Went to Liverpool with Andy C and Sam yesterday. Nice city from what we saw and has obviously had a lot of money lavished on it. The World Museum near Lime Street train station is a must-see for visitors and is entirely free, though we did make a donation because we enjoyed it so much.
Photos of the day can be found here.
Thank you to everyone that passed on a birthday message, they all brought a smile to my face and was incredibly impressed at the people who fired them off at midnight on the dot!
So, I’m another year older but am I now wiser? The last twelve months have to be the most complicated of my life so far, with no particularly clear direction for many things.
Many of my relationships with people seemingly broke down this year. I’ve let a lot of people down and there’s little I can do to correct the situation. Some gave up on me and I’m guilty of giving up on others myself. Flipping relationships on their head, I’ve also met a large number of people and my head’s still spinning from the encounters.
Losing a much loved job was a significant low-point during the year. Being made redundant so early on into a flourishing career is something I would never wish upon others. It’s soul destroying and leaves you in a state of denial and panic, only to be followed by acceptance. However, being the optimistic and glass is half-full kind of guy I am, there’s a positive side to everything. There’s more to life than just being a suit, and many of the new faces and people I have gotten to know better would not have happened had I have not been laid-off.
I apologise if this entry does not make much sense at all, but it’s merely me verbalising what’s been going through my mind for the last few days. Tis also what happens when you’ve been drinking every day for ten days straight!…
After a hard day’s running for Elsa, and a hard day’s photography/providing moral support from Iain and I, we indulged in our favourite past-time of visiting the cinema. We were all keen to check out District 9, me especially because I thought it was an Independence Day clone based on the movie poster, only to be corrected and told what it was actually about.
I loved the story, finding it very refreshing. I also loved how it was set in South Africa as opposed to somewhere in the US, giving it an instant arthouse feel. I can’t really say anymore without spoiling things, so will only share that you should check it out if you have a spare evening and fancy catching a flick at the cinema.
After five whole weeks in Aber, I’ve finally earned my Cert TESOL teaching qualification and am now free to go out into the big, wide world to unleash my wacky lessons upon the English learning public.
Friday night was expected, but upsetting for a few as one by one, our numbers dwindled. Saturday morning was even worse, with everybody running around like headless chickens packing away our stuff, we all had to say our farewells one at a time.
I have had an amazing Summer where I’ve not only found out a lot about others, but also about myself. I found out Sam, despite her strong exterior, is really a sensitive soul on the inside. Jane is the coolest mum I have ever met and you really wouldn’t know that without speaking to her at length. Heather has such a strong sense of justice and stands her ground if it’s challenged. And Lis, despite being the youngest in House 171 is quite possibly the most mature, keeping everybody on the straight and narrow if we ever faltered.
I’m now on a mission to start teaching ASAP. Japan is the destination and I’ll be concentrating all my efforts into getting myself out there. A big thank you to everybody that helped me on this journey, it has gone down in history for me.
Christ! Has it really been several months since my last proper blog entry?! I have a lengthy one for all of you to read to make up for my neglect.
Well, three weeks in and I’m still alive and not phased at all about becoming an English teacher. It’s been absolutely manic, with 4 hours of sleep each night, lesson planning, teaching, assignments, marking, and personal tuition. Oh, and our weekly night out getting absolutely wankered with my fellow trainee teachers and students on Corona and Jagerbombs!
I have the priviledge of living with 4 girls and as the man of the house, it’s up to me to take care of such duties as making fire and hunting. Actually, scratch the last two and replace them with making the internets work and killing spiders and other creepy-crawlies and you get the idea. We all get along famously and after only a week, we all felt like we’d known each other for years with our own in-jokes and codes for speaking.
Let’s start with the lineup:
The first housemate I met was Sam, when I scared the shit out of her on night one. She’d moved in quietly whilst I was out having dinner with Alan and Lisa and upon my return, I hollered “Helloooo?” only to receive nothing in return. Several minutes later, I saw a figure come out of the darkness downstairs and proceeded to say “hi” only for Sam to jump out of her skin. Sam is like the older, wiser sister for me. We’re both smokers so we keep each other company outside the house when we’re furiously planning lessons in the middle of the night. She’s an Aber graduate like too so we show the others the sights and sounds of our favourite sleepy sea-side town. She’s also a fellow victim of redundancy and took the same decision as I to explore the world a bit whilst the economy is on its knees.
On the following day, Lis was the second housemate to arrive. Having only recently returned from a teaching assistant job in Spain on her year abroad, she wanted to complete the course before she graduated next year so she could get a job lined up. Lis is like the little sister I never had, a role she has perfected with her own older brothers over the course of twenty-one years. We play practical jokes on other housemates: we managed to trick two of them into believing that one of our housemates had moved out due to a guy on our course giving her unwanted attention when really, all she had done was move into a spare room upstairs. She’s also my fellow piss-head, staying out with me until 3am on our nights out and was my partner in crime when we infiltrated the Jewish stronghold that had been setup in PJM.
