Mrs Game Fugu and I arrived on a Saturday morning at Centrair Airport, Nagoya. After catching a local train into the city centre, we separated. She stayed in Nagoya to meet some old friends and her family, whilst I went to Osaka by Shinkansen to visit an old colleague from when I was working as a JET in Hiroshima.
Mrs Game Fugu and I flew from London to Nagoya via Helsinki with Finnair. Earlier in the year Finnair had offered discounted seats for visiting Asian destinations, and we managed to get return tickets for £420 each including all taxes. Not bad! It did make me worry about the quality of the economy seats and service though, especially after reading some horror stories about Finnair using old MD-11s for their long haul flights to the Far East which didn't have an in-flight entertainment system.
On an early October morning Mrs Game Fugu and I were finally able to leave the apartment for our annual holiday in Japan. Ever since returning to the UK from teaching on the JET programme in Hiroshima, I have been able to go back once a year to see friends still out there and visit some new places. This year the plan was to visit Osaka, Nagoya and Nara.
I had the opportunity to try Wii Fit for the first time when I friend brought it over earlier today. It was amazing how sensitive it was. When you first attach a Mii to the game, you go through a series of balance tests to determine a Fitness Age. For me it gave an age of 27, which was exactly correct! It also said I was a little underweight, but what do you expect when I am full of small plastic balls?!?
Please note the title of this post - cooking with Fugu, not cooking Fugu! I am poisonous (and not tasty!)
Chibi Fugu here! Sorry for the long gap between reporting, I was being lazy and letting Game Fugu do all the updates. Still, now I'm back I have some great news on the Bromley vegetable garden. In addition to chillis, aubergines, pumpkins and tomatoes we now have a new addition to the family - kabocha (カボチャ)!
This week I spent two days in Figeac, France at the Chateau Viguier hotel. The town has a long history, and the hotel we stayed at was a converted 14th century monastery. It was also surprisingly clean. A couple of times I saw a guy on a moped riding around with a suction pipe, and noticed he was hoovering up dog mess - maybe this is the secret of how the town stays so tidy!
Now that the English summer has arrived (and gone, and arrived again), it's time to break out the chilled rose wine and relax in the heat. Our local Waitrose has a good selection which Mrs Game Fugu and I are working through.
As the weather was great, I visited Hastings on May Day. Unfortunately I didn't realise that was the same day everyone else South of London goes to Hastings as well - including hundreds of bikers. The place was absolutely heaving and it was impossible to find anywhere to eat lunch without a reservation, but fortunately after climbing the cliffs it became a lot quieter. I ended up sitting down on the grass looking over the town and enjoying an ice cream to keep cool.
Last weekend Mrs Game Fugu and I stayed with friends in Izegem, a small city in Belgium close to Ghent and Bruges. The first thing we did, after eating a few waffles, was try the local brew - Rodenbach. It was my first time trying a red ale (mixed from young and aged ales), and it tasted pretty good.
Chibi Fugu here! Chilli Chan has done well this week, and is now up to four leaves. Every day it follows the sun as it crosses the window, so it turned 180 degrees to help it grow straight. It's amazing how much it can move in a few hours! It is still too slow for a video report though, sorry...
Chibi Fugu here! After a recent visit to Sandbach, I got my hands on a chilli pepper seedling. It only sprouted a week ago, so it will be a few more months before there is anything to eat.
Spiky haired hero
Last boss is a bitch
Mrs Game Fugu returned from a holiday in Japan today with a present - a white Dualshock 3 controller. I've tested it out with Super Stardust HD, and can confirm that it does in fact rumble. The weight of the controller is much more satisfying to hold as well, and I wish I had another game to try it out on. Every PS3 game I've bought so far has been traded on after completion though - it might not get a chance to shake its thang again until MGS4 comes out.
Mrs Game Fugu's Kansai-fu okonomiyaki shows the real inspiration behind Pacman - complete with Otafuku sauce eye.
Another sweets exchange from Japan, this time the original Country Ma'am flavours of Vanilla and Chocolate. The packaging recommends microwaving the cookies before eating, but there's no way I'm waiting that long before they go the same way as the Yebisu.
Had a delicious portobello mushroom stuffed with bacon, broccoli, pepper and cheese for dinner tonight, courtesy of Mrs Game Fugu.
