origami stories

Sydney (home sweet home)

2008-09-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

We started September with an overnight bus trip to Osaka. The trip is from midnight till 8am, so the previous night we only slept for about 4 hours so we would be nice and tired and sleep on the bus there. This strategy seemed to work for Sophi, but unfortunately for Cam, he was unable to sleep until the last 40 minutes of the trip. When we arrived in Osaka the bus driver shook us awake and told us to get off the bus to get our luggage off the road. Being 8am and Osaka being a busy city, you can imagine what it was like. As we were putting our luggage into a coin locker we suddenly realised that we had left Cam’s suit bag on the damn bus! A quick call to the bus company revealed that we would have to wait until 10:30am for them to open. A little disgruntled, we had some breakfast and calmed ourselves down. We called back and the operator told us that the bus was on it’s way to Wakayama (who knows where that was?) and to call him back at 3pm. While in Osaka, we had about 14 hours to kill before our flight left, so we spent the day roaming the already familiar city. Once again, we were left feeling disappointed with it, mainly due to peoples attitudes there. We called the bus company back and we discovered that it was going to be impossible to retrieve the suit. This was a double blow, as the wedding presents for Damo and Val were also in the suit bag. We would have to wait until we got back to Japan to get it and then forward it on to them in Australia. We boarded the flight in Osaka at about 10pm, so happy to get out there, and back home to see friends and family. Luckily, this time we both managed to get some sleep on the plane, although Cam only managed about 3 hours!

It was great to see Sophi’s parents waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. We jumped in the car and headed back to the North Shore for the first time in over a year. We both went back to our respective homes to see our families properly and enjoy a feast of home-cooked food. It was so great to see everyone at home and actually have a normal conversation with someone. The following day we spent time with the folks and fell straight back into the Sydney life with enormous ease. It’s amazing how normal home is even after that amount of time away. That night Benny had organised a welcome home party for us at Café Lounge in Surry Hills. We arrived about 2 hours late due to Benny changing the time of the party without telling anyone and us getting caught in Sydney’s hopeless peak hour traffic. We dumped our shit at Hamsy’s new place (which is awesome) and headed into the city. When we arrived it was so awesome to see so many people there. It was great to catch up with so many people all at one time. We took the old route around the city, going from Café Lounge to The Lord Roberts Hotel, to The Gaslight, to Kinselas before finally giving it up at about 6am.

We had to drive the next day to The Hunter Valley for Damo and Val’s wedding which was on the Saturday. We had booked to stay at the Sebel for the Friday and Saturday nights. This being our first trip to the Hunter made it an extra special time too. On the Friday night everyone went to the local pub for some pre-wedding drinks. The wedding party and families all retired quite early but we kicked on till about 4am or so catching up with people that hadn’t made it to our welcome home party. We rose quite late the following morning and missed breakfast because Cam was too stubborn to go and find out what time breakfast finished (we would’ve made it on time) and decided to drive into Cessnock to get food. Unfortunately the weather had turned quite bad and so the wedding had to be moved inside. There was about 60 people altogether for the wedding and Val looked absolutely amazing when she walked in the doors. We all went for some drinks and hors d'oeuvres before the wedding reception took place. It was a beautiful wedding, and Damo even managed to say his vows in Val’s native Russian which really impressed her parents.

We were so exhausted and so we went back to our room to freshen up and have a quick power nap, and the next thing we knew it was 8 o’clock in the morning! We met everyone again in the breakfast room and spent the morning packing up and getting ready to head to Shoal Bay for a day or two. We said goodbyes to the new couple and went for some local cheese tasting and Smelly’s Cheese Shop. The drive to Shoal Bay from the Hunter is only about 1 hour so we made it there by mid-afternoon and had some R & R before going out for some Thai with Sophi’s parents. We took a walk around the area and went down to the beach to soak up the peacefulness of the area (living in Tokyo makes you appreciate open spaces) and visited the Odling’s apartment one final time before they handed it over to the new owners. As our time was limited we decided to head back to Sydney after that day and got a good nights sleep before going back in the morning.

The next few days were spent having dinners catching up with people and basically just having a holiday. We went and had a $7 steak at the Captain Cook Hotel which brought back a few memories, and we went out for a dinner with Cam’s school buddies which was cool. We met up with Cara, who since we left has had a baby girl with Sydney Swans player Amon Buchanan. Lou organised a huge dinner with about 25 people in Coogee for a Brazilian all-you-can-eat meat-fest. We all stuffed ourselves stupid and drank countless bottles of wine. The night transgressed and we ended up at the Regent Hotel in Kingsford (Hamsy, Liz and Lucy’s new local) until some disgusting time in the morning.

Sophi’s sister was turning 30 while we were in town, and she had her party at the Lord Roberts Hotel with a 1920’s gangster theme. The same night, Zoe was having her birthday party at Hugo’s so we dropped in there quickly before going to Sal’s party. We ended up making our way back to the Cross the meet up with Zoe and the stragglers at Iguana Bar. We were terribly disappointed to see the transformation that has happened at Iguana Bar since we left. They have made a “disco” room out the back, complete with flashing ceiling lights and shitty dance music. It has gone from an awesome un-pretentious hang-out to another bar that is undisguisable from the rest. Shame. Cam and Hamsy continued right where they left off over a year ago, by kicking on relentlessly and then going off to the casino in the morning and not leaving until it was time to go to James’ welcome home party at the Clock Hotel. James had decided to end his stint overseas prematurely due to not being able to find solid work in the UK, so his welcome party kind of coincided with us returning too. The interesting thing was that for James’ farewell he had it at the Clock, and Cam arrived to that without having slept too….coincidence?!?! (I think not). James’ welcome home went much the same way as his farewell (no guesses there really) and once again Cam found himself the lasting companion until it was eventually time to hang it up at about 4am Monday morning.

We decided to spoil ourselves to a nice dinner and chose one of our favourite restaurants; Kobe Jones for an amazing degustation meal for two. It was great to be back enjoying dinner by the beautiful harbour, even if we had decided to indulge in Japanese food.

This was unfortunately about all we had time for in Sydney this time around. We had one last dinner with everyone at Cantina’s Spanish Tapas restaurant and a few drinks at the Beauchamp before a quiet and small happy birthday dinner with Sal and some of her friends before Liz could drop us off at the airport the next morning. 16 days went by extremely quickly but we had a great time while we were there and it was so great to see all our friends and our families again after so long. We boarded the plane after grabbing some shit, over-priced, airport food and making our way back home to Japan. We flew back the way we came, to Osaka, and got a hotel room for the night as we had missed the final Shinkansen of the night. We got back to Tokyo and to our little room the next day. It is strange how easy it was to fit back in in Sydney, but when we arrived back in Tokyo, it really felt like returning home.

Party Time!

2008-08-18T23:00:00.001-07:00

August was looking like being one of the busiest months so far here in Tokyo. We had numerous parties, festivals and events lined up for the hottest part of the year.

First up was Kumi’s farewell, she was packing up shop and heading for Sydney on a working holiday visa to spend some quality time with Dave, and improve her English some more.

Kumi organised a small get together at a cool little restaurant in Shibuya. There was quite an interesting crew there; some of her old Japanese friends, us, some guys from her English school, and other foreigners that have been met along the way.

Sophi shipped herself home at a reasonable hour and Cam, Andrew, Stefan and Kumi stayed until first train.

As we walked towards the train Kumi suddenly decided that she was going to meet another friend, and Cam looked around and Andrew had disappeared. So being left on his own proceeded to jump on the train and head home. Almost 1 hour at about 6.30am later Cam woke up somewhere in Kanazawa (not even in Tokyo anymore) and quickly jumped off the train to head back the way he just came. After about another hour, the same thing had happened and Cam found himself back past where he had started. When he finally walked through the door at about 9.30, Sophi was just waking up and Andrew still wasn’t home. Andrew stumbled in the door about an hour later and we found out that his story was almost identical to Cam’s, except he was on a different train going back and forth.

The day kicked on with Andrew and Cam drinking beers until about 4.30pm and then finally passing out.

During the month of August in Japan there is a national holiday period called O-bon. O-bon is the celebration of deceased ancestors. Most Japanese head back to their respective hometowns to get together with their entire families in one place. There are loads of festivals around Tokyo, and we visited one in Jiyugaoka. There is loads of people dancing around a temple looking thing for a couple of hours, all wearing the summer yukatas.

The following weekend we had organised to go to Summer Sonic, a 2 day music festival in Chiba. Since Chiba is on the east side of Tokyo, it takes a little over an hour to get there from our place. This being the case, we booked a night at the Sheraton Hotel at Disneyland, which is about a 10 minute trip from where the festival was being held.

The first day of Summer Sonic, we took it pretty easy to start with and found our bearings. The area was huge, and had about 5 or 6 stages, one of which was a beach stage. We checked out some bands and got stuck into some drinks.
Highlights from the first day were The Verve, Hot Chip, and Zebrahead. But the day was owned by The Prodigy. None of us had seen them before, and they totally blew the place apart. It was awesome hearing all the old tunes and some of the new ones too. Those guys are pretty old now, but they can still put on an amazing show.

We got back to the hotel pretty late as last train was about midnight, and we checked in and had a few drinks back at the room before passing out from exhaustion.

The second morning started with a swim in the pool and a spa to get refreshed and ready for the next day of onslaught. Beers were cracked just after breakfast and we scooted over to the festival again. We also booked an extra night at the hotel, so we could relax after the 2^nd day of partying.

The festival had 2 main areas, which was separated by a huge highway. The pathway to get from one side to the other was stupidly long, so we decided to jump the fence and run across the highway. Once getting the other side though we realised that we had to then jump over a tall fence and get through some bushes to be inside again. After doing this a few times back and forth, we realised that the area we were jumping over the fence from, wasn’t even inside the festival, and we could’ve just gone to the festival without tickets……trusting Japanese again!

The 2^nd day was loaded with a lot more music than the first and stand-out performances by Junkie XL, Justice, Fatboy Slim, Polysics, and Xavier Rudd made it an excellent overall festival.

Cam was in good form all day, sinking an uncountable number of beers. When we were heading back to the station, he was trying to get pictures with Japanese people, but nobody was interested. Once he started telling them that we worked for a magazine it was a different story. They all became keen to jump in the photos, even though we clearly didn’t look like we belonged to any form of mag. This went on for a few hours, before we returned to the hotel and died once again.

Day 3:

We woke up gingerly and got ready to check out and we decided that we should finish the weekend by going to DisneySea (again!!)

We though being a Monday that it would be reasonably quite, but we forgot that it was O-bon week. It was really, really, really busy!

We had heard from Dave that they put Webster in a wheelchair when they came and that stopped you from having to wait in lines, they were right. We put Stefan in the wheelchair which only cost $3 for the day, and he played the part like a champion.

Every time we went to go on a ride, they escorted down special pathways and back door entrances and we jumped straight to the front of the queue. The wheelchair probably saved us about 4-5 hours over the course of the whole day. DisneySea is great because you are allowed to drink booze there, so we continued the trend of the weekend and drank constantly the whole day, which really enhanced the whole Disney experience. On one of the rides which takes your photo as it drops down about 20 floors, Andrew took his shirt off, and this was the photo that they gave of us!

It was probably the most fun we’ve had at Disneyland and we probably remember the least from it!

On the way home we thought it would be smart to go somewhere for a few drinks, so we stopped at an izakaya and kicked on there till about 1am before hobbling home and crashing out hard. It was the end of a top weekend; we haven’t let loose like that for some time now, and boy did it feel good!

A couple of days later, still feeling pretty out of it, we set out for Kumi’s hometown to spend a couple of days with her family for O-bon. We arrived and had a late lunch, and then went to meet her relatives. Her family don’t speak any English so there was a lot of gesturing going on.

Their house was decorated beautifully as Kumi’s grandmother had died this year, so they were having quite a large celebration. We were treated to some traditional Japanese cooking (some of which we couldn’t eat!) and the beer glasses kept being re-filled, despite our hang over from Summer Sonic still gnawing at our heels. We joined in some rituals with Kumi; lighting incense at her grandmother’s grave, saying a prayer at the vigil, and trying to smash a watermelon with a blindfold on.

It was really great to experience all this in a true and authentic Japanese environment. Some of their traditions are quite strange to us, but it was a cool thing to do. Thanks so much Kumi and your family.

Our house and Hawaiian Party

2008-07-23T14:29:00.001-07:00

For the remainder of the month we didn't really leave the area outside our house and our jobs. SO... here's small window into our miniature Japanese world of everything small..... small rooms, small people, small beds, small dogs... everything!!!

Our ever elegant door on the left

Our miniature kitchen

.... and our miniature room! Definitely a down sizing from home sweet Crown st!

Yes. This is our 'living space'.
Dining table, mini couch and the 'kitchen' is to the left out of view

This is our sweet suburb Sakurashinmachi

The origin of a very famous old cartoon, 'Sazae san' (the one on the left) and her family. The creator lived here and based all her characters on the people of Sakurashinmachi. So these little guys are every where! In all the shop windows, on tiles on the street, on banner lining the roads. So wonderfully Japanese. To top it off... the theme music plays on street speakers as you walk down the street! (We will post more photos of this sweet city town!)