The next housemate was Heather, everybody’s favourite Canadian. Having returned temporarily from an aupair job in Italy to complete the course, she has aspirations of teaching English to children. Studious and elegant, she has an air of nobility about her but beneath this veneer is a warm-hearted girl who’s just dying to have fun (we sang Weird Al’s eBay song whilst drunk, walking back home). Ever helpful and good natured, she’s perfect to teach younger learners. She was also core to our practical joke, walking into the kitchen after we’d told the house that she’d dropped out of the course, causing everybody to do a double-take after five seconds of standing there.
The final housemate to arrive was Jane. Deciding that she wanted to work whilst she traveled, she shares many of our reasons for ponying up the best part of £1600 to be able to work one’s arse off. Whilst a lot older than us all, she still knows how to have a laugh and is world-wise; she’s the crazy aunt that would introduce you to your first joint or buy you a stripper for your birthday! She’s usually always out with us and has a wicked sense of humour that always cracks the entire house up.
We’re only a small part of a much larger lineup of trainee teachers, who are all fantastic to work with. All our tutors have told us all that we’re the most close-knit group they’ve had in a very long time. The students themselves can see how united we all are and it shows in our lessons, with one flowing seamlessly into another.
In my teaching group, there’s Enzo, Kay and Hannah. Enzo just recently returned from teaching in Japan for two years and would like qualifications to go further in the field. Kay is a local from Aber and has been like a mother to all of us on the course, inspiring us all to be creative and consoling us when things haven’t gone right. Hannah is one half of a couple on our course and has the most eclectic fashion sense I’ve seen for a long time (think Madonna during the 80s).
The next teaching group consists of Heather and Lis who I’ve already mentioned, and are complimented by Richard and Edward. Richard is possibly one of the most laid back people I have ever met. He rarely lets his emotions get the better of him and along with myself, we’ve been teaching our students colloquial English (“quid”, “minger”, “fittie”, and “battyman” to name but a few) which they’ve all appreciated. He also shares a liking for Borat with me which seems to have permeated the entire student body of the language school… He’s my comrade in wearing suits to teach and damn, do we look sharp together. And then there’s Edward from Romania. We’re not sure why he’s on the course because he’s expressed that he doesn’t want to become an English teacher and has “higher aspirations” in mind. He also pervs at Lis and Heather which gets me lairy most of the time.
The last teaching group consists of Sam and Jane from my house, and are bolstered by Trystan and Pat. Trystan is the other half of our couple in the group and was born to be a teacher; he even has a fascination for tweed and extremely loud ties which sits him firmly in teacherdom. He taught English for a year in favellas in Brazil and is a keen Spanish learner and has the best Welsh accent ever. Pat is an older lady from Aber that wants to teach in Spain when she and her husband retire. A very gentle lady, like Heather she would be perfect to teach younger learners.
My group and I were dropped in at the deep end with the advanced group of students who are a formidable unit. Their English is only a few notches beneath that of a native speaker so it’s much harder to plan a lesson based around refinement as opposed to learning something entirely new. They warmed to me early on since I’d gone out drinking with a lot of them, and my lessons are focussed more on discussions as opposed to trying to forcefeed them with what they may not actually want or need. I’ve just recently finished teaching my advanced group and will be moving on to an intermediate level consisting mostly of Spanish girls; they’re a feisty bunch from what I’ve seen of them so far in my lesson observations. Unlike the advanced group though, their level of English is considerably lower and so they’re more like empty sponges, waiting to soak up any and every bit of English that you throw at them. They’re incredibly competive as a group, and respond very well to games, which I’ve been dying to utilise in my lessons for weeks.
My time in Aber has flown by in the blink of an eye with only two weeks left. I have met people from all walks of life and am proud to call them all friends. Feeling like I was missing something inside, I seem to have found what I was looking for. The world is certainly getting smaller, but for me, there is still so much more world to see.
Went to Leeds on Saturday for the day to visit Sammy-boy and I’d happened to catch a cold just a few days before. The same thing happened last year when I visited Leeds with Jim-bob and company.
I arrived roughly an hour behind schedule due to setting off late from Birmingham, and coupled with severe roadworks on the M1 limiting traffic to 50mph, I hit Leeds at around 12:30pm. I had a look around Sam’s new pad and boy is it gorgeous. He’s living in an awesome studio apartment literally 2 minutes away from the Leeds Hilton, affording fantastic views of the surrounding area. Rent is a bit steep he tells me but he’s got so much more free time now since he’s not having to do his previously ridiculous commute. He does however have a ridiculous cupboard in his kitchen as you can see from the photo above.
We didn’t really have anything to do, though I did need to visit Maplins to pick up a few bits and pieces for my pending MacBook Pro upgrade. Using Google maps on the iPhone, we got there swiftly and had a look around. Sam had no idea a place like Maplins existed and was rather impressed by all the components available. I picked up a precision screwdriver set, which happened to be on buy-one-get-one-free so I gave one set to Sam. I also bought an external 2.5″ SATA hard drive caddy to recycle the hard drive I’m taking out of the Mac.
