I came to Japan just over a year ago feeling relatively certain that I knew what Japan was all about. I'd seen images of the country in films and photographs, I'd read about their technological advances in magazines and my favourite restaurant in Melbourne was a little Japanese place down the road. It'll blow your mind, but I have to tell you something... The "real" Japan ain't nothing like the Western world thinks it is.
Myth # 1 - A Proliferation of Technology
Globally, Japan seems to hold a bit of a reputation as the world leader in quirky electronics and innovative technologies. Stories of crazy robots and fancy phones are on the news all the time, painting Japan as a powerhouse of the industry. So when I came to Japan, I was expecting a certain level of 'techiness' - that I just didn't end up seeing! I thought my house would be filled with innovative technologies that would make my life easier, that my school would use laptops/projectors/flatscreen TVs as part of the daily classroom culture, that all toilets would be those funky talking contraptions and that tech would be super cheap to buy in stores. But, alas, that was not the case. The mundane machines in my house merely confused me (fancy operating a washing machine or microwave that is only labelled in kanji?), my school owns that kind of equipment but NEVER uses it in the classroom, the majority of the toilets here are of the squat variety and electronics don't really seem any cheaper here than elsewhere in the world. To say I was disappointed was an understatement, but I am looking forward to doing some further research into this area when I visit Tokyo next month.
Myth # 2 - Skylines and Drift Racing
Let me let you in on a little secret... the cars in Japan are crap. Roads in Japan are TINY - I'm talking hardly big enough for one car to pass through, let alone two and people often have to stop to give way to oncoming traffic because there is nowhere else to go - and as a result, the cars they drive are TINY too. These small cars are known as 'kei-cars' (pronounced kay-cars) and they feature yellow number plates to distinguish them as having an engine no bigger than your average lawnmower. Many people drive these small, boxy cars because they are cheaper to license than your average regular-sized engine car, they fit on the tiny roads and because the speed limits on just about every road here caps out at 60km/ph anyway. Not once have I seen a Nissan Skyline or a Mitsubishi Lancer or any of the cars that are so famously Japanese back home. In fact, so unusual are the Japanese makes and models we're used to seeing on the roads in Australia that you can imagine my surprise at seeing a Toyota Landcruiser or Hilux Surf roll by occasionally. And as for drift racing...? Sorry guys, but I ain't seen anything even remotely like it yet.
Myth # 3 - Sushi Roll Heaven
In Australia I loved Japanese food and in the lead up to this whole moving-overseas-adventure I ate more of it than you could possibly believe. And then I moved to Japan. And I discovered that the "Japanese food" we get in Australia isn't really Japanese food at all. In Melbourne I was chowing down on melt-in-your-mouth salmon sashimi - in Japan, I can barely find it, let alone order it at a restaurant. Sashimi is just not like that here. More popular are several varieties of whitefish sashimi or the ubiquitous tuna sashimi. At home too I'd often pop into Oki2Go and grab a takeaway six-pack of California rolls for lunch - in Japan, sushi rolls don't exist and if you can manage to find them, they are filled with weird ingredients like raw squid or wasabi tuna. Sushi here is of the 'nigiri' variety - that is, a small rectangle of pressed rice with (usually) a piece of raw fish draped across the top. Rolled sushi is not very common here at all. Unfortunately, in Oz I might've described Japanese food as delicate and tasty. In Japan I'd be more likely to go with raw and chewy. And that's not even to mention the drama that becomes grocery shopping. Though this is a subject I shall detail in a later post, imagine for a moment if you will, going to a supermarket and not being able to read any of the labels on the food, not being able to find even the most basic of ingredients and having your senses assaulted by all numbers of eyes staring back at you from within packaging... Call me crazy, but I like Australian-Japanese food better than (almost) anything available to me in this country. Sigh.
Myth # 4 - Wacky Ads and Crazy Gameshows
When I came to Japan I was expecting to turn on the television and see all of those advertisements that are apparently made by famous Western celebrities for the Japanese market. So far I have only once or twice seen Tommy Lee Jones in a canned coffee commercial and Australian model Miranda Kerr in an iced tea advert. Despite the rumours, there's none of the cheesy Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise ads that I thought were splashed around TV here. No Scarlett Johanssen or Julia Roberts spruiking products on Japanese TV. No dramatic billboards or celeb names up in neon lights. In fact, when it comes to showing Hollywood films in this country, Japan is maddeningly behind the times (often screening films a full 6 months or more after their release dates in the Western world).
The other thing I was hoping to see on TV when I got here was endless varieties of those crazy Japanese gameshows that you hear about. You know the ones where people have to wear skin-tight lycra bodysuits and shoot themselves out of slingshots into a pool of jelly..? Well there's none of that. They just don't make them anymore apparently. Instead if you turn on the television you'll see Japanese pop stars trying on quirky clothes to elicit a chorus of "ooooooh, sugoi" (oh, wow) from the judging panel. Or interview talk shows featuring a food section in which panel members repeatedly exclaim "mmm, oishii" (mmm, delicious) over and over again. Needless to say, I don't really watch much TV these days.
Myth # 5 - Awareness of the Outside World
Constantly I am surprised to note that many of my students, friends or colleagues from Japan have no idea about things going on in the outside world. The best example of this is probably the fact that my students still reference Michael Jackson as a current pop icon from the West. Lady Gaga is the second most popular cultural icon but beyond that Western pop culture isn't really recognised here. Pirates of the Caribbean is still a talked about film, none of my students own CDs or use the internet and my teachers are often surprised when I am able to download a worksheet from an educational website and present it to them 5-minutes later for approval. Maybe it's my lack of communication skills that makes it seem this way, but I swear the majority of people here are largely sheltered from the all-pervasive, highly-popular cultures and past-times of the rest of the world.
Friday 27 July 2012
Tuesday 24 July 2012
My One Year Japanniversary
July 24th marks my one-year anniversary living in Japan! I have to say, having decided before I departed Melbourne that I would 100% only be staying for one year, it is a strange feeling to know that I have completed one contract and am still staring down the barrel of a whole year to go. Most times I miss my friends and family and Australian life so much that I can hardly believe I willingly recontracted to stay another year. But then I think about all of the things that I have been afforded the opportunity to do in Japan (and all of the things that I still want to see and do while I'm here) and the decision doesn't seem so crazy after all...
My one year in this beautiful and often bewildering country has been busy and dare I say it adventurous, to say the least. I have wandered lost around Tokyo, partied in Kobe, made new friends from all around the globe, seen it snow and celebrated a cold Christmas. I have travelled to Osaka and Nagoya and Hokkaido and abroad to Malaysia. I have met up with a friend in the rain in Kyoto, sang more karaoke than I care to admit, gone zorbing, visited the mysterious mountain regions of my prefecture and become friends with a handful of cool people in my neighbourhood. I have eaten a lot of weird food (raw horse or poisonous puffer fish anyone?), stuffed my face full of crab and lamb, downed sake under the pink blossoms of the cherry trees and introduced my mates to Triple J's Hottest 100, kangaroo meat and VB beer on Australia Day. I have read Australian poetry to an entire school full of children and German poetry to a 30-strong group of my colleagues in a cabin in the woods. I have been whitewater rafting, visited more than 30 Buddhist temples and danced in one of the biggest dance festivals in the world. I have sweated buckets and been bored shitless and encountered way more creepy bugs than I ever thought possible. I have studied Japanese, attended drinking parties with my colleagues and gone with them on a day trip to Amanohashidate (one of the top three sights in Japan). I have helped to start up a charity, given presents to orphans at Christmas, thrown parties and organised a black tie ball. I have had 12 x-rays, bumbled my way through a million conversations in a language that isn't my own and been in two car accidents. In the classroom I've played English games with my students and in the playground I've taught them how to play footy. I've bought a lounge suite, a laptop and my own DSLR camera. I've drunk more beer, fake beer, whiskey and umeshu than I can even begin to count. I've gotten a Japanese drivers license, ridden the shinkansen and had a mouthful of someone else's booze sprayed all over me in a packed train. And I've laughed and I've cried and I've used way too many squat toilets for my liking.
Yes, my one year in Japan has been amazing. And though I am often homesick and wondering why the bloody hell I decided to stay, I hope that my second year will be more of the same.
My one year in this beautiful and often bewildering country has been busy and dare I say it adventurous, to say the least. I have wandered lost around Tokyo, partied in Kobe, made new friends from all around the globe, seen it snow and celebrated a cold Christmas. I have travelled to Osaka and Nagoya and Hokkaido and abroad to Malaysia. I have met up with a friend in the rain in Kyoto, sang more karaoke than I care to admit, gone zorbing, visited the mysterious mountain regions of my prefecture and become friends with a handful of cool people in my neighbourhood. I have eaten a lot of weird food (raw horse or poisonous puffer fish anyone?), stuffed my face full of crab and lamb, downed sake under the pink blossoms of the cherry trees and introduced my mates to Triple J's Hottest 100, kangaroo meat and VB beer on Australia Day. I have read Australian poetry to an entire school full of children and German poetry to a 30-strong group of my colleagues in a cabin in the woods. I have been whitewater rafting, visited more than 30 Buddhist temples and danced in one of the biggest dance festivals in the world. I have sweated buckets and been bored shitless and encountered way more creepy bugs than I ever thought possible. I have studied Japanese, attended drinking parties with my colleagues and gone with them on a day trip to Amanohashidate (one of the top three sights in Japan). I have helped to start up a charity, given presents to orphans at Christmas, thrown parties and organised a black tie ball. I have had 12 x-rays, bumbled my way through a million conversations in a language that isn't my own and been in two car accidents. In the classroom I've played English games with my students and in the playground I've taught them how to play footy. I've bought a lounge suite, a laptop and my own DSLR camera. I've drunk more beer, fake beer, whiskey and umeshu than I can even begin to count. I've gotten a Japanese drivers license, ridden the shinkansen and had a mouthful of someone else's booze sprayed all over me in a packed train. And I've laughed and I've cried and I've used way too many squat toilets for my liking.
