A Very Expensive Meal

This place is recommended in Lonely Planet, Sven and I tried to hunt it out a month ago but we didnt have much luck especially because Sakae is like a labyrinth to negotiate. Japanese classes are divided into levels of fluency starting with 101 (me) then 102, 201, 202 etc. Those in 201 are considered to be more or less fluent. Anyway, the point is it took a group of 102 and 201's over an hour to find this restaurant so Sven and I didnt really have a chance. The restaurant specialises in chicken dishes so you can pretty much get chicken in any shape or form. Even raw chicken.

This is our plate of very very expensive raw chicken, its supposed to be a delicacy. Now, I am one for trying most things since... well, you only live once, right? But I have to admit that I was a little screamish about eating raw chicken. C'mon, Edwina Curry had a point; chicken nowadays is infested with samonella! There were five types of raw chicken on our dish and one of them was literally a bit of sliced chicken breast, like the type we get at Sainsbury's. Eeek! In the centre of the dish, we had chicken with fresh egg cracked on top, which might as well be called 'one bite to food poisoning'.

We deliberated the risk of eating it, even though we knew curiosity would get the better of us eventually. Plus, we'd already paid a ridiculous amount of money for it so we should at least have a taste. We wondered, if we died knowingly eating raw chicken and egg, would STA still pay our parents compensation for our untimely death?

The chicken pieces were tiny, as most things are in expensive restaurant, but there were 7 of us so we had to cut it all up into & liddly pieces so everybody was in the same boat. You know what, it didnt taste bad at all! I mean, it was bloody scrumptious if you could forget the fact that you were eating raw chicken. And we've lived to tell the tale.

We had other dishes too, and I had an unhappy incident when I bit into a 'chicken satay stick' to discover that it was in fact pure chicken fat. Yuck! So when they say we could get any type of chicken, they really mean any type of chicken. Sven and Felix had chicken cartilage, Kevin also mistakenly bit into chicken fat, but the whole experience was deemed to be entirely enjoyable and most of the dishes were really yummy. We'll be heading back though maybe next time we'll give the chicken fat a miss.

Hairdresser of the Year

Kevin has been meaning to get his haircut for over a month, and who did he want to do it? Me. So Kevin bought some hair scissors and I went about doing the job, though I did get a bit snipper-happy and cut his front a little short. Otherwise, he was really pleased with the haircut as the picture clearly shows. So one satisfied customer, who's next?

How To Cook Thanksgiving Dinner for 20 Something People

...In Japan. Cooking in Japan is hard, full-stop. We have no oven, a really micro grill and metred gas stoves which require a 10 yen top up every 20 or so minutes. So, Liz, George and Sven managed a miracle when they fed over twenty hungry foreign students. We had Brazilian chicken*, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, sweetcorn and green beans. It was sooooo good! Hats off to Head Chef Liz for organising everything and doing most of the cooking, bless her cotton socks.
* Turkey was too expensive so the American boys trekked to nearby Osu to get us Brazilian roasted chicken. It was really delicious and tender

Takayama

A little weekend trip away, Sven and I got sick of Nagoya and decided to do a bit of exploring in the north-eastern mountainous region. Takayama lies two and a half hours away from Nagoya; the train ride up was beautifully scenic, winding around the mountains and passing little Japanese villages. We were originally going to head to a national park and only have a brief stay in Takayama but on closer consultation with our Lonely Planet, we realised that the national park closes for several months from mid-November. Damnit, we were a week or so late! Anyway, Takayama was charming and just about the right size for a short weekend trip. The best bit was staying in a temple overnight, where we slept Japanese-style ie. on the floor and with very few bedding. The temple was really rustic, but it was just so homely and full of character. It was a lot colder in Takayama, I was still shivering under five layers but it was good weather for a spot of 'hiking', which turned out to be a short walk in the park and not taxing at all. Things are always lost in translation....

A Walk In The Park

Autumn is finally here, so the leaves are the most luscious shades of red. I dont know why its such a big deal here to observe all the seasonal changes, it might be because I know I am only here for one year so this will be the only chance I have to see everything once. This picture is taken at 'ruins' of Takayama Castle, which was really just a stone in the middle of a clearing. It took us a while to find it, since he, as a typical man, insisted on being in charge of directions so naturally we got a little lost along the way. We were completely disappointed when we were at the ruins and found the one block of stone, all alone by itself next to the giant plague saying 'Takayama Castle'.