We had a wander around Leeds city centre, which I do prefer to Birmingham. The sun was shining and the place seemed to have character, unlike Birmingham’s mish-mash of 70s and modern architecture. We had lunch at Wagamama since Sam loves the place and none of his friends do, so I couldn’t deprive him of a visit. We’d noticed that Zavvi seem to have been bought out by a company called Head. They had 25% off everything, meaning you could pick up a mainstream Blu-ray for just under £10! This co-incides with the Zavvi on Oxford Street in London apparently reopening as a Virgin Megastore.
Due to the cold I had, I was drinking an inordinate amount of water so was pissing like a racehorse. The huge Starbucks coffee I had below Sam’s apartment complex didn’t help either, though it had to be the quietest and plushest Starbucks I’ve ever seen.
We had a quick blast through a few chapters on Resi 5, and it’s clear that the game benefits from two co-op players. Incidentally, I cleared the game again on veteran difficulty and unlocked the infinite ammo gatling gun. Mowing down enemies in a hail of bullets has never been so fun.
It was now time to head back home since Sam had friends to meet up with and it would take over 2 hours to drive home. I might get the train the next time I visit him again seeing as he lives virtually next to the train station.
I started one of these a few years ago on New Year’s Eve when I was a boring sod and didn’t have anything planned that night. I gave up since I didn’t really have anything to talk about (must have been a slow year).
2008 has been a crazy year for me with a few ups and downs (in no particular order):
Ups
Downs
I don’t know what 2009 has instore for me, but we’ll have to wait and see!
Well, the end of my whirlwind trip had arrived. My bags were packed and the check out was almost immediate. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with the Tokyo Green Ochanomizu Hotel; the service was efficient, friendly, very reasonably priced, and based in a great location. Consider this place if you’re travelling to Tokyo.
Since I had a suitcase to lug to Shinjuku station, I decided to use Akihabara station since it’s a complete flat walk as opposed to the uphill climb to Ochanomizu station. Akihabara’s streets were more or less dead as expected for 7:30 in the morning, a stark contrast to how it normally is. The station was fairly busy though, with all sorts of people using the line; there doesn’t seem to be a day where Tokyo switches off and as such, it’s always full of life. There weren’t many seats on the express train so I decided to stand since it was only a short hop away. Getting to Shinjuku, I had to work out where the Narita Limousine Bus station was and took a chance on it being next to the other bus stops and thankfully it was. After lugging the suitcase up a flight of stairs, I realised there was an elevator to my left…
A coach had just pulled up and had a lengthy queue of people waiting for the service. I quickly made my way to the counter to buy a ticket, but the guy said that the next two coaches were already fully booked and I’d have to wait until 8:45am for the next available service. My flight was due to leave at 11am so I considered my options of either waiting or catching a train. I could always go and have some breakfast and come back since I’d have a space reserved, or risk the trains with a large heavy suitcase. I decided to go with the coach and bought a ticket. Somebody up above liked me because there were a few no-shows and they were able to squeeze me on board, so away we went to Narita airport.
It was absolute mayhem trying to leave Tokyo and with it being the weekend, I assume everybody else had the same idea on their minds. We passed by Roppongi but I didn’t recognise any other locations. There was a really adorable Indian little girl sat in the seat in front of me, who I was making faces with back and forth for most of the journey. Sat next to me was a white guy, not really sure of his nationality but he was from somewhere in Europe after I had a brief chat with him regarding Narita security. We’d just arrived and security personnel boarded the coach, asking to look at everybody’s passports – all very strict. There are only two terminals at Narita though they’re quite a distance from each other so make sure you’re at the right one and thankfully, I was! I decided to have a quick smoke before entering since I wasn’t sure whether I’d have another chance until arriving at London Heathrow in Blighty. Jimbo reassured me that there would be a smoking room of some sort inside the airport, since “it’s Japan, and people would be killing each other if there wasn’t”. Check-in was largely empty, with two white guys rearranging and dumping luggage to try and get it within the weight limits. I passed them by and checked myself in (in English) and then came something which threw me completely off. The lady asked me if I had any lighters packed in my suitcase, and obviously I did, not wanting a repeat of my trip to Vegas with yet another limited edition Zippo. The lady asked me to remove them and carry them on my person or in my hand luggage instead! Not wanting to be refused on the flight, I obliged and did as she requested. I was told I would have a window seat towards the rear of the plane which was nice since I like being able to see the outside world.
Moving on to security, it was very strict with me having to remove my laptop from the bag before x-ray, something I’ve never had to do before. I always cringe when I have to go through airport security, though I had nothing iffy on me this time so nothing to fear!