Totoro chan! Another photo of Totoro!
A present from Takako.... love him! Rubi's replacement over here!

Some of our Japanese housemates. Ryo and Kau.
Although the girl is now a long lost girlfriend

We did venture out to a sunglasses and watch sale that Sophi had been invited to by a student of hers. It was a private family sale and when we got there we were amazed by the selection, they had Armani, D & G, to name a couple, and all at about 70-80% off. So we went a little nuts and bought 5 watches and 4 pairs of sunglasses to add to our collection of ever growing stuff here in Japan.

Our work organised a summer party for the customers and teachers to get together and have a few drinks. All the office girls were wearing their beautiful Yukatas and looked amazing. We had to work early the next day so we couldn't have a late night so we bailed early and left the crew to do karaoke on their own.

The following Sunday everyone from work went out for the Sunday ritual which hasn't actually happened for a while. We went to a cool little bar in Futako-Tamagawa and the boys ordered a huge 4 Litre beer tower that stood on the end of the table.

So, that is about it for this month, we succeeded to stay true and not do too much this month.......August will be a killer.

From Temples to Cheap Scape Bowling!

2008-07-14T06:24:00.001-07:00

We planned for July to be a pretty quiet month, as we had big plans for August. So we basically worked non-stop for the whole month, taking only about 4 days off in total.

A little bit of sightseeing was done and we made our way in the scorching heat to see Meiji Jingu. Yet another shrine, except this one is probably the closest famous one to our house, as it stands just between Shibuya and Harajuku. So as we slugged there in the 35 degree heat, we did one of the quickest sightseeing trips ever, about 10 mins spent at the shrine... or less! The only difference to this one is that it looks a lot newer than some others.... probably due to the restoration in 1958 after the WWII bombings.

Le Grande Entrance

Yet again, more sake barrels at the sacred shrines

A bit of originality... some wine barrels

It's very unusual to see wine at Japanese shrines. The Meiji emperor adopted lots of Western culture and practices, so the French government donated these barrels in memory of him.

The variety with this shrine... the placid colours of white and green roofing

It was gorgeous in a temple kind of way, but not enough to keep us in the heat. So we headed to Harajuku and cooled the hell down in a restaurant!

In the blazing heat, can desperately needed to get some summer gear.. as wearing jeans was finally taking it's toll on Cam.... finally! So we bought about 4 funky pairs of shorts for him!

A window display.... still not sure if it's good or just disturbing

Some usual Harajuku stylin'

All that aside, we still managed to find time to get loose. We met Stefan for a quiet dinner of Okonomiyaki in Shibuya, and felt the urge to go bowling.

We stocked up on cheap Chu-hi's and had a few games. As is expected these days, the game went pear-shaped very quickly with Cam and Stefan getting up to the usual antics of double ball bowling and sliding down the alley.

For some reason that night we didn't feel like settling our bill, so the boys sent Sophi outside so they could plan their escape route. The boys obviously didn't plan it very well because they went running down the stairs instead of using the lift and ended up out on the street getting chased down the street by the staff.

As they ran off down the road Stefan was tackled by the staff so Cam had to run back to help him up and bolt in the other direction.

After we all met up together again, we went for a bite to eat at a family restaurant and ended an expected night much later than we had planned to.

A month of visitors

2008-06-30T04:21:00.001-07:00

Another visitor! – Matt Willis

Once again we have been so lucky with so many visitors! The weekend after Ash and Sindy’s visit, Matt Willis dropped over for a few days on his way to the stampede in Calgary, Canada. Matt only had 3 full days in Tokyo, so the first day was spent doing a little bit of sightseeing around Akihabara and Ginza. Then headed for some shopping in Shibuya, Omote Sando and Harajuku.

Long time no see!

Newly found Ginza architecture

Before the sightseeing Matt and Sophi had breakfast at Mark City. Combined with the shopping place is the Excel Tokyu Hotel where Matt was staying, right next to Hachiko crossing. The restaurant had an awesome view of the crossing, and we discovered that on the roof top of the Tokyu building at Shibuya station is a futsul field, looked awesome!

New discovery: the roof top of Shibuya Station

Th Shibuya crossing view from Matt's room

On the way from Ginza to Omote Sando Matt lost his phone on the train. Sophi tried to explain to Matt that we’re in Japan… so you’re most likely gonna get it back!! He didn’t believe her, but they were able to find it as someone handed it in at Shibuya, one stop away. It was lost, found and retrieved all in about 30mins. Gotta love Japan!

Exhausted from the day and gearing up for the night ahead, we refreshed ourselves then met up with a crew of 14 people for some dinner at the Buddha. The usual crew was there plus another lady of Andrews, our flatmate Vivien and one of Kumi’s friends. We started off with a drink at the rusty coin bar, then nomihodai at the Buddha.

The usual crew for Matt's welcome dinner

Wasted Matt.... not sure what he's doing....

....Stefan....I don't even know where to begin!

Lovely ladies

Are they brothers?

Dinner was fun and everyone headed to Latona afterwards for some drinks. Latona is the place where we were going to go on New Years Eve. It’s a killer place with a nice view, drinks are a little pricey but a good time was had. After stuffing around on the street for a while, where Ko chan found anew toy, we headed to a new bar near the station called Scramble.

Ko chan being his usual mature self. At least he found a new friend!

Ko chan, Tetsuya, Stefan, Sophi and Cam were the last ones standing. Ko chan proved to be some interesting entertainment doing some freaky moves to try and imitate natural wonders. Like Ayers rock. Interesting. Go figure, but it was entertaining all the same! We bailed from there and got home around 5.30 to get some snooze before the baseball the next day.

Baseball, Roller coasters and Leprechauns

The next day was a struggle to get our stuff together. The original plan of going to yum cha in Yokohama China town before the game was obviously canned. Instead we ended up running a little late for the game! Matt, Andrew, Vivien and us managed to get out of bed, but unfortunately Mel didn’t make it.

After arriving late the stadium was packed in our area, so we wandered around trying to find a seat for ages. Then realised that we actually had reserved seats, thanks god! So many people were standing at the back of the stadium!

Awwww... matching blue and pink tops

Will never get sick of the fluro boys

We had loads of conveni drinks and we were rockin’ it for the game. This time we saw Yokohama Baystars vs Nagoya Dragons. Always need to go for the local team over here as we have no favourites, so this time it was the Baystars. So far they were basically bottom of the rank as they had a new pitcher that was meant to be terrible! But lucky for us it was a good game and we won! Luckily too as Sophi hates going to games and losing!

Truely an open air stadium

Close town planning with the buildings in the background

Wanna be fans.....

.... a true avid fan, like all of them

Baystars crew

Feeling the daytime drunkenness we headed to Yokohama bay, where we randomly went on the roller coaster that goes into the ground. It was ok, sounds better than what it was. We walked further around the bay and went to the Seattle Crab house that Sophi and Cam had been before. We had a scrumptious dinner and it was great to be able to sit our on the water, first time in a long time over here as it’s so damn rare!

Yummy crab house on Yokohama Bay

The night was still young and we headed back to Tokyo (as Yokohama is another prefecture). This time we decided to go to Jiyugaoka which was on the way home and to Shibuya. A new local discovery, and a decision was made to explore this night area more, it was like a mini Shibuya, but even closer to our house! We went to an Irish pub Cam and Sophi headed home from there. Andrew and Matt hit Roppongi… where the story is blurry, but Andrew was found the next day curled up sleeping on the shoes in the entrance the next day… shirtless!

A classic Andy stunt

With shirt next to his head, and evidence by his side

More shopping. More shabu shabu. More drinking

The final full day of Matt’s visit and some last minute, late afternoon shopping was done around Shibuya and Harajuku. Sundays in Tokyo are great, all the freaks come out and you can really see some weird and strange stuff. While we were walking through Hachiko crossing there was this chick dancing (with no music) in the middle of the clearing, while it was pissing down with rain. While shopping we noticed a big stall set up outside one of the shopping centres. A black limo pulled up and they rolled out the blue! carpet. Out of the car jumped 3 guys totally covered in black so we couldn't see their faces. They were carrying a doll each. They walked the dolls up the blue carpet and onto a small stage, where a presenter asked the dolls some questions and commented on how nice their outfits were. Very strange. They began to hand out free samples of chewing gum, and this was the whole point of the exercise. Only in Japan!

Why we love the randomness

Seriously. Love Japan.

The grand blue carpet entrance for the dolls

A new back area with even more funky stores that connects Omote Sando and Shibuya was found previously by Cam. So we ventured through there to Shibuya ready to tucker on some more shabu shabu. By this stage we were feeling a little shabu’ed out, but it must be done! Stefan met up with us and afterwards we headed back to Matt’s hotel room for some more drinks.

Usual Harajuku hecticness combined with lethal umbrellas

Oh my god! Another Tic Tac !!
(This ones for you Ellen)

Matt’s hotel had a perfect view of Hachiko and Shibuya. We stayed there till… not sure what time! We went home maybe around 4am and Stefan crashed there. The next morning Matt and Stefan attempted to finish off some of the grog left over. Still so much was left over after that and Stefan stored it in a locker for later! Matt then headed off to USA and Canada that day!

Matt: Hope you had an awesome time here babe! I’m sure it was a blur, but lots was done in 3 days, and I hope you got to do everything you wanted! Have a rockin’ time at the stampede, see you back in Sydney!

Happy Birthday Andrew and Mel (again!)

2008-06-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

Andrew’s Komazawa B’day Bash

Andrew’s birthday bash arrived and we hit the town locally this time for a change! So we dined at an izakaya in Komazawa, and then headed to Bar Komazawa.

Sexy boys!

Kawaii!

You'd think it was St Pat's day with all the green

It was all coincidence!

Kumi chan!

Boys will be boys

The messiness begins at Bar Komazawa

Another cake for the birthday boy!

A great little bar, typical Japanese sized bar where only about 10 people could fit in there. The place and staff were great and they recognised Andrew well and truly as he had become a regular there. Andrew had reserved the bar for us that night with nomihodai, a fun night was had! Where the birthday boy left drunk and early with a little lady ;)

Mel’s 2^nd B’day

The following weekend was Mel’s second birthday bash! This time it was combined with another one of his friends. A great turn out of about 30 people at a Chinese restaurant in Shibuya. It was an interesting mix of people, and is always great to see some old faces! As Mel and Sophi had worked together at Nova, he had kept in contact with some of the better students, which was great for Sophi to catch up with. Also Sophi had recently started teaching some children at her current work at a different branch in Seijo, a co-worker from there rocked up to the party also, a small world ne.

As the night was ending we headed back home as we had work the next morning, Stefan and the rest headed out to Ageha for a massive night. We were definitely thankful the next day that we stayed strong and didn’t go with them. We suffered a bad enough hangover as it was!

Chiller’s Visitors and Disney take 4

The following weekend Chillers girlfriend, Ash, and her friend Sindy, came to Tokyo for about 8 days. It was great to meet Chillers girl and they were both so gorgeous. Unfortunately for them they had come right in rainy season and didn’t see a day of sunshine. We headed out for the standard visitor restaurants. Our favourites! The Buddha the first night and did some karaoke. As per usual we had to work the next morning so we bailed about 3am and struggled through the next day.

A usual image, Ko chans face in a glass!

How posey are we!

Our lovely ladies first karaoke night in Japan

A worthy invention?

On the Sunday we went to shabu shabu. Ash and Sindy seemed exhausted when we met up with them, understandably as they had been sightseeing all day doing it all back to back. So a god feed was had then we hit Disneyland the next day, YAY!

YAYYYY!!! Will never get sick of it!

The theme this time: Happy 25th Anniversary!

Just love all that cute cartoon stuff

Yet another sexy uniform

Cam looks like he's peaking

In Pooh Bears book

Photo montage. Little kids just wouldn't get out of the way!

A classic

How cute! Mickey mittens!

I think we're officially Japanese. And maybe Gay!

Gayer?
ooooh... but so cute as a little wizard boy!

Definitely gay

Luckily the weather held off for most of the day. There were soooo many little munchkins running around, the most we’d ever seen! Ash and Sindy did well to stick through and they left a littler earlier as the sky was threatening with black clouds! Not too sure if they really enjoyed it, but think they had a good time!! The next day they were off onto their Euro Contiki tour for 3 weeks of camping! Sounds even more exhausting!

Ash and Sindy: It was great meeting you guys! Have a blast in Europe and hope you had fun in Japan, sorry we had to work so much and couldn’t party as hard as usual… also due to the fact we’re grannies now! See you back here at the end of the year for a crazy new year!!

Happy Birthday Andrew

2008-06-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

Tanjobi omedato! Happy Birthday Andrew Chan!

