Singing in the Rain and Random Acts of Kindness

All good things come to an end and this week it was the beautiful weather. After seemingly endless days of sunshine, yesterday the sky started falling down. Unfortunately, it started while I was at work so I had to ride my bike home. Bugger.

Unlike J, I didn't have an umbrella in my handbag, nor would I have been game to make use of it whilst riding my bike home from work if I did. I still have a long way to go till I really turn Japanese as you can see. In fact, instead of hoofing it home I decided to carry on with my afternoon as planned and rode to the supermarket in Hiroo instead.

One wet bum and a few terrified Japanese chicks later, I arrived at National Azabu to do my shopping. I love grocery shopping here. The fruit looks like it's on drugs (it probably is) and you can spend hours trying to guess what the brownish jelly-like stuff is in that fridge over there. Or how many different types of whitebait they have here. And at National Azabu you also get to linger over all the International (i.e. Normal) stuff too, like golden syrup, tim tams, kiwi cheese, aussie mince (I never thought I would actually WANT to buy mince!) and ... this is the best part ... they even have Tip Top Hokey Pokey Ice Cream.

Actually the real best part is that they will deliver it all to your house for you that afternoon so you don't have to push it all home in the granny basket on the front of your bike.

So after the dizzying experience at National, I hopped back on my bike to negotiate the footpaths with all the Mum's picking up their darlings from the surrounding International kindies and schools. This is where riding in the rain gets truly dangerous. Forget worrying about riding on the road with a zillion cars going 100 miles an hour, it's the posh mums and their kids all wandering across the footpath hidden under their umbrellas without a care in the world that are the real danger!

And then the incident that made my day. I pulled up to Roppongi Crossing, feeling a bit guilty as a middle aged salary man glanced down at my front tyre (I thought I splashed the back of his navy pants - horror!). But then he inched closer to me and held his umbrella over my already soaked head while we waited for the lights to change. Unbelievable! It was so sweet! I tried to show him that it really didn't matter, I was soaked through anyway and barely able to push the pedals my pants were so heavy, but all he did was grin and say, "daijobu!" And then as the lights changed and I pedalled off, "Ja mata!!!"

I love Japan.

Kawaguchiko – Where in the World is Fuji-san?

Last Monday was Respect for the Aged Day in Japan which meant a day off work for Mike and I – and our first long weekend! We took forever to decide where we wanted to go for a holiday (or even if we wanted to get out of the city since there’s so much for us to do here), but eventually on Friday afternoon I found a ryokan-hotel with a room available within training/bussing distance from Tokyo.

Kawaguchiko is in the Fuji 5 Lakes Area, about 2 hours by bus from Shinjuku. It’s sposed to be a prime viewing spot for Mt Fuji – except for when it’s cloudy. Do you think we managed a clear day in the 3 days we spent there? No way, José! In fact on Monday it rained so hard we brought our departure forward by 3 hours!

Most of the tourist attractions in Kawaguchiko revolve around various photo-taking opportunities with Fuji-san: pictures looking over the lake, pictures with autumn leaves in the foreground, pictures with a Showa village in the foreground …. Well, folks we got all the scenery except Mt Fuji. It was just a teeny bit disappointing. However, we did have a good look around the Showa village which was interesting and very pretty as well as a few other things.

More disappointing than the lack of Mt Fuji was actually the ryokan hotel we stayed in – Ashiwada Hotel. I’d heard before that Japanese hotels are often disappointing but that the food usually makes up for it. You pay per person, per night and then you pay for meals on top of that. Great. At least the “private bath” they promised was there, although it was more of a dinky little cubby with one 40 watt light that smelt a bit like cat’s wees. Mmmmmm. Our first experience sleeping on a futon and hanging out in yukata was pretty cool though, and we slept pretty soundly after all the walking we did on Saturday and Sunday.

All in all, I spose it wasn’t actually that dire, but it certainly wasn’t worth the money and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. The buffet dinner was pretty lame and the “room service” we had to order the night before (because we checked in at 3pm and it was too late to book for the buffet dinner at 6pm?!) cost half as much and was much nicer food. Breakfast was marginally better (with more choice) but I still don’t understand how they were bringing out “fresh” food that was already lukewarm (and hard in the case of the pancakes).