On the other side, there was very little in the way of duty free or even places to eat or relax, compared to Britain’s larger airports. I’ve found this to be a similar situation at most large airports around the world, with Hong Kong’s new one being an exception. I still had about 30 minutes before the boarding gate opened so I took the opportunity to stock up on some cigarettes for myself and some sake for some people back at home. It was only 2000 Yen (£10 or so) for 200 Mild Seven 6s, so I now had 600 coming back to the UK with me. I bought some duty free special sake for 2000 Yen a bottle as well, which sorted me out souvenirs wise for friends and family. Getting rather peckish, there was a McDonalds in the terminal serving breakfast so I bought myself a bacon & egg McMuffin and do you know what, it’s the best McMuffin I’ve had in years! The bacon is the old, gammon style that we used to have in Blighty which I find much nicer than the gristley real style bacon they serve now. Wolfing it down, I quickly made my way to the boarding gate which happened to be one of the last in the terminal. Boarding had already begun but there was a conveniently located smoking room to the left so I took the chance to have a quick one. Smoking rooms in Japan are horrible places, with little to no ventilation and it really is like the smoking facilities you see in movies from the 70s. All stocked up on nicotine, I joined the queue to board where a security guy asked me how long I’d spent in Japan. It was an odd question to be asked by security I thought and I wasn’t sure if he was making conversation or asking me a deadly serious question. I told him I’d been in the country for 8 days on holiday and then he ushered me on my way.
Boarding, I found I was located near the rear of the plane and there was somebody sat in my seat! The Japanese girl spoke American English and apologised, moving to her actual seat in front of me. In hindsight, I regret making her move because the flight departed with quite a few empty seats, with one right next to her (one guy had an entire row of 4 to himself, allowing him to lie down to sleep). I was sat next to an older lady, who kept herself to herself. I was thankful for this because as much as I enjoyed Ged’s company on the flight into Japan, it left me absolutely fucked because I couldn’t sleep or get any rest. The flight left a little late and the quoted time in the air was close to the 12 hours, with an arrival time of 3pm at Heathrow. The stewardesses on the flight were much prettier compared to the one going into Japan, with one in particular standing out amongst the rest (I think her name was Naoko or something similar). I didn’t do much on the flight apart from sleep and pen a few blog entries, which actually helped the time pass by very quickly. The food was decent, but I can only remember the one meal I had which was a meatball pasta. They had the bento again but I thought I’d mix it up a little. There was a baby on the flight who was seriously testing out her lungs and did not let up for most of the journey; I can’t really complain because I was apparently a bad traveller as a baby too. Flying into London afforded some fantastic views of the city, with the landmarks being clearly visible.
We pretty much landed at Heathrow on time but it was absolute chaos getting through passport control and that was with a British one! Once through, I was officially back and simply had to wait for my luggage and Kiyomi.
Tadaimasu – I am home now.
Closing thoughts
Damn, I miss Tokyo. I seriously miss Tokyo.
As one of the world’s supercities, it gets so many things right and so few things wrong. It truly has a romanticised feel to it (for me at least) and feels like a living, breathing city. Each area has its own flavour and feel and is something that I feel a lot of cities are slowly losing about them; London for example just feels the same everywhere bar a few unique parts like Camden, or Canary Wharf. It’s very much a place designed for people and doesn’t feel like a rat race where ever you go, with an efficient rail infrastructure connecting it all. Trains are reliable, clean, and relatively comfortable given the time of day you travel.
The people have to be the stars of the show for me. Everybody was so accommodating in all aspects, and it was a pleasure to interact with such a gentle society. Kiyomi and her friend Natsumi both asked me how Tokyo-ites treated me whilst I was out there and I had nothing but praise for them. They were both quite surprised by this because people of Tokyo are known to be cold and ruthless, much like their counterparts in London or New York. I never saw any sign of this and people had as much respect for each other as they did for me. Regarding the English language thing, learn some phrases and words before you go and they will serve you well. Few people speak decent English and the further you get from tourist areas, the worse it gets but even with that, they were all more than helpful with trying to get me to where I needed to go. Those that did speak decent English really enjoyed the opportunity and if you want to really make their day, compliment them. Japan is steeped with tradition and there are loads of societal taboos which you should be concious of. If you’re ever unsure of what to do in a particular situation, do what others around you do because observation really is key. Culture shock does exist and I saw so many Western tourists who just couldn’t get their heads around certain customs. It’s not for everybody and having seen it first hand, it is easier to empathise with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.
The food in Tokyo was fantastic and quite rightly so for a city which now boasts more Michelin stars than Paris. I tried as much variety of food as possible, but my two favourite meals were ramen and curry rice. I’m very much a comfort food kind of guy and these two warm, hearty dishes were like heaven for me. Portions can err on the small side at times, with few opportunities to increase the size, even at fastfood places. Tokyo has London beat on eating out for price, quality, and variety. Try everything because you may never get the opportunity again. Hygiene in Tokyo is fantastic and never did I once question whether I’d get food poisoning or not, even with the chicken sashimi. Drinking in Tokyo is a bit of a mixed bag but then I didn’t do much of it to be fair. It can be expensive and like food, portions tend to be smaller, but if you drink where the locals go then you shouldn’t be stung too badly.
