*swam

saw 4km last weekend and swam 4k yesterday at the leisure centre in aber. student one was closed as they are modernising it.

well it looks like lj is working now.

so week in manchester. staying at apartment there. saw lauren, heidi and laura last weekend and went to oxford. ths weekend went to aber saw terry and dave and hung out it was cool. watched some of race for life which was going on running along seafront like i used to do when i lived there!!!!!!

i just want to say that i cant post long posts to my journal or delete some posts

ive only tried from 2 computers
i couldnt reply to a post on patrick's journal the other day either.

i think that sixapart are making too many changes that are both nice and unneccessary

so ever since i got virgin cable i have had problem after problem with my bill (it should be '2for £20' - sounds simplnnnne yeh?) but each month they manage to try to charge me £80 or more so i call and they refund and they never fix it it's ongoing one problem after anoter. nnnnto nnnnnboonnnnnnnt it all they don't have the sky tv channels because they are refusing to pay sky what sky are asking - who loses? the customer. nnnnnnnnnnnnn no disnnnnount.nothing. every timall it takes around 50 mins benfonnnnre anyone answers they are the worst company i have ever had expirience with nevermind.so i have to continue to pay they £20 a month because it works out £40 cheaper than it would cost to cancel (£180).and tnhen on top ofing sky becausesky are fn

so ever since i got virgin cable i have had problem after problem with my bill (it should be '2for £20' - sounds simple yeh?) but each month they manage to try to charge me £80 or more so i call and they refund and they never fix it it's ongoing one problem after another. to boot it all they don't have the sky tv channels because they are refusing to pay sky what sky are asking - who loses? the customer. no discount.nothing. every time i call it takes around 50 mins before anyone answers they are the worst company i have ever had expirience with nevermind.

so i have to continue to pay they £20 a month because it works out £40 cheaper than it would cost to cancel (£180).and tnhen on top ofthat i'mgetting sky becausesky are fabandth

test

last week was in manchester for a couple of days we had a nice indian meal on wed night
on sat swam 4km (4 lengths short because ran out of time) and on monday visited grandma to give her stones from japan

was in manchester on wednesday, mum is there right now on some conference and my power adapter for my laptop is there also because i forgot it so i have had to buy a universal one.

mungo the cat


when i came home my parents had had 3 new lambs born and had bought some baby chickens



see lamb photos here
http://pics.livejournal.com/paulttt/gallery/000666hy?page=11

many great things happened in japan. had a great time. met some girls from rugby at the hostel in kyoto (rugby is a v small town)... did karaoke in kyoto and broke the marakas. the japanese people are wonderful. i had a macdonalds and on the way out all the staff behind the counter waved and smiled (it was a bit trippy because everyone was just too nice!). went to hiroshima. there is just too much to update. hiroshima was sad but the island was beutiful. i guess to really understand japan you have to visit there yourself.

here are a few videos because i do believe that although a picture says a thousand words a video conveys much much more.


basically from the top.
started in tokyo. here is the fish market.

(here is andrew at the fish market)


(here is a person auctioning the tuna)

took the bus to mount fuji

(here is one of the uts on the way up the mountain) was with 2 americans from idaho

took the bus out of mount fuji to mishma station (here is waitin for the bus) the music is the pedestrian crossing


caught the bullet train to kyoto where met many people including british girls from rugby and simon who i travelled onto hiroshima with

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link to photos
http://pics.livejournal.com/paulttt/gallery/000666hy

i feel great for that break. it feels good to be home. im going to be working on a new project now in manchester.

i want to post videos of my mum n dads new chicks and lambs but cant just now coz im busy...

i need some new lj friends and to cut a few old ones there will be some i will definately keep

http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/kids/KPSH_E/question_box/question12.html

will write later coz im going to catch shinkansen to tokyo

station 6 on mt fuji with the guys from indiana


fishmarket vid that did not post

(using google video now as youtube continually fails)

me flyin like a bird at mt fuji

volcanic rock mt fuji

gallery
http://pics.livejournal.com/paulttt/gallery/0005qsfr?page=5

it`s raining and i just had a big mac and a starbucks!

I'm on the bus from fuji to mishma where I will catch the JR train to kyoto.
the japanese do not use credit cards very much so rely on cash however atms are closed in the evenings, on sundays and on public holidays. There were 3 days of public holiday this week and they were consecutive.
Hostel in fuji was clean and warm and peaceful though not many people so I found it a little boring.
I will do some shopping in tokyo on the way back. I should send kat from work a pressie.