Eating out

We found this really lovely authentic Japanese restaurant in Takayama where we could have a variety of fresh seafood. We had shellfish cooked in sake, grilled fish, calamari in pepper sauce...we had loads. It was delicious and hardly made a dent in our pockets, which was a little bit of a surprise since everything is so expensive in Japan. Its good to find a bargain! These Japanese women were sitting at the table behind us, smoking and chatting away. The place had such a good atmosphere, and the chef was really friendly, he came out and chatted to us though we couldnt actually say a lot. We just told him to cook us whatever fish he wanted to and that was how we ended up with our little feast. I got a dead leg from sitting with them folded underneath me Japanese-style for the duration of the meal, it still baffles me how the Japanese can look so elegant and poised doing it, and still be able to gracefully get up afterwards without their legs buckling.

1,200 years old and still going strong

No, not Sven though he is getting a little old these days. All those facial wrinkles! The effects of time are starting to show somewhat. No, what I mean is the tree behind him with the gorgeous yellow leaves. How do they prove these things??? It was in the grounds of a temple in Takayama but the temple wasnt really that impressive.

An 'English Pub' In Japan

We chanced upon this pub in Takayama looking all out of place with the rest of the simple Japanese architecture. It looked promising for a nice, cosy drink during a cold lazy afternoon but like a lot of things in Japan, it doesnt do what it says on the tin. The interiors looked more like a Laura Ashley furniture shop than an English pub, and you couldnt get crisps or beer or anything that might actually be in an English pub. Alas, we spent several hours holed up in the pub having hot chocolate with lots of cream, mmmmm, sheltering from the rain outside. We amused ourselves lots with giving each other a choice of three hideous people and we had to sleep with one of them. Hypothetically speaking, of course. I gave Sven, Margaret Thatcher, The Queen or John Major. As a testiment of how much he likes English women, Sven opted for John Major.

It takes two, baby...

Its that time already...two months anniversary. Where did all the time go???!! I know I said it the last time but honestly, time has flown by so much...it seems like I faffed about a bit and we're heading into December already.

This month has been busy. Midterms kept me pretty occupied because in typical Thanh-fashion, I'd underestimated the amount of work I needed to put in for it. The problem was the time demanded for the most boring things, like memorising the particles and their correct usage in order to construct sentences. Another thing that I hate is learning counters because the Japanese do not simply say 1 apple, 3 cows, 2 beers. There are different counting numbers for most things and there are no easy rules to follow. You simply have to memorise them. Which was fun. A silly fact for you, farm yard animals are categorised into size, so that anything smaller than a hen has a different counter; bigger than a hen but smaller than a pig has a different counter; bigger than a pig but smaller than a cow has a different counter, and so on. See how it would irritate the hell out of me? Oh, and the Japanese say that dogs go 'wan wan' rather than 'wolf wolf'; pigs go 'boo boo' rather than 'oink oink'; and cats, well, they go 'na na' instead of 'meow meaow'! I love these simple cultural differences, they are such quirky idiosyncrasies.

Going away to Tokyo was simply brilliant, I had such a good time, and it really hit home that I am actually in Japan. Tokyo wasn't how I'd imagined it to be, I'd expected a lot more high-rises and that they'll be incredibly technologically advanced but the concentration of high-rises isn't on the same scale as New York, and there are many traditional, charming features still ever-present in the city.

Homesickness became a big problem this month and I got so upset at times just missing the simplest of things....like oak trees for instant. I'm no Swampy but I really miss oak, elm, and walnut- real macho trees unlike the sissy primmed-within-an-inch-of-life variety that they have here. Landscaped gardens are the rage, everything looks ordered and structured...almost unnatural. Sort of like the David Beckham of trees, if you like.

Anyway, moving on, I received my first package from home this month and my ma had sent me my duvet set. The duvet had the gorgeous smell of home, all Fairy fabric conditioner and it was heavenly to get into bed every night. I have never realised that I even know what our fabric conditioner smells like but it just hit me so hard when I was snuggling up in bed and the familiar scent floated over. Mmmmm...such a lovely piece of home in Japan.

With December fast approaching, the reality that I'll be spending Christmas without everybody is also sinking in, and unfortunately I haven't been able to find a Japanese family willing to adopt me for the festive season. Personally, I think this nagging worry is homesickness personified, and if I can figure out a way to get over the homesickness, the Christmas anxieties will also sort itself out. I really believe it'll be fine, that I'll actually enjoy myself. There are a few ideas Im deliberating over, and if I can get one sorted then I'll be set...you'll all be seething with jealousy if it goes ahead but for the minute, I'll be keeping schtum. Wish me luck though!

