Japan_Bound
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Lifelong friends . . .
This is going to be one mother of a long blog as we've done sooo much in the last week and a half! I've done my best to find good links to everything we saw/did, so please click on the blue/purple text whenever you come across it. Without further adieu, here's a synopsis of our kickass trip!
Tuesday, March 8th: Jess and I got up at 8 after only 2 hours of sleep because we were sooo excited! We finished packing, caught a local train to JR Kyoto station, and then hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) that would get us to Tokyo in about 2 hours and 20 minutes. We passed Mt. Fuji on the way and, as it was a clear day, got to see it in its entirety - pretty cool. Upon arriving at Tokyo Station, where we were later supposed to meet Sean, Tara, Sarah and Ed (hereafter referred to as STSE), we quickly came to realize that everything we'd heard about the station was true - that it's totally crazy and packed with people (I think aprox. 2 million people pass through there every day). As we had several hours to kill, we wandered out of the station and, lo and behold, the first sight I had of Tokyo was of a Nova branch (go figure). We walked around, ate, paced, etc. etc. until we finally got a call from Sean at about 6:30 saying they'd taken a bus to our hotel and could we meet them there. So we hopped in a cab and arrived at Akasaka Prince Hotel at about 7. I should point out now that Ed is a travel agent and, as such, got us a really wicked deal on a really wicked hotel - the fanciest I've ever stayed at. Akasaka is a pretty cool part of Tokyo too, so our evenings there were really fun. STSE had been in Honolulu before arriving in Tokyo and were full of great stories about their trip - not the least of which is that Sarah had to leave her appendix there and was the worse for wear. We went out for dinner at a local izakaya, met Ed's brother Gord who works in Tokyo, then headed back to our hotel to turn in early as everyone was very tired. I quickly discovered that Sarah and I have the same sense of humor, as every two seconds from the first moment we met was spent in having major laugh attacks - this didn't help what came to be known as her "hole," but even though she was in pain we couldn't seem to stop having laugh attacks during the whole trip. That night I received an email from Nova telling me we didn't get the contract for that hotel job due to the cost of Nova's contract - a real bummer, but I refused to let it ruin my vacation!
Wednesday, March 9th: Everyone was up at 8 and very hungry after waiting for 6 people to get ready in a small-ish hotel room, so we headed off to Royal Host for a pancake breakfast. Sarah headed back to the hotel to rest while the rest of us took off to do some sightseeing and shopping in Tokyo. That day we saw Akihabara (the overwhelmingly HUGE electronics district of Tokyo), and Sony Tower, as well as Ginza (famous shopping area). We caught a train back to our hotel at around 4, drank, played cards, and got ready, before heading off for some yakitori with Gord in Shinjuku. After dinner we wandered around in awe at the huge, lit up buildings for which Shinjuku is famous (it can be seen in "Lost in Translation"), and later saw Tokyo's famous Red Light District. There, many transvestites and all sorts of colourful characters could be seen and often tried to tempt us into their "bars." Later we all went to a karaoke bar and laughed our @%*es off, hit a Mister Donut for some drunken snacking, then cabbed it back to our hotel to crash.
Thursday, March 10th: That day we got up pretty late and ate at Royal Host again. The 7 of us took a train to Shibuya (when we say it, there's an emphasis on BOO-YA), which is famous among young Japanese for alternative clothing shops. Takeashita street in Harajuku became the butt of many jokes! I went shopping with the girls while the guys went off in search of a bar. They say they found a rock bar, and did in fact meet up with us later severely intoxicated, but seem to be pretty tight-lipped about where they'd been and what they'd done (us girls are pretty convinced that peelers had something to do with it). While shopping, the girls (who are most easily classified as rock chicks) convinced me to buy some "rock" accessories, so yours truly ended up with a leather collar and a leather armband - Jesse loves it as he's always wanted me to dress like a rock chick. Later we all caught a train back to Akasaka, drank, played cards and got ready, then went to another local izakaya for dinner. Dinner was followed by another drunken bout of karaoke. As the guys' voices tend to deteriorate exponentially with each drink, us girls decided to head home at about 1 and immediately hit the hay. The guys rolled in at about 3 and again were pretty tight-lipped about what they'd done after we left. One day I'll rip it out of Jesse! That night was the worst for burping, farting and snoring - think 6 people sharing one small room after a big night of drinking. After everyone fell asleep, Ed woke us up with his entrepreneurial idea for a kind of clothing shop which had everyone laughing again. I think we finally got to sleep at 4 or so.
Friday, March 11th: We were up pretty early as we had to pack, and check-out was at 11. We left our bags at the front desk before heading back to Royal Host for breakfast. Later, we picked up our bags and met Gord in Shinjuku, who would be spending two nights on the road with us. In Shinjuku STSE activated their week-long JR passes, we caught a train to Shimagawa, another train from Shimagawa to Ito (the end of the JR line), and then a final train from Ito to Shimoda, where we'd made reservations at a ryokan. Jess, Gord and I didn't have to pay ANY train fare because it was assumed that we also had JR passes - saving each of us about $50-$60! SCORE! In Shimoda we were pretty sleepy after 4 hours of traveling and caught a cab to our guest house. The hostesses there were really nice - one spoke perfect English - and the Grandma there loved Gord! We walked along the harbour to have dinner at a local restaurant in what was becoming a HUGE wind storm, then headed back to onsen at the ryokan. I was a little shy about undressing but decided "to-hell-with-it" and went for it. The girls' onsen was pretty small but very warm and relaxing. We later snuck into the boys' onsen and got a great shot of the four of them packed into their little bath. That night we all played cards in our matching yukata (light kimono used by everyone staying at a ryokan). As the drinking progressed, all were provided with sights of Gord and Ed's nether parts - they both fell backwards off the beds. I think we were in bed by 1:30 that night.