Yesterday i took the bus to mount fuji. There were 2 american lads on the bus so we hung out. one of them was teaching over here and the other had cash due to redundancy. They were camping near to a forest where japanese people go to commit suicide! The forest is dark and compasses do not work there and in the spring, i am told, people go into the forest and clear bodies of those that hung themselves during the winter. I was talking to k who owns these hostels that i have been staying in and he says that many japanese commit suicide due to stress from work. I get the opinion that japanese people expect a lot from themselves and that much is down to honour.

Other things that i notice abt japan are the lack of trash cans and lack of litter. People are very considerate of each other and obedient to the rules and codes of society. Its very strange for me as i am used to a random world where people are often out for what they can get rather than what they can give. It makes me a little ashamed not because of how we act necessarily but the fact that the japanese are better in so many ways and their methods do in fact work. Public transport is clean and reliable. They recycle what they can - there are more recycling bins than normal rubish bins. Japan has so much business - toyota, samsung, toshiba, sony, nintendo, JVC, nissan, daewoo, honda, hitachi, sega. What do we in the uk have? We have no brands left they have all been sold except perhaps tesco or sainsbury? Maybe vodafone?
They have vending machines here which sell hot cans of coffee and other machines that sell beer. drinking age is 20 here but the youth are trusted not to consume alchol before that age and so it is fine to sell fron vending machine because the youth respect that trust - shocking!
its almost like the japanese see the world in a cartoony way so that things are not so much scary to them.

panasonic, subaru, susuki, mitsubishi...

Nokia?


Oh no sumo btw because sumo tornament doesnt start until 13th which is when i fly out. Have to come back another time?

Didn't climb fuji (highest mt in japan) it looks a bit like mt rainer in WA. The bus took us to station 5 and we treked through the snow to station 6. we weren't supposed to go higher than 5 without equipment and it is not recommended that people climb mountain at the moment as it is not the season. I will post pictures. I left the americans at stage 6 as they were climbing higher and i had bought a return bus ticket unlke then who had gone for the single. My bus left and they were to walk down. 5 miles to the base and it was cold and would get dark. Anyway my stop is coming up soon so must go!

I'll write again soon!
Paul
xxx

quiet walk along lake and cable car ride.





http://pics.livejournal.com/paulttt/gallery/0005qsfr?page=3

i woke up too bird song this morning as i am out in the countryside.  the sun is shinning and the smell of toast in the air.

did i write abt yesterday?
yesterday i went to the electronic district but better than that i stopped at the japanese electrical discount store `bic camera`.  bic camera was 10 floors high and stacked with electronics - it was like every electronic gadget avaliable on the internet all packed into one store so no delivery charges and no waiting.  japan really puts the uk to shame.  the women too i`m afraid.  the women here are so polite and feminine not butch like they can be in western society.  i don`t quite know how japanese men have created such a paradise for men but the women seem happy, well looked after and safe so i guess it works well for everyone.

i am missing vegtables in my diet.  mostly the diet here is high carb.  all the food i have eaten so far has been very moreish and delicious.  prices are slightly cheaper than i would expect to pay back home which was a pleasant surprise.

i`m at mount fuji now so i guess i`ll get dressed in a bit head out to the convienience store get breakfast, shower and head out to the lake and take photos.  i`ll no doubt take the cable car near by and have a relaxing day ahead.

the day before yesterday i hung out with andrew and it was a really pleasant day walking around the lake and going to the leanardo exhitbition.

i got up at 7am today so gradually getting my sleeping pattern in stride.

seee you sooon.  will post photos.  i honestly don`t know how these hostels make a profit they are so clean and tidy and they even picked me up from the station for free.  free internet  and free wireless internet.  clean tidy big screen tv and only 2500 Yen per night (10GBP, 20USD).

　　

today i visited fish market, leonardo da vinci exhibition and the sony building.

japan is a very civilised country and the people are so ridiculously polite, seriously!



poor image quality is due to youtube compressing the video.

its 4:34am and me and a few others are up early to go to fish market.

yesterday i got up at 1pm and due to jet lag the day before i didn`t get up until 9pm.

so to summarise.  i flew out LHR saturday flew in to tokyo sunday.  monday i was a little hung over from sunday night so slept until 9pm. tuesday i was up at 1pm and went to see tokyo tower, had a wander on the subway and met the finish guys and had a drink before they went off to see spiderman 3 (they had bought tickets a few days ago and this showing somehow preceeds the world premier!).

so today is wednesday.   

will post photos when i can.

i picked up a stone for grandma from tokyo.

i was up at 3am today. here are a couple more videos clips the fish market yesterday!

the top one seems to have trouble uploading to youtube

i leave tokyo today for mt fuji - i`ll be bussing it and leave at 4pm.