I found shopping to be better in Hong Kong for prices, but you can’t beat Tokyo for variety. There was too much choice at times, especially for electronics. Clothes are typically more expensive if you go after the typical Western brands and designers, but there are some great Japanese brands to be had at decent prices and great quality. With a more powerful Yen, bargain hunting will be a difficult task for the next few months at least.
Since coming back to the UK, I’ve not been able to stop thinking about Japan and Tokyo. As bizarre as it may sound, my trip there was almost a pilgrimage of sorts, being able to experience all the sights, sounds, and tastes that I’ve only ever received third party accounts for. People have asked me if I would ever consider going out to Japan alone again and now, it’s the only way I would consider doing it, unless I went with friends who could appreciate it as much as I do. Yes, I am being an elitist snob but that’s just the way I’ve become about the nation which receives so much fascination from me. For others, it’s merely an unusual novelty. Could I ever live and work out there? Jimothy and Keiko seem to think so. The way the UK is heading, it would be the saner choice. I’m not getting any younger either and I have no ties to keep me down right now. A colleague of mine has always wanted to live and work in France or Italy and he had the chance when he was a lot younger. He now has a family to look after and regrets not taking the opportunity when it was there. All I need is one push…
Thank you all for checking my accounts. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them, even if it’s taken nearly a month after returning to complete it all!
My, my, my how time flies when you’re having fun. I really was not looking forward to this day, because it meant I would have to leave the land of the rising sun so very soon. To top things off, it was also my birthday so I was officially in mid-20s territory.
The original intent was to get up super early to check out Tsukiji fish market, but that plan went out the window due to aclimatising to the local time zone (damn body clock). Anywho, I still left the hotel at a reasonable time of 9am for my final day of sight-seeing. I went for a stroll towards Akihabara to get some earphones as gifts for Leo and my brother. The place was dead that early in the day, which made for a relaxing shopping experience. On my way back to Akiba station, I noticed a Kotobukiya store. Intrigued, I decided to pop inside since Kotobukiya make some of the most gorgeous anime figures out there, most of which are based on existing garage kits or are commissioned pieces by some of the industry’s best sculptors. Looking around, I was somewhat disappointed because it wasn’t an official Kotobukiya store as such, merely one which shared the same name as the company. It was a generic anime and manga merchandise store, though they did carry some rather rare goods. I had a look at their Evangelion section which was brim with such lovelies like a Sachiel tie (very cool) and some of the super rare Zippo lighters, like the Seele one, and the Nerv one in chrome. I thought it’d be rude not to indulge in the Nerv Zippo, even if it came to 10, 000 Yen (£50 or so). I handed over the cash and wanting to use it immediately, I asked the sales assistant if there was anywhere near by to get some lighter fluid. He said, “Just a moment please”, and went round to the back and filled it up for me with some official Zippo fuel! Absolutely fantastic service and I’m so glad I popped in, even if my wallet wasn’t.
Heading back to Akiba station, I made my way towards Asakusa. Sawa and Jimothy had both recommended I swing by for a visit since it’s really the only part of Tokyo which resembles the traditional Edo period.
It immediately hits you that this part of Tokyo is a little different from the rest. There’s nothing particularly big or flashy, and you even exit via a side street before you hit the main road. The main road I stepped on to had loads of little shops, selling mostly fruits, vegetables, and groceries. I wasn’t too sure what to make of Asakusa until I ventured down the road a bit more and saw the Kaminarimon (thunder gate) to the Senso-ji, a Bhuddist temple. Things were livening up, with everybody and their dog flocking towards this temple entrance.
It was still early in the day but everybody was out to visit the Senso-ji from high school kids, to tourists, to locals who do it every week. There are several long rows of shops selling all manner of goods, some selling traditional Japanese handy crafts, Japanese and exotic swords, and Gundam models of all things! It was clearly a tourist trap, but a good one at that.
It wasn’t until I got closer to the Senso-ji that a sense of familiarity hit me, and I soon realised that I was at the temple from the giant statue arc in Gantz! It was an impressive sight, though Gantz definitely got the scale slightly wrong since the statues were roughly 12ft in height, whereas they were portrayed to be absolutely ginormous in the anime. I took plenty of snaps of the surrounding architecture, as did everybody else.
Had my mum have been with me, I probably would have joined her in the ritual. People were inhaling the incense smoke, and then would head over to a fountain to cleanse themselves. Having only one of each, there was a considerable queue and crowd to tackle before getting to the front of the line.
There’s not a lot to say about the place in all honesty, so I’ll let my photos do all the talking.
After finishing my tour of the place, I decided to revisit Shibuya on a nice day. The sun was really out in full force with blue skies aplenty. I had another coffee at the scramble crossing Starbucks so that I could take some photos without all the umbrellas springing up.
I decided to get another t-shirt from Design Graphiph and ended up with one saying “Drink water”. Whilst there, I noticed a particular shirt with a print of an SLR camera on the front with the straps going around the neck as if it was real. I picked this one up for Khang because it just seemed so appropriate. I continued to walk around for a while and stumbled across some Google event involving hundreds of balloons, all in Google colours. I hung around for a bit on the opposite side of the street hoping something would happen but it never did, so I walked over to ask them what was going on. They roughly explained that the balloons were to lift people into the air, for a fee; not sure where the money would have gone to but that was the rationale behind it all.