With it being a week night, and still recovering from the weekend. A quiet dinner locally in Sakurashinmachi was requested by the birthday boy. So we headed to one of Andrews faves, a little yakitori place. It was a real local little place with friendly staff. After some random food, a birthday cake and lots of miscommunication in Japanese food ordering, we headed home with a take away in hand. A few more drinks at home were had to celebrate the day. Nothing too outrageous as we all had to get up at the crack of dawn the next day…. Resulting in Sophi being late for work! The first time in a long, long time believe it or not! The major birthday bash was to follow in a couple of weeks time.

Later that week we feasted on some tacos at Kumi’s house. Andrew the previous night had had a random bender with the Classic All Blacks in Roppongi, where he had graciously showed them around all night. The evidence of a night well had was his return in the morning with only one shoe! So he struggled through the tacos night with a good feed.

The next week on the Thursday a crew of 11 of us went for some good ol’ Shabu Shabu. Yum! We chowed down on the old favourite and headed for some drinks at the underground coin bar, where all night they were showing some crazy ass dance off’s in Krumpin’ and Clown comps on the big screen.

Check out Rize by Dave Chappelle Studios.

Alcohol Design

2008-05-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

Fashion party a dud

Upon returning to Tokyo, we spent the last 3 days off in Tokyo sorting out our lives and unpacking, unpacking and unpacking!! Over the trip we had sent back some boxes full of omiyage and clothes! We started back to work on the Saturday and that night we hit the town….. after feeling so bored already from our first shift!!

We had plans to go to a fashion party, once again in Mori Tower, this time it was an American label… which proved to be a pain in the ass as there we’re millions of gaijins lining up to get in! So we lined up with Stefan, Eri, Hana and Asoko for like and hour and half!! We were metres from the front when we decided to go to another club instead…as everyone was pining for a drink!!! Go figure, although given that by this stage it was 2am!!

So instead we headed to some Hip Hop club, leaving Eri at the fashion party, finally hit Roppongi’s night scene. Nothing great, Shibuya is defos better!! We went to some club which thankfully wasn’t full of gaijin, which was definitely a relief as with Roppongi being the gaijin district and in particular the hip hop clubs! So we drank the night away and once again had some entertaining conversations with Stefan, never a let down! The club was supposedly a hip-hop and trance club. We situated ourselves obviously in the hip-hop section, but before long the tempo suddenly changed and we were apparently now in the trance room. Some local flavour was up on the podium doing synchronised dance moves to the totally cheesy happy hardcore spewing out of the speakers. Stefan and Cam decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed, so they jumped up and showed off their moves. What they failed to realise though, was that the girls actually worked at the club, so it didn't take long for the bouncers to come along and kick them off the podium.

The working podium girls. Like a steel barrier

Day time was approaching and we left the club, followed one of Hana’s friends….. don’t know where we were going due to the language barrier mixed with alcohol= no sense what so ever! So after a while Cam and I decided to head home and get some ramen. The others jumped into a cab and went somewhere.

On our trip home, we had our first female driver in Japan, who evidently turned out to be a complete scammer!!! She took us back and forth around Roppongi, which really is so stupid, sure we can’t understand the language but we can clearly see the navigation system. The idiot! We could see what she was trying to do! So we got out without paying her the full fair and found other means to get home, which we eventually did at 6 am in the morning. Already a fresh start to the day, ready rearing to go to the Design Festa. So ready that we crashed out and didn’t wake till 2 in the arvo.

A VERY late start to the Sunday, yet with hung over determination we ventured to the Deisgn Festa being held at Odaiba in the Tokyo Big Site. Yes, the hangover took its toll and we found ourselves going back and forth on the train between Shibuya and some other station! Eventually we made it to Odaiba with an hour and half to spare! We managed to see all 4 halls and the atrium, minus a few that had closed early.

Our first Design Festa

Tokyo Big Site

Gotta give it to Odaiba for architecture

Kids getting into it

All in all it was a decent exhibition. Lots of photography, illustrations and sooooo many postcards!!!! Interesting to see exhibitions in different areas of the world, particularly with Japan being mainly technological based, most of the themes of the works and products were cute little animations. The cute characters were extended with variation of it for sale.
One of the most interesting things was the fact that so many of the exhibitions consisted of people wearing some interesting head gear!!

I am the egg man, I am the walrus!

I'm sure about this one

Can you tell: real or not?

???? You can let your imagination run with this one!

Of course, the token sleeping Japanese

For Sophi sadly the jewelry range was very limited and the strong 3D art really lacked, resulting in little flamboyance in some areas. Something that you hope for in a design exhibition.

It was a great exhibition and always is great to see some great talent! We managed to fit a lot in our short time there, and picked out the best artists on site. Sophi bought a awesome etching by some university girls for only 2000yen!! It’s gorgeous, finally some art for our room!

The visit inspired Sophi to get her act together and apply for the November festa. Time to get crackin’!!

After a few days back at work and some more work training, Friday arrived and we organised a last minute Welcome Back Dinner! After meeting at the usual Hachiko hangout we went to an izakaya that we had booked previously that day for 6 people.

Being Friday night however most definitely causes problems when 10 people show up instead. So we attempted to get a bigger table, however the massive line to the entrance wasn’t promising, this proved to be true. So thank god for all those gay rock stars that holla at you to go to their izakaya. We went to another one which was much nicer and only 1300 yen for nomihodai.

Nice lighter Stefan. You know how to create an atmosphere

The crew consisted of Ko-chan and a few of his friends (including his ex), the usual lot – Kumi, Andrew Stefan and Andrews lady for the evening.

This particular lady was from a random drinking night, where on the way home on the train we encouraged Andrew to slip his number to some chick as we got off. Evidently she ended up being able to speak English and followed it up! The usual drunken rowdiness was had in all good fun.

Cam trying to do something!

Still trying!

Sexy Ko chan - Ami you should be proud ne!

Once we got kicked out for staying too long we went to the standing bar, an interesting charge this time – 300yen for a seat! After numerous shots we left randomly and somehow got home. Sophi had to teach a new private student at 9am!

Work the next day on Saturday was a killer, we then went to Cams work friends (Jennifer) farewell in Omote Sando. It was at a Mexican restaurant which had some huuuge margaritas!! The food was decent and there was something seriously wrong with the waiters – complete retards in service, had no idea what they were doing! The tequila wasn’t sitting well, so we headed home to get some sleep for work the next day.

The next day was another killer Sunday at work then we had to prepare ourselves for Mel’s birthday that night straight after. We met at Gotanda where they had finished their nomihodai dinner, then we headed to karaoke.

The beginnings

These boys were already well into it!

Interesting considering we, as well as Andrew and Stefan, were pretty much sober cause we’d all just finished work at 8.30. So with a room full of Japanese people, we felt somewhat naked to be joining in on the song bashing. With this we realised we’ve only ever been in a majorly drunken state when we decide to take the jump into the karaoke booth!

Mel's students in collars int he background

First karaoke with Japanese business men!

The Duo

Sweatin' it up

The night went on and we finally got into it a little, we then decided to throw in the towel and head to an izakaya to wait for first train. As per usual though, Sophi decided to get a cab home not long before first train! The soldiers left standing was Cam, Andrew, Stefan and the birthday boy - Mel.

Later that morning Sophi awoke to find Cam still in his clothes awake and drunk, meanwhile Andrew was well passed out on the floor in his bedroom. Earlier, Andrew had graced Cam with his full stark nakedness as he walked around the house with out even a blink of an eye! Sophi realised Andrew had to work today and Cam attempted to wake him. He only received the repeated response of “Sumimasen” “Gomenasai” and “Put your manners back in”. This latter phrase has been the recent motto for Andrew when he gets to a certain point of drunkenness!

What a start to a new week!

Hectic Travel

2008-05-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tokyo Home Sweet Home

So back to our sweet abode, we had finished our 1 month half way trip around Japan!!!!!!!! An awesome time, amazing experience and so relieving to get out of the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and get into the real Japan!!!!

This trip was such a significant part of our travels, as we always had ambitions to go to every part of Japan! This trip covered most of those plans.........

Our half way trip trail

....... now we have to prepare for our next trip ahead in a couple of months. We are still to venture to the islands of Kyushu and Hokkaido…. And then Korea!

Thank you Ami, Megumi and Toshi san, who had taken care of us and were ever so helpful with accommodation and generous in every way!!! Arigatogozaimashita!!!!

Campaii to Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Konbanwa Nagoya!!

After our long detour to Himeji we finally made it to Nagoya in the early evening. Exhausted from our travels we chilled in our hotel room for a bit and slowly got ready to hit the town.

Firstly we started with some suggestions from Andrew (our Aussie flatty who used to live here). We decided to go to the Red Rock first for some Aussie grub. Something we have been craving now for 9 months!! A yummy steak was in order and didn’t fail to meet expectations…. Any decent steak was great right now!

Once again, Jap-glish never ceases to amaze

A few drinks later, we noticed an old, fat balding Australian guy was trying to pick up these 2 Japanese chicks. So after a long time we started chatting to the girls in offer to help them. We chatted to them for a bit but they still left with him anyway…so go figure!

After hearing that the other recommended place, Heavens Door, had recently closed we went in search for another bar. As in the rest of Japan it’s difficult to find normal bars, this time we lucked out a little and found a place called My Bar. A normal small bar with some 90s house music playing.

We befriended 2 Japanese guys at the bar and that hit off the rest of our night. Lots of sculling and drinks later we decided to go back to the Red Rock for happy hour which was between 3-5.30am, something we lightly promised ourselves to do.

Our new best friends for the night

A guy who can't handle his alcohol in the middle, the communist on the right

From here it’s very blurry, but faint memories of Sophi stating her opinion on China lead to one of the Japanese guys stating he was a communist. Just lucky we were all drunk enough for no awkwardness to occur! Cam on the other hand had gone to find an ATM, and outside he was picked up by a hooker! Very funny as Cam was slow to catch on at first due to the language barrier.

The rest is a blur for all but one of the Japanese guys was spewing in the bushes and still smiling, this meant it had been a good night and time to end it!!

Bastard of a hangover

The next morning resulted in waking with a rude, rude, rude hangover and the day was spent recuperating in the hotel room in order to be fit and ready to meet Megumi for dinner! Luckily for us the weather was horrible and raining so no guilt was felt staying in bed.

Megumi is one of Sophi’s old au pairs she used to have as a child. Megumi has kept in touch over the years with frequent cards and visits to our old Beecroft home. Megumi and her husband of 5 years lived in Sydney together for 4.5 years before moving to Nagoya into their new home.

Megumi and her husband, Toshi, kindly invited us to dinner. They both work for travel agencies, Toshi as a consultant and Megumi as a tour guide. This means that they travel overseas each month, their next destination is to Cambodia in 2 days then Italy next month.

Megumi and Toshi

After a half hour drive to Ichinomiya from Nayoga, it was great to see a beautiful Japanese home that was a normal size!! A beautiful modern building. Megumi spoiled us by cooking tempura, katsu don and chicken teriyaki, followed by lots of fruit, desserts and more food!

It was great to catch up with Megumi and to get to know Toshi. Toshi himself grew up in America so his English is also fantastic, definitely helps! We shared lots of photos of our trip, their wedding and Megumi pulled out some old photos of her stay with Sophi’s family from when she was 10 years old! What classic photos!!

After sooooo much food they dropped us back at our hotel and we farewelled them till the next morning when they would pick us up at 9am to go for some travelling!

The traditional and the beautiful

At an early 9am, we met again and headed straight off to Gojyohacchiman, an hour and a half north of Nagoya. It was beautiful to get into the country side to the traditional towns. This particular town is nestled in the valley of some beautiful pine mountains.

Can't remember the full name of the place. Here it is in Japanese

In the country riverside

Firstly we went to an original ‘Food replica workshop’. For those who have been to Japan will understand the plastic models that are displayed in basically every restaurant window. For the others who haven’t been to Japan, in most windows are plastic models of what’s on the menu. Luckily for travellers this definitely helps to make selecting food a lot easier!

All fake... just like in all the restaurant windows

Astro boy, your so strong

Magic

At this workshop you were able to make some tempura models! Unfortunately it was too busy for us to make any, however it was great watching them make it. Instead we just bought lots of samples!

The true way of making fake tempura!

Fake sushi in the process

We then visited the castle there which was much smaller than Himeji but still substantially big, even though it was considered to be a ‘very small castle’!

Another white castle!

Being cheddar cheesey

A bug looking dome

So countryside: Town nestled in the valley

Toshi explained that the narrow winding streets of traditional towns, was for the protection against enemies. If the enemy were to attack or stampede into the city they would come in narrow groups and get confused with directions. It’s very interesting to think that historically Japan has so many castles and techniques for the enemy, however today it stands at peace with everyone.

Beautiful old cobblestoned streets

For lunch we then headed to a nearby restaurant hidden in the mountains. This restaurant was in a world heritage site building, a VERY traditional Japanese building which served ishiyaki (stone BBQ). It was huge, delicious and very traditional!

The heritage buildings that housed our restaurant

Huge place. All on the floor. Real Japanese stylin'!

Bibbed up and ready to go

Yes. The food hangs from the roof!

