I came to Japan late september 2006 and finally I have willed myself after incessant pressure from friends to put a blog up. So here you have it!
26th December
Well, what an adventure so far in Japan. This weekend I spent in Fukui - so most of my pictures relate to that - the beautiful Eiheji temples. The kanji means "temple of eternal peace" and being there I kind of felt like that. It would have been nice if I bought an overcoat and a beanie though - although it was sunny, it was damn cold there! I didnt realise that Saturday night was the Emperor's birthday so everything was a bit quiet.
That night went to a few bars and it was hard to find anyone there. We settled for a nice Jazz bar and enjoyed the music and of course a few beers. Most of the night was spent at Kareoke. Actually we got an early start on kareoke that day as one of my friends Glenn, invited a student of his to come out with us and start singing. She sung so well it was embarassing to follow her up. In fact when I started singing, she left the room for a while. She claimed it was a bathroom break but she was a gone a while! The song I did best in was Elton John's "your song" - I still remember doing that for house singing many years ago. Everything else was a disaster and I hadn't drank enough to not realise that.
Highlights/lowlights of Japan so far:
* staying out all night and sleeping on the train platform in a full suit. Then, after being a little hung over, riding my bike back home and almost crashing into a hedge.
* spending 30 mins at a Japanese bar speaking to a cute Japanese girl called Tomoko - that's lovely but I'm tipping if she says I'll remember your number it isnt the strongest way of conveying "I'm into you".
* Receiving Christmas presents from my students - the highlight being one from Mie Watanabe who works for Toyoto. She knew I liked cars so she brought in (smuggled) 3 car pistons - one from a Corolla, one from a BMW M3, and the other from a Porshe Cayenne!. They weren't cheap either, the piston for the BMW M3 alone cost about 500 Euros. God bless her..
* Hearing my friend Glenn say to a waitress "mizo konbanwa" which means "water, good evening" - he meant to say mizo kudasai - "water please".
* Chatting to 2 girls out of no-where at an Izakaya when my friend dared me to. It's useful to speak some simple japanese - "Sumimasen, nani wo nomimasu ka" (what are you drinking?" - it ended up being a night of conversation but they couldnt speak english well. In true Japanese service style they checked their mobile phones and gave us the last train times so we wouldnt miss the train and face a hefty cab charge!
* Asking a waitress whether she wanted to have a drink with me (I was taught how to say that during the night by some Japanese friends), and then shocked to hear her response that she was only 17! (boy I cant tell these girls ages!)
* Playing a game of rock, paper, scissors at an Izakaya with my friend Dan. The loser had to ask the waitress for her number. Dan lost, and asked the waitress "denwa bango oshiete kudasai" (please teach me your number). Her response was to stand motionless for about 15 seconds until Dan said "gomen nasai" (sorry).
I am heading to Tokyo for 5 nights for the new year - that should be interesting. A few locals to catch up with and some other friends are gonna meet up with me.
January 2nd 2007
So I made it to Tokyo on the 29th December, and initially I was reminiscing a little. I stayed at the same hotel last year in Akasaka. Akasaka is a very nice little area in Tokyo with a lot of restaurants and very close to Roppongi. It is much quieter than Roppongi so I like staying here. It's amazing that in the last 18 months already a lot has changed in Akasaka - new buildings have gone up, a McDonald's opened on the main street, and many existing restaurants that I knew from last year have been refurbished and many new restaurants have come onto the scene. That's kinda redundant for me because I cant afford to eat at many of those places. Anyway, the hotel staff greeted me and told me they all remembered me from last year!
I met up with Dan at the famous Roppongi Crossing to see what the night would bring. We had dinner and a beer and then headed out on the town. First stop was a British Pub where we met an American guy (Robert) who was workin as an engineer. After sharing a few stories we decided we would head out to Gas Pannic. Gas Pannic was a little quiet but it was only 9am. We stayed there a while and sure enough the crowd started building. The bar staff there were lots of fun, but arent they always in Japan? Robert was meeting up with a stripper that night and she met us at the club at around 10. Yep the signs were there, the coloured contacts, the hair, - Robert had only about an hour to have dinner before she headed off to work at a place called Glamour!
Dan and me thought we would explore some more so we headed to Wall St. That was an interesting place and we noticed a few people from Gas Pannic had already migrated there. There were lots of nice people around and some morons as well. In particular, a Pakistani guy was making a nuisance of himself and many around him including me felt like slugging him that night. He was ably supported with an army of fellow dickheads. I was glad I took a breath and didnt react violently, didnt feel any less of a man... There was a Japanese girl there that night that I liked, her name was keiko and her friend was Yuka. They both didnt speak much english at all but were just cool to dance with and have some small talk with. Unfortunately Keiko lost her wallet and I went with her to the police station so she could report all the stuff, and by the time that was done it was 4am! This wasnt even new years yet so I had to save all my energy up!
