tai tai in tokyo

Sayonara!

2007-02-23T09:33:00.000+09:00

Mike and I arrived in Hong Kong last Friday and so far it has been a week full of grey skies, cleaning products and catching up with friends.

It's great to be back, although a little strange at the same time since it barely feels like we ever left. The laundry lady still remembers us and still tries her hardest to get everything done on the same day for us. It's been super busy because of Lunar New Year this week and on Wednesday she told me the washing wouldn't be ready till Friday .. and then called me up at 9.30 that night and said it was done!!

I've had coffee from eat right more times than I can count already .. what a great cafe! Also rediscovered Cafe O ... fantastic food, although a bit further to go from Kowloon. This Saturday Mike and I are having lunch with Kiki and Larry - yay!

Tonight I am meeting Jenny and another Aussie girl for a few drinks, so that should be a blast. The blue skies have finally appeared today so I want to get out and enjoy it ASAP .. not sure what I'll do though.

Well, I'm no longer in Tokyo but for the next few months I really WILL be a tai tai. Stay tuned for a revamped "tai tai in tokyo" and all our adventures in Hong Kong (and Singapore).

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T15:31:00.000+09:00

Doing it Tokyo Style ...

Yesterday Mike and I went to Tokyo DisneySea, which is right next door to Tokyo Disneyland (funnily enough). What an experience! It was my first time at any Disneyland/world/whatever although Mike visited the one in LA when he was a kid. DisneySea is more aimed at Big Kids with scarier rides and a major Valentine's Week programme. The rides were the main reason we chose DisneySea over the "original" as Space Mountain is closed till March - how crap is that?!

Mike came home at midday and we took the train out to the Disney Resort. Even the JR Station gets you in the mood with the door-closing-music sounding like a tinny Japanese version of Zippidy-doo-da. Freaky. We took the monorail round to the gate which seemed silly but turned out to be a good way to get a glimpse of what we were missing out on at Disneyland.

The first thing we did after going through the gates was check out the rides and which ones we could get Fastpass tickets for. The Tower of Terror was already out, but we went and got a ticket for Journey to the Centre of the Earth before trying out our first ride, 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea. Six people to a "submarine" and we were off. It really did seem like we were under water, although Mike worked out the "trick" which was a double layer of perspex with bubbly water running through it for windows. Very clever, if not very thrilling.

Next event: staking out a spot to watch the daily show, the Legend of Mythica. The show, which took place on the water in the "Mediterranean Harbour" was absolutely amazing. Jetskis, huge life-like creatures on boats, dancers, drums, kites, fireworks and of course, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale and Minnie at the top of an enormous tower on top of a float in the middle of the harbour!

After the show we headed over to Port Discovery and tried out the Stormrider. Very cool simulator-type ride where you fly into the eye of a storm. The one problem we had on nearly all the rides was the fact that all the "commentary" (fairly important with Disney rides as they all have a theme) was in Japanese so we didn't always know what was going on. Still, it wasn't too hard to figure out what was going on in this one!

Throughout the afternoon the biggest attraction was checking out all the other punters. Disneyland and DisneySea are pretty popular date destinations here and with Valentine's Day being today, it was packed with couples .. and groups of school girls. Mike got a fair few "Hi!"s and plenty of stares. We saw only two other groups of "white" foreigners all day, so I guess we did stand out a bit. I thought perhaps everyone else was intrigued by our LACK of character ears or mickey mouse gloves?!

People just really get into here - every couple had Mickey and Minnie (matching theme) ears either on headbands or hairclips or full headgear. Plus the lanyard with cardholder to look after your fastpass tickets and Disney Passport and possibly a matching handbag. Nearly all girls had souvenir buckets of popcorn ..different bucket depending on which stall you bought your popcorn from. And not just any old popcorn .. there was chocolate, strawberry, cappucino and even black pepper flavour!!! I don't know what else people were buying at McDuck's Department Store but almost everyone left with at least one shopping bag stuffed to the brim. Mike got into the fun and presented me with some Minnie ears of my own. Awww...

Bye Kids!

2007-02-12T10:51:00.000+09:00

So as you know, last Friday was my final day at Hiroo International Kindergarten. It really didn't feel like it though! I had been preparing the kids for me not coming back for the past 2 weeks, telling them I was going to Singapore on an aeroplane, showing them Singapore on a map .. we even made "postcards" to give to our friends far away (they all chose their mums or dads to give them to LOL). And now I'm moving to Hong Kong.

Well, I didn't bother trying to explain that to my darling 3 year olds but the point is they were all pretty aware of the fact that tomorrow I won't be there. Except perhaps Sho who will probably be running round for weeks looking for "Wee-wa"!

All of the kids were really sweet and gave me big hugs, cute drawings and even a pack of mint slices from Mum and Dad! (a few of our kids' parents work at embassies and they get food from 'home' .. great for pressies for the teachers!) The staff gave me a beautiful bunch of flowers at the end of the day and played a Wiggles song just for me! I think Keith is relieved he won't have to listen to "Stop at the Lights" every morning from now on ... although the kids are pretty into it, I'm sure they will continue to request anything by the Wiggles. Excellent ....

And here is the project my kids were working on this week - a great big Elmer the Patchwork Elephant! Aren't they great?!

Where in the World .. Part II

2007-02-10T12:43:00.000+09:00

Just an update on our move since my last post ...

We are definitely leaving Tokyo on Friday February 16. Flights booked for Friday morning so we will arrive in Hong Kong at just after 3pm. The real news is that our one week trip back to Honkers to pack up and leave has now become a 3 month stopover!

At this stage we will still be moving on to Singapore at the end of May. But don't go booking your holidays to visit us yet ... who would know when it comes to this move!

Next thing Mike and I need to organise is cancelling our flights to NZ ex Singapore in March and rebook from Hong Kong. Typical.

I finished up at HIK yesterday so once again am a kept woman. Guess I'm going to be a real Honky tai tai in the not too distant future! Looking forward to the trips up to China for lunch, girls!

Cabin Fever

2007-02-08T14:23:00.000+09:00

One of the things I love about HIK is that the kids have outside play every day. Like many kindies within Tokyo the school doesn't have its own outdoor play area (we're on Level 3) but each class visits the park for 20 minutes or so EVERY DAY. Plus we get to enjoy the walk there, which often takes about 15 minutes in itself when you have 8 three year olds to get there! (Thank goodness for that 2:1 ratio!!)

This week however, we have been indoors. Not because of rain or snow or even the cool winter temperatures. In fact, this week has been fairly mild and still very sunny. And generally we take the kids out even when it's freezing .. as long as it's not raining we visit the park.

Nope, the reason we've been staying indoors is that "safe Tokyo" hasn't been very safe this week. Our school is in the Azabu-Juban area which is very residential and pretty swanky - lots of embassies and rich Japanese families. All of that has been disturbed by fighting between two rival gang families in Japan. On Monday in Nishi-Azabu, the head of one gang was shot in broad daylight, around 10am. On Tuesday there were two more shootings in other areas of Tokyo.

We were hoping to get back outside today but of course the school's parents have heard the news and have been frantically calling the school to ask whether their children are in danger. So we stayed inside again today. Better safe than sorry.

For a more in-depth look at what happened visit Stippy.

More games...

2007-02-05T15:14:00.000+09:00

Board games this time.

Many of you know how I am a little addicted to Monopoly despite the fact that I'm not all that good at it. I even bought the Hong Kong version of the game ... although I didn't think it was worth getting the Japanese one since there are no English chance cards. (I guess I could substitute my NZ ones since they're not specific to the game ...)

Well www.nzmonopoly.co.nz is letting YOU choose what's hot (or not) in the new New Zealand edition of Monopoly. You're allowed to vote once a day in each region/category till February 10. Start voting guys!

Fun and Games

2007-02-03T17:16:00.000+09:00

Mike and I went to Yokohama for the day today. Mainly just to say we'd been there since we've been meaning to go for ages and this weekend was our last chance. Yokohama is Japan's second largest city (after Tokyo) and has a population of 3.6 million. It is pretty hard to see where Tokyo ends and Yokohama begins and it was only 40 minutes away by train from our place anyway!

After a quick trip up the world's second fastest elevator** (750m/minute) to the top of Japan's tallest building, Landmark Tower, we took the ferry over to Yamashita Koen and Chinatown. As far as Japanese Chinatowns go it was a pretty good one with loads of restaurants and enormous shu mai buns being sold from every street corner. But, as a friend said to me earlier in the week, China towns in Japan are a little disappointing because they are so orderly and the people are so polite! Not quite the same.

Our final stop before getting the train home was "Las Vegas" - one of many games arcades ....

I can't believe this is a video game that people pay money to play. But it is ...

Mike and I wish we were this good at this game ....

**The world's fastest elevator is now in Taipei 101

Where in the world are Sarah and Mike?

2007-01-30T18:55:00.000+09:00

Ah, yep, sorry bout the lack of updates in 2007, I have been putting off telling you all what we're up to because WE DON'T KNOW!

The latest is that Mike has been offered a transfer to Singapore and we flew down there a couple of weeks ago to have a look. Mike spent the week working in the Singapore office, getting to know his possible future team mates, ten pin bowling and drinking expensive beer. I spent the week sitting by the pool at the Ritz-Carlton, watching Oprah while on the treadmill in the gym, having my nails done and drinking expensive mocktails. I didn't get to know anyone other than the pool staff. But it was great!

Singapore definitely has its pros compared with Tokyo: English speaking, bigger apartments, cheaper, a huge range on food, shops with almost "normal" sizes on their shelves ..... but can it keep us entertained after Hong Kong and Japan?? Many people have told us you can see the sites of Singapore within 4 weekends, others warn of the sterile environment and fines for the smallest little thing. BUT I was surprised to see people did cross the road against the lights, there was litter outside the the rubbish bins and people sure do pick their noses in public - just like in Hong Kong. Sure, it's not as exciting as Tokyo but I think there will be plenty to do on our weekends off.

Not that I will be happy to leave here of course! We have made some fantastic friends in Tokyo and haven't seen half of the things we wanted to in Japan. This chance has come about rather quickly and it looks like we may be off in only a couple of weeks - just enough time to visit Yokohama next weekend and cram in as many social engagements as possible!

Meanwhile Mike and I have booked flights home to New Zealand in late March so we will be seeing many of you very soon! My Dad is remarrying on April 7 in Nelson and Mat and Bridgette are also tying the knot on the 7th in Wellington. We'll be hoping to catch up with as many people as possible in the few weeks we have back home, I'm really looking forward to it!!!

And yes, we've booked out tickets from Singapore!

Day 4 - Kobe

2007-01-23T15:39:00.000+09:00

On Friday we woke up to SNOW in Kyoto! Very pretty and fun walking to the bus stop. After a few delays on the train (I guess due to the snow) we arrived in a sunny but freezing Kobe.

