I got a text from someone in Nikko (Japan) this morning who found my business card pinned to the wall of a lovely little restaurant called Hippari Dako. I left the card there after I visited Nikko with friends back in January 2009. All the walls in the restaurant are covered with notes, postcards and business cards with scribbled thanks and ( Read more... )

Awesome murder mystery, props to Dan for writing and hosting. I'll post some photos when I'm more sober. It wasn't until I got home that I realised I'd probably been at the space cocktails a bit too much >_< Until next time Akiyama Toyohiro is signing off!

Here is part 1 of my guide to some of the more obscure and 'off the beaten track' places to visit in and around Tokyo.

Around Yanaka
As you may remember I stayed in the charming area known as Yanaka. This place is pretty residential with a few main streets packed with little restaurants of all varieties, shops selling souvenirs, odds and ends and ( Read more... )

Ow ow ow, the nurse wasn't kidding when she said the swine flu vaccine would make my arm hurt. Oh well at least I'm not experiencing any of the other possible (known) side effects. Stupidly I also agreed to have the seasonal flu vaccine at the same time when it was offered. So my other arm aches a bit too, although not as much. I'd recommend ( Read more... )

Well it's coming to the close of my forth full day in Tokyo so I thought it was high time I blogged about my solo trip to Japan ( Read more... )

It's true, I'm spending a couple of weeks in Tokyo come mid October. It should be awesome (barring any unexpected run-ins with the dreaded swine flu). Obviously this means no Sci-fi Night for most of October and that Geeknight will be hosted elsewhere. Keep an eye on the Abnib announcement texts so you know where to go.


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Was a great night, thanks go to the hosts Paul and Ruth.

Here are the best photos.

Update

Ok not enough people were available for Brum so we'll just be doing Little Italy on Monday. Current plan is to book a table for 7 @ 8pm.

Come on people it's 3 days until Saturday and I've only had two people actually give me an idea of which days they can make. I don't see most of you until Thursday or Friday at which point it's getting ( Read more... )

Aberystwyth is in the news today because the town's first screening of Monty Python's The Life of Brian has attracted quite a bit of attention.. Apparently there are still a handful of religious fanatics vehemently opposed to it, which is amusing. Props to Gareth for getting the film and the special guests together including Michael Palin. Here' ( Read more... )

After returning from Nikko in the afternoon our next destination was Kyoto ( Read more... )