Saturday, March 12th: We were up at 8:30, left our bags at the front desk, and went to the same restaurant for breakfast that we'd been at the night before. The wind was REALLY strong and made walking around the harbour pretty interesting. Later, we went to Ryosen-ji Temple in Shimoda, then went on the famous "Black Ship Cruise" around Shimoda harbour (during which people hand-feed seagulls from the back of the boat). We'd been planning to take a ferry from Shimoda to Iro-zaki and then a bus from Iro-zaki to Dogashima (our next stop on the journey), but the ferry wasn't running because of the wind. After the cruise, we walked back to the ryokan to pick up our bags and the Grandma offered to drive us to the bus station, saving us cab fare! We hopped on a bus from Shimoda to Dogashima; a beautiful drive through the mountains that afforded us views of forest, the ocean, and Mt. Fuji. Dogashima is really breath-taking, despite the heavy wind off the water. We went for a hike through the cliffs, saw beautiful caves, clear light green water, sandy beaches, and later went to Sawada-koen Rotemburo, a famous cliff-side onsen overlooking the ocean and caves. It was the most perfect location I've ever witnessed - very beautiful and relaxing, and from this day forward, will be my "happy place." After making it off the cliff alive (we were all almost blown over by the wind), we had lunch then caught a bus to Shuzen-ji, a famous onsen town. Again we were afforded a great view of the ocean and Mt. Fuji, finally rolling in at our ryokan at around 8. We dropped off our bags then headed out to find a quaint little greasy spoon for dinner, before heading back to the ryokan to onsen. The onsen there was indoor but very big and really beautiful - it was rocked in and looked very natural, despite its being indoors. As this was the 3rd onsen, by that time I was the 1st to whip my clothes off in front of the girls - at that point I didn't care at all. Later we all drank and played cards again in our matching yukata before heading off to bed at around 3. This particular onsen instigated the guys' idea for a T.V. show called "Gaijin Hotel" (gaijin means foreigner). That night Tara had placed her chopsticks upright in her rice (a no-no here), Ed wore the bathroom slippers to the onsen (a HUGE no-no, as certain slippers are for designated areas), and later threw his towel on the dinner table (instigating Jesse to say something about said towel having been used to dry Ed's nether parts). The rest of the trip inspired various additional episodes of "Gaijin Hotel" as the 7 of us proceeded to make social gaffs and etiquette mistakes.
Sunday, March 13th: I got up earlier than everyone that day and took a bath in the onsen - which I had all to myself that morning - it was wonderful. Everyone was up at 8:30 and ready to go by 9:30, at which point we checked out and had breakfast in a little cafe by the river and Shuzen-ji's famous outdoor public onsen (which, unfortunately, we couldn't go to as planned because it was being renovated somehow). We caught cabs to the train station, took a train from Shuzen-ji to Mishima (where Gord said good-bye and headed back to Tokyo for work), and then another train from Mishima to Fuji. Fuji is a great little town at the base of Mt. Fuji; Ed chose this spot so we could have lunch overlooking Mt. Fuji before heading off to catch the Shinkansen to Hiroshima - a great decision. We caught a small train from Fuji to Nagoya, then hopped on the long Shinkansen ride from Nagoya to Hiroshima (the joke of this particular trip is that some of us joined the "100-mile-an-hour club" which is like the Shinkansen version of the mile-high club; however, no names will be mentioned so you'll just have to speculate!). As it was very cold that day, our train ride out of Nagoya met us with lots of falling snow, and a snow covered world which was really beautiful. On that train ride I was sitting beside a Japanese couple who spoke English - they were very impressed by the fact that we'd stayed at The Akaska Prince Hotel because apparently it's most famous with Japanese celebrities, who go there to get married. The train ride to Hiroshima took about 3 1/2 hours and, upon arriving in Hiroshima, we took a cab to our next ryokan (which was ALOT less fancy than the one we'd stayed at in Shuzen-ji and had a very bad fish smell, particularly in Ed and Sarah's room, causing all their clothes/bags to stink - HA HA!!). After dumping our bags in our rooms, we walked around looking for a place to have dinner, and settled on a Sumo Bar where the food choices were very limited (I ended up having a bowl of plain rice and some cheese, as most menu items were pretty weird and I wasn't up to experimenting that much). Our ryokan in Hiroshima had an 11 o'clock curfew (we joked that we felt like teenagers again), so we headed back and turned in early. The joke of the day (in addition to joining the 100-mile-club and having a curfew) ended up being Jesse's addition to the idea of "Gaijin Hotel." He suggested a show called "Extreme Convalescence" as Sarah had been such a trooper despite her surgery only 5 days earlier (suggestions for "Extreme Convalescence" included "cesarean bungee jumping" and "triple by-pass mountain climbing.") I'm ashamed to admit that all of us laughed hysterically, waking up atleast half of the passengers on the train who gave us dirty looks.
Monday, March 14th: Everyone woke up early to snow!!, and we convinced the ryokan owners to let us leave our bags there for the day while we went sightseeing. We walked to the train/bus station and had yummy Beard Papas crepes for breakfast, before catching a bus to the Peace Park (A-bomb museum and memorial). We spent an emotional 2 hours walking around the museum where, as expected, I was the only one balling my face off, but I think all the others came close a few times. We caught a street car (my 1st street car ride!) back to the ryokan and picked up our bags, before heading back to the train station and taking a train to Miyajima-guchi. From Miyajima-guchi we caught a ferry to the famous Miyajima island where one can see the famous floating arch (one of the 3 wonders of Japan, and the most photographed structure in Japan). We spent the day hiking this gorgeous island (feels alot like a Japanese Whistler!), petting the tame deer, and taking pictures of two cats going at it (wink, wink). The joke of the day was when Sarah turned a sign around to mess up tourists (thus changing the direction in which certain attractions could be found - we all laughed hysterically). At 6 we caught a ferry back to the mainland, and hopped on a train to Hiroshima, where we stopped at the station to have dinner. The Shinkansen ticket office took longer than expected for Jess & I, as Visa put a hold on his credit card (suspicious/unusual purchase, being that he doesn't use his credit card in Japan). When that finally got sorted out we were told the LAST train to Kyoto was leaving in 3 minutes, so we had to book it through the station and ended up catching the train just in time. However, when the train attendant came by to check our tickets, it turned out that STSE's train passes were valid for every JR train but the one were on, so we got kicked off at the next stop. From that stop there were no Shinkansen trains headed for Kyoto at that time of night, so we had to catch a Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and then get on a local train to Nishioji (our home station). When we rolled in here at the house, it was 11:30 and all were very sleepy, but that didn't stop the boys from heading out to the local convenience store to pick up some bevvies. We played cards for a while and then the boys played our Playstation golf game until about 2 AM, keeping us girls awake with their shouting and swearing (apparently they suck at golf when they're drunk). 6 people sleeping in our little bedroom was pretty interesting but also really funny and the talking died down at around 2:30 before we fell asleep to a cacophony of snoring and farting.