First stop was Merikan Park where there is an earthquake memorial and a section of the port which has been left as it was after the quake. Pretty scary to see how much damage was done in the area - and then look up to the multi-storyed freeway running past the waterfront!

We also visited Chinatown, which wasn't sposed to be all that great (as far as Chinatowns go) according to LP, but we enjoyed the food for sure! Did a wee bit of shopping and then made our way to lunch.

I wanted to go to a Kobe beed restaurant recommended by LP for lunch as lunch deals in Japan are always fantastic value (particularly compared with the dinner menu!). We spent ages wandering up and down this particular street and being very confused that the place we were looking for seemed to be another cafe who happened to be celebrating their 6th birthday. My copy of LP is not that old!

When Sarah managed to have a look at the map, it transpired that someone had been looking for the wrong restaurant. In fact, the whole time we were actually "looking for" the 6-yr-old cafe. Oops.

Eventually we found Wakoku Beef and it was so worth it. Absolutely amazing food and a great show by the chef who made sure to tell us how to use every condiment and when we were sposed to eat what.

The next big adventure was the Herb Garden and cable car. We took the cable car up the hill and wanted to walk down. Didn't look too difficult. Until we found the goat track that meandered all the way down and all the way back UP the hill before taking us back to Shin-Kobe station. Not such a good idea at 4pm in the afternoon (sunset isn't long after 4.30) when it's been snowing intermittently all day. Oh well, it was good exercise and we felt rather proud of ourselves at the end!

Day 3 - Osaka

2007-01-20T15:12:00.000+09:00

Hmm .. Sorry it's so late .. but I am determined to get this down or I will forget what we got up to!

A clear-ish day in Kyoto but it was raining and cold in Osaka, which wasn't so fun when we first arrived! We planned to visit the Umeda Sky Building first as it was close to the station but the view wasn't as good as we'd hoped because of the low cloud. In the hour or so we spent there the weather actually began to clear up though which meant we got a fairly decent view of the city in the end.

Next stop was Amerika-Mura and Domtomburi. This is where we saw the sorts of things I think Japan is famous for: crazy shops, crazy people and endless neon lights. Finally worked up the courage to use some Japanese and ordered okonomiyaki for lunch. It seemed easier to use the little Japanese I do know in Kyoto and Osaka ... and I have since heard from other people that they agree. I wonder why? You would think people in Tokyo would be more used to figuring out what the foreigners are saying, but who knows?

Found the famous market where you can buy plastic food and everything else you might need to open a restaurant in Japan. We bought an icecream scoop.

We spent the afternoon walking and walking .. and walking some more, through vast streets of shops. My favourite pastime.

Dinner was at Kyoto Station again, this time on the 11th floor overlooking Kyoto and watching the sun go down in the evening - beautiful! The food wasn't bad either!

Day 2 - Kyoto

2007-01-04T19:10:00.000+09:00

Overnight we realised:
- Sarah had forgotten her glasses (and had to wear contacts all week and go blind at night)
- Mike had forgotten his contact lenses (and had to wear glasses all week and therefore look geeky in all his photos)
- Mike had also forgotten his shaver. Rats.

For our first (and only) full day in Kyoto we got up early and bussed back to the station to pick up all the guide maps we should have take the day before. The Tourist Information Centre is on the 9th floor of Kyoto Station. And it's closed on Tuesdays. Fortunately there is another Tourist Information Centre that gives out Japanese information on Level 2. On Tuesdays the will also give out English maps and info ... if we went back I'd just go to the second floor ... surely they have that stuff sitting there all the time?

First stop Sanjusangen-do, about 20-30 minutes walk from the station and in the end we decided not to pay the ￥600 entry fee to go in and took photos from the gate. There would be plenty more temples to see on this trip!

From there we followed one of the tourist walks through Eastern Kyoto visiting temples, shrines and pagodas. Many of Kyoto's sites are World Heritage Listed and considered to be culturally important not just to Japan but all humanity. The best part for me was usually the view at the top of a hill, or watching Japanese tourists take part in all the good luck rituals, reading their fortunes or trying to walk from one statue to another with their eyes closed in order to find their true love.

In the afternoon we followed the Philosopher's Path to Kinkakuji, the Silver Pavilion. This was the most crowded site we visited in Kyoto and felt like we were waiting in line to leave a lot of the time! You walk in one entrance, follow the path (and the people in front of you), take a few obligatory photos and walk out the other entrance (pause to use the bathroom facilities optional). The sand garden was fairly impressive however, as was the lack of patience from the European family in front of us who pushed through the rest of the tourist hordes - pretty bad form!

Mike was determined to walk back to the station after this so we followed his directions (which, admittedly were spot on) and arrived at Kyoto Station about 2 hours later, legs exhausted and starving. Of course we had just missed a bus and since it was after 6.30pm the next one wasn't coming for 45 minutes so time for our daily dose of Starbucks!

Starbucks over here is not like home. The first thing you do here is reserve a seat, often on another floor altogether from the service counter. Generally speaking, a shopping bag or your coat is used to reserve a seat and the others around the table you wish to use. If you're lucky you'll be in a group of 2 or more so one person can organise a table while the other waits in a queue to order and then receive your coffees. Getting your coffee takes longer as well because not only do they repeat your order back to you here, but the barista really does repeat it to the service staff. And so do the other 5 staff behind the counter. Which is hilarious because you get to hear your Japan-ified order being repeated in stereo by 7 chipmunks. Priceless.

Then you take three hours to drink your one short coffee between three friends, all the while emailing another three friends on your keitai or reading a magazine, or doing your homework, or fixing your make-up but never actually talking to your companions (unless it's via your keitai of course).

Day 1 - Kyoto

2007-01-02T14:41:00.000+09:00

Before I get started, you can see photos from all 4 cities of our trip here.

On Boxing Day Mike and I took the Shinkansen down to Kyoto. Since Kyoto is only 2 hours away on the bullet train I picked a slightly later train than our 6am departure to Hiroshima back in October. Plus I was let in on the "secret" of Shinagawa station recently so things were a bit better organised all round really.

We arrived at Kyoto Eki just before lunch time and managed to find the JR bus stop and the next bus to Takahana-cho without too much trouble. As we got further and further away from the centre of Kyoto I could see Mike worrying a bit that we were on the wrong bus. Nope, but our ryokan was a little further out than I think he had realised.

We stayed at Yamazaki Ryokan which is the same place that Mum and Alex stayed in back in May. Our room seemed huge compared with others we've stayed in in Japan and we were both looking forward to sleeping on futons after the uncomfortable beds in Thailand (not to mention a night of no sleep on our flight home). But first we had an afternoon of sightseeing to do!

First stop was Ginkakuji or the Golden Pavilion, which had been recommended not only by Lonely Planet but also a guy we talked to at the Toyota City Showroom in Odaiba back in August (? September?). As promised it was very beautiful, although it probably would've looked a bit nicer had the sky not been so grey and ominous. Still, it was a nice walk around the temple grounds and not too far from our ryokan - only 5 minutes on the bus followed by a 5 minute walk.

Unfortunately the weather decided to pack in around this point and we saw Gion and Ponto-cho in the pouring rain. Taking the bus from downtown Kyoto to the station reminded me so much of bussing home in Wellington, I felt a little bit homesick! Something to do with hot, stuffy busses and wet roads with everyone around you just waiting for the ride to end. Kyoto was cold and wet but at least the train station had a shopping mall and hundreds of restaurants! Unfortunately we were a little early, and it was a bit wet, to see and geishas or maiko, but Ponto-cho was a nice walk (despite the rain!) and we had a fortifying starbucks coffee overlooking the river at the end of the afternoon too.

Dinner was okonomiyaki at Kyoto Station. Mike was in Heaven. Actually, so was I - it was delicious!

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T17:40:00.000+09:00

What are your New Year's resolutions this year? I was reading an article on stuff yesterday that says more than half of Brits who make resolutions will give them up within 6 months. So I'm going to beat them all and forego the resolution making altogether this year. Easy.

Mike and I arrived back in Tokyo yesterday after two weeks away. Thailand was relaxing but not quite as sunny as we'd hoped. Admittedly it is their rainy season right now and we didn't get any rain, so perhaps we should just be thankful for that rather than moaning about the lack of sun. Still, it was great fun sitting round reading books all day and playing backgammon, eating thai food and drinking Chang. While on Samui Mike spoiled me with an early Christmas present - a half day "Sweetheart Together" spa treatment at Bandara Resort which was AMAZING.

Back in Japan for Christmas and we had a nice quiet one at home. Slept late following our overnight flight home (possibly the first and last Christmas I have ever slept more than 12 hours) and enjoyed a cooked champagne brunch followed by roast lamb for Christmas dinner without feeling at all guilty about not going outside because it's WINTER.

On Boxing Day we were up early again and off to Kyoto. We took the Shinkansen down there and arrived just before lunch time which gave us the afternoon to check out Gion and Ponto-cho. In the rain. We stopped in at Starbucks after 4 or so hours of walking and I was really disappointed to find they had already stopped serving their special "Christmas" drinks - no more toffee nut lattes for me until next Christmas then!

Fortunately we had pretty good weather for the rest of the trip, although it was a lot colder than Tokyo has been. We arrived back in Tokes late yesterday arvo, after a bit of drama with our return train tickets we managed to get back in one piece and even lasted until midnight to pop open a bottle of bubbles and welcome in the New Year.

Mike's back at work tomorrow so I'll be getting the place organised and sorting out our holiday photos before I go back to work myself next week. I'm looking forward to sleeping in and having some home-cooked dinners! On tonight's menu is thai red curry ....

Summer Holidays...

2006-12-15T20:38:00.000+09:00

After an exhausting week, Mike and I are off to Thailand tomorrow for some much needed SUN and relaxation. We'll be taking the friendly airport limousine bus out to Narita in the afternoon and arriving at the new Bangkok International Airport around midnight. We have 5 hours or so to kill until our 6am flight to Koh Samui but we'll be sure not to forget the cards on this trip!

Mike's at his work Christmas party tonight, but (in true Japanese style) partners are NOT invited so I am hanging out at home packing and cleaning out the fridge. I was severely disappointed to find Wolfgang Puck is closed for a private party tonight so I couldn't get a Chicken Chinoise salad to go with my bottle of Cloudy Bay. The pitfalls of living in such a business area - all the restaurants nearby are catering to office Christmas parties!

Great thing about packing for a beach holiday - there's not a lot to think about! Bikini, t-shirt, boardies, jandals, towel. Done. Oh yeah ... don't forget spare knickers!