Yes, my one year in Japan has been amazing. And though I am often homesick and wondering why the bloody hell I decided to stay, I hope that my second year will be more of the same.
Tuesday 17 July 2012
Tokushima Black Tie Ball
On Saturday 14th July my friend Lisa and I hosted the first Tokushima Black Tie Ball at the fancy Hotel Clement.
Inspired by large gala-style work functions from my past, some time ago I dreamed up the idea of hosting a glitzy Black Tie Ball in Tokushima for my friends and colleagues. Initially I had wanted to have the event on 7/7 and roll with a glamorous James Bond-esque theme but unfortunately, in Japan, Tanabata Festival is celebrated on this day and all suitable venues were already fully booked! We decided to have the event the following weekend instead (admittedly without realising it was a long weekend!) and contacted the Hotel Clement to book the Grand Ballroom.
Our expectations were a little high to begin with and we quoted the Clement numbers of around 100. We also discussed food and drink packages, entertainment/decoration options and deadlines. Not being able to speak Japanese was a major challenge, but luckily we were able to enlist the services of a trusty friend who helped us along every step of the way!
Next we moved onto marketing the event. We had posters made up, tickets printed and created a facebook page. We invited fellow ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) and our Japanese friends to come along. Unfortunately, by the time our RSVP deadline rolled around we only had 30 or so people interested in attending the event and so with those numbers we went back to the event organisers at the Hotel Clement. They were a little surprised to see such few in attendance, but cheerfully helped us to lock in the details of the night.
At 7pm on Saturday night, we kicked off the event. The Hotel Clement had laid out the Grand Ballroom superbly, making a black baby grand piano the centre-piece to our room. Guests arrived dressed in their finest and everybody looked amazing. The first 20 or so minutes were spent taking pictures, choosing seats and catching up with everyone.
At 7.20pm Lisa and I took to the microphone to welcome our guests and make a few short speeches/toasts. The bar opened at promptly half 7 and our first course arrived soon after. I didn't have the forethought to take pictures of each course - delicious as it was - but here is a rough idea of our menu:
Inspired by large gala-style work functions from my past, some time ago I dreamed up the idea of hosting a glitzy Black Tie Ball in Tokushima for my friends and colleagues. Initially I had wanted to have the event on 7/7 and roll with a glamorous James Bond-esque theme but unfortunately, in Japan, Tanabata Festival is celebrated on this day and all suitable venues were already fully booked! We decided to have the event the following weekend instead (admittedly without realising it was a long weekend!) and contacted the Hotel Clement to book the Grand Ballroom.
Our expectations were a little high to begin with and we quoted the Clement numbers of around 100. We also discussed food and drink packages, entertainment/decoration options and deadlines. Not being able to speak Japanese was a major challenge, but luckily we were able to enlist the services of a trusty friend who helped us along every step of the way!
Next we moved onto marketing the event. We had posters made up, tickets printed and created a facebook page. We invited fellow ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) and our Japanese friends to come along. Unfortunately, by the time our RSVP deadline rolled around we only had 30 or so people interested in attending the event and so with those numbers we went back to the event organisers at the Hotel Clement. They were a little surprised to see such few in attendance, but cheerfully helped us to lock in the details of the night.
At 7pm on Saturday night, we kicked off the event. The Hotel Clement had laid out the Grand Ballroom superbly, making a black baby grand piano the centre-piece to our room. Guests arrived dressed in their finest and everybody looked amazing. The first 20 or so minutes were spent taking pictures, choosing seats and catching up with everyone.
At 7.20pm Lisa and I took to the microphone to welcome our guests and make a few short speeches/toasts. The bar opened at promptly half 7 and our first course arrived soon after. I didn't have the forethought to take pictures of each course - delicious as it was - but here is a rough idea of our menu:
First course: pate square with crisp vegetable slices + fresh bread and butter
Second course: salmon sashimi with fresh salsa and cucumber shavings
Third course: creamy potato soup + fresh bread and butter
Fourth course: baked fish fillet with creamy vegetable salsa
Fifth course: medium-rare steak fillet slices with steamed vegetables and gravy
Sixth course: three-layered sponge cake with fresh fruit slices
Seventh course: coffee/tea
So the drinks were flowing, the food was beautiful and the service was top-notch - next up, the entertainment... Two fellow ALTs kindly offered their musical services to us for the night and wowed the crowd with their performances. Michael played a few songs on the baby grand piano first, followed by Anthony who took to the stage to belt out a few tunes on his bagpipes. Both guys put on quite an impressive show with each finishing their "set" to rapturous applause.
The open bar wound up at 9.30pm and with the event set to close at 10 o'clock it was time for one last round of photos and table-hopping. Lisa and I took to the mic one last time to say our thanks before posing with everyone on stage for what seemed like a million group photographs.
Overall the night was a raging success. Everyone had fun, everyone looked gorgeous, the food was sublime, the drinks kept coming and the staff at Hotel Clement did everything they could to ensure the night went smoothly. I had a fabulous time and I can't wait to attend again next year - just remind me not to try organising it second time round!
The table settings at Tokushima Black Tie Ball
From L-R: Me, Danielle, Lisa, Ashleigh and Sam
Striking the quintessential Japanese pose with Takuya
Michael playing a few songs on the Baby Grand Piano
Wednesday 11 July 2012
A Trip To The Doctors
As you would expect, it's not all that easy for a foreigner to visit a doctor in the inaka (countryside). I would argue that communication is the biggest barrier in accessing healthcare, followed at a close second by red-tape.
In Australia if I felt the need to see a doctor, it would simply be a matter of phoning in sick for work and then making an appointment. In Japan however, sick leave (or byoukyuu) is relatively uncommon and accessing it is even harder! It requires approval from the school Principal, BOE approval and documentation from a medical institution - even just for one day! Secondly, the system works a little differently here and if you find yourself needing the services of a doctor, you generally need to head to the hospital to be looked at (as this is where most of the doctors hide!).
Realising, last fortnight, that I needed to see a doctor set in motion for me a rather long winded process. First I had to ask my supervisor to come with me* - telling her what was wrong and trying to find suitable common free-time. Next I had to inform my school and teachers that I was going to be absent for the day and that I would be taking the time off as sick leave, papers pending. Then we had to figure which hospital and what time to go. Here too, there are many types of medical institutions to deal with particular ailments. Some hospitals are general purpose and can deal with most issues, but others specialise in areas like dermatology or pregnancy or health checks only for example.
Having set our sights on Tuesday afternoon, my supervisor phoned the local hospital to be sure I could be treated there only to discover that that hospital stops taking walk-ins after 11am. Unable to make Tuesday morning at such late notice, we rescheduled for the following week and agreed to meet up in the lobby at 8.15am.
The time arrives and I am greeted by a chorus of "ohaiyo gozaimasu"s by every person to pass me as I wait for my supervisor. Finally I see her strolling across the carpark and we enter the hospital together, headed for the check-in desk. A few forms later (all in kanji mind you) and I have been registered as a new patient to the hospital, my file prepared and ready to go. We take directions from the nurse and head to the General Ailment section, where we take a seat and begin the wait.
Two hours and two-dozen-people-in-before-me later and my name finally gets called. I enter through a set of sliding doors and am greeted by a young, Japanese, male doctor - the look on his face is priceless as he realises today he'll be treating a gaikoku-jin (foreigner). My supervisor introduces us and so begins the three-way conversation regarding symptoms, past medical history and my general daily habits. Fairly quickly the doctor realises he will need to refer me to another department and with that we are ushered out of the office, around the corner and into another sterile room. I sit on the bed, replying to the ageing nurse in broken Japanese and occasionally looking towards my supervisor for a bail out. The specialist arrives shortly and I am delighted to discover that she speaks quite passable English and that I am able to converse with her satisfactorily without a translator! I get thoroughly checked out (even the young male doctor comes across to have a gander) and within 30 or so minutes am back waiting at my original seat for the finalised paperwork.
The news is good and the specialist brings me my "discharge papers" herself, instructing me to come back in 3 months (on a Wednesday next time so I can see her without delay) before bidding me "odaijini" (or get better soon). My supervisor and I walk back to the check-in counter, hand over the papers and my bill is charged up. Despite accessing today's medical services without first filing for an insurance claim, my bill comes to a total of 1860 yen or roughly 25AUD. Bargain. I pay the nurses at the register and we take leave.
Before parting ways my supervisor tells me that I need to forward the papers to my Principal (so that I can get his stamp of approval for the sick leave), who should then forward the papers to the BOE (so that they too can give my leave the stamp of approval). She tells me that she will call me when the hospital calls her with my results and finally, at 12.30pm, we say our goodbyes.
Overall, this visit to the hospital wasn't too stressful and I was lucky enough to be able to get everything sorted out in the one go. I can only imagine how hard the process would be to complete successfully had I not had a native-Japanese-speaker accompanying me. I guess the upside to the system here is that having been referred by the initial doctor to a specialist, I was only a short walk around the corner from seeing her and I was able to get looked at all in the same day. The price was also drastically less than I thought it would be and as a result I have decided not to bother claiming these costs back on my insurance now either. The downside of course is having to semi-self-diagnose yourself just to make sure you go to the right place and having a non-appointment system that allows for blowouts in waiting time. All in all, only a mildly awkward, albeit arduous experience and one that I hope not to navigate through again anytime soon!