Tuesday, March 15th: We were all up by 8, had breakfast at a little diner near our house, caught a rapid train to Osaka, then a subway to Shinsaibashi. The guys and girls seperated; the girls went shopping (I got a green shirt for St. Patty's Day), and the guys went drinking. We met up with the guys at the Pig&Whistle, a famous gaijin bar in downtown Osaka. Tara and Sarah gave the owners a Big Muff C.D. (that's their band's name), and signed it - it was really cool because the owners played their C.D. while we were there! Then we got our picture taken and put up on the wall; Jess was really happy and joked that he'd been wanting to have his picture put up there since last Christmas when I first took him there. Later, after drinking way too much, we went bowling in Amerikamura where Sean kicked butt. We had to catch a cab to the station as time was tight; we ended up JUST catching the last train out of Osaka and ended up at Kyoto, one stop past our home station. We went to the convenience store to pick up some snacks and road-pops (it's a fine country, where you can drink alcohol anywhere!), and proceeded to start walking home. Jess told us it would only take half an hour but after 45 minutes of walking we'd all had enough and hopped in cabs. Upon arriving at home we all went straight to bed, exhausted!
Wednesday, March 16th: All were up early and we caught a train to JR Kyoto station to meet Sarah's friend Rachel (they were roommates at McGill Uni.). From there we caught a train to Himeji to see Himeji Castle (this was my 5th visit to the castle so, needless to say, everyone else was more in awe that I was). After a quick lunch at the bakery, we caught a train to Kobe and walked around Kobe Harbour. We were going to have dinner at Kobe's Hard Rock Cafe, but it had been permanently closed! So we had dinner at a buffet in the harbour and stuffed ourselves (the food is really good there). Ed had wanted to try Kobe beef, but upon learning how expensive it is, changed his mind. After dinner we played some games at an arcade then caught a train back to Nishioji and came home. We decided to do do some more karaoke, so we headed off to Jesse's work; Sean and Tara rode our bikes most of the way and Sean seemed to enjoy ringing the bell and trying to do tricks on the bike - luckily, drunk as everyone was, no one got hurt. The best performance of the evening was, hands down, SarahTara&I singing "My Heart Will Go On," chosen by S&T because they've been mocking me ever since finding out that I loved the movie "Titanic" and saw it a million times. I should point out that Sarah & I did most of the singing while Tara mimed the lyrics - very funny! After arriving by cab back at home, we played cards and drank until about 4, when everyone hit the hay. Poor Rachel got the couch downstairs, but fortunately she can read Japanese and figured out how to switch the air con. over to heat!
Thursday, March 17th: We got up at 11 (the latest we've slept the whole time, averaging 5 hours of sleep per night) and caught a train to Kyoto (it was pouring rain and all trains out of Osaka were delayed due to an accident - probably a suicide jumper which is usually the case when trains are delayed as they never derail here). We went to Kiyomizu Temple and walked around with cute pastel coloured umbrellas - even Jesse and Sean (when in Rome . . .). The town around the temple has 100s of little souvenir shops, so everyone proceeded to go nuts buying souvenirs, as it was their last night in Japan. STSE all bought swords and were grinning from ear-to-ear; especially Sean who said "all he wanted to do was take it out and play with it" to which Tara replied "you say that every day" (dirty jokes abounded on this trip). Later we took a cab to Gion and saw two Geisha, but didn't stick around cause everyone was soaked due to the torrential rain. We had dinner near Sanjo in Kyoto; Ed & Sarah generously treated us to dinner as thanks for putting them up, but Jesse and I kept insisting that it was no trouble at all (in fact, we'd be happy if all 4 of them moved in on a permanent basis). Later the girls shopped while the boys moved on to the Kyoto Pig&Whistle, where we met up with them a little while later. We listened to a great live Japanese celtic band, enjoyed green beer and Bailey's, watched while S&T were immortalized at yet another Japanese location when they handed out and signed another Big Muff C.D., then left in search of another bar as that one was surprisingly empty for St. Patrick's Day. During our wandering and fruitless search for a better location, we stumbled (literally) upon the "Selfish Cream Shot Bar" where guys in the window were begging us to come up, so we did. It ended up being a fantastic last night with everyone in Japan and the bar was a perfect choice. The waiters were totally hot (S&T&I considered the wisdom of being single for the evening!) a yakuza meeting attended by a yakuza boss was going on behind us, we chatted briefly with a yakuza tattoo artist (which sent Jesse into paroxysms of pleasure, as it's impossible for gaijin to get a yakuza tattooist to work on them), and the boys ended up instigating some Canada vs. Japan competitions; darts and arm wrestling. Funnily enough, the Canadians won at darts, but all 3 boys were beaten at arm wrestling by a much smaller Japanese guy. We were definitely a hit at that bar and had a wicked time. When Sean & I started to pass out on the couches everyone decided it was probably time to move on, so we caught cabs home. The boys played some Playstation golf and everyone got to sleep at around 5.