Having had enough of Shibuya, I wandered back to the station and made my way towards Harajuku. I wanted to visit Meiji-jingu again on a quiet day, and also Omottesando in daylight. Getting off at Meiji station and after a rather lengthy walk underground, I came to realise that Harajuku station is actually closer to Meiji-jingu (the entrance that I entered through at least). Deciding to leave the shrine until last, I went for a walk through Harajuku. The place was the same as when Jimbo and I had visited on Sunday and seemed just as busy, with just as many tourists. Working my way to Omottesando, it looked completely different in the day and to me seemed trendier than Shibuya, with stores like Tommy Hilfiger, Levis, and other brand names. There was even a bizarre Audi showroom where somebody obviously didn’t have a spirit level.
What did amuse me was that Sir Alan Green had obviously seen the success of the H&M group in Ginza and thought he’d do the same with his Topshop and Topman brands. Like Jimbo, I can’t see the fascination behind these British high street brands unless they’re offering a product which is cheaper than the competition. But then I suppose it could be exactly the same as the whole Krispy Kreme situation in Shinjuku, with everybody wanting what is hard to come by. Should another Krispy Kreme open up somewhere else in Tokyo, I’m fairly certain that the overall popularity of the brand would wane.
Having had enough of Tokyo’s trendsetters, I wandered back over to Meiji-jingu for some spiritual calm and tranquility. The place was very quiet with very few people around, the majority of which being tourists like myself. Once again, I went through the motions of washing my left hand, then my right, and I chose to sip a bit of the water this time (tasted a bit earthy). I thought I’d pay the shrine a visit since it was my birthday, so I thought I’d take a moment to be thankful for everything I had. The gravity of the day became a bit much at one point causing me to well up slightly; I really didn’t want to go back home and I wouldn’t be able to see my friends again until April 2009 at the earliest. Passing on it the first time, I decided to write a message on an ema board for 500 Yen. Because it was my birthday, I thought I’d give it a shot since it had more likelihood of coming true (I’ve seen shit like Home Alone and other similar movies, I know how it works). Not gonna say what I jotted down, but it was for all the significant people in my life. I sat down towards the side of the shrine and ended up spacing out for maybe 20 minutes.
I thought I’d head back to Ochanomizu to get a little bit of packing done since I had to be up at 6ish the following morning to begin the journey back to Blighty. I had maybe 90 minutes before I was due to meet Keiko at Shinjuku’s South gate, so I took my time. Ended up receiving a call from a mystery Japanese number which turned out to be Kiyomi, who was staying with her friend in Narita. I was due to pick her up from Heathrow the following day since our flights would be landing within an hour of each other. Anywho, time flew by and it was time to head out to Shinjuku.
It was a warm evening, one of the warmest since I’d been in Japan that week. I wound up being early since I’d caught the express train so I took a stroll over to Takashimaya department store and Tokyu Hands. I wanted to pick up a pad of writing paper and some rollerball pens for the plane journey home where I wanted to jot a few things down towards this here trip report. Even at night, Tokyu Hands was still full of people so I had a peruse over their pens which were all amazingly priced; the same rollerball pen would have cost me at least £1.50 here in the UK whereas in Tokyo, it was a mere 120 Yen (60p). I mozied on over to the South gate where a jazz funk band had started busking, and they weren’t bad either. A drunken middle age guy (think of the guy who started harassing Hérmes in Densha) started screaming at them, presumably telling them to pipe down. Keiko was a little bit late, so I did some more people watching to pass the time. Keiko eventually turned up and we chatted for a while whilst waiting for Jimothy, who wasn’t far behind. He soon turned up and so began our evening and “the last supper”.
Finding an izakaya on a Friday night in Shinjuku is no easy task and the first place we went was absolutely chock-a-block. A guy outside, poaching for a rival izakaya approached us and we agreed to go for it. Taking us inside, we had a 20-30 minutes wait before our booth became free and desperate for a smoke, I ventured outside. It seems finding a place to smoke on Shinjuku’s streets is actually harder than finding said quiet izakaya. I eventually ended up just having a crafty cigarette down a quiet alleyway where another nicotine starved man joined me. Once I’d finished, I realised I had absolutely no idea where I was in relation to the izakaya anymore! I circled the block twice and whilst I recognised a number of stores and restaurants, I couldn’t remember which street to go down to reach the building the izakaya was located in. Since I’d been gone for so long, Keiko thought I had gotten lost but Jimothy reassured her that I was OK, only to receive a phone call from me begging for help haha… Upon my return, our booth had freed up so we were lead inside. The decor was quite nice, resembling an outdoor Japanese style garden. They were offering all you can drink for 90 minutes at only 1500 Yen (£7.50) so we all made sure to have at least 3 drinks each to cover the charge. We ordered typical izakaya style food, with sashimi, yakisoba, dumplings, and so on. As always, the topic of discussion was varied and ranged from me possibly teaching English in Japan, to Jimothy and Keiko naming their potential male offspring, Enzo (like Enzo Ferrari). Keiko was also dying for a cigarette and whilst I offered her one, her steely resolve stopped her from partaking and after her recent (possibly still current?) illness, I’m glad she resisted. The price was very reasonable for the three of us, totting up to 12, 000 Yen (£60 or so) and I think we all had our fill of drinks and eats.