* Usually I would ask one of my Japanese-speaking friends to accompany me, but alas, he is on holidays at this very moment.
In Australia if I felt the need to see a doctor, it would simply be a matter of phoning in sick for work and then making an appointment. In Japan however, sick leave (or byoukyuu) is relatively uncommon and accessing it is even harder! It requires approval from the school Principal, BOE approval and documentation from a medical institution - even just for one day! Secondly, the system works a little differently here and if you find yourself needing the services of a doctor, you generally need to head to the hospital to be looked at (as this is where most of the doctors hide!).
Realising, last fortnight, that I needed to see a doctor set in motion for me a rather long winded process. First I had to ask my supervisor to come with me* - telling her what was wrong and trying to find suitable common free-time. Next I had to inform my school and teachers that I was going to be absent for the day and that I would be taking the time off as sick leave, papers pending. Then we had to figure which hospital and what time to go. Here too, there are many types of medical institutions to deal with particular ailments. Some hospitals are general purpose and can deal with most issues, but others specialise in areas like dermatology or pregnancy or health checks only for example.
Having set our sights on Tuesday afternoon, my supervisor phoned the local hospital to be sure I could be treated there only to discover that that hospital stops taking walk-ins after 11am. Unable to make Tuesday morning at such late notice, we rescheduled for the following week and agreed to meet up in the lobby at 8.15am.
The time arrives and I am greeted by a chorus of "ohaiyo gozaimasu"s by every person to pass me as I wait for my supervisor. Finally I see her strolling across the carpark and we enter the hospital together, headed for the check-in desk. A few forms later (all in kanji mind you) and I have been registered as a new patient to the hospital, my file prepared and ready to go. We take directions from the nurse and head to the General Ailment section, where we take a seat and begin the wait.
Two hours and two-dozen-people-in-before-me later and my name finally gets called. I enter through a set of sliding doors and am greeted by a young, Japanese, male doctor - the look on his face is priceless as he realises today he'll be treating a gaikoku-jin (foreigner). My supervisor introduces us and so begins the three-way conversation regarding symptoms, past medical history and my general daily habits. Fairly quickly the doctor realises he will need to refer me to another department and with that we are ushered out of the office, around the corner and into another sterile room. I sit on the bed, replying to the ageing nurse in broken Japanese and occasionally looking towards my supervisor for a bail out. The specialist arrives shortly and I am delighted to discover that she speaks quite passable English and that I am able to converse with her satisfactorily without a translator! I get thoroughly checked out (even the young male doctor comes across to have a gander) and within 30 or so minutes am back waiting at my original seat for the finalised paperwork.
The news is good and the specialist brings me my "discharge papers" herself, instructing me to come back in 3 months (on a Wednesday next time so I can see her without delay) before bidding me "odaijini" (or get better soon). My supervisor and I walk back to the check-in counter, hand over the papers and my bill is charged up. Despite accessing today's medical services without first filing for an insurance claim, my bill comes to a total of 1860 yen or roughly 25AUD. Bargain. I pay the nurses at the register and we take leave.
Before parting ways my supervisor tells me that I need to forward the papers to my Principal (so that I can get his stamp of approval for the sick leave), who should then forward the papers to the BOE (so that they too can give my leave the stamp of approval). She tells me that she will call me when the hospital calls her with my results and finally, at 12.30pm, we say our goodbyes.
Overall, this visit to the hospital wasn't too stressful and I was lucky enough to be able to get everything sorted out in the one go. I can only imagine how hard the process would be to complete successfully had I not had a native-Japanese-speaker accompanying me. I guess the upside to the system here is that having been referred by the initial doctor to a specialist, I was only a short walk around the corner from seeing her and I was able to get looked at all in the same day. The price was also drastically less than I thought it would be and as a result I have decided not to bother claiming these costs back on my insurance now either. The downside of course is having to semi-self-diagnose yourself just to make sure you go to the right place and having a non-appointment system that allows for blowouts in waiting time. All in all, only a mildly awkward, albeit arduous experience and one that I hope not to navigate through again anytime soon!
* Usually I would ask one of my Japanese-speaking friends to accompany me, but alas, he is on holidays at this very moment.
Monday 9 July 2012
Sayonara Party
This past weekend AJET hosted its annual Sayonara Party - a night where we all gather to farewell our leaving friends and generally engage in drunken debauchery. This year, as every other, the party was held at a campsite/chalet by the river in Kamiyama.
Kamiyama is nestled in the mountains of Tokushima, about an hours drive from the city. Folks started arriving from about 4pm onwards The early birds got a head start on lighting the barbeques and the beer began to flow freely. My friends and I arrived at 5.30pm with just enough daylight left to have a wander around the site and unpack the car.
Accommodations at the site were basic, with all 35 of us crashing out on the futon-covered floor of one giant tatami (Japanese straw matting) room. The bathrooms were a little dodgy and the bug population was out of control. The BBQ area was, thankfully, undercover and as the sausages were grilled this is where most of us ended up. I had received a Meat Guy* delivery order the week before and as a result got to enjoy some otherwise-impossible-to-find-in-Japan herbed Irish breakfast sausages for my dinner.
With everyone fed the time had come for the annual Sayonara Party Sumo Tournament and those that had signed up sat nervously around the edges of the room as the judges assembled a sumo ring made of futons. Once the rules had been explained, the first two girls faced off against each other - a battle lasting a mere 30 seconds! To be fair, it didn't look too hard to push your competitor out of a ring of sliding futons... Next up was the boys round and play continued this way until everyone had battled. Sumo supremacy was won by an American guy called "Broc" and the ladies final was taken out by Welsh "Bella". Both winners received prizes and earned the title of "Sumo Champion 2012" amongst the JETs.
Wrestling over, everyone filed back outside and soon enough it was time for cigars and fireworks on the riverbed. A group of about 10 of us fired up our stogies and glowsticks/fire crackers were passed around. The next hour or so passed in a loud, smoky haze as everyone let off their fireworks and ran around on the rockbed with sparklers. Once we were out of firepower, most of us headed back up to the BBQ area to chillax, chat and get our drink on!
There was some talk of a midnight skinny-dip in the river, but once the willing participants had assembled by the riverside, it was decided that the current was a little too strong this year and that indeed too much booze had already been consumed for the activity to be safely viable. We settled for standing around chatting instead, as one by one people started filtering off to bed. The last of us crashed out at 6am - which considering the 10am checkout time, was not the greatest of ideas.
It was a great night though and a fun way to send off some of the dear friends I have made this year. For some of them, Sayonara Party will be the last time we'll see each other in Japan and that thought alone is rather sad. Of course there are a couple of others that I will see in the next few coming weekends, before they leave Tokushima (and/or Japan) for good at the start of August.
*The Meat Guy is an imported meat delivery service based in Nagoya, Japan. You can order products from the Meat Guy online and have it cash-on-delivery cold-shipped to your door. You can get a whole range of products from the Meat Guy such as Aussie beef steaks, American steaks, sausages, meat pies, whole turkeys/ducks and chickens, sides of roast meat, kangaroo steaks, pork chops, hamburger patties, pita bread, guacamole, sauces and more. The downside is that it can be a tad expensive, so it's definitely just a treat for special occasions or when you are feeling that little bit homesick!
Kamiyama is nestled in the mountains of Tokushima, about an hours drive from the city. Folks started arriving from about 4pm onwards The early birds got a head start on lighting the barbeques and the beer began to flow freely. My friends and I arrived at 5.30pm with just enough daylight left to have a wander around the site and unpack the car.
Accommodations at the site were basic, with all 35 of us crashing out on the futon-covered floor of one giant tatami (Japanese straw matting) room. The bathrooms were a little dodgy and the bug population was out of control. The BBQ area was, thankfully, undercover and as the sausages were grilled this is where most of us ended up. I had received a Meat Guy* delivery order the week before and as a result got to enjoy some otherwise-impossible-to-find-in-Japan herbed Irish breakfast sausages for my dinner.
With everyone fed the time had come for the annual Sayonara Party Sumo Tournament and those that had signed up sat nervously around the edges of the room as the judges assembled a sumo ring made of futons. Once the rules had been explained, the first two girls faced off against each other - a battle lasting a mere 30 seconds! To be fair, it didn't look too hard to push your competitor out of a ring of sliding futons... Next up was the boys round and play continued this way until everyone had battled. Sumo supremacy was won by an American guy called "Broc" and the ladies final was taken out by Welsh "Bella". Both winners received prizes and earned the title of "Sumo Champion 2012" amongst the JETs.
Wrestling over, everyone filed back outside and soon enough it was time for cigars and fireworks on the riverbed. A group of about 10 of us fired up our stogies and glowsticks/fire crackers were passed around. The next hour or so passed in a loud, smoky haze as everyone let off their fireworks and ran around on the rockbed with sparklers. Once we were out of firepower, most of us headed back up to the BBQ area to chillax, chat and get our drink on!
There was some talk of a midnight skinny-dip in the river, but once the willing participants had assembled by the riverside, it was decided that the current was a little too strong this year and that indeed too much booze had already been consumed for the activity to be safely viable. We settled for standing around chatting instead, as one by one people started filtering off to bed. The last of us crashed out at 6am - which considering the 10am checkout time, was not the greatest of ideas.