Vending machines: just everywhere really.

After feeling delirious from over feeding we jumped back in the car and drove another hour and a half north to the famous city of Takayama. Takayama is well known for the old traditional section that is still preserved to this day.

The bridge that leads to the Old Town

More old streets

This little guy was every where, another good luck charm
... of course we bought 2!
Sophi a true sucker for stuff

The temp had really dropped and we decided to get some coffee. To our delight we went into a very traditional Japanese café. A place where we would normally not enter due to being total gaijins and the menu usually in unreadable kanji. It was great, with the old earthen stoves in the middle of the floor with the pot hanging from the roof. Here we tried the dessert dish of an-machi (red bean and rice stuff).

A small door for small people

Traditional Japanese cafe.
No wonder we could never find a normal one!

For once we lucked out.
These 'famous' flowers are out once a year

After warming up a bit we walked around Takayama some more, buying souvenirs and drinking sake.

So red

The old sake sign:
A big straw ball outside the shop front

In the ground brewery

The sake we tried. One was white and yoghurty

We then headed to a foot onsen nearby, where we were treated to some boiling hot natural onsen water. Very relaxing and warming (next mission is to go to an outdoor onsen in the snow in winter).

So ridiculously relaxing

Now there's a stick women

Awww...

Toshi who had kindly driven all day then made the 2 hour drive back to Nagoya for some dinner. After going to a few different restaurants around Nagoya we finally found one that didn’t have an hour wait! With it being Sunday lots of families were out and about clogging up all the restaurants!! With a gorgeous view of Nagoya city we supped on some yummy Italian.

Thanks Megumi and Toshi!!

Nagoya is a beautiful modern city with lots of high rise buildings only being 1 – 6years old, creating finally a beautiful city scape, much more beautiful than Osaka which ultimately proved to be quite an older style city with dirty streets. We farewelled Megumi and Toshi who had been way too generous to us!! Thank you so much we will never forget it!! We decided to extend our trip a little longer and booked an extra night at the hotel, yay!!

A lazy day

With original plans to go to Nagashima Spaland it was decided in the morning (because Sophi slept in again) to postpone it till the next day. For the day we just jumped on the train and checked out Nagoya city, and tasted some of the local cuisine; nishimen (yet another form of noodle, this time flat and broad).

We looked around Nagoya station area, with its new buldings and interesting architecture.

PHOTOS

We then wanted to go shopping so we headed back to the famous Sakae area, which ultimately being just like a mini Ginza, packed full of the same repetitive department stores; boring. We had read that the area was filled with boutiques, but we struggled to find any, apart from the Japanese boutiques, which is a Louis Vuitton store that is not connected to a department store.

For our last night on holiday we wanted to spoil ourselves a little so we booked dinner at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. We ate 10 types of meat, and endless buffet foods.

The weather had turned good for us on our last day away from home. We packed our belongings and checked out of the hotel, and took the 45 minute bus trip to Nagashima Spaland. This is a theme park in the middle of nowhere really, which, in summer has a huge water park that is open too.

As we walked through the gates we saw that the park was partnered with Peter Rabbit. This apparent connection seemed completely unauthorised and really, once inside, there was no sign of the rabbit again (strange Japanese).

Being Spring still, and a weekday, the place was pretty much deserted. We didn’t get into the park until about 1pm due to having lunch and whatever. The park closed at 5pm so we didn’t think we had much time. We were wrong. The longest we had to wait for a ride on anything was 10 minutes, and every other wait time was 0 minutes. The park had a roller coaster that was ridiculously high, bigger than any we had seen before.

This coaster is the longest in the world, has the 3^rd highest drop of any coaster and is the 4^th fastest coaster. We swallowed hard before making the decision to try it out. When we got into the queue, we saw a guy doing maintenance on the front of the carriage. Really doesn’t instil much confidence at all. Before going to the park we had read some reviews, one in particular jumped to mind. They had said that when they went to the park, this ride was closed because the wheels kept flying off while it was going, so to see a guy hammering the front wheels really made our stomachs turn. We took a u-turn and decided to go on the other rides.

The entire day we were completely dizzy! Soooooo many rides! Never been to an amusement park with so many good rides! The good thing with this place you cut out all the time wasting stuff on the rides in Disney and just get right to it! So the rides tend to be little quick, but you can do it all the more times!!

We headed back to the steel dragon, and attempted it! This roller coaster was the best!! Over our time in Japan Cam has slowly been facing his fear of heights, and this was the ultimate test. Surprisingly he wasn’t shaking too much. Reaching the top of this was pretty amazing, and then the drop was so intense. We have both agreed that Cam’s fear is now gone. The next step is now skydiving!

In the late afternoon the weather had started turn and we could feel a storm brewing, so we decided to make the journey back to Nagoya then to home sweet home to Tokyo. As it was going to take a good few hours we thought best to do it before last trains in Tokyo!

We got the shinkansen back and were back in Tokyo in no time. The only huge difference was that it was damn cold in Tokyo, about 11 degrees!! We had been so lucky with the weather all through our trip with maximum a couple of days of rain in the latter part. Frrreeeeeeezing!

Just can't get enough of Kyoto

All the hotels in the Kansai area were booked out for the 3^rd and 4^th of May due to Golden Week, so we were without accommodation for the night as we had left our first shit hotel and moved to another one. Our plan was to go to Kyoto and spend the night in a Karaoke room or a 24 hour internet café.

We got to Kyoto, and did a quick ask around at some Ryokans and hotels for available rooms, and we were in luck! We found a hotel right next to the station. It was a bit expensive, again, due to Golden Week, but it was well worth it.

We meet again Astro Boy

Killer reflection

Really, where are we? Japan or New York?

Kyoto tower at its glory

We had wanted to check out Kiyomizu (translation: todays water) Temple since last time in Kyoto, so we jumped on an incredibly crowded bus, and walked up the hill in the heat with thousands of other Japanese to see the temple. When we reached the top of the street and the entrance, we realised it was definitely worth the walk. This temple is right up the back of Kyoto nestled into the trees in the mountains. It is very beautiful looking out at the trees from the balcony. Some Japanese people can be very frustrating as they are oblivious to their surroundings, so when a place is very crowded they occasionally walk into you or just push you out of the way or stand in front of you while you are taking a photo.

The entry gate after a killer walk... yet still more to come

Beautiful kimonos everywhere

The bell

This guy went to a cave party last night!

The view and fresh air

Kyoto snap happy

Hint to anyone: Don’t go to Kyoto during Golden Week! It is just too crowded and not worth it. Don’t get us wrong, we had a great time but there are better times to go.

We spent the afternoon strolling around the Gion area looking in the shops and people watching.

Ladies clad in Kimonos strolling through the shops

Always making toys of everything, this time gyozas (dumplings)

We had a great Chinese dinner in a restaurant looking over the river (Sophi had been looking forward to this for a long time) and finished the night at an izakaya for a few drinks.

Our restaurant on the riverside

Check out the funky hair do (top right)

Let's get a closer look..... Dried Chicken... beer????

The next morning we planned to go to Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine (lots of Torii gates) but the weather had taken a bad turn, so we changed our minds and decided to go to Nara instead.

Historical Nara

A day in Nara was very quick and we recommend that you spend 1 – 2 days there if you have the interest in traditional Japanese culture. Nara being the first capital of Japan in it’s hey day still nurtures the traditional Japan in its temples, museums and galleries galore.

As our day had started late we were limited to what we could see. We started off with the National Museum which focused on Buddhist artefacts. Nara originally being the end of the Silk Road meant that there was lots of other oriental influences which ended up in Nara.

Buddhas Galore

Some gorgeous deer (much healthier than those on Miyajima) were roaming the parks. Deer’s historically were the messengers from the gods so therefore are kept around the places of worship.

To Sophi’s delight we realised that the art exhibition that she had wanted to see was actually in Nara. So we headed to the Prefectural Art Museum to see the famous woodblock print (Ukiyo-e) artists. The most famous for this medium was Katsushika HOKUSAI (1830s).

The Great Wave Of Kanagawa – 1831

The other famous Ukiyo-e artist was Utagawa HIROSHIGE. Renowned for his ‘100 views of Edo’.

Winter time

Always an amazing feeling to see the originals of the greats. We scoffed down some delicious food at a nearby French café. Almost tasted like home!!For the last bit of our day trip we planned to go to the world heritage Temple Todaiji with the Great Buddha. However sadly the weather took its first bad turn of our trip and it started to rain. So we tried to get back to the station as quickly as possible. Nara is not a place to be sightseeing in if it’s raining due to long outdoor walks.

So Cam jumped on a bus to ask for directions and the bus driver had closed the doors before Sophi had got on! With a look of horror on Sophi’s face the bus started to pull away. With the help of some friendly Japanese, they told the ass hole bus driver to stop after failing to listen to Cam. Lucky, as Sophi had no phone or money on her!

Thank god for Osaka, a great place geographically to base yourself if you wish to do some travel around Kansai area (Western Honshu). An hour later we were back in good ol’ Osaka and decided to head out for the local cuisine of Osaka okonomiyaki. Delicious. Osaka okonomiyaki doesn’t have the noodles like Hiroshima; instead it has less cabbage, lots of rice bubbly things and is cooked a lot slower.

Due to the recent visit to Universal Studios some oldies were in need to be watched, so we ended the night with watching Back to the Future….the first night of them all!

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii Kobe!!!

Finally we made it to Kobe! A gorgeous city – definitely has the best city water view (although part of it’s still a port) – it doesn’t seem like the Japanese will ever understand how to display the waterfronts with the best beauty.

Space like entrance to the fashion museum

Something has landed

We arrived late in Kobe at 3pm. So we dashed through the Kobe Fashion Museum, Kobe Artists Museum and the Western housing district. The fashion museum was great, it showed some classics by Dior, Scaparelli, Yves Saint Lauren and many more. It crossed the areas of fabrics, history, famous designers, colour and structures. It displayed some great photos and background on famous fashion photographers including originals of Madonna and Niki Taylor among others.

One of the things that added to the beauty of Kobe was the old European buildings that have been preserved there, originally established by settlers who came to Japan at Kobe port.

European style streets

The main Western house still left standing after the earthquake

Cobblestones... almost feels like something normal

Bassey!!! But in Japan!! (my old dog)
This ones for you Dad

Benny. We found you

Dog sculptures. Cute

A great amount of admiration has to be given to the Japanese. They have down pact the ability to rebuild their cities fast and beautifully in such a short time. It was hard to believe that the horrendous Kobe Earthquake (Great Hanshin Earthquake) had occurred 13 years ago (where approx. 6500 people lost theirs lives). Another extreme example is Hiroshima.

Aftermath of the Kobe Earthquake 1995

With the sun setting we headed to the port area for some dinner and a beautiful view of the city. YUM!!! We had the best buffet (tabehodai) in Japan so far!! This definitely beats all the previous winners. It consisted of seafood, a lot of massive crabs and everything else you could imagine! Quality and variety in one.

To top this was the beautiful scenery of watching the sun set over Kobe Bay which is famous for the romantic setting. It proved itself to be true.

Awaiting the sunset

After delirium induced by over eating we took a stroll to the Kobe Port Tower then headed home to Osaka,

Lovers in romantic Kobe

Feasting on seafood buffet

Some more great English

Kobe Port Tower. Another original landmark, a tower

Random manga statues on the way to the station

Shopping + Baseball + Grog = A great day!!

After 4 days of solid travel it started to catch up with us again. So after waking at noon we made an executive decision not to go to Himeji Castle and instead go shopping and then the baseball. A decision well made!!

We're on TV!

We spent a few hours spending money then headed to the baseball at Osaka Dome. This was a much more impressive stadium than Hiroshima in size, facilities and the fact the whole baseball field was indoors. However, this proved to be a let down in the atmosphere.

Osaka Dome. Very domey.

The fans: always patriotic in their fan gear from head to to

Cheering for the home team

For this game we saw the Osaka Buffaloes vs. Chiba Marinas. As last time we went for the home team which at first really lacked the fun going attitude (definitely nothing like Hiroshima!!), mainly because we were losing! Although after observing the crowd we realised that not many people were drinking at all except us (silly Japs!) so Cam and Sophi carried on drinking. As usual we created our own fun and the Buffaloes made a great come back from being 5 runs behind to a win by one point in the extended inning!

Surely you could find a better job if this was the uniform!

Chiba Mariners fans jumping like little penguins

You really have to give it the Japanese, watching a game live the guy in front of us was also watching the whole game on his TV on his mobile. So Japanese!! Really wasted and pumped by the win, the rest of the night was a bit of a blur. A good night was had!!

Universal Studios Japan: TAKE 2

Excited anticipation

Rahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Welcome take II

After another decent sleep in we made our way for a second intake of Universal Studios. The beauty with going to theme parks numerous times, you can cut out all the crap and spend all day on the good rides. Straight off we hit the Hollywood Dream rollercoaster, with a few interceptions with the cute and cuddly characters

Bubba.... you're heaps bigger

The forgotten panther

Universal and Sesame St some how go together

We followed that by doing the best rides – Shrek, Jurassic Park, Spiderman and Back to the Future numerous times throughout the day. Jurassic Park which consists of an ending with giant splashes left us well and truly soaked from head to bottom.

