Maoris In Japan....: May 2006

Horis in Kyoto

Me and Cuzzy Kana's at Kinkakuji

Hurricanes what happened??? at Ginkakuji

kia ora whanau, well this weekend was great weekend with Cuzzy Kana's coming to stay for the weekend. Kanas is living in Fukuoka, so me and chanel played host and tour guide and showing him the sights and sounds of Kyoto and Shiga. Saturday was spent tiki touring around kyoto and taking in some of the temples of kyoto most notably Kinkakuji( The Golden Temple) and Ginkakuji(The Silver Temple). It was so good slipping back into hori mode again,and putting on my hori accent which was good. Well managed to watch the Hurricanes vs Crusaders final. Man what a letdown BIGTIME!! damn Christchurch Fog..well probably the worst game i have watched, but i guess you have to play to the conditions..

after this we cruised back home , where our neighbour was having his birthday party.. lets just say
cabbage!!!! gee had too many beers.. but what a fun way to end the weekend.. paid dearly for it the next day, but we had a great time and it was cool having Kanas here with us..
laters..
PAORA

Art Show & Miidera temple

Me and Chanel at Miidera Temple

My Art work at Biwako Art museum

cher whanau, well the weather here is starting to get real warm now although we had a about a week and a half of rain but now its getting hot.. well things here are going real well..just on the weekend i put some pieces of Art that i have been working on in an exhibition that we had for 11 Shiga ALTs which was held in Otsu..This was my first time having something displayed at an exhibition , so it was really awesome to have people have a look at my work.. i got alot of positive comments which was really encouraging and cool.. the exhibition was for 2 days and we got about 170 people come through and look at the different pieces on show..

so yeah just got to keep on painting and hopefully might have my own show... well thats what my Art teacher keeps telling me and school says.. but i guess we'll just take it one painting at a time...

Also the same weekend we checked at Miidera temple in Otsu..it is one of Japans 4 Biggest temples..it was a really beautiful place and a good way to end the weekend..

Rugby 10s

chur whanau, well ended golden week with a trip away for me to ichinomiya, just outside of nagoya..i was chosen to play for Shiga in the Western Japan 10s rugby tourney..well day 1 saturday went ok, but not the best start losing our first game 15-0 to Kagawa..i thought i went well, busting through gaps and doing the old jonah and bumping 2 -3 defenders at a time..but needless to say we lost...next game was against Koochi ,we needed to win or we would be playing in the bowl..this game we started slow giving up a try early on..but we managed to fight back and take the game.. no jonahs this game, just did my job and it was a good to win.

after the game heading back to our ryokan/tradational japanese inn..we settled into our place and then had dinner..we had a traditional japanese enkai dinner, plus heaps of beer to wash it down..gee the fullas in my team were going hard..so i was only too happy to indulge in the old waipiro..all in all it was a top night..

day 2 ...we were in the plate comp..first we played Tottori...well today it was p......ing down with rain so it back to good old wet weather rugby...we played a great game playing to the conditions and winning it easy..although this would be my last game as i strained my back..
next game we got hammered, getting thrashed..but i was just glad to get out of the rain as it was pouring...all in all it was a good weekend and a great way to end golden week...
big ups to all the boys of the Shiga team....

The big 2-9!!!!! aarrgghhhhhhh

Me and chanel at Stamina taro for dinner

Me starting up the hill at Azuchi castle

Chanel trooping up the hill-Azuchi Castle.

Dinner with Jodes and Kimi outside stamina.

kia ora whanau..well have now offic ially turned 29...gee getting old.. .shocking!!!well had an
awesome day..its been golden week here in japan so we have 3 days holiday from weds..so its a good break to have...it was my birhtday yesterday and we had a really primo day..Me and chanel went tiki touring again, this time not so far, just up the road to the next town over at Azuchi..Azuchi is home to Azuchi castle..although now the castle is in riuns and there are no buildings remaining..it was home to oda nobunaga one of the meanest samurai of his time..it was pretty cool trooping around, most of the stone work and walls are still intact.. after azuchi we biked around lake nishinoko which was a great ride and cool views of the lake..

Later that evening we went to our favourite restaurant "Stamina Taro" the best all you can eat, restaurant in japan.. considering the the cost of meat in japan, its good to stock up on meat.. yakiniku or BBQ meat.. its the "BOMB".. it was cool to share the night with jody and kimi and catch up..its pretty sad that they have only 3 months left, but it was good to catch up...
all in all a great birthday..one i will remember....