It was a great night though and a fun way to send off some of the dear friends I have made this year. For some of them, Sayonara Party will be the last time we'll see each other in Japan and that thought alone is rather sad. Of course there are a couple of others that I will see in the next few coming weekends, before they leave Tokushima (and/or Japan) for good at the start of August.
*The Meat Guy is an imported meat delivery service based in Nagoya, Japan. You can order products from the Meat Guy online and have it cash-on-delivery cold-shipped to your door. You can get a whole range of products from the Meat Guy such as Aussie beef steaks, American steaks, sausages, meat pies, whole turkeys/ducks and chickens, sides of roast meat, kangaroo steaks, pork chops, hamburger patties, pita bread, guacamole, sauces and more. The downside is that it can be a tad expensive, so it's definitely just a treat for special occasions or when you are feeling that little bit homesick!
Friday 6 July 2012
"I Love You" and Other Random Utterings by my Students
Sometimes my students say and do the funniest things. Oftentimes it is a result of some hilarious Engrish they've got going on, but at other times I can tell they are purposely trying to be funny.
Take the time when a group of second-year JHS boys all told me they loved me through their giggles. Or the kid whose name tag reads "Peanut Butter". Or another with "Jack Sparrow" and a third with "Beautiful Horse" (which, to his credit is an alternative reading to the kanji in his name). Or the kid who said "Oh My God" with a horrendous American accent every time he saw me for a good 3 months. Or the kid who stands up in class and answers the question how's the weather today? with "sushi".
Sometimes it's all you can do not to laugh out loud.
Take the time when a group of second-year JHS boys all told me they loved me through their giggles. Or the kid whose name tag reads "Peanut Butter". Or another with "Jack Sparrow" and a third with "Beautiful Horse" (which, to his credit is an alternative reading to the kanji in his name). Or the kid who said "Oh My God" with a horrendous American accent every time he saw me for a good 3 months. Or the kid who stands up in class and answers the question how's the weather today? with "sushi".
Sometimes it's all you can do not to laugh out loud.
The Shikoku 88-temple Pilgrimage
Spread across the island of Shikoku are 88 Buddhist temples located at sites apparently visited by a monk named Kobo Daishi in the late 700s. Kobo Daishi was said to have been born in Shikoku (actually at the site of Temple 75, Zentsu-ji) though he travelled to China as a young man where he studied esoterica and religion. Upon his return to Japan, he was instrumental in educating others about Buddhism and is said to have established several of the temples on this route.
It is considered lucky and a demonstration of great faith for "pilgrims" to pray at each temple. The order in which you visit the temples is considered irrelevant these days as is your mode of transport. In the past however, it was said that the temples in each of Shikoku's four provinces represented a different stage on the path to enlightenment - awakening, discipline, enlightenment and nirvana. It also used to be that pilgrims would walk from temple to temple - a journey that would take even the most zealous pilgrim close to 3 months to complete - but these days pilgrims often drive or bus between temples and visit them on a staggered schedule rather than all in one go.
Pilgrims are known in Japan as "henro" and can often be spotted wearing a white cotton vest over their clothes, a conical straw hat, clutching at prayer beads and rocking a hiking stick. While it is popular for people to don these outfits (mostly to indicate to others that you are a "henro"), they are not required garb. Each item can generally be purchased at the office/shop of every temple. Also for sale at the temple shop are fabric bound books that you can use to record your journey. Once you have purchased the book, it is possible to collect (for a price of course - roughly 300yen) calligraphies or "stamps" from each temple that you visit.
I bought myself one of these books and have been visiting as many temples as I can in order to collect the stamps! Of 88 temples, I have made it to roughly 35 of them. I have almost completed the list of temples in Tokushima, but I still need to visit those situated in the other prefectures - Kochi, Kagawa and Ehime. I am a casual henro - I don't wear the outfit, I drive from place to place on random days when I can find the time and I don't perform any prayers at each temple. Instead, I like to reflect on the beauty of the temple grounds, take pictures and watch the temple staff draw their calligraphies in my book. My goal is to complete the pilgrimage before I leave Japan, which gives me just over a year to visit some 50+ temples!
Statue of Kobe Daishi at Temple 17
It is considered lucky and a demonstration of great faith for "pilgrims" to pray at each temple. The order in which you visit the temples is considered irrelevant these days as is your mode of transport. In the past however, it was said that the temples in each of Shikoku's four provinces represented a different stage on the path to enlightenment - awakening, discipline, enlightenment and nirvana. It also used to be that pilgrims would walk from temple to temple - a journey that would take even the most zealous pilgrim close to 3 months to complete - but these days pilgrims often drive or bus between temples and visit them on a staggered schedule rather than all in one go.
Upon arrival at the temple, a pilgrim is supposed to wash his hands and face by using the little "spoons" to scoop up water from a small well.
Pilgrims are known in Japan as "henro" and can often be spotted wearing a white cotton vest over their clothes, a conical straw hat, clutching at prayer beads and rocking a hiking stick. While it is popular for people to don these outfits (mostly to indicate to others that you are a "henro"), they are not required garb. Each item can generally be purchased at the office/shop of every temple. Also for sale at the temple shop are fabric bound books that you can use to record your journey. Once you have purchased the book, it is possible to collect (for a price of course - roughly 300yen) calligraphies or "stamps" from each temple that you visit.
I bought myself one of these books and have been visiting as many temples as I can in order to collect the stamps! Of 88 temples, I have made it to roughly 35 of them. I have almost completed the list of temples in Tokushima, but I still need to visit those situated in the other prefectures - Kochi, Kagawa and Ehime. I am a casual henro - I don't wear the outfit, I drive from place to place on random days when I can find the time and I don't perform any prayers at each temple. Instead, I like to reflect on the beauty of the temple grounds, take pictures and watch the temple staff draw their calligraphies in my book. My goal is to complete the pilgrimage before I leave Japan, which gives me just over a year to visit some 50+ temples!
You can ring this giant bell before commencing your prayers to signal your arrival at the temple - but so far I haven't been brave enough to draw the extra attention to myself!
Hundreds of mini statues at the foot of the temple stairs.
An information placard about the temple.
Taking a break at the top of the temple stairs, overlooking the gardens below.
One of the many stone pillars in the temple grounds.
Hidden amongst the foliage...
Thursday 5 July 2012
Memos, Red Tape and Illiteracy
In Australia I was a voracious reader. I would often have 2 or 3 books on the go at any one time, read Saturday's newspaper over several lattes on the St Kilda coffee strip and even excitedly read the brochures that landed in my letterbox. Since coming to Japan however, I have hardly read at all. Mostly this is because English language materials are relatively hard to come by AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS IN JAPANESE.
Now, I knew coming here that I would essentially be illiterate. I cannot read kanji and am still struggling with retaining hiragana and katakana long enough for it to be useful. This means that I cannot read: street signs, menus, notes that are left on my desk, important documents and paperwork, contracts, newspapers, magazines, food labels, the buttons on my microwave or washing machine, the prompts on my TV or work laptop, remote controls, sales brochures, warning notices, worksheets, books, newsletters, coupons, vouchers, questionnaires or memos.
Every day a daily schedule memo is placed on the desks of all the teachers in the staffroom, mine included. It has gotten to a point now where I can recognise this as the daily schedule and occasionally get the gist of what's going down that day, but for the most part, memos that land on my desk are a complete mystery to me. As a result I have missed doctors appointments, not been aware that there was a whole school assembly going on, been surprised at having to work on occasional weekends without notice. Sometimes it seems that my colleagues forget the fact that I cannot read and write, that I am usually pretty clueless about what is happening on a daily basis and that this is very frustrating!
This also means that I am often forced to bring mail and other documentation into work for my JTEs to translate for me. You can't imagine how many bills I've received and just looked at thinking, what the hell is this about? Ditto for communicating via the written word - my JTEs have gotten very good at jotting down notes for me to hand over to people in lieu of verbal communication.
Don't get me wrong, I am studying Japanese - I just find retaining anything I have "learnt" to be a bit of a challenge. The eventual goal is to be able to carry a conversation and get by without assistance before I depart this strange land. Will I get there? Who knows. Only time will tell.
Now, I knew coming here that I would essentially be illiterate. I cannot read kanji and am still struggling with retaining hiragana and katakana long enough for it to be useful. This means that I cannot read: street signs, menus, notes that are left on my desk, important documents and paperwork, contracts, newspapers, magazines, food labels, the buttons on my microwave or washing machine, the prompts on my TV or work laptop, remote controls, sales brochures, warning notices, worksheets, books, newsletters, coupons, vouchers, questionnaires or memos.
Every day a daily schedule memo is placed on the desks of all the teachers in the staffroom, mine included. It has gotten to a point now where I can recognise this as the daily schedule and occasionally get the gist of what's going down that day, but for the most part, memos that land on my desk are a complete mystery to me. As a result I have missed doctors appointments, not been aware that there was a whole school assembly going on, been surprised at having to work on occasional weekends without notice. Sometimes it seems that my colleagues forget the fact that I cannot read and write, that I am usually pretty clueless about what is happening on a daily basis and that this is very frustrating!
This also means that I am often forced to bring mail and other documentation into work for my JTEs to translate for me. You can't imagine how many bills I've received and just looked at thinking, what the hell is this about? Ditto for communicating via the written word - my JTEs have gotten very good at jotting down notes for me to hand over to people in lieu of verbal communication.
Don't get me wrong, I am studying Japanese - I just find retaining anything I have "learnt" to be a bit of a challenge. The eventual goal is to be able to carry a conversation and get by without assistance before I depart this strange land. Will I get there? Who knows. Only time will tell.
