Over the past couple weeks I have landed myself hospital a couple times with anaphylactic shock, seems my body decided the humble age of 26 was a good enough time as any to develop new shellfish allergies. Had a really scary couple weeks not knowing exactly what I was allergic to whilst waiting for the test results.
When I eventually returned to school after a couple days off in the hospital my favorite third year class decorated the black board with messages for Athough half the boys are terrors to teach they cute lil things at times, needless to say I was quite touched by the gesture.
Just wanted to share this really amazing video I came across, it presents a really heartfelt and beautiful view of Japan. In addition it features quite a few shots from Kobe.
Situated at the base of Mount Fuji, Fuji Q is Japan’s premier roller coaster theme park sporting several of the world’s most intense rides. The park boasts dozens of rides and attractions but there are four coasters which the park is round for, several having held Guinness world records at their release, each delivering a unique costing experience.
Fujiyama 高飛車 : 79 metres tall, 130 km/h, it was once the world’s tallest roller coaster. I fondly named it the rough bang out ❤
Dodonpa ドドンパ: 52 metres tall, 172 km/h, it was once the world’s fastest roller coaster but still has the worlds highest acceleration from 0 mph to its maximum speed, 172 km/h, in 1.8 seconds! Reaching up to 2.7 G’s, it’s pretty much like being shot from a giant cannon!
Eejanaika ええじゃないか: 76 metres tall, 126 km/h, is only the second “4th Dimension roller coaster” ever built, it is the roller coaster with the most inversions in the world and can rotate 360 degrees forward or backward in a controlled spin.
Takabisha 高飛車: The steepest coaster in the world, it contains a 121° freefall, as well as seven major twists over 1000 metres of track, and a drop of 43 metres. This ride is a total troll going insanely fast then suddenly pausing for before the drop!
Here is a cool POV video of a dude riding Takabisha!
Since Kobe is a long way away from Mt Fuji the way we managed to make it there and back in a single weekend was to take a night bus there and back. Ridding in a long haul bus in Japan is a fairly horrible experience, primarily since every 2 hours they typically park at a rest stop for anywhere from 30-60 minutes for some reason. To add salt to the wound during this time, all the lights on the bus are turned on, seriouslyyyyyyyyyy ಠ_ಠ
That said our tickets were only about 12000円 including admission to the park, so with a some good company, a beer or 2 and some stupid next level selfies the trip wasn’t so bad.
In addition to the awesome roller-coasters, Fuji Q also has the worlds largest haunted house the Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear 戰慄迷宮. Set in a haunted hospital the walkthrough totals 900m in length and takes an average of 45 minutes to complete.
Inside the haunted hospital are dozens of rooms and containing actors dressed as zombies, as one makes their way through one creepy room to another the actors will pop out from behind and attempt to scare you.
Although rationally in your mind you know its all fake and despite the manly front I put up, I can honestly say there were a couple moments where zombies popped out that gave me a fright. This place is seriously creepy, I can imagine if you ever went through on your own the experience would be that much more terrifying.
Now having been a huge Neon Genesis Evangelion 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン fan since the original aired, I was incredibly excited to visit Evangelion World. It is a walk through exhibit containing life sized 3D models and has numerous fun photo opportunities where visitors can insert themselves into iconic scenes from the anime.
During a party in Gakuentoshi Saturday night shenanigans got icy after a it was discovered I had been nominated for the Ice Bucket Challenge by a former JET and good friend Andrew Foley.
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Took a shot at making homemade kaisendon 海鮮丼 (various sashimi on rice) today, think it turned out fair legit. I’ma show you a just how easy it is make your own too!
Now this recipe is actually different from the super pretty one I made above but its all the same. Most supermarkets here will stock kaisendon sashimi kits, they basically just include サーモン (salmon), まぐろ (tuna) and 鯛 (sea bream) that have been cut up into bite sized chunks. Unlike the super fancy kaisendon above this one only set me back about 400円 for the fish. I picked up a packet of Kaisendon no tare 海鮮丼のたれ (soy based seasoning for the kaisendon) while I was grabbing the fish, it can either be used to marinate the sashimi before it is placed upon the rice or pored over the top once it is assembled. Here is one of the little packets of the sauce. Tare たれ is used in a huge array of Japanese dishes from nabe to sashimi to yakiniku, and is essentially flavored or thickened soy sauce with added dashi, vinegar, etc. That said each variation is a little different depending on the dish it is to be used with. I really like sushi rice so I decided to make some to go underneath the fish. Its super easy to do, this is the 米酢 (rice vinegar) that I like to use, you simply add it to the freshly steamed rice with a little sugar and salt straight out of the rice cooker. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sushi-Rice But i don’t need to get into that. And here is the finished product, garnish with some shredded nori 海苔 (dried seaweed) and a little wasabi, Enjoy!
