Highlights of 2018 - Racing On TV / 10 Years in Japan / My Most Popular Blog Posts of 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2019 is Here!

As per my blogging tradition, my first blog for the year will be highlights of the previous year,2018. Before that, I will introduce to you a place from Jamaica known as Reggae Falls!

I must admit that I had no idea that this place even existed until very recently. It is one of those "hidden treasures" in Jamaica people are saying.

This waterfalls is located in a parish of Jamaica called St. Thomas, which is pretty rural. The locals are apparently quite happy to get visitors here, as it helps them to make an income. People offer to be tour guides, baby sitters, car washers and you name it. The area is said to also be very relaxing. 

Highlights of 2018 and my most popular blog posts 

2018 is the second year of my 10 years in Japan, when I didn't leave Japan at all. The only other year was 2011 when I moved from Okayama to Yokohama. I traveled within Japan quite a bit, but didn't exit the country. 

These were my most popular posts in 2018

- 10 Years in Japan March 2018 (1900 hits)

- Highlights of 2017 January 2018 (1700 hits)

- Pass JLPT N4/WATOTO October 2018 (1450 hits)

January

Day 3488 (Family Dinner)

Monday, January 1, 2018

Started off the New Year by having dinner with my in laws, up in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, a little north of Tokyo. 

Day 3509 (Business Trip in the Snow)

Monday, January 22, 2018

Had to go on a business trip in some terrible snow, in a city called Mito in Ibaraki prefecture. 

Even the hotel room they put me in was cold. I slept with the heater on and it made little difference. Thankfully the futon was nice and warm. 

Day 3514 (Our first visitors for 2018)

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Had my (now monthly meetup) friend, his wife and his third child, over our house for lunch.

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February

Day 3527 (Racing on TV with Other Jamaican Friends)

Friday, February 9, 2018

Was on TV racing with some other Jamaicans. I came in 3rd. 

Day 3528 (My Friend of 20 Years' Baby Shower)

Saturday, February 10, 2018

My classmate at community college in 1998, and living in Japan as long as I am, had a baby shower in Chiba prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. 

Day 3529 (Cousin-in law's Wedding)

Sunday, February 11, 2018

My Wife's cousin got married and we went to the wedding. She also came to our wedding in 2015.

We then went to my workplace area in Ginza, afterwards. Wow I'm starting to look like my wife!

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March

Day 3556 (More Visitors to Our House)

Saturday, March 10, 2018

A few friends from our church came our house. Two of the kids kept heading towards the TV at every moment to wack it with their hands. hahaha.

Day 3566 (10 Years in Japan/Narita Training)

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

This day made 10 years living in Japan. What started out as an adventure trip, turned out to be the longest job I've had so far and more than half of my adult life. 

My First Picture on March 20, 2008

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April

Day 3584 (Friends from Niimi visit our House)

Saturday, April 7, 2018

My friends that I knew from when I just moved to Niimi, Okayama, came to our house today with their baby.

Day 3607 (Visit My Friend in Chiba)

Saturday, April 30, 2018

My same friend of 20 years who had the baby shower in February, we visited their home. Her mom was also visiting from Jamaica.

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May

Day 3632 (Eric's Wedding Party)

Friday, May 25, 2018

My friend from Niimi, Okayama back in the day, got married. Me and Takako went to his wedding party. 

Day 3636 (Happy Birthday Takako)

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

For my wife's birthday, I took her out to Sizzlers. Pretty expensive but really tasty food. 

And I got these cups for her.

Day 3638 (Presentation about Jamaica in Japanese)

Thursday, May 31, 2018

For the second time in my life, I did a presentation in almost full Japanese. I'm sure my grammar was a bit off here and there but hey, they got the point.

This was put on by an NGO in Japan called the Jamaica Information Center https://jamaicanpo.org/ 

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July

Day 3669 (JLPT N4 Test)

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Did the JLPT N4 test for the second time. It was a little harder than I thought. I failed it back in 2013. These were the books I used to study. 

Day 3676 (Jamaica Day on the Beach)

Sunday, July 8, 2018

For the past 4 years or so I've been performing on this beach "Morito kaigan" in Hayama, Kanagawa prefecture, just a few mins outside of Yokohama.

 

Day 3688-3689 (Visit to Hakone)

Friday-Saturday, July 20-21, 2018

Visited a very relaxing and traditional Japanese place in Kanagawa name Hakone. Me and Takako stayed at one of the ryokans (Japanese style hotel). It was so hot outside, we both thought we were going to get a heat stroke!

Day 3690 (Fare thee well Big Mike mi bredrin)

Sunday, July 22, 2018

My good friend who I met while I was living in Toyama, Big Mike, was leaving Japan for Canada with his family. So we met up for the last time in Japan.

Day 3699 (Welcome New Jamaican JETs )

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

The embassy of Jamaica in Japan had a welcome reception for the new JET ALTs coming to Japan. I was invited as a member of the Jamaicans in Japan Association (JIJ). 