Eikaiwa
On Thursday nights between 7-9pm I am responsible for teaching an Eikaiwa class (or Adult English Conversation class, pronounced "ay-ky-wa"). This Eikaiwa class only runs during school terms, meaning we get breaks across Christmas, New Years, Spring (read: Aussie autumn) holidays and during the summer. My class is split into two levels, with beginner students attending between 7-8pm and advanced students attending between 8-9pm. Eikaiwa is a free class available to anyone in the community who would like to participate. It is regulated by my Board of Education - who arranges weekly room hire and handles student signups etc. Eikaiwa class is also part of my contracted 35 working hours per week. So though I must "work" on Thursday evenings, I am eligible to leave school at lunchtime on Fridays to balance out my total hours worked for the week.
Each week I prepare simple English activities to take along to class with me. These range from easy board games to tongue twister challenges, show and tell lessons to grammar worksheets. I like to give my students a schedule to follow (I think it makes it easier for them to prepare themselves for class) and so at the beginning of each "term" I write out a curriculum plan. This plan sets out the activities we will focus on each week. A lot of the time my Eikaiwa classes will veer from this plan though, depending on how much people have to say in response to my usual opening question: how was your week?
Most of my Eikaiwa students are middle-aged+ women. There are a few retirees, some elementary school teachers, a couple of housewives and a handful of career women. Though I have about 30 students on the books, only about 9 or 10 of them regularly come to class.
When I started Eikiawa class I was really nervous. I had never taught adults before and the task was even harder without mastery of a common language in which we could all communicate. I know some of my early lessons were probably terrible and unfortunately this early 'style of teaching' probably discouraged a few students from returning regularly to class. As I slowly learn more Japanese however, and my Eikaiwa students become more familiar with talking to me in English, we are able to attempt more challenging and interesting in-class material. As ever, some lessons are a hit and others still fail miserably.
It has to be said though that my Eikaiwa students are a lovely bunch that have grown on me immensely over the course of the year. They have taken me out to dinner at a fancy traditional Japanese restaurant, helped me to read documents, written me notes that have helped me to locate grocery items in my supermarket, given me presents, loaned me Japanese study books, welcomed me into their homes for dinner parties and invited me to travel with them. On Thursday afternoons I often sigh at the prospect of Eikaiwa class looming over me, but when 9pm rolls around I'm always grateful for having been given an Eikaiwa class to teach at all.
Each week I prepare simple English activities to take along to class with me. These range from easy board games to tongue twister challenges, show and tell lessons to grammar worksheets. I like to give my students a schedule to follow (I think it makes it easier for them to prepare themselves for class) and so at the beginning of each "term" I write out a curriculum plan. This plan sets out the activities we will focus on each week. A lot of the time my Eikaiwa classes will veer from this plan though, depending on how much people have to say in response to my usual opening question: how was your week?
Most of my Eikaiwa students are middle-aged+ women. There are a few retirees, some elementary school teachers, a couple of housewives and a handful of career women. Though I have about 30 students on the books, only about 9 or 10 of them regularly come to class.
When I started Eikiawa class I was really nervous. I had never taught adults before and the task was even harder without mastery of a common language in which we could all communicate. I know some of my early lessons were probably terrible and unfortunately this early 'style of teaching' probably discouraged a few students from returning regularly to class. As I slowly learn more Japanese however, and my Eikaiwa students become more familiar with talking to me in English, we are able to attempt more challenging and interesting in-class material. As ever, some lessons are a hit and others still fail miserably.
It has to be said though that my Eikaiwa students are a lovely bunch that have grown on me immensely over the course of the year. They have taken me out to dinner at a fancy traditional Japanese restaurant, helped me to read documents, written me notes that have helped me to locate grocery items in my supermarket, given me presents, loaned me Japanese study books, welcomed me into their homes for dinner parties and invited me to travel with them. On Thursday afternoons I often sigh at the prospect of Eikaiwa class looming over me, but when 9pm rolls around I'm always grateful for having been given an Eikaiwa class to teach at all.
L-R: Wariishi-sensei, Me, Into-sensei and Nii-sensei
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Sakura Season
Shortly after returning to Japan from my Malaysian sojourn, Sakura Season began. This is the fleeting time of the year when the Japanese Cherry Trees bloom and the streets are awash with pink flower blossoms. Every year our friend (and local bar owner) Ingrid throws a hanami (or flower viewing) party in Tokushima Castle Park and so on an overcast Sunday in March about 50 of us descended on the park for a picnic.
Ingrid had gone to the trouble of reserving us a spot - done by laying out and pegging down a tarp that has your name written on it, the night before - and on the day we all slipped off our shoes and sat together on our bright blue "gaikokujin" (foreigner) tarp to enjoy the cherry blossoms.
Travelling (Part One): Malaysia
During Spring Break (also known as the autumn school holidays in Australia) this year me and three friends decided to travel to Malaysia for a week-long holiday. My motivation for going - and getting the group roused up - was to check out the F1 Sepang Grand Prix and of course squeeze in a spot of cheap shopping.
A month or so before the holiday Bella, Austin, Harry and I all gathered at Bella's apartment and hunched over our laptops spent a frantic hour or two trying to book cheap airline tickets and lock down some of the itinerary. We decided on spending 2 days in Kuala Lumpur to begin (including a day at the race!) before heading off to Langkawi for 2 nights, Penang for 2 nights and then a final 2-night stint back in KL. I had to procure myself a re-entry permit for Japan before departure (lest I be refused entry upon landing back at Kansai International) and sort some F1 tickets, but after that was taken care of the countdown begun!
We'd all spent a relatively quiet winter term at school and so by the time our holiday rolled around we could barely contain our excitement. We caught the bus from Tokushima City to Osaka Airport, then flew AirAsia direct to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived ridiculously early in the morning and made our way into the city centre to leave our bags at the Grand Seasons Hotel before rushing back to Sepang Circuit for the race.
The race in itself was fairly exciting despite the rain that halted competition for almost an hour. We had chosen covered hillstand seats and dealing with the water AND the all-too-plentiful bugs was rather humorous. The day was unbelievably hot and humid and by the time we made it back to the hotel at 10pm all we wanted to do was forego the partying and shower/crawl into bed instead.
Day Two passed in a bit of a shopping blur as we spent hours at the Central Markets bargaining on souvenir gifts for our friends and colleagues. I managed to snap up some "Prada" sunnies and wallet, a pair of shoes for a mate back home and some food stuffs/trinkets/scarves for my teachers at school. We went out for a night of cocktails, spending the ringgits (or Rueben Mindies as Austin dubbed them) thick and fast.
Langkawi was beautiful - a chillaxed island vibe featuring restaurants on the sand, cheap cocktails and beer, a pool bar at our hotel AND GO-KARTING! I have to admit that I came in third-place in a close race, mainly due to the last minute spin-out Bella had on the final lap. Not my finest racing hour! We spent the rest of our time in Langkawi mostly relaxing and sitting around slurping cocktails. Though we did make it up the side of a mountain to check out the Cable Car that overlooks pretty much the entire island - not one for the faint hearted, that ride!
Next stop was Penang, where although I was expecting a similarly beachy atmosphere, we were greeted with the old city, multicultural feel of Georgetown. We ate a few meals at a crazy open-air food market that featured table drink service and live 'bands' performing onstage. We did some sightseeing, sussing out the old Protestant Cemetery, the oldest Catholic Church on the island, the ruined fort and a couple of temples. We also had dinner at the East and Oriental Hotel - splurging a little for a 5-star meal and some gourmet cocktails. Two days here flew by and before you knew it, we were making our way back to Kuala Lumpur for the last leg of the trip.
For Harry and I, KL offered more of the same - shopping, drinking, getting massages and ordering pizza to the hotel (I don't recommend it, that was a mission!). Austin and Bella headed off on their own a couple of times to do some sightseeing just out of town, though I felt it was far too hot and humid to make such a trip myself. On the Saturday night we donned our finest going-out-gear and ventured out to a club. Not having such decent offerings in Japan we made the most of it before cabbing it back to the hotel and hitting the sack!
Flying home (to Japan) was bittersweet. I think in a way we were all craving the relative comforts of a super-clean and polite society at the tail end of winter. I know Harry and I are particularly fond of gritty-Asia though and so leaving for us was quite hollowing too. I was certainly a little culture-shocked again when I got back to Japan, though did rather enjoy the 5-minute breeze through immigration in our own personal queue... At Kansai International Airport there are three inbound immigration queues: one for residents of Japan, one for tourists to Japan and one for foreign residents of Japan (which is us!). Needless to say we copped many an evil glare from the people waiting in both other queues - not that it mattered much to us, we were in and out of there in under 10 minutes!
Overall, I had an amazing time in Malaysia. Granted I had been there before already (while for the others this holiday popped their cherries, so to speak) and so had seen and done a lot of Kuala Lumpur during my 2005 travels. I had also been to the Sepang Circuit before (for MotoGP last time though) but I thoroughly enjoyed the race on that first weekend. In retrospect we probably spent too much time travelling between places and could have cut our itinerary down to just KL and Langkawi, but live and learn. NEXT time I travel abroad on holidays it'll be strictly pool-side lounging over cocktails for me!
A month or so before the holiday Bella, Austin, Harry and I all gathered at Bella's apartment and hunched over our laptops spent a frantic hour or two trying to book cheap airline tickets and lock down some of the itinerary. We decided on spending 2 days in Kuala Lumpur to begin (including a day at the race!) before heading off to Langkawi for 2 nights, Penang for 2 nights and then a final 2-night stint back in KL. I had to procure myself a re-entry permit for Japan before departure (lest I be refused entry upon landing back at Kansai International) and sort some F1 tickets, but after that was taken care of the countdown begun!