i would like to visit the stock exchange (if it is opened) and the electric district where they sell lots of funky kind of gadgets!!! yay!

at the hostel. I need usb cable for my phone and the other important thing which was in my checked luggage was contact lense solution. girl at the desk here gave me hers as she has a few bottles!

the weather here is perfect as there is gentle bright sunshine which brings out the colours and a cool almost air con type gentle breeze. room not quite ready so chillin outside.

this place is ks house hostel. links are difficult as writtin using phone but google it if u want 2 find out more!

it's kind of a mix between hawaii and hong kong though no where near the hussel bussel humidity and stiffiling heat of hong kong. no meat hangin in the street here but lots of plastic displays of pretend food quite well done. stores like 7eleven and dennys so its a little american

people here are friendly and like to wear gold. the roof tiles are sometimes glazed and different colours like blue. there seemed to be a lot of farmland paddy fields? looking from the air that is. land is very flat and almost at sea level.

ha well i'm in toyko. at the airport having a beer.

12 hour flight.

yesterday I found 10 pounds on the pavement when I pulled up outside my house. I popped in at the house in london and took some photos. watched some tv at the house and had a roquefort gourmet burger in chiswick. it was nice went for a 4 or 5 mile run.

ba lost my luggage ha. I get 35 pounds compensation but they couldn't give it to me now because their computers are down. imo ba charge a lot for their flights but they are always in the news regarding strikes and passenger delays. still flying ba does give me more club member points.

anyway I always allow for my baggage going awol by putting expensive and at least one change of clothes in hand luggage so it is good that my foresight paid off. if they have completely lost my baggage then I will be pist because i'll have to go to new york or europe to buy new clothes. britian really isn't big on fashion in fact its complete shite when it come to any kind of clothes shops. saying that though could go vicoria quarter in leeds though it would be cheaper to go ny coz things cost half as much in the states.

moan.moan.moan. lol

bought new runners on saturday (went to milton keynes).
http://www.sweatshop.co.uk/Details.cfm?ProdID=2217&category=7

on sunday grandma aunt uncle came over on sunday to take a look at my place. i went swimming and swam 125 lengths in the pool here in rugby (4km).

on monday i went down to london (damn those pesky speed cameras!!).

today is tuesday and i am working from home.

good news.

they are making a series 4 of peep show!

if you missed 1 to 3 they have a quick catch up here
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2016303818

i own my own business - 'Tidmarsh Consultancy LTD' and therefore I am allowed to shop at Bookers cash n carry where everything is cheap and sold in bulk. thursday i went there and bought polos, creme eggs, kitkat chunky, fizzy water (as i drink lots of this) and a few things for my mum and dad. mum comes home from holiday in spain today. the creme eggs etc all came in packs of 48 needless to say have eaten 10 or so so far!!!

I swam 4km today - took about an hour 40 as usual. I want to go running tomorrow but basically need to get to aunts for easter roast pork at 12.

I hope you enjoyed marathon pics ecetera.. :)

My comupter etc should arrive tuesday due to bank holiday delays. This will bring number of computers I have to 5 as my vodafone one has now been given back. I get very attached to these computers I guess its just loneliness :(

I could have gone out with steve n co tonite but not in the mood I want a sober night in. Just me n the tele. :)

I am putting together my equipment that I had at uni - projector etc. It is a nice projector but haven't used it in half a year or so. I need a tv card in my PC then will hook pc to cable i'll be able to have cable projected onto my wall (or a big white curtain that will stretch across the end of the room). screen size will be about 2.5m x 1.7m (bigger than a car -- HUGE).

christmas in lake district me, sarahs kid josh, beth, me, beth, me, fiona, tim, me, soup, beth.

before the running got underway.. lads were from near byfield (the village i grew up in) girl was emily who i met out in croatia. she was swimming between islands on holiday and i was sailing. out of all the buses (100 or so) trafficing people to the start we ended up sitting next to each other!

during the running. streets of ny. images, various.

oh and one of these is due at my house on thursday but of course won't be able to collect until next friday so may have to rely on my parents to collect it for me.