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August

Day 3704 (BBQ with my Neighbors )

Sunday, August 5, 2018

My neighbors had their yearly BBQ. We invited them to use our land space to sit, eat, drink and chat. 

Day 3716 (Jamaican Summer Dinner )

Friday, August 17, 2018

Since December 2016, I've been organizing a winter dinner at the Jamaican restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo. But my director says I should also do a summer version, so I arranged it for this day. 

Day 3717 (teamLab★Planets )

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Me and Takako went to Odaiba, Tokyo to check out this TeamLab Planets thing that has been advertising on TV and social media recently. It was ok but I expected much more for the price.

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September

Day 3731 (Visit Henry and Sashalee in Chiba)

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Visited our friends in Chiba for pretty much the entire day. The same place where my other friend had her baby shower in February.

Day 3737 (Passed JLPT N4 Test)

Friday, September 7, 2018

Learnt today that I passed the N4 test. It just means that after 10 years in Japan, I can listen and read basic Japanese! I'm now studying for the N3 which is intermediate level. 

Day 3747 (JIJ and Jamaican Embassy in Japan Link up)

Monday, September 17, 2018

The Jamaicans in Japan Association and the Jamaican Embassy in Japan, put together a kind of meet and greet session for all the Jamaicans in Japan who were able to make it. The turn out was pretty good and we all had a great time! 

Day 3749 (11th Birthday in Japan)

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Today was my 11th birthday in Japan. Took the day off from work and mostly relaxed at home. Takako got a good number of my friends and family to make a short video to wish me Happy Birthday.

Day 3752-3754 (Watoto from Uganda visits in Japan)

Saturday-Monday, September 22-24, 2018

Had 3 members from a group in Uganda called "watoto" - swahili meaning "the children" stayed at our home for 2 nights. The group is actually a church that runs an orphanage for children as well as help poor moms in the area. The group goes around the world and perform along with some adults who guide them as well as teach them different subjects.

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October

Day 3787 (More Friends Over our House)

Saturday, October 27, 2018

You should be able to tell by now that we love company over. So we had some more friends over our house today.

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November

Day 3794 (Presentation on Career and Moving Forward)

Saturday, November 3, 2018

I was invited to give a 30 mins presentation on self development and self motivation kinda thing today. The group that invited me to speak was a group formed by some Jamaicans and Japanese living in Yokohama called rapconnectionsjp. It was an interesting night. 

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December

Day 3822 (Jamaica Charity Gala)

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Sashalee (whose home we visited in September) along with the JIJ and the Jamaican embassy in Japan (mostly Sashalee) organized the second annual Jamaica Gala. It was a very very interesting night and the proceeds will be going to Jamaica to help out a charity for special needs children.

Day 3828 (Jamaican Christmas Dinner #3)

Friday, December 7, 2018

I caught the cold, but I had already promised a couple people from my office that this day would be the day for our Christmas dinner at the Jamaican restaurant in Shibuya. The third Christmas dinner since 2016. 

Day 3836 (Christmas Party)

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Had a Christmas party with some Jamaicans and other friends in Japan today. It was pretty good. 

Day 3837 (Another Christmas Party)

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Went church and took some pics with Santa Clause haha

After church today, we went to a yearly Christmas party thing with my former students' family. Been doing this since I met them back in 2012. 

Day 3840 (3 Years Marriage Anniversary)

Saturday, December 19, 2018

I honestly can't believe it has already been 3 years since I got married to Takako. Which also means I haven't been back home to Jamaica in 3 years. 

Today was busy at work, so we had our Anniversary dinner on the 21st. We ate at the restaurant where we had our wedding dinner. We ate quite a bit. 

   

Day 3844 (Santa for a Day)

Sunday, December 23, 2018

So last week at church, I took pics with Santa. This week, I WAS Santa! No one could recognize me. Not even my wife! LOL

After church, a big group of us from church went to a curry restaurant. We pretty much booked out the restaurant for about 2 hours.

Day 3845 (Christmas Eve Friend's House Visit)

Monday, December 24, 2018

One of my friend's from church invited us to his house today. We had some good food, and a pretty good time together with his family and other friends.

Day 3847 (Bought a Drone)

Tuesday, December 26, 2018

Every year, I try to treat myself to a Christmas present. This year I bought a drone. Ha. Stay tuned for a story about it next blog!

Day 3848 (Testing Drone/Monthly Hangout)

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Tested the drone today to see if it was actually working properly. Boy am I getting old. I checked the camera, flew it around my house a bit and it is pretty awesome but very hard to control. Again stay tuned for a story next blog!

Today was my monthly hangout dinner thing. We ate at a Japanese style restaurant in an area of Yokohama called Kannai.

Day 3852 (Yearly End of Year with the In-Laws)

Monday, December 31, 2018

Went to Utsunomiya, Tochigi, to my wife's home town and had dinner with the family.