We'd all spent a relatively quiet winter term at school and so by the time our holiday rolled around we could barely contain our excitement. We caught the bus from Tokushima City to Osaka Airport, then flew AirAsia direct to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived ridiculously early in the morning and made our way into the city centre to leave our bags at the Grand Seasons Hotel before rushing back to Sepang Circuit for the race.
The race in itself was fairly exciting despite the rain that halted competition for almost an hour. We had chosen covered hillstand seats and dealing with the water AND the all-too-plentiful bugs was rather humorous. The day was unbelievably hot and humid and by the time we made it back to the hotel at 10pm all we wanted to do was forego the partying and shower/crawl into bed instead.
Day Two passed in a bit of a shopping blur as we spent hours at the Central Markets bargaining on souvenir gifts for our friends and colleagues. I managed to snap up some "Prada" sunnies and wallet, a pair of shoes for a mate back home and some food stuffs/trinkets/scarves for my teachers at school. We went out for a night of cocktails, spending the ringgits (or Rueben Mindies as Austin dubbed them) thick and fast.
The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
Footage of us walking through a wet market in the backstreets of KL looking for breakfast.
Langkawi was beautiful - a chillaxed island vibe featuring restaurants on the sand, cheap cocktails and beer, a pool bar at our hotel AND GO-KARTING! I have to admit that I came in third-place in a close race, mainly due to the last minute spin-out Bella had on the final lap. Not my finest racing hour! We spent the rest of our time in Langkawi mostly relaxing and sitting around slurping cocktails. Though we did make it up the side of a mountain to check out the Cable Car that overlooks pretty much the entire island - not one for the faint hearted, that ride!
Langkawi Cable Car Suspension Bridge
Next stop was Penang, where although I was expecting a similarly beachy atmosphere, we were greeted with the old city, multicultural feel of Georgetown. We ate a few meals at a crazy open-air food market that featured table drink service and live 'bands' performing onstage. We did some sightseeing, sussing out the old Protestant Cemetery, the oldest Catholic Church on the island, the ruined fort and a couple of temples. We also had dinner at the East and Oriental Hotel - splurging a little for a 5-star meal and some gourmet cocktails. Two days here flew by and before you knew it, we were making our way back to Kuala Lumpur for the last leg of the trip.
Old Presbyterian Cemetery in Penang
Chinese Temple in Penang
Indian flower stalls in Penang
For Harry and I, KL offered more of the same - shopping, drinking, getting massages and ordering pizza to the hotel (I don't recommend it, that was a mission!). Austin and Bella headed off on their own a couple of times to do some sightseeing just out of town, though I felt it was far too hot and humid to make such a trip myself. On the Saturday night we donned our finest going-out-gear and ventured out to a club. Not having such decent offerings in Japan we made the most of it before cabbing it back to the hotel and hitting the sack!
Flying home (to Japan) was bittersweet. I think in a way we were all craving the relative comforts of a super-clean and polite society at the tail end of winter. I know Harry and I are particularly fond of gritty-Asia though and so leaving for us was quite hollowing too. I was certainly a little culture-shocked again when I got back to Japan, though did rather enjoy the 5-minute breeze through immigration in our own personal queue... At Kansai International Airport there are three inbound immigration queues: one for residents of Japan, one for tourists to Japan and one for foreign residents of Japan (which is us!). Needless to say we copped many an evil glare from the people waiting in both other queues - not that it mattered much to us, we were in and out of there in under 10 minutes!
Overall, I had an amazing time in Malaysia. Granted I had been there before already (while for the others this holiday popped their cherries, so to speak) and so had seen and done a lot of Kuala Lumpur during my 2005 travels. I had also been to the Sepang Circuit before (for MotoGP last time though) but I thoroughly enjoyed the race on that first weekend. In retrospect we probably spent too much time travelling between places and could have cut our itinerary down to just KL and Langkawi, but live and learn. NEXT time I travel abroad on holidays it'll be strictly pool-side lounging over cocktails for me!
Asahi Clear and Other Shocking Factoids from Japan!
Since I've been in Japan, I've become accustomed to some pretty weird things. Culturally, this country couldn't be more different to my homeland and I often find the "Japanese way of doing things" to be confusing at best, mental at the extreme. Along the way though I have learnt some interesting things about my adopted home country and here are the top ten examples:
1. Asahi Clear, the cheap "beer" I have been drinking since Japan's last unbelievably hot summer, is not actually beer! Apparently it is some kind of beer-flavoured sparkling sake created to appease the marketshare that wishes to enjoy beer while avoiding paying the ridiculously high tax imposed on the sale of beer products. Despite regularly being called a cheapskate for sticking with it, I still drink Asahi Clear from time to time. Well, either that or the real deal, Kirin Beer.
2. Until recent laws got pushed through (due for an October implementation date) it wasn't illegal for you to download movies from the interwebs.
3. Asiatic Black Bears still live up in the mountains of Shikoku, albeit in small numbers.
4. Legend has it that the fabled Ark of the Covenant is buried under Mt Tsurugi in Toksuhima's Iya Valley. Apparently, the Covenant is guarded by a giant white snake that roams the area.
5. The spiders in this country are huge! After bravely telling the kids about all the crazy animal and insect life we have in Australia, my apartment was besieged by a palm-sized hairy grey spider that made both Phil and I squeal in terror.
6. Fruit is EXPENSIVE. It is not uncommon to pay $4 or $5 dollars for a single large apple or 80AUD for a whole watermelon. Apparently these are the tastier, specially-farmed Japanese varieties of said fruits however.
7. You can buy fireworks in your local supermarket, or small packets of firecrackers in your local Daiso (the Japanese equivalent of a $2 shop).
8. It is not illegal to street drink in Japan. It is very illegal to drive with even the slightest bit of alcohol in your system though. If you are planning on driving, this means no glass of wine with dinner in restaurants, no liquer chocolates at a party and no using mouthwash before school in the morning! It is also illegal to be a passenger in a car driven by a person who has consumed alcohol, and fines for passengers are almost as bad as those for the drivers themselves.
9. You can order just about anything delivered to your door. From couches to audio equipment, books to clothes, meat to event tickets - everything can be couriered to your door, at a time of your choosing, on a day most convenient to you, to be paid for CASH ON DELIVERY. That's right, no need to order and pay for things on your credit card, Japan will deliver it to your door and then ask you to pay the delivery driver for it. Amazing.
10. ATMs close. At nights, on weekends and during public holidays bank Automatic Teller Machines close! This means you cannot get cash out, anywhere - even if you"re rocking a million-yen bank balance! Why? I've no idea, but it's super bizarre and incredibly inconvenient.
1. Asahi Clear, the cheap "beer" I have been drinking since Japan's last unbelievably hot summer, is not actually beer! Apparently it is some kind of beer-flavoured sparkling sake created to appease the marketshare that wishes to enjoy beer while avoiding paying the ridiculously high tax imposed on the sale of beer products. Despite regularly being called a cheapskate for sticking with it, I still drink Asahi Clear from time to time. Well, either that or the real deal, Kirin Beer.
2. Until recent laws got pushed through (due for an October implementation date) it wasn't illegal for you to download movies from the interwebs.
3. Asiatic Black Bears still live up in the mountains of Shikoku, albeit in small numbers.
4. Legend has it that the fabled Ark of the Covenant is buried under Mt Tsurugi in Toksuhima's Iya Valley. Apparently, the Covenant is guarded by a giant white snake that roams the area.
5. The spiders in this country are huge! After bravely telling the kids about all the crazy animal and insect life we have in Australia, my apartment was besieged by a palm-sized hairy grey spider that made both Phil and I squeal in terror.
6. Fruit is EXPENSIVE. It is not uncommon to pay $4 or $5 dollars for a single large apple or 80AUD for a whole watermelon. Apparently these are the tastier, specially-farmed Japanese varieties of said fruits however.
7. You can buy fireworks in your local supermarket, or small packets of firecrackers in your local Daiso (the Japanese equivalent of a $2 shop).
8. It is not illegal to street drink in Japan. It is very illegal to drive with even the slightest bit of alcohol in your system though. If you are planning on driving, this means no glass of wine with dinner in restaurants, no liquer chocolates at a party and no using mouthwash before school in the morning! It is also illegal to be a passenger in a car driven by a person who has consumed alcohol, and fines for passengers are almost as bad as those for the drivers themselves.
9. You can order just about anything delivered to your door. From couches to audio equipment, books to clothes, meat to event tickets - everything can be couriered to your door, at a time of your choosing, on a day most convenient to you, to be paid for CASH ON DELIVERY. That's right, no need to order and pay for things on your credit card, Japan will deliver it to your door and then ask you to pay the delivery driver for it. Amazing.
10. ATMs close. At nights, on weekends and during public holidays bank Automatic Teller Machines close! This means you cannot get cash out, anywhere - even if you"re rocking a million-yen bank balance! Why? I've no idea, but it's super bizarre and incredibly inconvenient.
Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (A Retrospective)
Shortly after Australia Day I travelled to the city of Sapporo (on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan) for the annual Yuki Matsuri, or Snow Festival.
I had been saving for the trip for quite some time as days off, bus tickets, flights and accommodation all had to be booked well before we set off. The journey there was quite a mission as we had a 10am flight to catch from Osaka taking us into Sapporo by noon. Unfortunately this meant that we needed to leave Tokushima City at 7am - which meant that we needed to get out of bed to travel to the city by 5am! Naturally, I overslept and already missing a few members of my crew, I legged it to Liz's place to pick her up and race to the bus depot. We made it with just enough time to spare (as well as having enough time to procure a drink or two from a conbini along the way) and hopped on the bus at 6.58am.
