Nagasicki

Through no fault of my own, I've made it through the short working week and hit the shore of holidays on the other side. Like clockwork, my immune system switched off as soon as the Friday public holiday hit, leaving me with a gnarly cough and runny nose just in time for our trip away. I'm sure I won't be alone when I say bloody arsing shit.

Harder than it looks

It's been an interesting week, although not really in a good way. As expected, I passed my doom plague on to Lisa and while it didn't have quite as spectacular an effect on her, it did mean a swift trip out to the hospital (given that there are no GPs here). This turned out to be far less swift than imagined.

Like the back of the Batmobile

After all my posturing, I actually managed to last an entire week of not eating or spending outrageously. Granted, I was helped along a bit by a bout of what I'm convinced was cholera and spending the better part of a week with literally 40 yen to my name, but credit where credit is due. Some would consider this a terrible way to spend the last days of your summer holiday but after the past few weeks, limitless guilt-free vegetation is just what the doctor ordered.

Well, that and some antibiotics maybe.

Berocca, drugs and rock 'n' roll

I have very little of interest to say to you this week, particularly compared to last week's bonanza; in the interests of keeping the rhythm going I'm just going to chuck something up. Possibly literally, if this doom flu I have gets as bad as I imagine. Through the twin miracles of infection and sleep deprivation, I currently have the sensation of controlling myself remotely. At the press of a button, my unfeeling arms click into position; I peer at this unfamiliar world through a camera. Sternly.

I think I should probably be in what you humans call "bed".

The true Japanese experience

The work party on Friday night was actually a bit better than I expected, if only for the sake of change. Rather than things disintegrating into karaoke and whiskey (not that there's anything wrong with that), we ended up at a classy bar drinking out of absurdly big wine glasses and being served cheese and chocolate by the Japanese equivalent of Eric Clapton in a waistcoat. This was the first chapter in a recent trend of doing very non-Japanese things. Somewhat ironically, after spending a lot of my downtime last weekend playing a game where you aim to exterminate mankind with a new virus, I've found myself struck down by another doom flu. It's really not doing much for my sense of adventure wanting to leave KFC.

Pestilence (but not much famine)

I've been laid out flat with my face buried in vitamin C drink for the better part of a week now, which explains the lack of updates. Even the word "blog" was enough to set my hands into an involuntary twitch, clawing for unseen blankets and cups of coffee. I realised that going into work was probably a dumb idea last Wednesday, then just about killed myself walking down towards the train station on Thursday morning. Sore throats and very cold air make a yucky cocktail that you wish you hadn't wasted your money on.