Friday, March 18th: D (as in departure) Day: All were up at 11 to pack and get organized. Sean burned all of our pictures (a total of close to 500 I think) onto CD's so each couple could have pictures of the trip. We caught a train to JR Kyoto, then bought Haruka train tickets to get to Kansai airport. We were really stretched for time but, fortunately for the 1st time ever, there was no line-up at the United counter, so everything went smoothly. As they were in a rush to get to their gate, the good-byes at the security gate were pretty quick. I balled my eyes out as expected! Jess and I quickly caught a Haruka train and came home, as waiting around the airport was too painful and I had no desire to watch their plane take off. By the time we ate dinner it was 7, at which time I proceeded to crash harder than I ever have in my life. I slept from 7 until noon this morning - 17 hours.
When I woke up today I was really tired and really sad. It's amazing how quiet and lonely a place can get when it's been filled to the brim with people; especially people with whom we've been having the time of our lives. A more perfect group of 6 has never been formed - of that I am absolutely certain - and we've made some life long friendships. Tara and Sarah, in 10 days, became two of my closest friends, and I can't wait to hang out with them again. Fortunately they're all from Victoria, so it's not like I won't see them again. The 6 of us have tentative plans to go to Argentina together in January, and Sarah will be in London at uni. next year, so Jess and I can visit her while we're in Europe. This trip has definitely been the trip of a lifetime. I can't believe how much we fit into 10 days of traveling - due in large part to Ed's amazing planning skills. These memories will last a lifetime and I'll always be greatful; I would have had a blast hanging out with these people anywhere and the fact that we hung out while traveling all over Japan was just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. So yeah, as expected the trip was really expensive, I'm really teary and I miss everyone immensely already, but it's all been worth it. To end this goliath of a blog entry, I'm going to quote what Jesse said after we left everyone at the airport, as his comment is the perfect way to sum up a perfect trip:
**"I'd light twice as much on fire just to do it all again."**
This is going to be one mother of a long blog as we've done sooo much in the last week and a half! I've done my best to find good links to everything we saw/did, so please click on the blue/purple text whenever you come across it. Without further adieu, here's a synopsis of our kickass trip!
Tuesday, March 8th: Jess and I got up at 8 after only 2 hours of sleep because we were sooo excited! We finished packing, caught a local train to JR Kyoto station, and then hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) that would get us to Tokyo in about 2 hours and 20 minutes. We passed Mt. Fuji on the way and, as it was a clear day, got to see it in its entirety - pretty cool. Upon arriving at Tokyo Station, where we were later supposed to meet Sean, Tara, Sarah and Ed (hereafter referred to as STSE), we quickly came to realize that everything we'd heard about the station was true - that it's totally crazy and packed with people (I think aprox. 2 million people pass through there every day). As we had several hours to kill, we wandered out of the station and, lo and behold, the first sight I had of Tokyo was of a Nova branch (go figure). We walked around, ate, paced, etc. etc. until we finally got a call from Sean at about 6:30 saying they'd taken a bus to our hotel and could we meet them there. So we hopped in a cab and arrived at Akasaka Prince Hotel at about 7. I should point out now that Ed is a travel agent and, as such, got us a really wicked deal on a really wicked hotel - the fanciest I've ever stayed at. Akasaka is a pretty cool part of Tokyo too, so our evenings there were really fun. STSE had been in Honolulu before arriving in Tokyo and were full of great stories about their trip - not the least of which is that Sarah had to leave her appendix there and was the worse for wear. We went out for dinner at a local izakaya, met Ed's brother Gord who works in Tokyo, then headed back to our hotel to turn in early as everyone was very tired. I quickly discovered that Sarah and I have the same sense of humor, as every two seconds from the first moment we met was spent in having major laugh attacks - this didn't help what came to be known as her "hole," but even though she was in pain we couldn't seem to stop having laugh attacks during the whole trip. That night I received an email from Nova telling me we didn't get the contract for that hotel job due to the cost of Nova's contract - a real bummer, but I refused to let it ruin my vacation!
Wednesday, March 9th: Everyone was up at 8 and very hungry after waiting for 6 people to get ready in a small-ish hotel room, so we headed off to Royal Host for a pancake breakfast. Sarah headed back to the hotel to rest while the rest of us took off to do some sightseeing and shopping in Tokyo. That day we saw Akihabara (the overwhelmingly HUGE electronics district of Tokyo), and Sony Tower, as well as Ginza (famous shopping area). We caught a train back to our hotel at around 4, drank, played cards, and got ready, before heading off for some yakitori with Gord in Shinjuku. After dinner we wandered around in awe at the huge, lit up buildings for which Shinjuku is famous (it can be seen in "Lost in Translation"), and later saw Tokyo's famous Red Light District. There, many transvestites and all sorts of colourful characters could be seen and often tried to tempt us into their "bars." Later we all went to a karaoke bar and laughed our @%*es off, hit a Mister Donut for some drunken snacking, then cabbed it back to our hotel to crash.
Thursday, March 10th: That day we got up pretty late and ate at Royal Host again. The 7 of us took a train to Shibuya (when we say it, there's an emphasis on BOO-YA), which is famous among young Japanese for alternative clothing shops. Takeashita street in Harajuku became the butt of many jokes! I went shopping with the girls while the guys went off in search of a bar. They say they found a rock bar, and did in fact meet up with us later severely intoxicated, but seem to be pretty tight-lipped about where they'd been and what they'd done (us girls are pretty convinced that peelers had something to do with it). While shopping, the girls (who are most easily classified as rock chicks) convinced me to buy some "rock" accessories, so yours truly ended up with a leather collar and a leather armband - Jesse loves it as he's always wanted me to dress like a rock chick. Later we all caught a train back to Akasaka, drank, played cards and got ready, then went to another local izakaya for dinner. Dinner was followed by another drunken bout of karaoke. As the guys' voices tend to deteriorate exponentially with each drink, us girls decided to head home at about 1 and immediately hit the hay. The guys rolled in at about 3 and again were pretty tight-lipped about what they'd done after we left. One day I'll rip it out of Jesse! That night was the worst for burping, farting and snoring - think 6 people sharing one small room after a big night of drinking. After everyone fell asleep, Ed woke us up with his entrepreneurial idea for a kind of clothing shop which had everyone laughing again. I think we finally got to sleep at 4 or so.
