Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Day 1- 12/2/09
Japan Hello!
We had a great flight just watching movies/eating/drinking you forget you are in the air in a metal tank!!! The time just flew……………..no pun intended but I think knowing we were flying to our second home made time stand still. Leaving the sunshine coast in muggy hot temps and arriving at Osaka in winter woolies was a major fashion feat in itself. Multi layered colour coordinated applications were planned well in advance and dressing while we are taxing into the docking bay was a sight to behold. Looking like Neo and Trinity from the 'Matrix' (ok she doesn’t have curly grey hair – use your imagination!!!) in our long black leather ‘Matrix’ jackets does make a bold statement and the fact that we are waddling down the walkway looking like layered Michelin Men “DOES NOT LOOK FUNNY!!”
We wore our heaviest clothes – NOTE: travel to Japan in summer you can pack more clothes, they weigh less. However I did notice that some of the Japanese ‘exceeded’ their baggage allowance ‘tenfold’ and did not get ‘picked on’. EXTRA NOTE: carry on luggage they don’t really check and you can take more than you think…….just carry it like it is as light as a feather!!!
Catching the shuttle bus from the airport is a journey in ‘back to the future’ up high on a ‘third level’ freeway driving past a power plant that looks like a mini city with pipes and lights and stuff. Then passing the river with the lit up signs that have to be 2 stories high with the ‘big screen TV’ floating on the water!!! “What The!!???” Then we spy the ‘Crown Plaza’ our Kobe home landmark with the mountains in backdrop and feel a sense of peace………………………. “Shit!!! Lucky we caught the right bus!!!!”
Get off the shuttle bus in down town Kobe and catch one of the million taxies to our front door. Now……………what was Jack and Chieko's apartment number?? We have to punch it into the intercom and I did email him as I had forgotten………..was it 1011 or 1101 or 1001 …………..”Shit!!!! Lucky we caught the right bus!!!” Okay Okay….its in the computer…….get the bag open get out the computer find the email that Jack sent a month ago with the right number……………..nope can’t find it………come on its late and Jack will be asleep soon………..what time did we say we would be arriving??? Was it 9pm or 10pm……what time does he go to sleep??? So we punch in 1011 yep that’s it!!!! No answer! Is he asleep??? Or is the number 1101??? Ok third time lucky lets try 1101???? “Hello?” Fuck thank GOD!!! Its Jack with that familiar drawl……we are home!! Lucky Brian remembered the number 'cos I had put the wrong one into contacts!!!!
Jack emerges from the lift like an angel from heaven with the key to our apartment. We like Jack! Hugs all round…of course and off we go up the lift to the apartment we left over 3 months earlier. We open the door to find it is EXACTLY as we left it down to the milk in the fridge…(scary thing was that it did not stink and we probably could have drunk it……”how many preservatives did you say were in it darling???” not going to risk that one……..down the sink to feed the fish, it goes! Weird coming back to a place in a time warp………….everything as we left it. KC our landlord decided we were SO NICE that she kept it for us and did not rent it our to anyone else while we were back in OZ. How lucky are we and how does is get any better than that???
We couldn’t wait so, even though it was late and had been a very long day, we unpacked and put EVERYTHING in its place. Like we had never left. All our stuff just knew where it lived and literally jumped out of the suitcases into their ‘spots’!
Day 2 - 13/2/09
Shopping!!!!
Did I mention shopping????
We walk to ‘Crown Plaza’ and HIT THE SHOPS!!! The supermarket is ‘as I left it’ and I cruise around the isle with the familiar items as well as the “what the fuck is this??” items also and I buy what I know as well as the customary one item that I have ‘no idea’ of what it is but “Hell” lets try it anyway!!! Stock the pantry and wait for the internet man – Brian does an ‘awesome’ job speaking broken Japanese and I smile a lot. He understands but the internet is still not connected………….working on it!!! We arrange to meet with Hiromi, Natsuko and Robert. Dear dear dear friends whom we love and adore. The bell rings and we hug them until they drop……….it is so nice to be with family again. Lucky they can understand Japanese as we have Natsuko working on the computer trying to get that naughty naughty internet installed (the man has gone to leave us with the pesky (more than one) pass words/codes/unity numbers/ and just in case you needed another number number!!! Internet still not working!!! We give up and go for OBE big coffee shop for lots of coffee!!! More hugs, laughs, catching up and planning as Hiromi is Brian's . musical possible protégé and Natsuko is my right hand morphed into a clone of me interpreter extraordinaire. Robert (Natsuko’s wonderful ex-pat American husband) leaves for a ski trip and we catch up…………how wonderful to be group hugging family. We missed these wonderful souls who are our blood even though we don’t speak the same language we look into each others eyes and we don’t have to!!!
We hug again and leave for home and the internet…………….Brian tries most of the night on the mobile phone speaking to ‘just about everyone’ to get it connected. We go to bed in hope that the internet fairies will come and connect it while we sleep???
