A Bag of Apples

So this a seriously belated post. About 4 months late actually.

I never knew that a hand drawn picture and a bag of apples could make me feel so welcome.

I was sitting in the exchange office with Aimi and Ayumi, waiting for Nakamura-san. As we were talking, an old man walks in and says “You must be Sharon.”

He sat down and asked how I liked Japan, and if I’d been anywhere else yet, just the usual conversation. I had no idea who he was. Anyway, after a bit of chatting he asked me if I had any fruit. I’d been to the supermarket the day before and bought some oranges, but that was all, and I said as much. At that he opened his bag, and pulled out a dozen apples, and handed them to me.

Yeah, you read that right, he pulled  a dozen apples out of his bag, just like that.

He is a lecturer at Meijo, and one of his old students works for an apple company. (The ex-student is a delivery driver and would drop off a crate of apples any time he was in the area.)He had received a crate of apples two days ago, and thought of someone who might need fruit. Having been an exchange student himself when he was in university, he thought of me. 

 He was once a student at QUT Gardens Point Campus, and wanted to know how the campus had fared in the recent floods. And he desperately wanted to know how the Gardens Café was doing. When he was in Brisbane his absolute favourite thing to do was to have a Devonshire Tea at that café.  Upon hearing that it wasn’t destroyed by the floods he was so relieved. He would’ve been devastated if it had been destroyed, as he had so many fond memories of the place.

After he left, I found out that he is the head of the Economics faculty, and I will probably take his class, later in the semester. Such a generous act from a complete stranger made me feel so lucky to be here. Everyone had been so nice to me already, and then on top of it all another welcoming gesture, and from a complete stranger, it just blew my mind.

 Turns out he is quite possibly the coolest old man I've ever met, and I wish all my lecturers were like him. And he takes his classes VERY seriously, he completely lost it at some guy who fell asleep in his class. Kicked the guy out of the class and told him to never come back. Poor guy probably would've failed anyway.

A Hand Drawn Welcome Sign

Belated, my bad.

I spent my last night at Hotel Marutani packing all my things up, and trying to fit it all into as little space as possible.  I ended up buying another small suitcase to fit everything.  My train to Nagoya left at 9am from Tokyo Station. My hotel was in Ueno, and I had to get from there to Tokyo during peak hour with four bags and a large stuffed toy.  I managed to get there without losing anything, but it was an effort.

The shinkansen ride was amazing. The seats are comfortable, and there is so much leg room. I had a window seat, and caught a glimpse of Mt Fuji on the way. It was so clear and seemed so close, that it took me by surprise. 

When I got to Nagoya station, I was met by one of the student assistants, Aimi. She was holding a hand drawn welcome sign, and was so happy to see me. Her friend Natsumi, showed up about five minutes later, and off we went. Aimi and Natsumi made me feel welcome from the start, asking me about Australia and what I like to do. As it turns out we both love karaoke and drinking.

When we arrived at the apartment building we met Nakamura-san, a teacher, and one of the Student Exchange Centre staff. He is a very nice, but is always in a hurry, and everything is so urgent. It makes you feel flustered and unorganized to be around him. After a brief tour of the apartment building we went to the exchange office, where I met the rest of the staff. 

After a few introductions and some paper work, Aimi and Natsumi took me to have lunch at a small okonomiyaki restaurant on the corner of the main entrance to the university. Later, we borrowed some bicycles from the apartment building’s receptionist Miss Niitani, and went to shopping, to set me up with some worldly possessions. We started at the Lawson’s 100 at the end of the street; it’s like a convenience store where almost everything is 100円.  After looking at what they had we decided that a different shop would probably have more of what I needed, so off we went. The girls decided to take me to the Jusco, which was about a 10-15 minute ride away, which wasn’t so bad, only it was uphill all the way. I was struggling a bit, it was embarrassing. Any way we eventually got there, and I was amazed. You can buy almost anything at a Jusco.