Enjoy your Christmas parties and BBQs everyone! We'll be home on Christmas Day if anyone wants to call xoxo

Hey, I'm not THAT good

2006-12-11T18:50:00.000+09:00

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Have just spent the last 20 minutes trying not to punch the computer screen and then throw the entire thing out the window. For some reason blogger is getting a wee bit clever and "knows" that I am in Japan ... which means it thoughtfully opens in Japanese every time I try to log in and post a new entry or update anything. Super. I might be 2 lessons away from finishing Japanese For Busy People Volume 1 but all that means is I can introduce myself and ask random questions (which never receive the answers I want which means I am often none the wiser and most likely thoroughly confused and embarassed). I can not read even a little bit of the kanji. OK, maybe I know more than I think ... like I can tell that the country location in my settings is Nihon. But that is it.

Mike is working late tonight, trying to get some projects (i.e. the bugs) ironed out before we take off on Saturday. He tried to get a few things done yesterday but do you think anything worked? No. So a wasted few hours at the office on a Sunday, but we did manage to go out for the afternoon and visit the talking 7 dwarfs in Hiroo (hilarious).

5 more sleeps till we go to Thailand and I am very excited about the prospect of sun and warmth. I don't think we hit 10 degrees today and despite having central heating I am actually cold right now and considering putting a blanket over my knees while I work on my Japanese homework!

Speaking of blankets, I went to Cold Stone last Friday - no, it's never too cold to eat icecream in Tokyo! Mainly because the cafes and restaurants here provide gas heaters and blankets during the winter months so you can still sit outside. Felt kind of weird eating icecream with blue lips and fingers but d@mn it tasted good! Funniest part is the staff singing jingles (in Japanese) while they work ... evidently it's part of the American tradition (Cold Stone is a US company), but I have never seen so many Popstars working in an icecream parlour, it has to be seen to be believed.

The Christmas party on Friday was a mild success: managed to get 4 out of 7 kids up the front to perform and they looked pretty cute. The picnic on the beach looked rather sad as Elizabeth's friends didn't join in (the three who refused to leave Mummy's knee) but Wags, Captain Feathersword and Dorothy were all stars! Elizabeth promptly burst into tears after we finished singing, but at least she stuck out the entire song! Not so many parents give gifts at international schools but I did receive a bottle of Aussie Reisling and some biscuits so can't complain really!

Christmas is coming ...

2006-11-27T18:24:00.000+09:00

Rather than send an email out to everyone, I thought I'd just let you all know our Christmas plans from here. Easy peasy Japanesy.

Mike and I will be in Thailand from December 16 - 23, arriving back in Tokyo on the morning of Christmas Eve. We'll be spending Christmas Day here in Tokyo (fingers crossed for snow and a white Christmas, although I hear we'll be rather lucky if it happens!) and then off again on Boxing Day. We're taking the train down to Kyoto for 5 nights and will be seeing Osaka, Nara and Kobe from there too.

So what's everyone planning for their Christmas hols? Do you even get Christmas hols? I'm certainly envious of those of you in the Southern Hemisphere enjoying the weather warming up and the prospect of BBQs and cricket on the telly.

By the way, email me your addresses please so I can send you all Chrissy cards!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-26T18:02:00.000+09:00

For those of you who don't know, last week was Thanksgiving in the States. As some of our new friends here are American we got to celebrate Thanksgiving in style at Joanna and Andrew's. With the turkey provided by moi as we are the only ones with a real oven!

After much stress (mostly unnecessary), I managed to find a turkey that would fit in our oven and attempted to cook it on Saturday morning. I even remembered to thaw it in the fridge for 3 days before I needed it! Hooray for me. By all accounts the turkey (and homemade stuffing which was something of a novelty for my American friends) was a success and I will be invited back again since there was no food poisoning involved.

Anyways it was a fantastic night and you can see a few of the photos here.

Nikko

2006-11-23T09:46:00.000+09:00

On Sunday Mike and I took the train up to Nikko, which is supposed to be a beautiful place and perfect for viewing the koyo or autumn colours. Since we were already up early (having listened to the ABs v France game live on radiosport) we left nice and early and arrived in Nikko mid-morning.

Unusually for us we'd checked out the weather forecast before we left home which meant we had plenty of warm clothes - the temperature range for the day was 3 - 5 degrees! The train ride up started out pretty stuffy and hot (and we were cursing the personal heaters under each seat which seemed to be on maximum output) but by the time we got a little closer to Nikko you could feel the cold seeping through the windows and we were putting all our layers on again.

First thing we did was find something to eat. Both the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet recommended Happari Dako for their fried noodles and yakitori and excellent service so that's where we decided to stop off. It was a tiny wee restaurant - only 3 tables - with the walls (and ceilings) covered with notes, business cards, money, student cards, even used boarding passes with messages from foreign and japanese tourists who have visited Happari Dako. Of course we left a card too! In return the owner gave us a map with her version of "Nikko in One Day" telling us which places were Number 1 beautiful and what to miss.

We spent the next few hours doing the trail around the temples and shrines of Nikko, most of which are World Heritage sites and all were amazing. Much more ornate than most of the temples we have seen so far in Japan. The highlight though was seeing all the autumn colours in the hills, along the streets and around the temples - very very impressive!

Unfortunately though, the weather gradually grew worse as the day went on and despite there only being a 30% chance of rain it was bucketing down by the early afternoon and we even bought an umbrella (just another for our extensive collection). We finished up at the former Imperial Villa which at least gave us an hour or so indoors looking at the imperial family's old holiday home. The garden there was particularly beautiful too.

We didn't make it up to the waterfall and lake which are also highly recommended by most people. We're hoping to go back again if we have time (!) perhaps with a rental car and to stay overnight.

Click here to see more photos from Nikko.

Long Time No See!

2006-11-16T18:59:00.000+09:00

Sorry I've been pretty slack with the old blog this month, haven't I!

Well, last weekend was the much awaited and anticipated trip back to Honkers. I was a little worried it would be a big letdown and I would realise I have spent the past three months looking at our old life in Hong Kong through rose-tinted glasses ... BUT I have to say I had a fantastic time and, yes, I really DO like Hong Kong!

For a start I managed to spend way too much money mainly because the clothes FIT ME (AND looked good) and it is so EASY to shop there compared with here. When we first arrived in Hong Kong I thought there was a language barrier ... now I live in Japan. And not even in a small town ... I admire Laura and her time here even more than I did before!

So I arrived late Friday night, having been extremely lucky on my flight and having an entire row to myself which meant I could sleep as soon as dinner was over. Ali and Tez met me at the Airport Express which was really sweet .. and I had help with my suitcase up the escalator!

Unfortunately I woke up with a snotty nose and achey bones on Saturday - that cold had finally arrived ... but nothing a spot of shopping (and a few mugs of coffee, thanks Terry) couldn't fix. I sorted out my phone, established that Mike had remembered his PIN and met up with Naomi, Nick and Daisy for coffee and brunch. Hong Kong finally has a brunch cafe that serves healthy food - including corn fritters! YUM! Anyone who had brunch with me on my trip home in July will know all about my obsession with corn fritters ... and I definitely had my fill at eat right!

Next on the agenda was some serious shopping. Nomes, Kate and I hit IFC Mall for a couple of hours before I headed off to Causeway Bay on my own. I was pretty excited to find my love of shopping somehow rubbed off on Naomi while I've been away and she was just as enthusiastic as me about Zara's new season gear. Bliss.

Saturday was definitely the highlight of the trip though. Ali very kindly arranged for everyone to meet at i caramba! for dinner so there were 8 of us there in the end, sucking down margaritas and indulging in mexican food. Kiki had never had mexican before (apparently) but she seemed to really enjoy it ... or perhaps it was just the company she was in (and I'm not talking about yours truly!).

After dinner Nick, Nomes, Kate and I carried on to Aqua Bar in TST. If anyone is going to Hong Kong you really have to go there even if it's just for the Two Drink Minimum, the view is amazing and their cocktails are to die for ... I had the Aqua Queen and, yes, it really did put a sparkle in my eye! Our night finished with getting a taxi home, which seemed to take forever and involved a few "is this guy ripping us off?!" moments as we waiting in the crawling snake of traffic at the Central Tunnel ... but, whatever, the entire ride (including dropping the girls off at the Ferry Pier and then on up to MidLevels) cost about 20NZD ... I really miss cheap taxis!!!

Sunday was really just packing and getting down to the station to check in but I did manage to squeeze in some last minute shopping at good old Olympian City. Checked on the apartment (J had just had the cleaner in, nice!) and picked up the mail and even managed to retrieve a jacket from the laundry which I just didn't have time to pick up the morning I left for Japan.

I arrived home absolutely wrecked just before midnight on Sunday and pretty relieved to see Mike. It was a great trip though, even if it was a bit of a whirlwind. Made me realise that yes, I do love Hong Kong but also made me appreciate a few things about Japan too.

And the char siu bau were great too!

And You Thought Step Was Hard!

2006-11-01T15:58:00.000+09:00

Last week I finally ventured down to the Hills Spa. It's part of the Ark Towers setup and as serviced apartment residents we have full membership. Which is great because don't think I'd be paying $50 per visit if I was footing the bill myself!

The gym itself is fairly, shall we say, intimate. As is the studio where the classes take place every day except Monday (Hills Spa is closed on Mondays). There are 4 treadmills, 2 bikes, 3 steppers, a weights machine and free weights. There are TVs but they have no sound and the only "English" channel is CNN. With no sound.

Anyways, on Sunday I decided to join the Shape & Pump class. It was new in October (apparently) and the description lead me to believe it would be along similar lines as Pump back home. I wanted something that required little coordination and instruction following just in case the instructions happened to be in Japanese.

Well, despite every other staff member at Ark Towers speaking English and most of the residents appearing to be short term and foreign, the classes at Hills Spa are conducted almost exclusively in Japanese. Except for when they welcome you to the class which is conveniently named in English. So welcome to Shape ando Pumpu, everyone.

I arrived 10 minutes before the beginning of class to find 6 step platforms set up in the studio. No weights (or dumbells as they described them in the foyer) hanging around, but maybe they were waiting till we got there so it wasn't too cluttered and Dangerous. Two more punters arrived (Japanese). No weights. The class started with a wonderful welcome from Mr Perky himself, including a full on bow which was returned by the Japanese members of the class. I gave him a wee nod and a tight smile.

And then we started marching. Behind the step. Uh oh, you guessed it, Shape ando Pumpu has nothing to do with pumping weights and everything to do with STEP! And to make things even more enjoyable lets just go and do a set of squats on the other side of the room in between every track! As some of you will know, I am bad enough with left and right as it is, but when the instructions are in Japanese?! Impossible.

Imagine how hard it was to keep a straight face then, when Mr Perky Instructor tried to help me out by calling out English instructions and ended up saying "down" when we were up and "up" when we were down. At least I can count to 10 already so I knew how many times we were meant to be stepping up and down!

