Fun Friday for 12th June 2009

It’s been getting a little warmer in Tokyo now and summer is definitely on its way at last. Now is the time to get out and enjoy the weather in Japan before it gets too hot. So last Friday I cycled from Shinjuku to Odaiba to check out the huge Gundam statue that has been built in Shiokaze Koen. It’s quite an impressive structure and they were putting the last finishing touches to it when I arrived. The scale is impressive and made the people working on it look tiny.

It’s worth a visit as you usually don’t see 30 meter tall robots in Tokyo plus it’s free. So check it out at Shiokaze Koen in Odaiba.

Apart from describing Gundam in this week’s Fun Friday Podcast, I also interviewed Patrick Widdess, somewhat of a renaissance man living in Cambridge England. He is an old chumb of mine from my days in Osaka. Patrick is involved in various creative projects including his own radio show on 209FM called Headstand, a show with an ecclectic mix of music, spoken word, interviews and live music. We also talked about life and art in Osaka and comparing the English teaching industries in Japan and the UK.

Finally, the music at the end of the Podcast was by Fatblueman a band from Nagoya. Info and links at the bottom of this post.