Off to New Zealand!

Well i was hoping to have some pictures posted here from the engagement party but once again time has slipped away from me. Tomorrow morning i am headed to New Zealand to visit Matt Anaka down in Dunedin (South end of the South Island). i am taking Q (that`s my computer) with me, though, so maybe, just maybe, i`ll find the time to post a bit from NZ. That is, if i`m not to busy jumping off bridges and out of airplanes.... ;)

She said YES!!!!

On Saturday March 10th i got down on one knee in front of a rather large group of friends, presented a diamond ring to my girlfriend, Ulala, and asked if she would do me the honor of being my wife. And she said "YES!" WOOHOO! That`s right! We`re engaged! We haven`t set a date yet but it will likely be at least a year since we have plans to travel quite a bit first and also her brother is plannning to be married in spring 2008 so we don`t want the weddings to be too close together for the sake of money and stress. I have sent out mass e-mails and received lots of wonderful replies. If any of you read this who replied please know that i am grateful for your good wishes and congratulations! Unfortunately there are 73 messages in my inbox so i will be slow about answering all of them! oy.

I have been super busy trying to plan, arrange and carry out this proposal and the surprise birthday party for her (at which i proposed) as well as go ring shopping, plan an upcoming trip to New Zealand and work overtime (to pay for all these things) so please excuse the lack of entries over the last little while. i have yet to post pictures from Scooter`s visit to Japan but you can see some at his DJ Bolivvia site. i will post my own pics when i get around to it. i suppose i could have done it last night but am also a little emarrassed to say that i am a full-blown Sudoku addict and there was this puzzle that i just couldn`t figure out. Eventually i did and then went to bed. =)

So... let me just quickly tell you the story of how i proposed: I had planned a surprise birthday party for Saturday night at Zerro (a very nice bar here in Osaka run by friends of Ulala and i) and had sent out the word to be forwarded on via word of mouth. Thank you very much to Matt and Emi for helping with the arrangements and the invitations. Then i only told a select few people that i was also planning to propose that night at the party. That way the proposal would be a surprise to most of the guests too. THEN on Friday my Japanese teacher, Miyamoto Kayoko Sensei, helped me choose the ring and arrange to have it sized (i snuck out one of Ulala`s rings i thought waas maybe around the right size).
On Saturday morning i made her French toast for breakfast and left a card explaining that her birthday surprise was in five parts and that this was part one. Then i secretely took my records (since i would be DJing at the party but i didn`t want to tip off Ulala by carrying them with me in the evening) and put them in a locker. Then it was off to work where i tried to concentrate as best i could all day. After work it was off to the jewellery store where i picked up the ring, then picked up my records from the locker and dropped then at Zerro and checked on how preparations were going. Anthony had hung a couple Happy Birthday banners and also had a cake ready, made by the Zerro chef,Kousuke (amazing since Kousuke was also having his birthday on the weekend but was still kind enough to make a cake before he took off to Tokyo for the weekend!). Then it was off to meet Ulala in Umeda at 7:30. She was late. I was already nervous that we wouldn`t have time to have a relaxed birthday dinner since i had told everyone that the Surprise would happen at Zerro at 10pm. This did not help my stress level! But we had time. She showed up, looking amazing (i had told her to dress really nicely because we would be having a fancy dinner), and we headed to La Fleuve for dinner on the 19th floor above the Hotel Granvia in Osaka. I`ll have to post a whole seperate entry about our dinner bacause it was incredible. Very fancy in th whole Art-on-a-plate tradition of fine French cuisine. At dinner i gave her part three (part two being dinner itself), which was a hnadmade book of photos of her and i over the last three and a half years or so of our relationship. Photos from from most of our trips together and from Luminarie (our second date) and all kinds of cheezy but hopefully sweet goodness. She asked what we were doing after dinner and i said that we were meeting Tony (our close friend) for a quick drink since i promised that he could buy her a birthday shot. She said ok and we headed to Zerro. All part of the plan since this gavce me an excuse to call Tony and say that we were "almost there" as we were approaching Zerro. Then we walked up to the door and everyone yelled surprise and sang happy brithday and she was really surprised! So that was part four. I gave her a few minutes to go aournd tha troom and say hi to people and thank them for coming and to calm down a bit. Then i said it was cake time so i made her sit in a chair on a raised part of the dance floor and we brought out the cake and sang Happy Birthday one more time (i could barely sing i was so nervous!) and then she blew out the candles. THEN i took the mic and asked everyone to bear with me, i had just one more surprise. I got the ring box out of my pocket and got down on one knee and asked into the microphone in both Japanese and English with my voice trembling if she would do me the honour of becoming my wife. She took the ring ring out of the box! She looked at it! Tony joked that she was totally checking out the ring first. and then... She said YES! Then i reported it through the mic and everyone applauded and i took the ring from her and slid it onto her finger and we kissed. *sigh* it was wonderful... I was told a few minutes later that i had accidentally put the ring on the wrong hand!! So i quickly switched it to the correct hand. I wonder what that means for our relationship? Hehehe. Then we had champagne and people bought lots of tequila shots. Why they wanted to punish the happy couple i`m not sure... =)