And the icing on the cake - when it came to push ups was I allowed to do girly, on your knees push ups? Uh uh. I happen to be bigger than even the lone male Japanese guy in the class which means I am expected to do full manly press ups thanks very much. Yeesh.

So now, 4 days later, my muscles (or the things that are trying to be muscles) are screaming in agony, particularly after I returned for round 2 yesterday. The class is twice a week and you know what? ..I think I'll make my "reservation" a regular one.

Pumpkin Party!

2006-10-29T13:46:00.000+09:00

Last night Mike and I went to K and E's place for their annual Halloween Pumpkin Party. BYO drinks and pumpkin!

It was a bit of a mission getting there, but we arrived to find a delicious hot meal waiting for us (homemade chilli). It was a big mistake relying on Sarah for the directions ... there is apparently a big difference between '150 ft from the walking path' and '5 or 6 minutes walk from the walking path.' Who would've thought. But we made it in the end.

After dinner and the apparently obligatory screening of the Peanuts Halloween Episode we got down to business and began to carve our pumpkins. This was a completely new experience for Mike and I but luckily we had supervision from A and J who have done this many times before!

We were rather proud of our wee jack-o-latern but then we saw the others' efforts, some of which were pretty spectacular.

To see photos from the party click here.

Tokyo is a Village

2006-10-29T13:31:00.000+09:00

Fun Fact for the week: It is estimated that around 20 million people use Tokyo's trains and subways daily, passing through 1000 stations. (wikipedia)

On Friday I took the Marunouchi Line to Otemachi, near the Imperial Palace. The train leaves every 4 minutes (at least) throughout the day and passes through Tokyo Station, the main hub for the Shinkansen and JR trains out of Tokyo. It's a busy line.

As I was standing on the train, in my own little dream world and listening to BEP, I noticed a family at the other end of the car: Japanese guy, blonde chick and their daughter. The blonde caught my eye as she was the only other foreigner in the car. And then she turned around ...

... this random blonde woman on the train, amidst millions of other taking the train in Tokyo on Friday was non other than Ange - an old soccer team mate from Christchurch Tech who now lives in Nelson with her husband Tosh and their daughter! They were in Tokyo for two days as part of their annual trip back to Japan.

It really is a small world, huh.

Takaosan

2006-10-23T16:23:00.000+09:00

This week's escape from Tokyo: Takaosan (Mt Takao), about 50 minutes from Shinjuku. Or, if you're like us and you manage to take the local train, 1 hour 20 minutes from Shinjuku. Oops.

We have been meaning to visit this place for WEEKS. But our first attempt was thwarted by me getting randomly sick the night before and our second barely even registered, I think we were just too tired for some reason or another. So this weekend we were DETERMINED to go.

Which was a bit of a shame, really, as the weather was grey and overcast so the view from the top of the mountain? Pea soup. Not to worry, Mike and I are Resourceful. We managed to find a few fun things to do!

We took the chairlift half-way up the mountain for a start. Very entertaining, it doesn't seem all that stable and it was a bit small for Mike .. his legs nearly touched the ground most of the way up .. and at times, he COULD touch the ground which meant I spent a lot of the ride worrying he was going to catch his foot and fall face first onto the ground and then get left behind as I continued on up the mountain. But luckily that didn't happen - Phew!

The final section was about a 30 minute walk but we stopped for lunch at a noodle restaurant on the way. Yes, they have restaurants on the sides of mountains here. The staff were very helpful and came outside with us so we could point to the pictures of the udon we wanted. No pictures or English menu to be found INSIDE the restaurant!

At the top we sat and watched kids eat icecream, teenagers playing some crazy fingerplay (like drinking games without the beers) and couples wearing matching sneakers and vests. We had a drink, looked at the non-existant view and then found Trail 6, leading down Takaosan and taking us past a waterfall.

As far as waterfalls go, it wasn't all that impressive, but the walk was nice and there were far fewer people once you got off that main footpath from the chairlifts. It took about 90 minutes to walk down and find our way back to the centre of the village where we watched a guy preparing dough (?) to make soba noodles.

The highlight of our wee adventure was actually thanks to a discovery by Mike - the Trick Art Museum. It wasn't exactly cheap (￥1500 EACH) but we DID get a free drink at the end - out on the "terrace."

To see some photos from the Trick Art Museum and Takaosan click here.

Sarah Thursday

2006-10-19T18:02:00.000+09:00

I didn't even get lost on my way to M's house this afternoon!

Rushing this coz I am off to Japanese very shortly and I haven't looked at this week's "skito" ... better memorise it quick or I could be very embarrassed before 7pm!

らいげつ　ホンコンに　かえります。

2006-10-18T19:33:00.000+09:00

Some of you in Hong Kong better work out what that means pretty soon (Nick, Ali!).

For those of you who haven't learned Japanese, I am going back to Hong Kong for a weekend next month and I'm really looking forward to it ... cheap (and tasty) dim sum for breakfast, shopping for clothes that fit, going out for coffee other than starbucks (hope that place next to the escalator is still open, Ali), having bagels (nice ones), eating barbeque pork (and barbeque pork buns) and of course, catching up with friends while I'm doing all this.

As much as I am loving Tokyo, there are plenty of things I miss about Hong Kong! I will definitely be taking an empty bag or two! I'm looking forward to finding a cheap handbag in Mongers, buying new socks and T-shirts, buying some new shoes (!) and maybe a winter coat if their winter stuff is out yet. Plus, there are the things that Mike and I have realised we should have brought with us .. a sharp knife, tennis racquets, Mike's running shoes (! dunno why he "forgot" those), and all my music CDs ... that was my own fault, I didn't put them on the computer before I went to NZ and I didn't put them in the "take to Tokyo" pile for Mike either .. oops.

Anyways, before then I have plenty going on here too. Next week is the Halloween Party at school, followed by lunch for the staff and then karaoke (!). Friday is a "Child Development Conference" aka a Day Off for all the teachers. I hope none of the parents google me and find this blog.......

There's also a long weekend at the beginning of November so we're hoping to get away somewhere for a night with J and A, perhaps the Izu Peninsula or Nikko.

So Ali, Kiki, Nomes, Nick, Tez and anyone else reading from Honkers: see you very soon! Where shall we go for dinner?!

xo

Cars

2006-10-16T19:04:00.000+09:00

They have some really interesting carparking solutions here in Japan...

Or click here to watch.

YouTube Me

2006-10-15T00:32:00.000+09:00

If you're interested in seeing any of our videos from Japan, take a look at my channel on YouTube. Click here to see it.

Feel free to give them lots of 5-star ratings ;)

Chopu-sticks OK?

2006-10-14T23:24:00.000+09:00

I'm sure you have all seen photos or at least heard of the shocking English signs they come up with here (and all over the rest of Asia). Over the past few days, Mike and I have seen some real stunners. And then last night we came across this:

We've also had a good laugh at the names of some of the "hair & make" salons around Tokyo. But the best one (so far) we found in Hiroshima ... fat time! Which happens to be right next door to Haagen Dazs.

Or how about the ones on Miyajima, mostly telling you where to find the monkeys ... We never found the monkeys or the "forest", but at least the signs gave us a laugh.

The best use of English (this month) actually comes from Honkers. Earlier in the month was China National Day, a public holiday for everyone in Hong Kong except, of course, the poor suckers in Product Control. One of the guys in the Hong Kong team wore a t-shirt with this pearler across the front: "F*ckin Pimp."

But for some reason he seemed a bit nonplussed when the boss told him not to leave his desk for the day!

So what are some of the shockers you guys have seen? Bonus points for photo evidence!

TGIF! [Hiroshima Photos]

2006-10-13T15:29:00.000+09:00

Firstly, here are the rest of our photos from Hiroshima last weekend.

Mike and I have no real plans for this weekend - taking it easy for a change I think! There's a pretty nasty cold going round at kindy at the moment and I think I might be getting it ... or it could just be dehydration from the aircon .. it's hard to know sometimes.

Lastly (but most importantly) HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Julia! My little sister is getting old ... eek!

Hope everyone has a great weekend wherever they are xo

Ikebana

2006-10-12T16:04:00.000+09:00

Here's this week's creation. This is my first attempt at a tall vase, rather than a long one. Loving the autumn colours! Although the leaves are starting to droop a little, they haven't done as well as the flowers.

The following history of ikebana was given to me by Seiko, our teacher. Thought you might be interested in what it's all about.

The history of Ikebana

The Origin of Ikebana stretches back over 500years. The oldest Ikebana manuscript dates from 1486. Since this time many styles have appeared, disappeared and developed. People have long appreciated beautiful flowers and arranged them in vases. However in Japan the way of arranging flowers and plants has been carefully systematised and this is called "Kado". (Ikebana)

When Buddhism was introduced to Japan in about 538, monks started to arrange flowers to decorate the altars of temples.

In Heian Period(794-1192) there are number of novels , essays and poems of that time which describe that aristocrat enjoying flower arranging and admiring arrangements of flowers.(Ikebana)

In Kamakura Period(1192-1333) the Samurai wrested the power of government from the aristocrats and brought great lifestyle and fashion changes to the whole of Japanese society. At this time it became fashionable to create a Tokonoma, a small sacred alcove, in Japanese rooms. The Tokonoma would contain a flower arrangement
with some incense and a candle. Nowadays our fomal Japanese room has the Tokonoma.

In the early 16C people changed their attitude toward flower arranging. They didn't wish just to put flowers into a vase but to think about the meaning of personal expression. They arranged flowers while thinking about their philosophy.

Many schools of Ikebana started to appear during the Edo Period.(1603-1868)

In the Meiji Period (1868-1912) ...The meiji restoration 1868) brought the influences of western culture and this helped the modernization of Japanese flower arranging as well.

After the World War 2 Japan was again greatly influenced by the western styles. This brought great changes to Japanese lifestyles. For example Tokonoma are rarely seen in modern apartments. Ikebana has become regarded as an art form. This has inspired more freedom and resulted in the free style of Ikebana. It is said that in Japan there are about 3000 different schools of Ikebana currently in existence.

Our school "Sogetsu" is one of these. As a Japanese I really want to inherit Ikebana to anybody who loves flowers .... not only Japanese people but also anybody from all over the world. So I want to do my best to lead all of you, thinking of your own personality.

Hiroshima and Miyajima

2006-10-10T17:36:00.000+09:00

In Japan we don't get Christmas Holidays. But we do get a variety of other public holidays including "Respect For the Aged Day," "Nature Day," "Young Adults Day" and (this weekend's holiday) "School Sports Day." So I don't think we're missing out. (Me especially, since our school is "international" we do get Christmas off, and Easter, and Thanksgiving!)