500 mins unlimited texts £25 a month (special deal as i spend so much with them)
http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/handset/orange_spv_m3100/detail/pay_monthly

i ran 5 miles yesterday and it was dark and raining. i remember the way the rain felt on the palms of my hands as i was so hot and it was so cool and refreshing.

i ran 5 miles today, same route. not many people about. it was nice.

awww baby orangatangs n tigers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6404425.stm

ran 5 miles saturday and swam 4km on sunday

so...

i didn't note that i ran 10miles last saturday and swam 4km on sunday.

i real tired now as i swam 4km today. i didn't run yesterday instead i went to gap in banbury then onto towcester to see my gran and give her some stones from croatia (yes i know a long time ago) and some pate that i bought back from brussels airport. very nice pate it was.

every wed nite in maastrict is student nite when most of the hot student population are found out on the town. the people are all well behaved and not like the british who are larey and violent lol. it's so true. even the french don't act like us.

so we went out on wednesday to the steak house evita (about 10 of us). i went to the gym before hand but must have forgotten to pack my runners so i had to run barefoot - the rubber gripped treadmill started to burn my feet after a km or so but i put my socks on and went for a few more (2.5 miles in total).

i want to go run now but i'm tired and i need to be up at 3 (it's 22:24 right now).

so anyway, food evita, bar on my own as none of my colleagues were up for going out this week. went to the bar and had a couple of drinks (the beer is nice out there). started talking too danielle and her 2 friends danielle and joyce. all hot of course. they all study elf science? which is nice. all the girls out there that i have met so far all study health science weird. they seem to be the girls i pick on to chat up *shrug*. danielle is learning to dance hip hop but she wouldn't dance for me haha. anyway they went i haven't txted her. and the second they left the staff from the hotel walk in and there are all 'mr tidmarsh' 'are you having a good night mr tidmarsh' i like it when emma calls me mr tidmarsh lol it shows respect :) charlie maurice emma and etian... we drank and then moved onto another club were chatted some other people moved to the next club music too loud to chat, it was ok tho. didn't get into work till 11 the next day and matt was not impressed.

so last nite was good. i'm fed up with rugby as last time i went out there (not last time but the time before) some guy hit me over the head with a bottle and head butted me a few times. it didn't hurt but thats not the point. i'm non violence and the only time i would fight would be to protect a gf.

so i need a girl. it's just wrong me living my life like this.

so last nite i went into daventry the club is smaller and more friendly. my friend emily was there. the barmaid was v good looking cute n everything but her bf picked her up. i got chatting to this girl kylie (and loads of others as well many turn out to be single mothers with bfs lol). a couple of girls were like do you work out and then they have a good feel of my body and how firm mt muscles are haha. so kylie it turns out has a gf but she works were i swim and she was sayin how she watches me swim and how i keep going when the wave machine is on and my little speedo trunks. kissed this girl (one of kylies friends) and the night was over.

i need to book my holiday dates with work for when i go yaughting oh yah i ride yaughts you no in sept. i think i may spend my other 2 weeks of holiday in the us?? not sure where yet. i wish i had a girl to go on holiday with i wish i had a girl to buy sexy lingerie for - i'd buy it in holland and bring it back for a valentines present.

i don't know whether i'm coming back next weekend i might stay out there. then again seen as a room on a sat nite seems to be £437 that might not happen.

i'm getting broadband and cable for £20 a month. 80 channels will do me just fine. considering i'm only there 1 day a week.

http://home.ntl.com/html/sorter/channels_base.html

i entered
http://www.adidashalfmarathon.co.uk/index.php

we are renting 3 cottages over christmas i think that these are them
http://www.seasonsestates.co.uk/tcdetails.html

well i've totted it all up and i have included gift aid in the offline total.

the amount i raised for children with leukeamia was £1353.58 (2566.43 USD).

https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/paulttt

met geoff yesterday at a cafe/restuarant for lunch. was really nice seeing him.

i went to the bodies exhibition and it was interesting.

i went out in the evening with jen and tim. real nice burrito place near here with loads of black lights and sangria. we went to this bar when i bought 3 double vodkas for 50 bucks - the red bull pulled it up to 60. then we went up to the roof of a building to a cool new york party with loads of business men and hot chicks.

bought some trainers from journeys and some clothes from a&f.

ok i need to now decide what i want to see and do now i'm in this beautiful city.

i'm happy that i didn't stay in a hotel though i could really do with relaxing in a hot tub right now as my legs feel a little wobbly!

i've booked helicopter (1 hour long ride) for tomorrow at 1 but will have to see how the weather is.

i want to meet up with ruth, geoff and perhaps will and emily (we were perhaps meeting last nite at 6 but i just came home and crashed out).

i would like to see:
borat
ice skating rink
grand central station
maybe see a show?

i want to go out and have a good time.

i think i will see this
http://ticketpro.net/USA/bodies/accueil_enbo.php

i need to buy:
charger for my phone as the battery is now flat
clothes (coat, jeans, tops etc)
christmas presents
a suitcase to put all my purchases in :)



it was really nice when i came back to the hostel as one of the people in my room had left me a note with their contact details and a bottle of corona to celebrate with. they've now gone off to vegas and the west coast i hope that they have a fantastic time!

