side and into the front.  It was a textbook play, and a minute later we were five people from the front watching the guitarists riff like they're fingers were on speed.  It was so cool to see them perform with such energy and passion.  The light show was amazing, and it was easy to see why they recently won the 'Best Live Act' at the Brits.  The crowd fed off their high energy, plus coupled with the fact the songs being performed were being done so with such musical skill and excellence, ment it was a cracker of a show.

excited little bunnies
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The only downer was having my camera taken off me for the gig by security after they saw me using it.  However, I did manage to grab about four cheeky photos before I got caught!

I don't know the exact set list, but I do know they didn’t miss any of their hit songs, and some awesome rare tracks were thrown in the mix too. My personal favourites were ‘Knights of Cydonia’, ‘Plug in baby’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘Feeling Good’.

After the gig the three of us went next door for a massive feed at Hard Rock Café. Let me just say, due to the exercise we had just endured, and the sweat we had built up, we easily demolished everything in front of us no problems!

Muse - Knights of Cydonia
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Fukuoka Tan's Birthday - Fukuoka

Saturday night was an eventful night, out on the chop in Fukuoka, something we hadn’t done for exactly one year (when we also went to Fukuoka for Tan’s).

The night started for Karen and I in Imari. We had a wedding ni-ji-kai party to attend. One of Karen’s students, Koichi – the guy who took me snowboarding in Hiroshima, was having a wedding party and invited us along. Japanese weddings usually involve a series of different parties and events, and we were kindly invited to the ‘second party’ of the night. It was held in a bar/restaurant and involved the bride and grooms “young” friends all having a nomihodai – tabehodai night (all you can eat and drink). Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay very long as living out of the city means we are sometimes dictated by public transport schedules, and we had to be back in Takeo by 9.40 to catch the last train north to Fukuoka.

Matthew Bellamy from Muse sings during Knights of Cydonia
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It was on the train that we met up with Tan, Lisa and the rest of the gang. Everyone seemed to be at varying stages of drunkenness, with Lisa leading the way (she took time out to sit on the floor in her own carriage away from the rest of us in a bid to sober up a little… but, I don’t think it worked!).

Once we made it to Fukuoka we made our way straight to Tenjin district and to a really cool club called Keith Flack. Every third Saturday the club hosts a “dance night” where different style DJ’s play on the two floors. We spent most of the night dancing upstairs to some “deep trance” beats. It was really great music, and so much fun to be in a real club for a change!  They even had Red Bull and Vodkas!  The staff were super friendly, and made everyone feel welcome and relaxed for a good night of partying.

Koichi turned up super casual supportin the Hiroshima baseball team
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Once we got to 4am we were faced with the decision of either finding some accommodation for a few hours or holding out for an all-nighter. We opted for the cheaper option – the all-nighter! It seemed like a good decision, until the 5am dead spell when we started roaming the streets in search of a cheap way to kill an hour and a half before our train home. We ended up spending some time at Round One in the arcade area (though not actually playing the games) until we were told we couldn’t sit on the floor and had to stand!  Finally we made our tired way to Hakata station and found a bakery open to replenish our energy levels just enough to enable us to board the train, sleep the way home, and walk the distance from the Takeo train station to bed!