On that note here I`ll sign off with the promise that as soon as people send me pictures from that night (i didn`t take too many myself since i was rather busy!) i will post them. i think Brad Crawford got a really nice picture of me actually putting the ring on Ulala`s finger! nice!

Korea Pt.8 - Seoul Tower

Ulala and i actually went to Seoul Tower on our second last day (but our last night) in Seoul. It was a nice place to visit at night since it gave us a great view of Seoul all lit up. It seems to have a reputation as a primo date spot (depsite the fact that Koreans have an immense aversion to public displays of affection). Seoul Tower is located at the top of the small mountain that is smack dab in the middle of Seoul. We took a cable car up from near Myeong Dong and then an elevator to the observation deck. The tower itself is quite short but since it sits atop the mountain it still commands an impressive view of the city. It was also still decorated from Christmas, which was a littlle odd.









The washrooms are amazing in Seoul Tower. Even the urinals have a view!


These were near the tower at the top of the hill. They are smoke signals. Signals from all over would be realyed to this station where the information would be handed over to the king (or whoever was in power at the time) and then signals would relayed outwards back to the outllying regions. There is a scene in Lord of the Rings where such signals are impressively used and i found it very interesting to see real ones close up.


and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, finally brings an end to the posts on Korea. yup. now it`s back to my merry adventures in JapanLand. but... i AM goingto New Zealand next month to visit Matt Anaka. so that should be pretty awesome. i think i might have to buy a new and much larger memory card for my camera (or possibly a new camera!!) for that trip!

Korea Pt.7 - Gyeongbokgung Palace

This is the palace that Ulala and i went to on our last day in Seoul. We had to rush through since we also had to jet out to the airport to catch out flight. I`d really like to go back to Seoul for another few days sometime and just spend my time seeing all the palaces and temples. Since i know little to nothing about this beautiful place i`ll just let the pictures do the talking:

Korea Pt.6 - Random pics

These were just some odds and ends from our trip:

They`re all here!! Toocan Sam! Tony the Tiger! That crazy rooster from Corn Flakes!


This is Hubert holding (and making a face at) a FIVE LITRE bottle (if it can really be called a "bottle" of Soju, the Korean liquor taht runs at about 18 to 23 % alcohol per volume and which most Korean people frink in copious amounts. FIVE FREAKIN LITRES!!!!


Adding to my impression that this is a nation of alcoholics to rival the Irish here is teh beer section of the cooler at the supermarket. Please note that the massive two-litre bottles are not soda pop. They are in fact beer. Who the hell drinks beer out of a two-litre bottle?! Koreans. That`s who.


I have no iddea what this ad is for but it makes me laugh. Partly beacuse i think it might be an add promoting bulimia and partly because the toilet is singing!


Dear Americans: you no longer have the market on fatty fried foods! Behold! The cheese-french-fries-and-batter-ON-A-STICK!!! Seriously, though, who thought of sticking french fries to it?




I call it the Wheel Of Thong. It has the power to hypnotize and brainwash men in mere seconds. If the North Koreans ever got their hands on it the world as we know it might end...


This happy little guy was the mascot of the Seoul Olympics and these murals adorn the walls of one of the larger subway stations near where our hotel was in Seoul. I actually vaguely remember him. But it`s one of those cultural-consciousness kind of memories, not the "Oh yeah, that guy!" kind. It took me a while to realize that the blue line over his head is actually a ribbon attached to his hat (a traditional Korean hat). I just thought he was dizzy.

Korea Pt.5 - Daegwang-Ri (part2)

Since much of our tour, led by Ellen`s dad, and seemingly much of life close to the DMZ, revolves around the military and the Korean War i decided to group together these photos into one post of that theme. It was not in fact ALL we saw or did in and around Daegwang-Ri, but it was a prominent part.