Friday, March 11th: We were up pretty early as we had to pack, and check-out was at 11. We left our bags at the front desk before heading back to Royal Host for breakfast. Later, we picked up our bags and met Gord in Shinjuku, who would be spending two nights on the road with us. In Shinjuku STSE activated their week-long JR passes, we caught a train to Shimagawa, another train from Shimagawa to Ito (the end of the JR line), and then a final train from Ito to Shimoda, where we'd made reservations at a ryokan. Jess, Gord and I didn't have to pay ANY train fare because it was assumed that we also had JR passes - saving each of us about $50-$60! SCORE! In Shimoda we were pretty sleepy after 4 hours of traveling and caught a cab to our guest house. The hostesses there were really nice - one spoke perfect English - and the Grandma there loved Gord! We walked along the harbour to have dinner at a local restaurant in what was becoming a HUGE wind storm, then headed back to onsen at the ryokan. I was a little shy about undressing but decided "to-hell-with-it" and went for it. The girls' onsen was pretty small but very warm and relaxing. We later snuck into the boys' onsen and got a great shot of the four of them packed into their little bath. That night we all played cards in our matching yukata (light kimono used by everyone staying at a ryokan). As the drinking progressed, all were provided with sights of Gord and Ed's nether parts - they both fell backwards off the beds. I think we were in bed by 1:30 that night.
Saturday, March 12th: We were up at 8:30, left our bags at the front desk, and went to the same restaurant for breakfast that we'd been at the night before. The wind was REALLY strong and made walking around the harbour pretty interesting. Later, we went to Ryosen-ji Temple in Shimoda, then went on the famous "Black Ship Cruise" around Shimoda harbour (during which people hand-feed seagulls from the back of the boat). We'd been planning to take a ferry from Shimoda to Iro-zaki and then a bus from Iro-zaki to Dogashima (our next stop on the journey), but the ferry wasn't running because of the wind. After the cruise, we walked back to the ryokan to pick up our bags and the Grandma offered to drive us to the bus station, saving us cab fare! We hopped on a bus from Shimoda to Dogashima; a beautiful drive through the mountains that afforded us views of forest, the ocean, and Mt. Fuji. Dogashima is really breath-taking, despite the heavy wind off the water. We went for a hike through the cliffs, saw beautiful caves, clear light green water, sandy beaches, and later went to Sawada-koen Rotemburo, a famous cliff-side onsen overlooking the ocean and caves. It was the most perfect location I've ever witnessed - very beautiful and relaxing, and from this day forward, will be my "happy place." After making it off the cliff alive (we were all almost blown over by the wind), we had lunch then caught a bus to Shuzen-ji, a famous onsen town. Again we were afforded a great view of the ocean and Mt. Fuji, finally rolling in at our ryokan at around 8. We dropped off our bags then headed out to find a quaint little greasy spoon for dinner, before heading back to the ryokan to onsen. The onsen there was indoor but very big and really beautiful - it was rocked in and looked very natural, despite its being indoors. As this was the 3rd onsen, by that time I was the 1st to whip my clothes off in front of the girls - at that point I didn't care at all. Later we all drank and played cards again in our matching yukata before heading off to bed at around 3. This particular onsen instigated the guys' idea for a T.V. show called "Gaijin Hotel" (gaijin means foreigner). That night Tara had placed her chopsticks upright in her rice (a no-no here), Ed wore the bathroom slippers to the onsen (a HUGE no-no, as certain slippers are for designated areas), and later threw his towel on the dinner table (instigating Jesse to say something about said towel having been used to dry Ed's nether parts). The rest of the trip inspired various additional episodes of "Gaijin Hotel" as the 7 of us proceeded to make social gaffs and etiquette mistakes.
Sunday, March 13th: I got up earlier than everyone that day and took a bath in the onsen - which I had all to myself that morning - it was wonderful. Everyone was up at 8:30 and ready to go by 9:30, at which point we checked out and had breakfast in a little cafe by the river and Shuzen-ji's famous outdoor public onsen (which, unfortunately, we couldn't go to as planned because it was being renovated somehow). We caught cabs to the train station, took a train from Shuzen-ji to Mishima (where Gord said good-bye and headed back to Tokyo for work), and then another train from Mishima to Fuji. Fuji is a great little town at the base of Mt. Fuji; Ed chose this spot so we could have lunch overlooking Mt. Fuji before heading off to catch the Shinkansen to Hiroshima - a great decision. We caught a small train from Fuji to Nagoya, then hopped on the long Shinkansen ride from Nagoya to Hiroshima (the joke of this particular trip is that some of us joined the "100-mile-an-hour club" which is like the Shinkansen version of the mile-high club; however, no names will be mentioned so you'll just have to speculate!). As it was very cold that day, our train ride out of Nagoya met us with lots of falling snow, and a snow covered world which was really beautiful. On that train ride I was sitting beside a Japanese couple who spoke English - they were very impressed by the fact that we'd stayed at The Akaska Prince Hotel because apparently it's most famous with Japanese celebrities, who go there to get married. The train ride to Hiroshima took about 3 1/2 hours and, upon arriving in Hiroshima, we took a cab to our next ryokan (which was ALOT less fancy than the one we'd stayed at in Shuzen-ji and had a very bad fish smell, particularly in Ed and Sarah's room, causing all their clothes/bags to stink - HA HA!!). After dumping our bags in our rooms, we walked around looking for a place to have dinner, and settled on a Sumo Bar where the food choices were very limited (I ended up having a bowl of plain rice and some cheese, as most menu items were pretty weird and I wasn't up to experimenting that much). Our ryokan in Hiroshima had an 11 o'clock curfew (we joked that we felt like teenagers again), so we headed back and turned in early. The joke of the day (in addition to joining the 100-mile-club and having a curfew) ended up being Jesse's addition to the idea of "Gaijin Hotel." He suggested a show called "Extreme Convalescence" as Sarah had been such a trooper despite her surgery only 5 days earlier (suggestions for "Extreme Convalescence" included "cesarean bungee jumping" and "triple by-pass mountain climbing.") I'm ashamed to admit that all of us laughed hysterically, waking up atleast half of the passengers on the train who gave us dirty looks.