We went to the 100円 section, to buy things for my apartment. The first thing we looked at was bowls, and they had a beautiful selection. Some were pale pink with a lace print around the edge, some were green with white spots, and some were shaped like strawberries, complete with leaves. Of course they had traditional Japanese styles as well, but I ended up settling for two of the strawberry ones, with matching plates and mugs.

After we finished there, we went to Aoki Super for the groceries. The ride from Jusco to Aoki was easy, as it was all downhill; however I had a full basket, with china in it too! It was a bit nerve racking, hearing crashing sounds at every bump and jolt on the path. We made it without anything breaking, much to my relief.  It was lucky that Aimi and Natsumi were with me as there was so much shopping that all three of our baskets were overflowing.  

After Natsumi and Aimi went home, I started unpacking. It took me about 3 hours, but I finally had everything where I wanted it, and my bags stacked neatly inside each other on the top of my cupboard.  For dinner I had instant ramen, it beats the hell out of two minute noodles that’s for sure.  I spent some time in the lobby using the wireless connection, and when I tested how far the range is, I discovered that it cuts out around two metres from my door. I guess I’ll be one of the cool kids who hang out in the lobby then.

Maid Cafes and UFO Catchers

We were staying at Hotel Marutani, near Ueno station. As far as I’m concerned it was perfect; the location was great, the room was cheap, the internet was free, and there was a coin laundry in the basement. 

On our first day in Tokyo we set off to see Akihabara. We walked there from our hotel, although it was entirely by accident. We had turned left instead f right when leaving our hotel, and instead of heading t the train station we headed towards Akihabara, without realizing it. After about ten minutes of walking, we realized we had been going the wrong way, but we kept going anyway, and five minutes later came to Akihabara Station. We went to the famous Yodobashi Camera, don’t be fooled by the name, it sells far more than cameras. 

Kevin looked at electronic dictionaries for a while before deciding they were too expensive, so we headed up a level. I spent about twenty minutes in the make-up section, drooling over this and that, and marvelling at how much paler the Maybelline face powders are compared to Australia. The exact same mineral powder that I have is about three times paler in Japan. After buying a few souvenirs in another section we went further up. And much to my delight I found the music section. Complete with about five grand pianos, and a very large collection of sheet music. I spent about ten minutes oohing and aahing over various Studio Ghibli Collections before deciding on only one.  

After we left Yodobashi Camera, we were kind of looking around trying to figure out where the rest of Akihabara was, after a minute or so we realized we needed to go to the other side of the station, and off we went. Pretty much the second we stepped out of the walkway, and saw the rest of Aki, we were like “ahh THIS is more like it!”

The first thing we did was cross the road and go to the SEGA Club, and laugh at some of the things in the UFO Catcher games, before trying, and failing to win them. Although after my second try I turned out to be pretty good at them. I won a few ridiculous things, like a Hello Kitty sukiyaki pot, a Rilakkuma mug, an Angel Beats mouse pad and mouse set, a giant stuffed cat, and (my favourite) a capibara toy.

We wandered around for a while looking at shops, and laughing over strange things, and collecting Maid Café flyers from girls in ridiculous outfits. We started getting hungry, and Kevin desperately wanted to go to a Maid Café. After looking at the different flyers we had we set off for ‘MaiDreaming’. It was everything I expected it to be, and a whole lot seedier. However the food was good, and it was a very amusing experience, if a little on the expensive side. For a ‘drink + dessert + photo’ set it will cost you back about $30. The photo is a Polaroid of you and Maid of choice, in some ridiculous pose, with some cute comments written on it. Hardly worth the price, but it is part of the experience.   I never did get to a Butler Café, maybe next time I’m in Tokyo…..