there is twice as much choice here, the portions are twice as big, everything is half the price except petrol of course which is 1/5 of the price that it is in the uk. i've just been taking taxis everywhere because the cab fares start at $2.50 and i haven't had to pay more than $12 so far, of course i tip them a little bit as well. in england the meter starts at £3.00 ($6) and you'll be lucky to get in a cab and end up paying less than £20. so i'm very happy lol

hi everybody!

i ran the ny marathon (26.2 miles) and it was great!

there were people all along the way cheering the runners on and giving out sweets and drinks and freshly cut oranges.

i made it in just under 5 hours because my legs kept locking up with cramp (due to lack of sodium?). it was my first marathon so i'm just happy and proud that i made it.

i think i've raised around ₤1000 for children with leukemia.

i need to go back today and hand in my chip i couldn't see where to give it in at the end.

swam 4km at on sunday
up at 5:30 on monday ran then drove down m40 m25 m4 to sky worked till 8
tuesday 12 hour day 8 to 8
i've been coordinating things back home and have the guy still clearing the house gas man coming locks have been changed and back door secured

today we looked at properties with a view to renting in this area
this one is the general favourite
http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?md5=b6d7c1bf1709b9c11cf96afdb0483ba1&search_form=map&per_page=10&order_by=&search_type=LL&submit_type=search&inst_ref=ir_chwk000320842&resource=thumbnails
it is nice inside and has a garden

ate at the weir tonite andy and i shared the chateaubriand

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i paid 20-30 thou less than i would have paid if the house had been in good condition. he should have cleared the house as this is breach of contract.

exhaust had a hole in it so i got that replaced today. the hole causes it to use more petrol so i am saving the environment!

went for my photo with lisa earlier today. got a spare key cut for the car and splashed some rugby school kids as i drove through a puddle on the way home haha i'm evil! it was by mistake.

worked a 16 hour day on wednesday and a 12 hour day on tuesday.

thanks to home insurance @ £312
and this @ £250

congratulations!!

i am now officially poor until pay day :)

my cousin matt recently went to uganda because one of his friends is a princess of a tribe out there.

here are some of his most excellent fotos!!!

http://www.mattaranha.co.uk/bitweaver/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=16

i like the waterfall and the chicken (wrapped up in a green leaf as a gift) and i like the colours and the great expanse that is afrika.

tickling my tastebuds for africa.

i'm back in the uk.

for some reason one of my laptops isn't working.

i start a new project at sky tomorrow.

i had a very relaxing holiday with a twist at the end. the twist was a storm in which we conquered gale force 8 winds and waves as high as 2 meters. on the second to last day we were not allowed out of the marina because of the conditions but on the last day, as they wanted the boats back to kremit they instructed us to make a break for it. i loved it but many of the crew did not enjoy that last day so much. it was very exciting and i managed to get some video footage which i will youtube later.

as for running i haven't yet noted that i ran 45 mins twice while in ??. i went for a 2 hour run while moored in vodice and a half hour run on the last day upto the masts near kremit marina. i was stopped near to the mast by the sas looking guy some kind of security guard. the 2 hour run should be around 15miles.

we've stopped in lots of bays. sometimes we stop at marinas where we use lazy lines. if we stop in a bay we may anchor or use mooring buoys.

i like when lots of boats anchor in a bay because they all face the same direction and piroete around their anchors when the wind changes direction.

i ran along the quay when we stopped that stormy night in milna. i ran up the hill and circled through the town and back down to port when we moored in primosten. primosten had a really nice gentle night life unlike in england where the evenings are too cold to be enjoyable and drunken yobs rule town centre streets. real nice ice cream too.

primosten was the place with the folk singers and my awesome run along beach up to the mast on the hill where i was met by the sas looking guy. i ran this twice - the first time i also included a run right back to the pontoon where we had started. entire run beach, pontoon, mast took 1hour 1minute (22mins to pontoon in kremit and 22mins from pontoon to mast).

zirje was the place with the castle and rosa's home cooked meal. yay we now have an outboard for the dingy.

maslinica was where i swam to the island and ran barefoot (sea erchin, wrote about this before).

we stopped in skradin last nite where we ate peka, a traditional dish cooked for 2 hours in a metal dish covered with ash. skradin also had the giant £20million yacht, owned by some guy called get this 'maximillion'! we drank in the open front bar on the marina that played bob marley tunes.

the lead boat is pinta (with colin and louise). they will soon be off to the carribean to sail catamarans.

sorry if my writing is a bit disjointed, i had a couple of drinks last nite and am writing from my mobile phone.