In honour of School Sports Day, Mike and I took the Shinkansen down to Hiroshima for the weekend. Hiroshima is 894.2 kilometres from Tokyo by Shinkansen. The Nozomi (Super Express!) does the trip in 4 hours 5 minutes - including "brief stops" in a few "important places" along the way. As a comparison, the distance between Wellington and Auckland (by train) is 680.7 kms and it takes the Overlander just about 12 hours to make the trip. Speedy.

So. Hiroshima. In case you didn't know it was the target of the world's first atomic bombing in 1945, killing an estimated 80,000 people directly and 60,000 people in the following months. Everything combustible within about 2kms of the bomb's epicentre was incinerated. You get to read all about this (and see the graphics) at the Peace Memorial Museum, which is at the Peace Park. We spent the afternoon there on Saturday and did the Audio Tour. It was very sad - depressing even - although it was also very interesting.

The Museum takes a very anti-nuclear (weapons) view on the whole thing (understandably) and also on the future/way forward for World Peace. This didn't surprise me in the slightest, nor did I find it unreasonable. But I guess that's coming from New Zealand's own anti-nuclear stance. It was interesting discussing the Museum with an American colleague this morning as they were looking at it from a completely different perspective. (In terms of nuclear weapons, not talking about whether the bomb should have been dropped and all that which is a whole other conversation)

We also took in the A-Bomb Dome, the city's only remaining bomb damaged building. Quite a strange sight in a modern, Asian city to see a stone, Czech designed building with no roof.

I found Hiroshima itself very beautiful. There were plenty of trees, wide (tree-lined) streets, rivers, bridges and of course we had amazing weather for the entire weekend which probably helped! Despite the Museum and things like public transport being packed for the Holiday weekend, it never seemed busy or overcrowded and it was just a really nice place for a break.

We also got lucky with our accommodation. Sarah strikes again with the organisation woes - it was looking like we might not get a bed in Hiroshima as nowhere seemed to have a twin/double room available for Saturday night (Sunday was fine). I also found out later that we were lucky to Shinkansen tickets as well - one of Mike's workmates assumed we were flying down as we were arranging it all so late in the piece. Well, it all worked out in the end and we managed to get a room at Minshuku Ikedaya .. listed in the Lonely Planet no less!

The room was clean (hurrah!) and had everything we needed (futon - check, linen - check, private bathroom - check!) and a few things we didn't. Our hosts were friendly, it was QUIET and it was close to the Peace Memorial Park, a few okonomi-ya and the trams. Sweet. AND it was cheap (for Japan).

We spent Sunday on Miyajima, a small island accessible by ferry from Hiroshima. It's famous for it's shrine, Itsukushima which 'floats' at high tide. The island is apparently one of Japan's three most scenic views.

We (I) fed the deer, walked through the Shrine, ate oysters (and some other random things) and walked up Mt Misen. We actually took the world's most crowded cable car most of the way up and then did the 1km walk to the top. In the weather we had, that was definitely a good thing!

We were pretty exhausted on Sunday night but we still managed to go out for okonomiyaki! We found this great little place near our minshuku and the owner chatted away to us while he cooked our dinner. He even asked us if we spoke Spanish (in Spanish) .. sorry, no. But it was a fun dinner - and delicious!

On Monday we slept late which was a nice change after our early starts. We thought we'd have heaps of time, take out luggage to the station and maybe spend the day at Shukkein Garden and do some shopping. It took us over an hour to find somewhere for our suitcase. Every coin locker in Hiroshima Station was full! In the end we were directed to a luggage deposit room.

When we finally found it (harder than you'd think) we then had to explain what time we would be back ... time to put Sarah's Japanese lessons to use! Unfortunately Japanese numbers (particularly time) aren't my strong point. Small problem with there being a different counter for nearly every thing you can imagine in Japanese. Dunno why. But anyway, the poor guy eventually asked me to write the time on his hand with his red marker. And then he said exactly what I swear I had been saying all along!

By that stage we were starving so we jumped on a tram, back to all the shops and had a really delicious curry lunch set. It is amazing how good curry rice can be here .. and how popular it is! After lunch we barely had time for a quick walk around the gardens, but they were small and with Mike on the case we managed to squeeze as much in as possible. We even arrived back at the station with enough time to buy snacks for the train before it was time to say goodbye to Hiroshima.

Only in Tokyo

2006-10-06T16:54:00.000+09:00

Thursdays are my busy day here in Tokyo. I have work in the morning, which has progressed from being 4 hours a morning as an "assistant" to 5 hours plus/day as an actual teacher. Still working out how that happened! Anyways, after work my afternoon is pretty full. I won't say hectic because the afternoon is full of ikebana which is actually quite relaxing. Then in the evenings I have two hours of Japanese.

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be rather hectic however. I was all ready, dressed in my kinda posh clothes (ikebana has been at the Argentinian Ambassador's residence recently, hosted by the Ambassador's wife, so looking like a grown-up is required!) and umbrella in hand waiting for a taxi, ordered for me by Ark Hills reception. I should have known something was up immediately when the taxi driver wasn't interested in what the girl from reception had to say, he just pointed at his GPS as if to say, "All I need is this, Baby!"

Well, sadly, he probably should have listened to instructions.

It was pouring with rain here yesterday afternoon (although it's worse today). The taxi drove off after about 5 minutes of button pushing on the GPS and before we got down to Roppongi-dori (the main road at the bottom of our small hill) the meter ticked over from the flag-fare. Great, looks like he was charging me for that button pushing in the Ark Hills "parking place!"

About 10 minutes and ￥1500 later we turn right off Roppongi-dori and the driver stops (in the middle of the street). I'm not sure what he said to me at that point but I wasn't getting out of the cab. Thank goodness ikebana was in the same place this week as last week because at least I had an idea of the direction we should have been travelling in. So the driver turns off the meter, gets out and asks random passersby for directions.

Not sure who gave him the directions, but about 5 minutes later he jumps back in and cancels the fare on the meter. Unfortunately (?) I knew we weren't within walking distance of the embassy so I couldn't just jump out, vase in hand, and take off without him. I had to trust him to get me there. We drove off again, back to Roppongi-dori and this time took the left turn at the intersection. At least this time we were heading for MotoAzabu which is an area with a few embassies.

Eventually we're driving through some pretty narrow streets and once again I have no idea where we are - none of these streets look familiar. But the driver seems to know where he's going and I figure maybe this is the way you have to approach the embassy by car (there's a few one-way streets in Tokyo). Soon the driver pulls over and points out an embassy across the road. The flag doesn't look Argentinian but what the heck, I pay him (￥800), get out my umbrella and take a look.

Uh oh. Run back to the cab.

Sumimasen!

(frantic pointing)

- IRAQ taishikan!

(More pointing - at myself)

- I want Argentin taishikan!

The driver seems to realise it's wrong because next thing you know he is jumping out of the taxi and running over for a look. Comparing the written instructions from Ark Hills with the plaque on the gate. Sure enough, Sarah wanted the Argentinian Embassy!

We get back into the taxi. The driver takes out his mobile phone and calls *someone. By this stage it's almost 3.30 and I am nearly in tears. The rain is getting harder, we're in a random sidestreet and even the driver seems to have no idea. Eventually he gets off he phone and explains something to me in Japanese. Sorry, dude, all I can do is look baffled and repeat wakarimasen!

So after a few nods and daijobus we're on our way again. And this time at least the driver seems a little more .. purposeful. Perhaps it was just my imagination. Soon enough we're on familiar ground again. But then he just pulls over and stops the meter - again! And begins explaining in Japanese some more. And drawing not-so-helpful diagrams with dots and lines. Turns out what he was trying to explain was that the Embassy was on a one-way street and I needed to back down the block a couple of hundred metres.

Finally, I arrived at the Embassy. About 45 minutes after I left Ark Hills. Still, the total price of the two taxi fares was less than the first one he cancelled. I am a little annoyed he charged me for the second part to be honest. But what could I do .. they don't teach us, "I'm not paying" in Japanese for Busy People I. In fact, there probably isn't such a sentence in existence in Japanese.

80s In a Can (completely off-topic!)

2006-10-06T16:36:00.000+09:00

Apparently melloyello is back!

Take the quiz at http://www.melloyello.co.nz/. And if you feel like sending me a can, you know where I live!

All I remember about melloyello is that I liked it and it came in those old-school soft drink bottles with the black plastic base thingy.

If you want to reminisce about the 80s in general you could check out this.

TTFN!

A day in the life of Sarah

2006-10-04T19:44:00.000+09:00

What have I done today???

Not much! Is the short answer! Work this morning; I'm finishing a little later now that I am an actual Teacher rather than Assistant. Still not entirely sure whether I wanted to agree to that, but here I am, planning lessons and making a fool of myself during circle time all over again!

I spent most of this afternoon dealing with trains: booking our tickets to Hiroshima for Saturday and trying to find a shop in Kamata, which isn't all that close to my place after all. I think I spent about 3 hours riding the subway this afternoon plus another hour or so queuing for the train and in the JR ticket line.

It amazed me how the Marunouchi Line train was so packed at 2.30pm today - standing room only. Where are all those people going in the middle of the day? Surely they weren't all headed to Shinjuku to book train tickets too?! (They weren't, the train was still just as full when I got off at Shinjuku a few minutes later). The Tokyo Metro system apparently carries an average of 5.69 million passengers per day. That's not to be confused with the other JR and Toei lines which also carry gazillions of passengers.

Let's compare that with the Paraparaumu line back in Wellington (since Tranz Metro doesn't have such easily available stats for the whole Wellington region) ... The Paraparaumu line carries (wait for it) "around 16000 passengers per day." More than 90% of those are during the two hour "peak" period - morning and evening combined.

A further comparison: I have yet to be delayed longer than a few minutes on any train here in Japan. Apparently it's rather a big deal if the trains are delayed here. Station staff greet you with a bow and a note for your employer explaining why you're late. Imagine the staff required for that performance every time the Tranz Metro between the Hutt and Wellington is delayed! (or not coming at all)

Julia came to visit

2006-10-02T18:15:00.000+09:00

So here's the photos from Julia's visit a couple of weeks ago.

We had a great few days catching up, sightseeing, eating (of course) and shopping till we dropped. Julia's back in New Zealand now, catching up with everyone there. I think everyone is taking bets on when she will want to leave again. But I know she's happy to be home!

This is my first "video" on youtube ... let me know what you think!

Singing in the Rain and Random Acts of Kindness

2006-09-27T17:35:00.000+09:00

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?

2006-09-21T17:44:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-09-21T09:08:00.000+09:00

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?

2006-09-13T17:36:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-11T17:10:00.001+09:00

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]

2006-09-07T16:49:00.000+09:00

"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

2006-09-07T16:12:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-06T16:21:00.000+09:00

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!