After spending quite a few hours in Akihabara, we decided to head back to our hotel, drop of our bags and go somewhere else. As we walked toward our hotel, we could see what appeared to be some sort of market that ran parallel to the main road. After dropping of our shopping bags, we head out the back of the hotel and found Ameyoko Arcade. I am in love with this arcade, seriously. If I ever live in Tokyo, I want to live near, or IN it. It is definitely my favourite thing in Tokyo. (The Studio Ghibli Museum isn’t in Tokyo, so to speak.)

The arcade starts opposite JR Ueno Station (central gate exit) and runs all the way to Okachimachi. It is spread across about four of the back alleys, and had everything from restaurants to pachinko parlours, and more. There is a pachinko parlour every block, and some very seedy people. But it has a lot of amazing little clothes and shoe shops, and fresh food markets.

Curry Flavoured Caramel

The first thing we did when we got off the plane in New Chitose Airport was buy gloves.

 I already had a pair, but I wanted a second one, and it turned out I needed a second pair. We landed at around 2pm in Hokkaido, so it was probably the warmest time of the day, and we were freezing. I knew it was going to be colder than anything I had ever experienced before, but I still wasn’t fully prepared. Kevin didn’t even have a scarf. I had brought boots, thinking that they would keep my feet dry in the snow. And they did, but boots aren’t warm, and I didn’t have very thick socks, so most of the time, I couldn’t really feel my feet. So if I go to Hokkaido again, I’ll be sure to take very thick socks, and maybe a different pair of shoes.

After checking in to our Hotel, we tried to figure out how to get to the train station. According to Google maps, it was a 15 minute walk. Not too bad I thought, except Google didn’t take into account the fact that the footpaths were covered in ice for most of the way, so it ended up taking us about half an hour. Once we got to the station it was easy to get to Sapporo itself, if a little long.  I had picked Hotel Nikko because it was cheap, available, and was apparently close to the train station. Close is a very subjective term. Aside from the fact that it took us half an hour to get to the train station and then half an hour to get to Sapporo, it wasn’t too bad. Although we ended up getting a taxi back to the hotel each night as it was usually freezing by the time we would arrive at Chitose station. We had put our big suitcases in a locker at Haneda airport, before getting the plane to Sapporo, and I had left my camera charger in it. I thought I could charge it through my netbook, but it needs super strong power to recharge it. So after the second day in Sapporo, I had no camera.

We were to meet Jun at Sapporo station, and he was worried we might get lost. I didn’t understand what he meant until I actually got there. It is huge. The station itself is quite large, and the building it is in has three different department stores in it to, and an observatory, and a cinema. We had dinner at Ramen Kyowakoku, a collection of ramen shops from all around Japan, in a little corner of the station building. There was even a souvenir shop where you could buy ramen flavoured things, and of course ingredients for ramen. They had curry, ramen, Mongolian lamb, and normal flavoured caramel. There were even beer flavoured candies, I of course bought some.

After dinner we went out into the cold to see the Snow Festival.  If you are ever thinking of going to Hokkaido, or just Sapporo, go in February when the festival is on. It is absolutely beautiful. Although I may be slightly biased as this was my first time seeing snow I real life. We went to Odori Park first, to see the snow sculptures. Also in the park was a large ski jump, where extreme skiers were doing all sorts of crazy things.

The next day we went to the Tsudome site. It is mostly for children, with things like bamboo skis, toboggans and snow tubing. However not everything is children only. We went on the snow tubes, and it was pretty fun. Going up the stairs carved out of ice was a bit difficult, especially dragging a giant tube behind you.  After we finished there we went to see Sapporo itself. This involved lots of walking, and lots of shops. We were also searching for an adapter that could fit a three-pronged Australian plug. We tried about four stores before we finally found one. One store had a ‘universal’ plug, except it didn’t fit the O-type (Au/NZ) even though it clearly stated on the packaging fits Types A, B, blah, blah and O, O2. Good thing we checked before I bought it. After shopping we went to Susukino to see the Ice Sculptures. They were fantastic, such detail, and some of them were huge. There was even one with (dead) fish frozen into it; it was kind of creepy, but kind of cool at the same time.