The ride was fairly uneventful though checking in at the airport was a little stressful, as we were still waiting for Tadgh and Bec to arrive (they had waaaaaaaaaaay overslept and had to drive to Kansai Airport instead!). Luckily they rocked up at the last possible moment and we all boarded the plane to Sapporo.
The flight only took 2 hours and we landed in snowy Sapporo for the long weekend. The temperature was noticeably colder as we exited the plane and the fogged up windows on the train ride to the city proved this as well. When we made it to the city, a number of my friends stocked up on drinks and we all bought our first Sapporo Beer of the trip, cracking it open and drinking during the walk to the hotel (street drinking isn't illegal in Japan). After checking in - and having our pictures taken for our membership cards - we set out in search of lunch, which ended up being some fairly delicious Hokkaido ramen (noodles with roasted pork).
After lunch we regrouped and got ready for skiing that evening! Before arriving in Hokkaido I had had a look for a place to ski pretty close to the city and one of my teachers at Elementary School had recommended we try going to Teine Ski Field. Turns out Teine Town was a 20-minute train ride from Sapporo Station and from there we commandeered 3 taxis to take us up to the slopes.
It was my first time skiing and I was nervous as hell. The slopes were pretty small but by no means an easy feat and after spending some time awkwardly looking (and certainly feeling) like Bambi, I managed to hop on the ski lift and ride with Danielle to the top. Apparently you have to stand up and ski away as your chairlift approaches the top however, and not knowing at all how to ski, I ended up flat on my arse before I had even begun! This brought a round of cheers from my compatriots and so began the embarrassing ski experience of a first-timer. I pretty much "pizza-ed" my whole way down the slope about 4 times, only once completely stacking it in spectacular style in a move also known as a "yardsale" (i.e. everything must go). While my friends went up and down the slope as much as possible (with Liz even choosing to snowboard instead of ski), I decided to camp out in the lodge and enjoy a beer or two.
I didn't really do much after skiing that night, preferring instead to entertain myself in my room (cheap wine and tele-movies FTW) while the others hit up an izakaya for some food and drinks. I woke up feeling rather fresh in the morning and joined the pack for a day trip to the zoo, which was a short taxi ride away.
The zoo was really interesting but rather appalling too. Animals lived in cages reminiscent of Australian zoos in the old days - bears in small concrete caves, large cats in a small glass walled room, polar bears in a tight space and a menagerie of African animals all housed together in one smelly shed... I even saw some kangaroos!
For dinner that night we visited an All You Can Eat Crab Restaurant, where for about 80AUD you could smash down as much crab as humanly possible in 2 hours. It was delicious, but truthfully I got a little drunk during the meal and the rest of Night 2 passed in a bit of a blur... We did manage to see a few snow and ice sculptures though. I think.
On Saturday I hung out with Sarah, Brandon and Mark (all from the US) and we went to the famous Ramen Alley for lunch. We had to wait outside a tiny restaurant for AGES, but when we finally got inside, ordered and received our meal it was scrumptiously worth the wait. Thick savoury soup coated the perfectly cooked ramen (Japanese style egg noodles) and on top sat a juicy few pieces of slow-roasted pork slices. Amazing!
On Saturday night (our last in Sapporo) we had a booking at Sapporo Beer Factory for an All You Can Eat Lamb dinner. This time the gorging-period was a full three hours and included as many beers as you could drink too! Danielle and I shared a grill and between us managed to down 8 whole trays of lamb! We also had the good fortune of spotting one of the hottest looking Japanese men I have ever seen, working as a waiter at some nearby tables and I think we made his night by asking for a photo.
Waking up at 7am on a Sunday morning to begin the 12-hour relay home was no picnic, especially after all that lamb I tell ya. Though despite rocking home at about 7pm, stinking of barbecued meat and positively sweltering in the comparatively mild weather conditions of Tokushima, I had an amazing weekend. I just wished I'd had the forethought to take Monday off work!
I had been saving for the trip for quite some time as days off, bus tickets, flights and accommodation all had to be booked well before we set off. The journey there was quite a mission as we had a 10am flight to catch from Osaka taking us into Sapporo by noon. Unfortunately this meant that we needed to leave Tokushima City at 7am - which meant that we needed to get out of bed to travel to the city by 5am! Naturally, I overslept and already missing a few members of my crew, I legged it to Liz's place to pick her up and race to the bus depot. We made it with just enough time to spare (as well as having enough time to procure a drink or two from a conbini along the way) and hopped on the bus at 6.58am.
The ride was fairly uneventful though checking in at the airport was a little stressful, as we were still waiting for Tadgh and Bec to arrive (they had waaaaaaaaaaay overslept and had to drive to Kansai Airport instead!). Luckily they rocked up at the last possible moment and we all boarded the plane to Sapporo.
Todd (USA) and Mike (USA) hamming it up at Kansai International Airport
The flight only took 2 hours and we landed in snowy Sapporo for the long weekend. The temperature was noticeably colder as we exited the plane and the fogged up windows on the train ride to the city proved this as well. When we made it to the city, a number of my friends stocked up on drinks and we all bought our first Sapporo Beer of the trip, cracking it open and drinking during the walk to the hotel (street drinking isn't illegal in Japan). After checking in - and having our pictures taken for our membership cards - we set out in search of lunch, which ended up being some fairly delicious Hokkaido ramen (noodles with roasted pork).
After lunch we regrouped and got ready for skiing that evening! Before arriving in Hokkaido I had had a look for a place to ski pretty close to the city and one of my teachers at Elementary School had recommended we try going to Teine Ski Field. Turns out Teine Town was a 20-minute train ride from Sapporo Station and from there we commandeered 3 taxis to take us up to the slopes.
Teine Ski Field
It was my first time skiing and I was nervous as hell. The slopes were pretty small but by no means an easy feat and after spending some time awkwardly looking (and certainly feeling) like Bambi, I managed to hop on the ski lift and ride with Danielle to the top. Apparently you have to stand up and ski away as your chairlift approaches the top however, and not knowing at all how to ski, I ended up flat on my arse before I had even begun! This brought a round of cheers from my compatriots and so began the embarrassing ski experience of a first-timer. I pretty much "pizza-ed" my whole way down the slope about 4 times, only once completely stacking it in spectacular style in a move also known as a "yardsale" (i.e. everything must go). While my friends went up and down the slope as much as possible (with Liz even choosing to snowboard instead of ski), I decided to camp out in the lodge and enjoy a beer or two.
From L-R: Dinah, Liz, me, Alex and Mike
Jamo, Mike and Todd trying to teach me how to ski...
Giving up and parking myself in the Lodge to drink beers instead.
I didn't really do much after skiing that night, preferring instead to entertain myself in my room (cheap wine and tele-movies FTW) while the others hit up an izakaya for some food and drinks. I woke up feeling rather fresh in the morning and joined the pack for a day trip to the zoo, which was a short taxi ride away.
The zoo was really interesting but rather appalling too. Animals lived in cages reminiscent of Australian zoos in the old days - bears in small concrete caves, large cats in a small glass walled room, polar bears in a tight space and a menagerie of African animals all housed together in one smelly shed... I even saw some kangaroos!
The gang at the zoo: (L-R) Todd, Liz, LaVan, Mike, Danielle, Alex, Dinah, myself and Jamo.
The kangaroos at the zoo!
The tiger pacing back and forth in its tiny glass enclosure.
For dinner that night we visited an All You Can Eat Crab Restaurant, where for about 80AUD you could smash down as much crab as humanly possible in 2 hours. It was delicious, but truthfully I got a little drunk during the meal and the rest of Night 2 passed in a bit of a blur... We did manage to see a few snow and ice sculptures though. I think.
Funky looking Japanese craaaaaaaaaaaab!
Snow Castle (one of the few ice sculpture pictures I have!)
On Saturday I hung out with Sarah, Brandon and Mark (all from the US) and we went to the famous Ramen Alley for lunch. We had to wait outside a tiny restaurant for AGES, but when we finally got inside, ordered and received our meal it was scrumptiously worth the wait. Thick savoury soup coated the perfectly cooked ramen (Japanese style egg noodles) and on top sat a juicy few pieces of slow-roasted pork slices. Amazing!
On Saturday night (our last in Sapporo) we had a booking at Sapporo Beer Factory for an All You Can Eat Lamb dinner. This time the gorging-period was a full three hours and included as many beers as you could drink too! Danielle and I shared a grill and between us managed to down 8 whole trays of lamb! We also had the good fortune of spotting one of the hottest looking Japanese men I have ever seen, working as a waiter at some nearby tables and I think we made his night by asking for a photo.
Dani and I cooking up a storm at All You Can Eat Lamb @ Sapporo Beer Factory
Danielle and I posing for a photo with the cute Japanese waiter!
Group photo with the Hokkaido Bear after dinner.
After the sumo-wrestling but before the snowball fight, on the way back to the hotel post-lamb.
Waking up at 7am on a Sunday morning to begin the 12-hour relay home was no picnic, especially after all that lamb I tell ya. Though despite rocking home at about 7pm, stinking of barbecued meat and positively sweltering in the comparatively mild weather conditions of Tokushima, I had an amazing weekend. I just wished I'd had the forethought to take Monday off work!
An Expat Australia Day
Now I'm not usually one for patriotism but there's something about spending an Australia Day abroad that makes me wanna sing the National Anthem, while wearing the flag, holding a VB in one hand and a charcoaled snag in the other. And that's pretty much just what I did when it came to Australia Day this year.