Home.

2006-08-31T20:16:00.000+09:00

Christchurch, Wellington, Hong Kong and Tokyo. All the cities I have lived in up till now. I still remember Rachael asking me before I left Christchurch for Uni, “How long are you going away for?” I replied, “Well, my degrees will take 5 years, so when you are 12 I will come home to Christchurch again.” In November of 2001 I remember looking through my old bank statements and working out I had been back about once every six weeks. No wonder I have such a huge student loan!

I had even thought of “going home” and transferring to Canterbury Uni in June ’01 but I’m really glad I didn’t. Second Semester was when I made my really close friends at Vic House and at Uni, friends I will love for life. I suppose it was about halfway through 2002 when I realised I was referring to Wellington as “home.” I was in Christchurch for a weekend and realised I just really missed “home” – Wellington. Perhaps it had something to do with Mike being there? So for the next three years, Wellington really was home. I still went to Christchurch for Christmas (actually, two of them were in Nelson) and I still think of Christchurch as home too – can you have two homes? I think the answer is yes! Because now I have three.

My favourite year in Wellington was probably 2004. That will probably offend Mike a little bit since it was the year he was away, but it actually has more to do with living back at Vic House and not having two (or three) jobs on the go at the same time as Uni. I loved having more time to get involved at university and going out with my friends a few nights a week. I discovered Red Tomatoes in Kelburn and made a habit of going on Monday nights for student specials. I still really miss BYO restaurants!

Of course, in November 2004 Mike returned to Wellington and it was pretty good to see him! We moved in together at the beginning of ’05 and those 6 months were a lot of fun too. Pity my most vivid memories of living in Berhampore are the rain and the cold since we left in the middle of winter! We had quite a few warm summer months there too earlier in the year. During the course of those 6 months, we were somehow convinced to add a detour to Hong Kong to our OE itinerary. We still booked our flights all the way through to London and promised we’d be there for Christmas.

And then on June 24, 2005 Mike and I finally left NZ and I FINALLY went on my first overseas trip without my parents! All the way to Hong Kong (it’s 12 hours from Auckland, in case you were wondering). The first few weeks were spent hunting for an apartment and finding a job but we settled in pretty quickly and within a few months I think we knew we wouldn’t be making it to the UK by Christmas.

If Mike and I hadn’t moved to our Tai Kok Tsui apartment (which we’re still renting!), I don’t think Hong Kong would’ve been quite so much like home. We loved having a pool and tennis courts right outside, not to mention having a kitchen bigger than a cupboard and a second bedroom to put all our extra crap in! Funny how we accumulated so much STUFF despite only arriving in Hong Kong with a pack each!

But even though we loved our life we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to experience Tokyo by living and working here. Sure, we could’ve come over for a weekend but a walking tour of Shinjuku, seeing Harajuku and getting up early to visit Tsukiji are only the tip of the iceberg of Life here. Plus, this way I can (try to) learn Japanese!

Who knows whether I’ll ever call Tokyo Home. I could definitely call Hong Kong home again, and when people ask where we’re from I find it really hard to just say “New Zealand” and leave it at that. I won’t be a real Hong Konger till I lose about 20kgs, eat cake for breakfast and use whitening products by choice ... and even then I doubt whether Kiki would consider me a true “Hong Kong People.” But that doesn’t stop me from calling Hong Kong my third Home.

Never Smile at a Crocodile

2006-08-30T10:03:00.000+09:00

Who remembers that song?!

It's time for Sarah's random thought for the day. Yes, I have a bit of time on my hands this week.

Anyways, I was doing the washing yesterday (!) and what should I discover all over my clothes when I opened up the washing machine? Wet tissue! Everywhere! Ugh! SO the moral of the story is check all the pockets before you put the washing on. Lucky for me, it wasn't such a big load of washing and I managed to get it all off before I put everything in the dryer. Ah, the trials of being a tai tai hey.

So today I am going to work some more on my Japanese. I am trying out James W. Heisig's book Remembering the Kana. So far it's going OK, I think I am learning them!

Also looking at joining an ikebana class in September. Should help keep me out of trouble!

Monday's Random Piece of Information

2006-08-28T20:19:00.000+09:00

Random bit of information for today: there’s no tooth fairy in Japan!

When I arrived at my job this afternoon T asked me, “what happens when you lose a tooth in New Zealand?”
(HUH?!)
“When your tooth falls out, what do you do with it?”
(OH!) So I explained about the tooth fairy and how you put your tooth under your pillow and the “Tooth Fairy” (AKA Dad) puts money under your pillow.
T asked how much. “Um, well I think I used to get 50 cents?”
Actually, I think when I got 50 cents I was pretty happy!

But then I asked, what about here in Japan? And I learned how when you lose a bottom tooth you throw it on the roof so the old tooth can pull the new one up. And when you lose a top tooth you bury it in the ground – so the old one can push out the new one. Makes sense to me!

By the way, can someone tell me how much the Tooth Fairy leaves kids these days?! I couldn’t answer that question!

More photos online NOW

2006-08-28T14:21:00.000+09:00

Have just uploaded a new album on Yahoo! You can link to them from here: Sarah and Mike's photos.

Remember you can check for new albums/photos by clicking on the Photos link on the right. (I might not remember to post every time I create a new album)

Enjoy!

Meguro, Ebisu and Shibuya

2006-08-27T18:13:00.000+09:00

Sarah in front of Ebisu Garden Place. Apparently the "experts" describe this area as an architectural disaster. It's all faux-European but in a really Japanesey way. Kinda pretty with all the garden and water features though!

This afternoon Mike and I caught the train to the end of the line in Meguro. There wasn't a lot to see there but it was the easiest way to get to Ebisu from our place. Between Meguro and Ebisu Stations we came across Ebisu Garden Place, which is where you can find the Sapporo Head Office and a whole bunch of cafes and restaurants. You can also find the Yebisu Beer Museum, which is where Mike and I were headed. The Beer Museum is open 10am - 6pm, daily except Mondays. When Monday is a "Horiday, Tuesday is closed." Everything is in Japanese but there is an English brochure which explains most things as you go. We were handed a "taster" (a medium-sized plastic cup, not much smaller than the ones you get at rugby matches) of Sapporo as we headed in the door - a good start!

We made our way through the various exhibits including a gallery of beer ads from 1952 - 2000s, which all seemed to feature beautiful women selling Sapporo. Next we saw the History of Beer Around the World where we learned that even in Ancient Egypt people had to carry home their drunken mates.

Another gem was the Magical Vision Theatre where a "wondrous 3D magic vision cut" told us "the mysteries of the good taste of beer in an interesting manner." Apparently it was the story of the King of Beer's battle with The Evil One. The winner (the one with the best tasting beer) won the heart of the Beer Fairy!

All this lead to the Tasting Room where we bought a ticket (from a vending machine, of course!) and exchanged it for a Beer Set, which included Major Weiss Beer Major Ale, Yebisu Beer and Yebisu Black Beer and Sapporo Beer Crackers. All for ¥400! Now we know why the Museum closes at 6pm - so that the local businessmen can't go and hang out and drink cheap beer after work!

After the Beer Museum we were both feeling a little tipsy so thought we'd better find some lunch. We ended up in a yakitori restaurant in the basement of Ebisu Garden Place. The food was delicious but the atmosphere was spoiled by the smokers who were sitting just down the counter from Mike and I. Very few restaurants are smoke-free in Tokyo!

Our walk from Ebisu to Shibuya was made a little easier by the travelators which took us from Ebisu Garden Place all the way to Ebisu Station. From there we walked to Shibuya through winding, narrow streets passing an unbelievable number of hair salons on the way. By the time we arrived in Shibuya we were feeling a bit sleepy (that early afternoon beer - oops) but we managed to wander around for a couple of hours.

Shibuya was crazy busy. Full of young people wearing crazy outfits (including the foreigners!), huge TV screens on the sides of buildings and Japanese homeboys cruising round in their flashy cars. Completely insane. Shibuya is also the home of the Love Hotel area, although Mike and I opted not to sample those! Love Hotels allow you to rent a room by the hour (or for the day/night) and apparently you can even choose whichever fantasy decor you desire.

Cheering on the All Blacks the Old Fashioned Way

2006-08-27T17:30:00.000+09:00

South Africa 26 - New Zealand 45

The ABs had a great win against the Boks last night but Mike and I didn't get to see it. The game was on at 10pm here in Japan and unfortunately it wasn't on either of the two sports channels we have here in the apartment (unlike the previous weeks' matches).

At first we resigned ourselves to watching the play-by-play commentaries. TV One has one but it was terrible. Every second comment was "and another big hello to Bruce from King Country who is watching this commentary" .... Sorry, but I don't care who else is watching, I just want to know what's going on in the game! We also managed to find the Planet Rugby site which while only updating every minute like TV One's coverage at least only passed comments on the game at hand rather than who was tuning in from the provinces.

But then I had a brainwave - surely with all the radio stations broadcasting online these days we must be able to find true live coverage with a real live commentator? The answer is YES. Hooray for Radio Sport in New Zealand who broadcast live online. We got to hear most of the game, including the crowd reaction, as if we were listening to the radio at home. So just like JK on that Weetbix ad Mike and I were avidly listening and waiting to hear what would happen next.

It was great that we got to hear what was going on, but sounds like it was the wrong game to miss! I think Mike was wishing he had walked to Hobgoblin to watch the game for real. Still, at least we didn't have to sit there watching Grant Fox saying hi to all the Grannies in Foxton and missing out on the action! I think we'll be heading out to Roppongi for the final Tri Nations game if it's not on here though. Even if it does mean staying out past midnight ;)

After a reasonably late start this morning (and delicious BLATs made by moi) Mike and I are heading out to Shibuya via Meguro and Ebisu this afternoon. Might check out the Beer Museum!

My new favourite shop

2006-08-24T14:56:00.000+09:00

This week has been pretty different to my first few weeks in Tokyo. I started work on Monday and we’ve moved into our new place. I feel like I’m seeing a whole new city! It’s been great meeting new people and getting advice on different things to do. I know where to go buy myself a bike now and I should be able to get a mobile this weekend too. With a bike I’ll be able to see even more of Tokyo, which I’m really looking forward to.

Yesterday I had my first ¥100 Shop experience. I picked a pretty good one to go to for my first time too! One of the girls from work took me there yesterday afternoon so I even had a tour guide – and help reading Japanese :) We went to the store in Funabashi which has SIX floors. Yip, six. ¥100 stores are kind of like $2 Shops at home. Except the things you can buy are 100 times cooler. It’s not just plastic fantastic and cheap rubbish from China in these stores (Although there’s plenty of it if you’re interested). There’s gardening tools, Hello Kitty, crockery, cutlery, Tupperware (OK, maybe not the real thing but a huge variety), clothing, bags, games, toys, electronics …. We were there for two hours yesterday and there are still things I want to go back and buy.