Saturated. Cam gets into the dinos this time...

At least this guy gets to ride one

The one thing we missed on our first visit was the Land of Oz, mainly due to the fact it’s for kids and that there is one ride. The rest are stage shows, so this time we went and saw the short musical version of ‘Wicked’. This was great; half in English and half in Japanese.

How fluffy and cute

They can be really cruel with the uniforms can't they!

Can's getting into to J-style!

After running around doing what we could, 7 hours flew by and the next thing we new it was the end of a well spent day. On the way out along Universal Walk…. And interesting Japanese performer was doing some great tricks – something we will definitely use for party tricks when we return home!!

Buggered. We went to our hotel to pack up the end of our 12 day journey in Osaka. Goodbye Osaka hello Nagoya!!

Himeji Castle - Finally!

We had put off going to Himeji for almost 2 weeks now; after a while sightseeing just gets a little boring. This was our last chance to fit it in anywhere, so we went backwards from Osaka to Himeji to check out the biggest castle in Japan. After visiting temples, shrines and castles continuously they kind of lose their uniqueness, but Himeji really is amazing. It is 6 storeys and was built in 1333-1346, and then destroyed and rebuilt in 1580. It comprises of 82 buildings and was designed with many confusing pathways to disorientate enemies. The stairs leading up to the top floor are really steep, and we imagine, very difficult to climb if trying to attack it. We skipped the garden as we needed to catch the train to Nagoya.

The largest castle in Japan

Built for war and defense, was never once used in battle

Sanmurai - iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

The view from the damn highest point

Massive

Old ladies obviously ready to hit the beach

We have developed a love for the Shinkansens in Japan. Although they are expensive, they get you where you need to go quickly and frequently. We calculated the cost and time of an express train to Nagoya from Himeji: 4+ hours and $60, Shinkansen: 83mins $79. You can’t beat that for value!

Dirty Osaka!

2008-05-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

New Hotel, New life!

So with an interesting introduction to Osaka, we jumped straight onto the internet at the business hotel and tried to find another accommodation ASAP!! Normally it would be fine and easy, the only trick was to be able to find somewhere for the full 12 nights over golden week. We were successful and found a nice hotel at a decent price closer to the main trendy area of Osaka… just up the road! THANK GOD!!! Except there were 2 nights we couldn’t find accommodation anywhere! So without shooting ourselves in the foot we planned to cancel the reservation at the shit hotel except for those two nights as backup.

A million dollar view

So in order to get some sleep and pass the night we had a few drinks and passed out well and truly, drank enough to feel comfortable with the place! Yet we woke up bright and early to the trains right outside our window. We jumped out of bed, having unpacked nothing, and headed off to our new hotel! Mind you, we felt damn guilty as we told the staff of our plans (of course telling them we were heading to another city instead!). The staff at this hotel were sooooooo genuinely friendly, it made the guilt harder. The best staff we’d had so far on the trip! Sayonara Mr Shit Hotel.

Happy to be out of there we went off to our new hotel, The Fujiya Hotel, and dumped our bags and explored what Osaka had on offer. First stop Dotonbori St (nightlife) and Shinsaibashi St (shopping). We hit the shops and did some decent shopping.

Crazy Asian streets

More sleeping Japanese

blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

fugu!

Random figurine. Only just got famous cause it was closing! Constantly surrounded by Japanese people taking photos

Safe on the bridge wall, and attractive

Any place just wouldn't be Japan without walls of neon signage

American town clown

Crazy building

They start young

Gay rock star - everywhere

Japans true mascot

Lesbian rock?

Shibuya girls, but Osaka!

After going back to our new hotel we were soooo happy we changed! The new hotel was about a minute walk from Dotonbori, so we grabbed some food and nomihodai at an izakaya, and then passed out exhausted.

Animals and Namba Park

The next day we went to Osaka zoo, probably the most depressing zoo so far, although I guess the only thing it had going for it was the fact they were building some new habitats which weren’t too bad. Also the peeing statue was gold.

Entry to woulds saddest zoo

Dead or a live?

The usual cute randomness

Hmmm.... they're so real

Japs getting affectionate in public. Unusual

Classy

If that's a good habitat then I've been educated completely wrong

Exhausted and happy we had finally settled into Osaka, we think our bodies new it and all they
wanted to do was relax and sleep! Knowing that we had 10 days ahead in the one place made us feel we could chill the hell out! After a long siesta we headed out and stumbled upon Namba Park. So far Osaka hadn’t given us a great first impression. Everything was dirty, old and a majority of the people were just as rude as people had said.

Thank god we found Namba Park. The cleanest, newest spot in Osaka that we had discovered. Basically it was a new shopping mall. We had the most amazing Chinese all you can eat. After some more shopping we had some 100yen sushi we once again passed out exhausted.

Universal Studios: Take 1

After realising that even though Osaka is Japans 3^rd largest city, it really isn’t that big. Particularly when you’re used to Tokyo, a mega city made of several CBDs. So we decided to head to Universal Studios (although that was already part of the plan)!!! It was awesome and the rides were great, lots of simulations. The Spiderman, Back to the Future and Hollywood Dreams roller coaster were the best.

Yay!!

Cute...

Cuddly...

Hilarious

Cam actually preferred Universal Studios to Disney. Sophi, a lover of both!! We guess a blessing for Osaka that they were given Universal Studios, the best tourist attraction in town! (Tokyo got Disney)

Snoopy!

Yum!

Finally made it there!

Best ride

Snoopy is taking over the world

What Osaka has to offer: Scorpion Bar

Another attempt to see what was on offer in this city. As usual the typical aquarium, temples and museums. Completely over these we decided to head to the Floating Observatory Garden, said to have amazing views of Osaka. We headed there near Osaka station. Once again everything was filthy, and the tower was nothing special, just a normal building with a cement roof. Where was the garden? The architecture of the building was the most interesting feature.

From the ground view: Floating Garden

The view was decent......

...especially the guy with the killer tan line

Over it we headed to Namba and walked through to the American area. Which we realised stumbled into the love hotel area. Some kooky exteriors. All we wanted was a drink. The eternal exploration in hope to find a ‘normal’ bar in Japan. Always so bitterly disappointing! We did find a Mexican restaurant run by a Canadian. We tucked into some delicious tacos and some tequila shots.

Campai!

The night had started. From the recommendation of the restaurant owner, we went to a bar called the Scorpion Bar. Not far fro our hotel. So we ventured there and were pleasantly surprised. A normal Japanese sized bar fitting on about 12 people in it. However the staff was awesome, it was owned by Japanese guy (friend of the restaurant owner) and the waitress was a French girl with a Middle Eastern background. We made s friend with the Japanese guy next to us who turned out to be a regular… and a damn big drinker for a Japanese man! Something which would’ve been helpful to know prior to the drinking competitions!

The bar lived true to its name, and catered vodka with a scorpion in the bottle. They also served a French brand of Sambuca. Cam and our new friend started having drinking comps of the sambuca, while Sophi slammed down her jagerbombs (such a rarity now a days) with the bar man.

Always remember to look up in Japan

Good advertising

Cam found someone with a bigger nose

Oishii!

Scorpion crew, the beginning of the end

Cam soon started to fade and pass out on his stool. As stubborn as usual he didn’t want to leave then eventually gave a drunken jerk of his head…. Sophi took that as a nod… and we left the bar. Realising that they had been trying to close maybe for a while as we were the last ones there and it was about 2am.

On the way out a funny looking guy dressed up as Ronald McDonald head to toe, was sitting on the ground chatting with a girl. Cam ran up and tackled him, had a few laughs, then realised that the girl was in tears and he had just bombarded a D&M.

Asian Ronald McDonald rocks!

Movies and Namba Parks

Waking with a killer hangover and only the photos on the camera as a memory, an easy day was decided. Namba Parks here we come. Not feeling like dealing with the filth of the city some shopping and movies was in order. Next and Lions for Lambs were the choice of the day.

Heaven: The cleanest place in Osaka

Sophi’s sceptical thought

Interesting to see this movie in Japan, a country historically whose power was controlled by the US, like many other countries of this time. As Americas reputation continues to take a bad turn globally over the past 6 years, it is evident the message behind this movie.

A fictional insight to the possibilities of the current political situation regarding USA troops in the Middle East. It helps to open ones eyes to the notorious generalisations of Americans of late.

However, as we sat in the Osaka cinema, people around seemed to huff and puff at times. Was it boredom? Disinterest? Or just plain bodily air finding a way out?

There seems to be very little bitterness on the surface of the Japanese. Once again it’s the ‘wa’ of keeping the general peace through politeness and non-confrontation.

Does a movie like this have the same empowering effect on a country whose history in a way is mirrored in today’s current events?

Some may think that the empathy for this situation has been dulled. Agreeably so.

Cultural Island Hopping

2008-04-25T00:00:00.003-07:00

Naoshima

On Saturday morning we took the Marine Liner across the Seto-O-Hashi (Hashi means bridge) which, at 13.1km, is the longest 2 tiered bridge in the world. The bridge connects Honshu and Shikoku via 5 smaller islands, and is quite amazing to watch go by from the train. We arrived at Uno and caught a quick ferry to Naoshima Island, a small island just between Shikoku and Okayama. Naoshima is known as an island occupied by art galleries and landscape sculptures; an artists heaven!

Seto Bridge, Just can't justify how long it is stretching over 5 islands

The ferry ride to Naoshima Island

The surrounding waters had these jelly by the million!!!!

Pumpkin #1

First stop – The Chichu gallery (Chichu in Japanese means underground) and this place was amazing. The remarkable architect, Tadeo Ando , created five gallery spaces altogether, featuring works of three artists - Claude Monet, Walter de Maria and James Turrell. The design is extreme minimalism and is made of concrete, steel, glass and wood.

Check out the website as it definitely is one of the most commendable exhibits Sophi has ever seen. Sophi honestly recommends anyone to go there!!!!

http://www.naoshima-is.co.jp/english/index.html

Combined translation

When you think of underground you think a dark, dim space with no natural light. The amazing architecture is quite the contrary. Although the front lobby and some walkways are extremely dark, the main exhibition space prides itself on the beauty of the changing natural light. This further enhances the impact of the artworks. The entire exhibition space is an artwork within itself working together with the exhibits creating one massive artwork all in harmony with each other. The distinction between architecture and the artworks is indistinct, therefore it can be hard to differentiate where the art works start and architecture ends. Amazing.

The underground entrance

Further in deeper

Massive effective architecture

We entered into the concrete tunnels that took us underground to a huge white room filled only with natural light and displaying 4 Monet paintings from his Waterlilies series. The paintings were illuminated entirely by natural light coming in from the four edges of the ceiling. The floor itself was incredible and gave an amazing touch, as you weren’t allowed to wear shoes, you could feel the purity and beauty of the tiny white mosaic marble stones all through the place.

After we had taken in the artworks and Cam had pondered the logistics of getting the paintings to this location we made our way to the James Turrell exhibit. Turrell makes artworks focusing on light and he presents light as an art itself. The spaces in which the works stand enable the unique experience.

One piece ‘Skyspace’ was a square room underground which the whole ceiling as an open space allowing natural light to flow in. There is a white camouflaged bench around the edges of the room where you sit and watch the sky go by. The walls are strategically angle outwards so when you sit you naturally look up at the sky. It may not sound great, but when we entered the room, we were blown away by the feeling of it. It was so peaceful and calming, we could have stayed in there all day. The ceilings edge is cut to a fine angle so it looks like you are looking at a screen, but you are actually looking outside.

His other piece, ‘Open Field’ was a white room with a sloping floor, and open at one end. When you reached a certain point a beeper would buzz cause if you continued to walk you would walk off the edge! The installation is too hard to explain, the light effects combined with the smoke creates the illusion that from the outside looking in, it’s all electro blue and the people inside look like they’re on the other side of a TV screen! Wen you are inside the room, looking out everything is orange and looks like you’re looking into another world, with the smoke inside it creates the feeling of an endless white space. Again the edges of the entrance are cut to a fine angle so it looks as though you are looking into a screen.

Walter de Maria had a huge installation which consisted of a massive room inclining with steps, containing strategically placed with dark marble spheres (2.2 m in diameter) and 27 wooden sculptures covered in gold leaf. The space is aligned East to West, again to work with the natural light streaming in from various places of the room, therefore the appearance of the work changes constantly from sunrise to sunset.

Blown away by the entire gallery and coming out back to reality, we started our way to the Bennesse House (this entire sector consists of a hotel, gallery, library) which is where the famous landscape sculptures are placed on the beaches.

Stone sculpture surrounded by high concrete walls

A quarter sculpture made into a whole with mirrors

Sculpture on the salt beach

Another sculpture... is it really buried?