Monday, March 14th: Everyone woke up early to snow!!, and we convinced the ryokan owners to let us leave our bags there for the day while we went sightseeing. We walked to the train/bus station and had yummy Beard Papas crepes for breakfast, before catching a bus to the Peace Park (A-bomb museum and memorial). We spent an emotional 2 hours walking around the museum where, as expected, I was the only one balling my face off, but I think all the others came close a few times. We caught a street car (my 1st street car ride!) back to the ryokan and picked up our bags, before heading back to the train station and taking a train to Miyajima-guchi. From Miyajima-guchi we caught a ferry to the famous Miyajima island where one can see the famous floating arch (one of the 3 wonders of Japan, and the most photographed structure in Japan). We spent the day hiking this gorgeous island (feels alot like a Japanese Whistler!), petting the tame deer, and taking pictures of two cats going at it (wink, wink). The joke of the day was when Sarah turned a sign around to mess up tourists (thus changing the direction in which certain attractions could be found - we all laughed hysterically). At 6 we caught a ferry back to the mainland, and hopped on a train to Hiroshima, where we stopped at the station to have dinner. The Shinkansen ticket office took longer than expected for Jess & I, as Visa put a hold on his credit card (suspicious/unusual purchase, being that he doesn't use his credit card in Japan). When that finally got sorted out we were told the LAST train to Kyoto was leaving in 3 minutes, so we had to book it through the station and ended up catching the train just in time. However, when the train attendant came by to check our tickets, it turned out that STSE's train passes were valid for every JR train but the one were on, so we got kicked off at the next stop. From that stop there were no Shinkansen trains headed for Kyoto at that time of night, so we had to catch a Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and then get on a local train to Nishioji (our home station). When we rolled in here at the house, it was 11:30 and all were very sleepy, but that didn't stop the boys from heading out to the local convenience store to pick up some bevvies. We played cards for a while and then the boys played our Playstation golf game until about 2 AM, keeping us girls awake with their shouting and swearing (apparently they suck at golf when they're drunk). 6 people sleeping in our little bedroom was pretty interesting but also really funny and the talking died down at around 2:30 before we fell asleep to a cacophony of snoring and farting.
Tuesday, March 15th: We were all up by 8, had breakfast at a little diner near our house, caught a rapid train to Osaka, then a subway to Shinsaibashi. The guys and girls seperated; the girls went shopping (I got a green shirt for St. Patty's Day), and the guys went drinking. We met up with the guys at the Pig&Whistle, a famous gaijin bar in downtown Osaka. Tara and Sarah gave the owners a Big Muff C.D. (that's their band's name), and signed it - it was really cool because the owners played their C.D. while we were there! Then we got our picture taken and put up on the wall; Jess was really happy and joked that he'd been wanting to have his picture put up there since last Christmas when I first took him there. Later, after drinking way too much, we went bowling in Amerikamura where Sean kicked butt. We had to catch a cab to the station as time was tight; we ended up JUST catching the last train out of Osaka and ended up at Kyoto, one stop past our home station. We went to the convenience store to pick up some snacks and road-pops (it's a fine country, where you can drink alcohol anywhere!), and proceeded to start walking home. Jess told us it would only take half an hour but after 45 minutes of walking we'd all had enough and hopped in cabs. Upon arriving at home we all went straight to bed, exhausted!
Wednesday, March 16th: All were up early and we caught a train to JR Kyoto station to meet Sarah's friend Rachel (they were roommates at McGill Uni.). From there we caught a train to Himeji to see Himeji Castle (this was my 5th visit to the castle so, needless to say, everyone else was more in awe that I was). After a quick lunch at the bakery, we caught a train to Kobe and walked around Kobe Harbour. We were going to have dinner at Kobe's Hard Rock Cafe, but it had been permanently closed! So we had dinner at a buffet in the harbour and stuffed ourselves (the food is really good there). Ed had wanted to try Kobe beef, but upon learning how expensive it is, changed his mind. After dinner we played some games at an arcade then caught a train back to Nishioji and came home. We decided to do do some more karaoke, so we headed off to Jesse's work; Sean and Tara rode our bikes most of the way and Sean seemed to enjoy ringing the bell and trying to do tricks on the bike - luckily, drunk as everyone was, no one got hurt. The best performance of the evening was, hands down, SarahTara&I singing "My Heart Will Go On," chosen by S&T because they've been mocking me ever since finding out that I loved the movie "Titanic" and saw it a million times. I should point out that Sarah & I did most of the singing while Tara mimed the lyrics - very funny! After arriving by cab back at home, we played cards and drank until about 4, when everyone hit the hay. Poor Rachel got the couch downstairs, but fortunately she can read Japanese and figured out how to switch the air con. over to heat!