A Trip to Inuyama

Inuyama castle, nestled on a hilltop

On Tuesday, we were blessed with another national holiday and totally gorgeous weather, which is much better than we could ever hope for in England. Why does it always rain on Bank Holiday weekends??? Bah! English weather, eh? (she says fondly) I took a day trip with the Americans and Europeans to Inuyama, a quaint little town about an hour north of Nagoya which is home to the oldest original castle in Japan. An impressive fact considering that almost all noteworthy buildings have been destroyed by the World Wars or earthquakes and typhoons. Many have been considerably rebuilt; for example, our very own Nagoya Castle was heavily bombed during World War II and now boasts many original features, such as a glass lift on the outside of the building.

Inuyama-jo is beautiful, though it mostly a shell and doesnt house much on the inside. Japanese castles are relatively small, and not on the scale that we are familiar with. Its not as big as Nagoya-jo, and is barely twice the size of Chertsey Road flat and London chez moi. Though, because it tappers in, the room at the top is exactly that, just an average sized room with a creeky, sloping balconing encircling it. Kevin got a little dizzy being out there, but bless him, he took a walk all the way round.

Mountainscape

The stunning view from the top of Inuyama-jo

There are small exhibitions displaying swords and battle uniforms, but the most impressive thing has to be the view from the top of the castle. Getting to the top is quite a feat in itself; we traded our shoes in at the entrance for some snazzy leaf green slippers, which had no grip on them whatsoever. This wouldnt be a problem if the staircases were not so steep, almost as bad as the stoney steps of the temples at Angkor Wat. The green slippers were quickly abandoned when I noticed that the Japanese had given up on them and were just walking around in their socks. Thank God for that because I was so afraid of slipping and falling on top of an unfortunate frail Japanese lady making the climb behind me.

The balcony encircles the top of the castle, giving us views stretching down the river and as far as the mountain ranges that surround the city. It was a beautiful sunny day, so warm that I could even shed my jacket, and this is the end of November, mind. The sky was an intense blue, the water all glistening and simmery in the sunlight, and some old men were fishing on rocks protruding from the river. It was so perfectly charming and picturesque.

A Vision of Beauty

This picture was taken outside the temple by the castle. I think the girl is a Shinto nun, but dont trust me on this because my knowledge of All Things Japanese is appalling, even though Im living here. It sounds strange saying that out loud, but I guess I am. She was so beautiful and poised, with the shiniest hair I've seen outside a L'Oreal commercial. I love the contrast between the dazzling white and the blood red of her robe, and her composer as she sits facing the worshippers.

A Temple In Inuyama

We stumbled upon this temple on our walk around Inuyama, its on a hillside near the castle so there is a small climb up to the top. Every step of the stairs leading to the temple is lined with a stone statue of a lion, and sometimes of a lioness and her cub, set on top of a stone plinth. There are still in really good conditions and you can make out the features on their faces. Two masks are erected at the top of the staircase with the multi-coloured flags fluttering in the wind.

The temple itself was pretty but nothing out of the ordinary, but what I like most is the colours of the flag against the temple and mountain backdrop.

Big Buddha

This Buddha is in the grounds of the same temple, looking over the hill. This picture makes it look much bigger than it actually is because there's nothing to compare its size to. I'll take a guess that its probably 3 metres tall and is cast out of bronze. (Do correct me if Im wrong!)

The End of Summer

Last week, I was still walking around in summer clothes and before I knew it the weather has taken a turn for the worse. Its still ridiculously sunny in the morning but there is definately a winter chill about. Hopefully, this would mean that the leaves will eventually change colour soon! Anyway, out comes the winter jackets and boots. Japanese women love their boots, and the country is every shoeaholic'd dream. I've been wearing my eskimo boots to death and at over two years old, they're falling to pieces but I still hold dearly on to them since they've served me well in all this time. I feel really scruffy in them, since all the shoes that the Japanese girls have on are in perfect condition, still shiny and hardly a scuff mark on them. Honestly, they have impeccable taste and always look stunning, their hair perfectly in placed and in extravagant do's. There's a really popular Japanese look at the moment, its long, really layered hair, usually coloured, and the hair is curled into large soft waves and then parted to fall on both shoulders. Layering is a big thing, girls would wear a turtle neck jumper with a dinky vest over it, and then a cardigan to top it all off. Oh, and dont forget the accessories, which include long necklaces and scarfs and a hat.