I’m sure not all the ¥100 stores are as great as the one I went to yesterday. I know they’re not all 6 floors high either. But it was great fun and a good way to fuel that shopping addiction without breaking the bank! It was getting dark when we left and I didn’t get home till nearly 7pm!

Actually, that was partly because I had to take 3 trains to get home from Funabashi and had a 15 minute (underground) walk between Kokkai-gijidomae and Tameike-sanno stations to change trains! Our new place is great for getting to work and going out eating and drinking, but the Namboku Line is really inconvenient as far as Tokyo subway lines go – you have to change trains to go anywhere exciting! I do feel like I am getting used to the trains here though.

And although they don’t have the super-convenient Octopus card here, the system does seem very fair: on Tuesday afternoon I used my new Passnet card (stored value, but you don’t get a discount and it can only be used on Metro trains) to go to Oshiage. But when I got to Nagatacho, where I was sposed to change trains, I realised I had forgotten my instructions on how to get to the school! Not only that, I didn’t even have a phone number to call them and ask for directions once I got there :( No, I haven’t gotten any less absent-minded since I moved to Asia.

So back on the train I hopped, all the way (4 minutes) back to Roppongi-itchome. As you can imagine, I was in a HUGE rush and really worried about being late for this job. My stress levels jumped even higher when the little gates closed on me when I tried to exit the station and the screen told me to “See Station Staff for Assistance.” Argh! What next?! Why do things never work when you’re in a rush?!?! So I went over to the window and gave the guy my Passnet card. He swiped it and handed it back – along with ¥160!!! Turns out since I had entered and tried to leave the same station in such a short amount of time they just wanted to refund my minimum fare.

And I DID manage to make it to my job on time too.

My New Job

2006-08-21T19:10:00.000+09:00

Today was also the beginning of my new job. This week is Summer School so my hours are 9am - 12pm, Mon - Fri. Next week is school holidays (again) and then in September the kids go back for the new school year. Summer School is apparently a bit more laid back than regular kindy and I really really enjoyed myself this morning. There were 19 kids and 8 adults directly involved with them the whole time. There were also a couple of others who help out when needed. Amazing! The day started off pretty relaxed - free play with big blocks and beach balls for the first 30 minutes. Basically about half of the assistant teachers were just getting to know the kids and hoping to remember their names. At the end of free play the Clean Up song came on ... nice to know some things really are the same everywhere :)

Next was circle time. We all sat in a circle (fancy that!) and sang Good Morning and read 5 Little Ducks. Since there are two Head Teachers, they seem to do most of the directing the kids stuff and the assistants just sing along and keep the kids attention focussed on the teacher reading the book or whatever. Some of the children are pretty young but they were all really friendly and were dancing and clapping with me by the time we got to singing "A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea." Very very sweet.

The highlight (for me anyway!) was definitely the next part of the morning. The kids were separated into two smaller groups and while one went off for some painting the group I was with got to play in the Nature Room. The Nature Room has 3 glass walls and a lino'd floor. Earlier in the morning one of the head teachers put damp sand over the floor and filled up two troughs with water. When the kids came in we also added seaweed to one of the water troughs. The kids loved it! They even got stuck into a water fight - a change of clothes might be much more necessary here than it was at LHK! Even when the kids swapped activities and the younger kids had a turn they majority of them were happy to squish sand beneath their toes and throw water at one another. Made me want to go and find a real beach this weekend!

Apparently on Wednesday we're going to the pool. The younger kids won't be going but they will be playing in the paddling pool back at the kindergarten. Lucky we're not going to an onsen!

Our New House!

2006-08-21T18:02:00.000+09:00

Mike and I moved into our new place yesterday morning which meant we spent most of Saturday packing and taking rests from packing. We did manage to fit in the ABs game though.

The move itself went pretty smoothly, much simpler than we expected! The serviced apartment we were leaving arranged two taxis to pick us (and our luggage) up at 10am and they both arrived, on time, driven by dudes in white gloves and caps. They loaded up all our luggage, drove us there and unloaded the luggage onto trolleys and offered to wheel it inside.

Then the lovely people at Ark Towers took over. They checked us in gave us a huge list of instructions and rules and regulations. Then we were escorted up to our room (luggage to follow) and given a complete rundown on the aircon, TV, phone and washing machine. Pity they didn't explain the Space Loo but I think Mike sussed that one later.

The service just got better when we realised I had forgotten one of our bags (a small one!). I went down to the front desk with the taxi receipt and the staff here called the taxi company for me. They said the taxi company would look for my bag and they would call back in an hour or so. Sure enough, 30 minutes later the front desk rings us and says the driver found my bag and will be dropping it off very soon! Excellent! Didn't even have to go find the driver and retrieve it myself. I love Japan!

As for our apartment, it's really lovely and is a lot more like "home" than the last place. It's pretty exciting having carpet after 13 months of polished wood floors in Hong Kong! It's a bit strange having a warm toilet seat waiting for you every time but luckily the flush is much more obvious. The wash and dry functions are fun for a giggle but I think I stick with regular loo paper, thanks.

There are so many more food options nearby, including Japanese and International food. Mike and I had Indian curry for lunch yesterday and then went to Aux Bacchanales for ham and cheese salad (me) and sauerkraut "with usual toppings." (Mike. The toppings were pork, sausages, potatoes..) My salad didn't arrive till long after Mike had finished eating though. In fact, I had to ask where it had gone! But then when they brought it out they were very apologetic and asked if I would like a drink on the house. I said, oh no thanks I'm OK with my water ... Next thing you know they're bringing Mike another beer and me a bottle of Perrier!

My most exciting find has been the book store which has a foreign books section, even if it is a bit small. Now you all know my new address, you can feel free to send me any books you don't want any more ... it's certainly hard to find good (cheap) books here!

The home of voluptuous women

2006-08-18T09:38:00.000+09:00

Another article from stuff. Read it here.

It's not about women in Tokyo (or Hong Kong!) that's for sure!

But nice to know I won't feel so out of place once I'm back amongst all the farmers' wives at Bally's (?!)

セラ　マンデイ

2006-08-17T19:44:00.000+09:00

--> "Sera Mandei"

Or in other (English) words --> SARAH MUNDAY!

Yes, I have now been labelled in katakana. I went to the bank today and I think I have opened a bank account with Shinsei Bank. I mean I filled in the forms and gave them my ID stuff (I assume they copied it!) and they told me they will send me my new cash card in "7 - 10 days." So I guess I'll know how successful I was when it arrives. I don't even have an account number to show for it yet but I do have a whole lot of information to read through.

My attempt to deal with banking matters started off really well. I decided to do it all in Ginza as I thought the chances of people being able to help me in English would be slightly higher. As far as Mizuho Bank went that was certainly true. I was shown exactly where to go to cash my "traberrers checks" and it all went very smoothly. I simply filled in a form (of course!), counter-signed the cheques and was asked to take a seat. Lovely. A few minutes later I was presented with my Japanese yen and I was on my way again.

Unfortunately, even finding Shinsei Bank wasn't quite so simple. I had two options - or so I thought. The first was to find their "Bankspot" which is where you can open an account or use their ATMs. But try as I might I couldn't find the place! So next I looked for the "Platinum Center" which was near a different subway exit and on the 6th floor of Sapporo Building. Bingo. Up I went, sweating profusely by this stage as it was Super Hot today and I happened to be out and about in the 1 hour of sunshine amidst the thunderstorms. When I got up to the 6th floor I was very politely told that I needed to go to - you guessed it! - the Bankspot where they "open account only." Still, they gave me a nice colourful map and drew the directions on to help me out. In Japanese.

Turns out I was sposed to be looking near Exit C2, not C7 (my bad). However, it still wasn't that easy to find because the street was really quite small and not right next to the station exit like I originally thought. But I did find it in the end.

I think the staff (two of them) were slightly intimidated by this big white gaijin girl come to talk to them, but they were really nice. English wasn't really their strong point, but admittedly Japanese isn't mine so Big Ups to them! First they kept asking for my "ID card" even though on the website it clearly says you only need a certificate of alien registration (which I had) and your passport. My ID card won't be ready till mid-September and I wasn't going to wait for that so I just kept pointing at the certificate and smiling. I think it worked :) Ok Ok, please wait "sho sho." Excellent.

Next I was lead to a computer terminal and asked to input my details. Easy. Until I tried to click "Next" and it kept saying "First name required" - in kana! Uh oh. I don't know my name in Japanese, I said. So they tried to figure it out for me. Which is how they ended up with Sera Mandei ... I guess that's how my name sounds to them! I think it's my kiwi accent (non-Kiwis will probably by wondering why anyone else is surprised!). I had to explain that that was fine but the English definitely had to read "Sarah Munday." Ok, sorted.

I'm sure I will now find out that セラ　マンデイ　means something really rude or embarrassing ... although I have tried putting it into an online dictionary and it didn't seem to come up with anything too offensive! Anyhoo, according to the girl in the bank this is Very Important as anyone wanting to transfer money to me will need to provide my name in kana! Uh oh. I spose anyone here won't find that too difficult and noone at home is going to be sending me money in Japan (although do feel free to try!)

My to-do list is getting shorter. All I have left to do now is wait till my cash card arrives, wait till I can pick up my gaijin card and then get myself a phone, which I can't do until I have my bank account details so it'll just have to wait I spose.

And did I mention I got to pick the colour of my cash card?! They give you a choice of 32 colours. 5 different pinks! I chose Baby Face. It's brighter than it looks online :) It should match my new black umbrella with pink trim very nicely!

tai tai

2006-08-16T17:40:00.000+09:00

tai tai (n)

You might be wondering what on earth a "tai tai" is. Or you might not. But let's assume you are. (If not, stop reading here)

Wikipedia describes a tai tai as the supreme wife of a wealthy Chinese man. Well, I'm not married to a wealthy Chinese businessman. BUT in Hong Kong the term tai tai is also used colloquially as the term for any "wife," and in particular a wife whose husband is rich, therefore absolving her from partaking in paid employment. Wikipedia goes on to say that to qualify as a tai tai "one must have lots of leisure time, lots of money and lots of gossip to exchange."

Therefore, I suppose you might say I'm really a tai tai in training. Since I'm not a wife! Or, to be even more precise, you could even say I'm only a temporary tai tai in training since I will only be a lady of leisure as long as we live in Tokyo (part time "work" playing with kids doesn't really count. It's not paying any bills!). However "temporary tai tai in training in tokyo" wasn't quite as catchy as plain old "tai tai in tokyo"!