Day 3 – 14/2/09
Breakfast downstairs at our ‘apartment coffee shop’ for noodles and a catch up with Jack and Chieko. Jack comes upstairs to help us ‘decode’ the appliances……we were having trouble making the air conditioner heat instead of cool…………..not used to being here in winter as it was over 30 C last time we were here. Also wanted ‘detailed’ instructions on the many facets of the toilet and its many personalities. Jack was very forthcoming!!!
Bloody Fairies must have pissed off as the internet is still not working………….I am writing this at the end of today and the report is that Brian has spent ALL DAY well nearly, trying to get it connected- it does not help that all the instructions are in Japanese and he is talking to several people all over the country trying to work out which pass word goes into which box on which screen was it this one or the one before????
IKUTA SHRINE TIME………….we let go…………..and let be……….. the internet can function or not without us…..time to visit the guardian of Kobe at the Ikuta Shrine and pay our respects. We don our ‘matrix leather jackets’ and walk familiar streets to the shrine.
Its Valentines day (is that why it is so busy at the shrine with a line of people waiting to ring the bell and pray) another bonus was a traditional Japanese wedding was being held at the same time so all us ‘strangers’ got to ‘look in’ while we waited in line for our turn to chat to the guardian. We walk up ring the bell and have a little chat. The guardian welcomes me home and reminds me that the street paved with gold is mine and that he is guiding me…………..NO……….. I had not been drinking…………did that later!!!!
An oasis in a sea of multi story buildings. We leave the shrine and walk the streets and malls of Kobe……..hit China town and enjoy the familiar shopping – winter in Japan is so different to the summer. Boots lots and lots of boots………..legs in shorts and boots….how do the girls do it when it is so cold??? Some don’t even have tights on????
Lots of black and grey – reminds me of Melbourne!!! With a splash here and there of colour but most of the time black!!! Long long socks over the knees ………they were doing that in summer too??? It is not as cold as I imagined though Robert did tell me that the winter so far was mild and that snow was on the way!!! Yippee………such a contrast to Noosa and 35 C
You know those air-conditioned streets that I mentioned last time……….well they are heated in winter!!! Don’t you just love Japan???
Home………….and we spend the rest of the evening on the computers working on getting the internet fairies to talk to the internet. It works at just past midnight!!!!
Brian is very happy………..high five…………I go to bed!!
Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of ‘MARTINS IN JAPAN’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Japan Hello!
We had a great flight just watching movies/eating/drinking you forget you are in the air in a metal tank!!! The time just flew……………..no pun intended but I think knowing we were flying to our second home made time stand still. Leaving the sunshine coast in muggy hot temps and arriving at Osaka in winter woolies was a major fashion feat in itself. Multi layered colour coordinated applications were planned well in advance and dressing while we are taxing into the docking bay was a sight to behold. Looking like Neo and Trinity from the 'Matrix' (ok she doesn’t have curly grey hair – use your imagination!!!) in our long black leather ‘Matrix’ jackets does make a bold statement and the fact that we are waddling down the walkway looking like layered Michelin Men “DOES NOT LOOK FUNNY!!”
We wore our heaviest clothes – NOTE: travel to Japan in summer you can pack more clothes, they weigh less. However I did notice that some of the Japanese ‘exceeded’ their baggage allowance ‘tenfold’ and did not get ‘picked on’. EXTRA NOTE: carry on luggage they don’t really check and you can take more than you think…….just carry it like it is as light as a feather!!!
Catching the shuttle bus from the airport is a journey in ‘back to the future’ up high on a ‘third level’ freeway driving past a power plant that looks like a mini city with pipes and lights and stuff. Then passing the river with the lit up signs that have to be 2 stories high with the ‘big screen TV’ floating on the water!!! “What The!!???” Then we spy the ‘Crown Plaza’ our Kobe home landmark with the mountains in backdrop and feel a sense of peace………………………. “Shit!!! Lucky we caught the right bus!!!!”
Get off the shuttle bus in down town Kobe and catch one of the million taxies to our front door. Now……………what was Jack and Chieko's apartment number?? We have to punch it into the intercom and I did email him as I had forgotten………..was it 1011 or 1101 or 1001 …………..”Shit!!!! Lucky we caught the right bus!!!” Okay Okay….its in the computer…….get the bag open get out the computer find the email that Jack sent a month ago with the right number……………..nope can’t find it………come on its late and Jack will be asleep soon………..what time did we say we would be arriving??? Was it 9pm or 10pm……what time does he go to sleep??? So we punch in 1011 yep that’s it!!!! No answer! Is he asleep??? Or is the number 1101??? Ok third time lucky lets try 1101???? “Hello?” Fuck thank GOD!!! Its Jack with that familiar drawl……we are home!! Lucky Brian remembered the number 'cos I had put the wrong one into contacts!!!!