On a positive note, it was lovely to get away from the city and go walking round the lakes, relax on real grass, see something different and try the local food – hoto noodles. Another highlight was trying out a pitching machine and hitting a 105km/hr baseball! We also had a go at a pitching challenge – try to hit 9/9 different targets with 12 balls. Mike and I managed to knock out 2 each. We were a little more successful with the batting!

As for Fuji-san, I guess we’ll have to wait till we get to Hakone to try taking pictures again. There’s another long weekend coming up in October, hopefully my trip-planning is a bit more successful.

For more photos from our holiday weekend click here.

My Bike's Been Stolen!

Or so I thought on Tuesday morning.

Last week it rained (and rained and rained). Not like in Hong Kong where it's non-stop and gets harder and harder and you look out the window and think it's going to be cold and then when you go outside it's actually still stinking hot. Nope, here in Tokes it's COLD when it rains and your umbrella actually keeps you dry. But I digress.

Because it rained all week I caught the train to work each day instead of riding my bike. It takes longer to catch the train one stop (2 minutes between here and Azabu-juban) than it does to bike to work. Anyways, I was late (or worried about being late) almost every day last week. So on Tuesday morning I was pretty stoked when I looked out the window and saw sunshine and not a rain cloud in sight! A biking day! Hooray!

Then I remembered I had to pump up my tyres before riding to work. So it was a mad scramble down to the "parking place" to do that before I went to work. I ran out the door at 8.20am (I don't start till 9) and went to deal with The Bike.

Uh oh. No bike. I looked in all the usual spots. No bike. Maybe I have forgotten what it looks like? I thought. I mean, I only owned it for a week before I had to go back to the train. But I couldn't even find the registration sticker with our apartment number on it. Sh*t. Still no bike. I was getting a bit worried - no bike, I would have to go and tell the reception dudes that I couldn't find it. Then I saw the sign: "in the case of theft we would disclaim any responsibility." (I think that means don't bother telling us your bike is lost.)

Plus I had wasted so much time looking for my bike even if I got the train to work it was going to take forever and then I would be late again. Crap.

And then, as I was walking out of the parking place to reception, what did I see??? MY BIKE!!! Thank you, Bike God, I will be on time after all (I hope!). Thank goodness I didn't go and tell the dudes at reception my bike was missing. How embarassing if they walked outside and found it for me! I pumped up my tyres and went on my way (still wondering just who put my bike where it was .. I swear it wasn't me .. honest!)

Luckily I recently found out there is a "fast" way to ride to work. Turns out I've been going in a big loop till now and there is a much more direct way to get there from our place (i.e. down one road instead of a tiki tour through Roppongi). But as I was riding through Azabu-juban I saw a clock saying it was 8.45! Uh oh, perhaps I better ride a bit faster!

I arrived at the am/pm, locked my bike (just the wheel lock, I am too trusting to waste money on a real one and plus it looks like my worst worry is actually losing my bike, not someone else pinching it!) and raced up the stairs - not enough time to wait for the lift to the third floor!

Heaved myself through the door ready to make all sorts of apologies and be thrown in at the deep end (doesn't pay to be late on the first day of the week, you might end up responsible for the Nature Room or something) ... and looked at the clock. The big hand was only just past the 6. You know what that means, boys and girls. Yep. It was 8.30. The entire stolen bike ordeal, pumping of tyres and race to work had taken place in a grand total of 15 minutes.

At least I know I can get to work in 5 when I have to!

20 degrees = cold?

It's official: I am a wimp! According to Yahoo! Weather it's 20 degrees here today but I am sitting here in my Fin pants and hoody and socks (!) ready to brave the "rain" and cold. What happened?! I thought I had really embraced Cold while visiting Christchurch but clearly it's worn off. Dear me! Next thing you know I'll be wearing 10 layers (5 wool - minimum) to school and sweating it out trying to push my sleeves up to wash my hands in the bathroom ......

On a brighter note, the reason I am getting ready to brave the elements is that I am on my way out for dinner. Hooray for Girls' Nights!