And the guys? There are some seriously sexy Japanese boys around though I can hardly talk to them with my limited Japanese, plus they all look really aloof and brooding. Very Jordan Catalono, but not just because of that, but because they're also rather fond of checked shirts. There are lots of Japanese guys who want a foreign girlfriend, that's a really big trend too, but generally these guys are not really the kind of guys I'd go for. There's a club called iD where they all go to to try and pick up foreign girls, so its the equivalent of the Lounge and comeplay in the meat market stake. Its the best club in town, with six floors of music to cater for every taste, though I make a point of avoiding the techno basement like the plague. The R n B and hip hop floors are filled with Japanese boys who think they're black, all looking like they've stepped out of an Eminen music video or something. I love people watching at places like this, its like a David Attenborough special on mating rituals.

Japanese Way of Life (Vol. 2)

The courtesy culture is extreme at times. Companies hire men to stand by road work to direct pedestrians around it although anybody with an IQ higher than 1 would just walk around the cones. The thing I love about these men is that they always have really nifty red flags and white helmet on, and they wear a proper uniform to do their job, not like the scruffy lot we have at home. I have seen up to four men at each corner of a small bit of road work to wave people on as they walk. I just cant see the purpose in them being there at all, and it must be a really tedious thing to do all day.

Another thing that is typical of Japanese courtesy culture is that the ambulances rarely ever break the speed limit, and when they do, they have speakers apologising to everybody else for troubling them! Following the rules is really important in Japan, no one ever seems to step out of line. I felt so guilty once just because I threw my banana skin into a bush when I couldnt find the right bin to put it in and I'd been carrying it for over a mile! Jaywalking is not the norm and people wait by crossings until the little green man lights up even though there are no cars coming on either side of the street. Sometimes, I'd forget where I am and just walk out and then Kevin or somebody would have to pull me back and remind me I'm not in London or Bristol.

More on the little technological touches they have here. Escalators are weight activated and only turn on if somebody is actually on them. Its such a simple idea that saves a lot of power cos in the subway, the escalators stop running automatically in between trains and when the next train comes and people get off, the weight of the people activates the escalator again.

Oh, and all taxi drivers wear a suit to work.

Shake Your Bon Bon

Back in Bristol, Cafe Havannas run a salsa class every Wednesday but I could never muster up enough motivation to go on a regular basis, and only tagged along a couple of times with Helena and Ellie. The 30 minutes walk down to the centre didnt exactly help matters.

Anyway, I decided I need a hobby in Japan so I've joined a salsa class in Sakae, a 20 minutes subway ride from home but its a really good class. A month's membership is 5,000 yen, which only works out at ₤25 and then I can attend as many classes as I like. I try to go three times a week if I can, and then I usually stay for 2 sessions because the hour-long classes pass by too quickly. I go with Antonio and Anna, but now we're extending the international entourage and Emma and Liz are coming too. The couple who teach the class are really lovely, though I suspect that the guy is gay; he has a penchant for really tight trousers and he has the Maurizio Grioli walk. The lady is tiny, she's about the same height as me but she takes up half the space I do. The strange thing is she doesnt look unhealthily skinny because I think she's just naturally small-boned (is that even a word?!), but still, she's really really tiny.

We have this thing in salsa class which they call 'Shine'. This is when we do solo dance routines and the couple is always encouraging us to shake our ass and shimmy! As the name implies, we're supposed to 'SHINE!' but we can bearly remember the steps let alone work some booty shakin' into it, but we do try and its hysterical watching us do it. In the partner work, all the girls are supposed to be very sultry and seductive so we have to work running our figers through our hair and letting the hand fall down our chest, like Beyonce but a little bit slower and dirtier. We're also supposed to incorporate hip rolls and leg kicks into our steps, while maintaining eye contact with our partner at all time, except I can never do that seriously and end up cracking up and messing up the dance.

The couple have certain phrases that they love saying, like '1 is 1, and 5 is 5. 1 is always 1 and 5 is always 5', 'Keep your space. This is my space, this is your space', 'No spaghetti arms, you are not 15 minutes boiled spaghetti'... What the '1 is 1' sentence means is that we always step with our right leg with the first beat, and out left leg on the fifth. So whatever we do, we must follow that basic mantra. The space sentence makes me laugh just because it reminds me so much of Dirty Dancing, though sadly none of the men at salsa are particluarly sexy. There's one guy who always wear leather trousers and a half-unbottoned shirt. Methinks he fancy himself as a bit of a stud, though Anna and I did wonder if this is his everyday-wear or his special salsa get up. Then the other day I bumped into him at uni wearing the same leather trousers! Come on, there's something wrong about a straight guy wearing leather trousers in broad daylight!!!