One of the first places Ellen`s dad took us was to a war museum which was closed for New Years. So we looked around the grounds and memorials outside. This was only one of many types of planes there:


And this was only one of many tanks on the premises:


This memorial was very interesting, and very large as well. Someday i would like to have a full (English) explanation of the symbolism in this sculpture.


This is one of the militray checkpoints that we came across frequently during our tour. Actually i think this might have been the one that we tried to get through to see the DMZ. We were told that it was closed for New Years Day and that if we went back up the road a ways and told the commander at the soldiers rest station that we had our family grave within the limits than we could be granted permission. So that`s what we did.


In typical Asian-ness the soldiers` rest station had a collection of "cute" mascots that adorned the sides of their buildings and stations:


This was the last photo we could take before they took our cameras away from us and escorted us past the checkpoint and up to the observatory. If the soldiers look young it`s becuase they are; all Korean men are required to do two years of mandatory military service.


Now this picture was taken in the early hours of January 2nd in Daegwang-ri town just outside Ellen`s parents` place. I took it for two reasons: 1) to show how small and rural the town is (and how much it reminds me of most small towns in the Maritimes in Canada - except with more Hangul writing), and 2) because i found it more than a little disturbing that there was a shop with "Nuk" on the sign so close to the broder with North Korea.


And also, right in front of the train station, an army jeep and an army surplus supply store. The military presence really permeates life here in Daegwang-ri.

Korea Pt.4 - Daegwang-Ri (part1)

So i`ve had a crazy busy last couple of weeks. after snowboarding in Shiga, my friend Scooter (aka DJ Bolivia) came from Canada to DJ at Oasis Lounge (which i set up for him here in Osaka). Snedker (Kevin) and Danielle also came down from Tokyo and a bunhc of us hung out for a few days and then all went up to Tokyo for another few days. and then i came back and worked and planned and schemed (some of which is secret so i cannot divulge here as yet until perhaps later in Spring!). today is in fact my only day off this week (i know that i had five days off when Scooter et al. were here buut that was exhausting!) so i am going to try and play a little blog ketsup. i mean, "catch up," i`m just really hungry.

AND SO: i give you, for your viewing interest and long over-due, pictures from Daegwang-Ri, a small town North of Seoul in Korea, and close to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) between the two Koreas. it is also, more inportantly, Ellen`s home town and where her incredibly nice family lives and works. her mom runs a restaurant close to the train station (actually, truth be told, Daegwang-Ri is prettty small, so just about everything in town is "close to the train station"), and her father is a police officer (and a pretty high rank from what i gather). her brother was also there, but i won`t even try to spell his name because i am sure i will get it completely wrong. Ulala and i stayed in their house/apartment, above the restaurant, and were treated to a lovely couple of days and a LOT of great Korean food. most of these pictures are from December 31st and January 1st.

This was the train line we took out into the sticks North of Seoul. it felt like a bit of an Odyssey since we were tired from sightseeing and to connect to this train line we had to go all the way to the end of the longest line (a little NOFX reference there for those who know). it was also late and we missed our first connection so we had to wait about an hour until the next one. so in reality i guess it isn`t all THAT far out of Seoul.


This was the sulfur hot spring that Ellen`s mom and brother took us to. It was great! the men and women had separate areas for the baths. We tried the hot bath and then the steam room and then the cold bath (FREEZING!) and then the hot bath again. Then we dried off and met up the girls and tried some of the dry saunas (like the "Ochre Chamber" and the "Salt Chamber" among others) and ate some fruit and watched the New Years countdown on the big TV in the lounge area. All in all a pretty good and refreshing welcome in the new year!


On January 1st Ellen`s dad took us around the region to show us some historical sites (most of which pretained to the Korean War. i was amazed at how fresh the wounds still are since it is a war that i know little about. Most of the places we visited (like the observatories that look into North Korea) prohibited photography, so there are only a few pictures to show. This one is of a bell that sits atop a hill that is close to the DMZ. Near the bell is a plaque extolling the virtues of the many brave men who died trying to capture and re-capture a particular hill.


This was a temple that we visited on "Dad`s Tour". It was closed for New Years but we still had a chance to walk around the grounds. Next to the temple was a beautiful frozen river and valley.


From Left: Ulala, Ellen`s brother, me, Ellen`s dad and mom, Ellen, and Hubert, Ellen`s boyfriend. This spread is a good example of the fabulous food we were treated to at almost every meal.


and THIS, beleive it or not, was breakfast!! spicy meat soup and... some other stuff. it was actually quite good! I`m used to having hot sauce ono my eggs in the morning so spicy breakfast was nothing new to me. I think Ellen`s mom especially liked my appetite for spicy food. =)