Shiny Happy Weekend

Miraculously the weather was fantastic this weekend. Sunshine on Saturday and Sunday, which meant no lazing round at home for Mike and I! It’s a bit difficult to justify mooching round at home when the sun is shining and there is still so much to see.

We were pretty tired on Saturday though because we’d been out for dinner on Friday night with R and K. Mike was really hoping for an early night on Friday, so we declined dinner with the rest of his workmates after meeting them all for “one” drink after work (or after my afternoon sleep in my case!). We did need to eat however and a nice quiet dinner for 4 seemed to be a good idea. Somehow we didn’t even make it to the restaurant till nearly 11pm!

So Saturday got off to a pretty late start. Oops. But not to worry, Sarah had a great idea for lazing around WHILE seeing the “sights” of Tokyo ... we went to Yoyogi Park and lazed around there! We read books, sat in the shade, people watched, ate pineapple and perky nanas, read some more, listened to people playing drums, guitars, singing, practicing plays, juggling, walking their dogs (that IS a sight worth seeing in Tokyo, believe me. People don’t just match clothes with their significant other here; they also match with their pooch!).

On Sunday we intended to get up early (of course!) but someone (OK, Sarah) forgot to switch on the alarm. Oh well. A friend had recommended we check out Odaiba at some stage so that’s where we decided to spend the day. Odaiba is a bit (quite a big bit) of reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay which is linked to Tokyo by the Rainbow Bridge. We bought a couple of day passes for the monorail in Shiodome and spent the day wandering around. We “drove” and electric hybrid car in Toyota City Showcase – for ¥200 a wee car drove us around a 7 minute circuit – no hands! We also went on a 115m high ferris wheel in a car with a glass bottom, which was fun but a little bit scary for Wimpy Sarah, and visited the so-called “Theme Park for Ladies” Venus Fort shopping centre, which is supposed to look like an Italian city.




We finished up on the man-made beach (nicer than Oriental Bay but not sure how nice the water would be to swim in!) to watch the sunset with some cheese n crackers and a couple of beers. With about 200 other couples! Seems to be the place to take your date in Tokyo. But it was very nice and fun to watch all the city lights come on as the sun went down.

Another busy week coming up – I am going to Japanese lessons on Tuesday and Thursday nights (2 hours each night!) and have the job of organising something exciting for the long weekend: it’s Respect for the Aged Day on Monday. Plus JULIA will arrive on Tuesday (19/9) so I will have to think of some fun things to show her next week too.

Ja mata!

Earthquake! [updated 5.08pm]

"There has just been and earthquake. However, this building is earthquake proof. Be sure to turn off the electric range and beware of falling objects. Open the front door to your apartment and stay away from all windows. If you're in the elevator please get off at the next floor."

Didn't even feel it. But feeling a little nervous right now. There was another earthquake earlier in the day too, while I was at work (didn't feel that either). Nothing seemed to move in the apartment (not even the hanging lightshade above the table). The scary intercom system won't shut up though!

The elevators will be out of order for the next half hour or so now (judging by what happened after the last earthquake earlier in the week).

This place is worse than Wellington!

-----

"May I have your attention please. We have just broadcast an earthquake alarm. It was an operational error. Not earthquake. Please accept our apologies for inconvenience it have caused. Thank you."

Granny Bike

On Monday I was very generously given a bike by a friend from work. It's cream tank with 3 gears, a bell and a basket on the front and one of those nifty wheel locks on the back. It's been a pretty exciting week in which I have discovered we are only a 5 minute walk from the next subway station on our line, there are no pedestrian crossings over the main road within 500m of our street, drivers in Tokyo do not look for pedestrians or cyclists when approaching intersections and there are no bicycle pumps at the local ¥100 store. Oh, and people here are unable to walk in straight lines or hear bikes! (or their bells)

On Tuesday I had my first wipe out. Luckily it was on our street and almost directly outside Ark Hills. But it was extremely painful nevertheless. Not to mention excruciatingly embarassing. It has knocked my confidence a little, particularly considering the disturbing fact that noone wears a helmet here. I don't even have a clue where you would buy one. I suppose riding on the footpath/across pedestrian crossings means people feel they aren't so necessary. Plus one would look rather silly riding along in one's skirt and heels complete with matching sun parasol (or umbrella depending on conditions) and a stack hat.