Anyway, its all really good fun and its so good to get a bit of dancing in on a regualr basis.

Look Who's Back

Sorry for the hiatus of late, I've been stuck in the midst of midterms and have emerged on the otherside shattered, drained, but relieved that the worse is over. Going away to Tokyo didnt exactly help matters, I had so much work to catch up on when I returned even though I only missed two classes! The education system here is a little more demanding than what we're used to at home. I got full marks in the History exam (check me out!) but just managed to scrape a pass in Japanese (er...not so goood). Still, I am really proud of the fact that I even passed Japanese at all, since it doesnt come easily to me. I absolutely hate Japanese classes with a passion. I always feel like a complete idiot in them not understanding why sentences are structured the way they are and the different particles that link them while everyone else is umming and ahhing in recognition. With the intensive workload demanded, half of my Japanese class have already dropped the class so now we're whittled down to just 5 people, and as much as I'd love to drop it too cos it makes me feel like utter crap everyday, I cant. Its not the kind of girl I am. Stubborness works in many ways, but also I just want to kick ass and prove the unsympathetic teachers wrong especially when they expect me to fail. In my oral test feedback, the head of the department actually said something along the line of, 'oh, I am so surprised that you're still in the class'. And then he laughed. Well, thanks for the words of encouragement, love. What a friggin' .......... ?!! (please insert your choice of expletive)

And do you know what else he said, that he could sell our oral tapes in comedy stores and make a bucket because our Japanese is so bad.

Well, Im always game for a challenge and the gloves are on! I'm going to bury myself in the textbooks and stay in that class just to piss him off and prove him wrong.

That Rocking Chair

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Tiny Does Tokyo

As a kid, did you look forward to your birthday so much that when it finally came, you couldn’t quite believe that it has finally arrived? I felt like that being in Tokyo, I had to pinch myself and stop myself from hollering ‘Ohmigod, Im here!’ So for four days, tiny t was ‘doing’ Tokyo- in style. I was so giddy with excitement, the shinkansen ride to the big city was, to steal the Thai Airline’s slogan, as smooth as silk. Anyhow, tourist mode was firmly switched on, so here is what tiny t got up to in the technological capital of the world.

I stayed with Ruth, a fellow Japanese student with George at Sheffield, and we just clicked and got on immediately. Ruth lives in the same apartment block as Lily, who goes to the same university as Ruth in Tokyo so together, they showed me around town. The loveliest people a girl could hope to meet in a city of 12 million people!

you've gotta kiss a lot of frogs/fish to find your prince

Topshop presented me with 'The Essential Guide to Japan' on my last day, and in the Top Ten of Things to See is Tsukiji Fish Market so I had to check it out to see what all the fuss was about. It opens at 5 am, with boats from all over the world docking in the port with all their offerings so you can get pretty much any fish imaginable. Here is the place to go to if you fancy a $10,000 tuna! Luckily, we didnt have to get there at 5 to see all the action; we dragged our arses out of bed early on Friday and it didnt diappoint. The place is buzzing with activity: there are men whizzing around on mechanical sledges with the tea towels wrapped round their heads; fish being de-scaled, cut-up, wrapped; sellers yelling out offers; bartering, negotiations. There were so many different variety of fish for sale, and I never realised that swordfish or tuna could be so huge, much much bigger than me! The place was full of men, the only women there were old ladies who work there so Ruth and I attracted a lot of attention, especially because Ruth, as the white girl, speaks fluent Japanese, and me, the chinky girl, speaks none. Thats a strange combination. The guys were really lovely, kept trying to talk to us and I did my best in my rudimentary Japanese, but the funniest thing was when this man who was at least late forty-ish cheekily asked me for my number! Ruth was in stitches. I really know how to reel them in, dont I?... Sorry, couldnt help myself.

shinjuku garden

Nestled in the heart of city is this little haven, so peaceful and beautiful. We were blessed with a clear sunny day, it felt like it was the middle of summer rather than November and so the leaves were still green. Im starting to think the autumn colours will never come! We crossed the bridge over the lake, with ducks fluttering around and giant carps swimming merrily underneath, gawping at us in the vain hope of getting some bread, except we had none to offer. There was even a heron perched on one leg, still as the night. There's an air of tranquility in here, you can just forget that Tokyo is just a few hundred metres away with all the lights and noise. We wandered around the flower exhibition showing trained chrysanthemums growing into huge symetrical dome-like structures. I've never been a fan of chrysanthemums but even I had to admit that the exhibition was beautiful, its really amazing what they could do with careful cultivation. One of my favourite places in Tokyo...