Along our way to this area we stopped at the ‘Seaside Gallery’. Which was literally a small underground concrete space that encased another of Walter de Maria artworks – with the same spheres and wooden sculpture on a much smaller scale.

Sculpture on the hillside. On hinges to move with the wind

Seaside gallery. Echoes the inside display on a much smaller scale

Still the spheres are 2.2 metres

We headed towards the hotel area to see more works and the famed ‘Pumpkin’ So amazing, who would ever see the beauty of a giant pumpkin on the beach landscape?

Some kooky cats

Pumpkin #2 - On a wharf on the beach

A kooky pot plant camel

Bubba under a tree. Beach in the background

There were lots of landscape artworks all over this area…..

After exhausting ourselves from all the amazing art we headed to the other side of the island where we could see another artwork of reconstructed traditional island housing. This was a little of a let down as well as strange. The appreciation for the beauty of the traditional architecture was there, however as the day was ending we started to dwindle. So we headed back to the port, had some tucker then jumped back onto the ferry.

Naruto, Skikoku

Originally we were going to go down to Shikoku from Okayama and go to Iya Valley, Naruto whirlpools, and Takamatsu city all in one day. This proved to be far too much to achieve so we split it up and chose Takamatsu and Naruto whirlpools for the first day.

We arrived in Takamatsu to find a Sunday Festival going on. There were some down syndrome kids signing and playing music on stage and there were lots of stalls selling second hand stuff, and loads of food. The locals got a kick of seeing Cam, the only white guy around all day.

Special needs concert. They were having the times of their lives!

Takashima architecture

Traditional thongs being made at the fair

Sexy boy

Sexier girl

Japanese cheerleaders. Their name Smiles. Pronounced: smile-es!!

As time was very limited today, we only managed to spend about 40 minutes at Ritsuen Garden; one of the biggest and most beautiful gardens in Japan. They recommend more than 3 hours to walk around the park so we missed quite a bit of it, but what we saw was beautiful.

Ritsuen bamboo fencing. So Japanese ne

The typical Japanese garden scene...

... stepping stones....

....more bridges

The picturesque Japanese tree in the mountainside

Big and beautiful

To get to Naruto we had to get a train all the way to the end of the line in the middle of nowhere. It was so different from Tokyo out here. The trains come about once an hour, and life is slow.

Middle of bloody no where. It all merges into 1 track!!!!???

So countryside, this is how often the trains came

Naruto Straight is located between Shikoku and Honshu. It is the narrowest straight in the world, and the currents during high and low tides cause huge whirlpools to occur. You can get a tourist boat out into the water but we decided to walk along the bridge and see it from directly above. We saw some average sized whirlpools, but nothing really to get excited about. That said, it was a really fun day, and definitely a cool thing to do in Japan.

The bridge we viewed the whirlpools from

Now that's a whirlpool

Look! We're on the bridge

For a country that loves koalas. They need to get their facts right

Shikoku Sunset. Country Island

It’s a long way back to Okayama, and by the time we made it back we were well spent and starving. We stopped at a local ramen place, and had some of the tastiest ramen we have ever had. You could pay a bit extra and get a second serving of noodles. Cam was so hungry that he ate 3 servings. Needless to say the staff thought it was quite amusing.

The best ramen restaurant ever!!

Shinkansen time again!

The following day we had planned to go to Iya Valley in Shikoku. There isn’t a lot of public transport to Iya, and we had some confusion trying to get the bus information from the guy at hotel. Our plan to get to the station early and put our suitcase in a locker for the day backfired when we got to the station and most of the lockers were full, and the other ones were very well hidden with no signs as to where they are. We found them eventually but by then it was too late and we missed the train. We were sadly told that the next train wouldn’t get us there in time to catch the bus to Iya. We were really disappointed, as we had really been looking forward to going.

There was one final thing on our list so we just scrapped Iya and took the train to Kotohira. In Kotohira, there is a shrine with 1368 steps, Konpirasan. We started climbing, and climbing, and climbing. We noticed some very strange things about Japanese people. There were men doing it in business suits, and women dressed like they were on their way to a cocktail party; huge high heels and lace skirts! Crazy!

Clearly a great hiking outfit

About as 'hiking' as Sophi will get

These were all the way up

Cam decided to run up the last 250 steps and surprisingly wasn’t really puffed at all once he reached the top. This is one of those cases where the prize is nowhere near as good as the chase. Although there was no real chase, once at the top there really isn’t anything there!

Dr Fish. The little fish eat away your dead skin!

For the lazy ones

It's gonna be along day for those guys

He stood there the entire day in the exact same spot and pose

Just barely at the half way mark!

What a view

This went on for the entire 1368 stairs

Pooped

For some reason there was a giant propeller at the half way mark

Winners....

......Victory!

Japanese people only know about other cities in Japan by what food is famous from that area. We had been told by EVERYONE that we had to try udon in Shikoku, so we felt that we should. By the time we found an ATM that would accept our Tokyo bank cards, we found a restaurant that was basically closed (it was about 5pm, and most others were closed) and ordered some udon. I’m not sure what we were expecting but it tasted exactly the same as any udon we had tasted anywhere else.

Why is there an anime statue on the way up to the shrine?

Sophi being Asian

Cam being a piglet

Awesome statue

Shikoku - the land of Anpanman (an old beloved cartoon character)

Make toys out of everything again! Udon noodles!

It was a beautiful day, and the disappointment of not going to Iya was suppressed by the wonderful walk in the open air in the middle of nowhere.

After making it back to Okayama to get our bags we loaded onto the Shinkansen, headed for Osaka.

Okayama - the home town of Momotaro!
A childhood tale of a boy born from a peach
(remember Sal?)

Some things shouldn't be translated from Japanese to English!

Interesting. A bank for your tomatoes

We checked into our hotel; we had 12 nights booked there, but realised as soon as entering the room, that we would only be spending one night there. The train track was about 10 metres from the window, and there were heaps of homeless people wondering around outside. That combined with shared, dirty bathrooms didn’t make for a pleasant experience.

Hiroshima

2008-04-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Arrival

We didn’t make it to our hotel in Hiroshima until about 10pm, which was lucky because the reception closed at 10pm. We had had a long day; sightseeing in Okinawa, the flight and bus ride to the hotel took a little longer than expected (it always does) so we took a quick walk around the area and found a little local restaurant to eat at. A local helped us by translating the menu for us in his broken English, and we sat and chatted to a group of new graduates who were training in Hiroshima to be systems engineers (a very common job here in Japan). First impressions of Hiroshima were good; friendly people, nice looking city, and good food.

Peace Park

There are a few things that you have to do when you come to Hiroshima, so we took our first day here to do them. The first thing we did was have ourselves a Hiroshima lunch of Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), massive, so full. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk to the Peace Park and the A-Bomb Dome, so we took off hesitantly looking up at the rain clouds overhead. The Peace Park is a tribute and reminder to the atomic bomb that was dropped there on August 6th, 1945. The bomb exploded about 600 metres above what is now a huge park and museum, dedicated to sending the message to get rid of all nuclear bombs around the world. There is an ever-burning flame that will only go out once all the bombs have been destroyed (this flame will undoubtedly never go out).

Memorial dedicated to the teachers and children

Main arch with the Atomic Bomb Dome in the distance

Childrens memorial

Within the park there is a statue erected in memory of all the children who died from the bomb, a statue in memory of all the mobilised children that were forced to build army barracks etc in the city, a peace clock tower, a statue in memory of all the Chinese and Koreans who were forcibly brought to Japan to help build and supply food, and a peace mound, where all the ashes of unknown victims are buried. All these monuments really leave a feeling hanging in the air around the park. At each monument, there are thousands of origami cranes hanging in really bright colours, this tradition started when a little girl, Sadako.

“Sadako was exposed to the A-bomb when she was 2 years old. Ten years later she entered the Red Cross Hospital with radiation-related leukaemia. Despite the pain from her disease, she faithfully folded paper cranes in hope of a cure. Despite the valiant effort, her brief life ended after an 8 month struggle “

At the far end of the park, there is the A-bomb Dome, which, at the time of the bombing, was the Industrial Promotion Hall. This building is the only remnant from the city that remains. The building is listed as a World Heritage site, and is truly amazing to see. The reason that this building wasn’t completely destroyed is because the bomb detonated almost directly above it. You get a strange feeling standing on a place where a bomb that sized landed, and wiped out basically everything within 2 km.

Oishii!! Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. Had to be tried

The notorious Atomic Bomb Dome

As the rain started to fall we went to the adjacent Peace Museum. This museum has over 19000 pieces all related to the A-bomb. It starts by telling a history of Japan’s military starting from the Edo period (1603-1868). It explains the build up to the war and the eventual dropping of the bomb. The museum displays letters written by Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt explaining the possibility of a bomb of increased power. It also explains why America chose Japan as a target over Germany and other countries (so Russia’s influence would be minimised after the war, not just to end the war).

Included in the museum is information about radiation, h-bombs, damage to the city, the nuclear age, the path to peace (unlikely), and articles of clothing and possessions recovered after the bomb. There are also photos of victims that show the damage caused to their bodies from the bomb.

There were so many school kids in the museum on excursions, and it was quite traumatising for some of them. We saw some young girls bawling their eyes out being comforted by their friends. We had now visited the Okinawan museum and the Hiroshima museum within 2 days of each other, so we were feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.

The nuclear counter

We changed direction and checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quite a small exhibition and the place was completely deserted. There were some interesting pieces there, and included a piece by Andy Warhol.

Gallery window

10 of Andy Warhol's Marilyns

Amazing. Huge oil painting. The reflections are so realistic.

We capped the day off by doing some shopping and had dinner at a local izakaya.

Miyajima & Baseball

We woke early and caught the street car (tram) to Miyajima (in Japanese jima or shima means island). Sophi had been wanting to go here so badly ever since arriving in Japan 9 months ago. Itsukishima Shrine is probably the most famous in Japan, and has an enormous Torii gate seemingly floating in the water during high tide. During low tide you can walk out to the gate and walk through it. We went during high tide; it is much more beautiful then. On the island there are wild deer wandering around everywhere, and there are countless souvenir shops selling delicious foods and oysters (we tried some; the verdict, delicious!).

Yum. Miyajima oysters on hot rocks

The god praised deer

New pet

Famous torii gates floating on the sand

So cool. A temple on the water

We also checked out the Treasure Hall which displays some national treasures, including sculptures, paintings and handicrafts. Again, we did some more souvenir shopping, and made it onto the 1.30 ferry back to mainland.

Serenity

A traditional Japanese wedding, lucky us!

Wedding preparations

Sake storage. Love it, right in the temple

These little guys were everywhere!

The 'photo spot'

Gaijin loving school girls!

Now that's a rice spoon!

Cam had been told about a place to visit by a student of his, so we decided to make the 1 hour journey to Iwakuni to see the city. By chance, Iwakuni happens to be only about 20 minutes from Miyajima, so made our trip a lot faster. Iwakuni is a beautiful old city in the mountains, and it has a bridge leading to a really traditional Japanese town with a castle way up in the mountains.

Iwakuni bridge: said to be built with no nails or bolts

I think they lied, I see bolts!

Surrounding gardens at the base of the mountain

Some type of blossom... still hope yet!

Is this to entice or scare? Mickey's looking very unhealthy

More blossoms

The albino snake: worshiped like a god

The weather had been kind to us, and we had wanted to go to a baseball game for a while now, so
we went to the stadium to watch the Hiroshima Carps smash the Tokyo Swallows. We bought the best tickets in the stadium, but when we got in we realised that it was really the boring section. We downgraded our tickets and sat in the rowdy area with all the die-hard fans. Before the game started the players launched some autographed balls into the crowd and Cam jumped on a fumbled ball and claimed it to the disappointment of the guy in front of us. The Japanese fans have specific songs that they sing for each player depending on what situation the game is in. We couldn’t figure out how they know what to sing when. We met some cool Japanese people and drank with them during the game, but, being a week night they all went straight home after the game and we were left to find a drinking hole on our own. We asked a few people where the best places to drink were, but we got sent on a wild goose chase and ended up in the business area. We wondered home, drunk enough anyway, and called it a night.

Go carpy's!

Love it! Always fully dressed in the gear

7th inning: releasing of the balloons!!

Waiting....

Our new baseball friends. No idea what the sign says

Well on the way of drunken frivolity

Farewell

We had planned to have another serving of okonomiyaki before we left Hiroshima, and then go to Kirishiki on the way to Okayama. There were a ton of okonomiyaki restaurants and we managed to choose one that ended up being quite gross. The chef was a lady about 70 years old, with crusty fingernails, and partially blind (3 things you don’t want when you are a chef!). The food was below average and we jumped on the shinkansen bound for Kirishiki. Sophi mis-heard the announcement and we got off at Fukuyama, and the next train wasn’t for another hour, so we gave it a miss and went straight to Okayama.

Yum

Hiroshima street scape. Not much but trams

Still a nice scape considering the recovery from the bombing

The beer machine in our hostel

We checked into the Comfort Hotel, and it so much better to have our own private bathroom! We can say we tried the whole 'backpacking' thing! We were so exhausted from all the sightseeing we had been doing, so we walked around the (tiny) city and had a big feed and a few beers at a local Japanese restaurant.