The next day, Monday, we met Jun outside Sapporo station at 8:30am to go to Mt Moiwa to ski; or to attempt it, at least. The slopes were fairly empty, with most of the people being elementary school students having their weekly ski lesson.  In Australia we have swimming lessons, in Hokkaido, it is ski lessons. One class was carefully lining up, in preparation for a run down the hill. All the kids except one had lined up, and when the last one skied over he fell into the end of the line. And that caused a domino effect; it was hilarious.

We spent about an hour practicing skiing and then climbing back up the slope of the practice area. I never realized how hard it is to get up without using your legs. Thank god for ski poles. After a while Jun decided that we were ready to use the chair lift. Of course both Kevin and I stacked it almost immediately after getting to the top of the slope. We did make it off the lift properly, but the downward slope was too much. After we recovered from the ignominy of falling over right next to the lift we made it around the corner onto the actual slope. It was fairly deserted, which was fantastic; because neither Kevin nor I were very good at avoiding things.

It took far, far longer than it should have for me to get to the bottom of the slope. I would ski about ten meters or so and then attempt a turn and after a small success, promptly fall over. Kevin was fairing much worse. I eventually made it to the bottom, and waited for Jun. He had gone back up the slope to help Kevin, who was still only a quarter of the way down. After they made it to the bottom we decided a rest was in order.

Walking in ski boots is so weird; however I soon got the hang of it. After a drink and a rest, Kevin decided that he wasn’t going to try again. So Jun and I headed back outside and up to the chair lift. We tried the other slope this time, which was fairly disastrous, but I made it to the bottom in better time. I was getting the hang of it, but very, very slowly. After a few more runs, I was exhausted. And it was nearly closing time for the slopes, so we headed back to find Kevin, and return our gear.

After skiing we headed to an onsen, for food and a very relaxing bath. The water was about 40◦C and so good. There was even an outside area, where you could sit in the water and watch the snow fall around you, it was absolutely beautiful. And for the record, the baths ARE segregated.

We had a short bath, and then put on a yukata and went to the restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was a traditional Japanese style one, with low tables, and small cushions for you to kneel or sit on. My legs were too sore from skiing to kneel though. The restaurants food was amazing, and not to expensive either. I had a full traditional style meal that consisted of a hotpot, rice, miso soup, tempura vegetables, soba noodles and salad. I made the mistake of wearing my sterling silver necklace while I went into the water, and due to the mineral levels in the water it tarnished it so badly. However a good polishing and lots of angry words got it shiny again. After our meal we had another longer bath, and then headed back to Sapporo.

We’re in JAPAN! We are finally in Japan!!!!!!!!!!

February, Friday 11, 2011


The flight to Narita was pretty good. There was no turbulence, and Kevin and I had the four middle seats to ourselves. But that didn't help the last 2 hours from going ridiculously slow.

Kevin and I temporarily lost each other about 3 times between leaving the plane and clearing customs. Considering we had no way of contacting each other, it was a bit worrying; that and the fact that to get from the plane to the baggage collection area requires you to catch a shuttle across the tarmac.

Kevin was changing money and I was minding the bags outside the arrivals area, when a very polite JSS officer asked me to show my passport. Not even out of the airport and I have already been subject to a random police search, I am on a roll! I had my passport in my pocket when the officer asked for it, and when I immediately presented it to him he was absolutely astonished! His reaction was hilarious, "wooooah so fast!"

Getting to our hotel turned out to be ridiculously easy, after a few minutes of standing around going "uhh where now?" we found the exit to the railway. We bought a Suica Card (similar to a GO card for those who don't know) and wandered off in search of a train going to Narita Station. As luck would have it there was one ten minutes later. As we got on the train we realized we didn’t actually know where Narita Station was. And neither of us could read the train line map from where we were standing. We guessed that it was the next stop and because of my ridiculously heavy bag/s very nearly didn’t make it off the train in time. As we stepped off the train it started to snow.  A friendly old man saw my reaction (doing a happy dance) and laughed and asked us where we were from. He also told us how to leave the station, which was nice.