Takase san: the man with the dough

I was so afraid of the lingering smell of fish from Tsukiji so I made sure I was well doused in Anna Sui's Dolly Girl for a meeting with my sugar daddy, hell, I even put on a suit and killer shoes for the occassion. First, the scholarship recipients were given a tour of the Takase factory to educate us about the history and daily operations of company. I want to say I found it riveting but then I'd be lying, it was the dullest thing I've had to endure in a long while since it was all in Japanese and Takase is a shipping company, so we were just looking at boxes. The only thing that made it remotely enjoyable was meeting a really funny Irish guy, Derry, who couldnt speak Japanese either, so we amused ourselves with an alternative commentary.

Back at Takase HQ, they'd laid out a feast for us, thank God cos I was positively starving. Then, they tell us we had another tour to go on and the food would have to wait...oh, so near but so far. So off we trotted for a tour of Ginza, Tokyo's Knightsbridge, which wasnt bad at all par my rumbling tummy. Derry is living in Tokyo for the year so he was dispensing some invaluable advice about places to go and places to definately avoid. We spent the large part of the Ginza tour trying to get my elusive neon lights photo, though my pictures fail to capture the glitz and glam of Tokyo. Sometimes, photos are just not enough, you have to be there to get what it was like. The entire street had a lumious glow to it, so many different coloured lights stretching as far as the eye could see. A Frenchmen joined our duo allowing me to practise my schoolgirl French on him. I surprised myself with how much I could remember, though i couldnt remember' j'habite a...'- oh the shame!

Back again at Takase HQ, food still laid out but we're not tucking it just yet. Wait, we have speeches and introductions to go through. They asked us to limit our speeches to three minutes, though I could only muster 30 seconds in Japanese and then I had to revert to English but I was so close to losing my nerves and doing the entire thing in English. Derry didnt even realise about the speech so we were drafting his during the Ginza tour. It was really nice to have someone there, beaming proudly while I did my speech and his wasnt bad either considering it was a last minute job.

We said a toast and then finally, we could start eating. The food was so scrumptious, and a free bar too! The people there were really lovely and were absolutely loving my British accent, they kept trying to copy it though they'd come out sounding like Michael Cane. 'Oh reeelly, sweethaaart?' I got a little tipsy on the free alcohol, t'is not good to have an Irishman as a drinking partner. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and Derry and I are still in touch so yeh, another friend in Japan!

A view from above

Ruth an I were strolling around and we spied this tall building, and as a testament of how in-synced we were, we both wondered if we could sneak up to the top floor. So, we snucked into this building, it was really grand, and was actually four tower blocks connected by diamond-shaped foyer, complete with massive oak reception desk. It had this irridescent magnolia shine to it, lots of suited men dashing about, briefcase and assistants in tow. We decided to try our luck with 'X' tower, and walked in, shoulders back and standing tall, looking like we know what we're doing. We got into a lift, pressed the top button and waited. The worse thing would be if we walked straight into an office, but thankfully, the lift open into another foyer and we just walked over to the window and this is the view stretching across the city down to the port.

in the city that never sleeps

In Tokyo the clubs run all night and well into the next day. There are recovery parties which kickstart at dawn for all those who havent ventured home, which is the large majority of people. We went to a crazy all-you-can-drink place for dinner, and was knocking back beer, spirits, and cocktail concoctions for two hours. There was a birthday party sitting next to us, the birthday boy was doing so many D.I.O.s and was completely hammered. He nearly fell over the table while he did his speech, bringing back many fond memories of Yia Mass speech. We met some random guys who asked us to go to a hip hop club with them because they were on the guestlist, but we were supposed to be meeting up with a guy from Nagoya that I know so we declined there offer. The guys persisted, and tried their charms on us but they couldnt muster a lot in their drunken state, though it was still funny to watch. An American guy was like, 'ermm... would you be offended if I ask for your number?' I said I wasnt offended, but that didnt mean I was going to give it to him. So he was all indignant, and 'Why?!' I mean, he was cute but come on! My number is priviledged information!