OKINAWA BABY

2008-04-12T05:01:00.003-07:00

Okinawa!

DAY 1: We packed our bags, and jumped on a plane to Okinawa. Ami had taken a week off work to spend time with us, so she kindly came and picked us up from the airport. We didn’t waste any time, after dropping our stuff off at Ami’s house and met Gitaro…the cute 1 year old massive pit-bull cross bull terrier, we went straight to dinner that Ami had organised for us.

ADORABLE Gitaro! Ami's pup!

We met some of her work friends, and enjoyed a restaurant where it is all you eat and drink a
ll night long. There was a bar there, where you have to make your own drinks and pour your own beer! Unbelievable! We tasted some fresh Okinawan food, and drank some local Awamori (similar to Shochu).

Can't complain about self serve!

Yay! Ami chan!

Okinawans, Poms and Ozzies

The restaurant closed and basically kicked us out, and we bumped into one of Ami’s friends on the street so we decided to go to another bar (surprise surprise!). It was so good to catch up with Ami and find out what she has been up to, even in her totally drunken state. Ami decided to be the in house photographer for the night and took about 150 photos of us sitting at a table drinking and random plants. Also, the feeling of not having to work for a month was a great feeling. It has been quite a while since our last break, and we have been working really hard in Tokyo for the last 6 months or so. This break is well-earned we think!

A very wasted Ami!

DAY 2: The hangover we all incurred the next day was one of the worst in a while, doubled with humidity, and sight-seeing. We visited Shuri-jo (castle); it was built when Okinawa traded heavily with China, and so the design has a lot of Chinese influence. There is an enormous Una (forecourt) where they used to hold important ceremonies. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the island, just checking out all the different areas of Okinawa. Ami showed us all the US army bases, and told us all about the opposition of all the forces there. There have been a lot of incidences involving US marines, including rapes, stabbings, etc. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the occupation here.

Shiuri Castle

Nice outfit

Massive. Where's Cam?

Funny Cam

Recently, a curfew has been put in place and all US military personnel must be back on the bases by 10pm due to an alleged rape on a 14 year old girl. This is having an affect on local businesses that rely on foreign money to survive, so there are heaps of businesses with the shutters permanently closed.

On a happier note Okinawa is a developed island of 1.3 million people occupying all the area. So a combined island feel with military presence makes Okinawa a lazy place for a holiday. But most of all… Ami chan makes it even better!!

A random drunk passed out standing against the rail

During our travels we picked up a traditional Okinawan drink made from the local Shikuwasha fruit.

We finished off the day with an easy dinner at the izakaya next to the big tree one. We munched on a yummy cheap feed and called it an early night due to a heavy hangover and an early morning rise to come.

DAY3 started off with a nice early 7.30am start. We were to head to Aka Island to see adorable Gitaro’s brother. This island sounded very interesting, Ami’s friend that was living there was apparently living on the beach in a shanty type house?!? Sophi was freakin’ out a little! We were to be camping too, with maybe no showers…and who knows what else! So we dressed Gitaro up in his sexy outfit that Dave S sent from Sydney. We set of in a cab to the ferry wharf. When we arrived we found out firstly the ferry wasn’t operating and realised Ami had left the tent at home!

After struggling to find a taxi driver that wasn’t shit scared of Gitaro, Ami decided to go home by herself to get the car. So Cam and I waited with the beloved pup. To our horror Gitaro was trying to sit on the ground outside the entrance and we then realised he needed the toilet!! Cam was trying to drag him somewhere else and whilst doing so Gitaro started to let it all out!!! Boy did he let it out!!

PHOTO

Due to Cams stupid weak stomach, Sophi (of all people) faced the horror and attempted to clean up the mess. Armed with only 2 small plastic bags and newspaper she got from a store from a lady that kept only offering smaller and smaller bags. After several dry wrenches and lots of gagging, a man came from heaven from the hotel next door and started to help Sophi clean.

Ami finally arrived and we dropped Gitaro off and headed to the Eastern island Aka We arrived at a tobacco field and opposite were the entrance to a secluded beach. This was gorgeous even though the day was overcast.

Pasties

Secluded beach entry sign, comforting

Rabbit hole pathway to the beach

Smokers heaven - tabacco field

Beach graffiti. Such a rarity in Japan

We lazed there for few hours then headed to Chatan (the paradise beach and American area) where we stayed for another 5 hours. We were so happy once the day cleared up and it was all blue skies in the island paradise! Lots of beer, swimming and sunbathing later, the sun went down and glowed an amazing red.

Sunset Beach

Bubba and Ami

Sexy boy

Nice beach wear

Statement beach wear. Why is everyone clothed?

Cam harassing schools girls

Japan Sea

Where the name comes from - Sunset Beach

We headed for a cheap dinner and munched on some tacos and burgers. The day had been gorgeous and we were sooooo happy to be out of Tokyo and back in the sun and beach!! However upon our return home our sunburn started to set in!

Beach babies

I'm sorry, are we in Okinawa or America?

Sweet sweet holiday

With the preconceived idea that Japans sun is “weaker” we were some what wrong with bodies pulsating hot heat. Particularly bubba Cam! As to be expected…. But definitely not this red!!! Cams so silly!

Ouch!

We headed home and on the way we met Ami’s boyfriend Mike; an awesome guy who is half American/Okinawan. He lived in a pretty pimp pad for Japanese standards, as he’s in the U.S Air force, therefore being our ticket into Okuma in a couple of days. Okuma at this point was explained to us as an American military base in which we were going to camp on! Little did we know what to expect or what the true Okuma was!!

DAY4 as predicted was crappy weather so we took the morning easy and eventually made it out of the house to head to Kurukuma for lunch. It was a famed place that Ami has taken James, Dave and Kumi to. After driving for 3 hours along the west to south coast, we started to realise that maybe we were lost! After locating where we were on the map we realised we were heading up the east cost! So we had almost done a full circle!

We eventually made it, and the drive was good, it didn’t feel that long and because the weather wasn’t that great we happily saw the countryside. Upon arriving at the restaurant, the view looked amazing as it stretched across the East China Sea. It looked even better on a bright clear day in the brochure! Sadly we couldn’t experience this sunshine today!

The 3 hour drive was well worth the effort. We launched ourselves into some of the most delicious Asian food tasted. We had a massive Indian curry plate, a yummy Thai soup for 3 and a pilaf. The flavours were delicious, the sizes were huge…. Definitely a tasty meal, which filled us for lunch and dinner.

On the way home we decided to stop into a hairdresser and get our hair done. Sophi wanted to get her sexy roots done and Cam was in dire need of a hairy! So we found a salon for Sophi and Cam a barber. Sophi and Ami chan both got extensions, Ami got red and Sophi a pink blonde, with one red streak for Ami!! Sweet Ami treated Sophi to the hairdresser as her birthday present (THANKS SO MUCH AMI CHAN!!!!) When Cam had finished his hair turned out to be similar to that of an army cut! Very funny and cute!

The ‘on the way home’ trip ended up with us at an international bar near by that went by the name of ‘Rehab’. A friend of Ami’s is the owner, so obviously it ended up with lots of drinking!! Hours later lots of beer, cocktails and CC had been drunk. Cam mixed it up a bit by trying out the ‘chili beer’ that was available. When they say chili they mean red hot chili! The beer was bottled with a chili inside it that floated to the top, so every sip taken meant chili lips! Interesting!

Red Hot Chilli Beer

The owner of the bar Paul (a Canadian champ that lived in oz for 4 years) and his wife Tomoko invited us to the opening of another bar of their friends. Paul had been helping construct the interior of the new bar from old driftwood. Paul had set up his own bar himself. It was great to finally be in a normal open bar with huge windows, good interior and a munt out couch! Some gorgeous artworks too. Paul’s theory was great: build a bar that you’d want to go to if you were in another country! The theory works.

We headed to the bar opening and what a great little place!! Everything was made of wood and they had man made tree coming out from behind the bar. There was the top level built of wood also where we sat in our own private area.

The top level

? A random bunny, why not ?
Very Japanese

Lots of white Russians, tequila and everything else was drunk! Was a good night had by all, and we headed home to get ready for the next few days ahead at Okuma!!

DAY 5: Hello Okuma Haven!!

We set off to Okuma! On the way Sophi wanted to make some glassware. Some of her Junior High School students had shown her in class the ones they made in Okinawa. So we dropped by and there is so much glassware in Okinawa! Another tradition, to go with all the foods, like pigs feet, face and ears, seaweed grapes, purple potato, shikuwasha , Awamori, soba, Orion (local Okinawan beer), squid ink and goya

Ami decided to make a vase and Sophi a glass cup. As expected there were limited things that we could do, but they turned out gorgeous and all was happy! When making the glass it gets to 4000 degrees, so some sexy safety wear was needed, although when making it, it still felt like your arm was going to burn off! Thank god for Ami being able to translate all the important processes, otherwise the language barrier would’ve proved very difficult with the glassware staff!

With little knowledge of the full historical background of Okinawa and it’s relations with America, to arrive at the most Northern point of Okinawa mainland and enter the gates of American soil. We then realised the true meaning of Okuma.

Okuma

This was no crazy U.S base where we were expecting soldiers doing push ups and running around chanting their ego songs. This was crystal clear blue water with beaches, families and basically a resort! In essence Okuma is the recreational park only for the U.S military to use with their friends and family. This is America boys and girls, we’re talking American food, dollars and people only!

So luckily for Cam his army haircut fitted right in!! We waited for Mike who came and escorted us to the campsite.

We got introduced to the 3 Air Force boys; Mike, Chris and Fred, and Fred’s girlfriend Megumi (aka Azu), had all began to get the tents sorted out. We were looking forward to the BBQ that was organised. As Australians, we were expecting steaks, sausages, etc, but we discovered that because we were in America, we would be having USA burgers. So we scoffed down a few and started to get into the beers.

As the boys played a bit of gridiron, the girls got bored so started having shots of tequila (none of Sophi’s influence of course). After several attempts and a lot of gasoline, we finally got the fire going as the afternoon started turning into quite a chilly night. We felt quite spoilt actually, as everything was provided for us; food, alcohol, snacks, tents, campsite. As the night went on, some more of Ami’s friends came and also Mike’s sister and her boyfriend, who are both also in the Air Force. We were enjoying a good old chat around the campfire, when the drinking games started. A very simple game, you take it in turns to guess a number, and everyone either sticks a thumb up or doesn’t. If you guess the right number, you’re out. Winner has to drink. Easy.

This game wasn’t making enough inroads for Sophi’s liking so she decided to just start sculling tequila/Bacardi/absinth/aomori and challenging Chris to a drinking contest (Chris is about 2.5 times the size of Soph and also wasn’t drunk). This ended very quickly and the next thing Sophi remembers is waking up in the car in the morning.

DAY 6:

After waking up in the car we were treated to an American style buffet breakfast, the perfect cure to our enormous hangovers, and fuel needed for the trek to Hiji Falls. Hiji Falls is a 20ft waterfall. We had been told that the trek was pretty intense and difficult, but we discovered that it was nothing really, even in the state we were in. It took us about 45 minutes to walk the recommended 25 minute path. It was such a nice feeling to be out in nature breathing fresh air and being out of Tokyo and the constant busyness we encounter every day. We reached the falls but unfortunately the water was absolutely freezing. The waterfall itself and the surrounding bush were extremely beautiful, but it was a little disappointing that the water was so cold.

We went back to camp and went for lunch at the restaurant. We were lucky to be treated to the traditional Okinawan dance: Eisa. We had USA burgers (again), which really hit the spot, and we made way for the beach. Chris had organised a jet ski for us, and this being the first time for both of us, we were both a little nervous. Cam jumped on first with Chris and showed immediate skill, flying off the back when Chris made the first turn. But when Cam jumped behind the wheel, he gave Chris the exact same treatment. Sophi went next, and showed some real spirit, but called it quits after about 5 mins. After a swim and a well needed rest on the beach, we left Ami behind to sleep and Mike and us went for a wander. We tried to hire some bikes, but we had to be wearing closed shoes. We found the putt putt course, but then realise that the clubs needed to be hired from the same place as the bikes, which was too far to walk back to. So, we thought, what better way to end the afternoon, than with a few White Russians and a game of checkers, while watching the sunset over the horizon.

From here, there was no turning back. Being Saturday night, there was a DJ organised for the night club (just a bar really), so after a few too many and way too much food, we headed inside for the party.

The usual drunkenness started including shots of Southern Comfort and lime (???? Obviously an American thing!). Lots of U.S marines and air force men filled the bar and the dance floor started jumping. Everyone was up there at one point or another. The girls were loving all the spunky boys who continually mixed up the difference between army and marines. Cam had been stuck with a drunken marine guy who kept buying Cam drinks and wouldn’t leave him alone! The marine was so drunk he kept buying a round of drinks and then would leave them at the bar! Funnily enough they had met in the toilet earlier.