Once we left the station, we spent about ten minutes trying to figure out how to get to the hotel. I knew it was supposed to be about 200m from the station, only neither of us could see it. We stood staring at a map for about 5 minutes debating whether to get a taxi or walk. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a building that said Hotel on it, and when I looked at it from the other side of the road, it turned out to be the Mercure. It was literally around the corner from where we were standing, we just didn’t think to look up. By this time the temperature had dropped to 1 C. And it was cold!

When we checked in, we got a free room upgrade. Awesome! The room was nice; we were on the 4th floor of the annex side of the hotel. To get to our room we had to take the elevator to the 3rd floor, walk about 100m down the hall and take another elevator to the 4th floor. It seemed confusing at first but it is actually pretty straight forward.

After we checked how to get to Haneda airport for our flight the next day we decided to go and get something eat. We had takoyaki at a tiny little shop near the station. Quite possibly the best takoyaki I have ever had, and apparently the stuff in Osaka is even better. It is so cheap compared to Australia too. We wandered down the street a bit, in search of smokes for Kevin, but ended up by cans of hot coffee from a vending machine, and trying not to freeze.

Narita is an amazing little town; the streets near the train station are small and cluttered with restaurants, most of them selling meals for around 500円. We didn’t have time to explore but I would love to come back to Narita and see more of the town, and see the shrines, and more of the shops. As a hotel the Narita Mercure is a perfect place to stay. Literally around the corner from the station, and close to as much food as you could possibly want, I would recommend it to anyone who needs to stay near Narita airport, or just wants to visit Narita.

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Actually it’s an A380. I’m leaving Australia from the Gold Coast airport, as it is cheaper than flying from Brisbane International for some reason.

After four long, long months of waiting I finally received my acceptance pack on the 16^th of January. When I got the call saying it had arrived I was literally bouncing up and down in my seat.  I had started to get really worried. I was planning on leaving around the 11^th of February, and still needed to find out semester dates, get my visa and book my flights. With only 5 weeks til my intended departure date, I was beginning to worry that I would have to replan my entire trip.

In addition to my joy at finally getting my acceptance letter and Certificate of Eligibility, I also found out that I was also receiving a $5000 Endeavour Cheung Kong Award (An added incentive to study is that if I fail anything I have to refund the 5k).  

So not only was my letter finally here, I found out that I was getting two, TWO! scholarships. That’s almost completely unheard of, especially for someone with my GPA.  

I went off to visit my travel agent, however due to the heavy rain and road closures she had to leave before finishing the booking. So another agent finished it up for her/me and I finally had my tickets! It was such a relief to actually have something concrete, but then I started to freak out. After 4 months of waiting and not being able to do anything I now had only 5 weeks to do everything. Visa, travel insurance, accommodation, connecting flights, organising stuff for uni, making sure I was all set and ready to go, the list seemed endless. Also I nearly didn’t make it home because of the rising flood waters, but that’s another story.

As it stands at the moment, I will pick my visa and passport up from the embassy in two days, get my second lot of vaccinations next week, by a few more things and be ready to go. Oh yeah, and pack my room up and put everything in storage.

With only 15 days til I leave I’m not just excited but also a bit worried. I’m pretty sure I’m going to forget something important and have to get someone to post me a parcel pretty much as soon as I arrive. I’ve packed a repacked my bag testing how much I can fit into it without going over the baggage limit too much. I’ve restricted myself to only one bag, and it’s difficult, especially trying to fit summer and winter clothes in. I’ve already forfeited one pair of shoes for some extra weight and space.

On a more positive note, I finally figured out how to use my electronic dictionary, so assignments, and even just unusual (Japanese) words no longer need to bother me.

So if I don’t see you before the 11^th of February, see you in August!