Thursday, March 17th: We got up at 11 (the latest we've slept the whole time, averaging 5 hours of sleep per night) and caught a train to Kyoto (it was pouring rain and all trains out of Osaka were delayed due to an accident - probably a suicide jumper which is usually the case when trains are delayed as they never derail here). We went to Kiyomizu Temple and walked around with cute pastel coloured umbrellas - even Jesse and Sean (when in Rome . . .). The town around the temple has 100s of little souvenir shops, so everyone proceeded to go nuts buying souvenirs, as it was their last night in Japan. STSE all bought swords and were grinning from ear-to-ear; especially Sean who said "all he wanted to do was take it out and play with it" to which Tara replied "you say that every day" (dirty jokes abounded on this trip). Later we took a cab to Gion and saw two Geisha, but didn't stick around cause everyone was soaked due to the torrential rain. We had dinner near Sanjo in Kyoto; Ed & Sarah generously treated us to dinner as thanks for putting them up, but Jesse and I kept insisting that it was no trouble at all (in fact, we'd be happy if all 4 of them moved in on a permanent basis). Later the girls shopped while the boys moved on to the Kyoto Pig&Whistle, where we met up with them a little while later. We listened to a great live Japanese celtic band, enjoyed green beer and Bailey's, watched while S&T were immortalized at yet another Japanese location when they handed out and signed another Big Muff C.D., then left in search of another bar as that one was surprisingly empty for St. Patrick's Day. During our wandering and fruitless search for a better location, we stumbled (literally) upon the "Selfish Cream Shot Bar" where guys in the window were begging us to come up, so we did. It ended up being a fantastic last night with everyone in Japan and the bar was a perfect choice. The waiters were totally hot (S&T&I considered the wisdom of being single for the evening!) a yakuza meeting attended by a yakuza boss was going on behind us, we chatted briefly with a yakuza tattoo artist (which sent Jesse into paroxysms of pleasure, as it's impossible for gaijin to get a yakuza tattooist to work on them), and the boys ended up instigating some Canada vs. Japan competitions; darts and arm wrestling. Funnily enough, the Canadians won at darts, but all 3 boys were beaten at arm wrestling by a much smaller Japanese guy. We were definitely a hit at that bar and had a wicked time. When Sean & I started to pass out on the couches everyone decided it was probably time to move on, so we caught cabs home. The boys played some Playstation golf and everyone got to sleep at around 5.
Friday, March 18th: D (as in departure) Day: All were up at 11 to pack and get organized. Sean burned all of our pictures (a total of close to 500 I think) onto CD's so each couple could have pictures of the trip. We caught a train to JR Kyoto, then bought Haruka train tickets to get to Kansai airport. We were really stretched for time but, fortunately for the 1st time ever, there was no line-up at the United counter, so everything went smoothly. As they were in a rush to get to their gate, the good-byes at the security gate were pretty quick. I balled my eyes out as expected! Jess and I quickly caught a Haruka train and came home, as waiting around the airport was too painful and I had no desire to watch their plane take off. By the time we ate dinner it was 7, at which time I proceeded to crash harder than I ever have in my life. I slept from 7 until noon this morning - 17 hours.
When I woke up today I was really tired and really sad. It's amazing how quiet and lonely a place can get when it's been filled to the brim with people; especially people with whom we've been having the time of our lives. A more perfect group of 6 has never been formed - of that I am absolutely certain - and we've made some life long friendships. Tara and Sarah, in 10 days, became two of my closest friends, and I can't wait to hang out with them again. Fortunately they're all from Victoria, so it's not like I won't see them again. The 6 of us have tentative plans to go to Argentina together in January, and Sarah will be in London at uni. next year, so Jess and I can visit her while we're in Europe. This trip has definitely been the trip of a lifetime. I can't believe how much we fit into 10 days of traveling - due in large part to Ed's amazing planning skills. These memories will last a lifetime and I'll always be greatful; I would have had a blast hanging out with these people anywhere and the fact that we hung out while traveling all over Japan was just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. So yeah, as expected the trip was really expensive, I'm really teary and I miss everyone immensely already, but it's all been worth it. To end this goliath of a blog entry, I'm going to quote what Jesse said after we left everyone at the airport, as his comment is the perfect way to sum up a perfect trip:
**"I'd light twice as much on fire just to do it all again."**
And, finally, some inside jokes worth remembering, for those of you who were there:
** "Gaijin Hotel"
** "Extreme Convalescence"
** "The Wind Beneath My Wings" (for Sarah)
** The difference between Japanese and Canadian pee wees (at Selfish Cream bar)
** The 100-mile-an-hour Club
** Sarah the Cripple, Sarah's "hole", Sarah's apple
** "Holy Wow"
** Shibuya (pronounced "Sha-BOO-ya")
** Sarah owes Meegan some opera
** Meegan owes Tara-Tara a manicure
** the joys of dating McIlveen brothers
** Sarah wears the pants
** the Duncan red-necks on the "Fire" coffee posters
** Sean's masturbating message on our fridge with alphabet magnets
** "APPLE!!" (turets)
** Ed's big idea
** Sarah & Meegan laughing non-stop to the detriment of the hole
** Japan vs. Canada @ Selfish Cream bar in Kyoto
** Titanic ("My Heart Will Go On")
** keeping Tara-Tara (as in, Tara will be Meeg's sister)
** "perspective shots" (you dirty boys!)
** girls night at the onsen in Shuzen-ji (wink wink!!)
** the new Big Muff, with Jess on keyboard and Meeg on drums
** Sean's anniversary present
** Sumo betting in Jusco
(To Sean/Tara/Ed/Sarah: feel free to email me if you remember others worth mentioning)
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Bragging rights . . .
Sorry guys, but this entire entry is going to be all about yours truly and the INCREDIBLE day I've had. Bear with me and feel free to send congratulatory emails if you're so inclined!
If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll know that my boss recently recommended me for that hotel teaching job. On Tuesday, Head Office faxed me a plan for the Demo lesson they wanted me to do; I assumed this was to give me a heads up and that further details were forthcoming. Yesterday, Wednesday, I got a phone call from the President of the company (my company, not the hotel), telling me the Demo lesson would be held today at 11:30 A.M. He gave me instructions about where and when to meet a Japanese representative from Head Office who would be providing the necessary lesson materials and accompanying me to the hotel. Jess and I got up really early and caught a train to Umeda together, had a quick breakfast, then parted ways as I headed off to meet Jun near my old school.