So now you know why you're reading "tai tai in tokyo"

For further information on how to be a successful tai tai, you can watch this "how to" movie. I think it's actually aimed at Singapore tai tai, but the idea is the same.

Click here for Linda's Quintessential Guide to Tai Tai-hood

art

2006-08-15T19:41:00.000+09:00

What we did on Sunday

2006-08-15T16:46:00.000+09:00

So on Sunday Mike and I went to Harajuku. LP says it’s where all the cool young things hang out and strut their stuff on a Sunday afternoon, so we went to see what all the hype was about. Definitely a Very Cool place. We spent a lot of the time taking photos of funny signs and names of shops, I don’t know whether we just didn’t find the crazy looking people or whether LP is written by someone way older and more conservative than me or what. But the people weren’t that out there. Still, it was interesting and we had a great time.

The first thing we did was actually nothing to do with teen fashion however. We went to the Meiji-jingu shrine first up which was rather serene and peaceful and quite different to the temples in China. Far less ornate and less people too. The shady paths on the way from the entrance to the shrine itself were very welcome – even at 9am the sun was beating down and it was HOT.

This meant that we saw lots of people in all sorts of get-ups trying to avoid the sun. The most common method seems to be wearing white gloves which go all the way up to your elbows (or higher). Until now, I’ve really only seen women wearing these gloves, but I guess in Harajuku you get all sorts: here’s an old dude sporting the sexy gloves on Sunday.

Well after the shrine we went straight on down to the good stuff: Takeshita Dori. No joke. That's really the name of the street. The first thing we did was get a burger from STRAIGHT BURGER. Very nice. Not sure whether that was actually the name of the place but that was the most prominent sign in English so that's how it will forever be known to Mike and I. We ate our burgers up on the 2nd floor and people watched for a while before braving the crowds ourselves.

It still wasn't quite lunch time but there were plenty of people around. The later in the afternoon it got, the more interesting people we seemed to find. But what I was really interested in was THE SHOPS. Of course! We had a walking tour courtesy of Frommers which was great for pointing out a few "shops of note." We probably would've found this one on our own, but we I doubt we'd have ventured into Kiddyland without some prompting! We did find a couple of fun things in Kiddyland though. Like a banana protector. Yup, a plastic cover to protect your banana. Actually, I think it would be rather useful!

So that was Takeshita Dori and Omotesando Dori. We were getting really hungry so we went to this French restaurant that specialises in crepes for lunch. When we arrived the waiter told us it'd be about 20-30mins before would could get a table (!) so we bravely said we would sit outside. I'm not sure what was worse - the searing heat or the fact that everyone else queuing for a seat inside was watching us eat (and sweat). Oh yeah, did I mention it was French? The menu was conveniently written in French and Japanese .. but not English. Still, we managed to decipher it enough to order a ham, cheese and tomato crepe each. And ginger beer.

On the way back to the station we flagged the rest of the walking tour and just explored the side streets. That's where we found the really interesting shops: shops full of care bears and popples (remember those?!) and barbie stuff, and another with shelves full of Simpsons toys and stationery (Mike was stoked). As we walked back down Omotesando Dori we passed this store front with a guy outside promoting something (still not entirely sure what). People were LINING UP to go into the "store" and get a bag with a free cereal bar and a credit card application form. Nuts. But true.

Just a wee bit further down the street from there was the entrance to a carparking building. With no less than FOUR attendants directing the traffic and pedestrians. Two for the cars and two for the pedestrians. And we thought it was overkill having one guy in Hong Kong. But there were four. With white gloves on of course.

Anyways, I loved it all. And I'll definitely be going back there with Julia next month! With a lot more spending money!!!

Lazy Munday Afternoon ....

2006-08-14T19:07:00.000+09:00

Listening to the hum of the dryer ...

Isn’t it sad that it’s the middle of summer here and I am using the dryer almost every day?! Sadly, it’s one of the realities of apartment life: no outside space to hang your clothes - let alone your lovely white sheets – to dry in the sunshine. Still, at least we have a dryer that works (even if it takes a while) … I don’t know where I would hang all our clothes in here otherwise!

The other “sad” thing is how all my blog entries so far refer to my domestic chores, like the washing or grocery shopping or cooking or cleaning. However, I suppose it’s in keeping with the tai tai theme! I’m hoping that my horizons will be broadened when I start my new job (next Monday!), but until then these posts are going to have a bit of a recurring storyline.

Mike and I did get out and about on the weekend though. We walked from Nihombashi to Ginza on Saturday afternoon, stopping in at Takashimaya on the way. It was my first real look at their food department – WOW! Everything and anything you ever wanted to eat, and a few things you never knew you could eat all in one area … a foodie’s dream! We’d just eaten lunch and therefore managed to restrain ourselves from buying any of the divine looking chocolates, cakes, salmon, sashimi, sushi, Chinese dumplings, cheeses …….. honestly, the list is endless!

We had a brief look around the 4 floors of women’s fashion and the one floor of men’s (which was actually shared with the jewellery and watches) and then headed up to the Living department. I never knew Calvin Klein did linen! But they do. And in Takashimaya they even have half a floor devoted to the sale of gift certificates. There is actually a room (glass fronted, no less) where a row of attentive salespeople wait behind a desk to sell you gift certificates. They are standing, not talking, not whinging about their jobs or that b*tch that gets to fold the cK linens … just standing, politely, waiting for the wonderful customers to come and buy their gift certificates. Lovely.

We took the train home from Ginza and it was a good thing we did - the few raindrops that we felt on the way from the station to our place suddenly turned into thunderstorm complete with forked lightning. We watched the storm from the balcony as it got closer and closer to our block. Then as the lightning hit buildings nearby I kept running inside **eek!** ... it must have been a bad one though coz even Mike was a bit scared of the bolt that we're sure hit our building.

Photos now online

2006-08-10T18:17:00.000+09:00

You can look at our photos by clicking on the link to the right (all japan photos).

You can also see our photos from our trip to China in June and some pics from Hong Kong too.

Ok, as you were!

At least Big Macs are cheap!

2006-08-10T09:49:00.000+09:00

An article on stuff today says that workers in Tokyo have to work the least to afford a Big Mac. I would just like to say that in my case that is because I haven't eaten a Big Mac (or any other McDonald's) since we've been here.

What a good girl.

Read the article here.

A spot of shopping

2006-08-08T20:16:00.000+09:00

Today is Tuesday, house keeping day at the apartment, which was lovely when I arrived home to find fresh linen on the beds, new towels in the sparkling bathroom, clean floors and the toilet paper folded into that oh-so-cute triangle ... the downside however was that I had to make myself scarce for the morning since I didn't want to be hanging around while Housekeeping did their job.

I decided to go to Shinjuku and do Lonely Planet's walking tour. It's sposed to be a couple of K's long and LP reckons it takes a couple of hours! Well, including the time it took on the two trains and finding the right exit perhaps it took two hours but it was more like an hour, really. I finished up by finding a coffee shop and getting myself breakfast without speaking English at all! Japanese 101: All you have to do is point to the nicest looking picture and say, "kore o kudasai"! Easy peasy Japanesey!

Then I went back to the book shop mentioned in the walking tour and found the English books (7th floor). Maybe THATS why the tour takes two hours: I was sposed to stop there on the way! Treated myself to Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" ... educational books about Japan don't count in the daily budget ;) I also checked out MUJI, but didn't buy anything (!) coz we'll be moving soon and I'm not sure what we need for the new place.

Next stop was Ginza. This time, being by myself, I wandered even more aimlessly and fossicked through a couple of shops selling Beautiful Things .. eg a whole shop selling paper and things made from paper! Fantastic!

Unfortunately it wasn't so pleasant wandering aimlessly in the drizzle and humidity that suddenly appeared today after a week of sunshine. Eventually I went to Hanamasa and bought a few things for this week's dinners and made my way home. Quite proud of myself for navigating the store and its contents when nothing is in English! (with the exception of the imported Italian tomatoes, pasta and beans!)

Finally it was after midday and I made my way back to Nihombashi. I managed to get a seat on the train (yippee!) which was a bit of a bonus since it was pretty packed. Then I realised why "my" seat had been empty: the girl next to me promptly fell asleep ON MY SHOULDER! Next her hand let go of her umbrella (uh oh!) and came to rest on my knee! I squirmed a bit and tried to move over (the other way) ...

Lucky for me her stop was coming up and suddenly at Higashi-Ginza she was wide awake and ready to walk off the train ... I don't understand how they do it! How can you be in such a deep sleep you are groping the person next to you and be aware enough to know the next stop is yours???

Perhaps she wasn't asleep at all but has some strange attraction to Fat White Chicks?

Konnichiwa!

2006-08-08T19:51:00.000+09:00

Well, here we are in Tokyo. Mike arrived on July 22 and I followed nearly a week later. We've been set up in a lovely wee apartment in Nihonbashi, it's 1 bedroom with a living/dining area and separate kitchen. After being really worried that the kitchen would consist of a microwave and mini-fridge we were pleasantly surprised to find a 3-burner gas stove top and grill, full sized fridge/freezer, microwave and, of course, a rice cooker. The buttons, naturally, are all in Japanese but we do have a very handy Blue Folder with the necessary instructions in English :)

Despite being happy with the apartment itself, Mike and I are moving on to bigger and better lodgings later this month. The travel time from here to Roppongi-itchome (40 mins, 2 trains) was proving too much for Mike so we requested an apartment closer to Izumi Gardens. Well - WE GOT IT! Our new place will be a whopping 53sqm, 1 bedroom, huge living/dining area and open plan kitchen - with a dishwasher! Bonus! Personally, I am looking forward to the swimming pool and gym. Mike will be less than 5 minutes walk from work and I will be one subway stop away from my own job once I get started on August 21.

We've done a lot of the usual settling in things: wandered around Nihonbashi, mastered the subway (well, we can get from A to B!) and tried sushi from Tsukiji. We visited Higashi Gyoen at the Imperial Palace and enjoyed lying on real grass for the first time in over a year. We've found a supermarket nearby which actually sells a huge variety of western food .. they even have a special Waitrose section just inside the door!

It was kinda weird arriving separately, particularly since Mike was here in March. For me though it's my first time in Japan so I'm spending my days getting used to all these things while Mike deals with settling in at work. I don't start working until August 21 so in the meantime I'm just hanging out, enjoying the sun and reading a lot of books!

My own job is at Hiroo International Kindergarten and I'll be working as a Teaching Assistant. It's much more like "kindergarten" that we're used to from home, particularly compared with kindergarten in Hong Kong. For a start there are two children for every teacher - vs 15:1 at LHK! It's part time so I will have time to do different things in the afternoons (eg Japanese lessons!), which I'm really looking forward to.

My goals for this week are getting my Gaijin card and setting up a bank account. And hopefully getting a new mobile phone too!