Due to the fact we were in America we got to have the test tube shots which a marine had bought for us. He had previously tried to pick up Sophi but realised Cam was her boyfriend. Cam said it was fine he could dance with Sophi but he felt so bad he bought a round of shots. Funny enough though the size difference between the two!

Some arm wrestles later the place closed and we eventually got kicked out. We headed back to camp escorted by some military police guy and continued to drink. More arm wrestle challenges later ended up with push up challenges. The rest of th e night is a bit of a blur, but all had a good time!

DAY 7 Sunday. The fact that camping generally sucks, at Okuma it was good as you had all the facilities handy. The one thing you can’t escape is the heat in the early morning. So Cam and Sophi scrambled out of the tent early and copped-a-squat under some shade. The 3^rd day running hangover proved to be at its worst and we headed for the buffet breaky again. This time even less was eaten and we packed up our stuff ready to hit the road. Sophi particularly felt shit and the road trip to the Churaumi Aquarium was painful!

As always though when up and running the hangover eases and all is good. The aquarium proved to be this cure and the wonders of the aquarium were documented in over 200 photos!! Obviously most were culled!

WTF??!!?

The main tank, which uses 60cm thick glass (the thickest in the world) is massive, and holds 3 whale sharks, countless sting rays and manta rays, and a whole bunch of sharks and fish. The rest of the aquarium displays underwater creatures from the surface of the ocean down to the deep dark ocean. There is also an outdoor area, with a turtle pool, dolphin pool, and a manatee pool. We were too tired and too hungry to check these out though so we just had some lunch and started back to Ami’s place to get as much sleep as possible.

Best attraction: tiny eels grounded in the sand - just bop up and down their whole lives

So cute, Cam got one of his own

It had been a long few days, but it had been a really fun few days too. We would like to give a huge thanks to Mike for organising the trip, and also to Mike, Chris, and Fred for their hospitality and generosity in showing us a great time while on Okuma, and if you guys are reading this, keep in touch and maybe we will see you again later in the year or in Australia.

When we arrived home, we discovered that Gitaro didn't approve of being left at home, even though Ami's uncle was there looking after him. He must have gotten hungry and chewed up our speakers, Cam's iPod headphone, and Sophi's little soft toy.

The evidence of a naughty puppy!!

Teeth mark holes = evidence

Sophi's shisa has been 'Gitaro-ed'

On the adorable note of Gitaro, lets take a moment to see just how cute he is!

The Protector: Always by Ami's side

The Cute as a Button Look

So much of the fuzzball!

DAY 7:

One week had passed already in Okinawa, the time flew by so quickly. Ami had to go back to work, so she kindly lent us her car so we could tick some more things off the list. We planned to go to the Memorial Peace Park, and then go and visit the American area of town to find some bargains. First, we drove up to the main road, Kokusai St. and had a traditional Oinawan lunch of pigs trotter (ordered accidentally) and soba noodles. We browsed the shops and bought some souvenirs. When we got back to the car, we found we had a parking ticket; we didn’t realise that you can’t park anywhere on the streets in Okinawa. This made things a bit complicated, after checking the internet to see whether we were supposed to be driving or not, the site said, that we needed an international license. This was worsened by the fact that Ami had lost (mis-placed) her license about a year ago, so she wasn’t even supposed to be driving her car. Once again, sorry for the fuck-up!

So, we managed to get ourselves completely lost, and drove around in circles trying to find our way to the Memorial Peace Park. Some of the roads in Okinawa have signs, but on the map they don’t. We drove for so long, that Sophi ended up falling asleep while Cam finally managed to get there.

The Memorial Peace Park in Okinawa is an incredible experience. It tells the story of the Battle of Okinawa, during the Pacific war. The Cornerstone of Peace displays the names of all those who dies in the battle, including Okinawan civilians, American and English soldiers. The Memorial peace Park Museum shows in great detail the amount that the Okinawan people suffered during the 3 month bombardment by the Americans, and also how they suffered at the hands of the Japanese army too. Some Okinawans were forced to kill themselves and members of their own families. There are testimonies written by survivors from the battle and they are difficult to read, as they show, first hand the trauma endured by some of the people there. We spent a couple of hours in the museum, by the time we walked outside it was almost 5pm.

We were supposed to meet Ami at 6.15 at Koksusai St for dinner, but we got caught in a bit of traffic so we were about half an hour late. The traffic in Okinawa is unbelievable, such a small island, an about 1.3 million people, not much public transport system, this all leads to some insane traffic congestion. We heard from Ami, that sometimes it can take 3 or 4 hours to make a 30 minute drive along main road 58.

We stuffed ourselves stupid on Chinese food. A 3 hour all-you-can-eat and drink bonanza for $25. This Chinese was heaps better than any we have tasted in Tokyo by a long way. Being our last night in Okinawa, we wanted to stay out for a while, but the exhaustion of the last week was too much. We stopped at a Habu-chu (Awamori with a snake in it) shop and tasted a couple. It tastes a lot different to standard Awamori, with a slight cinnamon flavour to it. Not very pleasant though, and when we got home Sophi threw up. We had one day left so we all went straight to bed to get some sleep.

DAY 8:

Mike had organised a lunch for us on one of the US camps on the island, Camp Foster. We were looking forward to another US sized meal and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. We went to The Macaroni Grill, where we ate fresh Italian bread, crab stuffed mushrooms, and huge servings of pasta, cannelloni, etc. We all ate so much, it was hard to move afterwards.

We had enough time left for one more activity, so we drove down south to the limestone caves (gama in Okinawan). These caves are the biggest in Japan, and seemed huge. Part of the same park, there is a re-created traditional Okinawan village where you can buy old style art and craft and watch people making them in the traditional fashion. This was really interesting, especially for Ami, as she had never been there before. We bought some more souvenirs, and had a photo taken with a huge yellow python, tasted some more Habu-chu.

A Habu-shu distillary with a tank full of habu. Yum

The coconut shaped like a bum was decorated in a big display

Sadly, our time in Okinawa had come to an end. Ami had been such a fantastic host to us, and we are so happy she was able to take some time off work to spend time with us. We all really got to know each other a lot better in the week we were there. We want to say a big THANKYOU to Ami, and we can’t wait till August to climb Mount Fuji with you on the mainland!

We said our sad goodbye’s and jumped on the plane for Hiroshima. Sayonara Ami chan and Okiniawa.... ja ne!

Sophi's Birthday Madness

2008-03-21T01:26:00.001-07:00

Sophi’s first Japanese Birthday!!

Happy happy 25^th b’day bash!! This had proved to be difficult to organise a place at first. Mainly due to the fact of finding a place that is big enough for 20-30 people. As we already know Japan sadly lacks the open space bars that we realise we take so for granted!!

After long searches, the final decision was made to go to 3 consecutive nomihodais in Shibuya. This meant that we had to move 3 times with was a pain in the ass…. However, each place was cheaper than the previous one and the last one was only 1500yen ($15) from 12-5am!!

So with the restaurants set the party started! We started off at a completely hidden away restaurant on the 7^th floor of a no distinct building. As you walk in the narrow strip has one entire wall of tables, these tables are behind an all light curtain – looks awesome against the place interior

PHOTO

There were 20 people at the first dinner which was 4500yen for nomihodai and a course meal. The food itself was standard, but the restaurant had such a cool interior! The cake was brought out with everyone singing happy birthday, plus 2 other tables there were celebrating their birthdays too!!

Sophi was sooo spoilt, everyone who came gave her a present (minus the 5 or so gaijin). God bless the traditions of Japan! Sophi was spoilt with Dior lip glosses, lots of toiletries, alcohol, flowers, accessories, food and a big toy Tottoro!! Ironically most of the toiletries were from Lush and Body Shop – both which can obviously be bought in Oz! So with 2 big bags full of presents and 2 smaller bags FULLL of Lush soaps! We set off to the next destination!

SOOOOOOO…… sadly at this point we will let you know in advance what happened to alllllll our precious 200 photos!!!!!

So skipping briefly to the end of the night the following morning, back at Fukazawa house (our house) we were partying on and Shinji, our Japanese flatmate, was trying to load the photos onto his computer…… and all of a sudden they disappeared!!!!!! What the f**k!!!! Weird – it said it was on the computer but in a different format.

Being in the early morning state that we were in this really wasn’t the time to try and resolve the issue. So days later and after much frustration we realised the card reader was f**ked and wasn’t uploading the photos properly. This was realised with another set of photos, which luckily got recovered. Horrifically though the birthday photos were lost forever L

Luckily for Sophi she had looked through before it all happened and has the images in her head still. To add to the dramas, Kumi had also accidentally deleted her photos too!!! What’s wrong with everyone!!???

So only a few photos were managed to be able to get scrambled together form various people….sadly they don’t show do the night justice, but the memories are their for those who partied!!

The next venue to hit was Amataroo in the Sega building. This proved to be better atmospherically as we had our own room of 2 long floor table which catered for the 30 people that attended there. An interesting mix of people from co-workers, flatmates, students to randoms we met in clubs.

Cam surprised Sophi with 3 big profiterole pyramids as another birthday cake!! (Sadly no photos) YUM!! So once again Happy Birthday was sung again and everyone got into the nomihodai! By this stage everyone was getting well wasted, particularly Cam who when we left to the final destination was so drunk couldn’t remember where we were meant to be going… luckily the birthday girl knew!

So the final destination it was and there were 14 people still standing till the end. This next izakaya we had our own room again and this time was a bit cosier. The drinking and opening of presents carried on until 5.30. Shinji and Sumo were having Sumo matches and everyone else was entertained by wasted rambling! A new comer to the scene was Stefan. This was the first night we met him as he came with one of Sophi’s co-workers, he stayed till the end and proved to be a hilarious companion who we will spend more hysterical moments with in future! Proved to be true entertainment saying random things to randoms such as “Do you want Sakana chin chin”.

So the night continued at home with Sophi, Cam, Andrew and Shinji. This was followed with lots more drinking and the photo episode. Sophi passed out and Cam passed out on the roof! Trooper Andrew headed to work and Shinji sunbaked for the rest of the day!

An awesome Tokyo birthday! Thanks to everyone for coming and the pressies, you’re all so generous!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHI!!! (Disney Round 2)

2008-03-10T08:05:00.001-07:00

The first week of March, we were busy planning what to do for Sophi's birthday. We wanted to have everyone we knew there, but we also wanted to do something a little different than just go for dinner and drink all night. But, more on this later.

When the Midlams left Tokyo they gave us their JR train passes that they hadn't used fully, so we decided to take a day trip up northish to Nikko. We didn't make it there till about 3pm due to oversleeping. It was so nice to get out of Tokyo, and get some fresh air. We wondered around some temples and were quite amazed by some of the trees they have there, they are enormous.

Nikko is a tiny city about 2 hours away from Tokyo and there was still quite a bit of snow around, so there were hardly any tourists around (and we were there quite late too!).

As the weather was still a bit chilly, we caught the bus around, and went and had lunch at a local restaurant (we ordered the Nikko Ramen which was the same as any Ramen in Tokyo!).

We didn't spend a lot of time in Nikko, but it definitely has a lot to offer in beauty and wabi-sabi. I think we will make the trip there again for sure.

We spent the next week trying to finalise numbers for Sophi's birthday party, but unfortunately a lot of people were already busy on that weekend, and Kumiko's grandfather had suddenly passed away. So the party was postponed for two weeks. So far there was about 20-30 people for the party confirmed

On the weekend of Sophi's birthday we did the one thing that Sophi had been dying to do since we last did it; we went to Disneyland.

The weather forecast was for rain on Monday so we changed our plans and went to DisneySea on the Sunday instead. We made the right decision, although, being the first nice day for a long time due to a long Winter, it was extremely busy.

This being the second visit to DisneySea this trip we took a more relaxed approach and just wondered around and took in all the magic without waiting in any long queues for rides. We managed to go on all the rides by the end of the day, but most of the kids had gone home so we didn't really have to wait for anything. The longest waiting time we saw was 210minutes for the most popular ride (which is actually pretty crap) anyway so we didn't bother with it.

We did a little bit of souvenir shopping to end out the day, and sleep very very well that night.

The next day we had planned to use the train passes to go to Sendai for the day. It is about 3 hours North of Tokyo. When we woke up it was pouring with rain so we decided to give it a miss and just go to Chinatown again for Yum-cha in Yokohama. We ate another huge lunch and then made our way into the centre of Yokohama to check it out.

The Yokohama city skyline is amazing at night, especially with the bay surrounding it.

Of course, a big city in Japan wouldn't be complete without a ferris wheel. The ferris wheel in Yokohama is the biggest in the world. Being on the ferris wheel was no problem for Sophi, but it was making Cam's stomach turn being above the roof of the buildings looking down from a small capsule.

The ferris wheel is actually in an amusement park called Cosmoworld, so all around you there are roller coasters and rides moving around. It is quite a nice setting to watch the city from.

We finished the night off with a few drinks at a local bar, and made the trip back to Tokyo, exhausted.