Jack emerges from the lift like an angel from heaven with the key to our apartment. We like Jack! Hugs all round…of course and off we go up the lift to the apartment we left over 3 months earlier. We open the door to find it is EXACTLY as we left it down to the milk in the fridge…(scary thing was that it did not stink and we probably could have drunk it……”how many preservatives did you say were in it darling???” not going to risk that one……..down the sink to feed the fish, it goes! Weird coming back to a place in a time warp………….everything as we left it. KC our landlord decided we were SO NICE that she kept it for us and did not rent it our to anyone else while we were back in OZ. How lucky are we and how does is get any better than that???
We couldn’t wait so, even though it was late and had been a very long day, we unpacked and put EVERYTHING in its place. Like we had never left. All our stuff just knew where it lived and literally jumped out of the suitcases into their ‘spots’!
Day 2 - 13/2/09
Shopping!!!!
Did I mention shopping????
We walk to ‘Crown Plaza’ and HIT THE SHOPS!!! The supermarket is ‘as I left it’ and I cruise around the isle with the familiar items as well as the “what the fuck is this??” items also and I buy what I know as well as the customary one item that I have ‘no idea’ of what it is but “Hell” lets try it anyway!!! Stock the pantry and wait for the internet man – Brian does an ‘awesome’ job speaking broken Japanese and I smile a lot. He understands but the internet is still not connected………….working on it!!! We arrange to meet with Hiromi, Natsuko and Robert. Dear dear dear friends whom we love and adore. The bell rings and we hug them until they drop……….it is so nice to be with family again. Lucky they can understand Japanese as we have Natsuko working on the computer trying to get that naughty naughty internet installed (the man has gone to leave us with the pesky (more than one) pass words/codes/unity numbers/ and just in case you needed another number number!!! Internet still not working!!! We give up and go for OBE big coffee shop for lots of coffee!!! More hugs, laughs, catching up and planning as Hiromi is Brian's . musical possible protégé and Natsuko is my right hand morphed into a clone of me interpreter extraordinaire. Robert (Natsuko’s wonderful ex-pat American husband) leaves for a ski trip and we catch up…………how wonderful to be group hugging family. We missed these wonderful souls who are our blood even though we don’t speak the same language we look into each others eyes and we don’t have to!!!
We hug again and leave for home and the internet…………….Brian tries most of the night on the mobile phone speaking to ‘just about everyone’ to get it connected. We go to bed in hope that the internet fairies will come and connect it while we sleep???
Day 3 – 14/2/09
Breakfast downstairs at our ‘apartment coffee shop’ for noodles and a catch up with Jack and Chieko. Jack comes upstairs to help us ‘decode’ the appliances……we were having trouble making the air conditioner heat instead of cool…………..not used to being here in winter as it was over 30 C last time we were here. Also wanted ‘detailed’ instructions on the many facets of the toilet and its many personalities. Jack was very forthcoming!!!
Bloody Fairies must have pissed off as the internet is still not working………….I am writing this at the end of today and the report is that Brian has spent ALL DAY well nearly, trying to get it connected- it does not help that all the instructions are in Japanese and he is talking to several people all over the country trying to work out which pass word goes into which box on which screen was it this one or the one before????
IKUTA SHRINE TIME………….we let go…………..and let be……….. the internet can function or not without us…..time to visit the guardian of Kobe at the Ikuta Shrine and pay our respects. We don our ‘matrix leather jackets’ and walk familiar streets to the shrine.
Its Valentines day (is that why it is so busy at the shrine with a line of people waiting to ring the bell and pray) another bonus was a traditional Japanese wedding was being held at the same time so all us ‘strangers’ got to ‘look in’ while we waited in line for our turn to chat to the guardian. We walk up ring the bell and have a little chat. The guardian welcomes me home and reminds me that the street paved with gold is mine and that he is guiding me…………..NO……….. I had not been drinking…………did that later!!!!
An oasis in a sea of multi story buildings. We leave the shrine and walk the streets and malls of Kobe……..hit China town and enjoy the familiar shopping – winter in Japan is so different to the summer. Boots lots and lots of boots………..legs in shorts and boots….how do the girls do it when it is so cold??? Some don’t even have tights on????
Lots of black and grey – reminds me of Melbourne!!! With a splash here and there of colour but most of the time black!!! Long long socks over the knees ………they were doing that in summer too??? It is not as cold as I imagined though Robert did tell me that the winter so far was mild and that snow was on the way!!! Yippee………such a contrast to Noosa and 35 C
You know those air-conditioned streets that I mentioned last time……….well they are heated in winter!!! Don’t you just love Japan???
Home………….and we spend the rest of the evening on the computers working on getting the internet fairies to talk to the internet. It works at just past midnight!!!!
Brian is very happy………..high five…………I go to bed!!
Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of ‘MARTINS IN JAPAN’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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