It was a really funny night, we were so drunk and somehow ended up in a different club than the one we remembered queueing for. We only realised this when we checked our ticket stubs the next day. At five o'clock I began to sober up and so we started dancing again when we managed to find a hidden floor that we didnt know about. Coming home in the morning with all the salarymen going to work was surreal, especially when they all fell asleep on my shoulders, I had an entire row of people leaning towards me on both sides. Despite having spent the entire night out, I was the only person who was still vertical. To steal Jordan Catalano's line , 'ironic, huh?'

Rusu san, Queen of Sheba

Tokyo has so many good shops and the Japanese are such a stylish bunch! There's a street full of vintage shops that I could just spend hours rummaging through, and even with me holding back, I still managed to spend a fortune. We spent an hour in a vintage shop near Harajuku, a Portobello Road area, and I managed to find two vinatge belts...probably the best finds of the century! Its so good to walk into any shop and know that my size will always be in, I dont even have to look at the labels because the whole of Japan is Thanh-size. Some shops are open til midnight, and so this is Ruth during our drunken shopping expedition at midnight. I fell in love with a pair of shoes, which was going to be my present to myself for getting the scholarship but I decided it was too expensive with a price tag of $200! Aah, I need to get a job!!

Kaiten zushi

Mmmmmm, really good food in Tokyo. You can get any type of food you want, but of course, I was after only one thing: sushi. On my last night, we went out to dinner at a kaiten zushi place - basically, conveyer belt sushi. It was really yummy, and costs next to nothing too so we stuffed ourselves for about $8! The food we had at the all-you-can-drink place was gorgeous too, there was so much of it that we didnt think we could finish but somehow we managed to nibble our way through 5 courses. Generally, I am not a fan of sashimi, which is the raw fish, though a little bit of it with other stuff is fine. I cant stand the wasabi, the strong radish stuff that is everywhere in Japan, but I hear that initiation into the football team at university involves snorting it up straight. Oh, the pain!!!! I love the seaweed though, miso soup and maki rolls and tempura...mmmm, makes me hungry just talking about it.

Falling In Love

I fell in love with Japan while I was in Tokyo, I had such a brilliant time and I stopped feeling homesick and started appreciating the fact that I AM IN JAPAN!!!!! Sometimes I forget that little detail. We visited Meiji Temple, one of the biggest in Japan and chanced upon a ceremony blessing children who are 3, 5, and 7 years old. There were so many cute children in gorgeous kimonos stumbling around collecting pebbles and lapping up the attention. I was getting really broody, at that moment I really wanted to have one of those kids, they were just so adorable! There were a couple of toddlers in red and pink kimonos who were posing for photos for their parents, they had on the biggest, cheesiest grins but the sweetest thing was when they held up three fingers instead of two for the peace sign. My heart broke. It was so sweet! Our luck didnt stop there, just when we were about to leave, an attendant in ceremonial robes led a wedding procession across the courtyard with the bride dressed in the most intricate white kimono and shaded by a huge red parasol. Everybody just stopped, it was so beautiful!

Still going after my neon lights photo, we headed for Shinjuku and stopped at one of the busiest crossings in Japan. A guy cuts a striking figure in the chaos, he was standing still dressed in a white tailored suit, but we were the only people not moving in the throng of people. He looked over and smiled, we smiled back. We headed over for a chat, turns out he's a Dutch model on an assigment and sure enough there was the photographer and make-up people nearby. When we returned to the same spot over an hour later, he was still standing there posing for the camera.

Culture Day

Wednesday was Culture Day, a national holiday, so a day off for everybody and luckily, it was sunny too. We'd planned a day out around Nagoya with the others, but in the end it was only Sven and I who showed up in the robby at 10. First stop was a Japanese garden, where we'd hoped to see the autumn leaves but the sunny weather means that everything is still green. It was beautiful, very prestine with lots of water features and rock monuments- basically a fine example of a typical Japanese garden. Then, we headed down to the port so Sven could see the sea because he's got a view of it from his bedroom window at home, and he misses it a lot living in the middle of a city. Bless him, he was so excited. There was a festival at the port; I caught a glimpse of the Power Rangers on stage before they headed off, presumably, to save the world of course. All the kids were completely captivated! There was a giant mechanical panda-like creature that little kids could ride on at the amusement park nearby, which you can just steer and go wherever you want. A bit like the bumper cars without the rink. Naturally, I count as a little kid so I hobbled on, and caused a bit of commotion cos my driving skills are non-existent. Kept crashing into the other little kids, who probably pitied my lack of co-ordination!