Sadly, the time had come to say farewell to Jim-bob and Keiko. Leading up to my trip, each day brought me closer to being able to see my friends but at the same time, brought me closer to this moment. I’m not good with goodbyes and after a few hugs and exchanges, we went our separate ways. Whilst on the platform waiting for my train, a guy had thrown up and had fallen asleep in a pool of his own vomit, leaving a memorable end to the emotional evening.
Photos of the day can be found here, here, and here.
Tomorrow, I would bid farewell to Tokyo and Japan, and thus will be the final part of my trip report as well as some closing thoughts.
After a night of wanting to throw up due to the room spinning, I woke up with a stinking hangover. Jim-bob was also suffering and definitely in a state far worse than me. Keiko didn’t hear us return, thankfully, but did later comment that Jimothy’s snoring did wake her up and despite being pushed and prodded, he was dead to the world hehe.
The day was gorgeous by British standards (and probably by Japanese standards, given the days before), with blue skies and a temperature of around 25 degrees. Since we were both feeling fragile, we took it easy that morning and went for a casual stroll around the neighbourhood. Being the geeks that we are, an arcade was our first port of call. It was incredibly priced, with Initial D costing only 100 Yen (50p or so). It was also incredibly dead so I continued to load the machine up with the monies until the ushii came home. Jimbo played some Virtua Cop 3 and something else that I don’t recall. We found another arcade where Jimothy showed me his music game skills and had a few goes on Drum Mania, Guitar Freaks, and Beat Mania; don’t ask me to tell you the versions, I have absolutely no idea. We made our way to the station where somehow, we ended up talking about women’s underwear for some reason or another.
To Yokohama we ventured, where we had arranged to meet Chikara. Sawa and Keiko were after new laptops and we were going to have a goosey-gander in Yodobashi Camera for some netbooks from Asus, Acer, and so on. We waited around by the street level entrance, but the usually punctual Chikara was late (shock horror!), so we took some photos to pass the time. I’m actually very impressed with Jim-bob’s composition work, and a few of his shots on my SLR have impressed me. Chikara eventually turned up and we made our way to Sogo for lunch. Sogo is one of my favourite department stores, with my first introduction to the chain in Hong Kong. There was a store in London many, many years ago, but that was taken over by Virgin, and it’s now an empty shop lot. Once again, the department stores in Japan are all very plush and full-fat affairs, with the restaurant section on the top floor resembling an outdoor water and rock garden of sorts – all very intricate. Chikara took us to his favourite ramen restaurant where we all had the regular ramen, with Jimbo and Chikara opting for their salt soup base (a house special) and shoyu soup base for myself. The ramen was superb and not badly priced at 3200 Yen (£16) for the 3 of us.
After lunch, we had a look at the rooftop where there was some astroturf for football and a view of Yokohama Bay, which wasn’t all that impressive. We returned to Yodobashi Camera for a look around and it really is heaven on Earth for geeks. Looking at the mobile phones, I was thoroughly impressed by the variety available. I even saw the phone which inspired the look of Tony Stark’s phone in Iron Man (the flippy-swivelly one). According to Jimbo, the reason why there are so many phones on the Japanese market is due to everybody wanting largely the same features, but in a certain colour or a certain style; on Softbank for example, the new Panna (?) was available in at least 10 different colours. The floor of camera equipment was also a sight to behold, squeezing the Birmingham branch of Jessops (second largest in the UK) into what is an electronics department store, with far more on the shelves at that. During our perusal of the store, the highly addictive Yodobashi Camera theme (reworked Battle Hymn of the Republic) was playing on a loop:
After our geek-out, we decided to do some touring of Yokohama and headed over to the Sea Bass (Sea Bus) station. The Sea Bass is simply a boat which takes you across Yokohama Bay and affords some great photo opportunities of the Bay Bridge and Landmark Tower. Out came the camera no less…
We were all diseased or injured, with Chikara suffering from a sore knee, Jimbo with a sore throat, and me with a sore ankle. All day long, we were chanting “my foot”, “my throat”, “my knee”, trying to get sympathy from the public and each other. I miss the banter…
We arrived on the other side of the bay which looked fantastically shiney and new. Got some great views of the ferris wheel, made famous for me by the wonderful anime, “Honey & Clover”. Leo would have loved it and it made me feel some nostalgia for the Summer of 2005.