On Friday 27th of July, Phil and I invited 40 of our closest friends over to our fourth-floor one-bedroom apartment to celebrate Australia Day. Unable to turn out a successful batch of lamingtons or find a bottle of Bundaberg Rum, we instead served freshly baked ANZAC biscuits, barbecued steaks and sausages, kangaroo skewers and patties, meat pies, vegemite cheesies, trifle and Victorian Bitter beer. The crowd danced to Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown and sweltered in the 30+ degree heat inside the apartment.
We partied on into the night, oblivious to my poor neighbours probably trying to sleep, only winding down at about 3am. A late game of 'which would your prefer' over a giant bottle of sake made things interesting and several people stayed the night, cramming themselves into every available bit of floor space they could find. Many people had to get up early the next morning for musical rehearsals, but I slept all day in preparation for another big social gathering happening later that night called Burns Supper. The apartment was a MESS, but worth it and I'm definitely planning on hosting an Australia Day party again next year!
Making the place look a little more festive...
Enjoying a super-expensive VB with Austin.
On Friday 27th of July, Phil and I invited 40 of our closest friends over to our fourth-floor one-bedroom apartment to celebrate Australia Day. Unable to turn out a successful batch of lamingtons or find a bottle of Bundaberg Rum, we instead served freshly baked ANZAC biscuits, barbecued steaks and sausages, kangaroo skewers and patties, meat pies, vegemite cheesies, trifle and Victorian Bitter beer. The crowd danced to Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown and sweltered in the 30+ degree heat inside the apartment.
Celebrating Australia Day with Bella (UK) and Sam (NZ)
And with Ashleigh (NZ) and Lisa (Jamaica)
We partied on into the night, oblivious to my poor neighbours probably trying to sleep, only winding down at about 3am. A late game of 'which would your prefer' over a giant bottle of sake made things interesting and several people stayed the night, cramming themselves into every available bit of floor space they could find. Many people had to get up early the next morning for musical rehearsals, but I slept all day in preparation for another big social gathering happening later that night called Burns Supper. The apartment was a MESS, but worth it and I'm definitely planning on hosting an Australia Day party again next year!
New Years Eve in Osaka
This time around Phil and I saw in the New Year in Osaka! We'd both been to Osaka before, briefly passing through on our way to or from another location, but over the winter holidays we decided to spend a few days in the city - shopping, drinking and eating to our heart's content.
As soon as we arrived in Osaka we checked into our hotel and wandered down to Dotombori for a gander at the local nightlife. The arcades of Dotombori are exactly like you picture Japan to be - busy and bright! We grabbed something to eat and drink a little 280 izakaya (where everything on the menu costs 280yen or 3.20AUD) upstairs on the fourth floor of rather nondescript city building. After eating our fill of fried chicken, edamame and these little cheese-stuffed delights plus drinking enough umeshu (plum wine) and beer for a small army, we headed back to our hotel to chillax for the rest of the night.
The next day we visited the Kaiyukan, or Osaka Aquarium, hoping to see the whale shark baby that they have there. The aquarium was amazing and we got to see heaps of water animals like dolphins, seals, walrus, otters, tropical fish, Amazonian river fish, turtles, octopus, giant spider crabs, stingrays, sharks and of course the whale shark. Strangely enough, we also ran into some colleagues of mine from Tokushima there too!
Later that night, Phil and I went on the giant ferris wheel and had okonomiyaki for dinner (Phil's first time). We caught the train back to Dotombori for a nightcap and then walked the couple of kilometres back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
We awoke to New Years Eve and decided to do some sighseeing around Osaka despite the rainy and overcast weather. Unfortunately, most of the tourist destinations we travelled to were closed and so we ended up shopping in the arcades instead. For lunch we decided to try "fugu" or Japanese pufferfish - a delicacy so poisonous that people die every year from eating pieces of the fish they've tried to prepare themselves at home (only licensed chefs who've undertaken strict training are allowed to prepare the meal for restaurant consumption). A quick google later to find a recommended restaurant (and read up on the side effects of neurotoxin poisoning) and a phone call home to our parents in Australia - just in case - and Phil and I were sitting in Zuboraya drinking sake and ordering a set course fugu lunch. We ended up trying fugu sashimi, fugu stew and in my opinion the tastiest way to eat fugu, deep fried. Eating the fish gave us slight tingles on the tongue and a surge of adrenaline that comes with realising you are still alive after a larger-than-usual mouthful of the stuff.
Fugu finished, we headed to the Umeda Sky Building to watch the sun set on 2011, spending a good few hours at the top of the skyscraper taking pictures and reflecting on the year that was. We headed back to the hotel after this to change and get ready for our night out, where we'd planned on heading to popular local nightclub, Joule.
Joule was rammed with people when we arrived at about 10pm. We bought drinks (a challenge that involves first buying drink tokens from this little machine before lining up to get the attention of the barmaid) and danced for a bit and got ourselves front and centre for the countdown. As the time approached the dancefloor flooded with people and pretty soon it was jam-packed with Japanese and foreign party-goers alike. We counted down backwards from 10 - in Japanese - and stood as hundreds of balloons fell from the roof above us. And the song the DJ played to usher in the New Year? Baby by Justin Beiber - I shit you not!
Trying to get off the dancefloor proved difficult and after getting stuck a few times in the worst crowd crush I've ever experienced (here's looking at the bold guy who managed to cop a New Year's grope), we were pretty keen to bail on Joule. We made it outside and to another small bar by 2am, spent a few hours and lots of yen drinking here before loading up on junk food at the local conbini and staggering home to go to sleep!
New Years Day passed in a blur of movies and delivered pizzas, as did the 2nd. And on the 3rd day of January 2012 we hopped on a bus to come back to inaka life in Tokushima.
As soon as we arrived in Osaka we checked into our hotel and wandered down to Dotombori for a gander at the local nightlife. The arcades of Dotombori are exactly like you picture Japan to be - busy and bright! We grabbed something to eat and drink a little 280 izakaya (where everything on the menu costs 280yen or 3.20AUD) upstairs on the fourth floor of rather nondescript city building. After eating our fill of fried chicken, edamame and these little cheese-stuffed delights plus drinking enough umeshu (plum wine) and beer for a small army, we headed back to our hotel to chillax for the rest of the night.
The next day we visited the Kaiyukan, or Osaka Aquarium, hoping to see the whale shark baby that they have there. The aquarium was amazing and we got to see heaps of water animals like dolphins, seals, walrus, otters, tropical fish, Amazonian river fish, turtles, octopus, giant spider crabs, stingrays, sharks and of course the whale shark. Strangely enough, we also ran into some colleagues of mine from Tokushima there too!
Jellyfish at Osaka Aquarium
Later that night, Phil and I went on the giant ferris wheel and had okonomiyaki for dinner (Phil's first time). We caught the train back to Dotombori for a nightcap and then walked the couple of kilometres back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
We awoke to New Years Eve and decided to do some sighseeing around Osaka despite the rainy and overcast weather. Unfortunately, most of the tourist destinations we travelled to were closed and so we ended up shopping in the arcades instead. For lunch we decided to try "fugu" or Japanese pufferfish - a delicacy so poisonous that people die every year from eating pieces of the fish they've tried to prepare themselves at home (only licensed chefs who've undertaken strict training are allowed to prepare the meal for restaurant consumption). A quick google later to find a recommended restaurant (and read up on the side effects of neurotoxin poisoning) and a phone call home to our parents in Australia - just in case - and Phil and I were sitting in Zuboraya drinking sake and ordering a set course fugu lunch. We ended up trying fugu sashimi, fugu stew and in my opinion the tastiest way to eat fugu, deep fried. Eating the fish gave us slight tingles on the tongue and a surge of adrenaline that comes with realising you are still alive after a larger-than-usual mouthful of the stuff.
Eating fried fugu at Zuboraya Restaurant in Osaka
Fugu finished, we headed to the Umeda Sky Building to watch the sun set on 2011, spending a good few hours at the top of the skyscraper taking pictures and reflecting on the year that was. We headed back to the hotel after this to change and get ready for our night out, where we'd planned on heading to popular local nightclub, Joule.
The last sunset of 2011 from the rooftop of the Umeda Sky Building
Joule was rammed with people when we arrived at about 10pm. We bought drinks (a challenge that involves first buying drink tokens from this little machine before lining up to get the attention of the barmaid) and danced for a bit and got ourselves front and centre for the countdown. As the time approached the dancefloor flooded with people and pretty soon it was jam-packed with Japanese and foreign party-goers alike. We counted down backwards from 10 - in Japanese - and stood as hundreds of balloons fell from the roof above us. And the song the DJ played to usher in the New Year? Baby by Justin Beiber - I shit you not!
Trying to get off the dancefloor proved difficult and after getting stuck a few times in the worst crowd crush I've ever experienced (here's looking at the bold guy who managed to cop a New Year's grope), we were pretty keen to bail on Joule. We made it outside and to another small bar by 2am, spent a few hours and lots of yen drinking here before loading up on junk food at the local conbini and staggering home to go to sleep!
Phil facing up to a ninja
Phil about to tuck into his fried rice at a Horumon Restaurant that we stumbled into (google it if you don't have a weak stomach!).
New Years Day passed in a blur of movies and delivered pizzas, as did the 2nd. And on the 3rd day of January 2012 we hopped on a bus to come back to inaka life in Tokushima.
Our movie tickets - yes, that's 1800yen or about 24AUD a ticket!
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