We met up at 11 and then walked together to Hotel Hankyu International, which ended up being the most beautiful and ritzy hotel I've ever set eyes on (I didn't know how ritzy until just now when I looked it up on the internet and discovered that the rooms run from $2500 to $4000 a night!). Up until that point I hadn't experienced any nervousness, but when I saw just HOW fancy it was, the nerves kicked in a bit. A bit, but only until I received full details about what the Demo lesson was about, at which point the adrenaline kicked in to overdrive. Jun told me what Head Office had kindly failed to mention (or I may never have had the guts to show up!); that there were 4 schools competing for this contract and that mine was the last of 4 Demo lessons to be observed. There would be 8 executives of the hotel, 2 from Tokyo, observing the lesson, and 5 students of varying abilities participating in the lesson. That I was the only teacher in the Kansai area considered for the position because, apparently, my name is well-known at Head Office and I'm a famous teacher (sorry to brag, but I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried). And that, should our company get the contract, another teacher would be chosen to teach the course at the Tokyo branch of the hotel. So, alot was riding on this and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't starting to feel a-lot of pressure.
At 11:25, the President of the hotel greeted us and escorted us to the meeting room where I'd be presenting the lesson. He handed me a name tag just outside the door, ushered me in, and then my stomach really started to flip flop. There, at the back, were the 8 executives and, in the middle of the room staring at me, the 5 students seated around a large table. Our escort pointed out my seat and then the lesson began. Alot of it is a blur really; I don't remember feeling nervous at all once I sat down and started teaching. Things went really well, I thought; the students and the execs. were all laughing and seemed to be having a good time. And then, finally, the 30 mins. I was alotted were up, and, to my extreme surprise, everyone clapped and thanked me profusely. The Pres. then ushered Jun and I out, escorted us to the lobby, and then proceeded to speak to Jun in Japanese for several minutes, while periodically smiling at me. I had no idea what was being said until Jun and I left, at which point she hit me with the great news!!!!! Apparently my presentation was their top choice and they were very impressed with me/the lesson. Our company is their second choice overall, however, because ours is apparently the most expensive contract. Anyway, Jun will hear from the execs on either Monday or Tuesday and promised to email me as soon as she knows either way (I'll be in Tokyo waiting with bated breath).
And that's that! The nerves really kicked in afterward when I met up with Jess again; I started to shake and sweat and my stomach began to protest quite profusely. But on the whole, whether we get the contract or not, this has been the best experience here so far, both personally and professionally. A year ago I'd NEVER have had the courage to do what I did today - not a chance! Even now when I think of those 8 "suits" watching me I start to feel a little neurotically giddy. But atleast I know it's about the money if we don't get this. I'm hoping we do; for the company and for myself.
That's about it for now. I'm exhausted after all those nerves and am in serious need of sleep. Keep your fingers crossed!!
** The journey is the reward.** Taoist saying
Sorry guys, but this entire entry is going to be all about yours truly and the INCREDIBLE day I've had. Bear with me and feel free to send congratulatory emails if you're so inclined!
If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll know that my boss recently recommended me for that hotel teaching job. On Tuesday, Head Office faxed me a plan for the Demo lesson they wanted me to do; I assumed this was to give me a heads up and that further details were forthcoming. Yesterday, Wednesday, I got a phone call from the President of the company (my company, not the hotel), telling me the Demo lesson would be held today at 11:30 A.M. He gave me instructions about where and when to meet a Japanese representative from Head Office who would be providing the necessary lesson materials and accompanying me to the hotel. Jess and I got up really early and caught a train to Umeda together, had a quick breakfast, then parted ways as I headed off to meet Jun near my old school.
We met up at 11 and then walked together to Hotel Hankyu International, which ended up being the most beautiful and ritzy hotel I've ever set eyes on (I didn't know how ritzy until just now when I looked it up on the internet and discovered that the rooms run from $2500 to $4000 a night!). Up until that point I hadn't experienced any nervousness, but when I saw just HOW fancy it was, the nerves kicked in a bit. A bit, but only until I received full details about what the Demo lesson was about, at which point the adrenaline kicked in to overdrive. Jun told me what Head Office had kindly failed to mention (or I may never have had the guts to show up!); that there were 4 schools competing for this contract and that mine was the last of 4 Demo lessons to be observed. There would be 8 executives of the hotel, 2 from Tokyo, observing the lesson, and 5 students of varying abilities participating in the lesson. That I was the only teacher in the Kansai area considered for the position because, apparently, my name is well-known at Head Office and I'm a famous teacher (sorry to brag, but I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried). And that, should our company get the contract, another teacher would be chosen to teach the course at the Tokyo branch of the hotel. So, alot was riding on this and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't starting to feel a-lot of pressure.
At 11:25, the President of the hotel greeted us and escorted us to the meeting room where I'd be presenting the lesson. He handed me a name tag just outside the door, ushered me in, and then my stomach really started to flip flop. There, at the back, were the 8 executives and, in the middle of the room staring at me, the 5 students seated around a large table. Our escort pointed out my seat and then the lesson began. Alot of it is a blur really; I don't remember feeling nervous at all once I sat down and started teaching. Things went really well, I thought; the students and the execs. were all laughing and seemed to be having a good time. And then, finally, the 30 mins. I was alotted were up, and, to my extreme surprise, everyone clapped and thanked me profusely. The Pres. then ushered Jun and I out, escorted us to the lobby, and then proceeded to speak to Jun in Japanese for several minutes, while periodically smiling at me. I had no idea what was being said until Jun and I left, at which point she hit me with the great news!!!!! Apparently my presentation was their top choice and they were very impressed with me/the lesson. Our company is their second choice overall, however, because ours is apparently the most expensive contract. Anyway, Jun will hear from the execs on either Monday or Tuesday and promised to email me as soon as she knows either way (I'll be in Tokyo waiting with bated breath).
And that's that! The nerves really kicked in afterward when I met up with Jess again; I started to shake and sweat and my stomach began to protest quite profusely. But on the whole, whether we get the contract or not, this has been the best experience here so far, both personally and professionally. A year ago I'd NEVER have had the courage to do what I did today - not a chance! Even now when I think of those 8 "suits" watching me I start to feel a little neurotically giddy. But atleast I know it's about the money if we don't get this. I'm hoping we do; for the company and for myself.
That's about it for now. I'm exhausted after all those nerves and am in serious need of sleep. Keep your fingers crossed!!
** The journey is the reward.** Taoist saying