The area was amass with shopping complexes, restaurants, conference halls, and sculptures. In many ways, this particular part of Yokohama reminded me of the redeveloped parts of Manchester or the London Docklands as Jimothy’s already pointed out on his blog. It was lovely to just walk around, taking in the sights and sounds. Chikara mentioned that at Christmas, there is a massive tree indoors which is supposed to look absolutely stunning. They don’t do things by halves in Japan it seems. There was also a weird and whacky piece of installation art of a lad about to do the high dive…
I’ve already talked about having to pay to go to the top of Tokyo Tower in Roppongi and it’s no different for Landmark Tower, though at 1000 Yen a pop, we decided to give it a miss. I kind of regret that decision now because it was such a nice day and it would have been a nice opportunity to take some photos which weren’t cloudy and overcast. Apparently, there was also a Pokémon store inside the shopping complex for the tower; I know some folks who would have creamed themselves to have been able to set foot inside.
The 3 of us decided to make our way towards the Nippon Maru, which had opted to close in the next few minutes. Due to meet Keiko after she finished work for the day, we headed in that direction, passing a baseball stadium (I forget the team) and entering a swanky looking part of town, with plenty of fancy western style cafes and restaurants. Having some time to kill, we popped into a cafe for some drinks and a smoke for me. The smoking and non-smoking sections of this cafe were laughable, with nothing more than some simple wood beams which were not even connected, separating the two areas. We had a chat about possible places that Jimothy and Keiko could move to, making both of their commutes to work easier. Since I’d been on my feet for most of the holiday, I didn’t really get much time to buy souvenirs for people back in Blighty. For the folks back at work, I decided to get some Hi-Chus since they went down a treat the last time I brought some in. We went to an Am Pm combini and I must have grabbed about 12 packs of strawberry and apple flavour which came to about 1200 Yen, which is still more reasonable than the £1.50 a pack in Covent Garden’s Cyber Candy (though the Japan Centre sells them for 78p each!). We soon met up with Keiko and made our way to a station, somewhere in Yokohama…
We popped into an import food store on the way to meet Sawa, where they sold a decent variety of food stuffs from Europe and the US. Prices were steep with a jar of Sharwoods curry sauce costing about 700 Yen (£3.50 or so). They also had stuff which you could pick up in Lidl for less than a quid, but if you’re desperate… There was a film crew shooting a scene for either a movie or drama of some sort, with 2 characters dressed up in Santa suits and surrounded in Christmas decorations. How they were going to break the illusion of people walking past in t-shirts and shorts when it’s supposed to be Winter is anybody’s guess. We eventually found Sawa who very kindly got me some pastries for my birthday (and delicious they were too). The walk to the yakitori place took maybe 10 minutes, but involved walking inside a long and noisy tunnel, and nearly being mowed down by cyclists.
Chikara told us that he typically visits this particular yakitori place once or twice a year. It looked fairly traditional and we were able to have an entire room to ourselves, so you can bet we were as noisy and silly as possible. The food selection we chose from the menu was ecclectic, with such juicy morsels like yaki cheese (grilled/fried cheese), chicken heart, and yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls). The most memorable dish for me though is without a doubt the chicken sashimi. For those not in the know, it was essentially raw chicken. Now having grown up in salmonela and E Coli infested Britain, this immediately raised alarm bells, but then you have to remember that Japan’s livestock are typically not raised or treated like they are in the West. Everybody reassured me that it was perfectly safe to consume, though Jimbo commented that I might have a minor dicky tummy the next day (I didn’t in the end). So, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”, as the saying goes since I’d probably not get the opportunity again. And how did it taste? Oddly, I quite enjoyed it though I probably couldn’t have had more than a few mouth-fulls. Rather strangely, it all tasted very familiar which raises the question of where have I had raw chicken before in the UK?? I had a wonderful time, and it was nice to just relax and chat with everybody, which is now a real luxury for me. The bill came to about 20, 000 Yen for the 5 of us, which ain’t too bad at all really.
Sadly, it was time to leave but that did give me a chance to get a shot of the funky tunnel and Jimothy… We all made our way towards the station and after a few stops, we soon had to say goodbye to Chikara and Sawa. I do miss them, Chikara especially for his sense of humour. He really is one of the funniest guys I’ve met in such a long time thanks to his rather unique sense of humour. Hopefully I’ll be able to see them again in the Spring if I can get myself out to Japan again. It was soon time to bid Jim-bob and Keiko goodnight also. I would thankfully be seeing them again the following night for dinner at an izakaya, after the original plan of dinner and drinks at the New York Bar and Grill in the <insert version> Hyatt fell flat (next time!).
This day and the previous one were my favourites from my trip. Yokohama is a lovely place and has real character where ever you go. I will most definitely have to give the place a more thorough look on my next visit.
Photos of the day can be found here, here, and here.
Tomorrow would be my last day in Japan, as well as being my birthday. I planned to visit Asakusa, and made repeat visits to Akihabara, Shibuya, Harajuku, Omottesando, and Shinjuku, as well as dining with Jimothy and Keiko which I’d decided to name “the last supper”.