Well, this was a different New Years to say the least. I met up with friends for dinner on the eve at a place called "Lock up" in Shibuya. Japan is known for many different themed restaurants and I was excited to try this one. The restarant has many prison cells where the customers eat and are served by waitresses carrying handcuffs - I never wanted to get arrested more in my life! The whole place is quite dark and periodically all the lights go off and the restaurants staff try and scare the hell out of people by randomly entering the cells with fake knive and swords. The girls in our groups got quite scared and I hate to admit, I was once surprised by one of them. Needless to say it was a fun dinner.
After that we went off for Purikura. Purikura is a fun kind of photo booth. Basically, you are with your friends and you can pose in ways they suggest on the screen. Then pictures are taken of you and your friends in various poses. Afterwards you can edit the pictures and add all sorts of things like stars, crowns, love hearts,... At first I didnt know what the fuss was about, but it sure was fun. You can even send the copies to your email address. It's incredibly popular in Japan. One Japanese girls I spoke to said she has been doing it since she was 13. That's one different photo album!
Well, the night was ticking away and we had to find a place to bring in the new year and what better place than Gas Panic in Shibuya! I was with Dan (my fellow teacher) and some of his Japanese friends. It was enormous fun. That night there was one American guy we met who was seriously out of control. He would shake a girls had and then the next moment he was embracing them in rather emphatic fashion. Neeedless to say the girls stayed clear of him after one of his infamous embraces. It was fun being in a group that contained some Japanese people. I figure if I'm in Japan I want to be spending more time with them and they didnt let us down. It was a great way to bring in the new year. We didnt stay at Gas Pannic long, but long enough to warm up with our drinks. So then we headed off to Asia Club. Boy it was big, and it sure was pumping. I was happy that a lot of this crowd did seem to be Japanese. A lot of clubs in Tokyo you go to, especially in Roppongi, have a lot of foreigners. That's fine if that's what you want, not me though. It ended up being one of my best nights in Japan. It was just so much fun, passion, and energy. It just evolved naturally and no question I got a bit lucky. It was nice to start the new year off on a really positive note and with some nice Japanese girls!
March 2rd 2007
Well, time is going quickly. I find that weekends are really important to spend your time well - always need to look forward to something. last weekend was great. I headed to the hotspring town of Gero, about 1.5 hours by train. The train trip itself is a story it it's own right. It's no secret Japans trains are well maintained and efficient. The train I took is called the "Hida wide view" train because the windows are so large and the views are quite spectacular. The whole journey was so relaxing just sitting near the window with my ipod and enjoying nature.
Once I arrived in Gero a minibus was waiting for me and took me to the hotel which was very close by anyway. I stayed at Suimeikan which is apparently quite famus here in japan. I didnt know, I just looked on the internet and it looked nice so i booked in. Well, the first thing I did was try an outdoor onsen. In Japan you take these completely naked so that was a bit different. You have to shower first before going in. So I followed the procudeur and then set foot at the Suimeikan outdoor onsen - boy it was hot! I took a few steps in and I settled somewhat but I still couldnt believe how hot it was. After about 15 minutes I had to go out because I was too hot! No doubt though that you feel much better after. In the hotel room they have the traditional Japanese Yukata for guests to wear. These are cotton robes usually worn in evenings so I thought I'd try. What I discovered was that it was so elegant and comfortable to wear, I think I will have to buy one.
That evening I went for dinner and while everyone was dressed in a Yukata, I was in a leather jacket - a little embarassing. I enjoyed the best food I have eaten in Japan. The quality was amazing and a little surprisingly also the quantity was great. I indulged in tender hida beef, brie sakana, uni, and other exiotoic treasures, It really was a meal to remember. I was sitting next to a Japanese lady who guided me through the names of all the foods and where they were produced. It was a great night. I asked her how long she spent in the onsen, she said 50 minutes - I dont know how they do it. The next morning I woke up at 6am and tried a different onsen on the 7th floor. This one looked spectacular because it had a view of the entire town. Once again it was really warm so I spent only 15 minutes there. But it was a great way to start the day. The day just got better with a buffet breakfast consisteing of both Japanese and western style food, and all the fruits and juices you can imagine. I am not used to having so much food in Japan so I made the most of it - "onaka iipai tabeta" - my stomache was full!.
After that I wondered around Gero and took some pictures. Gero is a very small town and it's very easy to walk around. The weather was better this day so my pictires turned out better. The town is littered with onsen and footspas - it's quite interesting to look and people eating a bowl of noodles while their feet soak in the spas! Soon after I headed back to Nagoya on the train. The trip back seemed more spectacular. The train follows the river for much of the journery and seeing the rock formations and crystal clear water gave me all the relaxation I needed. All in all it was a great weekend.