There's a Roy Lichenstein's exhibition that is closing this weekend; I've been desperate to go and Wednesday was the last chance for me to see it since Im off to Tokyo this weekend. The exhibition was really good, though Whaam!... was sadly omited from the collection much to my annoyance. Its my favourite piece; I tried to paint a replica of it for George's birthday a while back but couldnt figure out how to print the dots properly. It still hangs unfinished on my bedroom wall and one day I will figure out a way to finish it.

We had dinner in Sakae at a Japanese restaurant, we'd originally wanted to go to a continental restaurant with an Italian chef just because he had bad teeth. In my experience, most good chefs have bad teeth, I dont know why that is. Anyway, that restaurant was booked out for a wedding and we werent exactly dressed for crashing that- we would have done if we were. Our dinner was beautiful, really well-presented and the lovely ladies waiting on us were attentive to a fault. They were baffled by the fact that Sven speaks more Japanese than me, and kept stopping by for a chat throughout our meal!

It was a brilliant day, really really good to see the world outside the Ohmeikan!

A little piece of Japan

These ladies were absolutely beautiful in their kimonos. They were performing at the festival by the port, and watching them go about doing their shopping makes you try and block everyhing out. Then, you an imagine what Japan was like 50 years ago.

Halloween Party

Okay okay, I know its not much of a costume but it was short notice and all I could pull together was a schoolgirl outfit, and the shirt wasnt even mine! Liz, on the other hand, made a really good pirate with plastic swashbuckling sword and authentic-ish eyepatch. The funny thing is they nearly refused us entry because they couldnt tell we were in costume- like, Liz would wear an eyepatch and I would go around flashing my ass on a daily basis! (Dont even answer that question!) It was a really good night, quite strange though because there was a choreographed dance competition during the party when everyone cleared the dance floor and sat down on the floor, and then a guy dressed in a pumpkin suit and sexy purple knickers did some MCing.

A Rant

For a person who can talk for England, I find it so difficult here to adjust to my lack of Japanese and the inability to effectively convey myself. The simplest of things become arduous when considering the fact that I am Japanese illerate: cant read a single word, baby. Grrrr! So its a mission to go shopping- remember the vinegar and oil incident?; checking the balance of my Japanese bank account; buying lunch, sending a friggin' letter to England; following cooking instructions; deciphering notices; using my rice cooker; the list is endless...

I always have to rely on someone else to help me, to explain, translate. I cant do anything for myself, where is my friggin' independence?! Its so infuriating, I feel trapped in this useless shell. What's brought this on, I hear you say? Its been bubbling up for a while, but I've tried to contain it and concentrate on learning Japanese instead. Then the Japanese teachers tell me they dont think I am working hard enough when I already put in two hours a night! This is really harsh since Japanese culture dictates that being direct equates to rudeness, so for them to point that out so bluntly means I must really suck.

Last week I was shopping for mummy's birthday present in Sakae (home to all the good shops) and was wondering around all the department stores in a world of my own, I only had eyes for the gorgeous shoes and bags! I never pay any attention to the announcements since I have no hope in hell of understanding them, so I was wondering around and I noticed the sales assistant all coming out of their areas and bowing as I walked by so I bowed back. I thought to myself, the service is bloody good here, this didnt happen at the last store. I was shopping for another 15 minutes, then decided to abandon the search for the perfect present until another day. I couldnt get out because all the exits were closed so I managed to find a lady who was trying very hard to tell me something but couldnt. She disappeared and returned after a while and finally I got the message. The store had closed already and I didnt know because I couldnt understand what was being said in the announcements. I looked around, and sure enough, all the lights were dimmed and everybody was cleaning. Im such a cretin for not noticing that early, I can be so oblivious to things at times. So embarrassed, apologised profusively and made a mental note to learn the word for 'closed'.

Anyway, I went to the student union shop today to buy a photocopying card, and couldnt read the kanji underneath it. Spent $50 and it turns out that the notice read 'you cant use this card on xerox machines'. Great. So I asked around in very bad Japanese for the right machine, and turns out I have to go to the counter at the back of the store. It took me a good five minutes to convey that I want to buy a photocopying card. Another mission to find a photocopying machine, and then onto the joyful task of figuring out what each word on the keypad meant. All in all, something that should have taken me 2 minutes tops ended up wasting 15 minutes of my time. The exasperation seeps from my soul, oh save me from these shackles...