Yuki Matsuri!

Spot the Ben.

...deadly indeed.

Only in Japan could you witness a man in a blue power suit beating up a giant cockroach and it's heinous henchmen in front of a huge snow replica of Nagoya castle.

Mickey gets everywhere, even 'on a magical flight on a dragon representing the spirit of change as Power Asia brings power to Asia'. Oh yes.

Norway was not to be outdone in terms of scale or minutiae...



Despite the sheer scale of the snow sculptures, the street lined with these shining ice sculptures has it's own ethereal beauty (not a quality the man on the left shares).

Another 'only in Japan' moment, as four members of the SDF attend an ice slide. Not only that, but at least three battalions, each over 3000 strong, spent months designing and building these sculptures and slides... Possibly the best use of military resources ever! Unfortunately this is to be the last year in which the SDF participates, as they have to spend more time in defence maneuvres, whatever that means.

The snow festival in Sapporo with Chihiro - what better way to spend Valentine's Day?

Sick boy

Well, since this is a photo blog, here's one of me looking miserable.

Was suprised to learn that 'mono', as my American friends call it, is in fact glandular fever, and the reason I recovered so quickly, and the reason my symptoms were so severe, were one and the same.

It wasn't glandular fever.

Jus' a big old mystery virus that wandered by, stole a few weeks of my life and fucked off without a 'by your leave'.

Inconsiderate bastard.

Update

For those of you that worry (thanks for the e-mails!):

It's not caused by Epstein-Barr, and all the usual suspects have been ruled out. Dr. Miyazaki said it's the worst case of Infectious Mononucleosis he's ever seen, and my fever topped at over 40C. Having said that, my white blood cell count is dropping (from 70%), my swelling and fever are decreasing and he estimates I'll be back to 'normal' fever levels in about five days.

Check-ups and IV every day.

I've lost eight of the seventeen days paid leave I'd saved, which really sucks. At this rate I won't get to travel Japan until I quit =(