So now, on Thursday, I am sporting a delightful bruise/graze down one arm, a painfully grazed toe and a slightly sprained ankle. My biggest disappointment was being unable to join K swimming on Tuesday afternoon as it took me so long to recover my composure! She now blames me for her falling asleep that afternoon. She didn't make it to the pool either. Maybe next week. Yesterday and today have punished me by being overcast and definitely not outdoor pool weather.

On a positive note I am now able to make it up the hills on the way to and from work without dismounting my bike.

Kamakura

Mike and I went to Kamakura on Saturday. We'd heard that it's a great place to go to escape the city and I have to say that I agree, or I did once we got off the train! We took the train to Kita-Kamakura, about an hour from Tokyo Station, and the city seemed to sprawl on endlessly all the way there. We even went through Yokohama without realising we'd left Tokyo until the train pulled into the station.

Once we got off the train though things were a bit different. There was one guy waiting at a ticket window at the exit to the platform. He was holding a cardboard box and people were dropping their tickets in the box before leaving the station. Directly to our left was Engaku-ji, the Temple of Spirit, one of Kamakura's many temples. According to the wee booklet we received (along with a ticket) upon paying our ¥300 each, it was the centre of Zen in the Kanto area during the Meiji Era (1868 - 1912).

There was quite a bit to see including a very big bell at the top of a set of steep steps. More exciting was the little lookout on the other side of the path where we bought shaved ice with strawberry syrup and fruit with red bean jam to sustain us on the walk down. Once again there was a ticket system: we ordered our food and the lady at the counter gave two plastic tokens (colour-coded) to another lady who passed them on to the wee kitchen next door and within minutes we were presented with delicious food and two glasses of nice cold water.

After Engaku-ji we walked back over the train tracks past a delicious looking green pond which was once part of the temple grounds, before the train tracks ran through them. We found the next temple in the guidebook, Jochi-ji. We passed this one by on our way to the Daibutsu Hiking Course. As soon as we were off the tar-sealed roads and onto the dirt path the temperature seemed to go from searing heat to pleasant sunshine. A lot of the path was through the trees and we could no longer hear the cars - hooray! It was pretty tough going in the sun though, up and down hills, over tree roots, down steps cut into clay and shored up with sand bags ...

We eventually came to a clearing with (what else!) vending machines and another shrine and some concrete benches beneath shady trees. What better place to stop for lunch, we thought. So I spent the next 30 minutes trying to coax Mike into eating his lunch while all he wanted to do was play with the spiders and ants!

Further along the Hiking Trail we came to a tunnel in the side of the hill which lead to Zeniarai Benten (money-washing benten). According to tradition, money washed in its spring is guaranteed to double at the very least. Not immediately of course! But you wash your money in the spring (baskets are provided) and let it dry naturally and then wait for the magic to occur at some later date. That explains all the signs around in english which merely said "DRIES NATURALLY."

The real highlight of Zeniarai Benten was the squirrels! As we past the final souvenir shop we saw a squirrel playing on the railings behind the shop. We went down past the displays for a closer look. Then I spotted another squirrel hiding in the trees. Then another, then another. Pretty soon the original squirrel came out for a closer look at Mike and I, skipping along the souvenir displays and then leaping from the railing to the awning over the shop entrance! More and more squirrels came out of the trees, running along the railings, the guttering, the displays - two even went in through the open window into the shop!

After that stop we followed a path down to a road and found our way into Kamakura town where we looked round random shops, drank Japanese drinks from 7/11 and scored an extra map from the tourist information centre at the train station. By about 4pm we were knackered! So we waited for the train back to Tokyo and made our way home again. We were pretty disappointed with ourselves when we realised it would have been much quicker to get on the train to Shinjuku rather than Tokyo Station, but we still managed to avoid the 12 minute walk when changing stations by taking ANOTHER train ;) We were tired, OK!

PS - I am not going to make any comment on the ABs debacle later that night which we went out to the pub to watch.

PPS - I had better get going to my dinner date as the electronic 5pm Bells are chiming ;) I will add photos later!