One is not amused

 Have you ever been stretched?  No, there is not a typo in that question and I certainly don’t mean have you ever stretched yourself?  Nope, what I am asking is if you have ever been stretched by a device or a person that you've had little control over?  I learned what this is like this week and it was…an odd experience.  Before we go on, it was not with a device similar to this:

And it certainly was not in a '50 Shades of Grey' incident either:

Nope, this was a Taekwondo related incident.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that martial arts in general are physical.  The number of times I’ve been grabbed, punched, thrown or generally manhandled is in the thousands but this was different.  This was new.  This was prolonged grasping, periodically with one of my legs straddling his shoulder… in many cases, I was practically being hugged for 15 seconds.  I can handle having punches or kicks being thrown at me or being hurtled through the air like a bale of hay but this is something different altogether…I’m not used to people touching me for prolonged periods of times!  Not only that but it’s a weird sensation having your muscles moved and stretched without being in control or using my own strength.  It feels a little like I’m a marionette being pulled to full tension.  

All that said, whilst I am not keen on the idea of it, I understand why it was being done (to increase my flexibility for kicking) and will get over my un-comfort and might one day become a real boy, be able to do the splits.

Onto my other news: after three months of trying, I finally got my letter of approval for sending my wages back to the UK.  Three months of printing off documents and signing them.  Three months of visiting various banks and offices.  Three months of being told to go to the other bank or offices.  Three months of hair-tearing as I try to do the honest thing and send my money via the official channels.  Three months and it is finally over:  I got my shiny approval to send my hard-earned wages home!  The feeling of happiness was overwhelming!  Three months of sheer anxiety as I wondered if it was even possible for me to send my money home gone!  Three months of sleepless nights as I lay worrying about what I would do if my approval got rejected over!  You can only begin to imagine my relief and joy as I got the phone call then the letter…  

Then you can also imagine my feeling as this was violently torn out my hands due to circumstances that were completely out of my hands and in no-way related to me whatsoever.  I am not a happy bunny at all.  I am hoping that this has only delayed the process but I honestly don’t know.  Serves me right for trying to do the proper thing, eh?  The below GIF sums up my current mood:   

Ok, enough self-pity and rage!  I’m not a main character from a JPRG, so I can’t pull it off.  Time for the thing that has been making me bounce that little bit higher each morning and has, I’m not even ashamed to admit, has prompted the odd excited outburst from me…

I’m off to Japan

After much debate, as in several months of debate (kind of sad really – Ed), I finally decided to travel to Japan for two weeks in November with my mum.  Now, the reason I am actually mentioning this (especially as you’ve been broadcasting it continuously – Ed) is for any suggestions that you might have.  Any personal experiences or recommendations of places to visit or things to experiences are very welcome as I want to ensure that this is something I will remember forever.  I will be travelling to/visiting:

Kyoto
Tokyo
Hakone
Nikko

So send me a message or a comment if you have any suggestions and over the next few months, I will probably be drip-feeding the guide I am writing.  Then, once I have gone, I will ensure to add my own reviews of the trip, as well as document the trip itself (it is a travel blog after all…though you would be forgiven for not realizing – Ed).

Pick of the week

Jaya Travels and Tours – Ok, as travel has been mentioned this week, I thought I would mention the travel agent that The British College and I use (in Nepal).  I was first introduced to Jaya tours via The British College when they were used to book my flight home and I’ve used them for my Japan flights and my Pokhara flights.  If you send them a request, they will usually get back to you within a few hours with several flight options and then happily answer any questions you have (I usually have dozens) about the flights.  However, what really sold me on them was that they were perfectly willing to send somebody to pick up my cheque from work as I work all day!  If you need to fly in or out of Nepal, I would highly recommend Jaya Tours!  

 

Music of the week 

Going to keep this simple as I am in a bad mood.  Enjoy!:

Heaven Shall Burn - Endzeit

Linkin Park - Lies, Greed, Misery

 

Downthesun - Medicated

Ok, enough from me.  I'm off to burst a blood vessel in rage or whatever people do when they're in a bad mood.  Actually, I'll probably just have the cream cheese sandwich I forgot to take with me to work.  That sounds much nicer.