It’s that time of year where our old JET’s are leaving our community to make way for the new arrivals coming in August.
Annually we hold a large event to farewell our friends prior to their departure and this year I was on the leavers party organizing committee. We decided upon a venue in Harborland called Cafe Fish, a wedding reception that could hold the 100 or so guests of the evening.
The party is always an emotional event, this year in particular it is with a heavy heart we are saying our farewells to many of the great pillars of our community. Although we encountered a few hiccups along the way, more or less I would consider the event a great success.
A tradition alongside the party is the screening of a farewell video during the midway point of the event, I took it upon myself to make the video this year. It was a labour of love taking months of effort accumulating over 1000 photos and editing them together. I am very proud of the results, and it was with great relief to see it well received on the evening.
Without further a due, please enjoy the 2014 Kobe JET Leavers Video.
If you’re interested the leavers videos from 2012 can be found HERE and and 2013 HERE 🙂
Made brownies for my JHS teachers and left them in the staff room like this.
Thankfully after 2 years they are all finally used to my stupid daily antics XD #murica#nextlevelenjoy
Today my OTE had my 3年 write what they thought about me in English…… Some of the more interesting ones were: – Mr. Taccone is a pervert. – His body is very hairy. – His favorite food is his mother’s face. – He likes Japanese women. – If he could speak Japanese well, he would be cute. – He is like a cat. I don’t know how to feel about this ^^;
So once again its that magical time of year, in which us crazy Kobe kids decent upon the streets of Sannomiya for one epic night of chaos and enjoy. Saturday June 7th 2014 was the eveningof annual Kobe JET Scavenger hunt (abbreviated to SCUNT).
The basics of the the game are as follows:
Prior to the event ALT’s are asked to assemble teams of up to 8 with a theme of some description, as points are typically awarded for ‘best’ dressed’ crazy costumes are a must!
Teams assemble at ‘paiyama’ (the central meeting spot of Sannomiya) at 7PM, the night of the event and are given a list of clues to solve ‘the mystery’ which varies year by year depending upon the theme.
There are various other ALTs playing on the organizers team spread across the city who must be tracked down and interrogated. As one successfully interviews ‘suspects’ they receive more and more clues, meanwhile additional points can be scored for taking specific ‘crazy photos’ along the way.
This is my third year participating in the event and I decided my team was to go all out with costumes this time. Being quite fond of the anime Shingeki no Kyojin 進撃の巨人 (literally ‘The Advancing Giants’ but the English title being Attack on Titan), I decided to form a group to cosplay as the Survey Corps from the show. As a little play on words I named our team Shingeki no Kobe 進撃の神戸 (Advance on Kobe) however a friend later told me a much more fitting title I should have named it Shingeki no Gaijin 進撃の外人 (The Advancing Foreigners), but shouganai!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the series, it is immensely popular in Japan and now around the world. The anime takes place in a world where humanity was nearly wiped out by a race of mindless humanoid giants who eat people. These giants are the Titans. Approximately one hundred years after the sudden appearance of the Titans humanity has retreated behind a series of three concentric circular walls. One day tragedy strikes when an especially large and intelligent Titan appears and destroys the outermost gate. After losing everything the protagonist Eren and his friends join the army, planning to seek revenge through the Scout Regiment. In a nutshell……
This year the organizing of the event was handed over to two of my most amazing friends Andrew and Elizabeth who inherited it the lovely Jojo, a JET who left us last year. Under the pseudonyms of Agent Tek and Agent Cougarwho delivered to us a James Bond themed SCUNT for 2014.
This years teams:
My very own, Shingeki no Kobe
And yes believe it or not that is I as the Titan, our Survey Corps comprised of Paul, Peter, Ryan, Sandy, Matt and Octavio.
Shambolic Sextet
JETolution
S and M
Sandys Betrayal
Guild of Tea & Cookies
Skittles
Kobe Banditos – formerly known as the Cumslingers (silent r)
Captal Vice
District Yarimashou
Cartoon JETwork
Please enjoy some of our stupid photos from the evening.
-SPOILER ALERT-
Make sure to watch the video before you read on 😉
Oh and just quietly, guess who’s taking over SCUNT next year in 2015………
Want more? The 2013 post SCUNT wrap up can be found HERE and the 2012 one HERE.
nihonomnom 