Japan - Returneth

Yes yes... as I've already posted. I'm returning to Japan tomorrow... All i've got to do is fit all the stuff in the photo into my backpack and i'm ready to go.

As you can see, I've got all the essentials including:

• 5 Karate suits...
• 4 karate belts
• 3 backpacks - various sizes
• 2 walking sticks
• 1 really cool head torch
• karate safety gear
• first aid kit
• sleeping bag
• Bisto Gravy
• Chocolate
• PG Tips T bags
• Lynx deoderant and Shower Gel

and of course... my laptop and IPod!

AND, you may ask yourself WHY I would want to return to Japan when I've only been back in the UK for five and a half weeks. No, It's not the wallet-crunching recession, or the mild weather, or the weird food...

...it's the family!

Now, that MAY seem harsh but let's consider that for a moment. The folks have had me working hard in their big old house over the last few weeks doing this...

making this small window-hole into a massive 8ft deep x 8ft long x 5ft wide hole that we've surrounded with a solid brick wall and staircase...

If that wasn't enough, we also found Human Bones whilst digging. Soooo, we had to notify the police, and in true form, they turned up en-masse... about 15 coppers in total! After a few hours of halted play, a university professor turned up to examine the bones. He decided that they were ancient and that we weren't in fact serial killers, so the Police left and we had to notifty the local archeologists.

Thus began a day-long archeological dig. It turns out that we uncovered parts of three people, very likely nuns from about 640AD - similar to the one that Channel 4's Time Team uncovered in the front garden in 2000.

In other news, Amy has had us moving back into our own house after 18 months away from it. So we've, Ok, Amy's been really busy cleaning and unpacking and generally making the house look pretty. So in between trips to Ikea, removing a strange accumulation of 28 inch CRT TV's, and re-setting up our home-dojo, I've been doing my best to resist Amy's insistence that we do actually have to go home eventually.

Amy, busy building an Ikea light, whilst I drink tea and criticise...